HOW TO PICK APART YOUR PREACHER

Holding forth the Word of Life

 

427—2 HOW TO PICK APART YOUR PREACHER

July 2, 1978

Henry F. Kulp

 

Philippians 2: 16 – 27 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

I praise God every day that He has given me the opportunity of being a pastor-teacher. I don’t think there is anything else in the world that I’d rather do than what I am doing right now—it has been a wonderful privilege to preach the Gospel and to minister to people. I am thankful God has given me the opportunity that I can spend hours studying the Word of God, so that I can teach it to others. I can truly say, the Word of God thrills my heart and it is so satisfying as one has the privilege of studying and preaching. 

1/  In the next few weeks I would like to study this portion of Scripture with you and study three different pastor-teachers. I want to study God’s estimation of these three men. We titled our message, “How to Pick Apart Your Pastor”. 

I hear many people say, our pastor is a good man, but…or, our minister is an excellent preacher but…or, our pastor has a wonderful personality but…there is always something about him they don’t like. He is a good Bible teacher, but he is a poor evangelist. He is a good preacher, but a poor pastor. He is good with the older folks, but not with younger folks. I hear this constantly because I have the opportunity of preaching in many different churches. I would like you to see what God has to say about the pastor-teacher. 

2/  There are three pastors here as we have said. First, there is Paul, then there is Timothy, then there is Epaphroditus, and surely we learn much from these three men of God. There are two verses that go together. 

Philippians 2: 15 -16 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

To get an understanding of Paul and his ministry we have to see these two verses. Here we are called the sons of God, Literally the children of God. His people are His children, and I want you to see something—God is proud of them. 

Job 1: 6 - 8  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Satan here comes to talk to God, but God does the speaking first, and He says, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Notice, the devil did not point Job out, he wouldn’t dare to. God pointed him out with great pride, I think. God said to Satan, Did you see Job? And he said, Yes, I know all about Job, and he asked for permission to try Job. 

Here we have God calling us the children of God. The devil still accuses us after God points down here to us as He did to job, and He says, These are my sons, these are my children, have you seen them? And the devil says, Yes, let me touch them, just let me get a hold of them, and so God, through Paul, says here that we may be blameless and harmless children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.  

3/  We have to see what is behind the scenes here. Paul is instructing those at Philippi, and he is telling them how to live as children of God.

4/ Verse 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

God has chosen us to be bearers of His Word. Notice, we are not simply to send Bibles out, we have got to go with the Book. God’s order is for his children to hold forth the Word of Life. That is the only way to really do the work of God.  

5/  The best illustration of this I know is the Statue of Liberty. As you know I had a church in Brooklyn in the Bay Ridge section at one time, and in those days, during the night, she held forth the light in the darkness, and the statue could not be seen, you could only see the light, and that is exactly what God wants. God has given us the Book to hold out to a lost world in darkness—it is the Word of Life, He has put it in our hands and we are God’s children. The world has no other light.  

6/  Then notice, it is the Word of Life. Why? Because it is a living thing. It is the only living thing in this world of death. You can look on this world and see that everything you behold dies, everything that grows dies. Everything that is manufactured crumbles away.

7/  Yes, the Bible is a living thing, and God has put it in our hands. He says be careful how you live when you hold forth the Word of Life.

8/  Now we come to the very important part, Holding forth the Word of Life that I, Paul, may rejoice in the day of Christ. Paul always had that day in view. Everything he did was for that day, and he said this to the Philippians, If you accomplish this, I will be glad in that great day of Christ. Paul had taught them the Word of God, and now, I am sure it was a great joy to Paul that this assembly, so far, had been true to God. He did not have to reprove them for anything, and he could say, if you continue as you are, I’ll rejoice in the day of Christ, and I’ll not have run in vain, neither labored in vain.    

9/  You contrast this with the Corinthian church and there he found much sin to be reproved. At Colosse he found bad doctrine. He had to correct things in most of the churches, but not at Philippi. Here we have a chance to look into the heart of this great man of God, the Apostle Paul—the Apostle to the Gentiles.  

10/  We can see here that he had taught the Word faithfully, and he loved his people and he wanted those that he had taught to live according to God’s will. He was interested in these people, they were upon his heart.

