Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 3 * BOOK 75
CONNECTING THE DOTS OF SCRIPTURE – PART 15
Genesis – Revelation
Okay, it’s good to see you all back again. We’ll start program number three for this afternoon. Again, we’d like to invite our television audience to join with us and, like everybody here, open your Book and get a pen and a notepad and take notes. Because what you write, you’re more apt to remember, than if you just sit and say, “Yup, I’ll remember that.” No, you won’t. That’s why I keep reviewing. It takes a long time. You know, we were just rehearsing again at break time how many times we have to hear these things before they really settle in. That’s why I don’t apologize too much for repeating. Now, I realize that all this has been covered before, but a lot of it has been several years ago. So, it’s about time we do it again.
Again, for those of you in television, we just covet your prayers. My, how we need your prayers, because the devil doesn’t like what we’re doing. We witness that from time to time with several folk that are a part of this ministry.
All right, let’s go right back where we left off. We’re still in Acts chapter 2. Remember now, Christ had ascended ten days earlier, and now the day of Pentecost has arrived—the Jewish feast day according to Leviticus chapter 23. And it’s all Jewish. There’s nothing of Gentiles in here whatsoever.
Let’s come down to verse 22. Peter has just finished quoting Joel chapter 2—the horrors of the tribulation according to prophecy, and he gives it as though that’s what Israel is looking for just ahead. He has no idea that it’s going to be interrupted for two thousand years. All right, so after rehearsing the prophecy from Joel down in verse 22, and, again, I want to always emphasize it’s all Jewish,
Acts 2:22a
“Ye men of Israel, (There’s no Gentile in that.) hear these words;…” And then he speaks of how Christ had been delivered up to the Romans for His crucifixion and then verse 24.
Acts 2:24a
“Whom God hath raised up,…” Now, what is Peter already driving home to the nation of Israel? That the promised Messiah who lived and performed signs and wonders and miracles was rejected, was put to death and was buried, but was raised from the dead, and has gone back to glory waiting for the day when He can come back and be their King. So, what does Peter have to prove? Your Messiah is still alive. He is still going to fulfill those promises.
Now, that reminds me of a verse that I used again just the other night. Let’s go back and look at it so that you’ll get the gist of this promised Messiah for Israel. Romans 15 verse 8 from the pen of the Apostle Paul, after the fact. Paul is writing to us Gentiles in the Body of Christ.
So, it’s for us to know how these things transpire. That’s why I’m connecting the dots. It all fits like putting the puzzle together. Everything in its rightful place and it’ll fit. All right, Romans 15 verse 8.
Romans 15:8
“Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the (What?) circumcision (Not the whole world, He was the minister of Israel and Israel alone. So, He was the minister of the Circumcision.) for the truth of God, (And I always say it wasn’t something Paul dreamed up. It was all part of God’s sovereign plan for the ages. He came as the minister of the Circumcision for the truth of God. Now, what was the purpose?) to confirm (or bring to fulfillment) the promises made (To the world? No.) unto the fathers:” That’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the rest of the Old Testament patriarchs who were way back then already looking for this coming glorious kingdom on earth.
Now that reminds me. I haven’t used this in ages. I hope I can find it. Come all the way back to Job. It’s in front of Psalms. I think its chapter 19—Job 19 verse 25. Now, this is one of the oldest books in the Old Testament, beloved, and look what Job is already looking for. Now, this ought to give you goose bumps. I get them every once in a while. My, when they call and tell me what is happening by using our DVDs, I either bawl or I get goose bumps. That’s pretty typical, but here it is in verse 25.
Job 19:25
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day (At the time of the end—where?) upon the earth:” Now, you can’t get it any plainer than it is. I want my audience to read it. Thanks, fellas, for showing it on the screen. Look at it again.
Job 19:25-26
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, (Death, see, and he’ll go back to the dust.) yet in my flesh (What kind of flesh? Resurrected.) shall I see God:” Now, isn’t that plain? That was the hope of an Old Testament writer way, way back. He had an insight that after this life of flesh, there is an eternal resurrected life on the earth. That’s the part I want you to see, not up in the ethereal heavens someplace, but rather on the earth. And that’s the earthly kingdom that every Old Testament believer was constantly looking for and waiting for.
Now, we’ve had two thousand years of theology, and they still haven’t got it. Isn’t that unusual? They still can’t get it. Well, anyway, some of them do. Don’t worry, there are some. In fact, somebody sent me an interesting article off the internet the other day. I’m going to put it in my next newsletter. It was written in 1935. As the gal who sent it said, “Les, you could have written this. It just proves you’re not some weirdo coming out of the woodwork.” But, you see, most of Christendom just won’t see it. But it’s nothing new. I’m not the first nor the last.
