In the book of Genesis, chapter 12 and verse 3, Abraham is given a promise by God that he would be one who God would favor. He said, whoever blesses you, I will bless, and whoever curses you, I will curse. It was the beginning of the nation of Israel, all under Abraham. Well, our very special guest today is with a ministry that reaches out to the nation of Israel and to those who are what we would call descendants of Abraham. His name is Paul Scharf. Paul is the church ministry's representative of a ministry called Friends of Israel. And he is going to be our guest for the next few moments. Paul, you hail all the way from Wisconsin to come and do this interview. Thanks for traveling this way. letting us have a little insight into the ministry. What is Friends of Israel ministry? Well, the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry came into existence in December of 1938. So it's been around for a long time. By the way, that's a rare thing in the Christian world for a ministry to maintain its focus and its faithfulness over now 83 years. The Lord brought the Friends of Israel into existence out of extraordinary circumstances. Three weeks after Hitler launched the Holocaust in Germany, Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, November 9 and 10, 30,000 Jewish men taken off to concentration camps, and the Holocaust began. But three weeks later in Philadelphia, the Friends of Israel began, and its early leaders included Dr. Harry Ironside, pastor of the Moody Church, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chaffer, co-founder of Dallas Seminary, and others who came together to give leadership to the beginnings of what we now call the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. And your role with them as far as a church ministry representative? Yes, I'm a church ministries representative, which is one of roughly 15 in North America doing this work. And the word church sets us apart from those who are field ministries representative, who are working primarily, thoroughly in the Jewish community, trying to be of help and encouragement to Jewish people directly. as their focus. But my focus, and those like me in the Church Ministries department, is the local church, reaching out to churches. telling them not only about the Friends of Israel, but about the very important doctrines for which the Friends of Israel is known, for which it exists. Sadly, some of those things are in decline many times in our current church environment. So sometimes we actually need to teach and create in people's minds the reason for learning about these things once again, the importance of Israel, that God still has a future for Israel. and he will fulfill every promise he's ever made, every prophecy he's ever given regarding his chosen people. Paul Sharf, our guest today on KHCBA, and he is in Houston. Now, you hail from Wisconsin, but the ministry is not based there, right? The ministry is based in New Jersey, in the greater Philadelphia area. Oh, I would prefer to live in Wisconsin. A beautiful campus there in Belmar, New Jersey. Of course, we have people all around the world and all around North America. I'm located in Wisconsin. Currently, that's where we've lived for some time and near my home area originally. And so I've spent most of my life in Wisconsin. And so I'm serving throughout the Midwest. And right now, this is just a special trip I've made to Texas, to the greater Houston area, because of contacts that I had here, and I was tasked with putting a trip together to Texas. And Lord willing, it'll be the basis for future trips, at least one for sure, Lord willing, as they say, that hopefully will be even a little more intensive than this one. We appreciate you taking time and carving out something extra, because this wasn't your intention in the beginning. Paul Scharf is with Friends of Israel Ministry, and by the way, you have a website, and it's FOI.org is the ministry website. People can find out all kinds of things about our history and our ministries all around the world, and many other free resources, teaching resources, a weekly blog that all of us contribute to. Sometimes people are familiar with the magazine. The magazine has been published since 1942. It's called Israel, My Glory. And it's one of the leading Christian magazines in the world, and they can find out at IsraelMyGlory.org, and they can go to IsraelMyGlory.org slash subscribe. and actually request a free subscription, which we offer everywhere we go in churches as we have a sign-up sheet for that opportunity for a year free of the magazine. And they can keep up with news about Israel, biblical teaching about Israel, and all related doctrines. And what everyone loves is the life of Zvi at the end of every issue. Zvi Kalischer, apples of gold. And so they can catch up on the life of Zvi, now with the Lord. He was a Holocaust survivor, an Israeli war veteran, and served with the Friends of Israel for many years. I'm a little concerned or disappointed to hear that some churches are not as keen or maybe not as aware of Israel's role in the future. So how do you teach that Israel's not being replaced by the church or being replaced by anything? Darrell Bock Right. We definitely teach against the idea, the concept of replacement theology, that God has replaced Israel with the church, that we receive the blessings promised to Israel. Of course, no one is keen on receiving any of the curses that God talks about for Israel, but we all want to receive their blessings. But we believe we can be blessed because of the covenant God made with Abraham. We can be spiritually, by faith, we become sons and daughters of Abraham when we trust in Christ alone. However, the Church does not replace Israel. God has no replacement for Israel. He has a future for Israel. He will fulfill. his promises to Israel. And you say, why would Israel deserve that if the people of Israel are rejecting their Messiah? If they're in unbelief, why would they deserve God's faithfulness and this kind of future? And my question is always, do you really want to start going on what you deserve? And none of us do. That's right, because there's none righteous. No, not one. Paul's very specific about that. But rather, we know that if we understand and grasp the concept that God will be faithful to his chosen people Israel, it reinforces our own confidence, as Paul describes in Philippians 1.6. We can be confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will continue it and complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, it's a good reminder for all of us. So how does your role pan out weekly, monthly? Do you go to churches? Yes. Can I invite you to my church? Sure. What would be the best way? Yes, we go to churches as a Church Ministries representative. I'm basically, every Sunday, Lord willing, teaching and preaching somewhere in a church, sometimes a brand new setting for me, sometimes a very familiar setting, or sometimes even an ongoing ministry for a short term. We're in churches often at least once, if not more, a week. teaching on these very important doctrines that the Friends of Israel exist to promote, such as the fact that God's future for Israel is defined in the prophetic scriptures, and all the related issues regarding that. But we don't only talk about prophecy, because Israel's all through the Bible from the very beginning. So there's really nothing in the Bible, in the whole counsel of God, that we can't talk about. So out teaching, preaching, encouraging pastors, encouraging churches, encouraging them to think about, perhaps for the first time ever, having a meaningful, emphasis on the word meaningful, outreach to the Jewish people who are all around us. Just showing them, as our name implies, first of all, we want to be their friends, genuinely be their friends, and thank God for all that He has given to the world through the people of Israel. And so we go out and we do that. Yes, we're open to invitations, and we cooperate with all churches who desire to have someone with our doctrinal statement and purpose to come and minister to them, and also to others as well. I teach locally when I'm at home. I teach a Bible study group every Tuesday night. That's been a real blessing and a real opportunity, and I've gone out on midweek services and done series in churches on those evenings. We're just trying to stay very busy doing all those kinds of things. Amen. Yeah, that sounds very busy, and that's okay, right? Yes. We want to let you know that Paul Scharf is available through the website. Is that the best way to get a hold of you? Well, the best way to get a hold of me would be, really, I can give my personal webpage where people can find all the resources and content that I strive to provide on a regular basis. This is not for the whole Friends of Israel ministry. It's for my own ministry within and for the Friends of Israel, and that's at sermonaudio.com. on sermonaudio.com slash PSHARF, S-C-H-A-R-F, P-S-H-A-R-F. They could also use those same letters, PSHARF at FOI.org is my email if they want to contact me that way. And I would be happy to be of any help that I can. As you've mentioned, Bruce, I'm not located in Texas. And I'm not here all the time or in this area, in your listening area, but I can try to pass along any request in any way that I can and be of help. Okay. Connecting people. That's also part of your work and your job. Psharf at foi.org or just go to foi.org and I think they have a click for you. You can even leave a message and they'll get it to you. Well, they could go especially to foi.org Scharf, S-C-H-A-R-F, and they could contact me through that means as well. All right, sermonaudio.com slash P Scharf, Paul Scharf, P-S-C-H-A-R-F, or paulscharf, P-S-C-H-A-R-F, at foi.org, a couple of ways to contact him. And I'll tell you, this world is getting easier and easier to get contacts because of the internet, and so we thank you for that, and the opportunities to tell people about the ministry. We're almost out of time, so is there a verse that you feel that you can leave with us to encourage us about a ministry? I know that there are holidays. We should be more aware of the Jewish holidays. We could talk to a Jewish friend and say, Hey, Happy Hanukkah, Happy whatever. But how do we keep in mind the focus that it's not just about the church? Well, verses that have meant much to me, Bruce, throughout my life, for many years long before I was highly familiar with the Friends of Israel gospel ministry, even, are Romans 1, 16 and 17. The Apostle Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. And he adds this part that is often glossed over, sadly, for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. And then he goes on to explain, "...in it," that is, in the gospel, "...the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, or by faith alone. As it is written, the just shall live by faith." This central passage in all the New Testament on the gospel, this signal passage on the gospel, also has become, through the Reformation, the central passage of all of church history. But, sadly, what many throughout the history of the Church have neglected are those key words, the Gospel is for the Jew first. And, of course, this could be a whole discussion we could have based on that passage and its meaning and its significance, but it reminds us that God has placed us here to share the Gospel if we're believers, If you're not a believer, you can be by trusting in Christ alone. The just shall live by faith. Habakkuk 2.4, which is quoted three times in the New Testament. If you are a believer, you have a responsibility, Paul says, to be a blessing to those of whom God has said, I will bless those who bless them. Paul Scharf, or P. Scharf, S-C-H-A-R-F. Well, it's a delight to meet you. We appreciate you taking time to let us know a little bit about the ministry and about yourself, and we look forward to visiting again. Thank you, Bruce. You're tuned to Christian Radio, keeping them close by, KHCB.