​Rom. 10:4 is one that ‘Christians’ of this world use over and over again, because it says in the KJV that Christ is the end of the Law. That’s what it says!
 
However, the Greek translation says that Christ is the end of law. What does that mean?
 
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of works of law…”
 
Romans 9:30: “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not follow after righteousness, have attained righteousness, even the righteousness that is by faith.”
 
This righteousness is right standing with God through repentance and baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit.
 
Verse 31: “But Israel… [includes the Jews] …although they followed after a law of righteousness…” The KJV says “…the law of righteousness.” That’s incorrect! There’s no definite article in the Greek! This is where the King James Version messes people up all the time. They insert the definite article when it is not there.
 
If you insert any word that is not in the Greek, it must be in italic. That way the reader knows that it’s not in the original and we will see that that is also proper for clarification, which is the meaning of Rom. 10:4.
 
Verse 32: “Why?…. [did they not attain to a law of righteousness?] …Because they did not seek it by faith, but by works of law…”
 
The KJV says, “…the works of the law…” But that’s not true! The Greek is: “…by works of law…
 
That’s very important, because that means the traditional laws of Judaism!
 
“…for they stumbled at the Stone of Stumbling, exactly as it is written: ‘Behold, I place in Sion a Stone of Stumbling and a Rock of offense, but everyone who believes in Him shall not be ashamed’” (vs 32-33).
 
Romans 10:1: “Brethren, the earnest desire of my heart and my supplication to God for Israel is for salvation. For I testify of them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (vs 1-2).
 
That is not according to the knowledge of God, but according to their own traditions!
 
Verse 3: “For they, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness… [through their works; this is their oral law] …have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
 
·         What happens with the oral law?
·         What did Jesus say?
 
Mark 7 will help us to understand what Paul is talking about with justification and so forth.
 
Mark 7:6: “And He answered and said to them…”--the scribes and Pharisees:
 
Verse 5: “For this reason, the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, saying, ‘Why don’t Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?’”
 
Verse 6: “…‘Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me.”’”
 
So, if you have an oral tradition and claim that it’s as good as God’s, you’re trying to establish a righteousness that is equal to God and you can’t do that! Nothing that a man can do would be equal to what God has said that we are to do.
 
Verse 7: “‘But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.’ For leaving the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men…”
 
·         Isn’t that the way that it is?
·         What does that do for the Jews even to this day?
 
Listen carefully to how they explain everything. You can start with
 
·         the Holocaust
·         the destruction of the temple in 70A.D.
·         the Roman invasion leading up to that and later in 135A.D.
 
§  Why did all of these things come upon them?
§  Why did it come from God?
 
Remember the parable of the wedding feast! The word went out that everything is ready. They sent out the messengers to invite them and come. This one had this to do and another had that to do and they didn’t come. They sent out to get more to come to the wedding feast.
 
Those who were invited did not come. So, finally the result of it was that those who did not come, God was going to destroy their city. In that parable, it was a prophecy of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
 
·         How often do you hear the Jews say, ‘We’ve been scattered abroad in the world because of our sins’? Never!  It’s always ‘the enemy coming to get us’!
·         Why is the enemy coming to get them? Because of their traditions!
 
What’s one of the worst sins that anybody can do, Jew or Gentile? Reject Christ! It’s the same way today. They’re going to fight off all of their enemies, they’re going to build their temple and it’s going to bring the world peace. NO! It’s going to bring the worst catastrophe in the world!
 
Verse 8: “For leaving the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men…”--the righteousness of works that’s talked about in Rom. 9!
 
Verse 9: “Then He said to them, ‘Full well do you reject the commandment of God, so that you may observe your own tradition. For Moses said…’” (vs 9-10). So, they’re rejecting Moses while claiming Moses!
 
What’s a counterpart of that today? Catholicism and Christianity claiming Christ, but are rejecting Christ! Exactly the same thing! It begins with Sunday-keeping, which is a Roman institution. Cardinal Gibbon wrote about that in Rome’s Challenge to the Protestants, his diatribe against the Protestants.
 
Verse 10: “For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man shall say to his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might receive from me is corban”’…” (vs 10-11).
 
In other words, I’m not going to take care of you, but I’m going to dedicate it to the temple, because I’ll get a blessing for dedicating it to the temple. Yes, and all the rabbis will say, ‘Look, that was a wonderful gift that you gave.
 
“…(that is, set aside as a gift to God), ‘he is not obligated to help his parents’” (v 11). Isn’t that the way the traditions of the Jews are?
 
Have you ever read what the Jew is to do in the morning when he gets up? He is immediately to wash his hands! He is to take and hold the pitcher of water in his left hand and pour it on his right hand, and alternate it three times. He must do this before he even goes to where he needs to go when he gets up in the morning.
 
I’m going to have to get Code of Jewish Law and read some of those. {Note book: Judaism: Revelation of Moses, or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal} There are many of the Jewish laws written there. There are many such things. There are special prayers when you see something:
 
·         if you see a midget
·         if you see a giant
·         if you see a giraffe
 
Everything like that!
 
They also have two sets of plates, because they are not to mix meat and milk products together. So, they have a set of dishes that they eat things that have meat and a set for the things that have milk.
 
They also have a law that if you have a Gentile who is a servant, and he works in the kitchen, that if a Jew watches the Gentile make the bread—because Gentile hands are supposed to be so unclean—then it’s permissible to eat as ‘common’ food. But it cannot be used for making unleavened bread for ‘Pascha’ because it’s unclean. If a Jew is not there to supervise it, the bread is unclean.
 
Well, that’s not a Law of God! Christ said that they have many such things to do. That is a law of righteousness that’s contrary to the Laws of God!
 
Remember that every time that one of these laws was kept, that was a work of law. They have many works of law.
 
Romans 10:3: “For they… [the Jews] …being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of works of law for righteousness…” (vs 3-4). Not the end of all law forever! How do we know that that is not true?
 
Hebrews 10:16: “…I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds.”
 
Is that doing away with law? No! That’s making it permanently inscribed in your mind, so that’s how you automatically live your life! Not an exterior law of righteousness; Christ ends all of that! Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhism, Mohammadism, Hinduism; they all have their works of law. Christ is the end of that!
 
Romans 10:4: “For Christ is the end of works of law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses wrote concerning the righteousness that comes through the Law, ‘The man who has practiced those things shall live by them’” (vs 4-5)--that’s the letter of the Law! That’s what they should have done, but they weren’t following Moses.
 
Verse 6: “But the righteousness that comes through faith speaks after this manner: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who shall ascend up to heaven?”’….” Then he brings out about believing and faith after that!
 
I mentioned last time about Peter going to Cornelius’ house. When he first met Cornelius he said, ‘You know that it’s an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to keep company with a Gentile.’ They could not even go in. ‘But God has shown to me that I should call no man common or unclean!’
 
Think about this: None of the Italians were circumcised. God sent Peter there because God wanted him to understand that He was calling Gentiles, and going to give the Holy Spirit to them without circumcision of the flesh. This was a revolutionary thing. So, Peter having done this, knew exactly what God wanted.
 
When we come to Acts 15 and the conference that they had there, Peter said, ‘You know that God, at first, had me go to the Gentiles.’ That was to Cornelius. Look what happens when different ones come, because Peter had a streak of politics in him.
 
Galatians 2:12: “For, before certain ones came from James…”--the brother of the Lord and was in charge of things in Jerusalem!
 
As long as the temple was standing, it was perfectly all right to pay a vow, or make a vow. But they were telling those in Jerusalem that Paul out with the Gentiles is saying ‘don’t circumcise your children, don’t do any of these things.’ But that’s not what was happening!
 
Verse 11: “But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be condemned.”
 
How important is Truth and doctrine? Very important! I had a man tell me to take him off our mailing list because he didn’t ‘like the way I bash those other ministers of God with their different doctrines.’
 
·         What did Paul do to Peter and preserve it in the Bible?
·         How important is doctrine? Very important!
 
Verse 12: “For, before certain ones came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, being afraid of those of the circumcision party.” He didn’t want James to get a bad report!
 
Verse 13: “And the rest of the Jews joined him in this hypocritical act, insomuch that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy…. [publicly] …But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles,,, [eating with the Gentiles, mingling among them without any traditional laws to separate themselves] …and not according to Judaism… [that’s what Judaism is] …why do you compel the Gentiles to Judaize?”
 
In other words, make them separate from the rest of the Jews.
 
Verse 15: “We who are Jews by nature—and not sinners of the Gentiles—knowing that a man is not justified by works of law…” (vs 15-16).
 
The King James has the works of the law, which is false! Is there a work of a Law of God that says that you shall not eat with a Gentile? NO! That’s a work of law of Judaism! They were seeking their own righteousness through it.
 
·         the separation was hard
·         the separation was difficult
 
Verse 14: “But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not according to Judaism, why do you compel the Gentiles to Judaize? We who are Jews by nature—and not sinners of the Gentiles—knowing that a man is not justified by works of law, but through the faith of Jesus Christ…’” (vs 14-16).
 
Your standing is the standing with God in heaven above through Christ, not your standing among groups of people that you go by their traditions that are contrary to the Word of God and think you’re doing well in the name of Christ. Never work!
 
What are the biggest ones they have today? Not the Jews, but Christianity! Sunday and Christmas! They have great hymn and services! Same thing as this.
 
Verse 16: “Knowing that a man is not justified by works of law, we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified by the faith of Christ… [with God the Father in heaven above] …and not by works of law… [by men, to impress men] …because by works of law shall no flesh be justified”--to God! That’s the whole meaning of it here!
 
Verse 17: “Now then, if we are seeking to be justified in Christ, and we ourselves are found to be sinners… [which Peter was in doing what he did] …is Christ then the minister of sin? MAY IT NEVER BE!”--because Christ never recognized that! That’s the important thing to understand.
 
Verse 18: “For if I build again… [speaking of his experience in Judaism] …those things that I destroyed, I am making myself a transgressor.” Works of laws of men end up transgressing the Laws of God, and making you a sinner before God!
 
Verse 19: “For I, through law, died to works of law, in order that I may live to God.” How do you live to God?
 
·         by loving Him
·         by obeying Him
·         by keeping His commandments
·         by trusting in His mercy and forgiveness
·         by having your sins forgiven when you repent
 
Verse 20: “I have been crucified with Christ…” why does he say that? You are co-crucified with Christ (Rom. 6)!
 
He wasn’t on the same cross with Christ, not literally, but when you’re baptized you’re conjoined to His death! So, you are crucified with Christ!
 
“…yet, I live. Indeed, it is no longer I; but Christ lives in me….” (v 20). That’s what is to lead us and guide us!
 
“…For the life that I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith—that very faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (v 20).
 
Notice what happens when it gets into human traditions vs God:
 
Verse 21: “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is through works of law, then Christ died in vain.”
 
If you do by works of law then you’re breaking loving your neighbor as yourself and loving the brethren as Christ has loved us. That’s actually happened in the Church of God.
 
There are ministers who would set themselves up and separate from the brethren. Tell the deacons at the potlucks to ‘bring us the best food.’ I was even invited to go up on the stage and I refuse. I was a ‘bad, bad boy’ and got a bad report for that. There were those who had their works of law.
 
What was one of the works of law? That the minister is above the people! NO! The minister is below the people, to serve the people! They would have the deacons go down and get the best of everything and bring it to the elder up on the stage. Parking also!
 
It’s the same way with some Churches of God that they say that if your family is not in the Church you cannot associate with them, you cannot talk to them or go see them. That’s exactly the condemnation of the works of law that Paul is talking about right here.
 
·         Of course you should see them!
·         Of course you should help them!
 
In that Church I know of three suicides because those who were so emotionally distraught that they couldn’t see their fathers and mothers, or grandfathers and grandmothers, that they killed themselves. That blood lies right at the feet of the minister. That church is called the Philadelphia Church of God. They are the exact opposite of brotherly love.
 
When we get into Gal. 3 we are going to find a very interesting translation that proves that they were writing the New Testament early.

​Scriptural References:
 
1)      Galatians 1:13-14
2)      Acts 7:51-60
3)      Acts 8:1-3
4)      Acts 9:1-9, 17-18, 20
5)      Acts 26:15-18
6)      Acts 13:38-44
7)      Romans 2:13-15, 17-29
8)      Romans 10:4
9)      Romans 9:30-33
10)  Romans 10:1-3
11)  Mark 7:6, 5, 6-11
12)  Romans 10:3-4
13)  Hebrews 10:16
14)  Romans 10:4-6
15)  Galatians 2:12, 11-16, 14-20
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         Galatians 1
·         Leviticus 23
·         Philippians 3
·         Acts 15
·         Romans 6
·         Galatians 3
 
Also referenced:
 
Books:
·         The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
·         A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
·         Judaism: Revelation of Moses, or Religion of Men? by Philip Neal
·          Code of Jewish Law by Ganzfried and Goldin
 
Church At Home (churchathome.org) series:
·         Was Peter Ever in Rome?
·         Was Peter the First Pope?
 
Booklet: Rome’s Challenge to the Protestants by Cardinal Gibbon

 ​Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
 
Advertisement: Book: The Christian Passover: When Observed 14th or 15th? There is no way you can ever get away from it continually coming around, because that’s just the nature of it.
 
I got an e-mail from a man in Argentina who is a Seventh Day Adventist and he read the Passover book online. It blew him away, he was so impressed with it that he asked for a copy of it. So, I sent him two and A Harmony of the Gospels. I forwarded that onto Eduardo Elizondo who is going to try and contact him.
 
It’s interesting in little ole Hollister and we don’t know who is coming online. We know what they’re downloading, because we run monthly statistics on it, and in the Feb. letter we will have the yearly totals of everything. But wee have the time for visits between 12-15 minutes. That’s means they’re on the website for a good deal of time.
 
The average for websites is if you’re on for over a minute that’s pretty good. If you’re on it two minutes that’s really, really good. If you’re more than that, that’s counted as a great visit. Here we are consistently through the years with all of this.
 
So, what we do here in Hollister reaches out to many, many more people and we’re very thankful for that and that we have the means to do it today.
 
*****
 
We started a short series in the book of Galatians and we got through chapter one. Let’s just review a little bit, and I want to show you what a powerful thing that it actually was to call the Apostle Paul. With the dispute that we have in Gal. 2 between Peter and the Circumcision Party, and the Jews and Gentiles, we can see that God called Paul, and one of the of main reasons was to keep Judaism out of the Church!
 
The book we have concerning the Passover still comes around, because the Jews do not acknowledge the 14th. This explains, like no other book in the world, why the Jews believe that, and why—because they reject Christ—they are correct when they’re outside the area of the geography of what is called Israel in the Middle East. Jesus kept the 14th Passover. Why does the Church keep the 14th Passover in any land wherever we are in the world? Yet, the Jews understand that the command is that you cannot keep a 14th Passover if you’re in the Diaspora, which is true!
 
That has been such a longstanding tradition that they don’t believe in the 14th except if there’s going to be something at the temple when it’s built.
 
·         Why does the Church keep the 14th and rejects the Jews’ 15th? Because Christ kept the 14th!
·         What did He tell the disciples to do? ‘Go into all the world and teach them everything that I have taught you!’
·         What is the most important thing in the whole Gospel? Over one-third of the Gospels is related to the Passover Day and the whole meaning of the Passover Day vs the works of law!
 
The works of law includes the sacrifices, and of course, the temple is destroyed and you can’t offer those. We will see that those could never take away sin!
 
That’s one of the main things as far as it relates to us. But back in the time of the apostles, they had to go to the Jews first, and they were always confronted with the traditions of the Jews. It is true that the Passover is the foundation for all of the Holy Days after the Sabbath.
 
The structure of Lev. 23 starts out with the Sabbath and then the Passover. If you don’t have a proper Passover, then everything else is eschewed.
 
Galatians 1:13: “For you heard of my former conduct when I was in Judaism…” That’s what it means in the Greek. I think the King James translates ‘religion of the Jews.’ That is not wrong, but Judaism is far better.
 
“…how I was excessively persecuting the Church of God and was destroying it; and I was advancing in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (vs 13-14). So, Paul was explaining the basis for God’s calling him!
 
The Pharisees had a strict religion, absolutely strict! Paul said that he was ‘a Pharisee of a Pharisee’ (Philip. 3). Let’s see what Paul was doing, and let’s see how very important that this is, and why God called Paul and not somebody else!
 
We will see that if it had been left up to Peter, he would have politically caved into the Circumcision Party from Jerusalem.
 
Do we, today, still have encroaches of Judaism, Messianic Judaism? Yes! We’ve had people visit us who wear the prayer shawls, and some of them have the blue ribbons on the borders of their clothes, thinking that it makes them more righteous!
 
What the New Testament is concerned with is not the outward appearance or the physical things, but the inward mind and heart toward God.
 
After Stephen gave a tremendous witness, that was something! Before we get into it, I just want to rehearse a little bit. Remember that after receiving the Holy Spirit the apostles were preaching in Jerusalem. Peter, James and John were doing miracles. They were called before the Sanhedrin, and the last time they were called before the Sanhedrin was when they healed a man tremendously from being crippled from birth. Then they were teaching in the temple and were arrested and put in prison. Over night an angel came and let them out and told them to go into the temple and start teaching.
 
