THE HOPE OF GLORY

Photo by B Smith from the kitchen door

 

414 - THE HOPE OF GLORY

July 17, 1977

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

 

Colossians 1: 25 - 29 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.

Here Paul says he is a minister and God dispensed something to him and it was to fulfill the Word of God. It was to complete—fulfill the Word of God. Nothing else is needed after this message is known. No other revelation is necessary. It is the greatest revelation in the Bible. GIVEN ME FOR YOU. It was a special revelation given to Paul, not to the twelve or to any other Bible writer but Paul.

1/ For you this, of course means the Gentiles.

Ephesians 2: 11, 12 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Up to this time God had no message for the Gentiles. You remember, in the Gospel of Matthew, He said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And then in Romans 15: 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Jesus Christ was a minister to the circumcision—that is the Jew—for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers. That means during His earthly ministry He came to the Jews and the Jews alone. But now He has a message for the Gentiles and He gives it to Paul.

2/ And this message is to fulfill, complete the Word of God. No other revelation is needed.

3/ Verse 26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

This message is known as the mystery, and the word can be translated by a secret. It was used by the fraternities of that day. They had secrets that anyone could know, but

only the initiated would know because they didn’t reveal them to anyone else. And this divine secret cannot be discovered by human reason, only by God revealing it, and He revealed it to us through Paul. This mystery was never made known in the Old Testament, nor yet when the Lord Jesus Christ was upon earth, for we are told distinctly it had been hid from ages and generations, but now is made manifest to the saints.

4/ Verse 27 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:

Now notice the statement—to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery, this secret. Actually, the word, riches, is the word, wealth. Paul’s revelation is so great, that notice how he expresses himself. He talks about the wealth of the glory of this mystery. Then also notice, Ephesians 1: 7 In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace.

Do you know the word riches, belongs to Paul?

Ephesians 2: 7 That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Paul has to add something to it. Do you think that grace is a lot? Well, the riches of His grace is more. What must be the exceeding riches of His grace? We talk about this being the grace period, and it is. But it is the period of the exceeding riches of His grace.

Romans 9: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

Now we have the riches of His grace, and the exceeding riches of His grace, and now we have the riches of His glory.

II Corinthians 4: 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

Glory again is much, but what is the weight of glory? What is the exceeding and eternal weight of glory? And what is the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory? Don’t you see, the only thing Paul could do was add superlatives. It is something that is beyond telling.

5/ Let me emphasize, the words, riches, grace, glory exceeding riches. Exceeding riches of His grace belong to Paul and are not found in other books. You will find grace and glory, but not the way Paul expresses them.

6/ Let’s talk about the fact that this mystery has been hid from ages and from generations.

Ephesians 3: 3 - 5 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

Paul says this mystery hidden in God’s mind was revealed to him. Paul had something that was never revealed to anyone else, and Paul revealed them in his writings.

7/ There are those who say that Paul didn’t get this mystery until he came to Rome. And he only revealed them in the prison epistles, but turn with me to Romans 16: 25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Paul had it before he was sent to Rome. He put it in the Book of Romans.

I Corinthians 15: 51, 52 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

This is what we call the Rapture, and it is part of Paul’s mystery. It is not revealed anywhere else in the Bible.

But when we turn to I Thessalonians 4: 16, 17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Here we have a full revelation of the Rapture, that he spoke of in I Corinthians 15: 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

I Thessalonians is probably the first book that Paul wrote. It was written in the year 54, and it was written six or seven years at least before Paul was taken to Rome as a prisoner.

8/ Some people say, Why do we need to know all this? For an answer I’ll give you a verse in the Old Testament.

I Chronicles 12: 32 And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

Here is a lesson we can gather from Israel for ourselves today. And he tells us the men of Issachar were men that had understandings of the times to know what Israel ought to do. The reason the professing church of this day and age has its hands so full of things that are worthless, is because they do not know dispensational truth. What is this mystery? It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. I think it is very evident that Christ arose and Christ is living. He is living in the believer in this day and age. This is something new for the age in which we live.

The Old Testament saints did not have this. David, as you know, got to very great heights. He was the sweet Psalmist of the Old Testament, but David never knew the joy of Christ in him the Hope of Glory. David prayed, Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. The Holy Spirit came on people in those days, and at certain times left them. But God made a promise to the nation Israel that was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.

