In Daniel 9 where the Messiah comes in and on Nisan 14 Passover is cut off exactly as Daniel prophesied to the day There's no other book on the planet that gives you that kind of prophecy In addition to all the other prophecies we read over the past two or three months that Jesus has fulfilled. It's just one of those things where you can't get people to understand. A lot of people, they just have this teeter-totter faith. Like they're always teetering on falling away from the Lord and giving up on God and all this. And it's out of ignorance. The more you learn God's word, the more you realize, first of all, it's not about me. So when my life falls apart, that's terrible. None of us enjoy that. But that's not what this is all about. You could lose everything, lose your health, die tomorrow, and you'll go to heaven. You'll be with the Lord forever and ever. His plan is what's important. And when you can get that kind of attitude and stop thinking about yourself all the time, it's so liberating. It's the cure for suicide, by the way. It's the cure for people leaving spouses to try to find, you know, grass is greener syndrome. It's all those. You don't just find contentment. The Bible says we should be content with such things as we have, but it isn't just something you decide, OK, I'm going to be content. Contentment comes with your knowledge of God's Word. So that's what this chart shows you. gives you the basic outline of, to the time of the birth of Christ and the end of 69 weeks is when you see the cross, the three crosses up where the arrow is pointing. And that's what Jesus is talking about when he tells these people, had you known, had you known, you should have known. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4, 6. I'm repeating that on purpose. The things which belong unto thy peace. This is what they forfeited by being ignorant of their Bible. You will forfeit the things which belong unto thy peace. You will forfeit that in your own walk with the Lord and in your own life. Rejecting the Prince of Peace, they forfeited their opportunity for peace 2,000 years ago. We support Israel. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We do not hate the Jews, but they're a wicked, wicked people. I mean wicked. That's why when you talk about people who are anti-Semitic, If you're unsaved, I'm not surprised at all you're anti-Semitic. Because when you learn the facts about the Jewish people, I mean, they're a wicked people. But whatever your race is, yours is just as bad. So that's why anti-Semitism is so stupid, because it's hypocritical. I don't care what your race is. I mean, America is being destroyed by white liberals, mostly. It doesn't mean you take matters in your own hands to punish the Jews. That's in God's hands. He's going to take care of it. But they could have had peace 2,000 years ago, instead of all that you read throughout history of all the Roman Empire persecuting and torturing the Jews, and then the Roman Catholic Church come along with the popes and all the inquisitions and all that, and then the pogroms, they call them, where Catholic rulers would then enact They would banish Jews to death, basically. They'd have to go out with nothing and then die in the wilderness. They would then imprison them. They would rape their women, steal their children, christen them as Catholic, and then raise them as Catholic, and all that has gone through. And then what has happened in the Russian communist countries, the way they treated the Jews, then what happened in Nazi Germany and how they treated the Jews, all that for 2,000 years is a result of the fact that they didn't know. They didn't know. God had said, this is when your Messiah is going to show up. You'll know Him. You'll be able to identify Him. If you had known the things which belong unto thy peace, Isaiah 9, 6 is the prophecy about that. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. You will never have peace without the Prince of Peace. The United Nations is a satanic agenda because they want peace without the Prince of Peace. And so verse 42 continues, but now they are hid from thine eyes. If they had received God's word, the truth would not have been hidden from their eyes. That's all this is saying. God didn't elect a certain tiny number to be saved and to hell with the rest. God has preached the gospel through Jesus Christ, through the apostles, in the Bible, their writings, and through His church. And if you receive what is being preached as the Word of God, you'll be saved. If you choose not to receive it, you will not be saved. It will remain hidden from your eyes. That's why we look at the unsaved world especially, and we look and say, how can they not see this? How can they not understand this? It's that simple. They reject the Word of God. So back in Daniel 9.25, it said again, going forth with the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince. It's all about their unwillingness to receive God's Word as the Word of God. And because they didn't, they neglected it, they didn't read it. And to this day, that's true of most Jews and Gentiles. Most of them have either a Bible in their house or they have access to it. Anybody can go to the public library and read a Bible free of charge anytime. Anybody can come here and we'll give them a Bible. Anytime. I mean, you can download free Bible apps on your phone anytime. You can go out and visit Bible Gateway, or Blue Letter Bible, or the kingjamesbibleonline.org, all these websites where you can read the Bible free of charge on your phone anytime, or on your computer anytime. And yet, Bible ignorance is at an all-time high. It is an amazing thing to witness. But verses 43 and 44, he prophesies, for the day shall come upon thee that thine enemy shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side. Verse 44, and shall lay thee even with the ground. Go to Israel today, you'll still see that. And thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because, look at that, Read that with me. Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. He says it twice now. Twice. That it's because of their ignorance and their ignorance was by choice. And all that he just read there happened, started in 70 AD and was finally completed 135 AD completely. God continually gave them periods for repentance, and they just continued to reject and reject. Eventually they killed all the apostles except for John, who died of old age, and they killed the apostles' disciples. But notice how our text ends, where it says, Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation, He's saying they should have known exactly when His appearance would take place. And He repeatedly points to the willful ignorance of those who reject Him. It's willful. It's a matter of the heart. Matthew 13, 19, When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, Then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside." That's in the parable of the sower and the seed. But look what he says. Anyone heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, it's not because it's too difficult. It's a choice. A choice not to think about what's being said and to believe it. To receive it. I've known people, well I was one of them, actually. I was saved at the age of 19. I can't tell you how many times I heard the gospel preached and I sat right there and just, and while the preacher's preaching I'd be thinking about going swimming later on, playing sports, you know, getting together with the guys and having a pickup game, you know, whatever. Cheeseburgers. Until I was 19 years old. Jessica? Just like my dad. He has all these excuses to why his thoughts are better than God's. Why is God wrong? Why he's not thinking right? Which is pride. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. And that's what is behind most of the people who reject the gospel. Luke 16.31, And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. That's a profound statement. That's why they didn't recognize Jesus when He showed up. People will call it, we've gone through this before, but sometimes repetition is important to get it settled in your mind. You today, as a Bible-believing Christian, they'll call a fundamentalist. They'll also call you a Pharisee. Pharisees are the opposite of a fundamentalist. That's how perverted the mind of the world is today. The Pharisees were not Bible-believing Jews. They were Not Torah Jews. Yes, they claimed to keep the Torah, but they added all this other stuff that wasn't in the Torah. The Talmud, the Babylonian Talmud at that point, was a huge influence on all these so-called affairs. The Sadducees are like today's liberals. They didn't even believe in the supernatural. They would have been the ones who just preached Jesus as kind of a good example, teaches us lessons, but not literally, you know, crucified for our sins, not literally risen from the dead, not literally returning. That's what the majority of quote-unquote Christian churches are full of today. They do not believe the Bible. They're Sadducees. But then the cults And cultic versions of Christianity are like the Pharisees, where they add their own rules, and some of them even add whole books, like the Book of Mormon, the Watchtower, the Jehovah's Witnesses, they've added the Watchtower magazine, and Awake magazine, and so forth. The Charismatics, they've added all the prophecies that their crazy TV preachers and people get. The Bible believer is not a Pharisee, but And it seems, I don't know, mean to even say it, but it's true that most of the people we know are Pharisees. When you say, well the Bible says this, well I think, well I was always taught, well my church believes, well my pastor says, wait a minute, none of that is Bible believing. Yeah, Darren? you talk about these other churches and these preachers and stuff that don't really believe the Bible. My question to you would be, if you talk to these guys, what's their argument for even having churches or having services like that to begin with? And there's two answers. One is the public answer. And the public answer is that, well, even though we believe that the Bible isn't really divinely inspired, It is a good book that has lessons for us. And so we believe that we can still be good to each other. They preach the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. And that sounds good, but it's not biblical. You're only God's child. He's only your father if you're saved. He's your creator, but he only becomes your father when you're born again and become part of the family. And so brotherhood, you're not really a brother to somebody unless they're a Christian. So you have the Masons, they'll call everybody who's a Mason a brother, even the ones who reject the gospel outright. Then there's others who claim to be Christians, and they're a part of the lodge. Well, I tell you, if you're really a Christian, those aren't your brothers. They're not believers. And you know, some of our culture, black culture, is to call one another brother. Hey, brother. Well, you know, if he's a Christian, doesn't matter what color he is, he's your brother. But if he's the same color as you, he's not your brother if he's not a born-again Christian. That's the royal truth. The other answer, though, is the one they give behind closed doors, Darren. And I'm not lying to you. This is reality. I've had conversations with these guys off the record, just talking. And it's because it's kind of a twofold answer to part two. But it's because they either didn't really know what they were getting into, or they just decided, you know what, you can't beat this kind of job. Because you're getting paid, most of these guys are making $100,000 or more a year. They have 401ks, they can go golfing and literally write it off on taxes and call it counseling. And a lot of them charge extra. So they're making $100,000. And then they take you out golfing. And while they're golfing, they counsel you. And you get a bill in the mail for however many hours they spent with you. Or as Doug talked about, they have a boat called Visitation. And people call in. They say, yeah, the pastor's out on Visitation. He's out on his boat. But the first conversation I had, with a Methodist theological seminary graduate in 1990 and the man told me that. And it shocked me. But since then I've met a bunch of them like that. And then you can read the Gallup polls and others where they do the same thing and they'll tell you these guys don't believe the Bible. It's just a good job. Some of them see themselves as like a spiritual version of psychology and psychiatry. And that's what they teach and preach. It's just they're psychologists and psychiatrists in the pulpit. Yes, but that's where the Bible talks about them being of a reprobate mind. You have a mind after God, you can't imagine that, but the Bible says they have a reprobate mind. John 8, 43, Why do ye not understand my speech? even because you cannot hear my word." Now Jesus didn't say God made it so that they cannot hear his word. It's the fact that they cannot hear because they don't have a heart of faith, a belief in the word of God. They don't receive it. And that's all these people were troubled by. That's what's behind it. Ignorance of God's word is no excuse. unless you have no access, which like I said, I don't know if any American could ever say that. But in Acts 1730 we read this, in the times of this ignorance God winked at. That doesn't mean he's up there just, you know, but what it means is he's saying, you know, he's God. He's righteous. He's just. He knows that there have been people throughout history who didn't have the access that you and I do have to the Word of God. And Christians love to get all troubled about, well, what's going to happen to those people? My answer is this. God is just. God is righteous. I don't worry about it. I know he's going to do the right thing. I guarantee you there won't be anyone in hell who doesn't deserve to be there. Can you explain it? I'm not God. You know, my brain would be the size of an atom and smaller in God's presence. You know, I don't have that, I don't have the mind of God. I have the Word of God and I believe it. And so I know that there are times like this. The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commanded all men everywhere to repent. What you need to worry about is you. What those people you know and love you're talking to, they need to worry about the fact that they hear the truth and they need to receive it and repent. That's what they need to worry about. Romans 5.13 also says sin is not imputed when there is no law. So all this will come into play when it comes to God dealing with those people who don't have access. We have a responsibility to learn and to trust in the promises of God. That's our responsibility. It's not that difficult. That's why I believed Jesus when He said, this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. There are people that I find it hard to believe that about, but I believe it because Jesus said so. There are people, some of the nicest people I know, who reject Jesus Christ, reject the Gospel, and I have to believe their secret sin. It might just be pride. But there's wickedness, their deeds are evil, behind their rejection of Jesus Christ. That's hard for us when it's a parent. It's hard for us when it's a sibling. It's hard for us when it's a best friend. It's hard for us anytime it's someone we love. But Jesus isn't the liar here. Your loved one's the liar. When they try to pretend there's some intellectual reason, there's none. Every time I've talked to someone like that who really tried to give you an intellectual reason for the rejection of the gospel, and I challenge them to sit down with me and to listen to the case to be made in, first of all, if they claim not to believe in God, let's listen to the case for the existence of God. I believe in God, but I don't believe the Bible. Let's sit down and you can listen to the case for the Word of God. Well, I believe the Bible, but I just can't believe that the gospel is the only way to salvation, etc. Let's sit down and let's talk about it and hear the case. They never will. They never do. And so I have to believe they don't really want to hear the truth because they love their sin. And I guarantee you, Judgment Day comes, that's what we're going to find out. I want to close by reading over in Romans 15. Romans 15 verse 8. This is where we start. And I have you read the even verses with me from verse 8 through 12. Romans 15 verses 8 through 12. Give you a second to get there. You all there? All right, we'll all join in. Verse 8, and read the even with me. Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy, as it is written, for this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud Him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust. So our study is directed toward the Jews who rejected Jesus Christ by rejecting the Word of God. But there's also a bunch of non-Jews involved in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and I'm looking at a bunch of them right now. Everybody likes to say, well, the Jews killed Jesus. Yes, they did. And so did the Romans, and so did every sinner. And so what we look to is that the Jews play the main role in this, but then because of the way it worked out, the Jews rejected their Messiah, then Romans 11, go read it sometime on your own, we were grafted in by faith. And so we as Gentiles today are benefits of the plan of God. He has included us. And we should never lose sight of what we just read. for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, that's the Jews, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. You and I have nothing to boast about except the mercy of God. We have nothing to boast about. We're saved by grace through faith, but that faith is not of yourselves. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. If it wasn't for the word of God, you wouldn't have faith. Everything is all about God saving us, and we're going to stand on His promises. Amen? Let's sing about it. Page 175. Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let His praises ring. Glory in the highest I will shout and sing Standing on the promises of God Standing, standing Standing on the promises of God my Savior Standing, standing I'm standing on the promises of God Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, by the living Word of God I shall prevail. Standing on the promises of God, standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior Standing, standing I'm standing on the promises of God Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Matching Him eternally by love's strong cord, Overcoming daily with the spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior Standing, standing, I'm standing on the promises of God Standing on the promises I cannot fall, listening every moment to the Spirit's call. Resting in my Savior as my all in all, standing on the promises of God. standing standing standing on the promises of God my Savior standing standing I'm standing on the promises of God