1 Corinthians 6:9-17 Walk in the Light!

1 Corinthians 6:9-17  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.  “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.  You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.”  The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?   Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?  Never!  Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body?  For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”  But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

God has designed the body, the universe, and the sky above to run exactly as He has ordained it.  There is no chaos or disharmony in his established existence.  In the world we know, Food for the stomach and the stomach for food.  But this world is tentative: the things of this world and all the physical preciseness of it and existence will cease someday.  The Lord God is eternal; even if heaven and earth pass away, God remains in his glory.  Eating and drinking will be gone someday.  At the present, humans and existence itself, groan to be delivered from the bondage of the penalty of sin, just as the Israelites groaned to be delivered from the heavy hand of Pharaoh.  The Bible says that Satan is the prince of the air, or that his spirit rules everywhere.  In the above focus, we see Paul excoriating the behaviors of the fleshly man and woman: immoral sexuality, worshiping idols, adultery,  sex with men, thievery, greediness, drunkeness, slandering, swindling.  In Romans 1 Paul adds many more human behaviors, thoughts and actions that are contrary to God’s will for men and women: envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossiping, insolence, arrogance, and boastfulness.  He goes on, humans lack true understanding of the world or the nature of humans; they have no steadfast fidelity, no enduring love or mercy.   All of these distort God’s image and his perfect will for humans.  God made men and women in his image and likeness.  In the beginning, man and woman were eternal, for they were holy and perfectly made.  But sin entered the world; men and women thought that their freedom from God’s authority would bring them happiness; instead, their lives became disruptive, chaotic, and evil.  Rather than live in the light of God, they lived in darkness without knowing the reason or purpose for their lives.  Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.  If you follow me, you won’t HAVE TO walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  (John 8:12, NLT)  The light Jesus reflected was the light of God; Adam and Eve lived in the light of God in the Garden.  Jesus said, He and God are one; when you see me, you have seen the Father, for I am the complete fulness of God.  Christians who are IN CHRIST are to image God, not evil or Satan.  We are to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  (Ephesians 3:19)  Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are IN CHRIST, washed, sanctified, justified.  They are new creatures who no longer live in darkness.  They have the Holy Spirit in their lives as the Israelites had in the wilderness: the cloud by day and the pillar of fire at night to lead them to the Promised Land or where the eternal God dwells.  All of this glorious inheritance comes through the mighty name of the Lord Jesus.  

What is in the name of Jesus?  The Lamb of God is the name of Jesus, the power of God on earth.  To escape the confines of Egypt, the burden of slavery, the children of Israel had to place the blood of a lamb around the door frames of their houses.  By doing this the angel of death would pass over their homes, allowing them to escape the death of their first born.  This was a choice they made, to follow Moses’ instructions about the Passover.  They did not HAVE TO follow Moses’ words.  They could ignore them and experience the death that would enter their houses that night.  Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb.  Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe.  None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning.  When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.  (Exodus 21-23)  This passover lamb had to be perfect with no defects.  The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.  (Exodus 12: 6)  When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  (John 1:29)  Two of John’s disciples left John’s side and followed Jesus that day, for they knew the Passover Lamb of God was to set people free from the household of slavery.  John knew that Jesus was sent by God, for he heard the voice of God when he baptized Jesus in the Jordan River.  From that day on, Jesus would perform the works of his Father.  He would heal, cast out demons, turn water into wine, feed thousands from just a few loaves of bread and some fish, and tame nature by telling the wind to calm down.  Jesus would walk on water and teach with authority the eternal words of God.  He demonstrated that He was the Son of God.  Jesus’ life of miraculous happenings frustrated the religious leaders of that time.  Because of Jesus breaking the Sabbath, they thought of Jesus as being the son of the devil and not of God.  Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?  Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father.  But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.  (John 10:36-38)  The leaders of the Israelites were jealous of Jesus’ popularity with the people.  They hated Jesus and constantly sought to kill him.  The religious leaders were functioning outside of God’s will for them.  They supposedly followed their father Abraham by insisting on the laws of Moses to be evident in the Jewish community, but they were not much more than religious police, unwilling to show the Jews the reality of God’s mercy and grace for those He loved.  They definitely were not in unity with God’s  purpose for the human race.  Now in the above focus, we see Paul warning the Corinthian church of being out-of-step with the will of God because of their fleshly lives.  They were uniting their spirits with the spirit of the world just as a man who unites himself with a prostitute.  Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?  The obvious answer is, no.  Of course not, a Christian is to be united with God.  Whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

