Paul in everyday life

SECTION I. Sunday, First Week, 1 Cor. 1:1-9

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; 5 that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all utterance and all knowledge; 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8 who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, through whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Saint Paul had received letters from some of the Christians in Corinth which revealed a most unfortunate state of affairs in the Church there. There was strife, and there were moral lapses.

The Apostle, in seeking to write of the situation, begins by emphasizing his relation to the Church. He is not an officious person. He is an apostle of Christ by the will of God. And he is not an arrogant man, for he shares his spiritual authority with Sosthenes. He is not seeking solitary distinction. He simply longs with the boldness of Divine authority, and the lowliness of Christian comradeship, to serve the Church of Christ.

The Apostle gives some of the marks of a true church:

(1) The sanctified, those who are surrendered to Christ, forgiven, and possessed by the Spirit.

(2) Those who are progressing in holiness.

(3) Those who are catholic in their Christian sympathies.

(4) The bond of unity between Christians: "our Lord both theirs and ours."

Divine Master, may I be a true member of Thy Holy Church, and a true worker, also. Make me fearless and lowly, loving and strong.

Monday, First Week, 1 Cor. 1 :10-17.

10 Now I beseech you, brethren, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, my brethren, by them that are of the household of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

12 Now this I mean, that each one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, save Crispus and Gaius; 15 lest any man should say that ye were baptized into my name. 16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.

There were divisions in the Church. Some were for Paul, others for Apollos, others for Peter, and yet others for Christ. That is to say, some of the members of the Corinthian Church were tempted to lose sight of Christ, in their enthusiasm for preachers ; while some others were tempted to have contempt for preachers in their possession of Christ. These two temptations are with us still.

All divisions- among Christians are based upon false emphasis. Saint Paul did not minimize the importance of baptism. He simply was careful to keep the emphasis of his ministry in line with the mind of Christ.

Teach me, Lord Jesus, to give Thee the supreme place in

Thy Church. May I never eclipse Thy presence by my devotion to Thy servants, and may my sense of Thy nearness not obscure to my eyes the true function of Thy servants.

Tuesday, First Week, 1 Cor. 1 :18-22.

18 For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written.

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought.

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. 22 Seeing that Jews ask for signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom:

It is a marvelous asset in life to have a clear view of what one's work really is. The apostle Paul had the power that came from definiteness of purpose and simplicity of method. It enabled him to leave his reputation absolutely in the hands of God. He was unmoved when men spoke of his message as foolishness.

The appeal to pure reason is not enough in order to reach lives with Christ's message, because there is so much more than reason in human personality, which has to be influenced before decisions are made. And there are elements in personality even more difficult to move than reason. And when these are influenced they wonderfully affect reason. We are learning more and more every day that intellect is very far from being everything in religious apprehension.

Wednesday, First Week, 1 Cor. 1:23-31.

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling-block, and unto Gentiles foolishness; 24 but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

are called: 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption: 31 that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

The fact of Christ being the power of God is indicated by the triumphs of His Church, and by the spiritual experience of believers. That type of Christian consciousness born of fellowship with Christ in His passion and risen life is the richest, the deepest, the truest to the apostolic conception of Christian experience.

Saint Paul says not many wise men are called. Why? Is it not because they are supremely tempted to give intellect the absolute right of way in their lives without realizing that life contains more than intellect? Faith has rights, and those rights are recognized in other directions in human affairs. Faith is an instinct, not contrary to pure reason, but beyond it. Some great minds forget to let that faith faculty which they allow a place in other decisions have its legitimate place in religion.

Thursday, First Week, 1 Cor. 2 :l-5.

1 And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

The thought here is that the method of approach to those who are not Christians is by declaring a testimony regarding Christ and His cross. It is not so much the making of an argument as a statement of a fact, delivered in simple language and with a deep sense of human frailty, but at the same time in the strong assurance that the Divine Spirit is using it for the establishing of the faith of men.

The ability to win others to Christ, the apostle declares, is not in the posession of great mental gifts, but rather in a strong faith that the Holy Spirit will use the message of the story of the cross of Christ. The least accomplished may be greatly used of the Spirit if they have faith.

Divine Spirit, I would trust Thee this day to use me, as I speak of Jesus to some life, to bless my words, weak and faltering though they may be. May I judge the result, not by my feelings, but according to Thy promise,

Friday, First Week, 1 Cor 2:6-12.

