DEMONS IN THE LATTER TIMES

Photo from Anna Maria Island by Family

 

 

154-2 Demons in the Latter Times

 September 8 1974


Henry F. Kulp

 

I Timothy 3: 15, 16 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

God has told us in Verse 15 that we are members of the house of God, the church of the living God, and we should know how to behave ourselves in the house of God!

1/ This is a very remarkable verse, for there are some other 3:16’s that are outstanding. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

II Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

2/ The word, mystery, means A BODY OF INFORMATION WHICH IS KNOWN ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FRATERNITY. Something that has not been revealed before. Not in the Old Testament, not in the Gospels, not in the General Epistles, only in the writings of Paul, and the word mystery is used quite a few times in Paul’s writings, and it always refers to some aspect of truth for the Body of Christ.

3/ The theme in chapters (2 and 3) is Christ the Mediator, and Christ the Mediator presents us with imputed Godliness. We must remember that Christ is the means—and how is He the means?

4/ MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH, (birth, life) Jesus Christ is God. He is deity. And He is deity manifested in human flesh.

John 1: 18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Notice, first of all, that God is invisible to the human eye—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Man cannot see deity. That includes believer or unbeliever. But Jesus Christ, He hath declared Him. He hath revealed Him, and it means to bring out the hidden meaning. That is, His humanity. So, He became man to reveal God to man. But, Jesus Christ came mainly to die. Jesus Christ as deity, as God, could not come into this world and die for our sins. Think about this for a moment. He is not only invisible, but He is omnipresent. So, He had to reduce Himself to one place, literally, to one point of geography. First of all, this earth, then a place on this earth called the Holy Land, then to a city called Jerusalem, then to a place just outside the city, a hill called Golgotha. How can a God Who is omnipresent and fills this whole universe, reduce Himself to that one point? He had to be the God-man, He had to take upon Himself humanity. And this humanity died on the cross for our sins. Deity cannot die. So God became humanity to take our place. As a matter of fact, if we go back and think of His birth, no one else was ever born that way. He is unique in birth, life and death.

5/ No one else ever died that way. No one else ever commanded His Spirit to leave the body as Jesus did.

6/ In the second place, we read that He was justified in the Spirit. JUSTIFIED MEANS VINDICATED, and it is aorist and it means once for all vindicated. He is the only human who was vindicated in this way. Notice He was vindicated in the Spirit.

John 1: 32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

Here we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 3: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Here the Father says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found all my delight. It matters not what the agnostics, or infidels have to say, it doesn’t change one thing

the Holy Spirit has testified and justified the humanity of Christ.

7/ In the third place, and this to me is most interesting, He was seen of angels, and the word, seen, to look at intently. Remember, God is invisible. When Jesus Christ became incarnate, He was visible to created eyes, but prior to this He was invisible to all created eyes. Angels could look only upon the glory of God. But they could not see the invisible one. But then He became a Babe, He became visible, and the angels hung over that crib and gazed upon the face of that little Babe, because they knew they were looking at the Face of the God Who created them and they watched Him all through His life.

8/ The word, seen, means TO LOOK AT A THINGS INTENTLY, TO LOOK AT A THING WITH INTEREST. There are three or four different Greek words that could have been used.

9/ Of course, the angels watched over Him. Watched over His humanity.

Luke 22: 42, 43 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

Here we have an angel strengthening Him. They watched every move He made and strengthened Him every time He was weak physically.

Psalms 91: 11 He shall give His angels charge over Thee to keep Thee in all Thy ways.

This is a messianic Psalm. I do not believe there is a moment that the angels of God were not watching, waiting, willing to help Him if they could. WATCHED OVER BY ANGELS is true, but that is not the thought that is here. Here they were intent in seeing God in Human Flesh, and the Bible tell us, angels are constantly watching us, learning from us, and angels are blessed as we are filled by the Holy Spirit.

