“BUT GOD FORBID THAT I SHOULD GLORY, SAVE IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME, AND I UNTO THE WORLD.” Galatians 6:14.

According to the Word of God, Christians are both dead and alive, however paradoxical it may seem. In Colossians 3:3 we have the statement concerning Christians, “Ye are dead.” It is for this reason that they are instructed to set their affections on things above, not on things on the earth. In these verses, it is seen that in the mind of God the believer is dead to the things on earth. In John 1:10 is recorded the fact that the Christ Who made all things was in the world and the world knew Him not. The statement is, “the world was made by Him.” “All things were made by Him.” John 1:3. When Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners He came unto His own world and His own Nation received Him not. When He came to be the Saviour of the world He did not find the world as He originally created it. The world as He found it, and as it is at present, is described in I John 2:16, which we quote

“FOR ALL THAT IS IN THE WORLD, THE LUST OF THE FLESH, AND THE LUST OF THE EYES. AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE, IS NOT OF THE FATHER, BUT IS OF THE WORLD.”

It was Satan, the Prince of this world, who brought the world to this condition. But in spite of the world’s lustful condition, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And then follows the statement in John 3:17:

“For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Such a world surely was already condemned and deserved the righteous condemnation of God’s Holy Son. But His attitude toward the world is expressed in His words to a woman caught in sin, “Neither do I condemn thee.” God loved the world and sent His Son, by Whom He made the world, to be the Saviour of the world, and not to condemn the world. But the world so hated God that it spurned His love and murdered His Son.

Concerning His own people Christ said, “they hated Me without a cause.” “The world knew Him not.” “Which none of the rulers of this world knew; for had they known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” I Corinthians 2:8. To one ruler the Son of God said, “My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence.” John 18:36. “My kingdom is not of this world.” He had said in John 8:23: “I am not of this world.” Out of the world the Father gave some believers to Christ. Concerning this little flock He prayed to His Father in theses words:

“I have given them Thy Word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

“I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:14, 15 and 16 From these words of the Lord Jesus we learn that His redeemed ones are in the world but not counted by Him as being of the world; having been given to Him out of the world. To them He said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. To them He also said,

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you.”

“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” John 15:18 and 19.

Shortly before Christ uttered these words He had said to His disciples “Now is the Judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” John 12:31. He spoke of His death on the cross. There He was crucified by the world.

Christ was not of this world. Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. Christ’s redeemed ones are not of this world. So long as any individual sinner remains in the world and of the world, he is guilty with the world of the crucifixion of the Creator of the world. He is dead in trespasses and sins, condemned and lost. His only hope for justification, and life, and righteousness is faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ. By the redemptive work of Christ the believing sinner is delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love. To be in Christ’s kingdom, which is not of this world, is to be seated with Him and in Him in the heavenlies. The believer is not condemned; but is accepted in Christ and complete in Him.

In the study of the Epistle to the Galatians we note the three-fold crucifixion of the believer. We quote Galatians 2:20— Galatians 5:24— Galatians 6:14:

“I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

In the sixth chapter of Romans we learn that the believer is crucified and dead to sin. “He that is dead is freed from sin.” Romans 6:7. So God’s Word teaches that the believer is crucified to the law; crucified to the flesh; crucified to sin; and crucified to the world. It is the crucified sinner to whom God speaks in I John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things of the world.”

According to the Word of God, the unbeliever walks according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air; and being without God in the world, he is without hope, because he will not receive Christ, the sinner’s only Hope. Ephesians 2:1 and 12.

“Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4.

The believer is of God, “and the whole world lieth in the evil one.” I John 5:19. “The world by wisdom knew not God.” I Corinthians 1:21. So most assuredly God does not instruct the sinner, who is in the world and of the world, to love not the world. Whether it be the political world, or the religious world, or the pleasure-seeking world, or the wisdom of this world, the whole world is in the evil one, and is not of God.

The expression “worldly Christian” seems paradoxical, because the Christian is not of the world. “If we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” Romans 6:8. The believer is alive unto God through Christ. Romans 6:11. The Christian may abstain from worldly pleasures, such as dancing, card-playing, theatre-going, and have victory over habits that are called immoral habits and still be worldly, even without yielding to the lust of the flesh. The world, that is not of the Father, includes the pride of life. A Christian can be spoiled by a worldly education, discounting God’s statement, “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”; by failing or neglecting to heed this warning of God; “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ.” Colossians 2:8.

