Transcript

Our aim at the Berean Bible Society is to help you understand and enjoy your Bibles. The primary way we seek to do this is by following God’s principle of “rightly dividing the Word of truth” as He instructs the Church to do in 2 Timothy 2:15.

When we rightly divide God’s Word things fall into place and it helps us understand our Bibles better, and we see God’s plans for Israel and God’s plans for the Body of Christ. To rightly divide the Word we must make a distinction between Prophecy and the Mystery.

By Prophecy we mean God’s program for Israel, which God made known in the prophetic Scriptures and through the prophets of old from the beginning of the world, concerning God’s plans and purposes for the earth and an eternal kingdom to be established on it.

By Mystery we mean God’s program for the Church, the Body of Christ, which God had said nothing about and was hid in God from the beginning of the world, and was first revealed and made known to the Apostle Paul. The revelation of the mystery concerns God’s plans and purposes for the heavenlies and our exaltation in Christ there for eternity.

Our best-selling book at the Berean Bible Society year in and year out is Things That Differ by Cornelius R. Stam, the founder of the Berean Bible Society.

In this book, Pastor Stam clearly shows the things that differ between God’s plans for the earth through Israel and God’s plans for the heavenlies through the Body of Christ.

In this works Pastor Stam takes a close look at the dispensations of God, Israel’s fall, the last days for Israel and the last days for the Body of Christ, he compares the ministries of the Twelve and Paul, and Peter’s authority and Paul’s authority, and the dispensational place of miraculous signs and water baptism.

Within the book is a side-by-side comparison of prophecy and mystery which we recently had published in tract form.

I’d like to walk through this comparison chart together to show the clear distinctions in God’s Word between the two hopes and two programs of God.

Contrast #1

PROPHECY: Concerns a KINGDOM, a political organization.

Daniel 2:44: And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and 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.

Matthew 6:10: Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

That is a definition of the kingdom: God’s will done in the earth as it is in heaven. It will be an eternal kingdom and a government of God that will stand forever. The prophetic Scriptures are loaded with teaching and prophecies concerning the kingdom.

MYSTERY: Concerns a BODY, a living organism.

1 Corinthians 12:12,27: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

Under the mystery program, it’s about a body of believers in Christ, who are one in Him, who share His life and strength, who all have the same Holy Spirit and the same hope of heaven.

Contrast #2

PROPHECY: The kingdom to be established on EARTH.

Jeremiah 23:5: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Daniel 2:35: Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

MYSTERY: The Body given a position in HEAVEN.

Colossians 1:5: For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel.”

Colossians 3:1-2: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Mountain=kingdom on the earth, worldwide kingdom, which fills the whole earth. The whole earth will be filled with His glory.

Consistently throughout prophecy you learn about an earthly kingdom hope for God’s people. This has caused many to be confused as to exactly where their eternal hope resides. Some think we’ll be in heaven, some think we’ll be on the earth in the kingdom, others think we’ll be in heaven for a while, but then come back to the earth for eternity.

But when you rightly divide the Word, you see how Israel and the saints saved under that program had an earthly hope and calling to reign with Christ on the earth in the kingdom. But those who are saved within the dispensation of grace from the Apostle Paul to the Rapture of the Church have a heavenly hope and calling to reign with Christ in the heavenlies forever and ever.

The direction of the hope held out by Paul in his epistles is “up.”

While we may come back to visit the earth in the eternal state, it will not be our home. It’s like when we travel somewhere for a visit, and we enjoy our time there and we stay for a while, but it’s not home.

And in the back of our mind we think about when it’s time to go home. This earth is not our home, heaven is our eternal home.

Contrast #3

PROPHECY: Christ to be its KING.

Isaiah 9:6-7: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Zechariah 14:9: And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

MYSTERY: Christ its living HEAD.

Ephesians 1:21-23 speaks of Christ’s exaltation and says of Him that He is: Far above all 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 the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Under prophecy, Christ’s primary office was King, He is to be enthroned as the King over Israel and the world in the earthly kingdom. Under the mystery program, Christ’s primary office is as the Head of the Church, the Body of Christ.

Now Christ is the King eternal and the King of kings. These are the words of the Apostle Paul that he says in his epistles about Christ in 1 Timothy 1:17 and 6:15. So personally I don’t have a problem when Christ is called King today.

The distinction that needs to be drawn, however, is that in God’s program with Israel, Christ is to be her King, ruling over her in the kingdom on earth. That is His primary office under prophecy.

Under the revelation of the mystery, we learn how Christ is building His church, the Body of Christ today, and within that Church, Christ is our living Head. He is Supreme Lord and over the Church and He is our Head in the dispensation of grace and for all eternity as we reign with Him in the heavenlies. That is His primary office under the mystery.

