Prophecy and Mystery Contrasted - Prophecy12

[0:00] It's called What a Gathering. And I was thinking of that. Maybe we ought to come up with what a scattering. We are kind of scattered all over everywhere.

[0:12] That's the whole purpose of our utilizing the auditorium so you can really spread out and and behave the dictates of the social distancing thing.

[0:23] And if you are like I am, you will certainly be glad when this thing is over, whenever that will be. I don't know what we'll be doing come Christmas, but let's hope that it's behind us by then.

[0:35] I sent an email thing to a number of you regarding the possible cure for the virus. And I know some of you got it and some of you didn't. I didn't have all the email addresses.

[0:47] Excuse me. But it remains to be seen what's going to come of it. And it certainly sounds like a tremendously significant breakthrough that has been provided, discovered by a physician in the state of Texas.

[1:03] And you'll be hearing more about that, I'm sure, one way or another. So would you bow with me in a word of prayer, please? Father, we are grateful for this morning and for the occasion it brings us together, simply that we may focus upon what you provided for us.

[1:18] And we look to you for the facility of understanding and appreciating it and its implications and demands that it makes upon our lives. And we are grateful that every demand you make upon us is for our own benefit.

[1:31] And it always comes from a gracious, loving Heavenly Father. And we are so thankful for that. This morning, we continue to uphold our nation in prayer. We think of some of our major cities undergoing times of great turbulence and conflict.

[1:47] And we perceive the unrest that is out there. And we recognize that no good can come of that, that we are able to discern.

[1:57] But even through difficulties like this, you are able to orchestrate it in such a way as to provide a necessary wake-up call of whatever is needed.

[2:08] And we look to you for the wisdom that is necessary in addressing these volatile issues. We regret those that have already resulted in a loss of life, bodily injury.

[2:21] We think of our police enforcement and our law enforcement personnel and the risk under which they place themselves. And we pray for their fortitude and their courage and their stamina emotionally and physically.

[2:37] Thank you that they were willing to undertake that daunting task of putting on that badge and uniform. And we simply ask that you will encourage and strengthen them in ways that only you can.

[2:50] Thank you again for the truth that you've provided that is before us. We look to you for all that it contains. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. There are some new handouts today, and I wanted to make mention of this one in particular because even though I distributed it probably, I don't know, maybe three years ago, the subject matter that is at hand now really warrants a redistribution of it.

[3:17] So you will find copies of it in the literature rack out there as you exit the parking lot or toward the parking lot. And it is a three-page article, very, very insightful, very well written, and very definitive.

[3:31] And I would encourage you to make sure that you get a copy if you don't have one at home already. You can't miss it because it has a picture on the front of a man with a very harried look and his hair standing out and all, and he acts like he's just been absolutely terrified, scared to death under great stress, and it's called dispensationalism.

[3:52] Ah! That kind of thing. So through the years, we've had occasions to meet with other pastors, sometimes in the hospital and waiting rooms and sometimes at a luncheon for pastors and things like that and over the years.

[4:10] And I well recall on different occasions, actually, another pastor from one of the major denominational churches, oh, you're from Grace Bible Churches?

[4:25] Yeah, that's right. You're that dispensational church, aren't you? Well, yeah, I guess so. So, by the way, aren't you dispensational?

[4:38] Well, no, no, no, we're not dispensational. I say, you still sacrifice animals? Oh, well, no, no, of course not. We don't do that.

[4:49] No, no, well, we understand that that's not for us, but we're not dispensational. And I have yet to meet anyone, and I can say this with all sincerity, I have yet to meet anyone who is not a dispensationalist who ever gave me a correct definition of what is dispensationalism.

[5:13] It is incredible how much misinformation there is out there. And the author of this article is Dr. Charles F. Baker, and he is with the Lord now.

[5:25] And he obviously recognized that as well, because I'm sure it's something that all dispensational pastors deal with across the country. And that is the word itself tends to be a little off-putting.

[5:42] Dispensationalism. Wow. What is that? And I want to share with you just one paragraph of this article and encourage you to get the whole thing and read it, because it's very insightful.

[5:55] Listen to this. Some people reject dispensationalism because its very name denominates it as an ism.

[6:08] And that sends up a red flag in the minds of some people. Can there be anything good about an ism? You know? Years ago, Pastor O'Hare wrote a pamphlet entitled, Isms and Schisms.

[6:22] He was dealing with unscriptural offshoots of the Christian church, such as Russellism, also known as Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventism, Swedenborgianism, Mormonism, and the like.

[6:42] However, all isms are not necessarily bad. There are good isms. No doubt Presbyterians have no objection to Presbyterianism.

[6:57] Neither do Methodists object to Methodism. Fundamentalist glory and fundamentalism. Premillennialists do not hesitate to be identified with premillennialism.

[7:09] And although patriotism is almost a dirty word with part of our modern society, most Americans still stand up for their country.

[7:21] Almost every individual in the world is identified with some kind of ism. Think of communism, socialism, Americanism, Mohammedanism, Shintoism, Taoism, anarchism, pragmatism, positism, atheism, agnosticism, individualism, collectivism, republicanism, skepticism, Catholicism.

[7:46] If everyone subscribes to one or more isms, why should anyone object to dispensationalism simply because it is an ism?

[7:59] Well, that is a very good question. And the common misunderstanding out there that I have received from almost everyone when I've asked them, tell me, what is your definition of dispensationalism?

[8:21] Well, my understanding is that dispensationalists just take part of the Bible. Oh, I see.

[8:34] Well, what do you think dispensationalists do with the part that they don't take? Well, I don't know. I guess they just ignore it. And dear friends, let me tell you, that is the common view out there regarding dispensationalism and regarding Grace Bible Church.

[8:55] I know because I've lived with this misunderstanding for 50 years here as your pastor, and it is incredible, the misunderstanding and the kind of rumors that float around, and, oh, you're that church that doesn't baptize and you don't have the Lord's table or serve the Lord's table.

[9:14] Where did you get it? Well, everybody knows that. Isn't that right? Well, we don't have a baptistry. That's true. But we do very firmly believe in baptism. You do? Oh, absolutely.

[9:25] We believe that is the baptism that regenerates, that saves the individual.

[9:42] It is a spirit baptism. It is a spirit baptism, and it is conducted internally. It is the equivalent of being born again. That's what makes us a new creature in Christ.

[9:54] So we very definitely believe in baptism. We just don't see the necessity for water baptism. And, frankly, we are convinced that water baptism, as practiced in the Bible, goes under the same category as circumcision.

[10:13] It's Jewish. Really? Yes. It's Jewish. Very Jewish. But didn't the apostle Paul, who was the apostle to the Gentiles, didn't he baptize?

[10:27] And was he? Yes, he did. Well, we'll get into that eventually because that deals with the transition. So these are the kind of questions that come up, and I am appalled at the ignorance that is out there among Christians regarding the subject of dispensationalism.

[10:45] And one of the correctives that I've tried to offer, and I don't know if it's going to be successful or not, but I don't know. But anyway, I have suggested, as I've told you before, an alternate term that is more easily understood.

[11:00] And that is, instead of referring to it as dispensationalism, I prefer to call it a progression of revelation or progressive revelation in the Bible or a changing of administrations, because everybody seemingly can understand that.

[11:20] They know that when a new administration is implanted, there are going to be changes made, because the things that were characteristic of the previous administration may no longer be enforced, and they are superseded by new laws, new rules, new regulations imposed by the new administration.

[11:44] And what we are saying is, that is precisely what we have in the Bible. The Bible is not a static book for a given people at a given place where the whole thing is just dumped on them, and that's it.

[12:02] But the Bible is a book that was gradually created as God inspired over 40 different individuals to contribute to the Bible over a period of 1,500 years.

[12:18] All that time, the Bible was growing, expanding, developing, maturing, if you will, and more and more new information, call them updates, if you will, I think everybody understands that term, more and more new updates were being added.

[12:36] And in fact, we have an update that has been added, and it's part of the completed canon of Scripture, and it is so current, it hasn't even happened yet.

[12:49] And that's the prophetic portions, and in particular, the book of the Revelation. So the Bible is so up to date, it's looking into the future, and part of it hasn't even transpired yet.

