Topic : 1 Corinthians

Shot the Saints

It is said that when the British and French were fighting in Canada in the 1750s, Admiral Phipps, commander of the British fleet, was told to anchor outside Quebec. He was given orders to wait for the British land forces to arrive, then support them when they attacked the city. Phipps’ navy arrived early. As the admiral waited, he became annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the towers of a nearby cathedral, so he commanded his men to shoot at them with the ships’ cannons. No one knows how many rounds were fired or how many statues were knocked out, but when the land forces arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral was of no help. He had used up all his ammunition shooting at the “saints.”

Our Daily Bread, October 6

Denominations in the Church

• Being much concerned about the rise of denominations in the church, John Wesley tells of a dream he had. In the dream, he was ushered to the gates of Hell. There he asked, “Are there any Presbyterians here?” “Yes!”, came the answer. Then he asked, “Are there any Baptists? Any Episcopalians? Any Methodists?” The answer was Yes! each time. Much distressed, Wesley was then ushered to the gates of Heaven. There he asked the same question, and the answer was No! “No?” To this, Wesley asked, “Who then is inside?” The answer came back, “There are only Christians here.” (1 Cor. 1:10-17)
• Martin Luther said, “I pray you leave my name alone. Do not call yourselves Lutherans, but Christians.” John Wesley said: “I wish the name Methodist might never be mentioned again, but lost in eternal oblivion.” Charles Spurgeon said, “I say of the Baptist name, let it perish, but let Christ’s own name last forever. I look forward with pleasure to the day when there will not be a Baptist living.”

Source unknown

Repelling and Compelling

The cross of Christ is both repelling and compelling. To the Oxford professor and philosopher Sir Alfred Ayer, the idea that Jesus died on a cross for our sins is “intellectually contemptible and morally outrageous.”

Our Daily Bread, August 16, 1992

Saved by an ‘M’

A noblewoman once told the great Methodist preacher John Wesley that she was saved by an “m.” When Wesley asked for an explanation, she pointed him to 1 Corinthians 1:26, which in the King James Version reads, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” “God did not say ‘Not any noble are called,” she explained, “but ‘Not many noble.’ Were it not for that letter, I might be lost.”

Today in the Word, April 19, 1993

During a Billy Sunday evangelistic campaign, a mentally impaired boy came faithfully each night to sing in the choir. “Joey was not very bright,” said Homer Rodeheaver, the well-known song leader for Billy Sunday, “but he never missed any of our meetings and wouldn’t leave until he shook my hand. Sometimes I was embarrassed by the way he constantly tailed me, and I secretly wished he’d go away.”

Then one evening a man came to Rodeheaver and said, “Thank you for being kind to my son Joey. He’s not right mentally, but never has he enjoyed anything so much as singing in the choir. He worked hard doing simple chores for people so he could contribute to the collection. Through his pleadings my wife and five other children came to this evangelistic campaign and have now received Christ. Last night his 75-year-old grandfather, who has been an atheist all his life, was saved, and tonight his grandmother also came forward. Now our entire family is converted!’” Joey was one of God’s faithful servants.

Our Daily Bread, April 2

Resource

• “Evangelical Preaching,” Charles Simeon, p. 47.

Resource

Difficult Passages in the Epistles, R. Stein, Baker, 1988, p. 26, “Can an unbeliever understand the gospel?”

Sarkinos or Sarkikos

[In verses 1 and 3] Paul uses two different words. The word used in verse 1 is sarkinos and the one used twice in verse 3 is sarkikos. Some see no difference in the meaning of the two words, but probably most do. If there is a difference, it is this: Sarkinos means “made of flesh,” that is, weak but without attaching any blame to that condition. In the case of the Corinthians, their weakness was due to their immaturity.

On the other hand, sarkikos does have an ethical or moral connotation. It means “to be characterized by the flesh, something that is willful and blameworthy.” The first word means “made of flesh,” while the second means “controlled by the flesh.”

So Great Salvation, Charles Ryrie, Victor Books, 1989, p. 61.

Ravaged by Sinfulness and Disobedience

Toward the end of his three-year sojourn in Ephesus, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:5-9), answering a number of questions they had sent to him and settling many problems that had arisen in the church. Shortly thereafter, he wrote them another letter after he had heard from them again (2 Corinthians).

Tabletalk’s theme last month was “The Ravaged Bride of Christ,” and our theme this month is “The Spotless Bride of Christ.” Surely the Corinthian church had been ravaged by sinfulness and disobedience. Yet, when Paul begins his first letter he writes to them as if they were pure and holy (1 Corinthians 1:4-9). In union with their Lord, Jesus Christ, they were indeed spotless, but they were failing to behave in accordance with their position.

Paul says in chapter 3 that they were “carnal,” by which he means backslidden and weak. They were acting like babies, quarreling and complaining. This passage has been given a serious misinterpretation in recent years, giving rise to the “carnal Christian doctrine.” This notion says that some Christians never do any good works, and arrive at heaven without having done anything for the kingdom. They have Christ as Savior, but never own Him as Lord.

This is a very bad doctrine. We cannot have Christ as Savior without also having Him as Lord. Is Christ divided? No, of course not. If we have received Him at all, we have received Him in His totality, as Savior and as Lord.

Paul writes concerning church-builders that some labor with wood, hay, and stubble, and some with gold, silver, and jewels. On the Day of Judgment, some men will see their wooden works burned up, but they themselves will be saved. Paul is not speaking here of believers in general, as if our own works can consist wholly of straw. Rather, in context he is speaking of pastors. Some pastors labor their whole lives in dead, strawy churches, and their labors are lost in the sense that the church dies. Such pastors are not, however, “carnal Christians,” because their works are good in themselves. It is a serious misinterpretation to view 1 Corinthians 3:10-17 as applying to individual believers and their works.

Tabletalk, May 15, 1992

No Limit

I was thumbing through one of the national periodicals and happened upon a picture of President Reagan sitting in the Oval Office. He was behind his desk, signing some documents. I noticed a small sign on his desk that was too small to read. It intrigued me. I found a magnifying glass and looked closer; the print was blurred. The next morning I had my secretary telephone the White House and talk with someone who could give us the information.” She found out that the sign on the President’s desk said: THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT A MAN CAN DO OR WHERE HE CAN GO IF HE DOESN’T MIND WHO GETS THE CREDIT.

