Acts 2:48 And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
God does this! No man can add himself or anyone else to the New Testament church. God does this.
God told the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel what HE would do.
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Ezekiel 36 (God says)
23 And I will sanctify MY great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put MY spirit within you, and cause you to walk in MY statutes, and ye shall keep MY judgments, and do them.
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put MY spirit within you, and cause you to walk in MY statutes, and ye shall keep MY judgments, and do them.
God changes us causing us to be born again. It is instant change. God gives us a new heart, HIS heart ... God gives us HIS HOLY Spirit to live in us and lead and guide us. (I Cor. 3:16; John 14:26; John 16:13)
The Holy Spirit searches the heart of God and reveals to us the will of God on the issues that we deal with so we can now go in the way God wants us to go on this present earth.
I Corinthians 2 (The apostle Paul says:)
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and HIM crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 (In the Old Testament) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 (New Testament) But God hath revealed them unto us by HIS Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and HIM crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 (In the Old Testament) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 (New Testament) But God hath revealed them unto us by HIS Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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Jesus says:
John 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.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
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(Comments by Joan Boney)
My mother and father did not speak of church nor attend any church. (I was an only child.)
When I was approximately 5 years old some of my relatives, who were Church of Christ members, gave me a little white Bible. I would get into bed at night, take a flashlight, put the bed covers over my head, and read that Bible. I already knew how to read because my mother's youngest sister lived with us and went to high school and she would read nursery rhymes to me and I learned to read by the time I was about 3 years old.
My mother's eldest sister was a Church of Christ member. Once I went to Aunt Ardath and asked her: "Where is it in the Bible where it says, ' The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want?' " (I was about 3 years old.)
Once we went to visit Aunt Ardath and she took me to church with her. The preacher came up to the pulpit. I clearly heard him call my name. I stood up and said, "Yes." My aunt got me to sit back down and the preacher went on with his sermon. I believe this was God calling me by name just like HE called the child Samuel in 1 Samuel Chapter 3.
***
When I was 15 years old at the end of the service at my aunt's church, I went forward to be baptized. I had heard the message that you must be baptized. I did not want to go to hell so I went forward to be baptized
Nothing at all changed in my life.
I continued to pursue my own ambitions until I was 37 years old.
If you had asked me, "Are you a Christian?", I would have said, "Oh yes, I was baptized when I was 15."
***
When I was 37 years old, I was staying at the home of my best friend and her husband, while I recovered from an operation.
On the night of August 5th, 1975, God spoke to me: "Joan ... you know all these mistakes you've been making all these years? Those weren't mistakes. Those were sins!"
SIN's ? I thought those were mistakes! I was horrified.
(But I believed that what I heard was true and I believed that it was God speaking to me.)
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The next morning I was going back to work. I walked past Donna and I turned and said, "Oh by the way Donna, I don't believe I was born again until last night."
Donna looked up and said, "Joanie, what did you just say? Come back here!"
... and I repeated what I had said: "I don't believe I was born again until last night. Something happened last night and God spoke to me and HE told me all those mistakes I've been making all these years weren't mistakes they were sins."
Donna was so excited! She said she and her husband had begun to think that I was not born again. She was raised Baptist and she was weeping over what I had said.
It didn't even occur to me that anyone would care if anyone was born again.
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Taken into heaven ... twice.
A few days after I was born again, I was sleeping in the night when God transported me into heaven, similar to what Paul described in II Corinthians 12.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
***
I knew I was with God, with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit. (I didn't see any physical images it was a spiritual experience.)
At that time, I was "merged" into the body of Jesus, made one with the Word of God, God and the Holy Spirit witnessing.
Then a few days later, the exact same thing happened again.
I was on fire ... the only thing I could think about was God, Jesus, Bible, and the church!
***
I called a young friend of mine in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I lived in Dallas, Texas. I told her something had happened to me. She wanted to know what. I told her I didn't think I could tell her by phone. She said, "I will get on my plane and fly down there today."
Mia was a very rich young heiress. She had her own private jet plane. I picked her up at airport in Dallas and we went directly to dinner. I told Mia what happened. She said she wanted to be a Christian. I had the little booklet, "4 Spiritual Laws." I had her read a confession. Then I said, "Congratulations. Now you're a Christian ... I think!"
(I knew almost nothing about being a Christian but I knew I was now one ... I hoped Mia was one too!)
***
I had a young friend at that time. He had been raised Catholic and then had been born again when he was about 20. All Bill talked about was being a Christian.
I thought he had gone crazy. "Wasn't everybody a Christian?"
Then this happened to me! I was born again ...
I said to Bill, "You're right ... This thing of being a Christian is wonderful! what I like best is that thing that happens to you in the night.
Bill said, "What thing?" (We had been eating and Bill just kept shoveling food into his mouth.)
I said, "Well I don't know what it's called. It's that thing that happens to you in the night where you're taken into heaven and you are with God and you're with Christ and you are with the Holy Spirit. And you are merged into the body of Jesus, made one with the Word of God!"
(Bill dropped his fork, looked directly at me, and said...) "What are you talking about? Nothing like that ever happened to me. Did you tell Donna about this?"
I said, "I didn't tell anybody about this. I thought this happened to everyone who became a Christian."
(This is the first time I realized this might not happen to everyone.)
***
Later I came to believe, at that time, when I was taken into heaven twice, I was ordained into the two ministry offices that God revealed to me later.
Ephesians 4:
8 Wherefore HE (Jesus) saith, When HE ascended up on high, HE led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
11 And HE gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into HIM in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
The New Testament church ministries: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers ...
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