A BABY MAKES A DIFFERENCE

African painting from Bukavu, DRC

61 - A BABY MAKES A DIFFERENCE 

December 23, 1962

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

John 1: 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Here we have marvelous words given to us by God—the Word, meaning Jesus Christ, was made flesh and dwelt among us. A wonderful, glorious fact has happened in history. There has been a supernatural birth, and a supernatural life. A baby was born 2,000 years ago, and never was a child born into the world, like this one. This Baby has made all the difference in mankind. This Baby has divided mankind into two groups—those who believe on this Child Who became a Man, and those who do not.

1/ The world does not understand what happened in that stable 2,000 years ago. It does not understand this Child, this Baby Who was born into this world.

History records how Alexander the Great rushed into the Jewish holy place, and into the Holy of Holies upon the conquest of Palestine. He rushed in there hoping to gratify his curiosity in the sight of rare and beautiful treasurers. He had heard of the treasures that the Jewish nation had, and how God had prospered them, and he thought surely in the Holy of Holies in the temple, there would be great treasures. But when he got there he found only a bare plain room and he did not understand that room, that room was the place where God revealed Himself to the High Priest who entered in wearing the garments of reverence. He just saw that plain, bare room, and the world just looks at the stable. It talks much about the birth of Jesus Christ, but it does not understand what took place in that stable. It misses all the glory, and all the joy of that experience.

2/ Let’s just look at this Baby in His birth. It was a supernatural birth—no child was ever born as this Child was born. This Child was born of a Virgin. This Child had God the Father make His Body, place it in the womb of Mary, and then have Mary, the Virgin, bring this Child forth. The world in its celebrations says, we don’t believe in the Virgin Birth. We do not think it is necessary to believe this story. As a matter of fact, the world, in its newest revised edition of the Bible, drops the word, Virgin, in one of its places in Isaiah.

3/ I have been accused of being dogmatic and intolerant in believing in the Virgin Birth —the supernatural birth of Jesus Christ. There is one thing to recognize and it is important. IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF INTERPRETATION, BUT OF ACCEPTATION. I wonder if you recognize there is far more in the Word of God on this subject of the Virgin Birth than on the subject of baptism, and the Lord’s supper. The Bible is literally saturated with, directly and indirectly stated.

4/ Now as we behold, no only the birth, but the life of Jesus Christ, we have the stamp of supernatural upon all that He did. I want you to see some testimony concerning Jesus Christ after He became a man.

5/ NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN

John 7: 46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

Who said that? Who said that never man speak like this Man? Was it the mother of Jesus Christ? You would expect her, perhaps, to speak like that. Or was it John the Baptist, the one who was His fore-runner? Was it the Apostle Paul the one who loved the Lord Jesus Christ after he met Him on the road to Damascus? No, it was not one of His close friends, but these words were spoken by the officers who were sent to arrest Him.

John 7: 40 - 53 Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house.

Everyone should read this portion of Scripture. It is amazing. The Pharisees thought that it was about time for them to stop the mouth of this Street Preacher from Nazareth. So they sent officers to arrest Him and bring Him into the temple. When the officers arrived Jesus Christ was preaching on the street. He was preaching concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit. He invited all the spiritual thirsty to come unto Him and drink, declaring if they would do so, out of their inner lives would flow rivers of living water. Now that the meeting was over the officers could not arrest Him. No, they could not have any thing to do with that. They had done the one thing which prevented them from arresting Him. They had listened to His wonderful Words of Life. If they had arrested Him the moment they walked up to where He was speaking, they, I suppose would have been all right. But they listened to His Words, and His Words arrested their minds. Therefore, they could not touch Him, they could not take Him.

Then when they returned without the Lord Jesus Christ as prisoner, the Pharisees wanted to know why they had not brought Jesus Christ with them. And the answer was, Never man spake like this one. They said, Sir, we could not arrest a man who talked as He did. His words are different, we have never before heard words like He spoke. They were words that were different from any other man that lived upon the earth. His words were supernatural words.

