Israel - God's Banner to The World and The Church

[00:00:00] I would like you to turn with me this evening to the prophecy of Zephaniah. [00:00:12] I'm going to read a few verses from the third chapter, from verse eight. [00:00:32] Zephaniah, chapter three from verse eight. [00:00:37] Therefore wait ye for me, saith the Lord, until the day that I arise up to the prey. [00:00:45] For my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. [00:01:06] For then will I turn to the peoples of pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him. With one consent, from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. [00:01:28] In that day shalt thou not be put to shame for all thy doings wherein thou hast transgressed against me. For then I will take away out of the midst of thee thy proudly exulting ones, and thou shalt no more be haughty in my holy mountain. But I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall take refuge in the name of the Lord. [00:01:59] The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies. Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid. [00:02:18] Sing, o daughter of Zion. Shout, o Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all the heart. O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy, the king of Israel. Even the Lord is in the midst of thee. Thou shalt not fear evil anymore. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not, o zion. Let not thy hands be slack. The Lord thy God is in the midst of thee, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. [00:03:08] He will joy over thee with singing. I will gather then the sorrow for the solemn assembly, who were of thee, to whom the burden upon her was a reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee. And I will save that which is lame, and gather that which was driven away. And I will make them a praise and a name whose shame hath been in all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I gather you, or I will make you a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I bring back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord. Just a further word of prayer. Father, this has been a long and wonderful day, but we need you this evening and we need that quickening of your holy spirit, that anointing which has been so dearly won for us through the finished work of our Lord Jesus. Now, by faith, we stand into it for my speaking and for our hearing that this time, Lord, will be a meeting with yourself. And that you will, Lord, write in our hearts your word, and we shall give to you all the praise and the glory in the name of our messiah, the Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:04:40] The matter that has been on my heart is entitled. It was the original title that I was given for this time which opened up to me. [00:04:52] I believe the Holy Spirit opened it up to me. Israel, God's banner, to the world and to the church. And a banner is not just something you wave in the old days, a banner or a standard designated someone's presence or something that was being done. And I think it's exciting to think of Israel as a standard that reveals something the Lord is doing. [00:05:34] And as such, therefore, it becomes a means of attracting the attention of the world and attracting the attention of the church. [00:05:49] So I'm just going to talk for a little while, first about Israel as God's banner to the world, and then finally about Israel as God's banner to the church. [00:06:05] A banner is something seen. [00:06:09] It is something which is supposed to attract attention. [00:06:14] And that is exactly what physical, literal Israel is on this earth and among the nations. She has always been God's banner, sometimes revealing the judgments of God, sometimes revealing the displeasure of God. And at this time she reveals the activity of God in bringing back a people scattered to the ends of the earth, back to their ancient home homeland, from 92 different countries at least, they have returned against overwhelming odds, to the very portion of territory in which the nation was originally born, that territory that God promised to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, and to their seed throughout all their generations. That is, whilst there is a physical seed of Abraham on this earth, a physical seed of Abraham through Isaac, not Ishmael, through Jacob, not Esau. That covenant God made with Abraham and his seed still stands. [00:07:44] And because it stands, God has drawn back this scattered, despised and devalued people from the ends of the earth back to that little portion of territory we call Israel, that little portion of Israel that is called the holy land or the promised land. And in his very drawing back of the physical seed of Abraham back to this territory, he has constituted them a banner, a standard, if you like, by which the nations may know certain things. [00:08:36] What are those things? [00:08:39] Firstly, gods word is authoritative, accurate, relevant and powerful. [00:08:51] There is nothing else on the face of this earth like the word of God. [00:09:01] Shakespeare may be marvelous, he may be genius, he may have been able to put into a phrase a whole world of human experience. [00:09:14] But I have never found a word of Shakespeare able to deliver an alcoholic or deliver a drug addict, or heal a broken marriage, or save a human, human soul. [00:09:30] But God's word is supreme. It is in another dimension, quite obviously, because it is the word of God, and because when God speaks, he doesn't use language loosely, he doesn't use it cheaply, he doesn't use it, as it were, without meaning. He uses words carefully, therefore, because it is God's word, it is authoritative. I do not believe for a single moment that God's word is adulterated by human contribution. In other words, it's partly God's word and partly man's word, all mixed up into one which only our very clever theologians are able to distinguish. What is man's word and what is God's word? Where does that leave you and me? How can we tell what is God's word and what is not God's word? God's word is God's word. [00:10:41] And it is interesting, when you look at Israel, that there you see God's word, the authority of God's word actually being fulfilled. [00:10:58] It is not just an exaggerated word, it's not just a word that's got all other kinds of things that have somehow or other crept in over the course of time, but it is God's word, I think, for instance, of so many things, and I want to go on and just say God's word is accurate because it is God's word. It is obvious. If man has managed to get something into it, then it can be inaccurate. But if it is God's word, it has to be accurate. And when I think of something like the prophecy of Zechariah, chapter twelve and verse two and three, in that day, Jerusalem shall be a cup of reeling, that is, a goblet of wine, into which has been secretly introduced a drug to all the peoples round about, I think, how could anyone have said that all those thousands of years ago? And it has waited to this day, day and generation for its fulfillment. [00:11:58] Let me say again, he said, in that day, Jerusalem shall be a goblet of wine, a cup of reeling to all the peoples roundabout, that is, all the neighbors of Israel will somehow act as if they are insensible, drugged, drunk. [00:12:17] They have been somehow or other poisoned by what they have drunk of this cup called Jerusalem. In other words, anyone who messes with the divine destiny of Jerusalem will find it renders them insensible. It destroys their economies. [00:12:39] It paralyzes them. And when we look at our neighbors, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, all our neighbors, Egypt, all of them, one after the other, they have 45 or more years been rendered insensible and paralyzed by this conflict with Israel. This deliberate intention of our neighbors to play with the destiny and future of Jerusalem. They believe that Jerusalem is an islamic city and that it must remain an islamic city. God has said that there would come a day when Jerusalem would return to the jewish people. Even Jesus said it. He said, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down underfoot of the Gentiles until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled. We have lived to see it. But then Zechariah says something else. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it. But, my dear friends, how could anyone understand such a prophecy a hundred years ago? Why would the nations of the earth be gathered together against Jerusalem? What would they be gathered together against Jerusalem for? What would they gain? There was nothing in Jerusalem a hundred years ago. It was a little village town buried in the judean hill country of 38,000 inhabitants, half ruined, living on past glory, capital of nothing. [00:14:07] What in the world would anyone want Jerusalem for? There were no diamond mines there, no gold mines there, no oil there, no coal there, no natural gas there. A lot of hot air. But I mean a lot. There's no. I mean there. What in the world would they all work? [00:14:24] But Zechariah said 2400, 500 years ago there would come a day when all the nations of the earth would be gathered against Jerusalem. When Jerusalem, its status, its future, its destiny, would be a hot potato for all the nations. They would not know what to do with it. And we have lived to see it more accurately predicted in the word of God than tomorrow morning's newspaper. [00:14:55] It's all there. [00:14:57] I say this is a banner. Israel is a banner to the whole unsaved world. The islamic world, the capitalist world, the humanist world, the religious world, the secular world, if you like. Even if we can so describe it today, the marxist world, what there is left of it here is God's word. And Israel is a standard that manifests the simple fact that the God of Israel is very much alive. And the word of the God of Israel is authoritative and accurate. I could go on if you wanted me. I could, for instance, quote from the prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 61 and verse five and six, where it speaks about they shall build the old waste places, the desolations of many generations. Well, my dear friends, when they say that was fulfilled in the return from Babylon, what are they talking about? Because we know that it was only one or two generations at the most. [00:16:05] But if it has been fulfilled in our day and generation, it is indeed the desolation, the devastation of many generations. But even more interesting, it goes on to say, and strangers shall stand and feed your flock and foreigners shall be your ploughmen and your vine dressers. Now, when they tell us that that was fulfilled in the return from Babylon it makes mockery of the word of God. You all know, you're all good bible students. You all know that Nezu and Nehemiah spent half their time divorcing foreign wives and foreign husbands and chasing out of the work of God Samaritans who were only half Jews. [00:16:48] So where did all these foreigners stand and feed their flocks in the return from Babylon? When did these strangers, these foreigners, these aliens become vine dressers and ploughmen? It wasn't certain enough in the return from balance. But today, all over Israel, in every kibbutz, in every moshe you will find gentile young people and older people helping. And what are they doing? They're helping in the building up of Israel, they are vine dressers and ploughmen and looking after cattle, looking after turkeys, looking after chicken houses and I don't know what else. Picking the oranges, picking the lemons, picking the grapefruit, picking the cotton. It's amazing. It has actually come to pass. Now, I say that, Sabana, that means God's word is authoritative and accurate. When God says something, it may have been 2600 years ago or 2400 years ago, he doesn't play with the words. He means exactly what he says. Which means, and this is not what I should be telling you. And now I should keep it for a few moments later when I talk about Israel as God's banner to the church it means that if God says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, you will be saved if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it does mean this that he is able to save to the uttermost all those that draw near unto God. By him, he can save to the uttermost. God doesn't exaggerate. He means it precisely what he says. He uses human language as a vehicle to say something. Now, my dear friends, I could go on and on on this but you can see we're going to be here till tomorrow morning if I do, because I could take you on to Isaiah 49 and that. Wonderful. And these shall come from the north, and these from the east, and these from the west, and these from the land of Sinim. You have never, as some of you have heard me say, you've never heard a message on these from the land of Sinim? Why? Because nobody can spiritualize it. That's why. They can't get a spiritual message out of this little phrase. These from the land of Sinima. Sinim in modern Hebrew means the chinese people. So it means, and these from the land of the Chinese, you say, but there are not chinese Jews. Oh, yes, there are. [00:19:19] Oh, you have never heard of it. But that doesn't mean anything just because you haven't heard about it. [00:19:27] There's a lot of things about Israel people don't know, especially in the church. They're very ignorant when it comes to it. [00:19:34] But from the 6th century onwards, there have been many jewish settlers in mainland China. And we know from the 11th century, one of the most beautiful synagogues in the whole world was a chinese synagogue in Kaifeng, the city of Kaifeng in Henan in north central China, which was built in the traditional chinese state. It was swept away in a huge flood at the end of the last century. But the fact remains that there was a synagogue large enough to hold a big community, because there was a big community in that part of China of Jews in the 11th century. Now, I'm talking about the time of Marco Polo, if that means anything to you. [00:20:27] And I think you all know that when the second world War, the Japanese, under nazi pressure, brought all the Jews from Korea, Japan, China, mainland Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, and holed them all up in the ghetto in Shanghai. My great uncle was one of them. That's why I know the whole story. [00:20:49] At the end of that war, there were 30,000 in that ghetto, and they did not know where to go or what to do. And when Israel was declared a sovereign state in 1948, the majority of the 30,000 came back to Israel. And what seems to be a useless, irrelevant little phrase in Isaiah, chapter 49 and verse twelve, got fulfilled in our day and generation. It waited for all these years to be fulfilled and finally was fulfilled. That is the accuracy of God's word. But I could go on about this. I could say it is relevant. Yes, of course it's relevant. That's why the apostle Peter, writing to believers in our Lord Jesus, those who've been saved through the work of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, said, and we have the word of God prophecy made more sure whereunto ye do well, that ye take heed as unto a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Why did he say we have the word of prophecy made more sure because he had witnessed the fulfillment of a whole number of outstanding prophecies concerning the birth, the life, the ministry, the calling and the work of the Lord Jesus, his resurrection and his ascension. [00:22:28] So he said, we have the word of prophecy made more sure because we have been eyewitnesses of its fulfillment. My dear friends, do you realize what that means? That you and I, little you and little me, living in 1992, have the word of prophecy made even more sure because we are the eyewitnesses of a whole number more of prophecies that have been literally fulfilled in our day and generation. We have seen the jewish people being brought back from the ends of the earth, back to little Israel. We have seen that little nation embattled for 44 years in six wars, four of which should have been her destruction. We have seen her not only preserved, but we have seen her triumph in war after war. We have seen the ecology of Israel restored. We have seen its fertility recreated. We have seen its cities rebuilt and reinhabited. These are the things we, with our own eyes, have seen. Precisely as Ezekiel said said it would be, precisely as Jeremiah said it would be, precisely as Isaiah said it would be. Now, my dear friends, do you begin to understand how marvelous this is? When I think also of the fact, it is not only relevant, some people think that God only did things in the days of Jericho, the Red Sea, as if then God was young and virile and somehow or other he was able to use muscle power to part the Red Sea and somehow bring the walls of Jericho down. What he did in the time of Jesus, when Jesus was on earth, is what he cannot do now that Jesus is in heaven. My dear friends, this is stupidity. [00:24:35] To bring down the walls of Jericho doesn't mean a thing to God. He doesn't have to get up steam. He doesn't have to exercise for the whole month, do aerobics or something else in order to bring down the wall. One single syllable from his mouth and the walls of Jericho fall flat. One word from the Lord and the Red Sea is parted. One word from God and he can do anything. Not a word of God ever falls to the ground. [00:25:09] Nothing is impossible with God. [00:25:13] Now, my dear friends, I want just to say on this matter also that it is powerful. I love this because ive already made reference to it. But you see in Hebrews chapter four, verse twelve we are told the word of God is living and active. What a wonderful description. Living and active that is, it is alive and it is creative. Within the very word of God is all the power to bring about its fulfillment. By the word of God the heavens and the earth were made. It says it a thousand times in the Bible. By the word of God he parted the heavens from the earth with an atmosphere and all these things remain by the word of God stored up to a baptism of fire. [00:26:06] The earth has had its baptism of water. It is waiting for its baptism of fire yet to come. But my dear friends, how wonderful it is that everything God has ever done he has done through his word. And of course it is all summed up in Jesus the messiah. Jesus is the messiah and he is the word of God. [00:26:36] Now when you begin to understand that something begins to move in our hearts and in our spirits because we see this word of God being actually literally fulfilled in our day and generation in this blind and unsaved people. We see God leading the blind by a way that they know not. We see him doing the most amazing things. And as Ezekiel said, not for your sake do I do these things but for my great names sake. And when we begin to understand that we see that Israel is like a banner, a standard to this world. It's as if God is saying the quran is not the word of God nor are the buddhist scriptures the word of God. They may be interesting to one degree or another. They may contain much that is good even. But the fact remains that the word of God is alone God's word. [00:27:52] The second thing that I believe that Israel is a banner to the world in is the simple fact that God has a purpose and a program for this earth. Why do people think that God is tired of this earth? That somehow or other he's admitted failure over this earth. He created this amazing universe, this amazing planet. As far as we know it is the only planet that has the kind of beauty that we are the witnesses of. Even in its fallen state. The moon has nothing to compare with it. Nor Mars as far as we know, nor Venus, nor anything else that has yet we have probed in our space exploration programs. But my dear friends, some christians attitude to the earth is oh well, the earth. God's not interested in the earth. Apparently God is only interested in the ether somehow. Interested in something up there somewhere a million miles away where we are suspended in space forever and ever in a kind of glorified playing a harp forever and ever in an eternal hallelujah chorus. [00:29:12] No wonder the world laughs at us christians. Is that why your Jesus came to die? They say. Is that what he saved you for? [00:29:22] It is no wonder for many christians. Their gospel is so small, so poetry. [00:29:31] But it is far more than that. [00:29:34] God will never admit defeat to Satan or to the powers of darkness over this earth. In its time, God created all things beautiful and all things good, and that a mess has come in, and that a fall has come, and that something has happened even to the beauty and order of this universe. No one will deny. But God one day is going to redeem this earth. Hes going to restore its ecology, restore its fertility, restore its order. [00:30:09] Is it not an amazing thing that a sparrow doesnt die without God? [00:30:15] Have you ever thought about it? [00:30:18] How much more human beings, not a single living creature in this world is unknown to God. Now that may blow your mind, but the fact of the matter is, that's what the Lord Jesus himself said, and he should know. [00:30:38] He said, are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them falls to the ground, that is dies without, without your father knowing. [00:30:51] My dear friends, when I think of the hebrew scriptures, when I think of these wonderful words that come twice in the Bible, first in Isaiah and chapter two, of course, you know them very well, I'm quite sure. And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be ascended, established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it, and many people shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Now this is repeated word for word in Micah's prophecy, chapter four. And I've always been told, when something is repeated twice it is of very great significance and importance. And I think it is interesting that the Lord speaks of a day when there will be no more war, when finally peace will come to this earth, and when God will be able to bring to the earth into fulfillment that is his original purpose for it. Now my dear friends, I must be careful that I dont spend too long on some of these points because of time. But you know, when I think about it, it is wonderful, because in Romans chapter eight, we are told the whole natural creation is subjected to a cycle of corruption. But it doesnt tell us what will happen to that natural creation when it is released and liberated from this cycle of corruption. Only that because man fell, the whole natural creation was trapped within an endless cycle of corruption. But in the word of God, we have the most amazing intimations. We hear of hills and valleys singing for joy. Have you ever heard of such a thing? We hear of trees clapping their hands before the Lord because he comes. Isn't it? Is it just poetic license, or is there within it something that means that in the end, whatever God originally intended for the natural creation will reach its fulfillment? Whatever that means, we don't know. [00:33:49] It's a good job we don't know, or we'd have another few denominations. [00:33:54] The fact of the matter is that God hasn't revealed it to us, except he has said this in the most wonderful prophecy, in Isaiah, chapter eleven. I won't read it all, but you know it's to do with the Messiah, about how the spirit of the Lord shall be upon him. And then it says, and the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little the child shall lead them, and the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. [00:34:36] And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp or the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's. [00:34:49] They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And then it goes on, and it will come to pass in that day that the root of Jesse that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nation see, and his resting place shall be glorious. Now, I dont know about you, but something in me leaps at the very thought of this. I suppose as we get a little older and we begin to feel the decay in our bodies, the very thought of God somehow driving death and corruption out of the whole universe, is something so exciting, so thrilling. It is not for nothing that death is called the last enemy. [00:35:49] The last enemy. My dear friends, do you know what little Israel is? She is a banner to the world. A standard, if you like, that God has a purpose and a program for this earth. And little Israel, if you like to think of it, is a token, a deposit that God is going to restore in the end the whole earth. There will in the end be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. [00:36:25] Isnt it marvelous? I think so. [00:36:29] And Israel is the only little land in the whole world whose national ecology has been restored with all her problems. A little token of what in the end, the messiah is going to do for the whole earth when he puts right the pollution in the atmosphere and the pollution in the seas and the destruction of the rainforest and the imbalance that we have created in this whole planet. [00:36:57] My dear friends, Israel is God's banner to the world in yet another way. All who contend with God, with his word, with his purpose and with his messiah will be broken. [00:37:15] Let me say it again. All who contend with God with his word, his purpose and his messiah will be broken. [00:37:25] Satan will make his last and most powerful attempt in our days to frustrate God's purpose and he will fail. [00:37:42] He is going to try to bring in a one world, one world government, a new world order. [00:37:55] Mark my words, we are much nearer to its introduction than most people believe. [00:38:04] Suddenly with the same speed with which the Kremlin fell, suddenly with the same speed with which the iron curtain disappeared, the same speed with which Marxism has become decrepit, derided, powerless. [00:38:23] So this great final attempt of Satan through flesh and blood to frustrate the purpose of God for his messiah and for those who are covenanted people of the Messiah, hes going to try to frustrate it, my dear friends, he will use all kinds of things. [00:38:56] He will use people, good people, humanists, it will all seem so good to many believers that even the elect themselves could be deceived. And those who do not know the word of God, who have not stored the word of God in their hearts, will be in very great danger of deception and delusion. [00:39:20] Don't think that by simply having a kind of knees up, a spiritual knees up, that you're going to escape deception and delusion. Worship, we need worship. True worship we need to experience, be part of. But my dear friends, we need the word of God. [00:39:47] There is no substitute to a knowledge of gods word. And if we do not use the days in which were living now to store the word in our heart, then were going to be in trouble. [00:40:01] My dear friends, God will use all kinds of things. He will use people like mister Bush. He will use people probably like even mister major. He will use all kinds of people in the european community. He will use the japanese prime minister. He will use all kinds of people that are. Their names are not even known at present. Good people, people who seem to have a genuine burden for world prosperity and world equality and world peace. But you mark my words, it is Satan. [00:40:37] It is his last great attempt to unseat and dethrone the Lord Jesus and to frustrate God's purpose and program. [00:40:53] He will use new ideologies, they will be old ones, but they will seem to be new. It will be humanism in one shape or another. He will even use the church. [00:41:12] My beloved friends, I will say something about this in 1 minute, a little more. But you do realize that the word of God says that there will be a great apostasy and we are much nearer to that apostasy than you realize. And if this apostate church joins hands with a new world faith for a new world order, you can understand how very unpopular those who are Bible believing and walking with God, how very unpopular they are going to be. It will all seem to be so with it, so modern, so futuristic, so good, so sensible, so absolutely intelligent. [00:42:04] It will have all the facade of peace and prosperity and equality. But it will be Satan's last attempt. And my dear friends, he will fail. [00:42:20] What a wonderful little word there is in Thessalonians the second letter and chapter two. When he says that the Lord will slay him with the breath of his mouth, doesnt even have to use a bazooka, doesnt have to use some rocket. [00:42:44] All he will do is and he will be God. [00:42:51] My dear friends, I say it is wonderful when I think of psalm two. It is a prophetic psalm. Why do the nations rage in the people's imaginary things? The kings of the earth set themselves together against God and against his christ, saying, let us break their bonds asunder. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh, he will have them in derision. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. [00:43:30] So here is little Israel, still in the sins. [00:43:36] Little Israel, blind, disobedient, hardened in part. [00:43:45] Here she is still in some extraordinary way part of gods purpose. You have come to Zion. Isnt it wonderful? You have spiritually come to Zion. You may not have a drop of jewish blood in you, but youve come to Zion. It says so in Hebrews twelve. [00:44:04] And now the most wonderful thing is here is a physical Zion on this earth in her fallen state, blind, and yet somehow she's related to the spiritual. [00:44:16] In the end, God has set his king upon his holy hill of Zion. [00:44:22] Oh, dear folks, all who contend with God will be broken. I had the deepest pain in my heart about the United States at this present time. She is on a collision course with God's word, with God's purpose, and with God's messiah. And she doesn't know it. She believes, like Britain once did, that she is doing the honest thing. She is being impartial. She is seeking to bring peace and doesn't even know that she's meddling with the destiny of Jerusalem, that she is coming into a head on collision with the purpose of God. But it doesnt matter who it is or what it is. Whether it is the Kremlin, the Kremlins gone, whether it was the Ottoman Empire, the ottoman empires garden, whether it was the british empire, the british empires garden, whether it would be Islam, she will go. But even something that in many ways has been so used of God, like the United States, mark my words, she will fall and her fall will be terrible unless God's people get on their knees and pray that God will have mercy upon that nation to whom we owe so much for gospel work and much else in this world. My dear friends, the fourth thing I want to say about Israel as the banner of God to the world is very simply, the messiah will come and he will come to Jerusalem. [00:46:06] Now, isnt that a very simple thing to see? You all know it. But the fact of the matter is, why in the world does he come to Jerusalem? So the messiah is coming, isnt the messiah someone promised to the jewish people? Yes, that is absolutely right. [00:46:26] Why does he come to Jerusalem? There are not that many christians in Jerusalem. [00:46:33] Surely he should pick somewhere on the earth, some capital city where there are a lot of christians, but he doesnt. Hes coming back to Jerusalem. Those nail pierced feet are going to stand upon the dust of the Mount of Olive and they are going to walk into this old city of Jerusalem. My dear friends, what an amazing thing this is. Jesus is coming. [00:47:02] Jesus is coming and he is coming first to Jerusalem. I don't know if he's going to visit London or Paris or Washington or Moscow or all the other cities later. I have no idea. But this I know from the word of God that first he will come to Jerusalem. He's coming as king, he's coming as judge, he's coming as arbitrator, he's coming as vindicator, he's coming as repairer, he's coming as restorer. Oh, what a day that will be what a day that will be when these poor old eyes of mine, and your eyes too, see literally the Lord Jesus. Won't that be wonderful? Now you say, well, you see, you probably say to me, well, it's all very well, people, you live in Jerusalem. It's very nice for you. You're going to see him firsthand. No, no, no. You've forgotten the word of God. We shall be caught up. Oh, so we're all going to be there together. Isn't that wonderful? And even those who are dead are going to be raised. [00:48:18] We're not going to precede them. [00:48:20] They're going to be first. And we will be caught up together with them to be forever with the Lord. Isn't it marvelous? I think it's wonderful. Now this is what it's all about. Let me come back to this. This is where Israel is, a banner to the world. Because God is saying, don't you touch Jerusalem. It is the, it's one of the central themes of my purpose. I, my messiah is coming back to Jerusalem. That city is going to be the center of world government of the right kind, the government of the Messiah and the government of those who know him and who are born of his spirit. Well, dear friends, can you see how much time we could take on this subject? I mean, every one of these points I made could have been a conference in itself, couldn't it really? I mean, we could have had a marvelous time just each day taking one of these things and expanding it and talking about it instead of trying to compress it all into one single time. But I had to go on. You see, if Israel is a banner to the world, and she is, every nation will be judged over its attitude to Israel. [00:49:36] Very easy to judge Israel, but every nation will be judged. And that nation that will not serve gods purpose concerning her will perish. [00:49:47] Thats what it says in Isaiah, chapter 60. [00:49:53] My dear friends, Israel is also gods banner to the church. [00:49:59] Now what do we mean by that? Well, first, here is the standard, here is the banner. The king is coming. [00:50:10] Do you hear that? [00:50:12] For the church. Everyone who is a member of the body of the Lord Jesus, everyone who is born of the spirit of God, everyone who is indwelt by the living risen Christ, who has been saved through his finished work, the king is coming. [00:50:31] Now, there is something very strange with a believer whose heart doesnt leap at the thought that the king is coming. [00:50:40] If we are really born of God, the spirit of the Lord leaps within us at the very thought that the king is coming. Jesus of course. He's king of kings and lord of lords. He's ruler of the kings of the earth, he is head of the church, he is the heavenly bridegroom, but he is also king of the Jews. [00:51:05] He has never abdicated so little. Israel. [00:51:15] God said to those who were his disciples, learn the parable of the fig tree. [00:51:27] When her branches become tender and she puts forth leaves, you know of yourselves that summer is nigh. Even so, when you see these things beginning to come to pass, know ye that he is nigh, even at the door, not at the outskirts of the city, not at the end of the road, but in the threshold already so near. [00:52:00] So, my dear friends, here is the first thing that I believe. Israel is abandoned to the church. How else do we know that the king is coming? Oh, people say, well, there's wars and rumours of. Wars have always been wars and rumors of war. [00:52:13] You say, well, there's earthquakes, but there have always been earthquakes. Well, you say the famines, there's always been famines. [00:52:20] Well, you say, well, what about plague, diseases? Yes, there've always been plague diseases. You look at history all, you say, no, of course not. They're going to be worldwide. Yes, we know it worldwide. But how did poor believers in previous generations ever know that something worse was coming? If I had lived through the black Death that took 87% of the population of the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and Britain and continental Europe into death, into eternity, I would have thought the Lord must be coming, especially with the famine that followed it and the wars that were fought at the same time. Believe it or believe it not, wouldnt you have thought the Lord was coming? [00:52:58] And there are many other such instances we can give. But my dear friends, Jesus said, learn the parable of the fig tree, and the fig tree, I will not go into it. But the fig tree is a symbol of Israel, of the jewish people. And what he was saying was, this fig tree, which is judged will die from the roots, it will disappear from its soil and it will seem as if it was never there in the soil. Do not make a mistake before I return. She will be back in the very same soil that she was originally in, not as a fossilized antique, but as a living tree with SAP rising through her trunk and into her branches, with leaves coming out and all the promise of food. Now, when you see that happen, then you will know he is naive and at the doors. Well, has it happened? Of course it's happened. We are the only generation in the last 1970 years that have seen a sovereign jewish state emerge and be preserved in six wars in 44 years. [00:54:13] Everything has combined to destroy her, both before her recreation and since her its recreation. But it has failed. And Jerusalem, Jesus said, as I've already quoted, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the non Jews or the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. It has happened in 7 June 1967. So now we have a twofold fulfillment. The recreation of the state on the 14 May 1948 and the reunification of Jerusalem on the 7 June 1967. [00:54:51] Have we had wars? We have had world wars. Two world wars. Have we had rumours of war? Rumors of war? I have lived my whole life in rumors of war. [00:55:04] We have all been part of a huge arms scramble to try and somehow or other keep the free world a free world. Do what we know. I don't need to say any more to do. I. [00:55:20] My dear friends, that phase is now over. [00:55:24] Scraps and little wars there will be. But we are on the brink of a world government and the world police force and the world leader. [00:55:33] And you mark my words, it will suddenly emerge. Now, my dear friends, what does all this mean? It means the king is coming. So don't get your eye fixed on the troubles and the problems and the persecution and the Antichrist and 666 and all that. I mean, get your eyes fixed on the king. [00:55:57] He's your king. [00:55:59] He's not only the king of the Jews, he's your king as well. [00:56:07] And then heres the second thing that Israel is a banner to the church. Its a marvellous banner too. The marriage of the bride to the heavenly bridegroom will arrive very soon. Oh, isnt that wonderful? It says in revelation 19 six, hallelujah. The Lord, o God almighty, reigns. Let us rejoice, and be glad, and be exceeding glad, for the marriage supper of the lamb is come, and the bride hath made herself ready. And just before that there's all this smoke going up and all there's been destruction everywhere. And I don't know what else. [00:56:50] Doesn't seem to worry those in heaven. [00:56:54] They just having a hallelujah time. Hallelujah. They say the Lord God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad. Why? For the marriage supper of the lamb has come. Have you ever realized that youre only engaged, not married? [00:57:17] Most christians seem to think theyve already got the Lord, and thats why they can be familiar with him, treat him almost at times with contempt. [00:57:28] My dear friends, we are married to the Lord in the oriental manner, which means it is a very binding engagement, not like the western type engagement that can be broken. [00:57:42] But we have not yet actually been married. [00:57:49] Now, I always say to myself, I dont know about you, but this is how I would. This is how I think. I think. Well, when I was saved, I walked on air. It was as if the glory of God touched the earth as far as I was concerned. I could not believe it. Of course, shortly afterwards, problems began to arise again and I became, of all people, the most miserable when I found that some of the things I believed didn't apparently work. And then the Lord touched me and the Holy Spirit came into me and upon me in the most marvelous way. And it was as if heaven touched earth. And I walked on air until I realized, as Bob Mumford says, I thought that I'd been crucified with Christ and that I was now dead. And I found that I had not died, I'd only fainted. [00:58:36] But then when I. When the Lord revealed to me, when the Lord revealed to me that when Christ was crucified, I was crucified and that I could live that kind of life which was to lose my self life for his sake and the gospels, and thus find it unto life eternal, my friends, it was as if heaven touched earth. And I remember the time when I first saw what the church was. Oh, it blew my mind. I walked in a daze for a whole week. I couldn't explain to anybody what had happened, except the Lord had revealed to me what the church was. And it was the most amazing thing from that moment on was I was done with all this institutional, traditional, crystallized business that people call churches. [00:59:29] I knew what the church was. It was the body of the messiah. It was a living organism. It was being in union with him. Oh, it blew my mind. I can't explain it. I can't explain it. When I first saw what Israel was and the purpose of God, it blew my mind again because I had no time for Israel. I only thought the church was Israel, naturally. How can you think any other when the Lord gives you such a revelation, expels everything else. [01:00:01] But then when he showed me how Israel was related to the church and how in the end the two things will come together, then it blew my mind. My dear friend, I have to keep on saying, joseph Lance, you're not married. You're only engaged. [01:00:16] From glory to glory. That's all I can describe it as, from glory to glory. I can't. And then I think, well, what is it going to be like when we're married? [01:00:27] Can you imagine it? [01:00:29] We'll all have to take tranquilizers or something. Spiritually, I mean. I mean, how are we going to put up with it? Itll be so amazing. As Dennis Clark always used to say, may the Lord bless you as much as you can take. [01:00:44] If he gave us all his blessing at once, wed be in a mental home, wouldnt we? [01:00:52] Some of us cant do anything practical already. Can you imagine what it would be like if he gave us revelation after revelation after revelation? [01:01:01] Too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use, as they used to say. Well, now, my dear friends, come back to this. Do you really believe the Lord is looking for a bride? That is a Hollywood beauty. [01:01:13] She's one of these gorgeous things, outwardly and inwardly, not a thing between ear and ear. [01:01:22] But that's how some christians put over this whole thing. Oh, the Lord doesn't want you to think. He doesn't want you to use your will for him or your mind for him or anything else for him, because all he wants you to be is just a channel that's all empty headed. He just wants you to sit there and look beautiful. And everyone says, oh, isn't she beautiful now? Of course, it is true. Every now and again we meet someone like that and when she opens her mouth we suddenly realize there's something missing. [01:02:02] Do you really think that the Lord is looking for a bride like that, that he has to say now shut up. Not a word. [01:02:10] You just sit there on the throne and look pretty. [01:02:14] You put that crown on and you look lovely and let everyone admire you. Don't you say a word or try to do a thing because you're as empty headed as they come. You're imbecilic. [01:02:27] Nevertheless, I've saved you. You're a trophy of my grace. [01:02:31] My dear friends, why do you think the Bible talks about going on with the Lord, reaching out for what is before pressing on toward the goal, to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Why does it warn us that there's such a lock to lose? Not our salvation, but how much there is to lose if we don't go on? We have to grow up. You cannot marry a baby. [01:02:55] You cannot marry a little child. [01:02:58] You can't even really marry an adolescent. There has to be a certain minimal maturity before there is a genuine marriage, and that's the Lord's problem. [01:03:11] And if only the church would wake up to Israel as the banner of God to her, they would see what God is doing with Israel means the time is short. And if you and I want to be in the marriage supper of the lamb, if we want to be with the Lord as his bride, then we need to put things right in our lives. We need to let him do the work in us that he longs to do, and which often we won't let him do. [01:03:46] My dear friends, this true church of God began with the Jews, and it will end with the Jews if I understand my Bible right in Romans eleven, in those amazing revelation that the apostle Paul communicated to us by the spirit of God, he says that the root bears you gentiles saved by the grace of God, your wild olive branches grafted by God given living faith into the good olive tree. But he says, don't forget, there will come a day when the natural branches will be grafted into their own olive tree. [01:04:37] How near we are to that day, how much we should pray for it, how much we should allow the spirit of God to conceive travail in us for this to be fulfilled. If anyone has a problem on this thing, I can only turn you to Hebrews chapter eleven. And going right back to the beginning, the apostle, whoever is the writer to the Hebrews, goes right the way to all those who by faith in this great train. And then he ends up with these marvelous words, which I've no doubt most of you must, if not all of you, have noted in Hebrews, chapter eleven, verse 39. And these all having had witness, born to them through their faith, received not the promise. God having provided some better thing concerning earth, that apart from us, they should not be made perfect. Did you get it? [01:05:42] That means were all of one. [01:05:45] Isnt it amazing? That means that all those great saints that are mentioned here are many that are not mentioned, but are still in the great line of faith, succession of faith and salvation. You and I are part of it. Thats why he goes on. Therefore, let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight in the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. [01:06:20] So, my dear friends, you understand what I mean about having a problem with such a subject as this. Isn't it amazing to think that here you are in 1992, and by the grace of God, he's put you into this tremendous movement of his spirit that goes right back to Abraham, the father of all who believe. [01:06:46] So you, many of you, are wild olive branches, by God given faith, grafted into the good olive tree. But there are all the natural branches, thank God, many of them are being grafted back into the tree today and many more to come. So dear friends, think of it like this. Let me move on quickly. God is absolutely faithful to his word and his purpose. He keeps the covenants he makes, he has kept them with the seed of Abraham, and he will keep the covenant he has made with you. [01:07:26] It is a wonderful thing to think that God's covenant purpose for you is to make you like the Lord Jesus. [01:07:37] Now if you know yourself, you must understand it is an impossibility. [01:07:44] I know myself and I think every day how in the world is he going to make me like the Lord Jesus? I am so different to the Lord Jesus. [01:07:54] Well, I wont go into it, but I know how different I am to the Lord Jesus. And yet the purpose of God is to conform me to the same likeness. [01:08:05] You know the Lord is absolutely faithful to his covenant. He has saved you with an uttermost salvation. [01:08:14] He has given to you grace which abound. [01:08:20] He has given to you power which is unbelievable. [01:08:30] Dear friends, you can never blame the fact that you will not come to God's end on God, nor can you blame your family or your friends or your ministers or whoever else, or PFi or something else. [01:08:53] Just let me tell you, there's only one person who is responsible if you don't come to the end that God has in mind for you and that is you. [01:09:05] For all the grace is available to you and all the power that's available to you if you and I would only take it. Well, you see, our time has gone. [01:09:17] But I have to tell you too that an apostasy is coming and apostasy is apostasy. [01:09:27] Don't try to think of it as some form of escapism, that we're all going to be taken. I believe in a rapture, but I do not believe in a rapture which is a form of escapism. [01:09:38] You and I have to face the issues or in the presence of the Lord we will face those issues. [01:09:46] Better to face those issues with the Lord now than have to face them and hear his question as to why we would not allow him to do in us what he wanted to do. Dear friends, I fear very greatly for the church in Britain as I fear for the church in the United States and Canada and much else of the world. And I am not just talking about the institutional and the denominational and the the systematized. I'm talking about that which we call the evangelical or charismatic, that which is alive, that which is Bible believing. My dear friends, I feel sick at times I have been in meetings where the Bible is not even open, where we have basically soliloquies messages without a simple exposition of a single word in the scripture, even sometimes in our worship. Thank God for this worship team and their sensitivity to the spirit of God. But ive been in places where its just so crass, thats the only word for it. And where what we sing is so superficial. [01:11:18] I understand the Lord when he said, I will vomit you out of my mouth and he will use persecution to do it. When the tide turns, you and I need to face one simple thing. [01:11:42] You can only be safe if you obey the Lord. [01:11:47] But if you obey the Lord, all the power of gods election and all the power of gods holy spirit is behind you. [01:12:02] You will not fail. [01:12:04] As surely as an old salmon gets back to the very pool in which it was born and spawned, as surely as a swift and a swallow flies over ten, 15,000 miles back to the very spot where it was born. So you will reach the throne of God. [01:12:27] You have within you a homing instinct in the Holy Spirit, a homing life. [01:12:34] It's stronger than anything else. [01:12:39] So, my dear friends, that's really the burden of what I wanted to say this evening. [01:12:49] The paramount need, if you understand Israel as gods banner to the church, is to be ready. [01:12:57] Dont think that by just loving Israel or having a knowledge of Israel truth that makes you ready. [01:13:06] Readiness is a question of spiritual character. [01:13:12] Spiritual character doesnt fall on you overnight. [01:13:17] It has to be developed by deep experiences, costly experiences, and obedience to the Lord. [01:13:28] Thats why we need to wake up, and thats why we need to let the Holy Spirit begin to do a real work in every one of our lives. Then, in the days that lie ahead, there will be nothing to be ashamed of. Whatever lies ahead, we can trust the Lord for it. He has not saved you to leave you in the end. He hasnt gone to all this trouble to be born in Bethlehem and to live for 33 years on this earth and to die on the cross, that you might somehow or other be deceived, deluded in the final phase of world history. No, my dear friends, he is going to save you to the uttermost. [01:14:25] But he needs your cooperation and your obedience. May the Lord help us. My dear folks, there's nothing more thrilling than what God is doing in the world today. [01:14:39] What he is doing with Israel is so exciting. And whatever may lie immediately ahead of us, we do know one thing. God is going to bring her through. [01:14:51] And in the same manner in which he will bring through a people even at present unsaved. How much more will he bring? Through those who are saved by his grace and born of his spirit. May we offer ourselves afresh to him, our whole body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him. [01:15:17] May the Lord do it for us all. Thank you.