September 17, 2023 • 25 mins
Are you seeking a fresh perspective on faith? On today's episode, we journey through the awe-inspiring visions of John's divine encounter in Revelation. Picture this - John praying on the Lord's Day, a voice like a trumpet, the sight of seven golden lampstands and the Son of Man. An image that has been a beacon of hope for many over the years, yet during a teaching session in Israel in 2019, a new understanding unfolded. Join us as we dissect this profound revelation.
Fasten your spiritual seatbelts as we navigate through the second part of the episode, where we draw strength and inspiration from the compassionate act of Jesus washing the disciples' feet in John 13. In today's world filled with turmoil, this symbolic act of service and humility reminds us that Jesus will set things right, offering hope to those searching for something more. If you've made a decision for Christ or feel the call to lead someone to Jesus, this is a conversation you wouldn't want to miss. Tune in for an enriching exploration that is sure to inspire and challenge you in your faith journey.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I give youthanks for today, for this
evening, for the day that wasyour day, the Lord's day, as it
were, father, the day that yourose from the dead and conquered
death in the grave, one timefor all time, for all who would
(00:21):
believe.
I pray today for my Jewishfriends.
I pray for them every day.
I pray for the peace of Israel,lord, and I pray for a coming
of the Hebrew believer, lord,that they would be able to put
(00:41):
it all together, all together,and that you would just show
them and answer their questionsand deal with the fact that
there are specific verses inyour Word that are closed verses
for them, lord, and I also prayfor families that are
struggling, lord, I pray forfamilies that are struggling in
(01:04):
this age, this last age, lord,as we struggle for food and
shelter and the basic needs.
Lord, some people are very muchstruggling, lord, and I ask
that you would be with them andthat you would provide for them
and, most importantly, that youwould show them that you are the
provider, that it's not theirguile or their cleverness, lord,
(01:30):
it's you that left a bag ofgroceries on the doorstep from
nobody.
In particular, lord, I pray formy church family.
I pray for all of them, forWill, and for all of the people,
(01:51):
my school and ministry folks.
I pray for all of you.
I pray for all of you every dayand, lord, I mostly pray for
the people within the sound ofmy voice, the people who have
taken the time, lord, to sitdown and listen to a podcast.
Lord, I give you thanks forthis medium.
Lord, may your words go forthtoday, and it's in the mighty
(02:13):
name of Jesus that we pray.
Amen.
Okay, gang, let's go ahead andget started.
We are picking up right wherewe left off.
We're going to pick up in verse12 of Revelation, chapter 1,
new King James Version, and amessage that I've entitled
(02:34):
Grafted Believers and theGlorified Christ, part 1.
So we're going to read.
So, if you'll open your Bibles,if you're able to, the book of
Revelation, chapter 1, verse 12.
And let's pick up right there.
And it says then I turned tosee the voice that spoke with me
(02:56):
and, having turned, I saw sevengold lampstands.
In the midst of the sevenlampstands, one like the Son of
man, closed with a garment downto his feet and girded about his
chest with a gold band.
There's a lot there in just twoverses.
There's a lot there and we'regoing to stop there and we're
(03:19):
going to take it a bit at a time.
We're going to go back a littleand we're going to go back a
little and Go through what we,what we talked about last week,
which is that John was in prayer.
(03:41):
He was in prayer on the Isle ofPatmos and he's praying on the
Lord's Day.
Okay, that's what it says in Inthat verse.
He was praying on the Lord'sDay, he was in the spirit on the
Lord's Day, as opposed to theday of the Lord.
Now, the four translations Ireferenced this is consistent
(04:04):
wording the Lord's Day, theLord's Day being Sunday as
opposed to the day of the Lord,referencing to the Lord's Day of
Judgment.
Okay, now, there's a lot that'sgonna happen moving forward.
So just hang on to that, butknow that it was a Sunday.
And as we wrapped last week,jesus spoke to John and gave him
(04:26):
his marching orders.
Let's pick up back a couple ofverses for context.
