SEXUAL MORALITY
Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 5-6
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
Corinth was an important city in ancient Greece and it played a major role in the missionary work of the Apostle Paul. Seen behind the Temple of Apollo is the steep mountain of the Acrocorinth. On top is the fortified citadel of ancient and medieval Corinth (see David Reynold’s picture below). It is the most important fortification work in the area from antiquity until the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The mountain is 575 metres high and its walls are almost 2,000 metres in length. At the highest summit was the Temple of Aphrodite, where prostitution was a prominent part of the worship of the goddess.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 6:11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
The Amish call the practice of separating a person from the congregation, “shunning.” Paul, in 5:11-13, gives a list of those who are to be set aside from participating in the congregation. There is another list in 6:8-10. The leaders of the church in Corinth had written to Paul, who had founded their church, to ask him for his guidance in handling these most difficult matters (7:1). Why would Paul be so strict? The answer is found in 5:6-8. If we can find the time, we might do well to reread the words in the references listed here. Leaven, or yeast, will cause the bread to rise well above the pan, unless checked by the heat of baking. Unchecked, it can make quite a mess. Sin, unless checked, will eventually infect the whole loaf, the church, the family, the individual life, and even the life of our country. The role of government is to stop evil from spreading out of control. More about that tomorrow. We might want to pray for a turn-around in the health of huge numbers of people infected by sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Sexual promiscuity is the root cause of this modern epidemic. May God help us to be faithful to one man, one woman marriage, or else remain chaste as a single person.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, I’m well aware that sin is not just those actions mentioned in Paul’s lists. I often think of Your Word that says, “To know to do good and to not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). Anything less than Your perfect plan for the human family is sin. Therefore, I have no problem agreeing with the Apostle John in 1 John 1:8-9. Thus, I ask for Your constant forgiveness and Your cleansing action in my life. In Your Holy Name I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
When I was a very young minister, my hero in the ministry, Tom Johnstone, shocked me with this story. He was a Pastor in Montreal when he discovered one of the prominent men in his church was unfaithful to his wife. Here’s what happened! Pastor Johnstone, a one-time boxer, took this man by the lapels of his suit coat and said, “With the spiritual authority God has given me as your Pastor, I now deliver you unto Satan for the destruction of your flesh, so that your spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (5:5). The man fell to his knees, repented before God and his Pastor, and later to his wife, and the woman with whom he had committed this sin. God forgave him and so did his wife. That family was restored. His flesh was destroyed in that he, by his godly sorrow, identified with Christ in death. In Galatians 2:20 Paul writes, “I am crucified with Christ.” In Romans 6:11, Paul writes, “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I’ve never been brave enough to do what Tom Johnstone did, but I’ve seen the same results in a number of wayward men. I’ve knelt beside them and prayed fervently for the gift of repentance, and for the power of God to deliver them from evil. I know God answers prayer. AMEN!!!!!
Yours for living right before God and people,
David
A view from the entrance to the top of the Acropolis Hill (Acrocorinth).
Stunning photos, scripture and powerful message about Pastor Johnstone’s rebuke of the sinner. Wow!! We are so blessed by the washing of our sins through our Saviour’s blood. Be well, today, blessed saints in the Lord. For, oh, how He loves us so!!
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:30-31
With A Thankful Heart – Don Moen (with lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8q-4ZePMY
Amen Beverlee and for the song!
YEP! Praise the Lord! When we repent He does forgive and it is forgotten, God does not throw it up in our face every time we fail,again, Praise the Lord!
I pray to God to bring people to their knees and confess their sins and receive forgiveness; what a blessing when the whole family is involved; it makes for a stronger society.
Blessings to all……
Praying for this whole James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel situation – for true repentance, reconciliation, and renewal. That what the enemy has attempted in tearing down and destroying, the Lord will bring about greater things for His glory in the lives of His people.
Praying for the precious, broken Syrian couple who lost all their children – that they would find hope, comfort and strength and new life in Christ. That they would encounter true Christians who will be able to demonstrate to them the love and compassion of Jesus.
Blessings on you all today, dear brothers and sisters.
Agreeing with your prayer, Deanna.
God is a restorer! May He bring forgiveness, restoration and healing to all involved.
His mercies are new Every Morning! Amen!
Oh, how I need His mercy and grace!
Yes, agreeing prayer with you Deanna and Luisa
God bless you Deanna!
what is hard to handle sometimes is when we hear of sexual misconducts involving people from a church, we think this should not happen BUT the devil is right there also; so; we need daily to repent and to ask for our sins to be forgiven and we need to encourage and pray for others also….It makes me realize more and more just what kind of a God we have! He sees all, hears all, knows all, yet He tells us through His Word that He will never leave nor forsake us! Thank you Lord, thank you, in Jesus Name we pray and say `THANK YOU….AMEN
Agreeing in prayer with Beverlee, Deanna and Luisa! God is building HIS church. May good like you described come out of this awful tragedy with the Syrian family. Amen!
I too am coming into agreement and praying for this Syrian family and the awful tragedy that has happened thank you again today for the reading of God’s word and that each day I read God’s word that my mind is being renewed thank you Ron and Ann Reynolds for carrying on the Legacy by David mainse in the reading of hundred words. CA I pray that all my blogging friends will have a blessed day amen
I meant to say Ron and Ann mainse and Reynold mainse just correcting.
I read the government is arranging to have the surviving Syrian woman, Kawthar Barho’s, mother and brother from Lebanon, expedited to Canada and a go fund me page has begun to raise money to help this family. Prayers to our Heavenly Father, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to the sanctity of the Holy Spirit in her grieving process and for the healing of her husband, Ebraheim, who remains in the medically induced coma. Lord God, we lift them up to You. In Jesus mighty Name. Amen, amen, and amen.
Thanks for sharing this good news; I pray for comfort and peace for the Syrian woman! praise God that she will not be totally alone at this time of great sorrow; that her parents will be with her: Also that the Blessed arms of Jesus with hold her close in the Palm of His hands!! In your Precious Holy Name I pray! Amen and Amen!