11/  I heard a man say, one time, We are not saved only to go to Heaven. And I told him he was wrong. I said that is exactly what we are saved for. God wants us in Heaven. God saved us because he wants us there, and the molding, and the cutting and sharpening, the training is all done with Heaven in view.

 

12/  Verse 17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.

Here Paul says, if I am offered up—literally he is thinking of the drink offering, because the original said, If I be poured out as a sacrifice for you, I am glad. It is not a nice thing to die as a sacrifice. A sacrifice has to suffer, and Paul said, I’ll be glad to be a sacrifice poured out for you. How he loved these people, they were upon his heart. A pastor has to love his people—willing to be a sacrifice for his people.  

13/  Paul, I believe is contemplating the possibility that his service for the Lord may result in his martyrdom, in the loss of his life. He therefore contemplates what would be his reaction if he would be like a drink offering to be poured out, for the Word. Offered, is literally to be POURED OUT it is a figure of speech. It may be that he is spending his life, pouring it out for people like the folks at Philippi.  

14/ Verse 18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

Like Paul, the church at Philippi rejoiced in its sacrifice, for it was ready to be used for the glory of the God, to be sacrificed for the glory of God. Willing to suffer for Jesus  Christ, even to die to achieve the will of God.

15/  Verse 19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.

But I trust, I trust—L-PEED- ZOE and it means in the Greek, TO ANTICIPATE. 

L-PEED-ZOE is a word that can mean different things. In the present tense it means to anticipate, in the perfect tense it means to have confidence, in the aorist tense it means to have expectation, and since here it is the present tense he says, I anticipate something.

16/  In the Lord, to send Timothy shortly unto you. A key in this  phrase, TO SEND –PEM-POE—To send as a courier, to send on an errand, or send on a mission. So he anticipates to send Timothy on an errand, on a mission. 

17/  SHORTLY, Here is another key WITHOUT DELAY, WITH GREAT URGENCY. What is the urgency? Epaphroditus is seriously ill, he is dying at that very moment. He doesn’t die, but Paul could see that he could die, so it was necessary to send someone to Philippi to act as Pastor-teacher until Epaphroditus either gets well, or dies. Recovers.

18/  So this introduces Timothy to us.Then we have the word, ”that” and this introduces a purpose clause that I may be of good comfort.  GOOD COMFORT is in the Greek U-SUE-KEH-O. U means good or well – SUE-KEH-O means, it is the basic word for soul, so it should be translated to have a good soul, to have tranquility of soul. 

19/  Again, we see Paul’s love for these people. Here we see Paul’s concern for the Philippian church.

20/  Notice, a pastor-teacher of a congregation should be responsible for them. Paul started this church at Philippi—Acts 16 and so he cared what happened to them. He wanted to have tranquility of soul concerning them but he didn’t have it because at that time he didn’t know their present state, it was unknown to him. So he sent Timothy, and here is the second reason—to find out their state so he might have tranquility of soul concerning them. 

21/  Now we come to the third reason why Timothy is being sent. 

Verse 20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.

The word, like-minded, is E-SO-SUE-KOSE  E-so means equal and sue-kose means soul, so it means equal soul like Paul at that time, in his seminary there at Rome while he was in prison he had no one like Timothy. Timothy had caught the burden that Paul had—he was equal-souled with Paul. He felt a responsibility for those who were saved.  

22/  I Samuel 18: 1 - 4 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

Here is a great example of what I am talking about. I am sure you are well acquainted with the story of David and Jonathan. David had been out and met Goliath, and Saul had decided to keep David near him, and when Jonathan, the son of Saul, had met David and talked with him they became knit together as one, and the Scripture says, Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because that he, that is Jonathan, loved him, that is David as his own soul.—that is deep love, it is deeper than friendship.

23/  I Samuel 18: 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

Notice this verse, for the one he loved he stripped himself of all and gave him everything. He loved David and wanted to make David, like himself, a child of the King. He wanted him to have what he had. 

24/  That is the love that Paul had in his soul for the Philippians and this is the love that Timothy had also, for he was like Paul. Paul is saying here, If I send Timothy, I know he will be really interested in you, for I know if he finds he can do  something for you, he will not spare himself, because he is like-minded with me, or liked-souled with me, and he will care for you as though I was with you myself.

