In our scriptures this morning, Paul is really ripping them up one side and down the other or so it seems. He wants to know why they fill pressed to air their dirty laundry out in front of everyone, especially the nonbelievers. He brings to our minds this morning the impact that we have as Christians, the importance of our roles in and for the future, and the promises of the rewards for those who except God’s love through Jesus Christ. He doesn’t seem to understand nor overlook the rut the church has gotten into.
In chapter 5, Paul lays not only the foundation of church discipline, but the executive order for church discipline. And here in chapter 6 he is questioning why no one has a problem with the behavior of the churches conduct. Have any of you noticed the rut that we have gotten into for worship here at Harmony? Am I the only one who has noticed that out of the past 12 weeks we have sang basically the same songs at least 8 times? Or you say, well Michael what is the big deal we don’t know any others, or you may blame the girls for the picking the songs, but they only pick the ones that this church has taught them. So why does it matter? I hope that you see that it points to a bigger issue than being limited to knowledge of a few songs. If we are complacent in this rut of our worship service, then friend you are complacent with where your relationship is in Christ. When we become complacent we know longer fill the need to continue to grow. Without growth we do not live the difference that we are called to live through the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Paul says in verses 9-11that none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. I don’t care who you are this morning at one time in your life, all of us have been one of these titles u until we were justified and sanctified by the blood of the Lamb. But even though we accept this truth, there is another truth and that is our zeal for God and this old run down building has lost some of it vigor. If one of us was to email the apostle Paul today about our membership, our community, our uncertainty about being active in ministry, what kind of letter we would get in return? After he reaffirmed us as saints and children of God, where we he rip us up one side and down the other or so it might seem?
Our chapter is covered in great truths pertaining to the New Testament church and reaffirms that we should always give God glory, but particularly in 3 areas: we should glorify God in our disputes, we should glorify God in our liberty, and we should glorify God with our bodies.
When we truly understand our true identity in Christ, this is when we see that we are able to glorify Him in all three of these aspects of our individual and corporate lives as brothers and sisters of Christ. Do you think that we as a church have this understanding of our identity? If you do then we ought to be able to work out and through the short comings of this church. But if we don’t then we may be like the church at Corinth in lacking to see our abilities due to things like; poor understanding of our place in Christ, or our compliancy in being lukewarm through forgetting of our first love, or our lack of application of our place in Christ. Church, we are children of God, who loves us the same now as He did when we were lost. If that same God loves us that much, then why do we doubt what we could do or should in ministry? If He loved us enough to send Jesus to die for us while we were yet still sinners, why wouldn’t He love us enough to bless any and all our efforts to glorify Him by bringing about influence and growth of His kingdom? Brothers and sisters, we have the same tremendous resources that Paul is telling the church at Corinth about and likewise the church in Rome. Through our resources we have supernatural understanding of truth, justice, love, kindness, and grace. If you believe that you don’t have those and you are a Christian then you are being deceived by the devil himself. But if we refuse to exercise theses supernatural resources of the Holy Spirit then that tells me, and hopefully you, that there is an issue of lack of trust. You see the church at Corinth didn’t trust each other or God, that’s why they took their problems to nonbelievers for resolutions.
If we as believers are dependent upon God and His wisdom for our personal lives, then why are we in the shape we are in as a church and why have we let this old building, we claim to have set aside for the purpose of God, remain in the shape it is in? We can blame past members, or claim that we are waiting upon the arrival of new members, but I don’t think that would fly with Paul or Jesus. We sang this I SURRENDER ALL & GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU, but our lack of spiritual growth and zeal for ministry doesn’t look like we really believe what we sing.
The apostle Paul asked the church at Corinth to take a look at everything they were doing and saying and then evaluate it based on whether it brings glory to God or dishonor to God. That’s all I’m asking you to do this morning. Do we really do anything here to help each other live daily with Jesus? Do we encourage each other to be truly dependent upon Him in conversation, trust, seeing Him active in our lives and in the lives of others?
I’m here this morning not to ruffle any feathers or guilt someone into service, but to remind us of the gist of Paul’s message… that when Jesus washed away our sins—He gave us new life. We have been changed, and set apart so that we will live differently than the rest of the world. That you and I will live by our faith and when we do things in faith for His glory, we believe that He will faithfully honor our efforts regardless of what the earthly outcome might be. We must remember that through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we have been given new behaviors to enable us to live in such a way that is pleasing to God.
I ask that you get your bulletins and look at the front page again at the picture that is on there. I put this picture on their to remind myself and you that we have been bought with a precious price, not only us, but those out there who have no use for our church or our personal relationship with Jesus. But I’m here to remind you that it is our job to let them know about that great price that was paid for them and that God loves them and ask them to except it and celebrate in that relationship of love.
Jesus said in John 15:4 “abide in me and I in you.” We must understand that as believers our body is joined to Christ’s own body that was raised from the dead. We belong together. It is a mutually exclusive relationship. For example, we can’t be a member of the United States and a member of the al Qaeda. That is an incompatible union. It’s betrayal. This is why Jesus said you can’t serve 2 masters. If you and I have already submitted to Jesus as Master, then we can’t have another …not even ourselves.
Now I say all this to you to simply encourage you and to remind you that we have been given the ability to live the difference with help from God’s Spirit. We also have the responsibility to live differently than we did before we knew Christ and also differently than we did 5 years ago, 1 year ago, even 6 months ago. If my preaching or your attending church isn’t inspiring you to study and grow spiritually throughout the week, then there is something seriously wrong with either our institution as a church or with you individually as a believer.
If there is no difference in us or what happens at this church compared to what happens in the world—then we are not a church, but a social club. You see the Christians in our scriptures had failed to live up to their full position in Christ. I only want to encourage you and I not to make that same mistake. I offer this to you this morning in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
