Transcription
be with you all.
Uh, Lisa and I were in Sydney, Australia this past week, just for a few days. We planted the church in, uh, Sydney, Australia. This is the east coast of Australia. I think we planted that probably around 1985, if I remember right. '85, '86, in that range. And over the years, it eventually became a conference center. And so, uh, I was preaching in the conference. I meet with pastors. I teach in the mornings. Do all kinds of things. I have a video I want to show you, just to, to see this.
[Music]
So, this is, uh, they obviously can't fit in their building. I think we ended the last night just right on a thousand people. Uh, New South Wales, all the churches there, but they now planted churches in, I think, four different nations as well. And then, as you heard, they, uh, nationalized the church in China, planted another international church, and then two more. Domestically, our investment in Sydney is still multiplying. Let's give God praise and thank God for that. Thank God. Amen.
And if you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Genesis, chapter 17.
A few weeks ago, Senator Ted Cruz was interviewed by Tucker Carlson. I think that was in June. Ted Cruz said he hopes to be the Senate's leading defender of Israel. Tucker Carlson asked him why. Ted Cruz said, "As a Christian, growing up in Sunday school, I was taught from the Bible, those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. And from my perspective, I'd rather be on the blessing side of things."
Tucker Carlson asks whether that text in Genesis is referring to the ancient Jewish people only, or is it referring to the modern nation of Israel. Tucker Carlson denies that that verse applies to the modern nation of Israel. The disagreement between Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz reflects a fundamental difference between their respective denominations, the churches they belong to. Ted Cruz is an evangelical. He sees God, his church sees God's relationship with the Jewish people as an ongoing pact, and the creation of the state of Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. But Tucker Carlson is Episcopalian, and Episcopalians believe that the sacrifice of Jesus broke the pact with the Jewish people, and they distinguish between biblical Israel and the modern nation-state. They believe that the church has replaced Israel in the purposes of God. That is an issue that has huge ramifications. It matters what you believe.
In our text, we are going to see God's plan for Israel. And we're going to see, have they been replaced or are they irreplaceable? By the title, I'm giving you a clue, which I believe. Genesis 17, and it's not Tucker Carlson. Genesis 17, starting in verse one. And I didn't even mention him being funded by Qatar, but that's another issue.
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God, and walk, uh, walk before me and be blameless, and I will make my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly." Then Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you'll be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I'll make you exceedingly fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations. Look at this. For an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. And I give to also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are stranger, all the land of Canaan, as again an everlasting possession, and I will be their God."
Irreplaceable is the title of this message. Let's begin. I want to talk about the error. God's purpose in the earth revolves around the nation of Israel. And this is, in many ways, a specific people in a specific location. Our verses here, "I'll establish my covenant between me and you, your descendants after you and their generations, for an everlasting covenant, uh, to be God to you and your descendants after you. And I will give to you and your descendants the land in which you're a stranger, all the land of Canaan." That's where Israel is currently located, as an everlasting possession. And I'll be their God.
Covenant. Powerful Bible word. You know, this meant promise, but it was so serious. A covenant always involved blood. Typically, they would cut an animal in half. And as they would say what they're going to do, they would walk in between. Very serious. Let that happen to me if I ever fail to keep my word. And God himself makes a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. And he says it's everlasting.
God had made a covenant with Abra, uh, Abraham to fulfill his purposes in Genesis 12:1-3. The Lord said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and father's house, to a land that I will show you. I'll make you a great nation. I'll bless you and make your name great. You shall be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you. Curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." In there, God says, "My covenant is a physical land. It's a location. You will be a nation, literally, and then you'll be a blessing to the whole world."
God has fulfilled that, the blessing to the whole world, in part. The word of God. Every book of the Bible was written by a Jew. And of course, our savior Jesus Christ was a Jew, fulfilling that, that part of the covenant. But the overall reason, why did God choose the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham? And he clearly says in Deuteronomy, it's not because you're so good. The purpose of having a covenant people, the Jews, is that they should be a witness to the world. There should be evidence of God.
Isaiah 43:11 and 12: "I am the Lord, beside me there is no savior. I've declared and saved. I have proclaimed. There was no foreign god among you. Therefore, you are my witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God." In this, God is speaking. He says, "I have chosen the Jewish people to be a witness." He says that you would have a God. What does it look like if you have a God, instead of being atheistic or just humanistic, and not just having a god in general, one God as opposed to having many gods? The world is to see the character of God through his dealings with the Jewish people. If you want to understand something of God's love, you can look at Israel, his power, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and judgment. They are a people of witness.
