Bible Studies For Bereans J. C. O'Hair

THE TWO SPOTLESS CHRISTS

2010-03-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

Perhaps most Christians know that the Bible teaches that there are two Adams. Of course, they are thinking of I Corinthians 15:45: “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a life﷓giving Spirit.” In this same chapter, in verse forty-seven, the first Adam is called, “the first man”; and the last Adam is called, “the Second Man, from heaven.” So in thinking of the two Adams, we have generally thought of Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The study of these two men in the Bible is a very interesting study. Much is said about these two men, and their contributions to the human race. Read the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians and the fifth chapter of Romans. The contribution of the first Adam is nothing to boast about. It is summed up in these words, “sin” or “unrighteousness” “condemnation” “alienation from God,” “physical and spiritual death,” and “eternal conscious perdition.” All of this might be stated by the word “ruin.” By the Second Man, the last Adam, as many as receive Him are not condemned, but are justified and reconciled to God by the death of Christ. John 3:18; Romans 5:10. These believers are declared righteous, made alive, have received God’s free gift, eternal life, with the guarantee of incorruptibility and eternal conscious glory. All of this might be stated by the word, “redemption.” So it is “ruin,” by Adam, and “redemption,” by Christ. “The law of sin and death,” by Adam; “the law of the Spirit of life” in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Genesis 1:26 to 28 we learn that God created Adam in His own image and likeness. Adam was not born of a Woman. He was not begotten by a father. Adam was created. According to John 1:1 to 10 and Colossians 1:15 to 19, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was then in the form of God, created Adam.

The Lord Jesus Christ is called, “God’s Holy Child Jesus”. He was the express image of God’s person and the effulgence of God’s glory. (Hebrews 1:1 to 3). He was born of a woman; and He was begotten of Almighty God, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. No other child was ever born into this world as was “the Holy Child Jesus.” God was His Father. The virgin Mary was His mother. Jesus Christ was the Seed of the woman and, in that sense, He was the Seed of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16 and 17) and therefore the Second Man descended from the First Man about forty centuries after the Second Man created the First Man in His own image and likeness (Hebrew 2:14). It is interesting to note, in Romans 5:14, that Adam is said to be the figure of the Lord and Jesus Christ. Read Hebrews 2:14 and John 1:14.

But in this message the Lord Jesus Christ is not one of the two Adams that we are to consider before we take up the study of the two spotless Christs of the Bible.

As we said Christ created Adam. This Christ did before He made Adam’s wife, “Eve.” And when we read that God created Adam in His own image and likeness, we know that this image and likeness did not refer to Adam’s earthly house or tabernacle, but to that life within that house of clay. Now note in the closing verses of the first chapter of Genesis that God rested in His perfect work of creation after He had made Adam, even before He made Eve. The first creation is recorded in Genesis 1:26 to 28.

Now let us carefully read how God made Eve and what Adam said about his wife.

“And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.”

Adam seemed to know that men were going to marry women and together have children; and that these children were to grow up and marry. When the men married their wives they were to leave their fathers and mothers and be joined, as one flesh, to their wives; and their wives were, of course, one flesh, with the men. Here Adam must have been speaking of other marriages, rather than his own; for Adam had no mother to leave. Certainly if we have any Scriptural right to call God, Adam’s “Father,” Adam did not mean he was to leave God because God had joined Adam and Eve together as one flesh. Eve did cause Adam to sin against God and lose that Divine image and likeness and put an end to that relationship and fellowship that existed between God and Adam before the serpent beguiled Eve. But Adam was not referring to himself and Eve. Whether or not Adam knew it, he was speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church when he spake the words of Genesis 2:23 and 24 “And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.”

Proof of this is found in Ephesians 5:31 and 32:

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.”

The Lord Jesus Christ did have a Father and a mother. For the sake of the Church, Christ left His Father and His mother, and went to Calvary’s cross.

Note Ephesians 5:25 and 26: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.”

In Acts 20:28 we read of “the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood”. We remember quite well the cry of the Son of God on that cross: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” We can read of this awful scene in the Four Gospels. But we can only imagine what took place in heaven that hour and moment when God’s eternal bosom﷓companion left His Father to come down to be the Friend of publicans and sinners; to become the Man of sorrows and be made sin and a curse on the tree.

Note John 1:14:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.”

The Lord of glory became sinless flesh and then He became sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (II Corinthians 5:21).

Then we remember that seeming rebuke of the Lord Jesus Christ when, at a wedding, He asked His mother, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” (John 2:4). And surely He left His mother when on the cross He said to His beloved apostle John, “Behold thy mother”. (John 19:27). For the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ left His Father and His mother, and Christ and the Church are to be one flesh.

Adam without Eve was a figure of Christ without the Church. But Adam alone was not a figure of Christ and His Church. That’s where Eve comes in; and also where that other Adam comes in. If Adam and Eve were one flesh, there is a sense in which the two were one person. This, too, is in harmony with the Divine Record.

“Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.” Genesis 5:2.

We would here emphasize that their name—two of them—by God’s own wisdom and will, was “Adam”. Adam and Eve were called “Adam”—they were “one flesh.” So Adam was Adam, without Eve, and Adam was Adam, with Eve. God called Adam alone “Adam”; and God called Adam and Eve, “Adam”. And all of this had to do with God’s Divine purpose, that which God purposed in Christ before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 3:11).

THE FOREORDAINED SPOTLESS CHRIST

Let us see what God really purposed before the foundation of the world concerning the two spotless Christs.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” I Peter 1:18 to 20.

This is in harmony with Acts 4:26 to 28:

“The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth against thy Holy Child Jesus, Whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.”

This is also in harmony with Acts 2:23:

“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.”

So the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ was not accidental. His once﷓for﷓all death on the cross was not premature. The Son of God was more than a religious martyr. He was God’s only begotten Son, His Spotless Lamb, foreordained from before the foundation of the world. (Hebrews 2:9). The Son of God was God incarnate and came to this world to die as He did and when He did. In this connection it is interesting to read I Corinthians 2:6 to 8 and Acts 13:29 and 30:

“Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory; which none of the princes of this world knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

“And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre. But God raised Him from the dead.”

If poor, blind religious people are trying to get to heaven without faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not know that He was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be God’s spotless Lamb, certainly we do not expect them to know God’s truth concerning the other spotless Christ, the mystery which the glorified Christ revealed to His saints through the Apostle Paul.

THE FOREORDAINED SPOTLESS CHURCH

But now let us note concerning God’s eternal purpose:

“According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Ephesians 1:4 and 5.

“In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” Ephesians 1:11.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” II Timothy 1:9.

“For whom He did foreknow, He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:29 to 31.1

Whether or not we cry with Paul, (Romans 11:33), “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out;” we must know that the Bible tells us very definitely that God had an eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 3:11).

According to that eternal Divine purpose, all of Adam’s ruined descendants, who would, and will, receive the redemption that is in and by the spotless Son of God, were predestinated to be conformed to the image of this sinless Christ; to be called; justified and glorified. They were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. God’s grace and purpose was given them in Christ before the world was. All of these predestinated, justified, glorified believers are not only joined to the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are joined together as members one of another. In Ephesians 3:6 they are called “the Joint﷓Body.” (The words “same Body” should be “Joint﷓Body”.)

Note concerning this joint membership in Romans 12:4 and 5:

“For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one Body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

Now read I Corinthians 12:12 and 13:

“For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

In religious circles we hear much of “joining the church”. Of course any pastor should rejoice in a ministry that causes many of Adam’s children to pass out of Adam into Christ and as new creatures, become identified with the assembly of which he is the pastor, especially if they are spiritual and fruitful saints. But that pastor and those saints, who are instructed and edified by him, should know that the believing sinner is joined to Christ and to other saints the very moment that sinner trusts and rests in the perfect redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Evangelists and pastors cannot make their fellowmen members of the true Bible Church only as they plant and water and God gives the increase. And no sinner, however religious and sincere, becomes a member of the Body of Christ because he is received by the official board of some church﷓organization into that organization.

We learn in Romans 10:12 to 15 and in I Corinthians 3:6 to 15 and in II Corinthians 5:13 to 21, and in other Scriptures, that those who are already members of the Body of Christ have a real responsibility, as well as the wonderful privilege, of preaching the saving gospel to sinners. But only God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit can make living saints out of dead sinners. When God creates the living saints He thereby makes them members of the Joint﷓Body of Ephesians 3:6, the one Body of Ephesians 4:4, the one New Man of Ephesians 2:15. Note the last verse:

“Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace.”

If there is a new man there must have been an old man. Here again we are made to think of Adam and of Christ. All Christians are familiar with the truth of II Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Unless the descendants of Adam pass out of Adam into Christ they are lost and without hope. “In Christ” is the place of life and blessing and security.

God, by Christ, created the first man. The new creation of II Corinthians. 5:17 is by God, in Christ Jesus. All of these new creatures are joined together and all are joined to Christ, to make the one New Man of Ephesians 2:15.

Now note Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Note also Ephesians 4:13:

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
Saints who make up the JointBody of Ephesians 3:6 are God’s workmanship. God makes saints out of sinners. They are created in Christ Jesus. This Divine work is to continue until there shall be a Perfect Man. This will be the stature of the fulness of Christ. The Church, Which is Christ’s Body, is the fulness (the filling﷓up) of Christ, one flesh with Christ. Read Ephesians 1:21 to 23.

Now let us compare Genesis 5:2 with I Corinthians 12:12:

“Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.”

“For as the body is one, and hath many members and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”

God called the two (Adam and Eve), “Adam.” God calls the two, “Christ.” The two are Christ and His Body. These two shall be one flesh, one New Man, the Perfect Man, the filling﷓up of Christ, called “Christ.” When God shall have completed this Perfect Man He shall have accomplished that part of His eternal purpose that is mentioned in Ephesians 3:6 to 11.

God’s eternal purpose, during this age of grace, is different from His ‘kingdom’ program which will be carried out to perfection in an age after this grace age. Yes, Christ will return to build again the tabernacle of David and bring about the restitution of all things. (Amos 9:11 to 15—Acts 15:13 to 15—Acts 3:19 to 21).
When the Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, as Jesus of Nazareth, He declared that the kingdom of heaven was at hand (Matthew 4:17); that the prophesied kingdom of God was at hand (Mark 1:14 and 15). But Jesus of Nazareth did not say that while I am here, as Israel’s King and Messiah, believing Jews and Gentiles will be baptized into one Body I Corinthians 12:13), the Joint﷓Body of Ephesians 3:6.

On earth Jesus of Nazareth was a Man approved of God in the midst of Israel by miracles and signs. (Acts 2:22). By these miracles and signs the Son of God proved that He was the eternal I AM, Israel’s promised King. In no uncertain language He claimed that He came down from heaven. He proved by fulfilled prophecy and by His sayings and deeds that He was Israel’s Messiah or Christ. His challenge was, “Which one of you convinceth Me of sin?” He was without sin, the foreordained spotless Son of God, born lower than the angels, to be led as a lamb to the slaughter, to bear away the sins of the world.

In His incarnation the Lord Jesus Christ was indeed the Perfect Man; for He was both God and Man. But the stature of the fulness of Christ, the Perfect Man of Ephesians 4:13, is a different Perfect Man. In this different eternal purpose of God the Lord Jesus Christ is far above all heavens, and is not to be known after the flesh. (Ephesians 4:9 to 11 and II Corinthians 5:16). It was not in His incarnation and humiliation that Christ gave gifts unto men for the perfecting of the saints and for the building﷓up of His Body but in His glorious exaltation, when He had ascended on high. (Ephesians 4:9 to 13).

The ministers of Christs are told to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. (I Corinthians 4:1 to 4). They are instructed to rightly divide the Word of Truth. (II Timothy 2:15). Faithful stewards, who rightly divide the Word of Truth, will teach the difference between the new proposition, concerning the prophesied Kingdom of heaven, which God presented to Israel, by Peter and the Eleven, on the day of Pentecost, and the new unprophesied dispensation of grace which God presented to the Gentiles, by the Apostle Paul. The Kingdom of heaven (prophesied), with Christ as King, is quite different from the unprophesied Body of Christ, God’s mystery, revealed to the Apostle Paul. (Ephesians 3:1 to 11).

Let us read carefully Ephesians 4:12 and 13:

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying (buildup) of the Body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

“The building﷓up of the Body of Christ”. This is to continue till all the members of that Body come to the unity of the faith. In the midst of the present disunity of a confused and ignorant Church it requires much faith to believe that all the members of that Body will ever reach such a state of unity. Perhaps the explanation is in Philippians 1:6 and Ephesians 5:26 and 27:

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will, perform it until the day of Christ”

“That He might sanctify and cleanse it . . . That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

The Christ Who began is going to finish. He is going to present the Church unto Himself.

1. A glorious Church.
2. A Church without spot or wrinkle.
3. A Church, holy and without blemish.

As we behold the rivalry and controversy, divisions and sub﷓divisions, carnality and worldliness, among the members of Christ’s Body all about us, it does not seem possible, does it? But remember Ephesians 1:11 and 12: “In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will: That we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ.”

Yes, it is according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His own will.

And again note Ephesians 1:4 and 5: “According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”

Yes, God predestinated that the Lord Jesus Christ would offer Himself on the cross, without spot, and that that precious shed blood would cleanse us from all sin and redeem us from all iniquity. (Titus 2:14). And God, before the world was, predestinated that the members of His Church, according to the good pleasure of His will, should be made His children, joint﷓heirs with His only begotten Son, and should be holy and without blame before Him in love.

All of this is called “God’s eternal purpose” and “all things work together for good to them that are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28).

What a glorious consummation, to be presented by Christ as a glorious spotless Church! And after that: “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus.”

Do you see then what is meant by two spotless Christs?

The spotless Perfect Man, by His death on the cross, provided a perfect redemption for the imperfect. This is by faith in His precious shed blood, the blood of the cross. All of this was predestinated. (I Peter 1:18 to 20).

Then the Perfect Man, the Christ of I Corinthians 12:12, the spotless Church which Christ will present to Himself. All of this was predestinated (Ephesians 1:4 and 5— Ephesians 1:11— Ephesians 3:9 to 11).

So truly there are two Perfect Men and two foreordained or predestinated spotless Christs.

THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN

2010-03-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

CHAPTER ONE

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit want every member of the Body of Christ to be of power, and of love, and of a sound mind; spiritually well-balanced. (II Timothy 1:7). In this day of utter confusion, sectarianism, satanic delusions and religious fanaticism many, many real Christians are being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. (Ephesians 4:13 and 14). In the fourth chapter of Ephesians God’s people are instructed to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit recognizing that great seven-fold unity recorded in Ephesians 4:3 to 7. Every Christian should know how to stand fast according to Galatians 5:1 to 4; and every Christian should be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. (I Corinthians 15:58). Moreover every Christian should earnestly desire and strive to be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth in obedience to II Timothy 2:15.

All of this might be covered by the Christian’s desire and determination to be ‘established’. If the Christian is not ‘established’, it is certainly not the fault of God. It is due somewhat by neglecting to obey Ephesians 1:16 to 18, Colossians 4:3 and 4 and Ephesians 6:19 and 20, praying to the Father of glory for the spirit of wisdom and revelation, to understand the most wonderful truth of the Bible for saints, and for open doors and open mouths to proclaim that truth. It is this particular truth that is referred to in Romans 16:25: “Now to Him that is of power to STABLISH you according to my (Paul’s) gospel, and THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST, according to THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY, which was KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.”

Let us here pause long enough to take in this Divine truth, this all-important truth for God’s saints from the Holy Spirit by the pen of the apostle Paul. You, or your denomination, may have a different way of being ‘STABLISHED’; but here we have God’s way. Is He not the One to be pleased? Is He not the One who does the ‘STABLISHING’? What do you say? Let’s let God do it in His way.

What does it mean to be STABLISHED by that preaching of Jesus Christ which is ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN? Romans 16:25 should be read in connection with Ephesians 3:1 to 4, Colossians 1:23 to 27, Ephesians 1:4 and 5, Ephesians 1:11 and Ephesians 3:9 to 11. In Romans 16:25 there is more than the implication that there is in the Bible the PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST, which was not kept secret since the world began; and therefore, not ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY. Every minister of Christ is supposed to be, expected to be, a faithful steward of the mysteries of God; and of course, should tell the people of God, over which he has accepted the responsibility of an overseer, the difference between the preaching of Jesus Christ, which was in fulfillment of some prophecy found between the first chapter of Genesis, and the last chapter of Malachi, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, concerning which none of those prophets said one word, but which was kept secret since the world began; ‘ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY’. That MYSTERY was hid in God from the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 3:9). But, having been revealed about 1900 years ago to and through the apostle Paul and by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:5), it should not be a secret with any Christian today.

THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST

The preaching of Jesus Christ is the biggest and most important business on earth. Nothing that men are doing, however important and worthy, can be compared with this; for after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (I Corinthians 1:21). We preach Christ crucified unto all who believe, whether Jews or Gentiles, the power of God and the wisdom of God. (I Corinthians 1:22 and 23).

All the truth is not stated in the words of the writer who said, “The path of glory leads but to the grave.” There is a path of righteousness, in which path there may be suffering for righteousness sake, that leads to glory beyond the grave, yes, everlasting glory and bliss. The other writer who said, “Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return was not spoken of the soul”, most certainly wrote the truth, solemn truth; for every person born into this world is to be forever and forever, to be his own never-ending, conscious self. God’s Word is very plain, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). This is wonderful, good news for believers; but it is anything but that for those who refuse or fail to meet God, in Christ, at Calvary. Hear again God’s Word; “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36). The eternal life which will continue beyond the grave will be bliss indescribable, while the wrath beyond the grave will be agony indescribable. God’s plain Word is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31). Faith cometh by hearing the Word of God. How can they hear without the preacher? (Romans 10:9 to 10). Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, we are told in God’s Word: “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other Name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). Thus we see something of the great business of preaching Jesus Christ. All who leave this world without Christ, leave it without hope; and this means it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:28 to 33).

LIFE BEGINS AT CALVARY.

CHRIST - ALPHA AND OMEGA

Some years after the rulers of this world had crucified the Lord of glory (I Corinthians 2:6 to 8), had killed the Prince of life (Acts 3:14 and 15), after Christ had shown Himself alive following His death, by many infallible proofs. (Acts 1:3), He appeared to the apostle John, on the Isle of Patmos, and said, “I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forever more; and have the keys of hades and of death.” (Revelation 1:18). That same day He said to John, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, Which is, and Which was and Which is to come, the ALMIGHTY.” (Revelation 1:8).

How condescending and liberal of our present-day ‘christianized agnostics’ to honour (dishonour) the Lord Jesus by calling Him ‘the fairest flower of humanity’, ‘the best man that ever trod the globe’, ‘the master-product of evolution’, ‘the greatest religious reformer of all ages,’ while they deny His eternal Deity. But as the Scriptures reveal the fact that they are sensual, not having the Spirit, spots when they feast with you, speaking great swelling words (Jude 12 to 18), and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12:3), we should not be surprised that they cannot say from converted hearts, with Thomas, “MY LORD AND MY GOD.” (John 20:28). Christ was in the world and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. (John 1:10). It is one thing to know much or little about the sayings and doings of the historic Jesus; but it is quite different to join with Peter and say, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). This confession does not come from information gathered in our public schools and colleges and state universities, but by Divine revelation or communication, after the sinner, convicted by the Holy Spirit of the great sin of rejecting Christ (John 16:6 to 9), goes by faith to Calvary and believes unto the saving of his soul. At that time he receives the Holy Spirit, the great Revealer of spiritual truths. (Ephesians 1:13 and 14).

If it were not for the great deceiving power of Satan, the god of this age, (II Corinthians 4:1 to 4), and of course, the fact that the human heart is desperately wicked and deceitful, all men would believe the plain statement in God’s Word, “for ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26). It is one thing for an unregenerated moral, sincere sinner to claim to be a child of God by natural generation, plus religion; it is quite a different thing for God to claim as His children those who are new creations in Christ by supernatural regeneration, “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His.” (II Timothy 2:19). To some who claimed that God was their father Christ said “ye are of your father the devil.” (John 8:44). Those religious leaders did not enjoy those stinging words any more than do the pseudo-Christians, called Modernists, in the closing days of this present evil age. But it was true then, as it is true to-day of all who deny the virgin birth, eternal Deity, the once-for-all, perfect sacrifice of the eternal Son of God and His bodily resurrection. Heart faith in the Deity of Christ and His bodily resurrection is God’s imperative requirement. (Romans 10:9 and 10). God has given His ‘MUST’ ultimatum for all who would reach heaven, “ye must be born again” (John 3:7), or in the ‘grace’ message of Paul, ye must become a new creation in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:10. . . Galatians 6:15 . . . II Corinthians 5:17).

Man has never been confronted with a more important question than that asked by Pontius Pilate, before whom Jesus Christ witnessed a good confession (I Timothy 6:13), “what then shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22). Pilate’s words were, “I find no fault in Him.” (John 19:6). How true were the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, “They hated Me without a cause.” (John 15:25). How true concerning Christ were the words of the thief on the cross, “This Man hath done nothing amiss.” (Luke 23:41). The Lord Jesus Christ never spake an idle or an evil word; He never had one evil thought; he was never guilty of one unrighteous deed. Though He knew no sin, He was made sin for us on the cross of Calvary, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (II Corinthians 5:21). On the cross Christ made peace. (Colossians 1:20). On the cross the Lord Jesus put away sin. (Hebrews 9:26). On the cross Christ suffered for sins once, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” (II Peter 3:18). Your ‘forever’ future, as well as mine, depends upon what we do with Jesus Which is called the Christ. If we receive Him as the eternal Son of God, and believe unto the saving of the soul, we shall go from this earth to be with the glorified Christ in glorified bodies to enjoy an undefiled, incorruptible heavenly inheritance; and then we shall learn more of the meaning of Ephesians 2:7, “and in the ages to come He (God) will show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” So God’s redeemed saints can say with one of old, “we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” (Hebrews 10:39). To these the Lord Jesus said, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:28). Not one sinner can even make the start toward heaven by struggling with the sermon on the mount or the golden rule. We are not brought nigh to God by the philosophy or ethics of Jesus Christ, but by faith in His precious shed blood (Ephesians 2:13), that precious blood that cleanses believers from all sin. (I John 1:7 to 9). God’s Word is plain and dogmatic, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22). So redemption is by and through the ‘SHED’ blood of Jesus Christ, according to the riches of God’s grace. (Ephesians 1:7).

There is utterly no use trying to settle any other spiritual or ‘sin’ question or problem until we answer Pilate’s question in the manner God would have us answer it, “what then shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ?” The first ‘sin’ question is the ‘Son’ question. When that is settled, then we can say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13).

THE FATHER SAID TO CHRIST, “THY THRONE, O GOD.”

In John 1:1 to 3 we read that Christ was God and that all things were made by Him. In Colossians 1:16 and 17 we learn that all things were created by Christ and for Christ; that He is before all things and by Him all things consist. We read in Colossians 2:9 that in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In Colossians 2:2 and 3 we learn that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Is it any wonder then that God desires that in all things His Son, Jesus Christ, should have the pre-eminence (Colossians 1:18)? Christ declared that He had glory with the Father before the world was, and that before the world was the Father loved Him. (John 17:5 and 24). Philippians 2:5 to 12 has been called “the greatest story of the ages’. Read it and you. will ask with me, is it any wonder that the Father said concerning Jesus Christ, “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). “Wherefore also it is contained in the Scriptures, Behold, I lay in Zion a Chief Corner Stone, elect, precious. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious.” (I Peter 2:6 and 7). There has never been any love comparable to the mutual love, that existed between Father and Son, long before the creation of the world. And remember it was then that Christ was foreordained to be the spotless Lamb of God to bear away the sins of the world by the sacrifice of Himself on the cross of Calvary. (I Peter 1:18 to 21 . . . John 1:29). The Father loved the Son for making that sacrifice. (John 10:17 to 19). Jesus Christ was the sinner’s foreordained sinbearer, not a religious martyr Who came to an untimely, accidental, premature death. He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:22), and His human murderers did none other things than God’s hand and counsel before determined to be done. (Acts 4:24 to 29 . . .Acts 3:18). Christ came to die at a certain, fixed hour (John 12:27 to 33). Is it any wonder then that when God brought His only Begotten into the world, He saith, “And let all the angels of God worship Him?” (Hebrews 1:6). “Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.” (Hebrews 1:8). Then we read in Romans 9:5, Christ is over all, God blessed forever. Surely no human creature should think of calling Christ less than the Great Creator, the eternal God, the Father, called Him. Notwithstanding the infidelity of the so-called Modernists, who are described in II Corinthians 11:13 to 15 as counterfeits under the control of Satan transformed into an angel of light, Thomas was right when he said to Christ, “my Lord and my God.” (John 20:28). Let us never forget that ‘a Christian infidel’ is an impossible paradox. Every so-called ‘Modernist’ Christian is an infidel, if he believes not the record as to the eternal Deity and virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, or he is an idolater, if he worships the Lord Jesus and it is true He is only a good man, the son of Joseph or some other human father. Beware of these leaders called, in II John 7, ‘deceivers’, ‘antichrist’. In II John 8 we are warned against them. In II John 9 we are told that they have not God. In II John 10 we are told that if we fellowship with them or support them, we are partakers of their evil deeds. They have gone in the way of Cain (Jude 11). They have crept in unawares, foreordained to this condemnation. (Jude 4). They and their doom are described in the second chapter of II Peter. Every Christian today should frequently read concerning, these deceitful workers who transform themselves into the apostles of Christ. (II Corinthians 11:13).

Surely the predicted perilous times have come upon us when many will not endure sound doctrine, but follow men who have turned God’s Word into fables, and not a few are following old wives fables in the satanic metaphysical vagaries which are being propagated in Christian terminology and Bible phraseology. The ritualism, modernism and fanaticism, carried on today in the name of Christ and Christianity, are enough to bring God’s people to their knees in tears. Our duty is plainly stated in God’s Word; “earnestly contend for the faith once-for-all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3). And surely in the midst of the sectarian confusion, we should note and heed I Corinthians 12:25, that there be no schism (division) in the Body. Christians, as never before, we should obey Ephesians 4:1 to 7, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit contending for one Father, one Son, one Holy Spirit, one hope, one faith and one baptism, as well as for one and only one Body, of which there is one and only one Head; and He is not on earth.

As we read that we have been made accepted (graced) in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:6 and 7), that we are without condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1), that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), that we are a new creation in Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 5:17), that all of God’s promises are yea and amen in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 1:20), that believers are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10), that Christ is the believers’ righteousness, redemption, holiness (I Corinthians 1:30), the believers’ hope, and peace and life (I Timothy 1:1 . . . Ephesians 2:14 . . . Colossians 3:3 and 4), that we are in Christ and that Christ is in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27 and Galatians 2:20), we should be fully satisfied with an all sufficient Christ, without religion or ritualism.

Let’s take a short inventory, by reading Ephesians 3:20, Ephesians 1:19 to 23, II Corinthians 9:8 and Ephesians 1:3. In these Scriptures we learn that. God is able to do very much more than we can ask or think; that God’s mighty power is available for every Christian; that God will make all grace abound for all Christians who know how to appropriate it; that Christians are blessed with ALL spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. Christ’s riches are the believers’ riches. Christians have been crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised with Christ, and are already in the heavenlies. (Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:3 to 6, Ephesians 2:6 and Colossians 3:1 to 4). The Lord Jesus spoke of His death on the cross, His crucifixion, as His ‘baptism’. (Luke 12:50). As the Christian is identified with Christ in death, having been crucified with. Christ, so Christ’s baptism is the believers’ baptism. The very moment the believing sinner meets God and Christ at Calvary he receives his baptism: he is then and there baptized into the death of Christ; is then and there baptized into Christ’s burial; is then and there raised to walk in newness of life and made to sit in the heavenlies, which means, of course, that he is then and there made a member of God’s true Church, the Body of Christ, ‘the JOINT BODY’ of Ephesians 3:6. God’s grace and power and all needed spiritual resources for the believers’ behavior are inexhaustible.

LIFE BEGINS AT CALVARY.

Little wonder then that the greatest of all Christians said, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Galatians 6:14). This crucifixion meant to Paul more than the symbol of self-denial, sacrifice and martyrdom.. It meant his only hope of heaven, for he well knew, what every person on this earth should know, that God could be a just, sinless, righteous, holy Judge and a compassionate, merciful Saviour of believing sinners, only because of the ransom paid by, the sinless eternal Divine Son of God. (Read this glorious truth in Romans 3:24 to 28 and I Peter 3:18).

How true the words of I Corinthians x:18. the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness.” It is so true, that God will have all men to be saved, that Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator between God and men, gave Himself a ransom for all (I Timothy 2:4 to 7); but let us beware of the pernicious and satanic teaching of ‘universal salvation’ or ‘universal reconciliation’. Jesus Christ did by the grace of God taste death for all men. (Hebrews 2:9). Christ did say that by His death He would draw all men unto Him. (John 12:30 to 33). Christ did make peace through the blood of His cross to reconcile all things unto Himself and to His Father.(Colossians 1:20 and 21). But the Bible plainly teaches that all who go to a Christless grave will go to a Christless eternity of conscious suffering, from which there will be no escape after death. The Bible does not teach ‘after death, another chance’; but ‘after death the judgment’ (Hebrews 9:27). That judgment is called ‘the wrath of God’, ‘the lake of fire’ of Revelation 20, which does not mean annihilation or non-existence. It is either Christ and Calvary or the white throne and the lake of fire for all; the second birth or the second death. Thus we see the ‘THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST’ is truly the biggest business on earth.

CHAPTER TWO

THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST
NOT ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY

Doubtless every student of the Bible has noted so many times, in the sayings and doings of Jesus of Nazareth in the midst of Israel, a Man approved by God in the land of Israel by miracles and wonders and signs (Acts 2:22), God’s Son, made under the law and made of a woman to redeem them that were under the law (Galatians 4:4), that there is such a statement as, “that the Scriptures might be fulfilled”: “that the words of the prophet might be fulfilled”; “as it is written”, “thus it is written”. This is summed up in the statements in I Corinthians 15:1 to 4, “according to the Scriptures.” This, of course, means in fulfillment of some prophecy found in the Bible in some Book and verse between the first of Genesis, written by Moses, and the last verse of Malachi, written by Malachi. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem it was in fulfillment of Micah 5:2. When Christ was born of the virgin Mary it was in fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14 and Jeremiah 31:22. When Christ preached in the synagogue at Nazareth, according to Luke 4:18; it was in fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1; “the Lord hath anointed Me to preach, etc.” When the Lord Jesus was despised and rejected it was in fulfillment of Isaiah 53:3. When the Lord Jesus was wounded in the house of His friends and sold for thirty pieces of silver it was in fulfillment of Zechariah 13:6 and Zechariah 11:12 and 13. “When Christ was performing miracles of every character it was in fulfillment of Isaiah 35:4 to 6, God come down to earth with a ministry of healing and other physical blessings. When Christ said He was going to die, He said, “the Son of man goeth, AS IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM.” (Matthew 26:24). When Christ was led as a lamb to the slaughter and before Pilate opened not His mouth it was in fulfillment of Isaiah 53. It was foretold in the same chapter that Christ was numbered with the transgressors and made intercession for them and made His grave with the rich. It was in fulfillment of Psalm 22 that His hands and feet were pierced, and that He cried on the cross, “My God! My God!, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” It was in fulfillment of Scripture, Psalm 16:10, that God raised Christ from the dead and would not suffer His holy One to see corruption (Acts 2:27).

Let us note how Christ, after His resurrection, summarized the whole prophetic program; that is, what He fulfilled at His first coming: “O fools and slow of heart to believe all that prophets have spoken, and beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” (Luke 24:25 to 27). Then to His apostles, in Luke 24:46 to 48, He added: “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead . . .” (Note verse 47).

So we should understand more of the meaning of Romans 15:8, that Jesus Christ was a Minister of the circumcision (Israel) on earth confirming (fulfilling) promises which God made to Israel. It seems so difficult for many Christians to reconcile Matthew 15:24, that Christ was sent to Israel only, with John 3:16 that whosoever believeth on Him should have everlasting life (John 3:16).

In Daniel 9:26 are recorded the word which the Lord gave Daniel to prophesy concerning Christ, the prophecy that Messiah would be cut off after 62 weeks, but not for Himself. When we think of this and many other prophecies we understand what John the Baptist meant when he sent the question to Christ, “art Thou He that should come?” (Luke 7:19). In Genesis 3:14 and 15 we rear that the Seed of the woman would come. In the last Book of the Old Testament, Malachi 3:1, we learn that the Lord would come. So in the 39 Books from Genesis to Malachi SOME ONE is coming. In Matthew, Mark Luke and John that Coming One has come Then He went away; and He is to come again The Bible is the record of the ‘prefigured’ the ‘disfigured’ and the ‘transfigured’ Christ. Christ on earth, when ministering to Israel was confirming promises made to Israel by God’s holy prophets. What Christ preaches concerning Himself was not according to the revelation of the mystery.

WHEN THEY HAD FULFILLED ALL THAT WAS WRITTEN OF HIM

When Paul reasoned with the Jews out of the Scriptures (from Genesis to Malachi) that Jesus was the Christ, those Jews, who received the Word of God with all readiness of mind, could search the Scriptures to see whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11) Concerning Divine truth, called the UN SEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST in Ephesians 3:8, no one could search the Old Testament Scriptures to learn whether those things were true, for no prophet from Moses to Malachi was moved by the Holy Spirit to foretell that PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY, KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. (Romans 16:25). When Paul proclaimed to Israel “none other things than those which the prophets an Moses did say should come” (Acts 26:22) those religious Jews, who claimed to be the people of God, the custodians of God’s Holy Scriptures, did not believe their own great Moses; for, as Christ said, “had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for He wrote of Me . . . But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?” (John 5:46 and 47). They could have searched their own Scriptures, which foretold the truth to which Paul referred in Acts 26:21 to 23. In that way they could have learned that Paul was confirming promises which God made to Israel by the Holy prophets. See how Paul summed up for Israel concerning Christ; “when they had fulfilled all that WAS WRITTEN OF HIM, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in the sepulchre . . . But God raised Him from the dead.” (Acts 13:29 and 30). This certainly tells the story of the Christ from the borrowed manger to Joseph’s sepulchre. All of this was the PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST in fulfillment of prophecy in Genesis and the Old Testament Scriptures, and not KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN. We say, “Genesis and the Old Testament Scriptures”. The Old Testament Scriptures began with Exodus, the twentieth chapter. All of the events recorded in the Book of Genesis took place before the LAW was added at Sinai. (Galatians 3:19). Note in Jeremiah 31:31 to 35 when Jehovah entered with Israel into that ‘LAW’ Covenant, or Testament, which became ‘OLD’ after the death of Christ. (Hebrews 8:9 to 13)? Not a line of the Old Testament can be found in Genesis.

He is a workman who needeth to be ashamed who calls Adam, Abel, Seth, Noah, Eber, Peleg, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, (Israel), Judah, Levi, Joseph or Joseph’s brethren or Melchisideck, ‘OLD TESTAMENT’ characters. All of these men had lived and died before the LAW (OLD TESTAMENT) entered that the sin that entered by Adam might abound. (Romans 5:20 and Romans 5:12). Every intelligent student of the Bible, who even claims to rightly divide the Word of Truth, knows that the Covenant (Testament), which God made with Israel at Sinai, has been done away (II Corinthians 3:7 to 16) (Hebrews 8:9 to 13), and that the Covenant that God made with Abraham some 400 years before Sinai is still in force, being now fulfilled and carried on in part and yet to be fulfilled in the coming kingdom age when Israel will occupy Canaan. However, some of the men who teach this, wrongly divide the Word of Truth by calling Abraham an ‘OLD TESTAMENT’ character, or a Jew, and by confusing the ‘LAW’ COVENANT, DONE AWAY, with the ‘ABRAHAMIC’ COVENANT OF PROMISE still in force, although postponed in part. But of course there are in Genesis many prophecies concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and one type of Christ and the Church as one flesh ‘One New Man’. Read Genesis 2:21 to 24, Genesis 5:1 to 3 and Ephesians 5:31 and 32.

In Acts 8:26 to 40 we have the most interesting account of Philip’s experience with the Ethiopian. Philip found that eunuch sitting in his chariot, reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Philip “began at the same Scripture and preached unto him, ‘JESUS’.” (Acts 8:35). If that Ethiopian had been reading Genesis 3:14 and 15, or any one of scores of other verses in Genesis or in the 38 Old Testament Books, Philip could have begun at the same Scriptures and preached ‘Jesus’. No servant of the Lord would have to be a profound student of the Scriptures to begin at any one of hundreds and hundreds of Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi to preach ‘JESUS’. They testify of Him. (John 5:39).

SOME OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES
CONCERNING CHRIST AWAIT FULFILLMENT

When the Lord Jesus Christ shall come back to this earth as the Smiting Stone of Daniel 2:34 and 45, as the King of Glory of Psalm 24:9, as the Righteous Branch (King) of Jeremiah 23:5, as the Lord of Zechariah 14:9, Who will be King over the whole earth, as Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace of Isaiah 9:6 and 7 to occupy the throne of David and bring peace to this earth, all will be in fulfillment of Scriptures or Old Testament prophecy. Surely we have a more word of prophecy, whereunto we do well that we take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in our hearts. (II Peter 1:19). Let us remember that all of the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus; that all abiding spiritual blessings are in and through and by Jesus Christ. But when we preach the coming of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on this earth, that preaching of Jesus Christ is not according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, for it was not kept secret. It was made known by all of God’s holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21 and Luke 1:70). God will yet have on this earth His Kingdom, both political and spiritual, prepared ‘FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD’. (Matthew 25:31 to 46). The Kingdom of the Son of God’s love (Colossians 1:13), into which members of the joint-Body of Ephesians 3:6 are being transferred in this age and dispensation of grace, is not identical with the Kingdom of God which will be at hand when the Son of man comes in the clouds with power and great glory for Israel’s redemption and to restore again the kingdom to Israel and then bring about the restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of au of the holy prophets since the world began (Luke 21:27 to 33). (Acts 3:19 to 21). In connection with that prophesied kingdom of God, Christ will return to build again the tabernacle of David. (Amos 9:11 to 15). As James and Peter said, in Acts 15:13 to 18, “to this agree the words of the prophet”. When we preach Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, and explain that God is now making ‘One New Man’ (Ephesians 2:15), that God, while a blindness in part is happened to Israel (Romans 11:25), is baptizing both believing Jews and Gentiles into one Body (I Corinthians 12:13), making them all members one of another and joined to the risen Christ (Romans 12:3 to 5 and Ephesians 2:17 to 21),” we would greatly err, not knowing how to rightly divide the Word of Truth, should we say, “to, this agree the words of the Old Testament prophets”: for they were both silent and ignorant concerning God’s ‘grace’ program and purpose in this age, the PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN; God’s Eternal Purpose in Christ Jesus.

Remember, the mystery is Romans 11:25, concerning ‘the fulness of the Gentiles’, and not Romans 11:26, “Israel shall be saved.” The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the resurrection both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15) was not a secret to Israel’s prophets. They foreknew and foretold the coming of Christ to the earth. But the blessed hope of members of the Body of Christ (Titus 2:13), the resurrection out from the dead (Philippians 3:20 and 21), the rapture of I Thessalonians 4:13 to 18 when members of Christ’s Body will meet Christ in the air, is all Divine truth not made known to the sons of men in other ages (Ephesians 3:4 to 8), not revealed to other ages and generations (Colossians 1:25 to 27). Therefore, said Paul, “Behold I show you a MYSTERY: we shall not all die; but we shall all be changed in a moment.” (II Corinthians 15:51 to 54). The appearing of Christ for members of His Body, who will appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:1 to 4), has to do with that great culmination or consummation, ‘The Perfect Man’, ‘The Unity of The Faith’ of Ephesians 4:13. All of this is a part of God’s Eternal Purpose, which He purposed in Christ before the world began (Ephesians 3:11, Ephesians 1:11, Ephesians 1:9, Ephesians 1:4 and 5, II Timothy 1:9 and Romans 8:28 to 32), which, having not been made known to God’s Old Testament prophets, was the mystery kept secret since the world began until the risen Christ Jesus revealed it to and through the apostle Paul and by the Holy Spirit; Therefore ‘THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST’. (Ephesians 3:8). The word, “unsearchable’, in Ephesians 3:8, is translated, in Romans 11:33, ‘PAST FINDING OUT’, or better in the Revised Edition, ‘PAST TRACING OUT,’ Compare the words of Christ in Matthew 26:24, ‘AS IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM’, with Ephesians 3:8. ‘THE PAST TRACING-OUT RICHES OF CHRIST’. Of course we cannot trace through the Old Testament Scriptures Divine truth that is never mentioned in those Scriptures.

