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[0:00] Okay, we will go ahead and get started, and if you will, while you're turning to Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 10, I have a little story that I would like to tell you.

[0:12] I was not personally present to visit this scene, but Marie here was, and she told me about it later, and I was kind of amazed at the response of the individual, but nonetheless, what it had to do with was someone who was relatively new to grace at the time, and had a different kind of background, let me put it that way, was attending a Bible class at Dave and Marie's house one evening, and the subject came up with the Gospel, and the point was made that there are multiple Gospels in the Bible, and immediately, the gentleman in question took exception to that and said something to the effect of, what do you mean there's only one Gospel, and it was explained, well, the Bible talks about more than one Gospel, and before adequate explanation could be given, the individual became very angry, got up and stormed out, left the house, and he did so because obviously what he thought was some kind of heresy was developing, that there were different Gospels for today.

[1:29] Well, there are different Gospels in the Bible, no question about it, but it is also true that there is just one Gospel, or one valid good news for today in the age of grace, and that is the Gospel of the grace of God, and it is the singular good news that is appropriate for preaching and for believing today, but that does not mean that is the only Gospel, and as most of you, if not all of you who are grace people are familiar, the word Gospel simply means good news.

[2:06] Well, there's all kinds of good news, a lot of good news about a whole lot of things, but when it comes to the eongelion, the Gospel from which the word in the Greek is taken, it means the good message, eongelion, the E-U is the part that means good, and it's the same part that we use for like a euphemism, or a eulogy where someone says good words, and then the second part of the word in the Greek is the eongelion, and the double lambdas there give it a hard G sounding, and it literally means good tidings, and some translations even render it that way.

[2:49] The angel told Joseph, I bring you good news and good tidings, and that's just an old English way of saying good news, and the word put together simply means that, the good news, and it's also the word, by the way, from which the word angel is taken, because an angel is a messenger.

[3:09] That's basically what the word angel means, a messenger. So, there are multiple Gospels in the Bible, but there is just one that is appropriate and valid for today.

[3:22] If you insist on going with a different Gospel, that we'll be talking about a little bit later, then you need to add something to it, and that is water baptism, and a demonstration of good works to follow.

[3:38] That too is in the Gospel, but that is a Gospel that is passé. And we'll talk about that Gospel as you look at Matthew chapter 10, early on in our Lord's ministry, and I'll just read in verse, beginning in verse 1, I'm not going to name them all, but I do want to make this point, because it's very, very important.

[4:14] Jesus simply imparted the ability to these 12 apostles to be able to perform miracles like he did.

[4:26] And the point has been made, and we've tried to stress this at Grace over a number of years, that the earthly thing that most clearly defined the personhood of Jesus of Nazareth, who he really was, was his extraordinary ability to exercise command over all of the elements.

[4:49] And that included anything and everything that was in connection with the human body. He exercised complete control and knowledge over the physical frame of thousands of people.

[5:05] That in and of itself is just otherworldly, just completely stunning. And nowhere in the scriptures are Jesus' miracles ever contested.

[5:18] No one ever suggested, even though I'm sure they would have loved to have done it, say they were phony, they weren't real, but they were too real to deny, and everyone was taken by it.

[5:32] It is the calling card of the Messiah, and it is the thing that he used more than anything else to authenticate who he was and why he came. Jesus simply was in human miniature form an expression of the kingdom of heaven come to earth.

[5:51] There it was in a body with two legs and two arms in this human being, the kingdom of heaven resided in him, and wherever he went, he spread that out by the healing, by the miracles and everything else, demonstrating that he was in fact the Lord of heaven.

[6:13] It is inescapable if you look at the record, and it is the thing that defines him as the king of the kingdom.

[6:24] So it is really important, and we'll see this as we get into the book of Acts, it is really important to note that with our Lord and the miracles that he performed, them being his primary calling card and having given that authority to the apostles, provided for him a kind of legitimacy and authenticity that no one else in the world ever demonstrated before or since.

[6:52] And you must keep in mind that the miracles and the kingdom are inseparable. this is the key to understanding the transition that's going to take place between the kingdom and the church.

[7:06] Because in the gospel of the kingdom, all of the miracles that are performed are going to be carried right over into the book of Acts.

[7:18] And what does that tell us? Think about it. it tells us this whole concept of the kingdom of heaven come to earth is still on the table.

