HAVE YOU BEEN BAPTIZED THE SCRIPTURAL WAY?

Photo by B Smith from the patio

HAVE YOU BEEN BAPTIZED THE SCRIPTURAL WAY?

October 11, 1964

Henry F. Kulp

 

Romans 6: 1 - 4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Paul has been preaching salvation by grace and grace alone, and all who have salvation have eternal life. Now he comes to this sixth chapter, and he shows you that because you are saved by grace, that is not a license to live in sin or to live any way you please. 

1/  Paul constantly met opposition who claimed this was exactly what Paul taught, but Paul is showing how foolish it is. He says, what a ghastly thought it is that because we are saved by grace we can go out and sin all we want and then grace will abound. 

2/  The thought that is important is found in Romans 6: 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

We should be dead to sin. How are we dead to sin? Verses 3, 4 tells us we have been baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. To understand what it all means to be baptized into the death of Jesus Christ. There are some other Scriptures that we must analyze. 

Luke 12: 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Jesus Christ said I have a baptism to be baptize with and how am I strengthened till it be accomplished? 

What baptism was He talking about? He certainly was not talking about His baptism in the waters of Jordan, for that had already taken place. He was talking about something entirely different. He is not talking about water baptism. Lest you misunderstand, I am not slurring water baptism. What I am saying, this baptism is not water baptism. Let me show there are different baptisms in the Bible. 

Luke 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

And here we have the ministry of John the Baptist, and he said I indeed baptize you with water, notice here he is talking about water baptism. But one mightier than I cometh whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He, this is Jesus Christ, shall baptize you—not with, but in, the Holy Ghost and in fire. John says, I baptize you with water. He was doing water baptism, but he said, Christ when He came, He would not baptize with water, but he would baptize in the Holy Ghost. You will notice this is baptism where Christ is the baptizer, and the Holy Spirit is the one in whom we are baptized, this baptism is not the baptism of today. 

Let’s compare this with I Corinthians 12: 12, 13 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is 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.

Notice, For by one Spirit, it does not say in, but by one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body. Notice, the reversal of Luke 3: 16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

Here the Holy Spirit is the baptizer, and back in Luke 3: 16 Christ is the Baptizer, and here in this Scripture, we are baptized into one body which is the body of Christ, while in Luke 3: 16 we are baptized into the Holy Spirit, so not one and the same. But you are not slurring water baptism when you say this is not water baptism, nor is the one in Luke 3: 16. So in like manner, the one in Romans 6: 3, 4 is not water baptism.

3/  What is the baptism in Romans 6: 3, 4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Here it says we are baptized into the death of Christ. In Luke 12: 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Christ talked about a baptism that He had to be baptized with. What baptism did He have to be baptized with this late in His life? Let us notice another Scripture that will help to explain it even more clearly. 

Matthew 20: 22, 23 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

And here we have the mother of Zebedee’s children coming with her sons and worshipping Him and desiring a certain thing of Him. And she said, grant that these, my two sons, may sit the one on the right hand and the other on the left hand in Thy kingdom. And Jesus said, I can’t do this—this is not given to Me, and then He asked them the question—are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized with, and He said indeed, ye shall drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am to be baptized with. What did He mean? 

First of all—the cup, what was the cup that He drank? That they were to drink? And, of course, you and I have to drink? Let us go on in our study to Matthew 26: 39  And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Here in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ refers to the cup, and He says, If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me. What is this cup that Jesus Christ was praying against? Can we be sure what the cup is? Yes, we can. There are three cups spoken of in Scripture. 

First there is the cup of salvation. Psalm 116: 13 I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. 

Then secondly, there is the cup of consolation. Jeremiah 16: 7 Neither shall men tear themselves for them in the mourning to comfort  them for the dead, neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father and for their mother. 

This is the cup that the Psalmist referred to in Psalm 23: 5 My cup runneth over. Here we have an entirely different cup that Jesus Christ is speaking about. 

Jeremiah 25: 15 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.

Here the Prophet Jeremiah is bidden, Take the wine-cup of this fury of My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it. 

This is the cup of God’s wrath against sin, and this Jesus Christ was made to drink when the wrath of God was poured out against Him by the Father as He was made sin for us. 

Notice, another Scripture, John 18: 11 Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?

Here Jesus Christ rebukes Peter when he takes out his sword and is willing to fight for our Lord, and he cuts off the servant of the high priest’s ear, and Christ said, the cup that my Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it. 

