NO OTHER GOSPEL

Photo by B Smith from the patio

458-2 NO OTHER GOSPEL

December 17, 1978

Henry F. Kulp

 

Galatians 1: 1 - 5 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Last week we told you there were three things that Paul had to prove in the book of Galatians. 

#1 was his apostleship, 

#2 was his message of grace without the law. 

#3 was that he was going to the Gentiles. This is the heart of Galatians.

1/  Verse 1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Paul was an apostle, not of men, neither by men. We spent a great deal of time showing you the word, apostle, last Sunday. Now we want to look at it in a little different light. Paul, an apostle not of man. Of  is the preposition ORP- O and it means a preposition of ultimate source. 

The negative in front of it means, not from men. In other words, a group is plural—men are not the source—God appointed him an apostle, and it was the resurrected Christ that did so. All spiritual gifts are appointed by God. He is the provider of them.  

2/  That group of men happened to be in Jerusalem. And what Paul is saying, those who were in authority, in Jerusalem did not appoint him an apostle.

3/  Then neither by man. This is DEE-AH plus the genitive case and so it means, not by a special man—someone who holds a high position. One man, no matter what his position may be, cannot appoint another man to be an apostle. Of course, I am sure, this is referring to Peter who was the head of the Twelve.   

4/  This immediately shows the folly of apostolic succession. That the Twelve had passed on the authority to others. According to this verse, this is completely impossible. Each one who is an apostle is appointed by God, and in this case it is the resurrected Saviour, the glorified Saviour at the right hand of God the Father, who appointed Paul an apostle of the Gentiles. 

5/  It was not until about 500 years after the Church had been founded that it was established that the Twelve were to have successors, called apostolic succession, and this was by Gregory the Great. But here the Holy Spirit shows the folly of that teaching.

6/  Maybe I can give you just a little illustration. Because I believe I have the gift of pastor-teacher, I cannot perpetuate this gift and make sure that my son, David, has it—it doesn’t work that way. So it is not BY THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF MAN, BUT BY THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF CHRIST. For in this verse we read, By Jesus Christ, and again, this is DEE-AH plus the accusative, so we must be appointed individually by God. Take the gift of pastor-teacher. The gift of evangelist or any other gifts of Romans 12. They are given by the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, and there is no succession in these gifts.  

7/  Notice it is by Jesus Christ and God the Father. It is well for us at this point to notice that the Father and the Son always work in unison and Paul always puts Christ on equality with the Father. I know there are many modernists who claim that Jesus Christ never said He was on equality with the Father. They say He was just a man who was exalted to the place of the Son of God. 

John 5: 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Here we read that Jesus Christ said that God was His Father, and He made Himself equal with God, and the Jews knew what He meant. He used a term that meant, I am the only Son of God, and that is why they crucified Him finally. They crucified Him for blasphemy because He said, I am the Son of God and I am equal with God.

8/  Mathew 27: 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Here Christ addresses the Father as My God. How could He do this if He is God Himself, if He is equal with God? We could understand if He would say, My Father, but He says, My God. So God was His God, even though He was God. 

Hebrews 1: 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

Here we have a remarkable statement in our study. It is God the Father speaking, and He is speaking to the Son—and He says to the Son, Thy throne, O, God. God calls the Son, God—you will notice, they address each other as God. So Paul didn’t need to deify Jesus Christ, God did that.

9/  Verse 2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

This is an important verse, He talks all about the brethren, and this refers to the Pauline team. This reminds us that no man serves God by himself. We do not do it of ourselves. It is true that some believers are more prominent than others. In each and every generation there are those who receive more attention and publicity than others, but they always have to have others working with them. No one can serve God by himself. It is a cooperative ministry. 

I Corinthians 3: 5 - 8 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

10/  Believe me, there are no great believers. Any pastor, any missionary, any evangelist has to work with other people, and it is team work that counts. If you look at the Pauline team, you know that Timothy was one, Silas was another, Luke was another—Luke was a great administrator, but he was also a medical doctor. If any man ever needed a doctor, it was Paul, he was sick constantly. Then there was Titus. He was a great trouble shooter of the Pauline team. Paul sent him to Corinth after Apollos walked out. Then sent him to the Island of Crete, and the book of Titus is Paul’s advice to Titus how to handle the people of Crete. Just take a second with Timothy, He was a young Bible teacher. He assisted Paul in Bible teaching, and you realize he got training on the job. He was an on the job trainee, and there was Tychicus and others. But we have to see that getting the Gospel out is a matter of team work.

11/  Many times when the churches do not go forth, they remain very small, it is because the work depends on one person within the assembly. It is sad, so many people ask me, why don’t certain churches ever get anywhere, and usually it is not because they do not have someone who can teach or preach.  It is because they lack someone to help.

12/  Then notice the phrase—unto the churches of Galatia, The  word churches is DATIVE PLURAL OF ADVANTAGE. It is to the advantage of Christianity to have organized local churches. I have to say bring that principle out, because so many are convinced that the local church is not necessary, but that is not what God says.    

13/   It is true that many local churches have gone liberal, have distorted the Word of God, and that is why I constantly say, be careful of the church you go to—the one you choose, for it will have a great bearing upon your family.

14/  Anyone who is Bible taught, knows there are two kinds of churches in the Pauline epistles. The church universal is the name given to the church worldwide. The local church, the Body of Christ made up of saved and unsaved. 

15/  What is the advantage of the local church? There are a few REASONS— 

#1 It is for the teaching of the Word of God. That is its main purpose. We can study for ourselves, but without leadership, we can go into all sorts of sects. 

#2  It is for worship. Provide a place for worship. We can worship, again, by ourselves, but the local assembly is where we can worship in a group and where the spiritual gifts can be used. 

#3 It is a place of fellowship with other believers, and this is very important, that you fellowship with those of like precious faith. If you constantly fellowship with unbelievers you will soon lose your testimony and become like them. 

#4 It is a place of evangelism. It is a place from which evangelism goes forth. The local church is to get people so they will go out into the highways and byways, to their job, among the folks who live in their neighborhood, and witness for Jesus Christ.

16/  Verse 3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

Notice the order, grace comes before peace. You cannot have peace before grace. You have to be saved by grace before you have peace, with God. Peace is always the result of grace, it never precedes it. I am sure you have seen tombstones that read, Rest in Peace, and when I see them, I always think—I hope that person was saved by grace, or they cannot have peace. 

17/  Verse 4, 5 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

And now we come to the key of God’s plan. The key is the Lord Jesus Christ and His death on the cross of Calvary.

18/  For our sin—the preposition “for” is a preposition of substitution. He gave Himself as our substitute for our sins, and literally this means, ON BEHALF OF.  He gave Himself on the behalf of our sins.

19/  That, introduces the purpose clause—that He might deliver us. IT IS SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD and it means that this deliverance is only potential, depending on whether we believe in Jesus Christ and His death for our salvation. This portion of Scripture shows the volition of man. Man does have a choice, the potential is there, but he must believe.

20/  Then we are to see that it means to rescue. To pluck someone from out of the burning, as it were.

21/  So this tells us that the organizations which are trying to change the world, to improve this world, are all useless. The only solution to the world’s condition is a personal solution. To be rescued from this world, by faith in Jesus Christ. It is necessary to see that Satan is the ruler of this present evil age, and he will continue to be the ruler of this present evil age until the second coming of Jesus Christ. So therefore all other solutions, other than being rescued from it, are valueless.  

22/  If we want to solve the problems of this present age, there is only one way to do it. Get rid of Satan. See that he is in the bottomless pit, bound and chained so that he cannot cause the problems that are here. Let us show you how foolish it is to try to improve this world. When our president Jimmy Carter got Sadat and Begin together in 1978 down in Camp David, the word came out that there had been a peace treaty worked out, and everyone was rejoicing, but just last week, Secretary Cyrus Vance came home and said it has no chance of working. There can be no peace.  

23/  Then notice, the will of God. It is God’s will that we be rescued from this present evil age—through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

24/  John 14: 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Jesus Christ says, the prince of this world cometh and he hath nothing in Me. Satan is the prince of this age. 

