Participants: Jeff Zeremsky
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000107
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00:21 It is my privilege and pleasure to welcome you to the
00:24 Plantation Seventh-day Adventist Church 00:26 here in Plantation, Florida and to night number two 00:29 of our Anchors Of Truth series and Anchors Away, Jim Gilley. 00:34 And the title is, One In The Messiah. 00:37 And we had a very powerful message from the pastor 00:39 of this church on last evening. 00:40 Yes, we did. 00:41 And we've have received messages from as far away 00:45 as Washington state where people said that they were 00:49 blessed by that message last night. 00:51 It was a good message. 00:53 And I think it set a very good foundation for what we're 00:55 trying to accomplish and talk about; the idea that 00:58 we need to be one in Christ. 01:00 In fact, the emblem of our Christianity is unity 01:03 in Christ Jesus. 01:05 That's it, and the title of this series is, One In Our Messiah. 01:09 So many times, I think last night Alex pointed out, 01:13 that he did not realize that Jesus was Jewish 01:17 until he was reading in the New Testament 01:20 the first time he read it. 01:22 And he saw that Jesus was crying over Jerusalem. 01:26 And he thought, what is this Christian doing crying 01:30 over the Jewish people? 01:32 And then he began to realize that the King of kings and 01:35 Lord of lords is Himself a Jew. 01:38 And he sort of threw down a gauntlet, as it were, 01:41 having had and associated with so many Christians friends 01:44 who never really tried to witness to him or to 01:48 talk to him about Christ. 01:50 And it certainly convicted me that we need to do a better job 01:53 sometimes in how we portray Jesus, not only to the 01:57 Jewish community, but to the world in general. 01:59 But then he saved that by telling us that the one who 02:03 led him to Jesus did so through his character. 02:07 And that was a gentleman, his name was Mike Ortiz. 02:13 And he was actually his stepfather. 02:19 And when he saw Christ in him, then he wanted 02:24 to know more about Jesus. 02:27 This idea of Paul; to provoke to jealousy. 02:30 That our lives are to so reflect Christ's life that we make 02:33 others jealous to want to have what we have in Christ Jesus. 02:35 Absolutely. 02:37 Now tonight's message is going to be brought to us 02:39 by Jeff Zeremsky. 02:41 And we saw the title on the intro there, 02:45 How Bad Are The Jews? 02:47 Yes, very provocative title. 02:49 It really is. 02:50 You know, one of the things that has really come to mind 02:53 is that all of the early believers were Jewish. 02:58 And it wasn't until Peter received the dream 03:04 to go and to be ready to witness to the Gentiles 03:11 that it began to open up, and open up slowly. 03:14 So we believe also that it's going to come back; 03:19 Christianity, the Messiah, the message, 03:23 strongly with the Jewish people. 03:25 Yes indeed. 03:26 This is a very exciting time and a very exciting 03:29 and much anticipated Anchors. 03:30 And I'm really anxious to hear tonight's message. 03:33 And, of course, tomorrow night we have Sasha Bolotnikov. 03:36 And on Sabbath, we've got two great speakers again. 03:38 Now Jeff Zeremsky is the head of Beth-El Congregation 03:45 in the New Port Richey area. 03:48 And also the congregation there in St. Petersburg. 03:53 And I've had the great privilege of going to both of those 03:57 congregations and witnessing there. 04:00 And it's just really inspiring to go and to take part 04:05 in that worship. 04:07 And Jeff and his wife have a tremendous ministry. 04:12 And you know, we heard today about how... 04:15 We did an interview today that's going to be shown later on 3ABN. 04:20 And it was an exciting time. 04:23 And one of the things we found out in that interview 04:26 was about Jeff's conversion. 04:28 Yes, yes, yes. 04:29 Juanita Kretschmar instrumental in that. 04:31 And she told a little story about Jeff's mom, 04:34 who is here tonight. 04:36 A really great story and a great history 04:39 of the van ministry in New York and a number of people, Jeff, 04:42 Alan Reinach, others who came to the Lord through that ministry. 04:45 That's right, it's just amazing how God used that ministry. 04:49 How that ministry continues to witness through all of those 04:54 that came to Jesus during that time. 04:57 Well listen, before our message this evening, 05:00 we have some music. 05:01 Would you tell us about that. 05:02 It is coming from the pastor of this church. 05:05 He is a multi-talented individual. 05:07 He preaches, we see him on Back To Our Roots, 05:11 a program on 3ABN. 05:13 But he also, if you watch the program, know 05:14 that he is quite a singer. 05:16 Sort of a velvet voice, and plays the guitar. 05:19 So we're going to hear from him. 05:21 We'll have prayer, then Pastor Alex will bring us 05:25 a message in song. 05:26 Then the next voice we'll hear, of course, will be that of our 05:28 pastor and friend, Jeff Zeremsky. 05:30 Alright, let's bow our heads in prayer. 05:33 Father in heaven, we're just thrilled tonight 05:36 to come You, You the great God of the universe, 05:41 our Creator, and our Savior. 05:45 Because through Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us, 05:47 that the worlds were formed. 05:50 And then Jesus went to the cross. 05:52 Because God so loved the world that He gave 05:56 His only begotten Son. 05:57 Now Father, tonight we pray that You will bless this service. 06:02 And we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. 06:08 Amen. 06:17 I love You, Lord, with all my soul; 06:25 and offer You thanksgiving. 06:32 You have gone before Your own; 06:40 it's through You that I live on. 06:47 Oh, and I will sing Your praises 06:54 once again. 07:03 I love You, Lord, with all my heart; 07:11 I offer You thanksgiving. 07:18 You've inscribed upon my heart; 07:27 remove the stony part. 07:34 Oh Lord, redeem Your people; 07:41 return again. 07:49 And I sing praises to Your name; 07:58 Your glory is my refrain. 08:05 Oh Lord, pour on Your people 08:12 the latter rain. 08:21 And I love You, Lord, with all my might; 08:30 I offer You thanksgiving. 08:37 And I sing praises to Your name; 08:46 Your glory is my refrain. 08:54 Oh, and I will sing Your praises 09:00 once again. 09:08 And I sing praises to Your name; 09:18 Your glory is my refrain. 09:25 Oh Lord, pour on Your people 09:32 the latter rain. 09:40 Oh Lord, pour on Your people 09:50 the latter rain. 10:03 Amen. Thank you, Alex. 10:05 Thank you, Jim and C.A. 10:07 Shalom. 10:09 I'm going to be asking a few questions as we go along. 10:12 And so I'd like your participation. 