Matthew 24 Introduction

Once we understand these divisions of the Bible the entire bible story becomes much simpler, much easier to understand.

The Bible says a great deal about the future, the end of the age, and Christ’s return, but so much that’s being put forward today is gained from a “bits and pieces” approach to scripture.

Somebody writes a short social media opinion based on a short YouTube video based on one or two verses of scripture or some isolated passages, and they mix them with a heap of opinion from others who’ve done the same thing.

What we’re going to do is bring nothing at all to this discussion other than what’s clearly stated in the Word of God. Personal opinion has no place here. The Bible is our full and final authority.

God and God alone knows the beginning from the end as we read in Isaiah 46:10,

Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

This verse beautifully captures God’s ability to see beyond time and understand the entire scope of existence—from the very beginning to the ultimate end. His purpose is unshakable, and His wisdom surpasses all understanding. Truly, God alone knows every detail of His creation and every situation and circumstance surrounding it’s past, present, and future.

 

As we see the world changing, almost daily, it’s easy to become fearful and uncertain about what the future holds. If we look to the Word of God and correctly divide that Word, we’ll see that there’s no reason to be either fearful or uncertain if we’re in Christ.

 

The Bible’s full of events relating to the end times such as the catching away of the church, (The rapture), The Tribulation, that coming seven-year period that features heavily in Matthew 24. The Anti-Christ, that one that draws so much speculation and intrigue today. The Return of the Lord, The second coming. The Millenium, the thousand-year reign of Christ, His Kingdom, The Judgment and The Holy City on into eternity.

 

We’re not going to go into the fine detail but instead we want to present an overall bird’s eye view.

We need to start with a warning.

We’re dealing with prophecy. Prophecy, in itself, isn’t harmful. God gave it to us to unveil and reveal the Messiah and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ and to verify that the Word, The Bible, and what’s being spoken in it, is from Him, from God.

A large proportion of prophecy in the Bible has already been fulfilled but we’re now dealing with a section of prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled.

Prophecy is important for our instruction and as doctrine, but it should always be used to further the main goal that Colossians 1:27-28 points us to,

To them (to who? To the saints and faithful brethren. That’s to the Church today, to you and me if we’re believers), To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 

Him (Christ) we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect (or complete) in Christ Jesus. 

We see here what God’s will is for us today, the Church. It’s that we make known to all men “what are the riches of the glory, which is Christ in us, the hope of glory”. 

To know and then pass on that knowledge of Christ, and Him in us and us in Him and the riches of His glory.

Knowing the One Who shed His blood in death and paid the wages of sin so that we wouldn’t need to, that’s the highest cause, and, in knowing Him we also know the riches of that glory that’s ours in Him.

 

When dealing with prophecy that’s not yet fulfilled it’s easy to get drowned in speculation and wrong doctrine and yet we know that prophecy has a purpose which we find in 2 Timothy 3:16-17,

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

There’s a danger in labouring too much on the end times because it can take us away from the real issue, which is Who is Jesus Christ and what did He do to purchase our salvation?

It’s only through that knowledge that we’re set free from the fear and confusion of the end times. But at the same time, having an overall understanding of the end times is important because it’s where we see the purpose, the end result of God’s ultimate plan.

We see why we believe and why it’s important to believe what we do.

Prophecy lets us see the world the way God sees it.

We understand God better and we see that He’s not only love, but He’s also righteous and just and He cannot let evil and sin flourish forever.

 

In the end times events, we see God’s love for mankind in His longsuffering and patience and His desire that none perish but that all would be saved, but we also see His Justice which must judge all unrighteousness.

We get immune to injustice today where courts with their human judges and governments who are supposed to uphold justice pass out feeble and inadequate punishment for the worst crimes and almost laugh off lesser crimes. But this won’t be the case in this final period of God’s judgment.

 

All the talk that’s around today about the world spiralling to its end can bring fear and confusion to people, but as a Christian these are not things we should fear! And rather than cause the unsaved to be in fear we should be preaching the gospel of God’s grace, not current events, because the knowledge of current events will not and can not bring salvation to the unsaved.

Yes, they should be aware of what the Bible says about the time of the end, but they need to be aware of the answer even more so.

