God's Psychology

The early church didn’t have psychology. It is, as a formal study, only maybe 200 years old at the most. There have been a lot of opinions voiced over that time as to whether psych is actually a science. The nature and practice of psychology has changed a lot in just the last 50 years. There has been a drift away from counseling and toward treatment with medicines. The results have been favorable. But God knows people have emotional and mental difficulties. He knows everything, of course, and he has remedies for the afflictions that come through to us because of Adam.
God’s psychology is not called psychology. It is called ministry. It is practiced not by educated Phd.’s but by those who have the gift of pastoring. They don’t use the tenets of Freud or Rogers. They use the Bible. They don’t depend on the enlightenment of the troubled mind through hypnosis or analysis. Instead they depend on the leading and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
Nevertheless, there have been many who have become qualified “Christian Psychologists”. This is a blending of the best of what the “science” can offer along with parallel concepts in the Bible. Often the client is helped because of the Biblical concepts alone, but the therapeutic strategies are given equal credit. This gives credibility to the notion of Christian Psychology where it may not be deserved.
But in the book of 2 Corinthians we have a large portion devoted to God’s mind about the mental and emotional problems of his people. I would like to expose them and comment a little.

2 Corinthians 1:3-9
The words that show up in this passage are “comfort”; “tribulation”; “consolation”; “afflicted”; “enduring”; “sufferings”; “hope”; “trouble”; and then the phrase “pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:” All of these indicate emotional and mental stress, the last being very deep and serious.
God is the God of comfort. When he was here he said “Peace”. It was a command to the sea and a blessing on the twelve in the upper room. He didn’t mean it as a casual greeting. Often today we hear it used that way between friends. But when Christ said it he gave peace. It was real. It was eternal. Consider that for a moment. With a word, Christ can do what psychoanalysts try many years to achieve. When a client consults with a counselor, he has lost his peace. We all do at times and we suffer but we don’t worry too much because as always, we will eventually get it back. But when the loss of peace becomes chronic, people start looking for treatment. God can give it. And his way of giving it is quite unusual. He tells us to die.
That’s right, he tells us to die. He does this in many contexts, the chiefest being Romans 6:11 where we reckon ourselves dead to sin. Another very good one is Colossians 3:1-4. And this one is very helpful as a companion to the context of 2 Corinthians 1:9. To put it plainly, dead men do not suffer. They do not care. They do not sin and they do not reap of the flesh corruption.
We are often told that we are dead. Why is this? Because Christ has begun a new life in our bodies. This life is his life. He is producing fruit and life that is the life of Christ. The old Adamic life is worthless. That is where we are attacked with emotional and mental challenges. But the Christian is told to take an attitude toward that kind of attack. He is to reckon himself dead. “We do not trust in ourselves but in God which raises the dead.” We are dead and we do not try to resurrect the old man. We keep him dead. His works are dead works. His mind is of the flesh. Whenever we find ourselves gravitating toward him the only remedy is to reckon ourselves dead.
And then we are alive to God. We have new life and it is toward God. The new nature doesn’t suffer mental anguish. If it did, the Lord would not have given us death as a treatment. We would never reckon the life of Christ in our bodies as dead.
When we are uncomfortable, or suffering or in despair under normal conditions, such as a funeral of a loved one or the loss of a job or maybe a bad investment, we are told by our friends to trust in the Lord; keep looking to him; he cares and he will see us through. This is what we are told in verse 9. It is as good in the inevitable loss of a mother to old age as it is good for the heavy worry and fear that accompanies psychosis.
I would never advise against using medication to treat bi-polar disorders, or ADHD in children, or other ailments that are the result of body chemistry, such as post-partum depression. As medical science learns more and more about what works, we should use the chemicals that can calm a mind and heart that have lost self control. But when the balance is restored but the worries persist, the counselor who is most effective is the one who can give peace with a word.
So, then, “death” is a starting point toward psychological healing.
The problems in Corinth were of the kind that often lead to “being swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.” (Chapter 2; verse7) The guilt this man must feel is the shortest route to mental imbalance. They were to comfort him with love before this could happen. They were to forgive him. This is of God. The love and forgiveness and comfort will be that which is of the Spirit and not natural. There is much consideration in Chapter 2 of the subject of sorrow or being sorry. The anguish of knowing someone is suffering this way should drive us to extend the comfort to them with which we ourselves have been comforted.
The church is a community. It has been said that it takes a whole village to raise a child. Maybe so. But it also takes community to provide stability for each other. When we love and care and take action one to another, it is a form of being submitted one to another because then we become a servant who sees to others’ needs. If we each use our gift for the benefit of the Body of Christ, there will be no one “left out” or feeling “unwanted”. There will be none who is lonely. There will be no one who feels unloved. “Bear one another’s burdens.” The same exceeding abundant power that Christ used in person to minister to his lambs is available today in the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives.
Looking back at 2 Corinthians we see that the subject of emotional stress is interwoven with other subjects, like the nature of law vs. grace; Paul’s qualifications to be an Apostle and the criticism leveled at him and other things. I would like to confine my remarks to the subject of emotional stress. In chapter 4, beginning in verse 8, Paul is describing his own stress and how he was able to overcome it by means of death. This death is not, of course, the physical cessation of bodily processes like circulation and breathing. It is the placing, mentally and spiritually, of certain valued human institutions into practical exclusion. We just don’t use them anymore.
For example, if I die to “self” I no longer act based on what is best for me. A good practical example of this would be in battle where the soldier dismisses his own safety and falls on a live grenade to save his fellows. Another example would be if I find that something causes me to offend my brother (as Paul cites “meats” in his case) I would just give that up; permanently. Perhaps I feel at liberty to have alcohol with meals. For the sake of one who is watching and would be stumbled, I give up that option. To give up life, though, in general; to die daily, would be at least the “losing” of all our options and at most, the giving up of physical life entirely.
In verse 16 we have the result. The life of Christ, which has been sown in us, now comes forth instead of the old man. Our self is no longer growing. Christ is now growing and filling us with HIMself. This will end in glory for God and for us too. I encourage the reader to spend some time in 2 Corinthians 4, exploring the meanings and making connections to other passages; meditating and praying over the practical application to our lives in the present.
Chapter 5 is very specific as to how the comfort of the Lord, in reckoning self dead, works. We face physical death and accept it. This is why this doctrine is so effective. If we accept physical death, it is then much easier to accept the death of, say a relationship. Dead men cannot accomplish, so one who has accepted death will find it easier to place, in God’s ordering of his life, his firing from a job where he had mega-ambition and expected to one day lead a department or the whole company. If I am granted more physical life, my proper attitude is to seek to please Christ by allowing Him to be the life I lead instead of me (verse 15 and Galatians 2:20). Verse 13 allows that some thought Paul was crazy. If we truly take up practically this way of life, it will show. And the manifestation of it will be so “unnatural” that some may notice and think we are daft. “What? You mean you are not going to expose George for his incompetence? Don’t you realize how you could leapfrog right over him on the ladder?!” But our behavior is not “to others” but “to God”.
As 2 Corinthians goes on, less about this subject is written. But God is speaking throughout from this same basis – that reckoning ourselves dead is the beginning of life. All things, things we have not discussed in this short paper, depend on this basis in the Christian life. We cannot be able ministers or worshipers without this basis. Surely, we cannot handle our emotional and mental challenges without it. This is God’s approach to the aspects of mental illness that are not physiological in their etiology.

Global Warming is God's Will

I normally do not enter the realm of speculation as to current events. I am suspicious of any attempt made to assign prophetic significance to ANY current entity or event or person. I just don't think we can be sure about things like that. If we press certain identities (Pope as the Beast, for example) we are surely going to be embarrassed later. Better to not try to supply what God has not supplied.

But there is an angle to Global Warming that is not being given enough attention. The first aspect I would like to cite is that there was some of this in the late Middle Ages. There was a "Little Ice Age" in the northern hemisphere. Did you hear about it in European History courses in school or college? Yes, in fact the very same kinds of events that are predicted in sensational media DID occur. It is responsible for many migrations of peoples, for several inventions, and for various cultural developments. But it was not caused by human activity. Mainly, this is true because there were so many fewer people on earth than now and those who were here didn't do anything like what we are doing today to the environment. It just happened.

The other aspect to this issue is that the prophecies of the end time in the Bible are full of allusions to cataclysmic events. These are surely going to happen. God is not thwarted by man's efforts. Either the efforts we are trying to undertake in Kyoto or Bali will fail, or they will never be implemented. The end will still be the same. We will have the plagues of Revelation because God WANTS to have them. It is his will. They WILL happen.

A guy named Craven has a popular little 4-Square diagram that gives mankind four choices. You can find this presentation via google, I am sure. He leaves out the most important eventuality of all: what if Global Warming is true, we do everything we can and it still doesn't help?! We have economic catastrophe as well as the natural catastrophes. What then?

Craven says we should spread the word about his findings and his little scenarios. I say we should rather spread the Gospel. That is the message the world really needs. That is the message that it is resisting to its real hurt. Being in Hell is far worse than being caught in a Little or Major Ice Age.

Some Ideas About Mental Activity in Relation to God's Things

Some Ideas About What is Taught in 1 Corinthians 1 – 4 About Mental Activity in Relation to Learning About God’s Things.

(Chiefly a response to the idea amongst many Bible believers that systematic theology as used in Bible schools and seminaries and books published by such institutions is real Biblical scholarship.
We will start in verse 5 because the first 4 verses are greetings. )

Verses 5 - 7 It would seem that rich utterance and knowledge is information they got from the Spirit. I think this because of what he says in 1 Cor. 12:8 about how we get those things. In verse 7 he says that they don’t lack gifts as defined in the 12th chapter.

