Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / September 3, 2023 | Jews For Jesus - Jubilee

Transcript

September 3, 2023 | Jews For Jesus - Jubilee · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, good morning, everybody.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: So this morning we have the privilege of hearing from David Brickner.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh David is the executive director for Jews for Jesus.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And if you don't know, Tobeka Bible Church has supported Jews for Jesus for over 40 years.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: We are in love with this ministry.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: It is fantastic.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it is specifically targeted towards bringing the gospel to Jewish people.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is an international evangelistic organization.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just like any ministry that we love and want to support, uh, if you're interested in partnering with it beyond giving to the church, uh, there are boxes uh as you exit, both here in the Mulvaine and then over in the cab auditorium where you might be able to give check or cash as the Spirit leads.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And also, as David will mention, where you can hand um tear off the information uh cards that you were given as you walked in, but he'll speak more about that.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um he is here today and this morning to share with us a really interesting message about uh the Jubilee year and what it means and how that coincides with the 50th anniversary of Jews for Jesus.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so, to kind of uh by way of introduction, if you would go ahead and turn your eyes towards the video screen, we'll show you a quick video before he comes on stage.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: Jews for Jesus started as a slogan, but by 1973, it had officially become a thriving evangelistic ministry.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Jewish people with a passion to share the good news that our Messiah has come.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Over the last 50 years, Jews for Jesus has proclaimed the gospel in some of the biggest Jewish communities around the world.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: South Africa, New York, Jewish.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's why this year, during May, June, and July, students for Jesus will be sharing the message of liberty and messiah to 20 different Jewish communities, all at the same time.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: This will be the most comprehensive global outbreak we've ever conducted, with hundreds of missionaries and volunteers sharing the good news across the world and that.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Most Jewish people still have never heard of that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: The very one who came to access free, still excuse me, you join with us to declare liberty to those involved, to bring good news to the poor, to find out the brokenhearted.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Together, we can reach the Jewish people if the good news can be here to believe.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_03: Shalom.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: It is so great to be back at TBC.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how many times I've been here over the 40 years that you guys have been partnering with us.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm pleased today to have with me uh our COO, Dan Sarrett, who's been here as well.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: Say hi to Dan.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_03: Dan was our Israel director and did a wonderful job for many years, but now he's here helping me and uh helping to run the day-to-day operation.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: So it's great to have this relationship and partnership.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: Many of you know that Jim Congden is the chairman of our board of directors.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, Connor was really keyed into Juice for Jesus even when he was the youth minister here before becoming the senior pastor.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: He brought your young people to New York.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_03: Was it a couple times, Connor, that just doing evangelism out on the streets, it was just transformative, I know, for many of them.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: And we were so excited and continue to be excited to partner with you in this year, our Jubilee year.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: Now, many of you know that at our headquarters in San Francisco, where I live, we have a plaque on the cornerstone that says Jews for Jesus, established 32 A.D.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: give or take a year.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: So we've been around for a long time.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_03: But as you know, our ministry, the modern-day ministry of Jews for Jesus, really grew out of what God was doing here in North America back in the late 60s and early 70s.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: Some of you have seen the movie The Jesus Revolution.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: Well, God was working to bring Jews for Jesus as a ministry together.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: And while we were a movement before we came an organization, that officially incorporated in 1973.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: So do the math, and you realize this is a very special year for us.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: And God, since those early beginnings in San Francisco, has literally spread us out across the world.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_03: Everything from San Francisco, as you saw in that video, across the globe.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_03: We've been reaching out.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, times change.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_03: The gospel never changes, but we have had to learn to innovate.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: And God has gifted us with many, many creative people who have in over time discovered new ways of reaching out.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_03: More than just handing out tracks on street corners, we found ways to engage.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_03: And as that video set up earlier this year, we had been planning and preparing, and in the months of May and June and July launched a comprehensive evangelistic outreach literally across the globe.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_03: I want you to see something of what we were doing this summer.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_03: Take a look at the same thing.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_03: Even though we're coming to the conclusion of our Jubilee, this month we're celebrating that wonderful year of evangelism and creative outreach.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's just the launching pad for all kinds of new ministry that we are having, as you saw, all around the globe.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_03: And so we want your prayers for us as we go into a new season of ministry.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the first 50 years were awesome, and we know God has the best yet in store for the work of Jews for Jesus.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: And we have all kinds of contacts, as you saw up there, to follow up on 1,500 brand new contacts with Jewish people who said, Yes, I want to know more.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: I want to study the Bible with you.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_03: 55 Jewish people who've prayed to receive the Lord, who now need our discipleship and our attention.