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September 21, 2018

10/4/2018

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Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        COMING BEHIND IN NO GIFT
 
        Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  1 Cor. 1:6, 7.
 
    Evidently God has had a purpose for the gift of prophets or prophecy, which was designed to help the people of God stay in the truth.  It was His purpose that this gift be always present so that people could have the advantage of detailed counsel that is relevant to the time and place in which they live.
 
    According to Scripture, the gift of prophecy is for the church--so don't go looking for a true prophet of God outside the church.  The gift is for believers (1 Cor. 12:28; 14:22).  Paul made the analogy between the gifts to the church and the human body.  In the analogy, the gift of prophecy can be compared with eyes.  Evidently they saw it this way back in the Old Testament days (1 Sam. 9:9).  In those days the prophet was called the "seer."  The prophet was the eyes of God's people.  Again from the same analogy, it's natural to expect prophets to have vision or visions.  Numbers 12:6 says that God will reveal Himself through His prophets in visions and dreams.
 
    It is God's purpose in the last days that the church come behind in no gift (1 Cor. 1:7).  He doesn't want us to come behind in apostles or pastors or teachers or evangelists, neither in prophets.  And I'd like to suggest that the gift of prophecy is designed to include more than one person.  It did in Bible times, and evidently it will at the very end of time.  According to Scripture, the gift of prophecy will be manifest in the church just before Jesus comes.
 
    Well, a true prophet, whether in Bible times or at the end of time, is going to be counterfeited.  The devil will see to that.  This has always been one of his methods of operation.  We have been warned, in Matthew 24:24, that there will be false prophets.  But Matthew 7:20 says we can test them by their fruits.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 we are invited to prove all things, and keep that which is good.  God is very interested in giving us every benefit today, including the gift of prophecy, to make it as hard as possible for us to be deceived.
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September 20, 2018

10/4/2018

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Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
 
        And he gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.  Eph. 4:11.
 
    There were some longtime Seventh-day Adventists who were taking a trip with some new converts to their church.  One of their stops was in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they toured the temple square and other points of interest.  The new converts said, "We're glad that the Seventh-day Adventist Church doesn't have any of this prophet business."  The Seventh-day Adventist friends sort of went hot and cold, and tried to think what to reply.  Obviously, these new converts had been rushed into the church without sufficient preparation.
 
    Not only does the gift of prophecy and prophets have something to do with God's church, but this gift has had something to do with God's people in all ages.  According to God's plan, the gift of prophecy is scheduled to be in His church to the very end of time.
 
    If you don't believe in the gift of prophecy, you don't believe in the Bible.  And if you're having trouble with the gift of prophecy in the church, you're also having trouble with Scripture. 
 
    Most of us would deny ever seeing a real live prophet.  But perhaps you have tried to imagine what it would have been like several years ago to have seen a prophet in person.  And yet this is God's purpose in the church.  Not only was it His purpose in regard to the Ephesians in the days of Paul, but you notice that in this passage, it is for the perfecting of the saints till we all come in the unity of the faith.  Have we reached that yet?  Has the Christian church today come to that place?  Not yet!
 
    Some people look back on the gift of prophecy and say that it was sent for the purpose of helping immature, naïve people grow up.  And once the church comes of age and matures, it no longer needs the gift.  I don't believe it.  It was given till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of doctrine.  We have not arrived.  We have not reached the full stature yet.  The gift of prophecy is still meaningful for us today.
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September 19, 2018

10/4/2018

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Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        WHAT ABOUT REBAPTISM?
 
        When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Acts 19:5.
 
    In the first few verses of Acts 19 there is a definite Bible reason for being baptized a second time.  It doesn't necessarily have to do with growth in the Christian life.  It has to do with new light about Jesus that one didn't have before.  It is something that, because a person didn't know of it, he has been neglecting.  When the disciples spoken of in Acts 19 heard about the new truth that they hadn't been aware of, they were baptized a second time.
 
    Our practice in the church has been to baptize people a second time if they have once been Christians but turned their backs on God and gone their own way.  When they returned, they became convicted that they wanted to renew their public confession of Jesus Christ.
 
    Occasionally someone will come who says, "I was baptized when I was 10 or 11, and I didn't know what it was all about.  I was just baptized because the rest of the kids were.  But since that time I have died, and no one attended my funeral.  I have been born again, and no one has celebrated my birthday.  So I'd like to be baptized for real this time."  We don't hesitate when a person is convinced by the Spirit that he wants to make this decision.
 
    There has been a certain stigma attached to rebaptism in the minds of some.  Particularly if someone who has appeared to be a good church member seeks a rebaptism, the question in the minds of many is, "I wonder what he did wrong!"  Because of this, sometimes the one who is choosing to be rebaptized will meet with a few friends in some outdoor setting rather than in the church.  But I liked the testimony of a couple who were rebaptized recently.  They had been church members in good standing, but had only lately come to a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.  And they said, "I suppose that some of you are wondering what we did wrong.  Well, we did the worst--the very worst!"  And you could have heard  a pin drop.  They continued, "We have done the worst.  We have lived our good, upright, moral, religious lives apart from Jesus.  And that's the worst."  In order for baptism to be meaningful, whether a first baptism or a rebaptism, it must be an evidence of a life changed by relationship with Jesus.
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September 18, 2018

10/4/2018

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Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        PREPARATION FOR BAPTISM
 
        And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.  Acts 22:16.
 
    There are three prerequisites for baptism.  First of all, a person must understand.  Matthew 28:19, 20, says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."  Notice what happens first--teaching preceded baptism.  So when a person is baptized, he is admitting publicly that he has been taught by God, taught by the Holy Spirit, and by His messengers, and that he understands.
 
    There have been young people who have been bribed and persuaded by their parents or someone else to be baptized, who were taught nothing before baptism except that their parents wanted them to do it.  They may have been given a few facts concerning doctrines, but they have not been taught of God.  They have no relationship or fellowship with Him.
 
    Mark 16:16 gives a second prerequisite.  "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."  Don't miss the sequence--believing comes before baptism.  Trust in God is what is needed.  Eternal destiny is not decided primarily by baptism, for there are exceptions to the rule.  The thing that brings damnation is not the absence of baptism but the absence of belief or trust in God. 
 
    The third prerequisite is found in Acts 2:38.  Here on the day of Pentecost, Peter is preaching.  He says, "Repent."  Why did he say that?  Because in the middle of his presentation the congregation interrupted him and asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"  They had been convicted.  And Peter's response was, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins."  So the third prerequisite is to repent.  Repentance is sorrow for sin, and turning away from it.  But there's only one way that can happen.  It is as we see what our sin has done to Jesus, and are sorry for hurting our best Friend, that we are able to be genuinely repentant.
 
    Jesus offers to us today the opportunity of coming to Him, to learn of Him, and to trust in Him.  He offers us the gift of repentance.  And as we respond to Him, He then invites us to follow the example He set, and be baptized for the remission of sins.
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September 16, 2018

10/4/2018

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