1st Corinthians: The Church in The World Not of The World Pt 7

‘Power Not Talk’ 4:14-21

The important role humility plays in the life of the church

Christ’s way is our example, there is no way we can follow him without being like Him

As we build a church culture here @ Midtown an essential element of our fellowship is Humility

Humility is the quiet, consistent obedience to Christ’s ways and words

Humility is a realistic estimation of one’s own spiritual maturity

Humility is recognizing God’s work in the life of Leaders that He places you under

Humility is the power of God displayed in life, relationships, serving; not words

(4:8 & 4:10 Last Week)

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!

We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

  • These are statements that point out the immaturity of the Corinthian believers
  • Sarcastic rhetorical way of making an argument (The Truth In Love)
  • The Corinthians had unrealistic estimations of their Spiritual Maturity

4:14-21

I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.

  • The goal of Godly leadership is never shame, but children need guidance
  • Speaking the truth in love to others is a major challenge (Spirit Empowered)
  • Parental Love is not passive, parents have a responsibility to address issues
  • True love is displayed in discipline
    • My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. ~ Proverbs 3:11-12

Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

  • A guardian is not a parent…a different level of care and commitment
  • A father is involved from conception forward (a Spiritual Father is a real gift)
  • A child learns by imitating their parents

For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

  • Timothy is the son being faithful in the Lord, which they have strayed from
  • The reminder is of Pauls way, which is the way of Christ (Apostolic Way)
  • Jesus imprinted the Disciples & Paul, they in turn set the pattern

Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

  • Arrogance is the opposite of Humility
  • Arrogance knows better and does not place itself under authority
  • They think they don’t have to answer to Paul and God’s chosen leaders / way

But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.

  • There must have been some report to Paul of the boasting and arrogance
  • Paul is grounded in God’s will
  • Are the Corinthians talking the talk or walking the walk?
  • He sends Timothy to represent 1st but he will come himself

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

  • Paul knew the Power of God and had been there / done that by God’s power
  • Talk is rooted in arrogance, power in humility
  • God’s kingdom is honored and gloried by His power not our talk

What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

  • Paul is saying there will be correction, their approach will determine his
  • God will discipline His church, one way or another

Application Questions:

What do you have in place to keep you from becoming ‘Spiritually Arrogant’?

Who can you imitate as examples of ‘Spiritual Maturity’?

How do we as a body embrace of culture of humility?

In what ways do you accept correction and discipline from leadership you are under?

/by

1st Corinthians: The Church in The World Not of The World Pt.6

Following Christ In Obscurity: 1 Corinthian 4:5-13

Christ has called HIS followers to follow Him…not to seek recognition

Beware performance ministry…Church Planter: ‘Cover Boy’ / Culture of Stories

This kind of Christian Culture elevates our flesh, not being like Christ

Audience: Immature Christians making the church standards the world’s standards.

Are you ok with obscurity, perhaps even mistreatment?

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. (Last Week)

  • No Judgement until Judgement day
  • If we are not judging each others motives we can love in from grace
  • Almost all of Matthew 6 Jesus is laying down what Paul is saying here

Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.

  • These things: Unity / Christ = Wisdom / Spirit Revelation / Mature Leadership
  • Mature Christians applying Scripture benefits the Body (healthy relationships)
  • Stick with what God Says, not what the world says
  • Grounding in Scripture keeps you humble and from being part of cliques

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

  • Did some leader provide your salvation?
  • Did you make it happen yourself?
  • If God did IT ALL why do believers start preforming & posturing in the body?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!

  • People were considering themselves ‘Arrived’, not needing discipleship
  • People were thinking they already discovered all the riches of Christ
  • People were saying they knew better than God’s Apostles and Leaders
  • Paul is saying they (Apostles) are reigning (Not by the Worlds measure)

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.

  • Those who are fully living as God intends us all to live are not honored
  • Why would someone live like that?

We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

  • Paul is being Sarcastic…is God using sarcasm to make a point?
  • Who is honoring the Corinthians?

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands.

  • Earthly rewards…NOPE!
  • Answering God’s call on you life is rarely glamorous

When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

  • Example of what true Maturity In Christ looks like…it looks like Christ
  • This is opposite of how our world says you are to be

Paul gives example of the depth of sacrifice the Apostolic church leadership experienced…as church leaders do in many ways around the world.

