Exhortations for God's People
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If we were to look back on the messages on this first letter to the church in Corinth, we would note that much of it is in the form of rebuke and correction. Chapters 1-14 deal with issues that deal primarily with errant behavior. Chapter 15 deals with errant theology. Chapter 13, the love chapter, was given by Paul to the Corinthians to correct the lovelessness that characterized them.
But everything Paul did was given out of a deep love for them
The Corinthians were allowing their previous pagan ideas and habits to seep back into their lives, destroying their faithfulness to the Lord and their fellowship with each other.
They were . . .
holding human wisdom higher and of more value than God’s wisdom (1 Cor. 1:18-2:16);
factious (1:10-17; 3:19);
immoral (5:1-3);
litigious (6:1-8);
holding confused and perverted ideas about marriage, divorce, and celibacy (7:1-40);
self-indulgent (10:1-13);
indifferent to the welfare of others (10:23-33);
misunderstanding and misusing spiritual gifts (12-14);
unloving. They exemplified all the things that love is not (13:1-6).
1. Be on the alert
1. Be on the alert
“To watch, be awake, be vigilant and figuratively “to be alive.” Paul’s command is for the Corinthians to be spiritually awake and alert, not spiritually indifferent or listless.
A. Against Satan
A. Against Satan
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
Three identifiable strategies that Satan works through: 1 Jn 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
B. For temptation
B. For temptation
“Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
C. For apathy/indifference
C. For apathy/indifference
One who is insensitive cannot be alert. An example of a church, Rev 3:1-3
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.
‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
D. For false teachers
D. For false teachers
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
E. In prayer
E. In prayer
“Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
F. For the Lord’s return
F. For the Lord’s return
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
Compare Matt 25:13
“Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
2. Stand firm in the faith
2. Stand firm in the faith
The faith of truth, the content of the gospel
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Satan cannot take away saving faith from us, but he often obscures the the content of our faith, the sound doctrines of God’s word.
3. Act like men
3. Act like men
The idea is to be one who has mature courage. Paul’s command is for them to be the opposite of what they normally were. They were characterized by immaturity, 1 Cor 14:20
Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
as babes in Christ, 1 Cor 3:1-2
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.
I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,
and they are threatened with discipline, 1 Cor 4:21
What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
Maturity is seen as a mark of love, 1 Cor 13:11
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
and
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
Believers are to grow and mature in their faith, 1 Pet 2:2
like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,
It is the Bible, the word of God that provides both spiritual and moral nourishment, 2 Tim 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
4. Be strong
4. Be strong
This is a term used frequently in the New Testament to denote inner spiritual growth. It is in the Greek passive form, “be strengthened.” This is not something that we can do ourselves, because it is the Lord’s work. We are responsible to submit ourselves to Him in order for Him to strengthen us, Eph 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
To have success in our battle to overcome the flesh, we must have a strong spirit. The Corinthians evidenced that they had a weak spirit, 1 Cor 3:3
for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
They were deceiving themselves, 1 Cor 3:18
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.
even to despising and desecrating the most sacred things, with tragic results, 1 Cor 11:30
For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
For any believer to think that they are strong in themselves, they are in the greatest danger of falling, 1 Cor 10:12
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
To be truly strong, we must be self-disciplined, 1 Cor 9:25
Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
Spiritual strength comes from our submission through self-sacrifice, self-denial, and self-discipline. As we exercise this strength, we will grow stronger, Col 1:10-11
so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously
Our source of Strength is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Phil 4:13
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service,
We must wait for the Lord, yielding our spirit to His Spirit, so we become Eph 3:16
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
5. Let all that you do be done in love
5. Let all that you do be done in love
This final command is the most comprehensive the commands Paul gives to the Corinthians. It is the most needful for them and for us, for it complements and balances everything else:
Firmness with love protects one from hardness toward others
Strength with love protects one from domineering others
Maturity with love protects one from being harsh or inconsiderate
Right doctrine held with love protects one from obstinate dogmatism
Right living with love protects one from smug self-righteousness
Love is needed most, as Peter writes:
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
This type of love only comes from the Lord, 1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
And we can love, 1 John 4:19
We love, because He first loved us.