C. Swindoll, Dropping Your Guard

Running in Vain

A world-class woman runner was invited to compete in a road race in Connecticut. On the morning of the race, she drove from New York City, following the directions—or so she thought—given her over the telephone. She got lost, stopped at a gas station, and asked for help. She knew that the race started in the parking lot of a shopping mall. The station attendant also knew of such a race scheduled just up the road and directed her there.

When she arrived she was relieved to see in the parking lot a modest number of runners preparing to compete. Not as many as she’d anticipated; an easier race than she’d been led to expect. She hurried to the registration desk, announced herself, and was surprised by the race officials’ excitement at having so renowned an athlete show up for their race. No, they had no record of her entry, but if she’d hurry and put on this number, she could just make it before the gun goes off. She ran and, naturally, she won easily, some four minutes ahead of the first male runner in second place.

Only after the race—when there was no envelope containing her sizable prize and performance money— did she confirm that the event she’d run was not the race to which she’d been invited. That race was being held several miles farther up the road in another town. She’d gone to the wrong starting line, run the wrong course, and missed her chance to win a valuable prize.

Thinking And Acting Like A Christian, D. Bruce Lockerbie, p. 52

Judgment for Believers

Q. Since God forgives us when we confess our sins, what is there to deal with at the Judgment Seat of Christ'

A. You are right in thinking that we stand before God as people who are cleared of all charges (Romans 8:1). Nevertheless, when we die we leave unfinished business. God intends to evaluate our lives as Christians and share the information with us.

Paul’s conscience was clear, but that did not make him innocent. At the Judgment Seat (the Bema), Paul says, the Lord “will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:4-5). The passage ends with words of encouragement, not terror: “At that time each will receive his praise from God.”

A review of our lives as believers, with praise, not rebuke, as the main objective, is the purpose of the Bema. If we collect all that is written about it we see that the emphasis is on rewards. God wants to commend us, not punish us. See also 1Corinthians 3:10-15.

C. Donald Cole, “Questions & Answers”, Today in the Word, February 1997, pp. 12-13.

Resources

• Restoring Fellowship, Ken & Joy Gage, Moody, 1984, pp. 25ff
• Difficult Passages in the Epistles, R. Stein, Baker, 1988, p. 98, “Should the church hand an offending member over to Satan?”

The Eagle

An American Indian tells about a brave who found an eagle’s egg and put it into the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.

All his life, the changeling eagle, thinking he was a prairie chicken, did what the prairie chickens did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and cackled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that’s how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.

Years passed. And the changeling eagle grew very old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.

“What a beautiful bird!” said the changeling eagle to his neighbor. “What is it?”

“That’s an eagle—the chief of the birds,” the neighbor clucked. “But don’t give it a second thought. You could never be like him.”

So the changeling eagle never gave it another thought. And it died thinking it was a prairie chicken.

The Pursuit of Excellence, Ted W. Engstrom, 1982, Zondervan Corporation, pp. 15-16

Resource

• Restoring Fellowship, Ken & Joy Gage, Moody, 1984, pp. 47ff
• Sanctity of Life, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990, pp. 66ff

Old-Fashioned Safeguard

Sexually transmitted disease (STD) has become an epidemic in America. One in four Americans between the ages of 15 and 55 will acquire STD at some point in life. The problem now accounts for more than $2 billion annually in health-care costs. The new STD’s produce chronic pain, sterility, abnormal pregnancies, brain-damaged children, cancer, and with AIDS, almost certain death.

Newsweek observed, “With effective vaccines a long way off, the best protection against STD, it seems, just might be a return to that old-fashioned safeguard: monogamy.”

Christian Personal Ethics, C.F.H. Henry, Eerdmans, 1957, pp. 419ff

Winston Churchill

A wealthy English family once invited friends to spend some time at their beautiful estate. The happy gathering was almost plunged into a terrible tragedy on the first day. When the children went swimming, one of them got into deep water and was drowning. Fortunately, the gardener heard the others screaming and plunged into the pool to rescue the helpless victim. That youngster was Winston Churchill. His parents, deeply grateful to the gardener, asked what they could do to reward him. He hesitated, then said, “I wish my son could go to college someday and become a doctor.” “We’ll pay his way,” replied Churchill’s parents.

Years later when Sir Winston was prime minister of England, he was stricken with pneumonia. Greatly concerned, the king summoned the best physician who could be found to the bedside of the ailing leader. That doctor was Sir Alexander Fleming, the developer of penicillin. He was also the son of that gardener who had saved Winston from drowning as a boy! Later Churchill said, “Rarely has one man owed his life twice to the same person.”

What was rare in the case of that great English statesman is in a much deeper sense a wonderful reality for every believer in Christ. The Heavenly Father has given us the gift of physical life, and then through His Son, the Great Physician, He has imparted to us eternal life.

May the awareness that we are doubly indebted to God as our Creator and Redeemer motivate us to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Him. - D.J.D.

Our Daily Bread, April 29

Sold His Body

In 1910 Olav Olavson, a Swedish citizen, fell upon hard times and decided to sell his body for medical research to the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The following year he inherited a fortune and resolved to buy himself back. The institute refused to sell its rights to his body, went to court, and won possession of it. Moreover, the institute obtained damages, since Olav had two teeth pulled out without asking their permission as ultimate owners of his body.

