Sermon on the Mount: The Concept: How Do We Approach the Sermon?

The last couple of weeks' handouts, we've had supplements to it because there's just a lot. And matter of fact, intentionally more than we could actually cover. Okay? But just we want you to have plenty to work with. Today's handout's no different. There are in fact three supplements. It says page one of five. The fifth page is a supplement. Additionally, there are two supplements beyond that. The last one is a legal size sheet.

So let me just quickly speak about what those things are. The supplement on the last part says, what is our relationship to the King of the coming Kingdom? Our meaning us who are in the church. So that's one question we're addressing. The next thing, and this comes out of our study of Revelation initially, which was done, I believe this was like six years ago. Wow. Anyway, almost six years ago.

This is a listing of the Book of Life as it first shows up in Exodus, carried it all the way to the Book of Revelation, and the pattern of Old Testament and New Testament usage. And then finally, the last page, which is legal size, is a comparison between James and Matthew 5-7, which is the Sermon on the Mount. And what you'll find very interesting is that there is a great deal of correlation between the Book of James and the Sermon on the Mount. Astounding, especially since James, from what we're told in the Gospel of John, did not believe that his brother, half-brother, was the Messiah until after he saw Christ resurrected.

Now, I imagine that would be downright convincing. Even if you were really skeptical, my brother, nah. And you'd have all kinds of reasons to think that this guy is really not the Savior of mankind. But that might grab your attention. What's that? Yes. This would definitely grab your attention.

What we're doing today, we've talked about the context of the Sermon on the Mount, what's the big picture, looking mostly at kind of a sweeping view of the book of Matthew. Last week we looked at the content of the Sermon on the Mount, and we saw with both those two that the Sermon on the Mount is definitely Jewish content, not by accident, but by intent. It's a Jewish content message, and it even talks about the Gentiles as a people apart, and using Jewish figures of speech, Jewish lingo, and concerns that were specifically Jewish, even what the Lord's Prayer, as it's classically called, consists of is a combination of two very regular Jewish prayers.

Go ahead and grab a hand out there, Tom. So anyway, today we're stepping into the third part. We call it the concept, how do we approach the sermon? How do we approach the sermon on the Mount? Which is a big issue because there's all kinds of different approaches. Lots of different approaches. So it's important we zero in on what did God have in mind?

Alright, so Matthew 5-7, both in the larger context in the book of Matthew and the content of Matthew 5-7 is spoken by Jesus to Jews in Israel who are under the law of Moses, which is God's specifically revealed content for application under the principle of law for the nation of Israel until the second coming of Christ. There's a handout that was included, I believe, in last week's that includes this table that we've also offered in the Galatians study, and that's the principle of law and the principle of grace. And I have the website address there additionally that you can take a look at. At the second coming of Christ, which will begin the reign of Christ in the coming kingdom, Israel will have the law written on their hearts. This is called the New Covenant for Israel.

The law written on their hearts so that they will need no teachers. Imagine that, Jews but no rabbis. Right? They won't need them. And the Holy Spirit will be continually indwelling all Jews who enter the kingdom so that they will live out and obey the law of Moses from the heart and be blessed as Israel was promised to be blessed when they obeyed. Now the question is, what's applicable to us in the church? Some might look at it. Actually, some people look at this and say, well, it's not for us. And they just ignore it. What's the problem with that? What's the problem with just saying, hey, this isn't for us? Forget it. What's the difficulty?

Yeah, that's it. All scripture is inspired by God. That's one thing. And what's the next word? And profitable, yes. It's all profitable. And that's one thing that if you run into some thinking that wants to set some of Scripture aside, whoops, wait a minute. All Scripture is inspired and all Scripture is profitable.

