HOW COME THE GENTILES ARE ALSO SAVED- Minister Kendra Hammond

                                        

Rev 7:1-9(NKJV)

7 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying,"Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

5 of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;* 

of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;

6 of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;

7 of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;

8 of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;

of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

    The sealed are from the twelve (12) tribes of Israel; 12 thousand from each tribe totaling 144,000 but Bible records that there was a great multitude of Gentiles in the verse 9. These multitude had suffered greatly from the tribulation and had washed their clothes in the lamb’s *(Jesus) blood meaning they have accepted Christ and are now saved (verse 14).

    This is what we mean by Grace. The Gentiles were not part of the picture from the beginning but in the end a multitude of them will be saved. If you are not from any of the 12 tribes of Israel, then you are a Gentile.

     

Matt 15:22-28(NKJV)

22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

23 But He answered her not a word.

And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."

24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"

26 But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."

27 And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."

28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

This scripture makes it clear that the main reason why Jesus came to earth was for the ‘’lost sheep of the house of Israel’’; the Israelites who were living in unbelief. The Gentiles were not part of the picture and the Canaanite woman was an example. She wanted healing for her daughter but Jesus was not willing. It took the faith of the woman to get healing for her daughter.

    The great news is that she got healing for her daughter out of faith. The Gentiles are not totally lost. We also have hope of getting salvation and from the Word of God in Revelation 7:9; the great multitude of Gentiles. In fact many Gentiles are saved today because of the unbelief of the Israelites. Just like the story of the Canaanite woman, the Gentiles require faith to obtain salvation. Without faith in the finished works of Jesus, it is impossible to get salvation. To the Gentiles, it is not about works or self-efforts or self-righteousness. It is all about our faith in Christ’s work.

    In Matthew 22:1-14, the king got angry when all his invited guests gave excuses and didn’t come to his party. He therefore sent his servants to the streets to invite anyone they see, Hallelujah, these people were the Gentiles.

    The reason for the parable above is this; in Matthew 11:20-24, Jesus rejected some of the cities in Israel because these people rejected Him and did not believe in Him as the Son of God and the way to salvation even upon all the miracles He did. The comparison He made in the verse 21-23 made it clear that the Gentiles can also receive salvation as soon as we believe in Jesus and accept Him into our lives, ‘’washing our clothes in His blood’’. So here the scriptures in Matthew 22 means that the unbelief of the Jews made grace abound to the Gentiles.

    Though Jesus came to the earth to save the Israelites, He couldn’t have done that without dying on the cross. That work has been done but real salvation is to believe in Christ as the Son of God and only way into salvation is to confess Him into your life. This is what the Jews did not do.

    After His resurrection, He left His work in the hands of His disciples (Mark 16:15) to continue to preach to them till they believe. The good news is, when Jesus died on the cross, the Gentiles were also made partakers of the glory of God. So whenever the good news is preached and they believe, they are saved. Therefore, God chose Paul (who was called Saul) as an apostle to the Gentiles because the Gentiles were willing and eager to hear to hear the good news and to believe. All that it takes is faith in Jesus Christ and His finished works.  

        GREATER GRACE!!! SHALOM!!!