Year Two, October 18

I Must Go on Boasting. Though There Is Nothing to Be Gained by It1

In today’s reading we will conclude Paul’s defense of his apostleship.

  

2 Corinthians 12:1-19

1I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. (The most modest man may be driven to speak his own praises if his usefulness is threatened by the false accusations of enemies.) 2I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3And I know that this man was caught up into paradise--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- 4and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.

Paul had kept this secret for fourteen years. He was clearly not inclined to boast.

6Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7So to keep me from becoming conceited because of by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. (There is only a step between boasting in the Lord and boasting about one’s self, and our nature is inclined to take that step. Pride is one of the worst tragedies. Therefore our Lord sends us sharp trials to keep us humble. A thorn pierces, cuts and becomes infected; and yet it is only a little thing. It is very small and yet very painful. Paul had a secret sorrow that tormented him like school principals who punish boys. Whatever it was, it must have been an embarrassment to him.)

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (One evening, John Bunyan was in a meeting of Christian people who were full of sadness and terror. Suddenly, there “broke in upon him with great power—and repeated three times—the words,” ‘My grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you.’ And ‘Oh! I thought,’ says he, ‘that every word was a mighty word unto me. “My,” and “grace,” and “sufficient,” and “for you,” were then and sometimes still are, far bigger words than others.’”2)  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

11I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

The Corinthians should not have required Paul to defend himself. They should have been among his warmest supporters.

12The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

14Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15I will most gladly spend and be spent for yours souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? (What a Christian spirit! He will not stop seeking their good, no matter how badly they treat him.) 16But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? (He accepted nothing for himself and did not expect them to pay his friends expenses either. He served them in the most selfless way.) 18I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

19Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. (It was shameful that a good man like Paul was troubled by such petty objections. May God grant that none of us will be remembered by our church as resentful members and opposers of faithful ministers.)

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¹ 2 Corinthians 12:1

² The “sadness and terror” at that meeting were most likely due to the harsh treatment of Christians at that time. Bunyan wrote his Pilgrim’s Progress inside a jail where he had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel. Quote appears to be taken from The Pulpit Commentary.

Year Two, October 17

Not To Us, O LORD…but to Your Name Give Glory1

2 Corinthians 11:1-9; 23-30

Paul did not like to talk about himself. He calls praising oneself foolishness, and it usually is. But he needed to justify his viewpoint and authority so that his letters to the Corinthian believers would influence them to their lasting benefit.

1I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2For I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (Paul was afraid their mixing human reasoning to the gospel would lead them away from the truth. There is much evidence to argue that the church today should have the same concern.) 4For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

If anyone could bring us a better gospel, a more certain gospel, a fuller gospel, a freer gospel, then we might listen to their different gospel. But as long as this is not attempted or claimed to be, we will stick with the old doctrine and those men of God who preach it.

5Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.

7Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? 8I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. (He received nothing from the Corinthians, but allowed other churches to pay his expenses so that he would be absolutely no burden to them. Yet they were not grateful, but were rude and showed a lack of respect. Gratitude is far too rare even among professing Christians.) 9And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.

Then the apostle, to confirm his character and prove his apostleship, spoke of what he had done and suffered.

23Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—(His call to Christ was more remarkable than theirs. He had been more fully instructed than they. And, he had been authorized by the Lord to accomplish more than any of them.) I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea, 26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

28And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. (The churches were a heavy burden on Paul. There were so many things to think about that his mind was worn out.) 29Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? (He felt sympathy for everyone, he felt their sorrows.)

30If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Surely after this listing of facts these Corinthians would value the apostle and no longer trouble him with their criticisms. It is far better for us to profit by good people than to find fault with them. Do not let the Pauls who are among us now have to suffer due to our unkindness.

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¹ Psalm 115:1

Year Two, October 16

What Agreement Has the Temple of God With Idols?1

2 Corinthians 6

1Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (The apostle wanted everyone who heard the gracious word of God to receive eternal life. He also had a strong desire for those who had truly been saved to be increasingly fruitful; so it would be obvious to others that God’s grace had changed their lives and moral values. No pastor can be satisfied unless grace is clearly producing appropriate changes in the lives of those who professed to have received it.)

3We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 7by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; 10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

Dr. Hawker, himself a minister of the Church of England, has beautifully said: “What a lovely portrait the apostle has drawn of a minister of Jesus! How totally unlike in every way from the rich living off so many in the higher positions in the church. Who would have thought, when Paul wrote this letter to the church at Corinth, that a time would come when pomp and grandeur would be considered acceptable additions to the lives of priests of God! A great part of what the apostle said about recommending ‘ourselves in every way,’ ‘as servants of God,’ is done away with. How is it possible in our day to know whose servants these men really are? Where are the beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger in their lives?

