The Triumphal Entry (4-1-07)

The Triumphal Entry
Bible Study Time 4-1-07

Last week we looked at the parable of the ten minas in Luke, Chapter 19. In that parable the Lord Jesus indicated that He was going to be going away so that He could be crowned as the King. The devil could not give the kingdoms of this world to Jesus, and the people did not have the authority to crown Jesus as their king, at least not in the same sense that the Father was going to crown Him King. No, the Lord Jesus would have to ascend into heaven for His coronation as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Luke said that when Jesus finished telling this parable, He “went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.” At this point, Jesus set His sights on Jerusalem, knowing that he would be falsely accused and crucified upon the cross.

Matthew 20 says that Jesus told His disciples:

Matthew 20:18-19 (NKJ)
18 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death,
19 "and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again."

Then, according to Matthew 21:

Matthew 21:1-9 (NKJ)
1 . . . when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, . . . Jesus sent two disciples,
2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me.
3 "And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."
4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
5 "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.
8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!"

Here, Matthew tells us that the people took tree branches and spread them on the road, but it was John who revealed that these tree branches were from palm trees. Hence, we observe Palm Sunday, which commemorates the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Well, the triumphal entry is a name which is filled with paradox. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He was hailed as the Messiah, the Son of David, but He was actually on His way to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary. However, His death would be the means by which He would lead all believers to victory over death, hell and the grave, and it was the means by which He would claim His position as King over all of heaven and earth.

It was the prophet Zechariah who, four hundred years before the event, predicted that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem riding on the colt of a donkey. In Zechariah 9, we read:

Zechariah 9:9 (NKJ)
9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.

How could Zechariah have known 400 years beforehand that Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey? There’s no explanation for this prophesy except that God told Zechariah what was going to happen, and Zechariah simply wrote what God told him to write.

Anybody who denies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins must deal with this issue of fulfilled prophesy. Fulfilled prophesy gives believers confidence in the word of God, but it also leaves unbelievers without excuse.

It will be a sad day when unbelievers come before the Lord on the Day of Judgment. They will hear the Lord say, I gave you my word. In black and white my prophets foretold the future. They gave the details concerning events that would happen hundreds of years in the future, and every one of those prophesies was fulfilled to a tee.

What response do you suppose unbelievers will have at that time? They will have no response because there will be nothing to say. They will be speechless before the Lord as the Lord says, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.”

Immediately after Zechariah spoke of the Lord riding into Jerusalem on a colt, he spoke for God and said:

Zechariah 9:10 (NKJ)
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; his dominion shall be 'from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.'

Zechariah knew that the One who would come riding the colt would be the King who would speak peace to the nations and whose dominion would be from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

In this passage, Zechariah went straight from the Messiah’s triumphal entry to the kingdom, but that did not mean that he was unaware of the crucifixion. In Chapter 11, Zechariah said:

Zechariah 11:12-13 (NKJ)
12 . . . "If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain." So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-- that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD for the potter.

Is it not true that Judas betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver? In Chapter 13, Zechariah wrote:

Zechariah 13:6 (NKJ)
6 "And one will say to him, 'What are these wounds between your arms?' Then he will answer, 'Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.'

Jesus came unto His own, but His own received Him not. He was wounded in the house of His friends, so to speak. But then Zechariah goes straight from the death of the Messiah to the tribulation period and then to the kingdom. He says:

Zechariah 13:7-9 (NKJ)
7 "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion," says the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land," says the LORD, "That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'This is My people'; and each one will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"

Zechariah predicts that after the Messiah is killed, the children of Israel will be scattered throughout the world, but then he says that when they return to the land, they will go through a terrible time of tribulation. Only a third of those people who are in the land at that time will be brought through this time of fiery tribulation, but their faith will be purified as a result of this fire. Those whom the Lord brings through the fire will call upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord will say, “This is My people.”

At this time the Lord will return to the earth to defend His people. Zechariah 9 says:

Zechariah 9:14-16 (NKJ)
14 Then the LORD will be seen over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will blow the trumpet, and go with whirlwinds from the south.
15 The LORD of hosts will defend them . . .
16 The LORD their God will save them in that day, as the flock of His people. For they shall be like the jewels of a crown, lifted like a banner over His land--

Then Zechariah 12 says:

Zechariah 12:9-10 (NKJ)
9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

When the Lord returns to the earth to defend the believing remnant, He will come with the sound of a trumpet, and His coming will be as the lightning which flashes from the east to the west. At that time, the believing remnant of Israel will at last look upon Him whom they have pierced, and they will morn. They will mourn, and they will repent. They will become the jewels in the crown of Jesus Christ, and they will rule with Him over all the earth.

Zechariah knew that the Messiah would come, riding on a donkey. He knew that the Messiah would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver. He knew that the Messiah would be killed and that after His death, the children of Israel would be persecuted and scattered. He looked forward to the day when the believing Jews would rule and reign with Christ over all the earth.

But there was one thing that Zechariah did not know. He did not know that the resurrected Christ would be rejected by the nation of Israel, and neither did he know that God would temporarily set aside Israel’s kingdom program so that He could call out the Church of our present age.

For nearly 2000 years now, the Lord has been calling out the Church which is the Body of Christ. This church is made up of all those who come to Jesus and believe that He died on the cross for their sins. For the Church, this is the way of salvation for Jews and Gentiles alike.

As members of the Body of Christ, we are waiting for the time when Christ will catch us up to be with Him in heaven. Even saved Jews are not to be looking for the earthly kingdom. Our hope is the rapture of the Church, not the earthly kingdom.

This truth concerning the Church which is the Body of Christ was a great mystery which was never revealed to the prophets of old. In fact, it was never revealed to anyone until it was revealed to the Apostle Paul. Paul said that it was his greatest privilege to be able to reveal this secret to the world. He said:

Ephesians 3:8-9 (KJV)
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 3:3-6 (NKJ)
3 (For 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:
6 that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,

Well, as the Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that colt, the people shouted,

Matthew 21:9 (NKJ)
9 . . . "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!"

This is quoted from Psalms, Chapter 118, where the Psalmist says:

Psalms 118:22-24 (NKJ)
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the LORD'S doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

The Psalmist knew that the Messiah would be rejected, but he also knew that the rejected Messiah would become the cornerstone of the kingdom. “The day the Lord has made” is the Day of the Lord. It is the day in which the Lord rules over all the earth through the nation of Israel. Therefore, the Psalmist said, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Only the Lord of glory could come up with such a marvelous plan to provide salvation for mankind and at the same time provide the means by which the kingdom could be established. No one could bind the Lord of glory and crucify Him. This was the Lord’s doing. The Lord Jesus said:

John 10:17-18 (NKJ)
17 " . . . I lay down My life that I may take it again.
18 "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

The Lord Jesus laid down His life and then took it up again so that He could provide redemption for all of His creation. As the Psalmist reflected upon these wonderful truths, he said:

Psalms 118:26-27 (NKJ)
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
27 God is the LORD, and He has given us light; bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world, but He came to provide the sacrifice for sin. Therefore, the Psalmist said, “Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.”

Luke says that when the Pharisees heard the people praising the Lord and saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord,” they told Jesus to rebuke His disciples:

Luke 19:40 (NKJ)
40 But (Jesus) answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out."

Isn’t it wonderful to know that the Lord Jesus can take even the most hardened heart and make it a heart that sings praises to His name? If you have resisted the call of the Holy Spirit upon your life, today is the day of salvation. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and call upon His name. Jesus died for your sins, and if you only believe, He will fill your heart and your mouth with praise.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’s been a pleasure studying 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:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Triumphal Entry (3-25-07)

Triumphal Entry
Bible Study Time 3-25-07

Luke, the evangelist, tells us that as Jesus left Jericho heading for His crucifixion in Jerusalem, He sensed that the people thought the kingdom was going to come very soon. They were so excited because, as far as they could see, that which the children of Israel had longed for all through the centuries was about to come to pass.

Luke says that when the Lord sensed what the people were thinking, He told the parable of the ten minas. He said:

Luke 19:12 (NKJ)
12 . . . "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.

This nobleman was the Lord Jesus. He was a man of noble birth. God the Father spoke from heaven on several occasions, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The people thought that they could make Jesus the King of Israel. And why not? When David returned to Israel after living with the Philistines, the Bible says that “the men of Judah came to Hebron and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.” In this same way, the Jews of Jesus day thought that they could simply anoint Jesus as their king.

However, the kingdom of the Lord Jesus was not to be just an ordinary kingdom. It was to be the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the Lord Jesus had to go before the throne of God in heaven so that God, the Father, could anoint Him as the King over all the earth.

The devil pretended that he had the power to give the kingdoms of this earth to Jesus. He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said:

Matthew 4:9 (NKJ)
9 . . . "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me."

But the devil could not give the kingdom to Jesus and neither could the children of Israel. Only God the Father could give the kingdom to His Son. So, in the parable of the ten minas, Jesus indicated that He would be going away in order to receive the kingdom from His Father.

Then Jesus said that the nobleman who was going away:

Luke 19:13-14 (NKJ)
13 " . . . called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business till I come.'
14 "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.'

The leaders of the nation of Israel steadfastly refused to accept Jesus as their king. By plotting His death, they were sending a message to the Father that was loud and clear. It was a message that said, we will not have this man to reign over us.

The Lord Jesus came unto His own, and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God. Therefore, in the parable of the minas, the Lord said that the nobleman gave gifts to His servants before He went away. He gave ten minas each to ten servants and said, do business until I return.

Luke 19:15-27 (NKJ)
15 "And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
16 "Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.'
17 "And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.'
18 "And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.'
19 "Likewise he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.'
20 "Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.
21 'For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.'
22 "And he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.
23 'Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?'
24 "And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.'
25 ("But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.')
26 'For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

The Lord Jesus was preparing His disciples for the fact that when He went away, they would be given gifts and that they would be held accountable for the way they used those gifts. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples received their gifts when the Holy Spirit came upon them. All of a sudden they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter stood up and said that this was the fulfillment of Joel’s prophesy, which said:

Joel 2:28-29 (NKJ)
28 "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

On that Day of Pentecost, Peter explained to this Jewish crowd that Jesus was the Lord of glory, but they had crucified Him. But then, Peter declared that God had raised Jesus from the dead and that if they would repent and be baptized, God would forgive them of their sins. On that day 3000 people got saved.

Peter is a great example of the servant who took the gift that Jesus gave him and used that gift to bring honor and glory to the name of Jesus. When Jesus returns, Peter will stand before the Lord, and the Lord will reward Peter by giving him great responsibilities in the kingdom.

However, there will be loss of reward for those who refuse to use their gifts for God’s glory. I say that these people refuse to use their gifts because only God can bless and utilize those gifts. All we have to do is submit to God and yield ourselves as His instruments of righteousness.

In other words, it wasn’t Peter who spoke on the day of Pentecost. It was the Holy Spirit speaking through Peter. That’s why 3000 people got saved. It’s God who blesses us with gifts, and it’s God and God alone who can use those gifts to accomplish His plan and purpose.

Then, according to the parable, the nobleman said:

Luke 19:27 (NKJ)
27 . . . bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.'"

Those who refuse to believe in Jesus Christ will also be brought before the Lord on the day of judgment, but they will be sentenced to death. Therefore, we see that the saved and the unsaved will all be called before the Lord to give an account of their lives. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 3:17 (NKJ)
17 . . . "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

As we would expect, however, the Lord Jesus did not reveal any significant time lapse between the judgment of the saved and the judgment of the unsaved. Jesus simply indicated that when He returns to the earth after having received His kingdom, He will reward the saints and then put to death the unsaved.

However, as we read the book of the Revelation, we see that there is actually a thousand year gap between the two events. Revelation 20 says that when the Lord returns, He will bind the devil in the bottomless pit, and then He will reward the saints. John said:

Revelation 20:4 (NKJ)
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

So the saints will be rewarded on the basis of how effectively they used their gifts, but then John says that:

Revelation 20:5-6 (NKJ)
5 . . . the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished . . .

So the first resurrection involves the resurrection of the saints before the thousand year reign of Christ, while the second resurrection will be the resurrection of the unsaved which will occur at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ. John said:

Revelation 20:6
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

These saints will be resurrected with new glorified bodies so that they can reign with Christ for a thousand years, but the Lord Jesus hinted at the fact that those believers who are alive at the time of this first resurrection will be raptured and given immortal bodies as well. Just before the Lord raised Lazarus from the dead, He told Martha:

John 11:25-26 (KJV)
25 . . . I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

This, of course, is the first resurrection. It says, “though he were dead, yet shall he live.” But then the Lord said:

John 11:26 (KJV)
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die . . .

In this statement the Lord clearly indicated that there will be some believers who will receive their immortal bodies even though their mortal bodies have never died. This mystery was explained by the Apostle Paul. In I Corinthians 15, Paul said:

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 (NKJ)
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

Of course, this was not the first time that Paul wrote about the rapture of living saints. Early in his ministry, he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica saying:

1Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NKJ)
15 . . . this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

So there will be a rapture and a resurrection of believers before the thousand year reign of Christ, and then there will be a resurrection of unbelievers at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ.

In the parable of the ten minas, the Lord was challenging the disciples to keep the faith in spite of the fact that He, Himself, was going to be going away in order to be crowned by the Father as King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Then Luke said that as soon as the Lord finished telling this parable, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. . . . He knew exactly what God had called Him to do. He knew exactly what it was going to take to bring salvation to mankind. He knew exactly what it was going to take to bring redemption to mankind and all of creation. All of this would depend upon His willingness to offer His shed blood as the atonement for sin. Philippians, Chapter 2, says that Jesus Christ:

Philippians 2:8-11 (NKJ)
8 . . . humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Father loved the Son, but the Father was willing to send His only begotten Son into the world to die for our sins. In this we see how much the Father loves us. The Apostle John said:

I John 4:9 (NKJ)
9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

The Son was willing to do the will of the Father, and it was the will of the Father that all men should be saved. Therefore, Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient unto the death of the cross. But now, God has highly exalted Him and has given Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Now from Paul’s prison epistles, we know that the Church of our present age will have a separate rapture and a separate resurrection which will take place before the tribulation period. It’s obvious that the Apostle John did not see our rapture or our resurrection because he saw the resurrection which will take place at the end of the tribulation period as the first resurrection. But it may be that we will not be called before the Lord to receive our rewards until the time of that resurrection which will occur at the end of the tribulation period, at the event that John called the first resurrection. This would mean that all believers will be rewarded at that time, but our part in that so called first resurrection is still unclear.

But we do know that all those who bow before the Lord Jesus and believe on Him during their lifetime will come before Him to receive their rewards. On the other hand, those who refuse to accept the Lord Jesus during their lifetime will bow before Him at the time of the second resurrection and they will be sentenced to the second death which is the lake of fire. As John said, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.”

Well, I see our time is gone for this morning. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’s been a pleasure studying 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:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Mystery of the Church (3-18-07)

The Mystery of the Church
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

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Mysteries of God (3-11-07)

The Mysteries of God
Bible Study Time 3-11-07

Now as we begin our Bible study this morning, I’d like to start with Deuteronomy, Chapter 28, where Moses spelled out the blessings and the curses that were associated with God’s covenant with Israel. He said:

Deuteronomy 28:1-6 (NKJ)
1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
3 "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

Deuteronomy 28:15-19 (NKJ)
15 "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
17 "Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 "Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
19 "Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

Moses followed this up in Deuteronomy, Chapter 29, with a sobering prophesy. He said:

Deuteronomy 29:22-28 (NKJ)
22 " . . . the coming generation of your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid on it:
23 'The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath.'
24 "All nations would say, 'Why has the LORD done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?'
25 "Then people would say: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt;
26 'for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them.
27 'Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book.
28 'And the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.'

Well, Moses must have seen the astonished expressions of the people when they heard this terrible prophesy so 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.

Indeed, the nation of Israel was going to forsake their covenant with God, and God was going to bring great judgment upon them, but Moses said that the details of when and how God was going to accomplish this were among the secrets that belong to God.

Certainly, from this we can see that God is a God who can keep a secret. The things which He has determined to keep secret belong only to Him. However, God does reveal to us and to our children those things which we need to know. In the case of the children of Israel, Moses said that God had revealed all that was necessary for them to do all the words of the Law.

As time went on, God did reveal through the prophets that the armies of Assyria and Babylon would be coming to ravage the land and take Israel into captivity. Isaiah said:

Isaiah 7:17 (NKJ)
17 "The LORD will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father's house-- days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah."

Isaiah said, the King of Assyria will pass through the land of Israel like a mighty river which has overflowed its banks. He said:

Isaiah 8:9 (NKJ)
9 "Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.

This time of judgment was hinted at by Moses, but the details were kept secret until the time of Isaiah, and this is the way it is with many of the secrets of God. He gives hints or clues along the way, but He does not reveal the details until it suits His plan and purpose. This is why we say that the Bible is a progressive revelation. God has given more and more information and revelation to man through the ages of time.

Many of the mysteries or secrets of the Old Testament related to the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the kingdom. But when Jesus came and was presented as the Messiah, He began to reveal many of the details of the kingdom which had previously been a mystery.

After Jesus gave the parable of the sower, the disciples asked Him why He always spoke to the people in parables. His response:

Matthew 13:11 (NKJ)
11 . . . "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

Jesus was willing to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom to those who were willing to listen and learn. In the parable of the sower, the seed is the word of God, and Jesus revealed the fact that only those who were willing to accept the word of God and believe in Jesus would be accepted into the kingdom.

This seems obvious to us today, but it was not so obvious to the people of that day. In general, the Jews of Jesus’ day thought that when the Messiah came, He would simply deliver Israel from her enemies. Jesus said, no, that is not the case. Only those who receive the word of God and let it take root in their lives will be allowed to enter the kingdom.

It is true that the Old Testament spoke of the remnant of Israel which would enter the kingdom, but the average Jew never equated the remnant with those who would believe in the Messiah. Isaiah said that the remnant would include those who returned to the land and to God after their captivity. He said:

Isaiah 10:20-22 (NKJ)
20 And it shall come to pass in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as have escaped of the house of Jacob, will never again depend on (the King of Assyria) who defeated them, but will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God.
22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them will return . . .

Most of the Jews of Jesus’ day felt that they were part of the remnant. They lived in the land, and they followed the strict rules of the Pharisees. However, the parables of Jesus indicated that the true remnant would be made up of those who put their faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said:

John 6:29
29 . . . "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom (God has) sent."

As Jesus continued revealing the mysteries of the kingdom, He gave the parable of the weeds. This parable revealed that the unsaved Jews would mix and mingle with the saved Jews until the end, when Christ will separate the saved from the unsaved. At that time the believing remnant will go into the kingdom while the unbelieving Jews will not. This was one of those secrets which had previously belonged to God but was now being revealed.

Of course, it was the Apostle Paul who really spelled out the defining aspects of the remnant. In Romans, Paul said:

Romans 9:1-7 (NKJ)
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit,
2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,
7 nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham . . .

Romans 9:27 (NKJ)
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.

Romans 10:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Romans 10:8-11
8 But what does (the scripture) say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."

The Jews of Jesus’ day had to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God in order to qualify as part of the remnant. However, as Paul further defined the remnant, it became clear that the remnant would include only those who believed in the finished work of Christ upon the cross. Paul said that his heart ached for Israel because he knew that if the Lord had returned at that time very few Jews would have been allowed into the kingdom.

As Paul went from place to place preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, he effectively showed that his gospel was something which had been hidden in the scriptures all through the ages. He said:

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NKJ)
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

It was no accident that Paul repeated the phrase, according to the scriptures. He wanted people to know that what he was preaching had been predicted by the prophets. Isaiah had said:

Isaiah 53:3-6 (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.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But 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.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

From our vantage point, we can see that Isaiah was talking about Jesus dying for our sins, but back in the Old Testament times the correct interpretation of this passage would have been one of those secrets which belong to God.

Paul had the privilege of revealing this secret. He revealed the fact that Christ was delivered up because of our offenses and raised because of our justification. In other words, it was Jesus Christ who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

The resurrection of Christ was also predicted in the Old Testament. David said:

Psalms 16:10
10 For You will not leave my soul in (hell), nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

Again, from our vantage point, we can see that David was speaking about the resurrection of Christ and the fact that Jesus would be raised from the dead before His body could decay. We can see this, but it would have been a mystery to the people who lived during the Old Testament times.

I believe that it was this mystery concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Christ that Paul was talking about in Galatians, Chapter 1, when he said:

Galatians 1:11-12 (NKJ)
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.
12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The gospel that Paul was preaching was the gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ, that we are saved by simple faith in the work of Christ upon the cross and that our salvation has nothing to do with the rituals and ceremonies of the Law.

This gospel was a great mystery in the Old Testament, but Paul was given the privilege of revealing the details of this gospel of the grace of God, and I believe that it was this mystery concerning the cross of Christ that Paul was speaking about in Romans, Chapter 16, when he said:

Romans 16:25 (NKJ)
25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began

This mystery was the mystery concerning the gospel which Paul was preaching, the good news that salvation is given to all those who put their faith and trust in the work of Christ upon the cross. Paul said that this was a mystery which had been kept secret since the world began, but he never said that this gospel was not hinted at in the Old Testament.

In fact, in the very next verse, Paul went on to say that this gospel:

Romans 16:26
26 . . . has (now) been made manifest . . . by the prophetic Scriptures (and) has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith--

This gospel which Paul was preaching had been previously hidden in the prophetic Scriptures but was now being revealed by the prophetic Scriptures. The fact that Christ would be wounded for our transgressions and raised from the dead was all predicted but was well concealed within the Old Testament scriptures.

The Lord willing, next week we will look at the mystery concerning the Church of our present age which was never hinted at in the Old Testament. It’s been a pleasure studying with you this morning, and I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

The Jerusalem Council (3-4-07)

The Jerusalem Council
Bible Study Time 3-4-07

After Paul was saved on the road to Damascus, he wound up back in his home town of Tarsus. One day a man named Barnabas came knocking at his door, asking if Paul wanted to go to Antioch to help with the ministry there. Paul seemed to jump at the chance.

When Paul arrived in Antioch, he found that many Gentiles there had put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and as he and Barnabas continued preaching the gospel, more and more Gentiles came to know the Lord. It’s clear that when these Gentiles got saved, God did miraculous things in and through them. These miracles served as proof that these Gentiles were truly saved.

It was very much like it was with Cornelius in Acts, Chapter 10. Peter knew that Cornelius was saved because Cornelius started speaking in tongues.

The Galatians also gave evidence of their salvation by miracles. In Galatians 3:5 Paul asked:

Galatians 3:5
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?--

Obviously, God did miracles to validate the salvation of those who were saved.

But in Acts, Chapter 15, we read about the Church at Antioch, and we read that:

Acts 15:1-2
1 . . . certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, (saying) "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved."
2 Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

Now, when this says that they went up to Jerusalem, it wasn’t saying that they went north to Jerusalem. Jerusalem was actually south of Antioch. But since Jerusalem was on a high plateau, it was going to be an uphill march to Jerusalem. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem.

Acts 15:3
3 (And) being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren.

Again, it’s obvious that God did many outward miracles to prove the salvation of the Gentiles.

