(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, this evening's sermon, before I even get started, you know, there's a lot of things I just want to touch real quickly on, just on our attitudes, because this is a subject I don't think is going to be offensive to anybody in our church at all. I think this is what I'm going to be preaching on, is going to be well received, at least from the people within these walls. But it is a subject that will, that can very easily provoke people, the anger, and a lot of people get upset by. And it's one of many things that the Bible teaches that many people can get upset with. And I just want to reiterate, not that I think that people here, again, are going to have a problem with this particular sermon, but in general, and in our life, in our Christian life, we ought to maintain a spirit of humility, and let God's word just rule over what we believe is right and wrong. And especially, like, if you're hearing different things, and I think it's applicable for different strives and problems and intentions that may be going on among people that you like and know and everything, we need to, if we want to understand what's right and wrong, we need to go to God's word. Let God's word be supreme. And whatever this book says is going to determine what is right and wrong in every situation. And you know there's going to be people who are right and wrong about various things, but we need to just try to not be respectful of persons in any regard, but let this word dictate what's true. And I bring that up because I think it's relevant in general, just all the time, it's always something that's going to be relevant. We need to be going to the word of God, and sometimes it may make you uncomfortable, because when people are wrong, the Bible tells us what's right and wrong, and even if it's someone that you like or know or whatever, so if people that you like do things that are wrong sometimes, and when the Bible teaches a certain way, then it is what it is. And I just bring that up because I think it's also pertinent for what I'm going to be preaching on today, because today I'm going to be preaching on Israel. That's kind of, and specifically in Mark 12 here, when I was preparing for my sermon, I was just trying to determine what I was going to preach on, for some reason this kind of hit me harder than it ever has just doing my regular Bible reading. Starting off with this parable in Mark chapter 12 right at the beginning, it really got me thinking like putting myself, sometimes you like to put yourself in the situation, and Jesus explains things in ways and uses parables oftentimes to help people understand what he's talking about, and I know I'm a little late on the game when it comes to people all supporting Israel like a week or two ago and all the bombings and stuff were going on, but I don't always just preach based on what's going on in the world, because the support of Israel, Christian Zionism and stuff, has been going on for a real long time anyways, and it's something that people get really upset about as well, and that's another reason why I bring up this prologue to my sermon, because it is something that people get really fired up about. Now, just because people might get offended and fired up, doesn't mean that we shouldn't have boldness to just stand firm on the truth and God's word, absolutely we need to just defend the word of God, but we also need to maintain some humility throughout all of it, because it is God's word, not our own, it's not my own belief system, if I happen to be wrong on something, I need to adjust to make sure it fits with God's word, but it doesn't mean I have to scale back any boldness when I know that the Bible says something's true, then it's true, and I'm going to go full steam ahead with that, and that just goes for any type of hard preaching, and the reason why it's hard is because a lot of people, it's going to be hard for people to receive, and it's because they have other vested interests, whether they be emotional ties, whether it be to people, or just doctrines, or long held views, or whatever the case may be, right? But this is, I like that this passage is in here, because I think it helps illustrate how God truly feels about some things here, and Jesus has given us this parable, just like we could understand how does God really feel about other subjects, well when we look at God's law, and we can see some severity of punishment on certain sins that today we might not think is that big of a deal, well that helps give us an insight into how big of a deal it really is, right, I mean the most obvious one would be like sodomy, you know, the Bible puts a death penalty on that, today it's just kind of like, I mean it should be no big deal, it's supposed to be accepted, and loved, and promoted, and everybody should tolerate everything else, but you know if you want to know what God really feels about it, go to his word, I mean he put the death penalty on it, it doesn't get any more severe than that, and it's not just that one thing, that's just a really obvious one, especially this month, but what about, you know, kidnapping, what about rape, murder, you know all these other charges that these crimes that are worthy of death penalty, or how about a son smiting his dad in the face, that's another death penalty by the way in the Bible, and that's like oh I can't believe it, you know what, then you are just way out of balance and way out of whack and you don't know what's right and what's not right, and you need to get your face back in the Bible because God tells us what's right and what's not right, and this culture and this society and the world changes, but God doesn't change, so we need to always make sure we're going back to this book, and you know, with Christianity, Christianity has changed, the views on Israel and Zion and the Jews, that's changed in recent years, there wasn't always this love for the Jew that we have today, it's been something that's been introduced in much more recent years, but you still need to let the Bible decide and tell you how we should think and feel about these things, and when we look at, when I was reading this passage I just kind of like, I was thinking about this, going, putting myself in this position and going wow, how wicked, and he's doing this to help us understand how wicked Israel had become, now look at verse number 1 in Mark chapter 12, the Bible says, and he began to speak unto them by parables, a certain man planted a vineyard and set an hedge about it and digged a place for the wine-fat and built a tower and let it out to husband and went into a far