West Loop Church UBF

1 Corinthians 16 is Paul’s closing words to the Corinthian Christians. If you remember, there were a lot of problems going on in the Corinthian church. There were fights about who was the best Bible teacher. There were some Christians who were living in sexual sin. There were some who were divorcing. And there were others who were arguing about what kind of food they should eat, what they should wear, and even how they should do Communion. It seemed that people had forgotten about Jesus. So in response to these troubling events, Paul wrote this letter in order to help the Corinthians to live a life in Jesus.

When I thought about this book and Paul’s concluding chapter, I began to wonder how in the world can we fallen sinful human beings live in Christ? We try, but it seems like we fail more than we succeed. Jerram Barrs, professor of Christian studies at Covenant Seminary, said that “somewhere between 35% and 40% of people in the United States say that they personally believe in Jesus Christ and are born again.” But when Gallup took a survey of how people live, only 10% acknowledged that their life reflects these beliefs.

What I would like to do today is to look why it’s hard for us to live a gospel centered life, by looking at 7 things Paul encourages the Corinthians to do. And finally, we’ll see how we can live a gospel centered life. Give to the poor (1-4)…

In Luke 10, Jesus taught us to be concerned for others and to help those who are in need. But the Corinthians had a hard time caring for others. So, in verses 1-9, Paul encouraged them to save money and give it to the poor. What about us? Do we have a heart of compassion for those who are in need?

Love and accept others (10-12,15-18)… Evidently, the Corinthians also had a hard time loving and accepting one another. So in verses 10-12 Paul tells the Corinthians to be nice to the younger believer Timothy and to accept Apollos. And in verse 15-18, he tells them to recognize Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus. But just as it was hard for the Corinthians to love and accept others, so it is for us. There seems to be a natural tendency for us to look down upon others. We look down upon younger Christians, thinking that they don’t know as much spiritual stuff as we do. This just infuriates them and makes them want to leave and go to another church. And sadly, we also look down upon non-Christians. We think that we’re better than they are because we don’t “sin” anymore like they do. No wonder they don’t want to be a Christian. And perhaps even more sadly, we look down upon our own peers, even though we’re are the same kind of sinners. When I learned of something that happened to one of my family members who accepted Christ, instead of understanding, I became judgmental thinking, “How can that person do some something like that?” But then I realized, the fact that I judged, I too just sinned. Am I any better?

In verses 13-14, Paul writes 5 more things the Corinthians should do as they struggle to live a Christian life. Be on your guard…

According to this letter, the things we are to be on guard against are:
(1) Dangers of division in the church,
(2) The deception of false teachers,
(3) Sexual temptations and desires,
(4) Divorce,
(5) The failure to love others, and so on.

Stand firm in the faith... Here, Paul is telling us not to falter or depart in our Christian faith, no matter what happens. But how many of us falter when tragedy or when commit sin?

Be men of courage... As we all well know, responsibility can be scary. The thought that a husband has to love his wife as Christ loved his church and that he has to work and provide for his family can be a frightening thing. Some men can’t handle it. So they just give up, quit their jobs, divorce, give into sexual sin or whatever. Single men also have fears. Some fear working. Some fear getting married. And even some fear growing up. Women are also the same. The thought that a wife has to submit to her husband as unto the Lord, and the thought that she has to take of her children and family can also be a frightening thing and sometimes hard to handle. Just last month, a mother in New York drove her minivan into the Hudson River drowning three of her children and herself.

Be strong ... I think a lot of young men like to hear this. But the strength Paul is talking about is the strength to resist temptation, the strength to love others, and the strength to live out our Christian values. Do everything in love... This summarizes the teaching of the whole 13th chapter. A constant and unfeigned love of the Lord, of his church as a whole, and of its individual members is the mark of a strong Christian. Love is "the greatest”.

These 7 teachings are very important as we struggle to live a life in Christ. But the question I want to focus on is, “How can we?”

1.How can we give to the poor with the economy being so bad? 2.How can we accept others when they’re clearly in the wrong? 3.How can we be on our guard when the temptation to sin is so strong? 4.How can we stand firm in the faith when tragedy strikes? There’s a story about a wife who lost her husband. She said the pain was so intense that she lost all her faith in God. 5.How can we be men of courage when life is filled with so many problems & responsibilities. 6.How can we be strong when a pretty girl or a boy walks across the street or when the wrong picture pops up on our web browser? 7.How can we do everything in love?

The other day, as I was trying to get ready for work, I flushed the toilet and it almost overflowed. After trying a plunger, I decided to work from home so that I could fix it during lunch. But of course, my oldest son called at noon saying he was sick. So I went to pick him up, not out of love, but out of frustration. Then after coming home from the school, my dog had to use the bathroom. So I took her out. When I came back in, my 2 year old son had gotten into the peanut bar jar and was eating out of it with his hands. Again, I didn’t feel any love. Finally, at 4pm, I went back to work on the toilet, trying to avoid having to completely remove it, using a hanger, a snake, and even sticking my hand in it. But of course, I had to remove it. And what did I find? Awash cloth that evidently my 2 year son had flushed down the toilet. Again, I wasn’t filled with love.

So how can we live in Christ? How can we give to the poor? How can we love and accept others? How can be on our guard? How can we stand firm in the faith? How can we be men of courage? How can we be strong? And how can we do everything in love? For the longest time, I thought the answer was simple. Just believe in Jesus, read your Bible, pray, go to church, proclaim the gospel, and everything will be okay. But no matter how much I tried to do these “godly” things, I still fell into sin. And when I sinned, I fell into depression. And if for some reason I was able to avoid sin, or was able to do something “good” in “God’s eyes”, I became proud, thinking that I did something that pleased God in some way. Finally I began to realize that doing Christian things cannot solve our sin problem. It cannot make us live the way Christ has called us to live. Why is this? It’s because we are sinful wretched human beings. Genesis 6 says that Lord sees that every inclination of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). The point is, we are born with sin. No matter how hard we try to get rid of it on our own, we can’t do it. Even if we think we got rid of it, it’s still there in some way, shape, or form. So, what are we to do?

Paul says in his last verse, “My love to all of you in Christ Jesus”. Paul says, “in Christ Jesus”. The key to living as Christ called us to live is by being “in Christ Jesus”. The moment we believe in Jesus, He comes in us. When we are in Christ, God doesn’t see us for who we really are. But He sees Jesus who is living within us. When we give into temptation, God doesn’t see that we gave in, rather he sees Jesus who overcame every temptation in the world. When we fall in our faith, God doesn’t see our falling, but rather he sees Jesus who held fast to his faith, even when his Father God abandoned him on the cross. When we fail to be men of courage, God doesn’t see this failure, but he sees Jesus who courageously went to the cross for our sins. When we lose our strength, God doesn’t see our weakness, but He sees Jesus who kept his strength, even refusing to drink numbing medication as he choked and suffocated on his own blood. When our hearts fail in love, God doesn’t see this failure either, but He sees Jesus who loved mankind to the point of giving up his life on the cross.

Don’t you see? Our justification is complete because of what Christ has done. We cannot justify ourselves by our own acts. If we could, what act would God expect us to do, and could we do it? The point is, we can’t do it. But we can, because Christ has! When we are in Christ, we are made perfect. We are no longer in sin, but we are in Christ. When we are in Christ, then we can do all these things mentioned in this book. Not by our own strength, but simply because of what Christ has done for us.

At the age of 17, my mother-in-law lost her mom due to a brain aneurism. She was left behind with 2 brothers and with an extremely abusive father. Understandably, she lost her faith in God. Trying to find peace and comfort, she continued to go to church. But no matter what she did, even entering the convent to become nun, nothing could get her out of her misery. Instead of being in Christ, she wound up not trusting people, she was fearful, rebellious, wild, and had no respect for authority. But on October 31st 1982, Halloween Night, an amazing thing happened. She accepted Jesus into her heart.. In her own words she said, “I knew I had finally found the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” I have known my mother-in-law now for 16 years. I can definitely say that I see Christ living in her. It’s hard for me to believe that she was ever a “wild” and unloving person. Since I’ve known her, she has taken in an abused mother into her own home. She visits nursing homes, praying and encouraging the elderly. She has led Bible studies in her home, prays for all her children, and loves and supports every single one of them. Clearly, because of her past, she wouldn’t be able to do any of these things without Christ being in her. When Christ is in us, He gives us new birth, making us into a new creation. And He helps us to live the way God created us to live.

Finally in verse 23 Paul says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” Why do you think he says this? It’s because we tend to forget that we’re in Christ. The moment we walk out of this building, most of us will forget everything we just heard. Living in this fallen world and seeing so many bad things, makes it hard to remember that we’re in Christ. That’s why we need the grace of the Lord Jesus. In fact, Paul adds, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” We need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ wherever we go. We need His Holy Spirit reminding us, that even though we are sinners, to God’s eyes, we are e perfect because of Christ. Jesus’ final words before his death were, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Our salvation and justification is complete.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you and may Christ be in you.