The Centrality of Christ in Israel

Turning to Romans chapter 9 and this is part 4 of our series and my message this morning, the centrality of Christ in Israel, the centrality of Christ in Israel. Reading from Romans chapter 9 verse 1 and this is Paul the Apostle writing, I say the truth in Christ, notice where he is saying it, he is about to speak about Israel but he is saying the truth as it is in Christ. He's looking at Israel from the perspective of the person of Christ. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bear in me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word of God has taken on effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham, or the old children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called, that is they which are the children of the flesh, these are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed, for this is the word of promise, at this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son, and not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, and then turning over to chapter 11 of Romans, Romans chapter 11 and verse 1, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Will you pray with me here this morning as we come to the word of God. Father I thank you that Christ is the center of the written scriptures, every book, every passage, he is central in all of creation, he was central in eternity past, but here this morning will you show us in a remarkable way your divine purpose from eternity into time throughout history and making the Lord Jesus Christ to be central within a family, within a tribe, within a nation, Lord God, within a people, a remarkable people, Lord God, to whom you gave covenants, promises, prophecies, to whom you raised up many prophets, that not only expounded the present, but revealed the future that we are yet to see and come to pass, it is remarkable when we see your dealings with this people called Israel, you are the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, you are the God who makes covenants, Lord God, that swears in your holiness by yourself, you are the God that revealed yourself, that gave them the knowledge of your character and of your person, and we bless you this morning, will you reveal Jesus Christ in the midst of Israel this morning, in Jesus' mighty name, Amen. We looked last week at the centrality of Christ in the Bible, a remarkable message of seeing him in every single portion of the Bible wherever you look, but here in part four, I want to deal with the centrality of Christ in Israel, within a particular family and a nation, there are those in the church of our generation who believe in replacement theology, that the church replaced Israel, that God set aside for Sook cut off Israel, and that he brought in the church of Jesus Christ, this is a teaching called replacement theology, and it's actual heresy, it is a false teaching, it will confuse your thinking, to think that you can merely replace the name Israel in our Bible with the name church, you're going to make serious, remarkable mistakes, and I'm going to show you, first of all, that that is false, many years ago Candice in her home church in Durban, South Africa, she's told me more than a few times about a particular time when her pastor in that church back then, there were several hundred in the church, and he came on to a new revelation called replacement theology, what did he start teaching, the replacement of Israel by the church, that the names are synonymous, that all the promises suddenly become the church, and God has forgotten about Israel, finished with Israel, and set aside Israel, for 13 long weeks each Sunday morning in her home church, every Sunday morning for 13 weeks, you think I'm bad, for 13 weeks he preached on why the church has replaced Israel, she said it was very hot, the fans were high up, there was no cooling system in there, and for 13 weeks she sat and doodled, drawing pictures, writing things on her notebook, utterly disinterested, we have missed it so often in the church, by preaching and dealing with things that don't matter, but in preaching about Israel, I'm not going to miss the mark, you see I believe I cannot preach on Israel without expounding the Lord Jesus Christ, I want you to see very clearly before we go into this message, that God is not finished with Israel, that he still has a purpose, that the name Israel cannot be synonymous, or Jew is not synonymous with Christian, or Israel with the church, listen at this one verse here this morning, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 32, don't turn there, listen, gave none offense, neither to the Jew, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles did not confuse these things, he says there are Jews, there are Gentiles, and there is the church of God, they're not the same, Jews are radically different from Gentiles, and the Jew is different than the church of God, just because there's a church doesn't mean there's Jews anymore, we are not spiritual Jews, that term is never in the Bible, neither are we spiritual Israel, that doesn't appear in the Bible, we need to understand our terms, that God still has a unique purpose for Israel, and for the church, there's differences, there's certain prophecies for Israel, that although we get blessed by them, they're only specifically for Israel, not for the church, there's other promises for the church, which are specifically to the church, one extreme is replacement theology, that you say God is finished with Israel, God is never going to use them again, that the present state of Israel is no fulfillment of Bible prophecy, there's another extreme which actually makes idolatry of Judaism and of Israel, they keep the feast, they look at the moons, they celebrate these things as if we're meant to, they wear skull caps, they say to wear a Jewish prayer shawl, makes your prayers more anointed, and it reaches the throne of God quicker, they like to talk about Yahweh rather than the Lord or of Jesus, a lot of this becomes Jewish idolatry, it's a reaction against replacement theology, but both groups are confused about the place of Israel in the plan of God, I hope you'll get a clear vision, you see you'll never understand the place of Israel in God's plan or prophecy or his purpose until you look to Christ, when you speak about Israel in Christ, the truth in Christ, or you look at Israel from Christ's perspective or in the plan of Christ, then you get a clear vision, these other extremes are running after a nation or rejecting a nation, but if they really came to Christ, they would see the reality of this, you see the Jews were not the same as the Gentiles, even Christ recognized this, in John chapter 4 when Jesus sat at the well in Samaria, speaking to the woman who had five husbands, listen to what he said, or listen to what she said to him, ye worship ye know not what, we