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We find him speaking about salvation, we find him speaking about the Sons of God, and at the very end he's speaking about Israel and Moses. Chapter 10 stops or ends with the Lord indicting Israel, Verse 21 of Chapter 10. In that verse Paul is quoting Isaiah saying, all day long have I stretched my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
So, we see some Christians lay hold of these verses, and false doctrine has developed in the church saying that God has permanently rejected Israel for their disobedience and for their wickedness. But as the inconsistence with the doctrine that is preached here, I exhort you, brethren, to know that none is good, no not one, and that every member of this fallen, dead soul is disobedient and rebellious and at enmity with God in their mind and opposing themselves. We will find Paul saying this as we go along in Chapter 11. Don't think that you are safe because you have received Christ by faith, and the Jews were cut off. That is a manifestation of pride which, if you continue to pursue it, could result in you, too, being cut off.
We can take this in another perspective. Right now, we are looking at it in a national sense. The Jew vs. the Christian of today, but we can also look at this on an individual basis. If you see someone who was walking closely with the Lord, and in this hour they are backslidden or they have fallen away, and you are walking very close to the Lord. Don't boast yourself because the same Bible that I read is the same Bible that you read. It doesn't matter what translation it is, the spirit of the Word says, don't think you are standing because it is when you think that you are standing, that's when you fall. What does that mean? Don't think you can stop guarding against pride and every other evil work which is common to fallen man, don't think that you are better than your brother or your sister because right now they are down, and you are up because within 5 minutes they could be up, and you could be down; therefore, brethren, if you see your brother stumble you are to strengthen him, to pray for him, and to have mercy on him. Keep your eyes on yourself and on the Lord and pray for this hope which is promised unto us. Christ in you, and Christ in me, the hope of glory that the work which has begun in us by the Lord Jesus Christ shall be completed because another word for salvation is "completion." An incomplete work is an incomplete work, and I hear the Pharisees screaming in the realm of the spirit, "the work was completed on Calvary." False doctrine.
Brethren, that which was completed on Calvary was the mechanism which shall, in fact, without a question of a doubt, bring salvation to this fallen dead soul. Whether or not that salvation will come to your individual person is another issue. The spiritual substance called the living soul which God formed at the beginning of time shall surely be saved, but whether or not the pinch of clay which you are, which has been pinched off from the whole lump, shall be perfected is another question. God broke off the natural branches, and He could break off your branch. Be a wise son, don't be foolish because if you are a foolish son you are the only one who suffers. Well, I should not say that. The Scripture says if the toe is sore the whole body hurts, but you are the only one who loses. Your brethren might be suffering with you, but you are the only loser. All the winners are going on with Christ no matter what happens in their life or in your life.
Romans, Chapter 11, Verse 1, I say then, Paul speaking, hath God cast away His people Israel? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the Tribe of Benjamin. So Paul is clearly saying at the beginning of Chapter 11 that God hath not cast away Israel. Now this is really hard for some people to believe who have witnessed the Holocaust, who have witnessed the persecution of Jews, and the dispersion of this people across the earth for 2000 years, but let me remind you, brethren, that one day with the Lord is as 1000 years to man. And we see this great mystery as to how the Lord could let this happen to His people, at least a part of this mystery, in Chapter 11, and I suggest to you, brethren, that as the Lord permitted Jesus of Nazareth to be sacrificed so that this great salvation could go to the world, in the same mind-set the Lord let the nation of Israel separate from Him, go into dispersion and experience everything that He has experienced over this past 2000 years for the same reason that He sacrificed the Lord Jesus Christ, that this great salvation could go to the whole world. Therefore, despise not your brother, brethren, and despise not the Nation of Israel for if you are despising them you are manifesting the sin of pride, and you are in danger of experiencing what they have experienced because the Lord's answer for that kind of arrogance is to let you taste of their pain so that you will stop blaspheming.
We see in Verse 1 of Chapter 11 that Paul considers himself an Israelite. He is of the seed of Abraham and of the Tribe of Benjamin. Please note that in another place in the Book of Galatians, specifically, we see that the seed of Abraham is Christ. So what Paul is saying in Verse 1 is that he is identifying himself on a spiritual basis as well as on a natural basis. He is saying that as a human being, I am an Israelite of the Tribe of Benjamin, but, spiritually speaking, I am of Christ. I am a Jew who is born after the flesh and born after the spirit. In this hour, most of the believers in the church are of the seed of Abraham. If Christ is being formed in you, you are of the seed, singular, one generation known as Christ Jesus. You are of the seed of Abraham, the spiritual seed of Abraham, although you are not out of his flesh. But we find in another place the Scripture clearly saying that it is not the circumcision of the flesh which will obtain the promises for you, but the circumcision of the heart. And it is possible for a man to be of the seed of Abraham and not of the seed of Jacob and obtain the promises. It is not possible to be of the seed of Jacob, the natural seed of Jacob, without being the seed of Christ and obtain the promises. You must have the seed of Christ, brethren. There is no way to enter in on the basis of your natural birth alone. Neither, brethren, are your teachings valid, all of you, who reject Jacob and Judah and certain other races in the earth based on their natural birth. The circumcision, brethren, is of Christ, and all those who walk according to this spiritual condition are the Israel of God and no false doctrine and no spirit of pride and no witchcraft can steal from them the inheritance that has been waiting in heaven for them to come to a place where they can obtain it. Amen.
Verse 2, God hath not cast away His people which he foreknew, which He knew from before. He knew Israel before He knew the church. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he made intercession to God against Israel saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone and they seek my life. In Verse 2, we see Paul saying that God hath not cast away His people Israel despite the fact that Israel is capable of great unfaithfulness as we see demonstrated in the account of Elijah. We have done a whole series of teachings on these scriptures here, and we found out that that which Paul is referring to is that the sons of Israel killed, spiritually speaking, Elijah when he showed them their sins. We found out that the sons of Israel or the carnal minds of the sons of Israel rose up in response to the pointing out of their sins, and first killed the Christ mind in themselves and then corporately, as one man, accumulated the spiritual strength of their corporate carnal mind and killed the Christ in the prophet Elijah possibly after the greatest feat of his ministry, killing the prophets of Baal and breaking down their altars.
In Verse 3, where the Scripture says, Lord they have killed thy prophets the Scripture is speaking about the Christ in Elijah brought down plus the Christ in their own minds. And dig down thine altars, we also found out in that study on Elijah what a spiritual alter is. We found out that a spiritual altar is formed when a male spirit joins with the human spirit in a man. That is the formation of an altar, and the mind which is brought forth is a result of that union is the son of that God or the daughter of that God if it is a carnal mind and the master of the creation.
So we see that Elijah is saying that the sons of Israel rose up against Elijah and killed the Christ in him because of their rage at his pointing out their sins, and then they broke down the altars, not only in Elijah but in their own minds, their carnal mind was so great, it was such a wild raging beast that it destroyed Christ in themselves plus Christ in Elijah plus it broke the union with Jehovah, and what we don't see in these verses is that we need to know that man cannot exist without a mind and without the altar upon which this mind is manifesting. So for these sons of Israel to kill the prophets and break down the altars and still have existence we must draw the inference that a new altar and a new mind was formed, and that that alter and that mind was formed of their own spirit or of the spirit of the intelligence which is in man. Satan rose up, joined with the spirit of man, and brought forth her own offspring, the carnal mind, who became the god of the creation. First the god of the individual man, and then the god of Israel, who was one man, came against the prophet.
Elijah says in Verse 3, And I am left alone, and they seek my life. Now every time I used to read this Scripture I always thought that it meant that the sons of Israel all were unfaithful and Elijah was the only one who was faithful. But I suggest another understanding of this Scripture to you today, and that is that the sons of God rose up and killed the Christ in Elijah and that he was left alone with his carnal mind. Not that he was left alone because all the sons of Israel were unfaithful. Brethren, if every man on the face of this earth is unfaithful, if every believer, if every natural relative, if every human being alive turns against you, and you have Christ you will not be alone. But when your enemies rise up in a rage, when that wild, ravening beast called the carnal mind joins hand-in-hand in every man's mind to hate you, and they are strong enough to bring down the Christ in you, when Christ in you dies, brethren, you are alone. When Christ in you dies, and you have hundreds of people professing their friendship for you, when you have hundreds of people professing their love for you, when you have all kinds of fallen men professing their faithfulness to you, but Christ in you has been killed, and the altar that was formed of the Lord Jesus Christ and your human spirit has been broken down you are alone, and you had better believe it because there is no fallen man that can ever meet your needs or that will ever protect you or that will ever help you once you have served Christ. Once you have served Christ, once you have stood up in His power and in His authority, and you have wounded the carnal minds of people you go down, brethren, and it says in the Book of Isaiah they were waiting for him saying, ah ha, ah ha, we knew if we waited long enough we would get you in our grips, and now you have become fallen like we. And they will jump on your, brethren, and kick you with both feet, and they will not stop until they have completely dominated you and reduced you to ruble. If you don't believe it, you try it, and you will find out.
You can't ever give up the ground, brethren, you can't ever give up the ground, and if you fall back cry out to God to pick you back up because they are waiting for you. Who? The carnal minds of the people that you have judged. They are waiting for you, and now they are stronger than you are because when Christ in you dies, and you are both in your carnal minds the people you have judged in Christ are stronger than you, and you are alone, and they are seeking your life. The Pharisees said to Jesus, you must have a Devil, we are not seeking your life, but they sought Elijah's life, and they sought Jesus' life. And the difference between what happened to Elijah and what happened to Jesus is that the Christ in Elijah was killed, and because the Christ in him was killed his physical life was actually in danger. The Christ in Jesus never came down. He stood His ground, and He prevailed over His enemies, and when He prevailed over His enemies, we are told, when He ascended on high He led captivity captive.
So you see, when Jesus prevailed over His enemies it was not just for His own safety. It was for the safety of His enemies. When Jesus prevailed He saved Himself and everyone that He was ministering to. He saved Himself, and everyone who tried to kill Him. He saved Himself, and He saved every enemy of God. If you fall down, brethren, you can't save yourself, and you can't save your enemies, and I assure you they will not save you. So if you fall down or when you fall down you had better know that there is only one help for you anywhere, and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ, your Big Brother, the one who has already overcome this world, and you had better start crying out for Him to pick up Christ in you or you are about to get stomped to death.
Verse 4, What saith the answer of God unto Him? The Greek word translated "answer of God," the word God doesn't appear in the Greek. It means the oracle. What saith the wisdom of God, where ever that wisdom is manifesting? The wisdom of God. And, of course, we know that this man Christ is made unto us wisdom so what Verse 4 is really saying is that Elijah has cried out to his pre-reincarnate Christ, and the wisdom of God responded to Elijah. Let me say it again. There was a Christ mind formed in the man Elijah. He was a man, he had a Christ mind formed in him. He was born with a carnal mind, he had a Christ mind formed in him, and the sons of Israel rose up in such a rage that they strengthened his carnal mind which was under the complete dominion of the Christ, and when that Christ came down his carnal mind came up, and he died unto his Godhood. He died unto his existence as a prophet, as a mighty man of God, and I believe that Elijah was very, very high up. After this happened to him he realized that the Christ mind in him came down, and that he was a natural man. Think of yourself as a man with supernatural powers that is suddenly stripped of his power. He cried out to the God as he knew Him, that was beyond himself because he recognized that he, Elijah, as an individual was vulnerable.
