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[0:00] What's Missing Without Paul, Part 1. And I'd like you to turn to Paul's letter to the Colossians.

[0:16] And in Colossians, we'll be in chapter 1, verses 24 through 29.

[0:34] Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of his body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

[0:53] Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God.

[1:08] That is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to his saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[1:35] We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

[1:52] For this purpose also I labor striving according to his power which mightily works within me.

[2:05] And in connection with the question, what is missing without Paul, the answer is absolutely everything that pertains to believers in the church age, this dispensation of the grace of God.

[2:26] That would all be missing apart from the ministry and mission of the Apostle Paul because he was the one to whom all of these things were revealed by the risen Christ.

[2:39] I do hope that we will be able to have a Q&A session as a result of what I'll be sharing with you this morning because I suspect that the content would generate some questions.

[2:49] I want you to have opportunity to ask them. So let us begin and I have some propositions for you to consider that I think are absolutely critical and they are part and parcel of the greater issue that we've been dealing with about the Jewish solution, final solution to the world's problems.

[3:11] And yes, it is still Jewish because even though the Apostle Paul was raised up by God to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, he was a Jew.

[3:22] In fact, the whole Bible is Jewish. Jewish. The only possible exception might be Dr. Luke who gave us the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts.

[3:34] But there is also a very good reason to believe that even if he had been born Gentile, which we do not know, that he no doubt had become a proselyte to Judaism and by that he had become a full-fledged Jew.

[3:49] On the other hand, he may have been Jewish by birth. That's just undetermined, but scholars argue over that. So all the rest of the Bible, Old Testament and New, has all been provided by Jewish writers.

[4:04] One author, God himself, but several writers from Genesis through Revelation. So, let us begin.

[4:16] Biblically and historically speaking, we are the very people spoken of by the Apostle Paul as the mystery age.

[4:27] That is, we in this present age of grace or dispensation of the grace of God is not prophesied anywhere in Scripture.

[4:40] As you go through the Old Testament and survey its 39 books, you will look in vain to find any reference at all to the church, which is the body of Christ.

[4:53] It just isn't there. And it isn't there because it isn't supposed to be there. God didn't put it there. This is in part why it is called a mystery.

[5:04] It is something that was not previously revealed as prophecy. Now, there are all kinds of prophecies, but the prophecies do not relate to the church.

[5:15] They relate to Israel. They have to do with the first coming of the Messiah realized in Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago. They have a great deal to do with and say far more about the second coming of Christ than they do about the first coming.

[5:33] But that is all prophecy. And part of it has been fulfilled. That is the first advent. And part of it remains yet to be fulfilled. However, it is all prophecy.

[5:45] So, this means that we today, as well as all believers, beginning with the Apostle Paul, are people of the gap.

[5:59] If you've been here previously, you understand what the gap is. The gap is a parenthesis. It is a space of time that is actually undefined defined as to its longevity, but it is sandwiched in between the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the rapture of the church or the translation of the church.

[6:24] This parenthesis is not found anywhere in the Old Testament. That's what makes it mystery rather than prophecy. It isn't prophesied. It just isn't found there.

[6:35] This gap of 2,000 years and counting never referred to by any of the Old Testament prophets because they never even knew of it, nor were they supposed to know of it.

[6:51] It had not been revealed to them. So, the closing of this gap will occur with the rapture or translation of the church when Christ returns above the earth to call us and resurrected saints upward to himself.

[7:07] So shall we ever be with the Lord. This rapture or catching away which is referred to and examined in times past will not repair to that now because we've already I think covered it sufficiently from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and 1 Corinthians chapter 15 we spent several hours together on the features concerning the rapture of the church so we will not go there again.

[7:35] But when it occurs that does not begin the tribulation period but it does end the mystery age of the church. So, think of it in terms of this.

[7:47] If our understanding is correct I trust it is I've explored it thoroughly backwards and forwards but still that is no guarantee it appears that the Apostle Paul himself individually singly was the first individual to begin the makeup of the body of Christ which never existed prior to him.