II Corinthians 4: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

He is the god of this age. He controls it and we cannot be part of anything that Satan controls. We have been rescued from it by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

AMEN

Ref: 12/17/1978 / 458-2 NO OTHER GOSPEL / 12/05/2020

THE CHRIST WHO IS ENOUGH

Mt Kahuzi in the Democratic Republic of Congo

 

251 – THE CHRIST WHO IS ENOUGH

October 28 1962  

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

Romans 5: 1-3 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

We have been bringing you some wonderful doctrines out of the Book of Romans. Now this morning we want to bring to you the glorious doctrine or teaching of justification. It might be good if we take a moment and talk about the Book of Romans. The first two and a half chapters show us the complete ruin of the human race that it is sold under sin. The last half of the third chapter, and the entire fourth chapter shows us that redemption—salvation is the work of God provided for us in Christ Jesus, through His death on the Cross at Calvary. But now, starting with the fifth chapter, we have God addressing the believer only.

1/  And, so, we see that God starts by talking to the believer about His justification. It tells us that we are justified by faith. Unless you understand what the word, justification, means, you are not on solid ground in the Christian faith. It is absolutely impossible for you to have strong convictions about your faith. In fact, there are many differences between those who call themselves Christians because of the failure to know, believe, comprehend, the meaning of the doctrine of justification.

2/  And of all those who believe that it is possible to be saved at one time and then fall away from salvation and be lost have no idea whatsoever of the meaning of justification. And then secondly, those who believe that it is impossible to have full assurance of salvation—to know that you are saved, and be sure you are saved, they, too, have no true conception of justification.

3/  We have told you many times, that the word justification and the word, righteous, come from the same root word, they mean the same thing. But now let’s understand from another portion of Scripture what it means to be justified. 

Colossians 1: 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: 

This verse gives us a commentary on the doctrine of justification, for here we read, in the body of His flesh through death—this is talking about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ—to present you holy—now, be sure to mark that word holy— h-o-l-y— for that’s what you are in God’s sight. Whatever you may have been, whatever you are at this time, the Lord Jesus Christ died that He might present you holy to God. And that means to be holy without sin. Without sin, that is justification. Not only are you presented holy, but unblameable, that means that no one can blame you. If you are honest, you will say that I have done so many things that I could be blamed for. That is true. But the Lord Jesus Christ has taken your blame that you might be presented to the Lord unblameable. Now remember, Jesus has to present you justified holy, unblameable, unreproveable in God’s sight.

4/  Now, as we look at Romans 5: 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 

We realize that it is not necessarily the fact that we are being justified by faith—the best rendering will be, having been justified by faith. The Greek does not bring out that we are in the state of being justified, but it points to an event in history that has justified us. We are already justified.

Here in the Book of Romans, Paul presents a five-fold picture of justification. 

Romans 8: 33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 

He tells us we are justified by God. Then in Romans 3: 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: We are justified by grace. 

Then in Romans 5: 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

We are justified by His blood. Then in Romans 4: 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 

We are justified by the resurrection, and then of course, fifthly, Romans 5: 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 

We are justified by faith. I would like to examine these different aspects of justification this morning.

JUSTIFIED BY GOD

1/  Romans 8: 33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 

This morning I want to act as a prosecutor. I’d like to announce to the unsaved, that there is a very definite case against them, and then I would assure the believer in Jesus Christ that there is no case against them. First of all, to the unbeliever, the papers are hereby served upon you. It is impossible for you to escape. God is the plaintiff and in His procedure against you, God does have something against you. Do not be deceived by the over-sweet nonsense that passes through some folk’s minds that they think that man is a recipient of God’s love just so he does the best he can. If we are going to deal with God, we have to deal with Him according to the Bible, and how the Bible presents Him. We have no right to remodel God according to our own specifications. We must take God as He reveals Himself to us in His Word.

2/  Romans 8: 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Now notice, first of all, God is the judge. God is on the bench. We are before God. No one can condemn apart from Him. Your neighbor’s condemnation does not matter in this court. Satan’s condemnation does not matter in this court. It is the One Who is on the bench. It is the One Who is in the Judge’s place Who has the power to pronounce sentence, and what does He say? Here in verse 33 He says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Recognize this, God, then, the Judge has justified us. He has pronounced us as culprits—JUST.