Every minister of Christ should be a faithful steward of the mysteries of God (II Corinthians 4:1 to 4), and should emphasize the importance of obeying Ephesians 3:9, “make all see what is the dispensation of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.” How sad to know that this great and glorious truth, which was hid from ages and from generations before this present age and generation, is hid even 1900 years after it ceased to be a secret¾from the great majority of Christians, including the preachers, pastors and Bible teachers. Why? Because many, many of God’s servants have not prayed the prayers of Ephesians 1:16 to 18, Colossians 4:3 and 4, Ephesians 6:19 and 20; and therefore they neither proclaim the ‘mystery’ truth nor understand it.

Then think of those who do what they call ‘spiritualizing’ and teach that the prophecies concerning the coming kingdom, which will be established on this earth when the Lord Jesus Christ returns from heaven, were either fulfilled by Christ’s earthly ministry or are in some way being fulfilled in this age and dispensation of grace when God is forming the Body of Christ, being fitly framed together growing unto a holy temple in the Lord, saints built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21 and 22). They will neither teach nor tolerate the teaching that God has suspended or interrupted His promises concerning a political-spiritual kingdom on earth, with Christ on an earthly throne, reigning as King; that during this present parenthesis or postponement of the prophesied kingdom God is not building the tabernacle of David, but doing that which no prophet of Israel even dreamed of, baptizing believing Jews and Gentiles into one Body, joining believers to Christ in that Joint-Body which was chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world, the members of that Body having been predestinated to be the children of God (Ephesians 1:4 and 5), that Body to be presented to Christ as a chaste virgin, the spotless, glorious, holy Church, without blemish. (Ephesians 5:26 to 28). That Church, with Christ the Head, is called ‘Christ’ in I Corinthians 12:12.

In their so-called ‘spiritualizing’ these post millenarians and amillenarians have kept many of God’s people from understanding and enjoying the highest, most wonderful truth for saints in all of the Bible. With their fantastic faulty interpretations they have driven some to the so-called social gospel or to skepticism.

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES PREMILLENARIANS

Many Premillenarians, who are trying to deliver God’s saints from the ‘spiritualizing’ of the Postmillenarians, are leading their followers into confusion. They do believe and teach that this ‘BODY’ age is a parenthetical period, and the prophesied kingdom of heaven to be established on this earth is now in abeyance, having been postponed. But they do greatly err as to when that postponement began. Not knowing just what God’s eternal purpose is, the truth concerning the dispensation of the mystery, they are trying to determine the time of the ‘mystery’ appearing of Christ for His Church, by quoting signs in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies which have nothing to do with the course or culmination of this age of grace, but are to precede the coming of Christ to establish His prophesied kingdom. Christ will not come to earth for His Church. The Church will rise to meet Him.

One reason why some Premillenarians are today becoming ‘Post-tribulation Premillenarians’, teaching that the Body of Christ will go into or through the coming great tribulation, is because they have followed those who seek to prove the soon coming of the Lord Jesus by certain political movements among the nations of the earth which they say are in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Members of the Body of Christ are to walk by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7). ‘Signs’, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, are in connection with the prophesied time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7 to 11), which will immediately precede the coming of Israel’s Messiah to be King. These signs are not to convince members of the Body of Christ that ‘The Blessed Hope’ of Titus 2:13, The Mystery Appearing of Christ’ of I Corinthians 15:51 to 54 is imminent. In the so-called New Testament Scriptures God has given His saints some warnings concerning the apostacy, but from the days of Paul, Spirit-taught, faithful, spiritual, obedient, members of Christ’s Body in every generation have believed in the imminent appearing of Christ, not as a King to establish His prophesied political-spiritual kingdom on earth, but to take the Church (Body) to glory.

Christians, who are determined to have signs, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, should profit by the fallacies and delusions of the disciples of Russell and Rutherford, (now Jehovah Witnesses), with their millennial dawn, unscriptural program, and those of Joseph Smith, with His book of Mormons, or Ellen White and others with their Seventh Day Adventist heresies. All of these are, and have been, great ‘sign’ preachers, calling the Body of Christ, ‘Israel’. They try to make Old Testament prophecies concerning the prophesied kingdom of God apply to the program, hope and calling and rapture, of the unprophesied Body of Christ. The Scriptural answer to their prophetic nonsense is Romans 16:25 of which they are woefully ignorant and therefore they are not ‘STABLISHED’.

No one can estimate the blunders, heresies and fanaticism that have resulted because of the failure of ministers of Christ to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God and show the great difference between ‘THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST’ in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and ‘THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST’ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began. Surely he is a workman that needeth to be ashamed who does not know the difference between the prophesied kingdom of God and the unprophesied kingdom of God, the one prepared FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, the other chosen in Christ FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. (Compare Matthew 25:3; to 44 with Ephesians 1:4 and 5 and II Timothy 1:9).

Only as we understand ‘the dispensation of the mystery’, the difference between building again the tabernacle of David, which will not take place until the King of glory comes for Israel’s redemption, and the building the Joint-Body, the making of the One New Man of Ephesians 2:15, which God began when Israel was set aside after Israel rejected Christ both in incarnation and in resurrection, can we find positive Scriptural proof that the Body of Christ will be saved from the great tribulation, which is no part of the unprophesied mystery. The tribulation period is prophesied Divine Truth.

THE FALL AND RISE OF ISRAEL
AND THE DISPENSATION OF THE MYSTERY

If there is anything dearly taught in the Bible it is the fact that Israel had a FALL. Israel stumbled and Israel had a Fall. When Simeon had the Child Jesus in His arms He said, “this Child is set for the FALL and rising again of many in Israel.” (Luke 2:34). From this statement to the judgment and wrath of God upon Israel mentioned in I Thessalonians 2:14 to 16 (“the Jews who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men . . . Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sin alway; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost”), the history of Israel is told in the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), in the Book of Acts, in the Epistle to the Romans and other New Testament Scriptures. To them Christ said, “did ye never read in the Scriptures, that the Stone which the builders rejected the Same is become the Head of the corner; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes . . . And whosoever shall FALL on this Stone shall be broken?” (Matthew 21:41 to 43). Then when Pilate was determined to let Jesus go, Israel asked that Barabbas, the murderer, might be released; and they killed the Prince of life. (Acts 3:13 to 15). Christ came unto His own and His own received Him not. (John 1:11). Christ was born to be Israel’s Saviour. (Ads 13:23). Christ was born to sit on the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob as a King. (Luke 1:27 to 33). Christ was raised from the dead to sit on David’s throne. (Acts 2:27 to 33). Christ was raised from the dead to give to Israel the sure mercies of David. (Acts 13:31 to 38). Christ was raised from the dead to be Israel’s Prince and Saviour. (Acts 5:28 to 31). The Holy Spirit was sent down from heaven to witness to this truth. (Acts 5:31 and 32). Christ warned the Jews in Matthew 22:1 to 13 and in Matthew 12:30 to 32. Then Christ on the cross prayed for His Father to forgive them. (Luke 23:34) God was willing to charge off their great sin of killing His Son to ignorance. (Acts 3:15 to 18). But they continued to resist the Holy Spirit and blaspheme. (Acts 7:51 to 60). They killed Stephen. They continued to reject the witness of the Holy Spirit, that God had raised Christ from the dead to be Israel’s Saviour and Prince. (Acts 13:45, Acts 18:5). Then they forbade the apostles to preach to the Gentiles that they might be saved. And they continued what is mentioned in Matthew 23:32, “fill up then the measure of your fathers”. They filled up their sins, and God’s wrath came upon them to the uttermost. (I Thessalonians 2:14 to 16).

In rejecting Christ raised from the dead as their Prince and Saviour they rejected God’s own righteousness offered by faith without the deeds of the law. “They sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.” Likewise the great multitude of ignorant, religious church-members are doing the same to. day. (Romans 9:30 to 33). Being ignorant of God’s righteousness by faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ they are going about to establish their own righteousness. (Romans 10:1-3).

RIGHTEOUSNESS¾¾GOD’S GIFT TO BELIEVERS

The righteousness of God was bought and paid for when the eternal, sinless Son of God was made sin on the cross of Calvary. (II Corinthians 5:21). Men do not have to buy it or pay for it. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. (Romans 10:10). “To him that worketh not but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5). How few people seem to understand the meaning of Romans 10:4, that Christ is the end of the LAW for righteousness to every one that believeth.

For about 1500 years man was thoroughly tested under God’s program of ‘thou shalt’ and ‘thou shalt not’, a program of LAW, under which God’s people received the spirit of bondage unto fear (Romans 8:15), and were all their lifetime subject to bondage through fear of death. (Hebrews 2:15). They were never able to endure that which Jehovah spoke to Moses from Sinai (Hebrews 12:20), and very few of those under the law ever learned their lesson, that by the deeds of the LAW no man can be justified in God’s sight (Romans 3:19 and 20); that the LAW entered that the sin that entered by Adam might abound. (Romans 5:20). Even the majority of the believing Jews, years after Christ’s death on the cross, wanted to do what the Seventh Day Adventists and others want to do today, namely, to put a yoke upon the necks of Christian Gentiles which no Jew was ever able to bear. (Acts 15:10). To them Galatians 5:1 to 5 apparently has or had no meaning. They were zealous after the LAW. (Acts 21:20).

What the LAW (given to Moses) could not do, because of human weakness, God sent His Son to do. (Romans 8:3). Christ was made under the LAW. (Galatians 4:4). He perfectly kept that perfect LAW. Those who thought they were keeping the LAW nailed Him to the cross. They were very religious sabbath-keepers, with religious feast days and no end of religious ceremonies. They not only religiously rejected any offer of salvation and righteousness through Jesus Christ, but they abhorred the very thought of such a proposition. Little did they know, or want to know, the meaning of Galatians 3:24 and 25, that the LAW was Israel’s schoolmaster to bring them to Christ to be justified by faith, and being justified, they were no longer to be under that schoolmaster.

When the Lord of Glory was crucified the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us was blotted out, taken out of the way. (Colossians 2:16). Then by His resurrection, Christ brought to light life through the gospel, with the guarantee of in. corruptibility, (II Timothy 1:10), thereby establishing a NEW LAW, ‘THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS’ (Romans 8:2). Then the religious believers united with the religious law-keeping unbelievers to impose upon the Christians, who had been turned to God from idols and paganism, much of Israel’s LAW program. They did not believe that ‘The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus’ was adequate to free the believing sinner from ‘The Law of Sin and Death’, and insisted that the LAW, which was the MINISTRATION OF DEATH (II Corinthians 3:7), be added to, or mixed in with the LAW OF LIFE, to fit man for God’s approval and His righteousness. This unholy mixture brought from the Holy Spirit, by the pen of Paul, the Epistle to the Galatians. In that Epistle those religious, law-keeping Christians were told that ‘a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump’. (Galatians 5:9). We know what happened to that lump for centuries until the great text, ‘The Just Shall Live By Faith’ took control of Martin Luther. That man of God did a great work, but neither he nor his disciples fully freed the gospel of the grace of God from the leaven. Luther knew absolutely nothing of ‘THE MYSTERY’, for which the apostle Paul was the prisoner of Jesus Christ for Gentiles. (Ephesians 3:1 to 6) (Ephesians 6:19 and 20) (Colossians 4:3 and 4). The Lutherans today are still ignorant of this most wonderful truth for saints in the Bible. If they were obeying Ephesians 3:9, they would cease to be Lutherans.

How many Christians can truthfully say with Paul, “I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the LAW, Christ has died in vain?” (Galatians 2:21). It is worse than a spiritual crime to add the religious program of Moses to the gospel of the grace of God and offer the mixture to a sinner as God’s message of salvation. The anathema of God is pronounced on those who do this (Galatians 1:7 to 14). It is expected that every child of God will fulfill the righteousness of the LAW by walking in the Spirit (Romans 8:4); but how great is the difference between receiving God’s perfect righteousness by faith, (by receiving Christ and thereby receiving the Holy Spirit . . . Galatians 3:14), and fulfilling the righteousness of the LAW by walking in the Spirit. There is a great difference in being God’s workmanship, saved by grace without works (Ephesians 2:8 to 10), and behaving as becometh saints and being God’s workmen by the grace of God (II Corinthians 9:8 . . . I Corinthians 15:10 . . . I Corinthians 3:14).

In spite of all that the leaven of Galatians 5:9 has done to the religious church-members and even Christians in this land of ours, and the terrible crop it has produced, ritualism, modernism, fanaticism, metaphysical cults, with all of the perverted gospels of the legalists, the one thing, above everything else, that has made the United States the greatest country in the world is EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY and the privilege under our Bill of Rights to proclaim the glorious gospel of the grace of God. While on the one hand sectarianism is playing havoc with God’s people and satanic vagaries and delusions are abounding and increasing, on the other hand many are being delivered from their religious entanglements by coming to the knowledge of the gospel of the grace of God, learning that for this age of grace the risen Christ gave to the apostle Paul a message and program that not only supplemented anything God’s people had received before, but in many points superseded it. Many are now seeing that there is a difference between ‘grace’ in God’s former dispensations, and ‘the dispensation of the grace of God’, which Christ revealed to Paul. (Ephesians 3:1 and 2).

THREE GREAT TRUTHS

Of all the knowledge that may be acquired by man in this age of marvelous discoveries and achievements there is no truth more important than the three great truths we shall now mention:

First . . . Today the adults of the human race, in God’s presence, are divided into just two groups . . . ‘DEAD SINNERS’ . . . ‘LIVING SAINTS’. With respect to salvation and eternal life, there is no third group.

Second . . . The ‘DEAD SINNER’ becomes a ‘LIVING SAINT’, not by what man does, or can do, for God; but by what God does for man. God gives righteousness, salvation, eternal life and the Holy Spirit, freely, to any and every sinner who receives, by faith, Christ and His perfect redemptive work. By grace through faith in Christ the believer is made alive. (Ephesians 2:4 to 6 . . . John 5:24 . . . John 6:47 . . . John 11:25 and 26 . . . John 3:36).

LIFE BEGINS AT CALVARY. The life that begins at Calvary will never, never end.

Third . . . There is one and only one true Bible Church in this age and dispensation of grace; and that Church is called, ‘THE BODY OF CHRIST’ (Ephesians 1:19 to 23 . . . Colossians 1:24 to 26 . . . I Corinthians 12:12 and 13 . . . Romans 12:4 and 5 . . . Ephesians 4:4 and 5), ‘THE JOINT-BODY’ of Ephesians 3:6. That Church is primarily a spiritual organism rather than a visible organization. And the great truth is that God inducts members into that Body by a Divine baptism, and not man by any kind of ceremony.

While Christ was on earth He definitely instructed His apostles not to go to Gentiles (Matthew 10:5 and 15:24), and told them that the Holy Spirit would not come from heaven unless and until He went back to heaven by the way of the cross (John 16:7 to 10 and John 7:38 to 40). Therefore, while Christ was on earth believing Jews and Gentiles were not baptized by one Spirit into one Body. They did not become THE CHRIST of I Corinthians 12:12 and 13.

GOD SENT BLINDNESS UPON ISRAEL

After Israel rejected the witness of the Holy Spirit that Christ had been raised to be their Prince and Saviour (Acts 5:29 to 32) (Acts 7:51 and Acts 13:45), and when they refused righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 9:30 to 33) God sent blindness upon them (Romans 11:5 to 9) . . . cast Israel away (Romans 11:15) . . . diminished Israel and let Israel fall (Romans 11:11 and 12).

Note Israel’s FOUR GREAT SINS and when and why Israel was cast away. Of course Israel’s sins were without number; but four of their sins are emphasized.

First . . . Israel stoned and killed the prophets of God sent to them . . . (Matthew 23:30 to 32 and 37 . . . Matthew 21:34 to 36 . . . Acts 7:52 . . . I Thessalonians 2:15).

Second . . . Israel killed the Son of God, the Prince of Life. (Matthew 21:38 and 39 . . . Acts 2:23 . . . Acts 3:14 and 15 . . . Acts 7:52 . . . I Thessalonians 2:15).
Third . . . Israel resisted the Holy Spirit and blasphemed (the Holy Spirit having been sent to witness that God had raised Christ to be Israel’s Prince and Saviour . . . Acts 5:29 to 32) (Acts 7:51 . . . Acts 12:46).

Fourth . . . Israel forbade the apostles to preach to the Gentiles, that they might be saved. (I Thessalonians 2:15 and 16).

After Israel had committed their First and Second sins, because the death of Christ had to be (Acts 3:18 . . . Acts 4:23 to 28 . . . I Peter 1:18 to 21 . . . Acts 3:29 and 30 . . . John 3:13 and 14 . . . John 12:27 to 33), Christ prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). So we learn in Acts 3:13 to 26 that God was willing, not only to pardon Israel’s great sin, attributing it to ignorance, but He would send Christ back to further fulfill prophecy concerning Israel’s redemption and the restitution spoken since the world began, if Israel would repent.

THREE GREAT BLUNDERS OF PREMILLENARIANS

The Premillenarians numbered with the ‘grace’ preachers of today, with a few exceptions, teach that the Old Testament began with Genesis, the first chapter, instead of with Exodus, the nineteenth chapter, many centuries later. Then they teach that the New Testament began with Matthew, the first chapter. Then they teach that ‘the dispensation of the grace of God’ ‘the dispensation of the mystery’ (Ephesians 3:9), ‘the Joint-Body of Ephesians 3:6’, began on the day of Pentecost of Acts Two.

Because these errors are taught by almost every Bible Institute in this country, which hinders their students from obeying or understanding Ephesians 3:9 and Romans 16:25, some ‘grace’ Premillenarians have established ‘The Milwaukee Bible Institute’, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on State St., between Thirtieth and Thirty-first. As to the great fundamental doctrines of the Bible, the doctrines taught at Milwaukee Bible Institute are in agreement with those taught by the outstanding premillennial, grace Bible schools in this country. Every man connected in any way with the Milwaukee Bible Institute is uncompromisingly opposed to the extreme dispensationalism of Dr. E. W. Bullinger, any and every theory of soul-sleeping or the unconscious state of the soul or the non-existence of soul between the death and resurrection of the saved or the unsaved. They are unanimously opposed to the teaching of the annihilation of the wicked as final punishment for sins and rejecting Christ. They are definitely against any and every theory of universal reconciliation.

The teachers at the Milwaukee Institute teach that which every intelligent spiritual Bible teacher should teach, if directed by the Holy Spirit, and that is, that salvation by grace was sent to Gentiles when and because of the FALL and DIMINISHING and CASTING AWAY of Israel (Romans 11:11, 12 and 15), that the Gentiles obtained God’s mercy, in the message of reconciliation and grace, because of Israel’s unbelief (Romans 11:30). They teach that no student of the Scriptures rightly divides the truth or obeys Ephesians 3:9 who does not see that God did not set aside Israel when Israel had committed the First and the Second of their great sins mentioned above, but when and because they committed the Third and Fourth great sins mentioned above, and because they would not have God’s righteousness by faith in Christ without the LAW. (Romans 9:30 to 33). They teach that on the day of Pentecost, when the “TWELVE APOSTLES stood up, God was not ushering in a new dispensation of grace for Gentiles, but presenting a new salvation message and kingdom proposition to Israel.

But these teachers definitely teach that ‘the dispensation of grace’ for Gentiles began before Paul wrote his first Epistle.

‘THE GOD OF ALL GRACE’

It was Peter who wrote of God as ‘The God Of All Grace’ (I Peter 5:10), and who wrote of the ‘grace’ that Israel’s prophets had foretold. (I Peter 1:10). To be sure there was ‘grace’ in the message of Peter in Acts 2:38, “repent and be baptized for the remission of sins”, and in his message to Cornelius, “in every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of Him (Acts 10:34 to 36); but we know that ‘the dispensation of the grace of God’ for Gentiles was not committed to Peter or to any of the Twelve; but to Paul. (Ephesians 3:1 to 3). It was Paul who declared himself the apostle and preacher and the teacher of the Gentiles after he wrote that Christ gave Himself a ransom for all to be ‘TESTIFIED IN DUE TIME’. (I Timothy 2:4 to 7). While Christ was on earth He thus commanded His Twelve: “Go not into the way of the Gentiles.” (Matthew 10:5). We do have in Luke 7:1 to 12 the record of one Gentile man who received a blessing from Christ while Christ was a Minister of the circumcision (Romans 15:8). That Gentile man loved the Jews and built them a synagogue; and Jews asked Christ to bless him. He was very much like Cornelius: both were centurions. (Acts 10:1 to 3 and Acts 10:22). Years after Christ commanded His apostles go not in the way of the Gentiles He appeared to Paul in the temple and said, “I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.” (Acts 22:21). Then Paul said to Israel, that he would turn to the Gentiles because Israel would not receive God’s Word and judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life (Acts 13:46). Then Paul magnified or glorified his office as the apostle of the Gentiles. (Romans 11:13 and Romans 15:16). Then Paul said the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to ALL. (Titus 2:11). Thus we see when the Gentiles’ ‘DUE TIME’ began. And in Titus 1:1 to 3 Paul declared that the eternal life from God that he was preaching was promised us in Christ before the world began. Then he added “this preaching is committed unto ME.” In II Timothy 1:9 Paul declared that we arc saved, not according to our works, but according to God’s grace and purpose which was given us in Christ before the world began. Paul here added again that he was the Lord’s appointed teacher, preacher and apostle of the Gentiles. (II Timothy 1:11 and II Timothy 4:17). The mystery among the Gentiles was committed to Paul. (Colossians 1:23 to 27).

God certainly manifested His grace toward Abel, and Seth, and Enoch, and Noah, and Shem, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and Joseph, and through and by Moses, to Israel. God did great things for Israel under the law because of His covenant of promise given Abraham. God dealt with Judah in grace when, under Nehemiah, He brought them back from their captivity. God dealt with Israel in grace while Christ was on earth. And from the first days of the Gentiles, on through their place of subjection under Israel, God’s chosen nation, up to the days of Cornelius, God had His way of blessing the Gentiles (Esther 8:17 . . . Acts 2:10), the proselytes. But until the days of Paul no dispensation of the grace of God for Gentiles was committed to any of God’s servants, because of Israel’s unbelief. (Romans 11:30). On the day of Pentecost Peter and the Eleven certainly did not offer the Gentiles mercy because of Israel’s unbelief; nor did God, through Peter and the Eleven, send salvation to Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealously because of the FALL of Israel. (Romans 11:11).

The Gentiles? ‘DUE TIME’ to receive God’s unmixed, unlimited, unmerited and unprophesied GRACE and the ministry and word of RECONCILIATION, God’s new commission, was not until after Israel committed their Third and Fourth sins mentioned above. Inasmuch as RECONCILIATION was sent to Gentiles when and because Israel was cast away (Romans 11:15), and inasmuch as RECONCILIATION was being sent to Gentiles when Paul Wrote II Corinthians (II Corinthians 5:18 to 21) which was quite some time before Paul reached Rome at the close of the ‘ACTS’ period, and in the light of I Thessalonians 2:16, we know that the casting-away of Israel (Romans 11:15) took place before the final pronouncement of Acts 28:25 to 28.

Not only did God send RECONCILIATION and the message of the NEW CREATION to the Gentiles when and because Israel was set aside, but with the setting-aside of that religious nation God was through with His religious program. From Sinai to Calvary it was not optional whether or not God’s people were religious; it was mandatory. During those centuries God demanded both righteousness and religion. (Hebrews 9:10). During the ‘ACTS’ ‘TRANSITION’ period God demanded righteousness and permitted much of Israel’s religious program. Even Paul did some circumcising and vow-keeping, becoming a Jew to the Jews. (II Corinthians 9:16 to 22 . . . Acts 16:3 . . . Acts 18:18). During that same period signs and sign-gifts, miracles, tongues, etc. were in order for both believing Gentiles and Jews. (II Corinthians 12:8 to 11). But in all of Paul’s Epistles, written after the close of the ‘ACTS’ period, we notice the absence of signs, sign-gifts and religious observances. Dr. C. I. Scofield believed that God brought in a new order after Acts 28. We know that a comparison of Acts 28:8, the healing of a heathen, with II Timothy 4:20, leaving a faithful saint sick, should cause any student of the Scriptures to apply II Timothy 2:15.

It is more than significant that with the first mention of the new RECONCILIATION commission, we have the NEW CREATION Of II Corinthians 5:17, the glorious truth of the believers IDENTIFICATION with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, even seated with Him in the heavenlies. Alienation by Adam. (Ephesians 4:18 . . . Romans 5:12 . . . Romans 5:17 to 19): RECONCILIATION by and through Christ. Peter and the Eleven, in their messages and ministry, went back to Abraham. (Acts 3:21 to 26). Paul went back to ABRAM. (Galatians 3:8 and Galatians 3:16 and 17). (Galatians 2:7). Then Paul mentioned ‘ADAM’ when he first mentioned ‘RECONCILIATION’. The last word in Romans 5:11, is, ‘RECONCILIATION, followed by “Wherefore as by one (ADAM).” (Romans 5:12). After the first mention of ‘ADAM’ and ‘RECONCILIATION we find no Bible record of any one receiving water baptism. Let us remember that water baptism did not begin with John the Baptist, but with Moses and Sinai. The word ‘WASHINGS’ in Hebrews 9:10 is ‘BAPTISMOS’, meaning ‘BAPTISMS’, which of course were ‘WASHINGS’ and not ‘WITNESSING’.

CHAPTER THREE

THE HOPE OF ISRAEL AND THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

Let us compare and prayerfully consider Acts 28:20 and Colossians 4:3 and see if we can clear up a seeming contradiction that has confused and troubled some Christians. In Acts 28:16 we learn that Luke, the writer of Acts, and the apostle Paul reached Rome, Paul being a prisoner in the hands of Roman officials, having been delivered to them by the Jewish mob, as we learn in the twenty-second chapter of Acts, or we might say the Roman officials delivered Paul from the mob of Jews who had pledged not to eat or to drink until they killed Paul. (Acts 23:12). Having arrived at Rome, Paul called together some leading Jews, declaring his innocence, saying Jerusalem had delivered him to Rome and Rome wanted to let him go, but the Jews objected. (Acts 28:18 and 19). Then Paul said:
“For THE HOPE OF ISRAEL I am bound with this chain.” (Acts 28:20).

Several years later Paul, still in Rome, wrote from his prison that he was the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for Gentiles. (Ephesians 3:1 and Ephesians 4:1). Then he penned these words, recorded in Colossians 4:3:

“THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, for which I am also an ambassador in bonds.”
Paul stated the same truth, in little different language, in Ephesians 6:19 and 20.
“THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL, for which I am also an ambassador in bonds.”
“THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST” or “THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL” is quite different from “THE HOPE OF ISRAEL”. For which of the two was Paul a prisoner at Rome? For both. First, for that which pertained to Israel and certain Gentiles. Second, for proclaiming the MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES, to the Gentiles and concerning the Gentiles.

What is “THE HOPE OF ISRAEL”? WHAT IS “THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST”?
One aspect of the hope of Israel was expressed by some Israelites right after the death and resurrection of Christ; “we trusted it had been He which should have redeemed Israel.” (Luke 24:21). Again, in the words of the apostles, in Acts 1:6: “wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Again in Luke 1:67 to 77, “that He would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve Him without fear.” In the language of Amos 9:11 to 15, Israel’s hope was that their Messiah would come and build again the tabernacle of David and plant Israel in the land of Canaan, never to be plucked up again. This meant that God would send Christ back to earth to bring about the restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, as Peter preached to Israel in Acts 3:19 and 21. It was written in the law. and the prophets, “there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust.” (Acts 24:14 and 15). Anything connected with Israel’s resurrection, redemption and restoration was not truth kept secret since the world began, the only unprophesied truth being that their great salvation would be postpone until the fulness of the Gentiles shall come in (Romans 11:25).

When Paul witnessed to Agrippa what he had been preaching he qualified, in Acts 26:23, what he meant by the statement in Acts 26:22, “none other things that those which Moses and the prophets did say should come.”

Paul never intended to say to Agrippa that all he had written in Galatians, Romans, I Corinthians and II Corinthians, I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians, (which epistles were written before Paul stood before Agrippa) was foretold by Israel’s prophets. We know that such a statement would not have been true, and Paul certainly knew more about it than we do. No prophet of Israel ever spoke of the wisdom in a mystery, ordained to our glory before the world was. (I Corinthians 2:6 to 8). No prophet ever foretold that there would be the Body of I Corinthians 12:13 or the Mystical Christ of verse 12. No prophet of God ever foretold the ‘mystery’ appearing of Christ in I Corinthians 15:51 to 54. No prophet of Israel ever foretold the one Body of Romans 12:3 to 5. No prophet of Israel ever foretold the truth of Romans 11:30 to 33, and that is one reason why Paul wrote that it was ‘PAST TRACING OUT’ in Romans 11:33. No prophet of Israel ever foretold that the risen Christ would reveal the gospel of the uncircumcision to be preached while the prophesied kingdom was in abeyance. (Galatians 2:7 and Galatians 3:8). The very heart of the mystery of Christ is ‘THE CHRIST’ of I Corinthians 12:12.

The six Epistles of Paul we have mentioned above are sometimes called, ‘The Pre-prison Epistles’; because they were written before he reached Rome as a prisoner. Paul mentioned ‘MY GOSPEL’ in Romans 2:16 and in Romans 16:25, written before he reached Rome, and in II Timothy 2:7 to 9, after he reached Rome; and note in II Timothy 2:7, Paul wrote that he was a prisoner for ‘MY GOSPEL’. When and where Paul mentioned ‘MY GOSPEL’ he was not referring to ‘THE HOPE OF ISRAEL’, either before or after he reached Rome.

There are those who are called ‘ultradispensationalists’, who teach that the hope and calling of the Church of I Corinthians and Romans was ‘THE HOPE OF ISRAEL’. What profound ignorance of God’s Word, to say that I Corinthians 12:13 and I Corinthians 15:51 to 54 was ‘THE HOPE OF ISRAEL’, or to say that the ministry of RECONCILIATION in II Corinthians 5:16 to 21 was ‘THE HOPE OF ISRAEL’, when RECONCILIATION was not proclaimed until after Israel’s hope was postponed, and in II Corinthians 5:16 the Gentiles were not to know Christ after the flesh. It is such fanciful, unsound teaching of the extreme dispensationalist that has much hindered the recovery of ‘THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST’.

We can easily learn that particular phase of ‘THE HOPE OF ISRAEL’, for which Paul reached Rome as a prisoner, by putting Paul on the stand, as he was when he offered his defense at his trial before the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman political judges, in Acts 23, 24, 25, and 26.

We quote here Paul’s own words:
“Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee: of the HOPE and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.” (Acts 23:8). “Have a HOPE toward God, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead.” (Acts 24:14). “Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you . this day.” (Acts 24:21). “One Jesus Which was dead, Whom Paul affirmed to be alive.” (Acts 25:19). “I lived a Pharisee . . . And now I stand and am judged for the HOPE of the promise made of God unto our fathers” (Acts 26:6). Then Paul asked the question of Agrippa, “why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8). Paul also added that Christ told him to open the eyes of the Gentiles and turn them from the power of Satan unto God.” (Acts 26:18). Really Paul was first apprehended for saying that Christ told him in the Jerusalem temple to go far hence to the Gentiles (Acts 22:21 to 23) and because he was accused by the Jews of being responsible for the presence of a Gentile (Trophimus) in the temple (Acts 21:28 and 29). Now with this evidence before us, what intelligent jury or juror would say that Paul was a prisoner in Acts 28:20 for preaching to either Jews or Gentiles that, during the years covered by the Book of Acts, the HOPE of the Church of Acts 20:28, the Body of Romans 12:4 and 5, was the prophesied HOPE OF ISRAEL as set forth in Amos 9:11 to 15. Isaiah 9:6 and 7 and Ezekiel, chapters 36 and 37?

During the period covered by the Book of Acts Gentiles were saved by the grace of God, declared righteous by God’s grace without a cause . . . (Romans 3:24 and Romans 4:5) by which they were saved after the close of Acts (Ephesians 2:8 to 10). They were predestinated in Romans 8:28 and 29 the same as in Ephesians 1:4, 5 and 11. They were baptized into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ before Acts 28 with the ONE BAPTISM of Ephesians 4:4 and 5 (Romans 6:3 to 6) the same as they were after Acts 28 (Colossians 2:12 to 16). There certainly was a JOINT-BODY in Romans 12:4 and 5 and I Corinthians 12:12 and 13, the same as in Ephesians 3:6. (‘SAME’ BODY in Ephesians 3:6 should read ‘JOINT-BODY). And certainly the baptism of Romans 6:4 is a JOINT-BAPTISM’, as is Romans 6:3. Romans 6:4 is a ‘JOINT-BURIAL’.

The extreme dispensationalists teach that Romans 16:25 was a postscript and the truth therein revealed did not apply to any revelation Paul had received until after Acts 28 when a new and different Church, with a new and different hope and calling, began. They have followed the teaching, dispensationally, of Dr. E. W. Bullinger. It is true that students of God’s Word would know but little concerning ‘the dispensation of the mystery’ (Ephesians 3:9), ‘the mystery of the gospel’ (Ephesians 6:19 and 20), by the information gathered reading Paul’s first six Epistles, written during the ‘ACTS’ period. But on the other hand that same student could not fully understand the MYSTERY so dearly revealed in Ephesians, Colossians and II Timothy, if he did not have the truth of the eleventh chapter of Romans and other truth in Paul’s earlier Epistles. Surely God’s ETERNAL PURPOSE in Romans 8:28 to 32 is the same ETERNAL PURPOSE REVEALED IN Ephesians 1:4 and 5 and 11 and II Timothy 1:9.

It is anything but sound exegesis to say that Paul preached to Gentiles, all during the ‘ACTS’ period, the gospel of the kingdom, and that after he said, in Acts 28:28, “the salvation of God has sent to the Gentiles”, he preached the gospel of the grace of God. Compare Romans 3:23 to Romans 4:6 and Romans 11:5 and 6 and Galatians 3:8 with Ephesians 2:8 to 10 and Titus 3:5 to 8. Then to think of the folly of speaking of the entire period covered by the Book of Acts as ‘THE PENTECOSTAL PERIOD’. The extreme dispensationalists, troubled with II Corinthians 3:6, Galatians 4:26, Romans 11:17, Romans 15:27, Acts 26:21 to 23, Galatians 3:7, and the sign-gifts of I Corinthians 12:8 to 11, trying to get rid of these troubles, get into ten times more trouble by teaching that the message and program of these verses belonged to the Church of the ‘ACTS’ period, which Church was superseded by an entirely new Church after Paul’s pronouncement of Acts 28:25 to 28. This system of interpretation is what is being called today, ‘BULLINGERISM’. Because the blood in connection with the Lord’s Supper is called the blood of (in) the New Testament, because of the statement of Ephesians 2:11 to 14, the disciples of Dr. Bullinger teach that the Lord’s Supper was not observed by the members of the Body of Ephesians and Colossians after Acts 28.

In connection with ‘BULLINGERISM’, I repeat that, instead of teaching the ‘dispensationalism’ of Dr. E. W. Bullinger, the Milwaukee Bible Institute is uncompromisingly opposed to it, and they have the Scriptural answer to that faulty ‘dispensationalism’, as they have the Bible answer to the other faulty ‘dispensationalism’, which has ‘the dispensation of the mystery, of the grace of God’ (Ephesians 3:9 and Ephesians 3:1 and 2), begin on the day of Pentecost, a Jewish feast day. Note the commissions under which Paul ministered as the apostle of the Gentiles: “Acts 22:21 . . . Romans 15:16 . . . Acts 13:2 . . . I Timothy 1:12 to 17 . . . Galatians 3:11 to 20 . . . II Corinthians 5:16 to 21 . . . I Corinthians 1:14 to 17 . . . Acts 13:45 and 36 . . . Acts 18:5 and 6 . . . and Acts 23:11 and Galatians 2:7, Acts 20:24 . . . II Corinthians 12:1 to 12 . . . Ephesians 3:1 to 11. Then note his statements in Colossians 1:6 and 23, that the gospel had been given to all the world, to every creature, and that he was the Lord’s apostle for this ministry. (II Timothy 1:11 and I Timothy 4:19).

Where is the record in the Book of Acts that the Twelve went all over the world preaching the gospel of the grace of God to Gentiles? (Galatians 2:9 . . . Acts 8:1 . . . Acts 15:1 to 19). If Peter went to Rome, would he not be mentioned among those twenty-five in Rome to whom Paul sent greetings in Romans 16, or among those who visited in Rome, mentioned in his prison Epistles? Well, Peter did have something to say about Babylon; but, according to Galatians 2:10 to 13, when he did go out of the land of the Jews he got into rather serious trouble. Peter did preach, in the land of Israel, to Cornelius some seven or eight years after Pentecost, and for that he was condemned by Christian Jews. (Acts 11:1 to 18). About ten years later he referred to that message to the household of Cornelius, ‘BY MY MOUTH’. And at that time he and his fellow-apostles agreed to go to Jews (Galatians 2:9). Where is the Bible record that the other Eleven used their mouths in preaching to Gentiles? Compare the ‘every creature under heaven’ of Mark 16:14 to 18 with Colossians 1:23 and Colossians 1:6.

It is more than significant that Paul was saved outside of the land of Israel, whereas the Twelve were saved inside that land. Paul was one born out of due time. (I Corinthian. 15:6 to 10). Paul made his headquarters outside of the land of the Jews (at Antioch, Corinth, Ephesus and Rome). In God’s prophesies Kingdom message and program Jerusalem was to be, and is to be, the center. That is why the Jews were angry unto murder when Paul testified that Israel’s Messiah in Israel’s temple in Jerusalem, told him in Jerusalem to get out of Jerusalem and go to heathen. It is true that Paul wrote of the ‘truth as it is in Jesus’ (Ephesians 4:21), and in I Timothy 6:3 he wrote of the words of our Lord Jesus as wholesome words, yet Paul claimed that Christ was speaking in him (II Corinthians 13:3). As we obey II Timothy 2:15 we learn that in all of Paul’s Epistles, in which he said some things hard to be understood (II Peter 3:15 and 16), and in his recorded oral ministry in the Book of Acts. with the exception of Acts 20:35, Paul did not mention the sayings and doings of Christ in Christ’s program, as the Minister of the circumcision on earth. Those Christians who would rightly divide the Word of truth, in interpreting and applying Scriptures to members of the Body, (not only the Book of Genesis and the Old Testament Scriptures but the Four Gospels and the Book of Acts) must carefully and prayerfully consider whether the truth to be interpreted and applied was God’s program and message BEFORE THE FALL OF ISRAEL (Acts 13:46 . . . Romans 11:11) or AFTER THE FALL OF ISRAEL, after Paul said, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46), at which time God, outside the land of Israel opened the door unto Gentiles. (Acts 14:27). Let us not have that door opened either before or after God opened it.

ACCORDING TO GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE

Every Christian should know that God, during this age and dispensation of grace, is MAKING ONE NEW MAN. (Ephesians 2:15) There must have been an OLD MAN. Adam and Eve were called ‘ADAM’, one flesh. (Genesis 5:3 to 5) Christ and the Church will be the finished ‘PERFECT MAN’ of Ephesians 4:13, the ‘ONE FLESH’ of Ephesians 5:31 and 32, the ‘CHRIST’ of I Corinthians 12:12. Christ is going to present the CHURCH unto Himself. The CHURCH will be without blame or blemish. (Ephesians 5:27). The CHURCH (BODY) was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be without blame or blemish. (Ephesians 1:4 and Ephesians 1:11). Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be without blame or blemish. (II Peter 1:18 and 20). Christ was without spot, THE PERFECT MAN. The Church will be without spot, THE PERFECT MAN (Ephesians 4:13), FAULTLESS (Jude 24), Glorious, Holy. (Ephesians 5:27).

The SPOTLESS CHRIST, Who was foreordained to die on the cross for the redemption of sinners, died, and was buried and raised on the third day, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, or ‘ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES’. (II Corinthians 15:1 to 4). This is the gospel by which the sinner is saved by grace through faith. This is the PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST, glorious, wonderful, blessed truth, but not ‘ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN, but spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.

The SPOTLESS CHURCH (THE CHRIST OF I CORINTHIANS 12:12), ‘THE PERFECT MAN of Ephesians 4:13, was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. But this PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST was ‘ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD’; for it was not made known to other ages and generations. (Colossians 1:25 to 27) . . . It was not ‘ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES’, not in fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, but ‘ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD, WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD’. (Ephesians 3:11 . . . Ephesians 1:11 . . . Ephesians 1:4 and 5 . . . Ephesians 3:9). Not having been foretold in the Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, it was ‘PAST TRACING OUT’ (UNSEARCHABLE . . . Ephesians 3:8), until the risen, glorified Christ revealed it to and through the apostle Paul and then by the Holy Spirit. Surely the prophets of Romans 16:26 were not the Twelve, for in their writings they never mentioned the dispensation of the mystery, never called the Church, ‘THE BODY’.

