1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Believe with Your Heart!

1 Corinthians 15:1-11  Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.  Otherwise, you have believed in vain.  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.  For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.  Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.  

In the above focus we see Paul's purpose in life: to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to all people everywhere. He lived to announce the Good News that Christ died for people's sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.  All who hear and act on this Good News will be saved.  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.   For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.  (Romans 10:9-10)  No longer would people have to discover God and his ways through religious practice or human effort.  Paul claims, the Good News is in your mouth and in your heart; by faith you will know God.  Faith is a heartfelt understanding that Jesus is THE WAY to God and that there is no other way to please God or be right with him.  Salvation through Jesus is a very simple and easy passage.  Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.  And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.  (John 5:24-27)  Since the fall of mankind through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, men and women have been dead to God, buried in sin.  The journey of men without the presence of God in their lives quickly degenerated into death.  Cain KILLED Abel because of  jealousy, for God was pleased with Abel’s gift to Him and not Cain’s gift.  Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions to God.  Cain offered to God as a gift to him part of his crop.  Abel offered what he considered the best of his flock to God, the strongest and best DNA of his flock.  Because of offering his best, he is telling God that he is dependent on God to improve his livelihood, not in the natural way to upgrade by breeding the best to the best.  Abel is functioning on faith; God must do the work to bless him.  Cain offered part of his crop, not a bad offering, but not one based on God furthering his existence in abundance.  He gave God part of his crop; he could exist well without God’s blessings.  As we see in the story of Cain and Abel, quickly, violence and death shrouded man’s existence.   Later, we see God repenting of making humans.  God’s covenant with Adam was shattered: his covenants, not only have blessings but curses too.  God completed his word to Adam by bringing destruction on mankind because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience.  Rebellion always brings destruction.  He sweeps the earth clean of humans by a great flood, but as usual God saves a remnant of his creation: Noah AND his family.  Are they good, exceptional?  No, sin is abundant even in Noah’s family.  The cohesiveness of Noah’s family breaks down because of sin.  Corruption and death are the products of rebellion to God’s way of peace and life.  Nevertheless, God’s eternal grace and love always supersede man’s disobedience to him.  While the world is engulfed by sin, Jesus died on the cross for people.  We see this same kind of grace when Moses is receiving the law from God’s hands.  While God is instructing Moses about the law on Mt Sinai, the Israelites are in full-blown rebellion, worshipping other gods and  their sinful practices.  But God possesses enduring love for his people, his creation.  Paul is preaching this eternal love of God.  The Good News is that the Lord Jesus will rescue men and women from their sinfulness, finiteness, and that eternal life in the kingdom of God will be their inheritance through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Paul is claiming his right to instruct the Corinthians in the ways of God, for he holds the position of an apostle in the church of the living God.  The Temple of God is Jesus Christ and within the body of Jesus there are believers who hold special positions in his body and one is apostleship. Along with special positions are spiritual gifts that are activated by the Holy Spirit.   Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.  (1 Corinthians 12:27-28)  These positions and gifts are to strengthen and edify the church.  Paul knows he is an apostle because God called him on the road to Damascus directly to be the father of many churches.  By the grace of God, Paul realized,  I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.  No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.  We see in the depiction of Paul’s life an example of God’s eternal love for mankind.  Paul, a chief enemy of God’s redemption plan through Jesus Christ, was rescued from eternal punishment.  Paul’s primary intention in life was to destroy the church of the living God by persecuting the Christian believers and by supporting the killing of God’s redeemed.  Even while in full-blown rebellion to God’s purpose on earth, God called him; God’s grace superseded his rebellious nature, bringing salvation to a person who did not deserve God’s love and care for him.  Of course, all through history, God’s love has been manifested to the world.  Only three days afterThere the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.  He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”  (Exodus 15:25-26)  The God of their rescue from Egypt told them, I am the Lord who heals you.  If you trust in me and rely on my works and directions for your existence, I will always be by your side.  But men and women have a tendency to grumble, to be discontented with their lives.  Paul is reminding the Corinthians that if they continue in the faith He has taught them, their salvation will be firm, but, if not, you have believed in vain.  Marah times will happen in our lives, but we must be consistent in our lives and fall back on the knowledge that I am the Lord, who heals you.  We do not heal ourselves, God heals us.