 

If we don’t know the Gospel ourselves, we need to learn it and if we don’t know how to divide the Word of God correctly there’ll be problems with understanding the things related to the end times. If we don’t have the bigger picture firmly in place, we’ll simply add more confusion to an already confused world.

 

All these end time things are future! They haven’t happened yet, and we simply can’t be as certain about what hasn’t yet happened as we can about the past that has happened.

Jesus Christ lived, He died, and He rose again! That’s 100% certain from God’s Word.

All we can know is what God’s told us and we need to stick with that and not try to fill in gaps with our own viewpoints.

 

In 2 Timothy 3:1-7. Paul tells us about people in the last days when perilous times will come, and we don’t want to be one of these.

Lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

In verse 7 he goes further by explaining that these people are, quote, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

Then we see also 2 Timothy 4:3-4,

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. 

 

They don’t want sound doctrine or truth. They want their ears tickled.

They want the romance without the reality, the fantasy without the fact. They love the intrigue and the mystery of the end times, and it doesn’t always matter if it’s correct or not.

This is true of many who delve into end time events. They spend so much time trying to figure out signs and they get so excited about trying to work out all these details, that they miss vital truths especially about God’s overriding purpose for these things.

It never ceases to amaze me how much can be made of a couple of social media memes.

We don’t want to join this crowd.

 

Another thing we need to guard against is trying to read something into every event that happens in the world and trying to “hear” God’s voice in those events.

It’ll just make it harder to understand the reality of the end times.

People are so ready to label every event that happens as evidence of the end of the world, and we see this everywhere especially on social media. People love the drama of the end times more than they love the whole truth.

It becomes ridiculous as people take a snippet of news here or a man-made situation there or a natural event somewhere else and then try to make them fit as evidence that the end’s coming tomorrow.

We want to avoid that like the plague and instead look at what the Bible says.

The stock market may crash, inflation may spiral, people may become more lawless, those who were once wealthy may become poor, or, all these things may not happen, or the reverse may even happen, things may look outwardly better and better, but no matter what, only the Bible will still be true through all of it.

So, let’s keep away from trying to see every current event as a signpost to the end.

In a nutshell, we don’t want to let the study of the end times distract us from what’s most important, who we are in Christ and all that entails.

 

We’ve also got to make a big statement. Most of the prophecy in the Bible, both fulfilled prophecy and unfulfilled prophecy relates to the nation Israel.

If we try to put ourselves, the Body of Christ today, into that prophecy, we’re going to drown in a sea of confusion and error.

So, as we study prophecy, particularly end time prophecy, which is what Matthew 24 relates to, we need to define where we, today, fit into it.

We can be fascinated with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the rise of the anti-Christ, the mark of the beast, the seven seals and the seven bowls of the wrath of God and all the other details of the tribulation period, however, we should be aware that the Church today, the Body of Christ, is just not in these prophecies and we need to see that and see why in order to understand the Bible correctly.

 

If we’re wanting to find our place in the end times we don’t look to the prophecies of the Old Testament or to the Book of Revelation. By “our” we mean the church today, the Body of Christ.

There’s only one place where we can see our destiny through those end times and that’s through the Apostle Paul in the epistles of Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

 

You may say, “That’s ridiculous”, but the Bible is first and foremost about Jesus Christ, and about God’s chosen people, Israel. We, as the Body of Christ today, only occupy a very small place in that whole story.

Also, we should realise that throughout the Bible and throughout prophecy, God always intended that the Gentiles would come to a knowledge of Him. That knowledge of God by the gentiles in prophecy was always supposed to be through Israel who were to be a nation of priests from where the Gentile nations would learn of God. Israel is the major key to the end times.

 

Now, there are divisions in the Bible where God works in different ways with different people at different times.

For example, in Exodus 14:16 the Lord commanded,

But lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 

Was this spoken to us today, as something we need to do?

Of course it wasn’t.

In Genesis 6:14 God commanded Noah saying,

Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch.

Pure commonsense tells us God wasn’t speaking to us today when He spoke to Noah. We’re not all commanded to make arks!

