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Amen, so we're now in Genesis chapter 21 in our Bible study and the Bible reads in verse 1 the Lord visited Sarah as He had said and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken for Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son and his old age at the set time of which God had spoken to him and Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him whom Sarah bare to him Isaac and Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded him and Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto him and Sarah said God have made me to laugh So that all that here will laugh with me now this kind of an interesting Portion of scripture here, but we finally have this promise that we've been hearing about for several chapters throughout the Bible God's constantly been telling Abraham. He's gonna have a seed He's constantly telling him and that he's appointed to have a child through Sarah Specifically even because he already did have a child through Hagar which was the handmade he married her and Basically Sarah had told him this is the only way you can have children Yet God performs this great miracle and blesses Abraham and Sarah and the Bible tells us that Abraham's basically 99 years old in the previous Chapter Sarah was about 10 years younger So basically around the age of a hundred and ninety they're given a child and the Bible makes it abundantly clear That they were past or at least she was past Childbearing years and so this is nothing other than a miracle that they've had this child That's why it's so incredible to them. And what's interesting here is in verse number six. It says that Sarah Said God have made me to laugh now Laughter in the Bible is an interesting subject Most of the time when people are laughing and especially when God's laughing it's in a mocking way It's basically he's ridiculing his opponents or he's making fun of His enemies or he's basically just basic He's just kind of bewildered at their stupidity or something like that And so that's what you see most of the laughter as being in the Bible, but we typically think of laughter as being joyful Happy You know having fun and that's really what the context is here that Sarah is kind of laughing because of joy That she has a child She's overwhelmed with joy And and she's kind of bewildered by I had a kid and she can't do anything but laugh at How funny it is that she's so old yet. She had a child but the laughter is not in a mocking or ridiculing tone It's really just in a joyful Happy way now go if you would to Psalms 126 for a moment go to Psalms 126 the Bible describes this in other places where people are basically laughing or Having a good time and it's you know a good emotion, you know laughter is a good thing. It's a fun thing I enjoy laughing and you know and rejoicing with fellow friends And sometimes it's at the expense of you know, stupid people but also it could be just simply you're just having a good time You know, you're just enjoying one another's company and for her it's just cuz she's kind of laughing about the situation You know and that happens Sometimes you go through a difficult thing or you have some kind of a memory and whenever you think about it It causes you to laugh because of the situation or just how interesting things worked or how the miracles of God Or just kind of even laughing at the fact that you know It's something you never thought would happen and then it happened and your only real reaction is just laughter because it's just it's so cool How God is able to perform miracles in your life? Look at Psalms 126 verse number one The Bible says when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing then said they among the even the Lord have done Great things for them the Lord have done great things for us whereof we are glad Now what they're saying here in verse number one. This is a song we sing You know, we've actually put this to music and it's a lot of fun to sing but it's saying in verse one We're like them that dream meaning that this was something that they never thought was gonna be reality They were really just kind of dreaming about it They were just like wouldn't it be so great if we were able to go back to the Promised Land Wouldn't it be awesome the Lord rescued us, you know, we could only imagine, you know These great things happening and he's saying we're like them that dream and then he says but our mouth was filled laughter They were so joyful. All they could do is just laugh At how awesome it was that they were returning the land because Cyrus made a decree saying they're allowed to go back to the land and they can have as many goods as they want and everybody that had taken them Captive has to let them go free and then give them all these goods And so it's just a great time of rejoicing and laughter and really this pictures the end of the world in a sense that you know eventually We'll be released from the captivity of this world and the oppression of this world and we're gonna go rejoicing into the millennial reign with Christ and we're gonna have laughter and it's just gonna be fun and joyous and And we're gonna be like look at the great things that God has done for us And if I could put this, you know, I don't think this is gonna happen again Let's get let's get a practical example of this. Okay, and this is dreaming Okay, but just imagine if for some reason all the election audits that are going on in our country They actually came to fruition and then they actually replaced, you know Biden That would be kind of fun Kind of be laughing and you'd be like wow It's something you never thought could ever happen, but you're just like and it's not so much that I'm so excited at Trump It's just the fact that Biden and all of these liberals would have to you know, basically, you know Facepalm or whatever have all this shame for the election fraud that they did or whatever But wouldn't that be just great and you just kind of fill those laughter and it's something that you never thought would ever happen But it just happened. You're just like this is incredible And so, you know or maybe there's a person in your life that you never thought would get saved Or you never thought would serve the Lord or you never thought, you know They were kind of someone that was really hardened they get saved and all of a sudden you just kind of laugh about who they were in the past or the things that Were in the past because it's just kind of cool to you to experience the miracles of God And and so we have to understand that, you know, we will at some point in our life have laughter Seeing the miracles of God whether it's in our physical lives or at least spiritually we're going to see those go to Luke chapter number six go to Luke chapter number six and The Bible basically teaches that you know, there will be a point in time when you get what I would call the last laugh You know, a lot of people say, oh we got the last laugh. What does that mean? Well, you know whenever there's a skirmish or there's a conflict, you know, and you go through battles Sometimes you don't win every battle Sometimes the enemy wins a battle here and there and then you kind of come back and when we look at Christ in a sense You could say he was defeated at one moment where he died on the cross and it's seemingly like death has victory over him But guess what he's gonna get the last laugh meaning what he's gonna get the ultimate victory So really it's a picture of getting the ultimate victory and the Bible teaches that Christians will get the ultimate victory We will get the last Laugh look at the Luke chapter 6 verse 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled blessed are ye that weep now For ye shall laugh notice what the Bible promises the Bible is saying look Hey, you might have weeping now and there might be struggle now and there might be difficulty now But you know from the perspective of eternity We're gonna get the last laugh. We're gonna be rejoicing and singing praises to God Well, the whole unbelieving world is going to hell while the whole unbelieving world is rejected and it's all wiped clean and we get a new heaven and we get a new earth and We get to rule and reign with Christ. And so really we kind of have this Story of a Long struggle. I mean you think about what we've been reading, you know, it's pretty short for us But this is literally 90 years for Sarah's life. That's a long time. No one in this room is 90 I don't think no one in this room is 80. I I'm not gonna go down further because I don't want to make anybody nervous Okay, but at the end of the day like she's gone that long without Experiencing the joy because she's barren, you know being barren is not really a blessing necessarily and you can't control it But Sarah has gone through a pretty difficult struggle, but guess what? She got the last laugh didn't she? He eventually got the promises of God. She eventually got the gift from God She finally gets this son and now she gets this laugh says a verse 22 blessed are you and men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shower approach you and Cast out your name is evil for the Son of Man's sake and I don't think that's a coincidence that that's the next verse He's saying look. Yeah, you might have some struggles, but you'll get a laugh and you know what you're actually blessed When people hate on you, you're actually blessed when people say horrible things about you that aren't true Just because you're a Christian just because you love the Word of God and you say well when am I gonna get that blessing? later The blessing isn't now, you know, it's not a blessing for people to lie about you now It's not a blessing for people to make fun of you or lie about your slander you or or whatever they do right now The blessings come later when God rewards you for being a partaker of Christ's sufferings And so, you know, you have to look at all the things that we do in this life It's not just being right now, but also future and realizing Hey, we're gonna get that last laugh go if you would back to Genesis chapter 21 go back to Genesis chapter 21 The worst thing someone can do to a Christian is kill them. But after that they're done And then they're gonna get the last laugh eventually After they killed Christ they couldn't do it again death hath no more dominion over him No one's ever gonna get the victory over Christ ever again. You know, he's swallowed up death He has the keys of Helen of death and when he returns it's only given me in triumph when he returns He's only going to be winning, you know, I mean Christ is no longer going to submit himself and subject himself That was a one-time ridicule all those enemies that was their heyday They got their little skirmish in they got through a battle where they felt like they won, but you know what? It's all over now You're not gonna get you're never gonna have victory over Christ again Christ is gonna come and he's gonna rule the rod of iron and then after the millennial reign, you know Everybody that didn't believe in him is gonna be judged according their works and those that are not written in his book They're gonna get thrown into hell and the Bible says that he's gonna laugh at them Now if you there's one person you don't want to laugh at you it's God and And as much as we like to talk about laughter as being a positive thing I as much as I studied the Bible every time God laughs it's never a good thing It's always at someone's expense It's always someone going to hell or being destroyed or he's mocking and ridiculing their stupidity And so you don't want God to laugh at you You want to be lifted laughing with God you want to be on his side and laughing with him? Okay Look at what it says in verse 7 And she said who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given given children suck For I have borne him a son in his old age And the child grew and was weaned and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned and Sarah saw the son of Agar the Egyptian when she had borne unto Abraham Mocking Wherefore she said and Abraham cast out this bond woman and her son for the son of this bond woman shall not be heir with My son even with Isaac and the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight Because of his son now This is probably one of the biggest themes that we have here in this chapter and the Bible tells us that these verses right here Are very important. It's actually quoted in the New Testament Go if you would to Galatians chapter number four and let's see where this is actually quoted in Galatians But the story of Abraham and Isaac and Ishmael is really important because it pictures spiritual truths God uses physical stories and stories of historicity or things that actually Happened to illustrate spiritual truths the things contained in the Bible are not accidental or coincidental They're not just you know, a bunch of random collections of things that happen But rather they're physical truths that illustrate spiritual truths and they're written for our admonition as the Bible describes them Look at Galatians chapter number four the Bible says in verse 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons the one by a bondmaid the other by a free woman Now I want to pause for a second Sometimes you have to understand that the way the Bible speaks is not always an overly Literal statement. Okay, just like if I said, you know The Bible says that all you have to do is believe in Jesus and you'll go to heaven I'm not quoting the Bible There's no Bible verse that I'm just verbatim saying what I'm basically do is summarizing What the Bible is teaching and sometimes when the Bible is saying Ford is written. It's not a verbatim quote He's Summarizing what the Bible is teaching because you're not gonna find in a verbatim quote for all of these things that are always found The Bible says Ford is written, you know, this is just him summarizing what we've been reading Abraham had two sons, right? Isn't that what we've read so far and it says the one by a bondmaid and the other by a free woman But it says but he who is of the bond woman was born after the flesh But he of the free woman was by promise which things are an allegory For these are the two covenants the one from the Mount Sinai which gender at the bondage which is agar For this agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answer it to Jerusalem Which now is and is in bondage with their children, but Jerusalem Which is above is free Which is the mother of us all for it is written rejoice thou bear and that bear is not break forth and cry Thou that travail is not for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath and husband Now we brethren as Isaac was are the children of the promise But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit even so it is now Nevertheless what sayeth the scripture cast out the bond woman and her son for the son of the bond woman shall not be air With the son of the free woman. So then brethren we are not children of the bond woman But of the free so notice in verse number 30 though It says nevertheless what sayeth the scripture cast out the bond woman now that is actually what the Bible did did say That's like a more verbatim quote, but then it's kind of you know encapsulated with just a summarization of what the Bible's teaching or saying so some people they'll look at where it says it is written or You know the Bible says or David said or whatever any of the time when the Bible it seems like it's alluding to itself And they're expecting it to be a verbatim quote, but it's not and that's fine There's nothing wrong with the fact that it's not a verbatim quote. You just have to realize sometimes it is a verbatim quote Sometimes it's just a summarization. It's no problem modern versions though. They don't understand this concept So what they do is they make them both say exactly verbatim the same thing And they actually end up making it more difficult to understand because the Old Testament New Testament will sometimes use different words To help you realize the definition of words like Church and the New Testament Congregation in the Old Testament and so you don't have to have this just Verbatim quoting system from the Old and the New Testament because there's plenty of places where the Bible is saying like the Bible says and then There's no verbatim quote anywhere It's just basically saying this is what the Bible is teaching or this is a summarization of what was said or even sometimes If you're quoting a person you don't always use their words You change it a little bit to either the third person or first person or however It is that they said if I was telling hey Dylan go tell you know the ushers to come inside Dylan can walk out them and say hey pastor Shelley wants you to come inside He said to come inside, but he's not quoting me verbatim He's just basically summarizing or rewording exactly what I said So don't get this weird idea when you're reading the Bible that you have to that's just a tidbit of information But when we're reading this though the big picture is important, and what's the big picture here? It's this allegorization He says in or the Bible says in verse 24 which things are an allegory now according to the dictionary one definition of an allegory is a symbolic representation so Some people accuse you know Baptist or us specifically of allegorizing the Bible or as I like to say Spiritualizing the Bible and they'll say oh you can't spiritualize that why are you spiritualizing that it's like It's not me that's spiritualizing the Bible. It's the Bible. That's spiritualizing the Bible It's the Bible that's allegorizing the Bible I'm just doing what it said So you have to realize that the Bible actually teaches us to look at certain stories with spiritual eyes with spiritual understanding And when Christ preached to the multitudes he didn't even preach directly priests and parables And he says he that hath an ear let him hear so you know he's trying to make it clear that there's something else Beyond just the surface meaning or the overly literal interpretation And why did I bring up this fact of you know this isn't a literal quote is because when you have this overly You know Cartilizing physicalizing and literal viewpoint of the Bible you can't understand it You have to realize that the Bible is understood as a spiritual textbook, and it's allegorized and that we have to take it You know look I take the Bible literally, but sometimes. It's literally to be interpreted Spiritually you know some by some people think the word literally is in reference only to something being taken Physically meaning that you know when Christ is saying you have to drink my blood or you have to eat my flesh I Believe that's literal, but here's the thing you literally have to do that Spiritually you don't literally do that physically okay, so there's a big difference there between those two and Sometimes when people mean literally they're meaning physical, and I get that but we ought to be careful Hey, I believe the Bible literally, but sometimes. It's literally an allegory Okay, so then we want to interpret the Bible through its allegorized understanding or its spiritual understanding So he's saying that these two people Represent two other things what do they represent two covenants? Okay, what are the two covenants that we have in the Bible the old covenant the new covenant the Old Testament the New Testament? We're not dispensationalists. There's two okay. There's not seven or twelve or thirteen or a hundred There's two there's the old covenant. There's the new covenant okay, and these are the two things that are pictured through these two men Ishmael and Isaac and it says one is Mount Sinai which gender at the bondage now, what's Mount Sinai picture? That pictures later in the Bible when we get to Moses He's delivered the Ten Commandments or the law on Mount Sinai So that first one is picturing bondage because the law Brings bondage the law tells you what not to do the law is just saying like don't do that thou shall not kill Thou shall not steal and all the law does is Condemns you you know the law doesn't exonerate you the law only can condemn you and So the first one is just a picture of bondage which is agar which is from his mother and it says in verse 25 for this agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and answerth to Jerusalem which now is now it's interesting that he says answerth to Jerusalem. What does he mean by that? He's saying where is the bondage coming from who is that who is the basically the the oppressor? It's the Jews and Jerusalem He's saying which now is because at the time that this is written the Jews have not been destroyed by Rome yet They're still there and all of the people in the world that are Jews The authority structure goes all the way back to Jerusalem now there are synagogues throughout the world Okay, but essentially those are just shoot-offs of the main source of authority which is at Jerusalem And that's a picture of Judaism the law and the bondage that would come from the law And it says and is in bondage with her children now. What's that bondage? They're in bondage to the law if they don't follow the law of God They're condemned Now we have to understand that the law obviously is given to the children of Israel, but it pertains to everybody Okay, it's not just locked in for them, but it's this is a picture again It says in verse 26, but Jerusalem, which is above is free So there's two different Jerusalem's one on earth one in heaven one is in bondage one is free He says which is the mother of us all so where did every Christian come from? From the Jerusalem in heaven not from a physical Jerusalem because we are not a physical people were a spiritual people Physically, we're we're really different. I mean this room has all color skin Heights I mean people from all different nations even different tongues I mean, we're a very diverse group in this room physically You know especially compared to other parts of the world or other religions. I mean if you go to a mosque Anywhere in the world it's gonna be very demographically similar It's gonna be a lot of the same type of people in that room. Okay you go to the Mormon Tabernacle It's gonna be very demographically similar. Okay. It's gonna look a lot like Dylan I mean you go if you go to other parts of the world You know it's gonna be a lot more demographically similar, but you know Christianity is not based on a physical Characteristic it's not based on your parents are it's actually based on believing in Christ is what the Bible teaches He says in verse 27 for it is written rejoice thou bearing that bear us not Break forth and cry thou that travail us not for the desolate have many more children than she which hath an Husband so it's picturing how Jerusalem which is in heaven was not bearing for a long time in a sense But now it has all these children And it's kind of just picturing the fact that the Gentiles for a long time are not having salvation They're not getting saved at all, but now they're having a great number of people getting saved think about Sarah It was a long period of time where she's bearing where nothing's happening, but then all of a sudden It's all about Isaac, and he's gonna enjoy basically replace Ishmael as Abraham's son Now it says in verse 28 now we brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise so Isaac is really a picture of Spiritual promise spiritual picture that's because when we get saved It's a spiritual promise that we trust in and that's what gets us born again verse 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh who's that Ishmael? Persecuted him that was born after the spirit even so it is now so he's saying Ishmael mocked and laughed at Isaac Okay, and he ridiculed and gave him a hard time This is a picture of how the Jews are gonna mock and ridicule the Christians And he's saying that's what's happening right now He's saying even so it is now so he's saying that whole story was about one particular event when all the Jews would persecute the Christians at the time of the Apostles going out and preaching the gospel and he says in verse 30 nevertheless What say the scripture cast out the bond woman in her son for the son of the bond woman shall not? Be heir with the son of the free woman now. This is really important because it's made a lot of sense here It's been really easy to understand. It's just a lot of people don't want to believe anything that I'm teaching right now But if we keep with this analogy Who is? The one that was born after the flesh that's Ishmael right and it says what are we supposed to do cast him out? And some people say so you think that Israel has been cast out Physical Israel. Yes That's what the Bible teaches, you know, it's funny that the Zionist today and a lot of Christians today, you know, they think Ishmael is only Muslims they basically think the Iran and Iraq and Saudi Arabia and all these people that they're the only thing that the Bible teaches Ishmael is and look From a physical picture. I would say yes, I would say sure I'm sure a lot of people in the Middle East are physical descendants of Ishmael I'm sure a lot more people are physical into descendants of Ishmael than we realize too But I'm sure I'm sure that plenty of them are physical descendants of Ishmael I have no problem with that. But here's the thing the Bible wasn't saying this was a physical picture This is a spiritual picture and who's the real Ishmael according the Bible. It's the Jews They're the real Ishmael and so who was actually cast out Spiritually speaking. It was the Jews that were cast out and it says this is a really important phrase For the son of the bond woman talking about Ishmael. So talking about the Jews Shall not be heir With the son of the free woman. So some people have this idea that God Temporarily set aside the Jews but then is gonna bring them back and make them heirs with the Christians But the Bible is clear. They're not gonna be heirs with the with the free. They've been cast out. They've been rejected They've been completely replaced and the only way for any Jew To receive the promises of Abraham or be a son of Abraham is they have to believe in Christ and become a Christian that is their only hope the only hope for anybody is to believe on Jesus Christ and They're no longer a Jew at that point. They're a Christian because there is neither Jew nor Greek You know, we're all one in Christ Jesus and you say cast out. I don't know about that We'll go to Romans chapter 11 go to Romans chapter 11 Let's see what the Bible actually says and I'll say this what I'm teaching right now may seem real You know kosher to you guys But the majority of independent fundamental Baptist churches would start throwing stones already at me for what I just said They don't believe that you know the church Is basically the spiritual Israel or to say that physical Israel has been cast out is almost blasphemy to them They feel like you're attacking Christ somehow, which is bizarre because the Jews are the ones that are attacking Christ Now look at Romans chapter 11 verse 1 I say then hath God cast away as people So isn't that the question? It's like has he cast away and they'll basically they'll read this and then just read the next phrase and then forget the rest of the Bible they'll say God forbid see God didn't cast them away You know, we can't believe in this replacement theology. God doesn't cast them away. But what if we just kept reading? For I all summon Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin God hath not cast away as people Which he foreknew? Now there's a phrase that you need to add So he's saying there are some Israelites that he has not cast away Well, you're not with the scripture say them Elias how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying Lord They have killed by prophets and dig down land altars and I am left alone and they seek my life So he's saying he's bringing up a story He's saying hey, there was an Old Testament story where Elias is saying I'm the only person left of Israel But was he the only person left physically? No, there's plenty of Israelites. He's saying like I'm the only person left spiritually speaking I'm like the only saved person left in this entire nation. I'm the only real Israel He's like that. He's like the Martin Luther, you know his answer It's like though the Catholic Church left me, but obviously he's better than Martin Luther because he's actually saved But here's here's the picture is he's saying there's only one guy left But then verse 4 but what say the answer of God unto him I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal now in verse 4 does he say oh You're wrong Elijah all of them are children of Israel All of them are God's people. No, he says there's only 7,000 I've reserved so he's saying I didn't cast away everyone, but there was a small portion that I did save He says in verse number five even so then at this present time also There is a remnant according to the election of grace So here's the thing There's only a remnant that he has not cast away and why did he not cast them away? Because they were elected by grace and you say what's grace well, it's not race There's a G in front of it. Okay race means you're born into something It's who your parents are in a sense and I don't even believe in race race is a man-made construct There's only one kind of race. It's called man. Okay Now you could say that some people devolve into brute beasts. That's a different sermon. But hey, there's only one race of man. Okay, and This is saying that they were not chosen because of who their parents were it has nothing to do physically It says in it by grace then is no more of works. Otherwise grace is no more grace But it be of works then it's no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work What then Israel have not obtained that which he seeketh for but the election hath obtained it and the rest were blinded So he's making the distinction between two groups of people Israel and the election because what you could be physically Israel and not elect Now, what does elect mean? What's another word for elect? chosen What does that mean? Some people are physical Israel and they're not the chosen people Yet this is blasphemy in most churches today if I got up and said there are physical Israel People that are not God's chosen people. They're like What? But that's what the Bible just said The Bible said hey Israel didn't get it but the election did and then he says this the rest were blinded Meaning they're not saved Now, I don't I could read the entire chapter here but skip to verse 15 for a moment. Skip to verse 15 What's the point I'm trying to make Cast out the bond woman isn't that we read in Genesis chapter 21, isn't that what we read in Galatians? Isn't that we read in verse number one now we have a caveat to that What's the caveat a remnant of those who are physical Israeli Israelis or Israelites got saved? But they got saved through election of grace. They got saved by believing in Jesus Christ So then what happened to the rest are they cast away? Well, what does it say verse 15 for if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world? Which are the receiving of them be but live from the dead? He's bringing up a hypothetical but the Hypothetical is predicated on the fact that they were cast away he's saying Because the children of Israel cast away and that basically reconciles the rest of the world unto Christ What would have happened if all of Israel had gotten saved what would have happened if they had all believed on Jesus Christ? He's saying it would have been better So he's trying to make it clear that it's not like it's a good thing that the Israelites rejected Christ Okay, it's actually a bad thing But even though they did though the rest of the world was still able to be reconciled by the preaching of the gospel But look Israel was always supposed to be a light unto the Gentiles. So if Israel had received Christ they could have sent everybody out to be apostles and witnesses of Christ and could have gotten even more people saved and that's what the Apostle Paul is basically alluding to is the fact that It would have been better if they had received him. It would have been more people that basically preached the gospel But hey, they were cast away You have to believe they were cast away or this verse makes no sense at all He's bringing up the fact that they've been cast away and you say well, I don't like that fact Well, then you don't like the Bible go to go to Matthew 21 go to Matthew chapter 21 And you say well God's not done with Israel Okay. Well first of all when you say Israel, what do you mean by that? Okay, because we let's define Israel, okay Now I think no matter what you define Israel as you could probably say God's not done with Israel because if we said the the physical Israel that's mentioned here in the Bible. God wasn't done with them because he saved a remnant. Okay? God wasn't done with Spiritual Israel for sure. Hey, we're Israel and God's not done with us Okay, so it's God done with Israel no not not in that sense how about Christ rejecting Jews that live in Israel today God's not done with them either because he's not willing that in should perish but that also come under repentance So he'd love for any of them to get saved So look that's just a weird straw man argument. God's not done with Israel. Okay, sure That doesn't mean anything though What's true though is they've been replaced Now look what it says in Matthew 21 verse 43 Therefore I say unto you and he's talking to the Pharisees and the Jews the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation Bringing forth the fruits thereof now. This is what Christ said would happen So you have one of two options to interpret this verse either it's already happened or it will happen. But here's the problem Nobody is thinking that it's going to happen that rejects what I'm teaching you No one's saying like well, I know that the Israel is gonna lose the kingdom in the future But they haven't yet, you know, they're just teaching they're never gonna lose it Whereas Christ is saying there is gonna come a time when you guys lose it and you say well, when was that 70 AD? They were completely wiped off of the map and there is no there is no option at that point if you live after all the Jews have been decimated in 70 AD you're not wondering like well did God replace Israel? They're gone It's like yeah, he did it's only in modern recent times with basically the modern State of Israel the modern country of Israel. Can anybody even claim that God's not done with them or all this nonsense That's being taught because essentially Israel was just gone and vanished So it's like of course they've been replaced because there's no one to even allude to as being God's chosen people That's why Christians throughout history have always believed in replacement theology and look Catholics that's what they've always taught and you say well, do you believe that because the Catholics believe it? No I don't care what the Catholics believe but I'm telling you facts that they did believe that That Christians as a whole and just basically always believe that it's a modern idea That Christ rejecting Jews are God's chosen people somehow every nation basically hated Physical Jews because there was moneylenders and they're ripping people off and look it's not right to just hate people Look, even if they are ripping you off and even if they are enemies, you know You should still love them and preach them the gospel Okay So I'm not teaching that you should hate Jews just because they are the least receptive to the gospel But it's a fact that they're least receptive to the gospel and it's a fact that they're not God's chosen people unless They're elected by grace. That is the only way they could be God's chosen people They have been replaced and you say well, what kind of nation will go to first Peter chapter number two Go to first Peter chapter number two. Is it is it Rome because Rome took them over and Rome, you know took over that land So are they the nation that it's talking about? No, because again, we're talking about a spiritual book talking about spiritual promises And if it was an allegory alluded to in Galatians about a spiritual picture Then it has to be an allegory or a spiritual picture that's being alluded to here in this place as well Look what it says in first Peter chapter 2 verse 6 Wherefore it is contained. I'm sorry Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture be old I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone Elect precious and he that believeth on him should not be confounded now who's that stone? That's Christ Precious meaning rare. He's elect. He was the chosen one and we believe in him We won't be ashamed or notice how it's worded here Confounded verse 7 unto you therefore which believe he is precious but unto them which be 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 Where unto also they were appointed so the Bible saying the builders who's the builders that was the Jews They're the ones that set up The nation of Israel, they're the ones that built the temple. They're the ones that built the altar they're the ones that built all of these things and basically made them and allowed them for Christ even come and They were built by hands, you know and Christ came but here's the problem. They rejected the head of their corner They rejected their Christ. They rejected their rock. They were disobedient and God had already known they were gonna do that And so it says in verse 9 but II so making a contrast from them are a chosen generation a royal priesthood notice this and holy Nation of peculiar people that ye should show forth the praise of him who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light So what's the nation that God gave the kingdom of God to to Christians? Now, what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the same as the kingdom of heaven don't let Kent Hovind confuse you on this. Okay. He's a liar But the kingdom of God the kingdom heaven are the same thing and it's basically getting saved You know, what are the keys the kingdom of heaven it's the gospel he gave that to Peter He gave that to disciples and they go out and it's like how do I get in the kingdom? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved now. You're a citizen of that nation Now you are part of that kingdom And so it's a spiritual key that unlocks a spiritual kingdom because if I said hey, I want to go to Israel I want to be part of that nation that's bringing forth the fruits thereof. Where do I go? Pastor Shelley? You don't have to go anywhere You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and now you're part of that kingdom. That's how you enter into that kingdom It's not a physical kingdom that you enter into anymore It's a spiritual kingdom and you say well, how do I get there if you're saved you're there You are part of that kingdom. You are now in the kingdom of God you're in the kingdom of heaven and look obviously there's gonna be a physical manifestation of the kingdom of God a Physical manifestation of the kingdom of heaven it's gonna literally descend from heaven down on earth and we're gonna rule and reign with Christ in a Physical sense and we're gonna be with them. But guess what if you're saved you're already part of that city You're already a citizen the thing is right now you're just so journey You've been granted citizenship you're part of that nation, but right now we're just on a permanent visa You know traveling visa, we're tourists on this this this vagabond place or whatever you want to call it You know this fugitive area that we're in basically preaching the gospel trying to get other people to what coming to the kingdom with us And Look, that was the whole point of the physical nation was to bring people into the physical nation picturing what salvation and he said man You're really spiritually in the Bible yes, because it's a spiritual book and God used physical truths of a physical nation and people physically becoming part of that nation through circumcision in the Passover to spiritualize what happens in the New Testament how we enter into the spiritual kingdom through what belief in Christ and he's our Passover lamb and we're circumcised with Christ and Isaac was circumcised and it's a picture of the spiritual circumcision That we now have go to the Romans chapter 2. Let me show you even more verses on this You say well, I already get this well Look, we need to know all these scriptures and believe all these scriptures and for some weird reason. This is a very Controversial doctrine that I'm teaching you but think about how much Bible we're reading right now. That's so clear on this It's crazy how Baptist today have just decided to reject so much of what the Bible just clearly teaches and It's not even bad. Isn't this great? I mean to find out that you're really you're the real Israel And we're into that kingdom of God and we need to get other people in the kingdom of God by rejecting this doctrine you basically devalue us and you elevate people that hate Jesus and hate Christ and I've noticed that the devil always likes to do something he always liked to devalue the children of God and Elevate the children of the devil and to try to emphasize the children of the devil and it's really funny how two groups really hate each other the children of God and the children of devil and Fake Christians fall over themselves to show grace and kindness to the children of the devil Acting like they don't hate anybody and they're great and they're kind or whatever. It's like look, you know Why can't we just embrace the doctrines of God, you know, we need to as God's ministers and as you know Saved Christians to believe the right doctrines about who we are and who the world is So that we can be effective in our mission if we're confused. We're not gonna be very effective We don't know who the enemy is if we don't know what the objective is We don't know the target is and look I guarantee the churches that are really mixed up on Zionism Probably are not the biggest soul-winning churches Because the devil loves to come in and twist things and confuse people and try to elevate that which is wicked and get you to love and praise and adore that which is wicked rather than The Word of God or the Bible and God's children now, I had to turn to Romans chapter 2 and we're talking about that circumcision Well, look at what it says in verse 28 Free is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh But he is a Jew which is one inwardly and Circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose praise is not of men but of God so notice he makes it clear that being a real Jew a Spiritual Jew has nothing to do with your outward physical Circumcision you could even be uncircumcised and be a Jew if you're inwardly Circumcised meaning what you believed on Christ and While it's true that in the Old Testament people who were unsaved But a physical Jew were in a sense God's chosen people. It's also always been true that the real God's people were always spiritual only meaning when we looked at Elias in their earlier place He's the real Jew though, even though he's the real spiritual Israel Even though he's amongst other Israelites and everything like that and God used those physical pictures to illustrate the spiritual truths in the future So that's an important point because later in parts of the Bible. It's gonna tell you there's a distinction between Israel They'll say there's two different Israel's and you have to understand that distinction or you're gonna get really confused Really quickly go if you go to Romans chapter 9 now Romans chapter number 9. Let me show you what I'm talking about Because just because your Israel doesn't make you Israel Look what the Bible says in Romans chapter 9 verse 6 not as though the Word of God have taken an effect for they are Not all Israel which are of Israel And he said that sounds confusing What is on the surface? But what does it mean? You have to add a word in your mind to make sense of this Okay for they are not all Spiritual Israel, which are of physical Israel, that's what it's saying So whenever you realize what those two different words are meaning now It's gonna make perfect sense and look that's always been the case you go back in the Old Testament. They were not all Spiritual Israel who were physical Israel and today they're not all spiritual Israel, which are physical Israel Even if you were a hundred percent pure-blooded Jew Unless you believed in Christ, you're not really Israel. It's a fake Israel It's just it's only a physical Israel that has no purpose or meaning. That's why Christ often in the Gospels He's talking to them and he says I know you're the seed of Abraham But you're the children of the devil. You're not his children You're not his seed because when he was saying you're not his seed. He didn't mean physically meant spiritually He's saying you're of your father the devil why because they were spiritually children of the devil They hated Christ they rejected Christ and because of their hatred for him they become reprobate They couldn't even believe as John chapter 12 clearly illustrates. Okay Now I want you to go to a few more places because this is an important doctrine go to Galatians chapter number three Galatians chapter three. So what are you trying to teach us Pastor Shelley Isaac replaced Ishmael and Christians replaced physical Jews and You say well all the physical Jews know because some of the physical Jews were some of those Christians that replaced the physical Israel and God basically replaced physical Israel with the church and he gave them the keys and that happened at the end of the gospel We entered in the New Testament The New Testament was with his with the shedding of Christ's blood and then his death thrown resurrection. He ends up, you know Empowering and Commissioning the disciples to go out and now the church is taking over and they wait You know obviously for power on high from the Holy Spirit and we see all these changes Happening where we're no longer under the old covenant We have the new covenant and now we have the New Testament and now we have the church and now we're basically doing things differently That's really important to realize, you know The church does kind of doesn't even make sense If the chosen people didn't change at all if it was just a physical nation It's like well then do we all need to become Jews and they wrestled with that through the book of Acts where they're trying to Judaize people or Try to convert them to Judaism and and Paul and Peter sometimes He's kind of on the fence of both sides of this, but they have to constantly remind them like no No, we're not like Judeo Christian We're just Christian now and I don't like that term Judeo Christian because we're not like part Jew and part Christian we're just all Christian and People that are Jews. They need to just become all the way Christian. I don't even like messianic Jew Because that's a misleading term. You should just be a Christian. That's it And look, it's not like I go out and say like I'm a Caucasian Christian, you know, I'm a messianic Christian Like it doesn't make any sense. You know, it's kind of a misleading term. It's usually people that say that they're mixing Both religions and they probably have not even actually trusted Christ because to be saved it's an all-or-nothing deal either all the way in Christ and you're Christian or Faith and works you're damned to hell Doesn't matter if you recognize he's the Son of God you have to put your trust in him, too Now what I'm teaching you is called in a fancy theological term super Secessionism, okay And what that means is it's really like this super means to like kind of go above and the session isms like replace So it's basically saying like we're replacing or we're superseding is another way you could kind of word that the the Previous group here, but that's what happens Isaac is superseding Ishmael he's now coming in the place of and Replacing Ishmael and Ishmael's completely gone and at one point Abraham only has one son. Who is that Ishmael? It's the apple of his eye. It's his boy It's his son. He loves Ishmael He was grieved when he had to cast out Ishmael He didn't want to cast out Ishmael, but here's the thing Isaac is the real deal And so because of that he has to replace him and he has a cast out Ishmael and Ishmaels no longer in the story He's no longer part of Abraham's life and in fact when we get later in the book Whenever it refers to Isaac, it's his only begotten son That's a pretty that's kind of a spitting in the face of Ishmael when you think about it He's saying like this is my only son This is my only begotten son, but he had it He had the other guy meaning like God just just completely disregarded Israel. He doesn't care about physical Israel at all God is not a respecter of persons. They're completely done There's nothing special about being physically descended from Abraham who probably all are if you took a DNA test, okay? But I believe this doctrine I've seen people they're like, oh man, you're teaching super secessionism or you're teaching replacement theology I'm thinking like yeah, they think it's like a cuss word or something You know, they think that you're saying like you you go to the satanic temple or something It's like no the synagogue of Satan is the Jews read revelation Now look at Galatians chapter 3 look at verse number 6 even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness know you 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 and Abraham saying in thee shall all nations be blessed So then they which be by which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham For as many as are the works of the law are under the curse for it is written Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which were written in the book of the law to do them But that no man is justified by the law on the side of God It is evident for the just shall live by faith and the law is not of faith But the man that doeth them shall live in them Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of law being made a curse for us for it is written Person is everyone that hangeth on a tree that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now what the Bible is teaching is that the the Jews Physically physical Israel they receive the law Okay, they have the law but there's a problem with the fact that they had received that law The problem is that no man is justified by the law Notice you're only going to be condemned and the only way is for the to basically be just is by faith as it says in Verse number 11 and it makes it clear cursed. Is there anyone that doesn't do everything that's written in the book of the law? So they were given the law, but here's the thing. That's all they have and because they rejected Christ. They're still on that law program and Until they get on Christ program. The only thing they have is the condemnation or the curse of the law So they had to break that curse or break that condemnation through believing in Christ and that's what gives us that same basic blessing and redemption from the curse of the law go back if you would to Genesis 21 go back to Genesis chapter 21 and We could look I have so many places in the Bible We could possibly turn to on this subject because it's just flooding the Bible's just flooded with this type of information I'll read for you from 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 the Bible says for you brethren became followers of the churches of God Which in Judea are in Christ Jesus for he also suffered like things of your own countrymen even as they have of the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have Persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved to fill up their sins All wait for the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost now that's Important because again, they're being persecuted by the Jews, which is what I? Ishmael making fun of Isaac that we just read and Also, it's saying that they please not God. How can you say they're God's chosen people when they don't please him at all? How can you say that they're special or they're blessed when the Bible says the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost? That doesn't sound like a blessing He's saying they're the most cursed The most wrath and in fact when you read the Bible they are the putt they're punished the worst of anybody Even worse than Sodom and in Gomorrah and some of these other places because the Bible teaches that not all deaths are equal You know the sword is not the worst way to die. He says starving to death is worse He says dying of hunger and what happens to the children of Israel when they're punished by Babylon They literally starve so much that they start eating their own children That is a worries way worse punishment. I mean he brought the hammer He punished them double for their sins as the Bible describes it They got the wrath of the uttermost and here's the thing Christ rejecting Jews are in danger of receiving the greatest wrath That's why they really need to get saved Well, they really need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ And we should love them and preach them the gospel and not tell them they were on their way to heaven Oh, you have your covenant. Here's a problem your covenants only of condemnation You need that new covenant Everybody needs the new covenant verse 12 and God said in Abraham. Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and Because of thy bondwoman and all that Sarah said unto thee hearken in her voice for an Isaac shall thy seed Be called and you know, that's what the Bible had told us in Romans chapter number 9 It is said in Isaac shall thy seed be called and it I'll just read for you It says 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 for this is the word of promise at this time Will I come and Sarah shall have a son so Romans chapter 9 10 11 basically explain how? God wants the children of Israel to get saved Paul wants the children is will get saved but they're not and there's a difference between the physical Israel and the spiritual Israel and Eventually, there will be no difference There will be a point in time when all Israel shall be saved But that's only at the millennial after all the Gentiles have come in and they've all gotten saved Now we'll have a physical Israel that matches spiritual Israel, but there's never been a point in time where that's been true There's never been a point in time where all physical Israel is also all a spiritual Israel that Fulfillment is at the millennial reign of Christ that fulfillment is later gonna happen in the future and It's gonna be a glorious thing when Israel is just the saved and we're and we're having a good time together We're gonna get that last laugh verse 13 And also of the son of the bond woman Will I make a nation because he is thy seed? nay ram rose up early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave it unto Hagar putting it on her shoulder and the child and sent her away and she departed in water in the wilderness of Beersheba and The water was spent in the bottle and she cast the child under one of the shrubs and she went and sat her down over against him a good way off as It were a bowshot for she said let me not see the death of the child and She sat over against him and lift up her voice and wept and God heard the voice of the lad and the angel of God Called to Hagar out of heaven and said under what aleth thee Hagar Fear not for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is arise lift up the lad and hold him in thine hand I will make him a great nation and God opened their eyes and she saw a well of water and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad drink and God was with the lad and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer and he dwelt in the wilderness of Peron And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt now In this section the Bibles make it clear though that God even though this was an allegory and it pictures a lot of things It doesn't mean that God hated Ishmael or something and we see even God showing mercy Under Ishmael blessing Ishmael and it says something very important in verse 20 says and God was with the lad You know picture the fact what? Ishmael pictures the Jews and God was with the Jews and God blessed the Jews and God did good under the Jews and Look, I even think it's likely Ishmael's probably been saved a Lot of people hate Ishmael, but you know Ishmael is not someone to hate Physically, we shouldn't hate physical Ishmael. We shouldn't hate the Muslims We shouldn't hate those that are in Iran and Iraq and what does Zionist do they try to make Ishmael physical so they can bomb him basically Israel will shoot rockets and kill women children in these Iraqi countries and Republicans and Fox News Baptist will basically rejoice and be like, oh we're blessing Israel and we're blessing God to kill that You know Muslim or whatever and it's like while Muslims are unreceptive the gospel the Jews are more unreceptive and You know what? I'm not gonna rejoice that women and children being killed. That's a horrible thing You know, there's a lot of people they get mad at me for my hatred so-called yet. They hate Muslims all day long They hate all kinds of different people. They just don't want to admit it You know, whenever Osama bin Laden was killed everybody's rejoicing everybody was excited about his death you know lots of people rejoice over the death of people who they perceive to be wicked and Look my perception of wickedness doesn't matter. The only wickedness that matters is what God said, you know Jonah would have been really happy if Nineveh had been destroyed Nineveh was basically, you know the Muslims to him. He was just like nuke him, you know, just like take him out He was mad that God didn't kill them You know a bunch of Fox News Baptist would be mad if Israel never shot another rocket at them You know or if Palestine was taken back over by the Muslims or something like that You know what? Hey if a bunch of Muslims got saved and they took over the physical promised land I would say praise the Lord. I Wouldn't be upset of that. I wouldn't be mad at that and look I don't want any war I don't want people to be fighting each other. I'm not saying it's good for the Palestinians or the people in the Middle East to fire at Israel. I think they should be peace Okay, but the only way they're gonna be peace is if you stop supporting Israel and enforcing the takeover all this land it's not really theirs and America, you know historically at least the last several decades when we're under Republican leadership or conservative leadership has really advocated for More war and more bloodshed and allowing Israel to basically destroy its enemies and look I'm not for that as evil and as wicked as the Democrats are and look they're really wicked They're not really on the wrong side of that issue They're usually saying like we should have peace and we shouldn't support Israel and bombing You know all of these Israeli, you know These Iraqi countries and look it's not as always as simple as Republicans are always right and Democrats are always wrong I look at as they're both pretty much always wrong That's a lot easier, okay, so if you want an easy way just look at them both probably being wrong almost all the time But at the end of the day, we need to make sure that our doctrine is what the Bible says not what the world thinks Don't let John Hagee tell you who Israel is. He's not even saved Okay, he's written books and preached that they don't even need to get saved They don't even need to believe in Christ That's wicked and some Baptists seem to go all the way to that extreme at times and we need to reject that false doctrine Look what it says in verse 22 and it came to pass at that time That Abimelech and Fichol the chief captain of his host, Begin Abraham saying God is with thee and all that thou do is now Therefore swear unto me here by God That thou wilt not deal falsely with me nor with my son nor with my son's son But according to kindness that I have done unto thee thou shalt do unto me and the land where in thou sojourn And Abraham said I will swear and Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech servants had violently taken away And Abimelech said I woe not who had done this thing neither didst thou tell me neither yet heard I of it but today and Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them unto Abimelech and both of them made a covenant and Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves and Abimelech said unto Abraham What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou has set by themselves and he said for these seven ewe lambs that shalt thou take Of my hand they may be a witness unto me that I have digged this well Wherefore he called that place Beersheba Because there they swear both of them thus they made a covenant Beersheba Then Abimelech rose up and Fichol the chief captain of his host and they returned into the land of the Philistines And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting God and Abraham sojourned in the Philistines land many days, so It kind of just has this interesting dialogue here and you know I just want to point out a few things in this this dialogue at the end First of all, the Bible tells us that you know, he's dwelling amongst these other people and Abraham's a peaceful person He's just trying to dwell amongst these other people and he's not trying to hurt or harm them Yet the Bible makes it clear that they had hurt him or harmed him in some way and they're coming and trying to say we Want to have peace with you after they've already harmed him and it is said in verse 25 That Abimelech's servants had violently taken away a well that it owned that had been in possession of Abraham His servants dug a well had done all the work and effort and then Abimelech came and Violently, they beat them up or they hurt them or they harm them. They may even kill somebody. We don't know they vandalize something they basically did evil unto them and took that and before Abraham's basically Making peace with this guy. He's saying well, why don't I give you a present? Why don't I give you seven? Lambs ooh lambs would be like baby lambs as a present and then that'll be a witness that this is really mine now what I find interesting about the story is Abraham's done nothing wrong and Then he gives a present unto his enemy and buys back Basically this well that was taken away from so imagine someone comes at you and steals something They steal your computer, and then they say hey, I want to be your friend, and you're like well You stole my computer, and you're like okay. I'll be your friend. How about I buy the computer from you? It's like isn't that being pretty nice isn't that being pretty generous Couldn't he have just been like no I won't be your friend unless you just give me back that well But notice he just goes ahead and makes this peace offering unto him is willing to just go ahead and buy it from him Even though it's already his it was wrongfully taken from him, but what is he doing? he's being a peacemaker and Sometimes being a peacemaker means that you're gonna suffer wrong You're gonna be defrauded Evil may happen to you, and you just take it patiently And this is a Christian attribute of us taking things patiently you know 1st Corinthians 6 is all about this Have your brother and Christ trespasses against you that'd be sometimes better. Just be defrauded You know just let people do you wrong and just get over it now? Go if you would to Psalms chapter 15, I want to show you a few verses here Why do you say that look? It's just better to be at peace with people if someone does wrong to you Even if they're not apologetic even if they don't admit it you can still let things go Okay, now. I'm not saying you're forced to I'm not saying you have to what I'm saying is a mature Christian someone who has basically realized that it's not worth fighting Every single fight will realize sometimes you should just let things go even when you're in there You've just been wronged completely and the other person won't even take ownership of it because whenever he's telling Abimelech this Abimelech is is not saying like yeah, we did this. He's like. I don't know who did this. I don't know anything about it He's not saying like yeah, we did that yeah, we took it. Yeah, we did wrong He's been it's basically like you caught someone red-handed stealing from you, and they're just like I don't know what happened I think it's my computer, and you're like here's a video of you taking it It's like I don't know where that video came from I don't you know I know not the man. You know it's like In this picture. He did him wrong. It's proven that he did it wrong. He didn't apologize He didn't ask for forgiveness, and then what does Abraham do he just goes ahead and just says what let me just buy it from you Back anyways, and then we'll just be friends anyways because why because that's what it means to make peace some people have this idea You know that the only way you can make peace with someone is if they sincerely apologize for every transgression Now ideally they would Okay, what would have been the best-case scenario? Abimelech said I didn't know about that, but you're right. I'm so sorry. We're gonna fix it Here's the well and in fact I'm gonna give you some money for the time lost of not having that well And we'll fix it wouldn't that been the best response shouldn't that would have been a bim like did But he's not willing to meet him halfway So you know what Abraham is basically coming across the aisle to meet a bimelech even though It's not fair even though. It's not perfectly equitable and a mature Christian can do this Immature Christians are tick for tack You hit me. I hit you back. You stole my pencil. I'm stealing your pencil back You don't do it you do wrong to me I do wrong back to you and I'm not willing to forgive you unless you basically fall down on your knees beg me and tell me how wonderful I am and You think I'm joking. I'm not joking. I've seen many Christians do this I've had this problem happen to me as far as people bringing me issues like this and like over silly stuff And when I say silly, it's so silly. I don't want to mention it. Okay. It's basically like stealing a pencil And It's weird. We'll have people come up to me like he stole my pencil in church, and he didn't give it back And I'm like okay. What did you say something to him? Yeah? I told him he stole my pencil But he didn't apologize, and it's like what if I buy you a pencil no he has to apologize I'm ready to throw him out of the church It's like what throw him out of the church. It's a pencil like get over it Just mature just grow up. You know you have to you tell this to your children the children coming. He took my toy and They expect you to basically be like you you have to give back the toy sometimes. You're like well play with something else and They give they get all their like befuddled by they're like he took my toy You know it's like sometimes you have to get over it sometimes you have to realize he took you well, okay? Get another one Buy it back do something else, and you don't want to just make everybody have to you know Basically beg you to be your friend or beg for goodness every time sometimes you just reach across the aisle That's what makes you a good friend, and wouldn't you want that once you've you were in the wrong? Like it if people are willing to come across the aisle towards you Now look what it says in Psalms 15 verse 4 and his eyes a vile person is content But he honored them that fear the Lord He swereth to his own hurt and changeth not now in the story. He's basically saying will you be my friend. He's like yes Now if you've already promised to be his friend Then when this goes south you know you're just gonna swear to your own hurt and change not Abraham's like not gonna do anything to harm this guy or hurt this guy and when you make a promise Even if it's to your own detriment You need to just go ahead and keep your word If you promise to do something for somebody if you're making a you know basically you're trying to entrust somebody with something You need to make sure that you're always gonna do it even if it hurts you a little bit Even if it's at your own detriment. I mean this was that Abraham's detriment to buy his own well back Obviously it's taking it back But he's basically promising that piece of this guy and swearing to be his friend Go to Proverbs chapter 3 for a moment go to Proverbs chapter 3 the Bible says if it be possible as much as lieth in You live peaceably with all men so the Bible says if it be possible as much as lieth in you so whenever a Church member approaches me And I'm basically just telling you this so you'll know in the future you can be prepared when a church man approached me and says I'm upset at this other church member I Usually say well is this something you can just let go is this something that's not a big enough deal that you can just move on anyways and If they say yes, you know the best thing to do is just move on Now sometimes it crosses a threshold where it has to be addressed right you know I try to liken this on you stole my pencil Whatever now you get a knife, and you slash my tires. You know That might be something. I'm like I want to dress that you know that's kind of a serious deal right or Let's say you hurt my child or something or something bad happens Then maybe that needs to be addressed and that threshold could be a little bit different for each person And I get that and there's gonna be some discretion here what I'm teaching little minor grievances or little petty things She doesn't want to be my friend. She didn't invite me to this or he said this or he did this It's like just get over it Who cares you know if it's a serious enough deal then yeah, maybe we need to you know talk about it It's like he told me he was gonna pay me back for lunch, but he didn't Really Now someone ripped somebody off for like 10,000 bucks in the church I get that you may like think like I want to you know have a reconciliation on this You know I want something to be done about this, but look if it's just a few bucks who cares He had to pay seven limbs that was a lot of money so for his threshold It was pretty high wasn't it Abraham was so mature He was willing to spend a lot of money to maintain her friendship with somebody without having to have reconciliation truly Now if it had been all the wells Maybe Abraham would have been like no I can't just you know let you just take all the wells, but it was just one he's like I'll buy this one back who cares You know having a friend is more important than a little bit of money or a little bit of inconvenience or a little bit of discomfort or whatever Proverbs chapter 3 verse 29 the Bible says devise not evil against thy neighbor seeing each well securely by thee You don't want to piss off your neighbors You don't want to piss off your friends You want to have is a good a relationship with people as possible and even if it's your own detriment or hurt You want to have that go to mark chapter 11 last place. I'll turn ok Matt Matt mark chapter number 11 The Bible says in verse 24 therefore I stand you what things so every desire when you pray Believe that you receive them and you shall have them and when you stand praying forgive if you have ought against any That your father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses But if you do not forgive neither will your father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses Another thing if someone asks forgiveness the Bible commands you to forgive them But even beyond that it's saying when you're just praying within yourself if you can just forgive somebody they have ought against You should just go ahead and do it That way God the Father Can have that with you look if you have this is how I say it if you're upset with anybody That's a brother in Christ you need to either immediately get rid of that you know unforgiveness if you can or Talk to them in person and reconcile it, but you shouldn't just let bitterness develop in your heart You shouldn't just let these things fester and because what happens is you just like a little bit upset But you don't resolve it and then the next time you see them They just get you a little bit more upset But you don't resolve it and then the next time you see them you get a little bit more upset But you don't resolve it and then eventually you're just really mad at this person you hate this person everything They do upsets you just the way they look the way they talk the way they dress how they handle themselves Just everything just makes you mad about them. You just look at them like can you Matt? Can you believe how they're sitting in that chair? Can you believe how they're looking right now, and it's like why because of unresolved tension? Unresolved issue unresolved ought and you know what odd is anything So that's why it's important if you have a problem with someone and you can't get over it Fix it you know go to the person try to resolve it, but if you can't just let it go Let it go and even you know what if it cost you a little bit extra It's better to just be at peace with people than having physical possessions anyways. Let's close in prayer. Thank you father so much for your word Thank you so much for these examples you've given us the Bible Thank you for allowing us to be the the chosen nation this royal priesthood to have this spiritual kingdom of God that we can go out and preach the gospel and I pray that as we Do this great work that? We wouldn't have the need to always be Fully recompensed on every transgression that we'd actually just love our brethren We'd love our brothers and sisters in Christ and that we'd be willing to just forgive people and to reach across the aisle and to be peacemakers and that we would swear to our own hurt and change not and that Whatever inconveniences we have that we would just seek peace and that we try to have as much unity as possible in the church And we wouldn't be petty and carnal about little grievances But rather we would have love and charity in our hearts and in Jesus name we pray Amen