1 00:00:00,210 --> 00:00:02,130 Let us turn to Genesis chapter 1. 2 00:00:05,180 --> 00:00:07,020 Genesis chapter 1. 3 00:00:14,230 --> 00:00:16,210 Genesis 1 and verse 1. 4 00:00:22,340 --> 00:00:25,200 In the beginning God created the heaven and 5 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,940 the earth, and the earth was without form 6 00:00:27,940 --> 00:00:31,420 and void, and darkness was upon the face 7 00:00:31,420 --> 00:00:33,500 of the deep, and the Spirit of God 8 00:00:33,500 --> 00:00:35,460 moved upon the face of the waters. 9 00:00:36,260 --> 00:00:39,220 And God said, Let there be light, and 10 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:40,200 there was light. 11 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,000 And God saw the light, that it was 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,780 good, and God divided the light from the 13 00:00:45,780 --> 00:00:46,280 darkness. 14 00:00:46,980 --> 00:00:49,680 And God called the light day, and the 15 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,880 darkness he called night, and the evening and 16 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,140 the morning were the first day. 17 00:00:55,700 --> 00:00:57,220 Now that's all we're going to read for 18 00:00:57,220 --> 00:00:57,820 the present. 19 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:01,420 We hope that in the moments that are 20 00:01:01,420 --> 00:01:03,340 ahead of us we look at other portions 21 00:01:03,970 --> 00:01:05,240 of the word of God. 22 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,620 Now, you remember the last time we were 23 00:01:07,620 --> 00:01:11,120 speaking a little bit about the state of 24 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:16,520 things that existed before the earth as it 25 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,080 now exists was brought forth. 26 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,280 We had brought before us the eternity as 27 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,860 expressing for us how that the Father, the 28 00:01:26,860 --> 00:01:29,320 Son, and the Holy Spirit were in eternity 29 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:31,000 before the world began. 30 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:34,260 And then we had how the original creation 31 00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:36,340 is brought before us in the first verse 32 00:01:36,340 --> 00:01:38,580 of Genesis chapter one. 33 00:01:39,180 --> 00:01:41,280 How long ago that was we do not 34 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,360 know, and it was brought into the chaotic 35 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,080 state which it is presented to us which 36 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,100 is presented to us in the second verse. 37 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,720 The second verse is not an explanation of 38 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:55,800 the first verse. 39 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:58,000 There are many people who seem to have 40 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,380 the idea that Genesis 1 and 1 is 41 00:02:01,380 --> 00:02:04,000 the, you might say, the heading of the 42 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:08,120 chapter, and the following verses are the explanation 43 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,160 of how the earth was created. 44 00:02:11,700 --> 00:02:14,840 But you notice that primarily in the things 45 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,720 that follow from the second verse on, it 46 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,520 is not the heavens that are in disorder. 47 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,300 It is not the heavens that are under 48 00:02:24,300 --> 00:02:27,340 the judgment of God which, of course, is 49 00:02:27,340 --> 00:02:31,100 expressive to us of the universe around us, 50 00:02:31,500 --> 00:02:34,700 but it is only this earth upon which 51 00:02:34,700 --> 00:02:37,660 man was to be placed that was in 52 00:02:37,660 --> 00:02:40,680 the chaotic state so that from the second 53 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,900 verse down to the end of the chapter 54 00:02:42,900 --> 00:02:47,740 is not an explanation of the first verse. 55 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:51,320 You know, there are some Bible teachers who 56 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:54,920 are so, you might say, influenced by the 57 00:02:54,920 --> 00:02:58,200 so-called science of the day that, instead 58 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,640 of interpreting the science of the day in 59 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:04,780 the light of the Bible, they're trying to 60 00:03:04,780 --> 00:03:08,600 interpret the Bible in the light of science. 61 00:03:09,060 --> 00:03:13,880 Now, history is very useful, and science is 62 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,080 very useful if they're kept in their right 63 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:23,720 places, but never as authoritative interpreters of the 64 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:24,460 word of God. 65 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,840 It's much better to look at history and 66 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,720 science through the word of God, and interpret 67 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,240 history and science in the light of the 68 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,840 word of God, than it is to interpret 69 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,540 the Bible in the light of science and 70 00:03:40,540 --> 00:03:44,660 in the light of history, because scientific theories 71 00:03:44,660 --> 00:03:48,300 so-called, and I'm speaking of theories, they 72 00:03:48,300 --> 00:03:49,160 change. 73 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:51,320 They change with time. 74 00:03:51,740 --> 00:03:54,440 There were theories that men had about science 75 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:58,700 that were considered sound 50 years ago, but 76 00:03:58,700 --> 00:04:02,260 friends today why they're known to be exploded 77 00:04:02,260 --> 00:04:02,880 theories. 78 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:05,840 For instance, when I was a boy and 79 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,520 went to school, we had the idea that 80 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:12,600 molecules were the smallest form of matter. 81 00:04:12,980 --> 00:04:16,620 Well, we know that today, atoms, and not 82 00:04:16,620 --> 00:04:21,540 only atoms, but the constituents of elements of 83 00:04:21,540 --> 00:04:25,720 atoms are the smallest things, and of course 84 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,960 we have for us in Hebrews chapter 11, 85 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,360 a very scientific theory that science is finding 86 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:37,240 true today, that the things which are made 87 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,940 are not made of things which do appear, 88 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:42,860 and that is true. 89 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,020 They tell us that everything is composed of 90 00:04:46,020 --> 00:04:51,120 atoms, and so atoms are not readily discerned 91 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,880 without microscopes and other instruments that men have 92 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,540 to study these various things in the atom, 93 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,100 and so we find that the first verse 94 00:05:04,100 --> 00:05:06,560 is by itself, and then we find the 95 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,100 chaotic state, and then into that chaotic state 96 00:05:10,100 --> 00:05:13,540 why God comes in and it begins to 97 00:05:13,540 --> 00:05:17,240 work, and personally I believe that the six 98 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,700 days that we have here are literal days 99 00:05:20,700 --> 00:05:23,320 of 24 hours each. 100 00:05:23,780 --> 00:05:26,300 Now, again, of course, there are those who 101 00:05:26,300 --> 00:05:29,960 try to accommodate these days to periods of 102 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:33,460 time, and they say, well, after all they're 103 00:05:33,460 --> 00:05:36,860 geological ages or periods of time. 104 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,060 Well, that might be all right for the 105 00:05:39,060 --> 00:05:41,840 first and second day, but friends, if we 106 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:44,540 were to allot, you might say each of 107 00:05:44,540 --> 00:05:47,300 those days say to a period of time 108 00:05:47,300 --> 00:05:50,060 of about 500,000 years each. 109 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,880 Well, each of those days was composed of 110 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,080 darkness and of light, and that's all right 111 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:59,400 in the first and second day, but when 112 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,020 we come to the third day, well, we 113 00:06:02,020 --> 00:06:04,880 find that in the third day the dry 114 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,140 land brings forth the fruit, and my friends, 115 00:06:08,140 --> 00:06:10,760 it would be unreasonable for us to believe 116 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,840 that if the days are periods of time 117 00:06:13,840 --> 00:06:18,940 that it abode in darkness for such a 118 00:06:18,940 --> 00:06:20,540 half of that period. 