Book 29

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 4 * BOOK 29

I CORINTHIANS 15:24-34 – PART 2

Now to begin the last lesson in book 29 let’s begin with verse 31. Remember in our last lesson we were dealing again with the consummation of all things First Christ will be King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and everything is put under His feet. Then we go on into the eternal where everything is consummated in God Himself. Then Paul said in verse 29 “What’s the use in all these things if there is no resurrection of the dead.” Always remember that there is no other religion on earth nor ever has been, that has a resurrection of the dead in it’s so-called theology. None of the mythologies teach resurrection, none of the cults teach it, some have reincarnation, but resurrection is strictly a Biblical concept because not only is it a Christian concept, it was also part of the Old Testament economy. Everything centers on the resurrection of the dead. Otherwise what’s the use if that’s not true; then you might as well eat, drink and be merry. So looking at verse 31 where Paul says:

I Corinthians 15:31

“I protest (or affirm) by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

In other words, that although this is a carnal congregation. Here this apostle is writing these deep doctrines concerning resurrection, but the people to whom he’s writing are carnal believers. And so again he reminds them that he affirms by their rejoicing, even as carnal Christians, that they realize that there was some things to rejoice in, and by that the apostle Paul says, “I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.” Now I think there’s a two-fold approach to “I die daily.” Number one, remember that Paul teaches so strongly the idea of the old and new nature. One of the questions I’ve answered in our next newsletter is “Do I believe in two natures for the believers?” Absolutely! We are still with the old nature, that old Adam that just constantly pursues us, and we also have that new nature as a result of our salvation experience, and our union with Christ, and that’s only a Pauline doctrine. We are constantly in a warfare, “The old sin nature against the new Divine nature.” But what Paul is speaking here in dying daily is that he has to constantly keep old Adam in subjection, he has to put him to death. In fact, let’s go back for a moment to the Book of Romans because that’s where Paul makes that so plain. All of Paul’s writings dovetail together so beautifully. So turn to Chapter 6 and let’s begin with verse 13, and throughout this whole 6th Chapter of Romans Paul is dealing with, “reckoning that Old Adam as our mortal enemy, and putting him constantly to death.” Now that may sound like double talk, but we have to realize that God in His omniscience, and Sovereignty, the moment we believe for salvation, God reckoned our old Adam as crucified with Christ, he’s dead. But in experience he’s still with us, and he plagues us, and will until we leave this body of mortality. Here Paul says it so clearly:

Romans 6:13a

“Neither yield (or give in) ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:”

Or unto the old Adam. It’s up to us as you are given that free will. God is not going to take you by the nape of the neck and say “You will obey Me. You will walk in My ways.” God doesn’t do that, but rather it’s that constant urging by the indwelling Spirit. Also remember that three-letter-word “sin” is the old Adam, the old sin nature. But the flip side is.

Romans 6:13b

“…but yield yourselves unto God, (in other words be what God wants us to be.) as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

Now this is exactly what Paul is talking about here in this verse 31 of I Corinthians. Paul says, “I die daily.” And as you move into verse 32 I think he is also alluding to the fact that he was under constant physical pressure and suffering. We have no idea how much the Apostle Paul suffered for the sake of the Gospel. Now you want to remember that The Lord promised in Acts Chapter 9 this very thing.

Acts 9:15,16

“But the Lord said unto him, `Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.'”

And the man did. He suffered at the hands of the Jews, the Romans, physical disabilities, and sickness, and if you would like to see how much just look at II Corinthians Chapter 11. Now verse 32.

I Corinthians 15:32a

“If after the manner of men (If so to speak) I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,…”

Most people just read that casually, and they probably think of the Roman coliseum where they actually tossed him to the lions. But I don’t think that happened to Paul. I don’t think he ever had to face the lions of the Roman Coliseum, but rather I think here he’s talking about his physical enemies. I think it was this constant opposition from his fellow men, ungodly men.

I Corinthians 15:32

“If after the manner of men (If so to speak) I have fought with beasts at Ephesus (these men who were constantly opposing him) what advantageth it me, (why should I fight against them) if the dead rise not? (You simply can’t get away from resurrection in Chapter 15, because it hits you in every verse. What’s the use, Paul says, in facing all of this opposition to the Gospel if there’s no resurrection, and if that be the case) let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.”

Now that thinking is becoming pretty much the mind-set of our own nation today. Most people are not thinking in terms of eternity, but what’s in it for me today. Instant gratification is all people are concerned about. How can I gratify the flesh the fastest and the easiest? Well Paul says, “If there’s no resurrection then have at it.” Why not? But there is resurrection!Now verse 33, and what’s the admonition?

I Corinthians 15:33

“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

Let’s go back to the Book of Proverbs to compare. We don’t use Proverbs very often. And if I happen to have young people listening to me I would hope you would take this verse to heart. I know looking back at my own youth, and looking at the lives of others around me, I wonder how many times good young people have been totally destroyed by their bad friends. And so many of them are just simply bad people and that’s what’s making it so difficult to raise kids today. They have no compunction for right and wrong, they have no principles, there are no absolutes in their lives, so it’s hard for good parents to raise a good child in the midst of all those bad friends. But the Word of God is so adamant that this is what is going to happen.

Proverbs 13:20

“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”

Now do you see what that says? If you are operating and functioning in the midst of good company then you’re going to be useful. Now of course I think as Solomon writes the Proverbs he writes a lot of times in the area of the material, but nevertheless it holds both ways. Even in the area of the spiritual you will never rise any higher than the people you fellowship with. In fact I learned that years ago in my youth as I saw what happened to churches in the community in which I was raised. I could see that great strong Bible preaching Church, by just one liberal, Bible doubting preacher, could go down the tube. We’ve all seen it and again, that brings me to the place that a church will rise no higher than its leadership. Now that usually centers in the pastor, but it doesn’t stop there. It also involves the leadership of lay people, whether you call them elders or deacons or whatever. That’s beside the point. But that church congregation will rise no higher than that leadership takes them. And the same way in our everyday intercourse with people. We are going to be like the people with whom we spend most of our time.

We once had a politician up in Iowa, and I know my Iowa listeners are going to know immediately who I’m talking about. He did a lot of speaking in churches around the state and he could preach better than a lot of them. But he had a favorite little cliche that as a politician he adhered to. And my wife is probably going to cringe when I say it. He said, “If you’re going to run with skunks, you’re going to smell like them.” Very apropos isn’t it? And that’s exactly the picture with all of our activity. If we are going to run with people of low integrity, if we are going to run with the people who have no compunction about things right and wrong, we’re going to become like them. It rubs off. Now that brings up another verse. Come back to Hebrews, Chapter 10 verse 25.

Hebrews 10:23-25

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) [speaking of the faithfulness of Christ.] And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Now, never lose sight of the fact that Paul thought The Lord was going to come in his life time. And so we have to look at it in the light that if Paul was alive today, he’d say the same thing. “Do not neglect your Christian fellowship, because as we see the end-time approaching, and we’ve got all of this opposition, we need the encouragement of each other. We need the prayers of one another.” There’s nothing that thrills Iris and I more than when people write and say that they pray for us twice or three times a day. And when you realize that people all over the country are doing that, that’s quite an encouragement. We all need that. And we have to have that fellowship with like-minded believers. Now, when professing Christians turn their back on that kind of fellowship and start running with the world, I can just about tell you what their end is going to be. It’s no different than our kids, whether in grade school or high school or college or whatever. They are going to be like the friends that they run with. They have to be! I know I’ve tried to encourage my kids, when they were in school, to seek out kids with their own principles and their own values. They are there. You’re not alone because those kids are out there. Sometimes it takes a little looking, and when you find them that other person is as tickled to see that they are not alone as you are. And the same way with believers. Don’t ever just be like an “Elijah”. He said, “Lord, just go ahead and take my life. I’m the only one left.” God said, “No, you’re not.” Wherever we go there are believers who look at it like we do. And so don’t neglect the assembling of yourselves together. Now, let’s go back to I Corinthians Chapter 15.

