God is Faithful to Israel

Well, good morning. Morning.

Oh, it's so good to be with you. Whether it's our north campus, our south campus, our online family, we are a people who are gathered for one reason. We want to take our next steps with Jesus. And we believe that those next steps lead to abundant life.

Now, question for you. How many of you want abundant life? Hands up. How many of you not with me yet? You didn't put your hands up. Everybody wants abundant life. You know another word for abundant life? Rich. Now, that's a tough word in our room right now. But believe it or not, listen carefully, staying in step with Jesus will make you rich and then even richer. Because the scripture says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that through his poverty you might become rich."

Now, I know some of us are wrestling with that, but know that in the in the New Testament, the word rich is used in two ways. One is the normal way. It's the way most of us are thinking about which is have more money than the norm of society. And that legit, but that's not what Corinthians is talking about. Rich is also a word that can mean something far greater, far grander, far more wonderful than financial wealth. I know this because Jesus said to the first century church of Smyrna, "I know your afflictions. I know your poverty, yet you are rich." So you can be poor financially and yet be rich. It also means that you can be rich financially and be poor.

So what does it mean to be really rich? God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory. I'm going to say something that you're going to like want to dismiss as like normal knowledge. Don't do it. Jesus makes you rich. Having Jesus and Jesus having you is what makes you and I rich. Like not just kind of rich, but really, really, really rich. It doesn't matter what kind of money we have, Jesus makes us rich.

Think about once we have Jesus in us, the hope of glory, we know that when we pass from this life, whether it's when we die or Jesus returns, we don't spend eternity paying the penalty for our sins apart from God in hell. NO. NO. WE GET just the opposite. We get to enjoy the rewards of heaven spending all of eternity with our heavenly father. IS THAT NOT INCREDIBLE?

But that's not enough. It's not just in the world to come that we are rich. The scripture says that my God will meet all your needs. Now, he doesn't say all your wants. He will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. We don't have to live in insecurity about the days ahead. We don't have to live in fear about the days ahead. We don't have to live in confusion. I don't know what the days ahead hold, but I know him who holds the days ahead. And I know what he has promised and I know he will do it because of Jesus. So Jesus makes us secure in this chaotic world. Jesus gives a peace that can transcends the understanding of the times. Jesus provides confidence for not just our future, but the future of our kids, the future of our grandkids. If you have increasing security, increasing peace, increasing joy, increasing hope, increasing confidence, you think you're rich. Jesus makes us rich.

But here's what's amazing. There is a work of God coming that moves from rich to greater riches. So, we need to listen to it because it really ties to our world today and at a high level explains a lot of what's happening in our world. The Apostle Paul spoke to the early church of Rome. And he says in verse 12, it's a promise that you and I need to see. He says, "But if their transgression means riches for the world, if their loss means riches for the Gentiles," that word Gentile, by the way, is just a word that means non-Jewish. How much greater riches will their fullness be bring? So there's a time coming where there will be a thing called greater riches. Say greater riches.

Now I know deep down each of us want that reality. We want more of what Jesus has for us and we want more people to know Jesus in their life. Amen. That promise is there and it's somehow connected to they their losses, their transgressions. Whoever they is are the key to unlocking what God wants to do. The verse before through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. They is Israel. Now know in the New Testament sometimes Israel refers to the Jewish people as a whole. Sometimes it refers to a nation. Either way, what we know is this. God has sovereignly brought riches to the world through the Jewish people. The hope that we have, the peace that we have, the security we have, the riches of Christ Jesus, God sovereignly brought through the Jewish people. And he said, "But a day is coming where greater riches will come through those same Jewish people."

That reality, I believe, is one of the reasons we hear so much about Israel today. I mean, have you ever thought about why is a little nation tucked away in the Middle East in the news in the Western world almost every day? They're not very big. I mean, you know, the size of their nation is about the size of New Jersey, our fifth smallest state. They don't have a lot of natural resources. They found enough gas to provide gas for them and some people around them, but we're not like exporting gas all over the world. They're not doing the Iranian Iraqi thing yet. They might find it. Their gross dome domestic product is about number 29 in the world. It's respectable. But there's another nation that is double them in gross domestic product. Indonesia. Most of us can't find Indonesia on a map. We don't hear much about Indonesia. Yet almost ad nauseium, we hear about Israel. Israel is not a superpower. Why so much talk about them? Why so much talk about them before the Gaza war and then especially since the Gaza war?

