Psalms 132-134

Psalms 132:13-14
For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 14 “This is My resting place forever; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

Zion here is a reference to Jerusalem. Having read of all that takes place in Jerusalem throughout the scriptures and then visited Jerusalem on four different occasions, I can say that the more I consider the role it plays in God’s plan now and in the end, the more excited it becomes. Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, is about the size of New Jersey. How thrilling it is to consider the international attention and tension this small country draws. Why? Because it is a place specifically chosen by God to be apart of Himself, both in the past, in the now…and forever!

Psalms 133:1
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

There are few things more pleasant than when the body of Christ is united. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. All too often, the body of Christ drifts from the centrality of Jesus Christ in the Bible, and His teachings within the scriptures which leads to dissension, arguments and disunity. We must take to heart what Paul said in 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.” If we keep our eyes wholeheartedly upon Jesus, unity will automatically follow.

Psalms 134:2
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the Lord.

I love to lift up my hands to the Lord. I think it is important to do so, especially when we are singing songs that say so. If we sing a chorus that says, “I lift my hands to the Lord” and fail to lift them, we would be better off not singing that song.

Psalms 129-131, 1 Corinthians 11

Psalms 129:2
“Many a time they have afflicted me from my youth; Yet they have not prevailed against me.

I remember times when I would get picked on at school…afflictions from my youth. The Lord loves us and protects us constantly. Even when others are against us…He is for us.

Psalms 130:5-6
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than those who watch for the morning—Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

If you are anything like me, you hate waiting. However, it is in the waiting that we find hope. As we wait on the Lord, our strength is renewed, when we take hope in His word.

Psalms 131:1
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty, Nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern myself with great matters, Nor with things too profound for me.

This psalm is a great reminder to remain humble before the Lord. When our eyes are focused on the Lord, great matters and profound things are of know concern to us. Why? Because there is nothing greater and more profound than the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.

There may be some who think that Paul was pretty arrogant for saying, “imitate me”. But I say he said a very good thing. It is wise and good to imitate people who are imitating Jesus. It is imitating people who don’t care about Jesus that gets you in a heap of trouble.

1 Corinthians 11:21
For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk.

Paul is speaking here of some of the abuses that were taking place in partaking of communion. They had lost touch of the real purpose of it and we’re abusing it by gorging themselves and getting drunk.

1 Corinthians 11:23
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;

I love Paul’s account here of how we are to partake of the Lord’s supper. Two things the Lord said we are to participate in communion (the Lord’s Supper) and baptism. Communion is a very serious thing as it is a reminder of Jesus’s death on the cross for the sins of the world.

1 Corinthians 11:27-28
27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

It is important, before we ever partake of communion that we search our hearts to see if there is anything in us that we should repent of. If there is, we must understand that the Lord is quick to forgive and immediately confess our sin to Him.

1 Corinthians 11:29
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

What is Paul saying here? He is saying that when we partake of the Lord’s supper in an unworthy manner, with a sinful heart, we are saying, “Lord your death on the cross wasn’t all that important. I can sin and still take communion.” I cringe at the thought of this. Jesus freely went to the cross for us and we must never take that for granted. We must never take that lightly.

Psalms 126-128

Psalms 126:1-3
1 When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. 2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, And we are glad.

The idea of the Lord bringing us back conjures up two thoughts in my mind. The first is that He brought us back from the dead. When we were dead in our sins, Jesus saved us and now we are alive in Christ. Second, no matter what trials we may go through this side of heaven, God is faithful to bring us through them. Even in the most traumatic of circumstances, a sickness that leads to death, a tragic car accident that takes our life or any number of things, we have the assurance of eternity with the Lord.

Psalms 127:1
1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

This is a great reminder to let the Lord direct our lives. Otherwise, disaster will come upon us. When I let the Lord direct my life, when I let Him build the house, my work is always productive and effective.

Psalms 127:3-4
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.

