1 Corinthians 2 - in chapter 1 Paul corrected the thinking that any access we have to God and his attributes could be credited to man, be it Paul, Apollos or Peter. It is ALL because of Him (Jesus). In chapter 2, he goes on to explain that because of Jesus we have access to the Holy Spirit. Of course, we can never grasp the awesomeness of that! You see The Spirit searches all things, yes, even the deep things of God. Let that sink in. He knows EVERYTHING there is to know about God and He is the one that lives in us, the one that is there to teach us and give us understanding of scripture. You see with out the Spirit we can not understand the things of God, we can not understand scripture. We can read and read and it will never make sense it will be foolishness to us. But through Jesus we have access to the Spirit the one who searches ALL things. Knowing this make verse 16 jump off the page!! "But we have the mind of Christ!" Do you get that?!? Through Jesus we have the Spirit and through the Spirit we have the mind of Christ! Right there in us to teach us and instruct us, so that we might KNOW God!! Absolutely, mind blowing!!!
1 Corinthians 3 - Paul again focuses on the Corinthian's misguided allegiance to certain men. I have a great pastor! He's super smart, loves the Lord, I have learned a lot under his teaching. I have enjoyed a great many wonderful Bible studies written by awesome women. Women that have taught me how to study the Bible for myself, which is awesome. But... while our brothers and sisters in Christ can plant and water us only God can makes us grow! We must never follow man's teaching blindly, we must search the scriptures for ourselves measuring every word against the absolute truth of the Bible. In turn we must measure our own advise against the Word of God, and search the motives of our hearts. Collectively as a church we are the temple of God for all to see, let us make sure that when the world sees us, they see Jesus the only one that can make them... and us GROW 🌻!
1 Corinthians 5 - Thank the Lord for men & women like Paul. Not afraid, to say it like it is, to know God's heart & Word well enough to speak it with authority. In chapter 5, Paul addresses the Corinthian church & the fact that they had a "brother" (someone claiming to be a Christian, this is an important point) in their fellowship that was engaged in blatant sexual immorality. The kind that would be looked down upon even by the unsaved (it was that bad) & yet they were proud of their tolerance and open mindedness! Patting themselves on the shoulders saying "Look how loving & kind we are." Paul tells them to hand him over to Satan, so that the sinful nature maybe destroyed & his spirit saved on the day of the Lord. Now, please bear with me, I understand the interpretation of this scripture that says having been forced out from under the protection of the church the man may recognize his sin & repent &I have no issue with that. But what if the church isn't being the church. I think maybe in the case of Corinthian church we could go as far to say that this man would fair better in the culture than in this apathetic church that would watch a man dying in his sin while throwing their arms around him, turning a blind eye to the cancer that is destroying him, withholding the truth that could heal him & set him free while saying "Look world aren't we awesome!! We are so open minded, so loving!" All the while the man is falling deeper and deeper into sin. Last week I read an amazing article by a woman who was steeped in sexual sin & wrestled with the idea of "dying to herself" that she might live in Christ, she talked about how thankful she is that when she was faced with this struggle their wasn't someone in the Christian community saying "Oh don't worry about it, it's okay you don't have to give up or sacrifice anything for Jesus...". She said it would have been a millstone around her neck!! I am talking to myself as much as I am talking to my brothers &sisters in Christ, we need to hold out the Word of Life not watch the people God loves drowned in their sin. The church needs to be the church! We hold the key to everlasting life!
1 Corinthians 6 - I love a good deal. There was a time before we had kids when money was not such a big deal, if we wanted something we bought it regardless of its being on sale. But times changed and the need for frugal shopping became a way of life. Finding the best deal has become so engrained in me I can't imagine going back to spending full price for anything! I was struck by verse 19b-20 this morning, "you are not your own;you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Charles Spurgeon said "Your body was a willing horse when it was in service of the devil, let it not be a sluggish hack now that it draws the chariot of Christ." I am not my own, I have been purchased and not on sale mind you! The price Jesus paid for me was way and I mean WAY beyond market value!! And yet, I can almost picture Jesus showing me off, his "masterpiece " (Ephesians 2:10) ... "And this is Cija!" "Oh, how much did you pay for her?? I hope you got a good deal, She doesn't look like she's worth much..." to which Jesus smiles with great admiration "oh, she cost me everything!" We are not our own!! Therefore... let us honor God with our bodies in purity and service! "...be my witnesses... to the ends of the earth." We must remember that our mission is to spread the Gospel not convict the world of sin, that is His job.
1 Corinthians 7 - in this chapter Paul begins to address specific questions that the church in Corinth had raised. Specifically, if there was so much sexual immorality would be better to abstain altogether, even in a marriage. Some, even went as far to think it better to leave their spouses to be more holy. In verse 17, Paul presents the cut and dry answer, "But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk." In other words, stay married. But this reaches beyond marriage. So often we can be waiting for our circumstances to change so that we can serve the Lord better. We might say... "When my kids are older, when I am done taking so many classes, if I only had a more meaningful job or when I am well." But the Lord says "Brothers, each man, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation God called him to." God will use you right where you are, don't let the enemy distract you with busyness and the "if onlys" of life. There is work to be done right where you are!
1 Corinthians 8 - a chapter about personal liberties and freedom in Christ. Stop and ask yourself a question. Why do you do or not do the things you do and don't. I am tempted to just leave at that, let you ponder this question today. I think it is vitally important for you to understand why you make the choices you do. I think it is equally important that we help our kids figure out their answer to this question. Why are you mindful of your language or not mindful? Why do flee or not flee from sexual immorality? Why do you obey or not obey the speed limit? What's motivating you when you make these choices? Is it because the Bible tells you so and you don't want to get in trouble? Or is because you love the Lord with every part of you and you want to do anything you can to show it? These are things the Bible directly addresses but what about those more "grey areas" your personal liberties? Why do drink or abstain from alcohol? Why do you attend or not attend rate "R" movies? The list could go on and on. The longer you are a Christian the more knowledge you glean. You understand that all things are permissible (although not necessarily profitable). With this knowledge you begin to unravel the ties of legalism and experience true freedom in Christ. But with freedom comes great responsibility. We must remember to temper our knowledge with love for others. Knowledge without love puffs up and thinks oneself more spiritual and embraces liberties with little care for those around them. But one who loves God will put people before their liberties. We are told to be careful that the exercise of our freedoms does not become a stumbling block to the weak (wrongly informed). I loved this explanation when someone is stumbled they are "tempted to sin through someone else's actions vs. offending someone's legalism." So why do you do the things you do and don't do? I hope the answer is Love.
1 Corinthians 9 - "Dear you, focus on yourself." "The problem with putting others first, is you teach them that you come second." "Darling, don't forget to fall in love with yourself first." Three "inspirational" quotes on Pinterest this morning. In chapter 8, Paul discussed being careful not to exercise your personal liberties at the expense of someone else. In chapter 9, the discussion continues. Paul gives personal examples for his own life, for instance, as an apostle, he had the "right" to be paid and supported by the Corinthian church, but he denied this right and continued his manual labor to support himself so in no way would he hinder the gospel. In fact, he says "we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. This really got me to thinking... in a culture that couldn't be any more self focused, what am I willing to sacrifice for the cause of Christ? Paul likens it to an athlete that must deny himself many "rights" to achieve a body that can actually win the race. He must make his body a slave in order to train and win. We serve a bigger purpose with eternal consequences so we must ask ourselves... what are we willing to give up and put up with for the cause of Jesus Christ?
1 Corinthians 11:1-16 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 This can be one of those passages that seem so far locked in the past that it has no present good. BUT we would be very mistaken. The passage is not simply about outdated cultural demands of veils and head coverings, it is about order in authority. Take something as simple as a buffet, if the plates are placed somewhere other than at the head of the line, chaos is soon to follow. It isn't until the plates are moved back to the head of the line where they belong that the chaos ceases and the line begins to move in a smooth and orderly fashion seeing that everyone is served. God established an order in authority as far back as the Garden not to make one feel less important than another but to give us a standard of order in which everyone is served. I loved the perspective of commentator, David Guzik on the effects of culture when God ordained order of authority is pushed aside as old fashioned or even sexist. "It is fair to describe our present moral state as one of anarchy. There is no moral authority in our culture. When it comes to morality, the only thing that matters is what one wants to do. And in a civil sense, many neighborhoods in our nation are given over to anarchy. Do you think that government's authority is accepted in gang-infested portions of our inner city? The only thing that matters is what one wants to do.
iv. We must see the broader attack on authority as a direct Satanic strategy to destroy our society and millions of individual lives."
1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Paul moves on to address the way the Corinthians are observing the Lord's Prayer. To sum things up, they are combining it with a shared meal (hmmm... we are back to the buffet!) where the division of class was quite apparent. The wealthy were stuffing themselves while not sharing with the poor. But Paul said that whenever we recognize the Lord's Supper we are proclaiming the Lord's death, we are telling the world Jesus died for you! Now... how will this message be received by the world if the ones proclaiming it are ignoring the needs of their own church family while stuffing themselves. The point of the Lord's Supper is continually refocus our attention towards Jesus and to remind us that we are here to proclaim the life that can be found in His death. The Lord's Supper should be done with reverence and then... it should send us out motivated to share the love Christ demonstrated on the cross!
