A Framework for Studying the Bible-CHARLES LAWSON BIBLE SERMON-AUG 7 2024
Early Dispensations (for How God Deals with Mankind) Are Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, the Law and the Prophets.... And Then the Lord Lets It Be Known of Some Occasions When God's People Are Presented with a Choice, and the Direction of Period of History Is Not Fixed--But Rather, Is Conditional in the Mind of God. Also, Some Caveats Regarding Certain Common Misinterpretations
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00:00That's the first time I've heard that organ in some time.
00:04It's okay.
00:06If God gives you a gift, I think you should use it.
00:08Oh yeah.
00:10Over 40 years ago,
00:12along with some men,
00:14we drove out to
00:16off of Alcoa Highway
00:19and went to a home.
00:21This lady was losing her sight.
00:23She was going blind.
00:25And she couldn't play the organ anymore.
00:27So we bought that organ
00:29and we carried it over here and we put it in.
00:31And it's been there since then.
00:34So that's the history behind that organ.
00:37It sounded good tonight.
00:39Amen.
00:41Alright, if you have your Bible, turn to Genesis 1, verse 27.
00:48If you go to verse 26 to get the context.
00:59The scripture says,
01:01And God said,
01:03Let us make man in our image,
01:05after our likeness,
01:07and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
01:10over the fowl of the air,
01:12and over the cattle,
01:14and over all the earth,
01:16and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
01:19So God created man
01:21in his own image.
01:23In the image of God created he him.
01:26Male and female created he them.
01:29And God blessed them and God said to them,
01:31Be fruitful and multiply
01:34and replenish the earth
01:36and subdue it,
01:38and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
01:40the fowl of the air,
01:41and over every living thing
01:43that moveth upon the earth.
01:45Father bless this book now.
01:47In your holy name. Amen.
01:49As I told you before,
01:51angels were not created in the image of God.
01:54So who is he talking to?
01:56You see.
01:58This is the Trinity.
02:00This is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
02:02In the act of creation said,
02:04Let us make man in our image.
02:07Man's made in the image of God.
02:09And so we find
02:11when he made the man, he put him in the garden
02:13to dress it and keep it.
02:14He didn't put him there to just sit around
02:16you know, pining away.
02:18So he gave him something useful to do.
02:21But he sinned.
02:24When he did, he was expelled from the garden
02:27and a cherubim with a flaming sword
02:30was placed at the tree of life.
02:32Lest he eat of that tree
02:34and live forever
02:36in that fallen state.
02:37God showing his mercy
02:39and his long suffering and his graciousness
02:41all the way back there.
02:43So this is the first relationship
02:45that God had with man.
02:47It was an innocency.
02:49Now when the man sinned
02:51as Satan said
02:53the day you eat this
02:54he said you'll be as God
02:56knowing good and evil.
02:57And they did.
02:58So therefore they came under conscience.
03:01Now I'm going to try to give you tonight
03:03a little bit about how to study the Bible.
03:06I believe it will be a great help to you
03:08because I'll show you some of the things I got into
03:11and where God brought me out of it
03:12and gave me some wisdom
03:14in how to deal with some of these issues.
03:16So many people
03:18they say preacher
03:19the Bible is such a
03:22for one thing
03:23huge book
03:25with so many things in it.
03:27How in the world do you study the Bible?
03:30Where do you start?
03:31You say well that's a good question.
03:33No question about it.
03:34It's a good question.
03:35Because you want to the scripture commands you.
03:37Study to show thyself approved to God.
03:40So that's a good question.
03:41Where do you start?
03:43When I started studying the word of God
03:45I had about 15 or 20 translations
03:47piled up around me.
03:48I wanted to make sure
03:50that I got exactly what God had said.
03:52I didn't know the difference between
03:54olive or alpha.
03:56I didn't know any of that.
03:57None whatsoever.
03:58But I wanted to learn.
04:00And so I started down the path
04:02of many translations.
04:04It didn't take me long
04:06to find out
04:07the Lord had his way of showing me
04:09that I only needed one.
04:11And that's the AV 1611.
04:13That's the one I've got today
04:14and I stick with it.
04:15It's the one I believe.
04:16If you go to my office
04:18I can show you all kinds of translations.
04:20Believe me, I've got plenty of them.
04:22But I only believe one.
04:24See, that's the difference.
04:26But anyway, I studied the Bible.
04:28And God began to open scripture to me.
04:31He will reward you
04:33if you will study it.