10:14 It doesn't mean I'm giving you the microphone. 10:16 Just a yes or no. 10:17 There's going to be some true and false, 10:18 multiple choice, a couple of things like that. 10:20 Okay? 10:22 That was the first question. 10:24 Let's see if we can do a little better on this next question. 10:25 Okay, let's do question number two. 10:27 Question number two is, in the history of the Jewish people 10:30 as a whole, how often have they been bad? 10:36 Multiple choice. 10:44 Okay, we'll do this democratically. 10:45 How many would say 50% of the time? 10:49 Is this microphone working? 10:51 Let's try 65% of the time. 10:54 I see one. Okay, two, three. 10:56 Four, okay. 10:57 80% of the time. 10:59 Okay, the microphone is working. 11:00 Okay, alright. 11:01 So that's the rest of the crowd here. 11:03 Okay, very good. 11:04 So 80% of the time. 11:06 Now let's do a run through. 11:08 Well, I want to ask you a couple of other questions. 11:10 First question for this next one. 11:12 This is going to be a true or false. 11:14 Okay, so you've got a 50% chance of getting it right. 11:19 The Jewish people rejected Jesus. 11:22 True or false? 11:24 True? Okay. 11:26 Number two, Jewish people are rich. 11:31 True or false? 11:34 Okay. 11:37 I missed out on that gene. 11:38 So God created me to prove that as false. 11:41 But He created, I guess, like Michael Bloomberg 11:43 to prove that as true. 11:45 Okay, third question. 11:46 The Jewish people are smart. 11:50 Yes? Okay. 11:51 Again, He created me to prove that as false. 11:54 But He created people like Alex Schlussler 11:56 and Albert Einstein to prove that as true, right? 11:59 So we've got sometimes yes, sometimes no. 12:01 Some are rich, some are poor. 12:03 Some are dumb, some are smart. Right? 12:06 Okay, so now we're ready for question number four. 12:08 Which is, the Jews rejected Jesus. 12:12 True or false? 12:14 Now if you notice, that's the same as the first question. 12:18 But it's really just like the other two. 12:21 Some yes, some no. 12:24 Okay? 12:25 So let's do a history and run through the Bible 12:27 in the time of Moses. 12:29 Okay, we're going to look at the Jewish people 12:30 starting at the time of Moses. 12:31 In the time of Moses, of the 39 years in the wilderness 12:36 the Bible records only four times of rebellion. 12:40 All the rest of the times of rebellion, all the other 12:44 times even written in the Bible, in that first year 12:47 out of hundreds of years of slavery, without a Bible, 12:50 without the Scriptures, all those years without a leader, 12:53 and without any instruction. 12:55 And so Moses comes along, God delivers us. 12:58 And the first year is very rough. 12:59 But after that, only four times recorded in the Bible 13:03 of rebellion in 39 years. 13:05 Now I don't think that's too bad, I don't know. 13:07 How have the last 39 years of your life been, 13:09 you know, if God's recording that for us all to see? 13:12 Okay, so we're going to mark that as good years. 13:15 Now how about the book of Joshua? 13:17 Now the Bible specifically tells us in the book of Joshua, 13:20 it tells us in Joshua chapter 24 verse 29 through 31... 13:36 And so if he lived 110 years, it doesn't tell us how long 13:40 he reigned as judge. 13:42 But if he lived 110 years, let's say he was 13:44 the same age as Caleb. 13:45 The Bible tells us that Caleb was 40 years 13:47 when they went and spied out the land. 13:49 And so they wandered for 40 years. 13:50 So let's say he was 80 when he enters into the Promised Land. 13:53 And so let's say he then reigns, if he lives 110 years, 13:56 for 30 years. 13:57 And let's say the elders that outlived him lived another 13:59 10 years and reigned for another 10 years. 14:01 Right? Okay? That's fair numbers, I think. 14:03 So let's say 40 years of good years. 14:06 The Bible specifically said that they served the Lord 14:08 all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders 14:12 that outlived Joshua. 14:14 So those are pretty good years. 14:16 So now we've got to look at the book of Judges. 14:18 How bad during the times of Judges? 14:21 Right? Now we've got some catching up to do here 14:23 to get to that 80% bad, right? 14:25 Now the book of Judges, that's where it says 14:27 that every man did what was right in his own eyes, 14:29 and this kind of thing. 14:30 And so let's take a look at what it says. 14:32 Let's go to chapter 3 verse 8. 14:35 And it says, "The children of Israel..." 14:50 Now what more, 40 years or 8 years? 14:54 40, I'll help you with the tough ones, okay? 14:56 So 40 is longer than 8, right? 14:59 So we have a short period of time of serving this, whatever, 15:01 bad years, and then we have rest for 40 years. 15:06 Okay, and then verse 12 it says, "And the children of Israel 15:10 did evil again in the sight of the Lord," for 18 years. 15:21 What's longer, 80 years or 18 years? 15:25 80 years. A lot longer, right? 15:27 So we've got 40 good years, 80 good years. 15:30 And only 8 bad years, and only 18 bad years. 15:34 This is in the book of Judges. 15:38 Okay then, let's see, verse 15, "And the children of Israel 15:42 cried to the Lord, and the Lord..." 15:43 Okay, read that. 15:44 Chapter 4 verse 1, "And the children of Israel did evil 15:48 again in the sight of the Lord," for 20 years. 15:51 And then Deborah rises up, and the land has rest 40 years. 15:55 Seeing a lot of 40 in the good years. 15:57 "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord," 15:59 chapter 6 verse 1, and served Midian 7 years. 16:04 But then Gideon comes along, in chapter 8 verse 34. 16:07 And the land has quietness for 40 years. 16:12 So the bad years are all short, the good years are all long. 16:19 Then in chapter 10 verse 2, it says, Tola, the son of Puah, 16:24 the son of Dodo, he judged Israel 23 years and died. 16:31 And that's all it says about him. 16:32 It doesn't say if the land had quietness, 16:34 it doesn't say if they served the Lord, 16:35 it doesn't say if they didn't serve the Lord. 16:37 Just that Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, 16:42 he judged Israel 23 years and he died. 16:45 So we're going to mark that one as neutral. 16:47 Okay? 16:48 Not good, not bad. We don't know. 16:50 I mean, I think if it was bad the Bible would have told us. 16:52 But it doesn't say either one, so we're just 16:54 going to play it safe. 16:55 We'll mark that one as neutral. 16:56 Okay, so if you're keeping track here, 16:57 mark that one as neutral years. 17:00 Now could you imagine serving a nation for 23 years. 17:05 You give your heart and your soul into the work for 23 years. 