119 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,260 Personally, I believe that when we have brought 120 00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:29,720 before us God said, God said, I believe 121 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,540 that you and I can believe that God 122 00:06:32,540 --> 00:06:36,620 is able in a very short time to 123 00:06:36,620 --> 00:06:39,800 bring about what he decrees or what he 124 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,560 says he has accomplished. 125 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,040 Now, you notice that on this chart the 126 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,000 six days they are picturing for us the 127 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,180 six ages of human history. 128 00:06:54,180 --> 00:06:57,080 You notice that in this eternity, in the 129 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,620 past eternal age, we have the eternal purpose. 130 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,640 In other words, before anything was brought into 131 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:09,360 being, God had an eternal purpose, and we're 132 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:11,100 not left in doubt as to what that 133 00:07:11,100 --> 00:07:11,900 purpose is. 134 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,740 Let us turn for a moment to Ephesians 135 00:07:14,740 --> 00:07:18,340 1, and notice what he tells us is 136 00:07:18,340 --> 00:07:22,120 the eternal purpose for which God brought all 137 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,580 things into being, and which God has in 138 00:07:25,580 --> 00:07:29,900 mind in all his dealings with the sons 139 00:07:29,900 --> 00:07:30,680 of men. 140 00:07:31,580 --> 00:07:36,120 Ephesians chapter one, and notice we have in 141 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,120 the eighth verse it tells us, or we 142 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,260 could start with the seventh verse, in whom 143 00:07:42,260 --> 00:07:45,740 we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness 144 00:07:45,740 --> 00:07:48,380 of sins according to the riches of his 145 00:07:48,380 --> 00:07:51,820 grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in 146 00:07:51,820 --> 00:07:55,440 all wisdom and prudence having made known unto 147 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,600 us the mystery of his will according to 148 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,340 the good pleasure which he purposed in himself 149 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,840 that in the dispensation of the fullness of 150 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:09,460 times he might gather together in one all 151 00:08:09,460 --> 00:08:12,540 things in Christ both which are in heaven 152 00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:16,440 and which are on earth even in him. 153 00:08:17,140 --> 00:08:18,960 Now, let us turn to the third chapter 154 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,920 of Ephesians, and here we have brought before 155 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,900 us again in the eighth verse the apostle 156 00:08:25,900 --> 00:08:29,220 Paul saying, unto me who am less than 157 00:08:29,220 --> 00:08:31,460 the least of all saints is this grace 158 00:08:31,460 --> 00:08:34,679 given that I should preach among the Gentiles 159 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,200 the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make 160 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,620 all men see what is the fellowship of 161 00:08:40,620 --> 00:08:43,480 the mystery which from the beginning of the 162 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,860 world has been hidden God who created all 163 00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:50,460 things by Jesus Christ to the intent that 164 00:08:50,460 --> 00:08:53,500 now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly 165 00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:56,620 places might be known by the church the 166 00:08:56,620 --> 00:09:00,540 manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal 167 00:09:00,540 --> 00:09:04,840 purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our 168 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:05,280 Lord. 169 00:09:05,820 --> 00:09:08,740 Now, there you notice that God created all 170 00:09:08,740 --> 00:09:11,980 things and that God is working all things 171 00:09:11,980 --> 00:09:16,240 according to the eternal purpose which he purposed 172 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,200 in Christ Jesus our Lord, and what is 173 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:19,940 that purpose? 174 00:09:20,180 --> 00:09:23,860 That he should head up in Christ all 175 00:09:23,860 --> 00:09:27,620 things both which are in heaven and which 176 00:09:27,620 --> 00:09:28,900 are on earth. 177 00:09:29,500 --> 00:09:32,900 Might I say, my friends, that this creation 178 00:09:32,900 --> 00:09:36,960 in which man was placed was not God's 179 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:38,120 ultimate purpose? 180 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:42,600 It was only a stage or a place 181 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,820 in which God was going to work and 182 00:09:45,820 --> 00:09:50,600 accomplish certain things in order that he might 183 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:55,240 before eternity as well as for the kingdom 184 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,800 age fulfill or head up in our Lord 185 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:04,680 Jesus Christ things in heaven and things on 186 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:05,000 earth. 187 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,560 You know, many of us get most circumscribed 188 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:11,940 by this present life that we think that 189 00:10:11,940 --> 00:10:15,420 this life is the sum and substance of 190 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:19,560 everything, but my friends, this life is only 191 00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,780 a step in the direction in which God 192 00:10:23,780 --> 00:10:27,920 is dealing and eternity as well as the 193 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,880 kingdom age and eternity is what God has 194 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,840 in mind, and that is why God's dealings 195 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:41,140 with men are divided into ages or into 196 00:10:41,140 --> 00:10:42,700 dispensations. 197 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,280 Now, you notice in the portion that I 198 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:49,560 read in Ephesians chapter one, we have that 199 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:50,980 word dispensation. 200 00:10:52,020 --> 00:10:54,880 Now, some people don't like to think of 201 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,820 the bible as being divided into ages or 202 00:10:59,820 --> 00:11:01,280 dispensations. 203 00:11:03,140 --> 00:11:05,040 You notice on this chart we have a 204 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,580 verse written here or printed here from 2nd 205 00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:10,880 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15. 206 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,860 Study to show thyself approved unto God a 207 00:11:15,860 --> 00:11:19,660 workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly 208 00:11:19,660 --> 00:11:22,720 dividing the word of truth. 209 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,340 We have to be able to rightly divide 210 00:11:26,340 --> 00:11:29,000 the word of truth if we're going to 211 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:30,180 understand it. 212 00:11:31,020 --> 00:11:34,860 Augustine was the great church father, a great 213 00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:38,180 bible teacher, and he said on one occasion, 214 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:43,980 distinguish the ages and the scriptures will harmonize. 215 00:11:44,500 --> 00:11:47,480 I remember when, as a young Christian, I 216 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:51,420 had an experience that impressed upon me the 217 00:11:51,420 --> 00:11:54,860 necessity of distinguishing the ages. 218 00:11:55,540 --> 00:12:02,060 It was during Mr. Roosevelt's civilian conservation program. 219 00:12:02,060 --> 00:12:04,120 You remember when he took office? 