[8:15] This is why he refers to himself as a pattern of that which should come. He is a template. The Apostle Paul as Saul of Tarsus was interrupted from his ministry of persecution of Christians by the risen Christ and he was brought to faith in Jesus Christ solely on the basis of his coming to believe on him as his Savior.

[8:45] Whether this actually occurred on the Damascus road or whether it occurred in the house of Ananias where he was quartered for three days and three nights and was unable to eat or drink whichever he became the first member the first individual to begin making up this whole new organism not organization organism that is comprised of all believers all over the world.

[9:19] Paul was the first one inducted into that body and since then there have been untold millions added to that which is an increasing growing spiritual body of Christ because every time a new person comes to faith in Jesus Christ they are baptized no water baptized spiritually into the body of Christ and they become one in union with Christ and with all other believers making up that new dynamic which of course was not predicted in the Old Testament never mentioned never thought of we are told in Ephesians 3 that this was a mystery that was hid in God from eternity past and never revealed to anyone until Saul of Tarsus came along and was raised up to be Paul the apostle to the

[10:20] Gentiles it is as if God sprung it on the whole world whoa where did this come from this is all new prior to this time the thing that characterized Jews was their separation from Gentiles had nothing to do with them they were a distinct separate people they had their own diet they had their own worship they had their own system they had their own priesthood they had their own everything and they were completely separate from Gentiles now in this thing called the body of Christ Jews and Gentiles are being blended together and there is no distinction between them that was unthinkable all those barriers are broken down no longer have to observe the Sabbath no longer have to have a kosher diet no longer have to abstain from eating pork no longer all of those things are passe you are now believers by faith in the

[11:27] Lord Jesus Christ plus nothing by grace through faith plus nothing so the rapture or the catching away of the body of Christ and that will occur when this body we are talking about this spiritual body of Christ when the last person who is going to come to faith in Christ has made that decision that's it the body leaves the body will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air that's the translation of the church and all that is waiting for now is the completion of the body we don't know when that's going to be it could be before this service is over it could be another 50 years most of us myself include believe that it is going to be a very short period of time and as I've often told you my pat answer is I don't set dates all I can tell you is we are closer than anybody has ever been so that could take place at any time it is imminent that means nothing yet remains to occur before the rapture can take place we don't know who or where or when that last individual will be maybe in the

[12:48] USA maybe in France maybe in Turkey maybe who knows wherever but God knows when the last believer is going to complete that body then the translation will take place the tribulation however will not begin with the antichrist or with the rapture of the church but it will begin when the antichrist signs a covenant with Israel as revealed in Daniel 9 27 and we talked about that and that's in the handout by Dr.

[13:22] Fruchtenbaum that I referred you to how long the time will be between the rapture and the signing is not revealed it could be days or it could be years Paul formerly Saul of Tarsus is the exclusive apostle to the Gentiles and he is the apostle of this gap it was he who ushered in the dispensation or administration of the grace of God grace has supplanted law this is so because the substitutionary death of Christ changed everything it is Paul alone who frequently refers to believers as constituting the spiritual body of Christ this is an entirely new concept that incorporates all who believe in him whether Jew or Gentile free or slave male or female it was a concept utterly unheard of to the Jewish people their existence as I mentioned had always been about separation but now we read about these two the twain became one flesh and one new man and that's in

[14:32] Ephesians 3 1 Corinthians 12 27 Colossians 1 through 3 I suggest you read them for reinforcement will not take the time to turn to them now Paul alone became the first recipient of this gospel or good news of the grace of God as opposed to the gospel of the kingdom earlier preached by John the Baptist Jesus and the twelve apostles it was a message that was then confined to the Jewish nation but now through the revelations given to Paul by the risen Christ this new information goes to all alike Jew and Gentile and this is why Paul called the gospel of the grace of God my gospel and he did so three times in Romans 2 16 16 25 and 2 Timothy 2 8 what Paul preached was radically different from what the original twelve preached and this is why