So that's one thing that's key to look at. We want to look at here, what are some of the things we can look at and say, hey, these things are valid and apply to us who are here in the church. Here's point one. The character of God is always the same and God does not lie or change His mind. We have multiple references there, Old Testament and New. So if the servant on the mount talks about God's character, is that valid? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Let me just give a quick example. Our Father who art in heaven, holy is your name. Is that valid? Yep. Yep. Call it good. Second point.

God is always the creator and everything else has a creature relationship to Him. Everything else has a creature relationship to Him. That's always true, isn't it? I can take that from whether it's stated in Genesis, Isaiah, Sermon on the Mount, Revelation. God is always and ever will be the Creator and everything else has a creature relationship to Him. Next one. Once having fallen, all those in Adam have the same nature. All those in Adam have the same nature. Next one. Salvation for all those in Adam is always by faith in God's provision. How was Abraham saved? By faith, right?

We have a very minimal amount of information about this fellow who lived before the flood of Noah's day. His name was Enoch. And what does it say of Enoch? Not much, but what does it say? Enoch walked with God. I think Enoch had faith in the Lord. And the Lord took him. And I don't think it's because the Lord was man.

I think the thing is you look at it as all times we are saved by faith. Okay? All times. Even now, we are saved by faith. It is by means of faith. And by grace as well. Yes. So it's both. It would be improper for me to say at this point in time, I'm saved by grace but not by faith. Right? It would also not be right for me to say, I'm saved by faith, but not by grace. It's both. It's both.

And really, that's one of the reasons for this chart. The understanding is when we say dispensation of grace, it's the continuing operating principle of grace. That's the way the Lord is working. The reality is if it were not for the mercy and grace of the Lord, no one would be saved.

Tom? Salvation for all those in Adam. Does that mean that they were in Adam and now they're not anymore? That they got salvation? Or you're saying that they have salvation and they're still in Adam? They are not still in Adam. Thanks for asking the clarifying question. Everyone who is born is born in Adam. The one thing that they can do right is to believe. To believe in God's provision for salvation. Once they do that, that's the last thing Adam does. That's the last moment the person is in Adam. They are no longer in Adam.

So, thanks for the clarifying question. Yeah, isn't that an interesting thing? Isn't that an interesting thing? We have the picture of Adam as fallen. We have a picture of Adam as fallen. But what's interesting is that the reality is, I think Adam was probably saved. I think that's a good indication. He was probably saved. Yeah, Bud? The Adamic nature? Scripture actually never uses that specific term. But it is the nature that fallen Adam had. And in fact, in the New Testament, it is more commonly called the sin nature, or specifically in Romans, repeatedly, the sin, definite article, sin.

The next one, the earth that we walk is cursed until the time when all things are restored. And the first part of that restoration is the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. And then the second part is actually the new creation. But the earth we walk is cursed until that time. It remains the same.

Second, though Israel has a different relationship to the Kingdom that Christ spoke of in the Sermon on the Mount than we do, we also have a place in a similar forward-looking time perspective on the coming Kingdom. What did Christ have them understand in the Sermon on the Mount?

Thy kingdom come. Looking forward to it, right? Anticipating it. Are we still in a position of anticipating that kingdom? Yeah. So we have, from a time perspective, we have a similar perspective of looking forward to that coming kingdom still. Okay? And so we share that. We have a different place in doing so, but nonetheless, our time perspective is the same. Also, like Israel, the entrance into the kingdom is not on the basis of something earthly, but is spiritual. Remember, one of the things we said early on is a number of the Jews thought, well, I'm descended from Abraham. I'm in.

And that's why it was shocking for Nicodemus to hear from Jesus, John chapter 3, unless you're born again, you're not getting in. What? This is shocking stuff. And so here it's very clear that there's a spiritual event that has to take place that Jesus called born again in John chapter 3. Isn't it interesting that this, and we'll point this out later, Peter also uses this born again phrase as we found in our study of 1 and 2 Peter. Something else here.