The salvation message comes through the Seed that God planted in the human race a long time ago when Abraham chose to believe God’s words other than his circumstances.  At that time we saw God protecting his seed through the generations of time.  We see the Seed settle only in Isaac’s loins and not in the other children of Abraham.  This Seed, this promise to mankind of eternal life, was carried by the chosen people of God: the Israelites.  Even though they experienced times of judgment and even pogroms, God always protected his Seed through a remnant of the Israelites. The promise of eternal life that Abraham believed in would be passed down from generation to generation.  Prophets would arise to remind the Israelites of God’s promise to them and to the world.  Abraham’s faith would bless all the people of the world.  What did Abraham believe?  He believed that God could make something out of nothing and that God can raise the dead.  This faith was personified in Jesus Christ.  Jesus became the way to God, the way to be right with God.  Faith in him and his works would make men and women right with God with an inheritance of eternal life.  Paul is instrumental in teaching this Good News to the Gentiles.  They would know THE WAY to God by his ministry.  Paul would tell the story of how Jesus came into existence.  He would tell how God chose Joseph and Mary to protect Mary’s baby son.  He would tell of Joseph, a good man, who would faithfully believe the dreams God gave him to insure the baby's survival.  Paul would tell them of the death of Jesus on the cross and his subsequent resurrection.  He would let them know that Jesus, the Christ, is the final and complete atonement for man’s sins.  He would capsulate their faith in the statement of Jesus to Nicodemus: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  (John 3:16-18)  The new-born in the city of Cornith must hold to this truth by faith until the end of their lives.  They must be full of the Spirit of God and consider their duty to carry the Good News to others.  In today’s focus, we see Paul reminding the Corinthians of the Good News that they have received.  Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you.  We around this breakfast table must remind ourselves of what we have received from the word of God.  We have received eternal life through believing the Good News of salvation that has been written by the Holy Spirit in the scriptures.  Paul merely recounted this Good News.  As a rabbi well versed in the Old Testament, he could put together the whole counsel of God to the Corinthians.  Salvation does not come through work or effort, it is a gift of God.  The Corinthians and we are the recipients of this Good News.  We around this breakfast table are the born-again believers who have an inheritance of eternal life with God.  Paul wanted to remind the Corinthians of that truth, and we, too, who sometimes struggle with the vicissitudes of life, need to remind ourselves that Jesus is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE.  There is no other way, truth, or life for us. Walk in him, believe in him and live in him today.   

1 Corinthians 14:33-40 Do Everything in an Orderly Way!

1 Corinthians 14:33-40  God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

In the above focus we see Paul once again advocating order and peace within the church of the living God. He wanted the Corinthian church to be an evangelistic church, winning the people of Corinth to the Lord. In the Greek community women were to be quiet in general assemblies. In the Jewish societies the same behavior was required of women. From the very beginning, women were considered more or less as adjuncts to the welfare of men. Eve was added to Adam for his benefit, not for Eve’s. However, God mirrors himself through the image of both men and women as one. We see in the above focus the concern of Paul about the image of the church to the secular world. Women in the Greek society and within many societies in the ancient world, were viewed as merely an adjunct to man’s existence. In many of the cultures, men could marry a number of women so that their lives would be happier and more fulfilled, so Paul is saying to the Corinthian church, Women should remain silent in the churches. For women it is acceptable and expected for them to talk in other surroundings, such as the marketplace, or in the home, or in the neighborhood, but not in the church. For them to talk in the church would be considered inappropriate or unacceptable. Of course, that is exactly what inquirers from the local community would believe if they saw women functioning on an equal basis with men in the church. They would be shocked by such an aberration of their social mores. For the Corinthian Greeks the church would be a very unattractive gathering of people. For them, women speaking openly in the church would be the same as if everyone in the church was simultaneously talking in tongues without interpretation of any kind. The inquirers from the community would consider this church gathering as a group of crazy people, functioning outside of a sane world. Also, the normal understanding of the weaker sex was their limited understanding of deeper things, such as religious or philosophical matters. Consequently, they should ask their own husbands at homeabout any clarification they needed on what was spoken in the church. But just as today, clarification about a speaker's presentation should not be discussed openly while the speaker is talking. Such a thing would be too disruptive in the service. Assumptions about the abilities and roles of the sexes has been evident throughout history. Men in general are stronger and usually take leadership roles. They are necessary in defending the community. Women are in general considered nurturers of society. They carry the young in their wombs. Their bodies provide for the survival of the fetuses; they breast feed the infants once they are outside the womb. The women are more sensitive to the needs of the young as they grow up. Their physical stature is a benefit for them in some areas but detrimental in some other areas that require more masculinity. The sexes have had natural roles and prescribed roles from the beginning of time. Today we see these roles somewhat blurred because of the technology of our present existence. Even the protection of a community, a nation, a people can be carried out with equal aplomb by women as well as men through the use of technology.

Women’s role in the church of the living God has always been a disruptive topic. Different groups have distinguished themselves from others based partly by the role of women in their congregation. We do not wish to disrupt that perception of the role of women in their communities. Paul’s words are very direct and precise about the role of women in the church. But, we will also explore the role of women in the age of Joel’s prophecy. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18) This part of Joel's

