Intro: an amazing fact about the letters of Paul to the churches that most people want to over-look, is the fact that a lot of what he said was corrective in nature. I know he had mushy intro’s and long gooshy good-byes, but the meat of the letter was instruction, and reproof and correction. Since Paul gave us all this valuable correction it is amazing that most churches don’t use any of it. I will start with the corrections in I Corinthians—and we will go from there.
Spiritual Correction for the Modern Church
· An appeal for Christian unity—I Corinthians 1:10-13 The church at Corinth had fallen prey to the same thing that has split many churches in our times. Evidently people had taken up sides over their individual preference of Peter, Paul and Apollos. Paul is correcting them by setting things in the proper order, that we are all on the same team even with our different personalities, opinions and preferences. It is so sad many churches are falling apart in our time over styles of music, type of dress, etc. It is all about Jesus Christ, and building His kingdom not ours. For a church to operate in unity we must all submit ourselves to the ultimate goal of glorifying Jesus Christ as the head of the Church.
· Dealing with open sin—I Corinthians 5:1-13 Here is the next issue that Paul had to address. Someone within the Corinth church was living in open sin, but everyone was looking the other way. Paul says, you have got to deal with this, because it is bringing a reproach to the name of Jesus Christ. This is hardly ever done in our times, but if someone lives in open sin and refuses to repent of that sin, they are to be removed from the church, (excommunicated) so that they might become repentant and be restored back to the church in due time.
· Legal actions against a fellow Christian—I Corinthians 6:1-8 It seems that Paul had heard of some cases where Christians were taking other Christians to court. He told them they should be ashamed of this because differences should be handled through spiritual means. Paul even said, go ahead and suffer wrong over doing wrong. If you don’t die to the flesh, you will continually fight for your way, or your rights. Death to the flesh is surrender.
· Glorifying God in your body---I Corinthians 6:9-20 Paul now moves into some serious stuff. He states that your body is to be used for the glory of God. He covers all types of sexual immorality, also over-indulgences in the flesh, and points out that your body is the carrier of the Holy Spirit. If you don’t take care of your vessel, you will be ineffective for Christ.
· Marriage—I Corinthians 7—I will admit there are some deep issues that probably belong to the great theologians to interpret, but here is a practical overview. Paul explains that if you cannot control your fleshly desires, it is better to marry then burn in lust. He states that when you are married, your bodies are to be given to each other, and sexual relations should never be withheld from each other without consent. Paul also gives his determination that for some they should remain single, if they have that gift, so they can give themselves fully to the Lord. He explains that marriage brings great responsibilities to each other, and in some cases single people can devout more time to the Lord.
· Food offered to Idols—I Corinthians 8—Paul gives us some good instruction on issues of personal choice. He states that for some, they have no personal convictions about certain things, that others do. He states for the sake of younger Christians it is advisable to never use your liberty you have to bring someone else into bondage. He encourages people to realize that as a Spiritual leader others are watching, so be careful what you say, where you go and what you do.
· Ministerial rights and responsibilities—I Corinthians 9-Paul now gives wisdom to all that endeavor to do ministry. First he states you have the right to get paid, have a family, walk in authority. But for the gospel sake, Paul states he worked a job and did ministry. He stayed single, and gave himself fully to the work of God. He was never a burden where he was ministering. Paul realized that some wouldn’t be able to receive from a salaried individual because they would say things like: he gets paid to do that, or ministers are always talking about money.
· Single mindedness—I Corinthians 10:14-22 Paul now gives some warning against mixing the world and Jesus together. He basically says the world and Christianity cannot blend. You have to choose one to be your master.
· Right and Wrong communion—I Corinthians 11:17-34 Again there is deep theological details to these verses, but we will only summarize the main thoughts. Paul abhorred taking communion in an unworthy manner. Somehow the Corinthians had lost the seriousness of the Lord’s Supper and used it as a social event. They missed the blessings that come with communion by allowing it to become divisive in nature. It seems that some used this time to fill they bellies but not their spirit. Paul states some were sick because they improperly received the Lord’s body.
· Right Understanding of the Gifts and Body of Christ—I Corinthians 12. This is a beautiful chapter explaining the manifestations of the Spirit of God, and how the gifts operate to edify the body of Christ. After explaining the gifts, Paul then explains how every person in the body has significance to the whole. One is not any more important than the other. It seems to me that maybe some who were considered Spiritual felt more important than others that were used in a different way. Paul corrects this by explaining one missing part in the body causes the body to suffer as a whole.
· The Superiority of Love—I Corinthians 13—the Corinthian church was one where the gifts of the Spirit were operating in a mighty way. Paul, realizing that maybe the gifts of the Spirit were being placed as the highest sign of spirituality, moves into a great discourse on love being superior over faith, gifts of the spirit, or any other thing. He puts love as the center of Christianity, and everything else must operate out of genuine love.
· Proper place of prophesy, tongues and order within the church—I Corinthians 14 an amazing thing about being in a Pentecostal church all your life, you realize that the proper order of spiritual gifts is often over-looked
1. Prophecies are understood because they are given in a known tongue and everyone can receive. If someone speaks in tongues but no one interprets those tongues, there is no blessing. 14:1-10
2. It will cause confusion to an unbeliever or a new convert if you speak out in tongues without there be an interpretation.11-22
3. A prophecy will be a blessing and bring true conviction because people will know they have heard from God. 23-25
4. key verse—26—the church service is never for the sole purpose of individualism. A church is in error that everyone comes just to give tongues, or prophecies or words.
5. Paul puts a restraint on the Corinthian church, not the Holy Spirit by saying, let there be 2 or 3 tongues and interpretations, or 2 or 3 prophecies, let it all be done in order. 27-31
6. The Spirit is subject to the prophet—v32—this is a very important teaching. When someone senses the Spirit of God wanting to use them, they must wait for a proper time within the service. You can’t say, the Spirit made me do it, that isn’t scriptural. The Spirit leads people, but never drives people, the only spirit that drives someone is a demonic spirit.
7. Let all things be done decently and in order. V.40—some churches have turned the gifts of the Spirit into a chaotic atmosphere. You spirit must dictate to your emotions, your emotions are never to lead your spirit.
8. Last rule: the Word of God—logos---is infallible, inspired by God. Let all words be conformation of the Word of God. If anything is contrary to the Word of God, it is rejected as false.
9. Try the Spirits—not everyone who speaks out a word is always giving a true word from God. You must be Spiritual to know how to receive a good word from something false. Here are some simple things I have learned about receiving a word into my life.
a. does it bear witness with my Spirit—do I get an inner witness that what is spoken is from God. A peace about the word given.
b. Does it line up with scripture.
c. Is this word given from someone who displays a deep quality of relationship with God.
d. Is it a confirmation of something God has been dealing with me about already.
e. Has God repeated this word through the mouth of more than one witness.
f. Does it not only build up my life, but does it minister to the church as a whole. You must guard against a spirit of individualism. Some people come to the service with a me attitude, what can I get, what’s in it for me. But we come together as a church to build the entire body of Christ.
Close: One of the sad facts about these corrections of Paul is that they are needed in many Pentecostal circles today. So many churches are out of balance one way or the other. In some Pentecostal churches the Spirit is quenched because of so many confusing things going on in the past. Other churches are so zealous for gifts, they throw out all order. Many Pastors are afraid to correct anyone in error, because they worry about offending them. But what about all the people that get harmed because of things not being done decently and in order. I would rather correct one, and that one suffer with the correction, than allow one person to keep the entire body in a state of confusion. Also, if someone is inconsistent within the work of the church, they forfeit their right to speak out as a spokesperson for God. This double standard also causes confusion within many full gospel churches.