Acts 15:4-5
4 (But when Paul and Barnabas came) to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them.
5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, "It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses."

Evidently, the Law of Moses had become so much a part of their lives that they could not imagine anyone having a relationship with God apart from the rituals and ceremonies of the Law.

Acts 15:6-9
6 (So) the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter.
7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: "Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
8 "So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us,
9 "and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

As you know, some time earlier Peter had stood before these same men explaining his relationship with Cornelius. When he told them that God had specifically told him to go to Cornelius, and when he explained that Cornelius had spoken in tongues after hearing the gospel, they were satisfied that God was actually working to save the gentiles. Acts 11:18 says:

Acts 11:18
18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."

We’re not told if Cornelius ever did submit to circumcision after that. If he did, then we can more easily understand why the Christian Pharisees continued to insist that Gentile converts had to submit to circumcision. If Cornelius never did submit to circumcision then the Christian Pharisees must have excused Cornelius as an exception to the rule.

Whatever the case, we know that the Christian Pharisees did continue to insist upon the circumcision of Gentile believers. But now, they were faced with the testimony of Paul and Barnabas, and as they discussed the situation, Peter rehearsed the fact that Cornelius had been saved by faith even though he was uncircumcised. Peter went on to say:

Acts 15:10-11
10 "Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
11 "But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they."

Peter clearly understood that salvation had nothing to do with rituals and ceremonies. He said that it was by the grace of Jesus Christ that Jews shall be saved even as the Gentiles were being saved, without the rituals of the Law. Then verse 12 says:

Acts 15:12
12 . . . all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through them among the Gentiles.

Once again, we see God using the miracles. It was the miracles of Jesus that proved He was the Messiah. It was the miracles of the Apostles which proved their message concerning the resurrection of Christ. And now, God was using miracles to prove that the Gentiles were being saved by grace without the deeds of the Law. Then:

Acts 15:13-17
13 . . . after they had become silent, James answered, saying, "Men and brethren, listen to me:
14 "Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.
15 "And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:
16 'After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.'

Obviously, James was expecting the kingdom to come at any moment, and this figured into his decision concerning the Gentiles. In his mind, he was thinking, if the kingdom is coming soon, then it’s time for the Gentiles to get saved. Therefore, James said:

Acts 15:18-21
18 "Known to God from eternity are all His works.
19 "Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God,
20 "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
21 "For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath."

The rest of the chapter goes on to tell how they wrote a letter which explained to the Gentiles in Antioch that they would not be required to submit to circumcision.

In the book of Galatians, we see Paul’s perspective on the Jerusalem Council. In chapter 2, he said:

Galatians 2:1-2
1 . . . after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me.
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.

Paul says that he went to the Jerusalem Council by revelation. He did not go because he was under any obligation to explain himself to the elders in Jerusalem. As Paul said in the first chapter of Galatians, he was called by God, and he was therefore only accountable to God. But Paul said that he went to the meeting in Jerusalem because God told him to go.

That, in itself, should speak to each one of us. God does want us to go the extra mile with other believers. God wants us give more than we are obligated to give. He wants us to give the way Jesus gave, without any thought for our own rights and privileges.

So Paul went to Jerusalem, and as he thought back on that meeting, he said that the meeting actually:

Galatians 2:4-5,7,9
4 . . . occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),
5 to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.
7 But when (the Jews in Jerusalem) saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter
9 . . . they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

As Paul wrote to these Galatian believers, he was able to use this decision which was made at the Jerusalem Council to defend the gospel of the grace of God. He simply pointed out that even the Jews in Jerusalem had agreed that the Gentiles did not have to submit to the Law of Moses in order to be saved.

This also helps us to realize that during the Acts period, the Jews and the Gentiles lived under two different programs. Peter was called to administer the program for the Jews, while Paul was called to administer the program for the Gentiles. The Jews practiced the Law while the Gentiles did not.

Well, this brings us to a critical issue which faces us today. As we look at the Christian media, we’re often faced with the issue of the Jews. Are the Jews really saved by a different gospel than Gentiles? Are the Jews saved even if they don’t believe in Jesus?

No, not at all. First of all, even at the Jerusalem Council it was understood that both the Jews and Gentiles would have to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus in order to be saved. The only difference between the believing Jews and the believing Gentiles was that the believing Jews did continue to practice the rituals of the Law. However, even during the Acts period, Paul made it perfectly clear that even the Jews were not saved by the Law. In this same chapter of Galatians, Chapter 2, Paul said:

Galatians 2:16
16 "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

But still, the question remains as to whether or not God wants believing Jews of our present age to continue practicing the Law. To find the answer to this question we have to understand the difference between Paul’s ministry during the Acts period and his ministry after the Acts period.

During the Acts period, God was still offering to the Jews the New Covenant Kingdom. Even in the last chapter of the book of Acts Paul called for a meeting of the Jews in Rome. He showed them from Moses and the Prophets that Jesus really was the promised Messiah. When they refused to accept Christ, Paul said:

Acts 28:25-28
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!"

From that time on, Paul taught that the Law was abolished at the cross. In Ephesians 2, he said:

Ephesians 2:14-16
14 For (Christ) Himself is our peace, who has made both (Jew and Gentile) one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,
16 and that He might reconcile (both Jews and Gentiles) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Therefore, the practice of the Law among the Jews in our present age is nothing more than a reminder of their failure to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. Jewish believers today are members of the Church which is the Body of Christ, and as such, they need to realize that they have a hope which is separate and apart from national Israel.

When the church of our present age is raptured and taken home to heaven, the unbelieving Jews will remain on the earth to go through the tribulation period. At that time, many Jews will be saved. At that time the practice of the Law will be appropriate because, like during the Act period, the kingdom will once again be offered to Israel. The practice of the Law has always been associated with the earthly kingdom.

For the time being, however, all believers whether Jew or Gentile belong to one body and the rituals of the Law are not appropriate for our worship of the Lord.

Well, I see that our time is gone for today. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Serve the Lord with Gladness (2-25-07)

Serve the Lord with Gladness
Bible Study Time 2-25-07

God used Israel’s exodus from Egypt as a means of proving and demonstrating His mighty power. God said to Moses:

Exodus 7:3-5 (NKJ)
3 "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
4 "But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5 "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them."

We are all familiar with the great stories that are associated with Israel’s exodus from Egypt. We have heard about the ten plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, and so forth, but as we look at these great miracles, we may have a tendency to overlook the primary purpose for which God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. At least seven times the Lord demands of Pharaoh “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.”

As we look at the scriptures from the front to the back, we see that this is God’s primary desire for man. God wants us to love and serve Him with all of our hearts. God’s measure of success for human beings is based upon our willingness to serve the Lord with all of our emotions, with all of our intelligence and with all of our energy.

Specifically, Moses told Pharaoh that the children of Israel needed to go into the wilderness so that they could sacrifice to the Lord. But why do you suppose they would have to leave Egypt in order to sacrifice to the Lord? Couldn’t they just sacrifice to the Lord right there in Egypt?

Actually, that was Pharaoh’s question after he saw the water turned to blood and his entire nation overrun by frogs, gnats and flies. To this suggestion, Moses simply said, no, that’s not going to happen. He said that Israel would have to leave Egypt in order to serve the Lord.

You may recall that Abraham was in the same situation in Ur of the Chaldeans. God told Abraham that he would have to leave Ur of the Chaldeans to serve the Lord. Egypt and Ur of the Chaldeans picture the old sin nature. All men are born with a sin nature, and we have to deal with the old sin nature before we can serve the Lord.

I’m afraid that many people today, when they sense their need for God, they simply try to start serving the Lord without ever leaving Ur of the Chaldeans, without ever leaving Egypt, without ever dealing with the old sin nature.

As Moses told Pharaoh, that won’t work. We have to experience a change on the inside before we can serve the Lord on the outside. All of our sacrifices and all of our service will count for nothing if they flow from the corrupt sin nature.

Romans says that the wages of sin is death, and so it is that we have to put the old sin nature to death. When we put our faith in Christ, we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The old man is nailed to the cross, and the New Man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness comes to life through the power of the resurrection.

The nation of Israel could not worship and serve the Lord while they were dwelling in the land of idolatry and pagan worship. They could not bring God down into Egypt with them. God would not allow that.

God lives in a beautiful world of righteousness and peace, and He refuses to be brought down into this world of hatred, jealousy, strife and discontent. God simply will not allow man to drag Him down into this fallen world.

Unfortunately, that is what much of religion is all about. Religion has a tendency to justify all of its greed and hatred on the basis of faith. That is an effort to serve the Lord without ever leaving Egypt. The long and the short of it is that this is idolatry because it creates a God of man’s on choosing.

God told the Jews that they would have to leave the idolatry of Egypt in order to serve the Lord, and today God tells us that we have to leave behind this world and its values if we are going to serve Him. He says:

I John 2:15-17 (NKJ)
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world-- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-- is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

God in His mercy has provided the means by which we can leave this world. The Apostle Paul tells us that we were dead in trespasses and sins:

Ephesians 2:4-7 (NKJ)
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:20 (NKJ)
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

God has made it possible for us to leave the land of Egypt through simple faith in Christ. By His mighty hand He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

The bondage of religious idolatry is hard to overcome. Men grow very fond of the gods they have created. As the children of Israel left Egypt and were traveling to the Promised Land, they often longed for Egypt, especially in the face of hardship. Their only hope for victory over this bondage to idolatry rested in their ability to focus on the reward that God had promised them.

Moses was the leader of the few who never looked back with a longing for Egypt. What was his secret? Hebrews 11 says:

Hebrews 11:24-26 (NKJ)
24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Moses had a crystal clear picture in his mind of the reward that lay ahead. That’s why he never got discouraged with God’s plan and purpose. Oh, there were a few anxious moments even for Moses, but he never questioned the fact that he had made the right choice when it came to following and serving the Lord.

Moses had heard the word of God, and he believed that God could accomplish that which He had promised. At the burning bush, God said:

Exodus 3:12 (NKJ)
12 "I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."

Then when the children of Israel arrived back at that mountain, God appeared to all of the children of Israel on Mt. Sinai and said:

Exodus 19:5-6 (NKJ)
5 'Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.
6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation . . .

Moses was able to visualize exactly what God was talking about here. He could see the significance of what God was saying. Israel was going to be the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and they were going to serve all of the gentile nations as a holy nation and as a kingdom of priests. This was a reward for which he was willing to suffer. He was willing to suffer affliction with the people of God because he kept his eye on the reward.

It seems that many within the realm of the Christian religion have misinterpreted these words which God spoke to Israel. They think that believers today have become the kingdom of priests that God was talking about. They believe that we are the fulfillment of that prophesy.

Well, if we are a kingdom of priests today then I have to ask why is it that Christians are being tortured and killed and persecuted all over the world. God told Israel, the whole earth is mine, and I’m going to give it to you. You will become the rulers of this world.

It may be that believers here in America can fantasize about Christians having dominion over all the earth, but it might be rather difficult to convince all of the persecuted Christians around the world that this is a realistic goal. What’s more, the Apostle Paul was very clear about the fact that this world is going to get worse and worse until the Lord Jesus returns.

The truth of God’s word is that we today have not been called to be the rulers of this world. We have been called to be the John the Baptist’s of this world. We have been called to be the Peter’s of this world, and we have been called to be the Paul’s of this world. We have been called to take up the cross of Jesus Christ and share the gospel of Christ in spite of persecution and hardship.

And why are we willing to do this? What is our motivation? Like Moses, we see the reward. We know that Paul was right when he said:

Romans 8:18 (KJV)
18 . . . I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Moses was willing to leave Egypt and never look back because he knew that the kingdom was coming. Moses may have had a clear vision of the future glory of David’s kingdom and the future glory of Solomon’s kingdom, and Moses knew that his sufferings were not worthy to be compared even with the glory of Solomon’s kingdom.

But I think that Moses was looking beyond the temporary glory of Solomon’s kingdom as his reward. After all, Moses didn’t even get to experience the glory of Solomon’s kingdom because he was in the grave during that period of time. No, Moses was looking way down the line to the eternal kingdom. He knew that some day he would be raised from the dead to enjoy the glory of the eternal kingdom.

When God spoke to the people at Mt. Sinai and the people refused to hear the voice of God. God told Moses:

Deuteronomy 18:17-19 (NKJ)
17 . . . 'What they have spoken is good.
18 'I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
19 'And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.

Jesus Christ was that Prophet. He came preaching, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He said:

John 5:45-47 (NKJ)
45 "Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you (and that is) Moses, in whom you trust.
46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

Moses wrote about Jesus and he probably knew that Jesus would be killed and then raised from the dead. It was Moses who first wrote about the fact that Satan would bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman but that the Seed of the woman would bruise the head of Satan. This is the first prophesy of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.

Moses must have been astonished when he saw what was actually going to take place, but he was not at liberty to reveal the details of our redemption. Paul said in I Corinthians, Chapter 2, that the rulers of this age would not have crucified the Lord if they had known what they were really accomplishing in the plan and purpose of God. Therefore, God did not reveal the details of His plan for man’s redemption in the Old Testament scriptures.

God told Moses that the people would be held accountable if they refused to listen to the Prophet who would come. Of course, we know that when Jesus came, the Jews refused to hear His message. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.

They refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah. They crucified Him on the cross, and they buried Him in a tomb. This was something that Moses may have been able to see as he looked into the future. However, he would not have been able to see the fact that the nation of Israel was going to reject the Lord Jesus even after His resurrection.

All of the prophets of the Old Testament confirm a scenario in which the rejected Christ is raised from the dead to rule and reign over the earth, but they do not reveal the rejection of the resurrected Christ.

When we come to the New Testament scriptures, we see Christ rejected, crucified and raised from the dead. Then we see the Apostles doing many miracles, wonders and signs as they present the resurrected Christ to the nation of Israel. But throughout the book of Acts, that message is steadfastly rejected by the Jews.

As a result, God set aside Israel’s program and began revealing the program for the Church of our present age through the Apostle Paul. In Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, the Apostle Paul no longer presents Christ as the King who will be coming back to reign over the earth. Instead, he presents Christ as the Head over all things to the Church which is the Body of Christ.

Once again, this week I heard on the History Channel that Ephesians and Colossians could not have been written by the Apostle Paul because the theology of these letters is so different from the theology of his previous epistles. They were right that the theology is different, but they had obviously failed to see that these prison epistles reveal a whole new program of God.

God called Israel up out of Egypt so that they could serve and worship the Lord. They were to serve the Lord in a glorious earthly kingdom. Today, we have the privilege of serving and worshipping the Lord as citizens of heaven. Someday, after God calls us home to actually be with the Lord in heaven, God is going to bring in the great tribulation period and during that time Israel will finally accept Jesus Christ as her Messiah, and she will serve the Lord in the great kingdom which Moses and all of the prophets looked forward to.

Well, I see our time is gone. Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. It’ 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:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/

Free Will (2-18-07)

Free Will
Bible Study Time 2-18-07

In Noah’s day, the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. As a result, God decided to destroy man from the face of the earth, but then, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

God told Noah to build an ark so that he and his family and a sampling of all animals and birds would be protected from the great flood that was about to come. The book of Hebrews says that Noah built the ark because he believed what God told him, and as a result, he became the heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

When the ark was completed and it was time for them enter into the ark, the Bible says that Noah and his family and all of the animals and birds simply entered the ark. There is no mention of Noah having a big round up. Instead, it would appear that God just spoke to the animals and birds in some way, and they responded to His voice.

On December the 26th of 2004, the great tsunami swept through the Indian Ocean. As it swept across the coastline, it killed more than 150,000 people in a dozen countries. The people were caught totally off guard. Ten days later, the National Geographic News reported that before the giant waves hit the coast, eyewitnesses reported seeing unusual activity among the animals.

Elephants were seen screaming and running for higher ground. Dogs refused to go outdoors. Flamingos abandoned their low lying breeding areas. Zoo animals rushed into their shelters and could not be enticed to come back out. This confirmed for many people the rumors which have circulated for centuries that wild and domestic animals have a sixth sense which warns them about coming earthquakes.

It certainly would seem that God has a special means of communicating with animals, and it would also appear that when He speaks to them, they obey His voice. Wouldn’t it be nice if we, as human beings, would do the same?

People often ask why God allows all of the suffering and violence that we see in our world. The simple answer is that in the beginning God gave man a free will. He has the ability to choose, but he continues to make the wrong choices.

The animals were created without a free will. They have no capacity to choose whether or not they will obey God. They simply obey the voice of God. They don’t worry about right and wrong. They don’t worry about how their actions will affect their community or the future of their community. They just do what God has programmed them to do.

Man, on the other hand, does have the ability to choose. He was given the ability to plan ahead and weigh the consequences of his plan before he puts it into action. He was given the ability to anticipate and solve problems.

Just how much freedom we have in our choices has been a matter of considerable debate among theologians and philosophers since, well, probably since the beginning. For the past hundred years or so, secular psychology has been at the forefront of this debate with people like Carl Rogers and B.F. Skinner.

Carl Rogers was one of the founders of the humanist approach to clinical psychology. He believed that man has the ability to make rational choices within the scope of an intelligent interpretation of his own experiences. He developed elaborate techniques of psychotherapy to help people recall and evaluate their past experiences. To him, there was nothing more authoritative than one’s own personal experience.