[7:32] That is a big, big item. You would be surprised how many people think that Jesus' offer of the kingdom ended at the cross when they rejected him.

[7:43] That that was Israel's final answer. Well, that's it. And from here on out, there isn't going to be any kingdom thing. It's just going to be the church. And it seems very logical.

[7:55] It's one of those faulty assumptions. Kind of logical to me. And I have to admit, if I had been back then, living as they lived, at the time they lived, witnessing what they witnessed, I may very well have reached the same conclusion.

[8:10] Because when you see this one hanging on the cross and he's dead, is there anything that has more of a finality look to it than that? That's it.

[8:21] And what he came to offer and Israel rejected, it's over. It's a done deal. The crucifixion of Jesus then looks like Israel's final answer.

[8:34] And human logic compels us to attest to that. But do you know, it is human logic that always leads to the faulty assumptions.

[8:46] And faulty assumptions beget, guess what, other faulty assumptions. Faulty assumptions get married and have kids. And there's a whole spate of faulty assumptions that come from that one faulty assumption.

[9:01] So that's exactly partly what we are dealing with as you move from the gospels into the book of Acts. And if you look, please, at verse 7, Matthew chapter 10, verse 7, as you preach, as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[9:19] Heal the sick, raise the dead. Can you see the expression on these apostles' faces when Jesus said, this is what I want you to do, preach the gospel, heal the sick, and raise the dead? Can you see these apostles looking at each other and saying, what's he talking about?

[9:32] You know, he does that. We've seen him do that. We can't do that. But he's just said that he is giving them the authority to do that.

[9:43] So they are multiplying the ministry of Jesus six times over. And I say six because they broke up in teams of two. And wherever they went, they preached this message and performed the miracles that went with it.

[9:59] And we're not going to take time to look at it, but as you scan through the gospels, it becomes very clear that there are huge multitudes that follow him. And the text says things like, and Jesus healed them all.

[10:14] Can you imagine? I mean, here are blind people, lame people, crippled people, people with deformities, all kinds of problems. And the text says, at least in one, I recall it saying, that he made them every whit hole.

[10:34] It's an old English word that we don't use. W-H-I-T. Jesus made them, everyone he healed, he made them every whit hole.

[10:45] That means if someone came to him and they were blind, Jesus could also heal their diseased liver. Or whatever else was wrong with them.

[10:57] In other words, it meant that he healed them completely. Not only of what was obviously wrong with them, but maybe things that nobody knew was even wrong with them.

[11:08] He made them every whit hole. Amazing. When did that all end? Well, it didn't end at the cross, that's for sure.

[11:21] Because as we read on into the book of Acts, Peter becomes the principal leader and he is responsible for delivering that message on the day of Pentecost.

[11:32] He is responsible for being the one who healed that lame man at the gate beautiful in Acts chapter 3 and a man over 40 years of age that had never in his life stood on his own two feet.

[11:48] Born crippled that way and drew a huge crowd because this man was commonly known to all the people and they gathered around. And all I'm telling you is this.

[12:01] With the continuation of the miracles and so many of them in the book of Acts, that tells us the kingdom is still available.

[12:14] It isn't off the table. And if you'll look at Acts chapter 3, let's go there for just a moment because it's a very important key passage and I'm amazed and I do mean amazed at how often it is overlooked.

[12:26] This is very shortly after the day of Pentecost. We don't know exactly how soon but suffice it to say it was no more than just a couple of days at the most.

[12:38] And we read that beginning in verse 11 when the man is healed and Peter is giving the explanation of it and he actually delivers what is in effect a kind of continuation of his Pentecostal message that he delivered just a little bit earlier.

[13:01] And then he comes down and says in verse 15 you put to death the prince of life the one whom God raised from the dead a fact to which we are witnesses and on the basis of faith in his name it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know and the faith which comes through him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

[13:24] Now brethren I know that you acted in ignorance just as your rulers did also but the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets that his Christ should suffer he has thus fulfilled that's done.

[13:42] Repent therefore now therefore of course always follows when he is looking for some kind of action or verdict and the therefore simply means in light of what I just told you now the ball is in your court repent therefore and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing what are they?

[14:07] That's a synonym for the arrival of the kingdom that's when everything is worked over everything is made new all of the wrongs are made right all of the sin is done away with all of the diseases are healed that's the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus the Christ appointed for you well he's only been gone what six weeks that's all he's just been gone six weeks since he ascended and now he is saying that he will send him back whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all that too is a synonym for the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from ancient times and as you read on and continue which will not take time to do now but as you do the opposition sets in or continued opposition because it will be the chief rulers who come upon the scene being grieved that they are preaching the resurrection because that is the important additive now that wasn't available earlier but it is now and they are adding to the kingdom message the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and you know what the common story was among those who are confronting the apostles the official verdict was the fake news that was out at the time was his disciples came by night while we were sleeping and stole the body away now folks to be repetitive but I'm going to be repetitive the issue is authority always has been always will be whatever whomever you accept as your authority that's what you're going to go with that's what's going to determine what you believe and what you do about it in this case the religious authority the chief priests the scribes and so on and the people just kind of knuckled under because they had little or no choice so now the opposition begins and we're going to read on well we won't take time to read it today but later when you get into Acts chapter 5 6 and 7 you see the account of Stephen and we are told that Stephen worked many miracles and so did Peter they continued and all of the disciples were working these miracles it was incredible it was an electric time and in addition to that they were fulfilling the demand that Jesus had made of the rich young ruler well I've done all of these things from my youth up what lack I yet

[16:53] Jesus said well if you really want a position in the kingdom what they called then eternal life if you want that sell all your possessions and give to the poor and come and follow me now when you come into the Acts particularly beginning in chapter the latter part of chapter 2 and on in through 4 what are these people doing they are selling their property they are collecting the assets and they're bringing the money to the apostles for them to distribute to the poor in accordance with everyone who has need what's that all about that's kingdom stuff that's what they're doing they're getting in line with the kingdom requirements and when Jesus told that to the rich young ruler there in in Matthew Matthew 16 Peter came up and

[17:56] Peter was listening to that whole conversation with this and Peter came up to Jesus and said what you just told the rich young ruler sell everything he had and give to the poor Peter says we did that we left everything we left our business we left the fishing boats we left our families we left all that to come and follow you what's the payoff for this what are we going to realize from this and Jesus said verily I say unto you you who have followed me in the regeneration when the son of man comes into his kingdom you also shall sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel and I can just see his guys looking at each other and say wow wow wow and do you realize that has never been fulfilled that has never been fulfilled but now here's the shocker most most of

[18:59] Christianity including Roman Catholic and Protestants believe it has already been fulfilled and you read that over again and you say well how did he get that from this very easy it's called spiritualizing and a man who really excelled at that was named Origen O-R-I-G-E-N he obviously was an intellectual but he was the one that really introduced to the community of believers at the time the principle of allegory and spiritualizing scriptures so that Israel doesn't actually mean Israel it means church I know it says I-S-R-A-E-L but that's just the surface meaning the real meaning is that's the church all of

[20:05] Catholicism has embraced that that's one of their central tenets and Luther brought some of that baggage with him when he started what became the Lutheran church and it became known then as the covenant church or the reform church that is made up primarily of Presbyterians Lutherans etc or what many would call the higher church and the church of England and they have bought into that whole thing wholesale and this is exactly where we are today we at Grace Bible Church and other Bible churches like ours are like ducks out of water when it comes to this we are not of that stripe simply because we tried to follow Miles Coverdale's rules for interpreting the Bible and you let a word say and mean what it says because words mean things and our view is what

[21:07] Jesus promised the twelve has still never yet been fulfilled and when he told Peter you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it and so and I give to Peter the keys to the kingdom and of course the Roman Catholics believed that that was Peter being installed as the first pope and he used those keys and unlocked the door of the kingdom and people have flooded in and they're called Roman Catholics and that's the standard position today throughout much of Christendom and then of course Luther pulled back from that so what we've got here is a real kind of conflict that is ongoing and let me put this to you as clearly as I can for about the first 400 years at least 200 years in the in the western church that would have been centered in Rome and Antioch this was firmly believed and it was maintained for about 400 years in the eastern church which would later become known as the eastern orthodox church which is simply a different form of

[22:19] Roman Catholicism only with more of an emphasis on the Greek aspect and they too for about four centuries simply took the word at face value that Israel meant Israel and the early in Antioch and Rome they took the same position for about the first 200 years and these two people came along one was Origen and later in the fourth century Augustine Augustine was one of the most brilliant church fathers whoever rose on the scene but he too was an allegorist and they succumbed to submitting the scriptures to a deeper meaning than what it seems to mean on the surface and when you do that you are limited to the interpretation of whoever is approaching it because once you depart from the literal meaning the figurative meaning is

[23:20] Katie bar the door it's whatever you want to make it you've got all kinds of latitude and that's exactly where we are today and if you approach the scriptures that way it also diminishes the desire to read and study the scriptures chapter by chapter and verse by verse because so much of it is well you have your interpretation of that and I have mine and isn't it wonderful that we don't agree but we're both right and that's where much of christendom is today in their interpretation and all we are stumping for is a return to the simplicity of where we take it at face value it means what it says and it says what it means and of course there's figurative language in the bible a lot of it and in almost every case the context makes it very clear as to what that is so what we've got here in this sheet that I've given you is a clear demarcation between those who take these things literally and those who take them spiritually or and try to interpret that that way as a meaning something other than that and if you just read across the top of the sheet I gave you these contrasts are provided to help clarify the book of acts careful exposition reveals two distinct commissions both divinely established did

[24:47] Jesus give the commission well of course you know he did we just read it in Matthew 10 he gave that commission to the 12 told them what to preach and he said by the way you are to preach the same thing that John the Baptist preaching repent the kingdom of heaven is at heaven and be baptized for the remission of sins that's the whole package that all went together and that's what they were preaching and that is called the kingdom commission both are divinely established and during the acts period both commissions were being carried out that's what makes the acts so confusing that's how you get in the book of acts people who are insistent that if you are a true believer and if you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit you will speak in foreign language that you have not learned and you will be able to communicate perfect French with the French person even though you've never studied the French language or you can speak

[25:52] German or whatever and of course this is just patent nonsense but it was very valid and very real back when that gift was given and it was given for a specific purpose because all of those people came from different places all over the Mediterranean and they needed to have that message carried out so during the acts period both commissions were being carried out side by side you've got the 12 who are preaching the gospel of the kingdom and you've got Paul who is preaching the gospel of the grace of God and before we go any further I don't just get away from us go quickly to Galatians chapter 2 and we'll see which is that which is unequivocal in establishing what we've just been talking about and it was one of the things that led to a great deal of confusion in that first century I pointed out in the series that I'm doing on Christianity

[26:53] Clarified that this first century actually I guess you'd say about 70 years of the first century from about 30 the time of Christ's birth until about 100 AD and the end of the first century it was it was complete volatility it was confusion that would not quit and the reason for it was two different gospels were being preached here in Galatians chapter 2 let's read on if we may we'll just start with well let's just jump in with verse 3 Galatians 2 3 but not even Titus who was with me though he was a Greek was compelled to be circumcised but it was because of the false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus in order to bring us into bondage now

[27:55] Titus was a Greek and that's just another word for a Gentile he was not a Jew but he was not compelled to be circumcised well why would he have been compelled by whom to be circumcised by other Jews by other Jews who had taken the position Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and we are under obligation to be obedient to him and they're thinking in terms of Judaism and of the original gospel the gospel of the kingdom and one of the requirements was if you're going to be a Jew or as a Jew you've got to be circumcised that became a really big issue so big that they held a conference to discuss the whole issue in Acts chapter 15 that we won't look at now but let's go on but it's because of false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in

[29:04] Christ Jesus in order to bring us into bondage what's that mean what's the bondage the law the law of Moses the law of Moses this this is a takeoff from what Paul preached in the message that I delivered I think this past Sunday in Acts chapter 13 on their first missionary journey when Paul dropped that bomb on that congregation there and he said that through him through Jesus you are justified from all things by which you could not be justified by the law of Moses that was a bomb and a half they never heard anything like that that's kicking off this first century that was so volatile and he goes on to say we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour and all they're trying to do is hold these people under the law of

[30:06] Moses and Paul with his different commission is trying to make the case that God has given a different and a new an updated directory now and it isn't baptism and it isn't the law it is the grace of God plus nothing well nobody had ever heard of anything like that you mean you don't have to do this you don't have to keep the law you don't have to keep the Sabbath you don't have to be circumcised you don't well what do you have to do you don't have to do anything but believe what's the basis for that the basis for that is that everything that was required that needed to be done to rectify your sinful situation was done by Jesus Christ it's already done and all you have to do is believe that and accept that that was a hard sell then and you know something 2000 years later it's still a hard sell it's something that people just for reasons that I've given you before I won't go into now but he says we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour why not so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you you know this would have been a perfect opportunity for Paul to have taken a position of look we've got to keep the peace you know we've got to be in this thing together and you want to really insist on you really mean that we really well I guess it wouldn't make that much difference we could yeah we could do that it's not no he realizes what is at stake the moment you add anything to the gospel faith plus grace ceases to be grace you've got to understand that and I'm sure that it probably made Paul look in the eyes of some unreasonable and hard nose but listen when it is the truth that is at stake you better be as hard nose as you need to be and it makes you look it makes you look unloving it makes you look unreasonable it makes you look you got to give a little take a little but there are some things that are just not negotiable and this is one of them this is the biggie and it really got

[32:59] Paul in all kinds of trouble for insisting on it cost him his life the world does not respect those who do not respect their contribution to their eternity and there is no contribution you can make because Jesus made it all and he's simply asking you to believe and trust him amazing so from those who were of high reputation he's well established well thought of in the Jewish community what they were makes no difference to me God shows no partiality well those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me in other words they couldn't tell Paul anything that he didn't already know they didn't enlighten him about anything he had additional light that they didn't have he was the one doing the enlightening but think of it he's in the position of an underdog because you've got the twelve established with a reputation already accepted by the people in solid and here is this

[34:11] Johnny come lately named Saul of Tarsus and there's just one of him and he's standing all alone and you know here's a lesson for us listen his dearest and no doubt best friend was suckered in Barnabas Barnabas you mean the same guy that Paul had as his partner on the missionary trip yep same guy Barnabas is called the son of consolation that's the son of comfort and he was the one he was the one who embraced Paul or Saul of Tarsus but nobody else would everybody thought he was a phony and Barnabas came along put his arm around him and said I believe you brother and there was a relationship that was cemented now and now at least for Barnabas it's in jeopardy on the contrary seeing that

[35:18] I agreeing understanding that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised and that of course is the Gentile just as Peter with the gospel to the circumcised and do you know how long this had gone on when he's talking about this 20 years what yeah 20 years for 20 years this has been an object of controversy think of that think of the confusion and the divisiveness that existed because of that for he who effectually worked in Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles 20 years later and recognizing the grace that had been given to me

[36:26] James and Cephas that's Peter and John who were reputed to be pillars and they were Peter James and John they gave to me to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that's a time that's a that's a that's an expression of agreement and fraternity and support and acknowledgement and it's kind of like the equivalent of a slap on the back and say go to it you know this is your thing that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the and they to the circumcised now let me ask you a question when Peter and James and John go and continue their ministry to the twelve tribes what are they going to be preaching they're going to be preaching the gospel of the kingdom that they had always preached but what is

[37:38] Paul going to be preaching certainly not the gospel of the kingdom you can't lay the gospel of the kingdom on Gentiles for crying out loud then you've got us back to the circumcision thing again and the Sabbath and all the rest that goes along so what we've got here is side by side just like a railroad track a train track with two tracks and you've got the gospel preached by Paul the gospel of the grace of God to Gentiles and you've got the gospel of the kingdom on the other track at the same time preached to the twelve the twelve preaching to the twelve tribes of Israel now do you think that's confusion or what are there two different gospels yep being preached at the same time are they both valid yes but one is valid only for the Jew the other is valid for Jew and Gentile and that adds to the confusion you see what we're dealing with here and this is why the book of Acts is so critical this is why whole church denominations have been formed and operate based on one certain part of the book of Acts and our

[39:04] Pentecostal brethren and do people believe this stuff in good faith of course they do of course they do they believe with all their heart and this is the basis for Pentecostal even though in what we call modern times it didn't actually come to surface until something like 1908 in the Azusa Street Mission in Los Angeles California where the Pentecostal church was actually pretty much came into being and their watchword became the manifestation of tongues and healing do they have a scriptural basis for that they absolutely do right there in the book of Acts then why aren't you doing it and most Protestants respond with most Baptists and Methodists etc.

