Delving Into False Assumptions

[0:00] The title of the message this morning is Delving Into False Assumptions. I would like you to turn to the book of Matthew, to Matthew chapter 16.

[0:18] And in Matthew chapter 16, we'll be taking a look at verses 13 through 19.

[0:41] Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he was asking his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

[1:00] And they said, Some say John the Baptist, and others Elijah. But still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

[1:13] He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

[1:28] And Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, But my Father who is in heaven.

[1:43] I also say to you that you are Peter, And upon this rock I will build my church, And the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

[1:55] I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, And whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, And whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

[2:11] The series of messages entitled, Faulty Assumptions that we are now entering into, Is going to be quite involved, And it's going to cover a great deal of, A great many passages in the scriptures.

[2:35] And it is so rich and so full, I scarcely know where to begin. And we are going to see as we move on, How interrelated and connected all of this is.

[2:47] It is just amazing how the content of the Bible is interrelated and interconnected. But so often we aren't able to make the connections, And thus we are devoid of a more adequate understanding.

[3:02] And I'm going to begin this message in a very unusual way, In that I am going to give the devil his due. By that I mean that Lucifer, Who became Satan, Who is also known as the adversary, Also known as Abaddon, Also known as the deceiver, Is entitled to a lot of credit.

[3:38] Unfortunately, That which we would ascribe to him, All has negative consequences. But nonetheless, He is the consummate professional, In what he does.

[3:51] And he is extraordinary in his successes, And in his methodology, And in all that he is able to accomplish. I'll be reminding you of this throughout this series of messages, But I want to get it up front and out there, Right at the outset, So that you will know, That this one has a part, In the things that we are going to be discussing.

[4:15] He is the one who of course tempted our first parents, Into disobeying God, All the way back in Genesis chapter 3, And even prior to that time, He is the one who led the rebellion, After he himself chose to disobey God, Obviously exercising the volition that God had given him, And he went astray, And he recruited a third of the angels, Apparently that God had created to join him.

[4:46] These we think are probably, The demonic world, That originally began as unfallen angels, That have since become, As we would say, Fallen angels.

[5:00] Satan has a hand in just about everything, That goes on in this world, But he is so clever, Most of the world is completely asleep, As to his involvement.

[5:12] And many of course, Would discount the whole idea, As some kind of ridiculous fairy tale, Because there are many, Who do not even believe, That the adversary, Satan, Exists.

[5:25] But he does. John described him, In one of his epistles, As the one in whose lap, The whole world lies.

[5:38] Think of that. It's kind of like, The world is a lap dog, And Satan is the one, Who provides the lap, And the world is there, In his lap.

[5:52] We are told that he is a liar, From the beginning, And he abode not, In the truth. And that classic passage, In 2nd Corinthians 4, Says, If our gospel be hid, It is hid to them, That are lost, Whose minds, The God of this world, Has blinded.

[6:15] I have no idea, What he really is behind. The text in 2nd Corinthians 4, Says, If our gospel be hid, It is hid to those, Who are lost, Whose minds, That's their thinking processes, Their ability, To process information, And reach conclusions.

[6:34] Their minds are blinded, Lest the light, Of the glorious gospel, Of Christ, Who is the image of God, Should shine unto them. And he has all kinds, Of devices, At his disposal.

[6:47] Some of them, We're familiar with, And some of them, We probably are not. The apostle Paul wrote, I think he addressed, The Thessalonians, When he said, For we are not, Ignorant, Of his devices.

[7:00] So the devil, Is entitled to his due. He is behind, A whole lot more. And he has, A great deal of input, As regards, The division, That exists, In people, Who hold the truth, Regarding Jesus Christ.

[7:17] We've already, Pointed out to you, And you recall the book, That I referred to, How that there are, Some 200 plus, Denominations, Large, Small, Splits, Splinters, Sex, Cults, You name it, That are, Represented, Here in the United States alone, And about the only thing, That they have in common, Are their differences.

[7:39] And, Each of course, Is convinced that, Their position is right, And it's all the other folks, That are wrong. And do we take that same position, Here at Grace?

[7:49] Of course we do. Of course we do. If we didn't, What business do we have, Meeting here and teaching? If I didn't believe, What I am teaching you, Is right, What right do I have, To even teach it?

[8:03] I wouldn't have any right. But does that guarantee, That everything that we do, Teach is right? Nope, It certainly doesn't. All I can guarantee you is, My effort, And my intent, Is to communicate, Only that which is true.

[8:19] I wish I could give you, An ironclad guarantee, That that is always the case. By the way, If you ever encounter anyone, Who tries to convince you, That that is the case with them, You need to head, For the nearest exit.

