Amen Romans chapter 11 we're
gonna continue in Romans 11 dealing with Verses 16 and following
and I want to say this as we are going into the text last
week. I Drew your attention to a parallelism
that's essential in developing a proper interpretation of Scripture
last week. I said that there was a parallel
between The old and the new and that we dealt with this term
promise. This term promise in the Old Testament, God promised
national Israel the physical seed of Abraham, the promised
land. You guys remember that? And the
promised land was a physical land. It was a very narrow and
limited piece of real estate that got promised Israel. That
promised land was a type, however, of the larger promise that God
promises all his people in Jesus Christ. It's very important for
you to know that. When you are a believer in Christ,
your job is not to fight for real estate on this earth. And
your job is not to acquire material goods on this earth. The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And the person who seeks
the kingdom of God already has everything necessary for life
and godliness. Therefore, if you are driven
by a hermeneutic construct that drives you to seeking to acquire
material things. You are poverty stricken spiritually. You have missed the promises
of God. God's promises for his people are spiritual and heavenly. They are all eternal promises. The things of this world are
merely aids and benefits to get us to where God is calling us.
And that's glory. And so for the children of God,
we are not striving to cast our stakes in this life or in this
world or get as many earthly carnal blessings as we possibly
can. To do that is to miss the gospel
altogether. It's to miss the gospel altogether.
This is why Jesus, as he was teaching his disciples in Matthew
chapter six, plainly said, do not pray like the heathen. They are begging for things all
the time. Your father, which is in heaven,
knows what you need. See, when a man or woman believes
God like that, they won't go to praying for those temporal,
carnal, earthly things when they know they have a heavenly father
who is more than capable of meeting your needs. Now you're going
to be doing what you're called to do. Pray, our father, which
is in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. So the
goal and objective of the people of God is to seek God's kingdom.
That's what the goal and objective of people, God's people are.
And so in the Old Testament, while they were headed to the
promised land, which was to be acquired by faith. And that's
why many of them did not enter into the promised land. As you
know, they perished in the wilderness because of unbelief. Those of
us in the New Testament have a promise to the corresponding
promise in the New Testament to that which was an Old Testament
promise being the physical land. The corresponding promise is
the promise of the what? The Spirit. The Spirit. The Spirit. Ephesians chapter
1 verse 13. Go there. I want you to see this
as we lay this foundation and deal more thoroughly with what
Paul is arguing in the book of Romans with regards to the parallels
that he's about to develop. He's going to develop some parallels,
which he does all the time as he sets forth. The gospel explains
the purpose of redemption and causes people serve him he has
no problem with drawing out of the Old Testament those Old Testament
models and types and he does it without warning he does it
without qualification he simply just draws back reaches back
draws into the Old Testament reservoir and treasure of divine
truth and assumes that his readers and his auditors will learn how
to rightly interpret the scriptures and so this is what's necessary
for us to understand as we begin to follow Paul's logic in the
next aspect of his argument. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse
13, are we there? Listen to what it says. In whom
also you trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the
gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of what? Do you see it? And he explains in verse 14,
which is what we call an expository verse, an exegetical. That is, that which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of his glory. Now that's a mouthful, but here
is precisely what he's saying. He's saying that when God saved
us, he gave us great and exceeding precious promises, which we have
not realized yet, but in between the promise given and the reality
of those promises, he's given us what is called an earnest
or down payment or a promissory note called the spirit of God. Now think about this. We're having
all kinds of problems in our economy right now, aren't we?
All kinds of folks aren't able to pay on their house now, right? When they put down that initial
promissory note of $3,000 or $5,000, some folk didn't put
anything down. They were under obligation to
pay off the whole mortgage, weren't they? This is phenomenal because
when God saves a sinner, he comes to that sinner and promises that
sinner as if he was the one obligated to give the sinner the contract
and fulfill it for him. And he says to you and to me
who are his here, I'm going to give you an earnest. I guarantee
you I'll give you the rest when I come. The point is, is you
ought to be blown away by how God has decided to deal with
you in the matter of redemption. You know, you and I don't deserve
anything. And yet when he comes to us,
I'm going to explain this further in our text. The reason for which
Paul so frequently uses the word fullness and riches is because
this is the way that God has chosen to deal with sinners when
he brings them to himself. His goal is to pour upon them
his own glory and the fullness of that glory. Between now, that
is the time in which a person comes to saving faith in Christ,
the spirit of God is given to them. The spirit of God is the
earnest. The earnest is the promissory
note. Whenever you are wondering whether or not God is faithful,
all you have to do is remember he gave you his spirit. He gave
you the promise. Remember Jesus told the disciples,
we're gonna be developing this too today. Right before his ascension
into glory, he says, you tarry, you tarry, you wait for the promise
of my father, which is giving you, which I told you before.
They waited and they received, didn't they? And from that day
to this day, we have the presence of the third person who is the
promissory note. The only reason you and I are
interested in the things of God, the only reason that you and
I are drawn to the things of God, the only reason you and
I can understand and love and rejoice in and have a heart affection
towards the things of God is because of the promissory note.
So the corresponding factors are that Israel was placed into
the promised land, you and I are placed into the Spirit of God. You guys see the parallelism?
Very important. Because now you and I become
the stewardship of the gospel, whereas Israel in the Old Testament
was the stewardship. That stewardship was taken from
them and given to another, bearing the fruit thereof. Matthew chapter
21. That's us. This is why God doesn't mind
giving us all of the appellations, all of the nomenclatures, all
of the terms, all of the phraseology that was attributed to national
Israel in the Old Testament. You and I are true Jews. You
and I are the circumcision. You and I are the Israel of God.
You and I are Abraham's seed. You and I are the people of God.
You and I are the elect. You and I are the chosen. You
and I are the remnant. All these are terms that were
given to Israel. You and I are peculiar people
called by God unto good works which God has ordained before
the foundation of the world. So now we become God's representative. Am I making some sense? This
is critical because now you're going to understand the logic
when we go right back to Romans chapter 11, which is what I want
you to do now. Go back to Romans 11. The promissory
note for the believer is the third person. Don't ever play
that down. That's God himself. That's an
inexhaustible promissory note. The fact of the matter is you
don't need anything else but the third person. for all eternity. And yet he's only called the
promissory note. Can you then fathom the possibility
of the unfolding of the riches of God that are ours when we
enter into the full consummation of that which he calls glory?