Surely we do not want to be like those disciples of the Lord Jesus, who had not received the Holy Spirit Of Truth, to guide them in all truth, and were therefore not able to bear the higher or deeper truths that Christ had for them. (John 16:10 to 16). But we do know that when we go from the earthly ministry of Christ and from the teaching of the twelve apostles on to THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD, we are obeying Hebrews 5:12 to Hebrews 6:4, going on to PERFECTION from the first things taught by Christ. There is one way to understand the MYSTERY¾Ephesians 1:16 to 18.

GOD’S WILL AND THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL
THE GOSPEL AND THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL

We read of the will of God in many places in the Bible, such as John 6:40; but ‘THE MYSTERY OF HIS WILL’ (Ephesians 1:9) is something different. It is ‘THE UNPROPHESIED ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD’, concerning the ‘JOINT-BODY’ of Ephesians 3:6, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4, 5 and 11).

Likewise there is a difference between the gospel of salvation, by which a believing sinner is saved, and ‘THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL’, for saints, for which Paul was in jail at Rome. (Ephesians 6:19 and 20). The gospel was prophesied; but ‘THE MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL’ was not foretold by Israel’s prophets. It was God’s own secret; hid in God. (Colossians 1:25 and 26¾Ephesians 3:9).

THE MYSTERY OR THE DISPENSATION OF THE MYSTERY, ‘THE MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES’ (Colossians 1:27), ‘THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD FOR GENTILES’, ‘THE MY GOSPEL OF PAUL FOR WHICH HE WAS IN CHAINS’ (II Timothy 2:7 to 9), that ‘GRACE AND PURPOSE WHICH PAUL DECLARED WAS GIVEN US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN’, is special Divine Truth for Gentiles. but truth far higher and deeper than ‘VISITING THE GENTILES TO TAKE OUT FROM THEM A PEOPLE FOR HIS NAME’. (Acts 15:13 to 18).

God wants this truth made known by the Church for the benefit of ‘PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN THE HEAVENLIES’. (Ephesians 3:10). Read Ephesians 1:19 to 23 . . . Ephesians 6:11 to 20 and Colossians 2:11 to 18). God’s saints in other ages and generations were not raised up to sit in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, far above PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN THE HEAVENLIES, to there be opposed by, and wrestle with, spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies.

Thus we see that we do not tell the full story when we say that the MYSTERY, for which Paul was the prisoner of the Lord Jesus for Gentiles, was ‘THE BODY OF CHRIST’, or ‘CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF .GLORY’ (Colossians 1:27), or ‘THE SPOTLESS CHRIST (Ephesians 5:26 to 28), or ‘THE ONE NEW MAN OF EPHESIANS 2:15’, or the fact that Gentiles were to be joint-heirs with the saved Jews, or ‘THE PERFECT MAN’ (Ephesians 4:13), or that the Church is ‘THE FILLING-UP OF CHRIST’ (Ephesians 1:21 to 23¾Ephesians 4:13), or the position and blessings of God’s saints of this age is the heavenlies, or the fact that God predestinated a company of saints to be called, chosen and glorified in this parenthetical period while Israel is temporarily set aside, or Christ and the Church, ‘ONE FLESH’. (Ephesians 5:31-32). All of these different phases of the truth, called ‘THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST’ (Colossians 4:3), are included in ‘THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD’, that purpose and grace of God which was given us in Christ before the world began. Note how ‘predestination’ and ‘purpose’ are linked together.

In the Greek text, in II Timothy 1:12, Paul called this ‘MY DEPOSIT’ (Paratheke). He committed it to Timothy to pass on to others. (II Timothy 2:2). That good ‘THING’ (Paratheke) was committed to Timothy. (II Timothy 1:14). In I Corinthians 9:15 to 18 we learn that a ‘DISPENSATION was committed unto Paul. At that time he had been caught away to paradise, the third heavens, for an abundance of revelations. (Galatians 1:11 and 12). He went up to Jerusalem by revelation to tell the other apostles of the gospel of the uncircumcision. (Galatians 2:1 to 7). Paul received ‘the dispensation of the grace of God for Gentiles by revelation from Christ. (Ephesians 3:1 to 4). Paul was the wise masterbuilder (architect) chosen by Christ to. lay the foundation. (I Corinthians 3:10). Paul laboured more abundantly than they all. (I Corinthians 15:10). He wrote, “be followers together of me.” (Philippians 3:17).

Paul got into very serious trouble because of the ‘DEPOSIT’ that he received from Christ. Paul was not able to prove his statement that Christ had revealed this great truth to him. All they that were in Asia turned against Paul. (II Timothy 1:15). He could not prove the MYSTERY by former Scriptures for they were silent concerning that which had been hid in God from the beginning of the world. At the last Paul wrote “only Luke is with me.” (II Timothy 4:11).Are you with Paul?

I am sure that (among other statements of Paul) when Peter wrote that Paul said some things hard to be understood he had in mind Colossians 1:24, “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body’s sake, Which is the Church, Whereof I am made a minister.” The other apostles suffered much for Christ’s sake; but not one of the Twelve was in jail for ‘THE MYSTERY’, for which Paul suffered as an evildoer even unto chains. (II Timothy 2:7 to 9).

THE MESSAGE OF PENTECOST NOT THE MYSTERY

If Paul laid the foundation on which members of the Body of Christ are to build together (sunoikodomeo) with Paul, the architect and pattern (I Timothy 1:12 to 17), then of course the foundation had not been laid when Peter and the Eleven stood up on the day of Pentecost, and it was not until Acts 14:27 that we learn the door of faith had been opened to Gentiles, notwithstanding Peter had preached to Cornelius.

When we compare the words of Peter in Acts 3:23, “all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold these days”, with the words of Paul, in Colossians 1:26, “the mystery hid from other ages and generations”, we surely know that the preaching of Jesus Christ by Peter and the Eleven in those first chapters of the Book of Acts was not “according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began.” Peter and the Eleven preached Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of Joel, David, Abraham, Moses, Samuel and concerning Christ’s return to earth from heaven to. bring about the restitution of all things, spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 2:16 to 20 . . . Acts 2:27 to 32 . . . Acts 3:21 to 26) . . . When Peter preached to Cornelius he preached the Word which God sent unto the children of Israel (Acts. 10:36) and then added, concerning Christ, “to Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins.” (Acts 10:43). Israel’s prophets gave witnesses concerning Jesus Christ, that He would do many things, in His suffering and His glory. (II Peter 1:11 and Luke 24:27).

Something of the ‘kingdom’ program of God that will be carried on in the Name of Christ, after God has made the ONE NEW MAN of Ephesians 2:15, is declared in Acts 15:13 to 18 after Peter told how God used his mouth to preach to Cornelius about ten years before. (Acts 15:7). Christ will return and build again the tabernacle of David, then Jews will be saved, then Gentiles. So we have something of that ‘kingdom’ pattern during the period covered by the first eleven chapters of Acts when Peter, with the Eleven, was using the keys of the kingdom of heaven. But ‘THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST’ in the first eleven chapters of Acts was not ‘ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.

CHRIST ON EARTH CONFIRMING PROMISES MADE TO FATHERS

We read in Romans 15:8 that Christ’s earthly ministry was to the Jews, a ministry and program of ‘CONFIRMATION. But in John 20:31 we are told that we have John’s Record of the sayings and doings of Jesus Christ, that we. might believe that He is the Son of God, and believing, have eternal life. With such a Divine purpose in having John write concerning Christ, we should read and reread every line and word in John, as well as in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and know and rejoice in every word that proceeded from the mouth of Him. Who spake as never man spake. While it is true that Jesus Christ was made ‘UNDER THE LAW’ (Galatians 4:4) and lived and ministered to Israel ‘UNDER THE LAW’ (Matthew 23:1 to 3 . . . Matthew 8:2 to 6 . . . Matthew 5:17 and 18), and true that members of the Body of Christ are ‘NOT UNDER THE LAW’ but ‘DEAD TO THE LAW’ (Romans 6:14 . . . Romans 7:1 to 6 . . . Galatians 3:25 . . . Galatians 4:21); and while it is true that Christ Himself said that He was sent only to Israel (Matthew 15:24) and that with very few exceptions, including Christ’s good confession’ before Pilate, Christ’s instructions, messages and miracles were to and for Jews (some to saved and some to unsaved Jews), every spiritual, faithful servant of the Lord will carefully weigh every word uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ and prayerfully consider it in the light of ‘the dispensation of the grace of God’ (Ephesians 3:1 to 4), or what is some times called ‘Pauline’ truth, in determining whether some message or program recorded in any of the Four Gospels brought over into this ‘grace’ age and dispensation would frustrate the grace of God or pervert the gospel of grace. What apostle would have spoken, with Divine authority, the truth of Colossians 2:16 or Galatians 6:15 and Galatians 5:2, while Christ was. on earth, as Jesus of Nazareth, in the midst of Israel? Note the truth in these verses, truth for the Lord’s program of grace: “let no man judge you with respect to the sabbath” . . . “no profit to circumcision.” If any apostle had dared to make those statements while Christ was on. earth, or had stated to Christ’s disciples, “ye are not under the law”, or any one of, a hundred or more other statements in Paul’s Epistles, that apostle would have received something more than a rebuke from Christ. Likewise any servant who foolishly makes the statement that the Four Gospels are not for members of the Body of Christ deserves something more than a rebuke.

We here repeat what has been said ten thousand times or more, “all of the Bible is God’s inspired. Word, and is all FOR members of the Body of Christ, but all of it is not ABOUT members of the Body of Christ.”

The minister of Christ, who would instruct members of the Body of Christ to obey the messages and practice the program which God gave to Israel, through Moses, as they worshipped God in that portable tabernacle enroute from Sinai to Canaan, would be anything but a faithful steward of the mysteries of God. The carnal ordinances, meats and drinks and divers baptisms (Hebrews 9:10), which had a very important place during Israel’s ‘SHADOW’ days, have absolutely no place in God’s present ‘GRACE’ program. What God demanded in one dispensation He forbids in another.

However, we may be assured that no steward of the mysteries of God can be established unless and until he is so taught the Scriptures by the infallible Holy Spirit, that he not only knows all of God’s different dispensations and programs; but wherein they differ; when they began and when they gave way in part or whole to a new dispensation and program which superseded:

Every intelligent, faithful, spiritual student of the Four Gospels knows that much taught for the obedience and practice of . Israel and Christ’s own disciples has no place in the ‘GRACE’ program which the risen Christ gave to and through Paul by revelation. But the difficult and important task, in rightly dividing the Word of truth, is to be exceedingly careful not to discard or minimize Divine truth, spoken by Christ on earth, that is for the obedience and practice of members of the Body of Christ, Divine truth included in God’s program in more than one dispensation.

Without explanation or apology the average teacher of the Bible today eliminates from church programs the miracles, angelic visitations, jail deliverances, the raising of the dead, speaking with tongues, the imposition of hands and many other supernatural demonstrations in the Book of Acts. Such a teacher is by no means a faithful steward of the mysteries of God and is indeed a workman who needs to be ashamed.

We should consider as sacred and precious and important every word spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ on earth, whether or not binding in this age of grace, as we study His earthly ministry in the light of truth He later revealed to and through the apostle Paul. Unless we know those words in ‘THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST’, not according to the revelation of the mystery, as well as ‘PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST’, ‘ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY, KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN’ (Romans 16:25), we cannot expect to be established (STABLISHED).

Neither can we be STABLISHED unless we know how to interpret and apply and appropriate the messages in Paul’s Epistles written during the ‘ACTS’ period, and the writings and oral messages of Peter, James, John and Jude, in the light of the last revelations which the risen Christ gave to Paul to ‘COMPLETE THE WORD OF GOD’. (Colossians 1:25 to 27). No servant of the Lord will be, or can be, established until he knows how ‘THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN’ differs from all other preaching in the Bible, and reveals to members of the Body of Christ God’s message and program of grace without religion and signs and miracles; unmixed; unlimited; unmerited and unprophesied.

It is not exaggerating to say that more than ninety-five percent of Christians have not grasped the meaning of Romans 11:30 and 31: “For as ye (Gentiles) in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their (Israel’s) unbelief . . . Even so have these (Israel) also now not believed that through your (Gentiles’) mercy they (Israel) also may obtain mercy.” Yes, this is most important truth, and must be understood before we can understand the meaning of ‘the dispensation of the grace of God for you Gentiles’ (Ephesians 3:1 to 3). As we read these two verses we must see that a most radical change had taken place since Christ told His apostles that He was sent only to Israel (Matthew 15:24), “go not into the way of the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:5). We see what folly it would be to teach that Peter and the Eleven on the day of Pentecost told Israel that they would obtain mercy through the mercy of the Gentiles or that merry was being extended to the Gentiles because of Israel’s unbelief. Something happened between Acts 3:26, ‘Israel First’ and Romans 11:30 and 31. We must know this ‘something’ to understands God’s message and program of grace.

LIFE BEGINS AT CALVARY

Life begins at Calvary. where Jesus died for sin;
Until you come to Calvary your life will not begin.
The life received at Calvary will never, never end;
So come to Christ at Calvary; He’s still the sinner’s Friend.

DIVIDED UNITY

2010-03-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

"WITH ALL LOWLINESS, AND MEEKNESS, WITH LONGSUFFERING, FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE ... "ENDEAVORING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE ... ONE BODY .. . ONE SPIRIT . . . ONE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING... ONE LORD ... ONE FAITH ... ONE BAPTISM ... ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL." Ephesians 4:2 to 7.

"BEHOLD, HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT IT IS FOR BRETHREN TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY." Psalm 133:1
"To us there is one God the Father ... and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, • and we by Him." I Corinthians 8:6. Here we have stated the first great important doctrine of Christian unity. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "I and my Father are one." There is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." "We are sanctified through the offersing of the body of Jesus Christ once-for-all." Hebrews 10:10. That once-for-all offering, the Lord Jesus Christ called His "baptism". Luke 12:50. On the cross of Calvary the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized into dealh. "So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death." Romans 6:3. Christ was buried. Christ was raised. Christ is seated in the highest heavenlies, Head over all things unto the Church, which is His Body. Ephesians 1:9 to 22.

Members of Chrises Body are buried with Him by baptism into death. Romans 6:4. They are raised to seek those things which are . above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1 to 4. Members of Christ's Body are alive with Christ and seated with Christ in the highest heavenlies. They were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4. They were called, not according to works, but according to that grace and purpose of God which was given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. 2 Timothy 1:9. They are waiting for Christ to be manifested, to be manifested with Him in glory. Colossians 3:3 and 4. Christ is in these members, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. God desires that these members should know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:18. This is the one calling that is God's basis of Christian unity. This calling was God's purpose in the eternal ages before He called Abraham and chose His servant Israel. Israel's calling is different from the calling of members of the Body of Christ. A mixture of these callings will hinder, in fact, make impossible, obedience to Ephesians 4:3; "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit."

There is one Body. There are several churches in the Bible, but God has one and only one Church for today. That Church is the Body of Christ. This Body is clearly described in Ephesians and Colossians Christ had a little flock while He was on earth. Luke 12:32 and 33. That was a kingdom flock different from the Body of Christ as to hope and calling. They were "not preaching the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God, which was committed to Paul's trust. I Timothy 1:11. They knew nothing whatever of the Body of Ephesians and Colossians. They were instructed by their Messiah as to Israel's kingdom hopes and given the gospel of the kingdom.

All sinners saved by grace, without religion, without works, without a cause, are members of Christ's Body. They are identified with Him in His "Death Baptism", which is the one baptism declared by God to be the basis for keeping the unity of the Spirit. It is utterly impossible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by mixing Israel's water baptism with the believer's death baptism, as it is to mix Israel's hope and calling with the hope and calling of the Body of Christ. Water baptism is practiced by most of the 350 sects of the Christian Church with many different meanings and in many different ways. This is in total disregard, if not wilfull disobedience, to God's plain instructions in Ephesians 4:3 to 5. If God desires that we keep the unity of the Spirit on the basis of one baptism, which is a Divine baptism, not made with hands, it is worse than folly to make any attempt to obey God's instructions with thirty varieties of water baptism.

Can you point to a single Christian practicing water baptism who obeys Ephesians 3:9? "Make all men see what is the fellowship (administration) of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God?" If we are to make men see the mystery (the truth of the Body and the Head) with the hope-and calling of this dispensation, we must not expect to show it to them in the Scriptures concerning Israel, where there is no reference to this glorious truth, about which all of the prophets of Israel, and the Lord's twelve apostles were ignorant as well as silent; but in the writings of the man who was entrusted with this special revelation.

We shall not succeed in getting very many members of the Body of Christ to keep the unity of the Spirit, but let us endeavour in God's own way and receive God's commendation. ,..... .•

CHRIST'S COMMISSION FROM ABOVE THE MOUNTAINS

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We find the word "mountain" nearly six hundred times in the Bible. The Hebrew word is "bar" or "harar," sometimes translated "hill." Many times we read of "the holy mountain," or "the mountain of God," "My holy mountain." Peter declared, concerning his experience on the mount of transfiguration, that the three apostles beheld the power and the coming of Christ, "when we were with Him in the holy mount." (2 Peter 1:18). In Hebrews 8:5 we read that Moses was instructed by Jehovah regarding Israel's "worldly" tabernacle and sanctuary, (Hebrews 9:1), "see that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." (Hebrews 8:5).

Hear these wonderful and significant words in Psalm 87:1 to 3:'
"His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates
of Zion more than all of the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are
spoken of thee, 0 City of God."

Therefore, we read in Psalm 3:4: "I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill." And again in Psalm 15:1: "Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy holy hill (mountain)?" And again in Psalm 2:6: "Yet have I set My King upon My holy hill of Zion." Where is that King now, as the Head of the Church? (Ephesians 1:20 to 23).

It is interesting to compare the question of Psalm 24:3 with the truth of members of the Body of Christ, in this present "grace" economy, recorded in Ephesians 2:5 and 6: "Who shall ascend into the hill (mountain) of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?" . . . "hath made us alive together with Christ; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together IN THE HEAVENLIES in Christ Jesus." The HEAVENLIES and the Mountain of God are not identical; and surely God's HOLY HILL ZION is not where Christ now is, "far above all heavens." (Ephesians 4:8 to 11).

Members of Christ's Body know that their citizenship is in heaven; that they are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies (Philip-pians 3:20 and Ephesians 1:3); that they are not waiting for the Son of man to come back to earth to sit as a Judge and a King on the throne of His glory (Matthew 25:31 to 34): but they are looking for the glorious appearing of Christ, to ascend in resurrection bodies, to appear with Christ in glory. (Titus 2:13; Colossians 3:3 and 4).

But these Body-members believe 2 Peter 1:19; that we also have a more sure Word of Prophecy whereunto we do dwell that we take heed as a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts. (2 Peter 1:19). Therefore they believe that all of the Scriptures are given by inspiration of God and not one jot or tittle will pass away until all be fulfilled. Therefore they believe the truth of Micah 4:7: "THE LORD SHALL REIGN OVER THEM IN MOUNT ZION, FROM HENCE. FORTH, EVEN FOREVER." Yes, glorious things are spoken of that Holy Mountain, which at present is a disgrace to both God and Israel. For there God's House shall be again established and people shall flow to it and many nations shall say, let us go up to the MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD . . . The Law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1 to 3). It will be Israel's Messiah and King on Mount Zion, not the Body of Christ now seated in the heavenlies, that will bring the MILLENNIUM to this troubled, sinful, confused world. The King of Glory shall enter in. Yes, glorious things are spoken in Zechariah 14:1 to 9. 'The Lord shall be King over all the earth.' (14:9). When? In that day. What day? When Christ's feet shall stand right where they stood when He bade farewell to his apostles and they heard the Lord's Messenger say, 'this same Jesus, Which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as ye have seen Him go into heaven.' (Acts 1:11). That was the Mount of Olives. After Christ had given His apostles the so-called great commission FROM A MOUNTAIN (Matthew 28:19 and 20) He bade farewell to them from a MOUNTAIN. A great scene is mentioned by John in Revelation 14:1: 'I looked, and lo, a LAMB stood on MOUNT ZION.' And who will be the 144,000 with Him? Not members of the Body of Christ.

Members of the Body of Christ will be far above the mountains with the Head of the Church in glory when the poor distressed Christ-rejecting sinners, rich and poor, religious and otherwise, will be praying for the mountains to fall upon them, so that they might be hidden from the wrath of the Lamb. The mercy of the King is like the dew upon the grass, but His wrath is like the roaring of the lion. (Proverbs 19:12 and 20:2). Our Lord Jesus Christ is not only the Lamb of God, Who suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, to bear away our sins and to bring us to God (John 1:29 and I Peter 3:18); but He is the LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, Who will unloose the seals that will pour out the awful, terrible, unbearable, wrath of God upon this earth (Revelation 5:5). Christ died to deliver sinners from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 15 and 10). Those who do not receive Christ as Saviour, in grace, must meet Him, in wrath, as a Judge. (Acts 17:31... John 5:22.. . 2 Thessalonians 1:7 to 11).

In Revelation 6:14 and 16:20 we read: "and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." . . . "and every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

SOME LESSONS FROM THE BIBLE MOUNTAINS

In this message later on we are to compare, and contrast, Christ's COMMISSION FROM THE MOUNTAIN, in Matthew 28:19 and 20, with Christ's COMMISSION FROM ABOVE THE MOUNTAIN.

In Psalm 72:3 we read that the mountains shall bring peace to the people. In Psalm 87:1 we read that God's foundation is in the holy mountains. We have referred to Zechariah 145. We read there of the time that the Lord is to be King over all the earth after His feet stand upon the Mountain (Olives) (Zechariah 14:4). Then God's kingdom nation will be planted in their own land and will never be plucked up again. (Amos 9:11 to 15).

Abraham was with Isaac in the mountain of the Lord when God, by oath, gave the land of Canaan to Israel. Genesis 22:14. God said to Abraham, 'get thee into the land of Moriah,' and there Abraham was
instructed to offer in sacrifice the son that he loved, 'upon one of the MOUNTAINS which I will tell thee of.' (Genesis 22:1 and 2). 'Thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies,' (Genesis 22:17). Israel was to enter Canaan some 400 years after God made His covenant with Abram concerning the land. (Genesis 15:13 and 14; 13:15; 17:8). When the time was fulfilled (the 400 years) and the Lord was ready to deliver Israel from Egypt and start them on the way to Canaan He met Moses, the deliverer, and Aaron, in 'THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD.' (Exodus 3:1 and 4:27). Then in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy we read many times that God and Moses met on the MOUNTAIN (Sinai). When Aaron was 123 years old he died in MOUNT HOR. Numbers 23:38 and 39. Then Moses was commanded to go up on Mount Ncbo (Pisgah) and die, 'as thy brother died in Mount Hor.' (Deuteronomy 32:50). Jacob, who became Israel, offered sacrifice on the mountain. Genesis 31:54.

In Joshua and Judges we read of Israel's interesting and significant experiences in Mount Ebal, Mount Gerizim, Mount Hermon, Mount Bethel, Mount Seir, Mount Tabor, Mount Lebanon and Mount Ephraim. Mount Ephraim is mentioned in these two books 16 times. The first thing we read is, that Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God in Mount Ebal. (Joshua 8:30).

In 2 Samuel 15:32 we find that David is on the top of the mountain to worship God. In 2 Kings 4:25 we find Elisha, the man of God, in Mount Carmel.

Many great and terrible events have taken place from Mount Zion, but more wonderful events are yet to take place from Mount Zion . . . Read Psalms 48:2, 48:11, 74:2, 78:68, 125:1; Lamentations 5:18; Joel 3:17;
Revelation 14:1. 'The Lord God shall reign over them in MOUNT ZION from henceforth, even forever.' (Micah 4:7). Read of 'MY HOLY MOUNTAIN' in Isaiah 115, 56:7, 57:13, 65:11, 66:20. "MY HOLY MOUNTAIN JERUSALEM." (Isaiah 66:20). Then read Isaiah 2423, 27:13, 31:4.

In Psalm 50:2, we read: 'Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.' Then again read Psalm 87:1 to 3: 'The Lord is in. the holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all of the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of thee, 0 City of God.'

As we behold the discord, hatred, treachery and violence now in Zion, we remember the wonderful promise Zechariah 1:17: 'The Lord shall yet comfort Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem.' From the mountains of Zion God commanded the blessing, even life forcvermore. (Psalm 133:3).

In 1 Kings 19:8 to 11 we read of Elijah in Horcb, the mountain of God, and God sent the strong wind and rent that mountain to teach Elijah the secret of power. In Nchemiah 8:14 to 18 we read how the children of Israel went to the mountains for the boughs for their booths.
In the coming kingdom age many nations shall come and say, 'come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.' (Micah 4:2). We have observed that when the three apostles were on the holy mount with the transfigured Messiah and Prophet (Elijah) and Lawgiver (Moses) they beheld the coming of Christ (2 Peter 1:16 to 18).

Thus we learn that from the time God instructed Noah concerning the ark which rested on the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4) when He made a covenant concerning man and the earth, from the time that Abraham had Isaac on the altar on Mount Moriah, from the time that Moses met God in the mountains to receive instructions for the deliverance of Israel, from the many instructions given Israel from Mount Sinai, and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo, the MOUNTAINS of the Bible generally speak of EARTHLY COVENANTS ... EARTHLY BLESSINGS AND EARTHLY JUDGMENTS.

Christ was up on the mountain when Satan showed Him earthly kingdoms. In Revelation 14:1 we read, "lo, a LAMB stood on Mount Zion." Litde wonder we read in Psalm 48:2 'Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.'

When Israel's redemption will be at hand the Kingdom of God will be established on earth. (Luke 21:27 to 33). God will send Christ back to earth from heaven for the restitution of all things spoken by the prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19 to 21). His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:1 to 9). He shall be king over all the earth. (Vs. 9). The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached as a witness in all the world and THEN SHALL THE END COME. (Matthew 24:14). Israel shall be saved by the coming of Christ out of Zion (Romans 11:26). When ? When the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25). Israel will not see their King and Messiah until they say, 'Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.' (Matthew 23:39). Then Israel shall look on Him Whom they pierced. (Zechariah 12:10). This will be when the Son of Man cometh in the clouds. (Revelation 1:7 and Luke 21:27). Then Israel shall be planted in their land. (Amos 9:11 to 15; Ezekiel 3634). On the mountains of Israel. (Ezckiel 37:22).

In 2 Peter 1:18 we have the testimony of Peter that 'we were with Him (Christ) in the holy mount.' There were five Jews on that mountain, besides the Lord Jesus Christ. (Matthew 17:1 to 13). There, said Peter, we beheld Christ's power and His coming. (2 Peter 1:16). Moses was one of the men on that mountain. There he was transfigured. That was not the only mountain experience of Moses. He had been on other holy mountains. Moses went up into the mountain of God. (Exodus 34:13). The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:20). The Lord spake unto Moses in Mount Sinai. (Leviticus 25:1). On that mountain God wrote with His finger on the tables of stone, giving to Moses, for Israel, the ten commandments. (Exodus 20). In Deuteronomy 32:49 and 50 we learn that Moses was directed to Mount Nebo for his death. There Satan contended with Michael for the body of Moses. (Jude 9). From the mountain where Moses died he could see over into the land of promise, later known as 'the land of the Jews.' (Acts 10:39). Moses died outside the land on a mountain. He was transfigured inside the land on a mountain.

Hagar, the bond-woman, and Ishmael her son, by Abram, spoke of the yoke of bondage given at Sinai. (Acts 15:10 . . . Galatians 5:1 and 4:24 and 25). The law given at Sinai was Israel's schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. (Galatians 3:24 and 25).

Concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, Who was made under the law (Galatians 4:4), Who was a Minister of the circumcision for a confirmation (fulfillment) ministry for Israel (Romans 15:8 and Matthew 15:24), we read in Luke 22:39, 'as He was wont. He went to the MOUNT OF OLIVES.' (Read Matthew 21:1, 24:3, 26:30; Luke 19:29, 21:37; John 8:1).

When the devil tempted the Lord Jesus he took Him up into an exceeding HIGH MOUNTAIN and showed Him His worldly kingdoms. (Luke 4:5 to 7). We have all heard of The Sermon on the Mount . . . Christ went up into a mountain. (Matthew 5:1). Then we read in Matthew 15:29, in Mark 3:13, John 6:3 and 15, of Christ's going into mountains. In Mark 6:46, Luke 6:12, 9:28 and Matthew 14:23 we read that Christ went to the mountains to pray. After Christ fed the 5000 and the people wanted to make Him King He retired to the mountain. (John 6:15).

THE COMMISSION FROM THE MOUNTAIN

When Christ gave to the ELEVEN the so-called great commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20 He met His apostles in the appointed MOUNTAIN. (Matthew 28:16). Christ had already told these apostles that when He does establish His Kingdom on earth, with Himself as Judge and King, these apostles would sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. (Matthew 19:27 and 28 ... Matthew 2531 to 34). He had also told them that before they had gone over the dries of Israel the Son of man would come. (Matthew 10:23). Any command or order or commission that Christ gave was a "great commission,' because He was, and is, a GREAT CHRIST. So the commission of Matthew 10:5 to 9 was a great commission. It was given to the TWELVE for Israel; but not for Gentiles.

We have mentioned that Christ's farewell visit on earth with His twelve apostles was on the Mount of Olives and at that place the servants of the Lord assured the Twelve that the same Jesus would come back to earth in like manner. (Acts 1:11 and Zechariah 14:1 to 9). At that time Christ had given the Eleven the commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20. A short time thereafter the number Eleven had to be increased to TWELVE. (Acts 1 '26). If God was not going to again, immediately and very definitely deal with Israel, He would not have been interested in having TWELVE apostles. There were TWELVE from Acts 1:26 to Acts 12:1 and 2. And as TWELVE is the number of Israel, surely God was dealing with Israel, from Acts 1:26 to Acts 12:2, as He has not dealt with them since. In this connection we should remember Matthew 1927 and 28 and Matthew 10:23; that the TWELVE are to sit on twelve thrones and judge the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL when Christ returns to be a King and a Judge on His earthly throne (Matthew 25:31); and the Son of man was to return before the TWELVE had gone over the cities of Israel. Perhaps this will help us to understand why the TWELVE remained in Jerusalem at the time of the great persecution, when the Jewish disciples were
scattered and went forth to preach to none but Jews only. (Acts 8:1 and 11:19). (Galadans 1:17 and 2:1 and 9 to 11).

THE SO-CALLED GREAT COMMISSION

Then the ELEVEN disciples went away into Galilee, INTO A MOUNTAIN, where Jesus had appointed them! .. . 'Go yc therefore, and teach (disciple) all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (age).' Did the apostles do this? (Acts 8:1-15; 15:1 to 19; Galatians 2:11).

After the resurrection of Christ and before His ascension He was seen of His apostles, "speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.' (Acts 13). He had told them that the 'END' would come when the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM had been preached as a witness in all the world. (Matthew 24:14). This was a part of Christ's answer to the apostles' question, 'what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the END of the world (age) ?' (Matthew 24:3). Israel was not to see Christ again until He would come as the Son of man in the cloud with power and great glory and they would say 'blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord.' (Luke 21:27 and Matthew 23:39). What 'END' came when Paul had preached the gospel all over the world? (Colossians 1:6 and 1:23).

As we carefully study the Book of Acts we learn that the apostle Paul made his headquarters in Antioch of Syria, in Corinth, in Ephcsus and in Rome; and in the Book of Acts we have the record of several of Paul's missionary journeys. In the Book of Acts we learn that the TWELVE made their headquarters in Jerusalem: (Acts 8:1 ... Acts 15). And in that Book we have no record of even one missionary journey of the TWELVE outside the land of the Jews. Where is the 'ACTS' record that they preached to Gentiles other than the household of Cornelius?
PETER AND PAUL

When Peter was first saved and commissioned he was sent by Christ to Israel. 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles.' (Matthew 10:5 to 7). When Paul was first saved and commissioned by Christ he was to bear His Name to Gentiles, kings and the Children of Israel. (Acts 9:15). About 10 years after Peter, and the Eleven, received their commission of Matthew 10:5 to 7, Peter, in a 'sheet' vision, was ordered to preach to a very religious, devout, praying Gentile, who gave money to the Jews and was of good report among them. (Acts 10:1 and 2, 10:22 and 1038). Some time after Paul (Saul) received his orders in Acts 9:15 he saw Christ in a vision in the Jerusalem temple and to Paul Christ said, 'I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.' (Acts 22:21). Later on the apostle Paul magnified (glorified) his office as the apostle to, or of, the Gentiles. (Romans 11:13). Read I Timothy 2:7; II Timothy 1:11; Ephesians 3:8; Romans 15:16; Ephcsians 3:1 to 3.

In the meantime Paul and Peter, with other apostles, had reached the agreement that Peter, James and John should go to Jews and Paul should go to Gentiles. (Galatians 2:9). However, Paul thereafter continued to go to the Jews first and also the Gentiles, even becoming a Jew to the Jews. (I Corinthians 9:20 to 25). In Acts 19:10 we read that, because of Paul's
ministry, 'all they which dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles.' Then for a very definite reason it is recorded that several years later, 'all they that which are in Asia be turned away from me (Paul).' (2 Timothy 1:15).

Concerning the ministry of the TWELVE to the Gentiles, we find little in the Book of Acts or in Paul's Epistles; but we do know that the Eleven were not pleased when Peter preached to a Jew-loving, God-fearing Gentile some seven years after the commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20 until after Peter had done much explaining: and then they rejoiced. (Acts 11:1 to 18). Several years later Peter reminded his fellow-apostles that God had chosen that by Peter's mouth the gospel should be preached to Gentiles. (Acts 15:7). It was at about the very same time that Peter and his fellow-apostles agreed to go to the Jews. (Galatians 2:9).

So to any thinking, spiritual student of the Scriptures this question must present itself, how could the TWELVE preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15) and disciple all nations (Matthew 28:19 and 20), as Christ commanded them to do, when they remained in Jerusalem and agreed to preach to Jewish creatures? In the light of the commission to the ELEVEN, in Matthew 28:19 and 20, it seems that Acts 8:1 should inform us that the TWELVE left Jerusalem to carry out the great commission and the other disciples remained there. But the very opposite is stated. And to whom did the scattered disciples preach? To Jews only. (Acts 11:19). In the light of Acts 11:19, to whom did Philip preach in Samaria? (Acts 8:5).

CHRISTS COMMISSION TO PAUL

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is recorded in Acts 9:1 to 15. Saul (Paul) was saved outside the land of the Jews. Christ Jesus, the Lord, counted Paul faithful and put him into the ministry, as one born out of due season, and as a pattern. (I Timothy 1:12 ... I Corinthians 15:8 and I Timothy 1:16). Paul was not saved by the preaching of any of the TWELVE, but by Christ's own preaching. Paul was the only unsaved unbeliever who, on earth, saw Christ after His resurrection. After Paul (Saul) was saved he conferred not with flesh and blood: neither did he go up to Jerusalem to confer with the TWELVE. (Galatians 1:15 to 17). When he did visit them some years later, in conference they added nothing to him. But contrariwise they learned that Paul had, by revelation, received from Christ a ministry and grace program somewhat different from the commission and program that Christ had given to the TWELVE. (Galatians 2:1 to 13). Paul received his "grace* gospel by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11 and 12). Later on, by revelation, he received from Christ in heaven, 'the dispensation of the grace of God' for Gentiles, 'the unsearchable riches of Christ' for Gentiles, 'the dispensation of the mystery,' 'the mystery among the Gentiles.' (Ephesians 3:1 to 9 and Colossians "1:24 to 27). Paul was caught away to the third heavens, paradise, to receive an abundance of revelations. (2 Corinthians 12:1 to 12). His commission came not 'FROM THE MOUNTAIN,' but from above the mountains.

Paul explains his distinctive 'grace* message and ministry to the Gentiles, in Romans 11:30, that the Gentiles obtained God's mercy, because of Israel's unbelief. Paul was directed to turn to Gentiles when and because Israal would not receive the Word of God. (Acts 13:46).
Salvation, by Paul, was sent to the Gentiles, to provoke Israel to jealousy. When and because Israel was cast away reconciliation was sent to Gentiles. (Romans 11:15). The diminishing of the Jews brought riches to the Gentiles. (Romans 11:12). None of this was contemplated in the commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20, in the gospel of the kingdom as a witness to all the world to bring the end of the age.

In the gospel of the kingdom the Gentiles obtain God's mercy and salvation when and because Israel believes. This has now been postponed until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and then Israel's salvation. (Roman 11:25 and 26). Then the Jews will become the missionaries to the Gentiles in and with God's kingdom program.

So Christ's commission from above the mountains is the ministry and message of RECONCILIATION which began when and because Israel, through unbelief, was cast away. Thus we turn to 2 Corinthians 5:16 to 21 and Romans 5:10 and 11:15 for our commission and learn that for two reasons Gentiles can be reconciled to God and obtain God's mercy, because of the death of Christ and because of Israel's rejection of Christ in resurrection as well as in incarnation. (I John 2:2; Romans 5:10, 11:15 and 11:30). Then the dispensation of the mystery began and God's spiritual programs in connection with the Bible mountains were postponed.

In our new book, "THE MOST WONDERFUL TRUTH IN THE BIBLE," we have explained the difference between 'THE PROPHESIED KINGDOM OF GOD PREPARED FROM THE FOUNDATION (OVERTHROW) OF THE WORLD,' and "THE UNPROPHESIED KINGDOM OF GOD PURPOSED IN CHRIST FROM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD." The first kingdom is both spiritual and political and of it mountains in the Bible speak. The Son of Man will be on this earthly throne. (Matthew 25:31 and 34). The second kingdom of God is spiritual and was revealed by Christ, to and through Paul, from the heavenlies, above the mountains; concerning the heavenly hope, heavenly calling, heavenly blessings and heavenly conflict of members of the un-prophesicd Body of Christ.

The End.

The Riches of The Lord of Glory _________ Past-Tracing-Out

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The faithful steward of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1 to 4), to whom the Holy Spirit has taught the truth recorded in the eleventh chapter of Romans, will understand why Paul closed the chapter with, "0 the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How 'UNSEARCHABLE' ('ANEXEREUNTOS') are His judgments, and His ways 'PAST-TRACING-OUT' ('ANEXICHNIASTOS')."

The Greek words in this verse translated 'UNSEARCHABLE' and 'PAST-TRACING-OUT are rather long words. The first word 'ANEXEREUNTOS' is the negative of the Greek word, in 1 Peter 1:10, translated 'SEARCHED DILIGENTLY' ('EXERUNAO'). The second word 'ANEXICHNIASTOS,' translated 'PAST-TRACING-OUT' (revised version), is the negative of 'ICHNOS' which means 'STEP' or TRACK.' This word 'ANEXICHNIASTOS' is, in Ephesians 3:8, translated UNSEARCHABLE.'. 'PAST-TRACING-OUT' is perhaps a. better translation. The Holy Spirit would have every Christian know that THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD' (Ephesians 1:11 .... 1:4 and 5), , is an unprophesied Divine program. It was 'KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN' (Romans 16:25), HID IN GOD FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD' (Ephesians 3:9), 'HID FROM AGES AND FROM GENERATIONS' (Colossians 1:26). Having been God's own unrevealed SECRET, it was called THE MYSTERY.'

This 'UNPROPHESIED' Divine program is mentioned in Ephesians 1:9 as THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S WILL.' In Ephesians 3:3 Paul declared "THAT BY REVELATION HE (CHRIST) MADE KNOWN UNTO 'ME' THE MYSTERY." In 2 Timothy 1:12 we leam, in the Greek, that Paul wrote of MY DEPOSIT' ('PARATHEKE'). Because Paul received that 'DEPOSIT,' (Ephesians 3:2 ... Colossians 1:23 to 26), and because he was faithful in proclaiming it, he was THE PRISONER OF JESUS CHRIST FOR GENTILES' (Ephesians 3:1..... 4:1), -AN AMBASSADOR IN BONDS' (Ephesians 6:19 and 20... Colossians 4:3 and 4). Paul wrote, "WHEREIN I SUFFER TROUBLE, AS AN EVIL-DOER, UNTO BONDS." (2 Timothy 2:9).

Paul urged members of the Body of Christ to pray for open doors, open mouths and open minds and hearts for the proclamation and acceptance of this 'UNPROPHESIED,' 'PREDESTINATED,' 'ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD,' which he called THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST,' THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN'... (Ephesians 6:19 and 20 .. . Colossians 4:3 and 4... Ephesians 1:15 to 19 Romans 16:25 ...Ephesians 1:11).

' In comprehending and proclaiming this wonderful truth, God's saints are viciously opposed by the ruler of the world darkness, spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies, because Satan's principalities and powers are involved in the message and program. (Ephesians 6:12). To these principalities and powers in the heavenlies the Church is expected to make known the manifold wisdom of God. (Ephesians 3:10). But Satan, up to the present time, has been eminently successful in keeping most Christian workers from obeying Ephesians 3:9 and 10.

