WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET

Photo taken by B Smith 

363-1 WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET

July 10, 1977  

Henry F. Kulp

 

Colossians 1: 24 - 29 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

We have been studying the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. His person and His work. But now we look at the uniqueness of the Apostle Paul. For Paul talks of his unique   ministry. 

1/  Paul is not unique, but his ministry is unique. We do not speak of the uniqueness of the person and work of Paul, but rather the uniqueness of his message.

2/  Verse 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

In this verse some have actually taken from it the meaning that the suffering of Christ were not sufficient and Paul helped to make it up. This is not true, and that is not what this verse teaches. Paul has a duel ministry in this portion of Scripture. A two-fold ministry.  So we can see more clearly the uniqueness of Paul’s ministry, and when one reads this verse, he has the opinion that Christ did not suffer enough on the cross of Calvary, that Paul had to help Him fill it up. But other Scriptures teach us very clearly that Christ suffered once for all on the Cross of Calvary to put away sin, and there is nothing that Paul could do to complete that. 

3/  Now notice this verse doesn’t speak of the suffering of Christ—no, but rather the afflictions of Christ in Paul’s body. The suffering of Christ on the cross of Calvary were never called afflictions. Actually the word, afflictions, THE-LIP-SIS, and it is the word, pressures and it is in the plural.

4/  So the suffering of Christ on the Cross were never, called pressures. When a man is judged before a court and sentenced, that is not afflictions, pressure, that is judgement. Jesus Christ bore judgement at the Cross, but the Lord Jesus Christ ordained that Paul was to have certain afflictions—certain pressures in his body, which is behind, means that which is lacking. What does Paul mean by all this? We have to understand that Paul is being very personal. He is talking about himself—not about any future pastor-teacher. He is not talking about all members of the Body of Christ, but just himself. He is talking about something that God has called upon him to bear as a ministry.

5/  When Paul was saved—called into the ministry, we have something very important that is said. Acts 9: 15, 16 and it specifically states Paul’s ministry was to be a ministry of suffering—the Lord is talking to Ananias who is to speak to Paul, and just after Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus, he is to be told what great things he must suffer for My Names sake. 

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

So you see, Paul had a special ministry of suffering. From the very outset he was called to unusual suffering.   

6/  Galatians 6: 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

The marks of the Lord Jesus Christ? What were they? From the Greek word here we get our English word, stigma, or stigmatize, and clearly it is the word, brand. It is quite clear that Paul here is referring to actual marks he bore in his body. There is no doubt that he is speaking about scars and maybe long continuing sores which came upon him as he served the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was literally disfigured. Paul is talking of physical injuries which he suffered. Notice, he is drawing a contrast between himself and the Judaizing teachers who had rejected his apostleship.

7/  II Corinthians 11: 24 - 26 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

He was beaten, he was jailed, he was ship wrecked—what suffering he personally went through, and you can see this is not to be applied to us.

8/  Notice, he rejoiced in it—he was happy in it. It didn’t deter him, it didn’t make him despondent, but it made him happy, it caused him to rejoice. Here we get a chance to look into his heart, the mind of this man, Paul, as he is called to a dual ministry—first of all, the ministry of suffering for the believer, for the body of Christ, did not make him unhappy, but made him glad. How different Paul is from most of us.   

9/  Paul is doing this for His Body’s sake, which is the church. What church? Every time you read the word, church, in the Bible, you should stop and ask, what church is he talking about? Not the church in the wilderness, not the nation Israel, not the church of the millennium that is to come—Christ’s Kingdom, but rather the church which is the

Body of Christ, the one new man of Ephesians 2: 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

10/  First of all, he is made a minister in suffering, and then he is made a minister to the church the Body of Christ.

11/  Then we come to the word dispensation. That’s not a hard word. If you’ve been to camp, or if you’ve worked in a factory, you know what a dispensary is. It is some place where they are dispensing—giving out, providing usually medical advice or drugs, so a dispensation is a time of giving. It is an act of God giving something—the dispensing of God, the sharing of God, the providing of God during a certain period. 

