1 Corinthians 4:7-21 Humbleness And Tenderness

Paul also wanted the church at Corinth to understand humbleness.  "Paul discovered that his spiritual strength was the result of personal weakness.  strength that knows itself to be strength is weakness; but weakness that knows itself to be weakness becomes strength ... There is no place for pride in the ministry."

He also wanted them to understand tenderness.  "Paul did not take credit for their conversion ... Paul was the 'father' who stood by and assisted at their birth."

He had founded the family at their church and he was an example to the family of what a godly man should be.  He was also faithful to discipline the family, it said in my commentary.

"A child's will must be broken, but not destroyed.  Until a colt is broken, it is dangerous and useless; but once it learns to obey, it becomes gentle and useful.  Pride is a terrible thing in the Christian life and in the church ... Paul had been patient with their disobedience, but not he warned them that the time had come for discipline ... A faithful parent must discipline his children.  It is not enough to teach them and be an example before them; he must also punish them when they rebel and refuse to obey ... They were puffed up and even proud of their disobedience ... Those who will not govern themselves must be governed."

Father, I pray that our church will be obedient and not have to face what this church faced -- discipline from You.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

1 Corinthians 4:1-6 Faithfulness

My commentary sees three pictures of ministry Paul wants the congregation to understand.  The first is faithfulness.  "Ministers" literally means "under-rowers" describing the slaves rowing Roman galleys..  They were not the captains of the ship.

He also uses the term "steward" -- a servant who manages everything for his master but who himself owns nothing.  His sole purpose is to please his Master.  Stewards are judged three ways, Paul said.  First by men, which isn't important.  Second, by his own self-judgment.  "Sometimes we do not really know ourselves."  Third and most importantly, there is God's judgment, through His Word and by the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- the main reference is to the final evaluation before Christ.

There was also a threefold rebuke to the congregation -- judging God's servants at the wrong time (it shouldn't happen until Christ does it), by the wrong standard (not by their own personal preferences and prejudices), and with the wrong motive (not promoting division in the church).

Father, please help me to let go of past prejudices against anyone who has served You.  You are the only one who should judge them.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

1 Corinthians 3 -- A New Insight For Myself

Back on January 2nd, I read 1 Corinthians 3, and God so spoke to me, about what my Bible study once was, about what had changed and what caused those changes.  About how He intended it to be and what He'll be doing soon, and how I must shake off what has over the years adhered to me in order to get to where He wants me to be.  I was blown away.  I hadn't realized just how out of shape spiritually I'd become.  He gave me a training plan. I decided I needed to camp out in 1 Corinthians 3 for a while.  

The primary question my commentary found for this chapter was:  "How do we know when the pastor and church leaders are really doing their job?"  (I'm not by any means saying that I doubt they are.)

It then mentioned how Paul pointed out two different kinds of saved people:  mature and immature (carnal).  "The immature Christian lives for the things of the flesh and has little interest in the things of the Spirit."  Paul wasn't thinking about the recently-saved Christians.   These were Christians who should have graduated out of the basics.

One mark of maturity is diet, going from milk to meat.  In my commentary Wiersbe believes "milk" represents what Jesus did on earth (Bible stories), while "meat" represents what He is doing now in heaven.  And I think we should agree that what He's doing now is more relevant to us today.  Wiersbe calls it "living on Bible doctrine instead of Bible stories.

Another mark of spiritual maturity is practicing love and seeking to get along with others rather than disagreeing and fussing as young children do, it said.  An immature Christian put into a position of leadership can cause disaster.

Unity of purpose is vitally important to churches.  We are to all be part of the harvest.  It certainly wouldn't do to have someone ruining the harvest by cutting down the plants before they are ready.  My dad sure got onto us for chopping down a cotton plant accidentally while removing a large careless weed!

Diversity of ministry was also mentioned.  God uses those who plow the soil, those who sow the seed, those who water the seed, those who hoe the weeds, and those who harvest the crops.  We each have parts we have a natural love to do, and usually those parts are matched with our God-given abilities.

Finally, humility of spirit is mentioned.  For all our work, we cannot tell a seed when to sprout.  God does that.  He is the Lord of the harvest, not us, and we have to have humility.  He alone deserve the glory.

Father please remind me often of these things as I interact with those You've placed me beside in our church.  Help us all to work together for You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

1 Corinthians 2 -- WOW! God's Multi-Dimensional Thinking Revealed!

My commentary says, "What had happened at Corinth is happening in churches today:  men are mixing philosophy (man's wisdom) with God's revealed message, and this is causing confusion and division."

These verses show that Paul knew the fundamentals of the gospel message and wanted us to know:

1)  It centers on the death of Christ

2)  It's part of the Father's eternal plan

3)  It's revealed by the Spirit through the Word

There were several nuggets of spiritual truths that caught my attention.

Human wisdom seeks for an explanation of the gospel, but through the Word of God, we put our faith in a demonstration -- God at work in our own lives.

