August 22, 2006 - Psalms 110-112 and I Corinthians 5
It is both sobering and joyous to think about Jesus' Second Coming. Psalm 110 reminds us that He is waiting in heaven until His enemies are brought into submission. Then, He will come to reign in His power. (v.3) It will be a dreadful time for those who oppose Him, because He will come to execute His wrath on sin. (v.5) I pray that you are ready for Jesus to come again, because it could happen at any minute.
Psalms 111 and 112 speak about having the fear of the Lord. Psalm 111 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 112 says that the one who fears the Lord will be blessed as he keeps His commandments. We serve the Lord because we love Him, but there must be an element of fear, too. We must know His awesome power to crush us at any moment, and His power to punish us severely for our sin. Then, we have a double motivation for obeying Him that is very effective. If we lose the fear of the Lord, we will slip into sin, thinking nothing will happen to us.
That is the reason for the sin in I Corinthians 5. Whether the man who took his father's wife was a true believer or not, he did not act out of the fear of the Lord. He acted in arrogance. (v.2) The other people responded with a similar arrogance. They did not mourn the sin. In fact, they did nothing. Paul calls for them to put this man out of the church, so that He could be led by the Spirit to repent, and so that the sin would not spread to other believers. (v.6) He reminds them that we are not to come to worship the Lord with known sin in our lives. (v.8) We must come as pure hearts, standing clean before Him. It is our responsibility to help other believers not to fall into sin. (v.12) We should go to them in love and lead them back to a close relationship with the Lord. What is the Lord saying to you about the fear of the Lord? What does He want you to do today?
Tomorrow, I Intend to read Psalms 113-115 and I Corinthians 6.
Psalms 111 and 112 speak about having the fear of the Lord. Psalm 111 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Psalm 112 says that the one who fears the Lord will be blessed as he keeps His commandments. We serve the Lord because we love Him, but there must be an element of fear, too. We must know His awesome power to crush us at any moment, and His power to punish us severely for our sin. Then, we have a double motivation for obeying Him that is very effective. If we lose the fear of the Lord, we will slip into sin, thinking nothing will happen to us.
That is the reason for the sin in I Corinthians 5. Whether the man who took his father's wife was a true believer or not, he did not act out of the fear of the Lord. He acted in arrogance. (v.2) The other people responded with a similar arrogance. They did not mourn the sin. In fact, they did nothing. Paul calls for them to put this man out of the church, so that He could be led by the Spirit to repent, and so that the sin would not spread to other believers. (v.6) He reminds them that we are not to come to worship the Lord with known sin in our lives. (v.8) We must come as pure hearts, standing clean before Him. It is our responsibility to help other believers not to fall into sin. (v.12) We should go to them in love and lead them back to a close relationship with the Lord. What is the Lord saying to you about the fear of the Lord? What does He want you to do today?
Tomorrow, I Intend to read Psalms 113-115 and I Corinthians 6.