Verse 10 Admonition that they all hold to the same opinion. This opinion cannot be any that would be prohibited by Gal. 5:20-21 because what is being called for here is not an opinion that results in a division by heresy. This opinion has to be God’s opinion because God is telling them all to have it. It is the correct opinion. Normally when people disagree, either one or both of them are wrong. Here, if one who does not obey this admonition, disagrees with this opinion held by all who do obey it, he is definitely wrong. He has the wrong opinion. In order for us all to have the same opinion, a tremendous lot of other things must be in order. Or, it could be very simple: We could be submitted to the Spirit. If we all have the same opinion then there is no schism. In this way, the church is in failure and ruins if not in any other.

Verses 11 – 17 of chapter one and chapter 3:1 – 8 This tells us that there were people who did not obey that admonition. And they were dividing, taking names for their denominations from those who had ministered Christ to them. It is doubtful that those men, Paul, Apollos, Cephas or Christ held conflicting opinions to which the various sects polarized. It really does not say, but we would have to think that at least Paul and Christ were of the same mind since Paul is writing this by inspiration. He admonishes people who take the name of Christ for their sect but this obviously could not mean that the reason they were wrong was because they held the opinions Christ holds. He later says to all that they should let the mind be in them which was in Christ. So, these sects were dividing over arguments among themselves and saying that they were of Paul or of Christ, and the others, for reasons we cannot but guess at. At any rate, Paul calls this behavior carnal.
So, from this much we have the clear teaching that God wants all to agree on all the things he has given us whether they were formerly mysteries or of some other nature. God does not allow for there to be any other opinions about anything having to do with himself here. This teaches me that it precludes anyone using his own mind independent of the Spirit, as we learn later, to come up with any further truth than what has been revealed to the Apostles i.e. the words in the Bible. It does allow for ignorance of knowable things, but those who are ignorant should not hold opinions on what they do not understand.

Verses 17 – 25 is where Paul takes the time to explain to us how a true minister, himself as an example, dispenses that ministry. “Not in wisdom of words”. This phrase could mean anything. We need to find context here and other places so that we can understand what God means by this wrong way of ministering. The closest we can come to another use of any form of this phrase is in chapter 2, the first 4 verses. Here and in the part that follows in chapter 2 we have a contrast of man’s wisdom and God’s. So, it seems that “wisdom of words” is either identical or akin to this definition or else we are truly lost for a definition. Sort of like so many cases of Czech where if you take a phrase and separate the words and define them, you destroy the meaning of the phrase entirely. The Czechs tell me that this is true when they try it in English too.
So, in these verses we have God’s evaluation of the wise and the prudent. These words are not used lightly. What God says, he means. He really does mean that “the wise” in contrast with those who have God’s wisdom are destined to have that wisdom destroyed. It is clear from this context that the wisdom of the world or man’s wisdom does not bring a human being to a correct opinion of God’s things. It looks like you can equate the phrase “wisdom of words” with “enticing words of man’s wisdom” in v. 4.
Other words that are good to define are terms describing people as “wise” (sagacious, shrewd and clever); “prudent” (discerning, sagacious); “scribe”, ( in this case I think he means one who is skilled in the Jewish Law) “disputer” (a controversial reasoner) and the term “world,” (the “aggregate” of mankind) These people are the best that education can produce. They are experts and yet God says he will bring their wisdom to nothing. He will destroy it. He has made it foolish. Calling for these to come forward reminds me of Job where God challenged any who had been present when he created the world to come and argue with him about whether he had the right to do with it as he sees fit. “Where are these people? Let them come out and I will show them how much worth their wisdom has.”

At this point it may be a good idea to define Biblically the words “natural” and “spiritual” as well as Natural Wisdom and God’s Wisdom.
Natural: The closest we can come to a definition of the Greek word for this is (psuchikos); “of the soul”. The word “animal” is suggested by the lexicon. We know that Adam became a living soul by God breathing into his clay body. (The Old Testament word for spirit means the same thing as the N.T, word means: breath). This tells us that the “soulish” or natural is the human being that is merely alive by the act of God. We are not told what part God plays in the conception of humans today. But the babies that are born have souls as do animals. The O. T. word for soul is also translated “life”. This lends more understanding to the concept that the natural man is a live man. He is a soul.
Natural wisdom: Since man is born natural he can acquire the wisdom that is open to anyone. It can be, as we know, very deep and useful or it can be almost foolish. Because a man must be born again in order to have the Holy Spirit in him, a natural man who is NOT born again cannot have the wisdom of God. We can be sure from the contexts of these passages in early and later 1 Corinthians that God does not refer to born-again people as “natural”.
Spiritual: The Bible differentiates between that which is natural and that which is spiritual. A good place to read about this is in 1 Corinthians 15. The context of verse 44 tells us that Adam was a natural person. Then it tells us that the second Adam was spiritual. It is generally accepted that the second Adam is Christ. So Christ is a spiritual man. He is different from Adam in that he has the Spirit of God in him. When we get saved we know that we also get that Spirit in us. It is then that we become spiritual. According to the verses we have in 1 Corinthians, chapters 1 – 4, we know that Christians have the mind of Christ which is a spiritual mind because we have his Holy Spirit. And we still have our old natural mind as well. We are admonished to walk (behave) in the spirit and not in the flesh (old natural self).
God’s Wisdom: Once a natural person is born again he has the Holy Spirit living in his body. He is now a spiritual man (“in the spirit”, as it says in Romans 8:9) This enables him to have access to the mind of Christ. If we read the context of Romans 8:9 we find out more about the natural or fleshly or carnal mind and we find out that a Christian has a choice about which mind he uses. In order to have access to God’s wisdom, these verses seem to teach that electing to use the natural mind would keep a Christian from using God’s wisdom. Again, as in Galatians 5 where it says that if we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh and vice versa, because the two are in opposition. This principle is shown here in Romans 8 and in 1 Corinthians chapters 1 – 4.


Verses 26 – 31 It seems that here God contrasts the class of experts mentioned in verse 20 with the kind of people God calls to be Christians. The Christians are not who you would expect. They are a despised people by “the aggregate of mankind” (world) when it comes to wisdom . And then he begins to drum on the theme of chapter 2 which is that man cannot ever, by his natural “psychic” faculties, learn the mysteries of God. In 1 Tim. 3:16 and 4:1 he says that the mystery of Godliness is great (and then he summarizes it: A collection of facts known by those to whom they were “initiated” [biblical word] and by those who received it from them.) And, yet, it is given up by those who apostatize.

Chapter 2:1-5 Paul demonstrates how giving up one’s natural wisdom affects the human being. He says he was weak and afraid and trembling. He did this willingly. He did not want to come to the Corinthians speaking from man’s wisdom. He was unwilling that he would convince them by arguments that would come from his own wisdom. He wanted the Corinthians to have faith as a result of the power of God. This refers back to chapter 1:18 where he says that the gospel is the power of God for the saved. He says there that those who shun the gospel as foolish are perishing. So it would seem that the use of man’s wisdom brings one to a state of perishing. We are reminded that in the Psalms it says that there is a way that seems right to a man but the end of it is the way of death. This is the same concept. Paul came in fear and trembling and depended on the Spirit and he got a demonstration of the Spirit and the Spirit’s power. Paul makes it very clear that none of this came from within his own flesh, as he later says that in [his] flesh good does not dwell.

Verses 6-8 More definition of the two kinds of contrasting wisdom: God’s wisdom was a mystery hidden previously and included the means to give glory to the saved. As we learned before, a mystery is a truth that God must initiate humans into. They do not deduce it or conceive of it with the natural thought processes. God gave it into the prophets’ minds and gave them the words to describe it so that their brains could process that information. Then the prophets passed this information to us in their writings. If the leaders of the world would have known this truth they would not have crucified Christ. Why? We are not told precisely why they would not have done so.

Verses 9-13 The things which we know about God which include “the things of God” mentioned elsewhere are the things which he has prepared for us. The abodes in John 14, the reigning with him and the Kingdom of God, the promises of being his bride, the new heavens and new earth. All these things are information that has been imparted to us through the Bible, written by Apostles who were initiated into these mysteries. Even we, if we had not the Holy Spirit living in our bodies could not understand them were we to read them in the Bible. Paul says he speaks these things not in words which can be learned through the wisdom of man but only through the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit teaches these words to us using spiritual (not merely mental or intellectual) means. However, brain-dead people cannot know them so a brain is required.

Verses 14-16 The natural man is a man who is born and never born again. He has only human nature and is not a new creation. He is not able to understand the things of the Spirit. But a person who is spiritual has had his spirit quickened. He is functioning now in a spiritual capacity because his spirit is now in concert with God’s Holy Spirit. There is no verse that actually, in words, defines a spiritual man by distinguishing his composition from a natural man. We are trying to refrain from too much deduction here so we will say that the only definition is by character and behavior. There are many verses for this.
Collecting all the information from these verses tells us that the spiritual man acts according to the character of God, he is able to understand the things of God, he is one with others who have the Spirit of God and he manifests ministry by the Holy Spirit giving him what to say and do. When we look at the character and behavior of what God calls a spiritual man it is clear that he differs from the natural state in that he has an added feature. He has an additional capacity. Here in verse 15 it says that he understands things that the natural man cannot. And the key to this is found in verse 16: the spiritual man has the mind of Christ. Perhaps these are words that describe the compositional difference between the natural man and the spiritual man.
This statement, that we have the mind of Christ seems to open the door to saying that, as Christians, anything we want to consider, at least from the Bible, will result in God’s wisdom. We have to be careful here. Even though we have the mind of Christ and his Spirit, we still have sin and the flesh. The only way the Bible says that we can be sure that we are connected only to God via our and his Spirit is by an exercise of our will. We have to yield (dedicate, consecrate, put at disposal of, devote) ourselves to that Spirit. (See Romans 6 on this.) And we have to maintain that yielded state. Once thinking is started it is really easy for us to take back our minds and use them naturally. This is why there is so much trouble over understanding the controversial portions of the Bible.