[8:33] All of these different groups, Have some things in common, Well not all of them, But many of them, Have some things in common, And that's what we, Really need to emphasize, As we look at these items, That distinguish, Grace Bible Church, From a lot of other churches, And that is this, We hold certain, Doctrinal positions, Here at Grace, As do other Grace churches, Of our ilk, That are different, From mainline churches, As they exist, Across this country, And the reason, We hold those positions, Is because we are convinced, That that's what, The scriptures teach, So there is no, Greater motivation, Than following that, That's what we ought to believe, But in recognizing, That there are those, Who disagree with us, We need to come, To the disagreements, And come to these brethren, With a charitable spirit, Of acceptance, Because, If they embrace,

[9:35] The same Savior, That we do, If they have a personal, Relationship, With Jesus Christ, Like we do, That automatically, Makes them brethren, We are members, Of the same family, And we are to accord them, Every kind of, Cordiality, And kindness, Even though, We decidedly, Differ from them, In some of their, Conclusions, About the church, And about the rapture, And about the tribulation, And about the millennium, And all the rest of it, Those are not, The things, That unite us in Christ, What unites us, In the Lord Jesus, Is our common faith, In him, And as I've often said, When we get to heaven, We're all going to get, Straightened out, We all have quirks, And wrinkles, In our theology, None of us, Has it all together, So I'm going to be, Emphasizing that point, As we move on through there, And one reason I do, Is because, To be very honest with you, And I know it's a little, Discouraging, But there are some brethren, In the grace movement,

[10:36] That have a pretty nasty attitude, About some of these things, And there's no justification, For that, We owe everyone, Who agrees with us, Or who disagrees with us, We owe them, The milk of human kindness, And respect, Simply because, They are, As we are, They are, We can, And frail human beings, Who are subject to being wrong, Just like we're subject to being wrong, So we need to cut each other, Some slack, And not be nasty, Or demanding about these things, And I just hope, That we can present this material, In a way that will be comforting, And yet encouraging, And enlightening, Because my main goal here, Is to enable you, To gain, A fuller, And a richer understanding, Of the plan, And program of God, So you will know better, How you fit into it, And you will have a greater, Appreciation, And admiration, For who and what you are, In Christ, And, And, That you will, Along with that,

[11:37] You will gain, A profound, Greater appreciation, And understanding, Of this marvelous book, That God has given us, The Bible, That's my goal, So, So, Where we're going to begin, With this first, I guess we would call it, This first example, Of a faulty assumption, Is what we might consider, To be the point of origin, Of Christianity, And I'm talking about that, Not prophetically, Because prophetically, Jesus Christ, Was the Lamb of God, Slain before the foundation, Of the world, So, It goes back, All the way to that, But I'm talking about historically, And in so far, As the, Origin of Christianity, Historically is concerned, We would have to go, To, The cross, The cross of Calvary, Because that's where, Our redemption was secured, And that's ground zero, For our faith in Christ,

[12:40] When our Lord Jesus, Was on the cross, We note that there are, Seven sayings, That were generally, Attributed to him, And these become, Speaking points, Topics for, Just about, Every Easter season of the year, In connection with, Passover, And the Holy Week, And, Conferences are held, Where these seven sayings, From the Christ, Are explored, And, One of them, Is, Father forgive them, For they know not, What they do, And here is what I believe, To be, A faulty assumption, That is embraced, On the part of many, And the assumption is this, That God did not, Answer that prayer, Jesus cried out, From the cross, Father forgive them, For they know not, What they do,

[13:41] Now we are not, Positively identifying, Who the them are, It may have been, In at least in part, The Roman soldiers, Because they were, Ordinarily made up, Of a squad, Of four men, Who were, Dubbed, The execution detail, And these four, Physically carried out, The crucifixion, Of whoever was on that cross, Including the nails, And everything, That went with it, But I suspect, That there is, A more culpable, Circle than that, And I think, That that had to do, With the religious establishment, The chief priests, The scribes, Pharisees, Judas, I suspect, That they were, Probably more involved, In that phrase, Than were the Roman soldiers, Who were, Of course, Just following orders, Just doing what, They ordinarily did, In conducting, An execution, That it was Judas, Who conspired, With the chief priests, Caiaphas, And Annas, And so on, And it was they,

[14:42] Who arranged, To put Jesus on trial, Before Pontius Pilate, They did, A job of manipulation, On Pilate, And he allowed himself, To be used, To do the dirty work, Of those who wanted, Jesus executed, They, I think, Are the ones, That Jesus principally, Was referring to, When he said, Father, Forgive them, For they know not, What they do, One of the reasons, That many assume, That God did not, Forgive them, And that he thus, As of that time, Wrote Israel off, Permanently, As his chosen people, Is because of what, Followed later, And I can easily, Understand, How they reached, That conclusion, I think it was, A faulty conclusion, But I can see, How they reached it, And I can see also, How many, Also believe, That with, The day of, Pentecost, Arriving, In Acts chapter 2, They labeled that, As the beginning, Of the Christian church,

[15:44] With the faulty assumption, That the reason, The Christian church, Is beginning there, In Acts 2, Is because, God is finished, With Israel, That's it, He has written them off, And then, When you fast forward, In fulfillment, Of the prophecy, That Jesus gave, Among many, He said, The time was coming, When the enemy, Would camp round about, Jerusalem, And level the city, Into ruins, And that is exactly, What happened, In 70 AD, And that seemed, To fuel the fire, Of those, Who made that, First fault, The assumption, Because they were saying, Look, Here is Jerusalem, The city of the Jews, And the temple, It's all ruined, Broken down, Devastated, Flattened, The sacrificial system, Is kaput, Everything is gone, Proof positive, God is finished, With the Jew, I don't have any difficulty, Understanding, How they reached, That conclusion, But it was, A faulty conclusion, And the great difficulty,

[16:45] With faulty, Assumptions, Is, That people, Act on them, They treat them, As if they are true, Because they believe, That they were true, And these, Faulty assumptions, I am convinced, Were held, Probably a hundred percent, Of the time, By people, Of good faith, And good intent, And very sincerely, But as we pointed out, Time and again, Sincerity is no guarantee, For the accuracy, Of the position you hold, It has to be rooted, In fact, Not in feelings, Or sincerity, So, What we are, Positing, For this particular session, Is that, God's, Prayer, Received from Jesus, On the cross, Was answered, God did forgive them, For my part, At least, And some may say, That this is a faulty, Assumption on my part,

[17:46] But for my part, I cannot see, The son of God, Beseeching his father, With a prayer request, That goes unanswered, I'm confident, That, That, That, Yes, Well, Let's just consider it, Dead, Okay, And we'll give it, A decent burial, I don't have any idea, What's wrong with this, Electronic stuff, Unless, Unless it is being, Tinkered with, By the adversary, Maybe he's, Maybe he's responsible, For more than we know, Let's just forget about it, I'll go on, And try to talk, Try to talk up, I'll, Can you hear the, Bell, Mine, Well, I don't think, It's the microphone, Can you try, Check test, One, Two, Three, Okay, It's working again, Marvis,

[18:47] Marvis, Are you sure, You're holding your mouth, Right back there, I think it's on the alphabet, I think it's on the speaker, Not on the internet, Okay, Well, So, What we are suggesting, Is that the prayer, That Christ offered, To his father, Was, Answered, And he did, Forgive them, And because of that, Because of that, The opportunity, That was extended, To the nation of Israel, By the Lord Jesus, To accept him, And receive him, As their king, Was actually extended, Even after his crucifixion, So, What we are saying is, That, Well, If you go to Matthew chapter 16, We'll, We'll look at that, Shall we?

[19:40] Matthew chapter 16, From the passage that, Gary had read, Because, Here we've got another reference, To the kingdom, But, The issue is somewhat clouded, Because we also have, A reference to, A church, And, Both of these, Being here, In the same passage, Tend to, Cause, Some to think, That they are used interchangeably, Or that, They are the same, But they are not, And let me, Let me, Let me explain this also, At the outset, If I may, When you begin, With the ministry, Of the Lord Jesus, In his earthly, Three year, Function here on earth, The crowning, Issue, Throughout that, Entire period, That he was here on earth, Had to do with, The kingdom of heaven, It had nothing to do, With the church, Which we know today, As being the body of Christ,

[20:41] And this in and of itself, Is a, A great breakthrough, In the minds of some people, To understand that, Because all the way through, From the time, John the Baptist, Introduced Jesus, His message was, Repent, For the kingdom, Of heaven, Is at hand, That was the message, And when Jesus, Called the twelve, To him, In Matthew chapter 10, And gave them the commission, That they were to go, Not to the Gentiles, Not to the Samaritans, But to confine their ministry, To the lost sheep, Of the house of Israel, That meant, Jews, Only, Exclusively, Now some people, Have great difficulty with that, But when you understand, The whole picture, That we are trying to paint, And that we will be, Bringing together, It will make perfect sense, Jesus wasn't saying, That he didn't care about, Anyone who wasn't a Jew, Not at all, Because even though,

[21:42] Jesus came, To his own, And that's Israel, He came, For the world, He was simply, Going to use, Israel, As the spearhead nation, Through which, He would bring about, This revived kingdom, On earth, That had been decimated, And ruined, By the fall, We live in, A broken world, You understand that?

