Yearly Archives: 2000

Are You Running to Win?

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible” (I Cor. 9:25).

Paul’s epistles have much to say about the competitive sports of his day. He uses the gymnasium and stadium, the races, the boxing and wrestling matches, to drive home vital spiritual lessons.

As he witnessed the intense enthusiasm of the masses and the grim determination of the contestants in the Greek games, he was gripped with the challenge to believers to put as much into the issues of life and death as these put into their games.

How rigidly the contestants, then as now, controlled and denied themselves! How tirelessly they trained themselves!

“Now they do it,” says the apostle, “to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one.”

In this pleasure-loving, self-indulgent age, believers are prone to forget that the Christian life is a race and that the divine Judge is watching their performance. He observes those who are running with all that is in them—and He likewise observes those who have so indulged themselves in the things of this world that they can hardly run at all.

Realize it or not, the race will soon—perhaps very soon—be over and the prizes awarded. Let each of us, therefore, ask himself: How will I fare then? Am I heeding the exhortation: “So run that ye may obtain,” or do I scarcely care whether or not I receive the approval of the One who gave His all—Himself—to save me from a just and certain doom and to bless me with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies?

May God convict us, beloved, and help us to arise to meet the challenge that faces us every day while the millions of the lost about us continue their course to Christless graves, and a confused and divided Church points them in a dozen different directions.

May He give us a burden for the lost—and the saved. May He convict us of our responsibility for their condition. May He help us to live lives of true, practical devotion to Christ, rather than mere sentimental devotion; to practice self-control and self-denial, to put our all into the race, so that when we stand before Him He may confer upon us a garland of victory that will never fade away, and with it everlasting joy that we have brought honor, rather than reproach, to His worthy name.

Berean Searchlight – September 2000

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What Could He Say?

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

It must have pleased the Apostle Paul, in writing to the churches, to be able to express thanks to God for what had been accomplished in them and through them.

To the Roman believers he wrote:

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8).

The Ephesian epistle appears to have been an encyclical letter. At least it is the most impersonal of all his letters, so we would not expect it to contain any such word of commendation as the above.

To the Philippians, however, he exclaimed:

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy” (Phil. 1:3,4).

What a church they were! Every time he thought of them it was with thanksgiving! Every time he prayed for them it was with joy! How faithful they had been in their witness for Christ; how generous-hearted in their care for him and the work he represented! And in all this they had not changed since “the first day” he had been with them (Phil. 1:5 cf. 4:10-16).

For the Colossian believers too, he thanked God, though he had never seen them, and prayed for them without ceasing:

“Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints” (Col. 1:4).

To the beloved Thessalonians too, he could write with joy:

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father” (I Thes. 1:2,3).

And their faith and love and patience of hope had all grown by the time he wrote his second epistle to them (See II Thes. 1:3,4). How such demonstrations of the Spirit’s working must have gladdened the apostle’s heart!

But what is this we find in the salutation to the Corinthian believers, in I Corinthians 1:4? Here he is very cautious, as he writes:

“I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ.”

Note carefully: He does not say he thanks God for the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. He rather thanks God on their behalf, that God has been so gracious to them.

This was a letter of reproof, and II Corinthians the follow-up. God had saved them and had enriched them with various supernatural gifts of the Spirit, but these gifts had caused them to become puffed up and contentious and careless about their conduct as Christians.

So the apostle thanks God only for the grace given to them, and earnestly reproves, rebukes, and exhorts them to honor the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives. What more could he say?

As we come to the salutation to “the churches of Galatia,” we are struck with the total absence of any word of commendation. As with all the churches, he wishes them grace and peace, but then immediately launches into a stern message of reproof and disputation. Indeed, he does not hide from them his deep misgivings over their spiritual condition, saying: “I am afraid of [concerning] you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain…I stand in doubt of you” (Gal. 4:11,20).

As with the Corinthian believers, so with the Galatians, we ask: What else could he do? What more could he say? Should he have praised them when they had “fallen from grace,” when “the blessedness” they once had known had been forfeited for a legal program that God had set aside?

And what about us, my friend: you and me? What if the Apostle Paul, that faithful warrior for “the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery”—what if he were to write to us today? Could he salute us with joy and with thanks to God for our testimony, or for our faithfulness and generosity toward the Lord’s work, or for our faith, love and patience of hope? Or would he have to write cautiously, knowing how little we deserved such commendation, or, worse still, would he have for us only words of reproof, rebuke and exhortation, standing in anxious doubt of our very salvation?

May God help us to face up to these matters thoughtfully and prayerfully, and to act upon them with resolution, so that any letter from Paul to us would contain those blessed words:

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.”

The Blood of Jesus

Posted on by Jim Humphrey

Recently, a friend of mine told about observing someone praying to God “by the blood of Jesus” that a fight between two people would be stopped. I understand that praying this way for any number of things is a common practice among some people. This set me to question the justification, rationale, and basis for using the blood of Jesus this way. And so the purpose of this article is to examine the legitimacy, according to the Bible, for the use of this term when praying to God for something.

Leviticus 17:11 teaches “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for the soul.” The blood that was spilled upon the altar signified death and thus made atonement.

BLOOD, IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

There are many passages that refer to blood in the New Testament and a review of each such passage reveals that, in general, when we see blood it stands for death. For example, in Matthew 23:30,31 Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees that they were hypocrites because they say “if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets.”

In Matthew 26:26-28, we read, that as they were eating, “Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for the remission of sins.”

Pilate is recorded as having washed his hands, saying “I am innocent of the blood of this just person,” referring to the fact that he was not responsible for the death of Christ. Then, all the people answered Pilate, “His blood be on us, and on our children,” referring to their gladly taking responsibility for the death of Christ (Matt. 27:24,25). These are but a few examples of how blood refers to death in the New Testament.

JESUS CHRIST’S BLOOD BOUGHT OUR REDEMPTION

When someone invokes “the blood of Jesus” in their prayers for something they believe should be done, they are actually invoking the sacrificial death of our Lord for their purposes. However, a review of the references to the blood of Jesus in the New Testament reveals that the death of Christ has no relation to supplications for such things. And so, to what does the blood of Jesus refer?

First of all, the blood of Jesus, that is, His death, opened to us the way of salvation from our sins. His blood redeemed, or purchased, our salvation. Romans 3:24,25 tells us “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.”

Ephesians 1:7 tells us, “In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Romans 5:9 informs us, “Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” I John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” See also I Peter 1:19 and Hebrews 2:14.

Paul teaches that we share with other believers the remembrance of Christ’s death until He comes for us when we partake of communion (I Cor. 11:23-25). It was our Lord Jesus Christ’s shed blood, His death, that saved us from sin and gave us eternal life with Him.

JESUS CHRIST’S BLOOD GIVES US ACCESS TO GOD

Secondly, His blood, that is, His death, has provided us an access to God that mankind never had before. Ephesians 2:12,13 teaches, “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: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” Hebrews 10:19 reads, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”

Before Christ’s death, Gentiles had no hope of access to God. The Jews did have access, but then only by and through their high priest. And he could enter into the holy of holies in the temple only once a year, and then with the blood of animals for the remission of sins for himself and the people. Now, by the blood of Jesus, that is, after His death, we all, both Jews and Gentiles, can have direct access to God.

