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Warn One Another

Warn One Another

Warn One Another.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.” (Colossians 3:16).

Admonish: to warn; to caution; to place into someone’s awareness; to reprove gently; to call attention to; to alert another person’s thinking; to offer sound advice and guidance.

a. Sooner or later, there will come a time when we need to give fair warning, to admonish someone close to us. It is inevitable. Sometimes we show our love for someone by standing in their way and pointing them in another direction. If someone is going down the wrong road, our turning a blind eye reflects a lack of love for that person. At some point, we all need to be cautioned, to be warned. When we are admonished, if we’re suitably humble about it, we will very much appreciate the verbal alert. When we admonish someone else, it’s out of love, and we need to speak that truth in love (Ephesians 4:5). Yes, there will be a time when the tough truth needs to be spoken. A wise word of warning to a teachable heart might well be that person’s salvation. Our word of caution may change a life. We aren’t doing anybody any favors when we step back from offering a needed alert or word of warning. When we admonish someone, if indeed we are full of grace and truth about it, we will offer our help in changing direction. We don’t simply walk away after warning someone, as if our duty is done. We are called to help bear whatever burden might result when a person takes a different path.

b. “I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, fully instructed, filled with all knowledge, and capable of admonishing one another.” (Romans 15:14).

“We beseech you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and who admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you to admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:12-14).

“As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good. Take note of those who refuse to obey what we say in this letter. Stay away from them so they will be ashamed. Don’t think of them as enemies but warn them as you would a brother or sister.” ( 2 Thessalonians 3:13-15, NLT).

“Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did. Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”  (1 Corinthians 10:5-6, 11-12).

“But avoid useless controversies, genealogies, pointless quarrels, and arguments over the law, which will get you nowhere. After a first and second warning, have nothing more to do with a divisive person who refuses to be corrected. For you know that such a one is entwined with his sin and stands self-condemned.” (Titus 3:9-11).

“I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.” (1 Corinthians 4:14, NASB).

“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true, each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb. They are a warning to your servant, a great reward for those who obey them.”  (Psalm 19:7-11, NLT).

“Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me! For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. O that my people would listen to me! O, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!” (Psalm 81:8-13, NLT).

“I warned you when you were prosperous, but you replied, ‘Don’t bother me.’ You have been that way since childhood- you simply will not obey me!  (Jeremiah 22:21, NLT).

“If you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live, and you will have saved yourself too.” (Ezekiel 3:21, NLT).