Why Christians Sin, J.K. Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p. 178

Resources

• The Hidden Value of a Man, Smalley, Trent, pp. 75ff
• Restoring Fellowship, Ken & Joy Gage, Moody, 1984, pp. 59ff
• The Grace Awakening, C. Swindoll, Word, 1990, pp. 240ff

Resource

• Christ At The Crossroads, C. Swindoll, 1991, p. 82

Resource

• Difficult Passages in the Epistles, R. Stein, Baker, 1988, p. 126, “What does it mean that Paul speaks and not the Lord’“'

Resource

• Christian Personal Ethics, C. F. H. Henry, Eerdmans, 1957, pp. 419ff
• Restoring Fellowship, Ken & Joy Gage, Moody, 1984, p. 74
• Swindoll, You and Your Problems

Resource

• Taking The Guesswork Out of Applying The Bible, J. Kuhatschek, IVP, 1991, pp. 69ff

Resource

• Christ At The Crossroads, C. Swindoll, 1991, p. 134

Forgetting the Prize

It is a most lamentable thing to see how most people spend their time and their energy for trifles, while God is cast aside. He who is all seems to them as nothing, and that which is nothing seems to them as good as all. It is lamentable indeed, knowing that God has set mankind in such a race where heaven or hell is their certain end, that they should sit down and loiter, or run after the childish toys of the world, forgetting the prize they should run for. Were it but possible for one of us to see this business as the all-seeing God does, and see what most men and women in the world are interested in and what they are doing every day, it would be the saddest sight imaginable. Oh, how we should marvel at their madness and lament their self-delusion! If God had never told them what they were sent into the world to do, or what was before them in another world, then there would have been some excuse. But it is His sealed word, and they profess to believe it.

Richard Baxter, Source unknown

Don’t Judge

It was F.B. Meyer, I believe, who once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know: First, we do not know how hard he or she tried not to sin. And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed him or her. We also do not know what we would have done in the same circumstances.

Stephen Brown, Christianity Today, April 5, 1993, p. 17

Careless About Little Things

Overconfidence, coupled with negligence, can lead to sad consequences. This is the case when a person is so sure of himself that he becomes careless about little things that may pose a threat. I’m thinking, for example, of a stuntman named Bobby Leach. In July, 1911, he went over Niagara Falls in a specially designed steel drum and lived to tell about it. Although he suffered minor injuries, he survived because he recognized the tremendous dangers involved in the feat, and because he had done everything he could to protect himself from harm.

Several years after that incident, while skipping down the street in New Zealand, Bobby Leach slipped on an orange peeling, fell, and badly fractured his leg. He was taken to a hospital where he later died of complications from that fall. He received a greater injury walking down the street than he sustained in going over Niagara. He was not prepared for danger in what he assumed to be a safe situation.

In June 1989 a 19-year-old German named Mathias Rust created quite a stir when he flew a Cessna 172 airplane more than 400 miles into Soviet airspace. Rust’s five-hour trip ended when he landed his plane near the Kremlin in Moscow. Soviet officials then scrambled to find out how a teenager could slip past their air defenses. Apparently radar had picked up the craft, but it was presumed to be a Soviet plane and no attempt was made to identify it. Later, air force jets twice flew around the intruding Cessna, but air defense commanders showed “intolerable unconcern and indecision about cutting short the flight of the violator plane without resorting to combat means,” the investigation concluded.

Today in the Word, June 6, 1992

Opportune Time

Anyone who travels to Edinburgh, Scotland will find Edinburgh castle a tower of seemingly insurmountable strength. But the truth is that the castle was once actually captured. The fortress had an obvious weak spot which defenders guarded—but because another spot was apparently protected by its steepness and impregnability, no sentries were posted there. At an opportune time, an attacking army sent a small band up that unguarded slope and surprised the garrison into surrender. Where the castle was strong, there it was weak.

Today in the Word, Feb. 89, p. 36

Resource

• The Upside of Down, Joe Stowell, Moody, 1991, pp. 102ff

Hundred Years’ War

In 1346, during the Hundred Years’ War, the English army of King Edward III met a French battalion at Crecy, France. The King’s Son, Prince Edward, led one vital division of the British force while Edward III stood nearby with a strong band of soldiers, ready to send relief if he saw the need. Soon after the battle started the prince thought he was in danger, so he sent for help. But the king didn’t come. So young Edward sent another message, pleading for immediate assistance. His father responded by telling the courier, “Go tell my son that I am not so inexperienced a commander as not to know when help is needed, nor so careless a father as not to send it.”

Source unknown

Tests

1. THE WORLD TEST. Is it worldly? Will it make me worldly to do it (John 15:19, 1 John 2:15-17)'

2. THE QUALITY TEST. Is it good for me physically, emotionally, and spiritually (Rom. 12:9b)'

3. THE TEMPLE TEST. Can I do it when I remember my body is God’s temple and must not be marred or misused (1 Cor. 6:19)'

4. THE GLORY TEST. Will it glorify my Lord, or will it on the other hand possibly bring shame to His name (1 Cor. 6:20, 10:32)'

5. THE BLESSING TEST. Can I honestly ask God’s blessing on it and be sure I’ll not regret doing it (Prov. 10:22, Rom. 15:29)'

6. THE REPUTATION TEST. Is it apt to damage my testimony for the Lord (Phil. 2:15)'

7. THE CONSIDERATION TEST. Am I being considerate of others and the effect this might have on them (Rom. 14:7, 21)'

8. THE APPEARANCE TEST. Will it look bad? Does it have the appearance of what is wrong or suspicious (1 Thess. 5:22)'

9. THE WEIGHT TEST. Could this slacken or sidetrack me in running the Christian race (Heb. 12:1, 1 Cor. 9:24)'

10. THE COMING OF CHRIST TEST. Would I be ashamed to be found doing this when He comes again (1 John 2:28)'

11. THE COMPANION TEST. Can I invite Christ to go with me and participate with me in this (Matt. 28:20b, Col. 3:17)'

12. THE PEACE TEST. After having prayed about it, do I have perfect peace about doing it (Col. 3:15a, Phil. 4:6-7)'

Taken from Basic Bible Beliefs, Bible Baptist Church, Auburn, Wn., 1975, unpublished. From Training Manual for Local Church Visitation, Eugene A. Wood, DTS, ThM Thesis, 1980

Delightful Liberties and Resources

“You are placed amidst the delightful liberties and resources of your Father’s home, without grudging and without doubt. But you are placed there not simply to enjoy, but to use; not only to be free, but to have the privilege of contributing to the freedom around you.

“You are free—but as a child of the Father, and as a member of the family. And such freedom would be only the harsh parody of itself if it were not a freedom, to love, to be loyal, to serve, to share. Your rights are given you as bright implements to promote the highest right. You are saved to be serviceable; you are saved to build up other lives. And not all things are serviceable. And not all things build up the lives of others.

“So live out the noble freedom of freely fulfilled mutual duty. Let no one seek his own, but everyone another.”

