November 2020 – I'm Following Jesus

King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34

Date: Monday, November 30, 2020
Chapters: I Corinthians 1-4
Message: Rise Up With Christ

Hello My Friend,

I missed church Sunday morning and since then have felt a great deal of disappointment in myself. I feel as though I have let God down, which also came after I fell asleep praying twice before bed and then falling back to sleep praying the next morning. I believe whenever we who are faithful to God have a day where we are not doing our best for Him we feel great conviction. My conviction is that I fear missing one day because it only takes one to fall away from Him all together. So, what do we do to keep our faith strong? We rise up with the strength of Christ, [Proverbs 24:16-18 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. 17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: 18 Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.]

[and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:] Well, started to use only the first verse, but the Holy Spirit led me to add the rest also. It takes the strength of Christ to do what we do as a Christian, whether it is working in His ministry or in a grocery store. The Book of I Corinthians was written by Paul to all believers, about 59 AD, and is directed to the church in Corinth. The purpose of the book was to address doctrinal problems that brought division between the Corinthian believers. What we are to learn from the book is that Jesus Christ, our risen Lord, indwells and works in every believer through the Holy Spirit, [1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?]

Paul spent nearly two years in Corinth, preaching the Gospel with great success, it was there that one of the first Christian churches consisting of both Jews and Greeks was formed. A conflict arose, when false doctrine was being taught, and this caused a great division among the members, instead of trusting God, they trusted the man of God. Paul stresses the importance of the preachers and teachers teaching the same doctrine.

[1 Corinthians 1:1-2,4-9 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.]

[to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus,] I have to admit that I do not really pay attention to the first couple of verses at the beginning of Paul’s letters, but have been taking the time to do so this year. This letter is addressed to all who are saved, who by the way are all saints. Remember, grace is given to us by Jesus Himself, it is only by grace that we are saved, and it is only by grace that we are given the gifts that He gives us. [So that ye come behind in no gift;] Sin is not the only thing that keeps us from getting some of the gifts that God has waiting for us until He brings us home. There is also doubt, fear, idleness, and unbelief that keeps us from getting them. And let me tell you, if we knew all the gifts that we lost because of these things we would be ashamed of ourselves. In fact, these are the things that are shown to us that we missed when we stand before Jesus, and we will be bowing our knee to Him, [Isaiah 45:22-23 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.]

[That unto me every knee shall bow,] How awesome and incredible is it that this was written by Isaiah? This is more proof that it does not matter if we were here one or a hundred centuries ago, God’s Word never changes, has always revolved around His Son, Jesus Christ, and that they are one in the same. If there is one thing I have learned through this pandemic it is that we are all carrying crosses that we must bear. So, we cannot judge each other to the point that we see ourselves as more noble and honorable than someone whose sins are more prominent than our own. That is what Jesus talks about when He tells us not to judge one another, if we are judgmental of others then that means we make ourselves a judge. We need to be careful not to put the man of God or those who teach the Word of God on a pedestal because we are all sinners. Yes, we who are pastors and teachers are to conduct ourselves in a manner that reflects what we are teaching, but we are also human, we are not the ones that ought to be on display, it is Christ. This is what Paul is teaching us here, not to put our total faith in those who teach the Word of God rather the Christ, whom we teach.

[1 Corinthians 2:1-2,5,8-10,14-15 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.]

[That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,] Do you see what this means? Our faith is not to be in the ones who teach the Word of God, rather in what the Bible actually says. As I was praying this morning I was actually calling myself a hypocrite because I am a sinner and who am I to tell someone that they ought not to be doing something when I have my own sin to deal with. That was when God pointed out to me that I am not a hypocrite, I am teaching the truth about Him, and that is what He wants me to do. Yes, I am a sinner, but I am also His minister, I am faithful to Him, and I am willing, even if I fail Him daily, He is longsuffering in that He never stops working on me, [1 Timothy 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.]

[But he that is spiritual judgeth all things,] This is not the same thing as critical judgment, this is righteous judgment, meaning we discern all things by paying attention and considering all matters accurately for the purpose of forming an honest conclusion instead of something we assume. Of course, that is easier said than done as we are much more likely to make decisions by something we think we saw rather than what actually happened. There are times when giving off a bunch of Scripture will do no good, people are not going to respond to a bunch of words or commands that we ourselves cannot even keep. Just think about that, we may not all sin the same, but we are all sinners, some people, well, most of us, are just not responsive to words, rather actions. Like I have said before, I have a teenage step daughter to be that I cannot reach by reading Scripture unless she asks me about it. She responds to the love I show toward her and discipline in my faith. Paul stresses the importance of feeding them with the milk of God’s Word first.

[1 Corinthians 3:1-3,13-17 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.]

[Every man’s work shall be made manifest:] This is how we reach the lost, we just teach them Christ by being like Christ. Jesus never condemns anyone, after we receive Him He tells us not to sin that sin anymore, and we will suffer in the flesh if we do not repent of it. However, He is merciful in knowing that we are not capable of keeping ourselves completely from sin, but that His grace is sufficient to forgive us when we confess the sin.

[him shall God destroy;] This sounds like if you remain living in sin that God will take away your life. Well, there are two things to consider with this verse. First, Paul was not talking about the person committing the sin, rather those who led them into sin through false doctrine within the church. Defiling the temple that God lives in means to bring idolatry and other gods into their lives. This happens if a person goes from being saved into a religion that teaches a different doctrine and they follow that, [Revelation 2:20-23 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.]

Second, we must understand that unrepentant sin does destroy our bodies. Think about those who have a drug addiction, if they do not turn away from the drugs, then the drugs will destroy their body, [James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.]

There truly is only one Gospel and that is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, this is the only Gospel that is the foundation of all our hopes and joys of a future with God. This is not about trying to make ourselves look more righteous to others, this is about being faithful to God. And being faithful to God does not mean that you are never going to fail Him, it means that when we do, you get back up and arise with Christ.

[1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.]

Today’s Prayer: God, They may call me a fool for trusting in Your Son, but I rather be a fool for Christ than go through this life without you. When I fail You I admit I want to avoid You, but when I come to my senses I realize that You are right there, ready to pick me up, and show me how to handle things. You are so merciful to me that it tears me to think that I suffered when all I had to do was come to You. There is no one like You, so loving, so trusting, so fearing, just as a Father should be, Your grace is sufficient enough to help me through, and I thank You for that. Lord, Walk with me, guide me, and abide in me, give me Your mercy, grace, and strength to get back up every time I fall. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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