Hope for Today

Contentment is a wonderful attitude to maintain. At the same time, lethargy is a curse. Lethargy means “I do not care, whatever happens, is okay.” We somehow have to get into balance the idea of aggressiveness and contentment.

What we really need is to capture the thought, Be all you can be where you are. Few people, if any, live up to their potential. Psychologists tell us we use only a small percentage of our brain capacity.

Our brains are a mystery in a measure. We know that how we think controls how we act. And what is even more awesome is we can control our thought patterns. We have the ability to turn off unwanted thoughts and pursue upbuilding thoughts.

In this chapter, I hope to help you assess where you are and what to do about your situation so that you can SERVE WHERE YOU ARE. This means someone outside of you will likely be in control. But think about this carefully. Let’s focus in on I Corinthians 7:17-24:

17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

22 For he that is called in the Lord, [being] a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.

23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

To help you Serve Where You Are, I bring you several OBSERVATIONS to encourage you in your service.

First, I observe that the calling comes by:

17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called everyone, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.2

The clause “God hath distributed to every man” tells me that basic ability is inherent in our personalities. We probably all have some native abilities we may have yet not discovered. I’ve seen that, especially in artists. Every basic ability can be developed. It can be made better.

Today in Christian circles we often talk about how to discern our gift. Now it is true a person trying to serve in a position for which he is not gifted is a sorry misfit. We sometimes refer to such a situation as a square peg in a round hole. The object simply does not fit the situation!

The apostle uses the illustration of circumcision to make his point. In the early church circumcision was a problem. Acts 15 details a church gathering to decide whether the Gentiles who were not circumcised would need to undergo circumcision to become Christians. The Jews had practiced this from the time of Abraham as a symbol of belonging to the community or covenant of God. So it was a very important point to consider.

But the apostle says, “If you are called being circumcised,” do not try to be uncircumcised. If you are called in uncircumcision, do not try to be circumcised. He said, “Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” So observe that calling comes from God. God has distributed to everyone, so Serve Where You Are.

Second, I observe that the call requires:

20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

22 For he that is called in the Lord, [being] a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.

Here is where contentment comes in. How many have wasted their lives by fussing about where they are? They did not want to be where they are. They wanted to be somewhere else. They looked sometimes with envy on another person, believing they could do the job much better. So they troubled themselves with discontent. Paul says that where you are, abide there and serve the Lord.

The apostle uses slavery as an example. Slavery was widely practiced in Paul’s day. And he is telling the slave to be the very best slave he can possibly be. Be what you ought to be where you are.

The Old Testament prophet Daniel was among the children of Judah carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar, the king from Babylon. Daniel was made a eunuch. His masculinity was spoiled. He was to serve Nebuchadnezzar and became the most faithful of his servants. Though a slave, Daniel served well, never compromising his faith in God at any point. In fact, Nebuchadnezzar came to depend on Daniel very much. Nebuchadnezzar’ssuccessors highly-regarded Daniel; for example, Darius put Daniel in charge of his whole kingdom. So be the very best servant possible. Daniel was a slave, but he served well.3

As Christians, we also ought to be loyal to our Master. Our first loyalty is to Jesus. Paul points that out. If you are called as a servant, then be a good servant. But we are to think in terms of being the servant of Jesus. Paul said, “If you are called as a slave, then be Christ’s freeman. If you are called as a freeman, then be Christ’s servant.” The whole focus we face up to is Jesus. We are to be freemen and slaves of Jesus. So our contribution is first and last to Jesus, first and foremost to Jesus. We are His freeman and His servant. That is our contribution.

Third, I observe the call demands:

23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

The apostle says, “Ye are bought with a price.” The death of Jesus on the cross is that price. Sometimes I think we are too far removed from it. If it was not so long ago, perhaps it would make a deeper impression on us. Matthew’s Gospel records the crucifixion. I want you to try to put yourself there. Be as close as you can possibly be in your mind.

Ponder carefully God’s Word in Matthew 27:33-50:

And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall; and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

My friend, that is the price. Oh, what we owe Him! It calls for personal retribution. Much more than material things, it calls for a yielded heart! He paid a debt He did not owe because I had a debt I could not pay. We are bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus.

Paul calls to us today. Weigh carefully the price Jesus paid. Now, what have you done for Him? That is where the retribution comes in, the pay back. Our retribution must be our all!

Friend, I have assumed you are a Christian. If you are not, then your first step is to receive Jesus as your Saviour. Confess your sins. Do as the Ethiopian did. He said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Acts 8:37). You do that too!

I urge you to recognize God’s gift to you.

It is by

And it involves

Based on

When these are in order, I affirm you can Serve Where You Are.

We are in an era of great trauma, particularly in the ethical field. Definitions of ethics are critical, especially today. The history of our country has a different record, however. A couple of centuries ago the great New England theologian Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He had definite boundaries. He knew where the absolutes were.

But today situation ethics has no absolutes. Nothing is right or wrong except as it may affect someone else. But the Christian life is different. It is controlled by standards derived from the Bible. The Christian life is far more satisfying than the life out there in what we call the world, with no holds barred.

Discipline is a part of reality in the Christian life. All conduct is a matter of the will whether you are thinking in terms of Christian concepts or not. And the will is the distinctive characteristic imparted unto us by the act of the divine Creator. The will is united to reason. We are a threefold being body, soul, and spirit. Yes, the Bible refers to us that way. Paul prayed that the Lord might preserve the Thessalonians in body, mind, and spirit until the day of Jesus Christ (see I Thessalonians 5:23). So with this threefold being, we have certain relationships with the outside world.

In I Corinthians 6:12-20, Paul wrote words that laid the truth on the line:

12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make [them] the members of an harlot? God forbid.

16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Now, my friend, I propose that CHRISTIAN BEHAVIOR is inseparably united to three basic FACTS related to the body that the apostle Paul teaches here.

First, for the Christian:

BY CREATION

12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.

When you go back to Genesis, you learn that God fashioned the human body as it pleased Him. Marvelous. I would remind you that Adam was not a baby. He was created as a full-grown man. God made Adam in His own likeness. So the body is for the Lord by creation.

The body is our environmental awareness. It has five senses sight, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling. Through these five senses, we are aware of our environment, where we are and what is going on around us.

Now the apostle says that “all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.” So the lawful things are not necessarily the expedient things. How you conduct yourself is based on the lawfulness.

There are several considerations to take into account. Is it profitable? Worthwhile? Does it help? Expediency can be a detriment. Christian behavior takes careful account that the body is the Lord’s by His creation.

Now I want you to hear someone else’s comments:

Many a man has noble qualities both of mind of heart quick intelligence, wise judgment, and warm enthusiasm but lacks the steadfast will that would bind them all together, giving unity and strength to his character and effective force to his endeavor. According, however, to the greatness and strength of this faculty, so is the danger of its being misdirected like the forces of nature, water, steam, electricity, etc. Self-will is blind, lawless, immoral, and therefore not really free. Moral freedom lies in the mastery of a will that determines for the right, and chooses to move in harmony with the Divine Will, the “will that is holy and just and good.”

Yes, The Body Is For the Lord By Creation. He has the right to it. My question to you is, Have you given your body to Him?

The second fact is:

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make [them] the members of an harlot? God forbid.

16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Look at verse 15: “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” What right then do I have to take a member of Christ and make it a member of a harlot. When Paul made that suggestion, the Lord inspired him to use very strong words next. He said, “God forbid.” That means may it never be so!

The restriction is very clear. You are no longer master of your body. You are now the servant. Christ is the Master. He is the One who has right over your body if you are a Christian. To take control of your body is to deny Christ’s ownership. The secular feminist movement could learn a great deal from this verse. The feminist insists on her own right over her body. Well, she doesn’t have a right over her body. Now, of course, the secular woman doesn’t have Christ’s ownership in the sense that we Christians do, and yet she does not have the right over her own body in the measure and dimension she speaks of it. She has rights, yes, and she can make choices, but she doesn’t realize that the outcome of that choice has been determined by the Lord, and it will work out inscrutably.

However, on the other hand, the preborn child is not her body; she can’t make it her body, or abortion doctors wouldn’t take it out of her body the way they do in abortion. Now the Christian behavior recognizes that the body is a member of Christ by redemption.

The sex revolution today is a curse upon America. I believe many of the sexually transmitted diseases are God’s judgment on loose living. Surely the monogamous society is God’s will. In verse 18 the apostle says two very important words: “Flee fornication.” Don’t stay around it; don’t meditate on it. Listen to Barnes again:

Man should escape from it; he should not stay to reason about it; to debate the matter, or even to contend with his propensities, and to try the strength of his virtue. There are some sins which a man can resist; some about which he can reason without danger of pollution. But this is a sin where a man is safe only when he flies; free from pollution only when he refuses to entertain a thought of it; secure when he seeks victory by flight and conquest by retreat. Let a man turn away from it without reflection on it and he is safe. Let him think, and reason, and he may be ruined.

And Barnes continues:

How many men and women are known to be impure in their lives! In all communities how much does this sin abound! and how many shall be revealed at the great day as impure, who are now unsuspected! how many disclosed to the universe as all covered with pollution, who now boast even of purity, and who are received into the society of the virtuous and the lovely! Verily, the broad road to hell is thronged! And verily, the earth is pouring into hell a most dense and wretched population, and rolling down a tide of sin and misery that shall fill it with groans and gnashing of teeth forever.

So The Body Is a Member of Christ by Redemption plays into our whole concept of Christian behavior.

The third fact is:

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Conversion changes the resident in the heart. The apostle Paul later in this book teaches us that no one can call Jesus Lord except by the Spirit of God. I know there is much disagreement today about what it means to receive the Holy Spirit. Some say, well I am born again, but I haven’t received the Holy Spirit. I would like to inform you that if you are born again, you have received the Holy Spirit, because that is exactly what the apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 12:3:

Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost.

So if you have confessed Jesus as Lord, you have the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Spirit is a gift from God, “which you have of God, and ye are not your own.” That’s verse 19.

Furthermore, Jesus promised the coming of the Holy Spirit when He spoke to the disciples. He said the Spirit would be with them and in them. So now, “ye are not your own,” the apostle said. By the way, this is not absentee ownership. The Holy Spirit comes in and dwells in your heart if you are a born-again Christian, and He has your body in possession. You are bought with a price. The price is the blood of Jesus. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. He has a divine right in your body.

If it were not for the blood of Jesus Christ shed on Calvary’s cross, you and I would be lost forever. Forever! No hope, absolutely no hope. He shed his blood and died on the cross so we could have peace with God.

Let me share a great truth from II Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Think of that. For He who knew no sin was made a sin offering for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. What we cannot achieve, what we cannot ascertain in our own spirits, in our own efforts, we can attain by the precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Again I must refer you to Barnes’s commentary:

There was no price which the sinner could pay, no atonement which he could make; and consequently, if Christ had not died, the sinner would have been the slave of sin, and the servant of the devil forever. As the Christian is thus purchased, ransomed, redeemed, he is bound to devote himself to God only, and to keep his commands, and to flee from a licentious life.

Christian behavior takes into account and rests upon these three facts and is on an entirely different level than non-Christian behavior. We have a relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as Paul instructs on a practical approach.

By creation

By redemption

By possession

With these facts in place, Christian behavior will be different from the world.

I trust, my friend, that you have come to understand the reality of these facts in your own life.

It is quite obvious to every observer that we live in an orderly universe. While there may be occasions of unusual circumstances like the weather, yet the universe is orderly. So too the human family is to be orderly.

In the days of Noah, God established human government. He said man is responsible for man’s conduct. Government is intended by the Lord God to restrain the natural tendency of the human heart. The Bible tells us in Genesis 6:5 that the imagination of man’s heart is “only evil continually.”

The Lord is holy and therefore He established human government to restrain the natural tendency of man. Government is required wherever there are people. Even in the primitive societies in the world, people have standards by which they operate.

Interpersonal relations are next to God. You see, the Lord said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:37 39). So God expects that in the interpersonal relationships among us, we should be able to relate with decency.

The legal profession has received much bashing in recent years because of its greed. If you are hurt, injured, or in some way mistreated, let a lawyer know and he will help you get your share. What actually happens is that the lawyers get their share.

The apostle Paul approaches this from a different standpoint. He looks at it from the standpoint of the church. What should church members do in a legal situation? It is true that being a church member does not eradicate the depraved human nature. I know some people teach that you can be completely sanctified on this earth, but if you watch them closely, you will find that they themselves are not really completely sanctified. The depraved human nature expresses itself in various ways. Conflict is sure to come because we are individuals, and when individuals get together, there can be conflict.

So notice how Paul deals with this situation in I Corinthians 6:1-11:

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life.

4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded?

8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your] brethren.

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

In such a controversy Paul lays out several essential DIRECTIONS for the solution of these controversies.

The first direction is:

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life.

4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

Avoid going before an unbelieving judge. Paul criticizes the Corinthians rather sharply by calling attention to the fact that some of them apparently had done it. They had gone to law before the unjust and not before the saved. I believe this points out to us that there is a divine standard. It is implied here, certainly. Unbelievers, however, operate apart from that standard. They only deal with what seems to be appropriate or what has already been done. I believe this points out that there is a divine standard that should be adhered to.

There was a certain law aspect to the first communication God had concerning man after He created him, when He said, “Be fruitful and have dominion” (Genesis 1:29). This was a statement God laid down as a principle to work on. When He gave man and woman the right to eat of every tree of the Garden except the trees of life and of knowledge of good and evil, again it was a restriction. Laws point out the areas beyond which man should not go.

The apostle Paul was concerned about how it was happening in Corinth that the people of the church were submitting their cases to unbelieving judges for arbitration. He said, “Arise to your potential because you are going to judge the world and angels. And certainly, if you have that potential, you should be able to solve the little problems in your congregation without going to unbelievers. Appoint those who are least esteemed.”

Now I know from the commentaries there is a lot of conflict about this. I want to tell you something though; many times it is not the most intelligent people, the most educated people who have the best insight. Sometimes just plain, good common sense will outline a procedure that the intelligence of the educated does not comprehend.