04:34If you will put some time
04:36and effort into it.
04:37I look on YouTube
04:39and there's quite a few places on there
04:40where it says
04:41learn the Bible in 30 minutes.
04:43No, forget it.
04:45And he's playing with you.
04:47That's click bait.
04:48As we call it.
04:49How many know what click bait is?
04:51Those of you that surf the web,
04:53you know what it is.
04:54That's garbage.
04:55You're not going to learn the Bible
04:56in 30 minutes.
04:57Oh, no, no.
04:58You're not going to do it.
04:59You're not going to master the Bible
05:00in 30 years.
05:02No, the Word of God is alive.
05:04And I'll show you that part in a moment.
05:06But when they passed from innocency,
05:08they passed into the state of conscience.
05:10And so their conscience became their guide.
05:12But that didn't last long.
05:14It didn't last long at all.
05:15They wound up calling themselves
05:16by the name of the Lord, it says,
05:18over there in the book of Genesis.
05:20Then began man to call upon the name of the Lord.
05:22And that's one of those things
05:25where they had confused
05:27the identity of Almighty God
05:30with angels that had come down from heaven
05:32that left their first estate
05:34in Genesis chapter number 6
05:36and came and cohabited with women.
05:38These are the great,
05:40what do you call them in Greek culture,
05:42the Greek gods, the Titans, and so forth,
05:45the men of renown.
05:47But we know them as fallen angels.
05:49And as they did that once before,
05:51they'll do it again.
05:53And we may very well be seeing
05:54the fruit of it right now.
05:56But in any event, they fail.
05:57They fail.
05:58They fail first with innocency,
05:59then with conscience.
06:00God set them up with human government.
06:02And He said, gave them the bow.
06:04He gave them the sign of the bow
06:07outside, you know, when it rains.
06:11The beautiful, it's a beautiful thing.
06:14I've seen two rainbows at one time in the sky.
06:17And I felt that was quite remarkable.
06:20But the rainbow is a sign of God's covenant with man.
06:23He'll never destroy the earth with water again.
06:25Led all the way up to Nimrod
06:27in the Tower of Babel.
06:28And here human government led them
06:30to a point of universal rebellion against God
06:34because they were going to build a tower
06:36into the heavens
06:37that they might be able to touch.
06:39I'm not sure what they intended to touch,
06:41but they were going to get as high
06:42as they possibly could into the heavens.
06:45But that failed.
06:46And God reached down into Ur of the Chaldees
06:49and He called a man by the name of Abraham.
06:51Abram was his name at the time.
06:53Father means father.
06:55Then He added the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
06:57Hay, and it became Avraham, Abraham.
07:00And now he becomes High Father.
07:02And he's the father of many nations.
07:04He's the father that the promise would come through.
07:07He's the father that would show us
07:09that faith is how you talk to God and live for Him.
07:12And God blessed him.
07:14And his people were led off into captivity though,
07:17into Egyptian captivity.
07:19And they were there for 400 years.
07:21And then at the end of that period of time,
07:23this time of promise that God had given to Abraham,
07:26came to a screeching halt.
07:28And they were led out of Egyptian bondage.
07:30And out at Sinai,
07:32they allowed themselves,
07:33or even asked to be brought under
07:35the condemnation of the law.
07:37Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebel were the two mountains used
07:40for God to read the blessings and the cursings of the law.
07:43And they said all that God had said,
07:45we will do.
07:47And so they attempted to do that.
07:49But it quickly brought you down to Luke chapter 16, verse 16.
07:52And here's what I want to read for you this morning,
07:54or this evening.
07:56This is the kind of thing that helps you study the Bible.
07:58In Luke chapter 16,
08:00and verse number 16.
08:02Now look carefully at it.
08:04The law and the prophets were until John.
08:07Since that time the kingdom of God is preached,
08:09and every man presseth into it.
08:12Now this is a definite dividing line.
08:15This is the end of one period,
08:17and the beginning of another.
08:19And notice carefully,
08:20the law was given at Sinai,
08:22all the way from Sinai,
08:23to John the Baptist,
08:25who preached the Lamb of God,
08:26that would take away the sin of the world.
08:28The law was preached.
08:30And here the Bible says in Luke 16, 16,
08:33the law and the prophets were until John,
08:35John the Baptist.
08:37We're talking about a dispensation,
08:39a period of time.
08:40But since that time the kingdom of God is preached,
08:43and every man presseth into it.
