Let us turn to Ephesians 1. I am going to read the first eleven verses. Ephesians 1:1-11:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
And I will stop reading there.
This is one of those passages in the Bible that is very beautiful and informative and reveals great truths of the Gospel, of God’s plan to us. And, you know, originally, I was kind of drawn here by the language of verse 4:
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world...
And, Lord willing, maybe in a couple of weeks, we will take a closer look at that idea. But as I was preparing and studying, I never really made it out of verse 1. So we are going to be spending some time in verse 1, where it says:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ...
And we know the history of the Apostle Paul. His name was Saul, and he was a Pharisee. He was zealous in his desire to perform the traditions of his father and he thought he was serving God, and so he would even take trips to find individuals who were after that “way” of Christianity.
It was a cult to him. It was a heresy. It was something that was not faithful to what he knew about the teaching of the Scriptures, of the Old Testament. It was something totally alien from the Law of Moses, he thought, and the right traditions that had been handed down for hundreds of years, nearly 2,000 years.
And God transformed him and changed him from an opinion that he would never have changed himself. He would have stayed with that unto all of his days, unto his death, just like many others did who were Pharisees, who were thinking that they were God’s chosen people, even after Christ went to the Cross, and that they were pleasing to God.
Well, the Apostle Paul, who at that time was Saul, would have continued in the same way unless God intervened, unless God did something in his life, and we know that He did. We read, for instance, in Acts 26, when Paul is before King Agrippa and giving account or defense of himself, beginning in verse 9 of Acts 26, it says in Acts 26:9-10:
I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison...
He “shut up” the saints. And now in Ephesians 1, he is writing to them. He is addressing the letter to the Ephesians:
...to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus...
But here, he was shutting them up, hailing men and women, throwing them into prison, even unto death. He was the one who was standing giving consent when Stephen was stoned.
Well, it goes on in Acts 26:10-17:
...many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,
And that is the idea of an apostle. Paul was a legitimate apostle, but the word “apostle” means “to be sent.” All believers are apostles, in that sense, because God tells, He commands, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,” as we read at the end of the book of Matthew.
And so, we are all sent, exactly like the Apostle Paul was sent. God stopped him in his tracks, in the way he was going; He shined a bright light into his life, a light of understanding, as he would now come to understand the Scriptures and to believe God, and then, God is saying, “I send thee. I send thee.”
Look at what he is sent for. Acts 26:18:
To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light...
Just like Paul was.
...and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
And so, this is the Apostle Paul whom God is using to write the letter to the Ephesians, and God moved him to write, like He moved all of the authors of the Bible, “holy men of God.” God moved them to write exactly what we find here.
Now some of it is wonderful language. It is brilliant. So a lot of people like to lift up the Apostle Paul as a special individual who wrote so many of the Epistles of the New Testament. And it is true; he was a learned person; he was very studious; he learned at the feet of Gamaliel. But, nonetheless, everything we read is the Word of God...and God could have moved anybody to write these words in the exact same form that we have them.
And so, this is Paul, and Paul is used of God, at times, to be a type, an example, or “a pattern” of believers. We read that in 1 Timothy 1. And so, many times when we are reading or learning about Paul, it applies to all true believers. And we know, for instance, that when God tells him to stand upon his feet and sends him to the Gentiles, that relates to Revelation 11 when the “two witnesses” stand upon their feet.
And what does it mean when God raises up the “two witnesses” and they stand on their feet? Well, when we see how it is explained in Acts 26, it means that we know, at this time—because if we are true believers, we are a part of those “two witnesses” who came out of the church—that now the Gospel is to go out into the world, as we bring the truth of the Bible to the unsaved of the world. And Paul is an example of that, as we see him, from time-to-time, in the Scriptures.
Now going back to Ephesians 1:1, it says:
Paul, an apostle...
And God did not make it easy for him, because he was not a typical apostle. He was not one of those whom Jesus found. He was not one of the twelve that He gathered together.
Nobody could say that they were not apostles. The time that the Lord was on earth during His ministry, they spent that with Him. And they were sent out by the Lord Jesus.
But the Apostle Paul was a special addition. Judas fell and so they had to select another apostle, which we read about in Acts 1, to replace him.
But God added Paul as the thirteenth apostle. He was the thirteenth apostle. And right there, people are probably saying, “There were only twelve! There were only twelve!”
You can imagine the difficulties he would have had. Just look at how people are so critical; they look to find the least little thing wrong that they can with God’s servants today.
Well, there is no change. Back then, there were Judaizers. Back then, there were “wheat and tares” in that newly formed church, those congregations, and they would have given Paul a very difficult time. “Well, here comes that guy. He says he is an apostle.”
And so, again and again, he would have to defend himself. He would have to rehearse, as he did before Agrippa, “Here is what happened. Here is what happened. God, the Lord Jesus, did make Himself specially-known to me and speak with me and personally send me to the Gentiles. And even though I am the ‘least of the apostles,’ nonetheless, I am an apostle. I am someone whom God has sent.”
So, again and again, he would be faced with that, and perhaps that is part of the “thorn in the flesh” that we read about in 2 Corinthians, as he had to tell the truth, “This is how it happened.” But it was out of the ordinary, and people would try to take advantage of that and accuse him.
Of course, most of it was being done behind the scenes, as Satan loves to work that way, not out in the open but stirring up things, a little gossip and a little talking about him behind his back. That is how Satan is able to stir things up. And so, this was a difficulty that the Apostle Paul had, and yet he glorified God in it.
Let us go over to Galatians 1. In Galatians 1, he is basically, again, defending the truth that it was Jesus who selected him to be an apostle, just like Jesus selected the other twelve. The only difference is, it was after Christ had gone to the Cross and had died and resurrected.
In Galatians 1, it says, and let us start reading in verse 6. Galatians 1:6-7:
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
And that is the ongoing struggle of bringing the Gospel in this world. There are always some who want to add a little bit of work. And when you add the least bit of work, you have perverted the truth and it is no longer a Gospel of Grace. You have added the “fly” into the “ointment of the apothecary.” And that one little fly, even if it was by accident—who can control a little fly flying around when you have your compound of the ointment of the apothecary sitting on the table and a fly takes a nosedive right into it and dies—you have altered the ingredients. God did not call for anything else except what He specified, and the dead fly floating in that ointment has changed it. It has perverted it.
That is exactly how it is with the Gospel of Grace. Somebody, even ignorantly, may teach, “Well, just accept Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus.”
For all they know, it is true. They do not know where that idea came from, really. They could not prove it. But in doing that, they have perverted the Perfect, the Pure, the Holy Gospel of the Bible, and they have made it “another gospel” instantaneously.
Galatians 1:8:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
We know, and true believers know, that we do not trust man. We do not trust anybody. Contrary to what some might accuse, we do not trust any man. The true child of God trusts God, trusts God’s Word, the Bible.
So if somebody is coming with another kind of doctrine or something that we have not heard before... and this is particularly appropriate for our day because God is opening up the Scriptures. He is opening up the Scriptures like He never has, because it is “the time of the end,” and we are hearing things we never heard before that are strange to our ears.
And it started with “faith.” It started with the “faith of Christ.” We did not know how God had laid out His salvation plan: that Jesus was “Faith,” that we have to be saved through Him. That was not known until the last couple of decades, really, during the time of the Great Tribulation, actually, after 1994, especially, when God began to send out the “latter rain.” That was the first test. Will people understand that they do not play any role, as far as saving faith, that it is all Christ’s faith?
And then the coming out of the church, after nearly 2,000 years? From A.D. 33, the church has been the institution of God on earth. It has been His outward representation of the Kingdom of Heaven. And now, the Church Age is over.
And so, we are hearing things that we never heard before. Of course, now we know that there is information on the resurrection, the Day of Judgment, and eternal judgment and what its true nature is.
And so, some people, they just quickly accuse and they make a claim, “You are following a man. Whatever he says, you will do it.” And actually, that is not true. That is not true.
God, the Holy Spirit, is telling us that He is going to teach “in that hour.” He is going to bring forth truths in the time of Great Tribulation, and we check it out. We check it out, and if it is faithful to what the Bible says, if it is in agreement with what the Bible says and harmonizes with the Scriptures, then the true believer is going to say, “Well, you can call me whatever you want. You can say that I am a heretic. You can say that these things are coming from a man,” and so forth. But the true believer knows that it is coming from the Bible. It is coming from the Bible.
Now if someone does not know that, they have a problem. They have a problem. But the true child of God is checking these things out. And once they are checked out, then the believer, what choice does he or she have? They have to follow God’s Word, and they actually will delight in doing that.
Okay. Going on here in Galatians 1:9-10:
As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
You see, that is how it is. That is how it is with the child of God. And it is so good that we are a fellowship. It is so good that we are a fellowship.
With all of this information coming out, can you imagine if we were a church? One Sunday, we would have to say, “You know, the Bible is indicating that we are not totally depraved, because there is God’s Law written on man’s heart so that man is not totally depraved. He is desperately wicked. He is falling into the depths of depravity like never before, but he is not totally, completely depraved because he can do certain things that are acceptable God, although never unto salvation.”
Or can you imagine if we were a church and we started saying, “Well, you know, there is no eternal place called ‘hell.’ There is no eternal place called ‘hell.’ What the Bible is actually teaching is that man will be destroyed after this five-month period. God is going to wipe him out. He will be gone, and that glorifies God, by the way.”
It is not glorifying to God to throw people into Hell who are rebels and sinners so that they can continue on in their sin for eternity. Because, would not the unsaved person in Hell continue to gnash his teeth at God, continue to be angry at God, continue to shake his puny little fist at God?
Well, God does look at those who are under His wrath. Remember the Lord Jesus? And the Lord Jesus was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” As He was paying the price, the penalty of the wrath of God, He did so in obedience. He never took the advice of Job’s wife to Job, “Curse God, and die.” He did so perfectly.
And so, that actually is what God would require of anyone under His wrath, of anyone under His wrath. If someone is in Hell and God is tormenting them forever and ever and ever and they are continuing to lash back because of the pain and the suffering and they are continuing to gnash on God with their teeth, that is ongoing sin. It is new sin that they have just committed while in Hell. They are sinning still. Sin is not wiped out. Sin is not extinguished, because they are in Hell, sinning against God.
And God will not have that! There is no way that this glorifies God! But rather, what glorifies God is when He destroys the individual. He wipes them out and all sin is gone. It is completely removed, and nowhere in existence is there any sin against God.
And so, can you imagine if we were a church and anyone in that church—an elder or a deacon or a pastor or whoever—started teaching that? We would not get very far. We would not get very far, would we? And we would really be in trouble.
But God in His mercy has permitted us to be a fellowship. And one of the blessings of the fellowship is that we have no membership so we are not concerned with losing members! Is that not a blessing! We are not concerned with losing members!
People do not understand that. They do not understand that, because some people have come and there is nobody standing at the door greeting them. There is nobody after the message who goes and stands at the door trying to shake everybody’s hand so that they will come back. Nobody does that, and they do not understand.
We have had people come a few weeks and then they do not come back, and nobody calls them. They might have a friend who would call them, but nobody is calling them on behalf of the fellowship, “Oh, was there something wrong with your visit? Were we not friendly enough? Did you hear something that you did not like? Maybe we can fix that!” You know, nobody does that. Nobody does that.
There has even been someone who has called me and he said, “You know, I was hoping that I would get a call because I stopped coming. I was expecting a call!” I said, “You might be confusing us with a church. We are not a church.”
We are not a church. Nobody is in charge. Nobody has authority. Nobody is going to run after somebody. That is how it is, and what it does is it frees us up to teach the truth. It frees us up to teach the truth. Whatever we learn, we can teach it, in as faithful a way as we know or as is possible in as much as we know of that truth, and we do not have to be worried about pleasing men—and that is such a relief. That is such a relief!
And so, here, in Galatians 1:10:
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Now, of course, even during the Church Age, there were God’s people who would not please men. I think Dwayne Spencer is an example of that. He was freewill and then God showed him the truth of election and he preached it in his congregation. I think he said, I forget the percentage, but the majority of people left. And that is the nature of the true believer. It is to stand on the truth, despite whatever consequences will come.
