Written by: Matthew Rich - www.TheInternetMission.com
1 Corinthians 4 v 6-7
Brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself as examples so you could
learn through us the meaning of the saying, “Follow only what is written
in the Scriptures.” Then you will not be more proud of one person than
another. Who says you are better than others? What do you have that was not
given to you? And if it was given to you, why do you brag as if you did not
receive it as a gift?
Notes
When I look at this passage two challenges stand out to me. The first is found
in the words: “Follow only what is written in the Scriptures”,
and the second is in: “What do you have that was not given to you?”
1. What do you do when you come across something in the Bible that does not fit in with what you, your friends, the media or what so-called clever people think? At times like this you have a choice. You can decide that wisdom has moved on since biblical days and that now we know better than that. OR you can decide that the Bible always knows best, even if this cuts across the wisdom of the world. We need to be people who always “Follow only what is written in the Scriptures”, no matter how silly that may make us feel. To do anything else is to say: “You got it wrong” to the Lord God who inspired the very words of the Bible. God never ever gets it wrong - the Bible never ever gets it wrong - it is us humans that get it wrong.
2. Do you think that the possessions you own and the abilities you have are things that you have achieved and earned, or were they given to you? In every instance, all of our strengths and abilities are a result of God’s gift to us. The more we accept this and have a different attitude the less pride we will have and the less we will feel superior to others. We are what we are by the grace of God.
Prayer point
Today, pray that you would not give in to the pressures of the world to conform
to its beliefs and ideas. Pray that the Lord would help you to be strong
and follow ONLY what is written in the Scriptures. Thank God today for the
things He has enabled you to do and be, and remember that they are all a
gift from Him.
1 Corinthians 4 v 8-13
You think you already have everything you need. You think you are rich. You
think you have become kings without us. I wish you really were kings so we
could be kings together with you. But it seems to me that God has put us
apostles in last place, like those sentenced to die. We are like a show for
the whole world to see—angels and people. We are fools for Christ’s
sake, but you are very wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You
receive honour, but we are shamed. Even to this very hour we do not have
enough to eat or drink or to wear. We are often beaten, and we have no homes
in which to live. We work hard with our own hands for our food. When people
curse us, we bless them. When they hurt us, we put up with it. When they
tell evil lies about us, we speak nice words about them. Even today, we are
treated as though we were the garbage of the world—the filth of the
earth.
Notes
How would you like to be an apostle? Imagine that these words were part of
a job description encouraging people to apply for the post of “Apostle
of Christ” - do you think you would apply? Would you think, “Yes,
that’s for me; I’d love that experience?” I’m sure
that these are things that most of us would want to avoid!
What hardships will you willingly put up with to serve the Lord? When the crunch comes and you have a choice about whether to stick to what you know is right and suffer for it, or whether to compromise the truth just a little - which will you choose? It is easy to say we will do the right thing, but it is another thing to remain firm when we are about to suffer for it. Let’s remind ourselves of how much the Lord Jesus put up with so that He could help us. In comparison to Him, we have to endure so little.
Do you bless people who hurt you or tell lies about you? Or do you like to fight back verbally; to do to them what they have done to you?
The second reaction is the easy one: the natural response. The correct thing to do in each of these situations requires us to act in an unnatural way (or a super-natural way!). The Lord does not give us these instructions and then expect us to just get on with it - He has given all believers His Holy Spirit to live inside them to help them to act in a supernatural way. Today don’t be natural; let the Lord work through you and be supernatural instead.
Prayer point
Pray today that when you are in these situations you would stop and act in
a new way. Pray that the Lord would help you to be prepared when you go through
times of suffering for Him and His truth.
1 Corinthians 4 v 14-17
I am not trying to make you feel ashamed. I am writing this to give you a warning
as my own dear children. For though you may have ten thousand teachers in
Christ, you do not have many fathers. Through the Good News I became your
father in Christ Jesus, so I beg you, please follow my example. That is why
I am sending to you Timothy, my son in the Lord. I love Timothy, and he is
faithful. He will help you remember my way of life in Christ Jesus, just
as I teach it in all the churches everywhere.
Notes
Who are your heroes? What famous people do you look up to and wish you were
like?
