Practical Godly Living - Les Feldick

 Practical Godly Living 

 Les Feldick

 

I Peter 2:15 - 3:22

Okay, I Peter chapter 3 and we’re in verse 20. In the last lesson, as we closed, we were talking about Noah’s Flood, and how Christ related to it when He went down into Paradise. And we also covered that the atoning blood had never been shed until Christ died. Before that, animal’s blood could not atone for sin, only cover it up, and so the Old Testament saints could not go into Glory when they died.

Now, of course, some of you have probably been thinking (and I get the question once in a while), what about Enoch and Elijah? Well, you see, Enoch and Elijah, so far as we know, have never died physically, so their day is still coming. How God’s going to do it, I don’t know. The rank and file of believers in the Old Testament were not allowed up to Glory until the atoning blood had been shed. All right now, I guess we’d better read verse 18 to get the flow.

I Peter 3:18-20

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened (or alive) by the Spirit: (so He was in the Spirit) 19. By which also he went and preached unto the (Old Testament believers) spirits in prison; 20. Which sometimes were disobedient, (of course, every human being has been in that position.) when once the long-suffering (and patience) of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, (after the years of preparation for the ark. A hundred and twenty years, remember) eight souls were saved by water."

Now that throws a curve at some people; they think the water saved them when actually it drowned everybody else. Well, it was the water, you see, that was the judgment of God on unbelieving mankind; but the believers escaped the judgment because of the ark floating in the water. And that’s where the water comes in. All right, let’s go in to verse 21 and we can probably clarify.

I Peter 3:21-22

"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: 22. Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him."

All right, now then, let’s just take all three of these verses together going back again to verse 20. While Noah was preparing the ark, a hundred and twenty years, every hammer blow, everything that was taking place was a sermon of coming judgment to the people of Noah’s day. They knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was about to happen. Now, of course, they didn’t know what because they wouldn’t believe a word God said anyway. Well, you see, there again, we’re in the same situation today. I think the world, in general, out there knows that something is about to happen. If they don’t, they’ve got their head in the sand. And as I’ve been stressing once in while on the program, but especially in my classes in Oklahoma, why are we all of a sudden hearing all of this language of Weapons of Mass Destruction? It’s everywhere. Everybody’s got them. We’re not alone. Iraq isn’t alone. They’ve all got them.

Iris and I were talking about it coming up today. I’ve always said, for the last thirty years at least, that I do not expect any nuclear holocaust to begin until we’re in the Tribulation - or they are – we’re not going to be here. But, once the Tribulation starts, then these Weapons of Mass Destruction will be waiting to fulfill everything that Scripture says is going to happen to this world in God’s wrath. So everything is getting ready. But, I do not see it happening until the Tribulation.

There may be a small event, but I do not look for someone to go and ‘nuke’ some big populated area which, in turn, will trigger the enemy to recriminate back. I don’t look for that because that will just start the chain reaction that will bring about the whole planet’s destruction, which will come in the closing days of the Tribulation. So what the world should realize tonight is that everything is getting ready. The stage is being set. And I don’t set dates. I came close one time a few years ago and I was left with egg on my face - I’ll never do that again. But, we are getting close. Whether it’s three years, five years, seven years - I don’t think it will be much longer than that, but who knows? But the world is getting ready. All these Weapons of Mass Destruction are being accumulated everywhere, and once they start using them on one another, who’s going to stop it? And so the world is getting ripe for judgment.

And at the same time, the moral fabric of the world is rotting so fast it scares us to death. But God’s finally going to say, "Enough!" and then His wrath and judgment will fall. All right, now it was the same way, of course, leading up to the flood - they, too, were such a wicked generation. Violence was filling the earth, Genesis said. And God says, "I’m going to destroy them." But, He still had that little tiny remnant of believers, so He brings about Noah building the ark so that it can be a place of safety for those few believers that were left.

Now remember when we talk about "few," there must have been almost four or five billion people on the earth in Noah’s day and they all went except eight. Babies. Women. Children. Nobody was spared. Everything went under the horrors of the flood, except the eight who were in the ark of safety. Now the ark of safety was just that because of (now come back with me to Genesis for a moment) the makeup of the ark. And the ark is always just a box. The other word for ark in the Old Testament is a coffin and a coffin is not shaped like a boat. A coffin is rectangular. It’s a box. Well, so was the ark of Noah’s time. It was a big rectangular box. All right, Genesis chapter 6 verse 13 and 14.

Genesis 6:13a

"And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them;…" My does that ring a bell? I just heard again on the radio coming up, they blew up another bus in Haifa, Israel. Killed another what? Fifteen Israelis. See? It’s everywhere. All around the planet. Violence. The taking of human life one way or another. All right, and so God says:

Genesis 6:13b

"…and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." Now we also know that when God put the rainbow in the sky, it was a promise that He would never again destroy the earth with water. But Peter is going to tell us, here in a few more programs, that He will destroy it the next time with fire. And so that is still coming, but He will never again destroy it with water. But here He did. Now then, verse 14. God’s instruction to Noah was to:

Genesis 6:14

"Make thee an ark (make a box, make a coffin, a huge one) of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, (and now here comes the kicker) and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." Now pitch, of course, was tar, or at least that’s what we would call it. It was a tar-like substance that would seal all of the seams between the boards, or the logs or whatever they used. So, the pitch is what really was the thing that made the ark a place of safety. It couldn’t leak because of that tar sealing. Now it’s interesting that the same word translated ‘pitch’ here in this verse is translated ‘atonement’ in other places. So the pitch in Noah’s ark became then in type, the atonement that guaranteed the safety of those in the ark. That’s the whole picture. The ark was a place of safety going through the waters of judgment.

