Why the Church Age Is Hidden in the Old Testament

Okay, and again, we're just going to come right back to where we left off, and that's Acts 1. We'll look briefly at verse 6, and then we're going to move on into verse 7. And again we like to welcome our television audience, and again remind you that all the programs are available on videotape, as well as a lot of them now in book form. You just write to us or call our 800 number. Now those of you that try to call us, please try in the forenoon, because I just don't like recorders. I hate talking to one, and I sort of feel that most people do, so so far I've refused to go that route. So if you call after 12 noon, you will probably get a no answer, because I'm out naturally, and Iris usually goes to work shortly after noon. So if you try our 800 number, try to call in the forenoon, where there's always someone around the phone. Secondly, I made a goof last half hour, and in the previous taping I made mention of the fact that these programs are not edited. When I make a mistake, I live with it until someone at the end of the half hour tells me here in the audience where I goofed. And I imagine most of you on television caught it, and instead of saying, the Queen of Sheba, I said Beth Sheba. So now we've corrected that, that it was the Queen of Sheba who said the half has never yet been told, and not Beth Sheba. All right, I think then we're ready to come back into Acts chapter 1, and we ran out of time naturally, and I had one more verse that I really wanted to bring out before we moved on to verse 7. So if you look at verse 6 once more, just for a quick review, when they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, that is the Lord Himself, Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? Now if you'll flip your eyes over to verse 3, this is a valid question, because for 40 days that's all He's been talking about. It's what the verse says. Acts 1, verse 3, "...to whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, that is of His resurrection, being seen of them forty days, and speaking throughout that forty days of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." And how many times haven't I said, the Kingdom is the Kingdom is the Kingdom. It's one and the same. And so now these eleven men are all hung up on the Kingdom. Well, come back with me to Matthew 19, and I trust you'll be able to see, as I did many years ago, that this is something that cannot take place in heaven. It is something that has never taken place before, and so it still has to be future. But of course, Jesus speaks it in His earthly ministry, when the twelve, including Judas, are still with Him. And then in verse 27, "...then answered Peter, and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee. What shall we have therefore?" Now I always qualify that. He wasn't talking about His salvation, He had that, He knew that. But what He's talking about is, what are we going to get as a reward? What are we going to get besides our eternal life? That's a valid question, and Paul certainly deals with it in I Corinthians chapter 3, so far as we're concerned. But look at Jesus' answer. And I always like to remind folks, that when you see Jesus respond to a question, is there sarcasm, as it was in John's Gospel chapter 12, when they're accusing Him of knowing Abraham. And then in sarcasm, He said, I know the Father, and you claim to know Him, and if I said I didn't know Him, I'd be a liar like you are for claiming to know Him. Well that's sarcasm I think. He was putting them in their place. But that isn't the case here. He answers just as off the top as He could. And look what He says, "...verily I say unto you, that you who have followed Me," now He's talking to Peter and the other children, Judas of course wasn't included. "...you who have followed Me, in the regeneration, and in the resurrection, and in the resurrection, and in the resurrection." Now regeneration means when things are put back as they were originally. "...when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory," in other words when He has set up His Kingdom, and He's now the King, then He says, "...you also," the twelve, "...shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging," or ruling, "...the twelve tribes of Israel." Oh and that is plain language, just as plain as it can be. He's saying, now look fellows, you have eternal life, you're Mine, I'm not including Judas. But He said, when I set up My Kingdom, and everything is going to be reverted back as it was before the fall, you are going to sit on twelve thrones, that is figuratively beneath His, He's going to be the King. They're going to be ruling the twelve tribes of Israel under Him. Now whenever I look at something like this, I have to remind myself, these men were just as human as you and I. And when He told them that this was in their future, they didn't just let it in one ear and out the other, it stuck, and they haven't forgotten it. Now what do you suppose is on their mind over here on the Mount of Olives, an axe? That very same thing. Are you ready now to put us in our respective places of authority over the twelve tribes? Are we ready to take up our throne? I can see that so vividly. And then in verse 7 He says, with sarcasm, Look fellows, whoever gave you the idea of an earthly kingdom, is that what Jesus said? No. He doesn't refute their idea of a coming Kingdom one iota. But the only thing He says is not for them to know and understand is the time. The fact that it's coming, yes. But when? It's not for you to know. I remember in His earthly ministry they asked Him what He'd say. Only the Father. The angels don't know. God the Son doesn't know. Only the Father. Now I have a pet definition or explanation for that. I haven't got time here. But there was a reason why He could say that without lying. But nevertheless, God knows the exact hour and day and year that these prophetic things are going to happen. And yes, the King is coming one day. He's going to set up that Kingdom in Jerusalem, and God knows the hour. But He says to the eleven, it's not for you to know. Why? Well, now let's go back in Scripture again and pick up the reason that Jesus, in all fairness, even though I'm sure He knew from His God side the exact day and hour, I want Genesis 21, yet He could honestly tell the eleven that it was not for them to know. Now if you come back to Genesis 21, and God is still dealing with Abraham in this particular place, and come down to verse 33. Genesis 21, and drop down to verse 33, where Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there, on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. Now the word in the Hebrew is olam. Now we covered all this way back when we were in Genesis. But this is another one of the names of deity. That the everlasting God is in the Hebrew word olam. And olam in regular usage could either mean, from everlasting to everlasting, which of course God was. But it could also mean, hide or hideth. And in some verses, and when we were back in Genesis, we looked them up, where Psalms uses the very same word, and it says, "...why hidest thou thyself from us?" And we use some other verses where that same Hebrew word was used with regard to hiding. But it's also used, everlasting to everlasting. Alright, so what does the name really imply? Well it teaches us that yes, God is eternal, He's timeless, but He's also the God of time. And since He's the God of time, He can hide in time, things that He wants to keep hidden, and reveal them when He is ready to reveal. Now that's why I maintain that the only way you can understand Scripture, is to get a concept of the progressive revelation. God does not tell us everything back here in Genesis. But He reveals things as we come on up through time, as we know it. Alright, now if you'll turn to Deuteronomy chapter twenty-nine, and I think Moses the writer here just puts it so clearly, by inspiration of course. Deuteronomy 29. And there are more verses of course, scattered throughout the Scripture that bring about this same concept. And then when you get to the letters of Paul, the word that he uses profusely through his letters, is the word, mystery. Deuteronomy 29. And behold I show you a mystery, a secret. That's the other word from the Greek mysterion. I show you a secret. I'll look at it in Deuteronomy 29. Deuteronomy 29. Deuteronomy 29. And the secret things belong unto the Lord our God. What things? Secret things. Who's secret? God's. The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed. Now as soon as a secret is revealed, then what? It's no longer a secret. But it's to be believed, and that's what the verse implies. These things which are revealed belong unto us. Now of course Moses is writing to the children of Israel, and again the children of Israel have not had everything revealed to them at once. But once God, for example, laid out the Law, and the tabernacle worship, the ritual, the civil law, now it's no longer a secret. And so what does He expect the Jew to do? Believe it, and live by it. Now as you come on up through Scripture then, we find that even as the prophets wrote, they had no way of understanding what they wrote, because God hadn't revealed it in such a way that they could understand. Now I'd like to have you stop, since we're looking at God dealing with time, and things that are kept secret in time, in Psalms chapter 2. Now we've studied this chapter a long time ago, and as I've mentioned before, the only reason I don't review more than I do on this program, is for those who have spent good money to get our tapes, and when something is on a tape back there 3-4 years ago, I'm kind of hesitant to repeat it, because after all they've got it, and then go back and look at it. But I guess I have to realize that there are more people who don't have the tapes as do, so for your benefit, we're going to review this chapter once again. Psalms chapter 2, we'll begin right at verse 1, where the question is asked, why do the heathen, or the non-Jew, rage, and the people, Israel, imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth, the heathen, the Gentiles, set themselves, and the rulers of Israel, take counsel together with those Gentiles, against the Lord. Now remember, that's exactly what happened at His crucifixion, wasn't it? The Jewish leaders demanded it, but they didn't want to carry it out, so they went and had Rome do the dirty work. Well it had to be that way, because we know that Israel stoned their own people for religious infractions. They could have stoned Jesus, but that wasn't the death He had to die. In fact the question came up at break, and I guess here's as good a place as any to answer it. You know, I've always been teaching that when Christ came in His earthly ministry, He made a valid offer to be their King, and to set up the Kingdom. It was a valid offer. He wasn't playing games. And so the question naturally has come up, and it's come up before. Well what if, I guess that's hypothetical, but what if Israel would have embraced Him as their King, and He set up the Kingdom before He was crucified? Well I don't have any trouble answering that at all, because the Scripture tells me with God, nothing is impossible. So had Israel accepted the Kingdom, if they would have, God would have brought about the crucifixion one way or another, because it had to happen. He had to die that sacrificial death. There was no escaping that. So if it makes you feel better when I say that He made the valid offer, but of course He knew, God knew, that Israel wouldn't accept it. But see Israel didn't know that. Israel still acted of their own free will, just like humankind does today, and like nations do today. Israel responded to the offer by rejecting it, and by rejecting it brought about that which of course had to happen for our salvation, and that was the crucifixion. But here we have it so plainly, that Jew and Gentile together had to be part and parcel of His crucifixion. Now let's move on. Verse 3, "...humankind, Jew and Gentile, say, Let us break their bands asunder, cast away their cords from us." Then verse 4, "...he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh at man's foolishness, and the Lord shall have them in derision." Now in Luke's Gospel Jesus used the word perplexity, and the nations shall roar like the waves of the sea, and there shall be perplexity. Well it's the same meaning as derision, in other words such confusion over their political and economic problems that they don't know which way to turn. Now we'll point this out and get our timeline up here hopefully, that that's why between the crucifixion and Peter's offer of the Kingdom in the Book of Acts, there was again that time period in between wherein the derision could have taken place, and the nations of the then known world could have come to the same perplexity where we are today, and the end thing could have been brought about. Since Israel was rejecting everything of course, everything was pushed out into the future, including the derision, because we're seeing it now in our own day and time. And I don't think there's any person living that watches the news, that has any intelligence, even though they know nothing of the Scripture, they have to come to the conclusion that the world is in a horrible dilemma. I mean we can't comprehend, we've had missionary friends now that had been working in Rwanda, and we're just beginning to hear a little bit from that, and it is beyond our comprehension. Pray for them, because there are believers in the midst of that, right in the middle. They told us of one whole congregation that had been massacred in total. Believers, and so pray for them. But whatever, the world is in derision. Verse 5. Now here comes the order in outline form, if you please, of the Old Testament prophetic program, as I've been calling it now for the last four years. And here it is. Then, after they had rejected their king, then he, God, will speak unto them, that is the nations of the world, in his, not love and mercy and grace, but what? In his wrath. He will speak to them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. In other words, God is going to pour out all of the wrath and the vexation that He can possibly place during what we know as the Tribulation. And of course that's described so graphically in the book of Revelation. Then immediately following verse 5, the Tribulation, what's the next event in the timeline? "...Yet have I set my king upon the holy hill of Zion, which is the place of the Lord, and then look at what the king will accomplish. I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my son." This is God the Father speaking to God the Son. "...This day have I begotten thee," and remember the begottening is the resurrection. Verse 8. "...ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen," not only the Jew, but the heathen for thine inheritance, "...and the uttermost parts of heaven," no the earth, "...for thy possession." Now that's speaking of His rule and reign here on the earth. And then verse 9 backs up a little bit again to the Tribulation. "...Thou shalt break them," that is the nations of the world, "...with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces, like a potter's vessel," which of course will culminate at Armageddon. And then just come down to verse 11. "...serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice the trembling." Verse 12. "...kiss the Son." Some people say the Son isn't mentioned in Scripture. Oh yes He is in the Old Testament. Here He is, God the Son. "...lest ye be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." Now in the few moments we have left, I'm going to put our Old Testament timeline on the board again if I may. It's just simply the progression of time all the way from Adam at 4004 B.C., and then in round figures put it halfway between Abraham at 2000 B.C. We had the Flood, it isn't quite that far, it's about 1400 B.C. But nevertheless remember that these first 2000 years of human history are covered in the first 11 chapters of Genesis. Chapter 12 now begins in with Abraham, and all the rest of the Old Testament goes from that point on. Then from the call of Abraham, as we know him in chapter 12, all the way up to the cross is another 2000 years. And all during this 2000 years God has been dealing predominantly, as I've often put on the board, Jew only, with the exceptions. And you can think of them, Nineveh, Rahab, Ruth, the Syrian General Naaman. You come into Christ's earthly ministry, it was the Canaanite woman, and then the Roman Centurion. Those are the only two that He dealt with in His earthly ministry. But otherwise it's all God dealing with the nation of Israel. Then Psalms 2 says that after they've rejected Him, Jew and Gentile in consort, they have put Him to death. Psalms 110 of course tells us, "...Come sit at the Father's right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool." So that's His ascension. But so far as Psalms 2 is concerned, immediately after the crucifixion, the rejection, there would come that undetermined period of time where there could be a derision of the nations, and then would come the seven years of tribulation, which of course is in Daniel. Then the King would return, and Israel could have the Kingdom. Now that's Psalms 2 in outline, and that's all the Old Testament knows. Now, you're all well read enough in Scripture. What's missing? Well, the Church, the Age of Grace. It isn't in here. Why? Because it's a secret held in the mind of God, and it will be a secret until God reveals it. And that's why I'm constantly telling people, don't look for the rapture or the Church in the Gospels. It's not in there. Don't look for the rapture of the Church, or Church doctrine, or Gospel as we know it in the Old Testament. It's not in there, because it's a secret held in the mind of God. He's dealing only with the nation of Israel. Now we know that as soon as Christ ascended, Israel kept on rejecting the offer of the King and the Kingdom, and so what did God do? He moved all of this out into the future, and He puts in an undetermined period of time. No one knows when it's going to end, and then the seven years will come in, then Christ will return, and then the King will come and set up His Kingdom. Now, I can't put it any simpler than that. But I want you to understand, as we go through the early part of Acts, Peter and the other eleven are going to operate only on what God has revealed, and that is the Old Testament program. Peter has no concept of God turning to the Gentiles for 1900 and some years. He had no idea of that. None of them do, and it wasn't their fault. God didn't expect them to, because He's been holding it a secret, and He's giving Israel every opportunity to yet repent of what they had done to their Messiah. And as we move on through the early chapters of Acts, you're going to see it, if you look at it with open eyes, that Peter isn't talking to the church. He's not talking to Gentiles. In fact, I'll show you probably in the next program or two, how that seven or eight years after Pentecost, when Peter goes up to the house of Cornelius, and he takes six Jews with him. Now again, see this I thought of the other day, bouncing around on that tractor. Six with him, and himself that made how many? Seven! I'd never thought of that before. See, everything is so intricate in what God does. Why six men? Why not five? Well, because God's perfect number is seven. So anyhow, when those seven Jews get to the house of Cornelius, including Peter, and they see the evidence of Gentiles being saved, what's the word? They were astonished. Astonished! Why? Well, this had never happened before. And people can't get that through their head. They think that somehow or other, Gentiles have been saved now, if not at John the Baptist, at least at Pentecost. No, they weren't. It's all Jewish. And for a Gentile to be saved, it was an astonishment. I've got one minute. Let me show you. Come back to Acts, quickly, quickly. That would be chapter 11 now. In chapter 10, he goes to the house of Cornelius, and it's in verse 45. Now, we'll be coming to this in detail as we hit it verse by verse. That will be several months down the road. But here in verse 45, and it says, "...and they of the circumcision who believed," those are Jews, "...were astonished, those that came with Peter, because on the Gentiles was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost." Then you come down into chapter 11, and Peter and these six men have now come back to Jerusalem, and in verse 2 of chapter 11, "...when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, having been now to Caesarea, they that were of the circumcision," now these are Jewish believers, "...contended with him." What does that mean? Hey, they're putting him on the spot. And then what does it say? "...you went in to men uncircumcised, and you ate with them." Would they have said that if Gentiles had been saved all along? No. 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, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 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.