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[0:00] But for the insert, I want you to consider right now, well, let's look at this for just a moment, this little thing that says the prophecy and the mystery. And I want you to note that on the left side under prophecy, the emphasis is on that which is recorded in the law.

[0:19] And we're talking about the distinction now between law and grace. On the right-hand side with the mystery, the emphasis is on grace. And we know that the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

[0:35] And for a lot of people, those are just words. It just doesn't mean anything. It's just religious terminology. But the meaning that is packed into that phrase is just absolutely incredible.

[0:47] So one of the first things we want to do, and like I said, I hadn't really planned on doing this, but when I saw what it was with July 10, Marie and I were having our devotions this morning from the two minutes with the Bible by Mr. Stamm.

[1:04] And here is the purpose of the law in July 10. And we'd had this just a couple of days ago. And I want you to look at that insert, if you will, the purpose of the law, July 10.

[1:15] Because herein is, I think, one of the greatest misunderstandings in all of Christendom. It is remarkable how many people are bound up and tied by the law from which Christ came to set them free.

[1:34] And they don't understand that. So let us look at this, if we may. I'm just going to read it. Follow along, if you will, in this insert. The purpose of the law. Therefore, Romans 3.20, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

[1:53] Think of that. What deeds? Any deeds? All deeds? I've told people sometimes in discussing this issue when they want to know about keeping the Ten Commandments and you try to explain to them that, yes, you can go to heaven if you keep the law.

[2:15] But you must understand, you have to keep the law consistently and you have to keep it perfectly. And as long as you keep the law like Jesus Christ did, who was able to say he did not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it, as long as you keep the law like Jesus Christ did, you've got nothing to worry about.

[2:37] You've got it made. But if you didn't, you're sunk. There is no hope for you. In this little article here, this is actually a devotional, the purpose of the law is spelled out.

[2:50] Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Well, how are we justified then? We're justified by faith. We're justified solely on the basis of believing.

[3:02] And for people who say, well, that's too easy. I agree. It is too easy because Jesus already did the hard part. It is easy and that's why it's called the good news.

[3:16] Is there any good news in being under a question mark where you don't know where you stand? And how many people look at this issue of keeping the law and being good enough and they are thinking in terms of quantity?

[3:39] Have I been good enough? Have I prayed enough? Have I given enough? Have I done this enough? Have I witnessed enough? Have I done this enough?

[3:50] It's all quantity. And as long as it's quantity, you never know whether you've done enough. You might come up one item short and then you're sunk.

[4:03] But it isn't based on quantity. It's based on quality. The issue is not how much righteousness do you have.

[4:16] The issue isn't how good are you. The issue isn't how bad can I be and still make it. That's all quantity stuff.

[4:28] But that which justifies is quality. What you must have is a righteousness that is absolutely perfect.

[4:45] Well, where are you going to get that? Just from one source. The only one who has it to give. And in Christ, if you are in Christ, guess what?

[5:02] You have his righteousness imputed to your account just on the basis of believing him and accepting his finished work on the cross on your behalf.

[5:15] Well, let's go on and read this. Mr. Stam says, It is strange that so many sincere people can so misunderstand God's written word as to suppose that he gave the law to help us to be good or as a rule of life.

[5:35] And right there I could stop because some people are thinking, Well, didn't he? No! No, he didn't. Let's read on. The law was not given to help us be good, but rather to show us that we are sinners and need a savior.

[5:54] Romans 3.22.23 says, There is no difference. And what he's talking about, there is no difference. In the context, what he's talking about is the distinction between the Jew, who is very much into the law, the law of Moses and law keeping and everything, and the Gentile, who only has the law of God written on their hearts and doesn't have the Ten Commandments and so on.

[6:16] When he says there is no difference, he's saying there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. Then the question becomes, who else is there? There isn't anybody else. Because everyone in the world, without exception, who is not a Jew, is a Gentile.

