In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding the great saga and drama of the last days for the Church of the Last Days. The Church cannot be ignorant or indifferent to this process, as it reveals the establishment of God's kingdom on earth and the role of the Church in bringing about this conclusion. The speaker highlights the significance of Ezekiel 37 as a critical text for the Church, which speaks of the restoration of God's ancient people, Israel, and the establishment of a king who rules forever. The sermon also emphasizes the spiritual reality of being grafted into the same roots and drawing from the same life as Israel, rather than focusing on the political state.

In terms of something much more fundamental, a first principle of God, which if we have not obtained that, it makes every other consideration almost pointless. Now that you have introduced me as you have, I am wondering if I need to return to the original subject. But whether it comes tonight or tomorrow, I would ask you at your own time to read one complete chapter, Ezekiel 37. This is a critical text for the Church of the last days, and I hope that by it we might receive an understanding of the mystery of Israel and the Church. And though it is an ancient prophetic text, it speaks of something yet future. Something that has not yet been performed, although the process is already present in the world. And notice the conclusion of the chapter. It is God restoring his ancient people out of death, who had been reduced to dry bones, and then he returns them to the land, and he establishes a king over them, who rules forever, evidently not a human king, but both man and God, who is called by King David, which I believe is a picture of Jesus reigning from Jerusalem over a restored nation brought back from the dead. This is the great saga, the great drama of the last days. It is impossible to be the Church of the last days and to be either ignorant or indifferent to it. Not only because it shows how it is that this kingdom is to be established in the earth for which we all wait, the dominion over which we have sung tonight, but it shows the role and the place of the Church in effecting this conclusion. Which church we are? The church that is willfully ignorant or rejecting of this process of God forfeits being the church. It gives up its right and its identity as the church. It can continue to conduct meetings and services, and sing choruses and have biblical teachings, but it has lost its identity and purpose in God. Not only to its own eternal regret, but to the loss of the people around it, to whom it might have been an effectual and radical presence of God. That is why I am so insistent on this subject. It is not because I myself am Jewish. It is because I am a servant to the church and jealous over the church that it should not fall short of its glory. And as the Ezekiel 37 text shows, the church is the critical agent of God in the redemption of Israel. It is not a role that we would have chosen for ourselves. We would have been just as willing to allow those bones to remain in their graves, and even say they deserve such a death in such a grave. They don't deserve any restored place to God. But to express an attitude like that is to show that your attitude is not God's. It shows that your faith is resting on a false foundation. You might well be in a place of deception about yourself. Merely to use the word deserves to be restored. For who of us deserves anything from God? We have not understood God as God. How then shall we make Him known? For nothing more reveals God as He in fact truly is than His willingness to restore an undeserving nation. For He said, I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. It has nothing to do with deserving. Do you remember when Moses said, show me thy glory? And God hid him in a cleft of the rock and allowed just the real part of his skin. And He revealed to him His tender mercy. Moses asked for His glory and God revealed His mercy. For His mercy is His glory. He will have mercy upon whom He will have mercy. The question is, will you have it? And your ability to have mercy is the exact statement of where you are in God. What is the real truth of your life? Your essential identity? Is it with the purposes of God? Or the political mentality of your nation? Which is unquestionably powerful. To rise above that power and to see as God sees and to desire what God desires is the statement of an unusual saint. One who has come to maturity in God. That glorifies Him. And I say this to the church everywhere. And it's not different because we are in Egypt. In these last days, the issue of Israel is the issue of the church. It's not an issue we would have chosen. We would like to pass it by. It's uncomfortable for us in all of its implications. But it raises the deep issues of the truth of our life and faith. As nothing else will. Sorry, am I cutting you off? Because that's God's wisdom. That was His explicit design. So in preparation for our examination of this text tomorrow, I believe that the Lord is leading us tonight to examine something much more basic and fundamental. The first principle of the faith, which is the principle of separation for Abraham and for us. And I want to take you back to the beginning where God required it of Abraham, or he would not have become the father of faith, nor the father of many nations. And I want to raise this question. Are we