that chapter. Just note now that these people were blessed with a variety of gifts that were necessary for growth in their spiritual lives. Now they did have a problem. They argued over their gifts. And they were unwisely proud of cer tain gifts. He does indicate though, that all gifts were essential and that they were part of the Body and useful in the edification of the en tire group. In essence, these people at Corinth lost sight of the giver of the gifts and placed the emphasis upon the gifts themselves. Paul re minds them that gifts were to be used for the whole body to unify and strengthen each member of that Body; not to divide it. Never theless, their gifts were added tes timony that they were in Christ. There is another aspect in verse seven that is equally as important, perhaps more important, than their gifts. They were waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In one sense all of us are waiting for the coming of the Lord. Maybe we do not think much about it, but now and then when we face prob lems we suddenly long for His coming. But this is not the sense in which these people were waiting. The Greeks had a word that was used for a hunter who anxiously waits for his prey to appear or for a soldier who was awaiting the enemy. That word is used here to describe their eager anticipation of Christ's return. But it has a prefix attached to it that even strength ens this anxious waiting. Now that is a little different, is it not, than some of our waiting for the Lord. We know He is coming, we kind of take it for granted, and yet we go ahead and live our lives as we please. The church at Corinth did, of
able witness in the court of law, as it were, before God Himself, and Christ is the One who will bear testimony that we know Christ as our personal Savior. And the same thing is true of these people at Corinth. Paul can look at their lives and listen to others; but as an apostle, writing under the inspira tion of the Holy Spirit, he says there is the testimony of Christ. The seal of God's approval is upon you. You have problems, and I am going to hit those problems hard, you are in Christ and members of the body. Let me share just two verses that I think frequently come to mind along this particular line. The first is found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse eight. Christ says, "Also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me, before men him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of Cod." And we have a similar passage in the book of Revelation 3:5. "He that over- cometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." Christ is the One who will give the testimony before God Himself and before the angels that the people at Corinth who know Christ are truly in Him. And He is the same One who will bear that testimony for everyone today who will acknowledge Him as Lord and Savior. Notice another factor that he gives that is again testimony that despite the problems they are still in Christ. In verse seven he says, "So that ye come behind in no gift." These are the gifts of God probably spelled out in detail in I Corinthians chapter 12. These will be discussed when we come to
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