So, the Sanhedrin got together to render their judgment on them the next morning and said to bring them in. the officer went down to the jail and said, ‘I went there and the guards were standing outside, but nothing was inside! Then someone came running and said that they were in the temple teaching. So, they went and got them gingerly and brought them in.
 
What was the witness that Peter and the apostle said when the Sanhedrin said, ‘Didn’t we tell you to quit preaching in this name’? The apostles said, ‘You judge! Should we obey man? or God?
 
That was a tremendous witness to them! After that there were great miracles that were being done by Peter and the apostles: healings and things like this. So, when Stephen came, here is one of the last powerful witnesses to the Sanhedrin and the leader of the Jews before God permanently decided to destroy the temple.
 
Acts 7:51: “O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears!…. [this is Stephen telling all the leaders: the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees] …You do always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so also do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of Whom you have become the betrayers and murderers” (vs 51-52).
 
See what happens? This happens so many, many times. When the establishment religion gets its power, or the establishment government as we’ve seen here in America get their power, they will do anything to hold it, even kill and murder if they can get away with it!
 
Verse 53: “‘Who received the Law by the disposition of angels, but have not kept it.’ And when they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts, and they gnashed their teeth at him. But he, being filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (vs 53-55).
 
To them, this was in incredible! What an absolute blaspheme!
 
Verse 56: “And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.’ Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul” (vs 56-58). So, he was right there to kill the Christians!
 
Verse 59: “And they stoned Stephen, who called upon God, saying, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ And he fell to his knees and cried with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not lay this sin to their charge.’ And after he had said this, he died” (vs 59-60).
 
That’s quite a thing! You talk about a perfect example of loving your enemies, right when they’re killing you!
 
Acts 8:1: “Now, Saul had consented to killing him. And that day a great persecution arose against the Church that was in Jerusalem; and all the believers were scattered throughout the countries of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the Church, going from house to house… [talk about a Gestapo] …entering in and dragging out men and women, and delivering them up to prison” (vs 1-3). Then it gets into the thing concerning Simon Magus.
 
Now it gets into how God called Saul, and Paul refers to that in Gal. 1.
 
Acts 9:1: “Now Saul, still breathing out threatening and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest.”
 
That tells you how high ranked that he was, that he went to high priest to get the legal orders to arrest the Christians and put them in jail! Not only in the area of Judea, but now he was going to Damascus, several hundred miles north of Judea.
 
Verse 2: “Asking him for letters to take to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who were of that way… [a way of life, not a religion] …he might bring them bound, both men and women, to Jerusalem.”
 
And God selected the right moment! Here Saul is going along. I don’t know if he was on a donkey, a horse, or walking, but he had his arrest party with him.
 
Verse 3: “But it came to pass while he was journeying, as he drew near to Damascus, that suddenly a light from heaven shined round about him. And after falling to the ground, he heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’” (vs 3-4).
 
Anytime a true Christian is persecuted, they’re persecuting Christ!
 
Verse 5: “And he said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the pricks.’ Then, trembling and astonished, he said, ‘Lord, what will You have me to do?’….” (vs 5-6).
 
Think about the instantaneous repentance! From persecuting to doing the will of Christ!
 
“…And the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go into the city, and you shall be told what you must do.’ Now, the men who were traveling with him stood speechless; for they indeed heard the voice, but they saw no one. Then Saul arose from the ground; but when he opened his eyes, he saw no one. And they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. But for three days he was not able to see…” (vs 6-9).
 
Just kind of put yourself in Saul’s position: blind and persecuting the Church. Jesus Himself knocked Saul to the ground, spoke to him, corrected him and now he is completely humbled! Saul has no power, no authority and has completely lost everything. And he’s blind for three days!
 
Then the Lord, by vision, told Ananias to go to such and such a house and he would find Saul, and ‘he’s a chosen vessel for Me.’ Ananias said, ‘Lord, he’s persecuting all the Christians.’ Nevertheless, you do what I say! So, Ananias went and:
 
Verse 17: “Then Ananias went away and came into the house; and after laying his hands on him, he said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me, even Jesus, Who appeared to you on the road in which you came, so that you might receive sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ And it was as if scales immediately fell from his eyes, and he instantly received sight; and he arose and was baptized” (vs 17-18).
 
Verse 20: “And in the synagogues he immediately began to proclaim Christ, that He is the Son of God.” This was absolutely unbelievable!
 
Why did God choose Paul? Because he knew more about Judaism and the problems of the laws and traditions of Judaism than any other of the apostles! That’s why God called him!
 
Acts 26 shows the mission that Saul was to have, especially going to the Gentiles. We won’t go through all the things concerning his three years in Arabia where he was taught in dreams and visions; but he was taught of the Lord. That’s why he said that he was ‘taught of no man,’ because he was taught of God.
 
This had to be so that he could learn all of the spiritual things necessary for the New Covenant, and to understand that you can’t carry over into the Church the traditions of Judaism.
 
Acts 26:15: “And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. Now arise, and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of what you have seen and what I shall reveal to you. I am personally selecting you from among the people and the Gentiles, to whom I now send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified through faith in Me’” (vs 15-18).
 
Let’s see how that operated in Acts 13, right after he was ordained as an apostle, sent on a mission, which was to go to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles.
 
In every synagogue there were proselytes. Those were the first believing Gentiles when they came out of the synagogue.
 
Acts 13:38: “Therefore, be it known to you, men and brethren, that through this Man [Christ] the remission of sins is preached to you.”
 
The remission of sins by repentance and baptism vs the works of law! There are two kinds of ‘works of law’:
 
1.       the sacrifices at the temple
2.       the works of Judaism
 
All of those laws could not forgive sin in heaven above! The key is:
 
·         repentance of heart
·         faith in Christ
·         belief in God
 
That’s entirely different than Judaism!
 
Verse 39: “And in Him [Christ] everyone who believes is justified from all things…”
 
Under the Old Covenant and under the works of law with Judaism, people were justified to the temple. Everything came to the temple and was left there. For those who were converted—repentant and received the Holy Spirit—you’re justified before God the Father in heaven above through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by repentance and faith!
 
Those are the spiritual works that we are to do! The physical works are much like the Catholics have today. If they sin then the priest says to go do 200 ‘our fathers’ and 200 ‘hail Marys.’ The Jews would have: separate yourself, take so many hand-washings, burn so many candles and then you’re okay. Completely different!
 
“…from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses” (v 39). Remember, the Law of Moses included all of their traditions as well!
 
Verse 40: “Take heed, therefore, lest that which is spoken in the Prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work that you will in no way believe, even if one declares it to you.’” (vs 40-41).
 
Notice what happened. Almost every time that Paul went into a synagogue it split! When he came to Corinth there was a riot.
 
Verse 42: “And when the Jews had gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles entreated him that these words might be spoken to them on the next Sabbath.”
 
Notice this very carefully and use this with anyone who is a Sunday-keeper, who says that Paul changed the Law. What are we talking about here? Gentiles! If Paul changed the Law why didn’t he tell them not to wait for Sabbath, but come tomorrow, because the next day was Sunday. He didn’t!
 
Verse 43: “Now, after the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and the proselytes who worshiped there followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And on the coming Sabbath, almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the Word of God” (vs 43-44). That’s astonishing!
 
Then the Jews were losing everything so they setup people to persecute Paul, and even stoned him.
 
Note our Church At Home (churchathome.org) series: Was Peter Ever in Rome? and Was Peter the First Pope? You will find, historically speaking, the Truth! Peter never went to Rome!
 
After James was beheaded, Peter was put in prison and an angel let him out. He came to Mark’s house. Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, who was a Levite before he became an apostle. So, when Peter was let out and Came to mark’s house, it says ‘he went to another place.’
 
·         Where would Peter go? His mission was to the circumcision!
·         Where was the greatest number of Jews at that time? In Babylon!
·         Where did Peter write his first epistle? From Babylon!
 
That tells that the other place he went to was Babylon, because there were the Jews there, the circumcision people.
 
Let’s see what Paul teaches in Rom. 2. This is important because lawlessness is not Christianity. Everyone who deals with God has laws and commandments to keep. Isn’t that what we find with Abraham? When the covenant was passed on to Isaac, it was because ‘Abraham kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My Law. and obeyed My voice!’
 
It’s not a matter of commandments or no commandments, it’s a matter of commandments and how you keep them! Under the covenant with Israel, the commandments of God were in the letter of the Law. Just stop and think, in this nation today look at the great divide that we have between those who want to have law and order and those who want no laws at all. Look at what it causes without laws. Look at all the crime and sin.
 
So, keeping the commandments in the letter of the Law for the general society is a good thing! But that does not mean they’re converted. Look at how many Christians in Sunday-keeping Christianity keep some of the commandments of God. Even our Constitution is based upon many of the principles that are in the Bible, which work good for the society as they keep them.
 
But that does not convert you! Even if you keep them in the letter of the Law, that does not convert the mind. But keeping the commandments of God and the laws of God are paramount to begin with when you come to God.
 
Romans 2:13: “Because the hearers of the Law are not just… [justified] …before God…” Justification in one short sentence is this: right standing with God:
 
·         because you have had you have had your sins forgiven
·         because you have believed in Jesus Christ as the ultimate sacrifice of His shed blood for the forgiveness of your sins
 
That’s not based on a temple in Jerusalem, but is based on the Holy of Holies in heaven above. It’s not just keeping it in the letter of Law. God wants the conversion of the mind; that’s the whole thing with Christianity!
 
I heard Sean Hannity saying ‘I believe in the Bible, I believe in God, I believe etc.’ But he is a ‘merry Christmas’ man and an Easter man gung-ho! So, even if they keep part of the things that are in the Law, they have a ‘certain amount’ of blessings and understanding, but that has nothing to do with true Christianity!
 
“…but the doers of the Law shall be justified” (v 13). What does this mean? You first have to be convicted of sin and you repent, and you start keeping the Laws of God because you repent! Then you have to follow-through with baptism!
 
Verse 14: “For when the Gentiles, which do not have the Law, practice by nature the things contained in the Law, these who do not have the Law are a law unto themselves”--but it’s not unto conversion!
 
Verse 15: “Who show the work of the Law written in their own hearts, their consciences bearing witness, and their reasonings also as they accuse or defend one another.”
 
Verse 17—Paul is talking to the Jews: “Behold, you are called a Jew, and you yourself rest in the law, and boast in God… [which they do, but do they keep it?] …and know His will, and approve of the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the Law; and are persuaded that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light for those in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of the knowledge and of the Truth contained in the Law” (vs 17-20). Typically true with the Jews today:
 
·         they claim the Law
·         they claim their traditions
·         they claim special status with God
 
But they have none as far as God in heaven above is concerned! They may have high positions in the world, they may have a lot of money in the world, they may be very smart and understanding and doing a lot of different things, that is true. But in talking to Michael Heiss, he was telling me that how his family business would make certain things for the Gentiles for Christmas, and they made a lot of money doing it.
 
I asked him, ‘Does this prove that the Jews like the Gentiles to have Christmas so they can make money.’ He said, ‘Yes, they even promote it for them!’
 
They don’t keep the Law. They keep some of the things of the Law in the synagogue, but how many go to synagogue or temple? Very few! Those who are the ultra, ultra orthodox are the most ridiculous of all.
 
Verse 20: “An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of the knowledge and of the Truth contained in the Law. You, then, who are teaching another, do you not teach yourself also?….” (vs 20-21). A great principle for anyone, but especially for elders and teachers!
 
·         How is that you teach yourself? By prayer and study, study the Word of God!
·         Will God give you understanding of His Word as you study it through His Spirit? Yes!
·         Will you learn things from the Word of God that you didn’t know before? Yes!
 
That’s happened time and time again down through history! But the important thing is that this is a main focus so that the teacher does not become a hypocrite. That’s what we’re dealing with in Gal. 2.
 
“…do you not teach yourself…”
 
·         If you read that you should have no other gods before you, do you examine your life to see if you have any?
·         If you read that you shall not make any graven image of any likeness, or bow down to it, do you have things that are idols before God?
·         If you read that you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, do you do it?
·         Do you say God says thus when He didn’t say it? If you do, that’s taking His name in vain!
·         Isn’t that what the preachers do on TBN, every program you watch?
 
They say the Lord says, they read some Scriptures.
 
Randy has put on one of our Church At Home segments a preacher speaking about the Law as been done away, and he has a picture of the Ten Commandments, the tablets, and it just disappears.
 
They preach love. But what did John write? This is the love of God that we just be nice! NO! John wrote, That we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome! This is a tremendous thing, teach yourself!
 
“…You who preach, ‘Do not steal,’ are you stealing? You who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ are you committing adultery? You who abhor idols, are you committing sacrilege? You who boast in law, are you dishonoring God through your transgression of the Law?” (vs 21-23).
 
Think about that! If you’re breaking the Laws of God while you’re professing to know God, you’re dishonoring God! Most people never look at that way.
 
Verse 24: “For through you the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, exactly as it is written. For on the one hand, circumcision profits if you are observing the Law; on the other hand, if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision” (vs 24-25).
 
There’s nothing more dastardly to tell the Jews than to say that! Think of how powerful that this is. But that’s exactly how God sees it.
 
Verse 26: “Therefore, if the uncircumcised is keeping the requirements of the Law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision?”
 
How can that be? In the New Testament the circumcision is still required! That’s the circumcision of the heart! That’s greater than the circumcision of the flesh! This means that the carnality of the mind has been changed through the receiving of the Spirit of God, that you’re no longer hostile against the laws and commandments of God, and against the ways of God. But you are eager to do them and want to do them. Entirely different! This is telling the Jews that they’re no better than all of those Gentiles that they denounce all the time.
 
Verse 27: “And shall not the uncircumcised, who by nature is fulfilling the Law, judge you, who, with the letter and circumcision, are a transgressor of the Law?” Paul knew this!
 
What was he doing before he was converted? He was high in Judaism, keeping the traditions of the fathers and more zealous for them than anything else! He was going out killing, arresting, and dragging into prison those who were Christians, thinking he was doing service to God.
 
When Paul writes this, he’s writing from his own experience that he learned after he was converted. Then he gives the summation of it:
 
Verse 28: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is external in the flesh; rather, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (vs 28-29). A whole different approach!
 
I want you to see how important that it is and what happened when Peter kowtowed to the Circumcision Part from Jerusalem.       *(second half)*

Second Half of Blog Transcript. (Free online bible.)

​Let’s look at a few Scriptures that goes right along with what we’re talking about here, especially when you look at government and you look at churches, and any organization. 
 
Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.” You can take that and apply that to many different things!
 
Verse 4: “The king establishes the land by justice, but he who takes bribes tears it down.” That is exactly what has happened here in America!
 
Verse 12: “If a ruler hearkens to lies, all his servants are wicked.” We can apply that to how a church is run, and directly to our lives and what we’re covering here: Truth and doctrine!
 
Verse 14: “A king who faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.”
 
Now, here’s one for the world today. Remember that Jesus said that lawlessness will be multiplied!
 
Verse 16: “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous shall see their fall.”
 
Sooner or later it catches up with them, but the ultimate of that will be the return of Christ and the resurrection of the saints.
 
Proverbs 30:5—this applies to exactly what we are doing here: “Every Word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He correct you and you be found a liar” (vs 5-6). That is exactly what has happened to the Church many times over!
 
2-Timothy 1:13: “Hold as the standard for doctrine the sound words that you heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good thing that was committed to you by the Holy Spirit that is dwelling in us” (vs 13-14).
 
Notice how bad things were getting in the Church. We’ve experienced some of this in our lifetime, but back then it was everywhere.
 
Verse 15: “You know this, that all those who are in Asia have rejected me… [Why? Because they brought in the false doctrine and began to believe those!] …of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.”
 
2-Timothy 2:13: If we are unfaithful… [someone goes wrong] …He remains faithful…”--Christ always remains the same; Christ the same yesterday, today and forever, and ‘I, the Lord, change not.
 
Something that comes along that’s a difficulty, and contrary to the Word of God, then trust in God and it will be exposed for what it is.
 
“…—He cannot deny Himself. See that they remain mindful of these things, earnestly charging them in the sight of the Lord not to argue over words that are not profitable in any way, but which lead to the subverting of those who hear” (vs 13-14). So, it gets down to this:
 
·         How strong are we in the faith?
·         Do we really believe it?
 
Here’s how to make sure that you do it right; v 15: “Diligently study… [put forth a lot effort] …to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of the Truth.”
 
That’s how all false doctrines start--we’ve covered a lot of them--by wrongly dividing the Scriptures! One of the major ones was that the Father was the Lord God of the Old Testament. That was wrongly dividing the Word of God! Then believing the conclusion of it, and convincing others. How can you convince others? Maybe they’re not studying and proving things!
 
Verse 16: “But avoid profane and vain babblings because they will only give rise to more ungodliness.” That’s exactly what has happened!
 
Just before the Church fell, they had 120,000 attending the Feast of Tabernacles, and they had an income that year of $200-million!
 
·         it’s not how much you have
·         it’s not the number of people involved
 
It is, the way Christ looks at it, that you are converted and stay converted! That’s what God wants!
 
