866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
Your time is running out. Few men have had the opportunities to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ that you have had.
The brow of Nazareth tells the tale of Jesus’ relationship with His own nation (Luke 4:16-30). Everyone on this text list has stood there.
Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, was a microcosm of the nation’s relationship with Him. It is summarized in John 1:11, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
In Nazareth, we see Jesus rejected as the Christ though He fulfilled all Scripture. He was born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2), proclaimed by Elijah (Mal. 4:5-6), preached in the region of Zebulun, Naphtali, and Galilee (Isa. 9:1-2), did mighty miracles (Isa. 35:4-6; 42:7), spoke with the tongue of the learned (Isa. 50:4), was despised and rejected of men (Isa. 53:3).
In Nazareth, too, we see the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus read from Isaiah 61 and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Either he was deluded or a deceiver, and there is no evidence for that.
In Nazareth, we see Israel’s ancient hatred toward the salvation of the Gentiles in contradiction to the law of Moses. We see this in Jonah caring more for his shading gourd than for the eternal souls of the Ninevites. Eight hundred years later, it was Jesus’ mention of God’s blessing on the Gentiles (the woman of Sidon and Naaman the Syrian) that so enraged the Nazarenes that they tried to kill Him! “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.”
That animosity ultimately led to the crucifixion of Jesus on the brow of another hill 65 miles to the south, in direct and dramatic fulfillment of prophecy. The entire Old Testament points to “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Remove the suffering Christ from the Hebrew Scripture; remove Jesus from Jewish history; and nothing makes sense.
It is because of Jesus that we spend large sums of money to visit Israel, that we love the Jews, that we love the land of Israel, that we care about Israel’s struggles, that we believe Old Testament prophecy, that we understand the law of Moses, that we reject rabbinical tradition, that we have a sure hope of salvation, that we preach the gospel to both Jew and Gentile, that we are looking for Christ’s return. For us, it’s all about Jesus.
Jesus called Israel to repentance and offered salvation, and Israel did not repent. On the eve of His crucifixion, He said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:37-39).
The state of Israel has made a lot of money off of Jesus and has benefited greatly from the support of those who love Jesus name, but it has not yet said of Him, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
We refuse to be of that tribe of “Christians” who keep quiet about these things or treat them as peripheral matters for the sake of peace. A true friend refuses to keep quiet when he sees a friend in imminent danger.
- Receive these reports by email
- www.wayoflife.org
______________________
Sharing Policy: Much of our material is available for free, such as the hundreds of articles at the Way of Life web site. Other items we sell to help fund our expensive literature and foreign church planting ministries. Way of Life's content falls into two categories: sharable and non-sharable. Things that we encourage you to share include the audio sermons, O Timothy magazine, FBIS articles, and the free eVideos and free eBooks. You are welcome to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. You may also post parts of reports and/or entire reports to websites, blogs, etc as long as you give proper credit (citation). A link to the original report is very much appreciated as the reports are frequently updated and/or expanded. Things we do not want copied and distributed are "Store" items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, print editions of our books, electronic editions of the books that we sell, the videos that we sell, etc. The items have taken years to produce at enormous expense in time and money, and we use the income from sales to help fund the ministry. We trust that your Christian honesty will preserve the integrity of this policy. "For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward" (1 Timothy 5:18). Questions? support@wayoflife.org
Goal:Distributed by Way of Life Literature Inc., the Fundamental Baptist Information Service is an e-mail posting for Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. Our primary goal with the FBIS is to provide material to assist preachers in the edification and protection of the churches.
Offering: Offerings are welcome if you care to make one. If you have been helped and/or blessed by our material offerings can be mailed or made online with with Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Paypal. For information see: www.wayoflife.org/about/makeanoffering.html.
