The Gifts of Apostles and Prophecy

Transcript

GR 2255
11/01/2020
The Gifts of Apostles and Prophecy
Romans 12:6
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the book of Romans in your Bibles, and the twelfth chapter. We’ve moved into another major section in the book of Romans with chapter 12. Really, which we’ve called exhortation or application, you could call it. It is how we are to live out our new life in Christ. We have the doctrinal foundation, and this, as we’ve noted particularly, picks up with the doctrine of sanctification, and we noted the connection between the opening verses of chapter 12, and what was said in chapter 6 of Romans. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 deal with the doctrine of sanctification. Now here’s the practical application or exhortation—how we conduct ourselves in various areas. We’ve picked up with the subject of spiritual gifts in verses 3, 4, and 5 because that’s foundational. When you were placed into the body of Christ, at the time you placed your faith in Christ, the Spirit identified you with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. That was the first part of Romans 6. And in 1 Corinthians 12:13, we’re told that by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body, the body of Christ, and the manifestation of the body of Christ in the world are the individual, local churches. We looked in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians where that local church was told it had all the gifts necessary for it to grow in maturity in their new life in Christ, to function as the body of Christ. So in Romans 12, key to living out our life of sanctification is to realize the part we all have in the functioning of the body, which is God’s working today to build His people to maturity so they can function in all areas, according to His will.

I put out some points that summarize verses 3 to 5, so let’s look at those as a review and a way to start.

1) We must not be self-centered in our thinking. Verse 3, “…everyone among you ought not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think…” The world talks about self-esteem. The biblical perspective is to have biblical esteem, to see ourselves as we are. Not false humility, I’m just a nobody with nothing to contribute. No, but I appreciate what God is doing in the lives of others and how important that is to my own growth. I honor them for that contribution, but we are to think as having sound judgement. Think biblically. A realistic view of myself and how God would use me in the body and a realistic appreciation of the importance of others. None of us can grow in isolation. It’s just not God’s plan. He put us into a body for a purpose.

2) We must think sanely, sensibly, which is just another way to say biblically.

3) Our thinking must be in light of God’s work. And that’s what we’re talking about. “…as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” So that we all fit in the body. You can see the connection, with one Spirit we’ve all been baptized into one body, placed into one body in identification with Christ. Well, from the beginning then, the Spirit, His presence is manifested by gifting us. Now that doesn’t mean that as soon as you’re in the body you know what your particular role is. That’s the analogy of the physical body. That newborn baby has the parts necessary, but they don’t all realize… It takes time for them to function and realize what their part is in the body. And that’s the way we are. When I became a believer, I didn’t know God had gifted me in the area of being a pastor and teacher. Well, I just knew that from the beginning. No, I didn’t! But over time, in growing in the body and being used in various ways in the body, because we are used in different ways in our specific gift, but in that we begin to appreciate and recognize and are gravitating towards areas where God seemed to especially use us and we’re more effective. We see ourselves concentrating much of our energy there. So, our thinking must be in light of God’s work.

4) Each believer is gifted by God.

5) Gifts differ as to kind and degree. We discover them as the process goes on and we look for how we might be used in the body, and move along that way.

6) Believers are one body in Christ. We have to appreciate that. We don’t want to drift to extremes. We each have the Spirit, we each are indwelt by the Spirit and have a personal relationship with God. We are believer priests who have direct access to God, but that does not mean God intends for us to function independently, on our own, apart from the functioning of the body.

7) Believers are members of one another. We have to appreciate that, even if God is moving us to another place, we want to take into consideration what that means. I will no longer be benefitting from the ministry of other parts of this body; they will not be benefitting from my ministry. That may mean that God is moving them to another place to use them in another body where the gift will be needed and used. Fine, but we want to give thought to these things. Otherwise, we might put ourselves out there. I meet too many believers who seem to be drifting. Where are you going to church now? Well, I’m just sort of bouncing around. I’ve been here, and I’ve been there. Where does God want me? He placed me in the body, and the manifestation of the body of Christ is the local church. He just hasn’t put you out there to float around because if you just visit one place for a while, and then another place for a while, and another place for a while, maybe you are looking for where God would have you settle down, but that shouldn’t go on endlessly. I meet people who were formerly part of Indian Hills years ago, and they can’t tell me where they are today. They just don’t have a settled home. That’s not good for them. And a body is missing something because if they’re truly saved, He gifted them to contribute to a body. So, it’s not only they need it for their growth, but something’s missing in that body where they should be. We want to appreciate that. I don’t know if we have the comment on the bottom. Yes. ---These are just some of the specifics that God expects of us as those who offer their bodies to Him as a living sacrifice.

We can go back to the opening two verses. We present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Well, this is what God expects of us. I placed you into the body of Christ and that means you will be a part of a local manifestation of that body, because that’s how the gifts function. So, we can’t claim to be obedient if we don’t do what God tells us.

Justification flows into sanctification. We want to be sure we connect it. Alright, that’s given us a little foundation. We’re not going to make much more progress because I wanted to give us a little bit of a background and overview of gifts. But he says in verse 6, “…since we have gifts that differ…” I mean, that’s just an established fact. We’ve been told what God is doing and does in each believer. A person who doesn’t fit into any believing congregation needs to back up and evaluate. Maybe the problem is he’s not a believer. He is not gifted, so he’s right. He doesn’t fit. He’s trying to be an outsider on the inside. He’s not part of the body and he realizes that, so he feels isolated when he is there. So, we want to be honest. Maybe you haven’t found a place because you don’t have a place. But if you truly belong to God, He puts you into the body of Christ and the manifestation of that is the local church. You need to find a Bible-believing church and settle down. I only know of one perfect church that would end that search, but you may not want to be at Indian Hills. It’s not the perfect church because if the Lord wanted you here, it’s because we need you to help us to grow and become more complete, more perfect. And that would be true of another church. So we want to help other believers that we may come in contact with that may be former Indian Hillers or may be formerly from another church. Something may have happened, and you want to have a conversation that helps them realize and understand God’s purpose for their life. Otherwise their frustration will develop and grow and they become more messed up.

“…since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us…” The grace given to us, and these are called charisma. Charis is the Greek word for grace. Some have called them charisma. Charis with ma on the end. Grace gifts. We have that commonly in English, charismatic gifts, sometimes used a little differently than we’re going to talk about. But they are gifts of grace, and it is grace given to us. You know, delegated, dispensed out to us by God. We didn’t earn it, we didn’t merit it. It is foundational to our salvation just like salvation is by grace through faith. So our giftedness is by grace. We must not waste the grace of God. We must not reject the grace of God. I cannot claim to be a recipient of His grace, and at the same time to be denying that grace. We have the grace of God given to us. That grace he’s talking about is the gifts. That’s what he’s talked about in the preceding verse. That’s the grace given to us and where did that grace have its foundation in the beginning chapters of Romans? We talked about justification and moved to sanctification, and now the manifestation of that grace is the outworking of the gifts that the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us when He took up residence within us. We have gifts that differ, and they are bestowed by God. But what I’m looking for is Lord, where do I fit in the body? Where have You equipped me, gifted me, to make the best contribution to the growth of this body? It may not be what I initially thought.

I’ve shared with you, when I went off to Bible college and to seminary, I thought my gift was evangelism. That’s what I wanted to do. I’ve shared with you, I didn’t think that being a pastor-teacher particularly appealed to me. I didn’t want to see myself with the same people. You can appreciate this now that I’ve been here 50 years. But I didn’t see that as something particularly desirable for me. I want to go where the unbelievers are. I want to reach new people. I want to… But you know, through seminary and God opening up a church for me to pastor, it became clearer where I was more effective. I didn’t want to give up doing evangelistic work, but it became clearer to me. I had been a believer for a number of years and I had functioned in a variety of ways. We were in a Bible-believing church, and I worked in children’s church. I taught high school kids. I worked in different areas. I mean, you do that. But then, over time, it becomes clearer, more evident, and that’s how God seems to use me in a greater way.

That doesn’t mean you stop doing other things. I mentioned this in our previous study. I remind you, it doesn’t mean I don’t do anything else, because we’re all responsible to show mercy. We spent some time looking at that. But, there is a gift of mercy, and those people are especially gifted and equipped by God to bring that dimension to the body of Christ and to help us who may not have the gift, but we do have the opportunity to show mercy. But, they sort of lead the way in that area of ministry and contribute to the body. That’s true of each of the gifts. We all don’t have the gift of giving, but we all give, and we’re used of God. But some are especially gifted of God with that gift. We talk about how we have gifts that differ, and it depends on the grace given to us. There’s no sense in struggling over it, fighting against it. Lord, what do You want me to do in the body? We looked at 1 Corinthians.

These gifts have been given. “…each of us is to exercise them accordingly…” and they’ve inserted that line, but it helps give you the flow, because that’s what we’re to do. That’s what he’s going to say. Each one is given a gift; we exercise it accordingly. And there’s variation in the gifts, so I want to learn from others who have the same gift as me, but I want to recognize they may have that gift to a greater degree and be much more effective than me in that. And used, maybe, in greater ways. I don’t want to be jealous of that. There are probably things for me to learn from them. I want to do the best I can, the most I can, with the gift as God has given it to me. That’s true in each of our areas. So we’re not competing with one another. We’re not comparing ourselves to one another, because you may have the same gift as someone else, but you may have it to a greater degree or a lesser degree. Well, I’m being used more significantly and in a greater way than they are, even though we have the same gifts. But we’re not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, because you may have that gift to a greater degree. But that doesn’t give you any reason for pride because you have it by God’s grace to the degree you have it.

