Right Division Overview | Bible Questions & Answers

amen so the topic that we're taking up tonight is the issue of how to rightly divide the Bible get with me if you would second Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 second Timothy chapter 2 verse 15 the first word of that verse is study this is the only explicit command in the Bible to study the Word of God so it's a very important verse it says study to show thyself approved unto God if we want to be approved at the judgment seat of Christ we're going to need to study the Bible the discs everyone is aware what happens at the end of this dispensation this time period in which we live is there's an event called the rapture and the body of Christ every believer on the earth will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air we will then go through an event known as the judgment seat of Christ that's not a judgment to determine whether or not we're saved but it's a judgment as to whether our work has been approved so what 2nd Timothy 2:15 says study to show thyself approved we are going to need to study the Word of God if our work is going to be approved study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth the very verse that commands us to study the Bible tells us how we are to study it we are to rightly divide the word of truth what will be showing you tonight is that what God did in history is he saved the Apostle Paul in acts 9 and he subsequently gave to the Apostle Paul what is known as the mystery what the Bible calls the dispensation of grace it was new revelation given to Paul that had never previously been revealed now what we need to understand is this since scripture tells us to rightly divide the word of truth it must be possible to wrongly divide the word of truth since scripture tells us to rightly divide the word of truth then there must be divisions and so what we're going to see tonight is there are some divisions in the Bible that we need to understand if we're going to rightly divide the word of truth so let me start with this then get with me Genesis chapter 1 in Genesis chapter 9 one thing that we often hear as a response to right division is people will say well I believe the whole Bible and what they're suggesting is that right divisions somehow disbelieves part of the Bible get with me Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 9 Genesis 1 in Genesis 9 Genesis 1 verse 29 and God said behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to you it shall be for meat what Genesis 1 uses the word meat it uses the word meat to mean food we often think of meat as referring to animal flesh but the word can also just mean food in general well in Genesis 1 verse 29 the the diet that was given was a vegetarian diet you can see that because it says every herb bearing seed and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed that was a vegetarian or vegan diet in Genesis 1 compare that with Genesis chapter 9 Genesis chapter 9 verse 3 every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you even as the green herb have I given you all things Genesis 1 and Genesis 9 do not say the same thing Genesis 1 says eat a vegan diet Genesis 9 says eat an omnivore died you can eat every moving thing that liveth get Leviticus 11 it actually becomes even more complicated than that get low kiss chapter 11 Leviticus chapter 11 verse 1 and the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron saying unto them speak unto the children of Israel saying these are the beasts which he shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth verse 3 whatsoever part of the hoof and his clovenfooted and she with the cud among the beasts that shall ye eat verse 4 nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud or of them that divide the hoof as the Campbell because he chews the cud but divideth not the hoof he is unclean unto you so you cannot eat camel you can see on the basis of Leviticus 11 now what do we do with those verses because those verses do not say the same thing does that mean the Bible has contradictions does it mean that the Bible has errors well there's a simple obvious answer in Genesis 1 we were reading what God wrote and gave to Adam in Genesis 9 we were reading what God gave to Noah Genesis 9 is only eight chapters later but it's sixteen hundred years later between Genesis 1 and Genesis 9 there was a change in what God was doing in Leviticus 11 we're reading what God gave to Moses so notice this with me if you would if you just look at this part of the chart just this leftmost part there's three different instructions as to how to eat what that means is is going to be necessary to rightly divide the word of truth because the Bible says different things in different places get with me first Timothy chapter 4 first Timothy chapter 4 we live during the dispensation of grace Paul is the apostle of the Gentiles so the part that Paul has written to us is the most directly applicable to us today first Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 now the spirit speaketh Pressley that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils that's an interesting verse it tells you that in the latter times people depart from the faith and why do they do that they give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils you may have thought about things that what Devils do is Devil's haunt houses or they make objects fly around the room or they possess people what Devils do during the dispensation of grace is they preach false doctrines now notice with me verse 3 forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with Thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth notice verse 4 for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving when we were in Leviticus 11 there were some