But God warned them from the beginning that there would be judgment on them for disobedience. If they ever disobeyed and rejected God, they would be judged and punished. This was the exile, ultimately the removal of the Jewish people from their land. Deuteronomy 29:28: "The Lord rooted them out of the land in anger, wrath, and indignation, and cast them into another land as it is this day." You can read in the Bible, it records it. It began with being defeated by Pharaoh Neco from Egypt. And then in 610 BC, Nebuchadnezzar came and took them away into Babylon. And then the nation was rebuilt and finally destroyed completely in 70 AD. The Jews were scattered to the nations. This is called the diaspora, or the dispersion. And, uh, here is just a depiction of that. They were forcibly carried away to not exist as a nation for 1900 years.
When the diaspora came and the, uh, nation of Israel, uh, uh, was no longer a nation, a doctrine arose that is called replacement theology. Here's the definition: Israel, both the Jewish people and the land, has been replaced by the Christian church in the purposes of God. That is called replacement theology. Walt Kaiser, he believes in this. He says, "Replacement theology declared that the church, Abraham's spiritual seed, had replaced national Israel in that it had transcended and fulfilled the terms of the covenant given to Israel, which covenant Israel lost because of disobedience." Kenneth Gentry also believes in this, or Gentry, he said, "We believe that's replacement theology people, or covenant theology people. We believe that in the unfolding of the plan of God in history, the Christian church is the very fruition of the redemptive purpose of God. As such, the multi-racial, international church of Jesus Christ supersedes racial, national Israel as the focus of the kingdom of God."
Replacement theology, in just a few brief statements, says the Jewish people are no longer a chosen people. They're no different than any other group in the world. They believe that since Pentecost, Acts chapter 2, every time you read, uh, the word Israel, it always refers to the church. And they believe that all of the promises, blessings, and covenants God made, uh, to the Jews have been rem, taken away from the Jews. All blessings, all promises, all covenants now apply only to the church. But this is convenient. However, the Jews get to keep all the curses. Isn't that a, a wonderful little twist in, in doctrine there? Okay.
Why would people believe that the Jews, national Israel, have been replaced by the church? Replacement theology. Some believe the Jews have been replaced by their disobedience. The technical term for this is called punitive replacement, or replaced because of punishment. The Jews, uh, rejected Jesus. They killed Jesus. Therefore, God has punished them by replacing them. A man named Origen of Alexandria, uh, many years ago, "We say with confidence, the Jews will never be restored to their former condition. For they committed a crime of the most unhallowed kind in conspiring against the savior of the human race. And as a result, the invitation of happiness offered to them by God is to pass to others, the Christians."
They often quote, those who believe in replacement theology will quote Matthew 21:43: "Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit." Jesus, of course, was speaking to a certain type of people, Jewish religious leaders. But, but let's say that it is, let's say that that verse applies to the entire nation of Israel. The question is, is that removal permanent or temporary? And I'll answer that a little bit later.
Second reason is, uh, uh, why, uh, they believe in replacement theology. Some believe that God only established Israel as a means of bringing the Messiah. I have a quote on the screen. This is a, a leading component here. James Renihan: "We do not believe that the church has replaced Israel. We believe that the church is Israel." This is a, a type of doctrine that is called covenant theology. Generally, it is believed by anyone who follows something called reformed doctrine. So, on the one hand, you have people, "Nope, the Jews are replaced because of punishment." Covenant theology says, "No, no, no, we don't believe in replacement theology. We believe God's intention from the beginning was the church. He only established the Jews so that we could have the Messiah. When the Messiah comes, God doesn't need them anymore. The church was always God's plan." But the result is the same. The Jews have been replaced.
They will quote Galatians 3:28 and 29: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, nor slave nor free, 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." They will quote that and say, "See, God's plan is no more Jews. In God's plan, no more Jews." But that scripture also says there's no more male and female. I see a few here. So that's a, that's an illogical argument. That verse is not an argument that Jews don't exist in the purposes of God. It's an argument against division. It's an argument against superiority, saying we are better than someone because of our race or status. It is a, a statement that anyone who believes in Christ inherits salvation by faith. That verse is inclusionary. In other words, it is talking about how others can be included in the promises of God. It is not exclusionary. That verse is not saying Jews cannot be a part of the purposes of God.