220 00:12:04,260 --> 00:12:07,600 Those of you who are older, in 1932 221 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,760 the country was in the throes of a 222 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,660 depression, and so he wanted to lift the 223 00:12:12,660 --> 00:12:15,380 country out of the depression, and so he 224 00:12:15,380 --> 00:12:17,840 took a number of the young men from 225 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:20,540 off the streets of the city, and he 226 00:12:20,540 --> 00:12:23,600 put them into reforestation programs. 227 00:12:24,220 --> 00:12:26,420 Well, I was a teenager in the city 228 00:12:26,420 --> 00:12:29,720 of Chicago, and so I was sent out, 229 00:12:29,820 --> 00:12:32,860 way out to Oregon, and we were working 230 00:12:32,860 --> 00:12:35,960 in the forest out there in Oregon. 231 00:12:36,820 --> 00:12:39,300 There were about 200 of us boys in 232 00:12:39,300 --> 00:12:39,880 the camp. 233 00:12:40,740 --> 00:12:42,280 I don't know how many there were that 234 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,380 were Christians, but the Lord enabled me to 235 00:12:45,380 --> 00:12:48,220 take a stand for the Lord Jesus amongst 236 00:12:48,220 --> 00:12:51,720 these unsaved fellows, and I met one fellow 237 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,400 that was communistically inclined. 238 00:12:54,980 --> 00:12:57,960 He ridiculed the Bible, and at one time 239 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:02,760 we had a conference or a discussion about 240 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,400 the Bible, and he said to me, well, 241 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:06,740 do you believe the Bible? 242 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:08,780 I said, I certainly do. 243 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:12,260 He said, well, do you know that right 244 00:13:12,260 --> 00:13:14,860 now you are disobeying the Bible? 245 00:13:15,180 --> 00:13:16,660 I said, I am. 246 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:18,580 How am I disobeying the Bible? 247 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:22,620 Well, the Bible says that you are not 248 00:13:22,620 --> 00:13:26,600 to wear a garment of mixed clothing, cloth, 249 00:13:26,980 --> 00:13:30,300 and in that shirt and that pair of 250 00:13:30,300 --> 00:13:33,300 khakis that you have there, you have cotton 251 00:13:33,300 --> 00:13:36,540 and you have wool, and according to the 252 00:13:36,540 --> 00:13:39,300 Bible, why you are not to wear a 253 00:13:39,300 --> 00:13:41,500 garment of mixed clothing. 254 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,080 Well, that set me back because I had 255 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,940 never read any such verse in the Bible, 256 00:13:48,460 --> 00:13:50,320 and so I wrote to my friends in 257 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:50,800 Chicago. 258 00:13:51,380 --> 00:13:53,560 I didn't have a concordance. 259 00:13:53,860 --> 00:13:56,100 Where is there any person in the Bible 260 00:13:56,100 --> 00:13:59,960 that speaks about not wearing a garment of 261 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:01,140 mixed cloth? 262 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,600 And they wrote back to me, it's in 263 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,000 Deuteronomy, I think it was the 22nd chapter, 264 00:14:07,500 --> 00:14:09,380 that the Lord told the children of Israel 265 00:14:09,380 --> 00:14:12,040 that they were not to wear a garment 266 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:16,140 that had a mixture of woolen and linen 267 00:14:16,140 --> 00:14:21,320 in it because he hated a mixed garment. 268 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,400 Well, I had the privilege of telling that 269 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,100 man, well, you know, that belongs to the 270 00:14:27,100 --> 00:14:30,840 children of Israel, and I'm not under the 271 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:34,620 dispensation where the children of Israel were under 272 00:14:34,620 --> 00:14:35,060 law. 273 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,660 I am under grace, and God is not 274 00:14:38,660 --> 00:14:43,060 occupied with a mixture in my literal clothing 275 00:14:43,060 --> 00:14:46,040 at this time, but he is more interested 276 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:50,120 that I have not a mixed garb in 277 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,380 my life as a believer. 278 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,560 In other words, that I should be out 279 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,680 and out for the Lord, but the thing 280 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:00,740 is that I saw for the first time 281 00:15:00,740 --> 00:15:04,040 there is a difference of as to what 282 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:06,800 was true in one period of time is 283 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:09,700 not true in another period of time. 284 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,200 The law is Israel was not allowed to 285 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,860 eat pork, but you know, friends, there are 286 00:15:15,860 --> 00:15:18,860 many of us that like ham or bacon 287 00:15:18,860 --> 00:15:22,240 or pork chops or something like that, but 288 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,560 under the law these things were forbidden. 289 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:26,460 Why? 290 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:31,520 Because they were in a different dispensation, and 291 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,560 you notice here that we have the expression 292 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:40,140 in the tenth verse that in the dispensation 293 00:15:40,140 --> 00:15:44,180 of the fullness of times he might gather 294 00:15:44,180 --> 00:15:47,080 together in one all things in Christ. 295 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:53,220 Now, God's purpose from eternity, my friends, is 296 00:15:53,220 --> 00:15:55,840 not only the salvation of men. 297 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:01,760 People emphasize that salvation is the most important 298 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:02,700 thing of all. 299 00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:09,340 Salvation is important, but salvation is not the 300 00:16:09,340 --> 00:16:12,920 only or the eternal purpose of God. 301 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,580 The eternal purpose of God from before the 302 00:16:16,580 --> 00:16:20,460 foundation of the world was one, and that 303 00:16:20,460 --> 00:16:25,920 is to exalt and glorify the Lord Jesus 304 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,640 Christ, and to make him the son of 305 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,160 his love, the center as a man of 306 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:38,100 the entire universe, and to have around him 307 00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:42,060 a people in heaven and a people in 308 00:16:42,060 --> 00:16:46,940 earth who will be to his eternal glory 309 00:16:46,940 --> 00:16:47,840 and praise. 310 00:16:48,380 --> 00:16:51,740 And, in all of these ages, while God 311 00:16:51,740 --> 00:16:55,760 does save men, the main purpose of God 312 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:57,380 is his glory. 313 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,900 Now, I might mention that there is a 314 00:17:01,900 --> 00:17:06,180 difference between dispensations and ages. 315 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:11,000 While they are, you might say, interlocking terms, 316 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:14,260 and while one is included in the other, 317 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,339 they are nevertheless not one and the same 318 00:17:18,339 --> 00:17:18,839 thing. 319 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,180 Now, if you turn to Ephesians chapter 3 320 00:17:22,180 --> 00:17:27,460 for a moment, I want you to notice 321 00:17:27,460 --> 00:17:31,320 that the Bible does speak about ages. 322 00:17:31,900 --> 00:17:34,920 In Ephesians 3 and verse 4, it says, 323 00:17:35,100 --> 00:17:38,500 whereby when you read you may understand my 324 00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:42,560 knowledge in the mystery of Christ which in 325 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,700 other ages was not made known unto the 326 00:17:45,700 --> 00:17:49,140 sons of men as it is now revealed 327 00:17:49,140 --> 00:17:54,740 unto his holy apostles and prophets by the 328 00:17:54,740 --> 00:17:55,160 Spirit. 329 00:17:55,660 --> 00:17:58,440 Now, you notice that there Paul says that 330 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,820 there is a certain something, a mystery, which 331 00:18:02,820 --> 00:18:06,600 is now being made known which was not 332 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,580 in other ages made known unto the sons 333 00:18:10,580 --> 00:18:11,120 of men. 334 00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:13,900 So, there we have brought before us that 335 00:18:13,900 --> 00:18:15,640 there are past ages. 336 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,620 We believe, as we shall see in the 337 00:18:19,620 --> 00:18:22,200 night scenario ahead of us, that we are 338 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:26,540 in this fourth age, the present age which 339 00:18:26,540 --> 00:18:29,620 is the church age in which the Lord 340 00:18:29,620 --> 00:18:34,140 is calling out from Jew and Gentile a 341 00:18:34,140 --> 00:18:38,100 people who are called the church, and that 342 00:18:38,100 --> 00:18:42,460 church is a distinct company composed of those 343 00:18:42,460 --> 00:18:43,680 who are saved. 