Okay, good to see everybody today. My goodness, we set the record, I think, on attendance. We’re certainly glad that all of you folks are here. We’ve got them from near and far, as far away as Ohio and various other places here in Oklahoma. We’re glad you’re here, and we trust that you’ll enjoy the afternoon.

For those of you joining us on television, in case you’re catching us for the first time, we’re an informal Bible study. Our whole goal is to get every individual interested in studying their Bible, being able to read it and understand it. Not go by what Les Feldick says, or anybody else says, but what does the Word of God say?

All right, now we usually don’t push products, but a long time ago we did push this one a little bit. We advertised it on the air. It’s a simple book of eighty-eight questions, and the answers have been compiled from previous television programs. It has been so well received, and some have shared how their eyes and heart were opened as they studied the little book. We just ordered another several thousand of them, and consequently, we’re going to let some of our newer listeners understand that this is available. It’s just eleven dollars. We keep the cost as minimal as possible. If you’re interested, call or write and we’ll get it out to you.

All right, we’re going to go right back where we were in the last taping, and remember, we digressed from our "But now and But God" study. We may end up yet this afternoon getting back to them, but if not we’ll do it in the next program. In the last taping we were in Matthew 6:28-33 where Jesus spoke of how the lilies of the field don’t worry about what they wear and other things in creation don’t worry about where their next meal comes from – "but" – this is where we stopped.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." From that we digressed, because I’ve had so many questions over the years, "Well, what’s the difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven?" So, those of you that have been with us the last several programs, you’ll remember that we’ve been stressing a lot of time the Kingdom of God, and how it was that all inclusive area of all of God’s Sovereignty, predominately with regard to the believing element. The Holy Angels, Heaven itself, and every believer from the dawn of human history on up until the end, they all find themselves in the Kingdom of God. I had Sharon help me out by putting it in a circle form.

You know I like circles. You know, I was thinking the other day of doing it in circles, you know why? God loves circles! You never thought of that did you? The next time you see the sun go down, and it’s in such a way that you can look at that red ball, you just look at it and see how perfectly round it is. No big bang could leave it like that! The things that God does are so meticulously perfect, so I’m using circles. I’ve put it up here; the large circle is the Kingdom of God. Everything that involves God’s Sovereign control we can refer to as the Kingdom of God. Inside this large circle are two smaller circles. One represents the Kingdom of Heaven and the other the Body of Christ.

Now, I’m not going to bring in any of the unbelieving aspects of creation or anything. I’m going to just leave this for all of the holy and the righteous elements that are under God’s domain. So, in the last several programs we dealt with this smaller circle - the Kingdom of Heaven, which is IN the Kingdom of God. I hope I’m putting it in a way that will clarify so many of these questions.

Now, the other smaller circle is the other entity, and we’ll be looking at that later this afternoon. The other entity besides the Kingdom of Heaven is the Body of Christ. Two totally separate economies, or however you want to put it. Yet they’re all in the Kingdom of God. So today, as believers of the Grace Age, we are concerned about filling the Body of Christ. Now then, the Body of Christ is that out-calling of anyone – Jew, Gentile, black, white, rich, or poor – that comes into the Body of Christ by virtue of believing the Gospel of Grace as presented by the Apostle Paul. It is heavenly, even though we’re on the earth, and we’ll cover that probably in the last three lessons this afternoon.

Before doing that let’s look again at the Kingdom of Heaven, which is still future. We covered a lot of it in the last taping. The Kingdom of Heaven is promised all the way up through the Old Testament. Everything, especially since Abraham, has been talking about this coming, glorious Kingdom of Heaven on earth over which Christ will rule and reign. It is earthly, even though it is the powers of heaven in the form of Jesus Christ that will be ruling and reigning. I hope that isn’t confusing - the heavenly Kingdom on earth with Christ ruling and reigning. We’ve looked at that the last several programs. We’re going to look at it in a little more detail yet this afternoon, and then we’ll switch over to that other entity which is in the Kingdom of God. Paul refers to it as the Body of Christ.

Okay, we’re going to start with the physical attributes of this Kingdom of Heaven on earth which is still future. Remember we saw in our last four programs especially, how the Kingdom of Heaven will be coming after the horrors of the Tribulation have passed. Christ will return to earth, to the Mount of Olives, and He will set up this glorious Kingdom on earth, over which He will rule and reign for a thousand years. Then of course, it slips on into eternity, I feel, in the likeness of Revelation 21 and 22, when we have "a new heaven and a new earth."

But now today, at least the first program, maybe a little longer, we’re going to look at the physical attributes of this glorious kingdom that’s coming. The closer we get to the Lord’s return, the closer we get to this kingdom, because it will follow the Tribulation and the Second Coming. All right, we’re going to jump in first at Micah chapter 4 and we’re going to start at verse 1.

Like I mentioned in my last taping, and I’ve already gotten reverberations from the phone, I was kind of thinking about stopping producing the programs last month, but we decided to keep going, because we’ve still got some things to do. So, for those of you that heard that on the weekly program, don’t worry. We’re not going to go off the air. We may someday stop producing programs, but we have everything set that if Iris and I are suddenly gone, the ministry will keep right on going.

We’ll be broadcasting until the Lord comes and as long as the funds are available. Cheryl is already taking Laura’s place more and more and hopefully, someday, Laura will even be able to come back. So, we get questions every once in a while, "Well, what if something happens to you and Iris?" Don’t worry. It’ll keep right on going, because we have over 800 programs and that goes a long, long ways. So, don’t ever think that just because we may someday stop producing more programs that we will go off the air. No way!

All right, Micah chapter 4 and we’ll start at verse 1. Now remember, we’re going to look at how this Kingdom on earth is going to function physically.

"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain (The word mountain is a ‘kingdom’ in the Old Testament language.) of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, (In other words, above all other kingdoms or empires that you can think of.) and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it." Now, put your hand here in Micah and back up to Isaiah so that we can see that all of Scripture fits. This isn’t just one man’s idea, this is all Holy Spirit inspired. Isaiah chapter 2 where I think we almost started with this whole Kingdom of Heaven bit, several programs back. Now, you’ve got to remember that it is 50-60 years after Isaiah writes that Micah writes. I’m sure Micah didn’t read Isaiah and then decide to plagiarize. This is all separately Holy Spirit inspired.

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, (It’ll be above all other kingdoms.) and shall be exalted above the hills; (This is the part I wanted you to see.) and all nations (from around the planet) shall flow unto it." Remember I made the analogy that it’s just like today. Washington DC is almost the capital of the world, so far as political and economic activity is concerned. Everything flows out from America, whether you know it or not. Well, one day it’s going to be Jerusalem, where the King of Kings will be ruling and reigning. All right, back to Micah and verse 2.

"And many nations…" See, we’re not just talking about Israel, now. Now Israel will be the key nation. Israel is going to have the greatest population of any other nation on earth during this thousand-year reign, because they’re going to start out with so many more people than any other one nation on earth. But, they’re all going to be coming along, because believers from every nation around the planet will survive the Tribulation and be able to come in and help repopulate the earth during this thousand years.

"And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain (or the Kingdom) of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, (Now remember, Zion is that little hill about a mile south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on which David’s throne was established. That’s Zion and it’s still called that today.) for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3. And he (Christ, the Messiah, the King) shall judge among many people, (Now remember, the word judgment in Scripture, when it speaks in this kind of form, is a benevolent control of the people. In other words, it’s not a browbeating, taxing, and military conscripting kind of a government, but rather it is going to be for the good of its citizens.) he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off;…" Now, here comes the point that you’ve heard since you were a kid.

"…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, (In other words, military equipment will no longer be necessary and they can melt all the steel and everything else and use it for domestic purposes - in this case plowshares.) and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." It’s going to be a thousand years of peace and utter tranquility. All right now, look at this next verse very carefully.

"But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree;…" What does that mean? Personal property. Now you know that’s one of the major attributes of our democracy, isn’t it? Our property rights. We covet the fact that we can have personal property and enjoy it ourselves. Well, this is coming back into a biblical application that when Christ rules and reigns with this glorious Kingdom, every family is evidently going to have their own piece of property, and it’ll be primarily an agrarian society. Now, there are mentions of cities in the Kingdom, but it will be primarily agrarian, or agricultural. There will be no need of war equipment or armies or anything like that. It’s going to be a glorious heaven on earth experience.

"…and none shall make them afraid:…" In other words, they won’t need security. They won’t need police departments or county sheriffs. Everyone is going to live in perfect peace and tranquility. It’s beyond human comprehension! A thought just came to mind. Keep your hand in Micah, and let’s go all the way back to Galatians. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this when I was getting ready. But that’s why I sometimes think – I don’t know why I get ready for these, because I never use what I plan to use anyway. Come all the way back to Galatians chapter 5 and this will probably just about take the rest of the half-hour. We’re not going to get far today, you know that? Okay, now let’s start in verse 19, and this is a view of most of civilization today. This is the kind of a world that is on the planet as we speak.

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, (All the sexual sins that you can think of.) 20. Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,..." Now as I read, can’t you just see your daily paper? This is it! You know, I told Iris the other day, I don’t even know why I get that Daily Oklahoman, it’s just nothing but depressing news - mayhem and murder and rape and war and nothing good anymore. Well, here it is. This is the real world. All right, reading on.

"…variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, (See? Governments are being thrown down every day.) heresies, 21. Envyings, murder, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, (Paul says) that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Where are they going to be in this circle? Out of it! They’re not going to be in this circle. They’re going to be out of it. Now read on. Now the flip side is what the thousand-year Kingdom is going to be.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23. Meekness, temperance:…" What does that tell you? That’s a beautiful society. That’s a beautiful community. That’s a beautiful village - the term they like to use lately. And that’s what the thousand years is going to be. None of this garbage that we just read first. That’s all going to be gone, but only these things that are the fruit of the Spirit. All right, enough of that. Back to Micah chapter 4 now verse 5.

