- 7 months ago
Wayne Hilsden of FIRM and King of Kings in Jerusalem explains how missionaries from the Ukraine were able to obtain visas with the purpose of evangelizing Jews in Israel.
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00:00Well, Pastor Brian, you said we could come here, it's home, and it is, you don't even
00:04have to say anything.
00:06So now that the sermon's already been preached by my wife, I don't have to say anything.
00:12And I told Pastor Brian, I said, you know, we come back so often, people are just going
00:16to get sick of us.
00:17I mean, we're going to wear out our welcome.
00:19Well, thank you.
00:21We do feel at home.
00:23You know, I feel the most unprepared to preach maybe than ever in my life this morning, to
00:28be honest.
00:29I'm just going to say I've been sick the last few days, and my head is kind of thick.
00:34You know how that is.
00:36And I prepared some stuff, but who knows what's going to come out of my mouth.
00:39I mean, it could be really scary.
00:42I'm usually really well prepared, but I'm just going to let the Holy Spirit do His work.
00:48And even if I don't make any sense, the Holy Spirit will translate what I say into something
00:57that makes sense and will be life-transforming to you.
01:01You know, on the day of Pentecost, that's what happened.
01:03I mean, the Holy Spirit came like a rushing wind.
01:05There was fire on every head.
01:07They spoke in other languages.
01:09And they, you know, they started speaking, and Peter started preaching.
01:12And they were speaking into these other languages, and they didn't even know it.
01:17But the Holy Spirit interpreted those words into the languages of the people that came
01:24up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost.
01:26So God could do that this morning.
01:28Amen?
01:28And I'll try to keep it short.
01:31Let me just, a number of you, I think, are new to the congregation.
01:35Praise God.
01:36People are coming back to church.
01:38And in fact, you know what?
01:41I'm seeing that all over the place.
01:44It's amazing how God is bringing people back.
01:47People were saying before, you know, we're getting 40%, 50% of people coming back after
01:52COVID.
01:52I'm seeing a lot of churches right now where they're getting 120% and 150%.
01:58People are desperate to get the answers that they need in this complex and weirdo world we
02:05live in today.
02:07I mean, has anybody ever noticed that the world is just really strange at the moment?
02:12Could it be that we are in the days of Noah?
02:16Could it be that we are in the days that Jesus talked about that would portend his return?
02:23These would be the kinds of things that would be happening.
02:25And I just believe we're in the last of the last days.
02:32And because there's so much confusion, people are saying, I need help.
02:39I don't understand what's going on.
02:41And they're starting to look up.
02:43And if we look up, that's where our redemption draws nigh.
02:47Jesus is our hope.
02:49Jesus is the answer.
02:50Praise God.
02:51Let me pray.
02:52Father, just help me today to share what's on your heart and what's on your heart.
02:55Help me, Lord, to get out of your way.
02:59And please use me as a vessel to pour out what you have.
03:04By your spirit, I pray in Jesus' name.
03:06Amen.
03:07Let me just give you some updates on some exciting things.
03:10We introduced you to the Bantseve family.
03:13How many of you remember Elia and Janet?
03:15They came to visit you.
03:16They were pastoring in Siberia for 29 years, planting churches.
03:22Elia was the chairman of Teen Challenge for the entire former Soviet Union.
03:28And when Putin did his thing in Ukraine, they were looked at as potentially spies.
03:35And they were needing to get out of Russia.
03:40And for years, they were praying, Lord, if you ever take us out of Russia, where would you take us?
03:45And the Lord said, to Israel.
03:47They had 24 hours to pack and leave Russia and come to Israel.
03:53And miraculously, as they came to join our team in Jerusalem, we were able to get them clergy visas.
04:01And now their two daughters have their visas to be able to be in Israel.
04:06One of them studying at the Hebrew University on nonprofit administration.
04:12It's really cool what's happening with her, Joanna.
04:14Joanna, she is working through the university, and she needs a project.
04:19And she said, well, I'd like to do a project of helping the Ukrainian Jews who have fled Ukraine recently and need help.
04:26And then the city of Modin, where they're planting a new church, cooperated with the university.
04:32And Joanna now has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all of these Ukrainians that need help.
04:38And she's now gathering up all of these very practical needs and dispersing these practical things, clothing and food and other supplies, and being able to be a witness in that way.
04:51It's tremendous what's happening in this strategic city of Modin.
04:54Modin is a master-planned city.
04:58It began about 40 years ago.
05:00It was master-planned to become a city of 250,000 people.
05:04Now there's about 120,000 people.
05:06It's not even quite halfway to its potential.
05:09And it's only a 10 to 15-minute drive to our international airport.
05:13It is in a strategic location.
05:16And there was not a full-fledged congregation.
05:19There was a smaller home group, but not a full-fledged congregation.
05:22Well, the Bansives are doing it, and they're already seeing tremendous fruit.
05:27They're reaching out to their neighbors.