Notice, it was not Satan who gave Him this cup to drink—it was not the Jewish nation, it was not you or me, it was the Father who gave Him the cup. It was God the Father who put to His lips the cup of wrath or judgement of God against sin. It was not what Christ suffered at the hands of man that makes an answer to sin, but it is what He suffered at the hands of God that put away sin. So, we see the cup He had to drink was the wrath of God against sin. Then what was the baptism? The baptism was death. He was baptized into death as He drank the cup of the wrath of God against sin.

4/   What does all this have to do with Romans 6: 3, 4? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For us to be saved, the Holy Spirit takes us and He baptizes us into this experience that Christ had when He was made sin for us, and He died and paid the wages of sin. We are baptized into His death. 

Notice Galatians 3: 26, 27 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

For ye are all the children—or it should be the sons of God—by faith in Christ Jesus. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. That is pretty clear isn’t it? This baptism is essential to salvation. This can’t be water baptism or else water baptism is essential, and, of course, it is not water baptism. But you have been baptized into Christ. 

Now go back and notice, Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. 

That should be the past tense. I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. This is our experience in salvation. We have been made to drink the cup that Christ drank. We are baptized into the death that He was baptized into. For He died in our place, and now because of this, we should reckon, or count ourselves as, dead to sin.

5/  Recognizing this experience should do something to us. Notice the end of the 4^th verse…Even so we also should walk in newness of life. This experience should do something to us. This I believe with all my heart, is a mental attitude. 

Proverbs 23: 7 says, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. 

6/ There are three words I want to fix in your mind which will show you what I mean. The first word is the word, reckon. It is found in Romans 6: 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Likewise, reckon ye yourselves to be dead, or literally to have died indeed to sin. Notice the first word, Likewise, this refers to what had gone behind. We have this firmly fixed in our minds. What has happened to us to say this? Therefore, because this has happened, we are to reckon ourselves to be literally dead or to have died unto sin, And of course, this is done with the mind. 

Reckon is a wonderful word—it can be translated as we saw in the 4^th chapter by the word, counted or credited. It says in the 4^th chapter I want you to reckon or credit that righteousness has been given to you. Now I want you to reckon something else. I want you to reckon that when Christ died you were in Him and you died in Him. 

Now let us go down to the Romans 6: 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin—so the next word is yield—to yield is to surrender.

Romans 12: 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

It says to present your bodies a living sacrifice. The word, present, is the word, yield. You are to reckon yourselves dead, and then you are to yield or present yourself to God, all the members you have. Self-judgement is involved in the first word, and the second word is doing something with your mind. It is an active thing—you yield or present. 

Then the third word, is the word, obey. This is the 16^th verse. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

It is one thing to know a truth, it is another to obey. All of this is done by the mind, of course. We make up our mind that this is going to happen, and through the power of the Holy Spirit we are enabled to do it. 

We are not preaching getting rid of the old nature. Because we have another word very interesting here. Verse 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Henceforth we should not serve sin. That word, serve, is important. 

Then in the 9^th verse we are not to have sin controlling us. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

We are not to serve it. We may from time to time do things we are sorry for, and we confess it to God, but we are not to serve sin, we are to reckon ourselves dead, judge ourselves, then yield our members to Christ, and obey what we already know.  

7/  II Corinthians 10: 3, 5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: Casting (slam it down) down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

All this is with the mind. The mind being saturated by the Word, and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

AMEN

Ref: 10/11/1964 / 282 - HAVE YOU BEEN BAPTIZED THE SCRIPTURAL WAY? / 12/25/2020

DID GOD MISTREAT PHARAOH?

Photo by B Smith from the patio

DID GOD MISTREAT PHARAOH?

November 7, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

Romans 9: 14 - 18 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

As we have been studying the 9^th Chapter of Romans, we have been studying that the Jew has been set aside after having a marvelous past. Having all the profit in the world, being the only nation in days gone by that has had God. That has had a relationship to God, and now they have been set aside for a season and God is dealing the Jew and Gentile, and the purpose of God is changed. We have told you that God has two main purposes in the Bible.

1/ God through Paul is showing the Jew that He has these two purposes, and that both of them will come to a fulfillment. God has said that the Jewish nation would be set aside, but the day is coming when the purpose of the nation Israel will come to pass. This is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews could not understand why this program has been set aside, and why Paul is dealing with Gentiles at this time, and God is showing that He is just in setting aside the Jew and bringing in another program.

2/ As we start the 14^th verse, Paul says, What shall we say then, is there unrighteousness with God? In other words, is God unrighteous in that He is doing what He is doing? Of course not. When God set the nation Israel aside, He did it because they deserved to be set aside. Let us just notice something about the working of God and His purpose, for we read in this verse, God hardeneth whom He will. 

