When That Which Is Perfect Is Come
by Richard St.James
When That Which Is Perfect Is Come
Bible 1611.Com / Sluice Box Adventures.com / Old Paths Bible Ministries © 2008
This message reveals the true meaning of I Corinthians 13:10. Today’s religious apostasy has
clouded this identification of “that which is perfect.”
• The Jews Require A Sign
• Tongues In The Book Acts Is A Known language
• The One-Time Event
• The Holy Ghost Received By Three Groups
• Peter Uses the Keys Three Times
• The Baptism By The Holy Ghost
• The Special Case of John the Baptist’s 12 Disciples
• Time To Go To I Corinthians
• The Spiritual Gifts That Are Gone
• That Which Is Perfect
When That Which Is Perfect Is Come
Little by little and step by step, we have seen
THE LANDMARK being
removed from our nation. This
LANDMARK we have already seen to be
God's Holy Bible. In the English language it is the
AV1611, or any
edition thereof. It is the absolute inspired [maintained
inspiration] word of God. In this message, I want to deal with the
glue that is being used to meld together all the religious sects
into one great amalgamation to become the one-world church [the
anti-church for the anti-christ].
Man is by nature religious. No wonder! Satan is fervently religious
too. Now let that sink in! All the religious roads go to Rome! One
of the sleights of the Devil in the total contrivance with the
carnal mind of man at the helm is to take a verse [or verses] out of
context, or omit, add, or change the words.
Remember, every
translation [over 200 different translations in the English
language] of the Bible beginning with the Revised Standard of 1881
and right up to the present [1996] are guilty of this. These
translations, which are based on the various formulated Greek Texts
[over twenty of them] have ushered forth from the pens of liberal
hell-bent scholars beginning with Tragelles, Tischendorf, Westcott
and Hort in the nineteenth century.
Satan has been busy and he will
perform any amount of tomfoolery just to get someone to prove by
using the Bible, [not believing the Bible] some predetermined
doctrine to be true. This is like trying to take the cart before the
horse. Doctrine should be formulated through the Holy Ghost. He
provides the illumination [John 16:13,14] and as a result of the
Scripture explaining Scripture. If this happens, then the true
teachings will emanate. But, true to form, man goes into it [The
BOOK] with his own pre-conceived notions [man's doctrines] and
pushes and shoves at the scripture [God calls it
"wrest"] till he
achieves his goal [which is his pre-determined doctrine].
Let me add
this. Problems will arise even with the misapplication of Scripture;
that is, erroneously applying something to you personally from God's
word, when God's word was applying it to someone else. By the way,
this can happen to anyone of us. Now God has a commentary on this in
II Peter 3:16.
"As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which
they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the
other scriptures, unto their own destruction."
Now, you say;
"Brother St.James, that verse is talking about someone
who is unsaved." Yes, I agree, but I say look on. Look at the next
verse.
"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own stedfastness." Now that verse is aimed squarely
at you and I, brother and sister.
"Beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, Fall...."
Some years ago in the beautiful Anchorage, Alaska bowl, I was
employed with an engineering company. I was part of a design team
developing construction drawings for projects at the giant Oil Field
on the north slope of Alaska 800 miles away. One of the drafters I
worked with was a young man. His name was Tom. I remember how
Tom and I immediately hit it off very well. He was a Christian, but
we quickly recognized that there was a vast chasm or a great gulf
between us. We attempted [as good friends] to persuade each other of
the error we saw in the other's doctrine.
There was to be no meeting
ground. Let me explain. Tom was a member of a church,
which was some twenty miles north of Anchorage, and his father was
the pastor. [Watch out for those groups that avoid the New Testament
name for the local body,
"the church"].
His church was
begun as an offshoot of the largest church in Anchorage, Alaska, a Christian Center.
[Here we go again, watch out for those
groups that avoid the New Testament name for the local body,
"the
church"].
"Loopers", as they are commonly known, have
satellite groups all over the Pacific Northwest.