A saint on his knees can see farther than the philosopher on his tiptoes. You see, the saint has his mind open for divine wisdom, godly wisdom. The highly intelligent, and the highly educated may not.

Now let me share with you a portion from Barnes’s commentary on Corinthians:

That the heathen magistrates were in general very corrupt there can be no doubt. Many of them were men of abandoned character, of dissipated lives, men who were easily bribed, and men, therefore, in whose judgment Christians could repose little confidence. Paul reproves the Corinthians for going before them with their disputes when they could better settle them themselves.

The second direction the apostle gives to the Corinthian Church and to us is:

5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded?

8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your] brethren.

Avoid disruption. Peace is certainly preferable to disruption. Paul says it is a shame that there is not a wise man among you, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. So brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers. Avoid disruptions. Evaluate the situation, take into account all the factors, and don’t be cantankerous. Broke n relationships are too costly. Instead of agitating for all that might be coming to you, suffer wrong. Don’t insist on all or more than is your due, and anyway did not Jesus say when you suffer wrong and are smitten on one cheek, turn the other also?

So the apostle Paul is following right in that same vein. Each case is unique and needs wisdom. The attorneys go back and study the history of law and have in their offices great tomes of books of court decisions they can go to, but the apostle Paul says the situation deserves your personal attention to the immediate need between brother and brother.

Jesus spoke about this too in Matthew 18:15-17, when He said that if your brother has something against you, go to him between you and him alone. If he hears you, fine, you have gained your brother. If he does not hear you, then take two or three along and try it again. If he still does not hear you, then tell it to the church, and the church is to deal with it. If he doesn’t hear the church, then he should be treated as a publican and a sinner.

In other words, you can only make peace with a person who wants to make peace. The apostle Paul in the Roman letter said, “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). Sometimes it is impossible to get the situation reconciled. But that should not be true in the church, in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes it is. So the apostle Paul says rather than do wrong,
receive wrong. Why not rather take wrong?

But no, these Corinthians were so insistent that they would rather do wrong and defraud, and that their brethren. It is a pity, isn’t it? If a person has a congenial spirit, then this situation would hardly arise. You see, to be congenial means you are not aggressively demanding your own rights here or there; you are trying to be kind, loving, and tenderhearted to everybody. Notice again what Barnes says:

Probably no lawsuit was ever engaged in by a Christian that did not do some injury to the cause of Christ. Perhaps no lawsuit was ever conducted between Christians that ever did any good to the cause of Christ. A contentious spirit, a fondness for the agitation, the excitement, and strife of courts, is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel. Religion is retiring, peaceful, and calm. It seeks the peace of all and it never rejoices in contention.

Do you understand what I am saying? Be congenial. Avoid disruption. Peace is far more desirable than even having your own way.

The third direction is:

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Pay close attention to what the apostle Paul wrote in verses 9 through 11. Acknowledge the dividing line between Christians and non-Christians. The apostle says there are certain kinds of persons who will never make the kingdom of God. Notice very carefully what he said, “Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners.”

Please observe that the first group, except for idolaters, has to do with sex relationships: fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind. Isn’t it odd that we have people, theologians, all over the country who are trying to tell us that homosexuality and lesbianism are favored by God? The Bible is absolutely clear here. There is no question that the apostle Paul puts that lifestyle outside the church. They will never inherit the kingdom of God. Now if they won’t inherit the kingdom of God, how is it that they can claim membership in the Christian church while on earth?

Be cleansed. Acknowledge the dividing line. No dialogue is necessary. Perhaps the most important action is the announcement. Announce to these people, as I am doing to you right now. Announce to the world that these kinds of people will never inherit the kingdom of God.

Then Paul goes on to the other categories: “Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners.” They will not inherit the kingdom of God. There is a dividing line between those who inherit the kingdom of God and those who do not.

Then, praise God, Paul said, “And such were some of you.” What happened to them? They had been that way, but they were no longer that way. What happened to them? He tells us right here. “But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.” There is only one bath that will do the work, friend. It is to be washed in the precious blood of Jesus. Wash your garments in the precious blood of Jesus. He shed His blood on Calvary’s cross that your sins might be washed away. The prophet Isaiah, seven hundred years before Christ, put it this way: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Praise God.

Then Paul said, “Ye are sanctified,” which means the Holy Spirit has come into your life and changed your whole manner of living. Again the apostle Paul in II Corinthians 5:17 makes it very clear: “If anybody is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.” Yes, praise God.

And then Paul said, “Ye are justified.” That means you now stand before God uncondemned. It does not mean you are acquitted. No. I must make that very clear to you. Acquittal means not guilty, but justified means you admit your guilt and God forgives you. That is what Jesus came to make possible. We can receive from God all He has for us when we come the right way, and the right way is to come by Jesus Christ. That is what Paul says.

Notice the last part of that verse: “in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” That means a whole new mode of living, a whole new lifestyle. Be cleansed. Now when that happens, then the situation of the Church’s Court Case will be greatly relieved.

Hear again from Barnes:

What a place would heaven be if the drunkard, the adulterer, and the idolater were there. How impure and unholy would it be! How would it destroy all our hopes, dim all our prospects, mar all our joys, if we were told that they should sit down with the just in heaven! Is it not one of our fondest hopes that heaven will be pure, and that all its inhabitants shall be holy? And can God admit to his eternal embrace, and treat as his eternal friend, the man who is unholy; whose life is stained with abomination; who loves to corrupt others; and whose happiness is found in the sorrows, and the wretchedness, and vices of others? No; religion is pure, and heaven is pure; and whatever men may think, of one thing they may be assured, that the fornicator, and the drunkard, and the reviler shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Oh, my friend, the Church’s Court Case is to be resolved by the church members. These several directions for solution will be most helpful. Let me go over them again:

Avoid unbelievers.

If need be, suffer wrong.

Washed, sanctified, justified in the Name of Jesus.
Let the peace of Christ possess your heart and soul. Amen.

What does it involve to be a Christian? Is it possible to live right in a society that is largely wrong? By what standards are we to assess conditions?

Some years ago a well-noted Episcopal theologian, standing on the platform of a college in Pennsylvania, made this statement: “There is no rule book.” So he argued that we get our ethical principles from the people around us. He was a strong advocate of situation ethics. I heard him say this.

Then he went to Israel with the intention to rewrite the Gospels. However, he came to his end in the sands of a Judean desert. His death to the Israelis was a mystery. It still is. Some people argued that the Lord removed him before he could blaspheme Jesus.

I affirm the Bible is our guidebook. He thought we have no guidebook. I believe we have a Guide Book in the Bible and that Guide Book is for everybody. That is why it is so important for the Wycliffe and the New Tribes Mission translators, and all others, to be out there among the people who have no Bible and translate the Holy Scriptures into their languages.

I am so pleased to tell you we have now mailed over 140,000 free Bibles to people in more than 90 countries around the world. We believe the Word of God is universal and timeless.

Some argue that if Paul were living today, he would not write as he did in the first century. I don’t believe that. I believe the apostle Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit, and he wrote what is applicable for us and all people for all times.

So I will answer the question I raised, “HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE?” from Paul’s writings in I Corinthians 5:9-13:

9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Living as he did in a pagan, sensual world, the apostle Paul gives us three WAYS to live now! They are just as applicable today as they were in his day.

The first way is:

BUT SEPARATED FROM THE WORLD

11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

Now the apostle Paul comes closer home. He addresses the brotherhood. If there is somebody in the
brotherhood who is a fornicator, who is covetous, who is an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner, separate yourself from such a person. Rebuke the unregenerate, so-called brother, and have no fellowship with him. Is there any church that would admit such members knowingly?

I remember hearing an illustration, I am not sure it ever happened, but anyway it is something we can consider. This young man came to the pastor and wanted to become a member of the church.

“Oh, that is fine,” the pastor said.

“Well,” the applicant said, “pastor, I like to spend some time with the men at the bar after work.”
“Well, that is alright,” the pastor said, “just do it moderately.”
“Well, pastor, I am also intrigued by the X-rated movies and I attend one sometimes.”
“Well, just don’t be intemperate. Do it carefully.”
“Well, pastor, I like to gamble some at the gambling houses.”
“Well, again, watch out that you don’t overdo it.”

Then finally, the young man said, “I don’t see any point in joining your church because I can do what I am doing where I am. And I can do what I am doing when I join your church, so I don’t see any point in joining your church.”

Do you see what I mean?

During the Reformation, some of the groups inaugurated what they called the ban. They saw this word “no not to eat” and took it very literally. It was a restriction not to keep company, not to mingle with anyone who was not in strict fellowship with the church and not to be intimately in close contact with such persons.

One very significant statement is “the crown of fellowship is eating together.” The apostle said, “Don’t sit down with them, don’t eat with them.” Certainly not the Lord’s supper! This may have a broader application than that, however. But at least not the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus, in His high priestly prayer in John 17:15-18, prayed words that are meaningful:

I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

Do you see what I mean? Live among them but be separated.

Some seem to watch the fashion magazines to fit in! But you know a dairy farmer does not become a cow just because he is a dairy farmer. Separate yourself from the apostate person.

I quote another.

Remembering the condition of Corinthian society, we are not astonished to find such sins as Paul here mentions appearing in the Church. A so-called Christian living in the practice of these or similar iniquities, thereby proves himself to be no Christian at all. There must be no fellowship with such persons, no eating and drinking with them as if they belonged to the Church. They are to be put out of the Christian society. This applies, not only to the judicial act of the Church but also to the conduct of individual members towards offenders. There must be a holy abhorrence of the sin as defiling the body of Christ, and a careful keeping of our garments clean.

The third way is:

BUT EXONERATED FROM THE WORLD

13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Exonerated means “to be free from guilt.” Remember, God is the final Judge. Those outside the church are in His hands. He will judge righteously. And I remind you, there will be no altering or shredding of the records.

Nobody will be able to say, “I beg your pardon, I forgot. I don’t remember what I did.” No. All memory will be clear before the Judge of all the earth. Everyone in the church should live by the TRUTH. The truth is The Holy Bible, and that is unalterable. Let me say that again. Truth is unalterable. It does not change. It is the same forever. Truth is a part of God’s own being.

“Putting away” may become necessary, but never without sorrow. It should not be a gleeful experience when a member of the church needs to be set aside, but it must be sometimes. Let God exonerate you. Barnes in his commentary brings a wonderful truth to us:

The principles on which Christians should regulate their relations with the world, are these:

They are not to be conformed to the world; they are not to do anything that shall countenance the views, feelings, and principles of the world as such, or as distinguished from religion. They are not to do anything that would show that they approve of the peculiar fashions, amusements, opinions of the people of the world; or to leave the im pression that they belong to the world . . .

They are to endeavor so to live and act so to converse, and so to form their plans as to promote the salvation of all others. They are to seek their spiritual welfare and to endeavor by example, and by conversation; by exhortation, and by all the means in their power to bring them to the knowledge of
Christ. For this purpose, they are kept on the earth instead of being removed to heaven, and to this object they should devote their lives.

Let God exonerate you.

Therefore, the answers to my question, “How Then Shall We Live?” are found in I Corinthians 5:9-13.
Here they are again:

But insulated FROM THE WORLD

But separated FROM THE WORLD

But exonerated FROM THE WORLD

By inclusiveness, I mean “no holds barred,” no exclusion. Today the word pluralism probably fits as well as any. I raise a question by the Holy Bible, Is anyone to be excluded from the church, or are all embraced as welcome? We often see on the church bulletin boards, “Everyone Welcome.” Now, what does that mean?

Are there any scriptural standards for membership in the church? How well are churches following those standards?

Some churches advertise their “open door” policy. They say, “You are welcome. Come as you are.”

The church at Corinth adopted the open door idea that Paul addressed in I Corinthians 5:1-8:

1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed,

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

6 Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

To correct the IMPROPER INCLUSIVENESS in the church, the apostle outlines the necessary PROCEDURES every church must follow.

The first procedure is:

1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Paul said it was commonly known, widely broadcast, that in the church at Corinth was an incestuous man who had his father’s wife. Perhaps the Corinthians were lifted up. He said some of you “are puffed up.” Perhaps their motto was ‘We welcome everyone.’

“Fornication” translates the New Testament Greek word for improper sexual conduct. In its noun and verb forms, it is used 31 times in the New Testament, always describing improper sex.

The conduct the Corinthians allowed in their church was not even named among the pagan world, not so much as named among the Gentiles. The world judged the practice wrong. Though pagans were ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, they said such conduct was not right.

The church had this incestuous man among their membership. The conduct was condoned by some. Some even prided themselves with their tolerance, with their inclusiveness, with their pluralism. Instead, they should have been sorry. That man should have been excommunicated. They should have taken him off their membership list.

I am acquainted with some of the churches of West Africa. In one of the churches, the wife of a young pastor died. So he was eager, of course, to find another companion for his ministry. Then indiscreetly he started keeping company with a divorcee. The church leadership acted very quickly. I was informed that they put Elijah on the back seat in the congregation. He could not function as a pastor or even as an accepted member in the church until he corrected himself.

That is what the apostle Paul told the Corinthians they should do. Today the church that wishes to “keep house” is branded as bigoted and intolerant. But the apostle says, “Clean house. Get rid of this repulsive conduct in a member of your church.”

The second procedure is:

3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed,

4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The apostle urges the Corinthians to make a definite decision. He said, “I have made a decision. I have already judged the case, and the man who is guilty of this kind of conduct must be set aside. Take action.” The apostle says, “I have already taken action. So long as this member is in the body, it is being defiled.” Or you might say, It is like the rotten apple in the barrel of apples.

The church, Paul said, is responsible. So you come together, and you take the action that is necessary. You take that remedial action. They should be united in purpose. It was a serious and an urgent matter. The apostle Paul was impressing upon their hearts to do what they knew should be done.

