ALL DRESSED UP IN DIRTY CLOTHES

Photo taken by B Smith from the kitchen door

     307 - ALL DRESSED UP IN DIRTY CLOTHES 

     December 5, 1965 

     Henry F. KULP 

Romans 10: 1 - 3 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

Why did the nation Israel reject the Lord Jesus Christ? The answer is found right here in these first three verses of the 10th chapter. It is the same reason, actually, that men in our day and age are rejecting Him

1/  As we start out this morning, we notice Paul says, brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Paul was still praying for the Israelites--the man of his own nation, those of His own flesh. The church has gone through the ages, and it has hated the Israelites. I wonder if you recognize, it is only in the last century that God has revealed to us the great doctrines of the blessed hope, the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ that the church has welcomed the Israelites into its midst. If you read books written by theologians, famous preachers, which go back more than 100 years, you will find that they did talk about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they never talked about the rapture of the Lord Jesus Christ, they did not know about it, and so the second coming was applied to the Scripture concerning the rapture, and all they talked about was a coming judgement day. They did not know about the catching away of the church up to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason this has been revealed to the church has been, of course, the dispensational teaching. You take dispensationalism out of the Bible and there you can preach the second coming and the second coming of judgement, rather than the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ in the heavens to catch away His church. 

2/  But after the church came upon dispensational teaching and learned of the rapture of the church, and learned to rightly divide the Word of God, they welcomed the Israelite into their midst, and attempted to win him to the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if you realize that up to 100 years ago the church had no welcome for the Israelite. Take, for instance, England. An Israelite was not permitted to enter into a Christian church. There was a law in England that prohibited an Israelite from entering a Christian church. The church was considered defiled if an Israelite entered, and down through the ages, the Israelites were excluded. How different this is from the Word Of God? Paul tells us here that he loved them and he prayed for them, and he prayed they might be saved. 

3/  Another thing you can learn from the first verse, is that the Israelites must be saved like a Gentile. That is in the writing of Paul in the Pauline Epistles. It is not in the rest of the Bible. God had always put the Gentiles in subjection to the Israelites, but here he says Jew, or an Israelite has to be saved the same way that a Gentile does. 

4/  In the second verse Paul says that the Israelites had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They had a great deal of zeal for God. They believed in God. It is not enough just to believe in God. The nation, Israel, is proof of this. 

5/  But zeal without knowledge is a dangerous thing. I can remember that there was a doctor in town here, who is now dead, but he was a friend of mine. He told me he was sick with the virus, and he had one of the doctors in the hospital give him a large shot of penicillin. He got into the elevator, and just as he stepped out of the elevator, he fell over. He started to swell up, to puff up, and he couldn’t get his breath. They quickly rushed to him and gave him something to counteract this and he lived. But a doctor can give penicillin to an individual who is allergic to it, and even though penicillin is fine and it works in its proper place, instead of healing, it can cause distress, and of course, a zeal of God without knowledge is a very dangerous thing – it can lead a person into the very jaws of hell. It led the nation Israel right away from the only hope it had in Jesus Christ. 

6/  Notice the third verse. For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, went about to establish their own righteousness. Righteousness is something that man in his natural state does not really understand. He has his own thoughts on righteousness, but God is not talking about the righteousness of man, He is talking about the righteousness of God, for He says they were ignorant of God’s righteousness, and man in his sinful state is ignorant. He doesn’t understand God’s righteousness. Let us get God’s verdict on man and righteousness. It is right in this very same book, Romans 3: 10, As it is written there is none righteous, no not one. There is not a man in himself that is righteous – he is sinful. Should Israel have known this? Did they have any real reason for being ignorant of this? Not at all, the Old Testament is filled with the record that man is sinful, and that God wants to supply righteousness for them, and it is necessary that He supplies righteousness, for they have none of their own. Let us notice a Scripture that is right in the Old Testament, and to the Jew, to the Israelite. 

Isaiah 64: 3 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags. 

