Power, Not Talk!! 1 Corinthians 3-4

 Power, Not Talk!

1 Corinthians 4:17-20 (ESV)

17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

The context of a Biblical passage is paramount to understand the authors purpose and/or intent.   The above verse, taken in context, is Paul’s response to leadership in the church at Corinth who are promoting themselves.   These leaders are self promoting and self-serving.   In chapter three we read about them soliciting a specific following of certain members.   Their self-serving attitude was to promote themselves above the Gospel and, certainly, beyond Paul’s influence.   Paul is sending this letter to correct several mis-steps in faith the have caused the Corinthian believers to “act as mere humans:”

1 Corinthians 3:3-4 (ESV)

3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

Paul wants these believers to live at a different level.  He is encouraging them to realize that the Gospel has changed how they live.  He is imploring them to leave the confines of this bad leadership and live out load for Christ.   He has sent Timothy to influence them to change their walk.    In the above passage he tells them that they are partakers of the divine nature and members of the Kingdom.  That Kingdom is characterized by “power.”   These leaders were all talk. Paul is telling the church that he is coming to them and will be glad to discover the source of the power.   The word for “power” in these verses is the Greek word that we derive our English word, “dynamite.”   Paul is telling them that his source of dynamite is the Gospel.  Note:

Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul is confident about his power.   He is bold. He is part of the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God has the very power of Christ at its core.   Christians are not mere words.  We are filled with the power of God through the Spirit by being in Christ.   The entire power of the Trinity dwells within us.  

Man Plots Evil and Works God’s Plan Instead - Matthew 26-28

 Man Plots Evil and Works God’s Plan Instead.

Matthew 26:1-5 (ESV)

1 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”

3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 4 and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.” 

You cannot read these four verses without noticing the soverign concert between 26:1,2 and 26:3,4.  In the first two verses we have God’s plan laid out by Jesus to His disciples.   He states, “We must go to Jerusalem because in two days I am gong to be “delivered” up to be crucified.    In verses three and four we read that at the same time the chief priests and high priest were “plotting” their evil deed to crucify Jesus.   Verses three and four are the fulfillment of verses one and two.   Man, in his evil attempt to destroy God, rather, fulfills God’s plan.   

God uses the evilness of Satan and mankind to accomplish His tasks and plans, often through those He chooses to work His plan.   Here are some examples where this happens in Scripture: 

1. We can read Job 1-2 to see how God uses Satan’s evil desire to destroy Job and God uses it to reveal Job’s righteousness, instead.  We can also see how Satan used the evilness of mankind to inflict pain on Job. 

2.  We can read where God used the evilness in the hearts of Joseph’s brothers to put Joesph where he needed to be.  (Genesis 50:20).   God uses Potipher’s wife’s evil desires for lust to move Joseph to a prison just in time for him to network with Pharaoh’s servants.  

3.  We can see how God used the evilness of Laban to make Jacob (Israel) rich and powerful.   From Laban’s trickery God produced twelve tribes.   

God uses the evilness of mankind to move us where He wants us.   Mankind may plot, but God directs:

Proverbs 16:9 (ESV)

9 The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes his steps.

God’s Righteousness Will Not be Dismayed!! Isaiah 51-55

 God’s Righteousness Will Not be Dismayed!!

Isaiah 51:4-6 (ESV)

4 “Give attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

for a law will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

5 My righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

the coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

for the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;

but my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

Toward the end of the prophet’s book, Isaiah comes to the most wonderful words of the prophecy in chapters 51-55.   God is promising the remnant of Israel that through the Messiah God will give them peace and righteousness.   The above passage outlines the core of that message.   He tells them the following:

1. His righteousness will be “light to the peoples” (v. 4).   He is telling that through their Messiah the world will be blessed.  That is you and me.   

2.  His righteousness brings hope for those who wait for it and seek it (v. 5). God is providing His righteousness all the way to the “coastlands.”  He brings hope to all who wait for it. 

3. His righteousness will never be destroyed, diminished or dismayed (v. 6).  Although all the elements of the world will vanish, the righteousness of God is permanent.   The word dismayed could be translated “to break down.”   God’s righteousness will never crack, fade, wane, slight or shrink once it is provided through the Messiah to those of faith.   

God’s salvation and righteousness comes from Him by His acts of sacrifice through Christ’s death.   It is entirely of Him and that is why we have great assurance of faith that our salvation is secure.  

The Sage vs Reality - Job 20-21

The Sage Advice Should Match Reality 

 Job 21:27-30 (ESV)

27 “Behold, I know your thoughts

and your schemes to wrong me.

28 For you say, ‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is the tent in which the wicked lived?’

29 Have you not asked those who travel the roads,

and do you not accept their testimony

30 that the evil man is spared in the day of calamity,

that he is rescued in the day of wrath?

To understand the above verses taken from chapter 21 of Job, we should really know what Job is responding to out of chapter 20.   Zophar, one of Job’s three friends, gives his second and final speech to Job.   Zophar is no longer in the mode of “comforting” Job (that was the three friends original plan upon on traveling together to meet Job).   Zophar, in chapter 20, has simply turned to what he knows, his own bias experience.  He sees Job’s pain and suffering through the framework that only the wicked suffer this way. He has no room in his mind for suffering for those who are innocent (as Job clearly is as stated in chapters one and two). 

In response to Zophar, Job starts to challenge him and his two other friends.   Job tells them, “I know your thoughts.”   He then uses sarcasm to say to them, in essence, if you were listening to the people on the street you would know that the wicked do prosper.   Zophar refused to see the obvious of reality.  Chapter 21 is Job telling them all that the wicked DO prosper.  So, their arguments about Job suffering because he is wicked does not past the test of reality. 

Zophar and his friends are the classic Sage who thinks they know things. Note how Zophar started his speech:

Job 20:2-4 (ESV)

2 “Therefore my thoughts answer me,

because of my haste within me.

3 I hear censure that insults me,

and out of my understanding a spirit answers me.

4 Do you not know this from of old,

since man was placed on earth,

Zophar has “aged” wisdom.  Yet, he is stuck in his own bias as he can’t see the reality around him.  Again, he has NO context for the suffering of the innocent.    His “wisdom” does not meet the reality of life.” Such is the wisdom of the world.  

God Hear! We Have Access to God - Psalms 27-29

 God Hears. We have Access to God!

Psalms 28:1-2 (ESV)

1 To you, O LORD, I call;

my rock, be not deaf to me,

lest, if you be silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

toward your most holy sanctuary.

Psalms 28:6 (ESV)

6 Blessed be the LORD!

For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

In the above verses we have the song of King David crying out to God to hear him when he prays.   His fear is that he will be like those who go down to the pit.  This is a word picture for the wicked who cannot approach God.  David is speaking about entering the “holy sanctuary.”  This is the Temple.   Remember, under Jewish ceremonial law, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies.   He could only do that once per year.   God, through that system, set up a shadow of what the reality would be. Note what the writer of Hebrews states:

Hebrews 10:11-12 (ESV)

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

The shadowy ceremonial law could not take away sins.  It could only cover sins, once per year.   What David is seeking in the above verse is access to God.  That is what our Hebrews 10:12 passage states.  After Christ’s sacrifice, we can now approach God.  Hebrews goes on to say:

Hebrews 10:19-21 (ESV)

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

This is what David is writing about in this psalm.  He is writing about having access to God, through faith in a better sacrifice.   Toward the end of the verse he rejoices that God has “heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.”   David looked forward to Christ’s sacrifice in faith, as we look back on Christ’s sacrifice in faith.   God hears through the sacrifice of His Son, who gives us access to Christ.  

Mindful Constraints - Ruth

 Ruth 1:11-14 (ESV)

11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.