I Corinthians 15:33,34a

“Be not deceived: evil communications (that doesn’t mean just the words, but it’s our concourse with people. And if it’s going to be with evil people, it’s going to rub off) corrupt good manners. Awake to righteousness, and sin not; …”

We’ve talked about that in our Tulsa class the last time we were together. Is it possible to live without sin? Is it possible to live sinless? No it’s not possible! Not because the new nature can sin – we know it can’t. I maintain the new nature is the vine and it cannot sin. But what did I say a few moments ago? What is opposite of our new nature? That old Adam! And that old Adam is working on us constantly to sin. And he succeeds too often. But, if we can keep old Adam in subjection and we can feed that new divine nature, then we can see what this scripture talks about. We’re not supposed to sin. Grace is not license. I will repeat that until my dying day. I’m a promoter of the Grace of God, that where sin aboundeth, grace is greater, but for the believer, grace is not license. And this is what Paul is talking about. Turn from the instincts of old Adam and put him down, keep him under control, that we sin not. Now then, remember who he is talking to. He’s still got the Corinthian church in the back of his mind. And he said,

I Corinthians 15:34b

“…for some have not the knowledge of God, I speak this to your shame.”

Who is he talking about? I think he was talking about the people within his congregation at Corinth. They were carnal. They were believers, but they didn’t have that knowledge and wisdom. Now, that brings up another verse. Let’s go to Ephesians Chapter 3 and verse 16. Again, this is a prayer of the apostle Paul for the Ephesian believers, but also for us.

Ephesians 3:16-18a

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend …”

What’s the difference between knowledge and comprehending? Nothing, except maybe putting it into action. But if you have knowledge, you can comprehend. And when you comprehend you have knowledge. Let’s read on.

Ephesians 3:18b

“… with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; “

Now if I’m not mistaken this was something that Einstein was the first to promote and the world didn’t know what he was talking about. He was talking about a fourth dimension. We always live in three. But when Einstein talked about a fourth dimension and his so-called formulas and so forth, the world didn’t know what he was thinking. But this is what the Bible says that we are to enjoy. We are to enjoy a knowledge that goes into the fourth dimension. Now let’s read on:

Ephesians 3:19

“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth (goes beyond) knowledge, that ye (this is for every believer. Remember I’m always going back to Tyndale and who were those he was most concerned about? The plowboys in England. Those guys who didn’t even have a third grade education. That’s who he risked his life for, to get them the Word of God.) might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Isn’t that something? We always like to sit back and say, “I can’t have this kind of wisdom, or knowledge. I’m just not that strong a believer.” Listen, if you have Christ in your heart, you have the potential for all this. It’s laying there waiting for you to exercise it. That’s beyond understanding I know, but with God’s help we can. Now let’s read on.

Ephesians 3:20

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,”

Now he’s not talking to angels, or people who have gone on to glory. He’s talking to people in his own day and time, living there in the area of Ephesus. Now let’s return to I Corinthians and look at verse 34 again.

I Corinthians 15:34

“Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”

What would Paul speak to the average Christian today? The same thing. Let’s look for a moment in Chapter 3, and see the kind of people he’s writing this heavy stuff to. And it is deep, I know it is. But he would not have been prompted by the Holy Spirit to write this to a carnal Church if it would have been too much for them to handle, but it isn’t, it’s here for every believer, even babes in Christ.

I Corinthians 3:1-3a

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal:…”

Now that’s like too many people today, and God doesn’t want people to be fleshly and carnal, but rather to be spiritual, and enjoy this knowledge of God. And I would like to stop with this thought. “Are you a shame to God because of your Biblical ignorance, or are you someone to whom God will someday say, “`Well done, thou good and faith servant.”‘

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 3 * BOOK 29

I CORINTHIANS 15:24-34

I know that we’ve been in this chapter for a long time, but there is a lot of material that we need to dig out. So let’s continue on with this line of thinking that Paul is giving here that Christ is going to be all in all, King of Kings, and He will reign, and rule until everything has been defeated, even death itself which came when Adam sinned. Now we talked a little bit about His reign and ruling during the thousand years of His Kingdom rule, but now let’s come back to I Corinthians 15:25, and as I’ve said before, we’re going to take this slowly.

I Corinthians 15:25-27

“For he (Christ) must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.”

Verse 27 sounds confusing doesn’t it? Remember that even though Christ rules and reigns, especially over this 1000 year Kingdom here on the earth, yet we have the rest of the Godhead still sitting back there in the background, and we can’t just forget that. We just can’t cancel out God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit, because when we’re dealing with God, we’re dealing with that Triune, Spirit, Godhead, and I don’t want to lose that. Now let’s turn to the Book of Ephesians Chapter 1 verse 17. This is more or less a prayer that Paul is praying on behalf of these Ephesian believers, and the Book of Ephesians takes us into a deeper realm of teaching concerning the Church, The Body of Christ. You’ll find truths in this Book that you won’t even find in Romans and I Corinthians. Here as Paul prays on behalf of these believers we find:

Ephesians 1:17,18

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; (remember these are prayer requests that Paul is petitioning) that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,”

Now right there I’ll have to stop for a moment. We ran across this in one our classes in Oklahoma a few weeks ago and I had never noticed it before. We always speak of Christ as our inheritance don’t we? That’s the normal nomenclature, that we are co-heirs with Him. In other words, we’re going to be inheriting what He has, and what’s His. But this is exactly opposite, and this is hard to comprehend. Look at it again:

Ephesians 1:18b

“…that we may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.”

Now that’s past human understanding that God, because of our position in Christ, actually puts us on such an even keel with Christ that as He is our inheritance we are His inheritance. Remember that the members of the Body of Christ are the complement, the fullness of Christ which is the same word that was used concerning Eve when God presented her to Adam. That she might be the complement, the help meet of the man. Well this is beyond human understanding, but we take it by faith. This is our glorious position as members of the Body of Christ. You know I think the average member thinks that he’s saved to escape hell fire, and that’s about as much as they put on it. Hey, listen, it’s so far beyond that, that it’s beyond comprehension. We aren’t saved just escape hell fire, we are saved to come into this tremendous relationship with Christ Himself. Now reading on:

Ephesians 1:19

“And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who (have repented and been baptized, walk the aisle, and join the church? No, but rather) believe,” Now there’s nothing wrong with those things in their rightful place. I’m merely saying that that is not the way of salvation. The way of salvation is to believe. Put our faith and our trust into what God has said. Reading the verse again:

Ephesians 1:19,20a

“And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.” Oh don’t ever sell the power of God short. Now verse 20. And this power, this tremendous all consuming power:

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,…”

Now do you see why I came back here? What’s the 15th Chapter of I Corinthians all about? Resurrection! And resurrection is the high point of every thing that God has accomplished. And as we’re going to see a little later in Chapter 15, we’re going to get to those verses that say, “If there is no resurrection then everything else falls apart.” But there is resurrection power. Now reading on:

Ephesians 1:20

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead (and now look at His position) and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly…” Now look at the pronoun usage here.

Ephesians 1:20

“Which he wrought in Christ (Who? God the Father up there in verse 17) when he (God the Father, and God the Spirit, and again the Triune God) raised him (Christ) from the dead and set him (Christ. That’s being done by an outside Personage. Jesus Christ didn’t come up and say, `I’ll set myself down,’ because that’s not the way the Scripture says, but rather that God)set him at his own right hand in the heavenly…” And we just saw that in Hebrews Chapter 1 in the last program. Now look at His position in verse 21.

