Glory Of God

Romans 3:23 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Genesis 1:26,28 - Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”… And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Ephesians 4:20-24 - But that is not the way you learned Christ!—assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Hebrews 2:7-9 - You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Application:

·         Glory of God is what God intended man to be.

·         Man is the climax of God’s creative activity, and God has crowned him with glory and honor and made him ruler over the rest of His creation.

·         As God’s representative in the creaturely realm, he is steward of God’s creatures. He is not to exploit, waste or despoil them, but to care for them and use them in the service of God and man.

·         The new self is a new way of life that I put on positionally at conversion and put on experientially as a Christian.

·         God’s purpose from the beginning was that I should be sovereign in the creaturely realm, subject only to God.

·         As forerunner of man’s restored dominion over the earth, Jesus was made lower than the angels for a while but is now crowned with glory and honor at God’s right hand.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

There Is No Difference...Glory Of God

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Galatians 2:15-16 - We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

John 3:14-15 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Romans 10:4 - For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11 - Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Application:

·         No one is justified by observing the law. It is an indispensable requirement that one must place his faith in Christ.

·         Eternal life is an infinitely high quality of life in living fellowship with God—both now and forever.

·         I have a righteous standing before God because I believe in Christ.

·         Unity in Christ transcends ethnic, social and male/female distinctions.

·         Christ transcends all barriers and unifies people from all cultures, races and nations. Such distinctions are no longer significant. Christ alone matters.

·         I am declared righteous freely, by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus and through faith.

·         The glory that man had before the fall I will again have through Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Fear Of God

Romans 3:14-20 - “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Psalm 36:1 - Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in his heart; there is no fear of God before his eyes.

Genesis 20:11 - Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Acts 13:39 - Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Galatians 2:15-16 - We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Application:

·         Do I take account of His all-seeing eye? Do I take account of His righteous judgment? Do I take account of His power to deal with me?

·         Do I have a reverential trust in God that includes commitment to His revealed will?

·         By believing I have the forgiveness of sins and the gift of righteousness.

·         Faith is the means by which justification is received, not its basis.

·         Christ’s righteousness has been credited to me as my own.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

No One, Not Even One

Romans 3:9-13 - What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”

Psalm 14:1 - The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 - Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Psalm 5:9 - For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

Application:

·         Mankind in general is corrupt.

·         There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins

·         Only in God’s courtroom can a person experience redress for those who maliciously wield the tongue.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Will Be Declared Righteous

Romans 2:13-16 - For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

James 1:25 - But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

2 Timothy 2:8-9 - Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

Application:

·         Obeying the moral law gives me the joyous freedom to be what I was created for.

·         Christ’s righteousness has been credited to me as my own.

·         Christ’s resurrection proclaims His deity, and His descent from David shows His humanity; both truths are basic to the gospel. Since He is a man, He could rightfully become my substitute.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Gentile

Romans 2:9-12 - There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Acts 10:34-35 - So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

Romans 6:14 – For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

1 Corinthians 9:21 – 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.

Application:

·         With spiritual privilege comes spiritual responsibility.

·         God does not favor an individual because of his station in life, his nationality or his material possessions.

·         Law provides no enablement to resist the power of sin; it only condemns the sinner.

·         Do I accommodate myself to the culture when it does not violate my allegiance to Christ?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Righteousness

Romans 1:17 - For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”


Philippians 3:8-11 - Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Habakkuk 2:4 - “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Application:

· Union with Christ is not simply an experience in the past, but a present, continuing relationship
· I am to wait patiently and live by faith—trusting in my sovereign God.
· Christ’s righteousness has been credited to me as my own.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Thank

Romans 1:8 - First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.


2 Thessalonians 1:3 - We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

Colossians 1:3-8 - We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

John 15:16 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Application:

· Is my faith growing more and more? Is my love for others increasing?
· The Bible never thanks man for his faith and love. The Bible thanks God, the source of faith and love.
· I usually desire a strong prayer life in order to be fruitful. The opposite is true: Jesus enables me to bear fruit, and then the Father will hear my prayers.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Saints

Romans 1:7 - To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


1 Peter 1:1-2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1 Corinthians 1:2-3 - To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah 4:2 - And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Application:

· I am a saint. I am positionally set apart to God. I am being made holy by the Holy Spirit.
· All three persons of the Trinity are involved in my redemption. The Spirit draws me from sin toward holiness.
· I am sanctified, not because of my conduct, but because of my relationship to Christ.
· My God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and relents from calamity. In contrast, there is me; not gracious, not compassionate, slow to love, abounding in anger.
· Do I have peace? Do I have total well-being, inner rest of spirit, in fellowship with God?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Prophets

Romans 1:1-7 - Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.


Luke 24:44 - Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Romans 9:5 - To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:2-3 - To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Application:

· Christ was foretold in the whole Old Testament.
· Christ is God over all.
· I am sanctified, not because of my conduct, but because of my relationship to Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Being

1 Corinthians 15:45 - Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.


Genesis 2:5-7 - When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Romans 5:14 - Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Application:

· I am made in the image of God, unlike any other species on earth.
· Adam brought universal ruin on the human race. Christ brought universal blessing.
· Through Christ Jesus, the controlling power of the life-giving Spirit has set me free from the controlling power of death-producing sin.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Splendor

1 Corinthians 15:34-44 - Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.


Psalm 19:4-5 – Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

Genesis 2:5-7 - When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

Application:

· My resurrection body will be different from my fleshly body
· Creation declares the glory of God throughout the world
· I am made in the image of God, unlike any other species on earth

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

So That God May Be All In All

1 Corinthians 15:25-28 - For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.


Revelation 19:11 - Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 – So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

Application:

· Christ will return as Warrior, Messiah and King.
· Christ will completely conquer all of His enemies.
· The triune God will be shown to be supreme and sovereign in all things.
· I am united with and belong to Christ, who is in union with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

For He Must Reign

1 Corinthians 15:25 - For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.


Isaiah 9:7 - Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 52:7 - How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

Isaiah 2:2-3 - It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

Micah 4:5 – For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.

Psalm 110:1 - The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Application:

· Christ must reign as He destroys all dominion and hands over the kingdom to the Father.
· Christ will rule in righteousness forever.
· God rules sovereignly over the world.
· All nations will stream to the mountain of the Lord’s temple
· Am I confessing, loving, obeying and relying on the Lord?
· The enemies of Christ will be a footstool for His feet.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

But Christ Has Indeed Been Raised

1 Corinthians 15:3-6,11-20,23 – For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep…Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep…But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.


1 Thessalonians 4:18 - Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Application:

· Jesus appearance to more than five hundred should help bolster the faith of those who doubt the resurrection of Christ.
· Christ’s resurrection is the pledge that my resurrection will follow.
· Christ died for my sins, was buried and was raised from the dead.
· Do I encourage others with the knowledge that Jesus will return and we will meet Him in the air?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Church Of God

1 Corinthians 15:9-10 – For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.


1 Corinthians 10:32-33 - Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Acts 9:4 - And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Application:

· Living to glorify God will result in doing what is beneficial for others, whether Christian or non-Christian. Am I living to glorify God?
· To persecute the church is to persecute Christ, for the church is His body.
· Although I clearly and totally deserve to be declared guilty, because of my trust in Christ God declares me righteous.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

The Twelve

1 Corinthians 15:3-6 – For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.


John 20:22 - And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19-20 - Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Application:

· The disciples needed God’s help to carry out the commission they had been given
· The appearance of Jesus to so many people after His resurrection should bolster the faith of those who doubt
· Baptism is a sign of union with and commitment to Christ.
· Am I obeying everything He has commanded me? He is always with me

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Christ Died For Our Sins

1 Corinthians 15:3-5 – For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.


John 1:29 - The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Luke 24:44 - Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Isaiah 53:6,11 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Application:

· Christ died for my sins, He was buried and He was raised from the dead
· Jesus is the sacrifice that atones for the sin of the world
· Christ was foretold in the whole Old Testament
· My iniquities have been laid on Jesus
· I am justified by the knowledge of Jesus.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

A Revelation

1 Corinthians 14:27-34 - If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.


1 Corinthians 12:8-10 - For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

Acts 13:2 - While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

1 Corinthians 7:17 - Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.

1 Corinthians 10:32-33 - Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Application:

· Has God imparted to me by the Holy Spirit a communication of His mind?
· Paul’s first missionary journey did not result from a planning session but from the Spirit’s initiative as the leaders worshiped.
· Am I living contentedly for the Lord in the station (economic, social, religious) in life He has placed me?
· Am I living to glorify God? Am I doing what is beneficial for others, whether Christian or non-Christian?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

A Hymn, A Lesson, A Revelation, A Tongue Or An Interpretation

1 Corinthians 14:17-26 - For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.


Isaiah 45:14 - Thus says the Lord: “The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: ‘Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides him.’”

