The Reality Of The Ministry

1.  Ministry:  There is a great and effective door (1 Cor. 16:9).
2.  Ministry:  There are many adversaries (1 Cor. 16:9).
3.  Ministry:  It is hard work (1 Cor. 15:10; 16:15).

1 Corinthians 4:4

Read 1 Corinthians 4:4.

Just because you examine yourself and don't become aware of violations doesn't mean that you're off the hook. Your judgment can be biased.  That's never the case with the Lord.  What He sees, He announces and judges.

Don't just deal with the obvious. Be willing to confront the hidden things that the Judge reveals.

Verse Of The Week (09/16/16)

Anathema Maranatha (12 Cor. 16:22) (Part 5)

Conclusion (Part 2):

• As we close, it is fitting to ask, “What does it mean to “love the Lord”?
• To love the Lord means more than believing certain things.
• If polled, every church-goer in Corinth would've responded, “Yes, of course I believe in Jesus!”
• However, Paul wasn't addressing a lack of belief but a lack of love.
• To love the Lord means . . . are you ready to hear this? . . . to love the Lord means to obey Him.
• Jn. 14:15 > “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
• Jn. 14:21a > “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me . . .”
• 1 Jn. 2:4-6 > “The one who says, “ I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” 
• What, then, is Paul's conclusion?
• “Show me a man who says that he believes in Jesus yet will not conform to His teaching through lifestyle obedience, and I will show you a man who doesn't love Jesus.”
• It's more about what you do than about what you say.
• The proof of belief is love and the outcome of love is obedience.
• Serving Jesus requires careful and serious living.
• It is healthy for each one to evaluate honestly:
• Do I love the Lord Jesus?
• Is my love for Him deeper than emotion, that is, evident by my obedience?
• Is there an area of disobedience I need to surrender to Jesus right now?
• Is the consequence of disobedience something I'm willing to stake my eternal existence upon?
• Since the consequence for a lifestyle of not loving Jesus means separation from Him and His Church, we must deal immediately with all disobedience.

Anathema Maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22) (Part 4)

Conclusion (Part 1):

• First Corinthians, although authored by Paul, was recorded by an amanuensis.
• The amanuensis was Paul's secretary, who wrote down what he said.
• In order to add seriousness, Paul wanted to write the last four verses himself.
• Of all that he could have written down, “anathema maranatha” is what he chose.
• Among other things, that meant “Hey, pay attention now, because it is critical that you hear this.”
• “Anathema maranatha” was linked to a specific kind of person.
• It was written as a consequence to “anyone” who “does not love the Lord.”
• There were those in the church who didn't love the Lord?
• Evidently, Paul allowed for this sad possibility.
• He wasn't referring to unbelievers but to those who claimed to believe in the Lord but didn't love Him.
• Paul didn't call them on their belief in the Lord but on their love for Him.

Anathema Maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22) (Part 3)

"MARANATHA"

EXPLANATION

• The word 'maranatha' is an Aramaic word that was tied to the doctrine of the Lord's coming.
• 'Maranatha' has been interpreted three ways.
• Our Lord came. 
• This use confirms Jesus' incarnation, ministry, crucifixion, and burial.
• Our Lord is at hand. 
• This use confirms Jesus' Resurrection and His actual presence during Communion.
• Our Lord is coming.
• This use confirms Jesus' Second Coming.

ILLUSTRATION

• The early church anticipated the immediate return of Jesus.
• Titus 2:13 > “ . . . looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus . . ."
• 1 Thess. 4:16-17 > "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord."
• 1 Jn. 3:2 > "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is."
• Rev. 22:12 > "Behold, I am coming quickly . . ."

APPLICATION

• What are you looking for?
• Are you looking for the return of Jesus?
• If so, how does that impact the way you live?
• What did you recently deny yourself because Jesus wouldn't be pleased with it?

In tomorrow's post, we will investigate the specific person for whom "anathema maranatha" was meant.

Anathema Maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22) (Part 2)

“HE IS TO BE ACCURSED”

EXPLANATION

• “He is to be accursed” is the translation of the Greek 'anathema.'
• 'Anathema' means 'to be accursed' or 'to be devoted to destruction' and carries with it the idea of separation.

ILLUSTRATION

• In the synagogues the process of excommunicating a member consisted of three stages.
• Stage one was to separate the offender for thirty days, with the intent that he or she would repent.
• Stage two was to separate the offender for another lengthy period, warning him more harshly of the severe consequence for non-compliance.
• As in stage one, the intent was to induce repentance.
• Stage three was 'anathema'.
• All hope for repentance and reconciliation was cut off and the offender was treated as if he or she was never Jewish.
• Synagogue members were to shun the defiant person.
• Today we have something similar called 'church discipline.'
• Church discipline is a process of removing from voting membership and/or relational fellowship a Christian who refuses to be governed by a biblical standard of what to believe and how to live.
• The removed person is to be shunned entirely by everyone in the Christian community.
• While that sounds harsh to most listeners, remember that the intent is not to be cruel but to induce repentance and facilitate restoration.