All right, back to Acts chapter 2. Here we have Peter addressing the Nation of Israel with the primary message that this Jesus of Nazareth that they had presented to Israel for three years with signs and wonders was alive. He hasn’t lost His ability to be the King. He’s alive. He has been raised from the dead. Then he goes through some of the Psalms. Now, like I say, this isn’t a verse-by-verse study. This is just connecting the dots. All right, He goes back into the Psalms and he quotes David, verse 27. Peter quotes out of the Psalms.
Acts 2:27-28
“Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, (or the place of the dead) neither wilt thou permit thine Holy One to see corruption. 28. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.” Now Peter says:
Acts 2:29-30a
“Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, (just like Job) and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.” (Why does Peter quote David? He was a prophet.) 30. Therefore being a prophet,…” We normally don’t think of David as a prophet, do we? We think him as the writer of the Songs and the Psalms and so forth. No, he was also a prophet foretelling future events.
Acts 2:30
“Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, (What would happen?) he would raise up Christ (Jesus of Nazareth) (To do what?) to sit on David’s throne;” See, all looking forward to this glorious Kingdom, not a word in here about us in the Body of Christ, not a word about the Church. But rather, it’s all tied to Israel’s prophetic promises. Okay, now then verse 31.
Acts 2:31
“He (David) seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, (Or, we know He went down into the paradise side of hell.) neither his flesh did see corruption.” Because He was divine! That’s why God the Father was the progenitor of the body of Jesus. His blood was divine, and it was holy and not fit for corruption. All right, now verse 32, Peter again hammers the fact home.
Acts 2:32-35
“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, (Because of that finished work of the cross) and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has shed forth this, (This coming of the Holy Spirit on this day of Pentecost.) which ye now see and hear. 34. For David is not (the one who) ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35. Until I make thy foes thy footstool.”
That’s Psalms 110 verse 1. In other words, David is prophetically speaking of the ascension of Christ sitting at the right hand of the Father, and then some future day He would leave that seated position and return to Jerusalem. All right, now verse 36, and, oh, if only these people who demand water baptism for salvation according to verse 38 could just read 36, but they can’t. They can’t read it for some reason or other. Evidently it’s blanked out in their Bible or something, but here it is.
Acts 2:36a
“Therefore let all the house of Israel…” Any Gentiles in that? Not that I can see. Therefore, because of what Peter has just brought out of the prophets Joel and David, and in the Psalms. Now, because of all those prophetic promises given to the Nation of Israel for over a period of 2,000 years:
Acts 2:36
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, (of Nazareth, of Bethlehem) whom ye have crucified, (Put to death, but He’s still…) both Lord and Christ.” Death didn’t stop anything. Now verse 37:
Acts 2:37
“Now when they (Don’t forget, who is Peter preaching to? Jews from all over the then-known world.) heard this, (what he had just been rehearsing) they were convicted in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, (All twelve, remember, are involved in all of this.) Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
Not what shall we take by faith, but rather “what shall we do.” Now remember, I could take you back. I haven’t got time I don’t think. I could take you back to Exodus. When God laid all this out in front of the Nation of Israel, how did Israel respond? Tell us what you want us to do and we will (What? Believe it? No, we’ll–) do it. What a difference between their Judaism and our Grace!!!
Today, for the Body of Christ, Paul doesn’t say do this or do that, he just says believe it. All right, here’s Israel though. This isn’t Gentile ground. This is God dealing with his covenant people. “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” And here was the answer, clear as language can make it, but it’s not for us in the Body of Christ. This is for Israel. Never does Paul use this kind of language.
Acts 2:38
“Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized (that’s water) every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, (for forgiveness) and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Remember, it’s all the promises made to the nation of Israel.
All right, now I’ve been stressing all the time that it’s according to the covenant promises. Let’s skip over quickly to chapter 3. Pentecost has come and gone. Time is going on. This isn’t all going to happen in a week. Time has gone by. Now verse 1, but nothing has changed. Look where Peter and John go for the time of prayer.
Acts 3:1a
“Now Peter and John went up together into the (What?) temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” Does Paul ever tell us to go to a temple to pray? Does Paul ever tell us to find a prayer chapel and pray? No.
How does Paul instruct us? I think it’s in the Book of Timothy. How do we approach God in prayer? Anyplace, anytime, under any circumstance—the throne room is always open. You don’t need to go to a prayer room. You don’t need to go to a chapel. You don’t have to go to some sanctuary. Your prayer room is wherever you happen to be. What a difference. But see, back here that wasn’t the case. They were still, according to Judaism and under the Law of Moses, to go up to the temple, or the synagogue in other cases, “according to the hour of prayer” that was designated by their religion. All right, then they come across the lame man, and you know the story of that.