2-Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is God-breathed…”
 
Notice how urgent Paul was in writing to Timothy, and how desperate that this apostasy was coming about.
 
2-Timothy 4:1: “I charge you, therefore, in the sight of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is ready to judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His Kingdom: Preach the Word!….” (vs 1-2). That’s what needs to be preached!
 
·         not the ideas of men
·         not the pet doctrines of men
 
Preach the Word, the Truth of God!
 
“…Be urgent in season and out of season… [showing that they were keeping the Holy Days, otherwise there wouldn’t be seasons] …convict… [that they will be convicted of their sins, there shortcoming and come to God] …rebuke… [when necessary] …encourage… [that’s what we need lots of, lots of encouragement] …with all patience and doctrine.”
 
So, a lot of the things that were happening were those who became ministers and elders who did not fully believe. Then Paul names four of them in these two epistles, that He turns them over to Satan because of the way that they were acting.
 
Here’s what happens, v 3: “For there shall come a time when they will not tolerate sound doctrine…” They won’t take line upon line, here a little, there a little, precept upon precept, and all of that they won’t do.
 
“…but according to their own lusts…” (v 3)--rather than submission to God!
 
That’s why it’s so important, and you’ve hear me say, in God we live, move and have our being! Especially in the Church with the Holy Spirit of God! Even the people in the world live, move and have their being by God! But we, with the Spirit of God, how much moreso!
 
“…they shall accumulate to themselves a great number of teachers…” (v 3). There’s always someone who’s going to come around and…
 
I saw this picture showing a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It showed the wolf with all the sheep’s fleece on it, and his nose up in the air and two little sheep right alongside of it.
 
I thought that was really a well-placed picture to show how these things work. There are those who infiltrate to try and establish themselves in positions of authority. If they get established in positions of high authority, what can they do? They bring in those Who they want and put them in charge! That’s what happened to Worldwide! That’s why it went down so fast.
 
“…having ears itching to hear what satisfies their cravings; and they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths” (vs 3-4). That’s what’s wrong with fake Christianity today! Everything they do is a myth except with properly reading the Scriptures.
 
·         Sunday is wrong
·         idols are wrong
·         their salvation is wrong
·         they’re doing away with the Law is wrong
 
but people like it! People like to be told that all you have to do is believe in Jesus. ‘Do you believe in Jesus?’ Oh yes, I believe in Jesus!’ You’re saved!’ How can there be a falling away if you’re saved once forever? It won’t be!
 
Let’s come to the book of Galatians and see how absolutely treacherous this was. We’ll cover certain things in the book of Galatians.
 
Galatians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle, not sent from men nor made by man…” After he was converted he went down into Arabia and was taught for three years by Christ through visions and directly!
 
“…but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, Who raised Him from the dead; and all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of Galatia” (vs 1-2).
 
Some people like to say that that means Gaul in Southern France, but that’s not true. This is in Asia Minor.
 
Verse 3: “Grace and peace be to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave Himself for our sins, in order that He might deliver us from the present evil world…” (vs 3-4).
 
It was evil back then, and think about the multitude of evil that they have today. Watch all of these ads of all the hightech stuff, and they get these goggles and put them on and it’s a make believe reality. You get movies on Netflix and people watch so many things that are nothing by fables and stories and lies.
 
So, when you come along and say that that’s a sin, they’re not going to accept it as sin. So, there has to be something happen in their lives in order for them to come to the point that they see that they need God. But the way this world, it’s a terrible mess out there!
 
“…according to the will of our God and Father; to Whom be the glory into the ages of eternity. Amen” (vs 4-5).
 
I’ve been accosted by people who say that I slam other ministers. Well, I don’t slam them; I point out where they’re wrong when they have false doctrine. We will see what Paul did, and I’m very mild compared to Paul.
 
Verse 6: “I am astonished that you are so quickly being turned away from Him Who called you into the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.”
 
What did we just read? Don’t add anything or take away anything! That’s how you get a different gospel.
 
Verse 7: “Which in reality is not another Gospel…”--because there’s no such thing as another Gospel. There’s one Gospel! The Gospel of Jesus Christ through God the Father!
 
“…but there are some who are troubling you and are desiring to pervert the Gospel of Christ” (v 7). How dangerous is that? Look at what Paul wrote in the next few verses in the strongest possible terms!
 
Verse 8: “But if we… [including himself and all the other apostles] …or even an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel to you that is contrary to what we have preached, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!” That’s really slamming them pretty hard! He repeats it:
 
Verse 9: “As we have said before, I also now say again. If anyone is preaching a gospel contrary to what you have received, LET HIM BE ACCURSED!”
 
Who were the ones coming around? You had two factors:
 
1.       the Jewish factor; and a lot of those who came as Jews (2-Cor. 11) give themselves out as apostles of Christ, but are not
 
Who are they really following? Satan the devil!
 
2.       then you have the Greeks that come along and say that if you read ‘this Scripture’ this way, then it looks like everybody goes to heaven
 
Besides, the Jews have it wrong on the resurrection, but we go to heaven, and that the only resurrection was Christ.
 
Paul had to correct them strongly in 1-Cor. 15 that they didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. So, let them be accursed!
 
Notice how Paul describes what he’s doing; v 10: Now then, am I striving to please men, or God?…. [that takes away all politics; all favoritism] …Or am I motivated to please men? For if I am yet pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Though they may claim themselves to be servants of Christ!
 
Verse 11: “But I certify to you, brethren, that the Gospel that was preached by me is not according to man.”
 
Even though when he got done with his three years of being taught by Christ, he went up to Jerusalem and only stayed two weeks. He talks about that a little later. Those in Jerusalem didn’t want to receive him.
 
Verse 12: “Because neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it by man; rather, it was by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That’s a special teaching!
 
Paul being a Pharisee, God called him so that would eliminate, as much as possible, Judaism coming into the Church.
 
Verse 13: “For you heard of my former conduct when I was in Judaism, how I was excessively persecuting the Church of God and was destroying it; and I was advancing in Judaism far beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (vs 13-14).
 
The traditions of men really are the key! That if the teachings of men come in and get codified as traditions to keep then you start really getting into trouble!
 
Verse 15: “But when it pleased God, Who selected me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace, to reveal His own Son in me, in order that I might preach Him as the Gospel among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Then, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Peter, and I remained with him fifteen days. But I did not see any of the other apostles, except James the brother of the Lord” (vs 15-19).
 
What happened was that Barnabas was on the ball. He said that with Paul being here, we’ve got to get him out of town, because there’s no way that he can be here in Jerusalem. People will hear that he is here and they will come and kill him.
 
So, Barnabas took Paul down to Caesarea and put him on a ship and sent him to where he came from up in Tarsus. He remained there a number of years until the first church of the Gentiles was raised up in Antioch of Syria. So, the apostles decided to send Barnabas down there to help out with all the new Gentile converts that they had in Syria. Then Barnabas went over to Tarsus and found Paul and brought him back to Antioch. Antioch became Paul’s quasi headquarters a little later.
 
Verse 20: (Now the things that I am writing to you, behold, before God, I am not lying.) Then I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. But I was unknown by face to the churches in Judea which are in Christ; they only heard, ‘The one who once persecuted us is now preaching the Gospel—the faith which he once destroyed.’ And they glorified God in me” (vs 20-24).
 
Let’s look at what happens here. Gal. 2 becomes very important. One of the big questions with the Jewish converts is that when a Gentile was converted he had to be circumcised, regardless of how old he was.
 
The Jews would take care of the circumcision on eighth day, so the question came with the Pharisees (Acts 15). They came saying that you cannot be saved unless you keep the Law of Moses.
 
That’s where a lot of Protestants get all discombobulated. To a Pharisee, what does the Law of Moses mean? All the traditions encircling the Truth of God! So, circumcision of adults became a great problem in the Church. There were those false Jewish ministers out there, and a lot of them would say, ‘I was in Judea’ or ‘I was in Galilee’ and ‘I saw Jesus, I heard Him preach and He said this or that, He said the other thing.’
 
Galatians 2:1: “Then after fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me also. And I went up according to revelation, and laid before them the Gospel that I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those of repute, lest by any means I should be running, or had run in vain. (But indeed, Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was not compelled to be circumcised.)” (vs 1-3).
 
Why? Because conversion is the circumcision of the heart, which is a higher level of circumcision.
 
Verse 4: “Now, this meeting was private because of false brethren brought in secretly, who came in by stealth to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might bring us into bondage.”
 
So, it was all men must be circumcised regardless of the age, and follow the traditions of the Jews that encircled the Law of God.
 
Note sermon series: Scripturalism vs Judaism. You cannot understand the problems of Judaism and how bad it was unless you get that extended series. I read some amazing quotes that the Jews themselves have given, and how that it was such a furor in the Church.
 
Remember the first Gentile who was converted? Cornelius! Even before God let Peter know about the situation, Cornelius and his household were offering up prayers to God and alms to the local synagogue, the Romans! So, God sent an angle to tell Cornelius that you find Peter—he was at the house of another: Simon—and he’ll come down here and tell you what you need to do.
 
Peter had the vision of all these unclean things, and what did he say? Oh Lord, I’m so happy that we can no eat them. Today we could say that we can be just like the Chinese. NO! He said, ‘I’ve NEVER eaten anything common or unclean!’ then the three men came and he went with them and went to Cornelius’ house. What did Cornelius do? Peter walked in and Cornelius was bowing down to worship him! Peter said, ‘I’m a man like you, but the Jewish law is that a Jew shall not keep company with a Gentile.’
 
So, Peter went there, preached the Gospel and Cornelius’ whole household was converted, and God sent the Holy Spirit on them before they were baptized, to show that God was calling them! Protestants come along and say that you don’t need to be baptized. No! they were baptized afterward.
 
What other way could God show Peter that the ways of Judaism are not going to be in the Church? That was quite a thing!
 
Some of those who were with Peter when he went down there, went back to Jerusalem and told the elders there. Peter came back and they said, ‘What is this that you went into those who were uncircumcised?’
 
Peter told them all about the story, and they praised God and said that God has given them the Holy Spirit the same as us. But in Judaism, even though that was mentioned, Gentiles must be in a separate category than the Jews.
 
Also note our sermon series on Circumcision Wars, and that’s really in great detail.
 
Verse 4: “Now, this meeting was private because of false brethren brought in secretly, who came in by stealth to spy out our freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might bring us into bondage… [of the traditions of men] …to whom we did not yield in subjection, not even for one hour, so that the Truth of the Gospel might continue with you” (vs 4-5).
 
He didn’t say that they were well intentioned. No, they were not well intentioned.
 
Verse 6: “But the Gospel that I preach did not come from those reputed to be something. (Whatever they were does not make any difference to me…”
 
That’s something you always need to understand: When the Truth is violated by those who are in charge, you do not have to put up with it. If you go to them and bring out what is right, and they don’t change, then you do like Paul, you leave! That’s what happened to the whole Church!
 
“…God does not accept the person of a man.) For those who are of repute conferred nothing upon me. But on the contrary, after seeing that I had been entrusted with the Gospel of the uncircumcision, exactly as Peter had been entrusted with the Gospel of the circumcision; (for He Who wrought in Peter for the apostleship of the circumcision wrought in me also toward the Gentiles); and after recognizing the grace that was given to me, James and Cephas and John—those reputed to be pillars—gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, affirming that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision. Their only request was that we remember the poor, which very thing I was also diligent to do” (vs 6-10).
 
Now, here’s the problem: I want you to notice how Paul was absolutely uncompromising, because he knew the dangers of the encroachment of Judaism. Peter was at fault!
 
Verse 11: “But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to his face because he was to be condemned… [Paul did this publicly, not privately] …for, before certain ones came from James…” (vs 11-12)--politics! Those in Jerusalem are more important. No, they’re not more important, and they were not in charge!
 
“…he was eating with the Gentiles. However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, being afraid of those of the circumcision party” (v 12).
 
‘Oh, I don’t want to get a bad report back in Jerusalem.’ This was a tradition of the Jews that you don’t keep company with, eat with, or have anything to do with Gentiles. This was a tremendous problem! Let’s see what Paul did:
 
“…However, when they came, he drew back and separated himself from the Gentiles, being afraid of those of the circumcision party” (v 12).
 
All of those coming down from Jerusalem ate over here, Peter and Barnabas went over there with them, and over there were all the Gentiles.
 
Verse 13: “And the rest of the Jews joined him in this hypocritical act, insomuch that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
 
That was a very dangerous situation doctrinally speaking, and fellowship speaking.
 
Verse 14: “But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the Truth of the Gospel, I said to Peter in the presence of them all, ‘If you, being a Jew, are living like the Gentiles, and not according to Judaism, why do you compel the Gentiles to Judaize?’”
 
If you set them aside in a separate place, you are making them follow a tradition of Judaism. I was a meeting where the deacons and ministers were up on the stage having other deacons come down and take the best of the food from the pot luck and take it up there to give it to the ministry.
 
The minister in charge said to me, ‘Fred, come on up here.’ I said, ‘No, I’m down here…’ He told me three times, and I said, ‘No, I’ll just get my food here.’
 
He destroyed the church; he took over the church from me and I was visiting later, and he ended up committing adultery with one of the nicest women in the church. Terrible situation! You see the whole lesson of a little leaven leavens the whole lump applies in many, many different ways!
 
So, Paul called Peter out before all of them!
 
Verse 15: “We who are Jews by nature—and not sinners of the Gentiles—knowing that a man is not justified by works of law…” The King James says, ‘the works of the law’ and that is absolutely incorrect! Those two definite articles are not there in the Greek and should not be inserted. When they were inserted, they made no difference by making them italicized to show that they weren’t in the original. It’s “…works of law…”
 
Those of you who have The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version, read:
 
·         Appendix Z: Understanding Paul’s Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and the Commandments of God\
·         Appendix R: What is Meant by “the Works of the Law”?
 
What were the works of law? The laws of Judaism and all the things that they did! As long as the temple stood, they could still have the sacrificial laws.
 
For those who are uneducated and they read the King James and almost all other translations--the works of the law—they say that you don’t need to keep the Law. That is a complete false interpretation, false translation and should never have been.
 
When I first understood that—BING!—that was like turning on a great floodlight!
 
“…but through the faith of Jesus Christ, we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by works of law…” (vs 15-16).
 
Works of law would justify you to the temple as long as the temple stood. Works of law of Judaism would justify you to the Pharisaic system of Judaism, not to God in heaven above. Our justification and forgiveness of sin comes through faith and repentance, and belief in Jesus Christ! That is to:
 
·         cleanse our mind
·         cleanse our heart
·         draw us to God
 
That’s far greater than all the works of law! Look at all the works of law that the Jews were doing, and what they were plotting against Christ. To kill Him, to destroy Him!
 
·         How many times were they out to get Him? So much for the love of God!
·         What did Jesus say of them in John 5? I know you, you do not have the Word of God dwelling in you!
 
He also said to them, ‘I know that you don’t have the love of God.’ Remember the Pharisee who was the doctor of the Law and ask them Him what was the greatest Law and commandment? Love God! That’s the start!
 
You can probably think of some areas in the Church where they had this to do, and this not do and so forth. They added to it and it shouldn’t have been there.
 
“…because by works of law shall no flesh be justified” (v 16)--before God in heaven above! That’s what that means!
 
We are justified by the sacrifice and shed blood of Jesus Christ through faith by the operation of God, and no work can substitute for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ!
 
So, if they have all of these works from Judaism, that would substitute what God wants us to do. He wants us to:
 
·         believe in Him and continue believing in Him and Jesus Christ
·         believe in His laws and commandments
·         believe in His Word
·         believe in His Truth
 
Verse 17: “Now then, if we are seeking to be justified in Christ, and we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then the minister of sin? MAY IT NEVER BE!” That’s what Peter and Barnabas were doing separating with the other Jews.
 
The Jews came down from Jerusalem all high-falutin and political and wanting to do things that they did in Jerusalem. Don’t do it down there where the Gentiles are.
 
Remember what happened when Paul finally ended up back in Jerusalem? When they found him in the temple? They wanted to kill him!
 
Verse 18: “For if I build again those things that I destroyed…” Everything he did in Judaism was destroyed with the baptism in Christ, and faith and belief in Christ!
 
“…I am making myself a transgressor” (v 18). That’s what Peter and the other Jews were doing!
 
Verse 19: “For I, through law, died to works of law… [the law of the faith of Christ] …in order that I may live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, yet, I live. Indeed, it is no longer I; but Christ lives in me….” (vs 19-20)--by the power of the Holy Spirit!
 
·         that comes from heaven above
·         that comes from the Throne of God
·         that comes from the Temple of God in heaven above
 
All these other physical works and things in the exterior that they were doing were not of God! Paul was doing his utmost to make sure that it never got into the Church.
 
“…For the life that I am now living in the flesh, I live by faith--that very faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me” (v 20).
 
That faith comes from God, not by doing a work of law. That has nothing to do with whether we keep the commandments of God. That is how we stay justified to God and having forgiveness of our sins.
 
Verse 21: “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness is through works of law, then Christ died in vain.”
 