Contrast #4

PROPHECY: The kingdom prophesied “SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.”

Luke 1:68-70: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began.

Acts 3:21: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

MYSTERY: The Body chosen in Christ before the world began, but “KEPT SECRET SINCE THE WORLD BEGAN.”

Romans 16:25: Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.

The mystery was “kept secret” before Paul. Then it was fully made known to Paul to make known to the world. The secret is no longer a secret. The secret is out. And God says in Ephesians 3:9 that we are to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery.

The mystery is still a mystery to many. But God wants all to know about it and be taught it and to see it. As it reveals what God is doing today under grace.

Contrast #5

PROPHECY: Israel to be given supremacy over the NATIONS.

Isaiah 61:6: But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

Deuteronomy 28:1,13: The LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth…And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath.

MYSTERY: Jew and Gentile placed on the SAME LEVEL before God.

Romans 10:12: 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.

This is a huge distinction in God’s Word. Under prophecy, Israel had the preeminent position. The world had to come through Israel in order to be saved.

But today, Paul says that there is no difference. Jew and Gentile are on an equal footing today before God. God’s plan obviously changed.

But after the Rapture it will revert back to Israel being preeminent within the Tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom. And Deuteronomy 28 and Isaiah 61 will be fulfilled in that day.

Contrast #6

PROPHECY: The Gentiles to be blessed through Israel’s INSTRUMENTALITY.

Zechariah 8:13,23: And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

John 4:22: Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

MYSTERY: The Gentiles blessed through Israel’s OBSTINACY.

Acts 13:44-46: And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

Romans 11:30: For as ye [Gentiles] in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their [Israel’s] unbelief.

If ten men take hold of a Jew under grace it’s usually not with good designs. It’s amazing isn’t it, how the Jewish people have been persecuted through the ages. What makes them such a target for people’s disgust and hatred? I think in this, you can clearly see the Satanic influence and hatred of the god of this world toward Israel.

Satan thinks if he can wipe the Jews off the face of the earth, then he will have defeated God and God will not be able to fulfill His promises to her.

But under grace, God is still preserving Israel. He will fulfill every single promise made to her literally. If God was unfaithful to one promise to Israel, then we have every reason to doubt that He will be faithful to the promises He has made to the Body of Christ.

Today, Gentiles, the nations are being blessed through Israel’s obstinacy, her unbelief. God has turned to the world by grace and is offering salvation by grace through faith alone, and in Christ He richly blesses those who trust His Son and His provision of salvation.

Contrast #7

PROPHECY: The Gentiles to be blessed through Israel’s RISE.

Isaiah 60:1-3: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

MYSTERY: The Gentiles blessed through Israel’s FALL.

Romans 11:11,12,15: I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

Explain Romans 11. Israel’s fall is only temporary.

After the Rapture, God will raise Israel back up. In the Kingdom, she will experience the fullness of everything God has for her. She will be God’s light for reaching the world.

In the future after the Rapture, God will use Israel to reach the nations with the gospel of the kingdom.

But today the nations are blessed because God has turned to the Gentiles to have a program with the Gentiles because Israel fell. We have been shown mercy and grace, and the message from Romans 9-11 is that we should be careful not to take that for granted.

We should be so thankful that God had this program in mind from eternity past, when Israel fell in unbelief, that He would have a program with the nations and give us such a blessed opportunity to be His and to serve Him as believers in the Body of Christ and be blessed by Him and have a heavenly hope.

Romans 12:1 is such a familiar verse, but it’s written in light of the amazing blessing and mercy God has shown to us Gentiles under grace. It’s because of theses mercies that Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Contrast #8

PROPHECY: Prophecy mainly concerns NATIONS as such.

Isaiah 2:4: And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Matthew 25:32: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.

MYSTERY: The mystery concerns INDIVIDUALS.

Romans 10:12-13: 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.

Individuals of course make up nations. But under Israel’s program focuses on the nations as a whole. You see that too in the Lord’s Judgment of the Nations after the Tribulation.

Before him are gathered “all nations.” He separates those nations who treated Israel with kindness and helped them in the Tribulation by faith from those nations who didn’t help Israel at all. The sheep nations that helped Israel are allowed entrance into His kingdom, but the nations that were unkind to Israel are cast into everlasting fire.

But under grace, God has turned to the world and it’s whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. He is dealing with individuals today. And individual people from all over the world who simply trust Christ that He died for their sins and rose again are saved and made members of the Body of Christ, and we are all one in Him.