May 19, 2011
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The Basics: Contention in Church and Spiritual gifts by Pastor Don Moore
Bible study taught by Pastor Don Moore on April 1, 2011
Pastor is reviewing foundational truths. I missed the first part of this study for I was running an errand for Pastor, someone took down the scripture references for me though.
1 Corinthians 1:1-7 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
So spiritually minded no earthly good – pertaining in all spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 1:8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul wants us to be confirmed blameless.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
speak the same thing, no divisions.
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I came back into the room, so now I can share from my notes:
1 Corinthians 1:12-17 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
The Church can easily forget that Christ is the Head of the Church. When you get in trouble, then you blame the Church. Few people are bold enough to say that they were the cause of their trouble. They want to blame others for their troubles instead of looking at their life and figuring out where they missed the direction of God.
The proof of the error of this passing of the blame is that, once the blame is assessed, is it followed by more error? Many people blame the church for their problem, then they church hop – leave one church and move to another, and then once they get there, the same problem crops up because they haven’t dealt with the issue within themselves, so they leave that church and go to another.
Paul is saying that there is contention in the House and it is not a good thing, people in the Church are aligning themselves with personalities, or on the basis of baptism. Paul is saying that we are all under Christ. Are we servants to Christ, not to a personality.
1 Corinthians 1:15-17 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Paul knows his role and function in the Kingdom.
Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
God gave gifts to men. People were captive for they had no access to Heaven before the Cross. Those who died before Jesus was born were held in Abraham’s bosom, either to be punished or blessed based on their life. When Jesus died he went down to hell and preached to them and led those captive to Heaven where the Father is. Now, since Christ to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Christ gave gifts to men. He released into the earth the supernatural evidences of who He is , man received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of tongues, healing, and man was set free. All of this is done by Jesus’ faith. He imparted it to the twelve and then the 70 who received gifts, but the Holy Spirit did not come to reside until the Upper Room
Paul is saying in essence that a person of another faith or an atheist can baffle you with words, but once a person gets hit with the Holy Spirit their blind eyes and deaf ears are opened. The Cross is greater than any other sacred symbol of any religious ideal.
Ephesians 4:9-15 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
Our faith and religion is based on power, not of fancy words. We have everlasting life. Life is through Christ, and we are a true disciple of Christ. Put the things of God first, and your choices second. It is a personal decision to put God first. The power of our faith is that we receive the touch and subsequent touching after that.
Luke 16:19-31 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”
Notice that Jesus says, “There was…” This was not a parable, this really happened. Jesus names names and it is done in perfect Jewish context.
Abraham’s bosom – when a Jew died and was buried on earth his spirit went somewhere else. The rich man saw Lazarus from afar off. There are two places in Abraham’s bosom, a lower place of torment and a higher place of pleasure.
The holding place was necessary because there were no perfect people. When Isaiah saw God he said that he was undone because he was a man of unclean lips. A burning coal was used to purify his lips so that he would be holy enough to stand in the presence of a Holy God. No one in their natural state can see God. Moses stood in the cleft of the rock and was only able to see the hinder-most part of God’s glory.
No one can die and be in the presence of the Lord unless the Lord cleanses him and he is made perfect. There were a few who came close, where God took them – Enoch, Elijah, and Moses. And two of those will be coming back as the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation.
So there had to be a holding place for those who lived righteous lives and almost kept the laws.
In the end times there will be 144,000 Jews to be pure and undefiled. God will seal them.
If we are honest we realize that there are times when we had the opportunity to do the holy thing, but chose the unholy. We need to stay humble.
Where we have missed it, someone else has succeeded.
A good example of obedience is Abigail and Nabal, she did the right thing, standing behind her husband who acted foolishly. She went and served David, to save her husband’s life. She did the righteous act, and in time her righteousness was rewarded.
1 Corinthians 1:18-20 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Worldly wise people can act very stupid. For example, Liz Taylor’s lifestyle.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
People who are worldly smart do not know God, for they look at the message of God and feel it is foolishness.
1 Corinthians 1:22-25 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Called – these are picked, made known. They come to their senses and realize that they need God. Some take longer to realize that He has called them than others. How long are you going to let the devil fool you? When do you stop hitting your thumb with a hammer, realizing that each time you do it it hurts?
God means it when He says He will never leave you or forsake you. Many are called but few are chosen. Everyone is given a measure of faith, and they have the choice to make use of it or not, those who choose to believe make use of it and are the chosen, but everyone is given the measure of faith.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
God knows what is in our hearts and minds. He prepares paths for us, but we choose to stay in those paths or to stray. Our straying doesn’t take God by surprise, but His path is the best one for us. If we follow His plan, God arranges good works for us to do. We have free will and we don’t always listen to God.
Pastor Don says that he follows what he calls, “The Ten Second Rule.” Before he takes an action he stops and takes ten seconds to listen to what the Spirit has to say. That prevents a lot of rash mistakes.
God prepares good works for us to do. The devil runs us ragged doing good works – but they may not be the ones God has specified for us.
When you get up, ask God, “What do you want me to do today?”
Life is much nicer and smoother if we are Spirit led and make smart decisions. Trust in the wisdom of God. It may look like God is doing one thing, but He may be doing another thing that we just don’t perceive at this time. Trust God.
With the seed of faith that God has provided – have you eaten it or sown it?
I hope this teaching blesses you.
Heather