12/  What Paul is saying, God is dispensing something to me, that I might dispense it to you. He is giving me something that I might give it to you, and he is talking here mainly of Gentiles. This is the greatest revelation in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In the Book of Revelation there is practically nothing new. Revelation is almost entirely composed of revelations from all the rest of the Bible. All the truth we have in Revelation we have in other parts of the Bible, but Revelation brings it all together in one great Book of final things. What Paul is bringing forth is something brand new that has never been known before. It was a special revelation not given to the Twelve, but to him as the Apostle of the new dispensation. The Church, the Body of Christ was never made known in the Old Testament.

13/  Nor yet in the days when our Lord Jesus Christ was on the earth, for we are distinctly told it was hid from ages and generations, but now manifest in His saints. 

 

14/  Notice the statement, given me to you—you, speaks of the Gentiles. Paul was not one of the Twelve apostles—he was not number twelve—he was number thirteen, the number of new beginnings. He is one all over again. He is not associated with the twelve tribes. God dispensed to the Twelve apostles that which they were to dispense to the twelve tribes. But on the other hand, God dispensed to Paul that which he dispensed to the Gentiles. This is called Body Truth. 

15/  Than notice, to fulfill the Word of God. The word, fulfil, is the Greek word, PLAY-ROW-O and it means to perfect, to fullfil. Paul completed the Word of God, and this means that God has revealed to humanity, all that He is ever going to reveal to them in this day and age. He has revealed everything that you can receive. You have no more capacity to receive anything else—there are no more secrets, no more hidden plans to be revealed. This completes the Word of God—it fills it full. There is no other group, no other writer that is needed. We don’t need Smith, or White or any other man to write, or women to write, and tell us something we do not know about God’s plan. Then, also, Paul’s writings fulfill the Word Of God, that means that was the last things that God revealed, He completed this Revelation and all the others were written before this.   

16/  Anyone who claims to have an additional revelation to the Bible is a deceiver, and it has to be a deception because the Bible was completed with Paul. There is no new prophet to come with a new message.

 

17/ Pauline truth is the capstone of the Bible. And we read it is the mystery the secret and it is now revealed unto man. 

18/  What is this mystery? Christ in you the hope of Glory. This is something brand new—to the Gentiles Christ would come and indwell them. This did not happen on the Day of Pentecost. On that day the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the Israelite. You remember what he said, John 16: 7, 8 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

When I go, He will come and dwell in you. Christ had to depart for the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, and on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and indwelled the Israelites, the Jew that was saved, but in this day and age, it is Christ that comes to dwell in you—not just the Holy Spirit, of course, He is there, but now you have the indwelling of Christ Himself in the Gentile and this is a brand new truth. This is why the church the Body of Christ cannot be the Bride, for we are part and parcel of Jesus Christ—we are the one new man, and Christ dwells in us. Israel only had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, not Christ, so they can be the Bride.

19/  The fact of Christ being in you is a great Pauline truth. 

Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

20/  Verse 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Whom we preach—notice we preach a person—to substitute “what” for “whom” is a serious mistake. Christianity is centered in a person and that person is living in the believer.

AMEN

Ref: 07/1/1977 / 363-1 WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET / 01/19/20

PROMISES, PROMISES

Photo by B Smith from the patio 

 

474 - 2 PROMISES, PROMISES

March 18 1979 

Henry F. Kulp

 

Galatians 3: 13 - 18 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The last two weeks we have been studying the curse of the Law. Those who are under the law, endeavoring to keep the law, can only be cursed by the law. The law cannot give life, the law cannot do anything good for the human race because of the sinfulness, the weakness of man, his old sin nature. 

Romans 8: 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

1/ Therefore the Galatians made a terrible mistake, the worst of all mistakes. Leaving grace with it’s blessing to live under the law and its curse.

2/ Verse 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. This first part of that verse is so important. In the Greek it should be, Christ and only Christ, then we have the words, hath redeemed us. Hath redeemed in the Greek is ACTIVE VOICE. The subject of the sentence produces redemption. Only Christ can do this, man can do nothing to redeem himself or to redeem others. 

Psalm 49: 7, 8 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

Here we have a Scripture under the law that is very important. God says, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their soul is precious. It is costly, and it ceaseth forever. Ceaseth in the Hebrew means to stop a thing. Or leave it alone. God is saying, don’t meddle with redemption, man cannot redeem himself, he can’t redeem anyone else.

