Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians

 

                                His Introduction.

1 Corinthians 1:1-3

Paul nearly always introduces himself in his letters as “the apostle of Jesus Christ”. Even though he was not numbered among the twelve disciples who walked with Jesus during His ministry on earth, yet he claimed that distinction by reason of the fact the he actually saw and spoke with  the risen Lord at his conversion…..

This gave him his authority to teach these young believers who he had been responsible for bringing  to know the Lord in the first place (Acts 18:1-11). The Lord had told him at that time that he was a “chosen vessel” for a specific work and now he was fulfilling this task.

On his first visit to Corinth he had first of all preached the Gospel in the synagogue to the Jews, but then when they didn’t want to hear any more, he concentrated on the Greeks there who readily turned to the Lord. He stayed in Corinth teaching these new believers for eighteen months, living and working with a couple called Aquila and Priscilla while he did.

He starts out by saying who he was writing to….those at Corinth and to all who called on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So his letter is just as much for us today, as it was for those people then. They had the same problems that we do….human nature has not changed at all over the intervening years.

He used the common greeting of the time (“May the graces of the gods be upon you”) and turned it to the believers in the God of Heaven…”Grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” . None of the gods of the people of the day could give peace, but those who had come to know the God of Heaven had the peace and assurance that their sins were forgiven.

Jesus Christ gives His comfort and peace, Once given they never will  cease,

His teachings for ever will always last, As long as we leave behind the past.

***             ***             ***

                                God’s Grace.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

Paul, as their spiritual father, always had their welfare at heart. He knew their potential in Christ, and his prayer here is that they will come to live it out too. They already knew God’s grace and mercy in forgiving their sins, and he was thanking God for that here….this is something that we too, must always be conscious of and give thanks for. Our God is a great God, but He likes to hear His children giving thanks for ALL things continually, especially for their salvation…..

But we have far more to give God thanks for than just His mercy in forgiving our sins, He has provided everything we need in Christ Jesus to live a full and productive life for Him. The principles in our spiritual life are the same as in our physical life….if you don’t use it, you lose it! The more we speak of Him, and learn of Him, the more we will find as we move forward abiding in Him. He is the source of all that we need, but it is up to each one of us to daily keep ourselves humble and usable before Him. Christ cannot use a dirty or proud vessel! Paul will go on in this letter to correct some of the faults he can see that are creeping in amongst them.

It is not that they lack any gift for enriching the church, but they are not looking forwards to His return as they should be…it seems that they had forgotten that. How much more should we today, be looking forwards to His return, and yet at the same time be occupying ourselves in His service while we wait as the parable points out!  (Luke 19:13)

He will keep His people blameless if they will only come to Him daily for the cleansing they need….no-one is free from the sins that so easily beset us…if we say we are now free from sinning we make God a liar (1 John 1:7-10). God is faithful in all His ways…it is we His people, who fall down on the job!

Jesus Christ gives all we need, For life and speech and every deed,

He is the source of everything, Let us to Him our praises bring!

***             ***             ***

                                Be of One Mind.

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Paul had heard with horror how the Corinthian church was being divided into different factions, each with a holier than thou mentality, and here he hastens to correct this error…..

“I beg you to stop this nonsense at once”, he wrote, “You must all be of one mind and in total unity. Is Christ divided? You are all part of Him so how can these things be? Was anyone else crucified for you?”  He went on to point out how it is the work of Christ on the cross that saved them, and how the world views that with ridicule. It is still the same today. People much prefer a comfortable gospel with no mention of sin or repentance today… “Come to Jesus and all your troubles will disappear” is the popular message. But it still leads people down the broad road to destruction.

The world’s wisdom is creeping into the church, and it is widely being taught that it is more important to get a degree in theology than it is to spend time in the word for oneself. The world cries, “Go to college and be educated” and now the church is teaching this too.

God’s wisdom is very different….it is only by the Gospel that people can be saved, whether people think this is foolish or not! It is Christ crucified, and nothing else that saves us…. “God’s foolishness” is wiser than anything that man can produce!

Jesus Christ,  the same yesterday, today, forever, How great that He changes never,

God’s principles are always the same, Praise His great and Holy Name!

***             ***             ***

                                What is Wisdom?

1 Corinthians 1:19-31

As we look into God’s Word, we realise more and more that it is our handbook written specifically for us to profit from. Man promotes his type of wisdom (for example, in evolution and global warming), and in doing so only proves that he is a fool (Romans 1:22). God’s wisdom on the other hand brings life and light…..

All of man’s theories that ignore or actively throw God out, are but foolishness and worse, lead to destruction. What the world classes as foolishness, God classes as wise and is what leads to life. The preaching of the cross and the crucifixion of Christ is what will lead to eternal life.

In Paul’s time, the Jews placed great emphasis on signs, and the Greeks sought philosophies and education. Today, people seek qualifications and degrees…education is everything. Yet we know people who are not academics who have risen high in the financial and property worlds, which proves that degrees are not the top of life.

In spiritual things, Christ is pre-eminent….without Him there is nothing worth having! But to the Jews this was a great stumbling block, and to the Greeks it was mere foolishness. What a difference for those who have come to know the Lord…Christ is both the wisdom and the power of God. God’s weakest point (if there were such a thing), is far above anything that man has or can achieve to.

We know that there are not many important or high up men that will humble themselves to come to the Lord, but those who do are far wiser than all the others put together. It is in the weakness of the humble man that God can work the best and show His mighty power  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). God uses His people who are unknown and unrecognised in the world to do His work. It is through them that He chooses to show His glory…nothing that is accomplished for Him is for man’s glory, but is for His glory. We are not to glory in ourselves or in other people, but in God alone! He is all in all!

Jesus Christ is all in all,  To those He chose and those He called,

He is God’s wisdom incarnate, He is the One on whom we wait.

***             ***             ***

                                God’s Wisdom.

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

We see from here that Paul didn’t depend on his own fluency or wisdom to preach to these people…in fact he describes his presentation as being “rude” in speech (2 Corinthians 11:6)…he spoke what was on his heart, not to impress. He was depending on the Lord to speak through him, and this was what drew people to accept his message….

His preaching didn’t appeal to the world at large, and on the whole they didn’t really understand what he was talking about. If they had, he said, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of Glory in the first place!

Mere natural man has no idea of what God has in store for His people, in fact even those who know the Lord find it very hard to even begin to imagine what God has in store for them in a time to come. Just as our grandparents would not be able to imagine modern day technology (which has been given by God in the first place!), so we today have no conception of what God has ahead for those who love Him!

God has given us glimpses here and there as we study His Word with the help of His Holy Spirit …in fact Jesus unfolded this to His disciples before His death  (John 14:26;16:13).  It is only through the work and help of the Holy Spirit that we can understand anything at all that is in God’s Word. This is the difference between man and the other created creatures….we are made in the image of God in that we have body, soul AND spirit which can communicate with God. Animals have a body and may have a soul, but they do not have a spirit that will live for ever as man has.

This is why a person who does not know God personally, thinks all “religious stuff” is just plain foolish….the things of God have to be spiritually discerned and known. When we accept Christ individually for ourselves, we have His mind for understanding these things. This is freely available to everyone who asks for it….there is no mystery to it, just ASK! (Matthew 7:7-11)

Jesus Christ is there for all, Those who seek and on Him call,

He will teach us from His Word, As we respond to what we’ve heard.

***             ***             ***

                                Unity, not Division.

1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Paul goes back here to the problem that he is so concerned about for these people….the different factions that have risen among them. He introduces a word here, carnal, which simply means to be thinking of oneself first, and not putting God first in one’s life….

He points out that while they are arguing about this, they aren’t growing in the Lord….they are like babies in the things of God! There is so much for us to learn in God’s school, and here they are squabbling amongst themselves as to who is on the best way!

The leaders they profess to follow are just mere men like everyone else…the work is the Lord’s and not theirs. We so easily fall into this trap of thinking that it is OUR work that we are doing, and forget that it is God who has initiated it and will give the results! Paul says that he laid the foundation for them to build on…the foundation of Jesus Christ. If their work is not based on Him and His word, then it is merely wood, hay or rubbish.

One day, God will show us how lasting our work has been by putting it through the fire of His test…if it is the precious metal of His doing, then it will come out brilliant and refined, but if it has been for our own glorification or pleasure then it will be burned up!

Then he gives another analogy….don’t you know, he writes, that you are part of the temple of the Living God and that His Spirit lives in you? Make sure, he writes, that you look after your part of the temple and keep it fit for the Master’s use. Even if the world around you thinks you are throwing yourself and your talents away, use what you have for God. The world thinks the main end of your talents is to live well and gain a great portfolio, but this is empty work. What the world thinks is wise, God knows is foolish!

Then Paul goes back to his original topic….DON’T follow men! You have everything you need in Christ! Let us too, remember this….we belong to the Lord, we are not our own and must seek to please Him at all times

Jesus Christ should be our all, Let’s follow him, we’ve heard His call,

Make sure we build with pure gold, Which will last until we reach His fold.

***             ***             ***

                            Faithful, not Successful.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Paul touches on two quite different topics here, but they are ones that we must take into account. We may feel to be only a very small cog in the greater plan of things, but to God each individual is very important. If one joint in our body is hurting, we feel it, so never downgrade yourself…we aren’t called to be successful, but only to be faithful in the place where we are…..

There are so many ways we are to be faithful…the first is in our own mind….we are to know what we believe, and why we believe it, and then continue to follow it through in our actions. There may be things that have to be put up with in our workplace….God requires each of us to live for Him in spite of the things that annoy us. Our attitude before others is what speaks louder than words…be faithful in this!

We are to remember that it is God who will judge us….He knows the reasons we do things, He knows our hearts better than we know it ourselves! He knows whether the reason we do (or don’t do) things is because of genuine hindrances or if it is simply because we are being lazy! If we would only keep the thought that God is going to bring to light the things we are doing in a time to come, before us at all times, it would help us to keep on the right track!

Jesus Christ gives all our needs, To help us witness in our deeds,

We are accountable to Him alone, For all He’s done for His own.

***             ***             ***

                                All Different!

1 Corinthians 4:6-15

Paul uses the illustration of him and Apollos, and how different they were, yet still both doing the Lord’s work….the work they were doing was God’s work, not theirs. It wasn’t that one was better than the other, it was how God had made them and was now using them…..

They were starting to think that they were better than Paul and that they could manage without him….they had everything they needed they thought. Paul felt at times that he was being made a spectacle to everyone, even the angels, and that these people were regarding him as a fool. They thought they were so much better than he was, as he was only an itinerant preacher with no place to call his own. Paul knew that the people in general regarded him as just a fool, but it hurt when the believers thought the same. He picked up work whenever he could to keep himself….his trade was that of tent-maker  (Acts 18:1-2), and lived and worked with Aquila and Priscilla a lot of the time he was in Corinth.

Paul had written these things, not to shame the believers, but to show them how he felt, and yet he was still prepared to do this work for the Lord. He felt that even though there were plenty of others who would tell them what to do, yet none of them cared for these people like Paul did. He felt that they were his family, and this was why he cared for them so deeply.

Jesus Christ gives all our needs, To help us witness in our deeds,

We are accountable to Him alone, For all He’s done for His very own.

***             ***             ***

                                       Listen!

1 Corinthians 4: 16-21

Paul cared very deeply for these people at Corinth, and he wanted them to be out and out for the Lord, and not tangled up in all these petty arguments about who had the greatest leader! So often we get side tracked from the main thing in life and lose sight of what is best….

“Follow me”, he wrote, “Do what I do”. In a way, this sound presumptuous of Paul, and yet he knew that many of them were not following the Lord as they should be. This is a challenge to us…..we should each be able to say to others “Do what I do” and know that it will build them up. If others read the Word as much as we do, how would they fare in their Christian life? If others went to church as much as we do, what sort of church would it be?

“You think I’m not coming to you”, he carried on, “But I am coming soon and will see for myself how well you are doing. Will I need to use my authority to sort you out or will you have sorted yourselves out by then?”

We should keep short accounts with God, and make daily confessions so others won’t need to rebuke us. As we carry on through this letter of Paul’s we will see that there were many things that needed to be sorted out among them!

Jesus Christ sees all that we do, He knows when things need to be made anew,

We have the option to confess our sin, Or wait until it burns within.

***             ***             ***

                           Live Good Moral Lives.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

Paul had heard another report of what was going on in the church at Corinth, and this needed correcting immediately.”It is reported commonly” he writes. So this matter was widely known in the community among the Gentiles as well as the Jews…..

This was a community where good morals were not accounted for much, but not even the Gentiles would have done what this man was doing…he was living with his father’s wife! Obviously not his mother, but his stepmother. We aren’t told anything about this woman, but she and her husband’s son were obviously attracted to each other and she left her husband to go and live with the son!

“Not only that”, Paul wrote, “But the rest of you think this is in order! You should have seen to it that this was stopped and this man put out of fellowship until the matter is sorted out!“

Paul pointed out that a thing like this, if left, could spread and others could do the same. Just as yeast will permeate a lump of dough, so sin like this will soon spread. This is just as true today, and in our own lives, we have to be so careful not to allow the slightest thing to creep in that will take our eyes off the Lord. We have to keep the remembrance feast with pure lives, having examined ourselves before taking it  (1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

“It is up to the rest of you to speak to this man and if he won’t listen then to withdraw yourselves from him…don’t socialise with him or even have a meal with him!” Paul continued. In a social climate such as they lived in, this was drastic indeed. He had written to them once before to not socialise with people doing anything that was immoral or with idol worshippers….they couldn’t help being with them in the workplace, but they could help socialising with them.

It is so easy to take on the ways and thoughts of others if we have too much to do with them….it should be the other way around. Live lives that will make others want to be like us! We are to remember that God is the final Judge and we are all going to have to be accountable to Him. But in the meantime we are to see to it that we live to please Him.

Jesus Christ was sinless and pure, We must too, be certain and sure,

How we live and what we say, Brings glory to God ev’ry day.

***             ***             ***

                                Going to Court.

1 Corinthians 6:1-8

Paul now tackles another problem that had arisen in this church….people were taking their Christian  brothers to the secular legal court. “Why are you daring to do this?” Paul asks, “Aren’t there any godly men among you  who are able to sort these things out?”

He points out that one day God’s people are going to be put in the position of judging the world….”if this is the case, aren’t you able to sort things out satisfactorily now?”

He carried on to say that we will one day be judging even the angels, and that we should be starting to judge between right and wrong in this life. Even the ones who are not leaders should be able to see what is right and what is wrong! This thought is but a glimpse into some of the things that lie ahead for believers. We cannot make any assumptions more than what is said here about what is going to happen in the time to come.

Paul gets back to the point….”Why are you taking each other to court anyway? You shouldn’t do this, but suffer the wrongs that others do to you”, he writes, “You all do wrong things one way or another!”.

This reinforces what our Lord said while here on earth…”Turn the other cheek; give to those who ask; don’t pay back evil with evil; love your enemies” (Matthew 5:38-45). These are all concepts that are totally foreign to human nature…we tend to lash out at those who have wronged us and try to pay them back. This is not how the Lord wants His people to behave, and this was how these people in the church at Corinth were carrying on.

All these things that Paul was correcting are for our benefit as well….these things are not written because it was cultural or customary for then, but they are just as relevant for today. This is God’s Word to us, just as if He were standing here in front of us saying it. Too many believers think they can just take what the Bible says as an option, but God  means what He says and says what He means.

Jesus Christ is always the same, Whatever He says in His holy Name,

Is just as true for this day and age, Right from the first to the last written page.

***             ***             ***

                           Live Pure Moral Lives.

1 Corinthians 6:9-20

As we read this list of people types, we see a picture emerging of the modern world around us. Morals have slipped to such an extent that all these things here are the norm today, and if they should be condemned in any way there is such a public outcry against freedom to do what one wants to do….

Yet God says here that none of the people who practice these things can be in heaven ! It is not that there Is no hope for them, because the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can cleanse ALL sin upon confession and turning away from it  (1 John 1;9)…some of you used to live like this, Paul writes, but you are now cleansed and washed in the name of the Lord Jesus.

There are other things we can do, but it is not always wise to do them in case we form an addiction for them or that they might take us away from having time for the things of the Lord, as well as the fact that it might cause others to stumble in their Christian walk. Paul goes on explain that sex is more than just a mere physical thing, it is the fusing of two into one, and if a believer indulges in one night stands or a casual relationship it is taking the Lord into these situations with them….this should never be done.

Christians are to completely keep away from any form of immorality as it is not only sinning against a person’s own body which is the temple (or living place) of the Holy Spirit, but it is sinning against God as well. We are to always remember that we are not our own, we have been bought with the price of the Lord Jesus Christ’s precious blood.

Jesus Christ has bought His own, We are to live for Him alone,

From all things wrong and sin secure, Keeping  our souls and bodies pure..

***             ***             ***

                          Instructions to the Married.

1 Corinthians 7:1-17

 It seems that Paul had already been asked some of these matters, and now he answers them. He tells them it is best to have no physical contact between the sexes to avoid temptation that is too strong to resist. In a society such as then and also today, when it seems the norm to  jump into bed before marriage, Paul has already explained to them that sex is more than just a physical thing and is to be regarded as the permanent union that God intends between a man and a woman in marriage…..

Marriage is ordained by God….He has made man and woman to complement each other with certain needs that that must be respected and met (Genesis 2:18, 21-24). Paul tells the people here that they are not to withhold themselves from each other, or else Satan will get a foothold in their relationship. We have to guard ourselves against these temptations…so many times we see a marriage partner who turns their back on the other one who then finds someone else willing to give what the other won’t! We cannot afford to put ourselves first…we must always consider the other person’s needs….this goes for both partners.

Paul goes on to say that if people aren’t willing to follow this criteria, it is better to stay single as he was at that stage. But, he hastened to add, it is not sinful to get married if they feel the single life isn’t for them.