the sons of Abraham or the sons of Egypt? Because unless we are both sons of Abraham, Jew and Jew, we are not yet rightly related to the father. My identification as a son of Abraham has nothing to do with being a Jew. Most Jews today are unrelated to Abraham. They have not his faith and they are not walking in his way. It's a spiritual condition. And a costly one. It's not cheap or convenient. And God requires it of all men everywhere. No matter what is the country of our origin, we are all called to a heavenly. And if we have not settled that issue in our hearts, we cannot go on to the consideration of any other issue. So let's look at Genesis 12, where this radical call comes to Abraham, who himself was not a Jew. He was a Mesopotamian. He came from Ur of the Chaldeans. He became a Hebrew by an act of faith. For the word Hebrew means one who crosses over. For him it was the Euphrates River. For you it's the Nile. Symbolically speaking. On which side of the river do you dwell? Have you heard the call? Have you answered? And have you crossed over? It's not an easy call. It's total. And it comes to us from a total God, who will not play games with us. He's not in the business of giving us a religious culture. To improve the aspects of our life. He's a God who is total. And he calls us to himself totally. And that's the land of promise. That's another reality. That's another use. That's another citizenship. That's another glory. It's the glory that Paul knew. Though he was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. That's not the way he saw his true identity. He only used that to show his kinsmen discredentions. In his own sight he was a citizen of heaven. Is that your citizenship? And do you desire that it should be? Can you read Genesis 12? Genesis 12, 1-3 Genesis 12, 1-3 Amen. Does it say in your Arabic edition, get thee out? Get out of your land. It says out. Get thee out? Get from your land it says. Well, I like the English edition better. It catches the more radical character of the call. Get thee out of nation, kindred, and father's house. There is something about the word out that is so total, so uncompromising, so unequivocal. You cannot compromise it. There is no such thing as being partially out. It's like being partially pregnant. Pregnant. You are or you are not. You're in or you're out. I would suspect that the greatest number of those who call themselves Christian tonight, in every nation, are still in and they're not out. They are Americans who happen to be Christians. Or Africans who happen to be Christians. Or Germans who happen to be Christians. Jews or Germans? It doesn't matter. German. Thank you. I just spoke a message like this to Jews in Boston the day before I came here. I had to challenge them. What is your deepest identification? Your Jewishness? Or that God is? It's God's call now to believers of all nations. At the very hour when ethnic identity, national identity, religious identity is now becoming so heated and important. The powers of darkness are bringing men down into violence and to death over the issue of nationality and race ethnos. The powers of darkness are bringing men down into violence and to death over the issue of nationality and race ethnos. But God calls us to something above. But what a painful call. Nation, father, kindred. These are the deepest affections and bondings that men can know in the world. It almost sounds cruel. And I'm sure it must have hurt Abraham's father. Abraham's family. The truth of it is that he could not even bring himself to this radical separation. That when he left he took his father with him. And his cousin Lot. And he never did cross the river. He went up the river. And they settled in a place called Haran and remained there for many years. And were outside of the blessing of God for as long as they were there. He never became God's son or a man of blessing until he actually left. When God called me 28 years ago. After spending four months in Cairo. And being twice in the hospital. And having a chance to wrestle the issue of the call of God in Christ that had come to me on my way into Israel. My first question was, how will this affect my mother? If I become a Christian, this will kill my mother. And what about my Jewish friends? We Jews have suffered so much in Christ's name. All throughout our history the church has been a persecutor of the Jews. So am I now to become one with the enemy of my people? The church has persecuted the Jews for 2000 years. There is hardly a city or a town in Germany in which Jewish blood has not flowed in the streets. Have you not heard of the Spanish Inquisition? When Jews were compelled to convert to Catholicism or to die. And were expelled out of Spain in 1492. They were tortured at the rack, stretched and broken. And called to convert or die. And many chose to die. There are stories of Jews slashing the throats of their own children. Even some Jews were slaughtering their own wives. Rather than convert to the strange gentile religion. And they called that death, sanctifying the name of God. This is well known in our history. We have taken this in with our mother's milk. We have taken this in with our mother's milk. Islam has also gone through a phase like this. And instead of accusing the world, they accused the church as a Christian. The Christian church for persecuting them. The entire Jewish community of Jerusalem locked itself into the synagogue in Jerusalem