It was great to get back together, after the ice storm of last week, and even the pouring rain of this weekend. Thank you for your patience with me, as I am at the end of my cold, but still had a little bit of struggle with coughing. You all give me such energy in my teaching, just watching your expressions, interest, and interaction going from book to book, searching the scriptures to see what God is going to reveal to us.
Reading the first 5 verses of Chapter 9, and realizing Paul is defending his apostleship and his actions before this carnal church, that he spent a year and a half of his winning people to Christ and discipling the converts, establishing a church in this extremely pagan city. His own testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:23-28, concerning his suffering for the gospel gives him the right, as the apostle to the Gentiles, to expect honor from these who owe their spiritual lives to. And yet, he finds himself defending his actions before these babies, these carnal, fleshly Christians – 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.
It is a warning to all of us to be careful not to judge the motives of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We all have our battles, in our spiritual warfare, that many times, we fight alone, with the Holy Spirit as our only ally. We must remember that we fight the good fight of faith together, and our enemy is the world, the flesh, and the devil. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are constantly seeking to rob us of our joy, and destroy our opportunity to serve Christ faithfully. Let us all learn from the errors of the Corinthians, and Paul’s faithful administration of his office, as the apostle to the Gentiles, and seek to grow into the mature believers that God has called us to.