DON'T BE MISLED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In my line of work, people come to be for benefits advisement. When I receive calls or during in person appointments, I often here a person lead with one of three phrases:

“I heard that....”

“Somebody told me that...”

“I read on a message board that...”

They go on to tell me what they heard or read and then almost always ask the following question:

“Is that true?”

Why does someone ask that question?

Because they want the truth and seek to avoid being misled.

You see, no one likes to get false information from someone they place their trust in. It leaves feelings of violation, embarrassment, and even anger, all things a person wants to steer clear of.

A wise person validates what they are told and the things they read or hear. They don’t open themselves up to be duped or misinformed.

Today, more than ever, it’s of critical importance that we hesitate to accept everything we hear at face value, especially when receiving information from the media, the internet, or social media where falsehoods masquerade as ground truth each and every day. Misinformation and disinformation are so prevalent that we have reached a point where it’s hard to know what to believe.

So how do we avoid being led the wrong way in our thoughts, beliefs, and actions?

We turn to the Lord, the only true source of truth.

Where people are flawed and sinners, the Lord is perfectly right and righteous. He does no wrong and is incapable of telling lies. Therefore, He is completely trustworthy. When we turn to Him, we never need to question what we receive from Him, whether by way of His holy Word or Spirit.

Now, as we see in today’s passage from a few of the latter verses of 1 Corinthians 15, the problem of being deceived is not just a modern day issue. The scriptures show us the problem ranges back to first century A.D. Look again at Paul’s warning to the Corinthian Christians:

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

Be careful who you associate with.

This warning is found throughout the Bible because when we don’t exercise caution and discernment in the company we keep, we leave ourselves vulnerable to their influence and more times than not that influence will drive us to sinful actions.

We get a sense that this is indeed what had happened to members of the church in Corinth because Paul delivers a sharp order for them to come back to their senses and stop traveling down the road of iniquity. In affiliating themselves with people who were ignorant of God, some of the Corinthian Christians had become ungodly themselves and this was simply unacceptable. It was in New Testament days and it still is today.

The message from God’s word is loud and clear for His people. It’s “don’t be misled” but rather come to Me and I will show you the truth, now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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WHEN JESUS RETURNS

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He “has put everything under His feet. Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all.

1 Corinthians 15:23-28

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we looked at the critical importance of the resurrection and how the hope of mankind hinged on the truth that it happened. Jesus didn’t just remain in the tomb dead and decomposing after being taken down from the cross. Rather, He was brought back to life and still remains alive this very day, and all who have placed their belief in Him will not perish either. They will receive God’s promise of eternal life when Jesus returns and He is returning. He said it would happen and everything Jesus has ever said has come to be. The only thing none of us know is when He is returning.

This truth, that the resurrected Jesus will once again return to earth, is at the heart of our scripture passage today as we continue to study from the fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians. Look again at what Paul writes:

But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He “has put everything under His feet. Now when it says that “everything” has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all.  1 Corinthians 15:23-28

Here we see Paul sharing what is a consistent message regarding what happens to Christian believers when they die. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul makes it clear that the dead in Christ will simply fall into a state of repose, asleep until the time when Jesus returns. They will then rise first to meet Him in the air, followed by those who are alive in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4). Here in the letter to the Corinthians, he shares that Jesus first is resurrected, the first fruit of God’s bringing people from death to life, followed by those to belong to Him when He returns. It’s going to be a great and glorious scene but that’s not all that going to happen. Paul gives us more in our passage which includes the following:

1. The end will come as Jesus hands over the kingdom to God.

We need to keep in mind that God delegated all authority in heaven and on earth to His Son. He didn’t relinquish what was rightfully His and so Jesus will be returning the kingdom to His Father. Everything was put under Jesus’ feet to rule over but God wasn’t included in the everything. He was, is, and will always be over all things so that He may be all in all.

2. Jesus will destroy all other dominion, authority, and power.

Jesus’ reign will last until the day when He puts all enemies under His feet. The Bible puts this a different way:

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

All things in heaven and on earth are under the authority of Jesus and He will reign until He has gained utter victory over everything to include death, identified as the “last enemy”.

Jesus is coming back to save those who are dead and alive in Him.

Jesus is coming back to gain the final victory over all His enemies to include death.

And Jesus is coming back to present the kingdom back to God, His Father and ours.

All this is possible because He died and resurrected from the dead by God’s power.

God’s salvation plan, summarized by the Gospel, is centered on Jesus, Thanks be to God for the gift of His Son.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF THE RESURRECTION

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

1 Corinthians 15:12-22, 29-32

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

An atoning sacrifice of epic proportion was needed in order for all mankind to have their sins pardoned to a place where they could be right with God. This sacrifice was provided by God Himself in the way of His only Son Jesus who, in obedience to His Father’s will, willingly allowed Himself to be crucified on a cross outside the city of Jerusalem on a hill known as Calvary.