The depth of their sacrifice, their love for Christ and HIS body, led to intense revelation of God…that revelation became Scripture, the next part of “What is Written”

Those levels of sacrifice for Christ’s Body, can this be our example?

Application Questions:

What is your motivation to really know God’s Word?

In what ways might you be tempted to seek people’s approval thru ministry?

Why should you serve God in the most humble and anonymous ways?

How might you develop a realistic view of true maturity in Christ?

Who are the people in your life that follow Christ in obscurity?

John 17:9 & 15-20

“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours…

…I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message…” ~ Jesus The Christ

/by

The Church in The World, Not of The World Pt. 5

‘The United Temple’ Chapter 3:16 – 4:5

In this letter Paul started with the importance of unity.

Then the theme of how the world’s wisdom is opposite of God’s wisdom.

Next the critical need to have and yield to God’s Spirit

And then, how these things go into Spiritual maturity, then back to unity…

What the thrust of this passage is: If there are factions, then there is no Temple

3:11-13 (Last Week)

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

  • Once in the body of Christ we are to build precious, eternal things
  • We will have to answer for what we have built

1 Corinthians 3:16 – 4:5

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

  • We are a Sacred Collective: It only exists when we are unified in Christ
  • The Temple is where God’s worship is done in Spirit and in Truth
  • God’s Spirit is here, will we let HIM have HIS way?
  • God says: a person can destroy that temple! How can that be?
  • We are only as united as the least united among us is: ‘The Weakest Link’
  • Sacredness is found in the togetherness, the true worship, in that togetherness

Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.

  • If we are warned to not be deceive by ourselves it must mean we often are…
  • What informs your values and priorities?
  • The only objective standard we who belong to Christ use: GOD’S WORD
  • God’s Word defines what is wise in God’s sight, do you know it well enough?

As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

  • ‘As it is written’ is what Jesus said when quoting the Old Testament scriptures
  • Matthew 4:4 Jesus is quoting Deut. 8:3 to Satan
  • He is appealing to the authority of Scripture in the believer lives
  • He is encouraging them to focus on what matters, not leadership preferences
  • We each as individuals have so much in Christ

Job 5:12-13: He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.

Psalm 94:10-12: Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge? The Lord knows all human plans, he knows that they are futile. Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law.

This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

  • How do you regard the leadership of our church?
  • 20 years ago I had no idea the sacrifices it takes to serve Christ & HIS church
  • I do believe I have been blessed to receive, carry and share The Mysteries
  • The Gospel of Jesus Christ
  • I fully believe I will have to answer for my faithfulness, as do the rest of leaders
  • Christ’s leaders are given a sacred trust, we must prove faithful

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.

  • Paul know who’s opinion really matters (An Audience of One)
  • In humility he dosen’t try to justify himself, he has nothing to hide
  • But even his opinion doesn’t matter, only God’s

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

  • God says wait to Judge, in HIS time Our Lord will reveal what is the truth
  • The motives of your heart and my heart are not for us to judge in each other
  • Worry about your motives, not your brother of sister’

When we make the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ our ultimate reality…

  • We come together as a body and focus on what is important, CHRIST
  • We guard our unity with great care and love

Application Questions:

What does it mean to YOU to be part of a ‘Sacred Collective’?

In what part of your might YOU take the advise and become a ‘fool’?

How can YOU be a part of promoting what have in Christ instead of church leaders?

How do YOU view the leadership of this church, has it proven faithful?

How can Paul have a clear conscience and still not be innocent?

Why should WE leave Judgement of motives to God?

/by

1st Corinthians: The Church in The World, Not of The World Pt. 4

Building Spiritual Maturity

1 Corinthians 2:13-14

When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

What does Paul mean by ‘Those who are Spiritual’?

He is talking about levels and degrees of spiritual maturity / mature discipleship

We can be saved and not be ‘Spiritual’, because we are immature

We all start out immature; physically, emotionally, socially, relationally…

We grow up and out of immaturity, we are made to become mature in every way, including spiritually.

But the key is that if you think you are mature you will be immature.

How do we become ‘Spiritually Mature’? We have to build it…it is a process

It is on the foundation of Christ that we build our ‘Spiritual Maturity’ (Discipleship)

The things that exemplify Christ; what we must intend to build in our hearts & lives

  • Humility / Sacrifice / Obedience / Holiness / Selflessness

Did you think to follow Christ was about only doing stuff you liked doing?

Spiritual Maturity results in eternal impact, Mature disciples of Christ change things

What we do with our salvation is almost as important as our salvation itself.

Paul is encouraging The Corinthians to grow up so they can build kingdom things

There is no such things as ‘Microwave Maturity’ it takes time to grow in Christ

1 Corinthians 3:1-15

Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger.

  • As he had just explained, only the ‘Spiritual’ understand God’s love in Christ
  • Belonging to the world in areas of your life will keep you spiritually immature
  • Being an infant is ok if you are 6 months old…
  • Our quest to build ‘Spiritual Maturity’ needs to follow the natural order.
  • If you haven’t had the milk (made it your reality) you wont understand solid food
  • The process of discipleship is not on our terms (be sure to finish the milk)
  • Paul had to feed them, spiritually mature people feed themselves (normal deal)

And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

  • It is obvious that enough time has passed for them to be ready…
  • They’re not ready because they are still being controlled by their flesh
  • Big difference between being influenced by your flesh & being controlled by it
  • He sites the agitation and side taking around different leaders (political focus)

After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.

  • Who are leaders meant to be in Christ’s Kingdom? Last is first / first is last
  • Leaders in Christs kingdom just do the work given to them by God
  • Leaders aren’t our focus, if we want to be mature; Christ is to be our focus
  • It is God working in our lives that makes us mature. Leaders are not the source

The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

  • Building Spiritual Maturity can only be done God’s way, by His power
  • If we do it God’s way it has ‘Eternal Value’; God rewards us for building maturity
  • This is God’s process, maturity comes for trusting Him & then giving Him credit

Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.

  • God gives us leaders to lay foundations in our lives, we build on what they start
  • He was an expert because he only built on the foundation of Christ Jesus
  • We need to be as careful as He was, we use ‘Biblical Theology & ‘Christology’
  • Spiritual Maturity doesn’t happen by mistake, be real about your commitment

Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.

  • All who are trying to build their life on Christ are capable of variations of work
  • Different materials represent what we form our life around: Eternal or Temporal
  • We can love Christ , follow Christ and still build worthless things into our lives
  • The Judgement Day Paul is talking about is what is known as the Bema
  • The Judgement Seat of Christ / Judgement of the saved

2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

  • 1st Judgement: Is your name in the book of Life (Rev 20)
  • The Saved will be will be judged on what they built that was of eternal value
  • Building Christ’s Kingdom is what is of eternal value, the by-product of maturity

If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

  • If what you have done with your life since salvation is of eternal value: Reward
  • Our post salvation lives are judged based on what we built (eternal or temporal)
  • Discovering we wasted our lives on things will be painful
  • You will still be in heaven (Saved) but will miss out on amazing rewards…

We can choose to be who God wants us to be and use our life in Christ to build eternal things from a growing spiritual maturity in Christ.

We can also choose to be captivated by and focused on this world, building worthless things that will pass aways.

I want to encourage you today to choose Spiritual Maturity as your goal as a disciple and building things of eternal value that you can invest your life in (people)

Application Questions:

Can you identify areas in your life where you are an infant in Christ?

What personal practices or habits have helped you become more mature spiritually?

In what ways can you trust God with your maturity building?

How do you plan to faithfully build on the foundation of Christ?

What can you build that will have value / survive the judgment? (Bema Seat)

/by

GOD’S COVENANT LOVE

God’s Covenant Love

What is a Covenant?

Covenant is key to understanding how God relates to His Creation.

Covenant is what God has used through Scripture to describe His Love (320 times)

Humans made in His image are the main focus of God’s ‘Covenant Love’

The Scriptural story of God’s revelation to us is the unveiling of His Covenants

The ultimate revelation of His ‘Covenant Love’ is Jesus Christ

As followers of Jesus Christ Our Lord, we have committed to be HIS disciples

And as His disciples we are to love as He loves

As Followers of Jesus, guided by Scripture we express love in covenant relationships

God’s people throughout history have used a covenants to express love in the most important of all human relationships: Biblical Marriage…The Marriage Covenant

So as Christ’s body, HIS church, HIS ‘Called Out Ones’ we are expressing love in our relationship with each other in this ‘Family’ by instituting ‘Covenant Membership’.

There is only one requirement to be qualified to enter into such a Covenant Membership: That you have come to the place of Biblical Salvation in Christ Jesus!

From there we enter in by choice, conviction, obedience, commitment, and LOVE

Today I want to share with you the biblical story of God’s Covenant Love in preparation for that commitment some of us will make today and in the coming weeks and months here at Midtown Church.

It is the story of redemptive history, culminating in Christ Jesus

The progressive revelation of God’s love (He knew the best order)

I hope today you clearly hear God speaking to you in love thru His Covenant Love

The original covenant of life God made with Adam in the beginning was broken with the fall of man and sin entering into the world.

It is downhill from there, so bad God destroys the world with the great flood

God begins to rebuild the relationship with His Creation & Mankind:

The Story of Noah: The Covenant Love with ‘Fallen Mankind’

Genesis 6:17-18

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

  • God ‘Establishes’ the Covenant
  • It is with ALL mankind (one race,the human race)

God’s Covenant is all inclusive: everyone has access

The Story of Abram (who becomes Abraham): Big Picture of Covenant Love

Genesis 12:2-3

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

  • God is going to form a Covenant People that He will bless ALL PEOPLES thru

God’s Covenant Love will be displayed through a certain Nation that will bless ALL

Genesis 15:6

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

  • This is the basis of relationship with God: Total Faith in HIM
  • This is how we access all of God’s Covenant Love!

Genesis 17:7

I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

  • Eternal Nature of God’s Covenant Love
  • Covenant is extended to all future generations & descendants of Abram’s faith
  • God is the God of all who would put their faith in Him as HE reveals Himself

The Story of Moses: Covenant to Clarify a People and a Place to Birth Blessing

Exodus 6:2-4

God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.

  • Same God, same Covenant Love, now further revelation of that love / plan
  • God’s Love can change you from a foreigner to an owner

Exodus 24:8

Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

  • Foreshadowing of Christ all over this revelation of God’s Covenant Love
  • The Passover
  • Covenant in Blood (Covenant Requires Sacrifice)
  • Specifics spelled out ‘The Law’ (previous 4 chapters was God giving the laws)

Story of David: Pointing to The Messiah and The New Covenant in God’s Love

Psalm 89:3-4 & 28-29

You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations. I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.

  • This Covenant Love story is going to culminate with a Person

From David forward the Prophets declare the coming of a ‘New Covenant’

Jeremiah 31:31-32a & 33b

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors”… “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

  • This will be an Internal / Spiritual experience vs External / Natural one
  • Not only will God be our God (Gen 17) but WE will be His People

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of of all the covenant promises

The entire Bible is pointing to Jesus Christ

Luke 22:19-20

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

  • The New covenant is God revealing the fullness of his covenant love in Christ
  • Here Jesus is telling us how he will seal the deal

Lay out the Gospel in terms of redemptive history

2 Corinthians 1:19-22

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

  • The culmination of all human history is the advent of Christ
  • God enables it all, we receive it in faith
  • Because of what He did we ‘speak the Amen’ which is that we Surrender
/by

1st Corinthians: The Church in The World Not of The World Pt.3

God’s Wisdom Revealed by The Spirit

Paul is writing to the Corinthians as a Pastor, to shepherd them & teach them.

He started the letter calling for unity, then gets to source of Christian Unity: The Spirit.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is foundational to our Christian lives.

He is the person of the Trinity we actually interact with once we belong to Christ.

The Spirit can and will work in our lives prior to Salvation, but once He indwells us…

It is essential that we understand how the Spirit work with us and in us.

It is essential that we first and foremost understand how & why He comes to indwell.

It is essential that we learn how to yield to and access God’s Spirit in us

All our ‘Spiritual’ problems require ‘Spiritual’ solutions, we need what the Spirit gives!

1ST CORONTHIANS 2

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

  • Paul came to them ‘boasting only in the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 1:31)
  • He gave his ‘testimony’ what he had experienced; what he had witnessed
  • He didn’t want the waters of his faith or theirs to be muddied; but to be clarified
  • Keep the main thing the main thing! Christ Crucified! The Gospel

I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

  • He didn’t come swagger and confidence.
  • He didn’t try to win them with theatrics
  • He let the message be Christ and he let the Power be Christ’s Spirit
  • The last thing he wanted for them was to rely on human wisdom
  • Denial of the Spirit is only unforgivable Sin

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

  • God’s message is eternal wisdom; recognized through Spiritual Maturity
  • Please don’t expect it to be appreciated by our world
  • The fullness of God’s redemptive plan is a mystery to mankind with God’s Spirit
  • God’s completed Revelation = Christ…Surrender to HIM = God’s Spirit in US !

None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”– the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

  • The power running this world is deceived and does not know the ways of God
  • Jn 18 Jesus: Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me. Pilate; What is Truth?
  • What the world sees as truth is not truth. What the world sees as wise is not…
  • On our own with our ‘Human Capabilities’ we have No Idea! (Isiah 64:4)
  • These are things only seen with Spirit-taught understanding

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

  • The only way to understand God is through his Spirit (Pre-Salvation Sanctification)

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

  • It’s when we truly understand what He’s given us that we receive His Spirit
  • God’s Spirit speaks a different language, different concepts and economies

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

  • Our world, human wisdom rejects the message of the Cross
  • They have no means by which to understand: no way to decode the message

The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” (Isiah 40:13) But we have the mind of Christ.

  • Who is the person with the Spirit?

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit…(Ephesians 1:13)

  • We have access to the mind of God through His Spirit because of Christ

Application Questions:

In what ways has God’s Spirit enabled your faith?

Why does Paul call God’s Wisdom a ‘Mystery’?

What truth in Scripture has God revealed to you by His Spirit?

What practices have helped you develop ‘Spiritual Discernment’?

Why do you have the mind of Christ?

/by

1st Corinthians: The Church in The World Not of The World Pt. 2

The World’s Wisdom VS God’s Wisdom

Context: Paul writing to a church he was part of starting, dealing with their issues

He started with Unity and then He clarifies what they are United around

This church, like us, is geographically situated in ‘This World’

We are called to be in this world but not of it; Spiritually ‘Set Apart’ by following Christ

It starts with a clear understanding of and belief in the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Everything we are as a church starts with the reality of Christ!

Who He is, and what He has done are not understood by the means of this world

God’s ways are scoffed at by the popular culture of our day, as they were 2000 yrs ago

1st Corinthians 1:18-31

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” (Isiah 29:14)

  • Not believing in the unconditional gift of the Cross = The height of foolishness.
  • The only way to truly experience the ‘Very Power of God’ is to surrender to Him
  • God says HE WILL

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

  • The pursuit God is not an educational, philosophic, information based endeavor
  • God’s way is for you do it His way and that is by ‘Relational Faith’
  • You don’t need to know everything, you don’t even need to know much:
  • You just need to know The TRUTH

It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

  • Jews wanted a replication of Moses
  • Greeks wanted to ‘reason’ it out with logic
  • The Gospel of Christ dosen’t fit mold of this worlds thinking (never has, never will)

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

  • The only way it makes any sense is that God enables it
  • God is calling, will you let him be heard in your heart & soul?
  • It’s beyond ‘This World’s’ capabilities to fully understand God’s wisdom & strength

Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

  • Did any of us really know anything before God called us?
  • I know I was truly humbled…I thought I knew somethings…
  • I’ve been considered foolish by friends, family & others for being a ‘Real Christian’
  • They think I have wasted my life…we will see

God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

  • The manner of Christ’s birth was a low as it gets
  • The manner of Christ’s death was the epitome of nothing: shameful & despicable
  • But through this God, and God alone made the way for us to have EVERYTHING
  • True Faith takes no credit for the salvation of Christ…But we do take part!

