Transcription
Hello Freedom House Central Campus. Great to be with you guys. Can we stand on our feet and just give God some praise for all these baptisms we saw today? Just give Jesus a shout, a hand clap. Come on. Man, I I never ever ever ever ever get tired of seeing people baptized. I always tell you guys there's always one person that gets me in every single first service. It was just like the whole service and then this service, oh my goodness. The the the children over here, I mean, come on. I mean, I was just like, man, I got to preach today. I mean, it's it's so good to see God changing lives and I'm just so thankful that uh man, we get to be a part of a church. We we get to see it often and I love that. Amen. Man, it's it's it's such a blessing to see that.
And you know, before we jump into God's word today, I do want to greet those that are with us online. You might not be aware, but we have an online campus. We have folks tuning in right now all across the nation, all across the world. And so, hey, we love you guys. Hope you enjoyed baptisms. You were praying and believing with us, celebrating with us. And so, thank you for being with us today. You're not just tuning in, you're part of our family. So, we love you very, very much. My My name, if I've never met you before, my name is Olan Carter with if I would love to meet you after service today. I'm on our teaching team.
And so, a big part of Freedom House Church our our mission, our culture here is that we do everything here as a team. From the parking lot to the pulpit, we do it as a team. So, we have a teaching team. So, every Sunday you come, you're going to get a live communicator, a pastor up here bringing you a live word of God, not just the video that we we send out. Nothing wrong with that, but that's our culture. It's who we are as a church. Can I get an amen? That's who we are. And And I love that. I love that vision because it means all of us get to play a part in what God is doing. And so, that's that's made possible by our senior pastors, Pastor Troy, Pastor Penny. Can we give them a hand clap? Just give them some honor. They don't ask us to do that, but I always just like to honor them. I'm thankful for their heart that I get to be up here and do what I get to do cuz I love teaching and preaching God's word very much.
And man, we're in a great series right now, The Scarlet Thread. How many of you were here for for Good Friday or Easter or both? Yeah, it was powerful, powerful. Hopefully, some of some of you still have your scarlet thread. We learned about Rahab. And all month, we're going to be talking about this scarlet thread, this plan, this mystery all through scripture of God's redemption, the blood of Christ. You can see it just woven throughout history. It's so amazing. And I I personally, I don't want to spoil it, but man, you got to be excited. Pastor Troy's message. I know he's going to be talking about seeing Jesus in the tabernacle and all the different facets in the Old Testament. Like, I'm pumped. I want to I want I'm I'm going to geek out on that message. Like, I'm excited to hear that.
Um today today, what I want to talk to you about is the gospel a mystery now revealed, a mystery now revealed. We're going to We're going to unpack a mystery together today. Anybody like a mystery? Like a mystery? Well, we're going to unpack it today together. Now, if if you've been paying attention recently, the whole entire planet is tuned in to one place, one area, the Middle East. Right? And especially this tiny little nation called Israel. All eyes are on Israel right now. Israel, Iran, kind of the conflict, things. But even for a while, I mean for for for the longest time, I mean there's just so much attention on that part of the world and especially on this nation of Israel. And no matter what your opinion is about Israel, about end times, um about how maybe our leaders are handling conflict and issues there. Should we support Israel? Should we not support Israel? There are people who say that, you know, I don't really think modern Israel or the state of Israel really has anything to do with the end times or God's plan or anything like that. I'm just like, Huh? I go, "Are you paying attention?" I mean, how do you explain Have you ever wondered about, thought about the the miraculous nature of how this tiny little nation of Israel has impact the outsized impact they have had on history? I mean, you go all the way back to ancient times. Egypt, the most powerful empire in the world at the time. They take the Israelites, they become slaves and they're and they're captive in Egypt. They They're They're kind of powerless to get out and somehow, some way this tiny little group of people are delivered miraculously from the most powerful empire in the world. How does Israel defeat the armies of Egypt? How does Israel get delivered and break free and go and and and get the promised land? Like, how does that happen? Doesn't even make sense. You You look at the Babylonian and the Persian captivity, the time of Esther when Esther becomes queen of at that time the most powerful empire in the world. How does that happen? Is that just happenstance? The time of Christ, I mean, we see the impact of Christianity on the Roman Empire. I mean, Christianity started out with Jews, right? And then that our faith eventually became and took over the entire Roman Empire, most powerful empire in the world. You look today in modernity, modern times, Jews today make up 0.2% of the world population and yet they make up roughly 25% of all Nobel Prize winners. How do you explain that? I mean, you see this this outsized impact all through history, all throughout the world. Western civilization today, our nation, our laws are built on a Judeo-Christian framework. Now, why is that? Why why why do you think that that is? Well, unbelieving historians and academics would tell you, "Well, it's because the Semitic people, especially the Jews, have always They've been really inclined towards literacy, so they read a lot of books and they've had to be very adaptable to changing circumstances." Yeah, right. You're going to tell me because they read a couple extra scrolls that they were able to get out of Egypt and defy the most powerful nations in the world, that God blessed them in this way, that Christ comes, that all of civil Western civilization is shaped because well, they read an extra book or two. It doesn't even make sense. I mean, 2 + 2 is not 147. I mean, there's no way you can square that math. It just doesn't make sense. God's hand through history on the nation of Israel is obvious. It's obvious. I mean, you got to be trying to miss it to to miss the fact that God's hand has been on Israel.
