Thru the Bible - Questions & Answers

Guest (Male): As Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time, he approached a fig tree. When he saw that it had no fruit, he cursed it and the tree withered. But it was not the season for figs. So why did Jesus curse the tree? Was it arbitrary, or does it have a message for us?

We welcome you to another question and answer program, a ministry of the Thru the Bible Radio Network with our Bible teacher, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Now we have a number of questions today, so let's get started with this one from a listener in Upland, California. He says, "Would you please explain the meaning of Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23?"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now let me read them. "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out demons? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Now I must confess that I'm not clear here just what you're after in this particular passage of scripture. This is in the Sermon on the Mount, so-called, and it speaks of that day when the Lord Jesus will have before him these false teachers and false prophets, I think for that matter, those that have claimed to know him but did not know him. And they were able to perform miracles, but they did not know him.

I'm never impressed by the miracle workers today, because we are not promised any for this age to begin with. And he says very clearly there will be many that will stand before him. It doesn't say many, but apparently says here that there will be some that will stand before him. They're going to say, "Lord, Lord, didn't we even cast out demons in your name?" And he'll say, "I didn't even know you."

That's referring, I believe, to the Great White Throne Judgment that is yet to appear on this earth. I think that is the one that is here. I also think that when he establishes his kingdom here upon this earth, those that come before him for judgment at that time again will present maybe some of them this sort of a statement, and they'll be turned down because they did not know him.

This is a passage of scripture that blanches your soul, does it not? To see how far you can go and still not know him personally and how essential it is to know him personally. Now I appreciate very much these two passages of scripture and yet I do wish and suggest that when you send in a question concerning any passage of scripture that you be very specific and point out just the particular thing in that passage you'd like for us to amplify or to enlarge upon.

Guest (Male): Our next question comes from a listener in Burbank, California who wrote, "In John chapter 20, Jesus commanded the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. The Greek implies immediate obedience to the command. That being the case, why do the majority of scholars say that the church began at Pentecost in Acts 1? How do you reconcile the two passages?"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: All right, two questions that you have there. It says, how is it that the majority of scholars establish the beginning of the church at Pentecost? They establish it there because that's where it begins. Now, how do you reconcile the two passages? Very easily. May I say to you that the Lord one time, you remember, told the disciples that they had not asked for the Holy Spirit, but he had prayed that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

And now here he tells them to receive the Holy Spirit. And it's the tense of the verb and it means exactly what you said it means. It happened at that very moment. Now on the day of Pentecost, we're told definitely that the disciples were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And when the day of Pentecost came, something happened and we're told that all of them there that were gathered together were filled with the Holy Spirit.

All right now, let's look at that for just a moment. Do you have a contradiction here or a difficulty? No, not at all. And may I say this, that before the day of Pentecost, the disciples had been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. I cannot put my finger down on exactly when they were regenerated, but apparently all of them were regenerated, with the exception of course of Judas, before the day of Pentecost.

Now our Lord at this particular time in his ministry, he said to them, you're to receive the Holy Ghost. And we're told, just as you say, that they were to receive the Holy Ghost. Now, this was immediately after his resurrection. Now he told them at this time also they were to tarry in Jerusalem until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit and that they would receive power after that the Holy Spirit came upon them.

Now, may I say to you, you have failed to make a distinction in the ministries of the Holy Spirit. The disciples were regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. There are those that believe this passage that you have referred to speaks of that, that that's what it means. They were regenerated at that time. In other words, they were really unbelievers as far as the death and resurrection is concerned. They did not believe it.

But at this time, having seen the resurrected Christ, now the Lord Jesus says, receive the Holy Spirit. And just as you say, it's the aorist tense and it happened at that very moment. Now they were regenerated and probably at this time given a special enduement. But they were not baptized with the Holy Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost, the great ministry that took place was the fact these were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the one body, which is the church. Paul said to the Corinthians, "By one Spirit are ye all baptized into one body." And so that took place the first time on the day of Pentecost. And at that time all of these disciples and all that were gathered there were, they were baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit for a particular ministry which they were to exercise on that day and the succeeding days.

So that there we have no contradiction, there's no problem in reconciling these two. You just need to learn to make a distinction in the ministries of the Holy Spirit, that he has several different ministries that he performs. Now today, he performs several of these the moment that a sinner accepts Christ. The moment a sinner accepts Christ, he's regenerated.

He's indwelt by the Spirit of God. And he's baptized by the Spirit of God, if you please. He's sealed by the Spirit of God the moment that he trusts Christ as savior. That happens at that very moment. Now back in this day in this transition period, they before were regenerated, but on the day of Pentecost they were baptized and filled by the Holy Spirit. And it's the baptizing of the Holy Spirit that is the new thing that puts man into the church. By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body. And I don't have time to develop that any farther, but that's one of the great ministries of the Spirit of God today.

Guest (Male): A listener in Albany, New York sent this question. "Could you please explain Romans 2, verse 15?"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: Now let me say that this particular section that you are referring to here has to do with Paul's showing that good people are sinners. You know that some people, it's quite obvious they're sinners: murderers, liars, thieves. There's no argument about that. But there are a lot of nice people, church members, but not saved. And they therefore do not feel that they are sinners.

I have a letter right before me actually that will go on our other program, the Thru the Bible program, and it's of a couple that are 90-some-odd years old. They've been members of church since they were children, and they just now found out that they're sinners and need to be saved. Now Paul's dealing in this section of Romans with folk like that. Now he's talking here actually in this section about Gentiles that do not have the law, yet they obey the law.

Will you notice verse 14? "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another."

You see, a child of God today is brought to a higher plane than just living by the law. He today is, by the Holy Spirit, is to live for God on a much higher plane than even the law brought a man. And so that we're talking now about Gentiles that have never heard the gospel and they've never heard the law even. And yet they practice the law, that is, I understand that from a missionary who worked out in the South Seas among some headhunters that actually they ate human flesh.

But they were very strict on the subject of honesty. He said you could leave your pocketbook in the middle of the compound of the tribe and leave it there all night and it would be there the next morning. They wouldn't touch it. They followed very meticulously the rule of being honest. And they hadn't heard of the Mosaic law, they hadn't heard of the Bible at all at that time. And yet they follow that.

Now they wouldn't mind eating you. They would have you for dinner. And when they invited you over for dinner, you wasn't quite sure whether you'd be the dinner or whether you'd be there to eat dinner. The thing is that he's talking about people like that. Now he says they are guided by their conscience. Some have a conscience about being honest, but no conscience about maybe eating your mother-in-law or something like that.

And so the question Paul is saying here, and it's not a question, he says they either accuse themselves or excuse themselves. Now, some of them, if they were dishonest, they would accuse themselves. Their conscience would bother them. But there'd be others that would break their own law, but they'd excuse themselves. They rationalize.

A great many Christians today will rationalize to doing something that's questionable. They have some reason for it. Now I know a couple, they're a very wonderful couple. They do not believe you should go to moving pictures. Now they went to see one recently. And oh, they were so apologetic then. They rationalized because it was a clean picture, it was a good picture, it had nobility in it, worthy motives, and a challenge to live on a higher plane.

So that there's nothing wrong with the movie, and they wanted to see it. But they were excusing themselves, you know, for having done this. And they still felt like they'd done wrong, you see. So the conscience, now I'm trying to illustrate this, the conscience will either accuse or excuse a person about things that are right and wrong.

And there's never been found a people that didn't have that which was right and that which was wrong. There were certain things that are wrong. We are moving actually right now into an orbit in our culture today that probably we've come farther away from right and wrong than any people, even the worst savages in the worst places of this world haven't come quite as far as we're going right now. To some people today there's no such thing as right or wrong. Anything you can get by with.

And they go out on certain worthy movements that pertain to somebody else but not to them. And they live their own life, do as they please. May I say they're no different from a savage out in some island in the South Pacific. And there're not many out there that are quite as bad as some we have here. So that I trust we've made that distinction for you in this particular passage of scripture.

Guest (Male): We turn now to a question from a listener in San Bernardino, California. He says, "Would you explain the symbolism and importance that John places on the water in John 3:5, John 19:34 and 35, and 1 John 5:6 and 8? Am I correct in assuming that the passages are related?"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I'll answer that last question first. Yes, you are right in assuming that they are related. My feeling is that they are directly related. You have first of all in John 3 where the Lord Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus who came to him by night. And in the fifth verse, "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Now what is water a symbol of? Well, water's a symbol of the Word of God. It's also a symbol of the Holy Spirit and it's a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, because he said that he was the water of life. But here he says, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit." But when he enlarges on that, he says, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit."

So obviously the emphasis is upon the Holy Spirit and we certainly cannot misunderstand what he means by that. But what does the water symbolize? Well, the water symbolizes the Word of God. The Word of God is likened unto water. Today that we're cleansed by washing by the Word of God. There is a cleansing power in the Word of God, actually.