05:28They're reaching out to storekeepers that they meet, inviting them to their home to sit at their table, just as Anne shared.
05:34And it's through table fellowship that these people are being impacted with the good news.
05:40Praise God.
05:41And so we thank you for your support for that family.
05:44God has done great and wonderful things, and we're just on the verge of something powerful that's going to happen.
05:50It was not an accident that God called them out of Russia to bring them to Israel, to reach out to Russian-speaking Jews in the nation of Israel, which is over a million and a half people who speak Russian.
06:02And they are equipped to reach out in a powerful way.
06:05So praise God.
06:06Let me remind you why we went to Israel.
06:08So we went there in 1983 at the invitation of Jim and Kathy Canelon, and we've been there ever since.
06:16So this August 23rd will be our 40th year of service in Israel, and we give God the glory to keep us there, and we plan to keep on going.
06:27And we're from these parts, at least I am.
06:33I was born in Port Hope, and my dad pastored in Oshawa.
06:38Our last position or station in ministry before we went to Israel was in Peterborough.
06:45I was a professor at Master's College at the time.
06:49And we went there not knowing what we were going to do, didn't speak the language, didn't have a cultural background.
06:57In fact, when we got our call to Israel, we had never been to Israel in our lives before.
07:01I taught New Testament Greek, but I had never even studied Hebrew.
07:05But we got there, and the Lord has planted us there.
07:08We're now permanent residents.
07:10Israel is very much our home, apart from Selwyn Outreach Center, but it's home.
07:16And four of our grandchildren are there.
07:20They tend to help you stay somewhere.
07:23And we've got another grandkid on the way in Jerusalem as well.
07:26We have a son in Tel Aviv.
07:28We have a son in Halifax, and we have a son in Atlanta.
07:31And God has been so good to us.
07:33Why did we go to Israel?
07:34We didn't even know, to be honest.
07:36Has God ever called you to do something and you didn't even understand why?
07:40Okay?
07:40It took us about two or three years to get a clarity on why we went.
07:44And this is the three things that God gave us.
07:47Number one, to plant congregations.
07:49This is what I believe about congregations.
07:52We, as a congregation, including Selwyn Outreach Center, are to be a microcosm of the kingdom.
07:59You know what a microcosm is?
08:01It's a little example of a bigger global thing that should be happening.
08:09You know that the gospel of the kingdom is to be preached in all the world,
08:12and then the end will come.
08:14So we're to be a microcosm of the kingdom.
08:17The way we speak to one another, the way we fellowship with one another,
08:23the way that we teach one another, the way that we sit around our tables together,
08:27it's all to be an example or a model to the rest of the world who have not yet come into the kingdom
08:33to know what the kingdom looks like.
08:35And it's to be attractive to the people that see how the kingdom at a microcosm level operates.
08:44You know, we see in the book of Acts after the day of Pentecost,
08:47and Peter is preaching, 3,000 souls come into the kingdom.
08:51You remember that?
08:52And what's the very next thing you read?
08:54It says in verse 42 to 47 that they gathered together,
08:59and they were diligent in studying the apostles' doctrine, right?
09:04In prayer and fellowship, breaking bread in their homes, right?
09:10And worshiping, it says.
09:12And then it says at the very end,
09:14and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
09:19It was an attractional community.
09:21People were, they were a magnet to the wider unbelieving community
09:26because they saw the kingdom of God at work on a small scale.
09:30I believe we need to have congregations everywhere.
09:33They might be small, but they can be great in number,
09:37and people will be drawn into the kingdom because it's a magnet.
09:41It's a magnet.
09:42That's the way it should be.
09:44So one of the jobs that we were to do is to plant congregations,
09:47and the Lord has helped us to plant several.
09:48And now we have a network of congregations all over Israel
09:52under the banner of King of Kings.
09:55King of Kings is the name of the first congregation we planted
09:58right in the heart of Jerusalem.
09:59The Lord did a miraculous thing,
10:02gave us an incredible facility in a shopping center
10:05on the main street of downtown Jerusalem
10:07where the light rail transit stop is right outside our door.
10:11And the fast train from Tel Aviv, which was built in recent years,
10:17there's going to be a new station right outside our doors as well
10:20for the fast train.
10:22It was a slum when we went there.
10:25And the movie theater that we bought that seated 800 people
10:28was collecting dust for 11 years.
10:30It wasn't used.
10:31You don't have theaters anymore with 800 seats to watch a movie.
10:36You have cineplexes.
10:36They couldn't make it.
10:37But the Lord prepared this, shall we say, monument to Hollywood
10:44into a pavilion of praise.
10:47Hallelujah.
10:48And so we have this strategic location,
10:51this beautiful auditorium and performing arts center
10:54that we rent out to the wider Jerusalem community,
10:56but it's our sanctuary.
10:57And the Lord led us to buy all kinds of property
11:00in that same building.
11:02We bought out two sex shops,
11:04turned one into our Anchor of Hope family counseling center
11:07where we teach courses on how to get over porn addiction.
11:11And another one of them that we've turned into a ministry office
11:13and it's been incredible.
11:15And then we bought the top floor of this 21-story building.
11:19And we used to call it the Jerusalem Prayer Tower.
11:21Now we call it the Summit Prayer Tower.
11:24And Anne was, during COVID, Anne was the director of this prayer center.
11:29We see almost the entire city of Jerusalem from that perch,
11:33including Amman, Jordan, we see in the distance on a clear day.
11:37We see the old city of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives.
11:40We see on the other side the Knesset,
11:43which is the Israeli parliament and the Supreme Court
11:46and these strategic places.
11:48And then right below our windows is the most ultra-Orthodox neighborhood
11:54in the entire world called Mea Shari
11:56and where everyone's dressed in black and black hats, side curls.
12:01I think you have the image in your mind.
12:03They're all below.
12:04You know what Jesus said to them,
12:06at least their ancestors,
12:11the Pharisees and the scribes,
12:13the religious leaders of Jerusalem?
12:15Well, we read this in Matthew chapter 23, verse 39.
12:20It says,
12:21Jesus is saying to them,
12:22the religious leaders in Jerusalem,
12:24same place where we're serving,
12:26he said,
12:27you will not see me again
12:29until you say,
12:31blessed is he who comes
12:33in the name of the Lord.
12:36That very phrase,
12:38blessed is he who comes,
12:39we say almost every day
12:41when we have someone come to our home,
12:42to our door.
12:43baruch haba.
12:46It means,
12:47welcome.
12:49Jesus is saying
12:50to those religious leaders in Jerusalem,
12:53like the ones that we see outside our window
12:55from our prayer tower,
12:56you will not see me again
12:59until you welcome me
13:00to Jerusalem.
13:02Jesus is not going to return
13:05and establish his kingdom
13:07from Jerusalem
13:08over all the world
13:09until Jewish people
13:11or at least the religious leaders,
13:13the spiritual leaders of the nation
13:14will actually have their eyes open
13:17and invite him to come.
13:20That's the timing of these things.
13:22Now, there is such a thing as the rapture.
13:25Jesus could rapture us up
13:28right now, this morning,
13:29and I won't even finish the sermon.
13:31Wouldn't that be good?
13:33He could do that right now.
13:35But his coming and staying on the earth,
13:40his second coming will happen
13:42when the Jewish people receive him.
13:44So what does that tell you?
13:46Jesus is not coming
13:47until we see a revival,
13:50until we see a harvest
13:52among the Jewish people,
13:53at least in Jerusalem,
13:55and I believe it's going to be
13:56all over the world.
13:57In fact, if I get to my sermon,
13:59I'm going to read you
14:00a portion from that.
14:02So I got off a little bit
14:03on a tangent,
14:05but you know what?
14:06I'm allowed to do that
14:06here at Selwyn.
14:09And the second thing is,
14:10Planet Congregators,
14:11the second thing is
14:12training people for ministry.
14:14And the third thing
14:15is being a catalyst
14:16for unity among the body.
14:19I'm going to point out
14:20the last thing right now
14:21because it's something
14:23that's been a big focus of ours
14:25over the last eight years.
14:27Since I handed off
14:28the senior pastorate
14:29to a younger guy
14:30at King of Kings,
14:31we established
14:32what's called FIRM,
14:34which is an acronym
14:35for Fellowship of Israel-Related Ministries.
14:39And we've gathered
14:3967 Israel-based ministries together
14:43to create synergy,
14:45to work better together,
14:47to be more effective,
14:49get beyond over-duplication
14:52of efforts and start
14:53to do it together
14:54and receive more effectiveness
14:56in what we do.
14:57And it's amazing
14:58how that's working now,
15:00eight years later.
15:01And we're telling that story
15:02all over the world.
15:03We're telling the world
15:04about those particular
15:05individual ministries.
15:07If you go to our website,
15:08FIRMISRAEL.ORG,
15:09you'll see a bio
15:11of all of those ministries
15:12and you can look
15:13and see what they do in Israel.
15:14And if the Lord touches your heart,
15:16you might want to give
15:16to one of those ministries.
15:18And 100% of all the money
15:19that comes goes to those ministries
15:21without taking an administration fee.
15:23We've got some amazing people
15:25who so believe in the vision
15:28and they don't,
15:29they just say,
15:30hey, we want to help you
15:31pay the electric bill
15:33to rent your space,
15:35to pay for salaries,
15:36do operations,
15:37so that when people give,
15:39100% can go
15:40to those individual ministries.
15:42And that's working amazing.
15:44It would blow your mind
15:46to see the kind of growth
15:47that we're seeing
15:47in support for the work
15:49of God in Israel.
15:50It must be that God
15:50wants to do something great
15:52to supply the way
15:54he is supplying today.
