On May 17, 11:06 pm, Pastor Steve Winter <steve-.NO--S...@-prime.org>
wrote:
You scum aren't just malicious and stupid, you really are
antichrist.
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does
not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
(Matthew 3:10)
Or, Even now the axe lieth. As if he had said, There is not a moment
to spare - God is about to cut off every impenitent soul - you must
therefore either turn to God immediately, or be utterly and finally
ruined. It was customary with the prophets to represent the kingdoms,
nations, and individuals, whose ruin they predicted, under the notion
of forests and trees, doomed to be cut down. See Jer 46:22-23; Ezek
31:3,11-12. The Baptist follows the same metaphor: the Jewish nation
is the tree, and the Romans the axe, which, by the just judgment of
God, was speedily to cut it down. It has been well observed, that
there is an allusion here to a woodman, who, having marked tree for
excision, lays his axe at its root, and strips off his outer garment,
that he may wield his blows more powerfully, and that his work may be
quickly performed. For about sixty years before the coming of Christ,
this axe had been lying at the root of the Jewish tree, Judea having
been made a province to the Roman empire, from the time that Pompey
took the city of Jerusalem, during the contentions of the two brothers
Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, which was about sixty-three years before the
coming of Christ. See Josephus, Antiq. l. xiv. c. 1-5. But as the
country might be still considered as in the hands of the Jews, though
subject to the Romans, and God had waited on them now nearly ninety
years from the above time, expecting them to bring forth fruit, and
none was yet produced; he kept the Romans as an axe, lying at the root
of this tree, who were ready to cut it down the moment God gave them
the commission. (from Adam Clarke's Commentary re Matthew 3:10)
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears
good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear
bad fruit , and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that
does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus,
by their fruit you will recognize them. (Matthew 7:16-20)
As the thorn can only produce thorns, not grapes; and the thistle, not
figs, but prickles; so an uuregenerate heart will produce fruits of
degeneracy. As we perfectly know that a good tree will not produce bad
fruit, and the bad tree will not, cannot produce good fruit, so we
know that the profession of godliness, while the life is ungodly, is
imposture, hypocrisy, and deceit. A man cannot be a saint and a sinner
at the same time. Let us remember, that as the good tree means a good
heart, and the good fruit, a holy life, aud that every heart is
naturally vicious; so there is none but God who can pluck up the
vicious tree, create a good heart, plant, cultivate, water, and make
it continually fruitful in righteousness and true holiness. (from Adam
Clarke's Commentary re Matthew 7:17)
Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and
its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. (Matthew
12:33)
That is, the effect will be always similar to the cause; a bad tree
will produce bad fruit, and a good tree, good fruit. The works will
resemble the heart: nothing good can proceed from an evil spirit; no
good fruit can proceed from a corrupt heart. Before the heart of man
can produce any good, it must be renewed and influenced by the Spirit
of God.
(from Adam Clarke's Commentary re Matthew 12:33)
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from
thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil
things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow
of his heart his mouth speaks. Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and
do not do what I say? (Luke 6:43-46)
[Corrupt fruit] Karpon sapron, literally, rotten fruit: but here it
means, such fruit as is unfit for use. God judges of the heart, not by
words, but by works. (from Adam Clarke's Commentary re Luke 6:43-46)
Gal 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Both flesh - the sinful dispositions of the human heart and spirit -
the changed or purified state of the soul, by the grace and Spirit of
God, are represented by the apostle as trees, one yielding good the
other bad fruit; the productions of each being according to the nature
of the tree, as the tree is according to the nature of the seed from
which it sprung. The bad seed produced a bad tree, yielding all manner
of bad fruit; the good seed produced a good tree, bringing forth
fruits of the most excellent kind. The tree of the flesh, with all its
bad fruits, we have already seen; the tree of the Spirit, with its
good fruits, we shall now see.
[Love] Agapee. An intense desire to please God and to do good to
mankind; the very soul and spirit of all true religion; the fulfilling
of the law, and what gives energy to faith itself. See Gal 5:6.
[Joy] Chara. The exultation that arises from a sense of God's mercy
communicated to the soul in the pardon of its iniquities, and the
prospect of that eternal glory of which it has the foretaste in the
pardon of sin. See Rom 5:2.
[Peace] Eireenee. The calm, quiet, and order, which take place in the
justified soul, instead of the doubts fears, alarms, and dreadful
forebodings, which every true penitent less or more feels, and must
feel until the assurance of pardon brings peace and satisfaction to
the mind. Peace is the first sensible fruit of the pardon of sin. See
Rom 5:1, and the notes there.
[Long-suffering] Makrothumia. Long-mindedness, bearing with the
frailties and provocations of others, from the consideration that God
has borne long with ours; and that, if he had not, we should have been
speedily consumed: bearing up also through all the troubles and
difficulties of life without murmuring or repining; submitting
cheerfully to every dispensation of God's providence, and thus
deriving benefit from every occurrence.
[Gentleness] Chreestotees. Benignity, affability; a very rare grace,
often wanting in many who have a considerable share of Christian
excellence. A good education and polished manners, when brought under
the influence of the grace of God, will bring out this grace with
great effect.
[Goodness] Agathoosunee. The perpetual desire and sincere study, not
only to abstain from every appearance of evil, but to do good to the
bodies and souls of men to the utmost of our ability. But all this
must spring from a good heart-a heart purified by the Spirit of God;
and then, the tree being made good, the fruit must be good also.
[Faith] Pistis, here used for fidelity-punctuality in performing
promises, conscientious carefulness in preserving what is committed to
our trust, in restoring it to its proper owner, in transacting the
business confided to us, neither betraying the secret of our friend,
nor disappointing the confidence of our employer.
[Meekness] Prautees. Mildness, indulgence toward the weak and erring,
patient suffering of injuries without feeling a spirit of revenge, an
even balance of all tempers and passions, the entire opposite to
anger.
[Temperance] Engkrateia. Continence, self-government, or moderation,
principally with regard to sensual or animal appetites. Moderation in
eating, drinking, sleeping, etc.
Several very respectable MSS., as D*EFG, with the Vulgate, most copies
of the Itala and several of the fathers, add hagneia, chastity. This
we are sure cannot be separated from the genuine Christian character,
though it may be included in the word engkrateia, continence or
moderation, immediately preceding.
[Against such there is no law.] Those, whose lives are adorned by the
above virtues, cannot be condemned by any law, for the whole purpose
and design of the moral law of God is fulfilled in those who have the
Spirit of God, producing in their hearts and lives the preceding
fruits.
(from Adam Clarke's Commentary re Galatians 5:22-23)
Interesting points from a respected source. For those who are
unfamiliar with Adam Clarke and his commentaries on the Bible, here's
a short bio:
"Adam Clarke was born in Ireland in 1762.
Clarke became a Methodist in 1778, and was in a succession an
exhorter, local preacher, and regular preacher. His first circuit was
that of Bradford, Wiltshire, to which he was appointed in 1782. He
served in various places and traveled throughout Great Britain,
achieving fame as a preacher, and being president of the British
Conference in 1806, 1814, and 1822.
After 1805 he held an appointment in London, where he was a member of
the committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society for several
years, and one of the advisers of its Oriental publications. He
resigned from this task in 1819, having retired four years previously,
due to his impaired health, to Millbrook, Lancashire, where he resided
until his return to the vicinity of London in 1823. He was also active
in the service of the Wesleyan Missionary Society from its inception
in 1814, making two missionary journeys in 1826 and 1828 to the
Shetland Islands.
The most important of his numerous works was his Commentary on the
Bible (originally published in eight volumes, 1810-26), which had a
long and extensive circulation and took Clarke over four decades to
produce. He also published a Biographical Dictionary (1802) and its
supplement, The Biographical Miscellany (1806). His Miscellaneous
Works were edited in thirteen volumes by J. Everett (1836-37).
Adam Clarke died in London on Aug. 28, 1832. He is perhaps the most
famous Methodist/Wesleyan commentator to date."
[Biographical text adapted from The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of
Religious Knowledge.]
May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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