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But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out. Numbers 32:23 (ESV)

As stated in Galatians 6:7 what we sow we will also reap and there is no way to pull the wool over Gods eyes. Justice for your sin will ultimately come on the day of judgement or was ultimately satisfied through Jesus on the cross.

Just because Jesus has paid the price for our sin, it does not mean we can live in sin, this is wickedness and foolishness and God will not be mocked in this way. We can not hold God to ransom, he is no fool, he is God!

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV)

This is the main point for Paul, he was dealing with a very unruly church in Corinth where there was a lack or order in the service with tongues and prophecies being said over each other which just ended up with no one benefiting as everyone tried to say their piece. James 3:16-17 paints a picture of the problems in the church at Corinth.

Instead of this our worship should reflect the nature of our God. Mayhem and confusion are not characteristic of God (but these were the traits of the false gods) and so he is not the author or cause of it in the church, the charge for this lays at our own feet, so we must abandon self centred behaviour like this.

God desires harmony, peace and order in his church for the mutual benefit of its members and for his glory, so lets reflect him in our worship.

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. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. 1 Corinthians 14:34–35 (ESV)

Understanding the background to the problems in the church at corinth will help us to put these statements from Paul into their proper context. In the Greek tradition prophecy like the ones coming from the oracle at Delphi required questions being asked to prompt the prophetic utterance. It is likely that some married Corinthian women in the church who were likely prophetesses themselves and involved in the weighing of prophesies were influenced by their surrounding culture and asked questions as part of the service.

Paul wanted to make the point that unlike the oracle at Delphi and other forms of prophecy form the ancient world, prophecy in the church did not require priming questions but was instead completely dependant on the inspiration and direction of the Holy Spirit and so addresses these women in this context in particular to ask questions at home and not to disrupt the service. So the theme of order in the service remains.

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, 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (ESV)

Paul made clear the thing of first or greatest importance is the Gospel message which he summarises here

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4 (ESV)

God is truly beautiful, just thinking about who God is as revealed in his word is so wonderful. We should stop and savour God, his word and his presence. When we stop and look to God, then when we ask him questions we get answers

Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. Numbers 31:15–16 (ESV)

In Revelation 2:14 we hear Jesus tell us through John that the church at Pergammum were in a dangerous place of compromise, which was expressed by some holding to the teaching of Balaam who taught these Midianites to put a stumbling before the children of Israel in the form of sexual immorality and idolatry. Jesus calls on the church to repent of the sins of compromise and appeasement with the world. Balaam represents false teaching while the women guilty of enticement represent compromise and sin, we must kill both of these with impunity, like John Owen said, “…be killing sin or sin be killing you”

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. 1 Corinthians 14:5 (ESV)

Paul’s main point in this section is to encourage the Corinthians who were fond of using the gift of tongues (the miraculous ability to speak unlearned human and angelic languages), to see the greater worth in prophesying (bringing a message from God under the direction of the Holy Spirit to the body of believers that is intelligible) as this builds up the body which is one of his main points in the letter as a whole.

For the immature it seems the gift of tongues was one of the things leading to pride and a false sense of maturity. We should use our gifts to build up our fellow believers. Prophesying provides insight, warning, correction, and encouragement.. tongues will do this too only with interpretation.

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. 1 Corinthians 14:19–20 (ESV)

Paul made clear that he spoke in tongues more than everyone in the Corinthian church, but from the context it seems he did this speaking in tongues “more than them all” in private. Paul makes his point even clearer by saying he would rather speak just 5 words that were intelligible while in the public assembly of the church than 10000 words in tongues which are not intelligible (without interpretation). So the point is again made that we should seek to build one another up, this should be the motivation behind the pursuit of and use of the gifts in the church.

God made our minds not the devil, God wants our minds to be engaged and used for him and his glory, in light of this Paul calls the church to clear and mature thinking. As Christians we need to engage in the discipline of thinking, mediating on Gods word and using our God given intellectual faculties to build up and encourage one another in the Lord.

Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. Psalm 26:2 (ESV)

We should walk with a pure heart before the Lord in integrity then we can join David in this prayer asking God to examine us. The New Testament goes even further and reminds us to examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith see 2 Corinthians 13:5

But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the LORD will forgive her. Numbers 30:8 (ESV)

God is our Father and we are the Bride of Christ, so in this way there is a spiritual lessons to learn. We may say or declare something which ends up being a prison or burden to us, but God can reverse the foolish things we declare in our folly and lack of knowledge because his words and decrees are more powerful than ours and we are in a relationship with him were he is our covering and head / authority. Jesus told us to avoid foolish vows but to make our conversation plain simply saying yes or no in Matthew 5:37

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. 1 Corinthians 12:13 (ESV)

All Christians are baptised and have the Holy Spirit living in them. We are by definition spiritual people or people of the Spirit. The Spirit is what essentially distinguishes us from the unbelievers and marks the beginning of our lives in Christ (see Galatians 3:2–3). The Holy Spirit above all is what makes a person a child of God because without the Holy Spirit we can not be born again. This common source and entry into God’s kingdom should cause us to walk in unity despite cultural and ethnic diversity. We are a new community in Christ.

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 1 Corinthians 12:18 (ESV)

We should not be focused on position but purpose and function in the body, we have the gifts and position that God has given us, he has arranged the body and knows what will be the greatest blessing for the body as a whole and for the sake of the glory of his name and kingdom. So lets joyfully embrace the purpose God has for us in the body

which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 1 Corinthians 12:24–26 (ESV)

We have interdependence to one another in the body, God has designed the body of Christ in this way so that we care for one another

Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:30 (ESV)

The answer to the rhetorical questions is no, we are not all prophets, we do not all work miracles or speak with or interpret tongues etc this is Paul’s point, we all have different gifts, callings and positions in the diverse but unified body of Christ.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1–3 (ESV)

Paul is now outlining the better way, which is not to use gifts to out do each other, to build ourselves up or in a competitive spirit but to use the gifts in love for our fellow believers to build them up. Paul begins this line of reasoning by using three hyperbolic (extreme) examples of the use of spiritual gifts and endeavours and pitches them against love, concluding that without love these great feats are nothing. So the gifts should never be used aside from love, otherwise the gifts can be abused and lead the one using the gift into a false sense of security and ultimate fruitlessness (I am nothing, I gain nothing). Love is essential.

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. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (ESV)

Paul gives us a wonderful poetic description of love, stating what it is and is not. Pastor Dennis once got us to replace the word love with our own name, it is a good exercise to help you meditate on the way Agape love functions in your life

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (ESV)

When the new heaven and earth come and we see God face to face, knowing as we are known the the gifts will be surpassed but love will never be surpassed but is eternal and so more important than anything else in the Christian life

Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:4–5 (ESV)

This should be the humble and needy prayer of our hearts today, how deeply need god to teach and instruct us. Thank God that we now have the Spirit of Truth to guide and lead us into all truth in accordance with God’s word as Jesus tells us in John 14:15-17, John 15:26 and John 16:13

The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. Psalm 25:14 (ESV)

Only those who fear and obey the Lord can truly be called his friends. In John 15:15 Jesus said “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

“These you shall offer to the LORD at your appointed feasts, in addition to your vow offerings and your freewill offerings, for your burnt offerings, and for your grain offerings, and for your drink offerings, and for your peace offerings.” Numbers 29:39 (ESV)

All the Feasts point to spiritual realities in the New Testament, The following is adapted from the “New Bible commentary: 21st century edition”… Passover points to Jesus’ crucifixion. The Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (firstfruits) points to the sending of the Holy Spirit and the firstfruits of the gospel harvest (Acts 2). The Feast of Tabernacles points to Christ’s second coming at the close of the age, marking the end of the harvest.

The time between the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles was a busy period when Israel laboured for the harvest. Similarly, between Pentecost and the second coming labourers are sent to reap the harvest among the Gentiles (Mt 9:37–38; 13:30–39; Lk. 10:2; Jn. 4:35). At the end of the age, the harvest will be gathered in and the weeds thrown into the fire (Mt. 13:39; Mk. 4:29; Rev. 14:15).