foods that were unclean the camel for example was unclean first Timothy 4 says every creature of God is good first Timothy 4 and Leviticus Leviticus 11 say different things which one should you follow you should follow first Timothy 4 because you live during the dispensation of grace and Paul is your apostle today now that should give you great comfort many of you I know we're planning on eating some camel and now you can so you don't have to worry about being under condemnation because of Leviticus at chapter 11 you can eat as much camel as you want now the point of this is simply this there is no verse of scripture that is an error none of it is wrong but God has changed his dealings with mankind over time and therefore it is necessary that we follow the most recent instructions let me give you the simplest example of this I find people will say things like well verse here in the Old Testament appeals to me why can't I follow this verse and so on well let me give you a simple simple example where we're about in tax season right now so people have to file their taxes what would happen if you did the following if you said well IRS here's the deal I looked at the different forms and the tax return for 2009 it just speaks to me I really feel connected with it I feel like that return with it's much lower rates really ministers to me so I'm gonna operate according to the 2009 tax rates well is that legitimate is that gonna fly or would the IRS say essentially knock it off that was the correct return and the correct tax rates for back then but we're not back then we're here now and you need to get with the program get with me if you would Galatians chapter 2 so what we've seen is that we need to rightly divide the word of truth and we have seen that the Bible says different things in different places what I want to show you is that there are different Gospels in the Bible Galatians chapter 2 verse 7 Galatians 2:7 but contrariwise when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter Paul is the author of Galatians so when he says the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto Him he then says the gospel of the circumcision was committed unto Peter now let's just pause here and make sure that this is clear the prefix son means not if something is unusual it is not usual if something is unnatural it is not natural so if Peter had the gospel of the circumcision and Paul had the gospel of the uncircumcision they had different Gospels they didn't have the same Gospels if words mean what they say then Peter and Paul had different Gospels now some people balk at that idea they want to say that there's only one gospel throughout time but the fact that matter is God can have as many Gospels as he wants God is not limited to our way of thinking about things the word gospel means good news is there some quota where God is only allowed to have one piece of good news or is he allowed to have more than one well obviously he's allowed to have more than one what I want to show you next is that Peter and Paul they not only did they have different Gospels as Galatians 2 says the content of what they preached was different let me show you that so get first Corinthians 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 Paul says in verse 1 moreover brethren I declare unto you the gospel the word gospel simply means good news verse 3 for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures get with me 1st Corinthians chapter 1 so in 1st Corinthians 15 Paul says that the gospel is Christ died for our sins was buried and resurrected people sometimes describe that as the death burial and resurrection notice with me 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 17 for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel then in verse 18 for the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of God in 1st Corinthians 1:17 Paul talks about preaching the gospel and then he says that his gospel was the preach of the cross first Corinthians 1:18 is very much like what Paul said in first Corinthians 15 the gospel is Christ died for our sins was buried and rose again the third day so just to be extremely clear about this if you get nothing else out of anything tonight the gospel that saves you from Hell is that Christ died for your sins he was buried he rose again the third day the moment that you trust his blood as the payment for your sins the moment that you have faith in your inner man God saves you that very second so if you've never believed that you need to believe that you need to trust what the Lord Jesus Christ did when he shed his blood for your sins on the cross so we've seen in 1st Corinthians 15 in 1st Corinthians 1 what Paul's gospel is I want you to notice that that is not what Peter preached so get with me if you would Luke chapter 18 now as you're turning to Luke 18 let me show you something when we're looking at the gospel that Paul preached we're right here on the chart as we go to Luke 18 we're going back in time we're going before the cross we're going to right over here so now let's look at Luke 18 Luke chapter 18 and verse 31 Luke 18 verse 31 then he took unto him the twelve that's the 12 apostles and said unto them behold we go up to Jerusalem this is right before the Lord has go is going to go to Jerusalem and be crucified and so let me read it again behold we go up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man shall be accomplished verse 32 for he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spit it on and they shall scourge him and put him to death in the third day he shall rise again so Luke 18 we're right before the cross the is about to go up to Jerusalem and he tells the twelve exactly what's going to happen when he's in Jerusalem he mentions the fact that he's going