August 18, 2010

1 Samuel 10

It is the glory of the Lord that He should use even our rebellion to accomplish His plan. The Nation had known no king for 400 years. Only the Lord had ruled over them through the various judges. It was the closest thing to a Theocracy that the world had seen since the Garden of Eden. But it was unacceptable to the people. The people were fickle and responded only to harsh discipline of the Lord whenever they sinned. Each cycle of sin, discipline, repentance, deliverance by a judge seemed to become worse with each cycle. The sin became deeper, the discipline more severe, the judge more ungodly. The people were tired of it. They looked around at the other nations and wanted the stability that they saw in the kings of other nations. They rejected the Lord as their King. They wanted a king with whom they could talk face to face. They wanted a king who was physical. So, they rejected the Almighty King for a king who was physical, a king who would do what was right in his own eyes.

Yet, the Lord allowed them to reject Him. In so doing, He set up a monarchy that would usher in the King of kings. While the King of kings has yet to rule upon His throne upon the earth, He someday will reign upon the earth. At that time every man will only do what is right in the eyes of the King of kings. Now that is glory! He takes our rebellion and turns it into something that brings Him praise. But be careful; we do not want to be one of those who rebel for He indeed disciplines them with a rod of iron. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor john

1Corinthians 1

You will hear this several times as we progress through 1 Corinthians. The church at Corinth was a divided church. There were many fights going on within the body. It was a powder keg with fuses lit from several different directions. Paul was trying to write to put out the fuses. Look how he addresses them at the beginning.

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

He calls this body of people, which is full of division and works of the flesh, sanctified. He says they are called to be saints. He begins with the truth of what God has declared to be true of us. We are holy. We are saints. He focuses on where we are going. This body of people, full of division, Paul calls holy. Then, he focuses on where we are. As he works through the first manifestation of their divisions in verses 10-29, he presents the cure in 30 & 31:

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."

Jesus is our sanctification. It is not our works. It is His life. We are declared holy by His life. It is grace, undeserved, unearned. Because of His life, we can have, right now, total peace with God. That is why Paul adds verse three. He is our sanctification. Because of that sanctification, Paul urges them/us to live it out. That is why daily seeing and speaking the glory of Christ is so important. As we see His glory, we see our failings. As we see His glory, we see His grace. As we see His glory, we see His peace. As we see His glory, we see where He is taking us. It ceases being our trying to make it happen and becomes totally what He does.

In Corinth, there were some who liked the way Apollos did things. There were some who liked the way Paul did things. There were some who liked the way Peter did things. Was Christ divided? No! But, everyone was acting like it. Paul was telling them, "It is time to get your focus back on Christ! He is our righteousness and sanctification and redemption." What glory there is in that! What freedom there is in that! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!

--Pastor John