{"id":18474,"date":"2018-02-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/ecclesiology-015\/"},"modified":"2018-02-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-02-25T06:00:00","slug":"ecclesiology-015","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/ecclesiology-015\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiology 015"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[90],"series_event":[484],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18474","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-romans","series_event-ecclesiology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Ecclesiology 015","sermon_date":"20180225","sermon_month":"2","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5497,"sermon_slides":5504,"sermon_mp3":5506,"sermon_id":"225181154255","series_or_event":484,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":90,"chapter_and_verse":"11:25b","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nEcclesiology 15\n\n2-25-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 15\u00a0\u00a0 Romans 11:25b\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for today, we\u2019re grateful for Your provision, Your protection, Your grace and we celebrate today, not necessarily today but last week the homecoming of Dr. Billy Graham and his life and the way You chose to use him to reach so many of the lost with the gospel so we thank you for that.\u00a0 And if it\u2019s your will, Father God, we need another one so should You see fit to raise up somebody else we would ask you to do that.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.\n\nGood morning everybody, it\u2019s kind of tough to get out here in the middle of the rain but I appreciate\u00a0 you all\u2019s endurance.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Romans, chapter 11 and verse 25.\u00a0 We are continuing our study on the doctrine of the church which a fancy name for that is ecclesiology.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked at the definition of the church, the difference between the universal and the local church, some word pictures for the church, we spent some time on the origin of the church, when it started.\u00a0 And we spent a lot of time on the differences between Israel and the church.\u00a0 And so sort of a new idea and we started it last week, hopefully we can finish it up this morning, but we started a new idea last week, Roman numeral VI on the concept of the intercalation.\u00a0 The church is an intercalation and that\u2019s probably a word you\u2019ve never seen before.\u00a0 It\u2019s a word that Lewis Sperry Chafer used in 1947-1948 to articulate what the church is and so we were sort of in the process of unpacking this idea of the church as an intercalation.\n\nLast week we sort of laid the foundation for the intercalation idea and you can\u2019t really understand the unique insertion of the church by God in His redemptive program until you understand what the nation of Israel is all about, because there\u2019s a lot of people today basically trying to argue that the church is just sort of a continuation of God\u2019s program for Israel.\u00a0 And we\u2019re trying to say that\u2019s not true; that description falls far short of what the church is.\n\nSo to help us understand that we\u2019re trying to explain, first of all, Israel\u2019s program.\u00a0 And we said, number 1, Israel has promises in the Abrahamic Covenant which are unconditional, meaning they rest completely on God\u2019s shoulders for fulfillment, not the performance of Israel.\u00a0 Number 2, those promises, even today in the 21st<\/sup> century, are unfulfilled when you take the text at face value.\u00a0 Number 3, those promises are meant to be construed in their ordinary or literal sense.\u00a0 And number 4, God has to execute all of these promises for Israel because His program is truthful; when God speaks it\u2019s impossible for Him to lie.\u00a0 So we know that everything He said about Israel has to come to pass.\u00a0 And then we saw, number 5, when\u00a0 you look at these promises very carefully it automat\u00adically pushes you into the future for their realization. They\u2019re not promises that are happening now, they\u2019re not promises that have happened in the past, they are promises yet future.\n\nAnd before we explain where the church fits into this whole thing let me just offer here under Roman numeral VI three inadequate explanations.\u00a0 When\u00a0 you get into the subject of the nation of Israel there\u2019s always three arguments that people use over and over again to dismiss the idea that God has a future program for Israel.\u00a0 And it\u2019s sort of like if argument one doesn\u2019t work then they\u2019ll shift to argument two, it that doesn\u2019t work they\u2019ll shift to argument three or sometimes they\u2019ll put two or three arguments together thinking that if people reject one they\u2019ll embrace the other.\u00a0 And when you cut through all of the verbiage it really boils down to three things people say over and over again to dismiss the idea that God has a future program for Israel. And you\u2019ll notice that some of these things can\u2019t be true because of what we covered last week.\n\nSo the first argument that they say is Israel broke God\u2019s covenant and so therefore God cancelled Israel\u2019s promises.\u00a0 And they talk about how bad the Jews are and all the bad things they did and after all, the majority in the nation of Israel, not the minority but the majority, particular the leader\u00ad-ship rejected Jesus so God is through with the Jew.\u00a0 The Jews can get saved in the church age but as far as a program of God\u00a0 for the nation where He\u2019s going to fulfill their national promises of an earthly kingdom, they\u2019re saying that can\u2019t happen because they broke God\u2019s covenant and so God cancelled their covenant.\n\nOf course, that whole argument disintegrates when you understand that the Abrahamic Covenant is what kind of covenant?\u00a0 Conditional or unconditional?\u00a0 Unconditional!\u00a0 Now it\u2019s not as if God doesn\u2019t discipline Israel but when He chastises Israel and disciplines Israel that\u2019s not the same thing as saying God has cancelled Israel\u2019s program.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where the confusion is.\u00a0 The Mosaic Covenant, which was given about six centuries after the Abrahamic Covenant is the instrument that God uses to discipline Israel, the terms rather.\u00a0 But those terms, although they can be very severe, never cancel Israel\u2019s unconditional foundational covenant.\n\nIf I can use this example it\u2019s a lot like your salvation.\u00a0 The moment you trust in Christ as your Savior your arrival in heaven is guaranteed.\u00a0 That cannot be altered.\u00a0\u00a0 However, \u201cwhom the Lord loves the Lord\u201d what? \u201cchastens\u201d and has anybody in here ever been under the chastening hand of God.