THE LORD OF GLORY

Photo by B Smith from the patio

615-1 THE LORD OF GLORY

June 21, 1981

 Henry F. Kulp

 

This morning I would like to lay aside the book of Proverbs, and share with you a study that has been a great blessing to me in the last months, and I hope you find it a real help in your everyday living.

1/ Here we have a title for Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory. He has many titles in the Bible, all describing Him so that you might understand something about Him. He is called the Rock, the Door, the Way, the Truth, the Son of Righteousness. But here He is called the Lord of Glory.

2/ Here we are told they would never have crucified Jesus Christ if they had known He was the Lord of Glory. In what way is He the Lord of Glory? What a tremendous contrast there is between crucify and the Lord of Glory. The one represents the deepest disgrace, and the other the highest exaltation and majesty. Jesus Christ did not enjoy the cross.

Hebrews 12: 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

He endured the cross, despising its shame, because He saw the glory on the other side. Men see only the shame—only the disgrace of the cross, but we, in this day and age when we study Paul, see Jesus Christ as the Lord of Glory.

A/ THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN ETERNITY PAST

1) JOHN 17: 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

Here we have one of the most striking utterances of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, which demonstrates His deity. If there were in the whole Bible no other statement revealing His Deity but this fifth verse, His deity would be forever established. The self-witness of our Lord as He spoke to the Father tells us two things—He was with the Father before the world ever existed, and He possessed glory with the Father, that outward glory, the very glory of God, for He is God. He left it behind when He came down to earth to be born in Bethlehem.

2) Christ is the only One Who came into this world Who knew that He had pre-existence. No one else knows anything about himself prior to his birth —as a matter of fact, he has no existence before his birth, but Jesus Christ did. Jesus Christ knew that He was eternal God, that He was the Second Person of the Trinity, and had existed always with the Father. But here His humanity speaks up. Now glorify My humanity, and that is exactly what God is going to do.

B/ THE GLORY OF HIS INCARNATION

1) LUKE 2: 13, 14 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Here we have he angel of the Lord, He comes upon the Shepherds, and it says the glory of the Lord shown round about them. There was glory in His birth. The glory of the Lord was manifested to prove this outward glory was Deity becoming flesh.

C/ THE GLORY OF HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY

1) John 1: 14 Here we read, The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.

God becoming a Man was deeply humiliating.

Philippians 2: 7, 8 It says, He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a slave, and was made in the likeness of man.

Hew was a slave to man, yet look at

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.

We read—notice the first words,—The Word was made flesh.

No greater or mysterious words were ever written than this simple clause, which opens the 14th verse. It is not in the passive voice, but in the middle voice, and it could be translated, the Word became flesh. He became flesh of His own volition and power, and here, the immaterial Logos takes on matter or flesh. He Who was previously invisible to our physical eyes could now be seen. Remember, He was the perfect Man. But now we have to ask the question, why does John use the term, “flesh.” Why doesn’t he use some other term, why does he not say, “The Logos became body?” This is the primary purpose for which Jesus Christ came into the world. We come into the world for the purpose of living. He really did not come for the same purpose. He came to die. There was to be the purpose of His death to redeem mankind from sin. It shows us that Jesus Christ did not merely become material, but He became fully man except for sin.

2) The Word, dwelt among us. Actually the Greek says, He tented OR PITCHED HIS TENT AMONG US, and that expresses a temporary aspect of the coming of the Logos. The tent is something that is used for a temporary dwelling, either by nomads or soldiers. It was not the purpose of Jesus Christ to come down here and live as long as He could. He could have lived much longer, but in 33 years He gave up His life.

3) Notice, it does not say, “I beheld” but “we beheld.” The Greek word translated, beheld, is a very intriguing one. it is a verb that is always used of actual, physical viewing, of something that is tangible—never of a spiritual vision. it is the actual viewing by the physical eyes of something tangible, because Jesus Christ had a literal, physical body. So this beholding has to do with physical eyes seeing something physical. i believe the Holy Spirit led John to use the Greek word in order to dispel a teaching that arose early in church history, a heresy called DOCETISM. Dough-seat-tism. Which taught that Christ had no material body and human nature. It was only an apparent body. They taught His eating, drinking, birth and death were so many illusions. Of course, God knew this heresy would arise, and inspired the use of this word. The body of Jesus Christ was real and could be seen during His earthly life. This is the glory of His person, but it took someone who believed in Him to see this glory, to appreciate this glory.

