Revelation vs. Instruction: How Paul Received the Gospel

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, it's good again to have everybody back, and once more we'll burn up the time. I just can't amaze—I'm always amazed at how fast it seems to go. But turn with me now, and we'll continue on from last week's lesson, that the Twelve and Christ gave no indication of anything other than this Old Testament layout as we saw it in chapter 2. And if you'll remember, last week we pointed out that Jesus told them clearly that they'd be going to Jerusalem, He'd be put to death, then He would rise again the third day, and they comprehended none of that. They had no idea that He was going to die. And after He was dead, they had no idea that He'd be rising from the dead. Else, why weren't they there that Sunday morning? The only one that showed up was Martha, wasn't it, or Mary Magdalene. And she certainly wasn't there to see if He'd come out of the tomb. She was there to carry out the custom of anointing the body with spices and so forth. So they had no indication, even after three years of His earthly ministry, of His death, burial, and resurrection, which is the very heart of our Gospel today. And so we have to realize that they did not preach Christ crucified and risen from the dead. So now then, if you'll come in to the book of Acts, chapter 1, and we'll continue that theme for just a little bit of the 11. Judas, of course, is now gone, and his slot hasn't yet been filled by Matthias. But here in Acts, chapter 1, they are all meeting on the Mount of Olives, and the Lord Jesus is about to ascend, as Psalms 110, verse 1, said He would. The Father said, look, they've rejected you, they won't listen to you. So come sit at my Father's right hand, until, and then, of course, that was indicating when He would send him back to yet be the King of kings. All right, so now in Acts, chapter 1, drop down to verse 6, when they therefore were come together, they, that is the 11, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore, and I point out in my classes the other night, the word again. Why do they use that word again? What do you suppose those 11 men had in their memory? Oh, they understood David's and Solomon's glory, and they were wondering, will Israel now have a kingdom like unto Solomon's in all of his glory? And so their question was appropriate, Lord, will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Now why did these men have the kingdom so uppermost in their mind? That's all they could think about. Well, go back with me to Matthew. Now I didn't intend to make this a study of the Gospels by no means. That's going to come the way we're going several years down the road if the Lord tarries. But anyway, once in a while we'll come back and look at it. And so if you'll come back to Matthew, I think it's chapter 19 if I'm not mistaken, yeah, Matthew chapter 19, here the 12 are still part and parcel of that earthly ministry. And you know, I often think of these times in Scripture. You remember way back in Genesis when Abraham had received all the promises, and finally he got to the place and he says, yeah, but Lord, how do I know? And now Peter does basically the same thing. Look what he says, verse 27, Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all our fishing business, our family, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall we have therefore? Logical question. Yeah, and he wasn't talking about his salvation. They had that. But what does Peter say? Well, now, Lord, what more is in it for us? What does the future have for us? A logical question. And now look at Jesus' answer. And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that you who have followed me, and he's talking about the 11 because he knew what Judas was, but he says, you who have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory. I always like to ask folk, what does it mean to regenerate something? Will you make it over like it was before? And so what he's saying is that when the regeneration, the curse is lifted and it goes back when the kingdom is set up and it'll be as it was back there in the Garden of Eden, when the earth has been regenerated and the Son of Man will sit here ruling his kingdom in glory. I'll read on. You also. Now he's talking to the 11. And of course, you know, I said Matthias will come in to Judas' place. You also shall sit in the throne of his glory. I mean, you also shall sit upon 12 thrones judging or ruling the 12 tribes of Israel. You think Peter and the rest of them forgot that? Not for a moment. This was just uppermost in their thinking. All right. Now then, if you'll come back to Acts chapter 1 and look at that verse again in the light of that. Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel so that we can rule the 12 tribes? And what's Jesus' answer? Now, Peter, you should know better. Is that what he says? No. Does he upbraid them for not realizing that he's talking about something way out of this world? No. He answers them with, again, a perfectly legitimate question that simply says, it's not for you to know when, but the time is coming. You're still going to sit and rule the 12 tribes of Israel, but it's not for you to know when. In verse 7, he said, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. And then verse 8, but in the interim, until it becomes a reality, you shall receive, what's the word? Power. And that's the whole idea of the Holy Spirit's coming on that day of Pentecost, is to give these Jewish believers the power to continue the ministry that Christ had been accomplishing for three years. And what was it? Signs and miracles beyond human understanding. And these men were to have that kind of power. So he says, you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. Now that sounds to us, and according to what we normally call the Great Commission back there in Matthew, we seem to have the idea that as soon as Christ ascended here in chapter 1, and the Holy Spirit came down in chapter 2, these Jews would start going around the world preaching the gospel. But did they? Well, I guess not. Now if you'll follow with me to Acts chapter 8, Acts chapter 8. Now this is just a little overview. This is by no means an in-depth study. I don't intend it to be. But I'm trying to set the stage for coming back to our analogy of Isaac's bride and Christ's bride, the outcalling of that Gentile body of Christ. And I'm building up to it. In Acts chapter 8, and just jump right in at verse 1. Well, chapter 7, of course, is the stoning of Stephen, and he's been martyred. And who was standing there egging him on? Well, old Saul of Tarsus. And now verse 1 of chapter 8. Now we've got to get a time frame in here. This is about 7 or 8 years after Pentecost. Time has been going. And about 7 or 8 years have elapsed. And now it says, Saul was consenting unto his, that is, Stephen's death, and at that time there was a great persecution against the church, or the assembly, which was at Jerusalem. In other words, this called out group of Jewish believers who had believed who Jesus really was. And they were still within the confines of Judaism. They were still practicing the law. They were still worshiping at the temple. But they were also a set-aside group who had recognized their Messiah and put their faith in Him. So anyway, they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except who? Except the apostles. Now, think about that for a moment. If those men who had been with Christ for 3 years, if they didn't understand the Word of God and their, quote, commission, then who in the world could? They did. And that's why they stayed in Jerusalem. Now remember, 7 years have elapsed, and they're not out there amongst the Gentiles. They're sitting tight in Jerusalem. And I know it shocks a lot of people, but that's what the book says. All the other Jews had been scattered because of the pressure, but those 12 men stayed in Jerusalem. Now, why? Well, I always like to give the analogy. A couple years ago, I had some meetings, and I went on alone, and then toward the end of the week, my little wife came, and I think I met her at a bus depot, and the bus was running late. And right across the street was a coffee shop. Oh, my, I could have used a cup of coffee. But you know what I knew? Just as soon as I go in that restaurant and have a cup of coffee, the bus will drive up, and I won't be at the door to meet her. And as I was sitting in the car mulling all that over, I thought of this verse right here. Now, this is exactly the frame of mind of these 12 men. They weren't about to go down to Cairo. They weren't about to go to Rome. They weren't about to go anywhere else, because just as sure as they'd leave Jerusalem, what would happen? The Messiah would come again. And they'd be gone. And so in spite of all the pressure of this horrible persecution, these 12 men stayed in Jerusalem. Contrary to the Word of God, not at all, because Peter understood that he had no ministry to the Gentiles until Israel's king was in place. Now, this is kind of hard for us to swallow. Took me a long time to, just even from the Word, be ready to pass it on. But once you see that, boy, the Bible just opens up and just as clear as a bell. You can see that Peter and the 11 perfectly well understood that they could not go out and evangelize the Gentile world until this had come to fruition. Now then, this is chapter 8. Now, if you'll go on over just for a moment to chapter 11 in Acts, and it'll back it up what I've just said even a little more. In Acts chapter 11, drop down to verse 19, where it says, Now they who were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, in other words, the people referred to in Acts 8, verse 1, These that were scattered abroad went as far as Phoenix and Cyprus and Antioch. Now, that Antioch was up north of present -day Beirut. And they went as far as Antioch, preaching the word, that is, the Old Testament, to, what's the next word? None but Jews, what? Only. Now, isn't that plain? Here we are eight years, seven years after Pentecost, and the word is so plain. Nobody was going to Gentiles. It was Jew only. Why? Because this was the program