Knowledge – March 23, 2009

Knowledge

1 Corinthians 8:1-2

Jim Stephens

03-23-09

 

Scripture:

 

1 Now let’s talk about food that has been sacrificed to idols. You think that everyone should agree with your perfect knowledge. While knowledge may make us feel important, it is love that really builds up the church. 2 Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. (1 Corinthians 8:1-2 NLT)

 

Observation:

 

Put simply, the situation here is that some of the believers in the Corinth church said, “I can go to the temples of the Greek gods and eat at the feasts of those idols and it’s no big deal!  Those gods aren’t real anyway!”  (And they’re right.)

 

But some new believers who were recently saved out of worshipping those same idol gods and still struggling to get clear on what’s real and what’s not real in the spiritual realm were being hurt by this “freedom” that the “Know-it-alls” were exercising.

 

Paul told them that if you act on your superior knowledge but hurt someone or tempt someone or make them feel inferior in the process, you’ve missed the whole point.

 

Application:

 

One way I can keep from hurting others is to realize that I don’t “know it all.”  Another way is to keep avidly learning – learning from God’s word, learning from life’s experiences, learning from those around me.  Another way is to care enough to stop and think about how my attitude, words, or actions might affect someone else and adjust accordingly.  It’s love that really strengthens the church.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, Please forgive me when I come across to others as a “Know-it-all” and make them feel I’m smarter or stronger or more experienced than they are.  I want to be a loving, caring friend and a life-long learner.  Amen.

 

Did You Receive? – February 12, 2009

Did You Receive

Acts 19:1-2

Jim Stephens

02-12-09

 

Scripture:

 

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. 2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”  (Acts 19:1-2 NLT)

 

Observation:

 

Paul found believers who were living their faith, even though their faith was based in incomplete revelation of the truth.  What they believed was true and real, but there was so much more for them to hear, believe, and experience.

 

They were like Apollos in Acts 18:24-26 – they were living the truth knew, but they were open to more.

 

And like Apollos, when the complete gospel was presented to them, they received it with gladness and began to experience so much more as Christ followers.

 

Application:

 

There are still a lot of believers whose faith-response has been to a less than complete presentation of gospel truth.  I think we are responsible to tell them the whole truth, to help them lay a solid foundation for their faith, to embrace the gospel of the Kingdom of God.

 

This doesn’t mean we are know-it-alls who feel our faith or our doctrines are superior to others’.  It simply means we have a passion to help people be all they can be for God and experience all God has for them.

 

Prayer:

 

Father, help me to be sensitive to people like Apollos and the Ephesian believers who are firm in what they believe but are open to so much more. Help me to be a fully-devoted disciple who leads and inspires others to fully-devoted discipleship.  Amen.