know what we, sorry it's Jesus speaking to her, ye worship you know not what, we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews, notice what Christ said to a half-baked interbred Samaritan, the Samaritans had a portion of the scriptures but they had mangled it, confused it, didn't have clarity, they picked and choose what they would have of the Bible, that's what a Samaritan was, and Jesus is saying to this woman who's just about to say, don't you realize salvation is of the Jews, we know how to worship God, you do not know how to worship God, salvation is of the Jews, he didn't say of the church, he didn't say of the Apostles, he didn't even say of him, he said salvation is revealed through the Jews, that tells me that Christ had a very clear vision of Israel, he didn't despise it, he didn't reject it, he actually honored them saying salvation in the plan of God is of the Jews, if you cannot accept that there's something wrong in your heart, you see Ireland has been a very anti-semitic nation, do you know why? Because of Catholicism, because of where you get old-fashioned Catholicism, they're very anti-Israel, that ought to alarm you and concern you, the name Israel occurs about 2,600 times in the Bible, when it talks about Israel, it's not talking about the church, it's talking about the children, the family, the generations of those who come out of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, it's talking about a family line, you could trace their DNA, you can trace their genealogy all the way back to Abraham, that is who Israel are, they're a people, they're a nation, they are a culture, they are a genetic makeup which was planned of God, these people are all through the Bible, you can't read the Bible really and be anti-semitic, you cannot love Jesus Christ and hate the Jew, how could you possibly do that? Jerusalem is mentioned 800 times in our Bible, Israel is mentioned 79 times in the New Testament and every time Israel is mentioned in the New Testament, it's not synonymous with the name church or Christian, you see often Israel is a type or a picture of the church, but it's not synonymous and that's a major difference, we can read in the Old Testament and see the church in it, a picture, a message, but it is not the church, you cannot replace them, every time the name Israel is used in the New Testament, it's talking about the family of Abraham, the natural seed of Israel, the term Jew is used 84 times in the Old Testament and 190 times in the New Testament the term Jew is used, you see Israel did bring people in from Gentile nations, so Rahab became a member of Israel, Uriah became a member of Israel, but they had to be converted, then they married into that system and become a part of that entire nation, God has revealed in Scripture that Israel and Jerusalem is God's timepiece, in other words if you want to tell what time it is in the world, you need to look at Israel, the only city in the world chosen by God was Jerusalem, no other physical city in the entire world was chosen by God, not one, Jerusalem is the only one written in Scripture time after time after time as being God's physical literal city with humans living in it, no other city in the entire history, the Hebrew prophets predicted that the future of Jerusalem it would be the capital of world dominion, that from there the Messiah would rule over all the earth with a worldwide religion, a worldwide political system, a social system that would be based around the Messiah and it is also called the throne of the Lord, look at the little nation of Israel today, it is smaller than Ireland, far smaller, I think maybe a quarter of the size, its population is very small on a worldwide basis and yet this little nation we find it not only central in the Bible, but listen this is my message this morning, the centrality of Christ in Israel, I'm going to show you a bit of God's plan and purpose in Israel and do you know what his ultimate plan for Israel, do you know why they're so unique, why they're the target of opposition in this hour in an amazing way, while Jerusalem is at the center of all of history, do you know why, because Christ is central to the little nation of Israel, I've got five points here this morning, first of all the centrality of Christ in Israel, wait for it, in eternity past, this is very important before I even move to scripture and the history and the birthing of a nation, I've actually got to take you back, if I look at the nation of Israel, the Jews, the Israelites, if I look at them when I read the Bible as the truth is in Christ, I actually find that I don't start with Israel, with Abraham, I don't find the beginning of the nation when I look at Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and these women who couldn't have children, who supernaturally were touched of God to bring forth children, I don't start there, you know what I've got to do, I've got to go back into eternity past and I find that in Christ, I find the centrality of Christ in Israel, in other words before time, before Adam, before the fall, I find that in Christ there was a plan to make Jesus central in the nation of Israel, I know I haven't convinced some of you, so I'm going to take you to the Bible and this is my first point, the centrality of Christ in Israel in eternity past, Romans chapter 11 verse 1, I say then hath God cast away his people? God forbid, if anyone tells you God's finished with Israel, you need to go to the Bible, God forbid, can you get it more clear, has God cast them away? Is replacement theology true? God forbid, this is the written scripture, for I, Paul speaking, I'm also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, you can't get it clearer, he's not speaking about his genealogy in the church, but of his ancestral family, God has not cast away his people, notice this, which he foreknew, God has not cast away Israel in this hour, do you know how I know it? God foreknew Israel, do you remember what foreknowledge means? It means in eternity past that God foreknew, a people who aren't existent before time, in eternity, outside of creation and the visible world, God foreknew Israel, why has God not cast away Israel? They're in rebellion, do you know today that about 25% of the nation of Israel living there are radical atheists, it's one of the strongest, a Jew that's an atheist is more radical than any other atheist in the entire planet, they are godless, they are sinners, they are reprobates, it is a wicked nation, but I want to tell you, God foreknew them, he hasn't finished with Israel yet, there's only about 1% of 1% of Israel believe in Christ, that's a very small percentage today, but you know what, God foreknew them, it's not talking about time after they were created, it's saying way back before time, God foreknew the nation of Israel, no other nation in the world does he say about that, he knew all nations, he knew everything he was going to do, but only Israel did he foreknew, do you remember what foreknowledge means, he loved, he had an intimate relationship, a deep concern, so we see that why has God not cast off Israel, because before time he foreknew Israel, listen again in chapter 11 verse 5, even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace, he's talking about Elijah's day, there were 7,000 who did not bow the knee, then Paul comes forward to his own day and he said and there's now in our generation there are certain Jews who still follow the Lord, they haven't compromised and he said why have they not compromised, why is it in every generation there's always some Jews saved, why is it some of them, I mean in every generation, even if it was only ones and twos here and there, 1% of 1%, why is there that 1% of 1% saved, because of the election of grace and so we see there's a remnant in Israel that were foreknown of God, they were elected of God, it's all of grace and if you do not bow the knee, it's all of God's grace being demonstrated in Romans 11 28, it says as concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, so at this time we know God has chosen Israel, we know he foreknows them and it's because he's got a plan and he's got grace that he's going to reveal, they are enemies for your sake, see today, see for 2,000 years now, Israel has been enemies of God for your sake, you've got blessed out of that and it says but as touching the elections, as touching the elections, they are beloved for the father's sake, I want you to see an entire people who have rejected the Messiah, rejected the gospel, rejected the love of God, who are either atheistic or they're orthodox Jews who rejected the Messiah and yet we see the centrality of Christ in eternity, why do you think God the father for new Israel? Why? Have a wild guess here this morning, if you've heard me the previous weeks, why is it an eternity past? God looked down through time and he looked on a rebellious backward people who kept backsliding and rebelling and who are in rebellion, they're blind to the gospel, why do you think God loved them for knew them and chose them? It was because of Christ, because of the Lord Jesus Christ and this why I call this the centrality of Christ in Israel in eternity past, why did God the father love them? Because Christ the son was there, he was central to Israel and so God the father says I choose out Israel, I choose the city of Jerusalem, I choose the seed of Abraham, I love them, they're going to rebel against me but I'll never forsake them, you know what they're my enemies for the gospel's sake that all of you might receive the gospel but in the father's heart they are beloved, they're, do you know God loves Israel? Oh yes they reject him but he loves them, you know why? Because of election, because of God's plan and purpose, do you know Israel were taught this during their time, listen to what it says in Deuteronomy, for they're not a holy people unto the Lord thy God, the Lord thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth, the Lord did not set his love upon you or choose you because you are more than number than any people for ye were the fewest of all the people but because the Lord loved you, why did he choose you? Because he loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, why didn't he leave them there and just start afresh, why didn't he forsake them? You know why? He had chosen them because he loved them and he swore an oath to Abraham, he said Abraham of your seed, your family I swear I make a covenant with you that I'm going to work perpetually in your family, then he come to Abraham's son Isaac and he said I make a covenant with you and with your children and then he came to Jacob, wayward Jacob would you have committed yourself to Jacob and he said Jacob I'm making a covenant with you and to your children after you, I actually believe that God moves in families like this that you can have such a relationship with God that God moves uniquely in a family line, I've seen families that are uniquely, other families may be one every now and again get saved out of it, but I've seen families it's remarkable what God does in that family line, but we're dealing here with God's divine purpose, know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God, the faithful God which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generation, this is my first point, I want you to see that in eternity past God loved Israel, chose him and had a plan for the entire history of Israel as a physical nation, a physical people because of Christ, Israel doesn't realize that today, why are they unique, why are they different, why are they attacked by the UN and all of the Muslim nations and all of the Arab nations and even the Irish government hate Israel, do you think that's natural, it's not natural, do you know that comes out of an eternal plan when creation wasn't here, nothing had been created, God actually had a plan in Christ for Israel, you say that's not fair, then go and read Romans 9 when you get home and then come back and speak to me, it's not fair, Paul deals with it in Romans 9, he gives an entire chapter talking to all those who say it's not fair, it's not fair that he saved you, you didn't deserve it, why should he love you, why would he love you, I only know one reason why he loved me, because of Christ, I only know one reason why he chose me, because of Christ, I only know one reason why he foreknew me, because of Christ, my second point, the centrality of Christ in Israel's Old Testament history, I'm going to have to preach five messages on this, but I want you to catch this simple thought of the place of Israel in God's plan, the centrality of Christ in Israel's Old Testament history that we have written here, I've got several points here that I want to show you to show you that Christ was central in the Old Testament in everything that Israel done, everything, you can't look at any area of Israel in the Old Testament and not see where Christ is central, in fact it's overwhelming, when I look at Israel, God made Christ central before he was born of the virgin, let me prove it to you, first of all the centrality of Christ in her scriptures, in Romans chapter 3 and verse 2, listen carefully, it says unto them, that is Israel, were committed the oracles of God, who received the oracles of God? Do you know what the oracles of God are? The spoken word of God written down, was it given to the Irish? It's well it wasn't, they would have lost it along the way, forgotten it, buried it, who knows what they would have done with it, it certainly wouldn't be here today, God actually committed, entrusted, gave over to Israel, the oracles of God, the spoken word of God, no other nation in the world, no other nation at all, not no westerner, no white man, it