6 We speak wisdom, however, among them that are full-grown: yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought: 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory; 8 which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory: 9 but as it is written,

Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.

10 But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. 12 But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God.

There is a spiritual wisdom which becomes the possession of those who are living in obedience to the Divine Spirit. There is a perception of truth which does not come from books, a direct illumination which teaches one more in a day of eager listening to the inner voice than the teaching of the schools can give in many days. Besides it is a wisdom which becomes part of the working capital of the daily life. It is a wisdom which may be shared with other Christians for their comfort and inspiration because it comes directly out of the victories of common life.

Teach me, Divine Spirit, this heavenly wisdom, the knowledge which comes to me as I yield myself to Thy will. May I share it with others, and thus make it more and more my own.

Saturday, First Week, 1 Cor. 2:13-16.

13 Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. 14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The truths of which Christians speak and which have been taught them by the vSpirit have not come to them through mere reasoning. They are the result of the spiritual vision of obedient souls. Without obedience it is impossible to discern what the Spirit has to teach. Study cannot do it alone. And should there not be more conversation among Christians concerning those things which the Spirit has taught?

Surely it is a great lack in our friendships if we can speak of everything else that is real to us, and yet be embarrassed, or misunderstood, when we venture to speak with simplicity and modesty of the greatest facts in experience.

Divine Master, may I learn to share with my friends what Thou art teaching me. Help me to conquer my feelings, that I may bring help and cheer to others.

Sunday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 3:1-8.

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; 3 for ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men? 4 For when one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not men? 5 What then is Apollos? and what is Paul? Ministers through whom ye believed; and each as the Lord gave to him. 6 I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. V So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

When Christians live in the spirit of envy and strife they are expressing their baser selves. The spiritual life is being arrested in its development. And consequently they are not able to receive truth that belongs to mature souls. They remair in a spiritual infancy and have to be treated as infants.

The over-emphasis of the human instruments in the wor-k of God is a part of spiritual childishness. And it obscures the divine Worker who alone gives all human effort its effectiveness. And all over-emphasis of the human is dishonoring to God.

Heavenly Father, keep me this day from going backward into spiritual childishness. May my life go from strength to strength and thus be enabled to discern Thy work and place in all human achievements.

Monday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 3:9-15.

9 For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's husbandry, God's building.

10 According to the grace of God which was given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation: and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 But if any man buildeth on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 each man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself shall prove each man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire.

God is the supreme worker. The plans are His. The power is His. He has laid the foundation upon which all

PAUL IX EVERYDAY LIFE true Christian work must be built, and that foundation is Christ.

And there are two kinds of building upon the foundation, that which is in fellowship with the Spirit of God under His direction, and that which is merely one's own efforts. The one is gold, silver, precious stones. The other is wood, hay, stubble.

And all work is tested. Only that which is inspired, directed and capitalized by the Divine Spirit survives. All that is inspired by mere ambition and self-will, and rivalry, must perish. And are we not conscious that all work which has not the right motive perishes even before the judgment-seat of our own conscience?

Tuesday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 3 :16-23.

16 Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.

18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man thinketh that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness: 20 and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain. 21 Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.

To injure one's own life physically, mentally, or spiritually is to impair God's opportunity of expression through a personality.

We owe it to the Divine Spirit to keep our complex being in that condition which shall be an effective channel of His will. Care of the physical body is no trifle since it is a means by which God reveals Himself. The habit of mental concentration is necessary in order that the mind should be a conductor of the Spirit's purpose.

Human life is God's opportunity. And we must learn to see God in it. If we are letting God have His way in us, we shall be able to see Him having His way in others. And to see God expressing Himself through another life is the most beautiful sight in the world.

Lord, may my eyes be wide open to see Thee in the lives about me. Teach me to trace events back to Thee. And may this vision come to me as I yield my own personality to Thy plan.

Wednesday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 4:1-8.

1 Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: But he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.

6 Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other. 7 For who maketh thee to differ? and what has thou that thou didst not receive? but if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? 8 Already are ye filled, already ye are become rich, ye have come to reign without us; yea and I would that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

There are various ways in which one may be independent of the criticisms of others. Some are too careless to care. Others are too haughty to care. But the servant of Christ is independent of criticism because he brings his inner and outer life before the judgment-seat of his Master. And when one is living in the companionship of Christ he will never be greatly moved by the criticism of his fellows. To live under the judgment of Christ means freedom from introspection and from the fear of men.