So, replacement theology, for many years, was a very easy doctrine to believe. Why? Because Israel didn't exist for 1900 years. They could simply say, "See, that's what happened. God destroyed them." As Origen said, he could never conceive in his mind they would ever be a na. He said, "They will never be a nation again." But in 1948, they did become a nation again. But once you have believed something for so long, you don't let a small thing like facts get in the way of a doctrine. And so the problem is, in spite of evidence, replacement theology and covenant theology, which are just two different sides of the same doctrine, they're very widespread in Christian circles today.
Okay. Having laid that out, let's talk about the consequences of replacement theology. The first consequence, if you believe that the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, has been replaced, that produces hatred for the Jews in many ways. I'm not saying every person who believes this hates the Jews, but it certainly makes it much easier to hate Jewish people if you believe this. Historically, anti-Semitism, being against Jews, often had the idea that Jewish people are getting what they deserve. Why? Because they're Christ killers. Many of those who hate Jewish people say they're Christ killers. The Holocaust, of course, they deserve it. They got what they should because they killed Jesus. It's interesting. Most churches and denominations who believe this are anti-Jewish. They are pro-Palestinian. Here is the Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church becomes the first church to divest from Israel. "We will have nothing to do with Israel." This is economically, in many different ways. But the United Methodist Church believes in replacement theology. Of course, you're going to divest and not want to support the Jews in any way. People who believe this, they say, "Israel has no right to be in the land. You lost it. So therefore, you are oppressors." And this is what you see. "Stop Israeli war crimes." Never mind the kidnapping, rape, and hostage-taking that they did to Jews. It is only if you fight back that's a war crime. But many people who claim to be Christian, if you believe in replacement theology, it's very easy to hate the Jews.
Consequence number two, if you believe that God replaced the Jews, what you're actually saying is God doesn't keep his word. He made a covenant. He promised that it would be everlasting. That means it will never end. The land will be yours. It will never end. But then you're saying, "But because you disobeyed, that's it. I changed my mind." So that changes your relationship with God. What you then are saying is, if you have relationship with God, it's all on your shoulders. That means that you're walking a fine line that at any moment, if you disobey, God can say, "That's it. I'm finished with you, just like I was finished with the Jews. I'm not going to help you anymore." But Romans 3:3 and 4 says, "For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Let, uh, indeed, let God be true, but every man a liar, as it is written, that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged." Here in Romans, it is saying, "Yes, it is true. If people sin, they can be punished. But that does not change covenant. God said, 'I made a covenant and it will last forever.'" But if you believe in replacement theology, then you are saying that God doesn't keep the word that he gave to Abraham.
Consequence number three, replacement theology violates plain scripture to make it fit their doctrine. That's always a bad sign when you have to twist scripture to make it fit what you already believe. Here is one example. Replacement theology says after Acts 2, every time you see the word Israel, you just replace it with the church, because remember the quote I put up, "The church is Israel." Well, let's see how that works in Romans 10:1. Here's just one verse. "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved." So they say, "Every time you see Israel, it's the church." So here is Paul saying, "Brethren, my desire and prayer to God for the church is that they may be saved." The church is the gathering of saved people. Then that scripture doesn't make sense. And I could give you many other examples, but here is the problem. They are now having to twist scripture. They're violating plain common sense to make it fit what they believe.
Romans 11:1. This is what Paul said: "Has then God cast away his people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin." Already in Paul's day, this is what was happening. The Jews, uh, uh, uh, salvation came through the Jewish people. Now Gentiles are getting saved, and the Gentiles are starting to say, "We're so special. The Jews are nothing." And Paul, who was a Jew, says, "Has God cast away his people?" Is that true? That God is finished with them because they killed Christ, because people didn't believe his covenant? Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, certainly not. Certainly not. Listen, God is not finished with Israel.
