Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday,
January 15, 2020
I don’t want anyone to feel guilty or condemned because of all the physical sufferings our Lord was about to go through for you and for me and the entire human race; 1Ti 2:2-4; 2Pe 3:9; Joh 1:29.
We begin with our Lord’s heartbeat for those who are hurting and lost which motivates us to be compassionate and sensitive toward others because we have the mind of Christ; 1Co 2:16; Phi 2:5.
Even though the average individual has no idea about how lost they really are, they are still loved by our Lord and His desire for them is to prosper, to rest, to enjoy, all that God provided for us in eternity past; Eph 1:3-4.
All we really need to do has already been provided for us by our Lord Jesus Christ, who not only blesses us but provides us the capacity to enjoy the blessings of God and have a wonderful life.
Capacity for blessings bestowed upon us is the real secret behind the glorification of our Lord because it’s the capacity for happiness and contentment that our Lord seeks for in the winner believers.
In 1Co 13:1, what good is it if we speak with many languages, both angelic and human, but we do not function under agape love?
In 1CO 13:2, what good is it if we have the gift of prophecy, and know all the mystery doctrines and knowledge; and we have great faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have virtue-love, I am nothing.
In 1CO 13:3, what good is it if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
Added to that is this; 1PE 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers or should cover a multitude of sins.
PRO 17:9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
PRO 17:17 A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
Even later on in the dispensation of the Church-age, the apostle John tells us in 3JO 1:2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.
Cosmic One = Religion and immoral degeneracy such as lasciviousness or loose living.
Cosmic Two – Religion and moral degeneracy such as another gospel, another Jesus, another spirit, another doctrine called Doctrine of Demons, 1Ti 4:1.
The sad state of the ignorant believer; ISA 5:4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected {it} to produce {good} grapes did it produce worthless ones?
2PE 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
1TI 4:10 For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
Two of the most well-known passages concerning the identification of our Lord Jesus Christ and His purpose on earth, John the Baptist said; JOH 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
The second passage; MAT 3:16-4:1; And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, {and} coming upon Him,
John the Baptist = LUK 7:28 “I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
The one called John the Baptist was not a part of the dispensation of the Church-age where water baptism was used as visual aid to represent salvation.
ISA 40:3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
JOH 1:23 “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Every time the majority or the average believer hears the word baptism they automatically think water is involved in some way, and that is false.
According to the Word of God there are eight different baptisms found in the Bible, Five Dry and Three Wet.
- The Baptism of John the Baptist; Mar 1:4.
b. The Baptism of Moses ( 1Co 10:1-3).
c. The Baptism of Jesus ( Mat 3:13-17 ).
d. The Baptism of Fire ( Mat 3:11-12). - The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (1Co 12:13).
f. The Baptism of the Cross; (MAR 10:35-39).
g. The Baptism of Church-age believers; (MAT 28:19).
h. Noah’s type Baptism (1Pe 3:18-22)
Our Lord commanded all of us to reveal our Love for Him by following the Divine Commands that He gave us to follow if we truly desire to worship, honor and respect our Lord.
In the NAS JOH 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
The correct order of words that our Lord spoke is even more precise when it says; JOH 14:15 He who keeps or guards My commands, or My doctrines is the one who truly loves the Lord.
The emphasis is on keeping and guarding the doctrines or the commands because the majority of believers do not guard and protect our Lord’s doctrine and that is why they do not love the Lord.
The Bible says if they do not keep and guard our Lord’s word, they will be under a curse until the Lord comes back; 1CO 16:22.
1CO 16:22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha.
Normally the Greek word that is used for personal love is phileo, which is the “type” of love that we have for others who we love and admire personally, because of something good in them.
Agape love is really the only love that we have learned from God, is impersonal and unconditional and emphasizes the person who is doing the loving not the one being loved.
Why, when it comes to loving God, we are told to have agape love toward God?
- “agape love” is used for loving God and not “phileo love” which is more personal and emphasizes the character and the nature of the one who is being loved.
- If this is a true statement, wouldn’t we expect a command to have phileo-love which is a personal love for God and not agape-love, which is an impersonal unconditional love toward all mankind.
- One of the main reasons that we are to have agape love toward God is that agape love emphasizes the mental attitude of the individual who is loving God and not the personal love of attraction.
- It is important for us to be trained and equipped for whatever doctrine the Lord calls us to apply so that we are either going forward in the plan of God, or we are going backward in the plan of God.
- No one ever remains the same because we are either going forward in the plan of God for our lives or we are going backward in the plan of God, no one ever remains the same!
There is a direct relationship with the love of God and the believer keeping or guarding the commands of God, especially His love.
- They could care less that God gave them a command to love all believers.
- They may not say it, but they could care less that the Lord gave them a command to “keep on remembering Him” by celebrating the Lord’s supper with other believers if possible.
If anyone wants to question that, listen to what the apostle Paul said about those believers who ignore their responsibility to worship God, that is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I am a rock
I am an island
And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries
The order of the words in this verse is vital and important because it should sound like this: Joh 14:15 He who has My commands and guards them is the one who truly loves ME.
JOH 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.”
This is another reason why the apostle Paul taught the Philippian Churches how to love beginning with PHI 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge [epignosis doctrine] and all discernment.
Our love for God and our love for ourselves along with others increases more and more as we metabolize the love of God by real knowledge or epignosis doctrine.
1Th 4:9 Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for {anyone} to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;