2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!
8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee:it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.
9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee:it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
15 Moreover if thy brother (the church) shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone:if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church:but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times:but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence:and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not:but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
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Comments by Joan Boney
I had a very difficult time with a woman in our church group who committed very grievous sins (adultery, fornication, abortion) against God and various sins against me ...
But I knew I didn't want her soul damned for all eternity.
After 30+ years of dealing with this woman, correcting over and over, God revealed to me that this woman is not born again.
All these years in church but she has been of the flesh and not of the Spirit and therefore all we could expect to see from her were works of her flesh.
Gal. 5 ... 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Of course her works were going to be terrible, and evil.
But there is hope for her. As long as a person is still on this earth, there is hope ... Salvation is of God. God will reach whom HE wills ... God will give HIS Spirit to each person HE calls to salvation. No man can reveal God to another. We can "preach" God and Jesus but only God can open the eyes of another person and reveal HIMSELF to that person.
There is certainly hope for her. It is not that she turned from God after having the Holy Spirit which I believe would be very terrible fate for her ... but her problem is she never had the Holy Spirit. She was in church all her life, from time she was a baby. She was raised in church ... but not born again. This same thing happens over and over ...
Report from Juliett Walton: Member of Body of Christ ...
When my brothers and I were young around 5 or 6 our parents took us to a Baptist church that was located up the hill from our house in Seattle. Both parents attended with us. We would attend Sunday school class and then the main service. Years later after I had left home and moved to Denver, I was born again at the age of 32. I would send my mother information on what I was reading and so forth.
Years later my mother spoke of being born again. She told me that one day she went down stairs into the basement and something happened. She could not explain it, but something happened. She was born again. I noticed the change in her. I remember her saying "you must be born again".
This is what Jesus said in the book of John. John 3:3 ... Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
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Comments by Joan Boney ...
They sit in church all their lives and without the Spirit of God are blind as bats ... They cannot see ...
Paul says of such: Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. II Tim. 3:7
In Jude we see them described as: 17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers (imitators) in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
They imitate those people they consider to be godly, thus they are "mockers", imitators.
And many of them do a very skillful imitation.
I was baptized in water when I was 15 ... I was born again when I was 37 by God saying to me by HIS Spirit, "Joan ... You know all these mistakes you've been making all these years? ... Those weren't mistakes ... Those were sins."
I was so shocked! I was born again immediately, changed instantly.
A young friend of mind said he walked out on his porch one day and "something" happened to him. He said he didn't think much about it. He was born again, God giving him the Holy Spirit.
Paul says the following: Romans 9 ... 6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children:but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God:but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For HE saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath HE mercy on whom HE will have mercy, and whom HE will HE hardeneth.
I Jn. 1 ... 5 This then is the message which we have heard of HIM, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in HIM is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with HIM, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
You can read Bible ... you can read what I write ... but if you walk in darkness, lying, avoiding the truth, delighting when you don't get found out after you lie, you walk in darkness and you delight in darkness.
After I was born again, God would not allow me to lie or to live in hypocrisy, trying to color stories to make myself look good to others.
My former bridge partner (who is no longer living) paid me the greatest compliment ever when she said to me, "Joan, you're really much nicer than you seem to be."
I laughed!
This showed I was living in truth at the Bridge Center, not trying to make others think well of me. They viewed me as less than I really was because I was not hiding in darkness.