08:46Now turn to the book of Matthew chapter 11 with me tonight,
08:48and verse number 12.
08:50Now I'm going to show you a principle of the Bible
08:52that will help you understand it,
08:54and help you to study it,
08:56because it's important.
08:57If you get this part about the word of God,
08:59it will help you immensely.
09:01Matthew chapter 11 and verse number 12.
09:04And from the days of John the Baptist until now,
09:07the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
09:09and the violent take it by force.
09:11For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
09:17See this?
09:18Were there any prophets after John the Baptist?
09:21Oh yeah.
09:22Agabus, thus saith the Holy Ghost,
09:25in the book of Acts.
09:26Oh yes, prophets still came,
09:28but we're talking about the end of the period,
09:30or the dispensation of the prophets and the law.
09:34But it didn't mean it was the end of God's relationship with man,
09:38because in Matthew chapter number 11 and verse 12.
09:40From the days of John the Baptist until now,
09:43the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
09:45and the violent take it by force.
09:47For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
09:51Now look at verse 14.
09:53And if ye will receive it,
09:55this is Elias, which was for to come.
09:58He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10:01Well, let's see what he's quoting.
10:04Look at Malachi chapter number 4 and verse number 5.
10:08This is Elijah, or Elias, which was for to come.
10:12What do you mean, preacher?
10:13The Lord Jesus just told them that I'm going to show you a conditional thing.
10:19Depending on which choice you make,
10:22will determine which direction that the dispensation moves into the future.
10:27Basically, that's what he said.
10:29So in Malachi chapter number 4 and verse number 5.
10:32Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet.
10:35See this?
10:36Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
10:40See that?
10:41And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
10:43and the heart of the children to their fathers.
10:46Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
10:51Now look carefully at what we're reading.
10:53The Old Testament finishes and ends with God promising to send Elijah.
10:57The New Testament opens with John the Baptist preaching.
11:00And the Lord Jesus says, this is Elijah if you'll accept him.
11:05What you don't find is any mention of the church.
11:08It's nowhere to be found here.
11:10What you do find is God dealing with the children of Israel.
11:14With the people of Israel.
11:15With the Jewish people.
11:17In plain words, everything that happens to the Gentile is based upon what the Jew does.
11:24Digest that for a moment.
11:26It's not that the Gentile comes first, the Jew comes first.
11:30And what the Jew does determines what God does and when and where and how.
11:35He does it with the Gentiles.
11:37So obviously we have a situation that is conditional showing up with the ministry of John the Baptist.
11:43Where Israel could have accepted their Messiah.
11:46It would have been a different situation entirely.
11:48As it has been.
11:49It has developed into what we know now.
11:51And that's the best way I know to put it.
11:53It has developed into 2,000 years of the ministry of the body of Christ.
11:59And what we call the age of grace.
12:02And of course grace has been with us all the way from the beginning.
12:05Without the grace of God nobody could ever be saved.
12:08But we generally refer to it as the age of grace.
12:11And the throne of grace.
12:12And the period of time where Jew or Gentile, bond or free, red, yellow, black or white, makes no difference.
12:18The invitation goes forth to all men that they can be born of the spirit of God.
12:25And the Jew is not elevated to the number one position.
12:28He's not first.
12:30Right now it is the body of Christ.
12:33But it didn't have to be that way.
12:35And so this is what's important about studying the Bible.
12:38This is a conditional thing.
12:39When you come to the book of Acts and you find that on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes down in fire.
12:48Tongues of fire over the heads of 16 different nationalities speaking in different languages.
12:54And fills them with the Holy Spirit.
12:56And literally a tornado, a hurricane moves in their midst.
13:00We find the conditional situation with God rising again.
13:07For the second time He is offering the kingdom to the Jew.
13:12And He offers it to them specifically.
13:16Had they accepted that the church age as you know it now would never have existed.
13:22That's two conditional things right there.
13:25Now if you get these things right it will open the Bible up to you.
13:28For example, the Lord Jesus is coming back.
13:32Amen.
13:33So when is He coming back?
13:36Well the Son doesn't even know because He chooses not to know.
13:39Well then who knows?
13:41The Father.
13:42Has He set it in stone?
13:44In plain words, do we know from Scripture the exact time that the Lord is going to come back?
13:50It's not set in stone.
13:51It's a conditional thing.
13:54And that's the best way to understand it.
13:56Conditional.
13:58That for at any time the Lord can bring back the Lord Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords.
