The Mystery of the Church
Bible Study Time 3-18-07
Church links:
Bible Study Time 3-18-07
Last week we saw that just before Moses died he gave a prophesy concerning Israel’s future rebellion against God and the fact that they would ultimately forsake their covenant with God. Moses said that because of Israel’s sin, God was going to bring great judgment upon Israel and upon the land. Then, when Moses saw the look of astonishment upon the faces of the people, he said:
Deuteronomy 29:29 (NKJ)
29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
He was telling them in so many words that this judgment was something that belonged to the future. It was not something with which they would have to be concerned because God had given to them all that they would need to live according to their covenant with God.
What he said was certainly true. This particular generation to whom Moses was talking was the generation which had been raised in the wilderness. The previous generation had come up out of Egypt, but had perished in the wilderness because they had failed to believe in the power of God. They had refused to go into the Promised Land because they were afraid that there were giants in the land. Because they had refused to enter the land by faith, they were sentenced to die in the wilderness, but their children were now ready to go into the land.
Well, certainly, this younger generation did believe in the power of God. They entered into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, and they were so very careful to do all that the Lord had commanded them to do. As a result, they drove out the Canaanites and laid the foundation for the glorious kingdom of David and Solomon.
However, shortly after the kingdom of David and Solomon the children of Israel began to turn away from the Lord. They turned their backs on the Covenant of God, and men like Isaiah came forward to reveal the details of the judgment which Moses had predicted.
Isaiah revealed the fact that it would be the kings of Assyria and Babylon who would bring God’s judgment upon Israel. He said that the children of Israel would be carried away into captivity but that a small remnant of the Jews would return to the land.
As it turned out, a small remnant of the nation did return to Judea but they never again lived as a free and a sovereign nation. They were constantly under the political thumb of the great empires of Persia, Greece and Rome.
Through the years, the prophets predicted that the nation of Israel would rise again to even greater heights of glory than had ever been experienced under the reign of David or Solomon. They said that this great kingdom would come about with the coming of the Messiah.
Naturally, the people all looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. They longed for the day when they would be free from the domination of the Gentile empires, but there were many things about the Messiah which were alluded to in the scriptures but which were very effectively veiled or hidden within the scriptures.
The Jews, in general, did not know that the Messiah would be rejected by His own people even though Isaiah had said:
Isaiah 53:3 (NKJ)
3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
They did not know that the Messiah would be killed for the sins of the world even though David had said:
Psalms 22:16, 18 (NKJ)
16 . . . They pierced My hands and My feet;
18 They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.
Even though Isaiah had said:
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJ)
5 . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
They did not know that the Messiah would be raised from the dead even though David had said:
Psalms 16:10
10 . . . You will not leave my soul in (Hell), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
They did not understand that only a small remnant of Israel would be allowed to enter into the Messiah’s kingdom or that the remnant would be defined by those who would believe in the Messiah. They didn’t know this even though Habakkuk had said:
Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJ)
4 "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.
Jesus made it clear that only those who were willing to put their faith in Him would be allowed to enter into the kingdom, and He also made it clear that those who refused to accept Him as the Messiah would be destroyed.
Well, all of these things were among the secrets which had belonged only to God up to the time of Christ. These things were hinted at but still hidden within the pages of the Old Testament scriptures.
However, today we are going to talk about the secret of God which was never revealed in any way, shape or form to any of the Old Testament prophets. That secret is the mystery concerning Israel’s rejection of the resurrected Christ and of God’s calling out of the Church which is the Body of Christ.
The Old Testament prophets alluded to the fact that the Messiah would be killed, and they alluded to the fact that the Messiah would be raised from the dead, but they never in any way suggested that the resurrected Christ would be rejected by the nation of Israel.
Daniel said that the Messiah would be cut off or killed 483 years after the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. And so it was, 483 years after Cyrus allowed the Jews to return, Jesus Christ came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, ready and willing to accept the death of the cross.
However, Daniel only saw another seven years from the death of Christ to the setting up of the kingdom. In Daniel 9:27, Daniel predicted that the antichrist will confirm a seven-year covenant or treaty with the unbelieving Jews. Daniel then said that after only three and a half years, the antichrist will break his covenant with the Jews. At that point the antichrist will stop the temple sacrifices, and he will make the temple desolate until the consummation, or until the kingdom is established.
