STOP INVITING PEOPLE TO CHURCH Paul didn’t care what people thought of him as long as they heard him proclaim Christ as Lord. But the Corinthians were easily impressed by appearance and eloquent speech. Though Paul had been the one who had first preached the gospel to them, to which they believed and were saved,
NEITHER LEGALISM, NOR LICENSE, BUT LIBERTY In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he taught them that true liberty came not from legalism, nor license, but from the Spirit of the Lord. The law is external to man, written on stone tablets, it has no power to overcome the sin nature. It reveals man’s sinfulness,
PREACHING FOR GOD’S APPROVAL ALONE The apostle Paul contrasted the authenticity and authority of his preaching team with those who preach for personal profit. The wealthy church of Corinth was apparently susceptible to the hucksters of that day. Paul wanted to protect them from these false teachers, who invariably show up to steal sheep when
DON’T LET SATAN OUTSMART YOU Paul instructed the believers in Corinth to forgive the man who had received church discipline. He does not name the man, but he may be referring to the incestuous person of 1 Corinthians 5. At any rate, Paul is making it clear that church discipline is intended to be corrective,
WHY DO GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO BAD PEOPLE? Job’s friends kept challenging him to repent because their faulty assumption was that since evil had befallen Job, he must have done something to deserve it. After all, bad things had happened to Job, so he must’ve done something bad. Yet, Job continued to claim that God
WHERE ARE WIDE-OPEN DOORS FOR THE GOSPEL TODAY? From this passage it appears that Paul was living in Ephesus when he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians. Ephesus was one of the great cities in the Roman empire located on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor in the country we now know as Turkey.
DON’T DIG UP IN DOUBT WHAT YOU PLANTED BY FAITH Be strong, immovable, always work with enthusiasm for the Lord. Why? Because of the resurrection and because whatever you plant in faith will grow and produce a harvest. The promise of eternal life should make us fearless in our focus. It should make us immovable
PASSING ON THE GOOD NEWS Paul made it clear to the Corinthians that the gospel he passed on to them was the same one that had also been passed on to him. This is the gospel by which he was saved and by which they too would be saved, if only they would believe. This
WHO ARE WE THAT GOD MAKES SO MUCH OF US? Job doesn’t accuse God of being absent, but of being too present. He doesn’t blame his suffering on being forsaken by the Lord as most would do. No. He questions why God would be so interested in such weak, temporal things as man. Out of
TAKE MY HAND, PRECIOUS LORD, LEAD ME ON David trusted the Lord to guide and direct him. He had no doubt that the God of the universe had interest in the details of his life. He had learned that God not only delighted in directing him, but the Lord was also always present to lift