Author Archive: Steve
Steve is blessed to be the husband of Alice, the father of Sarah and Douglas, the father-in-law of Paul, the granddad of Samuel and Avery, a Pastor at the Vineyard Community Church in Big Pine Key, Florida, and most gratefully, a child of the King.
1 Corinthians Chapter 13
This Preaching in Shorts Bible study is on 1 Corinthians. Each chapter is read verse by verse with the major points highlighted and discussed.
You can listen to the study by clicking here
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (NIV)
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Love is the most excellent way.
True spirituality is completely unrelated to the gifts a person may have from the Spirit. Love is the indication of a person’s true spirituality.
With that said I want to first address 1 Corinthians 8b-10 and have a discussion on spiritual gifts in the church today.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 (NIV)
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
There is quite a range of thought on where the spiritual gifts fit in to the church today.
Position 1: Signs and wonders ceased at the end of the Apostolic Age
BB Warfield – Counterfeit Miracles – Pages 5-6
Everywhere, the Apostolic Church was marked out as itself a gift from God, by showing forth the possession of the Spirit in appropriate works of the Spirit – miracles of healing and miracles of power, miracles of knowledge, whether in the form of prophecy or in the discerning of spirits, miracles of speech, whether of the gift of tongues or of their interpretation. The Apostolic Church was characteristically a miracle working church. How long did this state of things continue? It was the characterizing peculiarity of specifically the Apostolic Church, and it belonged therefore exclusively to the Apostolic age….These gifts were not the possession of the primitive Church as such… they were distinctively the authentication of the Apostles. They were part of the credentials of the Apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the Church. Their function (i.e. healing and other miracles) thus confined them to distinctively the Apostolic Church, and they necessarily passed away with it…The possession of the charismata (i.e the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit in the early Church) was confined to the Apostolic Age…They (the miracle workings) were confined to the Apostolic Age, and to a very narrow circle then.
Here is the scripture used to support this position:
Position 2: Signs and wonders ceased because they belonged only to the earliest centuries. They ceased because they were no longer needed as divine credentials since the church had been widely established and officially sanctioned and the Canon was completed.
John MacArthur – The Charismatics
There he states the following:
“As we study the Scripture, we find three categories of spiritual gifts. In Ephesians 4 there is the category of gifted men: Apostles, prophets, evangelists, teaching pastors and teachers. These gifted men are called to be leaders in the church. Secondly, there are the permanent edifying gifts, which would include knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, teaching, exhortation, faith (or prayer), discernment, showing mercy, giving, administration and helps (see Romans 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28). Thirdly, there were the temporary sign gifts. These were certain enablements given to certain believers for the purpose of authenticating or confirming God’s word when it was proclaimed in the early Church before the Scriptures were penned. These sign gifts were temporary. Their purpose was not primarily to edify, although sometimes edification did occur. The four temporary sign gifts were miracles, healings, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These four sign gifts had a unique purpose – to give the apostles credentials, to let the people know that these men all spoke the truth of God. But once the Word of God was inscriptured, the sign gifts were no longer needed and they ceased. The gift of miracles and the gift of healing were both special sign gifts given for the single purpose of confirming God’s revelation.” (p. 131)
“The gift of healing was one of four miraculous sign gifts that were given to help the apostolic community to confirm their preaching of the gospel message in the early years of the Church. Once the Word of God was completed, the signs ceased. Miraculous signs were no longer needed.” (p. 149)
The scripture used as a proof text for this position is 1 Corinthians 13:8-10, which we are discussing now.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10 (NIV)
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
This position is based on a reading of 1 Corinthians 13:8-10 which says, “.. when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part is done away with”. The phrase, “… that which is perfect…” is interpreted to be the completed Canon of Scripture (that is the New Testament). This brings us down to approximately 400 A.D. The words, “…that which is in part will be done away with…”, refer to the Spiritual Gifts (miracles, healing, etc.). This is a widely held position by both Reformed and Dispensationalist scholars. The ARGUMENT follows these lines: 1) the word “perfect” is a neuter noun and refers to a thing and not a person. Since Scripture is a thing and is neuter in gender, it must be the “perfect” to which Paul is referring. 2) This concept fits well with Paul’s illustration in verses 11-12. Scripture and knowledge. These gifts were “childish” while Scripture is “mature”. These gifts give “dim” images and “partial” knowledge contrasted with Scripture which reflects perfectly and conveys full on knowledge. Some of the WEAKNESSES of this position are: 1) While “perfect” is neuter, it should not necessarily be equated with another neuter noun. A neuter noun or pronoun can be used to describe masculine and/or feminine things or even persons. One example is the word “begotten” (John 3:6) which is neuter as a reference to Jesus, which is masculine. The word “Spirit” is also neuter, but it is clear from Scripture that even though neuter, He is not an “it” but a “He”. 2) The interpretation calls for a leaving of the immediate context to determine the identity of “perfect”. The proponents look to 2 Timothy 3:15-16 when “Scripture” is neuter to file their case. Certainly the Corinthians did not have 2 Timothy at their disposal to help them interpret the text.