\u00a0 I have, it\u2019s not the most pleasant experience to be under.\u00a0 But the chastening hand of God, although it can be very severe, does not cancel my eternity.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Any more than you kids, when they act up and you discipline your kids that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not your kids any more.\u00a0 I mean, you might wish they weren\u2019t your kids but they\u2019re still yours and in fact the proof that they\u2019re yours is your willingness to discipline them.\u00a0 See that?\n\nSo that\u2019s what God has set up with the nation of Israel; He\u2019s given them a covenant which can never be revoked; that\u2019s called the Abrahamic Covenant.\u00a0 But under the auspices of the Mosaic Covenant discipline can be very severe.\u00a0 So people like to gravitate towards the passages which talk about the discipline of Israel and act like that means God has cancelled Israel and\u00a0 that would violate the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant.\n\nSo this is why one of the verses, some of the verses we read last time comes right out of Jeremiah 31 where God says to Israel in the midst of terrible sin that they were committing just before the deportation, He says as long as there\u2019s sun, moon and stars Israel will always be a nation before Me. In other words don\u2019t confuse My disciplinary hand on you through the Mosaic Covenant with My ownership of you as revealed in the Abrahamic Covenant.\u00a0 People get those covenants confused constantly and they confuse discipline with God severing His program with Israel.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the first argument people use, the Jews broke their word to God and so God broke His word to the Jews.\u00a0 Well, that can\u2019t happen because of the Abrahamic Covenant although discipline is a reality.\n\nThe second argument that they use is Israel\u2019s promises are already fulfilled.\u00a0 And I think I mentioned this last time, when Donald Trump moved the American Embassy recently from Tel Aviv or put the framework in place to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem a lot of evangelical Christians, myself included, thought that was a great thing that he did.\u00a0 BUT, a lot of evangelical Christians said why are you so excited about land promises to Israel, don\u2019t you know the land promises have already been fulfilled.\u00a0 And they point to passages in Joshua and the Solomonic reign where supposedly the land promises were fulfilled.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why we walked through very carefully last time that Israel\u2019s promises to this day remain in a state of unfulfillment.\n\nThe dark area is what Israel received under Joshua; that lighter area is everything that\u2019s been promised.\u00a0 And that map today is pretty much a pretty decent replica, with a few changes of what Israel has today as well.\u00a0 Israel today has a very small sliver of everything God\u2019s promised.\u00a0 So the promises remain unfulfilled despite the fact that people try to say don\u2019t worry about those promises, they\u2019ve already been fulfilled.\u00a0 And if those two arguments don\u2019t work they\u2019ll throw a third argument at you and they\u2019ll say Israel\u2019s promises are now being fulfilled in a spiritual sense through the church.\u00a0 So what they\u2019ll try to argue is Israel\u2019s terrestrial or earthly promises have now been transferred to the church and they call the church the new Israel.\n\nNow notice specifically what they do; the curses of discipline they don\u2019t take for the church. \u00a0Have you noticed that!\u00a0 They leave those behind for the Jewish people but they take all of the blessings and to do that is to de-literalize the blessings.\u00a0 If you get into that game what you\u2019re doing is you\u2019re taking those promises not at face value but\u00a0 you\u2019re taking them symbolically and allegorically when the text doesn\u2019t communicate that.\u00a0 And what you have to start doing is you have to get really inconsistent in your method of interpretation.\u2019\n\nOne of my heroes, theological heroes, pastoral heroes of the past was the late D. James Kennedy.\u00a0 I always enjoyed listening to his broadcasts and things of that nature.\u00a0 I appreciated things he said on the culture war.\u00a0 And I went, and he had a little booklet on the Seventy Weeks of Daniel, and he comes from a very Presbyterian amillennial replacement theology sort of perspective although he didn\u2019t showcase that on his television program.\u00a0 And I looked very carefully at what he did with the seventy weeks of Daniel because what he says in this little booklet, I should have brought it in, kind of for show and tell, is he makes this tremendous case about how Jesus fulfilled literally everything that\u2019s in the first sixty-nine weeks of the prophecy.\u00a0 And then he got to the seventieth week and it\u2019s almost like he took off one set of glasses and put on another set of glasses and all this stuff about a future antichrist and all of these kinds of things, a future seventieth week of Daniel, he basically tried to argue that that\u2019s all allegorical.\n\nAnd I point him out because I think he\u2019s a great guy; I benefitted greatly from his ministry but what I\u2019m trying to say is even the best of the best, even the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me shall we say, will do this to you.\u00a0 They will interpret some of the passages literally and if it relates to the future suddenly those passages become allegorical.\u00a0 And that\u2019s sort of the game you have to play if you want to argue that Israel\u2019s promises are being fulfilled today in the church age.\n\nSo just to exemplify this look at Deuteronomy 30:3, I know I had you turn to Romans but if you look at Deuteronomy 30:3 it says, \u201cthen the LORD\u201d to Israel, \u201c\u2026will restore <\/u>you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you<\/u> again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So notice these three verbs that I have underlined here, restore<\/u> from captivity, that\u2019s verb number one.\u00a0 Number two, I\u2019m going to \u201cgather you<\/u> again from all peoples,\u201d that verb number two.\u00a0 And verb number three is where the Lord\u00a0 has scattered<\/u> you.\u201d \u00a0So if\u00a0 you\u2019re arguing that Israel\u2019s promises are being fulfilled today in a spiritual sense what you end up doing is you\u2019re taking verb number one literally, you\u2019re taking verb number two literally because everybody believes Israel was brought back to the land of Israel after the seventy year captivity.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, verb number one is literal, verb number three is literal because they all believe in a scattering of Israel, but what do you do with verb number two?