But this brings some very legitimate questions that we must address as Christians. And these questions are important. And listen, these are good, honest questions. If you're asking these questions, if you're confused about these questions, that's okay. Listen, you don't have to agree with me on everything. You can be wrong if you want to. You're entitled to to have a wrong opinion. I'm joking. I'm joking. I know I'm not right about everything, just 99% of things. But every once in a while Randy has to correct me. But no, listen, if you disagree or you have questions, don't feel like, oh, well, I'm not a good Christian, or oh, well, the pastors are this or that, or the leaders of the church won't love me or accept Listen, this is a place you can come and talk and ask questions and understand God's word. And this Thank you. And this is not a heaven or hell issue. Can I get an amen? Not a heaven or hell issue, okay? But it is an important one. And so, what are some of these questions? Legitimate questions that we might have as Christians as we read the Bible, as we study history. What are some of these questions? Number one, what was, or better yet, what is God's plan? What is all this about? Like, why the Jews? Why Israel? Why Christ? Why the Old Testament stories and prophecy? LIKE, WHY DID GOD DO it this way? Like, what is he driving towards? What is God's plan? Secondly, is God done with the Jewish people? Now that Jesus has come, he's our Messiah, he died on the cross for our sins. He rose again. Like, we believe in Jesus. Gentiles, non-Jews are welcomed into the kingdom. Like, is that it? Is God done with the Jews? Are they on the shelf or they no more? Like what is the deal with that? How should we as Christians view Jewish people, the nation of Israel, Jews? How should we view them? How should we treat them? Have we taken their place? This is a big one. Today, it's it's online. There's a lot of stuff going on about this. Have we taken taken their place? Have we replace Sometimes this is called replacement theology. Have we as the church replaced the Jews?
Now, my mother, she loves puzzles. Marie Carter loves her some puzzles. And if you want to bless my mom, like if you're ever wondering, what do I get Marie Carter? Like you just get her a little 500-piece puzzle, she will be tickled. She will be thrilled, right? Now, she is 80 now, so she's we just celebrated her 80th birthday. That's Y'all clap for that. Hey, 80's a pretty big deal. Yeah. We're just Yeah. Uh I thought 80's a pretty big deal. And, you know, she taught At 80, hey, she's slowing down just a little bit. No more thousand-piece puzzles. Now, we're just we're just doing 500, okay? That's all. 500's enough. But, when I grew up, anybody in here like doing puzzles? When when I grew up, me and my grandmother, my mother's mother, we I would be at my grandmother's house and me and grandma, we loved doing puzzles together. And we would get this big card table and we would do the thousand and sometimes like the 2500, like the big big really intricate puzzles. And man, they're tough, right? It takes some time. And how many of you know, if you've done a puzzle, it is a lot easier to put the puzzle together if you have the top the cover of the puzzle box. Can I get an amen? Like that makes it 10 times easier if I know where I'm going. Like if I know what the picture is supposed to look like, MAN, THAT HELPS me to understand and put the pieces of the puzzle together.