Ephesians 1:21

“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:”

Now do you know what’s in that list of names? All the gods of mythology, all the gods of the far Eastern religions, all the gods of the New Agers, all the gods of whatever you can dream up. Oh, He’s going so far above and beyond them. Do you see that? And then the verse I alluded to a few moment ago.

Ephesians 1:22a

“And hath put all things under his feet,…”

That’s exactly the picture of total dominion. I know I’ve heard people refer to someone with power, and do you know how they like to picture it? Hey look out he’ll put his feet on your neck. Well what does that mean? He’s got you where he wants you, and he’s got total control over you. That’s what Christ is going to do with His enemies. He’s going to have them under His control feet, so to speak.

Ephesians 1:22b,23

“…and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. (And who’s the Church? You and I.) Which is his body, the fullness (the complement, the completion) of him that filleth all in all.”

Another Scripture keeps ringing in my mind as I’ve been reading these verses. So let’s go to Daniel Chapter 7. Here we have this same idea of God the Father on the supreme area of the Throne, and God the Son comes before Him, and let’s begin with verse 9.

Daniel 7:9,10

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands (or millions of the angelic hosts) ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: (and then time leaps thousands of years to the great White Judgment throne with just a colon) the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Now come down to verse 13.

Daniel 7:13,14

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, (the same we read about in verse 9) and they brought him near before him.” (This Ancient of days, I have to look at being the Godhead again) And there was given him (Who? God the Son, The Lord Jesus) dominion and glory, and a kingdom, (this earthly 1000 year reign of Christ) that all people, nations, and languages, (see that separation of the nations?) should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

Remember the thousand years doesn’t end time as we know it, but rather the thousand years is just an introduction to eternity. It’s just that elementary phase that gives us a limited view of the eternal state of our ruling and reigning with Christ over the heavenlies. Remember, there’s going to be a new Heaven and a new earth. Now back again to the Book of Ephesians, Chapter 1 verse 10.

Ephesians 1:10

“That in the dispensation (or the administration) of the fullness of times (well that’s the Kingdom, the thousand years; that compiles the final 7000 years of human history.) he (God)might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

Everything is going to be brought together in Christ, but the whole Godhead is involved, we can’t leave the Godhead out of the picture. But Who is the manifestation of the Godhead? The Lord Jesus is! Come back to the Book of Isaiah. Let’s read verses 6 and 7. These are fabulous verses. Normally we just think of them at Christmas time with Handel’s Messiah, but there’s much more than that to it.

Isaiah 9:6,7

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government (that reigning and ruling of that thousand years) shall be upon his shoulder: (now here’s the part that I want you to see.) and his name (remember we’re talking about the Son Who was born in Bethlehem) shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, (here’s He’s called the Father, and we know it’s talking about the Son. Now that makes the Gospel of John a little easier to understand.) The Prince of Peace. Now these are all wrapped up in the Son, we know it’s talking about Christ. And in verse 7 here we come back to His rule over the Kingdom again.

“Of the increase of his government (as He rules and reigns) and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever….”

Remember we can’t comprehend eternity. I may have mentioned before that Iris and I were someplace and a fellow was sitting in front of us had writing on the back of his shirt that said, “eternity, have you thought about it.” Boy I thought, how apropos. How many people right here in Oklahoma in the Bible belt do you meet day in and day out, that ever stop, even for five seconds to think about eternity. But they had better, because it’s out there, and they’re going to be there one way or the other. But most don’t even want to think about it. I’ve got a friend who works in a bank, and he can see how all this new technology is moving us toward the end-time scenario. And I said, “Well how about the people who work with you?” He said, “They don’t want to listen to me, they have their heads in the sand and they don’t want to pull them out, they just want to be left alone.” Hey, that’s typical, that’s where most people are today, they just want to keep going, and as long as the checking account is healthy and they’re driving a nice car, and they’ve got a nice home, who cares about eternity. But they’d better because it’s coming, and no bank account is ever going to help you escape it. Now reading verse 7 again:

Isaiah 9:7

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. (it’s going to go right on into eternity under a new Heaven and a new earth.) The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

Let’s return to I Corinthians 15, and now we come into a verse that is hard for me to put the whole thing together. I think I have put it together, but I certainly don’t claim absolutely. Now verse 28: Now this is mind-boggling if you really analyze the verse. And every word of this Book is the Word of God so we can’t just slough it off.

I Corinthians 15:28

“And when all things shall be subdued unto him, (as we’ve been seeing now. All principalities, and powers, kingdoms, and even death are going to come under His supreme rule) then(there we have another time word. There’s coming a point in time which I think is at the onset of eternity, but whatever there’s still coming a point in time when) shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

Now you can just about wake up in the middle of the night and consider that verse can’t you? That after He has put everything under Christ’s feet, and He has become all and all, yet there’s coming a day when even Christ evidently gives everything up to the Godhead. I have be careful because I know I’ve got highly educated theologians listening to me, and I don’t want to get into hot water unnecessarily, but I’m also not going to compromise. But I have to believe that somehow or other when we go on into eternity, and the thousand years of Christ’s King of Kings, and His absolute rule has been fulfilled, then somehow or other He’s going to give everything up to the Triune God, which will then be the consummation of the whole; everything from the beginning in eternity past when THEY first called creation into being, until we now go into that new eternal state with a new Heaven and a new earth, new everything. Nothing has been touched by Satan or the things that defile, and under those circumstances then I have to think according to a verse like this that God will be consummate. He will finally come to the place where even The Lord Jesus will be under the power of that Godhead.

Now verse 29 is a verse that I wish I could do like most commentators usually do with a verse that I want to know something about. They usually go over, or around or skip it, but I can’t do that, because people are going to hold my feet to the fire, and if I just skip this verse they’re going to call and want to know why I skipped it. Well I’m not going to skip it but rather walk in where angels fear to tread, and verse 29 is a tough one. I don’t claim to have it but I think I’ve got the answer, and it’s a confusing statement.

I Corinthians 15:29

“Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?”

I do not feel that we are talking about water baptism, and I do know that there are groups that baptize by proxy. I suppose they do that on the basis of this verse, but what the Holy Spirit is really telling the Apostle Paul and he is really telling us is, “Why would God do anything on behalf of the believer if there is no resurrection from the dead.” Remember that God does everything in the light of resurrection. I think the baptism that Paul is referring to here is in Chapter 12. Paul tells us in Ephesians Chapter 4 and verse 5 that there is only one baptism:

Ephesians 4:4,5

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism,”

In I Corinthians Chapter 12 he tells us about that baptism we read about in Ephesians. Let’s look at verse 13, a verse we’ve used often.

I Corinthians 12:13

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, (The Church, The Body of Christ) whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

In other words, we know that as believers we have been placed into the Body of Christ by an act of God. Now come back to I Corinthians 15:29. Why should God even bother to place us into Body of Christ if there is no resurrection. See that’s the point that Paul is making here. Why are they baptized for the dead? And also verse 30:

I Corinthians 15:30

“And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?”

If there is no resurrection from the dead then what’s the use. Everything becomes vanity, everything becomes futile, and we of all people, the Scripture says, are most miserable.

I Corinthians 15:19,20a

“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead,…”

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 2 * BOOK 29

RESURRECTED INTO THE KINGDOM – PART 2

My little wife just asked me if we would finish Chapter 15 today. I told her it would probably take four lessons after today, because this is such a tremendous chapter. It’s sort of like Romans Chapter 8. I don’t remember how long we spent in that great chapter, but this is also such a great chapter that we’re not going to hurry through it. I’m not on a set schedule that I have to get all the way through the Bible before The Lord comes back for us.

II Timothy 2:15

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

It doesn’t say to just read your Bible, but rather study it, and that of course is what we try to get people to do. Buy a good cross-reference study Bible with some good footnotes. That always helps, and learn how to study. Now I Corinthians Chapter 15, and we’ve pretty much covered verse 23. Now that the resurrection of the Just has been completed, the Kingdom is now set up, and everything is ready to go for the thousand year rule and reign of Christ. Remember that’s going to be on the earth. A lot of people don’t have a concept of that, but remember the Kingdom is the Kingdom is the Kingdom, and the reason I say that is because it’s the only valid Kingdom in Scripture. Now if it were speaking of some Gentile Kingdom, or the Kingdom of Babylon, then that’s something totally different. But when the Bible speaks of the “Kingdom” then it’s this final thousand year reign of Christ, this Kingdom on the earth when He will finally, as we’re going to see in this lesson, be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that’s not the end. Remember that the thousand year reign is just the introduction to the eternal state. All of this comes into focus then, as we look at the Scripture concerning this earthly Kingdom. Now for review let’s look at verse 23 again.

I Corinthians 15:23

“But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

That is all the believers of all the ages from Adam and Eve on up through the end of the Tribulation, which we covered as the resurrection of the Church, the Rapture, the great resurrection day of the major harvest of God’s reaping. Then the bringing together of the Old Testament saints, and the Tribulation saints as we saw in our last lesson in Daniel Chapter 12. Now verse 24:

I Corinthians 15:24,25

“Then cometh the end, (time as we know it, human history) when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. (now let’s read verse 25, and then we’ll come back to verse 24) For he (Christ) must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

Turn for a moment to Psalms Chapter 110. A lot of people don’t look at the psalms as prophetic writings, but they are. There is so much prophecy in the Book of Psalms, and someday I’m hoping to have an in-depth study just on this Book. Now verse 1, and this verse is alluded to so often throughout Scripture.

Psalms 110:1

“The LORD (now that’s all in capital letters) said unto my Lord, (with just a capital L) `Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool,'” Now what we have here is God the Father speaking to God the Son, because we have all these other references with regard to Christ sitting at the Father’s right hand.

The enemies that will be the footstool of Christ are all of the forces of opposition. I think I made a point in one of my seminars, that just as soon as God revealed to Satan back there in Genesis 3:15 that even though man had fallen, the day was coming when the Seed of the woman would deal with the powers of Satan and defeat them and crush them. We know this happened at the Cross, so far as the potential But even after Christ was raised from the dead victoriously over a defeated Satan, yet we know that Satan is still the god of this world, and he is still destroying lives. So Satan is not yet under Christ’s feet. Now look at the verse again. We find that Christ is to:

Psalms 110:1

“…Sit thou at my right hand, until (now there’s your time word) I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

Now let’s go to the Book of Hebrews Chapter 1, and we see that epitomized, because Christ has now accomplished the work of the Cross. He has risen from the dead, and that’s why we’re spending so much time in I Corinthians Chapter 15. Do you realize that there is not another single religion (now Christianity is not a religion, but that’s the only way I can refer to it in this statement.) anyway, there’s not a religion on earth, not even in the religions of the cults, with a doctrine concerning resurrection. Oh, they have reincarnation, but that’s not the same. Only our Christian faith promotes the resurrection as we understand it. And that’s what makes it unique. We’ll see that as we go on though the rest of Chapter 15, resurrection is the whole hope for the believers. And that’s why the Apostle Paul makes so much of resurrection in this chapter. But coming back to Hebrews Chapter 1, and I might as well start in verse 1 because I like to pick up the flow, and not just jump on one verse.

Hebrews 1:1,2a

“God (the Triune God of Heaven, of creation) who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers (that is the forefathers of Israel) by the prophets, (through the Old Testament writings.) Hath…” (past tense) You know there are still people who come up with grand visions that they have special revelations. They now have something above and beyond that which is between these two covers. Listen, that flies in the face of this verse. And this is the way I refute them. I will say you cannot tell me that you’ve had a special revelation because my Bible tells me, “It’s finished!” So there is no further revelation, and here it is in verse 2.

Hebrews 1:2a

“Hath (past tense) in these last days spoken (remember `spoken’ indicates a past tense finished transaction) unto us by his Son,…”

Think about that for a moment. We normally just reckoned the Scriptures as being Holy Spirit inspired, and they are, no doubt about it. But yet over and over the Apostle Paul will say that The Lord Jesus Himself appeared unto him and revealed these things. The Holy Spirit was instrumental, but it was The Lord Jesus Who was speaking it. And it’s the same way in the Book of Revelation when John writes that great Book of revealing things that had been unknown. Who reveals it to him? The ascended Lord! Continuing in verse 2.

Hebrews 1:2b

“…whom he hath appointed heir (the Son) of all things, by whom also he (the Triune God of which the Son is a part) made the worlds;” Now these are some of the verses I use showing that Christ was the Creator, and there are many. One of the best is John 1:1-3 then John 1:14. Now verse 3 of Hebrews Chapter 1.

Hebrews 1:3a

“Who (speaking of God the Son) being the brightness of his glory,…”

Let’s go back a few pages to Colossians. We’ve got to make all these things fit because these are questions that come up in our mail, and phone conversations, and I know that they are things that we have to address, and we might as well do it here for the benefit of everybody.

Colossians 1:13-15

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who (speaking of the Son up in verse 13.) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: “

Now Who is the invisible God? The Triune! The Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They’re Spirit, and they were invisible, but out of that invisible Triune God stepped the Son, and He became visible. In the Old Testament economy it was a temporary thing, and then He would disappear, but in our New Testament account He became visible, tangible, touchable, He lived in the flesh by virtue of His Bethlehem birth. All right, it’s the same God now manifested in the flesh by the Son. Now verse 16:

Colossians 1:16

“For by him (God the Son) were all things created, (see most folks won’t give Christ the credit for that. But He is the Creator, He’s the Sustainer of the universe.) that are in the heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him:” Keeping these things in mind, come back to Hebrews 1:3:

Hebrews 1:3a

“Who (God the Son) being the brightness of his glory, (of the Godhead) and the express image of his person, (whose Person? The Godhead Whom He’s representing) and upholding all things by the word of his power,…”

Think about that for a moment. This vast universe with it’s billions upon billions of celestial bodies. Why don’t they ever crash into one another? Why don’t some of them drop out of orbit, and cause a tremendous calamity? Because Christ has them all under control. I know this is beyond our comprehension. We can use that example for you and I. How do I know that God is aware of everyone of us as an individual? Because He knows every single celestial body, He knows everyone of them. At any given moment He knows exactly where they are in their orbit. Now listen, there’s many more celestial bodies than there are people. And if He knows all of them individually then He won’t have any trouble keeping track of you and I. I know that’s mind-boggling, but this is what this Book teaches, and this Book is true.

Hebrews 1:3b

“…when he had by himself (this same Creator) purged our sins, (this is the One that died on Calvary’s Cross, and arose from the dead) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

That’s just what Psalms said. But Psalms was speaking of it in the future. Now Paul can write it as past tense. It’s accomplished. Prophecy in that regard, is already fulfilled. Come back to I Corinthians 15. The Kingdom has just been ushered in and God has put everything under the power of the King of this Kingdom, Who is the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, the Head of the Body, our Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve always made a point in my teaching that Christ is not the King of the Church. He’s the Head of the Body. And if we were under a Kingship, then we could never be called joint-heirs because then we would be subjects. Remember that in His Kingship, that is over the Nation of Israel, over the rejuvenated earth and over everything that’s in His domain, which includes the Kingdom of God under which the Kingdom of Heaven operates. As members of the Body of Christ, we are in a unique position as being under the Headship of Christ and we are joint-heirs with Him.

