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| Photo taken from B Smith's Kitchen Window |
250 - THE HARDEST THING FOR A MAN TO BELIEVE
10-21-1962
Henry F. Kulp
Ephesians 3: 1 - 7 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
In the spiritual realm, there is one truth above all others which man finds exceedingly difficult to believe. In my years of experience in dealing with man relative to the things of God, I make this statement, and I am sure that most preachers will concur with my thoughts.
1. MANY PEOPLE FIND IT HARD---To believe in the reality of Heaven. They just can’t comprehend it, and others have a hard time believing in a hell of fire and brimstone. Others stumble over the virgin birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, and still others have a hard time with the deity of Jesus Christ. But others have problems with the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures, still others with the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. BUT ABOVE ALL THESE, the glorious revelation that man is saved and justified by grace and grace alone is the most difficult for man to believe. Only the Spirit of God can reveal this wonderful truth to his blighted soul. Only by the Holy Spirit can he begin to comprehend it.
3. MAN BECOMES ENRAGED when this doctrine is taught. He becomes incensed and he is willing to kill and destroy to stamp out this doctrine of the grace of God. Let me show it to you in the Bible. I want to show you the climatic statement made by the Apostle Paul in the synagogue at Antioch---Acts 13: 16 Then Paul stood up and beckoning with his hands said, men of Israel and ye that fear God, give audience. After recounting God’s dealing with the nation and the story of Christ’s death and resurrection---Paul make this startling statement. Acts 13: 38, 39 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren that though this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by Him all that believe are justified by the law of Moses. Think of it---here is Paul’s statement---justification apart from the law of Moses. Nothing but a miracle of God could open man’s blinded eyes to see this truth.
4. NOW, THIS PREACHING BY PAUL OF THE GRACE OF GOD aroused violent opposition on the part of the religious people, first of all, notice, Acts 13: 44, 45, 50 The next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews, the religious people, saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. My, how they hated the grace of God and spoke against it. Then this 50th verse. But the Jews stirred up, the devout and honorable women, and chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
From Paul’s day to this day, the Gospel of the grace of God has been the subject of bitter attack. From the time that Cain, in self-will, brought before God his basket of fruits and vegetables unto our present day, men have hated, taught against, and sought to overthrow this grand doctrine of the Bible. YOU WILL NOTICE IN Ephesians 3: 1, 2 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: Here we read about the dispensation of the grace of God. What do we mean by the dispensation of the grace of God? This present day is known as the dispensation of the grace of God. But now, what is grace? We have told you so often the best definition we can find for grace is everything for nothing, and this is what man hates---he wants to do something for God, where God says, He has already done it for us.
BUT BEFORE WE GO ON STUDYING THE DISPENSATION OF THE GRACE OF GOD, let us look at a few verses in the Book of Romans that absolutely thrill my soul. Romans 5: 20, 21 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
5. HERE WE READ ABOUT SIN ABOUNDING. If you were ever given the supernatural power to be able to behold all of the sin, the wickedness that is in the world, all the evil thoughts, all the terrible deeds of all the people living upon the face of the earth, you would then know the meaning of abounding sin. BUT, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, and of course, that means super abound, and it has the Greek word Hoop-pear, which means over and above. Where sin abounds, grace did much more abound, upon super, super abound. No matter how much sin is in your life, there is more then enough grace to compensate for it.
6. NOW LET US LOOK AT THE 21st verse and here few folks have ever read this Scripture with real comprehension. It is a thrilling passage of Scripture. You will notice there are two things reigning in this verse. You have the same word reign that means to reign as sovereign, to reign as a king. First of all, sin hath reigned unto death. Sin has reigned sovereign unto death. Sin hath reigned as a sovereign unto death. Sin has been in the world as a despot, ruling over man as a tyrant. Sin and death do not ask their subjects to bow before them---they reign over them in force, and they make mankind seek to postpone physical death as long as possible. Death has secured this control over mankind by the means of sin, and it has brought all humanity under its power.
7. EVEN SO DOES GRACE REIGN. Grace is on the throne right now. Grace is sovereign over sin and death. Grace reigns today. Let us show you another thrilling Scripture.
Hebrews 4: 16 For we are instructed, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,.. Grace is on the throne, and it is on the throne in greater power then sin ever had. In one respect, the most important word in the last verse of the 5th chapter of Romans is the first word ‘that’. It is a word of great purpose. It could be just as well translated, so that, or in order that. So what is the thought? Grace super abounds in all that grace might reign.
Hebrews 4: 16 For we are instructed, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,.. Grace is on the throne, and it is on the throne in greater power then sin ever had. In one respect, the most important word in the last verse of the 5th chapter of Romans is the first word ‘that’. It is a word of great purpose. It could be just as well translated, so that, or in order that. So what is the thought? Grace super abounds in all that grace might reign.