The blood of Christ has redeemed us from sin and given us access to God. We can thank God that we have access to Him through or by the blood of Christ, but our prayers should be made in His Name, and not by His blood (Eph. 5:20).

THE MISUSE OF GOD’S WORD

The Word of God becomes distorted if terms and expressions from it are misunderstood and misused. This causes confusion among God’s people and takes their minds from the truth. The plan of Satan has always been to twist God’s Word and make it mean something it does not in an attempt to make people stray from the truth. We see this in his first recorded contact with mankind in Genesis 3:1-5. There we read that Satan approached Eve. She told him what she heard from Adam; what God had said about eating the fruit of a particular tree in the garden. This had been God’s Word to Eve at the time, which she was to have taken by faith.

Satan did not deny outright what God said. Instead, he brought into question the interpretation of God’s Word. He told her she would be as gods, knowing good and evil, if she ate of the fruit that God had forbidden. And so it has been ever since that people have followed Satan’s lead and have misused the Word of God for their own purposes.

Whereas at the very beginning of the Bible we observe the misuse and abuse of God’s Word by Satan, it is interesting that at the end of the Bible we find a clear message as to the penalty for such misuse and abuse. God has let us know His will regarding how His Word is to be used many places in the Bible. But, through the Apostle John in Revelation 22:18,19 He reveals: “If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

These words may be written directly in reference to the Book of Revelation, but their application cannot help but extend to the entire Word of God. At any rate, they remind us to be very careful of how we use His Word, how we interpret it, and how we teach it.

CONCLUSION

From Moses we learn the lesson that Jesus Christ was to be struck but once, that is, He was to suffer and die once. In Exodus 17:6, Moses was instructed by God to strike the rock in Horeb and as a result life-giving water would come out for the children of Israel to drink. The rock was a type of Christ in that Christ was to be struck only once. “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12). Moses sinned, as recorded in Numbers 20:8-12, when he disobeyed God by striking the rock a second time, instead of speaking to it as commanded. As a result, Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to pray for things by the blood of Jesus. To do so is a misuse of a wonderful truth. Jesus, the perfect man (For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Col. 2:9), died on the Cross carrying all our sins on Himself. The work of that death and His blood was carried out then and we are forever grateful for what His precious blood did for us. It redeemed us from our sins and so bought our salvation, and it allowed us to have access to Almighty God.

But, thank God, our Lord Jesus Christ is dead no longer. He is risen triumphant and He sits at the right hand of God making intercession for us at this present time (Rom. 8:34). In fact, it is through Him that we have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Eph. 2:18). He is the Head over all things and we believers are His Body (Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-19). We are to pray directly to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t, as Moses did, strike the rock the second time by praying to God by the blood of Jesus that long ago completed its wonderful work. We pray to God in the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Praise God!!! See also Philippians 4:6,7; I Timothy 2:5,6; Hebrews 7:25.

Berean Searchlight – August 2000

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The Truth About the Truth

Posted on by Pastor Paul M. Sadler

It has been brought to our attention that certain Bible teachers are using a quote found in Things That Differ to imply that Pastor Stam would be sympathetic with what they believe to be a fuller understanding of the Word, rightly divided. On page 13, Pastor Stam states:

“Though we have sought to make this book as comprehensive as possible, it is not presumed to be exhaustive for, as we say, the field of dispensational study is as great as the Bible itself. Should there still be some time remaining before the Lord returns to catch His own away, the Spirit will enlighten the hearts and minds of others to see what we have missed and other writers will doubtless improve upon what has been written here.”

While we would never want to discourage anyone from being a Berean, we do want to set the record straight as to what Pastor Stam does and does not believe. This matter has caused a great deal of confusion among the brethren. In fact, we have received an endless stream of letters regarding the subjects that follow. Since we feel Pastor Stam’s views are in full agreement with the Word, rightly divided, they will also serve as the official position of the Berean Bible Society.

Prayer: Over the years, Pastor Stam and I have had numerous discussions regarding the dispensational aspects of prayer. He was so dismayed with those who teach that believers should only pray about spiritual things, he used to say, “But God is our heavenly Father, like any good father He’s interested in every area of our lives. I don’t deny that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, but this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t offer thanks at meals or pray about an upcoming trip, Paul did!! In fact, he encouraged others to pray for his deliverance from a physical prison, didn’t he?” (See Phil. 1:19,20). Mr. Stam writes:

“Be careful [care-full, anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

`And’ what? “Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive?” NO!!

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep [garrison] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6,7).

“Here is ample proof that God is not deaf to the cries of His children in this age. He wants them to pour out all their hearts before Him. There is nothing He does not wish to hear about. He says, `Tell me everything and be anxious about nothing for I’ll work it all out for your good.’ He who loves us is working out our future!

“How foolish then to say `What’s the use of praying if we may not even receive what we ask for?’ It is because of the very `darkness of this age’ that we must be willing to leave the outcome with Him. He may grant our request—but if not, He will give us what He knows is better! He is the Head of the Body and, remember, the head always does the thinking.”

—The Berean Searchlight

The Word of God: Although Pastor Stam has always held the King James Version of the Bible in high esteem, believing it to be a faithful and trustworthy translation of the original languages, he has never endorsed the teaching that it is perfect, inerrant, or without proven error, as some teach. He writes:

“Is the King James Version inerrant? If so, which edition? The late edition, which most `Inerrant KJV’ believers use? This would be like the pastor saying, `This Bible, the King James Version, is word-for-word, the inspired, inerrant Word of God,’ while holding up a late edition of the KJV. For remember, the King James Version has been edited and revised several times.

“Is it then the original 1611 edition of the KJV that is word-for-word inspired and inerrant? Then what about the hundreds of marginal notes put in by the translators, suggesting alternate readings? This in itself proves that the KJV text is not inerrant—not even the 1611 edition….But more: if the 1611 edition of the KJV is a word-for-word inspired, inerrant Word of God, it surely must follow that the English-speaking people had no Bible prior to 1611 and that non-English-speaking people today have no Bible at all!

“The `Inerrant KJV’ theory is, as we have said, not merely erroneous; but it is foolish, and especially so when associated with the preservation of the Bible through all generations.”

—The Berean Searchlight

The Lord’s Table: Concerning the Lord’s Supper, Pastor Stam has always taught that the Apostle Paul received a special revelation from our Lord regarding communion. The command of Christ is unmistakably clear that it should be observed until He returns for the Church, which is His Body. Mr. Stam writes:

“We believe firmly that the celebration of the Lord’s Supper was included in the great revelation committed by the glorified Lord to Paul and is therefore an integral part of the `one faith’ to which he refers in Ephesians 4:5, that body of doctrine to which all believers in this present dispensation of grace should subscribe.”