was given to the Jews that God committed to them, I'm talking about Christ being central in her scriptures, it also says in Acts 7 verse 38, speaking about Israel again, who received the lively oracles to give unto us, do you hear that? That they, Israel, received the lively oracles, the written word of God, the spoken word of God, in order that they could hand it over to us, do you know Israel preserved the written scriptures, they preserved the Old Testament, the Bible, 39 books of the Old Testament, it was committed on to them, why? So they could give it on to us, they actually had the Old Testament Bible, the prophets, the teaching, the moral law, the instructions, the commands, all of this was given to them, what are the oracles of God? The written scripture, the word of God, do you know in the Old Testament it says, thus saith the Lord, 3808 times, go and count it, all through the Old Testament, it is integral to the oracles of God, that God is speaking, in them we find the ten commandments, which reveals the righteousness of God, the Bible was given to the Jew, the Bible was given to a nation, a particular people, no other people in the entire world were entrusted with the written word of God, not one other single nation, Israel were given to it, God knew they would preserve it, God made sure they would protect it and copy it accurately, that was a task given to Israel, to bless the entire world, every other nation, they only had it to give on to you, do you know why they were chosen to have salvation? To give it on to the Gentile nations, this is God's plan, the early church's Bible, I mean the first century, what Bible did the early church use? What did Peter use and Matthew and Mark and Luke and John and Jesus himself? It was the Old Testament scriptures, the oracles that had been entrusted to Israel, became the Bible of the early church, they hadn't written the New Testament yet, the Old Testament was the Bible that they preached out of, their entire doctrine was based on the Old Testament, the Old Testament is quoted in the New 300 times minimum, that's about 4% of our New Testament is just direct quotes, some say it's as much as 8%, about 600 quotes, Paul the Apostle quotes the first five books of Moses 100 times, Christ quotes the Old Testament 60 times in his messages, do you know what that tells me? The apostles who preached Christ, preached from the Old Testament, the centrality of Christ is in our scripture, in our own written Bible, Christ is found everywhere in the Old Testament, in Acts chapter 8 verse 35, we read about Philip the evangelist who begins to evangelise a eunuch who's on his horse and chariot riding back to Ethiopia and the spirit of God says go and join yourself under the chariot and as he does this Ethiopian eunuch is reading the scroll from Isaiah, from Isaiah about the Messiah and he doesn't know what he's reading, Philip comes alongside and says do you know what you're reading? No I don't, get up and show me or explain it to me, then Philip opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and he preached on to him Jesus, do you know the Bible of the Jew is filled with Christ, it is, Christ is central in their Bible, if you ever speak to a Jew and they're holding to their word, you can say do you realise your Bible is filled with Christ, Christ is flowing over, I can preach Christ from your Bible, I've said this to Catholics before they say oh that's your Bible, we have a Catholic Bible, I said give me it and I'll preach, you must be born again, I'll show you that without the shedding of blood you're a sinner, I'll show you you need to repent and put faith in Christ, oh give me your Irish Catholic Gaelic Bible and I'll preach the Lord Jesus Christ out of it, it may be a bit obscured but I'll make sure the message hits home, one of the top preachers in America in recent decades called Andy Stanley, he's become very famous, listen to what he says, we do not need or the New Testament does not need propping up by the Jewish scripture, he's a top preacher in America, he says the generation creation, sorry the Genesis creation is a myth in Genesis chapter one, he says you can reject the history and the miracles of the Old Testament but still accept the New Testament, he said the resurrection of Jesus from the dead can be separated from the written scriptures in the Bible, do you hear how dangerous this is, this is one of the top prominent I think Baptist pastors in America, a mega ministry, he says, he goes further, you can reject the history of Israel but still embrace the grace of Christ, he said the apostles of Jesus unhitched the gospel from the Old Testament, he goes further, the foundation of our faith is not based on the written scriptures and he says we can unhitch Christianity from the Old Testament, do you wonder why I preach the things I do, because heresy becomes very popular, I've got to tell you that this Old Testament reveals the Lord Jesus Christ, any pastor who says we don't need the Old Testimony is a heretic, he is a liar, he's a deceiver, he doesn't even know the foundations, this man Andy Stanley is a false teacher, he's not regenerate, he's not born again, he preaches a Christ separated from the Bible, but you know what I want to tell you, the centrality of Christ in the Jewish scriptures, their Bible presents Jesus, the early church preached Christ from the written scriptures, also we see the centrality of Christ in Israel's covenants, listen Romans chapter 9 verse 4, who are Israelites? He's going to explain, to whom pertaineth the adoption, God adopted Israel as his adopted son out of Egypt, and the glory, who had the glory of God? Israel, and the covenants, so he's saying here Israel, Old Testament Israel had the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service of God, and all the promises, Israel had them, not you, they didn't belong to you as Gentiles, they were given to Israel, but notice one of the terms there, and the covenants, God not only gave the scriptures to Israel, he gave the covenants to Israel, not only is Christ central to the scriptures of the Jews, he is central to the covenants that were given to Israel, it says here that certain covenants were given to Israel, and we're going to find Christ is central in all of them, listen again to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 12, you may say why is this important for us, it doesn't mean anything, it's in your Bible written by an apostle to the church of Jesus Christ, this is for you, you may not have seen it before, but it's for you, Ephesians 2 12, that at the time that ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and note this, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world, you didn't have anything, if you don't have Christ, you don't have the covenants, Israel has the covenants of promise, in other words God made covenants, not just