One Lord
1 Corinthians 1:2-3
I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
One thing must be clear to every believer, that the one you serve and are loyal to is the Heavenly Father. The only person who reveals Him is His Son Jesus the Christ He said He and His Father are one. Thus, if I glorify Christ I glorify the Heavenly Father.
For even the Spirit of God that breeds life is also the Spirit of the Heavenly Father and the Spirit of His Son.
So believers do be careful not to place your spiritual leaders, teachers or other ministers in this position. Now in the following verses instead of the names there put the name of your Pope, General Overseer, Prophet, Pastor, Apostle etc:
1 Corinthians 1:11-13
For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters.
Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”
Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!
We must be careful, the fact that we have denominations does not make us have different Lord's. See when you read the letter of Christ to the churches in the book of Revelations, you see that they were not all perfect, they had things to be commended for while still things to be corrected.
No man has a church (now for those who use their names as name of churches. . . hmm). There is only one church and it is not the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Apostolic etc, neither is it "Church of Christ" as in a titled church. The only church is the bride of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:19
But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”
Ephesians 4:4-7
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
See what truth this pandemic has revealed, we speak to correct these errors, where men's traditions or sentiment is brought into true worship. We see that some of the practices are corrected, example is confession of sins to man, reverence of holy places and sites etc.
Thus man can never take God's place in the life of the believer.
So Paul says:
1 Corinthians 1:14-15,17
I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.
For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
We must understand who we really serve, it will even help us to stay focused and be of help even to our spiritual leaders.
Learn something from the old testament scriptures.
Joseph served Potiphar, yet he knew who the real boss was:
Genesis 39:9
[There is] none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou [art] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Look at Daniel, he was also a captive, to serve in Nebuchadnezzar palace, he knew who the real boss was.
Daniel 1:8
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
There are other examples in scriptures of people who knew who the real boss was.
Now the above examples are illustration, we must understand this:
Isaiah 42:8
“I am the lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.
And glory to God the truth is no longer hid from anyone, the word of God is available for all to read and know the truth.
Understand what happens to the believer at the new birth:
1 Corinthians 1:6-9
This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.
Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Your partnership is with Christ Jesus. So as you serve, led by that spiritual leader, understand that it is Christ whom you serve. Work in that light, don't put your leaders in a fix, help. Pray for them, do your part diligently, don't frustrate, for you are there because you also heard the call. Selah
If we understand this then we can:
1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
Let me end with this hymn by E. H. Plumptre (1864)
1 Your hand, O God, has guided
your flock from age to age;
your faithfulness is written
on history's open page.
Our fathers owned your goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both to this bear witness:
one church, one faith, one Lord!
2 Your heralds brought the gospel
to greatest and the least;
they summoned men and women
to share the great King's feast.
And this was all their teaching
in ev'ry deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming:
one church, one faith, one Lord!
3 Your mercy will not fail us
nor leave your work undone;
with your right hand to help us
the vict'ry shall be won.
And then by earth and heaven
your name shall be adored;
and this shall be our anthem:
one church, one faith, one Lord!
Glory to God.
He calls us blessed.
Love
@the watcher.
I am writing to God’s church in Corinth, to you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
One thing must be clear to every believer, that the one you serve and are loyal to is the Heavenly Father. The only person who reveals Him is His Son Jesus the Christ He said He and His Father are one. Thus, if I glorify Christ I glorify the Heavenly Father.
For even the Spirit of God that breeds life is also the Spirit of the Heavenly Father and the Spirit of His Son.
So believers do be careful not to place your spiritual leaders, teachers or other ministers in this position. Now in the following verses instead of the names there put the name of your Pope, General Overseer, Prophet, Pastor, Apostle etc:
1 Corinthians 1:11-13
For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters.
Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”
Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not!
We must be careful, the fact that we have denominations does not make us have different Lord's. See when you read the letter of Christ to the churches in the book of Revelations, you see that they were not all perfect, they had things to be commended for while still things to be corrected.
No man has a church (now for those who use their names as name of churches. . . hmm). There is only one church and it is not the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Apostolic etc, neither is it "Church of Christ" as in a titled church. The only church is the bride of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:19
But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.”
Ephesians 4:4-7
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all,
who is over all, in all, and living through all.
However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.
See what truth this pandemic has revealed, we speak to correct these errors, where men's traditions or sentiment is brought into true worship. We see that some of the practices are corrected, example is confession of sins to man, reverence of holy places and sites etc.
Thus man can never take God's place in the life of the believer.
So Paul says:
1 Corinthians 1:14-15,17
I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name.
For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
We must understand who we really serve, it will even help us to stay focused and be of help even to our spiritual leaders.
Learn something from the old testament scriptures.
Joseph served Potiphar, yet he knew who the real boss was:
Genesis 39:9
[There is] none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou [art] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Look at Daniel, he was also a captive, to serve in Nebuchadnezzar palace, he knew who the real boss was.
Daniel 1:8
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
There are other examples in scriptures of people who knew who the real boss was.
Now the above examples are illustration, we must understand this:
Isaiah 42:8
“I am the lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.
And glory to God the truth is no longer hid from anyone, the word of God is available for all to read and know the truth.
Understand what happens to the believer at the new birth:
1 Corinthians 1:6-9
This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true.
Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Your partnership is with Christ Jesus. So as you serve, led by that spiritual leader, understand that it is Christ whom you serve. Work in that light, don't put your leaders in a fix, help. Pray for them, do your part diligently, don't frustrate, for you are there because you also heard the call. Selah
If we understand this then we can:
1 Corinthians 1:10
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
Let me end with this hymn by E. H. Plumptre (1864)
1 Your hand, O God, has guided
your flock from age to age;
your faithfulness is written
on history's open page.
Our fathers owned your goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both to this bear witness:
one church, one faith, one Lord!
2 Your heralds brought the gospel
to greatest and the least;
they summoned men and women
to share the great King's feast.
And this was all their teaching
in ev'ry deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming:
one church, one faith, one Lord!
3 Your mercy will not fail us
nor leave your work undone;
with your right hand to help us
the vict'ry shall be won.
And then by earth and heaven
your name shall be adored;
and this shall be our anthem:
one church, one faith, one Lord!
Glory to God.
He calls us blessed.
Love
@the watcher.
Comments
Post a Comment