John 14: 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Here He says, I will come again and receive you unto Myself that where I am, there ye may be also. This is the second coming of Christ to this earth. He promised Israel He would come back. He also promised them He would leave them.

John 16: 7 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.

He tells you, I will not go away unless the Comforter will come unto you, but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. So the promise to Israel was, the indwelling Comforter, the Holy Spirit. But when the Body of Christ began when the new revelation was provided, Christ Jesus Himself came to indwell the believer along with and in addition to the Holy Spirit. This is why Israel can be Christ’s bride, but not the Body of Christ, because the Body of Christ is part and parcel of Christ Himself.

Let us get some Scriptures to prove this.

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.

Romans 8: 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

II Corinthians 13: 5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

I believe this is what Paul is saying—the presence of the Person of Jesus Christ in the believer, is an exclusive truth for the Body of Christ.

9/ 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 a very beautiful Scripture—

Ephesians 3: 19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

And Paul says, I wish ye might be filled with the fullness of Christ. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. Christianity is not emptiness. If you find Christianity a bore, you haven’t gotten the real thing, or it hasn’t gotten a hold of you. Christianity is fullness.

10/ I Kings 8: 27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

Solomon in his prayer of dedication says that the Heaven of Heavens could not contain God, and yet we can be filled with all His fullness. We have that kind of message in this day and age.

11/ The Hope of Glory—and Christ in us is that Hope of Glory. The only hope for anyone or anybody or any human being to be glorified is that Christ is in them. How can a human body live without the indwelling Christ? If Jesus Christ should appear this morning, right now in the Heavens, and gather His church, the Body, unto Himself, everyone in this room who is saved, and those who are saved and listening by means of their radio would immediately be glorified, like so many electric light bulbs, for we are connected to that great power—the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ in us is the Hope of Glory. How could you be glorified if He is not in you? Your body will be dead cold and lifeless if Christ is not in you when He shall appear in the Heavens.

12/ Romans 8: 18 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.

Notice, Christ will have to be in us for glory to be revealed in us.

13/ Colossians 1: 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 His words, to substitute what for whom is to make a serious mistake. Christianity is centered in a Person and no one preaches the Gospel who does not preach Jesus Christ. How earnest was the apostle in seeking to lead believers into the knowledge of this special truth. Warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom. He had a true pastor’s heart, and he says that he would present every man, complete or full-grown in Christ Jesus. He wants everyone to see this truth so that they

might be grown up, they might be mature and to this end he earnestly labored according to the divine energy which wrought so powerfully in Him for the salvation of souls and the upbuilding of the people of God.

14/ Notice in the 29th verse Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

We find out here how Paul worked, how he strove, how he toiled. He had a job to do, and he put all the power that God gave him into it.

Notice, five words here, labor, striving, working, worketh mightily. And the word, mightily, is the word, dynamo, dynamite.

Paul paid a tremendous price to preach this Gospel. 

AMEN

Ref: 07/17/1977 414 - THE HOPE OF GLORY / 03/19/2021

IS TRUE LOVE BLIND?

Photo by B Smith from the patio

 

335 - 2 IS TRUE LOVE BLIND?

January 23, 1977

Henry F Kulp

 

Colossians  1: 1 - 8 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother, To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

In verses 1 and 2 we have Paul’s greeting. He addresses them as saints and faithful brethren. And the key word in Colossians is fullness. 

Colossians 1: 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

In Him all the fullness of the Godhead bodily was pleased to dwell. 

Colossians 2: 9 For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. 

And we are the fullness of Him. We receive His fullness. 

1/  In verse 3 - 5 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

We have here Paul’s gratitude. We keep on giving thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praying always for you. Paul has gratitude for them. He is thankful for them. 

The word, praying, is very interesting here. PROSS-U-KUH-MY. You know the word, pross means face to face with God. What a privilege we have on this earth even though we can’t see God to go face to face with Him with our petitions. 

U-KUH-WRIST-O and right in the middle of the word is the word, KAR-RIS which is the word, grace. So we are thankful for that which we receive which we do not merit or earn.

2/  Then it is important for us to see that prayer is always addressed to God the Father—no exceptions to this ever. When you hear someone pray, “Dear Jesus,” you are listening to an incorrect address. Also, when you hear someone pray to the Holy Spirit you are hearing an incorrect address. Remember you must always pray to God the Father.     

3/  Let us look at a very important chapter on prayer. 

Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Here the indwelling Holy Spirit prays to God the Father as He helps us in our prayers. Then in verse 34 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.

We have Jesus Christ in Heaven praying to God the Father for us. We cannot do less.

4/  For you—PEAR-EE and it means concerning you. Remember, he had never met them, never seen them, yet he prayed for them. Is it possible for me to pray for someone I have never met? Of course. 

5/  Notice, Paul says they had the three graces, faith, love, and hope.

(1) Faith in Christ Jesus

(2) The love which ye have to all saints.

(3) The hope that is laid up for you in Heaven. 

6/  Faith in Christ Jesus, let us look at Colossians 2: 5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. 

Here we read of the steadfastness of their faith in Christ. 

The word, faith, means a firm persuasion. They are fully persuaded concerning Jesus Christ. Either you believe something or you don’t believe it.

7/  Job 22: 21  Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.

Many know Him as Saviour, as sin-bearer, but they are not well acquainted with Him, they do not know Him in an intimate way, they do not walk with Him day by day. It is only when you are well acquainted with Him, and walking with Him that you will be at peace.

8/  We must realize that faith is the most dangerous thing in the world. If we have faith in the wrong thing it can destroy us or kill us. 

We had a member of our assembly who has moved away, but when he lived in our midst he went out into his yard to burn some leaves, his clothing caught fire and he was badly burned, he was rushed to the hospital, and given Penicillin and though he had never reacted to it before, he did this time and it nearly cost him his life. It is necessary to have faith in that which is faithful.

9/  Galatians 3: 26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Ye are all the full-grown sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 

Then they had the second grace which is love. The one word in the English language expresses all varieties of love. Love to God, to child, to parent, and to friends. Many people call the sex act making love, and the Greek word, EAR-OSE and that is usually love between the sexes. It can be a passion. It is selfish love, it all goes one way. It is never used in the New Testament.

10/  Then there is the Greek word, PHIL-LET-O which gives us our word, Philadelphia—brotherly love—and it means fondness, and the basic meaning of the word, to befriend.

11/  The word used here is AH-GOP-A—God is love

 (1)  It is a word used of God the Father for His Son.

John 17: 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

 (2) It is the word used of the Father’s love for the human race. 

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

John 16: 27  For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.

Here we read the Father, Himself, loveth you because you loved me.

12/  You cannot love with this love unless the Holy Spirit controls your life.  

13/  Last week some disagreed with me because I said you must have faith in God and not in saints, but love the saints. And this is true, because no one is really dependable and faithful, and there is a point here I want you to see. 

LOVE IS NOT BLIND

I Corinthians 13: 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Love rejoiceth in the truth. Does love depend upon the one being loved being perfect? Do we stop loving people because they sin, because they make mistakes? If we do we won’t love anyone. Does the truth of our old nature and our failures keep us from being loved by other believers? Love that can be killed by the truth is not the love of God. We must be like the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us, not because of our fruits, but in spite of them. 

Romans 5: 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I John 4: 19 We love him, because he first loved us.

14/  Some are foolish enough to never see the flaws in one they claim to love. Some mothers or fathers love their children always glossing over their faults and failings, but that permits one to grow up undisciplined and having the wrong view in life. A believer’s true love is a love that can bear to know the truth about the one loved, and not be discouraged.

15/  Then the third grace is the hope which is laid up for you in Heaven. This hope is described in Titus 2: 13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Every believer has this hope given to him by God.

16/  The basis of this hope is found in I Timothy 1: 1 which is Jesus Christ. He is our hope. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

17/  Hope has three parts to it.

(1) Desire—there is no hope if we don’t have a desire for that hope to be realized. But hope isn’t desire only for we may desire what we do not expect.

(2) Expectation—Nor is hope merely expectation, for we may expect what we do not desire. So we must put desire and expectation together, combine them.

(3) Patience—We must be patient for that desire and expectation.

18/  We must see there is a great deal of difference between Israel’s hope and the believer’s hope today. Briefly, let us look at the difference. 

(1)  Israel’s hope is earthly.

(2)  Our hope is in Heaven.

(3)  Israel’s hope has Christ as the Son of Man, Son of David, Son of Abraham.

(4)  Our hope has Christ as the Son of God, the Head of the Body.

(5)  Israel’s hope is in Christ’s coming to this earth.

(6)  Our hope is in Christ catching us up in the air at the Rapture.

(7)  Israel’s hope will be after the great judgement and tribulation on this earth.

(8)  Our hope will be realized before the judgement and tribulation comes upon this earth.

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

The only one of these graces that is lasting is love. 

Faith and hope will one day disappear, but love will remain.

AMEN

Ref: 01/23/1977 / 335-2 IS TRUE LOVE BLIND? / 03/18/2021

THE SPIRITUALLY HANDICAPPED

Photo by B Smith from the kitchen window

438 - 2 THE SPIRITUALLY HANDICAPPED

August 27, 1978

Henry F. Kulp

 

Ephesians 4: 11 - 15 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

Here we read that God has given the leadership gifts for the perfecting of the saints, for the mending of the saints, for the repair of the saints and for the work of the ministry. If the saints are going to be effective in their ministry they need to be repaired constantly. This is one of the major projects of the local assembly—the repairing, the restoring of the saints of God. All of us have an old nature, and it is constantly necessary for us to come and hear the Word of God, and it is the Word of God that does the work that enables us to carry out our ministry.

1/  Remember all of us are in full-time ministry and God expects production from us— productivity.

2/  II Corinthians 5: 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

Here we are told we have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We are in Christ’s stead, pleading with men and women, be ye reconciled to God. No pastor can begin to do this alone—no evangelist. It must be the saints of God—those who sit in the pew—it is their job.

3/  II Corinthians 8: 5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

Here is the church that I marveled on down through the years. Why was it that God so mightily used the Macedonian churches? I can tell you why. It is given to us very clearly in this passage. It was because they first gave their own selves to the Lord. 

Then notice verse 4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

The ministering to the saints, and why were they able to minister unto the saints, and then give to the Lord? Because they first gave themselves to the Lord. You will notice this has to do with money. No one can be a strong Christian, no one can ever be effective in the ministry of the Lord who does not give of his money to the Lord. Those who do a lot of witnessing but never give, I am sure their seed is never very effective. I have always felt I had to be careful what I said about money because so many churches have abused the thought of giving. But on the other hand, it is necessary that you realize that God expects you to give, and through the leadership gifts you should be instructed that giving is very important to the local assembly. Unless you give in a systematic fashion you are robbing God. You cannot give yourself without giving your money.   

5/  II Corinthians 9: 6, 7 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Here again He is talking about money. He that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly, and then in the 7^th verse. Let us give as he purposeth in his heart, not grudgingly, not of necessity, but because he loves to give.

6/  Then there is something else to see—not only are we to give of ourselves and then give of our money, but then we are to have a certain attitude toward one another for the sake of ministry. 

One of the beautiful Scriptures that I love is Deuteronomy 20: 19, 20 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

Here is a picture of something that everyone ought to see. It is a rather forgotten portion of the Word of God, but here God tells us that when Israel besieged a city for a long time, they would cut down only certain trees. They would throw up bulwarks against that city, but they were not to cut down any fruit bearing trees, they were to be spared. This is the way we should act toward those who are saints, who are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, who are the members of the Body of Christ. We should all be fruit trees for the Lord Jesus Christ, be productive, and we are not to lay the ax to them, but we are to work together. That means we do not do anything to hurt another believer in the ministry, that the ministry be not blamed, that the ministry be not ridiculed. We are not to hinder one another, we are to work together and be productive.

7/  Acts 18: 24 - 26 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

And here we have a beautiful example of what I am trying to tell you about how we are to deal with God’s fruit trees those who are in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ—and that is every saint—he is in full-time ministry. Here we have Apollos—you remember Apollos—he was earnest and had a love for the Scriptures, and this fact appealed to the heart of Priscilla and Aquila. But he was not up to the knowledge of the truth of his day. He had not gone beyond the baptism of John, and this Godly couple saw this was what he lacked, but they also loved him, they knew he was seeking the truth, they knew he wanted the truth, so this Godly couple instead of exposing his ignorance to others or roundly denouncing him as a legalist without the truth of the Gospel of God, they took him into their home, and there in Christian love expounded to him the way of God more perfectly. We should use our axes against the deadly trees of sin and error, and not one another. We should work together as Aquila and Priscilla did and help those who are saved and want to know the truth and do not know the truth  as it is in its fullness. We should work together in harmony.

8/  Let us drop down to verse 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 

I want to make a contrast here. In verse 13 we are mature believers, in verse 14, he talks about children.That we henceforth be no more children. What does he mean when he says, we are like children? Actually, the word is, not children, but childish. Paul is saying that these believers at Ephesus, some of them, were childish. Let us look at that word and see what it means. 

9/  The word, children, is NAY-PEE-OSIS. And we must distinguish this from the word that is used when we are saved, and that is the Greek word, BREATH-OSIS, this means a babe at its mother breast, and if you have a normal growth we will become WEE-OSIS or mature believers.

10/  What is the Greek word NAP-PEE-OSIS? It is someone who gets out of fellowship with God and stays out of fellowship with Him. It means he is a SPIRITUAL IDIOT – going back—not making any progress.

11/  There are three things to see about the spiritual idiot. This verse starts out by calling them spiritual idiots, and ends up by calling them suckers, patsies or dupes.

12/  Now we have a three-fold description of the childish believer.

(1) It is first a nautical analogy TOSSED TO AND FRO. It is one word in the Greek, CLUE-DOUGH-NEEDS-O-MY and just what does that mean? USED FOR A SHIP OUT OF CONTROL, AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES. We have to remember in those days they didn’t have engines as we have today. Everything depended upon the proper use of a sail, the sea anchor and a good rudder, but here he is describing a ship whose rudder is broken, whose mast has been snapped, and therefore is at the mercy of the waves. The bow of the ship is now moving in every possible direction, and the ship is in great danger, IT IS UNSTABLE. 

(2) Here is a believer and never forget we were talking about believers. Believers who are unstable. You say can a child of God be unstable? He most certainly can, and his inner life is filled with misery, constantly seeking something that he has never found, never experienced. 

(3) Here we have the second nautical term. CARRIED ABOUT BY EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE. Carried about in the Greek is PERRY-FUR-O…THIS DOES NOT MEAN TO BE AT THE MERCY OF THE WAVES, BUT RATHER TO BE AT THE MERCY OF THE WIND. 

In a storm out at sea, there are the things we have to combat—waves and wind, and now it is the wind that is causing the trouble for believers, and what is it? It is the wind of doctrine. Certainly not true doctrine, but evil doctrine. So you see the believers who are spiritual idiots, who never grow on Bible doctrine are suckers for evil doctrine. That can be socialism, that can be speaking in tongues, it can be healings.

I Timothy 4: 1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

As we have been telling you on Sunday nights, the devil cannot indwell a believer, but he can attack the believers mind from the outside, and with these winds of doctrine, can lead him into all sorts of harmful teaching. And what are these harmful teachings mainly? EMOTIONALISM. Did you ever notice how the devil appeals to emotionalism? Look at the sects that are about today. What is the basis of all of them? Emotionalism.

(4)  Now we come to the third metaphor, and this is a gambling analogy. There is no greater sucker in all the world than one who is a habitual gambler, and he is in a dice game, and the other person holds the dice and the dice are loaded, and on the very first throw it will be seven or eleven, and this man can never win. He will loose his shirt, it is impossible to win when the other person has loaded dice.  

(5)  A believer who is a spiritual idiot can never win. He is following the program of the devil in his emotionalism, and he will be the most miserable person in all the world. The unsaved person is not the most miserable, but the believer out of the will of God.  

13/  You will say, where in the world do you get all this? The word, sleight, is the Greek word, KOO—B—AH and it means dice-playing, so it means by the dice playing of men. We have to ask the question, what kind of game do these men run? The devil is a liar, and he is a cheat. His religion is a cheat, and the kind of game he runs, comes out of the word, CUNNING CRAFTINESS. The Greek word is PAN-OORG-EE’-AH. It means TO CHEAT IN GAMBLING. So these spiritual idiots who never grow up in the Lord, do not get any doctrine, fall prey to the doctrine of demons, and here it says, all religion is a loaded dice game. You can never win, you are bound to lose.

14/  Then we come to, by which, and that is our old friend, PROSS, PLUS THE ACCUSATIVE and it means face to face.

15/  Face to face with what? The King James version says, they lie in wait, and that is a professional phrase, METH-O-DOS.  We get our word, method, from it.  

16/  Then to deceive, that is the Greek word, for fraud. So what happens to the believer who is out of the will of God? And does not learn doctrine and apply it to his life? He is brought face to face with deceptive methods of fraud. In other words, he becomes religious.