So, today today we're we're in the series Scarlet Thread. Let's Let's read together and understand what is the the the top of the puzzle box? What is the finished finished product, the end picture that God is shooting for with his plan of redemption? So, turn in your Bibles here Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3 we're going to start in verse 1. We're going to bounce around a little bit between Ephesians 3, Ephesians 2, couple other passages today, but these are incredible passages that are going to reveal the mystery of the gospel. The gospel is a mystery revealed. We can understand it. We can we can grasp it. Ephesians chapter 3 verse 1, "For this reason I Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles." Thank you, Paul. Everybody say, "Thank you, Paul." Hey, Paul did a lot for us, right? Like most of the New Testament Paul wrote. And why did he write it? For us. For Gentile believers to understand the good news of the gospel. So, I appreciate him for that. He goes on verse 2, "Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you." Paul was given something special for us. How the mystery, here's the mystery, was made known to me by revelation. He's saying I I didn't make it up. I didn't figure it out. The Holy Spirit revealed to me this mystery, unpacked this mystery. As I have written briefly, when you read this, when we read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. Which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit. Here it is, verse six. This mystery is that Here it is, okay? This is where you'd have a drum roll. This is the mystery. Paul's going to unpack it for us here. This mystery is that the Gentiles, us in this room, Gentile believers, the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Come on, can you give God some praise for that? He says right here, we are fellow heirs. Man, that is something to get excited about. Listen, if you woke up this morning and you found out you were you had been written into the will and you are now an heir of Elon Musk. You'd have been so excited. You'd probably wreck your car. Like, you'd have You'd have been You'd have been bouncing off the walls. You'd have probably sprained your ankle jumping up and down, doing backflips and cartwheels. Like, YOU'D HAVE BEEN EXUBERANT. YOU YOU'D HAVE BEEN LIKE TONY, MAN. I mean, maybe. I mean, like like half is energetic as Tony, but you know, I don't think any of us could ever match Tony Bowles. But like, that's what you'd look like. You'd be YOU'D BE ON FIRE. I MEAN, YOU'D BE SO EXCITED TO FIND out that you had been written into the will. You are an heir of the richest man in the world. And yet, we come to church and find out I've been made an heir of the king of kings, the lord of lords, the creator of the universe. Somebody that's bigger and greater and richer than Elon Musk. And we SIT IN OUR CHAIR AND WE GO, "I wonder when it's going to be over today. Uh Uh you know, I'm going to beat the Baptist to the buffet. Uh Praise the Lord. You know, I ate dinner kind of early last night. I'm a little hungry today. Uh I don't know. We sang a lot of songs. I don't know how many songs we got to sing. This is Jesus fella or I just I got to tell you I don't know. How is it possible? How is it possible we come into the house of God? We see lives change. We hear the gospel message of the goodness OF GOD THAT I'VE BECOME A JOINT HEIR WITH CHRIST. THAT I'M AN HEIR TO THE PROMISE. The promise. MAN OF GOD THAT MAKES ME EXCITED. And every time I read the Bible, I should read it with that lens. I should see the scarlet thread, the blood of Jesus. When I'm reading the Old Testament, it's David's being chased by Saul and this king was was ungodly and this happened and so-and-so begat so-and-so and I'm like, "What is all this for?" No, I'm excited because when I read it, I'm reading Olin BECOMES AN HEIR OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. THIS is the story of HOW WE GET IN TO THE COVENANT. OF HOW GOD redeems mankind. That is exciting.
What does this tell us? It tells us number one that Jesus transforms outsiders into heirs. Outsiders into heirs. We've been given access to the most exclusive the the the the most important group in the history of the world, the kingdom of God. We've been given access and God the story tells us that God chose unlikely people in Israel to that displays his glory because it doesn't make sense. Israel we're going to read in a minute like, "Why did he choose Israel?" Because Israel didn't make any sense. They were the most unlikely group you could pick to bring salvation to ungodly people, us the Gentiles, to display his glory. Or his mercy, excuse me. So, all through this story, we see God displaying his power and his glory, and then displaying his mercy and his grace through this story, this scarlet thread. Deuteronomy 7:7-8, it says, "It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord has set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all people." He's talking to Israel and he's saying, "I didn't choose you because you were the biggest, baddest nation around. It was the opposite. It's the fact that you were weak, and you were few." WHY WOULD GOD PICK A weak nation? Because there can be no mistake in what God does and how he does it, that he gets the glory, not them. There is no Israel has no chance against Egypt or Babylon or these OTHER NA- LIKE, NO CHANCE. THEY'RE A TINY LITTLE NATION. They're few in number. He says in verse 8, "But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt."
