313 - Les Feldick Bible Study Lesson 1 - Part 1 - Book 27 - Problems of Carnal Believers

https://lesfeldickbiblestudy.com Through the Bible with Les Feldick LESSON 1 * PART 1 * BOOK 27 PROBLEMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF CARNAL BELIEVERS I never try to make argument with people, but I just teach The Word as I feel The Lord has revealed it to me. Now let's review verse 1: I Corinthians 4:1 "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards (or managers) of the mysteries of God." You find the mysteries only in the letters of Paul. Paul says in verse 2: I Corinthians 4:2-4 So whatever we are in charge of, it can be business, or church activities, or whatever - if we're in charge we are responsible, and God expects us to be faithful. Remember back in Chapter 1, Paul had to deal with so many of them lifting him up as the only man to listen to. So Paul has to constantly defend his apostleship, and here's another little instance. See? I Corinthians 4:3a,4b,5a So Jesus Christ is the One that judgeth Paul, the One who sent him out to be the Apostle of the Gentiles in the first place. Verse 5a: "Therefore (since no one can judge Paul except The Lord Who sent him) judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come," Believers will never receive their rewards until the end of time. Now reading verse 5 again: I Corinthians 4:5 "Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." At the end of time when The Lord comes, then He will make manifest the counsels of the heart which is an area that only God can see. There is coming a time when that sharp light of God's knowledge is going to penetrate even into the very hearts of our being, and then every believer shall have praise of God. We are to live and breathe so that we might have the praise of God. I Corinthians 4:6 Paul is having to deal with the problem, that within the congregation of Corinth some were getting all puffed up, and saying, "I'm the one who is most important in this congregation because I go by what Peter taught." I Corinthians 4:7a We are what we are by the Sovereign Grace of God, and this is what Paul is emphasizing to these Corinthians. I Corinthians 4:7 From God. now if thou didst receive it, why doest thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" Because God's Grace has seen fit to permit it. Now verse 8: I Corinthians 4:8a "Now ye are full, now ye are rich,..." Hey, I thought these believers were carnal. If I want to fill that cup of water with air, what do I do with my water? Half, and if I pour out 3/4 of a cup then 3/4 is air and 1/4 is water. The moment we're saved we're filled to the brim with the Holy Spirit. Pretty soon we start filling that cup up with air or the Pneuma, the Holy Spirit, or we start filling it with material things. Now if we want more of that fullness of the Holy Spirit back in our lives, what are we going to have to do with material that's in the cup? Looking at verse 8 again Paul tells these carnal Christians: I Corinthians 4:8,9 "Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you." "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last (I think Paul is including the Twelve back there in Jerusalem, himself, and probably Barnabas), as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men." Do you realize that all twelve of the apostles except maybe John who may have died a natural death, as he was in exile on the isle of Patmos, but all the others died a martyred death, everyone of them, a horrible death, and the Apostle Paul the same way. Let's go for a moment to II Corinthians, Chapter 11 and look at how Paul had to suffer. And as you read this passage inspired by the Holy Spirit (so this isn't Paul just simply expressing his own feelings of his own vision, this is Holy Spirit inspired) it's here for a purpose. And look what this man went through for the sole purpose of getting the Gospel out to the Gentile world. II Corinthians 11:22,23a Do you remember what Paul said about the Gospel back there in Chapter 1 of I Corinthians? I Corinthians 1:18a Here in II Corinthians Paul is saying that from the world he was a fool to have chucked all the power, prestige, and wealth that he had as a Jewish religious leader. II Corinthians 11:23-28 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. If you were just constantly suffering everyday of your life for the simple reason of getting the Gospel out to these pagan heathen who were so content to worship their gods of wood and stone. #LesFeldick #BibleStudy #Bible