Jesus made it clear to His disciples and to His saints .... that those who believed on Him WERE to know the mystery .... and .... that those who did NOT believe on Him were NOT allowed to know it:
Mark 4:10-12 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11 And he said unto them,
Unto you
it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God:
but unto them that are without,
all these things are done in parables:
12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive;
and hearing they may hear, and not understand;
lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
Paul also was teaching and preaching the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22, 19:8, 20:25, 28:31; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20, 6:9-10, 15:50; Gal 5:21; Col 4:11; 2 Thess 1:5):
Acts 28:23-28 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. (also see Acts 26:22)
24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
Paul also quoted the SAME prophecy that Jesus had quoted.
Then Paul applied it to HIS ministry to the Gentiles:
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say,
Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand;
and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes have they closed;
lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them.
28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Both Jesus and Paul referenced the SAME passage about the blindness of Israel:
Isa 6:9-10 And he said, Go, and tell this people,
Hear ye indeed, but understand not;
and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat,
and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and convert,
and be healed.
To the saints at Rome, Paul also explained Israel’s blindness as the mystery:
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
‘Mid-Acts-ers’ follow the Cunning Royal Jester and his Jokers, believing that Paul’s use of the terms ‘the kingdom of God’ and ‘the mystery’ is different than Jesus’ use of the SAME.
Could anyone show me the VERSE that teaches Paul and Jesus were talking about different things?
If so, please e-mail magnifiedword@aol.com.
If not, don’t believe the ‘mid-Acts-ers’.
Instead, trust the word of GOD.
Rom 4:3-a For what saith the scripture?
This is David Dowell, saying, “Think about it!”
