Prophecy and Mystery Contrasted - Prophecy13

[0:00] Good morning, and thank you so much for joining with us this morning. We are appreciative of this medium that's made available to us, even though we cannot be where we would prefer to be under what we would call normal circumstances.

[0:13] But nonetheless, we're glad that you are able to join with us, and we can be together virtually anyway. So join with me, if you would, please, in a word of prayer. Accept our thanks, Father, for this new day and for all that it holds.

[0:25] Thank you again for this medium that is made available to us, whereby we can maintain connections one with another. We ask that as the word of God goes forth this morning, it will penetrate hungry hearts that are open and receptive to it.

[0:39] Thank you so much for all that you've made available to us in and through our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. We have undertaken what we are referring to as basic distinctions between prophecy and mystery.

[0:56] And as I mentioned to you some months ago, I considered this material to be so absolutely vital and so important that I am focusing on it for what I suspect would probably be the twilight of my ministry here at Grace, because time does march on and so does the aging process.

[1:17] So in connection with what I most vitally want to leave you, before I leave you, this is it. This is what we are considering now.

[1:28] And I'm doing so because I have not found anything since I came to faith in Christ that has so illumined the scriptures for me and made the Bible so much more understandable than it had been before.

[1:44] And this is why I cannot think of anything more important to share with you than that which we are discussing right now. And in keeping with that, I've also promoted and made available to you this little pamphlet that was put out by Mr. Stamm that contains the very most basic differences between prophecy and mystery.

[2:07] And it is sad to say that in many Christian communities today, if you talk to people who are true believers in the audience and you mentioned the word prophecy and mystery, they would have some idea what prophecy is about, but they would be clueless as to mystery.

[2:22] And unfortunately, that has taken a toll on the effectiveness of the body of Christ in communicating the gospel. So this is why we are placing an emphasis upon it.

[2:34] And we would encourage you to obtain one of these. You probably already have one. And it contains just the very most simple expression, basic difference between prophecy and mystery.

[2:44] And you are to be reminded that we are not attempting to live under both of these. We are responsive to both of them.

[2:55] And the one that has to do with prophecy is given for our information to help us draw an accurate picture. But the one that is referred to as mystery, that's the concept under which we are operating.

[3:10] Unfortunately, it is the one about which most Christians are ignorant. And that is heartbreaking. So here in our little corner of the world, we are doing what we can to try and address that.

[3:24] And for the beginning and dealing in this particular subject with prophecy at the nine o'clock hour, I want to give you some basic things that I have put together.

[3:36] I've written them down because I'm not trusting my memory to remember them. And at the conclusion, we will look at a number of verses of scripture that highlight and point out what I am talking about.

[3:46] So here we go. Prophecy consists of content revealed in advance and anticipated for future fulfillment.

[3:58] Mystery consists of content never before predicted or anticipated prior to its being revealed. It, mystery, is categorized as secret content, held secret until the strategic time for its disclosure.

[4:21] And we will see later that strategic time happened on the Damascus Road at the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Now, if these two distinct programs or dispensations or administrations, if they are not understood separately, as in being rightly divided, then the only recourse is to attempt their blending them together that results in unavoidable confusion.

[4:56] And I am embarrassed to tell you that that is where I spent the first few years of my Christian life back before the earth's crust hardened back in 1956.

[5:08] So for this nine o'clock hour, our focus is on the distinctives of prophecy that are largely found in the Old Testament, the four Gospels, and the first half of the Book of Acts.

[5:25] For the 10-15 hour that will follow this here on this same Sunday, our focus will be on the distinctives of mystery that is found only in the latter half of the Book of Acts and in the letters of the Apostle Paul to the churches.

[5:45] Presently, at our nine o'clock session, we will note the presence of physical miracles being SOP.

[5:59] That means standard operating procedure as regards the area of prophecy. And by SOP, we mean the manifestation of the miraculous was commonplace under prophecy.

[6:15] The manifestation of physical miracles by the hand of God with creation itself by the direct hand of deity. And it would continue on a physical miraculous plane through the direct calling of Abraham and the appearing of God to him in what I have likened as a Christophany, on forward to the call of Moses and God's appearances to him in the burning bush and all that followed in the physical deliverance of the Israelites from the land of Egypt.

[6:53] The period of the judges and the kings in the Old Testament that follows that will be replete with physical miraculous manifestations throughout.