[15:36] Paul briefed the twelve on what he was preaching among the Gentiles we looked at that earlier we can return there if questions require it in Galatians chapter one when Paul went to Jerusalem for that very purpose just to give you a brief idea recall that if you will please Paul tells his readers in Galatians chapter one that after a number of years of proclaiming the gospel among the Gentiles and establishing churches in different places Paul went to Jerusalem to explain to the original twelve apostles what he had been preaching to his non-Jewish audiences because what the twelve had been preaching was to Jewish audiences and it was different because they were under the Old Testament law they observed that they respected that and they labored under that and the twelve complied with that and reinforced that but when

[16:47] Paul goes out and preaches the gospel of the grace of God he is preaching to non-Jews and he is not telling them what you people need to do is start keeping the Sabbath and if any of you are eating ham sandwiches you need to stop that and by the way you should be offering animal sacrifice no no no no he wasn't doing that at all but that's what the twelve were teaching that's what the twelve were reinforcing because they were preaching to a people who had been steeped in that for the last fifteen hundred years and they didn't try to upset that but Paul was not imposing any of the Jewish demands upon non-Jews and he certainly wasn't telling them and you need to be circumcised no no no no he is saying do you know what God has replaced physical circumcision with spiritual circumcision well what in the world is spiritual circumcision we know what physical circumcision is it involves the flesh and it involves blood and it involves cutting but spiritual circumcision it is a circumcision of the heart where the will and the mind the heart the center of affection and intellect is submitted and surrendered to

[18:15] God and that is a spiritual circumcision performed by the spirit of God when he regenerates quickens that person makes them alive in Christ so what Paul is preaching to the Gentiles is certainly not what the twelve are preaching to Jews and yet he didn't want repercussions or confusion certainly didn't want opposition from the twelve so he says I went to them and I explained to them that gospel that is that good news which I have been teaching to the Gentiles and if he had been teaching the same thing as they there wouldn't have been any point in it they would have simply said oh yeah we're all preaching the same thing no they weren't that's the whole point I'm trying to make and this is what is so confusing to so many Christians today because it requires more than one gospel and there are people who vehemently announce there's only one gospel in the

[19:24] Bible and that's all there ever will be there's just one gospel no there isn't it is true and no one supports this or insists on it more than yours truly there is but one gospel that is available and legitimate to be preaching today and that is the gospel of the grace of God believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved the word gospel means good news that's the good news for now and it is not encumbered with Jewish dietary laws with circumcision with Sabbath keeping no no no no no in Christ the law has been done away Paul is preaching to non Jewish people and he is preaching a message of the grace of God that is by faith by grace through faith plus nothing that's the good news for this dispensation that's the message of the gap that's the message that was committed unto

[20:29] Paul it is called the administration of the grace of God it means the doling out the dispensation of the grace of God the giving forth the grace of God that's what he was called upon to do and as he gave it to other teachers they picked up on it and they began multiplying and this new message was beginning to catch hold while as the Jews were still with Moses and the law so we've got a time of tremendous confusion and a time of differentiation that is taking place because both gospels the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of the grace of God are both operative running alongside side by side and they are both found in the book of Acts the one is fading out and the other is fading in and by the time the first century ends the gospel of the kingdom is going to cease being proclaimed at all because

[21:38] Jerusalem is going to be destroyed laid waste in 70 AD and the only thing that will remain are believing Jews who were scattered as a result of persecution they stay faithful to Moses but the number of Gentiles the number of non-Jews coming to faith in Jesus Christ is going to grow and increase dramatically and that will be the beginning in the early centuries of what we know as the Christian church an additional element of the mystery Christ revealed to Paul relates to the Holy Spirit baptism this is a baptism without water and that too is enigmatic to a lot of people because for so many people Christians in particular when they hear the word baptism they think of one thing water H2O do you realize the scriptures refer to twelve different baptisms and only five or six only about half of them involve water the others have no water in them at all the basic meaning of baptism isn't water it is identification it is to cause one to be identified with another when believers believe on the

[23:10] Lord Jesus Christ they are baptized by the spirit of God no water into the spiritual body of Christ and they become one in union with him in Ephesians 4 5 I believe Paul refers to this when he says there is one Lord one faith one baptism well now how can he say there is one baptism when the Bible refers to 12 different baptisms I think he is simply saying there is one baptism that is for this day and age for this dispensation of the grace of God there is but one baptism and that is the baptism that identifies you with the person of Jesus Christ we are placed in union with Christ spiritually we become bone flesh of his flesh we are one with Christ and one with other believers in the body of Christ with

[24:11] John the Baptist and the twelve apostles to Israel the emphasis was upon the physical because that's where it was supposed to be and if you follow the four gospels and the early chapters of the book of Acts particularly up to the conversion of the apostle Paul the intervention and the activities of God and of Christ and of the twelve apostles as they ministered exclusively to the children of Israel was physical physical physical everything was physical material it focused on the land the physical land of Israel the land that God gave to our fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob and you can't get much more physical than healing the eyes of a blind man and causing the deaf to hear and bringing back the dead from the grave and giving sight to the blind and so on all of these things are physical and they are part and parcel of that special ministry that went to

[25:15] Israel because you see when Jesus Christ returns and establishes his kingdom everything that is broken in this miserable fallen world is going to be fixed justice is going to prevail death and disease as we now know it is not going to occur then not like it does now we are told that one shall die at an age of a hundred and be thought to be a child longevity of life is going to be restored as it was before the flood all of these things are going to be different it is going to be paradise regained it's going to be the kingdom of heaven come to earth it's going to be where righteousness will prevail and sickness and disease as we know it and death as we know it and animals preying upon other animals in the food chain all of that's going to be done away with things are going to be right because when Jesus

[26:16] Christ returns he's going to set up Jerusalem and occupy the throne of his father David and when Jesus was presented by John the Baptist and declared to be Israel's long awaited Messiah John as much as says to Israel listen God promised to our fathers 4,000 years ago that he would send one who would be the seed of the woman that is a direct descendant of Eve and that this seed would have his heel struck by the adversary the opponent that is Satan would inflict that wound upon Christ that would result in his death on the cross but he would not gain the victory God would because

[27:17] God would raise him from the dead signifying the penalty he made was accepted in full and that gives him the legal right to lift the curse on the earth and all that remains is for the nation of Israel to embrace Yeshua Hamashiach Jesus the Messiah as the long awaited one and Peter one of the twelve exclaimed to Jesus thou art the Christ the son of the living God and indeed he was and the people had every right to ask all right if you are the Messiah if you are the long awaited king if you are the one who is going to establish the kingdom prove it let's see you do your stuff because we know the conditions that are going to prevail in the kingdom and they're not here now because we've got lepers all over the place we've got blind people we've got people with the palsies we've got people with blood issues we've got people who are sick and dying we've got people who are dead what are you going to do about them and you can read the numerous texts in the gospel that multitudes came to him with many diseases and

[28:47] Jesus healed them all he didn't heal some of them he healed all of them he brought his credentials with him demonstrating who he was yet to show you the depth and the power of human sin and of unbelief the consensus among the ruling establishment of Israel was we will not have this man to reign over us crucify him crucify him and they did so far as Israel was concerned everything came to a screeching halt and when Peter stood up in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost I can see him pointing that bony long fisherman's finger at that crowd and saying you have by wicked and cruel hands slain and crucified the

[29:55] Lord of glory what are you going to do about it and there were at least 3,000 people who were convicted and had to conclude you know what this man is right we really blew it we can't undo what's been done we can't uncrucify him Peter said no but you can repent you can change your mind which means you have to admit you were wrong and I've always said that's the toughest part of the gospel is to get people to acknowledge that they're wrong because you will never come to faith in Christ as long as you believe everything is alright it's only when you know you are wrong and you're willing and big enough to admit it and you reach out to God for his salvation through

[30:56] Christ 3,000 people came to that conviction on that day and the number is going to be added to later it's going to be very dramatic but the emphasis was upon the physical and when you get into the ministry of the church age the dispensation of the grace of God the gap where we are now the emphasis is not on the physical it's on the spiritual and the spiritual is intangible the spiritual is harder to get a handle on because we can see things that are physical we can measure them and touch them but when it's spiritual that means it has to do with the mind the thinking process and this is why I have said over and over and over again Christianity is a thinking faith we have a volition a will that is given us and the ability to process facts and information and data and reach a conclusion and we will be responsible for acting on that conclusion the spiritual emphasis is in contrast to the physical and the material that preceded the age before this is what

[32:20] Paul meant when he said we walk by faith not by sight and when you're walking by sight you are plugged into the physical but you know what the physical is a lot more dramatic the physical has got a wow factor to it that's lacking in the spiritual the spiritual is internal inward quiet private what a contrast yet there is a spiritual aspect to the healing of the human spirit and aligning it with the spirit of God that as the song we just sang said it took a miracle of love and grace when he saved my soul cleansed and made me whole it took a miracle of love and grace and it wasn't anything physical involving it involved the submission of our will and our volition to the information

[33:20] God has given regarding his son and our embracing that and when we do in a way we don't understand God's spirit regenerates makes us a new person on the inside converts us saves us and brings us to him that is amazing and it's all the spiritual operation there isn't anything physical connected with it and sometimes this makes it difficult for people to grasp because let's face it the physical is where the pizazz is that's where the glory seems to be that's the showy stuff that's the display it's pretty showy isn't it when you walk up to a man who hasn't walked or stood on his own two legs for one day in his life and he's over forty years old and you say to the man silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I unto thee and stood on those two legs that had never held his weight before in his entire life don't tell me that doesn't have pizzazz that is showy stuff that gets people's attention but when somebody is healed spiritually on the inside you can't even see it how do you know anything took place well we don't know except what they do and say outwardly but it's something that happens in the private chambers of one's own spirit and all the emphasis is on the spiritual and you know you see this as you move through the book of acts there's a lot of physicality and the ministry of the apostles and

[35:10] Peter is doing a lot of dramatic things and healing and the name of the girl escapes me now Dorcas Dorcas who was into fine linen work and sewed goods and everything and she died and everyone was lamenting the fact was going to miss her and Peter was used of God to bring her back to life and everybody was wowed by that but as you move on through the acts and this physical stuff with Israel is getting slimmer and slimmer and the spiritual stuff with Paul and the gospel of the grace of God is increasing more and more you find a change taking place there is a transition and when had his thorn in the flesh he prayed that God would remove it we still don't know what it was but it was something that troubled him it hindered him and his reasoning was you know if I didn't have this thing to contend with

[36:12] I could be a lot more effective and I'm just going to pray and ask God to take away this thing so I'll be free from it and that he'll do that in my case and he didn't and he prayed again and he didn't and he prayed a third time and finally the Lord said Paul I'm doing something different now I'm not going to take it away I'm not going to heal you miraculously but I'm going to give you an extra measure of grace that will enable you to deal with it and I'm not going I'm going to enable you to cope with it and then there was that time when he said Trophimus you know he was on the go going from one place to another traveling by boat he says

[37:13] Trophimus have I left at Miletus sick well you can only gather that not only was he sick but he obviously was too sick to travel that's why he left him why didn't he just go over and lay hands on him and say be healed and Trophimus said oh gee that's great I feel wonderful let's get on the boat and go but there wasn't any of that why wasn't there because the emphasis has now switched and we have multitudes of Christians today who are still trying to minister with the emphasis on the previous dispensation which was all physical and material because that's where all the showy stuff is and they're not nearly as interested in what God is doing spiritually again Paul said we walk by faith not by sight an additional element of the mystery

[38:18] Christ revealed to Paul relates to the Holy Spirit baptism a baptism without water with John the Baptist and the twelve apostles to Israel the emphasis was upon the physical as we mentioned that's where it was supposed to be the land of Israel and all things physical including physical water for cleansing physical healing and physical everything being restored the gospel of the grace of God the emphasis is on the spiritual and Paul says in first Corinthians 12 and verse 13 for by one spirit are we all baptized or identified into one body whether we be Jew or Gentile male or female and have all been made to drink of one spirit that is spirit baptism that's the baptism of Romans 6 and verse 6 that's the baptism that regenerates you that makes you a new person in

[39:22] Christ water can't do that no matter how you apply it by sprinkling pouring or immersion water will not do that with the later or updated revelation that Christ gave to Paul Christ is now the head of that spiritual body of believers and for references I would suggest you consult Ephesians 1 22 and 23 Colossians 1 18 this is all new terminology and brand new concepts never before prophesied or imagined they are thus called facets of the mystery revealed to Paul who in turn revealed them to everybody I think of the mystery and the mystery age as being like a beautiful diamond a diamond shaped stone that has several facets on it a facet is a side of the diamond and it puts several facets or flats on it with the intent of magnifying the brilliance of it so it will be reflective to the extent greatest extent possible and that's exactly what this mystery is like it is a multifaceted aspect with different realities spiritual realities all around that diamond and with the later or updated revelation that

[40:54] Christ gave to Paul Christ is now the head of that spiritual body of believers completely new thing these all of these things concerning the mystery these were not secrets to be kept but to be revealed but not until this time and Paul went all over the Mediterranean world to reveal them he was often met with opposition just as his message is met with opposition today in many circles even among true believers question what do all these matters about Paul the apostle and the gap in which we are now living have to do with prophecy the answer is nothing nothing that's the whole point they are devoid of prophecy they are just that parenthetical plug-in they're in the midst that nobody knew of nobody dreamed of and

[42:02] God was not pleased to reveal although it was hidden in his heart but unrevealed from eternity past then if it has nothing to do why are we studying these things some might say why not get on to prophecy the tribulation the second coming Armageddon and the millennial state and the reason is because we are trying to maintain a chronology of events so a fuller appreciation can be gained we are developing the events coming upon the world in the order we believe they will occur our goal is to gain as comprehensive and understanding as possible first Paul's receiving of new information commences a whole new order a new paradigm a new dispensation or administration of which he is the chief revelator second so far today we have only examined ever so briefly the gap in which we are living and what will close or end the gap three the distinction often overlooked between the gospel of the kingdom given by

[43:15] Christ while yet on earth and that which was commissioned to the twelve who preached the gospel exclusively to the nation of Israel before and after the death of Christ and this distinction is often ignored not even recognized and yet it becomes very vital otherwise you're trying to preach two different messages to the same audience and all you've got is a massive contradiction and do you know this is precisely part of the reason that unbelievers make statements like this you can't believe anything the Bible says because it's got all these contradictions in it well there are numerous places that flatly appear to be contradictory and if you do not apply the rules given by Miles Coverdale that we've suggested that were given in 1535 if you do not apply those rules you are consigned to a hopeless mass of apparent contradictions that you cannot resolve because they are two different programs and when you try to mesh them and make them fit they won't cooperate this is what we mean by rightly dividing the word of God it means cutting it it means you assign certain things to certain times and places like the

[44:45] Bible does and you assign other things to their respective time and places like the Bible does and when you try to put them all together and mix them and stir them up you've got an absolute hermeneutical nightmare that just won't work the prominence given to the spiritual in this dispensation of the grace of God as opposed to the emphasis afforded in the gospel of the kingdom consisting of the physical by miracles focus upon the physical land of Israel all these differences are exclusively the result of these updates given to Paul by the risen Christ and they are referred to as the mystery so it is all here and I would be happy to take a couple of moments to entertain any questions that you might have and please feel free I'm not asking that everybody or anybody agree with me if you've got something to offer that refutes what I've said

[45:49] I would benefit from hearing it because we're looking for truth Marvis in the beginning of your message you said Saul was persecuting Christians and I'm not sure you meant to say that because actually am I incorrect when I say Paul was actually persecuting believers in the Messiah you are absolutely right and I appreciate you bringing that to my attention if I said Paul was persecuting Christians I misspoke and I was incorrect in that he I guess we would say maybe he was persecuting what later would come to be known as Christians but Paul Paul was persecuting exclusively I don't think there were any non-Jews that he was persecuting I think they were all Jews and they had come to faith in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah and

[46:50] Christians will not even be a term that surfaces until you get to Acts 11 and that is a full 10 or 12 years after the death burial and resurrection of Christ they were called Christians first at Antioch so we would call them and thank you for the correction we would call them believing Jews as opposed to unbelieving Jews thank you yes another thing that's just kind of a comment that's always been and still somewhat confusing to me is that during the time when there were two gospels being preached and you've got the 12 apostles preaching what they preached and then you've got Paul who's preaching to Gentiles but then some Jews come along with his gospel it's kind of like well okay so when was it when was the gospel of the kingdom not okay to preach because it's not okay to preach now and so

[47:53] I think that's just so very confusing to many people who don't understand the dispensational point of view and it's still confusing to me because I don't think we can put it oh this is the date and the time that that gospel ended and the other one was the only one you are absolutely right and let me make this clarification because this is your question statement brought up a very very important point let me let me jab this in here because this is really critical I wouldn't have thought of it is generally assumed by Christendom that it was the crucifixion of Christ that spelled the doom for the nation of Israel and that that's what Peter was saying in Acts 2 that is not the case at all what I am saying is the kingdom that Jesus came to provide and to offer to Israel based upon their acceptance of him remained available and viable to the nation of

[48:55] Israel conditioned upon their repentance after the crucifixion of Christ it is commonly assumed that the crucifixion of Christ meant that God was finished with Israel but Jesus prayed from the cross father forgive them they don't know what they're doing I don't think he was talking about the Roman soldiers that was a given they didn't understand they didn't know anything they were just carrying out orders it was just the execution squad doing what Pontius Pilate told them to do he was talking about his own countrymen those who had conspired with Judas Iscariot and the chief priests to hand him over to the authorities to arrange for his crucifixion he was praying for forgiveness for the nation of Israel and I think God forgave them and

[49:55] I think that the kingdom that Christ was talking about continued to be offered and available to Israel after the death burial and resurrection of Christ and Acts chapter 3 makes it so clear Peter says as he's continuing a Pentecostal message from chapter 2 that there are two things that are necessary for the kingdom of heaven to come to earth and one is that Jesus Christ needs to pay the penalty for reversing the curse placed upon the earth because of man's sin and he did that in his death burial and resurrection he did that and the only thing that remains since God has fulfilled his part of the deal the only thing that remains is for you Israel as a nation to repent of your sin and to receive Christ as your Messiah and when you do God will send him back again and he will get things on and again they rejected and that's when persecution of the twelve apostles began and it continued on until the stoning of

[51:03] Stephen and ultimately until the destruction of Jerusalem I do not know exactly when God's offer of the kingdom to the nation of Israel was finally and fully withdrawn I don't know that but I have my suspicions that it might have been 70 AD when he allowed the whole city of Jerusalem to be destroyed with the temple and everything concerning it with the Roman general Titus that may very well have been the end right there fascinating time anything else any others well I really appreciate the statements and clarification Marvis because it allowed me to clarify some more so thank you so much for your kind attention and we'll ask you to stand we'll be dismissed loving father we realize fully that despite everything we've said and all that we understand there's still so many things that we don't grasp and don't understand we recognize our knowledge to be so deficient but we are grateful for every additional item of information that we come across that we see how it fits together because the word of

[52:25] God is interconnected everything in the scriptures is connected with everything in the scriptures and we are so grateful for the cohesiveness and the coherence of this book we pray that you will allow this time that we have spent together dealing with these important critical issues to allow us to use this as a framework upon which additional truth can be built and anywhere at any time we come to error we pray that you reveal it to me or to those in the audience so that it can be brought to our attention and we can correct it we believe you to be the God of truth in whom there is no error and we want to ferret out all the truth that we can thank you for all that you have been pleased to make available thank you for the remarkable ministry of raising up this man Saul of Tarsus to be the apostle to the Gentiles for the benefit that we derive from his ministry we recognize it all comes from you

[53:27]  Christ wonderful name Amen