to be put to death and he mentions that the third day He will rise again what's in verse 33 is very similar to what Paul mentioned in 1st Corinthians 15 in terms of Paul mentioned that the Lord would die and Paul mentioned that the Lord would rise again now this one here doesn't mention Christ's death for sins it just mentions the fact that he was going to die notice verse 34 and they understood none of these things and this saying was hidden neither knew they the things which were spoken think about what that means the twelve had been preaching the gospel the kingdom for years and when the Lord tells them that he's going to die and rise again they don't have any understanding of what he's saying to them well that tells you the gospel that they were preaching wasn't the death burial and resurrection because when he specifically tells it to them in Luke 18 they don't have any idea what he's talking about look with me at mark chapter 9 mark chapter 9 mark chapter 9 verse 30 mark 9 verse 30 and they departed thence and passed through Galilee and he would not that any man should know it verse 31 for he taught his disciples and said unto them the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men and they shall kill him and after that he has killed he shall rise the third day the Lord is telling his disciples in mark 9 the exact same thing he was telling them in Luke 18 notice what happens in mark 9 verse 32 but they understood not that saying and were afraid to ask him see the 12 didn't understand the cross they didn't understand the resurrection when the Lord specifically tells that information to them they don't know what it means look with me at John chapter 20 John chapter 20 and we'll look at verse 9 in John 20 we're after the cross and we're after the Lord has risen from the dead in John chapter 20 notice what it says in John chapter 20 verse 9 for as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead think about what that really means even after the cross even after the resurrection the twelve still did not understand the resurrection that's a complete proof that they weren't preaching the resurrection beforehand they weren't preaching the same gospel that Paul was preaching Paul told you specifically that his gospel was the preaching of the cross when he defined his gospel in first Corinthians 15 he described it as Christ died for our sins was buried and rose again the third day obviously the gospel that Paul was preaching was not the same gospel that Peter was preaching get with me Matthew 16 Matthew 16 now think about this with me if you would Christ death for our sins is central to Paul's gospel today it's central to the way that you and I are saved notice what happens in Matthew 16 Matthew chapter 16 verse 21 from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day so there comes a point in the Lord's ministry where he tells the twelve here's what's going to happen we're gonna have to go to Jerusalem I'm gonna suffer I'm gonna be killed but I'm gonna rise again the third day Christ's death and his resurrection is central to the gospel notice what Peter says in verse 22 then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying be it far from the Lord this shall not be unto thee when Jesus Christ specifically tells Peter about his death and resurrection Peter objects to it that tells you that Peter could not possibly have been preaching Christ died for our sins was buried and rose again the third day because when the Lord tells him Peters immediate reaction is no don't do that that no absolutely not it tells you Peter did not understand Paul's gospel one more proof before we move on what happens in the Garden of Gethsemane when people come to apprehend the Lord Jesus Christ what does Peter do does Peter go along with it because he understands that Christ has to die for man's sin or does he draw a sword he draws a sword because he doesn't understand the death burial and resurrection so what all of that demonstrates simply is this Paul and Peter had different Gospels Paul had the gospel of the uncircumcision Peter had the gospel of the circumcision Paul's gospel included the death and resurrection Peter's Gospel didn't include the death burial and resurrection because when the Lord told Peter about it Peter said be it far from the Lord so it's just clear from the Scriptures Peter and Paul do not have the same gospel now let me show you another difference get Matthew 10 Matthew chapter 10 Matthew 10 verse 5 these twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city the Samaritans enter ye not but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel so the Lord sends out the twelve and he says whatever you do don't go to the Gentiles Matthew 15 Matthew chapter 15 verse 22 and behold a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts and cried unto him saying have mercy on me O Lord thou son of David my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil verse 23 but he answered her not a word so the woman of Canaan a Gentile woman comes to the Lord for help and he doesn't even answer her let's keep reading and his disciples came and besought him saying send her away for she crieth after us but he answered and said I am NOT sent but under the lost sheep of the house of Israel in other words I'm sent only to Israel this woman is a woman of Canaan so I'm not sent to her that's what he's saying verse 25 then came she and worshipped him saying lord help me notice what the Lord says in verse 26 but he answered and said it is not meat it's not proper to take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs what he's saying there is the children is obviously the children of Israel the Lord was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of his the Gentile woman comes to him for