And take…the sword of the Spirit, which  is the word of God.   Ephesians 6:17

THE
SPIRIT’S
SWORD

Volume 19, Number 34
05/07/2017

Published by
Mt. Baker
church of Christ

Location:
  
1860 Mt. Baker HWY
Mailing Address:

       P.O. Box 30821
  Bellingham, WA 98228
       (360) 752-2692

Sunday:
Bible Classes..........9:30 AM
Worship..10:30AM; 6:00PM

Wednesday:
Bible Classes.........7:00 PM
All sing last Wednesday

Web sites:
Mt. Baker church
Bible Answers

Editor......Joe R. Price


Elders
Morris Bass
Rick Holt

Deacons
Aaron Bass
Rich Brooks
Mike Finn
Dan Head


 

In this issue:


Worship the Lord Your God
Joe R. Price

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE.’” (Luke 4:8)

Satan tempts us to bow down and pay homage to other things that God. For example, some choose to worship material things (1 Tim. 6:10). The word of God says covetousness is idolatry (Col. 3:5). Any person or thing we put before the Lord God and serve rather than Him is our object of worship.

Today is the first day of the week, the day of worship ordained by the Lord (Acts 20:7). Use your time today to worship God “in spirit and truth”. By doing so you will be numbered among those whose worship God accepts (Jno. 4:23-24). Fully give your heart to praising and honoring God. To do so, you must worship Him according to His revealed will, with prayers and singing, with giving and eating the Lord’s Supper, and by listening to the teaching of His word (Acts 2:42; Eph. 5:19; 1 Cor. 16:2; Acts 20:7).

Worshiping God is the Christian’s first priority on the Lord’s Day. Do not yield to Satan’s temptation to forget God and fail to worship Him. If you have, then repent and return to Him with praise and adoration for His mercy and grace in Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

-Sword Tips #14

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The Christian and Sexual Sins
Joe R. Price

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18, NKJV).

Like the citizens of Corinth when the apostle Paul visited their city, many people today believe sexual activity outside of marriage is normal and natural, causing no violation of social norms or divine truth. Yet, the Bible is clear. Fornication (“sexual immorality”) is sin against God. (Fornication, translated from the Greek word porneia, a general, inclusive term for all classifications of immoral sexual conduct, whether premarital or extramarital intercourse, homosexuality, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, etc.) God intends our bodies to be used for holiness, not to fulfill sinful passions (1 Thess. 4:3-7; Col. 3:5-7). To commit fornication is a sin against God, and against the purpose He has given our bodies (2 Sam. 12:13; Psa. 51:4).

Every sin we commit begins in the mind (“outside the body”), as Jesus taught in Mark 7:20-23 (Matt. 5:27-28). Therefore, control the mind; control the body. Sexual immorality is antagonistic to the purpose God gave our bodies – to give glory to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20). When sexual activity occurs outside of God-endorsed marriage, it is not love; it is dishonorable in His sight. This is God’s judgment, since He said, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). Christians are “joined to the Lord,” therefore, we must not join ourselves to a harlot (1 Cor. 6:16-18). Christ calls us to keep our minds and our bodies pure, so that we may serve the Lord in holiness, not defilement.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, NKJV)

We have been reared to consider ourselves as autonomous, in control of ourselves and unfettered by the authority of others. It is true that we are free moral agents – each one is morally responsible and accountable to God (and to others) for his own actions. Yet, while we may choose to act without regard for others, such choices are sinful and foolish. We must regard God and man in all our actions, including the sexual activity of our bodies (1 Pet. 2:11-12).

Not only were our bodies given to us by God, we have been “bought at a price” through the offering of the blood of Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:28; 10:10-12; 1 Pet. 1:18-19). Instead of using our bodies to fulfill sinful lusts through sexual immorality, we are to offer our bodies to service the will of the Lord (Rom. 12:1-2). Only by coming out of the sinful defilement of the world, will God dwell with us and we with Him (2 Cor. 6:16-7:1). Both our redemption and our subsequent relation with God demands that we “flee fornication” and “pursue righteousness” (1 Cor. 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:22).

Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:1–2, NKJV)

The “present distress” of persecution facing the Corinthian Christians made it advisable for them not to marry (1 Cor. 7:25-33). But, the temptation of sexual sin was strong, just as it is today. The apostle had just warned Christians to “flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18). Now, he reminds them that God gave marriage as the only moral means of fulfilling their sexual appetite. The bed is “undefiled” in marriage; not outside it (Heb. 13:4). This one flesh uniting of husband and wife meets one of the Lord’s purposes for marriage; the prevention of sexual sin and the maintenance of moral purity. Thus, both husband and wife are obliged to serve their mate in this matter (1 Cor. 7:3-4). The marriage bed is not an exercise in selfish pleasure. Nor is it a bargaining chip to hold power over one’s spouse. Such selfish treatment of the marriage bed shows shameful disrespect for what God deems to be a holy safeguard against sin.

Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (Hebrews 13:4, NKJV)

We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7-8). Sexual sin disrespects God, and the pure and exclusive marriage bed He arranged. Marriage is not a “Christian ordinance” for which only Christians will be judged. God gave marriage to humanity “from the beginning of the creation” (Mk. 10:6). On Judgment Day, all “fornicators” (whether Christians or alien sinners) will be given “their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8). Those who practice fornication “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19, 21).

God has given clear reasons why we must choose sexually purity. First, we have a positive incentive to be sexually pure. We must keep our bodies holy so that we can be living sacrifices that glorify God (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Rom. 12:1). Fornication defiles the body, making it impossible for us to walk with God while it remains. Second, we have a negative incentive to guard against fornication. It brings eternal death, and we must not think otherwise (Eph. 5:3-7).

Adultery is a love affair with the flesh and with self; it is not true love at all (Prov. 6:25-29). Fornication is the selfish indulgence of the flesh (Gal. 5:19). “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren” (Jas. 1:16). No one is exempt from sin’s temptations. Guard yourself. Be sober and watchful. “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). 

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NOTEWORTHY NEWS
(Current events in the light of Scripture)

No Bible Reading Allowed
Joe R. Price

By the start of the third decade of the 16th century, William Tyndale had already been on the run for five years. The king of England, Henry VIII, had declared him a felon. Fleeing Roman Catholic authorities in London (never to return to England), he went first to Cologne, France, and then Worms, Germany. What crime had this “evil” man committed? Of what rebellious act of treason was he guilty? He dared to translate and then print the New Testament in the English language! In 1536, after being tried and convicted for heresy, he was publicly executed, being tied to a stake, strangled to death, and then his corpse burned” (“When It Was A Crime To Read The Bible,” Joe Price, The Spirit’s Sword, Nov, 25, 2001).

Last February, Mark Holden, a 22-year-old history major at Northern Arizona University, was told to stop reading his Bible before class by Professor Heather Martel, “a noted scholar who is working on an essay titled, ‘The Gender Amazon: Indigenous Female Masculinity in Early Modern European Representations of Contact.’ She also teaches classes on Global Queer History and Feminist Theory” (“Bible reading not allowed before class, professor tells student,” Todd Starnes, foxnews.com). Holden refused, since it was still over five minutes before classes was scheduled to start. The chair of the history department was summoned to discuss the matter with Holden. He was allowed to return to class, but was moved from the front row to the side wall.

Bible truth is regularly targeted as “hate speech” because it identifies the sins of homosexuality, transgenderism, and the reversal of the roles of men and women. We hear of increasing efforts to silence professed Christians. Is history beginning to repeat itself? Starnes noted, “The cold hard reality is a student was yanked out of a classroom for reading the Bible. Woe be unto us, America” (Ibid).

The gospel says, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13). Our loyalty is to God first, regardless of what men say and do (Acts 5:29). We must, and we will continue to read and speak from the Bible. 

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Created by Chuck Sibbing, last updated.  05/03/2017

The Spirit's Sword is a free, weekly publication of the Mt. Baker church of Christ, Bellingham, WA
Send all questions, comments and subscriptions to the editor at: ssword@bibleanswer.com