10/ PREACHED UNTO THE GENTILES Perhaps you do not think that is a very remarkable thing, and you wonder why that is in this verse, from the tower of Babel, up to the blinding of Bar-jesus, in Acts 13, God did not have a message for the Gentiles. The word, Gentiles, here is nations. There was a middle wall of partition standing between the Jew and Gentile, and now Paul reveals God has a message for the Gentiles, Christ died for them—they can be saved.

11/ BELIEVED ON IN THE WORLD Is that a small thing? Well, it is still not believed everywhere. We have believers all about us, but there are still millions who have never heard His Name. That ought to stir our hearts to missionary activity and fervor.

12/ II Thessalonians 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Here He shall be haloed about by believers. All believers will admire Him.

13/ The last phrase—received up into glory. Who received Him? A person is not received unless there is someone there to receive him. You go to visit someone and they are not at home, you say, there was no one there to receive me. The word, received, means reception. Did He have a reception when He went to Heaven? Yes, He did.

Mark 16:19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Here you have the same word. It doesn’t simply say, He went to Heaven, but that He sat on the right hand of God.

The Holy Spirit speaketh expressly—all prophecy is by the Holy Spirit. He alone can see the future.

Every once in a while I will go on visitation and I’ll ring the doorbell, knock on the door and no one will show up. Why? There is no one at home. No one at home. There’s no one there to receive me. Now, when Jesus Christ died, was buried, and resurrected and ascended into Heaven there was someone there to receive Him. Who was there to receive Him? God the Father. And now you have Mark 16 and He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father. He is our Mediator and through this Mediator we have fellowship with, we have communion with God as we are made God-like in God’s eyes the moment we become a believer in Jesus Christ and He wants us to be Godly in our actions. But now go back to I Timothy again, and in I Timothy notice the 4th Chapter. There should not be a chapter break because the same theme is being studied.

I Timothy 4: 1 Now, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, (and we will talk more about that Latter Times later on.) some shall depart from the faith giving head to seducing Spirits and doctrines of demons.

Now right here at this point I want you to see something, Jesus Christ as Mediator is being contemplated and the Holy Spirit brings in the ministry of demons. Now what do demons have to do with the ministry of Jesus Christ as Mediator? Well, to the unbeliever, they are the Mediator. They are the Mediator...Demons. What’s the ministry of demons? Mediatorship to the god of this world, satan. That’s the ministry of demons today...teaching, doctrines of demons. But right at this point, I want you to see the first part of this first verse of the 4th Chapter. Now, the Spirit speaketh expressly— Now listen to me carefully, the only one who can foretell the future is the Holy Spirit...man never can. We have men who make wild guesses and sometimes they are partially correct, but the only One Who can prophesy is the Holy Spirit. He’s the only One Who knows the future.

Turn with me to John 16: and read the description Jesus Christ gives of the Holy Spirit. Now listen to it.

John 16: 13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

He’ll show you the future. Who is the One Who can prophesy? It’s the Holy Spirit. In I Timothy 4: 1 ...that in the latter times...it’s the Holy Spirit. You say, can’t man prophesy?...no way. Sometimes he guesses and sometimes he might get it but you say, What about demons? Can’t they foretell the future? I’m going to shock you again...absolutely not. Oh, you say, Can’t they foretell the future? Only one way, Demonism...there is a vast network of demons...an underworld of demons from the Heavenly Places...they are all under their head, satan. Now, how can they foretell the future? Let’s use an illustration...He’s the President of the United States...he plans to visit someplace and the demons in that area notice the activity, because they can see what’s going on...and they see that there is a plot, a plot to assassinate a President... now they watch intently, they listen as the plans are made they know all that is going on and what do they do...all throughout the demon world the communication is active about what is being planned...and so demons can reveal this to people who are under their control...completely under their control...what do these demons do?...well they indwell a body and they reveal to that person in their mind (that’s how they captivate and control a person is through the mind), and that’s how God controls you through your mind...when you are filled with the Holy Spirit you are Spirit-filled and he controls your mind... this is how demons control you...in your mind and so they tell the soothsayer, A President is going to be assassinated...they even know the time of the attempt and they even know the place...and so this person immediately becomes alarmed. Did that information come from God, not at all...it came from demonism.

