Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 2 * BOOK 49
Leaving Milk for Meat – Part 2
Hebrews 6:1-4
Now as we began our study this afternoon, we’re going to just continue right on with our Bible study where we left off in Hebrews chapter 6. And for those of you just joining us on television who may have never caught the program before, we’re just a simple Bible study. We don’t have a lot of glitz. We’re not banked with flowers. Because after all this is just a classroom. And classrooms aren’t fancy, are they?
You know, I get such a kick out of our listeners. We were at one of our seminars. Now, I shouldn’t probably do this but, you all know me well enough and my audience knows me well enough. We were at one of our seminars and a lady was saying something that Iris just happened to overhear. And she said, “You know why I give to Les Feldick Ministries?” And the other gal says, “No. She said, “He doesn’t spend it all on clothes!” Well, that’s true. We don’t try to come in here with a fashion plate; we just simply want to teach the Word in a way that anyone can understand.
Let’s go right back into Hebrews chapter 6, we’re still in verse 1. And we’re just going to use this for a ‘jumping off’ and we’ll go right back to where we left off in the last moments of our last program.
Hebrews 6:1a
“Therefore,…”
Because of what has just been said the in last verses of chapter 5, that it was necessary to feed them milk because they weren’t ready for meat. So Paul says:
Hebrews 6:1a
“Therefore leaving (or moving on from) the principles (or the words of the beginning of Christ, and) of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;…” (or unto a maturity)
In other words, like someone just said at break time. Les, this is just like the Bible as a whole. Yeah! It’s a progressive revelation from Genesis to the book of Revelation; it’s a progressive revealing of the things of God. Alright, so now then to take another look at the “words of the beginning of Christ” or His earthly ministry. We’re going to go right back where we left off and that was in Matthew chapter 10.
You saw in chapter 9 in our last program, that Jesus went everywhere preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. My, very few people understand that that is not the Gospel of the Grace of God. The Gospel of the Grace of God was that which was revealed to the Apostle Paul through the revelation of the mysteries. But the Gospel of the Kingdom is what Jesus and, beginning with John the Baptist and the twelve, are proclaiming to the Nation of Israel and that is the good news that the King is here. He’s ready to give them the promised Kingdom that was promised all the way back to the Abrahamic Covenant. Now, in view of those promises then, we jumped into chapter 10 in the last moments of our program and we have the twelve disciples chosen and now here comes their marching orders. In verse 5:
Matthew 10:5a
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and He commanded them, (now listen, when the Lord of Glory gave a command, that was not to be taken lightly. That was set in concrete and He commanded them) Go not into the way of the Gentiles,…” Did you hear that? Did you see that?
Matthew 10:5a
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and he commanded them, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans (who were half-breeds) enter ye not 6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Now that’s plain language. As plain as language can get. Do NOT go to the Gentiles. Go only to the Nation of Israel, to the twelve tribes, to the lost sheep! Now let that sink in, and the next time you try to share it in your Sunday School class, they’ll run you out the back door more than likely. Yeah, I’ve got heads nodding, because you’ve experienced it. Oh, they don’t want to hear that, but see this is what Paul wrote in Romans.
Romans 15:8
“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the father:”
And what were those promises made to the fathers? That Israel was to be the favored nation. And that God the Son would come and be a physical King as well as a Redeemer. And the Nation of Israel could come to that place of blessings. Living in peace and prosperity. Okay? Now reading on in Matthew 10. Let’s look now verse 7.
Matthew 10:7
“And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Now let’s jump over to Luke chapter one for just a second and get just a little glimpse of what that was to be for the Nation of Israel. Chronologically, of course, we’re going to back up a few years because this is when the angel had announced to Zacharias and Elizabeth that they were going to have a child. Now he’s just been born. Luke chapter 1 and I’m going to drop in at verse 67. And the angel has announced that this child John the Baptist to be born of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who also were in their older years, was going to be the herald of the King, and Messiah. Now, when the King would come, you see, this is what Israel was looking for in fulfillment of the promises made to the fathers. And I’m going to repeat it and repeat it and repeat it till you hear it in your sleep. This is what Jesus came to fulfill.