17:09 And the only thing that's recorded about you 17:11 is that you're the grandson of Dodo. 17:15 I know, but that's what it says. 17:16 So that's what it... Okay. 17:17 Now the book of Judges continues on that way 17:20 for out the rest with the bad years being very short 17:24 and the good years being very long. 17:26 And so the total when we add in the judges, Eli, and Samuel... 17:29 I know they weren't the greatest parents, 17:30 but they were good judges in serving the Lord. 17:33 So the bad years in Judges, and in Samuel with Eli, 17:38 111 bad years. 17:42 328 good years. 17:46 Which is more, 328 or 111? 17:51 Almost three times the amount, three times as long. 17:54 Right? And the neutral, about 70 years. 17:57 70 years on the neutral. 17:58 That's about 500 years of the time of the judges. 18:02 That's about the same amount of time of the time of the kings. 18:05 We kind of have... 18:06 Because there's only one book, you know. 18:07 And a little bit in 1 Samuel. 18:10 So we kind of think, like well, you know, 18:12 we just fly through the time of judges pretty quickly 18:14 and then we're just asking for a king, 18:16 you know, soon after the exodus. 18:17 But no, it's 500 years. 18:21 Now that's twice as long as the United States has been around. 18:26 And most of those years were good years or neutral years. 18:30 Only about a hundred out of those close to 500, 18:32 or over 500 years, were bad in the time of Judges. 18:37 Okay, so let's look at the kings. 18:38 Okay, we've got Saul. 18:39 Saul reigns 39 years. 18:41 I think we'll mark him as neutral. 18:43 You can mark him however you want. 18:44 But I think neutral will be safe. 18:45 David reigns 40 years. 18:47 The Bible says, a man after God's own heart. 18:49 Solomon reigns 40 years. 18:51 And we'll play it safe and mark it neutral. 18:52 He had a good start, he had a good end. 18:54 He had some trouble in the middle. 18:55 So we'll just play it safe and we'll mark that neutral. 18:58 Okay? 18:59 And so, now from here on, now we're just going to 19:02 follow after Solomon. 19:03 The nation splits, right? 19:05 And you've got the ten northern tribes 19:06 and the two southern tribes. 19:08 Now we're following how bad are the Jewish people, right? 19:10 So the Jewish people come out of Judah. 19:11 That's where the term comes from. 19:13 So we're just going to follow the southern tribes, 19:14 the Judah tribe, the nation of Judah, 19:17 from here on out. 19:19 The northern never had good kings anyway, 19:20 and eventually get lost; the lost tribes of Israel. 19:24 So let's follow, so going to 1 Kings chapter 14, 19:28 Rehoboam reigned 17 years and did evil 19:31 in the sight of the Lord. 19:33 And so now it gets very clear, it tells us very clearly in 19:36 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, 19:39 that they did evil or they did what was right. 19:41 So we've got 17 bad years. 19:44 And then in chapter 15 verse 2, Rehoboam's son reigns 3 years. 19:51 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 19:55 And then verses 10 and 11, it says Asa reigns over Judah 19:59 41 years doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 20:06 So we have a combined 20 bad years between those two kings 20:10 after Solomon. 20:11 And then 41 good years. 20:15 And then after him, in chapter 22 verse 42, 20:19 Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years doing that which was right 20:23 in the sight of the Lord. 20:25 66 good years between Asa and Jehoshaphat. 20:29 And Asa and Jehoshaphat are reigning in the south 20:32 at the same time that Ahab and Jezebel are in the north. 20:37 And we've got 66 good solid years of doing what was right 20:41 in the sight of the Lord. 20:43 After only just 20 bad years. 20:47 2 Kings chapter 8 verse 17, Jehoram reigns 8 years. 20:51 He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. 20:53 His son reigns one year doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 20:58 And then Athaliah, the mother, she kills all her children 21:01 and grandchildren. 21:02 She's the daughter of Ahab. 21:04 But she's reigning over the south in Judah. 21:06 And she reigns only 6 years. 21:10 She kills everyone except one. 21:11 One gets escaped, you know, and he becomes the 21:13 boy king at 8 years old. 21:15 And so between those three it's 15 years, 15 bad years. 21:19 8, 1 year, and just 6 years. 21:21 She's bad and God says, "That's it. 21:23 You get 6 years and you're out of here." 21:25 You know, and they had a rebellion against her. 21:30 And so then that young boy, that 8 year old king, 21:34 in 2 Kings chapter 8 verse 12, Jehoash, reigns 40 years 21:40 and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 21:45 So 66 good years, 15 bad years, then followed by 40 good years. 21:58 And then his son reigns 29 years doing that which was right 22:01 in the sight of the Lord. 22:02 So, good years. 22:05 And then Uzziah reigns 52, chapter 15 verse 1. 22:12 Uzziah reigns 52 years doing that which was right 22:18 in the sight of the Lord. 22:20 52 years. 22:22 And he doesn't even get a whole chapter in the Bible. 22:26 He only gets a few verses... 22:30 ...in 2 Kings and a few verses in Chronicles. 22:32 But not even a whole chapter. 22:34 How many sermons in your life have you ever heard 22:37 about Uzziah? 22:41 Probably none. 22:42 How many sermons have you heard about Ahab and Jezebel? 22:47 Too many, right? A lot. 22:49 Now why is that? 22:50 Why then are the bad kings getting all the press, 22:55 and here these good kings get very little? 23:00 And it's same like the newspapers today, is all it is. 23:03 Bad news sells. 23:05 And so the bad news gets written down. 23:07 And the good news... 23:08 "Hey, you're a good kid," you know, like the kid in school. 23:09 He's good, alright. Just sit down here. 23:10 You're fine. Good. You know. 23:13 Forget his name, you know. 23:14 But the bad kid, he gets all the attention, right? 23:17 And so in the Bible, the bad kings are getting 23:18 all the chapters, all the attention. 23:21 And the good years are very short. 23:26 You know, why is that? 23:27 Why does God spend so much time sending Elijah and Elisha 23:31 to Ahab and Jezebel? 23:33 And all these miracles, and all this counsel, and all these 23:36 prophecies concerning them? 23:37 Why is God doing that? 23:38 Why is He spending so much time on the wicked kings 23:42 and on nothing on the good kings? 23:47 Because God loved Ahab and Jezebel. 23:52 God loved the good kings. 23:54 He leaves the 99 sheep that are in the fold 23:58 and He goes looking and spending all His time 24:01 for the lost sheep. 24:03 And you get all these miracles and all these prophecies 24:06 and all these things being told, and encouragements to 24:10 the evil kings so that they'll come to the Lord. 24:13 And a good king, 52 years, less than a chapter. 