ISRAEL AND THE GENTILE NATIONS, 30.10.2017

Radioprogram, Israel and The Gentile Nations, 30.10.2017 

Announcer 1: It is written in Genesis 16, verses 11 through 16:

11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.

12 He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”

13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The angel who met Hagar in the desert spoke to her about distant future saying that her son Ishmael would be the father of wild and numerous peoples, and that his hand would be against everyone and the hands of everyone against him.

Don’t we see the prophetic words said by the angel fulfilled? Yes, they have come to pass, they are true today and will be true in future, even if we had centuries ahead… Yes, that word is coming true exactly the way it was told, so let us look at it with spiritual eyes. Conflicts and suffering in the land of Ishmael go on unabated, but a time is coming when mothers of many Ishmaels will stand and cry out because of their sufferings... and the Lord will answer because He is a loving Father and because of His promise. However, before this happens, the Lord will lead many Hagars to His life-giving wells…

Whether we want it or not, the plans of the Lord come to pass with surprising succession. After all, Abraham pleaded with the Lord in Genesis 17:18, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” God’s response to Abraham was, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you… But My covenant I will establish with Isaac”.

Here is the root of the collision between their descendants… Today many want to solve the antagonism between the two brothers, but without result. This will be solved, when Hagar again cries out to the Living God of her vision, when, because of her sufferings, she again calls the name of Him Who gave her a son and told her about the future…

“And where are Christians in this story?”, many would ask. “What is our fault in all this? Why shall we, our children and our countries suffer because of this? Are we called to resolve conflicts, after all?”

Dear brothers and sisters, we have Jesus Christ Who intercedes for us. Didn’t He save us from hell one day, granting forgiveness and love? And His Spirit of Intercession dwells in us. Let us stand in the gap with our intercession!

As Christians, our calling is to lead the anguished, the mourners, the sick, and those who suffer to the Well of the living water, to the Spring of the living waters – to Calvary, to Jesus the Lord and Savior.

Let us stop focusing on ourselves and look at the Author of our faith. What would He do? He left the heaven and came to save us; He bore the chastisement of our peace upon Himself… He did not focus on heaven, but came to save you and me… so let us act as our Savior.

Until this moment, He has been our Intercessor before the Father’s throne. Let us bring our intercessory prayers for the nations before our Father, let us pray in the name of Jesus Christ for the demonic walls built for centuries to be torn down, for the closed eyes and ears to open up, for each soul to see and come to know the Father. Let us lead people to the wells, let us open wells among the nations! And when the Lord sees you doing this, His merciful Spirit will water your desert; your home and your descendants will always be remembered before Him for blessing.

And now, dear listeners, brothers and sisters, we want to give insights into the role of the nations and countries, mentioned in Bible prophecies, in these last days.

The Lord gradually focuses our attention on a region about which there are so many prophecies in the Bible, many of which are still being fulfilled. This is the most strategic region in the Bible – the Middle East…

However, it seems the current conflicts and wars in the countries of the Middle East and emigration of Christians and Gentiles to Christian countries make the future even more uncertain.

One does not need much discernment to see how the Middle East is closing its doors for Christians.

However, if we read the Bible by the Spirit of God and with great attention, and then look at what is happening in the world, we will undoubtedly see that the prophecies of our Lord come to fulfillment with divine patience. Like a jigsaw puzzle parts slowly coming together, they gradually merge into an image that the Bible shows us from Genesis to Revelation.

If you are familiar with the prophecies in the Bible, you certainly know that the call to salvation to the whole world originated from the heart of the Middle East, as the Lord was willing that way. 

The origin of humanity was here; the Bible was written here; and the place of fulfillment of the end-time Bible prophecies is again… here!

• In this region, mankind received the salvation plan.

• In this region, the Savior of the world, Christ our Peace was born.

• In this region is the cradle of the Early Church and the entire Christian civilization…

So do you think all is over for this region? Do you think nothing more has been allotted for this region? God forbid!

Because of the blessings we enjoy today, our salvation and the peace we have with our Father, we do have a work to do in the Middle East…

In the last days, our efforts will be directed to Israel and its surrounding nations, the nations that will have a significant part in the end times drama and for which the Lord has a word through His prophets…

Hell and the devil know very well that their end will come in this very region… Seeing Christians preparing the way for the Savior, Jesus Christ, the devil has put all his wisdom in action to surround the region of the Middle East with impenetrable walls.

It’s not that the countries of this region are located far from big Christian countries like America, Russia, any European or other Christian countries, but for our Lord, this territory is very strategic for salvation of humanity.

Dear Christians, we still need to lift up intercessory prayers for those who have not heard the Gospel yet. We need to get the Gospel to the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled as written in the Gospels.

This is why hell is furious. It hurries to pass ahead of Christians. It feels the smell of the last days… That is why wars in this territory become even more intense. The devil sees his end, so he resorts to hostilities to make large-scale slaughter of mankind. He is insatiable in destroying and displacing Christians…

He empties the region of Christians with a purpose to firmly establish his throne there. He tries to shut the door before Christ, although he realizes that it is of no use to stand against Christ, the King of kings.

Even while on the earth, Jesus Christ knew about our days and our times. With every year, every month, every week and every day passing, we see everywhere the necessity of obeying the commandment of JESUS CHRIST: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. And Paul admonishes us to “redeem the time…” Yes, let us start our work today, as tomorrow it can be too late. 

Dear child of God, today is your day! Take upon yourself the noble title of being His follower and the calling of a disciple and an evangelist… and it doesn’t matter what your calling is with which you preach the Gospel and reach people with the Good News… Maybe you are a missionary, an evangelist, a teacher, a prophet or are otherwise involved in the work of spreading the Gospel. Maybe you are the one who supports the work of the Gospel. Our Lord said, “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward”. How just is our Lord! Dear Christian, who loves Christ, keep yourself involved in building His glorious way.

Do good to yourself… do not exclude yourself from the honor of being a disciple of His… take the Good News of Salvation to those who have never heard about our Lord. Be strongly engaged and be compassionate for the lost. Do you know how many people, who have never had an opportunity to hear the Gospel, become the devil’s prey every day? 

An Arab Pastor told this story:

“This happened in Aleppo, Syria. It was early Sunday morning, and that day some Muslims who heard the Gospel were to attend the Church to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior… However, during an air raid at dawn, bombs fell on their houses, and they never woke up to come to know the Father… the Adversary was at work…”

Today the devil launched his war machine in the Middle East to steal lives every minute and to fill the lake of fire and sulfur…

Look around! It is not difficult to notice the Muslim immigrants who left the Middle East… They are dispersed throughout the whole Christian world… Why, do you think, they have come so close to you? Will you start praying, that the fatherless peoples have a desire to seek the Father? Aren’t you the salt Christ spoke about that should cause thirst in them? Aren’t you the light Christ spoke about that should not be hidden under a basket? Today they have left their countries, that are under the cover of darkness, and have come so close to you…

Don’t Christians see that the devil is in haste to fill their minds with enthusiasm and their hands with wealth to build houses for a foreign god in your country

The truth is, they ran from darkness and came to your light, but still having unenlightened minds, they build shrines for the god of darkness right by your side.

They build centers of study of the foreign god in your Christian environment to lead astray your people, your children, and your coming generations.

Will we pretend we do not notice it? Will we tolerate that sin? Can’t we see that it is the revenge of the devil from the country that sent so many missionaries with the Good News of Jesus Christ to the unreached regions in the last century? So what? Are we that weak that we cannot fight the war of the Spirit, take the wiles of the devil captive and to bring them into subjection to Christ? 

This is the strategy of the devil to displace pagan nations of the Middle East and to disperse them throughout the Christian regions, in order to lead astray Christians as well, if possible… to steal souls for hell, to conquer regions and to multiply the power of darkness…

TODAY WE NEED TO FIGHT THIS STRATEGY OF THE DEVIL IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD… the Church has a war to wage, a spiritual war… Let us pray and ask that they feel the need to enlighten their darkened minds, that the blinded eyes open up and they find the FATHER! Let us fill the regions of darkness with the Gospel! Let us print literature in large quantity, send the life-giving Word to them and show them the true Father, the real Savior. Let us teach those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to pray, so that they too can stand in the gap for their countries… 

We have to spread the Gospel in the Middle East! Let us sow the Gospel of Christ in the hearts of today’s new generation, so that tomorrow we can have comfort and not avengers…

We appeal to you not to close your eyes as if you do not notice them… these nations need the Gospel you have... In fact, you could not go to their countries to reach them with the Gospel, as that is a big problem for so many, but can you see them coming to you in millions? We cannot overlook the opportunity the LORD gives us!  

 

So why shall we preach to the Gentiles?

 

Because God loves them as deeply as us. John 3 verse 16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Also, God wants to save them and give them eternal life, just as it is written in 1 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4, “…God our Savior… desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

We must realize that God did everything necessary to save them through Christ. Romans 1, verse 16 explains this, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes...”

These peoples’ wrong profession gives them a misleading notion about God and the Bible. Second Corinthians 4, verses 3 and 4 reveal it, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

It is also evident that there is no salvation outside Christ, as Acts 4, verse 12 says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

We know that in Mark 16, verse 15, Jesus Christ commanded us to take the Gospel everywhere and to everyone, saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

God clearly instructs us that the commandment to preach the Gospel also includes those who deny the Gospel. In both Isaiah 65, verse 2 and Romans 10, verse 21 we read, “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

Moreover, according to 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9 through 11, God’s terror and fear of the Judgmenet moves us to preach: “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”

And as Christians, we are to reveal the living power of Christ’s love through our lives, according to 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14 and 15, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

And last but surely not least, it is because the Gentiles can get saved through Christ’s life-giving power. I will read again from 2 Corinthians 5, verses 16 and 17, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”