—The Lord’s Supper and the Bible

Chastisement: Based upon the fact we are living in the dispensation of Grace, many teach that God no longer chastises His saints. However, it is Pastor Stam’s conviction that chastisement is a transdispensational truth. “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (I Cor. 11:30-32). He writes:

“We do not believe that the weakness, sickness and death referred to in these verses were the result of miraculous judgments dealt out to the recalcitrant believers at Corinth by spiritual leaders. The apostle states all too clearly that they were chastisements from God, inflicted on irresponsible believers that they should not be condemned with the world (ver. 32). This reminds us of that oft-repeated truth of Scripture.” “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6, et al).

—Commentary on I Corinthians

While the above brethren are certainly entitled to their opinions, we would greatly appreciate it if they didn’t infer that Pastor Stam, or the Berean Bible Society, would endorse their teachings in any way. As ministers of the gospel may God help us to have a balance as we minister to others.

Copies of the above articles and books are available upon request.

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Paul and the Children of Adam

Posted on by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

THE WORLD’S FIRSTBORN

In Genesis 4:1 we read that when the first child was born into the world Eve exclaimed: “I have gotten a man from the Lord!” and the babe was named Cain, meaning Acquisition.

Some Hebrew scholars have held that Eve actually said: “I have gotten a man—Jehovah!” However this may be, it seems clear that Eve did conclude that she had given birth to the promised Seed of Genesis 3:15.

Eve thought Cain was Christ. As she gazed at the child in loving pride, she doubtless said to herself: “A second Adam! The promised seed! And sent in such a lovely way! A man from God in my own arms!”

Eve would have been cold-blooded and hard-hearted had she not thought this. Yet she was wrong, for Cain was not Christ. Rather he was “of that wicked one” and soon enough he would grow up and it would be seen that “his works were evil” (I John 3:12).

CAIN AND ABEL

Whether or not Genesis 4:14 indicates that Adam’s children were already numerous when Cain was driven from the presence of the Lord, it is clear that the record of Scripture deals only with Cain and Abel until Seth is born to fill Abel’s place (Gen. 4:25).

Let us go back, then, to Cain and Abel, the world’s firstborn sons. Here at the dawn of history there were no racial distinctions, no Jew and Gentile, no black and white—just the two sons of one father, Adam. Yet there was one great difference between the two: the difference between faith and unbelief.

It is quite possible that had we known Cain and Abel personally we might have preferred Cain’s companionship to that of Abel. Cain was industrious, “a tiller of the ground,” while Abel was a shepherd. Cain may have been the more religiously inclined too, for we read first of Cain that “he brought an offering to the Lord,” and then of Abel that “he also” brought one (Gen. 4:3,4). Furthermore Cain may well have possessed the more refined and sensitive nature since he brought to the Lord, not a bleeding, quivering, dying lamb, but an offering “of the fruit of the ground.” Yet the record goes on to say:

“…And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering;

“But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect…” (Vers. 4,5).

The reason for this is made perfectly clear in Hebrews 11:4, where we read:

“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he, being dead, yet speaketh.”

The fact that Abel, unlike Cain, brought his sacrifice by faith, must mean that God had instructed the brothers as to the sacrifices they were to bring, for “faith cometh by hearing” (Rom. 10:17).

UNBELIEF AND SELF-WILL

As faith is the mother of obedience, so unbelief is the mother of disobedience and self-will.

Cain could, like Abel, have approached God in God’s way. Had he done so he would, like Abel, have been accepted and would have “obtained witness that he was righteous.”

It was unreasonable, therefore, but typical, that when he was not accepted he “was very wroth, and his countenance fell” (Ver. 5). How gracious of God, then, to reason with him as He did.

“And the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, a sin offering1 lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Vers. 6,7).

The meaning is clear. Do what is right and you will not need to bring a sacrifice, but even now that you have sinned, you need not be rejected for a sin offering lies at hand and you can bring it in sacrifice.

THE INCONSISTENCY OF UNBELIEF

But Cain was adamant. His pride had been hurt. And thus it was that one day “Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him” (Ver. 8).

Think of the inconsistency of this brutal act! The man who had been too sensitive, too refined, to bring a slain animal to God in sacrifice for his sins, was not too sensitive or refined to bludgeon his own brother to death.

As a result of his brutal obstinacy Cain was driven from the presence of the Lord to become a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and to cry with the doomed: “My punishment is greater than I can bear” (Ver. 13).

PAUL AND THE CHILDREN OF ADAM

It was given to the Apostle Paul to “fulfil [or complete] the Word of God” (Col. 1:25), not statistically, or textually, or chronologically, but doctrinally, by the revelation of “the mystery” (Ver. 26).

Paul’s God-given message was the capstone of divine revelation, for “the mystery” revealed to him is the secret of all God’s dealings with men and it is in its light that we must consider even the ancient account of Cain and Abel.

For nearly four thousand years God had made distinctions between man and man, distinctions between the line of Seth and the line of Cain, between the seed of Abraham and that of the pagan world about him, between the seed of Isaac and that of Ishmael, between the nation Israel and the other nations.

But in due time, under Paul’s ministry, God cast away His covenant people (temporarily) along with the Gentiles, concluding all in unbelief “that He might have MERCY upon all” (Rom. 11:32, 33).1 Thus it is Paul that takes us back, in his theology, not to David or Abraham, with whom the covenants were made, but to fallen Adam, pointing out that “as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,” so by another “one Man” we may be delivered from sin and death (See Rom. 5:12-19).

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness [or, righteous act] of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Rom. 5:18).

Thus in Paul’s epistles former distinctions disappear. “Henceforth,” he says, “know we no man after the flesh” (II Cor. 5:16).

“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.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12,13).

There are, to be sure, human distinctions between Adam’s children that are still to be observed, but before God there is no difference, except that which we found existing between Adam’s first two children, the difference between faith and unbelief.

Now the sacred secret revealed through Paul has cast its light upon the story of Cain and Abel. The blood sacrifice which God then required was typical of that which He has since provided and by which believers not only receive witness that they are righteous but become partakers of all of the merits of Calvary: oneness with Christ, oneness with each other in Christ, a heavenly position, heavenly blessings, a heavenly prospect and all “the riches of His grace.”

“To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace;

“Where He hath abounded toward us…” (Eph. 1:6-8).

“That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).

Those who reject this forgiveness and these riches of grace are often much like Cain. They may be industrious, sensitive and refined. They may indeed be religious, but instead of approaching God in His way, through the blood of Christ, they come, like Cain, offering what they think is better: the fruit of their toil, their “good” character or their religious efforts.

Tell these good, religious people that only the blood of Christ can save them and, like Cain, their countenances fall. But the very religious leaders who have protested that the doctrine of the blood is “loathesome to the finer senses,” have also been the leaders in the apostasy that has encouraged communism and the brutality and godlessness that is even now engulfing our nation in its perils. Such is the inconsistency of unbelief, and it is of such that God says: “Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain…” (Jude 11).

THE ONLY DISTINCTION

During this dispensation of Grace God does not favor one race, or nation, or class above another where salvation is concerned. The one basic distinction is that which we found existing at the very beginning between Cain and Abel, and this distinction now, as then, determines our destinies.

“And the Lord had respect unto Abel AND TO HIS OFFERING, but unto Cain AND TO HIS OFFERING He had not respect.” Each man was accepted or rejected on the basis of His offering.