I Corinthians 15:24,25

“Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, (as King of Kings) till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

We pretty much understand that after the seven years of the tribulation has run it’s course (and remember, I always divide it 3 1/2 and 3 1/2), that Christ returns. The Second Coming. And He comes to the Mount of Olives and He will stand there according to Zechariah, and He sets up this glorious Kingdom on earth. All the Old Testament speaks of it as on the earth. Zechariah 14 and Daniel 2 and Isaiah 11, and all these others speak of this glorious Kingdom on earth over which He will rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But while He’s reigning during this 1,000 years, old Satan is still alive. Satan is merely bound up in an abyss of some kind. And he will be held there under spiritual chains of one order or another until this 1,000 years has run it’s course. But, according to God’s own sovereign way of doing things, Satan will once again be released and will once again cause the nations to follow him and reject the sovereignty of the King and of God. Now this is why Paul has been led by the Spirit to put in these words in verse 25.

I Corinthians 15:25

“For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

Now we understand that from the onset of His rule and reign in the thousand years He is absolute King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There will be nothing of Satanic power to oppose Him, but remember Satan is still alive at that time. He hasn’t been put away forever, and so this final setting away of Satan cannot take place until the thousand years are finished. We might look at that for a moment in Revelation so that we see the Scriptures certainly teaches this. We find this in Chapter 20, and let’s begin with verse 7.

Revelation 20:7,8a

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, (he’s been incapable of causing mayhem up here in the Kingdom, but now he’s going to be set free)And shall go out to deceive the nations…” (plural)

And that’s why I teach that after the judgment of Matthew Chapter 25, the survivors (believers) of the Tribulation will probably go back to their original homeland. Those will be Gentiles in Matthew 25. And as they go back to their original homeland they will be the progenitors of the nations that are once again in full bloom at the end of the thousand years. Satan goes out once again, and once more he’s going to try thwart the very plans of God.

Revelations 20:8,9a

“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: (it’s sort of of like another battle of Armageddon)the number of whom (these nations that have been under Christ’s rule, but Satan leads them together around Jerusalem attempting to defeat Christ and His throne) is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, (they come from every nation on earth) and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: (Jerusalem.)

But this time God’s not going to fool around with them, and with one short swift stroke, He’s going to do what I’ve often thought He must now at times consider, seeing what’s going on in the world today of the wickedness, and ungodliness, and rebelliousness of mankind. Why doesn’t He just zap the whole lot of them. Well, it’s because we’re living in the Age of Grace, but Grace won’t be operating here. This is going to be judgment. So with one quick swoop then:

Revelation 20:9a,10

“…and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil (Satan) that deceived them (these nations) was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast(Anti-christ) and the false prophet are, (the religious leader of the Tribulation. They’re still there even after a thousand years) and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

And then in the succeeding verses, we have the judgment of the lost and their doom. Now coming back to I Corinthians again. After the consummation of the Tribulation, the King comes and sets up His Kingdom. The Nation of Israel will finally enjoy all those Covenant promises. They’re going to enjoy a territory that will go clear out to the Euphrates river. Not desert sand, but rather like the Garden of Eden, and all the earth will come under Christ’s rule and reign. And then after He has shown His authority and His power He has to defeat that final enemy.

I Corinthians 15:26

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

And we’ll see a little more about that when we get toward the end of this chapter. But all of these things have to be consummated in order for Christ to bring to the epitome of the understanding of all of us as believers, of the angelic host, of Who He is. Now remember that was the whole downfall of the Nation of Israel in His earthly ministry. They were to have understood from His signs and miracles, and His teachings, His compassion, His wisdom, Who He was. That He was the promised Messiah, that He was the Son of God, but you see they just never comprehended it. But once all this has been accomplished, and He has poured out His wrath on the nations of the world as well as Israel; He has returned and set up His glorious Kingdom, He has brought in the resurrected of all the ages to reign and rule with Him; He has ruled over a whole new generation of human beings that have repopulated the earth during this thousand years of perfect rule.

But in order again to prove the rebelliousness of the Adamic nature, in all those new children that have been born during this thousand-years reign to the believers who made it through the Tribulation. These children never had to make a choice like you and I did, and their parents did, and that’s why Satan has to be released. So when Satan is released at the end of the thousand year Kingdom rule it’s for that specific purpose. Satan will try and test this new generation who before never made a choice, and again they’re going to follow Satan.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 3 * PART 1 * BOOK 29

RESURRECTED INTO THE KINGDOM

Now in the last several lessons we have been talking about Christ and the firstfruits, as He was the first to be resurrected, and also those that came out of the graves after His resurrection in Matthew 27. And then we looked quite in-depth at the resurrection of the Body of Christ, the Church Age believers. How they will be separated from the rest of the believers, and we still have one group left that we didn’t squeeze into our last four lessons, and that would be the resurrection of the Old Testament believers. The best place to pick that up will be back in the Book of Daniel. Before we go to Daniel let’s read again this verse in I Corinthians 15 that we’ve been using as a jumping off place for the resurrection of the believers of all the ages.

I Corinthians 15:23

“But every man (that is every believer) in his own order: (or his own group or company, and here’s it’s reviewed again) Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

Now here again the Scripture does not enumerate right here for us, but instead sends us back to other references to dig out where the various groups of believers come into play when it comes to resurrection. In our last lesson we looked at how Paul lays it out in the latter part of I Corinthians Chapter 15, and then going on into I and II Thessalonians how that the Church Age believers will be caught up to meet The Lord in the air. However, we did not have time to pick up the Old Testament believer, so in this lesson we’re going to go all the way back to Daniel Chapter 12. Now in other remarks that I’ve made concerning the resurrection, the Old Testament certainly alludes to it, and the Old Testament saints certainly were believers in a resurrection, but there’s nothing said about it in the Old Testament to build any real knowledge concerning it. Daniel Chapter 12 probably says the most of anything, although we’ve looked at Job’s reference to the resurrection life, and we certainly know that David expected to be resurrected, but Daniel Chapter 12 lays it out as clearly as any place, and we might as well start at verse 1.

Daniel 12:1

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: (the Nation of Israel) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: (that’s a reference to the Tribulation) and at that time thy people (the Nation of Israel) shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

So there we have the delineation that the unbelievers are not going to be resurrected at the same time as the believers. Now we pointed this out several lessons back that when Jesus spoke of resurrection in John Chapter 5 He did not divide them either. He just said that at the last day there would be a resurrection of the just and the unjust, but He does not put a time-frame around either one. Now verse 2.

Daniel 12:2

“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Again that brings the two resurrections seemingly into the same event, but we know from other Scriptures that they are not. So we’re going to have the resurrection of the believing Old Testament saints that will be totally separate from the resurrection of the unbelievers which we will pick up later. Now verse 3:

Daniel 12:3

” And they that be wise…”

Wise in faith, and you know I have to enlighten folk that regardless where it was in human history, whether it was Adam and Eve or whether it was Noah, Abraham, Moses, or David, they were all recipients of eternal life by virtue of faith. I can’t emphasize that enough, because it has to be by faith. Iris and I have heard whole sermons on Salvation and not once heard the word faith mentioned. I don’t see how they can do that. You must incorporate faith into our salvation experience, because it’s all of faith. The Book of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 11:6

“But without faith it is impossible to please him:…”

Then how in the world can they preach salvation and never use the word. Well, it’s beyond me, but here again we have to understand that these Old Testament believers were in their position as saved people, as we would call it today, by virtue of their faith. Now reading verse 3 again in Daniel 12:

Daniel 12:3

“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

Now here in verse 4 The Lord comes right down and deals with Daniel in particular.

Daniel 12:4

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, (this Book of Daniel) even to the time of the end: (in other words Daniel is a Book of prophecy that was just so much gobbledy-gook, if I may put it that way, to most of the scholars and theologians down through history, because it contains so much end-time scenarios that they couldn’t comprehend it. So it was a closed Book, but here Daniel is told that it would be opened up at the time of the end, and we are certainly witnessing that today, and) many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (in the end time.)

And of course there are various connotations to that. And when it says, “knowledge shall be increased,” I’m going to take that word to mean not just secular knowledge and the explosion of technology, which of course is pertinent to the end time. In a recent trip to Ohio and Indiana, Iris and I had a lovely time with a young couple out there, and he is involved with one of the larger banks and its computerization. My, what a thrilling time we had as he explained how all this amazing exploding technology is just bringing the whole world so rapidly to the scenario of the end-time. We know that all of the prophecies of this Book could never be fulfilled without the technology that is exploding, it just couldn’t happen. So it’s necessary, and yet it’s the very thing that tells us that the end is near. Not only are we seeing secular knowledge, but we’re also seeing a greater understanding of the Scripture in these last days than what men were able to do before, because as I’ve always taught, “God is the keeper of secrets.” And I’ve used the verse Deuteronomy 29:29 over and over.

Deuteronomy 29:29a

“The secret things belong unto the LORD our God:…”

And this is so true that God has kept things secret but is now revealing them as we approach the end of the age. So knowledge is not just limited to the secular world, but also into the area of the spiritual, and the understanding of God’s Word. Now verse 5.

Daniel 12:5-7

“Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. and one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, `How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?’ And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be (and here comes the Tribulation in a little different language) a time, (one year) times, (two years) and an half; (half a year, or a total of 3 1/2 years) and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”

Well, that’s right in accord with all the rest of our Old Testament prophecy, as well as what Paul writes in the Book of II Thessalonians; and what John reveals in the Book of Revelation. It all speaks of these final 7 years when the Nation of Israel will come to the place where God is dealing with them again on the basis of His Covenant promises. Now verse 8, and I think this is such an appropriate verse for us to understand today. Daniel wrote and he looked at what he had written:

Daniel 12:8a

“And I heard, but I understood not:…”

Let me give you a comparison in the New Testament, so come back with me to the Book of Luke Chapter 18. I just happened to think of this. I think people are beginning to catch on to my style of teaching. I do not go by a particular format, or lesson plan, but rather when something comes to mind I’m going to go look at it. And as we will see here in Luke, it happens throughout Scripture in God’s dealing, how He keeps things secret even though we can’t understand. We say how could it have been kept secret? God is Sovereign, and He has a way of closing minds and ears that we know nothing of. Now remember this is the setting at the end of the three years of Christ’s earthly ministry, and they are about to go to Jerusalem for the final days before His crucifixion. Now let’s look at this carefully and compare it with what we just saw in the Book of Daniel.

Luke 18:31-34

“Then he (Jesus) 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. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on. And they shall scourge him and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.’ (do you suppose The Lord said that when the Twelve were sleeping? Why, no. They heard Him, they were listening intently, but look what the next verse says.)And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.”

Now for goodness sake Who hid it? God did. It wasn’t time for them to know. Have you ever stopped to think what the account would have been in the Four Gospels if the Twelve would have known all this? It would have completely upset the apple cart, because then you see it would have to be recorded that the eleven, and Mary, and the rest of them were sitting outside the tomb waiting for the resurrection. Because they had all understood just exactly what was taking place. But they didn’t. They weren’t waiting at the tomb, you know that. When they were told that He was alive they couldn’t believe it. When you go into John’s Gospel Chapter 20, and Peter and John raced to the empty tomb, and when they saw the proof of resurrection, it says:

John 20:8,9

“Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” Well you see that’s God prerogative. He can hold things secret, and He did it with Daniel as well as He did with the Twelve. Now back to Daniel Chapter 12 again. Now verse 8 & 9.

Daniel 12:8,9

“And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, `O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?’ And he said, `Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.'” God is not going to reveal these prophetic truths until the end-time, and He’s ready for men to begin to put it all together. Verse 10.

Daniel 12:10a

“Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly:…”

We’re seeing that today. I read a lot even from the secular world, and I was a reading a speech a gentlemen made from Georgetown university in Washington. He was decrying the fact that our whole society is falling apart because of the break-down of the family, and he was trying to put out some positive indications that we have sort of turned the corner. Let’s hope so. But we’ve seen during the past 20-30 years the complete destruction of the fabric of our society Absolute disregard for absolutes. A recent poll indicates that 60% of American thinks that there are no absolutes. Well no wonder we’re in trouble. And this is what the prophecy said:

Daniel 12:10b

“…but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

Oklahoma is right here in the Bible belt (where most people go to Church at least once in a while) – but you bring up the fact that we’re in the end-time, and even most of these people look at you with a blank look. They don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s so sad that people don’t comprehend how close we are to the end-time. Now I’m not saying in 48 hours or anything like that, but in the relative term of the last 6000 years we are certainly within the last moments of the age whether it’s a few years or whatever. But we can understand because we know the Scripture. But now look at verses 11, 12, and 13. This is the crux of the whole things so far as I Corinthians Chapter 15 is concerned.

Daniel 12:11

“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, (and remember that happens at the mid-point of the Tribulation at the end of that first 3 1/2 years when the Anti-christ will go into the Temple and defile, and turn on the Nation of Israel like they’ve never been persecuted before) and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (1290 days)

Now here you have to be a little bit of a student of Scripture to realize that all of sudden you have a different number here. We’re used to 1260 days as the length of each half of the Tribulation period. 7 years times 360 days a year = 2520 days, but we split that in half and then each half becomes 1260 days or 42 months. But here in verse 11 we have an extra 30 days thrown in. Is that a mistake? Well of course not. God knows what He’s doing. Now looking at verse 12.

Daniel 12:12

“Blessed is he that waiteth…”

Now if you understand Daniel, and after reading about all this, and he gets the picture of the Great resurrection of the Just (or the believers), what would they be prone to be? Impatient. Let’s hurry up. You know I’m getting that way myself. When I see the world falling apart, and see the things that are implicating some horrible days ahead for the planet, I get in a hurry for The Lord to come quickly. But Daniel is told to be patient and wait. Now reading on:

Daniel 12:12

“Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.”

Now what do we have? We’ve got an extra 75 days added to the end of the Tribulation. But here’s the secret in verse 13: Why would God reveal to Daniel that there would be an extra 75 days after He returns and sets up His Kingdom on the earth? Well here it is:

Daniel 12:13

“But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, (that is in his deceased state) and stand in thy lot (Paul uses the word company) at the end of the days.”

But here we have the same connotation that within this particular group of believers that are separated from all the rest, these are the Old Testament saints. Daniel and his fellow believers of the Old Testament economy, you will, “stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Well what days? The extra 75 days beyond the Tribulation.

Well, now what’s the picture? After the Church has been Raptured, and that company of believers (you and I) are in the presence of The Lord in our resurrected state, next is the horrors of the seven years of Tribulation. During the Tribulation there’s going to be multitudes of people that are going to believe and be martyred. That will be Jew and many, many Gentiles. Remember they are not members of the Body of Christ – the Church. They’re going to be in the Kingdom, but are not going to be included in the Body, as that was complete when the Church was taken out of the way at the Rapture. So in my own thinking they will have to be put back with Old Testament believers because the Tribulation period is the time of God dealing with the Nation of Israel. The Temple will be operating and it’s primarily a Jewish period of time. So therefore I’m going to put the whole lot of the Tribulation believers, and the Old Testament believers into this particular time of resurrection of this group of Just people. Now then this completes the resurrection of all the believers of the age.