H.C.G. Moule, Source unknown

Definition of Sin

• J. Wilbur Chapman said, “My life is governed by this rule: Anything that dims my vision of Christ or takes away my taste for Bible study or cramps my prayer life or makes Christian work difficult is wrong for me, and I must, as a Christian, turn away from it.”
• This was how Susannah Wesley defined “sin” to her young son, John Wesley: “If you would judge of the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of pleasure, then take this simple rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things—that to you is sin.”

Resource, July/August, 1990

One Key Doesn’t Work

Xvxn though my typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works wxll xxcxpt for onx of thx kxys. I’vx wishxd many timxs that it workxd pxrfxctly. Trux, thxrx arx 42 kxys that function, but onx kxy not working makxs thx diffxrxncx.

Somxtimxs, it sxxmx to mx that our organization is somxwhat likx my typxwritxr—not all thx pxoplx arx working propxrly. You might say, “Wxll, I’m only onx pxrson. It won’t makx much diffxrxncx.”

But you sxx, an organization, to bx xfficixnt, nxxds thx activx participation of xvxry pxrson. Thx nxxt timx you think your xfforts arxn’t nxxdxd, rxmxmbxr my typxwritxr, and say to yoursxlf, “I am a kxy pxrson and thxy nxxd mx vxry much.”

Richard H. Looney, Medical Service Corp. Newsletter

William Carey’s Prayer Partner

It’s been stated these days, “They just don’t make missionaries like William Carey.” Carey changed the history of missions and the face of India 200 years ago. Few know of Carey’s sister, paralyzed and bedridden for 50 years. Although unable to speak for much of that period, with great effort she allowed herself to be propped up in bed. She wrote long encouraging letters to her brother. And she prayed for him several hours per day for 50 years!

Source unknown

Beautiful Music

At a meeting of the American Psychological Association, Jack Lipton, a psychologist at Union College, and R. Scott Builione, a graduate student at Columbia University, presented their findings on how members of the various sections of 11 major symphony orchestra perceived each other. The percussionists were viewed as insensitive, unintelligent, and hard-of-hearing, yet fun-loving. String players were seen as arrogant, stuffy, and unathletic. The orchestra members overwhelmingly chose “loud” as the primary adjective to describe the brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in the highest esteem, described as quiet and meticulous, though a bit egotistical.

Interesting findings, to say the least! With such widely divergent personalities and perceptions, how could an orchestra ever come together to make such wonderful music? The answer is simple: regardless of how those musicians view each other, they subordinate their feelings and biases to the leadership of the conductor. Under his guidance, they play beautiful music.

Today in the Word, June 22, 1992

Next Year, In Jerusalem

A small country church in Wisconsin has a special tradition that they have used at the close of their communion services for a number of years. It is adapted from an ancient Jewish closing of the Passover meal. Since it is the hope of every devout Jew to celebrate the Passover at least once in David’s city, the Jewish custom is to end the meal with a toast. Passover participants raise the cup and say, “Next year, in Jerusalem!”

The cup in the Lord’s Supper serves as two reminders: we are to look back to the shed blood of Christ and forward to the Lord’s second coming. In other words, for all Christians, there will be a last sharing of the bread and the cup on this side of eternity: when they meet once again, they will be in Christ’s presence. At the close of communion, the members of this church raise their cups in anticipation and say, “Next time, with Christ!”

Today in the Word, May, 1996, p. 26

Self Evaluation

State employment officials in Tucson, Arizona, posted an interesting sign over a full-length mirror. Directed to all job hunters, it read, “Would you hire this person?” In another office a mirror and sign posed this question: “Are you ready for a job?”

Self-evaluation was what the apostle Paul called for in 1 Corinthians 11. Believers in Christ need to judge themselves, he said, to avoid being judged by the Lord as unfit for His service. In the Corinthian church, the “appearance problem” was especially serious. Those Christians “looked” awful. They were actually getting drunk and quarreling among themselves while going through the motions of celebrating the Lord’s Supper. So Paul said, in effect, “Look at yourselves. What a mess! If you don’t get your lives straightened out, the Lord will have to do it for you.” Then the apostle added the sobering fact that God had already begun to cleanse the church by sending some of them to an early grave. This is a hard truth, but one the church still needs to hear today.

Our Daily Bread, January 9, 1994

Resource

• Restoring Fellowship, Ken & Joy Gage, Moody, 1984, pp. 90ff

Significant Contribution

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the 18th of April in 75;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

A teacher read this familiar verse to his class recently and some students were able to identify it as the first verse of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Paul Revere’s Ride.

Then the teacher read the last four lines of the poem:

In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

The teacher’s question this time was, “What was the name of Paul Revere’s horse?” He had the students read the entire poem and no one could come up with an answer. The reason? Despite the references to the horse in the poem’s 13 verses, its name is never mentioned.

The point to the teacher’s exercise was that while Paul Revere got all the acclaim for spreading his message, an unknown horse made a significant contribution by taking him where he wanted to go. (Many historians say that Longfellow’s poem gives Paul Revere more credit than he deserves, but that’s another story.)

When Al Unser Jr. won the Indianapolis 500 race last year, few people could name the people who designed and built the car that brought him victory, or the mechanics who maintained it.

So it is with all of us. We all have received support and encouragement from some unsung friend, some conscientious teacher, some loving parent.

No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.

Bits & Pieces, January 5, 1995, pp. 19-21

Resource

• Ask Him Anything, L.J. Ogilvie, Word, 1981, pp. 83ff

Demonic Influence

A very frequent sign of demonic subjection is an inability to repeat aloud or write the name of Jesus. One often finds that the oppressed person can do this only after an inner battle and then only with a distorted face or mechanical voice. When the subjected person is asked to repeat a sentence or prayer containing the word ‘Jesus’ he usually remains dumb.

Kurt Koch, Occult Bondage and Deliverance, p. 141

Honorary Title

The Greek word for lord is indeed used in scripture in the sense of master, and as a mere honorary title as in the English Sir. But, on the other hand, it is the translation of Adonai, supreme Lord, an incommunicable name of God, and the substitute for Jehovah, a name the Jews would not pronounce. It is in this sense that Christ is ‘the Lord, the Lord of Lords, the Lord God’; Lord in that sense in which God alone can be Lord—having a dominion of which divine perfection is the only adequate or possible foundation. This is the reason why no one can call him Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. It is a confession which implies the apprehension of the glory of God as it shines in Him. It is an acknowledgment that He is God manifested in the flesh. Blessed are all who make this acknowledgment with sincerity; for flesh and blood cannot reveal the truth therein confessed, but only the Father who is in heaven.

