GOD AND THE WORM

299 - GOD AND THE WORM

June 27, 1965

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 8: 30 - 34 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. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 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? 33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 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.

Last week we spent our time showing you that in Romans 8 the God-Head is for us--God the Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son, and of course, since all members of the Trinity are for us, no one dare be against us. What a wonderful position to be in, as a believer in Jesus Christ. If anything can cause you to say Hallelujah, this should.

1/ As I read this portion of Scripture, my mind automatically goes back to the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah 41: 11 - 14. Behold, all they that are incensed against thee, shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contend with thee: they that war with thee they shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. 13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

This verse tells us that God was for Israel, and of course, this was in a physical way. This is in an earthly way. And God said to Israel--Behold, all they that are incensed against thee, shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shall seek them, and shall not find them, even them that contend with thee:

God said to Israel, you will have enemies--you will have those who are incensed against thee, but what will happen to them? In the long run, they will be ashamed and confounded, they shall be as nothing, and those that strive with thee, they are sure to perish, and when you go to seek them, you will not find them. Certainly, Israel would have said physically here, as far as physical enemies are concerned. If God is with us (Israel), where are the folks who can be against us? They may have been against them, but they didn’t prevail.

2/ But then we come to vs. 14 and we have one of the delicate ironies of Scripture, and this verse brings out so clearly the nothingness of man, and the wonderful power of God on his behalf. Notice what God said to the nation--your enemies will not prevail against you, they will be as nothing, then He says, Fear not, thou worm, Jacob, I will help thee. My, what a partnership! God and the worm. How much Israel lost because they didn’t recognize what they really were. They were worms. When men form a partnership, one man puts up money, another man puts up experience or some other simple division of their various assets, but when we form a partnership with God, He demands that we do it on His terms. We put up weakness, and He puts up strength. We put up sin and He puts up grace, or righteousness. We cast in our nothingness, and He answers with His all-ness. God and the worm. God says, let not anyone dare attack that partnership, but how loath the children of Israel were to accept their own bankruptcy, to have His fullness.

3/ Actually, the same is true today. You will notice that in the New Testament, as we studied last Wednesday night, God said, and by God we mean Jesus Christ, that the Gentiles were dogs, and finally the Jews became serpents and a generation of vipers, and here He calls them worms. They haven’t anything--nothing to offer. The partnership that is formed between the nation Israel and God is strictly all God. 

Today we are in a position where we haven’t anything to offer God, but He brings everything to us, for notice in these verses what He has to say. If God, be for us, who can be against us? He 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 anything to the charge of God’s elect. It is God Who justifieth. It is God--we are not doing a thing here. It is all on God’s side. Take your position before God as a worm and allow Him to do everything for you.

4/ You will notice in the beginning of vs. 31--What shall we then say to these things? This, of course, is a question, and it follows after all these wonderful truths that have been revealed. You will notice in the rest of the chapter Paul sets forth solid answers that must be given to those things by the believer in Jesus Christ. First of all, God is for us. Then in vs. 32 is the second, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things. I do not believe we think enough of what it meant to God the Father to give His Son. Did you ever stop to think what a home is like when the one who is loved, the best in the home is taken away? I wonder what Heaven was like when the Lord Jesus Christ left and came down to this earth. He gave up everything He had and came down here to have nothing. 

I think you remember Calvin Coolidge who was president of our nation. While he was in office, his boy died. I think the boy was about 17. His son was in school and he was on the athletic field, and he had an accident. I think he stepped on a nail, or something, and blood poisoning set in and the doctors couldn’t save him. After that, Mr. Coolidge had no interest. He lost interest in practically everything, he did the work of his office as best he could, and I don’t think any president was more conscientious, but he lost interest, and when they asked him to run for the second term and he said, no. They asked him for his reason, and all he would say is, I do not choose to run. He wouldn’t say any more than that--he had lost all interest, and he told some folks in private that it was with the death of the boy, he lost interest in life. 

This is not true with God the Father, but I believe it must have been awful for the Father to give up His Son to come down to this earth. In the Gospel of John at least 40 times John quoted Jesus Christ as saying, “I did not come of Myself.” God the Father sent Him here, and He saw God the Son mistreated here on this earth, cast out, hated, finally killed. You will remember, all through HIs ministry, men tried to kill him.

5/ This is a picture of love.

6/ Just this past while back, I was thinking when love began in the Bible, when it was first mentioned in the Bible. You have heard of the law Theologians use called the law of first-mention. In other words, if you want to find the truth out about something, you go to the first time it is mentioned and you will find that it is usually in that same setting throughout the Bible. Love is first mentioned in Genesis 22: 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

And so, how is love mentioned, how is it used in this portion of Scripture? God said, take now thy son, thy only son whom thou lovest, and of course, offer him up. This is the beginning of love in the Bible, and what is it? It is the love of a father for his son. It is the love of a father for a son whom the father was to offer up for a sacrifice. Of course, this is a picture of Calvary, of the cross, a beautiful picture of Calvary. Abraham is the only one in the Bible who stands as a type of a father offering up his son. God said to Abraham, take your son, the son that you love, your only son. Abraham had another son, Ishmael, but God said I don’t recognize him. Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest and offer him up--that is the beginning of love in the Bible.

