Donald

Hello John81,

As I said, I find myself praising the Lord every day, for His great mercy in the area of my health.  Throughout the day(almost every day), as I am out and about, I have an occasional pain, in an ankle or my lower back or anywhere in-between.

Being a busy person, I am unable to get off my feet or sit down and rest, when these pains come(but must keep going); And praise the Lord, whenever I experience any pain or suffering, He seems to immediately remind me to ask Him to deliver me from it, so I pray about it on-the-go and invariably within just a few minutes the pain is gone!!
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I know that this may sound “simplistic” and “unbelievable” and maybe even “boastful”: But I do my best, to give the Lord all the glory and credit, as frequently as I can.

I am convinced, that if I were to stop praying about these things, that I would be almost unable to move. Truly our LORD answers prayers: and the more we pray, the more He answers.

I am also aware of “God’s chastening hand”, upon unrepentant Christians; Therefore to insure my good health, I try to always be quick to repent(1Corinthians 11:31)!  I have done(and continue to do), a great deal of study of the subject of “pain” in God’s Word and truly believe that God uses pain, to get our attention.  Therefore, I try to be very quick, to respond to even the slightest pain.
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I seem to be rambling here...
But I do believe that what I have said, is covered under Titus 2:1

Have a good evening

I am 59 years old, and for the last 30 years I have been disabled because of surgery that removed part of my left leg.  I praise the LORD, every day, for the pain free life that He has blessed me with “all these years” and continues to bless me with today.

I have had a section of my prayer list for years, where I have asked the Lord to keep delivering me from pain and suffering, in specific areas of my body.  And recently as I have been developing some “age related” twinges of pain, I have been unsure as to exactly what, I should be asking the LORD.  A few days ago, I started to reluctantly ask for the Lord to “stop my body from wearing out”: Not doubting that He could do just that, but not being sure that this is how I should be “wording” this request.

This morning, I realized that my main issue is “pain”, therefore I should be asking the Lord to deliver me from “the pains of old age”!
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The reason that this wording is important, is because of Romans 14:23....
“And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”

It is important that we “speak in faith” and not in doubt.  It is also important that as I take the medications etc., that I take for pain or age related reasons, that I remind the Lord (and myself), that I am not “trusting” in that pill to deliver me from pain, but that I am trusting the Lord to use that pill in my body, to accomplish His will for my life and deliver me from pain and suffering.

Thank you  Heir of Salvation, for the point you made in your post, that in it’s own subtle way, brings us to the “answer” of the question, asked by this thread.

But as I watched and listened to this video that you attached, another thought came to mind.  “Wow, what a congregation!” Just imagine being able to “Preach” to a large group of people like this.  Just imagine the “altar call”!

Then reality sat in; And I realized that “if” a “real preacher”, preached a real Bible message to this large crowd today: That either he would booed off the stage or there would be a dangerous rush for the exits.

I state this as a fact, because if indeed a congregation of this size, were all born again Christians, that regularly attended a Church where God’s man preached God’s Word: This city they all lived in, would not look like any modern city in the year 2015.  That city would have no gang problems, nor drug problems, nor prostitution or drunkenness problems.  No liquor store would be able to stay in business, in this city and the police department would be working with a skeleton crew.

In other words, if this many people in one city, were totally committed to Christ and growing healthy Christians; Then they would have such an impact upon their community, that a city(of any size), would not be able to withstand, the Gospel message and 98% of the population would get saved.

Which brings me to the sad realization, that most of these nice looking people, that are singing praises to our Lord, might not really know Him and are keeping the sinful industries I mentioned above, in business.

Hello John81 and thank you very much for the great post.

A few days ago, I saw the post from Miss Daisy, but I have been so busy, that I was unable to respond to her. But after reading your post, I see that you and I are on the exact same page in this area and I much appreciate your response!

Hello John81 & MountainChristian
It seems to be getting more and more clear to me, that the time for “large” Churches that are sticking to God’s Word about Holiness among it’s leadership and it’s members, is past.  As MountainChristian said, many of today’s families will not stay in a Church that expects Holiness from it’s membership.
With the way things are looking with all this sin in our Churches AND with the way things are looking in and around Israel TODAY, I am truly expecting our Lord’s return at any moment. Soon we won’t need the internet, to sit and fellowship.
Praise the Lord

The title of this thread is from Matthew 19:26.....
“But Jesus beheld [them], and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

The reason I chose this as a title, is because this thread is about an “impossible situation”, that Scripture seems to be giving us.
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The impossible situation that I am referring to, has to do with one of God’s particular instructions to His Church.....

“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”

(1 Corinthians 5:11)

In light of....

“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from [her] husband committeth adultery.”
(Luke 16:18)
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The context of 1 Corinthians 5:11, calls for the local Church to kick Church members out of its fellowship, who are practicing any of these “6" sins. But following through on just one of them(“a fornicator”), would almost shut down, most Churches today!!

What a dark, Christ rejecting world that we live in; When most “professing” Christians will have to be kicked out of Church, if the Church followed God’s instructions!   This is why, we aren’t seeing Revival in our Churches; The whole has become leavened!

“Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6)

Hello Jordan Kurecki

I believe that most of your trouble in this area comes from giving your ear to “too many voices”. The Lord saw fit to “hide” the details about the end times in several different places(within God’s Word), so that the truth about our future, can only be nailed down, by lots of Bible study.....
“[it is] the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings [is] to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2)

For instance, a person might do a search in the Bible for the phrase “seven years”, in order to quickly come up with some answers about the “seven year tribulation period”; But they wouldn’t find one verse having to do with it.  The Lord found a way to give us several direct references to this period, without using the words, “seven years”!

For sure, the Bible’s prophecies about the future a clear cut and can be “nailed down”, but it takes some devoted time spent in God’s Word, studying. I could walk you through the facts found in God’s Word, but that would rOB you of the pleasure of finding them yourself.

Please don’t give up, in your personal search for the truth.
 

Hello 1611mac

I am somewhat concerned with how I identify myself(my doctrinal beliefs), so as to quickly and accurately explain to others where I stand. Years ago I realized that I was a “local Church/universal body” man.

But for me, this issue has been challenged lately, by some local IFB’s that take the stand that the Bible never uses the word “Church”, when talking about “the Body/bride of Christ”. They are wrong of course, but they are not “Baptist briders”.

Our view of “the Church” is important, because(just like with every other Bible doctrine), if we get it wrong, it will lead to even more doctrinal error.
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As for the answer to your question; No, I have never heard the term “local church only”.
But could you tell me, have you ever heard the term, “local Church/universal body”?