3/  Now the devil is the accuser. Revelations 12: 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 

In this last book of the Bible the devil is called the accuser of the brethren. But though he may cry out in his anger and hatred against the believer, he—the believer–can never be hurt. Yes, he speaks the truth when he announces that we are sinners, and the sins that we have committed. You can rest assured that the devil will not forget anything you have done, or are doing. He is the accuser. But what does God say to his accusations? God, the judge says, JUSTIFIED. The Great One, of all the universe has passed the verdict. We are justified.

4/  The devil has a hopeless case. Why? Because the sentence is already delivered. The devil can accuse for all the ages to come—he can bring up my sins and magnify them, but I have nothing to be afraid of because the sentence is already passed. The judge has delivered His decision and it is JUSTIFIED.

5/  The only way the devil can get victory is to get God to change His decision. And God would have to say, Well, I’ve already justified that soul, but I change my decision, I condemn that soul. Can God do that? I want you to turn to another portion of Scripture. 

Malachi 3: 6 For I am the Lord, and I change not. 

I know God is dealing with Israel here, but we have one of the attributes of God. He cannot change. What Satan has to do is get God to change, and there is no change in God’s nature. He said, I am the Lord God, I change not. He has justified us, and the devil can rant and rage against us and bring all the charges He wants, but God’s decision stands justified. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to present us holy. So, we are justified by God the judge.

6/  You will notice that God is the source of our justification.

JUSTIFIED BY GRACE

1/  Romans 3: 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 

We are justified by faith and grace means everything for nothing. It means we have justification gratis—that means for nothing, without a cause in us.

JUSTIFICATION BY RESURRECTION

1/  Romans 4: 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 

This portion of Scripture should be translated because we were justified, that is because of the marvelous work for our sins was completed—the resurrection of Christ is God’s evidence that the work of the Cross is sufficient. The resurrection is the proof of our justification. If ever I am tempted to doubt my complete salvation, my eternal position in Christ—my righteousness—the fact that I have been forgiven and now I am as holy as God—I need only look away to the Cross of Calvary and the empty tomb, and I have the proof of my salvation.

2/  Maybe I can give you an illustration of what I mean. Suppose you bought an article in one of the stores on your charge account. The neighbors know you have not paid for it. The neighbor nags you because you still have this unpaid bill. You go and pay the bill, but still the neighbor nags you. Do you go and pay the bill again because of this malignant nagging of this neighbor? Of course you do not. What do you do? You tell him the bill has been paid and you flaunt the receipted bill in the face of the accuser.

3/  Thus it is in this case. When we are accused of our sins, that you are still a sinner, that you couldn’t possibly be saved, the enemy cries out, you are, too, terrible, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is our receipted bill. God is satisfied with the death of His Son instead of our death, and we have been saved by the work of Jesus Christ and the proof of our salvation is that God resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead, because He accepted His work on our behalf.

JUSTIFICATION BY BLOOD

1/  Romans 5: 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

Here we have the ground of our Justification. God is the source, and here is the means whereby justification becomes ours. It is through the blood of Jesus Christ. And, of course, the blood of Christ means the sacrifice of Jesus Christ–The fact that He gave Himself for us. There are those who profess to believe in the death of Jesus Christ, who do not believe as it is set forth in the Word of God. They talk about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, it is true, but they picture Him as dying for a cause, dying as a martyr. They say that He has been true to His message by dying for it. But that is not the case. The very basis, the ground of our justification is the price of blood–the blood of Jesus Christ, when He gave Himself, for us.

2/  Psalms 49: 6 – 8 They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) 

Here it says that they that trust in wealth and boast in the multitude of riches cannot by any means with their riches redeem a brother or give to God a ransom for him. In other words, to ransom means to buy. They can’t pay for the price of sin. For the 8th verse says, for the redemption of their soul is precious. That word precious is costly, and it ceaseth forever. It means that it must be left alone, because man cannot do anything about it, he is not to meddle, he is not to tamper with another man’s salvation, because the price of his sin is too costly. What is the payment of sin? 

According to Romans 5: 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 

It is the blood of Jesus Christ. That is the price, the cost of salvation, the cost of redeeming or buying a soul, and only Jesus Christ could do this for He alone had sinless perfect blood. So, the death of Jesus Christ was not the death of a martyr, it was not one who was dying to be true to His cause, but He was dying as a price—the price of salvation, the price of redemption, the price of sin—it is the precious blood of God that was poured out for us.

3/  Now faith, we told you, is broken up into two aspects: Objective faith and Subjective faith.  Objective faith is when one has faith in an object, or a person, what they stand for, who they are, and what they have said, and so here we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

4/  Now notice the result of being justified by faith. We have peace with God. If there is one thing that man wants above all else it is peace. Man may say, I want money, if I only had money, I’d have what I want. No, that is not the case. Another might say, if I only had health, if I only had strength back, then I would be satisfied. No, the thing we need is peace with God.

5/  Then notice, access to God in verse 2. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

It logically follows justification. It is sin that separates from God, and there is no reason why those who are justified should be barred from His presence.

6/  Now I want you to notice the difference in the old dispensation—the difference between the dispensation, which has been made old, which is found in the Book of Exodus, and that which we have in the New Testament. 

Exodus 19: 12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 

Notice you who think so much of the Law. Here Moses went up into the Mount to get the Law from God. God was on the Mount. He was coming down to give Moses the Law. But God said to Moses, tell the people to stay away, tell them not to come near. 

Do you remember what we have here in Romans 5: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

We have access. Well, they didn’t have it at that time. This is an entirely different picture. The Law separated, but faith in Jesus Christ gives us access.

7/  Moses, perhaps, didn’t fully believe what God said. God called him to come into the Mount and told him again about the people. 

Exodus 19: 23 And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargest us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 

And Moses said, Lord, I had a talk with the people and I set the bounds, but notice what God said in Exodus 19: 24 And the Lord said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them. 

He made him go back. He made him go back and tell the people again not to come. It would be their destruction. The Law says stay away from God, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ says we have access right into His presence without fear. This is a wonderful, marvelous, matchless truth. 

We pray that you have been justified, freed from every charge, that you might have peace with God–you might have access to God. The most wonderful thing in the world is to know Christ and to be saved.

AMEN

Ref: 10/28/1962 / THE CHRIST WHO IS ENOUGH / 11/21/2020

HOW TO GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY AND LIKE IT

Photo by B  Smith from patio

 

10 - HOW TO GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY AND LIKE IT

January 27, 1974

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

I Corinthians 16: 1 - 9 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me. Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. 

Here Paul talks about giving to the Lord’s work, and many believers look upon giving as a burden rather than a blessing—but we can go back to I Corinthians 15: 58 where we are told to Be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS, IT COSTS TIME, EFFORT, ENERGY AND MONEY.

1/   I Corinthians 16: 2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

Actually the Greek here teaches, Sunday by Sunday, let each of you lay by him. Sunday was the day they set aside for public worship at Corinth. Literally, in the Greek it is ONE WITH SABBATH or ONE OF THE SABBATH.

Paul is counting the days according to the Jewish habit—they did not have names for the days of the week. They counted from the Sabbath—this is literally the first day after the Sabbath—so this would be the first day of the week. It is not the Sabbath day. There is not a responsible Greek scholar who would say this was the Sabbath.

2/  There are several important things to see in verse 2.

a/  FIRST OF ALL--SYSTEMATIC. The first day of the week and it was a real part of their worship program.

b/  SECONDLY, PERSONAL—LET EVERY ONE OF YOU. Not for some believers and omits others. No one is excluded, poor as well as the rich. Many believers were slaves in the assembly worship, and they were to give. There are three books necessary for the worship service—the hymn book, the Bible and the pocketbook. Many overlook the last.

3/  SACRIFICIAL—Proportionate. As God has prospered. The exact amount is not stated—that is between the believer and his Lord. NOT HAPHAZARD, OR SPASMODIC. Those who do not have children should be responsible for more than those who do—but this does not excuse those with children.

4/  When you get your pay, you should decide at that time what part is the Lord’s. You should spend some time alone with the Lord as soon as you get your pay cashed. First of all thanking Him that you have the ability to work—the health and strength—and the talent. Secondly, thank Him that He has provided work for you. Thirdly, that the one or the firm you work for has prospered so they can pay you. You should never take a paycheck without being thankful. Then, after you have been thankful, you must consider, how has the Lord prospered you. I will give in proportion to the way He has prospered me. DON’T TIP GOD—GIVE TO THE LORD. IF YOU ARE ON A PENSION you still have much to be thankful for.