All sorts of people are placed before us as heroes these days - pop stars,
sports stars, film stars, soap opera actors, etc. Have you ever stopped to
ask why? What have they done to deserve it? Maybe they are simply very good
at what they do, or maybe they have beautiful looks - but should these things
mean someone is a role model for us, someone we want to be like?
Why don’t people have posters on their walls of upright people, morally pure people, people who have managed to remain honest and true when circumstances pushed them in other directions? Ask yourself now: who do you look up to? Who would you love to meet? If you are a follower of Christ then you should follow godly characters - not simply the powerful, the successful or the beautiful!
Paul was a spiritual father to the Corinthians and he said that they should follow his example. Do you have a father in Christ or do you only have worldly fathers? We have to be so very careful in our choices of fathers to copy. We need to try to find somebody who is a good godly example to us. They don’t have to be perfect, but they do need to be a man or woman whose heart is after God, who wants to serve the Lord first in everything.
Over the next few days look at the lives of the people you know and see if you can find your modern day Paul or Timothy whose life can be an example to you. Reject the world’s fathers and find your own.
Prayer point
Pray today that the Lord would guide you to people who can be good godly examples
to you and that you in turn would be a good godly example to others.
1 Corinthians 4 v 18-21
Some of you have become proud, thinking that I will not come to you again.
But I will come to you very soon if the Lord wishes. Then I will know what
the proud ones do, not what they say, because the kingdom of God is present
not in talk but in power. Which do you want: that I come to you with punishment
or with love and gentleness?
Notes
Today we have a very short passage from the Bible to read - but even short
passages have very important things to say. I want you to think about and
answer the question: what type of Christian are you? One of the letters in
the Bible was written by James, who was Jesus’ brother - he had a lot
to say about this very question. You have to remember that James had watched
his brother, Jesus. James had seen true Christianity lived as it should be
through his brother’s actions. In the letter James wrote he talked
about dead faith and living faith and asked his readers to judge which their
faith is. James was saying that if your faith does not produce anything except
talk, if there are no actions with it, then your faith is dead faith and
not real living faith.
Here in today’s passage we read a very similar thing - “the kingdom of God is present not in talk but in power”. It is very easy to talk in a Christian way, but it is another thing to live your life in a Christian way. It is very easy to say you are a Christian, but it is another much harder thing to show that you are a Christian in your attitudes, actions and reactions.
If it was illegal in your country to act like a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
Today, prove to yourself and to others that you are a real believer in the Lord Jesus Christ by how you live, by how you act towards people, and by your attitudes and your reactions.
Prayer point
Pray today that the Lord would help you to live your life in such a way that
others have no doubt that you are one of Jesus’ disciples.
1 Corinthians 5 v 1-5
It is actually being said that there is sexual sin among you. And it is a
kind that does not happen even among people who do not know God. A man there
has
his father’s wife. And you are proud! You should have been filled with
sadness so that the man who did this should be put out of your group. I am
not there with you in person, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already
judged the man who did that sin as if I were really there. When you meet
together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I meet with you in spirit with
the power of our Lord Jesus, then hand this man over to Satan. So his sinful
self will be destroyed, and his spirit will be saved on the day of the Lord.
Notes
This passage contains strong words. Do you think that they sound like the words
inspired by a loving God or a cross Paul?
If you answered: “It sounds like a cross Paul”, you are right,
BUT ALSO the words and instructions are inspired by a loving God. If we feel
ourselves saying, “How can a loving God say such things?” then
we have misunderstood how to love and what it means to be loved.
If a parent continuously allows a child to do whatever it wants, even when it is harmful, is that loving of them? Often we think of God’s love as allowing someone unconditional, ongoing mercy, without ever confronting them about what they are doing wrong - this is not true love. True love is when we forget about the cost to ourselves and put other people’s best interests first. Sometimes this may involve making the person realise that they are doing something wrong against the Lord.
When we read a passage in the Bible that we find difficult, we have a choice to make. Do we say, “We are more enlightened now. We know better now how to help someone change and become a better person”? OR do we bow the knee in our thoughts, attitudes and actions to the Lord and His inspired words?
In this passage the person was to be handed over to Satan “so his sinful self will be destroyed and his spirit will be saved on the day of the Lord”. Sometimes God will want you to correct someone else’s error. Will you be willing to do it with their best interests in heart? Sometimes God will use others to correct you - how will you take it?
Prayer point
Today pray that the Lord would help you to understand more about His love,
and that He would help you to know how to help others that are going astray
and wandering from the Lord’s ways.
1 Corinthians 5 v 6-8
Your bragging is not good. You know the saying, “Just a little yeast
makes the whole batch of dough rise.” Take out all the old yeast so that
you will be a new batch of dough without yeast, which you really are. For Christ,
our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. So let us celebrate this feast, but
not with the bread that has the old yeast—the yeast of sin and wickedness.
Let us celebrate this feast with the bread that has no yeast—the bread
of goodness and truth.
Notes
In this passage of scripture Paul talks about how allowing sin to go on in
the church without it being corrected will affect the whole church. The principle
that Paul reminds us of is that even a little bit of sin has a big effect
on our lives. Some yeast in some dough is such a small and seemingly insignificant
thing, but it affects the whole loaf. Paul was justifying why the people
who were involved in sexual immorality should be asked to leave the church.
He was saying that their sin in this area, if left unchecked, would have
a bad effect on the whole life of the church. The same principle is also
true of our lives. Sometimes we may look at something that we do and try
to make ourselves feel better about it by saying, “It’s only
something small; others do worse things than me.” BUT God’s inspired
word says that even this little bit of yeast in your life will have an effect
on all of your life.
If we knowingly allow a certain amount of sinning to continue, this shows that our lives are not submitted to God in the way that they should be. This sin, when allowed for a while, will seek to control us.
Our prayer should be: “Show me where I still sin and help me get rid of this sin from my life.” Say sorry to the Lord for that sin that you already know He wants you to stop.
Prayer point
Pray today that the Lord would reveal to you those areas where you sin most.
Pray that He would help you change so that you sin less and less in this
area of your life until you sin in this area no more.
1 Corinthians 5 v 9-13
I wrote you in my earlier letter not to associate with those who sin sexually.
But I did not mean you should not associate with those of this world who
sin sexually, or with the greedy, or robbers, or those who worship idols.
To get away from them you would have to leave this world. I am writing to
tell you that you must not associate with those who call themselves believers
in Christ but who sin sexually, or are greedy, or worship idols, or abuse
others with words, or get drunk, or cheat people. Do not even eat with people
like that.
It is not my business to judge those who are not part of the church. God
will judge them. But you must judge the people who are part of the church.
The Scripture
says, “You must get rid of the evil person among you.”
Notes
Does God really mean this? Yes, He does!
The Lord inspired Paul to be very specific with his choice of words in this passage. Paul is NOT saying that the Lord wants us to avoid eating and associating with people who are sexually immoral, or are continually greedy, or worship idols, or abuse others with words, or get drunk, or cheat people, if they do not call themselves believers. People of the world, our friends and colleagues who do the things in this list, need us to spend time with them and to eat with them and to draw alongside them. This is not just permitted by the Lord but is actively encouraged by Him - He set us this example Himself.
Paul, inspired by the Holy Lord God Almighty, is however saying that if somebody calls themself a believer then we must not associate with them or even eat with them if they sin sexually, or are greedy, or worship idols, etc. This is not about a one-off slip but about someone who is happily continuing with these things and still says they are a Christian. We are to help them understand how bad God says they are by separating ourselves from them. This is a very hard thing to do, especially in this age of tolerance, but we must do it - the Lord commands us to.
We must make sure our attitude in doing this is pure - it should
be with an attitude of prayer for the person, that the Lord would help them
to learn and to turn from these things quickly. Some people may accuse you
of judging the person, but in this passage God says “you must judge the
people who are part of the church”.
Prayer point
Have a think - are there people you are encouraging to continue in their sin
because you have not helped them see how bad they are being? Or can you see
yourself being talked about in this list of people to avoid? If so, say you
are sorry to the Lord today and walk away from these things. Ask the Lord to
help you as you seek to follow Him more closely.
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text
taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright
1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes