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Alright, we are in Hebrews chapter number 9, and look at verse number 15, it says for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance, for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth, whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. The title of this sermon this morning is major themes in the New Testament, major themes in the New Testament. Now, when we think of the New Testament, we often think, you know, primarily of the book of Matthew all the way to the book of Revelation, and the reason why we think that is simply because that's how our Bibles are laid out. You have the Old Testament from Genesis all the way to Malachi, and then you have the New Testament beginning with Matthew ending with the book of Revelation. Now, there's not anything necessarily wrong with that, that kind of helps us to find out where books are in the Bible, etcetera, but Hebrews 9 actually gives us a marker of when the New Testament actually began. Now, most of us think it began at the book of Matthew, but it doesn't necessarily begin at the book of Matthew. Look down at your Bibles at verse 16, it says here, for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Now, what is a testament, okay? Well, today we would refer to a testament as being a will. You know, when someone passes away, they leave their will, the last will and testament. This is something that they leave behind, an inheritance to their family or whatever may be, but it's simply like a legal declaration of the dispersing of their property after their death, okay? And so we see that the New Testament, that's exactly what it is. A testament is simply God's will after the death of the testator. Who's that? Jesus Christ. And once Jesus Christ died on the cross, He shed His blood, spread it on the mercy seat, that is technically when the New Testament began. You see, even in the Old Testament in our Bibles, the Old Testament didn't begin in the book of Genesis. When did it begin? It began in the book of Exodus when Moses sprinkled the book and the people with the blood. And look what the Bible says in verse 19, it says here, for when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book and all the people saying this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. So the Old Testament began in the book of Exodus. When did it finish? Well, it didn't finish with Matthew. It finished when Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood. You know what that tells me is that everyone who was found within the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they're still under the Old Testament. You say, why is that significant? Well, because there's a false teaching out there called dispensationalism who teaches that we're under the dispensation of grace and salvation at this point is by faith and by grace and, you know, those in the Old Testament who were under the law, they had a different salvation. They had a different way of getting saved. Well, not necessarily because guess what verse do we find in the Old Testament? John 3.16. In the book of John, in the Old Testament. In that Old Covenant, you find John 3.16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, that's pretty simple enough to explain there, but it's pretty interesting to take point of that, that that's when the testaments began. And again, it's a will, okay? So the necessity is that the testator should die in order for that testament to be put into force, in order to have authority. And that's exactly what we see taking place when Jesus Christ died on the cross. That is when the New Testament began. And again, what is it? It's a will. It's what He wants to disperse. It's the inheritance that He wants to give, okay? So keep that in mind. Now, the sermon title is Major Themes in the New Testament. Now, when we talk about themes, we're referring to the highlighted subjects that we find within the New Testament, the unifying dominant idea or teaching of doctrines that are found in the New Testament. You can read through the entire New Testament, and for the sake of not confusing everyone, when I talk about New Testament, I am going to refer to Matthew through Revelation, okay? When you read through those books, you'll find a lot of things. You find a lot of subjects. You find a lot of things that God highlights. But when you study it, you'll find, you'll come to the conclusion that there are specific themes that God highlights within these books. Now, make no mistake about it. Jesus Christ is the main theme of the entire Bible. He is the main theme of the entire Word of God, Old Testament, New Testament. You say, well, yeah, but, you know, His name was Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. Yeah, but His name was the Lord in the Old Testament. Same God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He is the main theme of the entire Bible. The Bible tells us that to Him give all the prophets witness that through His name, who soever believeth in Him should receive remission of sins. The Bible tells us when He's on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples, He says, O ye fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning of Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself. Why is that? Because the entire Bible is about Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that He tells the Jews, for had you believed Moses, you would have believed Me. Why? He's the subject. He's the hot topic of the Bible. Is Jesus Christ. Go to Colossians chapter one. You know, is Jesus Christ who said, search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are which testify of Me. Well, hold on a second. I thought that Jesus Christ only came to being when He was born in Bethlehem's manger. Yeah, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and they beheld His glory as the glory of the only begotten Father, begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. But Jesus Christ appears in the Old Testament multiple times. And in fact, He appears as the captain of the Lord of hosts. He appears as the Son of God, the fourth in the burning fiery furnace with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. He appears multiple times. Jesus Christ is in the Old Testament. He appears to us in the New Testament in flesh by the name of Jesus Christ. Okay? Look at Colossians 1.17 says, and He is before all things, referring to Jesus Christ, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. You see, Jesus Christ is the preeminent one. He's the most important subject of the Bible. So as I preach this, none of the points necessarily highlight Jesus Christ. Why? Because I know that Jesus Christ is the theme of the entire Bible. So in this sermon, I'm going to talk about the sub-themes below Jesus Christ, okay? When we analyze the New Testament, we come to the conclusion that there are certain teachings that are more dominant than others. These doctrines are the doctrines that pervade the entire New Testament, and it really kind of, they all tie in one with another. So these aren't, I didn't pick these at random, okay? These are all dominating themes, and they all tie in one with another. So let me go over some of them. There's three of them that I'm going to talk about. Number one, theme number one, is the Gospel. The Gospel is the domineering theme of the New Testament. That's not to say that it wasn't in the Old Testament, okay? And I'm going to explain what I mean. Go to Acts chapter 1, Acts chapter 1. Now when we think of the Gospel, automatically we think of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that tells us that the Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and to that we say, amen. When we talk about we're going to go out and preach the Gospel to every creature, we're referring to the fact that we're going to talk about the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But the Gospel's not just subject to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why is that? Because it also includes the life of Christ. That's why it's important that people understand when we talk about people believing the Trinity to be saved, it's fact. Why? In order to get saved, you have to believe all of Jesus Christ's life, that He is the Son of God, that He is God in the flesh, that He holds this divine position that the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, say that He is. Now the Gospel not only encompasses those three elements, but also carries with it His life and divinity. In fact, in the New Testament, we have four books called the Gospel according to Matthew, according to Mark, according to Luke, and according to John. Now all four of these highlight different aspects, right? Matthew talks about Jesus Christ as being the King, Mark talks about Jesus Christ as being the worker, Luke talks about Jesus Christ as being the Son of Man, and John talks about Jesus Christ as being the Savior of the world. But guess what? It's the same Jesus. It's hidden the diamond from different facets is what it's doing there. Now look at Acts chapter one and verse number one, it says, the former treaties, Luke is writing this, have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after that He, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom also He showed Himself alive after His passions by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So what do we see here? That the disciples, although they preached the Gospel to believe on Jesus Christ, we see that they also preached everything that He did and taught. You see, Jesus Christ did not only teach how to be saved, He taught multitudes of lessons and that's why we have it in the Bible for us to go and teach that as well. That's why the Great Commission states, go ye therefore and teach all nations, referring to the Gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to what? Observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So it's not just that we're going out there to get them saved, that's the most important aspect, but after that, we have to teach them to observe all things, whatsoever Christ has commanded, okay? It's just as important. Now go with me, if you would, to Galatians chapter number three. But this is an overriding theme in the New Testament, why? Because you constantly hear about the Gospel being preached. What were the apostles doing? They were preaching the Gospel. What were the disciples doing? They were preaching the Gospel. As soon as someone got saved, what were they doing? They were preaching the Gospel. What was the apostle Paul admonishing them to do? Preach the Gospel. Preach the Word, be it in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Well, that's not the Gospel, that's everything that Jesus Christ taught. So what wasn't just the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine. And the Bible tells us in Mark 16, 15, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Now, this does not mean that the Gospel was only introduced in the New Testament. Dispensationals would like for you to think that, that the Gospel of grace is only now, you know. It's funny because they talk about the everlasting Gospel, but it only lasts for like three and a half years in the book of Revelation. Someone needs to give them a dictionary of thesaurus to define what everlasting means, you know. It doesn't have a beginning, it doesn't have an end. It's everlasting. But yet, it only lasts for three and a half years, you know, in the book of Revelation. No, the everlasting Gospel is from everlasting. Well, how long will it last for? Forever. Okay. But it is something that is heavily emphasized in the New Testament. You say, well, how do you know, you know, we don't have the word Gospel in the Old Testament though, you know. We don't have the word Gospel. Well, look at Galatians chapter 3 and verse number 7, excuse me, verse number 6. Even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. What is that? That's the Gospel. Why? Because he believed. Whosoever believeth shall receive remission of sins. Whosoever believeth on the Son shall have everlasting life, you know. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Yeah, but it doesn't say Gospel. Okay, look at verse 7. Go ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, for seeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. Was Paul lying? Well, in fact, Paul was inspired by the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost told him to write that. So guess what? And let me just give you a side note here. Abraham is before the Old Testament. Because when we refer to the biblical Old Testaments, referring to Moses and the prophets, anything prior to that is prior to the Old Testament. Okay? By the way, that's why it's important to understand that though it's called the law of Moses, you know, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not bear false witness, thou shall not kill, all these things, they were given to them at Mount Sinai, but guess what? That's always been sin. Why is that? God tells us that the law of God is written in our hearts, okay? It's something that God has already written in our hearts. It's been there before the Old Testament and it's gonna be there forever, why? Because that's God's eternal law that has not changed. And you see with Abraham, that means the Gospel has not changed. Because he's using this example of Abraham who's prior to the Old Testament to explain that salvation is by faith in the New Testament, showing that there is no difference between these Gospels, they're the same exact Gospel. And in fact, if it was a different Gospel, Galatians chapter one tells us that Abraham is a curse. Because anybody who preaches another Gospel, let him be a curse, says the Apostle Paul. Go to Hebrews chapter number four. Hebrews chapter number four. If that's not proof enough, let's look at another example here. Hebrews chapter number four and verse number one says, let us therefore fear, verse number one of Hebrews four, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Now what is the rest that it's referring to? Well the rest that it's referring to is referring to the Sabbath. Because the Sabbath was to rest, right? But the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath, was a figure in the New Testament of salvation. Why? Because on the Sabbath, you were to rest from your work, right? Just as in salvation, when we trust Christ as our personal savior, what are we doing? We're resting from our works. We're not working to be saved. We're not trying to, not of works that a steady man should boast, the Bible tells us. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. So that's the figure there. Now look at what it goes on to say, verse two. For unto us was the Gospel preached. Now who's saying that? The Apostle Paul. For unto us the Gospel was preached as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them. Not being mixed with works? No, it says not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. You see, dispensationalists will teach that, oh yeah, well of course salvation was by faith in the Old Testament. And the reason you have to say this is because it's so clear. It's all over the Bible. But they had to do works as well, they had to do the sacrifices. They had to do the sacrifices, they had to observe Moses' law. So yeah, they had to believe, but they also had to do works. Well here it says that they weren't saved because it wasn't mixed with faith. Just as today, the Gospel will not profit anybody today if they don't trust Christ as their Savior. You see, the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. But remember, it's to everyone that believeth. It's the power of God to the person you're going to talk to this afternoon, in Compton by the way, because we're going to Compton, I forgot to mention that. You know, it's going to be the power of God unto them if they believe, if they place their faith in it, if it's mixed with faith, okay? Go to Matthew chapter number 10. Matthew chapter number 10. Now duly noted that in the Old Testament, the ones who were responsible for preaching the Gospel were the Jews, Israel. There was supposed to be a light unto the Gentiles. They were God's chosen people, which we'll get into in just a little bit, but they had that same Gospel that we had, okay? Now, we'll see later on that they failed at that. Why? Because they became inward, okay? They became consumed with their position, so to speak. They became proud, and because of that, they lost their love for the world. And that's exactly what they were there for. The Bible says, what advantage did it have to the Jew, and every which way chiefly that the oracles of God were committed unto them? The responsibility to preach the word of God was committed unto them. And in fact, when Jesus Christ came to this earth, when the word was made flesh, he basically gave him one last chance, because look what it says in Matthew 10, verse 5. The 12, these 12, Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. So throughout this time, he's saying, look, don't go into the Gentiles. That's not the priority as of yet. You're gonna first go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. That's where you're gonna preach the gospel to. Now, this does not mean that no Gentile could be saved, because one of the 12 disciples was a Gentile. Wasn't a Jew. He wasn't of Israel. And another thing is, if anybody wanted to be saved, they could be saved. You have the woman at the well-being saved who was not a Jew. She was not of Israel. In fact, she was considered to be a Samaritan woman. But the priority was places to say, look, to the Jew first, we gotta go to them first, because this is basically their last chance. This is their time of their visitation. Jesus did visitation long before it was popular within the old IFB. But you know what the difference is between Jesus and the old IFB, is that he didn't visit them every single Saturday till the end of time. He's like, this is your last visitation, and if you're not getting saved, we're moving on. Okay? Go to Acts chapter, let's see here. Go to Acts chapter 13. This is the theme. Now, the great thing about the Bible is that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, until all good works. So the Bible's filled with principles and doctrine to mature us, to help us be better husbands, better wives, better children, better employees, better church members, better soul winners, better everything. It's there to improve us. It can help us to become better functioning people in society. It has a lot of principles that are outside of the doctrine of preaching the gospel. It has a lot. Why? Because it's the eternal word of God. It's profitable for all things. Okay? But that's not to say that that's the main thing that it's there for. The word of God is not necessarily there for just to profit us and make us better people, right? It's there in order to teach us, hey, go preach the gospel. So any church that says, all you guys do is soul winning, yeah, we're doing exactly what the Bible tells us to do, the heavy emphasis is on the gospel. Now, is that the most important thing? No, but that is an overriding theme that we see in the New Testament church. Look at Acts 13, verse 45, it says, but when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, to the Jews, but seeing he put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. So he's saying, look, being that you keep blaspheming, you don't want the word of God, then we're just gonna move on. Well, that was the teaching that the apostle Paul came up with. No, in fact, this is a teaching that Jesus Christ specifically told them, and said, hey, if they don't receive you in this city, dust off your feet, move on to the next. And we see that he says to go and teach all nations, not all Jews, all nations. Look what it goes on to say, verse 47, for so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. The Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed, and the word of the Lord was published throughout all that region. You know, I'm thankful that the apostle Paul did this. By the way, the apostle Paul was not a Jew. He was a Christian, obviously, but he wasn't of the tribe of Judah, he was of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul was a Jew. No, he wasn't. Get your tribes right, man. Benjamin, that's a different tribe. And here we see that because of that, ultimately the gospel came to us, who are Gentiles, according to the flesh. Because of these obedient disciples and apostles, they forsook the Jews and went to the Gentiles. They went to the people who actually wanted the gospel. Now that is an overriding theme. And typically what we see in the New Testament is what was supposed to happen was that they would preach the gospel to the Jews, and once they were done with that, they were supposed to move to everywhere else. Now, do we see that taking place? No, because the disciples would want to constantly go back to the Jews, constantly go back to Israel, constantly go back to Jerusalem, constantly wanting to win their own kin to the Lord. But they have rejected the Lord, therefore they needed to move on. And the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ came into his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave me power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe on his name. You see, it's not a matter of, well, we're just God's second favorite. It's the Jews first. Well, he came to the Jews because unto them were committed to the oracles of God. But in Revelation chapter two and three, he says, I'm gonna prove to the synagogue of Satan that I love you, that I love you. And God is, but God, you know, so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God committed his love toward us, and that while we were at sinners, Christ died for us. That was said in Romans, an area that was not Jewish, was not of Israel, okay? Now go with me, if you would, to, go to Hebrews chapter number eight, Hebrews chapter number eight. Can you guys throw in the AC on back there, please? This is a theme, and look, it ought to be a theme in our lives as well. We have many responsibilities as Christians, as fathers, as wives, as children, but every single responsibility that we have ultimately ties into us being preachers of the gospel, seeing people saved, I wanna fix my family, fix it so that you can be better at preaching the gospel, so your family can be a light unto the Gentiles, so we can continue to win people to Christ, because ultimately that is the most important thing. Now that's not to say that that's exactly what we're gonna do every single day of our lives, throughout