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but that these blessings of the Spirit are not necessarily the possession of all believers. Now the answer to this argument is very clearly stated in 1:2, for the letter was written not only to the believers at Corinth, but also to "all" believers "in every place.” If there are any "catholic” Epistles in the New Testament, this one cannot be ex cluded. And therefore every spiritual bless ing possessed by these Corinthians is also the possession of all other Christians. Fur thermore, the commandments of this Epistle are not to be set aside in part as applicable only to the "local situation” In the city of Corinth (as some like to do with such por tions as chapters 11 and 14). On the con trary, these things are to be accepted as the “commandments of the Lord” for all be lievers in every place (14:37). A friend of John Ericsson, famous as the builder of the “Monitor,” was giving an il lustrated lecture on the great Inventor in the city of Philadelphia. A number of mil itary men were present. One of the pic tures shown represented Ericsson as a Swedish chasseur. At the conclusion of the address, a Danish officer came up to the lecturer and asked: “Why did you show Ericsson in disgrace? That picture shows Ericsson in arrest: was that a fact?” "But, my dear sir,” said the surprised lecturer, “I did not show Ericsson in arrest.” "Yes,” persisted the Danish gentleman, "your slide showed him with his sword on the wrong side, and that means he was in arrest." A conference with the operator showed that that worthy had reversed the slide in placing it in front of the lens. Ericsson was dishonored by the presentation given of him. So is Christ by that of many of His followers. Let us see to it that our lives show Him to be our Saviour. —Homiletic Review. Paul’s Bible Letters 1 C orinthians 1:1-3, 10, 11; 4:14-21; G alatians 1:1-7; 3:1-29: 1 T hessalonians 1:1; 4:9 TO 5:22 Memory Verse: "This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another” (1 John 3:11). Approach: No matter where Paul was, he kept remembering the people in the new little churches which he had started in the places where he had stopped on his mis Golden Text Illustration P hilippians 1:27
believer, and always sufficient for anything He calls one to meet. When thinking of the weaknesses of others, we would do well to remember our own protruding faults that so easily bruise the feelings of others and try their patience. In this series of exhortations, the Holy Spirit sets before us a way of life that, if actually adopted and practiced by the church of today, would do more to solve her problems than all the committees, com missions, and councils ever held. Points and Problems 1. "Unto the church . . . at Corinth . . . them that are sanctified" (1 Cor. 1:2). It is of great doctrinal importance to notice that this Epistle addresses the entire church at Corinth as a " sanctified" people. And the Greek verb is In the perfect tense, which indicates an event that took place in the past the results of which continue up to the present time. Now If we note the conditions that existed in this Corinthian church— that many members were yet carnal and given to envylngs, strife, and divisions (3: 3 )—we shall understand more clearly that the sanctification of which Paul speaks can not refer to any moral perfectionism. The meaning of the word "sanctify” in Scrip ture is to set apart, and all Christians are completely ''sanctified” from the moment of regeneration in this sense that God has set them apart from the world to be His very own. Of course, even after this, there re mains much work to be done. In themselves they are all very full of sin and imperfec tion. Therefore, there must be, and is, a continuous work of sanctification accom plished through the instrumentality of the Word (Eph. 5:26). But this is entirely another aspect of the matter, different from that original and once-for-all sanctification which was accomplished through the cross (Heb. 10:10). 2. "Called to be saints“ (v. 2 ). The English reader should be careful to notice here that the words “to be” are in italics, indicating that they do not occur In the original Greek of the passage. The Chris tian is not called "to be” a saint, as if saint hood were, a future goal to be attained sometime. He is a saint the moment he be lieves. For the word “saint” means simply In Scripture a "sanctified one," that is, one who has been set apart by God for His very own. All believers are saints in this sense. The Bible knows nothing of a spe cial sainthood which is the result of human attainment. God does not call us out of the world and promise that if we work hard enough we some day may become saints! But rather by grace He gives us immedi ately the position of saints, and then de mands that we live in harmony with this exalted position. 3. "W ith all that in every place call upon the name o f Jesus Christ our Lord” (v. 2). I know of nothing in the New Tes tament Epistles that is of higher doctrinal significance than this particular clause, es pecially in relation to the work of the Holy Spirit. Very often when we point to such passages in this Epistle as 3:16 and 6:19 and 12:13 in proof of the fact that ¿ill be lievers are baptized and Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are told that this Epistle was written to the Christians at Corinth,
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sionary jo u r n e y s . His letters to these church people a r e written down in the Bible, and many of the things which he wrote to them, we n e e d to remember too. L e s s o n S t o r y : When-he started a letter, he told them
who was writing it. He usually called him self “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God,” or else he sometimes said, "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.” He was very humble, but 5 ' D i v i s i o n
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