Do you know there's a lot of wars going on right now? Have any idea how many full-scale wars are going on in the world right now? 20. You know of two. You know of the Israel Gaza war and you know of the Russian Ukrainian war. You know about Yemen. Some of you are going, "You didn't even know Yemen existed on the map, right? There's a civil war going on in Yemen right now. It's been going on since 2015. Five to seven times the number of people have died in Yemen since their civil war have that have died in Gaza. We don't hear about Yemen. We don't hear about Sudan. Sudan's been in and out of civil war so much. We don't hear about Nigeria. We don't hear so about so much that is going on in our world. Yet, we hear about Israel as nauseium.

Have you ever wondered why God has a plan for what he wants to do for the entire world that is tied to the Jewish people? The same Bible we're reading, Satan also knows. He reads the same Bible and he knows that greater riches for the world, more Jesus, more hope, more salvation, more peace, something deeper is tied somehow to the Jewish people. So what is one of his strategies? Destroy the Jewish people.

See, the Bible declares that the future of the next generation or two, listen to me. If Jesus carries, come on. How many of you would love for him to come back like today? That would be awesome. Except there's people I'm praying for that don't know him yet. And so I really prayed to you. I said, "Jesus, I want you to come back. I want to know you. I want to see you." But there's people who don't know you yet. And I'm torn. I'm torn between that reality of people needing to know him and me wanting to see him. We get that.

I'm just telling you, the desires of our heart are somehow tied. If you care about the next generation, for those of you at our north campus, you don't know, but we had the blessing. I had the blessing of baptizing, being part of the baptism of one of my grandchildren. Since the day my children have become with child before I knew gender or anything like that, I began to pray that they would know Jesus Christ and they would fulfill the destiny for which they lived on planet Earth. I want my grandkids to live in greater riches. I want my kids. I WANT YOU. I would love to see it myself.

That was the struggle of the early church as they saw God moving and yet they had a question. In Romans 9:10 and 11, I encourage you this week, read those three chapters. Now, they are big boy, big girl chapters. You're probably going to have to read them more than once, and you're not going to get them in totality. I just encourage you to read them because what was happening in the early church is that in 33ish AD, Jesus died. and he was resurrected. He did that because the Jewish people rejected him as the Messiah. Some Jewish people came to faith. They became began to believe that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel. But 30 some odd years later, three decades, most followers of Jesus were not Jewish. They were Gentiles. And the Gentiles were beginning to wonder, has God done with Israel? Has did they somehow just mess it up all together?

They knew what the what God had said to Abraham. As for as for me, this is my covenant with you, Abraham. You will be the father of many nations. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between you and your you and your descendants and for the generations to come to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Cananan, Canaan, where you are now an alien. I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I will be their God. I mean, we know what everlasting means, right? We know it means forever. We know it means to be ceaseless. We know it means without end. God made this everlasting covenant with Abraham, but it didn't seem to be coming about in the first century. And the gentile believers were like, "Did we somehow misunderstand what God said and what was going on?"

You see, most Jewish people, as I told you, didn't believe Jesus was the Messiah. They had transgressed. They had failed. And because of this, the early church was struggling. And so, they ask, "Is God done with Israel?" Romans 9101 is answering that question. But chapter 11 verse one is very direct. I ask then, did God reject his people? And his answer is pretty emphatic, right? By no means. This should be incredible news to you and I, by the way, just step to the side. Think about it. If God made a promise to Abraham and the descendants of promise through Isaac, and then he reiged on those promises, could you and I trust him to fulfill his promises in our life? The existence of the Jewish people, the existence, I believe, of the modern state of Israel, and the existence of what God has started to do among the Jewish people is evidence of his faithfulness. Faithfulness you and I are banking on. I'm banking all of my eternity on the faithfulness of God.

