Seven Lessons from Corinth

Thank you, Mr. Dunn. And good afternoon once again. I'm sure you all enjoyed the meal. It was a very fine meal. We're used to having wonderful luncheons here. We've met here for a couple of senior appreciation meals, and we've always had wonderful meals. We've never been let down. So I'm sure you enjoyed it, especially that chocolate cake that everyone thought was loving.

But we checked that several times, and the word was good, so I ate it in faith. Rather than the city of Corinth was the largest and most important city in Greece at the time Paul wrote the two epistles that we have recorded in the Bible. It was around 100,000 people from the sources that I've read.

Ancient Corinth was a port city. It was about 48 miles southwest of Athens. It was totally destroyed by earthquakes and only ruins exist today except for a museum that was built and filled with some very fascinating ancient artifacts which reflected the pagan culture that was extant in ancient Corinth at the time of Paul.

The city of New Corinth was built very near the ancient site and is a city of approximately 30,000 today. My wife Barbara and I visited ancient Corinth on our Mediterranean cruise during the feast in 1989 during our first time living here in Oklahoma. It was truly inspiring to walk some of the streets, what was left of them anyway, that the Apostle Paul undoubtedly walked upon and to see some of the same sights that he would have seen with his own eyes. There were ancient ruins there that he would have seen. Various temples to Apollo. There was a temple there to Isis from Egypt. There were also temples to a goddess, or a couple of goddesses of Greek fertility cults.

There was a temple to Aphrodite, and it's speculated that over a thousand temple prostitutes worked in that particular temple in the time of Paul or around that time.

The Ismian games are referred to by Paul, and the Ismian games were similar to the Olympic games, not quite as popular but second in popularity.

The city of Corinth, the ancient city, was destroyed in 146 BC by Rome. Then Julius Caesar re-founded Corinth in 44 BC as a Roman colony.

The Corinth of the New Testament, when Paul, of course, would have been there, was one of the most beautiful cities of the Greco-Roman world.

It was up high on a mountain area, and you can see the sea below is just a beautiful area.

It was a center for trade. It was also a Roman administrative center.

It was quite a bustling city at the time that Paul was there.

Paul was first there around 50-52 AD on his second missionary journey that's recorded in the Book of Acts.

He was there two years with Aquila and Priscilla.

Then he went to Ephesus for about three years.

I believe he sent Timothy and Erastus to Corinth after he had left there.

I believe Titus also went to Corinth.

So it is a city rich in history, and it really is a city that existed.

Like I said, I've seen it with my own eyes, and it just really makes the Bible come to life when you're able to see some of these ancient sites.

The Apostle Paul taught many valuable lessons to the brethren at Corinth.

Today we're going to consider seven vital lessons from 1 Corinthians, a letter most likely written during the Days of Unleavened Bread.

It certainly talks about the Passover, it talks about the Days of Unleavened Bread, and a couple of instances in the feast.

So everyone pretty much believes that it was written during that time from Ephesus.

So if you like titles, you can call this the Seven Dub Lessons from Corinth.

That's Days of Unleavened Bread. I thought I'd follow Mr. Hopper's lead on that.

These are the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread Lessons from Corinth.

The first lesson is that God grants all of us spiritual gifts, and it is up to us to discover what they are and how to use them.

And why? For the benefit of the overall body of Christ, for the Church.

Paul talked that the Church at Corinth was the body of Christ, and everyone, or not just the Church at Corinth, but other churches at Ephesus and so forth, they were a part of the body of Christ.

And everyone is a part of a larger family, the God family, the family of God.

We are a body and must care for, honor, and value each other.

In 1 Corinthians 1, let's go there. 1 Corinthians 1.

I'm going to make it real easy on all of us today. We're going to stay in the book of 1 Corinthians.

There's really no need to venture out. There's plenty here for a sermon. In fact, there's plenty here for a number of sermons.

So we'll stay in the book of 1 Corinthians. We'll start in verse 1.

And let's begin at the beginning. Read a few verses here.

Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified or set apart in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.

Now, Paul knew that many people would be reading this letter, not just those in Corinth, but many would be reading it. Perhaps he knew that even someday people like us, or maybe he would have considered that perhaps someday, although I know he believed that Christ was coming back a lot sooner, so he would be shocked to know that we're sitting here in Oklahoma City today reading this epistle.

But we too are saints. We are called out, sanctified, and set apart by God to do His will.

He says in verse 3, So notice the emphasis that Paul is putting here.

He's saying that the saints, who were the saints, who were the saints of the Lord Jesus Christ, were the saints of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, in the end, he said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

And Paul certainly has a lot to say about Jesus Christ, and that He's the Son of Jesus Christ.

And so, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, He said, Then Paul would agree with God happy because Christ knew very clearly about Jesus Christ and His role in the church.

Christ is the head of the church. Paul clearly says that.

So it is important to consider this emphasis that He puts on the saints eagerly awaiting the return of Christ I want you to listen carefully and read it along with me. I think we can gain more by reading it together because there's so much in this chapter that if I tried to summarize it, I would probably leave out too much. So let's listen and let's consider it together. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant.