Paul lambasted those people directly! He didn’t care if they were from James. He didn’t care what Peter and Barnabas thought of him. They were going against God, and going against the Truth and following the works of men, which leads to destruction! They had to be corrected publicly and vociferously! 

Scriptural References: (free online bible) 
​Bible Hard Copy - The Original Bible Restored
 
1)      John 14:4-6
2)      1 Corinthians 1:19-28, 26-28
3)      Colossians 1:21-23
4)      1 John 2:15-21
5)      Revelation 14:12
6)      1 John 2:22-29
7)      2 John 10-12
8)      1 Timothy 1:2-11, 16-17, 19-20
9)      1 Timothy 3:14-16
10)  1 Timothy 4:1-5, 13-16
11)  1 Timothy 6:3-5
12)  Proverbs 29:2, 4, 12-16
13)  Proverbs 30:5-6
14)  2 Timothy 1:13-15
15)  2 Timothy 2:13-16
16)  2 Timothy 3:16
17)  2 Timothy 4:1-4
18)  Galatians 1:1-24
19)  Galatians 2:1-21
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         1 Corinthians 15
·         Leviticus 11
·         Deuteronomy 14
·         Romans 2
·         2 Corinthians 11
·         Acts 15
·         John 5
 
Also referenced:
Sermon Series (transcript book with CD):
·         Scripturalism vs Judaism
·         Circumcision Wars
 
From The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version:
·         Appendix Z: Understanding Paul’s Difficult Scriptures Concerning the Law and the Commandments of God
·         Appendix R: What is Meant by “the Works of the Law”?
​

​One True Gospel and Many False Ones
Paul knew the danger of the doctrines of Judaism
(Galatians 1 & 2)
Fred R. Coulter—January 25, 2020
*(First Half of Video)
*(Second Half of Video)
*(Transcript Second Half) - Here you will find all the Scriptural References.

​Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services!
 
If you’ve been watching anything on the impeachment thing, you’ve seen the slickest lies in the world, and a great misinterpretation of the severity of what they claim is a crime. With that, I think it’s very interesting and made me stop and think: How did Lucifer convince a third of the angels to go with him?
(may be of interest: Creation/Re-Creation) 
There may be a lot of extra of that power in the Democrat Party today! Look at all the lies that have been spoken, and when you understand that Satan is the father of lies, you understand, I think, how he was able to maneuver.
 
Think on this: Belief is powerful! We are to have faith, and faith is the movement of belief! You believe in faith! They work together.
 
If you believe a lie and you really think it is true, you believe with the same intensity as you would believe the truth.
 
·         How does God get around that?
·         What was the first warning that Jesus gave to the disciples? Let no one deceive you! First warning!
·         How do we keep from succumbing to lies that sound blessedly true?
·         Can you think of a Scripture?
·         How do we do it? Prove all things, test the prophets whether they are of God or not!
 
The worst field of deceit is in the field of religion!
 
John 14 is a Scripture that we go over, and it’s a keynote of the Passover. Jesus told the disciples that He was going away:
 
John 14:4—Jesus said: “‘And where I am going you know, and the way you know.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going; how then can we know the way?’” (vs 4-5). They didn’t understand it because they didn’t have the Spirit of God, yet!
 
Verse 6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
 
So, we take the Scriptures and we compare everything to the Word of God. That’s why God had the New Testament originally written in Greek. It’s a very precise language. When you get the Interlinear you will see that 80-90% of the words must be translated exactly as it is. You can’t change that. Now, some words have more than one meaning, but it is very accurate and very true. You have the phrase, ‘answered and said.’ There is no other way to translate it. You can’t translate it ‘he was answering and saying’ because of the way that the verb is constructed.
 
Where do problems come in with the Scriptures? The translators, and those who found deficient Greek manuscripts, which mostly come out of Alexandria and Vaticanus! That’s where the problems come, because modern critical thinking of the Greek goes toward those Greek manuscripts rather than the Received Text.
 
Here is the basic one that we always go to. What’s another one? What did Jesus say about the words that He spoke? They are Spirit and they are Life! They are spiritually discerned or understood!
 
The Church at Corinth was one of Paul’s greatest problems. In 1-Cor. 15 he says, ‘What is it that some of you are saying that there’s no resurrection?’ Why? Because they were coming out of the Greek religions where it was ‘go to heaven or hell.’
 
1-Corinthians 1:19: “For it is written, ‘I [Jesus Christ] will destroy the wisdom of the wise… [all the philosophy and wrong thinking] …and I will nullify the understanding of those who understand.’” Nullify is to make it as though it never existed!
 
Verse 20: “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its own wisdom did not know God…” (vs 20-21).
 
·         Why? You must come to Christ! That’s where we started
·         How do you do that? On God’s terms!
·         What’s the first thing that Jesus said when He came into to Galilee to preach the Gospel? Repent and believe the Gospel, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
 
It was the Kingdom of God in the person of Christ! He was right there!
 
“…it pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. For the Jews require a sign…” (vs 21-22).
 
Read the first chapters of the book of Acts and you will find that God gave the Jews sign after sign after sign, plus all the healings that Jesus did before He was crucified. Of all of those things, what was the last great sign that Jesus did before He was arrested? He raised Lazarus from the dead, and He deliberately left him in the tomb four days to make sure that he was dead!
 
Remember when they were told to roll away the stone, Martha said to Him, ‘Lord, he stinks by now!’ That’s no problem to God! He said, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ and those who saw it rejoiced, though some of them were angry and ran to the officials so that they might get rid of Jesus. They wanted a sign!
 
“…and the Greeks seek after wisdom… [Greek: ‘sophia’ and ‘philo sophia’ is lover of wisdom] …but we proclaim Christ crucified. To the Jews it is a cause of offense, and to the Greeks it is foolishness; but to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren…” (vs 22-26).
 
God is starting from the bottom up; He’s not working from the top down
 
“…that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many who are powerful, not many who are highborn among you. Rather, God has chosen the foolish things of the world” (vs 26-27). So, why should we get all excited and uplifted in importance?
 
“…so that He might put to shame those who are wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things” (v 27)--because they’re going to be converted and resurrected, and become the sons and daughters of God! They can take care of any of the strong things of man--period! Hands down!
 
Verse 28: “And the lowborn of the world, and the despised has God chosen--even the things that are counted as nothing—in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are.”
 
Think about that! When you go on a trip and you see all of these people. Get on a plane and there are three seats on each side, and you’ve got to be thin to walk down the isle. When I get on a plane, I always tease the stewardess and say, ’You know, this isle is just too wide.’
 
What’s going on that everyone on planes and trains will be thinking about? Best laid plans of men? The great wisdom of men? The Coronavirus! They have shut down eleven cities in China. Have you watched the news on what they eat? They had last year swine flu where they had to kill 150-million swine!
 
This year they have the Coronavirus! How did that start? Well, it showed the picture of the food that they eat: alligators, snakes, rats, koalas, donkeys, horses, cats, dogs and salamanders!
 
What did God say? See what happens with all the ‘wisdom’ that they have? Everything that they’re doing over there, and they think that they’re so wise, but they’re so dishonest because they steal everything.
 
What is the basic command of God? These are the foods that you shall eat…! and These are the foods that you shall not eat…! Why? Because He loves us and He doesn’t want us to get sick with things like Coronavirus!
 
The city where the Coronavirus started is Wuhan, China, and that’s where the Chinese have the biological warfare. So, there is some thought that maybe some of the Coronavirus escaped from there. Then they also can have a tactic where they can send people who are infected to other countries to spread it to them. Just think how absolutely fragile the whole system is! Highly developed and everything dependant upon electricity, and the wisdom of men in peace and in war!
 
Let’s see what God wants us to do, because there’s only one Gospel and many false gospels.
 
Verse 26: “For you see your calling, brethren, that there are not many who are wise according to the flesh, not many who are powerful, not many who are highborn among you. Rather, God has chosen…” (vs 26-27). That’s interesting! Not called, but chosen! Chosen comes from repentance and baptism!
 
“…God has chosen the foolish things of the world, so that He might put to shame those who are wise…” (v 27).
 
How does that work today? When we see all the foolishness of what men are doing, especially in this impeachment thing, we can see where they’re absolutely wrong!
 
“…and God has chosen the weak things of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things. And the lowborn of the world, and the despised has God chosen--even the things that are counted as nothing--in order that He might bring to nothing the things that are” (vs 27-28).
 
The Gospel of God is the same yesterday, today and forever, as the Bible says.
 
Colossians 1:21: “For you were once alienated… [from God] …and enemies in your minds by wicked works…”
 
That’s why conversion is in the mind, not outward actions alone. Some of the greatest con-artists can have such wonderful actions on the outside, but they do it to deceive! So, God wants it on the inside. That’s where the wickedness comes that God is looking to.
 
“…but now He has reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you Holy and unblamable and unimpeachable before Him; if indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard, and which was proclaimed in all the creation that is under heaven; of which I, Paul, became a servant” (vs 21-23).
 
The Gospel has gone out and continues to go out! Where is the Gospel contained? In the whole Bible! That’s the Gospel! If we think about how many different ways that it’s out there now, it’s quite a thing! Let’s see something about the Gospel and the Truth!
 
1-John 2:15: “Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world” (vs 15-16). Who is the ‘god of this world’? Satan the devil!
 
Verse 17: “And the world and its lust is passing away… [that is in our lives, down through the generations to the return of Christ] …but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”
 
This tells you what happened in the last part of the apostolic age. We will see how the Church was literally coming apart.
 
Verse 18: “Little children, it is the last time…” For the apostolic age it was the last time, but that doesn’t mean that it is the end of the world!
 
“…and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have risen up, by which we know that it is the last time. They went out from among us, but they were not of us because if they were of us, they would have remained with us; nevertheless, they left that they might be exposed to show that they all were not of us” (vs 18-19).’
 
·         How did that happen?
·         What did they do?
·         What did they change?
·         What were the Jews preaching? Christ is an imposter!
·         What were the Greeks preaching? You don’t need to keep the Law!
 
Both of those elements are here in this Epistle of John!
 
Verse 20: “But you have the anointing from the Holy One, and you have knowledge of all things pertaining to salvation.” Obviously, you don’t have knowledge of all things! This can only be of the things for salvation!
 
Verse 21: “I did not write to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you know it, and you understand that not one lie comes from the Truth.” That’s why you prove everything!
 
·         What’s the greatest sin of human beings in God’s Word? To change it! To add their own traditions!
·         What happens with that? It’s like it was during the days of Jesus:
ü  you make the void the Word of God
ü  you make void the commandments of God
 
because of traditions! Yet, when people do that, and they accept it as from God, they are convinced that they are right, and the whole thing is upside down. When they look at those who are in the Churches of God, who keep the commandments of God, Sabbath and the Holy Days.
 
Revelation 14:12: “…here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” That tells us that it takes faith to keep the commandments, the faith that comes from God!
 
1-John 2:22: “Who is the liar if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?…. [that’s what the Jews did] …He is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son.” Now it’s both!
 
The Jews want a sign and the Greeks want wisdom (1-Cor.).
 
Verse 23: “Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either.” Jesus said, ‘I know that the Word of God does not dwell in you’ (book of John)!
 
Verse 24: “Therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning dwell in you; if what you have heard from the beginning is dwelling in you, then you will be dwelling in the Son and in the Father.”
 
What have the Catholics done? There are three major things that they have done!
 
1.       Sunday-keeping, rejecting the Sabbath
2.       trinity, saying there are three Gods
3.       elevation of Mary to the Queen of Heaven and be the mediatrix for human beings replacing Christ
 
The Catholics who are devoted… and there are a lot of evil spirits that keep them in bondage to those things. Another one is:
 
4.       idols
 
Verse 25: “And this is the promise that He has promised us: eternal life. These things I have written to you concerning those who are leading you astray” (vs 25-26). Coming along with interesting sounding doctrines!
 
Verse 27: “But you yourselves have dwelling in you the anointing that you received from Him; and you do not have need of anyone to indoctrinate you… [in other teachings] …for the same anointing instructs you in all spiritual things… [plus we have the Word of God now] …and is true, and is not a lie; and if you do exactly as it has taught you, you will be dwelling in Him. And now, little children, dwell in Him, so that when He is manifested we may have boldness, and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been begotten by Him” (vs 27-29). That’s the complete thing with that!
 
2-John is filled with love, Truth and commandment-keeping! Every verse there has that!
 
2-John 10: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine…”--the doctrine of Christ: His death and resurrection and ascension to heaven that He is the Son of God.
 
“…do not receive him into your house, and do not say to him, ‘Welcome!’ For anyone who says, ‘Welcome!’ to him is partaking in his evil works” (vs 10-11).
 
How bad was this insurrection within the Church?
 
Verse 12: “I have many things to write, but I do not wish to convey these things to you with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face in order that our joy may be completely full.” That’s how all of these different doctrines came about!
 
Let’s see what Paul writes concerning these things; 1-Timothy 1:2: “To Timothy, my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul has something like this in every one of his epistles, because he is writing what God wants him to write!
 
Verse 3: When I was going to Macedonia, I exhorted you to remain in Ephesus, in order that you might solemnly charge some not to teach other doctrines… [teachings] …nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which lead to empty speculations rather than to edification from God, which is in faith” (vs 3-4).
 
People can speculate about a lot of things. Sometimes you can speculate, and you can guess the Truth, but unless you prove that it is Truth after you have speculated and you’ve determined it might be true, then it’s possible that it could not be true.
 
Verse 5: “Now, the purpose of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and genuine faith.” There can’t be anything greater than this one little verse to define conversion!
 
Ø  “…love out of a pure heart…” What does God want to do? Change our heart and mind, in good conscience; not devious and deceitful!
Ø  “…and genuine faith”--If you truly believe in God the Father and Jesus Christ! And you truly believe the Word of God!
 
Verse 6: “From which some, having missed the mark, have turned aside unto vain jangling.”
 
Do you remember the man who was a Greek scholar? Stavrinides! {of the former WCG}. That was the wisdom of this world and Satan the devil. That was the biggest test against the Church, because they had become so lackadaisical and bringing in too much of the world. That test came along and he, in his Greek philosophy, changed the nature of God! When you do that, you’re denying the Father and denying the Son!
 
Verse 7: “Desiring to be teachers of the Law, neither understanding what they are saying, nor what they are strongly affirming.”
 
Why? Because they believe a lie with the same conviction that they should believe the Truth!
 
Verse 8: “Now we know that the law is good, if anyone uses it lawfully”--meaning not living in transgression!
 
So, here comes along Sunday-keeping. That was very appealing to a lot of the Greeks. They did not want to be counted in with the Jews, because if you’re keeping the commandments of God, you’re counted with the Jews! The Jews profess to keep the commandments of God, but they don’t keep the commandments of God the way that God says.
 
So, when someone came along and said, ‘Look, why should you suffer this persecution. We can meet on Sunday and the Romans won’t come and get us.’ A lot of people said, ‘I don’t know about that.’ Come and try it and you’ll like it, and see if it’s spiritual or not. Guess what? They had enough of the Truth… Isn’t that the way it always starts out, with enough of the Truth? Gradually, it metamorphoses! Look where it’s grown to!
 
Verse 9: “Understanding this: that law is not enacted for a righteous man…” If you’re righteous, that tells you that you’re keeping the commandments of God!
 
·         righteous because you have the Spirit of God
·         righteous because you’ve had your sins forgiven
 
“…but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for slayers of fathers and slayers of mothers, for murderers” (v 9). Today we can add abortion ad infinitum!
 
Sidebar: Last year worldwide, guess how many abortions there were? 42-million! All of that is being stored up for God and Christ’s returning!
 
Verse 10: “For fornicators, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing that is opposed to sound doctrine.” Think about that! Sound doctrine and Law-keeping go hand-in-glove!
 
Verse 11: “According to the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.”
 
Verse 16: “But for this reason I was shown mercy in order that in me first Jesus Christ might demonstrate all long-suffering, for an example to those who would afterwards believe on Him unto eternal life. Now to the King of eternity, the incorruptible, invisible, and only wise God, be honor and glory into the ages of eternity. Amen” (vs 16-17).
 
Notice that Paul tells Timothy to hold the faith and remember his ordination:
 
Verse 19: “Holding to the faith and a good conscience. For some, having cast aside a good conscience...”
 
If you believe a lie, what happens? Sooner or later you have a corrupted conscience! That means that sin no longer affects you in the same way that it would if you had the Spirit of God and the Laws of God. You become inured to it.
 
“…have made shipwreck in regard to the faith; of whom are Hymeneus and Alexander, whom I turned over to Satan in order that they may learn not to blaspheme” (vs 19-20).
 
1-Timothy 3:14: “These things I am writing to you, hoping to come to you shortly; but if I should delay, you have these things in writing, so that you may know how one is obligated to conduct oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the Truth” (vs 14-15).
 
That’s what you should always find in the congregations of God, the Truth! The Truth of God; the truth of things.
 
Verse 16: “And undeniably, great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was received up in glory.”
 
Look at the difference. Here comes the enemy, and remember that Satan the devil is always the enemy. Satan the devil is going to come after the Church with great ferocity in the future. All you have to do is look at the atheists, the agnostics and those who can’t tolerate any form of Christianity. They are going to be very dangerous in the future.
 