Another matter he had been asked about was….what if a person becomes a believer and yet are married to one who isn’t? What should they do? Paul says stay together and don’t part if there is no friction because of it….you can still have a good home life for your children. Peter tells us that it is quite possible that the silent witness of a changed life will win the other to the Lord  (1 Peter 3:1-2). But if the unbelieving partner is abusive, or walks out on the other one, so be it. The Lord doesn’t expect a person to live under those conditions, but to live in peace. These are the Lord’s instructions (not Paul’s) for His people in such circumstances.

Jesus Christ has called each one, To the race which must be run,

Living for Him in purity and love, Until He takes us home above.

***             ***             ***

                         To Circumcise or Not?

1 Corinthians 7:18-24

Another matter had arisen which needed to be addressed….what place does circumcision have in a believer’s family and life? The rite of circumcision was very important to a Jew….it was the basis of him being a Jew! So this matter needed to be cleared up, both for them and succeeding generations of believers….

This had been the topic of a great discussion in the early church, and it was believed that the Holy Spirit could not come on any man who was not circumcised  (Acts 10:45). But once there were Gentiles being saved in great numbers, it was imperative that this matter be made  clear.

The apostles and leaders had met together in Jerusalem to discuss this problem (Acts 15:5-22), and Peter who had not long seen Cornelius saved and had learned that the Holy Spirit did indeed come into these Gentile believers (Acts 11:1-7,15-18), spoke up and pointed out that circumcision had never been given to the Gentiles, it was something that God gave to Abraham. Paul and Barnabas told how that they had seen many Gentiles saved who had all received the Holy Spirit, and then James got up and summed it all up. They were not to consider circumcision a criteria to being saved or going on in the Christian life…other things like having idols and eating blood were more important     for Christians to abstain from.

So Paul points out here that circumcision is not important…if a person was saved being circumcised, that was ok, and if someone else wasn’t, don’t get done. Being circumcised in heart is what counts…that is, being obedient to the Word of God (Deuteronomy 10:16; Romans 2:28-29).

Circumcision is, as so many other things are, merely an earthly picture of a heavenly truth…it is a picture of the getting rid of anything that could be unnecessary or a hindrance in our Christian walk. Marriage too, is a picture…that of the believer’s union with Christ, and that is why it is so important that it doesn’t get broken by man.

Jesus Christ is all we need today, As we walk the Christian way,

He is all we need to follow,  All other things  are only  hollow.

***             ***             ***

                                To Marry or Not?

1 Corinthians 7:25–40

Paul now goes back to his original topic…”I’m now giving my opinion”, he writes, “under the present circumstances, it is better to remain single”. For him personally, he wouldn’t have been able to travel around preaching so freely if he had a wife with him…..

     But he hastened to add, there is nothing wrong with being married! Don’t break your marriage bond if you already married. But those who are unmarried only have themselves to think about, and have more time to put into work for the Lord. A married couple have to think of, and consider each other. If a person can remain single, they can concentrate on the things of the Lord more fully, but if a girl wants to get married, her father is to give her his blessing. This is good but if a girl remains single, she is able to spend more time in the work of the Lord (and vice versa), and  that is even better!

Paul goes on to add that if death breaks the marriage bond, then the surviving partner can remarry providing it is to another believer.

Jesus Christ is all in all, To those who heed and walk His way,

Make sure we walk with Him in full, Then we won’t  have the world’s strong pull.

***             ***             ***

                                To Do or Not To Do?.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Paul now takes up the next topic on his list….that of eating food that has been offered to idols. You know and I know that an idol is nothing but a lump of whatever it is made of he writes, but not everyone regards this as so……

There were still some believers that had not managed to get this fact out of their system, and they were not very strong in their faith yet. For the sake of these believers and also for the testimony before unbelievers, it was better not to eat food which specifically had been offered to idols. He also touched on this subject in this letter later. If you’ve been invited out to a meal, and no mention is made of idols, then eat freely, but if someone says the food has been offered to idols, then it is better to refuse it.

We might think today in the western world, that this has no bearing on what we eat or drink, but stop and think for a bit. What about drinking wine or other alcoholic drink socially or at a meal habitually?

If this is handled carefully, there is nothing wrong with it we say. But what if you find you are becoming addicted to it and you can’t do without it? What if others see you doing this and they can’t handle it as wisely? We might say it is none of our business, but Paul points out quite clearly that if someone else thinks it is ok because we do it and then falls as a result of it, then we are to blame. He says categorically that it is better to not do it rather than to do it and someone else stumble or point the finger as a result of it. We need to be conscious of what our actions will do to the testimony of Jesus Christ at all times.

We must leave all that detracts, From Jesus Christ in how we act,

Thinking more of how He is, How we must go the way that’s His.

***             ***             ***

                          Those in God’s Work.

1 Corinthians 9:1-27

It seems that Paul had heard of people grumbling about him and his work. He reminds them here that he has been given this work to do by the Lord Himself….the very fact that they are now believers is proof of this! He had seen the glory of God at the time of his conversion, and in fact still bore the result of this. What about all those who were travelling around at this time preaching and teaching? Was it alright for them to do it and not Paul  as well?

The matters needed to be addressed and cleared up. Paul reminds them that those who work at ordinary things have the right to reap the benefits…the law of Moses reinforced this. So those who sow in spiritual things, should benefit from those who are being taught. Paul goes on to say, that he felt compelled to preach the Gospel as this was the commission that was given to him by the Lord. Not only that, but he was prepared to do it free of charge.

He was prepared to meet people on whatever level they were at…to the Jews, he could discuss matters Jewish, to the Gentiles, he would listen to what they had to say. He wouldn’t preach above people’s understanding but do it simply so they would know what he was talking about. He did this all, so that people could become believers in the Lord Jesus Christ .

Then he pointed out that life is like running a race….we have to all run to reach for the prize. Just as an athlete trains for the race, so we must also train in the Christian race and practice self discipline, doing things that we don’t naturally like doing  (like getting up earlier to do Bible reading!)

We have to be on a constant guard against getting slack in these things, and even being resistant to these things. It is so easy to go with the flow instead of rowing against the current….everything around us is there to take s down…it is a constant battle to climb up. But the reward is there! The view from the top of the mountain is worth the climb up; the degree at the end of the course is worth the continual slog to get it! There is no gain  without pain!

The things we read are still for us, If we our Lord would daily please,

No race is won without the pain, Of training for what we would gain!

***             ***             ***

                      Take Note of Early Examples.

1 Corinthians 10:1-11

Paul begins this section by reminding his readers of things that happened long ago and how they are all examples to us of what to do and not to do. He reminds them of how the Israelites were covered by the cloud on their journeys (under God’s protection) and how they went through the sea (separation from Egypt, the world)…..

These pictures are all the same for us today, and this is symbolised by the rite of baptism. They all ate of the manna and the water from the rock that God gave them, and this symbolises what the Lord has done for us….His provision of His Word for us to read and feed upon. Paul likens the Rock to the Lord Jesus…a rock is something that is solid and unchanging, something that we can hang onto and let the waves surge around below us in life’s disappointments and storms.

We are then reminded that we are not to look around us and want what others have, not to follow other interests to the extent that we forget the things of God, nor to allow other things to take over our life (idolatry). We are to live pure lives, and not follow what the world considers normal….none of these things do our spiritual life any good or give growth. We are not to doubt God’s Word or put Him to the test….things might only backfire on us!

Most of all, we are not to be complainers as the ancient Israelites were…God hates complaining, He wants His people to be joyful and thankful, praising Him for what they do have and not hankering after what others have! All these things have been written for us as examples and for our learning….let us take them to heart!

Jesus Christ is our All in all, He remains the Same for those He calls,

The Solid Rock on which we stand, The grip He gives us with His hand.

***             ***             ***

                                Temptations.

1 Corinthians 10:12-14

Paul starts off this section with a  very real warning for each one of us…

If you think you are alright, take heed lest you fall! Those who speak the loudest, can often not follow through what they have said! We have to maintain a humble attitude at all times, and rely on the Lord to keep us in what we say….

So often people (especially young people or people young in the faith) make statements about their faith publicly, and Satan takes them up on it and trips them up. It is only the Lord Who can keep us firm for Him, and this should be our constant prayer, “Lord, keep me faithful to You!” If you feel you are being tempted beyond your resistance level, just remember that God will keep you if you come to Him in earnest prayer about it…all these things that come our way are merely tests to strengthen our faith, so that we in turn can strengthen others. Remember (and say) that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from ALL sin….this thought will remove the intensity of the temptation from you.

The test of idolatry was very real in Paul’s time…everyone actively practiced it, and to not do it made one stand out as different. The best way to resist any temptation is to keep right away from it, Paul says. Don’t go to places where you will be tempted; don’t put yourself in a situation where you can be compromised….keep away from all such situations! Look ahead and see where certain actions could lead you to…whatever happens, don’t think you are strong enough to resist it, you may not be!