344 00:18:44,140 --> 00:18:47,600 Now, this is the special mystery that Paul 345 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,960 speaks about in the third chapter of Ephesians 346 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,620 that is now being revealed which in other 347 00:18:54,620 --> 00:18:58,620 ages was not made known unto the sons 348 00:18:58,620 --> 00:18:59,120 of men. 349 00:18:59,300 --> 00:19:03,220 So, we know that there are previous ages 350 00:19:03,220 --> 00:19:05,420 prior to this age. 351 00:19:06,020 --> 00:19:08,180 Some people say, well, the church? 352 00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:11,420 Well, the church, why, that began when Adam 353 00:19:11,420 --> 00:19:12,280 was on earth. 354 00:19:12,740 --> 00:19:14,740 Why, the church goes all the way back 355 00:19:14,740 --> 00:19:16,940 to the time of Adam, and from the 356 00:19:16,940 --> 00:19:19,620 time of Adam to the present time, everyone 357 00:19:19,620 --> 00:19:21,560 that is saved is in the church. 358 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,440 But, my friends, the third chapter of Ephesians 359 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,860 shows us that the church age is a 360 00:19:27,860 --> 00:19:31,180 mystery age, that it is a special age 361 00:19:31,180 --> 00:19:34,720 which was not made known in other ages, 362 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:37,960 a truth that is not made known previously, 363 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,660 and is now made known unto us through 364 00:19:41,660 --> 00:19:44,220 the apostles and prophets. 365 00:19:44,780 --> 00:19:48,800 If you'll turn to Ephesians chapter 2 and 366 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:53,540 verse 7, you'll notice it brings before us 367 00:19:53,540 --> 00:19:57,840 there that in the ages to come he 368 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,260 might show the exceeding riches of his grace 369 00:20:01,260 --> 00:20:05,360 in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 370 00:20:06,020 --> 00:20:09,040 Here in Ephesians 2 and 7, we find 371 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:12,240 that after this age there are going to 372 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:17,160 be future ages, that this age is not 373 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:22,020 going to terminate God's dealings with men, that 374 00:20:22,020 --> 00:20:25,940 this age is not going to end with 375 00:20:25,940 --> 00:20:28,120 the end of all things. 376 00:20:28,620 --> 00:20:31,600 You notice, my friends, that this age is 377 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,700 not going to bring about the end of 378 00:20:33,700 --> 00:20:34,340 the world. 379 00:20:35,020 --> 00:20:37,120 It is going to be brought to an 380 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:40,060 end by the return of our Lord Jesus 381 00:20:40,060 --> 00:20:42,400 Christ, who is going to take out of 382 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,720 this world his church, and the world goes 383 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,560 on as we shall see in future meetings, 384 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,880 and there will be a tribulation period to 385 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,520 be followed by the visible return of our 386 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:58,820 Lord Jesus to set up a kingdom, and 387 00:20:58,820 --> 00:21:02,140 then a kingdom of Christ for a period 388 00:21:02,140 --> 00:21:06,260 of at least a thousand years before the 389 00:21:06,260 --> 00:21:09,620 end of all things, and the bringing in 390 00:21:09,620 --> 00:21:12,040 of the new heaven and the new earth. 391 00:21:12,380 --> 00:21:15,600 So, we know from Ephesians 3 that there 392 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,540 is a present age, that there are past 393 00:21:18,540 --> 00:21:19,080 ages. 394 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,440 From Ephesians 2, we know that there are 395 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,300 going to be future ages after the termination 396 00:21:26,300 --> 00:21:29,680 of this present age by the coming of 397 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:31,080 our Lord Jesus Christ. 398 00:21:31,700 --> 00:21:33,620 Now, what is the difference? 399 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,600 And I might say it's a slight difference, 400 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,760 but I think it's a very nice difference 401 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:43,840 to notice between an age and a dispensation. 402 00:21:44,260 --> 00:21:47,600 Now, they're both one and the same in 403 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,620 that this is the first age as well 404 00:21:50,620 --> 00:21:51,980 as the first dispensation. 405 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,340 This is the second age as well as 406 00:21:55,340 --> 00:21:58,900 the second dispensation, but the word of God 407 00:21:58,900 --> 00:22:02,500 in speaking of the dispensation, what is the 408 00:22:02,500 --> 00:22:03,200 dispensation? 409 00:22:04,020 --> 00:22:05,660 If you and I were to look up 410 00:22:05,660 --> 00:22:09,440 that word in our concordance, we would find 411 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:14,020 that a dispensation was a description of a 412 00:22:14,020 --> 00:22:19,380 well-ordered or administered household, so that when 413 00:22:19,380 --> 00:22:22,840 we come to the word dispensation and the 414 00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:26,780 thought of a dispensation, it is this that 415 00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:32,880 it is God administering the affairs with mankind 416 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:38,540 in a special, distinct way for the fulfillment 417 00:22:38,540 --> 00:22:43,120 and the accomplishment of his purpose, and that 418 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:48,520 dispensation is a particular period of time or 419 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,440 an age which has a beginning, and which 420 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,540 has a character, and which has an end. 421 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:01,000 So, the dispensation brings before us that the 422 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:06,280 reason why there are different ages is because 423 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:11,980 God is dealing with humanity in different ways 424 00:23:11,980 --> 00:23:16,420 for the fulfillment and accomplishment of his purposes, 425 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:20,180 and in the bout of the ultimate purpose 426 00:23:20,180 --> 00:23:22,720 which he hides that he might head up 427 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,220 in Christ in the hope which are in 428 00:23:25,220 --> 00:23:28,580 heaven and which are on earth, something that 429 00:23:28,580 --> 00:23:31,600 is going to be carried on into eternity 430 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:32,860 itself. 431 00:23:34,020 --> 00:23:37,520 Now, you notice that this chart, and I 432 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,780 might say there is, of course, a difference 433 00:23:39,780 --> 00:23:43,740 in ideas as to how many dispensations there 434 00:23:43,740 --> 00:23:47,000 are, and for myself I might say I'm 435 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,460 not dogmatic about those who say, well, there 436 00:23:50,460 --> 00:23:54,500 are seven dispensations, and perhaps they do not 437 00:23:54,500 --> 00:23:59,780 see how the six days foreshadow six dispensations. 438 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,560 For myself, I like to accept the thought 439 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:07,260 that there are six ages of human history 440 00:24:07,260 --> 00:24:12,000 foreshadowed for us in the six days in 441 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,120 which God brought the earth out of the 442 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:19,260 chaotic state into which it had fallen as 443 00:24:19,260 --> 00:24:22,820 a result of some something that happened in 444 00:24:22,820 --> 00:24:25,500 the bygone recesses of time. 445 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,960 Those six days, the events fired in those 446 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,020 six days, they foreshadow for us the six 447 00:24:33,020 --> 00:24:37,460 ages or six dispensations of human history. 448 00:24:38,460 --> 00:24:41,760 Now, as I said, I believe that those 449 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,500 six days are literal days of 24 hours 450 00:24:45,500 --> 00:24:48,920 each, and the reason why I believe that 451 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,920 they are days of 24 hours each is 452 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:55,420 because, for one thing, each of the days 453 00:24:55,420 --> 00:24:57,800 had an evening and a morning. 