15:55So the other thing I said
15:56was training people for ministry.
15:58And this is what I want
15:59to focus on today
16:00because it's very much
16:03on my heart
16:04and on Anne's heart as well.
16:06And that is to raise up
16:07the next generation,
16:10laborers in the harvest.
16:12Pray to the Lord of the harvest
16:14to send laborers
16:15into the harvest field.
16:17And we believe that the,
16:19don't say four more months
16:20until the harvest,
16:21we believe that it's white
16:22for harvest today.
16:25And so we have established
16:27something called I Am,
16:29Israel Academy of Ministry.
16:32I Am, Israel Academy of Ministry.
16:35And this is a,
16:35we started a Bible college
16:37in 1990.
16:38It's the National Bible
16:38College of Israel.
16:40It goes all the way
16:40to the doctoral level.
16:41And the degrees
16:43are co-granted
16:44by that college
16:45we planted
16:46and Dallas Theological Seminary.
16:48I mean, this is good stuff,
16:49but it's very academic.
16:52And the crediting associations
16:53demand that it be
16:55very academic
16:56and only have very few courses
16:58that are practical.
17:00We're doing the practical stuff.
17:02Let the college teach
17:04those very important things
17:05like systematic theology
17:07and Old Testament survey
17:09and New Testament survey
17:11and soteriology
17:12and pneumatology.
17:14Well, actually,
17:14they don't teach pneumatology.
17:16But anyway,
17:16that's the study
17:17of the Holy Spirit.
17:19But we're training
17:21in the practical areas.
17:23How to plan a congregation.
17:25How to put a worship team together.
17:27How to get a network
17:28of home groups
17:29to be points of light
17:30all over your city.
17:32How to get a decent
17:33sound system together.
17:34So people will actually
17:37come back to the next week.
17:39We were just at a conference.
17:41I could tell you
17:41we couldn't take the worship.
17:43It was,
17:44the musicians were great,
17:45but the sound was so bad.
17:47It just,
17:48some of our friends
17:49who were with us
17:49had to walk out
17:50and come back
17:51when the preaching started.
17:53Anyway,
17:53that's practical,
17:54isn't it?
17:54Right?
17:55And anyway,
17:57I could give you a list
17:58of a hundred courses
18:00that are very practical
18:01that will help people
18:02plant new congregations
18:03to be microcosms
18:05of the kingdom
18:05to reach the nation
18:07of Israel and beyond.
18:09I'm so excited about that
18:10and I presented that need
18:12to somebody in America
18:15who got so excited.
18:18I won't go into detail,
18:19but he said,
18:20Wayne,
18:20I'm on board
18:21with this big time.
18:23And it is big time.
18:25It's exciting.
18:26We still need more help,
18:27but man,
18:28this is what a launch,
18:29this is going to be
18:30or a relaunch,
18:31shall I say,
18:31of I am.
18:33We're offering a course
18:35this week,
18:35or next week.
18:37Now you talk about practical,
18:38relevant.
18:40It's a course on
18:42gender confusion.
18:47Is that relevant today?
18:49I'll tell you,
18:50all over the world,
18:51including Israel,
18:52we're dealing with
18:53that very complicated issue.
18:56Somebody's got to talk
18:56about this stuff
18:57and find a way
18:59of redemption
19:01in this situation.
19:03Jesus did not come
19:04to condemn the world,
19:06but to save the world.
19:08But,
19:09he told the woman
19:13caught in adultery
19:14and he said to the religious leaders,
19:18you cast the first stone
19:19if you're innocent.
19:20You think you're any better
19:21than her?
19:22But then he did say,
19:24don't do this anymore.
19:26Didn't he say that?
19:28So it's love,
19:29it's grace,
19:30it's mercy,
19:30but don't do this anymore.
19:33And I'm going to help you.
19:35Jesus helps us.
19:36The Holy Spirit helps us
19:37to deal even with
19:38these very difficult,
19:40complicated issues.
19:42Okay,
19:43I'm going to just give you
19:44a few scriptures
19:44that I'm really excited about.
19:46I felt like the Lord
19:47told me to share it with you.
19:48I just don't have it
19:49well prepared, okay?
19:51Zechariah chapter 8.
19:52Would you turn there
19:53in your Bibles?
19:55Zechariah 8.
19:57May need to drink some water
19:58along the way here.
20:08Okay,
20:08we're going to begin reading
20:09at verse 1.
20:14Okay?
20:16Most of this is just going to,
20:17you're going to hear
20:18the word of God
20:18because it's coming out
20:20of the Bible, okay?
20:21With me out of the way.
20:22And this is profound stuff.
20:25Zechariah is writing
20:26to exiles in Babylon,
20:29Jewish exiles.
20:30They got kicked out
20:31of the land of Israel.
20:33Nebuchadnezzar comes in,
20:34he destroys the city of Jerusalem,
20:35destroys the temple.
20:38Most of the Jewish people
20:39are exiled,
20:40some stay in Jerusalem.
