Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20061217.htm

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: GOD'S MIDEAST SOLUTION GIFT
Part II: God's Mideast Solution Gift Relative To Judaism
(Luke 1:26-38 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

The Middle East crisis threatens the welfare of world peace this Christmas Season, so seeking a comprehensive solution is a chief aim of many world leaders.

However, to consider what it takes to gain a true, long-term solution, one must realize that the crisis has at its core three deeply ingrained and differing religious systems - Islam, Judaism and Christendom. [I use the term, "Christendom" and not "Biblical Christianity" here as "Christendom" mixes truth with error, and has thus compounded the Middle East crisis (as we will see in next Sunday's message)!]

Ironically, even though the State of Israel is often viewed in our country as the relatively innocent party in the Mideast crisis, for it seems many of Israel's neighbors unfairly oppose her survival, from God's perspective, the Jewish people as a nation have violated His Word and so currently suffer reproach from her Gentile foes as divine discipline; after all, HAD Israel heeded Scripture, Deuteronomy 28:1, 7, 10 reveal that her Gentile foes would be defeated in battle and also "be afraid of" her so as not to oppress her!



Accordingly, to understand what CONTRIBUTION toward peace in the Middle East that WE at NEPAUG BIBLE CHURCH can make from GOD'S perspective, we view the HISTORY of the Jewish people to discern WHERE they ERRED so as to be left without God's blessing, and what WE can CONSTRUCTIVELY do in GOD'S LOVE toward SOLVING this need . . .



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "If the Mideast crisis MUST be PARTLY ISRAEL'S fault as GOD implies due in His Deuteronomy 28 promises, WHERE have the Jewish people ERRED so that I I MYSELF might avoid their error, and what part can I play in PROMOTING God's solution?!"
  1. God promised the Jewish people peace with their Gentile foes and dominance over them were Israel to obey ALL of His Law given by the Prophet, Moses, cf. Deuteronomy 28:1, 7, 10.
  2. Well, ONE rule of that Law was Israel's need to heed the Prophet like Moses that Moses said would one day rise, cf. Deut. 18:18-19.
  3. That Prophet was Jesus Christ as noted in the announcement of the Angel Gabriel to Mary in light of the other Scriptures (as follows):
    1. Gabriel claimed that Jesus Who would be born to Mary would rule as the promised Messiah over the throne of his father David (Lk. 1:32b), and that He would rule the Jewish people (Luke 1:33a) in a reign that would never end (Luke 1:33b) in fulfillment of Daniel 2:44 and 7:14.
    2. Gabriel also said that Jesus would be the Son of God, or equal to God the Father as an adult Son in accord with Jewish culture (Luke 1:32a, 35b and John 5:18), and that Jesus would be conceived in Mary's womb by God and thus be born by the virgin birth, Luke 1:34-36.
    3. These facts about Jesus as announced by Gabriel were certified by the miracles Jesus later performed in His ministry, cf. John 6:12-14.
  4. However, Israel REJECTED Jesus as her Messiah and God (John 1:11), so God's JUDGMENT that was PREDICTED in MOSES' LAW was applied to ISRAEL beginning in A. D. 70 (as follows):
    1. When Jesus entered Jerusalem to present Himself as the promised Messiah, knowing Israel had rejected Him, He wept over her, noting this rejection meant the city would fall in judgment to the Romans in A. D. 70 (Lk. 19:41-44; Ryrie St. Bib., KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. to 19:43.
    2. This prophecy aligns with Moses' OWN ancient prediction that this VERY INVASION would occur if Israel this disobeyed God, cf. Deuteronomy 28:58, 64-68; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Deut. 28:64-68.
  5. As the NATION Israel will NOT BELIEVE in JESUS until the Great Tribulation (Zechariah 12:9-13:1), the Jewish people STILL SUFFER GENTILE OPPRESSION in line with GOD'S discipline, Daniel 9:26-27; Ibid., Ryrie, ftns. to Daniel 9:26 and 9:27!
  6. Now, the REASON Israel rejected Christ was due to LEGALISM: Israel's false pride (John 5:44) led to self-made rules and works to gain righteousness (Rom. 9:31-32 with Matthew 15:8-9) that in turn led to a disregard for and an eventual unbelief in her written Scripture (John 5:46-47) that persists as blindness (Romans 11:25).
  7. Accordingly, only a REMNANT of the Jewish people TODAY believe in Christ, and as a NATION, only a REMNANT will be saved to start the Messianic Kingdom AFTER having faced great trials in the coming Great Tribulation era, cf. Romans 11:1-2, 5, 26; Ibid., Ryrie, ftns. to Romans 11:1-36; 11:15 and 11:17-24.
  8. Now, LEGALISM can afflict CHRISTIANS: the Galatian believers were led by proud men (Gal. 6:12a) who created a false gospel by adding circumcision to faith in Christ for salvation (Gal. 6:12b with 1:8-9; 5:2), and that led to a neglect and unbelief in Scripture truth (Gal. 1:6) that in turn produced spiritual blindness (3:1-5).
  9. Thus, relative to Judaism, God's Mideast solution gift involves the evangelizing of Jews TODAY to trust in Christ for salvation by GRACE, and God's FUTURE salvation of the nation Israel in the Great Tribulation along with the eternal damnation of all who do not believe in Christ, cf. Romans 1:16; 11:25-26; Revelation 20:15.
Application: May we (1) trust in Christ for eternal life, John 3:16; Col. 1:12-14. (2) Then, may we (a) love Jews as deceived, lost people for whom Christ died, and (b) lead them to trust in Him as Savior, John 3:16! (c) In so doing, may we learn from Israel's failure due to her errant, blinding LEGALISM, and so TRUST and HEED Scripture in GOD'S GRACE over heeding MAN-MADE, false, LEGALISTIC ideas and methods of living so that we may EFFECTIVELY evangelize the lost!

Lesson: Israel is PART of the problem in the Mideast crisis, for God has WITHDRAWN His BLESSING of her due to her REJECTION of her God and Messiah, JESUS, and that due to LEGALISM! However, an eternal peace WILL come as God sets up the earthly eternal messianic kingdom after the Great Tribulation, one in which each Jewish and Gentile subject will have trusted in Christ as personal Savior from sin! Thus, to PROMOTE God's Middle East peace plan, we must trust in Christ as Savior and herald this Gospel to all men, including JEWS, and OURSELVES as BELIEVERS AVOID the same failure of LEGALISM for sanctification and usefulness by God in the process, cf. Romans 8:3-4!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

God dramatically supplied this sermon's closing illustration on November 30th weeks before this sermon was ever formed!

That day, the man who had agreed to buy our old, very heavy piano in the Fellowship Hall had called to say he would arrive at the Church around 6 p.m. to pay for the piano and to take it away.

However, I was scheduled them to pick up my wife from her long day at work and take her to a restaurant for supper; her fatigue made it unhealthy for her to go home to plan and cook a meal and then unwind enough to sleep well. Sure, some of the missionaries I had known as a son of missionaries in Africa had years before taught us to "put the Lord's work ahead of family". Indeed, one even told my Dad he was unfit for the kingdom of God since he was "turning back from having put his hand to the plow" (cf. Luke 9:62) when Dad had decided to leave Africa for America to finish adequately fathering his sons so they could mature in Christ. However, I had since learned that Scripture taught God expected us to do the opposite -- to meet our family needs as our TOP ministry priority, 1 Tim. 5:8; 1 Cor. 7:4-5. So, I opted to follow Dad's courageous example, and told the mover by phone I had to be away when he arrived, but that I could come at 8:30.

When I later arrived at the Fellowship Hall, the piano was gone! The mover had called Dave Slate to ask for help entering the Church, and Dave had met him to make the business transaction.

It all turned out to be of the Lord, too! The purchaser had only one other man to help him move the piano, so Dave had pitched in to help them, and, as he later described it, to my physical welfare as well! The heavy piano nearly toppled off of its board on its way down the stairs! Had I been in Dave's place, the piano may have rolled over, and I or whoever was below it might have been badly hurt! As it happened, Dave with his bigger, younger and stronger body was barely able to keep the piano on the right course to avoid injury!

I realized from Dave's report that by my HEEDING what I saw was a SCRIPTURAL priority of meeting my wife's needs first VERSUS aligning with a LEGALISTIC idea from missionaries whom I had known in my childhood, God had kept us from harm!

So may we CHRISTIANS then AVOID the LEGALISTIC bent that tripped up Israel, and LOVINGINGLY be EFFECTIVE in then evangelizing Jewish people for Christ's kingdom!