8. FOR THE CHILD OF GOD--God considers the reign of death to be over for those who are in Jesus Christ. Sin and death did not abdicate, death and sin we conquered. Conquered by the grace of God. He says sin abounds and grace does much more abound. They are different words in the Greek. The word abound means overflow. The picture is this---a stream and the bed of the stream is filled with water from the rains until the banks over-flow--that was sin, sin was like a river or stream that over-flowed its banks. Sin has abounded in this world. But grace does super-abound, and so we see the picture of sin as a stream that has over-flowed its banks, but up the hill there is a great body of water, held back by a dam, and because of the rains and the weight of the water, the dam gives way, and there is a great flood, and now all the country is flooded, and you can’t find the river---even the river itself is gone. You cannot see the course of it. That is where super abundance overcomes abundance. Sin as a river overflowed and just hid sin, but GRACE washed it away. What a wonderful fact, grace is now reigning on the throne. Reigning as a sovereign, as a king.
9. BUT NOW, LET US GO BACK and consider that this is the dispensation of the grace of God. Now, I want to emphasize the difference between the grace of God in a dispensation and the dispensation of the grace of God. There is a world of difference there. You have had grace in every dispensation. Noah found grace in the sight of God.
Genesis 6: 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But grace was not reigning then---that was not the dispensation of the grace of God. Men living under the dispensation of the law were saved by the grace. Men living under the dispensation of law were saved by grace, but that was not the dispensation of grace, and grace was not reigning on the throne at that time.
Genesis 6: 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But grace was not reigning then---that was not the dispensation of the grace of God. Men living under the dispensation of the law were saved by the grace. Men living under the dispensation of law were saved by grace, but that was not the dispensation of grace, and grace was not reigning on the throne at that time.
10. FIRST OF ALL LET US NOTICE that Christ Jesus had to abolish death before the dispensation of the grace could begin. Before there could be a reign of grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Christ abolished death.
11. AND THEN ALSO, before the dispensation of God could be in effect, before the human race could be rescued, Jesus Christ had to die and destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Hebrews 2: 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Do you remember when Jesus Christ was going to the cross to die, and then to be resurrected from the dead, He said concerning Satan in John 12: 31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. By the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the prince of this world was judged. Christ destroyed him who had the power of death---that is the devil. The abolition of death and the judging of Satan had to happen before there could be a reign of grace.
12. BUT THERE COULD NOT BE A REIGN OF GRACE DURING THE REIGN OF THE LAW. God had to abolish the law. He had to get the law out of the way. Let us notice the Scripture to prove this Colossians 2: 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out the way, nailing it to His cross. Yes, death is abolished. The devil is judged, the law blotted out. Now, when we see the ordinances that were written with handwriting, we immediately remember the Law of Moses. Remember the law was ordinances that were against people, not for them. And I find that the word, contract comes from the word that means an adversary. An adversary that is too much for you---one that you cannot overcome.
13. THEN DID YOU EVER KNOW that when Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, He himself nailed something to the Cross. When they were driving the nails through His hands, Jesus Christ was nailing to the LAW that which was written against every man---the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments. Jesus Christ nailed it to the cross and the debt was paid and we are free.
14. THE THOUGHT HERE IS THAT IN THE TIME OF ROME a debt was a crime. A man who was in debt was always in danger of not being able to pay and if the time came that he could not pay then he and his family could become slaves. It was a glorious time when a man’s debt was paid and he could say he was clear. Often a man wanted his neighbors to know that he was no longer in danger of servitude, so when the debt was paid, he took the old canceled debt, nailed it over his door, and all the neighbors knew that he was a free man. That is exactly what God did. He nailed our sin debt to the cross so that we can see that we are free. The law had to be abolished, done away with, before the reign of grace could take place, before the dispensation of grace could be begun.
14. THE THOUGHT HERE IS THAT IN THE TIME OF ROME a debt was a crime. A man who was in debt was always in danger of not being able to pay and if the time came that he could not pay then he and his family could become slaves. It was a glorious time when a man’s debt was paid and he could say he was clear. Often a man wanted his neighbors to know that he was no longer in danger of servitude, so when the debt was paid, he took the old canceled debt, nailed it over his door, and all the neighbors knew that he was a free man. That is exactly what God did. He nailed our sin debt to the cross so that we can see that we are free. The law had to be abolished, done away with, before the reign of grace could take place, before the dispensation of grace could be begun.
15. WHAT ELSE? WELL, SIN HAD TO BE PUT AWAY BEFORE GRACE COULD REIGN, before the dispensation of grace could begin. Hebrews 9: 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Christ Jesus put sin out of the way. What a glorious, wonderful, truth.
16. WHAT ELSE? ISRAEL HAD TO BE CAST AWAY. Romans 11: 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead. Then notice the 12th verse Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? And, the 30th verse---for as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: The middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile had to be broken down, so that now there is no difference---all have come short of the glory of God. Both Jew and Gentile. There is no favorite nation. That position had to crumble and pass away, before the grace of God could reign.
17. TITUS 2: 11 - 14. If you want to see what grace is doing under the reign of grace, under the dispensation of grace, here we have its work in capsule form. First of all, the grace of God saves, for nothing else can. Then the grace of God schools, it child trains us. Then the grace of God satisfies, it provides life with a hope. To live without hope is a terrible thing, but whoever is saved by the grace of God under the reign of grace, the dispensation of grace, has hope. And then grace secures. You are secure in Christ for all eternity.
