BEWARE OF SPIRITUAL CON MEN

Photo taken by B Smith from the Kitchen Door

 

366-2 BEWARE OF SPIRITUAL CON MEN

July 31, 1977

Henry F. Kulp

 

Colossians 2: 1 - 8 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

We told you that Paul was starting an entirely different subject in the second chapter, and the outline would be verses 1 - 8.

The great conflict that rages in this age,—verses 9 - 15  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

The victory is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verses 16 - 23 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body: not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Satan’s great counter offensive.

1/  Now Paul says in this conflict, I pray that three things may be in your lives. 

…..  #1/ you might be comforted, 

…..  #2 you might be knitted together in love, 

…..  #3 That you might have the acknowledgement of the mystery of God. And literally it is the mystery of the God. HUE-THEY-HOE and then the words, and of the Father, and, are not in the original. It should be “of Christ”. And “of Christ” is genitive of source, and so it means, out from the source of Christ. So he talks about the mystery the God from the source of Christ. 

2/  It is necessary to see if you are going to fight agnosticism or the other evil sects that are presenting their doctrines today, you must be comforted, you must be knit together in love, and then you must have a full understanding of the mystery. 

3/  Now let us look at the word, mystery, It is a TECHNICAL WORD and it is MOO-STARE-EE-ON and it comes from the noun MOO’-STACE. This word means a person who was initiated into a Greek fraternity of the ancient world. When initiated, he had to learn the doctrines of that fraternity as part of his initiation, and so a verb came out of this—MOO-EH-O and this word is not found in the New Testament, and it means initiated by instruction in the secret of the fraternity, and this doctrine was known only to the initiated, and MOO-STARE-EE-ON comes from this, and it means to be initiated and instructed in the secret of a fraternity—in this case, in the doctrine of the age of grace.

4/  Let us understand something about the mystery.

>>>>  (1)  It is not found anywhere else but in the Pauline epistles.

(2)  This age, the age of grace, or the age of the church the Body of Christ started with the blinding, the setting aside of Israel, and its kingdom program postponed.

(3)  It has to do with the making a new man—the Body of Christ and all who         believe and become members of this Body.

>>>>  (4)  There is no law in this program. It is purely by grace.

>>>>  (5)  This mystery was ordained by God in eternity past. 

Romans 6: 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the

  law, but under grace.

I Corinthians 2: 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the 

hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

 >>>> (6)  A pastor or a teacher, those who have the gifts from God are responsible for communicating this mystery to the people of this age. 

I Corinthians 4: 1 

This means they are stewards of this mystery, and Ephesians 3: 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

They are to make all men see.

     

>>>>  (7)  The Rapture, which is a mystery will conclude this Age.

5/  It is necessary for us to see that the understanding of this mystery is the answer to all the sects of all time for this day and age. You see, all the sects either teach law, or a kingdom, or trying to make something out of this world. 

6/  Colossians 2: 3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In whom are hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge—that is an amazing statement. Of course, this means the mystery from the source of Christ. It is the treasure of wisdom and knowledge, and outside of Christ and this mystery there is no wisdom, there is no knowledge. Right away you ask the question, do the folks outside of Christ in this mystery know nothing? That is what this verse says—for all knowledge is in Christ in this mystery. That means anyone outside of Christ and this mystery he has no knowledge whatsoever, he has no wisdom.

7/  But you say, is there any wisdom in this world? Is there no knowledge? 

Let us turn to I  Corinthians 1: 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

When you go and gather up what the world calls wisdom, you are gathering up what God calls foolishness. That is what this verse mean. It is what God says. God says their wisdom is foolishness.

8/  There is a peculiar thing about the world, foolish. It is used in another place. 

Matthew 5: 13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

And Jesus said here, if the salt hath lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted. 

That expression LOST ITS SAVOR is the same word as MADE FOOLISH in this Scripture. If salt is not salty, what is it? It is just so much sand. The goodness of the salt is in its saltiness. But if the salt has lost its savor, what can you do with it? What can it be used for?

9/  God has taken out of human wisdom the salt, and human wisdom today is nothing than salt that has no savor. Believe it or not, that is what this word says.

10/  I Corinthians 1: 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

God has hidden in Christ all wisdom, and when the world refuses Christ and the mystery, God did something. He took out of man’s wisdom every part of it that was real   wisdom, and left man only his foolishness. So without Christ and the mystery, there is nothing. In Christ and the mystery are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

11/  Colossians 2: 4  And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

The word, beguile, means FALSE REASONING. Man has the power through Satan by false reasoning to present something with such enticing words and such beauty that men accept it. Inspired by Satan, man can take any one of our doctrines and prove that it could not possibly be true. Any scientist can prove that the Virgin birth could never be. But that again is part of the Word of God. 

AMEN

Ref: 07/31/1977 / 325 - BEWARE OF SPIRITUAL CON MEN / 09/13/2020 

THE ACCUSERS SILENCED

Hallelujah! Life, Freely Given!

298 - THE ACCUSERS SILENCED

June 20, 1965

Henry F. Kulp

Romans 8: 31 - 34 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Notice, what shall we say then to these things? If all the things we have been studying are true, God is for us—then, who can be against us? The part I’d like you to see that is so important in this verse is that God is for us. He is never against you in anything. 

Notice, Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit maketh intercession. 

Notice the last two words—for us. That is the Holy Spirit working for us and in us. Then go to Romans 8: 34 It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Here we have Christ for us—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all working for us. Don’t you think we ought to say, Hallelujah? I do.

1/  Who can be against us when the God-head is for us? The important point here is that God is never against us – He is for us. God never judges a believer in this day and age. He is for us, but we have many folks who immediately say, I don’t understand this—but you had better understand if you want to understand the God-head and your relationship to that God-head. God does correct us—He does not judge us, but He corrects us, and there is all the difference in the world, and I want you to see that this morning.

2/  Correction is not punishment. It is rather instruction by discipline. Chastening is God disciplining us. Notice if you will, Hebrews 12: 9,10 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

We all have had fathers who have corrected us—tried to discipline us, but the fact they were not infallible proves their correction was not always right, but God’s discipline is always right. Notice, in the 10^th verse For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

He, for our profit. He does it for our good because He is working on our behalf. The correction we get, the discipline we get is always for our profit, it is never against us, it is for us. 

3/  Now it is necessary for us to see something else. The chastening, the correction of the Lord, never is joyous, it is grievous, it is hard. When you and I do not walk the way God wants us to walk, and He must discipline us, He must correct us, it is always hard, it is not easy. So when you do things that are wrong and you do them deliberately, God, because He loves you, because He is interested in you, is not punishing, but He is correcting you, He is disciplining you for a purpose, for your good, but it is going to be hard. It is never easy, it is never joyous, it is grievous.

4/  Then notice the last part of the 11^th verse. Nevertheless it afterward yieldeth peace of the fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

What if you are not exercised? God must keep on correcting you, disciplining you.

5/  You say, this sounds like punishment to me. No, let me show you the difference. This is the age of all grace. Let me take you back to the age of the law, and I will show you punishment.

6/  But before we do that, there is one other thing we must see. 

Hebrews 4: 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Let us therefore come boldly—that is pretty strong language—boldly—with no hesitation whatsoever unto the throne of grace. Jesus Christ is not upon a throne of judgement, He is upon a throne of grace and grace means everything for nothing, and He is upon the throne that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in a time of need. No matter what you have done, no matter where you have gone, you have the right to go boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace. There is nothing like that in the Old Testament—nothing whatsoever. Let us take you back and show you punishment for those who were members of God’s family. A member of the twelve tribes of Israel which were on the right side of the middle wall of partition.

7/  Now let us go to Exodus 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

Here is the Sabbath, and He said, Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore, For it is holy unto you. Everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death. There is no answer to death. When one is dead, he is dead. The account is settled, and here is a member of God’s family of the seed of Abraham, and if he defiled the Sabbath, he was put to death—for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among the people. Shall be cut off from God’s people—in that there was no hope for him, for we read in Ephesians 2: 11 - 13 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

That the Gentiles were without God, they were without hope. If you were not a member of the tribe there was no hope for you as far as God was concerned,  at all, and to be cut off from this people meant you were without God, and without hope. This is punishment. No chance of having it changed.

8/ Let us get an example of what we mean. 

Numbers15: 32 - 36  And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses.

Notice this was God’s earthly people, on the right side of the middle wall of partition. They had the covenants, the promises, they were in the wilderness, they found a man who gathered sticks upon Sabbath Day, and they that found him gathering sticks brought him onto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation, and they put him in a ward, because they didn’t know exactly what to do with him. And then the 35^th verse has some very important words—and the Lord said, this was not Moses, this was not Aaron, this was the Lord, said, unto Moses, this man shall be surely put to death, and all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp, and all the congregation brought him without the camp, and they stoned him with stones and he died. 

Notice the end of the 36^th verse—And the Lord commanded Moses. This is punishment —no hope of changing it. 

Let me ask you a very honest question—does this sound like Hebrews 4: 16? Does this   sound like this man had the right to come boldly to the throne of grace? No, he was put to death. 

9/ Let us get another illustration. 

Leviticus 17: 10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against the soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 

Notice the words—I will set my face against that soul—that doesn’t sound like Romans 8 where God is for us. I praise God I didn’t live under the economy of the nation Israel, but I am living under the great economy of the day of Salvation, the day of grace   

10/ Let us get another illustration. Leviticus 20: 6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. 

Here again, one that is a member of God’s family. One who is on the right of the middle wall of partition will be cut off without any hope. This is not correction, this is not discipline this is punishment.

11/  Remember, to be cut off from the people meant that they had lost salvation. In the Old Testament, one could lose his salvation. He was put out of the nation—no hope for him. But this is not true in our day and age.

12/ Now, let us get another portion of Scripture, and, of course, I’m only scratching the surface. I could give you so many more. 

Deuteronomy 21:18 - 23  If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Here it tells us that under the law anyone of the nation Israel who had a son who was stubborn and rebellious, and would not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and when they had chastened him, they have tried to correct him and he will not harken unto them, then his father and mother shall lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his place, to the place of authority, and they shall say unto the elders of his city—this our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice—notice, he is a glutton, he is a drunkard. Notice, he sins. He will not listen to the voice his father and mother, he will not be corrected when he is chastened. He is a glutton and a drunkard, but in spite of all this he is a member of the family of God. He is on the right side of the middle wall of partition. What is to happen to him? Then he is brought out, and all the men of the city shall stone him with stones and he shall die. 

Then in verse 22 after he has been put to death, you shall hang him upon a tree, and his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou in anywise bury him that day, hanged is accursed of God. This man would be accursed of God, and you can’t be saved and be accursed of God. There was no hope. This action of stoning him and  hanging him on a tree, is not correction, it is not discipline, it is punishment, and this is what we do not receive in this day of grace. We have the privilege of coming boldly to the throne grace, for we know that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the God-head is for us. Under Grace you do not read of God being against someone.     

13/  Take your mind back to Hebrews 12: 9, 10, 11 where He says correction is for our profit, for our benefit. Certainly the ones we brought out this morning did not profit. The people who felt the sting of death, or being cut off from their people, or being accursed of God. There is nothing profitable in this. This is punishment.   

14/  Romans 8: 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who can make accusation against us? With all of this thought in mind. 

15/  Romans 8: 32 He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

I do not believe that we think enough of what it meant to God to give up His Son. Did you ever stop to think what was in the mind of God when He saw His Son down here mistreated, cast out and hated? The Bible is a story of love from beginning to end. God loved the world, and gave His Son, delivered Him up for us all. 

I was thinking about that this week, and I looked up to find where love began in the Bible, and the first mention of love I found is in Genesis 22: 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

Quite often we have brought out to you the law of first-mention. If you want to understand something, you go back to the first time it is mentioned in the Bible, finding what it means, and you will find that this is the key helping you to understand it from that time forth in the Word of God. So what is the first mention of love, and how is it mentioned? God said, take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou loveth, and of course, offer him up. That is the beginning of love in the Bible and what is it? It is the love of a father for a son whom the father was to offer up for a sacrifice. Of course, this is a picture of Calvary, of the cross. A perfect picture of Calvary. Abraham is the only one in the Bible who stands as a type of a father offering up his son. There you have it. God said to Abraham. Take your son, the son that you love, your only son. Abraham had another son, Ishmael, but God said don’t recognize him—take your son thine only son, Isaac, whom thou loveth, and offer him up. That is the beginning of love in the Bible and Calvary is a picture of love.                                           

16/  Then notice, he that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up. That means there was a time when God gave the Lord Jesus Christ up. Delivered Him over, gave Him over to something. This verse doesn’t say that God gave Him to us, but it says He delivered Him up for us, and I think if we can find out what the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered up to, we can understand something of this verse. There was a time when the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered up to something.  

17/  I think we ought to understand more clearly the episode of the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ was in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He was facing something that made Him tremble, something that made Him shudder, something that made Him weep. And He said, Father, isn’t there some other way? Must it be that I drink this cup? Then He said, Thy will be done. Three times He said that—not just once. Notice, there was no answer from heaven to that prayer. He was so weakened that an angel came to strengthen Him but there was no answer from Heaven. 

Notice, Luke 22: 53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

Then notice, He met Judas, and Judas with a company of soldiers and the scribes and the Pharisees and the priests, and they came with staves, armed to take Him. In that 53^rd verse—when I was daily with you in the temple, you stretched forth no hands against Me, but this is your hour, the power of darkness. 

That is where Jesus was handed over to the power of darkness. From that moment on He had no word of help from Heaven. On the cross He said, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? Jesus Christ was handed over. He had help from an angel in the Garden, but after that He had no help. No angel helped Him at Calvary, no angel helped Him when He was in the hands of his tormentors. They slapped His face, they spit in His face. When we think that He was spared not, but delivered him up, it wasn’t only that men took Him. It wasn’t only men that abused Him, but it was the power of darkness that held Him. 

18/  Then notice, that He might freely give us all things. What are the things He gives us? All things, as our text says, and how does he give us all things? Freely.  God is not selling anything, He is not bargaining for anything. 

He is freely giving us all things.

AMEN

Ref: 06/20/1965 / 298 - THE ACCUSERS SILENCED / 09/13/2020