Notice that God is personal. He says, "And is keeping the oath he swore to your fathers." See, God didn't start with a nation, he started with a man. He started with a man. God is a personal God. And I've been having conversations with some people, some people in our church even that have some questions or maybe concerns about this popular debate, this controversial debate happening right now about the Jews, about Israel, about all these things. And one of the things that I just cannot get past is the relational nature of God. That God didn't just pick a group of people. He didn't just pick a nation. He didn't go, "Well, I'm just going to pick Israel, or I'm going to pick Egypt, or I'm going to pick, you know, uh uh Syria, or I'm going to pick No, no, no. God picked a man. There was a man named Abraham, and God said, "I like this guy." "I like this guy." He said, "Abraham, I want to bless you." And Abraham Abraham responded by faith. He said, "You You want to bless me?" God said, "I'm going to bless you." And he responded by trusting and believing in God. The Bible says that his faith was counted to him as righteousness, and God made promises to Abraham. God tells Abraham, "Hey, man, I like you. I love you. I'm choosing you. I'm using you. And you know what, man? I like you so much, your kids are going to be blessed, and their kids are going to be blessed, and their kids are going to be blessed, and their kids are going to be blessed, and their kids are going to be blessed." And as a parent, man, I can identify with that, because if you really want to bless me, like I mean, I'm open to gifts. Let's make that clear. I'm open to gifts. Um but if you really want to bless my heart, you want to touch my heart, bless my kids. Right? Parents, any parents in the room? Like you want to really touch my heart Bless my children. See, I have this I have this joy, this hope, this understanding that because not because of everything I do, it's not, "Well, I I'm a pastor, and I serve, and I do this, and I do that, so God owes me." No, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. God, I've messed up way more than I've done right. It's not a works thing. It's because he loves me. See, I know him. He knows me. There's this relationship I have with God. This covenant I a personal relationship I have with God that gives me assurance that because I'm living my life for him, because I'm his, because I know him, because he loves me, he's going to take care of my babies. God's going to take care of my children. Like I believe that. Anybody else believe that?
But some of us sometimes we don't look at it this way. We look at God's love as impersonal. Some of you in this room today, this is how you look at God's love. Well, if I said, "Does God love you?" You would say, "Well, yeah, God loves everybody." Like God loves you out of obligation. God doesn't love me because he loves everybody. I'm special. That went over about like I thought. Well, what are you saying? Are you saying I'm not special? No. No, hear me out. I'm special. God has chosen me for a purpose. God knows me as an individual. My name the I'm written in the palm of his hand. I'm special. But here's the thing, you're special, too. He doesn't love me more than you. He loves me different than you. He just like my kids. I don't love one kid more than the other, but I love them different. I don't love my kids just because they're my kids. Well, I love my kids, you know, you you're supposed to love your kids, you're a parent. I mean, let's be honest, we're humans. Sometimes you're like, you know, you're like, "It's because of my love that you're still breathing, you know?" I'm sure God has those moments, especially with me. But I don't love my kids because I'm obligated to love my kids. I can tell you there are these little moments and times with my kids. Like I know my kids. I love my kids. And you need to have an understanding through the story of scripture, the scarlet thread, that God knows you and that he loves you. You are special to God. When we look at it the other way, we make God's love abstract and impersonal. That's why God's word is filled with stories about real people. And how God related to them and used them and blessed them and corrected them.
