What Was the Secret God Kept Hidden for Centuries?

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 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 to have everybody in again this afternoon, and we've even got some folks clear up from Minnesota. Glad to have them with us today, and some other folks that haven't been here before. But anyway, we trust that you'll enjoy the afternoon of taping. And again, we always like to remind our audience we tape four programs in succession, because when we first start doing this, we'd get phone calls and say, well, you know, what's going on? Don't you have more than one shirt? And do you keep everybody in the same place every time? Well, if they realize that we're taping four programs in succession, hopefully that'll answer all their questions. And again, for those of you joining us on television, we're just an informal, independent Bible study. Nobody underwrites us. We have to give an account to no one but the Lord Himself. And we may not always teach things that you all agree with, but whatever. We primarily want to get folks to come into the Word and see what the Bible says, and not just depend on what men may say. And I always tell folks, even those of you who are in my classes, don't go by what I say. We go by what the book says. And all I try to do is help people to read. You know, it's amazing how many times I can just read a verse, not a comment. And people say, that's the first time I ever understood that verse. Well, I didn't make a comment. It's just that people don't read. They read, but they don't read. So anyway, that's the whole purpose of this program. And we always like to remind you that we do have all the past ones on videotape, audiotape, as well as the printed page. And there are the little books on the screen. And if you're interested in any of those materials, you just simply write to us, or give us a call, and we'll respond as quickly as we can. Okay, time is always of the essence. Everybody tells us the half hour goes too fast, so we're going to get right back into the Book. And in our last program, you'll remember we started in Ephesians 1, verse 10. And we only really got about halfway. And we'll read the verse, and then we'll pick up where we left off on our timeline. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10. That in the dispensation, or that period of time, or that administration, of the fullness of times, which would be that final thousand years of human history, which we refer to constantly as the millennial reign, the thousand year reign of Christ, or whatever. That in that dispensation of the fullness of times, He, that is God, might gather together in one all things in Christ. Now there's that prepositional phrase that I'm always referring to in Ephesians. Ninety-six times, I think, in this little six chapter letter, in Christ, in whom, in Him, whatever, it's always a reference to our position in Christ. Now you know, one of my sons asked me the other day, and it's a logical question. Well, how do we know we're in Christ? We don't feel any different. We don't look any different. Well, you know what my answer was? By faith. The Bible says that when we believed, we became a member of the Body of Christ. We were baptized into it, or placed into it, by a work of the Holy Spirit. And we don't feel that. You don't all of a sudden get a diploma, or anything like that. But we take it by faith, that this is what the Bible has claimed. Alright, so now reading on, that He will gather together in one, that is in Christ, all things in Christ. And then here's where we divided it. Both everything which are in heaven, and which are on earth, everything will be brought together even again in Him. Alright, so we took the premise that beginning with way back in Genesis, God started dealing with one nation in particular, the earthly people, Israel. And that's as far as we came with our timeline. From Adam of course, to Abraham was about 2,000 years. And then 2,000 before Christ, we had the appearance of Abraham, and the nation of Israel. And from Genesis 12 until we get well into the Book of Acts, it's primarily, not exclusively, I always have to make a point of that, but it is primarily God dealing with Jew only. Now I'll tell you where I picked up the term. Honey, let's go back to Acts chapter 11. I didn't intend to use this, so I've got to give her a little advance warning once in a while. Acts chapter 11, and let's drop down to verse 19. And here's where I picked up that term, Jew only. And I use it without apology, except that I'll usually add with exceptions. See, we know even in the Old Testament economy, God was dealing only with Israel, but He did in His sovereign grace send Jonah to Nineveh, a Gentile city. And in His sovereign grace, the spies ended up on the wall of Jericho and met Rahab. And Naomi by God's sovereign grace brought Ruth back to Bethlehem. Now those were all exceptions of Gentiles, but for the most part it has been Jew only. Now this of course refers back to the time of Stephen's martyrdom, which we may look at again in a few moments. But as it refers back to Stephen's martyrdom, which is about seven years after Pentecost, this