[22:08] You understand, This world is not the way, It's supposed to be? You understand, That this is not the world, That God created, And pronounced, Very good? This is a fallen world, And the kingdom, When it is to come, It will come with the king, And the end result, Of the kingdom, Is that, The broken world, Is going to be fixed, The redeemer, Is going to care for it, That was the message, That's the message, That John delivered, That's the message, That Jesus delivered, That's the message, That the twelve delivered, And, They delivered it, Exclusively to Israel, Because, Israel, Was, And is, Remains, Today, The key, The key, Ingredient, For the redemption, Of the world, A lot of Christians, Just really, Don't like, That emphasis, At all, They think, Everything has shifted,

[23:09] From disobedient Israel, To this wonderful thing, Called the Christian church, The body of Christ, And that it has replaced it, It has not replaced it, It is in addition to it, We have our own calling, We have our own benefits, We have our own blessings, And let me just assure you of this, Whether it is the nation Israel, Or whether it is the church, The body of Christ, As individuals, In the plan and program of God, Nobody, Is going to get shortchanged, Nobody is going to get a raw deal, So keep in mind, The fact that, God is absolutely, Gracious and perfect, He is equitable, In all that he is dispensing, And he is going to see to it, That each is rewarded, In accordance with his wisdom, And his blessing, So nobody needs to feel like, They're being displaced, By someone else, And that's an important point, It is not, The church, Or Israel,

[24:10] It is the church, And Israel, And even though, Some of my brethren, In the grace movement, Disagree with me, I personally am convinced, That in the final analysis, The two are going to be melded, They are going to be together, There will be a oneness, Between the body of Christ, And the glorified nation of Israel, And the glorified body of Christ, We're going to be one unit then, I don't think that the separation distinction, Is going to be maintained, Certainly not throughout eternity, Possibly it will be in the millennial reign, But when that thousand years is up, Then the eternal state begins, And all is going to be together, In a kind of oneness, So, Many assume that the crucifixion, Was unforgivable, And that God turned to the Gentiles, In rejecting the Jews, And the Christian church began, In Acts chapter 2, And here in this passage, In Matthew 16, That we are, Looking at,

[25:13] Jesus said, I say unto you, In verse 18, That you are Peter, And upon this rock, And here is another, Faulty assumption, That the church is built upon Peter, And of course, This is a mainstay, Of Roman Catholic theology, And the church is not built upon Peter, But the church is built, Upon the confession, That Peter made, Because that's everything, That's everything, The confession that Peter made, Thou art the Christ, The Messiah, The Son of God, And the gates of Hades, Shall not overpower it, I will give you, The keys of the kingdom of heaven, Now there's that emphasis again, And it says nothing here, About the keys to the church, Later, In the same verse here, He's going to talk about the church, I will build my church, In verse 18, I will build my church,

[26:13] Upon this rock, I will build my church, The gates of Hades, Will not overpower it, And the assumption is made, That the church, That he is going to build here, Is the church, That is established, In Acts chapter 2, And for some, The clincher is in verse 47, Of Acts chapter 2, When it says, The Lord added to the church daily, Such as should be saved, But if you look at the original Greek, Or some of the other translations, That are available in English, It doesn't use the word church at all, It simply says, And the Lord added to their number, Such as were being saved, And that means, That added to the 3,000, All Jews, Who responded on the day of Pentecost, And the Lord added to that number, Such as should be saved, And it says nothing about the church there, So what we are saying is, The church does not, The church which is the body of Christ, Does not have its beginning, In Acts chapter 2, And there is another faulty assumption,

[27:15] And that is, When Peter gave the answer, As to what the meaning of that was, All of the commotion, And the people speaking in tongues, And everything that went along with it, And they were saying, What is the meaning of this?

[27:28] What is going on here? And some of the people said, You know what these people, These people are drunk, That is what it is, They are drunk, And Peter stood up and said, Hey, No, These are not drunk as you suppose, Seeing it is only the third hour of the day, It is only nine o'clock in the morning, These people aren't drunk, And then, Peter made the most significant, Enlightening statement, Very simple, He said, This, That you are seeing and hearing, This is that, Which was spoken of, By the prophet Joel, And he quotes from Joel, And a faulty assumption is, Peter was incorrect, Peter was wrong, It seems rather open and closed, When Jesus said to Peter,

[28:29] I give unto you, The keys, To the kingdom of heaven, What's the significance, Of a key anyway, What does it, What does that mean, A key, Well, The one who has a key, Is able to open, Or unlock, Or lock, It's a way that enables, Access to be gained, We talk about, A key to anything, As being very pivotal, And very important, The key to understanding something, It means that, That's the strategic thing, About it, And when Peter was given, The keys, What do you think, He is doing, In this message, That he delivers, In Acts chapter 2, He's using the key, He's using the key, And he says, I give you the keys, To the kingdom, Peter is opening, He is opening the door, To the kingdom of heaven,

[29:30] And the virtual refurbishing, Of the entire plan, And he's making, That offer, To Israel, To lead the charge, That's what, That's all about, That's what Peter's doing, He's using the key, The kingdom, Was not really, Available, To be offered, As a bona fide thing, Until the price, Was paid, For securing it, That's what, Jesus did on the cross, When he died, On that cross, He obtained, The legal right, Because, Who had it before, Who still has it, Satan, Satan, Called the God of this age, The God of this world, He's running the show, You understand that?

[30:27] I'm at a complete loss, To understand people, Who say, Well, Jesus, Jesus, Is ruling, And reigning, From heaven, Really?

[30:41] You're telling me, That God's will, On earth, Is being done, As it is in heaven, And that Jesus, Is ruling, And reigning, With what we've got, Going on in Iraq, And Africa, And Afghanistan, And world war one, And world war two, Jesus is reigning, The prince of peace, Is reigning?

[31:02] Come on, Satan is reigning, He's the God of this age, He's calling the shots, And remember, In the temptation, When Jesus went, Into the wilderness, And was tempted by Satan, For 40 days, And 40 nights, One of the temptations was, If you will, You see all, He took him up to a high place, And showed him all the kingdoms, And some kind of a, Supernatural panoramic view, Of the whole world, And he told Jesus, All these, Everything, Will be yours, If you will, Bow down, And worship me, Now let me ask you a question, Did Satan have the right, To do that?

[31:56] Yes, Yes, He did, He had the right, To do that, Because he was the one, Controlling it, He was the owner, And he still is, He still is, The time is coming, When it will be, Forcibly, Rested, From him, But right now, He's running the show, And Jesus, As much as says, The kingdom is yours to give, But the time will come, When it will be taken from you, And Christ will be, One who will take it from you, And that's the Revelation 19 passage, Which is quite clear, So it was his to offer, It was his to give, And it was Christ to refuse, Under the circumstances, Because there was no way, That he could do that, Or would even consider it, So all of these things, Come into play, This is a variegated picture, This thing is very connected, It's just like a, It's just like a hub,

[32:57] Of a wheel, With spokes going out, In every direction, And all of these things, We are going to be talking about, As faulty assumptions, Are going to come into play, And I trust you, We will be able to see, How they all connect, And how so many, Have been misled by them, And do you know, What the end game of this is, For Satan, It's division, Division, He doesn't want the people, Of God together, On anything, He wants us divided, He wants us separated, So he is behind, Some of these, Faulty assumptions, And what I'm saying is, We, When we come into this world, When we are born, We are born, With deficiencies, We know we have, Physical deficiencies, The point has been made, That when a baby is born, Begins to die, Starts the death process, You know, We're all dying, And we all have, Mental deficiencies, We all have, Misconceptions, About all kinds of things, And every one, Every one of us, Every one of us,

[33:58] Has to think, With an injured, Fallen, Intellect, There isn't a one of us, That has all of our thinking skills, And processes together, So that we reach only, Accurate conclusions, To take accurate action, Not a one of us, Every one of us is flawed, In our thinking, In our perception, In our understanding, And that brings confusion, And it brings division, And Satan's game plan, Is divide and conquer, Don't let these people, Get together, Keep them divided, Keep them arguing, Over their doctrines, Keep them separated, Don't, I have no way of knowing, What would happen, If the whole body of Christ, I mean everyone, Who is truly a believer in Christ, Could be together, On the same page, I'm convinced, We would turn this world upside down,

[34:58] But don't hold your breath, It's not happening, And you know the biggest reason, It isn't happening, It's because we're divided, We're divided, And that takes a toll, It's just like, It's just like an army, That is facing a formidable foe, And it divides itself, Into all of these different units, Different outfits, And everything, To go against the enemy, And the enemy is greater, And they just pick them off, One at a time, You know, You're no match, This is Satan's game plan, This is the way he operates, So what I want you to keep in mind, And understand, And no, No, No, No, Don't get me wrong now, I'm not blaming everything, On the devil, This is not a, Not a, Not a, Not a what you call, The devil made me do it thing, I'm not talking about that, We've got enough, Difficulty, And enough potential, For evil, That resides within us, I'm not saying, The devil's to blame, For everything, But I am saying,

[35:59] He's got his fingers, In every pie there is, On this earth, And you need to understand that, And what he really doesn't want, Is he doesn't want to be discovered, He doesn't want people to know that, As I've often said, He is so successful, In his plan of deception, That he has convinced a lot of people, That he doesn't even exist, Now why in the world, Would you fear anyone, That you don't even believe exists, And that's the whole point, He doesn't want you to fear him, So, A faulty assumption is, To make the church, And the kingdom, The same thing, And when Peter is using, The keys to the kingdom, He is opening them, And let's go quickly, To that if we may, It'll have to be very quickly, Because I am determined, To have some time for Q&A this morning, So, Acts chapter 2, And when Peter gives his response,

[37:03] Beginning in verse 14, Taking his hand with the eleven, He raised his voice, And declared to them, Men of Judea, And all you who live in Jerusalem, And by the way, This point shouldn't need to be made, Here at Grace, But I will make it, Just in case somebody, Wasn't here, Who doesn't understand this, Peter's audience, Is exclusively, Jewish, There are no non-Jews, Here involved, And the reason we know that, Is because this has taken place, In the temple complex, And Gentiles were not even, Allowed to be there, Under penalty of death, The Jews had established, A barrier, Just outside, It was called, The court of the Gentiles, And the court of the Gentiles, Gentiles were allowed, But beyond that court, There was a barrier placed, There was a sign, That was posted on the wall, Every so many feet, That for a Gentile, To proceed, Beyond this point, He did so, Under the penalty,

