Christian... The Enemy DOES NOT Want You to Hear This | Israel & The End Times

I want to talk to the person who is legitimately grappling with their heart going, what's going on and how do I make sense of this? Like, wow, this war that's happening over in Israel and everybody is saying all of this stuff and it's confusing.

And prophecy's being fulfilled and the return of Christ. And it feels like a very terrifying moment. And it is.

It's lamentable that the response to a lot of this, like you said, has been driven by, yeah, the kind of eschatology war perspective and a lot of fear-mongering and just, it's not very helpful to Christians in America or any other place for that matter.

The Church’s Response to War, Fear, and Prophecy

And if we were to ask the question and then answer it, what are we called to do regarding an Israelite or a Muslim terrorist? What are we called to do? I think it's from the mission of the church perspective, it's pretty clear.

We would preach God's law, right? Here's God, here's who he is, here's what he requires. And you're undone by that just like I am. The law is good and righteous and holy and you're not. We start there.

But then we herald Christ. But have you considered Jesus? The one who is Israel's greater son, right? The one who is the point of everything God was doing in and through this nation. Have you thought about him and how he is the fulfillment of every promise God ever made and how he is going to usher us into the new heavens and the new earth because he has dealt with our sin, he's endured the law's curse for us, and he fulfilled all the law's righteous requirements.

And then he was buried and he resurrected and he conquered death and he conquered the enemy. He descended into hell to liberate and he has set God's people free, right? And that's what we say. So trust him.

It's sad that we would ever have a different response than that. And we get so distracted by things that are not the point. And everything, like you said, becomes so politically motivated. And man, we just, we end up falling into the trap of fear and we divide and we argue when in reality, we should grieve, we should weep, and we should preach the gospel.

And we should invite people in to taste and see that the Lord is good and that Christ is a savior, you know?

The Mission of the Church Does Not Change with End-Times Views

All right, let's just say our eschatology is wrong, Justin. And let's just say that our friends, our dear beloved friends who we love and respect, that there's gonna be this rapture and this tribulation and all this stuff, okay?

How does it change the mission?

It doesn't.

Exactly.

It doesn't change the posture or the mission because unless you are not a Calvinist and somehow you believe that you can persuade through manipulation people into the kingdom, the only thing that brings people from death to life and grow them in Christ is a proclamation of the gospel.

Right, that's it.

The message of Jesus.

You cannot use fear of hell and tribulation to convince them to repent because no one can repent because they're dead. You give them the law, hey, look, you're dead. Guess what dead souls need? They need life.

Do you want to hear what life is? Then you give them the gospel. So I understand it's intriguing, it's fascinating. It's almost like, wow, the Bible's real. And there's a sense where it draws you to it.

I think that in my opinion, it's a great tactic of the evil one because what does the evil one want to do? He understands, he knows that the power of the gospel is what defeats death. It's what brings people.

So he wants to stop that message. So if he can get us talking about anything but the power of the gospel, then he wins. Because what is, Paul says in Ephesians 6, he says that the sword is the word of God.

So if we're not advancing the very thing that transforms and saves people, then at this moment, what is the church here for? And this is what ends up happening, Justin, is that we become justice warriors, we become prophecy warriors.

We become infatuated with that which does not have the tag power of God on it. This is the power of God. And so if my dispensational brothers are real and there's a tribulation coming, all the more reason to stay faithful and focused on loving the church and proclaiming the gospel in your local city because the Christ is returning.

Whether you're an all-male, pre-male, or post-male, I think that doesn't change.

Romans 11, Gentile Inclusion, and the One People of God

And even as we think about Israel in particular, because I don't want us to be misunderstood on this, I'm preaching through the book of Romans now and I'm out of the pulpit for a few weeks at the present moment, but I'll be in Romans 11 soon.

And there are some great words written there about Gentiles being saved. And you and I are Gentiles, John. And the vast majority of the members of my church are Gentiles. We've got a few Jewish members, praise the Lord.

That said, Paul's ink that he spills in Romans 11, it should speak to us all that we as Gentiles have been grafted into the natural branch, the natural tree that is representative of God's people whom he's saving, right?

Israel is the natural branch and we as Gentiles are being grafted into the people of God, the one people of God from all time, right? And so what that should mean for us as Gentiles is that we're humble and that we count it, I'll say this, we count it an honor to be grafted into the one people of God from all time.

So do not in any way hear us acting like, oh, well, these guys just don't care about Israel. That is not at all what we're saying. We count it a privilege to be grafted into the one people of God from all time.

And what we're saying now in the era of the new covenant, the covenant of grace established when Jesus has come, the mission of the church is to preach Christ to all men, Jew and Gentile alike. And we all, Jew and Gentile alike, at the end of this whole thing are gonna be around the throne of God, praising the one who's seated there and praising the lamb.

And we'll all be there because we've got robes on that have been washed and made white in the blood of the lamb. And it's gonna be wonderful. And I think we'll understand things obviously then that we don't understand now, but let's not get this thing confused and be arguing over political things and misapplying biblical covenants and scaring people.

Let's not do that. Let's hold out the hope of God's one plan to save his people from all time, Jew and Gentile, and let's herald Jesus to one another. And so let this, we know Thanksgiving's coming, and there's probably gonna be a lot of conversations around the table about any number of things.

And if you're in a believing household, you may very well be talking about the events going on in Israel. We hope that that's an encouraging conversation. Weep, pray, pray for mercy, pray for justice, all of those things, and then ultimately land on God's promises to us through Christ, whether you're a Jew or a Gentile.

That's what we would hope you'd do.

Thank you.