So, we see this in Israel that God chose Israel for a purpose, not because they were mighty, but because they were weak so he could show his glory. What about us as Gentiles? What kind of shape, what kind of condition were we in without Christ? Let's read here Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11 and 12. It says, "Therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, that's the Jewish people, which is made in the flesh by hands." They had a physical procedure done, but now our hearts are circumcised in Christ. But he's making the distinction in the flesh, Jew ethnic Jews and Gentile believers. He says, "Remember, verse 12, that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." Now, I don't know about you, that sounds pretty bad to me. Can I get an amen? That sounds rough, y'all. Like we were not in good shape. It says we were we were having no hope and we were without God in the world.
This great mystery of Christ that Paul reveals to the world is this, that God takes Jewish sinners and Gentile sinners who put their faith in Jesus and he makes us into one body. He unites us into one. He says here in chapter 3 verse 6, he says we are fellow heirs. Fellow heirs. Say fellow heirs. We're fellow heirs. That begs the question with who? If I'm a fellow heir with somebody, if I'm in a will and there's other heirs in the will, like who are they? Right? Like if you just found out, "Hey, this long lost relative died and man, you're one of five heirs and inherit his fortune of $200 million." What would be your question? What Who are they? Who gets what? Like what's the deal? Right? Like you would want to know. Like I'm an heir, but I'm a fellow heir. I'm not the sole heir. I'm a fellow Well, WHO AM I AN HEIR WITH? WHO IS HE TALKING about in this passage of scripture? It's very important we understand this, guys, as believers. Very, very important that we get this. He's not saying we're fellow heirs with the Jews. He's saying we're fellow heirs with Jewish believers. With Jews who have put their faith in Jesus. Hear me today. And I'm I'm stressing this point because there's been some arguments made online, publicly, not just about our church. I mean, you know, this is not a Freedom House issue. This is a I mean, a national issue right now. There's there's big debates going on about this stuff. Who are the Jews? Who's God's chosen people? And there's this straw man argument that people that teach and espouse some of the things that we do, that we're saying that Jews, just because they're Jews, go to heaven. That they're the chosen people, they just get a free pass. They eventually they're all going to be saved. They all go to heaven. No. No. No one here believes that. None of our pastors do not believe that. The Bible does not teach that. There is only salvation through Jesus Christ. That is clear in scripture. Read with me here. Acts chapter 4 verses 11 through 12. This is This is Peter, the Apostle Peter, speaking to Jews very early after Christ has resurrected and ascended to heaven. Peter is addressing Jewish religious leaders, okay? He's talking to Jews and he says, "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." That is He made that so clear you would need help to misunderstand it. There is no way you can misunderstand what Peter is saying in this passage. He is saying there is one way. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. There is one name given under heaven whereby men must be saved, not should be saved, not might be saved, not if you want to be saved. No, must be saved. There is salvation in no one else. So let's be clear with that. That is what the Bible teaches. So Jews, just because you're born a Jew does not mean you're going to heaven. You have to put your faith in Jesus. If you're a Gentile, doesn't mean you're going to hell. You put your faith in Jesus. We all must put our faith in Jesus.
He also says in chapter 3 verse 6, members of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Notice he says promise, not promises. Now, this is where people get confused sometimes because they read the promises of scripture and then they lump some everything. But there are promises in the Old Testament made at certain times to certain people. Some of them are to certain groups and some of them are conditional and do not apply to us today. I personally, Olin Carter, was not promised any land in the Middle East. Can I get an amen? You can go over and try your best. No. Like, I wasn't that wasn't a promise made to me. I'm an heir of the promise. What is the promise? You sum up the promise, one word, Jesus. The promise was Jesus, but also everything that comes along with or is included in being in Jesus. So, salvation, forgiveness, redemption, sanctification, healing, access to God, faith, like everything relationship with God. Everything that comes in that package of the promise of Jesus, I am an heir of that and he says that I am a fellow heir. He says that we are partakers of that promise. That word in the Greek means fellow sharer, joint owner, partner, perhaps even like a spouse. And when I was studying that word, that hit me when it said like a spouse, because I have a spouse. Anybody else in here have a spouse? And we are joint sharers. And she comes home after spending money, and I'm like, how much of my money did you spend? And she says, it's not your it's not your money, it's our money. And I didn't spend very much of our money. If you're married, you're married, right? What what's mine is hers, what's hers is mine, like it's ours. And that's what he's saying here. We share together in the promise. There's no one that gets more of the promise, no one that gets less of the promise. No, we share equally in the promise.