In chapter 1, verse 10, it saysI was in the spirit on the
Lord's Day and Heard behind me aloud voice as of a trumpet
saying I am the Alpha and theOmega, the first and the last
and what you see right in thisbook and send it to the seven
(04:47):
churches which are in Asia ToEphesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos,
to Thyatira, to Sardis, toPhiladelphia and to Laodicea.
That's Revelation 1, 10 and 11.
Okay, so then John turns, andthis is where we pick up this
week.
John turns and he sees therisen and glorified Jesus.
(05:11):
It says, and this is just, thisis a, this is a mind bender.
It says.
Then I turn to see the voicethat spoke with me and, having
turned, I saw seven goldlampstands and in the midst of
the seven lampstands, one likethe Son of man, clothed in a
garment down to his feet andgirded about his chest with a
(05:33):
gold band.
So we're gonna, I'm gonna sharesomething with you, and I
teased this a couple of weeksago Seven golden lampstands.
What do you think of?
For years and I'm gonna be realhonest for years upon years,
every time I read this sectionof scripture, every time I read
(05:54):
it, up until 2019, I sawcandlesticks.
You know the big brasscandlesticks with a giant candle
in them, and then there'sanother big brass candlestick
with another giant candle in it.
As a former acolyte, it was myresponsibility to light those
candlesticks, dependent uponwhere we were on the calendar.
(06:19):
Okay, so that's what I saw.
Okay, and it's what you see ina lot of Protestant churches
there's candlesticks.
Okay, then I would see Jesuswalking among these candlesticks
.
Right, and it's always this,this visual of you.
Know, it's nice and it's abeautiful picture and it's even
(06:41):
peaceful a little bit.
Then, in February of 2019, Ifound myself seated with
Messianic Jews in Israel whilethis verse was taught.
I Was jet lag, exhausted andfighting to stay awake in church
.
I hadn't fallen asleep inchurch Since I'd been saved in
(07:02):
2004 and I wasn't gonna breakthat record.
I, I was exhausted and I'mfighting to stay awake.
And the pastor reads revelation12 and 13, what we just read,
and as he, as, as he reads it,he puts up a picture on the, on
the monitor, of a menorah, themenorah that marks the beginning
(07:26):
, in the Jewish quarter in theold city.
There's, as you enter theJewish quarter, there's a giant
menorah in there.
Okay, in the street built inthe street, giant menorah in the
Jewish quarter.
And Then he puts up a pictureof the menorah as it would have
appeared in the temple.
Okay, as it would have lookedthen.
(07:47):
You.
They are not seven independentlampstands.
They are seven lampstandsattached to a unifying tree,
jesus, a Tree that we Gentiles,non-jews I'm a Gentile, anybody
who's not Jewish is a Gentilehave been grafted into.
(08:10):
I Was absolutely blown away.
A standard menorah and menorahhas seven Candle sticks attached
to it and and there are sevenplaces to put your candles right
.
It's a seven candle menorah.
I have two of them.
I have one from Israel that Igot in Israel, and then I have
(08:33):
one that I bought.
That is is a little bitdifferent, it's a little bit
larger, but and and the one Ibought is interesting because it
is it has the star of David andthen the fish of Jesus, the
(08:55):
fishers of men, the fish, whatwas drawn in the in the dirt to
let people know in the firstcentury that you were Christian,
and it's all attached andthat's kind of what I'm getting
at.
Okay, I was blown away as I'mwatching this thing and I'm just
blown away and I said under mybreath, I said it's a menorah,
(09:16):
it's a menorah.
And I looked at one of thehosts that was sitting next to
me and I whispered it again,adding everything is connected.
He smiled Padme on my shoulder,thanks, lair, it is connected,
friend.
Jesus came for the Jew first,and Then the Greek, okay, or the
(09:40):
Gentile, all right, turn to twospots for me.
In Romans, book of Romans, ifyou come to the left from
Revelation, it's right after thebook of Acts, okay, matthew,
mark, luke, john, acts Romans,okay, acts Romans.
And you're gonna go to Romans,chapter one, and we're gonna
(10:04):
pick up in verse number 16.