It helps us settle down and have “sound judgement”, as back to that in verse 3. To think sanely or biblically, and appreciate what God has done for me. The amazing thing is that He’ll use me! That’s grace, that we should be used in a way to bring honor to Him and enable the body of Christ to grow and mature. Do I have to be the most important person? Do I have to strive to be greater? I want to be as great as I can be, so to speak, in making the best contribution I have. I don’t want to waste God’s grace. I don’t want to stand to be judged for rewards and realize I could have done much more. Why didn’t you? Oh, well… I gave you the grace. So we want to use our grace as much as I can where I am. I’m pastoring a church in Lincoln, Nebraska. There are men who have been put into larger centers with broader ministries, and I appreciate that and I benefit from them, but I’m here. That doesn’t make me a greater person than someone who’s pastoring a very small church in a rather unknown place. They’re using their gift to the greatest degree. That’s what honors God the most.

Alright, “…we have gifts that differ…” God does what He’s going to do in His way. I want to say something about how He dispenses gifts and a little bit about temporary and permanent gifts because they’re going to be mixed in here and then we’ll look at them. I understand that there are gifts that differ also not only in degree and what gifts, but also in that some were temporary gifts, some are permanent gifts. That was God’s decision. There is a verse of Scripture. It comes from Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8, most of you are familiar with it. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” And that sometimes is applied to say, well then, if He healed people when He walked the earth, He’ll do that today. If He gave revelation to people in the days of the apostles, He’ll do that today and so on. But that doesn’t mean God always does the same thing in the same way. It means His character does not change. He is the same unchanging God but obviously He is working differently.

We see the difference from reading the Old Testament and the situation today. He is not working primarily in the nation Israel as the focal point of His work of salvation in the world today. We are not focused in a temple in Jerusalem today but we will someday in the future. What God does in the world, can be true with how He is working. At one time Jesus walked this earth in a physical body, a normal physical body. He will not do that ever again because His physical body has been glorified, but He is unchanging in character and His very nature. So He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but if we had lived two thousand years ago when He was walking in the land of Israel we could have walked up and talked to Him and touched Him and sat down and been given physical food by Him with the multitude. We can’t do that today, but He’s the same God.

I think there are some gifts that are permanent, some gifts that are not, and you are aware of this. We have been through this on other occasions, but we will review it because it does go on. We have different views of this in the evangelical world. In our own city there are charismatic churches. That’s usually used for churches that believe that all the gifts are present. Let me just speak in broad generalities rather than that some of them were temporary. We’ll use a couple of examples. Foundational for me, the gift of apostle. I believe that was a temporary gift not present today. There is a movement that has got a significant following, in fact it was established and the lead apostle in it, I don’t believe he’s still living, but was one of my former professors in a graduate program. I had personal discussions with him about his view of the gifts and so on. We have what’s called the “new apostolic movement.” They believe God has revived the gift of apostle. There are books written on it. There are men that have their testimonies, whole book devoted to it. They believe they are latter day apostles. I believe the Scripture indicates that apostles were a temporary gift. We have a slide that we did on apostles and their gifts from not too long ago. We’re going to put that up.

The qualifications of an apostle are three-fold. He had to have seen Christ after His resurrection from the dead. And I didn’t put the Scripture down on those, but leave that. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Just after the book of Romans. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, because we want to look and see why we say some of these gifts aren’t present today. Well, we look and see what was required to be an apostle so could they be an apostle today. We could have gone to Acts chapter 1 where when they were going to select a replacement for Judas, one of the requirements was he had to have been an eyewitness of Christ after His resurrection from the dead. These men were to be firsthand in their testimony. I am telling you that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. I saw Him after His resurrection. That was a requirement in Acts chapter 1. As Peter said, he has to be an eyewitness with us of the resurrection of Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 1, Paul says, “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” And that was his claim of what happened on the Damascus road in Acts chapter 9. What happened? Christ appeared to him and directly identifies Himself because Paul says, “‘…Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting….’” So he had that first hand confrontation with the resurrected Christ so he could be an eyewitness, a testimony of the resurrected Christ.

In chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, Paul talks about the appearances of Christ. In verse 3 he’s unfolding the gospel “…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…” Verse 4, “…He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” The Old Testament Scriptures had prophesied this, so this is not new material. The realization of it though came with the coming of Christ. And then after His resurrection on the third day, note verse 5, “…He appeared to Cephas, (Cephas is Peter) then to the twelve.” Now Judas is not included, but “the twelve” become an identifiable group and the replacement for Judas will be one who also had the appearance of Christ. “After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time…”

So, the twelve apostles weren’t the only ones who saw Christ after His resurrection. Don’t get confused. But not everyone who saw Him would be appointed as an apostle. That’s why when you talk about “the twelve,” they are specially identified. But five hundred brethren saw Him. Most of that five hundred were still alive but some of them had died, fallen asleep. And “…then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; (these appearances, then note this) and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” So Paul is the last one to have that special appearance and he says I was born out of time, so to speak. He’s untimely born because this was a special appearance after the resurrection that Christ appeared to Him. Now John will have an appearance of Christ in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation, but he’s already an apostle, so that’s not unique in the sense because as an apostle they will get special revelation. The apostles do. So, that’s the first basic requirement, an eyewitness to the resurrection.