The Fourth chapter of John records the conversation which our Lord had with the woman of Samaria. After dealing with her about her condition, and setting forth the nature of God and what was required in worship, she said, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When He is come He will tell us all things. Now notice this, Jesus said unto her—I that speak unto thee, am He.

John 4: 25, 26 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

What a bold pronouncement this is. He deliberately declared Himself to be the long- looked for Messiah. Truly, no man was able to speak as this Man spoke.

6/ Let us look at another statement that He had to say.

John 8: 23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

Ye are from beneath—I am from above. Ye are of this world, I am not of this world. Such a statement as this is ridiculous without the supernatural Birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and the supernatural life that He lived. Truly, no man ever spake as this Man did. What if you would make a statement like that, or I would make a statement like that, or any other religious leader would make a statement like that. People would laugh at us, because they would know that it is not true. But in the case of Jesus Christ, it was true because of His supernatural Birth and Life.

7/ THIS MAN RECEIVETH SINNERS

Luke 15: 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

This man receiveth sinners. Who said that? Was it the gangsters, the bums of His day? No, it was the religious leaders. Namely, the Scribes and the Pharisees, the group that should have been interested in sinners, but instead murmured against Jesus Christ, because He received sinners and ate with them. Here again, He is not like other men. Man always likes to deal with the higher people in this world. They want others to think that they are cultured, but not so with this Man, Jesus Christ.

8/ I FIND NO FAULT IN THIS MAN

Luke 23: 4 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man.

Who said that? These words sound like those which would fall from the lips of a tender- hearted mother—one who had brought her child up into manhood, or from a very, very

close friend. I am sure you will agree with this. But not so in this case. They fall from the lips of a man who had a very wicked heart, and a hard heart. A man by the name of Pilate. He spoke these words, not just once, not twice, but three times.

John 18: 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

John 19: 4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

John 19: 6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

He testified, this is a faultless Man. Would he have been able to say that about any other man? Of course not. Any other man who has lived upon the face of the earth could not have this statement made about Him. Has there ever been another faultless one? No, there has never been another man who would dare to say this to His neighbors.

John 8: 46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

Could you say that? Could you say it in front of your wife, in front of your neighbors, in front of your fellow workers? Of course not. But, not one of Christ’s enemies could convince Him of sin. Therefore, when His trial was held, they were forced to hire false witnesses, and to get lawyers to testify against Him. Yes, His trial was a mockery. Evidence submitted against Him was supplied by false witnesses. Why? Because here is a faultless Man, a sinless Man, a supernatural Man.

9/ TRULY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD

Mark 15: 39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

These words were spoken by a man who had been gazing upon the Man upon the cross for six long hours. This man is the centurion in charge of the soldiers around the cross. Mark tells us that he was standing over against Jesus. I believe with all my heart that this Roman Centurion had a deep desire to know the truth about the Man on the middle cross, Who claimed to be the Son of God, so he took his place at the foot of the cross of Jesus and stayed there until Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the Ghost. For he gives testimony, Truly this man was the Son of God.

10/ What was it that convinced the Centurions that Jesus Christ was the Son of God? The answer is found in Mark 15: 39 And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.

It was when the Centurion heard Jesus cry with a loud voice. Dying men do not cry with loud voices in their last seconds of life.

10/ Luke 23: 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

He heard Jesus cry with a loud voice and say, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. Then he knew that no man save the Son of God could die at will. He knew that no man took the life of Jesus Christ, but that He laid it down of Himself. There never has been a man such as this. This Baby that was born into the world has made a difference, because He grew up into this marvelous Man that was the Son of God in human flesh.

11/ THIS SHOULD BE UNDER A LARGE RED “A”

Jesus Christ also said some astounding words in John 14: 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

These words would be ridiculous from any other person other than Jesus Christ. Truly never Man spake as Jesus Christ did.