18 prophetic word cannot be carried out by secular people, or the roles of the unredeemed man or woman. These old roles existed from the beginning in the likeness of Adam, a living spirit. All of society historically functioned in the raiment of Adam and Eve. All roles of the sexes were programmed within them so they became one in unity. But now in the New Testament we see a different group of people emerging. Jesus called them the born-again people. These people inherit a new kingdom, a forever world. Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8) God is doing a new work in the people who accept his call of salvation. They are the people who will prophesy and do marvelous works for the living God. Their focus will be on Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. These born-again people will reflect the image of God to the world. When Jesus’ time on earth was short, He calls out to a crowd of people, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39) Jesus does not designate who should accept his call. No, anyone who hears his voice, both men and women, should come to him and drink of the living water. They are all treated equally in the call. Anyone who has ears, let him or her hear this clarion call for living water. As with Joel’s prophecy, both sexes are open to the infilling of the Holy Spirit, both men and women are being beseeched to be immersed into the Spirit of the living God. Both sexes can receive the promise of eternal life, and both can be in a familial relationship with God. Jesus called the woman with an issue of blood, daughter, God’s daughter, not a daughter coming in the likeness of man, but a daughter in God’s family with her unique characteristics and attributes, coming fully in the veil of a woman. Jesus calls the paralyticman, son. He comes to God as a man, but inherits the name son, a full-fledged member of God’s family. Jesus reveals clearly this autonomy of men and women in heaven in his answer about whose wife would be a woman who has had seven husbands. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you,‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” (Matthew 22:30-32)In the condition of everlasting life, women and men will be separate entities known as sons and daughters of the Most High. They will be equal in status.

Paul's mission given to him by Jesus is to redeem the Greeks through faith in Jesus. He did not want the dictates of the flesh or the role of women in a society to hamper the message of JESUS SAVES. Disorder such as tongues being spoken without interpretation or a myriad of tongues given simultaneously interfere with the Good News. He did not want women to step out of their fleshly roles assigned to them by their society. If such things happen, the message of the Good News would be hampered. But the message of Jesus saved turned the world upside down. What was, was no more. A new beginning for men and women had begun. Women were no longer considered just as an adjunct to men’s well being. They were no longer just collateral in the spoils of war. They were considered daughters in the eyes of the Lord. In Paul’s travel home to Jerusalem, he stays in the house of Philip the evangelist. Philip has seven daughters who had been given by God the gift of prophecy. They did not do this in their closets; they prophesied openly so people would know the words of God. Paul knew it; he knew this gift of prophecy was active in the home of Phillip and in the surrounding areas. Men and women heard this inspired speech given by the Holy Spirit through the lips of Phillip’s daughters. Why did they prophesy? God wanted people to hear words from his throne room through the unction of the Holy Spirit. We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. (Acts 21:7-9)Roles are important and necessary at times. Old traditions and mores might should be followed if necessary. Scripture should never be changed for the benefit of mankind. But we must also consider Jesus' words at the well of the Samaritans. He is talking to this woman about living water, a depiction of the Holy Spirit in people. This living water is eternal and satisfying. All people have access to this water through the blood of Jesus. Because of the Spirit inside of people, all things become new, old ways are done away with if not necessary. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)Jesus was attacked viciously for working on the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath holy distinguishes Jews from the secular world. Even though he said that David and his men had violated the Sabbath in ancient times, they still castigated him for working on the Sabbath. They wanted to kill him; his healing on the Sabbath was an excuse for them to murder him. Jesus worked on the Sabbath because the Father is always working. In the church of the living God, the Father is always working through his Holy Spirit. Yes, let things be done appropriately and in order in the church, but be careful of frustrating the work of God in his community. Today, hear and obey the voice of the Spirit and be led by him.  

1 Corinthians 14:26-33 Live in Peace!

1 Corinthians 14:26-33  What then shall we say, brothers and sisters?  When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.  Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.  If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.   If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.  Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.  And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.  For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.  The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.  For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

The theme of chapter 14 is that God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.  Wherever people meet in the world, the God of peace should be revealed in that place.  Paul is concerned that the church gatherings in Corinth are chaotic and disorganized.  The church should gather together for edification and encouragement from the Spirit of God.  But disorder does not benefit the believers nor does it help inquirers who are investigating Christianity.  If the people in the secular world believe that Christians are out of control emotionally, acting crazy in their services, they will not want to join such an institution.  Who would want to hook their lives to such mania?  Paul also confronts the Corinthian church for their lack of cohesiveness.  He knows as Jesus said, a house divided cannot stand.  A church divided will send out a distorted message to the secular world.  How can people be reconciled to a God of peace if his church reveals disunity and corruption?   A church divided is the opposite of love, of peace, and goodness.  For Paul, everything in the church must be done so that the church may be built up to reveal God to the world.  He supports prophesy as a good way to get the truth of God to the congregation.  Prophesy is understandable, in a common language.  However, if someone speaks in a tongue, not understandable to the speaker or listener, it must not be used unless there is an interpreter in the congregation.  If there is not an interpreter of what the Spirit is saying to the church, the tongue-speaker must be silent.  Of course as with prophecy, all inspiration given by the Spirit is under the control of the one who is speaking.  The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.  No one is so possessed with God’s spirit that he or she cannot control himself or herself.  Chaos is the opposite of the presence of God.  All inspiration within the church must be done in a rational manner and for the common good.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.  (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)  The church of God should reflect God’s nature, just as the intricacies of nature reflect God as a God of order; even every part of the human body functions appropriately and precisely for the common good.

Every congregation of believers in the world should be in the business of reconciling the world to God.  The clarion call of the church to the world should be COME BACK TO GOD.  All Christians should be heavily involved with THE RECONCILING BUSINESS.  However, a disjointed church is not attractive to a sick and dying world.  Jesus died to restore humans to God.  He paid the complete price for people to be right with God.  This Good News of being RIGHT WITH GOD should be GOOD NEWS to the whole world.  However, Paul is concerned that the Corinthian church’s division is clouding this wonderful news of being right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.  You are still worldly.  For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like MERE humans?   For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?  (1 Corinthians 3:3-4)  He is asking them to move on to maturity and to notobscure the Good News by their worldly lives and spirits.  In the above focus, he is instructing the Corinthians to be orderly in their presentations of God’s gifts in the church.  Everything must be done in order, without confusion and disruption. Their gifts as well as spiritual inspiration must be exercised in an orderly and rational manner.  In addition, all interactions and relationships within the church should be governed by the presence of the fruit of the Spirit.  Every gift and inspiration operating in the church should express the will of the Holy Spirit.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  (Galatians 5:22-26) Paul is warning the Corinthian church that a self-willed attitude is not welcomed in the church for it is out of step with God's Spirit of servanthood.  Elevating oneself because of a special gift or inspiration does not express servanthood.  The church should be a place of caring for others, a place of camaraderie and of help.  All the believers were one in heart and mind.  (Acts 4:22)  The nascent church of Acts was in unity.  They shared their goods with other believers.  They looked out for the poor in their midst and cared for the disadvantaged.  Paul is seeing the opposite of this unity within the Corinthian church, even in their taking of the Lord’s supper, they were self-indulgent.  To validate the message of Christ in Corinth, they should put aside their self-willed behavior and self-indulgence to serve the Lord with humbleness in everything they do so that the church may be built up. 

Paul is upset with the Corinthians, for they are acting like the world in their get-togethers.  They are not functioning under God’s authority but under their own self-will.  Paul is asking them to die to their old lifestyles because Christ died for them.  Jesus gave his life for them, implanted in them as an ever-living life. Consequently, as Paul says, Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)  The Corinthians were not transitioning very well into their new life in Christ.  Paul fears for them because their immaturity is destroying their witness of Jesus in Corinth.  They should not be grumbling, angry, divisive, self-indulgent, and complaining, within the body of Christ.  Rather, brothers and sisters, rejoice!  Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace.  And the God of love and peace will be with you.  (2 Corinthians 13:11)   But this kind of victory over the flesh and its worldliness can only happen in the flesh’s complete submission to God.  As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope \when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  (Ephesians 4:1-6)  Paul loved the Corinthians, he spent many months with them.   He wanted the Corinthian church to thrive and win over the people of Corinth to God.  He desired this church to be powerful and full of glory.  Dear friends as believers today, the message that Paul was delivering to the Corinthians is still the same.  God is not a God of disunity, disorder, or confusion.  He is a God of peace, love and acceptance through the name of Jesus.  The world’s rejection of Jesus as the redeemer will bring the judgment of God on them.  To be right with God, requires people to accept Jesus as Lord in their lives.  The Corinthians struggled with the Lordship of Jesus in their lives.  Paul was encouraging them to leave behind their immaturity and move onto knowing Jesus in a better way.  Our friends around this breakfast table let us serve God in a mature way, serve him as Jesus our Lord in every situation, in everything we say or do.  Let us say as the angels said on Jesus' arrival,  “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”  Knowing you have his favor resting on you today, go forth and share that grace and peace with those you meet.   

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 In Death Drape Your Coffin in Love!

1 Corinthians 13:1-13  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.

Love is an emotion that escapes our reality in the fullest sense.  We might have the giftings of God manifested in us.  We might think we are on track to knowing God and understanding him because we have been given special spiritual gifts and knowledge, but the absolute completeness of God’s love usually escapes our understanding.  We often are a resounding gong, announcing the presence of God in our lives, but absent of his eternal and everlasting love.  Love is especially troubling to us because we know John said, God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  (1 John 4:16)  If God is love, then why does He not prevent lethal afflictions in our bodies?  Why do we die of all kinds of diseases, wasting away in pain?  Why does God allow natural disasters such as floods and droughts?  Why is He not there when one of our loved ones is killed by an accident or is murdered?  Why do battles, wars and skirmishes mark the landscape of our lives?  Why?  Why?  Why?   Why is the promise of God’s love so difficult for us to accept as a reality?  The answers to these many questions have to be wrapped up in something that we cannot conceive of, and that is to be like God in nature some day forever.  Jesus did not come to make our lives better.  He came to deliver us from the finite existence of the flesh.  He came to make everything new in our spiritual lives.  Jesus tells the Pharisee, Nicodemus, the truth about our life on earth, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”  (John 3:3)  The purpose of life for humans is to become children of God: born again, eternal, brothers and sisters to the Son in the household of God forever.  The business of being born alive in Christ is often one of travail, not understanding what the pain of life will bring about eventually in our existence.  Some people experience more pain that others, but the purpose of God always remains the same: to enlarge his household.  What can we call that purpose?  Love.  Love wraps up the whole plan of God for our existence.  Jesus encourages us in our lives of flesh to imitate God’s love.  He tells us that the rules and commandments given on Mount Sinai distill into love.  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  (Matthew 22:37-40)  Even though these commandments, regulations, rules seem harsh and unbending, they represent God’s desire for us to be holy, in right relationship with him, so that we will love him with all ours hearts.  He also desires us to love others as we love ourselves because we are in right relationship with the Creator of all things who loves everyone, everywhere.  “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.  If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.  (Luke 6:27-31)  Only God can fulfill these demands on our lives.  He is not fleshly or evil.  He is loving and kind, as Jesus said, He is perfect.  Jesus tells us to be perfect as God is perfect for He loves his enemies.  This demand surpasses our ability; we are designed to fight back for our own survival.  The goal for all Christians is to express God’s love in ALL SITUATIONS.

