1 Kings 8:41-43, "Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Thy people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Thy name's sake (for they will hear of Thy great name and Thy mighty hand, and of Thine outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name.
Today we come to the conclusion of our current consideration of the fact that the Gentiles were ever in the heart and purpose of God in His plan of the redemption of those who would become fully incorporated into His Beth Ab, His family. We have taken great joy in the passages which detailed the full inclusion of those who were so far from the knowledge of the One True and Living God of Israel. He made the way for all to call upon Him and receive that eternal salvation, the gift of His Awesome Love in Jesus Christ. We will continue with this wondrous and miraculous work of Our Most Holy and Gracious Lord God Almighty this morning.
Please open to Mark 11:15-17 as our starting point for today. In it we have the situation in which Jesus came into the temple to worship. He dealt with those who were cheating the poor and the foreigners who were coming into the temple to worship Jehovah, The God of the Jews. Many were there with the most meager of means but wanting to offer all that they had unto God. 
These money changers and sellers were taking advantage of the poor and the weak and the foreigner in order to profit from the commitment and the dedication of these devoted worshippers. It was in this scene that Jesus threw out those cheats. This part of the Temple was supposed to be for those who were outside the tribes of Israel, and yet were so committed to love the God of the Hebrews, Whom they had come to worship as their very own.
Mark 11:15-17, And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a robbers' den." 
	What a brilliant and awesome proclamation is made by the Only Begotten Son of God in this cleansing away of those who were hindering the worship of the Heavenly Father. They were profiting by cheating those who could ill afford anything other than what they wholly brought before the Lord as their sacrifices of love and honor and adoration and worship.
…"Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? Jesus, in this declaration of driving out those who were making a mockery of the worship of Jehovah, opened the floodgate of worship from the nations, all the nations, not just Israel! 
There was a place in the heart of God for any who would call upon His glorious name, any who were hurting and seeking comfort and help in time of distress and ailment, any who would call out to Him in worship and praise and adoration. Jew or Greek or Roman or any such ilk could find the love and the compassion and the response of God as they sought Him with all their hearts and minds and beings. That was the entire reason for the coming to earth of the Christ and the Messiah, to make such an avenue for the nations to freely come into the very presence of the Most Holy and Awesome Lord God Almighty!
Again, we find witness to this heart after the Gentiles, not just the Hebrews, as illustrated in the healing of the ten lepers. This is recounted in Luke 17, verses 12-19.
Luke 17:12-19, And as He entered a certain village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" And when He saw them, He said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And it came about that as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine — where are they? "Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?" And He said to him, "Rise, and go your way; your faith has made you well."
	Jesus interacted with ten men who were outcasts from their society because of the disease which had caused such disfigurement and vile sores upon their bodies. Often, when one was infected with such a disease, the common thought within the religious community was that there had to be sin at the core of the issue. Either this person or the parents of this one had committed an offense against the law of God and this physical ailment was the result. That is why, if they were cleansed, they had to go to the priest for inspection. Part of that examination would include investigation into the possible core reason of the sin that had brought about this condition. After this priestly scrutiny, they could receive admittance once again into the social fabric from which they had to that point been excluded.
	At this juncture, when the healing was realized, only the Samaritan returned to offer thanksgiving to Jesus for the healing of his physical being. As a Samaritan, this man would still be excluded from the social order of Israel. 
However, that did not stop him from returning to Jesus with the joy of having experienced the great miracle of physical restoration. Thus he received from Christ, the complete healing, body, soul and spirit that could singly be found in the Only Begotten of the Father. 
There was a faith that was set into the core fabric of this man’s love and appreciation and total response to the One by Whom he had been fully healed. This was even though he was outside the nation of Israel. His heart was wholly unto the Lord in absolute thankfulness for the redemption of life that he had received by the healing hands of this Jesus of Nazareth.
	Because of the fact that Jesus made it very clear that God’s love was not just for the Children of Israel, the Jewish leadership sought to silence Him. He proclaimed that all could receive the blessing of Yahweh as that was freely offered to those who would seek after Jehovah, no matter what the nationality or economic status. The religious leaders of His day were very much set against the totality of that concept. 
Rather than being the light to the nations, as they were called to be, these religious influential priests were aghast at what was being seen as a blasphemous and extreme tearing apart of the fabric of their power and their authority. They had so closely and fiercely guarded their position against all threats. This was especially as they watched those actions of this zealous rabbi with such a haphazard and motley following. 
