DIVINE HEALTH A Series Of Lectures To Students Of God's Bible School By George Brubaker Kulp
Author of Callused Knees A Voice From Eternity Nuggets of Gold, Etc.
God's Revivalist Office 1810 Young St. Cincinnati, Ohio
LECTURE 1
"When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirit with His word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matt. 8:16-17).
You all know what the 53rd chapter of Isaiah says, and the passage I have just read is not what Dr. Scott, nor Dean Alford, nor what men say, but what the Holy Ghost gives as His own interpretation of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.
"Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses," a proof text that healing is in the Atonement just as the forgiveness of sins is in the Atonement, to be received by faith just the same as forgiveness of sins is received by faith.
God made man perfect. God looked on everything that He had made and pronounced it to be good, and when His masterpiece, man, came forth from His hands, He looked on him and pronounced him good. He had perfect wisdom, accompanying a perfect body. He had perfect judgment. He could do what no scientist today could do without reference to the books. Everything that God made passed before this perfect man, from an insect up to the wife that God gave him, and, according to the nature of the insect or the animal, he gave all their names. (Gen. 2:19-20, 23.) Perfect in judgment, perfect in intuition, perfect in his body, he came from the hand of God perfect and thoroughly equipped. There was no sickness. There was no disease until man violated the Divine law. He enjoyed constantly perfect health, lived in the midst of perfect surroundings, with everything that was necessary to his happiness, and, above everything else, he had companionship with God.
Sin was in the universe before it was on this earth. Sin is the violation of Divine law, whether it is in a higher intelligence, an angel, or in a man. It is disobedience to law. Following sin came sickness. The order of nature was disarranged. The very ground was cursed because man had sinned. Now in the Atonement -- and it began away back there in the council of the Godhead, but was manifested in the first promise that was made, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent" -- in that Atonement is a promise of restoration yet to come to man, that All the works of the devil shall be destroyed through Jesus Christ.
When Israel came out of Egypt, God said to them, "If you will do certain things, if you will keep my ordinances, if you will walk in my ways, if you will keep my commandments, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the God that healeth thee." He gave them, guaranteed to them, as long as they were obedient, perfect health. Exodus 15:26 is the proof text and the Bible reference. Health conditioned upon obedience to law. Now, I would like to put law with a great big capital L, and when you read "obedience to God," leave out the word God, and put in the word Law, for the obedience to law is obedience to God. God never violates His own laws. God never contradicts Himself. When ministers say that a miracle is something contrary to nature, they do not know what they are talking about, God never contradicts Himself, and never crosses His own law.
"If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in His sight, and wilt give. ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee." (Ex. 15:26.)
"And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee." (Ex, 23:25.)
Listen! Health is conditioned upon obedience to law. Now, wait a moment! Law is from God, no matter where you find it, whether written in the Bible or in the constitution of my physical nature. God is requiring, as a condition of perfect health, obedience to His law.
Now another thought! Pentecost! Pentecost was followed by restoration to health, The coming of Jesus Christ was accompanied by restoration to health. One of the things that lie said was that the Spirit of the Lord. God was upon Him, not only to "preach the Gospel," but to open blind eyes, The coming of Jesus Christ was accompanied with health to those who heard and obeyed. He saw a man sick of the palsy and said unto him, "I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy bed and walk." He met a deaf man and put His fingers in his ears and lifted His eyes to Heaven, and said, "Be opened," and the deaf man heard. He saw another man. with a withered hand. He said to him, "Stretch out thy hand," and he put it forth and it became whole, even as the other. Now get the thought, that the coming Of Jesus was accompanied by health to them that were obedient. And Pentecost was accompanied by restoration to health, bodily, health.
You remember the apostles Peter and John. They went up to the temple. They saw a man sitting there who had been impotent from the time of his birth. They looked into his eyes and said unto him: "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." This followed Pentecost. They reached out and took the man by his hands, and his ankle bones were strengthened, and he leaped and walked and praised God. Now. mark you, not "only the coming of Jesus, but the coming of the Holy Ghost, was accompanied by restoration to health.
Another thought: They brought out the sick into the streets, and the shadow of Peter fell on them, and they were restored All in the will of God. all in the plan of God for His people, just as available today as it was after Pentecost. The privileges of the child of God have not dwindled away. The fault lies in the lack of instruction on the part of the church, and the lack of faith on the part of those who hear.
Listen, we rend in the 8th chapter of Acts of a revival in Samaria. Philip was down there, and the apostles came and, under the preaching of Philip, the unclean spirits were cast out, the palsied were restored to health and strength, and the lame were made to walk.
The Acts of the Apostles -- now wait a moment -- every other book in the Bible closes, every other book in the Bible has an ending. The Acts of the Apostles have no ending. Why? Because, God wants them to continue in the church today. And the reason they are not continued is because the faith once delivered to the saints was lost during the Dark Ages, and is not yet accepted fully by the church. God intended these things to be continued. He intended devils to be east out today, the sick to be restored, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear.
Peter saw a man by the name of Aeneas, palsied eight years. Peter said to him: "Aeneas. Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed." And immediately he arose and walked off. Say, beloved, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, just as able and just as willing today. Just such things may be wrought in the church today, and the only thing that prevents it is the lack of faith on the part of the people of God. Listen, Mark 16:17-18 says, "These signs shall follow, them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils: they shall speak with now tongues: they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not harm them; they shall lay hands on the, sick, and they shall recover." It is just as good today as when it was written. It is the promise of God to the church in all ages. I don't believe that it takes faith on the part of the sick person. Not according to that Word. "They that believe shall lay hands on the sick" -- whether the sick believe or not -- "and the sick shall recover." Do not go to reading something into the Word that is not there. Take it just as God gives it to you. The folks that believe shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.
There are lots of good people who have been sick. They have been invalids the greater part of their lives. They died and went home to Heaven. I haven't a doubt about it, but they missed their privileges in Jesus Christ. Sickness is the result of violated law, if not on your part, on the part of your parents. That is one thing I preach everywhere I go. I have a sound body from head to foot. If it was not for the effects of a sunstroke that I received when a Union soldier, there would not be anything the matter with me. My father was seventeen years old when converted. My mother was sixteen years old when converted. They were both converted at old Green St. M. E. Church in the city of Trenton, N. J., under Rev. Charles Pitman. By and by that boy and girl, converted at that altar, got married, and they did not get married to frustrate the law of God in their own bodies, or their marriage relation, but when they were married they wanted a child, and l was their first boy, and they welcomed me to this country and they did not try to kill me while coming here. I came here with a perfect body. Thank God for it! I sympathize with people born with bodies already cursed. I was born into this world, not damned into it. I thank God for an old-fashioned Methodist father and mother, who considered it their privilege to mind the Lord in their bodies. My father went to Heaven in his eighty-first year, and my mother lives with me in my home in her eighty-ninth year, ripe for Heaven.
All sickness is a result of violation of law, either by you or by the act of your ancestors. How often in the Gospels does it say of the work of Jesus, "that it might be fulfilled." So in the Acts of the Apostles. These sick were healed. Why? "That it might be fulfilled." Away back yonder, a thousand years before Jesus Christ came, the old evangelical prophet said, "He bare our sicknesses."
Wait a moment. Jesus went along one day and saw a woman oppressed by the devil, "bound, lo, these eighteen years." He said, "This woman, being a daughter of Abraham," has a right to freedom. Well, if she had a right to freedom, being a child of Abraham, haven't we, being children of Abraham by faith, a right to freedom according to the Atonement of Jesus Christ? Claim your freedom from every attack of Satan upon your body, by virtue of the atoning Blood of Jesus. Sometime ago I was attacked by the enemy. My wife and daughter Sadie were absent. I went upstairs, knelt before God, and told Him I was sick; reminded Him He had said these signs shall follow them that believe, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. "Lord, I believe; I am sick. I lay hands on my sick body; heal me in Jesus' name," and He did it. Glory to His all-conquering name! My daughter, in the absence of her parents, has done the same thing, and God graciously healed her.
Oh, hallelujah! I do get blessed when I preach this truth. It makes the devil mad, and, no doubt, he will attack me before I leave the grounds, but glory to God, I have the victory! Oh, let us believe God! As I quoted yesterday: "If our faith were but more simple, we should take Him at His word." I get disgusted at the idea of such a thing as six feet of dust getting down on his knees
before Almighty God with, "Lord, help me to believe Thee!" God forgive us! It's an impeachment of God's veracity. Today He is just as He was at the time of the apostles when those acts were wrought. "These signs shall follow them that believe."
I believe in temporal blessings just as I believe in spiritual blessings. Here stands a man who never tells anybody his personal needs, I tell God and He fulfills His promises. A lady said to my wife, "Mrs. Kulp, I want you to make me one promise," and my wife said, "Well, what is it? "Oh, no," she replied, "I want you to promise me before I tell you."
They were very dear Christian friends, and my wife said, "All right, Sister R____, I will." "Well," she said, "promise me if you ever need anything you will let me know." My wife came home that day and said, Papa, I made Mrs. R____ a promise today, and I do not feel good over it. I asked what it was and she told me, and then said, "I am going back tomorrow and recall that promise."
She did so, and Sister R____ said, "Sister Kulp, why?" and wife said, "It is not trusting my Father. I'll tell Him all my needs." She could but assent. We know God is faithful, trials may come, but He will never fail us. Provision is made in the Atonement for all our needs, and Father has never gone back on us once. Praise the Lord, O my soul! I want to testify to the veracity and faithfulness of God. He keeps His word every time. The trouble with us is we do not trust Him.
The Bible is a book for all time. Its promises are for every age. "These signs shall follow them that believe," clear down until when time shall be no more.
James Buckley, in the "Christian Advocate," says: "An Episcopal minister said, 'No man can go into the pulpit and be up to date unless he has first read the Sunday morning paper.'" Thank God, I find the old Book of books, all I need. It is up to date, and I am proving it to be so every day.
Wait a moment. Maybe you will not be so pleased before I get through. Someone perhaps asks why there is so much sickness among the people of God. Unbelief and disobedience. Health is maintained by minding God in these things. Thousands of God's own children are sick today through disobedience. Now wait a moment! And all disobedience is sin.
"Now, Brother Kulp, you are making the majority of us sinners." I am not. You are disobeying through ignorance. Under the old law sins of ignorance required atonement. Every sin of ignorance you commit today is covered by the Blood. Willful sins require repentance. A great many of the people of God today are sick in their bodies through violation of the law and disobedience to God. Have faith in God, comply with God's Word, and you may have victory in soul and body. Take the promises of God, beloved. Nature's laws are God's laws. To transgress the law is to sin. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. If we mind Him He quickens us. Let us get the thought. The Holy Ghost quickeneth your mortal bodies, makes life to abound in your mortal bodies. I am glad the Holy Ghost put it that way. Some preachers stand up and say that is after the resurrection, but I mean Your mortal body, kept in health and strength by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, keeping you obedient to His laws, to His checks. I am minding the Checks just as well as the inspirations of the Spirit. You have no business to attempt to do more than you are able. There comes a place when God will check you, call a halt, will remind you that you are violating His law. Your body belongs to Him. your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. He will keep it in repair if you mind Him. "If thou wilt diligently hearken... do... keep... I will put none of these diseases upon thee."
How do we violate the laws of God today? One way is by eating! Eating! Some years ago friends would say, "Come, you must go get something to eat, you have been preaching -- you are working hard," and I would go and eat, and God talked to me about it, and I said, "All right, Lord." Now when I am through preaching at night, many places where I am being entertained, the hostess says, "Now, Brother Kulp what will you have, before you retire?" and I answer, "Nothing," I retire, sleep all night, and feel good, soul and body.
People violate the laws of God in their body by the way they eat, and by what they eat. I do not eat anything that injures me; that is the end of it. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God." I will tell you an instance. God talked to me, and showed me that using coffee was not helping me. We used it very weak, in fact it was little more than a warm drink. I quit using it at home, but when away from home would take a cup of coffee. One time on the train, my head pained me, and I put my head back on the seat and said, "Lord, what is this, why is it?" and the thought came, perhaps it was that coffee. I at once prayed, "Lord, show me if it was the coffee; let me know, and, Lord, a good way to let me know would be by taking this pain away immediately, and if it goes, Lord, I will never drink another drop as long as I live," and immediately the pain went. I was perfectly free from all pain, and I drink coffee nowhere. Now I am not condemning people who do, there are many good people who drink it, but I am through, I must mind God, obey Him, in order to keep the victory.
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Violating the laws of God along the line of eating, drinking and sleeping. You say they are foolish things. No, they are not. Breathe clear to the bottom of the lungs. Why, when I breathe I feel it clear down here. Some people breathe only about two inches down. I breathe way down here. That is the way God intended me to breathe. Practice deep breathing, practice it every day, get all the fresh air you can and begin to be well, to obey God in your body. That is natural law. You retain the air long enough for it to get to the blood and the lungs. I tell you what to do. When the cold weather comes again, and your feet are cold, you get them warm by deep and rapid breathing. Yet people put themselves in stuffy little rooms and shut up the windows, and the women go about with corsets on, have a wasp-like waist, and then got down and ask God to heal them.
Another thing as a law of health. Listen, let me illustrate it. A gentleman and a lady went down to a river, to a lumber-yard on the river bank. The lumber was piled up on the wharf, fresh lumber; it was fragrant, but the muddy river that flowed by smelled foul. "Smell that filthy river!" "No. I thank you, I prefer smelling this fragrant pine." Say, I prefer thinking beautiful things. I believe very little in auto suggestion, yet I can prove to you scientifically there is something in it. I tell you, "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Think on the Atonement, on the Lord Jesus Christ. on the indwelling Holy Ghost and give God the glory. Think God's thoughts after Him, and let Him mold thee. Amen!