Let us go back to Romans 1: 21 - 24 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

Here we have the Gentiles of the time of the tower of Babel, and it says in the 24^th verse, Wherefore God also gave them up. But remember, before He gave them up, it was because the nation gave up God themselves. 

Notice, in the 21^st verse Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image… 

Verse 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Then the 26^th verse For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

For this cause He did this—God gave them up to vile affections. Notice, God did it because He had a reason. 

Then go to verse 28 And even they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 

It was because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. 

3/ Romans 9: 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Paul quotes Moses, when he says very clearly, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 

Remember, these words have a context, and this context cannot be ignored. It is found in Exodus 33: 18, 19 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

But in the opening section of Exodus 22 we find that Israel had become idolaters. They were worshipping a golden calf, and the Lord called them a stiff-necked people, against whom His wrath waxed hot, and so He says in Exodus 32: 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

But Moses does not let Him alone, he intercedes. 

Exodus 32: 32 Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

And we find that God had mercy on them because of the intercession of Moses. It wasn’t a matter that He just had mercy on them and not on others, He had mercy because Moses brought up His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and then interceded for the people. 

Psalm 106: 23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

Moses stood in the breach and because of this, God had mercy. So you see, the Scripture does not teach what many people want it to teach.  

4/ Let us understand something right at this point. 

Hosea 14: 9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

Every believer in Jesus Christ has to say the ways of the Lord are right. If you are saved, your life is in God’s hands, and what God does for you is right. You can actually say that of everything that has happened—the ways of the Lord are right. But you might say, there is something in my life, and I wished it had never happened. Or there is something in my life now, and I can’t see that God had a purpose in allowing it to into my life.  We don’t know all about our own life. You don’t know what God had to counteract in letting that come into your life. Perhaps He stopped something far worse. But whatever it is, the ways of the Lord are right, and the just will welcome them.

5/ Now let us see something about the mercy of God. 

Micah 7: 18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

God loves to be merciful. This is God’s purpose to be merciful—He delights in mercy. Let us understand another thing. 

Isaiah 28: 21 For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

When God works in judgement, it is strange to God. He only does it because He has to do it. When God acts in wrath, it is a strange work, for God is love. God never did want to punish. God never did have any delight in punishing. God said in one place, I have no joy in him that dieth. God wants to deal only in love and mercy. But man will not permit Him, so God has to do a strange thing, and that is judge.

6/ Then Paul in Romans 4: 17 talks about Pharaoh. (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Many folks have proclaimed that God certainly has not—did not do right by Pharaoh, for He hardened Pharaoh heart, He judged Pharaoh, and He wasn’t fair with Pharaoh. Let us remember God delighteth in mercy, God is the God of love, and when He does judge, it is a strange work. God did not go into Egypt to judge Pharaoh. That wasn’t God purpose at all. There was something He had to do in order to deliver His people. God went into Egypt with a merciful purpose. He heard the cry of His people, and He was merciful to them. God said to Moses when He appeared in the burning bush, I have come to deliver my people. He didn’t come to destroy Pharaoh. Notice this very carefully. 

Exodus 3: 4 - 8 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

And God said I am come to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of the land into a good land, and large, into a land flowing with milk and honey. He doesn’t say a word about judging the Egyptians, just delivering His people from the Egyptians out of the land of the Egyptians.

7/ God did not have any intention of destroying Pharaoh, but if Pharaoh stands in the way of God’s mercy to His people then Pharaoh will have to bear the Judgement. God doesn’t visit anyone with judgement, just because He loves to judge. He doesn’t love to judge, He loves to have mercy. But God is not going to permit anyone to block His merciful purpose.  

8/ People say, see what the Lord God did to Pharaoh. They are wrong—it is the other way around. See what Pharaoh did to God. He tried to hinder the purpose of God. 

Exodus 5: 1, 2 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.

Notice the answer of Pharaoh. Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord. He said, I don’t know who He is. Why should I obey Him? And he said, Neither will I let Israel go. So God said, All right, I will have to send the plagues. Then the first plague which was so severe, God said to Pharaoh, Let my people go. Pharaoh said, No, and God sent more plagues. Pharaoh was being judged, not because God loved to judge, but because God had come to Egypt to have mercy on His people, and Pharaoh was standing in the way of God’s mercy. Again, Pharaoh got exactly what he deserved. Just as we brought out earlier—when God gave up on the Gentiles they deserved it. When God brought judgement upon Pharaoh, it was because Pharaoh deserved it. 

9/ Now let’s go on to Romans 9: 18 Therefore, hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will hardeneth. 

He will only harden those who deserve to be hardened. But then Paul goes on to say, Why does He yet find fault, for who hast resisted His will. We don’t have the right to talk to the Lord that way—some will say, “Why does God find fault?” God has the right to do what He wants to do. If you won’t obey Him, He has the right to judge you. Even though His judgement is strange work. But you have no right to sit in judgement of God. You might say, If God, who is a God of love cannot Judge—how can God send anyone to hell if He is a God of love? He is also a God of righteousness. God can get along without us. He doesn’t need our wisdom. He gave us the wisdom we have, and most of our wisdom is spoiled by sin. Don’t you see, that God is absolutely supreme, and if we begin to talk back to God, we find ourselves in a very precarious situation. Let us just go back to the book of Job. In the book of Job there are two things for us to see. 

#1 The devil had a lesson to learn and God taught a lesson through Job. The devil said to God, that man, Job, if you will let me touch him, will curse Thee to Thy face, and he found out that Job didn’t curse God. He took everything that Satan had to give him, and he said, blessed be the Name of the Lord. The devil learned a lesson. But Job also learned a lesson. Job was as self-righteous as he could be, and at the end of the book of Job he comes to the point where he sees himself, a filthy, dirty sinner.

10/ Remember, Job was a self-righteous man. In the 29^th  chapter, Job 29: 11 - 17 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

He was bragging every moment. He said, when the ear heard me, it blessed me. When the eye saw me, it gave witness to me. He said I delivered the poor, the fatherless and he that hath none to help him. He said, I put on righteousness, and it clothed me. I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame. I was father to the poor. Yes, Job was certainly self-righteous. Let’s go over to the 38^th chapter of Job. 

Here we have, Job 38: 1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Then God stops him and says to Job out of the whirlwind, Who is this that darkeneth counsel with words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. 

Well, Job, where were you when God created the earth? Job, did you help the Lord? And by the way, did you help the Lord? And God did do a pretty good job of it without you, didn’t He? He didn’t need your help, did He? For we read in Genesis, that God when He created said everything was good. If He asked Job how to do it, it wouldn’t have been so good. If He asked you or me, it wouldn’t have been any better. So God said to Job, Job, where were you when I created the earth? Who is going to answer that? 

11/ Let’s go on to Job 38: 12 Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days, and called the dayspring to know his place? 

In other words, did you help make the sun come up on that first morning? Did you do that? No, God was responsible for that. It wouldn’t have happened in the right way, if he had anything to do with it, or any other man. But God, who is infinitely Good, does what He wants to do, and everything He wants to do, is good. The ways of the Lord are right. This is the thought of my message this morning. If God sets aside Israel, if God brings in the Gentile, it is right, because God does everything that is right. And we cannot sit in judgment of God. But rather believe.

12/ Take the matter of salvation. You may not like the idea that you have to believe Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, or else you are lost and on your way to an eternity without Christ, but you better not bargain with God. 

God in His sovereignty has seen fit to make salvation in Jesus Christ and you and I must believe it. God is in command and not we ourselves.

AMEN

Ref: 11/7/1965 / 305 - DID GOD MISTREAT PHARAOH? / 12/24/2020

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT GOD MADE

Bananaleaf Artwork by Congolese

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT GOD MADE

December 22, 1974

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

John 1: 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

At this Christmas season we remember that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea almost 2,000 years ago. And He was the unique person of history. He is different from any other one who ever lived. Let us understand Him and appreciate Him this morning and in so doing, we will appreciate the season called Christmas.

1/   There are three declarations in this verse. And I am interested right now in the first one. And the Word was made flesh. There can be no doubt that the Word is Jesus Christ. He is the Logos.

2/   The first question that comes to mind--the Word was made flesh, is that He existed before He was made flesh, and of course, this chapter teaches that very clearly. Notice, verse 3 All things were made by Him. Then, verse 10 The world was made by Him. So He had to exist before He became flesh.

3/   Immediately some will say, we don’t believe in God. A young skeptic said to an elderly lady, I once believed there was a God, but now since studying philosophy and mathematics, I am convinced that God is but an empty word. Well, said the lady, I have not studied such things, but since you have, can you tell me where this egg comes from? Why, of course—from a hen. Then where did the hen come from—Why from an egg. Then the lady inquired--Which existed first? The hen or the egg? Oh, the hen must have existed first? Then the hen must have existed without coming from an egg. No I was mistaken, I should have said the egg was first. Well, then you mean one egg existed without having come from a hen. Well, maybe the hen was first. Who made the first hen, from which all succeeding hens and eggs have come from? The young man was perplexed and said, What are you trying to prove? Simply this, He who created either the first hen or the first egg, is He Who created the world. You can’t explain the existence either—of a hen or an egg without God, and yet you wish me to believe you can explain the existence of the universe without Him.