While Israel was then under the principle of law, and we in the church are under the principle of grace, we're going to find that the ethics, morals, and even some of the spiritual principles conveyed in the Sermon on the Mount have a lot in common with what is revealed for church-age believers. So you get me? We're under grace. They're under principle of law. But the ethics and morals, we're going to find a lot of commonality and applicability. Why? Why would that be? Why would we have commonality even though we're under a different principle? Yes, there we go.

And what we're looking at, the ethics and morals, are because God is a moral being. And that's in contrast, by the way, to the pagan gods of the biblical era. They were profoundly immoral. profoundly immoral among Greek mythology. Here's Zeus. And he goes and cheats on his wife behind a cloud and then comes back out. Immorality left and right. What can I get away with?

The God of Scripture is a moral God, as we said, first point, does not change. And so because of that, we're going to find moral characteristics that remain the same. The principle in which it is applied is different, but the morals and the ethics that we see in the Sermon on the Mount are the same.

I think this is one of the things that has gotten a lot of people confused. They look at it and they say, well, the ethics look good. Yes, but the principle is different. So that's where people have wrestled with this and sometimes gotten off on the wrong tangent. Let's take, for instance, the Sermon on the Mount. Does it say to forgive? Yeah. Yeah. It says to forgive. Now, do the apostles, do they also say to forgive? Oh, certainly. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. What's one of the things that the Jews were told in the Old Testament law?

God said, be holy as I am holy, right? And guess what Peter says when he writes in 1 and 2 Peter. We saw it in our study. Be holy as I am holy. It's a reflection of God's character And so there's commonality there. We're going to find as we go through the Sermon on the Mount that there's going to be a lot in the ethics and morals taught in the Sermon on the Mount that rings true. And we can, not just by assumption, we can find confirmation of it in the epistles as we go through the book of Acts and go through the epistles and we'll look for that. We will see, here's where I've got a connection of the same ethics and morals, just under a different principle.

So it is not a matter of saying, well, that's not for us and then chucking it, but looking at it and saying, hey, that rings true. It's just I live under a different operating principle, one of grace. All right. Yes? There's application for us? Yes. So I'm going to put it this way. It's written to them, but written for us. That would be one way to put it. But the point is we've got all these bullets here.

These are all the things as we read through the Sermon on the Mount and as we study through it, just to keep in mind, there is a long list, taking over half the page, stating it briefly, of things that we'll find applicable and useful and definitely ring true. Okay, let's look at the top of page 2.

What is for Israel but given for our understanding and spiritual benefit? Israel was given the law of Moses explicitly several times in the Old Testament. It says things like this was given to the nation of Israel, not to any other nation. Those kinds of statements were made. Paul writes in the New Testament that the law was given to Israel. And we look at it. They had the covenants. They had the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Land, the Davidic, and the New Covenant. The New Covenant is yet to come.

Christ will reign as Israel's king, the king of the Jews in Israel's land. I don't think I put it in here. He will also reign as king of kings over all the Gentiles. So if we're not Jewish and not going to be among the Jews and receiving the land and kingdom promises God gave to the Jews, then should we just ignore the things that Christ said to the Jews?

Well, no. For all the reasons we just put on the bullets on the first page, right? They are intended by God to be profitable. Now, the very point that I believe Gary brought up initially, your 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, all scripture is inspired by God and profitable. Key thing. It's all inspired by God, but we don't just leave it there. It is equally all scripture is profitable. Okay. Key point. For God has revealed many things that are not for us to seek to apply directly, even the New Testament epistles written to the body of Christ. What do I mean by that?

What did Paul send Titus for when he sent him to Crete, to the island of Crete? There's the book of Titus, three chapters long, written to Titus. He sent him to the island of Crete. What did he send him there for? Yeah, to find leaders, to appoint elders. And that's what he sent them there for.