The key to this verse coming to fruition in our lives, is to dedicate and train up our children in the ways of the Lord. All too often I have seen parents experience everything but joy in their child rearing and many times it can be traced to the failure to impart spiritual truths into their lives. No matter what has happened in the past, it is good to purpose in your heart to speak of the Lord to your children and demonstrate a life surrendered to Jesus from this point forward.

Psalms 128:2
When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

There is much to be said about a good days work. At the end of such a day, as tired as one may be, there is a great sense of accomplishment and that feeling that you have pleased the Lord in our labor. I love that about working hard!

Psalms 128:3
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table.

What I said about Psalm 127:3-4 ties into what we read here. I have learned over the years that the fruitfulness of my wife is intertwined with how well I have loved and cared for her in the manner tha Paul speaks about in Ephesians 5:25, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. When we love our wives in this manner, their lives become fruitful and there is great joy in our marriages.

Psalms 123-125, 1 Corinthians 10

Psalms 123:3
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.

I am amazed at how evil my heart can be. Even in my regenerated state, I can think some of the most selfish and mean things. Praise God they never manifest themselves in action, but I think them none the less…and the Lord knows it. How I praise God for His mercies. He never gives me what I truly deserve, but instead extends His loving grace towards me, loving me and giving me what I don’t deserve. This glorious truth about our God draws me to love Him all the more.

Psalms 124:2-4
“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, When men rose up against us, 3 Then they would have swallowed us alive, When their wrath was kindled against us; 4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us, The stream would have gone over our soul;

I cringe when I think about what it would be like if the Lord weren’t on my side. In fact, all I have to think about is my life before I came to faith in Christ and it makes me incredibly grateful to Him. with the Lord on our side, nothing can take us down. 1 John 4:4 says, You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Psalms 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.

How good it is to know that the Lord surrounds us. Not only when we are good or when we are asking Him to surround us, but forever. His love and care are unconditional.

1 Corinthians 10:3-4
all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Paul is making reference to Numbers 20:8, “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” Jesus is referred to as the Rock. When we are grounded in Him, we are immovable.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

This is one of my favorite verses. It reminds us that there is no temptation to sin that will come our way, that God won’t provide a way for us to escape that sin. Whenever we fall into sin, we can rest assured that it isn’t because there wasn’t a way out (for God promises us a way out) but simply that we didn’t take the way out He provided. Whenever we are tempted, we must keep our eyes open for those escape routes.

1 Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

This is another way of saying, ‘you cannot have a relationship with Jesus and a relationship with the world’ at the same time. The reality is, to have an intimate relationship with the world, is to have a relationship with demons. Satan and his dominion have been given temporary control of the world. We must hold very loosely to the things of the world lest we fall prey to it.

1 Corinthians 10:31
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

This is the reason we were created, to give the glory to the Lord. Whatever we do, we must seek to do it for God’s glory and honor. The only way this will be possible is if we are fully committed to Him.

Psalms 121-122, 1 Corinthians 9

Psalms 121:1-2
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

This psalm has been made into a modern-day worship song. The chorus is, “Oh how I need you Lord. You are my only hope. You are my only prayer. So I will wait for You, to come and rescue me, come and give me life.” I love singing it. Oh how we need the Lord! Oh how we must wait for Him!

Psalms 121:3
He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

The key to not having our foot moved, is keeping it firmly rooted in Jesus Christ. He will not allow our foot to be moved. However, we will often get so impatient with what He is doing in our lives that we move without Him. This is where we get ourselves in trouble.

Psalms 122:6
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.

I believe it is a good thing to pray for Israel. To Abraham the Lord said in Genesis 12:3
“I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you.” over the years there have been and continue to be many who curse Israel. I believe this is a very foolish thing to do. This is why we pray for Israel. Biblically they are still God’s chosen people and He clearly is not finished with them yet.

