HEAVEN’S LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Photo taken by B Smith from the patio

 

621-2 HEAVEN’S LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

July 26, 1981 

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

It is obvious that this message is going to be about giving. It has to do with money. I am sure you cannot say I preach an awful lot about money. I am certainly not trying to squeeze your pocketbooks, or your wallets, but as a faithful minister of God, I must present the matter of giving.

1/  I wonder if you realize the Bible has much to say about the believer and his giving. It has as much to say about giving as it has to say about any other doctrine in the Bible. That is true in both the Old and the New Testament—it is true in the Pauline Epistles.

2/  I want you to notice the phrase—God loveth a cheerful giver. Doesn’t God love everyone? Doesn’t He say in John 3: 16 that God so loved the world. What does it mean that God loves a cheerful giver?

3/  Before we answer that question, let us see that God is a Giver. John 3: 16 says God so loved that He gave. So love and giving are inseparable. It is impossible for one who loves to fail to give—he will automatically give.

4/  I Corinthians 13: 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 

Giving without love is no use in the spiritual realm, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not love—now notice, it profiteth me nothing. God gives because He loves, and if we are to give we also must know love.

5/  SO, THE BASIS OF GIVING IS LOVE. GOD TAKES NO RECOGNITION OF GIFTS THAT ARE NOT GIVEN IN LOVE.

6/  I Corinthians 2: 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 

Why has the Holy Spirit been given to us? For many reasons, but why has the Holy Spirit taken up His abode in our bodies? Here is one of the reasons—that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Notice how God gives—freely, without a reason, Not that we deserve it, but He gives it to us with love.

7/  You can measure a person’s love for you by the way they give to you, and, of course, this is not just money. You can measure God’s love by the way He has given, and is giving to you.

8/  II Corinthians 9: 6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 

Here we have two words that are very interesting, Sparingly and bountifully. There are two classes of sowers and, of course, the question must be answered, to which of the two do you belong? Or, which of the two do you want to belong?

9/  The Greek says, he who keeps on sowing. This is Paul’s picture of the Christian giver—the sower has the business of sowing, and all Christian giving is sowing. We literally are all farmers and our great business is sowing and reaping, and do you realize it looks like you are throwing it away when you sow. But you are not, and, of course, sowing implies a harvest.

10/  Now we have to ask the question, where does the sower get the grain in the first place? He can’t make it, God has to give it to him. Whatever you have physically, whatever you have financially, God has given it to you in the first place.

11/  There are three possible attitudes you can take toward what God has given to you.

1/  God has given you whatever you have and He gave it to you outright, and does

  not expect you to do anything with it to help His cause.

2/  We have stolen from Him, it is ours and we just don’t care.

3/  He has loaned it to us to use as He sees fit. Most people live as if what they

           have is solely theirs and they can use it any way they want, and forget about God.

12/  Does God need our giving? Yes, He does—He really doesn’t have to, but He has made things so He does need us in our giving. You take the spread of the Gospel, He could print the Gospel in the Heavens, He could have angels fly shouting it from the Heavens, but He doesn’t. He could print the Gospel in the Heavens, but he doesn’t. The Gospel will only go where we take it and the folks we tell about it. God has put Himself in the position where He needs us to spread His Gospel. Then, also when it comes to giving, God owns everything, but He needs us to give that His work might go on. There is no question, God could print money and scatter it and hand it down to those who are doing His work, but He doesn’t do it that way.

13/  Luke 16: 1, 2 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 

Here Jesus Christ said to His disciples, there was a rich man, which had a steward, and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. Whose goods? His master’s goods, and he called him and said unto him, how is it that I hear this of thee. Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward. We must see that we do not waste what God as given to us. He holds us accountable here and now for the way we use that which He has given to us.

14/  The principle is what you sow, you are going to reap. By the way you sow. God lets you say in advance what way and what kind of a harvest you are going to reap. If you sow sparingly, that is just a few grains, you certainly are not going to produce barn fulls in the harvest. You know at sowing time what size of harvest you are going to have.

15/  Under the Gospels, did you ever notice how they were to give? 

Matthew 19: 21, 22 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 

Here we have the rich young ruler, and he is told, go and sell what thou hast. 

Compare that with Luke 12: 33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. 

