Removing a person from church membership is what a church must do when the reverberating of God’s Word appears to have grown utterly silent in someone’s heart. Given a choice between obedience to God’s Word and a particular sin, the individual chooses the sin. And he shows no sign of wanting to do otherwise. It’s not any sin, of course. It’s an unrepentant sin. It’s a serious sin. And it’s a sin that can be seen with the eyes or heard with the ears. The Lord has not given us the ability to judge the heart, so a church should not discipline for suspected sins of the heart, like pride or greed. We can only assess by external fruit (Matt. 3:8; 7:17-20). But based on that external fruit, discipline must happen when a person’s profession of faith in God’s gospel Word no longer appears credible.
Jonathan Leeman

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E-pistle for May 30, 2008

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#1 · May 27, 2008, 3:25 pm

Posted by: info <info@...>

E-pistle

                                                       Dr. Dan Hite, President        FreeWay Foundation            May 30, 2008

Called To Bless Others

(I Peter 3:1-22)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

I.  Concentration:  on the contents of this chapter

        1.   Peter instructed wives to be submissive to their husbands, vv. 1-6.

        2.   Peter instructed husbands to give their wives honor; such mutual respect

              will keep a couple's prayers from being hindered, v. 7.

3.      Peter taught that believers are called to bless others, vv. 8-17.
4.      Peter explained some details about Christ's suffering, vv. 18-22.

II.  Meditation:  on the traits of persons who are "called to bless others"

1.      THOUGHTS – be of one mind, in spiritual accord, in harmony, in agreement,

        in unity, v. 8.

2.      EMOTIONS – hearts full of compassion, love, tenderness, and courtesy, v. 8.
3.      ACTIONS – always courteous, exhibiting polite treatment of others, with dignity

        and respect, v. 8.

4.      WORDS – not returning evil for evil nor reviling for reviling, v. 9.

        (Revile = to abuse with reproachful and contemptuous language.)

III.  Observations:  on being a blessing to others, vv. 9-14

1.      Christians are called to do this, v. 9.
2.      Blessing others allows you to inherit your own spiritual blessing, vv. 10-12.
3.      Blessing others opens the Lord's ears to your prayers, vv. 13-14.
4.      Even suffering for righteousness' sake is a blessing, vv. 13-14.

IV.  Revelation:  on the implications of blessing and being blessed

1.      To bless others, I need to share a degree of spiritual harmony with them.
2.      To bless others, I need to be motivated by a heart of sincere love.
3.      To bless others, I need to guard my words . . . speaking only those things

        which edify others.

4.      The cycle of blessing:
(1)     I am blessed of God;
(2)     I begin blessing others;
(3)     More blessings are poured out upon me, as God answers my

            prayers for blessings upon others;

(4)     Persecution will arise, which leads to # 1 . . . I am blessed by God!

V.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to . . . (vv. 15-16)

        1.  "Sanctify" the Lord God in my heart . . . set Him apart from all other concerns,

             make my number one priority:  "Jesus is Lord!"

2.      Always be ready to bless someone by giving a testimony of the hope God has

        given me.

3.      Witness of God's blessings on me with "meekness" . . . I do not deserve His

        blessings, and with "fear" . . . reverent worship in awe of His love, mercy, and grace.

4.      Live and speak righteously so I will have a good conscience and so that Christ's

        enemies may be ashamed.

The Person Of The Holy Spirit

Dr. Curt Scarborough

        The Holy Spirit operates within the church as a definite personality . . . a Person given

as a gift to the church to assure that the continued ministry of the resurrected Christ is expressed

and verified.  The Holy Spirit has all these characteristics of a person:

        I.  The Holy Spirit possess the attributes of:

                (1)  Mind, Romans 8:27

                (2)  Will, I Corinthians 12:11

                (3)  Emotions (feelings), Ephesians 4:30

        II.  The Holy Spirit engages in such activities as:

(1)     Revealing, II Peter 1:21
(2)     Teaching, John 14:26
(3)     Witnessing, Hebrews 10:15
(4)     Interceding, Romans 8:26
(5)     Speaking, Revelation 2:7
(6)     Commanding, Acts 16:6-7
(7)     Testifying, John 15:26

      III.  The Holy Spirit has a relationship with human persons:

(1)     He can be grieved, Ephesians 4:30
(2)     He can be quenched, I Thessalonians 5:19
(3)     He can be lied to, Acts 5:3
(4)     He can be blasphemed, Matthew 12:31-32
(5)     He can be insulted, Hebrews 10:29

      IV.  The Holy Spirit possesses the divine attributes of the Godhead:

(1)     He is eternal, Hebrews 9:14
(2)     He is omnipresent, Psalm 139:7-10
(3)     He is omnipotent, Luke 1:35
(4)     He is omniscient, I Corinthians 2:10-11

"People ask me what I do in winter when there is

no baseball.  I'll tell you what I do.  I stare

out the window and wait for spring."

-Rogers Hornsby

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