1 Corinthians 9:13-14
Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

Paul is establishing the practice of ministers (pastors, teachers, etc.) receiving payment for their services. He is not saying it is mandatory, for even Paul himself was a tent maker (leather worker) by trade. There were times when he was provided for and times when he chose to provide for himself. Serving in the ministry as a pastor is not a ‘job’. I believe it is a privilege. I cannot believe that I get to do what I do every day, and I cannot believe that I get paid to do it. I praise God that I am able to make a living being a pastor ,but my call to pastor came long before I made a living doing it. If for some unknown reason the church was unable to pay me, I would find other work to pay my bills and keep doing what God has called me to do, shepherd the flock of God which He has purchased with His own blood. What a joy!

1 Corinthians 9:22
to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

This is one of those verses that has been terribly misinterpreted over the years. Some would suggest that Paul was saying we should, to some degree, be like the world in order to win the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul was talking about various customs. for instance, he had Timothy circumcised so that they could more effectively minister to the Jews. However, when it came to Titus, he refused because their motives weren’t right. We must be careful how we interpret this verse and put it into effect. I believe we should be sensitive to other cultures and customs as long as it never causes us to compromise God’s word.

Psalms 120, 1 Corinthians 8

Psalms 120:1
1 In my distress I cried to the Lord, And He heard me.

There is much to be distressed about in our world today. I love that we can count on the Lord hearing us. Whenever we are in distress, and we cry out to Him, He will hear and He will respond. What a loving and caring God we serve!

1 Corinthians 8:2
And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.

I like this verse. It reminds me of how cocky we can get about things when in fact, compared to the Lord, we know nothing…absolutely nothing. Knowledge puffs up, makes us proud, but love, God’s love builds us up and makes us wiser than we could ever imagine.

1 Corinthians 8:9
But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.

We must be careful, in how we live our lives, that we don’t do things that will be a stumbling block to those who are weaker in the faith. This is a very serious thing. It is not about the freedoms we have, but living our lives in a way that is God honoring and leads others to a closer walk with Jesus.

1 Corinthians 8:13
Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Obviously Paul was himself committed to what he was writing. I have so much respect for people who live what they preach. They are the kind of people I want to follow.

Psalms 119

Psalms 119:2
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!

Psalm 119 is one amazing psalm. It expounds the glorious truth, power and value of God’s word. It is the longest chapter in the bible with 176 verses. Take your time reading through this psalm as you digest the glorious riches of the Word of God.

Psalms 119:9
9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.

I spend a lot of time helping people to deal with their problems. There is always one answer to their difficulties and in fact one answer to all the problems of the world. Trust in Jesus and then take heed according to His word. If people could but understand that it is really that simple.

Psalms 119:11
Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

When we hide God’s word in our hearts and keep it there, we will not sin against the Lord. His word is the greatest safeguard we have to make sure that we are always walking in the Spirit. It is not enough to read it, but rather read it and hide it in our hearts.

Psalms 119:37
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.

There are so many worthless things in this world, and I am not just talking about sinful things. I am talking about things in this world that are worthless, of no value to our spiritual growth. If we expect to be the mature men and women the Lord wants us to be, we must turn away from such things and replace them with things that will build us up and strengthen our hearts for God.

Psalms 119:47-48
And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. 48 My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, Which I love, And I will meditate on Your statutes.

Do you love His commandments?

Psalms 119:62
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You, Because of Your righteous judgments.

There is something so cool about this verse. I can’t say I have ever gotten up at midnight just to give thanks to the Lord for His righteous judgments, but I like the idea of it.

Psalms 119:71
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.

Can you say this about your afflictions? This is God’s purpose for affliction, that we may learn his statutes.

Psalms 119:92-93
Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.

This one speaks for itself. I just love what it says!

Psalms 119:97
97 Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

This is where I would like my life to be, meditating on the Lord ‘all the day’. To do so accomplishes what we read in Psalm 1.

Psalms 119:136
Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law.

Our hearts should break because of the people all around us who do not keep God’s law. the older I get, the more grieved I become.

Psalms 119:140
Your word is very pure; Therefore Your servant loves it.

There are not a lot of pure things in this world. Fortunately God’s word is not one of the them. In fact there is nothing we have, apart from the Lord Himself, that is purer.

Psalms 119:147
I rise before the dawning of the morning, And cry for help; I hope in Your word.

I start most of my mornings, which happen to be before the dawning of the day, with this verse. I then follow it with vs 148, Psalm 5:1-3, Psalm 63:1-5, and Psalm 143:8 & 10. I find that it is a wonderful way to start my day.

Psalms 119:160
The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

Not one minute part of God’s word is untrue. This is why His word endures forever (1 Peter 1:22-25).

Psalms 116-118, 1 Corinthians 7

Psalms 116:1-2
1 I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. 2 Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

How wonderful it is to know that the Lord hears our voices. Only a born again Christian can appreciate what this verse means. The Bible says that we love God because He first loved us. We love Him because when we cried out to be saved, He saved us, and now we have the opportunity to engage Him in constant conversation. As a result, we can and will call upon Him as long as we live.

Psalms 116:12
What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me?

This is a great question. As I consider it, I can think of a simple, one word answer, “Obedience.”

Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.

Without the Lord, we have such a warped understanding of death. How could a loving God see the death of His children, the death of His saints as precious? Because He is eternal and sees the passing from this life to the next as the glorious opportunity to be with us ‘forever’. Even as Christians we can forget thijs, or not believe it. When that happens, we must seek for a greater understanding of thijs wonderful truth. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Psalms 117:1-2
1 Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! 2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!

What a sweet little psalm. Two verse of praise and gratitude for God’s mercy. All sandwiched in-between two ‘Praise the Lord’s.

Psalms 118:8
It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man.

It is easy to trust a man, because we can see a man. However, putting our trust in men will ultimately disappoint us. Trusting the Lord will never disappoint us. We must seek to trust the Lord even when we find it difficult.

Psalms 118:22
The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.

This is another messianic reference to Jesus. He spoke this of Himself in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Peter also made reference to this verse when addressing the Sanhedrin and followed with Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Corinthians 7:2
Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.

Chapter 7 is a great chapter for understanding marriage. It makes things very clear regarding the importance of marriage and protecting it from being violated in any way. There is much to be learned from these verses.

1 Corinthians 7:7
For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.

We know that at one time Paul was married. He was a Pharisee and one of the requirements of being a Pharisee was being married. However, at the time of this writing, he was single. He makes the point that it is better to be single, if you can handle it, because of all the work we are able to get done in service to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 7:15
But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace.

There are only two instances in the Bible where divorce is permissible. This is one of them. An unbelieving husband or wife leaves their believing spouse. When this happens, a person may remarry. The second is in the case of marital unfaithfulness (Matthew 19:9). These are the only two spoken of in all of the scriptures.

1 Corinthians 7:39
A wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.

God has made provision for the remarriage of widows and widowers.

Psalms 113-115, 1 Corinthians 6

Psalms 113:7-8
He raises the poor out of the dust, And lifts the needy out of the ash heap, 8 That He may seat him with princes—With the princes of His people.

What a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us. We were poor and needy and dead in our sin. Then we met Jesus, and He lifted us up out of the dust, out of the ash heap and sat us among all of the other brothers and sisters in the Lord who were once lost in their sin. He made us to be princes among all others. Praise His name!

Psalms 114:8
Who turned the rock into a pool of water, The flint into a fountain of waters.

Psalms like this remind us of how big and great our God is. Everything is under his command. Every time there is an earthquake, a thunderstorm, or any other natural event that takes place on the earth, we should remember how big and great our God is.

Psalms 115:8
Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them.

It isn’t until you have been made alive that you realize how dead you were. Verse 17 says, “The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence.” The idols and gods of this world are dead. They have no life in them. Jesus is the only One who gives life. Just as God breathed life into a pile of dirt, in the beginning, so He is still breathing life into dead things today.