“But the apostle has sketched some of the traits of ministers that can still be found. ‘Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise, as impostors, and yet true, as unknown, and yet well known.’ There are found throughout the world and in every age, those who treat the distinctive truths of the gospel with hatred and contempt. They will discredit the preachers of those truths with slander and disapproval. At the same time some will still honor God’s messengers. These are the highly taught few who God the Holy Spirit teaches.

“Reader, learn from this portrait of the apostle’s that was drawn under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Form your opinion of the Lord’s ministers, not by outward show, but by the inward enlightenment of the heart, and the blessing of God on their labors, both in word and doctrine.”2

11We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. 12You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 13In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. (Either in marriage or any other close partnership.) For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

17 Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

18 and I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty.”

The great duty of believers in all ages is to keep their reputation as a separate people, no longer “conformed to this  world.”3 May this family never fall into worldly fads, amusements or activities, but be known for following the Lord in every way. This is how we will be especially dear to our heavenly Father.

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¹ 2 Corinthians 6:16

² From Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary. Robert Hawker (1753-1827). A priest in the Church of England.

³ Romans 12:2

Year Two, October 15

We Would Rather Be Away From the Body and at Home With the Lord1

2 Corinthians 5

1For we know (Not just think or hope, but “we know!”) that if the tent that is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (Our mud cottage will be demolished, but our heavenly home is prepared for us.) 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (We cannot be satisfied here, because we are kept from the glory land and surrounded by sin. We wait excitedly for the voice of our beloved Lord to call, “Arise, my love, and come away.”2) 

 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. (God is preparing us for heaven and has already given us the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of his promise.)

6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (The exile longs to return to their own country. The child aches for their father’s house. And we pant for our own dear country beyond the river and sigh to be close to Jesus.) 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

With this in mind, we cannot afford to sin or treat our life as unimportant. We will live as we should if we live every day considering the last great day.

11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. (The apostle did everything for Jesus and his church. If anyone found fault with what he did, he reminded them that his only motive was love for them.) 14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (The death of Jesus for us has made us think of ourselves as dead to everything and everyone except him, because we want to live for him alone.)

16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. (Paul focused only on spiritual things. Even the fact that he had seen Jesus in person was no longer important, compared to seeing him by faith.) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (Have we been made righteous like this? These verses are both wonderful and extremely important. Do we understand them by personal experience? Are we new creations in Christ? Have we been brought to peace with God through Jesus’ blood? Have we been blessed in Jesus and become one with him? These are questions that should be asked right now.)

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¹ 2 Corinthians 5:8

² From Song of Solomon 2:13

Year Two, October 14

We Are Afflicted in Every Way, but Not Crushed1

Paul wrote the Second Letter to the Corinthians from Macedonia. This was after Titus had returned from Corinth and informed him how the church in Corinth had responded to his first letter. The news was mixed and caused Paul both joy and sorrow. This seemed to have both troubled and perplexed the apostle. We will begin our reading with chapter four.

  

2 Corinthians 4

1Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (Paul condemned trickery and all deceitful methods. He said what he meant and meant what he said. If we cannot spread the truth by honest speech, we cannot spread it at all.) 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (If people do not understand the gospel we must take care that the fault does not lie in our words but entirely with their blinded worldly hearts.)

5For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (When God uses the weakness of the preacher to accomplish such a great end, it shows his power. Never refuse to do good because your abilities are poor and few. Instead, give your weakness to the Lord so that he may use it for his own glory.) 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12So death is at work in us, but life in you. (Paul rejoiced that good came to them as a result of his sufferings. He loved them like a mother who takes off her own coat and exposes herself to the cold to keep her child warm.)

13Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. (He was not afraid of death, because he expected to be resurrected.) 15For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. (God’s glory was his ruling desire. It kept him going through sickness, depression, and persecution.) 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (See how small Paul thinks his suffering is compared to the glory that awaits him. He calls it light and momentary. But when it comes to future glory, he cannot find words to express himself. The way to live above trouble is to look up. We will grow dizzy if we look down on earthly things, because they are tossed to and fro like the waves of an ocean.)

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¹ 2 Corinthians 4:8

Year Two, October 13

Be Watchful, Stand Firm in the Faith1

We have already read 1 Corinthians 15, where the apostle Paul wrote those rich words about the  resurrection.2  He did not consider it at all improper to close his letter with a few words about “the collection.” To give our money to the poor or to the cause of Jesus, is one of the highest acts of worship, if it is done in a proper spirit. It is a deed of love that angels might envy our ability to do. Is it not marvelous that God lowers himself to receive a gift from those he created?

