THE BIRTH OF A CHURCH

Photo by B Smith from the patio

 

10-2 BOOK – THE BIRTH OF A CHURCH

JANUARY 6, 1963

PASTOR HENRY F KULP

I Thessalonians 1: 1 - 5 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

As we start this epistle, there are a number of reasons why I Thessalonians is of special interest to believers in Christ today. One of the important reasons is that it is the first inspired letter written by the Apostle Paul. We want to give you a very simple outline of the book. There are five chapters to Thessalonians. 

The first chapter unfolds the great theme of the Lord’s appearing in relation to salvation. 

In chapter two it is the Lord’s appearing in relation to Christian service. 

In chapter three, it is the Lord’s coming in relation to sanctification. 

Chapter Four, the Lord’s coming in relation to the resurrection of those who have died in Jesus Christ. 

Chapter five, which concludes the epistle deals with the safety of the believer in the days of wrath just proceeding the appearing of Jesus Christ.

1/  Then there is another point in Thessalonians that is very important to realize. These people in Thessalonica were young Christians with less than a year of Christian experience. Nevertheless, they were familiar with great and deep truths of the Christian faith. Such as sanctification, assurance, the trinity, resurrection, and the Day of the Lord. So, it shows us what can be done with someone who is really interested in the things of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2/  It is also necessary to see that this church was important to Saint Paul. It was as important to him as the new born babe is to the parents of the child. In fact, he compares himself to a nurse cherishing her own children.

3/  This epistle was written a little less than twenty years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

4/  As we look at this church at Thessalonica, we see the way that God founds churches. How a church is born, and of course, by the church, we mean an assembly.

5/  Notice in I Thessalonians 1: 5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.

Our Gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. 

The results of the preaching of the Gospel were phenomenal, and in a course of a few weeks a church was founded that was established and able to stand against all manner of persecution.

6/  In 315 B.C. Cassander, one of the generals of Alexander the Great rebuilt this city and named it after a sister of Alexander, who happened to be his wife, Thessalonica. Like Esther and Ruth in the Old Testament, the Thessalonian epistle traces its name to a famous woman.

7/  Paul came to this city on his second missionary journey. Paul and Silas were in Philippi, and their ministry was ended by a severe beating and imprisonment and a delivery from jail, and an invitation to leave their city. And from Philippi, they went to Thessalonica. 

I would like you to notice, I Thessalonians 2: 2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.

Paul declares he preached the Gospel unto them in much agony. It is quite evident that he was still lame from the severe treatment he had suffered at Philippi. He still had unhealed cuts on his face and his head, and his clothing was torn and needed much mending. So, Paul didn’t let things bother his preaching. Other folks would have said, I just can’t serve the Lord in this condition, I’m going to have to take it easy. But, Praise God the Apostle Paul was not like this, he didn’t go to his bed. He didn’t say, I don’t have the physical strength to serve the Lord, but he found strength and he went forth for the Lord.

8/ And you will notice where Paul went first of all, Acts 17: 2 For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath Day. There is one thing we have to understand here first of all. He reasoned with them out of the Scriptures. The Scriptures were the sole guide. Some folks who call themselves Christians would say they didn’t have a Bible at this time. They didn’t have a Bible until the Church gave them the Bible. Don’t you believe it. 

Notice what happened at Berea in Acts 17: 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Here we read the people at Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that they received the Word—that is the Bible—with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily. A church has to be founded on the Scriptures, not on tradition—not on anything else but the Scriptures.

9/  There is another thing we must understand very clearly at this point. These Thessalonians were part of the church which was the Body of Christ. We have the others who come along and say the CHURCH was not founded until after Acts 28: 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 

And this, of course, is sheer nonsense. What do you think Paul preached to these people at Thessalonica? And at Berea? Did he preach the Kingdom Gospel to them? Absolutely not. The Bible gives not one shred of evidence that Paul ever proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom, or the Gospel of circumcision at any time. 

Just let me read for you Galatians 2: 7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;

Here Paul states emphatically. This is in the beginning of his ministry—you will notice this—this is not after Acts 28: 28, the Gospel of circumcision had been committed to Peter as the Gospel of uncircumcision had been committed to Paul. It is not said that he had the Gospel of circumcision for a while, and then went and preached the Gospel of uncircumcision. No, Peter, and the rest of the Apostles knew at this time that Paul had the Gospel of uncircumcision. He never preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. He preached only about Jesus Christ and the fact that He died for their sins. And the fact that they could be saved by believing on Him.

10/  Let me show you that Paul never preached two points that Peter preached. And I want you to see the difference between the ministry of Peter in the Kingdom Gospel, and the ministry of Paul in the Grace Gospel. First of all, he did not call upon Israel to repudiate the nation’s part in the death of Jesus Christ, as Peter did. 

Notice Acts 2: 23 – 36, 38 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Notice, Paul never preached these words.

Then, secondly, he did not here, or anywhere offer the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom as Peter did. 

Acts 3: 19 – 21 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

11/  What a wonderful preaching mission this must have been. One can easily see the crowds thronging the synagogue, the excitement caused by the new doctrine. The result of his ministry was that a number of the Jews believed, and in all these Jewish synagogues were Gentile proselytes. A multitude received this testimony, and there were quite a few well-known women who were willing to receive Christ as their Saviour. From Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians, it is evident that the church was made up from the beginning mainly of converts from idolatry, rather than from Judism. 

For notice, I Thessalonians 1: 9 For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

12/  Then some other religious leaders, who would not believe, and it was most of the religious people who refused to believe, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort. 

The words, of the baser sort, are literally, market loungers, and a good rendering would be rowdy group. And they got the whole city in an uproar, and they assaulted the house of Jason, where Paul and Silas had been staying, and then they said in verse 6 that they have turned the world upside down. That was a real accomplishment. I wish it could be said of us today. For the world is certainly wrong side up. However, the charge as they meant it was not true. But Paul and Silas finally found it necessary to leave Thessalonica and go to Berea. But what a glorious church had been founded here in this city.

13/  Paul wrote the first epistle to the church at Thessalonica from Corinth. It was near the end of his second missionary journey. Timothy had just returned from a mission of consolation and instruction to this infant church, and he brought news of its condition back to Paul.

I Thessalonians 3: 6 - 7 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also to see you: Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith:

They desired to see him, and he was glad to know that they were holding fast, even though they were passing through seasons of great distress, through great affliction. They were still suffering for their belief in Jesus Christ.

14/   I Thessalonians 1: 1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here we have the epistle opening with an invocation of grace upon the infant church at Thessalonica. Grace is more than mercy, it is more than tender mercy, it is more than a multitude of tender mercies. Grace is more than love. Grace is God giving us everything for nothing. Then notice, grace is from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Not from the Apostles, not from any earthly means. Then notice, peace. Their can never be peace among men or in men’s hearts unless it is by divine grace. For notice the order.

15/  Verse 2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

Then notice Paul’s faithfulness in prayer. I wonder if we pray one for another, and for all our needs, and for the needs of those about us, for here was a helpless church without teachers. They only had a few weeks of instruction, in a land filled with idolatry, with impurity, and with hatred toward the Gospel.

16/  Notice, Paul did not pray in generalities, for to pray in generalities is not to pray at all. He prayed for them, I believe definitely in prayer lists.

17/  Then notice, we give thanks to God always for you all. A person who prays and gives thanks for others in his life is not a self-centered individual. The one who is a self-centered individual—the one who is self-centered doesn’t have time to thank God for others in his life.

18/  Then in verse 3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

There are three famous words in this verse: Faith, Hope and Love. Paul is not just thanking the Lord Jesus Christ simply because these folks had faith, love and hope, but he is thanking God for what these three things had produced. Now it is impossible to see faith, hope or love. They are immaterial things. But they can be manifested in a very definite physical way. But now notice, these three things are permanent.

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

There are many things that do not abide. Youth, health, opportunity, friends, loved ones. Some pass away gradually, others are passed away all too quickly. But then notice of the three permanent things, one thing excels and that is love.

Let us contrast these abiding things with verse 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Prophecy shall fail, tongues shall fail, knowledge shall vanish away. But now these things are able to produce physical things in the believer’s life. Faith produces works, just as sure as an apple tree, if it is healthy and gets enough water and is in good soil will produce apples. Just so, faith will produce works, and Paul is thanking God that their faith has produced works. 

Then he talks about a labor of love. That word, labor, means toil fatiguing work, exhausting service. Love goes beyond just faith producing work. It causes us to labor until we are ready to fall over. Many believers never really reach this point. They never want to labor for the Lord to the point that they are literally exhausted, and if they do, they complain and say, we are going to have to cut something out. But in these Thessalonians, love was a driving force that caused them to be spent for the cause of Jesus Christ. Then we have hope, not simply hope but that hope produced patience. I am firmly convinced this is a much needed thing in the believer’s life. Patience in our day and age seems to be a missing ingredient in all our lives. But God expects patience out of us, and here is the way to have patience. It is through hope.