Now, should I read that and think, oh my heavens, man, I've been a Christian for years and I haven't been to Crete yet. Oh my lands! See, the point is that even with the New Testament, we still have to ask the question, does this apply to me? Or we're going to go nuts. Okay? Because then you return to 1 Timothy and you've been sent to Ephesus. And you've been to Ephesus and then to Crete? How many elders are you appointed in Crete? Well, you've got a lot of work to do, see? So every time we always have to ask, what was written to me? To me directly, right?

Okay. Now, looking down, many things were written for our benefit as examples. We see pictures of things in the Old Testament. We see things were written as examples for us to learn from, but not necessarily to copy. Sometimes you have a really, really good bad example. So sometimes passages will illustrate those things. And we're actually going to see that in the Sermon on the Mount. Towards the end, will everyone who says to Jesus, Lord, Lord, enter? No. Sometimes you have really good bad examples, and those are worth learning from.

Now, the time perspective of the sermon. The Sermon on the Mount was for the time that Jesus spoke to His disciples, and likely not just the twelve, but the larger group. that included the 12, Jesus directed the Sermon on the Mount to those who were Jews specifically at the time that Christ delivered the sermon until the time of the second coming, but excluding the time of the church.

The time of the church extends from Acts chapter 2 until the rapture prior to the tribulation period. So this can be shown graphically like this. Basically the Sermon on the Mount was given approximately two years, probably a little bit more, before Christ was crucified and buried and raised and ascended and seated. So approximately two years before. And then Acts chapter 2 begins the time of the church until the time of the rapture.

After that, you'll have the seven year tribulation period during which time the Sermon on the Mount will again be directly applicable. Now, by doing that, it doesn't mean that church period of time in the middle, we just chuck it, right? Just the very points we talked about on page one. Much to learn from it, but in terms of who is it said directly to, it's focused upon the Jews from the time of the Sermon on the Mount until the time when Christ returns, exclusive of the church age, okay? Ethnic Jews who believe during the time of the church become part of the body of Christ. Neither Jew nor Gentile.

Galatians 3.28. And are saved and live under the principle of grace.

Alright, let's take a look at the top of page 3. How are we doing so far? Are we holding up? Are you panting? Am I panting? Okay. Alright. Okay, the Law of Moses. Getting it right. Jesus, as pointed out last Sunday, would take the Jews back to the original content of the Law of Moses, stripping off all the traditions, taking all that stuff away, peeling it back. He stripped away the traditions and developments, which changed the original content and the original intent of the Law of Moses, which was a law that started at the heart level, not just external compliance. What are some of the things that the Jews added to the Law of Moses that needed to be stripped away? Originally, by the Jewish count, 613 laws, 365 of them don't do this. 248 do this, right?

To that they added a whole bunch... I'm sorry, what? That's right. And so what they ended up doing is having further extensions, explanations of things. But sometimes that got them into trouble. Yes, that's one thing. How far you can walk. And as a matter of fact, as technology moves along, additional definitions. I mentioned I think in the upstairs. Oh yeah, how many keystrokes to do on a computer. Well, and it's wild.

In a Jewish-owned or a Jewish-managed building with an elevator, on the Sabbath time, all the buttons stop at every floor. They all stop at every floor on Sabbath because pushing the buttons on the elevators work. And the toilet paper sheets have to be taken off from the roll ahead of time on the Sabbath because tearing them is work. And the list goes on and on. The more technology comes along, the more that's the case. By the way, turning the lights off and on work. Yes?

Well, it's funny, the thinking thing, I don't know if they had too much. Oh, one thing that they did have, the children were supposed to be trained in their Hebrew Scriptures every day. They could be introduced to new material every day except on Sabbath. Sabbath you could only do review because anything more is work. So anyway, that's just an example. What they did is they put extra laws around each of the laws and so you had this incredible incrustation and even in some cases reversing the original meaning. How can I not honor my parents? I can follow these other laws and rules and regulations and get around honoring my parents.

As Marilyn brought up, you can only go a Sabbath day's journey from your house, right? But, if you carry along extensions of your house, then I can go along, here's a piece of my house, I can go a Sabbath day's journey, and then drop something from my house. And then I've got another Sabbath day's journey, and I can drop something more. And then I can go as far as I want. See? So there was one after another after another. And then what there was also difficulty with is they kept telling Jesus, well, you can't heal on the Sabbath. Where does it say that?

But these were all extensions and incrustations that got heaped onto the law, in many cases reversing the original intent. Jesus will talk in the Sermon on the Mount about not making oaths. And His intent is not that we not be in a court of law and swear that this is true. But His intent was to set aside the whole Jewish system of oaths. They had a list of here's the oaths that are valid, and here are the ones you can swear by this, Promise something you're never going to do as long as you swear by the list of things that aren't valid. So basically it was a way to figure out how to lie. Wait a minute. Where is lying allowed by the law?

So the intent of the law was violated by the extra rules that were added. So what Jesus is going to do, and you're going to see this particularly in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, where you've heard that it was said, but I say to you repeatedly, where he peels off all the incrustations that have been added. And here's the wild one.

The Pharisees were the cultural heroes of the day. They figured they had the Law of Moses down pat. Philippians chapter 3, Paul lists seven qualifications that he had as a Pharisee. Born of the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe that was faithful to Judah when the nation divided. The faithful tribe to Judah. The tribe that continued along with Judah to worship in Jerusalem and not from that foul, polluted place up north. So Paul lists these seven, and seven is the number of what? Completeness, right? Seven qualifications. And then he says, it's all sewage.

But the point was, here are the Pharisees considered, these guys are the ultimate when it comes to compliance with the law. I mean, these guys have it down pat. And then Jesus says this shocking statement, unless your righteousness is better than that, you're not even getting in. We're hopeless. These guys are the ultimate. We're talking about somebody like Nicodemus. This guy is the most qualified man in the land.

And you're telling me I've got to do better than that? Hey, no way. We're done. Shocking thing to say. And then, a new concept. Will I be qualified to enter the Kingdom? I'm descended from Abraham. Isn't that going to do it? I've got my genealogy over in the temple. It's in the na'as. It's in the building over there. It's on the north side of the temple. And you can go check for yourself. I'm descended from Abraham. And Jesus says, that doesn't buy anything. That doesn't qualify you. And they're gasping.

Here's Matthew 5.20 that we'll be going through before too long here. For I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter. Just flat out.

Entrance is the issue. Last chapter, 7.13-14, Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and the way is broad that leads to destruction. There are many who enter it, for the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Does that give you an idea of the proportion of those who will enter versus those who won't? Isn't that something? And basically, the great majority are not going to make it.

Wow! See, this is astounding stuff. And they figure they've got the right genealogy. And they do a few of the right things, you know. This is amazing to hear. Most won't make it. Here's Matthew 18, 1-3. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus, who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And He called a child to Himself and set Him before them and said, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you... He noticed, what was their question? Who is the greatest? How did Jesus answer? Did He tell them who's the greatest? He answered by saying who's getting in and who's not. Isn't that interesting? They're looking for ranking, and He's saying, I'm talking about whether or not you're going to get in. Wow! This is mind-boggling stuff to them.

He didn't answer it like they'd hoped. The very next chapter, Matthew 19, 23 and 24, Jesus said to His disciples, Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The next page there, on top of page 4, we've got Matthew 21-31.

This is a parable here that's been laid out. Which of the two did the will of his father?" And they said, the first. Jesus said to them, truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes, these are the dregs of Jewish society. That's the standard name. Tax collectors and sinners. Tax collectors and prostitutes. Those are the scum by the measure of Jewish morality there. They will get into heaven. And who's he talking to here? He's not talking to tax collectors and prostitutes. He's talking to people who consider, I'm in. He says, these people will get in before you do.