I Corinthians 13: 4 - 13 Charity (LOVE) suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (LOVE)

Love covers a multitude of sins.

AMEN

Ref: 07/02/1978 / 427-2 HOW TO PICK APART YOUR PREACHER / 02/27/2021  

WISDOM SPEAKS

Photo by H Smith in the flower garden

 

544 –1 WISDOM SPEAKS  

April 27, 1980

Henry F. Kulp

 

Proverbs 1: 20 - 26 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets: She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;

This morning as we look at the first chapter of Proverbs, we have to realize that your Bible is the most attacked document in all of human history.  And it continues to exist, and it will continue to exist forever. I want this thought firmly planted in your mind. The Bible contains teachings  that you need and need desperately. You cannot be a happy, joyful individual apart from them. All the problems in the world today can be traced to the fact that humanity has rejected the Word of God. But the saddest part is that many believers have rejected much of the Bible. They would never say that the Bible is not the word of God, but they do not know what it has to say—they do not know the teaching of the word of God, and so therefore, they are lacking in this area.

1/ God is here talking to teenagers. King Solomon, the great preacher is talking to young people, and he recognizes the coming generation is going to determine the condition of the nation. It is well to realize when this was written, within twenty years there was that great civil war among the Jews, which split them, and they have been split down to this very moment. The Ten Tribes of the North became one nation, and the two tribes became another nation.

2/ What caused the split? The teenagers in the days of King Solomon as they came into leadership in the nation were the ones who created the split.    

3/ What was the problem? The teenagers traveled with the wrong crowd. The wrong crowd has always been with us, and as long as man lives under man, there will be a wrong crowd, and the Jews of Solomon’s day did travel with the wrong crowd, and later caused the civil war and the split of the nation.

4/ We have a parallel of that, today. Traveling with the wrong crowd is a disaster for any nation. I am mainly interested in the believing teenager. They can change things, they can make things different, for remember, our nation’s tomorrow depends upon the teen-ager of today.

5/ What is happening in Bible-believing circles today? It  Is the lack of separation being taught to teenagers. The believer looks just like the unbeliever, especially in his actions. Whereas, when I came into the world as a teenager, the churches taught definite separation from the world. You were to be different from the world, not to be like the world. I was raised in a Bible-believing home. My father did not permit me to go to movies, to dances when I was a teenager. I can’t understand how believers can go to movies and see the filth of the day. It is really not entertainment—it is all a message—a message of letting down the bars sexually, morally. Drinking is accepted as being the normal situation, and everyone lives together and doesn’t worry about getting married. Sex becomes the most important thing in the world. 

Then you take the music of the day—how horrible it is. It is all destroying to our youth’s morals. Rock music has a beat—an insidious beat that destroys. Take smoking and drinking. How can parents say anything to their children, who take drugs and follow the crowd, when they themselves drink and smoke cigarettes?

6/ Praise God in Proverbs we have the answer. We have the solution to the wrong crowd. And what is it?

7/ Verse 20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

Wisdom crieth without. Just what does that mean? What is wisdom? The simplest definition I find of wisdom, is the Word of God. It is wisdom. You can search and look around and look for other definitions, but this is it. But it is more than just the Word of God. Wisdom is the application of the Word of God to everyday life, and so here we have the answer. Here we have the solution. The Word of God applied to everyday life.

8/ TO CRY In the Hebrew is PUBLIC SPEAKING SITUATION. IN FRONT OF A LOT OF PEOPLE AND THE SPEAKER HAS TO SHOUT TO BE HEARD. 

This, of course, is looking ahead to the future of Israel. There are prophets who came along; Jeremiah, Isaiah, and many others. They stood up in the public places and they cried out against the sin of the people and told them the Word of God. These prophets warned the people to come back to God—to make the things of God count in their lives. 

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

Isaiah 53: 1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

We could ask that same question today. Who has believed the Word of God?

10/ Proverbs 1: 20 Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:

So Proverbs anticipates the great men of God who are to arise and cry against Israel’s sin.

