Question:
Are laboring brethren something we should be all that concerned about? The Lord can provide other means of using the same gifts.

Answer:
We shouldn’t think we can only do work for the Lord if we’re a full-time laborer. Phil Canner’s point in the open ministry meeting was: don’t get caught into thinking that others will do it. An illustration was given of the Pace’s grocery store where there are full-time and part-time workers. All help with the work.

Question:
How much faith do we really need in God as we live day to day? This morning in the Bible Study we were told that we may have to separate from those close to us. It would take a lot of faith to separate from our loved ones. Does Matthew 10:37 relate to this? The Lord says, “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Answer:
Yes, but Ephesians 6:1 tells us to “obey your parents in the Lord.” As long as our parents don’t tell us to break the law, we should obey them in every situation. We are to honor the authority God has given them over us. The truth of God is more dear and precious than the people. Separating doesn’t mean taking myself away from them. It means not fellowshipping or enjoying all our time with them, but looking at the time as an opportunity to share the truth with them. You can separate yourself from the activities they’re in, but you don’t have to separate from communicating with them, so they can see the truth you have.

Our focus should be: How am I going to glorify the Lord? If I ask myself that, I will be separating from things without thinking, “How much should I separate? etc.” Our occupation will be on the Word. The Lord prayed, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17). The Thessalonians “turned to God from idols” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). (The order is important.)

Question:
How should we dress for meeting? We are going into the presence of the Most High God, and that demands respect, but isn’t it true that we are in the presence of God daily? Then shouldn’t we dress up every day? It’s not that I’m trying to rebel against this, I was just wondering why we do this. I would appreciate any thoughts anyone would have on this topic.

Answer:
First Peter 3:3, 4, 5 and 1 Timothy 2:9, 10 indicate the importance of modesty—not drawing attention to ourselves in the way we dress. I think if a woman wore slacks to meeting she would definitely draw attention to herself—simply because other women wear skirts and dresses. The Bible doesn’t spell out that women must wear skirts and men must wear pants but it does tell us not to offend or stumble our brother (Read 1 Corinthians 8:13 and Romans 14:19, 20, 21). I feel if I wore slacks to meeting it would offend many people, and maybe cause some to stumble. Another verse that comes to mind is, “Honor thy father and mother” (Ephesians 6:2). I don’t think my parents would be comfortable if I didn’t wear a skirt to meeting so I want to honor them–because God tells me to.

The main reason I have always wanted to look my best for meetings is this: I respect the Lord and want to give Him glory when I am gathered with His people for He says that He is in our midst when we “are gathered” by the Spirit of God according to His Word “unto” or in worship of “His Name” (Matthew 18:20).
There are a few places in Scripture that show people changed their clothes for similar occasions. Second Samuel 12:20 says that after David’s child died he “arose from the earth, and washed, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped.” Esther wore something different from her everyday clothes when she went in to see the king (Esther 5:1). Those examples aren’t exactly what we’re dealing with today but I think it shows that we should think about (as our own individual exercise) how we dress.
To me, what I wear to meeting is different than what I wear every day because of the reasons I mentioned above (not offending others, honoring my parents, and giving reverence to the Lord, when I’m gathered with His people). If I wore a fancy dress every day of my life—to play volleyball, go to the grocery store, etc.—that would definitely be drawing attention to myself, and would not be in accordance with the already mentioned verses in 1 Peter and 1 Timothy, because they tell us not to draw attention to ourselves!

If guys wear jeans and T-shirts to meeting and no one seems offended by it—then well, I’m glad no one is offended (although maybe in some places people would be offended by this). I think each one of us (guy or girl) should think about the way we dress and decide if it is honoring to the Lord, our parents, and others in the assembly.
One more thing: we must remember we are not under law—but under grace. If a Christian woman wears pants to meeting, she won’t lose her salvation! Or if we can’t afford to buy a skirt I’m sure the Lord would understand (and hopefully others in the assembly would too). Our Lord is gracious and gives us the ability to judge some things for ourselves. Also, let us do all things to the edifying of the body of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:19 and Ephesians 4:12).So that’s how I feel about the way we should dress! I think it’s important for each of us to be before the Lord about it—just like we should be before the Lord about all other aspects of our lives. He’s the One we’re here to please—and we need to follow His Word and His guidance for our lives.

Question:
Does Jesus still feel the nails? (Ray Boltz song.)

Answer:
Christ will never suffer again as He did on the cross of Calvary. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins” (1 Peter 3:18).