I want you to understand. I want you to know that you were Gentiles, and most of the people in Corinth were Gentiles. Undoubtedly, there were some Jews as well, but the majority of the people that he was addressing were Gentiles. You know that you were Gentiles carried away in these dumb idols, to these dumb idols. However, you were led.

And remember the pagan origin or the pagan background that he was talking to them. They had a very pagan background. Verse 3, Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God caused Jesus a curse, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. That's always important to remember. There are differences of ministries, but again, the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the prophet of all. So the spiritual gifts that we're going to talk about were given for the prophet of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

But one in the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as God wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. So notice the analogy that he's going to develop here. The analogy of the body, the physical body as well as the body of Christ, the Church of God. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. God is not divided, Christ is not divided, there is one Spirit, the Holy Spirit that unites and pulls us all together, brings us all together.

For in fact the body is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing?

If all I could see were a bunch of eyes, all you could do is see how wonderful I look. You wouldn't be able to hear my charming voice. If you were all ears, all you could do is hear my voice. You couldn't see me.

So the analogy is a good one. Let's continue reading. So if the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

So He's talking about each and every one of us being placed in the body of Christ as He pleases. God is in charge. Christ is ahead of the church. We can place our faith in God, and if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now, indeed, there are many members, yet one body. When I look out, I see many members. I see people, over a hundred people here today, well over a hundred people. But I see one body, I see the body of Christ in front of me, the church of God. And the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

I can't look at anyone here and say, I have no need of you. All of you are vital to this church. Every single one of you need to catch the vision that you are vital, that God loves you, that He called you out of this world, that He placed you right where you are, and that you have a role to play here. Verse 22, No much rather those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on those we bestow greater honor, and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need.

But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism or division in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. We all have different talents, we all have different abilities, but if we have love for each other and we care for each other, then we will be able to work together and get something accomplished that's worthwhile and good, and something that God would be pleased with.

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. Or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. The members aren't envious of someone who is honored, but they rejoice. They're glad, they're happy. Verse 27, now you are the body of Christ and members individually, and God has appointed these in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers. After that, miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Paul asked the question, are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles?

Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? Of course, the answer is no. There's not a single person here that has all of these gifts, that serves in all of these ways. We all serve in different ways, but all ways are important. Notice verse 31, that earnestly desire the best gifts, and yet I show you a more excellent way. And we're going to talk about that more excellent way a little bit later in the sermon.

There is a more excellent way than all of this, and really that excellent way ties it all together, and we'll see that as we go along. Brethren, I would encourage you to use the gifts that God has given you. First, you have to know what they are. You have to consider, think about, examine yourself, consider what it is that God has given you that you can share to make the Church of God stronger.

Sometimes we think we have certain gifts just because we may want certain gifts. I've always wanted the gift of singing like a meadowlark, beautiful, resonant, all of that. You know, that's something that I've wanted. You know, it's just something I would love to be able to sing really well, because I find music very inspiring. I find beautiful music very, very inspiring.

So it's something I've always wanted, but I have had to come to admit with my wife's help that I really don't have that gift. Special music is supposed to be special, and if I were to sing it, I'm afraid it wouldn't be all that special. So, you know, I've refrained from even thinking along those lines. So, you know, I've even asked God to give me that gift, but so far, you may want to pray for me, but so far he hasn't. That's okay. But ask God to help you discern your spiritual gifts.

Ask your family and friends and spiritual family to help you. Sometimes they're more obvious, sometimes these gifts are more obvious to others than they are yourself. Some people have a gift of encouragement. Some people that you are around just are naturally more encouraging, and when you walk away, you feel encouraged. And that's a gift that God gives to some people in greater measure than he does others. I mean, it's not that we can't all be encouraging, because we can, but some are just more naturally that way.

Some are a lot more effective in lifting people's attitudes and spirits than others may be. Some have a gift of faith, and they help bolster the faith of others. Some have a gift of hospitality and are naturally warm and hospitable and outgoing and just go out of their way to be hospitable. Recently I read something from, I think it was Max Lucado, who's written a number of books, and he said, "...hospitality opens the door to uncommon community.

It's no accident that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both lead to the same result, or at least you hope they do, that of healing. When you open your door to someone, you are sending this message, you matter to me and to God. You may think you are saying, come over for a visit.

But what your guest hears is, I'm worth the effort. They've invited me they've gone out of their way to be hospitable, to invite me into their home." And again, that's something that we can all do, but for some it just comes more naturally. I would encourage you to stir up the Spirit of God in you so that you can use these gifts, encouragement, faith, hospitality.

Some have a gift of generosity. They freely give to others. They're just very giving. Some have musical gifts that they share with the rest of us. We can be very grateful for that. Mrs. Noel, I know that she's worked very hard at playing the piano. She does a beautiful job, and we appreciate all the hard work, but we also appreciate the gift that God has given her, that she's able to do that. Some are gifted in giving inspired messages that instruct and inspire us.

Some have gifts of administration or organization and are very helpful in serving in those ways. Some have gifts in running sound equipment. It takes someone who has the patient and the technology and so forth to do that. Some work with computers and websites and are a help to some of us in the Church of God who are more challenged by those things.

Some have gifts in interpreting languages, even sign languages. There are many other gifts that are used to help others. And of course, I read some in the Bible that we discussed. It's very important that we share our gifts in God's Church. In a book entitled Outliers, by the way, outlier is a scientific term to describe things or phenomenon that lie outside normal experiences.

In this book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell tells a strange story of Christopher Langan, a genius with a staggering IQ of 195. Does anyone here have an IQ of 195? No, I don't. For some perspective, Einstein's IQ is around 150. During high school, Langan could ace any foreign language test by skimming the textbook two to three minutes before the exam. Now, that would come in handy. He got a perfect score on his SAT, even though at one point he fell asleep. But Langan failed to use his exceptional gifts and ended up working on a horse farm in rural Missouri.

Now, there's nothing wrong with working on a horse farm, but maybe if you have an IQ of 195, you might be able to find some other things to do. According to Gladwell, Langan never had a community to help him capitalize on his gifts.

That's what he thought was part of the problem. He never was a part of a community to help him capitalize. Gladwell summarizes the story of Langan in one sentence. Langan had to make his way alone, and no one, not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software billionaires, and not even geniuses, ever make it alone. He's trying to make the point that we do need each other. We need to bring out the gifts in each other, share these gifts, and thereby we will be strengthened.

So I would encourage you to be content with the gifts that you have. I would, again, encourage you to try to find out what they are and how you can use them in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, sometimes we covet other people's gifts. We're not satisfied with the gifts that we have. We want somebody else's gift, but that's not how it works. As a church, I'm afraid we have, at times, put too much emphasis on the more visible responsibilities in the church, thinking that they were more important.

Don't feel you have to have someone else's gift to be important to the body or of value to God. God values all the gifts that he gives, and one gift is not necessarily any better than another one. The people who impact our lives the most are not generally the speakers, the ones that get up here and talk to you, but oftentimes it's the strong Christ-like examples that live near you, that you know better than you would have an opportunity to get to know your pastor or others who speak up here.

It is those who believed in you and God's power in you, and were there to help you through trials and through your own weaknesses, those who saw the real you, the good and the not-so-good in you, and helped you change, helped you to become better, those who accepted you and forgave you and helped you grow to become a better Christian, those who loved you enough, perhaps in your family, loved you enough to be honest, who corrected you with encouragement and inspired you with their faith and commitment, those who showed a part of God to you, a part of God in the flesh, God reflected in them that had an impact on you.

So it's not, again, just the ministers, it's others who are close to you, family members, other members that you spend more time with. They're important to you, and we should strengthen and help one another. I think, at least in my case, you know, not all ministers came right out of Ambassador College and became ministers. I was a member for 11 years before being ordained. So, you know, I've sat there, as you have. It was seven years after I graduated from Ambassador College before I was ordained a local church elder, and then I was not a full-time pastor for another four or five years after that.

So, you know, I didn't go to Ambassador College to be a minister. I never thought I would be a minister. It turned out that way. I had a business minor. I did have a theology major, but God has used me in this way, and I'm, you know, grateful that I can be of some service to God's Church. Don't think that everyone has to have your particular gift either. Sometimes I think some people try to get you to serve the way they do because they think it's the best way.

That's not necessarily true. We all, again, have ways that we can serve. God wants us to be round pegs and round holes. Don't try to force someone into your place in the body. Do your part. Share your gifts. Help others share theirs with one another. But spiritual gifts is an important lesson that Paul talks about. So when you have some more time, think about it.

Contemplate about it. Discuss it with one another and talk about spiritual gifts. And I'm sure if you got a group of people together, you could probably point out certain ones that you believe probably have this gift or that gift. I think it's healthy to consider those things. So that's the first lesson that I'd like you to consider. The first lesson that Paul talks about, that of spiritual gifts. A second lesson and a very important one is God desires unity and not division.

This is a very strong point that God stands for. He desires unity. He doesn't desire division. Division is not of God. Only in very rare instances where I know there's an example in the Bible that talks about a certain division that happened between the house of Judah and the house of Israel. But there are specific reasons that are for that and they're spelled out for us in the Bible. In general, God is against division.

He's against schisms of that sort. And it's very clear as we read 1 Corinthians 1. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 1. We'll take up where we left off reading in 1 Corinthians 1.

Paul says, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions, no schisms or dissensions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind. Now whose mind? Of course, Christ's mind. We know we are to put on the mind of Christ. Christ is the head of the church. We are to have His mind. We are to follow Him. That's our goal, to be perfectly joined together in the mind of Christ and in the judgment of Christ, in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or Peter, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius. And we don't need to read the next few verses here, but clearly the question is, is Christ divided? The answer is no. Christ is not divided, and also Christ is not the author of confusion. You don't need to go there, but in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 33, it says, God is not the author of confusion, but of peace in all the churches of the saints.

