First the Question: In the Gospel of John it is NOT recorded that Satan met the LORD Jesus Christ in the wilderness to tempt Him. True or False?
Please take a moment to respond at the LLM Question of the Day
And now the answer to the LLM Question of 9-27-2011
Question: The Apostle Paul was imprisoned for proclaiming Divine Truth, which he called The Mystery, or my Gospel. True or False?
Answer: TRUE! In Ephesians 6:19-20 and in Colossians 4:3-4, the Apostle Paul was in jail for proclaiming Divine Truth which he called “The Mystery.” In 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul writes of “my gospel”, and then adds, “wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the Word of God is not bound.” Thus we see that the Apostle Paul was a prisoner in Rome for proclaiming “The Mystery.” Now, on this question, out of 758 responses, 82.9% of you got it RIGHT! Praise the LORD! Therefore,
Today let us consider, Super Bible Facts for Super Bible Study, part Bonus of 10+
Here is the BONUS, the tenth set of Super Bible Facts for Super Bible Study.
First, as always, here are the very important FIVE different groups or classes of people who are addressed from the first chapter of Matthew to the last chapter of Revelation:
1) To unsaved Israelites who were under the Law.
2) To saved Israelites who were under the Law before they became members of the Body of Christ.
3) To unsaved Gentiles who were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and not under the Law.
4) To carnal saints and babes who were members of the Body of Christ.
5) To those who were of full age, called “the faithful in Christ Jesus.”
Remember, for an in-depth explanation of these five different groups I urge you to read “Super bible Facts for Super Bible Study, part 1”. Keep these five different groups in mind, and you will derive both blessing and benefit as you carefully study this BONUS tenth set of Super-Facts.
Ok, here we go:
1) In Romans 2:16, Romans 16:25 and 2 Timothy 2:8, the Apostle Paul referred to the Gospel which he preached as “MY gospel.” In the Greek, in 2 Timothy 1:12, he referred to “MY deposit.” In his oral and written ministry Paul used the first person pronoun about 1100 times. Note his statement in 1 Timothy 1:11, “According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to MY trust.” Now take note in 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul instructed Timothy to take medicine for his sickness. Compare this with an entirely different program in Luke 9:6, “And they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing every where.” In Luke, the Kingdom Gospel, with healing, was preached before any of the Twelve told sinners that Christ would die for their sins. Read Luke 18:31-34. Note one of the Apostle Paul's last statements in 2 Timothy 4:20. He left Trophimus sick at Miletum. Our point is: Test things that differ.
2) In the study of the Book of Acts we note that the LORD permitted the Apostle Paul to perform miracles similar to those done by the hands of the Apostle Peter, and just as many of them. They both spoke with tongues, they both healed all manner of diseases, with or without the imposition of hands. They both had miraculous experiences in jail. They both raised the dead. They each cured one lame from his birth. They both had special visions from the LORD and angels. Paul, in 2 Cor. 12:12, declared that his miracles were the signs of an Apostle. It is significant that there is NO record of signs and miracles done in Jerusalem among the Jews AFTER Stephen's message and martyrdom (Acts 7), and no record of signs, miracles, tongues, etc., in any place after the Divine judgment pronounced upon Israel in Rome. Acts 28:25-28.
3) In the study of the Epistle of James, four statements should be considered.
1. The Epistle is addressed to the scattered twelve tribes.
2. James' words of Acts 15:19, “my sentence is, trouble not Gentile believers with Jewish religious practices.”
3. James, with Peter, was a minister to the circumcision, with the Circumcision Gospel. Galatians 2:7-9.
4. It was James, according to Acts 21:18-28, who, about 60 A.D., persuaded Paul to act Jewish in the Jerusalem temple.
Also note that the word, “assembly”, in James 2:2, is “synagogue.” Referring to James 5:14, anointing the sick with oil, there is NO record in any Scripture that oil was put on any Gentile for any purpose UNLESS it was on a proselyte, BEFORE Paul became the Apostle to the Gentiles.
4) During the “Acts” period, the Apostle Paul became a Jew under the Law, to the Jews under the Law. 1 Corinthians 9:20-22. In taking a Jewish vow he shaved his head. Acts 18:18. He circumcised Timothy. Acts 16:3. He wanted to get to Jerusalem for Pentecost. Acts 20:16. He apologized to Israel's high priest more than 25 years after the death of Christ. Acts 23:5. He sat for seven days in the temple at Jerusalem as a Jew. Acts 21:24-29. Paul never did any of these things AFTER his declaration of Acts 28:25-28. Up to the close of the “Acts” period God preserved and protected Israel in their own land, permitting their temple to stand; and they continued with their temple worship. During those years there was one order for the believing Jews and a somewhat different order for the Gentiles that believed. Acts 21:24-25 and Acts 15:11-24.
