Many people see the church at Corinth as a problematic church. But seldom do we see that we are no better than the Corinthians, and the state of our churches today is not even close to the bad example of the early church which is Corinth. 

The problems in 1 Corinthians are nothing new in our churches: divisions, sexual immorality, worldliness, abuse of spiritual gifts etc. In 2 Corinthians, there were signs of their repentance at the warning of Paul. But the church today continues to ignore the warnings of this book, even though many are well aware of them. 

In his introductory remarks to this church, Paul defines the essence of the church as one which must come under the will of God, thus be reigned by God (1:1-2). Furthermore, the minimum requirement of its members is a life of holiness (1:2). But instead of prioritising holiness in our communities, we pride of having a church like Corinth, with many people, resources & activities, but a lack of holiness.

The Corinthian church was blessed with many gifts, as well as excellence in speaking and knowledge etc.; it should have been natural for them to manifest the glory of God’s church. But they took it for granted, and instead manifested evil, as described in the rest of the book.

Likewise, the church today is plagued by ‘spiritual obesity’. We have no lack of good teachers, resources, training programs, conferences; yet this spiritual abundance is not making us more holy or more mature to the level of Jesus. This sermon urges us to mourn & repent to the One who is faithful & able to keep us firm to the end, make us blameless, and lead us to fellowship with the Lord Jesus (1:8-9).

Introduction To 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians(1)-The Church Today is of No Difference to the Corinthian Church (1 Cor 1:1-9)

Many people see the church at Corinth as a problematic church. But seldom do we see that we are no better than the Corinthians, and the state of our churches today is not even close to the bad example of the early church which is Corinth. 
The problems in 1 Corinthians are nothing new in our churches: divisions, sexual immorality, worldliness, abuse of spiritual gifts etc. In 2 Corinthians, there were signs of their repentance at the warning of Paul. But the church today continues to ignore the warnings of this book, even though many are well aware of them. 

In his introductory remarks to this church, Paul defines the essence of the church as one which must come under the will of God, thus be reigned by God (1:1-2). Furthermore, the minimum requirement of its members is a life of holiness (1:2). But instead of prioritising holiness in our communities, we pride of having a church like Corinth, with many people, resources & activities, but a lack of holiness.

The Corinthian church was blessed with many gifts, as well as excellence in speaking and knowledge etc.; it should have been natural for them to manifest the glory of God’s church. But they took it for granted, and instead manifested evil, as described in the rest of the book.

Likewise, the church today is plagued by ‘spiritual obesity’. We have no lack of good teachers, resources, training programs, conferences; yet this spiritual abundance is not making us more holy or more mature to the level of Jesus. This sermon urges us to mourn & repent to the One who is faithful & able to keep us firm to the end, make us blameless, and lead us to fellowship with the Lord Jesus (1:8-9).

1 Corinthians(3)- You Cannot Do Church With Wisdom Of The World (1 Cor 1:18-2:5)

In 1 Cor 4, Paul addresses the Corinthians’ failure to acknowledge him as their leader, by following Apollos & other leaders. 

To us, this may seem too trivial a matter, and that Paul is taking it too personally. But why we think this way is because we are seeing it from a human point of view i.e. through human wisdom, and not from the perspective of Paul. Because of our humanistic thinking, in which we are not living by the Cross, we would end up despising our spiritual authority just like the Corinthians. 

However, to Paul, the refusal to acknowledge spiritual authority is a clear sign that the Church has lost its essence, and therefore ceases to be the Church. Hence, as small as it might seem, Paul must weed out this issue from the church.

One way by which spiritual authority collapses is through the careless judgement of leaders. Why we judge is because we forget that leaders are ‘servants of Christ’ (4:1) and not our servants, that we should dictate or scrutinise what they do. God’s servants are people who will not conform to the demands & opinions of members, but only to the will & plan of God. And as stewards entrusted with God’s mysteries (i.e. the Gospel; 4:1), they would not teach something that will appeal to people and their philosophies. They would not try to please men, but God (1 Thess 2:4; Gal 1:10). Ultimately, whether they have done wrong or not, only God has the right to judge them (4:4-5), not us. 

The other reason why the Corinthians judged Paul was because they became arrogant (‘puffed up’), forgetting what they have received is from God (4:7). This caused them to “go beyond what is written” (4:6), that is, the foundations laid by Paul. As a result, they were deceived, thinking that they had arrived to a position of ‘reign’, even though they were still infants (3:1). 