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_03: And our staff isn't huge, but we've been given a huge task.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_03: And so thank you for partnering with us.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_03: When you came in today, as Connor mentioned, you received a card that looks like this.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: And if you take it out right now, there's a picture of my my wife Sabra and I at the top.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_03: And if you'll remember from when I was here before, we have this ancient Jews for Jesus tradition of uh taking the card and folding it together.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: And then at the count of three, we'll rip it, and I'm counting in Hebrew, and here comes the count.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_03: Ehad Shaim Shalosh.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: All right, now, unless you're especially creative, you'd only have two pieces.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: And the smaller section, would you take my wife and I home with you today?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_03: Just take this card and use it as a prayer reminder card.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: Some people put it in their Bibles on your refrigerator, and remember to pray, because that's the first and the most important way for you to be involved as you participate in Jews for Jesus.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: Your prayers are the foundation of our effectiveness and the release of the power of the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of the gospel.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_03: Now, if you fill out this part of the card, you'll get our newsletter.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: Many of you already do, just check the box that says, I already receive your newsletter.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: We won't send you two, but we want you to get that newsletter whether by email or snail mail, so that you can, number one, understand more about the Jewish roots of your Christian faith in a way that I think will enrich your understanding of God's word.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Secondly, so that you can know more effectively how to witness to Jewish people God brings into your life, and you can do it, we can help.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: And then thirdly, so that you can hear about all the amazing things that God is doing in Jews for Jesus in Israel and literally around the globe.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_03: So also, if you fill this card out and drop it in the boxes that were mentioned, we would love to send you a prayer guide, which is a beautiful, actually almost a coffee table book, uh, which is all about one of those key audiences that we're reaching right now, the Haredim.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: And I want you to pray especially.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: We really feel the need for the prayers of God's people, because this is the most unreached subset within the Jewish community, the ultra-Orthodox.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_03: You've seen the pictures with the black hats and the side curls and the long black coats praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem or in Brooklyn, wherever these communities are, we're attempting to reach this growing, growing subset within the Jewish community, which demographers say that in the next 10, 15 years will comprise about one-third of the entire Jewish population in the world.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: They're unreached entirely, and we have to reach them.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: And it begins with prayer.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll send that prayer guide that will tell you more about who these people are, what their lives are like, and how you can pray specifically.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Also, as you leave in the lobby areas, there are tables with free literature.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I want to encourage you to stop and help yourself to the free literature.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Dan Sarrat is going to be at the one here at the Mulvane campus, so you can go and say hi to him.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: And also, there's some not so free stuff.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_03: We have a lot of books and music, and then one thing that we've produced this year just for our Jubilee, and it's this beautiful, actually, 18-month calendar beginning this month in September.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_03: And each month has one of the key audiences that we're reaching out, pray for Jewish students for September.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: Of course, they're all going back to school.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: So then there's prayer requests, and each month has a different Jewish audience.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: So stop and see what can be of use to you at that table and realize that we are celebrating something that is not just what Webster's dictionary says, you know, Jubilee being 50 years of something.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: But this is actually something rooted in the scriptures.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: Jubilee actually comes from a Hebrew word, Yovel, which is actually the word for the ram's horn, the trumpet.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_03: And it was given to Israel in Leviticus 25 as a command that we were to usher in this year, this 50th year, with the blast of the ram's horn.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: And it's an ideal.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_03: If you were to read all 55 verses of Leviticus 25, you'd see that there's some aspects of God's command connected to this year-long celebration that really would reshape any society that kept it.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_03: And the main phrase that is connected to Yovel, to Jubilee, is to proclaim liberty, proclaim freedom.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_03: And what that means societally, individually, is all wrapped up in this concept of Jubilee.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_03: And the idea is that we were made for something more.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: But this world and all that's in it tends to hold us captive, to keep us down.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_03: And there is a freedom that God wants his people to experience.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: Justice, these are principles that we strive for.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: People out on the streets are protesting, no justice, no peace.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_03: People want these things, but they seem elusive.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: And so what we're looking at today as we look first at Leviticus 25, where this principle, this reality of the Jubilee was established, we're going to also see how the prophets then expanded their understanding that Jubilee was really a metaphor for the kingdom of God and the future promise of God.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: The prophets saw it, but Jesus actually, as a foundation for his ministry, inaugurated it, and yet we're still waiting, even now, for its fulfillment.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_03: So let's read a few of the verses from Leviticus 25.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_03: Remember, there are 55 in all, but this is what Moses said.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: You are to count seven sabbatical years, seven times seven years, so that the time period of the seven sabbatical years amounts to 49.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_03: Then you are to sound a ram's horn, Yovel, loudly in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you will sound it throughout your land on the Day of Atonement.