Devotional Thoughts

1 Corinthians 15:12-14    “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” Are we still “preaching” today that Christ rose from the dead? Paul was not speaking of an academic presentation. He was not pointing to a debate, nor was he indicating that there was any doubt about the matter. It is important to note that Christ “be preached” that He rose from the dead. Preaching is more than just making a speech. Preaching is more than just being a good orator. Preaching implies the leadership and motivation of the Holy Ghost moving men to declare, as ambassadors of Christ, the truth that He reveals in the hearts of His people. Strong’s gives the Greek word translated as “preached” to mean “to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospe...

1 Corinthians 15:10-11    “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.” Paul readily admitted that he was not worthy to be called an apostle (see verse 9). This is a common theme of those who are truly called by God into His service. They do not consider themselves to be fit or able to serve Him, and truly, in our own strength, we are not. David recognized that every man in his best state is altogether vanity (Psa 39:5). There is only one thing that can change the situation for us. It is not our will or our works. We were what we were (as was Paul) according to our sinful nature, but by the grace of God we are made a new creature. By His grace alone, we are quickened from death unto life, and by His grace alone, we are called and blessed to become the s...

Psalm 139:14    "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." I encourage you to read the entire 139th Psalm. We will likely come back to this Psalm tomorrow. We read in Revelation chapter 4 that the four beasts around the throne of God "... rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." Then we read of the four and twenty elders that they "... fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." That can be found in Revelation 4, verses 8, 10, and 11. By faith we understand that whatever they are seeing is more glorious than anything we have ever laid eyes on while going through this lif...

1 Corinthians 15:7-9    “After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Paul began, in the third verse of this chapter, to lay out again the gospel that he had preached in the church at Corinth. He declared unto them how that Christ died for our sins, how that He was buried, and how He rose again on the third day. This was all done according to the scriptures. He then proceeds to lay out to them a list of witnesses to Christ’s resurrection, many of whom were still alive at that time. In this seventh verse, Paul continues to confirm that Jesus rose from the dead by naming further witnesses. Paul obviously felt it important to give them an over-abundance of testimony to the resurrection of our Lord. It was easy enough to believe that He had died since this was something that men...

The text for this message is Joel 3:9-17. We have been nibbling away at this book for some time now. Let us briefly review what we have learned so far. There is no definite time period given. Joel may have been a contemporary of Elijah, some 870 years before the birth of Christ, or he may have been a contemporary of Nehemiah, 450 years before the birth of Christ, or he may have lived during some period in between. As concerns prophecy in general, it may be a fore-telling of future events or it may be a forth-telling of current events, relative to the time of the prophet. We find both in this short prophecy of Joel. In the first half of this book, it appears Joel is explaining current events to his original audience. Israel had been disobedient and walked away from God. We cannot pinpoint a time in Israel’s history when this was unique. It is a problem Israel dealt with continually. From as early as the Exodus from Egypt, to as late as the return from Babylon, Israel and Judah had a hab...

1 Corinthians 15:3-6    “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” Paul is not merely recounting the chronological order of how he delivered (or preached – see v. 1) the gospel unto them. He is declaring the most basic and powerful points of the good news of Jesus Christ. This was not just Paul’s thinking, but what he has received from the Holy Spirit. I realize that there are different ways of looking at some scriptures. Some can be applied to eternity, some to God’s kingdom here, and some to both. Brethren may not always view these scriptures in the same light. Contrary to popular belief, we can disagree on s...

Psalm 138:1-3     "I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.  (2)  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.  (3)  In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." We love the "I will's" of the Bible, don't we? We love to be reminded that God said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." We love to know that "My God shall (will) provide all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Our hearts are strengthened to know that even when we go through the waters, the flood, or the fire, God has promised: "I will be with thee." We love it when God says, "I will."  We know that there has never been one single promise from God that has not come to pass. The one we are still waiting for is when Jesus said, ...

1 Corinthians 15:1-2    “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” Paul tells the church at Corinth that what he has said to them and what he is about to say to them is not new. What he writes in his letter is the same gospel that he preached to them face-to-face for a period of a year and a half (Act 18:11). He reminds them here that they received that gospel, not just by hearing but that it found a lodging place within them. It was this gospel of Paul that had established caused them to stand as the church at Corinth. Scholars estimate that Paul came to Corinth around 51 AD. Depending on exactly when he arrived that would put his departure from them sometime between 52 and 53 AD. The date of this letter is put somewhere between 54 and 55 AD, so it did not take long for discord to cro...

Psalm 137:1-4    "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.  (2)  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.  (3)  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.  (4)  How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?" There is no doubt about it that sins of the flesh produce pleasure for a while. We read in Hebrews 11:25 that Moses chose "... to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." But for the child of God, there is a void that is left because those pleasures are only temporary. Today's Psalm was written about the time of captivity when Israel was taken away into the land of Babylon. The Lord allowed that captivity to take place because His people had turned away from Him. In contrast to Moses, they chose to enjoy the pleasure...

1 Corinthians 14:37-40    “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.” Paul gives us a very important insight here: the carnal mind is not going to like what he has had to say. That is why he addresses himself to those that claim to speak by God’s inspiration or walk in His spiritual kingdom. Without God’s grace and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we will not acknowledge that Paul writes to the church the commandments of the Lord. In this Paul also makes another important acknowledgement. He is not claiming any wisdom from himself in these things. Paul clearly points the reader to the Lord as the true author of what he has written to the church at Corinth. The question then becomes for us today the sa...

1 Corinthians 14:34-36    “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?” In our society, it is difficult to deal with Paul’s instruction here without being labeled as being misogynistic (strongly prejudiced against women). However, if we consider Paul’s writings as a whole, it should be clear that Paul had a deep respect for the sisters of the church. He mentions several by name as succoring himself and others (see Phebe – Rom 16:1), being helpers (see Priscilla – Rom 16:3), and laboring (see Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis  – Rom 16:6, 12) in the cause of Christ. In view of the fact that Paul commends these (and others) by name to the churches, it would certainly app...

Psalm 136:1-3    "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.  (2)  O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.  (3)  O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever." When was the last time you took time to just sit and meditate upon the goodness of God? I'm asking myself that question, by the way. Have you ever just sat and thought back on your life as to the many ways in which God has delivered you in your struggles and trials? As I look back on my life, I can assuredly say with the Psalmist in another place, "If it had not been that the Lord was on my side...." I can plainly see that as I look back, but how often do I then take time to simply "give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good. His mercy endures forever." That is what the writer of the Psalm was doing. Not only was he looking back over his own life, he was thinking back through the history of the nation of Israel...

1 Corinthians 14:29-32    “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” Throughout the fourteenth chapter, Paul has made it clear that he does not prohibit speaking in tongues. At the same time, he has made it clear that speaking plainly by prophesy is more edifying to the church body. As a result of this, Paul indicates that within the church body plain speaking by inspiration is preferable to speaking in tongues unless there be someone to interpret. However, this does not in any sense imply that the prophets (or preachers) were not to conduct themselves in an orderly fashion. The prophets were generally charged with being mindful of the congrega...

Psalm 135:1-3    "Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.  (2)  Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,  (3)  Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant." Psalm 135:13    "Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever; and thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations." Am I the only one, or does it seem sometimes that the world is going too fast? Do you ever sit down and just wish for some time when things come to a standstill? What have we done to ourselves that brought us to the place where we stay tired all the time? Debby and I felt that way last night. We were trying to watch our usual evening programs and it seemed that even the pace of the plot of the program was going way too fast for us. You know what I did? (Of course you don't know, but I'm about to tell you.)  I turned the television to YouTube and found...

1 Corinthians 14:26-28    “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.” It is exciting and humbling to be given a spiritual gift from God, and rightly so. For there to be many such gifts in the church is cause for rejoicing. Some have the gift of composing and singing songs of praise. Others may have the gift of seeing the patterns and instructions in God’s word and sharing how they applied to God’s people in the past and how they are relevant to us today. There may be some that are given the gift of speaking in a different language. The Spirit may be pleased to bless another with understandi...

Psalm 134:1-3    "Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD.  (2)  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.  (3)  The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion." I had a dream last night that I was giving a message to a college class. I don't remember the specific Scripture that I used, but I remember something very specific that I said to them. "Don't ever ever tell the Lord that He can't do something." I remember the impact of that statement hit me so much that I felt like I had to repeat it. "Don't ever ever tell the Lord that He cannot do something. There is nothing impossible with God." Then today, I open my Bible and read the words of verse 3, "The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion."  Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Sometimes it seems that the preaching of the Word has been w...

1  Corinthians 14:21-25    “In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” In Paul’s first statement here, he paraphrases Isaiah 28:11-12. While some might argue that this was not a part of the law, scholars tell us it was common p...