one, he made various covenants with Israel, and in those covenants were many promises, but they're not for you, you're outside them, they were given to a nation, how do you get them, through Christ, you see you were without Christ, but if you find Christ, these covenants become yours, they are covenants of promise, you see what covenants were given Israel, his covenant with Noah, I will not destroy the world again with a flood, I make a covenant with you Noah, and all of creation, I will not destroy this world with a flood again, I don't care how much it rains in Ireland, you can teach your children, my old great grandmother, I used to go and dung out her houses, her cows houses, if you don't know what dunging out means, you haven't lived, I want to assure you, Margaret knows what I mean, but I used to dung out all of her houses, and it would begin to pour down with rain, and then she'd shout out, Keith cup of tea, and I went running in, and I had to sit down with her, and as the rain poured down, she'd begin to preach to me, share with me, say God judged them with the flood because of their sin, and I'd sit there, yes great aunt Jenny, yes, and she would tell me about the flood, but God's covenant of grace with Noah and his family, do you know I've entered into the blessing of that, the covenant God made with Noah, do you know that Christ is a type of the ark that saved that family from the flood, and so you see this covenant belonged to Israel, what about the covenant with Abraham, that's another covenant, oh what blessings are in there, in the covenant to Abraham, there's the covenant to Israel, the covenant to David, and there's also the new covenant which Israel hasn't entered into yet, Jeremiah and Ezekiel talk about there's a day coming when I'm going to make a new covenant, not like the old covenant, it's a new covenant I'm going to make with you Israel, it's going to be based on better promises, it's going to be different than the law of Moses, do you know Israel has not entered into that as yet, but we the church have been blessed, do you realize through Christ, Noah's covenant that made with him comes on me, Abraham, David, you know this is about the sure mercies of David coming to you, since all of the promises that were Israel's too flew on to me, I haven't replaced Israel, God has not cast away Israel, but I as a Gentile have been brought right in, look at the covenant for a second with Abraham, in Genesis chapter 15 we're told that Abraham was put asleep, he prepared the blood sacrifices, they were parted, a trench was made, now look God told him to prepare all the blood sacrifices, you know why, I'm going to make a covenant with you Abraham and that covenant's going to be given Israel and Israel's going to carry it all the way down until the church arises and all the nations of the world receive and are blessed with the blessings of Abraham, so Abraham makes this covenant, sets everything up, do you know what happens next, God puts him into a deep sleep, in other words God's just about to make a covenant, who's he making it with, Abraham? No, he's actually not, it says in Genesis 15 17, and it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the pieces of the blood sacrifices, I want you to see this for a second, Abraham is fast asleep, it's not made primarily with him, it's called an everlasting covenant, therefore it didn't have a beginning, it came out of eternity, what is this covenant that's being made with Abraham, Abraham's fast asleep, I mean the most momentous thing is happening in his entire lifetime and there's Abraham in a deep sleep, but do you know what you have, no human eye can see it, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp are going between the pieces of the blood sacrifices, I'm talking about Christ being central in each of the covenants, look at the covenant made with Abraham, do you know what I see, there's two flames of fire walking together through the pieces making a covenant, do you know who made the covenant with Abraham, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, I believe it was the father and the son, you see this everlasting covenant was made between the father and the son to bless men on earth, Abraham was brought into this, it was in the midst of blood and we have God the father and God the son as flames of fire entering into a covenant with a man that's fast asleep that was trying to keep all the birds away from the sacrifice, this is remarkable or if you were to go to your New Testament, Luke chapter 172, speaking about Christ when he was brought into the temple to be dedicated and the old man of God prophesied and said, do you know what God has answered my prayers, surely this day I see the salvation of God, this little child's the Messiah, he's the child of God, listen to what else he said, to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swear to our father Abraham, do you realise when Christ was born it was actually God remembering his covenant, God had a plan, God had made a covenant with Israel and with Abraham and do you know what it was, Christ is central in every covenant, don't you know that Christ, Jesus Christ was at the centre of the covenant God made with King David and with Noah and with every individual. My next point, the centrality of Christ in her blood sacrifices, I'm talking about Israel in the Old Testament, Christ, when you look at the blood sacrifice in the Old Testament I see Christ, Hebrews 9.22, without the shedding of blood is no remission of sins, for 4000 years in the Old Testament we have the shedding of blood, from Adam and Eve all the way through, in the Jewish scriptures there is no forgiveness, no remission, no relationship with God, no covenant unless blood is shed, for 4000 years, that's how long God was teaching people, without blood you'll have no relationship with me and when you see the blood you've got to see Jesus Christ, in the Old Testament blood was shed to point you to Christ, when Adam and Eve sinned it says that they knew they had sinned, they knew they were naked and Adam and Eve went and hid themselves and they made aprons of fig leaves, then the Lord comes walking and you know what it says, it said that he clothed them with animal skins, do you know God was the first one who shed blood, the blood of an animal, your sin needs covered, your nakedness needs covered and God himself shed the blood of the first animal that ever died, blood had to be shed, do you know in that first incident I see the Lord Jesus Christ, it's pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ, what about Abel their son, he offered blood sacrifice, why? It's because Christ is always central to Israel's blood sacrifices, when we come to the nation of Israel we see that God has no dealings with Israel unless it's in blood, in Exodus chapter 12 on the night of the first Passover, they were commanded to