when the Crusaders came. And the Crusaders set that synagogue afire and wiped out that community in one night. And went around the burning synagogue singing Christian hymns. Praising the name of Jesus. Thinking they were doing God's service. How did they finance their crusades? By looting and pillaging every Jewish community in Europe as they moved their way down to the Middle East. By what? By looting, destroying, pillaging, extorting. So you say, but this is not true Christians. These are unregenerate Gentiles. Who had only a Christian culture. And they had a cross on their tunics. But you need to understand this. My mother doesn't know the difference. To her, they were all Christian. My mother thinks Hitler was a Christian. He's not a Muslim. He's not a Jew. What else could he be? Jews don't understand the difference between born again believers. And Gentiles who call themselves Christians. That's exactly how the Muslims here think. So for the truth of the matter. We need to understand what their attitude is. That's why they're so difficult to reach. Are you trying to make a Christian out of me? I should join the enemy's camp who killed my people? And that's how I am looked upon by my own people. I've spoken in universities all over the world. Merely to reach Jews because you can't have access to them. And you know I've heard many times. You are worse than Hitler. Hitler sought only to destroy our bodies. You want to destroy our souls. You want to destroy our Jewishness. And rob us of our identity. And how do you answer them? I can't. It's too heated. I have to suffer their misunderstanding. Men like myself are called a special word in Hebrew. Meshumet. Traitor. That's what it costs to come out from father, nation, and kindred. It's to be misunderstood. It's to suffer reproach. My friends think I was cruel to my mother. This will kill my mother. But here is the paradox. Only that one who comes out from nation, kindred, and father is in a position to bless nation, kindred, and father. It's because I came out that I can bless my mother. She may not see it as blessing now. But she will eternally. True faith is expensive. God said to Abraham, get thee out. You do that. And I will make of thee a great nation. I will bless you and make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing. Are you a blessing? Only in proportion to your separation. God's promise is true to every child of Abraham. I will make you a blessing to the exact proportion that you have really come out. In chapter 14 of Genesis this same Abraham meets a very mysterious person. In verse 18 he meets a man by the name of Melchizedek which means king of righteousness, king of peace. And he gives to this man who is a priest of the Most High God a tenth of all that he has. It says at the end of verse 18 he gave him tithes of all. And this priest blessed Abraham. This priest has an authority in God greater than Abraham. Which explains why Abraham gave tithes to him. And which means a blessing for Abraham for the greater blesses the lesser. And then we hear no more of this Melchizedek who was both a king and a priest until we come to the book of Hebrews and we hear of him again and it is no other than Jesus himself who is the high priest and the apostle of our confession. Because if he were not a high priest neither would he be an apostle. This priestliness is a key for we ourselves as believers are called a royal priesthood. A peculiar name. And it is only as priests that we will bless the families of the earth. And bless this nation. Now you say how can I be a priest I am an Egyptian. I don't have your genealogy. I am not descended from the Hebrew people. Out of which the one tribe came from which God took his priests. And to be a high priest you have to be the son of the angel. And I am actually descended from that line. You are? I am. My name Katz indicates that. It is a contraction of two Hebrew words. Kohan Sadek. Priest of righteousness. Melke Sadek is the same word. So are you saying am I receiving blessing from you because of that? No, not at all. For God has abolished that priesthood. That earth like priesthood. And has established another that is heavenly for all who have come out of the earth and are in heaven and are identified with this God as sons not of Egypt or America or Israel but of God. Only then can we bless the nations. Look at the description in Hebrews 7. The first verse talks about this Melke Sadek. King of Salem, priest of the most great God to whom Abraham gave a tenth part of all which is the king of righteousness and the king of blessings. Then comes this description without father, without mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of days but made like unto the Son of God abides a priesthood forever. If we are to be God's royal priesthood in the last days and we are invited to be it we must be on this basis or not at all without father or mother without genealogy but abiding as a son in the form of a son of God made like unto a son of God it's a process of God and it's happening even in these days that we might also become priests of the Melchizedek order. Verse 25 says that he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him and also to the uttermost that come unto God by him. This is what we saw in the ministry of Paul. Though he was by genealogy a Hebrew of the Hebrews the ministry and the power of his ministry was on another basis. He had an anointing as a priest