Satan and his demonic forces "did not understand God's great eternal plan!  They could understand ... that the Son of God would be born and die, but they could not grasp the full significance of the cross because these truths were hidden by God ... Satan thought that Calvary was God's great defeat; but it turned out to be God's greatest victory and Satan's defeat.  From the time of our Lord's birth into this world, Satan had tried to kill Him, because Satan did not fully understand the vast results of Christ's death and resurrection.  Had the demonic rulers known, they would not have engineered the death of Christ.  Of course, all of this was part of God's eternal plan.  It was God who was in control, not Satan."

Finally, I like how my commentary explained the various outside-of-time events in my salvation and everyone's salvation:

"As far as the Father is concerned, I was saved when He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world ... As far as God the Son is concerned, I was saved when He died for me on the cross.  He died for the sins of the whole world yet the whole world is not saved.  This is where the Spirit comes in:  as far as the Spirit is concerned, I was saved" when I heard the gospel message and it touched my heart.  "It was then that the Holy Spirit applied the Word to my heart.  I believed and God saved me."

Father I can't think multi-dimensionally like You, but I'm thrilled that You worked all this together for my good!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

1 Corinthians 1 -- The Church Was Having Issues

Oftentimes, new believers especially will be thrilled with their decision to follow Christ, but won't delve deeply to discover their calling.  My commentary said that the church at Corinth, made up primarily of new believers, became a defiled church, a divided church, and a disgraced church.  "Instead of glorifying God, it was hindering the progress of the gospel."

Paul spoke to them and to us about our calling as Christians.  First, he said we were called to be holy -- set apart by God, enriched by His grace, expecting Jesus' return, and depending on God's faithfulness.  Yet the believers in Corinth were getting involved in the sins of the world and the flesh.

He said we are called to fellowship, not division.  We aren't supposed to be following human leaders, but Christ.  Also, they were looking at the gospel from a philosophical point of view, seeking earthly wisdom.  The point was that no one but Christ was crucified for us.

We are also called to glorify God, not ourselves, which is the sin of pride.  Paul reminded them of what they were before being saved, of why God called them, and of all they had in Jesus Christ.  "Since every believer is in Christ, and he has all that h needs, why compete with each other or compare ourselves with each other?"  Paul will have more to tell them.

Father, help the believers in our church to be one in Christ, looking only to Him, and remind us of whose we are.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 21 -- John Has Three More Things To Say

"John did not want to end his gospel without telling his readers that Peter was restored to his apostleship," my commentary began.  "Apart from the information in this chapter, we would wonder why Peter was so prominent in the first twelve chapters of the book of Acts."

It also mentioned another purpose:  "He wanted to teach us how to relate to the risen Christ."  The disciples never knew when He would appear, so they had to stay alert!"

My commentary also said there are three pictures of the believer and a responsibility attached to each ... Jesus had told His disciples to meet Him in Galilee, and it's here in this chapter that they've been waiting and fishing and are told to cast their nets on the other side of the boat and they are given a marvelous catch!  Jesus turned Peter's failure into success," it said.  "We are never far from success when we permit Jesus to give the orders, and we are usually closer to success than we realize."

Jesus then fed them breakfast on the beach, reminding us that we are shepherds, too.  And we are to love Jesus and all those He draws to Himself.  "Caring for the physical can prepare the way for spiritual ministry.  Our Lord does not so emphasize the soul that He neglects the body."

Jesus also mentioned Peter's death someday, but it would not be a tragedy -- it would glorify God.  When Jesus then publicly said, "Keep on following Me," Peter was publicly restored after he'd denied knowing Jesus three times.  Jesus doesn't hold our past sins that we've confessed against us, but instead forgives and puts us to work.  "We can succeed only as we permit Him to transform us."

Father, thank You for forgiving and transforming me.  Thank You for giving me hope and leading me to my two sons.  I pray that they, too, will discover the treasure of Your forgiveness and allow themselves to be used by You in a huge way.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 20:19-31 Thomas' Doubts

We can certainly wonder about Thomas.  When Jesus first appeared to His disciples in the Upper Room after His resurrection, Thomas wasn't there.  The Bible doesn't elaborate, so there's no reason for us to speculate.  He seemed to have a pessimistic outlook, according to my commentary.  He's often called "Doubting Thomas", but Jesus did not rebuke him for his doubts.  He rebuked him for unbelief.  "Be not faithless, but believing."  Doubt is often an intellectual problem:  we want to believe, but the faith is overwhelmed by problems and questions.  Unbelief is a moral problem; we simply will not believe.  What was it that Thomas would not believe?  The reports of the other Christians that Jesus Christ was alive!

"Thomas's words help us to understand the difference between doubt and unbelief.  Doubt says, 'I cannot believe!  There are too many problems!'  Unbelief says, 'I will not believe unless you give me the evidence I ask for!'  How gracious our Lord is to stoop to our level of experience in order to lift us where we ought to be ... Our Lord's words translate literally, 'Stop becoming faithless, but become a believer.'  Jesus saw a dangerous process at work in Thomas' heart, and He wanted to put a stop to it ... Unbelief robs us of blessings and opportunities... It may sound sophisticated and intellectual to question what Jesus did, but such questions are usually evidence of hard hearts, not of searching minds."

Father, thank You for also seeing a dangerous process at work in my own heart after I finished college, and for putting a stop to it.  I don't want to imagine where I'd be if I hadn't listened.  I love You!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford