Hello and welcome
back to Faith Chapel.
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I'm Robb Long,
the speaker for the
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Revelation of Hope
seminar based in Kansas City.
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Well friends we've been
studying what is call the
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moral purpose of prophecy
Today we have part three
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our four part series,
once again I want to encourage
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you to try to obtain a
copy of the moral purpose
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of prophecy the
book by Louis Weir
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and you can get
information on how to obtained
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your copy by contacting 3ABN.
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You know, in this series
we are discovering to our
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delight that a relationship
with Jesus and salvation
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through faith in him
is taught not only in the
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Gospel of the Bible,
but also in the amazing
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prophecies of the Bible as well.
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In fact we are finding that
every correct interpretation
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of prophecy it
shines a bright light
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directly on the Jesus
and reveals that salvation
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from sin comes
through faith in him.
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Every correct
interpretation of prophecy
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will strengthen your soul
to resist sin and encourage
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you to seek the
righteousness of Christ.
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This is the moral purpose
for which prophecy is given.
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Again our theme text,
Second Peter chapter 1,
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in verse 19, there Peter says,
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we have also a more
sure word of prophecy;
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where unto you do
well that you take heed,
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as unto a light.
A light that shineth
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in a dark place until the
day dawn and the day star,
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that's Jesus
arise in your hearts:
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Friends according to Peter,
the purpose of prophecy and
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and the study of prophecy
is to cause Jesus and his
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righteousness and his
character and his glory to
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arise within our
hearts. Now, Satan knows
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the power of Bible
prophecy to reveal Christ
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and salvation
through his name and so,
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Satan tries to rob
the scripture of it's life
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changing, transforming
power. And he brings in false
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interpretations, private
interpretations of prophecy
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that are not
inspired by the Holy Spirit.
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And we've learned that
we must be very careful
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how we study
prophecy. Lest we be mislead
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by Satan's devices
and by another spirit
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other than the Holy
Spirit. Now we have seen that
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we can learn a
great deal friends,
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by the mistakes of
others in the past,
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when it comes to
interpreting the prophecy.
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It has been said that
those who do not learn
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from the past they are
doomed or destined to repeat it.
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Well, I don't believe
that you and I have to repeat
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the failures of people
in the past when it comes
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to interpreting
prophecy. I think we can learn
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from their mistakes
and then we can avoid
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the pitfalls that
Satan has so craftily
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laid for our feet
in these last days.
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Now, we have found
that the Jews of Christ
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time as a people,
as a nation they failed
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to study prophecy
in the light of God's
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moral purpose
for them as a people.
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They read the
prophecies, they studied them,
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but for all of their knowledge,
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they did not
understand the prophecies
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that they read.
And, so great was their
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misunderstanding
of the prophecies
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that they actually
fulfilled those prophecies
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and didn't even know
that they were doing it.
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Unwillingly, the Jews
of Christ time fulfilled
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all that was written
of him, the Messiah in
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condemning him to death,
not knowing what they did.
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How could such a thing happen,
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how could such a
zealous, earnest, sincere group
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of religious people
miss the boat so completely?
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Well, we learned
that the Jewish leaders
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were not in harmony
with Christ's moral purpose
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and his mission
which was to save them
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from their sin.
Desire of Ages page 212
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told us that the
Jewish leaders had studied
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the teachings of the
prophets concerning the Kingdom
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of the Messiah,
but they had done
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this not with a sincere
desire to know the truth,
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but with the purpose
of the finding evidence
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to sustain their
own ambitious hopes.
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They studied the
prophecies, but they didn't,
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they weren't so interested
in what kind of Messiah
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he would be and the
truth about him as a Messiah
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and the principles of
his kingdom as they were
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about finding evidence
to support what they hoped
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would happen,
the kind of Messiah
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they were hoping for
and the kind of kingdom
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that they desired.
The Jews of Christ time,
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what were they
hoping for? Well, they hoped
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to be exalted above
all the other nations
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as God's chosen people.
They hoped to be the head
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and not the tail, the
lender and not the borrower.
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Even the disciples of
Jesus early on were cherishing
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hopes of sitting
at Christ's right hand
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and ruling with him
in a glorious kingdom
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of earthly prosperity.
Now, there is something
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that we must
consider very carefully.
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Friends, did you know
that millions of professing
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Christians today
are misapplying the
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prophecies about
literal Israel and the Messiah
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in the same
fashion as did the Jews
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of Jesus time,
did you know that?
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Think about it, think about it.
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The Jews chose prophecies,
they chose prophecies
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that promised the
triumph of Israel over their
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literal enemies in
battle. They selected prophecies
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like Ezekiel 38,
Ezekiel chapter 39,
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Zechariah chapter
12 and chapter 14,
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that all depicted
the triumph of Israel
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as a nation over their
literal enemies in battle.
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And, they took those
prophecies literally they
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cleaned them and
they felt certain of God's
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protection and
blessing upon them in battle.
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And, you know today
friends many Christian teachers
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are interpreting
these prophecies of Israel
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in the very same
way. Teaching that Israel
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as a nation will
always be favored by God
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and will always be
assured of his protective care
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and favor, but listen both the
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Jewish Rabbis of Jesus
time and many Christians
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teachers today have
failed to recognized the
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spiritual qualities, the
spiritual characteristics
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that are required of
those whose victory in battle
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is assured by God. And,
here is a case in point.
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In Jeremiah of
31 verses 35 and 36,
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God says, thus saith the Lord,
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which giveth the
Sun for a light by day,
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and the ordinances of
the moon and of the stars
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for a light by
night, which divided the sea
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when the waves there of roar,
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the Lord of hosts is his name.
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And then he says if
those ordinances speaking
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of the Sun and the
moon of the stars depart
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from before me, says the Lord,
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then the seed of Israel
also shall cease from being
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a nation before me
forever. Now, the Jews,
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they read these
verses and they thought well,
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this is telling us that
just as the Sun and the moon
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and the stars will
always remain in place.
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So, Israel as a
nation will always be God's
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chosen favorite people,
but they had no conditions
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on this prophecy. But notice,
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notice the verse that
comes before this prophecy
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that we just read.
It's in Jeremiah 31
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in verse 33 and
look what it says there.
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God says this shall be
the covenant that I will
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make with the house of
Israel after those days,
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says the Lord. I will put my law
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in their inward parts
and write it in their hearts,
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and they will be,
I'm sorry and they
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and will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
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Now, the promise of
Israel being a nation was all
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conditioned on a
covenant that God
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was making with
them, a covenant is an
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agreement friends. And,
there are always at least
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two parties in an agreement
and there are conditions
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that both parties must
meet in order for the contract
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to be enforced. God
said, if I can write
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my law in your
hearts and in your minds,
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then I'll be your God
and you will be my people
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and just as the Sun
and moon and the stars
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will always
remain, so you will always
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remain as my people.
But it was all conditioned
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on his law being
written in their hearts.
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That's the moral
purpose of prophecy.
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Desire of Ages page
106, put it this way
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"To a people in whose
heart his law is written,
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the favor of God is assured".
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Friends the favor
of God is assured,
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but it's the people in
his heart his law is written,
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but in this and many other
instances the Jewish nation
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over looked these conditions
upon which the promises
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to them were made.
And, in overlooking
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the conditions of course
they failed to experience
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and realize those
conditions and as a result
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of that they
forfeited their title to those
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promised blessings
that had been made.
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Notice how Jesus
recognized this reality
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and he confronted the
Jews leaders of his time
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with this sobering
truth. In Matthew 21,
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in verse 43, Matthew 21:43,
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as Jesus saw that the
Jewish people and their leaders
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were rejecting
him as the Messiah.
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That they had said,
we will not have this man
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to reign over us and
one day they would say
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we have no king, but Caesar.
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Jesus spoke very
seriously and he said,
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I say to you the
kingdom of God will be taken
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from you and given
to a nation bringing
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forth the fruits
thereof. The kingdom of God
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will be taken from
you he said and given to a
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nation bringing
forth the fruits there of.
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Friends, one of the clearest
and most consistent teachings
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in the New Testament
is the principle that
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the kingdom promises
made to national Israel
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in the Old Testament
are given to a new nation
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of people in the
New Testament Era.
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Notice what Paul
says in Romans chapter 2,
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verses 28 and
29. There Paul says,
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for he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly,
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neither is that
circumcision, which is outward
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in the flesh. But he says,
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he is a Jew,
which is one inwardly
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and circumcision
is that of the heart,
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in the spirit and
not in the letter,
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whose praise is
not of men, but of God.
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Friends according to
Paul in the New Testament Era?
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A person is not a
Jew based on any ethnic
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or heritage or lineage,
neither on any outward sign
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like
circumcision, a person is a Jew
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spiritually
inwardly, circumcision is that
00:11:01.04\00:11:04.80
of the heart.
Now, Jesus said that
00:11:04.83\00:11:08.09
the kingdom would be
taken from national Israel
00:11:08.12\00:11:10.68
and given to a
nation that brings forth the
00:11:10.71\00:11:12.22
fruit there of.
What are the fruits
00:11:12.25\00:11:14.33
of the true people of
God that receive the kingdom?
00:11:14.36\00:11:17.92
Well, in Galatians
chapter 5, verses 22 and 23,
00:11:17.95\00:11:21.37
look what Paul says
there. But the fruit of the
00:11:21.40\00:11:24.45
Spirit is love, joy,
peace, long suffering,
00:11:24.48\00:11:29.83
gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance,
00:11:29.86\00:11:35.28
and then he says
against such there is no law.
00:11:35.31\00:11:39.25
And, so according to Paul here,
00:11:39.28\00:11:41.12
we link this with what
Jesus said about the fruits
00:11:41.15\00:11:43.22
of the kingdom.
According to Jesus and Paul,
00:11:43.25\00:11:45.65
the kingdom promises
fall to a nation that brings
00:11:45.68\00:11:49.43
forth spiritual fruit,
that exhibits the spiritual
00:11:49.46\00:11:52.97
fruits of love,
joy, peace, patience,
00:11:53.00\00:11:56.20
temperance, and the like.
Now, what nation is it that
00:11:56.23\00:12:01.45
inherits these
wonderful promises,
00:12:01.48\00:12:03.44
describe in the Old
Testament prophecies given
00:12:03.47\00:12:06.42
to national
Israel. What nation is the
00:12:06.45\00:12:08.77
kingdom given to?
Is it given to the
00:12:08.80\00:12:11.62
United States? Is
it given to Germany
00:12:11.65\00:12:13.93
or France or China
or some other nation,
00:12:13.96\00:12:16.18
lets see what the Bible
says. In first Peter chapter 2,
00:12:16.21\00:12:19.55
verses 9 and
10. Peter says this,
00:12:19.58\00:12:21.24
he is speaking to the
Christian church and he says,
00:12:21.27\00:12:24.18
you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood,
00:12:24.21\00:12:28.00
notice now, and holy
nation. A holy nation,
00:12:28.03\00:12:32.95
a peculiar people;
that you should show forth
00:12:32.98\00:12:35.39
the praises of him who
has called you out of darkness
00:12:35.42\00:12:37.90
into his marvelous
light and it goes on to say,
00:12:37.93\00:12:41.86
which in time
past were not a people,
00:12:41.89\00:12:43.96
but are now the people of God.
00:12:43.99\00:12:47.00
Friends,
according to Peter here,
00:12:47.03\00:12:48.48
he is referring to the
Christian church as a nation,
00:12:48.51\00:12:52.81
but its not a literal
nation with boundaries
00:12:52.84\00:12:56.52
or a capital city, it
is a spiritual nation,
00:12:56.55\00:13:00.30
it's a holy nation
made up of holy people,
00:13:00.33\00:13:03.32
who are bearing spiritual
fruit to the glory of God,
00:13:03.35\00:13:06.82
they are showing that
they have been called out
00:13:06.85\00:13:09.34
of darkness
into marvelous light.
00:13:09.37\00:13:11.16
In other words,
they are doing what God
00:13:11.19\00:13:12.47
wanted national Israel
to do in the Old Testament
00:13:12.50\00:13:14.76
and that is bear fruits
of righteousness to the glory
00:13:14.79\00:13:18.04
of his name. Now,
what is this spiritual
00:13:18.07\00:13:20.65
nation that Peter
speaks about here?
00:13:20.68\00:13:22.29
What is this spiritual
nation actually called,
00:13:22.32\00:13:25.39
does it have a name.
Well, in Galatians chapter 6,
00:13:25.42\00:13:28.71
verses 15 and 16,
notice what Paul says there.