Now, as we all know, here we are nearly 2000 years after the death of Christ, and the world is still waiting for the fulfillment of that seven year period time. Obviously, Daniel did not see the fact that the resurrected Christ would be consistently and repeatedly rejected by the nation of Israel during the thirty year period which followed Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Nor did Daniel see the fact that God was going to call out a whole new church to serve Him on the earth for a period of 2000 years or so. God did not reveal this great mystery to anyone for many years even after the cross.
Some twenty years after the resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Thessalonika and warned them about the coming of the antichrist. He said that the Day of the Lord can not come until after the antichrist is revealed.
It seems that in the scriptures, the Day of the Lord is a package deal. It includes the return of the Lord. It includes the resurrection and rapture of the saints. It includes the Lord’s victory over the antichrist in the Battle of Armageddon. And it includes the setting up of the earthly kingdom.
Therefore, Paul was saying that none of these things could happen until after the antichrist comes to power. This indicates that Paul was still anticipating the final seven years of Daniel’s prophesy. He was still anticipating the tribulation period.
However, within ten years Paul found himself under house arrest in Rome. While he was there he sent for the Jews of that great city. He spelled out for them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what did he use as His textbook? He used the Law of Moses and the prophets. That means that Paul used all of those mysterious passages in the Old Testament which actually predicted the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah.
Well, how did the Jews respond? They said, Brother Paul, we’ll get back with you on that, and Paul must have sensed that they were really saying, don’t call us, we’ll call you, so he said:
Acts 28:25-28 (NKJ)
25 . . . "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." '
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
It was after this that Paul wrote the little epistles of Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, and it was in these little letters that Paul explained why the time table of the Old Testament prophets was not coming to pass.
In these letters Paul revealed the Church which is the Body of Christ, and he said that this is a new program which none of the prophets knew about. Paul said, God has kept this program a secret from the very beginning of time, and then Paul boldly declared that he was the first and only apostle to whom this secret was revealed. In Colossians, Chapter 1, Paul said:
Colossians 1:24
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
He said, I’m thankful to be able to suffer for the sake of the Church which is the Body of Christ. After all, the Church is the Body of Christ, and it is only logical that as members of Christ’s body, we will be called upon to suffer even as Christ suffered. Then Paul said:
Colossians 1:25
25 . . . I became a minister (of this Church) according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
This means that it was Paul’s job to tell people about this new program of God. Paul sensed the gravity of his mission. If God has a new program then people need to know about it, and if you’re the one that God chooses to get the word out, then you definitely want to take that job seriously.
Paul went on to say that this stewardship of truth, this revelation concerning the Church fulfills the word of God. Now, Paul didn’t mean that there would be no writings after this letter which would qualify as the word of God. Even Paul wrote some other letters after this one which are included in the Bible. But what Paul was saying is that this is the final revelation of God concerning His plan and purpose for the ages.
In other words, there is no room for anyone else to come along and say, God has given me a new revelation for the world, and my revelation supersedes the revelation that God gave to Paul concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.
To be sure, however, this revelation concerning the Church did supersede God’s previous revelation concerning the Old Covenant, and it did supersede God’s previous revelation concerning the New Covenant, but we should give no credence to any person who comes along today and claims that his revelation from God supersedes the revelation which was given to Paul. Paul said that this revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ fulfills the word of God, and it will be God’s final authority for the guidance and direction of the Church until the day that the Church is caught up to be with the Lord at the end of this age, whenever that may be.
But then, Paul says in Colossians 1:26 that this mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ:
Colossians 1:26
26 . . . has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
It’s no wonder Daniel knew nothing about it. It’s no wonder the Apostles knew nothing about it in during the Acts period. It had been hidden from ages and from generations. This agrees completely with what we read in Ephesians, Chapter 3, where Paul says:
Ephesians 3:1-5, 8-9
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation (or the stewardship) of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3 how that by revelation (God) made known to me the mystery . . .
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
The truth concerning the Church of our present age was kept secret from all of the prophets of old. They knew nothing about Israel’s rejection of the resurrected Christ. They knew nothing about the fact that God would set aside His program for Israel and bring in His program for us.