that they knew. No one has told them anything different. Now, after chapter 8, and I don't say this facetiously, what's the next one? Chapter 9. And what in the world takes place in chapter 9? The conversion of Paul or Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus. For what purpose? Oh, to fulfill his tremendous religious zeal, to stamp out the followers of this imposter from Nazareth, who Saul thought was nothing but a blasphemer. And he, in his religious zeal, was going to stamp it out at any cost. But before he gets to Damascus, you know what happened. He has that confrontation from the ascended, glorified Lord of glory. And the part I want to point out here is down to verse 12, 11 and 12 of this chapter 9, where the Lord speaks to Ananias, that believing Jew up there in Damascus. And he says in verse 11, Arise, and go into the street which is called straight, and inquire in the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth. Now, he's already had that experience out there on the road. Verse 12, And he hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. And Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to the saints at Jerusalem, that is, the Jewish believers. And here at Damascus, he has authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on thy name. And now lock in verse 15. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, Ananias, remember. For he, Saul, is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles. Here it comes. Oh, God hasn't forgotten the Gentiles. And what does God know? That Israel is not going to fulfill this Old Testament program because she is constantly rejecting ever. Now, we're back here. The tribulation hasn't come out yet. And Israel in this interval of time that we had back there in Psalms chapter 2, undetermined, but before the wrath and vexation would come in, Israel has kept right on rejecting and rejecting and rejecting. And so now God says we're going to do something totally different. And what is it? He's going to save this Jew, this religious zealot by grace. And now read on what God says to Ananias. For he's going to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, that is, the kings of the world and the children of Israel. Now, we always have to remember that the aids of grace, again, is predominantly Gentile, just like back here was predominantly Jew, but there can be some Jews saved. A Jew is not locked out of salvation in grace, but it's predominantly Gentile in its nature. And in verse 16, God says to Ananias, for I will show him, Saul, how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Now then, if you'll drop down in that same chapter to verse 20, Acts 9, verse 20. This Saul of Tarsus, now recently recognizing who Jesus really is and was, he was the very God that he thought he was serving. And he goes, verse 20, straightway to preach Christ where? Now, what does that tell you? Oh, he's still Jew only. See, he had no idea that God is going to go to the Gentile with a different program. Paul also, or Saul yet, all they knew was this Old Testament. Now, you've got to remember, it's almost 100 years after Christ before any of the New Testament really comes together. And it doesn't come together as the canon of Scripture, all of it, until between the 300 and 400th year. But at this point in time, there is no New Testament written. And so the only Word of God they got is the Old Testament. But I'll tell you, these people knew that Old Testament, and they knew this program. They knew the promise of the King and the kingdom, and that that's when Israel could evangelize the rest of the world. So now then, verse 20, Paul goes straight to the synagogue to approach the Jew. And what does he preach? That Christ is the Son of God who died for me and rose from the dead. No, that's not what it says. Saul of Tarsus doesn't know any more about the death, burial, and resurrection as God's plan of salvation than Peter did back there before he was ever crucified. And this is what we have to understand. How many times I've told my classes, you remember faith is taking God at His Word. But you can't take God at His Word until what? Until He speaks it. You can't assume what God is going to say. We have to wait until God gives explicit instructions, and then we take it and we believe it. So here's Saul of Tarsus now. Oh, he's just filled with wonder that the one that he thought was a blasphemer and an imposter was indeed his Jehovah. And he had died, and he'd been raised from the dead. And so all he can proclaim is that this Jesus was the Christ. Now, if you'll read on, and we won't take time to do it here. Our time is too short. But you see, God takes supernatural means immediately to get Saul out of Damascus. And what does He do? He brings in a threat to his life. And that threat is so real that his friends have to lower him down in a basket at night so that he can escape out of the city. And then as we picked up, I think, in Galatians a few weeks ago, where did Paul go or Saul? Down to Mount Sinai, we think, in the Sinai Peninsula, because he said, I went down to Arabia. And in another place, he refers to it as Sinai in Arabia. And what happened there? Well, for three years, three years, Saul of Tarsus is alone with his ascended Lord. And God just pours out on that man all of these doctrines now that are going to go out to the Gentile. Totally new, totally different. And this is why he uses the language that he uses back in his letters. Turn with me again, if you will. We've used the verse before. But some of these, you almost have to hear it a dozen times before it soaks in. Go back to Ephesians now. Go back to Ephesians. I think this is a verse we might have used four, five, six weeks ago. Time goes fast. But in Ephesians chapter 3, beginning of verse 1 again, For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you. What's the next word? Gentiles, see? Oh, that's why he was commissioned, to go to the Gentiles. If you have heard of the dispensation or the administration of the grace of God which is given to me, you would. How did we get it? From Paul to us. From me to you. How that by, again, what's the next word? Revelation. I think I had to do this in one of our classes the other night. What's the difference between revelation and instruction? Well, all the difference in the world. See, when you're instructed, you're being taught by another human being. Paul never claimed to be taught by anybody. It was all by revelation. Let's see if we've got enough time. Keep your hand here in Ephesians, because I think this is such a beautiful illustration of that very fact. Go back to Acts, the book of Acts again, chapter 18. Maybe we've alluded to this once before in one of these classes, but if we have, I will trust the Spirit has a reason for repeating it. But back in Acts, chapter 18, you drop down to verse 1 and 2 and 3. And after these things, Paul departed from Athens and he came to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, and his wife Priscilla. And because, verse 3, they were of the same craft, he abode with them, and they worked, for by their occupation they were tent makers. Now, I always like to make the illusion not only of just tent makers sewing, but I like to picture a group of ladies around a quilting frame. And all the while they're quilting, what are they doing? Well, they're talking, they're visiting, they're discussing. And I think you had the same thing here. And Paul and Priscilla and Aquila, while they sew that old tough canvas, Paul is teaching them. He is just laying it out on them, all for a purpose. Now, if you'll come over in that same chapter to verse 24. And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria. And I remember there was a tremendous Jewish seminary at Alexandria, Egypt at this time. And so this Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures, that is the Old Testament, he came to Ephesus. And this man was instructed. Now, that's why I use this as an illustration. This fellow was taught, probably in the seminary. He was instructed in the way of the Lord, being fervent in the Spirit, and spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. That's as far as he'd come. He too knew nothing more than the Old Testament program. He hadn't heard of the gospel of grace. And now then, look what happens. Verse 26. And as he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him this great, eloquent, famous seminary-taught Apollos. And what'd they do? They expounded unto him the way of God more completely, more perfectly. How could they do it? Oh, they'd been with Paul. They'd been with Paul. And now look what this man Apollos is gentleman enough to do. He listened. He learned from those two little lay people. And it says, when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, that other part of Greece, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, whom when he was come, helped them much who had believed, how? Through grace. How could Apollos help these grace-believers without having been taught the things of Paul? Now then, just quickly for comparison's sake, if you'll go back to Galatians chapter 1, this was Paul's account of where he got his information. Galatians chapter 1, where he writes in verse 11, Galatians 1, verse 11, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I, what's the word, taught, see? In other words, he didn't go back up to Jerusalem after his conversion and say, Hey, fellas, teach me everything you know about this Jesus. You were with him three years. No, he said, that didn't happen. But how did he get what he knows? By the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now there's the difference between revelation and instruction. And so, Saul, knowing nothing of this gospel of grace until God separated him, took him down to the Mount Sinai, and revealed by revelation these great new doctrines of grace that now will go to the Gentile. And in our next program, we'll show you on our timeline just exactly how this was all pushed out into the future to make room in here for this parenthetical period of time that we like to call the Age of Grace. 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