24:18 And then his son reigns 16 years doing that which was right 24:23 in the sight of the Lord. 24:24 Those four kings in a row is close to 140 good years. 24:31 That's a massive amount of time of good years. 24:33 Almost 140 in a row. 24:38 And they only get four chapters in the Bible. 24:42 Not even a full four chapters in the Bible. 24:46 Or at least in 2 Kings. 24:47 Again, they're mentioned in Chronicles too, parallel. 24:52 And then chapter 16, still in 2 Kings, chapter 16 24:57 verses 1 and 2, Ahaz comes along. 24:59 He reigns 16 years and he's doing evil 25:02 in the sight of the Lord. 25:03 So close to 140 years, and then just 16 bad years. 25:07 Now if I told you about a stock, the stock market, 25:11 a stock that went down ten times this year, 25:15 would you think that's a good stock or a bad stock? 25:18 A bad stock, huh? Right? 25:19 Now what if I also told you that same stock 25:22 went up eleven times this year? 25:26 It's a good stock or bad stock? 25:28 And what if I told you that for every point it went down 25:30 when it was going down, it went up four when it was going up? 25:35 Is it a bad stock or a good stock? 25:37 That's a good stock, okay? 25:40 That is a good stock. 25:41 And that's what we're seeing in the Bible. 25:43 So it seems like, oh they're always down, always down. 25:45 But they're really not. 25:47 When they're down, they're down just a little bit 25:49 for a short period of time. 25:50 And then they're back up, and they're back up 25:51 for a long period of time. 25:53 There's just nothing mentioned in the Bible about it. 25:55 That's all, because it's all good. 25:58 You know, think about your conversation. 25:59 The ones that talk, they talk about what's bad. 26:01 You know, "How's things going?" "Oh good. You know, fine." 26:04 Not much of a story. 26:05 But if something bad is going on, you've got a story to tell. 26:09 And that's what the Bible is doing. 26:11 Then Hezekiah comes along, chapter 18 verse 1. 26:13 Hezekiah, and he reigns 29 years doing 26:15 what was right in the sight of the Lord. 26:16 So we're back on the right track again already. 26:18 16 bad after close to 140, and now we're back to good years. 26:22 29 good years with Hezekiah. 26:26 Then chapter 21, Manasseh reigned 55 years 26:30 and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 26:34 Evil in the sight of the Lord 55 years. 26:37 Now the bad kings, there's no bad king, other than 26:41 Manasseh here, who reigns in Judah who reigns 26:45 more than 16 or 17 years. 26:48 I think it's 16 years. 26:50 There's no good king who reigns less than 16 or 17 years. 26:55 I'm getting that mixed up, one of them is 16 26:56 and one of them is 17. 26:58 So there's a big difference. 26:59 All of the bad ones, below 16 or 17. 27:01 All the good ones, above 16 or 17. 27:05 Except Manasseh. 27:07 Why does Manasseh get 55? 27:09 More than any other king. 27:10 More than any evil king, more than any other king. 27:13 Why does God give him 55 years? 27:19 Because God loved him. 27:24 God loved Manasseh and He wasn't going to let him die. 27:28 Because Manasseh comes to the Lord at the end of his life. 27:31 And so in those 55 years he was wicked, he was horrible. 27:35 One of the worst kings, if not the worst king. 27:39 And yet God knew he hadn't fully turned 27:42 his heart over to Satan. 27:43 There was still some hope there. 27:45 And God knew that, and God kept working with him, 27:48 and kept working with him, and kept working with him, 27:50 for 55 years until he comes to the Lord. 27:53 Otherwise, the evil kings, they don't last long. 27:57 But he gets to reign wickedness because he comes to the Lord. 28:01 And he really shouldn't even have been around because 28:02 he comes along during the years that Hezekiah 28:05 prayed for extended life, and God gave it to him. 28:07 I'm going to have a talk with Hezekiah about that 28:08 when we get to heaven. 28:10 But you've got to be careful what you pray for. 28:11 Sometimes they might end up with a Manasseh. 28:15 Well that's where Manasseh comes along. 28:16 And then after him, he ends up with a good son; Josiah. 28:19 And he reigns 31 years doing what was right 28:23 in the sight of the Lord. 28:25 So we have again, Hezekiah good, Manasseh bad, 28:28 and then Josiah good. 28:31 And then chapter 23 verse 36, his son comes along and 28:37 he reigns 11 years doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 28:39 His son comes along, Zedekiah, reigning 11 years doing evil 28:43 in the sight of the Lord. 28:45 So we have 22 evil years in a row there 28:48 coming right after Josiah of 31 good years. 28:54 And then Babylon comes in. 28:56 So in that last about 50 years, 30 of them were good. 29:04 And only about 20 of them, 22, were bad. 29:08 Kind of got this impression, though, 29:11 that, "Oh, it was just bad, bad, bad, bad, bad." 29:13 So God allows Babylon to come in. 29:17 It was just the last two kings that were bad, 29:19 according to the Bible, that did evil in the sight of the Lord. 29:22 Now the good kings, I understand the good kings weren't perfect. 29:24 There's plenty in the Bible written about what they did bad. 29:27 And even in that chapter about Uzziah, in that less than 29:31 chapter he gets, what it does say about him 29:33 is what he did wrong. 29:37 And so even the good kings, yeah they made some mistakes. 29:39 And so yes, when the good kings were reigning, 29:40 there were people doing mistakes. 29:42 I understand that. 29:43 But also when there were bad kings, there were good stuff 29:45 going on as well. 29:48 So just going by what the Bible said; 29:49 they did evil in the sight of the Lord, 29:50 they did what was right in the sight of the Lord. 29:51 So what are our totals during the time of the kings? 29:53 Our totals of the bad years are 126 bad years, 29:59 303 good years, and 79 neutral years. 30:04 It almost parallels Judges. 30:07 Almost the same amount of years and almost the same percentage 30:09 of bad years and good years. 30:12 And again, the good way outweighing the bad 30:15 throughout Kings. 30:20 And then after that, we have the time of Babylon. 30:22 We have Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah, Azariah. 30:25 We have Ester, we have Mordecai. 30:27 We have Nehemiah, we have Ezra. 30:30 And so we have all these good times. 30:31 And then we have the 400 years of the time between 30:35 the Testaments where there's no prophets. 30:37 There's no books being written in those 400 years. 30:39 Why isn't there any books written in those 400 years? 