12/ THROUGH THIS MAN IS PREACHED THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

Acts 13: 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Here we have the Apostle Paul uttering these words as he delivered a sermon on the subject, Justification by Faith in the city of Antioch. There is absolutely no person on this earth who can forgive sins, or who can atone for your sins. Absolutely no one but God can forgive sins. The scribes and religious leaders of His day reasoned in their hearts and they said it about Jesus Christ.

Mark 2: 7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

Only God can forgive sins, and the only Man Who could was / is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and now notice, Through this Man is preached the forgiveness of sins.

13/ The message is through this Man. Not through church membership—not through shaking the preachers hand. Not through being immersed in water, not through living a good life, but through Jesus Christ, do we have forgiveness of sins.

14/ GOD HAS APPOINTED A DAY IN WHICH HE SHALL JUDGE THE WORLD BY THIS MAN

Acts 17: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

Oh, how the world at this Christmastime should stop and consider. Just realize that God has appointed a day in which He shall judge the world in righteousness, by this One Who came into the world as a Baby. The world’s estimation of this Baby can be seen very clearly by its attitude toward Him as they use the day set aside to remember His birthday as an excuse for drunkenness and all sorts of sin. It is always a joke about the office party at Christmastime. But these folks had better stop and think what they are doing. This Man is going to rise up and judge them one of these days. The world may sing about Joy to the World, it may sing about the Little Child, it may sing about Silent Night in their drunkenness, but someday they are going to answer to Jesus Christ.

15/ Psalms 69: 12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

Things are so bad in our country that over the radio for the last few days they have been telling about how many people will probably die on our highways, estimating, I believe, over 700 will die in the Christmas holidays, and one of the things they are warning over and over again—Don’t drink and drive. Why? Because there will be more drinking at this time than at any other time of the year. Truly, Jesus Christ has been made the Song of the drunkards. They forget that they will be judged by this Man, Jesus Christ.

16/ THE ONE NEW MAN

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;

God is now making one new man in Christ Jesus. Christ is the Head of this Body, and we are members of this Body. I wonder if you recognize that this one new Body is made up of saved individuals.

Let me just show you something in I Corinthians 12: 12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

In this passage, the word, Christ in the original Greek is proceeded by the article, The Christ—thus the Name, Christ is given to the church—those who are members of this church are the Body of Him Who is called the Christ.

When that Child was born miraculously, and lived a miraculous life, died a miraculous death and rose again in a miraculous way from the dead, and is now living forevermore, He is now forming a new miraculous Body by those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Come see the place where He Lives.

AMEN

Ref: 12/23/1962/ 61 - A BABY MAKES A DIFFERENCE / 12/12/2020

YOUR UNCLAIMED RICHES

Photo by B Smith from the patio

9 - YOUR UNCLAIMED RICHES

March 13, 1966

Henry F. Kulp

 

Romans 11: 11 - 15  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

In this chapter, God has been showing us that He has not cast away the nation Israel, He has merely set them aside for a given season, and in setting aside the nation, He is now working out a brand new plan, and this new plan is wrapped up in verse 13 where it speaks of Paul as the apostle of the Gentiles. For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:

Here we have a Jew going to the Gentiles, and he is going to them with a brand new message that has never been heard before. It is called the mystery in this chapter. 

Have you ever gone on a trip, and something has gone wrong with your car? You drive it to a garage and you tell your story to the manager of the garage, and you say, I have to be at a certain place tomorrow evening at six o’clock and it is about 150 miles from here—is it possible to have my car fixed in time so I can reach my destination on time? And so he calls a couple of mechanics from another part of the garage, and he tells them, drop the job you are doing, and get this job done, and in a very short time you are on your way, and you reach your destination at the appointed time. 

That is exactly what God is doing—God had a plan—He had a program—it is an earthly kingdom—the nation Israel will be the top nation, but God has set that nation aside. He dropped work on that because of the unbelief of the nation Israel, and now he is working on a brand new program, and as soon as this program is finished, He will get back on the other one. For 2,000 years He worked with Israel, He has stopped for the time being, and now for the last 2,000 years He has worked with the church which is the Body of Christ.   

