“And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.”
Attire of a harlot. Warning, noticeable, identifiable. 10
“And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.”
Ruthless. 11-13
“(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent (RUDE / Shameless) face said unto him,”
Lies, Lies in wait. 12
“Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)”
Our fill of Love. 18
“Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.”
Takes one down to Sheol, death 23, 27
“Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life…. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.”
“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”
Optimism, hope for the future. Heb 11:6; 1Peter 1:3; 2Tim 4:8
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Salvation in Christ. 1Pet 3:21; Heb 5:8-9
“The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”
“And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;”
3 NEGATIVE THINGS:
Persecution. 2Tim 3:12
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
Expectation of trouble from the world. 1Pet 4:4, 12
“Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. … Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:“
Lion roaring & seeking whom do devour. 1Pet 5:8
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
cf. “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” (2Cor 11:15)
It may seem axiomatic to provide for the needs of one’s own household and family, but that is not self-evident to all.
We’re charged to guard our own family.
“If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed” (1Tim 5:16).
Beginning with the passage in Timothy, we’re to provide for the older members of our own family. These may or may not be members of our immediate household, meaning they may or may not be living under the same roof.
“House” in the bible could refer to family as well as those living within your home (cf. 1Tim 3:4-5). We as individual members of the church have a responsibility to care for our aged parents.
Next, we see that Husbands, as leader of the home (1Cor 11:3), have a responsibility to care for his wife. For this we’ll read all of Ephesians 5:23-33.
“23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
The two main take aways from this passage is first, that the husband is to care for His wife as Christ does the church. Second, this marriage relationship is a physical symbol of Christ and the church. If you’ve ever wondered why God is so concerned about who can marry, this is why.
“And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph 6:4; cf. Pr 19:18; 22:6; 29:17).
Additionally, we have a responsibility toward the children who are our own. While it’s certain that we are to care, feed, and provide for our children’s physical needs, it is vital that we especially provide for their spiritual growth and nourishment.
A word about widows and orphans. It’s presumed that the local church collective has a responsibility to care for ALL Widows and Orphans. That is a mistake. The church collective in a location can only provide for the needs of saints (Making Saints Mat 28:19, Teaching Saints Matt 28:20, and helping needy Saints 1Tim 5:5-16; Acts 11:29; 1Cor 16:1,2; 2Cor 8, 9).
Individual members of the church can help out the worlds needy as they have opportunity as discussed in a previous article (Luke 10:33). Even here in 1Tim 5:16 we see the distinction made between the collective group of Christians in a location and the individual member of the church. “Let not the church be charged.”
Parents, you ought to pay careful attention to provide for your children in the event you should pass away before your children are grown. It would be a great shame if our children are moved to live and be raised by non-Christians because of the laws of the state. In this way, the church can care for orphans of Christians who’ve died, leaving behind their children.
Nobody wants to doubt their salvation, but before you can be assured, one must know where they are.
Once you know where you are, then you can learn how to be assured.
5 Reasons to DOUBT your salvation.
You DO NOT KNOW:
If you DO NOT KNOW how to be saved, or DO NOT KNOW what the bible says about salvation, then you need to be in DOUBT. There are many examples of people who DO NOT KNOW they are lost.
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Rev 3:17).
OPPOSES Scripture:
If you’re practice is in direct OPPOSITION to clear biblical teaching. It should be self evident, but many are in OPPOSITION to the word of God. Often it’s related to the first one.
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6-7).
UNDERSTANDING:
If you don’t UNDERSTAND why you’re doing something. To be pleasing to God, we must know what He wants and UNDERSTAND why. This doesn’t mean you need to become a biblical scholar, but our hearts have to be involved in obedience to God. Balaam was compliant with God’s command in Number 22-25, but he certainly wasn’t obedient (Jude 11).
“And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him” (Acts 8:30-31).
BIBLICAL Evidence:
Probably the most important reason, and the reason every other one is based, is BIBLICAL evidence. Unless we have BOOK, CHAPTER, & VERSE for what we practice, then we ought to be in doubt. We need to have a firm understanding of how to study, how to know what God wants, and how to rightly divide the word of God.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2Tim 2:15).
“And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2Tim 3:15-17).
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col 3:17).
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Luke 6:46)?
TOLD something from silence:
If what we’re doing is solely based on what someone TOLD us to do without a biblical basis, then run away from that person. Many believe that we can do whatever we want as long as God has never said we can’t. This is operating from silence. Silence prohibits. Consider what happened to David when he argued from Silence.
“And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar” (2Samuel 7:1-7)?
Nowhere in our lives do we find it acceptable for a defiant person to claim, “nobody said I couldn’t.” Without the prohibition of silence the direct statements and commands of God are rendered useless. When we order a pizza, our direct statements about what we want eliminates all other unspoken possibilities. If you doubt me on this, try ordering any food for a child and see if even their silence matters.
These are 5 reasons to DOUBT. However, we need not remain in DOUBT. We can KNOW the will of the Lord. That will be in a future article.
Borger church of Christ @ Franklin & Juniper 