14:05The tribulation period can start and He can catch up the body of Christ to be with Him in the clouds.
14:10Nothing has to happen tonight.
14:12No signs, nothing has to be fulfilled for Him to come and get His body, His bride, the church.
14:19At any moment He can come and get us and take us away to be with Him.
14:23Because we are not looking at the day of the Lord.
14:26In 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2 He talks about the day of Christ.
14:31Now here's what happens in the new Bibles.
14:33If you've got the NIV or some of these other new Bibles.
14:36They confound the day of Christ with the day of the Lord.
14:40They confuse you.
14:41And why do they do that?
14:43Because the Greek text is not Kyrios.
14:47Hemera is Greek for day.
14:50Kyrios is Lord.
14:52The Greek text is Hemera Christos which is Christ.
14:56In other words the day of Christ.
14:58So they intentionally change that word from Christ to Lord.
15:05And that confuses people.
15:07Because to put the day of the Lord in context you're looking at Elijah coming back.
15:11And you're looking at the church.
15:13Not church but you're looking at Israel as it relates to the day of the Lord and not the church, the body of Christ.
15:19The day of Christ is about the church.
15:23And it's not about Israel.
15:25The church is made up of Jews and Gentiles.
15:28It's made up of all races of mankind.
15:31The body of Christ knows no limits whatsoever.
15:35And anyone for whosoever will can come and take of the water of life freely.
15:40But the day of Christ is in view right now.
15:43And he said that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition.
15:49And he's going to exalt himself.
15:51And show himself to be a God and sits in the temple of God professing to be God.
15:56He said but that day is not going to overcome you.
15:58It's not going to take you in darkness or in blindness.
16:02And so we're looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ at any moment.
16:06But when is he coming?
16:08Time and time and time and time again.
16:11They've written the books and made their prognostications.
16:14And every last one of them have been wrong.
16:17We've got a lot of people saying today that the Lord Jesus has got to come in our lifetime.
16:22Because there's no way in this world that we can see what's happening in front of us.
16:26And there's no way we can ever get through this without the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
16:31Well I'll say this and I fully agree with you.
16:34In my estimation everything that has to be done has been done.
16:37And there's no reason why he couldn't come right now.
16:40And as I said to you last Sunday morning,
16:43I picked out four or five different things to show you how that these are not the kind of things that are happening in every generation.
16:50That we've got stuff happening right now that has no counterpart in history.
16:55None.
16:56And it's happening right now.
16:58And I believe in my soul that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
17:02I believe it's near.
17:05But then it brings us back to the conditional thing.
17:09You see what I mean?
17:10It could have been today.
17:13But then it might have been changed.
17:16Only the Father knows that hour and that day.
17:21And Satan is at a loss and will forever be to figure out when Christ is going to come.
17:30You've got to remember this.
17:31The Apostle Peter says a day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day.
17:36Amen.
17:37So I mean what's a thousand years to him?
17:40For the one that liveth from everlasting to everlasting.
17:43Don't get discouraged if the Lord Jesus doesn't come back in a year or two.
17:48He is going to come back.
17:51Simeon and Anna were looking for the consolation of Israel.
17:54They were looking for the first advent of Christ.
17:56They were looking for the coming of the Lord.
17:58They were looking.
17:59And they were living in the temple nearby praying day in and day out for the coming of the Lord.
18:03And he chose to come in their lifetime.
18:07The first advent.
18:09Imagine all those that lived before though.
18:12They lived out their lives and they never saw him.
18:15He did not come in their lifetime.
18:18You've got to remember that.
18:19You've got to get hold of that from the Bible.
18:21He came when he chose to come at exactly the right moment and he came.
18:27And so who knows what moment that is and who knows when that is?
18:29Nobody knows it.
18:30And don't let somebody that gets arrogant and full of themselves get up and tell you that they know when the Lord is going to come back.
18:36They don't know when he's coming back.
18:38Amen.
18:39But I do know this.
18:40I do know he's coming.
18:42And as far as I can tell from what I see, I think it's near.
18:46I don't see any reason why.
18:48I mean I've never seen anything like what's happening now.
18:51I mean it's all gone.
18:52We're in free fall.
18:53The culture in America is not slipping away.
18:57No, friend.
18:58It's in free fall.
18:59It is.
19:00It really is.
19:01And I don't want to get political.
19:04If I get political, I get mad.
19:07Stomp around, I swear.
19:08I'll tell you the truth.
19:10I can't believe.