Revelation 2:9. This is often quoted by those who believe in replacement theology. "This is written to the church in Smyrna. I know your works, tribulation, and poverty, but you're rich. I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." So they say, "See, Jewish people are a synagogue of Satan." That is not at all what that verse meant. Jews who claimed to be have a special relationship with God, why? Because we're Jewish, were persecuting believers. They're persecuting Christians. And so Jesus speaks, uh, through John and says, "Jews who claim to have a special relationship and are persecuting Christians, they're false. Their relationship with God is false. Actually, they are of the synagogue of Satan." In other words, they're doing the work of hell. That is not a blanket statement that every Jew is of the synagogue of Satan. The answer that replacement theology, what they have to do with any inconvenient scripture, they say, "Well, it's just an allegory or a a parable. It's symbolic. You're not meant to take it literally." But the prob, that's bad doctrine. You only interpret a scripture allegorically as a parable or symbol if the scripture says that it is an allegory.
Consequence number four, replacement theology ignores the miracle of modern Israel. Isaiah 66:8: "In no way, in the same way, no one ever saw a country begin in one day. No one's ever heard of a new nation beginning in one moment. But Jerusalem will give birth to her children just as soon as she feels the birth pains." And we know this happened May 7, 1948. Israel, in a day, suddenly they became a nation, fulfilling. This is after God was supposedly finished with Israel. All those who believed it said, "See, they're not a nation." But the covenant still stands, and Israel became a nation. That is a miracle.
Further to that, Ezekiel 36:24: "I'll take you from among the nations. I'll gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land." That promise, if you are saying that all the promises of God, it's the church. Where has the church come from all different nations to join together in the land? They have not, but the Jews have. They call this Aliyah. This is called the return. And here are various photos of people. They are of Jewish descent in other nations. And exactly as God said, the Jews have been and are returning to the land, the covenantal possession. It gets more specific than that. Jeremiah 16:14 and 15: "Behold, the days are coming. It'll no more be said, the, uh, the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt. But it will be said, the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and all the lands he driven them for I'll bring them back, uh, into their land I gave to their fathers." Uh, that is very specific. The land of the north, biblically, that is talking about Russia. Do you know that more than 1 million Jews returned to Israel from the former Soviet Union between 1991 and 2000, exactly as God promised a covenantal people? But the problem is, if you believe in replacement theology, you ignore all of that and say that doesn't mean anything.
Tucker Carlson, based on his doctrinal bias, he said, "Does Genesis 12:2 and 3 apply to the modern nation of Israel?" In other words, "Yeah, Abraham was great. The Jews back then, fine. But he doesn't believe that it applies to the modern nation." Amir Sarfati, who's a Jew, he said, "Israel is the Jews, and the Jews are Israel. There's no difference. And those Jewish people are of the same heritage and ethnicity as the ones in the time of the patriarchs, the wilderness wanderings, the United Kingdom, divided kingdom, exile, post-exile, the time of Jesus, early church, Middle Ages, Ottoman Empire, and the British Mandate. And now into the reconstituted state of Israel, there is no break of ownership, no shifting of people groups. The people of the promise that was given to Abraham are the same people who are populating Israel today."
The fifth consequence of replacement theology, if you believe in it, it will cause you to completely misunderstand end times prophecy. When you read Bible prophecy, much of it deals with judgment. You'll read words like tribulation, the day of the Lord, the day of Jacob's trouble. The key question of this time of judgment is, who will be there? Who is going to be there during the time of judgment? If you believe that the church is Israel, then when you read about this time of judgment, you will misinterpret and you will say, "Who's going to be there? The church." We will be there during the judgment. Hence, you need to buy freeze-dried food and, uh, dried bone broth and get ready for a long stay in the wilderness. You apply scriptures that are only meant for Israel as a people and a nation, and you'll apply them to the church. And that's wrong. The conclusion you will reach is that the church will be here during the seven-year tribulation. They tend to believe in mid-tribulation or post-tribulation rapture. They will quote Isaiah 21:19: "They'll go into the holes of the rocks, the caves of the earth from the terror of the Lord, the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake the earth mightily." They believe if the church is Israel, then we need to go hide in the rocks because we're going to be here during the tribulation.
Let's talk about one final thought, and that's the thought: irreplaceable. The nation of Israel, as I said, was a witness nation. The nation of Israel is a living demonstration of the heart and character of God. The nation of Israel shows the world the love of God. God said, "Why do I love you? Not because of you. It's because I love you." And if you belong to God, because he loves you, he will help you. He will fight for you. Zechariah 2:8: "For he who touches you touches the apple of his eye." When God loves someone, he helps them. You read and you can see evidence of it all over the world. The Jewish people are blessed financially all over the world. Why? Because God says, "When I love you, I help you, I bless you." That was the original covenant made with Abraham. And you see this. This is the root of much anti-Semitism is when people see that Jewish people are financially blessed. And then you see in their history, even modern up to date, you see when God loves you, he fights for you. There are many stories of the Jewish troops, the IDF, fighting, and you will see in 1967, entire tank battalions would surrender to one man. Why would you do that? One man standing alone with a gun. Tanks would surrender. Why? Because they said, "Because we saw all of those troops that were with him." God fights for people. You can see the love of God.
The nation of Israel shows the world the faithfulness of God. What do you learn from Israel? God keeps his word. Everything he says, he will do. Genesis 17 and 8: "Now, I think I'm reading from the New Century Version. I'll confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant. I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you. I will give you the entire land of Canaan where you now live as a foreigner to you and your descendants. Look at this in bold. It will be their possession forever. And I will be their God." Okay, but what if they do wrong? God said, "You will be judged if you do wrong." That's true. But you know what you learn from Israel? Discipline by God doesn't last forever. Yes, God will punish people who do wrong. But discipline is never meant to last forever. When Israel sinned in the Old Testament, they got off track. When they repented, God helped them again. Here's the book of Judges 3:15: "When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord again raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud, son of Gera, a left-handed man from the tribe of Benjamin." The Israelites sent Ehud to deliver their tribute money. He sent a rescuer. God's people got off track. He disciplines them. But when they decide to get back on track, God helps them.
Listen, there are people here this morning. You are not right with God right now. You are suffering the consequences of sin in your relationships. They're broken. In your addictions, in your mind, you are tormented. You know what we learn from the people of Israel is that God can save you. God can help you. You can leave here different than you came in, because that is who God is. If you have gotten off track, if you used to be right with God, you backslid, you disobeyed. Listen, discipline doesn't last forever. God doesn't hate you. We learn from the Jewish people. God wants to help you. How do we know that? Because he has done it for Israel. And that is what he will do for us. But what if they disbelieve? But what if they did bad? Listen to me. You know what it shows us? God is better than we are. It is not on the basis of "I'm so good that God helps me." No, no, no. God is better than we are. And that is what we learn from the Jewish people.
See, the truth is, the church does not replace Israel, but rather shares with Israel the covenants of God. Romans 11:17 and 18: "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, talking about Gentiles, non-Jews, though you are a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others, and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, that's the Jewish nation of people. Do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you." The Gentiles, Paul says, have been added. It's the picture of grafting in a branch to the trunk of a tree. We've been added to the Jews. We don't replace the Jews. And the word in that verse says, "among the others," not "in place of the others." You know what that means? Is God is not finished with the nation of Israel.
Romans 11:28-29 (New Century Version): "The Jews refuse to accept the good news. So they're God's enemies. This has happened to help you who are not Jews. But the Jews are still God's chosen people. He loves them very much because of the promises he made to their ancestors. God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things that he gives them." We join with the Jews. How do you understand that? Is because God moves in seasons, time frames. The big word that talks about time frames is dispensations. Dispensations is the ordering of God in the affairs of the world in time frames.
Romans 11:25: "I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion. That blindness in part has happened to Israel, look at this, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." God's purpose was Abraham and the Jewish people. That was his focus until the birth of the church. We are now in the church age, which the focus in the witness to the world primarily is now the church, that is us, because the Jews were judged. But remember, judgment doesn't last forever. It comes to an end. It has a limited time frame until it accomplishes God's purpose. The current dispensation, or time frame, the church age, will come to an end. The verse that we just read says, "until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." God's purpose. He's working now primarily and mainly through the church. Non-Jews, we are Gentiles. But the Bible says the fullness of the Gentiles. Literally, God already knows the exact number of Gentiles that will come to faith in Jesus Christ. All around the world, people are witnessing. Altar calls are being preached in services, outreaches, concerts, any type of a, a function. And people, Gentiles are praying. God already knows the number. When the last person is saved, the church age will come to an end. And God will return his focus back to the nation of Israel. And, uh, God will focus again on national Israel. God tells of a seven-year period when the focus of God and the whole earth will be on Israel alone, not the church. We call this the tribulation, or the great tribulation. It tells us during that seven-year period in Israel, there will be a peace treaty. They will rebuild the temple. The peace treaty will be broken with the Antichrist. The nations of the entire world will gather to fight in Israel. We call that Armageddon, or literally in the valley of Megiddo. Revelation 16:14-16: "They are the spirits of demons performing miraculous signs that go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes on him, that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed. Then they gathered the kings together to that place in Hebrew that is called Armageddon, or the valley of Megiddo, which is Jezreel, in the nation of Israel."
