All right, if you have your Bibles, we'll start in Galatians chapter number one. Galatians chapter number one. A few weeks ago, we did a study, I think I called it Paul versus James. And I showed you some things regarding the conflict or supposed conflict between James chapter two and Romans chapter number four. And rightly dividing the word of truth is certainly how the Lord wants us to study the Bible, because he tells us to do that. And so there are no contradictions in the Bible. And so our job is to believe what the Bible says as it says it, not to rest or twist the scriptures to try to make them say what we want them to say. I think a good way to say it is we're not to try to teach what the Bible's presumed to teach. We're to just look at it and believe it, like it, what it says, how it says it. That sounds very elementary and simple. But it's so apparent when you begin to look at what takes place in evangelicalism and how preachers approach the Bible and approach text. And pretty much what they do is they make the entire Bible teach salvation the same way, just like we experience it today. That's just not the truth of the matter, if you're honest. I have to be honest with the Bible and I can't try to make the Bible be a Baptist book. The Bible is God's book. And so I find verses that clearly state that somebody is falling away like we talked about, was it last week we did Hebrews? And I think it was last week. And we talk about all of those verses in the Hebrew, in the book of Hebrews that are what we call warning passages. There's no reason so many, there's no doubt that Let me take that back. It's not surprising to me that there are many groups who think you can lose your salvation because they read verses like that. They're thinking, man, that's what this thing says. And so I think obviously they have the thing out of context doctrinally when we looked at those passages. So today we're gonna do another Paul, but this one's a little bit different. This is Paul versus Jesus. Okay? Now this is not something that's unheard of. As a matter of fact, scholars have been debating this for a long time, and a lot of unsafe scholars, they even doubt the authenticity of the Apostle Paul's writings because he's so contrary to Jesus. And so what I'm gonna show you here in Galatians chapter one, first of all, as we look at some of these things, and hopefully this is gonna clarify some things for you, but notice in verse number 11 what Paul says. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. So when I say Paul versus Jesus, yeah, there's some truth to that, but there's no truth in that because Paul says, I got what I got from Jesus Christ. So there's no contradiction, but there is a contradiction, if I can present that paradox as such. Last month, I believe it was, we were holding out signs, and this guy came up to me, and I tried to give him a gospel tract, and he didn't want it, so I started talking to him about the Lord, and immediately he got into a heated discussion. And he was going against me saying, hey, you know, you've got to endure to the end to be saved. That's what Jesus said, Matthew. And he started quoting all of these verses, and they were all verses from the words of Jesus. And I would quote him the Apostle Paul. I would quote him Ephesians 2, 8, 9, Titus 3, 5, Romans 6, 23, and Romans 10, 9 to 13, and all these other things. And then he's throwing back all this stuff. So then finally I start throwing some Gospel of John in there. Because come to find out, he only believes the words of Jesus. He's a cuckoo nut anyway. I don't know where he came from. But you could tell five seconds after talking to him, the elevator didn't go to the top floor. But somehow along the way he had memorized a lot of verses. I think the girl, y'all were standing over there, this guy was quoting a lot of verses. But he didn't want to read the rest of the Bible. So I'm gonna give you some of those verses tonight and we're gonna look at them. And this is a very classic thing. This isn't something that just popped up the other day. This has been going on for a very long time and people get confused because of these things. We're gonna first of all talk about the gospel. Okay, so Paul says the gospel that I preach is not after man. So he's talking about the gospel that he preaches. So let's go to Acts chapter number 20 and then get Matthew chapter four. And we'll see in Acts chapter number 20 the gospel that Paul preaches. And then let's look at Matthew chapter number 4. 1 Corinthians 14 33 says God is not the author of confusion. So when you find places that seem to contradict there's an explanation to that. And so rightly dividing the word of truth certainly gives us the explanation to these things. Look at Matthew chapter number 4 and then Acts chapter number 20. Notice the gospel that Paul the Apostle preaches, Acts chapter number 20. Come down to verse number 20, this is him talking to the Ephesian elders before he leaves. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit into Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." And notice how he clarifies that. It's not just the gospel. The word gospel, if you go from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the thing translates to good, glad tidings. That same word's used. And we say good news, but it's glad tidings. And the word in and of itself is a very basic word. It's God and spell, the words of God that are put forth. But you can have different words. And so we have a different gospel here. Notice he says, the gospel of the grace of God. Now go to Matthew chapter four and notice the gospel that Jesus Christ preached. Matthew chapter four, look in verse 23. Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. Okay, so notice, first of all, they're called two different things, the gospel of the kingdom, and in other places in Matthew, it's called the kingdom of heaven. And then here, Paul, in Acts chapter 20, it's called the gospel of the grace of God. Now, if you're in Matthew, let's go over to chapter 10, and notice that this gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached was only preached to Jews. Matthew chapter 10. and get Acts chapter 13 in the other hand. We'll look at Paul. Look at Matthew chapter 10. This is the Lord Jesus Christ commissioning the apostles, verses 2, 3, and 4. Verse five, these 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So that's what they were sent to, to the Jews only. Now notice in Acts chapter number 13, here's the apostle Paul, come down if you will to verse number 42. Acts chapter 13, verse 42, And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. So here's these Gentiles coming and saying, we want to hear the same thing, you just preach to those Jews. And if you back up you'll see what he preached. Look in verse 38, Actually back up to verse 37, this is the resurrection of Christ. So he preaches that to the Jews. The Gentiles show up and say, we want to hear the same stuff. And he preaches to them. Look over in Romans chapter number 1. Romans chapter 1. Very classic verse. Most of you are probably familiar with it. Look in Romans chapter 1. Start in verse 14. Romans 1.14. I am a debtor. both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That's what Paul would do. He would go to the Jew first because he had such a strong burden for the Jews and then they didn't want to hear it and he'd take it to the Gentiles. But he's preaching the same message and that message is clearly defined. Come over to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. This is the gospel we preach. I do not preach, and this sounds terrible because of when you take the You take it right on the surface, it sounds terrible. I do not preach the gospel that Jesus preached. That sounds awful, doesn't it? It's like, what do you mean? Now, if you want to say Jesus did talk about his death, burial, and resurrection, yes, he did. He prophesied of that. But when he went to preach to the Jews, he didn't say, I want you to know I'm going to die for you one day, and you have to believe on me. That's not what he preached. He preached and said, I'm the Messiah. I'm the King of the Jews. Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You call somebody a fool, you're going to be in danger of hell fire. And he started laying out all these principles of the kingdom. And so that's what you want to understand. You want to see that stark contrast of the earthly ministry of Christ. And we're going to get into it a little bit more. Notice Paul's gospel. This is exactly what we preach, 1 Corinthians 15. verse 1, "'Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel, which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, but which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.'" That's the Gospel. The gospel is that if a person will put their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, they'll be saved. All right, so notice another thing about this. Come over to, go ahead and get 2 Timothy chapter four, and then flip over to, we already read it, but Matthew four. Maybe you remember it. I'm sorry, we're gonna be turning to a lot of verses. And if you can't keep up, just put on your listening ears. Matthew chapter number 4 and 2 Timothy chapter number 4. We read Matthew 4 earlier, we read Matthew 10, but we kind of glossed over it. The gospel of the kingdom that Jesus commissioned his apostles to preach, you'll notice it goes to Jews and you'll notice it's obviously about the king and the kingdom. But in Matthew 4.23, the last part of the verse, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And so healing signs and wonders went along with that gospel. Now toward the end of Paul's ministry, you'll notice in 2 Timothy chapter four, now we notice a progression in the book of Acts. And here's where people get confused, because they still see some of the signs, wonders, and miracles in the book of Acts, and they think, oh, this is the same thing that was taking place in the earthly ministry of Christ. Well, no, it's not. Because in the earthly ministry of Christ, they're preaching a king that's going to sit on a throne. In the book of Acts, they're preaching a Savior that died and rose again from the dead. And the early part of Acts, they're still focusing on the coming king, but as that thing changes and the Jews as a nation continue to reject the king again, they rejected him the first time and crucified him. He said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. They have another opportunity, obviously, at Pentecost, and you see that thing, Acts chapter 7, Stephen is stoned in Jerusalem. There's never another miracle recorded in Jerusalem. Maybe there were some, but Jerusalem's done. Acts 13, Acts 7, Acts 13, Acts 18, and 28. Those are four periods where Israel as a corporate group basically say, we don't want it. And what you see is those signs, wonders, and miracles were there because God always bore witness to the truth to the Jewish people by way of signs. 