Paul corrects their understanding of the Cross, using Apollos & himself as an example for them (4:6). Even though Apollos was considered a ‘rival’ of Paul (being more eloquent and knowledgeable than him), Paul did not see him this way. He could honour him as a fellow servant of Christ because he had the Cross. Similarly, leaders ought to honour other leaders and not judge them. This is one of the steps towards restoring spiritual authority.

Why we critique the weakness of leaders like Paul, is because we fail to understand the meaning of the Cross, which entails weakness, suffering, dishonour & shame from the world (4:9-13). We still believe that accepting the Cross would lead us to have a good ‘victorious’ life. The truth is, it is in the place of suffering & seeming ‘defeat’ that people of God can truly “reign”, and manifest the Kingdom of God. 

Lastly, the collapse of spiritual authority in the Corinthian church was because they could not accept Paul as their spiritual father and his discipline (4:15). Paul calls himself their ‘father’ not because he wants to dominate the church, but because he gave them the Gospel (4:15). And as such, he expects the church to obey his instructions & imitate his life of the Cross (4:16). For those that refuse to, he can only come “with a rod of discipline” (4:21). Consequently, we should aim to establish a father-child relationship with our pastors & leaders, and humbly accept their correction. 

When the Church’s spiritual authority is restored, through members refraining from judging leaders (4:1-5), living the life of the Cross (4:6-13), and accepting leaders’ discipline (4:14-21), then we will see the Kingdom of God manifesting in power & authority (4:20), where the Holy Spirit could completely reign.

1 Cor 4:1-21

1 Corinthians(6) - Collapse Of Spiritual Authority (1 Cor 4:1-21)

When the Church does not confirm the Cross, its being, and honour of spiritual authority, it is natural for its standard of holiness to deteriorate. As a result, problems like sexual immorality & lawsuits against believers (1 Cor 5-6) begin to emerge. Paul acted severely & decisively toward these issues, because to him, A CHURCH WITHOUT HOLINESS IS NOT A CHURCH.

How could the Corinthian church that is filled with the Holy Spirit & operating in spiritual gifts manifest such a lack of holiness? The reason was that they began to slacken in upholding the standard of holiness, and slowly began to accept sin as a norm – in fact, they were “proud” (5:2) of their ‘extraordinary’ incestuous affair, and did not treat it as sin at all. 

Just like Corinth, the church today has also let down its guard against the sinful influences of culture & society, and begun to normalise what is sin in the eyes of God (e.g. extramarital affairs, premarital & casual sex, pornography, entertaining sexual jokes, and suggestive dressing). 

But unlike the Early Church, which could accept excommunication as the standard, the church today views it as a forbidden practice that is inconsistent with ‘love’ & ‘compassion’. But was Paul advocating that the Church should not love sinners and expel all instead? No. Paul who praises love in 1 Cor 13 also maintains that holiness of the Church must be intact before it can truly love sinners; otherwise, it can only be corrupted. 

What is excommunication? It is done not because we want to give up on souls. Rather, it is out of consideration for the soul to be given an opportunity to realise sin & repent. Only through “handing the soul over to Satan” (5:5) – thus removing the covering of the church from the believer – and inevitably allowing him to suffer (physically), can the believer have a chance to ‘be saved on the day of the Lord’ (5:5). As such, excommunication is an act of love for the good of both the believer & the community. Because, if the believer continues to remain in the Church, he will only be deceived to think that this lifestyle is OK, and eventually forfeit his salvation. 

Paul uses the parable of the yeast/leaven (5:6-8) to emphasise the impact of sin, that demands such action. If one hint of sin is allowed in, it will soon multiply & affect every facet of the community. Just like it is impossible to extract the yeast once the bread has leavened, it is hard to salvage the situation at that point. 

As the solution, Paul points us to Christ as the Passover Lamb (5:7), whose blood enables us to fully eradicate the ‘leaven’ in our lives. Just as the Passover (symbolising salvation) leads to the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, it suggests that an ‘unleavened’ lifestyle is the expected outcome of every saved believer. Hence, there is a need for every believer to combat sin daily, so they can confirm themselves as the ‘unleavened bread of sincerity & truth’ (5:8).

The conditions for excommunication are not limited to the sin of incest alone. Paul includes all the sins listed in 5:11 - greed, idolatry, slander, drunkenness & swindling - as well as all other sexual sins, as equally lethal & destructive to the Church’s holiness. As such, dealing with such sinful behaviour must be deliberate & severe – to the point of not even eating with such believers or acknowledging them as brothers or sisters (5:11), treating them like pagans (Mt 18:17). 

While the church has authority to excommunicate, it should not conduct it haphazardly, nor should it be the first & only option. The Church should diligently defend the boundaries of holiness at all costs, and let what that is the norm be the norm (e.g. it is normal for the believer to live a holy life) and what that is abnormal be abnormal (e.g. it is abnormal for the believer to be drunk with wine cf. Eph 5:18). The Church must be ruthless & not humanistic in dealing with the smallest hint of sin, before it grows into full bloom & it is too late to remedy it.

1 Cor 5:1-13

1 Corinthians(7)- Expel The One Who Harms The Holiness Of The Community (1 Cor 5:1-13)

In this section, Paul is addressing the issue of change of status, such as from singlehood to marriage, from uncircumcision to circumcision, and from slavery to freedom (7:8,17-24). To Paul, the essence of the Gospel is not about changing one’s external circumstances, but rather one’s internal condition. E.g. quitting your job to do spirituality may be helpful, but if one’s internal condition is not restored, even with the extra time, he may not be able to do spirituality well. On the contrary, a person who has a job, but depends wholly on the grace of God (with the little time of prayer he has), may grow even more.

Hence Paul advises that one should not change his external circumstances, unless they cause him to sin or lose his holiness. Instead, one should confirm being in the place where God has called him. God’s calling of us as Christians does not pertain only to church, but to all aspects of life – hence the calling to the Gospel is not separated from others like the calling to work, the calling to marriage etc. As long as God calls you to that place, even if the conditions are most adverse, you should not anyhow leave. This is the general rule for all situations in life (7:17). The most important thing is to ‘keep God’s commands’, which is to hear what God says (7:19) – which the Corinthians were not able to do in their immaturity. For that, one must “remain” (dwell, abide) with God (7:20, Greek) and be filled with the Holy Spirit (7:40).

The Gospel has set us free from sin; it does not guarantee we are free from circumstances where we feel restricted (like a converted slave mulling if he should seek release, 7:21). However, to Paul, the true freedom of the Christian is the freedom to live a life for God & make an impact for the Gospel, even if it means willingly accepting restrictions of your physical freedom (just like Paul made himself a slave to everyone to win everyone, 1 Cor 9:19). 

Returning to the issue of marriage (7:25-40), Paul thus states that the decision to marry (or not) must be motivated by your desire to please God (7:32-34) & do His affairs. However, Paul also advocates celibacy as the more desired option, in light of the ‘many troubles in this life’ (burdens & responsibilities) that will accompany marriage. This is not to say that singles have no troubles. But in comparison to the married, singles have more ability to devote themselves to God (7:32,34). 

The gift of celibacy is not simply the ability to live without sex, but also to pour out for other people & serve God wholeheartedly. Thus, a single Christian is expected to be able to give more & be involved more in church ministry. Unfortunately, many singles end up using their energy to carve their career paths, indulge in their own hobbies & tour the world – which there is no time for (7:29). Hence, celibacy is to be sought after & confirmed as early as possible (to give God the best of our life), than to act as a last resort when one cannot find a partner. 

This is because ‘the time is short’ (7:29), i.e. the Lord’s coming is near. We should not expend our energy on the world’s affairs – like establishing our career (for singles) or improving our family life (for married) – because they are all temporal (7:31). Not that they are unimportant or should be neglected, but they cannot be more important than God. 

This is not to mean we should not take care of our family. But considering the time is short, each one should prioritise preparing for the Lord’s return, than to be so deeply entangled with their family affairs and neglect their spirituality (7:29). Likewise, we should not hold tightly to our possessions nor easily be swayed by the joys & sorrows of the world (7:30-31). 

While Paul advocates celibacy in view of the capacity to serve God, being married does not mean you should not devote to God either. Couples should aim to give whatever they can for the Lord’s affairs, even though it is less than the capacity of singles.

1 Cor 7:17-40

1 Corinthians(10)-Marriage, Sex & Celibacy (part 2)(1Cor7:17-40)

2023년 9월 29일
생명사역 추석집회
[갈라디아서 강해 10]
갈라디아서 3장 23절 - 4장 20절
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E10 [23년9월][갈 3:23-4:20] 추석집회 3

The Book of Isaiah began with a proclamation of judgement on Judah – yet one must know that at the time of this prophecy, Judah was experiencing a ‘golden age’, flourishing under the reign of rather good kings who ‘did what was right in the eyes of the Lord’ (2 Kings 15:3,34). Since they seemed to live more ‘righteously’ than corrupted Northern Israel, why therefore the message of judgement?