Luke 1:67a
“And his father (that is John the Baptist’s father) Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost,…” He wasn’t just glibly speaking some Jewish hopefuls, but rather he was speaking the very mind of God and look what he said:
Luke 1:68
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; (Exclusive? Well, I reckon. This isn’t including the world. This is Israel.) for he hath visited and redeemed his people,”
Now, ever since Genesis chapter 12 and the giving of the Abrahamic Covenant, who were God’s people? Israel! See? You know that, and they’re still the ones we’re talking about. Now verse 69.
Luke 1:69
“And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” How many Gentiles are in the House of David? Not one! Now granted a few of the women came in by marriage, I’m not denying that. But largely speaking the House of Israel was Jew only. Now verses 70 and 71.
Luke 1:70-71
“As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71. That we should be saved from our (not sins yet but what?) enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;” Goodness gracious, who were Israel’s enemies at the time of Christ’s first advent? Well, the same one’s tonight. It was no difference as there was Egypt, Syria, the Persians, the Babylonians, and the Gentiles all around them. They were their enemies. Alright, so they’re going to “be saved from their enemies and all those that hate us.” How many is that? The rest of the world.
See, ever since World War II we like to sort of stick our head in the sand and think that anti-Semitism is a thing of the past. Don’t you believe it. Anti-Semitism is raising its ugly head more and more every day. Now we all know why the Arab world hates Americans. And they do, they hate us! Not because of our prosperity, although that’s certainly a part of it. The liberals would like to make us think that that’s the problem, you know, we’ve got so much and they’ve got so little. No. The root problem is that they feel that we love and are going to do everything we can to support the little Nation of Israel and I think Osama bin Laden as much as said that. If Americans will quit supporting Israel then he can back off too. So that’s basically what’s behind everything is the hate for the Nation of Israel. Alright read on, and when this king would come He would come:
Luke 1:72-73
“To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, (same fathers that Paul referred to in Romans. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the prophets and so forth.) and to remember his holy covenant; 73. The covenant (or the oath) which he sware to our father Abraham.”
Boy, it’s been a long time since we’ve rehearsed the Abrahamic Covenant on this program. Most of you hear it all the time in our Oklahoma classes, but for those of you out in television, the Abrahamic Covenant began back in Genesis chapter 12. Where God made three basic tenets to that Covenant. Maybe I should put it on the board once again, as I haven’t used the board in a long time. Maybe it’s about time.
That Abrahamic Covenant comprised, first the promise of a geographical area of land. Secondly, within that land, He would place a nation of people, the favored nation. The Nation of Israel. The third part of that Covenant was that in order to control the Nation living within the borders of a geographical area of land, He would have to establish agovernment. And this government is going to be in the person of a King and this King is going to be the Son of God. The Redeemer, the Messiah and that was all promised to Israel. Now those are just sort of the generalities.
You see, you have to kind of come through Scripture to pick this all up. Because even though this is promised back there in Genesis 15, 16 and 17, yet we do not have the revelation of Who this King is going to be until we get clear up into Samuel. And through the prophet Samuel and Nathan, God reveals that it’s going to be through the House of David. The bloodline of King David and Solomon and Nathan. And through that genealogy then of course, came Jesus of Nazareth. Now that was all part and parcel of that Abrahamic Covenant. Back to Luke, verse 74,
Luke 1:74
“That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out the hand of our enemies, (peace, prosperity. No fear) and that we might serve him without fear.” See that’s what Israel is still looking for. Oh maybe, not so much on the spiritual level but oh, how they’re longing for peace. When they can go to bed at night and not have to worry about having to dive for a bomb shelter. You know, I read some time ago that up there in Northern Israel, just below the Lebanese border, there are generations of young people who from babyhood on up never slept in their regular bed. They slept in beds in bomb shelters in order to be protected from the constant bombarding from the Hezbollah and so forth.
But oh, how Israel is longing for peace! And they’re getting just about ready to sell their soul to get it. Well, it does get kind of provoking when you can’t walk down the street without fear of being blown to smithereens. It does get frustrating when you can’t drive down the highway without wondering, well, am I next?
I was just talking to someone on the phone the other day that way back in the ‘80’s, he and his brother had flown over to Israel, just the two of them, and rented a car and spent a whole month just driving up and down the roads of Israel. I told Iris, “You know, that would be the way to tour Israel,” but, you couldn’t do that today. My land, you’d be in constant fear. But, this is what Israel is longing for, see?
Alright, “That he would grant unto us that we be delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear.” Now here comes the spiritual element.
Luke 1:75
“In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” (That was the hope of Israel based on the Covenant promises.)
Now let’s come back to Matthew once again. And so after being commanded to have nothing to do with Gentiles, we go through Christ’s earthly ministry and you have the Sermon on the Mount and all these high moral statements. Which of course, are certainly profitable. I don’t tell people not to read the Four Gospels, for goodness sakes. All I maintain is that there’s no doctrine of Grace in these Four Gospels, this is still under the Law.
But there’s still a lot to learn. Just like we’re finding out in the book of Hebrews. Now, I’m going to bring you all the way up to chapter 16 which is the end of Christ’s earthly ministry. And even though they are as yet up in Northern Israel, at the headwaters of the Jordan River, Caesarea Philippi. Yet, they’re soon going to be making their way south and up to Jerusalem for the Passover and the Crucifixion.
Alright, now look what Jesus is doing as we read Matthew 16:13. This is all part of this Gospel of the Kingdom from which the readers of Paul’s epistle were to move on from, they are instructed to leave it, and to move on to better things.
Matthew 16:13
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?’”
In other words, what’s He asking? Whom do the rank and file think I am, the Jews among whom we have been performing miracles, whom we’ve been feeding the multitudes, and healing the sick. Whom do most of those people think I am? And here’s their answer. Look at this. I mean this is shocking. This was the answer.
Matthew 16:14
“And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias, and other, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” Imagine! After three years of trying to prove to the Jewish Nation that He was the fulfillment of all those Old Testament promises. He was the Messiah. He was the Son of God, and they think anything but whom He really is. Now verse 15.
Matthew 16:15-16
“He saith unto them, (remember this is the whole twelve. Judas is included yet.) but whom say you that I am? (and Peter of course is always the spokesman and so he speaks up) 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
What’s the other word for Christ? Messiah! I had a letter the other day and someone was bemoaning the fact that so much of Christendom uses Jesus Christ as a first and last name. Well, I hope you all know better than that. Christ isn’t his last name; it’s his title. And that’s why once in a while you’ll hear me slip in ‘Jesus the Christ’ which is really the most accurate. Because that’s what He was. He was Jesus the Messiah. Or if you want to reverse it, Messiah Jesus.
So now then, this is what He’s saying. “Whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, ‘you are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God’.” Did Peter have it straight? Yeah! Yeah, he did. And now look what Jesus said.
Matthew 16:17
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” We are going to cover this same concept a little later in Hebrews chapter 6. Even these disciples fixing their nets on the shores of Galilee and Jesus came by. Now a lot of you know the Four Gospels better than I do. What did Jesus say to them? “Come follow me.” Did they ask a ton of questions? Well, did they say, “Who are you? What are you up to? What’s your agenda? What’s in it for me? What’d they do?” They dropped their nets and they followed. Why? Because the moment Jesus spoke, God opened up the understanding of these men. “There’s the One we’re looking for. There’s the One Who is fulfilling all the Old Testament promises.” And without question, they followed, see? And they knew that He was the Christ, and so here Jesus makes it so plain. On what basis did they know? God revealed it!
You know I’m always using the verse in Acts and I’m always saying Lord give me Lydias. Why? Because when Paul and Silas had finished presenting the Gospel to those Jewish women there at Philippi, the next verse says:
Acts 16:14
“And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God. heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”
Listen that’s never different. There’s not a one of you sitting in this room that can get one ounce of sense out of this Book without the Lord opening your understanding. There is not a person on this earth who has ever experienced salvation but that God didn’t open first their heart. Now, I’m not a ‘Five Point’ Calvinist. Don’t get me wrong. Nor am I a ‘Ten Point’ Armenian or whatever they call them. But I keep the thing in the middle. But yes, God does have to initiate. God does have to open the understanding and then the individual has to make his choice. That’s the way I look at it.
