Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Dec 4th A Family Addicted to the Ministry

Today’s Passages – 1 Corinthians 15 – 16; Proverbs 4

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 16 – 20; Memorize – Isaiah 9:6)

“I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,)” – (1 Corinthians 16:15)

Addiction is not usually thought of as a good thing, but I think that addiction to the ministry would certainly be an exception to the rule. We do not know much about this fellow Stephanan, save that he was on of the earlier converts in Achaia, which was where the city of Corinth was located. We also know from chapter one that Paul personally baptized “the household of Stephanas”. Other than that we only know that Stephanas was addicted to ministering to the saints, along with his house. That means that the whole family co-labored together in the ministry of the gospel.

The word “addicted” here is a word that means appoint or ordain, which means to set apart. This family was “set apart” for the ministry. Now there is no indication from the Scriptures that this family was serving “full-time”. In other words, this was not a missionary family that went to Bible school and was then sent out to serve the Lord in some foreign place. It seems from the context that this family was one of the first families to get saved in Corinth, and was one of the founding families of the church there. They were laboring together in their home church. Yet, they were addicted to the ministry there. I can see Mrs. Stephanas teaching a Sunday School class. I can see Mr. Stephanas working behind the scenes getting their meeting place ready to go. He’s tired because he worked all day at his secular job, but he’s so addicted to the ministry, he just has to spend some time  after work down at the church. He’s got young Stephanas Jr. with him. He also teaches, and serves as a deacon. He’s hooked on the ministry. He goes soul winning and visits the sick. He just can’t break away from serving the people of God there at his local church.

I wish we had some more families, like the household of Stephanas that served God together in the ministry here at Jersey Shore. I thank God for every individual that comes to our church, but there is something very powerful and very wondeful about a family that serves God together.

Dec 2nd Are You Unworthy?

Today’s Passages – 1 Corinthians 10 – 12; Proverbs 2

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 6 – 10; Memorize – Colossians 3:15)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 48:1 & 2

Read last year’s post on this passage – “Be Careful”

“Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” – (1 Corinthians 11:27)

The answer is yes – and no.

How’s that for an answer? Let me explain. In ourselves (our flesh) we are completely unworthy to partake of the Lord’s Supper. There is nothing good about any one of us. The Scripture has a lot of things to say about the sinful condition of men. Not just “bad men” by the way: all men. “There is none righteous, no not one.” Isaiah probably said it best: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6) We are all unworthy.

However, those that are saved are completely worthy. Paul said, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”  (Romans 3:22). So even though we unworth in ourselves, because of the blood of Christ we are completely worthy. He has removed all sin from our record. Positionally, He sees us as righteous as He sees the Lord Jesus.

So what does the Scripture mean when it says, “wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily…”. The word “unworthily” is an adverb. An adverb modifies or explains verbs or other adverbs. The word “unworthily” here modifies the verbs eat and drink. In other words, Paul was not saying that the person eating was unworthy, but rather that the way he was eating and drinking was unworthy. Read the context. It clearly indicates that Paul was correcting them for what they were doing while remembering the body and blood of the Lord. The Scripture is teaching here that our focus during the Lord’s Supper should be on nothing but the death and shed blood of the Lord.

If you are saved, you are worthy to sit at the Lord’s table. If you have sin in your life (and who doesn’t), while you are reflecting on the Lord and His sacrifice for you, it would be a great time for you to confess those sins to Him; but by all means come to the table, and remember  what He did for you.

Dec 1st Stumblingblocks

Today’s Passages – 1Corinthians 6 – 9; Proverbs 1

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 1 – 5; Memorize Colossians 3:15)

“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.” – (1 Corinthians 8:9)

The context of 1 Corinthians 8 has to do primarily with idolatry. Paul was telling the strong Christian that it was certainly OK with God for him to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols. You see, the strong Christian understands that these idols were just inanimate objects, and though they might mean something to other people, they are nothing to him. It is sort of like my view of Christmas trees. There are some Christians that are very offended by a Christmas tree because they originated as a part of pagan worship; but for me the Christmas tree is just a part of our Christmas tradition. I do not worship the tree. I bow down to it only to retrieve the presents that are underneath it.