Sell what you have and give alms, and then, of course, the same thing was true in the Book of Acts. 

Acts 2: 45, 46 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 

But God doesn’t ask you to sow or give that way today.

16/  II Corinthians 8: 12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. 

Here we have the principal—we are to give according to what we have, and, not what we don’t have. The way we give is determined by what is left over. How much do we spend on ourselves. The Lord doesn’t want us to say, if I had $25, I would certainly give it. It isn’t a matter of what you don’t have, but what you have. He wants to know how much you’ll give out of what you have got. That’s different, isn’t it?

17/  I Corinthians 16: 1, 2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. Here God says, upon the first day of the week, let everyone of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings, no collections when I come. 

Again, the principle is here, as God has prospered him. How has God prospered you this morning? Have you given to God in the way that you prospered?

18/  II Corinthians 9: 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. Here again we have our principle. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart.

19/  INDIVIDUALLY Here we read two words that are important— every man, Every believer. No believer is exempt. Every believer let him so give. The Holy Spirit is speaking to each one of us who names the Name of Jesus Christ. There can be no exception. God expects every believer to give to His work, no matter how much he has, or how young or how old he is.

20/  WHAT RIGHT DOES GOD HAVE TO ASK US TO GIVE? Because we are His, He owns us. We are slaves of His, and as slaves, He has the right to tell us what to do—there is a double ownership that God has.

(1)  Psalms 24: 1 The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and  they that dwell therein. This is by His creative ownership. He created us, and we

   belong to Him, and He has a right to tell us what to do.

(2)  I Corinthians 6: 19, 20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the

Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For      ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

We are His by means of redemption. We were on the slave market of sin and He bought us with His precious blood, and now He has the right to tell us just what to do, especially with our money.

21/  Then, you will notice the next word in our text is As He purposeth. This is a very strong word in the Greek. It has the idea of determination—To do something by deliberate purpose.

22/  PURPOSETH IN HIS HEART Here is a key that we cannot overlook. The foundation of all giving in the Bible is found in the Old Testament Exodus 25: 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. 

You have to understand that giving is not a small thing. God wanted to be in their midst, He wanted to have a house to dwell in, a sanctuary, and in order to have that sanctuary, He put Himself in the place where men had to first give the materials, and then make them, then erect the building. You see God could have spoken and there would have been a tabernacle in the wilderness, but God doesn’t do things that way. He gave the pattern to Moses, and He gave the Holy Spirit to men and women in Israel who were to perform and make the things necessary, and then He says, you take an offering from every man that giveth it willingly from his heart. 

It is not to be given grudgingly as we have in II Corinthians 9: 7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. 

Literally that is from grief. No one is to be sorry about giving anything to the Lord. You should never say, I am sorry I gave so much. You should say, I’m glad I have given, I wish I could give more. Nor again should it be from compulsion, feeling that one is forced to give, that he is being robbed, that someone took advantage of them.

23/  I heard of a church not too far from here where they have “March Offerings”. And that is someone gets up front and they march from their set and they give. I don’t have any gimmicks like that, I don’t believe in that sort of thing. That is, compulsion, it also is exalting the person who gives. Everyone can see how much he gives. If a man gives anything grudgingly, you are saying, we don’t want it—the Lord doesn’t want it—the foundation of giving is love and a willing heart.

24/  FREELY This is how God gives to us, and He expects us to give to Him. Freely is the Greek word, DOE RAY ON, and it means without a cause, without a purpose. Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? He has freely given us all things, and I think we should say, Lord, we don’t expect you to give in return to us. We know that You will, but we are willing to give freely.

25/  Then we are to give, CHEERFULLY. When God gave His Son He didn’t give Him with a frown on His brow. But, rather, He gave Him cheerfully and freely, and the Holy Spirit is a Gift from God, so is salvation a gift from God, and all of this has been cheerfully given to us, and we should say, another opportunity to give to God so His work might go forth.

26/  God loves a cheerful giver, right where we started. And we ask the question, doesn’t He love everybody? Saved and unsaved? Of course He does. Doesn’t He love every believer whether he gives or doesn’t give? Of course He does. God does say a cheerful giver is one that God loves. Every person, every believer is the object of God’s love, but when a man opens his pocketbook and supports the work of the Gospel, he becomes a special object of the love of God. This is the way to receive a special blessing from God.

27/  Exodus 35: 21 And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. 

How did the Israelites respond to the call of God to build this Tabernacle? And they came to one whose heart stirred him up and everyone whose spirit made willing. Their giving was so lavish it became necessary for Moses to issue a decree to stop them. 

Exodus 36: 6 And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing. And the Scripture says, so the people were restrained from bringing. I am sure these people did not give what they could spare. They gave because they had a desire to give.

28/  II Corinthians 9: 15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. Here God tells us, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift. Here is a real motivation for giving, when someone gives to you, you want to give to them.

AMEN

Ref: 07/26/1981/ 621-2 HEAVEN’S LAW OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND / 09/11/2020 

FORSAKING PAUL

Photo taken by B Smith from the patio

 

322 FORSAKING PAUL

September 28, 1975

Henry F. Kulp

 

II Timothy 1: 6 - 11 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

In II Timothy we have an apostolic charge, given by Paul to young Timothy. The believers had all forsaken Paul when he was in prison. Religion and the worldly government combined to put Paul in prison, and it was very costly to be seen with, to be in harmony with Paul.

1/  This Apostolic charge was given to Timothy in the face of a departure. Paul was about to die, he was about to depart from the field of battle. Timothy himself had forsaken Paul, he had become a sniveling coward, and had counted the cost, and it was too great. 

2/  Paul says in verse 8 Don’t be ashamed of me or the testimony of our Lord. The word, ashamed, is an interesting word. It is in the Greek EP-ICE-COON-AH-MY. What it really means is IF YOU ARE ASHAMED, YOU OUGHT TO BE ASHAMED BECAUSE THE FAULT IS WITH YOU.

3/  Notice two things that he is not to be ashamed of:

(1) The Lord’s testimony, and that means evidence.

(2) The Lord’s prisoner, Paul. But notice, Paul is more than a prisoner, Verse 11

a prisoner. Verse 11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. He is a preacher, apostle and teacher. So to turn away from the Lord’s prisoner, is to turn away from the Lord’s testimony. So when all these believers forsook Paul and turned away from Paul, they turned away from the Lord’s testimony and we will see more about that in just a moment.

4/  Paul calls on Timothy to suffer alongside of him. Suffering is taken for granted. To stand with Paul means to suffer.

5/  The word, partaker, is very interesting, and it means TO SUFFER EVIL ALONGSIDE SOMEONE ELSE. So, what Paul is saying BUT JOIN ME IN SUFFERING DISGRACE FOR THE GOSPEL IN ACCORD FOR GOD’S POWER.

6/  Paul was about to pay the supreme price—death. Paul and Timothy were not in a genteel profession. He was engaged in a calling that is associated with affliction, prison, and death. We, too, may not suffer prison and death, but when we stand with Paul we’ll suffer disgrace.

7/  Notice the Lord’s testimony and the Lord’s prisoner go hand in hand, and we came to the conclusion without fear of contradiction that those who turn away from Paul turn away from the Lord in this present dispensation. 

II Timothy 2: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Notice what he says here, if we suffer, we shall reign with Him. We shall talk about this in the future, but if you suffer with Paul, you will reign with Christ.

8/  But he is telling Timothy, if you suffer with me, you will have at your disposal in all the trials, the power of God, so that you can be victorious. 

9/  Notice the affliction of the Gospel. What Gospel is in mind? Any intelligent student of the Scriptures, will know and teach there is more than one Gospel in the Scriptures. But the intelligent student will know that there is but one Gospel by which men are saved in this day of grace. 

10/  Ephesians 1: 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Here it is called the Gospel of your salvation. So this Gospel for our day, saves, but did the twelve preach it? Did Jesus Christ preach it upon the earth? 

No, Matthew 3: 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 10: 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

One last Scripture will tie it all together. 

Matthew 9: 35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

It is the Gospel of the kingdom. And it is not the Gospel that is here in the 8^th verse. 

Notice, II Timothy 2: 8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:

And then, I Timothy 1: 11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

This is Paul’s Gospel that was committed to Paul’s trust. Let’s analyze this for a moment and see what Paul means.

11/  II Timothy 2: 9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.