So Peter says, “you’re the Christ.” And Jesus said, “Blessed art thou Peter, this is all I wanted to know.” Now you know what I call this? Peter’s profession of faith. But what does Peter not mention? Death, burial and resurrection. Peter doesn’t say, “Now I understand that you’re going to go to that Cross and die for my sins. You’re going to be raised from the dead. That’s what I believe.”
No, Peter had no idea that Christ was going to go to a Cross. Now, to prove that point we go to Luke 18. We’ve used it on the program before, but like I said, we’ve got a lot of new listeners everyday so hopefully for them this is all fresh. And this again is in about the same time frame as Matthew 16. They’re on their way up to Jerusalem for the last Passover and the Crucifixion. And that most of Christendom don’t know this passage is even in their Bible and if they do, they don’t read it.
Luke 18:31
“Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.”
Now we’ve got to be careful. These things that Jesus is referring to were back there in the Old Testament but they were in such veiled language that nobody really knew what they meant. Of course, I’m referring primarily to Isaiah 53. You all know those verses. “He is lead as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb openeth not his mouth,” and so on and so forth.
Well, none of the Jews in Israel understood that that was a reference to a coming crucifixion. But you see, Jesus knew. And so he says, “everything that was written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.” Now verse 32.
Luke 18:32-33
“For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, (the Romans) and he shall be mocked, spitefully entreated and spitted on: 33. And they shall scourge him, and put him to death; and the third day he shall rise again.”
Did Jesus know the end from the beginning? Well, of course! I think I’ve said it before even on the program. He knew exactly which Roman soldier would wield the whip. He knew exactly where the soldier was at this particular moment in time who would drive the spikes. He knew exactly what the high priest was going to do. There wasn’t anything hidden from him.
I think I pointed it out in the last taping. When He was sweating those drops of blood there in the Garden of Gethsemane and the disciples were sleeping. What did Jesus know? All of this. He knew it was coming. That’s why He said, “Father if it be possible let this cup be taken from me.” He knew the suffering that was lying ahead, and He did here in this passage. But now look what the disciple’s knew.
Luke 18:34
“And they (the Twelve) understood none (my, highlight that word, or underline it) of these things and this saying was hid from them.” Who hid it? God did! It wasn’t time for them to know. Then why did Jesus say it? I don’t know. Except to prove to us that He knew and they didn’t.
And if you have an argument with that, you know what I always come back and tell people. If you don’t believe this, then tell me, why weren’t these believers, these followers of Jesus in His earthly ministry, why weren’t they parked outside the tomb waiting for His resurrection? Well were they? No! They’d long given up. They’d even mentioned at least, that they were going to go back to their fishing. But here they are completely unaware that Christ was going to be going to the Cross. Why? Because they were all hung up on His bringing in the Kingdom.
Alright, now I think I’ve got one more verse we’ve got time for. Come all the way to Acts chapter 1 lest you think that this whole idea of an earthly kingdom was a figment of my imagination or someone else’s. No, this was on the apostle’s mind constantly. Acts chapter 1 verse 6. Now this is after His resurrection. And He’s been with the eleven. Judas of course, is gone. He’s been with the eleven now 40 days, and He’s ready to ascend back to Glory. And He tells them to wait ten days until the Holy Spirit would come on the day of Pentecost.
But look what’s on the mind of these eleven men. That’s what I want you to see. After three years of earthly ministry, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Good News to Israel, that the King and the Kingdom were ready to be presented:
Acts 1:6
“When they therefore, were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom again to Israel?”
What’s on their mind? The Kingdom. When Israel could live at peace and prosperity. And I haven’t got time in this program but you remember back in Matthew 19, Peter said, “Well now we left all. We left our fishing nets; we left our families to follow you. What are we going to have therefore?” What was Jesus’ answer? “You twelve,” that’s why Peter was in such a hurry to fill Judas’ slot. He says, “You twelve are going to sit on twelve thrones ruling the Twelve Tribes of the Nation of Israel.”
Pie in the sky? Fictitious words? No! That’s exactly what was ahead of them and it still is, because the Kingdom is still coming!