This is completely upside down from everything they'd heard, learned, taught, thought, anything. Shocking stuff. Matthew 23, But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow these who are entering to go in. Isn't that interesting? You don't go in yourself, but those who are entering, you try to stop them.

Mark 9.47, we're stepping out of Matthew for a little bit, but Matthew also has something similar in the Sermon on the Mount. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than having two to be cast into hell.

Mark 10.15, truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter at all.

Not getting in. The issue of non-entry is big. And he even takes the point where they ask a question of ranking, and he turns it into a getting in and not getting in issue. Isn't that something? Finally, John 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, who is one of the Sanhedrin. And apparently, at some point, does become a believer. But here he tells them, unless you're born again, you're not getting in. Which is mind-boggling to him.

The bottom line in Kingdom entry is that just being Jewish will not get one into the Kingdom. See, a lot of the Jewish thought during those days, and frankly, among Orthodox Jews, it's still there. A lot of the Jewish thought was not, will I or won't I get in?

The Jewish thought was, what do we have to do to make the Messiah come? And so, some of them had the belief, we've got to get all the uncircumcised Gentiles out of the land. That'll do it. Then the Messiah will come. Another belief was, we've got to get all of Israel to follow all the laws for one day. Then the Messiah will come. So that was their thought. But it was all about how do I force the Messiah's hand to make Him come? The Messiah is standing right in front of them. And He's telling them, look guys, you don't understand at all. You're not going to force the Messiah's hand, but there is an issue. Are you getting in? Are you getting in? Okay, I'd like to shift over to page 5. We've got the supplement there.

What is our relationship to the King of the coming Kingdom? One of the things that's interesting is that the position of Christ in the Old Testament in the prophecies as the Messiah is that He is Israel's King. One of the things we pointed out previously is the Jews, in looking through the Old Testament, understood that there are two Messiahs.

And they didn't quite get it all together. Messiah ben Joseph, that is, that's not Joseph, Jesus' father, but Joseph, the one in the Old Testament at the end of Genesis. That Joseph, the one that went to Egypt. Messiah ben Joseph was the Messiah, like when they would read in Isaiah 53, that was the one who would suffer. Messiah ben David would be the one who reigns as king. They used Messiah ben Joseph to explain these puzzling passages, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22, about this Messiah that was going to come and suffer, and they didn't quite understand it.

But they really liked this Messiah ben David thing. Because this guy boots out all the bad guys and gets the Romans out and all he does is talk to them and they're gone. And that's the one they figure they're really going to focus on. And that's what all the attention was centered around. They had no idea that both were in one person and standing right in front of them. as they talk to Jesus. The concept was not there.

So ethnic Jews, I'll look at the left hand column. Ethnic Jews who are saved but are not part of the church. Ethnic Jews who are saved will come into the coming kingdom either as resurrected saints, that would be like David, Elijah, Isaiah, or having earthly bodies as we have now and having physically survived the tribulation period. So there's actually two ways for Jews to get into the kingdom if they're going to go in. One is to survive physically the tribulation period. And the other is to be resurrected and brought in that way. Revelation chapter 19 describes this great cloud which would include angels, Old Testament saints, Jew and Gentile, tribulation saints, Jew and Gentile, and church saints coming with the Lord. Those all coming with the Lord, Jews and Gentiles surviving the Tribulation period and passing into the Millennial Kingdom so as to populate the earth with bodies much like these.

That's the bringing together of those who are in the Kingdom. Christ is the King of the Jews. So, won't it be something for David who had the promise about 3,000 years ago? that one of your descendants will reign. Won't it be something for David to see that descendant? And it will be Jesus Christ.

Yes? There are different shades of Messianic Judaism, different ones. Some of them act quite independent and they would be reluctant to associate with us. Others have no problem associating and will be aware of their own cultural background but won't insist on that. That's right. Isn't that something?