Chapter 3:1 - 3 The carnal, fleshly, animal, natural mind caused the Corinthians to walk or behave in the manner of “men”. This is a significant term because it is in concert with the whole idea of being natural in the chapters before and in the next chapter.

Verses 4 – 9 Ministers give out material that they get from God. They read the Bible, define the words with their brains and then their minds begin to work on the material. They begin to think. This is the point (if not before) at which they need to be yielded to the Holy Spirit. Finally, through his reminding them of other verses and his leading them into truth, they come to an understanding. At this point they are not much different from those who do not minister.
At the leading and command of the Lord by means of his Spirit, these people can give what they now understand to others. And this is not done in their own strength either. Like Paul, they should be weak, fearful and trembling. In this way they can speak as the oracles of God. Oracles are the speakings of God given to men who relay them. This was what the prophets did when they said “Thus says the Lord….” It is taught here in these verses that no man can do God’s work without this supernatural demonstration. God gives the increase.

Verses 10 – 15 Though these verses do not explain anymore the methods and procedures for learning what God has for us in the Bible, they do tell us how the ministry must be performed if it expects to be rewarded.

Within this paper on how to learn from the Bible we have a small demonstration of how spiritual thinking is accomplished. It is here in these verses on wood hay and stubble. There are no verses here that say exactly what constitutes work that will abide or what sort will be burned. And yet, God expects us to understand from the passage what we should and should not do.
It is in taking the information in the previous verses and chapters and applying them to the subject here that we can come up with truth. The Holy Spirit is our guide as we see that the subject is ministry; we have just been told what God’s wisdom is and had Paul give testimony as to his experience when he gave ministry that would abide the fire of this passage. This is deduction but it is deduction using elements that are unmistakable in their meaning and application. It is deduction based only on what is actually said by God in the Bible.
We cannot teach from this passage, and the contextual passages before and after, that deduction can be useful outside the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are not given leave to think that our own minds can do this deduction using natural means because those means have been condemned earlier. We are left with dependence on the Holy Spirit who will use the mind of Christ within us to make the deduction that gold, silver and precious stones are symbols for good works.
I am born out by the majority of Christians that these symbols represent good works. There is really no general controversy about their meaning among Bible believers. On the contrary, there is lots of general controversy concerning things like a pre, post or mid-tribulation rapture. This proves to us that there are two ways of deducing. The deductions guided by the Spirit are easy. There is plenty of information for the Spirit to use to lead us into truth. On the other hand, when it comes to matters where pieces of the puzzle seem to be missing, men fall back on their natural methods of deduction and invent meanings and misuse symbols in order to produce an opinion that is convincing. When God, through Paul, said that he wanted all to have the same opinion, it was not an opinion produced this way. Therefore, I shall call attention to this paragraph I am just now here finishing, as a practical demonstration to men of how to use their minds when learning from God and then ministering to others.
Now let us go on:

Verses 16 – 23 The building we are engaged in is the temple of God. We are warned not to defile this building by putting in elements that are of man. Again the warning is against the wisdom of the world because this is the chief element that defiles the temple of God. Not only that but we have a stake in this building. We have ownership in it as well as does God.

Chapter 4:1 – 8 Not much needs to be said about this in regard to how to learn and how to minister. Paul (God) is telling us not to judge other people’s work. He says he doesn’t even judge his own. Jesus told Peter that what he wanted John to do was none of his business. In Romans 14 it says we should not judge each other because to his own master a servant stands or falls. (The previous sentences are an example of comparing scriptures and finding corroboration in two or three.) I should add here that there is plenty of admonition to us to avoid contentious and heretical persons. This would require a kind of judgment of their ministry. But for that kind of judgment, we have verses also and need not use our natural opinions in doing it. We had better not.
The Corinthians were judging their own works and each other’s. The result was that they had already decided what God’s judgment would be. They would reign. In fact they apparently had started to reign over the people already. This reflects the error Christ pointed out concerning stewards who, thinking the Lord is delaying, begin to beat their fellow servants. These Corinthians were not beating anyone but they were divided up, each thinking their sect was the true ministry. I know a group right at this very moment who used to fellowship with us who no longer do. They say that we are deceived. We again learn from verse 7 that we have nothing we didn’t receive from God, so again, the idea of the fruit of the natural mind being of any value is debunked.
The rest of chapter 4 has little to offer on the subject of this paper, so we will leave it right there. I hope that I have accomplished the little task that I believe God called me to do. I wanted to make a clear statement that systematic, deductive, imaginative thinking by the natural mind, unyielded to the Holy Spirit, is not profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness.

Some Ideas About Mental Activity in Relation to God's Things

Some Ideas About What is Taught in 1 Corinthians 1 – 4 About Mental Activity in Relation to Learning About God’s Things.

(Chiefly a response to the idea amongst many Bible believers that systematic theology as used in Bible schools and seminaries and books published by such institutions is real Biblical scholarship.
We will start in verse 5 because the first 4 verses are greetings.

Verses 5 - 7 It would seem that rich utterance and knowledge is information they got from the Spirit. I think this because of what he says in 1 Cor. 12:8 about how we get those things. In verse 7 he says that they don’t lack gifts as defined in the 12th chapter.

Verse 10 Admonition that they all hold to the same opinion. This opinion cannot be any that would be prohibited by Gal. 5:20-21 because what is being called for here is not an opinion that results in a division by heresy. This opinion has to be God’s opinion because God is telling them all to have it. It is the correct opinion. Normally when people disagree, either one or both of them are wrong. Here, if one who does not obey this admonition, disagrees with this opinion held by all who do obey it, he is definitely wrong. He has the wrong opinion. In order for us all to have the same opinion, a tremendous lot of other things must be in order. Or, it could be very simple: We could be submitted to the Spirit. If we all have the same opinion then there is no schism. In this way, the church is in failure and ruins if not in any other.

Verses 11 – 17 of chapter one and chapter 3:1 – 8 This tells us that there were people who did not obey that admonition. And they were dividing, taking names for their denominations from those who had ministered Christ to them. It is doubtful that those men, Paul, Apollos, Cephas or Christ held conflicting opinions to which the various sects polarized. It really does not say, but we would have to think that at least Paul and Christ were of the same mind since Paul is writing this by inspiration. He admonishes people who take the name of Christ for their sect but this obviously could not mean that the reason they were wrong was because they held the opinions Christ holds. He later says to all that they should let the mind be in them which was in Christ. So, these sects were dividing over arguments among themselves and saying that they were of Paul or of Christ, and the others, for reasons we cannot but guess at. At any rate, Paul calls this behavior carnal.
So, from this much we have the clear teaching that God wants all to agree on all the things he has given us whether they were formerly mysteries or of some other nature. God does not allow for there to be any other opinions about anything having to do with himself here. This teaches me that it precludes anyone using his own mind independent of the Spirit, as we learn later, to come up with any further truth than what has been revealed to the Apostles i.e. the words in the Bible. It does allow for ignorance of knowable things, but those who are ignorant should not hold opinions on what they do not understand.

Verses 17 – 25 is where Paul takes the time to explain to us how a true minister, himself as an example, dispenses that ministry. “Not in wisdom of words”. This phrase could mean anything. We need to find context here and other places so that we can understand what God means by this wrong way of ministering. The closest we can come to another use of any form of this phrase is in chapter 2, the first 4 verses. Here and in the part that follows in chapter 2 we have a contrast of man’s wisdom and God’s. So, it seems that “wisdom of words” is either identical or akin to this definition or else we are truly lost for a definition. Sort of like so many cases of Czech where if you take a phrase and separate the words and define them, you destroy the meaning of the phrase entirely. The Czechs tell me that this is true when they try it in English too.
So, in these verses we have God’s evaluation of the wise and the prudent. These words are not used lightly. What God says, he means. He really does mean that “the wise” in contrast with those who have God’s wisdom are destined to have that wisdom destroyed. It is clear from this context that the wisdom of the world or man’s wisdom does not bring a human being to a correct opinion of God’s things. It looks like you can equate the phrase “wisdom of words” with “enticing words of man’s wisdom” in v. 4.
Other words that are good to define are terms describing people as “wise” (sagacious, shrewd and clever); “prudent” (discerning, sagacious); “scribe”, ( in this case I think he means one who is skilled in the Jewish Law) “disputer” (a controversial reasoner) and the term “world,” (the “aggregate” of mankind) These people are the best that education can produce. They are experts and yet God says he will bring their wisdom to nothing. He will destroy it. He has made it foolish. Calling for these to come forward reminds me of Job where God challenged any who had been present when he created the world to come and argue with him about whether he had the right to do with it as he sees fit. “Where are these people? Let them come out and I will show them how much worth their wisdom has.”

At this point it may be a good idea to define Biblically the words “natural” and “spiritual” as well as Natural Wisdom and God’s Wisdom.
Natural: The closest we can come to a definition of the Greek word for this is (psuchikos); “of the soul”. The word “animal” is suggested by the lexicon. We know that Adam became a living soul by God breathing into his clay body. (The Old Testament word for spirit means the same thing as the N.T, word means: breath). This tells us that the “soulish” or natural is the human being that is merely alive by the act of God. We are not told what part God plays in the conception of humans today. But the babies that are born have souls as do animals. The O. T. word for soul is also translated “life”. This lends more understanding to the concept that the natural man is a live man. He is a soul.
Natural wisdom: Since man is born natural he can acquire the wisdom that is open to anyone. It can be, as we know, very deep and useful or it can be almost foolish. Because a man must be born again in order to have the Holy Spirit in him, a natural man who is NOT born again cannot have the wisdom of God. We can be sure from the contexts of these passages in early and later 1 Corinthians that God does not refer to born-again people as “natural”.
Spiritual: The Bible differentiates between that which is natural and that which is spiritual. A good place to read about this is in 1 Corinthians 15. The context of verse 44 tells us that Adam was a natural person. Then it tells us that the second Adam was spiritual. It is generally accepted that the second Adam is Christ. So Christ is a spiritual man. He is different from Adam in that he has the Spirit of God in him. When we get saved we know that we also get that Spirit in us. It is then that we become spiritual. According to the verses we have in 1 Corinthians, chapters 1 – 4, we know that Christians have the mind of Christ which is a spiritual mind because we have his Holy Spirit. And we still have our old natural mind as well. We are admonished to walk (behave) in the spirit and not in the flesh (old natural self).
God’s Wisdom: Once a natural person is born again he has the Holy Spirit living in his body. He is now a spiritual man (“in the spirit”, as it says in Romans 8:9) This enables him to have access to the mind of Christ. If we read the context of Romans 8:9 we find out more about the natural or fleshly or carnal mind and we find out that a Christian has a choice about which mind he uses. In order to have access to God’s wisdom, these verses seem to teach that electing to use the natural mind would keep a Christian from using God’s wisdom. Again, as in Galatians 5 where it says that if we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh and vice versa, because the two are in opposition. This principle is shown here in Romans 8 and in 1 Corinthians chapters 1 – 4.


Verses 26 – 31 It seems that here God contrasts the class of experts mentioned in verse 20 with the kind of people God calls to be Christians. The Christians are not who you would expect. They are a despised people by “the aggregate of mankind” (world) when it comes to wisdom . And then he begins to drum on the theme of chapter 2 which is that man cannot ever, by his natural “psychic” faculties, learn the mysteries of God. In 1 Tim. 3:16 and 4:1 he says that the mystery of Godliness is great (and then he summarizes it: A collection of facts known by those to whom they were “initiated” [biblical word] and by those who received it from them.) And, yet, it is given up by those who apostatize.

Chapter 2:1-5 Paul demonstrates how giving up one’s natural wisdom affects the human being. He says he was weak and afraid and trembling. He did this willingly. He did not want to come to the Corinthians speaking from man’s wisdom. He was unwilling that he would convince them by arguments that would come from his own wisdom. He wanted the Corinthians to have faith as a result of the power of God. This refers back to chapter 1:18 where he says that the gospel is the power of God for the saved. He says there that those who shun the gospel as foolish are perishing. So it would seem that the use of man’s wisdom brings one to a state of perishing. We are reminded that in the Psalms it says that there is a way that seems right to a man but the end of it is the way of death. This is the same concept. Paul came in fear and trembling and depended on the Spirit and he got a demonstration of the Spirit and the Spirit’s power. Paul makes it very clear that none of this came from within his own flesh, as he later says that in [his] flesh good does not dwell.

Verses 6-8 More definition of the two kinds of contrasting wisdom: God’s wisdom was a mystery hidden previously and included the means to give glory to the saved. As we learned before, a mystery is a truth that God must initiate humans into. They do not deduce it or conceive of it with the natural thought processes. God gave it into the prophets’ minds and gave them the words to describe it so that their brains could process that information. Then the prophets passed this information to us in their writings. If the leaders of the world would have known this truth they would not have crucified Christ. Why? We are not told precisely why they would not have done so.

Verses 9-13 The things which we know about God which include “the things of God” mentioned elsewhere are the things which he has prepared for us. The abodes in John 14, the reigning with him and the Kingdom of God, the promises of being his bride, the new heavens and new earth. All these things are information that has been imparted to us through the Bible, written by Apostles who were initiated into these mysteries. Even we, if we had not the Holy Spirit living in our bodies could not understand them were we to read them in the Bible. Paul says he speaks these things not in words which can be learned through the wisdom of man but only through the wisdom of God. The Holy Spirit teaches these words to us using spiritual (not merely mental or intellectual) means. However, brain-dead people cannot know them so a brain is required.

Verses 14-16 The natural man is a man who is born and never born again. He has only human nature and is not a new creation. He is not able to understand the things of the Spirit. But a person who is spiritual has had his spirit quickened. He is functioning now in a spiritual capacity because his spirit is now in concert with God’s Holy Spirit. There is no verse that actually, in words, defines a spiritual man by distinguishing his composition from a natural man. We are trying to refrain from too much deduction here so we will say that the only definition is by character and behavior. There are many verses for this.
Collecting all the information from these verses tells us that the spiritual man acts according to the character of God, he is able to understand the things of God, he is one with others who have the Spirit of God and he manifests ministry by the Holy Spirit giving him what to say and do. When we look at the character and behavior of what God calls a spiritual man it is clear that he differs from the natural state in that he has an added feature. He has an additional capacity. Here in verse 15 it says that he understands things that the natural man cannot. And the key to this is found in verse 16: the spiritual man has the mind of Christ. Perhaps these are words that describe the compositional difference between the natural man and the spiritual man.
This statement, that we have the mind of Christ seems to open the door to saying that, as Christians, anything we want to consider, at least from the Bible, will result in God’s wisdom. We have to be careful here. Even though we have the mind of Christ and his Spirit, we still have sin and the flesh. The only way the Bible says that we can be sure that we are connected only to God via our and his Spirit is by an exercise of our will. We have to yield (dedicate, consecrate, put at disposal of, devote) ourselves to that Spirit. (See Romans 6 on this.) And we have to maintain that yielded state. Once thinking is started it is really easy for us to take back our minds and use them naturally. This is why there is so much trouble over understanding the controversial portions of the Bible.

Chapter 3:1 - 3 The carnal, fleshly, animal, natural mind caused the Corinthians to walk or behave in the manner of “men”. This is a significant term because it is in concert with the whole idea of being natural in the chapters before and in the next chapter.

Verses 4 – 9 Ministers give out material that they get from God. They read the Bible, define the words with their brains and then their minds begin to work on the material. They begin to think. This is the point (if not before) at which they need to be yielded to the Holy Spirit. Finally, through his reminding them of other verses and his leading them into truth, they come to an understanding. At this point they are not much different from those who do not minister.
At the leading and command of the Lord by means of his Spirit, these people can give what they now understand to others. And this is not done in their own strength either. Like Paul, they should be weak, fearful and trembling. In this way they can speak as the oracles of God. Oracles are the speakings of God given to men who relay them. This was what the prophets did when they said “Thus says the Lord….” It is taught here in these verses that no man can do God’s work without this supernatural demonstration. God gives the increase.

Verses 10 – 15 Though these verses do not explain anymore the methods and procedures for learning what God has for us in the Bible, they do tell us how the ministry must be performed if it expects to be rewarded.

Within this paper on how to learn from the Bible we have a small demonstration of how spiritual thinking is accomplished. It is here in these verses on wood hay and stubble. There are no verses here that say exactly what constitutes work that will abide or what sort will be burned. And yet, God expects us to understand from the passage what we should and should not do.
It is in taking the information in the previous verses and chapters and applying them to the subject here that we can come up with truth. The Holy Spirit is our guide as we see that the subject is ministry; we have just been told what God’s wisdom is and had Paul give testimony as to his experience when he gave ministry that would abide the fire of this passage. This is deduction but it is deduction using elements that are unmistakable in their meaning and application. It is deduction based only on what is actually said by God in the Bible.
We cannot teach from this passage, and the contextual passages before and after, that deduction can be useful outside the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We are not given leave to think that our own minds can do this deduction using natural means because those means have been condemned earlier. We are left with dependence on the Holy Spirit who will use the mind of Christ within us to make the deduction that gold, silver and precious stones are symbols for good works.
I am born out by the majority of Christians that these symbols represent good works. There is really no general controversy about their meaning among Bible believers. On the contrary, there is lots of general controversy concerning things like a pre, post or mid-tribulation rapture. This proves to us that there are two ways of deducing. The deductions guided by the Spirit are easy. There is plenty of information for the Spirit to use to lead us into truth. On the other hand, when it comes to matters where pieces of the puzzle seem to be missing, men fall back on their natural methods of deduction and invent meanings and misuse symbols in order to produce an opinion that is convincing. When God, through Paul, said that he wanted all to have the same opinion, it was not an opinion produced this way. Therefore, I shall call attention to this paragraph I am just now here finishing, as a practical demonstration to men of how to use their minds when learning from God and then ministering to others.
Now let us go on:

Verses 16 – 23 The building we are engaged in is the temple of God. We are warned not to defile this building by putting in elements that are of man. Again the warning is against the wisdom of the world because this is the chief element that defiles the temple of God. Not only that but we have a stake in this building. We have ownership in it as well as does God.