The Church has now been sharing the light of Jesus Christ on the earth for nearly 2000 years, but one of these days, God is going to catch up the Church to be with Him in heaven. Then, once again God will offer the resurrected Christ to the nation of Israel during the tribulation period, and at that time they will accept Christ and Christ will return to the earth to set up the kingdom.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Deuteronomy 29:29 (NKJ)
29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
He was telling them in so many words that this judgment was something that belonged to the future. It was not something with which they would have to be concerned because God had given to them all that they would need to live according to their covenant with God.
What he said was certainly true. This particular generation to whom Moses was talking was the generation which had been raised in the wilderness. The previous generation had come up out of Egypt, but had perished in the wilderness because they had failed to believe in the power of God. They had refused to go into the Promised Land because they were afraid that there were giants in the land. Because they had refused to enter the land by faith, they were sentenced to die in the wilderness, but their children were now ready to go into the land.
Well, certainly, this younger generation did believe in the power of God. They entered into the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, and they were so very careful to do all that the Lord had commanded them to do. As a result, they drove out the Canaanites and laid the foundation for the glorious kingdom of David and Solomon.
However, shortly after the kingdom of David and Solomon the children of Israel began to turn away from the Lord. They turned their backs on the Covenant of God, and men like Isaiah came forward to reveal the details of the judgment which Moses had predicted.
Isaiah revealed the fact that it would be the kings of Assyria and Babylon who would bring God’s judgment upon Israel. He said that the children of Israel would be carried away into captivity but that a small remnant of the Jews would return to the land.
As it turned out, a small remnant of the nation did return to Judea but they never again lived as a free and a sovereign nation. They were constantly under the political thumb of the great empires of Persia, Greece and Rome.
Through the years, the prophets predicted that the nation of Israel would rise again to even greater heights of glory than had ever been experienced under the reign of David or Solomon. They said that this great kingdom would come about with the coming of the Messiah.
Naturally, the people all looked forward to the coming of the Messiah. They longed for the day when they would be free from the domination of the Gentile empires, but there were many things about the Messiah which were alluded to in the scriptures but which were very effectively veiled or hidden within the scriptures.
The Jews, in general, did not know that the Messiah would be rejected by His own people even though Isaiah had said:
Isaiah 53:3 (NKJ)
3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; he was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
They did not know that the Messiah would be killed for the sins of the world even though David had said:
Psalms 22:16, 18 (NKJ)
16 . . . They pierced My hands and My feet;
18 They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.
Even though Isaiah had said:
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJ)
5 . . . He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
They did not know that the Messiah would be raised from the dead even though David had said:
Psalms 16:10
10 . . . You will not leave my soul in (Hell), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
They did not understand that only a small remnant of Israel would be allowed to enter into the Messiah’s kingdom or that the remnant would be defined by those who would believe in the Messiah. They didn’t know this even though Habakkuk had said:
Habakkuk 2:4 (NKJ)
4 "Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.
Jesus made it clear that only those who were willing to put their faith in Him would be allowed to enter into the kingdom, and He also made it clear that those who refused to accept Him as the Messiah would be destroyed.
Well, all of these things were among the secrets which had belonged only to God up to the time of Christ. These things were hinted at but still hidden within the pages of the Old Testament scriptures.
However, today we are going to talk about the secret of God which was never revealed in any way, shape or form to any of the Old Testament prophets. That secret is the mystery concerning Israel’s rejection of the resurrected Christ and of God’s calling out of the Church which is the Body of Christ.
The Old Testament prophets alluded to the fact that the Messiah would be killed, and they alluded to the fact that the Messiah would be raised from the dead, but they never in any way suggested that the resurrected Christ would be rejected by the nation of Israel.
Daniel said that the Messiah would be cut off or killed 483 years after the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. And so it was, 483 years after Cyrus allowed the Jews to return, Jesus Christ came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, ready and willing to accept the death of the cross.
However, Daniel only saw another seven years from the death of Christ to the setting up of the kingdom. In Daniel 9:27, Daniel predicted that the antichrist will confirm a seven-year covenant or treaty with the unbelieving Jews. Daniel then said that after only three and a half years, the antichrist will break his covenant with the Jews. At that point the antichrist will stop the temple sacrifices, and he will make the temple desolate until the consummation, or until the kingdom is established.
Now, as we all know, here we are nearly 2000 years after the death of Christ, and the world is still waiting for the fulfillment of that seven year period time. Obviously, Daniel did not see the fact that the resurrected Christ would be consistently and repeatedly rejected by the nation of Israel during the thirty year period which followed Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Nor did Daniel see the fact that God was going to call out a whole new church to serve Him on the earth for a period of 2000 years or so. God did not reveal this great mystery to anyone for many years even after the cross.