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_03: You are to consecrate the 50th year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: It will be your jubilee when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_03: And if we dig into those 55 verses in Leviticus 25, you see that the themes that are repeated, that God's people are called to are to renew our lives in Him, to refresh, to rest, and to remember.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: Slaves were set free, debts were completely forgiven.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Property that had been loaned out or mortgaged was to be returned to its original owner, the land, the people rested.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then in verse 55, the most stunning of all the statements, because remember, you belong to me.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_03: And we, if we think about it, have to see that God's understanding of liberty, God's understanding of freedom runs entirely contrary to what our common understanding in society is.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: Freedom means a lack of restriction, a lack of restraint, the ability to do what we want when we want, as soon or whenever we want.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: But God says, no, actually, you were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_03: Now I've brought you out into liberty, into freedom, so that you can be my servants.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_03: So that you can be my slaves.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_03: From Avde servants of Pharaoh, you become Avde Adonai, servants of the Lord.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: And that runs contrary to what most people think, and yet it is the most true statement.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: If you want freedom, serve the Lord.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: Because only in that can you be free, truly free.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: And this was God's command to Israel.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_03: And yet, looking throughout all of Scripture, looking throughout all of Jewish history, you will not find one example that Israel ever celebrated Yuval.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_03: Never celebrated Yoval, never celebrated the Jubilee.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: And in fact, it became so embarrassing that when the rabbis thought about it and commented on it in the Talmud, the rabbinic commentary on this passage, they said, quote, from the time that the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh were exiled, the Jubilees were discontinued.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: Imagine that.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: A command of God that was never observed, they decided to discontinue.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't that interesting?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: And so we have this promise of freedom that remains elusive.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: And in fact, it became the vehicle through which the prophets envisioned a kingdom that was yet to come, a liberty that was yet to be truly experienced.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_03: And so we see even today, so for example, uh in 1998, in America, evangelical Christians were reading about Jubilee and saying, hey, Israel, the modern state, was established in 1948.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: 50 years it's 1998.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_03: This is the year of Jubilee.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: And everybody got excited in the United States, but in Israel they went, eh.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: And it's never been fulfilled.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's never been realized.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's been envisioned, however, by the prophets.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_03: And one of the most clear envisioning of that Jubilee is found in the prophet Isaiah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_03: Isaiah chapter 61.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: He says this the Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_03: And there's that phrase coming right out of Leviticus 25, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: That phrase, the year of the Lord's favor, is that Yovel and the day of our God's vengeance to comfort all who mourn.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_03: So Isaiah here was using the language of Moses from Leviticus 25 to anticipate something that had not yet arrived, that had never been observed, but that he believed would come.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_03: The year of the Lord's favor.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: And Moses said, proclaim it to all the inhabitants.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_03: Now, when it was originally proclaimed, it was to a group of people who had been slaves but were now being set free.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: And now Isaiah, using that same language, is proclaiming it to people who had been free but were about to go off into captivity.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_03: And so the evidence remains.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_03: Freedom is elusive.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: Liberty is fleeting.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_03: Justice becomes corrupted.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: But Isaiah holds out the promise.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: There is a true Yovel, there is a true Jubilee that is coming.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: And we should anticipate it.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_03: All this world was made for something special, and God has placed within us a longing and a desire and a passion that is rooted and grounded in this hope.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_03: As Blaise Pascal said, there is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every human being that can only.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Only be filled by God Himself.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_03: There is a gnawing at the edge of human consciousness.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: There's a missing piece of the puzzle.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: We all know it.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_03: We all look around the world and see the times that we're living in are full of brokenness, full of separation between peoples and families, and this lack of freedom, this lack of liberty, this lack of justice and peace just begs for an answer.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why when Yeshua the Messiah, when Jesus came, he spoke directly to this need.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_03: At the very beginning of his ministry, as recorded in Luke chapter 4, he inaugurated Jubilee.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: The scriptures tell us he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I love that, especially post-COVID.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: We need to recognize if we're going to follow Jesus, we're going to keep the pattern that he kept.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_03: It was his tradition to go every week to worship God in the presence of his people.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: We need to reinstill, and re- I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but we want to see God's people who are perhaps staying at home to come back to be in fellowship.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Jesus went, as was his custom, to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_03: The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found, he looked intentionally and found the place where it was written.