By George Kulp
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler."
Shields and bucklers are for defense; I believe for the defense of your body as well as for the defense of your spiritual nature.
"From the noisome pestilence" -- pestilence! Well, hallelujah! I wonder who is believing this! Glory to God! Why, it means it. Well, I say glory! Glory be to Heaven's King! I am believing it. Glory to Jesus it is true; He can keep the whole Bible School.
"Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction" -- destruction -do you believe it? I do not have to talk; it talks for itself. "Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee." It shall not come nigh thee. Do you believe it? Glory to Jesus! "Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked."
"Because thou hast made the Lord. which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation." Because -- listen! "Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation." Glory to God! What more do you want than that? By faith you can build a pavilion around you that the devil cannot penetrate. God can keep yon if you will let Him.
"There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
"For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
"They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet.
"Because lie hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
"He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:" -- I will answer him -- it is the Almighty will of God.
"I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him, and honor him. "With long life will I satisfy him; and shew him my salvation."
Well, bless God! If you want anything better than that, I do not know where you are going to get it.
The subject of this lecture is Healing in the Atonement. Brother Erickson came to my room with a man who was in pain, has been sick for some time, and we prayed and the pain left his body immediately, and he went away testifying to the fact. Now God does it. The great danger is in folks getting their eyes on the means. Do not do it. Get your eyes on God. Keep your eyes on the Word of God. In an old Bible of mine, that I have carried thirty years or more in my ministry, I have written at the top of many of the pages, "Back of the Word is God." I want you to get that thought. Back of the Word is God!
1 John 3:8: "The Son of God (Jesus) was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Rom. 5:12: "Sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." In the Word of God sin and disease and death are closely associated. All the way through the Word, from the first book in the Bible, Genesis, down to the last book in the Bible, Revelation, they are closely associated together, sin, disease and death.
Now, listen! Jesus said to one: "Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." (John 5:14) What is the implication? What you already had is the result of sin, and if you sin against the greater light which you now have, greater consequences will ensue.
Another time Jesus said: "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." (Matt. 9:2) He was speaking to a man sick of the palsy. And if you will notice, all through the ministry of Jesus, He seems to associate sin and disease together. Now, He came to undo the works that had been wrought by the devil, and
He is going to do it, and He gave Satan a foretaste of what He is going to do, while He was yet walking the earth. You remember the demons once said to Him: "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" They knew their time was set. They recognized Him as the Conqueror. "Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" And the demons trembled in His presence. They knew that He had power to carry out the program advertised four thousand years before He came. I am not going outside of the Word of God. If I go outside of it, it is only to get some illustrations to prove that the promises work today. We have a living Christ. We are not doing as Rome does. We have not the bone of some old dead saint, about which we say, "Touch that, and you will get well." Praise God! We have a living Christ! He is the same today!
Now, I believe thoroughly in healing in the Atonement. Here is the great proof: (Matt. 8:16-17): "When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He east out the spirits 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." You can not controvert it. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Pet. 1:21) "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2 Tim. 3:16) And here is a part of these Scriptures. He healed all manner of diseases that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet Esaias, saying: "He (Jesus Christ) bare our sicknesses." It is the interpretation of the Holy Ghost of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.
Now, let us go a little further: Jesus said: "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." (John 16:7) "Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John 14: 17) "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16) Ye, my redeemed children, ye, shall be temples of the Holy Ghost. He will keep His temple in repair if you will let Him. As long as He abides and your faith takes hold of the atonement made
by Jesus Christ, He will not only heal you, but He will keep you well. The 91st Psalm teaches that thing exactly. Read it again; read it on your knees; read it and get blessed. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost will keep you well.
Wait a moment! You see that temple that Solomon built, "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth," adorned as no other building on earth ever was adorned? When it was dedicated, the glory of the Lord filled the house; the fire came down from Heaven and consumed the sacrifice. God said, "I am well pleased with it, I am well pleased with the offerings, I am well pleased with the sacrifices, I am well pleased with the temple you have erected for me." Listen! By and by the temple was neglected, the priests went out into the fields because the people did not bring in their offerings, and when they went out in the fields, the fire went out on the altar, the sacrifices were not there, the temple was neglected, and when it was neglected it went into ruin. As long as the Holy Ghost abides in you, and you keep faithful and "follow on to know the Lord," and claim the fulfillment of the promise, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost will keep your body in health and strength.
"You can't prove it." I can prove it. I will prove it by that passage in Rom. 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." The Spirit dwelling in you. Not anointings, not baptisms, but by the Spirit which dwelleth in you. Ye are temples of the Holy Ghost.
A woman had passed away, gone to the glory world. They had had the service in the church. Her husband was walking arm in arm with one of the children. Passing out of the entrance of the church, six men carrying the casket in which was left the tabernacle, they shook the casket somewhat. The husband spoke: "Men be very careful; that was a temple of the Holy Ghost."
God bless you, you can realize that thing in your life! If a child of God. you are a temple of the Holy Ghost. and the indwelling Holy Ghost will quickly touch the very sources, or fountains of life, energize you and keep you in Divine health, if you trust Him to do it. Let us get hold of this Scripture and prove it. "Behold, I give unto you power... over all the power of the enemy." (Luke 10:19) I went to lay my hands on an insane woman, and I said: "Now, Lord, give us a passage; I want something to base my faith on." Jacob said: "Twenty years ago Lord, you said in this place.'" (Gen. 32:9-12) Now I wanted a promise. I said: "Lord, give us a passage." The word that came was: "I give unto you power over all the power of the enemy." He meant it. "Greater is He that is in you. than he that is in the world." (l John 4:4) He that is in the world is the prince of this world.
He will come to you, but he wilt not find anything in you. The Blood cleanses, the Holy Ghost abides, and you are the victor. I wish I could get it burned in this morning. You can have the victory Yon can shout the victory when you go into the battle.
I remember when I was a boy, going down into battle. The officer said. "Now, boys, yell!" We yelled at the tops of our voices, encouraging each other and putting consternation into the ranks of the enemy.
Do you know that in the history of Rome they tell of a "Hallelujah Legion;" composed of Christians, who shouted as they went, into conflicts? There isn't anything that will put the devil, to flight like a good shout of hallelujah!" If the devil does attack you, shout because you know you are going to have a victory. "And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." (1 John 5:4) And it will overcome the other members of that trinity, the flesh and the devil.
Now wait a moment. The brazen serpent was a type of Christ.
"Can yon prove it?" Yes, Jesus said it Himself. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." (John 3:14) What was it? Do you see those people lying all along the ground? They have been bitten by serpents. What is the result? The blood is running a fiery course through their veins, and everywhere they ate dying. Moses said: "What shall I do?" God answers: "Make a brazen serpent and every man that looks upon it shall be healed." Spiritual healing? No, bodily healing, it was a restoration to health. If diseases can be banished by looking at a type, what ought to be done when looking at Jesus?
Do you get that argument? Jesus says: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." Was the type greater than the Christ? Was the shadow greater than the substance?
Healing of the body came by looking at a thing that only typified Christ. If they could do that 1500 years before Calvary, what ought we to do nineteen centuries afterward? What ought we to do nineteen centuries afterward, with a Christ that proved Himself conqueror over death, went down to the grave, saw old Death sitting on his throne of skulls, took the scepter from his hand,
chained death and the grave to his chariot wheels -- leading captivity captive?
Aaron was a type of Christ. Aaron was the high priest. Jesus is our High Priest. I do not need anybody to represent me, any man, any pope, any priest, to represent me at the court of Heaven. I have a High Priest. I believe what Wesley sings:
"Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hath full atonement made:
Ye weary spirits, rest;
Ye mournful souls, be glad."
Aaron was a type of Jesus Christ. Wait a moment. Plague is abroad. What does it do? Affects the body. Result? People are dying. What does Moses do? "Aaron, you go out there and swing your censer, and God will stay the plague." If Aaron could take the censer, and run in the midst of dying men and women, and stay the plague, what can our great High Priest do? Physical healing! Do you get it? The ground was dotted with the dying, and Aaron went out there and the plague was stayed. We have a great High Priest; He hath full atonement made. In that atonement is healing for our bodies.
"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." (Rom. 10:17) Study the Word, and your faith will be enkindled, and He will give you victory. Keep the thought that the purpose of this lecture is that it was physical healing they received. The serpent was a type of Christ; the high priest was a type of Christ. Physical healing, healing for bodies. Physical healing through Jesus Christ. When Jesus died, He redeemed the whole man. soul and body. Prove it? Yes. Gal. 3:13: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." What did violation of the law bring? Violation of law brought sickness. What did Christ redeem us from? Prom the consequences of violated law. "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."
Christmas Evans says, "A command goes forth: 'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.'" Justice says, "Let them die; let the race die." Mercy stands and pleads, and says: "Let the race live." God must be true to tits word. Man must die. But out through the darkness comes a Figure walking, and He Says: "A body hast thou prepared me." He says: "Lord, spare them, and let me die in their stead." Justice say: "When will you die? When will you pay the price?" "Four thousand years hence I will pay the price." Justice sheathes his sword and the race lives on. The earth was furrowed to make room for the graves of our dead, but when the whole heart was sick, and the head faint, land the whole body was full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, and the race was sinking and throwing up its hands to be engulfed in the waters for the last time, then came Jesus, and He walked up Golgotha, and on the summit of that mountain paid the price! And through His Blood we are set free! Oh, hallelujah!
The trouble with Christian people today is that not one tenth of them are claiming their privileges in Jesus Christ. I want to repeat a thought. As through faith in the Holy Spirit we may have healing, so through faith m the indwelling Holy Spirit we may continue in health. You say that is strong doctrine. But here it is in Rom. 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."
Listen! Our Christ hath all power. I like what a quaint old writer says, that "when Jesus went out there to the burying ground where Lazarus was buried, He said, 'Lazarus, come forth,' because, if He had not, every dead man in the place would have come forth. I believe that. And Lazarus came. He was obedient. And that same voice will re-animate these bodies. I do not know whether I lain going to die or not. I have a burial lot, and I told my wife I wondered if I had not made a mistake, whether I had not better put that money in missions. Yes, sir, we are to keep looking for the coming of Jesus. Forty dollars wasted! Buying a prospective hole in the ground, when Jesus Christ may come and I may not need it at all.
Now I want you to get the truth, too. All truth is beautiful to me. "Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond?" Think of it! Jesus Christ appealed to the people. This woman is a daughter of Abraham. Way back there God made a covenant with Abraham. in that covenant way back there is everything that is in that Bible.
You say: "It is not so, Brother Kulp." To the descendants of Abraham He said: "I will take sickness away from the midst of you." "I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians." Ought not this woman then to go free? She has been bound, lo, these eighteen years. She has been oppressed by the devil. The devil and sickness together! What ought we to have, being children of God? What ought we to have, redeemed by the Blood of Jesus? What are our rights in the Blood of Christ? Amanda Smith says: "I will have everything there is in the will for me if I have to break the will." She is right.
Alexander said once to a petitioner, "Go to my treasurer, he will help yon." He went and asked a large sum. The treasurer told the king, and asked, "What shall I do?" The king replied, "Give it to him; he honors me by asking largely."
God help us! You cannot impoverish God! He delights to enrich you. He delights to bless you. You cannot ask too much. Whatever there is in the will of God, whatever is promised in that Book, you have a right to, and you can go and ask for it. Amen!
"Well, then," some one says, "Brother Kulp, is it a sin to be sick?" No, I have known good people who have been sick. "What is it, Brother Kulp?" Weak faith, I believe. Two or three years ago I received a letter from one of the Bible School students asking me, "Brother Kulp, is there healing in the Atonement?"
I have been lecturing here about six years now. I was lecturing then on theology, and came to the Atonement. I was praying, and I said: "Now the question will come to me if there is healing in the Atonement, isn't it a sin to be sick?" And I prayed and I read the Word, and remembered what Jesus said: "As thou hast believed, so be it unto you." "Believest thou that I am able to do this?" Jesus said: "According to your faith." When the man came to Jesus and cried: "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief," he did not mean unbelief, skepticism, as we understand it.
He meant, "Lord, I do believe; help me to believe more." I prayed over it and thought about it. It came the time for me to give that lecture. That morning I said: "Sister West, pray," and she began to talk to God and speak about our privileges in the Atonement, and asked, "Lord, why are so many of Thy children afflicted?" and then she said: "Lord, it is lack of faith." God said the very thing to Sister West in her prayer that He said to me before I went down to my lecture.
Is it a sin to be sick? No. Many good people have been and are sick, but I believe if they claimed their privileges they might be up and glorifying God. "Do you not go and pray for people and they do not get well?" Yes, I do, and I do not know what is between those souls and God. But I believe God. It may be just weak faith. A sister came to my room to be anointed, and she said: "Brother Kulp, it's a lack of faith. I believe what is in God's Word on healing, but I do not know that I can claim it." She had it exactly. "All things are possible to him that believeth." Is that right? It is just as plain to me as can be.
Listen! I was out at Napoleon, was there nine nights, preached thirteen times in nine days, got into Indianapolis nearly eight hours behind time owing to the big snow storm the 21st of February, had to plow my way along snowy streets and stay at a hotel over night. I saw I was in danger of catching cold. I sat down and wrote to my wife, and said, "I want you to pray for me." I got a letter back and this is what she said: "God put it on my heart before your letter came to pray for your body:" Amen! He can talk with folks everywhere. I walk the streets sometimes. and get warmed up and blessed in my soul. and I just think: "Well somebody is praying for me." Isn't it beautiful to live a life like that? Brother Nelson, over in Indianapolis, said: "I believe the devil hates you." Well, I believe he does. Jesus is my Divine Master. Praise God. you can walk down the pike and see ten million demons coming, and shout the victory! Say, I belong to an omnipotent God! I am just so glad the way He keeps me. Glory to Jesus!
In New York state is a sanitarium that has been there many years. Here is the testimony of their physician: "I never knew one case of disease which could not be traced to some disobedience of the laws of Almighty God." The testimony of pious men says the same thing. But thank God, by the Word of God, which is the foundation of our faith, we may be delivered, and we may have victory in our bodies. Glory be to Christ! Now, the question is, will you have it? Will you claim it? God can energize and quicken you by the power of the Holy Ghost.