AMEN

Ref: 08/27/1978 / 438-2 THE SPIRITUALLY HANDICAPPED / 03/16/2021

THE SCHOOL OF WISDOM

Photo by B Smith from the kitchen window

 

548-2 - THE SCHOOL OF WISDOM

June 1, 1980

Henry F. Kulp

 

Proverbs 2: 1 - 5 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

Here we have the school of wisdom. In the last part of the last chapter we have wisdom crying out to the teen-agers of Israel. Crying out, because it is outside of the religious circles of that day. And then wisdom warns what will happen if wisdom is rejected.

1/ When the trials and tribulations of life come, you can’t get wisdom in a moment of time, because wisdom is the knowledge of God—that is the Word of God, plus the fear of God. And knowledge does not come in a moment. This is something you must accumulate. Of course, the knowledge without the fear of God can be very sterile—the two are needed for us to have wisdom.

2/ Job 28: 18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.

The price of wisdom is above rubies. That means wealth can never replace wisdom. No matter how much money you have, wisdom is far more important. As a matter of fact, one can have wealth, and without wisdom can lose it very quickly. WISDOM IS GREATLY TO BE DESIRED. 

Proverbs 4: 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Here we read, wisdom is the principle thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding. Wisdom is to be desired in a great way, but very few believers seem to have it.

3/  Psalm 119: 98, 99 Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

Here a very wise man ascribes his wisdom to a knowledge of the Word of God. For he says, in verse 98 Thou through Thy commandments hath made me wiser than mine enemies. He had the fear of God connected to it. Then in the 99^th verse I am more understanding than all my teachers, Thy testimonies are my meditation—in other words, his teachers had knowledge, but not wisdom. They had facts stored up in their heads, but they lacked the fear of God.  

4/ James 1: 5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Here James says, if any of you lack wisdom—notice he says ask God—don’t ask man. Don’t ask the teachers. Ask God because true wisdom comes from God. Men may give you good advice, and then again they may not. If they are unsaved, their advice will be wrong. But even saved men can have bad advice—can give bad advice, because believers are not always right, but the Word of God is always right.

5/  Proverbs 3: 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

We read, trust in the Lord with all you heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. In other words, ask God, don’t ask yourself or try to figure it out yourself. Ask God for wisdom—that means, turn to the Word of God.   

6/  Literally, that is a simple definition of prayer. Ask God. This is the first of many references to prayer in the book of James. But is praying enough? Just asking God enough? No. How does God answer prayer when we ask for wisdom? Only through the Word of God. He does not speak to us in any other way, other than the Word of God. You say doesn’t He use circumstances? He most certainly does, but again circumstances in the light of the Word of God—Doctrine from the Bible.

7/  Notice, God loves to give. He is a great Giver, and He does not charge for anything. He is really the Giver of everything we eat, wear and use.  

8/  Then notice, our Lord not only gives, but he gives liberally. 

Ephesians 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

Notice how liberally the Lord does give. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings—not with many, not with most, but with all, and we receive this freely at the moment of salvation. 

9/  James 3: 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Here is another verse that is important as we study wisdom. It starts out by saying, this wisdom descendeth not from above. This is not Godly wisdom. It is wisdom that doesn’t come from God. 

Let’s contrast it with verse 17 But there is a wisdom that is from above. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

So we suddenly realize there are three different kinds of wisdom. First of all, there is the wisdom from above. Then there is wisdom that is not from above, and then there is human wisdom. 

Let us look at the 15^th verse This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.

Wisdom not from above. It is earthly, sensual which is natural and is devilish. Earthly is an interesting word—it comes from a Greek word, GHEY, and it means earth – we get our words, geology from it—and it has the Greek word, EPI, before it and this is super-earthly. 

So the wisdom in James 3: 15

Super-earthly wisdom—and it is from demons. The last word, devilish means demons. It is demonical, and it is plural—there is one devil, but many demons. Those who are demon possessed have this wisdom. Let us look at this word, EPI-GHEY. Let’s notice how it is used elsewhere. 

John 3: 12  If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

Jesus Christ told Nicodemus, if I have told you earthly things and ye believed not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of Heavenly things? Earthly is our Greek word, EPI-GHEY – super-earthly, things pertaining to the kingdom. He told them they needed a righteousness that exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, and He said, if I tell you of this super-earthly thing and you believe not, how shall you ever believe Heavenly things? 

10/  Again we see this word in Philippians 3: 17 - 19 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

He talks about those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end, or fulfillment is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things—or super-earthly things. They are always looking for that which is beyond the realm of the natural. How we see that in our world today—especially our religious world.

11/  I Corinthians 1: 21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Here we see human wisdom, and he tells us the world by wisdom knew not God. 

I Corinthians 3: 19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

So much wisdom is not to be coveted after. 

12/  But true wisdom comes from above. 

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

This wisdom is not to be found in the natural man, in the old nature. It is from God, it is from above. 

Let me show an example of this, Acts 6: 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

It speaks of Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom of the Spirit by which he spake. If we desire to have this wisdom, we too must get where he got it—from above.

13/  There are eight things about this wisdom from above, and we would like to show them to you. The first is, pure. The first result of wisdom is purity, an impure man, though intelligent in other ways, has not begun to be wise. Purity begins in the mind. It is important, therefore, that we keep our thoughts  clean, We can’t help having evil thoughts come into our mind. They are all about us. We do not need to harbor those thought in our minds. 

14/  IMPURE HABITS Christians should be careful as to their habits. Of course they shouldn’t enter into a tavern, or drink alcoholic beverages—not to excess, but even in moderation, much better to leave it alone. They do not add to purity. We must give current culture a wide berth.   

15/  PURE IN MOTIVES This means why do we do things? Not for self-gratification, not to heap honor upon ourselves, but rather to glorify the Lord Jesu Christ. 

I Timothy 5: 25 Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

Paul says in writing to Timothy, Keep thyself pure. 

16/  PEACEABLE  This is the second element of wisdom. If a man or woman is quarrelsome, they do not demonstrate wisdom from above. There were many in the early Jewish churches showing bitter zeal and were striving for pre-eminence and they brought turmoil and confusion rather than peace. One who is peaceful will seek rather to put an end to bitterness and animosity, to keep strife and arguing down. 

17/  GENTLE

II Corinthians 10: 1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. How gentle Jesus Christ was with Nicodemus, and with the woman at the well of Samaria. He was never hard on anyone except religious hypocrites. Then Paul was very gentle. 

I Thessalonians 2: 7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:

He would write, we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children. 

II Timothy 2: 24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

18/  FULL OF MERCY  It is wonderful to be merciful, but I am sure it is quite another thing to be full of mercy. Mercy, again, we must instruct you, is not giving you what you deserve. That means some around you may deserve to have you treat them harshly, but you don’t give them what they deserve. You are full of mercy.

19/ GOOD FRUITS  The word, full, applies to good fruits, as well as to mercy. And of course, immediately, Galatians 5: 22, 23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit is love.

20/  WITHOUT PARTIALITY  A man who has wisdom from above will have an impartial and pure motive. He will not favor one person above the rest. Not just those who have money, not just those who have influence in life, those who are far up on the ladder. One who has wisdom will not be a name-dropper, always talking about people of pre-eminence he knows and he deals with and he talks to.

21/  WITHOUT HYPOCRISY  We generally think of hypocrite as one who professes to be a Christian, but is really not. This they do to help their business, or to gain respect, or to keep people off their backs. But hypocrites can be believers. Believers can show hypocrisy at times. We profess to love one a great deal who we really despise, and we act hypocritically. Let us never be like Judas, who kissed the Lord Jesus and then betrayed Him. Some talk and act as though they are very generous, but they really are stingy. So someone who is without hypocrisy will not profess to be someone he is not. You can depend on what he says. He is perfectly honest and sincere.   

22/  So you can see that wisdom from above is what we are to get. Get it through the Word of God, mixed with the fear of God.

23/  The important point we want to see is found in the 2^nd chapter. 

Proverbs 2: 4, 5 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

In other words, it is a very difficult thing—it is not easy, it is not for the lazy. It is not for those who are willing to just drift with the tide. If you want wisdom, and wisdom is desirable, you have to pay a price. It doesn’t just come automatically to you. It is not something that is just bestowed without any labor. You must search for it with the Word of God as one that searches for a hidden treasure. 

24/  Verse 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 

So you see again, fear comes before knowledge. Knowledge of God is valueless without the fear of God coupled with it, united to it.

25/  Notice verse 6 For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.

He gives us wisdom, and we have the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of God that we have gained by great mental labor, by being diligent in our study of the Word of God, and paying the price to receive it.

AMEN

Ref: 06/01/1980 / 548-2 THE SCHOOL OF WISDOM / 03/15/2021