Our actions, thoughts, and deeds are to be in harmony with God’s perfection.  Jesus ends his teaching on the Mount, saying for us to be perfect as God is perfect.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  BE PERFECT, therefore, as your Heavenly FATHER IS PERFECT.  (Matthew 5:43-48)  We must be united with God in spirit, completely enveloped by him in our actions and thoughts.  God’s words are perfect and last forever.  When God gave the Israelites the law, He gave them a way to perfection, but sin interrupted the purpose of his words.  Paul proclaims that no one can be completely obedient to the laws and regulations given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  James says to us that if we prefer some people over others in the congregation of God when we seat them, we are breaking the perfection of God’s will for us.  Therefore, we are not perfect.  God’s words are eternal and they are meant to be followed.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.  (Matthew 5:17-18)  God’s words can be considered as being on a eternal continuum.  They will never cease or be taken back.  They must be fulfilled.  Paul is a good example of this.  He was a murderer; he had a murderous heart.  Moses too was a murderer; he killed an Egyptian.  David also committed murder.  If God says, you cannot murder, does He take those words back because he loved Paul, David and Moses.  No, his words are eternal; righteousness is eternal, holiness is eternal; God’s words go on forever and must be fulfilled.  But now we see the Lamb of God entering the picture.  He will fulfill God’s words by substituting himself on the cross for the act of murder by Paul, David, and Moses.  He will complete the continuum of God’s eternal words by placing himself into those everlasting words.  God is not a liar; Jesus’ price on the cross pays the price for all law breakers, so that we as lawbreakers can be considered PERFECT as God IS PERFECT.  We are no longer under condemnation or judgment from God because the price for our sins has been paid in full.  Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many.”  (Matthew 20:28)  Therefore breakfast companions, be in unity with Christ in everything you do; please the Father God in words, actions and thoughts.  We pray that we, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  (HIS PERFECTION, NOT OURS.)  (Ephesians 3:14-19)  God bless you as you walk in the fullness of God today, rooted and established in his love.  

1 Corinthians 6:1-9 Display Your Light!

1 Corinthians 6:1-9  If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people?  Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world?  And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?  Do you not know that we will judge angels?  How much more the things of this life!  Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church?  I say this to shame you.  Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?  But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!  The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already.  Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.  Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Paul is writing to a church that is very carnal in nature.  They are born-again believers but still functioning in the old nature of the flesh.  They are fighting about who should be their spiritual leader.  The Corinthians are heavily involved with selfish pursuits.  They are suing each other over trivial matters in secular courts.  In the gospel of John, we read this kind of lifestyle is worldly and will be judged by God for its foundation is the carnal activity of the fleshly world.  Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.  (1 John 2:15-17)   Paul knows this self-willed behavior of the congregants has split the church.  Rather than being in unity with their fellow brethren, they have chosen the waywardness of the flesh, consumed by self-interests, selfish pursuits, greediness, and jealousy.  In their disputations with each other, they have dimmed the light of God in a nascent church of the Living God.  They are emulating the world that is incessantly fighting and bickering, even going to battle over issues that should have been solved by other ways.  In the environment of the institution of the church, the nature of Oneness IN CHRIST should be seen by the world.  Christians know that Jesus the Son and the Father function as ONE, together in directions, goals or desires.  In Jesus’ prayer about the disciples He says, “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be ONE, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  (John 17: 20-21)  Christians are people of faith in God’s goodness and love through their faith in Jesus Christ and his works; they are to be ONE IN CHRIST, hidden IN HIM, possessing the characteristic of the family of God.  In the Corinthian church we see disputation over leadership, the condition of suing each other in secular courts, and open sin, such as incest.  Rather than being the light of God, they are displaying much of the corruption and contamination of the flesh.  Paul is fearful for them because God will judge a wayward church severely, for such a church brings shame on the message of salvation through Jesus’ name.  Paul reminds them that at the end of time, they will even judge angels.  Do you not know that we will judge angels?  How much more the things of this life!  He wants to know, why are you letting the nonessentials of this present life break unity within the church?  The things of this life should not be considered so important, for faith in Jesus gives eternal life to you now.  You are presently living a life that will never cease!  God has forgiven you of your sins.  You are his children, so grow up and take hold of the eternal life God has given you.   

Sadly, the heart is deceitful and betrays our reality of eternal life now.  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  (Jeremiah 17:9)  The Corinthian church struggled with the understanding that they are new creatures who should be living for Christ and not for themselves.  They were functioning as infants in this new life, needing milk rather than the meat of the gospel.  They needed to be reminded of who they really are IN CHRIST.  Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  (John 1:12-13)  As children of God and as members of the family of God, the responsibility of revealing God's goodness and love rested on them.  Jesus said Christians are lights to the world.  Therefore, Corinthian believers should display that light to the world, not obfuscate it under the darkness of fleshly living.  They must remember the basic facts of being a Christian.  Paul tells Timothy.  Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David.  This is my gospel,  for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.  But God’s word is not chained.  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.  Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.  If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.  (2 Timothy 2:8-11)  The Corinthians are free in Christ, but they also must die to the endeavors of the flesh.  Without dying to the pursuits of the old life, they will not reign with Christ.  Their new lives ought to be entrenched in Christ and his purposes.  Paul says he endures everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.  Paul is now asking the Corinthians to forgo or endure the wrongdoing that has been perpetrated against them in this life.  Why not rather be wronged?   Why not rather be cheated?  For the elect's sake move on in your life--do not ask for the justice you might deserve in the court of law.  Jesus tells the crowd that it is best to solve your disputes between each other before you go to court.  He is talking to the unredeemed, but He advises them to seek peace rather than perfect justice.  “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right?  As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.  I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”  (Luke 12:57-59)  In the Christian environment, Paul is advising the Corinthians who have eternal life, just allow the injustice to stand.  Your eternal life is much more important than any victory you might win in a secular court .