This is Paul writing to theChristians in Rome and he says
for I am not ashamed of thegospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God to salvation foreveryone who believes, for the
Jew first and also for the Greek.
A Careful reading of scriptureTells you that, or maybe even a
(10:28):
not so careful reading ofscripture, but I think it's
something that we miss.
Jesus was a Jew.
They called him Rabbi.
Okay, he was a Jew.
He was brought up as a Jew.
He was he.
He Knew the Torah the OldTestament, as we call it, okay
and was taught the Torah.
(10:49):
And, as a matter of fact, inLuke I was just talking to my
mother about this last night inLuke, when he was 12 years old,
jesus got separated from hisfamily after the Passover in
Jerusalem and they were likehalfway home before they
realized he was gone and theywent back and were frantic and
were looking for him and Jesus,at 12, was in the temple
(11:10):
teaching the scribes and thePharisees and the religious
leaders.
So Jesus was a Jew, okay, andhis followers to a man, all 12
disciples were Jewish.
Okay, this is something that ismissed and it's something that
(11:33):
Was pointed out to me when I wasin Israel.
Okay, you know, all the nameshave been changed.
Okay, joseph is Yosef.
Okay, mary is Miriam.
Okay, in Hebrew, and Jesus isYeshua, yeshua, and this was a
(12:02):
very Jewish thing.
That happened.
Ok, they were Jewish, all ofthem, and I think we miss that a
lot.
And so, when they say for theJew first and then the Greek,
jesus came for the Jew first andthen the Greek.
Ok, and then, if we go overinto into Romans a little deeper
(12:28):
, we're going to go to Romans 11and pick up in verse 17.
Ok, and this is really reallycool because it ties everything
together.
Paul again says and if some ofthe branches were broken off, ok
, we're talking about the Treeof Life, we're talking about
(12:49):
Jesus here and we're talkingabout the beginnings of our
faith.
And if some of the brancheswere broken off and you, being a
wild olive tree, were graftedamong them with them, because a
become a partaker of the rootand the fatness of the olive
(13:11):
tree.
So I stumbled a little bit.
Let's read it again.
And if some of the brancheswere broken off and you, being a
wild olive tree, were graftedin among them and with them,
became a partaker of the root,of the fatness of the olive tree
, what Paul is saying is thatthe Gentiles were grafted into
(13:35):
the faith.
Ok, we were grafted into thefaith.
The very first Gentile to beconverted was Cornelius.
He was a Roman centurion andyou can find that account in
Acts, chapter 10, and Peterconverted him, and I would
suggest reading that entirechapter.
(13:56):
It is unbelievably powerfulbecause it talks about you know,
it's just the way the Lord laidit out for Peter, explaining to
him what he wanted him to doand how he wanted him to do it.
But we're grafted in.
That's what the menorahrepresents here.
Each candlestick represents oneof the churches in Asia OK, one
(14:19):
of the actual churches in Asiaand and while it represents
while it's representative,rather, of the actual first
century churches, thecandlesticks also represent each
type of church in our worldtoday.
God is so good, god's word isso good, game it's, it is
(14:41):
absolutely put together.
Put together so that we canunderstand exactly what we're
looking at here.
We're looking at a, at a, at a,at a faith that is grafted
together, based on Jesus and himcrucified and now glorified for
(15:01):
the Jew first and then Greek orthe Gentile.
So let's pick up now, back inverse 13.
, because there's something elseI want to show you.
And in the midst of the sevenlampstands, one like the Son of
(15:21):
man, clothed with a garment downto his feet, girded about his
chest with a gold band.
That's Revelation 1, verse 13.
So now, just in case, ok, justin case you know when one girded
themselves, when you read thatin Scripture, he's girding
(15:42):
himself, and you know what doesthat mean?
Well, the garments that theywore were like gowns.
They, you know, maybe they hadsleeves, maybe they didn't, but
most of the time they were downbelow their knees, and some of
them came down even ankle length, ok, and in this case down to
(16:02):
his feet, right.
And so if there was work to door a battle to fight, or you had
to run to get somewhere, agarment was girded, it was
picked up and tied off at thewaist to allow freedom of
movement, or at least above theknee, so that you could move
your legs.