[38:04] Of death, He could be, Slain on the spot, By any Jew, Who would allow Gentile, Beyond that point, So these are all Jews, These are all the seed, Of Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob, Who are gathered here, That Peter is addressing, All you who live in Jerusalem, Let it be known to you, And give heed to my words, For these men, Are not drunk, As you suppose, For it is only, The third hour of the day, But this, Is what was spoken of, Through the prophet Joel, And here's what Joel said, Quoting from that, Old Testament prophecy, That was given, Hundreds of years, Before Jesus was ever born, And it shall come, It shall be in the last days, God says, Now what are the last days?

[38:53] Well, Best as I can understand this, From taking the whole of scripture, Into consideration, The world, And its history, Is divided into, The former days, And the last days, The former days, Are all the days, All the time, That passed historically, Before the cross, Before the cross, Before the cross, In other words, We could say, As far as the planet is concerned, The former days, Began, With creation, In Genesis 1, And continued, Clear up to, The crucifixion, And the crucifixion, Of Christ, Became, The centerpiece, Of the universe, Chronologically, Theologically, And every other way, Everything hinges on that, This is the event, For the whole universe, For all time, That God was made flesh,

[39:56] And dwelt among us, We beheld his glory, And he was crucified, Paying the penalty, For our sins, That cross was the separation point, For all of time, And everything, After the cross, Is the later time, The later days, And this is what Peter's talking about here, It shall be, In the last days, That's after the cross, That I will pour forth of my spirit, Upon all mankind, And your sons, And your daughters, Shall prophesy, And your young men, Shall see visions, And your old men, Shall dream dreams, Even upon my bond slaves, Both men and women, I will in those days, Pour forth of my spirit, And they shall prophesy, Well, They're certainly having a taste of that, Right here in Acts chapter 2, With the speaking in languages, That they had not learned,

[40:57] That must have been, Some kind of an upheaval, That's just tremendous proportions, And what we've got here folks, What we've got here in Acts 2, As best as I can understand this, Is nothing more, Than the event that took place, At the tower of Babel, Back in Genesis 10, Or Genesis 11, When God confounded, All of the languages, Everybody was speaking one language, Everybody was talking, Just one language, And with the tower of Babel, And all that ensued from that, God decided to, Scatter them, And the only way, That he saw, That he was going to be able, To scatter them, Is make it so that they are, Unable to communicate with each other, Except in their small group, And he divided the languages, He divided the people, And they all, Had to go with their own, Language group, Because they could not, Communicate with others, Here, We've got an exact reversal of that, Where everybody, Is able to hear, In their own language, It seems to be, A tower of Babel thing,

[41:57] In reverse, But going on, Verse 19, And I will grant wonders, In the sky above, And signs on the earth beneath, Blood and fire, And vapor of smoke, The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Now wait a minute, Wait a minute, When did that ever happen?

[42:22] It never has, But that's what Joel was prophesying, You see, Joel is giving a full picture here, But the only thing, That has been realized, In Joel's prophecy, Is the very beginning of it, What about the rest of it?

[42:42] What about all of the phenomena, With the sun, And the moon, And the stars, And all of these things, What happened there? That's all put on hold, That's never been realized, Well to be sure, It will be, But it isn't now, Why?

[42:58] Because this is the beginning, Of the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, But the whole thing, Is going to be short circuited, And come to an abrupt end, Why?

[43:12] Why? Why? Why doesn't this prophecy, Go on, And be fulfilled, In its completeness? For the simple reason, That the audience, That the audience, That the audience, To whom Peter, Is speaking, Is not coming on board, Peter, Is using the key, And he is opening the door, To the realization, Of the kingdom of heaven, Come to earth, But Israel, Is not walking through, In fact, They are going to continue, In their rejection, Of Jesus, After his resurrection, Just as they rejected him, Before his crucifixion, That isn't going to change, Don't be misled, By the fact, That three thousand, Do come on board, We are not told, How many were there total, But I am satisfied, And this is a Wiseman opinion,

[44:12] And maybe this is a faulty, Assumption on my part, But I am convinced, That there were far more people, Than that there, Than the three thousand, I think the three thousand, Made a small percentage, Would we come over, To chapter three, Which will not take time, To look at now, But when we do, We will see Peter, Is again, Putting that key, In the lock, And turning it, And he is appealing, To Israel, To get on board, And Israel, Is going to continue, To refuse, How many times, Have I told you here, At grace, There are two things, There are two things, That have to be realized, That must be accomplished, Before, The kingdom of heaven, Can come to earth, And one is, The price has to be paid, For the securing, Of that kingdom, That's exactly, What Jesus Christ did, Secondly, Israel, As the target nation, As the key nation, As the spearhead nation,

[45:14] Because God made that promise, Through Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob, They have to agree, And come on board, And embrace, Yeshua HaMashiach, As their Messiah, And when those two things, Are in place, The kingdom of heaven, Will be established, And Jesus Christ, Will, Be ruling, And reigning, Here, On the earth, We are still waiting, For the second part, Of the deal, And before we close, I just want to, Show you the last couple of verses, Of the passage, In Acts chapter 3, That is just, Just really remarkable, Really remarkable, I'm going to jump down, With verse 18, Verse 17, Acts chapter 3, Peter again, Here he is, He's just trying to, Carry out, The responsibility, That Christ gave him, He's using the key, And he says, And now brethren, Verse 17, I know,

[46:14] That you acted, In ignorance, Just as your rulers, Did also, This is a reference, To what Jesus, Was talking about, Father forgive them, For they know, Not what they do, They're doing it, In ignorance, And Peter, Is reemphasizing that, But the things, Which God announced, Beforehand, By the mouth, Of all the prophets, That his Christ, Should suffer, He has thus fulfilled, That's Peter's way, Of saying, This, This, Project, Has two parts, To it, God did his part, That's exactly, What he's saying, God did his part, He has thus, Fulfilled, What's your part, Repent therefore, Change, Change, Your, Mind, About, Who, Jesus is, And why he came, And what he did, And why it matters,

[47:15] Change your mind, Three thousand did, In chapter two, And now he is appealing, To another group, Repent therefore, And return, That your sins, And he's talking about, Return to their rightful position, With God, That your sins, May be wiped away, In order that, Times of refreshing, May come from the presence, Of the Lord, What are those times, Of refreshing, They are the times, That this world, Is desperately looking for, We need a rejuvenation, We need a refreshing, We need a, We need a lot, That he may send, Jesus the Christ, Appointed for you, Whom heaven must receive, Until, The period of restoration, Of all things, That's this kingdom, That's when the lamb, And the lion, Will lie down together, And that's when the knowledge, Of the Lord, Will cover the earth, As the waters cover the sea, That's when, That's when the broken things, Are going to be fixed, This is not it, We are not in it, It has never happened,

[48:16] It is held in obedience, Project one is complete, Project two, Is still lacking, Israel remains, Set aside, In their unbelief, And the time is coming, As Paul indicates, In Romans 9, 10 and 11, The time is coming, When the times, Of the Gentiles, Shall be fulfilled, What's that mean?

[48:43] That means, That the Jewish people, Today, The Jewish nation, Is not running the world, No, They're not running the world, You know what the Jews, Are doing today, They're just trying to survive, They're just trying to be, They're just trying to avoid, Being wiped out, By seven enemies, That surround them, That's all they're doing, But the time is coming, When the Gentiles, Who now run the world, Who runs the world?

[49:12] The UN, The United States, Europe, China, Japan, They run the world, They call the shots, There's interaction, And diplomacy, And conflict, And everything that goes on, But they're in charge, Israel's just a rinky-dink, Little place, No bigger than the state, Of New Jersey, That's just trying, Breathlessly, To hang on, Keep from being wiped out, But the time is coming, When the times, Of the Gentiles, Going to be, And Israel, That is now, The tail, Will become, The head, All in fulfillment, Of the promise, That God gave to Abraham, Starting way back, In Genesis 12, And when you do, When Israel signs on, Jesus the Christ, Appointed for you, Will return, Whom heaven, Must receive, Until the period, Of restoration, Of all things,

[50:13] About which God spoke, By the mouth, Of his holy prophets, From ancient times, And that will be, When this earth, Is fixed, Now some of our friends, And by the way, Those who hold, Contrary points of view, To this, We refer to as, Amillennial, Or whatever, Replacement theologians, Understand that these positions, We're talking about here, And the differences, That exist, Have nothing to do, With anybody's salvation, There are people, Who know, And love the Lord, Just as much as we do, Who completely disagree, With what I've given you here, And they, By, However, They're able to justify it, They take the position, That Jesus Christ, Is ruling and reigning, Today, And the way he's doing that, Is that he rules and reigns, In the hearts, Of each person, Who knows him, Well, That too, Might be a stretch,

[51:14] Because, Even though that text says, Jesus said, The kingdom of God, Is within you, The better translation, Is the kingdom of God, Is among you, And that's an entirely, Different thing, So anyway, I'm going to, I've got to quit here, This is, I apologize for, For the, For the difficulty, In the, Explaining this content, And I guess, I kind of got discombobulated, With sounds, I don't know, Whether this got recorded, What didn't, But anyway, We'll probably just scrap, This recording this morning, And forget it, And maybe do it again, Maybe do it again later, When I'm convinced, You already forgot all about it, Is there a quick question, Or comment, Anybody?

