The Unholy Three

The Unholy Three

(Pastor Craige LeBreton)

A little over two thousand years ago…a young church…situated in…

The city of Corinth…the capitol city… of the Roman province of Achaia…

Received a letter…this letter came from the man…

who had planted this church…this man…was the Apostle Paul…

In this letter to the church at Corinth…

As Paul addresses the church members…he addresses their behavior…

And specifically…the type of behavior…we as Christians…

should exhibit…towards each other…

many issues and concerns are addressed…but the thirteenth chapter…

of this letter…sets a standard…….a new standard…….he raises the bar…

so to speak……for the members of the church at Corinth…

and for all of us…….

Paul points the reader…in the direction… that Christ would have us go…

This letter sets a standard…for all Christians t live by…

In order to understand it’s context…follow along as I read…

The thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians…paying particular attention…

To Paul’s use of the word…Charity…Or Love…

Text I Corinthians chapter 13

Paul tells us…that there are three things…that have enduring value…

For all of us…

They are: Faith…Hope…and Love…

How do we…as members of one of Christ’s…new Testament Churches…

Apply these values…?

How do we apply these values…in our lives??? How do they…fit in????

I have been taught that….Faith…Hope…and love…

Correspond…to the three tenses…of time…

Faith has to do…with the way…we perceive…or look at the past…

Love….is the way that…we live in the present…

And Hope…guides the way…we approach the future…

According to this point of view…as a Christian…we should approach…

The past with faith…

The present with love…

And the future with Hope…

Whenever we talk about a person of faith….

We are talking of someone…who looks at the past…as being God’s past…

This is a person…who sees the history of the world…and their own life…

As being the story…that God has written…for them…

God has written…His story…God has written His Word…

His Holy Scripture…How He sent…His only son…to die for our sins…

On the cross at Calvary…then be buried…and resurrected on the third day…

Then ascend back to the father…to intercede …on our behalf…

This is God’s story…

And when a person of faith…examines his or her own life…

And then examines the life of a lost man…that person of faith…

Can truly say… “I have seen God at work…in my life…and in his world…

A person of faith has developed…a perspective…with eyes…and ears…

Opened to God…and to what God has done…in their life…

Faith is a way of beholding….or cherishing yesterday…cherishing that day...

That day when they repented of their sins…with a Godly sorrow…

And accepted Jesus Christ…as their savior…

On the other hand…there is another way…at looking at yesterday…

It is the opposite of Faith…the word is resentment…

Resentment of the past…resentment of the things…that have happened…

To you…resentment of the way…you have been treated…by your friends…

By your parents…by your pastor…by God…

Resentment is a destructive way….of looking at the past…

It is a very unholy approach…to yesterday…you may resent…

your boss’s authority…you may resent…having to do a menial task…

you may resent that others…have more than you…but any way…

you look at it…resentment will cause you to struggle…against faith…

you cannot be faithful…and resentful at the same time…

faith must do away with resentment…or resentment will destroy…

your faith…

Tell me…when you are being resentful…toward something…or someone…

Are you able to be faithful…at the same time????

Or do you discover…that resentment has made you into…something

Or…someone that you…do not really like…

Think of the things that you resent…think of the people you resent…

And then…try to think of yourself…as a child of God…at the same time…

Honestly…it can’t be done!!!!! Resentment is an unholy thing…

If we let it take over…any part of our life…the price we will pay…

Will be a loss in FAITH!!!!

The second thing that Paul…calls enduring for Christians is…Hope…

Hope is that attitude…toward the future…that helps us to wake up…

Each and every morning…filled with joy….Hope is that realization…

That tomorrow is…going to be a good day…

A good example of that…feeling of hope…comes in the way we feel…

On that first morning of vacation…you know you do not…have to get up…

Your alarm clock is set…but you find yourself…lying there…awake….

And ready to go…it’s that wonderful feeling…that the day…or week ahead..

Is filled with new adventures…you can’t wait to begin…your day…

This is what Paul means by hope…He means being vibrantly alive…

To the possibilities of tomorrow…for all Christians know…that tomorrow…

May be the day…………..the day that Jesus Christ returns!!!!!

That is what you and I…are intended to have as Christians…

That attitude of hope…in and for…Christ’s return…that every day…

Is a new adventure…and we are alive…and looking foreward…

To the possibilities of tomorrow…and the prospects of the future…

The future with Jesus Christ…

It is knowing that God has great plans….waiting for us…in His kingdom…