7/ I want you to recognize the nails that were hammered through the Savior’s hands, were driven through the Father’s heart. The spear that rent the Savior's side, left its mark in the Father’s bosom. The Father suffered both with and in the Son.

8/ (This should be with God and the Worm) As I was thinking of the nation Israel, I thought of another Scripture about God with them. Jeremiah 20: 11 There we read, The Lord is with me as with a mighty terrible one. The best translation I can find of that passage, is THE LORD IS WITH ME AS A MIGHTY GIANT, WHO IS AFRAID? And I believe that is the meaning behind this Scripture. It is a picture of a little boy who has been bullied by the larger boys in the neighborhood, and he is terribly afraid. He is afraid to go out of the house. He is afraid to go out and play because he is constantly being hammered by the other boys. Then one day his father comes to him, and says, Son, let’s go down to the corner store. And to go to the corner store with his father meant he had to go by the bullies who were always there. But now he is not the least bit afraid to go. He walks down the street with his father, and his hand is held in his father’s hand, and he is not the least bit afraid. The neighborhood bullies were there--he sees the boys who have hit him, but he is not afraid, because he has someone who can protect him, someone who is greater, stronger, and mightier than all the bullies in the neighborhood, and that is the picture here. Jeremiah said, the Lord is with me as a mighty giant, and if God is for me, who can be against me? There is no bully who can stand against this giant.

9/ I want you to notice the words, He that spared not His own Son. These are words that are very important for us to notice. Many do not seem to know that God is righteous and holy and that He must punish sin. They think they can live about as they please in this world, and somehow God will spare them and not send them to hell, but this verse shows the folly of all that. 

Have you ever noticed this phrase, spared not? In the Bible. Turn to II Peter 2: 4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement; The fact that God spared not His angels that sinned tells us that He will not spare because of the excellency in any of His creatures. Angels greatly excel us in strength and beauty, but when they sinned judgement was immediately pronounced upon them, so don’t think because of excellency, because of beauty, because of strength, because you are in a favored position to God that you will be spared when you sin, for, you won’t. Sin brings damnation, and that’s all it can bring. One may be a great man of the world--a king, a President a Statesman, an industrialist, a scientist, but none of these things will cause God to spare in the day of judgment, for these great men are sinners, and sin must be judged.

10/ II Peter 2: 5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; We have the same expression--spared not--there it speaks of the sinners who lived before the flood of Noah’s day--how many perished in that flood, I cannot determine, but one thing is certain, a great number of souls lost their lives at that time. But now the important lesson for us to see is because there were many that did not cause the Lord to spare them. You might say--look at the great number who are not saved--that does not matter--numbers will not cause God to deter judgment upon sin.

11/ Then in the 6th vs. And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; He mentions the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Although Peter does not use the same expression--spare not--the thought is still the same. None of these great cities were spared excepting Lot and his two daughters. Sin swept them all away.

12/ Here in Romans 8: 32 we read the same thing--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? Sin is such a terrible thing that before a single sin could be forgiven, or a single sinner pardoned, and made righteous, Christ had to die on the cross to pay for that sin, and to die in the place of the sinner.

13/ But notice the rest of Romans 8: 32. But delivered Him up for us all. Now you notice the expression delivered Him up. That means there was a time when God gave the Lord Jesus Christ up--delivered Him over. Gave Him up to something. Notice, the verse doesn’t say God gave Him to us, but it says God delivered Him up for us. And I think if we try, we can find out what the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered up to, then we can understand this verse. There was a time when the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered up to suffering.

14/ Let us study the Garden of Gethsemane experience, I think we ought to read this story and understand it. I don’t care how many times you’ve read it--I think every time you read it you will find something you did not notice before. Luke 22: 53. When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. 

Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane was facing something that made Him tremble, or we could say, that made Him shudder, that might be a better word, and He cried out, Father, isn’t there some other way? Must it be that I drink this cup?

Luke 22: 42 - 44. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 44 and being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Then He went back to His disciples and He came back into the Garden and fell on His face--flat on His face--and He prayed again. But there was no answer from Heaven to that prayer. That is the point I want you to see. There was no answer from Heaven to that prayer. Three times He did this and He was so weakened that an angel came and strengthened Him. He didn’t have the strength to see it through physically. So, God sent an angel to strengthen Him, but there was no answer from Heaven. Then He comes out of the Garden and in Luke 22: 53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

He met Judas and Judas had a company of soldiers with the Scribes and Pharisees and the priests, and they were armed with staves. They were armed to take Him. Jesus Christ said, When I was daily in the temple with you, you stretched forth no hand against Me, but this is your hour. Notice, these next five words--the power of darkness. That is where Jesus Christ was handed over to the power of darkness. From that moment, He had no word of help from Heaven. On the cross He said, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Remember, it wasn’t the men that took Him—it was the powers of darkness that took Him and held Him. 

Up to this time an angel had helped Him, but from this time on He has no help. No angel helped Him at Calvary, no angel helped Him when He was in the hands of His tormentors. They slapped His face, they spit upon Him. You have to be close to a man’s face to spit in his face, and they pulled the hair from His face while they were slapping Him. They blind-folded Him and bound Him.

15/ It would be just as if you were walking through a path in the woods, and there sprang out of the bush a mad man with a weapon in His hand coming toward you. You can imagine how you would be startled. That is exactly the picture you have here.

16/ Notice the wording of this verse. 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? It doesn’t say, He shall freely give us all things--it says how can He help but give us all things. How is it possible if God has done this in giving His Son that He would withhold anything from us? It is impossible for Him to withhold anything from us, because He gave His Son for us--He gave us all that He had--He gave His all.

17/ Then notice the word, freely. It is a Greek word DOE--RAY--ON and it means without a cause, without a price. ...how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

John 15: 25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

Ref: 06/27/1965/ 299 - GOD AND THE WORM / 3/29/2020

OUR RISEN EXECUTOR

Photo taken from B Smith's Kitchen Window

78 - OUR RISEN EXECUTOR 

August 23, 1964

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 5: 9 - 11 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through hm. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” 

As we start our message this morning, I want you to see something about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, for you will notice in the 10th vs it says we shall be saved by His life, and I want you to understand that statement this morning, and I don’t want you to be confused. To begin with, have you noticed about the blood of Christ in the Book of Romans? I want you to see how important the blood of Christ really is. 

Romans 5: 9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Justification is everything. Justification is God looking at you and not seeing any of your sins, not seeing your lost condition, but pronouncing you righteous when you are not righteous. And pronouncing you saved just because you believe.

1/ Everything we have in Christianity has been purchased, and I do not hesitate to use the word, purchased. Acts 20: 28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” And here you have the actual word, purchased—the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood. So justification is everything, and it has been purchased by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, notice, Romans 3: 25. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” There you see it is faith through His blood. People ask me what do they have to believe to be saved? They have to believe in the blood of Jesus Christ, and that includes everything. 

2/ But let us take it another step on the way. Romans 8: 30. “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. And notice, whom He justified, He also glorified—there is nothing between. If you have been justified than you are sure to be glorified. It is an accomplished fact. It is sure. So you see how important the blood of Jesus Christ really is? Without it you have nothing. It isn’t the life of Christ that saves, it is the death of Christ, yet Romans 5: 10 says “we are saved by His life.” What does it mean? Notice, “we shall be saved by His life,” and, of course, this is His life after death. What is this all about? By the death of Christ everything has been bought and paid for, for us, and the moment we believe in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, everything is ours. But do you realize there is no advantage in being a beneficiary unless the testator has wealth to meet the provision, and dies while the will is in force. 

Hebrews 9: 16, 17 “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” For where a testament is—a testament is a will. I know you know that phrase, we still use it—last will and testament, and then it says there must of also of necessity be the death of the testator. A testament is a will that can only be fulfilled by the death of the one who makes it. He had to die to make the will good. A will is of no value whatsoever until the one has died and then we get the blessings from it. The will is enforced after men are dead. Notice, Vs 17 where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 

3/ Now go back to the 15th vs. For this cause He is the mediator of the New Covenant of the new will, and that by means of death. The 16th vs the death of the testator, 17th vs. after men are dead. I want to show you this fact in the Book of John, John 14: 27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is when Jesus Christ was telling his disciples that He had to leave them. In the beginning of the chapter, He said let not your heart be troubled, then He went on to tell them He is going back to the Father. Then in Vs 27 He says, “Peace I leave with you.” 

Now look at John 20: 19 “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” This was the day of the resurrection— the same day and evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, when the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. Notice, before He died, He said, Peace I leave with you—that was His will to the twelve—Now, after the resurrection He comes to be Executor of His will and He says, Peace be unto you. Now, you can have it. He is the Executor of His own will. He had to die or no one could have peace if He didn’t die. He left His peace, then notice, Vs 20 “and when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side”—as much as to say to them--this is the price of your peace. Peace be unto you, and He showed unto them His hands and His side. In other words, I died that you might have peace now. You are going to face many oppositions, you are going to be in an angry world, a world that hates Me, hates My gospel, and you need peace, and I died to give it to you. 

4/ But in Hebrews 9: 16, 17 “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.” For where a covenant is, a will is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. Vs 18 “Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.” Blood is the sign of death. 

The other night, I pulled into a gas station to get gas, and there was a car all smashed and there was blood all over it. Blood speaks of death, doesn’t it? Someone was killed in that car. Now notice this 18th Vs “Where upon neither the first will or testament was dedicated without blood. Vs. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to law, he took the blood of claves and of goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book and all the people.” 

I want you to turn to that in the Old Testament. Exodus 24: 6 - 8 “And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.” 

They said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient and Moses knew right well they couldn’t possibly do it. He knew they would be under the curse if they did try to do it, so he sprinkled the blood on them—it is the blood that saves. You can’t get to God by doing. Moses, you notice, didn’t care how nicely they were dressed either. I don’t know how many were nicely dressed, all dressed up in their best bib and tuckers, but they went away from that meeting sprinkled with blood, and that didn’t mean a thing to Moses. He was reading the law to them, and said, the law is not grace. I hope this morning you know the difference. The Lord Jesus Christ is not demanding anything in the Gospel of Grace, He wants you to come to Him and let Him save you. 

5/ THE GOSPEL DOESN’T DEMAND,—UNDERSTAND THAT, THE GOSPEL DOESN’T DEMAND. THE GOSPEL GIVES, GRACE GIVES AND NEVER STOPS GIVING. THE LAW DEMANDS, THE LAW WANTS SOMETHING FROM YOU, BUT GRACE IS THE VERY OPPOSITE. THESE PEOPLE CONDEMNED THEMSELVES BY PROMISING TO OBEY GOD, SO GOD SPRINKLED THEM WITH BLOOD TO SAVE THEM FROM THE CURSE OF WHAT THEY WERE SAYING. 

6/ Leviticus 17: 11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that taketh an atonement for the soul.” I have given you this verse again and again and if I continue to be pastor here, I’ll give it to you over and over again. Because it is so important, it should be marked in your Bible, and every Christian ought to know it. it is the foundation of the teaching the blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” 

It is only in the last 100 years that the medical fraternity has found that out—the life is in the blood. Doctors used to be called “leaches” and that was because they used to take blood out of a man to heal him. They don’t do that any more. They put blood into man now, to make him better. Moses said that 3,500 years ago, and medical men have just found it out. 

Some people seem to think the Bible is behind the times.The Bible has been waiting 3,500 years for men to catch up with it. It is still ahead of every profession. The basis of everything is the blood of Jesus Christ. So Christ had to die, and then He becomes the Executor of His will. God made a multitude of promises, but these promises were of no value until the death of the Lord Jesus Christ put them into effect, and now He is there to see that we are sure to get all benefits. He left us a vast estate, but how would it be managed? Would it be possible that our assets, this vast estate with all these promises to be dissipated away? Not with our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, He arose again from the dead, ascended to Heaven, sat down on the right hand of God, was made higher than the Heavens, and He became Executor of His own Estates. He lives in order to take care of us for whom He died. The argument of our text is, that since He died to make available to us all the riches of God, much more can we be sure of those possessions because He rose from the dead in order to manage our affairs. That is what He means in Romans 8: 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.” Who also liveth to make intercession for us.

7/ Notice, Leviticus 17: 11 “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given to you, (where) upon the altar.” Not in the veins, but on the altar. 

8/ Now look at Hebrews 9: 20 “Saying, this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.” The word, enjoined, means demanded. God demands it. There is no use arguing with God. There is no use thinking you can bring God a good life, and your baptismal certificate, and your church certificate and He will receive you. No, He says, I want blood, I demand blood, I enjoin blood. Why try to argue with God? Why try to do it any other way? 

9/ Romans 5: 11 “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” This verse, of course, belongs with the 10 Vs. Notice the word, JOY, It should be translated by the word “BOAST”. I like that— we boast in God. We have something to boast about. Not in ourselves, but in God. I can never understand why we are ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why we are ashamed of salvation. We are to boast in it. 

10/ How do you make your boast in God? Let’s look at some Scriptures and see some men who have boasted in God. 

11/ Psalms 71: 17 - 19 “O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed they strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. They righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!”

Let us look at David. “Oh, God, Thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto from that time forth I have declared Thy wondrous works.” He said, From my youth I have declared unto all men Thy works. I have boasted in Thy works. Now also, when I am old and grey-headed. O God, forsake me not, until I have showed Thy strength to this generation. And Thy power to everyone that is to come. He said, boosting is not only for the youth and middle-ages, but it is for the old folks as well--those in old age. Then in the 19th Vs “Thy righteousness”—I boast in Thy righteousness. Yes, David knew how to boast in God when He was young, and when he was old. 

12/ Psalms 86: 6 - 8 “Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.”

Not only did David boast in God in his old age, but also in the day of trouble, for David found there is none like unto our God, and he sings, “Give ear, O God, unto my prayer, and attend unto my supplications. In the day of trouble will I call upon Thee, for Thou wilt answer me.” 

13/ Did you ever listen to Moses boast in God? The great lawgiver? Exodus 15: 11 “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

Here is Moses singing after the Children of Israel had been brought through the Red Sea—“Who is like unto Thee, O God, among the gods. Who is like unto Thee? Glorious in Holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders.” Yes, Moses boasted in God, and so should we. 

14/ I wonder if you have ever noticed, just starting with the first Chapter of Romans, and going now to this fifth chapter, the great astounding distance we have traveled in this Book. In the first chapter, and the second chapter, and the third chapter he has shown that all men are sinners. He sums it all up in Romans 3: 23 by saying, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” But there is a verse in that 3rd chapter that I want you to see. Romans 3: 19 “For we know that what things so ever the law saith, it saith to those that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.” 

Notice this, all must stand silent in sin. Sin has closed the mouth of every member of the human race. All are condemned, ALL. 

Ref: 08/23/1964/ 78 - OUR RISEN EXECUTOR / 03/28/2020 

WAS THE HUMAN BODY OF JESUS CHRIST DIFFERENT?

Photo of flowers in B Smith's Garden

285 - WAS THE HUMAN BODY OF JESUS CHRIST DIFFERENT?

January 17, 1965, 
Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 8: 1 - 4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin an death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We said that the judgement day for the believer was at the Cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago. The judgement for sin was upon Jesus Christ, and therefore the believer cannot be judged for sin, because his sins have already been judged.
1/ Than we told you there are two laws, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is in every individual born into this world. It started with Adam and has continued from that day. But when one is saved, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which is the Holy Spirit begins to work in the life of a believer, and the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of life gives life to us, He quickens us from the dead. So, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed us from the law of sin and death.

2/ What is the basis for no condemnation, for having the Spirit of life to free us from the law of sin and death? It is all wrapped up in the 3^rd vs. God has intervened, sending His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. The weakness of the flesh demands the intervention of God. The weakness of the flesh is an impossible barrier to all the efforts of mankind. But it is not a barrier to God’s grace.  Therefore, Romans 8: 3 is the most important text in the Bible.
 

3/ Years ago, when I first came to Altoona, the church that I then pastored was having part in a week of prayer with some of the other churches of the neighborhood. In one of the of the larger churches co-operating with that week of prayer, was a pastor, and we met in his study to discuss the week of prayer. There was to be a meeting in a different church each night. And while we were there, the matter Fundamentalism and Modernism came up. The pastor of this church, who was a rank liberal said, The Apostle Paul mentioned the Virgin Birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He said you give me one Scripture where Paul ever said that the Virgin Birth was necessary. This very Scripture we have today would be incomprehensible without one that he could assume that Christ was God the Son, come into the world without a human father. The truth of the matter is that Paul simple took it for granted. He may not have used the words, Virgin Birth--but definitely, his doctrine would be foolishness without the assumption that Christ was a virgin-born individual.

4/ First of all, it says that God sent His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.  It should be noticed that it does not say that He sent His Own Son in the flesh or the likeness of flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. His body, indeed was a was a body of flesh before and after the His resurrection. This, of course, corresponds with 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. 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The flesh which the Lord Jesus Christ had was a physical body, and though it resembled our bodies in outward appearance, it was not made in the likeness of our sinful fleshly bodies. There was a difference so great between His body and ours that it is necessary for us to study the difference.

5/ So, let us look into the Bible and prove that the physical body of Jesus Christ differed from ours.  Acts 2: 23, 24 On the day of Pentecost, Peter introduced the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ by saying, Him, being delivered by the determined council and foreknowledge and knowledge of God, ye have been taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.

Notice, it is not possible that He should be beholden of death. Can this be said of our physical bodies? Of course, not. Then He quotes a prophecy in which in which Christ speaks of the nature of His Body, for He said, vs 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. What was this flesh that could not see corruption? Therefore, the Bible teaches that these forces of death which exist in all our bodies did not exist in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.        

6/ If you would have gone to the cross of Calvary and you would have been a medical examiner, you would have taken down the bodies of the two thieves and the body of the Lord Jesus Christ and seemingly, outwardly, they were both dying in the same fashion, and you were required to sign a certificate stating the cause of death, you would have to certify differently for the thieves and for Jesus Christ. These men who were dying beside the Lord Jesus, died from wounds and loss of blood. The Lord Jesus Christ, died because, when He was completely ready, His hour had come, He dismissed the Spirit.  John 10: 18 He declared flatly, No man taken my life from Me, I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. While the thieves were slowly dying, The Lord was in complete command of His life. Notice, He did not have His head rolling upon His breast in weakness--- He held it erect until the final moment when He bowed His head and gave up the Holy Spirit. He did not fade in weakness so that He could scarcely do more than whisper, for He cried out with a loud voice after six hours of that experience on the cross. His body did not die in the usual fashion. Notice, Luke 23: 46.  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit, and having said thus, He gave up the Ghost. Then notice, John 19: 30 And when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished, and He bowed His head. His head had not been bowed, it had not been rolling upon chest as one in great weakness. No, He was in command of all His faculties until the moment He dismissed His Spirit.   

7/ This should be at the beginning of the message. As we have been talking about being free from one law by another law, we have a beautiful illustration of this. 

There on the ground is a little caterpillar crawling. It is something that hated and despised by most people.  But this caterpillar has freedom to crawl about. It has power to crawl, perhaps, up a tree, along the ground, but it doesn’t have power to rise above the ground, or above something to crawl upon.  It cannot lift itself above the ground, it cannot fly. And it has to stay on the ground because of the Law of Gravitation. But after a while it encases itself in what we call a cocoon, and after a certain period of time, that little caterpillar comes out and it is a beautiful butterfly.  It now has wings and it is able to defy the Law of Gravitation. No longer is it earth-bound, but now it can fly above the earth through the air. The Law of Gravitation is still there, but another law came in. This is the law of flying with wings. And the wing gives this insect the ability to rise and to fly.  This is exactly what has happened to us. The law of sin and death has been overcome by the Law of Life in Christ Jesus. We have been set free from the law of sin and death and therefore there is now no condemnation to us who are in Christ Jesus.   

8/ But now back to the thought of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, the flesh of Jesus Christ.  It says that He was apart from sin. Luke 1: 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall over-shadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Where it says wherefore also that the holy Thing--that was the little body that was born, and it was a holy thing--it was infinitely holy. His flesh had no taint of sin. There has been an argument down through the years by some theologians as to whether Jesus Christ could have sinned. Of course, not. He would have to have the law of sin and death in Him to sin. But the possibility was not there, because He did not have sin in Him.   

9/ Why are we so careful to show the body of Jesus Christ, the flesh of Jesus Christ did not have the law of sin and death in Him? Why do we say it was not sinful flesh?  Because I want you to notice, Romans 8: 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

For sin, condemned sin in the flesh. What does that mean? The word (for), or “in the place of”, means that He was made an offering for our sin. And He judged sin, He condemned sin--He condemned sin--where? In His flesh. He had flesh without sin--we have flesh with sin, and when God judges sin it is in the flesh. But if God judges sin in our flesh, we would be lost forever.  But what does God do to save us? God takes the sin that is in our flesh, and puts it in His flesh--His holy flesh--and He died to pay the wage of sin. 

10/ I Peter 2: 24 Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.  Notice, it isn’t the preposition “on” it is the preposition “in”. Who, His own self bare our sins in His own body. He took our sin that was in our flesh, God gave Him flesh--He had to have a body of flesh, but it had to be Holy flesh, and God put the flesh that was in our flesh in His flesh, to suffer for us.  

11/ Galatians 3: 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 

This is what Jesus Christ did for you and me, and this was His flesh.  To understand this portion of scripture in Galatians, we must go back to Deuteronomy 21: 22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon a tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Jesus Christ was hanged upon a tree, accursed of God. And it says here, if a man hath committed a sin worthy of death, that means there is nothing else this man can suffer but death, his sin has to be paid for by death, he is to be hanged on a tree and buried the same day, less there be a curse from the Lord. This is exactly what Jesus Christ bore. All of us deserve to die in our flesh we are sinful, but Jesus Christ took our sin in His flesh and has set us free form the law of sin and death.  

12/ We cannot remove ourselves from the law of sin and death, only Jesus Christ is able to do that.  He, alone, is able to be made sin for us.

13/ Colossians 1: 21, 22.  Vs. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight: These verses tell us what we were, and it is a good thing, often, in our Christian lives to remember what the Lord saved us from. Sometimes we get the big idea in our daily work in Christian life that we are pretty good, we forget that God saved us from the pit, from the miry clay, from sin. He saved us and took our sins away. It is a good thing to remember that. 

14/ Notice vs. 22 In the body of His flesh through death. I want you to notice, there is no punctuation mark after reconciled of the 21^st vs. the last word of that verse, and it should read, (Yet, now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh). That at the cross we were reconciled in the body of His flesh through death. The only way that God and man could be brought together was for the Lord Jesus Christ into this world and take a human body, again stressing that Christ had to be human. He had to have a body of flesh. Scripture is clear, and Paul is clear.  It was in His flesh that He paid the price of our sin.

15/ Then notice, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you, how? Holy.  That’s what the Lord Jesus Christ is going to do for each believer, for each one who has believed in the death of His Son. By His death, He took sin away, and He is going to present you holy. The notice, the last words of this verse--in His sight. The Son is going to present us to the Father, and in the Father’s sight, we are holy, unblameable, unreprovable. My, what creatures we will be when the Lord Jesus Christ presents us to the Father. Not a stain of sin left, nothing to be reproached for. Every sin is gone. No judgement day for us.  Here again there is no judgement. Our judgement day is gone. When we are presented to the Father, and this is important, we will be HOLY, UNBLAMEABLE, UNREPROVABLE, and how can there be a judgement day for believers who are in this condition?    

16/ There isn’t another thing on God’s calendar until the Rapture. There is not another event scheduled. The work will go on, gathering sinners and making them saints, and of course, this is God’s work--all who believe on the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, will be made saints, but a day is coming--it is the day of presentation, when we will be presented to the Father. What a glorious day that will be.      

17/ Then notice, Colossians 2: 9 For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  In the Lord Jesus is the fullness of all the Trinity. Notice, the word, bodily. I read a rendition, a translation, the other day I liked very much. ALL THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD DWELLETH IN HIM IN A BODY. That is true, for Christ at the right hand of the Father in the Heavens, now has a human body, a body which God prepared for Him.  A body which was given to him when He was born in Bethlehem.  All the fullness of the Godhead lives in a human body, and that is wonderful.  He still has that body at the present time, that flesh. The Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, is a man just as much as He is God.  He is a true man. Then notice, in vs. 10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Ye are complete in Him.  To be complete means there is nothing left out, there is nothing lacking. 

What a wonderful thought. In this Christ, Who now lives in the Heavens, Who died in His flesh, and in His flesh took our sins. We are complete. What a marvelous, wonderful truth. 

Ref: 01/17/1965 / 285 - WAS THE HUMAN BODY OF JESUS DIFFERENT?/ 3/23/2020  

DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR FATHER?

Photo taken from B Smith's Window

208 - DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR FATHER? 

September 20, 1964

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

Romans 5: 12 - 15.  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all mane, for that all have sinned: 13 For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

This chapter has many hard things to say…things that you have to think through. But, the important ingredient in this chapter is that you must have faith in what God has to say. God wants you above all else to believe His Word, to believe what He has said. He doesn’t want you to call Him a liar. Let us show you in the Old Testament what God thinks of a man who believes what He has to say –has faith in His Word. 

Exodus 13: 18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

Now when Joseph was sold into Egypt, he became ruler in Egypt, and he brought his father Jacob and his brethren down. Joseph lived for some years after his family was there with him. But when he came to die he called his family about him and said, you are in Egypt, but God has given you Palestine, the Promised Land, and God is going to take you out of Egypt and put you into the Promised Land. That was faith –there was absolutely no evidence of it, but Joseph said, when you go, dig up my bones. Most folks don’t like to talk about disposing of their bones after they are dead. God noticed that and He was pleased, and God put it in the New Testament. 

Hebrews 11: 22 By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones.

Joseph when he was dying gave commandment concerning his bones. That is one thing in the life of Joseph that God put His finger on. Remember he was a mighty ruler, he saved the world from famine, he did great things, but God didn’t take notice of that in the New Testament, but rather in the New Testament He said when he was dying, he had faith. That is precious to God, and that is one thing that God has recorded in the 11^th chapter of Hebrews.     

1/ Then there is another example of faith that always stands out in my mind when I read my Bible. 

Exodus 14: 6 And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: Here, it is talking about Pharaoh, and it said he made ready and took people with him. And the 8^th verse says, And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children went with an high hand. And the 10^th vs. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children Israel cried out unto the Lord. Then notice the 13^th vs. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. 

That was faith – it was the faith of a man named Moses. Here he had the mountains to the left, the right. He had the Red Sea in front of him, and he had the Egyptians pursuing after him. Humanly speaking, there was no answer, but he was not afraid. He knew that God was going to deliver them. In the midst of the awful trial he was not afraid. We are told when he led the people out of Egypt, he was not afraid of the king’s commandment. So, you see, he had faith. He wasn’t afraid of Pharaoh anymore. My, how the modernists; the liberalists who claim to be Christians, are afraid of the miracles of the Bible. They don’t want to accept God’s Word. 

Exodus 15: 8 And with the blast of their nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. Here where Moses is singing the song of deliverance from the Red Sea, he has this in his song --- and with the blast of Thy nostrils, the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as a heap. 

I am sure you will recognize that you can’t possibly pile up water as you pile up bricks. But God can, God can pile up water as a heap, and I don’t have any trouble believing that. I like what Paul Rader said about the crossing of the Red Sea. He said that day many a fish bumped his nose into the wall and had to go back. It certainly was real to that fish. But modernist like to say there was a great wind and the wind drove the sea back and the wind parted the sea and there was a shallow place where the Children of Israel went over. But God said it was on dry ground, and He piled the water in a heap. There is no trouble for me to believe this ---God said it and I accept it by faith.

2/ God said He created man male and female, He created them Adam and Eve and put them in the garden.  Just as man refuses to accept that Adam and Eve were the first man and we all have come from Adam; just so human man does not want to accept the story of the fall of man.  Did you ever hear the foolish opinions that modernists put forth about the fall of man?  In the middle ages, in the dark ages, the notion of celibacy was introduced into the church.  And the natural union of man and woman was consequently regarded as evil, and out of this teaching came the thought that the forbidden fruit was the sex act. But God told the original pair to be fruitful and multiply the earth.  As a matter of fact, it was required of God, not forbidden by God.        

3/ Others have alleged the fruit was the grape, and that the original sin was drinking wine, which made man drunk.  Again, this is foolish, for since the fruit was eaten before the curse was passed upon the earth, before the flood, there was no fermentation, and there could be no wine.  So, the original sin was not drinking wine.  Then others have talked about eating an apple, but God doesn’t say anything about an apple here.  How men have distorted the fall of man. 

4/ The easiest way to understand a passage of Scripture is to accept it literally, just what it says.  This is true of many difficult passages in the Bible.  God placed man in the Garden of Eden and gave him dominion over everything except a few square yards of ground in the midst of the garden, where one tree was growing.  The fruit of this tree was forbidden to man, but to be absolutely technical, he was not forbidden to work around the ground on which the tree grew.  He was not forbidden to bask in its shade. He was not told he couldn’t look at the fruit nor he couldn’t touch. He was simply told he could not eat it. This prohibition was a symbol of man’s creature-hood that he was dependent upon God, and that he was in subjection to God.   

5/ Here lies the nature of the acts which man committed and by which sin entered into the world.  It was not enough for man to have everything with just one exception.  He immediately wanted that thing that was the exception.  It was as though he said, I know that I have everything north, south, east and west of this tree, but as long as I cannot eat the fruit of this tree, something is withheld from me. Do you know who I am?  I’m Adam, I’m Eve, and I’m superior to the animals which I have named, there is real injustice here, God is keeping something back from me. But I shall right that wrong. I will eat of the fruit of the tree, actually, it all came down to one thing --- disobedience to God, and comes down to one thing --- the rejection of God’s Word. And, so, salvation, then, is the acceptance of God’s Word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  

6/ All in Adam have sinned.  Adam is the federal head of the Race. He represents us all, and we have all come from him. How man loves to trace his ancestry...back a few generations, but we cannot trace them back too far. But we should remember, all of us go all the way back to Adam who was created by God.  People like to say, John gets his blue eyes from his mother’s side, or Mary gets her red hair from her father, and some people will even go so far to say, He inherited that terrible, sour, mean disposition from his grandfather --- and, of course, it is on the other individual’s side. Then you hear the expression, he is a chip off the old block.  We really are---we are a chip off the old block, and we are just like Adam.  For we are born in Adam; and Adam sinned, and we have Adam’s sin nature.

7/ The next thing we want to see is in Romans. 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

What we see is that Adam did not sin after the manner we sin, and he is a figure of Him that was to come.  What does all of this mean?  How was Adam a figure of Christ who was to come?  To understand what it means that Adam is a figure of Christ, or a type of Christ, for that is exactly what the word means, we have to go back to the first family.  

Genesis 2: 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Here Adam is speaking, telling what a husband should do for his wife.  Notice, the most important thing we want to see in our study is that the husband is to cleave to his wife.  In other words, he is to love her, watch over her and cleave to her.  The husband should be the clinging vine. 

8/ But soon after Adam had promised to cleave unto his wife, the tempter came into the Garden of Eden, and tempted the woman in the absence of her husband, Adam. The question immediately rises, why did the devil not tempt Adam first, and why did he begin with the woman, for remember, Adam was the federal head of the race, and the whole earthly creation therefore would fall, if he would fall. But the devil started out on Eve. Eve was an individual and not a federal head when she fell. She fell as an individual, and did not bring the rest of creation down with her.  Therefore, it would have been more logical to tempt Adam first, but Satan tempted Eve first.   

9/ There are two reasons why Eve was tempted first. The first one is Eve never heard God’s command concerning the forbidden tree from the mouth of God. Genesis 2: 16, 17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 

What information she had received, she had received second-hand from Adam, because God gave this commandment to Adam before Eve was created. Secondly, and more important was the reason why Satan tempted the woman first.  Satan must have had his doubts as to whether he would have been able to cause Adam to fall directly.  There is reason to believe that Adam would not have succumbed to the temptation. The tempter than seeks to get at Adam through his love for his wife.  Remember Adam loved his wife with a pure undefiled love.  He wasn’t a sinner.  His love was free from all unholy passion and fleshly lust. Therefore, he loved his wife far more than any husband since that day.  This love could not stand to have any separation come between him and his wife.                                                                                             

10/ But more than that, Adam also knew God and His nature and the will of God better than we do.  And, so, he deliberately gave his life and fell into sin that Eve might be saved.

11/ Let us get Scripture for this.  I Timothy 2: 14, 15 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Notice, Adam was not deceived, and Eve was deceived. She believed the lie of the devil, but Adam did not.  He knew better, so when he sinned, he didn’t sin because he was deceived. He did it with his eyes wide open.

12/ The moment Eve ate, she fell and was under the sentence of death and would have been lost forever, unless a way was provided for her deliverance, and he knew the only way she could be saved was through the bearing of a seed.  But she couldn’t have seed from Adam unless Adam was a fallen creature as well. And so he deliberately, with his eyes wide open, with great love in his heart, for his wife, sinned.  

Now let us go back to I Timothy 2:14, 15 and notice, it says Adam was not deceived and Eve will be saved in in child-bearing. In the original it reads—THROUGH BEARING OF A CHILD and then after they had both sinned you have Genesis. 3: 15, that great wonderful verse. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.  

So Adam, in giving himself, is a picture of Christ giving himself for us. But the sad part Adam giving himself plunged the whole human race and the creation of this world into sin.  But in Christ, as He gave Himself for us, we have life.  We are saved. 

13/ Ephesians 5: 31, 32 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Here it says Christ gave Himself for the church, and Adam is a picture of Christ and Adam is a picture of Christ and he gave himself for Eve.  The great thing to see here is the fact of love.  A husband is to love his wife give himself for her.  This is exactly what Adam did. 

14/ Romans 5: 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if though the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is y one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

I want you to notice in the 15^th vs. God is talking about a gift.  The word, free, isn’t needed, for a gift is always free. But God has to emphasize something here in order that we might understand, so He puts in the word, free. This is a free gift. God emphasizes that. Everything that God has or God gives to us is free.

15/ And the gift by grace.  Of course, grace is in that chapter. All, is by grace. Let us for a few moments go to Ephesians 3: 2 and there we read, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:  That’s what this is.  This is the dispensation of the grace of God.  There was never an age like this.  People do not understand the Old Testament, because they do not understand that it was not an age of grace.  People were saved by grace, absolutely, but it was not an age of grace.  In the Old Testament, God had a nation and He kept it under the law.  There is a difference between the Old Testament message and this message of grace for today.  

David was famous for the number of men he killed. David’s mighty men were famous for the number of men they killed, and if you go to the Old Testament, you’ll it is killing in the Old Testament.  David, to get his wife, had to go out and kill 200 Philistines, he boasted about it.  What is the message that Paul has for us?  It is how a man can get saved, and that is the difference, isn’t it?  In the Old Testament, God had a nation and He was protecting that nation, in order that we might have salvation by grace.  He took that nation and gave them His word, gave them His covenants, and He said to other nations, don’t you dare touch Israel. If you touch Israel, I’ll bring judgement down upon you.  

So, God told Israel, you kill these people if they interfere, if they try to touch you, so the Old Testament is a story of killing. But the New Testament, God doesn’t do that.  He tells us how we might be saved by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Did you ever see a vehicle coming down the road with its sirens wide open, its big red light on the top, flashing? You will notice everybody gets out of the way.  That was Israel.  God said to other nations, stand aside, My, nation is coming along, and they have the covenants and they have My work, don’t you dare touch them.  Praise God, today we are living in the age of grace, the age of the free gift, plus nothing. 

Ref: 9/20/1964 / 208 - DO YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR FATHER? / 2020