I just love the writings of Sir Robert Anderson, every Christian should have the writings of Sir Robert Anderson. He was a wonderful man of God, and he was a great dispensationalist – he will certainly help you in understanding dispensations. I read in one of his books that he talked with a woman who came to him who was well-known in England. She was very high up in the religious society in England. She just loved to help people, she loved to help the Salvation Army. She used to tell the Salvation to bring their men that they had gathered on the street into her beautiful home. Then she would give them a banquet and have the Salvation Army leader talk to them. She came to Sir Robert Anderson because she was in spiritual trouble. She said, I just haven’t any peace in my life. I just don’t feel that I can get hold of the Lord. So he talked to her about salvation—she didn’t know anything about it. She said, well, I’m doing all I can—don’t you know how much I am doing? Of course he did – almost everyone in England knew what she was doing. So he gave her Isaiah 64: 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rage; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

And he said, don’t you know that your righteousnesses are as filthy rags to the Lord? She said, I never heard that. He said let me ask you a question. When these poor men off the street dressed in rags and come to your home, what do you do for them? Oh, she said, I give them what I am sure seems to them, a great banquet—she said, I just love to do it. Do you charge anything for it? Oh, no, I never charge for it—it is all free. I just give it to them. Don’t you require anything from them at all for what you give them? Nothing at all, I don’t ask them for anything, Well, he said, I think it would be best, since you are doing so much, that you would require something from them. Suppose you should ask the men before they leave, leave me your coat. She said what do you mean? I don’t want their filthy coats – I wouldn’t touch them. I don’t even want them in my house. Well, he said, that is what God said about your righteousness. He won’t touch them. This is something that Israel never learned, even though she was the custodian of the Old Testament. This is something that the religious man of this day won’t understand. 

7/  And yet there is another Scripture. Jeremiah 17: 9 I know you are familiar with this Scripture, but let us look at it again. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? Do you realize the most deceitful thing on the face of the earth is your heart, and it is desperately wicked—it is incurable. There is something wrong about the expression—“Give your heart to God”. God gives you a new heart. He does away with the old one. If you bring your filthy heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, what in the world would He do with it? He would throw it away. He gives you a new heart. 

8/  Now let us look and see what God has to say about righteousness in the Old Testament. Isaiah 61: 10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. 

Notice, He told Israel, He had to put His robe of righteousness about them. Why? Because their righteousness are as filthy rags and their hearts are deceitful above everything. 

9/  Now let us see Isaiah 64: 6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 

Jeremiah 17: 9 in action in the Old Testament. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it? 

Certainly Israel had no right to be ignorant in all this. 

Zachariah 3: 1 – 4 WOE to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. 

Here we have the prophet of God receiving a vision, a very interesting vision, and in this vision, he sees Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Angel of Jehovah, and Satan was attending at his right hand to be his adversary. Verse 1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

The word, resist, means to accuse. Now, this Joshua is not the man who was the leader of Israel in the early part of its history, but rather he was the high priest of the restoration. It was he who, with Zechariah, led the first group in return from the captivity. But here we find him in the vision. 

Remember, he is not just an ordinary priest, but he is the high priest, the most important man in the nation, who represented the nation before God over the Mercy Seat once a year on the Day of Atonement. Now as Satan accuses Joshua, and of course, in accusing Joshua, he is accusing the whole nation of Israel before God, the Angel of the Lord is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, and of course, his accusations against Joshua and the whole nation that he represented, these accusations were true. The nation was a sinful nation. Joshua, who represented them was a sinful man, and here it points out that Satan dwelt on the sins of the people that God might cast them from His presence forever. As Joshua stands for the nation, if he is vindicated, the nation is vindicated. He is sinful. The Hebrew word that is translated, filth, here is the strongest expression in the Hebrew language of the most vile and loathsome character. Actually, it pictures Joshua there in garments with his hair all disheveled, all mussed up. He is condemned, he is a sinner and so is the nation. 

10/  Notice verse 4 The Lord said, take away his filthy garments from him, and He said, behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I am about to clothe thee with vestive garments. 

The command goes forth to the attending angels for Joshua could do nothing to cleanse himself, to remedy his sinful condition. The meaning of the removal of the filthy garments is to be found in the words that immediately follow: 

11/  Joshua standing there before God in filthy garments, his hair all mussed is a picture of Israel in Romans 10: 1 - 6 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Here they were trying to parade their filthy garments off before God, and God says you are ignorant of what is necessary. You do not have a righteousness to present to me. I must give you a righteousness, and of course, the righteousness is none other than Jesus Christ. 