Ok, jesus was girded with atowel.
(16:29):
Turn over to John 13, for and Ialso encourage you to read this
account because this is amazingstuff it's when Jesus washes the
disciples feet right before thecrucifixion.
It's powerful stuff.
And he girded himself to washthe disciples feet, girded
(16:54):
himself with a towel and washedthe disciples feet.
This is servant Jesus.
This is he's ministering to hisfollowers, the disciples, even
Judas.
He's even ministering to Judasat this point.
He's ministering to hisfollowers.
But notice, as we close thedifference here he's girded this
(17:21):
time too, but with a gold band.
He came girded.
You have to get girded.
He came, he was ready to battleand to judge Gang.
I broke this up and Ioriginally wasn't going to do it
(17:42):
, but in interest of time andcontinuity I broke this up and
we will tackle.
We will tackle probably therest of this chapter next week.
Okay, in the meantime, I want tokind of go back and take a look
(18:02):
at a couple of things here.
I want to say some things toyou, and that is this First of
all, don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid I don't knowwhy I'm saying that right now.
It's a word for somebody butdon't be afraid.
All of the things that arehappening in this world, all of
(18:22):
the things that are going on andall of the stuff that that
everybody wants you to payattention to, and all of the
evil that men do unto themselvesand others.
Don't be afraid.
Jesus is coming back and he'sgoing to set it right.
And, friend, if you're abeliever, take solace in the
(18:49):
fact that you are grafted intoan amazing history of faith to
which you add your own story andyour own walk.
And for those who this podcastwas given to or you stumbled on
(19:10):
it or whatever, the whatever thecase may be and maybe you're
lacking, maybe you're lackingsomething in your life.
Maybe you've had a ton ofheartbreak, maybe there's not a
dad in the home, or you comefrom a broken home, or just
things just haven't worked outthe way they want to, they
should, or they should have theway you planned on it to be.
(19:33):
Maybe you're in a jail celltonight.
That's entirely possible.
Maybe you're in a jail celltonight, or you're out on the
street, or you're out on thestreet, sitting in a shelter
listening to this.
I don't know.
Any number of things could bepossible.
But I want to talk to you realquick.
And I read today or read thisweek that there was no kinder
(20:04):
thing that could ever be donethan to lead someone to Jesus.
And then I was speaking to mymother last night and made
mention of the fact that I'mcalled to do this and I am.
I know that.
And it's with that in mind,friend, that I say to you if
(20:24):
you're broken, if you'd say tome, larry, you don't know what
I've done, I don't need to knowwhat you've done, god knows.
And if you want to be graftedinto a history of faith and have
a relationship with a living,breathing, real Jesus who is
coming back to set things right,if you want that, all you have
(20:52):
to do is submit yourself andrepent.
Repent it's a fancy Bible wordfor turn away.
Turn away from your sins, turnaway from the things that that
you have done.
You know that, you know in yourheart are not pleasing to the
Lord.
And you can repent by saying,just talking to him and just
(21:14):
saying Lord, dear Jesus, I'm asinner, I'm in need of a savior,
I'm broken.
Right now I'm lost, I'm scared,I don't have anybody, but I want
you, lord.
I want to repent from all of mysins, all of the things that I
(21:37):
have done that have made youunhappy, lord.
I'm sorry.
I believe, lord, that you cameand you walked among us.
You taught us, you loved us andyou were crucified, died and
(21:59):
you were buried, and on thethird day God raised you again
from the dead, from my sins,from me, from me, and I want to
be part of your family.
I want you to be my Lord, myGod, my Savior and my friend,
and I want to walk with you allthe rest of the days of my life.
Thank you, jesus, amen.
(22:25):
If you prayed that prayer,welcome to the family of God,
welcome to the family of God,and you know, god's word says
that if you speak with yourmouth the name Lord Jesus and
you believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead,
(22:47):
you shall be saved.
That's all the time we havetoday.
But if you made a decision forChrist, I sure want to know
about it.
I sure want to know about it.