[13:00] So that is yet to come. So just to try and clarify what we are talking about when we look at the subject of dispensationalism, and I've directed you to this little, just a little toupee, two-sided article called Prophecy and Mystery, the Basic Distinctions Between Prophecy and Mystery, and these really hold the key of what we're talking about, and they are the simplest and the briefest, the briefest, most succinct expression you will find of what we are talking about.

[13:34] So we're just going to go through this list here and see the comparisons, and for the 9 o'clock hour, we'll be making the comparisons regarding how it affects prophecy, and for the 10-15, the counterpart will be Mystery, and I want you to be able to get both pictures.

[13:52] And this is why, by the way, when we put these CDs together and they are available just a few moments after the late service ends, the CD that you get, if you stop to pick up one there by the office, will be a CD case that holds two CDs.

[14:16] One will be this 9 o'clock hour, the other will be the 10-15. So when you listen to both of them, you will get a much fuller picture than if you just listened to one.

[14:27] So what we are striving for is a balance and an expression that you can easily pick up on and understand. So notice, if you will, on prophecy, I don't know if you have this sheet before you or not, but they are available on the table in different places throughout.

[14:44] You might have one in your Bible. But under prophecy, the main thing that needs to be considered there is that it is kingdom-oriented.

[14:54] It is really all about the kingdom. And so far as prophecy is concerned, that is the watchword. Kingdom, kingdom, kingdom, kingdom.

[15:05] That's the big item. Matter of fact, it is safe to say that it is the kingdom concept that is the whole nine yards of everything, including the church.

[15:23] In other words, the church ultimately, eventually, will be in that kingdom, and that kingdom will be the overarching area or realm of everything.

[15:39] And for the best expression of that, we need to check out a couple of verses. So let's go for the first one, if we may, to 1 Chronicles chapter 29. How is this word kingdom used?

[15:51] And you'll find it's used hundreds of times in the Bible. And the very word kingdom, which of course has in it king, presupposes a personality.

[16:03] A kingdom is a thing. A kingdom is a sphere, an area. A kingdom is geographic. And a king is a person, an individual.

[16:15] So when you have a kingdom, the one who is the authority in the kingdom is generally thought of as the king.

[16:26] And the kingdom is his realm. We've got several kingdoms all throughout the world. There's the kingdom, if you will, of the British Empire.

[16:39] And the king, or rather the queen, is the authority. It's just a, she's nothing but a female king. That's what she is. And she is the authority over the kingdom and the realm of Great Britain.

[16:53] So here in 1 Chronicles 29, we've got the first usage that we want to consider of the subject of the kingdom. Verse 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.

[17:13] Indeed, everything that is in the heavens and the earth, thine is the dominion. What translation do you have?

[17:24] And what does it say? Kingdom. All right. You're just using probably either a New King James or the standard King James version. And there it translates it kingdom.

[17:35] And that's the way it is. In the New American Standard, they've used the word dominion. But it is related to the idea of kingdom. And the word dominion, of course, is related to the term dominate, which means the authority.

[17:50] You are the dominator. Thine is the dominion or thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou dost exalt thyself as head over all. This we would label as the universal kingdom.

[18:04] kingdom. This is the kingdom of God that has always existed and always will exist. This is all-encompassing everything.

[18:17] All of creation. And God is the king or the head of it. And then Psalm 145 and verse 13.

[18:27] Let's go there, please. Psalm 145 and verse 13. And here the psalmist describing this to God says, thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endures throughout all generations.

[18:58] That's this universal kingdom thing that we're talking about. It has no limitations. And it has no time barriers because it is all encompassing for all of eternity and God is the head of it.

[19:12] This is referred to as the universal kingdom. kingdom. It's only mentioned a few times in scripture in regard to this definition and this is two what I've given you here is two of them.

[19:27] Now let's look at another and it's in the New Testament and it is in Colossians chapter one and this too is referred to as a kingdom.

[19:38] Colossians chapter one and verse 13 says speaking of speaking of God for he God delivered us and he's talking to this audience at Colossae there and he is including the Colossian believers and himself as well and he says for God delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son.