take a lamb for a household, they shall take to them every man a lamb according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house, there was about 2 million people in Israel and in Egypt and if you consider this, if they gathered in groups of 10 in homes that means there was about 200,000 lambs had to die that night and yet in Exodus chapter 12 we only read about the lamb, never plural, six times we read the word lamb singular, in other words in Exodus 12 for the Passover God only saw one lamb in the nation and not one lamb, although there was probably 200,000 lambs died and were eaten that night, God only sees one lamb, in verse 3 he says a lamb, verse 4 the lamb, verse 5 your lamb, is he your lamb here this morning, is Jesus Christ your lamb, do you know all the blood sacrifices that were given Israel, keep the Passover, slay the lamb, shed the blood, do you know what it all was, it was to teach Israel about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins, to Israel were given five sacrifices, five distinct offerings that they were to keep all through the ages, do you know all five offerings represent Christ, there's teaching about Christ, the lamb that was slain at Passover is a picture, it was to be without spot, Christ was without spot, it was to be kept in their home for four days and inspected very closely, it had to be a male, no blemish, no broken bones, that's why Christ's bones weren't broken on the cross and on the 14th day they had Passover, they killed the lamb at about 3pm and the blood was shed through until about 6, do you know Christ died at Calvary on the cross, he was crucified at 3 and he lived until about 6 in the evening of that night, you see the blood sacrifices in Israel said you need someone to forgive your sins by blood, also going further the centrality of Christ in her tabernacle and temple, God gave a tabernacle to Israel in the wilderness, guess what that tabernacle represented Christ and when they camped at night, the tribes camped all around, the tabernacle was in the centre and you had tribes on each direction, each of the four directions, but Christ was central when they camped at night, in the actual tabernacle that was built by Moses, when you walk in through the door, the first thing that meets you is the brazen altar where blood is shed and do you know in the outer court it is central, if you drew a line from corner to corner, you're going to find that this brazen altar where blood was shed is right at the centre of everything, I'm talking about Jesus Christ being central in everything, in the scriptures, in the covenants, in the shedding of blood, in her temple, in her tabernacle, in her priesthood, when you have a high priest over Israel, Aaron the high priest, do you know who he is looking forward to, a perfect high priest, you don't get your prayers answered without the high priest, you can't offer prayers without the high priest, you don't receive anything without the high priest, your sins cannot be forgiven, the nation of Israel needed a high priest and yet they kept dying, they were imperfect, they had to offer sacrifices from themselves, but in Psalm 110 it talks about my Lord speaking to my Lord, talking about another priest who's going to arise after the order of Melchizedek, there's a prophecy in the Jewish scripture that your imperfect priesthood in the Old Testament is not enough, there's another priest coming, there is one a perfect priest, what about the centrality of Christ in the prophets in the Old Testament, remember Daniel that Jewish, he was a Jew, he was an Israelite, he gave the book of Daniel to the nation of Israel, not to the church, and do you know in that prophecy, it gives a prophecy, marking 483 years to Messiah, you could count the years, right up to Messiah, and then Messiah is going to get cut off, what is prophecy in the Jewish scriptures, it is pre-written history, the Bible is history before it happens, and it is inseparable to the Jewish scriptures, prophecy has its fulfilment in history, it predicts, it interprets, it explains, but more than that, the prophets in the Old Testament reveal Christ, nobody preaches Christ like Isaiah the prophet, he depicts Calvary in a remarkable way, that in fact is greater than the Gospels in the New Testament, he reveals it explicitly as if he was there, what about all the prophecies in the Old Testament about Messiah, there's more than 300 about the coming Messiah, 70 of them are major prophecies, 25 of them were fulfilled in a period of 24 hours, concerning Christ's rejection, his crucifixion, his burial, all of that happened within a 24 hour period, 25 ancient prophecies happening, do you know that Christ is central in all of the prophecies, all of the prophets of the Old Testament, and also when we look at the Old Testament and Israel, there's a centrality of Christ in her theophanies, you say what's a theophany, theophany, God manifesting himself or revealing himself in a human form, that's what a theophany is, it's a theological term to say that in the Old Testament when you read it, there are certain times where the Lord Jesus Christ comes down in a physical, visible, touchable form and reveals himself in Israel's history, let me just point out some of them, in Genesis 18 with Abraham, as Abraham sits at the door of his tent, here come three men walking, do you know who these three were, two of them are angels, one of them is the Lord Jesus Christ and goes in and eats with them, do you know how, he worships, he bows down and he worships, then two of the angels go to Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy it, and one of them tarries with Abraham and he pleads, what if there's 50, what if there's 40, what if there's 30, do you know who he's pleading with, this is someone walking who's ate in his tent, who actually sat with him in his own living room, there is someone who was visible, physical, who is this, the Lord Jesus Christ, do you know there's certain times in Israel that Christ revealed himself before he was born of a virgin, before he had a human body, before he took flesh on, there are times he revealed himself, many times he's called the angel of the Lord, in Genesis 32 we find the angel of the Lord wrestling with Jacob, listen he changes the name of Jacob, he says thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel, for as a prince thou hast power with God and with men and has prevailed, then Jacob said I'm going to call this place Peniel, which is the house of God, Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved, in John's gospel it said no man has seen God but Christ, Christ reveals God, no one has seen God and yet we actually have Jacob saying no I met God face to face, how could you, do you know who the angel was who revealed himself, remember the word angel doesn't always mean a created being, it's a messenger, the word is messenger, the one who wrestled with Jacob was a pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, or what about Exodus chapter 2, it says the angel of the Lord appeared at the burning bush and spoke to Moses, remember how he spoke and he said I am that I am, go tell them that no angel is going to do that saints, or what about Judges 13 where Manoah's wife who became this the mother of Samson, do you remember how an angel appeared and then she told her husband and there's a whole story there of this angel going up eating with them and then going up ascending out of the flames with a message about a child that you're gonna have, do you know they worshipped that angel, do you know who he was, it was a pre-incarnate Christ, what about Daniel chapter 4 in the fiery furnace, we have one like the son of God, there's about 40 to 50 incidents in the old testament that Bible scholars believe it's Christ revealing himself, remember in the book of Joshua he comes out he's about to fight the army, his enemies and he looks up and there's a captain of the host with a sword drawn, who do you think that is, it's not a vision, it's not a dream, it's not an apparition, this is an actual person revealing himself, all of these are pictures, saints what am I telling you here is that the centrality of Christ in Israel's old testament history, when you begin to study Israel is inseparable from the person of Christ, they have no past, they have no eternity, they have no future, they have nothing if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, thirdly the centrality of Christ in Israel's new testament history, let me be brief, when you look at the birth of Jesus it was through a Jewish virgin called Mary of Nazareth, but he was born in Bethlehem, we are actually given the genealogy of Mary and Joseph in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, you know what it does, it goes right back to King David, then it goes right back to Abraham the founder of the nation of Israel, then it goes all the way back to Adam, there are two genealogies in these two chapters which are the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ showing that he was born of a Jewish virgin, you never choose your mommy and daddy, there's plenty in this city never choose to be born, there's lots of parents who actually didn't want their children in this city, sad as it seems, they had children and said I didn't want them, I wish they'd never been born, do you realise Christ is the only one who choose to be born, he choose his mother, he choose the birthplace, he choose the nationality, he choose the culture, he choose the language, he choose even the job of his father, a poor carpenter, he knows that until the age of 30 he's going to work in a carpenter shop, do you realise Christ this was all in God's plan from eternity, he choose to take on not just the flesh of man, but the flesh of a Jew, the most hated race on the face of earth, then at 30 years old when he steps out into ministry, he begins in Nazareth, a Jewish village, in the synagogue, a Jewish place of worship, he opens the Jewish scriptures from Isaiah and he begins to preach onto them in the language of the Jewish people, when he steps out he chooses 12 Jews to be the first apostles, he plants the first church in the city of Jerusalem, the first ever church was made up all of Jews, converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, what am I saying, the centrality of Christ in Israel's New Testament history, Christ is central to the entire culture, look at his rejection and crucifixion, he was the fulfilment of all the prophecies, all the types, all of the blood sacrifices, he is the high priest, he is everything to Israel, you don't have a nation of Israel without the Lord Jesus Christ, when they rejected him, it spelled their doom, their cutting off and their rejection for almost 2000 years, when he was raised from the dead, he ascended to the right hand of the father, what did Christ do? He poured out his spirit in a room in the city of Jerusalem, as far as I know they were all Jews, born Jews, bred in a Jewish culture, their first language was Hebrew most likely and there you have Christ himself pouring out and sending the first revival ever to come to the church, the church was Jewish at its beginning, they preached from a Jewish Bible, how could you be anti-semitic? It's radically impossible, when you see Christ, you begin to look at Israel differently, you don't worship them, you don't try to act like them, we don't go back to our Jewish roots, I'm not trying to find my identity in the nation of Israel, I don't try to understand the Bible by looking at Israel, I look at Christ, I understand this book when I look to Christ, I find my identity in the person of Christ, in Romans chapter 11, we read about Israel being cut off and the church being grafted in, do you know Israel, this is a shocking statement for most of the church, Israel is not the roots of the tree, they were only a branch, the church did not get grafted into Israel, Israel was a branch that got cut off, the church is a branch that comes in, who is the root? Jesus in the New Testament is called the root of Jesse, the root of David, in other words, he is the roots, he is the seed, he is the originator, he is the alpha and the omega, he is absolutely everything, since I want to tell you of the remarkable position Christ has in Israel, you cannot understand Israel, you can't even understand why God would choose Jerusalem or choose them as a people, you can't understand why they're so persecuted, you'll never understand the holocaust if you don't see the people in Jerusalem saying, let his blood be upon us and our children, then you begin to understand you rejected your Messiah, salvation, forgiveness, mercy, grace, the love of the Father, you actually rejected it, let me close quickly on point four, the centrality of Christ in Israel's future history, you don't understand what's just about to happen to Israel unless you see it in Christ, it makes sense in the Lord Jesus Christ and we have taught on this before of God's plan for Israel in the last days, look at the history of Israel from 1948, when Israel after being scattered in all nations since AD 70 in 1948 and one day they're born as a nation again, on that day, the first day of the new existence of Israel, 40 million Arabs that are highly armed with tanks, organized armies with a history, they all attack a population of just over half a million Jews, women, children, no organized army, 40 million of an army against a nation barely over half a million, who won? Israel won, what about 1956 the Sinai war, the seven day war, again they're attacked, who won? It was Israel, 1967 a six day war, they were outnumbered nearly three to one in men, planes and tanks, but guess what? They took Jerusalem back against their enemies for the first time since AD 70 and