[39:52] respond well we don't believe that that's for today really why not well and their their excuses are lame they're just lame so all you have to do is see the development the progression of doctrine the things being on the move that's why 30 to 35 years of time is involved for what is developing in the book of Acts and you can't jump into just any one place and say this is what I go with because invariably there's something about it that's not right that's not right for this day so what we've got is a time of confusion that exists and as we continue with this sheet if you look back at your sheet if you will the second line says confusion exists because of their simultaneous occurrence necessitated by the transition from one that is the kingdom to the other the church the kingdom commission pursued by the twelve apostles and addressed national

[40:57] Israel the grace commission was pursued by Paul the apostle to the Gentiles Barnabas Silas and others it was only for a brief time that this dual program phenomenon existed never having occurred before or since this was a one time thing and who was it that was used of God apparently and this is the best that I can conclude from it although I admit that I may be somewhat in error here but this is the only way I can see it who was used to create the bridge the crossover Peter Peter Peter how so remember Acts 10 Peter was on the housetop praying Joppa sheet let down from heaven all manner of four footed beasts clean and unclean animals rise Peter kill and eat Peter I couldn't do that I've never eaten anything that wasn't kosher I couldn't and the sheet was let down three times all manner of four footed animals what were these animals what were they representing they were representing all kinds of people

[42:05] Jews and Gentiles all mixed together but they're reflected in clean and unclean animals and then Peter gets the message you're to go to Cornelius men are downstairs knocking on the door they come two days journey away they're ready to take you back to Joppa to meet with him and Peter said oh I don't know about this and he's supposed to keep company with these Gentiles travel with these Gentiles Peter says well I'll go but I'm taking four I'm taking four Jews with me so they go and they get into Cornelius is a pure Gentile but he's a God fear he's one who has embraced the God of Israel as being the only true God and he tells him about this vision that he saw and we were to sent free and Peter says really really well what what what

[43:06] I and Peter says he's really uncomfortable he says I trust all you folks know that ordinarily I'm not supposed to be here I'm not supposed to be here rubbing shoulders and having a meal with Gentiles you people are off limits to me you know and then he said but God has shown me that I should not call anyone common or unclean and then when he told them the truth about Jesus Cornelius prayer was answered and the answer was Jesus and the spirit of God descended on them just like he did on all of those Jews on the day of Pentecost and now the bridge is being built and Peter is the builder he's the go between he's the one that could give some legitimacy to that message that

[44:09] Paul couldn't give because Peter had the history with the twelve was accepted known understood and all the rest of it is quite a package so let's look quickly at this kingdom commission here before I run out of time I'm already out of time so let me stop right here and we'll take questions or comments anybody has I don't want to assume that there aren't any yes Carol can you go back to that passage in Matthew 16 it comes up in conversations that I have with people a lot upon this rock I will build my church so my question is what is the word church what was the original word in that because it seems like that's the first place that you see that and so people right away say it's the church for today well that too is a very common mistake that is made and the word church is used three or four times in the book of

[45:16] Acts once it's used by Stephen in Acts chapter 7 when he refers to the nation of Israel I mean he's talking about the whole nation and he calls them the church in the wilderness what does that mean the word church ecclesia comes from a compound Greek word the first part it's related to our word exit exit exit and then the second part of it ecclesia comes from which means to call and it means to call out of a church is a group that is called out of for a common purpose and the mistake that so many make which I too was guilty was assuming there's that faulty assumption again assuming that when you see the word church here it means the same thing as the word church here no no in all cases it means a called out assembly for a particular purpose but it may have nothing whatever to do with anything religious in fact the group in

[46:42] Acts I think it's Acts 19 or 21 if it didn't move when Paul is in Ephesus and the one who is in charge wants to deliver a message and when they discover that that I can't think of his name now his name escapes me but anyway a riot started because when they learned that one of these that Paul was a Jew they started the chant you've got this huge coliseum this is the temple or the coliseum of Diana this was the local goddess and in order to shout down these people so that they couldn't speak and by the way this goes on college campuses today but this is 2000 years old in order to keep them from speaking they started chanting great is

[47:49] Diana and on this side over here they shout that and this side over here they would repeat of the Ephesians over here they tried and that went on I think the text says it went on for two hours thousands of people and people were flooding into it because they knew something was going on in the coliseum they didn't know what so people run wherever the action is and they're all running in there and you know what those people who are running into a church well they are about as far removed from a church as you can get but they're a church and the point is proven that church means a whole lot of different things you just got to look at the context it is as different as day and night in the in the Septuagint the Septuagint is a translation of the original