454 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,640 An evening and a morning, and so, my 455 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,460 friends, that was the Hebrew way of computing 456 00:25:05,460 --> 00:25:07,260 a solar day. 457 00:25:07,580 --> 00:25:10,740 The evening and the morning was the first 458 00:25:10,740 --> 00:25:11,120 day. 459 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,680 A second reason why I believe that these 460 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:17,900 are literal days of 24 hours each is 461 00:25:17,900 --> 00:25:22,180 because it is only of literal solar days 462 00:25:22,180 --> 00:25:26,720 that, with its head, numbers are associated with 463 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,660 them, like we have here. 464 00:25:29,060 --> 00:25:31,840 The evening and morning was the first day. 465 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,480 Evening and morning was the second day. 466 00:25:34,860 --> 00:25:37,640 Evening and morning was the third day, and 467 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,660 the fourth day, and the fifth day, and 468 00:25:40,660 --> 00:25:41,500 the sixth day. 469 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,200 Each of them had a number associated with 470 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,820 it, thereby bringing before us that these were 471 00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:49,700 literal days. 472 00:25:50,420 --> 00:25:54,460 A third reason why is because, when we 473 00:25:54,460 --> 00:25:58,580 turn to the later accounts, when, for instance, 474 00:25:58,580 --> 00:26:01,680 in the book of Exodus, let us turn 475 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,820 for a moment to the 20th chapter of 476 00:26:04,820 --> 00:26:07,500 the book of Exodus, where we have the 477 00:26:07,500 --> 00:26:10,460 law given to the children of Israel. 478 00:26:10,980 --> 00:26:12,820 Notice what it tells us here. 479 00:26:13,140 --> 00:26:17,120 In the 20th chapter and the 8th verse, 480 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,840 it says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep 481 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:22,320 it holy. 482 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,580 Six days shalt thou labor and do all 483 00:26:25,580 --> 00:26:29,040 thy work, but the seventh day is the 484 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:30,920 Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 485 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:33,480 In it thou shalt not do any work, 486 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,040 thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy 487 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,740 manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor 488 00:26:39,740 --> 00:26:41,960 thy stranger that is within thy gate. 489 00:26:42,460 --> 00:26:46,320 For in six days the Lord made, and 490 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,860 I want you to notice it doesn't say, 491 00:26:49,180 --> 00:26:51,100 for in six days the Lord created. 492 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,000 It says, in six days the Lord made, 493 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,560 and when you read the first chapter of 494 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:01,400 Genesis, you'll want to distinguish between those three 495 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:07,080 words, created, and made, and formed, and if 496 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,920 you'll look up those three words in your 497 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,680 young's or strong's concordance, you'll find that the 498 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:18,060 Hebrew word for each of those words is 499 00:27:18,060 --> 00:27:18,720 different. 500 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,880 The word created is the word bara, b 501 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,220 -a-r-a, which means to bring forth 502 00:27:26,220 --> 00:27:27,760 out of nothing. 503 00:27:28,180 --> 00:27:32,480 The word made is an entirely different word. 504 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,360 It is the word asah, a-s-a 505 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:41,080 -h, which means to make out of existing 506 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:42,020 material. 507 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,600 So that here, notice, and I might say 508 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,260 that if you go all through the Bible, 509 00:27:48,780 --> 00:27:54,040 you'll find a perfect accuracy and harmony in 510 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:57,740 the use of these verbs, that the Spirit 511 00:27:57,740 --> 00:28:02,780 of God and the biblical writers never confuse 512 00:28:02,780 --> 00:28:07,160 these various words, and you'll find here in 513 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:11,680 Exodus chapter 20 and verse 11, for in 514 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:14,980 six days the Lord made heaven and earth, 515 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:18,060 the sea and all that in them is, 516 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,280 and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord 517 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,240 blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 518 00:28:25,540 --> 00:28:28,720 So, my friends, here in the law, when 519 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,420 it comes to the Sabbath day, the Lord 520 00:28:31,420 --> 00:28:33,320 told the people of Israel that they were 521 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,160 to remember the Sabbath day to keep it 522 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,480 holy, because in six days the Lord made 523 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:41,600 heaven and earth. 524 00:28:42,260 --> 00:28:45,880 So, I believe that Moses meant to convey 525 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,500 to the people that it was not six 526 00:28:48,500 --> 00:28:52,180 periods of time, but it was six literal 527 00:28:52,180 --> 00:28:56,660 days of 24 hours each in which God 528 00:28:56,660 --> 00:28:58,800 did these various things. 529 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,120 And, if we turn to the 33rd Psalm, 530 00:29:02,540 --> 00:29:06,620 we'll find the words God spake, and it 531 00:29:06,620 --> 00:29:07,280 was done. 532 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,780 God commanded, and it held fast. 533 00:29:11,380 --> 00:29:15,340 And, my friends, if we believe that God 534 00:29:15,340 --> 00:29:19,320 could make all these things in a period 535 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,160 of 500,000 years, or a million years 536 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,660 apiece, for each of the ages, why should 537 00:29:26,660 --> 00:29:29,540 we think it unreasonable to believe that the 538 00:29:29,540 --> 00:29:32,380 Lord would do it in the period of 539 00:29:32,380 --> 00:29:34,500 24 hours each? 540 00:29:34,980 --> 00:29:37,120 When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, 541 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:42,920 the Lord Jesus performed some miracles that simply 542 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,500 shortened the span of time. 543 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:52,220 Changing water into wine is quite a miracle. 544 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,680 Some people say, I remember reading this story 545 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,560 that Mr. Marsh wrote in one of his 546 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,440 books about the atheist who said to the 547 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,880 man, you don't believe that Jesus changed water 548 00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:05,220 into wine, do you? 549 00:30:05,660 --> 00:30:08,000 He says, why, he says, I certainly do. 550 00:30:08,620 --> 00:30:10,420 He says, in fact, I can tell you 551 00:30:10,420 --> 00:30:12,100 a greater miracle than that. 552 00:30:12,580 --> 00:30:15,200 I can show you how Jesus changed beer 553 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,580 into furniture in our home. 554 00:30:18,300 --> 00:30:21,340 Well, my friends, you know the Lord Jesus 555 00:30:21,340 --> 00:30:24,260 can perform many wonderful miracles, and he did 556 00:30:24,260 --> 00:30:27,080 when he changed water into wine. 557 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,040 Why, every year, my friends, he's changing water 558 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:32,000 into wine. 559 00:30:32,860 --> 00:30:36,760 The rain falls from heaven, it's absorbed into 560 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:40,000 the vine, goes up into the cluster of 561 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:43,500 grapes, the cluster of grapes grow to maturity, 562 00:30:43,940 --> 00:30:48,120 they're taken, they're crushed, they're fermented, and they 563 00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:49,280 become wine. 564 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:53,820 Only it takes a period of months to 565 00:30:53,820 --> 00:30:56,780 bring it about, but my friends, the Lord 566 00:30:56,780 --> 00:31:00,060 Jesus just simply compressed it in a few 567 00:31:00,060 --> 00:31:04,440 moments when he took that water, and there 568 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,660 in the containers, and he said to the 569 00:31:08,660 --> 00:31:12,700 disciples, take it and draw, and the wine 570 00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:16,180 was better than that which they had tasted 571 00:31:16,180 --> 00:31:17,520 beforehand. 