\u00a0 I\u2019m going to \u201cregather you again from all peoples of the earth.\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that literal as well?\u00a0\u00a0 And they would say no because the church is the new Israel and there is no literal regathering of the Jews into their homeland.\n\nSo what I\u2019m saying is you take passages like this and right in the middle of the text you take some passages literally and some texts allegorically.\u00a0 So I \u201cwill restore you from captivity,\u201d that\u2019s literal; \u201cwhere the Lord God has scattered you,\u201d that\u2019s literal.\u00a0 But right in the middle it says \u201cand I will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord God has scattered you,\u201d they would say that\u2019s allegorical.\u00a0 And this is how you can recognize that this doctrine of replacement theology, amillen\u00adnialism, all of these things can\u2019t be true because\u00a0 to make it work you have to wildly fluctuate your method of interpretation, sometimes right in the middle of a verse.\u00a0 And this is just par for the course when it comes to replacement theology, they do this all the time.\n\nSo one of the things we emphasize around here is not just literal interpretation.\u00a0 Everybody interprets the Bible literally at points; if they didn\u2019t they wouldn\u2019t even be an orthodox Christian.\u00a0 What we emphasize here is not just literal interpretation, note this next word, it\u2019s very important, \u201cconsistent literal interpretation.\u201d\u00a0 What we say is when we look at passages like this I don\u2019t have the freedom to say this one is literal, this one is allegorical.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to, whatever method of interpretation I\u2019m going to use I\u2019ve got to consistently apply that.\u00a0 See that? \u00a0And as you start doing that you start to understand that Israel\u2019s program is not being fulfilled right now in the church.\u00a0 Israel\u2019s program is going to be fulfilled in a literal earthly kingdom one day.\n\nSo regardless of who your favorite author is, regardless of who your favorite theologian is, regard-less of who your favorite Christian television pastor is, your authority as a Christian needs to come from the Bible.\u00a0 And you have to screen people. Yours truly included, to make sure that they\u2019re consistent in their approach.\n\nSo how do people dismiss Israel from their thinking?\u00a0 There\u2019s always these three arguments: Israel broke her word to God so God broke His Word to Israel.\u00a0 That can\u2019t be true because of the Abrahamic Covenant.\u00a0 Israel\u2019s promises have already been fulfilled.\u00a0 That can\u2019t be true when you study the dimensions of those promises.\u00a0 And then number three, Israel\u2019s program is being fulfilled now in a spiritual sense through the church.\u00a0 That can\u2019t be true because I have to be inconsistent in my method of interpretation.\u00a0 So all of these things that we\u2019ve been talking about have been building to this point.\u00a0 Israel\u2019s program is unconditional, it\u2019s unfulfilled, it\u2019s literal, it\u2019s future, there is no coherent explanation that people can come up with to dismiss God\u2019s work with Israel.\u00a0 And yet God is at work today, isn\u2019t He.\u00a0 God is at work as He is today building His church, He\u2019s been doing this for two thousand years.\u00a0 Clearly God is at work today because Jesus said \u201cI will build My church.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 16:18, \u201cI also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.\u201d]\u00a0 Clearly God is at work today as Acts 15:14 says, \u201ctaking from among the Gentiles a people for His own name.\u201d\u00a0 [Acts 15:14, \u201cSimeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.\u201d]\u00a0 God is doing that, isn\u2019t He?\u00a0 Clearly God is at work, that\u2019s why I had you open to Romans 11:25, which says, \u201c\u2026that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until <\/u>the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;\u201d\n\nSo God has put Israel into time out, like for disobedient children, like you put your kids into time out.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been in \u201ctime out\u201d for 2,000 years, Israel has.\u00a0 And yet does this mean that God is not doing anything today?\u00a0 Of course it doesn\u2019t mean that because God can\u2019t leave the earth without a witness of Himself.\u00a0 He\u2019s doing something extraordinary that we are part of through the church.\n\nSo if God is clearly at work today what do you call it?\u00a0 Do you call it the new Israel?\u00a0 Do you call it a continuation of God\u2019s program with Israel? \u00a0No, you can\u2019t call it that because the work of God through the church today is very different than what he has done in the past through Israel.\u00a0 And it\u2019s very different than what He will do in the future through Israel.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because didn\u2019t we go over 24 differences between Israel and the church?\n\nThere\u2019s slide one, eight differences:\n\nIsrael\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Church\n\n1, Marriage: \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wife \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bride\n\n2, Christ: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Birthed Christ, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Birthed by Christ\n\n3. Return: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02nd<\/sup> advent \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rapture\n\n4. \u00a0Leader: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0King \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Head\/Groom\n\n5. Beginning: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Genesis 12 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Acts 2\n\n6. Scripture:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04\/5 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01\/5.\n\n7. Covenants: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Parties \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Beneficiaries\n\n8. Nation: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Political \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Spiritual\n\nThere\u2019s slide two, eight more differences.\n\n9. Wars:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Political\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Spiritual.\n\n10. Timing: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0a quo\/ad quem\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0No time indicators.\n\n11. Priesthood \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have a priesthood, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Are a priesthood.