00:13:28.74\00:13:32.24
For in Christ
Jesus, neither circumcision
00:13:32.27\00:13:36.29
availed anything,
nor uncircumcision,
00:13:36.32\00:13:39.09
but he says a new
creature. In Paul's eyes,
00:13:39.12\00:13:43.91
only those that become
new creatures in Christ,
00:13:43.94\00:13:46.73
that is all that
avails. The Bible says,
00:13:46.76\00:13:49.77
if any man were to be
Christ he is a new creature,
00:13:49.80\00:13:51.67
but then he says as
many as walk according
00:13:51.70\00:13:53.78
to this rule,
peace be them and mercy,
00:13:53.81\00:13:56.77
upon thee Israel of
God. Notice friends,
00:13:56.80\00:14:00.77
Paul is referring here to
those that are regenerated
00:14:00.80\00:14:05.34
through the new
birth, they become new
00:14:05.37\00:14:07.21
creatures in Christ,
their lives have been
00:14:07.24\00:14:09.40
transformed spiritually
and he refers to them
00:14:09.43\00:14:12.16
as the Israel of God.
The church has the same name,
00:14:12.19\00:14:18.32
Old Testament, New
Testament refer to as
00:14:18.35\00:14:20.76
the Israel of God.
In Ellicot's commentary,
00:14:20.79\00:14:24.28
notes on Revelation
page 96 and page 125,
00:14:24.31\00:14:27.93
listen to this quote it
says. "The Christian church
00:14:27.96\00:14:31.19
absorbs the Jewish,
that is absorbs the Jewish
00:14:31.22\00:14:36.08
church and inherits
her privileges and adopts
00:14:36.11\00:14:41.39
with wider and nobler
meaning her phraseology,
00:14:41.42\00:14:44.85
Ellicot says, the Israel of God,
00:14:44.88\00:14:48.06
the church of
Christ, takes the place
00:14:48.09\00:14:51.29
of national Israel".
Clearly here is being
00:14:51.32\00:14:56.47
expressed the sentiment
that, the church is the
00:14:56.50\00:14:59.55
New Testament, Israel of
God, which actually takes
00:14:59.58\00:15:02.13
the place of national
Israel in the Old inheriting
00:15:02.16\00:15:06.02
her privileges and phraseology.
00:15:06.05\00:15:08.66
Now, friends you
may not realize this,
00:15:08.69\00:15:10.95
but this idea, this
teaching that the church
00:15:10.98\00:15:14.68
replaces national Israel
as spiritual Israel today
00:15:14.71\00:15:18.48
was and also
inherits her promises and her
00:15:18.51\00:15:22.87
privileges was the
widely held due of the majority
00:15:22.90\00:15:27.32
of Christians for
hundreds of years.
00:15:27.35\00:15:30.27
For hundreds of years
Christians realized that
00:15:30.30\00:15:32.97
the church had
replaced Israel as a nation and
00:15:33.00\00:15:36.26
inherited her
titles and her privileges
00:15:36.29\00:15:39.14
and her blessings. For example,
00:15:39.17\00:15:40.83
one verse of the
popular Christian hymn crowned
00:15:40.86\00:15:43.94
him with many crowns
says, ye seed of Israel's
00:15:43.97\00:15:48.36
chosen race he
ransom from the fall,
00:15:48.39\00:15:51.59
here the Christians
are being referred you as,
00:15:51.62\00:15:53.10
the seed of
Israel's chosen race.
00:15:53.13\00:15:56.21
This interpretation
of spiritual Israel
00:15:56.24\00:15:59.34
being the church,
exalted the moral purpose
00:16:03.18\00:16:04.15
of prophecy and called
Christians to be a holy
00:16:04.16\00:16:06.28
people set apart
that would glorify God
00:16:06.31\00:16:09.46
and reflect his righteous
character to the world.
00:16:09.49\00:16:11.64
This interpretation of
the church as spiritual Israel
00:16:11.67\00:16:14.29
gave depth and gave
meaning to the Old Testament
00:16:14.32\00:16:17.51
prophecies
making them come alive.
00:16:17.54\00:16:20.31
This interpretation brought
prophecy to life and infused
00:16:20.34\00:16:24.13
it with power and spiritual
vitality for the Christian.
00:16:24.16\00:16:27.67
After all, the church
could now hope for the
00:16:27.70\00:16:31.45
fulfillment of
every promise made by God,
00:16:31.48\00:16:34.93
but left behind by
his Old Testament people.
00:16:34.96\00:16:38.29
And, so that truth
friends did so much to energize
00:16:38.32\00:16:43.33
the Christian church
for hundreds of years,
00:16:43.36\00:16:45.32
but then came something
known as Dispensationalism,
00:16:45.35\00:16:49.43
have you heard of
that, Dispensationalism.
00:16:49.46\00:16:51.87
Now Dispensationalism
was a revolutionary new
00:16:51.90\00:16:54.99
teaching that and most cases
is traced back to a man named
00:16:55.02\00:16:58.46
John Nelson Derby
and Dispensationalism
00:16:58.49\00:17:01.63
said that the prophecies
concerning Israel skip over
00:17:01.66\00:17:06.29
the church and find a
literal fulfillment in a literal
00:17:06.32\00:17:10.49
Jewish kingdom
that comes after the
00:17:10.52\00:17:13.51
church age is passed.
Dispensationalism teach us
00:17:13.54\00:17:17.13
that there is a rapture
of the church and then the
00:17:17.16\00:17:20.23
promises to national Israel
are fulfilled in a literal
00:17:20.26\00:17:23.02
Jewish kingdom after
the church age is over.
00:17:23.05\00:17:25.77
Now, here is
something very amazing,
00:17:25.80\00:17:29.97
where this was once a new
and revolutionary teaching,
00:17:30.00\00:17:35.34
it is actually become the
commonly held belief of the
00:17:35.37\00:17:39.12
majority of Christians
in our world and is actually
00:17:39.15\00:17:41.56
the teaching of
prophecy that is being promoted
00:17:41.59\00:17:44.11
by most of the major
seminaries in our land today.
00:17:44.14\00:17:47.72
But unfortunately, unfortunately
00:17:47.75\00:17:51.34
Dispensationalism
has robbed the church,
00:17:51.37\00:17:54.66
robbed the church of its
true and rightful inheritance,
00:17:54.69\00:17:57.89
removed from the church
the moral purpose of prophecy
00:17:57.92\00:18:00.83
and also took the
moral purpose away
00:18:00.86\00:18:03.32
from Israel as a
nation. In other words, the
00:18:03.35\00:18:06.01
moral purpose has no
barring on national Israel,
00:18:06.04\00:18:09.33
they get rewarded in
the end and it has no affect
00:18:09.36\00:18:11.97
upon the church,
they are ruptured out
00:18:12.00\00:18:13.69
and taken away. And
so this eliminated the
00:18:13.72\00:18:17.71
moral purpose of
prophecy, is teaching called
00:18:17.74\00:18:20.22
Dispensationalism.
Satan has succeeded friends,
00:18:20.25\00:18:23.94
in stripping God's word
of its sanctifying power,
00:18:23.97\00:18:28.70
through a false system of
interpretation that largely
00:18:28.73\00:18:31.80
ignores God's moral purpose
for prophecy and once again
00:18:31.83\00:18:35.82
Satan has used rigid
literalism to do the job.
00:18:35.85\00:18:39.88
In the book
prophecy and the church,
00:18:39.91\00:18:42.26
pages 256 and
258, I read this quote,
00:18:42.29\00:18:45.16
it says, "Dispensationalism
has its source in a faulty
00:18:45.19\00:18:49.65
and unscriptural literalism,
literal interpretation seems
00:18:49.68\00:18:53.44
to make Bible study
easy and also seems reverend,
00:18:53.47\00:18:56.61
it argues on this
wise, God must have said just
00:18:56.64\00:18:59.36
what He means and must
mean just what he has said,
00:18:59.39\00:19:02.23
and what he have said is to
be taken just as he said it,
00:19:02.26\00:19:04.58
i.e., literally.
But the fulfillment,
00:19:04.61\00:19:07.50
which he, Jesus offered
the Jews was so different
00:19:07.53\00:19:10.52
from their
literal and carnal desires
00:19:10.55\00:19:12.81
and expectations that they
sent their King to Calvary".
00:19:12.84\00:19:18.67
Friends, Jesus had no
real promises of glory,
00:19:18.70\00:19:24.07
for a nation that
was rejecting him and
00:19:24.10\00:19:27.55
preparing to crucify
him as a false messiah
00:19:27.58\00:19:30.24
and a blasphemer,
and neither will Jesus
00:19:30.27\00:19:32.58
have any promises of
glory for Israel or any
00:19:32.61\00:19:35.85
other nation for that
matter, without a decided
00:19:35.88\00:19:38.50
change in character,
without repentance for sin
00:19:38.53\00:19:41.72
and the bearing of the
fruits of righteousness through
00:19:41.75\00:19:44.56
the grace of Jesus.