The best bar of soap is not Ivory soap, but a Bible. It has cleansing power. Someone has said that sin will keep you from the Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin. It has cleansing power. And the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus said, "When he's come, he'll take the things of mine and show them unto you." Now how does he show them unto us? In the Word of God. And the water is the Word of God. And I think that is obviously very clear.

I do know that there are those who take the position that water, it refers to baptism. And frankly, if you want to go that route, fine, but you actually have not explained the symbolism that is in this and in light of these other scriptures that you've given. Now in John 19:34 and 35, let me read. "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe."

Now John noted this, and he noted it in such a way that he says, I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm saying that blood and water came out, and I was there, I was a witness, I saw it. Now the blood speaks of the cleansing power of the blood in redeeming sinners. The water speaks of the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

Do you notice that there came out both water and blood? And just not water, he says, but water and blood came out. And that the water represents the Holy Spirit, the blood of course is not only representative, but is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me put it like this. If after the Lord Jesus died on the cross and had not the Holy Spirit come on the day of Pentecost, there would never be a church. No one would ever be saved.

You see the Holy Spirit is essential and here the Holy Spirit and the water are used synonymously. And I think that the important thing is that the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, they go together. The visible presence of God today is seen in the Word of God. That's a reason that I do not like to see so many translations, because frankly you see many faces of God. And I very frankly wish we could settle on one translation. But that's a question that's going to be coming up a little bit later and we'll wait for that.

Now, 1 John 5:6 and 8. Let me turn to that. 1 John 5:6 and 8 and I'm reading now. "This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit that beareth witness, because the spirit is truth. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."

So you see here you have the water representing the Word of God, the blood representing the death of Christ, the shedding of blood. God says without shedding of blood there's no remission of sins, and then the spilt blood of Christ. And then the Holy Spirit is here in the world to make these effective in your life and in my life today. This is the example, by the way, of a good careful reader of the Word of God.

Guest (Male): Our final question today comes from a listener in Knoxville, Tennessee. She says, "Why did Jesus curse the fig tree when it wasn't the time for figs to be in season?"

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: May I say to you that to me at this time he's in Jerusalem for the last time and it was on his entrance into Jerusalem and he probably went in three times on what we call the triumphal entry. And one day he presented himself as a prophet, the next as a priest, and the next as a king, because that was his threefold office. And when he cursed the fig tree, what he did was symbolic of that.

He cursed the fig tree because the fig tree represented the nation Israel. And he came to the nation Israel to look for fruit and there was none. And therefore the leaves speak of the witness. Go back and read the first Psalm. His tree also shall not wither, that his leaf shall not wither. That is a permanent testimony. And they were giving a testimony that they serve the living and true God, but they weren't.

And I'm not sure but what he might do the same thing today to all the shrubbery that's around some of our churches today if he came. He would probably in a symbolic way say you got the leaves of testimony out but you're actually not witnessing for me. There's no fruit really. So many churches are like that. A man that's an evangelist was speaking to me some time ago about how discouraged he is today.

He goes into churches where the only members they take in, they get them from other churches, people that are shifting around, moving around from place to place. And a lot of these churches are building up a tremendous membership, but they're recycling church members. They're getting them from somebody else. And sometimes one side of town a church will have trouble, difficulty.

A great number will leave the church and then they go over to another church and all of a sudden it begins to grow. But it's not evangelism. The leaves are there, but there's not the fruit. Now use that as an illustration, that the Lord Jesus found no fruit when he came to the nation Israel and that was something that is symbolic.

And to say today that the gentle Jesus would not curse a fig tree, the poor little fig tree, may I say to you, did you ever stop to think how many trees and how many people went into the flood in the Noachic flood? And actually, by the way, God is the one that dropped the first atom bomb. He took two gases, oxygen and hydrogen, two of hydrogen, one of oxygen. He put them together, and that's called water. And I tell you he dropped a bomb on the human family. Now don't tell me today the gentle Jesus would not curse a fig tree because it didn't have fruit on it. I think we're sort of going overboard. So don't feel too bad if he cursed a fig tree. There was tremendous lesson there.

Guest (Male): With that, we come to the close of another question and answer program. If you'd like more information on these issues, as well as many others, then we suggest that you contact us for our resource catalog, which will provide you with all available material by Dr. McGee. You can also increase your knowledge of scripture by tuning into the Thru the Bible radio program with Dr. J. Vernon McGee every Monday through Friday on this same station.

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