The Lord bears the “wounds” He received at Calvary (Zechariah 13:6), but His suffering time is forever over. However, if a believer sins, the Spirit of God is grieved (Ephesians 4:30), and makes us realize our wrong (John 16:8) so we will repent and be restored to happy fellowship with the Lord (1 John 1:9).

Question:
If you believe abortion is right or okay, or being gay is okay, and/or you believe something that God specifically says is wrong, are you still considered a Christian—even though you are not following what God says?

Answer:
Only the Lord really knows those who are saved (2 Timothy 2:19). We are told in Matthew 7:20 that “…by their fruits ye shall know them.” So if someone says they are saved and knowingly believes and acts on things that are contrary to what God says in the Bible, we can’t be sure that person is truly saved. But we are not in the position to determine if a person is saved or not since we are not God. After we are saved, we still sin since we still have the flesh in us, but as was mentioned earlier we are given eternal life when we get saved. So, even though we are capable of believing and doing wrong things as Christians, if we are truly saved then we cannot lose that salvation (John 10:27-30, Ecclesiastes 3:14, John 3:16).

I praise the Lord that keeping our salvation is not dependent on anything we do or do not do. Christ has done all the work necessary (John 19:30) and we can rest in that finished work.

Question:
Is it true that we shouldn’t make up theory, and then find Scripture for it?

Answer:
Yes, we should not have a firm conviction before studying to see what the Scriptures say. We shouldn’t have a conviction first and then try to find a Scripture to support it.

It is OK though to take a theory and search the Scriptures to see whether it is so (Acts 17:11). It happens a lot that people want to believe something badly enough that their minds are already made up; then they may try to find a verse to support it. We need to rightly divide the truth and believe whatever the Scriptures say (1 Timothy 2:15).

Question:
At first, getting saved seems so simple, but now that I know more about it, it’s getting more complicated. It’s giving me doubts that I didn’t really think I needed to have in order to be saved.

Answer:
We must go to God’s Word to answer this question and a verse that explains salvation in a very clear and concise way is Acts 20: 21. Paul is speaking and says: “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I understand that the Greeks in this verse included everyone who was not a Jew so this message is to everybody in the world. Repentance is telling God you are sorry for your sins and admitting you are wrong and He is right. Faith is believing or trusting on the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who bore your sins on the cross so that you do not have to suffer for them in hell. Other Scriptures such as John 3:16,36; John 5:24; Acts 16:31; Romans 6:23; 10:9,10 and many others show that repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ results in a salvation and eternal life for the person who believes. We are saved from hell so we can go to heaven, and we are granted eternal life (life that never ends) which we will spend with the Lord Jesus Christ. We will spend forever learning of and enjoying the glory of our Savior and we will have fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). If a person refuses to repent and believe, they will spend eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15) and will suffer terribly, resulting in such agonies as “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Luke 13:28). From what I read in God’s Word, this is the way of salvation and there is no other way (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Our salvation is not dependent on what we do or don’t do; it is entirely dependent on what Christ did for us on the cross. The last part of 1 John 1:7 says “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Question:
Is it true that the Spirit only uses Scripture to teach us things?

Answer:
Yes, the words of Scripture have been given by the Spirit, and the following verses tell us that the Spirit God reveals God’s precious things by the Scriptures:

“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. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. . . . 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. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:9-13).
We also learn character through trials:“Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:3, 4).

Question:
I remember being told that if you hate someone you were never considered a Christian, but how do you know if you really truly hate someone and where is that found?

Answer:
The Scripture you were told about may have been 1 John 3:15. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” The Lord Jesus said that not only murder, but being “angry with his brother without cause” and being a character assassinator by saying: “Thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21, 22). Murder does not begin with the outward act but in the heart, and the old nature that we have since our birth to our natural parents is capable of doing any sin.

Let us look at 1 John 3 to see what we are being taught in that portion. Verse 9 says: “Whosoever is born of God does not commit [practice] sin.” This verse says that one who is born of God does not “practice,” or is not characterized by sinning. It is not a normal thing for him to sin. The next verse says that the children of God and the children of the devil are “manifest” by their practice or actions. We also learn from verse 14 that our actions show to us (ourselves) if we are saved or not. “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.” But of the unsaved he says: “He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”
The same thing (the old nature or the flesh) that produces the sin of murder leads us to hate our brother. A professed Christian woman once said between her clenched teeth, “I wish she were dead.” Yes, a Christian woman said that. But that was just for a moment, when she allowed the old nature to assert itself. She soon judged it and put it away. If Christians get out of touch with God there will be a manifestation of the flesh. But they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and He will soon make them intensely miserable, and cause them to judge the flesh and put it in the place of death. “Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). But no one who willfully goes on hating his brother has any business calling himself a child of God, because the above Scriptures say that no one who is characterized by hatred has eternal life abiding in Him.We should not be occupied with how much hatred we have, but with the Lord Jesus Christ as we see Him in the Word, so the Spirit of God can “transform” us into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Question:
How are we “in Christ” in glory right now? Won’t we be with Christ in glory after the rapture?