12/  Men and women, if you ask them upon the face of this earth what is righteousness, they will say it is right living—but not so with God. You can’t live right. What is righteousness? Righteousness is Jesus Christ. 

13/  We told you last week also a reason why Israel should know that they couldn’t produce righteousness of their own. They had the names of God to prove this, and God brought out to them that His name was Jehovah, our righteousness, the Lord of our righteousness, 

Jeremiah 33: 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness. 

God had to be a righteousness unto them, and the word, Lord, here is the word Saviour. The Saviour our righteousness. 

14/ How did Israel try to establish their own righteousness? Of course, the answer is in the law. By keeping the law, and because they tried to keep the law, consequently they rejected Jesus Christ. But notice what Paul tells the nation about the law. He says, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. The word, end, would really be better translated, aim or object. Christ is the aim or object of the law for righteousness. The law should show man that he can’t possibly live right, and that it should drive him to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the end or aim of the law. 

This is the hunting season, and just now, the hunter takes his gun out into the fields or woods, and he uses that gun to try to bring down a deer. He uses the gun, and he aims it by means of the sight, perhaps a telescopic sight, at the deer, and he pulls the trigger, and he tries through the aiming of that gun to kill that deer, to bring down that deer. 

Now, the law – what is the aim of the law? The law should aim us, direct us right to Jesus Christ, and cause us to submit unto to Him, that He might become our righteousness. 

15/ Notice what Paul says in Galatians 3: 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. 

Here he tells Israel that the law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified, made righteous by faith. 

Notice in the 24th verse that the law was our schoolmaster—it is past tense, and notice the purpose of the law was to bring Israel to Christ, but they did not permit the schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. 

AMEN

Ref: KULP - 12/05/1965/ 307 - ALL DRESSED UP IN DIRTY CLOTHES / 05/29/2020 

SATAN’S COPYRIGHTED METHOD

African Sunset

     304 – SATAN’S COPYRIGHTED METHOD

     OCTOBER 24, 1965

     PASTOR HENRY F KULP

Romans 9: 11 - 14 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

We told you last week, that the doctrine, the teaching of election is greatly misunderstood, and all the trouble that has come because this doctrine has been taught contrary to the Bible. 

1/  We told you last week many believe election has to do with salvation, and we spent a great deal of time, showing you that is impossible. God wants all men to be saved. He has provided salvation for all—not just for a special few. Notice this passage in Romans 9: 10 - 13 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Paul says there is no difference, today between Jew and Greek, and then he says, whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. Notice, whosoever, not just a special group, but anyone at all—yes, salvation is for everyone.

2/  But you say, notice, Romans 9: 18 a portion of Scripture that shows you this is wrong, for he says, Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy. And you would use the illustration that there were two brothers in a family—the one a believer, the other an unbeliever. They have had the same background, they have had the same teaching, they have gone to the same church, they have heard the same gospel. But the one who was unsaved, died, and he died without salvation. The other died, but of course, he was saved. And you would conclude by this passage of Scripture that God has mercy on the one brother, and he did not show mercy or compassion on the other one who was unsaved. But does this verse teach he only had mercy on certain people. Is there any hint as to whom God will have mercy upon? Of course, the same passage Romans 11: 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

And here we have light on the matter of God having mercy. Who are the objects of His mercy? Notice this 32^nd verse For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

How many are the objects and recipients of Gods mercy? The text clearly tells us that He has mercy on all. God does not only have mercy upon a few, but His mercy is expanded until it reaches all men. 

3/  ELECTION is not God choosing or electing some to be saved, and some to be lost, and this is nothing more or less than heresy. And it is charging God with doing something He cannot do. Because He has provided salvation for every man.To preach a limited atonement is saying that God is guilty of what the devil does. Remember, we titled this message – Satan’s Copyrighted Method. 

II Corinthians 4: 3, 4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believed not, less the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ which is the image of God should shine unto them. 

This is not God’s  program, this is the devil’s program. For it says, if the gospel be hid it is hid to them who are lost. How are these folks lost? II Corinthians 4: 4 This is the devil’s program of keeping the gospel from shining in the hearts of men, he wants them to be lost—he is the one who has blinded them, not God.  

4/  Now let us notice, Romans 9: 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that callers;)

What is election? For the children not yet being born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Election and the purpose of God are connected. God always has a  purpose, He knows exactly what He is doing. God never does things haphazardly—it may seem to you today that things are happening and they are all out of connection. You might say, I just can’t see any purpose of things that are happening, but God has a purpose in everything, and election, and the purpose of God are all wrapped up together. 

5/  Now let us turn to Romans 8: 28. All things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. How do we know that all things work together for good, for us? Because we have been called according to God’s purpose. God has a purpose today—what is that purpose? Let us look into it more fully.

6/  Ephesians 1: 9, 10 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; evening him:

Here Paul is telling us about the church the Body of Christ, and he says, having made known unto us the mystery, the secret of His will. God has a will—according to His good pleasure. Now notice, which He has purposed in Himself. God has a purpose, yes, that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, He might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him. This is God’s purpose—to have Heaven and earth, filled with those who love and adore the Lord Jesus Christ. Part of that purpose in this age is the church which is His  Body. 

Ephesians 3: 11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

Here He calls it an eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. God always has a purpose. In days gone by, His purpose was a nation, the nation Israel that was given the Jewish religion that they would one day rule the world under God’s Son the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the Kingdom purpose, but today He is gathering out a Heavenly purpose. And all who believe in Jesus Christ are made part of the church which is the Body of Christ, and this is God’s purpose today, not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly body, and we become part of that body by believing in Jesus Christ. 

Election is not salvation, election is God’s program. The kingdom program wasn’t election in the Old Testament. The Church which is the body of Christ is election in the New Testament, and in both you had to be saved to be part of God’s purpose.

7/  Then notice, God talks about Esau and Jacob. What does He have in mind concerning the purpose of God concerning Esau and Jacob? How many people have misunderstood this message? Notice, verse 12, 13 It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. That was said before they were born, then in verse 13 As it written – Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That was not saying when Esau and Jacob were yet not born. There is not a line in Genesis to the effect that the Lord hated Esau, all we read was that Rebekah was barren, and Isaac prayed for her, soon she was with child, and the twins in her womb struggled together. She prayed about it. Genesis 25: 23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other peoples and the elder shall serve the younger.

Two nations—notice, two nations are in your womb, and two people born of you shall be divided. The one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the serve the younger. That is not talking about the two boys, one boy serving another. Search the Old Testament, and see if you find any place where Esau served Jacob. You will not find it.    

   

8/  Then there is no announcement of hated against Esau in the Book of Genesis – 1,000 years passed before the Lord God announced that He hated Esau, by that time it had been made manifest to all the world, that in  the heart of Esau’s desendants there was nothing but unrelenting hatred against the Lord’s chosen people. This hating is pronounced upon the descendants of Esau, for God told Rebekah there would be two nations, two peoples in her womb, and here it is— this verse quoted in Romans 9: 13 is in the last book of the Old Testament. 

Malachi 1: 1 - 3 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob. And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

This is a prophecy. This is not something that has happened yet, this is a prophecy. In the life of Jacob and Esau, the promise of one serving the other was not fulfilled in their lifetime – Jacob had to flee, and when he returned home, he did so under the allowance of Esau. He came trembling, asking forgiveness of the hand of his brother, and he lived for years on the bounty of his brother. Where did Esau ever serve Jacob? Where did the elder ever serve the younger? In the days of David, and Solomon, the children of Israel had a temporary victory over the sons of Esau, but that was all it was—a temporary victory. Remember, election has to do with the purpose of God. And this looks beyond the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it looks to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for even today in Palestine, Ishmael and Esau block the road of the line of Isaac, but after the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when He sits upon the throne of His father, David, Jacob shall reign over Israel and over Esau, this is a prophecy of the future, and it is certain. 

Now notice this prophecy in the Book of Isaiah – Isaiah 11: 11, 12, 14  And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.

They shall put forth their hand against Edom and Moab, these are the descendants of Esau. All of this is yet future. The purpose of God will stand, it will come to pass, the purpose of God according to election cannot fail. 

9/  Let us see why God said He hated Esau, or the descendants the nation that came from Esau. The key to God’s great anger against Esau, the nation is found in Numbers 20: 14 – 22 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: And when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him. And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.