The second requirement was they performed miraculous deeds. They performed miracles. They validated their apostleship with miracles so not all of those five hundred, for example, who saw Christ after the resurrection, wouldn’t be able to do miracles. So look over to 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12, and Paul is speaking here. The Corinthians had been influenced by false apostles, that was in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians. We were there on other occasions, particularly with our study of Jude. They were false apostles. And now Paul is telling them, I have to defend myself to you. You think I am weak, but I am a true apostle. Look at verse 11, “I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.” You see there the balance we talk about with the gifts. It didn’t cause Paul pride, but neither did he back off of what his gift was and the importance of his gifts and how God was using him with that gift.

There is no apostle that outshined Paul, the greatest of the apostles. We don’t think of Peter as a greater apostle than Paul. And he’s defending himself because the authority that goes with his apostleship and the Scriptures that he is writing in these letters depend upon a recognition of that. Without the recognition of his apostleship they’ll be following the false apostles and depending on the lies they are teaching. So, I realize I am a nobody. It’s God’s grace that put me where I am, but I will not back down from what God has appointed me to be. And what does he go on to say? “The signs of a true apostle…” “These signs…” as you have in the margin of your bible. What he is talking about, and that’s why we call them the sign gifts, they were miracles that attested to the genuineness of these men. And not just these men, but the message that these men were communicating because the apostles were receiving new revelation from God.

Remember Ephesians chapter 3? We went there. Paul says “the mystery” of the church was revealed to and through me. So, there wasn’t clarity on understanding God’s work in the church being the focal point of His work in the world until God revealed it through the apostle Paul. So, he’s getting direct revelation. That would be true of the two letters he wrote to the Corinthians here. And if they reject that where are they going for truth? So, we have “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.” Now if you have individual believers going around doing miracles how would they be an attesting sign of an apostle? He said these are the signs of a true apostle so all those who saw Christ after His resurrection, those five hundred, that didn’t make them apostles. That’s just one of the requirements. You had to be able to perform miracles, because they are attesting to the genuineness of this representative of God. That’s true of the apostles broadly. Peter writes Scripture and it is authoritative. That was one of the things in recognizing what was Scripture. One of the foundational principles was it was written by an apostle. There were other things and there is Scripture written by those who were not apostles, but in these early days the foundation is being laid by apostles.

And the third, what we have been talking about, they received direct revelation from God. That’s why the miracles are so important. How do we know? We have 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12, where we just read. Come over to Hebrews. In Hebrews chapter 2. This is a passage which raises a question. Some believe Paul wrote the letter to the Hebrews. Who wrote it is not the most important thing. That it is inspired Scripture is. Some believe someone else wrote it but the question about Paul’s apostleship, it doesn’t claim apostleship here. And what he says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 1, “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard...” And that’s given in chapter 1, verses 2 and 3, where he started out revealing Christ, God’s Son being the fullest revelation that God had given. Verse 1 tells us the Old Testament prophets just gave us pieces of revelation, “…in many portions and in many ways.” Now we have the focal point of revelation, God in the flesh, verse 2 of chapter 1, “…in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…” And then he talks about the greatness of the Son.

Now we come down to chapter 2 and because of who Christ is, the revelation given through Him, and because of His finished work is of superior importance. “…we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty…” That’s one of the indications when Moses went up on Mount Sinai and he spoke to God face to face, but revelation was communicated to him through angels. And that was a binding revelation. What the indication is, it’s a step down. But Christ came to give it directly to us as God in the flesh. if you were judged by that revelation, the Old Testament, “…how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”

That’s why I think it’s doubtful that Paul wrote this. He doesn’t claim to be one of those who received that revelation and had attesting miracles although the writer to the Hebrews is being inspired by the Spirit of God to write. But he’s basing it and connecting it to the revelation that had been given by the apostles before him and they were attested. He doesn’t claim to be attested by miracles. That’s why as they were putting together the canon of Scripture, what was the inspired Scripture, a book like Hebrews had to be examined more carefully because you didn’t have the authority of an apostle associated with it. But it does bear the marks and it can be compared to Old Testament Scripture and to the writings of the apostles to show its consistency and that it does meet the standards that must be met. But you see the miracles here.

I think there was a time for miracles. The Old Testament, sometimes within groups like the charismatic movement and I don’t want to pound on them, but they are those who promote this, that all the gifts being present, that that’s the way God has worked through all of history. You read the Old Testament and it wasn’t just one miracle after another, defining miracles as gifted people doing these acts. There are clusters of times of miracles like Moses with the deliverance of the nation from Egypt. There’s one miracle done at the hand and command of Moses after another, but then miracles being done. You get into the days of Elijah and Elisha. There’s a time of repeated miracles. The time when Christ walked the earth He was doing miracles, demonstrating and validating who He was. He could supernaturally feed the people, heal the people, do what the Messiah was to do when He came. Then with His rejection at the establishing of the church we have miracles necessary because we are going to get new revelation and clarity given that wasn’t given before.

So come back to Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19, for the sentence, “…you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building…” Now here we have the picture then of the church, not using the body, but a building. A different metaphor, but the same kind of picture, fitted together. “…being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built (fitted) together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” So God dwells in us individually. He dwells in the church corporately and that’s where in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul gives a stern warning to those who would destroy the church, like the church at Corinth. That’s God’s dwelling. You destroy that, God will destroy you; indicating its unbelievers. The mark of an unbeliever trying to destroy the church at Corinth.

An example that it is serious business because this is God’s building, not the physical building, but the people that are built into a temple for His dwelling. He indwells individually, but He dwells into it corporately. You note, we are being, verse 22, “…built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” We say, well, God dwells in my body personally. Yes, He does, but we have to have our theology together. That’s not the only place He dwells. I’ve had believers that I’ve had conversation with, well, the Holy Spirit dwells in me. I read my Bible at home and I can commune with God. I don’t need to be... Wait a minute! Who decides what you need? You or God? Here is the same picture. And Paul down in chapter 3 which I just referred to, in verse 2 says, “…you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you...” That’s his gift. A stewardship, something he was entrusted to care for and use according to the master’s will. A stewardship of God’s grace, verse 3, “…that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery…” Something that had not been revealed before. So, I want you to know how I have insight into what wasn’t revealed before. Well, “…you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ (verse 5) which in other generations was not made known to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in (or by) the Spirit…” Specifically, and he goes on to talk, this is the church.

So, the apostles and prophets, joined together because they were both recipients of direct revelation. The apostles’ gifts are broader because of their oversite of churches and establishing them, their authority in the churches, until the word of God is complete. And now churches have the word, they have the Spirit of God dwelling in that local church, and in the individual believers to enable them to understand. There’s no new revelation being given. These gifts have served their purpose, otherwise we’re out here. Revelations are being given here and there. I’ve shared when we looked at this before. The seminary I attended had to let a professor go, a very intelligent man. He’s written a very good book on portions of the Scripture, but he got caught up in thinking he was receiving direct revelations from God. I have in my file some of those things that he claimed were direct revelations from God. Well, now we’re adding to Scripture. Well, boy, you don’t have a copy of that I’ll bet in your file. How are you to know that? So, suddenly, the Scriptures, they are complete, but they are incomplete. We have a well-known professor, Wayne Grudem, who has written theology some of you have used. He believes in the gift of prophecy being present today, but it’s not exactly like the New Testament gift of prophecy. It is a gift of prophecy and he connects it with Scriptures, that can have error in it. So, you have to sort it out and I’m summarizing. I don’t want to misrepresent him. But once you go that way, it’s either the gift of prophecy or it is not. So, you come up with a gift of prophecy that what? God is giving error? Well, it’s a step down from the prophecy received like by Paul. Wait a minute! We redefine the gifts.

Incidentally as a sideline, the gift of prophecy is not equated with the gift of preaching. I realize some of you are familiar with some who make that claim. It is not the gift of preaching and you open the door to confusion. Let’s identify the gifts as they are identified in Scripture. Not say, well, we have it today in a different form. It’s like that gift but not exactly like that, but those who believe in the gift of prophecy and the gift of apostleship today believe God directly guides them and inspires them. So pastors who claim to have the gift of apostleship, for example, in one of the books that contains their testimonies, they claim that authority as an apostle. So they can stand up and tell you what God told them last night and this is what we will do as a church. You can see it can feed pride because it would solve a lot of my problems if I could just stand up and say, the Lord spoke to me last night and this is what we are doing. Well, how can you disagree with that if the Lord spoke to me last night? Then how do you know He spoke to me? We’ve all had realistic dreams. Woken up and that was so real. You know, you even look around to say, yeah, I am in this bedroom. Wow! I say, Marilyn, you won’t believe what I was dreaming! No, and don’t wake me up to tell me.

So, we need to come back to Scripture. This is the final absolute authority, and we have to maintain our principles of interpretation, consistent literal interpretation. Paul says, here this is a special gift. You wouldn’t know it, except God’s grace gifted me to receive this kind of material and then he gave me attesting miracles to validate my position. And then I saw Christ raised from the dead. Well, now we have to bring in another and there are certain, in the extreme charismatic movement, who claim that they have seen Christ and Christ visibly appeared and talked to them. One of them, well known, and they are far off the deep end, but he’s been very popular on the charismatic channels. I was listening to him one day, I think we were traveling and picked it up. But he’s on there being interviewed and he says, well, this morning I was shaving, and Jesus Christ appeared, put His arm around me, and here’s what He said. Wait a minute! Where are we going? I think the man is a liar or he is delusional and talked himself into believing dreams, but we have the authoritative word of God. We don’t go out of that.

I wanted to talk to you about tongues, but I also want to cover some questions. So we’ll just leave that until the next time. We’ll stop there. I’m not going to talk about all the spiritual gifts, but I do want to talk about the gift of tongues and look a little bit at it. It comes and goes. I picked these out, what I see in our city, that would have influence here somewhat. Everything gets influenced with tv and the internet and everything I realize, but we have charismatic churches in town, and I want you to be aware of what our differences are. I’m not saying they are not believers, but I’m saying their interpretation of Scripture in this area is seriously deficient, and bad theology always catches up to you. So, we want to be clear on where we are and why we are. I will talk about the gift of tongues and then we’ll move on to what Paul has to say through the rest of the chapter. Let’s stop because you have taken the opportunity to give me a number of questions and we will look at some of those tonight.

Let’s have a word of prayer. Thank You, Lord for Your word. Lord, it is a sure word. It is a settled word. That’s so important for us. Lord, this we have as Your final word. It’s all we need. Thank You for Your Spirit who indwells each of us individually as believers and by Your grace. Through His ministry we are enabled to understand Your truth as even the most intelligent person who is an unbeliever who does not have the Spirit cannot understand these truths, understandable to the simplest believer. Thank You, Lord for the Spirit, indwelling us as a congregation that binds us together, enables us to function harmoniously, being involved in one another’s lives, appreciating one another. We count it a privilege to contribute to the growth of the body and appreciative of the part everyone plays in our individual growth. Bless us now as we discuss further Your word. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Okay. Let me pull out some sheets. The questions are multiplying. Good questions. I pick out the ones I can answer. Some of them it takes me a little more time so I put them on my desk so I can look up some things. A couple of these are related to prophetic matters. One here is on Isaiah 65, verse 20. Turn to Isaiah 65 and I’ll read you the question once I get there. Isaiah chapter 65, verse 20, says, “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed.” And we’re in the coming kingdom. Verse 17 started out, “…I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” He goes on down, and ends this chapter, “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox…” Very similar to Isaiah 11, Isaiah 2, Isaiah 9, great chapters on the kingdom and Christ reigning in that kingdom.

***But here is the question on this verse. Does this mean all unbelievers will die by age one hundred in the millennium because the one who dies before a hundred will be thought accursed? Would that identify unbelievers? They are dying off before they reach a hundred or by a hundred. Let me read the question to get started again. Does this mean all unbelievers will die by age one hundred in the millennial kingdom or just that if someone dies before that age they will be considered as having been an unbeliever?
I think that is the answer. And I think furthermore, those who die will be experiencing the immediate judgment of Christ who is sitting on the throne in Jerusalem. So, there will be no overt acts of sin in the sense that murder will not happen, because we are told “They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain…” (Isaiah 11:9) a mountain referring to a kingdom. So, before a person could carry out a crime like that, murder, there will be sin done, resisting the will of God not coming up like Zechariah talks about, at the appointed feasts, and then God withholds the rains. So, there is some manifestation of that rebellious heart, but overt acts of sin. You won’t have to be afraid to walk the streets. Those kinds of sin. More of that overt, I don’t want to say damaging sins, but in that sense, “…they will not hurt or destroy in all my holy kingdom.” So I think the person dying at a hundred who is thought accursed, the person dies, that’s a relatively young age. There must have been something that brought about their immediate end. And that’s why fear will keep people who are not believers from expressing themselves in large numbers overtly. I’m guessing the multitude of unbelievers at the end of the Messianic kingdom will be comprised of some who are older than a hundred. I’m guessing that compliant unbelievers may live beyond the age of one hundred. What is the correct way of looking at that passage? I think your guesses are biblical so you can throw the guess out and claim the biblical position because at the end Revelation 19 of the thousand years, remember Satan is loosed, and now the unbeliever feels he has a leader who can successfully challenge the reign of Christ. Now keep in mind this has been a thousand years of the reign of Christ on earth. The curse has been lifted. Life is great for everyone. Only believers went into the kingdom, but they have children and they’ll multiply greatly because the pain of childbirth will be no longer. There won’t be those who don’t live out their days. So, the indication can seem to be, we’re back as it was, at the beginning of the creation and sin entered in, so people don’t reach a thousand years, but they got close. They got up into the nine-hundreds but because of sin, the process of death had set in, they don’t. But you take God lifting the curse, they have lived in a perfect environment. I think that’s the Old Testament, Isaiah didn’t know about a thousand-year first phase of the kingdom. We’ve talked about this. You don’t get this until you get to the book of Revelation. In some ways they can’t understand how this all fits together. Just like the first and second coming of Christ, I continue to use the illustration. The Old Testament prophets couldn’t put it together. Read Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders…” That’s why Amillennialists say the kingdom began with the first coming of Christ and we’re in the kingdom because the Bible says, “…a Son will be given to us…” and “…the government will rest on His shoulders…” and he will reign. Well, it can’t be a physical reign, so it has to be spiritual in the heart. Well, we have to allow progressive revelation to bring clarity. The book of Isaiah talked about His suffering and death. Then it talked about His ruling and reigning. It didn’t organize that. You talk about His kingdom in chapter 2 of Isaiah, in chapter 9, chapter 11. You get to chapter 53 and have the fullest unfolding of His death. Now wait a minute! Something is wrong here. I thought He reigns eternally. I thought He dealt with death and now I read He’s dying. So all of it’s true. All of it is to be understood literally. You need to understand how later revelation unfolds, gives clarity, and to that extent part of the clarity is organizing it. Now we understand. It’s so simple. There is a first coming to earth. There is a later second coming, but you would never find that in the Old Testament. That there are two thousand years difference between a child being born, a son being given, and the government resting on His shoulders. That just flows right there.