Sometimes we may think of ex-communication as being severe, but the apostle insisted that the action was remedial. It had a restorative function. To restore such a person, it was necessary to separate him from the body of Christ so he would understand the seriousness of his conduct. Thus he would be able to deliver his soul from severe judgment.

Now please also notice that the leadership is responsible. They are called into office. They are expected to deal carefully and fairly with the whole situation.

I grew up on a forty-acre farm near Midland, Michigan. We raised navy beans as a cash crop. After the last cultivation of the beans, it was then up to us to go through the fields and hoe out the weeds. What was not wanted, what was not useful, was chopped out.

Now it seems as though this situation in Corinth was like the weeds in the bean field. The offending party needed to be separated from the body of Christ. So the second procedure was Explain the Remedial Counsel.

The third procedure is:

6 Your glorying [is] not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Delay was detrimental because the longer the church delayed, the worse the situation became. The apostle likened it to leaven. That is yeast. Yeast put in the mixture for bread permeates the entire amount. So he said this would also do that to them. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Do you see that in verse 6? It affects the whole body.

Cleanse the body. Do as the Jews do at the time of their Passover. They search carefully with candlelight to make sure there is no leaven anywhere in their houses. They were instructed to do this when the Passover was established before they left Egypt.

The apostle Paul then tells us that Christ is our Pass over. He has been sacrificed for us, and therefore there should be a cleansing action in the body to get rid of the leaven of sin. He urges us to come clean to the feast.

When we had the prophecy conference in Jerusalem in 1971, we gathered on the Mount of Olives for a communion service early in the morning, under the clear sky of the Middle East. The pastor in charge made a very convincing statement. He said, “This table is for sinners.”

Well, of course, another thought needed to be included there. This table is for sinners that are born again, who have come to the Lord and have had a cleansing experience, those who have been renewed, and those who are not leavened.

The church is a body, you see, and each member is important. No one is an island. We are all connected together like the members of our bodies. Sometimes we hear the statement, “Let the church be the church.” Well, yes, of course. The church is not a club of any kind, a health club, a sports club, an academic club, or even a holy club. The church is not a club! The church is a community of called-out people, not of the world. The church is made up of a separated people.

So I observe from Paul’s comments that there are only two options. Leave the situation as it is and pollute the church, so the whole church will be leavened. Or purge out the leaven, the sinner, and be the body of Christ.

So the third procedure is Experience the Refined Conclusion. Get rid of this incestuous man. Change your mind about inclusiveness. The body of Christ is made up of born-again people.

If Paul were to write a letter to your church, what would he say? With the free and somewhat prideful ways some churches advertise, one might conclude they should hear Paul’s word about Improper Inclusiveness.

I want you to hear now the conclusion of the matter as someone else brings it to our attention:

The inaction and tolerance which were blamable in the congregation were inconsistent with their well-known duty. The Christian church is not a club, whose members are at liberty to receive and reject whomsoever they choose. It is a society in which Christ is the Head and Lord, and is bound to receive those who possess his Spirit and to reject those who openly and unmistakably grieve and outrage that Spirit. The members of the church were termed “the holy,” or “saints;” and although all were and still are in character far short of the designation they bear, there can be no question as to the inconsistency of a life of incest with a Christian profession.

The case called for the stern interference of the apostle, as an authority over the churches. His language was intended to quicken the conscience, to enlighten the judgment, to call forth the action, of those who were very negligent and culpable.

As in Paul’s day, so in our day. Where Improper Inclusiveness occurs, the procedures Paul outlined should be followed. Here they are again:

Churches need to clean house.

Churches need to take action.

Churches need to be exclusive.

Then the Lord will have a pure church, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:27: “That he might present it [referring to the church] to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

No one lives without some sort of discipline. Even the most immoral person lives by a standard. During the sixties, many restraints were cast aside. But those who longed for freedom actually were led into a type of bondage that, so to speak, bound them “hand and foot.” What many failed to understand is that no one is totally free when following the lust and dictates of the flesh, the lower nature. We all have a lower nature.

To break that binding hold, we need a new birth, the kind Jesus spoke of in His meeting with Nicodemus in John 3:5-7:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Receiving that new nature delivers us from the bondage we are born with. It may surprise you to learn how the Bible describes our natural condition. Notice what the apostle Paul said in Romans 3:9-18:

What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Do you now understand how we are bound in our natural state? Without the new birth experience, there is no release or escape. I must press that upon your heart.

Even after being born again, our lives need to be controlled. The old nature keeps manifesting itself in many ways. Again the apostle Paul expresses how we are, in Romans 7:14-19:

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

I admit, friend, that is not a very bright picture. It is not a very healthy-looking picture. But beyond all doubt, it is clearly evident to us that we need help. Our lives need to be disciplined. I stated earlier that everyone lives by some sort of discipline. I am told that even the Mafia, hardened criminals, has guidelines for living. It has certain rules it rigidly enforces. Of course, we cannot look to the Mafia for ideals except to point out that even the lowest of men have a system of discipline for life.

Discipline may be from without, as, for example, the laws of our communities, states, and nation. But discipline may also come from within. We call that self-discipline or self-control. Yet self-discipline requires standards or guidelines. The apostle Paul sets forth some guidelines for PROPER DISCIPLINE in I Corinthians 4:16-21:

16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

From Paul’s words, I discern several essential GUIDELINES we should follow to have Proper Discipline in life.

The first guideline is:

16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.

Paul’s confident instruction was “Follow me.” He said, “Be ye followers of me.” In I Corinthians 11:1 he said, “Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ.”

No doubt we all have someone we look up to. We often ask children when they are small, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They have certain ideals. We do, too. We have certain ideals we would like to follow. So be sure you have a worthy model, someone you can look up to.

The father of a friend of mine told me that when the lad was just a tiny boy, he said, “I am going to be a missionary doctor.” You know what? He was. He spent a number of years in Ethiopia as a medical missionary, serving the native people. What do you want to be when you grow up? Or what do you want to be now?

The apostle Paul then speaks of a consecrated disciple named Timothy. He was just a young man when Paul first met him. One of the towns Paul visited on his second missionary journey was Derbe. There he found a devout young man, who was single. His mother was a Jewess, his father a Greek. So Paul went through the ceremony of having the youth circumcised because of the Jews and then took the devout young man along. In fact, Paul said, “Nobody cares for your soul like Timothy does” (see Philippians 2:19-21). And Paul could recommend him. He could say, “I sent unto you Timotheus, . . . who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.”

Timothy served Paul with care, and Paul could recommend him as a dedicated servant. That is a wonderful testimony, a wonderful relationship that Paul and Timothy enjoyed.

Then we should look at Paul’s consistent teaching. Some may have fashioned their teaching according to the wishes of the audience. But not Paul!

I remember early in my radio ministry when a friend of mine asked me, “Who is your target audience?” And I said, “I don’t know. I believe if I am faithful in expounding the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will define the audience because I will teach the same thing everywhere.”

In the summer of 1995, we attended a church convention. We had a short presentation of our ministry, just nine minutes long. A friend of mine sat down to see it. At the end, because we broadcast to three-fourths of the world in six languages, he asked me, “What adaptations do you make.” Do you know what I told him? I said, “None. The message goes out the same all over the world.”