572 00:31:17,780 --> 00:31:22,080 The Lord had turned it, the water, into 573 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:22,520 wine. 574 00:31:23,060 --> 00:31:25,440 So, my friends, the thing that took place 575 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:28,720 in a long period of time, naturally, he 576 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:33,140 simply compressed into a few brief moments, and 577 00:31:33,140 --> 00:31:36,260 brought it about by his own power. 578 00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:39,680 So, when we come to this thought of 579 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:44,980 God not being able to do these things 580 00:31:44,980 --> 00:31:48,560 in a short period of time, I believe 581 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:50,780 we're limiting God. 582 00:31:51,540 --> 00:31:53,480 But the very moment you and I bring 583 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:56,940 in one who is almighty, why, then, of 584 00:31:56,940 --> 00:32:01,520 course, there's nothing very difficult for us to 585 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,660 take it in that he did it in 586 00:32:04,660 --> 00:32:06,600 a short period of time. 587 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:11,020 And so, these six events that took place 588 00:32:11,020 --> 00:32:15,080 in those six days foreshadow for us six 589 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:20,120 ages or dispensations of human history in which 590 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:24,720 God deals with men according to his own 591 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:29,280 will and purpose, and in these dispensations or 592 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:34,360 ages we have some very wonderful lessons for 593 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:35,740 you and for me. 594 00:32:36,620 --> 00:32:39,800 Now, you notice that today we were reading 595 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,260 from the first chapter of Genesis, and we 596 00:32:43,260 --> 00:32:45,580 were reading about the first day. 597 00:32:46,420 --> 00:32:50,420 God said, let there be light, and there 598 00:32:50,420 --> 00:32:52,060 was light. 599 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,980 Now, sometimes people wonder, well, how could there 600 00:32:55,980 --> 00:32:59,600 be light apart from the sun? 601 00:33:00,140 --> 00:33:03,380 Because, after all, we do not have the 602 00:33:03,380 --> 00:33:07,500 sun put in its place until the fourth 603 00:33:07,500 --> 00:33:07,980 day. 604 00:33:09,100 --> 00:33:11,340 Now, I might mention, if you'll notice carefully, 605 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,100 you'll notice it does not say that God 606 00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:19,180 created the sun, and the moon, and the 607 00:33:19,180 --> 00:33:19,560 stars. 608 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,280 It says he made them, or he brought 609 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:25,420 them into their place. 610 00:33:27,460 --> 00:33:29,360 I believe that the sun, and the moon, 611 00:33:29,380 --> 00:33:33,480 and the stars were created in the original 612 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:37,180 creation of the first verse of the first 613 00:33:37,180 --> 00:33:38,280 chapter of Genesis. 614 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,940 In the beginning, God created the heavens and 615 00:33:42,940 --> 00:33:45,980 the earth, and when the earth was brought 616 00:33:45,980 --> 00:33:50,100 into the chaotic state, all that was associated 617 00:33:50,100 --> 00:33:54,720 with it was brought into disorder as well. 618 00:33:55,580 --> 00:34:00,600 You know, the larger men's telescopes become, and 619 00:34:00,600 --> 00:34:04,460 the farther they reach out into space, the 620 00:34:04,460 --> 00:34:08,900 more we are learning that this little sphere 621 00:34:08,900 --> 00:34:12,820 upon which you and I are living, which 622 00:34:12,820 --> 00:34:16,280 is attached to the sun by the law 623 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:20,780 of gravitation, that this little solar system which 624 00:34:20,780 --> 00:34:25,340 is our solar system, is one only one 625 00:34:25,340 --> 00:34:33,120 of many multitudes of other solar systems and 626 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:37,540 spheres that there are in the universe around 627 00:34:37,540 --> 00:34:37,940 us. 628 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:41,760 Men are finding all the time that this 629 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,580 universe is beyond a limit. 630 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:48,199 They can't reach to the end of it. 631 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,600 So, I think that when this earth was 632 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:55,159 brought into the chaotic state, the sun was 633 00:34:55,159 --> 00:34:59,200 brought into disorder with it. 634 00:34:59,660 --> 00:35:03,000 That its life in relation to this earth 635 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:07,000 was affected as well, and there are some 636 00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,640 who believe that when God said, let there 637 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:13,860 be light, and there was light, that it 638 00:35:13,860 --> 00:35:16,880 was really the light of the sun that 639 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:22,680 was diffusing through the atmosphere and beginning to 640 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:24,800 come into this earth. 641 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,800 Now, of course, it was still surrounded, as 642 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,380 we know from the second day, it was 643 00:35:31,380 --> 00:35:35,880 still surrounded by the atmosphere clouds of water 644 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:40,320 enveloping it, but really and truly in the 645 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:44,600 first day, God said, let there be light, 646 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:46,140 and there was light. 647 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,280 Hebrew scholars tell us that the real thought 648 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,760 is let light be, and light was. 649 00:35:53,100 --> 00:35:54,880 That's just how fast it was. 650 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:56,700 God saw the light. 651 00:35:57,180 --> 00:35:59,120 It doesn't say that what God saw in 652 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,100 this creation was good, but God saw the 653 00:36:02,100 --> 00:36:05,820 light, that it was good, and God divided 654 00:36:05,820 --> 00:36:08,960 the light from the darkness, and God called 655 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:11,980 the light day, and the darkness he called 656 00:36:11,980 --> 00:36:15,200 night, and the evening and the morning were 657 00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:16,120 the first day. 658 00:36:17,420 --> 00:36:20,300 I know that foreshadows for us the first 659 00:36:20,300 --> 00:36:23,900 age of human history, the time from Adam 660 00:36:23,900 --> 00:36:27,660 to Noah, a period of 1656 years. 661 00:36:28,820 --> 00:36:30,540 You know, some people seem to have the 662 00:36:30,540 --> 00:36:34,700 idea that when God made man, that man 663 00:36:34,700 --> 00:36:39,520 was so ignorant, and so depraved, and so 664 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:43,080 beast-like that he had no knowledge, that 665 00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:44,820 he was absolutely in darkness. 666 00:36:45,580 --> 00:36:47,520 But, my friends, when we turn to the 667 00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:49,860 word of God, we find that from the 668 00:36:49,860 --> 00:36:52,800 beginning, God gave man light. 669 00:36:53,700 --> 00:36:54,840 Man had light. 670 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,500 You notice that on this chart we have 671 00:36:57,500 --> 00:37:01,560 in the first instantation, man was tried with, 672 00:37:01,860 --> 00:37:04,560 first of all, the life of creation. 673 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,680 We turn to Romans chapter 1, we turn 674 00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:11,980 to Psalm 19, and we find that creation 675 00:37:11,980 --> 00:37:16,900 all around bears witness to man of God. 676 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:19,300 How do we know there's a God? 677 00:37:20,300 --> 00:37:22,280 My friends, it doesn't make an image where 678 00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:23,040 we go. 679 00:37:23,740 --> 00:37:27,000 Whether we go into the darkest recesses of 680 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,140 the jungle where people have never read a 681 00:37:30,140 --> 00:37:33,860 book, and missionaries tell us that as they 682 00:37:33,860 --> 00:37:37,960 work among these primitive peoples, these people have 683 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:42,180 a consciousness of a supreme being of a 684 00:37:42,180 --> 00:37:48,080 God that sometimes surpasses the knowledge of so 685 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:53,060 -called educated people who despise the word of 686 00:37:53,060 --> 00:37:56,240 God, and the testimony of the word of 687 00:37:56,240 --> 00:37:56,560 God. 688 00:37:57,020 --> 00:38:00,200 The heavens declare the glory of God, and 689 00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:02,780 the firmament show us his handiwork. 690 00:38:02,780 --> 00:38:07,160 Creation bears witness to man that there is 691 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:11,620 a God, that this God is wise, that 692 00:38:11,620 --> 00:38:15,160 this God is powerful, that this God is 693 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:15,740 mighty. 694 00:38:16,580 --> 00:38:20,760 There is one above and beyond us who 695 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:26,360 controls everything, who controls and directs the seasons. 696 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:29,540 But, man had more than the light of 697 00:38:29,540 --> 00:38:30,060 creation. 698 00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,320 Man has the light of conscience. 699 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:40,240 Man had within himself a conscience that told 700 00:38:40,240 --> 00:38:42,200 him when he did wrong. 701 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:48,440 You know, sometimes people think of their conscience 702 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:52,560 like the little girl who says, a conscience 703 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:56,940 is that which speaks to you when Johnny 704 00:38:56,940 --> 00:39:00,420 speaks to me when Johnny does something wrong. 705 00:39:01,140 --> 00:39:04,060 Conscience is that which speaks to me when 706 00:39:04,060 --> 00:39:07,220 Johnny, my brother, does something wrong. 707 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,880 Now, you know that's about all some people's 708 00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:11,300 conscience. 709 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,020 It's very easy for them to see when 710 00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:17,620 another person they think is wrong, or is 711 00:39:17,620 --> 00:39:18,780 doing wrong. 712 00:39:19,180 --> 00:39:21,500 But, really and truly, that's not what conscience 713 00:39:21,500 --> 00:39:22,180 is. 714 00:39:22,660 --> 00:39:27,340 Conscience is that inward monitor, that inward thing 715 00:39:27,340 --> 00:39:30,440 within us that bears witness to you and 716 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:32,740 me when we do wrong. 717 00:39:33,340 --> 00:39:35,900 And, again, it doesn't make any difference where 718 00:39:35,900 --> 00:39:36,640 we go. 719 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:40,100 We find that people have a conscience. 720 00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:44,700 There in the darkest recesses in Africa, there 721 00:39:44,700 --> 00:39:48,440 we find people troubled about their conscience, troubled 722 00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:49,660 about their sins. 723 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:54,100 They're bringing sacrifices to atone for their sins. 724 00:39:54,820 --> 00:39:57,700 Missionaries will tell us that in the jungles 725 00:39:57,700 --> 00:40:00,580 of Africa, a person will take a chicken 726 00:40:00,580 --> 00:40:04,080 and kill it to atone for his sins, 727 00:40:04,540 --> 00:40:08,060 sprinkle himself with the blood, and cover himself 728 00:40:08,060 --> 00:40:11,080 with the blood because he thinks that will 729 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:12,300 atone for his sins. 730 00:40:12,740 --> 00:40:15,780 The person in India who believes the river 731 00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:19,920 Ganges can wash away his sins, troubled with 732 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,560 a burden of sin, will measure himself prostrate 733 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:28,480 along the desert reciting prayers until he finally 734 00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:32,460 comes to the river Ganges and plunges into 735 00:40:32,460 --> 00:40:35,800 it, hoping that as he washes himself in 736 00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,820 that water, his sins will be removed. 737 00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:43,520 They're longing for ease and liberty and freedom 738 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:44,760 of conscience. 739 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:46,740 Conscience. 740 00:40:47,580 --> 00:40:51,240 Conscience which troubles people about their sins. 741 00:40:51,580 --> 00:40:54,520 That was what caused Adam and the woman 742 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:57,540 to hide amongst the trees of the garden, 743 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:01,120 to cover themselves with fig leaves, and to 744 00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:03,880 hide from God as they hid amongst the 745 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:05,000 trees of the garden. 746 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:06,280 What was it? 747 00:41:06,460 --> 00:41:09,220 It was conscience that told them they were 748 00:41:09,220 --> 00:41:12,660 sinners, that told them they were guilty, that 749 00:41:12,660 --> 00:41:14,840 told they couldn't stand before God. 750 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:19,360 It was conscience that drove Abel to bring 751 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:22,880 that sacrifice to atone for his sins. 752 00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:26,800 The conscience of his sins about his sins 753 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:30,140 troubled him, and we find that there were 754 00:41:30,140 --> 00:41:33,200 others all through that age from Adam to 755 00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,980 Noah who had a conscience, and they knew 756 00:41:36,980 --> 00:41:38,400 that they were sinners. 757 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:41,460 They knew they needed forgiveness. 758 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,180 They knew that they had to meet God. 759 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:47,000 I wonder if I'm speaking to someone in 760 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:50,540 this meeting tonight, and you're trying to deaden 761 00:41:50,540 --> 00:41:51,300 your conscience? 762 00:41:52,140 --> 00:41:54,060 You know, one of the awful things about 763 00:41:54,060 --> 00:41:57,560 America is that with all of our learning, 764 00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:01,460 with all of our religion, we harden our 765 00:42:01,460 --> 00:42:02,100 conscience. 766 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:05,700 We staple the voice of our conscience. 767 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:10,060 We sear our conscience until it says, the 768 00:42:10,060 --> 00:42:15,080 fourth chapter of Ephesians says, people become past 769 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:15,820 feelings. 770 00:42:16,580 --> 00:42:20,360 They become past feelings, and they don't listen 771 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,080 to the voice of their conscience. 772 00:42:22,500 --> 00:42:24,880 They try to drown the voice of their 773 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:25,460 conscience. 774 00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:30,540 But, you know, eventually conscience comes to the 775 00:42:30,540 --> 00:42:36,800 top, and conscience brings the awful consciousness of 776 00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:40,420 one's sins, and of one's guilt, and causes 777 00:42:40,420 --> 00:42:43,680 the person to dread to meet God. 778 00:42:44,260 --> 00:42:48,680 Man has the light of conscience, and just 779 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:51,340 as light came in the first day, and 780 00:42:51,340 --> 00:42:55,020 light was in existence all the days, so 781 00:42:55,020 --> 00:42:59,540 these two spheres, or degrees of light, were 782 00:42:59,540 --> 00:43:00,540 given to man. 783 00:43:01,380 --> 00:43:04,940 But, you know, no sooner had man sinned 784 00:43:04,940 --> 00:43:07,340 than God gave him the greatest light of 785 00:43:07,340 --> 00:43:09,120 all, and what was that? 786 00:43:09,620 --> 00:43:11,980 That was the light of promise. 787 00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:15,240 And, he returns, we see, to Genesis chapter 788 00:43:15,240 --> 00:43:17,860 3 and verse 15. 