Now, you say, How can you be sure? Because these teachers who claim to be prophets...how many times are they wrong? They are many times more wrong than they are right. Why? Because demons really can’t control things the way they would like to. Sometimes there can be a plot and God can intervene and stop that plot from happening and then the demons are wrong and the prophets are wrong. But the only way they can prophesy is when they see things and reveal it to those their control...and it’s the only way and it happens. So you see, the only One who can tell the future is the Holy Spirit. And here in I Timothy 4: He at that time was telling about the Latter Times. Now, there is a difference between the Latter Times in I Timothy 4: 1 and the Last Days in I Timothy 3: 1. Now, listen carefully, the Holy Spirit is the Revealer. Go with me again to I Timothy 4: 1 and let’s see the important part of this first verse.

I Timothy 4: 1 Now, the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith giving head to seducing Spirits and doctrines of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy.

Now, these demons, because they control the individual, they control the mind and they teach them in their minds. Now the word hypocrisy is an interesting word, in the Greek it is really an actor, an actor, a hypocrite. Now, why not, he is playing a part. In the time that Paul was writing the hypocrite, the actor, would put on a mask and behind the mask he would play a part. If he had a happy part, he would put on a mask with a smile. If he had sad lines he would put on a mask that had a frown, his mouth would go down. He filled a part, he would be a hypocrite...actually that’s the thought of the theater...hypocrite. And so he’s the actor and so it means the actor is putting up a front as he speaks from behind a mask. So what’s the word, hypocrite really mean? It means to speak from behind a false front, a make-believe front. He is a hypocrite.

Speaking lies in hypocrisy...now here’s the way the Greek really reads it...through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies. Now what happens? These demons control men... they cause these men to be hypocrites to put on a front that’s not true and to speak lies. Now that word lies is very interesting....Soto logos. Right away you say I know that word logos...that word logos means what? It means word. In John 1: 1 In the beginning was the word and the word was the logos. Here it is Soto / cancel logos. Soto means false. So what does it mean? These men through hypocrisy speak the false words. What is the false word? The false word is...you can be in right relationship to God...you can be pleasing to God through religion and religion is human activity. By teaching this...the false word. Man in hypocrisy...they put up a false front and they say look at me...look how my life’s been changed...I was a drunkard and now I am no longer a drunkard. I was a dope feign and now I am no longer a dope feign. And how did I get that way? Well, beloved, I went to an altar and I prayed, and I prayed, and I prayed and I prayed and finally I prayed through...now look at me. Speaking lies in hypocrisy through the false words. It is not the way you get Holiness, not the way you get righteousness...it’s not the way you get God-likeness. It’s by believing, but here through demons it’s...you must do something, you must see something, you must trust all this activity and we will see this clearly the next time we talk about this.

Beloved, don’t you ever turn from the faith because seducing spirits have gotten a hold of men who put up the false front and human endeavor, rather than the Mediation of Jesus Christ. The only way you can know God, the only way you can be where you need to be in relation to God is through Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, the Life, no man cometh unto the Father but by Him.

AMEN

Ref: 09/08/1974 / 154-2 Demons in the Latter Times / 03/23/22

EASTER AND YOU

Photo by B Smith from the garden

541-2 – Special – EASTER AND YOU 

April 6, 1980

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

 

In religion’s plan, Easter is a great day. It is probably the most outstanding day. Christmas is a great time, but I am sure more people go to church on Easter than at Christmas, but yet I am sure that few people understand the impact of the resurrection. I am sure many people do not take time to think what the resurrection of Jesus Christ means. Let me ask you a question. What does the resurrection mean to you at this Easter season? How does it affect your every-day life? What do we mean by resurrection from the dead?