[48:50] Hebrew into the Greek language and the reason it was even made was because the Jews had been so scattered all throughout the Mediterranean world and they started picking up different languages but there was one language that most of them had in common you know what it was it was Greek it was Greek Greek was the vernacular of the international set of that time and they could speak Greek but they couldn't speak Hebrew which was the language of their ancestors so scholars took it upon themselves to produce the Old Testament Genesis and Malachi that was available in Hebrew but to translate it into Greek and give it to the Jewish people so they could read their own Bible in a language they could understand and guess how many times the word ecclesia is found in that

[49:56] Septuagint translation and most of the time it means something different every time except it's always some called out assembly 40 times 40 times and not a single one of them would fit the word that we use for church today with that meaning completely different meanings now it's difficult to explain that to lay people but it's difficult actually it can be difficult to explain it to preachers even because we tend to get entrenched you know and well this is what I've always believed and I'm going to let go and that's that's the way it is with church too it is oh yeah it is and when you see and when you look at Acts Acts 2 47 King James renders it and the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved and even there it would be okay because what was the church they were adding to they were all

[51:05] Jews they were all Jews the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved but the word church even there isn't even in the original and the modern more modern translations the word ecclesia I mean isn't even in the Greek and it's rendered and the Lord added to their number such as should be saved but when you take someone and they reading and they read the word church and you can't have a church if the word church isn't there and the word church is there therefore back in Acts chapter 2 at the beginning of the chapter that was the Holy Spirit coming that was the beginning of the church and verse 47 says it was a church and that's good enough for me and case closed so you just kind of shake your head and walk off because let him he would be ignorant still there's nothing you can do about it so comments or questions anybody anybody else besides or

[52:06] I want to keep this time down and I'm two minutes over already well let's take the first one anyway just the first one you see the drawing here the gospel of the kingdom the gospel of grace of God you see how it is the way it is you see how the gospel of the kingdom in the shaded part the beginning of the triangle you see how tall it is how large it is and as you move on through the book of Acts what is it doing it is decreasing decreasing and you see the gospel of the grace of God at the top how small and slim it is the kingdom concept fading out receding and the church concept coming on strong started out very slow started in my estimation with Paul himself he is referred to as a pattern and the word in the

[53:09] Greek for pattern is prototype he's a model he was the first one like that he was a pattern of those who were to believe solely on the basis of grace through faith so kingdom commission referred to as the great commission and the church age commission across from it commonly referred to the gospel of the grace of God the ministry of reconciliation and you need to understand that both of these both of these are totally legitimate for the time and place and people that they were intended but that changed so you've got to go with the change if you don't go with the change you stay with the gospel of the kingdom and you have to have water baptism and you have to have commandments to go along with it because that's the gospel of the kingdom but that's not what we're supposed to be preaching you see the confusion for this you see how whole churches and denominations are built on this misunderstanding of this and it's all in good faith everybody's very sincere in the positions they hold but I just want to close with this one thing sincerity is a wonderful thing but it does not guarantee the truth of a position that is held we all need to understand that and you need to apply that to politics as well as spiritual things sincerity is important but it is no guarantee for the truthfulness of the position held you can say all you want to you believe it with all your heart but that doesn't make it so a thing is true because it is inherently correspondent to reality if it doesn't it isn't anything else before we close yeah

[55:18] I'll just follow up with that sincerity thing there's a phrase that people say you need to do what you think is right which is true to an extent you don't want to do what you think is wrong right but at the same time people do so many wrong things in sincerity because they think it's right but we have an obligation to pursue the truth and find out what is right reality not just what we think is right but what is actually right and do that amen thank you for that and you know sometimes sometimes you're dealing with a nugget that is really hard to penetrate and you just don't know then when you cannot firmly decide what is true which way to go if at all possible defer a judgment and defer action and if you have to make an action then then it's something that you just commit to prayer and you just do the best you can with it with the information you've got and leave it with the Lord say thank you all for being here by the way a couple of announcements that need to be made you all talk among yourselves over the next couple of weeks and to see decide whether we'll meet again in October be the last

[56:36]  Thursday in October but last Thursday in November is going to be Thanksgiving Day and I don't think anybody will be here and for December it's going to be the 22nd of December it's going to be a busy time so it's entirely possible that the October 4th Thursday will probably be our last one for this year and then maybe we'll think about starting up again the beginning of the year so thank you all for your kind attention and thanks to the ladies again for the wonderful meal they've provided thank you so much