[20:30] This is the only time in the Bible that this expression is used in connection with what we call a spiritual kingdom and this is so easy to confuse just because the same word kingdom is used each time and where people go astray and I must confess in my early Christian life where I went astray was in thinking that when the word kingdom is used wherever it's used it always means the same thing but when you take that approach you've got real problems because immediately kind of contradiction surface because kingdom the word kingdom will not hold up to mean the same thing in all instances everywhere it is used so you've got to make distinctions and is not that what right division is all about you've got to separate things that need to be separated in order to be understood and if you don't separate them and just throw them all together and say whatever it means here that's what it means everywhere oh boy are you ever in for a rough ride in fact the ride will be so rough that a lot of people just lay the bible aside and say it's too deep for me it's too big for me it's too much for me

[21:55] I can't make head or tails out of this and they just lay it aside and forget it they may revere it and they may believe it but they just figure that it's out of my league I just can't get into this stuff and more than not it has to do with their being able to make distinctions here we are told that we are members of a spiritual kingdom now if somebody if somebody in Christendom wants to talk about building up the kingdom and they're thinking in terms of this I don't have any quarrel with that because that's the equivalent of evangelism and when you preach the gospel and invite people to faith in Jesus Christ and they put their faith in Christ they are immediately transferred by God from the kingdom of darkness the sphere of darkness into the sphere or kingdom of Jesus

[22:56] Christ that's a spiritual kingdom by that we mean it isn't physical your body hasn't gone anywhere you stay put but your status has changed dramatically whereas you were a member of this kingdom of darkness of evil perhaps without even realizing it or understanding it but when you put your faith in Christ it is just as if God reached down and picked you up and lifted you up out of that kingdom and brought you over here and put you down in this kingdom that's also called sanctification that means set apart he set you apart from the world and put you here in this new sphere and this new sphere is the spiritual kingdom of Christ now why do we call it a spiritual kingdom because it isn't a physical kingdom because it is made up of the immaterial portion of believers all over the world now that's a difficult concept for us to grasp because we can't imagine what that would be like we don't even know what a human spirit looks like because a human spirit is not physical doesn't look like anything it's immaterial but it's real it's real and each and every person who comes to faith in

[24:24] Christ is placed into the spiritual kingdom of Christ and all of the Bible where it is used that way so we need to make a distinction we need to separate this kingdom from the other kingdoms he's not talking about we were brought into the kingdom the eternal kingdom well we've always been in that everybody is in that the good the bad the ugly the indifferent whatever everybody is in the eternal kingdom because that's all there is and there isn't any place else for you to be other than to be in that that just means that you are alive and you are in that sphere of the kingdom but this kingdom separates believers from unbelievers and it is radically different this is the only time it's used and the other places that I gave you the only place where that eternal kind of kingdom is used but the phrase and the word kingdom that is used in the

[25:32] Bible more than any other and it is used hundreds and hundreds of times it is referred to as the kingdom of heaven and sometimes it's called the kingdom of God the terms are used interchangeably Matthew almost always uses kingdom of heaven you go into Luke's gospel I believe it's Luke it's either Luke or Mark and there they usually refer to it as the kingdom of God now what's the difference there is no difference and if you check your parallel translations that list the gospels side by side and chapter by chapter you will see that it is referring to that the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are identical here's where the confusion comes in it's the usage of the word heaven because nine times out of ten when you hear the word heaven you think of the dwelling place of

[26:38] God and where saints go to be with the Lord when they die well he died and went to heaven that's the dwelling place of God that heaven is the place that Jesus ascended to in Acts chapter one when the disciples stood there and watched him elevate right out of their sight up up up into heaven and and when the term kingdom of heaven is used people automatically associate that with the place where God dwells God's home in heaven it's the home of departed saints in heaven and sometimes the Bible uses the word that way but in almost every instance when the term kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God is used it never refers to where God dwells and it never refers geographically to any place spaciously it is in reference to planet earth and if it would help you to understand what this is talking about and what

[27:49] Paul or what Peter is I'm sorry what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 6 when he gives them the model prayer and he prays thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and the kingdom that he's talking about in almost so well almost every instance that we'll see in the gospels the kingdom of heaven that he's talking about is the sphere is the rule and the reign of heaven that is experienced in heaven that is under the authority of God in heaven that kingdom in heaven coming to the earth and residing here on planet earth so it is heaven kingdom come to earth where it will be administered on earth just as it was in heaven and all