Some twenty years after the resurrection of Christ, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Thessalonika and warned them about the coming of the antichrist. He said that the Day of the Lord can not come until after the antichrist is revealed.
It seems that in the scriptures, the Day of the Lord is a package deal. It includes the return of the Lord. It includes the resurrection and rapture of the saints. It includes the Lord’s victory over the antichrist in the Battle of Armageddon. And it includes the setting up of the earthly kingdom.
Therefore, Paul was saying that none of these things could happen until after the antichrist comes to power. This indicates that Paul was still anticipating the final seven years of Daniel’s prophesy. He was still anticipating the tribulation period.
However, within ten years Paul found himself under house arrest in Rome. While he was there he sent for the Jews of that great city. He spelled out for them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and what did he use as His textbook? He used the Law of Moses and the prophets. That means that Paul used all of those mysterious passages in the Old Testament which actually predicted the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah.
Well, how did the Jews respond? They said, Brother Paul, we’ll get back with you on that, and Paul must have sensed that they were really saying, don’t call us, we’ll call you, so he said:
Acts 28:25-28 (NKJ)
25 . . . "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." '
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
It was after this that Paul wrote the little epistles of Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, and it was in these little letters that Paul explained why the time table of the Old Testament prophets was not coming to pass.
In these letters Paul revealed the Church which is the Body of Christ, and he said that this is a new program which none of the prophets knew about. Paul said, God has kept this program a secret from the very beginning of time, and then Paul boldly declared that he was the first and only apostle to whom this secret was revealed. In Colossians, Chapter 1, Paul said:
Colossians 1:24
24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
He said, I’m thankful to be able to suffer for the sake of the Church which is the Body of Christ. After all, the Church is the Body of Christ, and it is only logical that as members of Christ’s body, we will be called upon to suffer even as Christ suffered. Then Paul said:
Colossians 1:25
25 . . . I became a minister (of this Church) according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
This means that it was Paul’s job to tell people about this new program of God. Paul sensed the gravity of his mission. If God has a new program then people need to know about it, and if you’re the one that God chooses to get the word out, then you definitely want to take that job seriously.
Paul went on to say that this stewardship of truth, this revelation concerning the Church fulfills the word of God. Now, Paul didn’t mean that there would be no writings after this letter which would qualify as the word of God. Even Paul wrote some other letters after this one which are included in the Bible. But what Paul was saying is that this is the final revelation of God concerning His plan and purpose for the ages.
In other words, there is no room for anyone else to come along and say, God has given me a new revelation for the world, and my revelation supersedes the revelation that God gave to Paul concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ.
To be sure, however, this revelation concerning the Church did supersede God’s previous revelation concerning the Old Covenant, and it did supersede God’s previous revelation concerning the New Covenant, but we should give no credence to any person who comes along today and claims that his revelation from God supersedes the revelation which was given to Paul. Paul said that this revelation concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ fulfills the word of God, and it will be God’s final authority for the guidance and direction of the Church until the day that the Church is caught up to be with the Lord at the end of this age, whenever that may be.
But then, Paul says in Colossians 1:26 that this mystery concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ:
Colossians 1:26
26 . . . has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
It’s no wonder Daniel knew nothing about it. It’s no wonder the Apostles knew nothing about it in during the Acts period. It had been hidden from ages and from generations. This agrees completely with what we read in Ephesians, Chapter 3, where Paul says:
Ephesians 3:1-5, 8-9
1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--
2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation (or the stewardship) of the grace of God which was given to me for you,
3 how that by revelation (God) made known to me the mystery . . .
5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
The truth concerning the Church of our present age was kept secret from all of the prophets of old. They knew nothing about Israel’s rejection of the resurrected Christ. They knew nothing about the fact that God would set aside His program for Israel and bring in His program for us.
The Church has now been sharing the light of Jesus Christ on the earth for nearly 2000 years, but one of these days, God is going to catch up the Church to be with Him in heaven. Then, once again God will offer the resurrected Christ to the nation of Israel during the tribulation period, and at that time they will accept Christ and Christ will return to the earth to set up the kingdom.
Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time this morning. It’s been a pleasure being with you, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.
Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com
Church links:
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