[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:14] What happens to baby when the rapture happens? What happens to babies when the rapture happens? All right, next question. I don't know, and the Bible doesn't say. How's that? I don't know, and the Bible doesn't say.
[0:25] That's not clear. That's the best answer I can give you. I really don't know what happens to babies when the rapture happens.
[0:36] Give me one more. No, I cannot give you an overview of the book of Haggai. I'm in Amos. But if you'll hang around. Joel, Amos, I would like Jonah, Micah, Nehemiah, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zeke.
[0:49] Yeah, it's going to be a while. Hang around, and I guess you can give me one more question. I haven't done good. That was two, right? On the third, if I strike out, it's over. Why do we still consider the Jews to be God's people if in the Bible it says in Romans that he has put them aside?
[1:07] What a good question. Now that one I like. Open your Bibles to Romans chapter 11. That's a good question. Whoever did that, you get a gold star tonight.
[1:20] Romans chapter 11. Can I give you a summary of the book of Haggai? I could really help you on the book of Amos, I promise.
[1:33] If you didn't like Amos and Amos' little confrontation today, you just didn't read that story. That's got to be, I would just love to see drama.
[1:44] These guys need to make a drama about that one. In Romans chapter 11, and I've got to flip through here to find my verses, and let's go, if you would, to, let's go to, we'll start in verse 11.
[2:01] Here's what the Bible says. I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. But rather, through their fall, salvation has come to the Gentiles for to provoke them to jealousy.
[2:17] Now, let me kind of walk you through some things. Honestly, if you can understand Romans 9, 10, and 11, you can understand Bible doctrine that confuses the fire out of people all over the world.
[2:34] You see, when God chose the Israelites, or the Jewish people, he chose them to be his messengers, to bless the world, to bring the word of God to us, to bring Jesus to us, and to be the channel of carrying the gospel to the world.
[2:50] And so, in verse 11, and you know this if you'll think just a second, it doesn't mean that God quit saving Jews and he started saving Gentiles. It doesn't mean all Jews were saved and now all Gentiles are saved.
[3:02] But we weren't the vessels that got to carry the book. The church wasn't the one. And so, what happened when the Jews fell, they had for so long, like we're in the book of Amos, they had for so long been so wrapped up in themselves, they'd forgotten to carry the gospel.
[3:19] And so, God does some miraculous things, blinds their hearts, and everything else to set the nation aside and they fall, not to stay fallen, not to be whipped forever, but so that we could have salvation.
[3:34] Now, look at verse 12. Now, if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more the fullness? So, if you can realize how great a thing happened when God put in the second string, which is the church, first string, they've been losing the ball game because they got their eye off the ball and they forgot what they were supposed to do.
[3:56] So, he sets the Jews down and he brings the church out onto the field. And he said, boy, that was great for the whole world. When they fell, that was great. Well, how much better when he brings them back in? Look at the last part of the verse.
[4:08] Their fullness. So, when they come back, they're going to really go crazy carrying the gospel. Verse 13. I speak to you Gentiles, and as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office.
[4:20] Man, I'm happy. I'm the guy who works with Gentiles. I'm a Jew, and my job is to work with Gentiles and get them involved. If by any means I may provoke to emulation, them which are my flesh and might save some of them.
[4:33] Man, I'm hoping I can get some of them excited about God. I'm hoping I can get some of them excited about carrying the gospel and doing the work. Verse 15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?
[4:48] So, when we put them aside, man, we brought a new team on the field that's been going crazy carrying the gospel. That New Testament church and what they did and the early church and what they did, and even what God has done with mission work around the world through this church, he said, but guess what?
[5:03] When they come back with power, life from the dead, verse 16. If the first fruit be holy, the lump's holy, and the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree were grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and the fatness of the olive tree, don't brag about it.
[5:26] Don't boast against the branches. Don't put the Jewish people down. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root in thee. So, watch this. This is what happened. Listen to this. This is really important stuff.
[5:38] You see, it's not about God saying, I'm choosing to save only Jewish people, and all Philistines are going to hell. Nineveh had a lot of people get saved. A lot of people get saved in a lot of different places.
[5:49] But what happened was these Jewish people were not carrying the gospel. They had stopped doing their job as a people, not as individuals. Because, by the way, when the church starts, it starts with all Jewish people.
[6:02] So, it wasn't against a person, but a people as a nation that he puts them aside. And so, we were put in their place. In verse 17, if some of the branches be broken off Jewish people, and you, a wild olive tree, were grafted in, us as a church are grafted in, and we partake of all that they did for us before then.
[6:23] Verse 19, thou wilt say then, the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.
[6:34] So, don't be bragging about it. Don't be high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed, lest he also spare not thee. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God on them which fail.
[6:47] Severity, but toward thee, goodness. If thou continue this goodness, otherwise thou shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not, still in unbelief shall be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again.
[6:59] He's going to put them back in. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, if thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these branches, which be natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
[7:17] They were cut off, put to the side. We were put in. Now he's going to cut us off, put us to the side, and put them back in. For 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 is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles become.
[7:35] So all Israel shall be saved, as it is written. There shall come out of Zion to deliver, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant to them, when I shall take away their sins.
[7:46] Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as touching election, they are beloved for the Father's sake. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through unbelief.
[8:00] Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they may also obtain mercy. It's probably getting confusing to you, and I don't have time to preach it. So let me show you what happened. Here's what's going on.
[8:12] God's using Jewish people, and boy, they're doing the job. They're going to write Genesis all the way to Malachi 39 books. But in the whole process, they keep just messing up.
[8:22] They quit doing the job. They were told to be, Abraham, I'm calling you and picking you, not because I want you to be going to heaven and nobody else. That wasn't what he was doing. He said, I'm picking you above everybody because you're going to be my messenger.
[8:35] And then, by the way, all the children of Abraham don't go to heaven because Abraham had a lot of kids. He had kids by Keturah. He had other children. He had Ishmael, and they don't go to heaven. But God picked another guy, who?
[8:47] Isaac, to be the guy that would carry the gospel. Then out of Isaac, he didn't pick up all the kids. He picked one of the kids, Jacob, not Esau, not because he wanted Esau to go to hell, but because Esau didn't get the blessing of being the one that carried the gospel.
[8:59] And then Jacob comes out, and Jacob's got 12 kids, and they're going to carry the gospel. But God doesn't pick the oldest one. He picks Joseph and lets him be the one that gets the double blessing. The children of Israel are called the children of Jacob in the Bible.
[9:11] And so they've been doing their job, but they stopped. And so when Jesus came to earth, they don't receive the Messiah. They reject the Messiah. But even so that they, because he wanted them to, he needed them to reject him.
[9:26] He wanted them to reject him as a nation for a time. And so he blinded their hearts. He blinded their eyes. He stopped them from believing as a nation, not individually, because a lot of individuals are believing.
[9:39] He puts them aside. He puts us in. So we run out on the field, and we're carrying the gospel. And what's going to happen, all you've got to do is read this chapter, is soon he's going to take us out of the way.
[9:51] And when he does, he's going to put those Jews back in, and there are going to be 12,000 witnesses out of 12 tribes, and they're going to carry the gospel to the entire world. You see, God's about getting his gospel to the world.
[10:03] And so he tried. He started working with Jews. They blew it. He let them blow it. He's using us. We're not doing so good either, and he's going to bring the Jews in. He's going to get his job done. God's in charge.
[10:13] God hasn't gotten rid of the Jewish people. He hasn't gotten rid of them. We did not replace them. We temporarily replaced them. And if you get haughty about it and boast about it, according to Romans chapter 11, you're making a big mistake.
[10:26] Now, that's a good chapter. You need to understand that it'll help you with election. It'll help you with a whole lot of things that you may very likely be misunderstanding. The gospel was to the Jew first and then the Gentile.
[10:39] God started with Jews, and then he used Gentiles. The church, which is made up of Jewish people and Christian people. Every church ought to have Jewish people. It ought to have every kind of people.
[10:50] It ought to be like a coloring. We used to call them coloring boxes. I don't know what you call them. Crayons, a box of crayons. Everybody's here, and everybody's serving. But Jewish people ought to be a part of it because God gave the gospel to the Jews.
[11:03] But the church, the middle wall's been broken down. The middle wall of partition. Jewish people and Gentile people together form one church, the church of Jesus Christ.
[11:15] But we will soon be taken out of here, and he'll bring those Jews back. And you're going to see wild evangelism like you have never seen before. Two preachers are going to preach, get killed, come back to life.
[11:26] You're going to see all kinds of crazy stuff. 12,000 young men that hadn't told a lie and hadn't had sex yet are going to go carry the gospel to the world. It's going to be the wildest, craziest thing because God is going to win.
[11:38] One more question, and now we've got Travis coming up here. Got another one? I preached that one way too long. You're probably ready to shoot me. If wine is a mocker, then why does God not hate Esau?
[11:51] I'll look at that in a minute and see what you're talking about. Romans 9, 14. Can you show me what that says right quick?
[12:02] I don't know what that has to do with it. Let me see. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall? That's 10. Excuse me. 9, 14. What shall we say then?
[12:13] Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. I'm not sure I get what that means. Go back to that. Go back to the question. Let me see if I can get the question. You may have to make your question more clear. I'm not making fun of your question.
[12:24] Just saying, I don't know that I understand it, which is my problem, not yours. Wine is a mocker, and you're a fool if you're deceived thereby. Okay?
[12:34] You need to all be very careful that alcohol can destroy you. Then why does God not hate Esau? Well, God doesn't, you know, God's really not in the hating business.
[12:45] It all depends on how y'all define hate. You see, God hates like you're supposed to hate your mother. You know, as a Christian, you're supposed to hate your mother and your father and your daddy and your brother.
[12:56] You're supposed to hate everybody and love Jesus. So it's a preference. And God did hate Esau in the sense he didn't use him, but he used Jacob. And so here's what we're going to do.
[13:08] We'll sing a song, and then Travis and I will come back up here. Travis, you come first and give us an update, and then I'll ask you some questions, and then I should have an answer for Malachi 1, 2, and 3.
[13:18] I've been saying that a long time. I want to say just a couple of words to you about hate before we quit leave. When you read the Bible, you need to study words. So when you see the word hate used, you want to look up all the words hate in the Bible and see how they're used and compare them.
[13:35] My dad loved me very much. Never would say it, but he loved me. And when we started a church in 1977 in Cartersville, within a year, my dad gave us $5,000, and another friend gave $5,000, and we were able to buy our first piece of property that became Liberty Baptist Church.
[13:56] And my dad lived in Tennessee. He was a farmer, always lived on a large farm. Well, maybe not northwest or midwest large, but for Tennessee, you know, a couple hundred acres.
[14:09] And Daddy always had animals and everything. But when I started the church, he and my mother sold everything they had and moved down to Georgia to go to the church I pastored. And they came to, they wanted to help join the church.
[14:22] And so they were in our church for about seven years. And I'd been there eight years. And when I told, I went to see my dad before I told the church, I said, Daddy, I'm going to be resigning as pastor of liberty.
[14:36] Don't get your hopes up. I said, I'm going to be resigning as pastor of liberty, and I didn't want you to hear it with everybody else. We were sitting in two chairs in his living room, which is a very modest home at the time.
[14:51] And my dad goes, well, you might as well leave. You have never been a good son. You're not a good Christian. You're not a good pastor.
[15:04] I think it would be a good thing if you just leave. I'm like, wow. But what he was saying was, I think you're hating me.
[15:16] I'm going to hate you back. Later on, he would tell people, you know, I've never, ever not been for Austin 100% for him. When he told me he's going to the mission field, I was for him from day one.
[15:26] I'm like, oh, Daddy, you got selective memory. We had a missionary. We've had two missionaries in the last few months that were at the Atlanta airport. One's Patrick Henry. He's in Argentina.
[15:38] And Patrick said to me on the phone, he said, this is the worst thing I've ever gone through in my life. You would think I was at a funeral. Because his family was all mourning his leaving.
[15:50] His dad was being rude to him. He would just, and I told him, I said, they're just going to miss you. And they don't know how to deal with it. Chuck and Lisa and their family and Kyle and Hannah have gone off to the beach.
[16:03] This is a week of mourning for them. So they're going to go because they're leaving. You don't understand unless you understand this. So the Bible told me I'm to hate my mother and my father and my family, my brother.
[16:19] I'm to hate my own life also. I'm to hate everything and love Jesus. But I'm not supposed to hate them. I'm supposed to hate them, but it's not supposed to hate them. By the way, I'm told to love my enemies.
[16:31] Somebody told me today that they were mad at somebody. And I said, if you're going to serve Jesus, you're not supposed to hate them. You're supposed to love them. And they were like, yeah, well, I'm not that good a Christian.
[16:43] Just like that. So here's the deal. And when God hated Esau, you need to understand he chose Jacob. Just like Cason chose a girl and Nate chose a girl and neither one of them want the other guy's girl.
[16:59] Funniest thing in the world. Jeff Bush married a twin. And they did look so much alike. I couldn't tell them apart. But he used to tell me, I don't like Mindy's sister at all.
[17:10] They don't even look alike. I'm like, they don't look alike. Everybody but you can't tell them apart. I think their mom and daddy couldn't tell them apart. But he said, no, they don't look nothing alike. You know what happens?
[17:21] You need to understand. Go into your Bible and read these words. Some of you might be caught up on we were dead in sin. So was the prodigal son. He was dead to his father. My son, which was dead, is now alive.
[17:34] So read those words so you don't get tripped up. And some doctrine is going to mess you up. You want to know what the Bible says. Read the book of Romans and read it from a perspective of 39 books of the Bible.
[17:46] God's been using one group of people. The Jews. And all of a sudden he's going to set those Jews aside. And Paul says in Romans 9 and 10, I love my people.
[17:58] I love my people. And so I just want you to get a hold of the fact that God's not up in heaven making firewood out of people and going to send them to hell and burn and enjoy that. That is just a concept so foreign to the scriptures.
[18:11] If you didn't have somebody tell you that was there, you would never find it. Amen. Say, man. Say, shoot the preacher. Say, hurry up and resign. I heard you.
[18:23] But don't plan on it. So anyway, amen. All right. We're going to have a word of prayer. We'll be dismissed. Can I just say to you, Sunday night's big. Sunday night's big.
[18:34] Would you be praying? Would you put that on the top of your prayer list? And ask God to save and bring somebody and pray for these young people that will be putting on this program. And let's just pray God does something really big and helps us see new people saved.
[18:48] Let's have a word of prayer and we'll be dismissed. Father, we love you. You're such a good God. We're so grateful for how you've loved us and saved us and forgiven us. We're so grateful for the eternal life that you've given us.
[19:00] And God, we ask you to work to save people this coming week. Pray that you'd bring in a lot of visitors. Pray you'd help us to be a friend to them. And God will give you praise for all that you do.
[19:11] In Jesus' name, amen. Playip that you'd bring in.
[19:35] Let's pray. Let's pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Why? Let's pray. I love you. I love you. I love you. 1. I love you. 2. 1. 2. 4. 5. 5.
[19:45] 5. 5. 5. 6. 5. 5. 7. 6. 6. 7. 7. 8. 7. 7. 8. 7. 7.
[19:56] 7. 7. 8. 9. 8. 8. 9. 9. 8. 9.