Chapter 4:1 – 8 Not much needs to be said about this in regard to how to learn and how to minister. Paul (God) is telling us not to judge other people’s work. He says he doesn’t even judge his own. Jesus told Peter that what he wanted John to do was none of his business. In Romans 14 it says we should not judge each other because to his own master a servant stands or falls. (The previous sentences are an example of comparing scriptures and finding corroboration in two or three.) I should add here that there is plenty of admonition to us to avoid contentious and heretical persons. This would require a kind of judgment of their ministry. But for that kind of judgment, we have verses also and need not use our natural opinions in doing it. We had better not.
The Corinthians were judging their own works and each other’s. The result was that they had already decided what God’s judgment would be. They would reign. In fact they apparently had started to reign over the people already. This reflects the error Christ pointed out concerning stewards who, thinking the Lord is delaying, begin to beat their fellow servants. These Corinthians were not beating anyone but they were divided up, each thinking their sect was the true ministry. I know a group right at this very moment who used to fellowship with us who no longer do. They say that we are deceived. We again learn from verse 7 that we have nothing we didn’t receive from God, so again, the idea of the fruit of the natural mind being of any value is debunked.
The rest of chapter 4 has little to offer on the subject of this paper, so we will leave it right there. I hope that I have accomplished the little task that I believe God called me to do. I wanted to make a clear statement that systematic, deductive, imaginative thinking by the natural mind, unyielded to the Holy Spirit, is not profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction and instruction in righteousness.

TITUS

TITUS WAS A CO-WORKER OF PAUL.
PAUL REALLY LIKED TITUS.
IT WAS NOT THAT TITUS WAS NICE LOOKING, OR THAT TITUS WAS A NICE GUY AND HAD SOME OF THE SAME INTERESTS AS PAUL DID.
WE DON’T KNOW IF ANY OF THAT WAS TRUE.
WE DON’T KNOW IF HE WAS OLD OR YOUNG OR MIDDLE AGED.
IT TURNS OUT THAT PAUL AND TITUS DID HAVE THE SAME INTERESTS BUT THEY WERE SPIRITUAL INTERESTS.
PAUL AND TITUS WERE OF ONE MIND CONCERNING THE WORK THAT GOD HAD GIVEN THEM.
WE FIND HIM MENTIONED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 1 CORINTHIANS 2:13.. PAUL HAD RECEIVED AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO AND PREACH THE GOSPEL IN TROAS.
BUT WHEN HE WENT THERE HE SAYS HE DIDN’T FIND TITUS THERE.
THE RESULT OF THIS WAS THAT HE DIDN’T HAVE ANY REST IN HIS SPIRIT.
THIS “REST” WAS A “RELAXATION OF CONFINEMENT”.
IN OTHER WORDS, PAUL DIDN’T FEEL THE FREEDOM THAT HE WOULD HAVE FELT IF HE HAD SEEN TITUS.
CAN WE IDENTIFY WITH THAT?
MAYBE THERE IS SOMEONE WE WISH WE COULD BE WITH.
WE HAVEN’T SEEN THIS PERSON IN AWHILE.
INSIDE US WE HAVE A KIND OF BUILDING-UP OF TENSION.
A TIGHT FEELING THAT WILL NOT GO AWAY UNTIL WE SEE THIS PERSON..
PAUL HAD THIS AND WANTED TO SEE TITUS.
SEEING TITUS WOULD RELIEVE THIS FEELING IN PAUL.
BUT TITUS WAS NOT THERE AND PAUL DID NOT GET RELAXATION.
HE DIDN’T GET REST IN HIS SPIRIT.
NOTICE THAT PAUL CALLS TITUS HIS BROTHER.
HE IS ALSO HIS COMPANION AND FELLOW-LABORER.
WE SHOULD THINK OF ALL OTHER BELIEVERS AS OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.
THE TRUTH IS THAT THEY ARE MORE REAL AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAN OUR NATURAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS.
THIS IS BECAUSE WE WILL BE BROTHERS AND SISTERS WITH OUR FAMILY ONLY IN THIS LIFE.
WE WILL BE BROTHERS AND SISTERS WITH THE REST OF THE BELIEVERS FOR EVER AND EVER.
YOU MIGHT SAY THAT OUR CHRISTIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE OUR TRUE BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