Of course, Christian workers should know the full meaning and truth of 1 Corinthians 2:6. .. "WE SPEAK WISDOM AMONG THEM THAT ARE PERFECT." The 'PERFECT' are Christians of 'FULL AGE,' numbered with those to whom belongs THE STRONG MEAT' (Hebrews 5:12 to 14), 'NO MORE CHILDREN, TOSSED TO AND FRO' (Ephesians 4:14), 'ESTABLISHED BY THE PREACHING OF JESUS CHRIST ACCORDING TO THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY' (Romans 16:25), 'OF POWER AND LOVE AND A SOUND MIND' (2 Timothy 1:7). 'UNASHAMED WORKMEN, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH.' (2 Timothy 2:15).

The Hidden Wisdom

Note the wisdom among them that are perfect "we speak the wisdom of God in a MYSTERY (SECRET), THE HIDDEN; which God ordained 'BEFORE THE WORLD' unto our glory. Which none of the rulers of this world knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the LORD OF GLORY." (1 Corinthians 2:7 to 8). The Lord directed Peter to tell Israel that it must have been ignorance that caused them to KILL THE PRINCE OF LIFE. (Acts 3:14 to 17). Later on, the Holy Spirit directed Peter to write that Christ's death on the cross was foreordained and planned by God before Adam sinned, before the world began. (1 Peter 1:18 to 21).

When the rulers of this world crucified THE LORD OF GLORY, when the religious leaders of Christ's own chosen nation fulfilled all the Scriptures that prophesied concerning the Saviour's once-for-all suffering on the TREE (Acts 13:29), they did nothing concerning the death of the Son of God, that God's hand and counsel had not already determined before would be done. (Acts 4:26 to 29). If you will read carefully John 12:37 to 41 and Acts 17:3, you will see that in the fulfillment of Psalm 118:22 and 23, the rejection and crucifixion of Christ was in God's Plan.... "And it is marvelous in our eyes." (Matthew 21:42). When wicked men with wicked hands put Christ to death He was delivered according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. (Acts 2:23).

When the Lord of Glory came down from heaven He came unto His own and His own received Him not. (John 1:11). The Holy Spirit and .God's heavenly messengers declared that Christ was bom of the virgin Mary, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, that He was bom to occupy David's throne and reign over Israel (Luke l:27'to 33), to give to Israel 'the sure mercies of David' (Acts 13:34 Luke 1:67 to 77). delivering Israel from sin. He was THE SON OF GOD!'... THE KING OF ISRAEL' (John 1:49), sent to Israel (Matthew 15:24 . . . Acts 13:23), to confirm promises to Israel recorded in the thirty-nine Books from Genesis to Malachi. (Romans 15:8). (Tie was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, their promised Messiah. As He came to fulfill Isaiah 35:4 to 6,61; 1 to 3, Ezekiel, 34:11 to 13 and 22 to 31, He began His ministry in the midst of Israel by proclaiming the time at hand. The Kingdom of God at hand' (.Mark 1:14 and 15 ... Matthew 4:17). He went into Israel's synagogues preaching, healing all manner of disease (Matthew 4:23), in fulfillment of Isaiah 35:3 to 6, and proclaiming the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1 to 3. (Luke 4:16 to 23).

But the builders rejected the Stone (Luke 19:41 to 44). However, the Stone (Christ) assured Israel He would return in the clouds with power and great glory (Luke 21:27 to 33). He told them that when He returned to earth He would sit on the THRONE of His glory, as Judge as well as King. (Matthew 25:31 to 34). Later on we are told in Romans 11:25 to 29 that the KING will not return until this present age has run its course. After the revelation of Romans 11:25, the risen Lord, through Paul, revealed the truth of Ephesians 1:4 and 5 and 2:15, showing the difference between the PROPHESIED KINGDOM OF GOD, and THE BODY OF CHRIST.

The Tree... The Tribulation... The Throne ____The Mystery Body__

As we compare Genesis 2:21 to 24 and 5:2 with Ephesians 5:31 and 32, we will learn that the truth of Christ and the Church, was just once 'HID IN THE SCRIPTURES.' * Then as we compare Genesis 15:6 to 8 with Galatians 3:6 to 8, we will see that Galatians 2:7 was 'HID IN THE SCRIPTURES.' Then compare Deuteronomy 32:21 and Romans 10:19. There is a difference between Divine truth 'HID IN THE SCRIPTURES', and truth 'HID IN GOD FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD". (Ephesians 3:9 and Colossians 1:26). No prophet of Israel knew or said anything concerning Christ as the Head of the Church, Which is His Body, the Filling-up of Him that filleth all in all (Ephesians 1:19 to 23), THE ONE NEW MAN' of Ephesians 2:15, or that members of Christ's Body would be raised up and seated in the heavenlies in Christ (Ephesians 2:5 and 6 ... Colossians 3:1 to 3), and there blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. (Ephesians 1:3).

During this age. God, Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will, will accomplish His own 'ETERNAL PURPOSE,' not prophesied but predestinated. The prophets of Israel, before Christ came, could have SEARCHED DILIGENTLY concerning the PROPHESIED TREE, TRIBULATION AND THRONE, THE SUFFERING OF CHRIST AND THE GLORY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW (1 Peter 1:10 and 11). This was confirmed by Christ in John 5:39 and Luke 24:25 to 27 and 24:46. When Paul preached to Israel 'NONE OTHER THINGS' than Divine truth concerning Christ, foretold by Moses and Israel's other prophets (Acts 26:22 and 23 and 17:3), Israel could have searched their Scriptures to leam, if Paul was telling the truth. (Acts 17:11). Peter told Israel that they had a more sure Word of Prophecy. (2 Peter 1:19). Christ on earth was confirming that Prophecy. (Romans 15:8). Compare Matthew 21:42 ... Acts 4:26 to 29 ... Isaiah 9:7 ... Acts 15:17 and 18 and Ephesians 1:11, with Romans 11:25, and you will better understand the why of Romans 11:33, "0 THE DEPTH OF THE RICHES BOTH OF THE WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE OF GOD! HOW UNSEARCHABLE ('ANEXEREUNTOS') ARE HIS JUDGMENTS, AND HIS WAYS PAST-TRACING-OUT ('ANEXICHNIASTOS')."

All of our sins are forgiven, for Christ's sake. (Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 2:13). God in this age and dispensation of grace is reconciling all believing sinners in one Body by the cross. (Ephesians 2:15 to 18). Now we understand Ephesians 3:8 to 11; "UNTO ME (PAUL), WHO AM LESS THAN THE LEAST OF ALL SAINTS. IS THIS GRACE GIVEN, THAT I SHOULD PREACH AMONG THE NATIONS THE UNSEARCHABLE ('PAST-TRACING-OUT1) RICHES OF CHRIST (THE LORD OF GLORY) AND TO MAKE ALL SEE WHAT IS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY, WHICH FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD HATH BEEN HID IN GOD ... TO THE INTENT THAT NOW UNTO THE PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN THE HEAVENLIES MIGHT BE KNOWN BY THE CHURCH THE MANIFOLD WISDOM OF GOD, ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD."

Will you pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation mentioned in Ephesians 1:17, and then will you do your duty as a Christian and MAKE ALL SEE WHAT IS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY?.

WHO WILL WIN THE WAR? By Pastor J. C. O’Hair WRITTEN DURING WORLD WAR II

2010-03-02T11:09:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you too have tuned in to the “Town Hall” discussions or to one of the numerous “Round Table” discussions, as to what attitude and action the United States should take in the present world conflicts as to who is going to be victorious and how the situation is to he handled after the war is over.

In order that the listening, public may be convinced that the speakers are qualified to intelligently discuss these important subjects, the radio announcer emphasizes the fact that distinguished college professors or world﷓famous writers or high military officials or experienced statesmen are participating in the discussions.

How sad it is that here, in a country sometimes called a Christian nation, not one of the speakers, in their predictions and proposed solutions ever mention God’s Word of Prophecy or the unfailing predictions of Jesus Christ, the infallible son of God.

Jews and Christians who claim to believe the Bible should join in enlightening the poor blind statesmen, politicians, and educators who are so utterly ignorant of God’s program for this age and Bible prophecies as to the course and culmination of the times of the Gentiles. Accordingly they are unable to speak with authority or predict with any degree of accuracy as to the outcome of the present world disorder, violence and unrest. In an endeavor to answer this question in the light of Divine Truth as revealed in the Bible, you may be assured in the very beginning that we are not going to follow in the footsteps of the Christian preachers who have deceived and misled many of’ their hearers with their wild prophecies concerning, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and the other demon﷓possessed, bloodthirsty tyrants. They have wholly disregarded God’s plain instruction.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” (II Timothy 2:15).

Neither have they made any attempts to obey Ephesians 3:9

“And to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God.”

These preachers have ignorantly and unsuccessfully endeavored to prove by the maneuvers of the European monarchs that the thirty﷓eighth chapter of Ezekiel and the Prophecy of Daniel are being fulfilled before our very eyes during this present economy. But the Bible clearly teaches us that Ezekiel, Daniel, and all of Israel’s prophets, were both silent and ignorant concerning God’s purpose and program during this parenthetical age.

If these servants of the Lord would obey Ephesians 3:9, if they would learn and teach God’s program and purpose in this unprophesied period, and quit guessing and speculating as to which one of the European rulers is to be the beast or antichrist, they would do much to establish God’s people so that they would be of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. II Timothy 1:7.

Many of these prophets, workmen who need to be ashamed because they do not rightly divide the Word of truth, are still seducing their hearers with their undispensational prophetic messages. However be it said to the credit of some of them, they have ceased their wild predictions, and they seem to be hiding out. If they would be humble and honest, and courageous enough to confess that they have been mistaken in their interpretations, and try to undo some of the damage they have done, it would surely help in the Lord’s work.

Just a few moments of serious, prayerful meditation should be sufficient to convince any sincere, spiritual, intelligent student of the Scriptures that the two statements being made by many of the Premillenarians today are absolutely irreconcilable. On the one hand they teach that the Lord Jesus will soon rapture the Church because Old Testament prophecy is being fulfilled by Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler, and on the other hand they claim to believe in the imminent coming of Christ (His “any-moment” coming).

Should Paul, or John, or Luther, or Calvin, or Knox, or Wesley, or Darby, or Spurgeon, or Moody have believed in the imminent coming of Christ, while they were alive if Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin had to appear on the scene and fulfill Old Testament prophecy before the Lord could come to take the living saints to glory?
So in an endeavor to answer the question, “who will win the war,” we shall not attempt to prove who will be victorious in the present conflict so that Old Testament prophecies may be fulfilled, for there is not one line in those Scriptures referring specifically to the rulers now at war.

There is a sense in which all of God’s servants see through a glass darkly. We are quite limited as to our knowledge of future events on earth. Tomorrow belongs to God and we know not what a day may bring forth.

Quite frequently we hear the questions “do you think we are living in the last days?” “do you think the we are nearing the end of the age:” “do you think the coming of the Lord is near at hand?”

When these questions come to us we should think of I John 2:18.

“Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.”
We think also of the meaning of a statement that has been uttered by many of God’s servants, “this is a timeless and a signless age during which the clock of prophecy has stopped.” Of course they refer to Old Testament prophecy rather than to the prophecies in the Church Epistles. Analyze this statement and see if it is in accordance with the Word of God rightly divided.

Has not God interrupted or suspended His kingdom prophecies? Are we not living in a parenthetical period not foretold in the Old Testament Scriptures? Is God carrying on a program and accomplishing a purpose during this present “grace” economy that is not in fulfillment of the prophetic writings and utterances of Israel’s prophets?

Has not God postponed the setting﷓up of the Messianic-political kingdom of Jesus Christ on this earth until after He has fully accomplished His purpose concerning the Body of Christ during this present economy? Does God’s Word teach that Christ, at any moment may call the members of His Body to glory?

If, on the authority of God’s Word, we can and do answer these questions in the affirmative the we may be able to find the answer to our very interesting, if not altogether important question, “Who will win the war?”

PATRIOTISM ﷓ CHRISTIANITY

While every Christian should be a loyal, patriotic American, every Bible﷓taught American Christian knows that every saved Briton, every saved Russian, every saved Italian, every saved Japanese, and every saved German is, with every saved American, a member of the Body of Christ; all members one of another in all inseparable and eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 12:3 and 4. There is a sense then in which the saved Italian, German or Russian is united to the saved American in a more sacred tie than is his unsaved fellow﷓American. This is an abiding union that will continue after all wars on earth shall leave ceased, after the earth shall have melted with fervent heat.

Members of Christ’s Body are to love one another and endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. Therefore, while Christians who live in the United States should loyally support this government in its stand against the ungodly murderous tyrants of other countries, American Christians should constantly guard against any hatred for Christians belonging to countries with whom the United States may be at war.

It is rather difficult at times to overcome our racial prejudices and control our patriotic feelings, but when we are led of the holy Spirit and know that we are to be faithful Christians first and loyal Americans second, we can and will by God’s grace and power, be kept from bitter feelings against Christians who may happen to be Italians or Germans.

During the twenty﷓three years that I have been in the Lord’s service in this section of the United States, I have enjoyed the sweetest fellowship with many godly, spiritual, faithful German Christians. With the majority of them the fellowship and friendship have been true and abiding. With them love for the Lord Jesus Christ has come before love for Germany. But surely they are not to be condemned, if they love the country from which they or their Christian parents came.

In all of my conversations I have met very few German Christians who had a good word for Hitler. It is inconceivable that any Christian of any country could be for such an ungodly criminal, who has not only murdered many unsaved all over Europe but has persecuted and afflicted the Lord’s people in his own country. Yet there are a few such people. No Christian can please God and at the same time endorse the proposed program of the Nazi leaders against Jesus Christ and Bible Christians. Even so, it is possible to understand why Germans, who love Germany have no earnest desire to see Germany defeated in the present conflict, or why they should take a definite stand against Great Britain.

What we shall write in this message as to the outcome of the present cruel war shall not be written with any prejudice or hatred in our heart for any individual German.

GOD’S PERMISSIVE WILL

Another fact that all Christians should know is that since the day that God permitted the serpent, through his subtlety to beguile Eve in Eden God has permitted both good and evil to exist. For some good reason, known to God, He has permitted Satan to retain certain power and authority as the prince of this world, the god of this age and, as the ruler of world darkness in the heavenlies. “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:19.

And concerning human earthly kings, emperors and other governors, it is still true that “the powers that be are ordained of God.” Romans 13:1 to 8. Also we know that it is still true concerning the God of heaven. Daniel 2:27 and 22.

“And He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with Him.” Daniel 2:21 and 22.

Perhaps you and I would never have permitted the dictators to occupy their thrones, if we could have prevented them. And I have heard many Christians express their doubts as to whether God has anything to do with the doings of the ungodly men who are causing death and destruction on the earth. Others ask how we can reconcile the statement that these political rulers are ordained of God with the boast of Satan in Luke 4:5 to 7. Note his words:

“And the devil, taking Him (Christ) up into a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee and the glory of them: FOR THAT IS DELIVERED UNTO ME; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.”

Surely any sane person, who is reading the headlines, knows that the kingdoms of this earth are not yet the kingdoms of God and, His Christ, and they should believe that when Christ called Satan “the prince of this world,” He was right.

There are many saved and unsaved people who never cease to ask the question, “Why does the omnipotent God permit Satan and his servants to carry on such a reign of terror?” “If God is going to ultimately dethrone the prince of the world and set up His kingdom of righteousness and peace on this earth, why does He permit Satan to oppose Him politically and spiritually?”

Of course this brings us to the question, why did God create this creature in the beginning and why did He permit Satan to get the world in such a fix?

GOD’S MORE SURE PROPHECY

“We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day﷓star arise in your hearts.”

With this verse we quote again Acts 15:18: “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.”

Then note the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 5:17 and 18: “Think not that 1 am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass frown the law, till all be fulfilled.”

There are many unfulfilled prophecies in God’s book which shall surely be fulfilled. The true King David, in fulfillment of Isaiah 9:6 and 7, will some day occupy David’s throne and of the increase of His peace and government there shall be no end.

Jeremiah 23:5 and 6 will literally be fulfilled:

“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” “His name. The Lord our Righteousness.”

The Lord Jesus Christ will return to earth as a conquering King, and will rule with a rod of iron. Psalm 2:9—Revelation 2:27—Revelation 12:5—and Revelation 19:15.

Note Matthew 25:31 and 34: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.” “Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

The kingdoms of this world shall surely become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever:” Revelation 11:15. “And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:3. “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18.

THE LORD MAKETH WARS TO CEASE

“He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire.” Psalm 46:9.

“The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is His name.” Exodus 15:3.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6 and 7.

Here we learn that the Lord is called both “a Man of war” and “the Prince of Peace.”

Let us behold Him as a man of war as He comes to be the Prince of Peace:

“And I saw heaven opened, and beheld a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He Both judge and make war: “And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treated the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.” “And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceedeth out of His mouth; and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Revelation l9:11,15,16 and 19 to 21.

When we see how utterly futile have been man’s attempts to establish justice, righteousness and peace on the earth, and when we know how well this will be done when the Prince of Peace comes back to take over the government of the earth, surely we want to join with John in his “even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20.

THE PRESENT AGE AND THE COMING AGE

Christian should know that what the Almighty God is going to do in the coming kingdom age is quite different from what He is doing and will continue to do, during this present “grace” economy, while the Messianic kingdom is in abeyance.

Note carefully Ephesians 1:9 to 11:

“Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him; In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.”

Here we learn that God has made known to His children the secret of His will, that is, His purpose and program for this age which He did not reveal to even His most faithful and obedient servants until His Son disclosed it to the apostle Paul.

“For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you﷓ward; How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words).” Ephesians 3:1 to 3.

“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body’s sake, which is the Church; Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of God; Even THE MYSTERY WHICH HATH BEEN HID FROM AGES AND FROM GENERATIONS, but now is made manifest to His saints.” Colossians 1:24 to 26.

The secret of God’s will, God’s mystery revealed to Paul, has to do with “the Joint﷓Body” of Ephesians 3:6, (same Body should be translated Joint-Body), with “The One New Man” of Ephesians 2:15, with “The Perfect Man” of Ephesians 4:13.

This Body of Christ, which God is building up during this age of grace, is called “the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 1:23. The culmination or consummation is stated in this language, in Ephesians 4:23—“unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

God is omnipotent. God is sovereign. God works all things after the counsel or His own will. God, during this age, is not establishing a political government, an earthly righteous kingdom. This He will surely do after He has finished His present work. God in this age of grace, will complete the Body of Christ, the fulness of Christ. God will make “The One New Man.”

Many Christian preachers have confused the “kingdom” teachings of Jesus of Nazareth with the “grace” truth of the resurrected Christ concerning His Body, revealed to and through the apostle Paul, after the “kingdom” nation was set aside. They are very largely responsible for the profound ignorance that prevails as to the difference between Jesus Christ on David’s throne, as a reigning king, and Jesus Christ in the heavenlies on His Father’s throne, as the Head of the Church which is His Body. To the Church of this age God has not assigned the task of bringing in the kingdom, bringing back the King, or of Christianizing the whole world. They are instructed to evangelize all people.

God definitely tells us that He is making “One New Man.” In Matthew 25:31 and 31, we are definitely told where Jesus Christ, as the Son of main, is going to be—

“When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.”

“Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
In Ephesians 1:20 to 23, we are definitely told where this Jesus Christ now is—

“Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, Which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.”

Before the Lord Jesus shall take His throne on earth, as the son of man and King, note carefully the work that God will surely finish—

“HE THAT DESCENDED IS THE SAME: ALSO THAT ASCENDED UP FAR ABOVE ALL HEAVENS, THAT HE MIGHT FILL ALL THINGS. AND HE GAVE SOME. APOSTLES; AND SOME, PROPHETS; AND SOME, EVANGELISTS; AND SOME, PASTORS AND TEACHERS; FOR THE PERFECTING OF THE SAINTS, FOR THE WORK OF THE MINISTRY, FOR THE EDIFYING OF THE BODY OF CHRIST; TILL WE ALL COME IN THE UNITY OF THE FAITH, AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULNESS OF CHRIST.” Ephesians 4:10 to 13.

Note the expectation and hope of the members of this Body—

“For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious Body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” Philippians 3:20 and 21.

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:3 and 4.
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13.

During this present economy of grace God is edifying, (building up) the Body of Christ. This, God will continue to do—“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure or the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13. With this consummation the Lord Jesus Christ will appear for the members of His Body and they will, in glorified bodies, appear with Him in glory.

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES POLITICALLY

How will this program of God affect the political rulers of the world during “the times of the Gentiles”? Note the words of Jesus Christ, in Luke 21:24 to 27 and 31.

“And they (the Jews) shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

“And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
“So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”
This period of Gentile authority, called “The Times of the Gentiles,” politically, will run its course. It will not end when the Church goes to Christ, but when Christ comes to earth, as the Son of man, at a time of awful sorrow on the earth.

This is in full accord with the teaching of Daniel’s prophecy. In the second chapter of Daniel we learn that “the times of the Gentiles,” politically, began with the conquest of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the Jews, by the king of Babylon, and will end with the coming; of Some One from heaven. Jesus Christ is that Some One, but He has not been the Smiting Stone up to this moment, as He is to be. He shall surely smite the nations when He comes as the Son of man. Note again the verses we quoted from Revelation, the nineteenth chapter.

“And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Revelation 19:11 to 15.

Again we learn in Luke 21:27 to 33 how “the times of the Gentiles,” politically, will end when the Son of man comes to Israel.

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILE SPIRITUALLY

“The times of the Gentiles,” spiritually, began with Paul.

“FOR I SPEAK TO YOU GENTILES, INASMUCH AS I AM THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES, I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE; IF BY ANY MEANS I MAY PROVOKE TO EMULATION THEM WHICH ARE MY FLESH, AND MIGHT SAVE SOME OF THEM. FOR IF THE CASTING AWAY OF THEM BE THE RECONCILING OF THE WORLD, WHAT SHALL THE RECEIVING OF THEM BE, BUT LIFE FROM THE DEAD.” Romans 11:13 to 15.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Romans 11:25 and 26.

Note the end of “the times of the Gentiles” under the dispensation of grace:

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13.

Therefore, members of the Body of Christ are not to look for or expect the signs of Luke 21:25 to 33, or of Matthew 24:11 to 30, for these signs will not be in the heavens, or on the earth, while God is completing the Body of Christ.

What, folly then for “grace” messengers to preach Luke 21:28, as a sign message to members of the Body of Christ.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.”
Whose redemption? Tribulation Jews?

If these messengers would only be true and faithful and intelligent in giving out God’s unmixed message of grace and obey Ephesians 3:6 to 11, they would do much to deliver the bewildered Christians from their confusion, doubts and faulty dispensationalism. Note Ephesians 3:9 to 11. Let us not cease our prayerful meditation of these verses until we are sure of their meaning. Then we will know that we are living in an unprophesied parenthetical period, during which time God has indeed suspended or interrupted His “kingdom” covenants. Thus, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, we will not err; with those who preach that present world events are in fulfillment of “tribulation” and “kingdom” prophecies in their endeavor to prove that God is, putting the finishing touches on the Body of Christ, and Christ is at hand for His Church.

Members of Christ’s Body are looking for God’s Son and not for signs. As we said, the doctrine of the imminent coming of Christ is wholly irreconcilable with the teaching that Christ’s coming; is at hand because of the activities of Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler.

ISRAEL’S FUTURE

Any intelligent student of the Bible knows that there are more than one hundred definite prophecies concerning the future redemption and earthly glory of Israel. Note, again the words of the Lord Jesus, in Luke 21:24, 27 and 31:

“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

“And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

“So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Here we learn when Israel’s subjugation and wanderings will cease and how their redemption will be accomplished. From these verses we know when Israel’s redemption will be at hand. From the thirty-forth chapter through the thirty﷓seventh chapter of Ezekiel we learn of Israel redemption and the restoration of the kingdom.

We have some facts very definitely and clearly stated in Romans 11:25 and 26.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall cone out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”

Then in the verses that follow we learn that God will again elect Israel, because of His covenant and because His gifts and calling are without repentance.
Then note, Hebrews 8:11:
“And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.”

In Amos 9:11 to 15 we see Israel happily established in their own land.
We could quote one hundred other verses to show God’s guaranty as to Israel’s future. Read Jeremiah 31:31 to 38.
We know from this same chapter, and from Jeremiah 30:5 to 11, that Israel is going to be saved out of the great tribulation. That will be in the time of sorrow when the Son of man appears in the clouds with power and great glory. We know of the salvation of the nations through redeemed Israel, in an age that will follow this age. We know of the coming warless age.

The Bible has much to say concerning “the last days.” Many of the Scriptures concerning “the last days” do not refer to “the last days” of this age of grace. It is not sound exegesis to say that “the last days” to which Peter referred, in Acts 2:16, have anything to do with this age of grace. Every saved Jew or Gentile in this age has been baptized by one Spirit into one Body; but not in fulfillment of Joel’s Prophecy or any other Old Testament Prophecy. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, was referring to Joel’s Prophecy concerning Israel’s “last days” and Israel’s “kingdom” days. Joel never once had in his mind anything that pertained to the Joint﷓Body of Ephesians 3:6.

ARE WE IN THE LAST DAYS?

God’s servants are frequently asked the question, “Don’t you think that conditions point to the soon coming of Christ?”; “Don’t you believe we are living the last days?”

Just this week a Christian said to me, “Do you think one has any right to dogmatically say the Lord Jesus is coming soon?” “What Scriptural right has any one to add the word soon?” I said, “none whatever.” The Lord’s servants should be exceedingly careful not to substitute their desires or ideas for the Word of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ may call His Church to glory sooner than soon, and every member of His Body should be looking constantly for that blessed hope. Titus 2:13.

While it is a fact that as we behold and consider world conditions, we wonder how civilization can hold together much longer, and we even shudder when we think of what may yet take place on earth during the remaining years of this war and thereafter. Yet we have no Scriptural authority to teach that the Lord will come soon, this year, next year, or within any given number of years. He may come today. He may not come for many years. We do no good for the doctrine of the blessed hope by fixing days definitely or approximately. It is one thing to say, “I just feel that the Lord’s coming is near;” it is quite another thing to do the impossible, that is, to quote the Scripture to prove that the Lord’s coming is near. The world economically, politically, and spiritually is in a bad fix. But pray tell, when it has not been. How about those years from the death of the last apostle until the ministry of Martin Luther? Were those not darker days than these in which we live? How about the years when Napoleon Bonaparte was almost a world conqueror? This present age has always been this present evil age, for Satan has ever been the god of this age.

It is true that Modernism which has been spreading all over Christendom during this generation does seem to be the devil’s masterpiece, as his servants are transformed into the apostles of Christ, in agreement with II Corinthians 11:13 to 15. He is truly a clever devil as he transforms himself into an angel of light and sends forth his false prophets, as ministers of righteousness, to propagate their Christianized agnosticism from Christian pulpits, dealing out their pernicious and damnable doctrines in Bible phraseology and Christian terminology. Then when we behold two hundred million professing Christians steeped in ritualism the victims of a perverted gospel, and loyally supporting an unscriptural religious system, we wonder at the power of that one who is accused of the crime of deceiving the whole world.

It is also true that during the last fifty years about thirty satanic, metaphysical cults have sprung up, and Satan’s servants in these religious organizations pretend to use the Bible as their textbook as they proclaim their false theories and unscriptural vagaries with sincerity and great zeal. Carefully read II Corinthians 11:13 to 15 and II Thessalonians 2:4 to 13.

But in spite of the Modernism, Ritualism, Fanaticism, and all of the satanic cults, there are more consecrated saints of God on this earth than ever lived at any one time. There are more intelligent students of the Bible today than at any time since the days of the apostles. In spite of the opposition to the greatest truth in the Bible for saints, more is being done today for the recovery of Pauline truth than at any time since the days of the Apostle Paul.

Millions upon millions of gospel tracts are being distributed. The message of salvation by faith in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is going out over the radio. More Bibles are being sold and distributed than ever before. There are more Bible study helps. No Christian of any age ever enjoyed such liberty as we have under “the Bill of Rights.” These are days of real privilege and opportunity. This age is still this present evil age, but it is still the day of grace. Let us keep in mind the truth of Romans 5:20, “where sin abounded grace did much amore abound.”

As we see the present war movements and the unprecedented spending of millions and billions in this land, Christians join with the unsaved statesmen and writers and public speakers who say that the future looks uncertain and dark. Political leaders are telling us there is no smooth sailing ahead. All Americans are warned to be prepared For sacrifice and suffering; for almost anything.

In the midst of Paul’s suffering when he seemed to be facing certain death he said:

“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24

As Christians we know that the future of the United States and that of all other nations, is in the hands of God; so we, too, should finish our days on earth with joy, in the midst of sorrow, testifying of the gospel of the grace of God, and really believing Romans 8:28 to 32:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

If we believe that God is working, and will continue to work all things after the counsel of His own will, and if Daniel 2:21 is true that it is God Who “changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth kings, and setteth up kings; He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding,” if God causes wars to cease, if Jesus Christ is to remain in heaven until God sends Him back for the restitution of all things, if God knows the end from the beginning, then we know that God will rule and overrule in the outcome of this war to accomplish His own purpose.

God permits evil. God permits evil men to go so far. God permits Satan to have certain power and authority. We may think at times that Satan has unlimited power; but God knows all and no one, can get beyond His jurisdiction and control.
Note I Timothy 6:12, 14 and 15:

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
“That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; Which in His times He shall shew, Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.”

HITLER AND THE JEWS

During “the times of the Gentiles the Jews have had plenty of trouble. They are today where Christ nineteen hundred years ago, said they would be:

“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

In this connection let us note I Samuel 7:14 to 16:

“I will be His Father, and he shall be My son If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.”
Then mote Jeremiah 30:10 and 16:

“Therefore fear thou not, O My servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel; for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.” “Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured: and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.”

If it is still true that no weapon that is formed against Israel shall prosper, if it is still true that God will curse them that curse the natural seed of Abraham, then the Hitler government is in for plenty of trouble. Pharaoh had a great time afflicting the Israelites. But he and all his mighty army went to the bottom of the Red Sea. Nebuchadnezzar was the proud conqueror of the Jews about 600 B C. But read what happened to that persecutor of the Jews: “That they shall drive thee from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times pass over thee till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.”

Now read concerning Haman and the Jews

“And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore it is not for the king’s profit to suffer then.” “And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hantmedatha the Agatite the Jews’ enemy.”

“And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar and to take the spoil of then for a prey.” Esther 3:8,10 and 13. “So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.” Esther 7:10. “Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.” Esther 8:7.

Here is another of God’s very interesting statements concerning the Jews:

“Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is His name; If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.” Jeremiah 31:35 and 36.

Some so﷓called Bible teachers have been foolish enough to say that the Jews would make a covenant with Hitler or Mussolini as one of these two is to be the antichrist. Soon we may hear some of them applying Isaiah 14:16 and 17 to Hitler: “They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and did shake kingdoms?” Perhaps no man has ever pleased Satan in his all around work of destruction in this persecution of the Jews and his opposition to Christianity as has Hitler, but he is not the one who fell from heaven Neither can he do the supernatural works of the beasts of Revelation, the thirteenth chapter.

But if history is to be repeated and the Lord does not finish His “grace program while Hitler is reigning, then Hitler and his fellow-criminals are headed for real trouble and a disastrous end.

THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA

Of course God overrules all things to accomplish His program and at the present He is permitting Germany and Russia to reap what they have sown. Each of these wicked God﷓hating rulers is trying to “out﷓lie” the other as to the millions that have been killed in the present hellish struggle, but if the number of dead and wounded is one﷓third of the lowest figure, it is a terrible judgment from the hand of God, and the end is not yet.
We dread to contemplate or speculate as to what may be ahead for this country during the remaining years of the war and the hatred, poverty, famine, bankruptcy, pestilence and disorder among all the nations which is to follow this bloody conflict.

THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE
AND
THE PRESENT RELIGIOUS CONFUSION

In I Corinthians 14:33, we read that God is not the author of confusion. In I Corinthians 12:15 we read that God desires no schism (division) in the Body. In Ephesians 4:5 we read there is “One Body.” In the United States there are more than two hundred sectarian church organizations. God is not the author of this confusion. God’s will is that there should be no division in the One Body. The preachers representing many of these sectarian groups are preaching a perverted gospel, as did religious preachers who troubled the Galatians with a mixture of Judaism and the gospel of the grace of God in the days of Paul. Paul wrote, “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” The leaven was the law and religion which the zealous Jews were determined to impose upon the Galatian Gentiles who had heard and believed the gospel of grace from Paul and had been turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. To them Paul wrote, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?” “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us, free.”

All the apostles met in an important conference in Jerusalem to thoroughly consider and discuss this spiritual crime. To the zealous legalistic preachers the apostles said, “Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” Acts 15:10.
In spite of the unanimous agreement by every one of the apostles that no Gentile believer should be troubled by the zealous “law” preachers (Acts 15:19) the preachers continued to proclaim their God﷓forbidden religious mixture, and as the natural man has ever been incurably religious they found many willing victims. Other zealous religious preachers are still preaching what the Scriptures call “another gospel”. The leaven is still leavening the lump.

The true and faithful messengers of the Lord Jesus are preaching the Lord’s message of grace: “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” II Timothy 1:9. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8 and 9. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans 4:4 and 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5 to 7.

Think of the, audacity, to say nothing of the spiritual crime, of the man who claims to be the Lord’s evangelist, when he is preaching salvation by grace plus some religions ceremony or some human activity. God’s Word is very plain and dogmatic, “not of works,” “not according to our works,” “not by works of righteousness which we have done,” “to him that worketh not.”

The believing sinner must be God’s workmanship and be saved by God’s grace and the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ before God will accept any spiritual work. Note carefully Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Then let its carefully note Galatians 1:6 to 9, where the anathema of God is pronounced upon the preacher of a perverted gospel.
We may also be assured that the Holy Spirit is not responsible for the religious programs that are being carried on in the name of Christ and Christianity.
God is neither blessing nor approving the religious messages of Christians or pseudo﷓Christian men who are propagating a mixed message and program in the name of the Christian religion.

We learned in Ephesians 1:9 to 11 that God has made known the secret of His will, that is, His purpose which was purposed in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world but which for years, ages and centuries He kept secret. In making known the secret of His will God disclosed the fact that His spiritual program and message during this present Divine economy will be carried out according to His own good pleasure, according to the counsel of His own will. As God is sovereign and omnipotent, no power in the universe call prevent the Almighty God from accomplishing His eternal purpose. As we said this purpose and program will never be stopped or altered until the culmination is reached: ‘‘Till we all one in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13.

In spite of all the power and tricks of the clever devil every member of the predestinated body of the Lord Jesus Christ will be placed in the Body before this present age of grace has been ended. We repeat that all the hellish conspiracies and organized opposition of cunning, selfish, demon﷓possessed, blood﷓thirsty tyrants cannot prevent the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose in this present economy while the Messianic Kingdom of the Prince of Peace is in abeyance.

PAUL’S DISPENSATION

Note carefully Ephesians 3:l to 3:

“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you﷓ward: How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; as I wrote afore in few words.”

Note Colossians 1:24 to 26:

“Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body’s sake, which is the Church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God: Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints.”

Ephesians 1:10: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.”
1 Corinthians 9:17: “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.”

Ephesians 3:9: “And to make all, men see what is the dispensation of the mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ.”

God definitely committed a dispensation to Paul. The Greek word translated “dispensation” is “oikonomia” (a house﷓law or government) meaning an “economy” or an “administration.”

Note “the dispensation of the grace of God,” “the dispensation of the secret hid in God.”

This present Divine economy is peculiarly an economy of grace. It is called “the economy of God’s secret.” So far as ninety﷓eight per cent of Christian ministers are concerned, God might as well have kept His secret; for they do not make any attempt to publish it and thus obey Ephesians 3:9. The great majority of those who do anything about this glorious truth ridicule God’s servants who are obeying; Ephesians 3:9. The devil does not want this glorious truth made known and he is having his way with most of the Lord’s people in this respect.

As an enemy of the mystery, note in Ephesians 6:12 to 20 that Satan is the ruler of world darkness in the heavenlies and that he was responsible for Paul’s imprisonment for making others see the mystery. Satan, as the god of this age, will do all in his power to keep the sinner from hearing the glorious gospel of Christ. II Corinthians 4:3 and 4. As the prince of this world, Satan is surely having his way with political rulers. In his work in the heavenlies he is having big success in keeping God’s servants blind as to God’s eternal purpose in Christ which God wants all to see.

It would be far more scriptural to say that the Lord is delaying the rapture of the Church until His servants get busy and obey Ephesians 3:9 than that He is waiting, for Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin to do more diabolic things before Christ will call His Church to glory. Never until we ask for the blessing of Ephesians 1:16 to 19 will we understand the meaning of Ephesians 3:8 to 11. And never until we understand the meaning of these verses will we obey II Timothy 2:15, and cease to be deceived prophets trying to fit Israel’s “tribulation” and “kingdom” prophecies and signs into this parenthetical, predestinated age concerning which Israel’s prophets were both silent and ignorant.

Think of the confused messengers concerning the “last days”, who have even tried to figure the year and month when Jesus Christ would come for His Church. They have followed in the steps of Pastor Russell and Judge Rutherford who never knew the difference between the prophesied kingdom and the unprophesied Body of Christ. They have misinterpreted and misapplied truth for Israel in their foolish date﷓setting. They have set three or four different years. To them the Lord would say, “ye do greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures.”

You surely have observed that the preachers who preach on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and political signs as the proof that we are now in the closing moments of the last days, wholly ignore Ephesians 3:9. They themselves remain ignorant of God’s eternal purpose in this unprophesied age and keep their hearers equally ignorant.

Now behold leaders among evangelical Fundamentalist giving Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin as signs to the Church for the end mentioned in Ephesians 4:13. Nothing that any of these men are doing has anything to do with the resurrection and rapture of members of Christ’s Body and there is not one figure or hint given in the Bible to suggest any fixed year or month when that day of redemption will be.

GOD’S ABOUNDING GRACE

In I Peter 5:10 we learn that God is called “the God of all grace.” In Titus 2:11 we read—“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation. hath appeared to all men.” Then we read in II Corinthians 9:8—“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”

The grace of the God of all grace hath appeared to all men. And God is able and willing to make all grace abound. “Where sin abounded grace did much more (over) abound.” Romans 5:20. Salvation is by God’s grace.

“And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace; otherwise work is no more work.” Romans 11:6. “Not of works lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:9. “That no flesh should glory in God’s presence.” I Corinthians 1:29.

“By the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in God’s sight.” Romans 3:20. “Being justified without a cause by God’s grace.” Romans 3:24. Then, of course, come those two very important questions: “Shall we sin, because we are not under the law?” Romans 6:15. “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” Romans 6:1. Note God’s answer to both of these questions: “God forbid.”

Note again Galatians 5:1: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Then note in the same chapter: “For, brethren, we have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13.

Liberty in Christ Jesus does not mean liberty or Divine permission to continue in sin that grace may abound. But there is no such thing as preaching too much grace. Note God’s eternity of grace:

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” II Timothy 1:9.

“That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:7.
“That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:7.

God makes all grace to abound. Some religions preachers Have the idea that the gospel message for believers should have enough law mixed with grace to keeps the believer from taking advantage of grace. They declare that there is the danger that some Christians will so over emphasize grace that they will be careless about their spiritual behavior and their Christian works. They seem to sympathize with God because some of His children take advantage of grace, and they pronounce them guilty of antinomianism. But in judging their fellow﷓believers and in prescribing their corrective﷓mixing; man’s doings or something of Israel’s religion in with the grace of God—they have failed to take a stand with Paul, the Lord’s greatest messenger of grace of all generations: “I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21.

After God finally set aside His religious nation some years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then God eliminated all religion from His message and program of grace, and Paul was instructed to emphasize “the unsearchable unprophesied riches of Christ.” Since that revolutionary change the Divine administration and age has been not only timeless and signless, but also “religionless.”

While the benevolent, philanthropic, charitable works of even religious Christians may please God, let us know assuredly by obedience to II Timothy 2:15 that God does not expect to accomplish His definite purpose in this age with the help of any organization or individual who frustrates the grace of God by endeavoring to supplement with religion the finished work of God’s Son for the sinner’s salvation, who brings over into this present economy reign, and age of grace any part of Israel’s religious program. When God set aside His religious nation, and Paul proclaimed the truth of Ephesians 3:1 to 11, God was through with religion.

GOD’S GRACE PROGRAM AND THE OUTCOME OF THE WAR

Now all that we have said leads us up to a very definite decision as to the outcome of the present war. We would not for one moment minimize the crime and ungodliness in the United States. We know that there are multitudes of unsaved religious people in the church organizations of this country. The Modernism or Christianized agnosticism, in our so-called Christian pulpits and seminaries is appalling. Satanic cults flourish throughout the land. On all sides we behold the apostasy and plenty of wild religious fanaticism.