Because the kings did not remove the high places of idolatry (2 Kings 15:4,35, 16:4). How could they still tolerate idolatry even as they worshiped Yahweh? The reason was they were influenced by the world, admiring them for prospering even while worshiping idols (cf King Ahaz, 2 Kings 16:10). 
One must know that Israel is the centre of the world (the ‘navel’ cf. Ezek 5:5, 38:12). Thus, when Israel is corrupted, the world is corrupted. In order for Israel to become a holy nation, the Lord raised up the Assyrians and later the Babylonians as instruments of judgement. In other words, the world suffers under the hand of the Assyrians (who were invading the neighbouring countries) because Israel is not holy.

Before pronouncing His judgement, the Lord reminded Judah that they were His children (1:2), whom He carried on eagles’ wings out of Egypt (Exo 19:4). In other words, He must judge their wickedness because He loves them (Heb 12:5-7). However, they continued to rebel against Him, and as such, had no sense of who they are, and lost sight of their dignity – the Lord degrades them to worse than an ox or a donkey who knows their master, even though they were by nature stubborn or ‘wild’ (1:3).

Furthermore, in rebelling they have reverted to the status of slaves, constantly beaten by the enemy, to the point of losing their ability to desire healing (1:5-6). They are full of wounds which are never healed, and there are more wounds waiting to be inflicted on them (‘new wounds’ 1:6).

Likewise, the church, like Israel, is God’s holy nation, and must maintain holy lives. If it is not doing so, it might incur the wrath & judgement from God. In 2024, let us respond to the sighs of the Father who longs to restore our holiness, so that we will not reach the point of no return.

07 Jan 2024

The Sigh Of The Father (Is 1:1-9)

Isaiah 2:1-4 speaks a message of restoration, after the previous word of judgement (1:21-31) & before another one to come (2:5-22). We must always remember that when the Lord judges His people, the purpose is not to destroy them, but to restore them. 

What is therefore restoration? In the simple sense, it is the reign of God – the state of being able to be entirely seized by the Spirit in everything that we do. When this happens, the church will become a place where nations would naturally gather for hearing the Word of the Lord, in order to walk in His ways (V2-3). The church will thus have the answer to all of the world’s problems, as the Lord reigns as the only Righteous Judge, whose verdict all will accept (V4). 

Of course, the ultimate fulfilment of this prophecy will be in the Millennium Kingdom, when the worship will be restored on Mount Zion. But at this moment, the Church is the only entity that can manifest this restoration because of the Spirit that dwells in us, which has made us the Temple of God (1 Cor 3:16). 

The outcome of attending the restored church is that people will walk in the light of the Lord (V5) – i.e. a life of no darkness & hatred (1 Jn 2:9), and fully devoted to the Word which is Light (Jn 1:4). If not, the list of judgements from V6-22 will follow.

If one does not walk in the light, he would only live a life with
out God, thus living by the world, embracing their “superstitions” & “striking hands” with them (V6). This will include the worshiping of idols and bowing down to the work of their hands (V8) – in other words, the self becomes god; thus, becoming proud (V12).

In their loftiness, they will boast of their “silver and gold”, “horses” & “chariots”, “cedars of Lebanon” & “oaks of Bashan” (V7,13) – all that they use to prop up their own name, and live a life depending on false security (“towering mountains” & “fortified walls” V14-15). But the day will come where God will judge, and there will be no place to hide from His wrath (V10,19,21). That day they will find that all they have depended on is useless (V20). 

In a nutshell, this message tells us that we will be doomed if we continue to entertain darkness, i.e. not walk in the light (even though we may go to church). The same will be for people who value their own abilities, thinking, standards & works as the most important thing they need in their life, or build their life with these. We must always remember that we are no higher than God – He alone is to be exalted (V11) – and He is the Sustainer of our life & Giver of our breath. The moment He takes away our breath, we are no more – so we should “stop trusting in mere humans” (V22).

Is 2

Stop Trusting In Mere Humans (Is 2:1-22)

We must always remember that when God judges His people, His purpose is not to destroy them but to restore them. While Isaiah 2’s judgement is for those who do not walk in the light of God (2:5), Isaiah 3’s judgement is more specific, particularly the judgement of those who live by the ways of Babylon. What is the way of Babylon? It is likened to the time in Gen 11 when people built for themselves the tower of Babel, which is where we get the word ‘Babylon’. In a nutshell, it is living a life without God.

When people live a life without God, they will depend on all the things listed in Isaiah 3:1-3, i.e. ‘supplies of food & water’(V1) – their survival instinct; ‘hero & warrior’(V2)/’captain of fifty & man of rank’(V3) – military power; ‘judge & prophet’ – human leaders & intelligence; ‘diviner & elder’ (V3) – mystic powers; ‘counsellor, skilled craftsman & clever enchanter’ (V3) – marketing strategy or human talent. In order that His people may return to Him, God judges them through removing all these things that they have been depending on more than Him.

The consequence of this judgement is that the political & social order of the nation will collapse. For example, lack of mature leaders (“mere youths” V4), disrespect of the old (V5), oppression of the weak (V5), vacuum of leadership whereby no one is willing to become a leader (V6-7), plundering of the poor (V14-15) for women to spend on luxurious living (V16-23), gender imbalance (4:1 – men being unable to provide for their wives) etc. As a result of not coming to the order of God, people become powerless & unable to deal with issues in life – which is a “heap of ruins” (V6).

To restore Israel, God promises them ‘the Branch’, who is Jesus, ‘beautiful & glorious’ (4:2). While the people must face judgement (war, death, exile – 3:25), for the remnants (“those who are left in Zion” 4:3) who are ‘called holy’ and not stained by Babylon, God will give them the “Spirit of judgement & Spirit of fire” (4:4) – the indwelling Holy Spirit who will convict us of sin, in leading to repentance, thus purifying us.

Moreover, through the remnants, God will establish true worship that is evidenced by “a cloud of smoke by day” (4:5) (not the pillar of cloud) – like the incense that fills the Holy of Holies, in worship people will experience forgiveness of sins & be accepted in God’s presence. It also has “a glow of flaming fire by night” (not the pillar of fire) – the filling of the Holy Spirit as in the day of Pentecost – and the canopy of God’s Shekinah glory – God dwelling among men through the indwelling Spirit, with nothing hindering our fellowship with God (“shelter & shade” 4:6).

Is 3 - 4:6

Be Cleanse By The Spirit Of Judgment & Spirit Of Fire (Is 3-4)

Chapter 5 began with God’s lament that Israel was not producing good fruit. Following from this, He pronounces judgement on the unrepentant – those who ‘have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands (V12)’. The judgements can be categorised into 6 woes (V8, V11, V18, V20, V21, V22). 

The first woe is directed at the desire for possession (greed). Israel’s greed was ‘adding house to house and joining field to field’ (V8). Having many houses itself is not a problem, but the problem is that Israel took away for themselves the houses of the poor people. By right, in the Promised Land, each tribe had their assigned lands from God – strictly speaking, their land belonged to God. Hence nobody who inherited the land could call it their own and use it the way they want. Israel did not know that they were meant to be stewards of God’s things, not owners. 

Thus, greed can be defined as the assumption of what belongs to God as ours. This applies to every aspect of life. E.g. pastors think they own their members, parents think they own their children, etc. Once we take ownership of these, we will begin to carry out our own desires, instead of waiting on God & trusting Him. People of God must develop the life of stewardship – if God does not give or assign, we should not do. Doing what God did not entrust us to do is to do it by our own strength.

The second woe is against the desire for pleasure (V11, ‘those who rise up early in the morning to run after drinks’). In fact, the desire for pleasure is the cause of desire for possession, because the motive of gaining more is to enjoy the pleasures of life. We can see it in the Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk 12:16-21), that his purpose of having more crops is to “take life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (Lk 12:19), but judgement came upon him that very night.

The outcome of having the desire for pleasure is that one will have “no regard for the deeds of the Lord” (V12), i.e. His judgement. It is likened to choosing hell rather than giving up on their pleasures – as if Death “expands its jaws” (V14) to welcome them. Hence, the desire for pleasure is a major factor as to why Christians stop bearing fruit, become lukewarm & backslide. Thus, we should not set our life goals on having a carefree, easy and comfortable life that the world pursues. 

To be continued…

Living The Life Of Steward (Is 5:8-17)

Is 6:5-13

Only Those Who See The Glory Could Say 'Here Am I' - Is 6:5-13

Building a remnant community who will prepare the way of the Lord's return
www.crownoflifesg.com

Living The Life Of Steward (Is 5:8-17)

Crown of Life Church

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