Today, since Christ has already given Himself as a sacrifice for us, we may either trust in His finished work and be accepted by God or bring our own sacrifice and be rejected.

Those who are rejected will one day have to say with Cain: “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Those who are accepted will forever enjoy “the exceeding riches of His grace…His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Notes:

  1. A.V. renders this “sin” but in the Hebrew the word for sin offering is the same as the word for sin. Evidently “sin offering” is intended here.
  2. This applies to His offer of salvation to all, for as far as salvation itself is concerned He does not “have mercy upon all” (See Rom. 9:18).

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Berean Searchlight – June 2000

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Freedom From Anger

Posted on by Pastor John Fredericksen

Conflict is a part of life. It is inevitable that we will face situations that will evoke the hot emotion of anger within us. When this happens, we’re not alone. Everyone experiences anger from time to time. In fact, many individuals in the Bible became angry. Remember when Moses returned from Mt. Siani with the ten commandments written by the finger of God upon tablets of stone? Upon seeing the idolatry and nakedness of Israel, in anger he broke those tablets (Ex. 32:19). Remember when the ark of God was being moved on a cart and Uzzah touched the ark to keep it from falling (II Sam. 6:6)? The Lord immediately struck him dead for touching what was holy, but David became angry with God over Uzzah’s life being taken. Remember the Scriptures often refer to the Lord as being angry (i.e. righteous anger)? Psalm 7:11 tells us, “God is angry with the wicked every day.” Mark 3:5 also refers to the Savior who “looked round about on them (the Pharisees) with anger, being grieved for their hardness of heart.”

With these examples in mind, we should not be surprised when we sense anger in ourselves or see anger in others. In fact, it would be unrealistic not to expect to have some angry interaction even with those who are close to us in life. With family and close friends we have more frequent contact, have higher expectations, and feel more at ease to be frank about everything. Sometimes this familiarity brings conflict, but it’s normal especially in families. Remember when Miriam and Aaron “spake against Moses” (in Num. 12:1) because of his wife and position of leadership? Even families and friends sometimes have conflicts that result in an angry outburst. When this happens, it does not mean we don’t love the one who is the object of our anger, or that we’re not loved when we face the anger of another. It doesn’t even mean that the emotion of anger is wrong in itself. What it does mean, however, is that a problem exists that must be handled in a mature and godly manner. To help us know how to deal with these difficult situations, God has provided principles in His Word to guide us. If we choose to apply these principles, relationships can be preserved, the Lord will be honored, and our lives will be happier. So let’s discover what God has to say about how to deal with anger and choose to follow His counsels.

Choose to be Slow to Anger. No one can make us become angry, we allow ourselves this indulgence. God expects each of us to have “rule over his own spirit” (Prov. 25:28). That means we must not allow ourselves to become easily or often provoked. Young people today would say, “take a chill pill.” God puts it this way: “he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty: and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Prov. 16:32). Anger quite often leads to a loss of control in things we say and do. Unfortunately we can’t take either back, and we can do irreparable damage. So memorize verses like Proverbs 14:29, “he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” (See also Eccl. 7:9; James 1:19).

Choose to Avoid Friendships With Angry People. Like it or not, we are influenced by those with whom we spend time. Bad attitudes, being easily offended, and quick tempered responses are things that will easily rub off on us. That’s why God’s counsel is “make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul” (Prov. 22:24). We can save ourselves, our friends, and our families a lot of unnecessary grief by following this simple rule from the Lord.

Choose to Carefully Consider if your Anger is Legitimate. For all of us, the truth is that many times our anger is not warranted. We’re quite capable of being too easily agitated, having wrong perceptions, making mountains out of mole hills, or simply having a wrong attitude. When God’s servant Jonah fled from the task he’d been entrusted with, “then said the Lord, doest thou well to be angry” (Jonah 4:4). Like Jonah, we too can have a wrong perspective in things, and become angry when it is entirely unnecessary. A reasonable and godly response, at the onset of angry emotions, is to think the matter through from both sides, and listen carefully to what others are trying to tell us.

Choose to Delay Actions and Words Until in Control. One of the worst things to do when we’re upset is to react immediately. Delaying any response, even for a few moments, gives us an opportunity to pray about what to say, and how to handle our situation correctly. As believers, we need to strive for godliness even in stressful situations. If we’re not in control of ourselves or able to allow God to control what and how much we say—then we’re not ready to proceed. When the time is right our words should be limited and chosen very carefully. Our standard must be that of Proverbs 29:11, “a fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.”

Choose to Avoid Sinful Responses. In Christ, we have both the capability, and the responsibility to avoid sinful responses. The Lord tells us when we are angry to “sin not,” (Eph. 4:26a). During times of heightened emotions we’re more vulnerable to sin and excess. Threats, shouting, violence, hurtful words, and attempts to get even are natural responses to anger. But believers have a higher calling and must choose to do right. Therefore, Psalm 37:8 urges us to “cease from anger and forsake wrath, fret not thyself in any way to do evil.” Even when we’ve been wronged, we must do what is right.

Choose Confrontation When Warranted. We’re going to be pretty hard to live with if we travel this road too often. But sometimes it’s really necessary. When the Corinthians were guilty of flagrant sin, Paul wrote them a strong letter confronting them with their wrongs. But notice he did so out of “anguish of heart” (II Cor. 2:4). He certainly did not relish the task. Moreover, his goal was not merely to give them a piece of his mind. In every line you can see that his goal was RESTORATION, with both his words and tone enhancing that goal. When it is necessary, and when done correctly, let’s remember two standards to follow: “if a man be overtaken in a fault…restore such an one in a spirit of meekness” (Gal. 6:1), and whenever possible, “debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself, and discover not a secret to another” (Prov. 25:9).

Choose to Respond Softly to Anger. This does not mean that you allow others to walk over you or that you give the appearance of being wrong. It simply means that you are choosing to deal with your anger, or the anger of another, in a Christlike way. Moreover, the approach of a bull in a china closet will only aggravate everyone, and makes any constructive resolution more difficult. But calm words with a calm approach will set the stage for meaningful dialogue, therefore, we must remember, “a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stirreth up strife” (Prov. 15:1).

Choose to Pass Over an Offence when Possible. We always have this option, and it should be exercised more often than any other. Doing so demonstrates maturity, love, spiritual growth, and balance. An unwillingness or inability to allow love to “cover the multitude of sins” (I Pet. 4:8), or annoyances we find in others, reveals that many times the real problem is with ourself, more than anyone else. Proverbs 19:11 explains “the discretion of a man deferreth his anger: and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.” Making this decision does not mean we deny being hurt, or agree with a wrong. It means we are choosing to be guided by love, that we’re allowing God to right any wrong, and trusting God to enable us to forgive without holding a grudge. When possible, this is a liberating decision that leads to our own spiritual growth, not to mention greater harmony with others.

The subject of dealing with anger is complicated enough that other pertinent things could also be included. Some might suggest making a commitment to always ask for forgiveness once realizing we were wrong. Others believe some kind of an accountability system to family or a mature Christian, helps. In unresolved instances of anger, biblical precedence exists for appealing to members of the local church in an attempt to find a better resolution. Each of the above suggestions can serve as a deterrent to anger, and an incentive to strive for restoration.

