The Word Podcast

1COR 8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

1COR 8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Knowledge alone puffs men up.  But charity edifieth.  Charity is a certain type of love.  It is not an empty emotional only type.  That is not Christian love.  Charity is the type of love that does something.  It is the love of God in action.  God so loved that He gave!

Verse 3 tells us that if any man loves God, then the same is known of that man.  If a man really loves God, then the love of God will flow thru him to others.

If a man loves God, then he will have a working type of love that the Bible calls charity. 

One example is a love for the souls of men.  Going out and putting the gospel on doors in Phoenix in 110 degree heat is Christian Love.

Giving to missions, supporting a local church and helping to pay the salary of a man of God is showing that you love God.  Running a bus route, visiting the sick, preaching in the nursing homes, helping your brothers and sisters in Christ.  The list is almost endless.

1COR 8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Do people know that you truly love God because of your charity?

1COR 7:22 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.

1COR 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

If you are saved, you were bought with a price.  The price was Jesus going to the cross.  Salvation was free to you, but it cost God His only begotten Son going to the cross and taking your sins upon Him.  He took the judgment for your sins in your place.

Therefore, because of what He did for us, we are to be His servant.  One reason is that it is only right.  It is our reasonable service.

Another reason that we should be His servant is out of gratitude.  If you have a concept of the price that Jesus paid for you, then you will want to serve Him out of Love.

You will want to return some of the Love that He has shown to you.

2COR 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

The Bible is very clear that we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.  Most often this verse is used as a proof text that Christians should not marry an unbeliever.  And that is certainly true.  But if you really look close at the context of the surrounding verses you will see that it goes much deeper than just marriage.  The context here is false religions.  Idol worship is mentioned in verse 16, Belial and infidels in verse 15.

And verse 17 tells us to come out FROM among them.

2COR 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

The question then comes up, what does it mean to be yoked.  A yoke is what you harness two animals in to pull the same load.  But for this to work both animals must be pulling the same direction.  If one animal is pulling North and the other is pulling South, a lot of pulling might be getting done but they are going nowhere. 

The same is true for us.  If you yoke a Christian to a Muslim, they will be pulling in two opposite directions.  The Christian will be working for Jesus and trying to bring people to Christ.  The Muslim will be pulling in the opposite direction trying to bring people to their false god  and thus with them into hell. 

The idea today of having  interfaith meetings with all religions is AGAINST the clear teaching of the Word of God. 

A lot of pulling might get done, but the cause of Christ will get nowhere. 

And remember that a yoke is talking about working together.  It is about pulling a load.  This verse is not saying that we cannot talk to unbelievers, or have them as friends, or work with them on the job site.  It is talking about pulling a load together for the cause of Christ.  And this applies to marriage because a husband and wife are to be pulling the same load the same way for Christ in their household, in their finances, in raising children, and in reaching the lost.

1COR 5:8 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.

Leaven in the Bible is a type, a picture, of sin.  Here it is called the leaven of malice and wickedness. 

1COR 5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

Sin spreads like leaven.  Sin will spread and contaminate whatever it comes in contact with.  God is warning us here to cast out sin for our own good.  For our own protection.

The context of these verses is fornicators in the church.  You see this in verses 1 and 2. 

1COR 5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:

Paul tells them to not keep company with fornicators.  He gives more clarification on this in verse 10.  (read verse 10 slowly)

1COR 5:10 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.

Paul tells them not to totally separate from the fornicators of the world because they have need to go out in the world.  If you had to totally separate, then you could not even go out and buy groceries or work a job.  We have need to do those things. 

Since verse 9 is not talking about the fornicators of the world, then what fornicators is verse 9 talking about?

Verse 9 is talking about fornicators in the church.  Verse 11 clears this up.

1COR 5:11 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.

It is the fornicators that are called a brother that we are to separate from.

1COR 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

Wicked people who refuse to forsake their sin and get right with God are to be put out of the church.

Every effort is to be made to restore them first.  The Bible gives specific instructions on this.  But because sin is infectious, to protect the rest of the church, they must be put out if they will not repent of their wickedness. 

This is a very unpopular teaching today, but it is still the Word of God.

1COR 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Paul understood that it is required that a steward be found faithful.  He is referring to being a steward in God's work.  Paul understood that he was a servant of a most High God.  And that it is expected that he is faithful to the work he was given to do. 

Some would then ask, who decides if you are faithful?  Who is to judge if you are faithful or not?

Paul gives us the answer in verses 3 and 4. 

1COR 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

1COR 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

Paul thought very little of them judging his faithfulness to God's work.  He calls their judgment, and man's judgment in general, "a very small thing". 

Paul then says, "he that judgeth me is the Lord." 

Too many Christian workers are worried about what men say about their work.  We need to be like Paul and think of man's judgment as a small thing.  We need to be concerned with what God thinks about it and not what man thinks.

1COR 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

The Bible clearly teaches a reward system in heaven.  And each man will receive according to his own labor.

1COR 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Verse 11 tells us that the only foundation that can be built upon is Jesus Christ.  Keep that in mind as you read the next verses.

1COR 3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

Verse 12 tells us of two types of materials that can be built upon this foundation.  Remember the only foundation here is Christ.  So what is going on here does not apply to lost people.  It does not apply to Islam or any other false religion.  These verses are specifically talking about saved people, and how they build upon the foundation of Jesus.  This is talking about your works after you are saved.