Now we’re ready for the Kingdom, but since this resurrection of the Old Testament saints is 75 days into the Kingdom there has to be a reason, and I hope I have time to explain it. Come back with me in Daniel to Chapter 2, and this is my explanation for this extra 75 days. Now for God a lot can happen in 75 days That’s a long time for Him to operate. In this chapter we have the recovery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream concerning all the great empires of the world, and how they are pictured in that great image. Remember the head of gold, and the chest of silver, belly of brass, legs of iron, and the feet of iron and clay mixture. These are all pictures of the Gentile empires coming down through history. All right when The Lord returns then at the Second Coming, the end of the Tribulation, He will strike that image, that representative of all the empires. The empire that is then functioning will be the empire of iron and clay, or the revived Roman empire, and He will crush every thing that smacks of Gentile rule. Then after He has returned and has crushed the residue of all these Gentiles, the armies of the Anti-christ at Armageddon, and has totally destroyed the planet, I think every city on the planet is going to fall in a matter of hours. Then verse 35:

Daniel 2:35

“Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; (remember chaff is light and like a feather the wind can just blow away. So the residue of these great Gentile empires will be literally blown away) and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone (the returning Christ) that smote the image became a great mountain, (His earthly Kingdom) and filled the whole earth.”

Before He resurrects the Old Testament believers of which the greatest part will be believers out of the Nation of Israel (and remember in this earthly Kingdom everything that has been promised to them will be fulfilled just like He said), He is going to use these 75 days to get everything ready for this Kingdom economy. This 75 days will be used to just cleanse the earth of all the residue, and it will be beautiful. I think by the time these 75 days have run their course the earth will once again revert back as it was in the Garden of Eden, and the curse will be lifted, and it’s just going to be beyond human comprehension. Now for just a moment let’s turn to Psalms 45 and drop down to verse 8 through 12. Here is a connotation of a wedding feast, and I feel the Bride of Christ is the Body of Christ, the Church, and we will be united in that formal marriage after we are caught up to be with Him in Heaven. But we can’t leave the Old Testament saints out of the picture completely, so they will come in, I think, as the wedding guests.

Psalms 45:8-13

“All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.” The King’s daughters are going to be there for the wedding feast.

 

Through the Bible with Les Feldick

LESSON 2 * PART 4 * BOOk 29

I CORINTHIANS 15:24-54 – PART 2

I Corinthians 15:23, and we’re using that text as a jumping off place, because we previously asked, “Who are Christ’s at His coming that will be resurrected in the largest part of the resurrection harvest?” Remember from the Old Testament economy we had the firstfruits – the sampling – that’s Christ and those who came out of the graves after He came out in Matthew Chapter 27. Then we have the main harvest, which is the Church resurrection and includes the Rapture. Then we have the gleanings and the corners, and if we have time we’ll go back to Daniel Chapter 12 and we’ll see this is the resurrection of the Old Testament saints shortly after the Kingdom here on earth is established. So I teach the resurrection of the Just (the believers of all the ages) will be in three distinct separate stages.

I Corinthians 15:23

“But every man in his own order: (Or his own company) Christ the firstfruits; afterward (It’s now been almost 2000 years.) they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

That’s not a reference to His Second Coming but since Paul is writing about this he’s talking about Christ’s coming for the Body of Christ, “The Rapture of the Church,” two completely different events that are separated by 7 years. Remember, all the Old Testament promises and programs never considered the out-calling of the Church. It was never in there because God had kept it secret. So all the Old Testament prophecies spoke of the coming of Christ to be their King, and they would have to go through the Tribulation and then they could have the King and the Kingdom. You can find that in Psalm Chapter 2, Joel Chapter 2, and Zechariah Chapter 14. They all speak of this kind of a Biblical timeline. However, Israel rejected the King back at the Cross and the Tribulation did not come in, they did not get the Kingdom. So instead, after having crucified their Messiah, and Peter does not succeed in turning Israel into repentance (Acts 2:38).

God then brings forth the Apostle Paul and this is what we have been looking at for the past three lessons, and it’s the calling out the Body of Christ primarily from the Gentiles. And since it has nothing to do with the Old Testament program or Tribulation, which is also tied to the Old Testament and primarily for the Jew, then we maintain that the Body of Christ is insulated from God’s dealings with Israel either before or after the Cross, and so consequently this is why I teach the Rapture. The Body of Christ has to be off the scene before God can pick up dealing with Israel again. Always remember, if we could just take the Church out, which is in parentheses, then we can place the Tribulation back with the Old Testament economy of the Second Coming of the Messiah, the Tribulation, the King, and the Kingdom. However, when Israel rejected it, God went to Paul and the calling out of the Body of Christ, and it has to be raptured and then He will yet bring in the Tribulation to Israel. Now let’s go back to Romans again. Turn to Chapter 11 verse 25 (that I always I maintain will be the triggering mechanism for Christ coming for the Church). Now we know there is no time element, we can never say that in five years He’s coming. I certainly like to think He is, but we can’t say that. We don’t know if He’s coming in a hundred years, but we do know that He’s coming, and we do know that He’s coming the moment that the Body of Christ is complete. When the last person is saved, and the Body is complete then Christ will come for the Church.

Romans 11:25

“For I would not, brethren,…” (Remember Paul is writing to the common ordinary believer out there in the pew. Every believer should be aware of these things, and that’s why I teach. I don’t have to teach the preachers and the seminarians, but rather I want to teach the common people out here in the everyday walk of life. Because God wants every one of us to drop our ignorance, and pick up on the wisdom of His Word).

“…that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,…”

Now define the word `ignorant.’ When someone is ignorant it doesn’t mean that they don’t have the brain power. Someone who is ignorant isn’t someone who is incapacitated to a degree, but rather ignorance is simply a lack of being taught. I consider myself ignorant regarding electricity. I know the ramifications of it, but to get right into the details of three-phase electricity, I’m lost, Why? Because I’ve never been taught about it. I’m sure I could learn it if I had to, and it’s the same way with Scripture, most people are ignorant of the Scriptures not because they don’t have the capacity but because no one has taught them. So this is what Paul is constantly advocating; learn, learn, gain knowledge, get wisdom from The Book.

Romans 11:25

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; (And here is the secret) that blindness (A spiritual blindness) in part is happened to Israel,…”

Well, what’s Paul talking about? When Israel rejected the Messiah, why did they reject Him? Ignorance! They didn’t know Who He was. I’ve been telling my classes for 25 years, over and over, Israel should have known Who Jesus was. Israel could have known Who Jesus was because it was in the Old Testament. Why didn’t they? They didn’t bother to study. The priests knew it, and they knew the stuff on the surface, but they didn’t get right down into the nitty gritty of the Old Testament prophecies. When the wise men came to Herod and asked about the King of Israel, Herod calls up the big-wigs of Judaism, and they had to go search the Scriptures to see where He was to be born. Did they find it? Sure they did. They said “He was to be born in Bethlehem,” so they could have known, but they didn’t. And do you know America is no better right now today? Every last person in these 50 states should know that we are in the end times, that we are approaching the very coming of Christ, and the Tribulation, the appearance of the Anti-christ and world government, but do they? No. Most of them don’t even know what you’re talking about. Why? Because they chose to remain ignorant. They don’t have to be, but they are. Paul is admonishing the believers at Rome, “Don’t be ignorant of this fact that God has literally dropped a spiritual blindness on the Nation of Israel.” Remember the individual Jew can still have his eyes opened and believe, but nationally they are blinded, in fact, here in this chapter look at verse 7.

Romans 11:7

“What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; (What were they seeking? The King and the earthly Kingdom! How did they miss it? They were ignorant. How ignorant? Well, they were looking for a King Who would come in with pomp and power and circumstance, at least symbolically riding on a great white Arabian steed. Instead their King came riding in on a lowly donkey. And they missed it. Well, they were ignorant of Who He really was, and so Paul says, `that Israel did not obtain that which they were looking for,’) but the election (Those few Jews who did believe) hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” And that’s the Nation of Israel to this very day. They are still blind to Who Jesus really was. Now coming back to verse 25, Paul says, “That we Gentiles are to understand that this spiritual blindness has fallen on the Nation of Israel, and it will remain on their spiritual eyes”

Romans 11:25b

“…until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”

Well, what’s the fulness of the Gentiles? The Body of Christ, the Church. So when the Body of Christ is full then God will take us out of the way and He will start dealing again with the Nation of Israel. Now when I say that the Tribulation is primarily Jewish, here’s where I have to go back with you to Jeremiah Chapter 30, and of course this is just one verse. There are many, many others. However this one is so plain that I think anybody can comprehend it.

Jeremiah 30:6,7a

“Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?”(From what? Fear. The horrors of the Tribulation are not only going to be physical, but also mental. And it’s going to test men’s ability to keep their sanity, because of the horrors that are coming on the earth). Now verse 7:

“Alas! for that day is great, (What day? The Tribulation) so that none is like it:…”

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 24:21? “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” And the world is getting ripe for that last seven years. When you read of the horrible wickedness, and sinfulness, and evil that men are practicing, not so much in America yet, but in other areas of the world, you wonder how God can put up with it. It’s hard to sleep at night to think that men can get that low in their sins, and so the wrath of God is coming on sinful men, He’s going to pour His wrath out. You might ask, “Well, why should this generation have to suffer so horribly when we’ve had 6000 years of human history?” Because there are more people living in the world right now than have lived almost all the way back to the beginning. And so the vast majority of the human race will come under the wrath and judgment of God, by virtue of our numbers. Now reading the verse again:

Jeremiah 30:7

“Alas! for that day is great, (in it’s trauma and suffering) so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Israel is the primary one that God is dealing with. In all of God’s dealing with the human race, Israel is at the center of it all. I always like to share with you Deuteronomy Chapter 32:8. This verse can’t make it any plainer.

Deuteronomy 32:8

“When the most High (that term of Deity is mostly associated with the Gentiles) divided to the nations (all the nations of the world) their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds (national boundaries) of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”

Do you see that? Everything God has done with the human race on this planet revolves around that little Nation of Israel. Now most of the world doesn’t want to believe that, and it is hard to believe. How can one little nation of just a few million people be so important in God’s overall picture of the billions of the rest of the world. Well, that’s what He said, “That at the core of everything is this little Nation of Israel.” Now the same way then with the Tribulation, it’s going to be primarily God pouring out His wrath on Christ-rejecting Jews. But the whole world is going to come under the effects of the Tribulation events. It’s going to be cataclysmic, it’s going to be meteorites, volcanoes, and earthquakes, and anything of a natural phenomena, and a disaster. The Tribulation will see it all in magnified portions.

But what we’re talking about is the Body of Christ and how it has to be taken out of the way before God can pick up again with the Nation of Israel. Now come to I Corinthians 15, and we’re going to jump ahead to verse 51, because this is still in the whole concept of resurrection. And this is the “Great Resurrection Day.” This is the “Main Harvest.” The Old Testament and Tribulation saints will be relatively few in number compared to the number in the Body of Christ. Now lest you think, “Well, there hasn’t been all that many people saved during the Church age.” Hold it, what about all the infants that have died in the third world countries for all these years, where are they? They’re going to be in the Body of Christ. Where are all the aborted babies? They’re also are going to be in the Body of Christ. So don’t think for a moment that the Body of Christ isn’t going to be humongous, but remember we’re not going to be just confined to the planet when we rule and reign, but rather we’re going to rule and reign in the heavenlies. I’m convinced the whole sphere of outer space is going to be our domain. We are going to have all kinds of room, and we’re going to serve Him with joy unspeakable, and how is all that going to begin?

I Corinthians 15:51,52

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; (Something that has been kept secret, something that is not in the Old Testament, it’s not in the Four Gospels, it’s not in the Book of Acts, but here it comes from the pen of this apostle. A secret that) We shall not all sleep, (die) but we shall all be changed,” Now that’s common sense isn’t it? If we’re not going to die and have a resurrection body then we’ve got to have a new body. And he explains that in verse 52.

“In a moment, (In the Greek that means the smallest division of time) in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; (Now this has nothing to do with the trumpets in the Book of Revelation. Don’t ever limit God. You know I get so disturbed that people always try to put God in a box. Just because there is a trumpet back in Revelation they think He’s only got one and He has to use it here also. No, God has all kinds of trumpets, and He’s going to use this one for the Church.) for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,(There’s the resurrection of the dead believers, called out of the graves wherever they are, whether in the ocean, or in a cave, cemetery or wherever.) and we (who are alive) shall be changed.” Now hold it right there and let’s go back to the Book of Philippians Chapter 3 and let’s qualify that from another portion of Scripture.

Philippians 3:20-21

“For our conversation (citizenship, we are already citizens of Heaven) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, (Not the King) the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile (Corrupt, prone to death) body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, (the one He walked with those 40 days after His resurrection) according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

The Body He had during those 40 days was so supernatural, He didn’t have to go to the door to enter and leave. Christ wasn’t limited by time and space, and that’s not gobbledy-gook, but Scriptural fact, and that’s the kind of body that we’re going to have. We’re limited to the physical aspect of this old planet, but when we get into the eternal, it’s a whole new ball game. Now for a moment let’s come back to I Corinthians Chapter 15. And so we will be raised incorruptible, and changed into a glorious body like His resurrected body. Now verse 53:

I Corinthians 15:53,54

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on in corruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality,…” We need to go for comparison to I Thessalonians Chapter 4, and here is the “Blessed Hope” as Paul writes to Titus.

Titus 2:13,14a

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Who gave himself for us,…” Now in Thessalonians 4, beginning with verse 13, and again Paul uses that word “ignorant.”

I Thessalonians 4:13,14

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, (don’t go through life and not understand these things. Even for believers. You know of believers who have no concept of this, but here it is.)brethren, concerning them which are asleep, (died in Christ) that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” And in this next verse is your qualification for being in the Rapture of the Church. If you are alive when it happens and you have believed with all your heart the Gospel of our Salvation as found in I Corinthians 15:1-4)

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, (do you see how plain that is?) even so them also which sleep (or have died) in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Now there is another instance where the Name Jesus and God are used interchangeably. The God that is coming for the saints is Jesus. Jesus is the God Who is coming with the saints. Do you see that. You can’t separate it, I mean they’re the same. Now verse 15:

I Thessalonians 4:15,16

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, (Remember as Paul wrote this The Lord Himself revealed this to him from His place in Heaven.) that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (that is for the Body of Christ, the Church) shall not prevent (or go ahead of ) them which are asleep.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: (The same one He uses in I Corinthians 15) and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

This will be in resurrection power when they hear the voice to come forth just like Lazarus did, only they’re going to come out in resurrection power never to die again, and they’re going to be drawn up to meet Him in the air. So the dead in Christ will go first, but in the next split second:

I Thessalonians 4:17

“Then (in the next split second) we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them (they have already received their new bodies coming out of the grave and we’re going to join them) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: (And then Paul says) and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Now in verse 17 the two words “caught up” are the two words that comprise the word “Rapture.” Now I know the word Rapture isn’t in here but “caught up” is and it’s the same meaning. Then Paul says”

I Thessalonians 4:18

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”