11/ She uttereth her voice in the streets. Not accepted by the leaders of the nation—the religious leaders—the political leaders don’t want them and have no time for them.

12/ Verse 21 She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,

Here wisdom crieth in the chief places of concourse. What does that mean? That would mean the open air auditoriums, that were in the center of town, where a great number of people could be gathered and reached. Notice, not in the assemblies, not in the religious gatherings, but this is outside.        

13/ In the opening of the gates. Every gate of an ancient city had a place where someone could stand on steps which would form a platform and look over a great crowd of people and then speak. News was broadcast from these gates. People would come down to the gate closest to their home or place of business and they could stand there and at certain times of the day they could hear the news report—what was going on in their vicinity, and what was happening in the world. So in this place where the news was given, these prophets, these men of God would come and speak the Word of God and the people would hear it. But again, they are excluded, if you will notice. 

14/ God was raising up men to take the Word of God to the nation. 

15/ Verse 22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

There are three things we can find in this verse. The first one—how long ye simple ones. How tame that sounds, but really in the Hebrew it is not very tame at all—it is the Hebrew word, PETH-HEEM’  and it does not mean what our English word, simple,  means. Actually there is not a parallel in the English language to tell us what it means. The best you can actually do is to say it is the word, stupid. So he says, how long will you stupid ones love your stupidity? This means someone who is engrossed in the detail of life and puts the Word of God—not even second, perhaps away down the list. Remember, HE IS TALKING TO A BELIEVER, CRYING OUT TO A BELIEVER.

16/ Again it is the principal of Matthew 4: 4. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

How many people I see wearing the pin, Jesus First. Is it mockery, is it blasphemy? Do you really mean it? What are some of the details of life? We can say, SUCCESS. There is nothing wrong with being successful in life if it doesn’t come ahead of the Word of God. For if you lose success and the Word of God is second, you are going to be miserable. 

Then take LOVED-ONES. Every one of us has someone that we love more than anyone else. What happens if that loved one dies? The Word of God is not ahead of that loved one, you will be miserable and not be able to face the situation. Take HEALTH, and it is not wrong to have health, but if health is taken, and the Word of God is second to health, you will never be able to live with the situation. Take MONEY, SEX, SOCIAL LIFE. All these things are in the same category.   

17/ PLEASURE.  I know all of us need some pleasures, there is no question about it. God has these things as a break in life. But are these pleasures more important than the Word of God? God wants you to put His Word first in your life.   

18/ How can you make wisdom or the Word of God have first place in your life? By studying it every day of your life. Then by going to church where it is taught—not just for Sunday School or the morning worship service, but by getting a steady diet if doctrine.  

19/ How long? Oh, believer, will the details of life be more important than the Word of God?

20/ Then we have the second category, and this is an interesting one. And the scoffer delights in their scoffing. What is a scoffer? SOMEONE WHO RIDICULES OR DOWN GRADES, CRITICIZES OR TAKES A DIM VIEW OF WISDOM WHICH IS DOCTRINE. 

The scorner delights in his scorning. So, It is someone whose principle of life is emotionalism. Everything depends on how he feels. If he feels good it is great, if he feels bad it is terrible. So this is a believer who is motivated by his emotions, rather than by wisdom, the Word of God. 

21/ Then the third category. This can be a believer and an unbeliever. He is called a fool because he hates knowledge. Yet all three reject Bible doctrine. 

22/ Verse 23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Here is the first solution. Turn ye. In the Hebrew, TO  MAKE AN ABOUT FACE, TO TURN AROUND. This, of course, means seeing the error of your way and turning from the way you have been going. Going with the wrong crowd, despising, rejecting God’s Word. Wisdom—the Word of God is now first in your life. I believe there are those listening to me this morning who are indifferent to the Word of God. You need to have a new scale of values, a change of mental attitude. The word, reproof, of course, is important, and to be a believer and in the will of God you will have to be able to take reproof.      

       

Seek Wisdom. Wisdom is the application of the Word of God to our everyday life. Seek Wisdom young man.

Teenager, you can change things, you can make things different, for remember, our nation of tomorrow depends upon the teenager of today.