19:11I mean some of the stuff these people are out here preaching about what the America they want to see.
19:20Well, I'm going to tell you something about the America that some of them want to see.
19:23I wouldn't live in that America that some of them want to see.
19:26Amen.
19:27I wouldn't live in it.
19:28I wouldn't live in it.
19:29I'd live in a pig pen before I would in the America that some of these people want to see.
19:34I wish we could take it back 75 years.
19:37Amen.
19:39But in any event, this is one of the ways to study the Bible
19:42is to understand that God's dealing with humanity all the way up until the present moment
19:47has been conditional in the mind of God
19:51that He chooses the time, the place to do what He intends to do
19:56and no man stays His hand.
19:58And so that's where we are tonight.
20:00And I believe we are on the cusp of the second coming of Christ.
20:04Now another thing in the Bible that needs to be understood is found in Hebrews chapter number 8 and verse number 10.
20:10This is one of the great things in Scripture that will help you understand the Bible.
20:14In Hebrews chapter number 8 and verse number 10 it says this.
20:17This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days saith the Lord.
20:23Now let's stop just a moment.
20:25Just a moment.
20:28Why would He not say this is the covenant that we'll make with the church after those days?
20:34You see?
20:35There are those who are preaching two covenants.
20:37My dear friend, there is only one blood covenant.
20:42There's only one blood covenant.
20:44And it is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that was shed on the cross at Calvary.
20:48There is no other covenant because that covenant must be based on blood
20:53and there's only one blood sacrifice.
20:55He offered one sacrifice for sins forever and has sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
21:01But look at the context of Hebrews 8.
21:04This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days.
21:07Let's stop.
21:09So obviously the writer of the book of Hebrews is looking into the future
21:13and he says there is a future for the house of Israel, right?
21:17I mean how can you take it any other way?
21:19There's a future for the house of Israel.
21:22Here's what he says, saith the Lord.
21:24I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts
21:27and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people.
21:30And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord.
21:35For all shall know me from the least to the greatest.
21:37Stop again.
21:39Has that happened?
21:41See, this is one of the laws of exegesis.
21:46Interpretation of the scripture.
21:50Look at it and say to yourself, That hasn't happened.
21:53There has never been a time when everybody on this earth knew the Lord
21:57as the waters cover the sea.
21:59No, no, it has not happened.
22:02But there is coming a time when they will.
22:05Now look what he says and let's put it in context.
22:10They shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord.
22:13For all shall know me from the least to the greatest.
22:16For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.
22:19And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
22:23In that, he saith, a new covenant he hath made the first old.
22:29Now we've got two and they're contrasted.
22:32Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
22:37So what would that be?
22:39Well, in the context, it would be the old covenant.
22:41It's ready to vanish away.
22:43Don't ever let anybody drag you back under the law.
22:47But this is the greater point in this, in Hebrews chapter number 8.
22:51That is that God is not finished with Israel.
22:55And if you go to the book of Romans chapter number 11, you'll find it there.
22:58Hath God cast away his people which he foreknew?
23:02He makes it very plain.
23:03No.
23:05He says there is a remnant today according to the election of grace.
23:09There's a remnant today.
23:11There will be certain Jews saved in every generation.
23:14Always will be.
23:16Because for one reason, he says my witness will be in Judah as he did in the Old Testament.
23:21And it is.
23:22It's among the Jewish people.
23:24I was listening to a Jewish girl today on YouTube giving her testimony how she got saved.
23:29Now when I say Jewish, I'm talking about Israelite.
23:32She was speaking in Hebrew.
23:34But they gave an English caption at the bottom.
23:37I'm thankful.
23:39I can pick out a Hebrew here and there a little bit.
23:42Word here, word there.
23:43But I cannot.
23:44There's no way in the world I could understand everything she said.
23:47Here's what she said.
23:48She says we are taught from day one that the New Testament is full of lies.
23:54That it's Hebrew is horrible.
23:57And that it is essentially just a piece of garbage.
24:02And so we never spend any time in the New Testament.
24:05They keep us out of the New Testament.
24:08Essentially, they make us afraid of it.
24:11Okay.
24:12Now this is what this Israelite girl who was born in Israel, speaking Hebrew, this is what she said.
24:19But then she said that one of her sisters got saved.
24:23And I think she had two sisters.
24:24One of them got saved.
24:25Somehow or another a New Testament came into her hands.
24:29And she began to read it on her own.
24:32What she did not realize when she was reading that New Testament, that's not a Gentile book.