they took the wall back, they gained three times as much ground, they almost took Cairo, Damascus and Amman, they were triumphant, a small tiny nation, you're talking about millions of that army coming against them, 1973 the Yom Kippur war, at one point only 90 battered tanks were defending Israel against an Arab army that was remarkable, guess who won? Since you cannot understand Israel, why is it this atheistic, rebellious, Christ hating nation, the Orthodox Jews are radical against Jesus, they hate the New Testament, they hate Christians, they don't let Christians evangelize there, do you know that you cannot understand the little nation of Israel, we don't worship Israel, it's only a nation, they're sinners, but I'm telling you they're precious, if they're precious to God the Father in his foreknowledge and choosing them, shouldn't I have a love for them for their salvation? If the Apostle Paul said, oh that I could be accursed, cut off from Christ, that they might be saved, who here would say, let me be cut off from Christ, if Limerick can be saved? I wouldn't dare put those lips with meaning and yet the Apostle Paul said, oh that I was accursed, cut off from Christ eternally, that Israel might be saved again, do you know God's got a plan for Israel that's remarkable, there's going to come a Christ centered revival at the end of Ezekiel's war, you see Ezekiel 36 to 39 talks about Israel being regathered, restored, resurrected as a nation, gathered in from all nations of the world, and at a certain point, Russia, Magog is going to attack, and Iran, Persia, and Turkey, and there's going to be a union of nations that fall on the mountains of Israel, it's never happened yet, but you know what happens at the end of that is a Christ centered revival, I read about it all through the Bible, at the end of Ezekiel 39, it says there, neither will I hide my face any more from them, for I have poured out my spirit on the house of Israel, I believe this is the same revival as is revealed in Zechariah 12, I will pour out upon the house of David, if you go to Zechariah 12, you read about terrible wars coming against Israel, then of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they pierced, it talks about in Jerusalem, a fountain being opened in the house of David, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a new covenant is going to be made with them, this is yet to come, it's never happened, in 2000 years, it has never happened, never happened, it is yet to happen, that God is going to, after Russia falls on the mountains of Israel, he's going to pour out his Holy Spirit, and a revival is going to come to Jerusalem, and you know what, it's going to be the blood of Jesus, it's going to be the one who was pierced, it's going to be the Messiah, there's going to be a mighty revival comes to them, a Christ centered revival is coming to the nation of Israel, also a Christ centered return, just after this revival, it talks about Israel being besieged by enemies, a third of them only being left from this attack, they're about to be annihilated, and just at that point we read about Christ returning to Israel, to Jerusalem to save them from their enemies, it says in Zechariah 14, behold the day of the Lord cometh, and the spoils shall be divided in the midst of thee, I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished, half of the city will go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people will be cut off from the city, what a terrible condition, then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle, and his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east on the Mount of Olives, and it shall cleave, you not only are going to have in the future a Christ centered revival come to Israel, you're going to have a Christ centered return of the Messiah, he's going to stand, his feet are going to be placed on the Mount of Olives, in fact you're going to see him physically, visibly, literally, he's going to stand, the entire nation of Israel will see the Messiah that they've rejected for two millennia, do you know what, he's not coming to Dublin, he's not coming to London, he's sure not coming to Washington, he's not coming to Moscow, he is going to return to Jerusalem, do you think we can suddenly spiritualize this, and make it something else, whenever terminology is very clear, God has not finished with Israel, Romans chapter 11 actually said he's going to graft them back in, he's going to save them, and when he saves Israel, when he pours out the spirit, it's going to be a resurrection from the dead of the Gentile nations, do you know what, the church is going to experience its greatest revival before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, I believe Israel is going to get grafted back in, there's going to be a national revival, and that's going to trigger right across the world, a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit, this is in an hour that we're now living in, as technology arises, as the scene is set for the mark of the beast, we are going to have one last visitation of God, to save Israel before the hour of Antichrist, the church is just about, before wrath is outpoured, the church is going to have an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, church, I want to tell you simply, of the centrality of Christ in the nation of Israel, that when you look at Israel, you see the Lord Jesus Christ, she's lying spiritually dead, but I promise you, very shortly, she's going to wake up and realise who her Messiah is, what the prophets preached, that the covenants were concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and there's going to be a consummation of God's everlasting purpose, that's going to stretch back out into eternity, will you stand with me here this morning, thank you Lord Jesus, hallelujah, oh we bless you, we praise you, my God, my God, my God, I pray oh God, grip every single heart, Lord God, with the divine purpose of God, we are watching your dealings, if you could cast away Israel, then you could cast away us, the church, if you could cut them off, and never love them, and forget your eternal plan, then you could do the same with us, the church, the body of Christ, but my God, I know that you love that little nation, it doesn't deserve it, there's no reason in them, while you should fulfil your divine purpose, and yet oh God, you love that nation, and it's an instrument of hatred, but thank you God, you're coming with revival again, you're going to pour out your spirit on the Jews, the Israelites, the Arabs, and the surrounding nations, my God, it's a dark hour, but you're going to shine forth in power, and show that you are the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, that you're the God of ancient revival, and my God, where these revivals started, you're going to return to one more time in Jesus mighty name.