Now, don't get me wrong,
00:19:44.59\00:19:47.10
I believe that many
Jews can and will be saved
00:19:47.13\00:19:51.03
in the last days,
but it will happen
00:19:51.06\00:19:53.38
when they are
converted to Christ and accept
00:19:53.41\00:19:56.25
his salvation and
when that happens friends,
00:19:56.28\00:19:58.45
according to Paul, they
are not Jews any longer,
00:19:58.48\00:20:00.57
they are Christians.
They are part of the Israel
00:20:00.60\00:20:04.97
of God that new
nation of holy people whose
00:20:05.00\00:20:07.97
circumcision is not
outward in the flesh,
00:20:08.00\00:20:09.96
but inward in the
heart by the spirit.
00:20:09.99\00:20:13.38
Now, that's brings me to
this very important principle.
00:20:13.41\00:20:16.22
Friends, the things
in the Old Testament
00:20:16.25\00:20:19.02
that were literal
and local in nature.
00:20:19.05\00:20:21.16
In the New
Testament they often take on
00:20:21.19\00:20:23.37
a spiritual and
world wide application,
00:20:23.40\00:20:26.36
for example; in
the Old Testament,
00:20:26.39\00:20:27.36
the temple was a literal
building in a local place.
00:20:27.39\00:20:30.44
You could touch it
and go in and out of it.
00:20:30.47\00:20:32.33
But in the New
Testament, the temple Paul talks
00:20:32.36\00:20:34.24
about is not a literal building,
00:20:34.27\00:20:35.76
but it's a spiritual
temple. It's the people of God
00:20:35.79\00:20:38.29
that are being built
up as a temple for the
00:20:38.32\00:20:40.89
habitation of God to the spirit.
00:20:40.92\00:20:42.54
Babylon in the Old
Testament was a literal city on
00:20:42.57\00:20:45.75
a literal river
Euphrates at a local place.
00:20:45.78\00:20:48.17
But in New
Testament, Book of Revelation,
00:20:48.20\00:20:50.27
Babylon becomes
a spiritual city,
00:20:50.30\00:20:52.14
a spiritual
kingdom that is world wide
00:20:52.17\00:20:54.37
in its influence.
All nations are drinking
00:20:54.40\00:20:56.71
it's wine, Revelation says.
00:20:56.74\00:20:58.96
And so it is with
Israel, it was a literal nation
00:20:58.99\00:21:01.14
in the Old
Testament in a local place,
00:21:01.17\00:21:03.48
in a local part of the
world. But in the New Testament,
00:21:03.51\00:21:05.74
Israel becomes spiritual
and world wide in its scope.
00:21:05.77\00:21:10.39
Now a failure to understand
the truth of spiritual Israel
00:21:10.42\00:21:13.89
has led many well meaning
expositors of the scripture
00:21:13.92\00:21:17.85
to apply almost the
entire Book of Revelation
00:21:17.88\00:21:21.17
to literal, national
Israel. Did you know that?
00:21:21.20\00:21:25.17
Many Christians
don't bother to study the
00:21:25.20\00:21:27.64
Book of Revelation,
because it's prophecies
00:21:27.67\00:21:30.71
they assume
apply only to national,
00:21:30.74\00:21:33.61
literal Israel. Now
friends think about the
00:21:33.64\00:21:36.30
seriousness of that.
God has an urgent end-time
00:21:36.33\00:21:40.53
message for his Church.
God has an urgent end-time
00:21:40.56\00:21:43.64
message for his
people in the last days.
00:21:43.67\00:21:45.61
Days that will be
fought with Satan's most
00:21:45.64\00:21:48.94
overmastering
deceptions and delusions.
00:21:48.97\00:21:51.31
God's message in Revelation
is designed to prepare the
00:21:51.34\00:21:54.77
people for the
second coming of Christ.
00:21:54.80\00:21:57.26
God's urgent messages
is found right in the heart
00:21:57.29\00:22:00.28
of the Book of Revelation,
but God's urgent and end-time
00:22:00.31\00:22:04.43
message of Revelation,
that he gave to his Church
00:22:04.46\00:22:08.49
is largely ignored
today because the Church
00:22:08.52\00:22:11.62
has been taught that the
book is only for the Jew.
00:22:11.65\00:22:15.96
Now it is true that
the symbolism in Revelation
00:22:15.99\00:22:18.86
is almost
exclusively Jewish in nature.
00:22:18.89\00:22:21.25
But the Jewish
symbols, friends, that we find
00:22:21.28\00:22:24.41
in Revelation hold profound
meaning for spiritual Israel,
00:22:24.44\00:22:29.36
the Church of God
today. Indeed someone said,
00:22:29.39\00:22:33.48
a Lewis Weir said,
that the entire message
00:22:33.51\00:22:38.78
of Revelation can
be understood correctly
00:22:38.81\00:22:40.77
when it is seen
through Jewish eyes as the
00:22:40.80\00:22:43.61
spiritual Israel of
God. Christians must make the
00:22:43.64\00:22:47.05
symbolism of Revelation
applicable to the Church
00:22:47.08\00:22:49.95
or miss the entire message
of this all important book.
00:22:49.98\00:22:55.13
Professor. John W. Milligan,
in his book the Revelation
00:22:55.16\00:23:02.16
of Saint John on
pages 27 to 30 said this,
00:23:02.19\00:23:04.68
"The Christian Church
even among the Gentiles
00:23:04.71\00:23:08.18
had been grafted
upon the stem of David.
00:23:08.21\00:23:10.40
She had an interest
in Zion and Jerusalem.
00:23:10.43\00:23:13.06
She saw in Babylon
a type of her enemies.
00:23:13.09\00:23:16.32
She felt herself to be
the true Israel of God.
00:23:16.35\00:23:19.54
She was well acquainted
with the tabernacle and the
00:23:19.57\00:23:22.38
temple with their
pillars and incense,
00:23:22.41\00:23:24.71
with their different alters,
with a high priest robes,
00:23:24.74\00:23:28.24
with a seven
branch candlesticks,
00:23:28.27\00:23:30.09
with the arch of the testimony,
00:23:30.12\00:23:31.41
with a hidden manner,
with parchment rules written
00:23:31.44\00:23:34.50
both within and on the
back. These symbols he says
00:23:34.53\00:23:37.52
were therefore
closely adapted to her,
00:23:37.55\00:23:40.97
the Churches condition
and must have gone home
00:23:41.00\00:23:43.62
to her with peculiar
power". Here Milligan is saying
00:23:43.65\00:23:48.06
the Church
recognize all the symbols
00:23:48.09\00:23:50.01
were applicable to her
and they would have come home
00:23:50.04\00:23:53.02
to her because of
the Jewish background
00:23:53.05\00:23:55.08
that most of the early
Church members came out of,
00:23:55.11\00:23:57.08
they would have come home
to her with peculiar power.
00:23:57.11\00:23:59.94
He goes on to say on page
72, "The book is absolutely
00:23:59.97\00:24:03.87
steeped in the
memories, the incidents,
00:24:03.90\00:24:06.58
the thought and the
language of the Church's past.
00:24:06.61\00:24:08.67
To such an extent is
this the case that it may be
00:24:08.70\00:24:11.27
doubted whether it contains
a single figure not drawn
00:24:11.30\00:24:15.85
from the Old Testament or
a single complete sentence,
00:24:15.88\00:24:18.91
not more or less built
up out of materials from
00:24:18.94\00:24:22.53
the same sources, that
being the Old Testament.
00:24:22.56\00:24:24.65
Nothing can convey he
says, a full and adequate
00:24:24.68\00:24:27.90
impression upon the
point except the careful
00:24:27.93\00:24:30.26
study of the book,
Revelation itself in this
00:24:30.29\00:24:33.86
particular aspect
of it's contents".
00:24:33.89\00:24:37.22
He's saying that
we can only understand
00:24:37.25\00:24:38.97
the Book of
Revelation in the light of it's
00:24:39.00\00:24:41.10
symbolism that can be
found in the Old Testament.
00:24:41.13\00:24:44.85
Now here are some
examples of what Prof. Milligan,
00:24:44.88\00:24:47.54
is trying to convey.
He says, even the crown
00:24:47.57\00:24:50.43
of life in Revelation 2,
verse 10, is not the reef
00:24:50.46\00:24:54.39
of the victor in Grecian games,
00:24:54.42\00:24:56.94
but the Hebrew crown of
royalty and joy like that
00:24:56.97\00:25:01.11
which Solomon wore.
He says, the white stone
00:25:01.14\00:25:04.82
with a new name on
it. In Revelation 2:17,
00:25:04.85\00:25:07.95
is not suggested
by the white pebble,
00:25:07.98\00:25:10.27
which cast into the
heathen courts of justice
00:25:10.30\00:25:13.20
into the ballot box,
express the judge's acquittal
00:25:13.23\00:25:16.16
of the prisoner at the
bar. But in all probability
00:25:16.19\00:25:19.73
by the glistening plate
born on the high priest's,
00:25:19.76\00:25:23.35
upon his forehead
and he says and all the
00:25:23.38\00:25:26.74
commentators agreed
that the palms of chapter 7,
00:25:26.77\00:25:29.64
Verse 9, are not the palms
of the heathen victor either
00:25:29.67\00:25:33.21
in battle or the games,
but the palms are the feast
00:25:33.24\00:25:36.47
of tabernacles
when in the most joyful
00:25:36.50\00:25:39.70
of all their national festivals,
00:25:39.73\00:25:41.31
Israel celebrated that
life of independence on
00:25:41.34\00:25:45.22
which she
entered when she marched
00:25:45.25\00:25:46.68
from Rameses to Succoth
and exchanged her dwellings
00:25:46.71\00:25:49.58
in the hot brick
fields of Egypt for the
00:25:49.61\00:25:52.11
free air of the
wilderness, and the booze
00:25:52.14\00:25:54.91
which he erected
in the open country.
00:25:54.94\00:25:57.01
The symbols of the
apocalypse are to be judged
00:25:57.04\00:25:59.45
he says with the feeling
of a Jew and not with those
00:25:59.48\00:26:02.45
of our own country for
age. What he is saying friends
00:26:02.48\00:26:06.59
is that the crown
prophecy means that
00:26:06.62\00:26:09.08
we as Christians can
reign with Christ as kings
00:26:09.11\00:26:12.57
and royalty and joy
and peace and prosperity
00:26:12.60\00:26:15.97
as Solomon did. The white stone
00:26:16.00\00:26:18.26
prophecy means
that we will be priests
00:26:18.29\00:26:20.62
in the temple of our
God. The palm branches
00:26:20.65\00:26:23.78
as we read in Revelation
mean that we will be forever
00:26:23.81\00:26:27.05
free from the bondage of
sin and breathe the free air
00:26:27.08\00:26:31.07
of heaven at the earth made new.
00:26:31.10\00:26:33.44
What glorious
promises for the Christian
00:26:33.47\00:26:36.43
who understands this
spiritual meaning of these
00:26:36.46\00:26:39.40
Jewish symbols in
the Book of Revelation.
00:26:39.43\00:26:42.37
The entire Book of
Revelation comes alive, friends,
00:26:42.40\00:26:46.15
it comes alive in our
hearts and they burn within us
00:26:46.18\00:26:49.11
as these
wonderful truths unfold,
00:26:49.14\00:26:51.92
but you know many
are missing this blessing
00:26:51.95\00:26:56.05
and prophecy in
Revelation today and for them
00:26:56.08\00:26:59.99
history is repeating
itself. The Jewish interpreted
00:27:00.02\00:27:04.44
these prophecies with only
the most literal of meanings
00:27:04.47\00:27:06.72
in mind and they
missed the spiritual
00:27:06.75\00:27:08.91
significance
entirely. Some Christians today
00:27:08.94\00:27:12.25
in making a literal
application of these things
00:27:12.28\00:27:15.27
to literal Israel are missing
the spiritual significance
00:27:15.30\00:27:18.20
of the Book of Revelation.
May God help us, friends,
00:27:18.23\00:27:22.09
as the spiritual
Israel of God today to see
00:27:22.12\00:27:24.95
and to claim these wonderful
promises with all of their
00:27:24.98\00:27:29.03
forceful meaning for
us with the moral purpose
00:27:29.06\00:27:33.88
that we might be a holy nation,
00:27:33.91\00:27:35.81
a royal priesthood and
that we might show forth the
00:27:35.84\00:27:39.18
praises of our wonderful God.
Now just a reminder friends,
00:27:39.21\00:27:43.44
don't miss our final
program in the moral purpose
00:27:43.47\00:27:46.19
of prophecy when we look
at what are being called the
00:27:46.22\00:27:49.18
fallacies of
futurism. Don't miss it.
00:27:49.21\00:27:53.11
We'll see you next time.
00:27:53.14\00:27:54.98