3/ The word, redeem, means, to purchase or to buy from the slave market. Christ has purchased us from the slave market, and what is the slave market here? It is the law. And CHRIST HATH ONCE FOR ALL REDEEMED US OUT FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW.

4/ Then the Greek says, not being made a curse for us, but having become a curse for us. Every violation of the Mosaic Law that we have committed, Christ bore it in His own body on the cross. He is our substitute, He took our curse. ON THE TREE literally should read ON THE WOOD, and this, if course, refers to the cross. This is a prophetic utterance.   

5/ Colossians 2: 14 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;

Let us look at the cross and the curse of the cross. Here we will notice, this verse does not say that Christ was nailed to the cross, but it says that He himself nailed something to the cross. They nailed Him to the cross of course, but He also nailed something to the cross, so that when the Lord Jesus Christ was taken down from the cross and the way of salvation was finished, He left something nailed to the cross, and that was everything that was written against us. That was the whole law, for the law is against us. 

It is said this is in reference to a custom from the Romans. With the Romans debt was a crime if it was not paid when due. If a man incurred a debt and he was finally unable to pay it, the Roman law permitted the man to whom he owed the debt to take him and his family to be salves. That is, they were to be slaves in his household, and they were not to be free any more. If a man was in debt, and it looked like this family was to be taken and his family to be made slaves, he was in great mental anguish, but say finally, he was able to pay the debt and pay it on time, this would be a happy time for him and his family. So he took the cancelled debt—that piece of paper that recorded his debt that was now cancelled and he would nail it over his door. So all the neighbors could see that his family were free from that debt. That is what Jesus Christ did. He nailed your cancelled debt to the cross. So that means the cross is of great value to us. Not the law, but the cross that cancelled out the curse of the law.

6/ Verse 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Let us look very carefully at this verse. You see the word, promise, here. Then in the next verse you see the word, covenant.  Here in Galatians God makes a distinction between promise and covenant. Notice, verse 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. Verse 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

The covenant that was confirmed would not disannul, or annul the promise. Then in verse 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

He makes a distinction between the inheritance of the law, and the inheritance of the promise. The two cannot be mixed. They are again like oil and water.  

7/ Let us go back to Genesis to see what we mean. 

Genesis 12: 1 - 3 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Here is the promise. Abraham believed God and it was counted for him for righteousness. That is where God justified him. Verse 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. You see, there is a difference. The promise and the covenant are not the same, and the people get mixed up in this. I have been up around Holland, Michigan where people say they are the children of the covenant, and I wonder how they got into the covenant when they are not Jews. God made a covenant with Abraham saying, Unto thy seed have I given the land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates, and then He went on to confirm that covenant, the sign of the covenant was circumcision. 

Genesis 17: 7 - 14 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

The law had not been given, but the Lord made a covenant with the Jews. They are the seed of Abraham by the covenant and the promise takes us in, the Gentiles, for the promise was given to Abraham a Gentile.

Genesis 12: 1 - 3  Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

This is not a covenant, it is a promise. The covenant, of course, as we showed you was made later. The covenant with land, doesn’t mean America. It doesn’t mean Great Britain, as Herbert Armstrong tells us. We are not children of the covenant. We are children of the promise.

8/ Let us go back to Galatians 3: 8 a Scripture that we touched upon, but did not consider very carefully because we wanted to do it at this time. Let’s see what this Scripture does not say.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

    1/ It does not say that the Scriptures foretold God would justify the Gentiles through faith. The word is, foreseeing, not foretelling.

    2/ It does not say that God told Abraham He would justify the Gentiles through faith, not one word about that.

    3/ It does not say that the Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles through Christ. This would have been true, but it is not the point here.

    4/ Finally, it does not say, like thee, shall all the nations be blessed, for if it did there would be no problem to solve.

9/ But the very first promise made to Abraham was that God would bless all nations through him. This is in Genesis 12: 1 - 3, and the Apostle quotes this promise in an argument that God justifies the Gentiles by faith. 

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

How does this work out? Abraham is the great example of faith in the Pauline Epistles. So the original promise made to Abraham holds out blessing to the world through Abraham himself. How then was Abraham proved to be a blessing to all nations? There is only one answer, as God’s great example of faith. If there was anything that stands out in the record of Abraham’s life, it is the fact that he believed in God. 