We have so many examples. Last week, we gave you testimony after testimony, number after number, showing the faithfulness of God, the grandness of God. But it's not just there. You can also point to what he is doing today. He has by no means, somebody say by no means. He has by no means rejected his people Israel. God has not rejected the Jewish people. So how do we know that? Well, that's what Romans 11 is about. He says the first way we know it is this. So too then at the present time there is a remnant. You know what remnant means? It just means small number of people chosen by grace. Jewish believers, Jewish followers of Jesus existed in Paul's day, but they were small in number. They were a remnant just like they are today. There are millions of Jewish people in the world, but only hundreds of thousands of them follow Jesus. They're a small number. The reason for the remnant, Paul says, what Israel sought so earnestly, verse 7, it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened. This is big. As it is written, he pro he quotes Isaiah the prophet, God gave them a spirit of stuper, eyes so that they could not see, ear so that they could not hear. Has been that way to this very day.

So as prophesied by Isaiah, many in Israel were hardened. They couldn't see the reality of Jesus. This happened so that because of their transgression, second sentence there, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. So it took the hardness of the Jewish people. Jesus came as the promised Messiah to Israel. They couldn't see it. They didn't see it. And so they rejected him. They encouraged the Gentiles to put him to death. Side note, by the way, listen to me. The Jews did not put Jesus to death. They didn't have the authority to do it. Who did it? The Romans. They were Gentiles. Jesus died not because of the Jews. That's a misnomer. He died in part because of the Jews. He died because of the Jews and the Romans, the Gentiles, because Jesus came to die for Roman for Jews and Gentiles. You hear it? That matters because historically people have persecuted. The church has persecuted the Jewish people because they said you killed Jesus. Not true. Not accurate. But it took their hardness to make it possible. But hear me. This is the promise of Romans 11. This what is what we should be awakening to. A day is coming when the full number of Gentiles, now I don't have any idea what that is. That's way above my pay grade. That's God level stuff. He just says there's a day coming when the full number of Gentiles will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. When this occurs, Israel, the Jewish people in mass will come to believe in their Messiah. You say, "Where are you getting that?" I'm still in Romans chapter 11. I do not want you to be ignorant, ignorant about this mystery, brothers, so that you may not become conceited. You don't want to become arrogant against the promises of God. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles comes in. And then what will happen? All Israel is going to be saved. I don't think that means that every Jewish person is going to become a follower of Jesus. But I think there's going to be a mass move of God among the Jewish people. Their eyes are going to be open to the one that was pierced as prophesied by Zachchariah and they're going to come in mass to know the Lord. It's like we're going TO GO LIKE ALL ISRAEL SAVED ALL OF A SUDDEN. AND then what happens if their loss means riches for the world? Their transgression means riches for the Gentiles. How much greater riches will their fullness bring? Listen to me. Greater riches for all are coming as the Jewish people awaken to Jesus. The awakening of the Jewish people to their Messiah is going to lead to the awakening of the world as Jesus and savior.

And you know what this means to you and I? Listen, it means a couple of things. One, we pray for the awakening of Israel. I don't take that lightly. Every time you see Israel's name in the news, every time you see something about the Jewish people, every time you see something about anti-semitism, why don't you stop and pray? You say, "David, I'd be praying ALL THE TIME." I KNOW. What if we prayed, "God, maybe this is the day." Read Isaiah 6. When Isaiah was told, "Go to this people and tell them you will have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear." Isaiah was undone. And he goes, "How long, Lord?" And God said, "Until." And what he describes is a lot like modern Israel. So, it makes me begin to believe maybe maybe we're entering into the season. Maybe we're entering into the time when the spirit of stuper, this hardening that Romans nine talks about as well, will be lifted from them. Maybe by the grace of God, we could see the greater riches that come not just to the Jewish people. When you pray for the Jewish people, you're praying for your kids. When we pray for the awakening of the Jewish people, we're praying for the big country and those that don't have hope in him. We're praying for the Middle East. We're praying for what's going on in the Far East. When we pray for Israel and their awakening, we're praying for greater riches for the entire world. We're partnering with God with what he is planning to do in the world. IT IS US SAYING, "I AM NOT ASHAMED of the gospel, for it and it alone is the power of God unto salvation." First to the Jew and then to the Gentiles. First to the Jew, then to the Gentiles.

This means to you and I also, I want you to hear this. We are for both Jews and Gentiles. Write it down and look at me. We are for. You know what the word for means? It means pro, want their best, desire and ache for them to have everything God has for them, both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus died for both Jews and Gentiles. We'll get very explicit here. We are going to dive into a little bit that's controversial today. Jesus died for Israelis and Palestinians. I am very pro-Israel and pro-Jewish people. I am very Palestinian and very pro Palestinian. And if you look at me and say you can't do this, then you're getting your information from the news and not from the scripture. If I am going to be a man of God according to what I see in the scripture, I have to be for everyone. I have to be for all that God wants to do in their life. And I know this thing is all interwoven. I get the struggle. I've been there. I may be the only person in the room or among a few who spoke spoke to both Israelis and Palestinians have had dinners and conversations with both. I get a little bit of the struggle. I don't live there. But I will let you know this as a church. You heard last week that 38% of our general income goes to what we call missions and outreach. Okay? It's a cool thing. By missions, we mean we support partners around the world. Outreach is what we do to love our city. And so 38% of every dollar goes to that. The cornerstone of that is to the Jewish people. Why? Because the gospel is first to the Jew then to the Gentiles. Not only to the Jew, it's for first to the Jew. So we give the cornerstone of it to the Jewish people for the salvation of Israel. We have dozens of partners literally in the dozens of partners in Israel bringing the message that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the savior of the world. But we also have partners all throughout the Arab world who are bringing the same message. We had some partners, this is huge, that were Arab believers, Arab followers of Jesus that when the Gaza war broke out in October of 23, they went into Gaza. Westerners couldn't get into Gaza, but they could. and they took aid and they took supplies and they started renting houses and they started taking kids off the street to love them. One of those houses was struck by a rocket. We don't know if the rocket was a misfire from Hamas or a miss by Israel, but we know the house was struck and our partner died in there and the kids died. But they died with hope. They died with love. See, I'm listening to you. We are pro- everyone. God doesn't love the Jewish people more than he loves the rest of the world. But God has sovereignly chosen to do his work through the Jewish people to show his glory. How do I know that? I'm going to give you a name. You ready for it? Jesus.

He was Jewish. Read Matthew 1. That's the whole point of all those names in Matthew 1. He was a Jew. Doesn't make Jews any better. Just God chose to work in that way. You love the scripture. You love what God has given us here. All the people he used to write this scripture except one Jewish. Moses Jewish. David Jewish. Jeremiah Jewish. Paul Jewish. Peter Jewish. You want me to keep going? God chose to show his glory to the world through the Jewish people. He brought riches to the world for you and I through the Jewish people. And a day is coming. He says, "I'm not done. It would seem right now that he is done, but he he is not done. He he is working a plan and he is going to bring greater riches to the world as they are awakened."

So he explains at the end of Romans chap 11 as far as the gospel is concerned they are enemies on your account. Now what does he mean by that? He means that in the first century and actually to this day that those who oppose the gospel often are Jewish people. Jewish people who have not been enlightened to who Jesus is, they often oppose the gospel. That was big time in the first century. He says so yeah right now they're enemies but as far as election is concerned they are loved on account of the patriarchs. Who are the patriarchs? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because of promises God made way back then. They are still beloved where God still has a gift on their life. He still has a calling on their life and that is irrevocable. When God says something, it is going to be a done deal. God still has a planned purpose for the world that he will sovereignly fulfill through the Jewish people. So for this reason, we are pro-Jewish. We are pro-Israel. And as I state that, that does not mean I believe everything the Israeli government does is correct or accurate. Can we not live in this world of absolute extremes? Do you know that you can be for someone and not agree with everything that they hold to or say or do in a moment? Is that fair? Let me ask you another way. How many of you are married? How many of you are for your spouse? Better raise your hand. How many of you sometimes disagree with your spouse? I'd leave them down right now if I were you. You get what I'm saying, right? You can be for Now, I understand this is a little bit more complex than this. I can be pro Palestinian and not agree with everything their leadership does. And I can be pro- Israel and not agree with everything their government does. To be honest, I go to Israel, they talk about their government just like we talk about our government. They are just as confused, just as divided, just as much struggling. So, we we can do it. We don't have to give them a pass. It seems like we live in extremes. It's either they're the demons itself or they get a pass. They're God's people. We can't say anything against them. That's not true either. We can believe that God has a purpose for their lives and still hold to them. Listen, they're not a godly nation right now. They're going to do sinful things. They're going to do stupid things. Anybody else know of a government that does that? Like 192 nations on planet Earth have governments that do that. Why are we holding them to a standard from a purely humanistic standpoint?

I want you young people really listen to me. There is a move right now. It is a planned propaganda against the young minds of the Western world right now and it's missing a lot of things in it that's very anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, pro- Israel, pro Palestinian. From a humanistic standpoint, let me give you a little bit of history. Do I think Israel has a right as a nation to exist? Yes. Were there people in that land that got displaced during the war? Yes. That, by the way, is true of every nation on planet Earth. How many of you own a home in Abalene, North Campus? Hands up. How many of you own a home with a bank? Put your hands up right now. You know what I'm saying? I don't own, but I have one home with a bank right now. The land that your home is on right now, do you know somebody had that before you? Did you know there were peoples here before there were wars? Do you know there's a place called Fort Phantom? You know why it's called a fort? Because it was a fort. It was an outpost of a group of people that were engaged in battle against those that were here before. We are here because of battles. Israel exists because of battle, as does every nation on planet Earth.

Before World War I, there was not the Middle East as we know it today. There was one big group in the Middle East. They were called the Ottomans. The Ottomans existed for 600 years, and they controlled the whole Middle East, including Israel. Then they sided with the Germans in World War I, and they lost. And so you know what the Allied forces did with everything of the Germans and the Ottomans? They took it. And then the Allies started developing the Middle East. The Middle Eastern countries as you know it today were all set up since World War I. Have you heard of Egypt? You say, "Yeah, Egypt's been there a long time." Yeah, the people kind of been there. Modern borders of Israel weren't established till 19 I'm sorry, of Egypt were not established till 1922. You've heard of Saudi Saudi Arabia established in 1932. You've worked to Germany. I'm sorry. Jordan, Jordan was established in 1946. Israel 1948. Same process. They have just as much legitimate right to be there as anyone else does. They have the right to the nation.

Now, I hurt for the Palestinians. I want you to hear that. They are a people that I believe are being abused and misused. And there's a reason for that. Do you know that Palestinians were offered a nation three times in their history and they've turned it down every time. 1946 when Israel was offered to become a nation, so were the Arabs were able to create a nation for what are called the Palestinians today. They reject it. There's reasons they rejected it, but they did reject it. Mid 1990s in the Oslo Peace Accords, they were offered that. Also in the mid 2000s and Camp David Accords, they did, but they didn't want to meet the criteria to do that. They could have had a homeland and they turned it down. There are other people groups that don't have a homeland. The Kurds. Kurds are in the Middle East. Biggest people group on planet Earth without a homeland. Honestly, some of the best allies of America are the Kurds. They don't have a homeland. What I'm telling you is this thing is mixed up. This is not what you hear. I do not believe Israel is a parttheid nation. I've been there. I've seen it. I don't believe they're committing genocide. We cheapen those words when we use them. They are extreme words that do not apply. That is not to say the Israeli government has not sinned or done anything wrong. They have. But I'm telling you there's a reason that the Palestinians don't have a nation. It's tied to a statement that has become popular in the Western world. Sadly, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. You know what the river is? Anybody? It's the Jordan River. Yes. The one talked about in the Bible. It is the eastern border of the modern state of Israel. You know what the sea is? It's the Mediterranean Sea. It's the western border of Israel. So if from the river to the sea, not Israel, but Palestine will be free, who no longer exists there? Israel. It's a call for the eradication of the state of Israel and often the destruction of the Jewish people. The leaders, some leaders in the Middle East will not be satisfied till there is absolutely no Jewish state, no democratic nation, no Israel. That is alone what they will be satisfied with and they will settle for nothing less. So they will use the Palestinian people and it's horrendous. They will use the Palestinian people to try to accomplish that goal. Add to that. Well, we won't add to that. I got to go.

Here's the reason for this. Think with me now. Not from a social media standpoint. Think with me from a biblical standpoint. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against spiritual forces of darkness in this realm. There are evil demonic entities that are wanting to do what? Keep God's promises from coming about. The greatest work of God is tied to what? If their losses means riches for the world, if their transgression means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness be? The enemy knows this verse and has been trying to destroy the people for literally a thousands of years. The Holocaust was not the first attempt of that. We have biblical examples of this. Anybody read the book of Esther? The book of Esther was a holocaust or an attempt at a holocaust. It's happened again and again and again in life. The Holocaust is just our recent example. It should not be surprising that there are now those who are denying the reality of the Holocaust. I my mind is blown that people are thinking I've been to Awitz. I've put my foot in the bunks where people slept. I've sat at the door of the crematoriums. I've seen it. I've had the people pull their sleeves up and show me their numbers and tell me their story. And someone has the audacity to say that reality didn't happen. But the enemy is doing this demonic thing to try to convince a generation of something. Why does he want to convince it? Because God's greater work is tied to this. Anti-semitism has risen again. I had people tell me 10 years ago there would be another rise of anti-semitism. I told them, "No way. We in the Western world are too far beyond that." How dumb was I? All of a sudden, it's hit again. Why?

Listen to me. Every form of racism is sinful. Are you hearing me? I grew up in a stereotypical Texas family that had racist roots. I heard my grandfather's language. I heard my grandparents talk about different races in certain ways and looking down on them. I grew up in that. I know the words. They were at our dinner table. I get it. Listen, every form of racism is sinful. You need to repent. If you if you look down on anyone because of their skin color, because of where they grew up, because of their gender, it is an ungodly, vile thing that is from the pit of hell meant to divide us. And it's not a statement of the gospel. The gospel says all people are worthy of the price of Jesus. Amen. If you look down upon another race, you're not going to like heaven. There's going to be people from every tribe, language, nation, and people. And they're going to be using their language, speaking praises to our God. It's going to be like A WATERFALL OF PRAISE. I'm telling you, when you say, "I want this people group not to be in heaven." You are actually doing a hellish thing. I believe hell is where you're utterly isolated. You have no community whatsoever. You're saying, "I would rather be in hell by myself than to be with these people." And it violates the heart of God. Anti-semitism is a part of that kind of demonic thing that's going on. However, it is more strategic. See, anti-semitism, listen, it's not more sinful than other forms of racism, but it's more strategic. And the reason it is more strategic is because God has a plan. Are you listening? Greater riches for the world. Do you want the greater riches? I do.

So, here's what we have to do. We as God's people have to stand. I'm calling on you. At the South Campus, we have a group of young people here. So, I'm looking at you. I'm calling on you not to make your decisions about all this based upon what you're seeing in social media. Guys, there is a propaganda war going on right now. You need to read about it. Have you ever wondered how a nation that had as its official church Lutheranism, the German nation, went to the Holocaust? There was about two decades of propaganda against the Jewish people. It was strategic. It was planned. It was demonic. I've seen the pieces. I've seen what was said. I've seen the exaggerations. And the same play is being used today against young minds and old minds. I'm not asking you to be pro-Jewish and anti- anybody. To be anti- anybody is to be anti- what God has. We are for all. But we could acknowledge what God has said in his word. We have to stand. I know I hit a lot today. I get it. Are you here? I get it. We're going to do an extended day. If you want to be part of that, you want to know more, come on March 27th. Dr. Don Finto will be there. Todd McDall of Cable Glo Caleb Global. They spent a lot of time in the Middle East. Not just in Israel, but in the Middle East. I'm going to be part of it's absolutely free of charge. Uh I don't know if it was before, but I made it so I guess in the first service, so you get to come free now. Um I think it's always been free. I would love for you to come. You can hang out, be part of it and such. Um but love that. And then I left a book. It is a good book. Should Christians support Israel? It is not like this flowery thing that all Israel does is great and good, but it is a reality of what's biblical and what's modern day. And I'm asking you to dare consider read before you just make decisions. I dare you to read. It's a little bitty book. It will take you a long time to read. It is deep and it's good. And so I invite you to journey with me.