	Consider how they responded to Jesus and His interaction with those who were not of the Jewish heritage as recorded in John 12:19-21. John 12:19-21, The Pharisees therefore said to one another, "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him." Now there were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these therefore came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 
	These religious Pharisees were aghast at the idea that the world, meaning the dregs of society and the heathen among the uncircumcised and unholy of the nations, were seeking to talk with Jesus, eat a meal with Jesus, and to spend time with Jesus. This was despite the obvious fact that they were of no value to anyone other than Jesus! 
This rabbi, this teacher, was willing to sit down to a meal with those who were the tax collectors, the sick, the poor, the uncircumcised, the unloved, and the sinners of the land. This was not the way that they thought these heathen dogs and unholy sinners should be dealt with. They were to be avoided in order to not besmirch or stain those who were of the clean and holy order before The Lord.
	This attitude was carried forward after the Lord Jesus Christ was ascended up into heaven. We know that even the disciples of Jesus had to have their eyes opened as to the place that the Gentiles were to have within the very family of God. They were highly resistant to the idea that the precious salvation so freely offered to the Jews by the death and resurrection of Their Beloved Friend, Rabbi, Savior, and Lord would now be open in immense fullness unto the Gentile nations. They had to be taught how the manifested completeness of the work that Jesus accomplished was for any who would call upon His name. 
	One early example of the very heart and response of God to any who would seek Him is recounted in Acts 10:1-4. This is the manner in which God made known to Cornelius that he should send for Peter to come and proclaim Jesus to all his household. This was utterly unheard of, but it was initiated by God in order to show to those early Jewish believers that they were not alone as the recipients of the grace and the mercy and the love and the redemption that God had wrought through the Only Begotten of the Father.
Acts 10:1-4, Now there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man, and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people, and prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in to him, and said to him, "Cornelius!" And fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed, he said, "What is it, Lord?" And he said to him, "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. 
	The Apostle Paul made this very, very, concisely and abundantly clear to all in Rom 10:11-14. Pointing to the vast treasury of the very Word of God, inspired throughout all those ages by the Holy Spirit in the truth of what God was accomplishing, the Apostle proclaimed, with all vibrant force, the reality that salvation in Jesus is open to anyone who will but call upon His glorious and wondrous name!
Rom 10:11-14, For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 
	The Apostle continued with this theme as he encouraged Timothy, his protégé to recognize and teach those under his care to love and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with any who would seek to know the difference that Jesus makes in a life consecrated unto God. Consider the magnificence of the love of God so expressed in 1 Tim 2:1-6.
1 Tim 2:1-6, First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time.
As we draw this wondrous and amazing and awesome reality to a close, we will read a few of those passages in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. These so manifestly proclaim the miraculous work of Our Rabbi as the expressed Love of God to all the nations. He is the Savior of any person who will call upon Him. 
At the same time, He is the Lord of lords and The King of kings over all the nations and realms of His creation. Nothing and no one is outside the scope and the reign of His Sovereignty and Authority.
	Please open to Rev 15:2-4. Rev 15:2-4, And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses the bond-servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, For Thy righteous acts have been revealed." 
	Please note that it will be all the nations who will come and worship The Lord God Almighty - Father, Son and Holy Spirit! All will have to declare that He, Alone is God!
	Next please turn to Rev 21:1-8, as we read of the full measure of the finalized and manifested work of Jesus. This will be presented to the entirety of creation as the Church of Christ Jesus is revealed in all His glory and splendor. 
	Rev 21:1-8, And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 
	Then in verses 22-27 of this same chapter, the writer reveals the fact of how God and man will be in such intimate relationship that all the people will walk in the light of the Lamb. There will be fellowship and communion, God with man through the magnificent work of the resurrected Lamb of God.
	Rev 21:22-27, And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 
	And we close this morning’s amazing walk through the Word of God with the call, detailed in Rev 22:12-17. This is to be upon all our hearts in our every dealing with those whom God brings into our lives. We are to be the witness, not of exclusivity, but of the inclusion into Christ Jesus of any who will call upon His name and seek to know Him in the intimacy of becoming part of the very family of Jehovah, adopted into the Beth Ab, children and heirs of The Lord God Almighty!
	Rev 22:12-17, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. 
So be it and amen and amen!
"Also concerning the foreigner who is not of Thy people Israel, when he comes from a far country for Thy name's sake (for they will hear of Thy great name and Thy mighty hand, and of Thine outstretched arm); when he comes and prays toward this house, hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to Thee, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by Thy name. Amen.
				
This morning’s benediction is Ps 9:10. And those who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee; For Thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek Thee. Amen.