  

1 Corinthians 16:1-2; 6-24

1Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. (Setting something aside every week is a most healthy Christian practice. If we were to put a portion of our income into the offering plate every Lord’s day, we would always have money in hand to give to deserving causes.)

6And perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. 7For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. 8But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

10When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. 11So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.

Timothy was young and therefore some might not give him the respect they should. It is pleasing to see how the apostle protects him and asks the church to treat him properly. The older members of the church should be sensitive for their younger brothers and sisters in Christ.

12Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity. (He does not blame Apollos for declining his request, but puts a kind interpretation on his decision. Paul is sure that Apollos will visit them when he can. Always think the best you can of others.)

13Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14Let all that you do be done in love.

15Now I urge you, brothers--you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints-- 16be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.

This would be one of the best cures for the problems that had harmed their church. Those who attempt to set up assemblies where everyone rules and no one submits are wrong.

17I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, 18for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men.

19The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. 20All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss. (Not with a hollow kiss of hypocrisy or an unholy kiss of sensual pleasure. A shake of the hand is our western substitute for this kiss. A good hearty handshake is a warm sign of Christian fellowship.)

21I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. (To prevent forgers from pretending to be Paul, the apostle took the pen out of the writer’s hand, and wrote the last few lines himself.) 22If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! (or, Let him be accursed when the Lord comes.) 23The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. (A sweet conclusion. He felt compelled to write sharply, but it was all in love. May love rule in this dear home.)

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¹ 1 Corinthians 16:13

² See Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible Year Two, August 5 and Year Two, August 6.

Year Two, October 12

For in One Spirit We Were All Baptized Into One Body1

1 Corinthians 12

1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2you know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.

“‘What think you of Christ?’ is the test

To try both your state and your scheme;

You cannot be right in the rest

Unless you think rightly of him.”2

4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. (We are neither born nor born again to live for ourselves. Like bees, we must all bring honey to the common hive.)

8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to 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. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (Paul is speaking here of the church, the body of Christ.) 13For 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.

14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. (Therefore none of us may despise someone else because they do not happen to have the gifts we do. Variety is necessary for the body to be complete.) 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21The 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.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require.

We take great care to cover those parts of the body that are either tender or unsightly. In the same way, we should give more kind care to those Christians who are weak in the faith and have their faults. Otherwise the whole body of Christ might be hurt because of them.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

What was it that was better than the higher gifts? It was, and still is, love for God and others. Love is a grace from God. It is better than any of the gifts the apostle mentions. A heart full of holy love is a far better quality than a head full of the clearest knowledge or a tongue overflowing with words. Whatever way we cannot run in, let us make sure we are walking in the “more excellent way” of love.3

  

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¹ 1 Corinthians 12:13

² From What Think Ye of Christ, Is the Test, by John Newton (1725-1807)

³ See Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible Year One, June 27 for Spurgeon’s comments on 1 Corinthians 13

Year Two, October 11

Let Anyone Who Thinks That He Stands Take Heed Lest He Fall1

In the opening verses of chapter ten of First Corinthians, Paul mentions the sins and chastisement2 of ancient Israel. We begin today’s reading with verse twelve.

  

1 Corinthians 10:12-33

12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (If our temptations were unlike any that anyone else had ever had, and there was no way out of them, then we might have no hope of overcoming them. But that is not the case! The Lord will not try us too much, too long, or too often. Grace will carry us through our temptations.)

14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. (We are to avoid every kind of idolatry. This includes bowing before the cross or a wafer of bread. It is idolatrous worship and Christ’s faithful followers are commanded to flee from it.) 16The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 

19What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. (Whether Christian or Jew, participating in holy feasts involves fellowship. It is the same with idolaters. If we have fellowship with them, we are sharing in their sin.) 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (Friendship with the unholy is defiance to Christ. It is an open challenge of his kingship.)

23“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. (There could be no harm in the meat itself, and the believer was free to eat what was set before them so far as they themselves were concerned. But there were times when it would be better not to eat with the unbeliever. If others saw it as a Christian taking part in an idolatrous sacrifice, then it would be best to avoid eating the meal.)

28But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience-- 29I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (This is the rule for all consumption. Let us always observe it. Much evil may come from eating and drinking. It was by eating that Adam first fell from innocence. “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”3) 32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. (What we may do lawfully may frequently be better not to do to avoid injuring others. We must sometimes deny ourselves for their sakes. Selfishness in a Christian is a terrible sin.)

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¹ 1 Corinthians 10:12

² chasten, chastening or chastisement - The act of discipline which may include scolding, criticizing or pain inflicted for the purpose of correction or moral improvement.

³ Matthew 26:41