"For all people will walk every one in the name of his god,…" Now, that’s the way it is today, isn’t it? All around the planet you’ve got all of these various religions and all of their various gods. Back of course, at the time that Scripture was written, it was a lot of Greek and Roman mythology, so they had gods and goddesses. All right, that’s the way it was then, but, when the Kingdom comes in:

"… we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever." In other words, they’re not going to bring their pagan gods into the Kingdom. No. All the believers that are part and parcel of this Kingdom of Heaven, this rule and reign of Christ will have the God of Scripture as their God. It’s going to be glorious!

All right, now for the few minutes we have left turn to Isaiah, a portion that we’ve used a lot already. Back to Isaiah, chapter 11 and the change of behavior in even all of nature. A lot of people try to spiritualize this and say that it’s a figure of speech – no, it isn’t. I’m a literalist. This is literally going to take place. Isaiah chapter 11 and we’re going to start again at verse 1, so that we don’t have to jump in at something that we don’t understand. This again is introducing this coming glorious Kingdom over which Christ will rule and reign.

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, (Who was, remember, the father of David.) and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (In other words, Christ comes in the lineage of Jesse and David. So, we’re speaking of the Messiah here.) 2. And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 3. And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD:…" Remember, the fear of the Lord in Scripture is what? Wisdom. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord. So, He’s going to have all the wisdom of the Godhead at His disposal.

"…and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (Because He will, as God, know everything that’s going on in His Kingdom.) 4. But with righteousness he shall judge (or rule) the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, (That is at the beginning of it, when He’s setting it up.) and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." So that there will be no ungodly people in His Kingdom.

"And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Or his control. Now here it comes. Boy, I love these verses, because as an animal lover I think you can’t help it.

"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,…" Now you’ve got to admit, in spite of their mean nature and their carnivorous appetite, wolves are beautiful animals. They’re gorgeous. And here they’re going to be domesticated. Lying down with the lamb, instead of using it for food. All right, read on.

"…and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; (baby goats) and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; (And in the midst of all these ex-wild animals are children.) and a little child shall lead them. 7. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion (the king of beasts) shall eat straw (or forage) like the ox."

All right, now let’s go back and pick it up, all the way back to Genesis chapter 1. Has it been this way before? Of course! It’s the curse that changed everything. Before Adam fell, it was just like Isaiah sees it in the coming Kingdom.

"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, (including the eagles and other birds of prey) and to every thing that creepeth (crocodiles, whatever you can think of that were carnivorous. All these creatures God says,) upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so." Now the green herb of course just simply involved things that grew naturally. The grass. The herbs. The fruits. The nuts. The berries. Anything but killing something else for its food. They all, everything, ate which grew naturally, because you want to remember, there’s no death. And if there’s no death, you couldn’t have a lion killing something else for its food. It just wouldn’t jive. It won’t fit. But there was no death. So, there was no killing for their daily sustenance, because everything, and I can’t emphasize that enough…everything from the top of the scale to the bottom ate of things that grew naturally.

Now you might think, well my land, how could the earth produce enough food? Well, now I’m going to give you a shocking thought, and it’s only my own idea. I can’t prove it from Scripture, but I think that before the flood the earth was probably just the opposite in the ratio of water to land as what it is now. Now think about that for a minute. If all of our vast ocean areas were a land mass and our land mass was water, do you see what the difference would be? There’s a tremendous, tremendous amount of square miles of water. If you invert those numbers, then I think before the flood there was so much land mass area, the dinosaurs could have been out there and nobody would have ever seen them. Because stop and think, if the vast Pacific Ocean was all forested land mass, there’d have been things going on there that no one would have ever seen.

All right, but this is the picture as it was before the "fall," before death entered. Everything cohabited with one another. There was no lion killing something for its food. The leopard didn’t have to kill for its food. The crocodile didn’t have to kill for its food. They all ate of things that grew naturally. Of course when the fall and the curse came, it was all changed and ecology became as we know it today. All right, so at the time of the flood, I think that God reversed the land massed area and ended up with far more of the earth covered with water than with land. So, I see no problem with reversing it again and that it will come back as it was before.

All right, now if you’ll come back to Isaiah chapter 11, we’ve got to finish this quickly. So, all of these carnivorous animals, with no danger of being eaten up by somebody else, will all co-habit. They will all feed together, and then verse 9. Now, how can anybody reject promises like this?

"They shall not hurt nor destroy (See, there’ll be no death, there’ll be no destruction going on. If anything it’ll be constant the other way.) in all my holy mountain: (or in my Kingdom) for the earth (the whole planet) shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters (now) cover the sea." God’s knowledge will permeate everything.

Now, I’ve got one more. I think we’ve got time to look at it. Jump all the way up to another verse that we’ve used quite often over the years, Zechariah chapter 14. Here we have the Tribulation, the horrors of those final days, the Battle of Armageddon, and the total destruction of the world’s armies, and then in verse 4 the Second Coming of Christ.

"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley;…" That will cause a river rolling all the way from the Mediterranean out to the Dead Sea. All right, now then we’ll, for the sake of time, jump over a few verses to verse 8.

"And it shall be in that day, (When Christ returns and sets this planet straight and makes it productive again.) that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: (or the Dead Sea out to the east of Jerusalem) in summer and in winter shall it be." (Now look at the promise of verse 9.) 9. And the LORD (God the Son) shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one."

Okay, now we’re just a simple Bible study. We always let our new listeners realize that we’re not associated with any particular denomination. We’re going to get right back into the Book, again, this afternoon and start on the other part of the Kingdom of God, which is the Body of Christ. We always have to keep the Kingdom of Heaven and the Body of Christ totally separated. The Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus and the Twelve preached it, was the promise, coming up from the Old Testament and beginning especially with King David, that there would be a royal king coming out of the line of David who would rule and reign from Jerusalem. Israel would be the top dog of the nations. All the other nations of the world would be subservient to the Nation of Israel and her King. This is why it’s going to be Heaven on earth. Satan has been taken off the scene. He is locked up for a thousand years, and the earth will revert back, as we saw in the last half-hour, as it was in the Garden of Eden. It’s going to be a glorious kingdom on earth with the rule of Heaven upon it.

All right, also in the Kingdom of God we have what has been revealed to the Apostle Paul, and that is the Body of Christ. Now, the first thing I’m going to prove from Scripture is contrary to what some of these people who pooh-pooh the whole idea of end-time prophecy. They ridicule the rapture because they claim that none of this is now apropos. They say that everything culminated with 70 AD, and that Israel ceased to be a nation, consequently, there is no end-time prophecy.

Now, the word for that kind of stuff is Preterism. It comes from a Greek word that I think just means "the end of everything." Or something like that. But anyhow, they’re making big inroads lately, and I guess if I get opposition from anybody it’s from people who are listening to that kind of stuff. As I’m constantly making mention that if you’re going to believe that Israel has ceased to be a nation and that none of these end-time prophecies can be fulfilled, then you’ve got to throw half of this Book away. And the Bible is plain that if you take anything away from the words of this Book then you’re doomed. So, I trust that a lot of these people are going to wake up before it’s too late.

But anyway, one of them that I was reading one time, and I do read them because I want to know what the opposition is thinking. One of them made a statement one time, "There’s nothing to indicate that there will be a parenthetical period of time between God dealing this and then picking it up and dealing that." Well, I’m just going to show you that there is. There are all kinds of evidence of a parenthetical period of time. We’re going to start in at Luke chapter 4. This is going to lead into a few lessons concerning the Body of Christ of which you and I as believers in this period of time are members. We are members of the Body of Christ and the Body of Christ is in the Kingdom of God. I hope I’ve made that point now. I think the circles help. Sharon, I thank you. It’s a good job. It really shows clearly that these two entities are all in the Kingdom of God.

All right, Luke chapter 4, and it’s at the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. He’s in the synagogue at Nazareth where He grew up. Now, we’ve looked at all this before, it’s repetition. But repetition is the mother of learning. We hear that all the time. All right, Luke chapter 4 and dropping down to verse 16.

"And he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, (Remember, He’s under the Law.) he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17. And there was delivered unto him the book (or the scroll) of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found (which indicates He knew what He wanted to read) the place where it was written." He’s reading Isaiah 61:1, 2, and 3. We’ll go back and look at it in just a minute. But He’s going to continue reading in the synagogue.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;…" And we know from Matthew chapter 9, that the gospel He preached was the Gospel of the Kingdom, this coming Kingdom that we’ve been talking about. It was mentioned all the way up through the Old Testament, and Jesus proclaimed it. John the Baptist proclaimed it. Peter and the Eleven preached it – this glorious coming Kingdom promised to the Nation of Israel. This is the whole purpose of His earthly ministry - to prove to Israel who He was. But they rejected it in unbelief.

Okay, but here is evidence that as God, the Ruler and Sustainer and Creator of the Universe, Jesus Christ knew the end from the beginning. Here’s where He proves it. So, reading on.

"…he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, (That is, the Old Testament believers who were down in the Paradise side of Hades, remember?) and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Okay, now come all the way back to Isaiah, chapter 61. Here’s where He’s reading, but keep Luke 4 so you can flip back and forth. Keep Luke 4 so that you can see what He did. Well, we won’t read verse 1 of chapter 61, but let’s jump in at verse 2. Isaiah 61 verse 2.

"To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,…" Now from Luke 4 you’ll find that’s where He stopped, isn’t it? That’s where He stopped, and that’s why they were so amazed in the synagogue. Why did He stop in the middle of a verse? Well, He knew why, but nobody else ever figured it out, until now we get into the Church Age where we can look back. Sure He knew that that’s where everything was going to stop until this parenthetical period of time that we call the Church Age had been fulfilled. Then the rest of Isaiah 61 will be fulfilled. Now read on. After He stopped Isaiah says:

"…and the day of vengeance of our God;…" See, that’s the process. He has come in His first advent. He’s preaching the coming of the Kingdom and His Messiahship. He doesn’t mention His rejection here, but then the prophet goes on and foretells the Tribulation, "the day of vengeance of our God." Then He goes on and introduces the Kingdom.