If God has spoken to your heart about the problem of anger and the excesses that accompany it, then praise His holy name! You have just taken the first step toward victory. Now, despite any failures in the past, don’t give up; look up to God in prayer, asking Him to help you find freedom from anger by implementing the biblical principles we’ve just studied. He’s waiting for your cry, and when you come to Him with a sincere heart He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20).

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The Kingdom of God — Of Prophecy and of “The Mystery”

Posted on by Roland N. Icke, M.D.

Most of Scripture is concerned with the prophesied Kingdom of God, also called the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew’s Gospel. Prophecy and its fulfillment under the Messiah have primary reference to God’s sovereignly-chosen people, Israel. The specific Kingdom, called the “Kingdom of His dear Son,” “…of His Christ,” was not prophesied. God’s eternal purpose to save Gentiles in a joint body with Jews was “Hid in God” as a sacred secret (“the mystery“) until fulfilled. This mystery was revealed thereafter by the glorified Christ, through Paul’s epistles.

Alva J. McClain wrote in “The Greatness of the Kingdom,” p. 284: “The events attending the appearance of the Messianic King indicate a literal identity between the Kingdom preached in the Gospels and that of Old Testament prophecy.” (Alva J. McClain, “The Greatness of the Kingdom,” p. 284. Moody Press, Chicago, IL.)

There is at least one phase of the Kingdom of God which is equivalent to the Kingdom of Heaven. This has reference to the prophetic Kingdom about which Jesus and His Apostles preached while He was with them on earth, and which they preached during the early Acts period. He was proclaimed to be Israel’s Messiah and King, the Heir promised to David (II Sam. 7:16), and the Son promised to Mary (Luke 1:31-33). He was “the Christ,” concerning whom the prophets spoke (Isa. 9:7, and chapter 53).

The term “Kingdom of Heaven” is used more than 30 times in the Gospel of Matthew, and the term “Kingdom of God” is used in more than 70 other references. Sometimes these refer to the same Kingdom and at other times they are different. This leads to the conclusion that the designation “Kingdom of God” is a universal term. It includes the Kingdom of Heaven and all other aspects of God’s jurisdiction over His creation, whether animal, vegetable, mineral, life, matter, energy, light or time. In these cases, the context often reveals a more specific designation. There are many aspects and phases of “The Kingdom.” No single definition is adequate for all these broad terms. God had a Theocratic Kingdom in the past. His prophesied Theocratic (Messianic) Kingdom was “at hand” when Christ was on earth. It is now in absentia but it will be restored after the tribulation, established in “the millennium,” and continue in eternity. Today, believers are members of the unprophesied Kingdom (to be considered later).

Though sometimes having uncertain meaning, the term “Kingdom of Heaven” (used only in Matthew’s Gospel) could have been used interchangeably with “Kingdom of God” in the following Scripture references:

Mark 1:14,15: “the kingdom of God is at hand.”

Luke 8:1: “glad tidings of the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:2: “sent them to preach the kingdom of God.”

Luke 10:9: “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.”

Luke 21:31: “The kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”

Luke 23:51: ” waited for the kingdom of God.”

His Kingdom, foretold in Old Testament prophecies, was actively proclaimed as at hand and partially fulfilled during the earthly presence of Jesus of Nazareth. It will be fulfilled completely in the future. God’s Kingdom of today is not found in the Old Testament Scriptures (Eph. 3:5,9; Col. 1:13), though its salvation aspect was anticipated by types, patterns, and symbolic ordinances. The mystery aspect was progressively revealed after Calvary and fits into the present unprophesied interval during which “blindness in part is happened to Israel,” until the “fullness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25). The rest of these prophecies will then be fulfilled. “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, He might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him” (Eph. 1:10). Our effort is limited to the consideration of these two aspects of God’s Kingdom, one prophesied and one unprophesied. All aspects of His Kingdom are according to God’s eternal purpose (Eph. 2:7, 3:10,11).

As His representative, Adam was given dominion over all God’s earthly creation (Gen. 1:26-29). By disobedience, Adam forfeited his administrative right to Satan, giving him domination of all subsequent earthly systems of world government (Luke 4:6,7). “This continuous warfare between Satan and God is the key to discerning the ultimate purpose of world history. Satan’s purpose is to overthrow God and usurp His place as the unique sovereign of the universe. God’s ultimate purpose is to demonstrate that He only (the Creator) is the ultimate sovereign.” (Renald E. Showers, “Foundations of Faith,” Israel My Glory, Apr./May 1999, p. 28. Friends of Israel Gospel Ministries Inc., P.O. Box 908, Bellmawr, NJ 08099-0908.) God allowed that challenge. By undeniable restoration at Calvary He proved to all creatures in heaven and earth that He has supreme authority over all that He created (II Cor. 5:19,21; Rev. 4:11, 11:15, 12:9-11).

In sovereign grace, God chose Abram (Abraham) out of heathen idolatry, and gave him an unconditional promise. Abraham was promised (1) a land (extending from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers (Gen. 15:18) and from Lebanon and the Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea (Deut. 11:24)); (2) A great name; and (3) Blessings for Abraham (and through him to all families (nations) of the earth). The promise was confirmed and continued through Isaac (not Ishmael), through Jacob (not Esau), and applied through his twelve sons to their descendants who became the nation, Israel.

God made a conditional covenant to make Israel (not the Gentiles) a “peculiar treasure unto me above all people…and you shall be a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation…called the children of Israel” (Ex. 19:5,6), and shall reign over many nations (Deut. 15:6). This is the first use of the word “Kingdom” in the Scriptures. This was a Theocratic Kingdom under God through Moses as its mediator. At Mt. Sinai, God gave specific requirements for Israel with promised blessings for obedience to all His commandments (Ex. 15:26; Deut. 11:22,23), and curses (punishment) for disobedience (Deut. 8:19, 11:28). The Lord did not choose Israel because of its numbers but “because the Lord loved you” and had given His promise to the patriarchs (Deut. 7:6-9). “All the people answered together and said: `All that the LORD has spoken, we will do'” (Ex. 19:5-9). God’s laws were promptly broken, the people were judged, and His laws were given again.

The Theocratic Kingdom continued after Moses’ death through Joshua and then through the Judges for about 450 years. Some of the judges were unfaithful. The people wanted “a king to judge us like all the nations.” The Lord said to Samuel: “Hearken to the people, they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them” (I Sam. 8:3-22). Samuel entreated: “the Lord your God was your King” (I Sam. 12:12). King Saul reigned for about 40 years but became proud and jealous, causing Israel much distress. David was then chosen to be king and to lead the Israelites in conquest of their enemies. David prophesied about the coming Messiah, who would establish a righteous kingdom on earth (Acts 2:29-35). In spite of failures, David’s heart was “right” with God; his sins were confessed and forgiven (though judged). He was promised an Heir who would reign eternally (II Sam. 7:16).