1 Corinthians 1.22 says the Jews require a sign. When God called Moses out of Egypt and said, look, I want you to tell the Children of Israel, I'm gonna deliver them and take them out of Egypt He goes who am I gonna tell them that you are you tell them that I am he says you is what? You just tell them that I am that I am and he says they're not gonna believe me He said okay stick your hand in you coat pull it out It's lepers Put it back in. Pull it out. It's clean. Throw your staff on the ground. He throws it down and turns it into a snake. He says, by these two signs, they will believe. And he starts the nation off with signs and wonders and miracles. That's how he proves who he is. And he does that in the book of Acts. Any time you read of tongues in the book of Acts, or three times it pops up in the book of Acts, there's always a Jew there. Always. Tongues are for a sign. Not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. So you still have those sign ministry gifts because they're given to the apostles and their converts. Mark chapter 16, he said, these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name, they shall cast out devils. They shall speak with new tongues. If they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. The modern charismatics, they just wanna go with the tongues part and the fake healing, because nobody's really getting healed. It's just a bunch of fake stuff. But they don't want to do the poison. Some mountain people up there in North Georgia and Carolina, they go ahead and do the snakes. And eventually they die when they get enough snake venom in them. But they find a snake that's already bit 15 or 20 people and they let it bite them and they survive and they think, oh yeah, see, I have the power. No, there's no more venom left, man. He gives those signed gifts to the Apostles and their converts and what we see here in 2 Timothy chapter 4 here is Paul at the end of his ministry before he dies. Notice what he says here about Trophimus here. Come down to the end of the letter. 2 Timothy chapter 4. I don't even see the verse. Who's got it? What verse is that? Where is Trophimus at? 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse number 20. Why did you leave him there sick? Why didn't you heal him? He had the power to heal Publius in Acts chapter 28. The guy wasn't even a believer, didn't even have faith. You ever read Mark 6 about people that didn't have faith and the Bible says he could do no mighty work save he laid his hands on a few sick folk and healed them? There's only one passage in the book of Acts that implies that somebody had to have faith in order to be healed, and that's the one passage all the Charismatics go to. They forget all the other verses. Mark 6, they didn't have faith, they were unbelievers, and he couldn't do mighty works because of their unbelief, save he laid his hand on a few sick folk. How did the people that he raised from the dead have faith? I never figured that one out. You know, the reason all the wheelchair section don't get healed at the big crusades is because they didn't have enough faith, you know, that God was going to heal them. What about the dead people? They didn't have faith. The apostles had the power to raise up dead people. So don't buy into this charismatic slop. It's been around since about 1906. It came out of a black preacher in Los Angeles, California is where it comes from, the Azusa Street Revival, a fellow named Seymour. And then it got real popular with women preachers in the early 1900s. That's the background of the charismatic movement, holiness movement. And unfortunately they just take the gospel and they just blend it like this. The gospel of the kingdom is a Jewish ministry about a king and it has signs, wonders, and miracles. And the greatest sign that Jesus ever gave was the fact that he rose from the dead. All right, so the gospel, two different gospels. The gospel of the kingdom is preached to Jews only. The gospel of the grace of God is preached to everybody, everywhere. Jew, Gentile. In Christ, there's neither Jew nor Gentile in this age. The gospel of the kingdom is a physical kingdom that's offered to Israel. The gospel of the grace of God, we preach a spiritual kingdom, the kingdom of God, that you enter into by a new birth. You become a citizen of a heavenly country by a new birth, not by a physical birth. The gospel of the kingdom is accompanied with signs, wonders, and miracles. The gospel of the grace of God, there are no signs, wonders, and miracles except what you see in the book of Acts, where you have Jews present, unbelieving Jews. And we