"…to comfort all that mourn;" Remember what we read in Isaiah 11 in the last program, that this would be part and parcel of His rule and reign? He would be benevolent to the downtrodden and He would comfort those that mourn. Well, the same thing here. So, here is Isaiah’s way of referring to this coming Kingdom. All right, but Jesus stopped at the end of His first advent and did not mention the last part of the prophecy, which meant He knew that prophecy was going to stop for a period of time and then it would pick up again.

Now, let’s look at another one in the New Testament. Come up with me, if you will, to Acts chapter 13. I hope I’m making sense. Now remember, what I’m trying to show is that there is ample Scriptural proof that the prophetic program that is laid out in the Old Testament would be interrupted to bring in a parenthetical period of time for this Age of Grace. And when it’s over the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled. That’s why I’m always putting my timeline up on the board. After we get to that point in Acts where Paul starts preaching to the Gentiles, until the rapture occurs, God is dealing with the Body of Christ. After the rapture, God will pick up again where He left off with Israel back in the Book of Acts.

All right, Acts chapter 13 and Paul and Barnabas have just begun their missionary journeys out from Antioch. They are on their way and have stopped at Cyprus out there in the Mediterranean Sea. Drop in at chapter 13 verse 6. It’s been years since we taught all this, but it won’t hurt to do it again.

"And when they had gone through the isle (that is Cyprus) unto Paphos, (which is at the western end) they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, (But he was a what?) a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: 7.Which was with the deputy of the country (or the governor of the islands of Cyprus) Sergius Paulus, (a Gentile) a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God." Here we have the first instance in Scripture where a Gentile is showing interest and a Jew is opposing him. All right, verse 8.

"But Elymas the sorcerer (for so was his name by interpretation) withstood them, (that is Paul and Barnabas) seeking to turn away the deputy (the Roman) from the faith. 9. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost (or the Holy Spirit) set his eyes on him, 10. And said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease, (or will you not stop) to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11. And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, (physically) not seeing the sun (Forever? The rest of your life? But for what?) for a season. (A period of time.)" In other words, Paul put the curse, if you want to call it, on this man that he would become physically blind, not for his whole lifetime, but for a period of time. A period of time known only to God. And that’s where we leave it. And then,

"And immediately there fell upon him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand." All right, now what’s the big picture? Well, that’s what Israel did. When Israel rejected the Messiah; they crucified Him, along with the Romans, of course. God raised Him from the dead. Called Him back to Glory. Peter and the Eleven in Acts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, continued to plead with the Nation of Israel to repent of having killed their Messiah - that He’s alive and He could still return and give them the promised Kingdom. But will they? No. They will not. They oppose Paul at every step of the way, so what did God do? Well, let me show you from Scripture what God did. Turn ahead to Romans, chapter 11, as we’re through here in Acts, for now. This is exactly like He did with the false prophet Jew on the island of Cyprus, which was just an example, a prophetic illustration, of what the Nation as a whole would be doing. Romans chapter 11 verse 5. Because verse 6 makes the statement that I want to refer to.

"Even so then (Paul says) at this present time (That is during his ministry.) there is a remnant (There were a few Jews responding to his preaching, of course.) according to the election of grace. 6. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, (See how we’re explaining that it’s by faith and faith alone, not with any works of righteousness which we have done?) then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 7. What then? Israel (the Nation) hath not obtained that which he seeketh for;…" And what were they seeking? A Messiah to set up that Kingdom promised ever since almost King David; this glorious earthly Kingdom that we’ve been talking about for the last five or six programs. The Jews knew that was in their future. They still do. That’s why the Jew will constantly exclaim, what? "Next year Jerusalem." Why? Hopefully the Messiah will be back, and they’re still looking for it. Okay, but now read on.

"…but the election (Those who did believe.) hath obtained it, and the rest (That is of the Nation of Israel.) were (What?) blinded." Now isn’t it fitting? This Jew on the island of Cyprus was opposing the truth going to a Gentile and God put blindness on him for a season, not for the rest of his life, but for a time.

All right, now we’ve got the same thing here with the Apostle Paul being opposed by so many of the Jewish element, especially in Thessalonica and up in that area of Greece. So now he is inspired of the Spirit to write what’s happening. The Nation has been supernaturally blinded by an act of God because of their unbelief. And God doesn’t say how long they’ll be blind, and we’re going to see that in just a minute from a couple of other verses. But what I want you to see is that God intervened in the life of this false prophet on Cyprus, He intervened in the spiritual life of the whole Nation, with the same concept that they would be blind for a season.

All right, now let’s see where we can put it a little closer. Come back now to Acts chapter 15. Now, of course, the setting in Acts 15 is the Jerusalem council. We’ve spent a lot of time on this one over the years. The Jerusalem church people have been plaguing Paul and his ministry amongst the Gentiles by coming in behind him and telling Paul’s Gentile believers that they had to be circumcised and keep the Mosaic Law or they couldn’t be saved. And Paul was just about going frantic over it. He said you don’t have to become Judaistic. You are saved by faith plus nothing.

But the Judaisers said that no, you’ve got to be. All right, so they came to Jerusalem to settle the problem. In fact, I guess I’d better just go all the way back, because otherwise, you don’t know where I’m coming from. Chapter 15 verse 1 and we’ll do this quickly. Acts 15 verse 1. Now, I really shouldn’t apologize, because almost every place that I’ve been, from one end of this country to the other, if I happen to teach this, the people will come up and crowd around me and you know what they say, "Never knew this was in our Bible." Most people don’t know that this chapter is in here. And it’s as plain as day! Here we have these Jews coming in behind Paul’s Gentile congregations telling them this.

"And certain men which came down from Judea (the Jerusalem church) taught the brethren, (Paul’s Gentile converts) and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. (Do you see how plain that is?) 2. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they (Paul and Barnabas and the churches where they’d been ministering. This one happens to be up in Antioch.) determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain others of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto (What people?) the apostles and elders about this question." So, they’re intricately involved with all this. That’s why I’m saying that it was the Jerusalem church that is sending these people out to do this, and the apostles were in control. So, you’ve got to start at the top. So, that’s where Paul and Barnabas decide to go. They’ll go to Jerusalem to see the apostles about this problem and see if they can’t stop it. All right, let’s jump all the way down to verse 5 after Paul and Barnabas get to Jerusalem. They meet with the Twelve and the leaders of the Jerusalem Jewish church.

"But there rose up certain of the sect of Pharisees…" Now, I don’t think I have to tell my class people what a Pharisee was. They were the religious elite in Israel. They were the ones who thought they could commit no sin, and they were self-righteous. Okay, but some of those Pharisee’s became believers by believing that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, so they become members of the Jerusalem church.

"But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." Now, does that need explanation? I wouldn’t think so. These Pharisaical Jewish believers in the church at Jerusalem were bent on the idea that those Gentiles couldn’t be saved unless they practiced circumcision and the Mosaic Law. All right, now read on down to verse 7.

"And when there had been much disputing,…" They disputed the pros and cons of all this. Do Paul’s Gentile converts have to become like a Judaising Jew and be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses? And there was a back and forth disputation, I imagine most of the day, before they finally come to a conclusion. All right, now verse 12.

"Then all the multitude (That is, of these church people at Jerusalem who are confronting Paul and Barnabas.) kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them." This was their whole purpose. Their ministry is to Gentiles. These Jews are not yet ready to accept that.

"And after they had held their peace,…" In other words, the arguments settled down and they finally have come to the conclusion that, yes, Paul has been sent to the Gentile world with a message wholly and completely different than anything they had heard in Judaism. And that was the Gospel of the Grace of God.

"And after they had held their peace, James (Who was the moderator of this meeting. Now remember, this is not the original James. This is the half-brother of Jesus, because the original James has already been beheaded some time before.) answered, saying, Men and brethren, (Now, he’s addressing his fellows Jews.) hearken unto me: 14. Simeon (or Peter) hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, (Which of course goes to chapter 10, the house of Cornelius.) to take out of them (That is the Gentile world.) a people for his name." Now, what’s this going to be? The Body of Christ. Not the Kingdom, but rather the Body of Christ. It’s a whole new ball game, now. It’s a whole different entity that we’re building. But look at the next verse; verse 15.

"And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, (We are quoting from the little, minor prophet Amos. We’re going to go back and look at it in a minute. Amos writes:) 16. After this..." Well, that’s where I always have to stop and emphasize. After what? After the calling out of a Gentile people for His name, after the Body of Christ is complete, now read on.

"After this (The prophet wrote, speaking on behalf of God, of course.) I will return, (That’s speaking of Christ’s Second Coming.) and will build again the tabernacle of (Whom?) David,…" So, God is going to keep His word with Israel after all. But we don’t know how long a parenthetical period is in here, but it’s so obvious there is one. It’s a parenthetical period of time when God is going to build the Body of Christ. After it’s finished, He will raise up Israel again to come back into the fullness of all their prophetic program. All right and God says:

"…and I will set it up:" All right, now we’ve got a couple of minutes left, so that should be long enough. Let’s go back to the Old Testament again, to the little Book of Amos. If you need help finding it, it’s Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and then Amos. I want to come in to chapter 9. Amos chapter 9 and it’s a good thing we just talked about the qualifications of the Kingdom, because here it is again in this series of verses. We’ll just hit it to confirm what we read earlier. Amos chapter 9 verse 11, this is what James is quoting after that council in Jerusalem had agreed that Paul and Barnabas could go to the Gentiles and the rest of them would stay with Israel. All right, here is what he quoted, verse 11.

"In that day (That is when Christ returns and sets up the Kingdom.) will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, (It has been now 1900 and some years.) and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." (In other words, Israel is going to come back to her future glory.) 12. That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all of the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this. (Now verse 13, the same language that we talked about in the last program.) 13. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt." Well, what is that? That’s all language concerning the Kingdom. And when will the Kingdom come in? When the Body of Christ is complete and Christ returns and sets up His Kingdom once again. So, this is a whole part of Scripture.

Now, I had one more and I don’t think I have time to cover it. We’ll pick it up in the very first part of our next program. But there is still one more graphic example that God is going to open up the timeline, as I call it, and He’s going to let Israel go down into the dispersion, or as Amos said, the tabernacle will fall down. And God is going to call out a people for His name, the Body of Christ during this age of Grace we’re now in.

In case you’re a new listener, I’d like to share that we’re just an informal Bible study. The whole purpose of our teaching is to get folks to enjoy their Bible, be able to understand what they read, and learn how to study it on their own. I don’t want anybody to go and say, "Well, this is what Les Feldick says." That doesn’t count. What does the Book say, that’s my favorite thing to hear - What does the Book say is all that counts!

All right, we’ve been, for the last several programs at least, talking about the Kingdom of God. We came out of that verse in Matthew chapter 6 where Jesus said, "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God,…" From that we showed what the Kingdom of God involved, with the big circle and the two smaller circles inside it. Then we taught several programs showing the Kingdom of Heaven as being one of the smaller circles. Now, we’re moving over to the other circle, the Body of Christ and how it came about.

There is, indeed, a parenthetical period of time where God has opened up the timeline, as we usually put it on the board. We’re proving, now, that there were instances in Scripture that indicated that that’s exactly what would happen.

I quoted somebody that ridiculed that there was nothing in Scripture to indicate any kind of a parenthetical period of time. Well, we showed you the one from the Island of Cyprus where Paul put blindness on the opposing Jew and how that represented how the Nation of Israel was blinded. Then, in Acts chapter 15 the tabernacle of David was fallen down, and while it is fallen down God is going to call out a group of Gentiles for His name which is the Body of Christ, which, we feel, is coming to completion in the near future.

Now, I’ve got one parenthetical period left, and that’s what I call the beauty of my line of teaching. I don’t have to completely start with something different - we’ll just keep right on going. Now, let’s go to Romans chapter 11 and we have another instance that is so obvious. This timeline is going to be opened up for a period of time, it will end, and then God will pick up where He left off with Israel. Romans chapter 11 and drop down to verse 25, where Paul writes:

"For I would not, brethren that ye should be ignorant (Or completely unaware) of this mystery,…" Now, we’re going to be looking at that word mystery quite a bit in the programs to come. It is translated in other places as secret - things that had never been revealed before, until it was given to this apostle.

"…ye should not be ignorant of this mystery, (Or, this secret that’s never been revealed before.) lest ye should be wise in your own conceits;…" Now, you know what that means. That’s just another way of saying that you’re so puffed up and think you know it all, but you know nothing. That’s what it really amounts to, and that’s where so many people are. They think they know it all, and they know nothing. All right, here’s what God has now revealed to Paul that has never been indicated before, except that little tidbit back in Amos that the tabernacle of David would be fallen down. But now Paul puts it in a little different language, and here it is.

"…that blindness (spiritual blindness) in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." Now, that’s the same word that we found back in Acts, when he put the blindness on the false prophet in Cyprus, and he was blinded for a season. Well, it’s the same connotation here, that blindness has happened to the nation of Israel, not forever, not from here on into eternity, but only for a period of time.

Now, Paul had no idea how long it was going to be, of course, but here’s what he had revealed, that blindness, a spiritual blindness for a period of time, has happened to Israel, the nation. What are the next words? "Until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." What's the fullness of the Gentiles? The Body of Christ. So, when the Body of Christ, this out calling of Gentiles, is complete, then God takes it out of the way in the Rapture. Then He can pick up where He left off with Israel.

Now, it's so easy to understand, in that light, that it's getting closer every day. As the Body of Christ is filling up, there’s another phenomenon that I always tie together, and for this we go back to Luke chapter 21. They have almost been working as parallel railroad tracks. While God is calling out the Gentiles, a people for His name, and filling up the Body of Christ, there is another phenomenon that’s building over the same amount of time. Luke refers to it in chapter 21 verse 24 as "the times of the Gentiles." Not the fullness as Paul says, but the times.

All right, Luke 21, let’s start at verse 20. We’ve got time enough. Again, this is Tribulation ground, just like Matthew 24.

"And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them who are in the midst of it (that is Jerusalem) depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into. 22. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23. But woe unto them that are with child, (Now, this is almost the same language that Jesus spoke in Matthew 24.) and to them that give suck (are nursing) in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:…" Now, I’ll have to back up! This is really a reference to 70 AD. This is NOT the Tribulation. I’m sorry. Matthew 24 is Tribulation. This is 70 AD and the key is that at the end of the Tribulation the Jews aren’t dispersed into all the nations. They are, as we teach today, home free for the rest of time. But here, Jesus is speaking of 70 AD when, indeed, the same kind of things took place. Jerusalem is overrun, but the key here that this is not Tribulation is that He’s speaking of them in dispersion into all the nations. But now, here’s the one we were looking for.

"…and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Jerusalem was trodden down by the Gentiles in the beginning, of course, in 606 BC when Nebuchadnezzar did the same thing – destroyed Jerusalem. The Gentiles have been lording over the Jewish people ever since. All right, so that’s called the "times of the Gentiles." Jerusalem will continue to be under the boot of the Gentile world, "until." There’s that time word again. It’s going to come to an end, and when will it end? When these "times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled." Then, here comes the Tribulation.

"And then there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring. (Now, these are all signs of the end, remember.) 26. Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. (And now here comes the Second Coming.) 27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up you heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

But dropping back up to verse 24, now. These times of the Gentiles, beginning with 606 BC and Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, are when the Jewish people and Jerusalem especially would be under the Gentile boot until Christ returns. The times of the Gentiles are signified by the increase in wickedness and rebelliousness and ungodliness and all the things that pertain to the end-time scenario. So, as God is calling out the righteous, the Body of Christ, we have the other element, the ungodliness and the wickedness of the world coming at the same rate of speed, so that they both level out about the same time. That’s why we can teach that as we see the signs of this end, we also know that the Body of Christ is nearly full. They’ll coincide, and when the Body is full and we’re out of here, in come these final seven years of wrath and vengeance and the return of Christ to set up His Kingdom.

All right, now let me take you back to Romans 11, once more, to show how this is a prophetic indication that there would be a break in God’s timeline. He will open it up, for now 1900 and some years. Israel has been out in dispersion, but now she’s back in the land, and everything is being set for the end-time Second Coming of Christ, and at the same time the Body of Christ is filling up. All right, let’s read Romans 11:25 once more, before we go on.

"For I would not brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (This secret that has never been revealed before.) lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; (Here it is.) that (spiritual) blindness in part (for a period of time) is happened to Israel, (The nation. Now, that doesn’t mean an individual Jew can’t be saved, and they are. But the Nation, nationally speaking, is spiritually blind, and they will stay blind.) until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." Which is the filling up or fullness of the Body of Christ. All right, now I want to go to Ephesians chapter 3. We might as well start at verse 1.

"For this cause (In other words, what he has written in the first two chapters, of course.) I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles." Now, that’s why in Romans chapter 11 verse 13, what does he say? "Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office." He knew that was his role in God’s program, that the Apostle Paul would be God’s spokesman to the Gentiles.

Now, let’s stop and think a minute. Most of our preaching and most of our teaching and most of our Sunday School and everything like that are in the four Gospels. Why? Because that’s what Jesus said! Most of it is in red. Well, that’s all well and good, and we’re not going to take anything away from who He was. He is the God of Creation! He is the Almighty! No doubt about it! But everything that Jesus said back there in the four Gospels was before the cross, for the most part, and still under the Law. So, everything He said has a law-keeping connotation to it. And that doesn’t fit for us in the Body of Christ.

But, when He now opens up this Age of Grace, He isn’t down here ministering to us like He did to Israel, but He has a designated spokesman and to that spokesman, the Apostle Paul, He has revealed everything that you and I need to know in this Age of Grace. Everything! Consequently, I’ll tell people that call, "Okay, if something in the Old Testament is in accordance with what Paul writes, use it. No problem. But if it flies in the face of what Paul says, you go by what Paul says, because this is Jesus Christ speaking on this side of the cross! Even though it’s not in red letters like it was in His earthly ministry, it’s the same Christ speaking through the Apostle of the Gentiles." That’s why I make no apology for holding up the Apostle Paul, because he IS God’s spokesman for us today!

People can’t get it through their head that this is where it has to come from. That’s why I like that little tract I mentioned in the last program by William R. Newell, one of the great Bible teachers in the 20’s and 30’s. He makes it so plain that if a preacher isn’t Pauline, then don’t listen to him. I’ve told people when they call and say, "Well, Les, how can I find a good church?" This is what I tell them. Find the yellow pages. Find churches. Just go down the list. Call the preacher in his office and ask him "Are you Pauline?" If he doesn’t know what you’re talking about, say, "Well, thank you," and hang up, because if he knows what you’re talking about, he’ll answer in the affirmative. He’ll say, "Absolutely I am!" If he isn’t, you don’t have to go there.

Because this is where it’s at, and then William R. Newell makes the statement, I said it in the last program, he said, "I don’t care how fluent a speaker. I don’t care how strong a preacher. If he’s not Pauline, he’s out in left field." Well, I agree 100%, because Paul is singularly the Apostle of the Gentiles. Okay, now, Ephesians 3 verse 2, where he now writes:

"If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God…" What’s that? Well, a whole new set of directions. You know, the best way I like to explain a dispensation, and there are various ways, but the one I like to use for practical explanation, is that when your doctor gives you a prescription and you take it to your pharmacist, he or she fills the prescription. But along with your prescription you get a set of what? Rules or instructions.

Now, you can’t take those pills home and put them in the medicine cabinet and then tomorrow look at the directions on another medication but take this one. You’re in trouble, aren’t you? You’re in trouble. That medication may say take three a day. This one over here may say take one. Well, you take three of this one and you’re in trouble, or visa versa. All right, now it’s the same way with dispensational teaching in Scripture. What God told Israel in the dispensation of Law is a whole different set of directions from what Paul gives us in the dispensation of Grace.

I think it was Dr. Ryrie of Dallas Theological Seminary, and I think it’s in one of his footnotes, at least I read it someplace. I hope I’m not putting credit in the wrong place. He used this analogy, and, of course, he was at that time a professor down at the seminary in Dallas. He said, "Naturally, we as a seminary, a college, put out a catalog for every year of school. And in that catalog you have the various courses that are being offered." Now he said, "It wouldn’t do a nickels worth of good for us to send out a catalog for 1990 for someone going to school in 2005." Well, that stands to reason. Why? Because everything has changed since 1990 to 2005. So, you go by this catalog. Well, that’s just another illustration that you can’t go back into the four Gospels, which are under Law, and build doctrine, because that’s like using a college catalog from ten years back.

I can use another one. You make out a will and you’ve got all the details. You’ve got all the t’s crossed and the i’s dotted and everything signed like it’s supposed to be, but five years later you make out a new will. You put it in your safe deposit box, and you die. Well, they go through your safe deposit box and they pull it out and say, "Well, here are two wills." Well, now you’re all smart enough, I don’t have to tell you, which one are they going to use? Well, the last one. The first one is no account, because it’s been overridden by a second one.

Well, it’s the same way with Scripture. Law has been done away with. It’s a will that is no longer valid. So, where do we go? We go to the one that’s valid. And what is it? All right, you got verse 2?

"If you have heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God, which is given to me to you." Now, do you need it any plainer than that? Well, let’s just repeat for emphasis. Keep your hand in Ephesians, I’m not through here. Come over to Colossians chapter 1. I guess I can spend the rest of the half-hour right here. This is a good place. Colossians chapter 1, because, now don’t lose me. We’re now showing the Body of Christ, which also is in the Kingdom of God. So, when we speak of being in the Kingdom, it’s really not appropriate, and yet, to a degree, it is, because when you’re a member of the Body of Christ, you’re a member of God’s Kingdom. But to be definitive, we should identify it as the Body of Christ.

All right, let’s start at verse 15. These are verses, again, that we have used many, many times. But I don’t think I can do it enough. Here we have the establishment that God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth, was the Creator of everything! Now, I just told somebody this afternoon, the first mark of a cult, and the easiest to determine, is – do they recognize Christ as God? They don’t. Cults, for the most part, in fact all that I know about, that’s the first red flag, they do not recognize Jesus Christ as God. They will put it in some other way. He’s either a prophet, or He’s this or that. But He’s not from eternity past. He’s a created being, whatever. That’s the first mark of a cult - that Jesus Christ was not the Creator, Eternal, from eternity past to eternity future, the Eternal God.

All right, now look at what it says in Colossians chapter 1. Let’s go up to verse 13 so we make sure that we know who Paul is talking about. Colossians 1 verse 13:

"Who (speaking of God the Father in verse 12) hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" All right, now I’m glad I mentioned it. When we’re a member of the Body of Christ, we’re a member of what? The Kingdom of God. Absolutely! But the smaller part of it is, we’re in the Body of Christ. That’s more definitive.

"In whom (the Son) we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" Now goodness sakes, there’s only been one person of the Godhead that shed His blood for mankind, and it’s God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Okay? Now verse 15.

"Who (God the Son) is the image (or the visible appearance) of the invisible God. the firstborn of every creature:" Now, I just had to explain to someone in the last day or two, that up until Christ became humanity at Bethlehem, He was part of a Three Person, Invisible Godhead, in the realm of the spiritual. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit were invisible. But at Bethlehem, God the Son took on the manifestation of visibility. He took on flesh.

All right, that’s what Paul is telling us, that God the Son is the "…image (visible appearance) of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." Or before anything else was ever on the scene.

"For by him (God the Son) were all things created,…" Now, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that! Theologians a lot of time can’t, but you can! Well, I don’t have much time for a lot them, I’ll admit it.

I read some of their stuff to Iris and I say, "Honey, listen to this. Listen to what this guy with all these degrees writes. It’s ridiculous!" But here it is as plain as English can make it that "by God the Son were all things created,"

"…that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:" That takes in everything that you could ever comprehend. His creations are for His joy. They’re for whatever purpose He wants for Himself. He has every right to do it.

"And he is before all things, (In other words, He came out of eternity past, in that invisible Godhead, right along with the Father and the Spirit. They were all three in eternity past.) and by him (What?) all things consist." Or are held together. Why doesn’t the universe just explode? God the Son has got His control on it. All right, verse 18, here it comes now. Now, this is language you won’t find in the four Gospels, not even a hint of it. So, you’ve got to come to Paul if you really want to know where you’re at in this world.

"And He is the head of (What?) the body, the church:…" This other circle. Not the King of it, like He is in the Kingdom. He’s the head of it, which means it’s a physical connection in a spiritual realm. But nevertheless, just like our head is part of our body, Christ is the head of this out-called Body of Christ. All right, read on:

"…who is the beginning, (from eternity past) the firstborn from the dead;…" Speaking of His resurrection. He is the first that was ever resurrected from the dead. Now, I always make that point when you speak of people being raised from the dead in the Old Testament. I think that when Elijah raised the widow’s son, that wasn’t resurrection. They merely were called back to life, and they died again. Lazarus was not a resurrection. Jesus called him back to life, but he died again. But Jesus Christ is the first and only One to have been resurrected, never to die again. That’s our Gospel - that Christ died for us, He was buried, and rose from the dead. This is what we must believe for salvation, as we see in I Corinthians 15:1-4

"…that in all things he might have the preeminence. (In other words, He’s above everything as the Creator. And because he was obedient to the cross:) 19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all (What?) fullness dwell;" Now, if God the Father has put His total approval upon the work of the Son, who is man to say, "I don’t believe it?"

It’s good to see everybody back from your break. We’ll go right into our fourth program this afternoon. For those of you joining us on television, I haven’t done it all afternoon, not because I haven’t thought about it, but I’ve just been so anxious to get into the Book. But again, we want to thank all of you for your tremendous help in prayers and financial help. I know most ministries complain that things dive in the summertime, but ours hasn’t. It’s been holding right up there, and we just praise the Lord for every one of you. Even if it’s small. Oh, please, please, don’t apologize for sending five dollars, because as I usually write back to someone like that who writes, "I wish I could give more." I say, "Look, with God little is much!" We’ve proven it over and over. We don’t beg for the five dollars, but my goodness, if that’s what you want to give, why you just feel good about giving it. And we appreciate it. We don’t care how small it is or how humble the giver, we just thank the Lord for you.

Let’s pick up where we left off in our last half-hour. We were in Colossians chapter 1 and I had come out of Ephesians chapter 3 where Paul had said, "If you had heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God, which is given to me to you." We’re going to see that the Holy Spirit has prompted him to repeat it in Colossians. That’s why we came to chapter 1.

All right, we left off at verse 19, where the Scripture makes it so plain that Christ is not the King of the church, but rather He’s the head. What a big difference. I always tell people, if you are under a king, then you are merely a what? You’re a subject. You’re under the king’s thumb. But we’re not under that kind of a situation. Our head is that which is part and parcel of us. We are joint-heirs with Christ. It’s a whole different connection with Christ than under the King and the Kingship.

Okay, now let’s come back to Colossians 1 where we left off and jump into verse 20. After being declared the head of the Body, which is the church, now verse 20:

Colossians 1:20

"And having made peace though the blood of his cross, by him (That is, by Jesus Christ.) to reconcile all things unto himself; by him I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." In other words, that work of the cross was so complete that it satisfied everything that God had anything to do with. You and I as human beings, I don’t think will ever, except when we get to Glory, comprehend all that was accomplished at the cross of Calvary. It’s beyond our comprehension. We take what little bit we’ve got by faith. All right, now verse 21.

"And you, (Remember, he’s writing to Gentiles as the Apostle of the Gentiles.) that were at sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he hath (What?) reconciled." Now, I make the statement, and I know a lot of people almost curl up and cringe, they are in such disagreement, but when Christ finished the work of the cross, so far as the Godhead was concerned how many of the sins of the world are now forgiven? All of them!

Even the most wicked, unbelieving rebel, his sins are forgiven, so far as God is concerned, because the work of the cross completed it. And not only is he forgiven, he’s been what? Reconciled. It’s all done. There is nothing standing in the way of the most rank, wicked unbeliever to have God’s salvation if he will just believe it. Now, when I say believe it, I’m not just talking about head knowledge. Well, historically, yeah, I believe Christ died a Roman crucifixion. No, I’m talking about trusting that work of the cross as your salvation.

That’s what it takes. That was brought home to me so vividly several years ago when a gentleman called and said, "Well, Les, I believe that Jesus lived and died and was crucified and was risen from the dead." Well, he evidently left for work. His wife called as soon as he went out the door and said, "Les, don’t you believe it. He doesn’t believe that Christ died for his sins. He may have head knowledge of it, but he certainly knows nothing of it spiritually. It hasn’t changed his life."

Well, that is what I have to emphasize. I’m not talking about just a head knowledge. Yeah, I believe that He died for me. No, no! This is something that we totally rest on. That’s why we have to be so careful that we don’t add to it. Because as soon as you’re depending upon your baptism, your church membership, or your denomination, you’re back out in left field again. Because now you’re not depending on the finished work of the cross, you’re depending on something that you have something to do with. God won’t take it. It has to be a total reliance on what He has done, and that it’s complete. Your sins are forgiven - past, present, and future. But it’s not appropriated until you believe it. But it’s done. All the sins of the world were paid for at that cross of Calvary, but lost people have to believe it to appropriate it.