Acts 3:6
“Then Peter said, Silver and gold I have none; but such as I have I give unto thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Then the Jews got all shook up again. How in the world did you do this? They knew the guy had been lame for forty years. How did you do this? Now you come down to verse 12.
Acts 3:12a
“And when Peter saw it, (The consternation of the Jewish people over the healing of this lame man.) he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel,…” And all you nations of the world? That’s what people like to think. It’s not what it says. That’s not what it says. Peter addresses fellow Jews.
Acts 3:12b-13
“…Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? 13. The God of Abraham, (See, he takes them all the way back to the beginning of the Jewish race.) and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; (Now here he puts the dagger into the nation again.) whom ye delivered up, and whom ye denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.”
See, Peter isn’t going to let Israel forget their rejection of that Messiah. He wants them to be convicted of it and to repent of it, and then God would still embrace the nation. He wasn’t ready to cast them aside. That’s all Peter is trying to do—get them to the place of repentance where they would yet believe who Jesus of Nazareth really was. Isn’t it amazing that they never were convinced?
Now, I know that may upset some Jewish listeners, and I’ve got a lot of them. I know I do. But, you see, that’s the record. That was the nation’s unbelief. But that didn’t mean that God wasn’t ready and willing to forgive at the drop of a hat, if they would just repent of what they had done nationally to their Messiah. All right, but Peter goes on to say then:
Acts 3:14-15
“But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15. And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”
Acts 3:16
“And his name…” Now, that’s what I’ve been stressing for the last several programs, that Israel’s Kingdom Gospel was based on who Jesus was. That’s all God wanted them to recognize, that He was the promised Messiah.
All right, so here comes Peter now several weeks, maybe months, after Pentecost—that it was through faith in His name. Now I’ve said it more than once on the program. What does that really mean? That the name of Jesus of Nazareth was synonymous with God the Son and the Messiah of Israel. He was all the same person. Believe it! But, oh, they couldn’t. I think I said here a few programs back. What was their stock answer? “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Yes, the Messiah did, but they couldn’t buy it.
Acts 3:16a
“And his name (the name of Jesus of Nazareth) through faith in his name hath made this man strong,…” Not a word about the work of the cross. Peter doesn’t say, if you believe that Jesus died for you and shed His blood and rose from the dead, you’ll be healed. No, all this man believed was that Jesus was the Christ, and as a consequence he experienced miraculous healing. All right, now verse 17.
Acts 3:17
“And now, brethren, (Peter says) I know that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.” In other words, crucified the Christ. They didn’t do it knowing who He was. In fact, I think I’ve got time. Come ahead with me to a statement from the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 7. I like to wait until everybody’s found it, then I can be assured that the television audience can do the same. Here, Paul writes to us Gentiles.
I Corinthians 2:7
“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, (In other words, the things that have never been revealed before are now made understandable.) even the hidden wisdom, (Things that Peter said the prophets what? Diligently looked for and couldn’t figure out. But now since Paul, we can figure out.) which God ordained before the world (or the ages, or the generations, time gone by) unto our glory:” Now verse 8.
I Corinthians 2:8a
“Which none of the princes of this world knew:…” In other words, these hidden mysteries that Paul is now revealing—especially in his church letters—none of the patriarchs understood, none of the prophets understood, none of the leaders of Israel understood, none of the leaders of the Gentile pagan world had any idea of it, naturally. So, none of the princes of this world knew. They did not know who He was. Then what does the rest of the verse say?
I Corinthians 2:8b
“…for had they known it, (Had they known that He was the creator of the universe, had they known that He was the Son of God, would they have carried out that crucifixion? No way.) they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” But they didn’t know.
All right, for the minute that we have left, come back to Acts chapter 3. They were ignorant of who He was in spite of all of His signs and wonders and miracles. Now verse 18 and I’ve got to do this quickly.
Acts 3:18-21a
“But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, (See, like we showed in First Peter) that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. 20. And he (God) shall send Jesus Christ,…(See, to be the King. It’s still out in their future. But Peter knows, in verse 21–) 21. Whom the heaven must receive…”
And hold Him until the tribulation has run its course. Now, for the sake of time, I’m going to have to bring you all the way down to verses 24 and 25, to put the frosting on what I’ve been trying to say for the last fourteen or fifteen years—that Israel was the people of the prophets.
Acts 3:24-25
“Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold (or prophesied) of these days. 25. Ye (Israel) are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.” So, Israel alone was under the covenant promises of God. Ephesians tells us that we’re outside the covenants of promise of Israel.