Perfectly innocent and sin-free, Jesus was executed in the place where every single person deserved to be. His then dead body was then placed in a tomb just like any other person who died.

Now, if the story of Jesus ended with this, there would have been no special ending to His story and certainly there would have been no long ranging impact on humanity from that point forward.

This is what makes the resurrection so critically important to the salvation story because you wouldn’t have a salvation story without it. As we pivot to our verses for today within our continued study of 1 Corinthians 15, we find Paul driving this point home to the church in Corinth. Look again at his words here:

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  1 Corinthians 15:12-22, 29-32

It’s obvious that there were some believers within the Corinthian congregation who held the opinion that Jesus hadn’t really come back to life raised from the dead. Perhaps they had been Sadducees at one time and held onto the group’s denial that resurrection could happen.

So what would be the fallout from Jesus not being resurrected as the Gospel proclaimed?

Paul breaks down the impact as follows:

1. All preaching about the resurrection was useless as was the faith of anyone who held onto the belief the resurrection happened.

2. Since the Gospel preaching was useless and without foundation, then the preachers were false witnesses of God’s redeeming work because a main component of the resurrection of Jesus was God making it happen through His power.

3. If Jesus wasn’t resurrected then no one else could be either. Like Him, the dead would remain dead.

4. No resurrection meant that there was no salvation of sins. This would leave all mankind unsaved and hopeless, sinners before a God who would impose His eternal judgment upon them.

5. Baptism was an empty ritual because there wouldn’t be a renewal of life and new creation made after accepting Jesus as Savior. There would be no coming up from the grave and so emerging from the water during the baptism ritual would be rendered meaningless.

Friends, these five points underscore the critical importance of the resurrection to the matter of salvation. There would be no salvation without it.

Thankfully, God did raise Jesus from the dead, just as Jesus said He would. He became the first fruits for those in Him who would die and enter into sleep until Jesus returns to wake them up and bring them to eternal life with Him. The resurrection of the dead only became possible because Jesus was raised first therefore, all those who place their belief in Christ will live now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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THE BLESSING FOUND IN GOD'S GRACE

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

1 Corinthians 15:9-11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

No one is worthy of anything from God. None of us have done anything to earn His goodness and blessings. The Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

The psalmist David writes in the eighth Psalm:

“...what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” v.4

And yet, God loves us, forgives us, and show mercy to us. He freely extends the blessing of His grace to us, the undeserving, and we should be in a state of thanksgiving and praise daily because of this.

As we look at our scripture passage for today, verses 9 through 11 of 1 Corinthians 15, we find the Apostle Paul testifying and acknowledging the blessing found in the grace of God. Look again at his words here:

For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Paul had invested so much in advancing the Gospel across his missionary journeys. He had planted Christian churches and helped thousands upon thousands of people find their salvation through sharing the good news about Jesus. He could have easily boasted about all he had done for the cause of Christ but he didn’t. Rather, he humbly acknowledged his sinful, fallen state before God.

Yes, he had done a lot and worked harder than any other Gospel-sharing apostle and yet he didn’t even consider himself worthy of bearing the title.

Why?

Because his past wasn’t always dedicated to supporting and endorsing Jesus, just like many other people who came to become Christians.

Paul didn’t believe in Jesus as Savior in his life prior to conversion. As a fervent Jew, he took great delight and gained pleasure from persecuting Christians, imprisoning many but also killing or at least being party to killing. In fact, the first time we are introduced to Paul in the scriptures, he is overseeing the stoning of Stephen, one of the seven specially selected men who were tasked with assisting people with their social needs. Paul’s name was Saul then and after receiving permission from the Jewish religious leaders to travel to Damascus where he planned to continue fighting against the Christianity movement, he was challenged by Jesus, struck down blind on the road to Damascus. Three days later, after a visit from Ananias, Saul would regain his sight and gain a new viewpoint in life, one that had him work to advance, not cancel out, the Gospel.

Paul didn’t forget who he was and he was far from proud of the person he used to be. It was a thorn in his side that he carried with him (2 Corinthians 12:1-10) but he also didn’t forget that it was the blessing of God’s grace that saved him. It was what made him who he was, a sinner who was granted salvation even though he wasn’t worthy of it. As an apostle, he was only who he was because of the goodness and mercy of God, and this mercy and goodness had a great impact on him as it was always with him and upon him.

Friends, we, like Paul, were completely unworthy of what God did for us through His Son Jesus, the One who is at the heart of the Gospel. Let us follow the lead of the apostle, never forgetting who we were before we found salvation and always remembering how we are saved by the blessing of God’s grace and that alone.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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