24:38That's the Word of God.
24:41And it was not written by Gentiles.
24:44It was written by Jews.
24:47And the Mashiach, the Messiah of that New Testament is not a Gentile.
24:51He's a Jew.
24:54And as she began to read that, she read that New Testament.
24:57And something started happening with her.
25:00And, of course, we know why.
25:02The Word of God is quick and powerful.
25:06It's alive.
25:08She was reading a book.
25:09Whether she thought whatever she thought had made any difference, it really didn't make any difference.
25:13I challenge any theoretical physicist in the world, pick up the New Testament.
25:18Read it for yourself.
25:20What, are you afraid of it?
25:23There's power in that book.
25:25It's alive.
25:28And as she read it, it began to read her.
25:31And as she read it, it began to speak deeply in her.
25:35And as she read it, it began to open up something inside her that had never been opened before.
25:40And as she read it, the light came on.
25:43And it brought her to the point to where she started repenting.
25:47It brought her to a place of repentance.
25:50Because she began to believe what she was reading.
25:53And, of course, you know what happened to her.
25:55She got saved.
25:57She got saved.
25:58All right.
25:59Now, I've told you before that a Jew will never reject Christ based on the Old Testament.
26:06You can't do it.
26:08The Old Testament will.
26:09You can take the Old Testament like Philip did the Ethiopian eunuch out there in the desert.
26:14He didn't have the New Testament.
26:15He had the Old Testament.
26:16He had the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.
26:18He led him to the Lord from the Old Testament.
26:21You see?
26:22He said to them, search the scriptures.
26:24For in them you think you have eternal life.
26:27He said this to the Pharisees.
26:29He said, there are they that testify of me.
26:31What's he talking about?
26:33He's talking about Genesis through Malachi.
26:35All right.
26:37Not the Mishnah.
26:39Not the Gemara.
26:40Not the Midrash.
26:41Not Halakha.
26:43Not the Talmud.
26:44But the Bible.
26:46Because the Talmud blinds them.
26:49The Bible opens their eyes.
26:51See, there's the problem.
26:53And she got saved.
26:55And she's got a testimony.
26:56You can see the joy all over her face.
26:58Praise God.
26:59And I'm going to tell you something about the, that I've learned from Jews.
27:03Once one gets saved, you talk about loving the Bible.
27:07These people get into scripture.
27:09And they, I guess it's the gift that God gives them.
27:13They make excellent exposition of the Word of God.
27:17And she did.
27:18Very good.
27:19And I'm so glad for it.
27:20That God's Word opened her up.
27:23But you see, Romans chapter number 11 says, along with this book right here in Hebrews 8.
27:28They're blind right now.
27:30So what opens their eyes?
27:32The Holy Ghost and the Word of God.
27:34But they won't read it.
27:36And because of that, they stay blind.
27:38All right.
27:39They're blind.
27:40But here's the point of Hebrews chapter number 8.
27:43There's a new covenant.
27:45And who's that covenant with?
27:47The house of Israel.
27:49So how did we get in?
27:52Because we're not the house of Israel.
27:55This is another method of interpreting the Bible that is so important.
27:59The church does not replace Israel.
28:04That's called replacement theology.
28:06No, we do not replace Israel.
28:09Remember.
28:10Remember the two conditional things I gave you, Hal?
28:13That had Israel done what God intended for them to do, then they would have become the head of all the nations.
28:19Salvation would have been through the Jew, as it was prophesied in the Old Testament.
28:23The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well.
28:25He says, you worship you know not what.
28:28She said, we worship in this mountain, Mount Gerizim.
28:30He said, you don't know what you're worshiping.
28:32Salvation is of the who?
28:35He didn't say the church.
28:36He said the Jew.
28:38All right.
28:39It's of the Jew.
28:40And it still is.
28:42Because they're the ones who wrote the Bible.
28:45But the church now was born, came into existence.
28:47It's been here for 2,000 years.
28:49But the church does not replace the Jew.
28:53The covenant that was ratified at the death of Christ on the cross.
28:57In other words, when it was brought into legal binding agreement.
29:00Ratified.
29:01Gave legal power.
29:03That covenant, when he shed his blood.
29:06That was brought there at Calvary 2,000 years ago.
29:09That covenant is waiting right now for the Jewish people.
29:14It's their covenant.
29:16We get the benefit of it.
29:18Because he called it a last will and testament.
29:23In Hebrews 9.