AMEN

Ref: 04/27/1980 / 544-1 WISDOM SPEAKS / 02-26/2021

GOD HAS PROMISED YOU A PIE IN THE SKY

Photo by B Smith from the patio

 

452-1 GOD HAS PROMISED YOU A PIE IN THE SKY

NOVEMBER 5, 1978 

Henry F. Kulp

 

Romans 8: 28 - 34 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Again, we can stress this is a portion of Scripture that many people quote but few understand. And this morning, I want you to understand this passage because it is so beautiful. Many people say God does not promise you a pie in the sky, by and by. But when we are finished this morning we want you to see He promises you a pie in the sky now and one by and by. When you put the two together it is then that you can rejoice.

1/  The future and the present are closely tied together. You CAN’T live properly in the present unless your eyes are on the future.

2/  God is talking about suffering. The suffering of God for the child of God, and we told you there are two attitudes the believer is to have. First of all, in Romans 8: 18 he is to make a comparison. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The problems, the sufferings, the disappointments, trials are only for a very short time on earth and the glory will be ours throughout eternity.   

3/  Then in verse 28 we have the second attitude, and this is the knowledge we need at the present time. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God, right now, mixes all our suffering with His program, His purpose, and it always produces intrinsic good, absolute good. 

4/  I Thessalonians 5: 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Here we are commanded, because this is imperative mood, and we are told in everything to give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. This verse is again something you must understand. You can’t possibly give thanks for everything unless you understand Romans 8: 28. For the two Scriptures go hand and hand. It is not possible to thank God for everything unless we realize everything that happens to us is to be mixed with God’s provision, with God’s program, with God’s purpose, and out comes absolute good.

5/  Have you been thanking God for all your suffering, and your trials, that you have faced. You can and you should if you understand Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

When you have the right mental attitude, you can give thanks to God for everything, for all those discouraging things that are happening to you are being mixed with God’s program and they are coming out for your good.

6/  It is necessary to see, TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD. This is simply a title for the believer, or a description of the believer. He is not talking about them that love God a lot or a little, He is talking about them that love God. It isn’t how much you love Him or how little you love Him, but that you love Him. This is a blanket statement. 

I Corinthians 16: 22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. 

It is absolutely necessary that you love Him, and you love Him because He first loved you. It is necessary to see your love and the depth of your love depends upon how much you know about Him in Bible doctrine. Sometimes people who are always saying how much they love the Lord Jesus Christ, really don’t love Him at all because they don’t know Him—they don’t know Bible doctrine. You can’t love someone you don’t know.

7/  TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD—ONE WORD IN THE GREEK, and this is a participle, and it is dative case of advantage. It is to our advantage to love God. Then it is plural—there is more than one person on the face of the earth who loves God—in fact, everyone who is saved, loves God.

8/  Then it is ACTIVE VOICE and this speaks of the believer’s volition. This is a relationship with God. 

9/  TO THEM WHO ARE THE CALLED. To them who are called are elected. The verb, ARE, is I-Me and it means ALWAYS TO BE. So we would translate this—to them who are always the called—the called should be translated, THE ELECTED. The word, Elected, is a technical word which says we are in the plan of God. At the moment we received Jesus Christ as Saviour, we are always from that time, elected. 

Let us spend a few moments and look at the doctrine. How it has been abused by man. 

(1) All members of the human race are potentially elected to the plan of God by unlimited     salvation, II Timothy 2: 10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

(2)  Christ was elected in eternity past.

Isaiah 42: 1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul

  delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the 

Gentiles.

I Peter 2: 4 - 6 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of

  men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a

  spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to 

God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay

  in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall 

not be confounded.

Actually, if you study Your Bible carefully, He is the only person who was ever elected. Billions and billions of years ago, God the Father with God the Son and God the Holy Spirit had an eternal life conference—a meeting. They were billions of years away from the creation of Adam, yet they knew everything that would ever happen including your existence and my existence in the 20^th Century. Having done that, they decided to make a plan, and the plan is based upon the Lord Jesus Christ. They, all three, agreed on this plan, this purpose, and Christ is the center of this plan, of this purpose.

(3) Every believer shares the election of Jesus Christ. It is important that you see that every believer shares the election of Jesus Christ.

(4) There are two main programs in the Bible—the nation Israel which is prophecy, the Body of Christ which is the mystery. Every true Jew is elected and shares in the election of Jesus Christ in the kingdom. When Christ becomes King of all, and He is part of Christ in the Kingdom. In the Body of Christ, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, shares the election of Jesus Christ, by becoming part of Jesus Christ as the Body of Christ. It is necessary to see to have the elected to be the elected of Christ, we must have relationship with Him, and both Israel and the Body of Christ have relationship with Jesus Christ. 

(5) We became part of this election at the moment of salvation. In other words, we share in the election of Jesus Christ, at the moment of salvation.

10/  Romans 8: 29, 30  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

In these two verses there are five great steps to glory, five steps to God’s plan which brings us from the gates of hell to the glory of Heaven. So we are involved in five steps, but they are actually five things that God does for us. They are the work of God, and therefore they are the grace of God.

11/  Step one—foreknowledge. The first step is that God thought about you billions and billions of years ago before you existed. Foreknowledge is the Father’s Omniscience—God, of course, knows about everyone. Billions of years ago, He knew about every individual that would come into this world, and if He couldn’t do this, He couldn’t be God, so his plan began with thinking—God’s thinking is perfect, therefore, His plan is   perfect. 

12/  There is no excuse for anyone to cry or whine that anyone has forgotten him. Name one person who ever thought about you before you were born—who ever had you in mind. Did the devil? Of course not—he is a brilliant genius, but he couldn’t know about you. No angels, no person, the devil could never know about you before you were born. This would have to be God.     

13/  And God knew that you would be saved. That shouldn’t trouble you in any sense of the word. This is the foreknowledge of God—the thinking of God, and the first thought He had about you, was in love. 

14/  STEP TWO—Predestination. Predestination is one of the most misleading words in the Bible. Most people think this means some are predestined to go to Heaven, and some are predestined to go to hell, but that is not true. No one is predestined to go to hell. Christ died for everyone.

15/  The Greek word translated predestination, means TO MARK OUT A BOUNDARY. So you can see even our English word, the prefix, pre, means before, destination means your arrival point. And we are predestined, notice, to be conformed to the image of His Son. So we see that predestination is built on God’s foreknowledge and it means the believer one day will share the destiny of the Lord Jesus Christ and be like Him. Let me ask you—is that good or bad? Of course it is good. 

How do I face suffering? I know God had me in mind billions of years ago, and He knew—He knew I would be saved, and He has a plan marked out for me that one day I will be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

16/  How could God do any more for you? Can you think of anything more glorious that God could do for you than to make you like Jesus Christ? 

How many believers have come to me and said, Pray for me that I might be more like the Lord Jesus Christ, and everyone who is spiritual has that longing in his heart, I want to be like Jesus Christ. God predestinated you to be like His Son, and didn’t He do a good thing? Of course, He did. If God had waited for you to do it, you couldn’t predestinate yourself to be Christ like. There is no way you could do that.

17/  How am I eternally secure? I am part of God’s program, and it has been before decided what my destination shall be, and I cannot make myself share in that destiny. It is God’s program for me, because I am a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

18/  You will notice know that it is all in the past tense. Whom He did foreknow, He predestinated, and those He predestinated, He also called, whom He called He justified, and whom He justified, He also glorified. You might take that last link and say, are we glorified now? Oh yes, we are already glorified in the mind of God, just as if it had taken place.

19/  STEP THREE—ELECTION. Every believer is in the plan of God, the word, called, REFERS TO AN ASSIGNMENT – God assigned to us a time in life. He put us in the 20^th century. 

20/  STEP FOUR—JUSTIFICATION. Justified? Oh yes, we are just like God, we have been robed with the righteousness of God. Man is still a sinner, in God’s sight he is a saint.

21/  STEP FIVE—GLORIFICATION – One day we are going to be glorified. We are even going to have a glorified body.

Philippians 3: 20, 21 For our conversation (manner of life) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

There is not much glory in this world, it is soon gone, but there will be glory throughout all eternity.

…and we shall all be changed, Hallelujah!

AMEN

Ref: 11/05/1978 / 452-1 GOD HAS PROMISED YOU PIE IN THE SKY / 02/25/2021