COMMUNION: Celebrating & ‘Taking Part’ in ‘The Gift’ of Christ-Given Salvation

This is a Sacrament only for Surrendered Disciples of Jesus Christ (Start Today)

God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:24)

  • Being united with Christ is an ongoing practice
  • The Lord’s Supper is a: Remembrance / Reconnection / Reenactment of GRACE
  • Who Christ is and what He did enables us to:
      • Enter into a right relationship with our Creator
      • Become pure & Holy, Christ’s purity and Holiness become ours
      • End being ‘Owned’ by Sin…it still oppresses, us but dosen’t own us
  • Since we could make none of that happen, we have nothing to take credit for

Application Questions:

Why does the reality of the Gospel destroy the wisdom and intelligence of the world?

Why does God not want us to know Him through ‘Human Wisdom’?

Why do you believe Christ is the power and wisdom of God?

Why is the reality of God displayed through foolish, shameful and despised things?

What are some ways you can ‘Boast only about the Lord’?

/by

1st Corinthians: The Church in The World, Not of The World Pt. 1

Chapter 1:1-17: The Priority of Unity in Christ Jesus

Corinth was a diverse, sexually immoral and factious city. It totally resembles Atlanta.

Paul had founded the church at Corinth and had been in touch with the church. The church had written Paul asking for help with several issues.This letter was written to address those issues.

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.

  • Paul constantly working in partnership
  • Sosthenes: former Synagog Leader, beaten by mob…converted by Christ

I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy because you belong to Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

  • The message is for the WHOLE church…All who belong to Christ
  • He makes us His when we call on His ‘Name’ (Reality of who HE IS recognized)
  • He has done this to you just like He does it for people everywhere

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.

  • Paul is thankful for all Christ has given us by making us HIS
  • How well do we appreciate all Christ has done for us?

Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.

  • The real results in our life, attitudes, values, lifestyle, purpose and understanding
  • These ‘Actual Results of Biblical Conversion prove the truth of the Gospel

Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

  • Christ has given us what we need, and will continue to do so until HIS returns
  • His Spirit in us ‘Designates Us’ as: Forgiven / Redeemed / Adopted
  • He does this so you can be His partner in the redemption of all creation
  • Lordship of Christ is critical to the whole process

I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

  • So based on all of this and by Christ’s Authority Paul reminds us of our ‘Oneness’
  • We are united by and around our Lord Jesus Christ, so let’s act like it!
  • It is the FIRST thing Paul wants to tell this Church and ours

For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”

  • Division is one of the Devil’s key strategies to disrupt Christ’s Church
  • He does it by tempting us to sin that involves PRIDE
  • Following ‘Parts’ of the Body rather than the Head acting through the parts
  • Following ‘Only’ Christ puts you outside of the system Christ set up
  • Christ gives His authority to the Church; exercised though ‘Plural Leadership’

Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!

  • He refutes that there is a place for any division in the Body of Christ
  • He does the Saving, Baptizing and placing of people into the ONENESS

I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.)

  • He did do some baptizing, but it was not his focus
  • He was not keeping score

For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

  • He was not looking for the attention of being the one who baptized
  • He knew what his primary role was: Declare The Gospel of Jesus Christ
  • He knew that it was not about what he said or his ability to impress with words

Paul begins with asserting that we all have a common call and place

That we unify around that call and the ONE who calls

That we have so much to be thankful for having been made partners of Christ

And because of that we have a responsibility to be united in every way

That we have different roles in the body that allow us to express that unity

Application Questions:

What are the gifts, grace and peace you have ‘Belonging to Christ’?

Describe the partnership you have with ‘Christ our Lord’.

What role can you play in protecting and promoting unity & harmony here @ Midtown?

Why are divisions, cliques and human allegiances damaging to Christ’s Body?

Why does Paul put ‘I only Follow Christ’ in the list of wrong thinking about the Body?

/by

ONE RACE Pt.3

Biblical Justice: Justice from God’s Point of View

One Race is about the reality that all humans are of One Race. It has been proven scientifically we are all one race: The Human Race.

What we look like, where we are from, various customs & culture are different expressions of the Trinity Itself in the creation of humanity / ‘mankind’. As one race we can be united to each other by our Creator no matter the differences and experiences we have. He does it by putting HIS Spirit in us when we surrender to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As Jesus Christ’s Church we can choose to stop accepting the premise that people are of different ‘Races’ in our language, attitudes, perceptions and actions. We should not expect this to happen without of our being yielded to God’s spirit.

There’s a reason the ‘World’ wants to perpetuate the lie of different races: Division

The result of lies being the basis of human relations is what we call ‘Injustice’. In many ways, because of the lie that people who look different are different ‘Races’, there is a human legacy of injustice, it is the legacy of sin.

Please remember injustice is due to rebellion against & denial of God that results in people establishing & perpetuating injustice that forms a system of humans sinning against God & each other by oppressing each other. Injustice is the by-product of sin. It is not due to a lack of opportunity or education or access to resources it is due to SIN. That is a Biblical Theology Point of view

Justice is too big a topic for one sermon, but we can build the proper foundation If we are to define Justice from a Biblical point of view (the only one Midtown takes), we must begin with the Author of Justice as revealed by the Scriptures; not our feelings, preferences, ideas or what the culture thinks about ‘Justice’.

If we will allow God to define Justice, then as His people, we should be in agreement with Him as to how ‘Justice will be served’…

We must pursue Justice in every way possible, but we have to let what Justice is be defined by God and be good with HIS timetable for when. HIS way for how…

The bottom line is we start with Who God is, and what Scripture says about HIM and Justice.

Psalm 145:3

His greatness no one can fathom / His Greatness is unsearchable / No one can measure His greatness / There are no boundaries to His greatness / His greatness is beyond discovery.

  • Multiple translations same point: HE is beyond our comprehension
  • We can approach Him with humility based on that reality

Psalm 33:4-6

For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

  • HE & HIS WORD set the standard, not you and me or the culture or politics
  • The love of justice is who HE is
  • HIS dominion / sovereignty is absolute (Biblical Theology)

Isaiah 5:15-16

So people will be brought low and everyone humbled, the eyes of the arrogant humbled. But the Lord Almighty will be exalted by his justice, and the holy God will be proved holy by his righteous acts.

  • Views, ideas, emotions & intentions of people apart from God’s will (arrogance)
  • HIS Justice will be exalted… NOT human justice
  • The reality of HIS actions will prove HE alone is Holy

Jeremiah 12:1

You are always righteous, Lord, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?

  • Jeremiah ‘knows of’ God’s Righteousness, but he doubts…just like we do
  • From Jeremiah’s point of view it seems that God is making some mistakes…
  • Is God not paying attention? Does HE not care?
  • When we come at it as though we understand the entire situation we are mistaken

God’s answer: Jer 12:5-6

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

  • You can’t even keep up with other things I Created…
  • You stumble (SIN) when you are in best possible situations…
  • It is an object lesson in what we started with: God is beyond us…

Our way forward is to humbly recognize The Author & Perfecter of Justice so we can be ‘Instruments’ of HIS justice!

Zachariah 7:8-10

And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

  • As God’s People we are Commanded
  • Administer means to DO it…not to post it, or read a book about it
  • Show mercy, don’t just think it’s a good idea
  • You & I, today & tomorrow, can work to end oppression (based on Scripture)

But there is a danger in our own ‘Working’ for Justice if we loose sight of WHO it must always be about and that it can only come from HIM. For followers of Jesus Christ how we begin to foster Justice is clear…it is about connection to the source of true Justice.

Micah 6:7-8

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

  • The answer is an obvious NO…the example is the worst excess of man’s ways. 
  • God has shown us, how he wants it to be: ‘Shalom’
  • If we truly ‘Walk’ with HIM, we will DO Justice
  • True love can only be expressed in ACTION…to love kindness is to ‘BE KIND’

1 John 3: 18-19

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.

  • Words & Speech VS Actions & Truth…notice which side truth is on?
  • Beware of those who claim to seek Justice apart from The ‘Source of Justice’  
  • We belong to the truth because we have surrendered our lives to ‘The Truth’

You cannot overcome evil with evil…

You cannot bring about justice with injustice…

God defines Justice in His Essence

God is always against people treating other people unjustly

Injustice is established & perpetuated by SIN based on LIES

You cannot be on the side of ‘True Justice’ and be against Jesus Christ…

Application Questions:

What are some ways you can seek humility in your approach to God & Justice?

How can you increase your understanding of God’s idea of Justice?

What can you do to ‘Administer Justice’ & not oppress the marginalized?

How might you discern who is concerned with ‘Biblical Justice’ VS ‘Human Justice’?

/by

ONE RACE Pt.2

Biblical Unity: Called by Christ to be ONE in Him

We are One Race, all with the same problem: hard wired for rebellion…

History of the human race leading to the gospel proved we cant solve our sin problem

Sin leading to hatred, prejudice, bigotry, discrimination, oppression is our DEFAULT

God used the nation of Israel to both prove the need and solve the problem

He did himself what we could never do: conquer sin and death

The massive injustice that has happened is not reconcilable without God

That is the only way we can be united

‘Religion’ is not the answer (Jewish, Christian or any other ‘Form’)

What religion does is try to appease God by what YOU can do

To overcome sin (so we can be united) requires what only God can do

The only way we can have true unity is through the Gospel leading to biblical salvation…

Real unity has to come from being united around and by something: Christ

We are all One Race so it’s not race that divides us…Let’s get real: It is things like:

Physical Appearance / Culture / Values / Religion / Language / lifestyle

And based on our preferences we: Discriminate, Stereotype, Generalize…Sin Attitudes

And then we justify our differences as being to deep to get over

So let’s see what we are called to concerning unity as the Scriptures teach

Biblical Unity is what we are going for…so let’s start with Jesus Christ

Jesus praying in the garden focused on the goal of our unity…but it is not a given…

John 17:20-23

I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

  • This is US!
  • Jesus desires those who believe in Him have unity that reflects the Trinity’s unity
  • Our unity proves the reality of Jesus Christ as the ‘Messiah of God’

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

  • The Glory is the connection by God’s Spirit which enable the ‘Perfect Unity’
  • If those who believe in Christ as Lord & Savior were united, others would ‘believe’
  • Our unity can prove to everyone that God loves them
  • If His Spirit is in you you will feel the call to Biblical Unity around the Gospel

Ephesians 4:1-6

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

  • The prisoner begs you to get in the cell with him…because it is BETTER that way!
  • As a disciple of Jesus Christ we are all called a higher standard of love
  • We are called to pay forgiveness forward, called to treat others like God treats us

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.

  • Unity takes intentionality, it will not happen without focus on it (Yielding to H.S.)
  • The bond of peace is personal surrender to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
  • As Born Again, Spirit Indwelled Disciples of Jesus Christ, God UNITES us!
  • In every way that matters we, IN CHRIST, are united…so live that reality out!

Can that really happen? What does it look like when it happens?

Acts 4:32-33

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.

  • The converts from Pentecost where living with the Jerusalem Jews (Diverse City)
  • They ALL were united emotionally and in practical ways (True Communalism)
  • The leadership declared the truth about ‘The Christ’ / ‘The Resurrected Lord’
  • Blessing flows from Unity around ‘The Gospel of Jesus Christ’

The way forward is to not deny our differences

God wants all of the different expressions of Humanity because they reflect all of HIM

St.Paul used the human body as a metaphor for the ‘Church’ (God designed both)

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

  • Our differences are reality (we cannot minimized past oppression / sin / disunity)
  • Only together can we display what The Godhead wanted to express in humanity
  • We are ‘Organs’ different from and complementary to each other’ ~ C.S Lewis

Unity does not come from imposed uniformity…

It comes from each of us placing our uniqueness under Christ’s sovereignty

We can be united by obedience to The Gospel & intentionally seek unity & peace

Colossians 3:12-15

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

  • We need the ‘Grace of Christ’ to understand others who are different than we are
  • ‘Clothe Yourself’ is to live out who you were meant to be (Chosen, Holy, Beloved)

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

  • There are going to be problems, let Jesus Christ be your example of forgiveness
  • Love is the glue that unifies us, Christ’s Love for US!

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

  • We started talking about what we are called to when Jesus Christ calls us
  • The surrender to that reality is how you let HIS peace rule
  • We are all called to experience that peace together as the Body of Christ in Unity

A few sermons will not change things… This is a attitude and lifestyle thing

Application Questions:

Why do you think Jesus Christ ‘prayed’ for us to be united instead of making us be?

Describe how Christ’s love has called you to the unity that is God’s will for ‘Believers’?

Why does The Gospel of Jesus Christ unite His followers?

What is your role in a united body; different from & complementary to each other?

How does you experience of forgiveness from Christ allow you to forgive others?

/by