In the beginning of this verse we have an echo of Ephesians 2: 8, 9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And this phrase, in the beginning, ought to be—the one having saved us, and this is in the Ariost tense, and it means once and for all. And it is not according to our works.

12/  But we come to a very important part of this verse, that we better spend some time with. It is according to His own purpose. The word, purpose, in the Greek is PRO-THACE- US and it means, pre-designed plan, and that immediately catches our attention. His own pre-designed plan. And grace which was given us in Christ Jesus.   

13/  Which was given us, notice, it was not earned by us. That is not what it says. It was given us before the world began. What does this mean? The word, world, here is interesting, and we must be careful because the word, is not cosmos. The word for world is KRON-NOSS and it means before history began. We get our word, CHRONOLOGY from it. The word, began, is EE-ON – ages. And so it means before the history of the ages.  This plan of salvation was conceived in the mind of God. In an eternal-life conference when only God existed.

14/  This is the message that verse 10 is now being manifest by Paul the preacher, the Apostle and the teacher. It was hid in God.

15/  I Timothy 2: 5, 6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

And in verse 4 the important part I want you to see, it is to be testified in due time, in God’s time, according to His own clock, His own timepiece, when it was decided in this conference, to be revealed, and it was through Paul. 

16/  II Timothy 1: 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, But now is made manifest, by the appearing—that means the shining forth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who has abolished death.

17/  The word, abolish, means, wear down, work down, to render powerless. Now let us turn to 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;

Here we have the same word, here we read that by the first coming of Jesus Christ, Satan has been destroyed, which is the same word. It is by dejure, and not by  defacto. These are legal terms.  

18/  Dejure means BY RIGHT OF as opposed to defacto. Defacto means ACTUAL OR REAL. At the first coming death was rendered powerless for us, but is will not be a reality until the absolute destruction of death will take place for us, and we will have our resurrection bodies.

I Corinthians 15: 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

In the same way, we should not fear Satan, he has been made powerless for us, useless by the cross. We do not fear the power of the devil, he has been rendered useless by the death of Christ on the cross. 

I am amazed how many people who are saved have been fooled by all this talk and teaching on demonism and the activity of Satan. He is a defeated foe.

AMEN

Ref: 09/28/1975/ 322 FORSAKING PAUL / 09/11/2020

IS YOUR GOD FICKLE?

Photo taken by B Smith from the patio

 

302 - IS YOUR GOD FICKLE?

JULY 18, 1965 

PASTOR HENRY F KULP

 

 

Romans 8: 35 - 39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice as we start out this message—who shall separate us from the love of Christ? The first thought that is important is that God is not fickle. Religion has a god who is fickle—he only loves us under certain circumstances—only when we go through the rites and rituals. And the law-keeper, his god is fickle. He only loves us when we live according to the law. But that is not the Scripture here.

1/  I am so thankful that it does not say pity. God’s pity. Who shall separate us from the pity of Christ? Immediately the warmth, the color, goes out of this verse. How much poorer it sounds. How stiff and unmelting it becomes. If we change one word, love, to pity. 

2/  Our God is not fickle because we cannot be separated from this love, once we are in it. But I would like you to see something about this wonderful matter of love, and not being able to be separated from it. Let us just for a moment go back to the great verse in the Bible John 3:16. Here we are told that God so loved—and the important thing I want you to see this morning is how are we the recipients of the love of Christ. How do we get into the love of Christ so that we cannot be separated from it? For just a few moments, let me show you a very beautiful outline.

John 3: 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Notice the beginning—For God so loved the world. First of all, we have the GREATEST BEING. Of course, all who are sensible are satisfied there is no greater being than our God. But we who worship God, do not know how great God is. But we know that God is the Supreme Being. One of the things that I believe will be glorious for the child of God, will be to learn of the greatness of our God. Then notice the 2nd, it is love, the GREATEST ATTRIBUTE. Have you anything in life that is greater than love? Love is the greatest attribute for any being—there is no greater—for we have faith, hope—God tells us that love is greater than all of these.

I Corinthians 13: 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

And notice, that God’s greatest attribute is love. It is a remarkable thing—the Bible does not say that God is power. The Bible says God has power. The Bible does not say that God is mercy—God has mercy. But the Bible does say God is love. That is the very nature of His being, and that is the greatest attribute that God has. 