Zechariah 8:23 - Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”

I Corinthians 12:7-10 - To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

Luke 4:16,18-19 - And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read...“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

Application:

· One day the nations will acknowledge Israel’s God.
· True godliness attracts others to the Lord.
· Have I been given some spiritual gift that is an evidence of the Spirit’s working in my life? Do I use it for selfish advantage?
· Have I been given wisdom or knowledge?
· Do I have faith to meet a specific need in the body of Christ?
· Has God imparted to me by the Holy Spirit a communication of His mind?
· Jesus custom of regular worship sets an example for all His followers.
· The Messiah’s ministry of preaching and healing was to meet every need
· Jesus proclaimed liberation from sin and its consequences.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Strengthening, Encouragement and Comfort

1 Corinthians 14:2-12 – For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up. Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.


1 Corinthians 12:7 - To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Application:

· Have I been given some spiritual gift that is an evidence of the Spirit’s working in my life? Do I use it for selfish advantage?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

It Keeps No Record Of Wrongs

1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13 - Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.


Proverbs 10:12 - Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

1 Peter 4:8 - Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Application:

· Love promotes forgiveness.
· Love forgives again and again.
· Long after my spiritual gifts are no longer necessary, love must still govern all that I am and do.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Eagerly Desire The Greater Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:8-10,28-31 - For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues…And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.


Application:

· Do I expect to be given a specific spiritual gift?
· Do I exercise my spiritual gifts – in love?
· Do I seek status through the exercising of the gifts God has given to me?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Arranged

1 Corinthians 12:15-20,28 - If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body…And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.


Romans 12:4-5 – For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Application:

· God’s method employs diversity to create unity
· God has appointed a variety of gifts in the church to unify His church
· It is only in Jesus Christ that any unity in the church is possible

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

The Body

1 Corinthians 12:14 - For the body does not consist of one member but of many.


Acts 6:1-2,6 - Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables…These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

Application:

· It is the church’s responsibility to help widows who have no one to care for them.
· As a church grows, the church leaders cannot minister the word and take care of the needy by themselves.
· Those chosen to minister to the needy need to be commissioned through prayer and the laying on of hands

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Prophecy

1 Corinthians 12:8-10,28 - For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues…And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.


Acts 13:2 - While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

1 Corinthians 13:1 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Application:

· Has the mind of God been imparted to me by the Holy Spirit?
· Have I been gifted to help others? Have I been gifted to administrate?
· My journey may not result from a planning session but may result from the Spirit’s initiative.
· No matter how I am gifted, if I do not speak in love, it will be nothing but noise.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Healing

1 Corinthians 12:8-10,28 - For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues…And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.


Application:

· Not everyone has the same gift or all the gifts
· Have I been given the message of wisdom, the message of knowledge, faith to meet specific needs or gifts of healing through the Spirit?
· Apostles and prophets are foundational to the church. Teachers are associated with pastors. Miracles, healing, helping, administrating and speaking in tongues are all equally important gifts.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Led Astray To Mute Idols

1 Corinthians 12:2-3 - You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.


Jeremiah 10:5 - Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

Habakkuk 2:19 - Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.

Romans 9:3 – For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

Application:

· Idols can do nothing at all
· Do I depend on other influences to give me guidance, or do I depend on the Holy Spirit for guidance?
· I am not able to pronounce a curse on Jesus, if I am regenerated by the Holy Spirit.
· Do I love others so much that I wish to be delivered over to the wrath of God for eternal destruction so that they might be saved?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Now About

1 Corinthians 11:33-12:1 - So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.


1 Corinthians 1:4-8 – I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 11:25 - Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

1 Corinthians 8:1 - Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

Application:

· A spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit enabling me to minister to the needs of Christ’s body.
· God’s merciful plan to include me in His great salvation plan should humble me, not fill me with arrogance.
· I should love my brother who doubts.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

1 Corinthians 11:26-29 - For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.


1 Corinthians 1:4-8 – I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:13 – For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Application:

· Has God enabled me to minister to the needs of Christ’s body, the church?
· Do I test the attitude of my own heart and actions and my awareness of the significance of the Lord’s Supper?
· Do I partake of the Lord’s Supper without recognizing that it symbolizes Christ’s crucified body? Am I aware of the nature of the church as the body of Christ?
· God has given me the Holy Spirit to indwell me. Does my life overflow with the fruit of the Spirit?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Sign Of Authority

1 Corinthians 11:8-16 – For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God. Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.