John 20: 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

1/ We mean that one comes forth in a physical resurrected body. You would be amazed how many people talk about resurrection but do not mean a resurrected physical body. I heard a preacher one time speaking to the Blair County Ministerium, the only time I went to it, when he said, “We know that resurrection is the continuance of personality,” and of course, that is not true.

2/ When I talk about resurrection, I am reminded of the question, that Paul himself asked King Agrippa in Acts 26:8. “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?”

Here is the question. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?

John 11: 39, 40 and 43, 44. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

3/ We must see a very important point in resurrection...The difference between resuscitation and resurrection. Resuscitation, means to revive, to restore, and all through the Bible we have those who experience resuscitation. But nowhere do we have resurrection. The only one who has been raised from the dead is Jesus Christ. For Paul tells us in Timothy, In Him alone is immortality. In other words, a body that is a resurrected body that can never die.

Mark 27: 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

4/ I Corinthians 15: 12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

The Corinthians said, there is no resurrection of the dead, but now they didn’t deny the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. They just denied the resurrection of the dead other than Jesus Christ, and they did this because of their pagan past. They believed what Plato said, that the body is evil and wicked, and the best thing that can happen to you is to get rid of the body. They were convinced that the soul of man was immortal, but they believed at death the body would decompose into ashes and never again be made alive.

5/ So, Paul in the 12th verse quotes them—How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

You see, they didn’t know enough doctrine, and it is important that you know doctrine.

6/ The word, if, in the 12th vs. is a first-class condition and it means, Christ is preached and it is true that He rose from the dead, and it refers back to Verse 11 Whether I or they preach Jesus Christ and the resurrection, because this refers to those who saw Jesus Christ in His resurrected condition, and so they believed what had been taught, but they said His followers, those who believe in Him, will never be resurrected from the dead.

7/ Verse 13 The word, here, if, is again a first-class condition, but it is a special first-class condition. It is an assumption. It is a debater’s technique, and it could read, Let us assume that Christ is not risen from the dead.

As you know, the Greeks were great debaters and they loved to debate, and in a debate at certain times, you assume the position of your opposition to be true, to prove that it is really not true. He says, If you don’t believe that the dead are raised in resurrection bodies, then Christ cannot be raised from the dead. Even though they believed that Christ was raised from the dead. You see, you can’t have one without the other. The resurrection of Christ guarantees the resurrection of those who believe in Him, those who trust in Him and are members of the church the Body of Christ.

8/ PAUL IN HIS DEBATER’S TECHNIQUE IS USING HUMAN LOGIC, AND HE SHOWS THE CONSEQUENCES. IF CHRIST DID NOT RAISE, THEN WHAT WOULD BE THE ANSWER?

9/ Verse 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.”

The word, if, again is a first class condition—debater’s technique, then is our preaching in vain. He is literally saying, Let us assume that Christ is not risen from the dead, then is our preaching valueless. Useless.

10/ Acts 4: 33 There we read, And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all.

They were completely convinced that Jesus Christ had been raised from the dead in a physical body.

11/ If Christ was not raised from the dead, there is one question we must answer. What happened to the body of Christ if He did not rise from the dead? Since the tomb was empty, only one of two things could have happened. Either His body had been stolen from the tomb, or He had been raised from the dead. Only one of the two groups could have stolen His body. His enemies or His friends. His enemies would not have taken His body—His friend could not have taken His body from the tomb. The very last thing his enemies wanted to have happen was to have His friends steal His body. To guard against this, they very carefully sealed and guarded the sepulcher. Thus, since His enemies would not take His body away, and since His friends could not take His body away, there is only one possibility left—Christ rose from the dead as He said He would.

12/ It is said that Thomas Jefferson developed His own Bible, but he was concerned merely with the moral teachings of Jesus Christ. His Bible was the same as our Bible, but with all references to the Supernatural eliminated. The closing words are in Matthew 27: 60 where it says They rolled a great stone to the mouth of the sepulcher and departed.

What a tragic end. If our Lord is still in the grave, the rest of the Bible is only a myth.

13/ It is not enough to speak about a crucified Savior, for the Bible tells us of a resurrected Christ.

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

Here we are told He was delivered for our offenses. That means, He was crucified, made sin, and raised again for our justification.

Here are the two central truths of Scripture:

a/ Christ died for us, but also rose from the dead. To die would not be enough.

 b/ The efficacy of His death was proved by His resurrection.

14/ If Christ did not raise from the dead, we have no message to preach.

Romans 10: 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very heart of the Gospel of Salvation. If Christ did not rise physically from the dead—there is no good news. It is all bad news.

15/ But not only is our preaching vain if Christ is not risen, but our faith is also vain. If Christ did not rise from the dead, going to church is a waste of time. Giving your money to the church or to the work of the Lord is throwing it to the wind, and, of course, IF THIS IS TRUE, prayer is absolutely useless and valueless. There would be nothing to do but to live and die like an animal.

16/ Psalms 27: 13 Here the Psalmist cries out, I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

But this faith is valueless if Christ did not rise from the grave. Faith means absolutely nothing.

17/ Verse 14 Now we come to another conclusion. If Christ is still dead, we are found false witnesses of God. Why, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ. That means the missionary, the preacher, the Bible teacher, they are all a liars—they are lying witnesses. Even Christ Himself was a liar if He did not rise.

Matthew 17: 22, 23 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry. For He said He would rise again on the third day. That means He is an imposter.

18/ Yet He said, we should not bear false witness.

Matthew 19: 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,

19/ Notice, we testified for God that He raised up Christ. You need to see that both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit said to have resurrected Christ from the dead. First of all, God the Father in Psalms 16: 10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Acts 2: 31, 32 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

I Thessalonians 1: 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Colossians 2: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

So from these Scriptures it is certainly clear that God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and, of course, this speaks of His humanity.

20/ Then God the Holy Spirit is said to have raised Christ from the dead.

Romans 8: 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

I Peter 3: 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

So, both the Father and the Holy Spirit are involved in the resurrection of the humanity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

21/ Verse 16 Now we go back again to the debater’s technique. And, if Christ be no raised. The word, if, again is a first-class debater’s technique, and every time you see this, this word, if, can be translated LET US ASSUME, and then He says, ye are yet in your sins...this proves very clearly that just the death of Jesus Christ is not sufficient to get rid of your sin. It is the blood of Jesus Christ that washes away sin. But that death would have been valueless if He did not come bodily, and physically from the grave.

22/ Verse 18 They also who are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. There is absolutely no hope for them.

Compare that with I Thessalonians 4: 13 - 18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

He would not have us to be ignorant, concerning them that are asleep.

23/ I Corinthians 15: 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

This shows us the folly of the social gospel. Our hope is not in this life. If you look at the believer in this present day, and age, you will find that his hope is heavenly, not earthly. God does not intend to change things upon earth during the age of grace. it is going to take the second coming of Christ to change this society.

24/ But we are not miserable, for we do have a home that is sure. Let me show you the ultimate of the Christian life.

I Corinthians 15: 35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

This is an important verse. But some man will say, how are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? Notice, it is taken for granted they will have a physical body, because Christ came forth from the tomb in a physical body.

25/ Verse 37 But that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but a bare grain. It may of chance be wheat, or some other grain.

Then notice the words, but God giveth a body as it hath pleased Him. How has it pleased God to give us a physical body? A body just like the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Because Christ was raised from the dead, we shall be raised from the dead, and like as Christ has a resurrection body, we will have a resurrection body just like His. We are going to have not an earthly body, but a heavenly body.

I Corinthians 15: 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

So our entire hope is heavenly.

AMEN

Ref: 04/06/1980 / 541-2 Easter and You / 02/15/2022

THANKS, I NEEDED THAT!

Photo by B Smith from the garden, a plumeria

444-2 – THANKS, I NEEDED THAT!

September 24, 1978 

Pastor Henry F. Kulp

 

Ephesians 4: 30 – 32 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

 

The theme of this portion of Scripture is about the Holy Spirit—that wonderful One Who takes up His abode in the believer’s life. The believer’s body becomes the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

1/  It tells us that we may grieve, give pain, give sorrow to the Holy Spirit. In other words, we do not permit Him to control us.

2/  Someone just this week said to me, “You’ve been talking about the Holy Spirit, and is the Holy Spirit God? Do you believe in the Trinity?” Of course, I do. The Holy Spirit is just as much a Person as God the Father and God the Son, and He is just as much God as God the Father and God the Son. I am going to give you just one very short proof of this, but it is very clear in this passage.

3/  Acts 5: 3, 4 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

Here we have Ananias and Sapphira, and you will notice what Peter said to Ananias—Why hast Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? 

So first of all, you see, He had to be a Person—you can’t lie to a power, you can’t lie to an influence—you have to lie to a person. For the Holy Spirit is a Person. Then he said, you kept back part of the price of the land—the money for it, but you said you gave it all to the Apostles. You lied to God. Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? Why hast thou lied to God? So God and the Holy Spirit are one and the same.

4/  There is another thing we want to notice here, and I thought I ought to bring it to your attention. Although He is called the Holy Spirit, it is certain He is not more Holy than the Father, or the Son. Absolute holiness is an attribute of the Triune God. God the Father is absolutely Holy, God the Son is absolutely Holy and God the Holy Spirit is absolutely Holy.

5/  We are to make certain we do not grieve the Holy Spirit, but permit Him to control our lives. Now at this point we might notice that even though we grieve the Holy Spirit, we

do not grieve Him so that He leaves us. The Scripture says we are sealed unto the day of redemption. How long is that?

6/  First, let us look at the word, sealed. It is the Greek word, STRAW-GREID-ZOE. It is a great word, and it is used four ways in the ancient world, so we have to go back and find out what the word, sealing, meant in ancient times. We do not have much in the way of sealing today. I know we seal cartons, but that doesn’t mean too much to us. So, let us look at four ways the seal was used.

a.  Whenever they had a business transactions and it was finished they took a piece of paper with the transaction upon it, and then at the bottom of the page, they poured two little pools of wax, and then the two businessmen, each of them would wear a signet ring, and on the signet ring, it had something that identified them—one man might have made a lot of money at sea, so he would have an anchor upon his signet ring. So, he would take that ring and dip it in the wax. It would be there, the other man would do it and the transaction was sealed.

b.  When we believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up His abode in our bodies, and this Holy Spirit is a seal to show that the transaction is finished. It is over, it is done. You and I have eternal life. We have God’s signature, the Holy Spirit, living within us. Finished.

c.  In Ancient Days a man might have a beautiful chariot with a fantastic team. How did he go about proving that they belonged to him? He had his seal upon them, and this seal was a sign of ownership. You might ask the question how do you know you are saved? The moment you are saved, the Holy Spirit comes and indwells your body and He seals you and He proves that God owns you. You have the signature of God, the Holy Spirit shows that you are the property of God the Father—ownership, His property.

d.  Thirdly, they had a fantastic banking system in those days, actually they had two. They started out with the temples, and the temples were the banks, but especially military leaders used to rob the banks to be able to finance their wars. Other people would break into the temple and steal their money. Then the businessmen began to set up their banks. Alexandria was the great place of business. Let’s use an illustration. Suppose I had $300,000, or the equivalent of it in those days, in the Bank of Alexandria, a businessman’s bank. I owed a certain man $50,000, what do I do? I write down that amount, put wax at the bottom, put my stamp upon it with my signet ring, and write on it that I owe this person that much money. He may take it from Rome to Alexandria, and it says on there, pay to so-and-so $50,000 and there is not a problem—he gets the money and I am poorer by $50,000, and I only have $250,000 in the bank—so sealing was used to sign a check. When God the Holy Spirit, the seal of God indwells us at the moment of salvation, we are a treasure of God, we not only belong to Him, but we are valuable to Him, and all the resources of God are available to us at this present time.

e. Then, fourthly, a seal was a means of protection of something very valuable. A treasury might be sealed by the king. He might have a certain public building and the king would put his seal upon it, and it meant if you were to deface it in any way, you had to answer to the king. The indwelling Holy Spirit Who is the Seal of God, means we are protected by God—we belong to Him and He watches over us and He protects us. We are valuable to God, I know we don’t look very valuable, but we are valuable to God.

7/  So, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, that means we have the Signature of God within us, and we have eternal life, we are owned by God, we are valuable to God, and we have the protection of God. What a wonderful fact to be saved and to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. 

8/  How long are you sealed—to the Day of Redemption. That means He never leaves you. How long is that—to the Day of Redemption. Is not the Day of Redemption the day that Christ Jesus died on Calvary’s cross? When Jesus Christ died to redeem our souls? No, this is not the day He has in mind. There is a coming day of redemption of the body, when we get a new body, a resurrection body. It is the day when our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, will appear in the Heavens, catch us up to be with Him, and take our bodies which will be a seed and make it into resurrection, or a glorious body like His own glorious body. 

Romans 8: 22, 23 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

9/  Then we get our resurrection body, or our new body like the body of Jesus Christ, the old nature will be gone, and we will not have to be on our guard any more about grieving the Holy Spirit. But at this present time we must be on our guard against grieving Him, praying to Him and allowing Him to have control of our lives.

10/  Last week we started with Ephesians 4: 25 We said there are things here that if we do them we grieve the Holy Spirit. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.

First of all, lying—anything that is false. Then we are to be angry and sin not. Then we are not to give place to the devil, we are not to steal, but we are to work with our hands.

11/  Verse 29 This is where we stopped last week. Unholy speech is dealt with here. He says, Let not corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.

Psalms 141: 3 We need to pray with David, Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

A wise man makes God the doorkeeper of his mouth. What terrible things the tongue can do. Some people have tongues that are as sharp as razor blades, and the devil loves to use a tongue like this.

12/  Proverbs 17: 27 Here He gives us some instruction about corrupt communications coming from our mouths—it says, He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

Those who would talk for the Lord Jesus Christ, must always learn that they can talk too much. All of us say too much. I am sure you will admit this is true, but he who has knowledge has learned—a learned individual spareth his words.

13/  Proverbs 26: 20 There we read Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.

Do you know why trouble often doesn’t stop, a situation never gets cleared up? Because folks keep on talking, they keep the fire burning by constantly putting fuel upon it by talking and talking and talking about it. A fire will never go out if you keep on putting fuel upon it, and the trouble is many people don’t want the fire to go out. When there is a situation that is bad among believers, you should not talk about it.

14/  Matthew 12: 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  

The whole trouble, of course, goes back to the mind once again, for here we read, For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. You say that which you have been thinking. If you have been thinking that which is unprofitable, that which is corrupt, you can’t help but speak of that which has been in the center of your mind.

15/  Ephesians 4: 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 

Bitterness is the opposite of sweetness. Bitterness is something sharp, sarcastic, perverse.

16/  Hebrews 12: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.

A believer should not be bitter! Notice the progression—bitterness, then wrath, then anger, then clamour, then evil speaking. First, came bitterness in the heart. Wrath with exasperation is harder to restrain. Anger blazed forth in your mind. Clamour means yelling, violent outburst of words, then evil speaking of those you think abused you. Evil speaking means you don’t fear what you say about a person. To slander is to be injurious. We are to be kind in every contact of life and this is not natural. 

Matthew 18: 32 – 35 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

The difference is GRACE.

AMEN

Ref: 09/24/1978 / 444-2 – THANKS, I NEEDED THAT! / 01/30/2022