3/  In the third place, WORLD—THE GREATEST NUMBER. When God loved the world, He didn’t leave anyone out, did He? God so loved the world—that includes every race, every color, every one who has ever lived, every one that ever shall live, and every one who is living now. You can’t replace that word world with any other word. You can’t replace God with any other word, you can’t replace love with any other word, and you can’t replace world with any other word.

4/  GAVE—NO GEATER ACT. There is no greater act than to give. If you love someone you want to give them something—it might even get to the place where you want to give your life. God, the greatest Being, loved the world so much, that He gave. You can measure your love by giving. I am sure our love for God is revealed in proportion as to how we give to God. The greatest way to express love is by giving, there is no better way.

5/  HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON—THE GREATEST GIFT. There couldn’t be any greater. What did God have left when He gave His Son? Nothing.

6/  WHOSOEVER—THE GREATEST INVITATION. That means you and me or anyone at all. You can go to anyone on the face of the earth, black, white, red, or any other color, in any condition, and you can even go to the slums of the city, you can go to the high up and outs, and you can say that God will save you because He said that whosoever—that doesn’t leave anyone out.

7/  Notice the word, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH—THE GREATEST SIMPLICITY. I do not know whether you see what I mean, that believing for salvation is the greatest simplicity. Do you know of any simpler way for a man to be saved than just by believing? However, if you meet a person who has a reputation for not telling the truth, and they tell you something and immediately you rebel, you don’t believe it—you are conscious of your unbelief. But you can meet a man on the street, and he can tell you something, and you can go on your way believing, and you are not even conscious of believing. Believing is the greatest simplicity. God chose believing to save men because it is so simple.

8/  PERISH—THE GREAT CALAMITY. Do you know any greater calamity? We read about an airplane crashing in some part of the world and all that were onboard were dead—we say, my what a calamity—perhaps about 100 people have died. That’s not a calamity—the calamity is how many of them were eternally lost? If everyone was saved that was on that plane, it was no calamity, because they go directly into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The calamity is that they are not saved, and they go to hell.

9/  You see, this verse contains things that are the greatest—we cannot express anything greater.

10/  EVERLASTING LIFE—GREATEST DURATION. It actually should be eternal. You cannot express any time longer than that, because eternal means without beginning and it means without end—that is the greatest duration.

11/  ETERNAL LIFE—THE GREATEST POSSESSION. The greatest thing you can have is life, and everlasting or eternal life is the greatest of all. There is nothing greater than that. You hear the sirens, and you see an ambulance tearing down the street, and you get out of the way because the siren means we want you out of the way for someone’s life is at stake, and what is more important than life?

12/  The wonderful point is you believe, and you become a recipient of God’s love, and no matter what happens to you, you can’t be separated from it.

13/  Romans 8: 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Shall tribulation, or trouble separate us from the love of Christ? Absolutely not. Then the next word is distress. And this is the word, pain. Then the word persecution. This is something the devil has always thrown at the church. Just think, during the Middle Ages, over two million saints of God were killed, put to death. But was the church stamped out? Absolutely not. It is still here and the Gospel is still being preached.

14/  Then the word, famine. The lack of food. Whenever this subject comes up, I think of Alan Gardner, a missionary to the lower tip of South America. A well-known infidel who made a journey through South America, said that the natives at the bottom of the South American continent were the lowest form of human life, hardly better than animals. This stirred some of the Lord’s people, and among them was Alan Gardner. He made three trips from England, two were unsuccessful, the third was worse than all. Finally, they put him in a little life-boat and a few helpers with him and he tried to land, but the natives wouldn’t let him— they drove him back, so Alan Gardner and his fellow-helpers had to live on the water. The natives refused them anything to eat, and so they died of hunger. But as he died, he scribbled on the little cabin of the boat—“Praise to the Lord for His faithfulness.” God answered his prayer, for those natives today have scores of believers on the lower tip of South America.

15/  Then the word, nakedness. That means, poorly clad, being cold. Then the word, peril, is the word, danger. Then the word, sword, is something like secret police that they have in Russia and also in Germany. You don’t care to live in a land where they have them, do you? But in spite of all this, there has never been one believer that has been separated from the love of God.

16/  Everything that Paul mentions here, he had suffered. 

II Corinthians 11: 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.

Notice how often he uses the word, perils, here—in other words, danger. Eight times in this chapter. Paul knew what it was to be in danger, but he didn’t find himself lost, he wasn’t separated from the love of Christ.

 

17/  Romans 8: 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

To the world, the flesh, and the devil we are but sheep for the slaughter. You remember, in the early days of the church, they just slaughtered the Christians by hundreds of thousands. They were just as sheep for the slaughter.

18/  Romans 8: 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

What is it to be more than a conqueror? I wonder, I’m not too sure. I have read many, many commentaries, many books on Romans, but I am not too sure what it really means to be more than a conqueror. As we study history, we know what it is to be a conqueror. Napoleon was a great conqueror. He swept over Europe and no armies could stand before him, until nearly all of Europe was lying at his feet, all except England. He had a map made, and he had England painted red, because that was dangerous. He used to look at all Europe and he would point to that little red spot that was England, and he wanted to take it, he was a conqueror but he wasn’t more than a conqueror, for he finally met defeat. I am sure that no one on the face of the earth by his military ability, or by his army, navy and air force has ever been more than a conqueror. I am going to tell you what I believe it means to be more than a conqueror. It means to have the victory and always have the victory, and forever have the victory. It means not to be defeated, and it also means to be victorious without fighting. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. We don’t do the fighting. Did you ever stop to think the little bit of fighting you do doesn’t mean a thing to Satan? He is not afraid of you, but he is afraid of One, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

19/  I’d like you to turn to the Old Testament. 

II Kings 19: 35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

And this is where the Syrians had come against Israel, and the Syrians were the mighty nation of that day. We are told in one place that they came with 1,000,000. That is a million soldiers. That was a pretty big army for those days. It isn’t by our standards today with the population explosion, but in those days that was a very large army. There was nothing in the world like it. What were God’s people to do? This Syrian king came with his chariots of iron, and his mounted soldiers all decked out with banners and colors. Hezekiah went to the Lord about it—Hezekiah said, “Lord, what are we going to do?” Isaiah was living at that time, and the Lord sent Isaiah to Hezekiah, and the Lord said to Isaiah, tell Hezekiah the king of the Assyrians will not come into Jerusalem—they will not come any closer than they are. 

Notice, this 35th verse And it came to pass that night, the angel of the Lord went out and smote all in the camp of the Assyrians, one hundred and four score and five thousand, and when they arose early in the morning, behold they were all dead corpses.

When the morning came, they were all dead. I think Israel was more than a conqueror in this portion of Scripture, at this time because they got the victory without fighting. I don’t know anything else that can be more than a conqueror. 

The church, those who are members of His Body which is the Church of Jesus Christ are just like that. The church cannot fail, the church cannot be defeated—it cannot be separated from God, and we are sure of the victory—one day we shall be absolutely like the Lord Jesus Christ.

20/  People think it is strange when I preach and say don’t be afraid. Don’t you have that in the Bible? We are to fear not. Since Calvary, the Cross, we need not be afraid—all these are defeated foes that come against us. Christ is the Victory, and in Him we will have the victory. 

AMEN

Ref: 07/18/1965 / 302 IS YOUR GOD FICKLE? 09/10/2020

WHO SHOULD YOU VOTE FOR?

 

Through my kitchen window

 

WHO SHOULD YOU VOTE FOR?

November 1, 1964

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 13: 1 - 7 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

This week, I believe, we are going to face the greatest election in the history of our country. If Jesus Christ tarries, our destiny for a thousand years will be decided. If we vote a certain way, we will be taking steps that cannot be rectified, possibly ever again in our nation, so I believe you should be very, very careful who you are going to vote for. I think you must decide whether you want your life regimented, whether you want a strong central government that will control your life, and if you want this, you must remember that it is going to reach, not only in the political field, but into the spiritual field. All one has to do is to study history, and you will find that I am correct.

1/  There is, in the world today, a real unrest. There is a rebellion against authority. All one has to do is read and know about the so-called peaceful demonstrations and the sit-ins. They are unlawful, but it matters not. We have laws that perhaps are not good laws--they are bad laws, but to rectify these laws, one does not break good laws. And this has so penetrated into every realm of life on the face of the earth that rebellion is everywhere with a disregard for authority. We see it in the home, we see it in public life. I have brought this up, because I believe that after this election is over, there is going to be more hard feelings, there are going to be more bitterness, than at any time in history, so the question that is important is, who is going to win? 