God is not the author of confusion. Now people can cause a lot of confusion.

God is definitely not the author of that, however. That's not the way He wants us to be. He wants us to be of the same mind. So, contentions existed in Corinth at the time Paul wrote this.

Members had their favorite leaders, but Paul taught that Christ needs to be the supreme and only leader that we really look to for guidance. We are to follow man only as they follow Christ.

That is the benchmark, that is the standard, the barometer that we look at, is what this man is saying does it square with what Christ says? Is it the mind of Christ?

Christ is not divided, but He is unified in His laws. He is unified in the Spirit of God and in the principles of God. And those principles are clear in the Bible, and God can give us clarity. If we study the Bible and if we write His laws in our hearts and in our minds, we can see through a lot of deception that Satan might throw at us. Paul said, only Christ was crucified for you. No one else was crucified. Now, the apostles, all of them except John, ended up giving their lives for the cause of Christ, but they were not crucified for you. They didn't die for you.

They didn't die for you. Only Jesus Christ died for you. Only Christ could pay that penalty, that ultimate sacrifice for us. Only through Christ could our sins be forgiven.

So Christ is preeminent, and we have to always remember that. How committed are you to putting Christ first in your life and using the mind of Christ as your standard?

Again, sometimes people can follow men, and they think that this man would never lead me astray. I've heard people say that. So and so would have never lead me astray. The Bible says, put not your trust in mortals, for in them is no help. We have to look to Jesus Christ. We have to be sure that a person is reflecting the mind of Christ. And if he isn't, then don't follow him. Don't hit your wagon to any man.

But don't hit your wagon to any man, but only to Jesus Christ. Christ really is the head of the church.

People sometimes throw that phrase around probably more than they should, without really considering what that means. Christ is our leader. We are to look to his life and follow his example of love, of humility, of submission, of obedience, of unity, and of faithfulness.

That is the Christ that we serve. He is perfect. We should not follow men who seek to divide and split asunder that which is good. Not perfect, perhaps, but good.

We should not follow people that seek to divide and split asunder that which is good. Anyone who contributes to sowing discord and division within the body of Christ will be held accountable. Scripture is clear about that, brethren. No matter who you are, it is very clear.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, we again find some sobering words from Paul. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able, for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Let me read that again. Where there is envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal, fleshly, instead of following the mind of Christ? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed? Men! Ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? It was God who was behind all of this. I planted, Paul says, Apollos watered, but it was God who gave the increase. In the Church of God, the body of Christ should be growing, not dividing, not splitting. It should be growing. That is the principle that is clear in the Book of Corinth. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward, according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building, speaking of all of you, the Church of God. According to the grace of God, which was given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. See, Paul wasn't coveting that church. He knew that Apollos, in fact, he sent Apollos to Corinth to guide and instruct and to take over where he had left off. He was going to Ephesus to do the same thing again, to develop a foundation there upon Christ. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

Obviously, ministers will be held accountable for how they build upon the body of Christ. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become clear. So it's clear that ministers can, or apostles and ministers, leaders can build in different ways. Some can build very well, and others not so well.

Some using gold, but others using straw or hay or stubble. Each one's work will become clear, for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test each one's work of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved.

Yet so as through fire, he's going to have to go through fire, through trials, he's going to have to repent of whatever he's done to damage the body of Christ. If anyone's work is burned, again, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him, the temple of God is holy, which temple you are. Brethren, it's imperative that we learn to work together as the body of Christ, as the people of God. It's imperative that we learn to practice the lessons that we're going to talk about today in this particular sermon and throughout the year as we hear other messages and as we do our own study of the Bible each and every day of our lives. We have to live by these things. We have to write these laws in our hearts and in our minds and allow them to motivate us and guide us, direct us, helping us to make the right decisions, the sound decisions, because we will continue to be tested in various ways until Christ returns.

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, he catches the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. Therefore, let no one boast in men, for all things or yours are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours. In other words, you're going to have to be you're going to be held accountable to. As the children of God, who are you going to follow? Are you going to follow Christ? Or are you going to follow men that are not following Christ? You have you are going to be held accountable. You can't just follow me hoping that I'm right, hoping that I'm doing the right thing. You know, that would be foolishness on your part. You only follow me as I follow Christ, because we're all going to be held accountable. I'm going to be held accountable. You are going to be held accountable. And you are Christ, and Christ is God's. You know, we're all in this together, and we will all be held accountable for the choices that we make. Envy, strife, and division, it says, equals carnality. That's what we've just read. Envy, jealousy, strife, division, it's carnal thinking. It's carnal acting.

Men are only men, mere men, as it says here. Your faith should be in the power of God, not in the wisdom of men. Men will let you down. God will not let you down. Christ will not let you down. Do what you can to build bridges and be a part of the solution. But remember that you can't force issues. You can just do your part. Time has to collapse, in many cases, for healing. We've been through some things recently that have hurt us. It's going to take time to heal. We do need to reflect on what has happened, and we need to learn lessons. And hopefully these lessons will humble us that we might be better in serving Jesus Christ and having the mind of Christ. We can only change ourselves. You need to be reconciled to God as that one piece of unleavened bread that you can bring to the body of Christ. We should be praying for the peace of Jerusalem and for the peace in God's Church. It should probably be a daily prayer. Build bridges with those who are willing to build bridges, those who may have left us, who are no longer amongst us, but still believe the same things and are still no doubt brothers and sisters in Christ. Build bridges with those who are willing.

Again, you are responsible for yourself and what you do. In Corinth, people were judging and comparing their spiritual condition based on who their leaders were. Oftentimes, they were looking to men. They were focusing on the leaders and not themselves and what they had to do to change and to grow. It had become a source of pride for them, who they would follow. My man's better than your man. If we're not careful, we can think that all we have to do is pick the right church, the right organization, or the right leaders and we're going to have it made. But that's not the case.

It is who we are that is important to God. It is who you are becoming.

Our leaders' spiritual accomplishments and failures do not dictate our relationship with God, but what we do personally is what matters most in our relationship with God. The most important thing for you is your relationship with God and with Christ. You don't come through any...you don't go through any man to get to Christ and to the Father. You go through Jesus Christ to have fellowship with the Father and you can go directly to Christ who died for you.

Hopefully we were not so distracted by the recent troubles that we did not focus on our own spiritual condition during this last Passover and this Holy Day season. Hopefully we were not spending our energies pointing the finger at others and blaming them for our troubles that we're feeling. Now is the time to learn and practice the lessons of these Days of Unleavened Bread.

Be concerned again with the piece of unleavened bread that you will bring to the body of Christ.

Don't worry about matters out of your control or those things which you're not responsible to God for. We are to ingest and make a part of our spiritual DNA Jesus Christ. The unleavened bread of spirit sincerity and truth that we heard about in the sermonette and we ought not be puffed up with the leavened bread of malice and wickedness and pride. We won't go to 1 Corinthians 4, but some of the people in Corinth were clearly looking down on Paul and the apostles were not supporting them. I'm sorry, they were looking down on Paul and the apostles and they were not supporting them as well as they should have. You can read about that. Paul talks about it. Again, we're all in this together. We should hold each other's hands and we should hold them up as we strive to follow Christ. So the second principle and a very, very important one, again, is that God desires unity.

He does not desire division. So whatever you can do to help the church be more unified, to walk together with Christ, please do your part. Number three, another lesson, a third lesson, we are to choose the power and wisdom of God, not the weakness and foolishness of the world.

Again, we are not to choose the power and I'm sorry, we are to choose the power and the wisdom of God, not the weakness and the foolishness of the world. In going back to 1 Corinthians 1, I think we read some of this already, 1 Corinthians chapter 1.

No, we didn't read this, did we? We stopped here.

Chapter 1 verse 18, 1 Corinthians, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us, those who are of the body of Christ, the church of God, who are being saved, it is the power of God. It's all about the message of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the wonderful plan of salvation for all of us. Verse 19, For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Where is the wise, where is the scribe, where is the disputor of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? There were many intelligent people, many learned people, many rabbis that were very learned, and priests and so forth that were learned, but they were not following God. In fact, Christ called them hypocrites. And they're referred to as the foolishness of this world. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. For since in the wisdom of God, verse 21, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Many people don't believe what I'm saying today. Many people are atheists and agnostics, and throughout history it's been true that the fool says in his heart, there is no God. But there is a God, and we know that. And so we preach this plan of salvation through Christ. Verse 22, for Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, and of course there were Jews and Greeks here in Corinth hearing this message, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. So clearly we need to put our faith in God and in Christ, because even the foolishness of God, and of course there is no foolishness in God.

But if there were, it would be far greater than the wisdom of man.

And the weakness of God, and there is no weakness in God, but if there were, then it would be far stronger than the strongest man.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Now remember, Paul was a learned man, but Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus.

Paul was blinded so that he could see clearly. It is Paul that's telling us to forget the wisdom of man, and not look to the wisdom of man, but look to the power of God, because Paul felt the power of God in his life. It turned him around a man who had persecuted the very Church of God, a man who was dedicated to killing Christians. He believed that this talk about Jesus Christ was a lie, but he came to see that Jesus Christ truly was the Messiah, the Savior of the world, who was crucified because of people like him and people like us. Paul learned this lesson very powerfully. He's sharing it with you today, so please listen and get these lessons today and live them. So Paul, again, he's telling us to look to the power of God, not to the wisdom of man. Verse 30, But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that as it is written, He who glories, let him glory in the Lord. Glory in the Eternal. Don't put your praise in man.

Take plenty of time praising God.

Now, in 1 Corinthians 2, we'll read some of it as well.

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you except Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.

This is a humble man who's writing, a man who was struck down and humbled, a man who was once filled with pride. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. In my speech, in my preaching, were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. And the rulers of this age today, they're coming to nothing. They're running the country in the ground.

Take any leader you want to. They're all running it in the ground.

Verse 7, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. This is what Paul saw and experienced, and Christ taught him himself after striking him down on that road to Damascus.

But as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. That God has revealed them to us through his Spirit. Again, there is unity in God's Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God.

Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. Nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one, for who has known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ.

We need to look to Christ. We need to look to the leader and the head of this church to guide us and to give us strength and to empower us in the days ahead. In 1 Corinthians 8, verse 1, it shows that people were being puffed up by their knowledge. Verse 1 of chapter 8, Now concerning things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up.

Knowledge leavens us. If we lean to our own understanding, then we will truly be leavened. We will be puffed up in pride. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. Again, we see a contrast here between knowledge, pride, and love. Love edifies. This third point, again, is that we are to choose the power and the wisdom of God. If you want to be strong, seek God. If you want to really be inspired, then read God's words. Study the Word of God.

That's where you'll be the most inspired. You can listen to sermons of men all day long, but nothing will inspire you like the Word of God. It's okay to listen to sermons by men. I do it. I go to different ones, and I would encourage you to do that. You can get on our website now, and you can find hundreds of sermons. You can listen to men. I'm mowing the lawn these days with a headphone and earmuffles and stuff, and I'm listening to sermons. I'm going to men who talk about God, but I look beyond those men to Christ. I'm not here to follow any man. I'm not here to follow the President of United. I'm here to follow Christ. Christ is the head of this church. So, number three, we are to choose the power and wisdom of God, not the weakness and the foolishness of the world. There's a lot of foolishness that goes on. It does a great deal of pain to the body of Christ when we buy into the foolishness that's around us.

Lesson number four, seek purity and don't fellowship with unrighteousness.

Seek purity. Don't fellowship with unrighteousness.

First Corinthians chapter 5, and I know some of the men have touched on this chapter today.

We know that there was a man who was found to be committing sexual immorality with his stepmother, which was not even seen among the Gentiles. It says in verse 2, Are you not puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you? For I indeed as absent in body, but present in spirit, have already judged, as though I were present, him who has done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. It was clear that this man had not repented of his sin.

This was an ongoing problem, and the church at Corinth was putting up with it. They were allowing it to continue. Verse 6, Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.

Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Paul was clearly writing this during the days of unleavened bread. Let us keep the feast, or maybe it was before the feast, but probably even during the feast, let us keep this feast. He may have written it before, because by the time they got it, it would have been passed. So he could have written it some weeks or months before that.

But clearly, they were going to be keeping the feast, and he knew that his letter would arrive around that time. Brethren, we cannot peacefully coexist with grievous sin in our midst.

It's not healthy. Grievous sin needs to be put out. Blatant sin needs to be put out.

And again, I've told people that if you are continuing in sin, don't even bother to come to church. If you're continuing, just stay home. Stay home. Decide who you want to follow.

Decide what you want to do. If you really want to go in this wrong direction, a sinful direction away from Christ, then why are you even coming to church? You're making a mockery. Now again, none of us are perfect, and there are times when we sin and we let down and we're weak. I'm not talking about that, but I'm talking about a blatant sin, an ongoing sin that you're really not trying to overcome. You're comfortable with it. You're living with it. You know, you should... you're hiding it from others, obviously, but you need to repent of that. And any blatant sins, the ministry is bound to deal with. If I know a blatant sin that's continuing, then I have a responsibility to deal with that. So again, we need to work together. We're all in this together. And even in this case, it was for the man's good that he would be put out of the church so that he would learn to make right decisions, good decisions, sound decisions, decisions that would give him eternal life, not that would end him up in the lake of fire.

So it's clear that we are to seek purity and we are not to fellowship with unrighteousness.

Let's read verse 9. Paul says, I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.

But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard. A reviler is one who abuses with words, one who is sowing discord and is abusive and reviling.

That type of person needs to see his sins and repent of them.

It says, not even to eat with such a person lest you encourage them that what they're doing is okay.

We all have a part to play in this. I may not know of certain things that are going on, but you may.

And you have a responsibility as a member of the body of Christ to help your brother or to help your sister. To go to them humbly, but with the word of God, to try to help them and to guide them.

Verse 12, for what have I to do with judging those also who are outside, do you not judge those who are inside? That those who are outside God judges, therefore put away from yourselves the evil person. If it's an evil person, it means they're practicing evil. They're continuing in their sin. They really don't have a desire to put it away by their conduct, by their fruits. By their fruits, you will know. And if they're displaying the wrong type of fruits, then it's better for them to be cut off from the Church of God for a time so that they will be able to experience what it's like to be cut off forever. It's supposed to be a sample of what's going to happen if they don't repent. A person could be suspended for a time or disfellowshipped from the body of Christ for a time for their own good, that they might understand what's going to happen if they continue in their sins and don't repent of them.

So these people in Corinth, the members were puffed up by their tolerance of grievous sin in the body that God never intended them to be tolerant about. They were proud of their tolerance.