And then it says in Galatians 1:11-12:
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
That goes back to the Apostle Paul’s defense, as he would have to say to people that he was an apostle, because it was the truth (and this is why), “Man did not make me an apostle. God made me an apostle, a true apostle, the thirteenth apostle.”
So it is no wonder that God uses him sometimes to give us information that comes at the end of the world, after 13,000 years of history, where he is that example of the true believers who stand on their feet.
Going back to Ephesians 1:1, it says:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God...
“By the will of God.” That is really what kind of stopped me from moving on in Ephesians 1, just thinking about and checking out some verses having to do with the “will of God.” God’s will is perfect. God’s will is really in control of everybody and of everything, in all situations.
On one hand, whatever is going on in our life, and this goes for every single person—today, up until today, and currently—whatever is going on is the will of God. It is His providence. It is His purpose.
That is why...let me see...I jotted some things down. Whatever job we have, overall, it has been the will of God that we are in the position that we are in, whether we are a doctor or a lawyer or a scientist or a street cleaner or a doorkeeper or working at McDonald’s. Whatever position we have, it is a result, ultimately, finally—yes, we made choices and we made decisions. One dropped out of school and so all he is qualified for in the world is to do this kind of job or that kind of job. Others studied diligently and they went through college and got a Master’s and a Doctorate, and so forth, and they went to med school.
Man does all of those things. People do all of those things. But, ultimately, God is in control of all things, at all times, with all people. With everything in the whole universe, as a matter of fact, God is in complete control—whether it is our job or what is going on in our home, whatever our home life is.
If we have a husband or a wife who is unsaved and God saves us, well, God is in control of that. He has allowed or permitted that situation to happen, even though we can never point to God, especially if someone is a believer and they were married to someone and they were “unequally yoked”; that is their sin.
But God, in permitting this, in allowing this to take place, He will accomplish His purposes. And through all circumstances, no matter what they are, God’s will is behind it—ultimately and finally. Whether we have money or if we have a little money or no money, or whether we are physically fit or we have aches and pains or we have a disease that is going to kill us—God is the One who is in control of all those kinds of things.
So the believer is able to relax. Again, the believer is able to rest, to lean back, “Trust in Jehovah with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” And the true believer knows this, that God is in control.
For instance, let us go to Proverbs 21. I really like this verse. I am sure others do, too. Proverbs 21:1:
The king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
That is God’s purpose. That is God’s will.
With this verse now, literally, it is true of kings. It is true of queens. It is true of princes. It is true of all rulers and presidents. Whoever is in authority, anywhere in the world, God raises up kings and He puts down kings. And sometimes, He will raise up the basest of men to be a king.
So we can relax. Well, there is an election and this person might get elected or that person, and we are a little fearful. What could happen to society? What kind of laws will they enact?
Just leave it. Just leave it. Whatever government, whoever is in charge, God will make a way for His people and God is the One who is in control of the whole process. Finally, whoever is ruling will do so only at the will of God. They cannot go any further. They cannot do anything more or less than God will permit.
And so, we just trust God. We do not necessarily trust the particular government, if it is a dictatorship or a communist rule or something where they are not maybe being all that honest. The president is perhaps even crooked. We do not trust them—and I am thinking of a Third World country. Really, I was. I was thinking of a Third World country. But no matter what the situation of the government, no matter what the situation of the government, God’s people can be confident. They can just trust in the Lord, that He is going to work it out.
So Proverbs 21:1 tells us:
The king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah...
And we know, spiritually, that is pointing to believers, because we are all prophets, priests, and kings. And so, God has control of our heart. And notice what it says:
...he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Now Family Radio is in Uruguay, taking a trip. Why are they there? Why that particular country? There are a lot of countries in the world.
Because it is God’s purpose, at this time, and they are going to be walking down the streets of the city there at exactly the exact time that God wants them to be, because He has arranged a meeting with someone to receive the Gospel at this particular day and time and so forth, and God is going to work. He is going to bless His Word, and He is going to save that person. And that is how He does things.
So we, as children of God, we just trust that God is going to accomplish His purpose, like we read in Isaiah 55. His Word will not return “void,” because it will fulfill His will.
Or go over to Proverbs 16. This, I think, is more applicable to all men. It says in Proverbs 16:9:
A man’s heart deviseth his way: but Jehovah directeth his steps.
So we have unsaved people and they have their plans. They have their ideas and all that they want to do, and it has nothing to do with following God or obeying God. Yet, however, they are still under God’s control. They are still under God’s control, because God is directing their steps.
Well, the idea of “the will of God” deals with everything. That is the providence of God. As far as everything in our life and everything in everybody else’s life, it is under God’s will. But then there is the revealed will of God, and that is found in the Bible. That is found in the Scriptures.
For instance, let us go to Psalm 40:8:
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
And this is a Scripture that the Lord Jesus fulfills. We read about that in Hebrews 10, but it is also true of all of God’s elect people because God gives us a heart to desire, to fulfill, to keep His commandments. And believers begin to learn from the Bible what the will of God is.
For instance, let us say that there is a woman and she wants to know, “What is God’s will regarding this situation? I want to have a Bible study at my home.” There is nothing wrong with that. “And God has given me an understanding and an ability to know the Scriptures, and so I want to teach.” Again, nothing wrong with that. “But, in the Bible study, there will be men present.” Right there, you see, now we have a conflict of her desire and her will with what God reveals in the Bible, where the Bible says that a woman is not “to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man.” And so, what is going to happen?
Well, the true believer, the woman who wants to obey God and do His will and who delights in the Law of God, will say, “Well, I know what God’s will is. I cannot teach. I cannot teach. If it was all women or if it was all children at my home, I could do that. But once you add men, I cannot do that because it would be going against the will of God.”
Or, again, you have a man and he is thinking, “I want to serve God. I want to use my life to serve God. I know, because I have this desire, God must want me to preach. I am going to go to seminary. I am going to go to seminary and I will go to a church, and that will be serving God. That will be doing the will of God.”
But actually, today, since God has revealed from the Bible that the Church Age is over, that is not doing the will of God. That is going contrary to the will of God.
So, you see, we begin to learn, through the Bible, what God’s will is, and it is the truth of the Scripture. It is doctrine.
Today is Sunday. What is the will of God for His people today? To get involved in spiritual activities, to read the Bible, to pray, to hand out tracts, to do spiritual things. You know, there is a pretty big spectrum of things, once we begin thinking about it, that we can do that will be pleasing to God.
Is it a day to cut the grass? Is it a day where work really needs me and where I can get double-time?
No. It is not. That is not the will of God for Sunday, for God’s Sabbath, for His Holy Day. Remember what He says in Isaiah 58?
What it always, really comes down to with all doctrine, with all Scripture, really, is whose will is obeyed? Who am I going to serve?
We read in Isaiah 58:13:
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight...
Remember what we read in Psalm 40?
I delight to do thy will, O my God...
I delight! I enjoy it! I rejoice in it! It is not something that I grudgingly do. “Okay, I will not play. I will not play today. I will wait for tomorrow.”
No, you see, the believer delights to do the will of God. “Whatever You say, oh Lord! Whatever You say.”
Isaiah 58:13-14:
...turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of Jehovah, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth...
And it goes on.
So there is a nature that God gives His people. What is the will of God? For a time, we may not know. We may not know, and we are uncomfortable. We are not really sure what to do. So we pray. We study the Bible. We seek God’s will. And while we are praying, we are praying, “Lord, show me. Show me what it is that You would have me to do. What is the right thing? The proper thing? The truth? What is the truth of Your Word that I should do at this time?”
And so, God is really trying us, testing us, with every revelation that we learn. When we learn a doctrine, whether it be salvation—whether we accept Christ or give God all the glory in salvation—whether it be a little thing—if there is such a thing or what we might consider a small doctrine, once we understand that doctrine—or whether it be something major—like coming out of the church—whose desire are you going to do? Your own or God’s? Who are you going to obey? God? Or man? Or yourself? So this is how God deals with us through His Word.
Let us go to Matthew 6:10. I will back up to verse 9. Matthew 6:9-10:
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
This is the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray: the Father’s will be done. And so that is all we want. That is all we want. That is where God has brought us, to the point where we want God’s will to be done. Like Jesus prayed in the garden, “Not my will, but Thine, be done,” even though He was suffering. And He prayed it three times, indicating that it was the purpose of God that this should be all of our prayers, that we pray that God’s perfect will be done.