Then in Matthew 10:5-6 we saw when Jesus told His disciples this,

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 

But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

Then in Matthew 28 verse 19 Jesus said to His disciples,

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.

Did Jesus change His mind? Clearly these are two very different commands. Both these commands are in the so-called New Testament so they must be for us, right?

But were these commands given to us today? If so, which one do we follow? See, if we don’t understand the context of who was speaking, who they were speaking to and in what age or dispensation the communication was intended, we’ll be confused as to what’s to us today.

 

We know absolutely from 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that all scripture is intended for us today,

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

But is all scripture a commandment or a requirement to us today?

 

There’re two main divisions in the Bible.

The first is the division of the Old and the New Testaments. These are the covenants, the Old and the New covenants that God gave to Israel. The Old Covenant was not given to Gentiles it was given to Israel by God through Moses in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.

 

It’s the same with the New Covenant. It was also given to Israel as we see in Hebrews 8: 8-13,

Because finding fault with them (that’s the Jews under the Old Covenant), He says: “BEHOLD, THE DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH— NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; BECAUSE THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DISREGARDED THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 

FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS IN THEIR MIND AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 

NONE OF THEM SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR, AND NONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST OF THEM TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 

FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR UNRIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” 

In that He says, “A NEW COVENANT,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

This passage in Hebrews is quoted from the prophecy in Jeremaiah 31 verses 31-34.

So, we should be able to see very clearly here that the New Covenant is not that part of the Bible that relates to the church today, even though most Christians believe it is.

The thought is that the Old Testament’s for Israel and the New Testament’s about Jesus and the church. But there’s a lot more to it than that!

Both the New and the Old Covenants relate to the Nation Israel.

Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem did not bring in this New Covenant or New Testament.

 

This division in the middle of the Bible, this page that’s headed “The New Testament” is a publisher’s way of dividing the Bible and it really has little to do with the Old and the New Covenants.

If we only used this publisher’s way of dividing the Old and New Testaments this is exactly what we’d believe that the first part of the Bible, The Old Testament is about Israel and second part, the New Testament, is about Jesus and the Church today.

We turn to the page that divides our Bible that’s headed The New Testament and the very next thing we read is the genealogy of the Christ in Matthew 1 verse 1 along with the events surrounding His birth and, well, they’re in the New Testament, aren’t they? So, this must be the New Testament. Not so!

 

The most important portions of scripture that relate to the New Covenant are,

firstly, the passages that tells us who this New Covenant is for, which we’ve just read in Hebrews 8 verse 8, which, as we’ve just said, is a repeat of the prophesy of Jeremaiah 31 verse 31.

Because finding fault with them, He (God) says, Behold, the days coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:

Friends you, me and the church today are simply not the house of Israel and the House of Judah.

Many people believe that the church has replaced Israel and it’s now “spiritual Israel”, but nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Secondly, we need to know that a testament is only in force after the death of the testator as we see in Hebrews 9:16,

For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 

For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

Clearly the New Testament didn’t start at the popular publisher’s division. How could it come in to force until the testator (Jesus Christ) dies?

 

Why is all this important when we’re preparing ourselves to understand Matthew 24 more completely? Because without understanding these divisions in God’s Word we’ve got no hope of properly understanding the end times or the entire Gospel of Mattew form that matter. They’re powerfully interconnected.

 

There’s another division in the Bible that’s critical to our understanding of the end times and particularly the destiny of the Body of Christ.

This division is far less recognised than the division between the Old and the New Testaments.

This division is between prophecy and mystery.

Never heard of this? Well, it’s the division between all the parts of the Bible that deal with Israel, past and future, and those parts of the Bible that deal with the church today.

 

Prophecy is what’s been revealed to mankind throughout the whole Bible, through the law in the first five books of the Bible, and all the prophets and right through to the book of Revelation, and the vast majority of it deals with Israel and God’s promise that the Messiah would be sent to them and, after a period of judgement where God’s wrath will be poured out on an unbelieving world, a Kingdom would be set up on earth where Christ, the Messiah would rule from David’s throne in Jerusalem, firstly for 1000 years and then on through eternity. This is all spoken of throughout the Bible in prophecy. It was made known to all men through prophecy.