help and he says I can't help you because if I were to help you it would be taking the children's bread and casting it to dogs verse 27 and she said truth Lord yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table what she's saying is when you think about the Abrahamic covenant Genesis 12 God told Abram in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed in in other words God was going to bless Abram but through Abram Gentiles would be blessed so the woman of Canaan says to the Lord I get it I can't obtain from you a direct blessing but I can as a dog eat of the crumbs that fall from the table and that's what she says verse 28 then jesus answered and said unto her a woman great as thy faith but under the even as thou wilt now I want you to notice a comparison here get with me Romans chapter 11 Romans chapter 11 Romans 11 notice what Paul says for I speak to you Gentiles think about that Matthew 10 what the Lord told the 12 is go not into the way of the Gentiles Paul in Romans 11 says I speak to you Gentiles in that strange then what does he say for I speak to you Gentiles in as much as I am the apostle of the Gentiles an apostle is one who is sent so when Paul says he's an apostle of the Gentiles he's saying that he is sent unto the Gentiles so now we see a third difference Paul had the gospel of the uncircumcision Peter had the gospel of the circumcision Paul preached the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Peter didn't even understand the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Peter went only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel he was specifically commanded go not into the way of the Gentiles Paul was the Apostle the Gentiles I realize people say there's only one gospel in the Bible but that's not what the Bible says get with me Ephesians 3 if you would Ephesians 3 is one of the critical chapters in the Bible to understand and unfortunately it's a chapter that is widely misunderstood we're gonna go through Ephesians 3 verse by verse for several verses and I'm gonna tell you at the outset what I think this will prove Ephesians 3 demonstrates that Paul had new information never before revealed let's see if that's true Ephesians 3 verse 1 for this cause i paul the prisoner of jesus christ for you gentiles so obviously paul is the author of ephesians verse 2 if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of god which has given me to you word one of the things that people will say about dispensationalism is they'll say dispensationalism was invented in the 1800s dispensationalism didn't exist before that time some some folks just made it up John Nelson Darby and Bollinger and so on they just invented it and it never existed before that that's what they say well look at what Ephesians 3 2 says it uses the word dispensation the word dispensation has been in the King James Bible since 1611 and the Greek word that means dispensation has been in the Greek manuscripts since the 1st century dispensationalism isn't something that was invented recently it was always there since the scriptures were written it's just something that people have largely ignored you do realize that what happens is men largely ignore the Bible dispensationalism has always been there people just haven't paid attention to it so verse 2 we can see that Paul had the dispensation of the grace of God now notice what verse 2 says which is given me to you word so God gave this information to Paul not to put in a safe-deposit box not to lock it in a chest and hide it under the bed but for Paul to distribute to the rest of mankind now notice verse 3 how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery Paul received a mystery you can see that and he received it by revelation so keep Ephesians 3 but look with me at 1st Corinthians 2 1st Corinthians chapter 2 1st Corinthians chapter 2 and we're going to look at verse 7 first Corinthians 2 verse 7 but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery notice even the hidden wisdom 1st Corinthians 2 gives us the definition of what a mystery is it's hidden wisdom in other words it's wisdom that God hid for a period of time until he decided to reveal it a mystery is hidden wisdom so now I'll go back with me to Ephesians 3 verse 3 Ephesians 3 3 how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery God revealed the mystery to Paul before that revelation it was hidden now think with me just for a moment what was Paul doing before he got saved well we know that what Paul was doing as Paul was persecuting the church that's what he was doing in the early part of the book of Acts was Paul persecuting the church because he didn't like Jewish people well that wasn't the reason because Paul was Jewish Paul was persecuting the Kingdom Church for a very specific reason it was because he disagreed with their doctrine he thought they were heretics he thought that what they were teaching was error so then consider what Ephesians 3:3 says when Ephesians 3:3 says how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery in other words God the Father revealed information to the Apostle Paul that mystery cannot be what Peter taught we know that because Paul already knew what Peter taught that's why he was persecuting the kingdom Church Paul was persecuting the kingdom church because of what they believed Paul didn't need Jesus Christ to appear to him on the road to Damascus and say hey have you heard what Peter's preaching Paul I already knew what Peter was preaching that's why he was persecuting the kingdom church so the very fact that Paul's information is described as a mystery tells you it has to be different from what Peter was preaching so you're in Ephesians 3 3 look at verse 3 again and we're gonna read down to verse 5 how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a for in few words whereby when you read you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ notice verse 5 which in other ages was not made known now I realize people want to say well the Bible only has one gospel it says the same thing cover to cover but that's just not what the Bible itself says when Paul said that the mystery in other ages was not made known did Abraham know it no did Moses know it no David eyes John the Baptist Peter the twelve they didn't know it they didn't know it for the simple fact that God hid it which in other ages was not made known now look at verse six look at what verse 6 says about the mystery that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body did the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 15 say to the Gentile woman that she was a fellow heir What did he say to her he said that she was a dog he said that it wouldn't be fitting it wouldn't be proper for him to take the blessings of Israel and give them to Gentiles because it would be taking the bread of children and giving it to dogs now if you want to say that Peter and Paul preached the same gospel what do you do with that Peter says Gentiles are fellow heirs the lads earthly ministry Gentiles or dogs now I know people get confused about life but there's a difference between children and dogs they're not the same verse 7 where of I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power verse 8 unto me Who am less than the least of All Saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ so verse 8 tells us that Paul preached among the Gentiles we already saw that Peter was told go not into the way of the Gentiles peter and paul's ministry is not the same verse 8 then tells us exactly what paul preached paul preached the unsearchable riches of christ get with me john chapter 5 john chapter 5 now we have seen that what was revealed to paul was described as a mystery and if it's described as a mystery then obviously it's hidden wisdom because first Corinthians 2 told us the the mystery even the hidden wisdom so Paul had some wisdom revealed to him that previously was hidden in Ephesians 3:8 Paul describes this information and he calls it the unsearchable riches of Christ look with me at John chapter 5 verse 39 John 5:39 now in John 5 we are before the cross and we see the Lord Jesus Christ speaking and he is speaking to some people that do not believe what he is teaching them notice carefully what he says search the scriptures now when the Lord says search the Scriptures what what is he talking about what scriptures does he mean at the time of John 5 before the cross he can't be talking about any of the New Testament books because they haven't been written so he must be talking about the Old Testament notice what he says search the Scriptures for in them you think he have eternal life and they are they which testify of me so here's what's going on the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching the nation of Israel he's trying to get them to believe his teaching and they are rejecting it they're refusing to accept it so what he says to them is this search the Scriptures you have the Old Testament Scriptures you claim to believe them search them for in them you think he have eternal life the Jews he was talking to thought they were justified on the basis of the Old Testament and what he says to them is for in them you think he have eternal life and they are they which testify of me in other words if you search the Old Testament what you'll find is that the Messiah was going to be from the tribe of Judah and if you continue to search you'll see the Messiah was from the line of David and if you continue to search you'll see that the Messiah was going to be born in Bethlehem and if you come across isaiah 7 you'll see that he's going to be born of a virgin and if you look at zechariah 11 you'll see that he'll be betrayed by a friend 430 not 29 not 31 30 pieces of silver in other words what the lord said in john 5 is this search the old testament because it unmistakably points to me again and again and again and again i'm the messiah that was long promised compare that to what Paul says in Ephesians 3 verse 8 does Paul say search the Scriptures and you'll see what I'm talking about search the Scriptures because they have the mystery that I'm trying to explain to you Paul says the exact opposite he says that he has the unsearchable riches of Christ because you can't read about them anywhere in the scriptures before Paul they weren't there because verse 5 in other ages they were not made known look with me then go back to Ephesians 3 and look with me at verse 9 Ephesians 3:9 and to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the mystery notice which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God so the mystery that Paul preached the dispensation of grace where was it in time past well from the very beginning of the world it was hid in God wasn't hid in the scriptures it was hid in God let me let me tell you something the way men's secrets work is when we have a secret we tend not to keep them because when we have a secret we're just itching to tell people aren't we and so we'll do things like I know something you don't know and what we'll do is we'll finagle things so that people ask us and then we can tell them because we really really want to tell him anyway don't we humans are very very bad at keeping secrets God is perfect at keeping secrets if there was information that he wanted hid you know what it was it was hid so let's go back to Ephesians three verse one and I'm gonna go quickly through the verses but just notice how many times Ephesians three is telling you that Paul had new information verse one I Paul he's the author of this verse to the dispensation of the grace of God it was given me it was given to Paul verse three how that by revelation Paul got it by revelation he didn't get it from other men it was a mystery hidden wisdom verse five in other ages it was not made known verse eight it's unsearchable verse nine from the beginning of the world it was hid in God do you realize how crazy it is to say that Peter and Paul are preaching the same thing there's no way that's possible because Paul had new information that was never previously revealed would all suggest to you as this one of the greatest errors that Christendom makes today is they look at the New Testament they take Matthew to Revelation they take those twenty-seven books and they say they all say the same thing Paul says the same thing that Peter does James says the same thing Hebrew says the same thing as Paul it's all the same it's all the same gospel is what people claim but you've seen tonight proof after proof after proof that that's simply not the case you're in Ephesians get Ephesians chapter 2 I now want to show you the basic time divisions that exist within the scriptures Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11 wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands then at that time ye that's the Gentiles 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 so Ephesians 2 verse 11 describes a time that's known as time passed and it tells us that during that time there was a very significant distinction between Jews and Gentiles verse 12 tells you that Gentiles were without hope they were without Christ they were without God in the world and the reason why is they were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel they weren't part of it they were strangers from the covenants of promise because the covenants of promise were given to Israel now notice verse 13 but now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ Gentiles used to be far off because there was a separation but today they've been made nigh because there is no difference between Jew or Greek today in the dispensation of grace get one more verse with me in Ephesians to get Ephesians chapter 2 verse 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of His grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus so Ephesians 2 gives us the basic time distinctions in the Bible there is time passed there is but now and there is ages to come what we might call past present future we live in the present we live in the but now in time past there's a distinction between Jew and Gentile in the ages to come there's a distinction between Jew and Gentile today there is not now get with me if you would Genesis chapter 1 Genesis chapter 1 Genesis 1 of course is the beginning of the scriptures notice the very first sentence of Scripture Genesis 1 verse 1 in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth what God was doing in Genesis 1 as he began his creation and the way he segmented his creation if you will is he divided it into two areas there's heaven and there is Earth the rest of the Bible is about warfare that plays out in heaven and earth because what happens early in the book of Genesis is that Satan rebels so Lucifer was in heaven but he rebels and because he rebels that there's a rebellion that takes place in heaven and and Satan then comes down to earth and he leads a rebellion on earth so what happens very quickly in the book of Genesis is that God is dealing with a rebellion on two different fronts there's a rebellion in heaven and there's a rebellion on earth understanding that distinction is very helpful to us because God has different purposes for the heaven and the earth get with me Genesis 12 if you would Genesis chapter 12 Genesis 12 and look with me at verse 7 in Genesis 12 we're going to see God's promise to Abram Genesis 12:7 and the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto thy seed will I give this land in Genesis 12 God calls Abraham out of ur of the chaldeans him I'm going to give you this land and he's going to give that land to them forever look with me in Genesis 13 verse 15 in Genesis 13 verse 15 for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever how long is Abraham and his seed gonna dwell in the promised land well the short answer is forever is that what you have to look forward to get with me Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1 Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Ephesians 1 verse 3 says we're blessed with all spiritual blessings we're in heavenly places get with me 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 2nd corinthians 5 verse 1 for we know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens today when you believe the gospel you're placed into what's called the body of Christ and as a member of the body of Christ you're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places you have a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens so can you see there is a distinction between the heaven and the earth God's purpose for the earth is he's going to create an earthly kingdom and that earthly Kingdom is going to be centered around the land of Canaan and Abraham and his seed is going to dwell there forever on the earth but what God is going to do with us today during the dispensation of grace is he's forming the body of Christ and we are going to dwell in heaven forever there is a fundamental distinction between the body of Christ the church that's being formed today and the nation of Israel those two things are not the same let me show you another distinction that hopefully will be helpful to you get with get with me Hebrews chapter 9 Hebrews chapter 9 Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15 and for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament the he and verse 15 is Jesus Christ from verse 14 and for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance Jesus Christ is obviously the mediator of the New Testament look at verse 16 for where a testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator for a testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth the word Testament is a word that we often use in the larger phrase last will and testament or what people sometimes call a a will and you understand what a last will and testament is it's a document you use to say what happens with your property in other words you've got to decide what happens with your belongings after your death and the last will and testament is the document that is used to do that what verses 16 and 17 emphasize is that a Testament takes effect at death otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth if you sign your last will and testament but a year later you change your mind and you want to change to whom the property is given you can write a new last will and testament you can revoke your last will and testament anytime up to your death your last will and testament becomes operative that's by the way that's why they call it the last will and testament because it's the last one you sign that controls so a will and testament a last will and testament takes effect at death in verse 15 we saw that Jesus Christ was the mediator of the New Testament well if Jesus Christ is the mediator of the New Testament and a testament takes effect at death then the New Testament could not have begun any earlier than the cross so the books Matthew Mark Luke and John where do those books start - those books start talking about the cross or do they start talking about the Lord's birth well you know this if you read that read the Gospels the Gospels are an account of the Lord's earthly life and ministry you don't get to his death until the end of Matthew Mark Luke and John what that tells you is that Matthew Mark Luke and John have Old Testament information it's not New Testament information look with me at Galatians chapter 4 Galatians chapter 4 Galatians chapter verse four but when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law because Jesus Christ lived under the Old Testament law because the Old Testament was in effect prior to the cross the New Testament could not have begun until after the cross so let me tell you one more thing if I could then I want you to just think with me a little bit about what God's purpose is for your life today a lot of people think that what God has done with the church is the church has taken the place of Israel so Israel rejected Jesus Christ they crucified the Messiah what some people teach is God essentially decided I'm done with Israel I'm not gonna do anything with them anymore and so the body of Christ is gonna be their replacement that's just not so the gifts and calling of God are without repentance according to Romans 11 every promise that God made to Israel God is going to fulfill in his time but what God is doing with us during the dispensation of grace is today when you believe the gospel God places you into the body of Christ you are spiritually baptized into his body we talked earlier about the fact that there's a satanic rebellion in heaven and on earth well that's satanic rebellion in heaven when that occurred there were a bunch of angels that fell they followed Satan in his rebellion there's nowhere in scripture where God creates new angels it just doesn't happen there's nowhere in scripture where angels can produce new angels in fact scripture tells you specifically that angels are not given in marriage so what God is doing today during the dispensation of grace is he's forming the body of Christ he's forming a group of people that what he's going to do is at the rapture we're going to be caught up and we will get new bodies we will get new spiritual bodies first Corinthians 15 noticed this with me get first Corinthians 15 first Corinthians 15 first Corinthians 15 verse 49 and as we have borne the image of the earthly earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly we're going to have not earthly bodies in the future but we will have celestial bodies designed to function in the heavens and what God will do with the body of Christ is the body of Christ will become part of God's administration of the heavenlies Satan and his minions will be cast out and we will take their place members of the body of Christ will take their place in in eternity now I'll show you one more slide and we'll be done earlier we talked about the fact that the mystery was hid let me just show you an example of this if you were standing in Acts chapter 8 right before Paul was saved and someone said draw me the timeline of history this is what it would look like because at that point the mystery had not been made known it was hidden it was still a secret but what God did God then did is he saved the Apostle Paul and he gave him the mystery that's why it's so important as Ephesians 3:9 says that what we need to do is we need to make all men see what is the Fellowship of the mystery thank you for joining with us tonight we appreciate it we hope that you'll join us again tomorrow at 7 o'clock let me close this in a word of prayer and we'll conclude by the God thank you for this time we thank you for the saints we pray that people would clearly understand the gospel and we pray that they would understand Paul's ministry that we have been given during the dispensation of grace we pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen

Channel: Columbus Bible Church

Views: 4,537

Rating: 4.8793969 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: EOBpxO01yAw

Length: 56min 11sec (3371 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 13 2020