Transcript for:
Romans 11:1,12 -The Remnant- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2023-09-03

Romans chapter 11 verses 1 through 12, would you please stand with me as we read God's Holy Word together. Romans chapter 11 verses 1 through 12. I say then has God cast away his people, God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people which he foreknew. Know ye not what the scriptures saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed the prophets, they have digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed their knee unto the image of Baal. Even so, then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise works is no more work. What then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for, but the election has obtained it, and the rest were blinded. According as is written, God has given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear unto this day. And David saith, let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see and bow down their back always. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them unto jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. Father, we thank you for your holy word. We thank you for the nation of Israel. Lord, we're thankful that we're not those who ascribe to a replacement theology, that Lord we have come to a understanding of the prophetic picture, that Lord according to Ezekiel 36 and 37 you prophesied that the nation of Israel would be reborn, and on May 14th 1948 that in fact happened Lord, with them being wandering throughout the whole world for over a couple thousand years Lord. So we just thank you for that miracle. We thank you for putting them there, and Lord just as there's a talk of a new temple being rebuilt there, and the ashes of the red heifer, and all these different things Lord, we see the birth pangs of the beast system, we see the birth pangs of the final 77 that Daniel spoke of in Daniel 9, and Lord we know that you're coming for us, your bride, the church is at the very door Lord, and that we're going to be raptured before the signing of that peace treaty that starts the tribulation period. Lord we thank you for the nation of Israel. We pray for the nation as a whole. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and God we pray evermore that as your spirits poured out the scales would fall off their eyes, and that remnant, that one-third remnant that you're going to put through the fire of the tribulation period, that they be preserved, and Lord they'd enter into the millennium, and you'd set up your kingdom wherein righteousness dwells, and David as a prince, and you as king of kings, and Lord of lords, and we as the church Lord ruling and reigning with you as kings and priests. So Lord we thank you that we have a glimpse, we have an overview of what lies ahead, and Lord we cry out, even so come quickly Lord Jesus. In your name we pray, amen. Would you please be seated. So Paul says, I say then has God cast away his people? God forbid, and a huge amount of those within Christendom today hold to a doctrine of replacement theology that when the nation of Israel as a whole rejected Jesus Christ, that that was it, it was over. And then in 70 AD when Titus surrounded the city and destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the dispersion, the people were spread all over the planet, that that was that was the end of it, that the church would enter in to all these promises rather than the nation of Israel. But Paul's saying, hey, wait a minute, I'm giving you the gospel, Romans 1 16 and 17, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first, the priorities to the Jew, and also to the Gentile, for therein is the righteousness God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. And so Paul in chapter 8, as he's finishing up chapter 8, he comes to the question in chapter 9, 10, 11, well what about Israel? What about Israel then in light of the gospel? And so Israel in chapter 9, it's past election. Chapter 10, it's present rejection. Now that we're in chapter 11, speaking of its future restoration. So when we get to next week in Romans 11 25, this is going to take place, this church age, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, which means the rapture of the church according to Romans 11 25. When that happens, when the rapture of the church takes place, there could be a period, a gap there, a period of time before the signing of the peace treaty. The one world governmental system can already be in place. We can see a whole new dollar coming, you know, a whole new currency if you will, a digital currency for the world, the brick nations and such. We could see the continuing development of the Abraham, House of Abraham, the one world religious system that's being developed. And the, as we said, the economic system, the governmental system, the world morphing into, dividing the world into 10 different regions, 10 toes of Daniel 2 and such. So we can see that as Christians, if we're not raptured, you know, we can see some of that starting to develop. But we won't see the Antichrist come onto the scene because we're the restrainer, we the church, we are restraining the eventuality of the Antichrist one day coming. So I'm not looking for the Antichrist, I'm looking for Jesus Christ. He's that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. But Jesus said, when you see these things begin to come to pass, the wars, the rumors of wars, the cataclysmic events in nature, when you see the nation of Israel in the land, these sort of things, you know, look up because your redemption's drawing nigh. And so we're amazed at how quickly it's happening now. This morning I posted a little thing talking about the tachometer. He says, behold I come quickly. And it speaks of a tachometer that's, you know, redlining. It's happened rapidly, quicker and quicker and quicker these birth pangs are happening and things are moving so incredibly quick toward the globalism that we keep hearing about. And so they're not cast away. Instead, number one, they're predestined in verse 1 and 2a. He says, verse 1 of chapter 11, I say then, has God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people, which he foreknew. So Paul's conversion, Paul spoke of his conversion three different times in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 9 when the Lord arrested him on the way as he was heading toward Damascus. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who art thou Lord? I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting. Can you continue to kick against the goads, you know, Paul? And so the Lord blinded him and set him on the street that called straight in Damascus and and he told Ananias to pray for him and go lay hands on one called Saul of Tarsus, you know, behold he prayeth. And the scales fell off his eyes and such and he not only came to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, who art thou Lord? He surrendered to him but received the baptism of the Holy Spirit at that point in time. And then in chapter 22 and 26 he's rehearsing his testimony and last week we gave you the Romans Road. We encouraged you to be able to share your faith with people and give you kind of the tools, one of the many tools to be able to do that. And so we started you in the book of, you know, in your front leaflet of your Bible and had you write down Romans 323 in case you were to forget. And you can write there the Romans Road, you know, and then when you get to 323 you write 5 verse 8, Romans 5 verse 8, and you go there. And then after 5 verse 8 you go to 623. And so after 623, 1013. And so that's the Romans Road. But in addition to being able to share the gospel, we have the blessing of being his witnesses. We have the blessing of being in John 9 and saying, hey all I know is I was blind and now I see. Your testimony is powerful. Your testimony of, hey I used to be a drunk and God sobered me up. Or I used to do this, I used to do that. All I know is I was blind and now I see. Or I was a religious Pharisee and I thought I was saved. I was in the Catholic Church or at Calvary Chapel and I thought attending church made me saved. But one day the Lord moved upon my heart that I needed to be born again. Nick, you gotta be born again. Being religious ain't gonna get you there. And so many different ways that the Lord arrests us, that he apprehends us. But it's all according to his foreknowledge. It's all according to his predestination. Jesus said, you didn't choose me but I chose you. And I ordain that you bring forth fruit and your fruit remain. That whatsoever you ask the Father in my name he may give it to you. And so I can look back on my life just as Paul is here, just as a nation of Israel. There's an aspect or there's a truth that of election. That a predestination. That God predestined you and I. And Paul's saying that's what happened to me. I was predestined. If God can save me, he can save anybody. He can save any Jew. Because I was a, I was Saul of Tarsus, the chiefest of sinners. I was a blasphemer. I persecuted. I wasted the church. And I consented in Acts chapter 7, 6 and 7, to the death of Stephen. You know, one of the, one of the witnesses. One of the, one of the, that the Lord raised up there to wait upon the tables and all. And so Stephen, you know, his face shining like that of an angel. And Saul of Tarsus there seeing this, witnessing this, you know. And Stephen rehearsing a great knowledge of the Scriptures. And here's Saul of Tarsus, you know, a Pharisee of Pharisees, around all these religious leaders. And they can't hold a candle to the working knowledge of Stephen through the Scriptures. And he's just a deacon. He's just Deacon Stephen. But because he knows Jesus and you factor Jesus into the Bible, it all comes to life. So he's rehearsing their history. He's rehearsing their stiff neck. He's rehearsing all of it to them. And then they gnash upon him, you know, with their teeth. And they're sore losers. So they stone him, you know, to death. But his face is shining like that of an angel. And Saul of Tarsus is seeing this, you know. What the haunting of Stephen saying, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, you know. And he says he sees Jesus standing. Jesus who's seated at the right hand of his Father. He stands. A standing ovation in heaven for Stephen as he's martyred there. And Jesus said in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, you're gonna be my witnesses. And a witness is the Greek word martyr. You're gonna be my martyrs in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the outermost parts of the world. And so Stephen got it kicked off. And then after that, after that persecution, Philip's as far as Samaria. And he's sharing the gospel in Samaria. And then he's raptured to Zotus and all. And then Paul's going as far in chapter 9 as far as Damascus to go after these Christians who are finally fulfilling the Great Commission, going out there and trying to make disciples. But until the persecution came, everybody wants to just hang out at the party. They want to have a Jesus party. And you go. Somebody else go. I'm enjoying my life right here. Well, who's gonna go? Well, when persecution comes, a whole lot of people go. They want, they don't want to be caught in Jerusalem and be put in jail and be stoned to death like Stephen, you know. So God's foreknowledge. In Galatians 1 15, Paul said, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace. So God planned Saul of Tarsus' conversion. He's raised to the feet of Gamaliel. He's raised in the city of Tarsus, which was a university town. A brilliant, brilliant, brilliant man, Saul of Tarsus. But without factoring in Jesus, without knowing Jesus, it's all for nothing, isn't it? But as he comes to know the Lord, then he spends three years. He's so educated. He spends three years in the Arabian desert learning firsthand as an apostle born out of due time, firsthand from the Lord, seeing the risen Christ and learning firsthand his gospel that he's going to bring to the world before the Lord. And so that time of preparation there, that three years that Paul spent, but he's able to the Church of Galatia, look back on his life and say, you know, God separated me from my mother's womb. God knew all along. God predestined me to be a Christian, to open my eyes. In 2 Timothy 2 19, he says the Lord knows them that are his. God knows who you are. Jesus said, I know my, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Do you have an ear to hear? Jesus said, he that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I'm so blessed to be with you, a group of people who have ears to hear. It's, it's frustrating to try and teach spiritual truths to people who are not born again, who don't have the capacity to understand, to connect the dots. They don't have an affinity. They don't have a desire. They could be religious. They could go to and get a doctorate in theology, but still not know Jesus Christ. Knowledge puffs up and love edifies. And so it's such a blessing to have sweet communion, sweet fellowship with people that know Jesus, that hear his voice, that love the word of God, who are, you know, encourage others in the word of God and are students of God's word. And it all comes down to he that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. The natural man understands not the things of God, neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned, right? The body and soul man doesn't know, but eyes not seen or ear heard, neither has it entered in the hearts of men the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed them unto us. God reveals himself unto us by his spirit through the study of his word. God's speaking to you right now. The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any intuited sword, dividing asunder soul and spirit and joint marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. God is speaking to us. This is just going through the motions. We're here to hear from God. We want, Lord, give us ears to hear. Lord, we want to walk that straight narrow path. Lord, we're in a tumultuous time, a time of great uncertainty and chaos and confusion. Lord, we need discernment. Should I wear two masks, Lord? Should I, you know, what should I do? Lord, give me discernment. Is it loving? Is it unloving? Should I stand for you? What should I do? Paul saw himself in 1 Corinthians 15 days as of one born out of due time. He says in 1 Timothy 1 16, I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering. Notice it says, for a pattern to them which should hereafter, speaking of Israel, believe on him, to life everlasting. So his life is an example. His life is a pattern of how God wants to save Jews. The church is Jewish. Starts out completely Jewish. You know, at Pentecost and such, all these different groups of people are there at Passover and there's like 16 different dialects of Jews and people throughout the Roman Empire that are there to celebrate. But the churches, the apostles, all Jewish. And then it breaks forth to the Gentiles and, as I said in chapter 8, with the Samaritans who were half-breeds. And then to the house of Cornelius in chapter 10, Peter's going to go there and minister into the house of Cornelius and the gospel is just breaking forth. Paul had a huge desire to reach the Jews, to reach his countrymen, and man, they just couldn't receive from him. They didn't want to receive from him. So he and, you know, Barnabas, he and Silas, they're going to go to the Gentiles. You see yourselves unworthy of eternal life? We're going to go to the Gentiles. We're going to go next door. Because these people will receive. And so blindness in part has happened unto Israel. There's a blindness, but in part. It doesn't mean that all of them are blind to these truths. God's still saving Jewish people today. Continuing to save Jewish people. And I'm not saying that, you know, the term Messianic Jew, I don't see that term in the Bible, but if that's who you want to be, a Messianic Jew, and you want to enjoy the Jewish culture and the feasts and all that, all the power to you, no problem. But this is the church age and the priority is the Jew first. The gospel goes to the Jew first. And the Jew rejects, we go to the Gentiles. So by and large, the majority of people in the church age that are responding are Gentiles. Our Savior is a Jew. We're not anti-semitic. We love the nation of Israel. We're told in Genesis 12, 1 through 3, that God's going to bless those that bless Israel and curse those that curse Israel. We don't want to curse Israel. We want to be blessed. And so we thank the Lord for the nation of Israel. And we're awaiting, they've been regathered in blindness. They've been regathered in unbelief. And so not all they that we saw before are, you know, are Israel because of their natural posterity, being a Jew in their lineage, you know, naturally. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. It needs to be mixed with faith. The true Israel of God are those who believe in Jesus Christ, that he's the virgin-born Son of God, the seed of the woman prophesied of in Genesis 3 15. And so the Son of Man, the God-man, Jesus Christ. So God keeps his promises to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, to David, to the church, and to you and me. God is faithful. He has not cast away the nation of Israel. They've been predestined. Secondly, he's not cast them away. He's preserved them. He is preserving them. The second part of verse 2. Know ye not what the scripture saith of Elias, how he makes intercession, this is Elijah, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, verse 3, Lord they have killed your prophets, they've digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. And so you go back to 1 Kings 18 and 19. In chapter 17 of 1 Kings, Elijah is commissioned by the Lord to be one of his prophets, and the Lord has him eating and drinking water and cared for by the brook Cheritheth, and Elijah had called out a drought upon King Ahab that was going to be three years long. And so before the drought affected the little brooks and all the different streams and such, there's Elijah. And it's so fascinating because the Lord is providing for his prophet by sending her a raven to feed him in the morning. Some of you don't like to eat breakfast, but he's eating in the morning. And then in the evening, and he's bringing not just meat. I mean, I'm thinking meat, right? Raven will go get some meat, go kill something, and bring some meat to the prophet, right? Don't muzzle the ox while he's treading out the grain. But then it says, and bread! How do those ravens get a hold of some bread? How'd that happen? My head's weird. What do they do? How did a raven get a hold of some bread, you know? So they bring him bread and meat, and so he's able to eat, and then pretty soon the brook dries up. The brook just dries right up, and so now the Lord's gonna move Elijah to a very humiliating place for a great prophet, to the city of Zarephath. And there's a widow there, and this widow has a little son, and Elijah shows up and he says, hey, make me a cake, make me some bread, you know? And she says, hey sir, you know, all I have is a handful of grain, a little tiny bit of oil in the cruz, and two little sticks, and I was just gonna make some bread for me and my son before we die. Pretty dramatic, right? And so Elijah says, no, the priority needs to be, go make me one first. So it required faith on behalf of the woman, faith to do that, and then from that point forward, throughout that three years, the barrel, the food barrel, never dried up. And so they're able to continue to eat, and how humbling for a prophet to live with a widow in a certain part of the house, and to be provided for, you know, by this widow with just one little son, you know? But that's the beauty of serving the Lord. But my God shall supply all your needs according to riches and glory by Christ Jesus. So no matter what kind of economic problems are coming, we need to walk by faith and remember that God's going to continue to provide for us, even if we can't figure it out, you know? So then Elijah, at that point, he's being fed, and the little guy dies, and Elijah goes and takes him upstairs to his bed, and lays down on him seven times, and prays over him, and asks the Lord to put a soul, body, soul, and spirit. The soul had left the body, so there is the definition of physical death, and prays over him seven times, and then the soul returned into the body of this little guy, and so the resurrection, raising this little boy, returns him to his mother, and she says, now I know that I can trust your word, you know, by what you just did here and all. And so then, as time goes on, Elijah is instructed to go and visit King Ahab, and King Ahab is really, really angry. He's got 450 prophets of Baal, Jezebel has 400 in the groves of her prophetesses and stuff, and so Elijah says, you know what, let's have a challenge. If you want to worship Baal, nation of Israel, go ahead and worship Baal, but if God, the true living God's God, let's see, and so you know the story. You saw it on VeggieTales, right? And so on top of Mount Carmel, we see that the occult, the occult of Baalism, they began to cut themselves, and they set up an altar of some meat and all, and Elisha said, if you're God's God, if Baal's God, then cause fire to come down from heaven to, you know, the fire to come upon that offering, and they kept crying all morning long, and pretty soon Elijah's starting to mock him, well maybe your God's in the restroom, maybe your God took a journey, maybe your God's asleep, you know, and they began to occultically cut themselves and blood, and you know, how they hyperventilate and get crazy and all that, and nothing, nothing would come, none of that emotionalism, you know, did anything. So then Elijah sets the stage, and he says, get some water, get some barrels of water, and get my offering there, and rebuild, bring 12 stones, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and set it up there, let's rebuild this altar that's been torn down, and let's get four barrels of water and pour the water, not just the wood and the meat sitting there, but let's pour water on it, and all right, let's do it again, all right, let's do it again, let's do it three times, pour water on it, and then he calls the fire down from heaven, the fire comes up and licks up the water, and all the water's gone and everything, and then he says, take these old boys out, and let's slay them. So there's 450 prophets of Bell that are slain right there, and then Elijah, he's pretty pumped, that's emotionally taxing, that's emotionally, you're on the mountaintop, man, look how God mightily used me and all. Well then, he got Jezebel, this mighty prophet of God, all it took was a threat from Jezebel, this Sidonian princess that King Ahab had married, and she introduced the nation of Israel to an incredible amount of occultism with her belief system from Sidonia, and so she puts a threat, you're gonna be like those prophets by this time tomorrow, so Elijah gets on his horse, no he doesn't, he runs, and the Lord removes him and gets him away from Jezebel, and he's wiped out, he's depressed, he just, you know, physiologically, emotionally, spiritually, three parts of our being, if we're out of balance physically, it can affect our emotional state of mind and all, if we're sleep-deprived, it can affect ourselves, so he doesn't have this immunity from the limitations of his body, so the Lord lets him sleep, and he sends an angel there to give him water and bread, and helps him to recover physiologically to get some rest, maybe it just needs some rest, you know, some good sleep, you know, and maybe need some exercise, maybe need to eat some God-made food, one-ingredient foods, maybe the reason you're having difficulty is toxic foods, you know, in our culture today, we deal with so much emotional difficulty, the chemtrailing and all that stuff, first and foremost is spiritual, so the Lord speaks to him, you know, with the wind, but the Lord's not in the wind, and then an earthquake, the Lord's not in the earthquake, then with fire, nothing real huge and fantastic, no, the Lord's not in the fire, but with a still small voice, with a still small voice, the Lord begins to speak to Elijah, his prophet, and Elijah says, Lord, I've been very, very zealous for you, I've been zealous for you, and I've done everything you've asked of me, you know, and I'm the only one left, you ever felt like that? You're the most faithful dude on the planet, you're the only one left, everyone else is apostatized, you know, this is the only true church in Kitsap County, you know, we're the only ones, you know, we're the remnant, we're the remnant church, we teach the Bible, you know, gotta be careful there, gotta be careful, God has all different kinds of knuckleheads, you know, in churches and stuff, different ways we worship and sing, and some of you people sing and worship, I cringe, no, I'm just kidding, you know, but, but, you know, that's how the Lord mixes us together, you know, but some of us want to have a cookie cutter way that everything has to be done, there are absolutes, the pastor needs to teach the Word, that's his, that's his job description, not psychology, the Word of God, so some of these things may be unique to us in the apostasy, people falling away, but we're not the only ones, and so Jamerkel and Brendan Holthaus and all, they've, they're trying to help people around the country find remnant churches, what's a remnant church? It's a church that still teaches the Bible, getting harder and harder and harder to find a church that simply teaches the Bible simply, and so people are having to drive long distances, they're watching on Facebook and on the internet and such to try and be fed, to try and, you know, get the Word of God into their lives and such, and so Elijah, he thinks he's the only one, and he begins to speak against the nation of Israel and against everybody, there's a prophet named Obadiah that hit a hundred of the prophets in a cave, and so the Lord says to him, you know what, I have 7,000 that haven't bowed their knee to the prophet Baal, I've always got a remnant, Elijah, and so Paul is trying to show God always has a remnant, he hasn't cast off Israel, God has Jews throughout all of history that believe in Jesus Christ, and they haven't all entirely, you know, fallen away, so God always preserves a remnant for himself, the believing minority, the predestined and preserved among the professing, and so Elijah, it's time for you to come home buddy, kind of like Moses, you know, and so go and anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, go and anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and go and anoint Elisha to be the prophet in your stead, you know, and so what a blessing that Elijah gets to go in a fiery whirlwind of a chariot up to heaven, right, and wouldn't that be exciting, when your job's over, oh Moses didn't get to enter the promised land, oh poor Moses, you know, well where do you see Moses next, on the Mount of Transfiguration, not a bad place to be, right, the Lord deliver you from those whiners, you know, what a great thing, you know, man, the difficulty would be you have to stay with all those murmuring whiners, you know, waste your whole life, so in Isaiah's time, in Isaiah 1 verse 9, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, Isaiah is saying, we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah, we should have been destroyed like with fire and brimstone, had God not preserved a remnant through that time of apostasy, during the captivity he preserved a remnant of Jews like Esther, Queen Esther, in the time of captivity when the nation of Israel went into captivity of the Babylonians in 586 BC, the Lord still had a remnant of believers, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the Lord had, you know, Daniel, the Lord had Queen Esther even at the time of Cyrus and Darius, right, and Artaxerxes and all, there's still Queen Esther and Mordecai and others and Nehemiah and Ezra and all these wonderful men and women of God that believe in the true and living God and they held the line, you know, they didn't give up, they didn't give in and so we just love these patriarchs, we love these men and women and, you know, we can see Queen Esther saying, for such a time as this, you know, and we use that all the time, for such a time as this, what time is it church, what time is it, you know, we need to know what time it is, it's, we're at the end of the age, we're at the very end of the church age, Jesus is coming again for us and we need to be faithful. I saw somebody, somebody's really mad at me right now and imagine that and on Facebook there's a guy that I watched come to know the Lord and up in Port Angeles when we did an outreach up there years ago and he claims to be a Christian and all professes to be and I believe he is but again he hasn't been discipled, he hasn't been taught the Word of God and so by staying in these churches that are based on feelings, people can't reason, they can't reason between right and wrong and they can't reason based upon, you know, biblical truth and such, so he begins to rag this morning on coach Joe Kennedy that it's just a terrible thing, you know, that he got all that money and I pay taxes and he begins to pontificate like a Pharisee how bad that was and, you know, he's not gonna live here anyway, he's gonna move to Florida, you know, well where would you move if the Christian community felt that way about you, you know, because he claims to be a Christian, you know, and they're indignant because Joe Kennedy, coach Joe Kennedy, might not want to live here in Bremerton, well imagine that, it's a pastoral graveyard this place, very few people can hack it here for a very long period of time and and here you have a coach who's standing for righteousness who's willing to pray with the children and these guys are denigrating him, slandering him and they call themselves Christians all in the name of Jesus, they tried to say that, you know, Jesus, you know, told you that you go into your prayer closet and pray, you're not supposed to pray out in public like that, you know, and so they're trying to tear this guy down and so I use the word that really caught their attention and I'm not apologizing for it but I just, you guys are a bunch of morons, you know, just morons, you're moronic, you're idiots, you know, we we have a Constitution and we have religious freedom and, you know, even Muslims have the right to pray, look at the Muslims, look, try to stop a Muslim from rolling out his prayer rug and praying, good luck with that, but here you have a coach who's gonna take the time to pray with these these young men and women who are playing football, girls play football nowadays, and and people are indignant about, loses his job over it, it's supposed to be a terrible thing, so called separation of church and state, there is no separation of church and state, that's a bold-faced lie, it was not, it's not in the Constitution, it's a letter that Thomas Jefferson, that a Baptist, a Baptist preacher, you know, inquired of Thomas Jefferson concerning, are we going to be a state-run church when the dust settles? Are we going to be churches that were like in England where the state rules over us? No, there's going to be a wall of separation between the state and the church, you're gonna have the freedom of religion, the freedom of assembly, the freedom of speech guaranteed in the Constitution, guaranteed to cults, guaranteed to Muslims, it doesn't mean you're just gonna, you know, only let the Christians have, you know, this freedom, it's freedom for anybody, right? Why can't they understand that? That's just on a lower level, then on the Christian level, you know, here's a man that's resisting, he has the courage to resist the evil of not being able to pray, and he prays, and then I ask these people this, are you telling me that you're gonna denigrate and slander this man for what he did and call that Christianity, but you say nothing about grabbing hold of children and grooming them to be transvestites and transgender and mutilate their bodies and give them hormones and such, and the parents don't even need to know about it and have control about it? Are you serious? And then you have your fairies going in and reading to these kids, grooming these kids, you know, are you kidding me? But you're gonna denigrate Coach Joe Kennedy for simply bowing the knee and praying? If any of those boys or girls didn't want to pray, they don't have to pray, but he's making the decision. What's wrong with you people? Don't call that Christianity. So I use the word moronic, you guys are idiots, you know, and then they began to just jump all over me as these liberals do, and it was fun, so I love it, it's a lot of fun, and just amazing, because once they can't intellectually argue, they can't think, then they want to kill the messenger, you know, so now they start call me names and I told him, I says, my feelings are hurt, I think I'm gonna quit, you know, I better start singing feelings, you want me to sing feelings, you know, and so you can look on my Facebook page, Calvary Chapel, and you can read the thing and get involved if you want. I love it. Somehow we're supposed to cower and go hide in a hole and not be able to speak up concerning truth, you know, and I mean if you were coach Joe Kennedy, wouldn't you move to Florida where the churches are stronger and people understand what it means to be persecuted for righteousness? Why would you stay in this community and have the church denigrate you and your family? Just unbelievable, you know, so he always has a remnant, and this professing church, within that professing church, there's a true church, true people that are that are saved, so what's an illustration of this? Well, in Matthew 25, he's gonna separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares. In Matthew 7, many are gonna come to him in that day and say, Lord, Lord, they got the words down, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy on your name? Did we not do many wonderful miracles in your name, cast out demons in your name? And he's gonna look at me, he's gonna say, away from me, I never knew you. I didn't ask you to sign up for a church, you've got to be born again, you have no relationship with me, away from me, I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. That's gonna be a big wake-up call for a whole lot of people in the professing church, so then they put on the feed, they said, yeah, and the Barner Report's saying that the church is getting smaller and smaller, you know, they tried to freak me out. You have any idea how small our church is, you know? Do you have any idea? I've been here 28 years, this church is never gonna grow, you know what I mean? And I anticipate the church to get smaller, why? Because times are gonna get tougher, and people that bought into Christianity as your best life now are gonna fall away, and they are falling away, but a remnant of believers are gonna hold strong, because they're here for Jesus, right? They're in love with Jesus, and where are they gonna go? He has the words of eternal life, you know, we need Jesus more now than ever. So in Iran, where there's persecution, you got the fastest growing church there is. China, the church is growing, a much larger church than America. You have a post-Christian era, you know, in Europe, but there's still a remnant of believers even in Europe, in England, and all throughout. There's always a remnant. God always has those that represent him at any given time, you know, throughout the world, and so it's the believing minority, the predestined and preserved among the professing. Narrow is the way that leads to life eternal, and few there be that find it. Broad is the way that leads to destruction, many go in there at, and so we're not concerned about nickels and noses here. We're not concerned about trying to appease people that believe in the fairies reading to your children. That's what they were mad at me about that. You're names, you called them fairies, you know. I did, I did, yeah. You know, that's what they are, these LBGT fairies, you know, but I mean, you're gonna slander a coach that wants to pray with his men? Give me a stinking break, you idiots, you know. Oh, I can't wait till church is over to go back in there. I want to go back in. I got some more words for him, and then I said to him, do you see how Jesus talked to the self-righteous Pharisees? He called them, you know, a den of iniquity, a brood of vipers, you know, you serpents, he says in Matthew 23, 33, he says, you serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you going to evade the fires of hell? And then they're saying to me, you're not very loving, you know. What was that? What was that, you know? Faith for all the wounds of a friend, the kiss of an enemy, or deceitful. We're supposed to love these unbelievers into hell? We're gonna change the name of love? So I said, hey sweetie, and now they, now they love that. Now they're sweetie, sweetie, sweetie, sweetie, and after church I'm gonna say, buckle up buttercup, you know. It's just, it's so fun. These, their heads explode. They can't, they can't handle it. Nor can they reason biblically. They, it's so simple, you know. Jesus said, blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness' sake. Well, what's that mean, you guys? What's it mean when you go away in Acts 5 rejoicing that you're accounted worthy to suffer for his namesake, you know? You're rejoicing because they apprehend you. They told you don't speak in this man's name anymore. Now what? The schools are telling you, you can't pray? But we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna change and mutilate these children? We're gonna groom them for, to, for pedophiles? Are you out of your minds culture? Are you out of your minds? You know, it's just, how come they can't reason? And they're saying, you quit gaslighting us. You're gaslighting us. Oh man, you have no comprehension, no comprehension at all. So anyway, that's my rant. That's my Alex Jones rant right there. So he preserved them. So at his first advent, when Jesus first came, you remember he had John the Baptist, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Elizabeth couldn't have children and John the Baptist was filled. Cousin John, cousin John, cousin of Jesus, was filled with the Holy Spirit, you know, from birth. And then when Jesus has come on the scene at 30 years of age, then you got John the Baptist on the scene as the forerunner. But then you also have, when Mary and Joseph are bringing Jesus to the temple to dedicate him on the eighth day, who do you have there? You have Anna and Simeon who are a part of the remnant, who are looking for, you know, the salvation and and encouraging people that were looking for redemption. They were looking for the Messiah. So you had Simeon and Anna and those who look for redemption in Jerusalem. And during the church age, you got believing Jews all through the church age. In the tribulation period, God's always going to have a witness. He's always going to have a remnant. He's got 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe that are marked, that are sealed, and that the Antichrist can't hurt or touch. And they're going forth with the everlasting gospel all over the planet. The greatest revival in the Bible is in Revelation 6 and 7. An innumerable multitude of people beneath the throne of God. According to Revelation 20, verse 4, they lost their heads because they refused the mark of the beast on the right hand of their forehead. That's amazing. Your life's narrowed down to one decision, one thing. Jesus or a few more days of, you know, being a pretender. And they say, nope, nope, nope. I'm not taking that. I'm not taking that mark of the beast. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. No way. So God is never without witnesses. Verse 5, even so then, at this present time also there's a remnant according to the election of grace. So two dangers. One, the first danger, thinking that the way is broad. No, the way is narrow. There's just, I don't worry about who's not here. I don't worry about filling those seats with unbelievers and watering down the Word of God, trying to get people to like me so I can get them to write checks so that I can have a new beamer in a big house. That's what it comes down to. It's always about the money, isn't it? I don't worry about that. I'm concerned, as Pastor Chuck says, minister to those you minister to. Some people I can't minister to. They hate my voice. They hate my guts. They hate how I talk. They hate everything. There's another church down the road with fairies. Perfect church for you, right? You know, nobody's forcing you to stay here, right? I don't think in terms of this is a perfect church and I can reach everybody, you know? So we just put the Word of God out there and gays, lesbians are welcome. Anybody's welcome, whosoever will, but we don't water down the Word of God to make them feel better in their sin. We don't do that. Not adulterers or thieves or any of it, you know? The cross is the leveling playing field. All of us have sinned to come short of the glory of God. There's none righteous. No, not one. We're not picking on anybody, but nor are we going to give in to the culture and try to normalize aberrant behavior and call it love. It's not love. It's ungodliness. And so the way is narrow. And then secondly, the other danger is thinking you're alone. You're not alone. So a lot of times when we go through trials, this is one of our favorite things, when we go through trials, we think that, I don't know if I can sing this song, but it's something like, nobody knows the trouble I've seen, right? And so I didn't do it, but you know what I mean, that song. It's like, nobody. Oh man, I got a pity party and who's gonna sit and listen to me? And oh, you have no idea what I've been through, you know? Well, there's no temptation that's taken you, but such as is common to man. Even the unbelievers suffer like you're suffering. You've got cancer, your children have cancer. You don't have the market cornered on cancer as a believer. There's a whole lot of unbelieving moms and dads with little guys and little girls with cancer at Ronald McDonald House, and they don't have Jesus in their boat. You've got Jesus in your boat. We have Jesus to help us through these trials. So many people don't have what we have. They don't have Jesus there to calm the storm for us that may not heal us, may not heal our little guys, but certainly there's gonna be a quality of life that we enter into where I have a peace that surpasses all understanding, that guards our heart and mind through Christ Jesus. We're gonna make it. Kathy said to me the other day, we went and watched a movie where, I'll tell you the movie, Equalizer, and I like when somebody gets the bad guys. And so Kathy went away from there and she kept saying to me, you know Rick, when we lost everything, I kept waiting for someone to come along and help us, but nobody helped us. And you know, why is that? I sure would have liked an equalizer to come along and deal with all the people and all the stuff and all the circumstances and all that, you know, all that junk. And you know, I don't have an answer for it. I can't explain. I just know it's God's will and we persevere. And here's what she said was such a blessing to me. She goes, you know Rick, at least we didn't turn toward alcohol and we didn't turn toward drugs. We didn't turn toward illicit sexual activity. We didn't turn toward gambling and other things to try and appease our flesh and try and get through those trials. At least we allowed God to break us and empty us and then fill us. And you know Rick, we haven't quit yet. We're still going. And you know, I mean, what could be better than that, you know? So it takes a while to make a testimony, right? You don't know. You're just bewildered. Like Job said, you know, that which I greatly feared has come upon me. It says he was at his wits end, you know? Just reached the end. And then the Lord sustains you. He gets you through it. Could you imagine being Johnny Erickson Tada and be 17 years old and, you know, jump off of a dock into the water and break your neck and be paralyzed? And you pray just as hard as anybody else and the Lord says, no, I'm not gonna heal you. No, no, no. But what I am gonna do is I'm gonna let you draw ever closer to me in a relationship that you would never have had you not gone through this. He's a man of sorrows and he's acquainted with grief, right? And so there's no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful. And here's where the Christians love the escape clause. He will not tempt you above which you are able, but will provide a way of escape. So here's what they do to you. Oh, Rick, they won't give you more than you can handle. Well, excuse me, it's far more than I can handle. The Apostle Paul said he despaired of life. You ever reach the place where you despaired of life? It's just like Job said, it'd be better if I'd have never been born. You ever been there? I'm not gonna rejoice in the day I was born. I'm looking forward to the day I'll die. That's what Job's saying. I get released from this. But you got to read the next part of the verse. Where's the way of escape? That you may be able to bear it. The way you're able to bear it is you are brought to the end of yourself. Complete depravity, complete bankruptcy, total helplessness. But Jesus is there with you, and he's gonna get you through it. That's your way of escape. Not the alcohol, not the drugs, not the stuff the world uses to cope. Jesus is there with you and I, so you cannot say, oh, nobody knows. No, a whole lot of people know. A whole lot of people, you don't have the market cornered on this suffering. A whole lot of people are suffering. And I've watched the pampered chefs, the pampered pastors, who have decades of no trials like you and I have, and then they get one. And it devastates, wipes them out. Don't you know who I am, God? I'm the only one you have left. No, I've got 7,000 to have them bow their knee to the prophet Bel. You know, takes them years to get through their thing because, you know, everyone in the audience has already gone through it multiple times. Oh, I hurt my back. I'm gonna give up if you don't take this pain away. How many of us have had broken backs, you know? How many of us have prodigal kids? How many of us, you know, had children die? How many of us have been sick? It's so funny to watch him. You know, one guy knew, you know, he had an enormous amount of money and a business and all, and then he lost it all, and he was suicidal. And it was like, I was in school ministry, it's like, why are you suicidal? You're the go-to guy. You're this giant of faith. What happened to your faith? So you really don't know what a Christian is like until they're put in hot water. But God's always got his remnant. He's always got those who remain faithful, who don't fall away, who don't run away. And he says, verse 6, and if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. And so opposites, mutually exclusives. It can't be both grace and works. It can't be both. It's got to, it's got to be one or the other. Works and grace, all works or it's all grace. No in-betweeners, no mixing. Why? So no man will glory in God's presence. So you've memorized Ephesians 2, 8, 9, right? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. The faith that you have graces God's unmerited favor. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of your, you don't even have the faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, that faith. Not of works. Why? Lest any man should boast. It's all God. It's his idea. He predestined you. He called you. He saved you. And he's holding on to you. He's keeping you. There's a garrison surrounding you that you won't fall away. Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, Jude says, and to present you how? Faultless before his presence with singing to the only wise God be glory and honor forever. Amen. I love that doxology, don't you? My confidence is in him. He's going to complete this work he's begun in me. That no flesh would glory in his presence. Not cast away, predestined. Not cast away, preserved. Thirdly, not cast away, punished. Does God punish his people? Does God take his people to the woodshed? In Hebrews 12, whom the Lord loves, he chastens and he scourges every son or daughter. God loves you too much to let you run out in the street and get hit by a car, right? You may not have the mental capacity to understand how dangerous it is out there. He's not trying to keep you from a thrill. He's trying to keep you alive. One time Brittany saw a little girl across the street where we lived and she just got home with her mommy and Brittany fixated on her and she's like a beeline, you know, heading across the street before I could get to her. And a suburban was coming this way and she's running with a vehicle parked in front of my house so the guy couldn't see her. And all of a sudden she comes out into the street and this mom, this dad, this family, they hit the brakes and those old kind of brakes where the whole car, the suspension goes like that, you know. And the guy's looking at me and everything and, you know, I ran out there and grabbed her and spanked her as I'm bringing her back and all. And, you know, but I didn't spank her because, you know, I was angry at her. I spanked her to try and make it painful enough that she wouldn't do that again, lest she destroy herself, she kill herself. So the Lord will intervene, the Lord will will spank, he'll punish, and it's not a punitive. If any man be overtaken in a fall, you who are a spiritual, restore such one in a spirit of meekness, lest you also be tempted. When God punishes you and I, when he spanks us, it's restorative. He's restoring you and I. Now if you don't receive chastening, if you don't get taken to the woodshed, then I'm gonna use a B word, or I won't because people are mad at me the words I use. You're an illegitimate child. You're not a real child. You're none of his, right? He only spanks his own. You don't spank other people's kids, but he spanks his own. He will chasten his