Some people seem to relish having grievous sin in their midst because it makes them feel better about themselves. At least I'm not that bad. If we can tolerate this person, then surely they can tolerate me. That's not the right kind of an attitude to have. The attitude is that we all repent of our sins and that we set a right example for one another. God could not tolerate any of them in the sense of blatant sin. They all needed to be corrected. They had to change and purge out the leaven in themselves individually and collectively. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 8, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 8, it says, Know you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkers, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. So clearly, God is calling us to repentance.

Such were some of you in Corinth, 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.

God wants all people to repent. He's calling everyone everywhere to repent, to repent of their sins. And anyone who is willing to have that kind of an attitude, God is going to, in most cases, call them. Maybe not at this time, but definitely He will call them and work with them and bring them into the body of Christ. Let's read a little further. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God hath raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not. Or do you not know that He who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two, He says, shall become one flesh. Physical adultery, spiritual adultery, spiritual immorality, spiritual adultery, all of these things, God says we should flee from. Verse 17, But he who is joined to the Lord is one Spirit with him.

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit that is in you whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you are bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Clearly that's what God wants us to do. All of us, again, at times we, in our weakness, we fall short. We sin against God, but it's our attitude that really matters. God looks at your heart.

If you're willing to repent, God will forgive you.

The Scripture said that some who were sitting in Corinth had sinned grievously in the past, but clearly they were ready to put that behind them. They were ready to go on and no longer seek immorality, but now to seek purity and to seek righteousness.

We could read more, but I think we understand that God wants us to seek purity. He wants us to seek to be clean and to put out the leaven, the sin that so easily besets us.

Sin easily besets us. We're human, we're fleshly, and it's very easy to be carnal and to make wrong choices and make wrong decisions. Thankfully, God is merciful and very forgiving.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So if you are leavened, then please put the leaven out so that we can become more unleavened as the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 10, verse 8, talks about how they committed fornication in the wilderness, and 23,000 of them died in a single day. God was setting an example here that this is not something He tolerates. He does want us to come out of this sin. He wants us to be different. He wants us to put that sin out of our lives. So seek purity and do not fellowship with unrighteousness.

Let's go on to a fifth principle. Choose to exercise godly judgment, not worldly judgment.

Choose to exercise godly judgment, not worldly judgment.

In 1 Corinthians 4, God wants us to exercise His judgment, not worldly judgment. Verse 1 of chapter 4, that a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. We are to be profitable servants. We are to be profitable stewards. We are to be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this. But he who judges me is the Lord. Paul understood that God was his judge. God is your judge. God is my judge. I am not your judge, and you are not my judge. God is your judge. God is my judge. So in that sense, we're not to pass judgment on one another. We're not to allow our minds to go in certain directions in regard to looking at a person and passing judgment on them. God knows their heart. God sees beyond what we can see. We would be making huge mistakes if we were the ones that were judges of one another.

Now we are to discern righteously. We should be able to look at a person's conduct and know whether or not that conduct is wrong or right. And even then, we can't be sure, depending on the circumstances. In some cases, we can be very sure. But in some cases, we may see things but not clearly.

And so we even have to be careful then. We have to be sure that we understand the whole situation before we pass any kind of a judgment, even on the act that a person would do.

Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. Then each one's praise will come from God.

The counsels of the heart. You know, God knows all things. He sees everything.

He's the one that you want to judge you.

God is merciful and loving, and He knows your heart. He knows your mind. And thankfully, He is your judge.

Now, in 1 Corinthians 6, it talks about some other aspects of judging.

Verse 1, Dare any of you, having a matter against another, another brethren, another one, a brother and sister in Christ, dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints.

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? There are things that we will need to judge in this life. If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, to these physical things, various things that go on in our lives, in our families, and so forth, if then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame, is it so that there is not a wise man among you, not even one who will be able to judge between his brethren? The brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers exclamation point. Paul was taking them to task because they were actually taking one another to court, to regular law court, and suing one another.

God does not want us to set that kind of an example. He wants us to be able to manage ourselves within the church and seek reconciliation and solve these kinds of problems within the church.

Verse 7, Now therefore it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? This is a question that's being asked. Why don't you rather accept wrong than go to court and bring out an issue before the world that brings reproach upon the body of Christ? That's basically what he's saying here. There are some times when we may have to suffer. And if another person isn't willing to relent and to do the right thing, there may be a time when we have to accept wrong. Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?

And then it says, No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren.

So they were being admonished in how they dealt with one another.

In 1 Corinthians 11 verse 31, it also talks about judging here. 1 Corinthians 11 verse 31, and it's in the context of taking the Passover and doing it worthily.

Verse 31, For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

If we would look in ourselves and repent where we've been wrong and admit where we've been wrong and make amends and do the right thing, then we wouldn't need to be judged by anyone else. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment, and the rest I will set an order when I come. There were certain problems that were going on in how they were observing the Passover and some wrong conduct, frankly, and not treating one another with love and respect. So, number five, the lesson here is choose to exercise godly judgment, not worldly judgment. It is a choice that you must make.

A sixth lesson is to exercise the power of love, which is the greatest gift of all.

Love is the greatest gift. I told you we would talk about love some more. We're going to do that now.