Many come to a service, decided we will put a dollar bill in, or something at this point and they tip the Lord. If they miss a service, then they don’t give. This is not giving in proportion to how God has prospered you. This should be done as soon as you get your paycheck or any income.

5/  Notice what he says in this second verse. The giving to missions here, was through the local church. You see, there is always a collective effort. This way, the folks will get more money and there will be a check on how much is sent to these folks at Jerusalem.

 6/  I Corinthians 16: 5 - 9 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. 

Here we have a very important principle brought out. As you study this passage, you will find that Paul was very careful that his service for the Lord was directed by the Holy Spirit. Because we have an old nature and it is constantly warring with our new nature, we must be careful in our service for the Lord that it is of the Lord and not of the flesh.

7/  He longed to visit the Corinthians, but he moved very cautiously. 

Psalm 143: 8 Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

8/  Verse 5 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia.

Here we are told why the Apostle Paul chose to pass through Macedonia—to go to Corinth, rather than going directly to Corinth. We must read between the lines, and we recognize there were those at Macedonia that Paul wanted to reach for the Lord.

9/  Verse 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.

Notice the last phrase that Paul uses in this verse. “IF THE LORD PERMIT.” Here this phrase strongly emphasizes what I want you to see. He had made plans, but the plans were all dependent upon the Will of the Lord. 

James 4: 13 - 16 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. 

Here Paul gives us this same principle. God condemns the man who makes very careful plans and boasts of what he is going to accomplish and leaves the Lord out of his plans. It is not wrong to make plans, but we must always consider that the Lord can change them. So when we make plans, we must always say, “If the Lord wills.”

10/  Here he talks about those who plan to make a journey to a certain city, so they are very confident they will make the journey and get there and that they will stay there for a year, and sell and make gain. But the Lord can, in a moment’s time make all these plans valueless. Always be ready to have the Lord change your plans. 

11/  I Corinthians 16: 8, 9 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.

Here Paul says there is one thing he is sure about. He is abiding at Ephesus, and it is here that he wrote I Corinthians. He is sure for the moment he is in the will of the Lord. How did he know this was true? The 9th verse tells us. He has an open door, and there are many things we need to see about open doors.

12/  Let us get the background of this open door in Ephesus. In Acts 16: 6 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 

Sometime earlier, the door was closed. Paul was forbidden to speak in Asia—he was sent to Macedonia. Later, on his way from Corinth to Jerusalem, he spent one day at Ephesus, and told them he would return if the Lord wills. 

Acts 18: 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

Many things happened before the door was opened at Ephesus to Paul. An eloquent preacher by the name of Apollos was sent to prepare the way. Before Paul got to Ephesus, he went to Philippi, where he was put in prison and beaten. Then there was an uproar in Thessalonica. And then, he had to deal with the scorn of the intellectuals at Athens. Paul needed all this before he came to Ephesus. But now, Paul is ready and Ephesus is ready. We have here a prepared man in a prepared place.

13/  Then he says, there are many adversaries. He did not say there are so many adversaries, I am going to quit, but the adversaries were part of the opportunity, and he did not say there are adversaries, but rather many adversaries. He was staying in Ephesus just as much for the adversaries as for the open door.

14/  When he was at Ephesus, he experienced a battle from the beginning to the end. 

I Corinthians 15: 32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die. 

There were wild beasts at Ephesus, wild men that he had to contend with. Then there was idolatry. The Greeks believed that the image of Diana was dropped out of Heaven from the god, Jupiter, and was at the time of Paul, enshrined in a temple, and they cried, GREAT IS DIANA OF THE EPHESIANS. So, we don’t quit when the going gets hard—we just quit feeling sorry for ourselves.

15/  Some years ago when Japan was taking over Korea, and bitterly persecuting the leading Christians, carting them off to jail, there was one believing pastor who was a native, who went to the missionary nearby and said, There must be something wrong with us—we are not living for the Lord the way we should. No one in our assembly is in jail, for that matter, neither are we. 

He felt it was necessary to be in jail in this situation if one was living for the Lord.

Always be ready to have the Lord change your plans and we don’t quit when the going gets hard—we just quit feeling sorry for ourselves.

AMEN

Ref: 01/27/1974 / 10 - HOW TO GIVE AWAY YOUR MONEY AND LIKE IT / 11/15/2020