1 Corinthians 10 - yes! I am going backwards, somehow I skipped over chapter 10! Paul is wrapping up his three chapter topic of liberty within the bounds of love. He uses the Israelites in the wilderness as an example. They had all the same "benefits and blessings" as the Corinthians. They were "baptized" in the Red Sea, they shared in the Lord's Supper (manna) and they had the presence of Jesus with them (the Rock that followed them in the wilderness) yet they were scattered in the desert and did not enter the promise land. They worshipped idols, committed sexual immorality, and grumbled. Why? Because they failed to keep their eyes on God and didn't say "No" to their personal desire out of their love for God and fell into temptation. The Corinthians were in the same boat, their knowledge of their liberty in Christ had become their idol. Their focus came off God and onto themselves, their attitude was one of "How much can I get away with?" vs. "How can I bring glory to God in my daily life so that some might be saved." We should be less concerned with catering to our own desires and more interested in pursuing what is good and loving towards those around us. Instead of following the example of the Israelites in the wilderness let us strive to follow the example of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 "Now about spiritual gifts... I do not want you to be ignorant." I am not going to go over the nine spiritual gifts mentioned in verses 1-11 but rather focus on the goal, or the reason for those spiritual gifts. The end of verse 11 says "he gives them (spiritual gifts)to each one just as he determines." In verse 7 we find the reason for these gifts "now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Spiritual gifts are not patches that we earn by living right. They are not markers of the spiritually mature, they are awesome works of the Holy Spirit through ordinary believers for the purpose of bringing glory to Jesus (not the individual), likewise they are for the good of all not just individuals. I love what Clark had to say about spiritual gifts "gracious endowments leading to miraculous results." Remember these gifts speak to the awesomeness of Jesus not the awesomeness of the believer.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31 If there is one thing we humans are experts at, It would be dividing one another into groups. Young-old, rich-poor, black-white, educated-uneducated, athletic-not so much... I could go on and on and on but it is NOT SO in Christ. Our Corinthians friends were just the same. Take the spiritual gifts for instance, those were great dividing lines, not only could they divide into groups they could rank one another by awesomeness!!! WRONG! As we were reminded yesterday the gifts have nothing to do with us and everything to do with Him. When Paul picks up in verse 12, he uses a great word picture to help us understand that there is be no division in the community of believers. We are one body in Christ and "in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, everyone of them, just as HE WANTED THEM TO BE." You matter in the body of Christ, I matter... we each have a job and a function entrusted to us by God himself. May we each surrender to the master potter that we may be made useful for His service and eagerly serve Him wherever He calls us.
1 Corinthians 13 - Paul had confronted the Corinthians on several key issues. Most recently... pride and division over spiritual gifts but now he says, "now I will show you the most excellent way...". If I do all of this, many great amazing things but I don't have love, then... I am nothing. Nothing. Let that really sink in. There's actually several different ways to look at this. If I do a great many things but have not loved it all adds up to nothing. This is a great application for every day living, setting your highest priority each day to love. That is indeed an excellent way! But there is an even bigger application. If I have done a great number of amazing things with my life and I HAVE NOT "LOVE" I am nothing. Scripture tells us the God is love and that Jesus is God. So you could read that as "if I have not Jesus, I am nothing." As we enter into December, the month in which we celebrate Jesus' rescue mission to earth, let us focus on the fact that without Him we are nothing and with Him we are called to LOVE!
1 Corinthians 14:1-25 "Follow the way of love" Paul dives a little deeper into the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy. I won't pretend to be a expert on either, I have much to learn when it comes to both. But here's what stood out to me in these verses. This group of believers struggled with a great number of things. One of those being, pride. Tongues seemed a bit flashier so it was the thing they chased after. But Paul said "follow the way of love" or "pursue love" this was to be their obsession. Yes, desire spiritual gifts so that God might receive glory through them! He even makes a suggestion... prophecy, why? Because "everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort." Which brings us back to Love. And who is LOVE??? God! May following after Him be our greatest obsession!
1 Corinthians 15 - the background for this chapter, misunderstandings about the resurrection of Jesus. Perhaps it was more of a spirit thing not any actual body thing. Ummm, no. Christ was dead and then Christ was ALIVE! This is what the Gospel hinges on, if Christ's body was not made alive again how would there be evidence that He is different from, say... Buddha? But there is evidence, Christ in his body was seen by other 500 people before he ascended back to Heaven! This fact is proof that He is different! He has the power to defeat death! And we have been given that same victory through Him! So in light of that, stand firm! Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain!
1 Corinthians 16 - In this final chapter Paul focuses on a sense of unity in their support of those serving the Lord, not just financially (although that is mentioned) but also in terms of acceptance. I work at the welcome desk at church and there isn't a Sunday that goes by that I don't get a phone call asking if the regular pastor is preaching. They don't want to venture out if there is going to be someone else preaching. Seems the Corinthians had the same mind set. But we need to remember that these men are "carrying on the work of the Lord" and we "should not refuse to accept" them and send them on their way in peace. Hmmm, this isn't what I originally planned to write about but this is what apparently is heavier on my heart. Perhaps as we draw closer to Christmas and remember Jesus who gave his life for us we can remember to pray for those "who have devoted themselves to the service of saints" that them may be refreshed. And as always. Be on guard (watching for the return of the Lord) stand firm in the faith, be men and women of courage; be strong and DO all of this and everything else in LOVE!
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