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As Many As I Love, I Rebuke And ChastenI wondered if you knew what Jesus said about brothers- "And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For WHOSOEVER SHALL DO THE WILL OF GOD, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother" -Mark 3:33-35. Or what He said about love? "If ye love me, keep my commandments" -John 14:15. "Hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" -Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous" -1 John 5:3. Or what He and His apostles said about fellowshipping with darkness- "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils" -1 Corinthians 20-21. "what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" -2 Corinthians 6:16-17 Or what the Bible says about friendship with the world- "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you" -1 John 3:13. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" -James 4:4. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" -1 John 2:15-17. Sure Jesus loved prostitutes, and publicans and sinners, but He said to them- "GO, AND SIN NO MORE" -John 8:11. "Behold, thou art made whole: SIN NO MORE, LEST A WORSE THING COME unto thee" -John 5:14. Have you done that? Or did you know that? For it is written- "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. THEY SAY STILL UNTO THEM THAT DESPISE ME, THE LORD HATH SAID, YE SHALL HAVE PEACE; AND THEY SAY UNTO EVERY ONE THAT WALKETH AFTER THE IMAGINATION OF HIS OWN HEART, NO EVIL SHALL COME UPON YOU. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings" -Jeremiah 23:16-22. (Am I being intimidating again? All I am doing is quoting you scripture and asking if you've ever read it. That's all. For " the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" -1 Corinthians 14:37.) Do you really think love means always being tolerant, and leaving your brothers to feel comfortable in sin? "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 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. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? DO NOT YE JUDGE THEM THAT ARE WITHIN?... Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?" 1 Corinthians 5:9 - 6:2. Or did you not know that Jesus said to the face of false religionists that they were hypocrites about 20 times in the Bible? Here's what I believe- "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: THOU SHALT in any wise REBUKE THY NEIGHBOUR, AND NOT (ALLOW) SIN upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR as thyself: I am the LORD" -Leviticus 19:17-18. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" -Revelation 3:19. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets" -Matthew 23:27-31. Does that sound so sweet and lovey dovey, sugar and spice, and totally tolerant to you? Or is this a side of Jesus you never saw? Or don't want to see? Or didn't they tell you- "...If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. BEHOLD THEREFORE THE GOODNESS AND SEVERITY OF GOD: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, GOODNESS, IF THOU CONTINUE IN HIS GOODNESS: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" -Romans 11:21-22. "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; AND THOU GIVEST HIM NOT WARNING, NOR SPEAKEST TO WARN THE WICKED FROM HIS WICKED WAY, TO SAVE HIS LIFE; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but HIS BLOOD WILL I REQUIRE AT THINE HAND. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul" -Ezekiel 3:17-21. Please continue with As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten - Part Two. |