1/  It is wonderful to know that God has a plan, and God is working that plan. If you study history, you will find simply confusion—it is the rise of one nation, and the fall of that nation. The rise of another nation, and then that one is defeated by another nation —that is history, it is all traveling in a circle. But God has a plan behind it all, and the marvelous thing about this is that He reveals this plan to us. We can know what He is doing. Right now, He is not dealing with nations He is dealing with individuals, winning individuals to Himself, but one of these days He is going to get back to the nations, and Israel will be the one nation God will work through.

2/  Now let us notice, verse 12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

If the fall of them be the riches of the world—that means mankind, and, of course, it is speaking of the Gentiles, and the diminishing of them, the riches of the Gentiles—how are the Gentiles rich? How have they been made rich? By being recipients of God’s grace. 

In ages past, God did not exhibit grace to the Gentiles, God did not deal with the Gentiles, but now He is dealing with them—for 2,000 years they had been cast away, but now they are in a position to receive the grace of God. Anyone who is a recipient of the grace of God is rich. Did you ever notice in the book of Ephesians, the connection between riches and grace? 

Ephesians 1: 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Here you have the riches of His grace. 

Then notice, Ephesians 2: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Here we read about the exceeding riches of His grace. 

Then notice in Ephesians 3: 8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

The unsearchable riches of Christ. 

3/  Grace is just a little word, it only has five letters, either in English or in Greek, but there is one thing I want you to see about this word, grace. It strains the pen and tongue, and mind even to describe it—you can never exhaust this word—it is a fathomless word.

4/  Now let us get an illustration of grace out of the Word of God. Let us see some of the riches of the grace of God—the unsearchable riches of the grace of God. 

Luke 15: 17 – 24 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

This is not salvation, as we said last Sunday night. Salvation is not in mind here, this has to do with the nation Israel, but let’s see the exceeding riches of grace that God exhibited to this wayward, independent son. 

Notice, he came to himself, and as he did, he anticipated. What did he anticipate? First of all, he was hungry, so he was willing to be a hired servant of his father. He was willing to have the bread that these hired servants had, and when he came back to the father, his feet lacked shoes. He came barefoot, and then, I believe he was naked, for he had lost all—not only were his feet bare, but he was naked. He didn’t have a place to live, and he was willing to live with the hired servants in their quarters, but now let’s see what the father did for him. He not only gave him bread, but he gave him the fatted calf, verse 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

He had the best food that money could buy—this is exceeding riches. Not only did he come with bare feet, but his father put shoes upon his feet, and a robe to cover his nakedness, and a ring for his hand. He never anticipated this—then there is music, dancing, and the merriment of the feast, and he is back in the father’s house. 

But then he had something else he didn’t anticipate—the feel of his father’s arm about his neck and his voice saying in his ear—My son, for this is my son. Yes, this is a beautiful picture of grace. Grace does far more than we can ever anticipate.  

5/  We are rich beyond imagination. Now let us get an Old Testament illustration of what we are talking about—the unsearchable riches of the grace of God. 

You have a portion of Scripture that tells about Joseph and his brethren in the book of Genesis, and as you know all Bible scholars tell us that Joseph is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. You do not read about Joseph ever sinning, ever doing anything evil. Now, he was not perfect, but we do not have a record of anything he ever did that was sin. He is a beautiful picture of Christ. 

You know how his brethren hated him, sought to take his life—sold him for a sum of money, yet God preserved his life. And then while he was in Egypt, a famine came up in the land where the brothers and the father were living, and they had to go to Egypt to get food, and so they came to him to get food, and they tried to buy this food, and on each occasion, their money was return to them—he refused to accept their money, they were like mankind, trying to buy their way to God, and it is impossible. God returns our money, our activities, our works. 

Genesis 41: 49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number. 

Genesis tells us that Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, until he left numbering, for it was without number. His granaries were filled to over-flowing. 

One day I read where Charles Spurgeon, that prince of preachers, in one of his sermons, imagines a little mouse had gotten into one of the granaries, and started to eat, but he was filled with anxiety, with care, he was afraid that the corn would come to an end, so he was quite anxious about the situation, and so the preacher cried, out, away, little mouse, there is enough and to spare in this storehouse, you can eat and never exhaust the supply. 

And then his brethren come before him, they saw the plenty of the land of Egypt, and they were in need, and suddenly recognized this is their brother whom they had so viciously used, and here was their brother who could be their judge, their jailor, yes, even their executioner. 

But in Genesis 50: 15 - 21 And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

and when Joseph’s father was dead, the brethren came to him and they said, Our father, before he died, told us to tell you, Forgive thine brethren for their sin. They did evil unto thee, and they fell down on their face—Behold we be thy servants. This is important, they simply will to be servants, so that Joseph wouldn’t be their jailor or their executioner, but notice what Joseph did—he wept. He didn’t want to see them down on their faces, and he said to them, Fear not, I will nourish you and your little ones, comfort them, and he spake kindly unto them. There was no judgment whatsoever, just kindness. Notice, the unsearchable riches of grace that is exhibited here.

6/  Then we have another Old Testament passage that shows the grace of God, of course, He is speaking to the nation Israel. 

Isaiah 55: 1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

He that is thirsty. Come ye to the waters, if you don’t have any money, come, buy and eat, buy wine and milk, without money and without price, for it is not for sale. God does not sell things. He does not bargain His grace out—it is given freely.

7/  Now notice, Romans 11: 12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Here He speaks and says the diminishing of them happens to be the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness? Then go to verse 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall be the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? 

This world has a wonderful experience coming. The whole world is going to experience the rejuvenation of the nation Israel. 

Let us notice a beautiful Old Testament passage. Jeremiah 23: 6, 7 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; It says, in his days Judah shall be saved. Israel shall dwell safely. 

God is going to bring them back, and give them their land, now notice this, and this is His name by which ye shall be called—the LORD our Righteousness, but in the 7^th verse. Therefore, behold, the days come saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; 

The greatest event in the history of this nation is when God opened the Red Sea and let three million people go over on dry land. Not even the bed of the sea was wet. God said, You are going to go over on dry land. You know, if you drain a lake, it is going to take days before it gets dry, so you can walk on it. There will be inches, many inches of muck, soft mud at the bottom, but it was not so at the Red Sea. When God opened it, they didn’t even get the soles of their feet wet—God said, You are going to go over on dry land. He pushed the seas apart and walled them up on either side, just think of it—walls of water. They walked over on perfectly dry sand, and, of course, the nations down through the ages have said, This is the people who have a God who led them through the Red Sea on dry land. 

But they are not going to say that when the nation is back in its covenant position, back in the land of Palestine. Rather they will say, The LORD liveth which brought up and led the seed of the house of Israel out of the North country, and from all countries wither He had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. That is going to be a greater thing—He is going to bring them out of all the nations of the world. This is what the world has in store for them.

8/  You may think that here in the United States we have a wonderful economy, a marvelous world, and we do—I praise God that I live in this land, but when Jesus Christ comes back, and the nation Israel is regathered out of all the nations, it will be the greatest blessing for the nations—the Gentiles that the world has ever known.  

Romans 11: 12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Notice, how much more their fullness. What is going to happen when this kingdom is set up? All the things men have been dreaming about are going to come into reality. They will never come to reality in our day—we have what they call an anti-poverty war, and it is doomed to failure. 

Let us notice a passage that is quite interesting. 

Isaiah 65: 19 - 23 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

Can you visualize a day when all the world will be united under one ruler and one king. We talk today about the United Nations, but that is just a dream, it isn’t an actuality at all—there are no united nations.

AMEN

Ref: 03/13/1966 / 9 - YOUR UNCLAIMED RICHES / 12/08/2020

THE MAN WHO BORE THE BRANDS

Photo by B Smith from patio

18 - THE MAN WHO BORE THE BRANDS

September 3, 1961

Henry F. Kulp

 

Galatians 4: 11 - 16 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?

Paul has just finished talking about the reason for the law. He said the law was given only to Israel to be Israel’s school-master, to bring them to Christ. Then, starting with the 4^th chapter, he tells them while they were under the law they were as infants, minor children under tutors and governors, waiting the time when Jesus Christ would come. But the law did not help them to receive Christ, but rather to reject Him. Then he tells us that we are not as children under the law, but are sons of God—we have already received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry “Abba Father “—and then he turns and he says, how, after having this glorious experience with God—that is, as a son of God, ye have turned back to weak and beggarly elements and observe days, months, times and years.

 

1/  Then, Paul becomes very personal. And he says in verse 16 Am I now your enemy? Certainly when I came to you the first time, I brought joy unto your hearts, and you rejoiced over me, but now I am your enemy because I tell you the truth. 

These legalizing Judaizers from James had naturally torn Paul down, and said he wasn’t a true apostle, he did not have the true Gospel, so Paul says you are concerned in your feelings for me. I want to remind how you received me the first time.

2/  Verse 14  Notice the last part of this verse. He said when I came to you with the Gospel, you received me as an angel of God, even as Jesus Christ Himself. 

Angel of course, means messenger, and he says, you received me as a messenger of God, even as you would have received Jesus Christ, Himself.

3/  Now, there is a story behind the headlines here that is necessary to see. When Paul came to them he did not come as many people come today. He wasn’t a glamour boy—he wasn’t dressed in the best clothing of the day. He didn’t come with enticing words.  He didn’t come with pomp and ceremony, marvelous costumes, and candles and images. No, he came as an ugly little man, and they received him. It is necessary to see what Paul looked like to recognize what he talks about in this portion of Scripture 

4/  Many historians writing about Paul said he was an ugly little Jew. Notice what Paul says in Galatians 6: 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

It actually should be, I bear, branded on my body, the marks of the Lord Jesus, and it is quite clear from the context he is referring to actual marks that he bore in his body, and he speaks of these marks in a figurative, or symbolic way. He says they are not merely marks, but they are brands. Yes, Paul had been battered and bruised in ways that could not help but leave his body in a horrible misshapen condition. Could anyone, for instance, have undergone that stoning at Lystra when he was dragged out of the city as dead, without bearing life-long after-affects? 

Acts 14: 19, 20 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

You know, stoning is a horrible way to die. Those stones would crash upon his body, and they would open large sores and wounds and he would be bloody and battered, He couldn’t help but be scarred from the stoning there in Lystra, and probably he had long running sores  over his body.

5/  You know he had five Jewish whippings. I don’t know whether they would leave any abiding marks, but the three flogging by the Roman soldiers would mark his body for life. Then, he had suffered by the brutality of mobs, he had been assaulted by robbers and such-like. His body was a beaten mess, and so was his face. 

Notice in II Corinthians 11: 23 - 28 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. 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; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.

He says here—of the Jews, five times I received 40 strokes save one. Thrice I was beaten by rods—that was by the Romans. Once I was stoned. He suffered ship wreck. He knew what it was to suffer physically for the Lord Jesus Christ, and when he came to Galatia, his body was marred and beaten.         

6/  To see how bad Paul looked, and yet they accepted him can be found in the word, rejected, verse 14 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.

It literally means, spit me out. That means he was unattractive. It was so bad, that this vulgar thought is used here. He was misshapen he was literally beaten out of shape. But that Paul had a serious eye-condition. He had a disease of the eyes. 

Verse 13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. That is the Greek word for physical sickness. 

John 11: 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

When it says, he whom thou lovest is sick, it is the same Greek word. 

7/  Then he says, I know you would have plucked out your eyes and literally given your eyes if you possibly could have.

8/  Now, the question is natural in our mind, why did the Galatians feel this way towards Paul? They didn’t feel this way because they loved him for his physical appearance. Why were they literally willing to pluck their eyes out and give them to him? Because they loved the message that he preached—the grace gospel—they had not been contacted by the legalists and they loved this glorious gospel that saved them and made them sons of God.

