1 Corinthians 3:16-23

For Reading and Meditation:     Ephesians 2:14-22

There can be little doubt that meeting together with other members of God's family is a powerful way of bringing about a changed perspective. Another thing that happens when we go to church or meet together in Christian fellowship is that we are reminded that the very existence of the Church in today's world is...

"Ye are Christ's." You are his by donation, for the Father gave you to the Son; his by his bloody purchase, for he counted down the price for your redemption; his by dedication, for you have consecrated yourself to him; his by relation, for you are named by his name, and made one of his brethren and joint-heirs. Labour practically to show the world that you are the servant, the friend, the bride of Jesus. When tempted to sin, reply, "I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ's."...

The unsaintly saints in Corinth had been squabbling over human leaders in the church. To some Paul was the ideal. Others made Apollos their favorite. And still others felt that Cephas was superlative. Paul is telling them that it is ridiculous to limit their choice to one when all these men belong to them. Instead of saying, "Apollos is mine," they ought to say, "Paul, Apollos and Cephas are all mine."

It is a word for us today. We err when we become exclusive followers of Luther,...

In this verse, the temple of God refers to the local assembly. Paul is not speaking to individual Christians but to believers collectively when he says "which temple ye (plural) are." The saints in Corinth comprised a temple of God.

It is also true, of course, that individual believers are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle brings this out in 1 Corinthians 6:19 : "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which...

When we think of a heretic, we usually think of someone who holds and propagates views that are contrary to the great fundamental truths of the faith. We think of men like Arius, Montanus, Marcion and Pelagius who lived in the second and third centuries AD.

I do not propose to reject that definition of heretic but to broaden it. A heretic, in the New Testament sense, also includes anyone who obstinately promotes a teaching, even of secondary importance; that causes division in the...

The way to possess unlimited treasure is to give yourself away. How little the philosophers who sought by alchemy to obtain the art of transmuting mean things to precious, - how little did they dream that the art of acquiring worlds of wealth had been long before divulged, and that it consisted simply in giving one's self away to Christ. Men are victims of the unhappy delusion that their own self is a nucleus, a beginning of wealth, around which they must wrap acquisition after acquisition,...

Matthew 7:1-12

When someone asked Raphael how he made his wonderful pictures, he replied, "I dream dreams and I see visions - and then I paint my dreams and visions." The teachings of Christ, if reverently received, fill our mind with dreams and visions of spiritual beauty. But there is something we must do if we would receive from these teachings the good they are intended to...

Matthew 7:1-12

When someone asked Raphael how he made his wonderful pictures, he replied, "I dream dreams and I see visions - and then I paint my dreams and visions." The teachings of Christ, if reverently received, fill our mind with dreams and visions of spiritual beauty. But there is something we must do if we would receive from these teachings the good they are intended to...

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all… things shall be added to you. § He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? § All things 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. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. § As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.The Lord is my shepherd; I shall...

You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God. § You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.You shall be named the priests of the Lord, they shall call you the servants of our God. § Priests of God and of Christ.Therefore, holy...