Results 221 - 240 of 975
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Aixen7z4 Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
221 | Can you believe this? | 1 Tim 1:15 | Aixen7z4 | 133064 | ||
There is a document that can be trusted and deserves complete acceptance; it is the word of God. We work hard and struggle to live a godly life, because we place our confidence in the living God. He is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. See 1 Timothy 4:9,10. We persevere in presenting the word of God as that which is to be heard and believed and obeyed, though the majority of people find it hard to do that. It tells us that God made the world, and people to populate it and tend. He gave them everything they needed and asked that they trust him and obey him. But they failed to do so. More and more they rebelled, until God was sorry he had ever made them. He chose one set of people and showered them with great blessings so others could see the virtue of submission to him. But the chosen people also turned away. He sent prophets to beg them to return to him, but they refused to listen. They persecuted them and killed them. Finally, God sent his Son. But they rejected him as well, and killed him. Ironically, that very death was accepted as payment for their sins, and God continued to offer them his friendship. The chosen people continued to reject that offer, so he brought in other people. He forgave their sins and formed them into his church. Now again, he sends prophets to them, but again they are rejected. He sends his Son again, and he stands at the door and knocks. As always, only a few, as individuals, respond to him while others look over their shoulders to see who else is moving. His prophets call the people to obedience, but they say, “That is your interpretation”. They flock to those who tell them what they want to hear, and crucify those who would tell the truth, while thy bow before their triune god of Intellectualism, Emotionalism and Prosperity. God says, “I am going to judge you”. But they say, “He can’t. He's already judged Jesus for our sins”. God’s servants turn to those outside. They tell them of God’s love, and his offer of forgiveness. But the people say, “A loving God will never send anyone to hell”. In spite of all this, God continues to love his creation and to call them to himself. He saves all who come to him, and promises them eternal bliss in heaven. Can you believe this? |
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222 | What's in a name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132950 | ||
Seems the Lord does not want us to discuss this topic at this time. Perhaps we can return to it at a later time. Whatever we do, we must honor that name. We could do so by being thoughtful about the topic, respectful, with awe, of him for whom it stands, and polite to each other. Perhaps another time. I would respectfully request that this note be allowed to pass and attach to the topic without comment at this time. | ||||||
223 | All of that? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132833 | ||
I've thought about this for ten minutes and I still do not know how to answer your question, so please excuse me. I have no answer. | ||||||
224 | What's in a name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132831 | ||
I am sorry. I prefer not to deal with that attitude. Let's let it be. | ||||||
225 | Homosexuality, sin or not? | 1 Cor 6:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132829 | ||
You are correct. In choosing three items to illustrate, I knew I should have left pride off the list and included a simple statement for failure to strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, but I was pressed for time and forgot to do that. So there is another item on the list that God calls abomination. I hope that the discovery does not detract from the point being made. There are other abominations besides homosexuality, but it is one of them. More importantly, we have all sinned, but the blood of Jesus Christ is powerful enough to cover every sin. The point of my post was that God does not send judgment because of a single sin. However, past judgments on others should teach us that it is not wise to continue in sin. God requires that we repent and he offers us forgiveness. Christ bore God’s judgment for all our sins and we can have salvation through faith in him. |
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226 | Homosexuality, sin or not? | 1 Cor 6:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132794 | ||
Hello LB: I would ask the person why, in quoting form Ezekiel 16, they stop at verse 49. Verses 50, 51 and 52 all speak of the abominations that they had committed. Those who point to sins in verse 49 might wander what those abominations were. Pride and idleness and fullness of bread are not described as abominations. Not that homosexuality is the only abomination. There are many others. And God was saying that his people had committed worse abominations than had the people of Sodom. But it is clear that homosexuality was one of those for “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination” (Leviticus 18:22). As for the judgment of God, he says nowhere that he destroyed those cities for just one sin. The passage you have looked at in Ezekiel chapter 16 shows it was for a combination of sins. Sodom is identified in today’s parlance with homosexuality, but God does not seem to have singled out one sin. It is usually the case that people commit many different kinds of sin. Read Romans 1:23-31. There are many sins mentioned there, and homosexuality is but one of them. But the judgment of God comes because of any and all of them. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (verse 18). As to your original question then, “Is homosexuality a sin?” The answer is yes. It is a specially detestable sin called an abomination. But heterosexual fornication is also a bad sin. As Paul would say, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body”(1 Corinthians 6:18 ). The situation is seen in its truest and worst light when we realize that our bodies are actually the temple of the holy Spirit (v. 19). A sin against your body is therefore a case of defiling God’s temple. That is a terrible and dangerous thing to do. What if God gets angry and wants to punish the person committing that affront? Some people wonder where sins such as homosexuality come from. God says it comes because we do not respect him enough to respond to the knowledge he gives us. In other words, we know better but we sin anyway. God calls on us to repent. He commands us to repent. If we refuse, he gives up on us, and that may be the greatest judgment of all. “God gave them up to a reprobate mind” and with that, vile and dangerous things may seem good and worthwhile in their eyes. The are not thinking right. Did Jesus not talk about homosexuality? Jesus said he had not come to destroy the law, and he did not destroy the words of Leviticus 18:22. He asked, “Have ye not read (in the book of Genesis) that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?’” It’s a rhetorical question. 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 also has a list of sins, and homosexuality is on the list. We could have done any combination of those. But when we are saved, we are forgiven of them all. “You are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). After we are saved we give up the practice of sin. We seek to glorify God in our body and in our spirit (1 Corinthians 6:20) because we realize that they are God’s. |
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227 | What's in a name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132785 | ||
I confess to you that this is a trail that I have not gone down before. I agree with the idea that we should be careful and I trust that the scholars who inhabit this space will keep us in check. I hope they can do so without accusations if and when we get off track. It has been suggested before that we should worship the Lord and not worship his name. From what we have seen so far it seems that we can and should honor, glorify, praise his name. It is as though his name is his identity. It is not like any other item that one may wear awhile and then discard. God will be identified by his name forever. To praise the Lord’s name is the same things as praising him. Or is it? In Psalm 29:2 “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name” is the same as “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness”. Or is it? In Psalm 66:4 “All the earth … shall sing unto you” is the same as “they shall sing to your name”. Or is it? Psalm 86:9 “All nations whom he has hast made shall come and worship before you” is equivalent to “They shall glorify your name”. Or is it? Psalm 135:1 “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD”. The first and last clauses seem to be the same. I assume the one in the middle is saying the same thing. Or is it? It is my sense at this point that the phrases may not be exactly equivalent, but that the name of the Lord is as close as we get to the person of God this side of heaven. God is a spirit and we do not see him. We know him by his name. His name, meanwhile is revealed to us in his word. It stands for his attributes, the ones he has revealed to us. And is it not interesting in Revelation 19 that his name is called the Word of God (v. 13). We relate to him in terms of what he has said. It occurs to me that it is the way we relate to each other as well. We on this forum know each other by our words, and it is our words that communicate what we are. I say this advisedly. There may be some who know each other in other ways. But in some sense it is also true that we know no man after the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16). In fact, those who had known Christ after the flesh did not focus on that part: his physical being or anything emanating from that. They do not talk at all about what he looked like or sounded like, and though some strain to say that he had a sense of humor or such, the writers of Scripture were not focused on those types of things. They were focused on what he had said and what he stood for, the word of God, and it is captured and summarized in his name. I agree also with the warning we had that we should not try to analyze God. His nature is beyond us, for who ca understand omniscience or omnipotence or infinity or eternity. Those characteristics cause us to fall down and worship him. But what else can we do before him who was, and is, and is to come, the Almighty (Revelation 1:8;4:8)? We cannot see all that he can do but we can worship him because of that name and because of the ability he has given us to understand some of what it means. But it is the name of God as much as his person that is help out to us for our response, be it worship or praise or thanks. When the Lord descended to the mount and stood with Moses there, it is the name of the Lord that he proclaimed. Moses was not allowed to see his person. But the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth …”, and Moses made haste and bowed himself and worshipped. It seems to me there is some danger in making this post. But these are the thoughts that occurred to me as I meditated on the word pertaining to the name of the Lord. I look forward to the thoughts of my fellow travelers here. I do not expect that it will be helpful to hear disparaging words, but I would like to hear the thoughts that others may have as they meditate on the passages cited, and specifically on the name of the Lord. |
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228 | All of that? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132759 | ||
Question withdrawn. Unless otherwise notified I will assume there is no scripture stating these things. | ||||||
229 | What's in a name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132756 | ||
Question withdrawn. Unless otherwise notified I will assume there is no scripture stating these things. | ||||||
230 | What's in a name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132693 | ||
Seems that the Lord does not want to be separated from his name. As often as we are asked to praise the Lord, we are asked to praise his name. We are to bless the Lord and we are to bless his holy name. There is this focus on his name: (Psalm 148:5) Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. Psalm 148:13 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. Joel 2:26 Ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. His name and his person seem to be linked inextricably: Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. Psalm 113:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Psalm 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. We are to trust in the Lord (Proverbs 3:5). And we are to trust in his name (Matthew 12:31). We are to love the Lord (Deuteronomy 6:5; Psalm 31:23) and we are to love his name (Psalm 5:11; 69:36; 119:132; Isaiah 56:6). O course any name, like a label, represents and stands for something. But it seems that God’s name, because it stands for God, means something other names do not mean, and we are to relate to it in a special way. We are to pray in his name (John 14:13,14;15:16;16:23,24,26). Matter of fact we are asked to do everything in his name (Colossians 3:17). Praise the LORD. Praise, O you servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. And comment, please. |
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231 | 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). | ||||||
232 | 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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233 | But why the focus on the name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132671 | ||
Agreed. Completely. Amen. Now, do you have a thought about the focus on the name? |
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234 | Just the name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132663 | ||
He felt that the Bible was trying to make the way of salvation too easy. First it says all we have to do is receive Jesus. But then it seems to say we don’t even have to do that much. If we only believe on his name; that is enough. He was wrestling with John 1:12. How would you help him? How would you explain it? Some passages of Scripture indicate we can be saved by believing the message of the Gospel. For example, in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul speaks of the gospel that he preached, which they had received, by which they were saved. In 1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Other passages say we are saved by believing on the person of Christ. For example, in Acts 16:31 they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved”. In John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life”. Still other passages require faith in his name. For example, in Matthew 12:21 as noted, “In his name shall the Gentiles trust”. In 1 John 5:12 it is those who believe on the name of the Son of God who have eternal life. We have already referred to John 1:12. Who can explain this focus on the name? |
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235 | All of that? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132646 | ||
Hello, GB. Thanks for that scripture. Is there also scriptural support for the other characteristics you attach to the name? | ||||||
236 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Aixen7z4 | 132608 | ||
This is good. I will print it out and take it with me and ponder it. I think from this first reading that there is something to be done and I look forward to looking tinto it. | ||||||
237 | What's in a name? | Phil 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132607 | ||
What's in a name? Someone has said that a rose by any name would smell as sweet. But the name is important, once it is attached to it, because it identifies the flower. It saves us time each time we would go to it, so that we do not need to look at the others, except perhaps as a backdrop and a comparison, as we go to it. What's in the name Jesus? I hope that everyone will flock to it and taste of it and talk about it. |
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238 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Aixen7z4 | 132589 | ||
Bear another comment, this one on “telling the truth”. I hope it is not as bad where you are. The believers I know do not tell the truth. And that, as I have found out from them, is different from telling a lie. It is quite similar to the case of Ananias and Sapphira. They would say, “Yes, we got a thousand dollars for it” when they got two thousand. The idea would be that the thousand is included in the two thousand. Or they would say they just did not feel the need to answer the question exactly. They would say they will see you at three in the afternoon and never show up. That was a statement, you see, and not really a promise. You would see them three months later and they would apologize, and you would wonder if the reason they are giving is the truth. I came to the conclusion that people, even Christians, need to learn the need to tell the truth. I talked to clients about keeping their promises. “When you vowest a vow …” (Ecclesiastes 5). I showed them that it was better to say no, rather than to say yes when they meant no (Matthew 5:37). I encouraged them to refrain from making promises if they would not do everything reasonably within their power to keep those promises. One young lady stopped making promises. The fact is that people in church say things that vary from reality all of the time and I guess they just don’t think of it as lying. They say things that make them look spiritual and are not true. “I’ll call you tomorrow” sounds good but means nothing. “I talked to five people this week but none of them was really interested”. In a Sunday School class this gives the impression of having tried to witness, when it means I talked to at least five people. We used to say in our ministry that our job is to put ourselves out of work. We tell people we will see them for only a predetermined number of sessions and the idea is to motivate them to learn how to solve their own problems instead of becoming dependent on us. We hope they will internalize our methods, and this seems to work well. Yet it does not seem to put us out of business. People always have problems. But there is another kind of client that we like to see, and that is the type who wants to do God’s will and needs help setting up a ministry. A Sunday School teacher who wants to do a better job. A pastor who is discouraged and feels the need for a different approach. A newly-saved person who is wondering what the Lord will have them to do. One man is burdened now because he has just returned from Sweden, a prosperous socialistic country. It is a postmodern society, he says, where people see Christianity as a curiosity, a relic of the past, and laugh off any serious effort at evangelism. The brother would like to return to that country to do a ministry in evangelism, but he is not confident that he has the gift for it. Now we hope he will keep his word and come in for a gifts analysis and some training in line with his gift. We work with this type as well as those who have emotional or behavioral problems. But will he keep his word? Or was he just trying to impress me? There is no denying that Christians need to learn the importance of telling the truth. There are many Ananiases and many Sapphiras in the church today. With a lax attitude about integrity all around us, I think we have to be careful not to become a part of that lifestyle. It is so easy to pretend to be holy. But “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, … , false witness (Matthew 15:19). To tell the truth, we need to keep our heart with all diligence; for out of it are the real issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). |
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239 | Rowdy, Rowdy, are you sure? | 1 Tim 2:9 | Aixen7z4 | 132568 | ||
My Dear Friend: I am constantly amazed at our ability as humans to simply miss the point. This exchange reminds me of an experience with a Seventh Day Adventist who came to my house as a member of my wife’s family and proceeded to try to convince me that I should join his sect. After hearing for at least the twentieth time that I had no interest in his tradition or any other human tradition, he thanked me for listening. Now, I try to be kind and patient and all, but the fact is I had not listened to his spiel at all. I have said here that I have no interest in any human tradition. Yet I read, “Thanks again for taking the time to think through -- or at least talk -- about these things”. I am left with the question: “What things?”. I had already decided a long time ago that denominations are a wrong, bad, unscriptural thing. I had felt no need to give any more thought to that. I can understand why there is a wish that “we could have been of greater assistance to one another”. But again, I had I have no felt need for assistance in this matter. I am certain everyone realizes when they come to this forum that the forum is not interested in having anyone to advocate any tradition. It says at the top: “Pushing one's denominational bias and engaging in debates, such as Calvinism/Arminianism, are strictly forbidden on this Forum”. But I understand how someone can keep edging toward that, and itching to do just that. The chance came when someone mentioned that conversion was gradual. It is apparent that one tradition or another does not agree with that. Instead of producing scripture to show that conversion is not gradual, one may choose instead to suggest that the person was wrong simply because they are in the wrong tradition, with the wrong set of rules of thumb and wrong principles of interpretation. Now, I suppose one might wish they would change that person’s mind, not only about their view of the time it takes to be converted, but about their whole tradition. They were supposed to examine the way they arrived at doctrines in general. And of course, one would recommend one’s own tradition because one thinks it is correct and using the correct way to arrive at doctrines. Someone else might point out that they arrive at their beliefs by considering all of scripture. But one who is eager to promote his tradition might try to suggest that he not use, say, narrative, to derive doctrine, because ones own tradition does not do that. Meanwhile, the person may not have done that at all, no even said they would do that, but one who is anxious to promote one’s tradition that one might have seen an opportunity, an opening. If one is trying to seize an opportunity to promote one’s tradition, it will be very difficult to do that on this forum. It might be said that one should not do that at all, since it is divisive and contrary to scripture, but that one should endeavor to keep the unity in the bond of peace, as saith the Scripture. But the very name one chooses for this forum may tend to do that. Listen, my friend, I think that many of us come to this or any other forum with an agenda. Mine happens to be to promote discussion of practical applications for the knowledge of the word which the participants here so clearly have. I try to convince them that knowledge alone is not enough, that we should be talking about ways to implement the word. More than that, I say we should be more careful to practice what we know, even here. We can practice kindness and peace and unity even as we discuss the scriptures. I have said repeatedly that I understand, because my own agenda has met resistance in light of the stated goal of this forum, to discuss the Scriptures. I think that each of us will have to take stock whether it is worth the pain and the pains to try to get our agenda adopted. I frankly have never understood what the goal is in getting a tradition accepted. I think the actual result is schism and tension in the body. I dare not suggest that a subconscious goal is to make one feel good to know that his point of view is accepted, especially if one is not completely comfortable with it. But the psychologist in me may lead me to say that. I guess that for myself there is no feeling better, because actually practicing the word of God can bring pain. I may well feel guilty for having led a particular someone into that. But I do that, and I believe that the God of peace will be with them (Philippians 4:9). So I am pleased to leave them with him. And it may be time to leave this with you as well. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. |
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240 | Why was there fear here? | Acts 5:11 | Aixen7z4 | 132565 | ||
Your points are well taken, mommapbs. I suspected there might be another way to interpret the question “Why was there fear” and I think you covered it well. The apostles were held in high esteem (Acts 10:25-26) partly because of their ability to do miracles (Acts 14:10-14). Whether the people attributed to them the power of life and death, I am not sure. I think that the fear could have been the fear of God. Note Peter’s assertion that they had lied to God (Acts 5:3,4). As to whether A and P were judged, please note that there are several judgments, and the one that Jesus bore for us is only one. We, the saints of God (1 Corinthians 1:1,2) can also be judged and chastened of the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:32). Peter would say it is time that judgment begin in the house of the Lord (1 Peter 4:17). There is a need for fear; and fear is not a bad thing, especially if, as you said, it is a fear of God. |
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