[28:52] I'm suggesting is in heaven God's sphere where he is things go the way he wants things go according to his plan and when that authority and that kingdom in heaven is brought to earth transplanted and put here on earth then God's will will be done on earth just as it was in heaven so please try to get a mental fix on that phrase the kingdom of heaven it's not talking about heaven in the spheres at all it's talking about earth planet earth heaven on earth otherwise called the millennium and the word millennium comes from the Latin word millennia which literally means a thousand and in this case it's a thousand years so the kingdom of heaven come to earth and the millennium and the earthly rule and reign of

[29:58] Christ for a thousand years are all one and the same thing it is when utopia will be realized on earth it is when things are supposed to be things will be as they are supposed to be on earth because Jesus Christ himself will be ruling and reigning on the planet and the twelve apostles a la Matthew 19 where Jesus said you to these twelve apostles he said you who have followed me for these last three years you disciples you apostles who have followed me you also shall sit upon twelve thrones of Israel when the son of man comes into his kingdom they are going to be resurrected and they are going to rule and reign of Christ and under David the king who's also going to be resurrected as the vice regent and that's what's going to be the government for the thousand year reign of Christ and peace is going to cover the earth righteousness will cover the earth things will be as they ought to be Jesus Christ will be ruling with a rod of iron that means his authority will be uncontested and righteousness will prevail there will be in that thousand year reign of Christ redeemed believers who already receive glorified bodies who will come back to the earth and and he will come back with the Lord and he will come back with the Lord and we will arrive here and we will arrive here when he does in Revelation chapter 19 we will be witnesses to the second coming we will be participants in it we will not be combatants in it it will not be a conflict it will be pretty much an over and done thing when the sharp sword which is the word of God proceeds out of his mouth and deals with the antichrist he will be the first casualty of it so that's Revelation 19 that's Revelation 19 all of this has to do with the kingdom and the thing that makes us so critical and the thing that makes it so what shall I say so well let's just call it what it is in the minds of a lot of people worldwide who through their gross ignorance and I don't know what else to call it who through their gross ignorance are anti-semitic personally I am satisfied that about 90% of the anti-semitism that exists that goes all the way back to Pharaoh king of Egypt 95% of the anti-semitism that exists that goes all the way back to Pharaoh king of Egypt 95% of the anti-semitism that exists is satanically confused and inspired there is so much bad information wrong information fake news out there that has permeated the world regarding the Jewish people for thousands of years and they have paid a horrendous price we are not in a position to take you through there now but we will be doing some of this in the 90% and this in the 90% monthly class that meets satanic involvement on behalf of the satanic involvement on behalf of and against the Jew and this anti-semitism thing listen it's got a real supernatural element to it.

[33:40] It is the adversary who is principally behind this and motivating this and inspiring it. And he does so out of sight, but his fingerprints is on virtually everything.

[33:52] So this kingdom, the reason that I'm tying this together with the Jew is because the kingdom is ultimately going to be realized through the instrumentality of the king.

[34:12] And the big issue that has confronted Christendom for the last, well, probably for, well, actually almost for 2,000 years now, is not only the nature, but it is the time of this kingdom that we're talking about and when it is going to be instituted.

[34:39] And there are different positions that are taken, and I'm just going to very quickly run through them because they are very, very important. And the first is referred to as post-millennialism.

[34:56] Post-millennialism. And the word post simply means after. And it is a suggestion or the conviction that Christ comes to earth.

[35:08] The second coming will occur after the church has succeeded in evangelizing the world and bringing the whole world to Christ, which in essence would make the world a fit place for Christ to return to.

[35:25] And once the church has done its job and converted the world, Christ will return. That's called post-millennialism. Christ comes after the millennium.

[35:37] Who then is responsible for creating the millennium? We are. That's the church's objective. And this was the principal view until, actually pretty much until World War I broke out.

[35:56] And then people started losing confidence and began thinking, maybe the church isn't being too successful in converting the world because World War I kind of put the kibosh on that.

[36:10] That's not exactly what you would call progress. And then the conflict that ensued in the 30s and the 40s and World War II, it just kind of effectively blew the post-millennial crowd right out of the water.

[36:23] And I don't think you can hardly find one anywhere anymore because they're very, very rare. But you know what this does? And you know what their big emphasis was? Their big emphasis was, and should have been, rightly so, on missions.

[36:38] Missions. The mission endeavor. Why say you not a word about bringing back the king? Who's supposed to bring back the king? You are.

[36:49] Go to the mission field. Win the lost. Give money. Support missions, etc. And that will convert the world, and then Christ will return. And some of the hymnals reflect this in the messages of some of the hymns.

[37:02] We have a story to tell to the nations, and that's a post-millennial hymn, but they're pretty much, you know, not too much attention paid to them anymore.

[37:12] So what is all this millennial? This is saying the kingdom will come when and after the church has done its job of evangelizing.

[37:26] But as I've said, that's pretty much been given up. And then there is the amillennial position, and when you put the alpha prefix, the letter A, in front of millennial, the alpha prefix, the letter A, negates whatever comes after the A.

[37:45] So it literally means no, N-O, no millennium. That is, no physical, literal, earthly millennium.

[37:59] All millennialists believe there will be a millennium. There will be a thousand reign of Christ. And you want to know that because you are living in it right now.

[38:15] You are experiencing it. You are a subject of the millennial reign of Christ. Christ is ruling and reigning this earth right now.

[38:29] And some say he's ruling and reigning from heaven, and he's ruling and reigning in the hearts and minds of people. After all, there is a verse of scripture in Matthew...

[38:42] I'm sorry. I can't remember. But anyway, Jesus was talking to the scribes and Pharisees, and he made the statement.

[38:53] And this is a terribly unfortunate translation because in the King James, it is translated, the kingdom of heaven is within you.

[39:05] And this enabled these dear friends. And by the way, these are Christian people. They're not unbelievers. They're Christian people who are the amillennialists.

[39:16] And they believe that Christ rules and reigns in the hearts and minds of people. And the millennium is taking place in your mind and heart right now, in your behavior, in your giving, in your this, in your that, and all the rest of it.

[39:33] And they use that as a proof text where Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is within you. But you can do a lot with prepositions in the Greek, and some translations have rendered this, which I think is far better.

[39:49] He said, the kingdom of heaven is among you. Well, what did that mean? The kingdom of heaven was among them.

[39:59] The kingdom of heaven was among them. And the person, in the person of Jesus Christ, walking among them. There, Jesus was a personification of the kingdom of heaven.

[40:15] And why do I say that? Because everywhere he went, he created kingdom conditions.

[40:29] What's characteristic of the kingdom? Well, for one thing, Scripture tells us, Isaiah says, that the lame man, the lame man will leap like a heart.

[40:44] You know what a heart is? It's H-A-R-T. A heart is a male deer, a stag. The lame man will leap like a deer.

[40:56] What's that saying? Saying there aren't going to be any lame men in the millennium. And there isn't going to be the corruption and the death that we deal with now.

[41:10] In fact, what's going to happen is that one will die at the age of 100. And obviously, there's going to be death in that. And one will die at the age of 100 and will be thought to be a young person.

[41:25] This, to me, is reminiscent of a return to the longevity of life before the flood when people live to such great lengths.

[41:35] And I think that's going to be returning during the kingdom too. And in this kingdom, there are going to be believers with glorified bodies. And there are going to be unbelievers with bodies just like the ones we've got.

[41:49] And they are the ones who are going to be responsible for the necessity of the ruling with a rod of iron because they're going to have the same kind of natures that we have right now. It's going to be that mix in there.

[42:01] And this kingdom, wherever Christ went, he brought those conditions with him. There apparently aren't going to be any blind people in the kingdom. So wherever Jesus went, he gave sight to the blind.

[42:15] He caused the lame to walk, caused the deaf to hear. And all he was doing was authenticating his claim to be the king.

[42:26] And he was presented to Israel as such. And Israel's response was, no, no, we will not have this man to reign over us.

[42:38] And when Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is within you, and our amillennial friends interpret it that way, the better text says, the kingdom of heaven is among you.

[42:52] And you've got to understand the crowd, the context, the context determines the meaning. And Jesus was talking to the scribes and Pharisees.

[43:03] They were arguing with him. These are the same people that he called hypocrites and sons of snakes.

[43:15] These are the same people, the same crowd that opposed him. Do you think for a moment that Jesus was saying the kingdom of heaven is within you? Not hardly. He was saying the kingdom of heaven is among you.

[43:30] And here it is. And he said, if I, if I by the power of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of heaven has come upon you in his person.

[43:54] What a claim. Because this goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 where everything came crashing down. And the kingdom is designed to take everything that had come crashing down, which is a sinful, sick, fallen, corrupt world, and re-energize it and refurbish it and renew it and remake it.

[44:20] And it will be what it ought to be. That will be the kingdom of heaven come to earth. And the principle way that God has deigned to bring that about is through the strategic instrumentality of the smallest, least likely people on the face of the whole globe.

[44:47] The Jew. Israel. Israel. This goes back to Abraham. God chose Abraham and said, making a covenant with him and through him, Abraham, and his seed, that is his offspring, all nations of the earth would be blessed.

[45:08] And from that time on, not only did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob wonder who and when that was going to be, but so did Satan.

[45:26] Because his objective is to thwart the plan and program of God any way he can. And this is one of the big reasons why he was so anti-Israel.

[45:38] Satan is so anti-Israel and anti-Christ. And you think, well, we won't go into it now because we haven't, we haven't time. But all of the opposition that came through the centuries, through the centuries upon the Jewish people has got satanic fingerprints all over it.

[45:56] But he's very careful and he keeps himself incommunicado so he's not obviously known. But he's there. And if you want to see a sterling example of it, just read the first couple chapters of the book of Job.

[46:07] And that'll give you an idea about his vaccinations and how he's working. So, from the time that this promise was given, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.

[46:20] The serpent will strike the seed of the woman on the heel, but the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent.

[46:31] And that, of course, is a picture of Christ crushing Satan and it will be a mortal blow that will end his life permanently.

[46:43] And the Jew understood this and they looked and longed for the Messiah, the Messiah, the Messiah. The Jews who were loyal and took God seriously ate, slept, drank, dreamt of the Messiah, the Messiah, the Messiah, when the Messiah comes, when the Messiah comes.

[47:08] And it was 4,000 years later that there was born a baby in Bethlehem and he is God's Messiah.

[47:25] The word Messiah Messiah means the anointed one. To be anointed means to be singled out, means to be chosen, it means to be elected or selected.

[47:40] Jesus was God's anointed one to come to earth and do what needed to be done. And that involves the kingdom.

[47:52] So when Jesus came, the question is, is he or is he not the one promised by Moses and the prophets? If he is, then all of Israel needed to do obeisance to him.

[48:10] And much of Israel did, but they were the common people, the ordinary people. The ruling class, the intelligentsia, had already rejected John the Baptist who introduced Jesus and then they rejected Jesus as well.

[48:27] So the kingdom of heaven that came and was going to be available in the person of the Messiah, Israel's response was, thanks, but no thanks.

[48:38] And they turned thumbs down on the Messiah and they crucified him and God raised him from the dead and the typical response is on the part of Christendom, the typical response is because Israel rejected Jesus and had him crucified, that's it for Israel.

[49:05] They're finished. They're done. They're over. God takes his hands off of Israel. They are no longer the chosen people and God has chosen someone to replace Israel and that's called the Christian Church and it's also called replacement theology, which is, and you need to understand this, which is the majority viewpoint in Christendom today.

[49:31] It is held worldwide by Roman Catholics and by Protestants. This is the majority viewpoint. the church has become the new Israel.

[49:43] Our contention as dispensationalists is that the church is not a replacement for Israel.

[49:54] The church is something altogether different from Israel. It is a whole new entity and it is made up of Jews and Gentiles and it is not the kingdom.

[50:07] It is the mystery. The kingdom is still in abeyance. The kingdom has never come and it will not until Christ returns.

[50:20] Our position as premillennialists, which we'll talk about a little bit later, our position is there will not be the establishment of the kingdom until the king comes to do it because he's the only one who has the power, the authority, and the wisdom to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth and that is exactly what he's going to do when he comes again.

[50:45] And I don't feel so guilty about not having time for Q&A because we're so scattered out we would run the legs off of somebody with a microphone but anyhow, thank you for your kind attention.

[50:57] Enjoy your coffee break and we'll pick up with the mystery aspect of this as opposed to the kingdom aspect for the 1015 service. The Lord bless you. Enjoy your coffee break.

[51:08] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.