That’s the whole idea of the flood - to teach us that God is going to bring through that segment of believers because of the pitch that sealed out the water of judgment. And that’s why, back when we teach Genesis, we always teach the ark as a picture also of our salvation. That the blood of Christ is what seals out the wrath and the judgment of God that’ll never touch us, no more than the flood water ever touched Noah and their families.

And so, here is the whole picture, that the ark became a place of salvation for these eight people in the midst of horrendous wrath and judgment on the rest of humanity. All right, now then, maybe this will make a little sense when you come back to I Peter.

I Peter 3:20b

"…eight souls were saved by water." They were saved by or through the water, because the water destroyed all of the wicked generation, and the ark floating in the water was the salvation of these who escaped.

All right, now then, maybe this will help us a little bit - verse 21. Now remember, this is Peter, this isn’t Paul. Peter is coming out of that Jewish mentality of water, water, water. And it began way back when God told Moses that the Children of Israel would be a kingdom of priests. And then you go into Leviticus chapter 8 and you get the picture. What did the priests have to go through to start his service as a priest? Wash, wash, wash in water. All right, you come all the way up through and you get type after type. Naaman, the Syrian general was plagued with leprosy and he bit his pride enough to go and find old Elisha. But then his pride really got stomped in the mud when Elisha didn’t even go out himself - he sent his servant boy who told Naaman to go dip in the Jordan seven times. Well, what a come down.

And I imagine old Naaman thought, "What’s the matter with that Jew, why didn’t he come out and tell me himself?" Well, he was just putting Naaman down where he belonged. See? And so he sends his servant boy out and tells Naaman, "You go dip in the Jordan seven times." Well, what was the response of this Syrian general? "That filthy Jordan? You know, it’s just a little creek. I’m supposed to get into that when there’s a beautiful freshwater river flowing through Damascus?" Well, it wasn’t the idea of whether the Jordan would take away his leprosy; it was his faith. And he did what Elisha told him to do. He finally did go and dip seven times in the Jordan and his leprosy was cured.

All right, the water didn’t do it; it was his faith. And so all the way up through the Old Testament you have this washing. So then you come all the way up to Christ’s own baptism. Why did He demand baptism? Not because He had sin to be cleansed of. Not because He needed identification with Israel (that was obvious through His genealogy). But what’s He getting ready for? A priesthood - so as a priest He, too, had to signify it with a washing. And so that, as far as I’m concerned, was the reason for Christ’s demanding baptism by John; to prepare Him for His priesthood as the priest after the order of Melchisedec and so forth. Now, when you bring all that in here, Peter is still of the water mentality. He can’t help it, and I’ll show you why.

Come to II Peter, now I’m going to jump ahead a few weeks but you bear with me. We’re going to hit it again when I get there because I love these two verses like you can’t believe. II Peter 3:15. You’ve heard me use them over and over on the program and here in Oklahoma.

II Peter 3:15a

"And account (or understand) that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;…" That’s the whole purpose of this Book - to bring lost humanity to a place of salvation. All right, so Peter is showing it even here.

II Peter 3:15b

"…that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation;…" People read and read and they don’t read it. Somebody just told me the other day, they had read a verse many times and they finally saw it for the first time. Well it’s typical. And so I’m sure the same thing happens here. I can read it and most people don’t get what I’m driving at. But Peter says:

II Peter 3:15c

"…even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;" What is Peter admitting? That Paul has a knowledge that he can’t comprehend. And Paul makes it so plain in Galatians chapter 2, "When we compared our notes, they didn’t add anything to me." Speaking of the Twelve. But, he said, "I added a whole truckload to them." Because he had so many more revelations. And they couldn’t comprehend it, Peter still can’t. And this is at almost his dying day. I think Peter was martyred just shortly after he finished this II Peter. So he says: "Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him (the revelation of the mysteries) hath written unto you;" (I think referring to the book of Hebrews, but now look at verse 16.)

II Peter 3:16a

"As also in all his epistles, (that’s Romans through Philemon) speaking in them of these things;…" What things? Salvation! See that’s why he’s been saying all that. You won’t find the plan of salvation in these little Jewish epistles. Peter says, "You go to Paul". All right, so you go to Paul’s epistles, where it’s speaking of these things pertaining to salvation. Now here’s the part I like.

II Peter 3:16b

"…in which (Paul’s epistles) are some things hard to be understood,…" Hey, this is at the end of Peter’s life. This is some 28 years after Paul’s conversion, or more, and still Peter doesn’t get it. Well, he wasn’t supposed to. God didn’t expect him to. Peter is still of that Jewish mentality. Peter is still more tied to the Law than he is to Paul’s Gospel of Grace, and so he could never quite get it all straight.

II Peter 3:16c

"…which they that are unlearned and unstable (and I don’t think it necessarily means that they haven’t been to seminary. But they haven’t been enlightened by the Holy Spirit) wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." But they don’t stop with Paul, they twist what? They twist all of them. They twist them all to fit their own doctrines and their own theology. But, what’s going to be their end? "Their own destruction." The Book says it, I don’t! That’s not a very kind word, I know it isn’t. But that’s what they’re going to get because they have twisted the Scriptures and they have avoided the Truth.