Let us notice, Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Governmental authority and power are ordained of God. They are not really derived from the consent of the people who are governed. That is what your Bible says, there is no authority but of God. No authorities that exist are in existence accept they are ordained of God.

Human beings may seem to reason or believe that because there is an election that they elect a man. But I don’t believe this is true at all. We may think we elected John Kennedy President last time, and in a sense we did, but it is God Who ordained who is going to win that election. But men don’t like to think this--they like to think that they are in control and have the power to put men into power, or men think they have gotten the power themselves. Pilate thought this.

John 19: 10, 11 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

Pilate reasoned just like people today. Then said Pilate, Thou knowest that I have power to crucify Thee and power to release Thee? Notice the answer of Jesus Christ, Thou couldest have power at all against Me, except it were given thee from above:

Since all authority is ordained of, or allowed by God, we can see why Jesus Christ gave this answer. Pilate was there because God raised Him up, to be there that day. Don’t misunderstand me--Pilate could have made the right choice. He of his own volition made the wrong choice. He had warning against the actions that he took. His wife warned him, but he made a definite, deliberate step the other way. I do not believe in fatalism.

2/  I believe that God raises up, not only the civil authorities, but any person in a position of authority. Take a school teacher, or a foreman in a factory. Those in authority have been raised up by God.

3/  Of course, the question comes up, what about those who are appointed to this authority, and they serve the devil? Well, they may be evil, they may be wicked, but the office is ordained of God. And that person has been raised up even though their deeds may be evil. Consider the case of Saul and David. King Saul obtained his position from God as do all rulers.

I Samuel 9: 15 - 17 Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.

Here God told Samuel, this is the man whom I spake to thee of, this same shall rule over my people. But Saul was anything but a godly king. Saul was disobedient to God. Let us remember, as Saul was a wicked King, the words of Romans 13 let every soul be subject to the higher powers. How did David treat Saul, when he knew that Saul was wicked and out of the will of God, did he rebel and seek to organize the people to remove him from office? No, he did not--not even after God had chosen and anointed him to replace Saul as king. Instead, David said this. 

I Samuel 26: 9 - 11 And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless? David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

The Lord shall smite him, for his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle and perish. The Eternal forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Eternal’s anointed—God's anointed. 

Notice, that David recognized the fact that it was God’s right to intervene in them. David respected and honored and submitted to the office that Saul exercised. He left it in God’s hands to remove him from the office at the appointed time.

4/  Nebuchadnezzar--a Gentile ruler had to learn this truth, and it took him seven grueling years. Daniel makes a tremendous statement.

Daniel 2: 21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

This has to do with Gentiles here, but if you will go to Daniel 4: 17 you will find that finally Nebuchadnezzar admits this is truth, after his sanity is returned to him. 

This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Let’s remember something about Nebuchadnezzar—the children of Israel had disobeyed God, and Nebuchadnezzar was raised up to put them into captivity, because they had disobeyed God. Many times, God will let people have the rulers they deserve, and I am afraid this is going to happen in this election coming up right now.

5/  David is a very good example of how a child of God should treat the authority that God has raised up. As God raised up King Saul, he misused some of his powers, and he had persecuted David, and he had made many other mistakes. But when he was dead, David deeply mourned and sorrowed at his death. When David was told the news of Saul’s death, David took hold on to his clothes and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him, and they mourned and wept and fasted. 

II Samuel 1: 11, 12 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.

Then notice, verse 19 David lamented and cried out saying, The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high place; how are the mighty fallen! 

Here is an attitude that we should recognize—he really mourned and wept with deep feeling when the leader of his nation was slain. I am sure David certainly disagreed with many of the things that Saul had been doing, and with many of the policies, but he loved him, and respected his position.