IN THIS SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS, PAUL KNOWS THAT HIS FIRST ONE CAUSED THEM GRIEF.
BECAUSE OF WHAT HE SAID ABOUT THEIR DIVISIONS AND THE IMMORALITY, THEY WERE DISTRESSED.
NOTICE IN 2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 7 VERSE 11, HE POINTS OUT HOW THEY RESPONDED.
THEY PROVED THEMSELVES TO BE PURE IN THE MATTER. (READ VERSES 8 – 12)
PAUL WAS DEVOTED TO THE CORINTHIANS.
NOTICE THE LANGUAGE OF VERSE 3: “TO DIE TOGETHER AND TO LIVE TOGETHER”
SO IT WAS A GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT AND COMFORT TO PAUL THAT THE CORINTHIANS HAD GOTTEN THEMSELVES BACK INTO ORDER.
THEY HAD REPENTED.
WE FIND LATER THAT THE MAN WHO HAD DONE THE IMMORALITY HAD REPENTED TOO AND HAD BEEN RESTORED.
THIS NEWS GREATLY COMFORTED AND ENCOURAGED PAUL WHEN HE WAS IN MACEDONIA.
IN MACEDONIA, PAUL HAD FIGHTINGS WITHOUT AND FEARS WITHIN.
HE HAD A LOT OF BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO HIM THERE.
BUT TITUS CAME AND TOLD HIM HOW THE CORINTHIANS HAD REPENTED AND IT GAVE HIM COMFORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
IT WAS PAUL’S GOOD FRIEND TITUS WHO BROUGHT THE NEWS.
TITUS HAD BEEN SPENDING TIME WITH THE CORINTHIANS HELPING THEM OVERCOME THE TERRIBLE SIN THAT WAS RUINING THEIR CHURCH.
CONSIDER THAT TITUS DID THIS VERY IMPORTANT WORK AND WE HAVE NOT BEEN TOLD MUCH ABOUT HIM.
PAUL WROTE THE LETTER BUT TITUS ACTUALLY WENT THERE AND DID THE WORK OF A SHEPHERD.
WE KNOW THAT HE WAS A VERY EAGER HELPER IN THE GOSPEL.
HE WAS LIKE PAUL.
HE LIVED FOR THE WILL OF GOD AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD.
PAUL SAYS THAT TITUS WAS ENCOURAGED ABOUT THE CORINTHIANS.
GOD SENT TITUS TO PAUL TO ENCOURAGE HIM BY TELLING HIM ALL ABOUT THE REALITY OF THE CORINTHIANS’ REPENTENCE.
IT WOULD BE LIKE SOMEONE COMING AND TELLING US THAT ALL THE DISTRESSING THINGS IN OUR CHURCH HAD BEEN DEALT WITH.
AS IF HE WOULD COME AND TELL US THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN CAUSING DISSENTION HAD PUBLICLY RETRACTED ALL THE NON-BIBLICAL THINGS THEY HAD EVER TAUGHT AND THAT EVERY OTHER MEMBER AGREED WITH THEM AND ALSO REPENTED OF THEIR PARTS IN IT.
IF THEY ALL BECAME OF ONE MIND, LIKE GOD SAYS TO DO IN 1 CORINTHIANS 1:10, IT WOULD ENCOURAGE US.
WE WOULD BE COMFORTED.
IF THEY WOULD “CLEAR THEMSELVES” AS IT SAYS IN VERSE 11, WE WOULD BE COMFORTED.
THIS WOULD BE TRUE IF WE HEARD THE SAME THINGS ABOUT OTHER CHURCHES WE KNOW ABOUT.
WE KNOW MANY CHURCHES WITH REAL CHRISTIANS WHO ARE IN BONDAGE TO WRONG TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES.
WE WOULD BE VERY ENCOURAGED BY HEARING THAT THEY HAD REPENTED.
NOTICE TITUS.
NOTICE THAT HE IS EQUAL TO PAUL IN HIS CARING AND CONCERN. WE DON’T HEAR MUCH ABOUT TITUS BUT IT LOOKS LIKE HE DID A LOT OF TRAVELING FOR PAUL, IN PAUL’S PLACE.
HE WAS AN ASSISTANT WHO CARED AS MUCH FOR THE CHRISTIANS AS PAUL DID.
IN THE END OF VERSE 13 PAUL SAYS THAT HE REJOICED BECAUSE OF THE JOY OF TITUS. HE HAD THIS JOY BECAUSE HIS SPIRIT HAD BEEN REFRESHED BY THE CORINTHIANS.
IN VERSE 15 HE SAYS THAT TITUS’ AFFECTIONS WERE ABUNDANT TOWARD ALL THE CORINTHIANS BECAUSE OF THEIR OBEDIENCE. TO GOD IN THESE MATTERS, AND HOW THEY RECEIVED HIM WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING.
THIS ANSWERS A QUESTION I HAD WHEN I FIRST STARTED TO READ ABOUT TITUS.
I THOUGHT ABOUT HOW HE WOULD BE RECEIVED IN CORINTH.
IF TITUS WENT TO CORINTH TO HELP PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE DOING WELL, THEN HE COULD BE REJECTED.
THINK ABOUT IT.
THE CORINTHIANS WERE PROUD.
THEY WERE BOASTING.
THEY DIDN’T THINK THAT THERE WAS ANYTHING WRONG IN THEIR CHURCH.
TITUS GOES THERE AND BEGINS TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT REPENTING.
HOW DO YOU THINK THEY REACTED TO HIM?
HOW WOULD MOST PEOPLE REACT TO SOMEONE WHO DID THAT?
NORMALLY, THEY WOULD TELL HIM TO GO AWAY.
THEY WOULD TELL HIM TO KEEP HIMSELF OUT OF THEIR AFFAIRS.
BUT IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT.
THE CORINTHIANS HAD RECEIVED THE LETTER FROM PAUL THAT WE CALL FIRST CORINTHIANS.
THEN TITUS WENT THERE.
THE CORINTHIANS RECEIVED HIM WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING.
THIS PROVES THAT GOD WAS SUPPORTING THIS WORK.
THINK OF HOW TITUS DECIDED TO GO TO CORINTH.
WE ARE NOT TOLD OF HIS THOUGHTS ABOUT IT.
WE ONLY KNOW THAT HE TRUSTED GOD AND THAT HE WAS CONVINCED GOD WANTED HIM TO GO THERE.
THINK ABOUT THE FIRST PERSON HE TALKED TO THERE.
OR THINK ABOUT HIS FIRST MESSAGE THERE.
IT HAD THE POWER OF GOD BEHIND IT.
THIS IS POSSIBLE. IT IS POSSIBLE TO BE A SERVANT OF GOD LIKE TITUS.
WHAT IS NECESSARY IS THAT THE SERVANT HAS TO BE WILLING.
HE HAS TO BE WILLING TO TRUST GOD THAT HE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL.
IF GOD IS NOT IN THE WORK, A WORK LIKE TITUS DID WILL FAIL.
TITUS HAD TO BE SENSITIVE TO GOD’S LEADING.
THE RESULT WAS THAT GOD PREPARED THE CORINTHIANS.
THIS IS WHY THE CORINTHIANS RECEIVED TITUS WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING.
THEY KNEW IT WAS TIME TO CHANGE THEIR WAYS AND THEY KNEW TITUS WAS THERE TO HELP THEM DO IT.
THINK OF THE SUBJECTS THAT TITUS HAD TO TALK ABOUT WITH PEOPLE.
HE HAD TO SPEAK VERY CLEARLY ABOUT IMMORALITY.
HE HAD TO SPEAK OF VERY PERSONAL MATTERS.
WAS TITUS AFRAID? WE ARE NOT TOLD THAT HE WAS.
IT IS NOT PLEASANT TO GO TO PEOPLE AND “CONTEND FOR THE FAITH” WITH THEM.
CHAPTER 8; VERSE 6 SHOWS THAT TITUS HAD MINISTERED TO THE CORINTHIANS ABOUT GIVING.
PAUL WAS ASKING THAT HE CONTINUE TO HELP THEM TO HAVE THE GRACE, THE GIVING OF SELF, THAT WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THEM TO GIVE SOME OF THEIR WEALTH TO THE POOR.
AGAIN, IT IS TITUS WHO IS THE MINISTER OF THIS TO THEM.
THIS ALSO WAS A HARD TASK.
IT IS ALWAYS HARD TO TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT GIVING AWAY MONEY.
PAUL TRUSTED THIS MAN.
GOD USED THIS MAN.
IN VERSES 8:16 AND 17, WE LEARN THAT TITUS HAD IN HIMSELF THE SAME EARNEST CARE (ZEALOUS CARE) FOR THE CORINTHIANS THAT PAUL HAD.
WE REMEMBER HOW PAUL SAID HE FELT LIKE HE WAS GIVING BIRTH TO THE GALATIANS (GAL. 4:16).
IN 1 CORINTHIANS 13 IT TELLS THAT WE HAVE TO MINISTER IN TRUE LOVE.
TITUS HAD THIS KIND OF LOVE FOR THE CORINTHIANS.
WHEN TITUS TALKED TO THE CORINTHIANS ABOUT THEIR PROBLEMS AND OTHER ISSUES, THEY LISTENED TO HIM
THERE WAS ANOTHER BROTHER AND FELLOW-WORKER OF PAUL.
HIS NAME WAS EPAPHRODITUS AND HE IS MENTIONED IN PHILIPPIANS 2:25 – 30 (READ THIS)
NOTICE WHAT KIND OF MAN THIS WAS.
HE HAD A LONGING DESIRE TO BE WITH THE SAINTS AT PHILIPPI.
HE WAS DISTRESSED BECAUSE THE PHILIPPIANS HAD HEARD HE WAS SICK.
APPARENTLY, EPAPHRODITUS WOULD RATHER WORK WHILE HE WAS ILL AND HAVE NO ONE KNOW IT, SO NO ONE WOULD FEEL BAD ABOUT IT.
THIS MAN ALMOST WORKED HIMSELF TO DEATH IN GATHERING THE FINANCIAL HELP THAT WAS BEING ASSEMBLED FOR THE POOR.
VERSE 30 SAYS THAT “HE DREW NEAR TO DEATH, VENTURING HIS LIFE THAT HE MIGHT FILL UP WHAT WAS LACKING” IN THE PHILIPPIANS’ SUPPORT OF PAUL.
TODAY THIS MAN MIGHT BE CALLED A “FUND-RAISER”, BUT THERE NEVER WAS A FUND-RAISER WITH THE HEART OF EPAPHRODITUS.
THESE FELLOW-LABORERS, TITUS AND EPAPHRODITUS WERE A REAL HELP TO PAUL.
IT COULD WELL BE THAT THEY DID WORK THEMSELVES TO DEATH.
EPAPHRODITUS MAY HAVE NEVER REALLY RECOVERED FROM HIS SICKNESS.
TITUS MAY HAVE BEEN PHYSICALLY PERSECUTED AS PAUL WAS AND MAYBE HE WAS MURDERED.
THE JEWS TRIED THAT WITH PAUL AND GOD PROTECTED HIM, BUT MAYBE GOD DIDN’T PROTECT TITUS.
MAYBE THAT’S WHY WE DON’T HEAR OF HIM ANYMORE AFTER THIS PART IN CORINTHIANS..
I DON’T KNOW IF I COULD BE A TITUS.
I THINK GOD WOULD LIKE ME TO BE A TITUS AND AN EPAPHRODITUS.
I THINK THESE MEN ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE. THERE WAS A WOMAN NAMED DORCAS WHO DEVOTED HER TIME TO HELPING THE CHRISTIANS TOO.
THESE PEOPLE DID NOT LEAD EASY LIVES.
I THINK GOD WANTS US TO BE LIKE THEM.
I DON’T KNOW IF GOD WOULD WANT US TO SUFFER LIKE THEY DID.
I DON’T KNOW IF HE WOULD ALLOW ME TO SUFFER THE SAME KIND OF LIFE THEY DID.
WORKING WHILE SICK
BEING PERSECUTED.
I THINK GOD WANTS US TO HAVE THE SAME ATTITUDE, THOUGH, THAT THEY HAD.
GOD WANTS ME TO FORGET MYSELF.
HE WANTS ME TO BE FREE ENOUGH OF MYSELF THAT I COULD CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE THE WAY THAT TITUS DID.
THIS IS HARD.
WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT.
MAYBE GOD WILL HELP US BE LIKE TITUS IN SOME WAY.
THERE ARE A LOT OF CHRISTIANS THAT NEED WHAT WE HAVE.
I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT MONEY OR GOODS.
I AM TALKING ABOUT FAITH.
WE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
MANY CHRISTIANS DON’T HAVE MUCH TRUST IN GOD..
MANY CHRISTIANS ARE LIVING BAD LIVES.
THEY BELIEVE WRONG DOCTRINES.
MANY CHRISTIANS ARE AS BAD AS THE CORINTHIANS.
THIS IS HURTING THE CHURCH CHRIST LOVES.
MANY CHRISTIANS ARE CONFUSED. THEY DON’T KNOW SOME IMPORTANT TRUTHS IN THE BIBLE.
IT IS CAUSING THEM TROUBLE IN THEIR LIVES.
THEY NEED SOMEONE TO HELP THEM. THEY NEED A PERSONAL TEACHER.
SOMEONE WHO CAN GO TO THEIR HOUSE AND TALK ONCE A WEEK.
OR MAYBE SOMEONE WHO CAN MEET WITH THEM FOR COFFEE AND DISCUSS PROBLEM AREAS.
THIS KIND OF WORK CANNOT BE DONE BEFORE AND AFTER THE SERVICE HERE IN THIS BUILDING.
THE WHOLE CHURCH IS VERY NEEDY. IT NEEDS MORE PEOPLE LIKE TITUS.
WE SHOULD PRAY ABOUT WHAT OUR PART CAN BE IN HELPING.
.

A Few Suggestions About the Kingdom

YOU MAY THINK YOU HAVE HEARD ENOUGH ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF GOD. YOU REALLY OUGHT TO READ THIS ANYWAY. IT DEALS WITH A VERY SIGNIFICANT ISSUE, I.E. HOW TO DEAL WITH THE APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS IN WHAT CHRIST TAUGHT WHEN HE PREACHED DURING HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY. A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THIS ISSUE HAS CAUSED MANY DIVISIONS IN CHRISTIANITY AND CAUSED MANY TO WORRY AND BE CONFUSED. I THINK I HAVE BEEN SHOWN A SIGNIFICANT SIDE TO THE TRUTH. I AM OPEN TO CORRECTION.