9/  At this point in our study it is necessary for us to see that the teaching of legalism never brings love—it brings intolerance. It never preaches love to anyone—it always separates and it makes men judge others rather than themselves. What Paul brought to them brought love, what the legalizing teachers brought to Galatia, brought division.

10/  Then another thing which is actually a side-light here Paul shows the futility of these divine healers. You will notice when Paul received this thorn in the flesh, which was a physical sickness. He didn’t go to someone else to heal him, he went to the Lord. 

II Corinthians 12: 8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

Three times he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord didn’t heal him. It shows this idea of divine healing in the atonement for today is absolutely erroneous. 

11/  Galatians 4: 15 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.

Paul says, where then, is the blessedness, ye speak of? What happened to the joy and enthusiasm they showed when they counted themselves blessed to hear him, and to embrace him? Legalism had robbed them of the blessings of grace. The church of Galatia was like the church of Ephesus to whom John wrote, Thou hath left thy first love. They had a first love, and it was gone. So, you see, the matter of losing first-love is true in every age and here was a church which lost it through legalism. When a man despises the doctrine of pure grace, he throws away the blessings that only grace can give.

12/  Then to show you just how bad Paul’s eyes were, Galatians 6: 11, He said, Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own hand. In other words, large letters being necessary because of faulty vision.

13/  Galatians 4: 17 They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.

Then he says, they zealously affect you, but not well. The words, they and them, refer to the false Judaizing teachers. 

Here we get the thought of having a zeal but not knowledge. These Judaizing teachers were zealous, but they didn’t have knowledge, and these people in Galatia were all stirred up too—they had a lot of zeal, but certainly not for God’s program. The words, not well, are literally, in no good way. 

14/  Then in verse 17 we read, they zealously affect you, but not well—yea, they would exclude you that you might affect them. In other words, the motive of the Judaizing teachers were selfish, they were never interested in the well-fare of the Galatians converts. They had only selfish interests in driving them away from grace into law. They wanted to be exalted. It is always well to recognize with the Gospel when it is preached, that it should glorify Jesus Christ, and not a person, not a group. What is the motive behind a man’s preaching, behind his presentation of God’s Word? Is it to exalt himself, or to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ? 

15/  Galatians 4: 19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

The appeal becomes much stronger, and the expression of affection deeper as Paul says, my little children—here the appeal becomes more tender. It is a warm-hearted appeal of a teacher, towards those who are listening to him. There should be a tender relationship between those who have been won to the Lord, with the one who has led them to the Lord.

16/  Galatians 4: 21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

He says, tell me, ye that desire to be under the law—do you hear the law? Then he tells the story of Abraham and Sarah and Haggai and Ishmael and Isaac. Let me tell you this story in my words, for I believe many folks do not really understand what happened in the family of Abraham—for notice, in verse 22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. We have to go back to a key verse in all of history.

Genesis 11: 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Here it says that Sarah was barren, she had no child. Out of that fact came great tragedy—the results of that are in the headlines of our Twentieth Century, when we see Arab and Jew warring with one another. These two are half-brothers in origin.

17/  To begin with, Abraham’s name was Abram, and it meant father of many. But he had no sons. And it made it worse, that his name was Abram, which meant father of many.

18/  We can picture the humorous incidents that took place in Palestine. We can imagine the caravans coming through Palestine and stopping at Abram’s colony of tents, and his servants brought water for the camels and food for the travelers, and the merchants would visit Abram, and with their usual Oriental politeness, would ask about his family. They would say, your name is Abram, father of many, how nice? How many children do you have? And Abram would say, None, and that would be greeted with roars of laughter. It was humorous. Imagine the effect it had on Abram and Sarai.

19/  And it was not made easier, because Abram and his colony of folks lived in a world of tents. You can imagine, that the women, they were different from women today, they loved to gossip, and they knew everything that was going on. And you can picture there was a couple of thousand of people who were dependent upon Abram, that is why it was a colony. 

Genesis 14: 14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

We read, Abram was able to get 318 trained servants to go and deliver Lot when he was kidnapped, and then you imagine he must have had a couple of hundred other men able to watch after the flock while these soldiers went away to fight—while the army was away, and of course, they must have had wives, so there must have been at least 500 men, and 500 wives, that would be a thousand, and there  would be a thousand more children, or maybe more than that. So you can see that Abram had quite a city there. A large colony of tents, but Abram had no child of his own, and you can picture the people talking about Abram and his name, the father of many, and the folks would probably laugh and make jokes and poke fun at Abram and Sarah—then finally, as he was getting old, and Sara was getting old. They became desperate—so Sarah offered her slave girl, Hagar to Abram to have a child, and they would have it as an adopted child. They certainly had to have a son. And in this colony of tents, it wasn’t long before the women all knew that Abram had Hagar, and it wasn’t long—a few weeks before they knew that Hagar was with child. And then the son was born—and you can imagine what happened among the women living in those tents there—they knew the trouble was with Sarah—not with Abram—Abram was potent, Sarah was sterile, and it said that Hagar despised Sarah, and Sarah was terribly jealous of her slave, and so Hagar fled from before Sarah, but God appeared to her and sent her back until the son was born. 

Then ten years later years later God told Abram that he was now to change his name from Abram to Abraham, and He told him that He would not accept this son, Ishmael, but he was to have a son who was to be miraculously born.    

20/  So you can imagine, when God changed the name Abram to Abraham, which instead of meaning just father of many meant father of a multitude. But now, here is an important point in our study. At this point we must recognize that Abraham no longer could have a child. Ten years before he had a child with Hagar, but now this Scripture says he was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90, and he was past having a child. He could not have one at this point, and God said, within a year you are going to have a son, and you can imagine gales of laughter in the different tents, and when the people would gather to have fellowship, to visit one another they would laugh and laugh that his name was Abram and now God changed his name to Abraham. Now he’s the father, not of many, but of a multitude. They made fun of this. Within a year, Abraham and Sarah had the son, Isaac. Now God says, in this portion of Scripture through Paul is an allegory, it is an illustration of law and grace. Not law and grace, actually—but it is law or grace. You cannot mix the two. 

Romans 11: 6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. 

If it is grace, it is not works, if it is works, it is not grace.

21/  So to start with, Paul contrasts Hagar, the Egyptian slave-woman with Sarah, the wife of promise, and likens Hagar to the law, and Sarah to the grace of God. Then Paul contrasts  the two sons, Ishmael, son of Hagar born after the flesh by the will of man, and Isaac, supernaturally born by promise, and he says, these two women and these two sons have a spiritual application. 

22/  Hagar and Ishmael, born after the will of the flesh reveal Abraham’s terrible failure and weakness in trying to help God in fulfilling the promise of God to have a son. Abraham had given up his hope, and Sarah suggested he do something to help God with His program. So Abraham sought to help God keep his promise. This act of Abram, says Paul, is an illustration for man’s attempt to please God with the works of the law. Hagar corresponds to the law. Ishmael is a representation of the works of the flesh. Remember, she is a bond-woman, she is a slave. But God says, I reject the whole thing—remember that—God says, I don’t want anything to do with Ishmael, he is not the son of promise.

23/  But the son, Isaac, a picture of the grace of God was born in a supernatural way. It was completely the work of God. Abraham and Sarah could not have children, they were well past their time of having children, so God, you will notice, has to reject any work that man does. The only work that God can accept is the work which He does. So it is necessary to recognize this truth—it must be by grace if we are to be acceptable to God.    

24/  Ephesians 1: 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Where he says, we have been accepted in the beloved—that means we have been graced in the beloved one, the Lord Jesus Christ.

AMEN

Ref: 09/03/1961 / 18 - THE MAN WHO BORE THE BRANDS / 12/08/2020