Paul expresses conditions that we do not possess and no one who has ever walked the earth has possessed.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.   If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.  Even if we are supernatural in our abilities and all knowing in everything we do, we are still hopelessly lost when we do not love as God loves us.  And his love is beyond our imaginations and far beyond our understanding.  We function in our human milieu, not in God’s dominion.  In his kingdom, where God abides in complete authority, we will experience constantly his attributes and likeness forever.  For God is love and love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  Within this environment of God’s presence, the essence of the finest perfumes of love will permeate our very beings.  Jesus had experience in this environment of love so He tells his followers now on earth about his love for them.  “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  (John 15:9-13)   What are Jesus’ commands?  To love others as God has loved us.  Jesus kept his Father’s command by laying down his life for others.  What others?  The good, the bad, the rebellious, the ugly in deeds are his focus in loving the world.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  (Romans 5:9-10)  Jesus always did the will of God, so He gave his life for the world.  This was the purpose of God, to save people from their sins and make them into new-born children of God, with his likeness on them in the fullest measure.  Does that mean we will never sin for God’s nature is sinless.  No, for we carry the shroud of sin on our lives, and until our demise this shroud will always be with us.  But the Holy Spirit of God, the power of God is with us.  He makes us alive to God and He will resurrect us some day from the veil of death.  So, we will remain in Jesus’ love by faith, believing in the works of the Spirit of God and not in our own effort to be good.  For IN CHRIST, we are good, carrying within our souls the attributes of the Living God.

Our special spiritual gifts given to us to function in the body of Christ on earth will someday cease, for we will be with God, so we will not need to manifest to the world, the goodness, greatness of the Body of Christ, the church.  In heaven, just like marriage, those kinds of relationships and gifts will cease, Where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.   For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  Now we know God only vaguely, but it is a hope that has been generated deep inside us from our birth.  We wish to know God, to know his purposes, and his ways.  So we live by faith.  This faith is placed in Jesus, for He lived and died for us.  Because of his mighty miracles and healings, we know he represents God in all of his glory.  . . .in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  (Hebrews 1:2-3)  In and through Jesus we know the Father God and his design for us.  We IN JESUS become perfect, capable to enter the perfect domain of the everlasting kingdom.  What energizes this eternal life in us?  It is love; God’s love.  We are no longer strangers to God, no longer immature in our behavior.  We attempt in everything we do to emulate God by loving others as we love ourselves.  We emulate Jesus by loving God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind.  We are a perfect depiction of God in the flesh by loving.  Are we always good at it, always consistent in our love?  No, for we are still in the wilderness where the climate is hot then cold and dangerous to our survival.  But love motivates our hearts; it is with us when we are sleeping and with us when we are awake.  Love never leaves our souls.  Now we love in part, but through the Holy Spirit’s presence in us, we know the direction of our lives should be love.  The cloud of the Spirit is with us by day and with us at night through the pillar of fire.  The Spirit never leaves us and neither does the Love of God leave us.  On earth we only participate partly in God’s fulness, but someday breakfast companions we will be with God and with his complete love for us, for that love will never cease.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  How should people know us as Christians?  Not with speaking in tongues of men or of angels, not as resounding gong or cymbals of religious activity.  NO!  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34-35)  Christian brothers and sisters, when your journey on earth ends, let your coffin be draped with the flag of love, letting everyone know that God’s banner over you is his love.  Amen!   

         

 

Corinthians 12:12-31 Shine for God!

