Greetings, Fellow Members of the Body of Christ,

Here we continue on the Hebrews Series, recorded in Windber, PA, in 2013.  
 

SHOW 37.

What can I say? Fantastic show. The remnant of Romans 11 is proof that God has not cast away His people. This is the proof Paul puts forth to the objection, "God is finished with Israel!" I don't know what's wrong with the Preterists. They have some sort of mental defect. Paul explains the whole Israel situation in Romans 11. The day there is not a remnant is the day God could be accused of having cast away His people.

Even the Concordant Publishing Concern gets this wrong. I actually drove from Greenwich, Ohio to Almont, Michigan in 1994  to confer with Dean Hough about this. Dean believed (as well as all the other Concordant A-Listers0, that the remnant died with Paul. Say what? But Paul says there's a remnant "in the current era." Aren't we not still in the current era? We are. And besides, if there is no remnant of faithful Israelites, even for a second, then God will have no proof He has not forsaken His people. He's the One Who put up the remnant as proof, not me.

I don't think I convinced Dean Hough. But based on his answers, I was more convinced than ever. There MUST be some faithful Israelites on the earth, and I'm talking about Israelites who are faithful to the Circumcision Evangel. Dean got down to admitting that there could be a remnant of UNCIRCUMCISION Israelites. But that was absurd. What use would it be for there to be a remnant of Israel believers who had jumped ship to Paul's evangel? If anything, that would help prove that God WAS finished with Israel.

Which is not to say, of course, that the nation as a whole is not apostate. Of course it is. And your calling depends on the apostasy of Israel---as a whole.

SHOW 38

"Israel trips but does not fall," Paul says. This is so important. I have tripped many times without falling. "Falling" would mean God was finished with Israel. Tripping means they're just temporarily out. Is this so hard for the Preterists to understand? Oh, it most certainly is.

Christians trip as well. They trip AND fall. AND they can't get back up, Christians hate the completeness of the cross. It doesn't leave anything for them to do.

Think about this: If the Kingdom had come in Jesus' day and on Pentecost, we’d have been OUT. We may not have even been born. Israel's national apostasy has made way for us. All of this marvelous stuff is explained in Romans, chapter 11. Let me say it another way. The only reason we are here is because of a handful or pious Jews rejected Jesus, and these pretty much represented the whole of the nation. (Except for the remnant, of course.)

As soon as the last member of the body of Christ comes into the fold ("until the fulness of the nations be entering"), then God will pick up with Israel again. We will have been snatched away.

God's calling of the nations served many purposes. A surprising purpose is its design to put Israel in a jealous state. But isn't jealousy a sin? Yep. So God causes Israel to sin. Yet this jealousy fires them up to embrace their own call. At that time it will be too late to be in the body of Christ.  

Enjoy the little audio at the end. This is not AI! (There was no AI i 1996.) This was the girl who worked downstairs at the postal service in Greenwich, OhiShe sold stamps at the window mainly, but also carried mail. I worked with her occasionally in Willard, Ohio, where she came in to substitute of some of the letter carriers. I would often go downstairs to bother her, that is, talk to her about God. I asked her if she wanted to do this promo recording for me. She at first said she didn’t want to do it—but I can be persuasive! It was great hearing this. (Yes, she was cute; possibly still is.) She came upstairs to my office to make this audio. I thought she did a great job.

Thank you so much for your continued support of this work. I am going to be in Lima, Peru, a little longer than expected to get my medical situation under control. Maria and I saw Sasha yesterday, the immunology guy, and it sounds like this guy he's sending us to on Monday will be able to drain the cyst. But now I have another one forming on the left cheek. This has been a Job-like trial, let me tell you. So we will be in Lima another two weeks. Thank you as always for your thoughts and your prayers concerning me. My thoughts and prayers are ALWAYS with you. We operate as a unit.

From beneath the equator, with thanksgiving,

Martin