Charles Hodge, Source unknown

Spectatorities

A well-known coach was once asked, “How much does college football contribute to the national physical-fitness picture?”

“Nothing,” the coach replied abruptly.

“Why not?” the startled interviewer asked.

“Well,” said the coach, “the way I see it, you have 22 men down on the field desperately needing a rest and 40,000 people in the stands, desperately needing some exercise.”

A similar situation exists in many churches today. When you compare the members who actively participate, you often find a rather pathetic situation. It’s not unusual to have a small group of diligent Christian workers struggling “down on the field” while others in the congregation are acting like spectators, “sitting on the sidelines, eating hot dogs and popcorn.”

God’s strategy for the accomplishment of His program is not like a sports event. It does not call for the job to be done only by the “professionals.” In the game of life, all believers have their own positions and spiritual gifts that they must exercise “for the profit of all” (1 Cor. 12:7).

My friend, if you’ve been sitting in the stands, you’re badly needed down on the field!

MRD II

God calls into action today
All those who are children of light;
Whatever our hand finds to do,
Let’s do it with all of our might. - Hess

Christians should be on the frontlines, not the sidelines.

Our Daily Bread, Sept.-Nov. 1997, page for September 21

Resource

• Divine Healing Today, Richard Mayhue, Moody Press, p. 64

One Body

Verses 12-14: one body, each part doing what it should, when it should, communicating with the head.

Verses 15-19: one body and diversity—desiring one another’s gifts

Verses 20-24: one body and discrimination—disparaging one another’s gifts

Verses 25-27: one body and development—depending on one another’s gifts

Verses 28-31: one body and discretion—desiring the greater gifts

Source unknown

Each Member Principle

Sir Michael Costa was conducting a rehearsal in which the orchestra was joined by a great chorus. About halfway through the session, with trumpets blaring, drums rolling, and violins singing their rich melody, the piccolo player muttered to himself, “What good am I doing? I might just as well not be playing. Nobody can hear me anyway.” So he kept the instrument to his mouth, but he made no sound. Within moments, the conductor cried, “Stop! Stop! Where’s the piccolo?” It was missed by the ear of the most important person of all.

Our Daily Bread

Left-Handed Pianist

A talented, young concert pianist was drafted in WWI and sent to the front line. In a fierce battle he was badly wounded in his right arm. The doctors decided that unless they amputated that arm, which they did, the soldier would die. Although this was devastating to the musician, he was determined not to let it destroy his future. After recovering, he went from composer to composer, asking for compositions for the left hand only. No one was willing to help until he visited Maurice Ravel, the brilliant French composer of Bolero. He responded to the young man’s need and wrote the moving Concerto in D Major for Left Hand. Audiences everywhere were stirred by the pianist’s rendition of this beautiful music.

Our Daily Bread

Dizzy Dean

Dizzy Dean, famous baseball pitcher, once was hit by a line drive directly on his toe. Not too big a deal. But he didn’t give it adequate time to heal and instead kept pitching. Because of the pain he felt whenever he put any weight on that toe, he changed his delivery. This put additional stress on his pitching arm, and forced him into retirement. A “little thing” like a stubbed toe ended up having major and unforeseen consequences.

Source unknown

Legacy

In a certain mountain village in Europe several centuries ago, a nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. Finally, he decided to build a church for a legacy. The complete plans for the church were kept secret. When the people gathered, they marveled at the church’s beauty and completeness. Following many comments of praise, an astute observer inquired, “But where are the lamps? How will the church be lighted?”

Without answer, the nobleman pointed to some brackets in the wall; he then gave to each family a lamp to be carried to the worship service and hung on the wall. “Each time you are here, the area where you are seated will be lighted,” the nobleman explained. “Each time you are not here, that area will be dark. Whenever you fail to come to church some part of God’s house will be dark.

Source unknown

Run for Sheriff

Senator Howard Baker reports:

“My grandmother, a delightful lady who lived to be 102, once served as the sheriff of Roane County, Tennessee. At a party in her honor, just prior to my announcement as a candidate for President, Mother Ladd asked me, “Howard, are you really serious about this business of running for President?” I said I certainly was, to which she replied, “Well, okay then, I guess I’ll support you.” I told Mother Ladd I would certainly appreciate it. And she responded, “Look, Howard, I’m gonna support you. But I’ll tell you right now, if you really want to go where the power is, run for sheriff!”

Robert Morley, Pardon Me, But You’re Eating My Doily!, St. Martin’s press, quoted in Reader’s Digest, October, 1983, p. 137

Resource

• Swindoll, Growing Strong, p. 312

Captain or Engineer

A certain sea captain and his chief engineer argued as to which of them was the more important to the ship. Failing to agree, they resorted to the unique plan of swapping places. The Chief ascended to the bridge and the Captain went into the engine room.

After a couple of hours the Captain suddenly appeared on the deck covered with oil and soot. “Chief!” he yelled, wildly waving aloft a monkey wrench. “You’ll have to come down here; I can’t make ‘er go!”

“Of course you can’t,” replied the Chief. “She’s aground!”

Bits and Pieces, December, 1989, p. 17

Every Member

The story is told of a great orchestra gathered for rehearsal under the celebrated conductor, Sir Michael Costa. As the music reached a crescendo every instrument played—except one. Exhausted, the piccolo player had momentarily lost track of the music. He hoped his instrument wouldn’t be missed. Suddenly, Costa brought down his arms and stopped the orchestra. “Where’s the piccolo?” he demanded. Even in the resounding echo of many loud instruments, the tiny piccolo was missed!

