You will never learn that God is all you need until He is all you have. – Adrian Rogers
Category Archives: Commentary
What do I need?
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VESSEL
The Holy Spirit never leaves a surrendered vessel unfilled or unused. – Adrian Rogers
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BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST AND FIRE
ABApologetics.org
W.A. Dillard
John
the Baptist made a most interesting statement characterizing the
Jewish Messiah Whom he announced. He said, “… I indeed baptize
you with water; but one mightier than I cometh,the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy
Ghost and with fire:” Luke 3:16, Matt. 3:11.
Most all agree
that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, occurred on the
day called Pentecost as recorded in Acts Chapter Two. But what about
the baptism of fire that John prophesied Jesus would administer?
There are two common misunderstandings of this prophecy and its
fulfillment. One is that the conjunction “Kai” in the Koine Greek
text should be translated “Even.” The other is that this was
accomplished by the cloven tongues of fire that sat upon the
disciples on that historic and monumental occasion. Let it be said
that if the conjunction should have been translated “even”
instead of “and” surely one of the many translations of the Bible
would employ it that way. None do! Additionally, the cloven tongues
that sat upon the disciples on Pentecost do not represent a baptism
which is in Greek “baptizo” to plunge or immerse. So both the
ideas are rejected as simple misunderstandings of what John the
Baptist was actually saying.
Closer examination of what
John said, and in correlation with other scriptures indicate a
baptism of judgment. Dr. A. T. Robertson in his work WORD PICTURES IN
THE NEW TESTAMENT sees and expresses this view as well. The completed
work of Christ Jesus, including both His cross work and His Holy Word
establishes the criteria by which men shall meet Him in judgment. For
this reason the church of His establishment is empowered with both
knowledge and dynamic ability to grow up in Him, and to exercise His
holy will in each generation. Such as are submissive to Him are
undergoing, here and now, that baptism spoken of as fire, a
consistent type of judgment. Consequently, the apostle Peter plainly
expresses this truth in I Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that
judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”
The
judgment through which modern day, submissive disciples pass is that
of being shaped by His Word (transformed rather than conformed to the
world). Sometimes this is indeed quite fiery, but it allows the
person so exercised to correct views, lifestyle, and beliefs to be in
accord with God’s Word. His judgment then producing in that person
highly rewardable works at His coming. Thus does the extended water
baptism of John through a New Testament Church afford one the
extended baptism of fire that refines him for God’s service both
now, and in the millennial reign to come.
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God and Relationship
The great God of the universe who heaped up the mountains, scooped out the oceans, and flung out the stars, wants to have a relationship with you. – Adrian Rogers
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THE LIKENESS OF THIS GENERATION
Someone
once said the more things change, the more they stay the same. It
appears contradictory, nevertheless true. Vaunted progress in most
every field of endeavor characterizes the present time, but the
universal plight, and the persistent actions of men remain unchanged.
Nowadays, good is called evil and evil is called good. Selfishness
largely rules, and the unchanging principles of time and eternity are
pushed aside for what men want right now.
It was to a similar
generation of Jesus’ day that he explained the ministry of John the
Baptist, and the subsequent kingdom of heaven. There were those who
heard him, and they with the publicans justified God being baptized
with the baptism of John. On the other hand, there were many of the
lawyers and Pharisees who rejected the counsel of God against
themselves by rejecting the baptism of John. Luke 7.
They wanted
to pit the ministry of John against the ministry of Jesus. They
criticized the person of John as aloft, stoic, antisocial because he
was not given to eating bread, nor drinking wine with them. Then they
criticized Jesus because He did those things, calling Him a
gluttonous man, a winebibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners.
In short, nothing could be right in the eyes of these critics but
their own twisted formula of life. How that remains. Times have
changed, but the more they change, the more they stay the same.
Jesus
summarized the generation of His earthly ministry. “They are like
unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another,
and saying, We have piped unto you and you have not danced; we have
mourned to you, and ye have not wept.” Luke 7:31-32. This is an
unchanged status quo, having multiplied exponentially.
Men do
not have the qualifications, nor any ability to call upon the
substance or perimeters of eternity. God does! Moreover, the true
churches of the Lord Jesus Christ are in covenant relationship with
Him, so they have been given the knowledge of eternity by the abiding
presence of the Holy Spirit. They have visited that dimension
vicariously, and proven their understanding by the eternal,
unchanging Word. It is they who justify God, not only being baptized
with the baptism of John, but offering the same to such as bring
forth fruit meet for repentance. With them, by God’s grace, I
stand! Trusting one’s pompous, but powerless formulations is silly.
Trusting the eternal creator of the universe is wise.
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WHAT REALLY WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW?
Bro. Hess has given a good presentation on the law
Being the God who knows everything, is the same God that gave the Law as is recorded throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. So did the all-knowing (omniscient) God really think that it was possible for man to be able to keep the whole law without messing up at all? If so, why would He give such a law that would condemn those who broke it to death, physically and spiritually?
Look at what James wrote in James 2:8-11. If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
So what does this tell us? Any one infraction of the Law, regardless of whether one considers it a “small” infraction or not, it still pronounces us as guilty and therefore, we have missed God’s mark of perfection, which is what is called sin. What are we told in Romans 6:23? For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So, in this respect, the Law worked against man in that it showed man what God considered as sin and therefore man is guilty if he breaks the law in any way. Man has absolutely NO excuse for doing ANYTHING that God doesn’t want him to do. The Law, that Paul wrote about in Colossians 2:14 is called “the handwriting of ordinances”. What did he say about the law? “.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; So why did God give us a Law “that was against us and contrary to us”?
Here is what Paul stated in Romans 7. In verse 7 Paul said that “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. In his early years, Paul THOUGHT that what he was doing was right in the sight of God and that he was safe. But when the law was revealed to him, it was by the law that he knew what God considered to be sin. Now look at what he said in Romans 5:20. ” Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
The law exposed sin in such a way that it gave sin a broader perspective in the mind of man. The Jews did not fully understand how big sin really was in God’s eyes. They considered, as many do today, that there were “little” sins that didn’t carry as much weight as the “bigger” sins. But in God’s eyes there are NO “little” sins or NO “big” sins. Sin is sin. So the law made it possible for man to see just how “BIG” ALL sin was in the eyes of God. And as such, sin of any kind had the overall penalty of death. Therefore, the necessity of “GOD’S GRACE” became more important and necessary to a man. We see these words when we read all of Romans 5:20-21. “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
In Galatians 3:10 Paul wrote “ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” In Galatians 2:16 we read, “ Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.“ Then on to Galatians 2:21 where we read, “ I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” And what about what Paul wrote in Romans 3:20? “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Isaiah 64:6 gives a message of no hope when it comes to what we can do of ourselves. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
So seeing what we have read in these references, what really WAS the purpose of the Law?
(1) As we saw in Romans 5:20 and 7:7 God gave the Law so that man would be able to see sin through the eyes of God. Sin was “bigger” than man realized.
(2) As we saw in Galatians 3:10; 2:16,21 ; and 3:20 the law was totally impossible to keep to the point of gaining righteousness in God’s eyes.
(3) Isaiah’s message from God was that our best “good” doesn’t even come close to bringing us to God.
But look at the beautiful information that Paul gives us in answer to the question, “What really was the purpose of the law?”. In Galatians 3:23-25 we read these magnificent words. “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”
Notice these words; “…kept under the law, …”we were imprisoned under the law. Those words were followed by “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ,”the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ.
Man needed something to show him how helpless he was in being able to make it possible for him to come into the proper relationship with God. The law was what God used to show man that he needed a MEDIATOR between himself and God. Jesus Christ was that Mediator. ” For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ” (I Timothy 2:5). Jesus was the One and only Way to the Father. Jesus was the REAL truth in physical form to point man to the Father. Jesus was the only one who could give man the spiritual, eternal life that was necessary to prepare man to meet and live with the Father. No human being can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ.
I hope and pray that this lesson has answered the question “What really was the purpose of the law?” for you.
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Proof of God
If GOD wanted to prove Himself, He could roll back the heavens and make Himself known with a display of His grandeur, might, and glory. however, such displays would render FAITH unnecessary. – Adrian Rogers
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The Knowing
You don’t have to know
WHY
when you know
WHO.
Adrian Rogers.
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