Acknowledging all this, let us think of our Rill of Rights, the religious liberty guaranteed in our Constitution. No dictator, no political or religious potentate controls or restrains us as to our Christian creed or practice, as to what we preach or as to how we conduct our public meetings. This guarantees to the Lord’s true “grace” messengers the right and privilege and the governmental protection to preach one hundred per cent what God wants preached in this age of grace and thus be approved labourers together with God, His human instruments working intelligently, Scripturally, and dispensationally with Him in accomplishing His specific purpose during this present economy; namely, the building into, and the building up of one and only one true Bible Church, the Body of Christ.

While there are many spiritual consecrated saints in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Holland, Denmark, and Finland, yet there are more Christians in the United States and Great Britain preaching God’s message of grace than in all the rest of the world. Yes, there are more such messengers in this land alone than in all the rest of the world. The great majority of the true, loyal, faithful, spiritual preachers and teachers of the grace of God are citizens of Great Britain and the United States. And as God is vitally interested in having this message preached to the last moment of this age, without being inspired prophets, we should certainly know that God will preserve these two nations even unto the end or the age as long as they continue to protect the Lord’s true servants and permit theirs to thus labor with God. It may not be an exaggeration to say that there are more messengers of the grace of God, in and within several hundred miles of the Chicago area, than there are in all of continental Europe.

More than eighty﷓five per cent of the evangelical messengers of the Lord in the Mission fields went out from Great Britain or the United States. More than ninety per cent of the money that supports these evangelical messengers is sent out from these two countries.

We may be sure that God is going to rule and overrule in the protection and preservation of His servants who are proclaiming His Divine truth for this age, and that He will preserve those nations and governments that grant unto His messengers the right to give forth God’s grace message for this age. No nations in all of the history of the world have ever granted greater liberty and protection to God’s servants than they now enjoy under the governments of Great Britain and the United States. If God at this time is not going to bring this age to an end, He is not going to permit any man or group of men to conquer and control the nations whose people are more effectively carrying on His program of grace. God will permit no man to be world dictator who will prohibit the proclamation of the gospel of grace until the day of grace has ended.

The political world will not head up in the beast, and the religious world will not, head up in the antichrist so long; as the members of the Christ’s Body are here on earth. So long as the dispensation of grace continues, God and His servants will continue to labour together.

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13.

It must be obvious that those nations will survive where the greatest number of its people are proclaiming the gospel of the grace of God. Therefore, it is only logical to say that if God is not to complete His purpose and program of Ephesians 4:9 to 13 before this world conflict has been decided, Japan is in for an ignominious defeat, and will fall with her allies. Japan has driven the Lord’s messengers out of their land.

If the day of grace is to go on beyond the end of this war, Great Britain and the United States may suffer hardships and the sacrifices of human life, but they will come out victorious.

In another message entitled “Should a Christian Go to War” we have attempted to show how so many Christians have failed to see and assume their responsibility to the government in such a time as this, because they have tried to fit the “kingdom” sermon on the mount into God’s program of grace, and have endeavored to impose their undispensational pacifism upon the legislators, politicians, statesmen and governmental officials.

Every member of the Body of Christ should hate war with an intense hatred. At the same time every member of the Body of Christ, “by rightly dividing the Word of truth,” should know that the Church and the gospel of grace will not usher in the millennium while the Body is here; that after the Body has been taken to glory, there will be the great apostasy and wars, famines, pestilences, and the great tribulation perhaps heading up in the battle of Armageddon which will be won by the Lord Jesus Christ and His victorious armies. Therefore why should any Christian interfere with this government in its defense program, in its preparation to meet with armies any belligerent enemy who seeks to destroy our freedom?

WATER BAPTISM A WITNESS TO THE WORLD

2009-11-28T14:57:00.000-08:00

DOES THE BIBLE TEACH SUCH A DOCTRINE?

The Christian is God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Ephesians 2:10. The Christian should witness to the world and to other Christians that he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, that he is a new creature in Christ Jesus. Every Christian should walk in newness of life and should constantly put off the old man and put on the new man. These plain instructions are written in God’s Book. Romans 6:4 . . . Ephesians 4:22 to 30 . . . . Colossians 3:9 and 10.

The Christian is a member of the Body of Christ. Whether or not the Christian is affiliated with some sectarian church organization, he should know that during this present period and economy of grace God recognizes one and only one true Bible Church, the Body of Christ, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:22 and 23. God’s will is that there should be no schism (division) in the Body. I Corinthians 12:25. Every Christian should be very careful to avoid anything that will cause division in the Body of Christ. “So we, being many, are one Body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Romans 12:5. “There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” Ephesians 4:4. Members of this one Body are thus instructed in Ephesians 4:3. “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Christians cannot obey this third verse unless they obey the second verse; “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.” It is sad to say that many Christians have substituted pride and prejudice and envy and even hatred.

Diogenes should come back with his lantern and while looking for an honest man he should try to find one unprejudiced Christian. Of course all Christians are to some extent the victims of sectarian tradition. It is to be deplored that men of God, who know that in Ephesians and Colossians God has given us His death blow to sectarianism, will defend their denominational affiliation with some unscriptural argument. Moreover, because of their compromise in the matter of endorsing a sectarian church many of them either teach and practice some sectarian tradition which they know to be unsound doctrine or, for personal gain, they refuse to offer a word of protest against some unscriptural denominational teaching or practice. Every spiritual, intelligent student of the Scriptures knows full well that there is no Presbyterian church, no Lutheran church, no Baptist church, no Catholic church, no Protestant church, no Interdenominational church in the Bible. There are outstanding men of God in all of these denominations, who claim that they are contending earnestly for the one faith once for all delivered to the saints. But the fact of the matter is, that no man of God is earnestly contending for the one faith of Ephesians 4:5, if he is not contending for the one Body of Ephesians 4:4. These two are inseparably joined with one God the Father, one Christ the Head, one Holy Spirit, one hope and one baptism. Every true, faithful, spiritual, loyal servant of the Lord should earnestly contend for this seven﷓fold unity.

When we ask the question, why is it that the men of God, who call themselves Fundamentalists, do not earnestly contend for this seven﷓fold unity, we all know the answers! . . . “Tradition” . . . “Lack of Courage” . . . “Desire for Personal Advantage” . . . “Diplomacy” . . . “Ignorance” . . . “Pride.” But when these men shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ they will not find that any of these excuses will be accepted by the judge. We remember the words of the judge when He was here on earth: “They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”, John 12:43.

GOD’S KNOWLEDGE—THE CHRISTIAN’S BEHAVIOR

“The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And let every one that nameth the Name of Christ depart from iniquity.” II Timothy 2:19. There are some Christians who are such expert critics and judges that they can separate the saved from the unsaved church﷓members; that is, they think they can. But that judgment belongs to the omniscient God. He knoweth them that are His. In the matter of departing from iniquity, some Christians do more departing than do others. But God’s high and holy standard for all Christians is, that they abstain from all appearances of evil; that they walk worthy of the calling wherewith they are called. No person has to depart from iniquity, or do anything to prove to God that he is saved. When a person is saved he is saved by God in God’s way, and God certainly knows whether or not He has saved the person. But when that person testifies to his fellowman that he is saved, that fellow﷓man should see the evidences of the Divine transformation that takes place when a sinner becomes a saint by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redemptive work. That saved person should walk in the Spirit and fulfil the righteousness of the law; that is, he should manifest the fruit of the Spirit. He is created in Christ Jesus unto good works and God has ordained that he should walk in those good works. Ephesians 2:10. The Christian should depart from iniquity.

Note how this fact is stated in Romans 6:13 . . . “But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” “Alive from the dead.” What a transformation! What a wonderful change! What a blessed experience! “Alive from the dead.” “Raised to walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4. Now note the seeming paradoxical statement concerning the Christians, who are “alive from the dead”: “for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” “Ye are dead.” Here we learn that the Christian is both alive and dead. He is dead with Christ and, in Christ, he is alive unto God. “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Galatians 2:20. The Christian is crucified unto the world and unto the law. “His old man was crucified with Christ.” Romans 6:6.

Note again this glorious truth linked with another glorious truth: “Even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:5 and 6. What a glorious position. In the heavenlies. Who put the Christian way up there? God. When does God do this for the sinner who believes the gospel? Just the very moment the believer receives Christ and is saved by God’s grace he passes out of death into life, out of Adam into Christ, out of darkness into light. At that very same moment he is crucified with Christ, dead with Christ, raised with Christ and seated in the heavenlies with Christ. None of this Divine work is done because of the believer’s worthiness or spiritual behavior; but it is all by God’s grace and by God’s power. Because God is rich in mercy and because of His great love for sinners and the fact that God will have all men to be saved. Ephesians 2:4 and I Timothy 2:4 to 6. No Christian can be dead, raised and seated in the heavenlies with Christ without being buried with Christ. This burial takes place the very moment the sinner is saved by God’s grace and by faith in Christ’s shed blood.

Now if the Christian wants to obey the Scriptures and witness to his fellow men that he is seated in the heavenlies in Christ, what must he do? The Bible has a very definite answer. “If ye then be raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” “Put to death your members which are upon the earth.” Colossians 3:1 to 6. “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

IS A WATER WITNESS NECESSARY?

Does God desire that the Christian should be both spiritual and religious? Does God desire that the Christian should receive from the hands of another Christian a baptism by water to witness to the world that he is seated in the heavenlies in Christ? Every Christian should know that no work of righteousness and no religious ceremony is required for the sinner’s salvation. If one Christian baptizes with water another Christian, the water ceremony is the work done by one man and received by another man. According to Ephesians 2:8 to 10, Titus 3:5 to 8, Romans 4:3 to 5, man cannot help save himself by anything that he can do for himself. No religious work that any other person can do for him will help to save him. The true messenger of grace can pray for the sinner to whom he proclaims the gospel of the grace of God. But he prays that God will, by the Holy Spirit, cause the sinner to believe and be saved. The believing sinner is justified without a cause by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24. No servant of the Lord should be ignorant or conceited enough to believe that he can do one thing to make the redemptive work of Jesus Christ more perfect or efficacious. When the sinner is saved by God he is complete in Christ and all of his sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. Colossians 2:10 and 13 and Ephesians 4:32.
The greatest of all Christians was also the greatest missionary, evangelist and Bible﷓teacher of all ages. He spent at least one year and a half in a very large city. God gave to that missionary, Paul, many people in the city of Corinth. He wrote to the Christians in that city and said that he thanked God that he baptized very few of them. “I know not whether I baptized any other.” I Corinthians 1:16. In this same Epistle this same man of God wrote, “I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.” I Corinthians 9:22. There was surely not one single thing that Paul would not have done to help men to be saved and then to help them to witness to the world that they were saved. Can you imagine Paul having written, “I do not know whether or not I helped more than five or six of you to witness to the world that ye have been baptized into the Body of Christ; in fact, I thank God that I didn’t?” If water baptism were as important as some of our zealous baptizers of today seem to think, Paul would never have written the words recorded in I Corinthians 1:14 to 17. But Paul did write:

ROMANS 6:3 AND 4

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
God’s mighty power raised Christ far above principalities and powers where He is seated in the heavenlies. Ephesians 1:19 to 23. In these verses we learn that that same mighty power of God is to upward. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, as well as in the sixth chapter of Romans, the Holy Spirit has revealed to the Christians the glorious fact of their identification with Christ in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

No intelligent student of the Word of God would even intimate that water baptism in any way aids in the Christian’s identification with Christ. But such a student does know that this identification is accomplished by a baptism, which is the work of God. There are many spiritual Lutherans and spiritual Presbyterians and spiritual Methodists, all members of the Body of Christ in spite of their sectarian affiliations. The great majority of these saved Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists were sprinkled with a few drops of water in infancy. Therefore, when they were subjected to their sectarian water ceremonies they were not witnessing to the fact that they had believed the gospel and had become members of the Body of Christ. But when they did finally exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, years after they were sprinkled, they were baptized into the death of Christ, and were buried with Him by baptism. According to the immersionists, their sprinkling baptism was not valid; in fact it was not baptism at all, because sprinkling could not be the symbol of a burial. Moreover their water ceremony was out of place, because of the fact they received their unscriptural baptism years before they were buried with Christ by the Divine baptism. In many parts of this country some of the zealous immersionists declare that they can not recognize such alien baptism and in spite of the fact that the saved Lutherans, saved Presbyterians and saved Methodists are in the same Body with these immersed church﷓members, these immersionists consider it unholy to sit with them at the Lord’s table or give them the right hand of fellowship in the matter of church﷓membership. So there is schism in the Body because of baptism. Unity is on the basis of one baptism.

Obviously these close﷓communion, or close﷓baptism, immersionists would not have received the twelve apostles into their fellowship, for those twelve faithful men were baptized with water several years before Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father. In John 20:9 we learn that even the chiefs of the twelve apostles did not know the Scripture that Jesus Christ was to be raised from the dead. When the women learned at the open sepulchre that Christ had been raised from the dead and told the apostles of the fact, the apostles believed them not as the report seemed to them to be an idle tale . . . Luke 24:11. In Luke 18:31 to 34 we learn that several years after the twelve apostles were baptized with water they understood nothing of the meaning of death and the resurrection of Christ. So we are sure that when the twelve apostles were baptized unto repentance for the remission of sins they were not witnessing to the world that they had been baptized into the death of Christ, had been buried with Him by baptism and had been raised to walk in newness of life. If this fantastical teaching concerning Romans 6:3 and 4 were Scriptural instead of a man﷓made theory, surely the twelve apostles should have been rebaptized with water after the Lord Jesus Christ was raised by the glory of the Father. Generally the sectarian Christians who contend earnestly for the watery grave as a witness to the world have much to say about:

FOLLOWING THE LORD JESUS IN BAPTISM

Again we say that if Christians are to go down into a watery grave to show that they have died with Christ, have been buried with Christ and raised with Christ and they insist that all Christians should follow the Lord Jesus in baptism, then Christ should have received His water baptism after His death and resurrection. But they know that Christ was baptized with water several years before His death and resurrection and of course this is God’s refutation of this somewhat modern and fantastical interpretation of Romans 6:3 and 4. It is a blessed experience when the scales drop from the eyes of these blind followers of the blind and they find that they have been contending for tradition instead of for sound Bible doctrine. What a deliverance when they are taught the blessed truth of the one Divine baptism of Ephesians 4:5. Many outstanding men of God, even among the Fundamentalists, handle the Word of God deceitfully in order to support their mode and interpretation and meaning of water baptism. Many have come to the conclusion that they are teaching a theory, but pride will not let them confess and forsake their blunder. Others are like Peter, “fearing them of the circumcision,” and for personal advantage refuse to preach and practice their convictions. There are, however, many zealous immersionists who are sincere, but sincerely wrong in their interpretation of Romans 6:3 and 4. They admit that they do not follow the Lord Jesus in circumcision. They admit that He was made under the law, that He lived under the law and that He died under the law, that He recognized those who sat in Moses’ seat. Matthew 23:1 to 4 and Galatians 4:4. They admit that Jesus of Nazareth went regularly to the Jewish synagogue on the Jewish Sabbath. Luke 4:16. Jesus of Nazareth was indeed a Minister of the circumcision. Romans 15:8. He told those to whom He ministered to obey the law and visit the priests with a gift. Matthew 8:1 to 4. The immersionists ignore all of these commands and limit their ceremonies, under the slogan, “follow the Lord Jesus,” to water baptism. But then of course when they read John 1:31, and learn the meaning of water baptism in that former dispensation, they are puzzled a bit, but turn to tradition and forget the Word of God rightly divided.

NO WATER IN THE SIXTH CHAPTER OF ROMANS

The baptism in the sixth chapter of Romans is meritorious and efficacious. If there is water baptism in Romans 6:3 and 4, then water baptism is essential to salvation, for the baptism there takes the sinner out of Adam and places him in Christ, in Whom he is a new creature. Mr. Kenneth Wuest, one of the leading Bible teachers in the Moody Bible Institute, printed in the Moody Monthly an exegesis of this wonderful chapter. He remarked that the very Greek construction in the original text would eliminate any water from these verses. Perhaps, about fifty percent of evangelical Christians would agree with this man of God, that there is no water in that chapter, and far more than fifty percent of them would agree that all members of the Body of Christ have experienced Romans 6:3 and 4 whether they have been sprinkled, immersed or have refused any form of water baptism. Surely when Saul of Tarsus was told to arise and be baptized and wash away his sins he was not instructed by the Holy Spirit that he was witnessing to the world that he had been buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of life. Surely when Peter and the Eleven preached Acts 2:38, repent and be baptized and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, they did not tell those three thousand Jews to be immersed to show that they were members of the Body of Christ. Surely this watery grave witness theory is tradition and not sound doctrine.

NO WATER IN EPHESIANS 4:5

As “immersion witness” interpretation of Romans 6:4 is contrary to sound doctrine, so also is the teaching of certain immersionists who are putting up a desperate but losing battle to hold on to their cherished religious ceremony by reading water into the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5. They say that the Bible plainly states that, “there is one baptism”; but they believe in two baptisms. They say the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 must be water. Of course they do not believe in two Bodies or two Christs; just two baptisms. The Bible states in plain language, “there is one baptism.” If that one baptism is water, then water baptism will baptize a sinner into the one Body of Christ.

The outstanding teacher of doctrine in the Moody Bible Institute very recently taught publicly, that which any spiritual, intelligent Christian should know; that there is no water in Ephesians 4:5. Another very bitter immersionist, a real fighting Fundamentalist, declared that if there is no water in Ephesians 4:5, then we will have difficulty proving that water baptism is for this age and dispensation of grace. Both of these men of God will readily admit that any sinner who will believe the gospel of the grace of God and receive Christ will go to heaven as a redeemed sinner, that the believer becomes a member of the one true Bible Church without any kind of water baptism. The second man has no patience with any Christian who will not accept his immersion ceremony. The first man stated just this past week that he believed that the mode of baptism is unimportant, the thing that is important is to be baptized with water whether it is sprinkling, pouring or dipping. He declared any one of them to be Scriptural. Just to think of such utter confusion, such unsound teaching from a man who has charge of so many young men who are going out to teach the Word of God. It must be obvious to any thinking Christian, that if sprinkling a few drops of water on the head of an infant or of an adult, with the explanation that this water ceremony supplanted and superseded circumcision, is Scriptural, then the new theory that the believer should go down in to a watery grave to witness to the world that he has been buried and raised with Christ, is worse than absurd; it is ridiculous. If the Presbyterian teaching is Scriptural, surely no girls or women should be sprinkled; for girls and women were not circumcised.

Then a man of God, who is pastor of a large congregation in Chicago, has just stated in writing that the three thousand Jews who were saved on the day of Pentecost were born again before they obeyed Acts 2:38, but they were not saved until after they obeyed Peter’s commands and were baptized. He has also written that water baptism was a kingdom ordinance. He teaches the watery grave theory, that going into a tank of water is a witness to the world that the Christian’s old man has been put to death. He hasn’t a verse of Scripture to support his teaching, but he seems to think that it must be true because he has taught it for some years. It is not difficult to arouse his old man by exposing his water baptism fallacy. He doesn’t like it a bit. Pride is a great barrier. It seems next to impossible for an outstanding Bible teacher to say, “I have been wrong,” even when he knows in his heart that he has been. What a hindrance to the Lord’s work. Younger preachers, who consider the outstanding Bible teacher an authority on Bible doctrine, follow him in his erroneous teaching and continue to propagate the error. But according to I John 2:26 to 28, God will not excuse those who are seduced.

BAPTIZED UNTO MOSES

Moses led the children of Israel, adults and children, across the Red Sea. The water did not touch the Israelites, but the Egyptians were immersed into death. They were not raised to walk in newness of life. If the Israelites were baptized in that sea, it was truly a “dry” baptism. But “they were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” I Corinthians 10:1 to 6. They were convinced by these two great miracles that Moses was the Lord’s chosen leader and deliverer and these two great miracles caused them to accept and follow the leadership of Moses. According to Acts 2:22, by wonders and miracles God sought to persuade Israel to receive His Son as their Messiah and Deliverer. In the same way He sought to persuade Israel to receive the twelve apostles as His authorized witnesses to that nation. Hebrews 2:3 to 6.

“THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW THEM THAT BELIEVE.”

After Jesus Christ was raised from the dead He appeared to the eleven apostles (before Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas) and commanded them, saying, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; in My Name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” Mark 16:14 to 18.

After Jesus Christ had died and was raised from the dead, the twelve apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with tongues as they testified concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ and concerning their salvation. They witnessed these great facts by performing miracles, even raising the dead. They healed the sick and the lame. They had jail deliverances. They talked with angels. They had visions from God. But they did not receive water baptism to witness their death and resurrection with Christ. They never received what some Christians call “Christian baptism.”

Signs, visions, tongues, interpretation of tongues, miracles are joined with water baptism. The Corinthians were baptized and all the sign﷓gifts were exercised by them. I Corinthians 12:8 to 12. They were the least spiritual of all of the saints of Paul’s day, so far as we have any Bible record. But they healed the sick and performed miracles. They spoke with tongues. When the Philippian jailer was baptized there was a miraculous earthquake. When Cornelius was baptized he had spoken with tongues. When Phillip baptized in the eighth chapter of Acts he performed many miracles. When he baptized the eunuch the angel of the Lord appeared. When Paul baptized the twelve Jews in Acts 19:1 to 6 he laid hands on them and they spoke with tongues and then he miraculously healed with handkerchiefs and aprons. Acts 19:11 and 12.

Christians cannot witness the resurrection of Christ by duplicating or perpetuating the miracles performed by the apostles or even by the carnal Corinthians. Some man of God has truly said, if the signs of Mark 16:17 and 18 are the credentials of a Christian, no Christian has lived on earth since the death of the last apostle. Dr. C. I. Scofield’s teaching concerning the signs and miracles of I Corinthians 12:8 to 11 is expressed in this language: “The sign﷓gifts of I Corinthians Twelve were operative only during the period covered by the Book of Acts.”

All Christians today must be numbered with the blessed who have not seen but who believe, who walk not by sight but by faith, and they are to witness the death and resurrection of Christ and their own death and resurrection with Him by seeking those things which are above, by walking in newness of life, by putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Water baptism will not convince those who witness the ceremony that the person baptized has experienced a Divine transformation.

In Colossians 1:5 and 6 and Colossians 1:23 we learn that Paul had supervision over the testimony to every creature under heaven, in all the world. In the Book of Acts we read of four of Paul’s missionary journeys in obedience to Acts 22:17 to 21. But in the Book of Acts we find no record of any missionary journeys by Peter and the Eleven. They remained in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1 . . . . Acts 15:1 to 19. They agreed with Paul that they would confine their testimony to Israel. Galatians 2:9.

The Chicago pastor of the large congregation of Fundamentalists, to whom I referred, has recently stated in writing that the reason why the twelve apostles did not obey the commission of Mark 16:14 to 18 during the first years in the Book of Acts was, that they were unspiritual and unfaithful, and while there is no record in the Book of Acts that they did finally obey the so﷓called great commission, the writings of some church fathers indicate that they did finally reach other lands. This same pastor in his “Revelation,” is sure that the Church of Ephesus is the apostolic Church, an ideal and pattern for Christians, and thus Christians are urged by this pastor to follow men who were unspiritual and unfaithful for seven or eight years. What an unjust indictment against men who were filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly said, “we must obey God rather than men.” This simply proves the extent to which men will go to support their pet theories. “Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Mark 7:7.

REVISING GOD’S MESSAGE

The Bible speaks of men who wrest the Scriptures, of men who corrupt the Word of God, of men who handle the Word of God deceitfully. By what authority do zealous baptizers change the order of Mark 16:14 to 18 to support their programs? The order of the Lord’s commission is clearly stated: First, “he that believeth.” Second, “and is baptized.” Third, “shall be saved.” Fourth, “And these signs shall follow them that believe.” Now note the change of order as arbitrarily adopted and propagated by the great majority of Fundamentalists. First, “he that believeth.” Second, “and is saved.” Third, “must be baptized by immersion to witness that he has died and been raised with Christ.” Fourth, “no signs to follow.”
Is this not handling the Word of God deceitfully? Is there any sound Bible exegesis that will eliminate from the program of the Body of Christ during this present age and economy of grace the signs of Mark 16:17 and 18 and the sign﷓gifts of I Corinthians 12:8 to 11 that will not eliminate the water baptism that is inseparably connected with the signs and miracles, visions and tongues?

SIX BAPTISMS IN MATTHEW—ONE BAPTISM IN EPHESIANS

Note carefully the three baptisms in Matthew 3:11. John the Baptist said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance . . . He (Christ) shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

Note the death baptism of Jesus Christ and the martyrdom baptism of James, the brother of John, predicted in Matthew 20 and Luke 12: “Are ye able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto Him, We are able.” “And He (Christ) said unto them, ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.” Matthew 20:20 to 22. “But I (Christ) have a baptism to be baptized with: and how am I straitened (pressed) till it be accomplished.”

Here Christ spoke of his death on the cross and the death which James was to suffer at the hands of Herod. “And he (Herod) killed James the brother of John with the sword.” Acts 12:2. On Calvary’s cross Christ was baptized. By the sword of Herod James was baptized. James had already been baptized with John’s baptism some years before Christ was baptized on the cross. This was water baptism unto repentance. Then after death baptism of Christ James received Holy Spirit baptism. Acts 1:5.

Now note in the so﷓called great commission the command of the risen Christ: “Baptizing them into, or unto, the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19.
So we have observed that at least six different baptisms are mentioned in the Book of Matthew. But in Ephesians 4:5 we read, “there is one baptism.” Now this interesting question, “which one of the several baptisms of Matthew is the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5?” The answer today from many Fundamentalists is, that Ephesians 4:5 is Christian water baptism, different from John’s water baptism, and therefore, the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 is a baptism different from any of the baptisms of Matthew. And of course they teach that it is different from the divers baptisms of Hebrews 9:10. Any intelligent student of the Bible, who rightly divides the Word of truth, knows from Hebrews 9:10 and Hebrews 6:1 to 3 that there were other baptisms in Matthew to which we have not referred.

But let us keep in mind that the Lord Jesus Himself declared that when James had his head cut off he was baptized. How foolish then to contend that baptism has one definite meaning in the Bible. Note again still another meaning in I Corinthians 10:2 and 3.

The one baptism of Ephesians 4:5 is the one Divine baptism of Romans 6:3 and 4, of Colossians 2:12 and of Galatians 3:27 and has nothing to do with any water ceremony from the hands of man.

How interesting to compare Luke 12:50, Christ’s death baptism on the cross, with the Romans 6:3 and 4, the believer’s death baptism with Christ at Calvary, and see that this death baptism is the baptism in the message and program of grace. And how ungracious, as well as unscriptural, it is for some zealous water Christian to malign and condemn some other member of the Body of Christ who refuses to permit him to impose his fantastical interpretation and religious ceremony on him.

A GREATER GREAT COMMISSION

In II Corinthians 5:16 the apostle Paul said concerning Christ: “yea though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.” In II Corinthians 5:18 and 19 we read . . . “God hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” . . . “Hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” In these verses and in Romans 5:10 and 11, reconciliation is mentioned twenty﷓five years after Christ gave the commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20. More than fifteen years after Christ gave that commission to the Twelve, Paul went up to Jerusalem, by revelation, to tell the apostles in that city about the gospel of the uncircumcision which was committed unto him. Galatians 2:1 to 7.

In Romans 11:15 we learn when and why the new commission of reconciliation was given for Gentiles. When and because Israel was set aside. When God set aside His religious nation His religious program waned and passed away. Every intelligent student of the Word of God knows that the Gentiles received salvation, reconciliation and Divine mercy because of Israel’s blindness and unbelief and because they fell and were cast away. Romans 11:30, Romans 11:13 and Romans 11:15. The great commission for this dispensation and age of grace came after Paul received his orders in Acts 13:2.

The most blessed truth in all the Bible for saints is almost wholly unknown to more than ninety﷓eight percent of Christians, the blessed revealed mystery of God’s will. Ephesians 1:9. Paul suffered intense agony for this mystery. Ephesians 6:19 and 20. Colossians 4:3 and 4. Paul was the prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ for Gentiles with the dispensation of the grace of God and the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians 3:1 to 3 and Ephesians 3:8. God desires that every Christian should see what is “the dispensation of the mystery.” Ephesians 3:9. But the sad fact is, that most of our Christian leaders prefer their religious water ceremony to the glorious truth of Ephesians and Colossians and so they do not even begin to obey Ephesians 3:9. There is not a Christian preacher today, who puts himself under the great commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20, who fixes the time of Israel’s fall at the cross, or who practices water baptism in any form, who is making any effort to make his fellow﷓Christians see the truth of the mystery. But all of the outstanding zealous immersionists among the Fundamentalists are persecuting and boycotting and disfellowshiping men of God who are joining in Paul’s prayers, Ephesians 1:17 to 23, Ephesians 6:19 to 21, and Colossians 4:3 and 4, who are endeavoring to obey Ephesians 3:9 to 11. For some of them, yea most of them, we should pray, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; but for some we pray, “forgive them for they are too cowardly to preach what they know to be the truth.”
We have twice referred to a Chicago pastor. I have written him personally what I know to be the truth, that he is the greatest human hindrance to the recovery of Pauline truth in this country. This is because so many other Christian workers look to his leadership and follow him in his error. In his own printed book he states that the mystery, this present dispensation, did not begin until the nation Israel had every opportunity to receive or reject Christ after He was raised from the dead. He has written me that he still believes all he has printed in this book. In another book he bitterly and ungraciously condemns any Christian brother who makes this same statement. In the last mentioned book he has printed seventeen contradictions of statements he has in his other books, and yet he now states that he believes all of the seventeen statements and all of the other statements which these seventeen plainly contradict. God’s servants are supposed to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God and not lead followers into such confusion. I am sure that the one thing that keeps a confession from the heart and the lips of this man of God is pride. What a wonderful service to God and the Church he would do, if he would make an open confession! But he prefers to join with other religious Fundamentalists with the slogan:

MARK THEM WHICH CAUSE DIVISIONS

Note the verse, Romans 16:17, “Now, I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them.” In the very next chapter, I Corinthians 1:10, the apostle Paul again said, “Now I beseech you, brethren.” “By the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

This sounds something like the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ for His disciples in John 17:21: “That they all may be one; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
What blessed unity! What Christian idealism! Beautiful theory, isn’t it? When we behold the disunity and lack of Christian fellowship and lack of love, the divisions and controversies, surely we turn for solace to Ephesians 5:25 to 27 and Ephesians 4:13 where we learn that the Lord is going to present the one Body unto Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; that it should be holy and without blemish.” “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a Perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

Do you know of any one thing that has caused more disunity and bitterness than have the twenty or more sectarian, religious water ceremonies with which the Church of Jesus Christ is afflicted? The devil has had a wonderful time using water baptism to divide members of the one Body.

When Paul instructed the Roman saints to mark them that cause divisions, he also wrote in Romans 12:4 and 5: “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one Body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”
If a group of those Roman saints had set up a Baptist church or any other sectarian church, they would have been marked. They were in one Body, joined to Christ, the living Head in glory, and all members one of another.

Today in this land there are more than two hundred sectarian churches. Just where shall we begin to mark? We may be sure that the Roman Catholics marked Martin Luther for causing division. The Protestants since that time have rejoiced that Luther and his associates were willing to be marked.

The denominational, religious churches of England surely marked that great man of God, John Darby, when he recovered some glorious truths about the grace of God and the hope and calling of the Body of Christ. He was surely despised and persecuted by religious church﷓leaders. How sad that the Plymouth Brethren have gone back, rather than forward, with the recovery of Pauline truth. Mr. Darby saw something of the Church of the Mystery, and in his very last writings apparently he saw something of the difference between the Church of God of the early chapters of Acts and the Church of the Mystery, although he never cleared up in his writings the great blunder that the Church of the Mystery began with twelve Jewish apostles in a Jewish City on a Jewish feast day when twelve men stood up to address devout Jews from every nation under heaven, concerning the fulfillment of the Prophecies of Joel and of David, a message that concerned all the house of Israel. Acts 2:5 to 38.

There is in the State of Michigan an outstanding Fundamentalist who chuckled with delight when he was able to preach out of the Reformed and the Christian Reformed churches several hundred of their members. He thought he was surely serving God and humanity when he led those people away from babysprinkling and their legal mixture. He led them from “under the law” to “under the water.” But when many of his members heard the glorious gospel of the grace of God, the truth of one Divine baptism, and went from “under the water,” there was no chuckling with delight. He did not prove by his attitude and action that his old man had been buried in the water. But of course, the answer to the question, just who is to be marked and by whom, depends upon whose assembly or movement is divided. The servant who teaches no water baptism for today is teaching the truth that makes for Divine unity according to Ephesians 4:3 to 7.
There is in Chicago a pastor, an outstanding leader in the I.F.C.A. He too chuckled with delight when he preached some Postmillennial sectarian church members into an undenominational assembly of Premillenarians. He really felt proud of the fact that a number of members left several different church organizations in a city just west of Chicago, and he was sure he had been their benefactor. And apparently he was willing to cause divisions and to be marked. But now things are somewhat reversed and he is in the marking business. And, sad but true, he is not always fair in the use of his marker. The way to expose or refute error, is not to malign the messenger, but to show by the Word of God, rightly divided, the error of his teaching. And surely anyone who is going to mark his brother in the Lord should be willing to meet with that brother with an open Bible and talk the thing over. But strange to say, these men who are so busy marking their fellow Christians with misrepresentation with the cry of “Bullingerism” are afraid to gather with a group of Christians and try to adjust the differences. They know they can not defend their faulty dispensationalism. Again it is pride or tradition or personal advantage.

Yes, another man of God, with whom I labored in Missouri, is an outstanding leader in the I.F.C.A. I have never met a man who tried more schemes to preach people out of the churches of the city into his independent work and how he rejoiced with joy unspeakable as they would forsake their churches and line up to support his work. Now he joins with others to mark them who would lead his followers into the glorious and blessed truth of Ephesians and Colossians. For one reason, he knows that these messages are God’s death blow to the prophetic messages with which he has built up his work, leaving his people ignorant of the meaning of Ephesians 3:8 to 11.

Would you say that men are inconsistent, if not hypocritical, who cry, “mark them that cause divisions by preaching no water baptism for this age,” when they know that they have caused many divisions by preaching eternal security, predestination, Premillennialism, against speaking with tongues and Divine healing, against a mixture of the kingdom of heaven with the Body of Christ and a score of other controversial subjects? If these brethren were consistent and honest, they would not preach on anything that divides saints; therefore, they would not stand for any particular water ceremony.

Whether we are marked or not marked, let us, as Christian workers all obey Ephesians 3:9 to 11 and also Ephesians 4:3 to 7. Surely we should be preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ and teach all Christians to study all other Scriptures in the light of this Pauline truth.

Baptized Into Christ Dennis Kiszonas

2009-11-28T04:45:00.000-08:00

Biblical Baptism

Let's start in Matthew chapter 3 where we see the ministry of John the Baptizer - the Baptist.
"In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand'."

Here in the opening pages of the New Testament, we read about John the Baptist preaching the kingdom. It's interesting to turn over and read about John's ministry in John chapter 1, how that the leaders of Israel came out to observe and to question him about his ministry. They came and asked, "Why are you doing this out here in the wilderness? Who sent you? By what authority are you baptizing?" It is interesting that they never came out to him and asked, "What are you doing?" or "Why are you dunking (or sprinkling, or pouring water over) these people in this river?" They didn't have to ask him what he was doing because they knew. They had seen it many times before. Baptism itself was not a new thing. It was an old thing.

It goes all the way back in the Old Testament to the book of Leviticus. In chapter 8, we see the ordination of a priest for the nation of Israel.

"And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, a bull as the sin offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread, and gather all the congregation together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.' So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. And the congregation was gathered together at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. And Moses said to the congregation, 'This is what the Lord commanded to be done'" (vv. 1-5).

Now begins the ordination ceremony of Aaron and his sons to become priests in the nation of Israel.

"Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water" (v. 6).

The first step in becoming a priest in the nation of Israel was that the priest was to be washed with water at the door of the tabernacle. So Moses washed them. But there's another thing shown here as the ceremony continues in verse 10:

"Also Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. He sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base, to consecrate them. And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him" (vv. 10-12).

First, Aaron is washed with water. Second, Moses pours a beaker of oil on him. Then we drop down further in the passage to verse 14, and the sacrifices begin.

"And he brought the bull for the sin offering. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull for the sin offering, and Moses killed it."

Then verse 22:"And he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration. Then Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram and Moses killed it. Also he took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron's right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot."

So we see Aaron with his hair wet, with oil dripping down his head and neck and on his clothes, and now with blood on his ear, blood on his thumb, and blood on his toe. Not only that, but we find in verse 30 that, ". . . Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him; and he consecrated Aaron, his garments, his sons, and the garments of his sons with him."

Moses takes the mixture of blood and oil and splatters these men. We see them dressed in a fine and beautiful outfit, but how do they look? They have blood on their face, blood on their hands, and their clothing is stained with blood. Then in chapter 9 the priests, having been ordained, begin their ministry.

Now flash ahead 1,500 years to the Jordan River and these types that we see become reality. Here came the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, and he was saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What kind of a kingdom will it be? In Exodus 19:6, God says that Israel would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. John comes and announces the imminent coming of the kingdom. The Israelites needed to assume their rightful part in that kingdom of priests. The first thing they needed to do was to be ordained. How were priests to be ordained? Back to Leviticus . . . they needed to be washed with water, anointed with oil, and sprinkled with blood.

And so these people lined up by the river, ready to be baptized with water. The ordination had begun. They had seen this many times in the temple. They had seen priest after priest being washed (baptized), anointed, and sprinkled as they were ordained for the ministry. They knew what it was about and so they came as a multitude down to the Jordan.
But wait! Someone else came.

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent him, saying, 'I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness'" (Matthew 3:13-15).

What righteousness did Christ need to fulfill? The righteousness of the law, as commanded by God, in Leviticus chapter 8. The Lord Jesus Christ is to be the High Priest of Israel and needs to be ordained. He comes to the river and John says, "No. I'm not going to do this." The Lord says, "Yes you are, for we are going to fulfill all righteousness. The law says that I must be washed with water in order to become a priest." Immediately afterwards, in verses 16 and 17:"When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Him. And suddenly a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'."

The Lord Jesus Christ was first washed in the water like Aaron. But unlike Aaron who had oil poured upon him to anoint him to his ministry as a priest, the Lord Jesus Christ was anointed with no one less than the Holy Spirit by God Himself. Peter understood this, for he says:
"That word you know which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. . . " (Acts 10:37, 38).

God Himself came into the ordination and anointed His Son - not with oil, but the real thing which oil only symbolized as a type. There were many people in the history of Israel who had been anointed - the priests, the kings, and the prophets - but this man was the anointed One. Peter says about Him, "God has made Him to be both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). ("Christ" is from the Greek word Christos, meaning "the anointed Messiah")

How do you become a priest? First, you are washed - baptized - in the water. Then, you are anointed with the oil. Finally, daubed in blood from your ear to your foot. Christ had been washed with water in the Jordan. Then he was anointed with the Holy Spirit Himself. But there was one more baptism.

"I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished" (Luke 12:49, 50).

When we see in the Old Testament Moses daubing the blood on the ear, the hand, and the foot of Aaron, then sprinkling him, splattering that blood on the priests, we know now that it was pointing ahead to Jesus Christ, the High Priest. The Anointed High Priest of Israel, after being baptized with water in the Jordan, and being anointed with the Holy Spirit by God, was then baptized with blood - splattered from head to foot - as the whip broke open His skin, as the thorns pierced His brow, and as the nails tore his hands and feet. He was baptized in His own blood that He might complete His ordination and offer Himself as a sacrifice.
We looked at Aaron's ordination and at the Lord's ordination, but now we return to the people of Israel. They were to become a kingdom of priests, and they needed to be ordained to enter into Messiah's priesthood. John the Baptist began this ceremony to prepare the people, but he said,"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11).

John was, in effect, saying, "I can only take you this far, through one part of the ordination. But the One who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." We turn to the book of Acts and we see the realization of this on the Day of Pentecost.
"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:1-4).

What was happening? Peter explains it in verses 16: "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of my Spirit on all flesh'."

God is baptizing here with the pouring out of His Spirit, the pouring out of the anointing oil on these who desire to enter the kingdom of priests. As we continue in verses 32 and 33, Peter says, "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."

There is one last part to the ordination. In his first epistle, Peter reveals the final stage of the priestly initiation.

"You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5).
Peter calls these people "a holy priesthood." How did they get ordained? They were washed in the water, they were anointed with the Spirit by the Messiah, then, looking in the beginning of the book, we see that they were,"Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ" (1:2).

They had been fully ordained - washed in the water, anointed with the Spirit, and sprinkled not with the blood of a goat or ram, but with the blood of Jesus Christ.

All of these baptisms that we have seen so far, as beautiful as they are, were all part of a prophesied program of God. They were all part of a message which promised entrance into a kingdom here on the earth. This was God's plan for the nation of Israel. These were Jewish baptisms. We know from reading on in the Bible, through the book of Acts, there came a time when God set aside the nation of Israel and postponed their kingdom.