1-Timothy 4:1: “Now, the Spirit tells us explicitly that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith, and shall follow deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.”
 
There are teachings and doctrines of demons, and many of them will sound very good!
 
Verse 2: “Speaking lies in hypocrisy, their consciences having been cauterized with a hot iron; forbidding to marry…” (vs 2-3).
 
Look at all the problems that has caused the Catholic Church. That’s just one. The only time the Catholics are right is when they read the Scriptures correctly. Every other thing they are totally wrong!
 
“…and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, even by those who know the Truth” (v 3). Tie in Lev. 11 and Deut. 14!
 
Verse 4: “For every creature of God designated for human consumption is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving.”
 
Protestants read this and say, ‘Let’s have our barbeque pork, and our shrimp, lobster, clams and all of this sort of thing.’
 
Verse 5: “Because it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.” So, what God says not to eat, don’t eat! What God says is good to eat, eat! And you’ll probably not come down with the Coronavirus!
 
Verse 13: “Until I come, devote yourself to reading, to encouragement, and to doctrine. Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood. Meditate on these things; give yourself wholly to them so that your growth in the faith may be apparent to all. Be diligent with yourself and with the doctrines; continue in them. For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (vs 13-16). Look at the responsibility that Paul lays upon the ministry!
 
That’s a very important things, because Paul wrote in Rom. 2, to the Jews, ‘You who preach the Law, why are you breaking the Law? You who think you can teach others, don’t you teach yourself?’ That’s why an elder is going to be held accountable for everything. So, he has got to stay:
 
·         true
·         faithful
·         yielded to God
·         doing the things that God wants him to do
 
1-Timothy 6:3: “If anyone teaches any different doctrine, and does not adhere to sound words, even those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine that is according to Godliness, he is proud and knows nothing. Rather, he has a morbid attraction to questions and disputes over words, from which come envy, arguments, blasphemy, wicked suspicions, vain reasonings of men who have been corrupted in their minds and are destitute of the Truth--men who believe that gain is Godliness. From such withdraw yourself” (vs 3-5).
 
That’s what God has been doing with the Church ever since the big blowup! How many will stick with the Truth? 

​Now we will focus on perfection, and how does God do that? In order to do it, you have to start out first with creation and the creation of man! But you can’t have the creation of man unless you have everything on the earth provided for him before he begins. So, God did that.
 
Then you have to have reproduction. Nearly everything that God has made—plants, animals, fish, human beings, etc.—all reproduce. The reproduction is still a mystery to human beings.
 
I know that when I squeeze my lemon juice in the morning there are lemon seeds from the tree that’s inside the fruit and it’s right in the middle of it. So, I could take that and plant it in the ground and it would grow, and it will produce lemons after it grew to a certain height. It would continue as long as you watered it, fertilize it and take care of it, trim it and get rid of the weeds, etc.
 
Then with human beings, how are you going to make them so they’re not robots? Look at what people are trying to do today. They are trying to make robots, and they have this artificial intelligence. They’re warning that artificial intelligence is going to take over and destroy the world.
 
I don’t know if that’s true or not. The way I look at the book of Revelation, I see a lot of other things than artificial intelligence. You have to have a body, mind, heart and the spirit of man. You have to have free moral agency, and then you have to have God’s Laws, God’s Spirit all based on the love of God.
 
Then you have to have the superior sacrifice. That superior sacrifice is Christ—Who came in the flesh--God manifested in the flesh! Let’s see something about Jesus Christ and what He went through. As the Creator of mankind, He had to go through everything and suffer for mankind. That’s why He became human.
 
Hebrews 5:7: Who, in the days of His flesh, offered up both prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death…”
 
Most people don’t think about that. They think that Jesus came and it was so easy for Him, because He was God in the flesh. NO! He had human nature just we have. He had God’s Spirit more abundant than we, but He also was always in direct confrontation with Satan the devil.
 
“…and was heard because He feared God” (v 7). In other words, there was that chance that He couldn’t make it!
 
Verse 8: “Although He was a Son, yet, He learned obedience from the things that He suffered.”
 
Likewise with us, we learn obedience from the things that we suffer. There are difficulties and problems. You have:
 
·         mental suffering
·         physical suffering
·         suffering by watching other people suffer
·         sickness suffering
 
But notice what all of that did:
 
Verse 9: “And having been perfected…” That tells you something! Remember when the rich man came up to Jesus and said, ‘Good Master…’ (Matt. 19). That young man was kind of like Job. ‘What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said, ‘Why call Me good, there’s none good by God.’ There was God manifested in the flesh standing right before the young man, and He did not consider Himself good, because He had to carry human nature, the law of sin and death in Him in order to condemn sin in the flesh.
 
Sin is not condemned in our flesh. It’s condemned in Christ’s flesh, so that through being perfected it will be condemned as we grow and overcome.
 
“…He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him” (v 9).
 
What did Jesus say? Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not the things that I tell you?
 
Here’s another reason, Hebrews 2:10: “Because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Think about that! A lot of people say:
 
·         Why did God do this?
·         Why did God do that?
·         Why do human beings suffer?
 
You can see that on one of the Church At Home’s, there’s a an atheist there condemning God because of this, that and the other thing. That’s why you have the New Testament. That’s why Christ came, because He likewise suffered.
 
Verse 11: “For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the Church I will sing praise to You.’ And again, ‘I will be trusting in Him.’ And again, ‘Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.’ Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood… [and human nature, and all of that] …in like manner He also took part in the same, in order that through death He might annul him who has the power of death—that is, the devil” (vs 11-14). Remember ‘annul’ means to make it as if it never was!
 
Verse 15: “And that He might deliver those who were subject to bondage all through their lives by their fear of death. For surely, He is not taking upon Himself to help the angels; but He is taking upon Himself to help the seed of Abraham” (vs 15-16). That’s not the physical seed of Abraham; that’s the spiritual seed of Abraham!
 
That’s us! If you are Christ then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise! Let’s see what else Jesus said of Himself.
 
Luke 13:32: “And He said to them, ‘Go and say to that fox, “Behold, I cast out demons and complete healings today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected”’”--so He conflated the two together!
 
1.       His work and healings and things like that
2.       His resurrection at the end
 
Let’s see how Christ is doing that with us. We know in Psa. 34 it says, ‘Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers them out of them all!’
 
So, if we look at the difficulties and problems and see what we can learn from them, and stay close to God in prayer, study and understand them, then yes, we will also learn, because that’s part of the perfection. Let’s see how this develops.
 
We know that we have body, mind, spirit, heart, etc. We receive the Spirit of God and that unites with the spirit of man that all human beings have. Here’s what we are to do:
 
Romans 12:1: “I exhort you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice…”
 
·         What is the sacrifice? Giving up the things of the world! Giving up the things of self!
 
“…Holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service” (v 1).
 
·         What is your spiritual service? Love toward God, prayer, study, living God’s way!
·         What does God do with His Spirit in our mind? He writes in the commandments and laws of God in our heart and mind!
ü  that is conversion
ü  that is leading to perfection
 
The ultimate perfection will come at the resurrection!
 
Verse 2: “Do not conform yourselves to this world, but be transformed…”—Greek: ‘metomorphos’--change. Just like in your mind a bit at a time.
 
“…by the renewing of your mind in order that you may prove what is well-pleasing and good, and the perfect will of God” (v 2)--leading to perfection!
 
That’s how God has done it. That’s why we’re made in His image and likeness. That’s why He’s given us free choice! He doesn’t want us to be robots. Could you think about what it would be like to live in eternity with everybody being robots? That would be incredible! Let’s see how this is done. Be renewed in your mind. How is that being renewed? Notice the steps involved:
 
Philippians 2:1: “Now then, if there be any encouragement in Christ… “ This is what we’re talking about so that you don’t get discouraged and despondent because of the difficulties!
 
“…if any comfort of love…” (v 1)--God will give you comfort of love! God will answer your prayers when you pray!
 
“…if any fellowship of the Spirit…” (v 1). Isn’t it something that God gives us of His Spirit so that we can have fellowship with Him and Christ? That’s an amazing thing!
 
It’s not something tangible you can grasp because it’s spiritual. Can you grasp the law of gravity? No! How does it work? It keeps you on the earth! It lets water run down and everything else.
 
“…if any deep inner affections and compassions, fulfill my joy that you be of the same mind… [the mind of Christ] …having the same love, being joined together in soul, minding the one thing” (vs 1-2).
 
·         What is it that we are to do?
·         What is the one thing that we are to constantly seek?
 
The Kingdom of God and His righteousness! That’s the one thing! That’s the goal! This is what you do when there are troubles and problems, you have the goal that you are always going to.
 
Verse 3: “Let nothing be done through contention or vainglory, but in humility, each esteeming the others above himself…. [Who knows?] …Let each one look not only after his own things, but let each one also consider the things of others. Let…” (vs 3-5).
 
It comes from God, but you have to let! It’s like the door, you must open the door to let someone in. likewise with your mind. You must open your mind to what God wants, and let this happened!
 
Verse 5: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself…” (vs 5-7). Think about this!
 
·         What have you given up?
·         What did Paul say?
 
We brought nothing into the world, and we’re not taking anything out of the world!
 
·         What did you bring into the world?
 
You mom did all the work!
 
Verse 7: “But emptied Himself…” He gave up His Divinity to become pinpoint of life and be impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary! She must have been some woman! Think of that!
 
Women today don’t want any children. They found out that women who never marry and don’t have children are some of the most unhappy women in the world. Why? Because you’re going against the purpose of God!
 
“…and was made in the likeness of men…” (v 7). In the beginning God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image and in Our likeness, male and female.
 
“…and took the form of a servant” (v 7)—Greek: ‘doulous’--slave! So that no one can say that ‘our ancestors were slaves and you got to get reparations for us.’ Get out and work and quit being stupid! Every race and people down through the history of mankind have been made slaves! Get over it!
 
Verse 8: “And being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
 
What did He say of this? I have commandment from the Father! I lay down My life and I have a commandment to receive it back! No one takes it from Me; I lay it down!
 
Look at what Christ has done and then stop and think: What have I done in my life? God doesn’t expect that, because we’re not Christ! But there are a lot of things that we can do that God wants us to do for that perfection.
 
Colossians 1:20: “And having made peace through the blood of His cross…” That was a tremendous thing that happened!
 
Sidebar: What was going on in Jerusalem that last week? I imagine that there were angels everywhere, demons everywhere, and it was being all carried out exactly as God wanted it to be.
 
Remember what Jesus said when He was beginning His ministry and talking to Nathaniel? What if you see angels ascending and descending from the Son of man? That’s quite a statement!
 
Everything was prearranged to fulfill the prophecies. That’s why Jesus said, ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do.’ Remember how Jesus gave the instruction to keep the last Passover? They were coming into Jerusalem and He hadn’t told them where they were going to keep the Passover! He didn’t want to tell them because Judas was going to betray Him. He didn’t want them to come where they were keeping the Passover, so He said, ‘I tell you what, you go into the city and follow a man who is carrying a pitcher, and whatever house he goes there prepare.’
 
·         How did that work out?
·         How did they know which street to walk on?
·         How did the man carrying the pitcher happen to come exactly where the disciples could see him and then follow him?
 
Probably angels had it all arranged! They didn’t stop and ask what his name was and where he was going. Jesus just said to follow him. They went and said, ‘The Master says, ‘Where is the room that I may keep the Passover with My disciples?’ I got it all ready for you!
 
How did that happen? The angels were there making sure that it was done! I imagine that all of the demons were trying to frustrate everyone of these things along the line.
 
Verse 21: “For you were once alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works… [in your mind motivating your actions] …but now He has reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death, to present you Holy and unblamable and unimpeachable before Him” (vs 21-22) Absolutely nothing wrong!
 
Sidebar: Remember Baalim? He wanted to curse Israel. So, Balak got over there and God let him take the money, but God said, ‘You only speak what I want you to speak.’ So, they had the sacrifices and Baalim got up there and started blessing Israel saying, ‘I see no sin in Israel.’
 
Think about that for a minute! Maybe those are not the exact words, but how many times did they rebel? How many times did they go against God? Think about when confronted with an enemy who wants to destroy them, God says, ‘I don’t see anything.’
 
That’s what it is also with the sacrifice of Christ with us. There is nothing against us! That’s why every day we grow and overcome.
 
Verse 23: “If indeed you continue in the faith grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard, and which was proclaimed in all the creation that is under heaven; of which I, Paul, became a servant.”
 
That’s a statement of what they knew of the creation and the earth, and that’s a prophecy of the rest of all time down to the return of Christ.
 
Verse 24: “Now, I am rejoicing in my sufferings for you…” Think of that! He’s saying that he’s rejoicing in prison! I don’t know if he has chains on his wrists and feet, maybe now, who knows/
 
“…and I am filling up in my flesh that which is behind of the tribulations of Christ…” (v 24).
 
·         Why? Because Christ called him and said, ‘Paul, you are going to preach the Gospel, and you are going to suffer!’
·         Why was that? Because he so persecuted the Church!
 
But Paul rejoiced in that suffering!
 
Verse 25: “Of which I became a servant, according to the administration of God that was given to me for you in order to complete the Word of God; even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations…” (vs 25-26). Think of that!
 
It would be really interesting if you had a microphone and you went out and did a survey, even right here in Hollister:
 
You live right here in this nice little town of Hollister, very nice little town wouldn’t you agree? Yes! What do you know about God? Why are you here? What is your purpose? You wouldn’t get any answer!
 
“…but has now been revealed to His saints; to whom God did will to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory… [What is the end of that?]: …Whom we preach, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (vs 26-28).
 
Be you perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect! Of course, the finality of that is the resurrection!
 
Verse 29: “For this cause I also labor, striving according to His inner working, which works in me with power.”
 
Don’t you think that the apostles are going to be absolutely astonished at the resurrection when they find out how long it really was from the time that they died until the time that Christ returned? What happened to the Church? How many were called? It’s going to be astonishing! That’s why we’re on the Sea of Glass for such a long time. We have a lot to learn and understand.
 
They’ll be astonished concerning the Bible, and how there were so many and how God preserved it. I told you what Daniel Wallace said, ‘All the Greek manuscripts, there were over 10,000 known. The difficulties and problems amount to about 1% corruption. Word order makes not difference, word usage and misspellings make no difference. You can always straighten those out.’
 
No other book in the history of the world is as old and has as many copies available, and is in many concurrent languages as today. That’s a testimony to the power of God. He says, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.’ What does God do, He gets it translated and sent out ahead of time.
 
Eph. 1 & 3 are some of the most inspiring Scriptures in the New Testament. Let me just suggest this to you: Whenever you get in a dump of depression… I had part of that one day this week watching all this nonsense, the lies and things, on the hearings. What I did is what we’re doing now. I went to Eph. 1 & 3 to get my mind on where we are going!
 
What is all of this going on? When you look at from the Word of God, while it might be gigantic out here in the world, it’s really pitifully small compared to what God is doing in our lives.
 
Ephesians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus… [that’s a prophecy wherever in the world] …Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs 1-2). This is what God gives to us!
 
Now notice what God is doing and what God is preparing at the same time:
 
Verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things with Christ.”
 
·         receiving the Spirit of God
·         understanding the Truth of God
 
That’s the beginning! What is the completion? The resurrection and all that takes place with that, with Christ!
 
Verse 4: “According as He has personally chosen us for Himself…”
 
Remember that it says in John 6 that ‘none can come to Me unless the Father draw him.’ So, God the Father is actively working with Christ. And ‘none can come to the Father except through Christ!’ So, They work together!
 
“…before the foundation of the world… [that’s when they had the plan] …in order that we might be Holy and blameless before Him in love” (v 4). Where did we start? Right there!
 
Verse 5: “Having predestinated us for sonship…” The King James says ‘adoption.’ Not so! We’ve been begotten with the Spirit of God to be the sons and daughters of God, so it’s called ‘sonship.’ We are His children by begettal and by birth at the resurrection when we’re born again!
 
“…to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us objects of His grace in the Beloved Son; in Whom we have redemption… [look at this all put together] …through His blood, even the remission of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has made to abound toward us in all wisdom and intelligence” (vs 5-8). Not stupidity! No all of this nonsense that you see on TBN today!
 
Verse 9: “Having made known to us the mystery of His own will…”

• How precious is that?
• How do we come by that?
  • by the Spirit of God
  • by the will of God
  • by our yielding to God by choosing to:
    • love Him
    • serve Him
    • repent
    • continue to humble ourselves before Him in the way that God wants

 
“…according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself… [tie in 2-Tim. 1:9] …that in the Divine plan for the fulfilling of the times, He might bring all things together in Christ, both the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth” (vs 9-10).
 
And the things in heaven has to be reconciled. Satan has no more coming to the Throne of God.
 
Verse 11: “Yes, in Him, in Whom we also have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated according to His purpose…” Put all of those things together:
 
·         the will of God
·         the purpose of God
·         the love of God
·         the calling of God
·         the sacrifice of Christ
·         giving us fellowship with Him
·         His Holy Spirit
 
All of these things together; why are you depressed? There’s no need to be depressed! But because we’re human beings we need to be encouraged! Aren’t these the words of encouragement that we need in times of depression? Yes, indeed!
 
“…Who is working out all things according to the counsel of His own will; that we might be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in the Christ; in Whom you also trusted after hearing the Word of the Truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in Whom also, after believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (vs 11-13).
 
That’s why blaspheme of the Holy Spirit is unpardonable! The Holy Spirit comes from God the Father to impregnate your mind and combine it with the spirit of man and the Spirit of Christ altogether so that we can develop the mind of Christ and all the things that we’re talking about here! That’s a fantastic thing, indeed!
 
Verse 14: “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. For this cause, I also, after hearing of the faith in the Lord Jesus that is among you, and the love toward all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you…” (vs 14-17).
 
This is what we need. We’re coming into difficult times. We’re coming into more challenges against the Truth of God than ever before.
 
But He “…may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. And may the eyes of your mind be enlightened…” (vs 17-18).
 
It’s one thing to see something, it’s another thing to see and understand it mentally and spiritually. This is what Paul is talking about.
 
“…in order that you may comprehend what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (v 18).
 
Ephesians 2:17: “Now when He came, He preached the Gospel—peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have direct access by one Spirit to the Father” (vs 17-18). When you pray God hears!
 
Verse 19: “So then, you are no longer aliens and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of the household of God. You are being built up on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone in Whom all the building, being conjointly fitted together, is increasing into a Holy temple in the Lord; in Whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit” (vs 19-22).
 
Now let’s look at a projection toward the complete fulfillment of God’s plan as Paul gave here in Eph. 3. Paul says that this was given to all the apostles and prophets at the same time. This was given so that it would be written down, and God knew that it would be transmitted down through time and history so that it comes down to us today.
 
Ephesians 3:11: “According to His eternal purpose… [right back where we started] …which He has wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whom we have boldness and direct access with confidence through His very own faith” (vs 11-12)--the faith that God gives us!
 
Verse 13: “So then, I beseech you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which are working for your glory.” Look at the positive things when difficulties come, like Paul!
 
Verse 14: For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (vs 14-15). That’s going to be a fantastic time, when we see the fullness of this!
 
Verse 16: “That He may grant you…” Put your name there. He’s saying you, not ye, which is plural you. But you directly, each one!
 
“…according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power by His Spirit in the inner man” (v 16). When that happens then you can handle the difficulties and problems and see through it all!
 
Verse 17: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; and that being rooted and grounded in love… [right back where we started] …you may be fully able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height” (vs 17-18).
 
That’s to understand as completely as we can now, but just think about what it’s going to be like at the resurrection. The universe is so great that there’s no measurement that any man can come to give a reasonable estimate of it.
 
They have found that when they have these high-powered telescopes out on satellites and they aim at dark spots in the universe that when they get the photos back it’s filled with galaxies. Absolutely no end to it, and this is what God is calling us to!
 
Verse 19: “And to know the love of Christ, which surpasses human knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
 
What is that going to be like? All of our aches and pains that come along, because we’re physical, wearing down and coming to an end, will be all gone!
 
Verse 20: “Now, to Him Who is able to do exceeding abundantly…” To write things that are just unfathomable and then to say that:
 
He’s going “…to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us… [that’s an astonishing statement] …to Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all generations, even into the ages of eternity. Amen” (vs 20-21).
 
That’s quite a thing, brethren! When we get down, turn to these two chapters, get on your knees and go to God and pray and read and ask God to help you, and He will!
 
 
Scriptural References:
 
1)      Genesis 7:11, 10
2)      Genesis 8:14
3)      2 Timothy 1:7-9
4)      Matthew 5:48
5)      Matthew 6:33
6)      Mark 12:28-31
7)      1 John 1:3, 6-10
8)      1 John 2:1-6
9)      Hebrews 5:7-9
10)  Hebrews 2:10-16
11)  Luke 13:32
12)  Romans 12:1-2
13)  Philippians 2:1-8
14)  Colossians 1:20-29
15)  Ephesians 1:1-18
16)  Ephesians 2:17-22
17)  Ephesians 3:11-21
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
 
·         Psalm 22
·         Matthew 19
·         Psalm 34
·         John 6
·         2 Timothy 1:9
 
Also referenced:
 
·         Booklet: www.cbcg.org/images/books/Which-Is-the-True-Calendar-of-God-3-28-16-Read.pdfWhich is the True Calendar of God? by Carl D. Franklin & Fred R. Coulter

​Request a hard copy - 
·         Church At Home: Why is Evil Rampant? {churchathome.org}

By: Fred R. Coulter—December 14, 2019
We learn obedience from the things that we suffer with action, thought and emotion
and doing what God wants; then perfection will come at the resurrection!
The title of this message - "Overcome Through God’s Purpose for You"
(FIRST HALF of video).
(SECOND HALF of video).

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! (Fred rings his cowbell) Someone started a nasty rumor that I was in the hospital with a heart attack! So, just to let you know, I’m alive and I’m well. If I were sick and down, I would have Jonathan up here bringing the sermon!
 
Calendar Question:
 
I’ve gotten some comments on the Calendar booklet--Which is the True Calendar of God?—and we’re going to look at a framework. I’m going to study it and put it in proper perspective.
 
Genesis 7:11: “In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life… [he became 600 sometime before this] …in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens were opened.”
 
Verse 10: “And it came to pass after seven days…” Noah and the family were all in the ark for seven days before the Flood started!
 
So, let’s look at how long there were in the ark, because that is the main framework for everything else; everything else has to fit into that framework. This means that if they were in there for seven days that they went in on the 10th day of the month and “…on the seventeenth day of the month” everything cut loose. They went on 10th day of the 2nd month.
 
Genesis 8:14—this is the next year: “And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the land was fully dry.” They left out of the ark on that day!
 
They were there 1 year+7 days +10 days. How long was that year? 360? 385? or 355? That’s what I’m going to have to determine to make it absolutely clear! But there’s one thing that this establishes. The time that they were in the ark was clearly established, wouldn’t you say? That’s clearly established!
 
How all of the other days fit in refer to the water. So, you have the ark and the family in the ark for 1 year, 7 days ahead and 10 days after the water.
 
How all the days of the water fit in, that’s the question. Someone just sent me something showing that if you add up all the days it’s 360. Well, you have to do your math correctly, and counting the water, the days of the water, does not necessarily equate to the length of the time that they were in the ark. So, we’ll leave it at that and let’s see what you can do.
 
What I’m going to do is take the calendar framework for 385 days, for 355 days, and for 360 days and see how it all fits.
 
A Little Politics:
 
Delores and I were talking about this nonsense of impeachment going on. I talked to someone the other day who said, ‘All Trump does is lie.’ I asked. ‘Why is that?’ Well, he never settles on anything. I said, ‘You mean like he told the Chinese that if they don’t make a deal he’ll do it after the 2020 election.’ Yeah, that’s what I mean. I said, ‘That is negotiating.’
 
·         Tell me which lie Donald Trump has deliberately spoken to deceive? Can’t find any!
·         How many lies did Obama give that caused trouble?
·         What happened after Obama told the Medvedev to ‘tell Vladimir (Putin) that I will have more flexibility after the election’?
·         What happened? The Russians invaded Crimea, took it and invaded Eastern Crimea, and Obama sent blankets and pillows to the Ukrainians for defense!
 
Obama didn’t raise anything about invading and taking Crimea.
 
·         What happened after Joe Biden and his ‘wonderful’ son Hunter went to China and came back and had that $1.5-billion set up in an investment company in America?
·         What happened?
·         Does anyone know?
 
Nothing was done by Obama!
 
·         What major thing happened? The Chinese developed that disputed island in the South China Sea and made an airbase out of it!
 
Obama didn’t even lift an little finger, or open his mouth for a single word! Two things need to understand about America:
 
1.       the Congress does not run the Presidency
2.       the ‘deep state’ does not run the Presidency
 
This is the battle that you are seeing! The Democrats are full of lies!
 
·         Was this similar to what Satan was doing to try and convince a third of the angels to follow him?
 
‘God is mean, nasty and harsh and He won’t let us do anything. Look I have glory almost like God! If we go to war and take over the throne, we’ll run the universe!’
 
·         Did that happen? Yes, it did!
 
That’s why truth is so all important!
 
*****
 
Now, because of politics a lot of people are depressed. If you watch the news and everything is all mixed up. Some people never search for the truth. A lot of people believe the lies, and a lot of people don’t believe the lies. It’s all mixed up and it leaves people depressed.
 
There’s a man who delivers some things to our house and he’s said that he’d been so tired for so long that it’s hard for him to get along and even function. It affects you, doesn’t it?
 
·         What do we need to do to keep from letting the world depress us?
·         What do we need to do to keep the focus of what we need to be doing?
 
That’s what we’re going to cover today!
 
Here’s the first thing to keep in mind, because God is greater than us and His graciousness is greater than anything we have every imagined. We’re going to cover the things that will help us, to inspire us to overcome any of these things that tend to drag us down.
 
You don’t like to watch the news and then see something like ‘shifty, nifty’ Schiff blither and blather lies, and everybody believe it! Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
 
2-Timothy 1:7—Paul is in prison: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound-mindedness. Therefore, you should not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner” (vs 7-8). Here Paul is in prison waiting to be executed. How is he keeping his spirits up there?
 
“…but jointly suffer with me for the sake of the Gospel, according to the power of God” (v 8). We’re going to suffer some things! We’re going to go through some difficult things!
 
Verse 9: “Who has saved us and called us with a Holy calling…” All of the saints are called the elect--Greek: ‘electos’--meaning selected!
 
If you get down, depressed and ‘woe is me,’ remember that God has selected you! God loves you! And we will see what we need to do in return, and what God will do in return. Here Paul is in a desperate situation inspiring Timothy.
 
“…not according to our works…” (v 9). What was Paul before he was converted? A top Pharisee! The Pharisees had a closed knit circle and he was one of the chief among them. Everything they did for approval was a work, a work, a work!
 
He’s showing here “…not according to our works…” We’ll look at the work of God’s a little later. I want you to apply this to yourself:
 
“…but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us… [God had this all planned how many eons before we even existed] …in Christ Jesus before the ages of time” (v 9).
 
How far back does that reach? The main thing here is to remember how important it is what God is doing that involves us. Everything else doesn’t matter. We know that we’re going to face a lot of difficult times.
 
I just did a couple of Church At Home {churchathome.org} Why is Evil Rampant? This is kind of a little sequel to it. How do you get along once you know that?
 
God’s purpose and timing: What is God’s purpose for us? Christ states it very early on! Matt. 5:48 is summary of everything that he brought up there. Everything in Matt. 5 has to do with how you think! That’s what conversion is all about. Before we were called and answered the called and are baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, we have what is called a carnal mind, which is enmity against God!
 
There are some people who are real nice and don’t think that they have enmity toward God. But they just can’t give up their Sunday-keeping and Christmas. That is enmity against God! It doesn’t matter if you say it nicely or shout it with acrimony! It’s still against God!
 
Matthew 5:48: “Therefore, you shall be perfect…” That’s God’s goal!
 
Think about when a baby is born. The only thing a baby knows when it’s born—because breathing comes automatically, the body is already working, the heart and everything else is working—and had a little practice in the womb by sucking its thumb, is to nurse. It knows nothing else. It may, by intuition and by the beginning of the forming of the working of the brain, understand/recognize the mother’s heartbeat and her voice. Everything else comes after that:
 
·         How did we grow up?
·         Where did we grow up?
·         What did we do?
 
I look back on my growing up, and I remember just certain things. I knew nothing about God. I heard a little bit here and there. One of our neighbors was Pentecostal and my aunt was a Sunday-school teacher. Whenever she would come over and visit us, she would bring her ‘cloth board,’ which was covered with felt. Then she would tell Bible stories with little cutout felt pieces: lamb, children, Jesus, and so forth. That’s about all I ever knew.
 
One time I was delivering papers early in the morning up in Seattle, and I went through a park and it was Easter morning. There were a lot of people there, so I went over and watching. Here are all the people, and when the preacher raised up this wafer of bread I didn’t know what it was, all the people bowed down. I wondered what this was; I knew nothing about it.
 
So, then I also remember after I got out of the Army I was at my sister’s and it was a Sunday, and I thought I’d go down to church. The only thing I knew was that the Catholics and Protestants were always at odds against each other. I go into this Episcopal church and they read the Apostle’s Creed: ‘We believe in the Holy Catholic Church.’ I said, ‘How can that be, these are Episcopalians and are Protestant and they say we believe in the Holy Catholic Church?’ I thought that this was crazy!
 
I knew nothing! Then I was going to college, had a job as a cook, and had my own little apartment. The truth is that
 
·         human beings were made to need God
·         He made us deficient
·         He made us incapable of solving our own problems our own way
 
When you have problems you look for help. The only thing I remembered was that ‘if you ask you receive.’ So, here I am walking at night and I could see a star or two and I said:
 
O God, the only thing I know is that if you ask you will receive. I’m asking. I don’t know what to do and don’t know where to go.
 
I had my little ole Nash Rambler, and in my apartment I had no television or radio. So, when going to college I could study Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Went to school Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I’m never out of my apartment at nine o’clock at night. Here I am in my Nash Rambler and I like classical music so I had it on that station. They started playing the dirge of Bach! That’s some of the most awful classical music that there is. I can’t stand it!
 
So, I turned it to another station and heard the first World Tomorrow program. As soon as I heard that I said, ‘That’ it!’ Then things went from there and I ended up at Ambassador College.
 
But we start from nothing to become perfected! That’s the whole purpose of why we exist!
 
Matt. 6:33: tells us what we are to do after we’ve been repentant, baptized and received the Holy Spirit.
 
Matthew 6:33: “But as for you, seek first…”—‘protos’ primary, the first and most important thing in our lives is God the Father, Jesus Christ, and]: …the Kingdom of God… [in that order] …and… [How is our behavior to be?] …His righteousness…” This tells exactly what our purpose is and what we are to be doing!
 
“…and all these things shall be added to you” (v 33)--all the physical things that you need! But look at what God is going to add beyond that.
 
How is this accomplished? First of all, God calls us and we answer the call. But God’s call is His love toward us. When we’re called, then how do we respond to God?
 
Everything that we do hinges on being perfected, seeking the Kingdom of God first, and then here is the first action that we do. It’s action, thought and emotion altogether. It’s our whole life.
 
Mark 12:28: “And one of the scribes who had come up to Him, after hearing them reasoning together and perceiving that He answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’” The Jews always do that! What’s the most important commandment? So, He told them!
 
Verse 29: “Then Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is, “Hear, O Israel…. [put your name there] …Our one God is the Lord, the Lord. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment’” (vs 29-30).
 
Look at how all encompassing that is! It involves thought, emotion, work and doing what God wants. This also gives us a good thought concerning conversion. This command makes mandatory all the rest of the commandments, if this is the first one! Like we’ve said concerning the Ten Commandments.
 
I just did this on Church at Home recently: Go to the Ten Commandments and tell me what’s wrong with them! Show me one thing that is wrong! You can’t! Why? Because God is love and all of His commandments are based on love.
 
The difficulties that we have is that we live in an evil world, because of Satan the devil. We’ve got these things interfering constantly, and that’s why we need the Sabbath every week. Just like the world has their thing every year, God has His thing every week and every year. Why? We learn, we grow, we add to that knowledge, and we come to understand! As we go along we also begin to understand how wicked and evil that human nature really is and how much we need God.
 
Verse 31: “And the second is like this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
 
Let’s see how we put this in action. We still have human nature and God does not remove it from us, because it’s a process of overcoming. That’s why we all die, that ends that!
 
We have a lot of senior citizens in the Church. That’s just the nature of it as it is right now. I was talking to Harry Curley just before he died and he said, ‘You know, Fred, when I first came into the Church, I was always going to weddings. Now I’m always going to funerals. I said to him, ‘You know why? Because God is harvesting!’ So, don’t look at it as some great overwhelming tragedy that you can’t overcome, because no one yet has overcome death except Christ.
 
We’re all going to die one day. But isn’t it something, as we’re young and strong and all of this sort of thing, we never think of that. I mean, when you were 25, did you think about the day that you were going to die? At 30? No! at 40 you’re still going pretty good. At 50 you’re still going good. At 60, well, maybe a thought or two. At 70 a whole lot of thoughts. At 80 a lot of thoughts! And legal things written down such as wills, and if you have any possessions, who is going to get it?
 
Remember what Solomon wrote: What if a man lives a thousand years twice-fold and he leaves everything behind? He’s taking nothing! Look at those stupid Egyptians! Great pyramids, great tombs and ‘we’re going to all take it with us.’ They all died! A monument to Satan the devil and men’s stupidity because they reject God!
 
Because we have to overcome human nature, God  has given one thing in His great love through Christ. He is the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Remember what Paul wrote, ‘Not of works…’
 
Understand that before there were human beings, probably before there were any angels, before the ages of time, God had this plan! Now, way, way, way down in time, all of those of us are part of His plan and have been with all of those recorded in the Bible, plus a lot of those in the New Testament Church who were never recorded in the Bible. There are people that we have never heard of, never seen whom God is working with, because God’s plan is greater than we think!
 