\n\n12. Temple \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Physical, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Body.\n\n13.\u00a0 Resurrection: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01st<\/sup> resurrection\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Rapture.\n\n14.\u00a0 Judgment\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Earthly (Ezekiel 20:33-44)\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Heavenly (Bema)\n\n15.\u00a0 New Jerusalem: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gates \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Foundations\n\n16.\u00a0 Entrance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Physical birth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Spiritual birth\n\nThere\u2019s slide three, eight more differences.\n\n17. Governing principle\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0OT Mosaic Law\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0NT Law of Christ (Spirit)\n\n18.\u00a0 Relation to HS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Selective, temporary, subsequent. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Universal, permanent at moment of \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0salvation\n\n19.\u00a0 Farewell address\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Olivet Discourse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Upper Room Discourse.\n\n20. Designation: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0First Born Son\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Bride of Christ\n\n21,\u00a0 Revealed in OT: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0No\n\n22.\u00a0 Evangelism\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Come & See\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Go & Proclaim\n\n23.\u00a0 Blessings\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Earthly\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Heavenly\n\n24, Composition\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Believers & Unbelievers,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Believers Only\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nI mean, the more you look at what God is doing today and compare it to what He has done and will do through Israel the more you start seeing the church is something that is unique, it\u2019s something that is different.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost something that\u2019s foreign in comparison to what God has done and will do through the nation of Israel.\n\nFor example, we\u2019ve looked at Ezekiel 36, verses 24-28.\u00a0 God\u00a0 says to Israel I\u2019m going to\u201d gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own\u201d what? \u201cland.\u00a0 What land is that talking about there?\u00a0 The United States of America?\u00a0 No, it\u2019s talking about \u201cthe land\u201d that He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 [25] \u00a0\u201c<\/sup>Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean;\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll \u201cput a new spirit within you\u201d and people say well that\u2019s God\u2019s work through the church today.\u00a0 In fact, pastors will get all lathered up and talk about how God is doing this great work today and they\u2019ll quote Ezekiel 36.\u00a0 The problem is that can\u2019t be happening today because we\u2019re on the wrong continent first of all.\u00a0 I mean, we\u2019re not in the land of Israel.\u00a0 And this prophecy, when you under\u00adstand it at face value is talking about what is happening in the land of Israel.\n\n[Ezekiel 36:25b I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. [26] Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] \u00a0<\/sup>I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. [28]\u00a0<\/sup>You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.\u201d]\n\nEzekiel 37 is similar, it talks about these bones.\u00a0 You remember the vision, Ezekiel is taken and he sees these bones scattered and God asks him can these bones live?\u00a0 And Ezekiel says well Lord, only You know.\u00a0 And then he heard a great noise and a great rattling and he saw the bones re-assembled so that they form a human body, and then he saw skin and sinews and muscle form over the body so that it forms an actual person.\u00a0 And then is says there, [Ezekiel 37:8b] \u201cbut there was no breath in them.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSo I prophesied as He commanded me,\u201d and they came to life.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 37:10, \u201cSo I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.]\n\nNow when you go down to verse 11 it says, \u201cthese bones are the whole house of\u201d\u2019 what? \u201cIsrael.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0[37:11, \u201cThen He said to me, \"Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'\u201d]\u00a0 And Israel, guess what it always means in the Bible?\u00a0 Israel.\u00a0 And when it says \u201cland\u201d it\u2019s talking about the land of Israel.\u00a0 So it\u2019s a wonderful prophecy but if you care about details it\u2019s obviously yet future.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Same with Ezekiel 36.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet we can all testify that God is at work today at Sugar Land Bible Church in the 21st<\/sup> century.\n\nSo the big issue is if God is at work today through the church and it\u2019s not Israel\u2019s program, what do you call the church exactly.\u00a0 And this is where Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer came\u00a0 up with the term \u201cintercalation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And as much as people have tried to wrestle with this and grapple with this I haven\u2019t found any explanation any better than the one that he came up with.\u00a0 This unique work of God between the day of Pentecost and the rapture that\u2019s been going on for 2,000 years, we are all part of it, and he called it an intercalation.\u00a0 And what exactly is an intercalation?\u00a0 It is the present work of God is\u2026 here\u2019s some synonyms for intercalation.\u00a0 The present work of God is an interruption, an interval, let me throw some more at you that aren\u2019t on the screen, an interpolation, another word I can throw in is a hiatus.\u00a0 The present work of God is an interruption, and interval, an interpolation, a hiatus, a parenthesis, or (here comes the big word, all synonyms for what I\u2019ve been trying to say) or an intercalation in God\u2019s work with Israel.\n\nAnd that is what the church is; the church is not Israel.\u00a0 It\u2019s obvious it\u2019s not Israel for the reasons we\u2019ve stated.\u00a0 It is clearly a work of God.\u00a0 And Israel\u2019s program isn\u2019t being fulfilled today and it hasn\u2019t been cancelled so what do you call the present work of God?\u00a0 A lot of people just say well, it\u2019s the new Israel, we\u2019re the new Israel.\u00a0 Or we\u2019re the kingdom.\u00a0 NO, the church is an intercalation, an interruption in God\u2019s program for Israel, which has never been cancelled.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nAnd this is why the Apostle Paul, in describing the church, calls it (Ephesians 2:15) a new man.\u00a0 [Ephesians 2:15, \u201cby abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.\u201d] See that?\u00a0 In Himself He might take the two, that\u2019s believing Jews and believing Gentiles in the current age, they are brought together into one new man.\u00a0 So if it was simply a continuation of God\u2019s work with Israel it couldn\u2019t be new, could it?\n\nAnd\u00a0 yet the definition of the church is so specific from Paul that he calls it something new.\u00a0 And this is why\u2026 what\u2019s new about it?\u00a0 It\u2019s Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promises in Jesus Christ.\u00a0 You can read your Old Testament until your eyeballs drop out of your eye socket and the reality is you will never find this concept in the Old Testament anywhere.\u00a0\u00a0 You go through the Old Testament and even into the life of Christ, the preeminent servants of God are always Israel.\u00a0 If you want to learn about Israel you had to submit, as a proselyte, and believe in the God of Yahweh.\u00a0 You believed in the God of Yahweh to be justified, you submitted to the Mosaic Law and so forth to grow in your relationship with Yahweh.\n\nI mean, Israel is the main thing in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Israel is going to be the main thing in the kingdom.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet what is happening now is Gentiles and Jews are fellow partakers in this new man.\u00a0 There is not distinction whatsoever in the present age between a believing Jew and a believing Gentile.\u00a0 We\u2019re not living in an age of time where the Jewish Christians are elevated over the Gentile Christians.\u00a0 We\u2019re not living in a time where we have to go to Israel to learn of God.\u00a0 We\u2019re living in a new period of time called an intercalation, where Gentiles and Jews are joint heirs and fellow members of the body of Christ.\u00a0 That is a mind-blowing statement. \u00a0We take it for granted because we\u2019re used to it but when Paul wrote this he\u2019s articulating something that God is doing in a brand new sense.\u00a0 And this is why the church is called a mystery in Paul\u2019s thinking.\n\nWhat is a mystery?\u00a0 A mystery is something that has been secret but now has been made manifest.\u00a0 Romans 16:25-26.\u00a0 [Romans 16:25-26, \u201cNow to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, [26] but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading<\/em> to obedience of faith.\u201d]\n\nHe says the same thing in Colossians 1:26, something hidden but now manifested.\u00a0 [Colossians 1:26, \u201cthat is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints.\u201d]\u00a0 And when you look into the Greek lexicon, that\u2019s basically what you have with the definition of a mystery.\u00a0 What God is doing today, not only has He not done it in the past but it\u2019s not even revealed.\u00a0 And you don\u2019t really have any great clarity on the subject until the writings of the Apostle Paul.\u00a0 The Apostle Paul is describing something in Ephesians and in his thirteen letters, primarily, that God started as a unique work that began in Acts 2.\u00a0 The mystery did not start with Paul; they mystery started in Acts 2 but Paul is explaining the mystery, like very few people in the Bible do.\u00a0 And that is the definition of the church.\u00a0 It is something completely foreign, completely unique inserted as an interruption or to use the Chaferian term, intercalation in God\u2019s past work and future work with Israel.\n\nSo here is the quote from Chafer where he describes this:\u00a0 \u201cIn fact, the new, hitherto unrevealed purpose of God in the out calling of a heavenly people from Jews and Gentiles is so divergent with respect to the divine purpose toward Israel, which purpose preceded it and will yet follow it, that the term\u00a0parenthetical<\/em>, commonly employed to describe the new age purpose, is inaccurate.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice here that I use the word \u201cparenthesis\u201d to describe it.\u00a0 Chafer said that doesn\u2019t even get the job done because it leads\u2026 in a parenthesis you\u2019re writing something, a letter to someone and you put something in a parenthesis at least the parenthesis relates to the idea that came before it and the idea that came after it.\u00a0 He\u2019s saying what is happening today is so incredibly unique that even the term \u201cparenthesis\u201d doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 So what\u2019s the correct term?\u00a0 He said, \u201cA parenthetical portion sustains some direct and indirect relation to that which goes before or that which follows; but the present age-purpose is not thus related and therefore is more properly termed an intercalation<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d\u2026\n\nThe quote goes on and he says, \u201c\u2026 The appropriateness of this word will be seen in the fact that, as an interpolation is formed by inserting a word or phrase into a context, so when intercalation is formed by introducing a day or a period of time into the calendar. The present age of the church is an intercalation into the revealed calendar or program of God as that program was foreseen by the prophets of old. Such, indeed, is the precise character of the present age.\u201d\u00a0 [vol. 4, Systematic Theology<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), 41]\n\nNow so many people come to me and they write e-mails to me and they say how come\u00a0 your church isn\u2019t respecting the seven feasts of Israel?\u00a0 And actually I\u2019ve got to correct them a little bit because there\u2019s nine feasts because God added two\u2014you mean the nine feasts of Israel\u2026 yeah!\u00a0\u00a0 How come you guys don\u2019t practice the feasts?\u00a0 Are you against the feasts?\u00a0 Are you against practicing the feasts?\u00a0 Well of course I\u2019m not against the feasts; the feasts are part of God\u2019s program for Israel, they\u2019re mandatory.\u00a0 You see them spelled out there in Leviticus 23 but the reality of the situation is that relates to a specific calendar for the nation of Israel.\u00a0 The church is given no feast days; it\u2019s given no calendar.\u00a0 As we went through the twenty-four differences between Israel and the church it\u2019s given a completely different leadership structure.\u00a0 It\u2019s not even an earthly people; it\u2019s a heavenly people.