Jesus Christ can keep us true, To His dear Name and help us do,

What is right and good and pure, His promises are always sure!

***             ***             ***

 

 

                                Keep Clear!

1 Corinthians 10:15-33

Paul points out here that the bread and wine that is taken in the communion service represents the body and blood of Christ, and all those who take part in t should be true believers in Him. There fore we cannot afford to let anything else creep in that is not of Him….

Whether it be idolatry with literal idols, or whether it is other things that take away from God that which is His….we cannot mix other things in the communion service which take away the remembrance of what He has done for us. We are to leave them  until another suitable time to talk about them.

Paul  points out that anything to do with idol worship cannot be brought into any service to do with God….idols are absolutely a nothing, in fact they are of the devil himself. Anything to do with devil (idol) worship has no part in Christian worship.

Do we want to make God jealous in showing our allegiance isn’t  to Him alone? he asks. Yes, we are perfectly entitled to do anything we want in our services, but it is not wise or lawful from God’s point of view, and after all, it is Him we want to glorify.

It’s the same when we are invited to a meal with others….if we are told that the food has been offered to idols first, we are not to touch it, but if no-one says anything then it is ok to go ahead and eat it because after all, the idol is a nothing! So in other words, we are always to be sensible and always conscious of our testimony before others. We are to remember to always glorify God in everything that we do.

We are free to do anything, As long as it to God  glory brings,

If it’s doubtful it’s dirty the saying goes, As all  we do, always shows.

***             ***             ***

                                God’s Order.

1 Corinthians 11:1-3

Paul has more things to put in order…God’s order, not his ideas. “Follow me”, he writes, “Just as I follow Christ. Keep the ordinances (or traditions) that I’ve already told you about.” He goes on to remind them what he is referring to…..

Each one of us should be able to say this to others. It is not presumptuous to say it, we should ALL be good examples of following the Lord to those who know us.

Paul goes on then to talk about God’s order in the church and in the home. Christ is the Head of His Body of believers….no-one disputes this fact. The head of every man in the Body,  is Christ. The head of every woman is man….this is God’s order of things. It is not that a man is more clever or better in God’s sight, it is simply what God has ordained.

It is more glorifying to God for a woman to acknowledge this fact, than it is for her to take the lead even if she does know more than the men around her. God looks on this meek and quiet attitude as an ornament of great price, because He knows it has to be cultivated…it does not come naturally (1 Peter 3:4). Then he finishes this section off by saying that Jesus Christ showed this same meek and quiet spirit (Matthew 11:29) to His Father, God, in being willing to do His will rather than His own preferences (Matthew 26:39).

What an example for us all to follow! The man in being willing to take the lead (it’s much easier to just sit there doing nothing!) and the woman in allowing it in her own life (even if it’s much quicker to do it herself!) to honour the Lord. It is His order, and as such should be followed.

Jesus Christ did His Father’s will, Always, only it was fulfilled,

We would not be His today, If He hadn’t gone in God’s own way.

***             ***             ***

                           Showing God’s Order.

1 Corinthians 11:4-7

Paul has reminded his readers of the order of headship, now we come to an outward showing of this. The matter that is being brought to our notice now is not a cultural thing, nor is it a time-line thing, it is simply part of God’s order for His people while they live on earth….things will be vastly different in heaven!

    We are told that as far as our spiritual life is concerned, there is neither male nor female, but all are the children of God  (Galatians 3:28). This does not negate what comes next. Paul says, that because of God’s order of headship, a man is to pray and preach with an uncovered head to acknowledge this….if he doesn’t, he is dishonouring his Head, Christ. Likewise, a woman who prays or preaches with an uncovered head, dishonours her head, that is, her husband directly, and Christ who is his Head, indirectly. It is no different to having her head shaved….this is considered a shame by nature, as a woman’s hair is her glory.

God considers the man to be His glory and  as such must not be covered whereas the woman is the glory of the man. So in His presence, man, the glory of God must be able to be seen, whereas the woman, the glory of the man, must be covered….God says He will share His glory with no-one else (Isaiah 42:8).

Christ our Lord to us has given,  His all so we could be in Heaven,

So we in turn must follow Christ,  Tis small indeed compared to His price.

***             ***             ***

                            To Do or Not to Do?

1 Corinthians 11: 8-16

We are reminded here that the man was created first and is here for the glory of God; the woman was created from the first man to be helper fit for him and to support him (something which none of the animals could do….Genesis 2:18-24), and so the first married couple came into being. Again, this is God’s order, one man and one woman….

The woman can have power in her ministry if her head is covered. This is a sore point in these modern times in the western world, and is often thrown to one side as being obsolete and culturally unacceptable, but another point that is missed is that if a woman does as God requires it is an example to the angels of heaven who observe the things that humans do. Angels have more interest in humans than we think….we are only given glimpses of this in the Bible. We are told that the angel of the Lord surrounds those who love Him (Psalm 34 :7), and we are told that there is great joy in heaven when someone turns to the Lord (Luke 15:10). We also have the story of Elisha who could see the army of the Lord (God’s angels) there to wage war on this behalf  (2 Kings 6:17).

An obedient person is a rebuke to the fallen angels who also observe how humans behave (1 Corinthians 4:9), and it is up to us to glorify the Lord in this matter also. When we think of how much the Lord has done for us in bringing us to Himself, this is a small matter indeed to do in return for Him!

Then again others say that a woman’s hair is her covering, but we are told here that it is her glory, and as such it must be covered in the presence of God. There is too, the matter of how long is long? Paul finishes up this topic by saying we are not to argue about these things, but to simply DO them!

Jesus Christ has given His all for us, Surely we can try to Him please,

Little is much when given in love, To Him who left His home above.

***             ***             ***

                        Format of the Lord’s Supper.

1 Corinthians 11: 17-34

Paul now turns his attention to the way the Corinthian church was conducting their Remembrance Feast. They had got way off beam, completely losing sight of the main reason for it. “You’ve got divisions among you I hear,” he wrote, “and you are arguing among yourselves when you come together….this is not right”…..

    It was easy to see who was following the Lord more closely when this happened in their gatherings. They had completely forgotten that they were there to remember the Lord, and they were turning the meetings into a time of grabbing food, and some were even attending when drunk. How embarrassing was that! Paul said he wasn’t impressed with their attitudes and turned their attention to what the real reason for this gathering was, and to the One Who founded it.

It was the Lord Jesus, the same night that He was betrayed, Who took the bread after the normal supper was over, and said, “This is (represents) My body which is broken for you, take it and eat it in remembrance of Me” (Mark 14:22-26). He knew how little we would think about Him if there wasn’t this constant remembrance time. Then He took a cup of wine and said that it was to remind them of His shed blood for them, to all take of it. The more often this was done properly, the more they would be reminded of Him, His sacrifice for them, and what they owed to Him.

Then he issued a warning to these people who were turning this time into a regular meal time, “Don’t do this in an unworthy manner because if you do, you will be as guilty as the ones who crucified our Lord!” We are to examine ourselves BEFORE the feast time, confess our sins to the Lord (not another person) and THEN partake of the bread and wine , otherwise we will bring God’s judgement on ourselves. We are not to just feel unworthy and keep away from the time together, but we are to put things right first and then to take part in it.

The proper place to eat was at home first, and then to come together to remember the Lord.

Jesus Christ gave us this feast, We must do it,  it is the least,

We can try our best  to please, And do this always  as He says.

***             ***             ***

                                Using Our Gifts.

1 Corinthians 12: 1-31

Paul now turns to another topic that needs addressing, and that he wants them to know about…..  “You are Gentiles and used to worship dumb idols once”, he wrote, “But I want you to know that you can only say that Jesus is Lord through the Holy Spirit , and He has given us all different gifts to use for God”….

    There are different ways of doing things, but it is still the One True God working in you to do these things. How wonderful to know that what Paul was writing to the believers of his day, still applies to us today! In fact, our Lord Himself told the disciples that His Holy Spirit would reveal these things to them when the time came  (John 14:26; 16:13). So we know that we are all to work together and no one person is to do everything on their own all the time….the disciples soon found that out once the church began to grow, and they had to appoint different ones to do different jobs (Acts 6:1-6).

Just as people have different natural talents, so they are all fitted for doing different jobs in the church….not everyone can preach or teach, not everyone can do the music, some have more discernment than others, and at that time different ones were able to perform miracles and speak in other languages. Not all of them could do all these things! The church was unified into one body, but the different members could best do different things!

Paul went on to use the human body as an illustration of this. All believers are part of the body of Christ, and all have the same Holy Spirit within them. But not everyone is an arm or a leg; there needs to be a brain, a heart, eyes to see and ears to hear. But all put together make a unified whole. We might feel we aren’t fitted for anything in particular, but the main thing is that we are THERE! When one person is missing, something feels wrong…even the little toe, the smallest member of the lot, makes difference when it’s there and not hurting….if it is hurting the whole body feels it! What a wonderful illustration this is!

So God has put each one of us into His body as teachers, preachers, doers of miracles,  different jobs and failing all else, helps! We can all encourage each other in some way….let’s do it!

Jesus Christ has given to all, Some job to do , He fits and calls,

Each one of us can do something, Pray or teach, and songs to sing!

***             ***             ***

                                      We Can All do This.

1 Corinthians 13: 1-7

Paul ends up his discussion at the end of the last chapter by saying “I’m going to talk now about the best gift of the lot, something all of you can do”….

     Love is something that all people crave, wanting love and acceptance. It doesn’t matter how gifted or clever a person is, if he doesn’t show love in some way, he is just like an empty drum or a musical instrument out of tune! No matter how much a person knows or how qualified he is, he does no-one else any good if he doesn’t have love in his presentations…. love of his subject and love to present it to the people he is addressing. No matter how philanthropic he is towards others, or how much he gives away, if he is cold and unloving it doesn’t do him any good. Others sense it, if a person is hard and unyielding, other people find they can’t respond to him either.

What IS true love? Paul goes into describing the characteristics of love….a loving person doesn’t put himself above others, or behave crudely or harshly. Love puts others first, and doesn’t even think bad things about them, certainly doesn’t say them!  Love doesn’t like anything evil, but is glad in the truth, always giving others the benefit of the doubt.

If we want to see how we measure up against this standard, just put our own name in the place of the word “love”, and read this list out loud. There has only ever been one Person Who could truthfully say that they measure up and that is our Lord Jesus Christ….He is the way, the truth and the life .

We can all try to be better, but it is only with His help that we can improve at all. He is the embodiment of the word “love” in its true sense.

Jesus Christ showed all God’s love, When He left His home above,

Came to earth for sinful men, And died to take away their sin.

***             ***             ***

                             Love Lasts Forever!

1 Corinthians 13: 8-13

Love never fails! It never lets anyone down…it can always  be counted on! Other gifts that are given to people will come to an end, but love is always needed. We cannot always have all wisdom and knowledge, but love is better than all these put together….

     Just as children learn bit by bit, so do we in the school of life. As we grow up into adulthood, we put childish things behind us. So as we grow in our spiritual life, we will go on to better concepts than we had before we came to Christ….we will grow in patience and in love.  We will also grow in our knowledge of God through His dealings with us …. this is part of our spiritual experience which leads to  and points us to, our spiritual hope in Christ. This life is not the end, it is only the beginning!!

The love we know now and put into practice, will  be like looking through a misty window when we see Christ face to face…  everything will  become crystal clear then. We will not only know and see things as they are, but we will also be what we ought to be!

Faith, hope and love will last forever with us, but the greatest of them all is love!

Jesus Christ is love indeed, Love displayed in word and deed,

Love enough for sinful ones, To come and die to make them sons.

***             ***             ***

                                Speak to Edify Others.

1 Corinthians 14: 1-19

Paul now goes on to another topic which the Corinthian people were all mixed up about. They knew that when the Holy Spirit first came on people, that they could miraculously speak in other languages. They completely overlooked the fact that this gift was given at that time so that all the people in Jerusalem could hear the Gospel and take it back to their own countries….

To people, this is absolutely miraculous! To be able to immediately be able to speak another language and have others know what you are saying! So this “gift” was looked upon as being the most desired gift of all. People were beginning to follow this train of thought…after all, what did it matter what was being said if others didn’t recognise it. It looked important and puffed them up to be able to speak like this!

Paul here, bursts this bubble of thought, by telling them if other people can’t understand what is being said, to keep quiet unless there is an interpreter. The important thing is to speak so that others are built up and can join in praising God. It was obvious that Paul had spoken in other languages, but he knew what he was saying….he didn’t just babble without any understanding.

The whole purpose of speaking in a church gathering is to lead the congregation in praising God, and how could they do that if they didn’t know what was being said? So Paul clearly teaches here that strange languages were not to be used publicly unless there was an interpreter.

Jesus Christ is Lord of all, He gives to people His loving call,

“Come to Me and learn of Me, Learn to know what you should be!”

***             ***             ***

                                Church Order.

1 Corinthians 14: 20-40

Paul has given instructions concerning the use of foreign languages among the believers, and now he continues with what the results will be if these are not followed. “What if non-Christians come to one of your meetings and find that they can’t understand what is going on?” he asks. “If there is just a babble of noise, or someone talking in a foreign language, they will say you are just a bunch of idiots and will leave…..

But if they find someone there who is talking sense, in a language they can understand, they will be convicted and know that God is indeed with that group.”   He went on to say that the meetings should be conducted in an orderly fashion, with men speaking one at a time , in either giving out a hymn, reading a portion of the Bible or giving a word of encouragement, then everyone is built up in the faith. If a person can speak better in another language, there must be an interpreter there so that everyone knows what he is saying.

The whole purpose of the gatherings were to build up and give praise to God…He is not the author of confusion, but of peace and order. The women were not to speak publicly in these communal gatherings, but to ask privately if they didn’t understand. They were to recognise the leadership of the men which is God’s order  (chapter 11:3), and abide by this. It is not suggested anywhere that women are inferior to men, this is merely God’s request and as such should be done.

So Paul concludes by saying that everything was to be done in God’s order, with men speaking one by one and an interpreter there if an unknown language was used.

Jesus Christ makes order and peace, Showing that  strife and babble must cease,

A song then a talk, a prayer and a word, All given in speech that can plainly be heard.

***             ***             ***

                                The Resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15: 1-22

Paul now turns his attention to an entirely different topic…that of the resurrection of the Lord and of believers. Paul takes them back to the beginning of their faith….it is in a risen Lord. This is a historical fact, there were more than five hundred who saw Him after His resurrection….

He himself had seen the Lord Jesus in the vision on the road to Damascus….he felt that he was too unworthy for this revelation as he had been such a persecutor of the believers at that time. But now he was a product of God’s grace, and he was prepared  o preach about this Risen One.

Some of you are saying that Christ never rose from the dead, that it is impossible, he continued, but if this is true then all our preaching is useless and we are nothing but liars! We would be most miserable if this were true, but we know that what we teach IS true, and can rejoice in this fact.

Then Paul went on to explain how Christ’s resurrection is the central pivot of the Christian faith…the first man Adam, brought death into the world. Christ is the Second Man from God as it were, and He has brought eternal life to the world. Without His resurrection, we would have no hope at all. But now we have hope because of Him, and we can KNOW with certainty that we too have this life for now  and for the future.

While Jesus was on earth, He told Martha that He IS the resurrection and the life…all she could think about was something in the dim distant future at the end of all time, but Jesus showed her right then, that very day, that the resurrection was a fact when He called her brother Lazarus back from the dead!  (John 11:21-27, 43-45) .

Jesus Christ is alive today, Showing us the truth and way,

Bringing life to all who believe, When they His truth will just receive.

***             ***             ***

                                The Eternal Body.

1 Corinthians 15: 23-58

Just as Christ has risen from the dead all those years ago, so we too will be resurrected at His coming…those who have already died will come back to life, and those who are alive will also have their resurrected bodies at the same time….how else could the human body survive in the heavenly places?

Christ is going to hand over His Kingdom to His Father God, and all other rule and authority as we have known it on earth will be put down and destroyed…the last one being “death”.

Then Paul comes to the next query….what sort of body will believers have in the resurrection? He goes on to use the illustration of a seed that is put into the ground….it is a small hard insignificant thing that is put into the soil, and it rises out of that into a beautiful plant which bears fruit or flowers that benefits all, just as God has decreed. So it is, that whatever sort of body God has decreed for His people, it will be an everlasting one (immortal) that is not subject to any frailty that besets humans now, but will be glorious and free, a spiritual body!

We sow a natural body in this life, and will be raised as a spiritual being….our bodies will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. All bodies will be raised to die no more, but the point is, where will these bodies spend eternity? They are reunited with their souls and spirits, and are still capable of feelings , thoughts and speech. Those who have died in their sins, still have that burden which can never be lifted…it is like a sting which remains for eternity. We have a glimpse of that in the account of the rich man who died and went to hell, a place of torment   (Luke 16: 19-31).

Those who repented of their sins in this life, have them forgiven and forgotten, and will live to praise and serve the One Who relieved them of this terrible burden….they will never again experience sorrow or pain, disappointments or setbacks, but will go on for the eons of eternity living and rejoicing with the One who bought them with His blood while on this earth.

Our eternal destiny depends entirely on what we do with Jesus Christ in this life…we have to remember that the consequences of doing nothing is the same as actively rejecting Him.

Jesus Christ  has come to earth, To give to men the second birth,

Respond to Him while this very day, He is the only Truth and Way.

***             ***             ***

                          Last Minute Instructions.

1 Corinthians 16: 1-4

Paul has one final matter to address before he closes his letter. We have two matters mentioned here….money and what day of the week matters?

The Christians felt the need to give money for the benefit of others in not so fortunate circumstances as they were. “I’ve told the other churches”, Paul writes, “to have regular collections every week, and when I see you, I will take it with me to where you designate it should go. Don’t have a special collection when I arrive.”  He addressed this matter again in the next letter he wrote, where he told them to only give what they could budget for, and not to give more than they could afford  (2 Corinthians 8:10-15).

The next thing we see, is that the Christians were obviously gathering together on the first day of the week. This was a big thing for the Jewish Christians to have to get used to. Up until the Resurrection Day, the rest day of the week was the seventh day according to the law of Moses. But now it seems that the day for worship was the first day of the week to commemorate the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to remember Him in the way He asked in taking the bread and wine in what is now called the Communion  (Acts 20:7).  This was no big deal to the Gentile Christians, but it must have been hard for the older Jewish Christians to change their way of thinking. Nevertheless, this is now the generally accepted day of worship, being called the “Lord’s day”  (Revelation 1: 10).

Jesus Christ  has given this way, Every week to give a day,

Time for Him for what He’s done, Time to think of God’s own Son.

***             ***             ***

                                Final Greetings.

1 Corinthians 16: 5-

Paul was intending to catch up with these believers on his way through their country, and maybe even stay the whole winter with them. Meantime, he was at Ephesus where he was finding many opportunities as well as many adversaries …..

      We often find as we do a “successful” work for the Lord, that there will be hindrances, sometimes even from those within the church. Satan will always stir up those who don’t agree with what is being done, or how it is done.

He says that Timothy was going to see them too, and that they were to welcome and encourage him in his work. It is always good to support those who are seeking to preach the word, in both encouragement of word as well as financially. Paul was also hoping that Apollos would go to visit them, but it wasn’t convenient at that time.

He tells them to stand fast and be strong in the faith, doing all things in love. We have to stop and think what our own attitudes are towards others who perhaps grate on us a bit, or who preach too long sermons. On the flip side, we have to take stock of ourselves and wonder how we come across to others in our mannerisms and speech….not everyone can take long sermons or too much preaching!

We are to give way to others and fit in with them.  He then mentions by name those who have visited him from other places and how they encouraged him, and passes on greetings from Priscilla and Aquila and those who meet in their house church.

He finishes up with the serious statement that those who do not love the Lord are under God’s curse (Anathema), and to remember that the Lord is coming soon! (Maranatha). God’s grace be with you, Love, Paul.

Jesus Christ, our Lord indeed, One who supplies our every need,

Let’s look above for His return, And seek His Word to always learn.

***             ***             ***

        Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians

                                   Greetings.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11

Paul starts off this letter much the same way as he starts all his letters, first by stating his credentials (an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God) and including whoever is with him at the time, Timothy in this case. He is writing primarily to the church which is at Corinth, but includes all the believers in surrounding areas…

Grace and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, he continues. It is only in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can have peace with God. He calls blessings on God the Father, Who he describes here as the God of all comfort.

How wonderful to know that God will comfort us in all our trials and troubles! We sometimes wonder why God allows His people to go through so much, but we must remember that unless we have experienced these things, we cannot know God’s comfort; on the flip side, we are then able to comfort others from our own experiences when we see them suffering in similar ways. We are not to allow any experience we go through to be lost, but we are to grow in the confidence of God’s goodness.

Paul knew what he was talking about….there were times when he thought he was as good as dead…we remember that he was stoned by the Jews and left for dead at Lystra  (Acts 14:19). He knew that it was only through God’s deliverance that he was still alive at this time, and he was continuing to trust in God for his safety. He acknowledged too, that it was through the Corinthians’ prayers for him that he was able to continue.

We might think that we aren’t doing much, but we ARE told more than once to pray for one another (Colossians 4:2-3). It helps each one of us to be aware of God’s care and keeping power and because of this, it does us as much good as the ones we are praying for. It also stimulates praise to God when we see how He is working things out for others.

Jesus Christ cares for His own, He never leaves them all alone,

As He comforts those He loves, We can look to Him who lives above.

***             ***             ***

                                           Our Confidence.

2 Corinthians 1:12-24

Paul uses many words to say a simple thing in this passage. He was telling the Corinthian believers here, that he was pleased with the way they had taken notice of what he had written earlier….

They could be pleased too, that he had taken the time to write to them….in fact he had wanted to visit them a second time as he was passing on his way to Macedonia, and then to Judea. He felt he had written to them some straight things that needed addressing, and they couldn’t misunderstand what he had been saying to them. His two companions, Timothy and Silvanus, had backed him up in what he had told them.

God has given us many promises, he wrote, and they are established by what Jesus Christ has done for us; not only that, but the Holy Spirit has sealed each believer, and we know this deep within our hearts. We see here the three aspects of God… Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

He felt that if he had arrived at Corinth any sooner, that he would have spoken to them more sharply…as it had worked out, he was letting them deal on their own with the problems he had pointed out to them earlier. This is a principle that we must each put into practice…we must see things from the Word of God for ourselves and then seek His help to correct what is wrong. After all, all that we need is in God’s Word…it is sharper than a double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), and if we really seek what He wants, we will be able to confess our sin and start all over again (1 John 1:9).

Jesus Christ is straight and true, He helps us each the things to do,

His Word is sharp and cuts in half, Showing what’s good and what is chaff.

***             ***             ***

                                               Forgiven.

2 Corinthians 2:1-17

It seems that Paul was concerned how the believers in Corinth had taken his first letter to them. He makes it clear to them here, that he didn’t write in a condemning manner, but with many tears….it had been a hard letter for him to write, but he written it with the confidence that they would sort the matter out among themselves….

Now that the problem had been sorted out, and the person shown that he was repentant and willing to put things right, Paul tells them to show forgiveness and love. They had shown that they had acted in accordance with what he had told them, and because of this, he too forgave that person who had been living in sin. If we don’t forgive, he wrote, Satan then has a foothold in our lives, and it is a case of two wrongs not making a right!

Satan will always do his best to wreck God’s work, and the fellowship between believers and God….we are to be constantly on guard against anything that will cause this to happen.

Paul went on next to say how he couldn’t rest until he caught up with Titus again, and that is why he had gone into Macedonia. How thankful he was to God for all He had done through them in making Christ known to others….the message was like a sweet fragrance to those who believed, and to those who refused to listen it was like a smell of doom. Paul knew that he had preached the Word in sincerity and truth, remembering that God was watching all the time.

Two wrongs will never make a right, Remember we are in a fight,

Satan tries to make us fall,  Into his trap of paying back all.

***             ***             ***

                                   The Glory of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:1-18

In this day and age, there is great emphasis put on having the right qualifications for everything that is done. Paul here stresses that he doesn’t need a letter of commendation or the right letters behind his name to prove he was sent by God, these believers were themselves proof of his ministry…..

They had the added dimension of the Holy Spirit living within them to show the work of God in their hearts. Paul reminds them of how when Moses went up the mountain to receive the commandments written on tablets of stone from the hand of God, that his face shone with the reflection of God’s glory when he came down to the people. If God’s glory showed in connection with the law which no man could ever keep, how much more should His glory be shown through our lives!

The law was done away with and superseded by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross….how much more glorious is that! But unfortunately, for many people in the world today who refuse to look into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, their minds remain blinded, just as though there is a veil stretched over it and they cannot see God’s truth. For all those who truly seek the Lord, this “veil” is taken away, and they can see God’s truths as clearly as they can see their own face in a mirror! Not only that, but as they see these things, their lives are transformed and changed by the Holy Spirit…they find they have new interests, and new aims…they become new creatures in Christ! (chapter 5:17)

Jesus Christ makes all things new, For those who turn to Him and do,

All He says and all He gives, As then for Him they now do live.

***             ***             ***

                                     The Light of the Gospel.

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Paul took his calling to preach the Gospel very seriously, it was his ministry for God to see souls of men saved. He wasn’t doing it for any ulterior motive, but because he was called by God, and he was being as honest as he could in discharging this duty….

Those who couldn’t see this were lost, being blinded by Satan…if they would only allow the light of the gospel to shine into their lives, what a difference it would make for them! This still applies today….for those whose minds are shut to the gospel none of this makes sense, and for those who have come to Christ, it all is such common sense and so easy to see! Jesus Christ is the Lord! It is as simple as that! How thankful we can be that we have responded to the message, and have received this light….it is God’s power that has brought this about.

This is what kept Paul and his companions going…in the troubles they found, they weren’t distressed…they could take it to the Lord. When things happened that they couldn’t understand, they didn’t despair, but soldiered on and prayed about it. When persecution came their way, they knew they were not alone, but that God was with them, and when everything seemed against them they didn’t give up. When it seemed that they might die like the Lord Jesus Christ did, they kept going and thus far they had been preserved from death so they were able to continue preaching so that others could come to know the life of the Lord Jesus. What an example to us today!

Many people in other parts of the world are finding these same principles working…when troubles come and all seems against the people of God, yet their inward person can keep going as they get renewed each day by taking it all to the Lord. After all, we are all fighting for the things eternal….this is the end goal, not things of this world which will all fail and tarnish in the end.

Jesus Christ is each one’s goal, For He it is Who makes us whole,

He will guard and strengthen you, As we seek His will to do.

