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1 Corinthians 1:10-18
10I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12What I mean is that each one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
In today's Epistle Lesson Paul tells us that the Message of the Cross is about Reconciliation which brings healing and unity. This kind of reconciliation has come at a great cost to God in the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. In the same way, reconciliation with our neighbor can come at a great personal cost. We have to die to ourselves, and to our Old Natures. We have to die to self that Christ may live in us. Paul say that by the standards of Worldly Wisdom this sounds like foolishness. But to those of us being saved we know that it is nothing less than the Power of God.
The reason this is so important is that we cannot be effective in sharing the message of the cross until we apply that message to our own lives.
Review Where We Have Been
Point 1: We have been given a Ministry of Reconciliation2 Corinthians 5:15-20a "So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ..." (NRSV)
Point 2: A fundamental part of our understanding of salvation is that it involves a healing of our relationships with God and Neighbor.
Romans 5.1 "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (ESV)
Colossians 1:21-22 "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him..." (ESV)
Point 3: One of the Causes of Unanswered Prayer is Unconfessed Sin
David, writing in the book of Psalms, said that ... "[God] would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins. But he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!" Psalm 66:18-19 (TLB)
Part of this unconfessed sin may very well be the fact that you refuse to be a peace with someone. Listen to what Jesus says...
"So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, 24 leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God." Matthew 5:23-24 (NLT)
Will will talk more about grudges later.
God's Call to Unity
Writing to the Ephesians Paul urges us to live in unity and peace. He writes..."Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." Ephesians 4:1-3 (NLT)
The Bible teaches us that judgment belongs to God. If we have a need to judge we are to judge ourselves, not others.
Romans 14:4a "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand." (ESV)
Romans 14:10 "Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God." (ESV)
Listen to what Jesus says...
"How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye." Luke 6:42 (ESV)
Grudges
Paul mentions that he will not hold a grudge against anyone the Corinthian church has chosen to forgive..."The focus of my letter wasn't on punishing the offender but on getting you to take responsibility for the health of the church. So if you forgive him, I forgive him. Don't think I'm carrying around a list of personal grudges. The fact is that I'm joining in with your forgiveness, as Christ is with us, guiding us. After all, we don't want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief--we're not oblivious to his sly ways!" 2 Corinthians 2:9 (MSG)
Paul believes that holding grudges gives Satan a foothold into your life. That is the power of negativity. I have seen so many otherwise wonderful saints allow Satan to eat away at them through negativity.
Remember: Grudges are powered by negativity. Negativity eats at the unity of the church. It is a Cancer in the Body of Christ.
Consequently, Paul urges two women in the Philippian church to make up...
"I urge Euodia and Syntyche to iron out their differences and make up. God doesn't want his children holding grudges." Philippians 4:2 (MSG)
In the Old Testament, not holding a grudge was a matter of law...
Leviticus 19:18 says, "Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD." (HCSB)
This ability to forgive comes from the nature of God. Listen to what the Psalmist says...
God is sheer mercy and grace;
not easily angered, he's rich in love.
He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
Psalm 103:8-12 (MSG)
not easily angered, he's rich in love.
He doesn't endlessly nag and scold,
nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn't treat us as our sins deserve,
nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
he has separated us from our sins.
Psalm 103:8-12 (MSG)
In Ecclesiastes 7:9, the Preacher tells us that "Only fools get angry quickly and hold a grudge." (CEV)
Holding grudges will never do you any good and it eats at the grudge-holder more than it does the one you hold the grudge against. It is a major source of pain in our lives and it is a way for Satan to work against the unity of the church. Negativity keeps you from reaching the full potential of the life God has planned for you!
The Strong and Weak in Faith
Do You Consider Yourself Strong on the Faith? Do You have a Conflict with One You Consider Weak in the Faith?Romans 15:1-2 "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up." (ESV)
Romans 14:1-3 "As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him." (ESV)
In Matthew 18:6-7, Jesus warns against causing weaker ones to fall when he says...
"But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don't have to make it worse—and it's doomsday to you if you do." (The Message)
What About Those Who Continue to Cause Dissension?
The Apostle Paul warned about people who cause divisions..."I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them." Romans 16:17 (ESV)
He believed that people who allow themselves to work against the unity of the church were better separated from the church. Not for punishment's sake. But for a time of healing and restoration. (1 Corinthians 5:5).Jesus said that if someone is persistent in their sin Against You, you should follow this procedure...
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." Matthew 18:15-17 (ESV)
That sounds pretty awful, doesn't it? But think for a moment. How did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors? Did he shun them? No. Did he despise them? No. He recognized them as people who needed to be reached in love, by the power of God's grace and mercy! As a matter of fact, the people who seemed to give Jesus the most problems were those who were considered religious!
Remember, we must see everything through the prism of God's grace and mercy!
Putting the Message to Work
First: We must realize that the Message of the Cross is for us to live and to share. This message is that God has paid the price of our salvation in the cross. Our salvation is the wonderful gift of reconciliation with God and with our neighbor.Second: God call us to be his Ambassadors of Reconciliation. God has entered into a partnership with humanity to share the message of salvation. Remember, we are Plan A and there is no Plan B.
Third: For us to be effective Ambassadors, we ourselves must live out the life of Reconciliation. If reconciliation really is the heart of the Gospel as the Bible teaches, then we must be people who live out lives of reconciliation as we proclaim it.
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