that made possible his ministry as an apostle and he saved to the uttermost all that came to God. If you were converted in Paul's ministry you were really converted to Christ. It was not up and down Christian life one day good one day not so good one day happy one day you would be sad it says that they left their idols to serve the living God they crossed over it was a powerful conversion because of priestly anointing because of a man who came to them not in the image of a Hebrew but as a son of God for it says in chapter 8 in verse 4 if he were on earth he should not be a priest at all God says that we are in the world but not of it we are in Egypt but not of it Jesus spoke to Nicodemus in Jerusalem who came to him by night and said God must be with you for no man can do what you do and Jesus answered him in a totally strange way Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews from an earthly religious and cultural frame it was a confrontation between two kinds of men the best of both the best from the earth Jewish religious culture that's a common model and the son of God the man from heaven and they are in Jerusalem at night and Jesus said no man can ascend up to heaven who has not first come down from heaven even the son of man which is in heaven except the son of man who is in heaven Nicodemus must have been very confused the son of man was standing right before him with his feet on Jerusalem ground where he said the son of man who is in heaven right now while I'm physically here my true identity my true location the source of my inspiration the origin for my speaking everything that makes me up as a son that makes me able to bless you is the true place of my identity heaven does that bewilder you then you are more Nicodemus than you are Jesus then you are more identified with Nicodemus you have not yet you have not yet come out that God can bless you and make you in the form of a son of God that you might abide as a priest continually but if you are on the earth you cannot be a priest with whom do you have a deeper and truer connection your own mother, father, brother and an uncle or with me we can tell right now where we are you're not an Egyptian that's true I'm not an Egyptian but with whom do you have the deepest and truest connection with him or with your family your natural family your own nationality or this man who happens to be a Jew this is the real question and if you could see your faces this morning as I saw them the question doesn't even have to be raised your faces answer it you were looking at me as if I were a stranger separate from you suspicious not one that you're sure that you can trust you felt not at ease with me this is a very great question and we need to face it honestly are we sons of the same God the same father is that a deeper and truer connection than your own flesh and blood when God will have a people who can say yes to that Egypt will be his people and Israel will be his inheritance and your inheritance also for you who were far off and without God and without hope in the world have been brought near by the blood of our Messiah and into the common welfare of excuse the language Israel not the political state the commonwealth of Israel not the political state the spiritual reality we're grafted into the same roots same tree of God we draw from the same life we're moved by the same purpose we have one spirit I'm going from here to Israel and I'll have a much more difficult time there than I had here you can believe that I'll never forget the first time that I came to the west bank of the city of Ramallah and we went to an Arab orphanage and they asked my wife we're going there now again on this trip we're going again on this trip and we're bringing clothing and underwear and books and everything and my wife will stay there for two months to sew their clothing and cook and clean for them and she's from Denmark and the first time we came years ago they said would you like to say something to them and they were sitting like this looking at this Jew not to be trusted and I said what can I say to them so the Lord gave me the Lord's crib our father which art in heaven they were Christians of a kind and I said our father which art in heaven until it broke through and they recognized we have one and we have peace and trust because we were the sons of the same father we had a common identification above nationality or race or any such thing it's another wisdom it's the glory we need an anointing for these last days I've needed it with you I would be dead if I had no anointing with you and what is the key to that anointing it's the holy anointing oil poured out from heaven as it was once poured upon the head of Aaron it is now poured upon the head of these priests these Melchizedek priests who are without father or mother without genealogy beginning or ending of days they're above nation they're above culture they're above politics and they abide priests continually they're not in the earth or they would not be priests at all you want something practical this is it amen if you're going to be a blessing to your nation in all of the tumult and conflict of the last days only as a priest under a priestly anointing that are reserved only for sons of God not sons of Egypt or sons of America or any other nation those who have their citizenship in heaven amen I spoke a message about being a pilgrim stranger and sojourner in the earth and I want you to