1COR 3:13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

God is going to try the works of the saved.  If you build with wood hay and stubble, your works will be burned up.  Wood, hay, and stubble are all temporary.  They are  produced by the world.  Gold, silver, and precious stones are all produced by God and are permanent. 

1COR 3:14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

The works that you do for Jesus in the right way and with the right heart will survive God's judgment by fire.  And you will be rewarded for your works.  The works that you did out of pride or contrary to the will of God will be burned up.  You will not be rewarded for them.  Only works produced God's way will remain.

1COR 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Verse 15 is very important.  We are not saved by works.  We are saved by grace.  So even if everything you did for Jesus was burned up, you will still be saved. 

Fire in the Bible speaks of God's judgment.  The man who has no remaining works is still saved because that is God's judgment on the matter.  God teaches in His Word that if you believe with a repentant heart you will be saved.  If you have done that, then you are saved no matter if you build with wood or with gold.

But would you not rather have works that remain after God's judgment?

If this does not seem too important to you now, it will when you stand before Christ at the judgment seat.

1COR 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

This is a key verse in understanding why there is so much false teaching out there.  Here is the answer why, when some teach the Bible they teach the exact opposite of someone else who is teaching the same verse.

The answer is that the Bible is spiritually discerned.  A lost man does not have the new spiritual nature that he receives at salvation. 

Without the Holy Spirit the Bible is a closed book to them.  Speaking of the scriptures the Bible says, "neither can he know them" 

It is impossible for a man who is not born again to understand the scriptures.  Therefore his teaching will be wrong.

For example, a Catholic who believes in a works salvation, and thereby is not saved, cannot understand the scriptures.  That is why their teaching does not line up with the Bible.  In fact most of what they teach is tradition and not the Bible.  I can understand why they rely so much on tradition and not the Bible.  They cannot understand the Bible. 

So what about saved men who teach strange things?   

The answer here is they are grieving the spirit.  The Bible is spiritually discerned.  Not only do you have to be saved, but you also must rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible.  You need Him to shed His light upon the scriptures.

So if a man is living in sin, his teaching is going to be off the mark. 

Not separating from the world is sin.

Friendship with the world is sin.

Jam 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

If a man of God is to properly understand the Bible, he must not be a friend with the world.  This includes a lot of things; the worlds wicked entertainment, drinking the Devils Booze or listening to the Devils music. 

But instead of separating from the world, many preachers bring the worlds rock-n-roll music into God's house. 

When they do this, they are living in sin.  This grieves the spirit and without proper light they make mistakes in their teaching.

This explains much of the false teaching of the health and wealth preachers today. 

This explains the false teaching of tongues, slaying in the spirit, that God wants every Christian to have a Lexus and so on.

If you want good Biblical teaching, don't go to lost men and don't listen to men who are not separated from the world.

This also explains why good men also make mistakes from time to time.  All preachers and teachers can have a bad day.  Some days we are more spirit led than other days. 

We need to give some allowance for mistakes.  No one should leave a church because the preacher make a few small mistakes now and then. 

1COR 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

In my opinion this is what is sometimes called a mountain top verse.

God is faithful. 

What a wonderful truth.  Whatever God promises you can absolutely count on Him doing because God is faithful!

God says you have eternal life if you believe with a repentant heart and call upon Him to save you.  So you cannot loose your salvation because God is faithful!

God says He will never leave you.  So you can count on it because God is faithful!

You can count on all things working together for good if you love God and are called according to His purpose.

You can count on Jesus coming back.

You can count on God one day throwing that awful wicked Satan into a lake of fire.

You can count on God hearing your prayers.

You can count on God one day establishing His kingdom.

You can trust God with your soul.

You can count on every single promise in the Bible.

Simply put, you can count on God because He is faithful!

Amen and Amen!

ROM 16:4 Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

ROM 16:5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

ROM 16:6 Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us.

In this chapter of Romans Paul mentions many people who were a blessing to him and his work for God. 

Paul usually gets the credit, but Paul would never have accomplished what he did without Christians who rolled up their sleeves and got busy for the Lord. 

These Christians risked their lives, worked hard, and sacrificed more than we will ever know for God's work.

All preachers who ever accomplish anything much for God have many good hard working sacrificing Christians behind them.

A preacher cannot do it by himself.  He needs good loyal people who have a heart for God's work behind him. 

The question that I ask today is, are you that kind of person?

I hope so.  And if not, will you consider becoming one? 

ROM 15:31 That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints;

Paul is beseeching the believers in Rome to pray for him.  And notice what his prayer request is for.  It is so that he many be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea,  and that his service will be accepted of the believers in Jerusalem.  Paul's prayer request is for his ministry.  He is asking them to pray for God's work.

Paul gives the reason that he asks this prayer request.  He says that it is for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit.  Paul did not ask this prayer request for himself.

And notice who Paul said to pray to.  He said to pray to God.  He did not say pray to Mary.  In fact praying to Mary cannot be found in the Bible at all. 

Paul also requests how they pray.  He asks them to strive with him in their prayers. 

To strive is to make efforts, to use exertions, to endeavor with earnestness, to labor hard.  Paul was NOT asking for a quick mention while you are saying grace!  He was not asking for a 2 minute prayer.  He was asking for serious striving prayer.  The kind of prayer that you work at and put some effort into.  He was asking them to put their heart into it. 

We need this kind of prayer for God's work today.  Christians spend too much time praying over hangnails and not enough time praying for God's work.