own. And so one of the ways we know if somebody's saved, is that person saved? How do we know once saved, always saved? How do I know if they're saved? They just left their wife and they're off with someone else. I say, well, is the Lord spanking them? Lord chasing them? Is it as exciting and all, you know, as I thought it would be? I know one guy that left his wife and went for the young trophy gal in awe, and he had a heart attack. And then check this out, he came back home and his wife nursed him to hell. They're still married. How sad, but how good that the Lord intervened, right? What a blessing to intervene like that. So you never know. Never know what the Lord might do. You belong to him. I mean, for weirdos like me, for guys like me, the Lord has me on a leash that's made out of like a rubber band, and I think I've got this freedom. I'm going to go, go, go, go, go, go, go, and then all of a sudden, boom, pulls me out. What just happened? I thought I had free will. I thought I had free will, man. Thought you're going to give me the desires of my heart. You know, whatever happened to that verse, you know? Delight thyself in the Lord and give him the desires of your heart. Well, Rick, your desires aren't my desires. You're not, you haven't crucified the flesh. You haven't taken your cross up and, you know, deny yourself daily. Then I'll put my desires. I'll put in you both to willing to do of my good pleasure. So what then? Israel has not obtained that which he seeks for. Israel seeks righteousness. The Greeks seek after knowledge, the Greek culture. The Greek culture is dominated by the Romans, but the Greek culture dominates the Roman culture. The Bible is written in Koine Greek, and the philosophers and the Greek culture permeates all of the Roman culture. But what's the Romans after? Power. Romans seek after power. The Greeks after wisdom, knowledge. Israel is seeking after righteousness, but they're approaching righteousness in the external. Jesus said, accept your righteousness. It exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. You'll know why he's entered the kingdom of God. The disciples were like, who then can be saved? You know? So then Jesus illustrates that it's internal. The law is internal, governing the heart. And so the heart's deceitful, above all things, desperately wicked. And who can know it? If you look upon a woman to lust after, you're guilty. If you're angry with your brother, you're a murderer. So the law is designed to make every mouth stop, every person guilty. It's not a means by being a Jew that I'm going to externally keep the letter of the law. The letter of law kills. The spirit gives life because it drives me to Christ. And I cry out to Jesus. And he says, to tell us that it is finished, paid in full. He's my righteousness. But election has obtained it and the rest were blinded. So those who are elected, they've obtained it. It's mixed with faith. They get it. The other ones are blinded in that their heart, they're hardened, they're calloused. There's a judicial hardening because of the sin in their lives. And so the sun that softens the wax hardens the clay, right? And in the beginning, Pharaoh says, you know, Moses says, God, God's telling me, let my people go. And Pharaoh's like, no, no, no. And he's hardening his heart. And then later, halfway through, God is confirming the obstinance of Pharaoh and saying, all right, I'm going to confirm that obstinance and hold you in that in that decision you've been making. And so it's it's it's horrible when you and I and fighting God when he's trying to chasten us and get our attention. It's absolutely horrible if you ever hear the Lord say, OK, not my will, your will be done. You don't want to go there. You don't ever want to win that fight with God that you've got to have this, because what happens is you might get it, but there's a leanness in your heart. You can't enjoy it. You just can't enjoy it like you could if it was a blessing, you know, freely given to you, you know, by the Lord. And so there's a hardening in Zechariah 7, 12. Yeah, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, is what Zechariah says, an adamant stone, a real hard, stony heart. Verse eight, according as it is written, God has given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear unto this day. So he's quoting Deuteronomy 29, verse four, and Isaiah 29, verse 10. And it's used four times in the New Testament. They're slumbering, they're asleep, high time to wake out of sleep. Our salvation is nearer than when we believe. How are you going to awaken people? How are we going to awaken people to the urgency of the times in which we're living? The picture is that of the frog in the kettle, right? It's like we've been being boiled over a period of time and people are past feeling they don't get it. They don't get how cataclysmic the times are in which we're living. The party is almost over. It's almost over. We've sown to the wind, we're reaping the whirlwind. Second Corinthians 315, even unto this day when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. So you're trying to read the word of God unto them, Paul's saying, but there's a veil over their heart. They don't get it. They can't see it. And it's so frustrating when you're trying to minister to an unbeliever and they just can't get it. They won't get it. You're going round and round and round. And pretty soon you're dealing with nonsensical arguments and you got to bring them back to who is Jesus. Keep them there with who is Jesus? Who do men say that I am? Always bring it back to Jesus. Who is Jesus? Find fault with Jesus if you can. Have a hard time doing that. Very difficult time. Verse nine, and David saith, let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. And so again, he's quoting Psalm 69 verse 22. These guys are spoiled brats. Let their table. They get to eat at the Lord's table. They get to enjoy the feasts. They have the word of God. They have the feasts. They have the Passover celebration where the Lord's trying to get them to understand that Jesus is the lamb of God who's going to take away the sins of the world. What a heritage. What a great home to grow up in. A Jewish home. How great is that? The blessing of eating at Jehovah's table during the feast, the privilege and the prosperity they enjoyed is actually what blinded them to their need of fellowship with God. It was just an outward religion. Verse 10, let their eyes be darkened that they may not see and bow down their back always. And so they're incredibly burdened by the law. And when Jesus came along in his first coming, you know, he saw the people as multitudes of people with no shepherd, no leadership. The spiritual leadership had left, abandoned them, you know. And the Lord's saying, you know, you're not feeding the flock. You're fleecing the flock. You're just making merchandise of them now. And so Jesus saw them as sheep having no shepherd. So Jesus says, hey, I've got a 12 step program for you. I've got a program for you. If you do the Daniel diet, you'll be whole, you know. No, he didn't do that, did he? Jesus didn't point them to Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius or anybody else. Jesus said, come unto me. All you that labor and are heavy laden carrying that burden of the law. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Is that what people want? Rest? Don't you want rest from the guilt of the law condemning you? Come unto me and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. For I'm meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest under your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The carpenter from Nazareth fashions a yoke that won't chafe your neck. When you yoke up to him, when you serve him, when you surrender to him, he has a plan and a purpose for your life where there's fulfillment, where there's contentment, where there's joy, where there's blessing. Not cast away, predestined, preserved, punished. And fourthly, postponed. Verse 11. I say then have they stumbled, sin, that they should fall, fall for good. God forbid. But rather through their fall, falling aside, salvation has come unto the Gentiles for to provoke them to jealousy. So not cancel, just postponed. And God's using the church, the Gentiles, who the mind of the Jew, he'd start his day out thanking God. I pray this prayer every morning. Lord, thank you that I wasn't born a woman. Lord, thank you that I wasn't born a Gentile. Right? That's how they pray. They saw Gentiles as fuel for the fires of hell. They didn't think Gentiles could even be saved. That's why, you know, you're eating with Gentiles. You know, there's a separation. They hold their robes in cloche, you know, so they wouldn't even be touched by a Gentile walking on the street and all. And so these guys were masters at the outward, but the inward, full of dead men's bones, Jesus said. They cleansed the outside, but their hearts are so incredibly corrupted. And so just postponed. God keeps his promises. So the nation, the nation's fall, Israel's fall, opens the door for the Gentiles during the church age. Why? To provoke Israel to jealousy. I mean, he's their Jesus. He's a Jew. And we're gonna see in the next, as we move on through chapter 11, we've been grafted into the olive branch. We've been grafted into the true vine. The nation of Israel is a true vine. We're foreigners, but we've been grafted in. For God so loved the world, meaning you and I, all of us, Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond and free. But the Jew has a place of privilege. And in their privilege, when they didn't value their privilege and they rejected their Messiah, the gospel goes out to whosoever will. To the Jew first, who in a small way, a small remnant believe, but in a broader way, greater number of Gentiles believe. And so to provoke Israel to jealousy, as they see your walking relationship with Jesus. And so imagine how the Jews feel at Christmastime, when you and I are celebrating the birth of Jesus. And our houses are all lit up. He's the light of the world, you know, and all that. If we keep it on point, right? We could kind of blow it if we're in the Santa Claus thing, right? So if we keep it on point, it's a glorious, glorious communication to the children of the culture that God so loved us that he sent us only begotten son. We can show them prophecies that 500 years before he's born, in Micah 5 verse 2, that he'd be born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, right? We could see in Isaiah 9 verse 6, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And of his government and peace there shall be no end. In those two verses, you got his first coming and his second coming. First and second. Government's not on his shoulders yet, but it's gonna be. So he's the babe. He's born of a virgin, Isaiah 7, 14. And we get to, we get to plant our feet and praise the Lord and have our Christmas pageants and parades and our children all dressed up and all that. We get to celebrate. You know what the Jews do? They go to Hawaii. They get away as far as they can from all that celebration. All that. It bothers them. Bothers them. They might celebrate Hanukkah or whatever, but it bothers them. Because we believe in Jesus, the Jesus that they rejected. And how is it you guys have this relationship with Jesus, but we don't? And it's to provoke them unto jealousy. Your walking relationship with the Lord, as the salt of the earth Christian, should make people thirsty. Should make them so thirsty when you're around that they need to drink of the living water. They want the water that you're drinking of. They want to be on fire and filled with joy and blessing like, like you are. Your outward man may be perishing, detrimental bad circumstances happening to you, but your inner man's renewed day by day. You get through the heartache. There's a character developing. You're becoming more and more Christ-like. There's a quality of life, the life of the Spirit. I've come that you might have life. And that more abundantly, Jesus said. The thief comes not but to steal, to kill, and to destroy you. In contrast to that devil, I've come that you might have life, the spiritual life, and a spiritual inheritance. And as we grab hold of these truths, as we, as we get to know Jesus, as we have the smile on our face, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the joy of the Lord, which is our strength, the world is depressed. The world is discouraged. The world has no hope. They're filled with anxiety, with Xanax, and everything else to try and just cope with another day. Self-medicating. And you and I have Jesus. Praise the Lord. Paul and Barnabas, when they're at Antioch in Acts 13 45, says, but when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy. Envy. They're, they're filled with envy that Paul and Barnabas had drawn a crowd, that people are responding the gospel. And they spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, the priority of the Jew. But seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves, notice, unworthy of everlasting. You judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life. Lo, we turn to the Gentiles. So you wipe the dust off your feet. You go on to the next house, next city, next place. Verse 12. Now if the fall, the setting aside of them, be the riches of the world, and the diminishing or deterioration of them, the riches of the Gentiles, how much more the fullness. So Paul's looking up ahead when Israel, the remnant, comes out of the tribulation period into the millennium, and the whole world is transformed and changed with the reverse of the curse, and Jesus ruling, reigning from Jerusalem as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And David as his prince, and the nation of Israel dominant over all the Gentile nations that are repopulating the planet. We're in the times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles with the Babylonians, and then the Medes and the Persians, and world empires. And then the Greeks with Alexander the Great, and then the Romans, and then the tribulation period's a rebirth of the Roman empire. That fourth world imperial dominant tyrannical empire that's going to be used to set up the Antichrist in the seven-year tribulation period. After that, dominant Israel. Israel's going to be dominant. Israel already has, you know, the riches. Israel has the oil, and the minerals, and the technologies, and the world is getting jealous of them. And the hook's going to be put in the jaw of Russia, and Turkey, and Iran, a coalition of nations that are going to invade Israel pretty soon here, and want to take the spoil. And God's going to destroy five out of every six of that invading force. The whole world's going to have to realize, hey, we can't push them into the Mediterranean. We're going to have to sign a peace treaty with them. Imagine that. Stages being set. They're not canceled, just postponed. The world, the Gentiles becomes rich because of Israel's fall. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, as he's sitting there in heaven near his father, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. The son of man, Jesus, emptied himself of the free exercise of his deity, and he was incarnate. He took on the form of a human being, emptying himself of the free exercise of his deity. Satan challenged him, if you are the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. He set aside the free exercise of his deity, and he was tempted in all points like we, and yet without sin. He knew what it was to be hungry, but man shall not live, he said, by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, right? And so our Savior understands the frailty, the human frailty of this, of this body. He remembers that he fashioned us from the dust of the ground. He breathed life into Adam, and how frail we are. He's acquainted with the feelings of our infirmities, and so he, though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty, that we might be rich. He's got a new glorified body awaiting me. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more sickness, perfect DNA. I'll be able to take my shirt off, and Kathy will say, whoa, whoa, whoa, you the man. Now she says, hey get that shirt back on, you got man boobs. That's really, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Ephesians 3 verse 8, Paul preached the unsearchable riches of Christ. So do we see ourselves as rich as plutocrats? Do we cherish our salvation? Do you value your salvation? Do we value what God has done? In Revelation 18-2, all these globalists, all the Klaus Schwab's, and Noah, you of all horror, I mean, imagine yourself being Klaus Schwab and dressing up like Star Trek. I mean, what, a Nimrod, what are you, you know, I mean, I just can't, it's so, it's so cartoonish and imbecilic, the way these guys are handling things, you know, it's just, are you kidding me? You know, but all of them in a moment are going to lose everything, and watch what it says when God destroys Babylon during the tribulation period. Revelation 18-2, Babylon the great has fallen, has fallen. The merchants, who are the merchants? All the pharmaceutical companies, the sorcery during the tribulation period, people addicted to oxy and all these different heroines and different things, different drugs, psychotropic drugs and such, the merchants of these things, which were made rich, the tech companies and all, the energy companies by her, Blackrock, Vanguard, State Street, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, Gateses, all of them, shall stand afar off from the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing. They lost it all in one hour, up in smoke. Now, I still remember the movie with Cheech and Chong up in smoke, it goes quick, you know. Reefer madness, man, it's over, it's over. So, where do you store your riches? In heaven or on earth? The earth is going to melt, and what then? What manner of persons ought you to be, knowing that everything's going to burn, everything's going to melt. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. God wants your heart. God wants you and I to treasure Him, that's what He wants. And so, what a blessing that's going to be when the nation of Israel is saved, and we're in the millennium, ruling and reigning as kings and priests, and we get to, you know, meet all the patriarchs, all the people throughout history that serve the Lord and hear their stories. Hey, Noah, what was it like building that ark, you know? What was it like being a preacher of righteousness for 120 years there? What was it like, you know, the people on the planet there, where the thoughts were only evil continually, what was that like? What was it like the dinosaurs, and the Nephilim, and all these different creatures and things, and what was that like, that period of time before the flood? What was it like to be in the ark, that barge that you built with the gopher wood, and the pitch, the atonement, the kaphar around it? What was it like? What was it like when you landed, finally, Mount Ararat, you know? What was that like? To be exciting, exciting to learn. I love to learn, love to meet these guys. Hey, Daniel, what was it like when you're in the lion's den? What was that like? Were you afraid? Were you filled with fear? Oswald Chambers said, if you fear God, if you fear God, COVID cult, no, that's not who you are. If you fear God, you will fear nothing else. Now, listen, there's a second part. If you don't fear God, you will fear everything else. Overwhelmed with fear. Just fear God. Trust him. Walk by faith. Don't worry about it. Up in smoke. It's gone. God has made a tremendous investment in each of us, and he treasures us. Verse 12, now, if the fall, the setting, the sight of them be the richest of the world, and the diminishing deterioration of them, the richest of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness, the completion thereof, when Israel's back in the land, when they're saved, when that one-third remnant comes through the tribulation period, and they're saved. In Zechariah 12, verse 10, I'll pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his own son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. So Jesus said, you know what? Because you didn't recognize me, because you didn't know the time of your visitation, you're not going to see me again until you say, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. Once you come to the conclusion, when you're at Petra, when you're at Basra, when the Antichrist and his armies are converging upon you, no, there's no way out. You fled from Jerusalem, and this one-third remnant, two-thirds have been destroyed, a one-third remnant there in Petra, present southern Jordan, and Jesus said, except those days be short and no flesh would be saved, the whole planet would be wiped out. Men would suicide the whole planet, but for the elect's sake, for Israel's sake, Jesus says, I'm going to come back when they say, blessed is he comes in the name of the Lord, I'm going to intervene. The blood's going to be as high as the horse's bridle, and Isaiah 63, he's going to trample out the vintage, he's going to stomp on the Antichrist, the Antichrist is going to be destroyed, according to 2 Thessalonians 2, with the blood of the brightness of Jesus coming, and the sword of his mouth, and the false prophet, they're going to drop dead there right in the street, not even get a burial, they're going to be taken to the lake of fire, the devil's going to be grabbed hold of and put into the abyss for a thousand years, at the end of the thousand years, the devil's going to be released to tempt the Gentile nations, not Israel, all of Israel saved, to tempt the Gentile nations who have been watching this utopian new age, if you will, the kingdom age, perfect environment, perfect home, you can't blame your mom or dad, you can't blame the environment, everything's great, the problem's you, the problem's the heart, you fall in selfish nature, and they try to rebel against God, and God snuffs them out, fire comes down and burns them up, and then we have the eternal state, after the millennium, we have revelation 21 and 22, the ages to come, the eternal place, a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem and all, and so he says, and this will come to pass, and all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third part shall be left therein, and I'll bring the third part through the fire, through the tribulation period, and we'll refine them as silver is refined, and we'll try them as gold is tried, it's painful, and they shall call on my name, and I will hear them, and I will say, it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God, the remnant will be saved, God keeps his promises, he has not cast away Israel, he has predestined a remnant, he has preserved a remnant, he's punished the nation of Israel, and has postponed the fulfillment of all that he has promised, we're in the kingdom age, or excuse me, we're in the church age, the church age, the church age lasts until when? Verse 25 of chapter 11, when the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, when that last person that's holding back, that last Gentile holding back, might be you, when that last person gets saved, we're raptured, we don't know the day or the hour, we don't know when that's going to happen, but in the church age, he's unwilling that any would perish, he's long-suffering, unwilling that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance, I'm so glad that he didn't come in 1979, that he waited for me in 1980, right? That's when I got saved, and so to you, and so why does he wait? So that we might be saved, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness, but as long-suffering as we're not willing that any would perish, and that all would come to repentance, the call goes out to whosoever will, let him come, in revelation 22, 17, the spirit and the bride say come, this is an invitation, the spirit and the bride say come, let him that hears say come, let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely, for God so loved you, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life, Jew, Gentile, male, female, barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, let him come, the invitation's out, whosoever comes to me, Jesus said, I will no wise cast out, I'm not going to reject you if you come, so come, Jesus said, no man can come unto me except the father which has sent me draw him, there's election, there's predestination, no man can come unto me except the father which sent me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day, is God tugging on your heart, is God drawing you by his love, Saul, Saul, why are you resisting my love, can you continue to kick the goat, Saul, who art thou Lord, I'm Jesus whom you're persecuting, you're fighting against me, Saul, you're blaspheming, you're whooping on my church, and I'm identifying with my church that's going through suffering, and Saul, you're a chosen vessel unto me, he told Ananias, he said, go lay hands on him, pray for him, you know, for Paul praise, and he said, he's a chosen vessel unto me, and show him what things he must suffer for my name's sake, a ministry, a calling of suffering, that the apostle Paul would suffer more than anybody except Jesus himself, and he's got a whole list of things that he'd gone through, including being stoned, stoned to death, left for dead, beaten with rods, beaten with a cat of nine tails five times, shipwreck, peril, nakedness, homelessness, all these different things, why? It's part of the cost, part of the prize, part of the resistance, part of the antagonism of the wicked one wanting to destroy him, but he's a pattern, he's a pattern of a conquering life, a life that overcomes adversity, as his outward man is perishing, his inward man is renewed day by day, and how did he operate, how did he keep going, how are you going to keep going, things get tough, the slight affliction, it's only for a moment, while we look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen, the suffering is temporal, just temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal, so we're banking on the eternal, we're willing to give up as Jim Elliot did, we're willing to give up the temporal to gain the eternal, we're willing to die to self, deny ourselves and follow Jesus, take our cross up daily, follow him, that it no longer be me living, but Christ living through me, that the world would see Jesus, sir we would see Jesus, do people see Jesus in you, I think the world is wanting to, we have a great responsibility, great privilege to represent him to a world that's perishing, let's pray, father thank you once again for your grace, your mercies that are new each morning, thank you for saving me Lord, thank you for saving Kathy, thank you for the life, the marriage that we've had, where we're able to attend church and have a bible and Lord, have children and grandchildren and have a function in this life that you've called us there unto, thank you for each and every person here in the same way Lord, you have a plan and a purpose, Lord it wasn't their idea to be saved, you saved each of us in your predestining, in your election and predestining us Lord and choosing us and Lord we just account it's such a great privilege to know that our sins are forgiven, that they're cast from the east to the west, that you remember them no more, that there's now therefore no condemnation, that Lord our lives are so incredibly blessed, so incredibly blessed as we're being filled with the Holy Spirit and Lord we have the glorious gospel to share with people that are perishing, thank you for the the gifts, the abilities, the talents that you've given us that we can use those Lord for your kingdom and glory to better society, to help society, to help those in the community, help us to be examples to our children, our grandchildren, help us to be examples in these last days Lord, even if we have to go it alone and Lord we thank you that we're not alone, that you promise you'll never leave us nor forsake us, that Elijah was, he was really tired Lord, he thought he's the only one left but Lord you have 7,000 that haven't bowed their knee to the prophet Baal and so Lord we pray evermore, save now Lord, save people in Kitsap County, help people to think, help people that profess to be Christians to think Lord, to think biblically, to read the Bible, speak to them, give them ears to hear, let us have a biblical value system, a biblical worldview, not like this world, help us Lord. And while you continue to pray, if there's anybody here this morning, the Holy Spirit's tugging on you, the Father's drawing you, drawing you unto the cross, drawing you unto Jesus, he paid the price, he died for all your sins, past, present, and future and for you now, you call upon the Lord, whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved and that's the cry of your heart, just lift your hand up in response to what the Holy Spirit's doing in your heart and we want to lead you in prayer this morning, we don't want you to leave here, well, without being assured that you're sealed by the Holy Spirit, you belong to the Lord, that you belong to Jesus, that he comes into your heart and life, God wants to transform and change you, he wants to make you new, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation, the old things are passed away, all things have become new, anyone this morning, Father thank you for the comfort, thank you for the peace, thank you for the joy, the blessing that there's no anxiety in this room right now Lord, we're at peace, we've come to you because you've drawn us and you're holding us and Lord we don't fear death, we don't fear judgment, we don't fear anything because Lord we fear you, we have a reverential awe, respect for you that Lord you have that place of preeminence, you're the only one that really matters, what you think is all that matters, to hear you say one day well done now good and faithful servants, you've been faithful over a few things, I'm going to make you rulers over much, enter into the joy of the Lord and that's our heart Lord, that's our desire to serve you, to keep serving you, in Jesus name we pray, amen.