They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts, and these lusts include the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye, which are of this world which is hastening on to the judgment of God by Christ Jesus. Acts 17:31. But in this day of intellectual pride when men and women boasting of their modern scholarship, are heady, high-minded, wise in their own conceits, and presumptuous enough to demand for this twentieth century civilization a modern interpretation of Christianity, contrary to the plain teachings of Christ and His apostles, Christians must be exceedingly careful not to be worldly wise and identified in their thinking with the group of the world included in “the pride of life”.

When believers compromise with the world, either as to the wisdom of this world, with its intellectual and religious pride, or in the matter of worldly pleasures, they cannot obey the Word of God in which the believer is instructed to “be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” Philippians 2:15. While the Saviour was on earth He said, “As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.” John 9:5. To His disciples He said, “ye are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14. And while it is still true that this is the condemnation that Light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil and will not come to the Light lest their deeds should be reproved, it is the duty and blessed privilege of the Christian to keep the light of Christ shining in this dark world, never forgetting, that Satan is the prince of the world, the god of this age, the prince of the power of the air, at the head of the rulers of the darkness of this world, and that not one of his prisoners can be delivered from him and his darkness except through that great Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John 3:17 to 20. John 1:9 and Ephesians 6:12.

“We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.” Titus 2:12.

How blessed it is to be included in the “US” of this wonderful and most gracious promise. Herein is the guarantee of “all things” to the receiver. The receiver is the believer. The “all things” are added to the Great Gift. The Great Gift must first be received before the “all things” are available. The Great Gift is God’s only Son.

“As many as received Him to them gave He right to become the children of God” John 1:12.

Hear and weigh well these words, if you are a child of God through faith in His only begotten Son

“HE THAT SPARED NOT HIS OWN SON, BUT DELIVERED HIM UP FOR US ALL, HOW SHALL HE NOT WITH HIM ALSO FREELY GIVE US “ALL THINGS?” Romans 8:32.

Surely our Heavenly Father will not withhold the “all things” from the receiver, if He did not withhold His very best. Do you remember those words of the Lord Jesus Christ recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, the twenty-fifth verse: “Father, thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world?” And although, according to Ephesians 3:17 and 18, God wants His children to comprehend what is the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, we can not begin to fathom that mutual love that existed between Father and Son before the foundation of the world. If we could begin to measure that infinite love, we could better understand “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Think of the breadth and length, and height and depth of that little word “so.” Truly Christ on the cross is the measure of God’s love for sinners.

We can more readily accept, and more easily understand, the things that accompany salvation, the “much more,” the “all things,” or “blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ.” “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more.” Romans 5:10. Yes, every child of God can and should claim the “much mores” that he has in Christ.

And let us ever remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35. According to this principle, the Lord Jesus is always more willing to give than we are to receive. “For the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” It was He who said, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.” John 10:28. But in order that such a gift might be bestowed, God could not spare His own Son. Christ had to be delivered up. He was willing to be delivered up.

As we go back by faith to the bloody sweat of Gethsemane and the horrors, the torture and the shame of Calvary, remember in His own mind and heart it was more blessed to give than to receive. Every child of God can say with Paul concerning the sacrifice of Christ, “Who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. Remember those words of that loving Saviour, when He knew that the suffering of death was before Him:

“AND THE BREAD THAT I WILL GIVE IS MY FLESH, WHICH I WILL GIVE FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD.” John 6:51

And in the light of all of His gracious promises, and especially with the knowledge of His sacrificial death of shame, shall we deny or doubt His willingness to supply every spiritual need? Shall we ever question His love, or shall we not believe the record concerning Him: “having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end?” John 13:1.

Let us praise the Lord in the language of Paul, recorded in Colossians 1:12 to 18:

“Giving thanks unto the Father, Which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light . . . Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love . . . In Whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins . . . Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of every creature . . . For by Him were ‘ALL THINGS’ created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: ‘ALL THINGS’ were created by Him and for Him . . . And He is before ‘ALL THINGS,’ and by Him ‘ALL THINGS’ consist. . . And He is the Head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, and Firstborn from the dead; that in ‘ALL THINGS’ He might have the preeminence.”

What an inheritance! What a redemption! Yea, what a Redeemer! He is before “all things.” By Him “all things” consist. By Him and for Him were “all things” created. Then He has the perfect right to have preeminence in “all things.”