Anger towards another Christian or even disputes with people in the secular world are very dangerous in the eyes of the Lord.  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’  But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.  Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court.  And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.  (Mathew 5:21-22)  As with murder, uncontrollable anger is subject to judgment.  God does not allow that kind of behavior to go unnoticed in the annals of your life.  In the court system of the world, it is dangerous to display uncontrolled anger: judgment will fall on such words.  To say Raca to someone, (empty-headed, vain or worthless) will reap correction or judgment from the courts of justice.  Anger carries judgment with it.  To say someone is a fool is a statement that can bring the fire of hell upon you.  Paul is telling the Corinthian church that anger, disputation, conflict, quarreling are not something that should be found in the church of the living God.  These kinds of behaviors display the works of the flesh.  They do not indicate the presence of the Spirit; they reveal clearly the infiltration of the fleshly nature in the born-again believer.  Such behavior will be judged.  Since Paul is the founder of the Corinthian church, he wants them to be aware of their betrayal of God’s nature.  If they continue in their fleshly ways, his work with them will be of no avail.  His fear is that they will fall under the devil’s persuasive ways completely, living only under the influence of their flesh.  Rather than battle others in the church, they should be sensitive to making things right with the loved ones of God.  Jesus tells us how sensitive Christians should feel towards others who believe that we have done something wrong to them.  He tells people not to offer gifts to God before they make things right with other people who believe they have been wronged.  “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.  (Mathew 5:23-24)   Paul realizes the Corinthian divisions even affect the church in their communion services.  They are unaware that their disunity causes them to dishonor the body of Christ when they participate in taking the sacraments together as Christ’s body.  Their lack of discerning the wholeness of the body of Christ is detrimental to the health of the church.  So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.  Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.  For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.  (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)  Our breakfast companions open your hearts and minds to the necessity of being One in Christ.  Be open to seeking unity before you seek God in these circumstances.  Jesus said, BEFORE YOU SERVE GOD WITH A GIFT, FIND YOUR BROTHER WHO BELIEVES YOU HAVE WRONGED HIM AND MAKE IT RIGHT.  Then you are discerning the body of Christ correctly.  Often people fight each other by using the Bible against other believers or a special revelation they have had from God.  But God says, a true believer will first go to the person who feels he or she has been hurt by the person's words or stance and make it right.  Jesus says, make it right with the person whom you are in conflict with.  The world is full of conflicts, battles, wars.  This is the darkness of the world; we should not engage in this kind of behavior.  Instead we should seek peace, kindness, gentleness, love, and grace.  We should be LIGHTS in a very dark world.  We know you will seek to shine brightly, for you are children of the living God WHO POSSESS THE NATURE OF GOD’S GOODNESS AND MERCY.        

1 Corinthians 5:9-13 Find Peace!

1 Corinthians 5:9-13  I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters.  In that case you would have to leave this world.  But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler.  Do not even eat with such people.  What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?  Are you not to judge those inside?  God will judge those outside.  “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

Paul is upset with the Corinthian church for allowing immoral behavior: incest, to exist openly in their congregation.  Paul expresses to them something these Greek believers knew was true: this kind of sin is not even acceptable within the secular world.  The sin of incest within their fellowship is not hidden, but openly known by the believers.  The law of Moses’ states that  A man is not to marry his father’s wife; he must not dishonor his father’s bed.  (Deuteronomy 22:30)  This kind of behavior interferes with the harmony of existence, how God designed the world and the cosmos.  We see life on earth, existing in an environment that is precise and integrated.  Our bodies function cell by cell in harmony, in unity.  We have everything needed within our bodies to sustain life.  Life on earth functions in a designed environment for the benefit of biological existence.  When people practice incest in their society, they open themselves to some damaging consequences for their offspring: lower intelligence or intellectual disability, heart dysfunctions,  auto-immune problems, physical deformities, and so on.  Paul is saying that incest is outside of God’s desire for men and women.  Such sin will bring dire consequences.  When people do not serve the living God, they fall into adverse, troubling and destructive behaviors that destroy the well-being and harmony of existence.  Paul enumerates many of them in Romans 1: every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.  People's deviant behavior outside of God’s design for them causes them to be gossipers, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful.  They invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.  (Romans 1:29-31)  As with incest, all of this kind of behavior and action are categorized as sin.  None of them contain the nature of God: harmony, peace, love and mercy.  All of this iniquity separates man from God permanently.  All disruption to God’s design for mankind and his existence will be judged harshly.  Paul is telling the Greek Christians that disharmony with God's will brings death.  Therefore, they should not associate with the deeds of death, but with God’s life-giving Spirit.  The Way, the Truth and the Life which is found only in the fellowship of Christ.  Paul tells them not to allow darkness to abide in their community without judgement on sinners' wayward behavior, not to associate with sexually immoral people.  If the person’s  sin is outward and brazen, Expel the wicked person from among you.

