363-1 WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRETJuly 10, 1977
Henry F. Kulp
Colossians 1: 24 - 29 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
We have been studying the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. His person and His work. But now we look at the uniqueness of the Apostle Paul. For Paul talks of his unique ministry.
1/ Paul is not unique, but his ministry is unique. We do not speak of the uniqueness of the person and work of Paul, but rather the uniqueness of his message.
2/ Verse 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:
In this verse some have actually taken from it the meaning that the suffering of Christ were not sufficient and Paul helped to make it up. This is not true, and that is not what this verse teaches. Paul has a duel ministry in this portion of Scripture. A two-fold ministry. So we can see more clearly the uniqueness of Paul’s ministry, and when one reads this verse, he has the opinion that Christ did not suffer enough on the cross of Calvary, that Paul had to help Him fill it up. But other Scriptures teach us very clearly that Christ suffered once for all on the Cross of Calvary to put away sin, and there is nothing that Paul could do to complete that.
3/ Now notice this verse doesn’t speak of the suffering of Christ—no, but rather the afflictions of Christ in Paul’s body. The suffering of Christ on the cross of Calvary were never called afflictions. Actually the word, afflictions, THE-LIP-SIS, and it is the word, pressures and it is in the plural.
4/ So the suffering of Christ on the Cross were never, called pressures. When a man is judged before a court and sentenced, that is not afflictions, pressure, that is judgement. Jesus Christ bore judgement at the Cross, but the Lord Jesus Christ ordained that Paul was to have certain afflictions—certain pressures in his body, which is behind, means that which is lacking. What does Paul mean by all this? We have to understand that Paul is being very personal. He is talking about himself—not about any future pastor-teacher. He is not talking about all members of the Body of Christ, but just himself. He is talking about something that God has called upon him to bear as a ministry.
5/ When Paul was saved—called into the ministry, we have something very important that is said. Acts 9: 15, 16 and it specifically states Paul’s ministry was to be a ministry of suffering—the Lord is talking to Ananias who is to speak to Paul, and just after Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus, he is to be told what great things he must suffer for My Names sake.
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
So you see, Paul had a special ministry of suffering. From the very outset he was called to unusual suffering.
6/ Galatians 6: 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
The marks of the Lord Jesus Christ? What were they? From the Greek word here we get our English word, stigma, or stigmatize, and clearly it is the word, brand. It is quite clear that Paul here is referring to actual marks he bore in his body. There is no doubt that he is speaking about scars and maybe long continuing sores which came upon him as he served the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was literally disfigured. Paul is talking of physical injuries which he suffered. Notice, he is drawing a contrast between himself and the Judaizing teachers who had rejected his apostleship.
7/ II Corinthians 11: 24 - 26 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
He was beaten, he was jailed, he was ship wrecked—what suffering he personally went through, and you can see this is not to be applied to us.
8/ Notice, he rejoiced in it—he was happy in it. It didn’t deter him, it didn’t make him despondent, but it made him happy, it caused him to rejoice. Here we get a chance to look into his heart, the mind of this man, Paul, as he is called to a dual ministry—first of all, the ministry of suffering for the believer, for the body of Christ, did not make him unhappy, but made him glad. How different Paul is from most of us.
9/ Paul is doing this for His Body’s sake, which is the church. What church? Every time you read the word, church, in the Bible, you should stop and ask, what church is he talking about? Not the church in the wilderness, not the nation Israel, not the church of the millennium that is to come—Christ’s Kingdom, but rather the church which is the
Body of Christ, the one new man of Ephesians 2: 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
10/ First of all, he is made a minister in suffering, and then he is made a minister to the church the Body of Christ.
11/ Then we come to the word dispensation. That’s not a hard word. If you’ve been to camp, or if you’ve worked in a factory, you know what a dispensary is. It is some place where they are dispensing—giving out, providing usually medical advice or drugs, so a dispensation is a time of giving. It is an act of God giving something—the dispensing of God, the sharing of God, the providing of God during a certain period.
12/ What Paul is saying, God is dispensing something to me, that I might dispense it to you. He is giving me something that I might give it to you, and he is talking here mainly of Gentiles. This is the greatest revelation in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In the Book of Revelation there is practically nothing new. Revelation is almost entirely composed of revelations from all the rest of the Bible. All the truth we have in Revelation we have in other parts of the Bible, but Revelation brings it all together in one great Book of final things. What Paul is bringing forth is something brand new that has never been known before. It was a special revelation not given to the Twelve, but to him as the Apostle of the new dispensation. The Church, the Body of Christ was never made known in the Old Testament.
13/ Nor yet in the days when our Lord Jesus Christ was on the earth, for we are distinctly told it was hid from ages and generations, but now manifest in His saints.
14/ Notice the statement, given me to you—you, speaks of the Gentiles. Paul was not one of the Twelve apostles—he was not number twelve—he was number thirteen, the number of new beginnings. He is one all over again. He is not associated with the twelve tribes. God dispensed to the Twelve apostles that which they were to dispense to the twelve tribes. But on the other hand, God dispensed to Paul that which he dispensed to the Gentiles. This is called Body Truth.
15/ Than notice, to fulfill the Word of God. The word, fulfil, is the Greek word, PLAY-ROW-O and it means to perfect, to fullfil. Paul completed the Word of God, and this means that God has revealed to humanity, all that He is ever going to reveal to them in this day and age. He has revealed everything that you can receive. You have no more capacity to receive anything else—there are no more secrets, no more hidden plans to be revealed. This completes the Word of God—it fills it full. There is no other group, no other writer that is needed. We don’t need Smith, or White or any other man to write, or women to write, and tell us something we do not know about God’s plan. Then, also, Paul’s writings fulfill the Word Of God, that means that was the last things that God revealed, He completed this Revelation and all the others were written before this.
16/ Anyone who claims to have an additional revelation to the Bible is a deceiver, and it has to be a deception because the Bible was completed with Paul. There is no new prophet to come with a new message.
17/ Pauline truth is the capstone of the Bible. And we read it is the mystery the secret and it is now revealed unto man.
18/ What is this mystery? Christ in you the hope of Glory. This is something brand new—to the Gentiles Christ would come and indwell them. This did not happen on the Day of Pentecost. On that day the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the Israelite. You remember what he said, John 16: 7, 8 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
When I go, He will come and dwell in you. Christ had to depart for the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, and on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and indwelled the Israelites, the Jew that was saved, but in this day and age, it is Christ that comes to dwell in you—not just the Holy Spirit, of course, He is there, but now you have the indwelling of Christ Himself in the Gentile and this is a brand new truth. This is why the church the Body of Christ cannot be the Bride, for we are part and parcel of Jesus Christ—we are the one new man, and Christ dwells in us. Israel only had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, not Christ, so they can be the Bride.
19/ The fact of Christ being in you is a great Pauline truth.
Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
20/ Verse 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Whom we preach—notice we preach a person—to substitute “what” for “whom” is a serious mistake. Christianity is centered in a person and that person is living in the believer.
AMEN
Ref: 07/1/1977 / 363-1 WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET / 01/19/20
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