It is possible for believers who are in the church to have a very backward or even ignorant understanding of where they are. But that's real common throughout the church for people who are believers not to understand who they are. How many people you run into that go to various churches and they haven't got the slightest idea that they've been identified with Christ? and all the impacts that that has. How many people that are in all kinds of different churches and they're still living under heavy principle of law?

So, I mean, yeah, that's quite possible. And there is a spectrum within Messianic Jews. I've met people of various parts of that spectrum. And, you know, a lot of ignorance. But ultimately, I think a lot of people are going to, they may well be saved, but they're going to have to find a lot of things by surprise. Well, yeah, I mean the laws are rather miserable existence.

I suppose there's one thing is that they're pursuing what is a biblical ethic, and there's that that we could agree with. It's just the basis on which it's done and what it means and all that can be quite different. Yes? But if they're applying laws and their refrigerator list... Yes. Aren't they denying the efficacy of Christ's work on their behalf and therefore they don't have grace? Think about this. What you are saying, if they are operating by the law, but are truly saved, then they're in the same position as the Galatian church that we're studying in our book of Galatians.

Here Paul wrote to them. He wrote to them as believers. He knew they were believers. But he wrote such serious things as, you have fallen from grace. He wrote such serious things as, you foolish Galatians. I think Paul needs some sort of a diplomacy course or something. But anyway, he wrote some radical words to these people.

The ones who are teaching you these things, may they be anathema. Basically, it's an agreement with God's condemnation of their teaching the law as the way to live. So these people, living under law, they're living under condemnation. They are walking in spiritual death as to their moment-by-moment walk, even though they may indeed walk through heaven's gates.

1 Corinthians 3, verses 10-15 describe the rewards for believers. And it describes there are some who will have gold and silver and precious stones. And I think that clearly comes from dependence upon the Lord under grace. There are those who have wood, hay and stubble to be burned away. And he describes at the end of that passage people that, I say this jokingly, who will enter heaven naked and smoking. Okay? It'll all be burned up. Will they be saved? Yes. Yes. It'll be like, whew! You know? Yeah.

Christ will reign as King of the Jews during the coming Kingdom from Jerusalem in Israel with Christ seated on David's throne. That was what was promised to David. That's what Mary understood. When the angel Gabriel said, you're going to be giving birth to Jesus and He'll be the Savior of Israel and there'll be the house and the throne and the kingdom, she didn't say, what's that?

She just said, I'm a virgin. How does that work? She understood what it meant. As mind-boggling as I'm sure it must have been. But she understood quite well what it meant. And that's just what we've said here. She understood that her son will reign as king of the Jews during the coming kingdom from Jerusalem in Israel with her son seated on David's throne. That's what she understood.

Which must have been something if you're a little teenage girl in a little town in northern Israel with 80 people in it. Ethnic Jews who are saved have citizenship in the earthly Jerusalem of the coming earthly kingdom. where their hope is and where their names are written in Jerusalem's Book of Life. The Book of Life is a list of living honorable citizens. There is of course the supplement here that you're free to take a look at. Let's look at the right-hand column. I think we're running out of time.

Jews and Gentiles who are saved and have been placed into the church. The Jews and Gentiles who are saved and have been placed into the church will all come into the coming kingdom as resurrected saints, having been raptured and having been with Christ in heaven during the tribulation period. That's what we just saw when we studied through the book of Revelation, chapters 4 through 19.

The church will reign with Christ as His bride and of the royal household. of the royal household, Ephesians chapter 2, last half. Christ will be Lord but not King over the church. He will be King of the Jews. He will be King of Kings. Those in the church have a heavenly citizenship where their names are written in the book of life and their blessed hope is the Savior who comes for them from heaven to take them to heaven. It is from there that the church will come to the earthly kingdom with Christ.

So that's our perspective. The Jews have a hope. And it's a good hope, isn't it? And the church has a hope. And it's a wonderful hope. As a matter of fact, scripture calls it the blessed hope. And it's a good thing. But we're out of time. So I've got to pray.