Paul's Warning and Admonishment for Those He Loves

1Co 4:14-21  I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.  (15)  For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  (16)  I urge you, then, be imitators of me.  (17)  That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.  (18)  Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.  (19)  But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.  (20)  For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.  (21)  What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

Paul here explains his previous statements and admonishments, explains why he says them. Paul loves the Corinthians as his children and that is why he warns them and admonishes them. He also gives another warning to those who are in the Corinthian church.  

1Co 4:14  I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

What he told them in the previous passages, could very well have made them feel ashamed, it very well could make them feel foolish. He gave them a picture of how much the apostles suffer, and then allowed the Corinthians to make the connection of how little they suffered. It very well might have made them feel ashamed because he just told them “You sit in comfortable houses, you have no persecution, the biggest difficulty you have is deciding ‘who you follow’, us, the apostles have gone to the point of death, we have been beaten, we have been persecuted in every way, WAKE UP”. But, as much as it might wake them up and make them feel ashamed, that wasn't Paul’s point, his point was to warn them. He changes his tone from sarcastic to one of loving mercy, one of genuine concern. He loves them as children because he was put in the place of “raising them” so to speak, and he loved them as God loves them. So, although he was harsh with them for a little while, as with children, you need to be just, but you also need to be doing it for the right reason: you love them. God loves us and his discipline is for our benefit and because he loves us. Psa 94:12-13  Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law,  (13)  to give Him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. God truly does discipline us for our good, and he warns us for our good, and the same is true for how the apostle Paul treated the Corinthians.

1Co 4:15-16  For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.  (16)  I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

Paul is their Spiritual father, there are many people who “guide” their spiritual lives, but really, only Paul was their “father” he cares about them more than their guides. This is a transition verse that explains both the previous verse and the next verse. It explains that he loves them as children and so his rebuke is not meant to be condemning, but it’s meant to be exhorting. It’s meant not to push them down, but to help them up. It’s transitioning into the next verse (16) because verse sixteen explains how their relation to each other should influence their actions. He calls them to imitate him because they are his spiritual children. Most children imitate their parents, he is an example of a godly spiritual father and he wants them to be a godly spiritual person just as he is, by God’s grace.

1Co 4:17  That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

Paul Sent Timothy to the Corinthians because as much as we think we remember things, we are a drifting people, our habits, our likes, everything we do drifts with the waves of life. Paul knew that some of them had drifted from what he had taught them. Timothy was Paul’s representation, Timothy acted as Paul did, he knew what Paul knew, at least most of it. Therefore, Paul sent Timothy to them to remind them how they ought to act and how they ought to live. Moreover, Paul taught the SAME thing everywhere he went, he taught the gospel and the simplicity of it, and taught them how they ought to live, he didn't change it up everywhere he went, and he stayed consistent. We also ought to stay consistent because the gospel is consistent, not that we can't grow, we have infinite room to grow. However, we need to stay true to Christ. We need to be careful not to drift as most people do, we need to be careful not to drift as the Corinthians did. The real question Heb 2:1-3  Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.  (2)  For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,  (3)  how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, The Bible is clear what happens to those who do not stay with their faith to the end. If you pray a prayer and think that that’s your magic ticket to heaven, you are absolutely wrong, because if there is not a change in your life, you are in danger of Christ saying he never knew you. Mat 7:22-23  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (23)  And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'. Here in Galatians tells us how we should live. Gal 5:24-26  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  (25)  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.  Those that are saved will have fruit from the Spirit, they will have, as it says here, crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Do not become lazy in your faith, do not let it slip from your fingers. Do not become complacent in your spiritual life or in living for Christ.

1Co 4:18  Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.

Some people clearly thought that Paul wouldn't come back to them because he was “scared” and “afraid” of those that thought they were so powerful. This is the same issue that is at work in our churches today, there are people that act as if Christ is not coming back, and people are acting as if THEY are more authoritative on scripture than scripture itself is. There are people who are trying to change God into something much less than he is, and raise people to much more than they are. The Pope is being raised up as godlike, and even some evangelical pastors are raised up as almost godlike and their word is taken as the gospel truth and people don’t even check the facts against scripture, which is the ONLY source of truth. Christ said this Mat 24:37-38  For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (38)  For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, For we need to be ready for Christ to return as he promised, we can’t be like those in Corinth and doubt the return, they doubted the return of Paul, sometimes we doubt the return of Christ, sometimes we weary like the disciples in the garden, yet we need to stay vigilant. 1Pe 5:8-9  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  (9)  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. The easiest thing for Satan, is when the Christians are lazy and do not fight with the zeal that we get from the power of Christ.

1Co 4:19-20  But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power.  (20)  For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

Paul lets them know that he plans on going back to Corinth, and as soon as he can as long as the Lord wills that it is to be. He also tells them that he will find out what they are talking about, but more importantly, he will test their power, he will test them to see if what they are teaching is true and if they have the power of the Holy Spirit.  Because, what they say doesn't matter if they do not have the spiritual power to back it up. The kingdom of God doesn't consist of empty talk, but it consists of true power given by God.

1Co 4:21  What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?

He then asks a simple question: Do you want me to come with discipline or with gentle friendship? The people were straying away from the gospel and this was his warning that they were following false teachers, if they didn't straighten up themselves, he would have to come with discipline and straighten them out. This is also a warning to us, although not spoken by Paul, God speaks this to us when we stray, if we don’t go back to him, we will be disciplined out of love, Heb 12:5-11  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him.  (6)  For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives."  (7)  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  (8)  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  (9)  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  (10)  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  (11)  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Discipline is not a bad thing, it is painful though, and if we act in righteousness, God doesn't need to discipline us. The Old Testament is full of God disciplining his people many times and each time it causes his people to come back to Him. Today, many of us don’t want to endure God’s discipline, this is completely wrong, we need to endure discipline and take it to heart for the sake of righteousness. Moreover, we need to identify when we are being disciplined because if we are to have a heart for God we cannot ignore discipline. Our attitude should be like that of David: Psa 94:12  Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD, and whom you teach out of your law, David realized that discipline is a good thing when we stray away, for if we aren't being disciplined, do we truly have a father that loves us? No, it very well could mean that our father is Satan if we are not being disciplined for our wrongdoings. 1Jn 3:10  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. This doesn't mean that if you sin, you are a child of the devil, it means that those who continually practice sin are children of the devil, moreover, if you are a child of God and you continually sin, he WILL discipline you as he did the children of Israel. 

In conclusion, we need to be wary, we need to be diligent, we need to accept discipline, and we need to be ready. We need to be wary of teachers teaching things that are false, 2Pe 2:1-2  But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.  (2)  And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. There will be false teachers and they will be popular, but they will bring destruction upon the church and upon the individuals that listen to them and follow them. We need to be diligent in our salvation, we need to be guarding our salvation Php 2:12  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, We need to be careful not to drift, not to fall away, we need to remain steady and consistent within our faith, because if we don't, we WILL fall away and we WILL either be found to not be followers of Christ, or we will be disciplined by him. We also need to accept discipline from God, because He tells us that it is an extension of His love and so we need to use it to adopt change. We also need to be ready for Christ to come back, in our personal salvation and in the spreading of his word. In the end, we need to continue to focus on Christ and live for Him and for His glory every minute of every day.

those two words, that none will ever obtain this side of death.

Self Control is something we all struggle with, (if you don't then I applaud you, and you can stop reading right now)

The phrase "Self Control" is mentioned 24 times in the Bible (ESV). It is used in the positive sense, and in the negative sense

1Co 9:25  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 
1Co 9:26  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 
1Co 9:27  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 
And in the negative:

2Ti 3:1  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 
2Ti 3:2  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 
2Ti 3:3  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 
2Ti 3:4  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 
2Ti 3:5  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 
2Ti 3:6  For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 

yet it is mentioned more in the positive sense, of what we will get or complete, if we exercise self control.Those who didn't exercise self control, paid dearly: Esau, Samson, Saul, David and even Moses, all failed to have self control and paid for it dearly. Esau gave  up his birthright because he was hungry (Gen. 25:29-34), couldn't he have waited? Couldn't he have made something for himself? Samson, could not resist telling the secret to his strength. He was enslaved by the Philistines, forced to grind grain, had his eyes poked out. Saul, let himself be overcome with anger, trying to kill David. He never had peace, and eventually killed himself. David, he could not control his lust for Bathsheba, committed adultery and then murder to cover his sin. His first child with her, died because of that sin. Moses, when he was told to speak to the rock, he struck it in anger, causing him never to enter the Promise Land. 

Lack of self control is something everybody struggles with , it comes in many forms: in the form of lust, want for wealth, food, power, and almost anything else you can think of. What happens when you try to obtain self control over something you have let yourself do in the past? well, as I grit my teeth and say I will never do that again, I try to pray harder, but then I get tempted, and I do it anyway, always digging the hole deeper, and deeper. So what can we do to gain self control? The answer is nothing, now before you jump to conclusions, let me explain what I mean. We are humans, and except for in rare cases, we can't fight addictions alone. We need help, that is why we have counseling centers. Places like Teen Challenge, because we as humans have figured out we can't do it alone. Why is this? Why can't we do it alone? before I answer that, let me tell you something, the biblical meaning of self control is walking by the spirit , under the lordship of Christ [Priola, 2013] The only way we can control ourselves is though Grace, first we are saved though grace, (not perfection) second we are changed though grace (we are not perfect after we are saved) thirdly we are given not what we deserve though grace, (not taking into account our sins before or after we are saved) God wants us to realize that we CANNOT do it on our own, that is the answer the question. We must admit that we can't do it on our own, before God will intervene on our behalf. I find myself praying quite often: God help ME to overcome this, or that. I should be praying: "God please overcome this FOR me, because I can not do it at all.
 Tit 2:11  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 
Tit 2:12  training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 
Tit 2:13  waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 
Tit 2:14  who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. 

as you can see in Titus 2:11, and 14 God saved us though Grace,
as you can see in verses 12, and 14 God wants to change, train, and purify us.
in verses 13, we wait for our hope, which is Christ, who is also our reward: Eternal life

Your only hope of ever controlling an addiction, or ever controlling yourself, is though God. you can on rare occasions overcome an addiction with the help of people. But you will never be free from it.
Christ, when he died on the cross, freed those who accept his gift, from judgment by the law,
Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 
The law, brings to light sin, and therefor leads to death.

Rom 7:4  Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 
Rom 7:5  For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 
Rom 7:6  But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 
Rom 7:7  What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." 
Rom 7:8  But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 

once we accept his gift we are apart from the law, and the sin lies dead. However this can lead to another trap, which would give us licence to sin. This is not the case, and in one of my future posts, I shall cover that subject.

Trust in God?

as I keep going on though my life, studying science, learning from the Bible, interacting with people, growing up. I see Gods hand more, and more, and more, in science, in my life, in what he teaches me every day, in my reliance on him though prayer. 

It truly amazes me, and it helps me be very grateful for every thing he has done, and although it is hard sometimes, to trust him more and more. 

I want to remind all of you about that: God will always take better care of you, than you do. And the sooner you start to trust him, the sooner he will take care of you. I am not saying you won't go though tough times, Paul promises that we will go though them, but if you trust him, you will learn from those tough times, you will grow in him though those tough times, and Christ will never leave his claim in your life. 

So stand strong with whatever the world throws at you, weather trail, hardship, good times, hard times, times of pain, times of comfort, times of peace, times of turmoil, times of happiness, times of sadness. He will bring you though them all if you trust in him.

Take the challenge for God

I am memorizing Romans as some of you may know, and I have memorized up through verse eleven, this is going to be an amazing time with God, and the others who are memorizing it with me. 
this of course is not going to be easy, but it will bring us all closer to God. So I am going to challenge you to do something with God that is hard, and something that will stick with you forever. YOU WILL BENEFIT FORM IT. 

so do something for God, memorize your favorite chapter in the Bible, give an extra tithe this week, go to that person that the Holy Spirit has been telling you to minister to, read your Bible extra, go on a prayer and fast time, or something similar. God gave you your time, why not give him back his own time? start a challenge for you and others in your social groups. So my Challenge to you, is to take a challenge for God, and spread a challenge around to others.