***             ***             ***

                                         Our Ultimate Goal.

2 Corinthians 5:1-13

Paul speaks here of the future….he is saying that we have nothing to worry about when we die…we have an eternal home in heaven and a new body to go with it! In fact, when things go wrong here, and we are in pain, we wish that day would come quickly….

God has given us His Spirit to live with us, and He gives us the capacity to know that when we are here, although we are absent from the Lord, yet when we die we will be present with Him for eternity! What a glorious thought!

We must always keep this thought in our minds, that one day we are going to be answerable to the Lord for the things we have done (or not done!) while here on earth. Paul said he always tried to persuade people of the sense of the Gospel as they very well knew, and that  God knew their efforts. He tried to behave in a way that they could point to as a godly person….too many people put more emphasis on just the outward appearance rather than what is in the heart. He felt he could  really praise God joyfully in a way that people might think was crazy, but then on the other hand, he had to present the Word to them in a plain and sensible way that they could  easily understand.

Jesus Christ knows us inside out, We remember this without a doubt,

We must be strong and not grow weak, For as we think, so we do speak.

***             ***             ***

                                        The New Has Come.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

We come now to a wonderful truth….because Christ died for us, so as we come to know Him, we too die to our old way of life….we have new interests and new aims. Whereas we once found nothing of interest in the Bible, now it has become an exciting book, one that opens up new doors and new visions….

We don’t want to live just to please ourselves, but to please the One Who died for us and rose again. We find now, that we don’t want to do the things we once did, or go to places that we once enjoyed. The company and language of unbelievers now jars on us and we really have nothing in common. They don’t want to hear what we have to say about the Lord….they brush it to one side as being “OK for you, but not for me”, not realising that it is the difference between eternal life and eternal death.

We too, have to realise that we are now ambassadors for Christ, not just in what we say, but how we live….people are watching us all the time and are very quick to point the finger if we slip up. Mankind has no option but to turn to the Lord to be delivered from the habits of sin that we can all fall into. Jesus Christ is far more than just a swear word….He is the life and light of the world, and the righteousness of God the Father.

Jesus Christ has died for all, Knowing Him will soon enthral,

He will make all things anew, For those who seek His will to do!

***             ***             ***

                                               Contrasts.

2 Corinthians 6:1-18

Paul goes on to show how much his work with them is actually God working through him. God is always ready to accept those who turn to Him. In fact, there is no time like the present time to turn to Him…none of us is promised tomorrow!

Paul then talks of his own hardships in taking the Gospel to people, and yet he regretted none of them. He had gone through hardships, and bad times; in being beaten and thrown into prison; in being short of food and comforts. In spite of all these things, he had always tried to keep himself reminded of God’s goodness and showing love. He reminded himself of God’s power and the truth of His Word, and practiced depending on all that was good. What an example to us!

He didn’t allow people’s bad reports about him to get him down, or any of the hardships to stop him in his preaching work. It seemed hard, but he kept a cheerful attitude, and even if he didn’t have much money he knew he was helping others to be rich in God’s Word.

He then spoke directly to these people….”Look, we have always been very open with you…it’s not us that haven’t come out into the open, it is you people who haven’t responded to us! Please be just as open with us!”

Then he makes a statement that is very important….DON’T be unequally tied up to unbelievers…it doesn’t work! Whether it be in business or some other partnership, and definitely not in marriage. It just doesn’t work! What agreement can you have about certain practices that go on when they aren’t totally honest? How can you talk intimately about the things that are most important to the child of God with someone close to you who doesn’t believe? Marriage has enough stuff to work through without taking that into it as well! It is impossible to pray together, and to go to church together, and what about when the children come along? How are they going to know which parent is right?

So it makes business difficult with these different standards, and a godly marriage impossible. Keep away from it altogether….it is not God-honouring! “You are My children” says the Lord Almighty, “The least you can do is to honour My commands!”

Jesus Christ will reign supreme, His light will shine with brightest beam,

When we respond to His sweet call, And cleave to Him, our All in all.

***             ***             ***

                                         True Repentance.

2 Corinthians 7:1-16

Paul now thinks of his last letter he had written rebuking them for the sin that was in their midst. He must have often wondered how they took it, hoping they had realised that he had written it from a loving heart with the desire to see them going on for the Lord, and not being hindered by this sin…..

He reminds then that they hadn’t acted in any dishonest way with them, and that in spite of all his hardships, he was filled with comfort and joy as he thought of them now. He was so glad that Titus had come from them and told him (Paul) how they were getting on and how they had dealt with the problem. Titus too, was rejoicing as he told Paul that they had confronted the man, and he had repented and left the situation he was in. He said that the whole church there had behaved in a most godly manner over it all.

Paul now felt justified in his boasting about them that they would do the right thing, and was able to rejoice in them more than ever. This topic shows us that although it is not easy to confront what is wrong, yet there are times when it has to be done. It is the way in which it is done that counts, and we need to remember that we all have weaknesses that need to be addressed at times.

Jesus Christ uses His men, To bring things back to God again,

Tis not always easy to straighten a mess, But God gives strength and wisdom, no less.

***             ***             ***

                                             How Much?

2 Corinthians 8:1-11

Paul deals very clearly here with the topic of giving to the Lord….how much should be given? How should it be given? What does God want of His people? It is clear that these people were not wealthy people, but they wanted to give their offerings to God in a financial way….

He talks about the generosity of the people of Macedonia, who didn’t have much to spare, but still gave willingly to the Lord, and how they had given this gift to Paul to pass on to those in need. Although they didn’t have much financially, yet they gave the Lord the greatest gift of all, that of themselves. What an example to us! This in fact, is the greatest gift that the Lord looks for, and it was what Paul was looking for in these Corinthian believers as well. As they did this, they became known for their love, and patience, their speech and their knowledge. Paul went on to stress, that this matter was not a command or a rule, it was simply something that was to be spontaneous and willing on their part…as others had done this, so he wanted them to do the same.

After all, the Lord Jesus had left His glory and riches in Heaven to come to earth into a poor family where He had to work for His living the same as everyone else. Because He did this, He was able then to impart great spiritual riches to all wanted them….He lived as an ordinary man who the people could relate to. Paul had already told these people this a year before, and now he wanted to see the fruit of his advice.

Jesus Christ gave of His all, To those who heard His loving call,

We in turn must give ourselves, And for Him then we daily live.

***             ***             ***

                                               Giving.

2 Corinthians 8:12-24

Paul has already pointed out that giving to the Lord must come from a willing heart…giving grudgingly is not really giving at all, it is paying a due. For a rich man to give a large sum is not really the same sort of sacrifice as a poor man giving out of his meagre wages….  

We are not to give to make a good show to look good for ourselves, nor are we to give to others when we should be providing for our own. We are to use our heads in our giving, and share what we have with others. When we have plenty, we are to give away what we don’t need immediately, and not to let it go to waste or store it up just in case. He reminded the people how it was in Moses’ time when the manna was being gathered…..there was enough for everyone.

Then Paul goes on to talk about Titus, and the care he had for the different groups, and how he and another unnamed brother went to them taking a gift with them. They were both honest and diligent men, and Paul’s helpers in the Gospel, and as such were to be  welcomed and treated lovingly.

This reminds us to be hospitable and helpful to others, and not be stingy and mean or selfish in our dealings or thoughts towards people. We often see how people open their hearts and hands when there is some national disaster, starting up funds for those affected, and how much more should we, as the people of God, be generous with what God has given us!

Jesus Christ gave us His all, He holds us now e’en when we fall,

We should share what we have with others, Showing that we  in Christ are brothers.

***             ***             ***

                                               Proof.

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

Paul had boasted about the generosity of the Corinthian believers to others, and he was letting them know to not let him down when they arrived, but to have their next gift ready waiting…..

We read next about the principles of giving to the Lord….those who withhold their donations won’t gain anything from being mean. If we keep what we’ve got for ourselves, we will miss out in the long run, but if we give gladly and generously we will reap the benefits, both now and in a time to come. We are reminded here, that God loves a cheerful giver….after all, look what He gave for us, His only begotten Son to die for our sins!

A seed cannot produce until it is put into the ground….it is never lost, but will grow and bring forth more seeds! So it is with what we give to God….it brings forth not only what it was given to do (helping others), but also much praise to God as a result, and this is what counts more than anything else. Those who receive these gifts will give praise to God and also pray for them, the givers. So it becomes a double blessing!

We must always remember to thank God for His greatest gift of all, the Lord Jesus Christ! What He has done for us is indescribable!

Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift, Has brought to us the highest lift,

So  giving  again what He has given, Will  reap results when we get to heaven.

***             ***             ***

                                         God Sees the Heart.

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

It seems as though there were some people at Corinth who were grumbling about Paul’s letters and what he was telling them, saying things like “Who does he think he is anyway? He’s not much of a preacher when he is here and now he is telling us what to do by his letters!” Paul now points out certain things to them….