4) Then there is the glory of His supernatural works, for His mighty miracles proved Him to be more than mere man.

5) John 2: 11 The beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth His glory.

6) John 11: 4 And when Jesus heard about Lazarus’ illness, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

D/ THE GLORY OF HIS CRUCIFIXION

1) Without doubt, our Lord’s greatest glory while He was on the earth was the glory of His crucifixion. For He Himself considered it so.

John 12: 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

Here referring to His imminent death on the cross, He said, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. For at Calvary the Lord cast out Satan stripping him of any rights he had over man, guaranteeing his ultimate destruction and any right to reign in this world.

E/ THE GLORY OF HIS RESURRECTION

1) Matthew 28: 2 - 4 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.

This passage gives us some idea of the glory that was associated with our Lord’s resurrection from the dead, for the angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it, and his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake and become as dead men.

2) We know in resurrection He had a glorified body. Not that ultimate glory that Paul tells us about, but He did have a glorified body. You remember that Mary did not recognize Him, nor did the two on the way to Emmaus, nor did the Ten. As He suddenly stood in their midst. Rather they were terrified and afrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit.

Luke 24: 36 - 39 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.

F/ THE GLORY OF HIS ASCENSION

1) John 7: 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Here we are told with reference to our Lord’s earthly ministry that the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Even though He did have glory on earth, He did not have this greater glory in His physical humanity. it is very evident from Scripture that in our Lord’s ascension to Heaven, He would receive glory quite unique from anything that the humanity of Christ had heretofore experienced.

2) Acts 3: 13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

Here we have Peter saying the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our Fathers hath glorified His Son. He is in Heaven, and He is Lord and Christ to Israel if they will believe on Him, will receive Him, and He is glorified.

3) Philippians 2: 8 - 11 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Here it talks about Him being found in fashion as a man—He humbled Himself. He became obedient unto death, Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him and given Him a Name that is above every Name.

Because He has been glorified, He now has a Name that is above every Name, and at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

4) Ephesians 1: 21 - 23 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Here he talks about Him being set on the right hand in Heavenly places, far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion, that every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and He has put all things under His feet, gave Him to be Head over all things to the church. How beautiful this is —the Lord of Glory in Heaven right now. He is the exalted One, far above all.

H/ OUR GLORY IN CHRIST

1) 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.

He tells us here the suffering, the troubles, the trials, the tribulation that we face at this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. This should be a motivating fact in our everyday living. We should be able to be victorious over all the sufferings and problems of life because we keep our eyes on that glory that is going to be revealed to us.

2) Colossians 2: 20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

Our citizenship, our homeland is now existing in the heavens, from which also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall change our lowly body that it may be fashioned like His glorious body. We are going to have bodies that will be glorified, just as Jesus Christ has a body that is glorified.

NOTES:

We usually divide personality into three realms:

1/ Intellect - to know, to think, to understand. Here the Holy Spirit knows the deep things of God. He is also a teacher. The first prerequisite of a good teacher—he must know his subject.

2/ Emotion - feel and love.

Ephesians 4: 30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

3/ Will - a person can decide and act.

I Corinthians 12: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Capacity of will —nine spiritual gifts result if you will allow the Holy Spirit control of your will.

AMEN

Ref: 06/21/1981 / 615-1 THE LORD OF GLORY / 05/18/2022

NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH

Photo by B Smith from the patio

158 - NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH

June 23, 1963 

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

I Thessalonians 5: 4 - 10 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

There is an awful day coming upon this earth. It is called the Day of the Lord. It is the day of God’s wrath. But, praise God, this day is not for the believer—it is for the unsaved world. When the day of the Lord comes, we will be in Glory—in Heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. We belong to an entirely different dispensation. We belong to the day of Grace—not the day of Wrath. Why should a child of God’s grace, who is saved by grace, who is kept by grace, who has all these wonderful grace promises, be forced to go through a period, which, according to Scripture was expressly designed as a time of judgment upon a Christ-rejecting world. A world that has rejected God’s grace in Jesus Christ. We belong to the day—they belong to the night.