All right, now then let’s go back and hopefully not rile too many people and get them too angry - but here is not what Peter is referring to as our understanding of baptism. But remember that baptism, in its true definition, is placing something "into." Now again I can use all kinds of references that were not water. When Israel came out of Egypt, they went through the Red Sea. The Scripture tells us that Israel was "baptized into Moses." They weren’t baptized by the water, they went on dry ground, the dust was around them, not water. And so they were placed into Moses’ leadership and the cloud. They were placed into that.

All right, now then you come along and what’s the next one? Well, Christ Himself was placed, by virtue of that water baptism, into a priesthood. The other one I thought of was Christ at His Passion. As he was approaching Gethsemane, what did He tell the Twelve – or the Eleven – "I have a baptism that you know nothing of." Can you be baptized with it? And I think Peter glibly said, "Yes we can," and he didn’t know what he was saying; because Christ was speaking of being placed, inundated, into the sufferings and the Passion, as we call it, of that death of the cross. It was a baptism. No water, but it was a placing "into." I know the other one I wanted to use, we might as well look at this one, I Corinthians chapter 12.

We have been so programmed (the human race over the last 2,000 years), that baptism automatically means water. No it doesn’t. It merely means when something is placed "into," whether it was Moses’ leadership, Christ’s priesthood or Christ into His suffering and His Passion. Now we’ll see how Paul uses it as we are placed into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit.

I Corinthians 12:12

"For as the body (the human body) is one, and hath many members, (hands, feet, eyes, ears) and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."

Now I’m going to use an analogy. If you were to drop a heavy object on your big toe, how far does it hurt? All the way to your head. Why? Because the toe is a part of the body and it’s going to affect all of it. Now the Body of Christ is the same way. We’re all brought into the Body of Christ and if one of the members hurts, we all hurt. Christ hurts. Now come back to our text, verse 13.

I Corinthians 12:13a

"For by one Spirit (Holy Spirit) are we all (not just a few, every believer is) baptized into one body,…" How? By a work of the Holy Spirit. No water. Not a drop. But the Holy Spirit places us into the Body of Christ, and it’s called a baptism. And that’s as it should be. We have been placed into the Body of Christ, so that we can function under the headship of Christ.

My, what a position we enjoy! Not the king and His subjects. The Head of the Body and the members of the Body. Okay, so now then, maybe that can qualify that baptism doesn’t automatically mean water. Well, for Peter, of course, the flood and Noah and everything - that included a lot of water - but he’s not putting any salvation on any kind of water baptism; but he’s using it as a figure that even as baptism:

I Peter 3:21

"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:"

Now we won’t take time to go back and look, but when John the Baptist began his ministry, what was his message? "Repent." That was his message. And how were the Jews of his day to manifest that repentance? With baptism. And the same way all through Christ’s earthly ministry and on into the day of Pentecost - Peter preaches the same thing that John did. And what was it? Repentance and water baptism. Later on, Paul will tell us that John preached a baptism of repentance - totally different than where we are under this Age of Grace. In fact, I just had a conversation and my idea is that, today, repentance is not a prerequisite for salvation; it’s the result of it. It’s the result. Because when we’re saved, we’re going to change directions and that’s what repentance is all about. But see, so many people put the cart out in front of the horse. You’ve got to repent first and then get saved. Hey, that’s the flesh talking. The flesh won’t save anybody. But, when you let the Spirit convict, and you let the Spirit bring us into a place of salvation; then, we’re going to experience a repentance. We’re going to experience a change of lifestyle and all these things. All right, verse 22 and, remember, we ended verse 21 with "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:"

Now you want to remember, these Jews of Peter’s day are only shortly removed from the crucifixion. Their Messiah was put to death. And they have to be constantly reminded that He’s no longer dead, He’s alive. He’s up in Glory waiting to return in order to bring these people into the Kingdom. That’s what they were waiting for. The King and the Kingdom. So Peter again reminds them that this One Who was crucified and has gone into Heaven now in verse 22:

I Peter 3:22

"Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him." What does that mean? Even though He had become man, and even though He had died the horrible death of the cross, God raised Him from the dead and His power is just as supreme, if not more so, than ever before. And that’s what the Scripture says, "Therefore God hath highly exalted Him so that His name is above every name." The world doesn’t like to buy that today, do they? But it’s true.

The Kingdom of God, The Kingdom of Heaven and The Body of Christ

 - 19 Video's - By Les Feldick

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Is THE "'Great Commission" FOR THIS AGE? - Dee L. McCroskey

Is THE "'Great Commission" FOR THIS AGE? 

 Dee L. McCroskey

MISUNDERSTANDING of Matthew 28:19-20, the so-called "Great Commission," is the cause of a great deal of damaging confusion among Christians today. It is not a hard scripture to understand and place properly in God's order of things, as we shall see. Yet the ignorance, even among fundamental preachers, on this subject is amazing. This so-called commission reads:

"Go ye therefore; and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

The first thing that ought to arrest the thoughtful Christian is the fact that the very disciples to whom this command was given never practiced it themselves. They are told here to baptize in the name of all three Persons of the Trinity. But as they went about preaching in the Book of the Acts they did not baptize in the name of the Trinity, but always in the name of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as for going into all nations, Peter didn't want to go to any Gentiles at all (Acts 10), and yet he was there the day the "Great Commission" was given. This commission is not for the present age.