is what the verse is referring to. Now they who were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose around or about Stephen, back in chapter 7, traveled as far as Phenis, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but Jews. That's what the book says. That's not my idea. I'm not being bigoted or anything like that. The book makes it so plain that as these believing Jews who had followed Christ proudly in His earthly ministry, or had responded to Peter's and the Levites preaching in the early chapters of Acts, these believing Jews now, because of Saul's persecution, had fled Jerusalem, had gone as far north as Antioch up in Syria, but wherever they went they preached the word. Now remember there's no New Testament yet. Not a word of New Testament is written until 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 A.D. And so what word have they got? Old Testament, which of course was written to the Jew. And so these Jewish believers scattered throughout that eastern end of the Mediterranean, preaching to none, but Jew only. And that fits right in with what we said in the last program, that when Christ began His earthly ministry, and I showed you the verses, He commanded the twelve to go not into the way of a Gentile, into any city of the Samaritan, enter you not, but go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And oh, people have a hard time swallowing that. Oh, I can remember when we were in Israel a couple years ago, and I was having my Bible class after dinner in the hotel, and some of the other tour group, I think they were from Florida or some place, and they came in of course, and attended, and they hadn't been with me all the way up. And so when all of a sudden they felt like they got hit in the face with this concept that Christ did not come to any but Jew, it just really angered one fellow. He just sort of got red as a beet, and he finally exploded. He says, You mean to tell me that Jesus did not have anything to do with the Gentiles? I said, I'm not telling you. That's what the Book tells you, that He came only to the Jew. And when Israel rejected it, yes, then He's going to turn to the Gentile. Now that's what we're going to see next in our timeline. But I want it understood that from the Scriptures, all the way from the call of Abraham until we get way into the Book of Acts, it's Jew only, with some exceptions. And I never like to have anyone forget that part of it. All right, now let's see, where can we go? We stopped in our last program in Acts chapter 1 verse 6, and maybe that's a good jumping off place, because even though for those of us in the studio it's been almost a month ago, yet for our folk watching on television it's just one day back. But now in Acts chapter 1, which is just a review of our last program, verse 6, and here's where we left off. So when they, that is the eleven, Judas is gone, and they haven't brought Matthias in yet. So when they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And I'll always make a point of what Jesus' answer was. He did not ridicule them for being ignorant, or foolish, or dreaming up pie in the sky. He merely says, it's not for you to know when. It's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when. And He says, it's not for you to know the time or the season which the Father hath put in His own power. The kingdom is coming. Don't you ever forget it. The kingdom is coming. Now the world has already been waiting over 1900 years since Jesus said this, but you want to remember in God's mind, that's only a couple days. A thousand years is but a day, and a day is a thousand years in God's sight. All right, now then I'm going to come on through the book of Acts real quickly. This is just sort of a timeline review, and I'm going to drop you in at Acts chapter 2 now, and we're going to see how Israel is still being approached with the same message that Jesus and the twelve proclaimed in the three years of earthly ministry. Now in Acts chapter 2, Peter is speaking on the Day of Pentecost, and look who he is talking to. And again, people miss this. What does he say? He says, "...ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him." So it's no question as to who he's talking to. He's talking to Jews, and again he brings them down to the same message that John the Baptist preached, that Jesus and the twelve preached, and he almost repeats it word for word in verse 38. And he said unto them, that is the children of Israel, "...repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Now that was the process, and as soon as you go to Gentiles, it's inverted. The whole format is inverted, but we'll look at that a little bit later. Alright, now you come on up through the Scriptures, and Peter keeps preaching his heart out, and then we come all the way up to Acts chapter 7, the one I mentioned a little bit ago. And we come to about the end of seven years from Pentecost, and I was so delighted that someone sent me a timeline again the other day, and almost identical with my timeline of the Book of Acts. I mean it wasn't off a year on any of the events, and he as well. And it was someone who had put it together way back in 1920, if I'm not mistaken, and he too had Stephen at about seven years after Pentecost. Alright, now even Stephen, see, in chapter 7, oh let me see. Let's start at verse 2. Acts chapter 7, verse 2. I want people to see to whom were these people talking. That's crucial. Acts chapter 7, verse 2. And he, Stephen, said, "...men, brethren, and fathers, hearken, or listen to me. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham." Now who alone can claim Abraham as their father? Well the Jew, see. And so according to Abraham, our father, when he was in Mesopotamia, and so on and so forth. Then he comes all the way up from Abraham, and builds on the Abrahamic covenant, the promises made to this nation, and finally comes all the way up toward the end of the chapter, and he puts it on them. Alright, here it is now in verse 51. Same chapter, Acts 7, verse 51. And he says to these Jews, "...you stiff -necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?" Now see, you analyze that. Does that fit a Gentile? No, that wouldn't fit Gentiles. Gentiles' fathers didn't persecute the prophets. Israel's did. And so always be careful that you don't just spread this out over people who are not involved. But it's strictly for the Jew. It's still Jew only. "...so which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain or killed them who showed before the coming of the Just One, the Messiah, of whom you have now been the betrayers and murderers, who have received the Law by the disposition of angels..." That is the nation of Israel again, and you've not kept it. Then you know what happened. "...they fell upon him, and they stopped their ears, and they cast him out of the city, and they stoned him with stones, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul, and they stoned Stephen." Now you remember when we were in the book of Acts, I called this the crescendo of Israel's rejection. This is where they hit the high point of unbelief and rejection. We'll not have Jesus of Nazareth to rule over us. He was an imposter. He could have never been the Messiah, and of course Saul was egging them on. Then you remember we got into the next chapter, chapter 9. Now we're going to come to what I call that fork in the road, where God has finally left off dealing with the nation of Israel, and He's going to do something totally different that has never been imagined by Peter or the eleven. Jesus never betrayed it that this would happen, because God in His grace now is going to do something totally out of the secret recesses of His own mind. And here it is, chapter 9. I guess we might as well start right at verse 1. "...and Saul, who was holding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, and Saul yet or still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." Now remember that word disciples is not the twelve. Disciples merely mean here followers or believers. And so Saul goes to the high priest, and desires letters to go to the synagogues, that if he could find anybody who had followed Jesus of Nazareth, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And then of course you know the account. Outside of Damascus, the Lord I think struck him down with this beam from heaven, probably a laser beam as we understand them now. But anyway, verse 4. "...he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And Saul responds, Who art thou, Lord of the nations? And he said unto him, Who art thou? And he said unto him, Who art thou? Immediately Saul knows it�s got to be God that he�s dealing with, and so that�s why his question. Who art thou Lord? But in the original it really should be Jehovah, because that�s who Saul understood. Jehovah was the God of Abraham, and so his question was, Who are you? Now what was the answer? Well I�m Jesus. Now imagine the man�s reaction. The one that he thought was such an imposter and a blasphemer, and the one whose name he was trying to just simply obliterate from Jewish thinking, was the same Jehovah that had called Abraham, that had spoken to Moses, that had spoken to David, and that was the same one who was now speaking from heaven, after having been crucified, buried, and risen from the dead. No wonder the man became what he was. What an experience to have that voice from heaven say, I am Jesus whom you persecuted. Well anyway, you always say God works the ends into the middle. So while he�s dealing outside the city with Saul, he�s dealing in the city with Ananias, so now let�s drop all the way down to verse 11. This is just a quick review of our time line. And the Lord said unto Ananias, Arise, and go into the street which is called straight, and inquire in the house of Judas, for one called Saul atars, for behold he prayeth. I�ll bet he was. After he�s gone years now suppressing the name of Jesus of Nazareth as a blasphemer, as a demon, and as the worst could be, and then suddenly realize that it was the God he thought he served, I�ll bet he did pray. I don�t blame him. And so the Lord says, he prayeth. Verse 12. And the Lord continues on, and He says, 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 of course knows all about Saul, so he says, I�ve heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to the saints, or the believers of Jerusalem. Now Ananias continues on, and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind, or arrest all that call on thy name. But the flip side is, go thy way, for he so all is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles. All of a sudden it�s a change in format. You�ve never seen anything like this. Jesus said, Go not into the way of the Gentiles. And all the way up through his earthly ministry we�ve seen that he ignored them, and as late as the Passover feast, and the Greeks wanted to see Jesus, he didn�t respond to them. He didn�t tell them, well bring them in to me. All he told Andrew and Philip is, Go tell those Greeks that the hour cometh, speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection, that unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abideth alone. But if it dies, it bringeth forth much fruit. He was speaking of course of his own death, burial, and resurrection, that Gentiles would have to wait until that finished work of the cross could be presented as a Gospel for them. Then reading on in verse 16, Acts chapter 9, for the Lord says, I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name�s sake. And then of course we know that the Apostle Paul from that point on, goes out to a three year seminary training in the desert, and then out comes the Gospel of the Grace of God. Not limited to Gentiles, but as much as it was probably Jew only back here, with some Gentile exceptions, now of course we got something totally different happening. God is now pulling out another group of people, which we call the Church, or the Body of Christ. And it is not exclusively Gentile, but mostly Gentile. And so you have almost two comparisons. Here we got Jew only, with some Gentile adherents. Here we have predominantly Gentiles, but with some Jewish adherents. And the two just simply might say crossover. Israel goes out into the nations of the world into a dispersion, carrying on until our own present day. The Body of Christ on the other hand is pulled off and becomes a unique group of people, and they are waiting for the end of their period of human history, which will be the outcalling or the rapture, at which time once again God will pick up and deal with Israel for seven years, and then we'll come to this after a while, the Second Coming. But for now, let's go back and look at some Scriptures concerning Paul's ministry. I've got so many verses, I hardly know where to go first. Let's stop at Romans 16. Because this verse uses language that I'm afraid very few people, if they read it, comprehend it. But I'm afraid most people don't even read it. Very few people understand what Paul is saying in this tremendous verse. Romans 16, verse 25. Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ according to, not the prophets, not the Old Testament, not the Abrahamic Covenant, but the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery, or something that's been kept secret in the mind of God since time began. And so Paul's Gospel is that preaching of Jesus Christ, which is according to the revealing or the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. That's what the Bible says. That's not my language. This is what the Scripture says, that this Gospel that Paul is now going to start presenting to the Gentile world, has been kept secret. Now maybe I should have used this verse first, but in the minute we got left, let's come back to Acts chapter 15. Because this is more or less the introduction to it, and I'm sure that James when he spoke it had no real comprehension. I think he was just inspired to say what he said without really understanding the ramifications of it all. But in Acts 15, after of course they've had this big run in with Paul and Barnabas, that they could not be preaching salvation to Gentiles without adhering to circumcision and law keeping, they finally are convinced that yes, Paul's on the right track, and so James makes this tremendous statement. In Acts chapter 15, verse 13, he says, Acts 15, verse 14, "...men and brethren, listen to me. Simeon has declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words that the prophet hath written after this, that is after the calling out of a Gentile people, God will return, and build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down." Now verse 17, I think to back up what I'm saying, "...that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles." Now this has never been mooted before, but now even James has a little bit of insight that since Paul's Gospel has been revealed, and that it is primarily for the Gentile world, yes, God's going to call out a people for His name. And it is going to be the Gentiles who are going to hear it, reading on in verse 17, "...and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things, known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the age." And again what does it tell you? Oh, the sovereign God is in control of everything, and nothing catches Him by surprise. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kenta, OK 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you, and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.