Corinthians 12:12-31  Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one bod

y, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.  Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!”  And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.  And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.  But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.  Are all apostles? Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?  Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing?  Do all speak in tongues?  Do all interpret?  Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

In the above verses we see Paul carrying on with the theme of God being in the church and its services richly.  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)  As members of the same body, every part works in union with ever other part.  As God is one with three parts so is the body of Christ one with many parts.  Paul separates supernatural gifting, given by God to manifest the Spirit in the living church from callings or places of service, also directed by God.  Regardless, both gifts and callings are given by God to enrich the church on earth.   God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  Every member in the church should know he has been given a gift and a position in the church that is necessary for the health of the living church of God.  Each member is an integral part of the body of Christ.  No member of the church is placed aside in the body without any important role in the functioning of God’s church.  Paul tells Christians that they should not be lazy in serving Christ, but that they should be in the fight, displaying God to a sick and dying world.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  Paul emphasizes unity and oneness IN CHRIST, for our desire to function appropriately for the glory of God will be blessed by God.   The righteousness of our salvation will cause us to be where Christ is in this world of darkness.  At the end time, the Lord will evaluate whether we used our gifts and callings effectively, whether we were in unity with him as a part of his body.  “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  (Matthew 25:31-33)  This is a time of identification, not how we identify ourselves, but how God identifies us.  He knows our hearts and inclinations; He knows us better than we know ourselves.  What fruit do our gifts and services provide for the world and for the glory of God?  God knows, so the Lord separates at the end of time.  At that time the tares are identified clearly from the productive plants of wheat.  The tares will face the fiery judgement of a righteous God, but the wheat will be in the store house of God’s love and grace or the kingdom of God.  What is the criteria God uses to separate sheep from goats or in the wheat analogy: tares from wheat?  How much good fruit has been produced for mankind to sustain life.  In the sheep analogy, were they where God is, where the least of these abide?  The Lord describes the primary function of a healthy body that is buried in God’s will for people.  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.  (Matthew 25:35-36)  These activities reveal the presence of God in people and make their voices a clarion call to know the God of grace and mercy.  If the church ignores the least of these in the human race, they become as the world, dark in serving anything else but their will.  In today’s focus, we see all kinds of gifts and callings for members IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.  All of these special gifts and functions are to announce that in the last days salvation has come to earth in the form of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man.  He alone announces the glory of God.  The church’s footprint on earth should be not only service to mankind, but also a calling to the Son of Man on the cross.  For salvation comes not through human works, but through the works of God on the cross.

Through and in Jesus Christ man has been delivered from the slavery of sin.  The world can never be God-like: perfect, no matter what kind of services they provide for mankind.  For all the world has fallen into darkness, strangers to the goodness of God.  And darkness cannot be erased from their lives by their own will or effort.  They cannot put on the legitimate clothing of the sheep; transformation is God’s work.  We were dead in our transgressions and sins, in which we used to live when we followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.  Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  (Ephesians 2:1-5)  To become right with God is an act of God, not of man.  Our faith in this truth makes us right with God.  As Abraham, we believe in God’s words rather than the reality of our own lives.  Sarah laughed for she thought the Lord’s promise of her bearing a son was an impossibility in her old age.  But Abraham believed in the word of God over impossibilities.  This is true of our salvation.  We might laugh at being perfect like God is, but God is in the business of transformation, changing the goats of the world into sheep, transforming darkness into supernatural light.  The gifts Paul is talking about and the callings that Paul is referring to in the church bring light into the world.  The body of Christ acting in oneness should be a brilliant light, lighting up every corner in the world and every crevice in the souls of mankind.  As lights, we who are members of the body of Christ should understand how holy we are IN CHRIST.  Jesus referred to our holiness when He was speaking of John the Baptist's perfection.  John was a man from the womb set apart for God.  He was baptized in the Spirit before he was born.  He lived away from the temptations of the world.  He wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  (Mark 1:6)  He was as righteous as any man that has ever lived.  His life represented total obedience to God’s will for him.  Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  (John 11:11)  In a real way, John a man of works through honoring God by his lifestyle can never be compared to a person who has won favor with God through faith in God’s words.  God’s words promise a blessing to those who live by faith.  He promises a future home to people of faith, an eternal life in his household.  Part of God’s blessings right now as we dwell on earth is the gifts and callings that God has given each of us.  These special blessings transform the church from the inside out.  They bring the unity of the body of Christ to all who participate in the body rightly.  When we look at the body of Christ as one, we can understand fully why Paul was concerned about quarreling and bickering within the church, for such fleshly attitudes and actions found in the church of the living God are destructive to the light God desires his body to reveal to a dark world.  The call of salvation comes from light, not from darkness: bickering and quarreling within the church.

In Zechariah’s prophesy about his son, John, he says that the rising sun, Jesus, will come to shine on a dark world, providing people the opportunity to have lasting peace with God.  And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  (Luke 1:76-79)  The church is to carry on with that prophesy since Jesus has departed from earth.  We, as the body of Christ, ought to reveal God’s salvation light to a world lost in sin.  Jesus ministered to those who need a doctor.  He ate with sinners, He fed sinners, He went into the community of the godless Samaritans and brought them the good news that He has living water that will sustain their lives forever.  Jesus even ate with those who wanted to kill him: the Pharisees and Sadducees.  He saw them as being in horrible darkness, yet He reached out to them, explaining to them how much they needed the light of God in their souls.  Jesus was with those who needed him the most: the crippled, the diseased, the hurting, the dead.  He brought comfort to those who felt left out in society: the poor in spirit, the sad, the meek, the helpless, the hungry, the weak, the orphans, the widows.  These people who needed him desperately, who asked for his blessings, will receive more than they could imagine: heaven, eternal life and the love of God.  Jesus brought the light of God’s love to them.  We who are occupying the body of God, possessing supernatural gifts of the Spirit, with specific callings on our lives within the church, should carry on with the mission of Christ, to heal a world in darkness.  We have been commissioned to go into all the world, to all lands, to all people, to carry the Good News of God’s redemption plan.  As the body of Christ, we must appreciate each part in Christ’s body, acknowledging how important each part is to carrying out Jesus' commission.  No part of the body of Christ is greater than any other part.  So if we say our part is more important than the parts of others, maybe even boasting how well we carry out the mission of Christ on earth, we are in error, not discerning the body of Christ rightly.  Accentuating one part over another would distort the body of Christ and limit the effectiveness of the body.  If the body was to be made up of only one part, where would the body be?  But praise God the body is not made up by only one attribute, one spiritual gift or one calling.  No, the temple of Christ is made up of many parts and each one should be appreciated, but no part should be appreciated more that the other parts in the body.  The body is not made up of one part but of many.  Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?  If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  Together breakfast companions we are effective and dangerous to the foes of God.  We possess the Spirit of God to make inroads into a sinful world.  And many, a whole nation of various people, will be delivered from the bondage of sin.  They will walk in light, with the cloud of the Spirit leading them in the day and the pillar of fire at night.  The whole body functioning correctly is needed to persuade the world that there is a God of Creation to serve.  We will carry out the Lord’s commission, functioning as a whole body, performing the sensitive duties of help and love to the “least of these” in our workplaces, our homes, our communities, delivering people out of darkness into the marvelous love of the Lord.  God has made provision for his church through the many gifts of the body of Christ.    

  

       

    

   

  

    

1 Corinthians 12:1-14 Live by Faith!

1 Corinthians 12:1-14  Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.  You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.  Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.  There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.  Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.   Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

In the above focus we see the same theme as Jesus expressed to the priests, God at work.  When the Pharisees attacked Jesus about healing on the Sabbath, he told them that God is always at work.  Therefore, He too will work on the Sabbath.  In the above scriptures, we see Paul expressing this theme of God at work in his distribution of spiritual gifts.  These are not callings, but gifts, given in a supernatural way to people in the church.  They are to be operative in the church to make the body of Christ healthy and strong.  Without these gifts active in the body Christ, the church is anemic, weak, distorted, and even corrupt, depending on the view of men and not on the parameters of a holy and righteous God.  Salvation begins and ends as a gift of God, not on man’s efforts to know God.  It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works,  so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  (Ephesians 2:8-10)  We see in today’s scriptures that gifts are given to men and women to manifest God’s presence on earth, to expose God to a sick world, full of sin, captives of Satan.  Satan is the ever-present Pharaoh in all ages.  The blood of Christ as with the Passover lambs on the doorpost in Egypt separates men and women from a finite world of slavery, to the freedom of life found on the other side of the Red Sea.  This freedom from slavery is a gift of God, even the presence of the Holy Spirit with them was a gift.  The children of Israel were met by the Spirit; He was present by the cloud in day and the pillar of smoke at night.  God gave them this gift; they did not earn God's presence; it was a gift to them to lead them through the wilderness and INTO the Promised Land.  Jesus told his followers before his ascension into heaven, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 1:4-5)  The Spirit of God was given to the early church to navigate them through the wilderness of life, not IN weakness, but IN power.  The Holy Spirit was given to the church so that Christ could be seen in them, revealing God at work on earth through the church.  Jesus always did the Father’s will, so the Spirit will do God’s work.  He will do God’s work through the church.  Therefore, special gifts by the Spirit are given to men and women to reveal God’s presence on earth, so that people will know their Creator God.  God’s spirit in humans makes them lights to be seen by the world.  Christians are lights, gifted by the spirit to do special things within the church of the living God.  These gifts given to them are for the health of the church and bring unity to the church.  But the opposite of that unity within the Corinthian church has caused Paul to tell them that they are at best immature Christians; even the gifts have been misused.  The Corinthians failed to absorb the attributes of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 in their lives: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Paul in today’s scriptures tells the Corinthian church, There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  And because the Holy Spirit is ONE, these gifts should reveal the oneness of God in operation.  No one should take a gift and distort how it is manifested for their self-grandisement.  All the gifts are equal in their presentation, for they are revealing the body of Christ.  He should be lifted up and glorified when the gifts are used within the body.

Because the body of Christ is the manifestation of Christ on earth, the spiritual gifts given to men and women are to always accentuate the glory and honor that belongs to Jesus the Christ.  He is the gift of God given to mankind for deliverance from a finite and sinful world.  Peter tells the church that the body of Christ is a spiritual house, occupied by spiritual priests who glorify and honor God by offering up spiritual sacrifices by manifesting Jesus in their lives.  The spiritual gifts given to people are used to reveal God’s goodness and love to all people, everywhere.  You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  (1 Peter 2:5)  This house is an extension of what the prophet Nathan told David about his descendants.  He told David that his kingdom, his descendants, would be a house of kings that would never end.  We see Jesus as the culmination of that prophecy for He, the Son of God, will sit on the throne of David.  But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”  (Luke 1:30-32)  Nathan prophesied that David’s kingdom, his house, would be forever.  Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”  (2 Samuel 7:16)  This prophesy is fulfilled in Christ; He is the eternal kingdom.  His house is not full of kings that are finite; these men are the descendants of David’s flesh, but Christ's house in the lineage of David is full of eternal priests that will be sitting with Christ and in Christ in the presence of God.  No longer a house full of David’s DNA, but a house filled with God’s nature, a collection of people from all over the world.  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.  (1 Peter 2:9-10)   All gifts are given to people based on God's purposes for them and his mercy and grace to them.  Everything is done by God to edify the body of Christ on earth.  God’s gifts are given for his purposes, not to lift up men or women who possess these gifts.  Every gift rightly used will strengthen the body of Christ, providing the church power to stand against the temptation of the wilderness and the schemes of the devil and his demons.  As with an individual in his or her walk, the church must manifest the full armor of God in its existence.  The church must be strong in the Lord, must have the full armor of God to stand against the devil’s schemes.  The church needs to stand its ground against the devil.  Always standing with the belt of truth buckled around its waist, with the  breastplate of righteousness in its midst, relating always the gospel of peace.  Displaying to all the shield of faith, that can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.   Expressing the helmet of salvation, under which the Spirit protects the new born, implanting the word of God deep within the the body of Christ.  (See Galatians 6)  Gifts rightly used to honor Christ and the unity of the body will steady the church, keeping the church from being carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.  For the gifts are given for the COMMON good.  Just as a body, though ONE, has many parts, but all its many parts form ONE body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by ONE Spirit so as to form ONE body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the ONE Spirit to drink.

Because Christians are still in the fleshly body, they can be carried away by doctrines of ill will and selfish glorification.  The weak and immature Christian will be led astray in believing unsound doctrine.  As with the Corinthian church, they will choose what they wish to follow.  This division has been part of Christianity from the beginning.  Paul was worried about this division in his own teaching.  He desired to preach only Christ, the works of Christ and not that of men.  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live BY FAITH in the Son of God, who loved me and GAVE HIMSELF for me.  I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for NOTHING!”  (Galatians 2:20-21)  Therefore, after fourteen years away from Jerusalem and the elders in the church, he went back to the pillars of faith to examine whether he was preaching the absolute truth of God’s salvation message to men and women.  Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas.  I took Titus along also.  I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles.  I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain.  (Galatians 2:1-2)  He wanted his teaching to be above reproach.  If he was teaching unsound doctrine, he would be leading people to hell, not heaven.  So, he went back to Jerusalem to be with those who had walked with Jesus on earth.  They validated his teaching, but Paul also found that Judaism was still contaminating the church.  Dependence on the works of the flesh was still distorting the pure gospel, which is Christ alone and his works.  Christ is the GIFT of God.  To confuse that message with the works of the flesh will lead people to destruction, not heaven.  Because Judaism was still taught: the dependence on the works of the flesh, many Jerusalem Christians were still involved with adding something to the grace of God.  Even Peter went astray, eating only with the circumcised at Antioch after Christians from Jerusalem arrived in Antioch.  Before their arrival he ate with all Christians in Antioch.  Paul confronted him openly about his hypocrisy, telling Peter that he was standing against God’s will for all people on the face of the earth.  Peter once again was doing Satan’s work.  When Jesus was with the apostles, Peter wished to protect Jesus from those who would crucify Jesus, so he stood in opposition to God’s will.  Jesus told him, Get behind me Satan.  So we see now, many years after Jesus’ ascension, Judaism was a constant threat to the will of God: the works of men and not dependency on the works of God.  In Paul’s explanation of the dispersion of gifts to people in the church, he emphasizes this is the work of God.  No man can earn spiritual gifts through works, through efforts, through spiritual exercise or dedication.  As with salvation, gifts come from the mouth of God.  Yes, breakfast companions, pray that God’s gift to you will be evident in your life.  Allow God to dispense a gift to you.  Pray for God’s will to be done in you as you interact with the body of Christ.  And most of all, do not be fearful to use his gift in you.  Everything in the body of Christ takes faith, a belief that God is involved with your life and a willingness to use the gift He has given you.  All things should be done in order and for the benefit of the church.  Honor your leaders, for they are responsible for your spiritual health and for the church’s well being.  Pick up the banner of Christ in everything you do.  Remember, his banner over you is love.  Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.  (1John 3:1)