This Blessed Redeemer of sinners is the brightness, or effulgence, of God’s glory, the express image of His person, and upholds “all things” by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3. Little wonder then that the Father hath appointed His Son Heir of “all things.” Hebrews 1:2. We see not yet “all things” put under Him, but we see Jesus. Hebrews 2:8 and 9. And by Faith we see “all things” put under His feet.

“AND WHEN ‘ALL THINGS’ SHALL BE SUBDUED UNTO HIM, THEN SHALL THE SON ALSO BE SUBJECT UNTO HIM THAT PUT ‘ALL THINGS’ UNDER HIM.” I Corinthians 15:28.

“All things” belong to Christ by right of creation and by right of redemption. “All things were made by Him and without Him was not any thing made that was made.” “The Word was with God; and the Word was God.” John 1:1 to 3.

Behold the Blessed Son of God at God’s right hand in the heavenlies, “Far above principality, and power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come . . . And hath put ‘ALL THINGS’ under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over ‘ALL THINGS’ to the church Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” Ephesians 1:20 to 23.

Are you a member of the Body of Christ? Are you seated with Him in the heavenlies? If you can say “yes” to the first question, God says “yes” to the second. Think of this matchless grace, this infinite love, or as God expressed it in Ephesians 2:4 . . . “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us.” The Body of Christ is the fulness of Christ. “That they two shall be one flesh.” Ephesians 5:31 and 32. You say “too good to be true.” No, it is very good; but very true. Because God which cannot lie promised us eternal life before the world began. Titus 1:2. Here is glorious truth for your Christmas meditation and praise “WHO HATH SAVED US, AND CALLED US WITH AN HOLY CALLING, NOT ACCORDING TO OUR WORKS, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS OWN PURPOSE AND GRACE, WHICH WERE GIVEN US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN.” II Timothy 1:10.

And now back to our first verse: “For if God spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

We feel as though we would like to say, “Lord, we believe, help Thou our unbelief.” Don’t you really love Paul’s “my gospel?” Doesn’t it suit you better than “strive to enter into the kingdom?” Pure saving grace is so beautiful. Why should any person try to spoil it with religion? I am sure that the devil is very largely to blame, don’t you think so? He is quite religious himself; but He does hate the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And surely you will not line up with the devil and frustrate the grace of God with a mixture of law or religion.

“All things” are of God, Who hath reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ.” II Corinthians 5:18. And hear the words of Jesus Christ: “All things” that the Father hath are mine.” John 16:15. We belong to the Father and the Son. We are God’s children and joint-heirs with Christ. The Holy Spirit is indwelling us as the evidence of this relationship. Romans 8:16 and 17. Therefore, God says to His children

“FOR IF GOD SPARED NOT HIS OWN SON BUT DELIVERED HIM UP FOR US ALL, HOW SHALL HE NOT WITH HIM ALSO FREELY GIVE US ALL THINGS?”

“FOR ‘ALL THINGS’ ARE YOURS . . . AND YE ARE CHRIST’S; . . . AND CHRIST IS GOD’S.” . . . I Corinthians 3:21 to 23.

THE BELIEVER’S ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

1. “By Him all that believe are justified from ‘all things.’ . . .” Acts 13:39.

2. “If any man be in Christ, there is a new creation, old things are passed away; behold ‘all things’ are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17.

3. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in ‘all things’ may abound to every good work.” II Corinthians 9:8.

4. “In ‘all these things’ we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Romans 8:37.

5. “And we know that ‘all things’ work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.

6. “Giving thanks always for ‘all things’ unto God, the Father, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20.

7. “I can do ‘all things’ through Christ Which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 3:13.

8. “I know how to be abased and I know how to abound: everywhere and in ‘all things’ I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” Philippians 3:12.

Let us not misappropriate the promises of God to Israel, or we may be disappointed. As members of the Body of Christ, we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. But all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. The Saviour said to His disciples, “in the world ye shall have tribulation.” To be hungry and abased belong to the “all things” of those who are in Christ. As one Christian said, “I am not, worthy to suffer such persecution for Christ’s sake.”

Then let us not forget that His Divine power hath given us “all things” that pertain unto life and godliness.” II Peters 1:3. So the “all things” that God will freely give to His children, to those who have received His own Son as Saviour and Lord, are not the riches of this world, and not necessarily the material blessings and temporal gifts that are seen. There is not the guarantee to any child of God of material prosperity. To even the most faithful member of the Body of Christ there is no assurance of an abundance of earthly things. On the contrary the Father may withhold from His child many of the comforts of life; even good health. But whatever may be the afflictions, or trials, or temptations, or problems, or obstacles, or other circumstances of life, God is able to make all grace abound. He still says, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” God is able to do exceeding abundant above all we can ask or think. My God shall supply all your need. But He may say, “having food and raiment let us therewith be content.” And the faithful child of God will say, “All things work together for good to those who love God.”

“LET YOUR CONVERSATION BE WITHOUT COVETOUSNESS, AND BE CONTENT WITH SUCH THINGS AS YE HAVE; FOR HE HATH SAID, ‘I WILL NEVER LEAVE THEE, NOR FORSAKE THEE.’” Hebrews 13:5.

Let us remember that our Lord Jesus Christ is that Messiah who was to come into the world and, according to the testimony of that woman of Samaria, at the well, He was to tell us “all things.” John 4:25. And within a few moments after this utterance, that Messiah had read the mind and revealed the secrets of the heart of that sinful woman and she was running through the city crying, “Come see a Man Which told me ‘all things’ that ever I did.” He knows we did when we were sinners and “all things” we have since done. As Peter said some months later, “Lord, thou knoweth “all things” John 21:17.

So we cannot hide anything from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He knows “all things”; for “to us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are ‘all things,’ and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ by Whom are ‘all things’ and we by Him.” I Corinthians 8:6.

May our Heavenly Father give us faith to appropriate the “all things” that He will freely give us with His own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, through Whom we have received God’s free gift which is eternal life.

All things are His, and He is mine
I speak of Christ, my Lord Divine

Yes, by Christ all things consist,
Before all things He did exist.

Eternal Word in heaven above,
The object of His Father’s love.

Clothed in flesh, to earth Christ came
To show God’s grace; His love proclaim.

Christ tasted death for every man,
This was God’s redemption plan.

His sinless life Christ freely gave,
And now in mercy God will save

Sinful men of every race,
Salvation’s free; ‘tis all of grace.

The Lord of glory crucified;
Believing sinners justified.

Death abolished, Christ arose;
Waiting, now till all His foes

Shall be destroyed, His footstool be
Till God’s elect His glory see.

At God’s right hand the risen Lord
Upholds all things by His own word

Of all things Head, of all things Heir;
And the members of His Body share

His riches and His grace and love
Seated with Him in heaven above.

Joint-heirs with Christ, yes ‘tis true
Complete in Christ; all things new

Before all things my Saviour is;
If He is mine, then I am His.

And by His grace and power Divine
All things His, are, all things mine.

The correct translation of the first command of Philippians 1:10 is, “test the things that differ.” Every student of the Word of God knows that in that Word there are things which differ; but very few of these students seem to know very much about testing the things that differ. Things in God’s Book differ because God’s dealings with different people in that Book differed. Intelligent Bible study demands the recognition of the different dispensations in the Bible.

About seven years after the death and resurrection of Christ those apostles who had companied with the Lord Jesus from the beginning of His earthly ministry (Acts 1:22) glorified God because then and there God granted repentance unto life to Gentiles. Acts 11:18. Then the leader of those apostles, Peter, said: “Men and brethren” in Acts 15:7.

“AND WHEN THERE HAD BEEN MUCH DISPUTING, PETER ROSE UP, AND SAID UNTO THEM, MEN AND BRETHREN, YE KNOW HOW THAT A GOOD WHILE AGO GOD MADE CHOICE AMONG US, THAT THE GENTILES BY MY MOUTH SHOULD HEAR THE WORD OF THE GOSPEL, AND BELIEVE. AND GOD, WHICH KNOWETH THE HEARTS, BARE THEM WITNESS, GIVING THEM THE HOLY GHOST, EVEN AS HE DID UNTO US;”

“AND PUT NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND THEM, PURIFYING THEIR HEARTS BY FAITH.” Acts 15:7 to 9.

Up to that time it was unlawful for the Jews to keep company with Gentiles. Acts 10:28. Some years later Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, wrote:

“FOR THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE JEW AND THE GREEK: FOR THE SAME LORD OVER ALL IS RICH UNTO ALL THAT CALL UPON HIM.” Romans 10:12.

Then he added:

“BUT I SAY, DID NOT ISRAEL KNOW? FIRST MOSES SAITH, I WILL PROVOKE YOU TO JEALOUSY BY THEM THAT ARE NO PEOPLE, AND BY A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU.” Romans 10:19.

“FOR IF THOU WERT CUT OUT OF THE OLIVE TREE WHICH IS WILD BY NATURE, AND WERT GRAFFED CONTRARY TO NATURE INTO A GOOD OLIVE TREE; HOW MUCH MORE SHALL THESE, WHICH BE THE NATURAL BRANCHES, BE GRAFFED INTO THEIR OWN OLIVE TREE.” Romans 11:24.

Then later on he wrote:

“THAT AT THAT TIME YE WERE WITHOUT CHRIST, BEING ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL, AND STRANGERS FROM THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE, HAVING NO HOPE, AND WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD.”

“AND CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHICH WERE AFAR OFF, AND TO THEM THAT WERE NIGH.” Ephesians 2:12 and 17.

From these Scriptures we learn that there had been a difference between Israel and the Gentiles. The Gentiles had been “no people”, “a foolish nation”. Israel was the People of God; His chosen nation. Gentiles were the wild tree; Israel the natural branches. Gentiles were afar off. Israel was nigh. Gentiles had been aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; strangers from the covenants of promise. Concerning Israel, the Scriptures declare:

“WHO ARE ISRAELITES; TO WHOM PERTAINETH THE ADOPTION, AND THE GLORY, AND THE COVENANTS, AND THE GIVING OF THE LAW, AND THE SERVICE OF GOD, AND THE PROMISES; WHOSE ARE THE FATHERS, AND OF WHOM AS CONCERNING THE FLESH CHRIST CAME, WHO IS OVER ALL, GOD BLESSED FOREVER.. AMEN.” Romans 9:4 and 5.

“YE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE PROPHETS, AND OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD MADE WITH OUR FATHERS, SAYING UNTO ABRAHAM, AND IN THY SEED SHALL ALL THE KINDREDS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED.” Acts 3:25.

In Romans 2:14 we read, “The Gentiles which have not the law.”

Thus we see that there was a difference between Israel and the Gentiles. While the Lord Jesus was on earth He called Israel “sheep” and “children”. He called Gentiles “dogs”. Matthew 15:21 to 27. There is a great difference between children and dogs. But about 25 years later God declared there was no difference.

While on earth the Lord Jesus said to the twelve apostles, “go not in the way of the Gentiles.” Matthew 10:5. Some years later the same Lord Jesus said to Paul, “I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.” Acts 22:21. Test the things that differ.

Unto the Twelve was committed the gospel of the circumcision for the circumcision. Unto Paul was committed the gospel of the uncircumcision for the uncircumcision. Galatians 2:7 to 9. Test the things that differ.

“The law having a shadow of good things to come.” Hebrews 10:1. There is a difference between the shadow and good things to come. Test the things that differ. Israel was judged with respect to meats and drinks and holy days and the sabbath. Exodus 20:1 to 12. Hebrews 9:10. The members of Christ’s Body are not to be judged with respect to any kind of religious ordinances or special days. Colossians 2:13 to 17. Test the things that differ.

The New Covenant Church of Hebrews 2:12 and Hebrews 12:23 was mentioned by Israel’s prophets. Psalms 22:22. The Church, which is the Body of Christ, of Ephesians 1:19 to 22; Ephesians 3:6 to 9, and Colossians 1:24 to 28, was not mentioned by Israel’s prophets. Test the things that differ.

The sufferings and glory of Christ were foretold by Israel’s prophets. I Peter 1:12. The present ministry of Christ, as Head of the Church which is His Body, and Christ in the Gentiles the hope of glory, was a mystery (secret) not made known to Israel’s prophets. Ephesians 3:8 and 9. Colossians 1:25 to 27. Test the things that differ.

The Son of man is coming to Israel with His holy angels, in the clouds, with power and great glory. Luke 21:27 to 33. The members of the Body of Christ are to be called on high to appear with Christ in glory. Philippians, 3:11 to 21. Colossians 3:4. Test the things that differ. While Christ was on earth in the midst of Israel, and during the “Acts” period, while Israel’s temple in Jerusalem stood, and that Nation remained in their land; while God’s order was to the Jew first, there was a program of signs, visions, miracles, angelic visitations, healings, death judgments and religious ceremonies; but after Paul declared God’s judgment upon Israel, in Acts 28:25 to 28, about 63 A.D., there was a new order, ushering in the signless age of grace. I Timothy 5:23; II Timothy 4:20; Philippians 2:2. Is God’s program for today one of grace mixed with signs and religion, or a “signless” age of pure grace and no religion? Test the things that differ.