30:42 Why weren't there any prophets during those 400 years? 30:49 Because there was nothing bad going on. 30:53 Okay, we've seen that over and over again. 30:55 The Bible only sends prophets and miracles when there's 30:58 bad stuff going on to get their attention 31:00 and bring them to repentance. 31:01 But if there's nothing bad going on, 31:03 He doesn't have to say anything. 31:05 He doesn't have to show up. 31:06 I mean, of course He's there. 31:07 But I mean, He doesn't have to send a prophet 31:09 to go and rebuke them, because that was the job of the prophet. 31:11 The job of the prophet was to rebuke. 31:12 To convict of sin, to tell about sin, 31:14 and to lead people to repentance. 31:17 During that 400 years, that's the time of the Maccabees. 31:19 The Hanukkah story is there. 31:21 And they're serving the Lord. 31:22 They fight against the Greek army. 31:25 The most powerful nation in the world at that time. 31:27 And they win. 31:28 And they carve out a little notch of land where 31:30 they're able to have autonomy. 31:32 Set up their own coinage, and their own leadership. 31:35 And they're reigning, and they did it so they 31:37 could serve the Lord. 31:39 That was their sole reason for rebellion, 31:41 was because they did not have religious freedom anymore. 31:43 And they fought so they could have it. 31:44 And they risked their lives and gave their lives 31:46 so they could serve the Lord and worship in the temple, 31:49 and liberate the temple, and rededicate the temple. 31:52 So God said, "They're doing just fine. 31:54 I'm just going to let them roll." 31:58 So how about during the time of Messiah? 32:00 About the time of Messiah, how did the Jewish people do then? 32:06 Well in Acts chapter 2 verse 41, it says 3000 people 32:09 came to the Lord. 32:11 And then in chapter 4 verse 4, it says 5000 32:13 plus women and children. 32:16 Alright, so Jules Isaac estimates that within 32:18 three and a half years about 25,000 Jewish people 32:21 in and around Jerusalem believed. 32:24 That's a large number. 32:30 25,000 in three and a half years. 32:35 Does that sound like a people who rejected the Messiah? 32:39 25,000 Jewish people accepting the Messiah 32:41 in three and a half years? 32:44 Could you imagine this congregation... 32:45 Let's say we want to do an outreach. 32:47 We're going to plant another congregation nearby here. 32:49 Let's say, whatever, Ft. Lauderdale, right? 32:52 Let's say there's a refugee group there. 32:57 And let's say they come from a country that doesn't 32:59 have the Bible, doesn't know the Lord at all. 33:01 And let's say there's a 100,000 people. 33:03 That's what some people estimate was in Jerusalem 33:05 in that area at that time. 33:06 Let's say 200,000 people. 33:08 And we go over there for three and a half years. 33:10 And let's say we take twelve of us and we go over there. 33:12 Twelve or thirteen, whatever, and we go over there. 33:14 And in that time, a couple of us get killed. 33:17 And they try and make laws outlawing us, 33:20 and we get persecuted there. 33:24 But in that time, we baptize 25,000 people. 33:30 I mean, would that be good? 33:32 Has this church baptized 25,000 people in the 33:35 last three and a half years? 33:37 The whole entire Florida Conference 33:39 doesn't even come close to baptizing 25,000 people 33:43 in three and a half years. 33:45 If it did, every other Conference would be 33:47 coming down here to find out what we're doing. 33:50 This is a whole Conference. 33:52 With a whole lot more than 100,000 or 33:53 200,000 people to work with. 33:56 So that's 25% of the people. 34:00 There's very few countries, if any, that have 25% of the 34:02 people attending services regularly on a weekly basis. 34:07 Especially during persecution. 34:10 How can we say they rejected the Messiah? 34:14 25,000 of them. 34:17 Alright, because you've got 5000 and 3000. 34:19 That's 8000 right there, plus women and children. 34:21 Alright, so it's easy to just triple that with the women 34:23 and then one child each. 34:26 You've got 24,000 right there. 34:28 Plus those that were added daily. 34:33 Acts chapter 6 verse 7... 34:48 A great company, it increased and multiplied greatly. 34:53 In Jerusalem. 34:56 So we can't even just say, "Well it was just the leaders." 34:58 Because the leaders were the Levites. 34:59 It just said the priests, a great company of the priests. 35:02 A great company of the priests came. 35:07 And we have Joseph of Arimathea, 35:09 and we have Nicodemus of the Sanhedrin, 35:12 coming and following the Lord. 35:17 So you can't even say the leadership. 35:18 Because some of the leadership, a great company of the 35:21 leadership, came and joined as well. 35:25 And became believers as well. 35:32 And then, you know, some people say, 35:34 and I've preached in a place and right afterwards 35:37 a person came up to me and said, "Yeah, but you know, Paul says, 35:38 'I wash my hands of you Jews and now I'm going to the Gentiles.' 35:42 And he's the apostles to the Gentiles." 35:45 Well that verse, that quote, is in chapter 13. 35:50 You go just a few verses right after that to chapter 14 verse 1 35:55 and it says Paul goes to Iconium. 35:59 Chapter 14 verse 1, Iconium. 36:01 And a great multitude of Jews came to the faith. 36:06 So in chapter 13, he worked in that city. 36:10 And he continued working in that city until everyone had an 36:12 opportunity to hear the message. 36:14 And those that heard the message and accepted the message, 36:16 and the Bible tells us, in that city a great number 36:18 came there too of Jewish people and accepted there also. 36:22 And then when those who accepted did accept, 36:23 and those who didn't accept didn't accept, 36:24 he said, "Okay, now I'm done. 36:26 I go to the Jew first and now I go to the Gentile." 36:27 So he's done going to the Jews, "Now I'm going to the Gentile." 36:29 That's what he says in Romans chapter 1 verse 20. 36:32 So to the Jew first, and then to the Greek. 36:34 And so that's what he did; he said, "Okay, I'm done. 36:35 I gave you an opportunity, I've been here a few years 36:36 and I preached to you. 36:37 And now I'm going to the Greeks." 36:39 And then he finished there, and then he goes on 36:41 to the next town, and he does the same thing over again. 36:43 To the Jew first and then to the Greek. 36:46 It wasn't, "I've washed my hands forever of you guys." 36:49 Just for that town, because he finished. 36:52 And then he goes on. 36:53 He actually does that twice. 