Today in the Word, July, 1990, p. 18

Fungi

Trees have made an alliance with another amazing microscopic symbiont, mycorrhiza fungi. Beneath the typical tree, roots generally reach half as deep and twice as wide as the tree we see above ground. When the roots of two trees touch, a battle for dominance usually ensues—unless the mycorrhiza fungi are on the scene. Forest scientist David Perry of Oregon State University has found that these fungi not only reduce competition between the trees but also link together roots from trees of the same or even different species. In one experiment, Perry grew seedlings and watched their roots join through the mycorrhiza. Then the scientist cast shade over one of the seedlings. The shaded tree began to draw nutrients from the sunlit tree through the fungal linkage between them. “Thanks to these fungi,” says Perry, “It could be that a whole forest is linked together like a community. If one tree has access to water, another to nutrients, a third to sunlight, the trees apparently can share with one another.”

“What Good is a Tree?”, Lowell Ponte, March 1990, quoted in Reader’s Digest, p. 37

Parade

Don McCullough writes in Waking from the American Dream: “During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky. Last of all he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, ‘And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?’ And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, ‘We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.’

Not all the jobs in a church are prominent and glamorous. but it is often the people with their “faces to the coal” who help the church accomplish its mission.

Leadership, Vol. X, #3, p. 42

Every Part Necessary

From an experience of her childhood, Mrs. Floyd Crook recalls, “I came home from school one day crying because I had been given only a small part in the children’s program, while my playmate got the leading role. After drying my tears, my mother took off her watch and put it in my hand. “What do you see?” she asked. “A gold case, a face, and two hands.” I replied. Opening the back, she repeated the question. I told her I saw many tiny wheels. “This watch would be useless,” she said, “without every part—even the ones you can hardly see.”

Our Daily Bread

Sniffles

On the Dinah Shore show, impressionists Rich Little, who had come up with a case of the sniffles, noted: “When I get a cold, everyone gets a cold—James Mason, Jimmy Stewart, Raymond Burr, Tony Curtis.”

Don Freeman in San Diego Union

Leper Colony

A visitor was being shown around a leper colony in India. At noon a gong sounded for the midday meal. People came from all parts of the compound to the dining hall. All at once peals of laughter filled the air. Two young men, one riding on the other’s back, were pretending to be a horse and a rider and were having loads of fun. As the visitor watched, he saw that the man who carried his friend was blind, and the man on his back was lame. The one who could not see used his feet; the one who could not walk used his eyes. Together they helped each other, and they found great joy in doing it.

Imagine a church like that—each member using his or her strength to make up for another’s weakness. That’s what should be happening in every congregation of believers. Paul likened spiritual gifts to various parts of the human body. Eyes see. Ears hear. Hands work. Feet move the body forward. All are essential. And when each fulfills its function, the whole body benefits. All of us have weaknesses, but we also have strengths. God’s Spirit has gifted each of us for the good of the church. We need each other. In the church, there are no nobodies. - D.J.D.

Source unknown

Solidarity

On February 29, 1964, about 150 Christians were gathered for a service in the house of Aleksandr Gushcin in Barnaul, Siberia. All at once, five swearing, half-intoxicated officers broke into the meeting and ordered them to disperse. Instinctively they huddled closer together, forming a human barrier between the uniformed men and their pastor. Angry and frustrated, the officers forced some of the Christians out into the cold night and herded them into a waiting truck. Just then the pastor shouted, “Wait! If you are going to take some of us, you must take us all. We’re one family. What happens to one will happen to all!” Of course, the police vehicle was too small for everyone, so the whole group marched behind it until another truck was sent. The ordeal ended at the Region Executive Committee building with all 150 members singing praises to the Lord. The solidarity of these believers was so bewildering to the authorities that they released them a short time later.

Our Daily Bread

Resource

• P. Brand, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, pp. 38ff

Rule of Corporate Life

Vaughn’s Rule of Corporate Life: The less important you are on the table of organization, the more you’ll be missed if you don’t show up for work.

Source unknown

The Parade

Don McCullough writes in Waking From the American Dream: “During World War II, England needed to increase its production of coal. Winston Churchill called together labor leaders to enlist their support. At the end of his presentation he asked them to picture in their minds a parade which he knew would be held in Picadilly Circus after the war. First, he said, would come the sailors who had kept the vital sea lanes open. Then would come the soldiers who had come home from Dunkirk and then gone on to defeat Rommel in Africa. Then would come the pilots who had driven the Luftwaffe from the sky. Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, soot-streaked men in miner’s caps. Someone would cry from the crowd, ‘And where were you during the critical days of our struggle?’ And from ten thousand throats would come the answer, ‘We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal.’”

Source unknown

Agape

The Greek word agape (love) seems to have been virtually a Christian invention—a new word for a new thing (apart from about twenty occurrences in the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is almost non-existent before the New Testament). Agape draws its meaning directly from the revelation of God in Christ. It is not a form of natural affection, however, intense, but a supernatural fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is a matter of will rather than feeling (for Christians must love even those they dislike—Matt. 5:44-48). It is the basic element in Christlikeness.

Read 1 Corinthians 13 and note what these verses have to say about the primacy (vv. 1-3) and permanence (vv. 8-13) of love; note too the profile of love (vv. 4-7) which they give.

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, page for March 10

Resource

• Ask Him Anything, L. J. Ogilvie, Word, 1981, pp. 151ff

God’s Love

1. God’s Love Is Incarnational - God entered into our world and demonstrated love in a way we could visualize - understand. We must go where young people are and where they live out their lives. This in itself will demonstrate to our young people our love for them.

2. God’s Love Is Patient - We must not make impatient demands but allow young people to grow at their own pace.

3. God’s Love Is Kind - We must be gentle and sensitive to the needs and hurts of young people. We must allow them to be teenagers and not demand that they be something else.

4. God’s Love Is Not Jealous - Our supreme concern must be for our young people’s growth and not that they just attend our youth program or our activities.

5. God’s Love Does Not Brag and Is Not Arrogant - We must not spend our energies building up ourselves, but remember that servanthood is making the other person successful.

6. God’s Love Does Not Act Unbecomingly - We are not to try to act like teenagers. Teens do not want leaders who act like them, but leaders who act like leaders.

7. God’s Love Does Not Seek Its Own - Our desire must be to put others first. If we cannot do this then we cannot expect our young people to do it either.

8. God’s Love Is Not Provoked - At times this becomes a great difficulty, but we must learn as the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 2. He stated that in every disappointment he learned to use that situation to reaffirm love for the person who disappoints him.

9. God’s Love Does Not Take Into Account a Wrong Suffered - Jesus suffered much wrong and rejection and we, too, must be willing to experience that same suffering.

10. God’s Love Rejoices With the Truth - Our young people will easily see our values by what we get most excited about.

11. God’s Love Bears and Believes All Things - We must expect the best and see people as God sees people - for the potential they can become with Christ’s help.

12. God’s Love Hopes All Things - We need to memorize Philippians 4:8 and recite it daily to ourselves.

13. God’s Love Endures All Things - Many heartaches will come our way, and the desire to give up and quit will often pass through our minds. But God’s love for us endures even our shortcomings. How can we do any less'

Sonlife Strategy, MBI, 1983, p. 10

Growing Up

In his book Don’t Park Here, C. William Fisher tells about driving in his car with his 4-year-old son at his side. “Byron, what do you want to be when you grow up to be a man?” he asked. The youngster replied, “I don’t want to grow up to be a man.” Surprised, his father asked, “Why not?” Byron replied, “Because then I couldn’t ride my tricycle!”

Fisher wrote, “As I drove on, I thought, ‘I’m sure I enjoyed by tricycle when I was 4, but I’m also sure that I enjoy much more the power and performance of my Olds today.’“

Source unknown

Resource

• P. Brand, Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, p. 116

Resource

• Walvoord: A Tribute, Donald Campbell, ed., Moody, 1982, p. 53. The Purpose of Tongues in I Cor. 14:20-25.

I Am What I Am

A few years before John Newton died, a friend was having breakfast with him. Their custom was to read from the Bible after the meal. Because Newton’s eyes were growing dim, his friend would read, then Newton would comment briefly on the passage. That day the selection was from 1 Corinthians 15. When the words “by the grace of God I am what I am” were read, Newton was silent for several minutes. Then he said, “I am not what I ought to be. How imperfect and deficient I am! I am not what I wish to be, although I abhor that which is evil and would cleave to what is good. I am not what I hope to be, but soon I shall put off mortality, and with it all sin. Though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor yet what I hope to be, I can truly say I am not what I once was: a slave to sin and Satan. I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge that by the grace of God I am what I am!”

Source unknown

Resource

• C. Swindoll, Questions Christians Ask, p. 10

Resource

• Difficult Passages in the Epistles, R. Stein, Baker, 1988, p. 152, “What is baptism for the dead?”

Baptized for the Dead

1Cor 15:29 (KJV) Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead'

This passage has given rise to many novel and bizarre interpretations by groups attempting to claim scriptural justification for baptism for the dead—a justification, let it be noted, that cannot be built on any clear doctrinal passage in the Bible. As many Christians consider it a problematic passage, and because many groups such as the Mormons exploit the misunderstanding of this passage by Christians (see, for example, Stephen E. Robinson, “Are Mormons Christians?”, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991, p. 19), I thought it would be useful to circulate the comments of Rev. Thomas Scott on it.

I do not have any other information on Rev. Scott other than that found in an old (1832) copy of Vol. 3 of his commentary on the Bible, but it appears from this that he was “Rector of Aston Sanford, Bucks.” (according to the title page), indicating that he was British. Also, he was active toward the close of the 18th century, since he quotes from his own answer to Thomas Paine’s Age of Reason. However, Scott’s work is of such quality that it recommends itself, and his treatment of this verse may be found especially helpful by Christians.

Here are Scott’s comments on the verse:

The expression baptized for the dead, has given occasion to a variety of ingenious conjectures and learned discussions. Some argue that [it] only means, ‘baptized in the name of one who certainly died, and who, “if the dead rise not,” ‘still remains among the dead.’ But the word rendered “dead” is plural, and all the labour bestowed to remove that difficulty is to no purpose. Others suppose, that the apostle refers to a practice, which, it seems, at one time prevailed in the church, of baptizing a living person in the stead, and for the supposed benefit, of one who had died unbaptized. But who can imagine, that so absurd and gross a superstition was customary, when the apostle wrote? Or that, if it were, he should sanction it?—

Beza, rather triumphantly, concludes that he has discovered and fixed the true interpretation; and that the apostle meant the washing of the dead bodies, among the Jews and Christians, before burial; (Acts 9:37.) which he thinks was a profession that they expected a resurrection. But the use of the word baptize, in such a connection, could hardly be expected; and the words will not bear that sense, by any fair interpretation.—

Hammond contends, that it means the profession of faith, concerning the resurrection of the dead, which was required of persons at their baptism, which represented, as he thinks, the burial and resurrection of Christ. ‘Why did they profess this, if they did not believe it?’ But this is far from satisfactory: for the peculiar circumstances of some persons, when they were baptized, seem evidently intended. ‘What this baptizing for the dead was, I confess I know not; but it seems by the following verses, to be something, wherein they exposed themselves to the danger of death.’ [says John] Locke.—

The following interpretation, however, suggested by Dr. Doddridge, who received it from Sir Richard Ellis, appears the true one. The apostle refers to the case of those, who presented themselves for baptism, immediately after the martyrdom of their brethren, or at their funerals; as if fresh soldiers should enlist and press forward to the assault, to supply the places of those who had fallen in battle. Thus they professed their faith in Christ, and ventured the rage of their enemies, at the very time when others had been put to death for the gospel. But what advantage could they propose to themselves from such a conduct, if there were no resurrection? Or what wisdom could there be in so doing? For in this case, Christianity itself would lose the great evidence of its truth; even the immortality of the soul might be called in question; believers were yet “in their sins;” and they who died as martyrs had lost their souls, as well as their lives. This might show the Corinthian speculators how greatly their notions tended to discourage men from professing the gospel in times of persecution, and to make them afraid and ashamed to own the cause of Christ. If this were the case, why did Christians in general, or the apostles and evangelists in particular, live in continual and imminent danger of suffering and death, by their open profession of the gospel, and their zeal in promoting it? They could have no sufficient encouragement for so doing, if the dead should never arise.<<

Thomas Scott, The Holy Bible . . . with Explanatory Notes, Practical Observations, and Copious Marginal References, Vol. 3 [New Testament], New York: Collins & Hannay, 1832, pp. 601-2. Paragraph divisions added.

