mkines

James 5:14, " Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord " One of the tasks that a church elder should perform is praying for people who are sick in the church. Perhaps this is where the ministry of visiting hospitals by Pastors came from? If you are sick today have you asked for the elders to anoint...

Hebrews 2:12, " Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. " Make it a habit to sing praise and worship songs every day. Always have a psalm, hymn, and spiritual song in your heart and in your mouth. This is a potent weapon in spiritual warfare. We are exhorted in scripture to teach and admonish one another through psalms, hymns, and...

Philemon 1:2, " And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house: " From the early days of the church God's people have met in humble homes of believers. I think this is where even today you will find the purest and most holy church. You can't go to an America mega church to find this holy bride of Christ. You have to go into the humble homes of believers...

1 Timothy 3:15, " But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. " The church has been the vessel for 2,000 years to carry the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Men and women for 2,000 years have come together in the name of the Lord Jesus to continue to c...

1 Timothy 3:5, " (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) " This verse shows practical common sense and logic in applying discernment. Is it possible that people can be put in positions of leadership who obviously are unqualified or not fit for service? This happens all the time. If only people would use the wisdom that comes from the Bible! T...

Colossians 1:24, " Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: " Paul's ministry included suffering for God's people in order to give the church the spiritual gift God gave him. He suffered for the body of Christ in order that he might fulfill the will of God. God can use us in a might...

Colossians 1:18, " And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. " The Lord Jesus is the head of the church. Men have been trying take this position away from the Lord Jesus from the beginning of the church. Why do men seek prestige, position, and power over others? Why do they want to have dominion...

Philippians 4:15, " Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. " There were individual local churches who understood their part of the mission in spreading the gospel was to help support financially those who were preaching the gospel. It takes a special church to...

Ephesians 5:27, " That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. " The Lord will have a glorious church without any spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The church will be holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. This is all accomplished because of what the Lord Jesus did through his d...

Ephesians 5:23-25, " For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; " Marriage is a picture of the Lord Jesus and his bride, t...

Ephesians 3:10, " To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God " God is revealing himself and his plans through the lowly church on earth. This is an amazing fact that we are somehow being used by God to reveal who is to these principalities and powers in heavenly places. God is demonstrating his wisdom through...

Ephesians 1:22, " And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church " Jesus Christ is the head of the church. Any man who tries to usurp this position over the church as actually an antichrist. Someone who tries to take the place of Jesus Christ is actually on the side of the devil. This includes the Catholic pope, and many religious leaders among Pr...

Galatians 1:13, " For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it " Paul was a great persecutor of the church before the Lord Jesus intervened in his life and changed his mind. Persecution against the followers of Jesus Christ has been around from the very beginning of the church. Jesus promised that per...

1 Corinthians 14:12, " Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. " Paul never corrected this church for being zealous of spiritual gifts. Instead, he channeled that zeal into a direction that would be most productive. People who use the letters to the Corinthians to minimize, downplay, or demonize Pentecostals in the modern ch...

1 Corinthians 12:28, " And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. " "God hath set". I don't understand how people can exclude apostles, prophets, miracles, gifts of healings, diversities of tongues from the modern church. This scripture is so clear it boggles m...

1 Corinthians 11:18, " For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. " From the earliest days of the church we see divisions and strife. This has always been a problem in the house of faith. The enemy will always seek to infiltrate the house of faith with people like Judas, or people like Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5). The...

1 Corinthians 10:32, " Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God " This is an interesting Bible verse because it is a clear description of three groups of people whose stories are told through the entirety of the Bible. There has always been Israel, the church, and the nations. Genesis 1-11 is the prologue for the Bible, but from Genesis 12 until the end...

1 Corinthians 6:4, " If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. " A point is being made here that these carnal issues that have to do with human disputes should be of such a low priority among spiritual Christians that even the least esteemed person in the church should be put in charge of resolving the issue. Churches who m...

1 Corinthians 1:2, " Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: " Churches in the bible were identified and described according to their geographical locations. Churches were not identified by the names of men or man's systemic theology....

Acts 20:17, 28, " And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 28, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. " The Lord has chosen certain individuals to serve the church and "to feed the church of God". What does it mean to "fe...

Acts 14:23,27, " And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed. 27, And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. " The Lord chooses elders to help guide his church. Just like the ch...

Acts 13:1, " Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. " The New Testament church included men, and also women, who were prophets. How is that today's church religious leaders deny the existence of apostles and prophets...

Acts 12:1, 5, " Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. 5, Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. " The example of the early church was to pray whenever they faced persecution or opposition from the religious leaders or from the secular government. Here in this verse the church was p...

Acts 11:26, " And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. " What does it mean to be called a Christian? It means that you are in Christ. God the Father has placed you into his Son Jesus Christ, and you are now united togeth...

Acts 11:22, " Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. " Here is an example of where the church in one area was concerned about what was happening to the church in another area and sent practical help through Barnabas. This is an example of local churches helping one another in different...