Of course in the world we will be involved with people who do not know God or do not want to know God.  Atheists, agnostics and sinners will work with us, associate with us, maybe even be our friends.  Some people will carry the tag on them that God has assigned to them.  The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”  They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is not one of them that does good.  (Psalm 14:1)  God includes all people in this category who are without the willingness to know God.  The Bible says all people have gone astray from God; all people are lost sheep without the Shepard in their lives.  Paul tells the Corinthian believers they are sheep in God’s fold: they are living under God’s protection and guidance; therefore, they should not entertain yeast that comes into the fold.  Yes, they should love the people, but not fellowship in their sinful lifestyle, for yeast has a property that is very viral.  It will infect anything and everything that comes into contact with it.  Outside of the fold, Christians live most of their lives, but Christians also have the Holy Spirit, the power of God protecting their existence.  We see this in Jesus’s time; in the wilderness, He was tempted by Satan.  Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness after He was baptized in water.  The Holy Spirit had descended on him at that time.  He now possessed the power and leading of God in his life.  He will be exposed to Satan’s direct intervention.  Satan’s voice will be real and compelling to the flesh.  But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, will combat the words of Satan with the Holy Scriptures.  The devil is helpless when the scriptures are used against him, for they express the voice of God. so he goes away for a season.  We too, who journey every day into the wilderness of life have the Spirit of God powerfully in us.  We have the power to not be influenced by the sins and activities of men and women.  We carry the tag on us placed by God as the children of God.  We are eternal beings and we know it as a reality in our lives.  I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.  You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.  (Psalm 16:8-11)  We are IN GOD AND HE IS IN US, whether we are in the work place or at home.  He will never leave us even in death.  We will always be in the presence of the Lord, but we should not bring within the Tabernacle of our hearts or the church community the influence of sin.  Paul is telling the Corinthians that in the church of the living GOD, they should not be fellowshipping with people who are openly INVOLVED in sin: sexually immoral, greedy, idolaters, slanderers, drunkards, swindlers.  Do not bring the yeast of the world into the community of believers.

The God of the cosmos is holy, orderly and precise.  All that is made comes from his hand, from his existence.  Nothing exists outside of him and no aberration of his nature of love and mercy will exist without judgment.  Sin is adverse to God’s authority, his nature of holiness, goodness and love.  Mankind was made in God’s image so we have been given freedom to choose our lifestyle.  Eve chose self over God’s authority; Adam chose his own self-will over God’s existence.  Because of the uniqueness of MANKIND MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, not as the angels, we were cast out of the Garden, where before sin we possessed eternal life. The glory of God was given to us from the beginning and that glory is wrapped up in the word, eternal.  We were initially given the privilege to be like God, to have his glory of eternal life.  But that was terminated because of sin; the crown of eternal life was taken off our heads.  So since that time, we are dust that will return to dust at our demise.  Paul is now telling the Corinthians, remember who you are IN CHRIST. You are eternal, so do not associate with the deeds of death--judge this man who is embedded in incest.  In and through Jesus, we know of God’s great love towards all people, even those who are his enemies.  We see Jesus approaching Jerusalem to be crucified by the Romans.  The people who greet him as He is moving towards Jerusalem are Jews who are crying Hosanna in the Highest, expecting Jesus to deliver them from the bondage of Rome.  But Jesus fails their expectations.  He is presented to them by Pilate as just a weak, frail man, no power to overcome the authority of Rome.  We find them in Jesus’ last hours, yelling to Pilate, Crucify Him.  Jesus knew this would happen to him, for Jesus did not trust the words and the honor of people.  Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.  But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.  He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.  (John 2:23-25)  As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, He weeps.  “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.   The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.  They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.  They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”  (Luke 19:41-44)  Jesus knew the people who are greeting him now, and those in Jerusalem will scream, Crucify him!  But He loves them and knows they will be crushed by the Roman legions.  Their temple will be torn down, and they will be slain by the thousands.  He weeps for them out of his great love for them.  Paul’s love for the man who is contaminating the Corinthian church with his sin is strong.  He beseeches the believers to pray for the man's death so that his soul will be saved.  Pray that he will find peace with God.  This is the Good News that the disciples were to preach in every land: peace with God.  Peter realizes what this commission means when God offers the Good News to Cornelius, a Roman officer in Caesarea.  “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.  You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of PEACE through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.  (Acts 10:34-36)  When the Roman officer and his household were offered the Good News, the peace with God, the whole household was filled with the Holy Spirit.  When they accepted the Good News of faith in Jesus Christ, peace came to them through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Now Paul is telling the Corinthian church, establish peace once again in your midst.  Do not let a disruptive spirit interfere with your peace IN GOD.  This man caught in the sin of incest repented, and his soul was saved.  The Corinthian church was not perfect, as we all are not perfect, but the harmony of God, the design of God for each of us is that we have peace with God, so there is no division between us and God.  Let that peace dwell richly in you today.  Love, Dad and Mom

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 Serve in Love!

1 Corinthians 5:1-8  It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  And you are proud!  Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?  For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit.  As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this.  So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good.  Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are.  For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In the above focus we see Paul warning about allowing sin to invade the church by accepting sinful practices within the church.  Paul has discovered that a man in the Corinthian church was living openly in sin.  He reminds the Corinthians that this kind of sinful behavior is looked upon as wrong even in a dark world full with sexual perversion: immorality of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  Ifincestuous relationships are not welcomed in a sinful and dark world, they should not be accepted in the church of the living God.  Of course many sins are still resident in the body of Christ for the Passover does not necessarily get the spirit of Egypt out of God’s chosen.  We see that condition in the Old Testament.  The Passover frees the Israelites from slavery, a state indicating subservience to Satan or this world.  The Israelites, after passing through the Red Sea, still possessed the Egyptian lifestyle and desires.  In fact after three days from escaping Egypt, the Israelites are grumbling, wishing they were back in Egypt where at least there was good water to drink.  Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.  For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.  When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter.  (That is why the place is called Marah.)   So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”  (Exodus 15:22-24)  A couple weeks later, we see the Israelites in total rebellion against Moses and Aaron because of the lack of food.  On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.  The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt!  There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”  (Exodus 16:1-3)  They were now idealizing their 400 years of slavery in Egypt, forgetting that their baby boys were thrown into the Nile, either to be eaten by crocodiles or to decompose in the river.  They were forgetting their desperate conditions in Egypt, working hard to make Egypt beautiful while they lived in poverty.  Even though freed by the passover, Egypt was ingrained within them.  At Mount Sinai, they had Aaron make them an idol to worship when Moses was away from them for forty days on Sinai, talking to God.  When Moses came down from the mountain, he saw the Israelites in revelry, celebrating boisterously their gods, acting unrestrainedly, even sexually.  The Egyptian lifestyle surfaces completely at the base of Sinai 50 days after leaving Egypt, after their escape from the grip of the devil in their lives.  In the above focus we see this same syndrome in the Christians.  Paul is clearly upset about incest being accepted within the church of Corinth.  But the Corinthians are involved with many other things that also emulate the secular world.  They are enmeshed in envy, gossip, arrogance, boastfulness, discord and strife.  (Romans 1:29-32)  Their quarreling and fighting over who is the best leader to follow was destroying the church.

Even though Paul is disgusted about the incest within the Corinthian church, he approaches this abomination to the righteousness of God with the grace and mercy of God.  Paul knows about the mysterious plan of God that was present in the heart of God when He made men and women.  God desires that all of his creation be redeemed from the dustbin of death.  Jesus Christ, his Son, was sacrificed on the Cross for the salvation of all people from slavery to Satan.  Jesus IS THE PASSOVER LAMB.  He frees permanently those who accept his blood sacrifice for their sinful lives.  Now we see Paul saying to the church, this man who is practicing incest in his life should be handed over to Satan, allowing his sinful life to die quickly so that his soul will be saved: hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.  The sinful man is mired in deep darkness; Egypt is still possessing his soul, but he also has experienced the Passover.  His escape from darkness has already happened, but for him to not be lost in his rebellious darkness, pray that he die in the body so that his soul will be saved. The Israelites on the day they should have entered the Promised Land, they were still in rebellion to God’s authority in their lives.  They wanted to choose other leaders for their congregation, leaders who would take them back to Egypt.  God harshly judged their decision to go back into sin.  He forced them back to the wilderness where all the men and women over twenty-years-old would die.  They had rejected the Passover that delivered them from slavery.  Paul is telling the church of Corinth, pray for the death of this man so the Passover he has experienced will still be evident on the day of judgment.  And we know this man repented of his sinful lifestyle and preserved his soul while he was still living.  God was faithful to him in the end

Jesus told his disciples that their belief in him has given them eternal life at that moment.  Eternity was in them through their belief in Jesus, the Lamb of God.  How are we to restore a Christian who has fallen into sin.  Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.  But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  (Galatians 6:1-2)  We should deal with our fallen brothers and sisters with grace and mercy.  We should confess our own faults and sins so our brothers or sisters know that flesh is in all of us, letting them know that God is gracious and good to all of us.  If we repent of our misdeeds, He quickly forgives us of our sins.  This is a process of restoring a wayward Christian to Christ.  We should be careful to deal with the sinful lives of others without indulging in their way of living or thinking, watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  As Christians in the household of God, we should bring life to the wayward Christians.  We should bring good to them, light to them, not anger and grief to them.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  (Romans 12:21)  Our Christian brethren are not our enemies; they are just lost in the thinking of Egypt.  Therefore, let the light of the new creature be seen in your reaction to them--serve them in love.  In your interaction with someone who is dabbling in sin, let the Spirit’s attributes be seen abundantly in you: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Galatians 5)   Jesus who was without sin, no waywardness in his life, associated with sinners, maybe the scum of society as the Pharisees depicted these people.  He ate with tax collectors and sinners.  Why?  They needed a doctor in their lives, a redeemer in their lives, someone who truly loved them as they were.  The man who was living in incest needed a doctor in his life.  He needed someone who would tell him the truth about his destructive life in a merciful and kind manner.  He did not need a righteous, holier-than-thou person in his life.  He needed someone without malice towards him.  He needed someone who would speak life into his life, one who would explain again the efficacious Passover in sincerity and truth.  As with the Corinthians themselves in their own waywardness of disruption and arguing with each other over leadership, they needed to regain their understanding of Jesus and the Passover.  They are no longer caught in the slavery of Egypt.  They are absolutely and forever free under the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Not dustpan people, but jewels in God’s domain of redemption.  Our breakfast friends around this table, celebrating the food of the Passover, drink and eat freely of the provisions of Jesus Christ the Lord.  Confess your sins before each other and treat each other as you want to be treated, AS HIS JEWELS.   Jesus has come to deliver you from Egypt and to establish you in the Promised Land.   

   

    

 

1 Corinthian 4:14-21 Come with a Gentle Spirit!

1 Corinthian 4:14-21  I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.  Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord.  He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.  Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.  But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.  What do you prefer?  Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit.

As the the founder of the church of Corinth, Paul’s concern over the spiritual health of the Corinthian church was constantly on his mind for almost a decade.  His first visit to Corinth was somewhere around 50-52 A.D and his last visit around 57-61 A.D.  During that time, some believe he wrote four letters, the first and third letters are lost to history; the second and fourth letters are known as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians.  In these two letters, Paul is struggling with the Corinthians' acceptance to continue their worldly lifestyle.  He keeps reminding them that they are new creatures IN CHRIST and that new life demands a change in the way they journey through life.  For him, too many of them are hanging onto their old lifestyle, justifying their unregenerate lifestyles by selecting different spiritual leaders to follow.  This disruption within the church and their lack of authenticity as born-again believers was becoming well-known throughout Corinth.  The Christian brethren in the church were bringing their disagreements with other Christians over secular matters to the courts of the Greeks.  This kind of behavior was dismantling the work of Christ in Corinth.  Paul tells them not to expose these disagreements between them to the secular community.  They should settle these disputes with each other within the church, not before the outside world. If they cannot come to a satisfactory agreement within the environment of the Christian community, then for the sake of unity they should lay aside their grievances with other brethren and just accept the wrongs they are experiencing.  Why not rather be wronged?  Why not rather be cheated?  Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.  Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  (1 Corinthians 6:7-11)  By holding onto to these wrongs, wishing to be justified, they destroy the witness of Christ in the community.  They must continue to understand that Jesus paid the price for their redemption from previous lives of darkness.  Paul reminds them that they once were cheaters, slanderers, swindlers, drunkards, thieves, greedy, abusers, sexually immoral, adulterers, and even idolaters.  Their lives were dead to God, going nowhere but to destruction.  However, Christ brought a new life to them, an eternal life with God by his work on the cross. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.  Their desires to be right in disputations indicate they held a secular view while living an unregenerate life supposedly hidden IN CHRIST.

Paul was constantly defending his position of being an apostle in the body of Christ.  For the Corinthians, if they could discount Paul’s special position in the living church of Christ, they could lay aside some of his criticism of their spiritual lives.  Paul was sold out for Christ.  In Philippians 3:7-9,  Paul writes, whatever in my previous life was a gain for me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  Paul recognizes in the Corinthians a desire to hang onto their old lives.  Rather than considering everything they knew and lived for in their previous lives as garbage, they were assimilating some of their old lives into the new born-again life.  By doing so they were engulfed in disputation and arguments with their fellow believers.  This kind of behavior reveals not new garments of light covering them, but the old dusty clothing of their past.  He is asking the Corinthians to imitate me.  He is sending Timothy to remind them of Paul’s life IN CHRIST JESUS.  Paul teaches a regenerated life IN CHRIST everywhere in every church.  Paul is becoming very much aware that the Corinthians are not seeking out the purity that should come from lives dedicated to Christ.  Instead, they are falling into sinful behavior, even allowing sinful activity such as incest in the midst of their church.  It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.  And you are proud!  (1 Corinthians 5:1-2)  Paul is amazed that they would allow such sin to be openly displayed within their church.  You are proud!!!!  For Paul, their disputation of who they should follow was the canary in the mine, a detection that something was wrong with the air they were breathing.  But this seemingly innocuous behavior led to something more serious, open sin in the church of the Corinthians.  Rather than holiness, they were accepting sins that even the secular community would not tolerate.  They misunderstood that their freedom IN CHRIST meant that they could be free to live as they desire, without any restrictions on how they lived in the flesh.  Paul says, that is not true: a life IN CHRIST should reflect the purity of God, not the darkness of sin.  Paul did not present the restrictions of the law, but the freedom of living IN CHRIST; he did not want the servitude to sin to guide a born-again life.  That life of unrighteousness leads to death, not to eternal life with God.