 

Obviously, the Messiah came but the rest of this didn’t happen.

2000 years later and it still hasn’t happened, and this 2000-year period is not in prophecy. Prophecy does not tell us about the Dispensation of Grace, the age that you and I are living in now. This dispensation became a reality after Israel rejected and crucified the promised Messiah, The Christ.

 

So, we see that within God’s timeline, the ages, the dispensations, were clearly spoken of in prophecy, except for this period known as the dispensation of grace that was not spoken of in prophesy.

We can call this period, this division, “Mystery” because of it not being revealed in prophecy.

It was a mystery that was kept hidden by God before the foundation of the world until the Apostle Paul arrives on the scene and is appointed by Christ Himself as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

 

Just one of many passages that explains this period to us and shows us why we can call it “Mystery” is Romans 16:25-26.

The book of Romans is almost unanimously accepted as one of the most, if not the most important epistle in the New Testament, and its explanation of Salvation and Justification by faith perhaps even makes it the most important book in the whole Bible, especially for us today.

Romans 16:25-26 sayS,

Now to Him (God) who is able to establish you according to my (Pauls) gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest (or made known, revealed), and (note the word “and”) and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith. 

Again in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 and Paul is speaking to the Corinthians this time,

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (As we go on, we’ll see that the death of the Messiah was a total necessity for God’s ultimate plan.)

Then in Ephesians 3:2-5,

if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He (God) made known to me (Paul) the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 

God’s plan for mankind is revealed through both prophecy and this mystery, that was kept secret by God but is now revealed.

Our job as Christians today is to understand what the differences are.

 

Through the prophets we know that Jesus Christ was The Messiah, The Redeemer, God in the Flesh, Who would take away the sins of the world.

Through the prophets we also know about this coming period of God’s judgment on an unbelieving world and His wrath that’ll be released during that period, and then after that, the Kingdom on earth that will be set up with Christ as the King.

 

Prophecy was made known to mankind throughout the whole Bible, but Mystery was kept secret by God since the world began.

It was only revealed to us by Christ through the apostle Paul, this man who’d been a key persecutor of the church before Jesus Himself appointed him as the Apostle to the Gentiles after he was converted and became a believer on his way to Damascus one day.

This “mystery” is spoken of directly 17 times in Paul’s epistles and many other times indirectly, so it’s obviously very important.

Paul wrote 13 epistles that reveal that mystery, Romans, 1^st Corinthians, 2^nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1^st Thessalonians, 2^nd Thessalonians, 1^st Timothy, 2^nd Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

 

This division between prophecy and mystery is hidden in plain sight and if we don’t understand this division, Bible study, especially when we’re trying to understand our place today in God’s timeline, will be confusing and full of error.

Why are we bringing up this division in God’s Word here? Because it’s in this mystery section of the Bible, that small chunk that relates to the Body of Christ, that we find our story. It’s in the mystery, now revealed, where we find our destiny.

Matthew 24 and all the rest of the Gospel of Matthew, along with Mark, Luke, and John and even the early part of the book of Acts are for a different purpose than this mystery of the dispensation of grace.

Their purpose is to reveal that Jesus Christ is truly the Messiah Who was prophesied and promised throughout the Bible.

All through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we see the terms like, “That it might be fulfilled”. They were giving mankind unmistakable and absolute evidence and assurance that this central figure of these books, Jesus, was the promised Christ.

They were showing the fulfilment of prophecy and promise, that the Messiah would be sent to Israel.

It’s here that we see God manifested in the flesh, God with us, Immanuel, fully God and fully man.

Without that assurance the Bible is meaningless and the mystery of the dispensation of grace is useless since Jesus, The Christ, is the pivot on which it all spins.

We also see throughout these four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,

how the Messiah was uniquely Israel’s, that He was promised and sent to Israel and Israel was Jesus’s focus during His earthly ministry.

We hear the kingdom that was so long prophesied, repeatedly referred to and all the parables Jesus told that were illustrations of this coming kingdom. Someone, The master, The King, The landowner, went away for a period of time and left servants in His place who plundered what he had left. Then, after a time that King or master returns to take revenge on the ones who plundered His estate.