Answer:
When the Scriptures speak of a person being “in Christ,” it means that that is the believer’s position before God. God sees the believer “in Christ.” A person becomes “in Christ” by believing “in Him” (John 3:16), and the Lord says that no man can “pluck them [believers] out of My hand” (John 10:28). Being “in Christ” means that you can never be lost, just as you won’t drown if your head is above water. Our Head is above water for Christ is in heaven, and we are too for we are “in Christ!”

This position of being “in Christ” puts the believer where Christ is now in heaven. And the believer is also “raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6). So God sees each believer right now in the glory “in Christ.”
The more we realize the great privilege that is ours of being “in Christ,” the more we will seek to please Him, and the more we will want to be careful how we live. If we commit a sin, He knows all about it because He is right there with us, for we are “in Christ.” This causes us to confess the wrong to Him right away (1 John 1:9), and continue on pressing “toward the mark” (Philippians 3:14).It is true that the believer will also be with Christ very soon in the glory. But we must first be “in Christ” before we can be “with Christ.” The reason God has put us “in Christ” is so “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

Question:
What are some signs today that tell us Jesus might be coming soon?

Answer:
The Bible mentions signs of the “last days” and signs of the “end of the age.” Let’s look briefly at both of these.

1. THE LAST DAYS. In 2 Timothy 3:1 we are told that “in the last days perilous times shall come.” From the context of the epistle we can see that the last days here refer to the days immediately preceding the Lord’s coming to take His people home to heaven. This is often called the rapture of the church and is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. The following list of nineteen things are given to us in 2 Timothy 3 as things which will characterize the last days of the church’s history on earth: 1- men shall be lovers of their own selves, 2- covetous, 3‑ boasters, 4- proud, 5-blasphemers, 6- disobedient to parents, 7- unthankful, 8- unholy, 9- without natural affection, 10- truce breakers, 11- false accusers or malicious gossips, 12- incontinent or without self-control, 13- fierce or brutal, 14- despisers of those that are good, 15- traitors or treacherous, 16- heady or reckless, 17- high-minded or conceited, 18- lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, 19- having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

All we have to do is read the newspaper to find that all of the above things characterize the days in which we live. Therefore we can say that the coming of the Lord is very near. We who “know these things before,” need to “beware lest we also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from our own stedfastness” (2 Peter 3:17). Those who still do not know the Lord Jesus as their own personal Saviour need to realize that “now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Tomorrow may be too late.

2. THE END OF THE AGE. In Matthew 24:1-44 we are given a number of events that will occur before the Lord Jesus comes to judge the world and set up His kingdom on earth. From other Scriptures we learn that the coming of the Lord Jesus to earth to set up His kingdom takes place after His coming in the air to take His church to heaven and after the tribulation period (see Revelation 3:10,11; 4:1).
The Lord Jesus had just told His disciples that the beautiful temple which they had shown Him would be completely destroyed. The disciples knew the Old Testament Scriptures which told of their Messiah coming to set up His kingdom. Faced with the fact of the destruction of their temple the disciples asked the Lord, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (The Greek word for world here is “aion” which denotes “age” or a period of time.) The disciples then wanted to know what will be the signs which will show that His coming is near and that the present age will come to an end.
The Lord Jesus then gives us a number of events that will occur before He comes to reign. These events will be signs to the believing Jews during the tribulation period. Listed below are some of the events given us in Matthew 24.

1. Many will come and say that they are Christ.

2. There will be wars and rumors of wars.

3. There will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes.

4. The believing Jews will be hated by all nations for His Name’s sake.

5. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world. (This gospel is different than the gospel being preached today. It is described in Revelation 14:6,7 as the everlasting gospel.)