He had sent them John the Baptist. The Lord Jesus Christ had come to the nation. The Holy Spirit had come and filled the disciples. Israel's response: murder, murder, murder. They stood by as John the Baptist was beheaded. They handed over the Lord Jesus Christ to crucifixion. They themselves picked up the stones and stoned Stephen, a man who was filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 7 and 8, the nation of Israel was cast away and that earthly kingdom was put "on hold."

Then a wonderful thing happened. From heaven's glory, the Lord Jesus Christ reached down in unfathomable grace and mercy to a man traveling down a road with vengeance and bitterness in his heart - a man named Saul - who was on his way to persecute the saints of God. He was a man who was called "the chief of sinners," and the leader of Israel's rebellion against the Lord. The Lord reached down and stopped that man in his tracks, saving him by His grace. This man's name was changed from "Saul" to "Paul" and God made him an apostle.

He was called as an apostle not to the nation of Israel, but rather to the Gentiles. An apostle not of an earthly kingdom, but of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ. An apostle not of a prophesied program, but of a secret - a mystery - hidden in God from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 3:9).

Part of that revelation called "the mystery," which the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to Paul, was a baptism. It was not a baptism of water, not a baptism of oil, nor a baptism of blood. It was a baptism that was unknown before the apostle Paul. You can search the Scriptures from Genesis up to Paul's writings and you will not find even a hint of it.

The first mention of this new baptism is in the book of Romans and chapter 6.
"Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" (v. 3)
In 1 Corinthians 12:12 and 13, Paul writes,"For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free - and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."

He writes about a baptism that is only part of "the mystery" which is found only in his letters - a unique baptism for us who are living in the dispensation of the grace of God.

Here is a baptism that is not at all related with entering into an earthly kingdom, but a baptism that brings you into the Body of Christ. It is not a baptism of the priesthood - not a washing in water, not an anointing with oil, not a sprinkling of blood. It is not even a baptism of Messiah pouring out His Spirit on His people. It is a baptism that is an operation of the Holy Spirit Himself, taking a believer, the moment he puts his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, fusing him into the body and person of the Lord Jesus Christ so that he becomes one with Him (1 Corinthians 12:12). Paul was able to look at the church in Corinth and see Christ, not many individual members. They were one with Him. They were Christ!

I don't think there can be any doubt that the "one baptism" of which Paul writes in Ephesians 4:5 is the same baptism which he wrote about in Romans 6 and 1 Corinthians 12. It is the fact that one Spirit baptized us into one body. This is the one baptism for this dispensation of the grace of God in which we are living.

Someone will inevitably say, "Hey, wait a minute! Didn't Paul baptize some people with water? And if he baptized some with water and the Holy Spirit baptized them, that's two baptisms, right?" Let's check it out.

We need to realize that in the early ministry of the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts, he not only baptized people, but he circumcised them too (Acts 16:3). After all that Paul had written in Galatians about not practicing circumcision, he takes one of the Galatians, Timothy, and circumcises him. Continue reading in the same book and you see how Paul cut his hair to keep a Jewish vow. You observe Paul going into the temple to offer a Jewish sacrifice. You hear Paul speaking in tongues. You watch Paul baptizing people with a Jewish baptism. The question is, "Should we follow him?" or "Is that an example for us?"
Take a look at what he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

"I thank God that I baptized none of you . . ." (v. 14a)
A good Baptist, isn't he? But then he remembers a few:
". . . except Crispus and Gaius. . . . I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect" (vv. 14, 16-17).

Among the many things that could be said, I want to make one point: When Paul preached his gospel (the gospel of the grace of God), from the beginning of his ministry to the end of his ministry, he did not have to preach water baptism along with it. When Peter preached his gospel (the gospel of the kingdom), he had to preach water baptism. Everywhere Peter preached he preached water baptism. Christ had sent him to preach water baptism and the kingdom (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15018). Paul says, "I was not sent to baptize." It was never an intrinsic part of his gospel. In fact, as we read the letters of Paul, we find nowhere that he beseeches, or commands, or exhorts, or recommends, or says anything to the effect that members of the body of Christ ought to be baptized in water.

Why then did he baptize? He writes:
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).

The Greek word for "dimly" (KJV: "darkly") is enigma, which means "a puzzle." At this point in his ministry, during the book of Acts, as Paul looked at his own ministry he could say, "I don't know it all yet." We could ask, "Paul, why did you cut your hair, why did you keep that vow, why did you offer that sacrifice, why did you speak in tongues, why did you baptize those people with that Jewish baptism?" There are several reasons, but I believe there are times when Paul would say, "It is kind of an enigma, isn't it? Even I, at that time, didn't know the whole thing yet."

But there came a day when the Lord Jesus Christ completed that revelation of the mystery to the apostle Paul in prison at Rome. At that time he moved into the full light of that revelation that Christ gave to him. We read about it in the prison epistles - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon - and in the pastoral epistles. Paul says, now having the full knowledge of the mystery, "There is one baptism" - one Spirit baptizing us into one body (Ephesians 4:5). And in Colossians 2:15, he tells us that, when we are in that onbody,baptized into Christ, we are "Complete in Him."

The Effects of the "One Baptism"
I would like to conclude by reflecting upon the effects this has in our lives - being baptised by one baptism into the body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Being baptised into His Body, we are made close to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes, in 1 Corinthians 6:17, "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him." When we were baptised into Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12:13), we became one body with the Lord. Now we see in this verse that we became one spirit with the Lord.

"For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. . . "(Galatians 3:27).
We are Christ's. We are members of Him. I may forget something that belongs to me, but I will not put down my hand anywhere and forget it. I may misplace a book that is in my library, but I won't lose track of my foot. My hand and my foot are my members - they are me. Paul says that we have put on Christ. We are baptised into His body and have become one with Him.

"For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. . . . This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:30, 32).

Twenty-five years ago I was graduating from 8th grade at St. Mary Star-of-the-Sea School on the south side of Chicago. At the end of that year, the Sister said, "I want you each to take a piece of paper and write down what you want to do with your life." Some kids said, "I want to be a teacher," or "I want to be a mechanic," or "I want to play for the Chicago White Sox." But I wrote down on that piece of paper, "I want to live on a mountain and really get close to God."

By His grace, I made it! Bone of His bones, flesh of His flesh, one body and one spirit with the Lord. What more could God say? You cannot be any closer than that. You can't feel it, see it, or touch it, but you know it because Christ said it: He is in me and I am in Him.

Being baptised into His Body, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:13, 14).

Note the order: First, you heard the gospel. Second, you believed - you trusted the Lord as your Saviour. And Paul says that at that moment, God's Holy Spirit moved in with that baptism. It was not only the baptism, but also a sealing in Him. We are not part of the vine and the branches, where the branches can be cut off if they're not fruitful and be thrown
into the fire. We are members of His body and sealed in Him, safe and secure.

Being baptised into His Body, we are seated with Christ in heaven - now!
"Even when we were dead in trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5, 6).

We may be walking about on this earth, but we are members of Christ's body, and our head is in heaven. Because I am one with Him, I am already seated with Him in heavenly places. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse three tells me that, because I am seated with Christ in heavenly places, God, my Father, has blessed me "with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ."

Being baptised into His Body, we are joined to each other with a spiritual bond.
"Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3).

The same Holy Spirit that came to live in me is the same Holy Spirit that came to live in you. I don't understand how the same person can be in me, in you, and in each member of Christ's body, but this tells me that this one baptism by one Spirit into one body has pulled us all together - not only individually into the Lord Jesus Christ, but also with one another. When you see that unity, you begin to look at fellow Christians in a different light. You begin to treasure each one. God the Spirit is dwelling in each one to make us one body by this one spiritual baptism.

By this one baptism, I am placed into Christ and Christ into me. I become one with Him as a member of His body.

By this one baptism, I'm not only in Christ, but I'm sealed in Him forever.
By this one baptism, I have been seated in the heavenlies and have been blessed with all spiritual blessings.

By this one baptism, I've become one with Him and one with each member of Christ's Body forever.

I believe in baptism - this greatest baptism in all the Bible, baptised into the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
A Final Word . . .
Maybe you've been baptised with water or had some kind of "religious" experience, but you can receive this real baptism. The Lord Jesus died on the cross to bear my sins and your sins, to pay for them once for all time. Whoever you are, no matter where you've come from, no matter what you've ever done, if you have never trusted in Him, He's waiting for you and He's inviting you now to trust in Him as your Savior. Stop trying to save yourself. Stop depending on a church, a sacrament, some ritual prayers, or a religion. God will save you tonight if you will simply put your faith in, and rely on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. At that very moment, God the Holy Spirit will baptize you and will place you into the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. You could never be closer to God than that. If you want to be saved right now, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and God will save you.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF HEBREWS 6:4 to 6?

2009-11-20T06:02:00.001-08:00

IMPOSSIBLE TO RENEW THEM AGAIN UNTO REPENTANCE?

Concerning the Holy Spirit’s meaning of Hebrews 6:4 to 6, there has not only been disagreement among God’s people but some unpleasant controversies. In order that we might arrive at the true meaning of the Scripture under consideration we might see first of all what is not taught in these verses. First we quote Hebrews 6:4 to 6:
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; Being they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.”
Most assuredly the Holy Spirit is not here referring to some sinner who has been convicted by the Holy Spirit, but not born of the Spirit. Some have tried to make these verses apply to a “professor” but not to a “possessor.” By carefully studying the Book of Hebrews we find the word “partaker” used 6 times. The references are to a saved person. In Hebrews 3:14, the believer is a partaker of Christ. It is just as Scriptural to state than an unsaved person can be a partaker of Christ as to teach that he can be a partaker of the Holy Spirit. Certainly no unsaved one is a partaker of the spiritual benefits and blessings which belong only to redeemed sinners. Therefore we must conclude that these verses refer to a saved person.
For your careful consideration and answer we ask two questions: When the believing sinner is saved he receives an entirely new nature, the Divine nature of Christ. Now the first question: Can that saved sinner, in any way, by any means, lose his old nature while he is in the flesh on earth? We are not asking can he get victory over that old nature for the Bible clearly teaches that he can and that he should. But the question is, can he lose his old nature? And if he could and if he should lose his old nature, could he get back that old nature by doing wrong or by failing to do right? How much wrong would he have to do? How much good would he have to do to keep the old nature from returning?
Now the other question: After the believing sinner receives his new nature can he lose that new nature by doing wrong or by failing to do right? If so, can he get that new nature back? In other words, how many times can a regenerated saint of God lose his Divine nature and get it back again? Can a person be born again, two or three or four times?
We believe if you will honestly and sincerely consider and answer these questions, without influence of either the so﷓called Calvinistic or Armenian doctrine, you will be ready for further study of Hebrews 6:4 to 6.
While the word “backslider” is not found in God’s message of “grace “, we are told, in Galatians 6:1 and in other Scriptures, that the believer may be overtaken in a sin, that he may stumble, walk in the flesh, be carnal, love the world, grieve the Holy Spirit, and walk as men. Surely we are all agreed that the believing sinner is saved by grace through faith. In Romans 4:4 and 5, II Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5 and 6, Ephesians 2:8 and 9, Romans 3:24 to 26, and many other Scriptures, we are taught dogmatically and emphatically that religion, good works, and human deeds, have absolutely nothing to do with man’s salvation, that is, as a factor or means of his salvation. He is saved unto good works; not by good works. According to I Corinthians 3:11 to 14, he can be saved so as by fire and have all his works destroyed. According to I Corinthians 11:28 to 32 he can be chastened even unto death but not condemned with the world.
Now in case you do believe that a redeemed child of God can lose his salvation, because of what he does or fails to do, the question is, how are we to determine just how much wrong﷓doing or how much failure to do right will cause the loss of his Divine sonship? God’s Word declares that eternal life is His free gift; that He gives free and full salvation to all believing sinners who are the recipients of His grace. For any one to teach that a saved person is kept saved by doing right and by not doing wrong is teaching contrary to sound doctrine as found in God’s gospel of grace.
Whether we call the erring saint a “carnal Christian” or a “backslider,” every Bible﷓teacher and Christian preacher believes in restoration. This means that any individual once saved by grace, once spiritual in walk and testimony, can be fully restored to that same state if he falls into careless living or evil﷓doing. The difference of opinion is, whether or not in that so﷓called fallen state he is a lost backslidden sinner or a backslidden redeemed child of God.
In Luke 17:3 and 4 and in Matthew 18:21 and 22, the Lord’s disciple is, instructed to forgive a sinful brother, if that brother repents of his sin seven times in a day, and seventy times seven times. Surely no one would say that the Lord would expect such pardoning grace and such a forgiving spirit of one of his disciples and He Himself not be willing to be more gracious toward one of His sinning disciples. In I John 1:7 to 2:2 is recorded a message to believers concerning sinning saints. This Epistle is addressed to believers. I John 5:13.
We quote I John 1:9 and I John 2:1:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “my little children, these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:’
Here we learn that the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven is the believer’s representative, He is there to take care of the sins of the saints. Here we learn that the saint who repents or confesses will be fully forgiven and cleansed of all sin and unrighteousness.
Therefore, all Christians believe that a sinning child of God can be fully restored or renewed. Now we quote again Hebrews 6:6.
“Impossible:” “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame:”
How simple it should be, then, to learn that Hebrews 6:4 to 6 does not teach that the believing child of God can fall away and lose salvation. For if it does teach any such thing, it unquestionably and positively teaches that there is no hope for the restoration of such a backslidden saint. He cannot be renewed again. To be born anew is a once﷓for﷓all experience. But not necessarily so in the case of restoration.
In my judgment, we must conclude that in Hebrews 6:4 to 6 we have what we might call a hypothetical case. First we observe, that the Epistle to the Hebrews, though it was written to both possessors and professors, was written to Israelites whose fathers and forefathers had been a religious people for fifteen centuries. They had priests, sacrifices, offerings for sins and trespasses. Like many religious people today they were not rooted and grounded in the Christian faith. They were not established in grace. They were holding on to religion. They sought to supplement the once﷓for﷓all sacrifice of the Son of God with some offering or sacrifice given under the law. They were afraid that, if they did not add to the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ, they would fall away. They were somewhat like the people in the Roman Catholic religion today who ignorantly celebrate the mass endeavoring to make the forgiveness of their sins more certain and effective by offering to God, in the blessed bread and wine, the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. They offer Christ time and again.
They wholly ignore the plain statements in the tenth chapter of Hebrews “no more conscience of sin”, “no more remembrance of sin”, “no more offering for sin”, “no more sacrifice for sin”, since Jesus Christ by one offering for sin, by one sacrifice on the cross, put away sin forever.
The Holy Spirit’s message in Hebrews 6:4 to 6 is to show that it is utterly impossible for any one to fall away who is trusting in the once﷓for﷓all sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even in Hebrews 10:26, the same Holy Spirit teaches that there is no more sacrifice for sins even for the one who sins willfully after he receives the knowledge of the truth. But on the basis of the once﷓for﷓all sacrifice of Christ there is forgiveness both for the saint who sins ignorantly and the one who sins knowingly.
Those who teach the unpardonable sin in Hebrews 6:4 to 6 do greatly err, not knowing the Scripture. And let us not forget that if we teach that the man of Hebrews 6:4 to 6 is a backslider one who had been a saint and then lost his salvation, there is no hope for the backslider. It is impossible to restore him. Inasmuch as it is possible to restore such a one, as is clearly taught in the case of Simon Peter and in Galatians 6:1, Hebrews 6:4 to 6 has nothing to do with a saved saint becoming a lost sinner.

THE FIVE F’S OF SALVATION

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We call this lesson, “The Five F’s of Salvation”—1-Fact. 2-Faith. 3-Fruit. 4-Feeling. 5-Future.
Note Galatians 3:26 and I John 3:2: “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
In Hebrews 9:26 - Hebrews 10:12 and I Peter 3:18, listed above, we learn first, that Christ “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” This is the fact. This is Divine truth. Christ entered heaven by His own blood, and thereby obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:12). Christ suffered once, the Just for the unjust, that we might be brought to God. (I Peter 3:18). Christ, on the cross, cried “finished.” Then and there He made peace through the blood of His cross, to reconcile sinners to God. (John 19:30 and 31 - Colossians 1:20 and 21).
The FACT of salvation is, that all the work that needs to be done for the sinner’s salvation Christ did and is doing, together with God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit. Christ’s work was, and is, a perfect redemptive work: wholly acceptable to God. Read the “how” of salvation in II Thessalonians 2:13.
Then FAITH. “By grace are ye saved through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8 and 9). Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. (Acts 16:31). Note carefully Romans 4:5:, by believing on the Justifier, the sinner’s faith is counted for righteousness. This is good news. The word “believe” is used 100 times in the Gospel of John. Christ said, “Believe on Me and have eternal life.” (John 6:47).
And now FRUIT. Note Ephesians 2:10 and John 15:8: “For we are His (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” A Christian is a fruit-bearing branch abiding in the Vine, “Christ”. The believer should add to his faith virtue, patience, self-control, goodness, brotherly kindness and love, so he will be fruitful. (II Peter 1:3 to 11). These additions are the fruit of the Spirit; but in Galatians 5:21 to 26, “love” comes first. We are not saved because we bear fruit: but every believer should bear fruit because he is saved by trusting and resting in the perfect redemptive work of the Lamb of God, Who beareth away the sin of the world.
Then the FEELING. Read Romans 15:13 and 14:17: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit.” “The Kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Salvation is not by feeling, but by faith. Not by behavior, but by belief. Filled with joy and peace is a good feeling. When the believer believes God’s Word (I John 5:13 Acts 13:39—Colossians 3:1 to 4), and walks in the ordained good works of Ephesians 2:10, and worthy of the calling of Ephesians 5:1 and 2, he will have the feeling of assurance and joy. Read Acts 13:39 and I John 5:13.
Then the FUTURE of salvation: “That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, in His kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7). This is a forever, never-ending future of bliss and glory.
“Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” (I Corinthians 15:51). Those who have died will be raised, and we which are alive shall be changed, and have bodies like Christ’s glorified body and appear with Him in glory (I John 3:2—Colossians 3:4—Philippians 3:20 and 21). There is a glorious never-ending FUTURE to Salvation.
But for the unsaved, eternal conscious perdition.

THREE “SALVATION” LOOKS

2009-11-15T13:19:00.000-08:00

Let us read the five verses mentioned above:
“Look unto Me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth: For I am God and there is none else.”
“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, Which taketh away the sin of the world.”
“ . . . let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
As we consider these verses, let us think of Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His (God’s) workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
God knows, what every one should know, and that is, that no man can walk in good works acceptable to God until that man is first the workmanship of God. Man must be worked upon by God before God will accept any service from that man. We are turned to God to serve God and to wait for His Son from heaven, even Jesus, Who delivered us from the wrath to come, (I Thessalonians 1:9 and 10).
Man’s first look must be the look of salvation from the penalty of sin and for the new birth. In Hebrews 9:26 - Hebrews 9:24 and 28, we read of the three appearings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Christ appeared once in the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26)—Christ suffered for sins once, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God. (I Peter 3:18). Christ entered into heaven by His blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12).
So the sinner’s first look is, “Behold the Lamb of God Which beareth away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29).
Look to Christ on the cross, for we are redeemed, cleansed, washed and justified by His precious shed blood. (I Peter 1:18 to 20 - Matthew 26:28 - Romans 5:6 to 10 - I John 1:7 to 9).
Christ on the cross cried, “finished.” All that the vilest sinner on earth needs for eternal redemption, is a saving-look of faith to Christ and Calvary. The most cultured, moral, religious sinner needs the same look or he will suffer the sorrows of the second death. (Revelation 20:9 to 14).
Then Christ is not only the Author of our salvation, but the Finisher. (Hebrews 12:1 to 3). He appears now in the presence of God for believers. (Hebrews 9:24). He is their Advocate (I John 2:1). He ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25). Having loved his own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. (John 13:1).
So the second look is to Christ at God’s right hand. In this way the Christian can run a good race. Christ on the cross established our relationship. In heaven He maintains our fellowship.
Christians are also to seek those things above, where Christ is. (Colossians 3:1 to 4). Christians are confident. (Philippians 1:6). They are persuaded. (Romans 8:32 to 39). They have a strong consolation. (Hebrews 6:16 to 19).
Believers are saved from the penalty of sin. Then being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and because of the work of Christ in God’s presence, believers can be saved from the power of sin. The secret of victory is told in Romans 6:6 to 19.
Christ is coming to save the believer from the presence of sin. Then Christ will present the Church to Himself as a glorious, holy, spotless Church. (Ephesians 5:26 and 27).
So the third look is Hebrews 9:28 and Titus 2:13: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God our Saviour Jesus Christ.” “Then shall ye appear with Him in glory.” For this, Christ prayed in John 17:20 to 25. Read John 11:42.

WHAT THE GRACE OF GOD TEACHES

2009-11-15T13:18:00.000-08:00

It is both interesting and profitable to compare the command and program of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 10:5 to 8 and 23, with the message and program of Titus 2:11 to 14, which the same Christ gave to and through the apostle Paul some years after the commission recorded in Matthew 10:5 to 8, some years after Christ had gone back to heaven by the way of the cross and the open sepulchre, after God raised Christ far above all heavens, far above principalities and powers. (Ephesians 4:7 to 13 . . . Ephesians 1:19 to 23).
Let us carefully and prayerfully read Titus 2:11 to 14:
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world: Looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing (the appearing in glory) of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
No more important spiritual truth is pressed into any other four verses of God’s holy Scriptures. “God will have all men to be saved.” (I Timothy 2:4 to 6). It is for that reason He gave Christ and Christ gave Himself on the cross as a ransom for all. God’s “grace” salvation is expressed in these words, “by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” (I Timothy 2:4 to 6 ... Ephesians 2:8 to 10).
Christ appeared once in the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26). While Christ was here on earth, before He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, He and His apostles were ministers of the circumcision. (Romans 15:8). All of them were under the law. (Galatians 4:4 and Matthew 23:1 to 3). It was then that Christ instructed His twelve apostles, “Go not in the way of the Gentiles . . . Go to Israel ... The Kingdom of heaven is at hand . . . Heal, cast out demons, raise the dead . . . Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come.” (Matthew 10:5 to 8 . . . Matthew 10:23). Now compare all of this with Titus 2:11 to 14, quoted above.
What a contrast; what a difference in these two programs. There is a great difference between “not in the way of the Gentiles,” and “to all men,” including the heathen all over the world. There is a great difference between “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” for Israel, with signs, wonders and miracles; and “the grace of God” is at hand for Gentiles.
In Matthew 28:19 and 20 the resurrected Christ gave another command to His twelve apostles, “disciple all nations.” But they remained in Jerusalem and the land of the Jews, at least, until after the risen Christ sent Paul out with the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24 ... Acts 8:1 ... Acts 15:1 to 19 ... Galatians 2:1 to 12). There is no record, in the Book of Acts, that any of the twelve apostles preached “the gospel of grace” to Gentiles outside the land of the Jews. Peter had the “Kingdom Keys” and preached to a household of Gentiles in the land of the Jews. (Acts 15:7 . . . Acts 10:28 to 38). But after that even Peter refused to eat with saved Gentiles. (Galatians 2:10 to 13). He and his fellow-apostles went to Jews. (Galatians 2:9).
Christ said to Paul, “I will send you far hence to the Gentiles.” (Acts 22:21 . . . Romans 15:16 . . . Ephesians 3:8). Paul became “the apostle of the Gentiles.” (Romans 11:13). Then the Lord committed unto Paul “the dispensation of the grace of God for Gentiles.” (Ephesians 3:1 to 4).
Let us know that God’s grace enables and teaches saints. (II Corinthians 12:9 . . . II Corinthians 9:8 . . . Titus 2:12). The God of all grace (I Peter 5:10) is able to make all grace abound; not for the program of Matthew 10:5 to 10, which was for another dispensation, but for the program of Titus 2:11 to 14. This abounding grace is for the redeemed sinner, who is a saint, to enable him to submit himself unto God as one who is alive from the dead, and thus reckon himself dead unto sins. (Romans 6:9 to 15).

SALVATION AND REWARDS

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In I Corinthians 15:58 and Colossians 3:17 we read: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.”
In Titus 3:8 and Titus 3:14 believers, saved by grace, without works, are exhorted to maintain good works. They are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works and God has ordained that believers should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10). Believers are to believe Hebrews 6:10 and Colossians 3:24 and 25: “For God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love.” “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.”
It is for these reasons that the Holy Spirit wrote in I Corinthians 15:58 for saints to be steadfast in good works and to know that no believer’s good works in Christ Jesus will be in vain.
There is a great difference between salvation by grace, “not by works” (Titus 3:5), “not according to our works,” (II Timothy 1:9), “not of works” (Ephesians 2:9), “to him that worketh not” (Romans 4:5), and “God’s workmanship, unto good works.”
This is why, in rightly dividing the Word or truth, believers should study the “strive” of Luke 13:24; the “endure” of Matthew 24:13 and 14; the “baptized” of Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38; the “worketh righteousness” of Acts 10:34 and 35 and many other mixed messages in the light of the later truth which Christ revealed to Paul. Note II Timothy 1:9, “God Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (II Timothy 1:9).
Note what the grace of God teaches saints in Titus 2:12: “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
In the third chapter of Colossians the believer is told just how to live such a life by the grace of God. Salvation is by the grace of God. Good works are by the grace of God. (I Corinthians 15:10).
But first let us get this truth of John 6:29 and Romans 4:5: “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom God hath sent.” “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” The first all-important work is the work of believing on the Lord Jesus Christ unto the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:39)
When we have the right start, and know “that they that are in the flesh cannot please God,” that there is no good in the flesh, (Romans 8:8 and Romans 7:18 to 20), “that other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” (I Corinthians 3:11), that we are redeemed and forgiven on account of Christ’s shed blood and the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:6 and 7), then we should always abound in the work of the Lord, and know the truth of Colossians 3:24 and 25 and I Corinthians 3:14: “Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.”
Let us be sure of our foundation before we begin to build for eternity, and for rewards. Let us even keep in mind that no flesh shall glory in God’s presence, (I Corinthians 1:30 and 31). We have been forgiven, for Christ’s sake. (Ephesians 4:32). Our salvation is in and by and through the Lord Jesus Christ and He must have all the glory for what we do, if our works are to abide.

THE OPPOSITION OF SATAN

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Satan is the god of this age. (II Corinthians 4:4). Satan gathers the seed that falls by the wayside. (Mark 4:15). The lake of fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41). The devil is accused of deceiving the whole world. (Revelation 12:9). Christ declared that no man could take the strong man’s house until first he had bound the strong man. (Matthew 12:29). Note the mission on which the Lord Jesus sent the apostle Paul: “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.” Satan as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8 - Acts 26:18).
God will have all men to be saved. (I Timothy 2:4). God has one way by which believing sinners are saved in this age and dispensation of grace. That way is the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24). “By grace through faith”; “brought nigh to God by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:8 and 9 and Ephesians 2:13).
In Romans 1:16 we read that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth.
In I Corinthians 15:1 to 4 we read that the gospel by which the believing sinner is saved is the truth, that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He was raised from the dead.
Now let us compare I Timothy 1:11 with II Corinthians 4:3 and 4: “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my (Paul’s) trust.” “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” Satan is always on the alert. He is every active with tricks and devices with both sinners and saints.
So we see that Satan, the god of this age, does not want any sinner to believe the gospel and be saved. There is no other way for the sinner to be delivered from Satan’s power.
Note how far Satan will go to keep sinners from being saved: “And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.” Just imagine the devil transformed into an angel of light to make religious people believe they are saved and on the way to glory when they are on the way to eternal perdition.
Satan is very tricky, a very dangerous deadly enemy.
What is the Christian’s part in this great redemptive work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (II Corinthians 4:5 to 7).
Christians are to preach Christ and live Christ, thus giving to sinners the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Sinners cannot be saved unless they believe. They cannot believe unless they hear. (Romans 10:12 to 15). Knowing the terror of the Lord, Christians persuade men. (II Corinthians 5:11). For it is a fearful thing for a “Christless” sinner to fall into God’s hands. (Hebrews 10:26 to 32).
Christians are not to handle the Word of God deceitfully: “but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (II Corinthians 4:1 and 2). We are told in Revelation 12:11, of saints who overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

STANDING AND FALLING

2009-11-15T13:15:00.000-08:00

Note I Corinthians 10:12 - Romans 11:11 - Hebrews 6:4 to 6: “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” “I say then, Have they (Israel) stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their (Israel’s) fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them (Israel) to jealousy.” “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.”
In Galatians 5:1 and 4, Christians were told to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had set them free, and not to get under the law; that “whosoever of you is justified by the law, is fallen from grace.” Here they are told to stand and not fall. This is quite different from I Corinthians 10:12, “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” In this admonition the Holy Spirit was not thinking of Christians going back under the law. But here is given the example of the fall of Israel under Moses, as we have in Hebrews 4:1 to 11. We remember Peter’s boast that he would never deny the Lord, even if others did, and Peter had quite a fall. (Matthew 26:33 to 35). This does not mean that Peter lost his salvation. But Christians should be humble and boast only in Christ, and profit by the failures and falls of others. (I Corinthians 1:31 - Galatians 6:14).
In II Peter 1:4 to 10 we are told how Christians can be fruitful Christians and keep from being near-sighted and from falling. When they obey these instructions they will not forget that they were cleansed from sin. This is by adding several virtues to faith. It is not the additions, or the failure to add them, that saves; but the faith to which they are added. (Ephesians 2:8 to 10 - Romans 4:4 and 5). But Christians who do not add may fall. Christians stand in grace (Romans 5:2). God is able to keep them from falling (Jude 24); and make them stand. (Romans 14:4).
The Hebrews wanted to return to the sacrifices of Israel’s “shadow” days, to supplement the finished work of Christ with the old testament offerings. (Hebrews 10:1 to 10). The Holy Spirit told them there was no more sacrifice for sin. (Hebrews 10:18 - 10:26).
If those Hebrews could have fallen away after trusting in Christ’s shed blood, they could not have been renewed after having fallen away, if they had believed unto the saving of their soul (Hebrews 10:39). But the worshipper once purged should have no more conscience of sin. (Hebrews 10:2).
Therefore, Hebrews 6:4 to 6 could not mean that a person once out of Adam into Christ (II Corinthians 5:17 and I Corinthians 12:13), would fall away, if he should backslide; for the Holy Spirit tells spiritual Christians to restore such a one to the Lord. (Galatians 6:1 and 2). In Hebrews 6:4 to 6 the fallen cannot be renewed. So this does not teach that one in Christ can fall out of Christ. God is able to make them stand (Romans 14:4). A Christian can never be condemned with the world. (I Corinthians 11:32).
There are two Greek words translated “fall” in Romans 11:11 - “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should FALL? God forbid: but rather through their FALL salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.” The second “fall” is trespass.
Believing Jews were in the remnant according to the election of grace. (Romans 11:5 to 9). The rest were blinded. They fell through unbelief. Through their “trespass”, salvation was sent to Gentiles, who are to stand by faith. (Romans 11:20 and 21).
There is to be a great falling away, but this will be a falling away of professors who believe not. (II Thessalonians 2:1 to 12). And on them the great Stone of Matthew 21:44 will fall and grind them to powder.

CHRIST THE GOD-MAN

2009-11-13T09:04:00.000-08:00

The Divine truth recorded in Philippians 2:5 to 9 has been called “the greatest story of the ages.”
1. Christ was in the form of God.
2. Christ thought it not a thing to be grasped after to be equal with God.
3. Christ made Himself of no reputation and became a servant.
4. Christ became a Man to be obedient unto the death of the cross.
5. God hath highly exalted Christ and given Him a name which is above every name that men might acknowledge His Deity and worship and honor Him.
In Colossians 1:17 and 16 we read that Christ is before all things and by Him all things consist and that all things in heaven and on earth were created by Christ and for Christ.
In Hebrews 1:3 we read that Christ is the express image of God’s Person and the effulgence of God’s glory.
In Romans 8:3 we read that Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.
In Colossians 2:9 we read that in Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
In John 17:5 and 25 we read that Christ had glory with the Father and was loved by the Father before the foundation of the world.
In John 1:18 we read that Christ was in the bosom of the Father.
In I John 1:2 the apostle John testifies concerning Christ “that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us.”
In John 6:38 - John 6:33 - John 6:50 and 51 and 58 the Lord Jesus Christ, in no uncertain language, said that He came down from heaven.
In John 1:10 we read that Christ was in the world; that the world was made by Christ; and that the world knew not Christ.
In John 1:1 to 4 we read that Christ was God (the Word), and that all things were made by Him; and that without Him nothing was made.
In John 1:14 we read that the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men. In Hebrews 1:8 Go calls His Son, “God.”
In John 10:31 to 34 Christ said, “I and Father are one.” Christ’s own nation stoned Him; “because being a Man thou makest Thyself God.”
In John 20:28 Thomas saw the resurrected Christ and said, “My Lord and my God.”
In Revelation 1:8 we read the Lord’s own testimony: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
In Romans 10:9 and 10 we read the condition of salvation; acknowledging the eternal Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and believing in His bodily resurrection. Confessing that Jesus Christ was a very good man, even the best of men, and claiming to believe that He experienced some kind of a spiritual resurrection, but that He is not now in a glorified body which was raised from the dead, is wholly inadequate and brings no salvation. Christ said, “if ye believe not that ‘I AM’, ye shall die in your sins”. (John 8:24); “He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9). Several times the Scriptures call Christ, “God”. Read Isaiah 9:6 and Romans 9:4 to 6 in addition to the other Scriptures we have mentioned. Christ calls Himself the “I AM” more than 20 times in John’s Gospel, in which Gospel He speaks of Himself 684 times in the first person pronoun. Thomas was right, “My Lord and my God.” It is most interesting to read Job 9:32 and 33 - as we consider Christ as the “GodMan.” Job said God is not a man, that I should answer Him, that we should come together in judgment - “Neither is there any DAYSMAN betwixt us, who might lay His hand upon both of us.” A daysman is one appointed to arbitrate in arguments, to settle disputes. Job wanted a Divine human Person. “When the fulness of time was come God sent forth His Son, made of a woman to be the Redeemer. (Galatians 4:4). On the cross Christ was indeed the DAYSMAN when He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (II Corinthians 5:21).

JESUS CHRIST THE SAME FOREVER

2009-11-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Many Christians have been considerably confused as to the meaning of the statement that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8).
In Colossians 2:9 we read that in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. In John 1:1 to 4 and Colossians 1:15 to 17 and Philippians 2:5 and 6, we read, that Christ, before His incarnation, was in the form of God, ‘that He was God,’ that He was the Creator. As the preexistent uncreated Christ and in His humility, death, exaltation, as to His eternal, and essential Deity, truly He is forever the same.
In John 1:14 and in Hebrews 2:14, we read, that God became flesh, a partaker of flesh and blood. In Luke 24:39 Christ said, “a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have.”
Is there a difference between a body of flesh and blood and a body of flesh and bones? What kind of a body did Christ have before God prepared for Him that body mentioned in Hebrews 10:5? When Christ was in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18) Christ had God’s form, but not a human body. Later He was made in “the likeness of sinful flesh.” (Philippians 2:5 to 9 - Romans 8:3).
Was not Christ on earth “the King of Israel” “the King of the Jews”? (John 1:49 - Matthew 2:2). Is He not now the Head of the Church in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile, as such? (Ephesians 1:19 to 23 - Ephesians 2:16 to 21).
We read in Galatians 4:4 and Romans 15:8 that Jesus Christ was a Minister of the circumcision made under the law. Is Christ now under the law? God’s people are under grace and Christ is dealing with Jews and Gentiles under the dispensation of grace. (Romans 6:14 - Ephesians 3:1 to 4). Is Christ now a minister of Israel as He was here on earth, sent only to Israel? (Matthew 15:24).
Now compare Acts 2:22 with Colossians 1:27; for the Holy Spirit instructs believers to test things that differ. Jesus of Nazareth in the midst of Israel, here on earth as a Man, witnessing with miracles, His credentials, is quite different from Christ in the Gentiles, the hope of glory, a mystery by revelation.
When God gave the full revelation of the great mystery then His program of miracles ceased. Read II Corinthians 5:16. Different gifts were given unto believers. Compare I Corinthians 12:8 to 11 and Ephesians 4:9 to 13.
While Christ had a body of flesh and blood He was God. (Hebrews 1:8). When Christ had a body, of flesh and bones Thomas said, “my Lord and my God”. (John 20:28). Christ was God before He had either body. His essential and eternal Deity never changes.
So Christ is the same as to His Deity. But think of the difference between Christ now in heaven as a Priest after the order of Melchisedec (Hebrews 7:1 to 3) and as He was in heaven before He became Jesus of Nazareth. Christ is the same but He changes as to His form and His ministry. He is now far above all heavens on His Father’s throne while God is building the Church, or Body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:9 to 13). After the Body has been completed Christ will return and build again the tabernacle of David and sit, as Prince of Peace, on the throne of His glory, as King and Judge. (Amos 9:11 to 15 - Isaiah 9:6 and 7) (Matthew 25:31 to 35).
When Christ came the first time He submitted Himself unto the judgment of men. When He comes the second time, apart from sin, (Hebrews 9:28), He will do the judging of men. (Acts 17:31 - II Thessalonians 1:7 to 10).
So we should think how Christ changes in form and ministry when we read Hebrews 1:12 and Hebrews 1:8 and Hebrews 13:8.

RIGHTEOUSNESS NOT BY THE LAW

2009-11-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

From these and other Scriptures we learn that there is no righteousness for the sinner by law-keeping. No one can get into heaven by obeying the ten commandments. If righteousness come by the law, Christ died in vain. (Galatians 2:21). If there had been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. (Galatians 3:21). But Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4). On the cross of Calvary the sinless Christ, Who knew no sin, was made sin for us; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (II Corinthians 5:21). With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. (Romans 10:9 and 10). To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5).
From these and many other Scriptures we learn that righteousness, which is acceptable to God, is not a human attainment; that no person can earn it or purchase it, or merit it by good religious behaviour, or by ritual, ceremony or human endeavor. Righteousness is God’s free gift to believing sinners. The only place in the universe of God where the sinner can find that righteousness is in Christ Jesus on the cross of Calvary.
No person can become righteous by trying to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ the Righteous, or by trying to follow Him, the great Example, or by trying to practice the ethics of Christ, or by struggling with the Sermon on the Mount or by striving to obey the Golden Rule. We must receive the nature of Christ at Calvary before we can practice the ethics of Christ.
In Galatians 3:14 and Romans 4:21 to 25 we learn that the blessing of Abraham is for every sinner who will do what Abram did for his righteousness, believe God Who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead, Who was delivered for our offences and raised up for our justification.
Paul was a conscientious, zealous, sincere, law-keeping, religious man. He gave up all of this, that he might win Christ and “be found - in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” (Philippians 3:9).
The great truth concerning the reign of grace, righteousness and eternal life, is told in Romans 5:21: “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21).
God’s righteousness is available for any kind of a sinner, religious or otherwise, who will, by faith, receive the grace of God and the Son of God and His precious blood.
At the time God gives His righteousness to the believing sinner He also gives him the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 3:14 - Ephesians 1:13 and 14). Then by the Spirit’s power the righteous believer can and should fulfill the righteousness of the law, by walking in the Spirit. (Romans 8:4).
Man’s righteousness, apart from the grace of God and faith in the redemptive work of Christ, is as filthy rags in God’s sight; and man’s works of righteousness will not produce saving righteousness. (Compare Isaiah 64:6 - Ezekiel 33:13 to 15 with Titus 3:5 to 8 and II Corinthians 5:21).
In closing let us consider the GREAT “IF’S” of Matthew 26:39 - John 11:48 - I Corinthians 15:17, 18, 32 - Galatians 2:21 - Galatians 3:21 - John 8:24, John 12:26 - Romans 10:9 and 10 - II Timothy 2:21. “IF it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” “IF we leave Christ alone the Romans will act.” “IF Christ be not raised from the dead.” “IF righteousness come by man’s works, Christ died for naught.” “IF ye believe not that Christ is the I AM, ye shall die in your sins.” “IF you confess Him and believe, you will receive righteousness and salvation.” “IF you purge yourself, you shall be in God’s. House a vessel of honour.”

ARE BELIEVERS JUSTIFIED BY WORKS?

