Across the World, Across the street.

I know it is hardly an original theme, nor is it particularly a very inventive theme, but this is what I have chosen for our Missions month.

Missions is to ALL the World.

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 It says teach ALL NATIONS.
Also:

Act 1:8  But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Here it mentions four different aspects to be witnesses in: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Well looking at what each of these things are, we see that Jerusalem is the city they were in, Judea was the "State" they were in, and Samaria was the nearest neighbour - leaving only "the uttermost part of the earth", which pretty obviously means everything else aside from those three first mentioned. In other words, the statement covers everything from where you live, to where you will never get to, and everything in between.

As a generalisation though, Christians seem to have forgotten about the first three mentioned areas.

"The uttermost parts" is (relatively speaking) the popular part, while the "our city" part is just too hard.

Then you have some who ignore the "uttermost part" and concentrate only their own little area.

This is just as bad, because there are four areas mentioned in Acts 1:8 and all four are considered by the Lord to be part of the Great Commission.

That is why our theme is "Across the World, Across the Street" - because it is vital that we are each and every one involved in sharing the Gospel with the people that we meet, the people that we work with, the people that we live near, the people near that good church on the other side of our city, or the one in the next city, or the one on the other side of our country, or the one on the other side of the world.

The Gospel isn't fulfilled because I speak to one person.
The Gospel isn't fulfilled because I give money so that a missionary can speak to one person.
The Gospel isn't fulfilled because the Pastor preaches in our church.

The Gospel is not about any one of these things alone - it is ALL OF THEM - teach ALL NATIONS, including our own.

As we have this month at our church where we consider the missions and missionaries that we know about, we have some decisions to make:

• Will add another missionary for financial support? (I think we should)
• Who would be the best to add for financial support? (There are so many who could use it!)
• What can our church do "Across our Street"?
• What can you do personally across your own street?

The Great Commission is to all nations - in our city, in our region, in our state, in our nation, AND to the uttermost part of the earth.
And it needs the help, the prayers, the effort, the commitment, and yes - the money - of each and every one of us.
But it must come from hearts that love the Lord.

2Co_9:7  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

God does want you to give, but He wants you to give because you love Him and because you love His service.
If you don't want to give your time to go across the street, then that is your choice.
If you don't want to give your energy to doing things that honour the Lord and spread His Gospel, then that is your choice.
If you don't want to give any money to help to finance missionaries to do the Lord's work, then that is your choice.
And you are free to make that choice.

God only really wants people serving Him who actually love Him, not people who are serving Him because they feel like they have to.

Willing hearts, Cheerfully giving.

So that the Gospel may be heard "Across the World, and Across the Street"

Has God cast aside Israel?

Has God cast aside Israel?

There is a whole raft of people out that that have been taught that Christians replace Israel as God’s chosen people. Those who teach this do so primarily so that they can apply the rules and laws pressed upon Israel onto Christians, and so that their teachers can take the authority and position of priests. Pastors are not priests (well at least not any more than any other saved person is a priest), but that is for another time.

This teaching, which takes several different forms and names, but which is called usually “replacement theology” or sometimes “covenant theology” seeks to divorce Israel from the Lord and have the Lord remarry another bride, Christianity. They usually talk about “the church” replacing Israel, but that is an erroneous understanding of the church.

The easiest way to see whether or not this idea is true is to see if the promises given to Israel are transferable to another. With that in mind, let’s look at the first of the promises made to the nation of Israel, before they wre

Let’s set a precedent:

Gen_9:16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

The “law of first mention” (which is not actually a law by the way) indicates that the first mention of something sets the primary meaning, and unless the context indicates otherwise, this primary meaning is the standard.

In Genesis 9:16 we have the first mention of an “everlasting covenant”.

I think we all understand that this particular everlasting covenant is not dependent upon this sinful and sin affected world in any way.

If it were, then we would have had at least one judgement flood since that time.

So, with the understanding that an everlasting covenant is indeed everlasting – otherwise it is not an everlasting covenant (Is that too simple a concept?), let’s look at another everlasting covenant.

Gen 17:2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

Gen 17:3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

Gen 17:4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

Gen 17:6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

Gen 17:7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for aneverlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Gen 17:8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Gen 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

Gen 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

Gen 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

Gen 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

Gen 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

Gen 17:14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

OK then, here we have an everlasting covenant that is given to Abram and to his children (thy seed after thee).

The sign of this covenant on the side of the people was circumcision.

Note however that as this is an everlasting covenant to Abram and to his seed after him, that the covenant is made to this group of people – IF AN INDIVIDUAL person refuses to be circumcised, then he has no part of the covenant.

That does not break the covenant for all those people but for the individual only.

Note also that there is NO OTHER CONDITION placed upon the people subject to this covenant.

Note also that this everlasting covenant is to a specific people and for a specific LAND.

This can not be an everlasting covenant if the Lord then takes it away from this particular group of people and transfers it to any other group of people, and in any case the removal of this covenant can only be upon individuals and only if they refuse to be circumcised.

This brings up two points:

1. Do the Jews still circumcise?

If the answer to that is “Yes”, then the covenant has not been taken from them, and still applies. It will always apply to the nation in any case, as the removal was only possible for individuals – hence it can be removed from an individual and still remain an EVERLASTING covenant.

 Even with circumcision, can this covenant be transferred to another people?

2. The Bible does not talk about this covenant being transferable. The possibility is never even mentioned. And if it was, there is still no provision in the making of the covenant that it can be taken away from the original subjects of the covenant.

The claim that this promise was taken from them because of disobedience is CLEARLY UNBIBLICAL. Only one form of disobedience was relevant to this covenant, and that only applied on an individual level, not a national level.

The land is the physical land that they were standing on, and it was promised under an EVERLASTING COVENANT to the actual physical seed of Abram.

To somehow make it apply in a spiritual sense to Christians today is an outrageous abuse of Scripture and an attempt to deceive by false teaching.

 This should put to rest any idea that God has fully and finally forsaken His chosen nation. The concept of an Everlasting Covenant is certain an irrefutable, and it applies clearly to the Nation of Israel. To remove it from them is to break God’s Promise.

There is of course more to it that just this one covenant, but God has not, can not, and will not remove this covenant from the nation of Israel.

I may discuss the concept further in another post at a later time.