33 - HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN
August 15, 1965
Pastor Henry F. Kulp
Romans 9:1 - 5 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
We told you last week, there is a chapter break between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, changing from joy to sorrow. As chapter 8 closes, you have the height of joy, a marvelous position in Jesus Christ—nothing can disturb it; but, in the 9th chapter, you have Paul having heaviness of heart and continual sorrow. Paul loved his people after the flesh; and, their plight brought deep sorrow to his heart.
1/ Paul laid himself open, of course, for an attack from his people after the flesh. As a matter of fact, he was charged with indifference. He makes an offer to the Gentiles that is unheard of, they can be the children of God by simple faith in Jesus Christ. The Gentiles have never had an offer like this before, never in the history of mankind have they received an offer like this and the Jewish people are indignant that they been God’s precious possession, and now, Paul says they have been set aside and the Gentile has been brought in.
2/ Paul’s sorrow is not so much in their fall, but rather in the heights of privilege in which they fell. As you study the chapter, you will see that Paul is broken hearted because they did not take advantage of the privilege they had.
3/ This brings us to a point that is also important, and yet so lacking and missing in our Christian church and experience today, the lack of love for believers and for the unsaved. I think I am safe in saying, the average believer today, is not possessed by the love of God for his fellow man and for his fellow believer. Rather, he is filled with a judging attitude that has brought untold misery to the cause of Christ. Here Paul could have said, Well, you Jews are getting exactly what you deserve, your fathers killed the prophets, they finally crucified Jesus Christ, then rejected the witness of the Holy Spirit in Acts and finally, just would not even let the Gospel go to the Gentiles. You have filled up your wrath and now you are getting exactly what you deserve and as far as I am concerned I just don’t care. But Paul was not like that. He said in times past, I could have wished that I was anathema for you—that I could go to Hell that you might be saved. Someone who has sinned near you, someone who has fallen near you, do you have this attitude? Or, do you stand off at the side and view the whole thing and say “Well, they got exactly what they deserved.” I hope not! I hope you have the attitude of Paul.
4/ Remember that Paul is the protose I Timothy 1: 15, 16 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. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
He is not only the protose, I believe in salvation, but he is the protose in our loving others.
5/ I want you to see the height from which they fell. Never has there ever been a nation like the nation Israel. They had covenants, they had all the promises, the Gentiles had nothing.
Ephesians 2: 11 - 13 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
The Gentiles were without God in this world. Please remember that the Jews had a position—the Gentiles did not have it. The Gentiles did not have any covenants, or promises, they were without God until Paul came upon the scene and offered the Gospel, this new message, to them.
6/ I don’t know if you ever realized this or not, but God started His blessing for this world with Abraham. Abraham lived within the year 2,000 after the fall. For 2,000 years down to Abraham, God did nothing for a fallen world. Oh yes, He had made a promise of a redeemer, He had put a bow in the cloud that He would not cover the earth any more with a flood. He destroyed the world with a flood and He washed it clean. Someone has said He sunk it under water and kept it under water for a long time to cleanse it, but then He gave a promise with the bow in the clouds that He would never do it again. Then at the tower of Babel, God confounded their language and dispersed them. In Sodom and Gomorrha He rained fire and brimstone on those cities. He was waiting until Abraham came. Then God called Abraham out of the Ur of the Chaldees and led him into Palestine.
Then God said Abraham Genesis 12: 1 - 3 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: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
I am going to bless you and through you, I am going to bless the world. And I am going to bless everyone that blesses you. You say, “Well, that isn’t true today.” In a sense it is. You may say I get blessings from Jesus Christ. Well, who is the Lord? Isn’t He born of the Jewish nation? Wasn’t He a Jew after the flesh?
7/ But on the other hand, God doesn’t promise you and me physical blessing. Right here in Genesis 12 you have blessing in this world. You and I have our citizenship in Heaven, not upon this earth. And you ask me why we have all the war, the crime, and the trouble such as we had in Los Angeles this week and then in Chicago with these racial riots. Why is the world in such an awful turmoil? Why doesn’t God bless the nations now? They are all upset! Why doesn’t He do something about it? God is not blessing the nations now. Of course you immediately ask why? Because He has to bless them through Israel and through Abraham. And, right now the nation of Israel is out of place they are scattered throughout the world. As long as they are scattered, God will not bless the nations of the earth. The nations will not give to Israel their land, they have refused to give Israel, Palestine. They have given them just a small strip. But when Israel is back in peace in the land, fully resting there, then God will bless that nation and Israel will be God’s channel of blessing to the whole world. But, right now God is not doing that, He is sending missionaries to all the nations to tell them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And they’ll be taken out of the nations of the world and put in the Church which is the Body of Christ.
8/ Let us see something of the height of this glorious nation. II Samuel 7: 23 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
God is speaking to David and David wanted to build the house of the Lord, a house for the Lord. And the Lord said No, you have been a man of blood and a man of war—I want my house to be built by a man of peace. Solomon your son will build me a house. I think you know by studying you Bible that Solomon never fought a battle. Solomon reigned and the building of the temple is a type of the coming millennial—the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ. You remember when they came to visit Solomon, they said the half has never been told.
9/ God said to David, you will not build me a house, but I will build you a house and it will be called the house of David. I will give you a son to reign over your house and your throne. And, of course, that one is none other than Jesus Christ. This is what David said and it is told to us in the 23rd verse. He speaks of the greatness of this nation—a nation that fills the Old Testament. But now something has happened. God has turned away from that nation that has been so much and has raised up a man by the name of Paul to preach something to the Gentiles that the world has not heard up until this time.
10/ II Samuel 7: 23 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
DID YOU EVER NOTICE WHAT MOSES SAID ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL NATION?
Deuteronomy 4: 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
AND MOSES CRIES OUT for what nation is there so great, notice, there is no other nation to compare with it, who hath God so nigh unto them, so near, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for.
The Gentiles couldn’t call upon God—only the nation Israel had God near. He was dwelling in the Shekinah cloud above the tabernacle and He came down over the seat of the ark of the covenant and there met with the high priest and in turn met with the nation. There has never been a nation to compare with the nation Israel. The whole Old Testament is filled with the nation.
11/ But now, let us look at the Apostle Paul and his message Acts 22: 21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
Here Paul is telling the story of his salvation. He is now a prisoner and is going to be sent to Rome. He now has an opportunity to stand before the Jews and state his case and he says, “This is what God said to me,” when the blood of the martyr Stephan was shed I also was standing by and consenting to his death in other words, he said, I held the raiment of these people and I gave the signal go ahead and kill him. And then He said to me, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. God never said that before in all history. God never told a Jew to go to the Gentiles like this; in fact, Jesus said to His disciples Matthew 10: 5, 6 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Go not to the Gentiles. So you see something new had been added.
12/ Now we are going to try to understand these two verses and see what a wonderful nation this people really is. Or, I say to you this morning that we do not have anything that is worth anything, that it came from Israel. Notice Romans 9: 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
Who are Israelites? That is their name. I think it would be good for us to find out how they got their name.
Genesis 32: 24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
This is about Jacob and this is how the nation got their name. And Jacob was let alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day. Jacob had given up everything for the Lord. I think when people read this, they don’t see clearly just what Jacob did. Jacob, people think, and we’ll use our language, they think he was a crook. They put Jacob down as the worst character in the Old Testament; but God didn’t say so, the Bible doesn’t say so. Do you know there isn’t a place in the Bible where you will find anything against Jacob. Jacob was sent down into Syria and there he got his two wives and he worked for them. He worked for his uncle Laban. Laban, truly was a crook but not Jacob. Laban took everything away from him, but God said to Jacob I will be with you as long as you work out there. I will be with you and bring you back. So the time came when Jacob had to get to Bethel. This is the place of blessing. But between Jacob and Bethel was Esau with 400 armed men and Esau had threatened to kill Jacob. Jacob said I have to get to Bethel so he took everything he had in this world and sent it to Esau as a present to appease Esau in order the he might get to Bethel. He risked everything he had in the world and he did that for God
13/ Notice verse 24 And Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day. Verse 26 And he said let me go for the day breaketh.
The angel was the Lord Himself and he said to Jacob let me go. Jacob said I have hold of the Lord now and I am going to hold on. He just would not let go.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
What does Israel mean? Look at this verse, for as a prince, hast thou power with God. When you call Jacob a crook remember you are talking about God’s prince—you are talking about a man to whom God gave the name Israel, the name Israel and Jacob occur more times in the Bible than any other name except God Himself. He is one of God’s great men and God gave his name to the whole nation. They are Israelites.
14/ Romans 9: 4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
And the glory, Israel had the glory of God. Notice, I said HAD. When God took Israel out of Egypt, they were covered by a cloud of glory which they called the Shekinah Glory. You won’t find anywhere else in the world. There isn’t a place in world, there isn’t a people in the world, that God protected by His own glory but He did Israel. He put that glory cloud between Israel and Pharaoh, and Pharaoh couldn’t do anything. No nation that has ever been on the face of the earth, had the glory of God. There had been mighty nations and they have built mighty temples and they have had worship, none had the glory of God. When Moses finished the Tabernacle and had it set up, the Glory of God appeared in the tabernacle so they could not minister. When Solomon built the Temple and when he dedicated it, the Glory filled the Temple and they could not minister for Glory.
II Chronicles 7: 1 - 3 Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
You do not have this anywhere else in all of history. There is not another on the face of the earth blessed with the Glory of God. Truly this nation reached great heights, but my, how the mighty have fallen.
And now God is dealing with all men everywhere on the same basis, they are sinners and need Christ.
AMEN
Ref: 08/15/1965 / 33 - HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN / 10/12/2020
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