Paul is very upset about the arrogance of the Christian believers in Corinth, allowing their supposed freedom in Christ to accept sin within their community.   Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.  But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.  Paul’s words presuppose that there are leaders among the Corinth church who are championing the liberty of the sin of the flesh in the new believer.  He knows that kind of talk is powerless to change people into staunch followers of Christ.  Sinful behavior is powerless to change people into a right position with God.  Sin brings death.  Paul threatens them that if he comes to the Corinthian church and finds these people in charge, he will come with a rod of discipline.  But if they are repentant, he will come in love and with a gentle spirit.  Paul tells the Galatians,  Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.  But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  (Galatians 6:1-2)  People who are caught in the snares of the devil should be restored gently to the church through the law of Christ: love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.  James said,  If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.  (James 2:8-10)  Be careful how you love, do not show favoritism to some but not others.  For if you do, you too become a law breaker, violating God’s love towards all people.  Paul knows the Corinthians are high on God’s power to change people.  They are steeped into the fruit of the Spirit and exercise the Spirit’s power and gifts in the church, and as the seventy-two disciples returned from their evangelistic journey into Israel, they said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”  But this power is no substitute for righteous living.  Paul is now concerned that the Corinthians are not bringing the light of Christ into the Corinth community because of the way they are living: arguing, disputing, and bringing their disagreements before the courts of the Greeks.  Their lives should be exemplary of Christ.  Christ is God and God is love.  Towards the end of Jesus’ life, He was going back to Jerusalem where He will be murdered.  As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.  And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.  When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want US to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”  But Jesus turned and rebuked them.  Then he and his disciples went to another village.  (Luke 9:51-56)  We see two of his disciples who had previously experienced God’s power in them as they evangelized Israel, ready to call judgment on a Samaritan village because they did not welcome Jesus.  They were ready to use Jesus’ name to destroy, but Jesus looked at them and rebuked them.  The Corinthians displayed much power because of the Holy Spirit’s work in their community, but this power was not to destroy, but to restore people to God.  The Corinthians rejoiced in their powerful worship services and the works of God, but their lives were still much like James and John, displaying the attitude of the flesh, destroy and not restore.  Their fleshly lives were not restoring the world, but living in such a destructive manner, that their lives would never enlighten the world around them.  May we be in tune with the Holy Spirit to do the perfect will of God and restore his people.    

1 Corinthians 4:6-13 Grace is Sufficient for You!

1 Corinthians 4:6-13  Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”  Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.  For who makes you different from anyone else?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?  Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich!  You have begun to reign—and that without us!  How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena.  We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  We are weak, but you are strong!  You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

In the church of Corinth, Paul is battling a very intrinsic, sinful aspect of all people: the tendency to separate themselves from others for their own purposes.  The Christian Corinthians are separating themselves based on what spiritual leader they desire to follow.  They are arguing and fighting over leadership, causing them to divide into factions, each group going its own way.  This divisive spirit reveals that the Corinthian Christians are still carnal and worldly, epitomizing Isaiah 53:6, We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.  This chaotic environment of self-will is dangerous and festers a nature rebellious to God’s authority.  The Corinthians were justifying their divisiveness by relying on their understanding of spiritual affairs.  Paul knows that IN CHRIST they have all that they need to be right with God.  IN CHRIST, they are not different from anyone else; their inheritance of a new life in the kingdom of God is their possession.  All who trust in Jesus are new creatures, born by the will of God, and not of man’s efforts.  So why should they seek special leaders and special revelations based on the knowledge of finite men or women?  For the scriptures say there is only one shepherd,  The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:1-3)  Jesus said of himself, I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.  God has designated him as the only shepherd of the redeemed.  He is the true shepherd who will not leave or abandon his flock.  In Paul’s introduction in this letter to the Corinthians, he emphasizes the flock’s togetherness throughout Christianity.  All Christians make up one body, one temple where God dwells.  To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, TOGETHER with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: GRACE and PEACE to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  (1 Corinthians 1:1-3)  Grace and peace will come to those who are united as one under the authority of God through his Son, Jesus Christ.  Paul emphasizes to the Corinthians that Christ is not divided.  Unity comes through the cross, trusting in Jesus’ work of salvation and in his subsequent resurrection.   As the spiritual father of the Corinth church, he implores them to unify themselves under the leadership of Christ alone, the Great Shepherd of all those who are born again.  I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.  (1 Corinthians 1:10)   His question to them, Is Christ divided? stands continually before them.  If Christ is not divided, then they should stop championing the expertise and knowledge of different men.  These men that they lift up are but servants of God.  They are serving in the vineyard of the Lord to bring forth a large harvest.  The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, to harvest men and women for the kingdom of God.  (1 Corinthians 3:8)

Paul's initial ministry to the Corinthians was focused like a laser beam on the works of Christ and not on anything else.  Paul on the road to Damascus discovered the way to be right with a holy God comes only through the works of Jesus Christ.  And so it was with me, brothers and sisters.  When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  (1 Corinthians 2:1-2)  Now, however, he is discovering that the Corinthians are adding other things on top of Jesus Christ and him crucified, ministry based on people and on words beyond what is written in scripture.  And these different factions seem to be very happy about this additional information added to the works of Christ.  Sarcastically Paul says, What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?  The Corinthians are supposedly believing that they received the new birth not only from what Paul taught, but also of what they added to his salvation message.  They are claiming Paul’s message was good, but what they have added makes it even better.  And to support their conclusion about a better message than just the cross and him crucified, they chose varied leaders to follow.  In a smug way in Paul’s estimation they claim a better existence in this world under what they have discovered from the teachings of others than just the simple doctrine that Paul presented them. You have begun to reign—and that without us!  How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!  He sarcastically says to them, how I wish to reign with you in your contentment of what you have discovered under following people.  Because this contentment of additional teaching about God’s salvation plan has not found me yet.  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena.  For me and for other true apostles to the truth of the gospel, we are like prisoners in chains dragged along behind a victorious army marching through their cities.  We are being dragged to an arena where we will be put to death in a violent way.  We are not reigning in peace as you seem to desire.  Instead, We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  We are weak, but you are strong!  You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.  Paul knows his leader, Jesus Christ, was considered by the Sanhedrin as scum.  They chose to get rid of Christ as just some garbage, but Jesus was the light of the world, the only avenue of mankind to be made right with God.  Now we see Paul talking about the simplicity of the gospel to the Corinthian church, but being Greeks, they were adding to this simple ministry.  They were adding to this simple gospel with rational thought and wisdom.  By doing so they sought people who would better express the way they thought, but Paul knew this was a scheme of the devil to pull them away from the efficacious cross.

Paul had come to the Corinthians as not some great man of charisma and strength.  In fact as with Jesus, he did not stand out in a crowd.  He carried the bruises of persecution on his body.  Also, he had a thorn in the flesh that was evident to the people around him.   I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.   (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)  We can surmise that people were not drawn to him by his physical appearance.  Isaiah tells us the same thing about Jesus, the Messiah.  Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.  HE HAD NO BEAUTY OR MAJESTY TO ATTRACT US TO HIM, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.  (Isaiah 53:1-3)  Paul also was despised and rejected by mankind.  He always had a target on his back, as with Christ, people tried to kill him many times.  Paul’s miraculous works helped him to be received in these Greek cities.  Jesus said to the people, you might not believe in me as a person from God but believe in the works that I do before your eyes.  Miracles and wonders validated Christ’s teaching.  Also, for Paul, the healing and the driving out of demons, validated his message.  Moses was considered in like manner.  His miracles and wonders validated his position of leadership.  When Moses' leadership was questioned by Miriam and Aaron, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.  (Numbers 12:12)  God struck Miriam with leprosy as judgment on their arrogance.  When a small group of Israelites led a rebellion against Moses’ leadership, they were swallowed up in an opening of the earth.  God brought horrible judgment upon them and their families.  After Jesus was crucified, God’s judgment on the recalcitrant Jews came at the hands of the Romans, totally destroying the Jewish nation.  Now we see the Corinthians content in altering the simple message of Jesus crucified for the sins of the world.  Paul is disgusted with their rationalization, their arguments, their division.  He knows God will not tolerate very long this kind of discord.  For the temple of God is holy, his body is holy, his church is holy.  Judgment will follow such division.  Christ alone is the Shepard of his flock.  People are to boast only in Jesus and his work of salvation.  No other avenue to eternal life is available to men and women, other than the works of Christ.  Friends around this breakfast table, your contentment should come only through knowing Christ as Lord and Savior.  No other view of life will bring salvation to your door.  The Israelites  placed the blood of a lamb over their entryway door.  By doing this, they escaped death.  Paul wanted the Corinthians to unite in the Lamb of God’s work, not in their own rational thoughts or wisdom.  Only Christ’s blood over their lives would give them right standing with the Eternal God.  This is true of us today: our way to eternal life comes only through the blood of the Lamb of God over the entryways of our hearts.  Seek the Lord today.