He says that distance is not what makes him bold towards them, when he arrives back, he will tell them face to face the same things! He was not telling them things from merely a human point of view such as they were thinking, but from a spiritual point of view, realising that there is a whole different dimension of warfare they were involved in. Satan is the believer’s main enemy, and he is always ready to tear down the work that God is doing in people’s lives.

Their arguments against God were not valid, and Paul was ready at all times to defend his teaching….after all, he was just as much God’s man as they thought they were! They were judging him on his personal appearance  and putting his letters down as a result. “Don’t worry”, he writes, “I will be telling you the same things when I next see you!”

We are not to compare ourselves among ourselves….this is sheer foolishness. Our standard is Jesus Christ and we all fall far short of Him. Paul was seeking to do what God had appointed him to do in teaching them and preaching even further afield. He wasn’t going to boast about what had already been done, his boast was in what the Lord was doing….it was God’s work, not his. This is a trap we can all fall into….starting or doing a work for the Lord and treating it as if it were OUR work, or as if no-one else can carry it on! God can always raise up others to fill the gaps, when we are forced to retire or move on, and we have to remember it is only in Him we can boast!

Jesus Christ, our only boast, He it is, the Lord of Hosts,

Following Him who stands alone, The standard always for His own.

***             ***             ***

                                        Paul’s Opponents.

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

It seems that Paul was feeling a little depressed with the attitude of the Corinthians… he was pouring himself into these people and yet they were listening to other preachers who were not presenting them the truth….

The Gospel is so simple, he writes, but just as Eve was tempted by Satan, you are being tempted by these fancy theories! “I know I have the truth as much as the main apostles, and if I don’t give it with fancy presentations, it doesn’t mean it is any less true! “ he writes

This is especially a trap for us today…the preacher with the latest technology may be very impressive, but there is nothing to beat a good plain old Gospel message delivered with a fire in the preacher’s soul and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Eye contact will win every time over a screen presentation!

Paul then takes another tack…”Have I made a mistake in coming to you free of charge?” he asks, “I’ve purposely kept myself from being a financial burden to you (others have supported me)….do you think I did this because I don’t love you?”  It seems that other preachers were coming to these people, not preaching the truth and yet expecting to be supported. “Even Satan can appear as an angel of light”, he reminds them. This is something we too, have to be careful of….there are plenty of charismatic teachers around who depend on their personality to get them by….we need to pray for discernment in listening to what they say!

Jesus Christ is our standard today, He is the truth, the life and the way,

He will give us the eyes to see, That what is being said, is truly free.

***             ***             ***

                                         Paul’s Credentials.

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Paul said that these other preachers were coming to the Corinthians and boasting about their qualifications and diplomas that they had…..”now let me tell you what I’ve been through” he writes, “although it is not glorifying to the Lord for me to do so”…

Seeing that they accepted others who boasted about themselves, he would do some boasting too, even though he felt it was foolish to do so. He gave his pedigree…of the seed of Abraham, a true Jew. He had been appointed a minister for the Lord, by the Lord, and then listed all the things he had suffered as a result….his beatings, his hard work, his imprisonments, being stoned and beaten with sticks until he was nearly dead. He had travelled far and wide, been shipwrecked in the process, and in constant dangers from both natural disasters and from the authorities, even from dangers by the supposed brothers in the church. He knew what it was like to be cold, hungry and uncomfortable for the sake of Christ, and on top of all those things, he had the care and worry of what the churches were all getting up to! He suffered many weaknesses and disappointments, but he was determined to continue to glory in the Lord.

Paul’s list of sufferings make ours small in comparison….it is up to us to remain cheerful in spite of what we are going through.

Jesus Christ is all in all, To those who He has truly called,

We count our sufferings small indeed, As we His Word we seek to heed.

***             ***             ***

                                       Paul’s Revelations.

2 Corinthians 12:1-6

Paul continues with his explanation of his qualifications as a preacher of the Gospel….he writes of his experience of the vision that he had fourteen years earlier. It is something that is not mentioned anywhere else in his writings, and it shows us how difficult it is to describe the heavenly scene in earthly terms….

Paul wasn’t even sure whether he was taken bodily to heaven or whether it was just a  vision that he had had,  but which ever it was, it was very vivid and he could still recall it all. But he could not put into words what he saw or heard….it was beyond him to describe it for anyone else to understand.

We see the same thing when Isaiah and Ezekiel had their visions (Isaiah 6:1-5; Ezekiel 1:1-5)….even the apostle John found it hard to describe exactly what he saw and heard  (Revelation 1:12-16).

This gives us an indication of the difference between the heavenly realm and the world that we live and function in….here we have an earthly body, there, it is a spiritual body; there, there are spiritual functions which cannot be done here on earth. Again, we get an indication of this as after the resurrection, the Lord Jesus could appear unexpectedly  at any time and in any place to His disciples  (Luke 24:31, 36-40).

Paul goes on to say that he could boast about this experience but he wasn’t going to as it wasn’t becoming to do so….he didn’t want people to think he was greater than he really was.

Jesus Christ gives to each, Gifts to do and gifts of speech,

We must each take what He gives, And use it for Him as we live.

***             ***             ***                                                                                                                        Why Me?

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

We now come to a very important passage which affects most of us as we go through life. Paul had had this wonderful unique experience, yet on the other hand he also had some sort of disability which he felt was hampering him in his work for the Lord…..

God had done so much for him, surely He would take this away to make things easier for him? It really annoyed Paul and he earnestly prayed (we get the feeling that he was begging and pleading with God) that it would be removed so his work would not be hampered in this way. But God said “No” most emphatically. It was God’s work, not Paul’s, and He would see to it that Paul had the strength to overcome this annoyance. Not only that, it would keep Paul humble and reliant on God to do the work.

How often we need to be reminded of this same thing! If God calls, God will enable. We need to be constantly reminded to stay humble, and this is why Paul was left with this ”thorn” as he called it. When he felt weakest, then he knew he needed God’s strength. Instead of whining about his problem, he now could rejoice in it, as he saw God’s help and strength as he went about. He almost counted it a privilege to be afflicted in this way as he experienced God’s strength in what he did.

What a different attitude! Others could now see God’s strength shining through Paul. This is a real lesson to each one of us….let’s make sure that we learn it and put it into practice!

Although we sometimes beg and plead, Jesus Christ will guide and lead,

Give all the strength that we need, As we go out to sow His seed.

***             ***             ***

                                 Paul’s Care.

2 Corinthians 12:11-21

Paul felt a  bit foolish for having boasted as he did, but he felt they needed to know these things. In spite of the wonderful experiences he had had, yet he still suffered from bodily weaknesses, and in doing so he felt God’s undergirding strength….

He had been able to perform miracles as they very well knew, and yet in spite of this, he hadn’t had any miracle for his own problems! This shows us that the performing of miracles is no “magic” ritual  but is only according to God’s will.

In all his visits to them, it hadn’t cost them a thing. Even when Titus and his companion visited them, it hadn’t cost them anything. Paul was now wondering if he had made things too easy for them, and that if when he next visited them, he would find them in a turmoil among themselves with gossip and grumbling going on. He was wondering too, if they would have fallen back into the sin of immorality…if this were so, he would feel greatly ashamed of and for them.

This shows us that when we fall into sin it affects all those who know us….every broken marriage is an example of this. Those who have had family members who are in involved in a divorce, know this from sad experience. How careful we have to be to live a holy life for the Lord! Satan knows only too well, our individual weaknesses, and does his besgt to trip us up in one way or another.

Jesus Christ will give us strength, To overcome these things at length,

Let us live a  holy life, Without malice or fleshly strife.

***             ***             ***

                           Final Instructions

2 Corinthians 13:1-14

Paul was going to make a third visit to these people, and he didn’t want to hear any complaints unless there were two or three people saying the same thing. He had already straightened them up on certain matters once, and he would speak to them very sharply if he found they had slipped back into these ways…..

He would speak in the power of the risen Christ, so they were to examine themselves to see if they were indeed in the faith. Notice they weren’t to examine others….how often we do this! We complain about each other without stopping to see if we aren’t just as bad in perhaps some other way!

It is God’s standard that we are to measure ourselves against….His truth, and His ways. Paul was glad when these people were indeed strong in the Lord, in fact that was what he wanted more than anything for them, but if he found them lacking when he came, he was going to speak very sharply indeed, to them! His main concern was that they would be built up in the Lord.

His final word to them was to be sure to live in peace and unity with each other, Salutations, and may the grace, love and fellowship of the Trinity be with them, and all others who read this letter (that includes us today).

Notice that the three members of the Trinity are mentioned here individually…the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (take note of His full title here, how little we hear this these days!), the love of God (which we hear a lot about….but remember that it is tempered with His holiness), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. We cannot have fellowship with the Holy Spirit if we have unconfessed sin, or an unforgiving spirit towards another person as He is grieved and quenched by our behaviour (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:19) This is where examining ourselves comes in. May we take the words of Paul in this letter to heart, and keep in communion with God at all times.

Jesus Christ has done it all, It’s up to us not  to fall,

Our feet will never ever trip,  If we stay  in fellowship.

***             ***             ***