The Book of Matthew

To understand this command in Matthew 28:19-20, we need to make use of the principle of rightly dividing the Word of truth, as we have it in II Tim. 2:15. The first step in "rightly dividing" is to learn the difference among the three great companies of humans that God's Word deals with, namely, Jews, Gentiles and the Church. By Jews we mean here Israel as a nation, and not individual Jews. See I Cor. 10:32 and I Cor. 1:22-24.

The book of Matthew is not doctrine for the Lord's Church of today. The Church did not even exist at that time. Matthew is a Kingdom book and also a National book. It presents Jesus Christ as the King of Israel and looks forward to the time when He will come to earth again and set up His Kingdom, with Israel, or the Jewish race, as His chosen nation. It also deals with the Gentiles as NATIONS, as well as individuals.

The Message tor the Nations

The 24th chapter is the Great Tribulation chapter. That is the little period which must follow the present Church age and will precede the setting up of His Kingdom on earth. A careful reading of the whole chapter will be edifying, but we will quote the 14th verse just now:

"And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all NATIONS; and then shall the end come."

End of what? The answer is in verse three, and our English Bibles render it "end of the world." But it is not the end of the world, for many more things are to happen after this. It should have been translated "the end of the age," as it is in most well-edited margins. It is speaking of the end of the Tribulation age. The Lord will raise up certain Jewish servants during the Tribulation and they will go back to the message of John the Baptist, preaching. the gospel of the Kingdom, and then shall the end of the age come.

These Jewish servants of Matthew 24:14 appear to be the 144,000 sealed men of Rev. 7:4. They are all Jews, 12,000 from each tribe. Their message will be: "Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand."

The Judgment of the Nations

Now we turn to the 26th chapter of Matthew and see God's great program for the nations coming to a close. The divine King comes to earth and sets up His Kingdom throne. He immediately orders the nations of the earth before Him for judgment. The nations, probably represented by their governments, are divided into two classes, namely the sheep nations whom He places on His right hand, and the goat nations whom He places on His left.

"And before Him shall be gathered all NATIONS, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Read Matthew 25:31-46.

The nations have been preached to; they know about the coming of the King and of His Kingdom. Some have taken heed and treated the Jewish remnant kindly. Others have persecuted them terribly and will be sentenced to the everlasting fire for their crimes. Those nations which by then have a record of showing kindness to the Jewish remnant for Christ's sake, will be told: "Come ye blessed, into the Kingdom."

Nations Already Lining Up

It is possible that the great nations of set up His Kingdom, with Israel, or the Jewish race, as His chosen nation. It also deals with the Gentiles as NATIONS, as well as individuals.

The Message tor the Nations

The 24th chapter is the Great Tribulation chapter. That is the little period which must follow the present Church age and will precede the setting up of His Kingdom on earth. A careful reading of the whole chapter will be edifying, but we will quote the 14th verse just now:

"And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all NATIONS; and then shall the end come."

End of what? The answer is in verse three, and our English Bibles render it "end of the world." But it is not the end of the world, for many more things are to happen after this. It should have been translated "the end of the age," as it is in most well-edited margins. It is speaking of the end of the Tribulation age. The Lord will raise up certain Jewish servants during the Tribulation and they will go back to the message of John the Baptist, preaching. the gospel of the Kingdom, and then shall the end of the age come.

These Jewish servants of Matthew 24:14 appear to be the 144,000 sealed men of Rev. 7:4. They are all Jews, 12,000 from each tribe. Their message will be: "Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand."

The Judgment of the Nations

Now we turn to the 26th chapter of Matthew and see God's great program for the nations coming to a close. The divine King comes to earth and sets up His Kingdom throne. He immediately orders the nations of the earth before Him for judgment. The nations, probably represented by their governments, are divided into two classes, namely the sheep nations whom He places on His right hand, and the goat nations whom He places on His left.

"And before Him shall be gathered all NATIONS, and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Read Matthew 25:31-46.

The nations have been preached to; they know about the coming of the King and of His Kingdom. Some have taken heed and treated the Jewish remnant kindly. Others have persecuted them terribly and will be sentenced to the everlasting fire for their crimes. Those nations which by then have a record of showing kindness to the Jewish remnant for Christ's sake, will be told: "Come ye blessed, into the Kingdom."

Nations Already Lining Up

It is possible that the great nations of •"Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?"

But as He looked upon them in Matt. 28:18, He began to speak in prophetic terms, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all NATIONS," etc. They knew, and we know, that "all power" is not given Him in earth yet. Satan is declared by holy writ to be the present God of this world. With the world in its present violent and corrupt condition it would be accusing God's Son of criminal negligence to say He possesses "all power" in earth today.

But He spoke to the disciples that day as representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel, whom He will gather to their Land when He sets up the Kingdom. In that day He will reign on earth, on the throne of His father David, and will possess "all power." And He will reign until his enemies are made His footstool. He even taught His people how to pray in the Tribulation period, a prayer now misused as a Church prayer, and referred to as "The Lord's prayer." -In the Tribulation they will know the reality of praying, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." In other words, that He will hasten the day when "all power" is given Him on earth.

How wonderful and blessed it is that God has a great plan for the peace-loving Gentile nations, as well as for His special nation Israel. With His coming to the earth again, the glorious and triumphant Son of the living God will quickly assert the fact that all power is at last given Him. The peace-loving nations will acknowledge this with joy. The violent ones will be erased from the earth. His invitation to the sheep nations will be: "Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34.

The Sheep Nations

Some of these peaceful, sheep nations are named in the Word of God as those to go into the Kingdom. One is Ethiopia, that will stretch out her hands unto God and princes shall come out of Egypt (Psalm 68:31). There is Tarshish, another blessed nation in the Scriptures, along with the "young lions," her dominions. It is her ships in Isa. 60:9 that bring the outcasts of Israel back to their land. She is also a haven of safety for them in Isaiah 66:19. There is a strange nation described in Isa. 18, which some believe to be the U.S.A. Whether it is or not remains to be seen, but in that day this nation brings a present to the Lord of hosts.

The Baptism of the Nations

As the scene for the judgment of the nations of the earth becomes clear to us we can begin to see our Lord's great desire to draw the sheep nations closer to Himself. He calls His Jewish servants together and says: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." He allays their fears with the comforting words that He will be with them, even unto the end of the age.

Just what kind of a baptism this will be, is not told us here except that it will be in the name of the Trinity. It is most important to realize that this command has no reference to water baptism in this age, nor to the message for today. We are to preach the gospel to individual sinners, showing them that Christ died for their sins and that eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Nor does the Lord's Church today wait for the Kingdom to come in. We wait for the Lord Himself to come, who shall "change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto His glorious body."

Recovery Of Truth - O'Hair - YouTube

 How God Saves Men

Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.

Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.

Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4

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THE CHURCH WHICH IS HIS BODY David Eroh

How many times has someone asked you, "What church do you belong to?" Do you know that in the Bible you read of only one church for this dispensation or day in which we live? That Church is the Church which is Christ's Body -made up of all who put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this Church in Ephesians where speaking of the Lord Jesus he says in Chapter 1:22-23: "And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." Notice, it says "the Church" - one Church, which is His Body. Also notice it says this again in Colossians 1:18, "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church." There is one church; the Body and the Church are one and the same.

Paul says the same thing in Colossians 1:24, "Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body's sake, which is the Church." Again we see one Church, which is His Body; all believers in Christ are members of that Body. Romans 12:5 tells us, "So we, being many, are one Body in Christ, and every one members one of another." In I Corinthians 12:27 we find, "Now ye are the Body of Christ, and members in particular."

How do you become a member of the one true Church which is His Body? By the baptism of God the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body." It does not say baptized into water, but into one Body. Also notice: the baptizer is the Spirit, not man. So it is the Spirit that baptizes us into the Body, the Church, where we become members one of another in Christ. This is the one baptism for the dispensation in which we live.

We also read of this one baptism by the Spirit in Romans 6:3: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?" There is no water baptism in this verse. The baptism here is into Jesus Christ, into His death; and the results are seen in verse 4 where it says: "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Water baptism could not enable anyone to walk in newness of life, but God the Holy Spirit can and does. This one baptism is also spoken of in Galatians 3:26-28: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Water baptism could never do what is spoken of in these verses. First, it could never put us into Christ - only the Spirit can do that. Remember I Corinthians 12:13 said, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body." Second, water baptism could never perform all that takes place in Galatians 3:26-28; we are baptized into Christ Jesus and put into a place where there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female. Truly, water baptism cannot begin to do this, let alone carry it through to completion. Only God can do this; only God the Holy Spirit can baptize us into the one Church which is His Body, where we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is God's work, not man's.

This operation is performed by God. Colossians 2:12-13 tells us: "Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses." Notice, it does not say buried like Him, but with Him. Also we are risen with Him, and in verse 13 we are quickened or made alive with Him. When He died, we died; when He was buried, we were buried; when He arose, we arose. God made us alive with Him. Only God can perform this operation.

This is the one baptism for this Dispensation of the Grace of God in which we live today. Paul
tells us there is only one baptism for today. Ephesians 4:4-6 says: "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Who is above all, and through all, and in you all."

So, God's Word tells us there is one Church which is His Body. Ephesians 4:4 says "one Body," and verse 5 says "one baptism" - not two or more, but one. Do you realize that in the Bible you will find twelve different baptisms? As a matter of fact, Matthew 3:11 mentions three baptisms in one verse. "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire." Here we have one baptism with water, one baptism with the Holy Spirit, and one baptism with fire. So you must agree that when you see or hear the word "baptism," it does not always mean water baptism. In this particular verse, none of these baptisms is for today.

God's Word, in Ephesians 4:5, tells us there is only one baptism for the dispensation in which we live. This is the one divine baptism by which all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior are baptized by one Spirit into His Body, the Church.

Now, let me ask you: "What church do you belong to?" Have you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Have you been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Church which is His Body? If not, will you right now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: believe that He died, was buried, and arose again? When you do this, you will at that moment be baptized into the one true Church, the Body of Christ.

Pastor David Eroh
260 Maple Street
Wheatherly,PA 18355

Accuracy in 'Proclaiming the Gospel! - Lewis Sperry Chafer

1 THE GOSPEL

The term gospel, while it means good news, is in this connection used only of that specific way of salvation which God publishes in His Word by which a meritless sinner may be perfectly and eternally saved on no other terms than that he believe on Christ as his Savior.

The preacher is appointed the demanding task of an accurate presentation of that gospel
On the basis of the fact that God has made His greatest effort—the gift of His Son—that sinners might be saved, it is reasonable to conclude that any inaccuracy in preaching which misrepresents the truth and thus misleads the unsaved will be subject to divine censure. This is precisely the unrevoked warning given in Galatians 1:8, 9. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

This anathema, which is wholly justified, should cause every preacher to tremble with fear. Over against the notion that any person with zeal— whether they have knowledge or not—can preach the gospel, is the fact that many of the greatest orthodox scholars of the world have given their lives to the task of a right understanding of that which enters fundamentally into the gospel.

Some common errors in gospel preaching are listed here:

A failure to emphasize the difference which obtains between the saved and unsaved. When exhorting the believers to a worthy manner of life and service, there is no statement made that such truths have no application to the unsaved, the result is that the unsaved are encouraged to believe that they need only to adopt the outward manner of life of the Christian to be a Christian. There is but one message to the unsaved and that does not concern his daily life, but rather his relation to Jesus Christ as Savior.

By careless language, giving the unsaved the impression that God is love and rich in mere}' and that He forgives sin directly as an act of kindness, generosity, or leniency.

God does forgive, but it is only on the righteous ground that the required penalty for sin is borne by the Savior. It is for this reason that the sinner must ^come to God by Jesus Christ and that salvation is conditioned on faith in Christ There is no need for Christ to die if God is free to make light of the sinner's sin by a mere attitude ofgraciousness apart from satisfaction because of outraged holiness.

By demanding repentance as a separate act in addition to believing on Christ This destructive error will not be committed by those who have given reasonable study to all that is involved. In the first place, repentance, according to the Bible, is a change of mind, which may, or may not, be accompanied with heart anguish.

In the second place, the repentance required— and it is required—for the salvation of a soul is included in believing. The sinner cannot turn to Christ in confidence from any other dependency without a change of mind which is repentance (cf. 1 Thess. 1:9, 10).
No measurement will ever be made in this world of the harm to souls that has been wrought by their having been told that they must first repent and then believe.

The preacher will do well to ponder three facts: (a) The Gospel by John, which is written that men may believe and be saved (John 20:31), never employs the word repentance; (b) that the Epistle to the Romans, written to provide the complete analysis of salvation by grace, does not use the word repentance, except 2:4, in relation to lost men;and (c) upwards of 115 times the salvation of a soul is made to depend upon believing, and 35 times on its synonym faith, apart from any other requirement whatsoever.

The one who insists that repentance is a separate act must face the question thus created as to whether the words of Christ and Paul which restrict salvation to believing, are misleading because of their inadequacy (cf. John 3:16; Acts 16:31). Since repentance is a part of believing, the term might be used as a synonym of believing, or it may be mentioned separately—as it is in a very few passages; but always as a subdivision of the one all-important theme of believing.

By the grace-shattering error of insisting that a public confession of Christ is required in addition to saving faith Only one passage is involved in this discussion; "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom 10:9, 10).

A thoughtless use of this passage implies that the confession referred to is a confession to men; not remembering that a very considerable percentage of those who are saved accept Christ at a time and place where no public confession is possible. The confession is that of the soul electing Christ as Savior and is to God alone.

As Abraham said Amen (Gen. 15:6) to the promise of God and was by that faith counted righteous, so, in like manner, from his own heart and as the expression of his own confidence, the sinner acknowledges to God that Christ is his Savior.

A sinner, having accepted Christ, may confess Him as a testimony; but that is far removed from the notion that to be saved one must both believe and confess Christ before men. If this double requirement were really God's will. He could not have left out the idea of confession from any one of the 150 passages which condition salvation on faith alone.

By requiring one to believe and be baptized. Again but one text is in evidence (Mark 16:16), and but half of that, for, when the negative side of the declaration is presented, the word baptize is omitted.

In this consideration, the same arresting fact remains that if water baptism is essential to salvation, every other New Testament declaration is woefully inadequate and to that extent misleading, and the thief on the cross—saved directly by the authority of Christ—was a notable exception.

Certainly, according to human experience, the vast majority of people are saved before they are baptized with water and multitudes have never been thus baptized at all.

There is much, indeed, to commend the contention that the baptism referred to in Mark 16:16 is not water baptism but is the baptism with the Spirit

By requiring that one accept Christ and agree to a certain manner of life. The practice of confusing the gospel with the manner of life a person should live after he is saved, is calculated not only to distract the attention of the unsaved from the gospel, but to defeat the very power and effect of it

It cannot be too strongly urged that God is not calling on the unsaved to adopt a manner of life, but He is offering to them His gift which is eternal life.

Nor should the truth be overlooked that the unsaved have no spiritual capacity by which they can face the problems of a Christian's daily life. Those problems belong to a Spirit-guided mind and demand for their solution the presence of those new desires which come with regeneration.

By demanding that one believe and ask for salvation. Since God is propitious (1 John 2:2), it is wholly out of order to ask Him to save, as though He must be persuaded to do what He, at infinite cost. has prepared to do.

The incident of the publican in the temple (Luke 18:13) is too often assumed to be the norm for the sinner who would be saved under grace. The setting is before the death of Christ and reflects the relationships that existed in the Jewish era.