the entire day, okay, that's not practical, because the Bible commands us to do other things as well. We just see that the overriding theme, the dominant theme of the New Testament is to preach the gospel, okay? Now with that being said, here's the second theme that we see. The second theme that we see in the New Testament is this matter of replacement theology. Replacement theology. Now, why do we use that term? That term is not very popular today. It offends a lot of people, they feel like it's heresy, it's heretical, you know, you shouldn't say that, you know, that's not what we believe, and that's not what Baptists have held to. Well, they have held to that, because Baptists have always been a people of the book, of the word of God, and you would be, you would show yourself to be very much a novice of the word of God, if you have read the word of God multiple times, and have not seen this concept and doctrine of replacement theology, okay? Now we often think of replacement theology as being that Christians have replaced the Jews as God's chosen people, and rightly so. But that's not the only thing that it entails, and we'll get into that aspect in just a bit. But look at Hebrews chapter number eight. Now remember that in the beginning of the sermon, we read from Hebrews chapter number nine, where it tells us that Jesus Christ is the mediator of what? The New Testament, okay? He is the mediator of the New Testament. Now look at Hebrews eight, verse six. And now hath he, referring to Jesus Christ, obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant? So keep in mind that covenant and testament are interchangeable. They mean the same thing, okay? Which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. Now this is very important, because it's telling us here, look, if that first covenant was faultless, if that first covenant was perfect, why would God create a New Testament? Why would he make a New Covenant? Why would he send his son Jesus Christ to die for us if that old covenant can save you? It's impossible. You see, under that old covenant, under that Old Testament, you had the sacrifices, all these things. It's impossible, in Hebrews, that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. It's impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. What were they? They were a figure of things to come, Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world. So even this New Covenant, this New Testament, was known in the Old Testament. And in fact, in Jeremiah, I believe chapter 30 or chapter 33, don't quote me on that, just in chapter 30 or 33, we see God prophesying of that New Covenant to come. He says, I will make a New Covenant with you, not according to the one that I made with your fathers, when I took them out of the land of Egypt, and we see that quote also in Hebrews. Look what it says in verse 8, for finding fault with them, he saith, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Now, what does he mean when he says that, finding fault with them? Well, because when he made the Covenant with the nation of Israel, they broke the Covenant. They didn't keep his commandments. What was the commandment? To serve the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. What do we see, what is the overriding theme, what's the theme of the Old Testament? Is that the Jews would constantly go, Israel would constantly go and worship other gods. And what was the consequence of that? God would allow them to be taken over by a foreign nation to a different land as punishment for serving other gods. And he would tell them, look, if you believe on God again, if you want to serve me, I'll bring you back. But do we see that? Did we see that in the Old Testament? Did we see that taking place anywhere in the New Testament? No. Okay? I like this little back and forth we got going on here, you know? Nope, nope, nope. Verse 9, 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, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. Now this is a quote from Jeremiah chapter 30 or 33. And in Jeremiah, in that portion of scripture, we see this quoted, but it's different. Because in that portion of scripture, it says, they continued not in my covenant, although I was a husband unto them. And here we see that he says, I regarded them not, saith the Lord. Now is this a contradiction? No. What it's basically stating is that in the Old Testament, he was a husband unto them. But now in the New Testament, because it's a New Testament established upon better promises, he doesn't regard them anymore. Okay? Now skip down to verse 13. It says, 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. Now the reason this is important, because there are Christians today that still want to hold to this thing that God has a plan for Israel. And what they mean by that is like, you know, that there's still God's chosen people, that they're going to be grafted back in, and they're going to do all these things. But the fact remains is that he doesn't have a plan for them. The Bible tells us specifically in the Bible that he's going to destroy Israel in the latter end. So what about Romans 11? We'll get into Romans 11 in just a bit. Okay? Now go to Hebrews chapter nine, just to prove this a little further, okay? Look at verse number nine. So keep in mind that the old covenant was not just that the Jews were God's chosen people, the old covenant entailed with it as well rules, sacrifices, you know? Which by the way, Seventh-day Adventists, if you believe you got to keep the Sabbath in order to please God, you know, why aren't you burning sacrifices morning and evening? That's part of the old covenant. Part of the old covenant was that you had to burn sacrifices morning and evening. Look at Hebrews nine, verse nine says, which was a figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience which stood only in meats and drinks and divers washings and cardinal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. So what is it saying here? That these rules, these commandments, they were imposed upon Israel until when? Until the time of reformation. And this isn't talking about Martin Luther reformation. The reformation here is referring to, reformation means to make something better. And remember, this is a better covenant established upon better promises. Who's the better mediator? Jesus Christ. So when is the time of reformation when Jesus Christ came? So this was imposed upon them until that time. Look at verse 11. But Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. So the ritual laws of purification, offerings, observing of days, these were replaced. We don't have to do them anymore. And thank God for that. That's a lot of work. That's a lot of, I mean, no vegan, no vegans in the Old Testament. You would have to, you know, suffer a lot of anguish because it was a bloodbath in those days. Oh, but the tabernacle must have been so beautiful. Yeah, it was just smeared in blood and just, it was pretty graphic. But you know, that pleased the Lord. Okay? Why? Because it was a continual remembrance, a recognition that one day Jesus Christ would do the same. Okay? It was to be as a reminder. Now go to Colossians chapter number two. So keep in mind that the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, came to take away the sins of the world. That's why he calls himself the Lamb of God. The Lamb slain from the, before the foundation of the world, the Bible says. Okay? Now look at Colossians two verse 13. It says here in verse 13, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. What was another thing that we saw under the Old Covenant? Circumcision? Physical circumcision. Okay? Now in the New Testament, we don't adhere to that because the Bible tells us the circumcision availeth nothing. Okay? What was the circumcision in the Old Testament a picture of? The circumcision of the heart and of the spirit whose praise is not a man but of God. The Bible tells us that he is not a Jew which is one outwardly and circumcision is that of the flesh made by hands, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart and of the spirit whose praise is not a man but of God. So that was supposed to picture a circumcision of the heart when we get saved. We trust Christ as our savior. He circumcises our heart. Look at verse 14 says, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. So these ordinances that we see in the Old Testament were nailed to the cross. But yet we have Christians today, so-called, who want to take those ordinances and bring them down from the cross and implement them once again when they're nailed to the cross. Look what it says in verse 15. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he, Jesus Christ, made show of them openly triumphing over them. Now, what does it mean when he says he made show of them openly? In other words, he was the culmination of all of those ordinances. He was the culmination of those sacrifices. He was the culmination of the laws of purification. He was the culmination of all of those things. Why? Because those things in the Old Testament were a shadow of things to come. And when he died, the culmination was at the cross. He made a show of them openly. So when people saw it, it's like, wow, that's why we had to do that for hundreds of years. Okay? Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ. Now, go to Romans chapter, let me see here, I'm running out of time. Go to Galatians chapter three, Galatians chapter three. Now, by the way, so what was replaced? The Old Covenant, the Old Testament laws. Now, this does not include the moral law. This includes the laws of meats, drinks, and diverse washings, but it does not include the moral law. That is there from before the Old Testament, through the Old Testament, after the Old Testament, into the New Testament. God's moral law always stands. And the reason that's important is because, you know, we preach against Sodomites. We preach against bestiality. We preach against all these filthy things that we see in the Bible tells us to preach against. And we say, well, that's Old Testament, those things were under grace, you know, but that part of the Old Testament was not done away with. Just as salvation was not done away with, it's always been the same. Because adultery is not a picture of something, right? You know, killing is not a picture of something. Oh, we couldn't do that in the Old Testament, you know, but now in the New Testament we can't because that was a shadow of things to come. That was a shadow of me being an ax murderer in the New Testament or something. No, this is something that was, this is God's moral law that will always be settled forever in heaven, amen? Look at Galatians 3, 24, it says, Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. You see, the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. The law was not meant to save us, it was meant to help us to recognize that we need a Savior. Like, oh, man, I broke all those laws. And when you think, well, you know, I grew up in a good home and I never stole, I never, you know, murdered anyone, okay, well, he that keepeth the whole law yet offended at one point, he is guilty of all. Because the law is not meant to save you. The law is meant to condemn you. It's meant to help you to recognize that you're guilty before a righteous, holy, and just God, and it's supposed to bring you unto Christ. To recognize him, because he's the only one who kept the whole law. He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law. And through his righteousness, when we believe on him, his righteousness is imputed upon us, the Bible says. Why? Because there's none righteous, no, not one. There's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Therefore, we need the imputation of righteousness from Jesus Christ, okay? So the law was never meant to save us. Oh, are you saying you're not supposed to keep the law now? Of course we're supposed to keep the law now, but not to be saved. We keep the law, we fulfill the law, because it pleases God, and the way we love God is by keeping his commandments, commandments and law are the same thing. We show that we love our brethren, our neighbor, by keeping the law, okay? Because thou shall not kill, you know, when I get mad at you, because I love you, I'm not gonna kill you. It's because I love you, okay? Now, go to Matthew 21, I'm sorry, go to 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2. So what else was replaced? Well, the high priest was replaced from the Old Testament, we have the New Testament high priest, which is Jesus Christ. The priesthood was replaced, I preached on this more extensively a couple weeks back regarding the priesthood. The priesthood was replaced because in the Old Testament, the priesthood was made up of those from the tribe of Levi, and more specifically, from the house of Aaron. Those are the only ones that were qualified to be the priests in the Old Testament, to offer up sacrifices, etc. But in the New Testament, that has completely changed, okay? Look what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse number 9, it says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now this was something that was quoted in Exodus chapter 19 to Israel, and it's being quoted in 1 Peter chapter 2, not to Israel, showing you that something has changed. That should show you right there, like, okay, something's different here. Yeah, I'll show you what's different, it's not Israel anymore, who's the chosen generation? It's us. And in case, you know, you question that, look at verse 10, which in time past were not a people, but now are the people of God. Well, that wouldn't apply to Israel if it was talking to Israel, because in time past, they were the people of God. They were the people of God, they were a people, they had obtained mercy, but this is not referring to them, it's referring to every other Gentile who is saved, okay? The holy nation has been replaced. Now go with me if you went to Matthew 21. So an overriding theme that we constantly, and by the way, there's so much more that we can get into as far as what was replaced in regards to the old covenant, okay? A lot of things were replaced, that's why we believe, I like that phrase, I know Christians who believe in replacement theology, they still don't like that phrase. You know, why you gotta call it replacement theology, because they were replaced, it means like you're not the one anymore, you've been replaced, that's what it means, okay? I like it. And you know, our church is a replacement theology church, okay? Now how does this tie in with the gospel? Because you say, well brother, you said that these three themes that you're going over, somehow they tie in one to another, how is it that replacement theology, how does that tie in with the gospel? Well look at Matthew 21, verse 42, Jesus saith unto them, verse 42, did ye never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become of the head of the corner, this is the Lord's doing, and is marvelous in our eyes. Now when he talks about the builders, it's referring to that nation of Israel. No one would question that, okay? And who do they reject? Jesus Christ, which is the stone. Verse 43, therefore, in other words, because they rejected him, say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whosoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. So what was one of the main reasons why he replaced Israel? Because they were not preaching the gospel to every nation. They weren't bringing forth the fruits thereof, okay? And in fact, go to Romans chapter two. So that's why we call it replacement theology, the kingdom of God taken from you, given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. He said, what nation is that, is that the Guatemalans? Is that Central America, is that the Armenians? Is it, you know, the Japanese, who is the nation? It's the chosen generation, the holy nation made up, comprised of all believers. That's what it is. So it's no longer a physical nation, it is now a spiritual nation. Why is that? Because the Bible tells us in John 1-12, but as many as receive unto them give you power to become the sons of God, even unto them that believe in his name, which were born not of flesh, nor the will of man, not of blood, but of God. So these, the people of God are not comprised of someone who has the right type of blood, the right type of flesh, the right type of will, no, it's comprised of people who believe on Jesus Christ, okay? Look at Romans two, verse 17, it says, behold, thou art called a Jew, who is he talking to? It's pretty, pretty simple, right? The Jew. Thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest of things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that thou thyself are a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness. They're confident in this. They're like, yeah, we're the light. An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth and the law, thou therefore which teacheth another, teacheth thou not thyself? Thou that preaches that man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayeth that man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law, dishonor is thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision barely profited, if thou keep the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law? 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. The circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of man but of God. So who's the Jew? You're looking at him. If you believed on Christ, according to the Bible, you're the spiritual Jew. Not because you're circumcised physically, but because you're circumcised in the heart. And so we see here that they were enlightened to the Gentiles, but they failed at that. They became inward, they began to focus upon themselves, they became prideful. And through their fall, salvation is coming to the Gentiles, the Bible tells us. Now this is a common theme throughout the New Testament. You cannot read the New Testament without coming across this concept right here. You read the book of Matthew, most of the parables in the book of Matthew are geared towards the Jews. You know what I'm saying? Matthew is geared towards the Jews. They're right, but not in a positive way. It's often condemning them, saying that they're going to be cast down into outer darkness where they'll be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. I mean that's where we found that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. That's in Matthew. Oh yeah, but what about John though? John records some of the most insulting phrases from Jesus Christ to the Jews. John 844 is a perfect example of that. What's the most insulting thing you can say to someone that your father's the devil? He didn't say that. Jesus is cuddly and nice and loved. Those are the, that's the apple of his eye, the rotten apple of his eye. Because he specifically tells them, ye, speaking to the Jews, are of your father, the devil. And the lust of your father will you do. He was a murderer from the beginning and a bow down of the truth because the truth is not in him. He speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Oh, does that mean? What does that mean? He's a liar and the father of it? Oh yeah, because the Jews are liars. I can't, that's so racist. You're anti-Semitic. The Bible says, who is a liar? Because we gotta go over to what the Bible says. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is anti-Christ that denieth the father and the son. So you go find me a Jew that believes that Jesus Christ is the Christ, the son of God. And the Bible says that if they deny that, they're a liar. Which coincides with John 844, he's the father of lies. And that's why Jesus Christ told them, ye are of your father, the devil. Not of God, of the devil, okay? Which leads me to my third point of the themes in the New Testament. By the way, look, you read Romans, for example, Romans chapter 2 talks about this. Romans 3, Romans 9, 10, 11, all hit on replacement theology, okay? First Corinthians, Second Corinthians hits on replacement theology. Galatians hits on it extensively. I remember when I was a Bible college teacher at a Zionist Bible college. It wasn't called Zionist Bible college, but it was, you might as well have called it Zionist Bible college. They were pro-Jew. And I was a teacher there, and I taught Paul shorter epistles, which included Galatians. And guess what I taught? Replacement theology. You're not allowed to do something like that. If they're telling me to teach the Bible, how are you going to teach Galatians? Good night. Unless I just lie my whole way through, you know? Galatians 3, 4, just hit on replacement theology extensively. What about Ephesians? Ephesians 2 talks about replacement theology. Colossians chapter 2, replacement theology. First and Second Timothy, replacement theology. Titus, Hebrews, replacement theology. It's all over the New Testament, because he's constantly just hammering this that it's been replaced. They've been replaced. The ordinances have been replaced. What about Revelation? Yeah, that's probably where you find also the most insulting thing to say. When he says that they that say there are Jews and there are not, but are the synagogue of Satan? He didn't say there are the church of Satan. He didn't say that there are the temple of Satan. He didn't say congregation. He said synagogue. There's only one religion in this world that goes and congregates in a synagogue, and those are the Jews. Okay? You know, and people foolishly will use that and say, oh, that's talking about people like you guys who believe in replacement theology. I don't go to a synagogue, buddy. I've never stepped in a synagogue in my entire life. Amen. Okay? Go to Romans 11. So this is a common theme that is just permeated throughout the New Testament. And the reason I say that is because people will look at a church like ours that holds this position, and they'll say, oh, that's your hobby horse. All you guys want to talk about is replacement theology, the Jews, but can you really do a thorough teaching and preaching of the New Testament and not talk about it and not hint towards it? Of course you can. You know? Obviously, there's sermons that I've preached from the New Testament that had nothing to do with replacement theology, but you know what? If we hit on these chapters, which are the vast majority of the chapters, you're going to have to talk about it. You're going to have to mention it because it's an important theme. And look, if God is emphasizing it, that means it was important to God. Okay? Which leads me to my third point. So theme number one, the gospel. Theme number two is replacement theology. Theme number three that we see in the New Testament is persecution. That is a common theme of the New Testament. Now, how does replacement theology tie in with persecution? Well, keep in mind that the ordinances weren't the only thing that were being replaced. The priesthood wasn't the only thing that was being replaced. The Jews were replaced as well, which, guess what, kicked them off. And guess what they did because of that? They persecuted Christians over and over again. Look at Romans 11, 28. It says, as concerning the gospel, they, referring to the Jews, are enemies for your sakes. But as touching the elect, they are beloved for the Father's sake. Now here's the thing is, Romans 11 is like the James 2, the Matthew 7, for Zionists. They're just holding on to this, hoping that it just says what they want it to say. I love Romans 11. It's one of my favorite chapters when I talk about this subject because it's so clear. And they'll say, you know, yeah, they're the enemies for the gospel's sake, but they're also beloved, you know? And you need to read the entire chapter because it says, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. So it's not just saying all of Israel, it's saying the election. Now let me just veer off a little bit and help you to understand that the election is not referring to the Jews. That's a false teaching that we see today, that the elect are the Jews. That's easily disproven from Romans chapter 8, 1 Peter chapter 1, different portions of the scriptures that teaches us that the elect is referring to Christians, okay? You say, but here it says, but as touching the election, they who are of Israel are beloved for the Father's sake. Yeah, Israel who saved. So Israel who did trust Christ as their Savior and they were born in the nation of Israel, they're beloved. Why? Because Ephesians 1 tells us that they are accepted in the beloved, which is Jesus Christ. Now let's go back in verse number 5 of Romans 11 and look what it says, even so then at this present time, also there is a remnant, this is referring to a remnant, a group of people, a minority in Israel, a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. So how can Israel be the elect if he's saying here that Israel didn't obtain it, but the election did obtain it? Hello? Anybody home? Let's talk about two different people. And the rest were blind, who the rest? The ones who did not obtain it. That's why the Bible tells us that they still have the veil over their hearts, because they're blind. That's why you should never learn the Bible from a Jew. Yeah, but they got good history. It's all fake. It's all lies. They're blind. A physically blind, safe person can see more than a Jew. Because they're blinded. And in fact, you say, yeah, but they're just, you know, they have a hard heart. Right? Because God hardened their heart. And the Bible tells us that God is the one who actually blinded them. So you know, stick that in your Zionist pipe and choke on it. God was the one who did that. It tells us in the book of John, he had blinded their eyes that they should not see. I mean, did he make a mistake when he wrote that down? Like, oh, man, I shouldn't have put that, I misspoke. I often misspeak, misspoke, or whatever. Not God. He said he blinded them. Okay? Now, go to Acts chapter three. So when you read and study the Gospels, you will realize quickly that the primary antagonists of Jesus Christ's ministry were the Jews. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes. They're the ones who are constantly trying to kill him, constantly just twisting his words. And even when he resurrected, even when he resurrected, they were willing to pay someone off to just lie about it. And they're like, look, just, the soldiers are like, yeah, we saw the resurrection. And they're like, we'll pay you and just say this story instead, and we'll back you up. Talk about wicked. And by the way, nothing changed in the book of Acts. You have people, you have these Pharisees, these Jews, who are paying people, sons of Belial, to lie against the disciples for the authorities. So they can be arrested, beaten, killed, murdered. Look at Acts three, verse 13, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son Jesus, whom ye delivered up and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let him go. They did it. You say, well, I thought it was the Romans. It was the Romans, really, excuse me, it was the Jews at the hand of the Romans. But God still holds them responsible. Now why is that? Well, you think of David, for example, who we would often say that one of the sins that he committed is very prevalent in his life was the murder of Uriah, or Urijah, yeah, Urijah. But was he specifically the one who laid hands on him? No. He sent him to go into the hottest part of the battle through the hand of Joab to be killed of the foreign nation there. But yet the Bible still holds him responsible for killing him. God still holds him responsible for doing that. Why? Because it was determined by him that he should die, just as it was determined by the Jews to kill Jesus, okay? Go to Galatians chapter number one. And look, this is a common theme, persecution, persecution, persecution. And it's a common theme today as well. Now, one thing that we see in the New Testament is that the reason the Christians were constantly being persecuted was because they were preaching the gospel. But you see that a lot of the people who were persecuting them for preaching the gospel were not claiming that it was because they were preaching the gospel. It was for other reasons. Now it's no different today. We're preaching the gospel. We receive persecution, but they say it's because of the homos. They say it's because we believe X, Y, and Z of the Bible. Ultimately, it's because we have the right gospel. And the common theme, because we're still in the New Testament, amen, is that we will receive persecution if we preach the right gospel. Now, again, like we mentioned in the beginning, is the gospel only entitled to just the death-bearing resurrection of Jesus Christ? No. Because we're supposed to do and teach everything that Jesus Christ taught. We're supposed to preach the entire counsel of God, and that will offend people, okay? Catholic theology offends people. It offended me when I first learned about it. I first heard about it, I'm like, whoa, hold on, apple of his eye, you know, God's got a plan for them, and these curly-haired little Jews with the cap on top, you've got to pray for Israel. Pray for Israel. That's what you would say. That's what people would say, right? I used to say that. I remember when a friend came up to me and brought this concept to me, I was just like, oh, it was Ringo. I was like, Ringo, it's the apple of his eye, man. Pray for Israel. He was like, what? Well, what did Jeremiah say? Pray not for this people. I mean, think about that one. Jeremiah, pray not for this people. Elijah, pray against this people. Did he say that? Read Romans 11. He maketh intercessions against Israel. Jesus' prayers, okay, imprecatory prayers. Galatians 1, verse 6 says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that I called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Now we would read that, and we could apply it to many false religions, but the original perverts of the gospel are Jews, because that's who he's talking about. Because in Galatians, we have Judaizers infiltrating the churches of Galatia and trying to bring them back under the law, and that's why he starts off that chapter talking about that. Go to Galatians 2, verse 3. It says, but neither Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren, unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. Now who is he referring to, Judaizers, false brethren, creeping in unawares, okay? So the Jews are the ones who are constantly persecuted in the Christians, and that is a major theme. Go to 2 Timothy, chapter 3. Now, we're not necessarily being persecuted by the Jews today, like our church is not persecuted by the Jews, but persecution is just a common theme of Christians if you do that which is right inside of the Lord. And this can vary in different types of degrees. This could be persecution from the media, you know, our channel just got a strike, amen, from my sermon against the Sodomites. So like, you know, if we get another strike, I gotta open up another channel. And I know who it is too, by the way, but, you know, the media, you could get persecution from the media, you get persecution from your family because they don't agree with what you believe. And look, doctrine divides. You know, Jesus said, I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I mean, think about that phrase for a little bit. Oh, no, Jesus, no peace, no, Jesus, no peace. No, Jesus said, know the sword, because I come to divide. Mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, that's easy, you know, sister, you know, father, all these things, he said, I come to divide all that. Why? Because doctrine divides, and it often creates persecution within the life of a person. Now, look at verse 12, it says, where do I have you turn, 2 Timothy 3, 12, it says, I think this is it, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So this is an important verse to those Baptists out there who don't want to get persecuted, and they criticize us, yeah, well, the only reason you guys are being persecuted because you guys preach controversial messages, yeah, and what are you doing? Are you receiving persecution? You know, oh, of course we're being persecuted, you know, didn't you hear about, you know, the stance that Wal-Mart's taken that they're allowing sodomites and all that, that's not persecution. Just because Target lets fags into their restrooms, ladies restrooms, whatever, that's not persecution. Persecution is when someone's like threatening your life, is when they're mocking you, they're railing on you, that's persecution. So if you want to criticize us because we're being persecuted, well, at least we're being persecuted, you know, you're not getting any of that, why? Because you're not living godly in Christ Jesus. Or is the Bible lying? Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. He's not lying. The Bible says in John 15, 20, remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept mine sane, they will keep yours also. So in spite of whatever you may think, oh it's because you preach controversial messages, yea, because the Bible tells us to preach the entire counsel of God. And regardless of what bone they have to pick with what we believe, we're commanded to preach it, and if that creates persecution, so be it. But that is a theme that we see throughout the New Testament, and look, tonight, I'm going to talk about persecution, and suffering, and stuff like that, we're going to talk about a specific subject, but the reality is that God can deliver us from persecution, or He may not. But ultimately, He will deliver us. Why? Because when we die, we just go to heaven. And you know, regardless of how they mangle my body, or how many times they shoot me or stab me, you know, go for it. That's like an old card to me, because I'm going to get a better resurrection. So ultimately, at the end of the day, we are delivered from these things. That's why some of the scariest Christians in this world are those who are just not afraid to die. Because what do we have to lose? What about your family? If they're saved, you know, I'm going to see them again, I'll see them at the resurrection. How do you threaten someone who's not afraid to die? So persecution is important because it helps us to really focus on that which is most important. Okay? And it helps us to measure, hey, are we living godly in Christ Jesus? Go to Matthew chapter number five, and we're done. Matthew chapter number five. Now look, it's another foolish thing to say that, you know, yeah, but you know, the people in the Bible were persecuted because they were preaching the gospel. You guys just preach against the Sodomites, and that's why you're being persecuted. But that's not the only thing they preached in the New Testament. You have John the Baptist who died because he preached against the adultery of King Herod. It wasn't because he was saying, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He was more like adulterer, the one should have his brother's wife. He was arrested and he was put to death, okay? Now, here's something that you can use if someone ever tells you that. Because I was reading this yesterday, I was like, this is great. Matthew 5 verse 10. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice in me, exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Now let me just let you in on a little secret. You studied the lives of the prophets. They weren't always preaching the gospel, and in fact, they were persecuted because they were preaching against the sins of the nation. Jeremiah was persecuted because he was preaching against the sins of the nation. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel were not always preaching the gospel. They were persecuted because they were preaching against the sins of the nation. Not Isaiah, it's an Isaiah where you finally lift up your voice like a trumpet cry aloud and spare none and show my people their transgression. Because they were preaching to repent of your sin, to get right. This is wicked. I mean, we just finished the book of Isaiah. Just to let you know, that book is recording his preaching, calling them whores and bastards. I mean, pretty heavy stuff. So that's what he's talking about, and he said this, rejoice in me, exceeding glad, for great is your reward. For so in like manner persecuted they the prophets which were before you. So when you get persecuted, if it's not for the gospel, don't worry because you have prophets in the Old Testament who were persecuted for the same subjects that you're preaching on today. Now, why is that important? Because this is a theme of the New Testament, and you see how all of these kind of intertwine together. You have the gospel, which is a dominant theme in the New Testament, as well as in the Old Testament, but mainly primarily in the New Testament, and because of that, we see the theme of replacement theology, and because of that, we see the theme of persecution because those who were replaced were persecuting the Christians as well. Amen? It just goes to show us that the Bible is a beautiful book, and we need to emphasize what God emphasizes, not be offended by it, take it in stride, study it, try to seek to know the whole counsel of God, but understand what God emphasizes in his word. Amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you so much for, I'm thankful for replacement theology. I'm thankful that Christ made a show of them openly when he was nailed to the cross, and I'm thankful that as a Gentile, I can be a believer, and because I trusted in Christ, my sins can be forgiven, and I can be a part of that chosen generation, and I pray, God, that you'd help us to continue to study your word and to emphasize that which you emphasize, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.