If you understand that phrase, "the fullness of the Gentiles," our purpose on earth has been completed. How is it? What triggers God to change his focus from the church back to Israel? It is the fact that every Gentile believer will no longer be on earth. The Bible, we call this the rapture. We will be instantly caught up, disappear off this earth to go to heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4:17: "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." If you read Revelation, the book of the end times, chapters 1 through 3, the focus is on the church and unto the seven churches, the churches in Philadelphia, Pergamum, Smyrna, Laodicea, the seven churches. But chapter 4:1, the angel says, "Come up here." And from that point after, there is no more mention of the church because we're not going to be here. If you want to buy freeze-dried fruit food, be my guest. I'm not going to eat it with you. I won't be here. You can have it all to yourself. I won't even buy any and compete with you. That'll be fine because the focus of God returns to national Israel. It's during the tribulation. God will judge Israel for their sin, rejecting Jesus. He judges the nations and Israel, and then he returns and sets up his kingdom on earth in Israel.
So, if the church does not replace Israel, what should our attitude be toward Israel and the Jews? We need, number one, to believe God and his word and his will concerning Israel. Genesis 12:3, Ted Cruz correctly quoted this: "I will bless those who bless you." We need to believe God keeps his word. The Jews are a special chosen people. We don't replace them. We have different functions and purposes. Both are witness people, but their witness will, uh, uh, be in different ways. You better believe God's word. He will return his purposes to Israel.
Secondly, what should we do? We need to pray for Israel. Psalm 122:6: "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you." Pray that God will protect the Jewish people. Pray that their leaders will have wisdom and make good decisions. Pray against the strategies of their enemies. And pray that the eyes of the Jewish people will be opened and they will be saved. One day, God has a great revival for the Jewish people. Pray for Israel.
And thirdly, we need to watch the events that you can see every day in Israel to know what time it is in Bible prophecy, because Israel is God's time clock. When you see things happen, they are news, historical events, you can tell what time it is prophetically. Iran being defeated. And you see that they, they attacked. I, I told you this in a number of prophecy sermons. I said, "Israel will deal with the nuclear, uh, potential of Iran." And this is what they did. You see them making peace treaties with former enemies. This is called the Abraham Accords. Various nations, Saudi Arabia, and other nations, the UAE. You see this happening because God said that there would be peace. You will see them expanding their territory and ultimately becoming a burdensome stone to the world. I will tell you four things that are still to come, and you're going to see them happen completely.
Number one, Hamas will be completely destroyed, and the Palestinian people will be completely removed from Israel. How do I know that? Because Ezekiel 37, 38, Russia ultimately coming to attack says, "A city of unwalled villages." In other words, living completely at peace. You cannot be at peace when you have people who hate you, who are stockpiling rockets to kill you, are living within your territory. I don't care what, what politician, I don't care what France and England declare. Hamas will be completely destroyed. All Palestinians will be moved out of the land of Israel.
The second thing, they are going to completely destroy the threats from Iran. We saw the nuclear, that was the urgent one that, uh, threatened their existence. Israel is not done with Iran. The Ayatollah Khamenei is a very foolish man. He keeps threatening Israel. That's not wise. What's that shadow in the sky? It's a missile coming for you. That's what it is. And they are going to completely destroy any threat that Iran is. And Iran will no longer be able until the battle of, uh, uh, Ezekiel 37 and 38.
Third thing that's going to happen, Israel is going to expand their current territory. That will include parts of Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt. That will happen because God gave us the borders of the land. And, uh, you can see glimpses of that right now. That will happen.
The last thing that will happen, and when this happens, you can tell what time it is. The city of Damascus will be absolutely and completely destroyed. Isaiah 17:1 says that Damascus will cease from being a city. The oldest continuously inhabited city in the world will be completely destroyed. I'm not saying that God told me this in the exact details, but common sense says, how do you completely remove a city that so that it never is rebuilt? Probably a nuclear weapon, which Israel has. Why would Israel drop a nuclear weapon on Damascus? I am just surmising here, but Iran, their threats of missiles have been neutralized, their centrifuges have been neutralized, but they did have a great deal of enriched plutonium that could be used, maybe not for a missile, an atomic bomb, but they could have a dirty bomb, and they have been transferring out. Logic tells me a very likely scenario is that Iran, because they hate Israel, transfer to their proxy, Syria, who is a jihadist member of ISIS. The president of Syria is now a jihadist. It would be an easy leap of logic that he would be willing to release something that could potentially destroy. Israel will not allow that to happen. God will not allow it to happen. And you will see Damascus destroyed.