Though the English version makes the publican to say "God be merciful to me a sinner," he really said. God be propitiated to me the sinner. At no time, either in the Old Testament or the New, may one reach God on the ground of mere mercy as such apart from needful sacrifice. The publican asked for propitiation which was a justifiable request before the cross, but wholly unjustified now.

To ask for mercy as such is to assume that God may deal with sin apart from adequate sacrifice. To ask for propitiation is to discard what Christ has done and to ask that something more effective be provided.

Men are not saved by getting God to do something; they are saved when they dare to believe that God has done something.

2 EMPHASIZING WHAT GOD EMPHASIZES

One of America's greatest Bible expositors of a past generation was often heard to pray the prayer, "Oh God, enable me to preach Thy truth in its right proportions," and the prayer was answered to a marked degree, for he was able to cover the entire range of revelation and to be saved from fads of doctrine on the one hand, and from blank omissions on the other.

This thesis, however, is restricted to phases of the gospel and the right evaluation of them on the part of the preacher. Again the theme is to be limited to but three features of God's work in the salvation of a souL Upwards of thirty-three stupendous divine undertakings constitute the salvation of a soul and all of these make their claims on the gospel preacher.

Three Divine Undertakings

The three divine undertakings to be considered—
(1) the forgiveness of sin,
(2) the gift of eternal life,
(3) imputed righteousness—are of particular importance.

The Forgiveness of Sin

As it relates to the unsaved, this theme is stressed in preaching and in the popular mind out of all proportion to the place it occupies in the Sacred Text

In the great majority of gospel sermons, no more is held before the unsaved than the forgiveness of sin, the larger company of those who are saved think of nothing more than that their sins are forgiven—to them salvation begins and ends with this—and almost every gospel hymn that undertakes to describe that which enters into salvation conceive of nothing beyond the forgiveness of sin.

There is need at this point to be reminded that a Christian is vastly more than a forgiven sinner; that is, to remove sin from a sinner does not result in a Christian. There is also addition, and in this connection two features should be considered.

The Gift of Eternal Life

The Gospel by John was written for a specific purpose: "But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name" (John 20:31).

This gospel—one of the two great salvation books of the New Testament—gives but little emphasis comparatively (cf. 1:29) to the doctrine of the forgiveness of sin and but tentative recognition to imputed righteousness; but it does stress eternal life for all who believe on Christ And the preacher who would reflect in his message the emphasis which God places on truth, will be constrained to stress the gift of God which is eternal life and in such a proportion as is marked out by the prominence of John's Gospel in the soteriology [study of salvation] of the New Testament

Imputed Righteousness

The second book of the New Testament which is specifically of salvation is the Epistle to the Romans. In fact, this Epistle, being the divine analysis of the whole plan and scope of the saving grace of God, will indicate to every attentive student that which God constitutes the center of the whole scheme of saving grace.

The purpose of the Epistle to the Romans is set forth inl:16,17, which reads "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek For therein is the righteousness of God revealed." In the phrase "therein is the righteousness of God revealed," the Apostle is not referring to the indisputable fact that God is Himself a righteous Being; he is rather asserting that the glorious truth that God has a righteousness to bestow upon all who believe is disclosed as the central aspect of the gospel of grace.

The entire structure of this foremost salvation book is the development of the theme of imputed righteousness (cf. 3:21-26; 4:1-25; 9:31 to 10:4). There is reference in the Epistle to the gift of eternal life (6:23), but almost no recognition of the forgiveness of sin-By this process of reasoning—that Romans is the central treatise on salvation and that this book declares the glorious truth of imputed righteousness—it can be demonstrated that, so far as the divine emphasis goes, imputed righteousness is the primary theme of the gospel.

Over against this disclosure is the appalling fact that the truth of imputed righteousness is almost never included in gospel preaching and is not only not understood by preacher or hearer, but to all practical purposes, does not exist.

The necessary reality accruing to a memberin the body of Christ is the righteousness which the living Head is. It is impossible to be in Christ and not partake of what He is. All this, too, is made righteously possible by the sweet savor aspect of Christ's death; but these are unknown subjects today even though they stand first in the reckoning of God.

If it be asserted that sinners cannot be expected to enter into so deep a subject as imputed righteousness, it will be observed that of three truths which the Holy Spirit brings to the unregenerate person, according to the words of Christ the second is imputed righteousness (John 16:7-11). All this but enforces the truth that the one who assays to proclaim the gospel to lost men has a great responsibility to study to show himself approved unto God.

3 THE SPIRITS WORK IN EVANGELISM

A basic fact underlying all evangelistic effort is the incapacity of the unsaved to understand the gospel or to make a decision for Christ apart from the enlightening work of the Spirit A theory has prevailed for many generations, which is not only unfounded in the Word of God, but actually contradicts that Word, namely, that God has bestowed on all men a common grace by which they can accept the Savior if they will

Of many conclusive passages which deny this, three may be quoted here: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23); "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8); "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4:3, 4).

No declaration could be more decisive than the last quoted passage, which so clearly states that, because of a Satan-imposed blindness of the mind, those who are lost cannot receive or understand the gospel of Christ This incapacity, it will be observed, is not natural but is an imposition of Satan which human argument or eloquence cannot dispel

It is possible that by the dominating influence of an evangelist, men may be inclined to do outward things with a hope that thereby they may be right with God, but salvation does not depend on outward works; it rather must come as the sinner's own choice impelled by his own vision of his Savior. Such a recognition of Christ as Savior can be generated in the human heart only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit

What a mother, or a pastor, or an evangelist sees in Christ cannot become the actuating motive for the decision of another.

The divine provision for the overcoming of this Satanic blindness is stated in the following Scripture: "And when He is come. He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment because the prince of this world is judged" (John 16:8-11).

The word convict is better rendered enlighten. The result is not a crushing sorrow for sin, as is often supposed—in truth there is but one sin in view, "that they believe not on Me"; it is an illumination respecting three cardinal features of the gospel —sin, righteousness, and judgment The sin, as before said, is one only; the righteousness is imputed righteousness which is altogether available through the invisible Savior; and the judgment is that of sin which is past and perfectly accomplished by Christ, as substitute for the sinner. It is when the unsaved become aware of these things by the illumination of the Spirit that there can be an intelligent decision for Christ, and that vision and that decision will not fade from the heart and mind in all eternity to come.

It is evident that prayer is the most effective way to secure this illumination by the Spirit in the unsaved. And, after all, prayer is the most effectual method of all soul-winning work

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Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4

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DIVIDED UNITY -Pastor J.C. O'Hair

"WITH ALL LOWLINESS, AND MEEKNESS, WITH LONGSUFFERING, FORBEARING ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE ... "ENDEAVORING TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE ... ONE BODY .. . ONE SPIRIT . . . ONE HOPE OF YOUR CALLING... ONE LORD ... ONE FAITH ... ONE BAPTISM ... ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL." Ephesians 4:2 to 7.

"BEHOLD, HOW GOOD AND HOW PLEASANT IT IS FOR BRETHREN TO DWELL TOGETHER IN UNITY." Psalm 133:1

"To us there is one God the Father ... and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, • and we by Him." I Corinthians 8:6. Here we have stated the first great important doctrine of Christian unity. The Lord Jesus Christ said, "I and my Father are one." There is one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus." "We are sanctified through the offersing of the body of Jesus Christ once-for-all." Hebrews 10:10. That once-for-all offering, the Lord Jesus Christ called His "baptism". Luke 12:50. On the cross of Calvary the Lord Jesus Christ was baptized into dealh. "So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death." Romans 6:3. Christ was buried. Christ was raised. Christ is seated in the highest heavenlies, Head over all things unto the Church, which is His Body. Ephesians 1:9 to 22.

Members of Chrises Body are buried with Him by baptism into death. Romans 6:4. They are raised to seek those things which are . above where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Colossians 3:1 to 4. Members of Christ's Body are alive with Christ and seated with Christ in the highest heavenlies. They were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4. They were called, not according to works, but according to that grace and purpose of God which was given us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. 2 Timothy 1:9. They are waiting for Christ to be manifested, to be manifested with Him in glory. Colossians 3:3 and 4. Christ is in these members, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. God desires that these members should know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:18. This is the one calling that is God's basis of Christian unity. This calling was God's purpose in the eternal ages before He called Abraham and chose His servant Israel. Israel's calling is different from the calling of members of the Body of Christ. A mixture of these callings will hinder, in fact, make impossible, obedience to Ephesians 4:3; "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit."

There is one Body. There are several churches in the Bible, but God has one and only one Church for today. That Church is the Body of Christ. This Body is clearly described in Ephesians and Colossians Christ had a little flock while He was on earth. Luke 12:32 and 33. That was a kingdom flock different from the Body of Christ as to hope and calling. They were "not preaching the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God, which was committed to Paul's trust. I Timothy 1:11. They knew nothing whatever of the Body of Ephesians and Colossians. They were instructed by their Messiah as to Israel's kingdom hopes and given the gospel of the kingdom.

All sinners saved by grace, without religion, without works, without a cause, are members of Christ's Body. They are identified with Him in His "Death Baptism", which is the one baptism declared by God to be the basis for keeping the unity of the Spirit. It is utterly impossible to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by mixing Israel's water baptism with the believer's death baptism, as it is to mix Israel's hope and calling with the hope and calling of the Body of Christ. Water baptism is practiced by most of the 350 sects of the Christian Church with many different meanings and in many different ways. This is in total disregard, if not wilfull disobedience, to God's plain instructions in Ephesians 4:3 to 5. If God desires that we keep the unity of the Spirit on the basis of one baptism, which is a Divine baptism, not made with hands, it is worse than folly to make any attempt to obey God's instructions with thirty varieties of water baptism.

Can you point to a single Christian practicing water baptism who obeys Ephesians 3:9? "Make all men see what is the fellowship (administration) of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God?" If we are to make men see the mystery (the truth of the Body and the Head) with the hope-and calling of this dispensation, we must not expect to show it to them in the Scriptures concerning Israel, where there is no reference to this glorious truth, about which all of the prophets of Israel, and the Lord's twelve apostles were ignorant as well as silent; but in the writings of the man who was entrusted with this special revelation.

We shall not succeed in getting very many members of the Body of Christ to keep the unity of the Spirit, but let us endeavour in God's own way and receive God's commendation. ,..... .•

How God Saves Men

Believing Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.

Believing Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.

Read Romans 1:16, Romans 10:9-10 and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4

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