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 1 Corinthians 11:3 (ESV)

This first half of 1 Cor 11, is one of the parts of the New Testament that is the subject of much debate among biblical scholars. One thing we can certainly see in context to the issues dealt with before and after this section is that Paul is concerned with proper Christian conduct in the church.

The point Paul is driving home is that there is order, rank and authority in Gods created order and even in the relationship between the Father and the Son. This should be reflected in creation and most clearly in the church. A pressing point for Paul was to address a tendency from the secular world around the Corinthians for male and female distinctions to become blurred, we have the same fight in today’s culture which is trying to make sexuality and gender roles so androgynous so as to lose distinction all together.

We must uphold the image of God in the church by men dressing and acting as men and women as women, not in competition with each other but complementing one another.

for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. 1 Corinthians 11:19 (ESV)

The divisions in the Corinthian church were sometimes along social lines and betrayed the message of the Gospel by giving preference to the rich. Paul summarises this activity as unbiblical and points to the very divisions as a tool God would use weed out the church and to distinguish between those who were genuine as opposed to those still in the flesh. In Church history division in the church has given rise to the firmer definition our doctrines, creed and confessions, just like germs in a body give rise to antibodies making the body stronger.

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 1 Corinthians 11:28 (ESV)

We are reminded of this at every Lord’s Supper and must take the command seriously, we really need to examine our hearts towards God and our fellow believers and if we have not been walking as we ought to then we should refrain from taking the Lord’s supper until we are right. Self examination should be a daily Christian discipline.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 1 Corinthians 12:4–6 (ESV)

This is such a wonderful passage, God has given a diverse variety of gifts to the Church through the members of the church, we do not all have the same gift, all our gifts and callings are different. Another amazing thing abut this passage is the entire Trinity is involved in the distribution of the varied gifts to the Church. The Spirit, The Lord Jesus and God the Father.

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

Our Gifts are not for us but for the common good of our fellow believers, we are not supposed to use our gifts to build ourselves up or for our own advantage but to lovingly serve the body of Christ

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. 1 Corinthians 12:10 (ESV)

Tongues and the interpretation of tongues is a gift of the Spirt given to some rather than all believers. Some today say that a believer does not have the Holy Spirit unless they speak in tongues but this is a mistake as tongues is one of the list of possible gifts given to individuals alongside prophecy, healing, words of wisdom etc. As the final verse states we can not decide or dictate which gifts we are given, the Holy Spirit apportions to each individually according to His own will.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Psalm 24:8 (ESV)

Hallelujah, Jesus is the King of Glory!

And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. Numbers 28:3 (ESV)

All these sacrifices find their ultimate fulfilment in Jesus, with the different types of sacrifice pointing towards various aspects of Jesus atoning work on the cross. In this case we can also see a message for us directly. We should dedicate ourselves to consistent, daily, repeated (within one day, possibly the morning and the evening) times of prayer and reading the Bible (thinking it over and studying it too). See Romans 12:1 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 1 Corinthians 10:23–24 (ESV)

The Corinthians were very much concerned with their rights and freedom to do what they wanted to do and what pleased them. Paul reverses this and explains to them and us that the freedom and rights we have in Christ are not for our own benefit but so that we can be become servants of all (Mark 9:35), purposefully building up fellow believers. Paul bases this thinking on the teaching and example left to us by Jesus in his sacrificial suffering and death on the cross. Let’s lay down our rights, freedom and lives to serve and build others.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

Paul was dealing with a new question in the church about eating meat that had been used in pagan sacrifice, this seemed like a grey area to the Corinthians which is why they asked the questions and contended over the issue. Paul gives us a great test for all things we are not sure about… we can ask ourselves this question “Will this bring glory to God”. We need to ensure this is the overarching motivation in our hearts for everything we do. We can not compartmentalise our life so that a part of it brings glory to God and the rest is for our own pleasure… Our entire life should bring glory to 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. 1 Corinthians 10:33 (ESV)

Another guiding principle for our thinking and behaviour is the desire to see others saved