6. The abomination of desolation will be set up in the holy place of the rebuilt temple. (This refers to the image of the beast which the false prophet will set up in the temple. All will be commanded to worship this image.) See Revelation 13:11-18.
When the believing Jews living in Jerusalem see these signs come to pass they are to flee to the mountains because “then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” See Matthew 24:21.
It is true that, to some degree, we see some of these signs taking place today. However, in the tribulation period there will be a full and complete fulfillment of these signs.In view of the above facts we are wise to take heed to the exhortation in 1 Peter 4:7, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

Question:
How is 2 Tim. 2:12 different from v. 13 where, if we are unfaithful, He abides faithful?

Answer:
2 Timothy 2:
12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us:

13  If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny himself.
He can’t deny Himself—no matter how unfaithful we may be after we are saved, He can’t go back on His promise to save us by the work of Christ. Verse 13 is someone who is saved; the last part of v. 12 is someone who never was saved.

Question:
Many people lift up their hands while singing. They use Psalm 134:2 and 1 Timothy 2:8 as references. I’ve always taken these as figurative rather than literal. Am I right?

Answer:
I am assuming that the reference is toward certain “Christian” groups raising their arms when singing and praying. The two verses used to support this practice are: Psalm 134:2: “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD;” and 1 Timothy 2:8: “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.”

Psalm 134:2 was direction for God’s earthly people Israel, but is God really asking for this activity today? Is this a genuine display of faith? Romans 14:22 says, “Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God,” and verse 23, “…whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
No doubt these folks are sincere and believe that this practice is called for in the above verse, and at a glance the verse does seem to direct some action. But looking at the words in 1 Timothy 2:8 for today, we read “men” (which excludes women?), pray (excluding singing?), everywhere, (could be somewhat impractical, say while driving a car?), lifting (not raising), holy (are these that which belong to a justified one?), hands (not arms (while acknowledging that the arms and hands are attached one to the other)), without wrath (at peace?), without doubting (with confidence?).
I suggest that the thought of lifting hands might refer to the thoughts expressed in Hebrews 12:12: “Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;” and in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly [confidently] to the throne of grace.”
Where the hands that hang down would indicate a heavy heart, fearfulness, and a dejected spirit, the uplifted hands would show peace and confidence.
Also we can note:
Isaiah 35:3, 4: “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not.”

Job 4:3, 4: “Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.”

Acts 17:24, 25: “God…neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything.”

John 4:24: “God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
As we look at our own personal faith we can consider the person that God sees from His perspective, and we can also get an insight as to our personal testimony.

 

Please forgive the analogy, but we can readily see in the animal kingdom the difference shown in dogs for example, where one dog walks with his head and tail down looking totally defeated, and another comes bounding to his master with tail wagging and head high.

Question:
2 Timothy 2:12: “If we disown Him, He disowns us” (NASB). Is this an accurate translation?

Answer:
Yes, it is an accurate translation. A true believer cannot deny (or disown) the Lord, for John 10:27-30 says it is impossible to do that. Once you are saved you are always saved. See John 3:16.

This chapter is talking about everyone who professes to be saved. Some aren’t truly saved who profess to be saved. The last part of 2 Timothy 2:12 is speaking of those who are not saved. There are people who are called apostates who are not saved, but who try to take others away from Christ. An apostate is one who at one time professed to believe something and then turned away from it. In John 6 we are told that many disciples walked no more with Christ. Though they walked with Christ for a while, they never were saved, for they never received the words of eternal life (John 6:66-69).

Question:
In heaven, will we see the Lord judging people?

Answer:
Yes, the believers will see the Lord judging, but our thoughts will completely be in tune with His then. Revelation 19:11-20 tells us that John “saw the beast, and the kings of the earth….And the beast was taken… [and] cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

From the time Christ takes us to glory at the rapture of the church we will be with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Even at the great white throne we will be at His side and see “the dead, small and great, stand before God” (Revelation 20:12).

Question:
1. Should we know our spiritual gift?
2. Can we have more than one gift?

3. Are there more gifts than what are listed in Romans 12 (from God), 1 Corinthians 12 (from the Spirit), and Ephesians 4 (from Christ)?

Answer:
1. No, because we may have a job from the Lord that we don’t think we have a gift for, but even so we are told “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might” (Ecclesiastes 9:10). We shouldn’t limit God with what we think our gifts are.