Blessed Master, may I be so completely Thine in thought and life that I shall be free from self-consciousness and from the dominion of the world. I would this day rejoice in the liberty wherewith Thou dost make me free.

Thursday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 4:9-16. 9 For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all. as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we have dishonor. 11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; 12 and we toil, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat; we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even until now.

14 I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel. 16 I beseech you therefore, be ye imitators of me.

There is a great difference between the lives of some workers and those among whom they work; the workers, w T ith no obligation to work save the love of God in their hearts, living lives of complete self-sacrifice, sometimes misunderstood and misrepresented, keeping on in unabated enthusiasm, while those for whom they toil live in easy, satisfied indifference.

That was the story of Saint Paul's experience and it is true of some of Christ's servants to-day. And it is a glorious triumph for the grace of God in human hearts when disinterested love is not chilled into mere calculating service, but continues in fresh, joyous, unwearied efforts.

Divine Master, keep me from becoming chilled by the easy, self-satisfied living of those for whom I labor. May I not withdraw my enthusiasm for service because it meets with indifferent response. Save me from all forms of cynicism through abiding fellowship with Thyself.

Friday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 4:17-21.

17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who shall put you in remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will; and I will know, not the word of them that are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

It is of great service to hear testimony concerning conspicious self-sacrifice. We do not hear enough about it. The literature where it is to be found is not sufficiently brought before our young people. Modern missionary biography reveals it with dramatic power. And it is a needed tonic against softness, self-seeking, and complaint in life. And it is the lack, in an indolent life, of contrasting his behavior with heroic characters which gives rise to conceit. The man who is puffed up measures his life by the wrong standards.

Heavenly Father, I would this day bring my life into the presence of some of Thy servants who counted not their lives dear unto themselves that they might do Thy holy will. May the contrast between their lives and mine lead me to give myself anew in sacrificial service to Christ.

Saturday, Second Week, 1 Cor. 5 :I«8.

1 It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one o£ you hath his father's wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, being absent in body but present in spirit, have already as though I were present judged him that hath so wrought this thing, 4 in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened. For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ; 8 wherefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Purity of life was a condition of the Christian fellowship even when the members of the Church were just emerging from pagan civilization. How much more after centuries of Christianity must purity be the watchword of Christian character.

The thought and conduct of Christians must be beyond the practice of the times in which they live. They must be the educators of the social conscience; "For they are the pioneers of progress.

Therefore the Church must stand for the highest. If she does not, then she has ceased to fulfill her mission,she has really no place in a community.

Sunday, Third Week, 1 Cor. 5:9-13.

9 I wrote unto you in my epistle to have no company with fornicators; 10 not at all meaning with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world: 11 but as it is, I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any man that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one no, not to eat. 12 For what have I to do with judging them that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.

The follower of Christ must not only be true in his personal character, he must also be sound in his associations. To choose as one's close friends those who are out of sympathy with spiritual living must mean the suppression of what is most real to one. Companionship in the true sense means the sharing of what is of deepest interest. And unless there is sympathy in the things of Christ one is tempted to be silent in his testimony and, at the same time, he is deprived of a great means of inspiration

Monday, Third Week, 1 Cor. 6 :l-8.

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? 2 Or know ye not that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world is judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have to judge things pertaining to this life, do ye set them to judge who are of no account in the church? 5 I say this to move you to shame. What, cannot there be found among you one wise man who shall be able to decide between his brethren, 6 but brother goeth to law with brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 Nay, already it is altogether a defect in you, that ye have lawsuits one with another. Why not rather take wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 Nay, but ye yourselves do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

To bring a matter before the courts in a Christian country is not the same as members of a Christian church bringing disputes before a heathen judiciary. But even in a Christian land the courts should be the last place of appeal. Where the Christian spirit exists there are very many ways to settle problems. The Christian spirit itself settles many otherwise difficult situations.

Teach me, O my Master, to remember that I have sacred duties as well as rights in my life and lot. Give me the humble, self-effacing spirit which conquers by surrender.

Tuesday, Third Week, 1 Cor. 6 :9-14.

9 Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

12 All things are lawful for me; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me; but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall bring to nought both it and them. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body: 14 and God both raised the Lord and will raise up us through his power.