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Back to Ephesians chapter number 2, but first of all I just want to point out one quick verse and then we'll give you some introduction. But it says here in verse number 12 that at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And I want to preach a message tonight entitled The Commonwealth of Israel. The Commonwealth of Israel, now it's interesting the word commonwealth is only used one time in the Bible and I'm going to get back to what that is. But the Bible tells us in verse 12 that when we were without Christ, and earlier in the chapter he talked about how, like in verse number 1 he said, you had he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. He says in verse 8, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and then not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of worksless any man should pose. He said ye started out dead, but he quickened you, he brought you to life. And he said in verse number 12 that when you were without Christ, meaning you were not saved, if you get the context of the chapter, he says you were aliens, but he said now you've become a part of the Commonwealth of Israel. He said you were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, but now in Christ Jesus you're made nigh. Now I'm going to get into this in more detail, but first of all let me say this. Turn forward to Galatians chapter 3, you're in Ephesians, just go back a few pages to Galatians. By way of introduction let me say this, whenever you're reading the Bible it's important that you read every word, and that you get every word. And this is why it's so important that we're King James Old. Because these new versions, they're completely changing the words, and when you change the words you completely change the meaning. Now sometimes there are two words that mean the exact same thing, but that's not what these new versions are. These new versions completely change things and dramatically change things that alter the meaning in so many different ways. And that's why we're King James only, because it's not just the thought that counts as people will say, well I'll just get the gist of it. No, it's important that we have every single word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Look how critical it is, look at Galatians 3 16, it says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, he saith not, and to seed as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed which is Christ. Now you see God's showing us here that even just one little letter can make a huge difference. Whether he says to Abraham and to his seed, plural, or whether he says Abraham and to his seed, singular, makes a dramatic difference. And so that's how important it is to make sure that we have God's word exactly right, not just close enough or in the ballpark. We need every word. He said in Matthew 24 35, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. And so we believe that God has preserved his word for us today, word for word, not just close enough. So he says here, and this has to do with what I'm going to talk about with the Commonwealth of Israel, that God made promises to Abraham, but not just to his Abraham, not just to Abraham, but also to his seed. Not plural, not all the physical children of Abraham, but to his seed, singular, which is Christ. That's why he says in verse 29, and if he beat Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So the promise was not made to Abraham and all of his seeds, all of his descendants. He said, oh no. It was made to Abraham and to his seed, which is Christ, and if you beat Christ's, then you're Abraham's seed. You're a part of it. So the promises were made unto who? Us, Abraham and to us, and to the Ephesians, who were Gentiles that he speak to, and to the Galatians, who he's speaking to in this chapter. Verse 26 says this, for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ and put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor freedom. There is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ, and if ye beat Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Go back to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah chapter 31. Now, here's a great example in Jeremiah 31, why it's so critical that we get every word of God. You see, oftentimes you'll be talking to people about the Bible. Maybe you're out-souling at the door, or maybe you're just giving the gospel to a friend or loved one, or maybe you're just discussing the Bible with someone, and people will begin to quote Bible verses to you. And they'll say, well doesn't the Bible say this? But here's the thing, oftentimes they're not quoting it exactly word for word. And in fact, they're strategically leaving out words that dramatically change the meaning. You know, I've had a lot of people quote Acts 2, where basically the Jews say unto Peter, what shall we do? And he tells them, repent and be baptized. And this is what people will quote that as. Well the Bible says, what must I do to be saved? And they said, repent and be baptized. That's not what it says. They just said, what should we do? Should you repent and be baptized? Yeah, of course you should be baptized. But is baptism going to save you? No. Because when he asked, what must I do to be saved? They said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what he said. So a lot of times people will quote things to you, and sometimes I've been in a discussion with somebody, and they'll start quoting stuff at me wrong, and I won't notice it. And it'll start throwing me for a loop and confusing me. And then I'll be like, wait a minute, let's look that up in the Bible and see if that's what it really says. And then you look it up and it doesn't say that. And so I encourage you, when you go soul wedding, bring the Bible with you, first of all. Because it's God's word that has the power to save. And he said, preach the word, and we should be sewers of the word. He had to go forth and weep and bear impressive siege, so that was coming in with rejoicing, bringing his seed with him. But not only that, when someone tries to just throw false doctrine at you and they're trying to prop it up in the Bible, always turn to those verses, because half the time that's not even what it says. Now here's a verse that I'm going to show you in Jeremiah 31. This is one that is just constantly misquoted. And I've had people throw this verse at me all day long, and they never quoted it right. And it's Jeremiah 31, 37, it says this, Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. Now many people will bring this passage up, because this is kind of a famous passage. And he also says in verse 