However, if my having a Christmas tree became a stumblingblock to somebody, it would be wrong for me to have one. I do not think that this would happen today, but if a new Christian happened to visit my house and see the tree, and then bowed down to it in worship, I would probably have to re-consider owning a tree. The same argument can be applied to many “liberties” that we have.  Drinking alcohol would be a good example. Now there are a lot of arguments in the Bible against drinking alcohol, but the bottom line is that God will not revoke my salvation for drinking. However, my drinking could very likely be a stumblingblock for somebody else. I may be able to handle an occasional drink now and then; but the person I am influencing may not be able to handle it, and may become a drunkard. So, I don’t drink. I don’t want to point anybody in the wrong direction.

We also need to be very careful that we don’t allow ourselves to be tripped up in our Christian life. There are a lot of things out there that could cause us to stumble if we are not careful. Just because somebody else is doing something, or even another Christian is doing it, does not mean that it is OK for us.

Nov 30th Baby Christians

Today’s Passages – 1 Corinthians 1 – 5; Proverbs 30

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 146 – 150; Memorize – Colossians 3:15)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6

Today’s Passage – 1 Corinthians 1 – 5

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (1 Corinthians 3:1 & 2)

The church at Corinth was a church that had many issues which we could sum up into one main category, carnality. They were a very carnal church. Paul says here in the verses above that they were babes. The symptoms of their carnality can be seen throughout these chapters. For instance, they had a problem with unity; they were divided. Some of them were following Paul; some Apollos; some Peter. They ought to have been following the Lord; this way they could also get behind anybody else that was also going the same direction. Man worship seems to be a symptom of the carnality in our churches today as well. We love to pick out a spiritual guru who will do all of the work for us. He will get to know God and study for us, and he will tell us what we need to know. You see, this way we won’t have to get to know God ourselves. I praise God for the many different men that God has used in my life, but they were all just men. I still needed to follow God on my own, just in case one of these men ahead of men decide to take a detour away from God.

Another symptom of the church in Corinth which revealed their lack of spiritual maturity, and their carnality, was immorality. There were many within the body of Christ there that could not control their passions. They were committing some of the worst types of sin including fornication, and unfortunately, it did not appear that the church was dealing with it. They did not seem to be too upset about it. Our churches today are much the same way. It is almost as if we have given up trying to fight immorality anymore. The world we live in has certainly become a cesspool of immorality, so we figure that as long as we are not as bad as they are, we are doing ok. I don’t think God sees it the same way.

How can we reverse this trend? How can we try to conduct our churches in a way where we are still loving and reaching people with problems, yet we are maintaining a mature, separated walk with the Lord. I believe if a church is going to be able to pull its people away from the world, and lead them into a separated lifestyle of service, it will have to have these three ingredients:

1  There must be some shining examples – The leadership of the church, beginning with the pastors, must be men of God that are excited and passionate about serving the Lord. These men and women do not see separation as something to endure, but rather a lifestyle that they enjoy. These people don’t have to do what they do, they love it.

2  There also needs to be strong exhortation – Bible principle must be preached and taught with a conviction that can only come through the power of the Spirit of God. Messages need to be flooded, not with the philosophies of men, but with the principles contained in the Word of God. The people need to hear, “Thus saith the Lord”.

3  There also needs to be service exercise – People need to have a purpose, and they need to be busy serving the Lord. Let’s plug people in to some type of service that enables them to use their gifts for the glory of God.

4  There also needs to be a spiritual excitement – We get beaten down by the world enough. Our people need to see God working. They need to be convinced that this is real, that we are really on the wining team. There needs to be some spiritual victories that will motivate the people to keep going. Nothing is more motivational than seeing people saved, and seeing peoples lives changed.

Carnality will be less of a problem in a healthy, vibrant, excited, motivated, and growing church. People will be able to resist the pull of the world if there is a stronger pull coming from within the walls of the church.