You can drop me a comment onsocial media on Facebook, at the
thoughts I have toward you, oron Instagram at the same, the
thoughts I have toward you, oryou can send me an email at the
(23:11):
thoughts I have toward you, atthe thoughts I have toward
youcom.
That's my email address where Irespond to correspondence and
such, and I can probably pointyou in the direction of some
resources that would help youalong the way.
It would sure be my honor to doso.
That's all the time we havethis week, friends.
Thank you for listening.
Make it count and be blessed.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I give youthanks for today, for this
evening, for the day that wasyour day, the Lord's day, as it
were, father, the day that yourose from the dead and conquered
death in the grave, one timefor all time, for all who would
(00:21):
believe.
I pray today for my Jewishfriends.
I pray for them every day.
I pray for the peace of Israel,lord, and I pray for a coming
of the Hebrew believer, lord,that they would be able to put
(00:41):
it all together, all together,and that you would just show
them and answer their questionsand deal with the fact that
there are specific verses inyour Word that are closed verses
for them, lord, and I also prayfor families that are
struggling, lord, I pray forfamilies that are struggling in
(01:04):
this age, this last age, lord,as we struggle for food and
shelter and the basic needs.
Lord, some people are very muchstruggling, lord, and I ask
that you would be with them andthat you would provide for them
and, most importantly, that youwould show them that you are the
provider, that it's not theirguile or their cleverness, lord,
(01:30):
it's you that left a bag ofgroceries on the doorstep from
nobody.
In particular, lord, I pray formy church family.
I pray for all of them, forWill, and for all of the people,
(01:51):
my school and ministry folks.
I pray for all of you.
I pray for all of you every dayand, lord, I mostly pray for
the people within the sound ofmy voice, the people who have
taken the time, lord, to sitdown and listen to a podcast.
Lord, I give you thanks forthis medium.
Lord, may your words go forthtoday, and it's in the mighty
(02:13):
name of Jesus that we pray.
Amen.
Okay, gang, let's go ahead andget started.
We are picking up right wherewe left off.
We're going to pick up in verse12 of Revelation, chapter 1,
new King James Version, and amessage that I've entitled
(02:34):
Grafted Believers and theGlorified Christ, part 1.
So we're going to read.
So, if you'll open your Bibles,if you're able to, the book of
Revelation, chapter 1, verse 12.
And let's pick up right there.
And it says then I turned tosee the voice that spoke with me
(02:56):
and, having turned, I saw sevengold lampstands.
In the midst of the sevenlampstands, one like the Son of
man, closed with a garment downto his feet and girded about his
chest with a gold band.
There's a lot there in just twoverses.
There's a lot there and we'regoing to stop there and we're
(03:19):
going to take it a bit at a time.
We're going to go back a littleand we're going to go back a
little and Go through what we,what we talked about last week,
which is that John was in prayer.
(03:41):
He was in prayer on the Isle ofPatmos and he's praying on the
Lord's Day.
Okay, that's what it says in Inthat verse.
He was praying on the Lord'sDay, he was in the spirit on the
Lord's Day, as opposed to theday of the Lord.
Now, the four translations Ireferenced this is consistent
(04:04):
wording the Lord's Day, theLord's Day being Sunday as
opposed to the day of the Lord,referencing to the Lord's Day of
Judgment.
Okay, now, there's a lot that'sgonna happen moving forward.
So just hang on to that, butknow that it was a Sunday.
And as we wrapped last week,jesus spoke to John and gave him
(04:26):
his marching orders.
Let's pick up back a couple ofverses for context.
In chapter 1, verse 10, it saysI was in the spirit on the
Lord's Day and Heard behind me aloud voice as of a trumpet
saying I am the Alpha and theOmega, the first and the last
and what you see right in thisbook and send it to the seven
(04:47):
churches which are in Asia ToEphesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos,
to Thyatira, to Sardis, toPhiladelphia and to Laodicea.
That's Revelation 1, 10 and 11.
Okay, so then John turns, andthis is where we pick up this
week.
John turns and he sees therisen and glorified Jesus.
(05:11):
It says, and this is just, thisis a, this is a mind bender.