789 00:43:18,420 --> 00:43:21,020 You'll notice the Lord says in that 15th 790 00:43:21,020 --> 00:43:24,900 verse, to the serpent Satan, but within the 791 00:43:24,900 --> 00:43:28,340 hearing of the man and the woman, in 792 00:43:28,340 --> 00:43:31,660 Genesis 3 and 15 he says, and I 793 00:43:31,660 --> 00:43:34,340 will put enmity between thee and the woman, 794 00:43:35,100 --> 00:43:37,180 between thy seed and her seed. 795 00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:41,120 It shall bruise thy head, and thou shall 796 00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:42,840 bruise his ear. 797 00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:47,320 No sooner man had sinned than God gave 798 00:43:47,320 --> 00:43:50,480 him a promise, or God gave him a 799 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:51,280 word of light. 800 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:52,700 What was that word of light? 801 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,280 That word of light was concerning a coming 802 00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:03,600 Savior, a Savior who would bruise Satan's head, 803 00:44:04,100 --> 00:44:07,780 but a Savior who would be bruised in 804 00:44:07,780 --> 00:44:08,120 turn. 805 00:44:08,580 --> 00:44:10,040 And, who is that? 806 00:44:10,800 --> 00:44:14,240 That, my friends, is our Lord Jesus, the 807 00:44:14,240 --> 00:44:15,580 seed of the woman. 808 00:44:16,240 --> 00:44:20,020 Here we find the first announcement of the 809 00:44:20,020 --> 00:44:22,120 virgin birth of our Lord Jesus. 810 00:44:23,020 --> 00:44:26,040 Here we find the first announcement of the 811 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:27,940 death of our Lord Jesus. 812 00:44:28,540 --> 00:44:32,100 Here we find the first announcement of the 813 00:44:32,100 --> 00:44:34,680 overcoming of Satan. 814 00:44:35,320 --> 00:44:38,500 Here we find the first announcement of a 815 00:44:38,500 --> 00:44:41,900 seed whom God would send into the world. 816 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:44,860 And, we know how this gripped the heart 817 00:44:44,860 --> 00:44:47,640 of the man and the woman, because it 818 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:52,180 was after this that the man called his 819 00:44:52,180 --> 00:44:53,700 wife's name Eve. 820 00:44:54,140 --> 00:44:57,600 It was after the promise was given that 821 00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:02,020 he called his wife's name Eve, the mother 822 00:45:02,020 --> 00:45:03,500 of all. 823 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:06,500 And, it was because they laid hold of 824 00:45:06,500 --> 00:45:10,560 this promise that the woman called the first 825 00:45:10,560 --> 00:45:13,480 son that was born into the world came. 826 00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,280 She says, God has given me the seed. 827 00:45:17,740 --> 00:45:20,420 She thought this was the seed, but it 828 00:45:20,420 --> 00:45:21,180 was not. 829 00:45:21,620 --> 00:45:23,960 There was one who was to come, but 830 00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:27,060 there was the hope of the coming Savior. 831 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:30,960 And, every sacrifice that they brought was an 832 00:45:30,960 --> 00:45:35,380 expression of their faith in that coming Savior. 833 00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:39,840 And, what distinguished all of humanity from the 834 00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:44,180 very beginning of time was that those who 835 00:45:44,180 --> 00:45:47,700 held on to that promise, and believed that 836 00:45:47,700 --> 00:45:50,840 promise, and were looking for the coming of 837 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:54,060 the Savior, they were the children of life. 838 00:45:54,760 --> 00:45:58,940 Those who refused it, like Cain, and all 839 00:45:58,940 --> 00:46:02,240 who followed him in his path, why, they 840 00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:04,780 were the children of darkness. 841 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,140 And so, we find that God gave them 842 00:46:08,140 --> 00:46:08,560 life. 843 00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:11,140 When we turn to the 11th chapter of 844 00:46:11,140 --> 00:46:15,200 Hebrews, we find that by faith Abel offered 845 00:46:15,200 --> 00:46:18,940 unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, 846 00:46:19,620 --> 00:46:23,220 by which he obtained witness that he was 847 00:46:23,220 --> 00:46:28,040 God testifying of his gift, and by it 848 00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:30,520 he being dead yet. 849 00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:35,840 My friends, before I can ever exercise faith, 850 00:46:36,060 --> 00:46:38,020 I must hear something. 851 00:46:39,220 --> 00:46:41,980 I can't believe something I don't know anything 852 00:46:41,980 --> 00:46:42,440 about. 853 00:46:43,060 --> 00:46:45,940 I can't believe something I don't hear anything 854 00:46:45,940 --> 00:46:46,480 about. 855 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:50,000 You have to tell me something before I 856 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,620 can believe you or disbelieve you. 857 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:58,800 Faith is an emotion, an experience that is 858 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:02,780 the result of hearing a certain report. 859 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:05,660 Where did Abel hear it? 860 00:47:06,120 --> 00:47:08,960 He must have heard it from his father 861 00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,540 and mother, how they sought to hide from 862 00:47:11,540 --> 00:47:14,900 God, how they could not hide from God, 863 00:47:15,420 --> 00:47:17,680 how that God brought them out into the 864 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:21,120 open, how they had to make confession of 865 00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:23,780 what they had done, and how God had 866 00:47:23,780 --> 00:47:28,100 taken the sacrifice, giving them the promise, and 867 00:47:28,100 --> 00:47:31,140 how it slain the sacrifice and covered them 868 00:47:31,140 --> 00:47:34,960 with a garment that covered their nakedness, giving 869 00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:37,660 them the promise of a coming Messiah, of 870 00:47:37,660 --> 00:47:38,700 a coming Savior. 871 00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:44,580 I'm sure that's where Abel heard his report 872 00:47:44,580 --> 00:47:47,040 to exercise faith. 873 00:47:47,620 --> 00:47:51,240 By faith, Abel offered unto God a more 874 00:47:51,240 --> 00:47:55,060 excellent sacrifice than Cain, and then I like 875 00:47:55,060 --> 00:47:59,800 that next phrase, by which he obtained witness 876 00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:01,900 that he was righteous. 877 00:48:03,040 --> 00:48:06,340 You know, people sometimes talk of when you 878 00:48:06,340 --> 00:48:09,920 speak about knowing that you're saved, why they 879 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,360 talk as though that was new doctrine. 880 00:48:13,700 --> 00:48:17,160 My friends, that is old as Abel. 881 00:48:18,300 --> 00:48:22,200 By faith, Abel obtained witness that he was 882 00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:22,700 righteous. 883 00:48:23,560 --> 00:48:25,720 He knew that he was righteous. 884 00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:28,400 He had a witness that he was righteous, 885 00:48:29,020 --> 00:48:33,580 and not only so, and by it, he 886 00:48:33,580 --> 00:48:36,580 being dead, yet speaking. 887 00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:42,220 Why, that man Abel, he's speaking to people 888 00:48:42,220 --> 00:48:46,780 of this enlightened spirit of Scripture, and he's 889 00:48:46,780 --> 00:48:51,340 telling them the only way to God, and 890 00:48:51,340 --> 00:48:55,420 the only way to obtain witness about how 891 00:48:55,420 --> 00:49:00,060 to be righteous God is by means of 892 00:49:00,060 --> 00:49:02,360 the divine sacrifice. 893 00:49:03,100 --> 00:49:06,080 By faith, they had light. 894 00:49:07,020 --> 00:49:08,400 Man had light. 895 00:49:09,360 --> 00:49:11,280 Man was not in darkness. 896 00:49:12,220 --> 00:49:15,940 Man had the light of creation to tell 897 00:49:15,940 --> 00:49:17,000 him there was a God. 898 00:49:17,980 --> 00:49:21,180 Man had the light of conscience to tell 899 00:49:21,180 --> 00:49:22,220 him he was a sinner. 900 00:49:23,260 --> 00:49:26,800 Man had the light of promise to tell 901 00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:31,200 him of a coming Savior, the seed of 902 00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:35,260 the woman who would die on Calvary's cross, 903 00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:40,300 and win the pardon for them so that 904 00:49:40,300 --> 00:49:43,220 they might know they are righteous. 905 00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:47,940 And just as on that first day, light 906 00:49:47,940 --> 00:49:51,300 was brought in in the first age from 907 00:49:51,300 --> 00:49:54,980 Adam to Noah, which ended in the flood, 908 00:49:55,600 --> 00:49:59,440 a period of about 1656 years, we believe, 909 00:50:00,460 --> 00:50:05,950 man had no time to go living in 910 00:50:05,950 --> 00:50:06,910 a much later day.