do see that phased out in the apostolic era. The Gospel of the Kingdom obviously deals with keeping the commandments. We're going to see that here in just a second. The Gospel of the Grace of God is just that, grace without works. And the Gospel of the Kingdom mainly concerns discipleship by way of obedience. The Gospel of the Grace of God mainly concerns salvation by belief. Now let's talk about eternal life, Jesus versus Paul. What did Jesus say about eternal life? Come to Matthew 19. the entire Bible, not just the words in red. I appreciate the words in red, the words of the Lord are very important words, but you have to take them into context. Matthew chapter 19, come down if you will to verse number 16, Matthew 19, And behold, one came and said unto him, Good master, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. Notice that statement Jesus makes there. He says, Why are you calling me good? There's only one good and that's God. In other words, either I'm God or I'm not good. Go tell that to the modernist or to the Muslim or Mormon. Jesus Christ has to be God. This is a verse that claims deity. There's only one good, that is God. So if Jesus Christ is good, he has to be God. If he's good in the theological sense. Verse 17, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, which Jesus said, thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness unto thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. The young man saith unto him, all these things have I kept for my youth up, what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, notice Jesus doesn't correct him. The guy said he kept them and Jesus acknowledged that he did keep those works. There are many verses that tell you that people kept the law. That doesn't mean people are sinless, just because they kept a commandment. Verse 21, Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God, both kingdoms, one king over both kingdoms. Verse 25, when his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But when Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. Notice that Jesus Christ as far as eternal life goes, the guy asks what do I have to do to have eternal life and look what he answers him. Verse number 17. I would not answer somebody that way. Somebody says I want eternal life, I would not say keep the commandments. What happens when Paul is asked that question? Many of you are probably familiar with Acts 16, 31, sirs, what must I do to be saved? By the way, the word saved is used in the passage. You'll notice there the disciples said, who then can be saved, verse 25. Paul's asking, Acts 16, 31, what must I do to be saved? And he says, keep the commandments. No, he says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now you'll notice here that eternal life is said to be obtained by Jesus by keeping the commandments. Paul said in Romans 6.23, you all know this, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Not something that's earned by keeping commandments, okay? You're over in Mark, go to, you're in Matthew, but flip over to, I'm gonna run out of time. I tell you, let's go ahead and stay in Matthew And get Romans chapter 10, and let's look at Paul here. Let's kind of lead into what Christ said about salvation, eternal life. We're kind of blending these together. Look at Romans chapter number 10. You're familiar with this passage here, Romans chapter number 10, verses 9 to 13. that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that guideth raisin from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Look in verse 14, how then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? See that thing? Look in Romans chapter number five. Back up to Romans five. So when Paul deals with salvation, he equates being saved with believing. Look at Romans chapter number five. Verse number one, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Skip down to verse eight, but God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. That's faith, faith in his blood. And so there's no doubt about that as far as salvation goes. Now, if you're back in Matthew 19, I don't know if you left there, but if you're still there, Let's break this thing down. What is Christ talking about here? Well, notice he gives him a work to do. The guy says, I want eternal life. He says, okay, I'm going to give you something you need to do. If you want to be perfect, you need to give to the poor. And then, not just a work to do, but he gives him a way to go. He says, look in Matthew 19, verse 21, he says, come and follow me. So what you're gonna see here in the gospels in Jesus Christ's message is not gonna be one of salvation like we present it and like Paul presents it on the other side of the cross. His message is one of I'm a king and I'm getting recruits for this kingdom. Who wants to follow me? Who wants to be my disciples? You're gonna see a strong message of discipleship. As a matter of fact, you're gonna find disciples who are not even converted yet. I'm gonna show you some disciples who don't even believe. Now you can't be saved and not be a believer. Everybody see the difference here? So you go charging through Matthew, Mark, and Luke and trying to force all this Pauline doctrine into Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you're just gonna have to keep twisting the words of Jesus. Jesus is saying, hey, I want a disciple, I want somebody to follow me. Look in Matthew chapter 16, we'll see it real plain. You want to make sure you make a distinction between discipleship and salvation. It's kind of like this. Somebody can get saved, like our missionary letters, talking about these guys who got saved, but now he's praying that they come to church because they have such a strong pull toward the old organizations and things that they were members of, they don't want to leave because of monetary reasons. I mean, it's not that hard for us here in America. You don't lose your social security if you join our church. Different countries, you know, you can actually be punished monetarily for being baptized. There's some places, I don't know if Germany's still that way or not, but once you come out of the state church system, your social security and retirement and all that stuff's tied into the church. So once you dismember ship from the church, you lose money in your pocketbook. And how many don't wanna, how many get saved but they're not gonna come out of the Lutheran church if that's the case? I say that loosely because that was years ago. I don't know if it still is. But how many is gonna really be a disciple? So what are you gonna do, be a Calvinist and say, well, they're not truly saved unless they come out. That's exactly what these evangelicals have to do to make Matthew, Mark, and Luke line up with Pauline doctrine is, they have to make every discipleship and salvation the same. So then they say, if he's not Lord of all, he's not Lord at all. And we don't need to preach that salvation's easy. Because you have to repent to get saved. Okay, what do you mean by that? You mean you got to quit all your sins? What about all the sins you're not even aware of yet? A lot of sins you're not aware of until after you get saved and you're like, oh, I didn't know that was wrong. And the Holy Spirit says, that's wrong. And you're like, oh, well, you didn't repent of that when you got saved. If repenting of your sins gets you saved, how come Jesus had to die on the cross? It's not how sorry and how remorseful you are of your sins that gets you into heaven, it's the blood of Jesus Christ that gets you into heaven. All right, so you want to understand this discipleship salvation thing, you want to make sure you see the difference. Look at Matthew chapter 16. Notice, come down to verse 24. And here's the apostle, the prince of the apostles, Simon Peter, He makes the great confession that Christ is the rock, and then he says, get behind me, Satan, verse 23. Verse 24, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. That's discipleship. Losing your life to get it. Look over in Matthew chapter 10, take a left turn. Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10, come down to verse 32. Matthew 10, 32, whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Now that's the reason a lot of the martyrs did what they did. They were scared they'd go to hell. A lot of the martyrs you read about, they're at the stake and they're holding up the crucifix. They say, you know, recant your faith. They thought if they denied the Lord right then, He wouldn't confess them. Now, of course, context of this passage, when you begin to look at the thing, He's dealing with prophecy. But, boy, this thing, you either confess or deny. Now let me show you this thing about the 11. Look in Luke 22. Luke 22. Here's Simon. supposedly, look in Luke 22, verse 31, Luke 22, 31, I thought all the disciples were saved before the cross just like we are. Why is he talking about a future conversion? Look over in John chapter number six. Let me show you some disciples who don't believe. And seeing how I'm on that train of thought, I read to you John chapter six. By the way, John is a great place to go, just like with the smart aleck I was dealing with. John has a lot of words of Christ that are Paul line compatible. In other words, John writes after Paul's epistles. So when he writes some of these words of Christ, like I've talked about these different layers, Jesus will make statements in John's gospel that is definitely applicable for us. For instance, John 3.16, one of the greatest verses in the world. Definitely a church age doctrine. But what is it looking forward and past? It's looking forward to the crucifixion and past the crucifixion because he said, God so loved the world that he gave. He already gave his son. And so you want to make sure you understand the the application of john. But notice here in john chapter six, it's a good place to go when you're just trying to answer a fool according to his folly. The guy says, Well, you know, Jesus says, you know, if we'll make one on time to turn to john Matthew chapter seven straight as the gate narrows the way and few there be that find it, you know, broad is the way that leads to destruction. Well, give him john chapter three, you know, those kind of verses. I'm not trying to find my own salvation. Alright, look in John chapter 6. Notice, if you will, verse number 64. But there are some of you that believe not. Look at that. Who's he talking to? Verse 66. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. You have unbelieving disciples. So this is a, I hope you can see the difference in salvation and discipleship. Somebody could be a disciple under the ministry of Christ, and this is obviously a situation where they're not following him like they're supposed to, and they don't believe. Now, with this thing of belief, think with me with this. For someone to be saved in the church age, they have to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he died on the cross for their sins, was buried, rose again from the dead the third day, amen? Well, that discounts all 12. until John ran in. So people say, well, they're saved before Christ dies on the cross, they're saved just like us. They don't even believe in the crucifixion, the death, burial, and resurrection. And Peter grabs him when he says, I'm going to the cross. Matthew 16, he grabs him and says, no you're not. You mean he's saved just like we are by looking forward to the cross and we're looking back when he tried to stop Christ from going to the cross? They did not understand the crucifixion. They did not understand that he was going to be a substitutionary death for our sins. They didn't get that. They were looking for a king to rule and reign. And then he got the crown of thorns instead. They didn't believe in the resurrection until after the resurrection. So you wanna make sure you don't just go charging through there. Now there are some verses, John's a great place for that because John writes after Paul's epistles. So we have a lot of Pauline doctrine that works really well with John. And then there'll be some places like Luke chapter number seven where he says, thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace. Okay, she has faith. What does she have faith in? She has faith in this guy that's a miracle worker, the Messiah, that he can heal her. She doesn't have faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Only two people, I think, that really got a hold of this thing pre-crucifixion, that would have been John the Baptist, well maybe three, maybe Mary. Maybe she had some, his mother, maybe. But John the Baptist, he said, behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. There's a lot in that. Passover lamb, Exodus chapter 12, and then Mary of Bethany that anointed him. He said, she's anointed my body before the burial, and wheresoever this gospel is preached, this that she's done should be spoken of in memorial of her. Maybe she had some inclination of that. But outside of that, they didn't look forward to the cross for their salvation. And so Jesus did not preach this gospel of grace, that salvation is by grace through faith in his finished work. You'll see some of this stuff bleed through in John, the stuff about belief, and that's definitely applicable because of the emphasis on belief in our gospel that we preach. Let's get one more, a couple more maybe, and we have to wrap it up. Go to Ephesians 1 and then Matthew 24, because this will be one that people will quote you. As a matter of fact, all of your cults teach what Jesus taught regarding salvation, that you have to keep the commandments and you've got to endure to the end. If you get in an argument with a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon, they're going to quote these verses because they do not believe in salvation by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ. They believe you have to work and they're going to use Bible verses to justify it. The devil knows the Bible better than any preacher. These cults, they have what power they have because they twist and use the Bible. Ephesians chapter one, and let's compare it to Matthew 24. This is also quoted in Matthew 10, that passage we read a little bit ago. Matthew 24, this is the Olivet Discourse, which deals with prophecy. But people don't care about that, they just take the verse out of context. But notice what he says. Matthew 24, come down to verse number 13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Verse 14, 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. So notice that gospel of the kingdom and notice the message, verse 13, endure to the end. And so that's why what you find in the transition period in the three and a half years of the earthly ministry of Christ, that gospel of the kingdom comes back in the Great Tribulation which is a three and a half year period and you'll find that Gospel of the Kingdom preached to the Jews, same thing. And the reason it's so important is because at both places the Kingdom is being presented. John the Baptist is the herald of the Messiah, we know Elijah the prophet will return as one of the witnesses, Malachi chapter 3, Malachi chapter 4. And he will be there to bring on the kingdom before the king shows up at the second advent. So that's why you have the similarities of the gospel of the kingdom being preached in the transition, the earthly ministry of Christ, because that kingdom is being presented to Israel. Israel turns down that kingdom, so the kingdom goes into what we call mystery form. And you have the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. And so Matthew 13, you start reading about these parables and stuff. And so that thing goes in mystery form because the thing gets postponed. and the Jews don't want the message. And so as the gospel is postponed, the gospel of the kingdom, God saves the apostle Paul, he gives him special revelation, and Paul the apostle is given some information that is not given prior to, is not unveiled, I should say, prior to Paul getting the material, and he writes these epistles like Ephesians and Colossians, and he lays out the mystery of the body of Christ, the church. And he preaches the gospel of the grace of God. So I hope you see that distinction. Look in Ephesians chapter one and notice a huge difference. He doesn't tell these Ephesians that they really worked hard and now they have gotten salvation. Look what he says. Ephesians chapter one, verse number 12, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ and whom you also trusted. After that, you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. You trusted, you believed. And when you trusted, when you believed on Christ, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. I don't have to go to Ephesians 2, 8, 9, Titus 3, 5, y'all know those verses. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Titus 3, 5, not by works of righteousness which we've done, but according to his mercy he saved us. And so you understand that difference. The last days are definitely different when you take Paul versus Jesus. Matthew 24, Paul picks up right where Daniel left off. There's no mention of the church anywhere in Matthew 24. He goes completely over it. You say, why? The church is a mystery. It's kind of like your clock. and that thing is ticking, ticking, ticking, all of a sudden it stops. Time's still going on, but the clock's not moving. So as far as God's prophetic calendar, that thing stops. with Israel's response to the message. And time's still going. There's a mystery called the mystery of the body of Christ. And people that are saved are Jews or Gentiles. They trust Jesus as their savior. They're put in that mystery. That's not something revealed in the book of Daniel with all those prophecies. So when Jesus gives the prophecy in Matthew 24, he picks right up where Daniel left off. And he goes right into the tribulation and to the second advent. Nothing about the rapture at all in Matthew 24. Paul, however, he says, I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed, this mortal. And he goes through the whole thing explaining how the body of Christ on the earth will be taken up to heaven before the tribulation takes place. and before the second advent of Christ. So that's a big distinction there, and you can notice that when you compare Paul's writings in 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, to Matthew 24, which is Christ's prophetic sermon, the Olivet Discourse. Alright, so Jesus versus Paul, who wins? Well, there is no winner. Obviously, Paul received everything he got from the Lord Jesus Christ. He said it in Galatians chapter number one. But dispensationally, you have a message that comes after Calvary. Calvary changes everything. Now I know AD doesn't mean after death, you know, BC before Christ, AD after death, you know. No, it means the Latin for in the year of our Lord is what it means. But when you think about the cross, everything hinges on the cross. And so salvation after the cross is by faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross. But prior to that, what did Jesus say in Matthew? He said, I'm not come to, we're going to study it in the sermon on the mountain that I'm preaching on. I didn't come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. He said, the law and the prophets are until John. So there's a transition going on. So in the Sermon on the Mount that I'm preaching on Sunday mornings or attempting to, there's a deeper principle with Jesus' preaching on the law, and what that shows you is that's the law when the lawmaker's on the earth. And when Jesus Christ returns and sets up his kingdom, they're under the law, but it's a whole different deal because Jesus Christ is on the earth, ruling and reigning as king. And you go to the Sermon on the Mount and try to get the gospel like we preach it, you're gonna get in all kind of trouble. Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God. I mean, I already gave you some of that stuff earlier. If you don't forgive your brother, you're not gonna get forgiven. Is the Lord gonna take his salvation back from you? There are people that actually teach that there are conditions and to say that salvation is no strings attached is heresy, according to them. I say salvation has no strings attached. God will save a sinner on his way to hell and that guy might not have lived but five minutes after he dies, he doesn't have any chance to do anything good or make up for any of the wrongs that he's ever done. There are plenty of Christians that have been saved 15, 20 years and haven't done much for God in 15 to 20 years. They're still going to heaven. All right, let's all stand. I'll just, like a chicken with his head cut off, I'll start back up. So you've got to stop me. Lord, thank you for the Bible.