country, so here's this guy, he puts forth all his work, it's his property, he's got this vineyard, he does all, he plants the vineyard, plants all the plants in his land, he builds a hedge about it, he's protecting it from animals, you know, he's fencing it in, he digs a place for the wine-fat so when the grapes come off, you can produce the wine, that place is all built, he builds a tower, it's all ready to go, he does all the work for this, now, and this is, you know, there's so many directions you can take on this, because I'm sick of hearing all the liberal communist type of propaganda, oh, the workers, we deserve all this stuff, well, what about the guy who built everything? You know, if you didn't have the workers, you'd have nothing, and we deserve all this stuff, and it's all worker communist mentality, if you didn't have the guy that set up everything and built everything and let it out for you to have a job, then you wouldn't have a job. If this guy didn't take on the risk, if he didn't take on the challenge, if he didn't do all that hard work himself, then you'd have nothing, there's a sense of entitlement of, oh, well, we're doing all this stuff, and we're turning the gears, and we're making things happen, we deserve to have all this money and everything else, like, no, you don't. You deserve to have whatever someone's willing to pay you to do a job. But I don't want to go down that path, because that's a whole other thing, but when you just think about this, like, imagine that's you, and you put forth all this effort, and you build this nice vineyard, and you get it all ready to go, and everything's set up, and you go, you know what, okay, now I'm going to hire these people, but it's still, it's my vineyard, this is my place, this is my work, and yeah, you're going to pay them, but it's still your stuff, your fruit, your vineyard, everything that you made, right? And he's saying, I've got other business to attend to somewhere else, so I'm going to go into this country over here, and I'm going to let you guys work the land for me. Verse two, and at the season, so basically, he gives us a season, there's supposed to be this yield, there's supposed to be some profit, there's supposed to be production done on the vineyard, at the season he sent to the husbandman a servant, that he might receive from the husbandman of the fruit of the vineyard. He needs his cut, because it's his vineyard, it's all his stuff, he invested in it, it only makes sense, right? But look what it says, and they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. Now even just this first time that happened, I mean, that would infuriate me. If you put all that work forth, and someone just is like, just has total disregard for you and for everything that you've done for them, providing that work for them, to just beat up the guy that's coming and say, okay, well my master wants his, you know, wants his end, you must have produced stuff this year, you know, where's his cut? And they just beat him up, and they say, get out of here, it's all ours. That's wicked. Now, and that's just one time, look at how this story continues, it says in verse 4, and again, he sent unto them another servant, and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. So now this is ramping up the violence. Verse 5, and again he sent another, and him they killed. So he's sending these people like, look, this is my vineyard, you gotta give me what's coming to me. This is mine. And he ended up murdering the guy that he sends, and says, and many others, beating some and killing some. So he's like, what is wrong with these people, right? And then he says in verse 6, having yet therefore one son, his well beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, they will reverence my son. He's saying like, they're not respecting these servants, they're not respecting these employees, these other people that I'm sending over there, these employees, they're just not respecting them, but you know what, if I send my son, they'll listen to my son. Imagine you having one son, and having this property, and they're handling all these people, and they're like, son, I've got this job for you, I mean, these people are at hand, you need to go down there and see what's going on, and get what we deserve, get what's coming to us, right? They're supposed to be working for us. And he sends his only son, and it says in verse 7, but those husbands said among themselves, this is the heir, come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. So they just plot to kill the son, and I mean, how demented do you have to be, to be thinking like, oh well, we'll just inherit all this stuff then, because he was the inheritor of everything, now the heiress is going to fall to us, since we're working the land. And that's how insane these people had become, that were doing this stuff, it's insanity. But see, that's how insane the Pharisees and the Jews became, at that point, against the Lord, because that's what this parable is all about, and that's how insane they were, that even though Jesus was performing all these miracles and stuff among them, they still didn't believe, they still just wouldn't accept what he was doing, because they had gone mad against the Lord, and they had just become full-blown reprobate, and it says in verse number 8, and they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard, what shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others, and have ye not read this scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was the Lord's doing, and is marvelous in our eyes. And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people, for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them, and they left him and went their way. These are the Jews, these are the Pharisees, they're saying they knew he was speaking the parable against them. Now, obviously, this is a serious parable that he's teaching here. The context of that, this is how God is likening the nation of Israel, saying, look, I gave you a job to do, I put you in that promised land, I made it real nice for you, right? It's all prepared, it's all hedged about, you're protected, you're safe, I gave you this nice land, all you gotta do is work, and obviously he's not worried about the physical product, he's worried about the spiritual product. I've given you my word, you've got the oracles of God, you've got all this going for you. You've got the temple, you've got, you know, you've got these prophets, you've got these men of God that I'm working directly with in your nation. You have all of this stuff, now where is the fruit? And then at every turn you see