19/  But notice, verse 3 concludes with something that is most significant. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

It is not a matter that Paul saw these things, faith, love and hope. But it was in the sight of God our Father. This brings us to a very pointed question which everyone can ask himself. What does God see in our hearts? A real trust in Him? A real love to serve Him? A real hope that brings patience in our lives? It is true that God looks at our hearts, and He keeps records of our hearts. Men think that it is important what other men think about them, but it is not. You can put a good front on, and God knows whether you are really laboring to the point of exhaustion driven by love, to serve Him. He knows whether you have a real hope in your life, and that is has caused you to be patient with other people, other believers. 

My mind goes back to Exodus 32: 9 And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Here we have the children of Israel. They were just plum out of patience. Moses had gone up on the mountain to receive the law of God. And while he was gone they became restless, and they said, something has happened to this man, Moses, he is not coming down. So they told Aaron—You make us a god that will go before us. And when Moses came down from the mount, God spoke to him and said, I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people. God saw them, God knew their hearts, God knew what had caused them to reach this point in their experience for Him. It is important what God sees, and what God thinks. So, remember, it is important what God sees. Does He see you have faith, love, and hope?

20/  And then, we know we can love and have patience. In other words, endure, because we know the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. For He is going to appear in the Heavens for us. This is the thought that enables us to labor, to work, and to have patience. This thought should be ever before us.

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.

AMEN

Ref: 01/06/1963 / 10-2 BOOK - THE BIRTH OF THE CHURCH / 10/26/2020

WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET

Photo taken by B Smith 

363-1 WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET

July 10, 1977  

Henry F. Kulp

 

Colossians 1: 24 - 29 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

We have been studying the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. His person and His work. But now we look at the uniqueness of the Apostle Paul. For Paul talks of his unique   ministry. 

1/  Paul is not unique, but his ministry is unique. We do not speak of the uniqueness of the person and work of Paul, but rather the uniqueness of his message.

2/  Verse 24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

In this verse some have actually taken from it the meaning that the suffering of Christ were not sufficient and Paul helped to make it up. This is not true, and that is not what this verse teaches. Paul has a duel ministry in this portion of Scripture. A two-fold ministry.  So we can see more clearly the uniqueness of Paul’s ministry, and when one reads this verse, he has the opinion that Christ did not suffer enough on the cross of Calvary, that Paul had to help Him fill it up. But other Scriptures teach us very clearly that Christ suffered once for all on the Cross of Calvary to put away sin, and there is nothing that Paul could do to complete that. 

3/  Now notice this verse doesn’t speak of the suffering of Christ—no, but rather the afflictions of Christ in Paul’s body. The suffering of Christ on the cross of Calvary were never called afflictions. Actually the word, afflictions, THE-LIP-SIS, and it is the word, pressures and it is in the plural.

4/  So the suffering of Christ on the Cross were never, called pressures. When a man is judged before a court and sentenced, that is not afflictions, pressure, that is judgement. Jesus Christ bore judgement at the Cross, but the Lord Jesus Christ ordained that Paul was to have certain afflictions—certain pressures in his body, which is behind, means that which is lacking. What does Paul mean by all this? We have to understand that Paul is being very personal. He is talking about himself—not about any future pastor-teacher. He is not talking about all members of the Body of Christ, but just himself. He is talking about something that God has called upon him to bear as a ministry.

5/  When Paul was saved—called into the ministry, we have something very important that is said. Acts 9: 15, 16 and it specifically states Paul’s ministry was to be a ministry of suffering—the Lord is talking to Ananias who is to speak to Paul, and just after Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus, he is to be told what great things he must suffer for My Names sake. 

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

So you see, Paul had a special ministry of suffering. From the very outset he was called to unusual suffering.   

6/  Galatians 6: 17 From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

The marks of the Lord Jesus Christ? What were they? From the Greek word here we get our English word, stigma, or stigmatize, and clearly it is the word, brand. It is quite clear that Paul here is referring to actual marks he bore in his body. There is no doubt that he is speaking about scars and maybe long continuing sores which came upon him as he served the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was literally disfigured. Paul is talking of physical injuries which he suffered. Notice, he is drawing a contrast between himself and the Judaizing teachers who had rejected his apostleship.

7/  II Corinthians 11: 24 - 26 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

He was beaten, he was jailed, he was ship wrecked—what suffering he personally went through, and you can see this is not to be applied to us.

8/  Notice, he rejoiced in it—he was happy in it. It didn’t deter him, it didn’t make him despondent, but it made him happy, it caused him to rejoice. Here we get a chance to look into his heart, the mind of this man, Paul, as he is called to a dual ministry—first of all, the ministry of suffering for the believer, for the body of Christ, did not make him unhappy, but made him glad. How different Paul is from most of us.   

9/  Paul is doing this for His Body’s sake, which is the church. What church? Every time you read the word, church, in the Bible, you should stop and ask, what church is he talking about? Not the church in the wilderness, not the nation Israel, not the church of the millennium that is to come—Christ’s Kingdom, but rather the church which is the

Body of Christ, the one new man of Ephesians 2: 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

10/  First of all, he is made a minister in suffering, and then he is made a minister to the church the Body of Christ.

11/  Then we come to the word dispensation. That’s not a hard word. If you’ve been to camp, or if you’ve worked in a factory, you know what a dispensary is. It is some place where they are dispensing—giving out, providing usually medical advice or drugs, so a dispensation is a time of giving. It is an act of God giving something—the dispensing of God, the sharing of God, the providing of God during a certain period. 

12/  What Paul is saying, God is dispensing something to me, that I might dispense it to you. He is giving me something that I might give it to you, and he is talking here mainly of Gentiles. This is the greatest revelation in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. In the Book of Revelation there is practically nothing new. Revelation is almost entirely composed of revelations from all the rest of the Bible. All the truth we have in Revelation we have in other parts of the Bible, but Revelation brings it all together in one great Book of final things. What Paul is bringing forth is something brand new that has never been known before. It was a special revelation not given to the Twelve, but to him as the Apostle of the new dispensation. The Church, the Body of Christ was never made known in the Old Testament.

13/  Nor yet in the days when our Lord Jesus Christ was on the earth, for we are distinctly told it was hid from ages and generations, but now manifest in His saints. 

 

14/  Notice the statement, given me to you—you, speaks of the Gentiles. Paul was not one of the Twelve apostles—he was not number twelve—he was number thirteen, the number of new beginnings. He is one all over again. He is not associated with the twelve tribes. God dispensed to the Twelve apostles that which they were to dispense to the twelve tribes. But on the other hand, God dispensed to Paul that which he dispensed to the Gentiles. This is called Body Truth. 

15/  Than notice, to fulfill the Word of God. The word, fulfil, is the Greek word, PLAY-ROW-O and it means to perfect, to fullfil. Paul completed the Word of God, and this means that God has revealed to humanity, all that He is ever going to reveal to them in this day and age. He has revealed everything that you can receive. You have no more capacity to receive anything else—there are no more secrets, no more hidden plans to be revealed. This completes the Word of God—it fills it full. There is no other group, no other writer that is needed. We don’t need Smith, or White or any other man to write, or women to write, and tell us something we do not know about God’s plan. Then, also, Paul’s writings fulfill the Word Of God, that means that was the last things that God revealed, He completed this Revelation and all the others were written before this.   

16/  Anyone who claims to have an additional revelation to the Bible is a deceiver, and it has to be a deception because the Bible was completed with Paul. There is no new prophet to come with a new message.

 

17/ Pauline truth is the capstone of the Bible. And we read it is the mystery the secret and it is now revealed unto man. 

18/  What is this mystery? Christ in you the hope of Glory. This is something brand new—to the Gentiles Christ would come and indwell them. This did not happen on the Day of Pentecost. On that day the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the Israelite. You remember what he said, John 16: 7, 8 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

When I go, He will come and dwell in you. Christ had to depart for the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, and on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and indwelled the Israelites, the Jew that was saved, but in this day and age, it is Christ that comes to dwell in you—not just the Holy Spirit, of course, He is there, but now you have the indwelling of Christ Himself in the Gentile and this is a brand new truth. This is why the church the Body of Christ cannot be the Bride, for we are part and parcel of Jesus Christ—we are the one new man, and Christ dwells in us. Israel only had the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, not Christ, so they can be the Bride.

19/  The fact of Christ being in you is a great Pauline truth. 

Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

20/  Verse 28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

Whom we preach—notice we preach a person—to substitute “what” for “whom” is a serious mistake. Christianity is centered in a person and that person is living in the believer.

AMEN

Ref: 07/1/1977 / 363-1 WHEN GOD TOLD A SECRET / 01/19/20

PROMISES, PROMISES

Photo by B Smith from the patio 

 

474 - 2 PROMISES, PROMISES

March 18 1979 

Henry F. Kulp

 

Galatians 3: 13 - 18 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: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

The last two weeks we have been studying the curse of the Law. Those who are under the law, endeavoring to keep the law, can only be cursed by the law. The law cannot give life, the law cannot do anything good for the human race because of the sinfulness, the weakness of man, his old sin nature. 

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:

1/ Therefore the Galatians made a terrible mistake, the worst of all mistakes. Leaving grace with it’s blessing to live under the law and its curse.

2/ Verse 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:

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. This first part of that verse is so important. In the Greek it should be, Christ and only Christ, then we have the words, hath redeemed us. Hath redeemed in the Greek is ACTIVE VOICE. The subject of the sentence produces redemption. Only Christ can do this, man can do nothing to redeem himself or to redeem others. 

Psalm 49: 7, 8 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 we have a Scripture under the law that is very important. God says, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, or give to God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their soul is precious. It is costly, and it ceaseth forever. Ceaseth in the Hebrew means to stop a thing. Or leave it alone. God is saying, don’t meddle with redemption, man cannot redeem himself, he can’t redeem anyone else.

3/ The word, redeem, means, to purchase or to buy from the slave market. Christ has purchased us from the slave market, and what is the slave market here? It is the law. And CHRIST HATH ONCE FOR ALL REDEEMED US OUT FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW.

4/ Then the Greek says, not being made a curse for us, but having become a curse for us. Every violation of the Mosaic Law that we have committed, Christ bore it in His own body on the cross. He is our substitute, He took our curse. ON THE TREE literally should read ON THE WOOD, and this, if course, refers to the cross. This is a prophetic utterance.   

5/ Colossians 2: 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Let us look at the cross and the curse of the cross. Here we will notice, this verse does not say that Christ was nailed to the cross, but it says that He himself nailed something to the cross. They nailed Him to the cross of course, but He also nailed something to the cross, so that when the Lord Jesus Christ was taken down from the cross and the way of salvation was finished, He left something nailed to the cross, and that was everything that was written against us. That was the whole law, for the law is against us. 

It is said this is in reference to a custom from the Romans. With the Romans debt was a crime if it was not paid when due. If a man incurred a debt and he was finally unable to pay it, the Roman law permitted the man to whom he owed the debt to take him and his family to be salves. That is, they were to be slaves in his household, and they were not to be free any more. If a man was in debt, and it looked like this family was to be taken and his family to be made slaves, he was in great mental anguish, but say finally, he was able to pay the debt and pay it on time, this would be a happy time for him and his family. So he took the cancelled debt—that piece of paper that recorded his debt that was now cancelled and he would nail it over his door. So all the neighbors could see that his family were free from that debt. That is what Jesus Christ did. He nailed your cancelled debt to the cross. So that means the cross is of great value to us. Not the law, but the cross that cancelled out the curse of the law.

6/ Verse 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Let us look very carefully at this verse. You see the word, promise, here. Then in the next verse you see the word, covenant.  Here in Galatians God makes a distinction between promise and covenant. Notice, verse 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. Verse 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

The covenant that was confirmed would not disannul, or annul the promise. Then in verse 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

He makes a distinction between the inheritance of the law, and the inheritance of the promise. The two cannot be mixed. They are again like oil and water.  

7/ Let us go back to Genesis to see what we mean. 

Genesis 12: 1 - 3 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Here is the promise. Abraham believed God and it was counted for him for righteousness. That is where God justified him. Verse 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. You see, there is a difference. The promise and the covenant are not the same, and the people get mixed up in this. I have been up around Holland, Michigan where people say they are the children of the covenant, and I wonder how they got into the covenant when they are not Jews. God made a covenant with Abraham saying, Unto thy seed have I given the land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the River Euphrates, and then He went on to confirm that covenant, the sign of the covenant was circumcision. 

Genesis 17: 7 - 14 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

The law had not been given, but the Lord made a covenant with the Jews. They are the seed of Abraham by the covenant and the promise takes us in, the Gentiles, for the promise was given to Abraham a Gentile.

Genesis 12: 1 - 3  Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

This is not a covenant, it is a promise. The covenant, of course, as we showed you was made later. The covenant with land, doesn’t mean America. It doesn’t mean Great Britain, as Herbert Armstrong tells us. We are not children of the covenant. We are children of the promise.

8/ Let us go back to Galatians 3: 8 a Scripture that we touched upon, but did not consider very carefully because we wanted to do it at this time. Let’s see what this Scripture does not say.

And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

    1/ It does not say that the Scriptures foretold God would justify the Gentiles through faith. The word is, foreseeing, not foretelling.

    2/ It does not say that God told Abraham He would justify the Gentiles through faith, not one word about that.

    3/ It does not say that the Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles through Christ. This would have been true, but it is not the point here.

    4/ Finally, it does not say, like thee, shall all the nations be blessed, for if it did there would be no problem to solve.

9/ But the very first promise made to Abraham was that God would bless all nations through him. This is in Genesis 12: 1 - 3, and the Apostle quotes this promise in an argument that God justifies the Gentiles by faith. 

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

How does this work out? Abraham is the great example of faith in the Pauline Epistles. So the original promise made to Abraham holds out blessing to the world through Abraham himself. How then was Abraham proved to be a blessing to all nations? There is only one answer, as God’s great example of faith. If there was anything that stands out in the record of Abraham’s life, it is the fact that he believed in God. 

Genesis 15: 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

10/ In Scripture he is constantly held up as the great example of faith, but, nowhere more than in the Pauline epistles Romans 4: 1 - 3 where he says, what did Abraham find out pertaining to the flesh? That a man is justified by faith, not by works.

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

11/ Romans 4: 18 - 21 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

Who against hope believed in hope, not weak in faith, staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, fully persuaded that what He promised. He was able also to perform. So we are full-grown sons of Abraham when we appropriate faith.  

12/ So Paul is saying to the Jews, don’t you recognize your father, Abraham, was justified without the law, by faith.

 

13/ Let’s look at Abraham for a moment. What a man to choose as an example of faith. 

John 8: 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

Here where they said, Abraham is our father, all right, look at him—he was saved by faith, not by works of the law.

14/ When Betty and I were over in Egypt on our trip around the world, we had a guide who was an Arab, He was a follower of Mohammed and he took us to a mosque. Took us down in the basement, while a service was going on upstairs. Betty and I at this point had a chance to testify to him, and Betty gave him her Scofield Bible at this point, and I said to him, You know, you claim Abraham is your father, and he said, Oh yes, Abraham is our father. I said, Do you know that Abraham was saved without human works, and your religion is filled with works. Abraham was saved by faith. And I will never forget the expression on his face when I brought this out to him. We had a wonderful chance in the heathen mosque to preach the Gospel of salvation by faith plus nothing, and Abraham was our starting point.

15/ Now let us see another point that is very important in our study. God never expected the Jew to keep the law. That may be astounding to you but it is very true. Because the law could never be kept by Jew or Gentile. All the law would do was curse Jew or Gentile. God knew when He gave the law, that the nation Israel could not keep it, that all it would do was curse them. 

Galatians 3: 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Why was the law given, then? Now we have to see another important point. The first was the difference between promise and covenant. This time between sin and transgression. To understand this verse we must see what a transgression is. 

16/ Romans 5: 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after similitude of Adam’s transgression, 

A transgression is being told to do a thing and then not do it. From Adam to Moses they had no law, therefore, they could have no transgression, because God did not tell them what they had to do and what they were not to do. They did things that were wrong and that is sin, but sin is different from transgression. From Adam to Moses they sinned and they died. Genesis 5 is a proof of that, but not one man transgressed, that is only one man, Adam. Adam was told what not to do and he did it, and that was a transgression. He told him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he did it and that was transgression.  

17/ But when God gave the law through Moses, then transgression begins. That’s the difference between sin and transgression,

18/ A little fellow just able to walk around the house, toddles into the dining room where mother has put a dish of cookies on the table. This little fellow sees them and he climbs up unto the chair and sits on the table and eats the cookies and he is having a good time. His mother comes in, and he wants her to see what he is doing, so he holds one up and laughs, and he lets his mother see what a wonderful thing he has found. He doesn’t think he is doing anything wrong, he wants to share it with his mother, for his mother never told him not to do that. But now the mother tells him it is wrong, when he sees anything on the table, he is not to climb up and take it. From that point on, if he does it that is transgression. That is the difference between sin and transgression. From Adam to Moses there is no transgression. 

Galatians 3: 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

So the law was given to show the world transgression. That man cannot do what he wants to do. It is impossible for him to do what God tells him to do. He needs to be saved by faith and kept by faith.

AMEN

Ref:  03/18/1979 / 474-2 PROMISES, PROMISES / 10/18/2020