29:25We have a testament.
29:28In other words, he bequeaths to us.
29:30He gives to us Gentile.
29:31He has to because we don't have a legal claim to anything.
29:35We can't lay legal claim to the house of David.
29:38We can't even lay legal claim to him being the Messiah.
29:42We Gentiles, we are without God, without hope, Paul said to that church.
29:47He said, you were lost without hope in darkness.
29:49You had no hope.
29:51But the grace of God brought it to us.
29:54And he brought it to us through the Jew.
29:58How did he do it?
29:59Your Savior is a Jew.
30:02Your Bible was written by Jews.
30:04The first apostles that carried the word of God to the ends of the earth were Jews.
30:09The Jews were the ones that disseminated the scriptures.
30:12Got it out into your hands.
30:14And you have it today because of them.
30:16Therefore, we are indebted greatly to them.
30:21And here they are.
30:22They're blinded.
30:23So now, when will they be saved?
30:28When will the Jew be saved?
30:32Let's go to Romans 11.
30:59For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery.
31:03Here we are.
31:04We're getting into the mysteries.
31:06That you should be wise in your own conceits.
31:10In other words, you read the 11th chapter of the book of Romans.
31:13And you'll see that what was done was not done for the sake of the Gentiles.
31:17What was done to the Gentiles was done for the sake of the Jew to make them jealous.
31:24You ever thought about that?
31:26Now look at this.
31:29Lest ye should be wise in your own conceits that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the what?
31:40See this?
31:41Here's a conditional thing.
31:43Until the fullness of the Gentiles be coming.
31:45Now look at verse 26.
31:46And so all Israel shall be saved.
31:52How?
31:53When?
31:54As it is written.
31:56There shall come out of Sion the deliverer.
32:00And shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
32:03Look at verse 27.
32:05This is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins.
32:10Is that a new covenant?
32:12Is that a different covenant?
32:13No, there's only one covenant.
32:14But then they get the benefit of it.
32:17Now look at this.
32:18As concerning the gospel, the grace of God that we preach.
32:23They are what?
32:25Enemies.
32:26For your sakes.
32:28But it's touching the election.
32:31They are beloved for the father's sake.
32:35Boy.
32:37Think on that one.
32:39They are the enemy of the gospel that I preach.
32:42Yet the father loves them because they are the elect people.
32:48Now that seems like a, what would you call it?
32:51There's a word for that.
32:54It's an enigma in the sense that.
32:56But there's another word for it.
32:57I can't think of it right now.
33:00They are beloved for the father's sake.
33:04For the gifts and callings of God are without repentance.
33:09For in time past have ye believed God.
33:13Yet have now obtained.
33:16For as ye in time past have not believed God.
33:19Yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief.
33:23Even so have these also now not believed.
33:27That through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
33:31For God hath concluded half of them in unbelief.
33:37That he might have mercy on a few.
33:41That's the way it's preached.
33:44What's it say though?
33:46For God hath concluded them all in unbelief.
33:49That he might have mercy upon all.
33:52Now look at Paul as he rejoices.
33:54Now look at this.
33:56Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
34:01How unsearchable are his judgments.
34:03And his ways past finding out.
34:08And he starts the 11th chapter by saying.
34:10I say then hath God cast away his people.
34:13God forbid.
34:14For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
34:18He hath not cast away his people.
34:23The 10th chapter of the book of Romans in verse 1.
34:25The apostle says my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel.
34:30Is that they might be saved.
34:33And so he finishes the 11th chapter of the book of Romans.
34:37By telling you how and when they're going to be saved.
34:42God answers his prayer.
34:44Now if you get the Jew right then you get a lot of other things right.
34:48But if you don't get them right.
34:51And Protestantism for the most part never did get it right.
34:56Because they preach and teach a replacement theology.
34:59You've got Amillennial, Premillennial and Postmillennial.
35:07The millennial means the millennium.
35:09The millennium is I think it's a Latin word.
35:12Mill, annum, thousand years.
35:14A thousand years Christ is going to reign on this earth.
35:17If you believe that.
35:18You believe he's going to reign for a thousand years on this earth.
35:20Then you're Premillennial.
35:22Because you are before that period of time.
35:24You're waiting for it.
35:26If you think that the millennium represents a spiritual period of time.
35:30That it's not bound by a thousand years.
35:36And that you believe that the world is going to essentially be saved.
35:42By the preaching of the gospel.
35:44And a lot of people in the 1800's began to believe that.
35:47They really did.
35:48They were Postmillennial.
35:50They thought the earth was about to enter a new stage of birth.
35:55Until World War I showed up.
35:58And when World War I showed up.
36:01It shook a lot of them into reality.
36:04Because that was a horrible, horrible war.
36:08And there was no way that through all the preaching and the ministry.
36:11And all that the church had done.
36:13What had it done as far as converting the world.
36:18Postmillennialism believes that the millennium will come.
36:22By the church preaching the gospel.
36:24And the world will get saved.
36:26And it will be converted.
36:27And therefore a non-distinct period of time.
36:31It will enjoy a spiritual millennium.
36:33And then at the end of that spiritual millennium.
36:36The Lord is going to come back.
36:38That's Postmillennial.
36:40Amillennial means no millennium.
36:42And major Protestant denominations have been preaching this for decades.
36:46And they teach that no millennium means that.
36:49Essentially the church is here to make life better for people.
36:53You know to take care of the social problems and the social ills of the world.
36:57And that we're here to help people.
36:59And we are to do all these all good things.
37:01Certainly good things.
37:03But the first primary purpose of us is to preach the gospel.
37:07But all means no millennium.
37:09And you see.
37:10And so therefore these people essentially say that millennium means nothing.
37:14That we find in the book of Revelation.
37:16Now that's an oversimplification.
37:18Because there are differences and variations in all three of them.
37:21But I'm premillennial.
37:23And that means that I believe that the earth, evil men and seducers.
37:26Shall wax worse and worse.
37:27Deceiving and being deceived.
37:30The world is not getting better right now.
37:32They're talking about World War III.
37:34They're talking about Iran.
37:36About to strike Israel.
37:38And you know something could happen.
37:41And they could have a regional war.
37:43And a regional war could expand into possibly a world war.
37:47I pray that doesn't happen.
37:50But in any event.
37:51It could happen.
37:53And the Lord Jesus said in the book of Revelation.
37:55Except those days should be shortened.
37:56He said in Matthew 24 rather.
37:58Except those days should be shortened.
37:59No flesh should be left alive.
38:02So here we are tonight.
38:03I'm premillennial.
38:05Can I have fellowship with an omnilennial?
38:07Well sure I can.
38:08I can have fellowship with any man or woman who believes in the deity of Christ.
38:12Who's been born again.
38:13They love the Lord.
38:14They don't always agree.
38:15I had a man stand up here Sunday morning.
38:17He stood right here and he talked to me.
38:19And he came up a real nice fellow.
38:20He says we don't agree in eschatology.
38:23Well I knew exactly what he was talking about.
38:27Eschatology from the Greek word eschatos.
38:29It means last thing.
38:30So eschatology has to do with the doctrine of last things.
38:33Which has to do with premillennial, omnilennial or postmillennial.
38:37And he didn't elaborate on which one he believed.
38:40But if he's born again I can fellowship with him.
38:43I can fellowship with him.
38:45And Christians should be able to do that.
38:47They should have enough maturity about them to do that.
38:50Because people see things differently.
38:52I'm not up here demanding that you see the scripture exactly as I do.
38:55What I would ask that you do is read it.
38:58Study it.
38:59And for yourself know why you believe what you believe.
39:01That's what's important.
39:04So I know I've rambled on here for quite a while tonight with you.
39:07But I just wanted you to understand that there's a reason why the world is in the shape it's in tonight.
39:16You say the church failed to convert the world.
39:18No it didn't.
39:19We were never told to convert the world.
39:21He said go and preach the gospel to every creature.
39:24That's what he told us to do.
39:26But there's not a word in that Bible that says we're going to convert the world.
39:29The problem in America is the world's converted to church.
39:32Amen.
39:34That's the sad thing about it.
39:36Even so come Lord Jesus come.
39:40How many of you know Todd Bacon?
39:43You know Todd?
39:45I just found out today his wife just passed away at the end of June.
39:49She was 60 years old.
39:51And from what little I know it was sudden.
39:54So I don't know any more than that.
39:57But please pray for Todd tonight.
39:59Because he's lost his wife.
40:02And it's a hard thing.
40:03She was 60 years old.
40:05And she's gone on to be with the Lord now.
40:08So please pray for that family.
40:09You know her daughter Sarah came here, grew up here at Temple.
40:13Sarah.
40:14Remember her.
40:15Pray for her and pray for that family.
40:16Todd Bacon.
40:17Pray for Todd.