Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Aixen7z4 | 132674 | ||
One question for us to ponder is whether the verbs and pronouns in Ephesians 6:10-18 are in the singular number, or plural. I slipped your note into my Bible so I could sneak a peek at it as I visited with the five (5) churches on our schedule for the Lord’s day. As it was, I could read about it and look up and see the things you spoke of. By the end of the day, I thought I had an answer. The first church (Dou you want to hear about them?) it is one I know quite well, a source of many clients. I listened to people talking in Sunday School, people whose lives I knew, and I was almost overwhelmed. I wondered if they thought it possible I would speak up and ask some personal questions. In the end I decided it was because they had confidence in the confidentiality we promise. Of course, our ministry depends on it, and I could not violate. But they knew that I knew that they know. I thought there must be some way to address this in general without putting any individual at risk. The second church had been bolted shut. The neighbor across the street said there had been a fight and they had decided to close the church for two weeks until things were settled. The fact is the pastor had invited me to preach and to “do whatever else you do, as the Lord would lead”, and he had not called to cancel. I felt there was a need here to help people who were to weak to even call for help. I will call them. Care to guess what the response will be? The third one was like a dream. Together, they openly acknowledged a need, accepted what we had to offer, and immediately asked us to come back next Lord’s day to minister. Church number four accepted our ministry and asked us to pray for them. But there were needs the pastor did not see. He believes that preaching solves everything and in fact he gave us only half the meeting, reserving the second half to continue with his series. It was the assistant pastor who had invited us and he wants to meet with us again to discuss the needs. I think we are walking a tight rope here, but we are addressing only the need for evangelism and I hope we can arrive at something that all can approve. The last church was a shocker and a tear jerker. It is in a large building that we had seen virtually full. Now there were a few people sprinkled over the auditorium, and they were to be in court with some who had left one day this week. The amazing thing was the façade that was still being shown in the meeting. I wondered what was really going on in the mind of the pastor as his eyes met mine. He knew that I knew that he knew he had failed to show up for his last appointment and had not even called to say why. I guess I had been persuaded that these brethren need help. I sat with that pastor and looked at him for thirty (30) seconds and then asked, “Why don’t you let us help you?”. He said he had been asking himself the same question and could not come up with an answer. He had often thought of calling, but something would stop him. And I was thinking, “Not something. Someone”. Let me just say, mommapbs, that I agree with what you have said. We have an enemy who is actively involved in opposing what we stand for. Why does he win? I will tell you what I think: It is because he is able to divide us. We think of the battle as an individual tussle with him, and most of us fight it so. But we are not lone fighters. We are the Lord’s army, and we need to fight together. It is so sad to see believers not only fighting the enemy in solitary battles, but also fighting each other. This is a sure formula for failure, and we do fail. But then, because we know we are supposed to win the fight, we talk as though we’re winning. So there’s my theory. The hypothesis is that we will get victory if, God before us, we fight together. I will get to test it this week. The pastor of church number five promised to get his leadership team together and take them to see us. It’s so we can fight together. Do you think they will follow through and keep that promise? I told him Satan would influence him again to not call. He said Satan won’t succeed this time. They’ll be there. What do you think? |
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2 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Mommapbs | 132683 | ||
Greetings Dr. Axien: this is what I "think!" Church 5: white washed tomb comes to mind here. There is more to this situation than meets the eye. I think you have assessed the problem correctly - an intense spiritual battle is being waged here - which suggests to me that satan is quite threathened by this body. He has done a masterful job of deceiving even the pastor. Your hypothesis:"we will get victory if, God before us, we fight together." will only work IF everyone is of one mind and one heart - understanding what true unity is all about. It's not just that we attend the same church or agree to some creed or doctrine - it has to do with what we REALLY BELIEVE as individuals in our hearts. If even one does not have a firm grip on who they are IN CHRIST, the whole is in danger of succumbing to an attack! So a "back to the basics" is perhaps in order. Revisitng the propitiation provided by the cross of Christ, revisiting the redemption, forgiveness, acceptance, righteousness, regeneration, restoration etc and the power of the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of Jesus, to wage the battle for us, to guide and comfort us etc. I suspect that these folks have lost the ability to see each other as God sees them. If they did, there would be compassion and not a court case. May God be at work as you minister to these needy members of our body. Like Paul we should be in grief for these believers. Blessings, mommapbs |
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3 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Aixen7z4 | 132687 | ||
Please pray that God will give us one heart and one way, as in Jeremiah 32:39, and a different kind of fear (v. 40). | ||||||
4 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Mommapbs | 133122 | ||
Greetings - I'm leaving your current question up on 1 Tim 1:15 - "Can you believe this?" but would offer this answer to you. As I continue to walk with the Lord, choosing to enjoy His fellowship I find that I have a greater appreciation for His MERCY. I recognize the depth of my sin and the gravity of it as I contemplate His holiness. I am amazed by His grace and love for me and have a better understanding of Paul when he declared that among sinners, he is the foremost or chief. THIS, I think is the point of that verse. That we too would relinquish our pride in sin - is anyone as bad as Adolph Hitler or Osama Ben Laden. . . and realize that indeed we are! Well, these are my thoughts. The question is not "can" we believe but DO we believe this? Blessings, mommapbs |
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5 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Aixen7z4 | 133129 | ||
Greeting, my sister: I appreciate the thoughts. God’s grace is truly amazing. My point is that human behavior is in its own way amazing; I might even say “unbelievable”. But it is the situation in which God shows the nature and extent of his grace. We are indeed sinners. We have rebelled against God and shown so much ungratefulness. It is unbelievable. But God, who is rich in mercy, for the great love with which he has loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has brought us to life with Christ, and hath raised us up, and made us sit in heavenly places in Christ. And it is all because of his grace. I do not know how clearly we see it now. But in the ages to come he will show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. His grace is greater than all our sin. Even now that we are believers, some aspects of our behavior are unbelievable. Look at the way we behave toward each other. How can it be? Look at our interest and efforts in bringing the Gospel to those who are without God and without hope. Please note how all of this is expressed in terms of ourselves as the recipients of God’s grace, in the plural. One important word that I left out in the reference to Ephesians 2:4,5 is the word “together”. It may be another aspect of all this that we fail to appreciate as we should, that we who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are in this together. Our attitude toward this fact continues to reflect our attitude toward God whose chief command to us is to love one another. But in spite of this, his grace abounds. We should not take advantage of it to continue to behave badly. We should not only stand amazed at his grace. We should worship him because of it, and other aspects of his nature, and recommit ourselves to obey him. I appreciate your point of view on 1 Timothy 1:15, that the emphasis is on one being the foremost or chief of sinners. Surely Paul was amazed at the grace bestowed on him. But the point is also there that the whole idea, that Christ came into the world to save sinners, is worthy of acceptation. As much as it is true that he came to save the chief, it is also true that he came to save the others. As much as it is amazing, it is also true, and it should be accepted. If I could, I would change the question to read as you suggested. As it is, I hope that someone who reads it will say, “I can. I will. I do believe”. |
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