1 Corinthians 6:4
If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?

We live in an excessively litigious society today. What does ‘litigious’ mean? Basically it means ready to take someone to court at the drop of a hat. The Bible warns us of relying on the judicial system to settle our matters. A believer is not to take another believer to court. In fact, I would suggest, if comes to that, we most likely should have nevere been involved with that person in the first place.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

There is a lot of talk today about who will and who will not go to heaven. Some won’t even speak about it. For some reason it has been a subject people choose to ignore. Paul wasn’t one of those individuals. He tells us who won’t go to heaven so that people will know. You won’t know what you don’t have until someone tells you what you need to do to have it. Here is a long list of those who will not go to heaven. Galatians 5:16-21 has a similar list. At the end of that list Paul says, “those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”. These are ‘no brainer’ very clear Scriptures that can only be interpreted for what they say. It is quite dangerous to read them any other way.

1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

I love that this verse follows. We must always bear in mind in sharing our faith with others and trying to help them see that they are lost, ‘and such were some of you’. With this in mind, we are going to be more gracious in sharing our faith.

1 Corinthians 6:12
12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

This is a great verse. It reminds us that while there are many things we can do as Christiqns, not all of them are good for us. As I have meditated on this verse, I realize that there are many things that I have the freedom in Christ to do which can bring me under their power. I am learning to stay away from such things as they hinder my relationship with the Lord. If I want to be the Christian the Lord wants me to be, I must be willing to stay away from those things that may be lawful but not helpful.

Psalms 110-112, 1 Corinthians 5

Psalms 110:1
1 The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

This is clearly a messianic reference, that is to say a reference to the reign of Jesus. Jesus made reference to this verse, speaking of Himself, in Mark 12:35-37, Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’Therefore David himself calls Him “Lord’; how is He then his Son?” And the common people heard Him gladly.

Psalms 111:1
1 Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

It is so important that we determine to praise the Lord with our whole hearts. He loves us and is jealous for us. He wants all of our hearts not just a part of them.

Psalms 111:2-4
The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them. 3 His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever. 4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

The word ‘studied, here means ‘to seek after’. It suggests a determination in discovering. The works of the Lord are indeed great, worthy to be diligently studied and meditated upon. I love how the psalmist says, “He has made His wonderful works to be remembered”. I am certain that the more we would reflect on ahis wonderful works, the greater our faith would be.

Psalms 112:5-7
A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. 6 Surely he will never be shaken; The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. 7 He will not be afraid of evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

I talk with so many people whose lives are in upheaval because they didn’t manage their affairs with discretion. I have been there before, and I know that it happened because I didn’t fully trust and turn to the Lord. He promises us that our Ives will be well balanced if we give our all to Him. Not just our hearts or our finances or our emotions…but everything. When we do this, no matter what comes our way, we will feel His peace and not be afraid of evil tidings.

1 Corinthians 5:1
1 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!

Chapter 5 is one of those chapters that many people wish wasn’t in the Bible, especially if they are in sin. Only a brave and mature Christian will appreciate what Paul is saying in this chapter. one must read this chapter with care allowing the Holy Spirit to speak clearly to their hearts.

1 Corinthians 5:2
And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

The big problem here was another so much the sin, thought it was very bad, but rather that the church was puffed up abut it, they didn’t see it as a big deal. On fact, they even prided themselves in the fact that they were ‘tolerant’ of the sin.

1 Corinthians 5:5-6
deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

The whole idea that Paul is trying to convey, is that the body of Christ is so special, so unique, and so God breathed that we are to love and appreciate being a part of it. As a result, when an individual falls into sin (after proper care is taken to approach the individual according to Matthew 18:15-20) they should be removed from the fellowship, turned over to the enemy (to their sin) in the hopes that they will be shamed enough to repent and return.

Leaven is a ‘type’ a picture of sin. A little sin in a church body, left unattended, can contaminate the whole church. Paulo’s quite serious about this.

1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

This is hard to do, but is a part of winning a brother or sister back to the Lord. There is no other way to read it than what it says. Notice, he is not talking about unbelievers, but one who would call himself a Christian. Again, the intent, is that the individual would miss the fellowship and return to the Lord. I have seen this happen and it is a beautiful thing. Definitely not an easy thing to go through, but well worth it in the end. In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, we read that the man in fact did return. Praise the Lord.