6/  Another example of David’s respect for the leaders that God raised up, is in the description of the death of Abner. Abner was the captain of the host, or in reality, the commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel, as opposed to the armies of Judah, which were commanded by Joab under king David. In a previous battle, Abner had been forced to slay the brother of Joab, or lose his own life. Joab let hate build up in his heart, and he never forgave Abner for this action. Even when Abner had finally come to make peace between the two separate houses of Israel and Judah. In what was supposed to be a peace conference, Abner was taken aside very quietly, and Joab murdered him in cold blood. David soon heard of it. He knew that Abner was the leader of the house of Israel, and had actually fought for the Jews in many battles. Abner was of a different political party than David. He actually was an enemy of David, yet David respected this man’s position. He knew that he had been raised up by God, and David said to Joab and to all the people that were with him, rend your clothes and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner. 

II Samuel 3: 31, 32 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.

Notice, that King David, himself, followed the body and they buried Abner in Hebron and the King lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept, and notice, verse 38 And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? 

You may disagree with the man, you may disagree with the leader, but you are to respect his position, and David did just this.

7/  In the days of Jesus Christ, when He gave the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5: 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

Jesus taught His disciples concerning their responsibility to the authorities. It was the custom of the government to compel people to carry mail and goods belonging to the empire. Jesus Christ in this portion of Scripture referred to this forced practice, and said, Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain--go with him two. Jesus Christ taught submission, not resistance, to the government—even though that Roman government was a wicked government.

8/  Then notice what Paul has to say about the authorities—those who are over us.

I Timothy 2: 1 - 3  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;

This is Paul’s admonition. Notice, supplication, prayers, intercessions, and the giving of thanks be made for all men—now notice, for kings and for all that are in authority. And there is a reason—that we may lead a life of godliness and honesty. 

God has established earthly governments to keep order until the church is raptured, and the tribulation is over, and Jesus Christ will come and set up HIs kingdom. No human government can be perfect. You might be even forced to suffer unjustly under that government, but I believe you are in subjection to it.

9/ God will raise up the one who is to be our president, this coming Tuesday. I am positive it will be God’s man, and God knows who it is.

10/  But now the important part of this message, that I want to drive home to your hearts is this. I believe the man that will be chosen, that God will put in this position is the man that we deserve. Take when God raised up King Saul. The nation wanted a king—they demanded a king, as a matter of fact. 

I Samuel 8: 4 - 6 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.

The elders of Israel gathered themselves together and they came to Samuel, and they said, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in the ways that they should. Now make us a king to judge us like the nations--in other words, like the Gentiles. They came to the point where they wanted to be like the Gentiles, but the thing displeased Samuel, but he went to God and asked the Lord about it.

11/ I Samuel 8: 7 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

And notice the answer of the Lord—the Lord said unto Samuel, harken unto the voice of the people in the day that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should reign over them. 

God said, they have rejected Me, and they want a king. All right, God said, I’ll give them a king, and He did. King Saul. And King Saul was exactly the king they deserved. King Saul was a failure, an absolute failure, but the nation Israel did not deserve anything better. 

Have you ever thought about history and the leaders that have been raised up? God has permitted them to come into being. He has raised up one king, one president—put down one king, put down another president, but I am positive the ones who have been raised up, the people have deserved, and I am afraid the president we are going to get on Tuesday is the one we deserve. 

Our nation has worshipped at the god of pleasure, the god of immorality, the god of greed, and the god of lust. Certainly, you are not foolish enough to think that this can go on and on and on. I am afraid the handwriting is on the wall for our nation, unless something happens.

It will only be solved in a spiritual way. I am positive one of thee reasons bombs have not rained upon our nation in the last two World Wars, is because of the church of Jesus Christ, which has been busy propagating the Gospel. But today, it has become lax and it, too, is becoming like the world, and I am afraid we are going to suffer. Socialism is growing in our country, and this is what the people seemingly want, and you cannot have socialism and have personal freedom. We are the last bulwark against freedom in the world, and I am afraid we are going to lose it, unless something happens to the spirituality of God’s people. 

12/  Have you ever read in God’s Word the type of king that God gave them?

I Samuel 8: 11 - 18 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

He says, in the 9th verse Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

Show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. He is going to take their sons, take their daughters, take their fields, their vineyards, their olive yards, a tenth of your seed, and take it all for his benefit. For his own use. And what a king they got. I am sure we are going to get the president we deserve, and I am afraid our present program will one day come home to roost, and what a sad day lies ahead unless there is a spiritual awakening in our country.

AMEN  

Ref: 11/01/1964 / 65 - WHO SHOULD YOU VOTE FOR? / 09/08/2020