"The principalities and powers in the heavenly places recognize the ‘mystery of Christ’ for what it is. They realize the ‘manifold wisdom of God’ in what He has done in ‘taking them in their own craftiness.’
"They realize God has triumphed over them in the Cross. They understand what God has done in providing for their removal from their positions and the reconciliation of their positions back to God through the instrumentality of a ‘new creation.’
"They, much to their own grief, see the genius of God in ‘the mystery.’ Unfortunately, though, far too many Christians do not.”
—Author Keith Blades, Satan & His Plan of Evil.
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Colossians 2:15: [15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
“To spoil something or someone, is to defeat it militarily and plunder it; attack it, rob it, and dispossess it. Notice, ‘He made a shew of them openly.’
“One of the dumbest arguments you get about dispensationalism is, ‘It can’t be true because who else believes this?’ Just to see how silly that is, remember what happened when Noah was alive? He’s built the Ark for 120 years. Do you think he had some neighbors who thought we was wacky?
“He’s called a preacher of righteousness, which means he’s preaching, telling people what God’s preparing to do and they mock him: ‘Noah, you’ve been saying that for 119 years!’ The moment after the Flood starts it’s too late, but just the day before it was like 12 million people to eight.
“If you look at verse 15, it really gives you a clue about something. What the Cross demonstrated by ‘the mystery’ is God’s manifold wisdom. What He did is He kept one little secret from Satan.”
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"When you abandon a clear understanding of dispensational truth, you abandon the divinely prescribed method of gaining the profit from God's Word that He's put in His Word just for you," explains Richard Jordan. "You give up the opportunity for the genuine, real, authentic working of the excellency and the power of His Word in your life in its details.
"You go through Paul's epistles and you see Paul talk to people about what happens when they abandon what he teaches them and you see them multiplying questions with no answer; you see strife of words to no profit.
"I Timothy 6: [3] If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
[4] He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
[5] Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
"You know what that list describes? The condition of modern evangelicalism. Can I tell you that where you are, whether you've got a little assembly of people or an outreach that includes thousands, that issue of the excellency of the power of God in His word working is to be put on display in your life. That's why I keep telling you it isn't enough to be a Mid-Acts Dispensationalist.
"We get it through Paul, but you got to get the message of grace that he teaches that produces the life grace is designed to produce."
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“The whole reason Paul is ‘persecuting the church unto strange cities’ in the early part of the Book of Acts is he knows exactly what they teach and he views it as heresy and wants to stamp it out," says Ohio preacher David Reid.
"If all Paul did after his conversion was preach the same doctrine Peter did, he wouldn't have needed a revelation from God to do that; he already knows what it is!
“But he had to have a mystery REVEALED to him if God was doing something different. Paul says in Ephesians 3 ‘that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.’
“Now, I know what happens. People say, ‘Well, today we’re saved looking backward to the Cross just as everyone in time past was saved looking forward to the Cross and it’s always been the same gospel.’
“That’s one of those things that’s just 'Christianese.' It may sound good and it tickles the ears but, biblically it’s just nonsense. Nonetheless, the vast majority of ‘Churchianity’ just goes along in their own ‘programming’ oblivious to what God has purposed.
“I mean, what Paul’s saying is that, ‘In other ages the doctrine that I’m teaching wasn’t even made known!’ It wasn’t that they didn’t teach it; it wasn’t even revealed!
“He goes in in Ephesians 3, [7] Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
[8] Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
*****
“In John 5, the Lord is dealing with some folks who are unbelievers. Christ says in John 5:39-40, [39] Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
[40] And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.
“He’s dealing with some folks who don’t believe in Him but they claim to believe the Old Testament. What He says to them is, ‘Look, you claim to believe the Old Testament, so if you really do, search it and what does it unmistakable tells you?’ He’s saying, ‘The truth about me is going to be demonstrated from the Scriptures; all you have to do is search it.’
“Paul, in Ephesians 3:8, said he ‘preached the UNsearchable riches of Christ,’ meaning you could take your Old Testament and flip through it and scour the whole thing, and guess what, it’s not there.
Verse 9 says, [9] And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
“I don’t know what people do with that verse. How can you say that Peter was doing the same thing when, from the beginning of the world, God didn’t hide it in the Scriptures, He hid it in HIMSELF! Was God so inept at hiding things that man has figured it out because man is such a genius?! That’s just nonsense.
“Verse 10 says, [10] To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
“The intent of us making all men see, it’s not simply to make all men see, although that’s a good thing. It is to demonstrate unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places. That’s including the guys on the wrong team."
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