Brethren, this is what happened to Cain when the Lord put him out of the garden. When the Father banished Cain from the garden, Cain said to Him, But Lord, everyone that sees me will kill me. Cain was saying, I've lost my immortality, I've lost my dominion over the earth, the mosquitoes will kill me with malaria and black fever, the ticks will kill me with Lyme's disease. That's what Cain was saying, I have become subject to that which I previously had dominion over, I need help, and Jehovah put a mark on Cain's forehead, and He said, nobody can kill you unless I have the last word. They can make you sick, they can touch your flesh, but I have to have the last word for them to actually take your life. It was because of that mark that Jehovah put on Cain's head that the creation has existed and survived as long as it has; otherwise, it would have been wiped out a long time ago, and if you think I don't know what I'm talking about because we are the descendants of Seth, I do know what I'm talking about. Just as Paul has stated in Verse 1 that after the flesh he is of the seed of Benjamin or an Israelite of the Tribe of Benjamin, what is spiritually of the seed of Christ, I say unto you that every human being in this creation today is a natural descendant of Seth, but a spiritual descendant of Cain for the righteousness which was in Seth is not in you, brethren. Seth would not have killed the prophets of God. These things, Seth would not do, and neither his descendant Abraham.
What sayeth the answer of God, what sayeth the wisdom of God unto Elijah? I have reserved to myself 7000 who have not bowed the knee to Baal. I have reserved unto myself 7000....well, that could mean that not every son of Israel partook of the murder of the prophet. We can also look at it from a view point of Bible numerology. The number 1000 signifies the human spirit in full stature. The number 7 refers to completion. So we could see the wisdom of God saying unto Elijah, don't worry, I have preserved your perfected human spirit, and she has not bent her knee to Baal. Do you hear this brethren? The wisdom of God sayeth to Elijah, they killed your Christ mind and they broke up your altar, and they did it against your will. How do I know that? I can look into your heart, and I can see your human spirit, and your human spirit, even though she's been separated from Jehovah because of witchcraft, I can see that her heart is still perfected towards me. Your spirit has not bowed her knee to the carnal mind, and this is just another way of expressing the principle of backsliding vs. being overtaken which I have taught you.
There is a difference between backsliding and being overtaken. One who backslides can be separated from God for many years if it be the will of the Lord. A believer who falls into sin because they have fought with all the strength that they have, and the witchcraft has been more powerful than their strength, and they have been cast down and sinned in their emotions or in their behavior, you will see the Lord Jesus Christ raise them right back up. Sometimes in a minute, sometimes in an hour, sometimes in a day, sometimes in a week, even if it takes a month. That's fast, brethren. I've seen people backsliden for years. This is how you can discern the difference between someone who deliberately, willfully turns their back on God and walked away when they had power to not do it, and the person whose human spirit never ceased from worshiping God, but the Christ in that person was brought down. The witchcraft was too strong for them. This is how I know, brethren, that my God favors me. My enemies do not triumph over me in the long run.
Verse 5. Even though then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Well, brethren, if you would like to believe that remnant is speaking about a group of men....maybe it is, maybe this Scripture can be taken on more than one level, maybe there is a remnant of Israel who are still faithful to God because they have been called from the foundation of the earth, but I declare to you that the human spirit that never stops worshiping God is also a remnant in the faithful one. Are not the men who will not stop worshiping God even when they have been killed are men who are elected by grace because I don't believe that we would be in this condition unless God has called us to it. God is running this whole show. We repent when He grants us repentance. We have grace when He gives us grace. We stand when He holds us up. We fall when He stops holding us up. Our heart is soft when He grants us softness, and our heart is hardened when He hardens us. He is in full control of both good and evil. He is working the two together to accomplish His purposes, and the end of this whole thing is that this creation shall be formed in the image of God, that Christ shall be fully raised from the dead, and Christ raised from the dead dies no more. It is given unto a man once to die, and then the judgment which shall restore us back unto righteousness, and this is the prophecy of the Lord unto this soul, and it shall end no other way other than resurrection from the dead, and that this salvation shall go to the Gentile as well as the Jew, and that everyone that opposes God in his mind shall bend his knee to the living Christ, and that every drop of this clay that the Lord formed out of the life of His Son shall worship God. Let everything in the earth, in the sea, and in the air and underneath the earth worship God for He is worthy, saith the Lord, to be praised, to receive honor, to receive glory, and to be exalted by man.
Verse 6. And if by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise, grace is no more grace, but if it be of works then it is no more grace; otherwise, work is no more work. Brethren, you can't be saved by work and grace. Either your salvation is by grace or it is not, and if your salvation is by grace, that means you have done absolutely nothing of yourself. Your human spirit might have a desire to serve God, but you have no power to do anything except the power that He gives you, and everything that you have accomplished in this world by your own power is nothing but dung. It will not count one hoot to get you into the Kingdom, and you may have built a few steps up to an altar made out of clay here in this world, but you have not added to your growth in Christ, or you have not got yourself one step closer to the Kingdom by that which you have done of your own strength. Everything that you have accomplished of yourself is as filthy rags unto the Lord; therefore, brethren, despise not the believer of low estate whom you are towering above in this hour for that which you have, you have achieved with your own hands, and that which he's about to receive shall be given unto him, and that which you have built yourself will come down when the floods come, but that which is given by grace shall stand for the life of the ages. That Rock, brethren, is all that will stand.
Verse 7. What then, Israel hath not obtained that which he seeks for, but the election has obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Well, we have to ask ourselves what did Israel seek for, what was Israel looking for? He was looking for a country, brethren, a spiritual country. Not a natural country. He was looking for a soul that would not die. He was looking for a land for the Spirit of Christ to dwell in that would not perish. Looking for a soul and looking for a body that would abide forever. He was looking for righteousness, brethren, because he knew that the only way that he could ever hope to find a country, a soul, or a body that would never perish was to attain unto righteousness in his mind. Israel did not attain unto righteousness, brethren, because the righteousness of the law is as filthy rags, and as Jesus said unto the Pharisees, if you do not attain to a righteousness which exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees you shall surely die in your sins. There is a righteousness of the law, but it does not impart eternal life. It does impart reconciliation, it does impart a relationship with the Living God, but only the righteousness which is of grace which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, imparts righteousness which is unto eternal life, life everlasting.
We are still on Verse 7. What then, Israel hath not obtained that which he seeks for, but the election has obtained it, and the rest were blinded. Well, brethren, the election has obtained it and the rest were blinded. Those who were elected, those who were elected, and we find out in subsequent verses that those who were elected are the Gentiles, at least for the time being. We have obtained the righteousness which is in Christ or at least the promise of it. How do I know that? Because the people who are members of the church are still dying, brethren, but in the church today is available the mechanism which makes eternal life possible. This mechanism was not in place at the time of natural Israel. It was not in place.
So we see that the rest were blinded, that natural Israel was blinded, and this Greek word translated blinded means hardened. It is Strong's #4456. It means to cover with a thick skin, to harden by covering with a callous. I suggest to you that what happened to natural Israel was that their carnal minds arose and covered over everything of Christ that was in them with a hard callous. This is typified by the veil that Moses wore when he came down from the mount. They can't see, brethren. Their senses are dull, they are hard of hearing, and they are blind because the carnal mind has covered over the Christ in them. So what terrible crime did they commit that the Lord would not save them from such a terrible fate?
Verse 8. According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear unto this day. I have to put this on this tape. Since I've been studying these chapters I really do have a question in my mind if it weren't possible for other men of Israel to possibly have attained to the salvation that Jesus attained to, and I'm praying about it. A question just arose in my mind, and I just preached and said the exact opposite so I just want you to know that this question is in my mind, and I think that the Lord has something to say to me about it, that the reason things went the way they went, the reason one man arose out of Israel and overcame his carnal mind and was crucified was because God's plan was to save the whole world. And if it were possible that other men of Israel would have been able to attain to the salvation that Jesus Christ attained to, this salvation would have stayed within Israel. There was no provision for it to go outside of Israel, and that's the reason one seed came out of Israel and everyone else was sacrificed so that the rest of the world could receive this salvation.
Verse 8. God hath given them the spirit of slumber. Slumber, Strong's #2659, means pricking, piercing, severe sorrowing, extreme grief, insensibility or torpor of the mind. I suggest to you that what it means is Satan arose and became their spirit again. They lost the Spirit of Christ. Eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear unto this day. And David saith, well their table be made a snare and a trap. The Greek word translated table is referring to sacrifices. One of the translations in Thayer was the sacrifice of the Gentiles which were used for the demons to employ them in preparing feasts for their worshipers. It is referring to sacrifices. So the Scripture says, let their sacrifices be made a snare. The Greek word translated snare, speaking of a trap in which birds are entangled, birds referring to the spiritual aspect of our being. And let their sacrifices also be a trap. The Greek word translated trap also means a hunting of wild beasts to destroy them. I suggest to you that the word snare is referring to the spirit of the man, and the word trap is referring to the carnal mind. What the Lord is saying here is, let their table or let their sacrifice or let their flesh sacrifice their carnal sacrifices be made a snare to their spirit and to their soul because the Pharisees stumbled at the law. They thought that their keeping of the law gave them a righteousness that was unto eternal life. So, their animal sacrifices trapped their spirit and trapped their soul in the lie.
We are still in Verse 9. And they were a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. I find this very interesting because on the message that we just preached this Sunday we spoke about Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jew, and I spent quite a bit of time speaking about the crucifixion of Christ where I said that I had been taught all these years that that which the Jews stumbled over was that they could not perceive God in the flesh of a man. But I no longer believe that because I know some ultra-orthodox Jews, and they know that Christ is a human being. They know that, and I suggest to you that that which they stumbled over, that the stumbling stone that they stumbled over was the teaching that the Christ which they were was not sufficient, that the imputed anointing which they had was not sufficient, that the Christ of their own human spirit was not sufficient, that, that Christ in the form of the human spirit that they were born with needed to be crucified, shored up, strengthened, penetrated, and pierced by the male spirit of the Living God. They needed something added to them, and that, that altar should be formed in them as a result of the joining of their...on that altar needed to be brought forth and formed, the very Son of God, the Mind of Christ, for them to ascend out of the righteousness of their animal sacrifices unto the righteousness which results from the sacrifice of their own carnal minds. You cannot sacrifice your carnal mind until Christ is formed in you, and that was the offense unto them. Not that Jesus said that it was God appearing as a man, but that He was telling them that the righteousness which they had attained to, to date, was not sufficient, that they needed something beyond themselves. That is what was an offense unto them.
Here we see the same principle two days later in our next study in a totally different book of the Scripture. Let their sacrifices be made a snare to their spirit and their soul and a stumbling block unto them. Their sacrifice wasn't good enough. The true sacrifice is the individual's carnal mind. You can only sacrifice a bullock and a goat for a season, and that sacrifice is unto reconciliation, but if you hope to enter into eternal life, brethren, you must sacrifice the real thing, your own carnal mind. That's what they stumbled over, brethren. And a stumbling block and a recompense unto them. The Greek word recompense means the thing paid back. What does that mean? It means they are going to reap what they have sown. If you sow the sacrifice of the bullock and the goat, you reap reconciliation. If you sow the sacrifice of your carnal mind, you reap eternal life.
So we see Verse 9 saying, Let the sacrifice that they make be a snare unto their spirit and their soul, and let them stumble because they refuse to sacrifice the real thing, their carnal mind, and let them reap what they have sown. And that which they have sown is death, and they shall reap death.
Verse 10. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see and bow down their back always. That's speaking about servitude. Let them lose the Christ mind because they thought they were righteous, and they have to find out that the righteousness that they had, that the privileges that they had unto the Old Covenant with Jehovah was only for a season, and that the end of that season either they would enter into life or they will slip back and become natural men. Brethren, in this hour the same word is going forth to the church. In this hour, believers will either enter into the New Covenant which, despite what you have been taught, you have not yet entered into because you cannot enter into the Most Holy Place without blood, brethren. And the blood that must be shed must be the blood of your carnal mind, and it is the blood of Jesus that will give you life after you have sacrificed your carnal mind. Because so long as you have the blood of Jesus and the blood of your carnal mind you are living out of your carnal mind, and you will never enter into life with the blood of the carnal mind manifesting and living through you.
Verse 11. I say then, have the Jews stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. The Greek word translated stumbled means to make a mistake. Have the Jews made the mistake so that they should fall down completely to never rise again? What's what I just said earlier, what is this terrible mistake that they have made, that God will not correct them, that God will not restore them? Is it permanent? Would God not have mercy on them? That's what Paul is saying. God forbid. But, rather, through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles. The second English word "fall" is a different Greek word. The first Greek word, they stumbled that they should fall, means to fall down, but, rather, through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles, that is a different Greek word translated fall. The first word translated fall is #4098, and it means to fall down, and the second word translated fall is #3900, and it means to slip away. It means a lapse or a deviation from truth and uprightness, a sin or a misdeed, a misstep. But rather through their misstep, through their mistake, salvation, deliverance, completion is come unto the Gentiles for to provoke the Jews to jealousy.
Why would the Lord want to provoke the Jews to jealousy? Because they are filled with pride, brethren, and they were denying the Gentiles the same salvation as they had. They thought that they were better than the rest of the creation as we see demonstrated by Jonah. They really, in their heart of hearts, did not want to see the whole world converted. They believed, at least the ultra-orthodox that I see today, that God does have a plan for the whole world, but they see themselves as kings over the rest of the world. And I came up against this same doctrine in Africa, brethren. It is being preached today that even in the Kingdom there will be the haves and the have nots, those who are the kings and those who are the servants. Brethren, this is something that comes out of the mind of man. Christ is the great equalizer, and at the end of the program there will be no difference from man to man; however, during the process which is converting the creation from death unto life, there will be differences and variations in abilities and authority from man to man because we are fallen, and we are not all being resurrected at the same time or at the same rate of speed or in the same order.
Because we are fallen, we need a law. There is no law for a righteous man, brethren, but the creation is unrighteous, even those of us who have received the promise. We are imperfect, we need to be under a law so God has given us a law. He has put authority in the church. He has put an order in the church. He has put ministry in the church. He has also put order and ministry in human marriage. We need law, brethren, because we are lawless of our self. The law is not internalized so we need an external law; therefore, brethren, submit to the powers that God has placed over you and raise not your head up against those that you should be in submission to for the Lord will not honor this, brethren.
Verse 12. If the fall of them be the riches of the world, and that Greek word translated world is cosmos. If the fall of the Jews be the riches or the inheritance of this whole world system and the diminishing of them, the riches of the Gentiles, and their loss. If their fall becomes a gift to the world, and what they have lost becomes the riches of the Gentiles or the nations, how much more will both the world, the physical world system, the spiritual world system, and the Gentiles, the non-Jewish peoples of the world, how much more will the fullness of the Jews benefit them.
What Paul is saying is that the fall of the Jews, and the loss of their inheritance has been a great blessing to this physical and spiritual world system as well as to the peoples of the world. And if their fall, their loss, has been such a blessing to the world and to the nations thereof how much greater a blessing will be their return unto Christ. So don't deny them their heritage, brethren, and don't try to hold them back and deny them what is rightfully theirs because the world is about to receive a great blessing when the Lord restores Judah back into her own tree we are told a little further on down.
Verse 13. For I speak to you Gentiles inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles. I magnify my office. Paul says, I'm giving you good advice. I am the apostle that's sent to you Gentiles, you non-Jews, and he says that I'm giving glory to my office because I know what I'm talking about. You should be listening to me, and you should be very much aware of being lifted up in pride thinking that you have gained from the loss of the Jews, and that you've got it and they have lost it. This doctrine is in the church. There's going to be a lot of people walking around with egg on their face because every time you lift yourself up in pride it is just a couple of steps away until you are embarrassed.
Verse 14. If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are of my flesh. Emulation means jealousy, and Paul is saying that he is a Jew, but his ministry is to the Gentiles, and that he preaches this deep doctrine, and that at least part of his ministry is to cause the Jews to be jealous. When they hear what he's preaching, when their ears finally open, and their understanding finally opens they are to be jealous, and I want to tell you that I have seen it. I was very much surprised when I realized that this ultra-orthodox rabbi that I have a dialogue with that he was hurt, actually hurt, and jealous that the church is doing what they are doing with the word of God. He felt that Israel had the word of God first, and how could the church possibly think that they could know something out of these very same scriptures that Israel has been studying for thousands of years. The truth of the matter is that in the areas where the true doctrine of Christ is coming forth, it is coming through the church. The headship is given to the church. The Lord still has relationships, vital relationships with individual Jews, but the office, the political office of being the mediator between God and man has been shifted from the Jew to the church.
I'm still in Verse 14. If by any means I may provoke to jealousy them which are of my flesh and might save some of them. Well, what does that mean? I don't know, but I can give you a testimony. I've had this dialogue with this ultra-orthodox rabbi. He's heard a lot of this doctrine, and, of course, he has rejected the whole thing, but I would like to believe that the seed of Christ was implanted in his heart. I would like to believe it. I know that he has entered into some very hard times over this last year or two, and I would like to believe that these hard times were a judgment from God which will result in his receiving the Christ. I hope that Christ is coming forth in him and giving him difficult experiences which will result in his recognizing Messiah. I pray that is the source of his difficulties in his life right now.
So Paul is saying, if you can provoke the Jews to jealousy he might save some of them. How? When they come to argue with him, maybe they will receive the seed of Christ. Maybe that is what happened with me and my friend, I don't know. I've called him, and he hasn't called me back. I'll call him again. He's having some very hard times, lost his job twice in the last two years, has a whole bunch of kids and a wife to take care of.
Verse 15. For if the casting away of the Jews be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead. For if the casting away, casting away means rejection. To cast away from ones self, we are told in the Prophets that Jehovah divorced Israel. For if the casting away, if Jehovah's divorcing Israel resulted in the reconciling of the world....well how could that be? Jesus is now marrying the church. Jehovah divorced Israel. He's now looking to the church. So the rejection of Israel has become the reconciliation of the world. If that's true, what shall the receiving of the Jew back again be but the resurrection of the dead.
I want it clear to you that the Mind of Christ was resurrected in the man Jesus of Nazareth, that Christ is being raised from the dead in an element of the church today, and that I also believe that the natural line of Israel shall be raised from the dead when Christ is raised from the dead in him. The natural line shall be raised from the dead when the spiritual seed is raised from the dead in the natural seed. If you can hear it, hear it.
Verse 16. For if the first fruit be holy. And who is the first fruit? Jesus Christ is the first fruit. He is the first man to be resurrected out from amongst the dead ones. If He be holy, the lump is also holy. And what is this lump. It is referring to the lump of spiritual clay from which all of humanity is formed, brethren. So if there was one man formed out of a lump of spiritual clay, and that man rose up in Christ and brought His carnal mind into submission to the Spirit of Holiness, he has thus sanctified all of the human beings that are coming out of that same lump of clay by faith. What the Scripture is saying is that what the Lord Jesus Christ did in one vessel is just a matter of time until He does it in every other vessel until the whole lump of clay is formed in the righteous image of Christ.
For if the first fruit be holy, that's Jesus Christ. And the lump, the rest of the clay is holy, and if the root be holy so are the branches. So what he's saying is that if the soul is holy, if the soul in one man is holy, then everyone else's soul is holy. Why? Because it is just one soul. And if the root be holy, if the spirit of the man be holy, then the branches of that....see, the spirit is a tree, the Tree of Life. If the spirit in the man is the Tree of Life, then that same spirit which is in every other man is holy also. And how is that spirit getting into every other man. Jesus is raining on everybody. He's raising on all flesh, and He's grafting cuttings from the Tree of Life into the people's of humanity. So, therefore, if the root is holy, then the branch or the cutting which is grafted into you is holy.
So, if you have that cutting of the life of Jesus Christ your spirit is becoming holy. It is being purified, and if the soul life which he sacrificed was holy, now the clay of your soul is being made holy also. And it is holy by faith. Your spirit and soul are holy by faith until the cleansing is completed, and you have to know that there is a difference between the righteousness which comes by promise, and the promise which comes from actually being clean. And there are two major differences between believers who are holy by promise and believers who are holy because it is real for them. And the difference is life and death and power and weakness, and the man who is holy because he is truly without sin has spiritual power which is unto an endless life. And the man who is holy because he has received the promise of holiness and the mechanism by which it is possible to become holy, that man still is powerless in most areas or many areas of his life, and he dies. He still dies.
So the carnal mind of man cannot understand this, and they make up some doctrine of devils saying that he lives after his body dies. It is a lie. If you were truly holy, your body would not die, and you would have power over all the power of the enemy in this world. You would have full power over your own carnal mind and over everyone else's carnal mind and of the wickedness in your emotions, and over every evil sin that tries to penetrate your thoughts. The only one I know of that has that kind of power is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 17. And if some of the branches be broken off and now being a wild olive tree were grafted in amongst them, and with them partakers of the root and the fatness of the olive tree. What is Paul saying? He's saying, brethren, that Israel is the seed which produced the Lord Jesus Christ. Israel is the spiritual root and the natural root from which Messiah has come. And he's saying the fact that Christ is appearing in the flesh of the Gentiles in this hour is indicated by a parable that a wild olive tree, meaning the Gentile, men who are not of the natural seed of Israel, nor did they have the spiritual seed of Israel. They were grafted in to the Tree of Life or to the true olive tree, and they were grafted in when the Lord Jesus Christ was engrafted to their human spirit. Paul says that they are a wild olive tree. Their physical and spiritual inheritance did not come out of Abraham. But, nevertheless, that glorious seed which is Christ was grafted into their soul and their flesh. Paul expresses it by saying, thou being a wild olive tree were grafted in amongst who? Amongst the natural Jews, and with them partakes of the root, the Spirit of Christ, and the fatness that is Christ, the Mind of Christ, of the olive tree.
Who is the olive tree? The olive tree is natural Israel in whom Christ is manifesting. Boast not against the branches, Paul says to the Christians. Boast not against the Jews who have been broken off from their own tree. Why? Because they are in perversion today. The Mind of Christ is not manifesting in natural Israel. There is a problem there. We have a perversion here, he says. It is like saying we have a woman's body with a man's mind, and a man's body with a woman's mind, and don't we see that in the church today? At the very least, he wants all the men with the men's minds, and eventually the women with the men's minds are going to get some kind of glorified body that they won't be a perversion any more. Everything is all backwards and twisted up today, and in the same way is it with Israel and the church.
Let me say that again. The whole creation is in change. Since your true sexuality goes with your mind, we have physical men today with female minds and physical women with male minds. Why? Because the creation is in transition. In the same manner, says the Lord, we have a temporary perversion in that we see Israel, the natural olive tree, with a perverted mind. A mind that is not Christ. It is the mind of Cain, and then we see the nations who are not the natural seed of Israel, but the Mind of Christ. Well, says the Lord, Christ must appear in Israel again, and something must happen to the flesh of the wild olive tree. It must be changed so that it will line up with the Mind of Christ which they have received.
Verse 18. Paul rebuking the Christians. Boast not against the branches. Don't boast yourself against the natural Jew because you are up and they are down right now. Because if you boast, you bearest not the root, the Spirit of Christ is not in you, but the root...and what he's saying there is something that a lot of carnal men have a lot of problems with. You are not who you are externally. The only thing that counts is your spiritual root. The root of Christ is not here because you are this great one. You are alive and kicking because of this great spiritual root which is in you. You are not your flesh, you are your spirit. You are not who you are because of your flesh or your personality or the talents that you were born with. You have no worth because of that which you were born with.
All the worth you have is because of the spiritual root which is Christ which has brought you into the world and is keeping you alive. He is your only value. So don't boast yourself if you have a talent. Don't boast yourself if you are good looking. Don't boast yourself for any success that you've had because everything that we have, we are told in another place, is given unto you. You are not carrying the root. The root is carrying you. You are not taking the benefits or the glory from what the Spirit of Christ has done. The Spirit of Christ is the giver of gifts, and you are the receiver. That's what he's saying.
Boast not against natural Israel because they were broken off. Don't think you are so great because if you boast you don't support the root, the root supports you. So what Paul is saying is that Israel fell because Jehovah let them fall. You don't support the root, the root supports you. They could have never fell if Jehovah did not let them fall. In other words, Paul is saying, don't be so sure of yourself, you don't have the power to keep yourself standing because if Jehovah let Israel fall, it is possible that the Lord Jesus Christ will let you fall. So, don't be a wise guy because it could happen to you too. That's what he's saying.
Verse 19. Thou will say then, the branches were broken off, that's natural Israel, that I might be grafted in. He's saying to the church, the Gentiles, don't say the Jews were turned away by Jehovah so that I could be grafted in. There is a teaching like that in the church. They had their turn, now we have our turn. They had their turn and they blew it, now it is the church's turn, they lost their change, and they are not going to get another one. Paul says that's a false doctrine. If you believe it, you are going to be ashamed.
Verse 20. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and now standeth by faith. So you think you are great because you have faith, and the Jews were broken off because of unbelief. I think that unbelief means disobedience. So you think you are so obedient. You know, I've had people in this ministry that they really think they have what it takes to be obedient to God. Brethren, we cannot be obedient to God. You cannot walk perfectly before God. You are incapable of it. You are fallen. You have a sin nature. If you exert the fullest of the energy and the spiritual strength that you have, you will be disobedient at some point because you are fallen. So how do you make yourself better than the one who fell? Whether it be the natural Jew or whether it be your brother or sister, how dare you say unto them you have fallen when you yourself are falling every minute of every day.
In another place, we are told that this called judging before the time. How dare you judge your brother's sins when your own are not confessed and repented of and dealt with. It is the sin of pride. God hates it. Jesus said, I don't judge any man, but if I judge, I judge righteous judgment. So there is a judgment of sins which is for the benefit of the individual which is in Christ. It is Christ in you pointing out someone's sin for the purpose of helping them, and that could only be if you have the power to help them. That's OK, but to point out that someone has fallen so as to make them squirm and condemn them for whom Christ died, you shall surely reap what you have sown. You judge, you shall be judged. If you judge without mercy and with condemnation, you shall be judged without mercy and with condemnation.
Verse 20. Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith, you think you are a great one. You didn't fall in that area, you are flipping and flopping like a dead fish in 10 other areas, but in that area you didn't fall. So you are pointing it out loud and clear. Paul says, don't be high minded, but be afraid. God doesn't like it.
Verse 21. For if God spared not the natural branches, if God spared not the Jews, take heed lest He also spare not you. And if God let the one who's teaching you slip, you had better not be high minded because if He let the one He raised up to teach you, slip, He's sure going to let you slip. And you might just be falling on your face really soon. Don't judge before the time, brethren. You are going to reap what you sow, condemnation and death.
Verse 22. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God. Look at this, God is both good and severe. I know some people, well most people have no problem with the goodness of God. A lot of people have problems with the severity of God. We have had some people right in this ministry who could not believe that God could be severe, that God could rebuke, that God could speak harshly. They thought every time I would speak, and my words weren't dripping with honey that it had to be my carnal mind, and they revealed themselves to be ignorant because, on occasion, God is severe. Correction which comes out of Christ is the love of God. The key is that it has to be out of Christ.
Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God on them which fell severity. Why? Because God let them fall. That was a severe judgment on them, but towards you, good ness. If you continue in His goodness; otherwise, you shall be cut off. Brethren, Paul is speaking here about the contrast between the gentle judgment of the Holy Spirit, and Wormwood judgment. The Jews are under Wormwood judgment right now. You see Wormwood judgment demonstrated in the Scripture when the Jews went into Babylon. We are told 70 years were appointed unto them. Whether or not they repented had nothing to do with it. They had to leave their homes, their country was taken over by another government, and they went into captivity, living in a foreign land for 70 years, and there was no appeal. There was nothing they could do to change God's mind, and the whole generation that went from Judah into Babylon died out. It was the next generation that came in. The severity of God, brethren, is Wormwood judgment. No appeal.
The church is under the easy judgment of the Holy Spirit. All you do is confess your sins and repent, and the elder God has raised up over you forgives your sins, and you are restored, and you go on. And if, in fact, you took a strong mis-step and God pronounced judgment on you, severe judgment, and the elders over you forgive your sins, I've known people to get another chance. I've known people with one foot and four toes out the door and God gave them another chance because the elders forgave their sins. There is not a doubt in my mind that, that is true. That's the goodness of God, brethren.
So, because you were born at a time where you have an opportunity to be a part of the church where the goodness of God is available, the gentle judgment of the Holy Spirit, you look down upon Israel because they were born at a time when Wormwood judgment was being ministered to God's people, you are a fool, and you do err because you don't understand the Scripture or the power of God. It is not because you are great and your brother is not. It is because of the way God's plan is unfolding at this hour that you have fallen under the gentle judgment, and they have fallen under the severity of God. Nothing that you have done makes you better than the next person.
Verse 21. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you. And that means that even though you are living in the hour when the gentle correction of the Holy Spirit is available, don't think that God cannot be severe with you because He can if He chooses to do so. I am not threatening anybody. I don't have anything to say about that kind of stuff, but I'm giving you the word, and I'm telling you that it is true. That in this hour, although it is not the typical thing that God is doing every day, He does, and He can, He can and He does, I've seen Him do it, pronounce Wormwood judgment on an individual basis to some believers, where He pronounces so many years that they are put out of the church, they are completely back in the world, and there is no way they can find their way back into the congregation until their sentence is fulfilled. I know people that has happened to. One woman gave me a testimony, she was outside of the congregation for 30 years, and she was fully aware that her heart desired to come back, and she couldn't get back. Thirty years later the Lord let her back in.
See, when the Lord did it to Israel it was a national judgment. So even if there were people in Judah and in Israel at the time who had remained faithful to Jehovah in their heart, the judgment was upon the nation. Everybody went into captivity, the innocent, no one is innocent, no not one, but innocent on that level where they may have remained faithful on some level. Everybody went into captivity. Even all the unborn children that were born in Babylon, all the children that were killed in the Holocaust, all came under that because of the Wormwood judgment that was visited upon Judah. But in this hour, when God does execute Wormwood judgment it is not national. It is not to the whole church.
In this hour, God is ministering His justice on an individual basis, and I've told you, many times, that if you think that some things that I do aren't fair, you err because you don't understand the wisdom or the power of God, and in this hour He's meeting individuals where they are. And to your carnal mind, He's not fair, and to your carnal mind I'm not fair. That's because you are not equal to the one next to you or to the one on the other side of you or to the one behind you. And Jesus nor I am treating any two people in exactly the same manner. I'm meeting you at your point of need, and you had better get your eyes back on yourself because you are going to stumble in the dark. You are going to stub your toe real bad if you don't get your eyes back on yourself.
Verse 23. And they also, this is speaking about Israel, if they abide not still in unbelief, that word is disobedience, if they don't remain in disobedience they shall be grafted back in for God is able to graft them back in. Paul just said, don't be wise because you've got the easier of the two groups. The people in the church today, you've got it easy compared to the way Judah had it. But even though you've got it easy, you are still in danger of going into Wormwood judgment so don't be high minded because you are not once saved, always saved. You could be in bad trouble, and the Lord says, in the same manner. If He could deal with an individual member of the church contrary to the way He's dealing with the church. What does that mean? As a group, the church is under the gentle correction of the Holy Spirit, but if the Lord wants to He can take any individual and throw them out with Wormwood judgment. In the same manner, whereas God has put Judah in Israel under Wormwood judgment, if He wants to bring them back in He can bring them back in. He can do anything He wants to do. He can break any law that He wants to break without sin because His motives are righteous.
We will see in the next few verses, Paul warns his people, don't lift your head up against the Lord. Who are you to give counsel unto Him? Or unto the ministers through whom His mind is manifesting. Who do you think you are, that you think that you have wisdom equal to or greater than Christ.
Verse 24. For if thou were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature. If you are a physical Gentile, and you are grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree. That means that the Lord Jesus Christ is grafted to your human spirit. See, the tree is inside of you. The tree is spirit. How much more shall these, Jews, which are the natural ancestors of Jesus of Nazareth who was Christ, how much more shall they be grafted back into their own olive tree. He's saying, look if God had the power to take the glorified spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ and put Him inside of you who had nothing to do with the great work that was done in Israel, don't you think God has the power to put Him also back into Israel which is the natural nation that He came out of.
You know, brethren, it is the same principle if you can hear it in saying, why would God burn this creation in hell forever when He has the power to rehabilitate you? You have heard me preach that. Why would He burn anyone in hell forever. He is God. The creator of the universe. He has the power to write on your heart, and where it said adultery He can say holiness. Why should He burn you? (End of Tape)