Here we have Moses who sent messengers unto the King of Edom. He said, thy brother, Israel, were in Egypt, and they dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers cried unto the Lord, He heard our voice, and He brought us out of Egypt, and we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost part of thy border.  Let us  pass, I pray thee, through thy country. We will not pass through the fields nor the vineyards, neither will we drink the water of the wells. We will go by the King’s highway. We will not turn to the right hand nor the left until we get passed thy borders, and Edom said unto him, thou shall not pass by me.  Lest I come out against thee with a sword. And then the children of Israel said unto him, we will go by the highway, and if I and my camel drink of water, I will pay them for it, and they said, thou shall not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through the border. Therefore, Israel turned away from him. God never forgave the sin of Edom, and according to the prophets, never will. Prophet after prophet predicted the awful judgement and punishment of this little land, which is about 40 miles wide, and about 100 miles long, lying south of the Dead Sea.

10/  Let us look at one of the prophecies concerning the nation. Obediah 8, 9 Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

Notice this prophecy, notice God’s hatred. Shall I not in that day saith the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom and understanding out of Mt. Esau? And then he says, thou shalt be dismayed to the end, when everyone out of Mt. Esau shall be cut off by slaughter. Verse 10 for thy violence against thy brother, Jacob, shame shall cover thee and thou shalt be cut off forever. Then notice, verse 11,12 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

God brought forth foreign nations against Israel who made them captive. Edom took advantage of this by adding more suffering for the Jews, and again God was much displeased, and He brings out that they should have been friends and brothers to the nation Israel, rather than making their bed even harder.

11/  Now let us go into the future, and here we find something very shocking. 

Isaiah 34: 9, 10 And the streams thereof (Edomia, a village in Palestine) shall be turned into pitch and dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch, it shall not be quenched night nor day—the smoke, thereof shall go up forever. 

Notice, it says from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it forever and ever. You will remember this is concerning the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ – this is the day of the Lord’s vengeance and it is to go up from generation to generation. The land of Esau will be  desolation, a place of judgement all during the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is God’s hatred for this people and their land for their sin. Their land will suffer all during the tribulation—The millennium.

12/  The remainder of the chapter reveals that all kinds of wild animals and fowls will make their home between the streams, and no man shall pass through that land any more. Nothing like this has yet occurred, nor can occur until the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and it will continue on through the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. This nation that came out of Esau tried to hinder the purpose of God, and God had an election for Jacob, and it is to be in the millennium in the promise land, and nothing can stop it, it has been set aside for a season, but it will one day come to pass.  

13/  The rest of the passage here shows that folks will say and Israelites probably did say, what right does God have to stop our purpose and to bring in yet another purpose. Who can argue this point? God is sovereign. He can stop one program and start another. That is exactly what He has done. He has brought in the church which is the Body of Christ, and for a season He has set aside the Kingdom purpose, program or plan. But even in stopping, He had a reason, because Israel committed the sins that caused them to be set aside. 

We can be so thankful that the purpose of God according to election will stand.

AMEN

Ref: 10/24/1965/ KULP - 304 - SATAN’S COPYRIGHTED METHOD / 05/28/2020

THE UNPROFITABLE TONGUE

Banana Leaf Artwork created by Radio Kahuzi Club Members

     341 - THE UNPROFITABLE TONGUE – PART II   

     July 8, 1973

     Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Prophecy is much better than tongues.      

1/  I Corinthians 14: 14,15 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

And here God uses two illustrations to prove what He means. First of all, He uses the illustration of prayer, and secondly of singing. All this had to do with worship in the congregation – in the assembly. He said if you pray and people speak in tongues, that prayer is valueless. He didn’t say they should pray in a foreign tongue, but He is saying, just carry this thought on. What if you pray in a foreign language you do not understand, what good would that prayer be? You are not communicating with God, and prayer is man communicating with God and telling Him his problems, his troubles and his joy, and the Bible is God communicating with man, telling man what he should know. So, He says if you have prayer on the same basis as you have speaking in tongues, it would be valueless. 

2/ Then He talks about singing. And He says, I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with understanding. We ought to know a lot about this in our present day and age. So much that passes for singing is just sheer noise, it is just trash. Sometimes I turn the radio on and listen to some of these popular songs, not very often – if I am waiting on some program that is coming on such as Paul Harvey or something of that nature, and the music is absolutely unbearable. They sing trash, they sing nonsense and I don’t know what they are singing most of the time, and most of the people do not listen to it for the words, but for the rhythm, the   pounding of the drums and the strumming of the guitars, and God is saying, this is not worship. You cannot worship apart from the mind. Take in the church service. We do the same thing. We sing songs that do not make sense – “Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.” – That is not true – I refuse to sing this or, “Will there be any stars in my crown?” or “Do, Lord” – this is fine for children, but adults singing “Do Lord, Do Lord“--it is just a lot of nonsense.    

3/ Singing is very important. Ephesians 5: 18, 19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 

Some folks say, well, I could just do without singing in the church service. I couldn’t, because it’s the first results of being filled with the Spirit. You know why the devil has such a big industry, and the world has such a big industry in music – because man is a singing being, whether he has ability to sing or not. Satan, the world, is trying to fill this void in man that could only be filled by singing of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. That is your mind. You sing with your mind, so you should sing with understanding, and we are to sing songs, hymns and spiritual songs. Just what is difference? A hymn is usually addressed to God, something like, “My Jesus, I Love Thee, or, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past“, or “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty.” or “I am Thine O Lord, I Have Heard Thy Voice.” Then we come to the Psalm.  A psalm is just one of the Psalms set to music, and we said that Psalms is just a song book to Israel.  Then, spiritual songs – they are songs of praise. Example, a song of testimony – what the Lord has done for you – “Love Lifted Me, when nothing else could help, love lifted me.” Or “Redeemed”, how I love to proclaim it, Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.“ A spirit- filled believer will sing with understanding.

4/ Let me give you an example of what I mean. Psalms 13: 5, 6 But I have trusted in thy mercy: my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Here he said, I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me. The children Of God sing because of God’s dealing with them. Let me give you another illustration, Exodus 15: 1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Here we have Moses – when we think about him, we think of one too busy to bother himself with songs. He carried the woes and the worries of a great nation upon his shoulders. How could he sing? Israel got into trouble and into sin so often and rebelled against God time and time again, yet we read, then sang Moses and the children of Israel the song of the Lord, and spoke saying, I will sing unto the Lord for he Hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. So, they were singing with understanding something that happened to them.

5/  Acts 16: 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

The believer sings not only when the sun shines brightly, in the darkest of night. Here we have Paul and Silas locked in a prison in Philippi, their feet locked in stocks, singing to the Lord. Here is a terrible situation. Here they were singing, but I can guarantee you they were singing in the Spirit, and they were singing with understanding. So, the whole thought again goes back to the thought that these folks at Corinth were to know that if they were to sing they had better sing in the Spirit. And if they prayed they had better pray with the Spirit and with understanding.  

Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Therefore, understanding is the key, and this is why the gift of tongues was the least of all gifts, and why it was an inferior gift.     

6/  I Corinthians 14: 14 - 16 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

Now, bless here means to worship, Else that when thou shalt worship in the Spirit, how shall he be that shall occupy the room of the unlearned. Who is that? It could either be the person who is speaking in tongues, giving the doctrine, or praying, or singing in tongues. He doesn’t understand what is going on. He is unlearned. In his mind he doesn’t understand one thing he is praying, saying or singing, and here the caption to it all, he cannot say…”Amen”. “Amen” means, I believe it, or so be it, because he doesn’t know what is said, what he has prayed or what he has been singing, so he cannot say, I believe it. 

7/  Then also the one that has been listening does not understand his tongues He can’t say “Amen” to it, because he doesn’t know what it is all about

8/  I Corinthians 14: 17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. 

For thou verily giveth thanks well, in other words, as he has been praying, he did a beautiful job in it because the Holy Spirit was giving him the ability to do this, but yet, it didn’t edify anyone, it didn’t build up anyone. 

This is why prophecy, doctrine is so much more important than some ecstatic experiences, some emotional experience. Truly the unknown tongue is not to be sought. 

AMEN

Ref: KULP / 07/08/1973 / 341 – THE UNPROFITABLE TONGUE / 05/25/2020