It says.
Then I turn to see the voicethat spoke with me and, having
turned, I saw seven goldlampstands and in the midst of
the seven lampstands, one likethe Son of man, clothed in a
garment down to his feet andgirded about his chest with a
(05:33):
gold band.
So we're gonna, I'm gonna sharesomething with you, and I
teased this a couple of weeksago Seven golden lampstands.
What do you think of?
For years and I'm gonna be realhonest for years upon years,
every time I read this sectionof scripture, every time I read
(05:54):
it, up until 2019, I sawcandlesticks.
You know the big brasscandlesticks with a giant candle
in them, and then there'sanother big brass candlestick
with another giant candle in it.
As a former acolyte, it was myresponsibility to light those
candlesticks, dependent uponwhere we were on the calendar.
(06:19):
Okay, so that's what I saw.
Okay, and it's what you see ina lot of Protestant churches
there's candlesticks.
Okay, then I would see Jesuswalking among these candlesticks
.
Right, and it's always this,this visual of you.
Know, it's nice and it's abeautiful picture and it's even
(06:41):
peaceful a little bit.
Then, in February of 2019, Ifound myself seated with
Messianic Jews in Israel whilethis verse was taught.
I Was jet lag, exhausted andfighting to stay awake in church
.
I hadn't fallen asleep inchurch Since I'd been saved in
(07:02):
2004 and I wasn't gonna breakthat record.
I, I was exhausted and I'mfighting to stay awake.
And the pastor reads revelation12 and 13, what we just read,
and as he, as, as he reads it,he puts up a picture on the, on
the monitor, of a menorah, themenorah that marks the beginning
(07:26):
, in the Jewish quarter in theold city.
There's, as you enter theJewish quarter, there's a giant
menorah in there.
Okay, in the street built inthe street, giant menorah in the
Jewish quarter.
And Then he puts up a pictureof the menorah as it would have
appeared in the temple.
Okay, as it would have lookedthen.
(07:47):
You.
They are not seven independentlampstands.
They are seven lampstandsattached to a unifying tree,
jesus, a Tree that we Gentiles,non-jews I'm a Gentile, anybody
who's not Jewish is a Gentilehave been grafted into.
(08:10):
I Was absolutely blown away.
A standard menorah and menorahhas seven Candle sticks attached
to it and and there are sevenplaces to put your candles right
.
It's a seven candle menorah.
I have two of them.
I have one from Israel that Igot in Israel, and then I have
(08:33):
one that I bought.
That is is a little bitdifferent, it's a little bit
larger, but and and the one Ibought is interesting because it
is it has the star of David andthen the fish of Jesus, the
(08:55):
fishers of men, the fish, whatwas drawn in the in the dirt to
let people know in the firstcentury that you were Christian,
and it's all attached andthat's kind of what I'm getting
at.
Okay, I was blown away as I'mwatching this thing and I'm just
blown away and I said under mybreath, I said it's a menorah,
(09:16):
it's a menorah.
And I looked at one of thehosts that was sitting next to
me and I whispered it again,adding everything is connected.
He smiled Padme on my shoulder,thanks, lair, it is connected,
friend.
Jesus came for the Jew first,and Then the Greek, okay, or the
(09:40):
Gentile, all right, turn to twospots for me.
In Romans, book of Romans, ifyou come to the left from
Revelation, it's right after thebook of Acts, okay, matthew,
mark, luke, john, acts Romans,okay, acts Romans.
And you're gonna go to Romans,chapter one, and we're gonna
(10:04):
pick up in verse number 16.
This is Paul writing to theChristians in Rome and he says
for I am not ashamed of thegospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God to salvation foreveryone who believes, for the
Jew first and also for the Greek.
A Careful reading of scriptureTells you that, or maybe even a
(10:28):
not so careful reading ofscripture, but I think it's
something that we miss.
Jesus was a Jew.
They called him Rabbi.
Okay, he was a Jew.
He was brought up as a Jew.
He was he.
He Knew the Torah the OldTestament, as we call it, okay
and was taught the Torah.