We've got to understand, guys, there are only two groups. There are only two groups. Satan loves division. And people are very tribal. And so people are always trying to divide out into groups. Who's better? Who's worse? Who's this? Who's that? There's only two groups that matter, believers and unbelievers. Are you in Christ or are you not in Christ? Is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? That's the group I want to be in. And the things we're talking about today, they're not heaven or hell issues. You can disagree with another believer about the end times, eschatology, Israel, this and that, whatever, government, politics, AND STILL GO TO HEAVEN. YOU CAN ALSO be the most conservative conservative in the history OF CONSERVATIVES AND BUST HELL WIDE OPEN. YOUR POLITICAL opinions do not get you into heaven. Jesus gets you into heaven. Right? So there's two groups that matter, y'all. There's two groups that really really matter, believers and unbelievers.
Look with me Ephesians chapter 2 verse 13. It says, "But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances. Can I get an amen? Hallelujah. Praise God. I don't live under the law. I live under grace. I don't have to earn it. He earned it. I've got it because of what he did that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two. No longer one group, two groups, three groups. No, one. So making peace and might reconcile us both to God, the Jew and the Gentile in one body through the cross thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. For then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. This is the plan of God. This is the mystery of Christ, the scarlet thread running from Genesis to Revelation. God wants to unify every one of us. No more ethnic division, no more gender division, no more spiritual division, no more division. He wants one body. People united in Christ, in love with God and in love with each other.
Now this does not mean that there still aren't natural differences in people and in our roles as people. He goes on here, Galatians chapter 3. He makes this very clear. 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's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. Now, a lot of people that espouse this kind of replacement theology that we've taken the place of the Jews and all this stuff, they will use this passage and they will say, "See? We've taken their place. There's no longer Jew or Gentile." Yeah, he also says there's no longer male or female. We going to one bathroom? UH-UH, NOT IN THIS CHURCH. NO, there's still male and female. And when you get saved, listen, if when you get saved, if you were Guatemalan, you're still Guatemalan. When you get saved, if you're American, you're still American. If you get saved, you were Jew, you're still a Jew. If you get saved, you were German, you're still German. You're just Christian first. You're Christian first. I'm still a man. I'm still an American man, but I'm a Christian first. And what is Paul really saying here? He's not talking about that at all. He's saying, it's so clear, he's saying, there's no caste system in the kingdom of heaven. There's no big Christian, important Christian, and unimportant Christian. Listen, for those of you who were baptized today, and for the for the family members, anyone in that's going to put their faith in Jesus today, if this is the first day you choose to follow Christ, listen to me, you are not a second-class citizen in the kingdom of heaven. There's no There's no you know, mature, well, you're a pastor, or you're a leader, or you're this, or you've got a title. It's like, no, no, no. God will hear your prayer just as much as he hears my prayer, just as much as he hears Pastor Troy's prayer, or Billy Graham's prayer, or anybody's prayer. It doesn't matter if you're black, or white, or young, or old, or rich, or poor. It doesn't matter if you're a man, or a woman. It doesn't matter who you are in the kingdom of God. We are equal through the blood of Jesus. It's the blood that gives me access to God. He's saying you are equal in your access, in your standing in the kingdom. The scarlet thread is a humanity issue. It's not an ethnic issue. It's not a gender issue. IT'S NOT A WEALTH ISSUE. It's a humanity issue. Cuz we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. And Paul's revealing it this mystery to us. It's beautiful. THAT'S WHY I GET EXCITED. THAT'S WHY I GOT A SWEAT RAG, Y'ALL, because I get worked up when I start talking about Jesus, thinking about Jesus. Because it's POWERFUL AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL and it saved my life and it changes me and it changes you and we know this and SO HE'S SAYING SHARE IT WITH PEOPLE and there's no division in the kingdom. That's Satan, y'all. That's Satan that wants to divide us.
So if there's still Jews and we know there's still Jews, there's still Jewish people. Had this discussion the other day and and and the person was like, "Yeah, but who are the Jews? And who is Israel?" I'm like, "Man, I you know, I don't know. But but there is some. Like can we just agree there are some dis- physical ethnic descendants of Abraham? Like can we agree on that?" Yeah, yeah, we can agree on that. I'm like, "Cool. That's I mean like I don't need to argue THAT. LIKE THERE ARE JEWS. LIKE THERE ARE JEWISH PEOPLE, RIGHT? LIKE WE CAN ALL YES. There are Jewish people. And so since there are Jews and now we see the fullness of God's plan that the purpose of the plan was to unite us into one body, temple of the Holy Spirit, unity of faith. Okay, God. Well, what about the Jews? Are they gone? Are they done? Is God finished with them? Did they fall away and they like there's just no more and God has no more use for them or let's see what Paul says here. Turn with Turn with me to Romans chapter 11 verse 11. Paul says here, he says, "So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall?" Did the Jewish people, as a whole, now we know not Jews individuals because all the early Christians were Jews. So there's lots of Jews who are that today we call them Messianic Jews, just Jews that received Christ that are believers with us that are Christians, right? So he's not talking about an individual Jewish person, he's talking about the nation of Israel, the Jewish people as a whole, as a group. And we know that they rejected Christ, right? They didn't turn as a nation to their Messiah. He says, "So I ask, did they stumble in order that they MAY FALL? WAS THAT THE POINT? THAT GOD WAS DONE WITH THEM. They were disobedient, so God rejected them. He's done. And now it's all about us." He says, "By no means. Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous." Guys, our job as Gentile Christians is to live in and manifest the promise of God in such a way that we make non-believing Jews jealous of the goodness in the love of God lavished on us through Christ. That they would look at us and go, "Man, I want that. Man, I want that." That's our job. To draw them to jealousy. He goes on in verse 12. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will will their full inclusion mean? What is Paul saying? He's saying if their stumbling, man, God used to get the gospel to us and the whole world is blessed through the fact of their rejection and their hardening and all the things that happened in the the day of Christ. HE'S LIKE, MAN, IF GOD could use that to bring salvation, man, how glorious will it be when they turn back to God. See, God's plan for the Jewish people is not that they're cast off or done away. God's plan is that they would at sometime before the end of the age turn back to him and there would be a revival. And when people ask, well, how should we think about JEWS AND HOW SHOULD we treat Man, we should cry out to God to bring revival to the Jewish people. Many people, they hear us as a church say, well, we support Israel and they're like, oh, you know, you're on this political side. No, listen, as a church, we give money to a ministry called Maoz Israel that is in Israel preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, winning Jewish people to Jesus. That is the message. That is the mission. That is the hope. And imagine with me what will happen one day when the nation of Israel turns. Imagine you turn on the news next week and there's people marching and dancing in the streets of Jerusalem with banners of Jesus saying that the nation, the people of Israel have turned to Christ. Imagine the revival that will spark around the world. All throughout history, God has used the Jews to do things you can't explain away. And if all of a sudden one of the most secular, intellectual nations in the world turns and people begin to get saved, baptized in the streets like the spirit of God is poured out on Israel and they're turning to Jesus, imagine what that will do around the world. Man, our heart should be God save the Jewish people. God deliver the Jewish people. We should be praying for them and loving them.
Many people will ask this question, "Well, so are they no longer chosen?" Well, let me ask you. God chose We all agree God chose the Jews for a purpose, right? Was the purpose fulfilled? Yeah. Like Jesus came, right? So then did God un-choose them? That doesn't even make sense. Well, what about us? We're the elect, we're the chosen as the church. The two don't count each other out. God chose the Jews to bring Jesus. He didn't un-choose them. He used them for a purpose to bring Christ to us. And now, man, we sit here in the blessing of God's plan of redemption.
One final thought I want to share with you today. We live in maybe the most divided time ever. Everything is so polarized. You go online and you post something, it's not, "Hey, I don't know." It's like, "You're the devil. I hate you. I cur- Like it is just like polar opposites, right? So divided today and even in the body of Christ. We see throughout scripture and human history an insatiable drive towards division and we all saw Charlie Kirk's murder right before our very eyes that made him a martyr and what did we see directly after that? We saw a spark. A spark of revival. We saw Bible sales go through the roof. We saw church attendance spike. We saw Google searches and like online content like people were searching after is God real? What about Jesus? Should I be a Christian? Like it was through the roof. Like there was this spark, this moment of momentum for the gospel. But how did Satan enter in to try to disrupt it and slow it down and derail it? Through division. Through division. So now you have prominent political people, Christian people online that are arguing and fighting about Israel, God's, you know, is are they the chosen people? Should we support Israel? Should we this? Should we that? And it's become a dividing line in the body. But listen, God is a God of unity not division. He reveals himself as a father eternally loving a son through the power of the spirit three in one perfect unity. And before Jesus ascended to heaven, he prayed this prayer. John chapter 17 verse 20 and 23, actually before the cross, and he says, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. That they may all be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you and me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. The scarlet thread that runs through all of scripture is the unifying blood of Jesus. That through him both Jew and Gentile believer could be one body. Let's work toward that goal, that unity. Guys, that's the cover of the puzzle box. It's one church united in love with one another. And so together, let's work towards that unity. That's not a fleshly effort thing. That's not you and me trying to convince everybody of our opinion. That's you and me being yielded to the Holy Spirit, which is hard when we disagree, when we're upset, when we're offended, to say, "God, that's my brother." We don't We don't strive to walk in unity together because that makes us good people or because we should. All these things are great, all those things are true, but we we strive to walk in unity. We stay yielded to the spirit. Why? Because we've seen the cover of the puzzle box. Because I know that you are my brother and my sister in Christ. That's a reality. It's not a goal someday. It's not It's not a accomplishment for us to achieve together. No, it is a reality in the spirit right now. And if that is true, and if I believe that is true, I have to work every day to stay yielded to him so that I treat you like my brother and like my sister.
Listen, if you have questions on these issues, I said this in the first service, I'm probably going to regret it. But if you have questions on these issues, come see me. Talk to me. Email me, text me, whatever. I don't hide. And there's been many people in this church that have had these conversations. We need to have these conversations. Don't see something, hear something, and go, "I don't like that. I'm out of here." Family's deeper than that. Family stays together. Family works through. This is not a heaven or hell issue, but it is important. Will you stand on your feet with me today? Whew, man, we focus on the wrong stuff. If the world could ever see us as one, just for a moment, oh, man, what God could do. Jesus prays, "God, let them Father, let them be one, so the world will believe." There is unlimited power in our unity together. Let's be united today. It doesn't mean we think the same. It doesn't mean we're always going to agree on everything. Me and my wife don't agree all the time, believe it or not. Every once in a while she's right. It's true. I love you. God loves you so much. You're special to him. He knows the hairs. He's numbered the hairs on your head. He doesn't love you because he has to. He doesn't love you out of obligation. He loves you because he chooses to based on the fact that he knows you. He desires to have a relationship with you. And you can have that relationship if you put your faith in him. I want to ask you to take just a moment, bow your head, close your eyes. If you're in this room today or you're joining us online and you have never made Jesus Christ the Lord and the savior of your life, you've never given him your heart, repented of your sins, put your faith and trust in him as your savior, you can do that right now. You've heard the gospel today. He loves you. He died for you. It's not about you earning it, being good enough. None of us are. This is about you choosing him, turning to him. If that's you today and you'd like to be bold and just say yes to Jesus, I would ask you right now, just be bold by faith. No one's looking around. This isn't about anybody else in here anyway. This is about you. It's about your heart and God. If that's you today and you just want to say yes to Jesus, would you be bold right now and just lift up your hand? Lift up your hand and say, "I want to be an heir of the promise." Amen. Amen. Lift up your hand. Amen. And just say, "I want to be an heir. I want to be an heir. I want to be an heir." You're going to turn to God right now. Online, there's a button you can push and we have folks that love you, will pray with you. If you want to be an heir, click that button. Raise your hand digitally right now and say, "I'm in." I'm turning to you, Jesus. Church, let's pray this together. Let's pray it out loud. Say, "Father God, thank you for sending Jesus, your only son, to die for me. I believe that he died on that cross. He rose again and he's alive today with power to save me. I turn to you. I turn from my sin and I give you my heart. I ask you right now fill me up with your Holy Spirit so I can live for you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.