[6:35] So there is no difference between Jew or Gentile. When he says there is no difference, all have sinned, Jew and Gentile, and come short of the glory of God.

[6:47] In other words, they do not measure up to the standards that God has. How foolish, then, to look to the law for help. Though the law provides for just trial, it does not help the criminal.

[7:02] It condemns him. Thus, the Bible teaches that the law was given, Romans 3.19, so that every mouth may be stopped.

[7:16] And all the world, where are the exceptions? There aren't any. All the world, every living single human being, all the world may be brought in guilty before God.

[7:34] That is not a good place to be. But that's the assignment of the world. For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

[7:45] And Romans 5.20 says, The law entered that the offense might abound. And Romans 7.13, and by the way, Romans is just the greatest commentary in the world on this subject.

[8:00] That sin, by the commandment, might become exceeding sinful. Romans 7.13. And Galatians 3.19 says, The law was added because of transgressions.

[8:16] Galatians 3.19. And this leads us to Paul's great conclusion. And boy, this is a thunderbolt. This is incredible.

[8:27] Therefore, because of everything he said up to this point, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

[8:43] That's a blanket condemnation. No flesh is another word for saying no human being. This is exactly what it's talking about. There shall no human being be justified or declared righteous in his sight.

[8:55] And here is an important distinction to make with this word, declared righteous. Because we know, we all know, that we are flawed human beings.

[9:08] We all have things we'd like to do over. And if we could, we'd do them differently. We have made decisions in the past that we have come to regret. What do you call that?

[9:20] You call that being human. We all belong to that club. Every one of us is in that mood. And every one of us is here with what Paul is saying, unjustified.

[9:35] And the need is for justification. And when we are justified by faith or declared righteous, it doesn't mean you are in your practice.

[9:47] It means you are in your position. What's the difference? Night and day. Night and day.

[9:58] In your position. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, he says, God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.

[10:10] Not assigning their transgressions to them. And Christ has been made to be sin for us. Listen, 2 Corinthians 5.

[10:23] So that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[10:34] Now, you all know that's not your practice. We fall far short of the righteousness of God sometimes just by breathing.

[10:45] We just don't measure up to God's standards. What Paul is talking about here is our official position before God.

[10:56] And let me put it as clear as I know how. If your official position before God is not one of absolute perfection, you're sunk.

[11:12] You are doomed. You do not have a prayer. Because the righteousness of God is that which is true to his character and his nature.

[11:24] And he cannot and will not accept anything that is not in compliance with that. And the only one who was ever in compliance was his son.

[11:36] Of whom he could say, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And if you are in Christ, and the way you get to be in Christ, is by acknowledging your sin, your weakness, your failures, and placing your confidence in Jesus Christ, who died for your weaknesses, your sins, and your failures.

[12:01] And when you do that, God wipes the slate clean to your account. And he places there in that blank space, the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

[12:14] That's your ticket. That's your only ticket. Someone has said that God loves his son so much that he's going to populate heaven with people who are like him.

[12:26] And that's what we're going to be. When that time comes and we have that glorified body, we will be conformed to the image of Christ, and we will have a practice then that matches our position. And right now, what we have is an official position that is complete.

[12:40] It's final. It can't be added to. It can't be taken from because it rests on the work of Christ, not on us. But we have a practice wherein day by day, we are supposed to be growing, maturing, developing, so that through godly, enlightened living, we bring our practice closer into alignment with our position.

[13:11] But don't worry. You won't overshoot the goal. Trust me. You'll still end up in your practice not measuring up because we're flawed human beings, every one of us.

[13:23] I remember saying that one time and someone came up to me and said, you were talking about flawed human beings. Everybody's flawed. Everybody's. Does that include preachers? And I said, especially preachers.

[13:37] Really? It includes everybody. So what we have is a practice and a position. And Paul is talking about our practice before the law leaves us undone.

[13:49] By the law, deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. This makes sense for doing a few good things cannot right the wrongs we have done. Good is what we should do.

[14:01] Hence, we should not expect to be rewarded for it. But thank God, Christ died for our sins. And by him, all who believe are justified.

[14:15] Therefore, we conclude. Here's the final argument. This is the way it sums up. We conclude that a man is justified, that is declared righteous, on the basis of faith, which simply means believing, just believing.

[14:30] That's what the word faith means. Pistis, pistou from the Greek. Just on the basis of believing, a man is declared righteous, justified, comes into a right position with God on the basis of believing, without, without, the deeds of the law.

[14:51] You would be amazed how many Christians, Christians, have a real problem believing that. And the reason they give is, boy, I don't know, that's just, that's just, and again, it comes back to this, that's too easy.

[15:07] Yes, it is easy. This is why it's called good news. This is why, this is why, this good news is such a hard sell, in so many places, because it doesn't leave man with something to do.

[15:25] Because it's already done. And it's provided for you on the basis of grace, and it is yours just to accept and receive.

[15:35] That is amazing. And that's why John Newton wrote that hymn. Amazing grace. Indeed it is. So, look at your little sheet if you've got one, and I suggest that you keep these in your Bible.

[15:47] We'll be looking at them from time to time. And I just want to point out a few things regarding prophecy and mystery, and the distinction that's made between them, the green side with the blue side.

[15:58] And when it talks about prophecy and mystery, let me ask you this question. Of these two, prophecy and mystery, which one are we living under?

[16:09] Think about that. You would be surprised how many people try to live under both of them.

[16:22] You know what I call them? I call them spiritual neurotics. Because it's impossible. But they try so hard.

[16:33] Try so hard to be good. Try so hard to do this. Try so hard. Prophecy, has to do with that which has been prophesied, predicted, promised in the scriptures in many cases long before it was ever fulfilled.

[16:56] That's the whole nature of prophecy. It is uttered before. And on the other side, we have the mystery. And the difference between the mystery and prophecy prophecy is this.

[17:10] The mystery was never prophecy. That's not too hard, is it? The mystery was never predicted. The mystery was never anticipated.

[17:22] The mystery was never looked for. The mystery was never expected. It just bang, came out of nowhere almost. Well, we'll look at it at the 10-15 hour to see exactly where it came from.

[17:40] But the point I want to make is very simple, is this. Prophecy has to do with all kinds of predictive things from Genesis 3-15 and the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent and so on.

[17:54] and from Micah 5-2 and Bethlehem Ephrathah, the little and the thousands of Judah, yet out of these shall he come forth unto me whose rulings have been, whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting.

[18:07] It's all speaking about the prophecy of Christ, Isaiah 9 and Jeremiah. All of these are predictive things that relate to the future for Israel, for Christ, for the Jew.

[18:19] That's what prophecy is all about. and at least two-thirds of the Bible is devoted to prophecy. And do you know how much of the Bible was not written by a Jew?

[18:37] None of it. None of it. Every writer of the Scriptures, Old and New Testament, was written by Jews.

[18:49] Jews in a covenant relationship with the God of Israel. And the Jew originally intended by God to be a light.

[19:00] To whom? A light to Gentiles. Unfortunately, in too many instances, the Gentiles had more effect upon the Jews than what the Jews had upon the Gentiles.

[19:17] And where did that lead them? It led them into idolatry because under the law, God told the Jews, you are not to give your sons and daughters to the Gentiles to marry because if you do, they will turn you away from me.

[19:39] And do you know what a lot of the Jews said? Well, maybe most would, but not in my case because I can handle it. But they didn't and they fell just like everybody else.

[19:51] And eventually, God judged them, led them into the Babylonian captivity. And who were the Babylonians? They were pagans worse than the Jews. And then when they came back from that, they lived in the land for several hundred years and they fell into idolatrous practices and corruption and everything that went with it.

[20:07] And what did God do? He called Titus, the Roman general, in from Rome and he brought 80,000 troops with him.

[20:21] And in April of A.D. 70, just as soon as huge numbers of Jews were flocking into the city, into the walled city, to keep the feast of Passover, Titus attacked.

[20:43] And by August of that year, that started in April, by August of that year, Jews were dying of starvation. Some 25,000 died of starvation.

[20:54] They were reduced to cannibalism. The city was completely overrun, ruined. Thousands of Jews were sold into slavery. Some escaped through other places of the Mediterranean world.

[21:07] And what was that all about? It was God allowing pagan nations to judge his own people because of their sin and their corruption.

[21:19] So, all of this stuff comes together. This is all part of prophecy. And by the way, when Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Luke tells us that he stopped and he wept over the city.

[21:37] And he said, if you only knew the things that belong to your peace, but now they are hidden from you, for the time will come when an enemy will come in and will surround you and hem you in and break down your walls and kill your people because you knew not the time of your visitation.

[22:00] And that was all in conjunction with his arriving in Jerusalem knowing full well what the end result was going to be because from the time he got there, three days later, he's going to be on the cross.

[22:14] All of these things that we're talking about, this is all prophecy. This is all prophecy. It's got nothing to do with mystery. So prophecy on the left side concerns a kingdom.

[22:28] That's a political organization and it is a subject of prophecy and we won't take time to go there because I'm already running out of time and you may have questions so I want to give you time for them. And these things on the left, the prophecy, all has to do with the earth, planet earth and it is intensely physical.

[22:48] It is material. But on the right, the mystery has everything to do with heaven and the emphasis is not on the physical, it's on the spiritual.

[23:01] There is a gradation, there is an increase, there is a progression from the old to the new. We see that, for instance, in the old covenant and the new covenant and we see how there is a development of doctrine and people, I'm amazed that people sometimes deny that and they think that when you talk about the division of scripture or the development of doctrine or the progression of doctrine that you're somehow leaving out part of it or discounting part of it and this is what dispensationalists are often accused of and nothing could be further from the truth because and when you ask them this, well, if you do not see a progression of doctrine, if you don't see things changing and developing, if you don't see updates in the Bible, I assume then that you're offering animal sacrifice.

[23:56] Oh, well, no, we don't do that. Well, why not? Why not? Of course we don't do that and we aren't supposed to do that because when Jesus Christ died on that cross, he put an end to the whole principle of sacrifice.

[24:14] That's why God tore that veil in the temple in two from the top to the bottom. God was in effect saying, I'm done with this. Judaism is kaput.

[24:26] Judaism is an out-of-date faith. It is no longer valid. Oh, there are still Jews that celebrate it. They celebrate the Passover, they get together, they keep the Sabbath, they go to the synagogue, but you know something?

[24:40] God doesn't require any of that from them. They do it out of guilt, they do it out of tradition, they do not do it by, on the basis of any demands that God makes upon them like he once did when they were in a covenant relationship with him.

[24:59] So everything on this left side is related to prophecy, everything on the right side is related to mystery. And just briefly running through these, we won't take time to check the references because you can do that at your leisure.

[25:11] This kingdom is to be established on earth. What kingdom is this? This is the same kingdom that is found in the Lord's Prayer and it's in Matthew 6 and verse 10 where Jesus told his disciples, gave them a model prayer and the prayer was, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.

[25:32] That was a prayer for the coming of the kingdom. Has that prayer ever been answered? Nope. This is not the kingdom. The kingdom is going to be a reign of peace and prosperity and goodness throughout the earth.

[25:50] Do you see any signs of that now? No. This is still a fallen world we live in. When the kingdom is established, Jesus Christ will be the king and we are told that he will rule with a rod of iron.

[26:13] That's another way of saying he's going to be a no-nonsense monarch and things will be different. The earth will have been restored.

[26:28] Righteousness will prevail throughout the earth. Ten men will take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew and say, we will go with you for we have heard that God is with you. It will be a wonderful time.

[26:39] It's utopia. It's Eden. Come back again. The fall will be over. The curse will be over. Everything will be as it ought to be. And it's going to be wonderful and it'll last a thousand years.

