Galatians chapter 1. I want to
turn to different places, but I want to, if you have a little
marker to put in Galatians chapter 1, you may want to do that. We began a little study a couple
of weeks ago on the mistress of God, but one of the reasons
I wanted to look at that is because we have a group of people, and
have had a group of people now for quite some time, I think
they know more about the mysteries of God than anybody. And they've
become very confusing and I think really teaching some critical
errors in their teaching. We call them dispensationalists
or hyper-dispensationalists. And the dispensationalists are
really mad at them because they feel like they've taken their
view and went over the cliff with it, which I think probably
they have. And I want us to look at that
again tonight. I have three areas I want to
look at in their teaching. And I was talking to a family
here at the church, and they said they were pretty sure they
had somebody in their family like this. And I think so because
I've heard him speak about it one time. So we'll look at that
again this afternoon. I hope I don't take too long
with you. But there's the book of Galatians. Keep your Bible
there. I want to look at these three
critical areas of the hyper-dispensationalist. The definition of a dispensationalist
is they divide the history of this world up into different
times, what they call dispensation. I said that last week, but you
may have forgot it. Some of them have seven dispensations. Others have eight. Some have
six. It depends on who you're talking to. But they have the
dispensation of innocence. That's before the fall. They
call that time the time of innocence. And then after the fall, up to
the flood, they have the dispensation of conscience. And then from
the flood to Abraham, they have what they call the human government.
And then from there up until Abraham, it was the dispensation
of promise. God made promises to Abraham.
And then up until Moses, from Abraham to Moses, and from Moses
you have the law, the dispensation of the law. And then in Paul's
day, from Paul's conversion to the rapture of the church, they
have the dispensation of grace. And then, of course, during the
seven-year tribulation, they've got that dispensation. That's
at the rapture. And then they have the dispensation
of the kingdom, the 1,000-year reign of God. And a hyper-dispensationalist
says that in every dispensation, and here's where they differ
from the dispensationalists. Here's why they call them the
hyper-dispensationalists. Every one, almost all of these
dispensations, not all of them, it depends on who you talk to,
but in almost all of these different dispensations that I told you
about, God saves sinners in a different way. If you were in the day of
promise, the day of Abraham, you were saved a different way
than you were when Moses received the law on Mount Sinai. So they
got different ways. One of their people that's somewhat
famous in their group, Matthew McGee, in his little booklet,
Israel's Kingdom Gospel and Our Grace Gospel, here's what he
says. Our gospel is that Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, gave his life as the perfect sacrifice to pay
for our sins, was crucified and rose from the dead the third
day. This is what the Apostle Paul
preached. Now that's true, isn't it? That's all true. There is
only one gospel that we are to proclaim today. However, Mr. McGee says, there have been other
valid gospels in the past. And we won't look at that tonight.
We don't have time. We'll look at it again. He gives
some examples in Scripture. There have been other valid Gospels
in the past and there will be other valid Gospels in the future
after the rapture of the church. So there's the first critical
era. It's concerning the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. There have been valid Gospels
in the past And then there will be valid Gospels in the future. So red flag goes up, doesn't
it? You don't have to be but a babe in Christ for a red flag
to go up because the Apostle Paul tells us here in Galatians
chapter 1 in verse 7 and 8. In verse 6, I marvel that ye
are so soon removed from him that called you unto the grace
of Christ unto another Gospel. which is not another, but there
be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. Though we are an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let him be accursed." So, red flag goes up when you hear there
are other valid gospels in the past and in the future. That's
the first critical error. We'll look at that in just a
minute. The second one is this. The second critical error and
it has to do with the nature of God's kingdom. They say there
are two kingdoms. Some have more and some have
less, but there are two kingdoms. A kingdom that God tried to set
up, now this is my quote, not theirs, but theirs is just like
this one. A kingdom that God, a kingdom that Christ tried to
set up in His earthly ministry in the early part of the book
of Acts also, but since the Jews rejected that kingdom, it's been
postponed. Now let me read you another quote
from Matthew McGee's article in the Old Testament Kingdom
Program. That was the name of this article,
the Old Testament Kingdom Program. Quote, God promised the children
of Israel a land, a king, and a kingdom. Their nation was to
eventually become a nation of priests to bring salvation to
the Gentile nations. In the Old Testament, it was
no mystery that Israel would someday spread the Word of God
to all nations. But it was prophesied to be after
the Messiah had come and set up His kingdom centered in earthly
Jerusalem. The people of Israel would then
send to all nations to lead the Gentiles to their God in Jerusalem. But all Israel did not receive
and has not received Him yet, so the fulfillment of the old
program has been postponed. The mystery was that God planned
to go to the Gentiles through the Apostle Paul when Israel
rejected the kingdom. After this dispensation of grace,
after the Grace dispensation is ended and we go into the Tribulation,
which some call the Church Age. After this ends at the Rapture,
God will resume the old program. The old program. So right now
we're in the dispensation where we're to preach the Gospel of
Grace. The Church is going to be raptured. That Gospel will
end. And then another Gospel will
be preached. The other kingdom, if it can
be called this, they had two kingdoms. The other kingdom,
the first one was the kingdom, just the kingdom. It was the
Jews. And then the second kingdom,
if it can be called the kingdom, is the church. They sometimes
refer to the church as a kingdom. That's the second critical error.
It has to do with the kingdom of God. The third error that
they make is the nature of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm quoting Henry Arnside. He was a dispensationalist, and
he was really upset with these fellows because he feels like
they've taken what he believed. He was a strong premillennialist,
and they ran over the hill with it and began even to teach heresy. He lived in 1878 through 1951.
He died a year after I was born. Here's what he said against these
hyper-dispensationalists because of their view concerning the
church of Jesus Christ. It is maintained by them, Arnside
said, that the book of Acts, and I know this to be so because
I got their literature, that the book of Acts covers a transition
period between the dispensation of the law and the dispensation
of the mystery. That is, that in the book of
Acts we do not have the church. the body of Christ. But that
the word Ekklesia, the church, the assembly,
as used in the book of Acts, refers to a different church
altogether than that of Paul's epistles. This early church is
simply that aspect of the kingdom and is not the body of Christ.
So when the Jews were saved on the day of Pentecost, they were
just an aspect of the kingdom. They did not belong to the church,
the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where they get their two
church theories. They also teach that the body
of Christ, made up of believers in the gospel of the grace that
Paul preached, are a different company from the bride of the
Lamb which will be made up of Jews only. So they have three
groups. They have that group that Christ
preached to, that the early apostles preached to, and then later on
they have the group that Paul, the Gospel of Grace preached
to, and then they have the Bride of the Lamb, which is made up
strictly of Jews. Now, you would not believe this
unless I told you that this is being taught in fundamentalist
churches. This has been taught in Baptist churches. I've got
friends that now is believing this stuff, and that's why I
wanted to come here and bring your attention to it. So let's
go over these three things quickly tonight. The first era, the gospel
of God's grace was not preached until Paul began to preach it. Let me quote McGee again on Jesus'
earthly ministry. Here's another quote. He said,
From the Old Testament to the times of Christ, earthly ministry,
we see that Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and the Twelve Apostles
preached the gospel of the Kingdom to Israel. This was not the gospel of the
grace of God which was later preached by the Apostle to the
Gentiles alone. Paul preached that Jesus Christ
died for our sins, rose from the dead, but during Christ's
earthly ministry no one was preaching that message. It had not even
happened yet. And here is what Les Feltick
said in his commentary on the book of Acts lesson 17. He said Peter's sermon in Acts
chapter 2 does not fit Paul's doctrine at all and it was not
supposed to. God hadn't revealed Paul's message
yet. It was still a secret in the
mind of God. Now, we'll go into this gospel
that they say is different than Paul's gospel next week because
I had some questions about if Peter preached a different gospel
than Paul, we know how Paul's gospel justifies. It's by the
blood of Christ. being justified by his blood.
It's by faith. It's by grace. How does Peter's
gospel justify? We know how Paul's gospel saves. How does Peter's gospel save?
I have some questions about that. We'll look at that next week.
I have some quotes from next week concerning that and we'll
look at that. But right now I want us to go here to Galatians chapter
1 and I want us to begin reading here in verse 15 because we see
We can go different places to solve and to correct their error. But one thing I've noticed about
them, if you pin them down in one area, they'll tweak it and
go to another area. They're all over the Bible. Now,
I told you last week, this has been one of the most difficult.