Look down at the end of Isaiah chapter 65, and look at verse 25, “The wolf and the lamb shall graze together...” While you are here, I told you verse 17 talks about a “new heavens and a new earth”. Then you come through chapter 66 and we’ll talk about the rebellion and things like this. Verse 22 of chapter 66, “‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘So your offspring and your name will endure. And it shall be from new moon to new moon and from sabbath to sabbath, all mankind will come to bow down before Me,’ says the Lord. ‘Then they will go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me...’” Wait a minute! When we are in the new heavens and new earth there’s not death. How am I going to go and look at the corpses of those who transgressed against Him? And Revelation tells me when we get into chapter 21 there will be no more death. Now I’m going to go forth and look at the corpses of the men who transgressed against Him? I thought we had a new earth, everything has been cleaned up? Well, we just talked about the new heavens and new earth. Now I’m looking at corpses. There must be people dying in the new heavens and new earth and their corpses lay on the ground as…? Now wait a minute. Let’s go to later revelation, new revelation and it won’t change it. Both are true, but really you could put this at the end of the tribulation. You could put this at the end of the Millennium when they come up as the sand of the seashore to surround Jerusalem. You could put it at the end of the tribulation, but you can’t put it in the new heavens and new earth. So, as you get there, we find out that thousand years, what’s the purpose of it? Why do we have Revelation 20 telling us of a new heavens and a thousand years? A thousand years, where Satan is bound for a thousand years. Because it is revealing what? I’ve just read a couple book reviews in a journal I got Friday. I’ve given up on the seminary that produces this journal, but I still get their journal. I guess I paid for it so it endures. I don’t know. They’re into social justice. They are reviewing books on the importance of social justice and these things and saying this is so important for the church to understand. They’ve just lost their moorings. You know what the Millennium will demonstrate? It’s not a matter of social conditions. It’s not a matter of injustice. The Millennium will be a perfect time of the reign of a perfect king. Sickness can be removed. Pain can be removed. It’s all – but the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things. And even living in that perfect environment for however long, babies are born, and they grow to adulthood. They’ve lived under that reign for eight hundred years, five hundred years, however when they are born, but they are chaffing. They hate the ruling king, but they are afraid to openly rebel because they know people who do that die. But soon as Satan is presented as an alternative king now we can finally get rid of the one we have. So that’s what is going on. I take it that’s what’s happening here. But in the Millennium back in verse 20 of chapter 65 of Isaiah, generally you live out your days. The curse is lifted.

***Now connected with this, another question. When will believers who live through the tribulation experience the redemption of their bodies, final release from the presence of sin?
***Then same question for those who come to believe in Christ during the millennial kingdom. Now some of this we get out, because the Scripture doesn’t directly address. Believers who live through the tribulation, when will they receive and experience the redemption of their bodies and the final release from the presence of sin?
Well, they’ll go through the tribulation. They survive it. They became believers in the tribulation, after the rapture. In the tribulation, many will believe. When Christ returns the judgment is set up, Matthew 25. They will go into the tribulation in their physical bodies, so they do not get a glorified body. They go in with their physical body because they are going to repopulate the earth. Only believers can go into the kingdom. Matthew 25, verse 34 says, “…enter the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” So, their bodies aren’t changed. I assume. We don’t know, their sin nature continues I take it, because what is passed on? The sin nature. Because where are those born in the Millennium going to get their sin nature. We start out with only believers. I take it, it’ll be like us. Now that sin nature will be under more restraint. There won’t be the devil is there to tempt us and lure us, or the demons to do their work. But believers there will come up and they’ll be part of the sacrifices to remind them of the redemption provided with the death of Christ. We talked in a previous time about sacrifices in the Millennium. I take it in light of the millennial kingdom and the last chapters of Ezekiel there will be literal sacrifices offered. That would fit because they still have a sin nature, but it won’t be expressed nearly as often. They are in a perfect environment living with people who live lives. We have our Messiah present. So, I think would have to say, that’s why they bring sacrifices. It provides a visual reminder of the cleansing that’s going on with Christ. I think they will have the sin nature. They have to, because you’re going to pass it on, because then the baby is born with that sin nature. When they grow to an age they’ll have to place their faith in the Messiah that they can go visit in Jerusalem. But just like when He walked the earth it didn’t make people love Him. They hated Him. They wanted to get rid of Him. They planned His crucifixion. That’s the condition. What the Millennium does is remove all excuses. This is why it bothers me so much to read an evangelical seminary talking about how important it is to help rectify not just this country’s, but the world’s problems, social and racial. Another book they reviewed, said we need to deal with the world’s problem of mistreating women, patriarchy as they talk about. The seminary professor reviewing this says this is so important. I hope every pastor reads it. Where have we gone? You can’t clean up the world. The Millennium will realize that. Their problem wasn’t their social condition. Their problem wasn’t the environment. The problem wasn’t unfairness. This perfect king with perfect justice. You and I will be helping minister that in our glorified bodies. And yet, given a choice after a thousand years of that, a number like the sand of the seashore, is the way it’s expressed, you can’t count them, come up to overthrow Christ, and that’s the final test of man. We talk about dispensations, the final test that comes. So, the judgment comes. We’ll set up the great white throne, the final judgment, then we go into the eternal aspect of the kingdom. I take it that’s when the new heavens and new earth and it is new but it is connected. And that’s where I say basically it’s speculation. We talked about the New Jerusalem, fifteen hundred miles high, and it’s a cube. So, its dimensions are all that, but you think about the heights! And some of you have shared with me other dimensions of when you’ve considered you’ve left and gone to outer space. We just can’t grasp this and yet it is the New Jerusalem on the new earth and it has gates and there are nations that come up to it and there are seasons, twelve of them. So, there’s the connection to the way it was, but in a vastly changed new heavens and new earth. I take it since there are nations, since Israel is promised an eternal kingdom, not a thousand-year kingdom. The first phase of it was a thousand years because we are completing, we enter into that kingdom where Christ has begun to rule, but we’re going to deal with the final dealing with sin and that will take a thousand years. My assumption in light of what the Scripture reveals is people will go into that. I take it at that point the sin nature is removed, but I don’t know that they get glorified bodies. We still have seasons. The tree of life in Revelation 22 produces a different fruit every month and people can come up and partake of it. I take it that indicates something that they are in physical bodies like Adam and Eve in their physical body in the garden, could have eaten of the tree of life, but they chose to choose the tree God told them not to eat of. And then the tree of life is withheld from them. But in the new heavens and new earth people come up and eat of it freely. I take it they are in their physical body. Where are the nations? I guess, there will be people that go in. They come through the Millennium from all the nations that are truly saved. I see no reason why they wouldn’t go into the eternal kingdom in their physical body. Will we run out of room? That’s God’s problem. Will He run out of room? I take it they could have children. We are back, and we connect it often to the opening chapters of Genesis. What were Adam and Eve to do before they sinned? Have fun! Produce children. Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. You say, well, the earth is filled. Have you measured out the New Jerusalem? And that’s just one city! And the nations are coming from all over the new earth and the gates are never closed. It’s new, but don’t think about it on planet earth as we have it, but don’t miss the connection. The prophecies are fulfilled literally and that’s where I say, we move to a realm of speculation. God has just given us a glimpse because really what happens, heaven comes down to earth because heaven is where God manifests His presence among His creation. Now it’s angelic beings and others who have been transported to heaven, but there it will be on earth, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, it’s earth but I assume we are back. Satan doesn’t win. Sin is not eternal. It was not present in God’s creation, not among the angels until Lucifer rebelled, not among humanity until Adam along with Eve rebelled. Sin is not eternal. I take it if we’re going to connect it to the beginning and God’s purposes, I assume this just goes on like it would have been if man had never fallen. But in a greater, more marvelous way it will go on for eternity. Otherwise what? If everybody gets a glorified body, then we won’t be reproducing. In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage. I think he’s talking about there, not that there will be no reproduction, but those in glorified bodies don’t reproduce. They are like the angels. There was a set number of angels. Those in glorified bodies are a set number, but those who are in physical bodies, why should they die? And they don’t have to be transformed. Otherwise we’re not a continuation of what God created to begin with, it’s changed. Now God can do what He will. We’re dealing with only the revelation He’s given and that’s about as far as we can go. But I have to say I do sit and use my calculator again to play with the facts of the New Jerusalem and I look at that and say whatever the new heavens and new earth are and how much of this present earth is present there, it’s going to be so vastly greater and glorious that I can connect it to here. I know what a city is. I know what gates are. I know what nations are. I know what trees are, that produce their fruit. I know what the months are and so there is that connection. We’re going to have cycles. So there will be time in eternity because you have twelve months. One month succeeds another and every month there’s a change of fruit, so time goes on through eternity, one event following another. I can’t wait to get there. And I’ll be there to tell you, remember when I told you we can’t even grasp and we stand back and try to look up to the New Jerusalem and say, can you imagine?!

Alright, let’s pray. Thank You, Lord for Your word. Thank You for all You promised and Lord we are mindful of how little we know, but Lord we’re encouraged what we know by Your grace is truth. You the God who has promised You keep Your promises. We have such a great hope. We anticipate so much all that You have prepared for those who love You. We pray Your blessing on the week before us. Lord, we pray for each one that they’ll experience the sufficiency of Your grace wherever they are, whatever they go through. May it be a time of growth. May our testimony for Christ be strong. We pray in His name. Amen.