We live in a world of hurting people, wounded people who think no one cares and who believe we will not look beyond their sins to offer compassion and concern rather than criticism and condemnation. We can care about sinners without condoning sin, and we love the lost without approving of their lifestyle. They are in the darkness, so we must be the light that draws them to Christ. Only He can transform their lives into something beautiful. We know He can, because for that’s our testimony.
As a Church of God preacher, I embrace the view that speaking in tongues is the first physical evidence that one has been baptized with the Spirit, but I also agree with Pastor T. L. Lowery who said, “If the only evidence that you’ve been filled with the Spirit is that you speak in tongues, then I question your experience.” Why would he say that? He said it because speaking in tongues is the initial evidence, not the only evidence, and certainly not the most important evidence that a person has been filled with the Spirit. I would argue that while the evidence of the baptism may be that the believer speaks in tongues, the purpose of the baptism is power to be witnesses of Jesus Christ.
If I walk into the ring and knock out the champ, what does that make me? Well Jesus was pounding Satan into the mat with every miracle, every deliverance, every healing, and every word. If Satan was the strong man, then Jesus is Messiah, Son of God, God incarnate. Why weren’t the Pharisees, the priests, or the scribes defeating Satan? They couldn’t because they were more committed to their religion than they were to the truth.
As Christians, we try to model our life after the example of Christ and other people in the Bible who exemplified true Christian character. When it comes to a model for motherhood, two of the most powerful examples would be Jochebed, the mother of Moses, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. However, Mary would have to get the top spot because from the beginning she had to overcome obstacles, endure sorrow, and realize that she would never be the authoritative voice directing the destiny of her Son’s life.
JESUS PLANS FOR KINGDOM GROWTH By Mark E. Hardgrove, PhD Mark 3:7-21, NKJV 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things...
We all want to be liked, and it is especially hurtful when we are doing our very best but people still find fault with and criticize us. Consider how Jesus must have felt: Everywhere He went He was doing good, yet the scribes, Sadducees, Pharisees, Priests, Herodians, and even His own brothers and sisters criticized Him. However, despite His critics, Jesus remained focused on His mission and He would not let the reproach or the rebuff of the haters distract Him from doing what His Father sent Him to do.
Jesus answered the critical question of the scribes and Pharisees with three parables: the parable of the bridegroom, the parable of the patch on the cloth, and the parable of the wine and the wineskins. The first parable introduces the concept of Jesus as the bridegroom, and the second two parables illustrate the idea of something old and something new.
The holy Rabbi of Nazareth invited the unholy and ungodly tax collector to be His disciple. The disciples who were already with Jesus must have gasped, and the people in the crowd probably began to whisper in disbelief, but the most surprised person at that moment would have been Levi.
And with that, sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. on a Friday, Jesus won the victory over sin. He was the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God without spot or blemish who takes away the sins of the world. But Jesus did not come only to defeat sin, He also came to defeat death. To do this, Jesus had to fully experience death, so the spirit of Jesus descended into Hades, and into the realm of the righteous dead to lead captivity captive.
But by the end of the week the multitudes would turn on Christ and cry out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” (Lk. 23:21). He came into Jerusalem hailed as a king, but a week later He was taken outside of Jerusalem and hung on a cross like a common criminal. This would be a dramatic and decisive turn of events in the span of only seven days, but each point in the process was fulfilling prophesy concerning the coming Messiah.