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds” (Heb. 1:1,2). Some of the “mysteries of the Kingdom” were revealed to His Apostles (Luke 8:11). The “mystery” (musterion) was “Hid in God” (Eph. 3:5,9) until the “due time” after Calvary. It was “committed” first to Paul as a “steward” of the mysteries (Rom. 11:13; I Cor. 4:1,2, 9:17; I Tim. 1:16; Titus 1:3) and through him, by the Spirit, to the Apostles (Gal. 2:2) and to his associates (called holy apostles and prophets; Eph. 3:5). These include Timothy, Titus, Appollos, Barnabas, Silas, Sosthenes, and some others.

Jesus came to fulfill the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12:13, 17:1-14) and to David (II Sam. 7:16), which promises were confirmed “by the mouth of all His holy prophets…since the world began” (Luke 1:69,70; Acts 3:21; Rom. 15:8).

This One, legally the “Seed” of Abraham and the “Son of David,” will establish a righteous Millennial Kingdom on earth. As the reigning Messiah, all enemies will be put under His feet. He will have crushed Satan, conquered death, and will deliver this Kingdom to the Father, and will reign with Him forever (John 17:6-12; I Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 22:16) from the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 11:15, 22:3-5).

Problems arise in understanding which Kingdom is designated unless we carefully distinguish between: (1) The prophesied “Kingdom of God” (the Kingdom of Heaven), also called the Messianic Kingdom, and (2) God’s unprophesied “Kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13), “the Church, the Body of Christ” in the present dispensation of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2). Both of these Kingdoms belong to the Kingdom of God in its broader sense. (3) Sometimes the phrase “Kingdom of…”, was used as a simile, metaphor, or in a parable (Matt. 13:3-53) with the meaning revealed only to the Apostles. These were all “fitting” to the prophetic Kingdom, but some were replaced by new revelations under Grace (after redemption by His blood at Calvary; Eph. 1:7).

(1) The prophesied Messiah’s Kingdom: Some have called this the Davidic Kingdom because it is primarily concerned with the eternal Kingdom which was promised to David (II Sam. 7:16) with Christ, whom King David prophetically called his “Seed,” “my Lord” (Psa. 110:1). Jesus verified that He was the object of that reference (Luke 20:41-44; John 4:25,26). The prophesied Messianic Kingdom was “at hand” in the presence of Israel’s Messiah during the earthly ministry of Jesus with His disciples. His mission was to convert those chosen Israelites, who by physical birth were the natural children of Abraham (Matt. 15:24), into those becoming children of God by a spiritual new birth. “The natural man does not receive the things of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor. 2:14).

“The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:1,14), “with all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9; Rev. 19:13). Jesus said: “He that has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 10:30, 14:9); “blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Jesus said: “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” “It is not meet to take the children’s (Israel’s) bread and cast it to dogs” (Gentiles) (Matt. 15:24,26).

(2) Paul called the unprophesied Kingdom of God in this present age of grace, “the Church (which is) the Body of Christ.” This was also called the mystery, because it was “kept secret since the world began” until it was revealed to him by the resurrected, glorified Lord several years after Calvary (Rom. 16:25; Gal. 1:11,12; Col. 1:13,14). This is a relationship spiritually between Christ, its heavenly Head, and redeemed fellow-members of His body (Jew and Gentile alike individually) living on earth but having heavenly, rather than earthly promises (Eph. 1:3,20, 2:57, 5:30; Titus 2:13). This could also logically be called Christ’s “Body Kingdom.” Neither term, “Davidic Kingdom” nor “Body Kingdom,” is specifically so translated from the original Scripture texts but may reasonably be used for clarification of the references. In Paul’s epistles, his term “Church of God” usually refers to Christ’s “Body Church” and “Body Kingdom” except when confirming the historical facts of the “gospel by which we are saved” (I Cor. 15:1-4; Acts 9:20-22,27, 19:3-8). The “end-time” Kingdom will be delivered to God the Father, restoring dominion forfeited by Adam’s sin (Heb. 12:22,28; I Cor. 15:24).

When one is saved today, by Grace through faith alone (in Christ’s finished work at Calvary), the Spirit places this member into the unprophesied “Body Church” as a new spiritual creation (I Cor. 12:13; II Cor. 5:17) and simultaneously translates him into “The Kingdom of His dear Son” (Col. 1:13,14). This is not an entrance into the prophesied Davidic Kingdom of God (properly called also the Kingdom of Heaven). That Kingdom, with earthly blessings, was promised to redeemed Israel and it included proselytes to Judaism (Acts 10:36-48). The Apostles had been instructed to pray for the Messiah’s prophesied spiritual Kingdom to come out of heaven, and for its righteous conditions to be established on earth (Matt. 6:10). Since Christ’s ascension, the Kingdom of God (of Heaven) in the person of the Messianic King has not been at hand. In the future Millennial and eternal Kingdoms, Christ will reign with power and great glory.

What difference does it make? It should be remembered that God did not make a covenant with, or promise blessings directly to, any Gentiles since the days of the patriarchs, and that the Lord’s earthly ministry was only to Israel (Matt. 15:24; Rom. 15:8). The Gentiles were “strangers from Israel’s covenants, without hope and without God in the world.” How thankful we Gentiles should be for the “But now in Christ Jesus” which changed that hopeless state and reconciled us to God (Eph. 2:12-16).

All our blessings, as believers today, are spiritual, in heavenly places (not earthly) in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:3). We are fellow-members in the Body Kingdom, without gender or racial distinction. “That He might reconcile both (Jew and Gentile) unto God in one body by the cross” (Eph. 2:16). The earlier Bible teachers erred in claiming some of Isaiah’s prophecies about Israel, when there was no Israel (between 70 A.D. and 1948), to mean the present Body Church and Body Kingdom. We have no right to select blessings promised to others in the Messianic Kingdom and claim them in this “present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). God always fulfills His promises to the ones promised.

THE PROPHESIED KINGDOM OF GOD

The Messianic (Davidic) Kingdom

As God incarnate, Jesus called Himself the “Son of man.” This term is used more than 80 times in the Gospels, and again by Stephen in Acts 7:56, and by John in Revelation 1:13 and 14:14. In Daniel’s prophecy, speaking of endtime events (2:44), he stated: “and in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. The kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” Daniel saw in a vision, “One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given to Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people nations and languages, should serve Him…His dominion is everlasting…shall not pass away…shall not be destroyed” (Dan. 7:13,14). This prophecy does not distinguish between the Messiah’s 1000 year reign and His eternal reign, but considers them blending together.

When the wise men from the east “followed the star” (Matt. 2:9-11), they came to Jerusalem and asked: “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” (Matt. 2:1,2). They knew from the Old Testament scrolls that God had promised David that one of his descendants (“Seed”; II Sam. 7:12-17) would establish a kingdom and throne forever. More was revealed in Isaiah 9:6,7, Daniel 2:44 and numerous other prophecies. “A king shall reign and prosper” (Jer. 23:5). “One king shall be king unto them all” (Ezek. 37:22). The virgin, Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she will “bring forth a Son, JESUS, who will be great…the Son of the Highest…and God will give unto Him the throne of His father, David…of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33). This King will “redeem His people (Israel),” deliver from all enemies (Luke 1:68-77), fulfill God’s promises to the patriarchs (Rom. 15:8) and prophecies of Israel’s peaceful earthly inheritance and blessings (Gen. 12:13; 17:1-14), and reign eternally.