[26:52] So all of that is of this earth. That is the kingdom, the political organization that is being spoken of. It's going to be on earth. Christ is going to be the king. The kingdom is prophesied since the world began.

[27:05] Let's get into some references here. Let's go first of all to, let's take the one in Luke chapter 1. Matthew, Mark, Luke chapter 1.

[27:18] This is a beautiful passage. It's Zacharias, the song of Zacharias. And he is the father of John the Baptist.

[27:32] And in Luke's gospel, chapter 1, and verse 67, Zacharias begins what is commonly referred to as his song.

[27:57] And his father, Zacharias, was filled with the Holy Spirit. This is at the birth and the circumcision of John. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he, or because he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people.

[28:14] And who are his people? The Jew, exclusively. Gentiles have nothing to do with this. And has raised up a horn of salvation for us. That's the Jew.

[28:25] In the house of David, the king, his servant. And by the way, when Zacharias is offering this song, this inspired praise to God, he's talking about the house of David.

[28:39] Where was David when he said this? David has been dead and buried a thousand years earlier. Jesus was born a thousand years after David the king lived on earth.

[28:53] But he established a house. That is, he established, what shall we call it, the house probably doesn't convey the idea so much as, what's the word I'm looking for?

[29:08] Pardon? Well, lineage, that too, in that Jesus was a direct blood descendant of him. Dynasty, that's what I was trying to think of.

[29:19] David established a dynasty. And a dynasty is when the throne passes directly from father to son or mother to daughter, the bloodline remains intact so that it is not going to someone else.

[29:37] That's the establishment of a dynasty. David, the king, established a dynasty and he was the first one to do so. And every king that came on the throne of Judah from the time of David on was a direct blood-related descendant of David, the king.

[29:59] He would have been eligible if he hadn't been. And that line, that lineage, that dynasty came to an end. And Jesus was the end.

[30:13] He was the last one. Beautiful thing. He has visited us, accomplished redemption for a people in the house of David, his servant, as he spoke, here's the prophecy, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

[30:31] He's quoting passages from the Old Testament and if you've got a New American Standard, they are in capital letters here, to show mercy toward our fathers and, look at this, verse 72, and to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father.

[30:54] God is making good on it. And how long did it take him to do that? About 1700 years from the time he gave that promise.

[31:06] No, more like 2000 years from the time he gave the promise to Abraham and his being fulfilled in the person of Christ to grant us that we'd be delivered from the hand of our enemies and so on.

[31:16] And you, child, he's talking about his son, John the baptizer, and he is eight days old having a big celebration.

[31:27] Family, neighbors, everybody comes in for the circumcision of the baby and it had to be on the eighth day, not the seventh day, not the ninth day, it had to be on the eighth day and he was circumcised and that's when he would be named.

[31:43] And everybody was wondering, what's he going to be named? Remember, remember when the angel told Zacharias because he didn't believe him he was going to be smitten with muteness and wouldn't be able to talk until the baby was born?

[31:57] And here, his wife, who is past childbearing years, she's pregnant and she's got a husband that can't talk for nine months.

[32:08] Must have been really quiet around the house. And when John was born, everybody came together for the circumcision. This is kind of the equivalent of a Christian christening of a baby or something like that, only it was predated that.

[32:21] And the big deal was circumcision. If you were not circumcised, you were not a Jew. Simple as that. And that's a whole different subject. But anyway, when they circumcised him and they looked to the mother and they said, what's his name going to be?

[32:38] And all at once, John got his voice back. And he spoke up and everybody, all their heads turned in and John says, his name, John. And everyone looked at Zacharias.

[32:49] He can talk. He can talk. John, you're going to call him John? There isn't anybody in your family history named John. Where'd you get that from? And his name will be John.

[33:04] And he will be great. He will be the one who will introduce the Messiah to the nation of Israel.

[33:15] And John, the baptizer, will be six months older than Jesus. And there are cousins, second cousins actually, because their mother, John's mother, was Elizabeth and she was the first cousin of Mary, the mother of our Lord.

[33:40] And when John, the baptist, was born and Jesus was born, that made them second cousins. This is fabulous stuff. I tell you this. Oh, I've got to quit. I'm not finished, but I quit.

[33:51] Comments or questions, I'll entertain from you. But I'll warn you, if you don't have any, I'll take off again. Comments? Got a pair of young legs back there.

[34:02] Thank you, young man, for being our microphone bearer this morning. Anyone? Comment or question? Well, okay, thank you.

[34:16] They had their chance, didn't they? All right, thank you. Take the rest of the morning off. All of this content here on this left side relating to prophecy is in stark contrast to what is on the right side.

[34:32] And let me show you something that we just need to touch on before we leave this particular session, and that is in Ephesians 3, because I mentioned that here is where you can see what it was that was hidden in God and not revealed until of all people the least likely man in the whole world came along.

[35:02] And to him it was revealed in Ephesians 3, where Paul says, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles.

[35:13] And why then? Because Paul was called to be the apostle to the Gentile. Now the Jews had 12 apostles. And the Gentile, and the Jews really, a small aggregate number of people.

[35:28] How many times have I told you that the Jews did not even make up 1% of the world's population? Does anybody remember what it was? It was two-tenths of 1% of the world's population is Jewish.

[35:48] I think it's probably always been that way. So the Jews had 12 apostles, but what was their message? Their message was exclusively to the Jew about the kingdom.

[36:06] When Jesus called them, he said, don't go to the Gentiles. Don't go to the Samaritans. Confine your ministry to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

[36:19] This is Matthew 10. And tell them the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Why was it? Because the king is on the scene.

[36:33] He was going to be presented as Israel's promised Messiah. And if Israel accepted him and embraced him, that kingdom would be established on earth, the kingdom that we're talking about.

[36:47] But now, something really, really radical is going to happen. And Paul talks about called to the Gentiles and he says, indeed, if you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace.

[37:05] Stewardship, it has to do with management. If someone is another person's steward, like Joseph was for Potiphar, that meant that he was responsible for keeping the books, for paying the bills, for doling out things, for making decisions in the interest of his master.

[37:27] That's what stewardship is all about. And Paul says, he was a steward of the grace of God. What's the product? What's the commodity? The grace of God. Wow.

[37:38] And he is in charge of distributing it. How do you do that? You preach it. You explain it. You tell it. The stewardship of God's grace, which was given to me for you, Gentiles, that by revelation, where did he get that?

[38:01] He got it after Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives and went up he received it from the risen Christ in the same way that he received his call when he was on the road to Damascus with that brilliant light that blinded him and the voice from heaven, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

[38:22] And that was the beginning of his apostleship. By revelation, that is, by direct information from the risen Christ, there was made known to me the mystery.

[38:34] Anybody know what is perhaps a more definitive word for that word mystery? Hmm? Yeah. Secret. Secret.

[38:46] A secret is something that is unknown except to the one who is the secret keeper.

[38:57] Guess who the secret keeper is going to be here? It's none other than God himself. He is the secret keeper and nobody, I mean nobody, even has a clue as to what this secret is that is in the heart and mind of God.

[39:19] Made known to me the mystery as I wrote afore in brief and by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the secret of Christ.

[39:31] which, now look at this, which in other generations, what other generations, what other generations were there? The only other generations there were were past generations, those that went before.

[39:45] Goes all the way back to Genesis. He's saying in other generations previously was not made known to the sons of men.

[39:57] Nobody knew it. And the reason nobody knew it was because it had never been revealed. It was all locked up in the bosom of God and nobody even knew it was there except him.

[40:11] Now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit. And here it is, here it is, to be specific, what I'm talking about, what I'm really getting down to, he says, that the Gentiles, it's another way of saying non-Jews, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

[40:44] Do you know what all those fellows are saying? Fellow this, fellow that, fellow something? Equal. Equal. on the same plane with. Carried and counted right along with.

[41:00] On an even keel with. Fellows. Of which I, Paul, was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given to me according to the working of his power.

[41:20] To me the very least of all saints this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.

[41:39] What salvation was there for non-Jews before the grace of God became available on the scene? All they had was what had been revealed in their own conscience and heart.

[41:58] This is what Paul was talking about in Romans 2 and he says for the Gentiles who have not the law that is they don't have the law of Moses have a law under themselves written on the heart.

[42:10] God put his law in the hearts of all human beings and it enables them to have a conscience and to know essentially the difference between right and wrong and good and evil.

[42:24] You don't have to be a Jew to know that. That is part of your DNA. It is structured in you because God put it there. But what he's talking about here is the unfathomable riches of Christ and what that consists of of course is the price that Jesus Christ paid full and free when he said it is finished that meant the deal is done it's over with and when you put your faith and trust in Christ you are fully completely justified fully freely forgiven forever.

[42:57] Wow. That's good news and you know something? There is no better good news this world has ever heard and I want to ask you now why then is it such a hard sell?

[43:18] Why then is this message so frequently rejected? Think about that. What's wrong with the message? God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and you can have the benefits of that transaction put to your account.

[43:35] Is there something wrong with that? Why is that so difficult to put across? Why are people so reluctant to accept that? Think about that.

[43:48] I'd be glad to entertain your ideas. Here's a where's our young legs with the microphone? You're back in business. We're almost out of time but anyway come right on up here.

[43:59] Okay. Okay. Gentlemen right here. Okay. What do you have Joe? It's too easy.

[44:11] People don't think anything so easy as possible. It's too easy. I think that's probably number one. There's something I have to do.

[44:27] What is it? Well I've got I've got some you know I've got some bad habits. I need to give as soon as I get my life cleaned up and make myself more acceptable to God then I'll do something about that.

[44:42] But I've got these things that I need to deal with. You know you're right. It's too easy. And not only that but it delivers a blow to the ego and it tells you there is nothing that you can contribute that will make God accept you.

[45:06] You cannot clean yourself up to be acceptable. Boy I'm well what about all the good things that I've done?

[45:18] You know listen we that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become guilty before God.

[45:29] When people stand before the judgment seat of God the great white throne judgment every mouth will be stopped. Nobody's going to say but God you don't understand I well that's just the problem he does understand and there will be no defense there will be no arguments because everyone knows everyone knows that whatever their sentence is is absolutely just and there will be no comeback.

[46:03] Wow. Other comments or questions about this? Way in the back and this will have to be our last one because our time is gone. When you asked which are we under prophecy or mystery I said both so I guess I'm one of your schizophrenic people.

[46:27] I'm sorry I'm sorry I don't have my hearing aids in but anyway repeat that please. When you just want to hear me say I'm schizophrenic I said when you asked whether we're under prophecy or mystery I said both.

[46:45] The reason I said both I understand we're under the dispensation of grace right now but we currently have prophecy which is something that's going to occur in the future so we have prophecy today because we know that the kingdom is going to come that's been prophesied but we're not living in the kingdom right now.

[47:10] Right. So I think we're both living under prophecy because we know what is going to come but we're under the dispensation of grace today. Yeah I see what you're saying.

[47:23] Absolutely. Well there are lots of there are lots of prophecies that are provided to and for the people of mystery and you can just look at Romans chapter 8 for instance and find a whole list of things there that are all issues of prophecy that have not yet been fulfilled.

[47:45] So prophecy comes under two categories too. One is fulfilled one is unfulfilled and when Paul says we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain until now waiting to wit for the redemption what's he talking about?

[48:00] For the adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies. That our bodies are going to be redeemed is an issue of prophecy but you won't find it in the Old Testament because it simply isn't there but it's in the New and it's under what we would normally classify as mystery.

[48:24] Let me put it this way no one is saying that the mystery element has no prophecy in it. In the same way we cannot say that the Old Testament under prophecy has no mystery in it.

[48:40] It's got a lot of mystery in it but it doesn't have the mystery about the church that's for sure but it's got a lot of other mysteries that we still don't have answers to. So far as prophecy being devoid of mystery that's another way of saying we don't know everything and what we don't know remains a mystery.

[49:05] What we don't know is devoid of understanding so it belongs to prophecy and mystery is contrasted with that and that's exactly the point that Paul is trying to make and it is one that is unfortunately lost on a lot of people and I keep looking for ways to make this clear.

[49:27] One thing that I've done with this I'll let you go. I have suggested a substitute word that I think conveys the idea better than dispensation.

[49:39] Dispensation is an accurate word. There's a good word. There's nothing wrong with it but it kind of scares people. They don't know how to understand it or what what is that dispensationalism.

[49:51] And here's I think a much better word administration because it means exactly the same thing. Everybody knows what an administration is.

[50:05] It is the functioning of an entity under which there are certain principles and rules that are carried out and are administered to the public.

[50:16] So we call it an administration. And we're all familiar anytime there is a change in the government where a new administration comes into power there are going to be a lot of changes made.

[50:32] That just goes with the territory. Everybody knows that. They say what are they doing? What are they doing this? Hey! It's a new administration. administration. They are in charge now.

[50:43] They can put into practice whatever laws and principles they want. It's a new administration. That's what Paul is saying here. That's what this mystery is. When he says, I am a dispenser, an administer of new information that was never made available when Jesus was here on earth talking to his twelve apostles.

[51:06] Well, when was it available? After Christ ascended, he was in heaven, he communicated an abundance of revelations to the apostle Paul, and what these were was an update.

[51:18] And nobody knew these things before God revealed them to Paul. Paul didn't know them either. He didn't think this stuff up. Without Pauline truth, without what he wrote in his epistles, you don't have a clue regarding the rapture of the church, because it's certainly not anywhere else in his writings.

[51:39] You don't have a clue about Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's not a prophetic truth. That's not a subject of prophecy, but it's mystery and it's fulfilled.

[51:51] The righteousness of Christ put to your account. Where do you find that in prophecy in the Old Testament? It isn't there. It isn't supposed to be there. It's a new revelation.

[52:01] And when Paul comes on the scene, he's preaching something that is explosive. And you know something? It cost him his life.

[52:14] When he tried to preach that men were justified by faith and love, you know what they said about Paul? What the Jews said about him? Away with this man! It is not fit that he should live!

[52:27] And there was that one night when 40 Jews took an oath. This is in the book of Acts, chapter 22, 2019, something like that.

[52:39] They took an oath, 40 of them, that they would not eat or drink until Paul the apostle's blood ran cold. And let me tell you, that's dedication.

[52:51] And they laid in, they were going to ambush him, and Paul's nephew somehow got word of it. and he went and told Paul, they're laying for you, and Paul was already in protective custody.

[53:06] Paul said, you go tell the Roman commander what's going on. And this young nephew of his went and told the Roman commander that they know when you're supposed to be leaving, and they're going to have an ambush, and they've got a bunch of men together, and they're going to ambush you with the intent of killing Paul.

[53:25] and the commander said, okay, don't tell this to anyone. Keep this quiet. And he went to his underlings, and he said, listen, I want you to get, they're numbered there, I think it's something like 80 spearmen and 100 cavalrymen.

[53:45] Get them all together. Keep it quiet. We're leaving at 9 o'clock this evening instead of in the morning when they'll be laying wait for us. We're leaving at 9 o'clock this evening.

[53:56] We're going to take Paul to Caesarea, and that saved his life. Well, this is fabulous, fabulous stuff. I tell you, it's just amazing. Thank you for your kind attention. There are cookies back there and coffee.

[54:07]  Help yourself. Enjoy your coffee break.