But overall, listen, I don't care. In our world, increasingly, hatred for the Jews is rising. Doctrinally, many people are believing in replacement theology. But according to God's word, Israel is irreplaceable. They will never be replaced in the purposes of God. And that is, that is good news for us, because if God keeps his word for Israel, he will keep his word for us. How many of you can say amen? Thank God. Praise the Lord.
Let's bow our heads. Close our eyes. All across this place. Thank God. Now, with our heads bowed, I said during this sermon, if you are not right with God, here's the good news. You can fix it. God will save you. People who are bound and addicted, tormented in their mind, relationships destroyed, God is a savior. He can save you this morning. The hope of Israel is the same hope for every non-Jew. Jesus Christ is the one who died on the cross and paid with his blood. We sang about that blood tonight. The reason why we sing about it is it has saved us from sin. There are people, you have never experienced that salvation. My challenge to you this morning is turn from your sin, and God can do a miracle from the inside out. The power of salvation is not you trying hard. It's what God will do in you and for you because of the blood of Jesus.
How many people here, you'd be honest and say, "Pastor Greg, I am not right with God. I'll be honest about that. I know that I need to be saved. I need a savior." If you would be honest this morning, God can save you. How many people here? How do you get saved? You pray with an honest heart, and God will save you this morning. If you're here, not right with God, and you want to pray, lift up your hands so I can see it. You're saying, "Pastor Greg, I need Jesus. I know that. I want to get right with God." Lift up your hand. Show me. No one else is looking around. This is private. Thank you. God bless you, man. You can put your hand down. I appreciate that hand. How many others? Join this one. I want to get right with God. I need God to save me. Join this one. Lift up your hand. I want to turn from my sin. I need God to do a miracle in me.
Some of you are backsliding. The Jewish people, the nation of Israel, give us hope because if you have gotten off track, discipline doesn't last forever. You could begin to be saved and healed this morning. How many backsliders, you're here, I've gotten off track. I need to come home. Lift up your hand. God loves you. He wants to heal you where you're broken. He can heal your backslidden heart. How many others? Lift up your hand. I want to come home. I want to get right with God. Thank God. This man, you lifted your hand. Did you mean that? Yes. Come here. I'm going to have someone pray with you. God bless you, man. Appreciate you being honest. God bless you. God's going to help you. I want you to kneel down right here. David's going to pray with you. Thank you. I appreciate you being honest.
Let's all stand to our feet. I'm going to open the altars. Some of you need to believe in the goodness of God in the areas of life. We serve a faithful God that we can learn from the Jewish people and God who loves us very much. The altars are open. If you want to pray, they're going to sing, "Because He Lives."
Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He Lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth living,
Because He Lives.
[Music]
Because He Lives.
Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He Lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth living,
Because He Lives.
[Music]
Sing it again.
Because He Lives.
Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He Lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth living,
Because He Lives.
[Music]
Let's praise God for His faithfulness right now. God, we thank You. God, I thank You for Your love and faithfulness to Your children. Lord God, praise God. Praise God. God is so good to us.
I want to let you know that I am going to be preaching again in the evening service, uh, tonight, a sermon called "Faith at Work." This sermon is going to encourage you. It's going to bless you. Some of you are going to be set free tonight, and we're going to pray for various kinds of needs. Faith at Work. I will be preaching. That's the evening service at 6:30 p.m. Want to remind you that we have prayer one hour before the evening service, 5:30 p.m. we're going to pray. And then new converts, we have a class for you new believers, 5:00 p.m. That is in the main entrance hallway on that side, the west side. And you can meet there at 5:00 p.m. We will provide all of the materials so you can learn about God.
Let's bow our heads, and we're going to be dismissed in prayer, and you make sure you fellowship. If there's somebody that you don't know, please, uh, make them feel welcome as we go. Thank God.
With our heads bowed, I'm going to ask Brother Steve Bowman, you dismiss in prayer.