Anger

Anger manages everything badly

Pro_14:17  He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly:

Eph_4:26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

JUST DO WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO!

William Andrew Dillard

From the earliest days of history comes a powerful point for everyone throughout the ages. It is a point when well taken and observed, that will bring goodness, joy, and appreciation of blessings without end. So, just what is this powerful point? It is: JUST DO WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO! Think about it!
The story emanates from the lives of two brothers, Cain and Abel, who brought offerings of worship to the Lord. The story is well known. God rejected Cain’s offering, but accepted that of Abel. Cain was exceedingly angry over the rejection, but received the benefit of godly instructions which would rectify his life, and included ample warning of any alternative. God forthrightly told him: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” Students have often asked what this means, especially the last part of it.
Sin in the form of anger and resistance to well doing had enveloped Cain as a dirty shirt, or more to the point of the verse, sprung upon him as a roaring lion. It lay at Cain’s door, and it lies at everyone’s door. It does so because it desires to have each person as its prey. Do not be deceived, sin really wants control of your life. Cain, and everyone else, too, will rule over sin, and keep it at bay, though it burn with desire for us, as long as commitment is made to God’s grace in well doing. Just do what you ought to do! To objectify the subjectivity of this statement, the Bible truth for all men is offered.
Solomon put it this way as he concluded the book of Ecclesiastes at 12:13.“ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” That statement is true and applicable across the ages. The apostle Paul wrote about God to Timothy: “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” I Timothy 2:4.
Making a long and wonderful story short, it is the will of God that all men should be saved, and then go on to serious discipleship through baptism, church fellowship, and spiritual maturity in the university of Christ Jesus using His textbook: the Holy Word. Thus will the awful sins of hurt, heartache, and loss be avoided while the joy of faith, hope, and goodness shield against the desires of the springing lion at the doorstep. How awful are the cries of those who have, through foolish and selfish decisions, become the victims of that crouching lion at the door. But greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world. In well doing one may resist the devil to the point that he will flee, according to James 5:8. What all this translates to in simple terms is: Just do what you ought to do!

Sin

Sin is the dare of God’s justice,

the rape of His mercy,

the jeer of His patience,

the slight of His Power,

and the contempt

of His love.

John Bunyan

Preacher and Preaching

A preacher can preach on a sin he hasn’t experienced

because he doesn’t have to eat

the swill to preach

on hogs.

Adrian Rogers

THE DECLINE AND DEMISE OF CIVILIZATION

THE DECLINE AND DEMISE OF CIVILIZATION

ABApologetics.org

W.A. Dillard

Hundreds of years before God gave the Hebrews the Old Testament Law, He set the cornerstone for the progress of civilization: capital punishment, Genesis 9:5-6. Additionally, His view of the criminal deeds of mankind is blatantly underscored in Holy Writ. Additionally, His instructions to His people included plain information about how to put evil away from them. Deut. 17-22. Parents were charged with the responsibility of turning in incorrigible children, even consenting to their just death, Deut. 21:20. One may protest that those instructions were valid under the Mosaic Law, and not under the dispensation of Grace. That would be correct other than the Genesis 9 reference, which predates O.T. Law. But the question remains, “Has God’s viewpoint toward sin and evil changed, or our responsibility lessened?” Obviously it has not changed since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Are you thinking with me?
As the time of man’s present rule on earth comes speedily to an end, Satan has worked hard to inundate the world with material things. This has been a most effective softening tactic. For far too many the fear of losing those things has crippled the will to be responsible; to clearly delineate right from wrong; to call sin what it is, and to maintain law and order on the Judeo-Christian foundation of civilization.
So, the world, and particularly our nation sinks further each year into the quagmire of evil and degradation by rejecting the principles that make a nation great. Demonstrations abound of specific intent to sabotage order. This can only result in national and global anarchy as a ready stage for a dictator, the likes of which has yet to be seen on the world stage.
The good news is that although the sun may be going down on this age of grace, it has not yet set! It is still called today (the day of grace). Let the people of God everywhere be patient and faithful to sound the warning of the last days: “harden not your heart as in the provocation.” Psalm 95:8; Heb. 4:7. Let the words of the wise man, Solomon, be heard: “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Prov. 14:34. I am grateful to God that the old ship of Zion still sails faithfully upright in and through many of our Lord’s New Testament Churches. Let us pray for the strengthening of others in the Lord!