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: And look what he quotes The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_03: He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: And then he didn't finish the verse.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: And this was powerful.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_03: And the people who heard him were in amazement at his teaching.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't this the guy that grew up here?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: And he's saying that in him this promise, this hope of freedom and liberty is fulfilled.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, what an amazing statement.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: But you'll notice he stopped in the middle of the verse and he didn't go on to say, the day of vengeance for our Lord.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because we know, as the Gospel of John tells us, that the Son of Man came into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_03: Jesus was coming now to bring salvation, to bring freedom in the inner man.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_03: And there is a day of judgment that is coming, but not yet.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: You want justice, you need judgment.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: Not yet, though.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: We're still waiting.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: And Jesus was signaling here not the judgment, but the freedom that comes when sin is forgiven, when captives are set free, when the broken are healed.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: And he fulfilled this.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_03: He inaugurated this wonderful promise not many days after this, when he went to the cross, shedding his blood there to pay the penalty for your sin and for mine.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: He died in our place.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_03: And because of who he is, the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel, the anointed one of God, death could not hold him, and the grave could not keep him.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: And he rose again from the grave.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: And now for those who put our faith and trust in him, we have true liberty, true freedom, because we've made sons and daughters, servants of the Most High God, and received his grace upon grace.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_03: The law was given through Moses, yes, but grace and truth have come through Jesus the Messiah.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: Hallelujah.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's amazing that Yeshua, that Jesus chose this place, his hometown synagogue, to proclaim this message.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: And that message was well received, wasn't it?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_03: Until he said, By the way, it's not just for you.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's not just yours.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_03: This is for all people.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I won't take the time to read the whole passage, but it's an amazing passage where Jesus periscopes this promise that be it goes beyond Israel in Leviticus 25.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_03: It goes to all the nations of the world.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_03: He tells stories about Gentiles who received healing from God when Israel did not.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_03: And hearing this, the people who at once were praising the message started gnashing their teeth, and they took him, you'll remember the story, out to a hill outside of the city of Nazareth.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_03: Some of you have maybe traveled to Israel and seen that precipice.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's you what if you fall off of that, you're done.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_03: And that's what they wanted to do.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_03: They wanted to kill him.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: And then the scriptures say at the end of this story in Luke 4 that he just walked through their midst.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't his time yet.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_03: But the Jubilee was inaugurated.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_03: I've often wondered how that happened.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_03: And then I had an experience in Israel that I think gave me some insight.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: And I want to share that with you.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: I was leading our music team, the Liberated Wailing Wall.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: You've heard of the team.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, the first time I came to TBC, I was leading the Liberated Wailing Wall.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_03: And we sing Jewish gospel music, which is kind of a cross between Israeli folk and fiddler on the roof.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's great stuff.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_03: And this time we were in the downtown Jerusalem in a place called Ben Yehuda Street.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's kind of a pedestrian mall.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_03: And uh there were, it was Motze Shabbat, which means it's the end of the Sabbath.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody's out strolling around on this pedestrian walkway.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_03: Hundreds of people, and we started singing, and a crowd gathered, and there were so many things that happened that night.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_03: I just want to tell you two that were impressed upon me, that are connected to this story.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, there was a man who was standing there, and I noticed of him, and he was watching as five of those ultra-Orthodox guys, the Haredi guys, young seminary students actually, came up and they saw that we were Jews for Jesus, and they started screaming and yelling at us right up in our faces.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_03: And then one of the guys reached out to grab the hand of the violinist to wrench the bow out of her hand.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm thinking, oh great, we're gonna get martyred right here on the streets of Jerusalem.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: And then this guy that I had seen before steps in.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_03: Big giant of a man, about six foot four, 250 pounds, completely bald with a big handlebar mustache.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_03: He points his finger in these guys' faces and he says, You touch them, and I'll touch you.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: And these guys backed off, and I thought, praise God, you know.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_03: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him to deliver them from harm.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_03: I just never knew he looked like that, you know.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_03: But then a little bit later, we finished the concert and we broke into the audience, and there were ten of us, and each of the people had like 10 or more Israelis gathered around who were hungry to hear.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_03: Tell us more about this, what's going on?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_03: And then tap tap on my shoulder, and there were these guys, one big guy who said, he says, I'm from Kach.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_03: Now, Kach is the Israeli version of what they used to call here the Jewish Defense League.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_03: FBI called them a terrorist organization.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_03: They don't like Jews for Jesus.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_03: This guy said, if you're still here in five minutes, we're gonna beat you up.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_03: And then he left with his posse, and I thought, hmm, maybe this is a good time to move on.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_03: But have you ever tried to get people to end a conversation when they're in the middle of one?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_03: And we've got ten conversations going on with groups of people, and I'm going around, okay, guys, I think it's time to leave.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_03: We should go.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_03: By the time we all gathered and picked up our instruments, these guys came back and they were looking for us, and they couldn't see us.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know, it was kind of like maybe the Twilight Zone was going on in the back of my head, but it was the most eerie experience, and we picked up our instruments and walked away.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: You could see us walking down the street.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: There's no reason, no explanation.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_03: We got on the vans we were driving, drove back around the block, and saw them in the midst of that crowd, still looking for us.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_03: And I thought, ah, it's all in God's timing.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_03: He wants the gospel to be proclaimed, and whether it's uh the angel of the Lord or the blinding of the eyes, his work will be accomplished.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: The proclaim proclamation of freedom will occur, and we just need to trust the Lord and proclaim.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: And that's been my experience.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't that wonderful?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: So I want you to think about that as you sometimes maybe are kind of holding back for fear.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: And that happens to me.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_03: I've been doing this for over 40 years, and I still get kind of nervous about speaking out.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_03: That's okay.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_03: But let God give you the courage.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: He's gonna watch over you.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_03: And now, every time you see the word freedom or liberty in the Bible, realize that there's a backdrop, that you're participating in a trajectory of God's promise going all the way back to the Torah and all the way into the future.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_03: Think about all the things that the scriptures teach about true liberty, true freedom, true justice.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_03: It was significant that this was proclaimed first on the Day of Atonement, because Jesus was able to inaugurate it because he fulfilled that promise of atonement.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_03: And now, because we've been forgiven, we can proclaim Yeshua's death, burial, resurrection, and the freedom that comes through it.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_03: God's love, not just for Israel, but for the nations.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_03: And so Paul says in Romans 8, verse 2 the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_03: Or later on in 2 Corinthians 3, 17, he says, Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like Mel Gibson whenever I say that verse.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's so exciting that we have this message of hope to proclaim.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_03: For freedom, Christ has set us free, he says in Galatians 5.1, stand firm then, and don't submit again to a yoke of slavery.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_03: The Galatians were struggling with taking on burdens that they shouldn't, taking on responsibilities that God never gave them.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: And we do that too, don't we?
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_03: Let's live in this freedom and let's proclaim this freedom.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_03: What is it that we might be subjecting ourselves to in our daily lives that inhibit us from experiencing the joy, the justice, the peace of God's liberty and freedom?
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_03: Well, James tells us what we need to do.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_03: James 1, 25.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_03: But the one who looks intently, intently into the perfect law of freedom, God's word, and perseveres in it and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer who works, this person will be blessed in all that he does.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_03: God called us to freedom so that we could have his blessing in all that we do.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_03: And that's a struggle sometimes, but let's persevere and let's look at his word intently and allow his word to teach us how to live lives of freedom in the midst of a world that's broken and bound up in all kinds of problems.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_03: But there is an expectation that still has to be at the core of every believer's hope for the future.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_03: It was part of the very early message that the early church was preaching.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_03: Peter in Acts chapter 3 announced that there was still a fulfillment of the Jubilee.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_03: It was coming.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_03: And he spoke, therefore, repent to Jerusalem.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_03: In other words, change your mind about who Jesus is.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_03: Repent, turn around, turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_03: It's only through him that that happens.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_03: That seasons of refreshing.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_03: Doesn't that sound great?
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_03: We're offering that to a world that needs seasons of refreshing.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_03: Seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_03: Heaven must receive him, and just had before he gave this message.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_03: Heaven must receive him until what?
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_03: Until the time of the restoration, until the day of the Lord's favor, until Yovel truly is fulfilled.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_03: The restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_03: All the way back in the very beginning, and now all the way through, until the very end, we are looking forward to that which has been promised, that which has been envisioned, that which has been inaugurated will now be fulfilled.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_03: And John saw that in the revelation.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: He saw in Revelation 11, 15.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_03: This seventh angel did what?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: Blew the trumpet, the Yovel, the sounding of the trumpet indicated what?
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: Loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, hallelujah.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_03: Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_03: And we look around us at our world today, we say, you know what?
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_03: I don't see, I don't see much happening that indicates we're moving in that direction.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you have to understand that it's always darkest before the light, right?
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_03: The Bible actually tells us that before these promises ultimately fulfilled on the earth, there's a time, Jesus said, of tribulations such as the world has never seen.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_03: Could we be seeing the birth pangs of that reality yet to come?
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_03: Jeremiah called this time Jacob's trouble, because Israel is once again, having been restored to her homeland after 2,000 years, becomes the centerpiece of God's redemptive purpose on the earth.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_03: And there will arise an enemy of Jacob, of Israel, that makes Yasser Arafat look like a good friend.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_03: To all the world, he seems to be a wise ruler, a great leader, but from heaven's perspective, he's like a beast coming up out of the sea.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_03: And he deceives the nations of the world and gathers their armies together.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_03: And inside the beautiful land, he invades the plain of Megedo.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_03: You've heard of Ar Megedon, just means the hill overlooking the plain.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: That beautiful, lush area of Israel's agriculture and air defenses today.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: Napoleon Bonaparte marched his armies through on the way to Egypt and said, This is the greatest battlefield in the world, and so it will be the gathering place for the mother of all wars.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_03: And that final battle will be fought from that plain down, down to the city of Jerusalem.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_03: The city is now surrounded.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_03: A lethal dagger is poised and pointed at the heart of the nation.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_03: God, who promised that Israel would exist before him forever, must come through now, or the end is certainly at hand.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_03: And at this most desperate of hours, Israel, coming to the very end of herself, finally cries out to God for a deliverer.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_03: And that is when he comes.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_03: The Bible says, you hear it, the blast of the trumpet, and you see it, the Lord Himself shall descend with a shout.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_03: Now, what does the shout of the creator of the universe sound like?
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_03: In my imagination, it begins like a rumble that gets louder and louder and louder until all warfare ceases.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_03: All activity on the planet comes to a screeching halt, and all attention is grabbed towards the skies, or we see the clouds rolled back as a scroll, and the brightnesses of a thousand noonday suns fills our vision.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_03: And there's the one we've been waiting for.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_03: He's the king of kings, he's the Lord of Lords.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_03: And as he descends, and as his foot touches the Mount of Olives, that mountain is split from east to west.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_03: And then it is fulfilled the promise of Yovel, of Jubilee, the promise of the scripture from Zechariah chapter 12, which says, And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn as one mourns for an only son, and weep bitterly as in the weeping of a firstborn.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_03: And in that day a great fountain will be opened in Jerusalem for cleansing, for purification.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_03: Thus all Israel will be saved, and liberty, true freedom, will be established in the kingdom on earth.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, hallelujah! Hallelujah.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: That is our great hope, brothers and sisters.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: Praise the Lord.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_03: And yet, while he tarries, we have this wonderful privilege and responsibility to both live in the freedom that has been inaugurated through the blood of Jesus Christ, and then to proclaim that freedom to a people that are bound up in sin and yet are so willing to listen as we think creatively about ways to proclaim liberty in Jesus the Messiah.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_03: Won't you join us as you think about people in your life, people who need this message?
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_03: May we, even now, Lord, commit our lives to you.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_03: Lord, there's so much that's broken in us, so much that's bound up in patterns of sinful behavior that we know as we look to you and study your word can be broken free, and liberty can be experienced daily in our lives.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: We long for that, Lord, and we long for the anointing of your Holy Spirit to proclaim freedom to the captives all around us, to the brokenhearted, to those who are poor, poor in finance, poor in spirit.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: Lord, we need a renewal, a time of refreshing in our own hearts as we proclaim the coming refreshing of our Lord and Savior.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_03: And we commit ourselves to that afresh and anew.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_03: We think of people in our lives who need to hear this, and we pray for them too, that they would be freed from bondage to sin through the liberty that comes through Jesus our Messiah.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_03: Hallelujah.
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: I want to invite you all to stand as we conclude our time together.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I want to bless you with a blessing that God gave to the priests of Israel, the sons of Aaron, in Numbers chapter 6.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_03: He said, Bless my people with a blessing, and they'll be blessed.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_03: And here's the blessing.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_03: First in Hebrew and then in English, and then we'll be dismissed.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_03: Would you bow your heads, please?
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: May the Lord bless you and keep you.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_03: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and grant you his peace.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_03: Hashem Yeshua, may she hainu sar ha shalom.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_03: In the name of Jesus, our Messiah, the Prince of Peace.
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_03: Amen.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_03: God bless you.