I've studied this for years. And this has been one of the
most difficult things I've ever studied. And there's times I've
thrown up my hand and said, well, I can't figure out what they're
believing. I can't figure out what they're teaching. And then I
got some material from this man who is very brilliant. He's just
a brilliant man. And he says, I can't pin these
guys down. Every time I pin them down here,
they pop up somewhere else. So this is the most difficult
thing I've ever had to do. But the only reason I'm doing
it, instead of preaching on Mormonism, everybody knows the era of Mormonism.
There's a lot of people in Baptist churches that have not seen the
era of what these men are teaching in this after dispensation. So
look here in Galatians chapter 1 and let's go all the way back
to verse 15. This will solve this mystery.
See if Paul was preaching the same thing Peter was and the
rest of the apostles. He'd been telling them about
persecuting the church and said in verse 15, When it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace, to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him
among the heathen, immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood. Neither went I up to Jerusalem
to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia, and
returned again into Damascus. Then after three years I went
up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's
brother. Now the things that I write unto you, behold, before
God I lie not." Afterward I came unto the regents of Syria and
Cilicia, and was unknown by face unto the churches of Judea which
were in Christ. Now I'm not sure it is. But they
had heard only that He which persecuted us in time past now
preached the faith which once He destroyed." He now preaches
the doctrine. That's what that means, the doctrine
of faith. He now preaches that faith which once he destroyed. So what does that tell us? Paul
is preaching the faith that he used to be against. Who was preaching
that faith? Peter, John, the apostles were
preaching it. That's the very doctrine that
he was against. He hated the doctrine of Christ.
He fought against it. Then the Lord conquered him,
saved him, and what did he do? He started preaching the very
same thing they were preaching. The very same doctrine. Now I
want you to look at a couple more. Put your little marker
in Galatians. And look back over here in Acts chapter 26. I want
us to see where Paul got this gospel. In Acts chapter 26. We
know things were revealed to the Apostle Paul. We know that.
But you know, he had a book to go to. He didn't get anything
new that was contrary or different from the Old Testament Scripture. Everything he believed, everything
he preached, he could find in the Old Testament Scripture.
It was hid, but it was hid in the Scripture. And look here
what he says in chapter 26 of Acts, and look back in verse
19. This is where the Lord called
him and told him what he was going to do in verse 18, to open
the eyes of the Gentiles, turn them from darkness to light and
from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and inheritance among all them that are sanctified
by faith that's in me. Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I
was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but showed first unto
them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coast
of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn
to God, and do works meet for repentance. And for this cause
the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having
therefore obtained help of God, I continue to this day witnessing
both to small and great, saying none other things than those
which the prophets and Moses did say should come." What does
the Old Testament say should come? What does it predict? Verse 23, that Christ should
suffer and that He should be the first that should raise from
the dead and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. Where did He get His gospel?
Out of the prophets and out of Moses. Where did Peter get his
gospel? Look over in 1 Peter chapter 1 and look in verse 19. 1 Peter 1 and look in verse 19. No, it's not in verse 19. It's
verse 9. Look in verse 9. 1 Peter 1 and verse 9. Look at this. Receiving the end
of your faith, even the salvation of your soul, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied
of the grace that should come unto you. Search in what or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did
signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and
the glory that should follow, unto whom it was revealed that
not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the things
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the
gospel unto you, where the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desired to look into." Where did Peter
get his gospel? From the same prophets, the same
Old Testament that the Apostle Paul got his from, the same source. The Old Testament reveals one
doctrine, doesn't it? The Old Testament reveals one
body of truth, the gospel, The faith. And that's the faith that
Peter preached, John preached it, the Lord Jesus preached it.
That's the faith that Paul hated, but when the Lord saved him,
that's the faith he preached. Not another. Not another. You
don't find Paul's gospel. Here's what Les Feldick said
in Lesson 2, Part 4 of his Gospel and Acts. You don't find Paul's
gospel in Peter's gospel. They are two different messages. That's why Peter says Paul's
message of salvation is hard for him to understand. To the
Jews, Peter's message was repent and be baptized in water. To
the Gentiles, Paul's message was believe the gospel and be
saved. Now this seems ugly to ridiculous
and we'll look into it next week, but he made a statement right
here I want us to look at. He said that's why Peter said,
Paul's message of salvation is hard for me to understand. Peter never said that. He never
said that. I want you to look where he made
a statement and look right on in 2 Peter. Look on in 2 Peter
chapter 3 and look in verse 15. I was talking here about the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and look what He says in verse
15. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15. Account that the longsuffering
of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also,
according to the wisdom given to him, hath written unto you. as also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard
to be understood, but look at this, which they that are unlearned
and are unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures
unto their own destruction." Peter wasn't saying, I can't
understand what he said. He said those fellows that have
not been taught of God, they don't know what he said. They
are twisting what he is saying. According to what some of these
fellows are saying, Peter is sitting there and reading Paul's
epistles, and Paul is talking about election, and Peter says,
Man, I just can't get that. I just can't get it. Talking
about the death of Christ, reconciling us to God, making peace. Man,
that is so hard for me to get a hold of. Talking about calling
us and regenerating us. Boy, I don't know, Paul, that
is rough. That is not what he is saying.
He said, Paul is writing these very same things that I've been
talking about. And he said, some of them are
difficult to understand. And those fellows that ain't
been taught of God, they don't know the Scriptures. They twist
them to their own destruction. So there is the first thing that
we want to look at. The first critical error. We'll
have to look at it a little bit closer probably next week. But
those are the same Gospels. Paul and Peter and Christ and
John the Baptist, all of them are preaching the same Gospel.
Now, did Peter have more light than
John the Baptist? Not at first, but obviously he
did later, but that didn't change the Gospel that he preached.
John the Baptist said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. Did Paul have some more light
maybe than Peter? Well, he probably did. Peter
didn't want to go to the Gentiles. That didn't change the Gospel,
did it? The Lord through the Old and New Testament is always
proceeding. He's progressing, isn't He? He's
progressing, showing more and more and more. But one thing
about Him, when He shows you more light, it doesn't contradict
the light He's already shown you. And that's what they're
saying it does. He brought Peter and them to
some light and brought Paul to greater light which contradicts
the light He gave to Peter. How absurd. The second critical
era, the Kingdom of Christ, the Kingdom that Christ came to set
up, has been postponed. Matthew McGee again in Israel's
Kingdom Gospel and our Grace Gospel. This is what he says
under his summary of that chapter. I quote, God chose Abraham out
of all the human race and made of him a great nation of Israel
to be a kingdom of priests to eventually evangelize all mankind
when their Messiah set up His kingdom. This is one of the first
eras that Christ has not set up His kingdom yet. This is a
great era and it is going on big time. That He came to set
it up, they refused it, it had to be postponed and He has not
set it up yet. When their Messiah, Jesus Christ, came, He plainly
told the Twelve Apostles that He was going to be killed and
raised from the dead. But this was hidden from them
by God and they could not understand it. The many Jews who did not
believe that Jesus was the Messiah crucified Him. He was buried
and rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. That is all true.
But the offer for Israel to receive their Messiah and kingdom remained
open for a while longer if they would only believe that he was
who he says he was. The twelve apostles, led by Peter,
preached the gospel of the kingdom to Israel that Israel should
believe that Jesus was the Christ, repent and be baptized in water.
If they did all of this, then Jesus Christ would return and
bring in the kingdom just as the Old Testament prophets had
foretold. And then the very next paragraph
he says this, even though Peter and Paul preached different gospels,
there is no conflict between them because they dispensed their
gospels to two separate audiences. Like that wouldn't make any difference.
So they were both correct. Peter preached kingdom doctrine
to the Jews in the land of Israel, but Paul preached grace doctrine
to the Gentiles in other countries and to the Jews scattered among
them. When the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the
temple came in A.D. 70, the kingdom dispensation
for Israel was put on hold until it resumes in the future tribulation. One kingdom. It is called the
kingdom of God. It is called the kingdom of heaven. It is called the kingdom of Christ,
the kingdom of God's dear Son, the everlasting kingdom of our
Lord and Savior. And I have quoted you this from
Daniel chapter 2 verse 44, And the days of those kings shall
the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.
And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these other kingdoms, and
shall stand forever." Now let us look at that kingdom for just
a few minutes. I want to show you two scriptures.
Look at the nature of this kingdom. Look in Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1 and look in verse
26. This is where the angel Gabriel
came down into the city of Nazareth and was speaking to Mary. That's
verse 26, and look in verse 27. He came to a virgin, a spouse
to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the
virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her
and said, Hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord be with
thee, blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him,
she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner
of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And behold,
thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt
call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the highest. and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Now we have a king, that's Jesus,
and he has a kingdom, and he's reigning over that kingdom forever. Now what is that kingdom? What
is it? Does the Bible tell us what that
kingdom is? Peter himself tells us what that
kingdom is. Look in Acts chapter 2 and look
in verse 29. Acts chapter 2 and verse 29. Here is where Peter was preaching
on the day of Pentecost and look what he says here in verse 29.
He had just been speaking of how they took the Lord Jesus
and murdered Him and God raised Him from the dead. It was not
possible that He should be holden of death. In verse 25, For David
speak concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face.
He is on my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh
shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell in the place of the dead, neither wilt thou suffer thine
holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known unto me
the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Now that's David's quote. In
verse 29, Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the
patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher
is with us unto this day. Then what was he saying? You
will not leave my soul in the grave. He wasn't talking about
himself. His body is still there. Verse
30, Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according
to His flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on His throne. He said this before, spake of
the resurrection of Christ. Jesus Christ was raised from
the dead and He is on what the Bible calls the throne of David. David was the king over the little
place of Israel. He reigned there for a few years.
This throne now is the universal. It's over everything and everybody
and Jesus Christ is upon that throne. And of that kingdom there
shall be no end. What does Psalms chapter 2 tell
us? When they said we've killed Him, we've got rid of Him, He's
out of our hair now. They've buried Him and He's gone
forever. And God why? and had them in derision and
said, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will
declare the decree, thou art my son, this day have I begotten
you, sit on my right hand. That is the throne of David.
That is what the Bible calls the throne of David. Sit on my
right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. 1 Corinthians
15 says that Christ is reigning. One of the biggest errors these
hyper-dispensationalists make is this. Christ had to postpone
His reign. I was talking to a fellow one
time that traveled and preached. He's a famous guy, and I can't
even think of his name now. You've probably heard of his
name. He's written several books. And I was asking him about this.
And he said, when I go preaching to people, he said, it's just
like the lights come on when they find out Jesus Christ is
King now. He's reigning now! And they said,
the light's come on. And they said, well, we've been
told He's going to reign. He's going to set up a kingdom.
His kingdom has been set up, brothers and sisters. And listen,
the very instant a poor soul believes in Jesus Christ, he's
put into that kingdom and he becomes heirs of all the benefits
of that kingdom immediately. He's reigning. So there is but
one kingdom and of that kingdom, the Bible says, there shall be
no end. It won't be postponed. The nature
of it will not change. It won't be left to somebody
else. And Jesus Christ right now is reigning over that kingdom. Here's the third era quickly.
The nature of the church. And look back over again in Galatians. The nature of the church. They
make an awful error in regard to the nature of the church.
Let me quote you what Ironside said again, just a portion of
what he said. In the book of Acts, he quoted
them, in the book of Acts, we do not have the church, the body
of Christ. It is a different church altogether
to that of Paul's epistle. The earlier church is simply
an aspect of the kingdom, and it is not the same as the body
of Christ. Now, look back here in this chapter
1 again, and look in verse 13. Look what he says. You have heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. Now he says the church he
persecuted was the church of God. That's what he calls it.
He identifies it in verse 22. Look how he identifies this church.
Here's the way the church is described. Verse 22. And was
unknown when I came three years after the Lord had saved me.
I came up to Jerusalem again. And was unknown by faith unto
the churches of Judea which are in Christ Jesus, which are in
Christ Jesus. He identifies the church that
He persecuted like this, in Christ. Those churches of Judea were
Jewish believers, and He doesn't say, I persecuted somebody that
was in some aspect of the kingdom. He said they were in Christ. Those churches were in Christ. Now, is that a different church
than you're in? Are you in Christ? They were,
too. They were, too. They're the ones that Paul persecuted,
the church of God. Peter was writing to Timothy,
who was the preacher of the Gentiles, and he said, that thou mayest
know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God." The church that Paul persecuted
was the church of God, and the church then that he went and
preached to among the Gentiles is the church of God. It's the
church of God. And what did Paul say about being
in Christ? Look here in Galatians chapter
3. He said the churches, these Jewish
churches were in Christ. And look here what he says in
Galatians chapter 3 in verse 27. Look what he says about what
it means to be in Christ. For as many as you have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew,
there is no Greek, there is no bond, there is no free, there
is no male, no female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. All distinctions, all races,
all nationalities, all gender, all positions in life, it's all
done away with in Jesus Christ. Everybody that's in Christ is
one. There's no kingdom for one group
and then a kingdom for another group. There's no gospel for
one nation and then a gospel for another nation. There's one
gospel of salvation, brothers and sisters, and that's in Jesus
Christ. That's in Jesus Christ. In the early book of Acts, you
run into this statement sometimes, added, added. The Lord added
to the church daily such as should be saved. That's in the day of
Pentecost, He said that. Peter was preaching a few chapters
later in chapter 5 and he said believers were the more added
to the Lord. Added to the Lord. That was the
Jews. And Barnabas went down to preach
to them to Antioch and it said that he was a good man full of
the faith and the Holy Ghost and much people were added to
the Lord. Now what does that mean? Added
to the Lord. That means added to the body
of Christ. Does it not? As the body is one
and has many members, and all the members of that one body
being many are one body, so also is Christ. One body, many members. And he says in the 12th chapter,
12th chapter in verse 13 of I Corinthians, by one Spirit we are all baptized
into one body whether we be Jew, are Gentile, bond are free, and
he says, you are the body of Christ and members in particular,
and now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body
as it has pleased Him. In other words, who adds to this
body? God does. God does. And it doesn't matter if it's
Jews or Gentile. There's only one body. One body. Well, this is one of the reasons
why I appreciate more and more this little epistle to the Galatians. I appreciate it so much. These
self-righteous Jews were coming down to Galatia and telling these
poor believers. They were telling them something
like this, and I can almost see them. They were so proud. And
they would come down and they would say to them, now listen,
we're Jews. I can see them putting, we're
Jews by nature. You know, they were proud people.
We're Jews by nature. We're the circumcision. We're
Abraham's children. You can never be like us. We're just privileged
people. It's like a fellow told me, a
landmarker told me one time, he said he's going to leave,
take his family and leave here because we weren't Baptists.
And I said, don't you believe we're saved? He said, yeah, you're
saved, but when you get up to heaven, you're going to be in
that outer circle. That's what he told me. And he left and took
his family with him. That's what these fellows were telling these
Gentiles. And said, listen, here's what
you need to do. If you'll be circumcised, and you'll keep
the law of Moses, and you'll be converted to Judaism, you'll
never be what we are. But you can be in that outer
circle. You can be in that outer circle. And boy, Paul, when he
wrote to these Galatians, well, he did it everywhere. Man, he
skint those self-righteous Jews alive. He excluded them. We got a quote, I think it's
in Romans 2.29, verse 2.28, isn't there somewhere? And we read
over this and we don't stop really to let this soak in. Listen to
what He said in that verse. And you can imagine, buddy, when
the natural Jews read this, He is not a Jew which is one outwardly. Man, think of that. Here come
all of these self-righteous Jews, these law-keepers. He said, you're
not even Jews. Of course they could trace their
lineage back to Abraham. Of course they could trace it
back to Benjamin or one of the other tribes. Paul wasn't saying
that. What he was telling them is this.
You're not a real Jew. You're not a spiritual Jew. And
he says circumcision is not what's in the flesh. But a real Jew
is this. He is one which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart and of the spirit whose praise is not of men but of God.
And what's he saying? A Gentile who believes in Christ
is a real Jew. A Gentile who believes in Christ
is really circumcised in his heart and in his spirit. He's
a broken-hearted man. He trusts in Jesus Christ and
His righteousness alone. His praise is not of men but
of God. And when Paul wrote this epistle
of Galatians to these men, man, the privileges that he wrote
to these believing Gentiles. And he said, listen, don't let
these guys intimidate you. They're nothing. They're lost. They've established their own
righteousness. And he said, listen to me, I
tell you that you're a true Jew. You're the true Jew. And look
what he says. Look back over here in Galatians.
Look in chapter Well, begin in chapter 3 and look in verse 6.
Look what he tells us. Galatians chapter 3 verse
6, And even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to
him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are
of faith, you poor, poor Gentiles, if you are of faith, the same
are the children of Abraham. Who's the children of Abraham?
Every believer, whether he's a Jew or Gentile, he's a child
of Abraham. And the Scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before
the gospel, look at that, unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall
all nations be blessed. So then they which are of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. And look what he went on to tell
them over in the in this third chapter and look down around
verse 26. You are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus. And as many as you have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek. There is neither bond or free.
There is neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs
according to the promise. Abraham's seed. I am Abraham's
seed. I am a poor Gentile and I have
Abraham's seed because I believe in Jesus Christ. Look what he
said in chapter 4. Paul really got into some deep
stuff here in chapter 4 speaking about the two covenants. But
look what he tells these poor Gentiles in verse 25. He is talking
about Agar and Sarah. And look what he said in verse
25. But this Agar is from Mount Sinai in Arabia and answers to
Jerusalem, which now is and is in bondage with their children.
But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother
of us all. I would love to go over to Jerusalem. I would love to go over to Israel
and look around over there at that place. I'll never get to, but
I'd love to because that's where our Lord walked. But you know,
that's not the Jerusalem He's talking about. He's talking about
a heavenly Jerusalem. And Paul said, You there at Galatia
who believe in Jesus Christ, that's your mother. That's your
mother. Go on, verse 27, For it is written,
Rejoice thou, barren, that beareth not. Break forth, and cry thou,
that trebelleth not. For the desolate hath many more
children than she which hath none husband. Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. We fit right in Roman
chapter 9 with the children of promise. We poor dead dog Gentiles
with children of promise. But as then he that was born
after the flesh persecuteth him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the
Scripture, cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the
bondwoman shall be ours with the son of the free woman. So
then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but we are
children of the free. One more place, look in chapter
6 and look over in verse 15. For in Christ Jesus, neither
circumcision availeth anything, and uncircumcision, but a new
creature. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel
of God. Who is God's Israel? every believer,
whether he's Jew or Gentile. That's why Paul wrote to this
Galatians church, to show them the benefits of being in Christ. In Ephesians chapter 3, let me
finish with this. Paul is talking about one of
the mysteries of Christ and this is what he said, that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partaker of
His promise in Christ by the gospel. In chapter 2, he just
told these Gentiles that they who were far off are now made
nigh by the blood of Christ. And he said, Now you are fellow
citizens with the Jewish saints, and of the same household of
God, build upon that one foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building
fitly framed together groweth unto this one holy temple in
the Lord in whom you are also built together for an inhabitation
of God through the Spirit." There is only one temple, just one
temple, just like there is one kingdom, one gospel, one Savior. Sometimes it is called the temple
of the Lord and sometimes it goes under the tabernacle of
David. I'll close in reading this scripture. Turn over to
Acts 15 right quickly, and I'll read this to you, and we'll close.
Here's this conference they had about this very thing, and the conference was ready
to close, and James stands up to say something in verse 13,
Acts chapter 15. After they had helped their peace,
James answered saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simon
hath declared how that God at the first did visit the Gentiles
to take out of them a people for his name. And that was Acts
chapter 10, wasn't it? And to this agree the words of
the prophet as it is written. After this I will return and
will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down
and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up."
That's what He's doing today, isn't it? Christ is on the throne
of David and He's rebuilding David's tabernacle. It fell down.
Look what a mess it was in. Didn't even have a king when
Christ come to it. He came and He set up His tabernacle. You can call it a kingdom. You
can call it the household. You can call it the temple. Here
He calls it the tabernacle of David. And who's making up this
thing? Verse 17, that the residue of
men might seek after the Lord, 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 world. Who is making up this tabernacle
today? Oh, the elect of God out of every
nation. Whether he's a natural Jew or
a Gentile, God's elect from every nation making up this one church,
this one temple. Well, we'll continue there next
week and I'll try not to keep you as long as I can.