 

God’s made His Word simple and error free, but, if we divide it wrongly, we won’t see it’s incredible yet simple, truths clearly.

 

So, to get the foundations set properly for Matthew chapter 24, which is directly related to the period of time in the future known as the great tribulation, we need to find out what this mystery is so we can see our part in this great drama of the end times.

 

To summarise, the Bible has revealed events through prophecy and then it has revealed other events that were not in prophecy, they were a mystery, kept secret from men by God, but which is now revealed, which Paul calls in Ephesians 3 verse 2, the dispensation of grace, as we’ve already seen.

Ephesians 3:2,

if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you,

 

What defines the periods in the Bible that relate to the Old Testament or the Old Covenant, the New Testament or New Covenant, and the Mystery?

 

Firstly, in both the Old and the New Covenants the nation of Israel is the central focus.

The Old Covenant was given to Israel in Exodus and, and the New Covenant was prophesied to Israel, to the House of Israel and the House of Judah in Jeremaiah 31 and then repeated in Hebrews 8 as we’ve already seen.

In the mystery period however, Israel is not the central focus at all, in fact Israel has fallen.

As a nation it rejected it’s promised Messiah and crucified Him. Israel is not the focus in the Mystery period, and Israel is not required for salvation of the Gentiles which it was in the Old Covenant and in will be in the New Covenant.

In the mystery period, the dispensation of Grace, individual jews are included but not the nation.

 

Secondly, God has dealt with man through promises or covenants in prophecy.

Two promises or covenants were made by God which were both given to Israel. The Old was given in Exodus and, as we’ve already seen from Hebrews 8, so was the New Covenant given in prophecy to Israel, to the House of Israel and the House of Judah in Jeremiah 31 and then repeated in Hebrews 8.

These covenants had to be adhered to by Israel to receive the blessings that went with them.

In the New Covenant period the conditions of that covenant will be written on their (Israel’s) hearts and minds, but they’re still conditions that must be kept for the blessings to come.

No such covenants are given in the mystery period. The only condition is that a person believes.

 

Next there’s works. God required works in the Old Covenant and what a lot of people don’t realise is that works are also a requirement under the New Covenant.  The difference is that the works will be a natural act because the law relating to the conditions of the covenant will be written on Israel’s hearts and minds.

No works are required in the mystery period in fact to try and earn a place in eternity or to try and earn God’s favour by our own works in blasphemy as it rejects the completed work of Christ on the cross and rejects the power of his shed blood to save.

Galatians 2:16,

knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

 

Next there’s Law. The Old Covenant is defined by Law, the law that God gave to Moses in Exodus.

The keeping of that law, the Mosaic law, is also a requirement under the New Covenant, but, as we’ve just seen in Hebrews 8:8 and Jeremaiah 31:31 in the New Covenant that Law will be written on Israel’s minds and hearts as we’ve said a few times now. It’ll be perfectly natural for Israel to live life according to God’s law.

In the mystery period, we’re free from the law as Romans 8:2 tells us,

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 

 

Then we have the Kingdom. God promised under the Old Covenant to make Israel a kingdom of priests and that they would have a kingdom set up on earth by God with the promised Messiah as it’s King.

However, Israel kept breaking that Covenant, so it was inadequate to bring in the promises that God gave to them as we learned in the previous verses in Hebrews 8.

So, God promises, through prophecy, that He’d make a new Covenant with Israel that would be able to bring in the Kingdom because the laws that were required to be kept would be written on the people’s hearts and minds, again as we’ve just seen in Hebrews 8 and Jeremiah 31.

In the mystery period we are not waiting for the kingdom to come. We have no earthly promises. Ours is a heavenly promise and our salvation is now! God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ as 2 Corinthians 1:20 says,

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.

 

Now we look at some of the differences in these periods.

 

Firstly, there’s a difference with Christ. Christ is prophesised in the old Testament and there’re many prophetic shadows of Him, but He wasn’t there. You didn’t go to the temple to see Him.

However, you certainly do see Christ as part of the New Covenant. In Matthew 26:28 He said,

For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 

He was the testator of that new Covenant, and we remember Hebrews 9:16 and 17,

For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 

For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 

And we also see Christ being instrumental in the revelation of the mystery. The mystery, in fact, is all about Christ.

 

Next, we see the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not given to all under the Old Covenant even though He was given to some at various times and for various purposes. Moses and David and many others had the Holy Spirit fall on them or influence, but He didn’t permanently indwell them. All the prophets wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Under the New Covenant ALL would be filled with Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will write the law onto their hearts and minds and will give men the power of prophesy in that New Covenant period.

In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost Peter preached from Joel 2:28 to 29 and this was the partial fulfilment, or the beginning of the fulfilment.

Then of course we in this mystery period, if we’re Christians, we have the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t come in the same way as in the Old Testament and neither does He do the same thing as He will in the New Testament.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 explains,-

Now (that’s in the mystery period) He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

In this mystery period, The Holy Spirit indwells us and is our guarantee of our eternal life, our righteousness through Christ.

 

Then we have Grace.

The Old Covenant was a works Covenant. If you did the works you got, but if you didn’t do the works you didn’t get.

Under the New Covenant Israel will still be under works, but those works are made possible by the Holy Spirit, Who would write the law on their hearts and minds, enabling them to live the law naturally. However, they didn’t earn the Holy Spirit by anything they did. He was given by grace. That’s how they’ll be able to fulfill what God promised to them, in fact the only way they can. He’s actually called the Spirit of Grace in Hebrews 10 verse 29.

Of course, in this mystery period which we saw Paul call the dispensation of Grace, Grace abounds.

What’s preached here in this period is that mankind is saved by Grace and grace alone, without the works of the law, and that’s all important.

Ephesians 2:8-9,

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

 

Next, we see faith.

There were people in the Old Testament that had faith. Abraham believed God And it was accounted to him as righteousness. Moses David and many others had faith in what God told them, but the law couldn’t put faith in their heart, they just had to believe God and what He said. But then under the New Covenant faith becomes a requirement. Jesus said they must follow Him, they had to believe He was the Messiah, or they couldn’t be part of the New Covenant.

Under the mystery today we’re saved by grace through faith. Faith is the vehicle by which we receive the saving force of grace. Faith is the key that gives us access to God and His salvation and what He’s doing today.

Again, we see Ephesians 2:8 -9,

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. 

 

Next, we have Salvation.

The Old Covenant of works, the keeping of the Mosaic law could not save a person.

The law could not be kept in a man’s own strength, no matter how much he wanted to keep it.

Salvation has always only been possible one way, by God, by grace, by faith.

Under the law, when works were required of Israel, that law was never intended to bring salvation, but condemnation.

Romans 3:20,

Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 

What God has told men to believe and do has changed, but the way God saves sinners has never changed.

Under the Old Testament their faith was in the covenant. The covenant required obedience to works.

 

The New Testament saints could also never be saved by their works; but they placed their faith in a better covenant.

Hebrews 7:22,

by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. 

That better covenant required obedience to works to remain in the covenant as Hebrews 10:23-26 says.

Salvation for Israel as a nation is still future when their New Covenant will be fulfilled.

Romans 11: 26-27,

And so, all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “THE DELIVERER WILL COME OUT OF ZION, AND HE WILL TURN AWAY UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB; 

FOR THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

Here Paul’s quoting prophecy from Jeremiah 23 which is one of the many remarkable prophecies of the restoration of Israel under the new covenant.

 

The nation Israel had the Old Covenant in times past, and they have the New Covenant in times future.

They always had, and will have, a covenant, whereas we today, living in the mystery period, the dispensation of grace, do not.

They’ll be saved (as a nation) in the future even as we are presently, by grace, but not yet.

Today we have the preaching of the cross for salvation to individuals, to Jews and Gentiles of every nation and tongue, rich or poor, male, or female. Salvation through redemption and forgiveness of sin through the shed blood of Christ.

With that, we’ll leave off until next time when we’ll see just what this Fellowship of the Mystery that was revealed through Paul is and how it affects our study of the tribulation chapters of Matthew 24 and 25.

Until then may God give you the patience and will to seek out these things to confirm them for yourselves.