Can you even imagine that? But this is what you must think
upon as you read the scriptures and hear the superlatives that
are laid down concerning how much he hath loved us. And God expects these truths
of the gospel to float your boat until you get to glory. Are you
hearing me? See, when a man loves his wife,
he talks to her like that. I love you. I love you. I love
you. I love you. Let me count the ways. And this
is how the Lord Jesus has done it for us. Am I making some sense?
So Romans chapter 11, verse 16, verse 12, it says like this,
we're going to develop it now. Now, if the fall of them be the
riches of the world and the diminishing of them be the riches of the
Gentiles, how much more so their fullness? This was the fall aspect
we've been dealing with for several weeks. We're dealing with three
Fs, right? The fall, the fullness, and the fatness. Paul said the
fall was purpose. He said the fall was designed
in order for God to bring in the full Israel of God. Not merely
the Israel of God in the Old Testament, where it was primarily
Jews who were of the stock of Abraham, which some Gentiles,
but now Gentiles in the New Testament who would be brought into the
Commonwealth of Israel and become part of the family and of the
Commonwealth of God. And they would be the primary
Objects of his mercy and grace, but not exclusively there will
be Jews in there, too So even as it was in the Old Testament
Jews and Gentiles it is in the New Testament Jews and Gentiles
But the preponderance in the New Testament are called Gentiles.
That's why we call this the fullness of the Gentiles You guys see
that this is where you and I are. So what Paul said in verse 12
is they diminished the They fail, that is, they misstep, they transgress,
and they diminish. That Greek verb there, diminish,
is a military term which means that they were defeated in battle.
I want to just simply paint that picture to help you understand
what's going on. God called Israel out of Egypt
in Exodus chapter 12. God defined Israel as an army. He said, bring my army out. Now this army was a bunch of
slaves, men, women, and children. But in God's eyes, they were
an army. The New Testament church is an
army to Israel was defeated time and again, weren't they? They
were defeated in the wilderness. They were defeated in the promised
land. They were defeated when Jesus came for them to crucify. Christ means that they believe
the lie of the devil, embraced his agenda and rejected the son
of God. This is what it means. The diminishing
of Israel. They were defeated. They were
defeated, but that defeat was purposeful. It was designed for
God to break out into the four quarters of the world and save
his people. That's what Paul is saying. So
I want you to see that analogy. The diminishing of them is the
fullness or the richest of the Gentiles. How much more so their
fullness? We saw last time in verse 13,
he says, I speak to you Gentiles. And as much as I am the apostle
of the Gentiles and I magnify my office, Verse 13 is simply
saying, I want you to listen to me. Then he says in verse
14, if by any means I might provoke to jealousy those which are my
brethren in the flesh, it might save some of them. I shared with
you two weeks ago, mark that phrase, some of them. Because
when we get to thinking about theology and doctrine, and often
you hear in preaching and teaching, the concepts all and we dealt
with this I'm not going to go over this again the phrase all
you you end up thinking in absolute terms and that will get you into
trouble all the time when it says that uh Israel shall be
brought in and so all Israel shall be saved that's where we're
going we won't be there this week it doesn't mean absolutely
every individual in Israel we learned that in Romans 9 right
not all Israel is of Israel And so when we deal with the word
all, you have to always qualify that by the context and the determined
purpose. Don't fall prey to this humanistic
Armenian ideal that Christ died for every single human being
in the world. This is just not true. It's just
not true. And don't fall prey to the idea
that all are going to be saved. That's not true. Although I can
take you to Bible verses as I have before and show you where the
scripture says all men came to Jesus. That's John chapter 2. And yet we know all men didn't
come to Jesus. Jesus said in John chapter 12
verse 31, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men under me.
All men aren't coming to Christ and he's not drawing all men.
He's only drawing those whom the father had given him. So
you need to be careful when you use the phrase all it has to
be understood in this context. Am I making some sense? But Paul
understood this, that Christ gave his life a ransom for what? Many, not all, not few, many. Did you get that? And so what
Paul says here, my goal is to see to it that some are saved.
Well, that's the best we can do. I remember when the disciples
said in the Gospel of Luke, as they were observing the Lord's
ministry and he was preaching very firmly against the hypocrisy
of the church and they were turning away from him, they could hear
the winds of argumentation and rebuttal and and discontent with
Jesus. And the question was, Lord. Are
there few that be saved? Jesus said, you better strive
to enter in. You better strive to enter in,
speaking to his own disciples. So the assumption that folk can
be saved easily is a complete misnomer. Do you know it takes
much tribulation to enter into the kingdom of God? Most people
that are thinking about entering in, never ever enter in. I just
simply say that to help you understand that as we're working through
the scriptures, Paul is very clear that his goal has never
been that every Jew be saved. just as it's never been that
every Gentile would be saved. The gospel didn't even go to
certain people groups who lived and died without ever hearing
the gospel. Are you guys hearing? I know
that troubles your theology, but it's very important for you
to know. You know, when we when you hear these terms, God has
to see to it that every human being gets a chance to be saved.
Where does that where you see that in the Bible? Where in the
Bible does it say that God has to see to it that every human
being is safe? See, I'm challenging your assumptions,
am I not? Because people hear that all
the time. Jesus is on the earth, right? Jesus is God embodied
in one place in one location in Israel for 30 some odd years.
Is that true? There are nations all over the
world at that time. Men and women have always been
dying at the rate of 100,000 to 300,000 a day. During the
days of Jesus, people were perishing every day. Even Jesus talked
about folks who never heard the gospel. Sodom and Gomorrah didn't
hear the gospel. Tyre and Sidon didn't hear the
gospel. Certain nations just never heard
the gospel. They perished. And so even if
Jesus saved everyone in the world after His resurrection, we can't
say that everyone that was born into this world was saved. Could
we say that? Nor could we say everyone that was born into this
world had a chance to hear the gospel. Could we? What this challenges
us on then is this, the purpose of God. Is my assumption based
upon personal prejudice, a flawed thinking, that if God's gonna
be just at the judgment throne, He must have given every person
a chance to be saved. Is that a flawed assumption? It's an assumption for sure,
isn't it? But it's also a flawed assumption. There are a lot of
things that you are not taking into consideration when you buy
into the idea that God must give everybody a chance to be saved.
First of all, you're assuming that you understand what justice
is. The second thing you are assuming is that men have a capability
within themselves of being saved. The third thing you're assuming
is that God desires that absolutely everybody be saved. Are you hearing
me? And there is very important that
we got to cut that down. It's very important that you
understand that as you are holding assumptions, as you're holding
assumptions, You gotta examine those assumptions because those
assumptions become grids of interpretation that bring you into conflict
in the scriptures if you're not careful. All right, we'll go
on, because I want us to see what he's saying now. He says
here, I speak to you Gentiles. My desire is to see that some
of them are saved. Verse 15, for if the casting
away of them, that is who, the Jews, be the reconciling of the
world, what shall be the receiving of them, that is who, the Jews,
but life from the dead. Now, we've already qualified
in verse 15. If the casting away of them, that is the Jews were
all the Jews cast away. See. And therefore, if that if
they're casting away, be the reconciling of the world, are
we not to follow that logic that even though the phrase is the
reconciling of the world, we're not meaning every individual
in the world being reconciled. You see the parallelisms? It's
very important to see that. Very important for you to see
that. In terminology, this is called
a synecdote. A synecdote is a term that represents
the part by the whole. Synecdotalism is a term that
represents the part by the whole. And what that means is one will
say that I'm drinking the cup. I use this analogy all the time
when we partake of the large table, take this cup. This is my blood, which was shed
for you. Do this in remembrance of me, right? And so we drink
the cup, right? No, we don't drink the cup. We
drink the contents in the cup, right? That's what we call a
synecdote. Another way a synecdote is used,
and we saw this in Daniel chapter seven, Daniel chapter five, Belteshazzar,
Belshazzar, King Neb's son, saw a writing on the wall. He saw
a hand writing on the wall. Now that hand was a part representing
the whole. While he only saw a hand, there
had to be a whole person there. That was the Lord Jesus writing
judgment against Belshazzar. And so please be careful that
when you're reading, that you understand these concepts. They're
very important. When you read the scriptures,
are you going to have irreconcilable contradictions? He goes on to
say now in verse 15, verse 16, which this is interesting. We've
just dealt with the fullness concept. Excuse me. And he moves into another phraseology,
which is really dynamic. Verse 16 says, for if the first
fruits be holy, then the lump is also holy. And if the root
be holy, so are the what? Now he just switched his whole
conversation from fullness to fatness. He's just switched. He switched his whole argument.
He's now bringing in an analogy of an olive tree. But even in
dealing with the olive tree, he's dealing with language that's
constructed in the Old Testament that if you don't know, this
statement here means nothing to you. Tell the truth, some
of you be honest right now. This verse doesn't mean a thing
to you, isn't that right? I see y'all like honest folk, honest
folk, I'll say it again, honest folk won't go to hell. Look at
it again. For if the first fruits be holy,
the lump is also holy, and if the root be holy, so are the
branches. Verse 17, if some of the branches be broken off, and
you being a wild olive tree, do you see that? were grafted
in among them and with them are partaker of the root and fatness
of the what? Olive tree. Now what he has just
done was introduce another analogy which is gonna take up the bulk
of our time because it's a wonderful analogy and it teaches us some
things. But if you're gonna understand
the olive tree concept, you will have to read your Bible. The olive tree concept is an
Old Testament concept. See, this is what I'm saying.
He's drawing back into the Old Testament. The only way that
you're going to understand the olive tree concept is for you
to read your Bible. You have to do a word study on the olive
tree. So there are a couple of things that we're going to do,
and you'll see this in your outline. The olive tree analogy. Do you
see that in your outline? The first thing I want to say
is that the olive tree in its biblical interpretation used
in the Bible, the biblical interpretation Is that of witness? Is that of witness? And we want
to develop this. There are a number of interpretations
here, but the first is that of witness. Witness. Witness. The olive tree is used in the
larger Old Testament sense to represent witness. You guys got that? It represents
the witness. Now, the verses I wanna go to
to help you understand this start in Zechariah chapter four, verse
three and four. Zechariah is that pre-Revelation
vision where Zechariah himself sees things that will take place. Zechariah is the second to the
last book in the Old Testament that will take place in the book
of the Revelation and Zechariah sees a vision in the fourth chapter
that corresponds to Paul's language that I want to develop for us
as a foundation and help us understand why Paul is drawing this analogy
to speak to the Gentiles about God's blessings of bringing them
into the kingdom. So this is not the first time
the olive tree is used in this text at all. But this is a good
centering point to help you comprehend the meaning of the olive tree
as it relates to the witness. Are you guys hearing me? I was
somebody gave me a CD on Sunday, and the CD was supposedly by
some individual who was teaching on the mark of the beast. And
this young man had been coming to our church for the last couple
of weeks because he had heard me teaching out of Revelation. He
was impressed by the Revelation study. So he gave me a CD by
a guy that spoke for about an hour, some some teacher somewhere.
on supposedly the mark of the beast. And as I listened, I listened,
I listened, this guy went on and on and on quoting all kinds
of Bible verses. Now, fortunately, I know the
Bible, so it's not a problem for me to hear Bible verses,
but his whole discourse was so disjointed and chaotic and without
clarity, without pause, without definement, without a sense of
emphasis that by the time you ended, you were more confused
than when you started. And the young man had said to
me that he was having trouble with his assurance. And I said,
if this guy is listening to this guy, I would have assurance trouble
with my assurance, too, because when you teach, you must be capable
of teaching. And when you teach, you must
be capable of teaching clearly. You got to have a structure.
You got to have a methodology. You got to have an approach that
explains the scripture, not confound them. And it's not necessary
for a person who is seeking to understand truth to be poured
upon by a preponderance of Bible verses as if that's going to
persuade an individual. Now, what I'm saying also is
a very practical truth about you who try to witness the folk.
Look, don't try to get people to understand what you understand
by giving them 15 Bible verses. It doesn't work like that. What
you should do is ask God to give you grace to find the two or
three Bible verses that are germane, relevant, and clear in regards
to the subject you're dealing with. Am I making some sense?
And so why I'm dropping you off at Zechariah chapter 4 is because
Zechariah chapter 4 is the first comprehensive verse that actually
addresses the witness and then we'll go back into the Old Testament
further to reinforce it and then we'll go to the New Testament
to lock it in because the concept of the olive tree goes all the
way back to the beginning And it closes out in the end of the
book, the book of Revelation. So it's a running analogy through
the whole of scripture. That's why I say in its general
interpretation, it's representing the witness. Am I making some
sense? The witness. Now let's watch and see how this
goes. I'm in Zechariah chapter four, verses one through verse
six. Now watch this now. And the angel
that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is
waken out of his sleep. He said unto me, what do you
see? And I said, I have looked and
behold a what? Ah, now what is the purpose of
a candlestick to give light? The candlestick gives light.
What is the purpose of witnessing to give light to bear testimony? Isn't that right? So we are on
a proper path. Listen to what he says. I saw
a candlestick all of gold. with a bowl upon the top of it
and it has seven lamps there on and seven pipes to the seven
lamps which are on the top of it this obviously is what we
call the menorah candlestick that was in the holy place that
sat over against the table of showbread and it gave light in
the holy place the seven pronged candlestick called the menorah
we already know by Ruth's interpretation in the New Testament represents
the churches. The seven golden candlesticks
represent the seven churches. Remember, Old Testament Israel
was the steward. Now the New Testament church
is the steward. So the New Testament church now
is called the menorah, called the candlestick, or the what? Witness. And you shall be my
what? in Judea, Jerusalem, Samaria,
and the uttermost parts of the world. Got it? All right, let's
go on. Notice what he says. And verse
five, verse three, and two olive trees by it. One upon the right
side of the bowl and the other upon the left side. You guys
have the picture? Here's a menorah, big menorah sitting on my table
here. And on one side of the menorah is an olive tree. And
on the other side of the menorah is another olive tree. Now what's
the connection between the olive trees and the candlestick, the
menorah, with two bowls on the top? The tree is the source by
which the candles are lit. Are you hearing me? The trees
are the source. The two trees pour into the candle,
the oil, in order to illuminate the candlestick. Am I making
some sense? Now this is what God had taught
Moses in the wilderness when he gave Moses the blueprints
for the temple and told Moses to make the candlestick precisely
in the fashion which I showed you in the mount. So this is
what Zachariah is also seeing. Now, notice what it says to all
the trees by one upon the right hand, the other upon the left
hand. So I answered and I speak to the angel that talk with me
saying, what are these? My Lord, this is a good question,
isn't it? Then the angel that talk with me answered and said
unto me, you do not know what these be. And he said, no, I
like that. You know, you don't have to know
everything. Even when you're God's servant, you don't have
to know everything. Especially when you're talking to God, you
better hurry up and say, no, I don't know, Lord. In fact,
even if you think, you know, say no, especially if you're
talking to the Lord so you can get it right. Cause if you only
get it partially right, you got it partially wrong. You're going
to be in trouble too. So Lord, I don't know at all.
Tell me the whole thing all over again, please. Cause I'm slow. Look at verse six. Then he said
unto me now watch this this is the word of the lord unto zerubbabel
That is the uh, the governor of of israel at the time saying
not by might Nor by power But by my what? Sayeth the lord Those
two olive trees represent the power of god's spirit to give
illumination to the candles In order for those candles to light
up the holy place. Now go with me in your Bible
to Revelation chapter 11 because you're going to see it again
there. Now he carries this to the book of Revelation in order
that you and I might know again in the book of Revelation all
the symbolism that's in the book of Revelation is all also Old
Testament symbolism. He's using Old Testament symbolism
once again to confirm that the New Testament Church is the new
Israel the same terminology that Israel had we have but now he's
going to Modify the imagery of the olive tree a little bit more
Revelation chapter 11 verses 1 through 4 are we there and
there was given to me a reed like a rod This is what John
said by the angel which stood saying rise and measure the temple
of God. Do you see it? It's where the
candlestick is, isn't it? and the altar and them that worship
therein but the court which is without the temple leave out
and measure it not it's given unto the gentiles that's what
we are dealing with is given to the gentiles for it's given
unto the gentiles and the holy city shall they tread under foot
40 and two months that's three and a half years that's a symbolic
number and i will give power there it is unto my what two
witnesses and I will give power that's what Jesus said in Acts
chapter 1 verse 8 right this is why he sent them out two by
two before he initiated and inaugurated the gospel of the ministry of
the ministry of the gospel he sent them out two by two why
because out of the mouth of two or three what shall every word
be established So the concept of witnessing is really the people
of God are the witness, represented by the candlestick and represented
by the olive trees, right? Now notice what it goes on to
say, we want to develop it. I will give power unto my two
witnesses and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three
score days. This is the same number that's in verse two. OK,
42 months is the same as one thousand two hundred and sixty
days. God has a purpose for changing up the numbers, even though the
value is the same. We'll deal with that later. But
listen to this and we'll be dealing with this in the book of Daniel
in verse four. These are the two olive trees. Do you see it? Who are the two
witnesses? That stand before God, the God
of the earth. Now, if any man will hurt them,
fire proceeds out of their mouth and devour their enemies, right?
Who did that in the Old Testament? Elijah. He was called the prophet,
right? And if any man hurt them, he
must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven.
Who shut the heavens? Elijah. that it rained not in
the days of their prophecy and have power over the waters to
turn them to blood. Who did that? These are the two
witnesses in the Old Testament, right? Moses representing what? The law. Elijah representing
what? The prophets. The two witnesses
in the Old Testament was God's Old Testament word. All of the
Old Testament writing is God's witness. Consummated are constituting
the ministry of Moses who wrote the five books of Moses called
the pinnacle and Then the writings of the prophets, right? The Old
Testament therefore is called the witness Moses and Elijah
We're seen in the days of the Apostles weren't they Matthew
chapter 17 Luke chapter 8 Mark chapter 4 Mark chapter 8. I believe
it is also on the mount of what transfiguration Here, the two
witnesses of the Old Testament representing the law and the
prophets meet the perfection of which they spoke about and
prophesy all through the Old Testament. Which is Christ, right? Are you with me so far? This
is why Peter said in Acts 10 43, all the prophets testified
of him. So in Luke's gospel, we are told
by the hearers, which were Peter, James and John, that when Moses
and Elijah showed up in glory, I'm going to talk about this
a little bit Sunday, they spoke to Jesus about his death at Calvary. Well, that's the content of the
Old Testament. We've been saying that for the
longest, haven't we? Lo, I come in the volume of the book is
written of me to do thy will Jesus said you are searching
the scriptures in them You think you have eternal life, but they
are they which what testify of me? And so the whole of the Old
Testament writings are pointing to the death burial and resurrection
of Jesus If you miss that point you miss the whole Bible You
guys got that if you miss that point you miss the whole Bible
How profound it is then for Moses and Elijah to show up on the
Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus in the presence of the
men who would take the final revelation to the world. That
is the apostles. It was necessary for them to
show up as the Old Testament witness in order to confirm that
Jesus is the end of the law for everyone that believes. So that
when they preach the gospel to folks in the New Testament, they
won't be drawing them back to Moses and Elijah again, but to
Jesus. That's why when they stood on
the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John were afraid
they shook in their boots and Peter opened his mouth. Lord
is good to be here. Let's make three booze. Let's
worship Moses. Let's worship. Elias and let's
worship and before he could finish the last one the heavens opened
up and God said this is my beloved son you hear him and When the
cloud cleared up there was no one standing there but Jesus
Are you hearing me? So when you are reading your
Bible and someone is expounding the scriptures if they don't
bring you to Christ God's not pleased and you haven't heard
the gospel and Am I making some sense? God's not pleased and
you haven't heard the gospel. Peter, James, and John, who would
be the stewards of the gospel along with the other disciples,
have just been taught the proper hermeneutic. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Yet,
what we have in the book of Revelation is a coded system. Remember,
we're dealing with a coded system in the Revelation. The Old Testament
language of the book of Revelation is an Exodus paradigm. It's an
Exodus paradigm. It's a paradigm of God's people
being brought out of Egypt into the wilderness with promise of
going to glory. So the book of Revelation gives
us symbolic language that corresponds to the Old Testament events,
but they actually are having application to you and me. We
are the Israel of God going through the wilderness right now. Am
I making some sense? And therefore we are the church
in this present age that has the word of God. You and I correspond
to Moses and Elijah. Am I making some sense? Yeah. Now go on. Let's see this. I'm
in verse five. If any man will hurt them, fire
proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If any
man will hurt them in this manner, he must be killed. In other words,
our battle and our warfare must be according to the word of God.
We must say what God says and no more. Verse eight, verse six,
I'm saying, I'm sorry. These have power to shut the
heavens that it rained not in the days of their prophecy and
power over the waters to turn them to blood and to smite the
earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall
have finished their testimony, The beast ascends up out of the
bottomless pit and makes war against them and shall overcome
them and kill them. Do you see that? And we talked
about this before. Now, I want to go back to the
Old Testament and work this analogy through so that we can grasp
this. We still got about 20 minutes. We talked about this before.
Every believer has a testimony and we have a time for the bearing
witness of that testimony. And when our time is up, we go
home. Did you guys hear that? See,
when you get saved, you aren't saved so that you can live your
life fulfilling the lust of your flesh. God saved you and called
you to be a witness of his glory and his grace in Jesus Christ.
What that means is if you are not willing to live for God's
glory, he'll just go in and put your candlestick out and set
you on the shelf. By the way, that's what he does
to churches too. Please listen to me. Every local church is
a candlestick. And when that local church does
not bear witness to the truth of the gospel, Jesus puts that
candlestick out. It's no good. It has no efficacy,
has no purpose. The local church is called to
operate out of two offices, a mediatorial office of priestly duty, where
we are standing in the gap, interceding, praying to God, seeking his mercy,
seeking his grace, not only for our life, but for the life of
lost sinners. We mediate. We are a spiritual priesthood.
The other office is that of prophet. We have the prophetic role of
preaching and teaching God's word. Those are the two roles
of the local church. Once the local church starts
getting into business, once the local church starts getting into
politics, once the local church starts selling chicken dinners,
cut the lights out. Once the local church gets caught
up in the car washes, once the local church gets caught up in
the making money, cut the lights off. And I'm only telling you what
God said in the book of Zechariah and in the book of 2 Chronicles.
God said, if you don't want to do it my way, can I find a man
that will shut the doors of the temple, lock them and dead boat
them and don't let anyone in? Because you're making a mockery
of God if your business in the church is not worship and witness. If your business in the church
is not worship, that's the prayer, the intercession, the calling
upon God, the vertical dynamic of worship between the true believer
and his glorious God and the witness. We go into the world
with the message of the gospel that sinners might be saved and
that erring saints might be brought back into the fold. Our job is
not to play politics, is not to make money, is not to get
famous, is not to be on American Idol, is not to be here, none
of that. That's not the job of the church. That's why so many
professing Christians don't know anything about the usability
of God Almighty. Are you hearing me? That's the
reason why so many professing Christians are dead as a doorknob
because they don't know anything about the usability. No one's
taught them that they've been called to be a candlestick. Not
only individually, but collectively as the body of Christ. Am I making
some sense? See, the book of Revelation opens
up dealing with the church. That's the first inaugural revelation. And I saw the son of man. I'm
going to talk about him Sunday. Daniel saw him again, standing
in the midst of the golden seven, seven golden candlesticks. That's
where he is. And what he's saying is, if you
don't want to light, if you don't want to manifest your light and
glory as you represent me, I'm going to put the candle out.
And that's what he did with several of the churches. Why? Because
they had fallen prey to the world system. They had fallen away
from the message of the gospel. They had gotten up, gotten caught
up with the cares of this life. And Jesus says, look, I bought
you. You don't get to do what you want to do. That's why John
said in first John, chapter five, very seriously, listen. There
is a sin not unto death, you can pray for that, but there's
also a sin unto death. I say unto you, don't pray for
it. Because when a person goes on in perpetual sin and rebellion
against their vow to be a witness to Christ, God will put them
out. You can pray all you want to. It won't do any good. And
if you need an Old Testament witness to that, go to Jeremiah
7. God had finished with Israel. Jeremiah still begging God. And
God told Jeremiah, stop praying. Stop praying. I'm not going to
hear you anymore. See, there's a time when God
stops showing mercy. So the other lie that the evangelical
church, you know, proffers often to people, God will always be
there for you. Show me that in the Bible. The
Bible says in Proverbs chapter one, I have called you all day
long and you turn your ear for me. You rejected my counsel. You said it had not. Therefore,
when your calamity comes and you call on me, I will not hear
you. And that's why Isaiah said, you
better call on God while he's near. You had a call on God while
he's not. You better call on God while
it's an acceptable time. Do you know every individual
has a point at which after they've gotten so hardened against the
gospel, you're not going to be able to reach God. Are you hearing
me? That's the Bible. That's the
Bible's plain teaching. It is scary. It is scary. But what's worse is men won't
tell the truth. these things that's even more
scary the Bible is playing about this stuff now listen to what
he's saying in Romans chapter 11 going back are we there oh
I'm sorry I want to continue developing this when the Apostle
Paul drew the analogy of the olive tree out he was dealing
with a general principle of witness and the olive tree is one of
the trees that the promised land in the promised land when Israel
was brought into the promised land there were a number of trees
one of them was the vine tree every man shall sit under his
vine and under his fig tree the figs and the vines and the grapes
were all part of the resources that Israel would be able to
engage in and be blessed by in the promised land. Another one
of the trees was the olive tree. The olive tree in the land of
Israel in the land of Palestine was prolific. They were everywhere. There were olive trees everywhere
because God meant for the olive tree to be used in the temple
to anoint the temple and to light the temple up. The purpose of
the olive tree is to anoint the temple and to keep the temple
lit. The olive tree then is a reference
to the witness of the Spirit of God in the life of the church. The Spirit of God is what anoints
the church. The Spirit of God is what consecrates
the church. The Spirit of God is what illuminates
the candlestick. The Spirit of God. And so again,
you see the parallelism with the Old Testament land having
all these trees pointing to a greater heavenly Symbolism and that is
the Spirit of God so Israel when they came into the promised land
they saw all of these resources the grapes Were to be turned
into what wine? Which represented the shed blood
of Jesus? the olives were to be crushed
and purified through lie in other processes and used for Anointing
the tabernacle lighting the menorah and And there was a special apothecary
of oil that was used to be compounded together for the incense on the
altar of incense. Three things. I want you to hear
this now. This is why when Zachariah asked the question, what do these
two olive trees represent? And the angel said, you didn't
know. And then he responded by simply saying, not by power,
nor by might, but by my spirit. He was teaching the necessity
and dynamic and vitality of the third person as the means by
which everything in the church gets accomplished. So it's the
spirit that consecrates, it's the spirit that anoints, and
it's the spirit also that takes the prayers of the saints, which
are offered up by the high priest and brings them before the throne
of God. If you were to go back to Exodus, you guys have already
been through this with me for years. You guys already know
that you got the vision. In the tabernacle, as soon as
you enter into the tabernacle, on the left hand side is the
burnt offering, the altar of burnt offering. You got to come
with blood. Isn't that right? Without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. You can't come
to God without acknowledging you're a sinner. And you can't
come to God without acknowledging you need a substitute. God will
not have a self-righteous person in his worship. No one of the
Jews ever came to God without a sacrifice. They were taught
that they were hell bound sinners and they needed a substitute.
So the first step into the tabernacle, you must come in pleading the
blood and then you walk up a little further and on your right hand
side is what we call the labor of washing. The labor of washing
points to the sanctification of the priest. They must wash,
wash, wash, wash, wash. And it represented the washing
of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. They move
on up further to get closer to what we call the Holy of Holies.
And sometimes the altar of incense was on the outside of the Holy
of Holies. And sometimes it was right on
the inside of the Holy of Holies. But the altar of incense was
an incense that was burned only by the high priest. You guys
got that? That's why Aaron's two boys met
God in the first worship service. When the tabernacle was erected
in Exodus, around Exodus 40, they celebrated and rejoiced,
and Aaron worshiped God according to the prescription, and God's
Shekinah glory came upon the whole of the tabernacle. The
cloud descended on the tabernacle, which meant God had favored their
worship, just as the cloud descended on Jesus, Moses, and Elijah,
Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, which
meant God that was present. So after the worship, Nadab and
Abiram Aaron's boys his two sons thought they could enter into
the Holy of Holies after all, you know like father like son
See, this is the spiritual nepotism that goes on in the church today.
You guys know that right? We call it spiritual nepotism
where the daddy think he can actually pass the anointing on
to the son All they're doing is really just kind of keeping
the family business and you you know that But what God taught
them was I'm the one who chooses the high priest. I'm the one
who chooses the high priest. You don't choose the high priest.
That calling is from God, that's Hebrews 5. So, fire came down
from heaven and consumed those boys right there on the spot
as soon as they offered strange fire. Because Aaron is the only
one who can make intercession for the saint. And Christ is
the only one who can make intercession for you. Am I making some sense? We can pray to God and we pray
to God through the spirit, but Christ must intercede for us.
Am I making some sense? And therefore, in Exodus 26 or
27, Moses was instructed by God to make sure when you put together
the special incense that was designed to be used for the altar
of incense, It was a compound of particular ointments and fragrances
and herbs. And then it was mixed with oil.
The oil represents the spirit of God. The spirit of God must
be in that prayer for that prayer to be accepted with God. Are
you hearing me? And that's why Paul said in Romans
chapter eight, Paul sees all this clearly. He says it's the
spirit that helps our infirmity making intercession for us. And
Christ is making intercession for us. Both the second person
and the third person intercede for the people of God to the
first person. Am I making some sense? Now,
I want you to go all the way back to Genesis chapter six with
me. We've got about 10 more minutes.
I know I'm boring you. with the development of this
analogy but I'll tell you what I'm not bored I love these things
I love these things because I understand like I had said earlier this
guy was attempting to try to explain the mark of the beast
and it was so it was just so convoluted it wasn't even funny
and I said to myself he doesn't understand what he talking about
he's trying to teach somebody something he doesn't even understand
no wonder the brother scared to death So the earliest reading of this
olive tree scenario is in Genesis. Genesis chapter eight, I believe
it is. Do you guys remember that account
where God had told Noah to build an ark and Noah Built an ark
and it took 120 years for that process to take place and God
after that Noah had built the ark told Noah in the seventh
chapter to come into the ark and The Bible says that when
Noah and his family went into the ark God shut the door on
the ark God opens the door and God shuts the door you do know
that right and the Bible says that the waters began to come
down and It rained for 40 days, didn't it? But the waters stayed
upon the ground and reached the height of the highest mountain,
Ararat means high mountain, for almost six months. So it wasn't
just 40 days that Noah had to endure the rain. He had to stay
in that ark for six months until the water subsided. I think it
was five months. Yeah, it was five months until
the water subsided and he did a test. You guys remember the
test to determine whether it was lawful for him to get out
of the art, the dove and the Raven. He sent the Raven out
and the Raven took off and he never came back. Right now. Now here's the reason why, because
the Raven, represented a cavernous bird, a bird of prey. The raven eats flesh. And so
when the raven went out, the raven saw dead flesh everywhere. He didn't have to come back.
He had a feast because there was dead rotting corpses everywhere. And this represents God's final
judgment on the world. This is what Peter said. This
is what Jesus said, as it was in the days of Noah. So shall
it be in the days of the son of man. While the waters are
subsiding, rotting flesh is everywhere. The raven is having a ball. The
raven is an unclean bird. But the. The. The dove symbolizing the spirit
of God and the sacrifice of the poor. And so it has its connections
to Jesus. goes seeking for dry ground and
He comes back because he couldn't find him remember that and then
he sends him out again And he comes back a second time now,
I think we're over in chapter 8 And I'm gonna start over at verse
9 are we there I'm gonna start at verse 8 also he sent forth
a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the
face of the ground but the dove found no rest for the soul of
her feet and she returned unto him in the ark for the waters
were on the face of the whole earth that's the first time she
returned then he put forth his hand and took her and pulled
her in unto him into the ark and he stayed yet another seven
days And again, he sent forth the dove out of the ark. See,
the Old Testament saints understood the principle of the number seven
to God works in the numbers and the number seven is the sacred
fullness of God. They understood the sacred fullness.
They understood the cycle, right? Six days labor, seven day rest.
So here's what he says in verse 11. And the dove came into him
in the evening and low in her mouth. Was what an olive leaf
plucked off Now watch this. So Noah knew that the waters
were abated from off the earth. What was that olive leaf teaching
us? It was teaching us that the judgment
was completely passed. That God's blessing now was upon
Noah and his eight souls who were the only human beings on
the earth. that they now can leave the ark
and begin the process of new beginnings. Why? Because Noah
and his eight souls represents the church, who had gone through
the judgment of God, not themselves personally, but in the ark, which
represented Christ, who is their substitute, who actually took
on the wrath of God, and having swallowed up all of the wrath
of God, now they can come out. in the mercy of God and experience
new life. Am I making some sense? But it
was depicted by the dove finding the olive branch and coming back
and saying to Noah and his sons, God is at peace with you. Are
you hearing me? God is at peace with you. That
dove was under the influence of the Holy Ghost. He could have
went to any kind of tree in the world, couldn't he? But he went
to olive tree and brought an olive leaf back. Now the olive
tree in terms of Noah's day had no relevance or significance
in terms of the tutoring or the pedagogical principle. It would
only be utilized when we get into the abrahamic covenant and
move into the 12 tribes and go into the land of palestine You
don't hear about olive trees in a preponderant way in the
old testament during the patriarchal period You only hear about the
olive tree once we get into the land of palestine But what god
does all the way through the scriptures now watch this he
gives us little hints of redemption little hints of redemption from
the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible. He gives
us hints of redemption. Am I making some sense? For instance,
the fig leaves were a hint. They were a hint of works religion.
Which Israel was guilty of, and that's why Christ cursed the
fig tree. And so the olive leaf was a hint
of the work of the Holy Ghost in seeking out lost sinners After
Christ would accomplish eternal redemption for them Represented
by the art going through the waters of Noah Coming out on
the other side and God gave the covenant to Noah. I'll never
destroy the earth again. Isn't that what he said? I'll
never destroy the earth again So he had made a covenant of
peace and a covenant of salt with Noah and it was represented
by that dub coming back and saying there's no more judgment There's
no more wrath There's no more punishment and so we hear the
echoing of the words in Romans chapter 8 verse 1 there is therefore
now no more Condemnation to those that are aware in the ark in
the ark am I making some sense in the ark and so the dove comes
back with the witness that that prototype of the witness of the
olive trees which are speaking to the candlestick that we have
in the book of Exodus and numbers in the Old Testament. Go with
me to one more verse. I want you to see this. This
is Judges chapter 9. If you read your outline, which you should
be doing, but I know you don't do because you're lazy. If you
were reading your outline during the week, you would find that
that the verses that I gave you would have given you many examples
of where the olive tree speaks to the people of God. David says,
I am like an olive tree in the house of my God. That's in Psalm
52. And so David is recognizing that
the people of God are represented by the olive tree. And it speaks
to the again, the vitality and fullness of the Spirit of God
in the life of God's people. But I like this language that's
given to us in the book of Judges. And you know, the book of Judges
comes before the book of Ruth. And in the book of Judges, what
happens is there's a conversation between a couple of the tribes.
And in the book of Judges chapter nine, I want you to hear this
language because it describes the character and nature of the
olive tree. Before we go on. I'm in the book
of Judges chapter 9. Are we there? I'm gonna read
verse 7 on through verse 13 Judges chapter 9. Are we there? Let
me let me help some people if you're not there in your Bible
The book of Judges would come after the book of Joshua after
the book of Deuteronomy after the book of Numbers Judges would
be before Ruth and before Samuel All right, Judges chapter nine,
we're gonna read verses nine, seven through 13. Now listen
to how the writer under inspiration of the spirit, using the metaphor
of the trees, explain the purpose for these particular trees. And
this is why I say that it's so critical that when you are studying
the scriptures and interpreting the scriptures that you exhaust
Your research of what the scripture says about anything before you
simply take what someone says Because god is his own interpreter
He'll make it plain and precept upon precept and line upon line
is the way that you understand god's word Are we there verse
7 and when they told it to jotham He went and stood at the top
of mount gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried and said
unto them hearken unto me ye men of shechem That god may hearken
unto you. I love this account here, but
we won't get into the context verse 8. He's using a parable
now. Are we there? the trees Went forth on a time
to anoint a king over them The trees obviously are here represented
in a personification. Isn't that right? The trees are
men the trees Went forth in a time to anoint a king over them and
they said unto the olive tree reign thou over us. Now, no,
it's not Israel. The olive tree in this context
is Jeroboam, or he was Gideon. Gideon was that fella who was
so afraid of the Moabites that as he was tending to the wheat,
separating the wheat from the chaff, he was hiding in a cave.
Remember that? And the Lord said, Thou mighty man of valor, come
forth. And Gideon said, Who are you talking to? Remember that? If you want to hear the gospel
in that, we have the CDs on that. It's a great message. It's all
about the gospel, the mighty man of valor. And so he fought
and he destroyed the foes of Moab with 300 men. Remember that? And all the brethren
in Israel wanted to make Gideon king. But Gideon knew the wickedness
of his brethren. And here's what Gideon said.
I want you to hear me now. Gideon said, I'm not going to
be your king. Now watch this. God is king. Now listen, because this is the
same mistake Israel made. And this is the same mistake
the church makes today. Gideon knew for him to be set
up as king was to be put in an antichrist position. Because
once you start worshiping the pastor as king, as the great
anointed one, as the one that mediates for you, as the one
through whom you get your blessings, you have just now set up the
Antichrist in your church. Gideon said, you got to be crazy.
I know you guys, you guys are a bunch of idolaters. I'm not
going to be your king. In fact, God's already your king.
But they rejected God, and then they took Gideon's last son,
who was an Antichrist figure too, and he wreaked havoc on
them. But notice what it says. Gideon is represented as an olive
tree because Gideon was a godly man. Are you guys hearing me?
He had his problems, but he was a godly man. So it says they
said unto the olive tree, rain over us. But the olive tree said
unto them, should I leave my what fatness? Wherewith, by me, they honor
God and man and go be promoted over the trees. What he just
described was the character and nature of the olive tree. That's
why I used the phrase fall, fullness, and fatness. The fatness represents
the abundant nature of the olive tree. The fatness represents
the abundant nature of the Spirit of God in his relationship to
the people of God. If you have the Spirit of God,
you have God's fatness. The fatness refers to the riches,
the super abundance of God's presence and grace in the life
of God's people. Am I making some sense? And so
he says, why should I leave my fatness, which does two things?
It honors God and it honors man. And in order for man to honor
God and for man, for God to look upon man, he's got to have the
anointing. The Spirit of God becomes the
immediate agency by which you and I are brought near to God
through the person of Christ. If any man be Christ, if any
man have not the Spirit of God, he is none of his. The way you
and I know we are Christ is because of God's Spirit in our life.
And so what the parable is teaching is that there is such a fullness
in the spirit of God, such a a fatness in the spirit of God, that being
promoted over people and becoming a king would have been a demotion.
That wouldn't have been a promotion. Am I making some sense? I'm almost
done. Listen to what he says. And the
tree said to the fig tree. There's another one of those
large parabolic symbols. Come down and rain over us. Now
watch the fig tree. But the fig tree said unto them,
should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit and go be promoted
over the trees? Now the fig tree does represent
sweetness when they are good figs. We dealt with that several
months ago too, didn't we? In the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah
saw a basket of good figs and bad figs, didn't he? And the
sweetness there also refers to the sweetness of the grace of
God in the life of God's people. You can see, therefore, then
that when Israel was brought into the promised land, that
physical land with all of these physical blessings, that they
were representative of larger spiritual blessings. And all
of those blessings are yes and amen in Jesus Christ. So for
us, we have the reality of those things that were only symbolized
in the Old Testament. Am I making some sense? It's
very important for you to see that. And so I'll go to the last
example of the trees and we'll move on. Then said the trees
unto the vine, verse 12, come down and rain over us. And the
vine said, should I leave my wine? Do you see? Now the vine tree is the grape
tree. You remember when the 12 spies went into the land and
they took this big old stick and they came back with those
big old clusters of grapes? Those grapes must have been big
as grapefruits. Each grape was as large. You
know I'm extrapolating, right? I have no idea how big they were.
But in my own mind, they were just so huge. Just huge. It took two men to carry them
on a stick. That's big, isn't it? Okay, here's
the metaphor. Once again, in the promised land,
you have all of these trees that are representative of aspects
of Christ's redemptive work. The olive tree represents the
Holy Ghost. The vine tree or the fig tree
represents the sweetness of the gospel. The grapes here represent
the shed blood of Christ, which cheers God and man. Is your heart made happy as a
consequence of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ? Can
a sinner find joy in the shed blood of his Savior? Absolutely. Not only can he find joy, he
finds life. Jesus said, except you eat my
flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you whatsoever.
Am I making some sense? So not only is it, as we said
last night, ladies, God is all about life first. And then what? Pleasure. See, so it's not merely
about entering into life, but experiencing the abundance of
that life, the fullness of that life, the riches of that life,
the joy of that life, the effulgence of that life. That's what we're
dealing with here. So Paul has laid down for us
in Romans chapter 11, a wonderful analogy that I want to build
on next time, because he wants the Gentiles to understand this.
You guys have been highly blessed to be brought into the fullness
and the fatness so don't boast that's what he's saying in essence
all right let's close in prayer father we thank you for this
time we thank you for your word we thank you for the truth as
it is in christ we thank you for patience the ability to just
take our time and work through the scriptures and see the truth
as it is in jesus christ we thank you for the simplicity of the
gospel that everything is yes and amen and jesus christ to
the glory of god by us And we thank you that you've made us
partakers of that fatness and partakers of that fullness so
that we can say like the apostle said, now, Lord, you're speaking
plainly to us and no more in Proverbs and parables. We can
hear your voice as you, spirit of God, open our understanding
to these truths as we go away from here. Lord, bless us and
grace us with traveling mercies. Take us to our homes and give
us strength to do our jobs tomorrow and prepare our hearts to worship
you on Sunday in spirit. and in truth, in Jesus' name
we pray, amen. God bless you.