[7:06] The Old Testament prophets that God raised up to give direction and warning to the nation of Israel focused almost entirely upon the physical and material future provisions and blessings for the nation Israel, especially as it regards to the prophecies about the coming Messiah.

[7:29] When the Messiah arrives, he will validate his Messiahship with physical miraculous evidences beyond the ability of any ordinary human to provide.

[7:47] And I would have you look, if you would please open your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 35. Isaiah chapter 35.

[7:58] And what I'm giving you now is just a very bare bones kind of outline. There is so much more, but I'm choosing these because they are among the more obvious and easiest to understand.

[8:11] And while you are turning to Isaiah 35, I'm going to begin reading. And I want to emphasize the fact that Isaiah is inspired of God to record this prophetic portion as well as, for that matter, his whole book.

[8:27] And it all has to do with prophecy, that which is later to be revealed. And it begins by saying, the wilderness and the desert will be glad and the Arabah will rejoice and blossom like a crocus.

[8:40] What's that talking about? It's talking about fruitfulness and blessing and plenty as opposed to scarcity and the desert land. It's talking about a huge improvement that's coming. And this, of course, is all future.

[8:53] Bear in mind now, Isaiah was written about 700 years before Jesus came on the scene. And he goes on and says, It will blossom profusely, rejoicing in a shout of joy, the glory of Lebanon to give to the master.

[9:08] These are all physical things. Let's see the glory of the Lord. And in verse, well, let's just run down to verse five for time's sake. Then, then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

[9:25] Well, that certainly isn't happening today, is it? But keep in mind, it did happen when Jesus was here on earth, didn't he? And he was giving us just a taste of what is to come.

[9:36] And the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. Waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the air. This is all physical stuff. It's all material stuff.

[9:47] That's what it's supposed to be. And that's what the emphasis is on. The scorched land will become a pool. The thirsty land, springs of water and so on and so on. And look at verse nine. No lion will be there nor will any vicious beast go upon it.

[10:01] They will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk there the ransom of the Lord. This is all millennial stuff. This is when the Messiah comes, Israel receives him, which they did not do in his first coming.

[10:13] And he establishes this glorious kingdom which fixes all of the corruption and ruination that has been brought upon the earth by sin. This is millennial stuff.

[10:24] It is the kingdom come to earth. And that is the major burden of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Keep that in mind.

[10:36] The kingdom of heaven come to earth is all encompassing. It includes everything and everybody during this time of restoration when the earth has been restored to what it's supposed to be.

[10:51] And now let us come over, please, while we're in Isaiah, quickly, to chapter 61. Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted.

[11:19] He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.

[11:41] Folks, this is all good news stuff. This is wonderful. This is the way things ought to be. Verse 4 goes on and talks about rebuilding the ancient ruins, raise up the former devastations, repair the ruined cities.

[11:54] This is everything getting fixed. This is millennial. Who's going to do this? Who's going to be in charge of all this restoration and this fixing? Of whom is Isaiah speaking here when it says the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me?

[12:11] Well, Isaiah's not talking about himself. He's talking about a prophetic portion and this is in reference to the Messiah.

[12:23] This is called a messianic portion of scripture because it refers to the Messiah when he comes. This is what he's going to do. He's going to be anointed.

[12:33] He's going to bring good news to the afflicted. He's going to bind up the brokenhearted. He's going to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. He's going to comfort those who mourn. He's going to do all of these wonderful things when the Messiah comes.

[12:45] And when Isaiah said this and wrote it, the Messiah was still 700 years away from coming. So now let's look at when he did come and that is Luke's Gospel chapter 4.

[13:00] Come with me if you would please. Luke's Gospel chapter 4. This is, in my estimation, this is one of the most electrifying portions of scripture in all of the Bible.

[13:17] Jesus has come on the scene. He has already been introduced by Israel as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He has already been introduced as Messiah whose shoes, John the Baptist says, he is not worthy to unloose.

[13:34] And he baptizes Jesus and his introduction of him as the Messiah to Israel. And then, immediately following, our Lord is led into the desert by the Spirit of God and he is going to be confronted in a 40-day period of temptation by none other than the adversary, Satan himself.

[14:00] and he will, of course, be victorious regarding that. And as he emerges from that time of temptation, describing his moral fitness to be who he claimed to be by not submitting to any of the temptations that were thrown at him, he now commences his public ministry and that will begin in Luke chapter 4 and verse 14.

[14:30] Jesus returned to Galilee, that is, from the wilderness temptation. Keep in mind, Galilee is where he is from. Actually, he was born in Bethlehem, which is in Judea.

[14:43] But he is going to be reared in Nazareth in Galilee. And that's his hometown. That's where Joseph and Mary moved to and lived while Jesus was growing up.

[14:56] And we read in verse 14, Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through all the surrounding district.

[15:07] And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.

[15:18] And as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. This was customary. This is part of their traditional worship system.

[15:30] And especially was it accorded to someone who was not usually there on every Sabbath, but would just come in as a visitor. And Jesus was familiar with these people. They were familiar with him.

[15:42] But he had been away from Nazareth for quite some time. Now he returns. And when he does, he is honored with the opportunity to read from the scriptures and we are told that when they bring the scroll to him, it's actually a scroll, not a book.

[15:57] He opened the scroll that was given to him. This was a long scroll, long sheet that rolled up on one end and unrolled on the other. And it's the prophecy of Isaiah.

[16:08] And as Jesus takes the scroll, he unrolls it until he comes to the portion in Isaiah 61, which is where we just read.

[16:26] The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he opened the book and found the place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

[16:45] He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

[17:01] And he closed the book, or he rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Now the way in traditional synagogue settings, the way this is done is the scroll would be handed to the guest who is going to speak for that morning.

[17:20] He stands, and the whole congregation stands, everybody stands, while the portion of scripture is being read from the scroll. And when the portion has been read, is completed, seated, then the one reading it, the speaker for the morning, is seated, and everyone else is seated as well.

[17:43] And we are told, in verse 20, that he gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him.

[18:00] I just would like to have been a fly on the wall. I'll bet you could have heard a pin drop. And he takes his seat, and everyone is looking at him intently, wondering, what's he going to say?

[18:17] And he began to say to them, today, this scripture given by Isaiah 700 years ago, this scripture is today being fulfilled in your hearing.

[18:37] Can you not imagine these people looking at each other and saying, did he say what I just thought he said? And someone is nodding their head, yeah, yeah, that's what he said, this scripture being fulfilled.

[18:53] does this mean that we are subjects of fulfilled prophecy occurring right before our eyes and ears?

[19:06] Is that what this means? Well, dear friends, that is precisely what it means. And all were speaking well of him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips, and they were saying, is this not Joseph's son?

[19:27] Well, they are electrified, and they are also going to be mortified in this same passage because this crowd that is so fascinated and so captivated by what Jesus is saying about this prophecy being fulfilled in their ears this very day, they're going to turn on him and actually seek to take his life.

[19:51] And do you know what is going to be the defining factor that's going to cause them to do that? It is Jesus having the absolute audacity to bring Gentiles into the mix.

[20:11] And for that, that's clearly unforgivable. This is what the text is saying. Look at it if you will please. Beginning in verse 24. Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

[20:25] Jesus, of course, is in his hometown. But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months and when a great famine came over the land.

[20:40] And yet, Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zerpath. In the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

[20:54] Now I ask you the question, so? So, what's wrong with that? Well, what is Zerpath? That is Gentile territory.

[21:05] This woman was not a Jew. She was a Gentile. She wasn't entitled to anything that God had to offer. And Jesus goes on to say in verse 27, And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman, the Syrian.

[21:28] Well, what's wrong with that? Naaman was a Gentile. He was a Syrian. He wasn't a Jew. He wasn't entitled to anything God had to offer.

[21:40] And all in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things. In just a few moments of time, they completely turned against him.

[21:51] And they rose up and cast him out of the city and led him to the brow of the hill in which their city had been built in order to throw him down the cliff. And there's only one reason that he did not succeed. And that is because, well, actually, it's for the same reason that different attempts on his life will be made unsuccessful, for the same reason and he tells it each time for mine hour has not yet come.

[22:18] He's not going to die by being thrown over a cliff by an angry mob. He's not going to die by drowning in the Sea of Galilee. He's going to die on a Roman cross.

[22:31] And when the time comes for that, Jesus will make it quite clear to his apostles when he says, the hour has come. And of course, he was referring to the cross.

[22:44] So, passing through their midst, he went his way. He came down to Capernaum, the city of Galilee, was teaching them on Sabbath days, and they were continually amazed at his teaching, for his message was with authority.

[23:00] And there was a man in the synagogue, possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, Ha! What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth?

[23:12] You come to destroy us. I know who you are, the Holy One of God. Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be quiet and come out of him.

[23:23] When the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he went out of him without doing him any harm. And amazement came upon them all.