Many of the prophecies and promises were written over a period of several hundred years, warning of God’s judgments and dispersion for disobedience and idolatry, but promising future restoration. Since the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., the Israelites have had no king. The “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) will continue until the Messiah’s second coming to judge, then to reign as King, giving “the sure mercies of David” (Acts 13:34). Israel had been subjected to the Babylonians, Media-Persians (536 B.C.), Grecians (322 B.C.), and Romans (63 B.C.). During the interval of about 400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament writings, the Rabbis developed differing traditions for interpretation of the Scriptures, often opposed to the literal Word. The genealogy in Matthew (chapter 1) established the legal right of Jesus of Nazareth to the throne of David. More than 300 prophecies were quickly fulfilled literally in less than 4 years of His earthly ministry; the remaining prophecies will also be fulfilled literally.

“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law” (Gal. 4:4,5). Jesus was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:47), taken as an infant to Egypt (Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:13-15), and raised in Nazareth (Matt. 2:23; Luke 4:16).

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness…saying: `repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’; For this is He that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: `The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight'” (Matt. 3:13). He warned the Pharisees and Sadducees: “O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matt. 3:7,8). Quoting from Malachi 3:1, Jesus said that John was the one preparing the way for the Messiah, as prophesied in the Old Testament (Luke 7:24-27). He was baptized by John, “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15), and that He might be “made manifest to Israel,” He was introduced, “Behold the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” God the Father and the Holy Spirit authenticated John’s record that “this is the Son of God” (Matt. 3:16,17; John 1:29-34).

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights…and hungered,” the tempter tried repeatedly to entice Him into acting independently of the Father, and showed Him “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” The devil offered “all these things” in exchange for worship (Matt. 4:8; Luke 4:1-13). This was his attempt to “be like the most High,” to displace God, and to be worshipped himself (Isa. 14:12-15). Jesus could not violate His covenant with the Father for our redemption (Eph. 1:3-11, 3:10,11) and He overcame all temptations “by the Word of God.” He came into the world to “destroy the works of the devil” (John 12:27,31; Eph. 6:12; Heb. 2:14; I John 3:8; Rev. 12:10,11).

In the Nazareth synagogue at age 12, Jesus had astonished the doctors with his understanding and answers (Luke 2:46-48). Upon beginning His ministry, He shocked them further by claiming to be the One who fulfilled the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 61:1,2, “As His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read…`The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor…to heal the broken hearted… preach deliverance to the captives…recovering of sight to the blind…to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. He closed the book and said: “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:16-22). He did not quote the remainder of Isaiah’s prophecy: “and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn,” for that part is still future. “And all bare Him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, `Is not this Joseph’s son’?” And He said, “no prophet is accepted in his own country” (vs. 24). This claim was a threat to their prestigious positions.

“And all they in the synagogue when they heard these things, were filled with wrath” and tried to kill Him, but He passed through the midst of them and went His way (Luke 4:28-30). As on other occasions, His “hour had not yet come” (John 7:30, 8:20). He was sent to preach the Kingdom of God in other cities also (Luke 4:43). Jesus said: “There is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, but he that is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he. And all the people that heard him, and the publicans justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him” (Luke 7:28-30). Many of the chief rulers also believed on Him, “but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42,43). Jesus later reproached the lawyers, who continued trying to trick Him in words in order to ensnare and discredit Him (Luke 11:52-54). He told the covetous Pharisees: “You are they which justify but God knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The Law and the prophets were until John; since that time the Kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it” (Luke 16:1416).

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, `Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”‘ (Matt. 4:17, 9:13), emphasizing the spiritual nature of His Kingdom. He raised the Law’s commandment against adultery and covetousness, forbidding lustful thoughts as well as the deeds (Matt. 5:27-28). “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel” (good news; Mark 1:14,15).

“Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness…and diseases…and cast out devils (as prophesied for Israel’s Messiah). His fame went throughout all Syria…and a great multitude of people followed Him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and from beyond Jordan” (Matt. 4:23-25).

Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, He validated the accuracy of the Old Testament prophecies, presented Himself as the One literally fulfilling what the prophets had said, and gave assurance that their remaining predictions would be literally fulfilled. The prophets often did not understand all that they had been divinelyinstructed to write (Luke 10:24) and often were unaware of intervals between near and farterm events. The Apostles had not recognized that He must suffer before His reign. Some Rabbis thought there must be two Messiahs, one to suffer and one to reign; and they interpreted some prophecies about suffering to mean that the nation Israel suffers.

It should be realized that He was not preaching “the gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24), which in resurrected glory He commanded Paul to preach after Calvary.

“And seeing the multitude, He went up into a mountain, and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him…and He taught (that which is known as The Sermon on the Mount), as One having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matt. 5:1 to 7:29). This fifth chapter of Matthew presents what many have called “the charter of the Kingdom,” the “beatitudes” or blessings associated with the prophesied Kingdom of God (out of Heaven) on earth, under the Messiah’s reign as King.

This is the spiritual aspect of the Kingdom under Christ. Its blessings and promises are conditional (as was Israel’s covenant at Sinai), based upon complete obedience. The pure in heart shall see God. The peacemakers shall be called the children of God. Those who mourn shall be comforted. The merciful will be shown mercy. The meek shall inherit the earth (Psa. 37:11). Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. The Kingdom of Heaven is promised to the “poor in spirit,” and to those who are reviled and persecuted for righteousness’ sake (Matt. 5:2,10). Their righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees to enter into this spiritual kingdom (Matt. 5:20) for those hypocrites say and do not (Matt. 23:3). All of the promised blessings will come only under the Messiah’s righteous millennial reign, without any evil influence, when there will be complete obedience to all the terms of God’s covenant with Israel.

THE UNPROPHESIED KINGDOM OF GOD

Christ’s “Body Church Kingdom”

The Mystery

Mankind failed under all administrations of the general Kingdom of God. Adam sinned and forfeited his earthly dominion to Satan. The Gentiles “did not like to retain God in their knowledge,” and were “given up” (Rom. 1:24,26,28). God, in the person of His Son, “came unto His own” (Israel), preaching the gospel (good news) of the Kingdom of God, “but His own (nationally) received Him not“ (John 1:11). “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14), but God’s eternal purpose will not fail.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus were so unexpected and humanly impossible that the Apostles did not believe those first reports; however, with God all things are possible (Luke 24:11; Acts 9:13,14,26; Matt. 19:26; Acts 2:32). Saul had made havoc of the Jerusalem Church believers. He went to Damascus with authority to arrest and bring to Jerusalem for judgment all those of “the way,” who believed Jesus to be the resurrected Christ (Acts 9:3). Though zealous in the “Jews’ religion” (Gal. 1:13) and “blameless” under the Mosaic Law (Phil. 3:6), Saul did not believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah. As an unbelieving blasphemer who should have known, he deserved God’s judgment, but was shown mercy (I Tim. 1:13).