Timothy knew that his gift was a pastor, and was encouraged to stir it up and use it (Philippians 2:20, 1 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 1:6). We are responsible to use whatever gifts God has given us. “A man’s gift maketh room for him” (Proverbs 18:16). If others know our gift it may help us to use it more. May we be like Paul who told the Lord, “What wilt thou have me to do” (Acts 9:6; 22:10). Be available to be used.
Whatever our gift we should not be occupied with it, but be occupied with using it to glorify Christ by edifying His people: “Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12).
2. Probably, the apostle Paul had many gifts. He was an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, and possibly had many more gifts. Our spiritual gift doesn’t have to line up with our natural talents. For example Moses did not want to, or feel able to speak, but the Lord used Him mightily in leading the children of Isreal. “And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10).3. We do not have a complete list in the Word of the spiritual gifts the Lord gives to His people. The fact that we are exhorted to be “zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12), shows that gifts are as varied as the need.

Question:
How can we keep our inability to understand from turning to unbelief?

Answer:
Doubt comes from the devil: (Satan tempting Eve, and other Scriptures.) We must accept the Word because God says so. (Matthew 21:21, 22; 2 Timothy 1:7; Isaiah 55:8; Romans 11:33,34; Deuteronomy 29:29.) If we lack wisdom we should ask God for it (James 1:5).

We cannot understand God’s truth by our intellect:  “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). But God has been pleased to “reveal” His truth to faith by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10). “Through faith we understand” (Hebrews 11:3). Thomas doubted (John 20), but Jesus told him to believe. “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). We need childlike faith. Jesus said this in Matthew 18:2,3. We should not be filled with doubt but simply believe what God says.

Question:
Are there going to be different levels of enjoyment in heaven depending on our service? What’s our motivation for wanting to do things for the Lord? We’re saved and going to heaven no matter what.

Answer:
We will receive rewards according to our works (1 Corinthians 3:13-15) when the Lord comes (Revelation 22:12). But any reward or crown we receive, we will cast at Christ’s feet (Revelation 4:10, 11), for He gives us the strength to serve Him now, and so He alone is worthy to receive the rewards.

Rewards have their effect in the coming kingdom when Christ will reign over this earth (Matthew 25:21). A “crown of righteousness” will be given to everyone who looks forward to the day when Christ will reign over this earth and who “love His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).
However, in the Lord’s presence in heaven there is “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). There is only one degree of happiness there. Our minds can’t comprehend now what it will really be like in heaven. For one thing, in heaven we will want to enjoy Christ as completely as we can. Should we not want to enjoy Him as completely as we can now as well? The motivation we have for living for Christ now is a sense of His great love for us. This “constrains us” to not live unto ourselves but unto Him who loved us and gave Himself for us (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15).

Question:
By attending meetings of Christian Fellowship (CF) at college, in a way it’s supporting what the members are doing…should we not be a part of CF?

Answer:
The Scriptures tell us that each believer is a member of an organization called “the church”: “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). It is also called “the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), and each believer is to function in that organization “for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).

 

If CF is an organization seeking to represent anything other than the whole body of Christ, what Scripture do we have that tells us to be a member of it? We are not under law, but the Lord’s grace constrains us to make each decision with the desire that Christ be glorified in our lives, and He is glorified by obeying His Word.

Question:
Regarding purging ourselves…what is the position of a believer in college where there are few Christian friends? Where do you draw the line of separation?

Answer:
Separation, not physically from the person, but on a spiritual plane.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
In the above verses, an “unequal” yoke is speaking primarily of a bond in spiritual things, in a “temple,” church, etc. Though any yoke of being bound together as partners for a common purpose—such as a marriage or business is also “unequal”! The answer is “no” to the question: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3).
Boaz “spoke friendly” to Ruth, and she said: “though I be not like unto one of thine handmaidens” (Ruth 2:13). Being friendly can open the door to tell souls about the Saviour who loves even to die for them.
The Lord called Judas “friend” when he and the mob came to take Him to be crucified: “Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him” (Matthew 26:50). He had said by the Spirit of God through David: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me” (Psalm 41:9).“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.” But even if we do not have many true friends, let us never forget that “there is a Friend [Jesus] that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

Question:
If you refuse money for the Lord’s work will that offend the giver?

Answer:
In the body, we are told to endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3). Each person needs to honor one another and be sensitive to each other’s differences.

Question:
What is a laborer or are we all laborers?

Answer:
First Thessalonians 5:12, 13 gives Scripture for laborers: “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.”

But they have no title—all of us are “laborers together with God” (1 Corinthians 3:9). These verses may refer to those who have jobs but are laboring for the Lord. The Lord is able to use—whomever, even if there are no full-time laborers.It’s the Lord’s work and God has work for each believer as members of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:18, 27, 28). First Corinthians 15:58 doesn’t say, “Therefore my beloved full-time laborers.” Shouldn’t every believer be a full-time laborer for Christ sine every believer is a member of Christ’s body?