First chapter of John, we started there a couple weeks ago, and of course in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It shows exactly who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And I was thinking this morning, everything before Calvary, everything before Calvary is Old Testament. As you read through the Gospels, You see how God's dealing with Israel. That's who he came to. He came to his own, and his own received him not. Now, John was written last of all and later. It doesn't say when it was written, but Revelation was written 90s, roughly, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, they were both written later, and the Gospel of John is so unique compared to the other Gospels. It was definitely written late, so John knew all the doctrines that Paul had received from Christ, all the New Testament doctrines that Paul received from Christ. So when he wrote, he wrote differently than the other Gospels. But in order to really understand it, he came to his own, that was Israel, and his own received him not. You gotta be familiar with the other gospels. Now if you turn to Matthew, Matthew really gives a breakdown as to who he came to. Matthew chapter 10, let's start right there. He called his apostles. Matthew 10, verse 1, and when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these, the first, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican, James, the son of Alphaeus and Labaius, whose surname is Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles. and into any city of the Sepharitans enter ye not." So very specifically, he says, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So when Christ came, he specifically told them not to go to any of the Gentiles or the Samaritans. And the Samaritans, of course, was a cross between Jew and Gentile. He said, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, there's a lot of controversy between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. I believe they're different. I believe they're absolutely different. When he sent the apostles out, he specifically said, do not go to the Gentiles. Well, here we are, a bunch of Gentiles, 21st century, looking back at Calvary and what happened for us, that God died for our sins. And what we did to get saved is simply put our faith and trust in what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary. Well, at the time he showed up, They weren't thinking of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They weren't preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They were preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. What's the Kingdom of Heaven? Let's turn back to Isaiah. Just do a brief review. I mean, this book is so big and so massive and so full of blessings and a lot of confusion. I watched a debate last night. Atheists, two Christians debating. And the Christians said that everything that happened in 70 A.D. fulfilled all the prophecy in the New Testament. Book of Revelation, destruction of Israel was all fulfilled then. And just briefly, because the atheist was talking about how can God do this and do this, you know, the debates, it's just amazing what people believe. But how many of you believe that revelation has been fulfilled and completed? There's no way. Christ is back on this earth, ruined and reigning in Jerusalem. I haven't seen him, it's not on CNN or Fox News. But let's go back to Isaiah chapter two. the word that Isaiah, the son, talking about the Kingdom of Heaven, which I believe is when Christ returns on this earth to be King of Israel and He sets up His Kingdom. There's going to be a 1,000 year reign of Christ. That's what the book of Revelation talks about. That's called the Kingdom of Heaven. When the King is on this earth ruling the entire universe from His throne in Jerusalem. It says, the word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above all hills and all nations shall flow unto it. Mountain is usually used as a type of the kingdom. It will be a worldwide kingdom. It will be above all the top of all the mountains. It will be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, which is in Jerusalem. And he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord." So we see the promise of peace, world peace, God ruling from Jerusalem in verse 3 and there will be peace. Now turn to chapter 11, by Isaiah. And we're just briefly touching on these things. These lead into so much more that we're not going to touch on. I just want to give you a basic idea of what's happened when the Lord Jesus Christ showed up. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Notice that branch is capitalized, that's a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. The stem of Jesse, that's the father of David. David, a type of Christ in the Old Testament. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and the spirit of counsel and might, and the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears, but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and remove the equity of the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the winged child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. Those are both highly poisonous snakes. And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain his kingdom. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Is that today? No way. That's all future. So, when the Lord Jesus Christ shows up, Going back to Matthew, Matthew chapter 1, or chapter 10, he sends his apostles out and he says, do not go to the Gentiles, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and as you go preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now just drop back to Matthew chapter 3, I believe it is. Chapter 3, verse 1, it says, In those days came John the Baptist, he was the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his path straight. That's a direct quote out of Isaiah chapter 40, prophesying the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist. And here's John coming out and he's preaching the kingdom of heaven's at hand. Now look at chapter four. Now when Jesus heard that John was cast into prison, I'm sorry verse 12, when Jesus heard that John was cast into prison he departed into Galilee and leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in Capernaum which is upon the sea coast and the borders of Zabulon and Nephilim. that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying the land of Zebulun and the land of Nephilim by the way of the sea beyond Jordan Galilee of the Gentiles The people which sat in darkness saw great light to them which sat in the region in shadow of death Light is sprung up from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I So now we see the Gentiles mentioned, but yet he came only to the house of Israel. Now it can be a little confusing when he showed up all the prophecies in the Old Testament, we just touched on a couple of them, were fulfilled in the fact that he was coming and here he is, he's set up. Well the Jews that supposedly knew that Old Testament, they rejected him, they wouldn't hear anything he had to say, not all, some believed. Now the believing Jews, all the way back to the time of Abram when God called Abram there was always a remnant of Jews that believed God. And go all the way back to Abram all he knew was God promised him a land and He promised him a seed and through that seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And Abraham believed God. We've looked at that and that's how we got saved. It's the perfect type of salvation with us. We believe what God told us. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Abraham says, look God says I'm going to give you a seed and through that seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed and I'm going to give you a land and you will inherit that land. what the whole controversy is today. A lot of churches teach that Christ is completely finished with the nation of Israel and all this stuff going on in Jerusalem and over in Israel has got nothing to do with anything. Think about that. One tiny little nation for what was it roughly 2,000 B.C. when Abram was called? 4,000 years they've been persecuted, and killed, and I mean every, and they're still there. That's the miracle. Now they're back. Now they're back. God's regathered them from all over the world. And history is happening right before our very eyes. The Word of God is being fulfilled. A lot of people say, nah, God's completely done with Israel. They don't exist anymore. The church is taken over for Israel. Well, that can't be true, because He didn't promise us a land. He promised us a spiritual kingdom in heaven. We're going to be with Him. It's a new birth. It's a spiritual birth. So we have the kingdom of heaven, which is a literal, physical, visible kingdom on this earth that hasn't happened yet. And we have the kingdom of God. Now, turn to Luke. I think it's around chapter 16 or 18. It's chapter 17, right between the two. Now, we're just trying to set the groundwork so when we do start into the gospel, John, we have an idea of what's going on. He came unto his own, Israel, and his own received him not. There was a remnant, there's always been a remnant of Israel that have believed God. And all those believers, when they died, they went to Abraham's bosom because they couldn't go to heaven yet, because the door to heaven, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, had not paid the debt. when they died believing they had eternal life just like we have today by faith they had eternal life. And when they died they went to Abraham's bosom waiting for the Messiah to come. And when He came He paid the debt, He descended into the showed everybody it's finished. He led captivity, captured them, took them to Heaven. Now when you die the door has been opened into Heaven we go straight to be with the Lord. So things are happening a lot different between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And when we get into the Gospels we are seeing that transition happen right before our eyes. So I just kind of want to lay the groundwork. Now the Pharisees know who the Pharisees were they just followed the Lord around just trying to catch Him in anything that they could accuse Him of. And they couldn't do it because He was God. He was a little smarter than the Pharisees. The best of the best they couldn't catch Him. So in verse 20, Now here we are later in the book of Luke, so he's been around for a while, but look at the question they ask him. He's there being introduced as the king of Israel, the kingdom of heaven's at hand. Repent, he's here, the king is here. And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. You can't see it. There's no indication that it's here. It's a spiritual kingdom. Well, when he showed up, he turned water into wine. He gave sight to blind people. He raised the dead. He healed lepers. lit down through the roof. I mean the crowd was so thick. Scribes and Pharisees in the crowd. They were so thick, the four guys carrying this guy couldn't get in to see the Lord so they took the roof off. I mean just picture yourself. If this was a thatched roof all of a sudden you start seeing things fall on the ground and the Lord's up here teaching. He knew they were up there. Everybody else was looking around, what's going on? So he just waited. It might have taken 15, 20 minutes before that thing was finally big enough to drop this guy down through. lowered him down in front of the Lord. Nobody is saying a word but they're thinking what is going on here? And as soon as he was laid in front of the Lord he said, son thy sins be forgiven thee. And the Pharisees in the crowd said, well who can forgive sins but God only? Well of course he knew what they were thinking. He said, whether is it easier to forgive his sins or to make him walk? He says, just so you know that I have power on this earth, take up your bed and walk. And here's a guy been crippled all his life, had to be carried there on a stretcher. The guy stands up, picks everything up, and off he goes. And the crowd that was so thick, standing there watching this guy walk by, what did we just see? That was observing something, wasn't it? What did he say about the kingdom of God? Look what he says. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Well, the king introducing the kingdom of heaven, you talk about observing things. They were seeing these miracles that nobody could do. I mean, only God could do these things. So it was definitely observed, but the kingdom of God comes not with observation. Look what he says. Neither shall they say lo here or lo there, For behold, the kingdom of God is within you. So it's pretty obvious to me that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are different. We are in the kingdom of God. But there's still a king to come. Behold, I come quickly, the Lord says. He's coming again. We're looking for the rapture. A lot of people don't believe in the rapture. Tucker Carlson he had a country I can't think of the guy's name country singer on there and he was quoting the Bible and this guy's notorious for singing songs about whiskey and drinking and you know and he's quoting Bible verses and he said that rapture that's not in the Bible you people you're not you believe that I I don't think I'd take my theology from this guy, you know? But there he was on national television preaching a lie. What better place to do it than on national television preaching a lie? Preach the truth. We get that many people to come and listen, unfortunately. But you can see the difference between the two kingdoms. So when Christ shows up, they're introducing Him as the King. Well, let's look at John chapter 1. Just the names that he has in the first chapter of John is amazing. John chapter 1, he's called God, he's called the Word, he's called the Light, he's called Christ, Messiah, Jesus Christ, Rabbi, Master, Son of God, King of Israel, the Only Begotten Son, Grace, Truth, the Son of Man, the Creator, and the Lamb of God. That's just in the first chapter. And it gets better from there. He fulfills each and every one of those. can see the situation when He came to His own they've been looking for the King to come the entire Old Testament looking for that Kingdom to come. And when He shows up John the Baptist says, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. And they are preaching the Kingdom of Heaven. The Lamb, the King is here. Well the Jews couldn't understand the Lamb of God. They knew what a Lamb was for but they couldn't comprehend that He had to die first. The Apostles couldn't comprehend it. They through time and the Lord keeps telling them, well let's look back at Luke. Let's look at this and review it. Luke 18 I believe it is. He told them for three and a half years to preach the Kingdom of Heaven to Israel only, don't go to the Gentiles, don't go to the Samaritans, just go to the lost house of Israel and preach the King is here, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. says in chapter 18 verse 31, Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the hands of the Gentiles, or unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, spitefully entreated, and spitted on. And they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things. And this saying was hid from them. Neither knew they the things which were spoken." Now think about this. Preached, the king is here, the kingdom of heaven's at hand. Now he's saying, I'm going to be turned over to the Gentiles. They're going to kill me. And three days and three nights later, I'm coming out of the tomb. The apostles are thinking, oh, wait a minute. Testament. We're looking for the King to come, the Kingdom, peace on earth, Jerusalem's under God's control, the Messiah ruling from the throne in Jerusalem from the throne of David, everything at peace, animals, everything. And now you're telling us you're going to be crucified? Yeah, we're not hearing it. We don't understand this. We're preaching the Kingdom. We ain't believing this. Remember when He went to the garden. He kept telling them, you know, I'm going to die. Well, what happened? When they came and arrested him, everybody scattered. They left. He says, three days and three nights later, I'm coming out of the tomb. Everybody scattered, scared to death. Peter denied him. Sunday they weren't there at the tomb waiting because they didn't believe Him. They couldn't understand what was going on. They had no idea that He didn't come to set up the Kingdom. He'd come to present the Kingdom because that's what the Jews were looking for. But they rejected their King. And they said crucify Him. We have no King but Caesar. Crucify Him. And purpose for Christ coming to this earth the first time was to pay for the sins of the world. But while He was here He was introducing the Kingdom to Israel. They said, no, well it's been put on hold, it's coming. When He comes back He's coming in judgment. And well let's look at Romans chapter 9 this is just all kind of laying the ground work for what we're going to look at when we go through the Gospels. there's a lot of churches that teach God is finished with Israel. Israel is not in the picture anymore. All the promises belong to the Church. Let's start in chapter 11, God writing through Paul He says, I say then, hath God cast away His people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Would ye not what the scripture saith unto Elias, how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and dig down mine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life? But what sayeth 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. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace, and if by grace it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works it shall be no more of grace, otherwise work is no more work. So God is not finished with the nation of Israel. just drop down to verse 25, same chapter. He said, I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become in. That's a reference to the church age. That's where we're at now. God is saving Gentiles. He's saving Jews too, but just a small minority of Jews. He says, and so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, we looked at Him in the Old Testament, He's called the Branch, He's called all kinds of different names in the Old Testament, and shall turn man away from ungodliness, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, that's Israel. And this is the covenant unto them, Israel, that when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the Gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, touching the election they are beloved for the Father's sakes. And the gifts and the callings of God are without repentance. So you see Israel is not finished. They are not finished. God made them a covenant. He made them promises. And He's going to fulfill every promise He ever made. God is not a man that He should lie. So if you rightly divide you see when we get into the Gospels you'll see as we go through there you'll see things that are make a lot of sense but if you rightly divide it makes perfect sense. Christ came to the nation of Israel as a King prophesied in the Old Testament and they preached the Kingdom for 3 1�2 years. But His main purpose was to die and pay for the sins of the world which the Jews even after the Resurrection didn't understand. Just to go back over things remember when they watch the Lord ascend into Heaven. He says, wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And He said, when the Spirit has come, you'll have the Spirit of light. He'll be able to lead you and guide you to all truth. I want you to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Well, what did they do for the first 10 or 11 chapters? They went to the Jews only because they'd been doing that for three and a half years. And what God had to do with Peter that day, he was waiting for lunch up on the roof and God gave him a of unclean animals coming down." He said, "'Rise, Peter, kill and eat.'" He said, "'Not so, Lord. Under the law you couldn't eat these.'" Well, he's trying to show Peter we're not under the law anymore. My death, my burial, my resurrection, the blood I shed pay for the sins of the Old Testament and will pay for the sins of all who believe. Now, just trust what I've done. I want you to go to the Gentiles. And the Lord said, "'Not so, Lord. I'm not going to.'" And just about the time he had those three visions, three Gentiles knocked at the door. Lord says, go with them doubting nothing. And Peter is saying, phew, this is really weird. Three and a half years with the Lord preaching the Kingdom now He's gone. Now we're going to Jews only preaching that you killed the Messiah. They're not preaching that Christ died for your sins. You killed the Messiah. What shall we do? Repent. Believe. Repent and be baptized. That's what He was preaching to Israel all this time. Well now He's going to go to the Gentiles and And the Gentiles had this vision to send for Peter, Cornelius. He had his whole family and friends there waiting for Peter to show up. Peter walks in and he says, I perceive that God's no respecter of persons. Ding, see the lights are going on. God's showing him, he's teaching him. He's learning something new every day. And he begins to give the same story, how Christ came, how Israel rejected him, they crucified him, and God raised him from the dead. And the moment he told them about the death, burial, and resurrection, they believed in their heart and they spoke in tongues, probably Hebrew, because there were six Hebrew people that came with Peter, saved Jews, couldn't believe Peter was gonna go to the Gentiles, so they went along to see just what was gonna go on, and here are these bunch of Gentiles, and they're probably speaking in Hebrew, and these other Jews that came with Peter, they just marveled that God gave them the Holy Spirit just like he did us on the day of Pentecost. So now everything is changing, everything happening. Gentiles are getting saved, and Peter said, I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but all men everywhere when they believe, and it just went from there. And then the apostle Paul gets saved and gets what God does with Paul. He sends him as the apostle to the Gentiles. reveals to Paul all the different mysteries that were not revealed in the Old Testament. The mystery of the one Body of Christ, the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory, the mystery of the fulfillment of Israel at the end times, the mystery of godliness, the mystery of iniquity, all these different mysteries that were not fully revealed. You can see them now in the Old Testament since we have the light now looking back. But So I said all that to say this, when we go through the Gospels, we're going to try to rightly divide where we're at. And you'll see things in John that when you really look at how they're written, you say, wow, that's amazing. That's Old Testament Israel he's talking to. But us today, we can go and see those verses and say, that's us he's talking to. But if you didn't know that going in, especially in Matthew, man, there's things in Matthew you think. It doesn't make sense, but if you get the kingdoms right, it makes perfect sense. So I hope that was kind of a synopsis. I mean, my goodness, what a book. This book is so massive that this guy trying to teach this is like trying to climb Mount Everest with gym shoes. It's just, it's a great book. It's a great savior. And God's word is just marvelous, incredible. So just keep that in mind as we go through this book, how God has got a plan and he's working it out. You know, we all have plans. People make plans for vacations and plans for different things. Well, God's gonna fulfill everything he said perfectly. So let's go back to John chapter one. And like I said, I guess it was last week, if you have any questions, Put your hand up if I can't answer it, maybe just discussion-wise we can, or something I might have missed that might give more light to what we're talking about. Really, feel free to do that because I'm certainly not on authority. This book is the authority. We can find the answer in here. So John chapter one, verse 10. He was in the world and the world was made by him. And the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. which were born not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God." There's the new birth. He's introduced it. Born of God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. John bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me. Jesus was actually three months younger than John. John was born ahead of Jesus by three months physically. But John knows who Christ is. He says, he was before me. And of his fullness have we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." Stop right there. You think of Moses. He saw God in a burning bush to start with, and God spoke to him in a burning bush. And he asked God to reveal his glory to him. Can I see you? Can I look at you? Well, he was on a mountain. Cloud, thunder, lightning bolts. He says, don't let anybody touch the bottom of this mountain, cattle, nothing. You'll die. You can imagine the nation of Israel seeing this thing and observing it. And Moses, up there in his presence, I think Joshua was with him also, wasn't he, Brother Charlie? Joshua was with Moses? Not right there. He was like halfway up. Boy, could you imagine Joshua? You just kind of put yourself in these people's places, what he witnessed. Wow, you talk about fear. Man. And when Moses came down and said he had to cover his face for the glory that was on his face, that people couldn't even look at him. I mean, my goodness, being the president. But he never saw God. He just saw, how do you see a spirit? You can't. You can't see a spirit. But then God Great is the mystery of godliness. This is one of the mysteries revealed to the apostle Paul. Remember when the apostles were with him in the boat? He's sound asleep, and man, you're pouncing around, I don't know how you could sleep through something. They woke him up and said, Lord, don't you care if we perish? He said, oh, you have little faith. Peace be still. And if you read one account, there were other small boats with him. Can you imagine what that must have been like? I was on Kentucky Lake years ago on a sunny day in the fall, but the wind was blowing like 25, 30 miles an hour, and trying to get that bass boat back to the place where we put in. You talk about scary. I think I had permanent fingerprints in that steering wheel. I had one hand on the throttle, one hand on the wheel, and you hit that wave, you power up. Water come over the front, got the bilge pump running. Talk about scared. And that was just on a small lake. Kentucky Lake was a, you know, it's a pretty good sized lake, but pretty small. I can't, you've all seen videos of big ships out on the ocean. These huge tankers where you go up, come down, that water just comes right over the front of this whole boat. And you think, my goodness, do not think I would like that job. But here they are in this boat, and God stands up, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, peace, be still. And that water just flattened out like a cup sitting on a countertop. And they looked at each other and said, what manner of man is this that even the wind and seas obey him? They did not fully comprehend who Christ was in the Old Testament, because Andrew, when he found Peter, he said, we found the Messiah, we found Christ. They knew who He was, but they didn't fully understand that He was God in the flesh. That's another thing. Maybe we'll just touch on that just for a few minutes before we close. From beginning of the Old Testament all the way to the time of Christ, all they knew, especially Israel, was God was their Father. They had no idea that God is Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. He was the Father of Israel. He was referred to as the Father all the time. Just to finish out, turn back to Matthew chapter 6, I believe it is. The Beatitudes. Basically 5, 6, and 7 are the constitution for the kingdom of heaven. When it is set up, that's the way it's going to be. That's why the Lord says in chapter 5 verse 40, if a man sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have that cloak also. Just give him everything. Under the law, you're not going to get away with anything underhanded like you will today. Because Christ will be on this earth ruling and reigning with a rod of iron. And there's not gonna be any criminals. You won't have to lock your doors, especially if you're in the Jerusalem from heaven. You won't have to lock your doors. But the people that go into this kingdom in a physical body, they're not gonna have to worry about crime and stuff like that. That's the lion and the lamb will lie down together, the bear and the cow will eat straw. I mean, can you imagine a little kid walking down with a bear cub? They are cute, especially when they're cubs. Be their pet. be just like the Garden of Eden for a thousand years. So in Matthew chapter five, or I'm sorry, chapter six. Now remember, do not go to the Gentiles. come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Verse 1, he says, take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them. Otherwise, you have no reward of your father, which is in heaven. Talking about Israel as a nation. Look at verse 7, when you pray, use not vain repetition as the heathen do, that would be the Gentiles, that they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them, be not ye, Israel, like unto them, Gentiles, for your father, you see that personal thing, the father and Israel, knoweth what things ye have need of before you ask him. And well, here he sets up what we call the Our Father. I grew up Catholic. I would repeat this prayer over and over and over, especially after confession to a priest, that would be penance, do 10 Our Fathers, 10 Hail Marys, and that would pay for your sins. That's what I was told. He says, after this manner, verse 9, therefore pray you Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. was to Israel, pray that this kingdom will come. And there's the king right there telling them. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That's what's going to happen one day. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now I've had two people ask me over the years, what about those verses? Does that mean if we don't forgive somebody that our Father won't forgive us? Context, before Calvary, came to Israel only, look what he says. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. It looks like our forgiveness is conditional upon forgiving other people, right? According to that verse. But turn back to Ephesians, and we'll stop with this. After Calvary, the Apostle Paul and the Apostle to the Gentiles, all scriptures given by inspiration of God, studied to rightly divide, Ephesians chapter 4. Remember when Nicodemus came to him, Nicodemus was told he had to be born again. You can't be born again until after the debt was paid, death, burial, and resurrection. We know now it's a spiritual birth. There was no such thing as a born again experience prior to Calvary. So everything up to that point was law, law, law, and faith in God. Now this is after Calvary, debt's been paid. He says in verse 30 of chapter four, writing to Christians, he says, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. How do you grieve him? By sin, the verses prior to that, being angry, corrupt communication out of your mouth. He says, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you, Christians, are sealed under the day of redemption. That's when the body is taken out of the grave, and made new, you're sealed, you have eternal life. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. So that's how we get forgiven in the New Testament. Go back to Matthew, if you don't forgive somebody, you won't be forgiven. Israel only. Law, you see how that works? praise God what a Savior that He would pay our debt in full and all He wants us to do is simply believe Him. So you see the difference just between the time that Christ was here on earth and now after the death, burial, and resurrection. And the Apostles at the time of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John had no idea what the Lord Jesus Christ was going to do at Calvary. thought they had killed their Messiah. The two of them rode to Mass. What an illustration. They are walking along and the Lord joins up with them. Why are you so sad? Are you a stranger here? Don't you know what happened? It's Jesus. He said He was going to be the King and He was going to restore Israel and they killed Him. It's been three days since this happened. The Lord is walking along and says, He opened their understanding to the Scriptures. What a Bible study that must have been. Would you have liked to have sat in on that one? He took a piece of bread and broke it. And as soon as he broke that bread, they recognized who he was. He hid that fact up to that point. Then he revealed it to them. And immediately he was gone. My goodness. What'd they do? Just sit around and talk. No, they headed right back to Jerusalem as fast as they could go. Just as fast as they could go to tell the other apostles what had happened. So things are changing once that death, burial, and resurrection takes place. The kingdom was rejected. The king was rejected. It's been put on hold, but it's coming. It's coming. Rapture takes place. God takes the church. That's where we're at today, church age. He takes the church off this earth. We have seven years of Jacob's trouble. That's what it's called in the Old Testament. Seven years of Jacob's trouble. That's Israel. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's name was changed to Israel. Seven years he's going to judge that nation. thousands of years that they rejected Him. And worldwide judgment Gentiles too but especially Israel. And when He comes back it says, all Israel shall be saved. How much of Israel is going to be left when He comes back? Not going to be a whole lot when you read the Scriptures. Read Matthew 23 and 24 there's not going to be a whole lot of people left on this earth. In fact He said unless the Son of Man returned there won't be anybody left, there won't be no flesh at all left. when He comes back all Israel He's going to thin them out until that small remnant of believers are going to cry out for Him. And He's going to come back and set up that kingdom that He talked about the first time He was here. It's going to happen just as sure as we're talking about it. He's not through with Israel. He's got plans. He's going to fulfill His plans. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. Lord, I pray I did it justice. God, I pray that Any questions or anything, Lord, that you give us the wisdom corporately to be able to answer through your word, Father? Thank you for the plan that you've laid out. Thank you above all for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The very fact that we're here today is because of your love and your mercy and your forgiveness, Father. We pray for the nation of Israel, that people be saved before you come. God, we pray that you'll watch over them, and I know you are, Father. You're working things out, dear. You're playing, Lord. We ask it all now in Jesus' name, amen.