[23:34] well, I guess nobody had ever seen anything like this. What is this message? With authority and power, he commands the unclean spirits and they come out of him.

[23:50] And the report about him was getting out into every locality and the surrounding district. And he rose up and left the synagogue, entered Simon's home, this is Peter, who lived in Capernaum.

[24:05] Now, Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. And they made request of him on her behalf, and standing over her, Jesus rebuked the fever, and it left her.

[24:20] And she immediately arose and began to wait on them. And when the sun was setting, listen, the word got around it just traveled like wildfire.

[24:31] People would run into someone and say, have you heard about Jesus of Nazareth? Have you heard about what's going on? What are you talking about? And they filled them in, and the crowd starts building. Everybody begins heading for where Jesus is.

[24:44] And we are told in verse 40, while the sun was setting, all who had any sick with various diseases brought them to him, and laying his hands on every one of them.

[25:01] he was healing them. And the demons also were coming out of many, crying out and saying, you are the son of God and rebuking them. And he would not allow them to speak because they knew him to be the Christ.

[25:15] When they came, he departed, went to a lonely place, multitudes were searching for him. Many came to him and tried to keep him from going away from them. They tried to hold him there, and Jesus said, I've got to move on.

[25:29] I can't stay here. I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose. And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

[25:40] God. Now, I have a question, and it ought to be rather obvious that the answer, when you consider what we've just read, and that is this.

[25:56] What was the most outstanding characteristic or issue for which Jesus of Nazareth was known? What was it that was assigned to him, more than anything else?

[26:16] I know what you're thinking. You can only be thinking one thing. The miracles. The miracles. They were his calling card.

[26:28] For more than anything else, Jesus was known for his miracles. And there wasn't any other single thing that so attracted huge crowds as his miracles, particularly his miracles of healing.

[26:46] Because in every community, there's always a multitude of people in need of healing from something. And these people came, the lame, the halt, the blind, the deaf, the demon possessed, came from miles around, and we are told that Jesus healed them all.

[27:07] No failures. And can you imagine someone coming to Jesus who's blind or maybe been born blind or whatever, and Jesus is going to put his hand. Can you imagine Jesus saying to himself, boy, I sure hope this works.

[27:23] I sure hope this works because if it doesn't, it's going to be terribly embarrassing. Never a thought. Never. This is the one who was in complete charge of everything.

[27:35] There's no question about it working. This was electrifying. nothing. Nobody had ever seen anything like this.

[27:48] Physical miracles. As those performed by God through Moses and the prophets that followed him, like Elijah and Elisha, then profusely provided by Jesus of Nazareth in the four gospels, and by the twelve apostles and Paul in the Acts of the apostles, these miracles did not, please hear me carefully now, none of these miracles, they did not represent the more advanced revelation of God to man, but rather the more basic and elemental.

[28:27] Think about that. Physical miracles by whoever was used to provide them were an expression of power, but in a very simple way, so as not to be missed, seeing is believing.

[28:46] And it was this one thing that more than anything else, that Jesus of Nazareth was more noted for and more sought out for.

[29:00] And what one thing did Jesus use to establish his claims as to who he was and why he came? The answer is the same, his miracles. On one occasion, I remember he was talking to a mixed multitude and there were some scribes and Pharisees involved, and Jesus made the statement, if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come unto you.

[29:30] Wow, what a statement. Now, where we are today, most, including Christians of today, readily consider physical miracles to be the ultimate in revelation from God.

[29:47] God, they are largely regarded as the more advanced revelation from God when in fact, they are the very most basic, elemental, and primary.

[30:02] Now, this is precisely the opposite of the way humanity looks at it. We look at a physical miracle as being top drawer. That's the ultimate. That's the greatest.

[30:13] No, it isn't. And in this case, as in most cases, God sees things in a completely opposite way from the way we see them. Most of us would sign up for the miracles because that's just the way we're made.

[30:33] Physical miracles, especially those provided by Jesus and his apostles, left no room for doubt in the minds of those who experienced them because seeing is believing and so is hearing and feeling.

[30:49] And while most, including Christians today, think of the miraculous as the more advanced method of God's revelation, they are, in fact, the more elemental. On an educational level, physical miracles are the equivalent of kindergarten and grade school.

[31:07] This is totally opposite to human thinking who see physical miracles miracles as the epitome of revelation. They are not. Physical miracles are far more appealing because they are readily attested to and understood through our sensory perception of feeling, seeing, and hearing.