Obviously, this humanist approach to life is a problem for believers because it fails to recognize the Bible as the ultimate authority. The Bible itself boldly proclaims that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Then it poses the question which is so often overlooked by human philosophy, and that is, who can know it? Who can know the human heart? David recognized his inability to accurately evaluate the issues of his own heart. He said:

Psalms 139:23-24 (NKJ)
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties;
24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

No one but God can really know what is in the heart of a man? As a result of Adam’s original sin, man’s heart became a breeding ground for lies and deception. Therefore, a man would be foolish indeed to stake his success in life upon his own evaluation and interpretation of his own experiences.

If we are to have any chance of understanding ourselves, and if we are to have any chance of living a life that is full of joy and peace, we need a relationship with the God who created us. Proverbs 3:5 and 6 says:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJ)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Carol Rogers insisted that man could be his own guide through life, and in 1964 he was selected by the American Humanist Association as the humanist of the year.

B.F. Skinner’s philosophies stand in direct contrast to those of Carl Rogers. B.F. Skinner was a leading proponent of the behaviorist model of human behavior. He believed that man has no capacity to evaluate or interpret his own experiences and that man’s behavior will be simply the result of his conditioning. He said that man will do what feels good, and he will avoid what feels bad. He said that rational thought is not a factor in man’s behavior.

Skinner read about Pavlov’s dog, who salivated at the sound of a bell simply because he had previously been given food when the bell was rung. Skinner said that man responds to the stimuli of life in exactly the same way.

It’s ironic that B.F. Skinner spent most of his life using arguments of reason to convince the world that man has no capacity to reason. It’s also ironic that Skinner was selected as the humanist of the year by the American Humanist Association in 1972.

It would appear that the humanists considered Skinner to be a brilliant, reasoning human being. I don’t know if Skinner actually accepted that title, but if he did, one could say that his acceptance would prove Skinner’s point, that man’s actions are not based on reason, but they are based rather on positive and negative conditioning.

Well, it’s obvious from the Bible that from the beginning, man was endowed with the capacity for rational thought. Adam and Eve were very intelligent human beings, and God expected them to make choices which were based on reason.

God has no capacity to sin, but He did create Adam and Eve with the capacity to sin. They had the capacity to sin, but they had no predilection for sin. They were given one commandment: You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and they were given an absolute free will when it came to obeying this command. They had no natural inclination to either obey or disobey it.

After Adam and Eve sinned, however, they and all of us, as their descendants, fell under the curse of the sin nature. We see the sin nature so clearly in the book of Romans where Paul says:

Romans 7:14-20 (NKJ)
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Even though it’s not spelled out in the book of Genesis, we can safely conclude that the sin nature came upon man at the time of the curse. This becomes apparent when we compare Romans 5 with Hebrews 2. Romans 5:12 says:

Romans 5:12 (NKJ)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men . . .

Then, Hebrews 2 says:

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NKJ)
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, (Christ) Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Our bondage to sin, our proclivity for sin, is a direct result of our fear of death, and death came upon man as a result of Adam’s sin. Our sin nature, therefore, leaves us in a situation which is quite different from that of Adam and Eve before the fall. They had an absolute free will, with no inclination toward good or evil. We, on the other hand, do not have an absolute free will because we have a natural proclivity for sin.

Our love for sin is so strong that it actually takes God’s direct intervention within our hearts for us to overcome the forces of the sin nature. We can not see or understand our own sin without His help because it is impossible for us to see sin as evil when we actually see sin as beautiful.

Years ago there was a popular song which asked, how can this be wrong when it feels so right? Well, that’s the sin nature talking because the sin nature sees sin as beautiful. Our only hope to escape this deception is for God to intervene in our hearts.

Well, that sounds like a simple solution, doesn’t it? But wait a minute; it’s really not that simple because a big part of the problem is that the sin nature resists any kind of outside intervention. The sin nature values independence above all else.

When Satan tempted Eve, he tempted her with the idea that she could be as wise as God and, therefore, she could be like God. Obviously, the underlying message was that she could be independent from God and run her own life.

This sounded good to Eve even though she didn’t have a sin nature, and we can see that if Eve fell prey to this lie of the devil, just imagine how vulnerable we are with a sin nature. It takes the spiritual power of God, Himself, to break through the darkness into which we are born. Jesus said:

John 6:44-45 (NKJ)
44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him . . .

Paul said in II Corinthians 4:

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 (KJV)
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The darkness of the sin nature is fed by the devil, and it takes light from our Father in heaven to penetrate that darkness. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus Christ is that Light. In John 1 we read:

John 1:1-9 (NKJ)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (The word, of course, is Jesus Christ. He was in the beginning with God, and He was God.)
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (In the life that flows from Jesus Christ, there is light.)
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. (Men loved darkness rather then light.)
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. (This is John the Baptist, and the Apostle John says that:)
7 (John the Baptist) came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe.
8 (John) was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That (light) was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

We are born into darkness with a sin nature that loves darkness. We love darkness rather than light because our deeds are evil. But John said that Jesus Christ came as a light shining in the darkness, and he said that Jesus Christ gives light to everyone who comes into the world.

I don’t know exactly how God does it, but somehow God reveals the light of Jesus Christ to every person at some point and in some way. This revelation leaves every person without excuse in the sight of God. On the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to stand before God and say, I didn’t know about the light, or I never had access to the light. Jesus Christ is the true light who gives light to every man who comes into the world.

Those who respond to the Light are given the privilege of walking in the light, and this too is a result of God’s powerful intervention in our lives. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are able to overcome the sin nature in our everyday lives.

The animals of Noah’s day responded to the voice of God, but they did not have a choice to make. They were created to obey the voice of God. You and I, on the other hand, were created with the ability to choose. When the sin nature came upon man, man became easy prey for the devil, but praise the Lord, Jesus Christ can take us out of the darkness and into the light. Paul said:

Colossians 1:13-14 (NKJ)
13 (God) has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Thank you for listening to Bible Study Time. I’ll look forward to being with you again next week at this same time.

Write me at: jimjoan77@juno.com

Church links:

http://www.peacechurch-ok.org/

http://www.eleventhavenuechurch.com/

http://gracebiblechurch-fw.com/