2 Timothy 3:15-16 (NIV)
15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
If not “Scripture”, then what is “the perfect”? A British scholar, F.F. Bruce, says that “perfect” is the second coming of Christ. (Bruce, F.F., 1 & 2 Corinthians, p. 122). This certainly fits well within the context of the overall book. 1 Corinthians 1:7 gives that very impression.
1 Corinthians 1:7 (NIV)
7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
Position 3: Signs and wonders continue today
In my opinion all of scripture supports this position as does church history.
Now, let’s talk about love a little more.
Paul tells us that love is patient.
The second half of verse four gives us some tips for being patiently loving or lovingly patient
1 Corinthians 13:4b (NIV)
…It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
Love does not envy
Love does not boast (vaunteth)
(brag, vaunt)
Love is not proud
And we also see that
Love is kind
Paul tells us what love being kind looks like in
1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
It is not rude
Are you aware of your own rudeness? Do you catch yourself being rude? Do you ever say “I don’t mean to be rude but ……” as though somehow this is an excuse for being rude. If someone says I don’t mean to be rude but.. to you, you need to kindly go (cover ears and go lalalalalalal). You are helping them.
It is not self-seeking
It is not easily angered
It doesn’t say love never gets angry, there is an appropriate anger.
It keeps no record of wrongs
Just like verses 4 and 5 fit together, so do verses 6 through 8. They point us to the source that makes living a life of love possible, they help us to get our eyes on Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:6-8 (NIV)
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
Love rejoices with the truth
It is only possible to even hope to love this way by getting our eyes focused on Him and trying to live by doing the next right thing. With Jesus as our center of our lives we can begin to experience the love expressed in verses 7 and 8.
Love never fails
How does love never fail? Paul again helps to define this amazing love, this time by telling us what love does.
1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
It always protects
It always trusts
It always hopes
It always perseveres
This type of unfailing love is expressed to us by the Lord. As we can begin to recognize and experience this love for us by Him, we can then begin to love others in this way.
Category: Preaching in Shorts
Developing a Disciple’s Heart – Part 1
This Preaching in Shorts sermon series is called “Developing a Disciples Heart”.
Listen to this message by clicking here
Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was. He could have come up with a very complex detailed answer, but He didn’t. His answer was simple and perfect. Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. This was Jesus answer to being asked the big question, “what is the most important thing in life?” Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
If that is the most important thing then it just makes sense for us to make it a priority. Loving God and loving others is what comes out of a disciple’s heart. So, developing a disciple’s heart is where our journey must take us.
What does that look like in a practical way? For me, it looks like this. I remember to love God by being thankful for at least five things every day. Then, I try and encourage at least two people every day. This is how I love my neighbor. And as far as loving myself goes, I try to live each day by doing the next right thing. These three things really help me to stay focused and experience and enjoy Jesus moments each and every day. But life being what it is, it is very easy to get distracted and then get off course. As we said last week, the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
My deepest desire is to be with Jesus. To be His disciple, to follow and serve Him. But sometimes, my flesh, my selfishness, my issues get in the way.
So, in developing a disciple’s heart there is a need to get even more practical. Being thankful, encouraging and doing the next right thing are what I am shooting at in being a disciple, but I need something to help me stay on track, to stay focused.
That is where the Disciple’s Heart Primer comes in. We need to prime the pump.