In the beginning, there was no talk of the "kingdom" of God. God presented himself as though he intended to be mankind’s only resource for delegated authority, for sustenance, for judgment on matters, etc. If you want to get technical about it, today we would call God the king. But back in the beginning, the word “king” did not yet exist.
When Israel insisted on having Saul as king, they did it because they saw that the other nations had kings. It seemed like a good idea. God warned them that it was not convenient, but Israel insisted, so they got one too. One wonders which of the nations invented the idea of king. It was not of God, no matter how it happened, obviously.
Since Israel now had a king, God wanted to be that king’s personal king. But that only worked most of the time, not all the time, and only with David. And less with Solomon and finally, Israel had godless kings who led them astray.
In the midst of those godless times, God gave the Prophets messages to preach about a coming day when the throne of Israel would be taken over by the Messiah. They were looking for this in A.D. 1 or A.D. 0 or B.C. 0 or whatever the right designation is for the year Christ was born. But the masses of the Jewish people didn’t recognize him. There were some who were up on things and were looking in the right direction and had their ears open to God, and they did not miss him. The old people, Simeon and Anna, the shepherds, and, of course, the family of John the Baptist, who were in on it from the time that the angels spoke of it to Mary and Elizabeth.
When Jesus stepped out and began his ministry, he preached this kingdom. He said it was “at hand”. He was a little oblique about declaring his kingship, it seems from reading his words. He only really came out and stated that, later, to Pilate. He avoided being made king by the crowd, but later entered Jerusalem on the donkey colt and was hailed as king by another crowd. A complete reading of what he preached, though, makes it crystal clear that he was announcing the start of his active kingship in one form or another, depending on events to follow. He sort of presented, he didn’t push. The push will come… in time.
A complete reading will also show that he presented a seeming contradictory means for qualifying to enter that kingdom. It looks like a choice of grace or works. As in so many cases, he said things that were designed, spiritually, to confound the wise and edify the simple.
He told the Pharisees and anyone in the crowd who followed them, that they could only enter by being a lot better at law-keeping than they were. He also said it to godly Jews, and his own disciples. He said these things so that they could be clear that they needed to be saved.
At this point in Jewish history, the nation was under the Law and the Pharisees, originally set up to reform and restore the Law to Israel after many years of idolatry, were dictating a Law that was full of theology. I say theology because this is what the Pharisees had used. They had scholars who had written their opinions on what could be done and what could not be done under the law. They had “precedent” just like we do in constitutional law in America. They interpreted Law in ways that would allow them to do what they wanted to do. They finally arrived at a theology that allowed them to kill God.
Christ ratcheted the law down on these guys, who are the bad shepherds prophesied in Jeremiah. He basically said, “Okay, you say this, but I say THIS.” He showed them that they were NOT keeping the Law and if they hoped to be saved by doing that they would have to do a lot better. They were not being good stewards and servants so he told them parables about what happens to bad servants when the Lord returns from his wedding. And he did tell them he was here for now but was going away and they had better prepare for his return.
The correct response from them would have been “Lord, we can’t do this.” If they had been godly, they would have seen that the Law was impossible and that here was the saviour. Christ said that with man salvation by works is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible. If we take this simply, it just means that when people are all twisted up trying to be good enough in their own strength, Christ can just forgive them and heal them and stand them on their feet and they are justified. All it takes is to repent and kneel before him.
While applying the Law super-stringently to those who wanted to use it to get eternal life, he also gave the gospel of grace to those who said “Lord we can’t do it”. John the Baptist said “behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This was very early. But at his conception the angel said “call him Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” So, those who had ears to hear knew he was there for them. They could repent and throw themselves on his mercy and no more works were necessary.
So, the Law that Jesus preached in the gospels was not for the “true Jew” who is described as one who is circumcised inwardly. It also was not for the Christian when the gospel was extended to the Gentiles. It was not for these to obey and be saved by works. And it is not for the Christian now to look into and see his shortcomings and think he has lost his eternal life.
Originally, this salvation was preached to the Jews. Gentiles were considered to be “dogs”. A Gentile woman was told by Christ that he shouldn’t give the children’s bread to the dogs. The woman asked if the dogs could have the crumbs. When Jesus ascended he told his Apostles to take the same message, including the parts that pressed the Law on the law-keepers, the stiff necks, to the world. The whole habitable world.
The message of Jesus was that there is and would be a kingdom. He majored on this. He only spoke a little about the church. The church is a hiatus in the history of God’s people. In the history of mankind it is a blurb. A parenthesis. What God in Christ was announcing was a kingdom and we should not forget it. At the end of things, it will be said “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever.”
As believers in Christ the church is in this kingdom. Paul said that we are “translated into the kingdom of the son of his love”. Christ said that the kingdom of God is within you. It cannot be observed (right now). And this is true. We are all citizens of US, UK, Cz, or wherever and yet, we are not. Paul says we are not citizens of this world but citizens of heaven. We obey the laws of our land because he said to do it. He said he sends law enforcement to maintain order so the church can operate. But, even so, this is the domain of Satan. To him it has been given, (for a time). We live in it. But we are not of it.
In the future, the kingdom will be a glorious, visible kingdom with Christ on the throne, imposed upon the world. All Israel will be saved, though the details of this are not told. Those of the church who qualify will reign with him, though details of this are sketchy. Apparently, there will be Gentiles still, Buddhists, Atheists, Hindus, who will be subject to this rule but again the details are not there. There will have been a separation of real from unreal professors. There will have been judgments and rewards handed out. There will have been deaths and the restraining of the devil, for a time. After 1000 years of this, apparently there will be more trouble, though the details and the naming of the players is obscure. At the culmination of this final conflict, Satan will be cast into permanent punishment.
T he time after this is characterized as new. New heavens and new earth. Christ will hand over his authority to the Father and God will be all in all. It is believed that Christ will sit on the throne of Israel and the church, his bride will be there with him. This will be forever.
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*There are places where the details are sketchy. This is where the theologians have stepped in and said “Here. Let us help you with that.” Then they got to arguing about what should be believed and finally had a scrappy, hair-pulling, eye-gouging brawl while simple believers sat by, waiting.
These details concern:
1) The timing of the Rapture in relation to the other events
2) The nature of the kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of heaven
3) The roles of the church, Israel, the sheep (Gentiles who gave a cup of water…), etc.
4) Whether you can lose your salvation (because of different interpretations of what the Bible
says about the parables Christ taught.)
5) Anything that seems incomplete as to how, when, why, who………

Enjoying the Lord

During the 1960's and 70's, there were a lot of break-away church type groups. A lot of them were in the style and attitude of the Hippies. There were so many "alternative" life styles then, that there became alternative church styles as well. The Jesus People were one example. They changed later into a conventional church when their leaders got to be around 40 years old!

I observed a lot of this. I attended many of the different groups from time to time to sample what was going on among the young. I could never hook up with any of them, so much of it was posturing, image searching and chick-chasing. But they did have a few good ideas. One stuck with me. It is the concept of "enjoying" the Lord. This comes from the verse that says "come everyone that thirsts and buy water without paying for it" and "He that eats me has life eternal" and "I am come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." The idea was that church is more than evangelism. It is more than ritual. It should be a group that loves God, has fellowship with Him and His Son (as per I John 1) and generally enjoys it. But I could never get anyone to give me some definitions or descriptions of what this entails.

I have written elsewhere that the Lord, the night before He was crucified, asked His own to "remember" Him in eating bread and drinking wine. This, if practiced correctly, can carry our minds to meditation about the person of the Lord Jesus and all His attributes. Especially speaking to one another in words as well as spiritual songs, we can share things that we know of Him and enrich the remembrance service. While this is one tried and true way to enjoy the Lord, it is not the only way.

Since the Hippie days, I have found some more ways of enjoying Him. One is to meditate on works we have seen Him perform in our lives. All of which are miracles in the sense that they could not be accomplished with human talent or means. One night a bunch of my kids and their families gathered at my daughter's home to eat pizza and hang out. My son-in-law was not there. His Dad, who had cancer (under control medicinally) was in the hospital with a constant elevated heart rate. My son-in-law called to say that the docs told him his dad would not live long. Hours or days, maybe. His heart had been up like that (over 120 beats a minute) for a period of three weeks. He could not sleep. It was the equivalent of running for three weeks in all without stopping to catch your breath. His dad's heart could not take much more of this. The docs had tried all kinds of ways to get it down and were unsuccessful.

We all were stunned. We had heard that he was in the hospital and had been having heart problems but we didn't know it was that serious. When the call came through it silenced us. We all know him and think of him as one of the nicer people. Very soon, someone said "Let's pray for him, NOW." So we all got down on our knees and someone led in prayer, begging the Lord to spare him. The next morning the docs tried an electric shock method again. This time it brought his heart rate to normal and two days later he went home and was able to sit up and talk on the phone. For days after that, when I wasn't busy with other things, I just contemplated that event. Here was a person who was not an extraordinary Christian, merely a saved sinner. He suggested prayer and prayed and God answered. All of the story is attributable to God. Even the timing and the conviction of the prayer leader to get us all down to intercede for this sick man. The way the Lord engineered it and how He did it really was full of enjoyable thoughts about Christ. I just sat and rolled them around on my tongue and "tast[ed] and [saw] that the Lord is good." I did that quite a lot over the next weeks.

I was watching a DVD documentary about the position of earth in the universe. It went into how the earth has eleven factors relating to size, distance from the sun, size of its moon, etc, that make it a very unique planet. Scientists agree that these factors must be like earth's in order for life to be found on other planets. The chances of them all being present even if a star could be found with a planet system like ours are very small. But another idea was introduced. It was this: The position of earth in the Milky Way. If our solar system would exist in the middle of the Milky Way we would not be able to observe the rest of the universe as we do. Neither could we if we had a view of the Milky Way from above rather than from the side. It is almost as if the earth was given a front-row seat so that people could view God's handiwork, and in fact there are many verses in the Bible that say that God wants His creatures to look at his works and to glorify Him because of it. The documentary also pointed out that the human mind is capable of analyzing and studying what they see in order to learn more about the wonders of the universe. Had we simply evolved from other animals, how would such a mental capacity have originated? Mankind would only need enough intelligence to know how to find food and how to reproduce.

As I was thinking about this, I expanded the application. There are so many things in the Bible that we don't understand. People have used their minds to try for answers. Usually, they come up with some humanistic system of thought that explains one of the controversies and then they have arguments and become estranged to each other. I think God gave us all the mysteries of science and all the incomplete explanations and seeming contradictions in the Bible so we would have some material for enjoying Him. We can talk about all those things with Christ as the center of our thoughts and we can mediate about what we have learned or what we are in awe of. We can appreciate two sides of all the controversies and not need to come to a conclusion but rather allow them to stimulate our appreciation of the great mind of God who gave them to us. It is not really necessary to our Christian faith to understand so well when and how the rapture will take place. It IS going to happen and Christians will experience it even if they don't believe it will happen, as some do not. We do not need to understand it in order to be in it. It is enough to look at all the truths presented about it in Bible and enjoy Him for it.

One other way to enjoy the Lord is just reading the Bible. If our souls are right with Him and we are not trying to hide anything and we are not afraid of what He might put his finger on through our reading of certain passages, then we can just read along. We can enjoy the stories and the principles and the promises even if we don't learn anything new. When we spend time with a friend, we can enjoy him without learning anything new, isn't it so? In the same way, we read the Bible and it is God talking with us. He never bores us. If Jesus Christ were to come to our town today in bodily form as He did 2000 years ago, everyone would spend all their time sitting around listening. That was the effect He had on people when He was here. They couldn't get enough, but followed Him around. These were the "simple" people. The "learned" ones stayed away and eventually crucified him. Reading the words of God in the Word of God is a way of enjoying the Lord that doesn't depend on anything but ourselves.

Taboos

Some people really love the Lord Jesus. Wouldn’t you like to be one of them? I would. I feel like my love is so weak. So small. I am not loyal at all. “Prone to wander”, the song says. Some day, my heart will be all His; that day when my old sinful nature is sloughed off and I am like Him. Until then, only by His grace do I even act as if I might love Him, a little. But some people love Him very much. And they seek every way to please Him.
There is a phrase in Revelation: “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day….” Think of that. To be so devoted to the Lord as to be “in the spirit” for a whole day means that the apostle John was in fellowship with our blessed Lord and Saviour for quite an extended period of time without interruption. What a privilege. We know too, that the Lord covets such intimacy with us. He enjoys that garden enclosed and shut up to Himself alone. What a delightful way to spend a day for one who loves the Lord.
There’s another aspect to this. It was on the Lord’s Day. Did you know that the term used here, (“Lord’s”), is only found twice in the New Testament? Here and in reference to the Lord’s supper. It seems this term is used to signify an ownership characterized by great fondness. It is His supper. We are invited. It is His day. What will we do with it?
We are no longer under law. We need not keep a Sabbath. If we desire to keep one, we are not commanded to not do so, but law-keeping will not do us or God one particle of good. It is passe’. The Bible is clear about that. Another thing that is part of the law that many seem to stumble at is tithing. Tithing is no longer required. Instead, ALL of what we are and have is HIS. He should have complete say-so about what we do with it. If He wants us to give it ALL away, that would be His prerogative. The amount we give in the New Testament church is within His Lordship.
But, I have digressed. As I was saying, the Sabbath was made for Man. If we set aside a day of rest for ourselves, it is good, but not required. As to the Lord’s Day, though, we have no commandment. He does not require us to keep it. Again, though, since He is Lord, we can expect that He has a will for us on what is commonly called Sunday and that we should hear Him. But what we do on that day is a matter between ourselves and the Lord.
So it is with consternation that a Christian would find himself condemned (or even questioned) by his brothers and sisters about his activities on the Lord’s Day. It is far from my responsibility or yours to judge whether or not anyone’s behavior on the first day of the week is appropriate.
Any Christian who keeps the day for the proper motive: love of his Saviour, could not possibly in the spirit, look upon another brother’s behavior and be critical of him. He must needs be blind as regards the behavior of others. Romans 14:4-13 is exceedingly clear about just this issue. While the application of these verses is extensive in our interpersonal relationships, it is remarkable that the verses focus on day-keeping.
And what is proper behavior for the Lord’s Day, if I desire to keep it? Is it sleep? Is the Lord pleased to have me unconscious all afternoon? Is it family get-togethers? Where the topic of conversation and the center of interest may occasionally be a casual mention of some scriptural matter, but more often is related to job, or children, or such. Is it prayer? Can you pray, non-stop for, say, four hours? Perhaps a combination of Bible-reading and prayer would be nice.
Would the Lord ever allow physical activity on His day such as hiking? Or swimming? If we were invited and “disposed to go” to a relative’s cottage for a weekend and they decided to take the boat out on the lake on the Lord’s Day, could we go? Would the Lord disapprove? If we did that and He appeared on the lake as He did with His disciples, would He remonstrate with us about our insensitivity? Should we rather shame our relative by declining and cloistering ourselves in our room for the afternoon with our Bible, telling them that the Lord would not be pleased if we joined them? Is there a difference between sitting with our family in a moving boat, socializing and sitting with them around the dinner table? Can we talk about the Lord in a boat on the lake?

And there is still another aspect to this: our testimony.

Many others are on-looking. Do they know we are Christians ? Does our keeping the Lord’s Day impress them? Convict them? Or is a verbal message of explanation as to what we are doing needed? (I Cor. 15:24).
Do those rare people who truly keep intimate company with the Lord Jesus on His day really give much thought to how others view them? Can others view them, or are they out of sight in their closets? If we make a show of keeping the Lord’s Day (like wearing a tie all day) can we do it while keeping a “closet attitude”. Will that be a good testimony? What is a testimony, anyway? Is it a show? A reputation?
People who can be enslaved by peer pressure can believe that they are doing well. Their behavior conforms. But they can be very shallow. Their motives are an abomination to the Lord. They have no depth of experienced with the God they claim to adore. People who yield to peer pressure may be unable to yield to the Lord because their image is paramount to them. It is their idol. They must conform to it or people will disapprove. If God had something for them to do that was outside the limits of what they felt were included in their self-image, they would have to disobey Him.
I had many questions about activities as a young Christian. What was actually allowed and what was not permissible? Could we drink? Certainly not to excess but could we have wine with our dinner? A beer with our pizza? Could we used tobacco? Cigarettes were out, but how about a pipe? (At that time the cancer risk was not well-known). Could we play innocent card games like canasta? How about movies? Serious Christians and even pastors I knew watched old movies on TV. Were only new movies in a theater off-limits? How old did a movie have to be before I could watch it?
I traced a lot of the taboos that Christians have back to movements in the 1800’s that called on people to abstain from all sorts of pleasures. Much of what they pressed was not Biblical. Of course, drunkenness, adultery and other plainly condemned practices are directly forbidden by the Lord. But there were para-church organizations back then that tried to improve society by pushing asceticism. Still, today, some Christians have bought into those ideas as a way of practicing personal “holiness”. They try to push those ideas on their fellow believers as being the straight and narrow path.
When I gained a bit of Christian maturity, I found a wondrous release from the bondage of legality. I found that God bought me and owns me. He wants all of myself. Not just my behavior. If He has ME, He can guide me with His eye. If I am yielded to Him, He can lead me in the paths of righteousness; beside still waters. He can draw me and I will run after Him as a hart. But a servant in chains is no pleasure to Him. He wants voluntary bond-service. When we occupy that blessed place at His feet He can order all our ways on all our days and on His Day as well.
If The Lord Jesus Christ, wanting, to sup with us, knocks, (And He has every right to demand), let us refrain from pressing our brethren even if they are our own children to conform to our standard, but the leave the convicting work to the Holy Spirit.

How Do We, as a Church, Relate to the Other Churches in the World?

HOW DO WE, AS A CHURCH, RELATE TO THE OTHER CHURCHES IN THE WORLD?

1 Corinthians 12:12 – 31 (Especially verses 12,13, and 27,27)
John 17:20,21
The church IS one body. We don’t have to make it so. Christ asked for us to be one. We just should act like it is so.
How?
Ephesians 4:3 Keep the unity
Romans 12:1 Offer our bodies as one living sacrifice. This verse has been read wrongly and used wrongly to say that we individually have a responsibility to yield our bodies to God. That is true. We should do that but this verse ties us all together. It is the way that we accomplish the unity. We each deliver our body and all of them together function as Christ’s body on earth, just as described in I Corinthians 12 with gifts and ministries and everything in order. God is not the author of confusion. What we have right now is confusion.
Romans 15:1-7 (Also most of Romans 14) Ignore the differences between us and the others.

And, also, Do NOT ignore some differences between us and the others.
Romans 16:17 Avoid some people.
1 Corinthians 5:11 Separate from some people.
2 John 7-11 Do not even say Dobre Den to some people.
1 John 4:1-3 Investigate what some people believe about Christ and have nothing to do with those who believe blasphemy.

What are the two basic kinds of churches that exist in the world?

1) Matthew 18:20 Those gathered to Christ. These are gathered to him as a magnet gathers bits of steel. They only care about Him and His things. They do not put anything, even doctrine, before Him. Their principles are established by Him but they do not gather to the principles.

2) Revelation 3:1 Those gathered to something other than Christ. These are gathered to:
A NAME -- “I am a Baptist. My father was a Baptist. My grandfather was a Baptist. I will never be anything but a Baptist.” A statement like that could indicate that being a Baptist is a higher priority than being a Christian. We have to investigate to find out if that is what the person really thinks. But many are gathered to their denomination.
A DOCTRINE -- maybe a false doctrine.
A PERSON -- like a very attractive pastor or some other leader.
AS A RESULT OF A DIVISION -- There could have been a case of church discipline that resulted in hard feelings and separation. These people have followed their minds and established another church in division from the previous one. This puts something ahead of Christ and they are not gathered to Him.