36:54 It's actually quoted twice in the book of Acts. 36:56 And also if you just read a few more verses, 36:57 and it goes and it says a leader of the synagogue 37:00 comes to the Lord. 37:03 So Jewish people continuing to come to the Lord 37:06 through that time. 37:09 And then in Acts 17, it says that they turned 37:12 the world upside down. 37:13 Which world got turned upside down, 37:14 the Jewish or the Roman world? 37:17 It was the Jews that were saying it. 37:18 What Roman city had 3000 baptized in a day? 37:24 What Roman city had 5000, plus women and children, baptized? 37:29 The Bible doesn't mention any of those. 37:31 Why not? 37:32 Certainly, if there was a Roman city that 5000 Gentiles 37:36 were baptized in a day, or 3000 plus women and children, 37:37 it would have mentioned it, right? 37:41 What Jewish city had the whole city come out to a theatre 37:44 and pack it in there, and cry out, "Diana, goddess Diana. 37:48 Great is Diana, great is Diana, great is Diana." 37:51 It wasn't a Jewish city, it was a Greek city. 37:54 Or it was the Greeks that were doing that. 37:56 So yes, the Greeks were coming to the Lord. 37:58 Yes, the Gentiles were coming to the Lord. 37:59 But the Jews were coming to the Lord also. 38:01 All throughout. 38:03 Jews were accepting it, and Jews were rejecting it. 38:05 Gentiles were accepting it, and Gentiles were rejecting it. 38:09 We get this concept that Acts is all about the Gentiles. 38:12 And it's not. 38:13 Again, I believe it. 38:14 What, do you think it was 25% of the Roman world 38:18 that came to the Lord? 38:19 I'd be very surprised. 38:20 Especially not at the time. 38:22 And later on, again, the Caesar got a little upset with him. 38:27 Now what about the Bereans? You familiar with the Bereans? 38:28 What are the Bereans known for? 38:32 Being more righteous than the Thessalonicans 38:34 because they studied the Word to see for themselves. 38:37 Well who were the Bereans? 38:38 It tells us right there, Acts chapter 17 verse 10. 38:46 So the Bereans were Jewish. 38:48 That it talks about that were more noble. 38:50 And not a few Greeks, right? 38:55 And so many of the Greeks there too. 38:57 Now where were those Greeks? 39:01 In the synagogue. 39:03 In which synagogue? 39:05 The synagogue of the Jews. 39:07 What were the Greeks doing in the synagogue of the Jews? 39:12 Worshiping the Lord God of the Jews. 39:16 Now how on earth did they get there? 39:18 And we get this concept, "Oh the Jews kept it for themselves. 39:20 They weren't going and witnessing." 39:21 Well if they weren't going and witnessing, what were all those 39:23 Gentiles doing in their synagogue? 39:26 And that's in a lot of cities. 39:27 I only put it in that verse, but it's over and over 39:29 again throughout Acts. 39:30 He goes to the synagogue, many of the Jews come, 39:31 and many of the Greeks that were in the synagogue. 39:34 So they were converts to Judaism. 39:37 And they accepted as well. 39:41 Actually, the city of Antioch was Jewish. 39:46 That was a Jewish congregation initially. 39:49 And where they're called Christians, they're called 39:50 Christians in Antioch, at the time they're called 39:52 Christians in Antioch it was only Jews. 39:55 Paul had not yet began to bring the message to the Gentiles yet. 39:59 It was only Jews, and Gentiles who had been 40:01 converted to Judaism, in Antioch. 40:04 The same thing in Ephesus. 40:06 Ephesus was a Jewish congregation... 40:09 ...initially. 40:11 And Corinth too. 40:12 Corinth, it's in the book of Acts, he went to Corinth. 40:14 The Jews came, he went to the synagogue of the Jews. 40:16 And many Jews believed. 40:18 And many did not. 40:19 And many Gentiles believed, and many did not. 40:22 But they were all Jewish congregations... 40:25 ...initially. 40:26 And they took the message to the Gentiles. 40:28 And the Gentiles, you know, they filled up more. 40:30 They now numbered, eventually. 40:32 Acts chapter 21, it says myriads of Jews came to the Lord. 40:37 That word, "myriads," is ten thousand. 40:40 So myriads is tens of thousands coming to the Lord. 40:45 How can we say that they rejected the Messiah? 40:50 Or that God replaced them with, "the church." 40:54 With the concept of the "Gentile" church? 40:57 He didn't replace Israel with the church. 41:01 He replaced the system, the national system, 41:07 of Jews and the temple, and replaced it with Jews. 41:11 The twelve disciples were Jews. 41:12 Paul was Jewish, the other ones were Jewish. 41:13 Replaced them with Jews. 41:15 And instead of bringing people, like the Queen of Sheba, 41:17 to the temple, they were now going out to the world. 41:23 So there was a shift in missiology. 41:27 But it still continued, God using the Jews 41:30 to bring it to the world. 41:32 Not a replacing of it. 41:36 So what about in the last 2000 years? 41:38 How have we done during the last 2000 years? 41:39 In the last 2000 years of earth's history, 41:42 we have two groups; we have the Gentiles, 41:45 or the Christians, right, that are bowing down 41:49 to statues, praying to saints, reading catechisms, 41:53 breaking the Sabbath, and eating pork. 41:56 And then we have the Jews, non-believing Jews, 42:00 worshiping God, praying to God, reading the Bible, 42:02 keeping the Sabbath, and eating biblically. 42:05 Where would you go to worship? 42:06 Those are the only two choices you had. 42:08 Which is basically the only two choices they had. 42:11 Now I know there were the Waldensians and others 42:13 in the mountains, and stuff like that. 42:14 And there was a remnant there. Yeah, I get that. 42:16 And praise God for them. 42:17 You know, if we're going to say, "Well look at the 42:19 remnant up there," then we've also got to remember 42:20 there was a remnant even in Ahab's time and Jezebel's time. 42:23 7000 who didn't bow the knee to Baal. 42:26 That works both ways. 42:27 Again, there's always been believing Gentiles 42:29 from the beginning of time; Ruth and Gibeonites, and others. 42:33 So there's always been Gentiles and Jews. 42:36 But then again, there's always been Jews and Gentiles as well 42:39 throughout the history of time. 42:42 And so during the dark ages, a thousand years ago, 42:44 and if the Christian church for 1260 years, the dark ages, 42:50 did evil in the sight of the Lord for 2000 years, 42:54 and the Jewish time, that time from Moses to Babylon, 42:57 was 240 bad years out of 1083 good years, 43:03 if God rejected the Jewish people, as is commonly taught, 43:06 for the 200 and something years out of over a thousand, 43:11 then what should He have done to Christianity 43:14 for over a thousand years of bad years out of two thousand? 43:19 Yeah, if we're going to use that reasoning, 43:20 "that's why He rejected," that's what I've heard; 43:21 He rejected the Jewish people because they were so bad. 43:26 But as we're seeing, that's not the case. 43:31 This affects our perception of history. 