Or let us also go to Matthew 18, and we will see another aspect of the will of God. In Matthew 18:14, it says:
Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
And God, here, is indicating that His will, which cannot be broken, it cannot be altered—like the “Medes and Persians,” it cannot be changed—is that all of His elect people do become saved, and He is going to lose none of them. He is not going to lose anyone who He has named from “before the foundation of the world.” Each one will experience salvation because God’s perfect will will accomplish it.
Let us just go maybe one or two more places. In Matthew 7:21:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
And so it is extremely important that we know God’s will and that we do God’s will because it is the way into Heaven. No, not because we are keeping the Law, but we are knowing God’s will, we are doing God’s will, because God has saved us and given us a heart that is able to obey God. It is able to perform the doing of it. And so, it is indicating that we have become a child of God, and the true believers will do, they will actually do the will of God.
There is just one last place. In Luke 12:47:
And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
And that relates to the five-month period. Whenever we read about the “greater damnation,” that has to do with the five-month period from May 21st to October 21st.
And so God is saying, “If you knew My will.” At this time, He is opening up the Scriptures and His will is being proclaimed. His will is being proclaimed concerning the five-month period and the judgment process and being destroyed at the end of it.
And so, if you know this, if you are aware of this and yet you prepare not yourself—and the Greek word translated as “prepared” is also translated as “make ready”—then you have not made ready. You have done nothing. You hear it, like Robert said, “In this ear; out the other ear.” Or you are just totally shutting it out or putting it off, or whatever it is. Maybe it is simply putting it off by the “cares of this world.” “Well, I am too wrapped up in everything I have to do with school, with work, with fun time.” Whatever it is, you are not giving proper attention to the commandments of God, to God’s revelation, coming from His Word and from nowhere else, that a terrible destruction is coming and it is near.
The trumpet is sounding to give warning to all, and yet many are not listening. They are not doing the will of God.
Then it says in Luke 12:48:
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
So God is giving us a lot of information every day, every day, and what are we going to do with it? That is the important thing that God is looking at. What are we going to do with it?
Okay. We will stop there. Let us have a word of prayer, and then we will have time for questions or comments.
Dear Father, we do thank You for Your perfect will, and sometimes it is hard for us to recognize this, to give You thanks at all times because we can be struggling, we can be in severe trials and we wonder how Your will is being done, and yet we know that You are in control of all things. You are in total control of circumstances. And so, we pray that You would help us to not be overcome by the world or by things in our life, but to be brought to You through these things so that we would cry out for Your salvation, for Your strength, for Your comfort, and that we would not be brought under the troubles that are trying us. Father, we pray for the rest of this day, we ask for Your blessing. Help us to keep our thoughts on things above, as much as possible, according to Your will. And we pray this in Christ’s Name. Amen.
Okay. If anyone has anything, a question or a comment that you would like to make, whether here or on Paltalk, you are welcome. You can raise your hand and come up to the microphone here.
1st Question: Some people have said that we should not promote Family Radio by giving out tracts because that would be following a man?
Chris: Well, I do not understand why somebody would think that we should not encourage others to listen to Family Radio or go to their website.
You know, there are a lot of subtle ways that people can try to...well, I do not know how to say this nicely. There are a lot of subtle ways that people can use where, really, perhaps they are being used themselves to come against the truth.
A lot of times, it is not doctrine. For instance, here, over the years, we have tried to be as faithful as we can, and a lot of people have come and a lot of people have gone. Normally, it is over the little, itty, bitty things, like hymnbooks or things that do not really have any importance.
This is because some people, I think, do not want to hear the truth. I think some people do not want to hear the truth, and yet they cannot put their finger on what is wrong, like you could in the church. “Well, I do not like this church because they use this kind of Bible, or because the pastor said this.”
And these are the same people that would go from church to church, even if they had found a reasonably faithful church. I think they are more independent minded, and they come into a fellowship and they do not like things but they cannot put their finger on why. So, needing an occasion, some other things come up.
2nd Question: Hi. I always like to give you something complicated. I do not think I have ever heard anybody explain this. It is kind of a two- or three-part question.
When Christ arose, He ascended, you know? He was on earth for 40 days. I do not understand that. I do not think that anybody has ever explained it—why He was here for 40 days—because believers had their marching orders.
The other part of this question is: who saw Him when He finally did go up to Heaven? And the other part of the question is: does any of this have anything to do with the end of time?
You may not have thought these things out, but I was thinking about these things and I do not understand why He was here for 40 days, who saw Him when He went back, and does it have anything to do with the end?
Chris: Well, I do not know much about that 40-day period either. But as far as His being taken up, we do have an account of that in the book of Acts. In Acts 1:9-11:
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
So, in that sense, it is related to the return of Christ, because God’s Word says that as He was taken up, so shall He come. And we find in 1 Thessalonians 4 about Jesus coming in the clouds with the sound of the “trump,” and it is the Rapture and all of the believers are taken up.
But I do not think that I know much about that, that I could begin to say anything about the 40-day period, except we do know that 40 days is a time of testing. It is a time of testing, like Israel was 40 years in the wilderness. Moses went up on the mountain to receive the 10 commandments for 40 days, as Israel and its camp was being tested and they failed the test by making the golden calf.
So, again and again, God does use 40 for that. But I am not sure what test would be in view for those 40 days.
Okay. Anybody else have anything? Paltalk?
3rd Question: In Mark 12:40, it says:
Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
How can they “receive greater damnation”?
Chris: Okay. Let us read this. In Mark 12:38-40:
And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
And that is a difficult question because they lived long ago and died. Since they were unsaved, we know that the Bible tells us that in the day “he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” They ceased to be.
They are not going to be resurrected, which is how we would have previously understood it. They will not be resurrected and given life again, conscious existence, and then God would somehow cast them into a hotter part of “hell” than others. That is not going to happen.
The “greater damnation” is for the five-month period, but they are dead. And during that five-month period, God is going to open up the graves of all of the unsaved and their bones will be scattered, including these Pharisees, and because they had a relationship to God, they were leaders in Israel, I think God is indicating that He is going to give them “greater damnation” through Him, God, being ashamed of them. Not that they are going to feel anything or experience any shame, but God is going to be ashamed of them, more so than many others who had died.
We do read in the Gospels, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come.” Shame plays a big part in God’s judgment process, so He will particularly be ashamed of these rulers of Israel because they also were given revelation similar to those receiving revelation today. They were given revelation of the Messiah, that the Lord Jesus had come, but they said, “He hath Beelzebub,” and they despised that, and so I believe that is why they will experience “greater damnation.”
Okay. Any other questions?
4th Question: Yes. I want to talk about the “will of God.” You know, it is just amazing. I was sitting on about 10,000 tracts and did not know what to do with them, where to go or to go about doing it. I went to the stores: Wal-Mart, Giant, Safeway. They were very receptive there on the distribution of these tracks. I went downtown to the nation’s capital, in the Mall. Places where I used to be kicked out of, I was free to pass them out. The police were everywhere. They did not say anything. So I was even giving them to the police officers.
You brought up God’s will today—and that was an excellent study, by the way—and I would kind of like you to elaborate on that a little bit. Being that we are under three years now, He blankets the Gospel all over the world with Family Radio and He uses us as individuals right where we live, and I would just kind of like a little elaboration on getting this Gospel message out, to doing God’s will, and how He puts it on our hearts to know that He is in complete control of everything. Just elaborate on that, if you would.
Chris: Okay. Well, we were looking at some of the questions concerning God’s will. But whenever we are talking about tract distribution, that is more of a positive. Like we ask ourselves, “Should I go hand out tracts? Is that the will of God?”
Yes. Yes. Always. Well, I do not know if I will say “always.” There could be a circumstance where, perhaps, if the law of the land prohibited it in a certain area, like in front of a store and the store owner came out. We still desire to hand out tracts; we can still find another spot. But it is always God’s will that we go with the Gospel into the world.
So this is something that we know that the Bible teaches, and we would be doing God’s will. We would be obeying the Bible if we were giving out tracts, or anything to do with furthering the Gospel. If we were giving funds to a faithful ministry, we would be furthering the Gospel, and this would be in line with God’s will. (I am trying to think if there is a verse I can go do, but I cannot think of it right now.) But, yes.
Today is a good day. It is Sunday, and if we want to know, “What can I do today?,” that would be a very good thing to do. To obey God and to do the will of God would be to hand out tracts.
5th Question: Hey, Chris. A quick question. In 1 Corinthians 15, it speaks of “in the twinkling of an eye...we shall be changed.”
I have been hearing in the Rapture that we are going to behold the saved coming out of the graves and our friends and loved ones who are currently alive also being taken up. Will they be changed as well? Because in my mind, I see graves with new, glorified spiritual bodies, from what I have heard on the “Open Forum.” Will the unsaved bear that? Because it says, I think in Psalms, “We shall be like Him.” (note: see 1 John 3:2) Can we see the beauty of a glorified spiritual body like at the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, James, and John fell down?
Chris: Are you asking if the unsaved on the day of the Rapture are going to see the believers?
Question continued: Yes, with their glorified spiritual bodies, as it says, “We shall be like Him”? If that glory is like Christ and we know that no one has seen God at any time? Christ Himself is not going to descend down. How can we see...
Chris: Well, we know that the corrupt body of the true child of God is not what is going to come out of the grave, because it could have been a couple thousand years ago and there is nothing left. But when we read that “all that are in the graves shall hear His voice,” and some will “come forth” to “life,” they will receive their new resurrected body, their spiritual body, and they will be “caught up...to meet the Lord,” and the unsaved will behold them because if we go to Revelation 11:11, it says:
And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
And that is referring to our day, as the believers are sending the Gospel. That language “they stood upon their feet” has to do with sending the Gospel to the world.
And then it says in verse 12:
And they heard a great voice from heaven...
That would be the “voice” of Christ.
...saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
And so that would be the Rapture following the Great Tribulation, after the standing on the feet and sending the Gospel into the world to the Gentiles, or to all the world. Then immediately comes the Rapture, and that is the Last Day. That is the end of the world, basically, because following that is the judgment process for five months.
So we do not have to worry about making plans for our children, you know, storing water and food. We do not have to worry about making provision because it is Judgment. Now they are in God’s hands—whoever is left. They are in God’s hands and God will pour out His wrath for those five months, and then they will be destroyed at the end of it—or maybe they will die somewhere in between—I do not know.
But, yes. God is indicating that there will be a Rapture, and we will be raptured in our spiritual bodies and the people of the world will see it.
Okay. One last one. Daniel? Daniel, please post your question. By the way, if you are on Paltalk and you type out more than a couple of sentences, it will not show. You will have to break it up. You will have to put it in piecemeal, like sentence or two at a time.
6th Question: Matthew 24:22:
...for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
(Indiscernible). Can this also mean, like the “wheat and tares,” can the called-out ones from the church also be some of the ones that...confusion with all the different doctrines...(indiscernible).
Chris: Matthew 24:22 does not have anything to do with that. It is just saying that if the first part of the Great Tribulation, the 2300-day period, were to continue, God would not be able to save the “great multitude,” because for that first part virtually no one was being saved. And so “those days” were “shortened” for the believers, as God brought them out of the churches and congregations. It was for the sake of the elect so that the “great multitude” could become saved.
But as far as individuals coming out of the churches, it does not mean that a person coming out of the church is saved. And so, yes, anybody—whether in the church or out of the church—can develop a wrong doctrine. Anybody can do that.
So a test is not if somebody comes up with a doctrine or an understanding of the Bible, “Well, are they in the church or out of the church?” We check them out either way. It does not matter. We check out what a person is saying.
There are some people who are very independent minded. (I think that Mr. Camping is correct on this.) They are very independent minded and they like the idea of an end of the Church Age. “Ah! Now I am on my own! Now I am on my own!” And maybe they meet up with a few other believers and they are under no authority. So when they hear teaching that they do not like, to them this is coming like an authority that they do not want to be under, and so they disagree. And there can be problems with people outside of the church, just like anyone inside the church, because not everyone who comes out is saved or is a true child of God.
So we, you know, we do not just accept something because someone out of the church has said it. We check it out in the Bible. We want to make sure that it is true.
Okay. We are going to stop here.