1/ Notice, Verse 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

We are not appointed to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. This passage tells us very clearly, our appointment is to be caught up to be with Christ. The appointment of the world is for the day of the Lord, the day of wrath. One cannot keep both of these appointments. I praise God I am not waiting for an appointment to a day of wrath, but I am waiting for the appointment when I shall be caught up to be with the Lord Jesus Christ and ever be with Him in the Heavenlies.

2/ This does not say that there will not be folks saved during this day, for there will be an innumerable company who will be saved, and they will be martyrs. Many will be saved after the church has gone to Heaven, but they will experience the awfulness of that period, and the wrath of God as poured out upon the earth—it will involve them also. When an atomic bomb explodes over a city, in the tribulation it will kill believers as well as those who are nonbelievers. They will participate in the awful trials and troubles of that day.

3/ Revelation 6: 2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Here we read that when this day of the Lord starts, it will start with peace, but it will not last very long, for in Revelation 6: 4 we read, There went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereupon that he should take peace from the earth, that they should kill one another.

There was given upon him a great sword. Wars will be everywhere, as we read in Matthew 24 Kingdom shall rise against kingdom and nation against nation, and those who are saved will be caught up in this awful time of killing, and I believe this will be a war between classes and races. We can see all of this heading up right now—the awful hatred that is in the world, between peoples, between nations, between races, between classes. Just take the poor people throughout the world, and they despise those who have. All this is going to break out in a terrible war. Strife will be everywhere.

4/ Revelation 6: 5, 6 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Here we have famine, inflation, and the saved people are going to be caught up in this inflation and the famine that will sweep over the world like a scourge.

Then in Revelation 6: 8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

He tells us about pestilences, 500 million will die, and certainly there will be Christians— those who will be saved after the Church, the Body of Jesus Christ leaves this earth, and they will take part, and they will feel the bitterness of these pestilences. Yes, an awful day is coming, and I am glad we are appointed, not to wrath, but to be caught up with the Lord Jesus Christ.

5/ Sandwiched in between here we have instructions to believers. It is true we are appointed not to wrath, but we are appointed to live for the Lord Jesus Christ.

I Thessalonians 5: 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

The children of light must realize that certain moral standards go with their position. They are to be different from the children of darkness. Certainly we do not have the same moral standards, certainly we do not have the same type of life. One is a child of light and the other is a child of darkness. But we have a group of Christians out in Hollywood who have so influenced the world that they have the idea that they can do the same things, only in a different spirit. They can go before the world in the movies and portray the part of a harlot or a drunkard or a murderer and it is perfectly all right. We, as Christians, have to recognize that we are of light, not of darkness.

6/ There must always be a difference between those who are saved and those who are unsaved. Jesus Christ said, and He brought this out in this passage, Matthew 12: 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

7/ Then, Titus 2: 11, 12 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

8/ Then Paul continues, let us not sleep as do others. And, here, Paul uses another figure. First, we are children of light, the world are children of darkness. Here we are to be awake, where the world is said to be asleep. Do you realize that God has much to say about believers sleeping. The possibility is here, and many who are saved must be asleep or God wouldn’t have too much to say in His Word about Christians sleeping. Paul mentions it quite a few times.

9/ We can call these passages God’s alarm clock. The word, Sleep is used in Scripture in a three-fold sense. There is the physical act, which is indeed a blessing. God made glorious provisions for physical recuperation by this process, but many of us want too much of a good thing, and often it is our undoing.

The word of God says, Proverbs 20: 13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

And then as we go on in Proverbs, and go back to Proverbs 6: 10, 11 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: so shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth and they went as an armed man.

While the body has given us rest, it has made many a man a beggar.

10/ The second use of the word, has to do with physical death—the separation of the inward man from the outward man. This is a beautiful and blessed usage of the term. if there is anything more welcome than sleep when you are tired and worn out, I don’t

know what it would be. So it is with the child of God when he dies. The child of God has no occasion to fear death, nor to regret it. he is absent from the body and present with the Lord. You remember when Jesus Christ was going to see Lazarus, He said, Lazarus, sleepeth—but the disciples misunderstood Him, so he said plainly, Lazarus is dead.

John 11: 11 - 14 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

11/ Then there is another symbolic use of the word, sleep, and as it is used in our text. Iit means to stop spiritual activities. Those who are not working for God. God uses many symbols to picture the one who is not working for God. A sleeping saint is insensible to his own condition, and to the danger of others—he never hears a child who wails because something is happening to him, he does not hear one who is out in the water and is drowning. Because he is asleep.

12/ In the Old Testament, God uses the picture of sleep with the child of God.  

Isaiah 56: 10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

Here the mighty prophet of ancient time has pointed out the danger of spiritual slumber, for he said, His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs down laying to sleep. Here are the D. D.’s of Israel’s time. They are called dumb dogs. Here, were men who were called upon to watch and to warn of impending danger, but they absolutely failed. Instead of warning of danger, they were asleep.

13/ We have another example of that in the Word of God.

Jonah 1: 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

I cannot help but think of the story of Jonah, for we read, Then the mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his god. Now, notice, this, they were gods who were not gods, they were gods who could not help them, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship and he lay fast asleep. Think of it. He was in danger—he didn’t know it, and people all about him were in danger, and he didn’t know about them, because he was asleep. But let us not

be too quick to point the finger of scorn at this prophet until we examine our own spiritual welfare. Perhaps we will discover that we have been asleep to the voice of God as well.

14/ Luke 9: 32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.

Here Luke takes us to the top of the Mount of Transfiguration, and gives us a picture of the Christ with His three intimate disciples. Peter, James and John, and here we read that Jesus was transfigured before them and Moses and Elijah appeared before them. But in this verse we read, but Peter and they that were with Him were heavy with sleep. And when they were awake, they saw His glory and two men that stood with Him. It is only when God’s people are awake that they have the joy and privilege of beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sleeping saints see nothing, and as a result they miss the blessing that God has for them. God forbid that our Lord should find our eyelids so heavy with sleep that we do not see His glory or the dangers that are about us.

15/ Here we have another illustration taken from the Old Testament that I feel is very important in this point of our study.

Judges 16: 19, 20 And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.

While asleep this strange, but interesting character found himself stripped of his power, and he lost his eyes so that he would never again be able to open them. This, indeed was a costly sleep for the man to whom God had entrusted so much of His power in the day. Oh, that we be would not be like Samson, and have God strip us of our power and our sight.

16/ Romans 13: 11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

Now notice this, and knowing that it is high time to wake out of sleep, the question that is posed by this Bible verse, is What time is it? Paul tells us clearly it is time to get up. It is time to be awake.

17/ Then notice, Ephesians 5: 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

Did you ever get the picture that is here? It is one that makes sense. It is not a very pretty picture, but it is the picture of people sleeping in a cemetery. It is a picture of the child of God sleeping among the dead, in the tombs and the graves. Not a very pretty picture at all, but that is what is happening in the world today.

18/ I Corinthians 15: 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Notice, those who are asleep have no vision.

19/ Ephesians 5: 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

He says, Awake and arise, this is what the Holy Spirit calls upon us to do. To arise, is an appeal to action, and hence it is more of a command than it is an appeal. It is one thing to wake up, it is another thing to get up. You wake up when an alarm goes off in the morning, but you don’t always get up. Christians can suddenly wake up and realize that about them there are problems, and they are not living as they should, and they are not going forth and working in activity for God, as they should, but they just do not arise. They just wake up and that is all. They soon go back to sleep again.

20/ I Thessalonians 5: 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Here, it tells us that we are to obtain salvation. And this means deliverance from this day of wrath that is coming. Then he adds in Verse 10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

We should not be sleeping, but sharing this Good News with all we know, love and come in contact with.

AMEN

Ref: 06/23/1963 / 158 - NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH / 05/16/2022

WHY BELIEVERS SING

Photo by B Smith from the Patio

395-1 WHY BELIEVERS SING

December 18, 1977

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

Colossians 3: 16, 17 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

This is a very important passage in the Bible, and it is very intimately linked with 

Ephesians 5: 18 - 20 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

In Ephesians 5 we are instructed to not be drunk with wine, but to be filled with the Spirit. 

Here in Colossians 3: 16 we are told we are to be filled with the Word of Christ.

1/  The Holy Spirit cannot control your life unless you are filled with the Word of Christ. Now the Word of Christ, I believe is a very special title—it does not appear anywhere else in the bible, and it means the Scripture that God gave to Paul—the special message that God gave to Paul—so if you do not know doctrine, you cannot be filled with the Sprit.

2/  We told you the words, LET DWELL—N-OY-KET-O and it means to DWELL INSIDE, TO INDWELL, TO INHABIT AS ONE WOULD IN A HOME. So the Word of Christ is to find a home in your mind. The word, RICHLY IS PLU-SEE’-OCE and it mans, SATURATION. So if the Holy Spirit is to control you, you must be saturated with the Word of God.

3/  The punctuation in the Authorized Version—the King James Version does not bring out the three parts clearly and distinctly. But there are three different, clear and distinct commandments here.

1)  First of all we are told that the Word of Christ must dwell in us richly.

2)  Thus equipped and controlled by the truth, we will be able to bless and help others. For He tells us in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. What we have been given is not for ourselves alone. We are to be ready to communicate.

3) Then in the third place, thus controlled by the Word of God and communicating this truth to others, our lives will be lyrical and our hearts will be filled with melody and we will be a singing believer.

4/  Christianity sings. The world sings because it has to keep up its happiness. The world has to have songs to help them forget their terrible plight, but not so with the believer. Our songs are natural. We don’t have to have songs to make us happy. We have songs to help us sing out our joy, and what would we do without them? It is hard to be down in the mouth when singing of His Grace.

5/  Let us look at the first part of that verse—that the Word of Christ may dwell in us to the point of saturation. We said there is a relationship between this Scripture and Ephesians 5: 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Most people have the wrong idea of what it means to be filled with the Spirit. They go back to the Pentecostal program where the Holy Spirit took over the believer, and that is why they were able to have all things common, sell everything they had, and the Scripture says they were of one heart and one soul and one mind. But that is not what we have today.

(Editor’s Note: What the early church had at Pentecost is a preview, a foretaste of the Millennial Reign of Christ on earth—living as one in perfect harmony. Satan imitates every program of God and his attempt to imitate Christ’s Reign on earth is Communism / Socialism which is a perversion of God’s plan. Satan is no match for God.)

6/  To Fill is a present, passive, imperative verb. Imperative means tense—we are to be constantly, continually filled. And then thirdly, it is a passive verb, followed by a dative action and it indicates the Filler. If it had been the passive verb, followed by the genitive case, it would mean possession. It would mean the Holy Spirit would fill you with Himself. That is not the case here. Rather, the Holy Spirit is the agent that fills you with something else, and what is that something else? 

Colossians 3: 16 tells us the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher Who takes the Word of God as you learn it and memorize it and applies it to your life.

7/  Because you are filled by the Word and the Holy Spirit is the Agent that is teaching you, you now have a responsibility to communicate what you have learned—in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. We do need wisdom when we teach and admonish one another. 

8/  The Word, teach, is DID-DOSK-O it is used to mean to teach with authority—to teach a group with authority. it is never used for a one-on-one teaching. So as we gather together in the local assembly, we have a classroom, and we are to teach one another.

9/  The word, admonishing. TO INSTRUCT SO AS TO WARN. When we teach and understand the Bible we warn one another, teaching and admonishing go hand in hand. The words, ONE ANOTHER in the Greek should be, TO SELF AND OTHERS. We need to learn before we can teach.

10/  Now we come to the third part of that verse—songs and hymns and spiritual songs. We are to be a singing assembly. I am positive singing is not to be ritualistic—it is meaningless unless there is doctrine. You know, many hymns are not doctrinal. As a matter of fact, many of them are anti-doctrinal. Many of our song writers have never heard doctrine, and so they do not make good songs or hymns for the Christian church.

11/  Let me show you something about singing in the book of Psalms.

Psalm 13: 5, 6  But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Here we have the Psalmist singing because of the providential dealings of God with him. His heart if filled with gratitude because of the abundant grace and mercy which has been manifested toward him. I have trusted I will sing. One who trusts God will be a singing individual. One who realizes that God has dealt with him far in excess of what he deserves, he will be a singing believer.

12/  Exodus 15: 1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

Here we have Moses, when we think about him we think he was too busy to be bothered with singing. He carried the woes and worries fo a great nation upon his shoulders. How could he sing? Israel got into trouble and got into sin so often and rebelled against God and against Him. We read then sang Moses and the Children of Israel the song of the Lord. He and Israel could not help lifting their voices in song to God after they were delivered from the rider and his company.

13/  Matthew 26: 30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Even in the shadow of the cross the Lord Jesus Christ sang. For it tells us in this verse, after they had sung a hymn they went out into the mount of Olives. In a very short time, He was to die the most terrible of all deaths, He was to be made sin for us, yet He sang a hymn and rejoiced in the hope of resurrection, and of Divine vindication.

14/  The believer sings not only when the sun shines brightly, but also in the darkest of nights. 

Acts 16: 25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

What did he have to sing about? Here we have Paul and Silas locked in prison in Philippi. Their feet are fast in stocks but they are singing unto the Lord. They were in a terrible situation, yet they can’t help but sing. I am convinced that they didn’t sing in a real dignified, ritualistic way—they just lifted their hearts and literally boomed out concerning their God. 

(Editor’s note: Casting all their cares upon Him—the word casting means to slam it down before the Lord—maybe even saying, Lord, I can’t deal with this situation, please take it and You deal with it. Not in anger, but in complete submission and trust that He can deal with it.)

15/  There is another thought about singing that we had better get straight in our minds. Christians cannot sing when they are not motivated by the Spirit when they are not filled with the Word and they are out of fellowship with God.

Psalm 137: 3, 4 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Here is a principle that is true in every age. Israel, because of their sin had been carried into battle and made captive. They were in a backslidden state. Their captives required of Israel a song, knowing that they were a singing nation, and the Babylonians wanted to be entertained, but they could not sing. They had no song—they had lost their song.

16/  Notice, we are to sing Psalms. The hymnbook of the Bible is the Psalms. I know there are churches where they think it is all right to sing Psalms only. They are wrong, for this verse goes beyond Psalms, hymns and songs.

17/  Psalm 59: 16, 17 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Notice this, because I will sing of Thy power, yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning. Do you know how to get started right in the morning? It is to sing unto the Lord, sing His praises. Sing of His goodness. I was always taught that when you get up in the morning, if you sing before breakfast you’ll cry before supper, but I don’t believe that. Here we are told to wake up singing. What better way to start the day!

18/  Zephaniah 3: 17

Do you realize the very God Who calls upon His people to sing, likewise sings? The Lord God Who was in the midst of Thee is mighty. He will save, He will rejoice over Thee with joy, He will rest in His love, He will joy over Thee with singing.

Listen, our God is a singing God. It thrills my heart to realize that fact. In this portion. 

Zephaniah 3: 14 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Israel is commanded to sing. What are they to sing about? Israel’s day of deliverance, and here is the King of Israel in her midst. the Lord’s presence is there, and He is the source of all their blessedness, and as a Bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so the Lord rejoices over His people and He sings to them. Imagine what men and women and their ability to sing, but here we have God pictured as singing. Imagine what that will be like. 

19/  James 5: 13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. Is any merry? Let him sing songs.

20/  We are to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. What is the difference? A hymn is usually addressed to God, something like HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY,” “I AM THINE, O LORD, I HAVE HEARD THY VOICE.” 

Then we come to Psalm—a Psalm is just a Psalm set to music, and as we said, the Psalms are just the songbook of Israel.

21/  Then we come to spiritual songs, SONGS OF PRAISE. For example, a song of testimony, what the Lord has done for you, LOVE LIFTED ME, WHEN NOTHING ELSE COULD HELP, LOVE LIFTED ME. Or, REDEEMED, HOW I LOVE TO PROCLAIM IT, REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. Then also, ALAS, AND DID MY SAVIOUR BLEED, AND DID MY SOVEREIGN DIE, WOULD HE DEVOTE THAT SACRED HEAD FOR SUCH A WORM AS I?

22/  The one who is Spirit-filled with the Word of God, will be a singing believer. I am always leery of the one who does not love to sing. It has nothing to do with your ability to sing, or the quality of your voice. It is a matter of being filled with the Word of Christ.

AMEN

Ref: 12/18/1977 / 395-1 WHY BELIEVERS SING / 05/14/2022