turn to Hebrews 11 for that and there was such an anointing that an American brother who was there had his passport put it on the ground I renounce my American citizenship and I declare I'm a citizen of heaven I'm a stranger and a pilgrim and a sojourner in this earth a ministry was born that night but he had to declare it where it says they that say such things in verse 14 be clear of the fact that they seek a country because if they had been mindful of the country before they left Egypt they might have had an opportunity to return like tonight do you want to go back to Egypt to the spirit of the nation its wisdom its way its hatred its bitterness its resentment or do you want a heavenly place are you looking for a better country that is a heavenly therefore God is not ashamed to be called a city for he has prepared for them a city therefore God is not ashamed to be called a city for he has prepared for them a city the new Jerusalem now they desire a better country it has to do with your desire Abraham let me out you get out you separate yourself from the deepest hooks that goes into a man's soul and affects his mind as well and therefore and I will bless you, and make you a blessing, if you desire a better country, does that mean you are now to hate Egypt? No. You love it as a priest. You have a compassion of a priest. You have a true identification and the priestly power to bless it. We don't know what power we have. The whole word blessing has been made cheap. We have robbed that word of its meaning. It is so easy to say, bless you brother. But does my brother receive anything because of that? Are these words that fall to the ground? Or do they confer on one basis only? That is a priestly word. A priest has a power of blessing. So in verse 13, who is in chapter 11? All the great men of faith. From Abraham to Moses. And those of whom the world was not worthy. These all died in faith. Not having received the promises. But they were persuaded and embraced them from afar. And confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And for them that say such things, declare that they seek another country. And for them God has prepared a city. A royal city. For them that say such things. Do you want to break the power of Egypt? And if I were in Germany, I would say, do you want to break the power of Germany? It is powerful in Israel today. Nationalism. I've got one Jewish brother who has almost lost his faith. Because he has become so identified with his earthly nation. That he is no longer blessed. Nor can he bless others. Because he lost his true identity. There is something that can happen here tonight. From your mouth. They that say such things. Declare that they seek another country. But God called them to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Are you going to be a prophet in God? An evangelist? An apostle? A true teacher of the word? There is a famine for the word of the Lord in this nation. There is a cry for authentic men of God in this nation. Under the anointing of God. But you'll never be a prophet. You'll never be an apostle. You'll never be a teacher. Unless you're first a priest. If it was required of Jesus to be the high priest and the apostle of our confession. What does that say to us who have a heavenly calling? For them that desire these things. And say such things. And proclaim such things. It's right out of your mouth. Will you have the courage that my American brother had? He got up and he threw his passport on the floor. He was making a statement not only to God. But to the principalities and the powers of the air. That go back to the time of Pharaoh. The princes of Egypt. Who had been jerking and manipulating throughout all the ages. And had jerked and manipulated you. Until you declared such things. So this message tonight can be turned into an event. One that brings us into the true identity of God. And releases priestly anointing. That those who come to God by us. Will be saved to the uttermost. And I want to remind you what I spoke when I was here two years ago. Prepare yourselves for the day when Israelis will be in your midst. As a captive nation. Who is captive? Israel. Or in flight from captivity. When God brings them down as a nation. And tests them again into the nations. And into this nation. That he might call for them again one day. Israel I have loved as a child. But I have called my son out of Egypt. You will have a ministry. Their privilege to be saved to the uttermost. May come not in Israel but in Egypt. When God will have brought them to the midst of a priestly people. Who can minister to them in love. Without hatred and without bitterness. Because they have risen above their national identity. And expressed the priestly heart of God. They will not be able to resist you. The word of God in your mouth will be truth. Your love will melt them. They will not know how to understand it. They will have expected hatred. But they are receiving mercy. From Egyptians. Not Egyptians. Something above. Something through. Very heaven itself. So let's pray tonight. And historic night tonight. For the church of Jesus Christ. In this great nation. And in its capital city. By men who have heard Abraham's call. And have come out. That they might come in. To the priestly ministry of God. In power. Let's pray. Let's pray. They that say such things. You pray. You say. You declare. You are seeking a better country. For God has prepared a city for you.