36, if these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before me forever. Now people will quote this verse, but they'll strategically leave out one word here. They'll leave out the word all, in verse 37. And so this is the way they'll quote it. They'll say, well, if the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel. That's not what it says. It says, in that case, he'll cast off all the seed of Israel. So people will try to use this verse, say, what are you talking about? People will try to use this passage in Jeremiah 31 to say, God will never, he'll never cast off the nation of Israel. They'll always be his people. As long as the sun's in the sky, as long as the moon is there, the Israelites who choose will always be God's people. But that is not what this says. He said that he won't cast off all of them. But that doesn't mean that he's not going to cast off some of them or most of them. And let me prove it to you. Keep your finger, we're going to come back to Jeremiah 31. Go to Romans 11. Keep your finger at Jeremiah 31 and Romans 11. But you see how just one word can make a big difference. If you take out the word all there, he's basically promising, hey, I'm not going to cast off the seed of Israel. But the Bible says he just won't cast off all of them. Let me prove it to you. Look at Romans 11 verse 1. I say then, have God cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and dig down mine 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 vowed the need of the events who have failed. Even so, watch this, then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. So the Bible tells us here that God has not cast away his people only because there is a remnant. There is a small group that still believes in Christ. Paul said, look, I'm an Israelite, I'm of the seed of Abraham, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin, and I believe on Jesus Christ. So he said God has not cast away all of his people because there are still some of us who do believe on Jesus Christ. And that's why there are his people. You see, I'm sorry to break it to you tonight, but the children of Israel today who do not believe on Jesus Christ, they are not God's people. And he will cast them off, and he will cast them into outer darkness, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And there's no salvation in any other. There's none other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we must be saved by the name of Jesus Christ. And the children of Israel, the physical seed of Abraham, the Jews, or so-called, or those who live in the nation of Israel, or those who say, well, I'm Jewish. Guess what? They're not God's people if they don't believe in Jesus Christ. And I'm going to prove that to you from the Bible even further. Go back to Jeremiah 31 and I'll show this to you. You see, the doctrine today tells you that, well, the Jews are just God's people, like no matter if they're saved or not. Well, that's just a lie. That's a false doctrine. And let me show it to you in Jeremiah 31 further. And, you know, I'm going a little deeper tonight, but I want you to get this doctrine because it's important and we're going to tie this all together. It says in Jeremiah 31, 31, So God says, look, there was an Old Covenant, also known as Old Testament. Okay, and I'm going to show you that in the book of Hebrews chapter 8 in a second. There was an Old Covenant, an Old Testament, a covenant that he made with them in the day that he took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Who brought them out of Egypt? Moses, right? That's why the Bible says the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The Old Testament, the Old Covenant, came through Moses, okay? And it was made with them in the day when he took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Did they continue in his covenant? They broke his covenant, okay? Now look if you would at Hebrews chapter 8. Go to Hebrews chapter 8. Keep your finger on Jeremiah 31. We're going back there, but look at Hebrews chapter number 8. In Hebrews chapter 8, the Bible actually quotes Jeremiah 31. And he says in verse 7, he said, For if that first covenant had been faultless, the Old Covenant or the Old Testament, if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. He's saying like, if the first covenant was perfect, we wouldn't need a second. He's saying, well, everything God does is perfect. Well, look at verse 8. For finding fault with them, he says. So it's not that there was anything wrong with the covenant that God made. The problem was with the people that he made the covenant with, which was the children of Israel. He said, For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, save the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant. Remember in Jeremiah 31, it said they broke that covenant. And I regarded them not, saith the Lord. See, I didn't recognize them. I don't regard them. They broke that covenant. He says this, For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying no to the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities, and I will remember no more. In that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. So let me ask you something. And if you get the context, I don't have time to read for you chapters 8, 9, and 10 that explain the difference between the new covenant and the old covenant. And it also uses the word New Testament, Old Testament. But simply put, today in 2011, are the children of Israel living under the old covenant, or are they living under the new covenant today? Old. I mean, where should they be in God's mind? The new covenant. Because he says here, the old covenant waxeth old and is ready to vanish away. There's a new covenant. They broke the old covenant. They continued not in the old covenant. That is not the covenant that they're on. They're on the New Testament, the new covenant. Now, according to the new covenant, according to the New Testament, what is it that we have to do, okay, to be a part of the nation of Israel or the commonwealth of Israel? That's what I'm going to prove to you today. And it's really simple. It sounds complicated, but it's not really complicated. Go back to Jeremiah 31 quickly and we'll finish this out. Actually, you know, let's skip that just for the sake of time. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And while you're turning there, let me quote for you a couple of scriptures. Listen to this. Romans chapter 2 verse 28 says, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God. Now, according to that verse that I just read for you, is it somebody's flesh that makes them a Jew according to God? He said he's not a Jew which is one outwardly. He's a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is not that outward circumcision in the flesh. He said it's in the spirit. Now, let me ask you something. If a person walked in here today, then descends from Abraham, or they think they descend from Abraham, because who even knows today in 2011 exactly who are the true descendants of Abraham, God, I don't know about you, but my Bible says to avoid genealogies. So it must not matter. I mean, if it really mattered that much, hey, I'm of this tribe, or hey, I'm of the children of Israel, guess what, he wouldn't have told us to avoid genealogies. Because you need that genealogy to prove that in 2011. It must not matter. But let's say somebody walked in and they said, well, I'm a Jew. But they say I don't believe in Jesus Christ. Does the Bible, does God consider him a Jew? No. No. Fact. I mean, I don't understand what could be clearer than this scripture that says he is not a Jew which is one outwardly. You're not a Jew unless you believe in Jesus Christ. Because the Bible says in Philippians 3, 3, for we are the circumcision. And he's talking to Gentiles in Philippi. He said, for we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit, and listen to this, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. He said, you're only the circumcision if you have no confidence in the flesh and your rejoicing is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Confidence in the flesh is entrusting in your own works to save you. He said, you're not a Jew, you're not the circumcision. And so I don't understand how somebody would say, well, they're a Jew. They're Jewish. No, they're not. The Bible says no. He said that you're a Jew if you're one inwardly. That means that if we believe on Jesus Christ, whether we're Jew or Gentile in the flesh, we are the real Jews today. I mean, look, I don't know. I've not gone into some genealogy to really check it out. But as far as I know, I don't think that I physically descend from Abraham in any way, shape, or form. My ancestors are the Vikings and the British and all those people that rode around in ships and everything in the North Sea. That's pretty much all my ancestors I can find are all Germans or Scandinavians. But let me tell you something. I'm a Jew tonight because I'm a Jew inwardly. And let me tell you something. I'm the circumcision tonight because I rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, this is biblical doctrine. And it's supported over and over again. I mean, I could give you so many more scriptures on this. But just for the sake of time, let's go to Ephesians 2 because Ephesians 2 is the one that just spells this out even more clearly. It says in Ephesians 2, verse 11, Wherefore remember that ye being in time past... So are we talking about right now? No. We're talking about in time past. That you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by ants. Now, is that the circumcision that God recognizes? The one that's in the flesh made by ants? We saw in Romans 2 that it's not. He said it's the one that's inward. But he says right here, you're called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision. He said in time past you were Gentiles in the flesh, verse 12, that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now, the promises made to Abraham before you were saved, those didn't apply to you. Before you were saved, you were a Gentile in the flesh, if you're from Ephesus or Northern Europe like me or wherever you're from. He says if you were not saved, you're an alien. We all started out as an alien, okay? And he says in verse number 13, But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one. Now, when he says he made both one, both what? Did he make one? Well, I'll tell you, and it's going to become clear as we read this, both Jew and Gentile, he has made one. That's what he's saying here, and we'll see it as we go down through the passage. He has made both one and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself a twain one new man, so may he peace, that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Watch this in verse 17. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off. Now, who are the ones that are afar off? He said those of you who were Gentiles in the flesh were far off, verse 13, okay? And to them that were nigh. Who are the ones that were nigh? The children of Israel, the physical seed of Israel, the Jew. So he preached it to the Gentiles, and he preached it to the Jews. And came and preached peace to you which were far off, and to them that were nigh. For through him, talking about through Jesus, verse 18, we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. So both we Gentiles and they, the physical Jews, have both access by one spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, verse 19, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. So are we aliens anymore? No. No, we're fellow citizens. We live in Arizona, so these words, we understand what they mean. So it says, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye are also builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. So look, we started out as aliens, didn't we? But through the blood of Christ, through believing on Jesus Christ, as we saw in verses 8 and 9, we have become fellow citizens. But what have we become fellow citizens of? We'll jump up to verse 12 again and put it all together. He says that at that time you were without Christ being aliens from what? The commonwealth of Israel. So we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and we were strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Now we are fellow citizens of the commonwealth of Israel. That's what it says. Amen. I mean, it's clear. I mean, it's clear. He said you were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, but then he says, you know, you guys which were strangers and foreigners, now you're fellow citizens. Okay? Now, the question is what does the word commonwealth mean? Well, like I said, the word commonwealth is only used one time in the whole Bible. Because usually when I want to know what a word means, I pretty much like to look at all the times it's mentioned in the Bible, and usually if a word's mentioned like 20, 30, 40 times, that really helps out because you can get a lot of it. Unfortunately, the word commonwealth is only used one time in the whole Bible, and you're looking at it. Now, in that case, we pretty much have to look at the context and see. What are we talking about here? Well, if we're talking about being citizens of the commonwealth of Israel or being foreigners or aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, it sounds like he's saying the nation of Israel, like a government structure or like a group of people or whatever you want to call it, the nation. Now, isn't there a state in the United States that's called the commonwealth? Somebody help me out. Which one is it? Does anybody know which state that is? I think it's like the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Yeah, there we go, the commonwealth of Massachusetts. That's a word that we use in English language to refer to a state or a nation. Now, just for granted, you know, I looked it up in several dictionaries, too, which I don't believe that the dictionary is inspired by God. That's why I like to just get it from the passage. I like to just get it from the passage. But like I said, it's only used once. We can go back to it. But just to give you an idea, brother Garrett, read for me the Webster's dictionary, what a commonwealth is. The people of a state, nation, et cetera, a government so designated. Okay, so did you hear what he said? It means either the people of a nation or of a state or the government so designated. So does that jive with this passage? Yeah, because, you know, you can think of being a citizen to a nation or being an alien or a stranger or a foreigner of that nation. So that makes perfect... That seems to agree with the dictionary definitions. Then we have the commonwealth of Massachusetts. Does that agree with the definition? Now, has anybody ever heard another definition of commonwealth besides what we just saw in the dictionary, what we just saw in the Bible, and what we saw in the state of Massachusetts? Has anybody seen a different... No, that's what it means. And so let me ask you something. Are we as believers today, Gentile believers, so-called uncircumcision, so-called Gentiles, even though he said that we were Gentiles in the flesh but are no longer, because in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Let me ask you something. Am I, Stephen L. Anderson, a part of the nation of Israel according to the Bible? Yes. Me too. Thank you. So what? And you say, well, this is really basic. Yeah, but I wish that 99% of Christians and Baptists and evangelicals today would figure this out, because this is not what they believe. And yet it's so clear in the Bible that says, I am a part of the commonwealth of Israel. I am a citizen. I'm not some second-class citizen, by the way. I'm not on some kind of a, you know, permanent resident program. Or I'm kind of here as a temporary be-serve. No, the Bible says, I am a fellow citizen of the commonwealth of Israel. I am not an alien. I am not a foreigner. I am not a stranger. I am right there. He said he's made us both one. He's broken down the wall of partition between us. There is no Jew or Gentile. Face it, in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, were there genealogies used in the Old Covenant? There's a lot of genealogies. I mean, how many times do you read the Bible and it's so-and-so begat so-and-so begat so-and-so begat so-and-so? So look, the Old Testament is filled with genealogies. No question about it. In the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, those genealogies were significant, because people would prove, hey, I'm of the children of Israel. I'm of this particular tribe. And they would use their genealogies to prove that. And that is a theme throughout the Old Testament, where there are genealogies showing where people came from, who they descended from, and they would use that genealogy to show that. But in the New Testament, do we have a New Testament filled with genealogies? No. Absolutely not. The only genealogies you're gonna find in the Bible in the New Testament, you're gonna find the genealogy of Jesus Christ, okay? Which that's before he said, you know, this is the cup of the New Testament and my blood. He was born under the Old Covenant. And so it gives us his genealogy, showing that he is of the tribe of Judah, showing that he is a child of Israel and a son of David. That was significant for him. But the Bible tells us over and over again. It tells us in Timothy, it tells us in Titus, avoid genealogy. So in the New Testament, does our genealogy matter in the New Testament? No. It mattered in the Old Testament. It mattered for Jesus Christ because he was fulfilling prophecy to fulfill the Old Covenant. He was under the Old Covenant. He was born a man. He was born under the law, the Bible says. And he was born to that Old Covenant. He was circumcised the eighth day. And he fulfilled that. And his genealogy mattered because it was a fulfillment of prophecy that he was the son of David, that he was of the tribe of Judah, that he was the son of Abraham, and so forth. That is all significant, but your genealogy today matters nothing. And if it did matter, he wouldn't tell you to avoid it. He said they're unprofitable and vain. They're a waste of time, he said. Some of these people in Salt Lake City, they quit wasting so much time, they're a genealogist. They need to figure out how to get saved. They need to figure out that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, the Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, who are up there trying to prove how white they are by going back into genealogy and getting baptized for their fallen loved ones. Genealogies don't matter. And so it doesn't matter today whether you're white, black, red, yellow, polka-dotted. It means nothing. You are the children of God today. You are his people today. And you are a member of the nation of Israel today if you are in Christ Jesus, if you have been saved by the blood of Christ. That's what Ephesus 2 says. And I know that there's a country today, over on the other side of the world, that claims to be the nation of Israel. And it's filled with unbelievers. It's filled with a bunch of people who do not believe that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, who do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and let me tell you something. In God's mind, God looks at them and says, well, you're not the commonwealth of Israel. You're not the nation of Israel. You are rejected. I will not regard you, I will not recognize you as such because you are not saved. John the Baptist said, think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father, for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. He said in Matthew 21 43, therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. He said, look, you blew it. You broke the covenant. He made promises to the children of Israel, but they were not unconditional promises. They were conditional promises. Let me show you some of those promises. It says in, go to 1 Kings chapter 9. 1 Kings chapter 9. You see, God made a lot of promises to Abraham, right? And he also made promises to the nation of Israel. Now, when he made the promises to Abraham, was he making those to all of Abraham's physical descendants? No. He made them to Abraham and his seed. Not seeds, seed, which is Christ. So when God said to Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. And when he said unto Abraham that I'll bless them that bless thee, thee is singular in the King James Version, he said I'll bless them that bless thee and curse them that curseth thee. That promise was made to Abraham in Genesis 12. Does that apply to every physical descendant of Abraham? No, it applies to Abraham and to his seed, which is Christ, and if he be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. So basically what the Bible is teaching is that if someone curses me or curses you as a child of God, they will be cursed. That's what the Bible says. Because he said I'll bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee. He's not saying if I bless Jerry Seinfeld, God's going to bless me. No, wait, don't laugh, because Jerry Seinfeld is a physical descendant of Abraham according to him, right? He's a Jew. But does God look at him and see him as a Jew from heaven? God looks down at Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Spielberg and Jeff Goldblum and, you know, somebody help me out. Unsaved Hollywood Jews, help me out. You know, whatever, Jeff Goldblum, let me just repeat him again to make it seem like the list is long. Jeff Goldblum, Steven Spielberg, Jerry Seinfeld, and I need to do a more research on that. But anyway, do you think he looks down at them and says, you're my people, you're part of the nation of Israel today, and you're blessed with faithful Abraham, and I'm going to put this special blessing on you, Jerry Seinfeld, that if anyone curses you, I'll curse them, because you're one of my special chosen ones. That is a lie. It's garbage. It's called... Because I got a news class where Jerry Seinfeld's not saved, and he is not one of the children of Abraham. He is not a part of the commonwealth of Israel, and I am. And so, you know, I don't know how to curse Jerry Seinfeld, but I'd like to just curse him right now for his filthy, smut-filled TV show that airs five nights a week in Phoenix, Arizona on the TV and promotes sodomy and promotes fornication and promotes adultery and promotes drunkenness and promotes nudity and promotes everything that is against God. I say to you, Jerry Seinfeld, you are cursed, and the wrath of God is abiding on you, Jerry Seinfeld, because either believe it or not, the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. That's what the Bible says. The wrath of God is abiding on Jerry Seinfeld tonight. And I don't care if he has a pure... I don't care if he has a genealogy up in his house that says Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Judas and Isaac begat Judas and his brethren and all the way down where it says and Mahalaleel and begat Nathan and begat Jacob and begat Jerry. And I don't care if it goes from Abraham to Isaac to Jerry. That guy is going to burn in hell, and look, forget he's going to burn in hell. Today, God's wrath is abiding on him, according to John 3.36, because he's an unbeliever. He mocks Jesus. His show makes a mockery of Christ and religion. His comedy is a mockery of what's right and a promotion of everything that's built. That is not one of God's people. He is a foreigner and a stranger and an alien, my friend, from the commonwealth of Israel. But yet people today will say, you know, the nation of Israel, we've got to help. We've got to bless Israel. And the politicians today will get up and say, you know, vote for me because I'm going to stand with Israel. Well, thank you for promising to stand with Stephen L. Anderson because you're looking at Israel tonight. And if you want to see Israel, go look in the mirror if you're saved. Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let's just praise... Who knows that song? Yeah, all right. You know what? Truer words were never spoken than that song. But the problem is that these politicians who are promising, we're going to sign with Israel. We're going to stand with Israel. You know, they're not talking about faithful word baptism. They're not saying like, I'm going to stand with every independent Baptist church in America. I'm going to stand with the King James-only Baptists, and I will be their best ally. They're not going to be our ally. They're going to be allied with a bunch of unbelievers on the other side of the world who think that just because they're living in that land or just because they call themselves the physical seed of Abraham that somehow they're just going to... they're just hanging on to that old covenant, aren't they? And God says, sir, you broke that covenant a long time ago. There's a new covenant. And it says that you better believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you are not My people. Now, even in the Old Testament, of course, they still went to hell if they didn't call upon the name of the Lord and believed His word. That goes without saying. But He did have a special blessing on the nation. They broke that covenant. Now we're the nation today. Look at 1 Kings 9, verse 4. He says this. And if... There's a big if here in this promise. He said, Ye or your children, and will not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them, and this house which I hallowed for My name will I cast out of My sight, and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people. So He says right there, look, you've got two choices here. I made a promise to David saying that David's seed would sit on the throne of Israel forever. He said, here's your choice. Keep My commandments, do what I tell you to do, and I'll establish your throne forever. And your children also will be blessed. But He said, if you break My commandments and turn from following Me, He said, I will cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them. Wait a minute, that's their land. Well, God said, okay, well, I'm going to throw you out of it. But you promised. You promised you'd bless them. No, He's saying, I promised that the seed of David would sit on the throne. But guess what, that's not you necessarily, Solomon. It's Jesus Christ, the son of David, who's going to sit on that throne for eternity in the millennium because Jesus Christ is the seed of David, just like He's the seed of Abraham. So you say, well, God broke His promise. No, He didn't. They misunderstood His promise. They thought it was just a carte blanche to just do whatever they want and there still can be His people. Well, that's not what it was. And again, this isn't about salvation. This is about the nation. He says, I'll cut off Israel out of the land. They were kicked out of that land. They were taken captive under Babylon. They came back into the land. They rejected Jesus Christ. They got thrown out of that land again because God doesn't change and He promised He would do it and He did it. And I don't know, I've got so many scriptures here. I've got to hurry up here and I only want to just touch on some of this. Go to Hosea chapter 1. Go to Hosea chapter 1. Hosea is at the end of the Old Testament with the minor prophets right after the book of Daniel. And while you're turning to Hosea 1 and finding that book, let me just read for you from John. This is what Jesus Christ said unto the Pharisees because He's warning them because they think, hey, we're Jews here. We're the seed of Abraham. God says you better not say anything to us that bless us. And you know, Jesus really, He cursed the Pharisees if you look at it. He says, woe unto you, scribe faith. He said, how shall ye escape the damnation of hell? He said, you have no forgiveness in this world, neither in the world to come. And you say, well, you know, what about bless them that bless the accursed them that hurt them? They're not the seed of Abraham. Listen to what Jesus said in John 8. You can turn there if you want, but you can just listen in. He said in verse 31 of John 8, then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, if ye continue in my word, then ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered Him. These are the other Jews that are not saved. It says, we beat Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man. Hey, how sayest thou, ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin, and the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son abideth forever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed, but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. This is Jesus speaking, John 8.38. I speak that which I have seen with my Father, and ye do that which ye have seen with your Father. So Jesus says, hey, I'm following my Father, you're following your Father. That's all that's going on here. They answered unto them, Abraham is our Father. Jesus saith unto them, if ye were Abraham's children, so are they Abraham's children according to Jesus? No. He said, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham, but now you seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. This did not Abraham, ye do the deeds of your Father. He keeps saying it to them, and they don't get it. He's like, I'm talking about your Father. They're like, well, Abraham's not my father. He's like, no, you're following your Father. And it says, then said they to him, we be not born of fornication. You know, again, they're all caught up in their physical genealogy. Like, what are you trying to say, that my dad wasn't really a Jew? Like, that I was born out of fornication, out of wedlock, by some Gentile, some Samaritan? What do you mean? Are you trying to say I'm not really one of Abraham's children? They just don't get it, because they're just obsessed with their physical pedigree here. They don't get it. Finally, he just spells it out for them. Jesus said unto them, if God were your Father, because they said, we be not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God. They said, Abraham's our Father. God's our Father. Jesus said, if God were your Father. So first he said, Abraham's not their Father. Now he's telling them, God's not your Father either. If God were your Father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Here's where he just gets frustrated here, because they're not understanding him. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. Ye are of your Father the devil, and the lust of your Father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not, which of you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words. He therefore heareth them not, because ye are not of God. Again, you can't spell it out any clearer than that. He says it doesn't matter whether you are descendant of Abraham or not. He said, I know you're Abraham's seed. I know physically you are one of those seeds of Abraham. But he says, you know what? Abraham's not your Father. God is not your Father. You're of your Father, the devil. And so the Bible couldn't be any clearer that those that are the people of God, those that are God's chosen people today, those that are the nation of Israel today, the commonwealth of Israel, are believers regardless of whether they are Jew or Gentile. He said he's combined them both, and they are both fellow citizens of the commonwealth of Israel, the commonwealth of Israel. Look at Hosea chapter 1 verse 10 into there. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, ye are the sons of the living God. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Go to verse 23 of chapter 2. Chapter 2 verse 23, it says, And I will silver unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy. And I will say to them which were not my people, thou art my people. And they shall say, thou art my God. Now go to Romans 9. Keep your finger in Hosea. Well, just take your finger out of Hosea. I'll stay in Hosea for you. But go to Romans chapter 9. Now here's the thing. Remember earlier in the message tonight, I talked about the importance of having every word? Every word of God matters, and that if you just take out one word, you can dramatically change the meaning and why it's so important to have a King James Bible so you know what his new birth has been tampered with? Well, not only is it important to have every word in the Bible, it's also important to have the whole Bible, like all 66 books. Because, you see, the Bible explains itself. Now, here's the mistake that a lot of people make in Scripture. The New Testament is clearer than the Old Testament. The Old Testament contains a lot of dark sayings, a lot of difficult-to-understand passages. Now, in the New Testament, a lot of those passages are explained. So the New Testament's a lot clearer because the New Testament actually explains the Old Testament. That's why there are so many times where the New Testament quotes the Old Testament. Well, in Romans chapter 9, God actually quotes from Hosea and explains it to us. The part where he said that he would say to those that were not his people, thou art my people, and how the number of the children of Israel would be as the sand of the sea. Let's look at that in Romans 9 and see how this ties in. It says in verse 22 of Romans 9, what if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fit into destruction, that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had aforeprepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. Okay? Look at the next verse, verse 25. As he saith also in what? Ozi. Now, you say, what is Ozi? Well, in the New Testament, things are spelled different than the Old Testament a lot of times. Like, you know Elijah is spelled Elias, and Elisha is spelled Elisias, and there are a lot of other names that are a little bit different. Noah is spelled Noe. Well, Ozi is Hosea. It's just a little different spelling. Just throw an S on the front of it, change that last E to an A, and you got Hosea. That's what he's saying. As he saith also in Ozi, and he's going to quote the portion that I read to you, I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also. Now, Esaias is, again, a funny spelling of Isaiah. It's the same name. Esaias also cried concerning Israel. Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, all of them will be saved. Is that what it says? No. A remnant shall be saved. A small minority that's left over is what he's saying, a remnant. A remnant shall be saved, for he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sedoma, not Sedona, okay? Sedoma, and been made like unto Gomorrah. So he says, look, if it wasn't for the remnant, are you getting this? We would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah. He would have just destroyed us all. But he left a remnant. Who is the remnant? It's the remnant of us. Well, here's the thing. The remnant of Israel is the physical Jews who believe on Christ. No, Jerry Seinfeld's not one of them. Okay. But there are Jews who believe on Christ today. Just like Paul. The apostle Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin. I mean, most of, and listen to me, most of Jesus' disciples were Jews. Guess what? One of them wasn't. One of Jesus' twelve disciples was called Simon the Canaanite. Well, he's a Jew too. No, he's a Canaanite. And the Canaanites are not the Jews. And so he said, but of course he was spiritually too. And so it says here in Romans 9, except the Lord of Saviath had left us a seed, we've been at Sodom, and then they liken to Gomorrah. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, have not attained the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone, as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, and rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Go back to verse 6. You're in chapter 9 of Romans. Go to Romans 9 and 6. Not as though the word of God had taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. So is everybody descending from Israel? Are they Israel? No way. Only the remnant that believes on Christ. Only the remnant that's been saved. Only the remnant that's of grace, by faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. And the ones that are by works, he said, You are not my people. And he says to the Gentiles, who previously were aliens, he said, You are my people. You are the chosen people. You are Zion. You are God's people. Go to Romans 11. Romans chapter 11. You're in Romans 9. Just go a few pages to the right in your Bible. Romans chapter 11. It says in verse number 6. We read the first six verses earlier. But look at verse 6. Or look at verse 5. Even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he'd seeketh for. But the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. So, the remnant is saved. The rest are blinded. Are all Israelites saved? No. Only the remnant. Now, in a sense, all Israel is saved because they're not all Israel that are of it. The real Israel is saved. But not the people that call themselves Israel. Okay? Let's finish up with this. Look at Romans 11.23. This is talking about the Jews. It says in Romans 11.23. And they also, if they abide not still and unbelieve, meaning if they don't keep not believing, shall be graft in. For God is able to graft them in. Again. For if thou were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and were the graft contrary to nature unto a good olive tree, how much more shall these which be the natural branches be graft into their own olive tree? For I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceit that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them, when I shall take away their sins. Now look. Look at this very carefully. He's telling us here that the natural branches, the Jews, who didn't believe, they're broken off. They're not part of the olive tree. The olive tree representing the nation of Israel. They've been broken off. And the wild branches, the Gentiles, have been grafted in. Now they're fellow citizens of the commonwealth. He says, well, if they don't abide still in unbelief, they can be grafted in too. You know, if they get saved, right? I mean, any Jew today who wants to can believe on Jesus Christ and get saved any time they want to, and then they'll be part of the nation of Israel. Then I'll regard them, and God will regard them as the nation of Israel. But he explains here, he says that blindness, look at verse 25. Read this carefully with me. Pay attention. We're almost done here. I want you to get this. He says that blindness in part has happened to Israel. Now what does that mean, blindness in part has happened to Israel? He says blindness in part because not every single Israelite in the world is blind. The election is saved. The election is the saved remnant. The rest are blind. So there's a partial blindness, meaning all the unsaved people in Israel are blind. The ones who are saved Israelites they are not blind. The Bible says elsewhere, I don't have time to turn there, but it says that when they read the Old Testament they have a veil over their eyes. They're blind, and when they believe in Christ the veil is removed and then they understand it. So he says blindness in part has happened to Israel, basically part of Israel is blinded until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. Okay? Now you say, well, when is that? Well, you know, I don't want to spend too much time. We could go to Revelation and show you that, you know, in Revelation chapter 11 it talks about how the Gent, it shall be given unto the Gentiles, the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months, I'll get power unto my two witnesses, yada yada. You know, that's a whole nother sermon of itself. But let me just fill it out for you. When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in is when the seventh trumpet sounds, okay, biblically, and you know, we can prove this in Revelation 11, the seventh trumpet sounds and the millennium begins. Okay? That's the time that he's talking about here. Okay? At that time, he says, blindness has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written. There shall come out of Zion, the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, but this is my covenant and then one I shall take away that says, now a lot of people will misinterpret this and say, well, every single person living in Israel is going to get saved. Like the country of Israel. Or every Jew, like from Seinfeld to Spielberg. You know, when Jesus comes back, they're all going to get saved. After, you know, just all of a sudden they're just going to be like, oh, what am I going to do? Of course I believe in Jesus. Now, here's why that's a false doctrine. Here's a lot of reasons why. Number one, salvation's a personal choice. God doesn't make people get saved. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to our beds. God wants everyone to be saved. So it's not that God chooses who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. So God doesn't just decide, well, everybody in so and so the nation is automatically going to heaven because I'm just going to automatically just reach down and change their heart and they will just believe our God. Then you're a Calvinist if you believe that. Just say it. Say it. I'm a Calvinist. I mean, it's what it is. It's Calvinism. Believing that God will miraculously make a whole nation just automatically get saved, you're a Calvinist. Okay? You need to just come to grips with it. Okay. But, if you've been reading with me for chapters nine and ten, we didn't read the whole chapter, but we read a lot of nine and eleven. If you've been reading chapters nine, ten, and eleven, you'd understand the statement, all Israel shall be saved, because you'd understand that they're not all Israel, but you're of Israel. And then when that Millennium Kingdom is set up, my friends, guess what? They shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast down into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and ask of thee. He told the Jews while he was on this earth. Was it Luke 13 where he talks about all the prophets? What verse is that? Yeah, Luke 13 and 28. He said, there shall be weeping and ask of thee when you see... He's talking to the Jews. He said, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, but eat yourselves brushed out, because I've got news for you. God is not allowing unbelieving Israel to enter that kingdom, that Millennium Kingdom. He will not allow unbelieving Israel to inherit, because he made it clear in Galatians 4, we didn't have time to turn there either. He said, the children of the bond-woman shall not inherit with the children of the free. And he said, Jerusalem, which is from above, is free. Jerusalem here and now is in abundance with their children. He said, the physical Jews will not inherit the kingdom with the spiritual Jews. Physical Israel will not inherit with spiritual Israel. And so, I'll tell you right now, if Jerry Seinfeld, listen to me now, and this important doctrine, if Jerry Seinfeld, let's say this happens, we don't know when the second coming of Christ is going to be. We don't know the tribulation, the rapture, the wrath of God and the Millennium. We don't know if that stuff's going to happen in our lifetime or if it's really far out. But let me tell you something. If it happens soon, and if Jerry Seinfeld is able to make it through all the plagues, and I mean, if he survives all the boils and all the stuff, because most people are going to survive. He's going to kill off millions of people, but most people are going to survive, and he might be one of the ones that survives all the fire and brimstone coming out of the sky and the water turning to blood and the darkness. Remember those locusts that are going to torment men for five months and they're going to wish they were dead? All that stuff in Revelation. If he makes it through all that, he's not going into that Millennium. Because he's not, and look, there are going to be a lot of people who go into that Millennium. But let me tell you something. The physical nation of Israel and the Jews, so-called, who call themselves the Jew and that are the physical seed, he said, you're not inheriting this kingdom. This kingdom is for the new Israel. And I don't, if you can't read Ephesians 2 and figure it out, that we're members of that commonwealth. And look, if you say, well, I don't agree with this sermon, Pastor Harrison, I don't think I'm a part of the nation of Israel. I don't think I'm a part of that commonwealth. I still feel like an alien, okay? I still feel like a foreigner. I feel like a stranger. Then if you're saved, then just read Ephesians 2 and I don't know what else to tell you because it says right there, you were a foreigner. You were a stranger. You were an alien. But you know what? The moment that you got saved, your paperwork went through, my friend. The moment that you got saved, your passport was stamped and it was filed and you had your little ceremony. I remember when my wife became a citizen. My wife was once an alien. Really? Yes. She was a stranger. She was a foreigner. And she did a ceremony and she is now a fellow citizen. She can carry a gun, finally. So she's a fellow citizen. But you know what? So are you. And God will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you. You are His people. Doesn't it feel good to be one of the chosen people? Yeah. I'm one of God's chosen people. I'm one of the spiritual Jews. I'm the circumcision. I'm Israel. I'm part of the commonwealth. I'm not some second class citizen either. I'm a child of God and I'm God's people. And so are you. If you're saved today, you say, Well, I'm black. You're still part of it. Well, I'm a Jew. You're still a member of it. I'm Hispanic. You're still part of the nation. We're all part of the nation of Israel today. We're all part of that commonwealth. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for your word and your promises and thank you for granting us citizenship and amnesty and giving us the inheritance of being one of your people and part of the nation of Israel. And God, I feel sorry for all the preachers across America who they think that they're some kind of an alien or something. Even after they've been saved, they think that they're not part of the nation and they think that some unbelieving Jew has something that they don't or that some saved Jew is somehow a better person than them. God, I pray that the preachers of America would stop robbing the people of the blessing of knowing that they are your people and fellow citizens of Israel. And thank you for that citizenship, dear God, and thank you for salvation through your blood, through faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.