1 Corinthians 13. Let's read it together. It's powerful, and we need to let it soak into our minds and into our hearts. Once again, I know we've read it in the past, but it is very powerful in the context of the Days of Unleavened Bread. Verse 1 of chapter 13, Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing. None of that is worth anything if I don't have love. God is love, and we are to become like Him. And if we don't have love, then we have nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, see, God looks at the heart. Some of these things can be done by rote, not with true repentance or love in their hearts, but God looks deep within us. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind.

Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. It is not puffed up. It is not leavened. It does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. You can count on love. If it's true love, you can count on it.

Love never fails, and God never fails. God will never leave us. God will never forsake us. We need to place our faith in the power of God. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. We all need to put away childish things.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love. These three, but the greatest of these, is love. Remember, it is by the love that we have one for another whether or not we prove we are truly Christ's disciples. You are not a disciple of Christ if you don't show love toward your brother. And Christ even said that we are to love our enemies and pray for those who spitefully use us. How much more should we love those who are a part of the body of Christ?

Be willing to give up your personal rights. Sometimes people cling to their rights for the spiritual good of just one member of the body of Christ. That is true love and selflessness, and that is what we need to seek. Christ is the unleavened bread that comes down from heaven. We are to eat of Him. He is the head of this church. He is the one that we ingest.

He is the one that we are to become. And of course, God the Father, Christ and the Father are one.

We don't diminish the Father by talking about the Son. The Father is not jealous talking about the Son. Paul talked about Christ a great deal.

Christ came to reveal the Father to us. We love and respect the Father.

But Christ is the one who is our Messiah according to the Father's will.

So we need to seek true love and selflessness. Lack of love and division was obvious in the Church of Corinth. It was obvious in how they kept the Passover.

I'm not going to go back there, but you can read more of it in chapter 11.

They were eating in an unworthy manner. It was because they were not showing love and respect to each other. And some were even drunken and being selfish, totally contrary to God's ways, to Christ's ways. It is interesting that Paul put the subject of love as the greatest gift in a Days of Unleavened Bread letter that was written to correct problems in Corinth, problems with division, problems with not understanding spiritual gifts and not exercising them and utilizing them, problems with righteous judgment, problems with not purging out a sinner who needed to be purged out, the leaven needed to be put out, not repenting of various sins, and not being a unified body. It's interesting that all of this fits within the framework of love, because love solves a lot of problems. If we have love, one for another, it solves a lot of problems. In fact, it solves all problems because God is love, and I don't think we can overemphasize it. Some people criticize us because we talk about love. Wow, what a thing to be criticized for. The seventh and last lesson that we're going to talk about today, as firstfruits who are faithful to these principles that we've talked about today, these lessons from Corinth, let us have faith that we will rise as Christ rose from the dead. He is our Savior. And let us have faith that we will meet Him face to face at His return. As firstfruits who are faithful to these principles that we've talked about today, we shall rise as Christ, and we shall meet Him face to face at His return. First Corinthians chapter 15, the resurrection chapter. This chapter is full of so many wonderful lessons. I'm only touching on some of them today. First Corinthians chapter 15 verse 50, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible, this flesh, has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. Sin is the transgression of the law. The wages of sin is death. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we are all going to be saved. That's how we're all going to have victory over our sins.

It's through the Lord Jesus Christ, because we're still in the flesh, and if you think you have no sin, you are a liar, and the truth is not in you.

But it is through Jesus Christ that we shall have victory.

And notice verse 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. That's what we are to do as the body of Christ, abounding together in the work of the Lord. We have a job to do. We have a commission to fulfill, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Your labor is not in vain. What you do to benefit the church of God is never in vain. What service you give is never in vain.

God looks at the fruits of a person's life, and when we become unleavened, we add a great deal to the body of Christ. We can only become unleavened through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, only through having a repentant heart and mind will we become unleavened.

It's nothing we can do of by ourselves at all. It is Christ living in us. He is the unleavened bread that comes down from heaven to live and eat in every one of us. So, brethren, we've talked about seven lessons on this day of unleavened bread, this last day of unleavened bread. These were lessons from Corinth, but they are lessons that mean just as much today as they ever did. First of all, God grants all of us spiritual gifts, and it is up to us to discover what they are and how to use them for the benefit of God's Church. Secondly, God desires unity, not division.

Thirdly, we are to choose the power and wisdom of God, not the weakness and the foolishness of this world. Number four, we are to seek purity, and we are not to fellowship with unrighteousness.

Number five, we are to choose to exercise godly judgment, not worldly judgment.

Number six, we are to exercise the power of love, which is the greatest gift of all. And lastly, as firstfruits who are faithful to these principles that we've talked about today, we shall rise as Christ, as surely as Christ came out of the tomb, out of the grave, we shall meet Him face to face at His return. This is a high and a holy calling. These days are precious. They have tremendous meaning. So, brethren, let us take these seven lessons from Corinth. Let us learn them well. More importantly, let us live by them every day of our lives, as we eagerly await the return of Jesus Christ.