(10:49):
And, as a matter of fact, inLuke I was just talking to my
mother about this last night inLuke, when he was 12 years old,
jesus got separated from hisfamily after the Passover in
Jerusalem and they were likehalfway home before they
realized he was gone and theywent back and were frantic and
were looking for him and Jesus,at 12, was in the temple
(11:10):
teaching the scribes and thePharisees and the religious
leaders.
So Jesus was a Jew, okay, andhis followers to a man, all 12
disciples were Jewish.
Okay, this is something that ismissed and it's something that
(11:33):
Was pointed out to me when I wasin Israel.
Okay, you know, all the nameshave been changed.
Okay, joseph is Yosef.
Okay, mary is Miriam.
Okay, in Hebrew, and Jesus isYeshua, yeshua, and this was a
(12:02):
very Jewish thing.
That happened.
Ok, they were Jewish, all ofthem, and I think we miss that a
lot.
And so, when they say for theJew first and then the Greek,
jesus came for the Jew first andthen the Greek.
Ok, and then, if we go overinto into Romans a little deeper
(12:28):
, we're going to go to Romans 11and pick up in verse 17.
Ok, and this is really reallycool because it ties everything
together.
Paul again says and if some ofthe branches were broken off, ok
, we're talking about the Treeof Life, we're talking about
(12:49):
Jesus here and we're talkingabout the beginnings of our
faith.
And if some of the brancheswere broken off and you, being a
wild olive tree, were graftedamong them with them, because a
become a partaker of the rootand the fatness of the olive
(13:11):
tree.
So I stumbled a little bit.
Let's read it again.
And if some of the brancheswere broken off and you, being a
wild olive tree, were graftedin among them and with them,
became a partaker of the root,of the fatness of the olive tree
, what Paul is saying is thatthe Gentiles were grafted into
(13:35):
the faith.
Ok, we were grafted into thefaith.
The very first Gentile to beconverted was Cornelius.
He was a Roman centurion andyou can find that account in
Acts, chapter 10, and Peterconverted him, and I would
suggest reading that entirechapter.
(13:56):
It is unbelievably powerfulbecause it talks about you know,
it's just the way the Lord laidit out for Peter, explaining to
him what he wanted him to doand how he wanted him to do it.
But we're grafted in.
That's what the menorahrepresents here.
Each candlestick represents oneof the churches in Asia OK, one
(14:19):
of the actual churches in Asiaand and while it represents
while it's representative,rather, of the actual first
century churches, thecandlesticks also represent each
type of church in our worldtoday.
God is so good, god's word isso good, game it's, it is
(14:41):
absolutely put together.
Put together so that we canunderstand exactly what we're
looking at here.
We're looking at a, at a, at a,at a faith that is grafted
together, based on Jesus and himcrucified and now glorified for
(15:01):
the Jew first and then Greek orthe Gentile.
So let's pick up now, back inverse 13.
, because there's something elseI want to show you.
And in the midst of the sevenlampstands, one like the Son of
(15:21):
man, clothed with a garment downto his feet, girded about his
chest with a gold band.
That's Revelation 1, verse 13.
So now, just in case, ok, justin case you know when one girded
themselves, when you read thatin Scripture, he's girding
(15:42):
himself, and you know what doesthat mean?
Well, the garments that theywore were like gowns.
They, you know, maybe they hadsleeves, maybe they didn't, but
most of the time they were downbelow their knees, and some of
them came down even ankle length, ok, and in this case down to
(16:02):
his feet, right.
And so if there was work to door a battle to fight, or you had
to run to get somewhere, agarment was girded, it was
picked up and tied off at thewaist to allow freedom of
movement, or at least above theknee, so that you could move
your legs.
Ok, jesus was girded with atowel.
(16:29):
Turn over to John 13, for and Ialso encourage you to read this
account because this is amazingstuff it's when Jesus washes the
disciples feet right before thecrucifixion.
It's powerful stuff.
And he girded himself to washthe disciples feet, girded
(16:54):
himself with a towel and washedthe disciples feet.
This is servant Jesus.