43:34 How we look at things. 43:35 And God even prophesied that time period, the dark ages, 43:38 where the Jewish people would still be worshiping, 43:40 even risking their lives, when the Bible is outlawed. 43:43 Who outlawed the Bible during the dark ages? 43:47 So called Christians. 43:49 But they're reading the Bible, they're reading the Torah, 43:51 worshiping God, keeping the Sabbath. 43:55 The Bible prophesied this in Hosea chapter 3 verse 4. 43:58 "For the children of Israel shall abide many days 44:02 without a king and without a prince..." 44:14 So they don't have a sacrifice. 44:18 So they don't have the sanctuary service. 44:21 They don't have a king or a prince; 44:23 neither earthly leadership or a Messiah Prince. 44:27 But nor do they have an image. 44:29 They're not worshiping an image either 44:32 during the dark ages. 44:33 And then it says, then afterwards they would 44:37 seek the Lord their God. 44:39 Verse 5, "And afterwards, the children of Israel 44:42 shall return and seek the Lord their God and David their king, 44:47 and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days." 44:53 That's talking about now. 44:55 So in the last days... so he prophesied. 44:56 So there's going to be this time period where 44:58 they're not going to have a king, they're not going to 44:59 have a Messiah, they're not going to have an image. 45:02 And then they're going to, afterwards, in the latter days, 45:05 they're going to seek God and seek David their king. 45:09 Who is David their king? 45:12 The Messiah. 45:14 They're going to seek the Messiah. 45:15 After that time period. 45:17 Well we're after that time period. 45:18 Now is the time for them to hear the gospel. 45:24 In Romans chapter 11 verse 25, it a says similar thing. 45:28 It says... 45:41 So it's a mystery, we don't want to be ignorant. 45:53 God doesn't want us to be ignorant of this mystery. 45:56 It's hard to understand. 45:57 And that we shouldn't be wise in our own opinion. 46:01 In other words, haughty, lifted up, that we're okay, 46:03 "now we're the ones." 46:07 That, blindness in part... 46:10 Not a full blindness. 46:11 Keeping the Sabbath, keeping the kosher, 46:13 keeping the Bible, reading the Bible, keeping the Scriptures. 46:16 Worshiping the Lord God, Creator of the heavens and the earth. 46:19 But in part, blindness. 46:23 Until... 46:24 That means, that in part blindness is going to 46:26 end eventually. 46:30 Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 46:34 Very similar to what Yeshua said. 46:36 Jesus said, "You'll see Me no more until... 46:40 ...you say, 'Blessed are you who comes in the name of the Lord.'" 46:42 And He also says, Jerusalem will be tramped under foot until... 46:46 ...the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. 46:49 And so God promising that it's going to come back 46:51 to the Jewish people. 46:54 We have in part blindness. 46:57 Then the Gentiles, the message will go to the Gentiles. 46:59 And when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, 47:01 when all the Gentiles, when the gospel has gone 47:03 to all the world, then it comes back to the Jewish people. 47:06 And they will seek David their Messiah. 47:09 But if we've been telling them, "Oh, the Jews rejected Jesus," 47:11 "The Jews rejected Jesus," 47:12 "The Jews rejected..." "The Jews rejected..." 47:15 They're not going to accept it. 47:17 And why, during the dark ages, did they have that 47:20 partial blindness? 47:21 During the time of Messiah and Paul, they didn't 47:23 have this partial blindness. 47:24 Why during the time of the dark ages? 47:27 Well, what was being presented to them? 47:29 "Oh, here's your Messiah. 47:30 He says to bow down to idols, break the Sabbath, eat pork." 47:34 They said, "That's not the Messiah. 47:37 Would God condemn them for rejecting 47:39 that picture of the Messiah? 47:41 I hope not. 47:43 They rejected a false Messiah waiting for the true Messiah 47:48 to be revealed to them. 47:52 And when we reveal Him to them, they will accept it. 47:57 That's what the Bible said, because "until..." 47:59 And then it comes back to them. 48:01 Only in part. 48:02 And this is in the chapter where Paul talks about the olive tree. 48:05 Isn't that the chapter where he says the Jewish branches 48:07 are broken off? 48:09 No, that's the chapter where it says some of the branches 48:15 were broken off. 48:16 And if only some of the branches were broken off, 48:18 what does that mean about the rest of the Jewish branches? 48:22 They stayed on. 48:23 And then it says, and then you being a wild olive branch 48:25 were grafted into them. 48:27 And then He's able to graft in back those that were broken off. 48:32 So again, we see the Jewish stay in, the Gentiles are 48:34 grafted in with and together with, into the olive tree. 48:39 And then the Jewish branches brought back in again. 48:41 Just like Hosea, just like what Paul said. 48:44 That it would go to the Jews and then would go to the Gentiles, 48:46 and then we come back to the Jews. 48:48 Because God is not going to come back 48:51 until His olive tree is full. 48:54 You see, within the next verses after that, it says, 48:56 and then all Israel shall be saved. 49:00 And so He can't come back until we accept that. 49:05 The Jewish people were not rejected, 49:07 were not rejecting God, 49:10 have a right conception of history, 49:12 a right conception of biblical history. 49:15 And then we bring it to the Gentiles and bring the 49:17 Gentiles in; the fullness of the Gentiles ends. 49:19 And then bring it back to the Jewish people. 49:20 But we've got to bring the right message, the right Messiah, 49:22 with the right history for them to see it and accept it. 49:29 And then Romans chapter 11, so has God 49:31 rejected the Jewish people? 49:32 Romans chapter 11 verse 1, Paul says, "I say then, 49:35 has God cast away His people? 49:39 God forbid." 49:41 "God has not cast away His people which He foreknew." 49:46 That's what the Bible says. 49:49 Then there's a quote from a book, Great Controversy. 49:52 And I'll need that on the screen, because I 49:53 don't have it written out here. 49:54 But from the book, Great Controversy. 49:56 Very interesting quote. 50:31 That's a misinterpreting of the Bible... 50:35 ...that the greater majority of the Christian church is doing, 50:40 according to that text. 50:45 And so for example, if we read from Zechariah chapter 8, 50:50 it says that... 50:52 And I'll need that on the screen too. 50:54 Zechariah chapter 8. 51:03 "...in Jerusalem..." 51:04 Or in the church, if we're misinterpreting the Scriptures. 