And then second, would you do this? When I say pray, I don't say that lightly. I don't believe the phrase prayer changes things is accurate. I think the God of heaven responds to his people who pray and changes things is accurate. God listens to us. And there's a scripture I skipped over it earlier and it says, "I have placed watchmen on your walls, oh Israel. They will never be they will not be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourself no rest and give God no rest." until he establishes Jerusalem as a praise on the earth. So God said, "Bug him, nag him, mess with him until he does what he has promised." So can we pray for the awakening of the Jewish people? Could we agree on that? Could we pray for God to work among the Arab nations of the earth? Pray for our partners in both. Do you know that one of the greatest moves of God happening right now is in the Middle East? Iran is being stirred for the gospel. That uprising you saw wasn't just a governmental thing. There is an uprising in Iran. Millions have come to faith in Jesus Christ in Iran, but they're all underground. They have no freedom of religion. Ironically, in Israel, you do have freedom of religion. 2 million of the 8 and a half million citizens of Israel are Arab Muslims. So, in 1948, when Israel established a nation, they offered citizenship to every person in the land if they wanted to be a citizen. A whole group said yes. and they are Arab Muslims and they have freedom of religion. Now there are struggles, there are problems in Israel, but there is freedom of religion that you don't have anywhere else in the Middle East. All our believers, rest of the Middle East are underground. Our believers in Qatar and Qatar are underground in Saudi Arabia, they're underground. We are partnered with a network that has over a million house churches in the Middle East. Tens of millions of believers and more coming to faith. Guys, I'm telling you, it's incredible. Let's pray for more of that. Let's pray for this arising. And can we pray against the anti-semitism that is normative in our day? We can all agree on that, can't we? Can we not agree that we can be pro- Palestinian, pro- Israel, not agree with everything on, but we can be for all that God wants to do among all peoples. Amen. And we can pray according to the word of God for the peace of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, a divided city right now, Arab and Jew. We can pray for peace and we can pray for God to work. Is that fair?

So, here's what we're going to do. We're going to do something a little different. We're going to stand here in just a moment, south of North Campus, and we are going to face east. Now, some of you right now are going, I have no idea what direction east is. I would just think, where did the sun come up today? You see, some of you don't know. It's like, I was asleep. I didn't see the sun come up. I get it. So, if you're at the north campus, you are facing east right now. You don't have to move anywhere. If you're the south campus, you got to turn around and face that way. That's the way the sun came up. So, what I want you to do right now is stand and I want you to turn. And you say, "Why am I turning that way?" Cuz that's the direction of Jerusalem. And believe it or not, it is about the same latitude as Abalene is on. If you're comfortable doing so, I just want you to extend your hand towards Jerusalem. It's like you're laying hands on the city. You don't have to.

But Father, we together, most of us in here, Gentiles who know the riches of this mystery that Christ is in us. You did this. We say thank you for the faith that you imparted to us, for the hope that you have given us, for the peace that you have given us, for the love that you have given us. And it has happened because of the way you sovereignly worked in the past through the Jewish people. Now, we ask you to do it in our day. Oh God, we ask that you would open the eyes of Jewish men and women to their Messiah. Release from them the spirit of stuper, the hardening of their heart, and let them know the reality of who you are, that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and the savior of the world. Let us so love you that Israel becomes envious of what we have and the relationship we have with you. But we pray not just for them, God. We pray for the Arab nations. We pray for the Palestinians. We pray for others that they would know you. that there would be a massive awakening. We pray for governments as they try to navigate all that's going on. We pray for a divine wisdom on our president, on our leaders, on the president and leadership of Israel, and the Palestinian people and the Arab nations as they get together. Would there be something divine that you would work out for the benefit of both Jew and Palestinian, for Israelis and Gentiles, Father, for all, we pray, Father, for the Middle East. There seems to be a key of what you want to do. Unlock, oh God, in our day for the sake of our kids, for the sake of your name, for the sake of your glory. Unlock in this day. We ask, oh God, your work. We partner with you, God. And we say we will be among those who give you no rest. We will not be quiet and you till you establish Jerusalem as a praise on the earth and you unlock the greater riches you want to bring on the world. We declare it together in Jesus' name. And the people of God said, "Amen and amen."