This is he's ministering to hisfollowers, the disciples, even
Judas.
He's even ministering to Judasat this point.
He's ministering to hisfollowers.
But notice, as we close thedifference here he's girded this
(17:21):
time too, but with a gold band.
He came girded.
You have to get girded.
He came, he was ready to battleand to judge Gang.
I broke this up and Ioriginally wasn't going to do it
(17:42):
, but in interest of time andcontinuity I broke this up and
we will tackle.
We will tackle probably therest of this chapter next week.
Okay, in the meantime, I want tokind of go back and take a look
(18:02):
at a couple of things here.
I want to say some things toyou, and that is this First of
all, don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid I don't knowwhy I'm saying that right now.
It's a word for somebody butdon't be afraid.
All of the things that arehappening in this world, all of
(18:22):
the things that are going on andall of the stuff that that
everybody wants you to payattention to, and all of the
evil that men do unto themselvesand others.
Don't be afraid.
Jesus is coming back and he'sgoing to set it right.
And, friend, if you're abeliever, take solace in the
(18:49):
fact that you are grafted intoan amazing history of faith to
which you add your own story andyour own walk.
And for those who this podcastwas given to or you stumbled on
(19:10):
it or whatever, the whatever thecase may be and maybe you're
lacking, maybe you're lackingsomething in your life.
Maybe you've had a ton ofheartbreak, maybe there's not a
dad in the home, or you comefrom a broken home, or just
things just haven't worked outthe way they want to, they
should, or they should have theway you planned on it to be.
(19:33):
Maybe you're in a jail celltonight.
That's entirely possible.
Maybe you're in a jail celltonight, or you're out on the
street, or you're out on thestreet, sitting in a shelter
listening to this.
I don't know.
Any number of things could bepossible.
But I want to talk to you realquick.
And I read today or read thisweek that there was no kinder
(20:04):
thing that could ever be donethan to lead someone to Jesus.
And then I was speaking to mymother last night and made
mention of the fact that I'mcalled to do this and I am.
I know that.
And it's with that in mind,friend, that I say to you if
(20:24):
you're broken, if you'd say tome, larry, you don't know what
I've done, I don't need to knowwhat you've done, god knows.
And if you want to be graftedinto a history of faith and have
a relationship with a living,breathing, real Jesus who is
coming back to set things right,if you want that, all you have
(20:52):
to do is submit yourself andrepent.
Repent it's a fancy Bible wordfor turn away.
Turn away from your sins, turnaway from the things that that
you have done.
You know that, you know in yourheart are not pleasing to the
Lord.
And you can repent by saying,just talking to him and just
(21:14):
saying Lord, dear Jesus, I'm asinner, I'm in need of a savior,
I'm broken.
Right now I'm lost, I'm scared,I don't have anybody, but I want
you, lord.
I want to repent from all of mysins, all of the things that I
(21:37):
have done that have made youunhappy, lord.
I'm sorry.
I believe, lord, that you cameand you walked among us.
You taught us, you loved us andyou were crucified, died and
(21:59):
you were buried, and on thethird day God raised you again
from the dead, from my sins,from me, from me, and I want to
be part of your family.
I want you to be my Lord, myGod, my Savior and my friend,
and I want to walk with you allthe rest of the days of my life.
Thank you, jesus, amen.
(22:25):
If you prayed that prayer,welcome to the family of God,
welcome to the family of God,and you know, god's word says
that if you speak with yourmouth the name Lord Jesus and
you believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead,
(22:47):
you shall be saved.
That's all the time we havetoday.
But if you made a decision forChrist, I sure want to know
about it.
I sure want to know about it.
You can drop me a comment onsocial media on Facebook, at the
thoughts I have toward you, oron Instagram at the same, the
thoughts I have toward you, oryou can send me an email at the
(23:11):
thoughts I have toward you, atthe thoughts I have toward
youcom.
That's my email address where Irespond to correspondence and
such, and I can probably pointyou in the direction of some
resources that would help youalong the way.
It would sure be my honor to doso.
That's all the time we havethis week, friends.
Thank you for listening.
Make it count and be blessed.
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