Wednesday, January 23, 2019

When the Church Gathers 1 Corinthians 5:4


Paul the apostle discovered there was “fornication” in the church in Corinth, and this “fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife” . Some in the church were “puffed up” and had “not rather mourned” because of it, and in chapter five and verse four of First Corinthians, Paul began to tell the church members what to do “when” they “are gathered together where we read:

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together,
and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The verse begins, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together,...” Paul began with the words, “In the name” which means “used for everything which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing and remembering” “of our Lord” or “of Paul and the Corinthian believers' one to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah” “Jesus” which means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ” or “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”, “when you are gathered together” which means “at the time the church members are drawn together, collected and assembled”. Paul appeals to the authority of “the Lord Jesus Christ” as he referred to the next time the church people “assembled”.

The verse continues, “... and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul added the words, “and my spirit” which means “Paul's power by which he felt, thought and decided”, “with the power” or “the influence and resources” “of our Lord” which refers to “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah” “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ” or “the anointed one, the Messiah and the Son of God”. Paul also referred to his own “spirit” and God's “influence and resources” to appeal to the church members.

When we think through these words from Paul, we see how he referred to the authority of “the Lord Jesus”, his own “spirit” and the “power” of the Lord Jesus” while he wrote of the next time they “gathered together”. Paul was addressing the issue of “fornication” in the church of Corinth, and he used “authority” to do so. Jesus Christ desires for His “church” to be pure, and He shall be involved in “power” and “presence” to keep it clean.

Next time Paul shares how the church members “to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites,
http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.





No comments:

Post a Comment