20:42He's writing to them,
20:43but I am convinced
20:45after reading this
20:47and I think you'll be convinced
20:48that this was not fulfilled
20:50in the return of the exiles
20:52back to Jerusalem
20:53when only about 50,000
20:55of them came back.
20:57And they only came back
20:58from one area.
20:59You're going to see
21:00that they come back
21:01not just from the east,
21:02but they come back
21:02from the west.
21:04I believe this is a future,
21:06is a future fulfillment
21:07of this prophecy.
21:08But listen to it.
21:09Verse 1 of Zechariah chapter 8.
21:12Again, the word
21:15of the Lord of hosts
21:16came saying,
21:17thus says the Lord of hosts,
21:19I am zealous for Zion
21:21with great zeal.
21:24Now, God is zealous for Selwyn
21:27and I believe great zeal.
21:31But he's especially zealous
21:33for Zion or Jerusalem
21:36and the nation of Israel.
21:38Not to leave us in the dust,
21:40but there's something unique
21:42and special concerning
21:44the Jewish people.
21:46Verse 3 now.
21:47Thus says the Lord,
21:48I will return to Zion
21:50and dwell in the midst
21:52of Jerusalem.
21:55Okay, there's a verse
21:56in Romans chapter 11
21:58and verse 26 and 27.
21:59It says,
22:01get me started, Anne,
22:04and then the rest of the verses
22:05will come right to me.
22:06And all Israel shall be saved.
22:08The deliverer will come from where?
22:13Zion.
22:14He will take away ungodliness
22:16from Jacob,
22:17for this is my covenant with them
22:19when I take away their sins.
22:23What it says right here
22:24in this verse,
22:25I will return to Zion
22:26and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
22:29This is Jesus coming back
22:31from heaven.
22:32There's a great war, Armageddon.
22:37He comes back
22:38not as a quiet little cuddly lamb,
22:42but he comes as the Lion of Judah
22:45making war
22:46with the nations
22:47that come against his people
22:48whom he is zealous for.
22:50And he brings a great victory, right?
22:53That's the end times.
22:54Now, verse,
22:55second part of that verse.
22:57Jerusalem shall be called
22:58the city of truth,
23:00the mountain of the Lord of hosts,
23:02the holy mountain.
23:05Jesus is going to come back
23:07to a city
23:07that is teaching truth,
23:12preaching the gospel,
23:14which is the truth,
23:16and it's going to be
23:18a holy mountain.
23:19So the people aren't just
23:21talking about the truth,
23:22they're living the truth.
23:24They're living sanctified,
23:25separate lives,
23:26which is what holiness means, right?
23:28Okay, let's keep going.
23:30Verse four,
23:30thus says the Lord of hosts,
23:32old men and old women
23:33shall again sit
23:34in the streets of Jerusalem.
23:36That would be us.
23:37We sit in the streets of Jerusalem,
23:39old men and old women,
23:41each one with his staff in his hand.
23:44I haven't got that yet,
23:45but I'll find one.
23:46Because of great age,
23:49the streets of the city
23:51shall be full of boys and girls
23:52playing in its streets.
23:54I can just tell you,
23:55Jerusalem is alive.
23:57You come to our city,
23:59there are kids playing
24:00on the streets.
24:01They're playing on skateboards.
24:04They're playing on all kinds
24:06of different cool things,
24:08but they are playing.
24:10And there are lots
24:11of old people too.
24:12People have come from more
24:13than 100 countries
24:14from around the world
24:15and made Aliyah,
24:16that is they've immigrated
24:17to the land of Israel.
24:19Jerusalem is alive.
24:20It was dead 150 years ago.
24:23Nobody wanted to live in Jerusalem.
24:25It was a dust bowl.
24:27It wasn't a place
24:28you would go to
24:29and want to live.
24:31Today, people want to live there
24:33and unfortunately,
24:34the real estate prices
24:35are so high
24:36that it's hard to live there
24:37because everybody wants
24:38to live there,
24:39especially the religious people.
24:41Now we come to verse six.
24:43Thus says the Lord of hosts,
24:44if it is marvelous
24:45in the eyes of the remnant
24:46of this people in these days,
24:48will it also be marvelous
24:50in my eyes,
24:50says the Lord of hosts?
24:51Thus says the Lord of hosts,
24:53Behold, I will save my people
24:56from the land of the east
24:58and from the land of the west.
25:00I will bring them back
25:02and they shall dwell
25:03in the midst of Jerusalem.
25:05And this is the verse
25:06I was just telling you about.
25:08This was not fulfilled
25:09when the Jews came back
25:10from Babylon
25:11and rebuilt the temple
25:12and rebuilt Jerusalem
25:14way back.
25:16They didn't come from the west.
25:18What's west of Israel?
25:21The Mediterranean Sea,
25:25Peterborough, Ontario.
25:28That's the west.