[51:59] Yeah, I didn't leave you much time, Did I? Blame it on the electronics, Okay, Nathan here, Has a comment, Or a question, Testing, Testing, Hey, I just want to, I just say, I appreciate the, Kind of comments about, You know, The body of Christ, As a whole, And we all have these differences, It's so easy, To say, Hey, We've got, This certain truth, That nobody else has, And, You know, Become puffed up, About it, And, You know, Every denomination, Has that right, You know, Pentecostals, If you don't speak in tongues, You're not a real Christian, Or the Baptists, You know, If you're not, Duncan, Duncan believers, Then you don't have the truth, And all that, And so just having that attitude, Because, Hey, We all have things, And we, We have things, We really are,

[53:00] Feel strongly about, And want to get the truth out, But having that attitude, Of, Of, Humility, I think, Makes all the difference, I appreciate that, Thank you, And I, I couldn't agree more, One of my, One of my heroes, One of my heroes, I charge with having, A lot of faulty assumptions, And that's Martin Luther, I think Martin Luther, Was a man of God, Of enormous intellect, And character, And yet, He pulled some real boners, When he had some, Faulty assumptions, And one of his, Faulty assumptions was, That God is, Punishing the Jew, And that's why, He's being persecuted, Is because God is doing that, No, God wasn't doing that, Satan was doing that, Satan was leading, In the inquisition of Spain, And Satan was leading, In the crusades, That were instigated, By Pope Gregory, That was, That was the devil, That wasn't God, Well why doesn't God, Put an end to that, Well that's another issue, And God has, God has granted,

[54:01] Volition to men, And to nations, And he allows them, To use it, And, That all become, Part and parcel of the fall, So, We are paying the price for that, Yes, Over here, Yeah, Nathan, You reminded me, I wanted to second that, You know, Sometimes it helps, Sometimes it helps to reinforce it, But, When we were looking for churches, We did visit some grace churches, And, Grace church means something different, In our circles, Than maybe out in the, The general realm of Christianity, But, We have a saying in our house, That, A lot of grace churches, Don't act very gracious, And, That was a difference here, One of the differences, The main differences here, Was the way that people acted, Towards people that disagreed, And, It wasn't like, We needed to start shouting, And get angry, Or, Or appear angry at people, But, That, We don't back away, From what we believe, But neither do we, Make everything a litmus test,

[55:01] Of Christianity, Right, Right, We need to make sure, That we prioritize, So, We appreciate, What you said, This morning, And also how you've handled yourself, In the time that we've been here, Well, Thank you, Thank you George, I really appreciate that, I have said in the past, And I, Would, Would reinforce it, That if there is anything, That ought to characterize, Grace people, It is a spirit of graciousness, And, We've got to remember, That, That which unites us, Is not, Where we stand, On dispensationalism, Or, Where we stand, On premillennialism, Or, Where we stand, On the wreck, What unites us, Is the finished work, Of Jesus Christ, And when you have, Your faith and trust, In him, Then that makes you, A member of the body, Of Christ, And we are members, Of each other, And we owe each other, Cordiality, And kindness, And consideration, And, We ought to be, We ought to be known for that,

[56:03] We ought to be, We ought to be, The most gracious people, After all, Who talks more about grace, Than we do, Well people have got a right, To say, Well you want to talk about it a lot, How about showing us a little, So we need to do that, Our last comment, In the back there, I hate to follow your, Your saying there, With this, But I've noticed, In a few of the Bible conferences, That I go to, That seems to be, Two big divisions, One of them, Is King James only, And the other one is, Acts 28, And I have noticed, Just observing, That those people, Seem to get pretty vicious, And that's what, Yeah, Craig was talking about, And I think, That is, That's just not right, No it isn't, You believe that way, It's between you and God, And let it go, You know, Yeah, And, But just to sit down, At conferences, Privately with people, And try to convince them, Of something, You know, It just ruins the atmosphere,

[57:03] Real quick, Well absolutely, Absolutely, And I can certainly, Understand that, And it just, We just, We just, We owe each other, A charitable attitude, And you can, Totally, Completely, Disagree with somebody, Regarding a point of doctrine, But that, Ought not, That ought not, To be a basis, For breaking fellowship, Because our fellowship, Is in Christ, And, That you can take to the bank, Would you stand please, Father, We recognize, That in the midst, Of what we've been discussing, There is, All kinds of, Need for a better understanding, And for each of us, Beginning with myself, To have a better grasp, Of what we're talking about, But, We are so grateful, For, The truth, That you have provided, In your word, Help us to be diligent, In seeking it out, In comparing scripture, With scripture, To get the overall tenor,

[58:04] Of the word of God, And see what it is teaching, And then, Be committed in our lives, To walk in the truth, That we have learned, Thank you for the presence, Of each one here today, Thank you for the foundations, To some degree, That has been laid, For what comes after, In Christ's name we pray, Amen.