[31:28] And while we're here in the Gospels, I want you to come back, if you would, please, to Matthew chapter 10. Yes, we've got time. Matthew chapter 10.

[31:38] Very familiar passage, and I want to really build this case strongly for the physical miracles in connection with the prophetic portions of scripture as opposed to mystery, which is completely different.

[31:53] Matthew 10 and verses 1 through 8, Jesus called the 12 disciples, gave them authority over unclean spirit. They didn't have the authority, of course, but he did, and he delegated it to them to cast them out, heal, every kind of disease and every kind of sickness, and the 12 are named, and so on.

[32:14] And if you will look then, please, at chapter 11. Let's come over to chapter 11 and verse 20. This is very telling content.

[32:28] We read, then Jesus began to reproach the cities, that is, criticize them, in which most of his miracles were done because they did not repent.

[32:45] Now, wait a minute. Did they see the miracles? Yes. Did they accept them as miraculous? Yes, obviously.

[32:59] Was there anyone who questioned them or denied the miracles? Not to our knowledge. There were those who denied the authority by which he did it, and we will look at that momentarily, but no one denied the legitimacy of the miracles.

[33:17] None of them said, hey, he didn't actually heal that guy. It was just a trick. It was just fakery. It was staged. It was planned. It was all set up. Nobody ever made any accusations like that.

[33:30] No one ever questioned the authenticity of his miracles, whether it was the multiplying of the loaves and fishes or the healing of the lame or whatever. And in chapter 11, beginning with verse 24, I'm sorry, verse 20, they did not repent.

[33:47] Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaipa. The miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, which occurred in you. They, and the thing that is so damning about this is that Tyre and Sidon are what?

[34:03] Gentile territories, once again. And Jesus is saying to you, Chorazin, and you and Bethsaida, who are you people? You're Jews. You're Jews.

[34:14] You have the, you have the authority of the scriptures behind you. You have the revelation of scripture and what the prophets have prophesied. You're Jews. You know about this. Chorazin and Bethsaida, this is your territory.

[34:26] But Tyre and Sidon, Gentiles, dumb Gentiles, they don't know anything about this. And you are those to whom more has been given, which makes you more accountable.

[34:41] And if the miracles that have been done in you had been done in Gentile territory that didn't even have any claim to prophecy, they would have repented.

[34:52] But you haven't. Why not? What's the problem? The problem is the condition of the wayward heart and mind.

[35:03] Nevertheless, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, what's that? That's Peter's hometown. This is as Jewish as you can get.

[35:17] You will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades. the miracles that occurred in Sodom, which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

[35:29] What he is saying here is in delivering a principle unto whom much is given, from him shall much be required. That's the principle. And Jesus is chiding them for saying you have had an over abundance of evidence for which you still refuse to repent.

[35:46] and therefore your judgment is greater than these dumb Gentiles who didn't even have the information. It'll be more tolerable for the land of Solomon, the day of judgment than for you.

[35:59] And while we are nearby, I'd like you to come over to chapter 14 of Matthew and verse 13. Chapter 14 and verse 13.

[36:13] Jesus heard about it. We'll just have to jump in here for time's sake. He withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place by himself. When the multitudes heard of this, they followed him on foot from the cities.

[36:26] And when he came out, he saw a great multitude and felt compassion on them and healed their sick. And when it was evening, the disciples came to him saying the place is desolate.

[36:38] Time has almost already passed. Send the multitudes away. Dismiss the crowd, Jesus, so that they can go into the village and buy food for themselves. And Jesus said, you give them something to you know the story.

[36:50] Ordering the multitude on the grass, he took the five loaves and two fishes and eight and they were, verse 21, about 5,000 men who ate besides women and children.

[37:03] And the miracle of the stilling of the storm, Jesus walking on the water follows. All of these miracles were designed to simply authenticate his claim to be the Messiah of Israel.

[37:16] But they refused to draw the right conclusions. They were enamored, fascinated with the miracles, benefited from the miracles. But did they allow the reality of the miracles to make them draw the right conclusions?

[37:32] No. You know what? Jesus was to them more than anything else. He was a meal ticket. And once when Jesus was on the other side of the sea and they didn't know how he got there and they asked him, when did you get here?

[37:46] How did you get here? And Jesus quite frankly said to them, well, he said, I understand that you're seeking me and you were looking for me.

[37:59] You were looking for me not because you were drawing right conclusions about who I am and what this is all about, but you were looking for me because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

[38:14] You were just looking for a meal ticket. You didn't bother to ask yourselves, what does this mean? Who is this man?