25:30We are now seeing Jews
25:31come back to the land of Israel
25:32from all over the world.
25:34And there's other prophecies
25:35that talk about them
25:35coming from the north
25:36and from the south
25:38and they come from the east
25:39and the west.
25:40This is a future reality
25:42and we're beginning to see that.
25:43I mean,
25:44we're just about at the point
25:45where half of the Jewish people
25:48in the world
25:49now live in Israel.
25:51I mean,
25:52they are coming back.
25:53And we're seeing
25:53all these Ukrainian Jews
25:55coming now,
25:55especially because of the war.
25:57We used to bring ships
25:59of Jews
26:00back to the land of Israel.
26:01I was the vice chairman
26:02of a ministry
26:02called Ebenezer,
26:03now called Operation Exodus.
26:06Six times I was on a ship
26:07with us bringing Jews
26:10from Odessa, Ukraine
26:12to Haifa, Israel.
26:14Four day trip.
26:15Ann was on that ship
26:17and she'd teach them
26:19new Hebrew songs
26:20they didn't even know about
26:21even though they were Jewish.
26:24And we helped to bring
26:25over 150,000 Jews
26:26back to the land of Israel.
26:29Many of those by ship
26:30and now they're being brought
26:31by airplane.
26:33But it was great
26:33when the ship came
26:34because they could bring
26:35all their goods with them
26:36from the land
26:38that they came from.
26:38And now we come
26:40to verse nine.
26:42Sorry, verse eight.
26:43I will bring them back
26:44and they shall dwell
26:45in the midst of Jerusalem
26:46and they shall be my people
26:48and I will be their God
26:49in truth and righteousness.
26:51So something's going
26:52to happen in Jerusalem
26:53where there's
26:53the word of God
26:55is being lived out.
26:57There are going to be
26:58microcosms of the kingdom
27:00all over the city
27:00and all over the land of Israel
27:02where people are living
27:04the truth.
27:05Not just showing up
27:06at a service
27:07listening to the truth
27:08but they're going to
27:09actually apply
27:10what they hear.
27:13Is that something
27:14that we need to do too?
27:15What do you think?
27:16Okay.
27:17Verse nine.
27:17Thus says the Lord of hosts,
27:18let your hands be strong.
27:20You who have been
27:21hearing these days,
27:23in these days,
27:24the words by the mouth
27:25of the prophets
27:25who spoke in the day
27:26of the foundation
27:27was laid
27:28for the house
27:29of the Lord of hosts
27:29that the temple
27:30might be rebuilt.
27:32Verse 10.
27:32For before these days
27:33there were no wages
27:34for men
27:35nor hire a beast
27:36for beasts.
27:36There was no place
27:37from the enemy
27:38for wherever he went
27:39or came in.
27:40For I have set all men
27:41and everyone
27:42against his neighbor.
27:43But now,
27:44but now,
27:45I will not treat
27:46the remnant
27:47of his people
27:47as in former days
27:48says the Lord of hosts.
27:50For the seed
27:51shall be prosperous.
27:53The seed
27:54shall be prosperous.
27:55Israel,
27:56this tiny little
27:57beaten down place
27:58established
28:00in May 14th,
28:011948.
28:02a place
28:05that you wouldn't
28:05want to live
28:06has now become
28:08one of the most
28:09prosperous nations
28:10on the planet.
28:13Gross domestic product,
28:15the GDP of Israel
28:16now has surpassed Canada.
28:20U.S. News
28:21and World Report
28:22just named Israel
28:23as the fifth
28:24most powerful country
28:25on the planet.
28:28Is this a miracle?
28:29It's an absolute miracle.
28:31It has to be.
28:32It has to be.
28:34Prosperous.
28:35The vine
28:35shall give its fruit,
28:36the ground
28:37shall give her increase,
28:38and the heavens
28:38shall give their due.
28:40I will cause
28:40the remnant
28:41of this people
28:41to possess all these.
28:43You should see
28:44the fruitfulness.
28:46Israeli scientists,
28:51experts
28:52in the field
28:52of agriculture,
28:53they have more
28:55fruit per
28:56square inch,
28:58I don't know
28:58how they define this,
29:00but more fruitfulness
29:01than any other country
29:02in the world.
29:03And they get those cows
29:04to produce more milk
29:05than any other
29:06cows in the world.
29:08Believe me.
29:10And they'll one day
29:11find out
29:12how to stop those cows
29:13from polluting
29:14the atmosphere.
29:15Okay.
29:18It's about to happen,
29:19I'm sure.
29:21Now listen to this,
29:22verse 11,
29:22but now I will not
29:23treat the remnant
29:24of the people
29:26as in former days
29:27as the Lord of hosts,
29:27for the seed
29:28shall be prosperous,
29:28the vine
29:29shall give its fruit,
29:30the ground
29:30shall give her increase.
29:32It's amazing,
29:33you know,
29:33that we export
29:36tulips
29:37to Holland.
29:41We do.
29:42We do.
29:44The heavens
29:45shall give their due.
29:45I will cause
29:46the remnant
29:46of this people
29:47to possess all these
29:48and it shall come
29:48to pass
29:49that just as you
29:49were a curse
29:50among the nations,
29:52is there any other
29:53nation on earth
29:53that has been
29:54more cursed?
29:56I mean,
29:56anti-Semitism
29:56is still
29:58in our midst.
30:01its ugly head
30:03is coming back
30:04to the surface again.
30:08Just as you
30:08were a curse
30:09among the nations,
30:09O house of Judah
30:10and house of Israel,
30:11so I will save you
30:13and you shall be
30:13a blessing.
30:15He will turn
30:15a cursed people
30:16into a blessed people.
30:19Hallelujah.
30:20That's happening.
30:21Do not fear,
30:22let your hands be strong.
30:23Verse 14,
30:24for thus says
30:24the Lord of hosts,
30:25just as I determined
30:26to punish you
30:27when your fathers
30:28provoked me to wrath,
30:30says the Lord of hosts,
30:30and I would not relent,
30:32so again in these days
30:33I am determined
30:34to do you good.
30:35To Jerusalem
30:36and to the house of Judah,
30:37do not fear.
30:40God on many occasions
30:41has scattered his people
30:42because they did not
30:43obey him.
30:45But by God's grace
30:47and mercy,
30:47he's going to bring
30:48his people back,
30:49not because they deserve it.
30:51In the same way
30:52that you and I
30:53do not deserve it,
30:54he's going to call us
30:55back into his family.
30:56Ephesians chapter 2,
30:59verse 8.
31:02Start me that verse
31:03and I'll get the rest of it.
31:09Basically, Paul says,
31:10you're not saved by your works.
31:12You didn't earn it.
31:14It is by grace
31:15that you are saved
31:16through faith.
31:17This is not from yourselves.
31:19It is a gift of God.
31:22Anybody who's anti-Semitic
31:23and thinks,
31:24well, the Jews
31:24don't deserve
31:25to be back in their land
31:26and to be prosperous
31:26and to be a shining light
31:28to the nations.
31:30Did you deserve
31:31to be saved
31:33and in the kingdom of God?
31:35No, no.
31:36No, no.
31:37Verse 15.
31:38So again,
31:38in these days,
31:39I am determined
31:40to do good
31:41to Jerusalem
31:42and to the house of Judah.
31:43Do not fear.
31:43These are the things
31:44you shall do.
31:46Speak each man
31:47the truth to his neighbor.
31:48Give judgment
31:49in your gates
31:49for truth,
31:50justice,
31:50and peace,
31:52et cetera.
31:52Then it says
31:55at the end of verse 19,
31:56it says,
31:57therefore,
31:57love truth and peace.
31:58Again,
31:59we're going to see
31:59microcosms of the kingdom
32:00where the truth
32:01is being manifest.
32:03Verse 20,
32:04thus says the Lord,
32:05people shall yet come
32:06and inhabitants
32:07of many cities.
32:08The inhabitants
32:09of one city
32:10shall go to another,
32:10saying,
32:11let us continue
32:12to go and pray
32:13before the Lord
32:14and seek the Lord
32:15of hosts.
32:16I myself
32:16will also go.
32:18Yes,
32:18many peoples
32:19and strong nations
32:20shall come
32:21to seek
32:22the Lord
32:22of hosts
32:23where?
32:23In Jerusalem
32:24and to pray
32:27before the Lord.
32:30And here's the key verse now.
32:31Listen to this.
32:33Thus says the Lord
32:33of hosts,
32:34this is verse 23.
32:35In those days,
32:3610 men
32:36from every language
32:37of the nations
32:38shall grasp
32:39the sleeve
32:40or the robe
32:41or the tzitzit,
32:42the prayer shawl
32:43of a Jewish man
32:45saying,
32:46let us go with you
32:48for we have heard
32:48that God
32:49is with you.
32:52Isaiah chapter 49
32:54verse 6
32:54says that Israel
32:55is to be a light
32:57of salvation
32:58to the nations.
33:00Paul and Barnabas
33:01in the book of Acts
33:02in chapter 13,
33:03they quote Isaiah 49
33:05verse 6
33:06and say,
33:06we've been called
33:07and these are the first
33:08Jewish evangelists
33:09to reach the whole world,
33:11even the Gentile world,
33:13which was not something
33:15Jews would normally do.
33:17They quoted the verse
33:18and said,
33:18we've been called
33:19to be a light
33:19to the nations
33:20to bring salvation.
33:23The Jewish people
33:24are God's primary means
33:26of bringing salvation
33:27to the world.
33:31Abraham,
33:32Isaac,
33:32and Jacob
33:32all promised
33:33that they would be
33:35a blessing
33:35to the other nations
33:37of the world.
33:37even Judah
33:40and where we get
33:42the word Jew
33:42from
33:43was called
33:45to be a ruling
33:47people
33:47to somehow
33:49bring kingdom
33:50to the earth.
33:53There is coming
33:54a day
33:54when the Jewish
33:55people will resume
33:56their original call
33:57to be a light
33:57to the nations.
33:59People will stream
34:00up to Jerusalem.
34:01We see it in Micah
34:03chapter 5.
34:03We see it in
34:04Isaiah chapter 2.
34:06They will come up
34:07and they will hear
34:08the word of the Lord
34:09from Jerusalem.
34:10And here it says,
34:11they will grab a hold
34:12of a Jew
34:13and say,
34:13I hear that God
34:14is with you.
34:14The people that are
34:15seeking truth,
34:17seeking an answer
34:18in our crazy world
34:20are going to go
34:21to Jewish people
34:22and say,
34:23I hear that God
34:23is with you.
34:24Can I go with you?
34:26Who are those
34:27Jewish people?
34:27They are Jewish
34:28believers,
34:29Jewish followers
34:30in Jesus
34:31or Yeshua.
34:33Zechariah chapter 12
34:34verse 10 says,
34:35and they will look
34:36on him
34:36whom they have
34:37pierced
34:38and they will
34:39mourn for him
34:40as one mourns
34:41for an only child.
34:43And then it talks
34:44later about
34:46a fountain
34:47in Jerusalem,
34:50a fountain
34:50of salvation
34:51where Jewish people
34:52will come into
34:52the kingdom of God.
34:53The greatest evangelists
34:55in the future
34:56I believe
34:56will be Jewish people
34:58just as this verse said.
35:01Now something just happened
35:02from this past Wednesday
35:04and I believe
35:05it's still going on today.
35:07Several years ago,
35:08many of you know,
35:09I went back to school,
35:10went and got my doctorate
35:11at Asbury Seminary
35:13and on Wednesday
35:15of this past week
35:16and you can Google it,
35:18Google Asbury
35:19revival
35:21or Asbury renewal.
35:23they've had nine
35:25powerful renewals
35:27in that very school
35:28I went back to school at.
35:30This week,
35:31a powerful move
35:32of the spirit
35:32has happened.
35:34Repentance,
35:36forgiving one another,
35:38powerful sense
35:39of the presence
35:39of God,
35:40deliverance.
35:41You read these articles.
35:44Now who preached
35:44on Wednesday
35:45when this thing
35:47broke out?
35:48A friend of mine
35:49who is a Jew
35:51was preaching
35:52at chapel that day.
35:55He's a guy
35:56that I've been thinking
35:57of recruiting
35:58to come and help us
35:58in Israel
35:59and in fact,
36:00I discovered him
36:01online
36:02where he gave his testimony
36:04and talked about
36:05his call to Israel
36:06and so I got,
36:07Ann and I went
36:08and had lunch with him
36:10and maybe we can
36:12still pull him in
36:12but God used
36:14this Jewish young man
36:15to be an instrument
36:18to bring renewal
36:19and revival
36:19to that university
36:20and now people
36:22are hearing about it
36:23all over the world.
36:25Now we all know
36:26that renewals
36:27and revivals
36:28they don't last forever.
36:29You have to go back
36:30to class again
36:31but they did cancel classes.
36:34You got to go back
36:35to work
36:35but every once in a while
36:37we need a renewal.
36:39We need to
36:40go back
36:41back to our first love.
36:42We need to
36:44get on fire again
36:45for God
36:46and that's happening.
36:47God's using Jewish people.
36:49That's just one little example
36:50of what I believe
36:51is coming
36:52in the last days
36:53before the coming
36:54of the Lord.
36:56Is anybody excited
36:56about the future?
36:59A lot of people,
37:00a lot of people,
37:01it's doom and gloom
37:03and you know
37:05if you're watching
37:05YouTube videos
37:06or you're watching
37:07the news,
37:08bad news sells
37:10and so everybody
37:11talks about the bad news.
37:12I'm going to tell you
37:13there's a lot of good news
37:14happening.
37:15I was just in a church
37:16down in Atlanta
37:17this past week.
37:19I'll tell you
37:20people flocking
37:21to the altar,
37:22thousands of people
37:24wanting to have
37:26an encounter,
37:26a fresh encounter
37:27with Jesus.
37:28It's amazing.
37:30You're seeing it?
37:31People are coming
37:32back here,
37:33aren't they?
37:34This is a good
37:35number of people
37:35but wait till
37:36the balconies get full
37:37and then people,
37:40it's overflowing
37:40and you can't
37:41fit everybody in.
37:42I mean,
37:42why not believe
37:43for that?
37:44Because God
37:45is at work,
37:46the world's gone nuts,
37:48Jesus is the answer.
37:51Continue to be
37:52a microcosm
37:53of the kingdom
37:53right here
37:54in Selwyn,
37:55Ontario,
37:56Canada.
37:57God bless you.
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