\u00a0 So since that distinction exists why would I stand in this pulpit and demand that people honor and practice the seven feasts.\n\nNow if people want to go back and practice the seven feasts and to learn about their heritage and how they all point to Christ, no problem, if God has called you to do that.\u00a0 But the church cannot make such a practice mandatory or compulsory on Christians everywhere because those are not related to the church, a new man; those are all related to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 See that? \u00a0Now if I believed that the church was the new Israel then maybe the feasts would fit somewhere, in a mandatory sense.\u00a0 But they don\u2019t fit in this unique man called \u201cthe new man\u201d or an intercalation.\u00a0 So what is the church?\n\nAnd people says why did you spend so much time on the seventy weeks of Daniel prophecy?\u00a0 I mean, you spent more time on the seventy weeks of Daniel\u2019s prophecy than the seventy weeks that Daniel received from God.\u00a0 I mean, you literally spent seventy weeks on the seventy weeks prophecy.\u00a0 \u00a0Well, actually I spent six weeks on the prophecy but who\u2019s counting, right?\u00a0 The reason I wanted us to understand that, the reason I slowed down more than normal, and I go pretty slow anyway, is because I want people to see that the church is a unique work of God that has interrupted the first sixty-nine weeks which have been fulfilled literally, and the seventieth week which is yet to be fulfilled.\n\nSo this chart here encompasses it as well.\u00a0 That\u2019s who we are; we\u2019re living in between the past fulfillment and the future fulfillment of not only the seventy weeks prophecy but a plethora of other prophecies that I\u2019ll allude to in just a minute.\n\nSo we are this\u2026 I would call us a gap, an interruption, and intercalation, a hiatus, an interpolation, whatever vocabulary you want to use, in between God\u2019s past work and future work with Israel.\u00a0 We are not Israel!\u00a0 The name \u201cIsrael\u201d is used 73 times in the New Testament and guess what it means every single time?\u00a0 Any guesses?\u00a0 It means Israel!\u00a0 Israel is a technical name.\u00a0 You say what does that mean, \u201ca technical name\u201d?\u00a0 It\u2019s a rare word that every time it\u2019s used, no matter where you find it, it always means the same thing.\u00a0 Israel always refers to the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 And as\u00a0 much as people through their elastic method of interpretation want to make it sound like the church is the new Israel the reality of the situation is the Bible does not support that view.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter who popularizes it, it doesn\u2019t matter how articulate the spokesperson is, it doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re on television, it doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re written a string of bestselling Christians books, it doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019ve made some great contribution to the culture war.\n\nWhatever good they\u2019ve done they have no authority biblically whatsoever to call the church Israel.\u00a0 You start doing that and you find yourself on shaky ground with the Bible and with the God who wrote the Bible.\u00a0 The church is NOT Israel, the church is an insertion or an interruption or an intercalation into God\u2019s program for Israel.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0\u00a0 And this is so fundamental towards\u00a0 understanding who we are.\u00a0 I mean, you can\u2019t become what God has called you to become in God unless\u00a0 you understand your identity.\u00a0 And so part of this study of ecclesiology is helping us to understand what exactly is the identity of the church under God.\n\nIn prior sessions we\u2019ve made reference to many of these prophecies.\u00a0 Isaiah 9:6 says, \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;\u201d and that\u2019s the first coming, \u201cAnd the government will rest on His shoulders; wait a minute, that\u2019s which coming?\u00a0 The second coming.\u00a0 Well, Isaiah, you skipped a bunch of stuff, what\u2019s going on in between the comings?\u00a0 That\u2019s us!\u00a0 That\u2019s the mystery, something that Isaiah himself didn\u2019t see or understand and Paul had to be raised up to explain it.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 So Bible prophecy, we\u2019ve used this example, is like looking at two mountains in the distance and when you look at two mountains in the distance what don\u2019t you see?\u00a0 The valley between the mountains.\u00a0 Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel didn\u2019t see the valley, didn\u2019t even know such a valley was coming.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet when the nation of Israel rejected their Messiah and God started the church in Acts 2 and He started this new body or this new man that will continue right on through the rapture, this man that He is building today, you have no explanation of this other than a few hints that it\u2019s coming in Christ\u2019s earthly ministry.\u00a0 And if God had not used Paul the way He did we really wouldn\u2019t understand it either.\n\nI mean, have you ever asked yourself this question: why was Paul in prison so frequently?\u00a0 Have you ever asked that?\u00a0 I mean every time he\u2019s doing something someone is throwing him in jail.\u00a0 He\u2019s in prison in Caesarea, like a two year wait, and then the Book of Acts closes with him in prison in Rome.\u00a0 Well, I think the reason that he was in jail so frequently is that was the design of God for his life because in biblical times\u00a0 you don\u2019t have cable TV to watch in prison, you can\u2019t go get a tattoo, I don\u2019t think there was a weight room.\u00a0 So he is in a place of being undistracted and he is in a perfect place to receive revelation from God about what exactly?\u00a0 About a work that God is doing in the valley called the intercalation.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And Paul better than anybody else, although Christ hints of it Paul explains it.\n\nAnd don\u2019t confuse the explanation with when the mystery started; that\u2019s another error people make, they think the mystery started with Paul.\u00a0 That is not true, Paul explained the mystery that started in Acts 2 and\u2026 you know, aren\u2019t we in Daniel still, some of\u00a0 you are wondering how long we\u2019re going to be in Daniel (I\u2019m wondering that myself). \u00a0But we just went through a great big gap between verse 35 and verse 36 in Daniel 11. It just jumped from Antiochus to antichrist and we say wait a minute, what about all that period of time in between?\u00a0 I mean, where would you go in the Bible to discover that?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to go to the writings of Paul for the explanation of this hiatus or intercalation interpolation that we\u2019re in.\n\nThere was a gap between verse 40 and verse 41 of Daniel 2 as Daniel saw the prophecy moving from ancient Rome to a Revived Rome in the end times, under the antichrist which hasn\u2019t been fulfilled yet.\u00a0 And so right in between the ankles and the feet is a period of at least 2,600 years.\u00a0 And where in the world would you go in the Bible to learn about this 2,600 years?\u00a0 You can\u2019t go to Daniel to learn about it, he knew nothing about it.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to go to Paul for the explanation of it.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 So that is our identity.\n\nAnd just because I say the church isn\u2019t Israel don\u2019t misunderstand me, I\u2019m NOT saying that God isn\u2019t working today.\u00a0 He clearly is working but in a fresh way, in a unique way, that is unrelated to God\u2019s description of His program with Israel.\u00a0 And in fact one of the great things He\u2019s doing today, in addition to building His church, is He\u2019s allowing the Gentiles, primarily, to get saved in droves. \u00a0\u00a0I mean, it\u2019s not the Jews that are getting saved today although many do and some do, I\u2019m simply saying that\u2019s not the majority.\n\nEver since Paul goes on his first missionary journey beginning in Acts 13 as is his custom he goes to the synagogue of every city he goes into, except if they didn\u2019t have a synagogue, like Philippi, and he goes in there and they reject him.\u00a0 He reasons with them in this\u2026 like within Thessalonica, \u00a0I think he reasoned with them for about three weeks in the synagogue proving that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.\u00a0 They reject him, many times they kick him out, so he goes amongst the Gentiles and he gets all these believers.\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s what happens over and over and over again with Paul.\n\nAnd that pattern is what\u2019s happening today.\u00a0 The Jewish people, although many do get saved, as Paul says, have a blindness over their eyes and it\u2019s very difficult to reach out to a Jewish person with the gospel.\u00a0 But the guy down the street that pumps gas for a living and works in the liquor store, the guy with the tattoos all over him, the guy that likes all that music we don\u2019t like, that guy gets saved.\u00a0 The longhaired guy, or the shorthaired guy or the college dropout or the high school dropout, that guy gets saved and here you\u2019re reasoning with all these educated lawyers and doctors and they can\u2019t understand what you\u2019re talking about.\n\nThat is an explanation of what God is doing in the intercalation where the fullness of the Gentiles is coming in.\u00a0 And notice this, it says Israel\u2019s hardening is what?\u00a0 Partial, the hardening that Israel is under today will not be forever and the Gentiles coming to Christ in droves today will not be forever.\u00a0 One of these days the very last Gentile is going to come in, the body of Christ will me made complete at that point.\u00a0 I would assume that the translation of the church will occur after that number has come in and then God, who is not forgetful of His prior covenants with Israel will fulfill everything He said He would ever do, in and through the nation of Israel.\n\nSo that is who we are; we are this, I would put it this way, using Chafer\u2019s analogy, we are this unique intercalation.\u00a0 Now the moment you say the church is an intercalation in God\u2019s program for Israel is the moment you should put your helmet on because people are going to start throwing rocks at\u00a0 you.\u00a0\u00a0 And here\u2019s what they\u2019re going to say, and I\u2019ve had this rock thrown at me for decades.\u00a0 This is a citation from R. C. Sproul\u2019s Tabletalk Magazine<\/em>, 1999.\u00a0 R. C. Sproul, as you know, recently died, went to the presence of the Lord.\u00a0 People say well don\u2019t you love R. C. Sproul?\u00a0 Yeah, a lot of the things R. C. Sproul said and taught I like, but you have to understand that when you\u2019re listening to a voice like R. C. Sproul you\u2019re not dealing with somebody who understands ecclesiology properly.\u00a0 In fact, the view that I\u2019m giving right now about the church, it\u2019s an interruption in God\u2019s plan for Israel, was despised by R. C. Sproul.\u00a0 In fact, if you put your ear to the ground you can hear the man rolling over in his grave as I\u2019m talking.\n\nAnd it\u2019s not just R. C. Sproul, it\u2019s the Reformed movement in general that has carte blanche<\/em> rejected the intercalation concept.\u00a0 And I use this not to disparage R. C. Sproul, I like a lot of the things he said and did; I think I\u2019ve been very clear about that.\u00a0 But I use this to show the mindset of replacement theologians.\u00a0 He writes, \u201cWe are not dispensationalists here....We believe that the church is essentially Israel.\u201d\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 \u201cWe believe that the answer to, \u2018What about the Jews?\u2019 is, \u2018Here we are.\u2019 We deny<\/u>\u201d now watch this, \u201cWe deny that the church is God\u2019s \u2018plan B.\u2019<\/u> We deny that we are living in God\u2019s redemptive parenthesis<\/u>. There, we are again one people. In His holy and heavenly temple there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, pre-mil nor post-mil. There, we are all together, the Israel of God, princes with God, and the ekklesia<\/em>, the set apart ones.\u201d\u00a0 [From Table Talk<\/em> magazine, Spring of 1999, p. 2 (inside cover), by R. C. Sproul Jr., editor, emphasis is mine.]\n\nSo what he is arguing here is that the church is a continuation of Israel and God\u2019s promises to\u00a0\u00a0 Israel have been transferred to the church.\u00a0 And so you ask them well what about all the promises regarding a future for the nation of Israel and they would say there are no such promises.\u00a0 All of those promises get reinterpreted through his preexisting grid.\u00a0 And if you begin to articulate that the church is an interruption or an intercalation in God\u2019s program for Israel you are immediately accused of teaching that the church is plan B.\u00a0 This is a disparaging comment that is made to get people to not believe the sort of view that Chafer is articulating.\u00a0 They will come back at you very fast and they will say so you believe the church is plan B; you believe that God said oh no, Israel didn\u2019t reject My Son and therefore the kingdom has been postponed, you know, poor God, got sweaty palms and didn\u2019t know what to do.\u00a0 What am I going to do says God, oh I know, as an afterthought\u00a0 I\u2019ll raise up the church.\n\nAnd so they think that that\u2019s how we think about this concept of an intercalation.\u00a0 And I want you\u00a0 to see that this is what is called in logic a strawman fallacy.\u00a0 A strawman fallacy is where you miss characterize and misrepresent what your opponent is saying.\u00a0 And in the misrepresentation you tear down not what they\u2019re really saying but your misrepresentation of it.\u00a0 And it\u2019s called a logical fallacy because you\u2019re really not dealing with the arguments of your opponent, the only thing you\u2019re dealing with is your misrepresentation of what your opponent is saying.\n\nAnd it\u2019s called a straw man fallacy because it\u2019s like a man of straw which falls over very quickly because it\u2019s not a real man, it\u2019s a straw man that you\u2019ve created.\u00a0 And people use\u2026 just watch people in politics, they do this all the time.\u00a0 If you vote for my opponent your social security check is going to be taken away, that kind of thing\u2026when the opponent never said that!\u00a0 But it doesn\u2019t matter, all you\u2019ve got to do is misrepresent what your opponent says and you win the election.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s called a straw man fallacy and sadly within Christianity there\u2019s a strawman fallacy over and over again. \u00a0Why is it a straw man fallacy?\u00a0 Because we have never said the church is plan B.\n\nWhat is the church?\u00a0 Ephesians 3:11 Paul describing the church, \u201cThis was in accordance\u201d the church \u201c with the\u201d what?\u00a0 What\u2019s the next word there, \u201ceternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d\u00a0 What is the church?\u00a0 Is the church plan B? Is the church an afterthought?\u00a0 Quite the contrary, the church was always part of God\u2019s eternal plan.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that the church was not revealed in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Humans didn\u2019t understand it, Daniel didn\u2019t understand it, Isaiah didn\u2019t understand it, Ezekiel didn\u2019t understand it, but God always knew it was there.\u00a0 And in fact God Himself foreordained for it to be there.\u00a0 And just because the whole material is not revealed in the Old Testament doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s an afterthought, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s an accident.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s plan B.\u00a0\u00a0 And watch this very carefully, it doesn\u2019t mean the church is less important than Israel.\u00a0 If it\u2019s part of the eternal purpose of God then the church is just as important as God\u2019s past dealings and future dealings with Israel.\u00a0 See that?\n\nSo this idea that we teach the church is plan B, I mean, I don\u2019t believe that; Paul the apostle didn\u2019t teach that.\u00a0 So why does he go around saying that?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s a great way to just disparage views that diverge from your preexisting belief system.\u00a0 And this is why a like this citation from Thomas Ice, who I think is doing better in terms of his health, he had a heart attack recently or a quadruple of quintuple bypass.\n\nBut he wrote this back in 2003. He says, \u201c\u201cIn almost 35 years since I have become a dispensationalist, I have never heard nor read of a dispensationalist teaching a plan B scenario. Yet opponents often present this straw man in their statement of what we supposedly believe. We believe that God\u2019s single plan has always included the Church, but He did not reveal the church age part of the plan in the Old Testament. . . . Paul states specifically that the church age \u2018was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord\u2019\u201d Ephesians 3:11, that\u2019s the verse we looked at a second ago which calls the church the eternal purpose of God.\u00a0 \u201cThis is why dispensationalists have never taught the so-called plan A and plan B theory that critics suppose we hold. Dispensationalists have always taught that there is a single plan carried out in stages.\u201d\u00a0 [Thomas Ice, \u201cThe Uniqueness of the Church,\u201d Pre-Trib Perspectives<\/em> 8, no. 6 (September 2003): 4]\n\nSo just because the plan came into existence because of the Jewish rejection of Jesus Christ doesn\u2019t mean the plan is outside of God\u2019s will and it doesn\u2019t mean the church age plan was somehow an afterthought in God; it\u2019s just as much part of the plan of God as is Israel, it just hadn\u2019t been revealed yet.\u00a0 And yet you\u2019ll find people using this language, plan B, over and over again. Even at Dallas Seminary, Darrell Bock, who is a progressive dispensationalist\u2026 what does that mean?\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to merge Reformed theology with dispensational theology.\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to find a middle ground between the two which is very common in postmodern circles.\u00a0 The way they think in postmodern epistemology, which is your doctrine of knowledge, is the truth is always in the middle somewhere.\u00a0\u00a0 So you find areas where people of divergent perspectives agree and once you find the common area of agreement that becomes the new truth.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 Postmodernism!\n\nRight now our nation is in a debate about gun control; one side says the second amendment (and I\u2019m on this side, by the way) is a God-given right, it shouldn\u2019t be infringed upon.\u00a0 Another side says no, guns are dangerous, so where\u2019s the truth in that?\u00a0 Well it\u2019s got to be in the middle. So we will promote (quote) \u201creasonable gun control\u201d (close quote) whatever that means, and then the next shooting will happen and they\u2019ll put out another piece of reasonable gun control, and by the time you\u2019re finished with all this reasonable gun control there won\u2019t be any second amendment left.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 It\u2019s a game of, I like to call it middle ground mania, that\u2019s how post moderns think.\u00a0 This is how progressive dispensationalists think.\u00a0 And so Darrell Back, I had him for some classes at Dallas Seminary, would ridicule the idea of the intercalation as misrepresenting it the same way R. C. Sproul does, as a plan B scenario when in fact that is nothing but a strawman argument.\n\nSo understanding the intercalation is so key to understanding our identity.\u00a0 I can\u2019t stress this enough and I\u2019m out of time and so we\u2019ll pick it up with points 9 and 10 next week, to show you that we still have a role in the kingdom once it comes.\u00a0 The kingdom is not here yet; we are heavenly people but that\u2019s not to say that when God establishes His kingdom through Israel the church will be non-existent in the kingdom.\u00a0 In fact, your New Testament is very clear that we play a role in the kingdom although the kingdom is not now.\u00a0\u00a0 Any comments or questions.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t