Mindful Constraints

Naomi is in a bad spot.   She has lost her husband and her two sons to a famine.  Her husband, Elimelech, took Naomi and their two sons to Moab during a famine that had impacted all of the land of Judah.   While in Moab, Elimelech and his two sons die.  But, not before the two sons take on two wives: Orpah and Ruth.    

Naomi, after the deaths, decides to return to Judah and tells the two widows to leave her and return to their people. This is where we pick up the above story.   Naomi has lost everything.   She is caught in a thinking pattern that is about to hold her back.   She is hindered by both a cognitive anchor and an assumed constraint.  

A cognitive anchor is when we believe something can only be right when it looks a certain way.   A cognitive anchor is where we “think” we should go or how it should look when we get there.   Naomi tells Ruth and Orpah that she has no plans to have another baby that they can marry.  In those days that would be the normal way to solve the problem.   She states, “I am too old to have a husband.” She is locked in the thought of “what it should look like” based upon past ways to solve problems.   She is forgetting the story of Sarah and Abraham, who gave birth in old age.   But, she could only see one solution.  Yet, God had another plan. 

She also was caught in a mindset of an assumed constraint.   An assumed constraint is a false narrative we create in our heads that prevents us from getting where we ought to be.   We might say we create assumed constraints that prevent us from reaching our cognitive anchors.   In this case, she “assumed” the girls would want to “refrain” from marriage, unless Naomi gave brith to a son.   As a result of these negative approaches to problem solving Orpah leaves Naomi and returns to Moab.  But, Ruth clings to a hope that Naomi does not share. 

As Ruth returns home with Naomi we read “the rest of the story.”   God had a plan. Naomi did not see it.   But, God would provide a man for Ruth (Boaz), a near relative to Naomi.  In her “hurt,” Naomi could not see the hand of God.  She did not see through the pain that God was still on the throne and could solve this problem in a miraculous way.  She is in so much pain that when she returns to her land she refuses to allow others to call her Naomi (which means “pleasant”) and rather tells everyone back home to call her Mara (which means “bitter”). 

God does a marvelous things, however, despite her hurt.   God, through Boaz, gives Naomi a grandson.  Note the end of the book:

Ruth 4:17 (ESV)

17 And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Obed will be the grandfather to King David and Jesus will be a descendent of them all.   So, through the pain and suffering of loss, God did something for Naomi (and ultimately for us). He changed her cognitive anchor to allow her to see life in a different pattern and he changed the false narrative in her head about her assumed constraint.   Naomi had logical thoughts.  But, God’s ways transcend our logic.  He makes things happen we can’t imagine.   This is what God does as He unfolds His plan for us.   

Even an Esau Matters to God - Genesis 36-39

 Genesis 36:1 (ESV)

Esau's Descendants

1 These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

Genesis 36:9 (ESV)

9 These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

Genesis 36:15 (ESV)

15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

Genesis 36:19 (ESV)

19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

Genesis 36:40 (ESV)

40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

Even an Esau Matters to God.

To better understand the significance of the above genealogy of Esau, we have to read the following:

Malachi 1:3 (ESV)

3 but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.”

Romans 9:13 (ESV)

13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

The story of Jacob and Esau is important in God’s Word.   In the above passages we see the genealogy of Esau.   In the next chapter (37) we see the genealogy of his brother, Jacob (Israel).   These names all matter to God.   But, it is striking that even though God is said to “hate” Esau, we have this long list of his descendants, who became “chiefs” in the land.   In the book of Hebrews he is used as an example of someone who disdained God and cast off God’s blessing:

Hebrews 12:16 (ESV)

16 that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

Yet, we see that God kept the promise of Isaac (Esau’s father) and made a great nation out him (Genesis 27:39-40).  God keeps His promises.   And, even though Esau was not of the “elect” (Romans 9) we see that God still took interest in him and fulfilled promises surrounding him.   The lesson to learn here is that God blesses those He wills and gives blessing even to those who reject Him.  God is sovereign and in control.   God sees all the affairs of mankind, whether they are of the elect or not.