Exhortations For The Church: Volume 7

Preface



The apostle Paul said to Timothy ...

I Tim. 4:13 ... Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

The sayings of this world can even begin to sound "reasonable" to us and might cause us to cast aside the word of God and what God says in the Holy Scripture unless we keep God's doctrine in front of us by rereading Bible on the subject.

Romans 12 ...  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world:but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

What does God say about divorce and remarriage?

Mt. 5:32 ... But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery:and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

I Cor. 7 ... 10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband:and let not the husband put away his wife.

What does God say about homosexuals?

Romans 1 ...  24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.



What does God say about fornication?

I Cor. 6 ...  15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price:therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

These doctrines have disappeared from the majority of church groups as they approve men marrying divorced women ... as they approve divorced women remarrying ... as they welcome homosexuals to the gathering of the church ... as they fail to condemn fornication in the churches ...

We certainly see all this in churches today in USA and I suspect you see it in other countries as well, as they try to "save" men and draw men to themselves by the approval of the various sins being committed by man.

When scripture is discarded or changed, antichrist takes over in that church group.

All this signals the coming of Jesus also, for Paul says churches will fall away from scripture and antichrist will move in before Jesus returns.  

II Thess. 2

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means:for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Church groups will "fall away" from scripture, setting up perversions of scripture to make such more appealing to fleshly people.

The apostle Paul told the church these things would happen "after his (Paul's) departing".

Acts 20 ...29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

So it has to happen and it is happening right now.  But it is very hard for us to see.

Therefore even more we must surround our minds with godly exhortations from Bible by the Holy Spirit.

That is the purpose of this book ...


Joan Boney


Be not conformed to this world


Romans 12:1-2... the apostle Paul says to us ... I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world:but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

When we turn on TV, we see all manner of things accepted by this world, which are contrary to the Word of God.

We find church groups approving all manner of things contrary to the word of God.  (such as men marrying divorced women and approving divorce and remarriage in the church ... some church groups even accept and approve homosexuals and lesbians into the congregation ... and sex outside of marriage is often sitting right there in the congregation without shame and without repentance.) 

The apostle Paul tells the church not to be like this but rather to be transformed by the renewing of our mind to the word of God, the Holy Scriptures.

If we hear a lie long enough, it gets to sounding reasonable.

We must renew our minds to the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, the Word of God ... and we must do this often in our doctrines to keep from being swept away by the thinking expressed by the people around us and by the church groups today.

Concerning divorce/remarriage  ...

I Cor. 7 ...  10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband:and let not the husband put away his wife.

Mt. 5:32 ... Jesus says ...  But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery:and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Not only is adultery caused by the husband who divorces a faithful wife, but the faithful wife commits adultery after divorce if she remarries, and the man who marries the divorced woman commits adultery. 

None of these things are reasonable to people of this world.  Most church groups today teach another doctrine, approving all manner of divorce/remarriage in their groups. 

But we who are of God must cling to what God has given us in the Bible, the Holy Scriptures which are inspired by God.

We must not accept the thinking of people of this world.  Truth is in Jesus, The Word.

Therefore it is critical that we stand fast to what the Bible says without wavering.

Concerning homosexuals and lesbians:  

Romans 1 ...  18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 
...  21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
...  24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
...  26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections:for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

Throughout the entire Bible, homosexual acts are forbidden.  In the Old Testament this is called "sodomites" and they are cast out from the people of God in each example in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament we see the truth in Romans 1 ... God's thinking ...

Also we see the following telling such people will not inherit the kingdom of God ... (of course if such are born again and repent and refuse such acts, that is another matter ... but they cannot continue homosexual/lesbian acts and inherit the kingdom of God ... as is the same case with adulterers and fornicators and drunkards) 

Proof of the scriptures:  

I Cor. 6 ...  9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you:but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 


Concerning sexual intercourse outside of marriage:  

I Cor. 6 ...  15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith HE, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
 

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price:therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Fornication is a sin different from all other sins.  Fornication is a sin against Christ's own body.

And at the time of sexual intercourse you become "one flesh" with that person ... This puts sexual sins in a category different from all other sins. 

We must be firmly grounded in each of the above scriptures, keeping the doctrines of the Holy Bible, refusing all other reasonings of man.

This means it is critical for us to renew our minds often to these doctrines.  For the world and even the church groups are teaching something very different from what the Bible says on these matters.

I Tim. 5:22 ... neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure



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Exhortations For The Church:  Volume 7
Available from amazon.com in paperback and eBook



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