Genesis 15: 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

10/ In Scripture he is constantly held up as the great example of faith, but, nowhere more than in the Pauline epistles Romans 4: 1 - 3 where he says, what did Abraham find out pertaining to the flesh? That a man is justified by faith, not by works.

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

11/ Romans 4: 18 - 21 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Who against hope believed in hope, not weak in faith, staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, fully persuaded that what He promised. He was able also to perform. So we are full-grown sons of Abraham when we appropriate faith.  

12/ So Paul is saying to the Jews, don’t you recognize your father, Abraham, was justified without the law, by faith.

 

13/ Let’s look at Abraham for a moment. What a man to choose as an example of faith. 

John 8: 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Here where they said, Abraham is our father, all right, look at him—he was saved by faith, not by works of the law.

14/ When Betty and I were over in Egypt on our trip around the world, we had a guide who was an Arab, He was a follower of Mohammed and he took us to a mosque. Took us down in the basement, while a service was going on upstairs. Betty and I at this point had a chance to testify to him, and Betty gave him her Scofield Bible at this point, and I said to him, You know, you claim Abraham is your father, and he said, Oh yes, Abraham is our father. I said, Do you know that Abraham was saved without human works, and your religion is filled with works. Abraham was saved by faith. And I will never forget the expression on his face when I brought this out to him. We had a wonderful chance in the heathen mosque to preach the Gospel of salvation by faith plus nothing, and Abraham was our starting point.

15/ Now let us see another point that is very important in our study. God never expected the Jew to keep the law. That may be astounding to you but it is very true. Because the law could never be kept by Jew or Gentile. All the law would do was curse Jew or Gentile. God knew when He gave the law, that the nation Israel could not keep it, that all it would do was curse them. 

Galatians 3: 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Why was the law given, then? Now we have to see another important point. The first was the difference between promise and covenant. This time between sin and transgression. To understand this verse we must see what a transgression is. 

16/ Romans 5: 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after similitude of Adam’s transgression, 

A transgression is being told to do a thing and then not do it. From Adam to Moses they had no law, therefore, they could have no transgression, because God did not tell them what they had to do and what they were not to do. They did things that were wrong and that is sin, but sin is different from transgression. From Adam to Moses they sinned and they died. Genesis 5 is a proof of that, but not one man transgressed, that is only one man, Adam. Adam was told what not to do and he did it, and that was a transgression. He told him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he did it and that was transgression.  

17/ But when God gave the law through Moses, then transgression begins. That’s the difference between sin and transgression,

18/ A little fellow just able to walk around the house, toddles into the dining room where mother has put a dish of cookies on the table. This little fellow sees them and he climbs up unto the chair and sits on the table and eats the cookies and he is having a good time. His mother comes in, and he wants her to see what he is doing, so he holds one up and laughs, and he lets his mother see what a wonderful thing he has found. He doesn’t think he is doing anything wrong, he wants to share it with his mother, for his mother never told him not to do that. But now the mother tells him it is wrong, when he sees anything on the table, he is not to climb up and take it. From that point on, if he does it that is transgression. That is the difference between sin and transgression. From Adam to Moses there is no transgression. 

Galatians 3: 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

So the law was given to show the world transgression. That man cannot do what he wants to do. It is impossible for him to do what God tells him to do. He needs to be saved by faith and kept by faith.

AMEN

Ref:  03/18/1979 / 474-2 PROMISES, PROMISES / 10/18/2020 

TROUBLE IN ABRAHAM’S TENT

Photo by B Smith from patio

492 - 1 TROUBLE IN ABRAHAM’S TENT

June 24, 1979

Henry F. Kulp

 

 

Galatians 4: 21 - 24  Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

It might be well at this point that we have a little review of the chapter. It is divided into three sections, in verses 1 - 7 we have the position of grace, 

Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

In verses 8 - 9 we have the permanence of grace.

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

And in verses 21 - 31 we have the allegory of grace.

For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

The most important factor under the position of grace in verses 1 - 7 is the doctrine of adoption, and under the doctrine of adoption we need to remember the Greek word, WEE-OSE which is a full grown son. In this day and age when we are saved positionally we are full grown sons. This was not true under the law. They were no better than slaves and they were under a schoolmaster than they were under tutors and governors.

1/  Then in verses 8 - 19 we have the permanence of grace and we have the help and hindrances of grace. In verses 8 - 11 

Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage. Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Here we see the greatest hindrances to grace which is religion. And we saw that religion is demonism. All religions are motivated by demons. 

2/  Then we saw the helps of grace and we saw that Paul was physically handicapped—he had a sickness, but we found this sickness was not a hindrance, but a help to grace, all of this is contrary to modern day religion, called the charismatic movement which tells you that you should be healthy and well or you are out of the will of God.

3/  Grace, of course, is permanent. By grace we have eternal life. This is eternal security.  

 

4/  Then we saw in verses 15, 16  Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?

Here is the instability and fickleness of the Galatians and this is a great hindrance to grace. Those who are not stable and are fickle, never really enjoy their Christianity.

5/  Verses 20 - 21  I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

Here we have a contrast of desires. The word, desire, is an interesting word here in the Greek. It is a desire from the emotional pattern, rather than from a rational pattern. Paul knew he wanted to be there emotionally, but God wanted him to be elsewhere. It wasn’t God’s will for him to be there, but he had a desire to be there because he loved the Galatians and he  wanted to straighten them out, but, of course, God’s program was that he write them the book of Galatians. 

6/  Then he says an amazing thing. I would like to change my voice. What does he mean by that? If he could be with them and straighten them out, he could first be tough and rough with his voice, but then he would be soft and pleasant after they were straightened out. But because he can’t be with them, he has to be rough and tough—he literally in writing pounds the table and keeps driving home one fact after another, for the word, change, in the Greek means, TO TRANSFORM. So he would transform it from rough and tough to soft and pleasant, but his letter is everything but that.

7/   We can better understand this message by looking at II Corinthians 10: 9, 10 where he says his letters terrify, but not his physical presence. 

That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

8/  Then he says, I STAND IN DOUBT OF YOU. It is present tense, he continues to stand in doubt, he literally is suspicious of them. When we look over this verse, we see Paul’s desire was to be with them and straighten them out, but Paul’s desire and God’s will are two entirely different things. Really what can we learn from this passage? This verse 20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice; for I stand in doubt of you.

We may have a desire but God’s will is something entirely different. God’s will was that Paul would not be with them physically, so he would have to write this wonderful epistle of Galatians, so 2,000 years later we would have this wonderful book on law, legalism and grace. So we do see all things work together for good, even though we don’t understand them at the time.

9/  Again we have the contrast with Paul’s desire and the Galatian’s desire verse 21

Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? 

TELL ME, IMPERATIVE MOOD, IT MEANS THIS IS AN ORDER. IT IS THE STRONGEST COMMAND IN THE GREEK. HE SAID, I ORDER YOU TO TELL ME. 

10/  DESIRE – that in the Greek is THEL’ O and with the Greek grammar, again, it expresses a desire that comes from ones emotional pattern. It is not rational at all, it is emotional. Again their desire and God’s will are two different things. God doesn’t want them under the law. 

11/  UNDER A PREPOSITION OF AUTHORITY OR DOMINION. So they desired to be under the authority, under the dominion of the law. 

12/  Then he says, do you hear the law? In the Greek there are two different words, two different verbs for hear—one just to hear, the other to hear and understand. Some of you are hearing me this morning, but you are not taking the trouble to understand, and God says, through Paul to these Galatians, these Judaizing teachers have been teaching you the law. It is not a matter they just want you to hear, but do you hear and understand? For it is one thing to hear, it is another to hear and understand.

13/  I ask you this morning as Paul asked these Galatian believers, do you understand the law? Very few do. Let us just look at what the law demands to start with before we go over to Abraham. 

a/  To keep the law, you must be of the nation Israel and in the land of Israel. 

b/  You must have the temple. You must bring sacrifices to the door of the temple in Jerusalem, or be cut off. Leviticus 17: 4, 5 The temple is absolutely essential to law-keeping. 

And bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: To the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for peace offerings unto the Lord.

c/  Must have a human, Jewish priesthood, clothed in special garments 

Exodus 28: 1 - 2 And take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for glory and for beauty.

d/  Must keep the Sabbath. To do any work during the Sabbath, one is put to death. 

Exodus 35: 2, 3  Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the sabbath day.

e/  Must bring two lambs for a sacrifice every Sabbath. Numbers 28: 9, 10 And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first year without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof: This is the burnt offering of every sabbath, beside the continual burnt offering, and his drink offering.

f/   Must have animal sacrifices continually, Numbers 28: 3, 4 - 8 And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which ye shall offer unto the Lord; two lambs of the first year without spot day by day, for a continual burnt offering. The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt thou offer at even; And a tenth part of an ephah of flour for a meat offering, mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt offering, which was ordained in mount Sinai for a sweet savour, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord. And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the Lord for a drink offering. And the other lamb shalt thou offer at even: as the meat offering of the morning, and as the drink offering thereof, thou shalt offer it, a sacrifice made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

14/  These are just some of the things that one had to do. 

15/  THE LAW DEMANDED PERFECTION Deuteronomy 27: 26 Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

James 2: 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

God never ask anyone to try to keep or to strive to keep the law. Any thought you might have about one’s ability to keep the law should vanish when you read these passages and others. The law demanded perfection. 

16/  The law cannot produce a Godly life. Because of the weakness of human flesh. 

17/  In 70 A. D. the Romans came under Titus, and destroyed the temple not leaving one stone upon the other, as the Lord had warned in Luke 19: 44  And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Israel was scattered from out the land, and since the law centered in the temple, the way of keeping the law was barred. The Lord wanted the world to know that the temple with it’s Holy of Holies was no longer in operation. Not the place to meet with God. For the Holy of Holies was the only place of meeting with God. And then only the High Priest, and then only once a year

18/  But this present dispensation of grace, Jesus Christ Himself is the meeting place. This is clear in the Word of God, Ephesians 2: 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

19/  The law thundered, STAY AWAY, only the High Priest can come near, Grace says, anyone can come by Jesus Christ, for He is the mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. 

I Timothy 2: 5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

The Temple was the means of approach to God, but now Jesus Christ is absolutely the one who puts us in relationship with God. The priests were put out of a job after AD 70. Remember, there were over 613 commandments in the law, so this morning we have just scratched the surface and I ask you—do you hear what the law has to say?   

20/  Verses 22, 23 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise.

Now we turn to Abraham, and here is the allegory, and in verses 22, we have the historical incident. The allegory is based upon a true fact. Abraham had two sons, and there was a vast difference between the two sons—Ishmael, and, Isaac. Through Hagar, a bond woman, a slave and a Gentile, he had Ishmael. Through Sarai, which  meant contentious. She had been a very contentious woman and later became a princess, and through her, Abraham has Isaac, which means laughter. Literally, Ishmael was a slave. He was a slave who was free, but was born of a slave, and Ishmael stands for legalism, for religion, for the law. He stands for those who say, man can do it himself. Man doesn’t need any help. It is all pictured by keeping the law.

21/  Now we must understand what transpired in Ishmael’s and Issac’s life. Abraham had a covenant given to him by God, he was to have a son, and this son was to be the fulfillment here of the Abrahamic covenant, but Abraham was now quite old, Sarah was old. She was not able to bear children when she was in that period of life, and now she was in the period of life when any woman could not bear a child, and so she got an idea, how was Abraham to have a child? She had a slave, a Gentile, by the name of Hagar, and Abraham would take her as his wife, have a child and then fulfill the promise of the covenant. It was man’s solution to God’s plan.

22/  Genesis 16: 1 - 5 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

Here we have Sarai, the contentious one deciding she was going to solve Abraham’s problem, that He should take her slave, Hagar as his wife, and bear that Sarah might obtain a child by her, and Abraham harkened unto the voice of Sarah. Again it is the human flesh solving a problem, trying to help God, doing something for oneself. 

23/  Of course, all of this caused a tremendous problem. A problem that started in Abraham’s tent and has continued to this day. 

Notice, verse 5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.

The trouble between Sarah and Hagar, Sarah said, I have been despised by Hagar, and this is the problem, religion, man doing something VS faith. Religion and faith can never get along. It is absolutely impossible. Those who are true believers can never, if they are walking in the Lord, compromise with religion.

AMEN

Ref: 06/24/1979 / 492-1 TROUBLE IN ABRAHAM’S TENT / 10/17/2020