"I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God" (Ezek. 2:4).
Every man who is called to preach the Gospel is sent of God. No man has a right in the ministry who is not called into the ministry. Medicine is a profession, the law is a profession, the ministry is a calling. "No man taketh this honor unto himself." I knew I was called to preach before I was saved; I have met other brethren who knew the same. I believe that God calls men and gives them the message and then accompanies the message with the Holy Ghost. In my early days when I was preaching, if I did not see some manifestations in the congregation I would get bothered. One time I stopped right in the middle of a sermon and said to the saints, "I wish you would pray!" When I got through preaching an old-fashioned Methodist preacher who sat on the sofa behind me came to me and said, "George" -- I was a young man then -- "I want to tell you one thing: God is always working, whether you see it or not." And I have never forgotten that. God is always working; the Holy Ghost is absolutely faithful -- we can depend upon Him. All I want to know is that I am God's man, have His message for the hour, and all the big preachers you can put on the platform behind me do not have any effect on me.
"Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord." Do not you see in this text, called of God, sent with a message? Sure. It is right on the surface. "Thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord." There are some things that I do want to know; I am a natural interrogation point; I am continually asking questions. Some things I can only learn of God.
Old Squire Jones was sick -- had a stroke of paralysis. The doctor was attending him; he was getting better, but he was very thoughtful. The doctor came to see him and he sat there with his head bowed apparently in deep thought. He said, "Doctor, may I have another attack of this?" "Yes, sir." "And it may prove fatal?" "Yes, sir; but cheer up, Squire, you are a man of splendid constitution. You may not have another attack for years." "But I may have another soon?" "Yes." "And I might go off in that attack?" "Yes; but cheer up, Squire, we all have to pass through the gate sometime." The Squire said, "Doctor, you are a Christian man; I am not. I want to ask you a question: What is there beyond the gate." What is there beyond the gate? I want to know. What is there beyond? Is there a living hereafter? Is there something beyond?
This the masterpiece of God. He was made a little lower than the angels; he was crowned with glory and honor, and when God looked on him -- let me say it, will you -- God was proud of His work; and He said, "It is good." Man was made to have dominion. Doctor Watson says that every man has the primeval itch, the desire to boss; and although he fell, that thing stuck to him. If there is anything I despise, it is an ecclesiastical boss. God made me too big to have a Pope over me. I like brethren, but I have no use for popes. I do believe that the grace of God will cleanse a man from the primeval itch. Man had dominion over everything -- the fishes of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field; he walked and he talked with God; held communion with the Infinite. But he fell -- lost the Divine image. There are some things man did not lose, and one is his immortality. If God had not provided a Savior for the race, man would have lived on forever, eternally lost. Man did not lose his immortality. The Seventh Day Adventists say he did, but we say he did not. And listen! He has in him capabilities, and he has proven his mastery. There is not anything so masterful as a man in the will of God. There are masterful men who are outside the will of God, but I crave them for Jesus. He has mastered the secrets of the earth, has discovered the gold, searched lands and waters for diamonds and pearls, and has annihilated time and distance. When a man used to want to go across continent, he had to take a wagon and go with a wagon train, where there were a number of men went together for safety; and it took weeks and months to go across the prairies and reach the other side. Or he had to go down around Cape Horn and come up on the Pacific. Now, he buys his ticket, sits back in his Pullman car, and in four days lands on the Pacific Coast. He has annihilated distance and he has annihilated time. You can start a night letter at 12 o'clock and it will reach the Atlantic at 8 o'clock, four hours before it started. If that is not annihilating time, I do not know what it is. Man has conquered the air. The Frenchmen and Germans are doing much of their fighting in the air and under the water. I believe the time is coming when air ships will be as common as trains.
Now, I want you to look at man: He is master of the earth, master of the sea, master of the air, made in the image of God. Look at him as his strength begins failing. He does not walk with a firm step any longer, goes feeling his way, going slowly down to the grave. I want to ask you a question, Is this man who is made a little lower than the angels -- is this man made to fill a hole in the ground, furnish a banquet for worms? Is that the end of man? I do not believe it. Somehow I feel inside of me a longing for something beyond. But, how am I going to know? Listen! Thus saith the Lord, "These things are written that you might have life." Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. I can find here in the Word of God all that I need to know, and I can walk along with a firm step, see death coming down the road and know that I am conqueror. How do I know it? Know it by faith; know it because the Bible says so. I am believing everything in the Bible; everything from Genesis to Revelation. There are a lot of little preachers going about writing things and calling them "New Thought"; but, God bless you! I am staying by the old Book. How do we know things? "Thus saith the Lord." There is a heaven hereafter. How do I know? After Solomon, the wise man, had finished the greatest temple that was ever built, when dedicating it, he spread forth his hands to heaven and said, "Lord God of Israel . . . hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, and hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place." Say, heaven is the dwelling place of God. I believe there is a heaven. Jesus Christ said, "In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you." I believe in a heaven of many mansions. I believe all this Book says in regard to it. God says, "Heaven is my throne." God tells us in this Book all that we need to know about heaven.
I sat one time by a little cot, and in it lay a little child about two years old, who was dying of membranous croup. As I watched that little one suffer and the mother standing over it wringing her hands, I was glad to know that there is a heaven where sickness never comes. No sickness there; the saints are all healthy; no poverty there; the saints are all wealthy. God bless you, beloved r I never allow any person to call me a poor preacher. I am not. Not at all! If ever there was a fellow who walked this earth independent, it is this man. I never allow anybody to measure me by the wealth of this world that I possess. Bless God! I am an heir of heaven, a co-heir with Jesus Christ! Sometimes I find a woman who has good sense -- a young woman. One time there was a young woman who lived in a certain community, and there was a man who came into the community and lived there for about a year. It seemed that he was all right, but the people did not know anything about his ancestors. He kept company with this young lady, and finally they were engaged to be married, and someone came around and said, "Say, you do not know where he came from." She said, "No, but I know where he is going." Amen!
Say, we are priests, we are kings unto God, gone to heaven where there is no sickness or a reunion of loved ones and no one ever gets old. Thank God!
Now, something about the inhabitants. There are some folks I like to see. Would not give a snap of my finger to shake hands with Roosevelt or anybody because of their political standing; but there are some folks I would like to see. I would like to see the man that lay at the rich man' s gate, and I expect to sometime. I want to see the man who went into the lions' den and there spent the night without any harm being done him; I want to see the man who took his son and was about ready to offer him as a sacrifice when God came on the scene. Oh, I want to talk to them about their experiences, and I will have plenty of time to do it, too. The sun never sets there. I want to talk with John the Baptist. I am in sympathy with every man that had his head cut off. There would be a lot of preachers have their heads taken off these days if they would stand up and say, "You are living with some other man s wife" -- and we need some people to say it. I do not believe John's head was in the basket, until his soul was in heaven. Oh, I am proud of our folks; John and Abraham and Brother Moses, and all the rest of them. We have some fine relations you do not know of. I remember in my early days I used to be so proud; I got my grandfather's record and put it in the Bible, and was so proud of it. Say, I have gotten over that. The man who cannot boast of anything but his ancestors is like a hill of potatoes -- the best of him is under the ground. But we like to talk about our folks -- Hannah, and John and Moses and Daniel and Paul and Timothy, and all the rest of them. Hallelujah Yes, I am proud of my folks! Blood relations of mine. Before the Cross nobody ever went to heaven only in anticipation of the blood; since the Cross they have had the password, "The Blood." Yes, I want to see our folks, and I am headed that way. I used to have a horse, and when I would drive him away from home I could not make that horse trot unless I would whip him, and he would want to stop at every place I ever stopped; but when I would start home that horse would just trot along -- and how he would go! Do you know why he would go so fast? He was going home. Well, God bless you, the older I get the faster I am going toward home, and I am making more fuss over it than I ever did in all my life. A friend of mine a few years ago said, "When Kulp gets older he won't be so radical." But, bless God, I am getting worse! I have more to shout over. Glory to God! I did not know there was so much ahead. But listen! You will never get heaven up yonder unless you get heaven here. Heaven is a state and heaven is a place, and you have to have heaven, the state, in you before you go to heaven, the place. Have you got it? Is there anything inside of you that would not suit in heaven? Anything inside of you that would be out of harmony in heaven? God help us tonight! This is the place to get things fixed up. Amen! Oh, I believe the Book: "Thou shalt say, thus saith the Lord." What is there beyond? Only two places -heaven and hell. You say, "Brother Kulp, I believe in heaven, but I do not believe in hell." What is your authority for heaven? "Oh," you say, "the Bible." Well, that is my authority for hell. Now, if the Bible is not true in regard to hell, then it may not be true in regard to heaven. If ever you lie to me you have robbed me of my confidence, and I will not believe you for five years, unless you get converted, and if that old Book is not true all the way through, I have no use for it. I believe it is true in every statement it makes; I believe it is true in every statement it makes in regard to heaven, and I believe it is true in every statement it makes in regard to hell, and I can warn the people. There is a hell, and you and I are headed toward an eternal heaven or an eternal hell -- only one step, only the thickness of our ribs between eternal heaven and eternal hell. How do you know it? The Word of God says so. Oh, there are only two classes nowadays. I read a statement the other day that every congregation is made up of the righteous and the wicked. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." "The fearful, the unbelieving, the whoremonger, the sorcerer, everything that believeth and maketh a lie" has an eternal hell awaiting them. Why? Did not Jesus love them? Yes. Did not the Holy Spirit strive with them? Yes. What is the matter? They deliberately rejected Jesus Christ; they deliberately said "No" to God. Listen! You and I have all the salvation we want; if you want any more you can have it. If you are lost, it will be because you would not be saved. Listen to this: "How often would I, but ye would not." "Ye would not come unto me that ye might have life." "If any man is wilting to come unto me, he shall know the doctrine." Remember, you are wicked because you want to be wicked; you are a sinner because you want to be a sinner. One time a little boy coming home from school heard a man upstairs praying at the top of his voice; and when the little boy reached home he said to his mother, "Mother, what does that man pray that way for?" The mother said, "He wants to be good." "Well," the little boy said, "Why don't he?" Yes, why don't he? You are as good as you want to be. Oh, I am not saying that men will not grow. "The path of the just shineth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day." "Evil men wax worse and worse." Oh, I get sick and tired of hearing people say to God, "Have your way." Say, brother, you let God have His way with you and He will make you what you ought to be. Do not you get down on your knees and talk about heredity and all that. I know there is a power in heredity, but I know there is a power in the blood of Jesus Christ.
I would quit preaching and go out of the business if I did not know that all heaven was back of me. I am sure that when I am preaching there is somebody right here by the side of me. You do not see Him and I do not; but He said, "Lo, I am with you alway." I at one time announced a week ahead of time that I was going to preach on roller skating, as I have no use for it.
If I wanted to send a girl to hell I would send her to the roller skating rink, and I would send her as quick as I would to the dance hall. You will find old widows there skating with boys, and old men with young girls. Lust is at the bottom of the whole affair. I made up my mind I was going to preach against that thing, and I announced it, although I knew three fourths of my congregation would be against me. When I got up to preach my knees began to shake. I had selected the hymn:
"Let worldly minds the world pursue It has no charms for me Once I enjoyed their pleasures too, But grace has set me free."
Before I got through with that verse God struck me, and I would have stood up there and preached if there had been as many devils there as people. That sermon killed the roller skating rink in that place. The son of the proprietor of the skating rink said, "When that man Kulp comes down town I will show him what I will do for him." But he did not do anything. God managed the whole business.
There is a hell for those who refuse to walk in the light, and say -- if you are not living up to the light that God gives you, you will die and go to hell just as sure as you are living. You do not have to go out in open sin to be lost. All you have to do is just refuse to walk in the light. "If we walk in the light . . . the blood cleanseth"; but if we refuse to walk in the light, that light becomes darkness. It means an eternal hell. Some people do not like for men to preach on hell; but if you cannot get a prayer through to heaven, if you die tonight, you will drop into hell just as sure as God is on the throne and that old Bible is true. John Bunyan in closing Pilgrim's Progress said, he saw there was a way to hell from the very gate of heaven. There is a way to hell from the church door, and from the church record. You may have your name on the church books and partake of the sacraments and be baptized, but these things will never save you. You have to repent and forsake and believe, and then you will have the witness of the Spirit that you are a child of God.
I was preaching a little over a year ago in a Union Church that belongs to a coal company up at Marytown, W. Va. God wonderfully blest that meeting, but I know this, that every dispensation that God has given will close in judgment, and every revival service that is rejected, those who reject it will be visited in judgment. I made the remark at this meeting, that if people reject God they will die and go to hell and God will visit this place in judgment. I went there again this summer, and I was in a home taking dinner with a family, and I saw the picture of a young man and young lady on the wall, and I said, "Who is that?" And the mother said, "That is my daughter and her sweetheart. He was killed the last Thursday in the year." That young man was in that meeting; the Spirit strove with him, but he said "No" to God. He was in a coal mine and something broke and he was thrown up against the coal overhead, and the top of his head was taken right off, and the blood of the brain spattered the coal overhead. That was Thursday; the coming Sunday he was to have been married. That young man said no to God's mercy and God followed that mercy with judgment. Oh, there is a hell, and you do not know when you are going there. You do not know who is going there? Oh, yes; all the "fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their place in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." Yes, and everybody who says "No" to the Holy Ghost. Everybody who refuses to walk in the light. Tonight if God should take us we would be just what we are here. If we are unsaved now, unsaved then. Asking God to save you on your deathbed is no more effective than getting down on your knees at night and asking God to forgive you for the sins of the day. God help us!
We do not only know there is a hell and know what people are going there, but we know what they are doing in hell. My grandson, Brucy, was taken to a hospital, where he could have the best of attention during his illness. There was an operation going on, and he said, "Shut that door! Shut that door!" "What is it?" "Oh, I cannot stand it!" "What?" "The groaning, the groaning." Could not stand the groaning in the next room. By Sunday every room is filled, and beyond the partition was a woman dying and, oh, the agony! Brucy said, "What is that?" "That is a woman dying out there. We have no room for her." But the next morning that sound was not heard any more, and he said, "Where is the woman?" and they said, "She is dead." Say, we know what they are doing in hell; they are groaning and crying and biting their lips, and it is eternal despair; it is eternal darkness. They are cursing each other there, cursing preachers who did not preach straight, cursing the Holy Ghost, cursing themselves, condemning their own selves, condemning each other. You know what they are doing in hell, and they are dying it all the time, and they are getting worse and worse the longer they are there, and when they have been there ten thousand years they cry out. "How long? How long?" And the answer will come back, "Forever, forever, forever!" Men live thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety years, and fall away and die, and then have all eternity to call themselves fools.
Do you know tonight that God saves you? Do you hear from heaven? Do you have the witness of the Spirit that you are a child of God? Oh, I get a great deal of encouragement from the devil! When I used to go to church, people would get up and say, "Well, I have had such a battle since last Sunday!" And I would say, "Glory to 'God!" Amen! I know that just so long as I have a battle on hand, there is a victory ahead. Oh, sometimes I go into a meeting and get down to pray, and it seems that every devil is around wanting to get the victory of that meeting, and I begin to shout to myself and say, "There is a victory coming and the devil knows it." Are you having a hard time, as you call it? Oh, do not call it that. The yoke is easy and the burden is light, and if you are a good soldier you will enjoy the fight. Mary Story went to Brother Knapp and said, "Why is it I have such battles?" He said, "Mary Story, have not I heard you pray for God to make you a warrior?" She said, "Yes." "Well, amen! then you must have battles."
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. I was once in a meeting and there was a woman praying and I thought she was going through, and down went her head, and I said, "She struck something," and up went her head, and I said, "She is going through," and then it went down again, and I said, "Well, she has struck something." At the close of the meeting she came up to me and said, "Brother Kulp, I want to ask you a question." And she said, "If a woman has sinned against her husband, does she have to confess it?" I said, "I leave that with you and God. " She came up the next night and said, "Brother Kulp, I confessed to my husband." And after she did this she was not long getting saved. If we do the best we know how. we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, His son, cleanseth us from all sin. I was preaching up at Asheville, Ky., a short time ago, and a woman said, "Can I see you in the morning?" I said, "Yes." "What time?" I said, "Nine o'clock." But she came at 8:30. When I went in she said, "Brother Kulp, you knocked out all my victory last night." I asked her what was the matter and she told me. I gave her some advice and I wish you could have seen her when she came to that altar that night. She got through, and she walked around there and waved her handkerchief and bobbed her head beautifully. Say -- she was glad her victory was knocked out.
The last time I saw Ed Ferguson he stood up and said, "I am ready for heaven in a moment's notice." In that congregation were scoffers, and they said, "Did you hear what Ed Ferguson said? Said he was ready for heaven in a moment's notice." That man had the experience and he went to heaven in a few months after that -- without much notice. God Almighty says to you tonight, "Be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."