Their view of the
church holds that the office of the apostle is for today. Therefore,
they have apostles! They have this doctrine of
"The Church Perfect,"
of which they are members in particular. Tom explained that all the
other Christians [outside the Loopers] were destined to go through
"The Great Tribulation" and suffer death while
"the Church Perfect" [Loopers] was to survive in safety from all danger in the
wilderness. They had it all. The gifts of prophecies, tongues and
knowledge! They had been baptized in the Holy Spirit! Yeah! I can
still see Tom sitting there with his headphones on while
working at his PC station and just gyrating with the rhythmic beat
of his
"Christian Rock." Bless his heart! My compassion for him was
as from a deep well. I would pray, "Oh, my Lord Jesus Christ, can I
be used in Tom's life."
I. THE JEWS REQUIRE A SIGN
I Corinthians 14:21
"In the law it is written, with men of other
tongues and lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that
will they not hear me, saith the Lord." In Isaiah 28 in verse 10-13
the prophet points to a future event. He is speaking to Israel, and
he is speaking to them of precepts and of lines.
"For precept must
be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line; here a
little, and there a little."
In the course of God's dealing with
Israel, he had determined that he would someday
"speak to this
people" with
"another tongue."
"For with stammering lips and another
tongue will I speak to this people. To whom he said, this is the
rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the
refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was
unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon
line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and
fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."
I Corinthians
14:21 is the fulfillment of the prophecy given to Isaiah hundreds of
years before. God's word is
TRUE.
"For prophecy came not in old time
by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost." II Peter 1:21 I Corinthians 1:22
"For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom." To those that
have named the name of Jesus Christ, [Christians] who have trusted
Him for their salvation
"to be revealed in the last time"
[1 Peter
1:5]; that is, in that period of time from Pentecost to the coming
translation of the saints [which is the church, i.e.
"a spiritual
house, an holy priesthood" I Peter 1:5].
This last century has been
a time of spiritual declension. This has been a time of the clouding
over of the eyes. No longer can we understand the basic differences
between the Jew and Gentiles [the Greek].
"For the Jews require a
sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom." When you get right down to
it, there are two groups of people on this earth.
"The Book" shows
that. Some would have us think that the categorizing of people by
gender [male and female], or by the color of skin, is more
distinctive and of more importance than the differences between the
Jew and the Gentile.
This false view comes as a result of spending
more time [the leavening process] reading the newspaper or watching
the television than reading their Bibles. In contrast, it does not
take too long for a Bible believer reading God's word and meditating
on its precepts to find the truths and joys therein.
"I have
rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I
will meditate in thy precepts." [Psalm 119:14,15] This will result
in the believer being
"filled with the Spirit."
[Ephesians 4:18]
Remember this important statement of fact by God through His apostle
Paul. It will help you understand
"His Book" by
"rightly dividing
the word of truth." [II Timothy 2:15] Please, get this down! The
Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Check it out.
Every Jew has this thing built into his very nature. The first
"Jew"
was a Gentile until he was called out of his country [or nation]. [Genesis 12:1,2].
"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto
a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great
nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou
shalt be a blessing."
Abram became Abraham by the covenant
established by God. [Genesis 17:4,5] “The token" of this covenant
was visibly made known to Abraham by the
"circumcision of the flesh
of his foreskin." "This token"
is shown [comparing scripture with
scripture] to be
"a sign." In Romans chapter 4, verse 11, Abraham
received the sign of circumcision.
"And he received the sign of
circumcision a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had
yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them
that believe."
The Jew requires a sign in order to believe. Look at
Exodus 4:30 and see how signs needed to be performed by Moses
"in
the sight of all the people" so that they would believe that the
Lord was visiting His people and intending to bring a great
deliverance and salvation from their 400 year bondage to the
Egyptians. [Acts 7:36]
"He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and the Red Sea, and
in the wilderness forty years."
God used visible signs that were
great and wonderful to convince Israel to sing a song of His
mightiness.
"Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song
unto the Lord, and spake,saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he
hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and the rider hath he thrown
into the sea." [Exodus 15:1-2] Israel experienced
"signs and
wonders" from God by his direct intervention in their affairs down
through time. Remember the walls of Jericho and how they came down?
This represented to them a mighty sign of God going before them and
delivering their enemy into their hands. Consider this, how God gave
Israel the seventh day [along with the special Sabbaths] as a sign
of His being the Lord God
"that ye may know that I am the Lord that
doth sanctify you" [Exodus 31:13]. This truth that the Jew requires
a sign reached such proportions even in the very face of the
presence of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, with the
unbelieving Pharisees [Jews] that God refused to give the very signs
they demanded before they would believe in His Son [that He was the
prophesied Savior of Israel].
Matthew 12:38
"Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees
answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he
answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but
the sign of the prophet Jonas."
Now, focus on this: "God also
bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?"
[Hebrews 2:4].
To sum up, the signs and wonders that were performed by Jesus Christ
[and His apostles] when He came to this earth almost two thousand
years ago were to be a signal to Israel of who He was, and having
rejected Him, to judge them. It would be by occasion of their
unbelief that the Gentiles were to be grafted in to partake
"of the
root and fatness of the olive tree." [Romans 11:17b]
Israel's
rejection of these signs was prophesied centuries earlier in the
most exacting precision.
"[According as it is written, God hath
given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and
ears that they should not hear;] unto this day." [Romans 11:8].
"Salvation is come unto the Gentiles" [Romans 11:11]. This is where
the term
"mystery" shows up.
It is a New Testament truth unknown to
the Jew in his setting of national Israel. They tripped up over this
thing of God signifying a change in his dealing with man; with a
beginning of a new dispensation.
"Even the mystery which hath been
hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints: To whom God would make known what the riches of his glory of
his mystery among the Gentiles; Which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory," [Colossians 1:26, 27].
See also, Ephesians 1:9,10]. The
change in the dispensation reveals that God can modify His dealings
with man without regard to man, at His own discretion,
"according to
His good pleasure." Note Ephesians 5:32, and see how God revealed
the
"great mystery concerning Christ and the Church." God used signs
and wonders in the confirmation and the revelation to the Jew of
"the mystery of the Gospel" [Ephesians 6:19] whereby if they, the
Jews, are to be saved, that they must see that:
"Neither is there
salvation in any other: For there is none other name under Heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Brethren, now we are ready to begin to read
"The Acts Of The
Apostles" in chapter two. Come on, now! Read it and believe it, and
take note of something. Not one person involved from Acts chapter
one, verse one right up to Acts chapter ten is a Gentile [of the
nations]. Cornelius was the first Gentile to be saved [Acts 10].
Those that heard Peter on the day of Pentecost [Acts 2:9-11] were
"Jews and proselytes" and the Ethiopian eunuch was a proselyte to
the Jewish religion.
Everyone is a Jew [or Samaritan] up till that
point. Everything prophesied in Mark 16:15-18 was fulfilled in the
book of Acts. Everyone Jesus Christ was speaking to in Mark
16:15-18, were Jews [
"afterward he appeared unto the eleven"].
Everyone at the feast of Pentecost was a Jew. The Jews require a
sign. They witnessed
"many wonders and signs."
[Acts 2:43]
"And fear
came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the
apostles."
II. TONGUES IN THE BOOK OF ACTS IS A KNOWN LANGUAGE
At the time of the feast of Pentecost there were present Jews and
proselytes from a multitude of nations.
"Parthians, Medes, and
Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and
Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt,
and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews
and Proselytes," who made this declaration;
"Cretes and Arabians, we
do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God."
Look
at it! They heard the Gospel in their own tongue [or language]. The
main point to let soak in here is that the use of tongues in the
book of the Acts is always shown to be a use of a known tongue [or
language]. It is never an unknown tongue. Everybody present was
hearing the Gospel in his own language. It was a miracle!
The Jews
require a sign! This event was to be a sign from God of his dealing
with Israel in a different manner. This is the fulfillment of Isaiah
28: 10-13 and explained in Acts, chapter 14:21.
"In the law it is
written, with men of other tongues and lips will I speak unto this
people: and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord."
III. THE ONE-TIME EVENT
JESUS CHRIST AS THE BAPTIZER
To understand the phrase, in Acts 2:38:
"ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost," we must find the prophetic statement made by
John the Baptist of our Lord and Savior Jesus, that He is the one
who baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
"The same is he which baptizeth
with the Holy Ghost" [John 1:33]. In Matthew 3:11, it is reinforced,
and is pointing to a future event.
"He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost, and with Fire."
And again in Mark 1:8,
"but he shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost." And for the fourth time, in Luke
3:16,
"he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with Fire:"
These four verses aim squarely
"point blank" at what occurred in the
upper room on the day of Pentecost with the 120 believers. It
occurred once!
IV. THE HOLY GHOST RECEIVED BY THREE GROUPS
The several references to the Holy Ghost
"being received" after this
particular event occur four times. First, to the Jews when the three
thousand got saved, Acts 2:38,41; the second time, to the
Samaritans, in Acts 8:17; and third, to the Gentiles [Cornelius], in
Acts 10:44. Notice the order: first, to the Jews in Jerusalem, then
to the Samaritans, then last, to the Gentiles.
Now does not that fit
with Acts 1:8? Amen! See how exact the Spirit of God has it given in
"this Book." "The Holy Ghost is come upon you:
[the 120 believers in
the upper room]
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem
and in all in Judea, [the three thousand] and in Samaria, [the
Samaritans] and unto the uttermost part of the earth" [the Gentiles].
Oh my! How perfect the Bible is!
V. PETER USES THE KEYS THREE TIMES
Peter had the keys; [
"the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven"
[Matthew 16:19]. Peter's presence is required. In
"The Acts Of The
Apostles" there are three instances where these keys were utilized.
Once with the Jews at Jerusalem; the second time, with the
Samaritans; and the third time with the Gentiles. These events are
foundational in the formulation of the body of Christ [and not to be
repeated again].
VI. THE BAPTISM BY THE HOLY GHOST
The only baptizing ministry that the Holy Ghost is performing
throughout this age is something he does each time an individual
gets saved. It occurs at the moment a person is
"born again" or
"translated" into the kingdom of His dear Son
[Colossians 1:13]. It occurs
when the Spirit of God baptizes us into the body of Christ.
"For by
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free: and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit."
This is the true doctrine of the
"Baptism by
the Holy Ghost" revealed in the Bible. It should not be confused
with the event prophesied in Luke 3:16, John 1: 33, Mark 1:8 or
Matthew 3:11, that occurred on the day of Pentecost. It should not
be confused with ministry of the Apostle Peter and his use of the
"keys" to heaven. If the believer can get it straight concerning
this; he or she will be able to avoid the
"abyss" of error.
VII. THE SPECIAL CASE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST'S 12 DISCIPLES
The last instance recorded in the book of the Acts concerning
"the
Holy Ghost" coming on a group of men and speaking
"with tongues" is
in Acts 19:1-7. These
"certain disciples" were Jews that believed in
Jesus Christ but knew nothing about the Holy Ghost. They believed
only the message of John the Baptist. They heard from John
"that
they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on
Christ Jesus." Again, this is a one- time event, never to be
repeated again! These disciples of the earlier dispensation [dealing
with the nation of Israel] who believed in John's message needed to
be brought forward into the new dispensation, the body of Christ.
The Apostle Paul would be God's chosen means this time.
VIII. TIME TO GO TO I CORINTHIANS
It will not take much effort for the Bible believer to ascertain by
the reading of this epistle that Paul was dealing with a church
filled with trouble and carnality. In chapter 1, verse 11,
"it hath
been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the
house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you." Again in 3:5,
"For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and
strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?"
In chapter five, Paul is dealing with the problems of fornication in
the church. In chapter six, the problem is that they are taking one
another to civil court before the unsaved [
"before the unjust"].
In
chapter seven, the Apostle Paul has to clear the mud out by teaching
the doctrine of the place of the man and woman in the divine order
and giving instruction concerning marriage.
In chapter eight, he has
to deal with them over the issue of the believer's personal liberty
and the need for self-denial warning them not become a
"stumblingblock
to them that are weak."
In chapter nine, Paul has to make a
self-defense of his ministry as an apostle of Jesus Christ before
the Corinthians. In chapter ten, the problem is lust, murmuring, and
idolatry.
In chapter 11, the Spirit of God through Paul is
instructing them on basic truths of the differences between the man
and the woman, the length of hair, and their misuse of the Lord's
Supper. Having given all this, now it is time to go to I Corinthians
chapter 12-14.
IX. THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS THAT ARE GONE
In I Corinthians chapter 12, the Apostle Paul by the Holy Ghost is
primarily dealing with a Gentile body of believers at the city of
Corinth. Let's go to the heart of all this:
"Now concerning
spiritual gifts, brethren." In the next three chapters of 1
Corinthians, God reveals through the Apostle Paul his mind and
purpose concerning the
"manifestation of the Spirit" during this
transitional period [God turning away from national Israel and
placing individual Jews and Greeks into the body of Christ, which is
the church].
"That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the
same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel."
[Ephesians 3:6]
This transitional period [which is recorded in the Book
of Acts] is where God confirms to Israel the change in dispensation.
"God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and
divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own
will?" [Hebrews 2:4]
This confirmation, given to the Jews with the
transition into a new dispensation, is the purpose for the gifts
listed in I Corinthians 13:8.
"Charity never faileth: but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they
shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."
Charity is shown to be permanent.
"Charity never faileth!" In
contrast "prophecies, they shall fail." Why will they fail? It's
because prophecies came as "
holy men of God spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost" [II Peter 1:20,21]. Please note that this was the
Spirit of God moving holy men to speak His revelation to man. This
shows the difference between
"prophecy" and the resultant, which is
the written word of God. The written word is now perfectly complete
in the most exacting detail [included as a set cannon or
"books"].
Revelation 22:18 nails down the intricate relationship between
prophecy [which is the word spake] and
"this Book." Remember
scripture explains scripture.
"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add
unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in the book:"
The Bible is the written word of God.
Prophecies came, as holy men, moved by the Holy Ghost, spake. These
prophecies had failed or stopped, when God finished His Book. He
gave us the 27 books of the New Testament [during the apostolic
period], adding them to the 39 books of the Old Testament.
The gift of knowledge,
"it shall vanish away." What is this gift of
knowledge? For the answer, let me quote Jonathan Edwards:
"It was a particular gift of the Spirit with which some persons were
endowed, whereby they were enabled by immediate inspiration to
understand mysteries or the mysterious prophecies and types of the
Scriptures, which the apostle speaks of in the second verse of this
chapter [I Corinthians 13], saying,
"Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge." As for the gift of tongues, "they shall cease."
Now when will this happen? The Bible shows that it has happened
already. It happened when the Jews [which require a sign] rejected
Jesus Christ as their Savior. From Acts 1:1 till Acts 7:60, the
Spirit of God showed His people the way of salvation was through the
shed blood of His Son at Calvary. Note: a peculiar thing. Look at
verse 55 of Acts chapter seven. It is a sight of great importance:
Jesus standing on the right hand of God! Everywhere else in the
Bible where this position is mentioned, Jesus Christ is "sitting" on
the right hand of God.
It is at Stephen's death, at the hands of the
Jewish nation, that we see a turning point concerning the use of the
"sign gift" of tongues and other manifestations of the Spirit. We
see a gradual fading away of the "signs and wonders" performed
before Israel, and by the end of the book of Acts, [which is the
close of the Apostolic period] the use by God of "signs and wonders"
ceased. "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that
which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done
away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then
face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also
I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, and charity, these three;
but the greatest of these is charity."
Now remember the reference:
"now we see through a glass, darkly."
Everything becomes very clear for the New Testament believer, toward
the latter part of the apostolic period when II Corinthians was
written. Read in II Corinthians 3:18. The glass is no longer
"darkly."
Do you see the transition? What was dark has now become
clear.
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord." II Corinthians 3:18
X. THAT WHICH IS PERFECT IS GOD'S WRITTEN WORD---THE BIBLE!
"When That Which is Perfect Is Come" is a reference to the written
word of God, which is now completed and established as the written
revelation of the mind and will of God.
XI. JONATHAN EDWARDS
GOD'S LEADER IN REVIVAL!
At no time has our nation experienced God's grace in the revival of
His people [Christians] and moved so powerfully to save the souls of
men, woman and children, as occurred in the 18th century in the
years before the United States of America was formed. It was at its
height in 1740 and Jonathan Edwards was on the "leading edge." It
was his understanding also that "
when that which is perfect is come"
was a reference to the written word of God.
End of The Age Messages
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