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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you?
We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening.
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.
2 Corinthians 12:19-21
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
No single Christian is strong enough to stand up against the attacks of Satan.
Not one.
If you think you have enough power on your own, then I guarantee you are living in denial and worse yet unable to break free from the sin that has you in bondage.
Now, this problem is bad enough on a singular level but now expand it to a church where a body of Christian believers stop relying on the power of God as a collective. A church like that, steering their own course minus the direction of the Lord, is destined for being defined by its wickedness rather than its righteousness. They will be far from where God expects them to be and He will never glorify a church that disrespects and disregards Him. Rather, that church can expect to receive His judgment.
As we look at the closing verses of 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, we see the Apostle Paul very concerned about the state of the Christian church in Corinth. We know one of the problems was that there were false apostles who had invaded the church and were attempting to steer the believers away from Paul’s teaching and toward theirs. The Corinthians Christians weren’t consulting the Lord in regard to their direction. Rather, they were making their own choices and decisions as to how to proceed and Paul knew this would produce a bad outcome. Look again at his words here:
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you?
We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening.
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged. 2 Corinthians 12:19-21
Note here that Paul places the Lord first when it comes to the ministry work that he as his missionary colleagues had carried out in Corinth. He drives home the fact that the words they spoke were “in the sight of God” by those who were in Christ. These words, spoken in plain view of the Lord who gave them the words to speak, were meant to strengthen the Corinthian church and the Christian believers who worshiped there. They were words meant to lead the church away from sin and into doing the things that God wanted.
But we get a sense that Paul felt the Christians in Corinth had left the words spoken by him and others go in one ear and out the other. He was afraid he would find widespread sinfulness within the church, sinfulness that would include “discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, disorder, impurity, sexual sin and debauchery”. Many of these sins had been present during Paul’s prior visits.
Friends, every church should self reflect and examine what is going on within and if any one of these sinful behaviors are commonplace, then the church needs to seriously repent and ask the Lord for the strength to drive the sin away in exchange for right and righteous conduct. Go inside any church that is struggling or rocked by scandal and you will probably find one or more of the transgressions mentioned by Paul at the core.
Quoting Old Testament scripture from Deuteronomy (8:3), Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone but every word that comes from the mouth of God. His word is the spiritual nourishment that keeps a believer healthy.
Paul would write to the church in Ephesus that the sword, the weapon, carried as a part of the full armor of God was the word of God (6:17).
Paul then wrote this to the Hebrews:
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12
God’s word feeds those who read it and helps us be spiritually strong and healthy.
God’s word allows us to defend ourselves, a weapon we can yield against the devil’s attacks.
And God’s word is alive and powerful, ridding out any sinful inclinations found in our innermost selves with surgical accuracy.
When a believer places the word of the Lord first, they are strengthened and righteous, and when a body of believers individually commit themselves to allow the word of the Lord shape who they are and what they do, then and only then will the church be in a place of power and ready to do ministry that will not only be effective but honor and glorify God the right way.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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