them, they're going after other gods, they're forsaking the Lord, they're doing this, they're doing that, and they're not bringing forth the fruit. Yeah. They're not doing it, and this is how God views them. This is how God views that nation, this is how God views those servants. What do you think's gonna happen? What do you think's gonna happen to these people? And look, when it's talking about he's sending these servants, that's talking about the prophets. That's all about God's people that he's been sending under the nation of Israel for years and years and years, and how are they treated? They're abused. How are they treated? They're thrown in prison. How are they treated? They're beaten and stoned and sawn asunder. That's how they're treated. And they're not just treated that way of the world, they're treated by the way of their own people. That's the history of the prophets. You think Jeremiah, oh, that was just the Babylonians. No, it wasn't. The Babylonians were freeing him and saying, hey, you can go wherever you want to go, Jeremiah. It was the Jews that were casting him into the dungeon that would have killed him, that were telling him to stop preaching. That's who it was, and all throughout history, that's who it is. It's God's own servants. But see, this is clearly what the Bible's teaching here. Now, obviously, this is a parable. But even the people at the time, even if it was at the time, they knew it was about them. And what was their response to that? They want to get them. They want to kill Jesus. Just from hearing that, they're like, it just makes them so angry. Now why would it make them so angry? Because the truth hurts. And because they were full of pride. They weren't able to receive a message like this with humility. Instead, they hardened their heart and stiffened their neck and want to fight against it instead of just receiving this and going, oh, man, our fathers have done really wickedly. We've done wickedly. We need to repent. We need to get right. But they didn't accept that, which is why God ends up casting them out and destroys them. Turn over your wood to Matthew 21. We're not going to read the entire thing again. But it's interesting. We're going to look at Mark, Matthew, and Luke, because they all have this parable in it. And there's slightly different details that you could glean out of each one. And seeing the attitude of these Pharisees is very telling. And I don't know how anyone can walk away from the Scripture and just think that God has this undying love for the physical nation of Israel, or that somehow we should give our undying support and love for the physical nation of Israel today. These Jews, these Christ-rejecting Jews, that somehow that's what God wants us to do when we can see very clearly how they're being described back in Jesus' day, saying, hey, they're the ones responsible for the death of the prophets. They're the ones that were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ, His only... I mean, yeah, you say, oh, well, that's just a parable. Well, don't worry. We'll get to that. Because the Bible clearly tells us who was ultimately responsible. You say, but it was the Roman soldiers that crucified Him. But they weren't the ones only responsible for that. Herod wanted to let him go. Pilate wanted to let him go. Both of them. Neither one of them wanted to just have his blood on their hands. They were both willing to do it. But you know who wasn't letting him let it go? The Jews. They were the ones behind it. Matthew 21, look at verse number 40. When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will He do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Of course that's what he's going to do. Those wicked people ought to be destroyed. They're going to be destroyed, you know what? But he still wants to get some use out of his land. He still wants it to be plowed. He still wants the gain from it. So what he's going to do, he's going to hire other servants to go ahead and do the work. Someone who's actually going to do the work and bring forth the fruit. Which is why then in both of these cases, in all of these cases, then he brings up, Jesus brings up the scripture, he says, did you never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Haven't you ever read that scripture? And we're going to get into that in just a minute. I want to finish up here. Look at verse number 43. The Bible says, therefore, say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. So this is where we get the explanation of the parable. It's pretty obvious already, but you can make a claim that, well, it's not about that. It's about something else. Until you read Matthew 21, 43, and he says, therefore, say I unto you, well, this is why. So the kingdom of God is going to be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. It's done. You've had your opportunity. You are those wicked husbandmen. You are the ones not bringing forth the fruit. It's taken away from you, and you know what? He's going to let it out or hire out some other servants, another nation, to go ahead and bring forth the fruits thereof. It's pretty easy to see that. You know what that means? That means Israel has been replaced. They've been replaced. I don't know how else you can take this and see this. They've been replaced. They weren't doing the job. They're supposed to be bringing forth the fruit, so God says, nope, you're gone, you're in. And you know what? If you don't do it, if you did what they did, you're out too, and I'll find someone else to do it. And that's the way that God deals with any nation that wants to claim the Lord, hey, he'll give you a shot, go ahead. Work for me. Work for me. If you're not going to work for him, you're going to thumb your nose at God, you're going to disrespect the Lord, and you're going to go after strange gods, you're out of there too. No one is just grandfathered in or given this respect just out of who your ancestors were. I mean, if he didn't give the respect to the Jews for that reason, then why would he do that for anyone else? Over and over again, the Bible says that God's not a respecter of persons. In the New Testament, we find over and over again, to avoid genealogies, that has nothing to do with it anymore. Why? Because God made that break with the children of Israel. Cast them out. Done. Replaced. Verse 44 says, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but whosoever it shall fall will grind him to powder, and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard these parables, they perceived that he spake of them. They know that he's talking about them. Now I can't even imagine, I mean, imagine