·         Can God control the whole universe? Yes!
·         Can He control one cell? Yes!
 
As a matter of fact, it’s made in a miniature design of the universe. Guess what, out bodies have trillions of cells. Isn’t that amazing? Right while we’re sitting here, our stomachs and intestines are digesting breakfast, making room for our lunch that we’ll take in a little bit. Our bodies are adjusting to the heat and we’re going to need something to drink. You need water, air, food and all of those consist of cells. That’s amazing!
 
Just think about how much God loves you just in the physical creation. He didn’t put our ears in the back of our head. He didn’t put getting rid of the waste under our chin. He made us as human beings in His image! Now, he wants to make us in His likeness! How do we keep the first commandment going, loving God, and what does this produce?
 
1 John 1:3: “That which we have seen and have heard we are reporting to you in order that you also may have fellowship with us; for the fellowship--… [that’s what it is in the Greek; not a fellowship] …indeed, our fellowship--is with the Father and with His own Son Jesus Christ.”
 
That’s why we have prayer every day; little short ones all during the day. That’s how God leads you and guides you and gives you understanding. That’s also called, with God’s Spirit and God’s Word combined, the washing of the Word by the Spirit! We will see what that does in just a minute.
 
Verse 6: “If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness… [the way of the world] …we are lying to ourselves, and we are not practicing the Truth.” A perfect description of Protestants and Catholics!
 
They keep Sunday. There are some Protestants that do preach a good deal of the Bible. But if you ask them:
 
·         What is God’s plan? We go to heaven!
·         Why do you keep Christmas? That’s when Jesus was born!
·         Why do you keep Easter? That’s when Jesus was resurrected!
 
You’re walking in darkness and you are not practicing the Truth! The Truth is the Sabbath and Holy Days, and none of that other nonsense!
 
Verse 7: “However, if we walk in the Light…” We are, because:
 
·         the Word of God is Light
·         His Spirit is Light
·         His Truth is Light
 
“…as He is in the Light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His own Son, cleanses us from all sin” (v 7).
 
That’s the process of overcoming! Being cleansed of all sins!
 
Living in this age, we have more things smashed up against our brains and in our ears and eyes than any other generation has ever had, for good or for evil!
 
Jonathan just told me that they updated the Bible app, so if you if you have that you have to go and update it. They haven’t yet got it updated for apple, but it will be there. So, you have the Bible on a pad.
 
·         What do you do with it?
·         Do you use it?
·         Do you read it?
 
If you have it on your phone and you never use it, how much different is that if you have a Bible at home and it’s on the shelf. No difference!
 
Verse 8: “If we say that we do not have sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth is not in us. : If we confess our own sins…” (vs 8-9).
 
What does the daily prayer say? First thing, honor and hallow God! The next thing is ‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Who is that referring to? To each one of you as you’re praying to God for His will in your life! Did Jesus have to do that on the night that He was arrested to be crucified? He had to agonize, because it was really a terrible thing that He went through!
 
Next time you have a little pity-party about how bad it is for you, go read what Jesus went through. Read Psa. 22. Then ask yourself: ‘What are my troubles?’ they’re nothing but God will help you with them!
 
“…He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (v 9). Seeking the Kingdom of God first, through the fellowship with God, and all of these things will be added to you, and become perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect! See how that fits together? That’s what we are to do daily.
 
I have to admit that this last week with all of this nonsense going on with this absolute satanic, insane impeachment going on, I was a little depressed. I was going around having my own little pity-party.
 
So, what I did, I told myself I had to stop that because there’s nothing you can do about it. What can you do about it? If you worry about it, what are you going to do? Nothing! So, concentrate on what God wants you to do.
 
Verse 10: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.” Who is the one who says that God is a liar? Satan the devil!
 
1-John 2:1: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And yet, if anyone does sin…”--because you have the pull of human nature, lust the eyes, lust of the mind, and you have television, cell phones, billboard signs and everything like that!
 
“…we have an Advocate… [advocating, interceding] …with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (vs 1-2). And we know that is in God’s time and plan!
 
Here’s how we know that we are doing what God wants there’s a lot of people who say that they love God, ‘I go to church every Sunday. We have a marvelous Christmas at home.’ Or a Catholic would say, ‘I go to Mass every day.’ What did God say? Once year! ‘Every day! You must be so righteous, it’s incredible!’ No! You’re deceived! I had one man say, ‘I don’t agree with you with IFMA—Independent free moral agency.’
 
Verse 3: “And by this standard we know that we know Him: if we keep His commandments.” That’s our reciprocity back to God!
 
Verse 4: “The one who says, ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the Truth is not in him.”
 
I tell you what! I was thinking of going to one of these reunions of Ambassador College; they had one in Pasadena this year and I thought that maybe I’ll go. Byron Norrod said that he went one time and ‘I would say that you wouldn’t want to go, because it would really make you disappointed and maybe even mad.’ He went and there’s everything under the sun, and was shocked to see one of his classmates who was a minister in the Church (WCG) who is now a minister in the Lutheran Church and he had a big gold cross!
 
This is why we keep His commandments; that’s back to God. Look what He’s done for us with everything else. Notice what happens here:
 
Verse 5: “On the other hand, if anyone is keeping His Word…” What does that mean? Everything that He has spoken!
 
What did Jesus say? The first thing out of His mouth with the temptation of Satan the devil, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God!
 
“…truly in this one the love of God is being perfected….” (v 5). You cannot be perfected without Law-keeping! Why? Law-keeping requires what? Mind, emotion and action!
 
“…By this means we know that we are in Him…. [this is becoming perfect, right here]: …Anyone who claims to dwell in Him is obligating himself also to walk even as He Himself walked” (vs 5-6). This is becoming perfect!
 
Would you say that Christ is perfect? Yes, indeed! Perfected through the flesh and through the resurrection!
 
Verse 6 is a good one for Protestants and Catholics. And Sunday, you know that’s the thing. Where does it say at any time Jesus saying that ‘you have heard it said of old time that God is Lord of the Sabbath, but I tell you I’m Lord of Sunday.’ Do you find it in the Bible? No way! Who is the lord of Sunday? There is one who is the lord of Sunday, who claims to be God, and that’s Satan the devil! Maybe you never thought of it that way.
 
·         Can Satan be sweet? Yes!
·         Can Satan be gentle? Yes!
·        Can he say he’ll give you a benefit? Yes! I’ll give you many benefits! Yes, he can!
 
That’s what the obligation for us!
​

There is something unique in Rev. 14. We will see that there’s a difference between the 144,000 in Rev. 14 and the 144,000 in Rev. 7. Rev. 7 clearly identifies the 12 tribes of Israel, and the great innumerable multitude.
 
Revelation 14:1: “And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb standing on Mount Sion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” You don’t have that in Rev. 7!
 
Verse 2: “Then I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of great thunder; and I heard the sound of lyre players playing their lyres. And they were singing a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one was able to learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth” (vs 2-3).
 
That’s an interesting phrase! This doesn’t give us any time period; no time period. Whereas, Rev. 7 it’s right there right after two years of the Tribulation. They’re redeemed from the earth.
 
Verse 4: “These are the ones who were not defiled with women…” Who is the worst woman of all? Babylon the Great! This has to refer to churches.
 
“…for they are virgins…” (v 4). None in Rev. 7 are called virgins! What does this mean? That the 144,000 here never had a problem with apostasy at all! They always believe God and kept the commandments of God.
 
“…they are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb” (v 4). Not the firstfruits, but as firstfruits!
 
Verse 5: “And no guile was found in their mouths; for they are blameless before the throne of God.”
 
Can we determine something from this if we examine the seven churches in Rev. 2 & 3?
 
Church of Ephesus: Revelation 2:4: “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent… [of sin] …and do the first works; for if you do not, I will come to you quickly; and I will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent” (vs 4-5).
 
You would have to say that those in this group of the Church could not be called virgins, because they left their first love.
 
·         What did they do?
·         Where did they go?
·         How did this come about?
 
We don’t know, but it’s probably adding things in. remember that one of the things that John wrote in 1-John 5, ‘Little children, flee idols.’ Why would he says that? Because some were bringing in idols! We could conclude that of the 144,000 in Rev. 14, perhaps very few came out of the Church of Ephesus.
 
Church of Smyrna: Verse 9: “‘I know your works and tribulation and poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of the things that you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life” (vs 9-10). Not one bit of correction! He didn’t tell them to repent.
 
Church of Pergamos: Verse 14: “But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.” If you commit fornication, you’re not a virgin! So, they had those sins.
 
Verse 15: “Moreover, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”
 
So, they had quite a few problems here: idols, wrongly taking the Passover, because the Eucharist of the Catholic Church is called the Sacrifice of the Mass!
 
They literally, in what they do, are saying that Christ is crucified again, because you get His blood and flesh right through eating the bread and drinking the wine, if the priest allows you to do it! Some priests drink so much that they’re almost drunk when they’re done.
 
Verse 16: “Repent! For if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”
 
They were so bad that Christ had to fight against them! That’s quite a thing when you consider it. We can conclude that those at Pergamos could not be considered virgins.
 
Church of Thyatira: Verse 20: “But I have a few things against you, because you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants into committing fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols…. [sin] …And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent” (vs 20-21). This has to be talking about the Catholic Church!
 
It’s interesting that the Council of Trent was setup by the Catholics to try and combat the rising insurgency of the Protestants. They actually had some Catholics factions of that Council who said, ‘We ought to go by Scriptures only.’
 
There was the opportunity to repent, but what happened? Just like what is written in Rome’s Challenge to the Protestants: Cardinal Gibbon said that they concluded, ‘Since the Protestants kept Sunday, and Sunday was a Catholic institution or tradition, therefore, they were not keeping Scriptures only.’ They were following tradition and Scripture! ‘So, we will keep our traditions and follow Scripture.’
 
But the way they follow Scripture is very little! So, you can’t say that those in Thyatira were virgins.
 
Verse 21: “And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their works” (vs 20-21).
 
What eventually happened to the Catholic Church? In Europe it was very powerful in getting into the 1000-1400s and began eroding in the 1500s by the Protestants!
 
How did God eventually take care of the Catholic Church? Garibaldi and the armies of Italy in the 1870s revolted against the Catholic Church, because all of the areas of Italy were broken down into provinces that were run by the Catholic Church. So, he took all of them away and made the Catholics and the popes stay in the Vatican.
 
From that time until Mussolini, the pope never left the Vatican. No repentance! That’s how God came against them. It was not until Mussolini where they had the Treaty of Lateran when Mussolini recognized the pope that the pope was able to travel outside the Vatican area.
 
Verse 23: “And I will kill her children with death…” That’s exactly what happened when Garibaldi took over all of the Catholic Church and all of their territories in Italy!
 
“…and all the churches shall know that I am He Who searches the reins and hearts; and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to you I say, and to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak…” (vs 23-24).
 
So, Thyatira was one of the best and one of the worst. You can’t say that those of Thyatira were virgins.
 
Church of Sardis: Revelation 3:1: “…I know your works, and that you have a name as if you are alive, but are dead.” They don’t keep the doctrines the way that they should and are about to die.
 
Verse 5—if you keep the few things remaining, “…I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
 
Church of Philadelphia: Verse 10: “Because you have kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep you from the time of temptation, which is about to come upon the whole world to try those who dwell on the earth.” They’re not told to repent here either.
 
Church of Laodicea: They’re told to repent!
 
So, out of the seven churches, only two were what you would call virgins!
 
Speculation: Do those who fall into that category the ones of the 144, 000 in Rev. 14? Will they actually be the Bride of Christ? Remember, when the Corinthians were sinning, Paul said, ‘Behold, I want to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ!
 
Well the Corinthians can’t because they’ve had all their sins.
 
·         Do you think that Christ would marry a non-virgin?
·         Will those of the 144,000 be the Bride of Christ and all the rest of us are the guests? Don’t know!
 
I tell you how I first thought of it: I performed a wedding in Fairfield and it went well. Then we had the wedding supper. It was very interesting and everybody was sitting around talking and having a good time. Then the band struck up the music and the bride and groom danced. I thought to myself, all the rest of us out here are guests. I wondered if that’s the way it’s going to be with Christ and the Bride? Don’t know!
 
That’s just speculation, but it may be true! It may be true in degree, but Who’s going to make that choice? God the Father and Jesus Christ!
 
Wouldn’t Abraham and David be part of the Bride of Christ? I don’t think so, I think they will be at a higher level! Much higher!
 
How would you separate the guests and the Bride from Christ’s time until today? God knows! He has to make the decision; it’s not up to us!
 
But we can that those of Rev. 14 are distinctly different from those of Rev. 7. In looking at that, since they’re called virgins… If they weren’t called that, you wouldn’t suspect that they would only be the Bride of Christ! But since it says that they are, and we read Rev. 2 & 3, and we only find two churches that we can classify as virgins, then there may be something to it. We don’t know!
 
It’s two-fold down through the centuries and at the end-time as well. We don’t know exactly how all of that is going to work. That’s the only distinction that we can make here with this.
 
The Unpardonable Sin:
 
A lot of people feel sometimes that they have committed the unpardonable sin and they’re really grievously upset and worrying about their salvation. Let’s see what Christ said about the unpardonable sin.
 
It’s very interesting with what Jesus says here; Matthew 12:30: “The one who is not with Me is against Me…” In another place He says that ‘the one who is for Me is not against Me.’
 
That’s those in the world who are carnal and not called, but are for God and not against Him, they’re just in the world.
 
“…and the one who does not gather with Me scatters. Because of this, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men except the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit; that shall not be forgiven to men” (vs 30-31). Why? Who sends the Spirit? God the Father and Jesus Christ!
 
We have the begettal to be the son or daughter of God, and we have the Holy Spirit to develop the mind of Christ! So, those are the two aspects of it.
 
·         What happens when someone commits the unpardonable sin?
·         Would they be grievous and repenting? No!
 
Verse 32: “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him…”
 
·         What did Jesus say when He was up on the cross? Father, forgiven them for they know not what they do!
·         How treacherous were they? As treacherous as could be!
 
“…but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming age” (v 32). There you find the second resurrection! There are two parts to the second resurrection:
 
1.       those who have not committed the unpardonable sin
2.       those who have
 
Those who have committed the unpardonable sin will go into the Lake of Fire. Those who have not will have an opportunity for salvation. What kind of attitude does someone have who commits the unpardonable sin? They will:
 
·         be hateful toward God
·         reject the Holy Spirit of God
·         reject the Word of God
·         be set in their ways and bitter in animosity toward God and will not repent
 
Remember the DVD message called The Delusion of Drugs. There’s a family trying to redeem a son, and the relatives were there, too. They pleaded with him, ‘Please, won’t you come back. Please!’ He said no! ‘Please, we’ll help you.’ No! No! No! and he got up and walked out.
 
If you haven’t watched that first segment, that is something! That shows you as close as you can get to the unpardonable sin. Absolutely no thought of repentance.
 
How bad can a person get into and still repent and receive forgiveness from God. What are two classic ones from the Old Testament? Manasseh! Look at what he did! He became king when he was very young, and things were already very corrupt.
 
2-Chronicles 33:1: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.”
 
You can be thankful that we have Presidents that can only be in office eight years.
 
Verse 2: “But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel, for he built again the high places, which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served them. And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, ‘In Jerusalem shall My name be forever’” (vs 2-4). Manasseh was really going at it!
 
Verse 5: “And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. He also observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD to provoke Him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, ‘In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. Nor will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land, which I have set apart for your fathers—if only they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses’” (vs 5-8). That’s quite a thing that he was doing!
 
Verse 9: “But Manasseh led astray Judah and the people of Jerusalem, and caused them to do worse than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and to His people, but they would not listen” (vs 9-10). He spoke through Jeremiah!
 
Verse 11: “Wherefore, the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains and carried him to Babylon.” Because Assyria ruled Babylon at that time!
 
Verse 12: “And when he was in affliction, he sought the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And he prayed to Him, and He was entreated of him and heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God” (vs 12-13).
 
So, here we have a situation where this deep repentance was forgiven. The rest of the story is that he cleaned up the area around the temple and got rid of all the sacrifices to the other gods and so forth.
 
How many times was he repenting during that time of his repentance? It couldn’t be just one prayer! It would have to be really abhorring himself!’
 
Look at what Job had to go through before he abhorred himself! In a way he did worse than Manasseh, because he did everything that God said, but he took the credit for it all! He was, in his rebellion against God and in iniquity Job was worshipping himself instead of God! He even thought that he was on par with God, because he wanted to have a judge come and declare Job’s righteousness to God and settle the matter.
 
In a way—though Manasseh was more evil in what he was doing—Job was worse because Job had all the Truth, and yet, took the credit to himself instead giving all credit to God.
 
I’m sure that it was quite a spell that he was repenting, confessing and everything like that. It wasn’t just a one time prayer, ‘O Lord, forgive me.’ You can’t just have one small prayer and everything is forgiven. Read Psa. 51; you abhor yourself, you abhor your sins. You see that you have sinned against God greatly. That the only thing in you is nothing but sin! Then there will be forgiveness!
 