You know, I’ve given this illustration I suppose a hundred times in the last fifteen years. If our congress is going to appropriate money for highways, how many billion have they laid out there now for highways? All those billions of dollars are put out there on a highway construction account for the state. But what does every state have to do? Make application. They have to appropriate it. If they don’t go through the paper work of appropriating it, they’re not going to get any of that money. Well, now that’s a crude example of the work of the cross, but it is the same way. It’s there. All we have to do to appropriate it is take it by faith. Believe it. That’s too simple for most people. They can’t buy that. Well, I can’t help that, because that’s what the Bible says.

"And you, that were sometime (or at one time) alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he hath (What?) reconciled…" As well as forgiven. All right, let’s back up a page, another verse comes to mind. I’ve got to use them when they come to mind, otherwise it’s the Spirit moving for nothing. Back up to Ephesians chapter 2 starting at verse 11. Here again, I think these are verses that most church members don’t even know are in the Bible. It makes it so plain. And it fits when Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10:5-6 to the Twelve, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into the place of a Samaritan, enter you not. But go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Why? Because He had come to fulfill covenant promises, and the Gentiles had no part in those covenants. These verses make it so plain. All right, here it is. Now, Paul is writing to Gentiles in western Turkey and he says:

"Wherefore remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; (That is, by the Jew. Now, here it comes.) 12. That at that time (while Gentiles were still out there and God was dealing with Israel on the covenant promises) ye (Gentiles) were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:" See how plain that is? Did Gentiles have any right to claim the Abrahamic Covenant promises? No! Could a Gentile say, "Well, I can come in under the Mosaic Law. I can be part of that covenant." No, they couldn’t. That was for Israel.

But now, in this dispensation of Grace—well, we’re coming to that in the next verse. Let’s come back to where Paul is telling it like it was for the Gentiles while God was dealing with Israel, all right, "Ye were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and (What?) without God in the world."

Now, people don’t like that! But that’s the truth of the matter. My, I’ve been reading ancient history again lately. I think most of you know by know that I love history. I’ve been reading about Alexander the Great. Oh! The ungodliness, the wickedness, and every day he sacrificed untold number of animals to the pagan gods and goddesses, and then turns right around and cohorts with prostitutes. That’s antiquity. If they came to a village that he thought opposed him one least little bit, he just killed them all with no compunction.

That was ancient history. Those are the Gentiles that Paul is talking about. They were all alike. The Babylonians, all you have to do is read Isaiah and you get a picture of what the Babylonians did to the Jew. The Medes and Persians were no different. The Greeks were no different. The Romans were no different. There was absolute ungodliness at every turn. They had no morality. They had no human rights, unless you were part of the elite, the wealthy -- they did, but that was only a small percentage.

I was just sharing with someone that a few years ago, some of you, along with us, had a cruise on the Mediterranean following in the footsteps of Paul, much like we’re going to do in October/November this year. You were along, weren’t you Sharon? And oh! Some of the places! What was it? Wicked. The society that Paul had to live in - absolute gross immorality. And all the people in our tour, there were about 80 of us, had a Bible Study every night. And one day, especially, I just apologized for what they’d been exposed to. They said, "No, you don’t have to apologize. It’s enlightening to know what the Apostle had to put up with." It was everywhere he went the grossest immorality. Today is no different. This is what he’s talking about, "the Gentiles were without hope and without God in this world," and they lived accordingly.

Oh, but now verse 13, what’s the first word? "But." See, the flipside. And we’ll come to it later when I get back to the "BUT NOW’s." I’ve still got it on the board. I’m coming back to them. Don’t worry. But here’s one of them.

"But now (What does he mean? On this side of the cross. After the finished work.) in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off (you Gentiles) are made nigh (That is, to God.) by (What?) the blood of Christ." Oh, what a difference it makes! But we’ll come to that in a later lesson. Come back with me now to Colossians chapter 1 verse 22. How has He reconciled us out of the gross wickedness of a Gentile background?

"In the body of his flesh through death,…" Now there’s another thought. Do you ever stop to think that in all of nature, the various seasons of the year to various other aspects of our natural environment, there is a constant reminder that out of death comes what? New life.

Every spring when the trees start budding, they have come out of a dormancy that pictures death, and here comes new life. When the tulips start poking through the ground early in the spring, what is it? It’s a picture of new life from that which has been dead. When the wheat farmer plants his wheat, the seed dies and out of that dead seed comes what? New life. And so all of nature is preaching to the human race that out of death comes new life. Well, out of His death of the cross it is the same way. Here comes new life by placing our faith in it.

"In the body of his flesh through death, (through His work of the cross) to present you holy (Now, that doesn’t mean sinless. The word holy simply means set apart. You’re different. You’re not like the unbelieving world.) and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:" Now listen, do you see what that says? Once we’ve placed our faith in that finished work of the cross, can God ever again point a judgmental finger at us? Never!

Now people don’t like that, but that’s the beauty of this salvation. Now, that’s not license. That doesn’t mean we can just go out and rob a bank or shoot somebody and say, "Well, I’m unblameable." No, no, no. That’s not what it means. But it does mean that we have such freedom. We are so free from worry, that if something should happen this afternoon and we’d suddenly be wiped off the face of the earth, we don’t have to worry about where we’re going. Regardless of what you may have done in the last hour or two or three, that’s beside the point. We are "unblameable and unreproveable in his sight!" Now, that’s a promise that most people can’t believe.

Now, I’ll give you another one. Hold your hand in Colossians, we’re going to come back in a minute. But come back with me to I Corinthians, because I like to show that this isn’t just one little quirk of Scripture. This is all part of the mosaic that it all fits together. I Corinthians and I’m the first to admit that the Corinthian church was the most carnal of all of Paul’s congregations. They had immorality in their midst. They had enmity between each other. They went to the law against each other. Oh, they had all kinds of problems, but in spite of all that, they were believers. Look at what Paul writes.

"So that ye come behind in no gift; (In other words, if you’re a believer, there’s nothing lacking.) waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:" Hey, if he was telling that to the Corinthians, how much closer are we? We’re 1900 years closer! I’ve always gone back to that old cartoon, I’ll repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. The old boy is sitting in front of his cave and he had a sign over the cave, "The End is near." And then he must have had a second thought and he added ‘er’ at the end of it. So every day the end is what? It’s nearer! And now we’re nearer than ever. Everything in the world is just screaming that it can’t go much longer. We don’t set dates. With God, you know, time means nothing, but as things are shaping up it would seem that it can’t be much longer. All right, so the Corinthians were already "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Now verse 8 and people don’t like this. I’ve had people get up and walk out of my class when I read it. I hadn’t even commented on it and they got up and left, because they were of the persuasion, you know, that you can be saved and lose it, saved and lose it. Well, after this one, they didn’t come back, ever. But look what it says.

"Who (Jesus Christ) shall also confirm you unto the end, (Now, what does that word confirm mean? He’s got you locked in. He’s not going to lose you. You’re confirmed unto the end. And the end result is that you’re going to be - what again?) that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Isn’t that fabulous!

You know, years ago I told a lady who thought they’d had a lot of family problems because of sin in their background. I said, "Aren’t you a believer?" She said "Oh yeah, I’m saved." I said, "And you think you’ve still got sin that God is going to hold against you?" She said, "Don’t we?" No! No, they’re forgiven. They’re gone! God will never come back and accuse the believer, we’re unblameable. I know this is tough stuff and a lot of people can’t handle it, but listen, this is what the Word of God teaches. If you have appropriated by faith the finished work of the cross, then you are unblameable. You’re in His care. You’re in His keeping.

All right, now reading on. You are unblameable and "blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." What day was Paul talking about? The rapture. And the same way for us today. Maybe you said some unkind words yesterday and you haven’t really taken care of it between you and the Lord. It’s still there. All right, what if the Lord should come? Is He going to point the finger at you and say, "Now wait a minute, you said something that day before I called you up?" No. It’s done. It’s all taken care of. Now again, that’s not license. That doesn’t give us room to do as we please, but as we go through life we know we fail and we know that we are to blame, yet God is never going to point the finger of blame at us when we get into His presence.

"God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." That’s what makes the difference. A true believer isn’t going to go out there and live a life of sin. I just can’t reconcile that. The true believer is going to be careful how we walk in our daily experience. All right, I’m still not through with Colossians 1. Let’s get back there. Colossians 1 verse 23:

"If you continue in the faith grounded and settled,…" Now, that goes right back to what I said a little while ago. It is not just a head knowledge and not just a historical fact, but you have trusted completely that work of the cross, plus nothing. Don’t put your trust in a baptism. Don’t put your trust in a membership someplace. Don’t put your trust in something that pleases the flesh. You trust the work of the cross and that glorious resurrection - and nothing but. All right, if you’ve done that, then we will not:

"…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;" Now, those are words that I can’t explain. How has every creature under heaven heard the Gospel? But evidently they have.

There are other verses to back it up. Jesus, Himself, was referred to in John 1:9 as the "Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Don’t ask me how, but that’s what the Book says. In Romans 1:20 Paul comes right back and says that when they come before the Great White Throne, "they’re going to stand there without excuse." I can’t explain that, but that’s what the Book says. Paul writes in I Timothy 1:15 that "all they in Asia have turned against me." I can’t explain those things, but it’s what the Book says. All right, now here’s another one, that every person under heaven has heard this gospel. Titus 2:11 says, "that the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Now verse 24 of Colossians 1 and this will take us to end of the half-hour.

"Who…" Now the modification is – Paul. He’s speaking of himself. Now remember, this is all Holy Spirit directed. Paul didn’t sit and wrack his brain on how he could word this. I think he just rolled it out and a secretary wrote it as fast as he could speak it.

"Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, (In other words, you all know how the Apostle suffered his whole twenty-five years of ministry, physically, for the sake of the Gospel.) and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:" My, how he was beaten. How he was shipwrecked in the ocean. How he was in prison and out, all for the sake of the Gospel. Do you see how he always associates the church with the Body? All right now verse 25 and here is the parallel with Ephesians 3 verse 2.

"Whereof I am made a minister, (That is, to minister to the Body of Christ.) according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil (complete) the word of God;" Now, we know that the Law was given to Moses to be given to whom? Israel. But to this man was given this whole body of truth, and we’ll start on that in our next program, a month from now. This whole body of truth that is wrapped up in – the dispensation of the Grace of God.

In that dispensation of the Grace of God are all these mysteries, or secret things, that have never been revealed before in Scripture or in all of human history until God speaks it through this one man. That’s why I come back with this: if other Scripture doesn’t agree with Paul, then you take Paul. Yes, even if the words of the Lord Jesus don’t agree. Remember, that what Paul says are the words of the Lord Jesus just as much as what’s back there in red, because it’s Holy Spirit directed, and Christ is speaking through that Apostle.

So, I’ll come back to my analogy in the beginning of the program. If you make a will ten years ago and you’ve made a new one now, and you die tomorrow, they’re not going to use the ten-year-old will. It’s now defunct. They’re going to use the new one. So, for doctrine, not for background, of course, we still use all of Scripture for background, for our learning, and for our understanding. But, when it comes to salvation doctrine, when it comes to the Christian life, when it comes to end-time events, we have to go by what the Lord has revealed through the Apostle Paul.

It is so good to have everyone back for the taping today. I might remind you that we’re just an informal Bible study. We’re not associated with any group. We depend totally upon the prayers of the saints and the gifts of God’s people to keep us on the air.

Okay, now for those of you out in television, I’ve already got the studio audience turning to Romans chapter 16. We’re going to look at verse 25 to begin. Now, we’ve left all this on the board, purposely, from the last taping, because for the last several programs we’ve been talking about the difference between the terminologies of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Body of Christ.

Now, those are all entities that are mentioned over and over in Scripture. The Body of Christ, which we began a study on in the last taping, you won’t find anywhere except in Paul’s epistles. But, it is part of the Kingdom of God, as is the Kingdom of Heaven. We have put both of these in the large circle, which we have designated as the Kingdom of God, the all-inclusive control of God over things that pertain to His righteousness.

Now, the Kingdom of God won’t include the lost. It won’t include the hellfire, but everything that pertains to the righteous side of God is in the Kingdom of God. In other words, the angelic hosts and believers of every age, we’re all part and parcel of the Kingdom of God, and it will be that Kingdom that carries on into all eternity. That’s why, in Revelation, it speaks so specifically of the wicked who are outside. They will never become part of the Kingdom of God.

All right, then as the weeks went by, we’ve been looking at the Kingdom of Heaven, which was specifically promised to the Nation of Israel. So, you really don’t have anything pertaining to the Kingdom of Heaven until after the Abrahamic Covenant of Genesis chapter 12. Then it becomes specific when He starts dealing with King David. In II Samuel chapter 7 God promises David that through him would result a genetic line of kings, leading all the way up to the King of Kings, Jesus of Nazareth. The whole purpose of His first coming was not only to present Himself as the Creator God of the universe, but also as the Promised Messiah, Redeemer, and King of Israel.

That’s why it was kept only for the Nation of Israel, because He had nothing to do with the Gentiles who were outside of the Covenant Promises. Now, when Israel rejected all the things pertaining to the King and the Kingdom, and we’re going to look at that in just a minute, then God does something totally, totally different. The difference, of course, is delineated in what we call "dispensations." We’re going to also look at that this afternoon, because you cannot get a comprehension of these various entities unless you understand the dispensational approach to Scripture. If people throw out the dispensations, then all they can pick up in its place is mass confusion.

All right, now here in Romans chapter 16, we see a statement that pertains to this particular dispensation of which you and I are present. Romans 16 verse 25, where the Apostle Paul writes:

"Now to him (speaking of Christ) that is of power (resurrection power) to stablish you…" Now, that word isn’t in there for nothing. What does that mean? That you know where you are spiritually. You’re not driven about with every wind of doctrine. Everything that comes across television isn’t something to just make you confused. You’re set. You’re established.

"…to stablish you according to my (Paul’s) gospel,…" And what is Paul’s gospel? It’s faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. So, it’s nothing concerning what Paul has done, but rather on all that Christ has done.

"…and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world (ages) began." Now, that’s plain English. Why people can’t understand it, I’ll never know. But all of these revelations, these mysteries that Paul speaks about throughout his epistles, were totally unknown, all the way from eternity past until it was revealed to the Apostle Paul.

Now, God knew; it was all in His Divine purposes. But He saw fit never to give any indication of this period of time that is concerning the Body of Christ. Now, all of the Old Testament is full of prophecies concerning the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, but it is totally silent when it comes to the Body of Christ, until we get here. That’s why Paul makes it so plain that it was kept secret since the ages began.

Now, maybe we need to define a dispensation before we go any further. I want you to move up to Ephesians chapter 1, because whenever I talk about these things that some people just almost get bent out of shape over, I have to show that it’s a Biblical term. The first one is Ephesians chapter 1, because we’re not just pulling words out of the woodwork, these are things that are part and parcel of the Word of God. It’s a scriptural term. Ephesians chapter 1 dropping down to verse 10:

"That in the dispensation of the fullness of times…" In other words, the last of the seven dispensations of human history, which will be the thousand years reign of Christ, which will again be the period of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. That’s going to be the final dispensation. All right, now go on over to chapter 3 and drop down to verse 2, and we have the same word used again.

"If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given to me to you-ward:" Now, we have another reference like that in Colossians chapter 1. It’s much the same thing, but we might as well use it.

Now, a lot of this is repetition, but fortunately I had a letter in the mail yesterday which always encourages me. The lady wrote, she said, "Les, when I was a young college student my teachers would always tell me the only way you can learn something is to have it repeated seven times." But she said, "I’m not even average, so I need more than seven times!" Well, that helps me, because I sometimes feel a little guilty about spending too much time in repetition. But it is the only way that these things will all finally settle in where you can understand it. All right, Colossians chapter 1, and these are the verses we were using in our last program coming all the way down to verse 24.

"Who now (speaking of himself up in verse 23, Paul a minister) rejoice in my suffering for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for the body’s sake, which is the church:" In other words, he’s speaking of the trials and tribulations that he went through to get the Gospel out to the then known world.

Now, again, you always have to understand that the word "church" doesn’t always mean the same thing. It always means a called-out assembly, but it doesn’t always refer to the same assembly. We’ve got Israel in the wilderness - a church, and we’ve got the Jerusalem church of the Jewish believers that believed Jesus was the Christ. It was a church, it was a called-out assembly, but it wasn’t the Body of Christ. Then, when we come to Paul’s epistles, like here, he speaks of the body, which is the church. We are, again, a called-out assembly. We pointed out in our last taping program how God is calling out of the Gentile world a people for His name. All right, now verse 25.

"Whereof (Paul says) I am made a minister, (or a designated individual in God’s service) according to (What?) the dispensation of God which is given to me for you,…" Remember he’s writing to what kind of people? Gentiles! So, this dispensation of the Grace of God was the real outpouring of God’s Grace to the Gentile world. Now, it can also include some Jews, but for the most part, it’s Gentiles.

Now, my pet definition of a dispensation is, as I’ve used it over and over, even on the program. I used it up in Minnesota several times, it is when you have a prescription from your doctor and you take that piece of paper to the pharmacist and the pharmacist fills that prescription. That particular medication is put in a bottle, or whatever, and on the outside he puts directions. Directions. For what? How to handle what’s been dispensed. Now, isn’t that simple enough? So, you take that medicine home, and you set it in your medicine cabinet. The next day you grab one of your other bottles and you take the directions off of that and apply it to what you’ve just been given yesterday, will that work? Most generally – no, because you have to follow the distinct directions for that dispensation. Now, it’s the same way scripturally. For us today, we have to use what was dispensed to us from the pen of the Apostle Paul.

Back in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were in a dispensation. They were under a set of directions. What were those directions? "Everything in the Garden is yours, but don’t eat of that tree." That was the direction. That was their dispensation. Now, as soon as mankind goes against God’s directions for that dispensation, just like you and I would probably get in trouble using the wrong directions on a medication, Adam and Eve got in trouble. What happened? God expelled them. That ended that perfect dispensation.

After that, God gives them a whole new set of directions, which will carry on for hundreds of years, until we get to still another one, not always in this order, but the next one you’re most aware of is the call of Abraham.

Now, after 2000 years of various dispensations, and mankind failing every one of them, God finally comes to the place and says, "I’m going to do something totally different. Instead of dealing with the whole Adamic race, I’m going to bring one man to the fore, and out of that one man I’m going to bring one little nation. Through that little nation I am going to bring about the Word of God and the plan of salvation - a Savior for mankind." That dispensation, of course, worked into the giving of the Law, which was another one, another set of directions. That set of dispensing and directions lasted until the Apostle Paul. So, Israel was under all of the directions of Law, and it was difficult because they were such complex directions. But, when Israel rejected all of that, God now opens up a new dispensation, a new set of directions, or a new set of responsibilities. We call that the dispensation of the Grace of God, which we are currently under today.

All right, now that’s what we’re going to be looking at for at least the next few programs. What does it entail to be part and parcel of this dispensation of the Grace of God? All these various mysteries that are going to be revealed through this Apostle become part of our directions for behavior in this dispensation. To me, that’s so simple. It’s so easy to understand and see, yet if you mix them all up, then you’ve got mass confusion.

I think I used this example, maybe previously on the program. I think I used it a couple of weeks ago in Minnesota. I remember several years ago, I think it was at Dallas Theological Seminary, one of the professors was explaining dispensations, and he used a little different tack. He said, "The seminary has a catalog of courses offered for every school year. They are designated as the catalog for 1990, 91, 92, 93, 94…every school year has a particular catalog of the various courses being offered." "Now," he said, "What would happen to a student if he would come up and try to enroll and he’s doing it on the basis of a year 2000 catalog and it’s now 2005? Well, he’s five years behind the eight-ball." So, if you’re going to be in agreement with your dispensational directions, you’re going to use the catalog that is appropriate for the year that you’re going to school.

Now, all those are simple illustrations of how a Biblical dispensation works. You have to obey the rules.

All right, now let’s go on, for just a moment, in Paul’s revelation of the mysteries. Let’s go to one of the more obvious. Again in Romans chapter 11 verse 25, and it’s a verse that I use fairly often. It’s designated as one of these mysteries, or one of these secrets, that make up the dispensation of the Grace of God.

"For (he says) I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this (What?) mystery,…" Paul is pleading with his readers, whether it was then or whether it’s now, don’t be ignorant of this, which has been kept secret all the way from Adam until revealed to Paul. That’s what every mystery is – that which has been hid in the mind of God until revealed to this Apostle. All right, what’s this mystery?

"…that blindness (a spiritual blindness) in part has happened to Israel, (In other words, it’s not forever, but for a period of time.) until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in." Now, why that kind of language?

Well, I’ll reconstruct all the way up through the Old Testament. God is dealing with Israel only, with a few exceptions. Pleading with them to be ready for the Messiah, Redeemer, and King when He comes. Well, He came. Was Israel ready? No! No, they couldn’t believe that He was that promised Messiah. That was the whole crux of His ministry, to prove who He was. But Israel in their unbelief rejected Him. They called for His death, and we’ll be looking at that later this afternoon. But through it all, you see, God is going to open up a period of time that we’re now in. A period of time that nothing in the Old Testament revealed, and nothing in the four Gospels mentioned, including the early chapters of Acts, and nothing in the later books of Peter, James, John, Jude, and Revelation. They never, ever referred to this secret period of time that we call the dispensation of Grace.

All right. So, when God set Israel aside way back there in Acts chapter 8 and 9, not only did He set them aside, He put a spiritual blindness over their eyes, so that they couldn’t comprehend anything spiritual. At the same time He did that to Israel, He sends this new Apostle out into the Gentile world. That’s the BIG difference in Scripture.

All right, now let’s go back and pick that up in the few moments that we have left. We’ll just run through this real quickly, because we’ve done it over and over, but again I’m going to take the young lady’s advice and repeat and repeat and repeat. Come back to Matthew, because I have to use it in this order or it just doesn’t make sense. This is what I tell people when they call on the phone, "How," they ask, "Can I show this to people?" Well, you can’t just jump into the middle of something, you’ve got to go back and build how all these things progress. Otherwise, they’ll never believe it.

"And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, (See, it’s all Jewish, no church is mentioned here.) and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, (Whereas we call Paul’s Gospel, the Gospel of the Grace of God. All right, so he’s preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom and in association with that--) and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." That was part of it.

Now, go across the page, at least in my Bible, to chapter 10. Like I said, we’re going to do this quickly, Matthew chapter 10. He has chosen the Twelve, now drop down to verse 5.

"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans (Who were half Jews, they were not true Gentiles.) enter ye not: 6. But (Here are the instructions, now, in this dispensation of Law that Jesus and the Jews were in, and He’s appealing on His basis of a Messiah.) but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Now, how many Gentiles are in the house of Israel? Well, none! So, He’s not going to the Gentile world. He’s going to Israel and appealing to them to accept the fact that He’s that promised Messiah and King over the Kingdom of Heaven, which will be on the earth. That’s all He’s pleading. To believe that He was that promised Messiah. But they would not.

All right, now I like to jump all the way over to Acts chapter 7, I think it is, where Stephen, not even one of the Twelve, but he was one of the chosen men to wait on tables, as we say, in Acts chapter 7. He goes through the whole Jewish history. We’re not going to take time for that today, but he winds up his message to the leaders of Israel, the High Priest is in their attendance. Let’s just bring it all the way down to verse 47, because now you can pick up what you recognize as Israel’s history, where Solomon builds the Temple. That’s where we’re going to jump in. Now, all this is back in Israel’s history, and this was stuff that they all knew. Stephen is just proving that he knows what he’s talking about.

"But Solomon built him an house. 48. Howbeit the most High (That is the God of Israel, the God of our world today.) dwelleth not in temples made with hands: as saith the prophet. 49. Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? 50. Hath not my hand made all these things?" Now, Stephen comes back and he points the accusing finger at his listeners, and he says:

"You stiffnecked, uncircumcised in heart and ears, (In other words, they had no faith.) ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did (back in Old Testament times) so do ye. 52. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them who showed before the coming of the Just One;…" In other words, when the Old Testament prophets would go to Israel and condemn their wicked lifestyles and plead for them to get spiritually right with God because their Messiah was coming, what would they do? They would kill them. One of the last ones was Jeremiah. They didn’t kill him, but the Babylonians found him down in a dungeon someplace. That was how Israel treated the prophets. All right, Stephen is reminding them. Oh, he’s putting them on a guilt trip, isn’t he? Okay, now he says:

"… and they have slain (they’ve killed them) them who showed before the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murders: (The people are listening to him, including the High Priest remember.) 53. Who have received the law (That is the Mosaic Law of which they were so proud.) by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (Boy, he’s laying it on them isn’t he?) 54. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, (They were convicted.)

"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. 56. And he said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man (Jesus the Christ) standing on the right hand of God. 57. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord. 58. And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: (They put him to death.) and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul." Now, we’re introduced to the next major player on the stage of Biblical history. Peter and the eleven are going to fade away in a few more years. This man is going to come to the ascendancy. All right, Saul of Tarsus. Now, verse 1 of chapter 8 and see how this is all unfolding now, day by day, month by month. Now verse 1 of chapter 8:

"And Saul (the next major player) was consenting unto his (Stephen’s) death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church (assembly) which is at Jerusalem;…"

"As for Saul, (of Tarsus) he made havoc of the (Jewish) church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."

I’m just reminded, by my little wife, that this is book 65. These are the middle four programs, so with the next taping we’ll wind up another book. Oh my, how they are counting up. Sixty-five of them already, which means it won’t be long and we’ll have 800 programs in our inventory. So, when I mentioned a few weeks ago that I might relinquish this taping situation, boy, a lot of people got the idea that I was thinking about just going off the air and retiring. And my, we had one lady write with black pen across the top, and she said, "Show me one verse where you have a right to retire!" Well, we’re not about to leave the air, even if we may some day down the road stop producing programs. With the inventory we’ve got, we can keep going halfway into eternity. But we appreciate the fact that people don’t want us to quit, so we’ll keep carrying on.

You know I’ve got to share my amusing things. I had a phone call the other day from a lady, I think out east someplace, and I answered the phone myself. I said, "This is Les." There was silence. And I said, "Hello." She said, "Who is this?" And I said, "This is Les Feldick." She said, "I don’t believe it." I said, "Why?" "Well," she said, "I heard you say something on a program that you do answer the phone, and I told my husband, I’ll bet! I’m going to check it out." She said, "You do answer the phone!" Yes, I do, so don’t be too shocked when I pick up the phone. Of course, I tell everybody that even if I’m not available, and I mean this, if I’m not available, and you have something that is really of importance, you’ve got questions, you just tell the girls, or whoever you do get, that you’d like to have me call you. Leave your number and I return every phone call. I’ve returned phone calls to twelve year old kids. When I stop being able to do that, then I’d better be off the air. So, don’t be afraid to make a personal phone call, because we will respond.

Now, let’s pick up where we left off in our last program. For those of you who may have missed it, we’re still dealing with what makes up the Body of Christ, and why is it so totally segregated from all the things promised to Israel? Because, it is a revelation of things that have been kept totally secret, all the way up through Biblical history, until they are revealed to the Apostle Paul. So, when people say, "Well, does this verse back in the Old Testament refer to the rapture, or does it refer to the church?" No, it can’t. Because the Church Age was totally secret, and the instructions for it were only given to Paul for us.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, had any inkling that God would one day set Israel aside and raise up one other Apostle and send him to the Gentile world. That’s where we ended up in our last program, showing how everything pertaining to Israel was in light of the Old Testament promises, and Israel rejected it. Then, when Stephen made his last appeal in Acts chapter 7, they stoned Stephen. In the last verse that we saw in our last program, they laid their clothes at a young man’s feet whose name was Saul, whose name was later changed to Paul.

All right, now we pick up Saul again in Acts chapter 9. Now, this is all the unfolding of God’s program for the ages to bring us to this dispensation of the Grace of God. All right, Acts chapter 9, and I think everyone, even in our listening audience, understands Saul’s salvation experience on the road to Damascus. How the Lord spoke to him and he immediately understood that the voice from heaven was the same One that he was persecuting, thinking that he was doing his Old Testament God a favor. Not realizing, of course, that He was one and the same.

All right, now I like to bring people over to Acts chapter 9 verse 15. I do this to teach you how to show others. Just take the time and unfold these various steps, how God moved from Israel to the Gentile world. Here, Ananias, a believing Jew in Damascus, who was in line to be arrested by Saul of Tarsus, and he was scared to death, as I like to say, that his life was being endangered. Now, he doesn’t realize that Saul has been converted. So, the Lord speaks to Ananias in verse 15. Now watch carefully what the Lord from heaven says to this believing Jew in Damascus.

"But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he (Saul) is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,…" Now, don’t forget, what did Jesus tell the Twelve? "Go not into the way of the Gentiles or into the house of Samaritans enter not, but go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But see, Israel has rejected it. So now God is turning benevolently to the Gentile world through this one man, Saul of Tarsus.

"…for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and (of course) the children of Israel:" We’re not going to put them out of any possibility for salvation. But the nation, as a whole, is going to be set aside and blinded. All right, then verse 16, God makes the promise.

"For I will show him (Saul of Tarsus) how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake." Now I think, that in the eternal purpose of everything, this is one reason that Saul was so guilty of persecuting and causing such torture among his own Jewish people. Consequently, as he went through these next 20-25 years of constant, constant turmoil, in prison and out, beatings of one sort or another, he could never forget that he had done the same thing to his own people who had embraced Jesus of Nazareth. So, God is telling him up front that he’s going to suffer terribly as he carries out his role as the Apostle of the Gentiles.

All right, now then