APPLICATION

• “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (Heb. 12:14)
• Pursue being right with people and pursue being right with Jesus.
• How carefully and seriously do you live for Jesus?
• Are you so caught up in grace that you have eliminated the pursuit factor?
• To pursue means there is a possibility you can fall behind if you don't act.
• To pursue means you need to move; you can't sit at the starting line, relaxing in your chaise lounge.

In tomorrow's post, we will investigate the meaning of 'maranatha.'

Anathema Maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22) (Part 1)

Introduction: 

• Definition of a 'paraprosdokian'
• 'A literary term for a sentence with an unexpected or surprising ending'¹
• Examples of a 'paraprosdokian'²



• Today's Bible verse (1 Cor. 16:22) contains a paraprosdokian.
• In order to put today's content in its context, let's read together  1 Cor. 16:21-24.
• Did you catch the paraprosdokian?
• It is “maranatha.”
• That's 'maranatha', not 'marinara' (You can enjoy marinara later!)
• After the words “he is to be accursed”, the last thing you expect to read is “maranatha.”
• “He is to be accursed. Maranatha.” – Whatever that means, it doesn't sound good, does it?

1https://twitter.com/Grammarly/status/770984543683801088 (accessed 8-31-16)

2ibid

In tomorrow's post, we will investigate the word 'anathema.'

The Joint Search (Psa. 139:23-24; 1 Cor. 11:28)

Below is today's communion meditation.
-----

When you hear the phrase “search your heart” in context of Communion, perhaps your mind goes right to Psalm 139:23-24.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me . . .”

This is your invitation for the Holy Spirit to search you. This is always a good place to start.

When it comes to searching your heart, the Holy Spirit isn't the only one who should be active. You yourself should be active, as the following verses suggest:

• “But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” (1 Cor. 11:28)
• “The heart knows its own bitterness . . .” (Prov. 14:10a)

If you already know something isn't right in your heart, then you don't need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal that. What you need to do is start right there. Confess – tell God what He already knows is true about you and your involvement with that sin. Then ask forgiveness.  Claim 1 Jn. 1:9 which says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

What you have here is a joint-search – the Holy Spirit and you work together to examine what's in your heart. By 'heart' I mean the innermost part of you where decisions, intentions, thoughts and desires reside.

What, exactly, are you searching for? Bill Smith*, a respected and seasoned Assemblies of God missionary, counsels:

“We must search our hearts and lives ruthlessly for any word or action that undermines authority, assassinates character, betrays confidence, introduces suspicion, or tears down brothers and sisters. We must learn to hate and destroy anything in our hearts that hates and destroys others. . .”

The goal of searching your heart isn't just to identify impurities. Awareness isn't enough. You must view those sins and impurities the way Jesus does. The goal is to get into a right state both with Jesus and with others.

Before I serve Communion, I invite each of you to make an altar – up front or in your seat – where you will take some unhurried time to join the Holy Spirit in searching your heart.  Be quick to deal with whatever is revealed.

*The name was changed to protect his identity and ministry.

The Power of Simple Thanksgiving

"Consider the power of simple thanksgiving.  Its genius is its prerequisite:  humility, which is essential to a proper relationship to God.  Paul asks, 'What do you have that you did not receive?' The answer is nada, nothing -- absolutely nothing whatsoever.  Everything we have is a given, not a gotten.  We enter the world naked, we exit the world naked.  All we have in between is on loan.  It's humiliating!  Precisely.  Then the apostle asks, 'And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?' (1 Cor. 4:7).  In other words, what grounds do you have for pride?  Same answer:  nada, nothing -- absolutely nothing whatsoever.  So 'gratitude is a species of justice,' writes Samuel Johnson, meaning that when we genuinely say thanks to God, we are seeing things as they actually are, and humbly giving credit where credit is due.

 To be ungrateful is to see things as they are not, to have a perspective that is fundamentally and fatally distorted.  Such is the view of the proud who see all that they have and are as a gotten, not a given."

Patterson, Ben.  Deepening Your Conversation With God:  The Life-Changing Power of Prayer.  The Pastor's Soul Series.  Ed. David L. Goetz.  Minneapolis, MN:  Bethany House Publishers, 1999.  pp. 88-89.

Seven Limitations of Spiritual Gifts

By "spiritual gifts" I mean those  listed in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11.  By "limitations" I mean guidelines or parameters.  The operation of spiritual gifts is not a free-for-all.

1. Spiritual gifts should not contradict Scripture.
2. Spiritual gifts should not degrade Jesus.
3. Spiritual gifts should not be self-authorized.
4. Spiritual gifts should not be disorderly.
5. Spiritual gifts should not be rehearsed.
6. Spiritual gifts cannot work without your cooperation.
7. Spiritual gifts should not be the measurement of your spiritual maturity.

For a more detailed outline, contact ronedski@yahoo.com.