In matchless grace (Gal. 1:15), the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appeared in His heavenly glory and chose this one, His chief human enemy, to be His faithful bond-servant (Rom. 1:1). Blinded by the divine glory, Saul’s zeal was redirected and he asked: “Lord, what will you have me to do?” (Acts 9:6). He was directed: “bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Though knowing “what great things he must suffer for My (Christ’s) names’ sake” (Acts 9:16), he considered it “not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

After receiving his sight again and being “baptized to wash away his sins” (Acts 22:16), Saul “straightway preached Christ in the Damascus synagogue, that He is the Son of God.” He confirmed that Jesus was indeed Israel’s prophesied Messiah, crucified, dead and buried, and that God had raised Him from the dead, as the Apostles had preached post-resurrection. He “confounded the Damascus Jews, proving (from the Old Testament Scriptures) that this is very Christ,” but they tried to kill him. He escaped to Jerusalem and wanted to tell the ones he had lead in persecuting the believers that he had been wrong and that Jesus really was their Messiah; however they also tried to kill him (Acts 9:20-23,27,29, 19:3-8). The Lord said to him, “make haste, and get quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me…I will send you far away unto the Gentiles” (Acts 22:18-21). After Saul’s conversion, “official” anger was furiously directed toward him because he preached Jesus Christ’s resurrection and salvation for the Gentiles. The churches “had rest,” served the Lord, were “edified,” comforted by the Spirit, and their numbers increased (Acts 9:31).

Saul (a Hebrew name) was also called Paul (a Roman name, Paulus). He was, for three years in Arabia, taught by “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11,12,17-23). Progressively during his ministry, Paul learned what had been accomplished at Calvary when the sinless, incarnate Son of God took man’s guilt upon Himself and paid man’s sin-debt (death) as our Substitute. He learned that God’s eternal purpose was to redeem both Jew and Gentile alike as “one new man,” in a manner unprophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures, by grace alone without the works (ordinances) of the Law (Eph. 2:8-19).

Barnabas brought Paul from Tarsus to Antioch for mostly a Gentile ministry. He taught there for a full year and many believed. God “opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27, 15:3), and “wrought miracles and wonders among the Gentiles through them” (Acts 15:12). “The disciples were called Christians, first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).

Certain men came from Judea and said, “Except you be circumcised, you can not be saved” (Acts 15:1). This caused much dissension and disputation. The Antioch Church sent Paul, Barnabas and some others to Jerusalem to settle the question.

Paul was divinely-directed (about A.D. 50) to go with Barnabas to Jerusalem and communicate to the Church leaders, “that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles.” He took Titus, an uncircumcised Gentile, as a “test case” (Acts 15:1-6; Gal. 2:1-5). Peter recalled his puzzling command to go to the Gentile, Cornelius, noting that the Holy Ghost had purified their believing hearts by faith “even as He did unto us” (Acts 15:7-11). James, presiding, noted Peter’s experience and that the prophets foretold salvation for believing Gentiles, and he rendered his decision that the Gentiles should not be required to observe Israel’s Law and covenant requirements (Acts 15:19-30). James, Cephas (Peter) and John (representing the Apostles) formally agreed, with the “right hands of fellowship,” to confine their ministry to “the circumcision” (Israel). They commended Paul and Barnabas’ ministry to the “heathen” (Gentiles; Gal. 2:7-9).

Scripture gives no record that they violated that agreement. James wrote his epistle to “the twelve tribes, scattered abroad” (James 1:1). Peter wrote to “the strangers who were scattered” at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom (Acts 8:1, 11:19; I Pet. 1:1), after he was given “further revelation” by the Spirit of truth (John 16:12,13) on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4, 16-23), at Cornelius’ household (Acts 10:45), in Samaria (Acts 8:17), and from Paul (Acts 15:11; Gal. 2:2). He stated that the prophets had searched diligently about the “salvation of souls” and had pondered about the “sufferings of Christ” and the “grace that should come.” This would be a “light to the Gentiles,” to be revealed in the last time (Luke 2:26-32). The angels also, had wanted to “look into that gospel” (Luke 24:25-27; Acts 26:23; I Pet. 1:5-12; II Pet. 3:15,16). John’s writings (in the A.D. 90s) also were primarily directed to the Jews, but they contain much that is compatible with the “Body truths” revealed through Paul.

In “due time,” the glorified Lord revealed “the mystery of Christ” (Col. 4:3) to His chosen Apostle Paul, and by it He completed the Word of God for the Gentiles (Col. 1:24-26). This gospel, a sacred secret (musterion), was “in other ages not made known.” It was “Hid in God,” according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:1-11). That which Paul calls “the mystery” is a body of truth which could not be known by any other means than by divine revelation. The heart of the mystery was the blood of the cross and what the “once-for-all” sacrifice (Heb. 10:10) of the sinless Lamb of God accomplished by His death in substitution for us (Gal. 6:14). “But God raised Him from the dead” (Acts 13:30). “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins… but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept” (I Cor. 15:17-20). This is the basis for his preaching the “Gospel of the Grace of God” (Acts 20:24) which explains the means whereby God remains righteous and just, while justifying the ones deserving the death penalty for sin (Rom. 3:26; II Cor. 5:21). Christ completely paid the death penalty, leaving no sin debt.

Paul warned vigorously of God’s curse upon any one in our present dispensation who preaches “any other gospel,” and substitutes any other means to be saved, than that which the resurrected, glorified Christ commanded him to preach. Mixing the “grace message” with anything else would “frustrate the grace of God” (Gal. 2:21), and “the cross of Christ would be made of none effect” (I Cor. 1:17). This curse would be upon Paul himself, any man, or an angel from heaven, if any being dared to violate that heavenly command (Gal. 1:8,9,11,12). “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. For necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is unto me if I do not preach this gospel…a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me (I Cor. 9:16,17). “The things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (I Cor. 14:37), “the word of God” (I Thess. 2:13), and replaced His teachings to Israel in the flesh (II Cor. 5:16).

Paul “gloried” in the cross (Gal. 6:14). The background for its importance for salvation was laid in the Old Testament Scriptures. The reason for, and result of, Christ’s suffering was a mystery, unrevealed at that time. The “gospel of God” was promised “by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord…made the `seed of David according to the flesh,’ declared the Son of God with power…by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:1-6). “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (Num. 21:9; John 3:14). In Paul’s defense before King Agrippa, he verified that Moses and the Prophets had foretold Christ’s suffering; and “that He should rise from the dead and should show light unto the people (Israel) and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:19-29). If his “almost persuasion” were sincere, Paul would have urged Agrippa to trust Christ as his own Saviour.

Types, patterns, commandments, animal sacrifices and other symbolic ordinances were considered to be “works of righteousness” under the Mosaic Law (Deut. 6:25). All of these anticipated Christ’s complete provision for the soul’s salvation in all ages (though not known in the past). These served as temporary “coverings,” or for symbolic washing away of sins. It was the faith of those sincere believers who did what God required at the time, which was accepted by God. The teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, in the flesh, to the Apostles and other Jews under the Law are important for us to know. However, the resurrected Christ gave different commandments for us today, under Grace (II Cor. 5:16-21).