This includes:
Get Focused – Hebrews 10:19-25
Get Thankful – Philippians 4:4-8
Get Connected – Matthew 6:9-13
Get Dressed – Ephesians 6:12-18
Get Encouraging – 1 Corinthians 13-4-8a
Git r done – Matthew 6:33 and Matthew 7:12
Git r done? (End of Day review) – Hebrews 12:1-3
Today, we are going to start looking at getting focused.
Scripture Reading
Hebrews 10:12-17 (MSG)
12 As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God 13 and waited for his enemies to cave in. 14 It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. 15 The Holy Spirit confirms this: 16 This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time “I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts.” 17 He concludes, I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.
We are going to dig a little deeper into the first of our getting focused verses:
Hebrews 10:19 (NIV)
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
Let’s start by talking about the therefore
1. Therefore
When you read “therefore” in a passage of scripture, you need to figure out what it is there for. In this case it’s referring back to the verses of our scripture reading. Because of Jesus perfect sacrifice for our sins, God no longer remembers our sins.
Hebrews 10:17 (NIV)
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”
This idea is one that you must take deep into your disciple’s heart. What Jesus did at the cross was a “perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people”. Because of what Jesus has done, not because of anything that we have done, we can enter into the Most Holy Place. We learn about the Most Holy Place in the book of Exodus. The Most Holy place was where the literal presence of God was. Because of Jesus, we can now be in the literal presence of God. In His presence we can get a
2. Throne Room Perspective
Ephesians 1:18-20 (NIV)
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
The eyes of our disciple’s heart can be opened so that we can know the Hope to which he has called us to. We can know the riches of His glorious inheritance. We can know the power that at is work in those of us who believe. It is the same power that was at work when Jesus was raised from the dead and seated in the heavenly realms at the right hand of the Father. He has us covered for eternity.
When you get a throne room perspective for the day, then you have a completely different way of looking at things that happen throughout the day. Problems become opportunities for God to move, worry and fear can be moved into faith and peace, we can have Hope in situations knowing that He is with us and for us. And we need to understand that our
3. Confidence is in Christ
Ephesians 2:4-6 (NIV)
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
In Christ, we too have been seated with Him in the heavenly realms!
In Christ. God sees and relates to us in Christ. Our confidence to be in the Most Holy Place is not in our own works or performance, it is in Christ.
See, in Christ, by His blood, we have the amazing blessing available to us that we can enjoy the presence of God 24/7. But how much time do we actually spend in His presence? That is a big question that as His disciples you need to ask yourself. Are you spending time with Him?
What keeps us from taking advantage of the amazing opportunity we have to hang out with Him? Maybe we struggle like Isaiah does in chapter 6:1-7. When he enters into the presence of God he is overwhelmed by his own unworthiness.
Perhaps, the reality of the presence of God and His holiness causes us to be overwhelmed by the reality of our brokenness. It is like a mirror that puts our sin and brokenness right in our face, and yet if we can just understand that our confidence in being in His presence is in Christ, then we can begin the process of being healed of the mess. Our guilt and shame stop becoming such easy fodder for the evil one to try keep us from the life we have been called to as Jesus disciples.
We are not worthy to be in His presence in our own right, but in Christ we can be there in confidence. I want to encourage you to start everyday by hanging out with God in the Most Holy Place in confidence because of what Jesus has done for you. There is nothing to be afraid of, or ashamed of. God is holy, but in His holiness there is love and acceptance and the power to transform and heal us.
Category: Preaching in Shorts
Saturday Afternoon Reflection
We had another awesome outreach this morning with our $1 Dollar Car Wash. We washed 86 cars and a bicycle. We had a wonderful group of volunteers and everyone was really busy for the entire two hours. As I spend a little quiet time getting ready for the first of our weekend services tonight, I was thinking about how amazing an event like the $1 Dollar Car Wash is. What an excellent way to reach people with the love of God. I am thankful to be a part of a group of people who think it is fun to bless others. One of the car wash volunteers today, as we were working hard and fast washing cars, looked at me with a smile on his face and sweat dripping off his forehead, and said, “is it crazy that I look forward to this all month”? No, I totally get it.
I think about all the work that has already gone into getting ready for the weekend. I think about all of the volunteers who will be busy this weekend preparing and serving food and coffee, teaching and caring for the children and youth, greeting and waving, praying, cleaning, and on and on. And I am humbled. This afternoon my thoughts lead me to this simple question, isn’t it amazing to be included in His story?
Category: A Jesus Moment Ramblings