what that must feel like, that's a pretty scathing parable. So they killed some, they beat some, they killed his only son, he's like, they're talking about me, they're talking about us. They get it. So this parable isn't some cryptic thing, they were able to pick up what he's throwing down there that they know he's talking about us. Which is also why they were planning, they wanted to kill him, they wanted to put hands on him and do him harm, but they couldn't just because there's other people that, they were worried that they didn't have enough support from other people there, that they're not going to let that actually happen. If they could have, they would have killed him right there. And what's also interesting then is in Luke chapter 20, I'm just going to read a couple of verses, you can turn there if you want, but I'll read these verses real quickly, verses 15 and 16 of Luke 20, the Bible says, So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, talking about the Pharisees and the scribes and the priests, they said, God forbid. How messed up does your mind have to be to say, Oh, God forbid he would give it to someone else. They've been killing the people, he killed his only son. They're not getting, they're not doing the job. They're not doing the work. They're not giving them anything. Oh, God forbid you take it away from them. You're mad. It's insane. And to me, it's the same level of insanity for a Christian to think that we ought to be supporting a nation that is still exhibiting the same exact behavior and pattern that Israel did a long time ago. It's not like it's so much different now and all of a sudden, no, no, no, these people are way different. Because I don't believe that just because, you know, physically they may have descended from that. I mean, hey, if modern day Israel was just this great lighthouse of Christianity, I would say praise God. You say, yeah, that was then, but hey, now they've been graphed back into that olive tree. But they're not graphed back in. Because they haven't repented, they haven't turned to Jesus yet. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter chapter 1, 1 Peter chapter 1. So in these parables and the stories that Jesus is bringing up here, of course, we saw this a couple times, the reference to Psalm 118, and Psalm 118 is a reference to stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. So he's applying that Old Testament prophecy to this same parable of the husbandmen and the vineyard. And, of course, that stone being, which we know now is Jesus Christ, that he's the stone which the builders refused. He's the stone, that's the person that the husbandmen killed, that only begotten son, that well-beloved son that they murdered. He's become the headstone of the corner. He becomes that chief building block that says, this is the Lord's doing, is marvelous in our eyes. This is God's doing. It was God's doing to get rid of the nation of Israel. It was God's doing that Jesus would come and make that sacrifice for the sins of the world. And it was God's doing that he's finally using this event to completely just be done using the children of Israel as the nation that's supposed to be bringing forth the fruits because they've been derelict in their duties, because they haven't been living up to the responsibilities. Now, we're going to 1 Peter chapter 1 because this also makes reference of the stone. Well, chapter 2 actually has the reference of the stone which the builders refused to become the headstone of the corner. I had to turn to chapter 1 first just to get the context of 1 Peter in general. Verse 1, 1 Peter chapter 1, the Bible says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Strangers means foreigners. So the entire book here of 1 Peter, it's written to foreigners, which means it's not written to any of the physical seed of Israel. It's not meant for, you know, we have the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews was meant for physical Jews, right? Spiritual Jews, yes, but physical as well, so that, you know, people who would claim that lineage, that has more application for them because it provides more insight and understanding of what has changed. This is written to the strangers that are scattered throughout these regions of the Gentiles, the Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. Verse 2, look, it says, elect. So these strangers are elect, right? They're chosen. I thought it was the Jews who were chosen. Well, the Bible says right here that these strangers are elect. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit. How do they become elect? Through sanctification of the Spirit. Because they put their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace be multiplied. The strangers are elect. This is who this is written to. Now go over to chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2, and again, you know, we need to put emotions aside. We need to put any indoctrination you might have had aside and let the Bible be the authority, be the word of God. You know, we see how strongly God felt about the nation of Israel not bringing forth the fruits thereof and saying, hey, he's going to miserably destroy those wicked men because of how they're behaving. And it's summarizing their work as just beating some, killing some, shamefully entreating them, and then being upset when God's going to go ahead and take it away from them. But that's the truth. That's the truth of the matter. First Peter chapter 2, look at verse number 6, the Bible reads, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe, again, these are the strangers that are also called elect. Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, what does that mean, disobedient? Disobedient in faith. Disobedient because they didn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient. Again, they're stumbling at the word. Why are they disobedient? Because they're stumbling at the word. They don't understand the word of God. They're not receiving the word of God, they're not putting their trust in the word of God. Where unto also they were appointed, look at verse number 9, but ye, who's he talking to? The strangers. But ye are a chosen generation. Wow, you're chosen. You know another word for chosen is elect? Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. What do you mean these Gentiles are a priesthood? Yep. These strangers, but they're not allowed into the temple. Remember the Jews wanted to basically kill the Apostle Paul because they thought he brought Timotheus into the temple? It's like, look, they're a royal priesthood, according to Peter. An holy nation. If he's speaking this way, you're chosen, you're a royal priesthood, you're a holy nation, kind of looks like God is deciding to use another nation now to bring forth the fruits of his vineyard. A peculiar people that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people. In the past, they weren't the people of God, but are now the people of God. So that's where it changed. I thought the children of Israel were the children of God. They were considered that. They were the chosen people for a while when God was sending all of his prophets and continued to try to get them to do his work until he had enough, until he sent his only begotten son into the world and to those people and they rejected him and killed him and murdered him and hung him up on a cross. That's when God had enough and said, you know what, I'm done with you, I'm taking it away from you, I'm taking away the kingdom of God from you, I'm giving it to another nation. And now, they weren't called a people before, now they're the people of God. But they're Gentiles, yep, because God's not a respecter of persons, which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Sometimes chapter 9, I mean again, these are all very common passages, especially if you're familiar with this subject, with this topic, but it's worth going over and proving because we have to go based off of what Scripture teaches. And in totality, in context, this is another reason why it's important when we deal with subjects like this not to just preach off of one passage, I'm not going to preach an entire sermon just off of a parable from Mark 12 and watch out for the people who want to support Zionism and they want to look at one passage or one verse and then preach for an hour about how we need to support Israel because the Bible says that God will bless them that blesses thee and curse them that curses thee, so we better bless or else we're going to be cursed. And that's what happens out there. But they're not letting the Bible speak for itself, they're going to a passage, ripping it out of context, that's talking specifically to Abraham, that's why it says thee, doesn't say ye, doesn't say all of his children and all of his descendants, it says thee! God's going to bless those that blessed Abraham literally when he was on the earth walking around and doing his thing and God was leading him to a land that he wasn't born in and he didn't know where he was going. And we can see that play out. We can actually see the people being blessed or being threatened with a curse if they laid any hands on Abraham because God was protecting him just like Abimelech when he goes into the kingdom into their nation and he sees in a dream, hey, don't lay any hands on him because God's warning him, he's my servant, he belongs to me, you better not mess with him. Don't lay hands on him, don't lay hands on his wife. So yeah, it plays out, I'm going to bless them that bless thee and curse them that curses thee because God protected his friend Abraham in his journeys and in his travels. We'll start applying that to an entire group of people that reject Christ and reject God and they have nothing to do with the Lord. Romans chapter 9, verse number 3, the Bible reads, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. So this is where the apostle Paul, he's bringing up the fact that he really wants other native Jews to be saved, according to the flesh. We have same ancestry, these are my people and man, if I could even just give myself to be accursed so that they could be saved, I would do it. This is the heart that the apostle Paul had for his kindred, his people. And there's nothing wrong with that either. You know the people, your nationality, where you come from and wanting to get those people saved wherever it is where you originate from, great, sure, that makes sense, you want those people to be saved. I mean they're related to you, they're closer to you, you've got more of a connection with certain people, I understand that and there's nothing wrong with that, but look at what the Bible's saying about them though in this passage because he's saying, he's referring to them being according to the flesh, verse 4, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises. So there were a lot of good things that God did for the Israelites, for people who were physically born into that land, into that nation, they were given the law, they were given the law of God. I mean the law of God came through Israel, it came through those people. The services of God, right, doing all of the sacrifices, that was for the Levites, those children of Israel were given that special task and that job to do those things. The promises, right, these covenants, all of that was delivered to Israel, so yeah they had a great step forward. There was some great blessing from that, it says whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ came. What another blessing to be the people from whom God chose for the Savior to be born. There was a good reason and they carried a good name in the sense that God chose them to be the people who he delivered all these things unto. Just like in that parable, he delivered a vineyard all set up and ready to go. Hey, I'm delivering you all this stuff, I'm making it so that you can be successful. See God did all the stuff that he can do to make them successful, but it's up to them to actually do the work. And they failed miserably. Verse 6 says, not as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. And that's a key there. Not everyone that are of Israel, like in a physical sense, they're not all Israel. That's not who God considers Israel. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children. So now he's making a very clear distinction between physically how they were born, what their physical lineage is, and whether or not they're a child of Abraham or considered to be part of Israel. Because the promises came to Abraham, the promises were made to Abraham and to Israel and to his seed, right? But you can't just start applying that to some guy that was physically descended from these people. Because that doesn't mean anything. Because God's able of these stones to raise up seed unto Abraham. That's what John the Baptist said. When the Pharisees came to the baptisms, and he's like, think not to say within yourself that we have Abraham to our father, for God is able of these stones to raise up seed unto Abraham. He's like, that doesn't mean anything. Don't think that you're special, don't think that you're in some special class and category because you are descended from Abraham. But that's how Christians today view Israel. They view the Jews as like, oh, they're these special people and they've got a special past because they're these chosen people. No, they're not. They're not the chosen people anymore. They were. And you know what? God took away that title. God took away that name. He didn't choose him for anything anymore. All the things that he chose him to do is already done. And when Jesus Christ came forward physically of that nation, of that seed, done. Now there's a new nation that's elect. Now there's a new nation that he's using to bring forth the fruits thereof. It says in verse 7, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. You could turn if you go to Galatians chapter 3, just following up on the same exact point. And there's so many scriptures you could turn to that prove this in the Bible. It's hard to fit it all into one sermon. It's actually impossible to fit it all into one sermon. That's why there was an entire event, one of the first events out here, right when this church started, was that March on Zion conference, which was awesome by the way, and I don't know if we still have any DVDs of that, I think we do, it's called the anti-Israel conference. I wasn't too keen on the name of that because it depends on what you mean by Israel. Physical Israel is different than spiritual Israel. We are Israel. But the way that, you know, there's so much good preaching out of that on this truth because it's found all throughout the Bible, it's found all throughout scripture. When you look at who are the elect, well it's not talking about physical Jews. It's either talking about Jesus Christ, the elect, or those who are elect through him, through Christ, because he's the elect, that makes us part of the elect as well. But Galatians chapter 3 verse 26, the Bible says, for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. That's what makes you a child of God. That's what makes you an heir. That's what gives you an inheritance is because you're born into God's family. But how does that happen? By faith in Christ Jesus. Just like John chapter 1 says, but as many as received him, to them give you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. That's when you become a son of God. You believe on his name. By faith in Christ Jesus you become a child of God. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus. So he's saying, it doesn't matter what your lineage is, it doesn't matter your descendancy, you're all one in Christ Jesus. So whether you were physically descended from Abraham or not, hey, if your faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're a child of God and you're an heir. And you get to share in those promises made to Abraham, like verse 29 says, and if you'd be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Hey, if you're Christ's, you're part of the seed, you're in the family, amen. That's what God looks at. He looks at spiritualism. He looks at not the physical seed, but the spiritual. He looks at, are you a child of promise? Because a child of promise came by faith. The Bible talks about Ishmael being, you know, as an allegory. That he was born of the flesh, but Isaac was a child of promise. He was the one that was promised on Abraham, he was the one that came of his old age, he was the one that came through faith, he was the one that was a miraculous birth. After it was past the time of women, with Sarah, that she was still able to, God gave her strength to conceive seed, and that she was able to bring forth that child of promise that could only happen through faith. Because when they went to the flesh, that wasn't a child of promise. But you know what? Even those descendants of Ishmael, if they put their faith in Christ, then they're Abraham's seed as well. They're considered a child of promise, even physically if they weren't. I turn to Matthew 23, again, looking at how God views, okay, and just to be fair, this is how God viewed the Jews at the time of Jesus Christ, in context. Now, I don't think that's changed, and I think there's plenty of reasons for that, but at the very least, you'd have to give me a good reason to think, why would God think any different now? Right? But how about we look at what the Bible records as how He felt at the time, and then you come and tell me why all of a sudden He's going to feel any different. Where's the great revival? Where's the repentance? Because that has always been, and I can show you in the Bible where it says, hey, if they'll return unto me, if they'll call on my name, if they'll humble themselves and seek the Lord and, you know, then will I hear. Right? That's all throughout the Old Testament. Go back to the law. That's what it says. When did that happen? I don't remember that happening. It didn't happen in the 40s, 1940s. It hasn't happened, it didn't happen in the 60s or 70s or 80s, it hasn't happened to my knowledge at all. I'm not seeing a great revival of Christianity in Israel. But again, another passage that shows how did God really feel about these people. Matthew 23 verse 29 says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because He built the tombs of the prophets and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. So they're saying, oh, we wouldn't have killed these prophets, right? They're going and giving reverence to the sepulchres of these great prophets of old and they're saying, well, we wouldn't have done that. But then what Jesus says, He says, wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. And why does He call them the children? Because they would do the same exact things. They're saying they wouldn't do it, but they would. You know they would. Jesus knew they would. They're just the children of these murderers, murderers themselves. Because they killed Him. They killed Jesus. They're saying, oh, we wouldn't do that. And yet, there they go and they kill the Son, the Son of God. Oh, we wouldn't kill the prophet, yeah, because you don't view the real prophets as the prophets of God just like their fathers didn't view the real prophets as prophets of God either because they're children of the devil. Jesus was rejected. Turn if you would to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, John 1 verse 10, the Bible reads, He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. And even just that one passage that you probably have memorized, He came unto His own and His own received Him not, again, put yourself in those shoes. Hey, I'm coming unto you. And He came unto them humbly and meekly. He's coming unto His own and is just rejected. How do you feel about that? How do you think God feels about that? Oh, it's not a big deal. Not a big deal. They're killing servants. You know, they killed the Son. Not a big deal. You better believe it's a big deal. And here, I told you we'll get to this later, where the blame really goes for the death of Jesus Christ. It doesn't go on the Romans, by the way. I'm not saying they didn't have a hand in it because they absolutely did. But just as going all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, going all the way back to Adam and Eve, accountability and blame can be shared by more than just one person. So the blame with the sin of Eve eating of the forbidden fruit, it didn't all just rest on Eve. It was on Adam, it was on Eve, and it was on the serpent. God gave punishments to all of them. You know, they all had their excuses and were pointing the finger to Adam and say, hey, well the woman, she gave me the fruit, and that's why I ate it. And she's like, well the serpent that you made, that's why I ate, and just passing the buck. But they all got punished for it. They all had to receive of that, and you could say, oh, well, it was the Roman soldiers that hung them up and across. Well, they did, yeah, I'm sure they got punished for that too, I bet. But you know what, what they did was ignorantly an unbelief. Not the Pharisees, not the scribes, not the lawyers, not all the chief priests that were crying out, crucify him, crucify him, let his blood be on us and on our children. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, look at verse number 14, here's where the blame is given by God, by the holy scriptures. For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God, which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews. If I didn't mention the reference, we're in chapter 2, verse 14 of 1 Thessalonians. So he's talking to the people of Thessalonica saying, you became followers of the churches of God, and you also have suffered things of your own countrymen. So other people in your hometown, they're persecuting you, even as they have of the Jews, even as, you know, we've suffered from the Jews, you've been suffering this, but he says of the Jews, and then there's a colon before the next verse. So now he's defining something about the Jews, that's what that colon means there, who, who means the Jews, both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men. That's a description of how the Jews were at this time. And again, where is the evidence that this is not continuing today to have that same attitude? Contrary to all men? Persecuting? Please not God? I don't see how Israel, modern day Israel is pleasing God. I don't see it. Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sins all way, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. Look, you have to accept the word of God for what it says. You can't make excuses for what the Bible says. And modern day Judaism is the same religion as the Pharisees. The Bible says in 1 John chapter 2 verse 22, who is a liar, but he that denieth the Jesus of Christ, he is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Look, if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father, and they're rejecting Jesus. Now that goes for everyone who's rejecting Jesus, but you know what? Specifically with the Jews, they do believe that there's a Messiah coming, but that Messiah is not Jesus. They're antichrist. They believe that Jesus is not the Christ. Revelation talks about them too. Turn, if you would, to Mark chapter 11, we're going to close on Mark 11. Revelation 2, 9 says, I know that works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. These are the same people, okay, a synagogue is a Jewish place of worship, and it always has been. So referring to it as the synagogue of Satan because they're children of the devil. Just like Jesus said in the book of John, hey, you're of your father, the devil. And who's he talking to? Jews. He's talking to the Pharisees. He's talking to the scribes. And you're of your father, the devil. I mean, this is how you tie these verses together using scripture. It's very easy to do. Where else can you get those references and say, oh, no, a synagogue of Satan's talking about someone else. They say they are Jews and are not. They claim to be Jews. Where else in scripture do you see people claiming to be Jews? I don't see anybody claiming to be Jews. Why would they want to? But nobody's claiming, oh, yeah, I'm a Jew. But why is it that they're not Jews? Because they're children of the flesh, but they're not children of promise. That's why. That they're not all Israel that are of Israel. God doesn't see them as being Jews. God doesn't see them as being of Israel. That's the only thing that gets confusing is when you read through, when you see the word Israel, is just trying to discern whether or not it's talking about the spiritual or physical Israel. And honestly, it's not that hard, but you do have to just take your time when you're reading the Bible just to make sure you're understanding if he's talking about the physical seed or if he's talking about the spiritual seed. We're going to close with one more parable, which again, now this one doesn't have as clear of a definition like this is what the parable is about, but I believe this fits perfectly with the nation of Israel as well. So I'm going to leave this here. But that's why I left it for last because this is not like the smoking gun. It's just one more piece and one more illustration. And since I started with a parable, you know, all of this, these parables are used for a reason and they're giving this great picture of how God feels about this stuff. And this parable in Mark 11 matches perfectly with Mark 12 and there's a reason why they're in such close proximity as well, I believe, in the scripture. Mark 11, look at verse number 12. This is the story of the fig tree that withers. So this is the fig tree that Jesus gets hungry and he sees it and he curses it. Verse 12 says that on the morrow when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry and seeing a fig tree fall off having leaves, he came if haply he might find anything there on. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. Now, he's basically looking at it going like, hey, this looks like a good tree. It's got leaves. It's not dead. You know, it should be able to be totally capable of producing fruit. And he goes there wanting to receive the fruit of the tree, just like the Lord of the vineyard wanted to receive of the fruit of the vineyard, right? But when he sent for it, he got nothing. Jesus comes to this fig tree looking for fruit and when he gets there, there's nothing there. And Jesus answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of the hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it. Now, obviously, there's a reason for this. It's not because Jesus just had a short temper and he's just all upset, man, I was so hungry. Man, you're cursed, you tree. Jesus was just walking around and just cursing things because he got a little upset because he's hangry. All right? This was done on purpose to illustrate a greater truth. It literally was not just because he's hangry and okay, well now forget it. You're just not going to produce any fruit anymore. It's showing a greater spiritual symbolism. Now, the next thing that happens in this story is when he goes and clears out the temple and he casts out all the people who have defiled the temple of God. And then we're going to pick back up with the fig tree again. So the placement of this in between is also, I believe, telling and helping the interpretation of what is the fig tree even talking about when he curses it. Verse 15 says, and they come to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations a house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves? And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. And when even was come, he went out of the city. So basically, this is all the information we get. He comes in and he's saying, Get out of here. Get all these things. Take them out of here. You're just a bunch of thieves. You don't really belong here anymore. Just like the husbandmen of the vineyard were a bunch of thieves because they stole of the fruit of the vineyard and didn't give to the owner thereof. And they totally misappropriated everything that they were doing there instead of doing things righteously and decently and in order the way that God prescribed, the way the Lord prescribed things to be done. So that cursing of that fig tree was symbolic of this damnation of the physical children of Israel and their position in God's eyes as being that chosen tree that was supposed to bring forth a bunch of fruit. Well, you know what? It didn't bring forth any fruit. So he says, You know what? Now you're cursed. Now you are cursed. They cursed themselves when they said, Bring the blood of Jesus on us and on our seed. Verse 20 says, And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, calling to remembrance, saith unto the Master, Behold, the fig tree which thou curses is withered away. And in another Gospel, it talks about how fast it happened. Yeah. Just like that. God was able to take the kingdom away from the physical seed and give it to another nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And as soon as he did that, it's done. It's done. That's without repentance. When Jesus does something like that, it's done. There's no going back to that. Obviously, there's a lot of other issues we could talk about with Israel and the children of Israel and that there's still a remnant and it's all based on those that believe. But that's the important part of it. And we've got to take God's Word for what it says. And where people are wrong, they're wrong. Where people are right, they're right. But we could boldly stand on the Word of God and say, look, this is clear. This is unequivocal. I mean, no one's going to change my mind on Israel. There's too much scripture on it. And I have no other preconceived ideas that's going to hold me. I have no ties one way or the other on this. It's simply what the Bible says. There's no draw for believing one way or another other than just wanting to know the truth and just accepting God's Word for what it says. And you say, Pastor Brooks, why does this even really matter? You know, well, it matters very significantly. And I've said this in the past. I preach on it. One of the reasons I preach on this is because it has so many ramifications of what people do when you're supporting. Actually, these Christians think they're doing a good thing by supporting Israel. And they're on the wrong side. I mean, it's like they're fighting against God. They haven't turned to the Lord. Why in the world should we be supporting them? Not for a second. It's like you're fighting against the Lord. And not only that, it does impact national policy and wars and agendas when people all supportive of going and fighting for a wicked country. That is a big ramification on our troops and our people here going and getting involved and entangled in some foreign war that we have no business in at all. Definitely not supporting a bunch of God-hating Jews. They don't hate God. Yes, they do. They've made up their own God, like they have time and time and time and time again in the past. That pattern hasn't changed, just like so many other people have made up their own gods. But when you hate the Lord Jesus Christ, and when your religious texts have some horrible things to say about our Lord and Savior, I mean, you don't want to talk about getting God angry. You read the filth in the Talmud and in their holy texts, it's hard to even see. Part of me wishes I'd never even seen that filth just because it's so bad, I mean, it's just so blasphemous. But it's out there, and people teach that and believe that, and you think that God's going to bless you for blessing people that believe that stuff? No way. And by the way, last point, it is a belief. It's the faith that I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the genetics. I'm not talking about someone who looks Jewish that, oh, you have this hatred for these Jews and you're anti-Semitic. I don't care if they descended from Shem. I'm not anti-Semitic. But their religion is a horrible religion and one of the worst religions in the world, because it's completely Christ rejecting. And they are completely at odds with the Lord and not something that we should be defending at all. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we love you. We thank you so much for your word. I pray that you please help us and maintain a humble spirit that we would give our ultimate loyalty unto you and to your words. And God, I pray that you would please help us to have discernment and give us wisdom and knowledge, Lord. And I pray that you would just help us to be able to preach the truth. And if it's not popular, Lord, when it's in season, out of season, Lord, that we would just stand on your word. And we ask that you would give to us that knowledge and wisdom liberally, as you promised in the book of James, and that you would just help us to be better servants and better workers for you. We want to bring forth the fruits to bring honor and glory unto your name. And we thank you that you've entrusted us with the gospel of Jesus Christ, Lord. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.