2009-11-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

If you desire real profit and a genuine blessing in this Bible study, be sure to read all of the Scriptures mentioned above.
In Romans 4:4 and 5 Paul states positively that good works contribute nothing whatever to a believer’s righteousness or justification. Justification by faith is to him that worketh not. In Ephesians 2:10 Paul shows the place for good works, following salvation without works.
Note the plain statements in Romans 3:28 and Romans 3:24, that because of the perfect redemptive work of the perfect Christ, the believing sinner is justified without the deeds of the law, even (dorian) without a cause, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16).
In James 2:24 and 21 we read: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac, his son upon the altar?”
At first Paul and James seem to teach contradictory doctrine. We know that James addressed the twelve tribes of Israel (James 1:1), that James was the Lord’s messenger to Israel (Galatians 2:9), that James caused Paul to shave his head and become a Jew in Jerusalem, that James caused Peter to refuse to eat with Gentile Christians, (Acts 21:18 and 23 to 27 - Galatians 2:11 to 13). We know what James said in Acts 15:19; that God, during the “Acts” period had one order for believing Jews and another for believing Gentiles. (Acts 21:25). But we must find in other Scriptures the explanation for this seeming contradiction.
We have heard that Martin Luther and others could not reconcile Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians with the truth in the Epistle of James, and so they doubted whether II Timothy 3:16 could apply to the Epistle of James. The Epistle of James is not only an inspired Epistle, but one with much valuable and practical teaching. James, addressed to “the twelve tribes”, like Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the first chapters of Acts, must be interpreted and applied in the light of Paul’s “grace” messages to members of the Body of Christ. (Ephesians 3:1 to 8).
Some explain James 2:17 to 26 to mean that man is justified by faith before God, and that man is justified by works before men. It is true that the believer should prove the reality of Christ and Christianity by good works, but certainly the Christian need do nothing to prove to God that he has been saved. God knows. (II Timothy 2:19).
Justified before men is not the explanation of James 2:17 to 26. Paul wrote of the covenant of promise, the gospel which God preached to Abram. (Read Galatians 3:8 Galatians 3:16 to 19). Paul wrote that Abraham was justified by faith, without works, in uncircumcision. (Romans 4:1 to 11) (Compare Genesis 15:6 - Genesis 17:24 and Genesis 22:16).
In Hebrews 6:17 to 20 we learn that God confirmed His covenant with an oath, And that the covenant and the oath are called “the two immutable things”. In Galatians 3:8 we learn that God preached the gospel to Abram (24 years before he became circumcised Abraham) at the time God gave Abram the covenant of promise. (Galatians 3:16 to 18). Abram believed God and that belief was counted to Abram for righteousness about forty years before God confirmed the covenant with an oath at the time Isaac was on the altar and Abraham was justified by works. Abram was just as righteous before He offered Isaac as thereafter. Paul referred to the covenant - James referred to the oath.

THE LORD’S ONE CHURCH

2009-11-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

In I Corinthians 12:13, we read one of the most comprehensive messages in all of the Bible. Here we have truth as to who is included in salvation, in this present age and reign of grace and who is excluded: “For by one Spirit were we all baptized into one Body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
We know that in this age and dispensation of grace, the Jews have no priority rights or special spiritual privileges. The gospel of the kingdom is to be preached when the Jews are in favor with God. This means the “rise” of Israel. The gospel of the grace of God is now being preached because Israel is in disfavor with God. This means the “fall” of Israel. (Romans 11:11 - Romans 11:25 - Romans 11:30). However, the majority of the first members of the Body of Christ were Jews. Later on the Gentile converts out-numbered the Jews. But all believers, Jews and Gentiles, were baptized into the Church, called in Ephesians 3:6, “the JointBody.” This is still God’s way for the Jew or the Gentile to become a “Church-member”.
We read concerning Israel, (The Jews), in Romans 11:20 and 23: “because of unbelief they were broken off. “God is able to graft them in again.” “For God hath concluded them all (Gentiles and Jews) in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all.” (Romans 11:32).
There is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile in this age of grace. (Romans 10:12). There was a very great difference between the Jews and Gentiles while Christ was in the midst of Israel on earth. (Mark 7:27 - Matthew 15:24 to 28 - Acts 2:22).
Christ on the cross took that difference out of the way (Ephesians 2:13 to 19). And how plain is God’s Word, that whether the Gentile or the Jew is saved and made a member of God’s Church, which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28), it is all by the operation of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. No Gentile and no Jew can join himself to God’s Church. Believing Gentiles and believing Jews are baptized by one Spirit into one Body. God gives the increase. Salvation is of the Lord. He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit. (I Corinthians 6:17). The one Body is called, “the Joint-Body” in Ephesians 3:6.
Note what Christ’s perfect redemptive work on the cross has accomplished for believing Gentiles and believing Jews. That He (Christ) might reconcile both (Gentiles and Jews) in one Body by the cross, “and came and preached peace to you which were afar off (Gentiles) and to them that were nigh (Jews).” (Ephesians 2:16 and 17).
By this Divine operation Gentiles are no longer strangers but fellow-citizens with the saints in the Household of God, and all the believing Jews and believing Gentiles make up the Joint-Body of Ephesians 3:6. (Ephesians 2:19). This is to be the filling-up of Christ, the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 1:23 and Ephesians 4:13).
Surely after reading this simple, but profound, truth no person will believe that he can be saved by joining some local assembly, or church organization. “They two shall be one flesh. I speak concerning Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:31 and 32).
God exhorts His people “not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.” (Hebrews 10:25) Peter and John, “being let go, they went to their own company.” (Acts 4:23). Every Christian should have his own company. But no person should think he is going to heaven because he attends irregularly or regularly “church” services. Outside of the invisible Organism, which is quite different from some sectarian visible organization, there is no salvation during this age and dispensation of grace. Read carefully I Timothy 3:15 and 16 and obey the instructions, “behave thyself in the House of God’, the Church of the living God.”

VESSELS IN GOD’S HOUSE

2009-11-13T07:54:00.000-08:00

In II Timothy 2:1 , the servant of the Lord is exhorted to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
In II Timothy 2:3 the servant of the Lord is exhorted to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
In II Timothy 2:15 the servant of the Lord is expected to study to show himself approved unto God and rightly divide the Word of truth.
In II Timothy 2:19 the servant of the Lord is exhorted to depart from iniquity.
In II Timothy 4:2 and 5 the servant of the Lord is told to preach the Word and to do the work of an evangelist.
If the servant of the Lord will faithfully obey these exhortations, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work. (II Timothy 2:21).
Every member of the Body of Christ is a vessel in a House (a great House). (I1 Timothy 2:20).
In I Timothy 3:15 the servant of the Lord is told how he should behave in the House of God which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Those same instructions are stated in different language in Ephesians 4:1: “That ye walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called.”
It is beyond human imagination what the Church of the living God, as the pillar and ground of the truth, could do, if members of that Church would be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, if they would endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, if they would rightly divide the Word of truth, if they would depart from iniquity.
Members of the Church of the living God, Which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28), are certainly vessels in a great House. Think of the price that was paid for this House and the glorious future of this House: “ . . . Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that is should be holy and without blemish.”
Surely every Christian should desire to be a vessel of honor in this great House, sanctified and easily used for the Lord Jesus Christ, Who said, “if any man serve Me, him will My Father honor.” (John 12:26).
We read concerning Christ as the Chief Corner Stone in this great House, “In Whom all the Building fitly framed (joined) together groweth unto an Holy Temple in the Lord. In Whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:21 and 22). “The Household of God.” (Ephesians 2:20). What an honour to be in this Household, this Temple, this Building! To be “in Christ” in this age of grace, means to be a member of. God’s Family, a child of God, an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ. (Romans 8:15 and 16).
It is possible to be saved so as by fire and not be a vessel of honour in this great House, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use. (I Corinthians 3:15). But why not have the very best that God has for us?
Reader, if you feel that you have been a failure and consider your case about hopeless, read Jeremiah’s visit to the potter’s house in Jeremiah 18:1 to 6 and see how God’s prophet saw the potter “re-make” the marred vessel. Then read God’s word; that He could do the same with a marred sinner. Turn from this scene to Judas and the potter’s field in Matthew 27:3 to 10. God is the Great Potter. We are the vessels. If you are a sinner, let God save you, by His grace and His Son. If you are a saint, let God use you. “Purge yourself from these.” Be a vessel of honour in God’s Great House. Remember I Corinthians 15:58 and I Corinthians 3:13 to 15. God is a Great God. He gives eternal life to receivers. Then He pays well for service.

UNDER THE LAW OR IN CHRIST

2009-11-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

In Romans 8:2 to 4 we read of the three great laws of the Bible:
1. The law of sin and death. 2. The law given at Sinai. 3. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
Let us read Romans 5:18 - II Corinthians 3:9 and John 3:18: “Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to CONDEMNATION; even so by the righteousness of one (Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” “For if the ministration of CONDEMNATION be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.” “He that believeth on Him (Christ) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Here we learn that the people to whom Peter preached on the day of Pentecost were thrice condemned.
1. They were condemned in Adam.
2. They were condemned by the Ten Commandments.
3. They were condemned because they rejected Jesus Christ as Saviour.
In and by and through Adam the whole world is ruined and guilty before God, condemned, unrighteous, alienated and dead in trespasses and sins. There is no hope for the worst or the best person who remains in Adam. By Adam sin entered - death entered - death passed upon all men. (Romans 5:12). By Adam “the entrance of sin.” The law entered by Moses that the offence that entered by Adam might abound (Romans 5:20). By the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified in God’s sight. By the law (Moses) “the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:19 and 20).
The law was Israel’s schoolmaster to bring them to Christ that they might be justified by faith; and justified, they were no longer under the schoolmaster (the law). (Galatians 3:24 and 25). Members of Christ’s Body are under grace; not under the law. (Romans 6:14).
Now hear the good news in Christ Jesus: “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4). “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21). “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man (Christ) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38 and 39). Dwell on this blessed and glorious good news. The heathen to whom Paul preached were not under the law before they were saved by grace, and certainly not thereafter. (I Corinthians 9:20 to 25).
1. By Adam is the entrance of sin.
2. By Moses is the knowledge of sin.
3. By Christ Jesus is the forgiveness of sin.
Upon the human race sin and death reign by Adam and Moses, the law of sin and death and the law of the Ten Commandments, the ministration of death, ordained unto death. (II Corinthians 3:7 and Romans 7:10).
But there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1), because of the efficacy, value and power of the law of life in Christ Jesus, in accordance with Romans 8:3 - John 10:17 and 18 and 28 - and II Timothy 1:10.
“For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did: by the which we draw nigh unto God.” (Hebrews 7:19). “What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh”, Christ did do. (Romans 8:3). “Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:13). Which is better “in Christ” or “under the law”? (Romans 6:14).

GOD’S GIFTS ARE WITHOUT REPENTANCE

2009-11-13T06:25:00.000-08:00

Whether or not this lesson is of great interest to you, it is one of the most important lessons in all the Bible for those who would know God’s past, present and future dealings with Jews and Gentiles. We should know that the Jew is one of the important keys to the Bible.
In our Scripture reading we note, 1. For Jehovah’s SAKE. 2. For the Gentiles’ SAKE. 3. For the fathers’ (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) SAKE. 4. For Christ’s SAKE.
Now let us read prayerfully and spiritually Ezekiel 36:21 , 22, 24, 28, and 32: “But I had pity for Mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.” “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your SAKES, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s SAKE which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.” “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” “And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” “Not for your SAKES do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” Now Romans 11:26 to 29, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written. There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for YOUR SAKES: but as touching the election they are beloved for THE FATHERS’ SAKE. FOR THE GIFTS AND CALLING OF GOD ARE WITHOUT REPENTANCE.”
Now let us compare Ephesians 4:32 and Matthew 6:15: “And be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s SAKE hath forgiven you.” “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Here we have the difference between “grace” forgiveness and “law” forgiveness.
The above Scripture should be self-explanatory. Let us emphasize Romans 11:29: “FOR THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING OF GOD ARE WITHOUT REPENTANCE.”
When the Holy Spirit said, “All Israel shall be saved” (Romans 11:26), He did not mean that the individual Israelites, who reject Christ and His gospel in this age and dispensation of grace, or those who died before in sin and unbelief, will be saved; for in this same chapter we read of the severity and goodness of God; goodness with a condition, (Romans 11:22 and 23). Israel, as a nation, is to be restored. (Isaiah 62:1 to 4 - Amos 9:11 to 15). But the eternal wrath of God against lost Jews is told in Romans 2.
God has a future glorious program for this earth, and Israel is to have a prominent place in that program. Israel committed four great sins and God set them aside temporarily: 1. Israel killed the prophets. 2. Israel killed the Prince of Life. 3. Israel blasphemed and resisted the Holy Spirit. 4. Israel forbade the apostles to preach to Gentiles. (Matthew 23:31 to 33 - Matthew 21:34 to 40 - Acts 7:51 to 55 - Acts 18:5 - I Thessalonians 2:14 and 15).
Then Israel fell under God’s judgment of blindness, and they became enemies of the gospel for the Gentiles’ sake. (Romans 11:28).
How much time have you spent studying Romans 11:28 to 30? What have you done for the Jews, in obedience to Romans 11:31 ?
Then the Gentiles obtained mercy because of Israel’s unbelief, blindness and fall. (Romans 11:8 to 11 - 26 and Romans 11:30).
With Israel’s disobedience unbelief, blindness and fall began the reign of grace, The alienated heathen were forgiven all their sins FOR CHRIST’S SAKE. (Ephesians 2:1 to 9 - Ephesians 4:32 - Colossians 2:13).
When God again saves Israel it will be FOR THE FATHERS’ SAKE (Romans 11:27 to 29). It will be for Jehovah’s SAKE. (Ezekiel 36:22 and 32). So we want to cry with Paul Romans 11:33 and 34 - Read it: And believe Ephesians 1:11. As you read of God’s free gift in Romans 6:23, remember “without repentance.”

WHEN DID THE REIGN OF LAW CEASE?

2009-11-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

Many Christians have been much confused as to the meaning of Christ’s words in Luke 16:16 - “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.”
Some Bible teachers have tried to prove from this verse two errors, which they have taught; first, that the reign of law ceased when John the Baptist began his public ministry and then and there the reign of grace and the kingdom of God, which is the Body of Christ, began.
We learn from Luke 2:39 that, before John the Baptist came out from the wilderness, what was done for the Holy Child Jesus was in accordance with the law of Moses. But after John announced his mission and preached to Israel, we read in Luke 4:16: “And He (Christ) came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.”
Then, we note, in Christ’s ministry to Israel, the truth of Matthew 8:4 - Matthew 5:24 and Matthew 23:1 to 3: “Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to His disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”
From these, and other Scriptures, we get something of the meaning of the words of Christ, in Matthew 5:17, and the words concerning Christ, in Galatians 4:4 - “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, under the law.”
Jesus Christ was made under the law. He and His twelve apostles lived and ministered under the law, while He was on earth as the minister of the circumcision (Romans 15:8). Christ, on earth, did not instruct either saved or unsaved Israelites to abandon the feasts of - Jehovah (Leviticus 23) or the sacrifice of animals. The truth of John 4:23 and 24 was not understood until after the beginning of the reign of grace. In Matthew 23:1 to 3 Christ told His apostles to respect the “law” seat of Moses. In Colossians 2:14 we read when the law was taken out of the way. “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.”
Therefore, when Christ preached the Sermon on the Mount the law had not been blotted out and the Golden Rule is the very essence of the law; (Matthew 7:12); and so is Matthew 6:14 and 15. Concerning the Golden Rule, Christ said, “This is the law.” Matthew 7:12. Note 6:14 and 15: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14 and 15.
Even the messenger whom God sent to Saul of Tarsus, after Calvary, was a devout man according to the law (Acts 22:12). The transition from “under the law” to “under grace” was after Christ died and became the end of the law for righteousness, and even then it was gradual and not sudden. And surely the Body of Christ did not begin in the days of John the Baptist.

HOW BELIEVERS RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT

2009-11-13T06:23:00.000-08:00

We are told in Galatians 3:14 and Ephesians 1:13 that Christ died on the cross that believers might receive the Holy Spirit by faith. “After that ye believed” in Ephesians 1:13 is the Greek participle (pisteusantes) and should be translated “believing.” ‘‘Believing, ye received the Holy Spirit.”
Note the questions in Galatians 3:2 and 3: “ . . Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you foolish? having begun in the Spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
The Holy Spirit, like eternal life, salvation and God’s righteousness, is God’s free gift to any believing sinner who will receive God’s grace and God’s Son.
It is sad, but true, that there are many really saved people who say that they do not know if they have, or have not, received the Holy Spirit. Some Christians misinterpret the question of Paul in Acts 19:2, “believing, received ye the Holy Spirit” and doubt whether the Holy Spirit is given to any who do not obey Luke 24:49, and tarry for the Holy Spirit. “Since ye believed” in Acts 19:2, is also from the Greek “pisteusantes”, “believing:”
In this age and dispensation of grace Ephesians 2:8 to 10 is altogether true, salvation is by grace without works, religious or otherwise, without praying or agonizing. Also we should believe Ephesians 1:3 and 1:19 and 20. Note these statements: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with ALL spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ.” “And what is the exceeding greatness of HIS POWER TO USWARD who believe, according to the working of His mighty power; “Which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenlies.”
If the believer, saved by grace, is blessed with ALL spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, and the MIGHTY POWER OR GOD is his, because he is a believer, then with ALL blessings, why seek a second blessing? If too the believer is provided with ALL POWER and all grace (II Corinthians 9:8), why seek for more? Let us not seek a second blessing until we exhaust the ALL blessings. God’s way is: “Be it unto you according to your faith.” Unlimited spiritual resources are on deposit for the believer who is in Christ. All believers are in Christ, So, spiritually, the believer in Christ is a multimillionaire and can never exhaust his riches and blessings and power and grace in Christ. Christ’s riches are the believer’s riches.
In this age of grace believers do not receive the Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit baptism on the installment plan. A Christian is a “Christ one” - one anointed and sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption, (II Corinthians 1:21 to 23) (Ephesians 1:14 - 4:30).
There are no short cuts to the Spirit - filled life. Walk in the Spirit is God’s instruction. (Galatians 5:24 and 25 - Romans 8:4).
What is necessary for the development of the physical man? Good Food - Good Water - Good Air - Good Exercise - Good Rest.
What is necessary for the believer who would be filled with the Holy Spirit? Regular and systematic Holy Spirit Bible Study. Much Prayer. Do not pray or tarry or agonize for more of the Holy Spirit Who is a Person, but that the Holy Spirit may have more of you as you obey Romans 8:4. Real Holy Spirit worship. Remember Mary and Martha. Mary chose the better part. Worship first and then service - (I Thessalonians 1:19 and 10). Assembling with other saints for public worship. Walking in the good works of Ephesians 2:10. Witnessing, walking and waiting for God’s Son from heaven, as we walk in the Spirit and manifest the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16 to 26).
You cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit by responding to altar calls, or second blessings calls, unless that response means obedience to God’s spiritual laws. Development from childhood to manhood, whether physical or spiritual, is gradual and unceasing obedience to certain laws or rules.

IN ADAM - IN CHRIST

2009-11-13T06:22:00.000-08:00

In these Scriptures we learn that the first man whom God created is called, “the first man” and “the first Adam,” and that the Lord Jesus Christ is called, “the second Man from heaven,” “the last Adam”.
We learn that the history of the human race is told in the words “in Adam” and “in Christ.” The history of the human race is the story of the first man and the second Man.
By the first man came death. By the Second Man came the resurrection of the dead. (I Corinthians 15:20 to 22).
In Adam all die. Note how this is told in Romans 5:12: “Wherefore as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
In John 5:24 we have the words of the Lord Jesus: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth in Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
This is the way this same truth is stated in Colossians 2:13 and in Ephesians 2:5 and 6: “And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He made alive together with Him (Christ), having forgiven you all trespasses.” “Even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved), And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.”
This is the confirmation of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 11:25 and 26: “I am the resurrection and the life, He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.”
This refers to the believer’s spiritual resurrection right here and now, and to His bodily resurrection when the Lord Jesus Christ comes for His saints, as described in I Thessalonians 4:13 to 18.
Out of Adam into Christ means out of death into life, out of darkness into light, out of the world into the Body of Christ. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17). “Baptized by one Spirit into one Body.” (I Corinthians 12:13).
“In Christ” is the place of eternal life, security, Divine blessing, yea, all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. (Ephesians 1:3). In His Epistles the apostle Paul used the words “in Christ” or the equivalent, about eighty times.
The believer is God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:10). He has been made alive. (Ephesians 2:5 - Colossians 2:13). He is alive from the dead. (Romans 6:13).
The believer, already alive spiritually, is to be made alive at the coming of the second Man. (I Corinthians 15:20 to 23). This has reference to the believer’s resurrection body.
Christ, in His resurrection, was the Firstfruits of them that slept. (I Corinthians 15:20). He is the believer’s Forerunner, entered into heaven. (Hebrews 6:19 and 20). They that are Christ’s, redeemed by His precious blood, will be made alive at His coming. (I Corinthians 15:21 to 23 - I Corinthians 15:51 to 54).
Note the believer’s testimony in I John 3:1 to 3: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He (Christ) shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And. every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
As Adam was disobedient unto death, and brought alienation, condemnation, unrighteousness and death, so Christ was obedient unto death and brought reconciliation, justification, righteousness and eternal life. (Romans 5:12 to 21 - Philippians 2:5 to 9).
Adam brought the curse and the thorns. Christ bore the curse when He wore the thorns.

BY ADAM . . . BY MOSES . . . BY CHRIST.

2009-11-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

From Adam To Moses
(Romans 5:12 to 14)

FROM MOSES AND SINAI TO CHRIST AND CALVARY. (Galatians 3:19)

In John 1:17 we read, that the LAW was given by Moses; but GRACE and truth came by Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:1 to 4 we learn that Christ, by GRACE, did for sinners what Moses and the LAW could not do. We have often heard the statement, “what the LAW (the Ten Commandments) demanded (righteousness) GRACE provides.” “By Jesus Christ all who believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the LAW of Moses.” (Acts 13:39).
In Romans 5:12 we read, “by one man (Adam) SIN entered into the world.” “In Romans 5:20 we learn that the LAW entered, that the SIN (that entered by Adam) might abound. GRACE came by Jesus Christ. So in the fifth chapter of Romans we read of “SIN,” “LAW” and “GRACE.” SIN, by Adam; LAW, by Moses; GRACE, by JESUS CHRIST. By Moses is the LAW; and by the LAW is the knowledge of SIN. (Romans 3:20). The LAW was added because of transgression, that SIN might be exceeding sinful, and that all the world might become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19 . . . 7:13 and Galatians 3:19). Let us read how “SIN,” “LAW” and “GRACE” are mentioned in Romans 5:19 to 21:
“For as by one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One (Jesus Christ) shall many be made righteous. Moreover the LAW entered that the OFFENCE (SIN) might abound. But where SIN abounded GRACE did MUCH MORE (over)abound: That as SIN hath reigned unto DEATH, even so might GRACE reign through righteousness unto eternal life by jesus Christ our Lord.”
No human being has ever heard more startling and important news than is published in these three verses of Scripture. GRACE provides for the vilest and guiltiest sinner a sure remedy for SIN and teaches the sinner that salvation from the penalty of sin, the eternal, righteous wrath of God, is NOT BY WHAT MAN DOES FOR GOD, or can do, but BY WHAT GOD, IN GRACE, DOES FOR MAN. This GRACE reigns through and by Jesus Christ. The most respectable, religious, moral, cultured child of Adam needs this same GRACE; for there is no difference, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). This glory of God has been revealed in God’s perfect LAW, the TEN COMMANDMENTS, and God’s perfect SON, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. SIN is the transgression of the LAW. (I John 3:4). Then note the SIN of not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 16:7 to 10). “Whosoever committeth SIN transgresseth also the LAW; for SIN is the transgression of the LAW.” (I John 3:4).
In my judgment the truth of the fifth chapter of Romans is one of the very first messages to be given to the DEAD SINNER and also the very first Bible truth to be taught to the LIVING SAINT, as a babe in Christ. (I Peter 2:1). Let us never fail to get this simple, but all﷓important, truth from the Bible; that the men and women of this world are divided into just two groups, “DEAD SINNERS” and “LIVING SAINTS.” The Bible does tell us that LIVING SAINTS are divided into carnal saints and spiritual saints. (I Corinthians 2:15 to 3:5). In this same (I Corinthians 6:9 to 12) we learn, as we do in Ephesians 2:1 to 10 and Titus 3:4 to 8, how God, the Father, Son and Holy; Spirit, makes LIVING SAINTS out of DEAD SINNERS, without man’s works, religious ceremonies, or church activities. God expects the worship, praise, devotion and faithful services of LIVING SAINTS, but He will have none of this from DEAD SINNERS; for they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8). Until condemned sinners receive from God through Jesus Christ, eternal life, “by grace” “through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), God will neither reward nor recognize anything that man offers Him. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the NAME of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks unto God, the Father, by Him.” (Colossians 3:17). (I Corinthians 3:14 and 15). “He that believeth on the Son is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18).

WHEN DID THE LAW ENTER?

As we read Galatians 3:19, “the law was added because of transgression,” and Romans 5:20, “the law entered,” let us also read Jeremiah 31:31 to 35 and learn that the law was added, the law entered, at the time that God took Israel by the hand to lead Israel out of the land of Egypt. At that time Moses was 80 years old. (Exodus 7:7). The LAW was given by Moses; but that LAW was written on tables of stone by the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18). God entered into the LAW contract with Israel at Sinai. The Divine Record is found in the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Exodus. At that time Israel had been in Egypt for more than 200 years. Israel went down to Egypt about 1700 B.C. and came up out of Egypt about 1500 B. C.. SIN entered, by Adam, in the Garden of Eden. The LAW entered by Moses about 2500 years after SIN entered by Adam. More than 1500 years after the LAW of Moses entered, that the SIN that entered by Adam might abound, GRACE came by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was made under the LAW to redeem them that were under the LAW. (Galatians 4:4). Thus we learn that, By Adam is the ENTRANCE of SIN; By Moses is the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN (Romans 3:20); and By Jesus Christ is the FORGIVENESS of SIN. (Acts 13:38).
A very important truth for every person to learn is the fact that when God tells us, in Galatians 3:19, the LAW was added to the covenant of promise till the SEED of Abraham (Christ) came, He wants us to understand that the (OLD) COVENANT was added to the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (THE GOSPEL WHICH GOD PREACHED TO ABRAM) till Christ was made a curse on the tree. (Galatians 3:8—Galatians 3:13 to 17). Therefore, the OLD COVENANT was both temporary and parenthetical, and according to II Corinthians 3:9 to 16, it has been abolished or made useless. It has vanished away. (Hebrews 8:13). But the Abrahamic Covenant has not been done away, and the LAW of SIN and DEATH, that entered by Adam, is still in full force and effect. Christ was made a curse on the tree to deliver Israel from the curse of the LAW. (Galatians 3:13). Up to that time the LAW was Israel’s SCHOOLMASTER (tyrannical child﷓trainer) to bring Israel to Christ for justification by faith. (Galatians 3:24 and 25). We conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the LAW; and if righteousness come by the LAW, Christ died for naught. (Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:21).

RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH—WITHOUT THE LAW.

How wonderful it would be, if every person in this world would permit the Holy Spirit to teach him the truth of Romans 9:30 to 32! Hear this all﷓important truth from almighty God:
“What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the LAW of righteousness, hath not attained to the LAW of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the LAW. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone.”
More than ninety per cent of the members of our human race stumble at this stumblingstone. Because most of these members are incurably religious, because the human heart of unbelief is desperately wicked and deceitful, and because the infinite, marvelous, matchless, superabounding grace of the God of all grace is too much for the wisdom or imagination of the human mind and heart, it is almost impossible to teach the children of Adam, religious and otherwise, that RIGHTEOUSNESS is not a human attainment, but a Divine gift. Christ on the cross was made sin for us, that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM. (II Corinthians 5:21). “With the heart man believeth unto RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Romans 10:9 to 11). “Christ is our RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (I Corinthians 1:29 to 32). “To him that WORKETH NOT, but BELIEVETH on HIM that justifieth the ungodly, his FAITH IS COUNTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Romans 4:5). Hear it! Receive it at full face value! Believe it with all your heart! Claim it with all your soul! God demands RIGHTEOUSNESS for entrance into the glories of heaven. The natural man is destitute and devoid of any righteousness except that which is called in God’s Book, “filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6) The righteous deeds of the natural, unregenerated man displease God. (Ezekiel 33:13 . . . Romans 4:4 . . . Acts 8:20 and 21 . . . Romans 8:7 and I Corinthians 2:14).
When we read, in Romans 10:4, that Christ is the end of the LAW FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS to everyone that believeth, and in Romans 8:2, that the LAW of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus makes the believer free from the LAW OF SIN AND DEATH, let us get it clearly fixed in our minds and hearts—and this will have to be by faith in God’s Word—that Our RIGHTEOUSNESS is not by a LAW that we keep, but by the LAW which Christ established in His perfect LIFE, His perfect SACRIFICE and His victory over death, after He had perfectly kept God’s perfect LAW. The LAW of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus, and the GRACE of the God of all GRACE, enable and teach the LIVING SAINTS how to behave as becometh saints and to fulfill the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW, by walking in the Spirit. (Romans 8:4 . . . II Corinthians 9:8 . . . Titus 2:11 to 14). DEAD SINNERS do not become LIVING SAINTS by behaving; but by believing. “By GRACE were ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; not of works, lest any man should boast; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8 to 10). DEAD SINNERS are saved without works. LIVING SAINTS will be rewarded for good works.
Most assuredly, if the justified Israelites were no longer under the SCHOOLMASTER after they received the crucified and resurrected Christ, the justified Gentiles, who were justified freely by God’s grace, through the redemption in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24 to 26), were not under the LAW. (Romans 6:14). (Galatians 3:25). By His death on the cross Christ abolished the LAW of COMMANDMENTS that stood between Israel and the Gentiles. (Ephesians 2:15). Concerning this LAW, we read in II Corinthians 3:7 to 18, it was “done away,” “abolished,” “done away in Christ.” “THAT WHICH IS ABOLISHED.” (verse 13). So the LAW of Moses, which was God’s holy, just, perfect, spiritual, good LAW, came in and passed away. God had to get it out of the way before He could deal with Adam’s children in full.

THE REIGN AND GOSPEL OF GRACE

There was much grace manifested by God before the reign of LAW and during the reign of LAW, in any and all former dispensations, but we should understand and appreciate the difference between GRACE IN A DISPENSATION and “THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD” committed to the apostle Paul by special revelation. (Ephesians 3:1 to 3).
Yes, there was GRACE “FROM ADAM TO MOSES,” “WHEN THERE IS NO LAW.” (Romans 5:12 to 14). Certainly Abel, Noah and Abram found GRACE in the sight of God. There surely was much GRACE in Israel’s blood﷓sprinkled MERCY SEAT. (Exodus 25:22 . . . Leviticus 16:15). Surely Jesus of Nazareth, under the LAW, manifested GRACE in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, to the adulterous women He met, to the thief an the cross, and to many, many sinners; but at that time He told His own disciples to respect the seat of Moses and go not to the Gentile dogs. (Matthew 23:1 to 3 . . . Mark 7:24 to 30 . . . Matthew 10:5 to 8). Thus we cannot find the DISPENSATION and FULL REIGN OF GRACE until after God’s KINGDOM NATION (ISRAEL) was set aside. (Romans 11:30).
By the LAW of Sinai all Israelites were condemned. (II Corinthians 3:9 and Acts 15:10 . . . Romans 4:15). That ministration of condemnation passed away. But another LAW, by which all the children of Adam are condemned, never passed away. (Romans 5:17 to 19). By that LAW OF SIN AND DEATH, which is universal and in full force and effect, judgment unto condemnation and death, spiritual, physical and eternal, has passed upon all men. DEATH reigned from Adam to Moses, before the LAW was given by Moses. (Romans 5:12 to 14). It reigned for 1500 years from Sinai to Calvary; and it is still reigning. However, there is a sense in which the SIN question became the SON question when Christ died on the cross. (John 8:24 . . . John 3:7 to 19. . . . John 3:36 . . . John 16:7 to 11).
Thus we have two “DEATH” LAWS . . . The LAW of SIN AND DEATH, that entered by Adam, and the MINISTRATION OF DEATH, the LAW that entered by Moses. (Romans 8:2 . . . Romans 7:10 . . . II Corinthians 3:7). But while in the midst of LIFE there is DEATH, by the GRACE of God, reigning through RIGHTEOUSNESS unto ETERNAL LIFE through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, in the midst of DEATH there is LIFE, through this Divine LAW of the Spirit of LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS, which frees the believing sinner from the LAW of SIN AND DEATH: something the TEN COMMANDMENTS could not do. (Romans 8:2 to 4). Yes, the LAW of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus sets the believing sinner free from the LAW of SIN and DEATH and causes the Holy Spirit to indwell that believer, and, if the Holy Spirit is permitted to control, that believer will fulfill the righteousness of the LAW. (Romans 8:2 to 4). The LAW of Moses could not deliver the believer from the LAW of SIN and DEATH; but could only cause him to cry, “O wretched man that I am . . . who shall deliver me from the body of this DEATH?” (Romans 7:24).

FOOLISH CHRISTIANS

Why did the apostle Paul call the Christians in Galatia, “Foolish Galatians?” (Galatians 3:1 to 3). Because those foolish Galatians thought they had to add the LAW of Moses to the LAW of the Spirit of LIFE in Christ Jesus to be delivered from the LAW of SIN and DEATH.
Sinners, in Ephesians 2:1 to 6, are said to be DEAD in trespasses and SINS, by nature the children of wrath. In Ephesians 4:18, they are said to be alienated from the LIFE of God. Therefore, nothing that nature can do for man can take him out of DEATH. How foolish to believe that a DEAD man struggling with the TEN COMMANDMENTS, which God calls the MINISTRATION OF DEATH, can thereby find LIFE. The free gift of God is eternal LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23); for GRACE reigns through righteousness unto eternal LIFE by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21). GOD is not a merchant offering eternal life and righteousness for sale. Who could pay the price demanded? Only Christ, His only begotten Son could—Christ did pay the price. Now God can be both just and the justifier of any and all who receive His grace and His Son. (Romans 3:24 to 26). The Lord Jesus was both the holy ark of the covenant and the blood﷓sprinkled mercy﷓seat. He is the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. (I John 2:2). Because of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ believing Jews and believing Gentiles receive God’s mercy. But one of the most important truths of the Bible has been overlooked by more than ninety﷓nine per cent of Christians and this is the truth we shall present in our Lesson Number Two—We simply mention it here—Hear it! Receive it! Believe it—In no other way can you understand and appreciate the truth of Ephesians 3:1 to 3 concerning “THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD” for Gentiles and thus rightly divide the Word of Truth, in obedience to II Timothy 2:15.
“For as ye (Gentiles) in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their (Israel’s) unbelief.” (Romans 11:30).
Tell yourself what this means. It is certainly a simple statement—But so important. In the GRACE message, which Christ revealed to and through the apostle Paul, there were two reasons why the Gentiles received mercy from God, first because of the redemptive work of Christ and second, because of Israel’s unbelief. Hold on to this as we go to our next lesson.

CHRIST CAME UNTO HIS OWN AND HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT.

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(John 1:11) This Statement In the Light of Romans 5:10 and 11 and Romans 11:30 and 15.
In Romans 5:10 we read that we were RECONCILED to God by the death of His Son. God sent not His Son into the WORLD to condemn the WORLD; but that the WORLD through Him might be saved. (John 3:17). If God wanted the WORLD to be saved while His Son was on earth, as Jesus of Nazareth, why did that Son say, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel?” (Matthew 15:24). The lost sheep of the House of Israel were a small part of the WORLD. The Gentiles were in the majority and surely the Gentiles were a part of the WORLD that God loved; but in very plain language the Lord Jesus Christ instructed His twelve apostles, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles.” (Matthew 10:5 and 6). When those twelve messengers had the opportunity to preach the gospel to a Gentile, while Christ was in the flesh, they said to Christ, “send her away.” (Matthew 15:23). This was not because of Jewish prejudice, but because of a positive command from Christ. Christ Himself said to this Gentile, “let the children (Israel) FIRST BE FILLED.” (Mark 7:24 to 30). In Acts 13:23 we read that Christ was born of David’s Seed, to be ISRAEL’S Saviour. In Acts 5:29 to 32 we read that Christ was raised from the dead to be ISRAEL’S Saviour. Christ was of ISRAEL, God over all, blessed forever; the Seed of Abraham. (Romans 9:4 to 6 . . . Hebrews 2:16 and 17). Christ was made under the law; a Minister of the circumcision. (Galatians 4:4 and Romans 15:8). Christ was dedicated according to the law, after He had been circumcised. (Luke 2:39 and 2:21). It was the custom of Christ to go to ISRAEL’S synagogue on ISRAEL’S Sabbath. (Luke 4:16). He commanded His people to obey the law, including the ceremonial law. (Matthew 23:1 to 3 and Matthew 8:3 to 6).
Christ called ISRAEL, believers and unbelievers, “the children of the kingdom.” (Matthew 8:12). Years later the Holy Spirit spoke of ISRAEL as the natural branches and of the Gentiles as the wild olive tree. (Romans 11:17 to 23). Christ called ISRAEL, “the children”; and the Gentiles, “dogs.” (Mark 7:24 to 30 . . . Matthew 15:21 to 28). Seven or eight years after the death of Christ Eleven of the Twelve apostles condemned Peter for preaching to a splendid, religious Gentile, who gave money to ISRAEL and prayed to ISRAEL’S God, a devout, God﷓fearing, just Gentile. (Acts 11:1 to 4 . . . Acts 10:2 and 22). The disciples of the resurrected Christ, for some years after the death of Christ, preached God’s Word “to none but Jews only.” (Acts 11:19). They even declared that it was unlawful to go to Gentiles seven years after the risen Christ said, “disciple all nations.” (Acts 10:28 and Matthew 28:19 and 20).
After Christ told ISRAEL, in Luke 19:43 to 46, that they did not know the things that belonged to their peace, and did not know the time of their visitation, they crucified Him. (I Thessalonians 2:14 to 16). In the hour of His death Christ prayed for His murderers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). So God knew that ISRAEL, in ignorance, had killed the Prince of Life, Whose death was inevitable. (Acts 3:14 to 18 . . . Acts 2:22 and 23 . . . I Peter 1:18 to 20 . . . John 12:27 to 33 . . John 3:13 and 14 . . . Acts 13:27 to 30). Therefore, 3,000 of Christ’s ISRAEL were saved on the day of Pentecost. But John wrote years afterward that Christ’s Own received Him not. In John 2:11, John 2:22 and 23, John 7:31, John 8:30, John 10:42, John 12:11 and 42 we read that many ISRAELITES believed on Jesus. And yet the statement in John 1:11 is, “His Own received Him not.” In Acts 4:4 we read that 5,000 believed on Him. These were Jews. In Acts 9:42 and Acts 11:21 we read of many that believed. They were Israelites and received Christ. But His OWN received Him not.

THE REMNANT AND THE REST OF ISRAEL

Some years later the Holy Spirit, by the pen of the apostle Paul, wrote concerning ISRAEL: “At this present time also (about 60 A.D.) there is a remnant according to the election of grace.” “Israel hath not obtained that which He seeketh for; but the election hath obtained and THE REST WERE BLINDED.” (Romans 11:5 to 7). God blinded them. (Romans 11:8 and 9). That blindness from God upon Israel is to continue until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25). In this same Eleventh Chapter of Romans where we learn of Israel’s blindness, we read of Israel’s unbelief, Israel’s fall and Israel as being cast away. With every one of these terrible things that happened to Israel we read that God’s judgment upon Israel brought to the Gentiles the most wonderful blessing that the Nations of the earth ever received, “Salvation,” “Reconciliation” and “Divine Mercy.” (Romans 11:11 . . . Romans 11:15 and Romans 11:30).
Christ’s OWN received Christ not, in incarnation, that Christ might go to Calvary and put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Acts 3:18 . . . Acts 2:23 . . . Matthew 26:24 . . . John 12:27 to 33). God’s OWN received Him not, in resurrection; that God might conclude all in unbelief; “THAT HE MIGHT HAVE MERCY UPON ALL.” (Romans 11:32).
Thus we learn why Christ’s OWN received Him not. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. (Matthew 21:42 and Acts 4:24 to 29). “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). The Greek “PAST FINDING OUT” is the same Greek word, translated, in Ephesians 3:8, “UNSEARCHABLE,” referring to the “UNTRACEABLE” Riches of Christ for Gentiles, when and because of Israel’s unbelief, blindness and fall.

GOD’S UNPROPHESIED GRACE PROGRAM

All through the Old Testament Scriptures God’s inspired prophets foretold wonderful blessings for all NATIONS, through the one NATION, ISRAEL, blessings spiritual and physical. These blessings were to come upon the other NATIONS when the one NATION is enjoying the prophesied KINGDOM blessings of God. For this reason this message is called, in the Bible, “THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.” In connection with the UNSEARCHABLE Riches of Christ for Gentiles, the apostle Paul wrote of the MYSTERY OF THE GOSPEL. (Ephesians 6:19 and 20). The Gospel for the NATIONS, mentioned in Romans 16:25 and 26, is according to the revelation of the mystery, but not so the prophesied GOSPEL of the KINGDOM.
Now let us again read and believe Romans 11:30, that the Gentiles, who in times past did not believe God, received mercy BECAUSE OF ISRAEL’S UNBELIEF. There is, perhaps, no more important verse of Scripture to teach us the dispensational aspect of God’s message and program of grace. Certainly there is nothing in the so﷓called ‘great commission’ of Matthew 28:19 and 20, “disciple all nations,” that contemplated such a message and program; namely, that God’s mercy would not be extended to the other nations until the mutual rejection of God and Israel should first take place, and then, by the fall of Israel, salvation would come to the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy; when and because God would cast away Israel, reconciliation would be offered the WORLD. (Romans 11:11 and Romans 11:15). Surely we see how very important it is to understand the Eleventh Chapter of Romans before we can understand Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:1 to 11, in which verses we are told that Christ, by revelation, made known unto him “the dispensation of the grace of God for Gentiles,” “the unsearchable riches of Christ for Gentiles,” “the fellowship (dispensation) of the mystery hid in God from before the foundation of the world,” “God’s eternal purpose in Christ.” We are never ready to receive the “mystery” of Ephesians 3:1 to 11 until we understand the “mystery” of Romans 11:25, “that a blindness in part is happened unto Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
As we think of the statement of John 1:11, “Christ came unto His own and His own received him not,” in the light of the Eleventh Chapter of Romans, let us also think of Paul’s all﷓important statement to Israel, in Acts 13:46: “it was necessary that the Word of God should FIRST have been spoken to you (ISRAEL); but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we TURN TO THE GENTILES.” More than twelve years before this declaration the resurrected Christ instructed the apostles to disciple ALL NATIONS. (Matthew 28:19 and 20). But in God’s eternal purpose the Gentiles were not to receive the GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD (Acts 20:24) until Israel rejected Christ, in resurrection (Acts 13:30 to 37 . . . Acts 5:31), as they had rejected Him, in incarnation. Therefore, after the resurrection of Christ, Peter and the Eleven said unto Israel, “you FIRST” (Acts 3:26); and Paul said unto Israel, “you FIRST.” (Acts 13:46 . . . Acts 18:5 and 6).

CAST﷓AWAY ISRAEL—RECONCILED GENTILES

Then followed the truth that all spiritual, intelligent students of the Bible believe; truth that they must understand, if they are to obey Ephesians 3:9 and know how to be “GRACE” evangelists or “GRACE” Bible﷓teachers . . . “The casting away of them (ISRAEL) the RECONCILING OF THE WORLD.” (Romans 11:15).
As we have learned that for two reasons the Gentiles obtained mercy from God; because of Christ’s death on the cross, and because of the unbelief of Israel, we learn in Romans 5:10 and 11 and Romans 11:15 the two reasons why RECONCILIATION was preached unto the Gentiles. Let us carefully note Romans 5:10 and 11 and Romans 11 :15:
“For if, when we were enemies, we were RECONCILED to God by the DEATH OF HIS SON, much more, being RECONCILED, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the RECONCILIATION.”
“For if the casting away of them (ISRAEL) be the RECONCILING of the WORLD.”
The Gentiles then were RECONCILED because of the DEATH of Christ; and also when and because ISRAEL was cast away. This ISRAEL’S Old Testament prophets never contemplated. The Gentiles obtained MERCY because of ISRAEL’S unbelief. (Romans 11:30). This suggests the question, what would have happened to the Gentiles, if Israel had believed, if Israel had not been cast away? Do we believe Romans 11:26, that when the fulness of the GENTILES be come in, “ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED.” At that time where will the Gentiles be, the Gentiles who are now being saved by grace and made members of the Body of Christ? After ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED what about the millions of Gentiles, the heathen, who will be living on this earth? Surely this age of grace is not the last age when God will be dealing with ISRAEL and the GENTILES. Many times the future earthly glory of Israel is guaranteed in God’s sure Word of Prophecy. (II Peter 1:19). The Bible speaks of ISRAEL as the HEAD and ISRAEL as the TAIL; the RISE and FALL of ISRAEL. (Deuteronomy 28:13— Deuteronomy 28:44). When ISRAEL is the HEAD the saved Gentiles are in subjection to Israel. But today we are living in “THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES,” both politically and spiritually. ISRAEL is now the TAIL. Politically, “THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES” began about 600 B.C. in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. (The last chapters of Jeremiah and 2 Kings). Spiritually, “THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES” began when God blinded ISRAEL after He elected the remnant. So we read in Luke 21:24 that “THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES WILL BE FULFILLED,” and we read in Romans 11:25, “THE FULNESS OF THE GENTILES BE COME IN”; one refers to the end of the political subjugation of the Jews and the other to their spiritual subjugation. This marks the end of God’s special favor for the Gentiles, known as “THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD FOR GENTILES.” (Ephesians 3:1 to 4). This will end with the UNITY and PERFECT MAN of Ephesians 4:13. Then follows God’s Kingdom age on earth—ISRAEL will RISE and again be HEAD.
So we say that all intelligent, spiritual students of the Scriptures believe that ISRAEL’S FALL brought God’s reign and dispensation of grace for Gentiles. And it is so important that we know that this FALL of ISRAEL had not taken place when Peter preached to Israel, in Acts 2, or when he preached to Cornelius, the Gentile, in Acts 10. Peter certainly did not preach to Cornelius to provoke Israel to jealousy. Cornelius did not receive God’s mercy, because of Israel’s unbelief. This new program was not inaugurated until God sent Barnabas and Saul and they warned ISRAEL of the impending judgment, which had not yet fallen. (Acts 13:2 and Acts 13:40 and 41).
In the ministry of Peter and the Eleven, from Israel’s Pentecost until the Twelve, some years later, rejoiced in the salvation of the household of Cornelius (Acts 11:18), we have a pattern of God’s “KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” program, which is to be after the close of this present economy and program of GRACE.
Two of the most important Scriptures for the understanding of the beginning and end of the dispensation of grace, we repeat, are John 1:11 and Romans 11:30 . . . “Christ came unto His OWN and His OWN received Him not.” Because they received Him not, in resurrection as well as in incarnation, because of ISRAEL’S UNBELIEF the Gentiles obtained mercy. Because ISRAEL was cast away RECONCILIATION was preached to ALIENATED HEATHEN (Ephesians 4:18 . . . Colossians 1:21). They experienced something a little different from the new birth: they were made A NEW CREATION. (Galatians 6:15 . . . Ephesians 2:10 . . . II Corinthians 5:17). ALIENATION in Adam. RECONCILIATION and the NEW CREATION in Christ. (II Corinthians 5:16 to 21).

A COMPARISON OF ACTS 1:6, MATTHEW 2:2 AND ACTS 28:28

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Let us compare the first question in the Book of Acts with the question asked more than thirty years before, and a statement made about thirty years after the "Acts" question.
In Acts 1:6 is recorded the question of the eleven apostles (Judas not with them) between the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"
Now the first question in Matthew at the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
"Where is He that is born King of the Jews?"
Now the statement in Acts 28:28:
"Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it." Acts 28:28.
"LORD WILT THOU AT THIS TIME RESTORE AGAIN THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL?"
"WHERE IS HE THAT IS BORN KING OF THE JEWS?"
"THE SALVATION OF GOD IS SENT TO THE GENTILES."
Note that the apostles addressed the risen Christ as "Lord" and they knew He was Divine and omnipotent, that He could restore the kingdom to Israel.
We note that. this Divine Lord was born King of the Jews. In this connection let us note Matthew 1:1 Romans 15:8—Acts 13:23—and Matthew 15:24:
"The Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham." Matthew 1:1.
"Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Romans 15:8.
"Of this man's seed hath God, according to His promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus." Acts 13:23.
"But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Matthew 15:24.
Jesus Christ was born King of the Jews. He came unto His own and his own received Him not. Because His own received Him not the Gentiles obtained mercy.
Let us note in Romans 11:11, 15 and 30 why salvation was sent to the Gentiles.
"I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy." Romans 11:11.
"For if the casting away of them (the Jews) be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" Romans 11:13.
"For as ye (Gentiles) in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained merry through their unbelief." Romans 11:30.
Thus we see that Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews, was the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; that He was a minister of the circumcision to confirm God's promises to Israel, that God raised up from David a Saviour for Israel, and that this Saviour dogmatically and emphatically affirmed that He was sent only to Israel.
Then we see that because of Israel's unbelief, mercy was extended to the Gentiles, that reconciliation was sent to Gentiles when and because Israel was cast away, that salvation was sent to the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy.
But let us not assume or presume, that Israel had fallen when Peter and the Eleven stood up in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Salvation was not then preached to Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy or for any other reason.

THE KINGDOM RESTORED TO ISRAEL

When the apostles asked, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel," note the Lord's answer: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. "Acts 1:7.
There are many, many Divine prophecies which guarantee this restoration of the kingdom and the kingdom nation. Note how it is stated in Acts 3:21 and 24:
"Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began:"
"Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days:"
All of God's holy prophets since the world began foretold the glorious rein of Israel's King on earth and the wonderful kingdom blessings that Israel will enjoy in that kingdom age. Note Hebrews 8:10 and 11 and Romans 11:26:
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man has neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest." Hebrews 8:10 and 17.
"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Romans 11:26.
Yea, Moses, Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken have likewise foretold of these days. Because of Revelation 20:1 to 9 Christians speak of "these days," these coining kingdom days, as the millennium. Some refer to the coming "golden age.”

WHAT THE TWELVE DID NOT KNOW

Now carefully note the words of Christ to His apostles in John 16:12 and 13:
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now, Howbeit, when the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth."
There were many things they could not bear.
There were many things they did not know. They could have known and should have known the truth of I Peter 1:11
"Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
They could have known, and should have known, that Jesus, the promised Messiah, was to suffer and die on the tree and that He was also to sit on David's throne; that is, that Jesus Christ was to be the Lamb of God, and the Prince of Peace. "The sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow." They did not know, and were not expected to know, at the time that the Twelve stood up on the day of Pentecost, that there would be generations and centuries between the suffering and the glory of the Messiah; for God's "grace" program, between the crucifixion of the King of the Jews and His return to the earth, was hid from ages and from generations. Colossians 1:26. Therefore we speak with full Scriptural authority when we refer to this present, dispensation and age as a parenthetical period, an unprophesied period and program.
So when we perceive that Peter and the Eleven did not know that the Lord would postpone His prophesied kingdom until He had built His unprophesied Body (Ephesians 4:9 to 14) we understand why they asked the question, "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"
They had the right to be intensely interested in the kingdom. Note the words spoken to them by Jesus of Nazareth, King of Israel:
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
"Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupt. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12:32 and 33.
"And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is as hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils, freely ye have received, freely give." "But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: For verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." Matthew 10:7, 8 and 23.
"Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee, what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matthew 19:27 and 28.
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall he sit upon the throne of His glory." "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:31 and 34.
As you carefully and prayerfully consider these statements, imagine yourself to be one of those apostles who had received John the Baptist's baptism several years before Christ died. They had heard John say, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand" "Christ shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit." Then they were told to preach to the Jews "the kingdom of heaven is at hand." They left all to follow the King. They sold their earthly possessions. The Son of man was to come as a King and sit on His throne on earth. The twelve apostles were to remain in the cities of Israel until the Son of man came and then they were to sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Remember, there are very many things that you and I know, or should know, concerning the Body of Christ and the dispensation of the grace of God (Ephesians 3:1 to 3), that was wholly unknown to the twelve apostles of the King who had received their specific orders, “go not into the way of the Gentiles." Matthew 10:5. The Spirit of Truth had not come to lead them into all truth. Read John 7:38 and 39 and John 16:12.
Note carefully Luke 18:31 and 34; that the twelve apostles did not understand the words of the King when He told them He would be rejected, crucified and raised from the dead. Then the King made the general statement to Israel:
"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, the Stone which the builders rejected, the Same is become the Head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Matthew 21:42 and 43.
Note in Acts 4:11 that Peter declared to Israel that the Stone had been set at naught and had become the Head of the corner. But little did Peter understand what Christ meant when He declared that He would take the kingdom of God from Israel and give it to a nation bringing forth fruit; for, several years later Peter declared that it was not lawful for him to associate with Gentiles. Acts 10:28. Still later he refused to eat with even Gentile Christians. Galatians 2:17 to 14. Paul and Peter decided that Peter and his associates should go to the Jews years after Christ died on the cross. Galatians 2:9. Surely there was some reason why Peter and the Eleven remained in Jerusalem. Acts 8:1 and Acts 15:1 to 13.

ISRAEL'S KINGDOM—GENTILES' SALVATION

Again compare Acts 1:6 with Acts 28:28:
"When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"
"Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it."
All through the Old Testament Scriptures there is much prophecy concerning the two facts, namely, that the kingdom would be restored to Israel and that, salvation would be sent to the Gentiles. But of course in this order, first, the kingdom to Israel and then, salvation to the Gentiles. But nothing of the mystery of Romans 11:25, 26 and 30:
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." "For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have not obtained mercy through their unbelief."
So when the judgment of God was pronounced upon Israel, in Acts 28:25 to 27, and then the statement was made that salvation would be sent to Gentiles, that meant that salvation would be sent to the Gentiles in a way not foretold or mentioned in the Old Testament Scriptures It was after this pronouncement that Paul wrote those significant words of Ephesians 3:8, although the same Divine truth is suggested in Romans 16:25 and Acts 20:24. We quote the three verses:
"Unto me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 3:8.
"Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began." Romans 16:25.
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24.
God's message preached to Gentiles in connection with the kingdom presented to Israel is called "the gospel of the kingdom." God's message preached to Gentiles when, and because the kingdom nation was set aside, is called "the ministry of reconciliation" "the gospel of the grace of God." Read II Corinthians 5:18 to 21. We should of course know the difference between grace in a dispensation, and "the dispensation of grace."
Then as we study the Book of Acts, let us keep in mind two different kingdoms, the one which is Christ's "political-spiritual" kingdom and Christ's spiritual kingdom. Note Colossians 1:13 and Matthew 25:31:
"Who hath delivered us front the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son."
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory."
Member's of Christ Body are in the spiritual kingdom of Christ mentioned in Colossians 1:13. But Christ’s is certainly making no attempt to establish His political﷓spiritual kingdom of Matthew 25:31 at this time. And He will not until the culmination of this age of grace mentioned in Ephesians 4:12 and 13:
"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a Perfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
Christ is the Head of the spiritual kingdom while the Church Which is His Body, is in the making. His throne is far above in the heavenlies. In fact, He is on His Father's throne in heaven. But Christ, as the Son of man and King, will sit on the throne of His glory here on this earth and be the King of His "political﷓spiritual" kingdom. Read Isaiah 9:6 and 7—Luke 1:27 to 33. Also the thirty﷓sixth and thirty﷓seventh chapters of Ezekiel.
Now let us also keep in mind that the Old Testament prophets knew about the "political﷓spiritual" kingdom of Christ to be set up on this earth and spoke about it, and wrote about it. All of them spoke of "these days." Acts 3:24. Not one of them spoke of the spiritual kingdom or Body, of Christ, which is to be the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:19 to 23.

ACTS—THE BOOK BETWEEN

Let us think of the Book of Acts as the "Book Between." By this we mean that it is the Book between the proclamation of Israel's Messianic kingdom and the clear written revelation of God's eternal purpose, or the dispensation of the mystery. Ephesians 3:9. It is after God set aside His kingdom nation that we find the clear written revelation in the Divine Record of God's reign of grace, unmixed with religion and religions ceremonies. As an illustration let us compare Matthew 10:5 to 8 with Titus 2:11—I Timothy 5:23 and II Timothy 4:20:
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded then, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:5 to 8.
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Titus 2:11.
"Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities." I Timothy 5:23.
"Erastus abode at Corinth; but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." II Timothy 4:20.
At a glance we note the difference between the kingdom at hand for Israel with miraculous healing and signs and the grace of God at hand for Gentiles as well as for Jews and the absence of miraculous healings and signs.
This present age of grace has been called a signless and timeless and a religionless age. But throughout the period covered by the Book of Acts there were visions, miraculous jail deliverances, angelic visitations and the sign﷓gifts of I Corinthians 12:8 to 11.
With Divine authority today we can preach that the grace of God that bringeth salvation is at hand for all, and for all believers the elective healing of Philippians 2:20 to 23. But we have no Scriptural right to preach that the same kingdom of heaven is at hand that was at hand when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth as the minister of the circumcision.
Note Acts 2:22—Galatians 4:4—Acts 5:30 to 32:
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know." Acts 2:22.
"But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law." Galatians 4:4.
"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree."
"Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, Whom God hath given to them that obey Him." Acts 5:30 to 32.
Jesus of Nazareth was put on display in the land of the Jews for Israel by miracles and signs. He was made under the law. Christ was presented to Israel to be their Prince and Saviour, both in incarnation and in resurrection. What a difference between Acts 5:30 and 31, Christ raised from the dead to be Israel's Prince and Saviour, and Christ, seated far above in Ephesians 1:19 to 23, as Head of the Church composed of Gentiles and Jews. Read Ephesians 1:19 to 23 as to the present heavenly Headship of Christ. Then note in the second chapter:
"And that He might reconcile both unto God in one Body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you that were afar off and to them that were nigh." Ephesians 2:16 and 17.
After the revelation and proclamation of the gospel of grace, even in the Book of Acts, we find religion, signs, signgifts and religious ceremonies, but with the close of the Book, they waned and passed away Read I Corinthians 13:8 to 11.

THE CHILDREN OF THE KINGDOM

Note carefully Mark 7:27 and Matthew 8:12:
"But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled; for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs."
"But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Here we observe that, the Lord Jesus referred to the Jews as "the children," as "the children of the kingdom.” Here we have the records of Christ's dealings with two Gentiles of great faith. Read Luke 7:1 to 12 and Matthew 15:21 to 27.
To the Gentile woman the lord Jesus declared that the children (the Jews) were first to be filled. To the Gentile man Christ said that the Jews would be cast out. Note how this order is carried out during the "Acts" period:
"Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts 3:25 and 26.
" Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the Word to none but unto the Jews only." Acts 11 :19.
"Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, LO, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES." Acts 13:46.
"And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto then, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." Acts 18:6.
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day." Romans 11:7 and 8.
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Romans 11:25.
"And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word. Well spake the Holy Spirit by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers. Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and be converted, and I should heal them." Acts 28:25 to 28.
Thus we learn that, in the ministry of Christ to the two Gentiles while He was on earth, we have the Divine order or the Book of Acts presented. First, the children being filled. Second the children being cast out; blinded by God. That blindness and unbelief brought mercy and salvation and reconciliation to Gentiles. Romans 11:11 to 30. But certainly not until Paul received his new commission of Acts 13:2 and obeyed that commission. Then he Said in Acts 13:46, "Lo we turn to the Gentiles." "Then God hath opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles." Acts 14:21. These statements mark a very definite turning﷓point in God's dealings with the Gentiles.

THE SECOND CHAPTER OF ACTS

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In another lesson we shall study concerning Judas and Matthias, but let us now consider some facts in the second chapter of Acts:
1. PETER STOOD UP WITH ELEVEN OTHERS, INCLUDING MATTHIAS. ACTS 2:14. HERE THEN WE HAVE TWELVE APOSTLES, ALL JEWS. TWELVE APOSTLES TO TWELVE TRIBES. THE NUMBER "TWELVE" SPEAKS OF ISRAEL.
2. THEY ADDRESSED DEVOUT JEWS FROM EVERY NATION UNDER HEAVEN. ACTS 2:5. THEY GAVE A MESSAGE THAT CONCERNED ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. ACTS 2:36. NOTE ACTS 2:22: "YE MEN OF ISRAEL."
3. THE APOSTLES, AND OTHER DEVOUT JEWS, WERE IN THE CITY OF JERUSALEM ON A RELIGIOUS JEWISH FEAST DAY. ACTS 2:1 TO 5. THEY WERE ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE PROPHETS AND THE. COVENANTS. ACTS 3:25.
4. COMPARE ACTS 2:1 WITH ACTS 20:16 AND ACTS 23:4 AND 5: "AND WHEN THE DAY OF PENTECOST WAS FULLY COME, THEY WERE ALL WITH ONE ACCORD IN ONE PLACE." ACTS 2:1.
"FOR PAUL HAD DETERMINED TO SAIL BY EPHESUS, BECAUSE HE WOULD NOT SPEND THE TIME IN ASIA: FOR HE HASTED, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE FOR HIM, TO BE AT JERUSALEM THE DAY OF PENTECOST." ACTS 20:16.
"AND THEY THAT STOOD BY SAID REVILEST THOU GOD'S HIGH PRIEST? THEN SAID PAUL, I WIST NOT, BRETHREN, THAT HE WAS THE HIGH PRIEST: FOR IT IS WRITTEN, THOU SHALT NOT SPEAK EVIL OF THE RULER OF THY PEOPLE." ACTS 23:4 AND 5.
5. IN THE AUDIENCE THERE WERE SOME PROSELYTES AND VISITING JEWS FROM AS FAR AS ROME. ACTS 2:10. THE PROSELYTES WERE GENTILES WHO HAD BECOME JEWS BY RELIGION. READ ESTHER 8:17 AND GENESIS 17:8 TO 18. LET US KEEP IN MIND THAT WHILE JESUS CHRIST WAS ON EARTH HE WAS A MINISTER OF THE CIRCUMCISION, MADE UNDER THE LAW, AND THEREFORE, IF ANY GENTILE MEN WERE SAVED WHILE JESUS OF NAZARETH WAS ON EARTH, THEY HAD TO BE CIRCUMCISED TO ENJOY FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD'S COVENANT PEOPLE.
6. WHEN PETER REFERRED TO THE PROMISE IN ACTS 2:39 "TO YOUR CHILDREN," AND "TO ALL THAT ARE AFAR OFF," HE WAS REFERRING TO THE DISPERSION, WHOM HE ADDRESSED IN HIS EPISTLE, THE FAR﷓OFF JEWS. DANIEL 9:6 TO 8—I PETER 1:1 TO 3 ACTS 10:28.
7. COMPARE PETER'S MESSAGE, IN ACTS 2:22 AND ACTS 10:36, 38 AND 39 WITH PAUL'S STATEMENT IN II CORINTHIANS 5:16:
"YE MEN OF ISRAEL, HEAR THESE WORDS; JESUS OF NAZARETH, A MAN APPROVED OF GOD AMONG YOU BY MIRACLES AND WONDERS AND SIGNS, WHICH GOD DID BY HIM IN THE MIDST OF YOU, AS YE YOURSELVES ALSO KNOW." ACTS 2:22.
"THE WORD WHICH GOD SENT TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, PREACHING PEACE BY JESUS CHRIST: (HE IS LORD OF ALL:)" "HOW GOD ANOINTED JESUS OF NAZARETH WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER: WHO WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD, AND HEALING ALL THAT WERE OPPRESSED OF THE DEVIL; FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM. AND WE ARE WITNESSES OF ALL THINGS WHICH HE DID BOTH IN THE LAND OF THE JEWS, AND IN JERUSALEM; WHOM THEY SLEW AND HANGED ON A TREE." ACTS 10:36, 38 AND 39. PETER PREACHED TO JEWS AND GENTILES CONCERNING JESUS OF NAZARETH, IN THE FLESH, WHAT HE DID IN THE LAND OF THE JEWS. PAUL DECLARED THAT HENCEFORTH CHRIST WAS NOT TO BE KNOWN AFTER THE FLESH.
8. NOTE THAT PETER ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST PREACHED TO ISRAEL CONCERNING THEIR LAST DAYS, CONCERNING WHICH JOEL PROPHESIED. ACTS 2:16 TO 21. COMPARE THE MYSTERY AMONG THE GENTILES, CONCERNING WHICH JOEL WAS SILENT, AND IGNORANT. NOTE THE CONTRAST: "JESUS OF NAZARETH IN THE MIDST OF ISRAEL, A WITNESS BY MIRACLES," AND "CHRIST IN (OR AMONG) THE GENTILES A MYSTERY BY REVELATION."
9. COMPARE LUKE 1:31 TO 33, THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE TO MARY WITH PETER'S MESSAGE TO ISRAEL IN ACTS 2:29 TO 31: "AND BEHOLD, THOU SHALT CONCEIVE IN THY WOMB, AND BRING FORTH A SON, AND SHALT CALL HIS NAME JESUS. HE SHALL BE GREAT, AND SHALL BE CALLED THE SON OF THE HIGHEST; AND THE LORD GOD SHALL GIVE UNTO HIM THE THRONE OF HIS FATHER DAVID: AND HE SHALL REIGN OVER THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER; AND OF HIS KINGDOM THERE SHALL BE NO END." LUKE 1 :31 TO 33.
"MEN AND BRETHREN, LET ME FREELY SPEAK UNTO YOU OF THE PATRIARCH DAVID, THAT HE IS BOTH DEAD AND BURIED, AND HIS SEPULCHRE IS WITH US UNTO THIS DAY. THEREFORE BEING A PROPHET, AND KNOWING THAT GOD HAD SWORN WITH AN OATH TO HIM, THAT OF THE FRUIT OF HIS LOINS, ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, HE WOULD RAISE UP CHRIST TO SIT ON HIS THRONE; HE, SEEING THIS BEFORE, SPAKE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, THAT HIS SOUL WAS NOT LEFT IN HELL, NEITHER HIS FLESH DID SEE CORRUPTION." ACTS 2:29 TO 31.
HERE AGAIN WE LEARN THE ALL IMPORTANT TRUTH FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD'S MESSAGE AND PROGRAM PRESENTED ON PENTECOST, THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN AND RAISED FROM THE DEAD TO OCCUPY DAVID'S THRONE. WHENEVER DAVID'S THRONE IS IN VIEW, THE MESSAGE IS FOR THE NATION ISRAEL AND IT IS THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.
10. NOTE CAREFULLY ACTS 2:38:
"THEN PETER SAID UNTO THEM, REPENT, AND BE BAPTIZED EVERY ONE OF YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT."
NOW LET US NOT HANDLE THE WORD OF GOD DECEITFULLY AND STATE THAT THIS MEANS REPENT AND BE SAVED AND THEN RECEIVE WATER BAPTISM AS A WITNESS TO THE WORLD THAT THE BELIEVER HAS BEEN BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM. LET US KEEP IN MIND THAT PETER AND THE ELEVEN HAD RECEIVED THEIR WATER BAPTISM MONTHS BEFORE THEY PREACHED ACTS 2:38. TO THEM WAS PREACHED WHAT THEY ALSO PREACHED, BAPTISM UNTO REPENTANCE FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS. LUKE 3:3 TO 16. THIS WAS THE MESSAGE AND CEREMONY WITH THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AT HAND. MATTHEW 3:2 TO 12.
11. NOTE ACTS 2:44 AND 45:
"AND ALL THAT BELIEVED WERE TOGETHER, AND HAD ALL THINGS COMMON; AND SOLD THEIR POSSESSIONS AND GOODS, AND PARTED THEM TO ALL MEN, AS EVERY MAN HAD NEED." THIS WAS A KINGDOM COMMUNISM, BUT IT IS NOT GOD'S PROGRAM FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST. IT IS NOTEWORTHY THAT THOSE WHO STATE THAT THE BODY OF CHRIST HAD ITS HISTORIC BEGINNING ON THE PENTECOST OF ACTS TWO, NEITHER PRACTICE THIS COMMUNISM COMMISSION NOR PREACH IT FOR THIS DISPENSATION. NEITHER DO THEY PREACH THE MESSAGE OF ACTS 2:38. NOTE THE KINGDOM MESSAGE AND PROGRAM OF LUKE 12:32 AND 33 AND ACTS 4:33 AND 34:
"SELL THAT YE HAVE, AND GIVE ALMS; PROVIDE YOURSELVES BAGS WHICH WAX NOT OLD, A TREASURE IN THE HEAVENS THAT FAILETH NOT, WHERE NO THIEF APPROACHETH NEITHER MOTH CORRUPT. FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO."
"AND WITH GREAT POWER GAVE THE APOSTLES WITNESS OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD JESUS: AND GREAT GRACE WAS UPON THEM ALL. NEITHER WAS THERE ANY AMONG THEM THAT LACKED: FOR AS MANY AS WERE POSSESSORS OF LAND OR HOUSES SOLD THEM, AND BROUGHT THE PRICES OF THE THINGS THAT WERE SOLD."
12. NOTE ACTS 2:47:
"PRAISING GOD AND HAVING FAVOR WITH ALL THE PEOPLE. AND THE LORD ADDED TO THE CHURCH DAILY SUCH AS SHOULD BE SAVED.
THE LORD ADDED TO THE CHURCH. WHILE THE WORD "CHURCH" IN THIS VERSE IS NOT FOUND IN SEVERAL OF THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS, YET GOD HAD A CHURCH ON HAND BEFORE PENTECOST. THE GREEK WORD "EKKLESIA" TRANSLATED "CHURCH" IS USED MANY TIMES IN THE SEPTUAGINT TRANSLATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES. NOTE IN ACTS 8:1:
"AND SAUL WAS CONSENTING UNTO HIS DEATH. AND AT THAT TIME THERE WAS A GREAT PERSECUTION AGAINST THE CHURCH WHICH WAS AT JERUSALEM."
"FOR YE HAVE HEARD OF MY CONVERSATION IN TIME PAST IN THE JEWS' RELIGION, HOW THAT BEYOND MEASURE I PERSECUTED THE CHURCH OF GOD AND WASTED IT." GALATIANS 1:13.
"FOR I AM THE LEAST OF THE APOSTLES, THAT AM NOT MEET TO BE CALLED AN APOSTLE, BECAUSE I PERSECUTED THE CHURCH OF GOD." I CORINTHIANS 15:9.
"CONCERNING ZEAL, PERSECUTING THE CHURCH TOUCHING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS IN THE LAW, BLAMELESS." PHILIPPIANS 3:6.
SAUL OF TARSUS PERSECUTED THE CHURCH COMPOSED OF JEWISH BELIEVERS BEFORE THERE EXISTED THE JOINT﷓BODY OF EPHESIANS 3:6 "THE CHURCH OF THE MYSTERY." SOME CHRISTIANS HAVE FUTILELY ATTEMPTED TO PROVE THAT THE CHURCH OF THE MYSTERY BEGAN WITH ACTS TWO BECAUSE PAUL DECLARED THAT HE PERSECUTED THE CHURCH OF GOD. THE WORD "EKKLESIA" MUST BE QUALIFIED, IF WE ARE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHURCH WHICH IS CHRIST'S BODY AND THE OTHER CHURCHES OF GOD IN THE BIBLE. NOTE ACTS 7:38:
"THIS IS HE, THAT WAS IN THE CHURCH IN THE WILDERNESS WITH THE ANGEL WHICH SPAKE TO HIM IN MOUNT SINAI, AND WITH OUR FATHERS: WHO RECEIVED THE LIVELY ORACLES TO GIVE UNTO US."
First let us observe that the eleven apostles were NOT only in the will of God when they chose Matthias to take the place of Judas In fulfillment of the Scriptures but they were definitely led by God in their selection of Matthias. Matthias was God's choice, to be numbered with the apostles. Note that Matthias had been associated with Christ on earth and with His apostles from the time John the Baptist preached until after the Lord Jesus was raised front the dead. Acts 1:16 and 20 to 26. Note God's approval "all with one accord in one place." Acts 2:1. Acts 2:44 and 4:24. "Were of one heart and one soul." Acts 4:32. "With gladness and singleness of heart." Acts 2:46. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit." Acts 4:31. this was a genuine work of God. The lord's servants, filled with the Holy Spirit, were led by the Holy Spirit. They were not led by their own carnal desires and influenced by their Jewish prejudices, as many Bible teachers leave claimed. Note their bold uncompromising stand, "We ought to obey God rather than men" Acts 5:29. They walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit." Acts 9:31. What presumption to say that the twelve apostles were prejudiced and disobedient and for this reason they did not obey the great commission of Matthew 28:19 and 20.
We emphasize this unity of purpose and blessing of God because there are men of God who teach that the eleven apostles were out of the will of God when they chose Matthias to take the place of Judas, that all twelve of the apostles were out of the will of God when they remained in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), and that they lost the rich blessing, of the Lord because they did not obey Matthew 28:19 and 20 and Mark 16:14 to 18 and go into all the world with the gospel. These Men say that because of their Jewish prejudice against the Gentiles and their disobedience, God rebuked them by choosing Saul of Tarsus to do the work that the lord intended the twelve to do. What folly and false charges against those faithful men of God who were filled with the Holy Spirit!

THE MINISTRY OT PETER AND THE ELEVEN

Let its note carefully several Scriptures:
"Afterward He appeared unto the Eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen. And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:14 to 18.
"And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the Word of the Gospel, and believe." Acts 15:7.
"And when James, Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision." Galatians 2:9.

PAUL'S MINISTRY

"For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office." Romans 11:13.
"For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the Word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth." "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister:" Colossians 1:5, 6 and 23.
Were all the apostles walking in the flesh? Is not the record clear that one mouth of the twelve mouths of the twelve apostles was chosen by the Lord to preach to Gentiles, but that Paul was THE apostle to the Gentiles and Peter and his fellow﷓apostles were to go to the Jews"? When the gospel was preached all over the World, it was under Paul's Christ given authority and supervision.
How strange that the same men of God, who tell, us in one message that the ideal Church was the apostolic Church from Pentecost on through the early "Acts" period, tell us in another message of the inconsistencies, spiritual lethargy and disobedience of those prejudiced Jewish apostles who refused to obey the great commission.
They tell us also that they have found out, not in the Bible but in Church history, that the twelve apostles finally realized their great mistake in not obeying Christ, and so after James, the brother of John, was beheaded (Acts 12:1 and 2) the apostles finally went out to the uttermost parts of the earth and preached to Gentiles in obedience to Acts 1:8. Undoubtedly they have overlooked Galatians 2:9 and Colossians 1:5, 6, and 23.
Surely they are workmen who need to be ashamed, because they do not rightly divide the Word of truth. They need to prayerfully study the visit of Paul by revelation, to Jerusalem more than fourteen years after he was converted, Galatians 2:1 to 6. Note why and when and how he went to Jerusalem. Then note the "but contrariwise" in verse seven. How significant the "contrariwise."
"BUT CONTRARIWISE, WHEN THEY SAW THAT THIS GOSPEL OF THE UNCIRCUMCISION WAS COMMITTED UNTO ME, AS THE GOSPEL OF THE CIRCUMCISION WAS UNTO PETER; (FOR HE THAT WROUGHT EFFECTUALLY IN PETER TO THE APOSTLESHIP OF THE CIRCUMCISION, THE. SAME WAS MIGHTY IN ME TOWARD THE GENTILES;) AND WHEN JAMES, PETER AND JOHN, WHO SEEMED TO BE PILLARS PERCEIVED THE GRACE THAT WAS GIVEN UNTO ME, THEY GAVE TO ME AND BARNABAS THE RIGHT HANDS OF FELLOWSHIP; THAT WE SHOULD GO UNTO THE HEATHEN, AND THEY UNTO THE CIRCUMCISION." Galatians 2:7 to 9.

IN FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY

What took place in the first chapters of Acts was in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Judas, the son of perdition, fell that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. John 17:10 to 17. The builders rejected the Stone that He might be the Head of the corner (not the head of the Body) in fulfillment of the Scriptures Christ was raised from the dead to be Israel's Prince and Saviour to occupy the throne of David in fulfillment of the scriptures. The Holy Spirit was poured out on the Jewish feast day in the Jewish city that the prophecy of Joel might be fulfilled.
"But this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." Acts 2:16 and 17.
Compare this with Colossians 1:24 to 26:
"Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and, fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body's sake, which is the Church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints."
How different! Joel knew nothing and said nothing about the dispensation which Christ the Lord committed to Paul. Surely we should know that the dispensation of the grace of God was a part of God's secret purpose concerning this age of grace, during which the Gentiles have a place of special Divine favor. We should also know that this secret purpose had nothing to do with the Divine program and message proclaimed by Peter and the Eleven on the day of Pentecost to the twelve tribes of Israel.
The revelation of the dispensation of the grace of God and the dispensation of the mystery, God's eternal secret purpose, was made known to Paul. Ephesians 3:1 to 11. This Divine truth was definitely Gentilish, whereas the message and ministry of Peter and the Eleven on the day of Pentecost was definitely Israelitish. The mystery was not to fulfill the law and the prophets, but the new truth given by revelation to Paul to complete the Word of God. Colossians 1:25 and 26.
How absurd and contrary to sound doctrine to say that the happenings that were in fulfillment of prophecies concerning the last days of Israel's prophesied kingdom and the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David were taking place in the unprophesied Church of the mystery. The "mystery" Body of Christ did not begin (historically) with any happenings that were in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Therefore, the "mystery" Body of Christ did not begin with the confirmation ministry of the Twelve but with the revelation ministry of the one, Paul.
Note Paul's statements in Romans 16:25—Ephesians 3:8 and Colossians 4:3 and 4:
"Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began."
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
"Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds. That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak."
Paul was not egotistical, deluded or presumptuous. His imprisonment was real. He was not in the Roman jail for doing the thing that many men of God teach. They say that when Paul wrote concerning the dispensation of "the grace of God," "the dispensation of the mystery" (Ephesians 3:9), "the one Joint Body—of the mystery," he was perpetuating the ministry which had been carried on by Peter and his associates before the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul. These men should ask themselves the question, if Paul was doing what they claim he was, why was it that the other twelve apostles were not in jail for the mystery?

THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM THE PROGRAM OF ACTS 15:13 to 18

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Let its now consider these statements:
"Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne." Acts 2:30.
"Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." Acts 3:21 and 24.
"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, Whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Spirit, Whom God hath given to them that obey Him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them." Acts 5:29 to 33.
"But he (Stephen), being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God." "Ye stiff﷓necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye." "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. And cast him out of the city and stoned him." Acts 7:55, 51, 57 and 58.
Jesus Christ was raised froth the dead to take David's throne. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead to be Israel's Prince and Saviour. Acts 13:32 to 35. Jesus Christ was the Son of man standing in heaven. The Holy Spirit was witness of these things. Acts 5:32. If Israel would repent, God would Send Jesus Christ back to restore the prophesied kingdom to Israel. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Jews continued to have murder in their hearts. They wanted to kill the Twelve They did kill Stephen. They definitely rejected the testimony of the apostles and the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning the resurrection of the Son of man, their Messiah. Read I Thessalonians 2:12 to 17.
In Matthew 12:30 to 32 Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of man, warned Israel as to what would happen if they rejected the witness of the Holy Spirit after they sinned against the Son of man. Paul warned them in Acts 13:40 and 41 It happened. Note Acts 13:40, 46 and Romans 11:25:
"Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." Acts 13:40 and 41.
"Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, LO, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES." Acts 13:46.
" For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." Romans 11:25.

HOW PETER USED THE KEYS

Most dispensational teachers believe that when Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preached to Israel concerning the doings and sayings Of Jesus of Nazareth on earth, His death and resurrection, he used the key of the kingdom of heaven. Note Matthew 16:19:
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
They likewise believe that when Peter in Acts 10:34 to 43, preached to a company of God﷓fearing, Jew﷓loving, praying, religious Gentiles, concerning the doing's and sayings of Jesus of Nazareth on earth, His death and resurrection, he used the key of the kingdom of heaven.
Both of these messages were preached in the land of the Jews concerning, the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth in the land Of the Jews. Cornelius was seeking the Lord and his alms and prayers went up to heaven. He feared God and worked righteousness. Acts 10:34 to 38. Peter told him words whereby he and all his house were saved. Concerning the salvation of Cornelius, and his household, note Acts 11:10 to 17.

ACTS 15:7 AND 15:13 TO 18

"And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel and believe." "And after they had held their peace, James answered saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written (Amos 9:11 to 15). After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, with the Lord, Who doeth all these things. Known unto God are all His works front the beginning of the world." Acts 15:7 and 13 to 18.
One mouth of the twelve months was chosen to preach to a household of God﷓fearing, Jew﷓loving, religious Gentiles in the land of the Jews. Compare this with Paul's testimony in Acts 22:17 and 21 and Romans 15:16:
"And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance." "And He said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto flee Gentiles." Acts 22:17 and 21.
"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, to minister the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:16.
The, calling out of Cornelius and his household after Christ had been raised from the dead to take David's throne, after many thousand Jews had repented and accepted the resurrected Son of man as their Messiah, was in fulfillment or Amos 9:11 to 15 and many other kingdom prophecies. The making of the One New Man, composed of Saved Jews and Gentiles, with Jesus Christ the Head, is not in fulfillment of Amos' prophecy or any kingdom prophecy So we should not put the Body of the mystery in Acts 15:13 to 18.
Any intelligent, spiritual student of the Scriptures can learn, by comparing Acts 15:13 with Galatians 2:9, that the out﷓gathering of Acts 15:13 to 18 had to do with the prophesied kingdom of heaven rather than with the unprophesied Body of the mystery the Joint﷓Body of Ephesians 3:6. God purpose in this age is to call out both Gentiles and Jews into one Body.
Therefore, we should see that the Divine program of Acts 15:13 to 18, recorded in Acts up to the death of James (Acts 12:1 and 2), had to do with the kingdom and kingdom gospel. Note Paul's words later on:
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24.
"For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" Romans 11:15.
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenlies might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Jesus Christ our Lord." Ephesians 3:8 to 11.