* The New Testament Church lives by the New Testament.

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet

There are many wonderful examples of faith in God written for us in the Old Testament ... but we, in the NT church live by the rules given in the New Testament Bible.

I am currently rereading the Old Testament and delighting in many of the godly examples.  That is good for us to see.

Paul explains: 

I Corinthians 10:1-13  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat;  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

(God gave Moses "The Word" ... and "The Word" given by God is Christ Jesus ... so "The Word", Jesus, led them through the wilderness as "The Word" leads us through the wilderness of this life.) 

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.  Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.  Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.  Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.  Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 

11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 

13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

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I love reading the examples of the faith of Noah and Abraham and of their obedience to God.  I see no difference between faith in God and obedience to The Word given by God in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

I love the call of God shown on the Old Testament prophets and the examples given in these scriptures.

I'm delighted that God chose to give all HIS people the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant.

Hebrews 1:1-2    God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom HE hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also HE made the worlds;

Ephesians 1:13-14   In WHOM ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.

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Today, God speaks to us directly by HIS Spirit who lives in us.  God also speaks to us through the body of Christ and HIS ministers.

After Jesus arose, He gave to the NT church the following ministers:

Ephesians 4:11-12   And HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

But we no longer have to go to a prophet to get the word of God as they did in the Old Testament.

Now we go directly to God in prayer.  And often God will give us the truth directly through His Spirit.

But sometimes God will give us that truth on the matter at hand through HIS Spirit by one of HIS ministers, apostle/prophet/evangelist/pastor/teacher ... or God might give us truth that we need by another member of the body of Christ.

None of us should be puffed up and think we must hear directly from God.  God speaks as HE will and through whom HE wills.

It is that truth from God that matters.

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I once went to my pastor to present an issue concerning my life and to obtain his judgment.  As I drove to this appointment, I prayed for God to give pastor wisdom.  After I presented the situation to pastor, he said to me, "Joan ... I perceive you have the faith to do this, this way.."

In 1978, a man from our church group, who identified himself as a prophet, came to see me at my business and said, "Joan ... you are dragging your feet concerning going into the ministry."

(I certainly paid attention to what he said to me.)

We have example in Bible of a prophet, Agabus, going to the apostle Paul to show Paul  that which would happen to him.

Acts 21:10-11   And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

When we see in the New Testament the use of prophets this way, we can certainly know that God uses HIS prophets this way for the NT church.

What do we see in the New Testament?  

(These examples show us what we can expect to see in today's church.)

We are edified by many parts of the Old Testament, but we examine the New Testament to see the rules which are to be followed by the NT church.

The apostle Paul told us the "commandment" of the Lord for the New Testament church concerning such things as divorce and remarriage.  We carefully follow these instructions today in the church for they are given by the apostle for the NT church today.

And Paul even explains this is "the commandment of the Lord,"  so how can anyone presume to change this word in the church today?

I Corinthians 7:10-11    And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

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I really see no way a NT church can discard this word, which was spoken by the apostle Paul, and teach otherwise in the church today.

There are "rules" for the NT church and these are presented in the New Testament Bible.

To discard the New Testament Bible instructions for the church is fool hardy and leads the church toward great destruction.  It is in fact antichrist in the church when this happens.  And to do such exalts the human above the word of God when they go against that which is written in the New Testament Bible.


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A woman who was divorced told me this story.

She divorced and wanted to remarry.  She and her prospective husband went to a pastor to ask him if they could marry under these conditions. He said she could.

Later she saw what the Bible says:

Mark 10:11-12  Jesus says:    Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.  And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. 

Matthew 5:32  Jesus says:   whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

Years later, she spoke to me of this with some bitterness toward the pastor who said they could marry.

The Holy Spirit directed me to a part of this story and I asked this woman:  

"But weren't you already having sex with this man when you went to the pastor?"

Her answer was:  "Yes."

This changes everything and makes their trip to the pastor a moot point.  

There is certainly no reason for her to resent what that pastor said to them when they were already committing fornication when they went to pastor.

(After I spoke this to her, I believe her bitterness against that pastor disappeared.)

She was raised in Baptist church and certainly had experience with Bible.  She was not born again at the time she went to the pastor, but regardless, we cannot think to live in sins against the Bible, as presented in the New Testament, and be justified in the sight of God.

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Concerning a man marrying a divorced woman, what did Jesus tell us in the NT?  Mathew 5:32  and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

And concerning the divorced woman remarrying, what did the apostle Paul tell us in I Corinthians 7:10-11?  And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: 

And what did Jesus say about the divorced woman remarrrying?  Mark 10:12   if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.

***

This woman was playing with God, tempting God.

If we really want to know the will of God, and we are living in sin against the Bible, we first repent from that sin and stop doing that sin.  After truly repenting, we cry out to God for HIS truth.

Later this same woman tempted God with drunkenness, even after professing to be born again.

These are serious matters and very dangerous acts, for God knows that which we are doing in private and we will not fool God, though we might deceive another human.

Finally this woman went too far.  She struck out against a true minister of God.

Galatians 6:7    Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

I Corinthians 6:9-11   Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind,  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Jesus told the woman taken in adultery:  "Go, and sin no more."

We, who are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and are born of the Spirit of God, refuse to yield ourselves to evil, but rather when tempted we ask God to deliver us from evil.  Nor do we want to excite our flesh by seeking out evil things to watch on TV or to read in books.  We will see evil on TV and in books but we are not "seeking" evil to see as this world delights in seeing evil.

God showed me the world wants to use church membership as a way to justify themselves and think  themselves to be "free to sin" while feigning righteousness by attending a church.

After we are born again, we, the church, are free "from sin" through Jesus, The Word, by doing The Word as it is set forth for us in The New Testament Bible.

And we must not tempt God by continuing in evil after we are born again.

Hebrews 10:26-31   For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto ME, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge HIS people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

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If you call on God with sincerity and in truth, wanting to know the will of God in your life, first ask God directly in prayer ... then read the New Testament Bible, conforming your way by the Holy Spirit to that which is written in the New Testament.

We are recreated in the image of Jesus, "The Word", every time we do The Word that is shown us in the New Testament by the Spirit of God.

But none of us must continue in evil nor seek evil, tempting God.

*****