51:13 ...will grab the hem of a Gentile man... 51:23 And that is the popular teaching. 51:24 That is how the majority of teachings are misinterpreting 51:27 the Scriptures. 51:28 That when it says, "Jew," you say, "Gentile." 51:30 When it says, "Jerusalem," you say, "church." 51:33 And Jerusalem has been replaced with the church. 51:36 Not according, again, to that book. 51:37 It said that's a misinterpreting of Scripture. 51:39 So let's read this text again. 51:40 Let's go back a slide and read it the way it should be 51:43 as it is in the Bible. 52:10 Who is that Jewish man? 52:13 They're grabbing hold of the hem of his garment. 52:16 That's the Messiah, that's Yeshua the Messiah. 52:19 That the Gentiles are going to grab hold. 52:21 Ten men of all the nations grab hold. 52:24 He's got to be wearing a tallit then 52:25 for them to be able to do that. 52:26 He's got to be a Jewish Jesus for them to be able to 52:29 grab hold to the hem of His garment. 52:33 Again, when we change how He looks and how He is, 52:36 then we're not able to recognize Him. 52:38 We change the Bible. 52:40 Are you familiar with Galileo? 52:42 Galileo, you know, a nice Jewish boy. 52:45 He was a scientist. 52:47 And in his day, it was taught that if you had two objects 52:52 of different size and differing weight, 52:56 and you dropped them at the same time, 53:00 that the heavier one would fall first. 53:02 It's heavier, bigger, whatever, it would go down faster. 53:06 That was the common teaching in his day. 53:08 Galileo comes along and he says, "No, no, no, no. 53:11 If you have two different things weighing different amounts, 53:14 the heavier one and the lighter one will fall 53:17 at the same exact rate." 53:19 They didn't believe him. 53:20 So he took them to a pizza parlor and went up to the top 53:24 with a little stone and a big refrigerator. 53:27 I don't know if it was a refrigerator or what, 53:28 but a big object and a small object. 53:31 And that's what caused it to lean, right? 53:32 So you've got the Leaning Tower of Pisa. 53:33 And he goes up there with these two objects. 53:36 And he's got some of these other professors up there with him, 53:39 and he's got other professors down there watching along. 53:42 And he drops them at the same time... 53:46 ...and they land at exactly the same time. 53:51 These professors, they go, "Wow. 53:53 I can't believe that. 53:54 That's amazing." 53:57 And then they went back to their classes 54:00 and they taught the people that if you have two 54:02 different objects of differing weights, 54:05 the heavier one will land first. 54:11 They saw it with their own eyes, they were convinced, 54:13 they believed. 54:15 But then they went back into their old habit. 54:18 And then we've seen very plainly here today 54:21 that in the history of the Jewish people... 54:22 Actually we said, what did you say it was? 54:23 80% of the time? 54:24 That was the majority what you said? 54:26 It comes out to 22% of the time that the Jewish people were bad 54:32 from Moses to Babylon. 54:37 Then again, we looked at the New Testament 54:38 and they weren't bad then either. 54:40 And then when we looked at the dark ages 54:42 in the last 2000 years of history. 54:46 So we've got this conception 54:47 that they were bad, bad, bad, bad. 54:49 And we read the Bible that way. 54:50 And part of it is because the way the Bible, again, 54:51 the bad news gets all the press. 54:53 And it says the Jews did this, and the Jews persecuted this. 54:56 But it was infighting. 54:59 Christianity was another sect of Judaism. 55:04 So the persecuting by Paul and of Paul 55:06 was all just Jews persecuting Jews. 55:08 It was an infight. 55:11 So it was the unbelieving Jews attacking the believing Jews. 55:13 That's what was going on there. 55:15 But when we read it, sometimes it just looks that way. 55:18 So our whole mindset has been, our whole perception 55:21 has been wrong on this. 55:22 And if we've missed that... 55:23 And we've looked at texts from the Torah, 55:26 we've looked at Judges, we've looked at 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 55:30 we've looked at the book of Acts, we've looked at 55:31 Zechariah, we've looked at Romans. 55:33 We've looked at text from throughout the whole Bible. 55:36 And if we've missed this that's scattered all throughout 55:40 the Bible, what else have we been missing? 55:43 What else have we been getting wrong? 55:45 And this affects how we do missiology. 55:47 This affects how we do outreach. 55:49 This affects how we interact with Jewish people, 55:51 or other people who love the Jewish people. 55:54 And we're not going to be able to reach them if we continue. 55:56 There's no other people group that we talk about every 55:57 single week at services other than the Jewish people. 56:01 Right? 56:02 They're in the Bible, and so we're reading the Bible; 56:03 that's what we're talking about. 56:04 And so we've been talking about them in this wrong way 56:06 for all this time... 56:09 ...that it affects where we put our money into evangelism. 56:12 Are we doing like what Paul said; to the Jew first? 56:15 Okay, the fullness of the Gentiles. 56:16 And then when they come in; then again to be able to 56:18 close off the work, it's got to come back to the Jewish people. 56:21 But if we've been thinking, "Well God rejected them 56:23 and replaced them with us," well then we're not going to 56:24 have any interest in going back there and reaching them. 56:27 And then we'll never go home. 56:28 Because it's got to come back. 56:29 That's what Jesus said and Paul said. 56:33 Then afterward, they would seek David their king. 56:38 That the blindness would be until that time. 56:40 And so we need to reach out to them. 56:43 And so we've had, not just a paradigm shift here. 56:46 Bigger than that. This is a paradollar shift. 56:48 I mean, it's bigger than a "dime". 56:49 Maybe several dollars of shifting going on here, right? 56:52 I mean, the total shift from 80% bad to really just 20% bad. 56:56 Total opposite. 56:58 And the only way that's going to change so that we don't go back, 57:01 like Galileo's professor's there, is to allow God to 57:04 change our heart. 57:06 See, confession with our mouth takes a moment. 57:09 Bu repentance is a lifetime. 57:12 And then lived out in the life. 57:13 And that takes conversion. 57:14 We need to ask God to change us and to convert us. 57:17 So let's pray and ask God to do that right now. 57:20 Our Lord, our God, King of the universe, 57:21 as we've this here today in Your Bible, in Your Scriptures, 57:24 change our hearts and our minds to that we present 57:28 Your Word correctly. |
Revised 2014-12-17