Genesis 2:18 - Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Genesis 1:26 - Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

1 Corinthians 7:17 - Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.

1 Corinthians 10:32-33 - Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Application:

· Without female companionship and a partner in reproduction, I cannot fully realize my humanity.
· Am I being conformed to the likeness of Christ?
· Am I living contentedly in the Lord in the economic, social and religious state of life God has placed me?
· Am I living to glorify God? Am I doing what is beneficial to others, whether Christian or non-Christian?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Do Not Cause Anyone To Stumble

1 Corinthians 10:32-33 - Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.


2 Corinthians 6:3-10 – We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

1 Corinthians 1:2-3 - To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:13 - Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Application:

· Do I live to glorify God? Do I do what is beneficial to others, whether Christian or non-Christian?
· Do I live an exemplary life? Am I discrediting my ministry?
· Have I been declared holy? Am I being made holy?
· Do I refrain from engaging in harmless practices if it will cause my weak Christian brother to fall?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Arouse The Lord's Jealousy

1 Corinthians 10:18-22 – 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?


2 Corinthians 6:16 - What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Deuteronomy 32:21 - They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Exodus 20:5-6 - You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Application:

· Do I compromise with idolatry?
· Do I understand the good news about Christ?
· Have I devoted myself to God? Or do I oppose Him?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

One Loaf

1 Corinthians 10:17 - Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.


Romans 12:4-5 – For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

John 6:35,37,39-40,44-46 - Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out…And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”… No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.

Application:

· Partaking of one loaf symbolizes the unity of the body of Christ, which is nourished by the bread of life.
· It is only in Jesus Christ that any unity in the church is possible.
· Is Jesus my bread of life?
· I am saved mostly by God’s action, not mine.
· Does Christ have a firm hold on me? Am I persevering?
· Death cannot destroy the life that Christ gives.
· Did I come to Christ strictly on my own initiative? Or did the Father draw me?
· Only those who learn from God come to salvation. Am I learning from God?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Cup Of Thanksgiving

1 Corinthians 10:15-16 - 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?


1 Corinthians 11:23-25 – For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Mark 14:22 - And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”

Luke 22:16,19-20 - For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”…And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Application:

· Does the Lord’s Supper remind me of Him?
· The Lord’s Supper is a memorial supper, recalling and portraying Christ’s death for me.
· The cup signifies God’s bestowal of salvation upon me.
· All Biblical accounts of communion include: taking bread, giving thanks, breaking bread, saying “This is my body”, taking the cup and explaining the blood covenant.
· At Jesus future coming, He will renew fellowship with those who have commemorated the Lord’s Supper.
· The bread provides remembrance and proclamation of my deliverance from the bondage of sin
· God’s saving grace is founded and sealed by the death of Jesus.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Flee From Idolatry

1 Corinthians 10:12-14 – 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. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.


1 Corinthians 1:9 - God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hebrews 6:9 - Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.

1 Peter 2:11 - Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Jude 3 - Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Exodus 32:6 - And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Application:

· Temptation in itself is not sin. Yielding to the temptation is sin. I have been enabled to resist the temptation to sin.
· God may be trusted to do what He has promised. He will keep me strong to the end.
· Am I fleeing from idolatry?
· Is my life changed? Is there evidence of regeneration?
· Am I separated from the corruption of this world? Am I yielding to the world’s destructive sinful desires?
· Am I contending for the gospel and all its implications?
· Do I tend toward idolatry?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Idolaters

1 Corinthians 10:6-7,11,14 - 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.”… 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…Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.


Exodus 32:6,19 - And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play…And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.

Application:

· Have I been heeding the warnings written down for me?
· Am I fleeing from idolatry?
· Do I tend toward idolatry?
· Am I breaking my covenant with God?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

God Was Not Pleased With Most Of Them

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.


Numbers 14:28-30,34 - Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun…According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’

Joshua 1:2 - “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

Application:

· In spite of the remarkable privileges given to me, do I fail to obey God? Am I incurring His displeasure?
· Am I in submission to Christ as my Savior and Lord?
· Is Christ my sustenance, my bread and water of life?
· Have I brought upon myself my punishment?
· Am I in rebellion against God?
· Are God’s promises being fulfilled with me, or without me?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

That Rock Was Christ

1 Corinthians 10:1-4 - 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.


Exodus 17:6 - Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Numbers 20:11 - And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

Psalm 105:41 - He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.

John 6:32,35 - Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven… Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Application:

· The water and the manna were supernatural sustenance through Jesus Christ
· Christ is the supernatural Rock
· Do my actions show a lack of trust in God? Do my actions offend God’s holiness?
· God’s power is redeeming.
· God still gives the true bread from heaven (life through the Son).
· Have I come to Jesus? Do I believe in Him?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV