Yeah, we moved to a 55 plus, probably the emphasis is on plus at our time of life. And it's a new community and our development is not complete yet, probably be another two years. It's sold out, be over 1100 homes in it, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 80% of the homeowners are Jewish. So we're in the perfect location. The clubhouse is not finished. I hope to have a Bible study. We're making lots of friends. But you might pray for that transition and development. It's new. I am still, at least through the end of this year, editing the magazine. There's copies back there. You can sign up for a free one-year subscription. I will continue to write for it, but planning next year not to be the editor of it. Primarily, I've reached the age where my body is telling me, enough is enough. You can't do what you did 20 years ago, 10 years ago. But anyway. But I am still, for the time being, leading tours to Israel. We have a small group going in April, April 26. It was 40, it's now 17, COVID. We have a tour planned, I'll be putting it together, April 18 through 28 next year. So if you do want to go, I can get some seats. I'll reserve some seats out of Sacramento. If you leave from Sacramento, though, we catch a 4.30 in the afternoon flight out of Newark. The only way you make it is to leave a day early and stay in a hotel. It'll be a little bit of extra cost. But with a three-hour time difference and going overseas, even leaving at 6 in the morning, because you don't You'd be very, very tight in making that, if at all. So anyway, pick up a magazine, sign up for a subscription. I've written a few books, I have them with me. Israel, Her Calling and Purpose is looking at Romans 9-11. And I think you would find this very helpful. Israel, God's key to world evangelism, based on Romans 1.16 and Genesis 12.3, to the Jew first, then to the Gentile, to the Greek. And is Messiah God? Correspondence between a Jewish scientist and a Messianic Jew. Messianic Jew is me. Took place many years ago through snail mail. Took forever. I'd mail a letter, two weeks later I'd get a letter back in response, and so on. It'd be so much easier to do it today, but that's about the entire conversation, and I think you'll find it very interesting if you're interested in that type of thing. Open with me to the Gospel of John, Chapter 3. By the way, tonight, with everything going on in Ukraine, Russia, we're going to look at the timing of the coming Russian invasion of Israel. You have all kinds of possibilities offered. And I'll go over those tonight. But I think there's a missing link, as it were, in understanding when the timing will be of the Russian invasion of Israel that I'm not aware of anybody else that has dealt in this way with the timing of it. So we'll be looking at that tonight. John chapter three, a rabbi meets the Messiah. You're probably very familiar with this passage of scripture, Nicodemus. It starts out in verse one. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Now in Israel at this time in the first century, the Pharisees were the party of the people. They were a relatively small group. They numbered about 6,000, but they were beloved by the people. The Sadducees, and I want to get back to the Pharisees in a little bit. The Sadducees were the aristocrats. They were despised by the people. The Sadducees were the temple custodians. They were smaller in number than the Pharisees. They numbered some 3,000 people. purpose of the Sadducee in existence was to minister in the temple and the things of the temple. And the Sadducees believed in, as it were, Sola Scriptura, the Bible alone. The problem is they really didn't believe in the Bible. They didn't believe in resurrection, they didn't believe in angels, but what they didn't believe in also was the oral law. See, the Pharisees believed in the oral law of the Jews, the Talmud, and Judaism believes the Pharisaical tradition is that when Moses went up on Sinai, he received the written law, five books of Moses, but he also received the oral law, which was oral for many centuries until it was written down some 200 years after the time of Jesus, codified and became known as the Talmud. And I don't want to digress too much. The Talmud is broken basically into two parts, the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Mishnah is a commentary on parts of the five books of Moses. And the Gemara is a commentary on the Mishnah. So you can have two paragraphs of Mishnah and 10 pages of Gemara, literally. So the Talmud becomes an encyclopedia. It's huge. There are many, many volumes to the Talmud. That's the oral law that is now written down. And then there were, down through the ages, some additions to it. Well, the Pharisees believed very strongly in the oral law. The Sadducees did not. And as you read the gospel accounts, you will find Jesus, he interacts with all the groups, but he oftentimes interacts with the Pharisees. The Sadducees, when the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, passed off the scene. If your entire purpose of existence is around the temple and the offerings and all the things that go with the temple, and the temple is destroyed, you have no job. You know, when we went from the steam locomotive, and I may be wrong here, from the steam locomotive to the next generation, whatever, you know, if you only knew steam locomotive work, you were in trouble, right? You know, your job became passe, passed off the scene. Well, you don't have Sadducees today. Modern day Judaism is Pharisaical Judaism. That is, they embrace the oral law, just as the Pharisees did back here. But again, they were a very small number, 6,000. Now, Nicodemus was a Pharisee. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. But he was also a ruler of the Jews. And at this time in Israel's history, Rome was the power. There was limited rule given to the Jewish people in Israel. And they were ruled by the Sanhedrin, 70, 72 rabbis, depending on who you want to listen to. But they were the rulers of the nation. And so Nicodemus was also part of the Sanhedrin. He was a ruler. So he was a very, very prominent individual in the nation, not only religiously, but politically. So this very important man, this very important rabbi, we are told the same in verse two, came to Jesus by night. And said unto him, rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou does except God be with him. So Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. You're from God. Nobody can do what you have done and not be from God. God has to be with you. Now, Jesus' response to that was very interesting. You know, if that would have been said to me or to you, you might have said, you've got a lot of insight, man. You know, you are very understanding that I, yes, am from God, and you know, however we might answer. But Jesus didn't take the accolades. He said to Nicodemus, which probably made him pause in his mind and his heart, I'm sure, for a moment. Jesus answered and said unto him, truly, truly, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He just went right to the heart of the matter. And that's a play on words, if you will, and you'll see before we're closed. So the heart of the matter. Nicodemus, you may be important politically. You may be a religious leader. But Nicodemus, if you're not born again, it's not a question of you being in the kingdom of God and where you're going to serve in the kingdom of God. Nicodemus, you won't even see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus was floored. Look how he responded. Nicodemus said unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? He was confused. His total focus was on physical. It doesn't make sense what you're telling me, Jesus. How does somebody be born again go back into his mother's womb and come out again? Come on." So Jesus responded, "'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'" Now, there's been so much confusion on this verse here, and I don't want to get off track too much. The Catholic Church will use this to prove that you need to be baptized in the Catholic Church. You have to be born of baptismal water to be whatever they think you are. But anyway, some would say it's physical birth. You know, he's talking to a man already born physically. Now, hey, if you're not born physically, to me that makes no sense. And then some will appeal down later on in the epistles that it speaks of the washing of water by the word. The problem with appealing to the epistles is they're not around at this time. This is something that Nicodemus, a religious Jew, a rabbi, who was steeped in the Tanakh, the Jewish Bible, had to understand. So it had nothing to do with all of that stuff and it's basically, without going back into the verses, all it is, which is used oftentimes in the earlier scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. The use of water is a picture of cleansing of sin. That's all, it's a picture. It's not an actual event. You need to be cleansed of your sin, essentially he's saying. We see this in Ezekiel 36. We see this in Isaiah 44. We see this in other places. But Ezekiel is then told by Jesus, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. I'm not speaking physically here, Nicodemus. This is spiritual truth I'm trying to communicate to you. Being born again is not going back into your mother's womb. It's not being born the first time and coming into this world through your mom. No, this is spiritual that I'm trying to explain to you and communicate to you that if you don't have a spiritual birth, you'll never see the kingdom of God. So Jesus says to him, marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again. Don't be amazed. Then he says, Jesus says in verse eight, the wind blows where it lists. Now here's the sound thereof, but can't not tell where it came from and where there it goes. So is everyone that is born of the spirit. You know, when I was saved many years ago, at the age of 27, I knew very little about the Bible. But when I got saved, my life was radically transformed, radically. A number of years ago, back in 1999, are you familiar with Unshackled radio programs? They did my story. Back in 1999, Christmas week. And if Unshackled does your story, You're no angel. You know, my wife, where's my wife? Where's Cheryl? Somewhere, is she hiding? There she is, right down there. She'll never have her story told on Unshackled. Cause she's an angel. She was raised in a Christian home and her parents are Christians, her grandparents are Christians, her great grandparents were believers, her great, great, great, or great, great. I don't know how many great greats going back were believers. So she was raised around the Bible, went to church, got saved. She's an angel. Boy, what does a sinful Jewish boy like me end up with a pig farmer's daughter, actually? So anyway, my life radically changed. Radically changed. And the picture is, you know, I didn't know hardly anything. I came to the realization Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior, died for me, accepted Him. I didn't know anything about the Holy Spirit. It's kind of like the wind on a hot day when you're sweating. And all of a sudden this gust of wind comes up and you're not expecting it. And it comes through and you are refreshed. And then it leaves and you don't know where it goes. That's the picture of salvation. I didn't know anything about the Holy Spirit, but He came and He changed me. He didn't leave, thankfully, but that's the picture, you know. And that's what Jesus is communicating to Nicodemus here. The wind blows where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell where it comes, where it goes. So is every one that is born of the Spirit. I didn't understand at that point. Now, years later or months later, whenever the time was, as I studied the Bible, now I understand more. But Nicodemus was confused. Look at verse nine. Nicodemus answered, and said unto him, How can these things be? Now this is the religious leader, one of them, one of the major ones, in Israel. I don't understand Jesus. Look what Jesus says to him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knoweth not these things? Nicodemus, you're the authority. You're the religious authority. You're the master of biblical understanding. You're the master, the religious authority of spiritual truth. And you don't know what I'm talking about? You see what Jesus, remember there's no New Testament now. It's not written. The Gospels are being lived out. The only Bible that they had at this point was what the Jewish people referred to as the Tanakh, what we refer to as the Old Testament. So Jesus is telling Nicodemus, you're a master, you're a spiritual leader, you're the authority, religious authority, and you don't understand what I'm talking about? You should. Because it's all the way through the Tanakh, the Jewish Bible. The Old Testament. What should Nicodemus have understood? Well, I want to take a journey through what he should have understood. What I believe Jesus was communicating to him, I have no doubt, what I'm going to share with you, this is what Jesus was communicating with him. And I may not use the exact same verses that Jesus was thinking of using in his mind, but I have no doubt that what I'm gonna share with you is what Nicodemus should have known and didn't. And it's all from the Old Testament, the Jewish Bible, the Tanakh. Go back to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 5. I presume this water is not for the speaker next week, it's for the speaker today. Deuteronomy chapter 5. Now, this is the scene at the Mount Sinai, or Horeb, same mountaintop, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Now, we're going to pick it up, and you can look at verse 1 of chapter 5 of Deuteronomy 1. Moses called all Israel and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgments which I speak in your ears this day that you May learn them, keep them, do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. That's Sinai, same place. Mosaic covenants referred to. God made a covenant with us. Now, He will go down and give 10 of the commandments of the covenant. We call them the 10 commandments. And I don't think I have to explain why we call 10 commandments the 10 commandments, or maybe I do. But there are 613 according to the rabbi's total commandments. But we get the 10 commandments here. But look at verse 22. These words the Lord spoke unto all your assembly, in the mount out of the mist of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. And he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone and delivered them unto me." So the Ten Commandments themselves he put on tables of stone. They're probably palm sized. Palm pilot, I guess. But anyway, that's old. They weren't big, heavy stones. They were probably the size of your palm. But anyway. But think of the scene that we have here. Moses goes up onto the mount. There's fire on it. There's a cloud. There's thick darkness. And there's the voice of God, a great voice of God. I mean, Hollywood could not duplicate this. It was an awesome scene. It would be mind-boggling. Every single person there would have been humbled by what they are seeing. And then in verse 23, And it came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, for the mountain did burn with fire. that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes and your elders." God speaks to them. There's fire, but there's darkness. There's cloud, there's glory. And there is this great voice of God that comes out, and the people go to their representatives. And what they tell their representatives, the heads of the tribes, their elders, and they say in verse 24, Behold, the Lord our God has showed us His glory and His greatness. And we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God did talk with man and He lives. They knew this was unique. Normally, if God would talk with man in this type of instance, they would all die. They recognized the uniqueness of this. There was not one Madeline Murray O'Hare in the crowd. Not one atheist. There couldn't be. They recognized the uniqueness of this moment. Verse 25, now therefore they said, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us, if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. We don't want God to say a word. If we hear his voice again, he will consume us, he will destroy us. Moses, we don't want to hear anymore. Verse 26. For who is there of all flesh? that have heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire as we have and lived." This is unique. This is an exception. This is not to be repeated. To be repeated would bring death upon these people. So they tell Moses in verse 27, Go thou near, Moses, hear all that the Lord our God shall say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee, and we will hear it and do it. Every one of them, in totality, because of what they have seen. Moses, we don't wanna hear God speak again, we'll die. But you can go back, you can meet with God, you can talk with God, and God can tell you what He wants us to do. You come back and tell us, and when you will tell us what He requires of us, we will do it. Now, they were very sincere. They were not hypocritical at all. Look at verse 28. And the Lord heard the voice of your words when ye spoke unto me. And the Lord said unto me, unto Moses, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee. They have well said all that they have spoken. Now, if they were hypocritical, God would have known, God would have said it. But God said, Moses, they're as sincere as sincere can be. There was not a hypocrite in the bunch. They meant every word that they said. Find out what God wants. We will do it. We will follow it. You just tell us what God tells you and we'll do it. They were extremely sincere. You must have sincerity in coming to God. God knows your heart. He knows if you're faking it. He knows if there's an ulterior motive. When you come to God, you need to come with a sincere heart. No question about it. But sincerity is not enough. You know, there's lots of people in the world that do crazy things, religiously speaking. Buddhist monks that set themselves on fire thinking that they're pleasing their gods or whomever they're pleasing. Or jihadists who commit terrorist acts of suicide, thinking if they kill the infidels that they're going to paradise with 72 virgins. They're very sincere. They're deceived. Sincerity is a must, but sincerity is not enough. So God says this in verse 29. Oh, that there were such a heart in them, He's not talking about a heart of sincerity. Oh, that there was such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever. I wish they had the ability inside them in their heart to do what their sincerity is saying, their lips are saying. But they don't have the heart ability So God, when Moses came to him, as the people had asked, go to God, Moses, find out what he requires of us, and come back and tell us what God wants us to do. I'm gonna show you what God told Moses to tell the people what is required. Turn with me to chapter 10 of Deuteronomy. We're going to pick it up at verse 12. God had been up on the mount with Moses, Moses with God. Verse 10, 11 back, you can read it. But now in verse 12, Deuteronomy 10, Moses says, and now Israel, what did the Lord thy God require of thee? Remember, that's what they asked Moses to do. Go to God, find out what he wants, find out what he requires of us, find out what he commands of us in all sincerity, and come back and tell us and we will do it. So here Israel is what God requires of you. And by extension, this is what God requires of every single person in this room. This is what God requires of you as well. Although here He's talking to Israel. I want you to fear the Lord thy God. I want you to walk in all of His ways. I want you to love Him and to serve the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I commend thee this day for your good. What do I want of you, Israel? What does God want of us? I want you to fear God. I want you to walk in His ways. I want you to love Him. I want you to serve Him. And I want you to do with all your heart and all your soul and keep His commandments. Now this is a month of Sunday's messages. We could spend a month just right here if we wanted to. But we must move on. And then God says this in verse 13. not 13, 14. God is the creator of heaven and earth. He is the owner of everything. He created man, He created you, He created me, He created the birds, He created everything. by dint of His being Creator. This is nothing that God is asking of you or requiring of you that's beyond the extraordinary. This is simple, this is plain, because God is Creator of heaven and earth and everything in it. So don't think that this is beyond the ordinary or the extraordinary. And on top of this, then in verse 15, and that applies to everybody. But verse 15, he speaks to Jewish people who he's addressing here. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seat after them, even you above all people as it is this day. So if you happen to be Jewish like I am, There's a double responsibility, if you would. By dint of creation, I should obey God because he's creator of all. But God chose Israel, the Jewish people, a unique people to serve him, set apart to be his people. And because of that unique calling and special calling on our lives, you have even less, not that the Gentiles have any, reason to complain, but if anything you have less of a reason to say this is not right. Jewish people. But it's for everybody. Now look at verse 16 though. Remember what God said back in chapter 5? They were sincere, but oh that there was a heart in them to keep my commandments. So what does God require of them? I want you to fear the Lord. I want you to walk in His ways. I want you to love Him. I want you to serve Him. I want you to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul. I want you to keep His commandments. That's what I want you to do. In order to do that, look at verse 16. Circumcise therefore. You know, when you see a therefore in scripture, back up to see what it's there for. Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart. Be no more stiff-necked. I want you to fear me, to love me, to serve me, to walk in my ways, to keep my commandments, but if you're gonna do that, you've gotta have the heart to do it. You need a circumcised heart. You must have a circumcised heart. Don't rebel, don't be stiff-necked. He's talking to Jewish people primarily, but it applies to every one of us. Get your heart circumcised. Now, in the Old Testament, the Tanakh, there are many references to this. Let me just read a few to you. You can turn there if you want. Jeremiah chapter four. I know they put that clock on the wall for a reason, but it's not for me. I'm convinced of that. Look at Jeremiah chapter four. Starting in verse one. If thou will return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me. And if thou will put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not be removed. And thou shalt swear the Lord lives in truth, in judgment, in righteousness. And the nations shall bless themselves in him. See, it's for Gentiles too. And in him shall they glory. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, break up your follow ground and sow not among thorns. You know, this should, if you know the Bible and the New Testament and the parable and the sowing of the seed, you know, Jesus oftentimes used, and the Bible oftentimes used agricultural illustrations. You remember the four soils, and one of the soils was thorns, and one of the soils was hard ground, This is the same type of thing here. Break up your hard ground. You know what he's talking about? Not the farmland, your heart. Don't have a stiff neck, a hard heart against God. And don't sow among thorns. Thorns will choke out the seed that it never brings forth fruit. Don't put your focus on areas that will not help religion or works. No, it's got to be God. So what do they need to do? He tells them, verse 4, circumcise yourselves to the Lord. and take away the four skins of your heart. Not physical circumcision of a Jewish youth male on the eighth day of life. No, this is spiritual truth of circumcision of the heart and you need to have your heart circumcised. And if you don't have your heart circumcised, you men of Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, my fury will come forth like fire. and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings. The need is a circumcised heart. Look back at, or forward actually, to Ezekiel chapter 18, and we're not looking at all of them, but in Ezekiel 18, in verse 30 through 32, Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to your ways, saith the Lord, repent and turn from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby you have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? And we won't read on. Jeremiah 31, we can go back to Jeremiah chapter 31. And you may be familiar with this, if not from the promise of Jeremiah, from the New Testament. In Jeremiah 31, 31 through 34, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, I'm going to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, the house of Judah, not according to the covenant they made with their fathers, That's the Mosaic Covenant. And the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. You know, if you're gonna sum up in one word what a husband should be, it's right here, or understood here. Faithful. Husband is to be faithful sexually, financially, lovingly, every way, spiritually to his wife. I was a husband to you, Israel. I was faithful. I kept up, as it were, my end of the bargain. But you didn't. You broke my covenant. So I'm going to have to make a new covenant. This new covenant will be completely different. See, the old covenant was external. The new covenant, though, we are told, In verse 33, this shall be the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, write it in their hearts, will be their God, they shall be my people. A new heart, a new spirit. That's what happens to us today when we accept the Lord. That's what Jesus introduced. Now this promise to Israel of the new covenant will be fulfilled in the future at the end of the tribulation period. But go back with me to Deuteronomy. Go back to chapter 30 of Deuteronomy. This is talking about the regathering of the Jewish people, this is Moses speaking, from worldwide captivity back to the land. Moses, look at verse three. Verse one, shall come to pass on all these things that come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I set before thee, thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord thy God hath driven thee. Verse three, that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, have compassion upon thee, will return and gather thee from all the nations, not just Babylonian captivity, all the nations where God has scattered thee. And ultimately, when that is totally done, what's going to happen? Verse 6, And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. What does God want? He wants you to fear Him, to love Him, to walk in His ways, to serve Him, to keep all of His commandments. with all your heart and all your soul. And if you're gonna do that, the only way you can do that is to have your heart circumcised. And the circumciser of the heart is God himself. Go with me to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter nine. Verse 21, Saul is about to be anointed king of Israel. Now Saul would get in a lot of trouble down the road but at this point in his life he was a humble individual. In verse 21 When Samuel has told him that he's going to become the king, look what Saul says, verse 21. And Saul answered and said, am not I a Benjamite, the tribe of Benjamin, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, the least of the tribes. It doesn't mean number, it means position. power. And my family, the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? What are you saying, Samuel? I'm a Benjamite. Our tribe is the most insignificant tribe of all the tribes of Israel. On top of that, my family is the most insignificant family in the tribe of Benjamin. Now in Saul's heart and mind, where did that put him on the totem pole, on the bottom? He was a humble individual. And so Saul says to Samuel, wherefore thou speakest thou so to me? Why are you telling me this? I don't meet, I'm not the one, I shouldn't be. Not being from the tribe of Benjamin, not being from the family that I'm from, no way. See the problem ultimately with Saul is he was put in the wrong position that God really never wanted him to be in, that's a longer story. So his heart ultimately was lifted up with pride and he had all kinds of problems later. But at this point he was very humble. You will never come to the Lord and find salvation without being humble. You have no good thing in you. That's what Saul was saying. If you don't come with that attitude, like Saul, you cannot, will not, be saved. So verse 26. They arose early. See they went up onto the top of the house. Not only did they not have John Deers, they didn't have air conditioners. So they would have flat roofs. It would get very hot in Israel in the summer. And they would often times stay on the roof where you would at least get some breezes. So they were on the roof. And in verse 26, they arose early, and it came to pass about the spring of the day, the beginning of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house, saying, up, that I may send thee away. So Samuel called Saul, hey, we're gonna have to go. And Saul arose, and they went out both of them, he and Samuel abroad. So Samuel and Saul leave the roof, they go on their way together. Now look at the next verse. And as they were going down to the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, bid the servant pass on before us. Let our servant go on ahead of us for a while. And he went on. He passed on. But Saul, stand thou still for a while, that I may show thee the word of God. In our vernacular today, you know what Samuel was doing with Saul? Witnessing to him. He was taking the Word of God and he was sharing with Saul the truth about God and salvation. Now, I'm going to push you on the spot, but I don't want you to raise your hand. Samuel probably only had the five books of Moses and the book of Job written down. How many of you, Samuel did it, how many of you can take the five books of Moses and the book of Job and lead someone to the Lord? Don't raise your hand. I'll make it easier. How many of you can take the entire Bible and lead someone to the Lord? I hope all of us. But Samuel And I think some of what Samuel shared with Saul is some of what I shared with you this morning. Certainly not Jeremiah, not Ezekiel, but going back to Deuteronomy and so on. But I want to show you what happened as a result of what Samuel shared with Saul. In the next chapter, in verse 9, and it was so. that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, when Saul turned his back to separate, to leave from Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all those signs came to pass that day. In the vernacular of the New Testament, Saul was born again. He got a new heart. He got a circumcised heart. In closing, I want us to go back to Deuteronomy chapter 18. Because I think this brings it full circle. Deuteronomy chapter 18, starting in verse 15. going down through verse 19. We have this amazing prophecy that Moses gives from God. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him you shall hearken. God's gonna raise up a prophet. A prophet is a spokesman for God. God's gonna send a prophet, his spokesman, He's gonna be like me. He's gonna be Jewish. He's gonna be from your brethren. And then he reminded them, verse 16, according to all that thou desired of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. And Moses reminds him, remember what happened back in Horeb, back in chapter, we know, chapter five. Remember that great fire, and the cloud, and the darkness, and the voice of God. And in one voice, Moses, go and talk with God. Come back and tell us what God requires of us. And we will do it. And God commended them on their sincerity. And Moses is saying, this is what God told me. There's a prophet coming. He's like me. He's Jewish. He's from among your brethren. This one will only speak the Word of God. this one will be sent from God and God will put his words in his mouth and he will speak to you and remember you said whatever God says you tell us we will do well God's gonna send this prophet when this prophet comes you better listen to him you better respond to him verse 19 and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." Jesus, you must be sent from God, Nicodemus said. No man can do these miracles except he be sent from God. Nicodemus, you're a master in Israel. You don't understand when I said you have to be born again. Literally in the Greek, born from above. Because in the earlier scripture, in the Tanakh, the parallel word to born again is circumcised heart. God births you into his kingdom. God circumcises your heart. And Nicodemus, you should remember That on Sinai our people said that a prophet or were told a prophet is coming and we will obey. Jesus is identified in the New Testament as that prophet. Thank God Nicodemus ultimately responded. We're going to see Nicodemus in heaven. And no longer will he only have to come to Jesus at night. But you must be born again. Jew or Gentile, it matters not. If you're given a new heart, God's going to give you the ability then to fear Him, to love Him, to walk in His ways, to serve Him, to keep all of His commandments with all your heart and all your soul. Doesn't mean you're gonna be perfect, but that's the transformation that takes place. Some 46 years ago, it happened to me, and I had a desire that I never knew existed. I tried to read the Bible before I got saved. I got, oh, I think it was to chapter five of Genesis. You may have gotten there. You know, so-and-so begot so-and-so, and I was so begotten. I couldn't, a book I so desired to read, I got hung up on. But when God changed my heart, I literally started reading the Bible six to seven hours every single day for months and months and every day. It was like I'd been in the desert for all my life. I'd finally found water, living water, because God gave me a circumcised heart. I was born again and did my life ever change. He can and will do the same for you if you've never accepted Him. Let's pray. Father, what a God, what a Savior. Lord, there's no difference, there's no contradiction between What we call the Old Testament, the New Testament, it's one book that just flows and comes together. And if we understand it, it's an amazing, amazing book. I mean, the Word of God. And Lord, I don't want anyone to leave here thinking they can please you by being baptized, by doing good things, by joining the church, No. The only way you are pleased, God, is if we allow you to circumcise our heart. And then our life will be changed and we'll want to do those things to please you. So Father, we just commit this to you. We praise you for our Savior, the Messiah. We pray in his name, Jesus' name. Amen. Pastor. so clear from the entire Word of God. If you've never accepted the Lord as your Savior, Jesus Christ, today would be a great day to do that. There's people here that would talk to you further about that. Really, you don't need to hear much more. Just respond to the Lord. If that's you today, when the piano starts playing, won't you come and take me by the hand and we'll have somebody pray with you we call, lead you to the Lord so that you can know for sure you're on your way to heaven. Father, thank you for this message. Have your will and way in this invitation in Jesus' name. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. Miss Tappy's going to play. Would you come today?