Gary Gleans

                                                                        1 Corinthians 11:17-22 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.   For, in the first place, when you come together as a church,   I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for   there must be factions among you in order   that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat.   For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry,   another gets drunk.   What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise   the church of God and   humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.   When Christians come together, it should be for the purpose of worshiping God and edifying one another. Unfortunately, the sin nature that remains in the believer’s he

                                                                             1 Corinthians 11:1-16 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.  Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.  But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God, Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover her head.   For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That i

                                                                             1 Corinthians 10:23-33 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.   Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.   Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience.   For   “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.”   If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go,   eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.   But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— I do not mean   your conscience, but his. For   why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience?   If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that   for which I give thanks?   So, whether you

                                                                   1 Corinthians 10:14-22 Therefore, my beloved,   flee from idolatry.   I speak   as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.   The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?   The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?   Because there is one bread, we who are many are   one body, for we all partake of the one bread.   Consider   the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar?   What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that   an idol is anything?   No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice   they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and   the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and   the table of demons.   Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy?   Are we stronger than he?   Idolatry

                                                                             1 Corinthians 10:12-13 Therefore   let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.   God is faithful, and   he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.   The sins of Israel in the desert are the same sins we struggle with today.  Satan is not creative, but he is persistent.  He has continued to tempt and destroy people using the same methods for a very long time.  However, as believers, we are not helpless or hopeless as we face the temptation to sin.  Paul lets us know some vitally important truths about the temptations we continue to face.  These truths provide us with both help and hope as we confront temptation.   TEMPTATION IS DECEPTIVE: Just when we think that we are free from temptation and are doing well, is when we are in the

                                                                   1 Corinthians 10:6-12 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as   they did.   Do not be idolaters   as some of them were; as it is written,   “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”   We must not indulge in sexual immorality   as some of them did, and   twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.   We must not put Christ to the test,   as some of them did and   were destroyed by serpents,   nor grumble,   as some of them did and   were destroyed by   the Destroyer.   Now these things happened to them as an example, but   they were written down for our instruction,   on whom the end of the ages has come.     The experience of the children of Israel in the desert is supposed to be instructive to us.  They are an example of how God deals with different sins.  His treatment of the children of Israel should help us understand how He views sin in our lives.  There are

                                                                        1 Corinthians 10:1-5 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under   the cloud, and all   passed through the sea,   and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,   and   all ate the same   spiritual food,   and   all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.   Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for   they were overthrown in the wilderness.   The blessings of God are not necessarily proof that God is pleased with our lives.  God’s common grace bestows blessings on both the good and the evil.  Those who reject God and disobey Him will be judged by Him despite any temporary blessings they might experience.  At times God’s blessings will simply be used as witnesses to prove the guilt of those who experienced them, yet still refused to worship and obey Him.   THE BLESSINGS OF ISRAE

                                                                                  1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives   the prize? So   run that you may obtain it.   Every   athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we   an imperishable.   So I do not run aimlessly; I   do not box as one   beating the air. But I discipline my body and   keep it under control, lest after preaching to others   I myself should be   disqualified.   Eternal rewards are often neglected in our teachings of Scripture.  However, they are regularly referred to throughout Scripture.  Both Jesus and Paul speak of them frequently as well as many other authors of Scripture.  Today’s passage teaches us at least three truths about eternal rewards from Paul’s perspective.   REWARDS ARE MOTIVATING: Paul regularly uses rewards as motivation for faithfulness in ministry.  In this passages Paul makes the compariso

                                                                             1 Corinthians 9:19-23 For   though I am free from all,   I have made myself a servant to all, that I might   win more of them.   To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.   To   those outside the law I became   as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but   under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.   I have become all things to all people, that   by all means I might save some.   I do it all for the sake of the gospel,   that I may share with them in its blessings.   Paul’s priority is the salvation of men for the glory of God.  He is not concerned with his own comfort or preferences but with the ability to be able to reach people with the Gospel.  However, these is no hint that

                                                                        1 Corinthians 9:15-18 But   I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone   deprive me of my ground for boasting.   For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For   necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!   For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with   a stewardship.   What then is my reward? That in my preaching   I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.   Preaching the Gospel is what God called Paul and calls all of us to do.  Like many things about the Christian life, it is both a privilege and a responsibility to preach the Gospel.  It should be a delight, but it is also a duty.  As we go through life God brings people into our paths.  They should both se

                                                                             1 Corinthians 9:6-14 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?   Who serves as a soldier at his own expense?   Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?   Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same?   For it is written in the Law of Moses,   “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written   for our sake, because   the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.   If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?   If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?  Nevertheless,   we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything   rather than put an obstacle in

                                                                                       1 Corinthians 9:1-5 Am I not free?   Am I not an apostle?   Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?   Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?   If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are   the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me.   Do we not have the right to eat and drink?   Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and   the brothers of the Lord and   Cephas? As we look back on the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul, we stand in awe of all God accomplished through him and the work of the Spirit in Him.  He is clearly a hero of the faith and is respected as an example to all of us of what a disciple should be.  However, it seems that he did not enjoy this same status while he was still alive and serving.  This should be a comfort to all of us who face trials and criticism in our efforts to se

                                                                                  1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that   “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge”   puffs up,   but love builds up.   If anyone imagines that he knows something,   he does not yet know as he ought to know.   But if anyone loves God,   he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that   “an idol has no real existence,” and that   “there is no God but one.”   For although there may be   so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—   yet   for us there is one God, the Father,   from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and   one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and   through whom we exist.   However, not all possess this knowledge. But some,   through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and   their conscience, being weak, is defiled.   F