A little correction: Jeremiah wasn’t calling Manasseh to repentance, that was before, because Jeremiah started in the 12th or 13th year of Josiah.
 
Matthew 12:32: “And whoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming age. Either make the tree good…” (vs 32-33). What is that likened to? Repentance!
 
“…and the fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for a tree is known by its fruit” (v 33). If it’s corrupt and unredeemable, that’s the unpardonable sin. There’s no way out of that!
 
It’s just like in the segment on Delusion of Drugs, there was not talking to this man to get him to stop drugs, to quit doing what he was doing. He said no to his mother, father, his aunt and sister. Then he got up and walked out.
 
Another example of the unpardonable sin is Satan the devil. He has not and will not repent. His ultimate goal is always to be like God, the Most High. He won’t repent.
 
Those who have never been converted, it’s possible that some will refuse to repent. But the unpardonable sin in Heb. 6 talks about those who have repented, receive the Holy Spirit and then quit!
 
Hebrews 6:4: “For it is impossible… [Greek means there is no power possible] …for those who were once enlightened, and who personally obtained the heavenly gift, and became partakers of the Holy Spirit.” The heavenly gift is forgiveness, the gift of grace!
 
Verse 5: “And who have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they have fallen away… [to apostatize] …to renew them again unto repentance…” (vs 5-6)--nothing will get to them!
 
That depends on free choice. Will they repent? If they repent then they haven’t committed the unpardonable sin!
 
Manasseh probably came as close as anyone to committing the unpardonable sin, but he repented. But here it is that there’s no way “…to renew them again unto repentance…” Look at Cain; he did not repent! It showed he didn’t repent. He said, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ He didn’t fall down on his knees and say, ‘O Lord, I killed him; I got angry.’ Esau didn’t repent of selling his birthright. But he wasn’t converted. Here we’re talking about converted people.
 
“…seeing that they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves, and are publicly holding Him in contempt” (v 6). The attitude is complete incalcitrant and contemptuous attitude toward God!
 
Verse 7: “For the ground that soaks up rain coming often upon it, and also produces useful plants for those for whom it is tilled, receives a blessing from God. But that which brings forth thorns and thistles is rejected and near to being cursed, the end of which is for burning” (vs 7-8)--which is the Lake of Fire! That’s the attitude of the unpardonable sin. There’s no way to bring them to repentance:
 
·         no remorse
·         no feeling
·         no nothing
 
Just hard-hearted, incalcitrant against God, against the Father, holding God in contempt, Christ in contempt and rejecting everything of God.
 
How many people will be that way? Don’t know! But I know of one man who may have come mighty, mighty close to it. But I have no idea. That’s why God judges the heart; He knows. There’s no way that we can even determine if someone has or not, because God alone knows!
 
Verse 9: “But, although we speak these things, beloved, we are persuaded of better things concerning you, even the fruits that accompany salvation. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the labor of love by which you have showed honor to His name, in that you have served the saints and are continuing to serve them. But we earnestly desire that every one of you be demonstrating the same diligence, unto the full assurance of the hope until the end; so that you do not become lazy, but that you be imitators of those who through faith and steadfast endurance inherit the promises” (vs 9-12). Then Paul goes back talking about Abraham!
 
Those are the odds and ends that I wanted to cover today. I would like to, in January, do a series in Galatians, because Galatians is one of the most difficult books in the New Testament, especially the way it’s translated in the King James. It has led many people to believe that you don’t have to keep the Law and that it has been abolished. But it actually teaches the opposite! 
​
(FIRST HALF OF THE MESSAGE)

Scriptural References:
1)      1-Corinthians 15:20-23
2)      Daniel 7:13-25, 27
3)      Revelation 15:2-5, 8
4)      Revelation 19:9
5)      Hosea 5:10-15
6)      Hosea 6:1-2
7)      Revelation 6:12-17
8)      Revelation 7:3
9)      Jeremiah 18:1-10
10)  Revelation 7:3
11)  Ephesians 1:13
12)  Revelation 7:3-4, 9, 13-15
13)  Revelation 14:1-5
14)  Revelation 2:4-5, 9-10, 14-16, 20-24
15)  Revelation 3:1, 5, 10
16)  Matthew 12:30-32
17)  2 Chronicles 33:1-13
18)  Matthew 12:32-33
19)  Hebrews 6:4-12
 
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
·         Ecclesiastes 1
·         Deuteronomy 16:1-8
·         Revelation 13; 17
·         Hebrews 2
·         Matthew 22
·         Romans 13
·         Isaiah 41; 44
·         Ezekiel 9
·         1 John 5
·         Psalm 51
 
Also referenced:
Articles:
·         World Leader of The Salvation Army General Brian Peddle Meets His Holiness Pope Francis {https://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/news/inr081119}
·         Pope Francis Declares that Christian Fundamentalists Are “A Scourge” {https://grandmageri422.me/2019/12/04/pope-francis-declares-that-christian-fundamentalists-are-a-scourge/}
·         British Court in Transgender Case, Bible Belief is “Incompatible with Human Dignity” {https://www.dailywire.com/news/british-court-in-transgender-case-bible-belief-is-incompatible-with-human-dignity}
·         ACLU Sues to Make Sure that Unborn Babies Can be Dismembered piece by piece in Cruel Inhumane Abortions
{https://dcdirtylaundry.com/the-aclu-sues-to-make-sure-unborn-babies-can-be-dismembered-piece-by-piece-in-cruel-inhumane-abortions/}
 
§  Sermon: Daniel/Revelation Prophecies Being Fulfilled
§  Booklet: Rome’s Challenge to the Protestants by Cardinal Gibbon
§  DVD: Delusion of Drugs
​

Overview of Prophecy
#2 Daniel/Revelation
Part #1​
Transcript Second Half
By: Fred R. Coulter--
February 13, 2016
In the Bible we see this: the Bible tells us a summary first, then gives us the details; after the summary! The details might not necessarily come in sequence right after the other, because we know the Bible is put together 'here a little and there a little,' etc.
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• How is every eye going to see Him?
• That is those who are living when Jesus returns?
• What does this do for the 'secret rapture'?

The 'secret rapture' is that we're all going to be taken out before the Tribulation begins, and 'all you dumb doe-dos who are not with us will go through the Tribulation, and we are so glad to escape.' No! It won't work!
Let's take the last week from Dan. 9—seven years—and he makes an agreement and in the middle of the seven-year period and the Tribulation begins. What starts the Tribulation that we've already covered? The abomination that makes desolate stands in the Holy place! That's when the Tribulation begins.
We have the seals that are opened; there was a white horse and this was not Christ; this was the false christ. 
Revelation 6:2 afaithfulversion.org/revelation-6/: "And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer." This has to be the false prophet bringing all the religions of the world together.
It's possible—speculation—that that seal has been opened with all the events that are taking place. How long that runs we don't know. This has to be before that 70th week.
Verse 3: "And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come and see.' And another horse went out that was red; and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth…" (vs 3-4). That has to be the beginning the Great Tribulation, which then has to be in the middle of the 7-year period when the Great Tribulation begins. That has to be right there.
Let's come to the sixth seal, and we will discover some other prophecies that help us understand and put it together in the timeframe within that last three and half-year period. That why the sermon series: Daniel/Revelation. It's a big, thick series with 40 sermons[transcriber's correction]. This will include what is there, but we may have an improvement on what I had given at that time. Here's an event that takes place that we will see that is described also in Matt. 24:
Verse 12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the powerful men, and every bondman, and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath has come, and who has the power to stand?'" (vs 12-17).
Let's take this sequence backward: How long is a day in prophecy in fulfillment? One year! This is the last year that comes. That means that if you have three and a half years, and there's one year left, how many years have passed before v 12? Two!
What takes place in Rev. 7 right after the heavens roll back as a scroll? The sealing of the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude! The sealing of the 144,000 are from the children of Israel, the physical children of Israel!

• How do we know the events that take place?
• What is going to happen to Israel when the Tribulation begins?
• They are going to be under the domination of the beast power!
• They are going to be in captivity; wherever they are!

The book of Hosea was written concerning the ten northern tribes and Ephraim. They are called the house of Israel. Zech. 12 talks about the Jews and those in Jerusalem. They are included in Rev. 7.
Hosea 5:13: "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound… [it's going to get very bad for Britain and the Israelis in Jerusalem] …then Ephraim went to the Assyrian and sent to King Contentious…. [the beast power] …Yet, he could not heal you nor cure you of your wound… [they're taken into captivity instead] …for I will be to Ephraim as a lion, and as a strong lion to the house of Judah…." (vs 13-14).
Both are included in the 144,000, although Ephraim is not named directly, but comes under the name of Joseph.
"…I, even I, will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go; I will return to My place until they confess their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will seek Me earnestly" (vs 14-15). There they are in captivity.

• What do they do in captivity?
• What does Israel always do when they get in trouble?
• They call out to the Lord!

What you have to do is read the history of 1st and 2nd Samuel, Judges, Joshua and 1st and 2nd Kings, and so forth. Whenever they got in trouble they cried to the Lord, and the Lord saved them! What happened when 9/11 happened here in America. We all got 'religious' for three weeks!
They will repent, and this—Rev. 6—where the 144,000 are sealed and converted in the last year of the three and a half year Tribulation.
Hosea 6:1:1: "Come and let us return to the LORD, for He has torn, and He will heal us; He has smitten, and He will bind us up. After two days…" (vs 1-2). A day is as a year in prophecy. We have two days, which is two years.
"…He will revive us…" (v 2). Would you not say that the sealing of the 144,000 is reviving them? Yes, indeed! So, the Tribulation against them is two years, and we will see that in Matt. 24.
"…in the third day… [the beginning of the third year] …He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight" (v 2). That's exactly where Rev. 7 starts; right there, right when this happens!
That's why I've said that after two years the Tribulation against Israel is released. There is still a year and a half left for the rest of the world! We will answer both questions there in Matt. 24:

• How will every eye see Him?
• The ending of the Tribulation after two years?
• How it will take place?

Matt. 24:15—the beginning of the Tribulation. Verse 21 confirms that. Then we have those saying there are the Christ, false christs and everything right there; don't believe it.
Again, we have the pattern of the Bible, which follows all the way through the Bible: What is going to happen is described first; the details come afterward. That's the way God does everything. What did God say to Israel? If you obey My voice, then you'll be a nation of priests to Me. They said, 'Yeah, we'll do it.' Look at all the details that came after they said they would.
Likewise it describes what is going to happen first, and then the details concerning it come afterward.
Matthew 24:27: "For as the light of day, which comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be."
You've heard me say about a second sun. If there is a second sun, will every eye see that? Yes! For how long? We'll answer that question in a little bit.
Verse 28: "For wherever the carcass may be, there will the eagles be gathered together." Is that describing the resurrection? I don't know! That verse has been an enigma to me all my life.
Verse 29: "But immediately after the tribulation of those days…" Against whom? The children of Israel (Hos. 5-6 and Rev. 7). That's just against Israel.
"…the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." That's what happened.
We read in Rev. 6 that the heavens roll back as a scroll. BAM! Right there at the end of the two-year period and the beginning of the third-year period. What did it say? The stars will fall, the heavens will darken and so forth!
Verse 30: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…" What is that sign? Verse 27 tells us what it is; the light of day! That's the sign of the Son of man that shall appear in heaven.
"…and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn…" (v 30). That's when they begin fighting God and Christ!
"…and they shall see the Son of man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (v 30)—so every eye shall see Him!
Then it comes down to the resurrection, v 31: "And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
That is like looking down at the earth from heaven. There are going to be saints from everywhere in the whole world, and the angels are going to bring them.
When does that take place? Here's where we bring in the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. We'll answer some other questions and see the pattern: God gives us the summary first, then the details later. Or it is a prophecy from another part of the Bible that you put together with prophecies in another part of the Bible.
Imagine what the earth is going to be like when the heavens roll back as a scroll and the whole earth is shaken; earthquakes everywhere!

• When did God make Israel His people? When He gave the Law at Mt. Sinai and that was on Pentecost!
• When did the Church officially begin? On Pentecost!

based on the Pentecost thing:

• When is the resurrection?

Since we're the firstfruits of God, remember this: The Hebrew calendar is calculated beginning with the seventh month!When you count the Holy Days, Pentecost 'the last day.'
What did Jesus say? I will raise you up the last day (John 6)! Pentecost is the last day of the 50-day count. Pentecost is the last Holy Day beginning with Trumpets:

• Trumpets
• Atonement
• Tabernacles
• Last Great Day
• First day of Unleavened Bread
• Last day of Unleavened Bread
• Pentecost

You add the Passover in and that's eight, but it is the last Holy Day! Since--

• we have the pattern at Sinai
• we have the pattern of Acts 2
• then when you have the sealing of the 144,000

—doesn't it make sense that this would occur on Pentecost?
Let's take this one step further. Rev. 2 & 3, how many churches do we have? Seven! How many weeks to the harvest? Seven! But there's the 50th day!
Rev. 7 represents the 50th day harvest by God at this point. So, this takes place on Pentecost. One year later we have the resurrection of the rest of the saints. Does that make sense? Yes, indeed, because we are firstfruits unto God! We are the Church of the Firstborn! All of those tie together. When you begin to understand things in the Bible you have to include everything. That's why keeping the Holy Days, beginning with the Sabbath, and you keep the Passover so that you're in right standing with God, and then keep the Holy Days, this will add understanding as God gives us understanding.
Right after the heavens roll back as a scroll here is this new sun every day for a year, every day for a year every eye will see it. What happens when people get used to something? They just take it for granted! 'Oh well, the heavens were shaken up and this is just a new body that's in orbit around the earth now.'
Here's what happens: there's great peace and calm after all those earthquakes. Before we get to Rev. 8, what is the rest of the world doing while God is dealing with the 144,000? What do people do after every earthquake? They clean things up! It's going to be so messed up they are going to need the time between Pentecost and Trumpets to get things cleaned up. That is three and a half months; from Pentecost to Trumpets!What happens in Rev. 8? Trumpet plagues! Would those not begin on the Feast of Trumpets? Yes, indeed!
Let's talk about the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude. They held back the winds so they didn't blow and then God sealed them by an angel. There was nobody there to baptize them, nobody there to preach to them. How are they going to receive the Holy Spirit and be sealed? God is going to send it and an angel is going to administer it.

• Can God do that? Yes, indeed!
• Will there be those baptizing people at that time, too? Could very well be, we don't know!

Revelation 7:4 "And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the children of Israel." The first one is Judah, and God says in Zech. 12 that He 'will save the tents of Judah first.' There it is right there.
Did God save the tents of Judah first with the Church when it began? Yes! They were all Jews! 'To the Jew first, then to the Greek, or Gentile.' So, the patterns of God fit all the way through.
There's Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph, Benjamin, and then the great innumerable multitude.
Here we need to answer a question, because it looks like that these people immediately go to the throne of God, but they don't! Why? All those who are Christ's are resurrected at His coming! This is part of His coming, but this is the start of it. He has to come right close to the earth for the resurrection to occur. That has not happened, yet, because that sun is still out there and the earth is turning on its axis.
Verse 9: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude… [v 10]: …and they were calling out with a loud voice to Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, saying, 'The salvation of our God has come.' Then all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power and strength be to our God into the ages of eternity. Amen'" (vs 9-12).
Verse 9 says that they were "…standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and holding palms in their hands." That's the statement that tells what's going to happen. It describes it, but it doesn't happen until the resurrection.
We'll see why in just a minute. There are two verses in Rev. 8 and 9 that tell us that the saints are praying. If you have the Holy Spirit of God you are a saint. So, they don't immediately go to heaven, though it appears that they do with this description, which tells where they will be at the resurrection.
Verse 13: "And one of the elders answered and said to me, 'These who are clothed with white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?' Then I said to him, 'Sir, you know.' And he said to me, 'They are the ones who have come out of the Great Tribulation; and they have washed their robes, and have made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One Who sits on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall not hunger any more, nor shall they thirst any more; neither shall the sun nor the heat fall upon them, because the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will lead them to fountains of living waters; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes'" (vs 13-17).
Notice that the latter part has to do with the new heaven and new earth.
1-Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the Firstfruit; then those who are Christ's at His coming" (vs 20-23).
What else has to happen? This also tells us why those in Rev. 7 do not go immediately to the throne of God. What has to happen to make that take place?
Verse 51: "Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (vs 51-52).
No one is going to the throne of God until the last trumpet, and the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude are sealed before the first trumpet. They are alive when the last trumpet blows!
Revelation 8:1: "Now, when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them" (vs 1-2). They blow in sequence: 1, 2, 3, 4; then 5 &6; then 7.
No one is going to be raised to come before God before the seventh trumpet. So, when you read Rev. 7 you need to get the time frame understood with other Scriptures, because it looks like—if you just read and end it there—that they immediately go before the throne of God, but they don't!
Verse 3: "And another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the throne."
If they had gone to heaven immediately, they wouldn't be on the earth praying, and they wouldn't be just called the saints, they would be the sons of God at that point.
This shows that the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude are not in heaven, but on the earth and are praying.
Now, there's one other group that is still left that is in a place of safety. They will be praying, as well.

Transcript in full plus Scriptural References