The Nature of Sin – Romans 6:12

1. The Nature of Sin – Romans 6:12
   1. Sin is: – Rom. – 6:16
      1. Sin is a Fact – Gen. 4:7
         1. A fact of experience. – I experience it in my own heart.
         2. A fact of observation. – I see sin in others
         3. A fact of revelation. – Sin is revealed in the Bible – Genesis 6:5,6
            1. The policeman pursues it.
            2. The physicians prescribes because of it.,
            3. The law discovers it.
            4. Conscience condemns it.
            5. God punishes it.
            6. Nobody likes to say “Commit it.”
      2. Sin may be defined but cannot be explained. – John 8:34
         1. To explain sin is to explain it away.
         2. Sin had no place in the original creation.
         3. Sin is a parasite that sucks the soul dry.
         4. Sin made its appearance in a garden of delights.
      3. Sin is: – John 16:8 – “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin.
         1. A Cheat. – It promises pleasure and pays off in pain.
         2. A deceiver. – It promises life and pays off in death.
         3. A destroyer. – It promises profit and pays off in poverty.
         4. Moses looked at sin and chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
   2. Sins True Definition:
      1. “Sin is any lack of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God.”
      2. “Sin is any lack of conformity to the law of God, whether in act, disposition, or state.”
      3. The Apostle John: “Sin is the transgression of the law” – I John 3:4b
      4. Sin is violation of the moral law of God and cries out for just retribution.
   3. Sin is: – John 16:9
      1. Missing The Mark.
         1. Missed the Mark in rejecting the Son.
         2. Missed the Mark in serving after salvation.
         3. Missed the Mark in faithfulness.
      2. Man turning aside. –Isaiah 53:6
      3. Competition with God.
         1. In authority – you bought with a price. – I Peter 1:18,19
         2. Adam and Eve decided to become independent of God and create their own law.
         3. They rejected the law of God and became a law unto themselves.
   4. Sin is Certain.
      1. The Reality of Sin
         1. Ask Adam if sin is real in his loss of Eden.
         2. Ask Cain if sin is real in his cry – “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
         3. Ask David when we hear him say – “I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.”
      2. The Potentiality of Sin
         1. The sin committed reveals a heart of rebellion.
         2. The sin committed reveals a mind bent to the world.
   5. Sin Forgiven through a Mediator. – Romans 5:15
      1. Sin is God’s competitor
      2. The Savior is God’s Mediator –
      3. The First Adam Competed with God for Sovereignty and ruined us all. – I Corinthians 15:45
      4. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, cooperated with God for our salvation.
      5. The first Adam said – “I will.” – Genesis 3:6 – “He did eat.”
      6. The last Adam said – “Not my will, but thy will be done.” – Matthew 26:39
      7. The last Adam said -: I delight to do thy will, O God.” – Psalm 40:8
      8. God’s will led Him along the rough road of suffering through gloomy Gethsemane to bloody Calvary where Jesus cried – “It is Finished.” – John 19:30

Romans – 6:11-14

The Mystery of Iniquity

HEBREW HONEYCOMB
THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY

William Andrew Dillard

A songwriter once penned these words: “Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear; freedoms we all hold dear now is at stake . . .” When one looks at the political arena, it appears little above mass confusion. When one looks at the religious scene it is void of most of the Bible teachings. When one looks at the economical stage, it is so tenuous as to cause men’s hearts to fail. If all this seems to paint a bleak picture of today’s world, it is meant to do so. But there is more, much more!
The crumbling foundation of the family unit leaves children without parents, or in some cases single parents. Then the demands of the workplace leave little time for children who are largely abandoned to a latchkey position to formulate their own distorted views of life. Each ensuing generation is in an ever worsening condition. What is it all about. What is happening to the world we live in?
Certainly, these are times so often and well prophesied by God’s Word. It would seem a time for the masses to hear the clarion call of the gospel. It should be a time of widespread repentance, of men seeking the will of the Lord with a contrite heart. But just the opposite is the mainstream of life. What is one to make of it all?
The apostle Paul informed us of these times. He wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:7, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way.” Think about it!
The “Mystery of Iniquity.” The term “Mystery” is from the ancient Greek term, “Musterion.” It derives it existence from a base word “Muo” which basically means “To shut the mouth.” Hence, a mystery is something known to the initiated, but unknown to the uninitiated. It remains a mystery to those unqualified and unwilling to search out and know the meaning. “Iniquity” is a translation of the Greek word “Law” (nomous) with a negative prefix, to literally translate “no law.” It means not given to or ruled by law ; contempt and violation of law, wickedness. This is aptly descriptive of modern times, but they will worsen because there is a restraining power who lets (restrains) until he be taken out of the way, so that ultimate chaos may prevail.
The so-called progress of humanity apart from God has led to the abolition of world war; the vaunted progress of medical science has led to longer life spans, and as the world struggles to balance trade, unite religious movements, and to feed the bulging population creating population shifts of illegal migration, the world ripens for the ultimate rule of its god. His predetermined end of it all is destruction in many forms, but the final stage will be Armageddon. It is a millenniums long plan that will go down in eternal defeat for all evil. Sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the stomach.

SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS SIMPLIFIED

 

William Andrew Dillard
Parson to Person

It is true that some folk have the mindset of concrete: thoroughly mixed up and profusely set. They would argue with the proverbial signpost, but they cannot argue with God, neither may they box with Him because their arm is too short! So, it is not the burden of men to convince one another that they are sinners. The Holy Spirit witnesses that in every heart. But the idea of sin may be better understood in the simplistic terms of “Use” and “Misuse.” Think about it!
Get it straight, and never forget it! God is righteous, but men are not. If men are not righteous; they are sinners, big time! Some jovial chap will roar that all sin is sin, and there is no difference! Others will say that there is no difference to God. I find it amusing that so many seem to know the mind of God in these matters without a specific scripture reference. Stay with me for a moment.
If all sin is the same, why are there at least three categories of it: transgression, iniquity, and sin? Psalm 32:5. If all sin is the same, why were some sins worthy of death, and others could be atoned for? If all sin is the same why did Jesus say the Pharisees would receive the greater condemnation? Certainly, one sin of any sort severs one from God as Adam and Eve sinned in Eden. But, beyond that the saints have to deal with their sinful nature every day of their life, and there is a wide array of sins. So leaving “Iniquity” and “Transgression” for another time, let us focus on the term “Sin.”
“Sin” means “to miss the mark!” To miss the mark of anything assumes the mark was intended to be hit, but missed. Thus, sin is the misuse of every possible thing in life.
Think about the common sins of men. “Greed” is the misuse of things material or immaterial acquired in access, and restricted to the individual, when enough of those things are already made available for one to serve and honor God day by day. It is use vs misuse. Alcohol and drugs were made by the same God who created everything else. They have a purpose: medicinal, not recreational. It is a simple matter of use vs misuse. Sexual activity was created to insure the survival of the species, thus placed within honorable perimeters. Outside of those perimeters it is misuse; hence, sin. Language may be loving or vile; a matter of use vs misuse. Human Relationships may be gentle, kind and loving or abusive, harsh, and mean. It is a matter of emotional use vs misuse. In the wide spectrum of all things, the apostle Paul boldly declared, “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” I Cor. 10:23. In short, all things God created have purpose and rightful use, but the practices of men have established misuse; it does not edify. Simply put, it is sin!

MARCH 27 – I Will Wait Till my Change come

Job 14:14  If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. 

15  Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. 

16  For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? 

This question is asked in many circles today. It is an old question and I think that Job was asking this question for the benefit of his friends. As we read the book of Job I believe we find in him a profound belief and trust in God. We find his answer following the question. “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” His expectation was a change from this mortal body to an immortal body.

Notice Jobs statement, “… the days of my appointed time …” Do you think that the Lord knows the length of time we will be here on this wicked and sinful earth? Apparently, Job believes that. Job even said that “…thou numberest my steps.” We have a certain amount of time to serve the Lord. How much time have we wasted? My allotted time will soon end. How about you?

The next verse says “Thou shalt call …” We are called into the service of the Lord just as a soldier is called to serve his country. Too few that say that they are called are answering the call. Job said,”I will answer thee …” How many have announced their call to the ministry and are sitting on their hands lusting for a pastor to get sick so they can fill their pulpit. This reminds me of a preacher that sent out the word, “I am available to pastor anywhere within fifty miles of my home.” We have enough “so-called” preachers sitting in Churches and not pastoring that there is no excuse for a Church to be without a pastor for five years. This has happened. It is time for us to grow a spine and answer the call to work.

Job once again mentions a length of time. God was the original “Fitbit”. He numberest my steps. During a call to surrender and service, we are reminded that God marks my errors. He sees our sin of not surrendering. We say we are called, yet God calls men to service, to preach, to teach and announce the call but they do not respond to service. That is sin. God sees our sin.

May we yield to the call of surrender and service. The end of life draws near. What have we done?

MARCH 11 – Great sin

MARCH 11 – Great sin

2Sa 24:10  And David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. 

There may be a time when we are overcome by temptation. We yield to it. Then as we reflect on what we have done or maybe a friend or enemy lets us know that we have sinned, remorse sets in and we begin to feel sorry. We know that God will bring retribution. This should bother us and cause us to seek forgiveness.

Prayer is the answer to forgiveness. We should humbly appeal to the Lord for His mercy and grace. David’s heart smote him. There are times we sin and become very callous about that sin. Even to the point that we say we would do it again. David had gone against the direct command of God. Do not count the people. O how we resist the Lord at times. We are stubborn and intractable in our relationship with the Lord.

Even worse David’s sin involved the people also. Even with repentance and forgiveness, punishment was meted to David and the people. David was offered three punishments. David knew that God was full of love and mercy. Knowing the love and mercy of God, David said, “let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.”

David put his trust in the true mercies of God and not man. The people were punished for David’s sin. Have you ever considered how your sin might affect others. We must realize the effect our sins have on others.

May we trust in the Lord, his punishment for sin and his forgives because of his mercy.