OceanSide church of Christ
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
(5)
Victor M.
Eskew
INTRODUCTION
A.
The word “asked” is used 65
times in the New Testament.
1.
It is found 56 times in the
gospels.
2.
Thirty times, Jesus is the
one being asked a question.
B.
Most of the time, Jesus
responded with an answer to the questions He was asked. He knew people gained knowledge and
acquired understanding by asking questions.
C.
This is our night for
questions and answers. Several have
posed questions. We will be
answering two questions in this lesson.
I. HOW
CAN GOD HATE ESAU IN ROMANS 9:13?
A.
The text (Rom.
9:13).
As it is
written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
B.
This verse is a quote from
Malachi 1:1-3.
The burden of
the word of the Lord to
1.
Esau was Isaac’s oldest
son. As the eldest, the birthright
and blessing of his father were supposed to be his.
2.
Through God’s providential
hand, both went to Jacob. It would
be through Jacob’s lineage the promised seed would come.
3.
God favored Jacob over Esau.
a.
This is the sense in which God loved Jacob and hated
Esau.
b.
Basically, he loved Esau less.
D.
Two other verses can help us
to see this definition of the word “hate.”
1.
Luke
14:26
If any man come
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sister, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple.
a.
If the term “hate” literally means to loath and despise, we would have a
contradiction in the Biblical text.
1)
Note that wives are included in Luke 14:26 as ones to be
hated.
2)
Yet, in Ephesians 5:25, husbands are commanded to love their
wives.
b.
The passage is telling us that we must not love our families more than we
love the Christ when it comes to being a disciple. In order to be a disciple of Christ, we
must love our family less.
2.
John 12:25
He that loveth
is life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it
unto life eternal.
a.
Again, if this passage means that we must loath our lives, then we have a
contradiction because Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt.
22:39).
b.
If we were called upon to give our lives for Christ, we must hate our
lives. We must love them less than
we love the Christ. We must be
willing to sacrifice our live on His behalf.
II. IS HOLY WATER
REAL?
A. There
are two main places wherein one might learn about holy water
today.
1.
The Old Testament (Num. 5:17).
And the priest
shall take holy water in an earthen vessel…
2.
The Roman Catholic
Church.
B. The
holy water of the Roman Catholic Church is the most
common.
1.
This is water that is
blessed by a bishop or priest that serves numerous functions in
Catholicism.
2.
Some of the functions
noted:
a.
Holy water is placed at the entrance of Catholic Church buildings so the
members can dip their fingers in the water and then make the sign of the
cross. This is supposed to remind
them of their cleansing received at their baptism.
b.
The Aspersion
1)
The holy water is used by the priest to sprinkle the people before
2)
It is said that this is based upon Psalm 51:7.
Purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash
me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
c.
The baptismal waters of Easter are holy waters.
d.
Holy water is used to consecrate churches, altars, and altar
stones.
e.
The sick can drink sips of holy water to help cure them of their
afflictions.
f.
Members can take some holy water home for their personal
use.
3.
This water is believed to be so sacred that the only way to properly
dispose of it is by pouring it directly onto the ground.
C. Those
who use holy water remind us that deity has always been associated with
water.
1.
There are many examples that they set forth.
a.
Psalm 29:3
The voice of the
Lord is upon the waters: the God of
glory thundereth: the Lord is upon
many waters.
b.
At the Creation, …the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2).
c.
In the days of Noah, the earth was cleansed from wickness by the waters
of the flood (Gen. 6:17).
d.
At their dedication, Aaron and his sons were washed with water (Exo.
29:4).
e.
Before entering into the tabernacle, the priests had to wash with water
at the laver (Exo. 30:20).
f.
Jesus was baptized in the waters of the
g.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He possessed the living water (John
4:10, 14).
h.
At our Lord’s crucifixion, His side was pierced and blood and water
flowed from His side (John 19:34).
i.
The bride and the Spirit invite those who thirst to come to His
life-giving waters (Rev. 22:17).
j.
We are commanded to be buried in the waters of baptism for the remission
of our sins (Acts 10:48; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16).
k.
In the heavenly realm, John saw a pure river of
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the
Lamb (Rev. 22:1).
2.
Since water has been so commonly associated with deity, the thought is
that there still must be some form of water, holy water, which is associated
with deity today. Thus, the priests
exorcise and bless the water and use it for religious
purposes.
D. There
are two problems with the concept of holy water.
1.
We are no longer under the authority of the Old
Testament.
a.
We do read of holy water in the Law of Moses.
1)
Holy water (Num. 5:17).
2)
Water of purifying (Num. 8:7).
3)
Water of separation (Num. 19:9).
b.
Today, we are loosed from the OT.
Our authority comes from the New Testament of Jesus Christ
(
Wherefore, my
brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ: that ye should be married to another,
even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto
God…But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held;
that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the
letter.
2.
Since we live under the NT, we must abide by its
authority.
a.
We are to consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ (I Tim. 6:3). We are only to
speak as the oracles of God (I Pet. 4:11).
b.
The NT makes no mention of any type of holy water to be used in any
special way.
c.
Holy water is an addition by man.
Such additions are condemned in the Scriptures (Rev.
22:18).
For I testify
unto every man that heareth the words of the prophesy of this book, If any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book.
CONCLUSION
A.
In our discussion tonight,
we have briefly mentioned two concepts that are very applicable to us
today.
1.
First, we must love the Lord
Jesus Christ supremely and hate all else, including our own
lives.
2.
Second, water is associated
with baptism and is essential for forgiveness.
B.
Tonight, someone may need to
take that step and be baptized.
Someone else may realize that he/she has not loved the Lord supremely and
needs to repent. Remember, Jesus
said that we either love Him or hate Him.
There is no in-between ground (Matt. 6:24).
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.