You see, the basic human problem is the same all over the world, and therefore I believe the basic message must be the same all over the world.

See what Barnes wrote in his notes on I Corinthians:

This was designed probably to show them that he taught them no new or peculiar doctrines; he wished them simply to conform to the common rules of the churches and to be like their Christian brethren everywhere. The Christian church is founded everywhere on the same doctrines; is bound to obey the same laws; and is fitted to produce and cherish the same spirit. The same spirit that was required in Ephesus or Antioch was required at Corinth; the same spirit that was required at Corinth, at Ephesus, or at Antioch, is required now.

That is exactly what I was telling you. The basic human problem is the same, and therefore the basic message must be the same.

The second guideline is:

18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

The apostle was committed to come to Corinth. However, there were some he called “puffed up.” That means to be proud like the frog who tried to be as big as the ox. She puffed herself up and puffed herself up until she burst. Proud. Dominating the congregation. These people took charge, usurped authority, and were puffed up.

The apostle was concerned about the Corinthian believers’ welfare. He said, “I will come.” Apparently, they thought they were cutting the slough big enough, you might say, that the apostle Paul would be afraid to come, wouldn’t want to come and be humiliated. But in essence, he said, “I will come according to the will of the Lord. I will come.”

The apostle Paul lived very close with the Lord. He lived in close touch with the Lord. The apostle said he would come as a confrontation to test reality, to see whether the speech compared with the power. That word power is significant. It is the same word Jesus used when He told the disciples they would receive power after the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8). It is a dynamic power, a power that can overcome the forces of evil.

Sometimes novices take control to the ruin of the church. I believe that is what the apostle Paul was aiming at. They learned the language but lacked the anointing of the Spirit.

They are like those seven sons of Sceva. Those sons of a Jewish priest thought they had the language, so they attempted to perform a miracle, an exorcist miracle of a demon-possessed person The report is given in Acts 19:11-16:

And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Paul said, “I will learn not only your speech but your power.” Power is the essential factor, you know. Flowery speech may tickle the intellect but leaves the heart unmoved. So the second guideline is Have A Working Ministry anointed by the power of God.

The third guideline is:

20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

Consider the difference. The apostle says in verse 20 that the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. There again is a difference between words and power. The kingdom of God is by the power of God, not by the words of men. Consider the difference.

When I was studying in Greece a number of years ago, I had the opportunity of going to Mount Athos, the holy mountain of the Orthodox Church. My friend and I spent the night in a monastery. We were there with a Frenchman and a German as well. The monk prepared supper for us, and as we sat down to eat, He offered us each a glass of wine. I don’t drink wine, so I refused as graciously as I could. Then after dinner, he reached into his inside pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and passed them around, and again I declined. I don’t smoke. He said, “What kind of a man is this? He doesn’t drink wine and he doesn’t smoke.”

Yes, I had disciplined myself. I would like now to share with you some words from Canon Liddon, from perhaps a hundred years ago. He had so much to say to us about this very passage in which we have been considering the guidelines for discipline:

Picture to yourselves a teacher who is not merely under the official obligation to say something, but who is morally convinced that he has something to say. Imagine one who believes alike in the truth of his message, and in the reality of his mission to deliver it. Let his message combine those moral contrasts which give permanency and true force to a doctrine, and which the gospel only has combined in their perfection. Let this teacher be tender, yet searching; let him win the hearts of men by his kindly humanity, while he probes, ay, to the quick, their moral sores. Let him be uniformly calm, yet manifestly moved by the fire of repressed passion. Let him be stern yet not unloving, and resolute without sacrificing the elasticity of his sympathy, and genial without condescending to be the weakly accomplice of moral mischief. Let him pursue and expose the latent evil of the human heart, through all the mazes of its unrivaled deceitfulness, without sullying his own purity, and without forfeiting his strong belief in the present capacity of every human being for goodness. Let him know “what is in man,” and yet, with this knowledge clearly before him, let him not only not despair of humanity, but respect it, nay, love it even enthusiastically. Above all, let this teacher be perfectly independent. Let him be independent of the voice of the multitude; independent of the enthusiasm and promptings of his disciples; independent even when face to face with the bitter criticism and scorn of his antagonists; independent of all save God and his conscience. In a word, conceive a case in which moral authority and moral beauty combine to elicit a simultaneous tribute of reverence and of love. Clearly, such a teacher must be a moral power.

Yes, my friend, we need proper discipline regardless of our area or mode of life. Discipline is highly important. I believe we can now more clearly see which discipline is necessary and what it is. To reach the high calling of proper discipline, we must follow Paul’s guidelines as I pointed them out to you.

Here they are again:

Ultimately follow Christ.

Give deference to seasoned leaders. Listen to them.

Saturate it with love and meekness!

Unredeemed human nature has not improved over the centuries. Even within the body of Christ, unredeemed human nature appears and causes dissensions, sometimes even divisions. It was so in the early days of the church, and the apostle Paul wrestled with it. From his day to this, some in the so-called cause for purity have stirred up the church.

Of course, when truth is threatened, it is required that “men of the cloth” stand for truth. In chapter 11 we referred to I Corinthians 4:2, which reads, “Moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Jude, when writing his letter, warned his readers with these words in verse 3: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

Jude’s further warning identified his deep concern: “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 4).

Jude urged his readers to be earnest contenders for the once delivered faith. There is, however, a marked contrast between earnestly contending and being contentious. To contend may imply rivalry rather than animosity. In other words, he’s referring to the use of argument rather than physical combat. It means to stand firm with purpose and gentleness. But contentiousness carries the meaning of being hostile with a warlike temper, a wearisome persistence in dispute with an inability or unwillingness to consider any other viewpoint in the argument.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, I detect that a contentious spirit had arisen in the church, so much so that he felt compelled to attempt correction by some clear-cut admonition. His comments are found in I Corinthians 4:10-15:

10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised.

11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;

12 And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, [and are] the offscouring of all things unto this day.

14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Follow me as we go through the several LEVELS of Paul’s well-crafted admonitions.

The first level is:

10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised.

Paul uses the word we, but his use is not the editorial we, the niceties of the journalistic world. He referred to himself, Apollos, and Peter before, so I believe the “we” includes them. They were the leaders in the congregation.

Paul used biting irony. All knew the apostles were not fools. Yet he said, “We are fools for Christ’s sake.” The word fool is a very graphic word. We use it in English to refer to a person who has difficulty in his mind. We call him a moron. The Bible meaning is “without learning, empty-headed, stupid.” Essentially, the apostle Paul said, “We are stupid for Christ’s sake. You are wise you have it all together! You know what the answers are before the questions are asked.”

Then Paul goes on to say, “We are weak. We have no backbone. We yield when the opposition comes. We are unable to stand, but you are strong.” The word strong used here means “men of great influence, rank, and authority.” You are honorable, which means “highly esteemed.” Whenever you come into the room, everyone gets quiet. You are highly esteemed. We are despised, without honor, base, Paul says.

Now, look at the text. Paul says you are wise, strong, and honorable. We are stupid, weak, and despised. I met a preacher one time who was having some difficulty in his congregation, and he said to me, “I don’t mind if people walk all over me, just so they don’t drag their feet.” The apostle Paul was having some difficulty with the church at Corinth. His first level of discussion had to do with the contradictory comparisons.

I want you to listen to Barnes’s notes on I Corinthians:

The whole design of this irony is to show the folly of their boasted wisdom. That they only should be wise and prudent, and the apostles fools, was in the highest degree absurd; and this absurdity the apostle puts in a strong light by his irony. We are weak. We are timid and feeble, but you are daring, bold, and fearless. This is irony. The very reverse was probably true. Paul was bold, daring, and fearless in declaring the truth, whatever opposition it might encounter; and probably many of them were timid and time-serving, and endeavoring to avoid persecution, and to accommodate themselves to the prejudices and opinions of those who were wise in their own sight; the prejudices and opinions of the world.

So then, level one is the lowest. It is The Contradictory Comparisons.

The second level is:

11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place;

12 And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, [and are] the offscouring of all things unto this day.

First, the apostle Paul takes up the physical. He says we are hungry, thirsty, and naked. Hunger, thirst, and nakedness are needs of the body. His term naked suggests that his clothing was in tatters. He had no adequate wardrobe. He did the best he could, but it was in no way adequate. He says we are “buffeted.” That means “to strike with the fist or the open hand.” The soldiers did this to Jesus just before His crucifixion. They buffeted Him. They struck Him with the open hand, in that culture the highest insult.

Then Paul said he had no fixed residence. He had “no certain dwelling place.” Again, that is like Jesus, who said, “The Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). No fixed residence. We are often quite concerned when we have no sure place to live. So Paul speaks about The Contrary Conditions of his physical condition.

Then there is the work condition. Paul said he labors, working with his own hands. He was a tentmaker. He could take his trade with him. It was not a lofty trade. I understand from what I have read that it was a rather disdainful, distressful work. He worked with camel’s hair or goat’s hair that had been spun to make tent cloth. It was an occupation, though, and a necessary one. So this was his work condition. He labored with his own hands. He was what we call a tent-making missionary.

Then there was the community condition. Paul said, “Being reviled, we bless.” Reviled means “to heap verbal abuse upon.” But he said, “we bless.” That reminds me of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:11-12 and 44:

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Then verse 44:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Does it not appear that the apostle Paul was following the teaching of Jesus? And then Paul said, “We are persecuted and we suffer.” I am reminded of the words in Hebrews 11:37: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented.” Persecuted, reviled.

Then Paul added, “defamed.” This means “to speak ill about, to say all kinds of mean words.” He said, “Being defamed, we entreat.” The word entreat is interesting because in modern Greek it is used to say “Please.” Parakaleo is used in the New Testament for the word “prayer” or “pray” and means “to beseech, to entreat.”

And finally, in this level of his argument, Paul speaks about how the apostles “are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” The filth of the world, the unwanted, the offscouring that is thrown away.

Was Paul in a state of depression? It sure sounds like it. He aimed to correct the Corinthian believers’ ill concept of themselves and their leaders.

Barnes has some insightful words for us:

We may add here, what a sublime spectacle was here; and what a glorious triumph of the truth. Here was Paul with an impediment in his speech; with a personage small and mean rather than graceful, and in a mean and tattered dress; and often in chains, yet delivering truth before which kings trembled, and which produced everywhere a deep impression on the human mind. Such was the power of the gospel then! And such triumph did the truth then have over men. . . . No fixed or permanent home. They wandered to distant lands; threw themselves on the hospitality of strangers, and even of the enemies of the gospel; when driven from one place they went to another; and thus they led a wandering, uncertain life, amidst strangers and foes. They who know what are the comforts of home; who are surrounded by beloved families; who have a peaceful and happy fireside; and who enjoy the blessings of domestic tranquility, may not be able to appreciate the trials to which the apostles were subjected. All this was for the sake of the gospel; all to purchase the blessings which we so richly enjoy.

So then, friend, the second level of Paul’s argument is The Contrary Conditions. We are on an ascending scale.

The third level is:

14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Immediately we sense a change in tone because the apostle says, “I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.” The reality is I am not aiming to put you down. I don’t want to make you feel bad, but I want to admonish you. I want to warn you. The word warn can well be translated “admonish,” which means “to correct.” I want to correct your train of thought. I want you to understand better how it is and what to do.

Another said:

No man, no minister, ought to reprove another merely to overwhelm him with shame, but the object should always be to make a brother better; and the admonition should be so administered as to have this end, not sourly or morosely, but in a kind, tender, and affectionate manner.

Rebuke can be more easily taken when it is administered with this tone. Then the apostle goes on to say, “Ye have ten thousand instructors.” The Greek literally is “myriads of instructors.” Paul adds that they have “not many fathers.” He claims his right as their spiritual father.

After Paul had spoken to the elite on Mars Hill, he came to Corinth. Now Corinth was not like Athens. Athens was the elite town, the town of the philosophers. Corinth was not. Paul came and established the church there. So he claims rightfully to be their father, “for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” His fatherhood was in Jesus Christ. What a marvelous man this apostle Paul was! And he helps us greatly to understand where we are. Listen again to Barnes:

(1.) He (Paul) had every prospect of honor and of wealth in his own country. He had been liberally educated and had the confidence of his countrymen. He might have risen to the highest station of trust or influence. He had talents that would have raised him to distinction anywhere (2.) He could not have been mistaken in regard to the events connected with his conversion; Acts ix. The scene, the voice, the light, and the blindness, were all things that could not have been counterfeited. They were open and public. They did not occur “in a corner.” (3.) He had no earthly motive to change his course. Christianity was despised when he embraced it; its friends were few and poor, and it had no prospect of spreading through the world. It conferred no wealth; bestowed no diadem; imparted no honors; gave no ease; conducted to no friendship of the great and the mighty. It subjected its friends to persecution, tears, trials, and death. What should induce such a man to make such a change? Why should Paul have embraced this, but from a conviction of its truth? How could he be convinced of that truth except by some argument that should be so strong as to overcome his hatred to it, make him willing to renounce all his prospects for it; to encounter all that the world could heap upon him, and even death itself, rather than deny it? But such a religion had a higher than any earthly origin and must have been from God.

Oh yes, my friend. So then the third level of Paul’s argument is The Congenial Confirmation.

It is highly essential that members of the church respect their leaders, especially those who walk in truth and teach the truth. Let me review those levels of Paul’s comments as to how to achieve that respect.

Avoid them

Evade them

Accept them

Some years ago, there appeared a new twist to understanding the conversation Jesus had with a man of the law. The account is recorded in Mark 12:28-33:

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them, reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou has said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other than he, And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

The twist came in loving neighbor as self. We were told by those who promoted it that you cannot love your neighbor until you love yourself. So you must love yourself. You must pamper yourself. You must do something nice for yourself. That way you will have a basis for doing something nice for your neighbor. You can love your neighbor if you love yourself.

Now I believe that is self-esteem gone to seed. What a harvest it yields because people become selfish! Every seed yields a hundredfold.

Solomon, the wise man of the Old Testament, in Proverbs 16:18-19 gives us further good counsel. He says:

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

Therefore, I wish to help you in your self-esteem. The apostle Paul spoke to this point in Romans 12:3:

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, accord ing as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

So self-esteem is proper if it is properly understood. Therefore let’s consider the subject of CORRECTED SELF-ESTEEM as it is found in I Corinthians 4:6-9:

6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

To experience a Corrected Self-Esteem, we must give careful attention to the several CONDITIONS of community life in the body of Christ.

The first condition to be corrected is:

6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and [to] Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

A multiple ministry provides the setting for stratification. People grade the preachers. The apostle Paul said I have transferred this to myself and Apollos. We understand that the multiple ministry can create the setting for unnatural stratification.

I am reminded of what happened one time when Jesus and the disciples were walking along the way and the disciples were having a rather warm discussion among themselves. When they arrived, Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about along the way?” (see Mark 9:34). He discovered they were talking about who would be the greatest. You see, this is stratification. It has always been a human temptation to see who can be on top or where to place those various individuals.

However, the apostle goes on to explain to us that there are different roles. Not everybody is made alike. We are all human beings, but we are not alike. Each one has his or her particular role or place in the body of Christ. The apostle raises a number of questions in verse 7: “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why doest thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”

Do you see? We are not all the same. When it comes to my own abilities, I am not an artist. Oh, I can see things in my mind, but when I try to sketch them on paper, nothing comes out the way I see it. I have a friend, however, who, when I talk to him about what I see, can make a few marks on the paper, and very soon he has something that looks like what I saw in my mind. So we are not the same. That is a very common illustration, but it is true. And the apostle says we are not all alike.

Today there is great emphasis on gifts in the church. Try to discern what is your gift. I know and have witnessed this already where people are trying to function in an area they are not fitted for, that simply was not their, like we say, cup of tea. They could not do the job well because they were not qualified for it. I am talking about unnatural stratification.

So what we need to do is to be more careful about this. It needs to be corrected. Barnes, in his notes on the New Testament has some very good words for us:

This passage states a general doctrine, that the reason why one man differs from another is to be traced to God; and that this fact should repress all boasting and glorying, and produce true humility in the minds of Christians. It may be observed, however, that it is as true of intellectual rank, of health, of wealth, of food, of raiment, of liberty, of peace, as it is of religion, that all come from God; and as this fact which is so obvious and well known, does not repress the exertions of men to preserve their health and to obtain property, so it should not repress their exertions to obtain salvation. God governs the world on the same good principles everywhere; and the fact that he is the source of all blessings, should not operate to discourage, but should prompt to human effort. The hope of his aid and blessing is the only ground of encouragement in any undertaking.

So, the first condition to be corrected is the Unnatural Stratification.

The second condition to be corrected is:

8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

Verse 8 contains probably the strongest irony of any place in the Bible. The apostle comes across this with great emphasis. “Ye are full.” That means fully satisfied. The image is the physical. You have eaten until you are perfectly satisfied. The perfect tense, in this case, is “have need of nothing.”

You are full and you are rich. Now the tense is changing there and carries the thought of becoming rich. You have a desire, you have a thrust, you have a passion to become rich, wealthy. That is financial. First, it was physical; now it is financial.

One is reminded of the “wealth” doctrine of some preachers. I heard one say, “Jesus wants you to be rich. He had a treasurer following Him around. Wouldn’t you like to have a treasurer following you around?”

But Jesus said He had no place to lay His head. Paul says, “You are rich. You seem to have need of nothing.”

And the third thing Paul says is, “You have reigned as kings.” Now, this is political. You see we have the physical, financial, and political.

Years ago the king of one country said, “I am the State!” That is total authority. That is what monarchy is, total authority invested in one person. Well, those Corinthians found their satisfaction in the earthly and temporal realm. That is where self-esteem needs correction.

Paul’s wish was impossible to fulfill. He said, in the last clause of verse 8, “and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.” There is no self-appointment possible in God’s service.

One time a mother came to Jesus and wanted Him to grant her request. He said, “What is it that you would like to have?” And she said, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left, in thy kingdom” (Matthew 20:21). Self-appointment, you see. But that is not possible in the service of God. We should be satisfied only with the insatiable desire to be all the Lord has in mind for us.

Again I would like you to hear what Barnes says in his notes on this text:

The first metaphor is taken from persons filled with food; the second from those who are so rich that they do not feel their want for more; the third from those who are raised to a throne, the highest elevation, where there was nothing further to be reached or desired. And the phrase means, that they had been fully satisfied with their condition and attainments, with their knowledge and power, that they lived like rich men and princes reveling, as it were, on spiritual enjoyments, and disdaining all foreign influence, and instruction, and control.

So the second condition of self-esteem to be corrected is Unsuitable Satisfaction.

The third condition to be corrected is:

9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

Here the apostle Paul takes a very humble position and says, “God’s order seems to be that apostles should be last or least.”

Persons in responsible places are most vulnerable. They are the ones to be shot at. They are not the last, as in, being behind. They are out front. They lead the way. And because they are in the battle with the enemy, they can be, as the apostle says, “appointed to death.”

I learned in my exposure to Israel that the Israeli army demands that their captains lead into battle. They are out front. That is why so often in their wars their finest men have been killed because they were leading into battle.

It seems to me this may be what the apostle Paul is suggesting in verse 9. The apostles were “appointed to death” because they were leading into the battle.

Then Paul said the apostles “are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” It seems he must have in his mind the actor on the stage of life in a coliseum. There the actors were on the stage in mortal combat, depending on how the emperor turned his thumbs whether or not the bleeding gladiator would be killed or spared. If it was thumbs up, he was spared. If it was thumbs down, his opponent killed him.

A spectacle. Cosmic forces, the spirit world, and human audiences gaze upon those in subordination. Out of subordination arises great affirmation.

The apostle Paul had an experience he spoke of. He said he was greatly distressed. Three times he sought the Lord to remove the condition from him. Then he got word from the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for thee, because my strength is made perfect in weakness” (II Corinthians 12:9).

Therefore the third condition of self-esteem to be corrected is Unsparing Subordination.

Anonymously, somebody said it so well: “Humility is not talking yourself down, it is putting God in His rightful place.” Yes, Amen.

Again, let us hear a brief comment from Barnes:

The theater or amphitheater of the ancients was composed of an arena, or level floor, on which the combatants fought, and which was surrounded by circular seats rising above one another to a great height, and capable of containing many thousand spectators. Paul represents himself as on this arena, or stage, contending with foes, and destined to death. Around him and above him are an immense host of men and angels looking on at the conflict, and awaiting the issue. He is not alone or unobserved. He is made public, and the universe gazes on the struggle.

Yes, the third condition of self-esteem to be corrected is Unsparing Subordination.

So, my friend, self-esteem tempered with love for God is a mighty force. However, today as in Paul’s day these conditions need correction.

Gradation by the flesh

Living in the desires of the flesh

Concentration only to please God.