5) In Ephesians 6:19-20 and in Colossians 4:3-4, the Apostle Paul was in jail for proclaiming Divine Truth which he called “The Mystery.” He wanted saints to pray that his mouth might be opened and doors of opportunity might be opened for the proclamation of “The Mystery.” In 2 Timothy 1:12, he called it “my deposit”. In 2 Timothy 2:8, Paul writes of “my gospel”, and then adds, “wherein I suffer trouble as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the Word of God is not bound.” Thus we see that the Apostle Paul was a prisoner in Rome for proclaiming “The Mystery.” It is STILL necessary to pray for open doors for the proclamation of this glorious truth. And it is the duty of EVERY servant of the LORD to make others see the Dispensation of the Mystery. Ephesians 3:9. They can see by having God give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Ephesians 1:16-23.
6) Look at 2 Timothy 1:9, “Who hath saved us and called us with an HOLY calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and Grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” Then read Ephesians 3:11, “According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our LORD.” Ephesians 3:9, “And to make all men see what is the Dispensation (fellowship) of the Mystery which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Here we learn something, more of “The Mystery”, which had to do with God's eternal purpose in Christ Jesus, God's Grace and purpose for members of Christ's Body, before God called Israel and gave to Israel their program. In connection with “THE MYSTERY” in Ephesians, God speaks of predestination and the believer's position in the heavenlies.
7) Now note Ephesians 3:8, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this Grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the UNSEARCHABLE riches of Christ.” And Acts 17:11, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and SEARCHED the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” The word “UNSEARCHABLE”, in Ephesians 3:8, means untraceable, that is, not found in the messages the Holy Spirit gave to Israel's prophets. In Acts 17:11, the Bereans could read Israel's prophets and check up on Paul, but NO ONE could search the Scriptures and find “The Mystery” of Ephesians. That truth was NOT made known to Israel. Colossians 1:24-27. That Mystery, revealed first to the Apostle Paul, the LORD declared, was to complete His Word. Colossians 1:25-26. God wants his saints to know the truth of Ephesians and Colossians, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried away with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Ephesians 4:14.
8) Every true Christian believes in the verbal inspiration of the Bible and that all Scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness, but every intelligent student of the Scriptures knows that MANY of the Divine instructions given to Israel, about to enter Canaan in Leviticus, and Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are NOT to be obeyed by members of the Body of Christ who are seated in the heavenlies in Christ. Ephesians 2:6. They should also know that many of the instructions in Matthew, Mark, and Luke are not for the obedience of these Body members and that the program for the first ten chapters of Acts is not God's spiritual program for members of Christ's Body, under the present reign of grace. Therefore, God's principle for Bible study, for the appropriation and application of all other Scriptures, is to study all other Scriptures in the light of Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and other Epistles of Paul in which are found the UNMIXED messages of Grace and the Divine Truth designated “The Mystery.”
and here is The Mystery….
Before Israel was created for God’s glory, before all of the promises concerning Israel’s coming glory and the millennial reign of Christ on earth, even, before Adam had sinned, or was created, God PREDESTINATED that members of the Body of Christ should be conformed to the image of His Son. (Romans 8:28-29). They would be SEATED in the Heavenlies in Christ. God’s eternal purpose is to have a company of redeemed sinners SEPERATE and DISTINCT from ALL OTHER companies. Dwell on this.
These predestinated and justified believers are to be JOINED to Christ as ONE flesh, to make ONE New Man, the Perfect Man, with HEAVENLY citizenship, to appear with Christ in glory. (Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 5:31-32; Ephesians 2:5; Ephesians 4:13; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 3:1-4).
THIS the Father wants every Christian to make known (Ephesians 3:9). And, of course, Satan hates this message with a vicious hatred.
In closing this series of Super Bible Facts for Super Bible Study, we quote several statements from the Holy Spirit through the pen of the Apostle Paul:
1 Corinthians 3:10, “According to the Grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”
1 Timothy 1:16, “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me FIRST Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, FOR A PATTERN to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting.”
1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ.”
2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among my witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
Colossians 1:25-26, “Whereof I am made a minister, according to the Dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the Word of God: Even The Mystery which hath been HID from ages and from generations, but NOW is made manifest to His saints.”
Then note the Holy Spirit speaking through the pen of the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:15-16, “And account that the long-suffering of our LORD is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his Epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” Acts 16:31, while there is still time!
So There You Have it!
Spread this message to everyone you know, far and wide. The time is short
Grace be to you and peace, from God: our Father, and The LORD Jesus Christ.
In The LORD Jesus Christ,
The Lion and Lamb Ministry
Pastor David Picos, D.D.
Minister and Ambassador for Christ in the Ministry of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20)
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