[38:25] And one more passage and we must hasten along. I would like to have a couple minutes for Q&A anyway, if we can. And that's in Luke chapter 11. Luke's gospel chapter 11.

[38:39] I think I made reference to this just a little bit earlier. 1114.

[38:53] Yes, chapter 11 verse 14. And he was casting out a demon and it was dumb. That is, this demon would not allow this man to speak.

[39:04] And it came about that when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. This dumb simply means that it's not a word that indicates his intelligence, it's a word that indicates the man was a mute.

[39:20] He had no voice, he couldn't speak. That's the meaning of dumb here. And when the man spoke, the multitudes marveled. Because they were used to this man being unable to speak.

[39:33] Maybe he'd been that way for years and they all knew that this guy probably was an originator of sign language because they couldn't talk. And now he's speaking and the multitudes marveled.

[39:46] And well, they should have. And some of them said, yeah, yeah, he cast out demons. He's doing with the power of the demons. He is actually in contact with the lord of the demons, Beelzebul.

[40:02] And he has secured cooperation from the lord of the demons. That's how he is able to cast them out. And others to test him were demanding of him a sign from heaven.

[40:16] And he knew their thoughts and said to them, any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and a house divided against itself falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?

[40:29] For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? They will be your judges.

[40:40] And then this statement, verse 20. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

[40:51] And all Jesus is doing is using his miracles to authenticate his claims. But rather than come right out and tell them he is the Messiah sent from God, he is allowing the miracles to speak for themselves and the people to draw their own conclusions.

[41:12] Well, you can see what kind of conclusions they're drawing, can you not? And most of them are wrong. So, this concludes this particular segment and all I'm trying to do is establish the fact that the emphasis and importance that is placed upon physical miracles is actually something that should be placed upon the non-physical which has to do with the spiritual.

[41:47] that is a gradation or an extension or a graduation if you will from the elemental to the what shall I say, the higher level.

[42:01] And it is the higher level where Christians are supposed to be functioning today but too many are still stuck with the miracles. Too many Christians remain in grade school and kindergarten as opposed to advancing on.

[42:20] And we'll see how that advancement works out in the 11-15 session that will follow. 10-15 session that will follow. All right.

[42:30] Can we we've got just a couple of minutes. What time was I aiming for? 945? Well, we're almost there. Is there a question or comment that someone would like to make?

[42:42] We do have a couple minutes. We do not have any questions in the chat room. If you do have a question, please unmute yourself, ask your question, and then re-mute yourself for the answer.

[42:58] Marv, this is Buck Wade. I have a question or something I'd like to get your take on. Among people who claim Christ for salvation, there are those who are of the opinion that salvation is something that can be lost.

[43:16] I would like to know what your thoughts are on how critical that view is to genuine salvation. Does that make sense?

[43:27] Yes, it does. It is a very common position for people to hold. As a matter of fact, I would say that it's probably the majority opinion. It is so because people do not understand the concept of the grace of God.

[43:45] If you get a handle on what the grace of God is, what it does, and how it works, the issue of the security of the believer is answered automatically. But most people do not have that.

[43:56] And they see their salvation as being a works kind of thing. And people say things like this, and I've heard this a number of times over the years. I know we are saved by grace, but you have to be careful how you live because if you do not deserve, if you do not live a life of deserving God's blessing and God's favor, then you're going to lose it.

[44:23] And salvation that is lost, of course, would be a tragic thing. But the scriptures make it very clear, and this is not as clear under the prophecy concept as it is under the mystery.

[44:34] Matter of fact, we'll see that in the 10-15 hour that's coming up, where not only are we safe and secure in Christ, but as far as God is concerned, we are already seated with him in the heavenlies, and the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

[44:54] Salvation is not earned because we deserve it, and it is not maintained because we deserve it. We are saved by grace, and we are kept by grace, and that's the thing that makes it so wonderful.

[45:08] But I can fully understand how people come to this conclusion, and we'll elaborate more on this, and if you're able to join us for the 10-15 session, I think you'll get some more light on that issue.

[45:19] But for now, I've got to bug off because it is 10-45 or 9-45, and I do want to thank you so much for joining us for this nine o'clock hour. Anybody that has questions, don't trust your memory, write them down and either get them to me by email or on the next session, and we'll do our best to answer them.

[45:37] Thank you, Father, for the time we've enjoyed and shared together. We trust that the information will be enlightening to those who focus upon it. We bless you for it. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.