4/   The Word became flesh. No greater or more mysterious words were ever written than this simple clause that begins verse 14. The verb Made, is in the middle voice, and it tells us two things in our study. First of all, the Word, was benefited by being made flesh. Secondly, it means He became flesh by His own violation. He did so, willingly. He was not imposed upon or forced.

5/   Philippians 2: 6, 7 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Here we read, AND HE TOOK UPON HIM THE FORM OF A SERVANT. He did it willingly. It was love for sinful man that was the motivating force, when He voluntarily took upon Himself, flesh.

6/   So the word, MADE is really the word, BECAME. This tells us that the immaterial, Logos, takes on matter, flesh. The spiritual becomes material and He is the perfect Man. He is not just a man--He is the unique, the only one that ever existed.

7/   John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 …AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD

Here John is careful to point out that the Word, Jesus Christ, is not the same Person as the Father. He is God, but a distinct Person, and not to be confused with the Father.

8/   The verb, Was, EN in the Greek, durative, imperfect, and it means the Word has always been with God, the Father. He did not have a beginning after the Father, but He has always been with Him.

9/   The word, WITH, Pros is face to face. This means that Christ and the Father were facing each other. No suggestion whatsoever of the Son following the Father, or being less than the Father, but rather being co-equal with the Father, and we have two Persons of equal personality. The word, pros, tells us IT IS A LIVING AND CONSTANT FELLOWSHIP, MEANING THEY ARE EVER TOGETHER.

10/   A little boy said to his mother, Mother, who made God? That’s a hard question, Jimmy, why don’t you go out and play for a while--said the puzzled mother. But Jimmy insisted on an answer. The mother suddenly got an inspiration, and taking off her ring, she handed it to her little boy saying, Here Jimmy, show me the beginning of it and the end of it. After careful examination, Jimmy turned to his mother and said, But, mother, this has no beginning and no end. God is the same way, Son.

11/   Verse 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

…AND DWELT AMONG US. His sojourn among men was to be temporary. In order to reveal this fact to us He used the Greek which should be translated TENTED or PITCHED HIS TENT. A tent is something that is used for a temporary dwelling. Either by nomads or soldiers. He used that body for 33 years. He came to die.  

I Timothy 1: 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

12/   Have you ever thought about the fact that He came and tented among His creatures who were ENEMIES? They hated Him, yet He came to dwell among them so that He could die and save them.

13/   The word, BEHELD The word beheld is an intriguing word. And it means AN ACTUAL VIEWING BY PHYSICAL EYES OF SOMETHING TANGIBLE. And it means TO BEHOLD IN AMAZEMENT. So they literally looked Him through and through with a constant gaze. Here was God manifest in human flesh.

14/   I am sure God used this word, BEHOLD in the Greek, because He wanted to dispel any wrong thoughts about the reality of the Body of Jesus Christ. In the early church there was a heresy that arose called docetism. DOE - C - TISM which taught that Christ did not have a real, material body. His birth, eating and drinking and death were so many illusions. He could not really be seen.

15/   This word, BEHOLD, shows this heresy for what it is right from the very start.

16/   HIS GLORY. This is a very interesting thought. Everything in Heaven has glory.  

I Corinthians 15: 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

There is the celestial glory--that is, the heavenly glory.  What glory did they behold? They beheld His heavenly glory, because He didn’t have any celestial glory when He was on earth, and this that they saw was celestial glory.

John 17: 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Here in our Lord’s High Priestly prayer as He faces the cross, He asks the Father to restore His glory, for He asks for the glory He had with the Father before the world began. When He became man, He gave up this glory. When did John see this glory?

Matthew 17: 1, 2 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

This is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John, and here on the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus Christ is transfigured and John saw Him in a sample of His glory. This is different from the glory of Exodus 40: 34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 

Here where we have the Shekinah glory--Shekinah means that which dwells. But Christ, right now is an effulgence of glory.

Hebrews 1: 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:

17/   When you think of Christmas it should be centered in this wonderful Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son Who became man.

John 17: 6, 7  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

Just think--Even the Light from Heaven did not penetrate the darkness. John had to call out, “Here’s the LIGHT!”

Psalms 106: 23  Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.

1/   Every Jew was familiar with the Lamb 

2/   This Wonderful life 

3/   The Jews had waited centuries for the Lamb.

AMEN

Ref: 12/22/1974 / 181 - The Christmas Gift God Made / 12/17/2020