Favorable Environment

Pine trees grow best in acid soil. However, they can be made to grow in sweet soil, and they are often planted in windbreaks along fields, and in lawns and parks. They are adaptable to some degree. As the tree develops it begins to a create its own environment. Maturing needles drop to the ground, where their slow decay adds acid to the soil. Soon grass beneath them dies and shrubs become stunted.

The writer of Proverbs knew that persons, like trees, need a favorable environment in order to thrive. If one wishes to be wise, associate with wise people. To associate with fools can result in foolishness (Prov. 13:20).

Source unknown

Resurrection Body

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).

The Bible clearly identifies the resurrection of Christ as central to the Christian message, just as crucial as the atoning death of Christ. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). And just as surely as Christ is raised, we who have put our faith in Him will be raised.

What kind of body will we have then? “We shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). In His resurrection body He could appear and disappear (John 20:19), pass through closed doors (John 20:26), be felt by others (Matthew 28:9; John 20:27), eat food (Luke 24:42-43), and He eventually rose into heaven (Acts 1:9).

Paul, who has now been dead nearly 2000 years, asserted: “We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). How can a person long since dead, whose spirit has been in God’s presence, receive once again a body? This, of course, is a miracle, for the physical elements which once made up Paul’s earthly body have long ago changed their form, and even while he was alive were continually being replaced. No God will not restore a prior body to the dead, but will present them with a new “glorious” body, fit for the eternal environment and service of heaven. Paul could only write of it by analogy, comparing the difference between a seed and a plant, to different kinds of living things and different kinds of celestial bodies. “So also is the resurrection of the dead.” It is sown in corruption, dishonor, weakness, as a natural body, but it is raised in incorruption, glory, and power as a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:37-44). - JDM

Source unknown

Easter Poem

Christ Jesus lay in death’s strong bands,
For our offenses given;
But now at God’s right hand He stands
And brings us life from heaven;
Therefore let us joyful be
And sing to God right thankfully
Loud songs of hallelujah.

It was a strange and dreadful strife
When Life and Death contended;
The victory remained with Life,
The reign of Death was ended;
Holy Scripture plainly saith
That Death is swallowed up by Death,
His sting is lost forever.

Then let us feast this Easter Day
On Christ, the Bread of Heaven;
The Word of Grace hath purged away
The old and evil leaven.
Christ alone our souls will feed.
He is our meat and drink indeed;
Faith lives upon no other.

Martin Luther, source unknown

We drop a seed into the ground,
A tiny, shapeless thing, shrivelled and dry,
And, in the fulness of its time, is seen
A form of peerless beauty, robed and crowned
Beyond the pride of any earthly queen,
Instinct with loveliness, and sweet and rare,
The perfect emblem of its Maker’s care.

This from a shrivelled seed?—-
—-Then may man hope indeed!

For man is but the seed of what he shall be,
When, in the fulness of his perfecting,
He drops the husk and cleaves his upward way,
Through earth’s retardings and clinging clay,
Into the sunshine of God’s perfect day.

No fetters then! No bonds of time or space!
But powers as ample as the boundless grace
That suffered man, and death, and yet in tenderness,
Set wide the door, and passed Himself before—
As He had promised—to prepare a place.

We know not what we shall be—only this—
That we shall be made like Him—as He is.

John Oxenham, source unknown

Resource

• Someone Who Beckons, p. 110, “There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

Recreated

One day an assistant of the famous chemist Michael Faraday accidentally knocked a little silver cup into a beaker of very strong acid. In almost no time the silver object disappeared. The great chemist was summoned. He quickly put a certain chemical into the jar, and in a moment every particle of silver came together at the bottom. Removing the shapeless mass, he sent it to a silversmith, who recreated a cup that shone as bright as ever.

What Michael Faraday did in his laboratory is but a small picture of what our mighty God will do on resurrection day for all His saints. He will miraculously restore the bodies of all who have died in Christ. This is the mystery the apostle Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 15. He said that when Christ returns, the living saints will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and the dead will be raised with incorruptible bodies. The apostle wrote, “.then shall be brought to pass the saying., Death is swallowed up in victory.” I like to think that Paul imagined hearing the triumphant voices of the saints on that great day. Those who do not die will be instantly changed, and will exclaim, “O death, where is thy sting?” Those who rise from the tomb in resurrection bodies will shout, :”O grave, where is thy victory?” What a marvelous picture of triumph! How the saints will radiate the glory of the Lord on resurrection day as they are changed into His perfect likeness!

In an age of doubt and skepticism, let us affirm with joyous confidence the words of the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe in the resurrection of the body!” - H.G.B.

Our Daily Bread, Sunday, September 19

Death

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? This is so true that even Satan cannot deny it. Christ’s resurrection and victory over sin, death and hell is greater than all heaven and earth. You can never imagine his resurrection and victory so great but that in actuality it is far, far greater.

Martin Luther, Source unknown

The Sting of Death

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. - (1 Corinthians 15:56)

What an expression—”the sting of death”! And according to our text, it is sin. But Jesus removed the sting by dying on the cross and paying the price for our sins.

While walking in the field one day with my two young sons, a bee from one of my hives made a beeline for the elder boy and stung him just above the eye. He quickly brushed it away and threw himself in the grass, kicking and screaming for help. The bee went straight for the younger son and began buzzing around his head. The next thing I knew he too was lying in the grass, yelling at the top of his lungs. But I picked him up and told him to stop crying. “That bee is harmless,” I assured him. “It can’t hurt you. It has lost its sting.” I took the frightened lad over to his elder brother, showed him the little black stinger in his brow, and said, “The bee can still scare you, but it is powerless to hurt you. Your brother took the sting away by being stung.” Then I explained 1 Corinthians 15:56 by telling them that the sting of death is sin. But our Elder Brother the Lord Jesus hung on the cross and took the sting out of death by dying in our place. Since the law demands satisfaction only once, death is powerless to hurt us if we accept the work of Christ in our behalf. The unbeliever is filled with fear because he must face God with his sin. But for us, death’s sting is gone; it was left in Jesus. Death may still buzz around and scare us at time, but it can no longer harm us. A good verse for you to memorize Romans 4:8.

M. R. DeHaan, M.D., Our Daily Bread, Monday August 6

NT Giving

1. Proportionately

2. Regularly

3. Individually

Source Unknown

Resource

• Loving Across Our Differences, by Gerald L. Sittser, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994), pp. 27ff