18.09.2021 Marian

Evening meditation on the Word:

“Do not sin anymore, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”

 

 

May the Lord help us to discuss a topic that continues on this earth. Few have freed themselves fromthis topic, and most people still function in it - sin.

 

In 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 we read about this wonderful moment, when all those, who have made use of the Lord Jesus on earth, have reached in a triumph their goal, and they will be able to sing this song.

 

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

 

We read from this apostolic lecture, that the sting of death is sin. This is its sting, death lets venom through sin into a man who commits sin. "The wages of sin is death," we know. We live on a very dangerous area. Even if the hornets would be flying around here, it wouldn’t be as dangerous as what we do not even see, and is happening. Different thoughts, ideas, different events, attitudes, different suspicions - all these fly more than hornets, fly to bite and lead us to death. They live, but they are dead because they live tainted by sin, tainted by some crime.

 

In John 5:8-14“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

 

“Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” From this we understand that this man, was sick because of the crime of sin. There was something in his life that resulted in illness. It was not that he simply fell ill, but there was sin in his life and the result of that sin was this disease - 38 years. Jesus says: It's only 38 years, don't come back, don't sin, because something worse come unto you.

In Exodus 15:26:"And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee."

If you obey your God, God says that He will not touch, those who obey Him, with any disease, He will touch Egypt. This man was afflicted with just such a disease, and the Lord warned him not to go back to a bad place. Lest he not get himself into bigger trouble, he was healed, but he will run again ... Lust is lust, something was there in his life, in his body, and Jesus warns him: Do not go back to that, lest a something worse come unto you. It is a warning, that this man should have heeded well.

 

II Chronicles 21: 12-15;18: We have a man who is sick because of his sins. 

"And there came a writing to him from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of David thy father, Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father, nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and also hast slain thy brethren of thy father's house, which were better than thyself: Behold, with a great plague will the LORD smite thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy goods: And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.(12-15) And after all this the LORD smote him in his bowels with an incurable disease.(18)”

 

God fulfilled what He said to this man. It was the result of his staying in apostasy, in sin. It may also be that disease, is the consequence of a sin. And the Lord Jesus released this man and forbade him to go back. You also need to know of what the effect was, some sort of physical experience. If it was really because of sin and you were set free, don't go back to that place anymore, lest worse happen unto you. Because in fact this body (healed), may in some time remember the old way of functioning and come back to it, and it will be a tragedy. It is better, when the Lord relieves you of a given disease, remember and be careful about it. If the disease was indeed the result of the penalty for sin, just as they asked about the blind: Who sinned, he or his parents? And Jesus answered them, No, this is not the result, it is for the glory of God. It was an ordinary disease, that Jesus could set free this man.

 

Jesus discerns because He knows the result of what, the disease is; we can see that He approached people in different ways. When instructed by this, we understand that sin is very dangerous. Death uses sin to have us in the place of death.

 

In John 8: 7-11:  

"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

 

Again, Jesus says to this woman: I do not condemn you, but do not commit adultery any more, sin no more. The end, from that moment when I give you forgiveness, I give you the opportunity to go on and sin no more. Let this be your end. The Lord gave her the opportunity to be saved, but He refuses to let the rescued, continue to do the same. If the Lord saves someone, it is so that a person will stop doing what caused him or her to be in captivity. These can be different things: gossip, alcohol, drugs, malice, whatever it is, sin is all kinds of sin. When the Lord preserves man, He says, Do not act like this anymore. Don't let it please you anymore, don't do it anymore, because Someone gave you life so that you could live on earth not hurting yourself and others anymore. By committing adultery, she hurt not only herself but also others. Sin dragged someone into sin and that is why Jesus said: Do not do this anymore, do not serve the devil anymore.

 

In 1 John 3:5-6: Sometimes a person no longer even pays attention to the fact, that when Jesus brings us freedom, He has requirements. He gave us freedom not to hurt ourselves and others, but to stop with this, and to pay us attention to what our daily life is for - the Lord.

 

"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."

 

There is no sin in Him. When we meet Jesus, we meet Him who has no sin. You look at His life, His speech and you find no sin, you cannot say: Well, we all sin. He never committed a sin; and when He speaks to you, it gives you the opportunity to save yourself, to use Him, to use who He is and what He is, to also win on this earth, so that the venom of death could not penetrate man. That man would be alive, so true, loving, happy, grateful - a living man, not struck down by sin, and therefore death. It is like that when man is alive, but does not live, loving God, loving people - only he lives somehow; it is not a life, because there is sin, sin always causes that a man cannot live, although he is dead, he eats, drinks, functions, but does not do what he should do. He does not show the good that should be shown ... So man is limited. This limitation is at least some kind of disability. The Lord does not want it, the Lord wants everyone to be an overcomer.

 

1 Peter 2:22: "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." We read of the Lord Jesus that He never did sin. He has committed - this is a word used in the past, perfect, active - that is, all of this space is sinless. He never committed any sin. It is really necessary for you and me, that we too can save ourselves. We absolutely need Jesus, only He can help man not to sin, help us come closer to God and be with Him. To rejoice in God, to sing to God with a thankful heart. That's what Jesus came for. This is also why the Holy Spirit was sent. And if a man wanders into sin, he will limit himself constantly. This venom limits glory, limits contentment, gratitude; causes that man cannot be free to do what is pleasing God. Jesus came to free His people, to free us from our sins. It is very precious and important.

 

In 1 Thessalonians 2:10-13, the Apostle Paul writes, "Ye are witnesses, and God... we see that what Jesus Christ came for is done in man who belongs to Jesus ..."Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.” So, we have a man who talks about the influence of Jesus' life on his life, and this influence is so great, so powerful that he doesn't say: I am a sinner and I have to sin all the time. He says: you have seen, you are witnesses and God is a witness that my life is set free, it is free. Jesus did in me what He came for, I no longer live for myself, but for God. And this is a testimony that not only did Jesus come to show himself that it is possible to live without sin, but Jesus came to give you and me also this opportunity to live here, in a way worthy of God. Paul says: This is why I admonish you and rebuke you, and this is why I am a testimony - He says: Follow me, because I am following Jesus, I am a testimony, so that you may believe that this is also an open space for you. You do not have to live in your sins, you can save yourself in Christ and you can be free to move here, amidst all events, as alive, not dead because of sin, but alive because of Christ, made alive by Christ, cleansed by His blood - a new creature that functions in the way that pleases God, in victory, in belonging to God. Paul made use of this.

 

We know that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life given to us in Christ Jesus. Paul made use of grace, he did not accept grace in vain, he accepted the life of Christ through grace, and it was the life of Christ in him that gave him freedom of movement. This is the beauty of victory when we look at Jesus, not only to heal us or help us here and there, but we look to the Savior who came to save us from our sins. We look to the One who can set us free, when we call on the Name of the Lord, we believe that He can set us free and He sets man free - "Whoever believes, whoever calls on the Name of the Lord, will be saved." So we do not call on Him only to heal, to bring us through, to make it easier, but Lord, save me, save me, I want to live thanks to You, I want to taste this life that is animated, alive, willing to do God's good and keep going. That is, Jesus should be accepted as the one who frees the sinner from being a sinner, in order to give the sinner a sanctified, clean life. This is a victory! Not only to see Jesus as my help as enemies surround me, but to see how He help when your sins surround you on all sides; and they would like to penetrate you, and He surrounds you and protects you, and they cannot penetrate - you walk freely, because Jesus is your Savior and He fills you with His victory over sin. This is why we need Jesus to save us and set us free. So did the apostle Paul.

 

1 John 3:8 "He that committeth (present, imperfect, i.e. infinite, active, i.e., who commits sin all the time)  sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning (all the time). For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin... He does not commit, that is, the one who was born of God, does not remain in sin, is not rooted in sin. We are to be rooted in Christ, we are to grow in Him. And whoever is in the sin, which fills that man's life all the time, it is someone who belongs to the enemy, but if he is not in sin, that sin does not function at all, for this Christ came for, to do it so. .. “…for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." He cannot be rooted in sin, he cannot function that way, because God's seed is in this man; such a man cannot continue in sin, he cannot. Jesus came to release us, so it cannot be something active, and it is happening all the time, and the man stays in it and says that he is a believer, that he belongs to Jesus and that he is going to eternity - there is no such a thing. It can't be like that, that's not what Jesus Christ came for. He came so that the man who was an active sinner would be set free, drawn towards Christ, so that this act of sin would be annihilated by the cross, and that the life of Jesus would make this man an active follower of Christ who actively belongs to Him, although in this a body tainted by sin, because this body remembers all the time, knows how it was lived in sin. However, what has come in Christ gives more strength to adhere to the Lord more than to a sin that has been committed. Man gets Victory over that, what previously enslaved him. The move in Christ is greater than the sin that drew us. Christ frees by more power than sin has. Christ's purity is greater than the power of sin, and therefore, when He comes to us and sets us free, man can no longer continue in sin, because Jesus' life is a much greater move for us. Just as it is said about God that the Father delivered us from darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of His Beloved Son. So it cannot be a man who is actively in sin and is so free to abide in sin - it is the one who is of the devil, who is still under the devil's rule. He may be a believer, he may be baptized and still be under the authority of the devil. Unless he accepts the deliverance that is in Christ Jesus, unless he will not accept by faith what Jesus gives to him, he can be freed. Having known the Truth, he experiences that in Christ there is a freedom for him from his crime. But if he rejects it, he will stay in bondage, and will not taste how to live in Christ, in freedom, and say: Everyone sins ... But this is what, those who have not really tasted of living thanks to Jesus Christ, are saying. They were baptized, but they did not receive their death in Christ, and they did not receive the resurrection in Christ to live a new life. And there were so many of them, as we read in the Bible, who were baptized, and yet they did not experience that for them it is much more precious to know Christ than to remain in what they were in before conversion; they remained in their crimes.

 

It is not that you belong to Christ and are actively in sin. It is not like that. A completely different action begins. You start to be set free from these events and you start to destroy those things that made you a slave. You already find more joy in tasting how good the Lord is than in doing what you previously did. You become the one in whom is the seed of God.

 

1 Peter 1:22-23: "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

This is the rebirth of that spotless seed, this seed of God, this purity of Christ is strong in man, and man experiences that he can walk and trample on things that previously bound him. You remember, you have a testimony, and I have it too, what it looked like after conversion, how with ease and boldness a man could trample down what had previously held him in captivity and made a man unable to free himself from it. And suddenly, man has the freedom, the peace to put it in order, and you can see that this seed in Christ is stronger than what previously enslaved man. Man changed the state of slavery, ceased to be a slave of sin, and became a slave of Christ; Christ's power, not sin's power, began to rule over this man - and this is freedom. Jesus has just brought us this freedom, and we must remember that.

 

1 John 2:1-2: "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. (here is past perfect tense, that is, lest you sin, lest you continue in sin, that you may be set free completely. It was, now it is gone, there is a free man). And if any man sin, (there is no active abiding; if it would happen to a man that he has sinned), we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." And if it happened to a man that he would sin, it does not mean that he is immediately disqualified. This man has an Advocate, he has the One who intercedes for man with his own blood, and this man can receive liberation, cleansing.

 

1 John 1:9 " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If we confess our sin to God, God has His wonderful Son to forgive us. Yes, the blood with which the Son intercedes speaks stronger than the blood of Abel. So we have an Advocate in heaven, if you sin, it doesn't mean you have to stay in sin, you can cleanse yourself, confess your sin - it says in the Proverbs: Who confesses and forsakes, God shows mercy to this man. So you get an opportunity to save yourself, and it is very important that you use this opportunity to save yourself from crime.

 

If you were surprised and something would anger you, and you knew that this is a crime, then you confess, confess it to God and in the Blood of Christ you find purification and nourishment, so as not to return to that sin that would separate you even for a moment, from this greatness, this holy one fellowship with the Father, with the saints.

 

There is a life in which there is no permanent life in sin, that "I must sin daily", but if a man belonging to Jesus should sin in some way, there is the possibility of cleansing, removing all taint of this sin, venom, everything that comes out of it. It is not that this is the end immediately, a failure, God does not love me anymore - the Lord came to save, not to lose, therefore He cares more for the sinner to save him than that the sinner would say: “Well, I have already committed, how could I have committed a sin, since He showed me so much love ...” Well, this is what this body is like, that it can still do something like this. Although, if a man draws deeply to God, then this power of Jesus life is so strong that the fruit of the Spirit protects man against it: love, peace, joy, patience - it protects man and he does not get into such a troubles. Rather, he experiences the freedom to walk in freedom and chastity.

 

Colossians 3: 1-10: " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."

How can this happen? Only through the glory of Christ. When He fills us with His Glory, we are able to throw it away like garbage, as it is not worth even to worry about it at all. We don't cultivate any sin because it gives us positions, opportunities, or freedom, no! Rather, when this power of Christ, His love, gentleness, Christ's goodness fills us, then everything is worth nothing. When you get something much more valuable, you throw away what has no value at all. It is even harmful to you. Accepting what is in Christ, looking at what is above, using the open heaven, causes the mind and heart to be filled with the glory of Christ, and then it is easy to throw it away. You treat it as Paul writes: even his righteousness, which he had achieved by thinking it was good and it was bad, he considered it as trash, for nothing, he get rid of it, throw it away.

 

When you come to know Christ, then you have this freedom and this boldness. It all depends on whether we get to know Christ every day. Knowing that True God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent is Eternal Life. Knowing is a priority, walking with the Lord, rejoicing in the Lord makes a person free and many things do not matter. But when a man loses his orientation to heaven and begins to look at earthly things more and more, then it is a problem, because earthly things will start to take on value again and then a person is able to give up something good, because "that" is so important now. Man can do many things; The Word of God says that they can not even come to the meeting because, for example, during this time they can make some profit - for example. So they recognize that profit is more important than the congregation and they judge that the congregation has no value as that profit - and what is it? It is that man looks at earthly things, not heavenly things. There are various events, and God's Word says: Whoever deliberately leaves the congregation can fall under God's vengeance.

 

So all this can be removed, and in this place comes love, joy, peace and gentleness, and man experiences that he lives for the Lord, that the life of this man is pleasing to God and to people. This is what we need to experience, that in the spiritual dimensions Christ is the most important, He is the Path to the Father, in Him we have real life, He brought us release, He died for our sins on the Cross, He was raised up for our justification, everything that is good we got in Christ Jesus. Let Him take a central place - not thinking about profits, etc. We have the greatest gain - this is Christ, the greatest victory is Christ, eternity is Christ, the conquest of sin is Christ. We have everything in Christ, when He is the most important for us, you do not walk in sins, you live freely and belong to God. But if at some point the enemy deceived you in some way, it doesn't have to be a crime, it is enough for something minor to come, your conscience already reacts that it is wrong and you cleanse yourself of it. Someone has no idea that you are treating it this way, that it's something that shouldn't happen at all. It is not about looking for who knows what, but this is already a pure person and a slight flaw is already a flaw. For the dirty: What's up, it's dirty, no big deal. When we abide in Christ, sin is no longer attractive to us, Christ is tempting, and this protects us.

 

Luke 17:3-5:" Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith." Jesus shows that He also wants to. If a man cannot cope, he has been caught somewhere in a trap and is unable to get out of it, the Lord wants to help a man so that when he falls into the trap again, he will immediately cry out: Lord forgive me, save me! The Lord says: Repent, and He is ready to forgive. His blood is shed for all our sins and the sins of the whole world. The Lord makes it possible for man to rise from many falls, because man needs to be raised from this fall. Jesus is ready to pick up and He says the same to his disciples, to us: If anyone sins against you and comes and says: I am sorry, forgive him. This man turns away from it, he will repent, but again when the enemy attacks him, you see that this man wants to go out, but he cannot, Jesus says: Forgive him, give him a chance until he gets out. Love this man as Jesus loves you and wants to help you get out and out. Maybe it will be another time, but you will get up and announce:

Praise you Jesus, I am a free man. And you will go on and it couldn’t do nothing with you anymore.

In Matthew 18:15 It is not rigid that sin immediately causes hatred, rejection. There is a sin against the Holy Spirit, this ends the topic. But because we are still in a body that is defiled, not perfect, something could happen. Then when a man sees in Jesus the intercessor with His Blood, the Intercessor, the great High Priest of faith, and he calls this High Priest: Cleanse me of this crime, I don't want to be separated because of this sin. When a man hates it, do not want to have nothing to do with it; when he needs more God, then strength will come and the enemy will flee.

 

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." It says there, that God's children do not sin, do not stay rooted in sin, but can sin somewhere in their lives and then they need help, as Jacob writes: when you see that your brother has sinned, pray to God for him; they need help because they don't want to live in it, you can see immediately that he hates it, he wants to be a free man. Even if he falls down, he wants to get out. And when he flies in again, he tries again until he finally gets out. It is the same with the enemy's trap, and the Lord frees from this trap. It is possible.

 

Matthew 18:16-18: "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And now, some man is rebuked because of some sins, he stands before the church: You must give up this sin, now. And this man says: Wisniewski is lying, Kwasniewski is a fraud, Kwiatkowski is so ... and you want to judge me? As in Romans it is written, those who judge also commit sins. The man says: we are all [sinners] and now you want to judge me? The court must be righteous, not lawlessness judges lawlessness. And that is why in many places they say: Sin is nothing big ... The church must walk in Christ's purity, it must belong to God, to put pressure on the sinner so that the sinner will repent. For if the congregation is in sin and everyone is committing sins, they may judge some "great crimes", which according to their human judgments are great sins. They judge these "great sins" and exclude someone from the congregation; who commits, in their opinion, "great sins" and very often they exclude someone who does not sin, but rebukes sin, and they say: we'd better remove him so that he does not disturb us.

 

It is possible for a brother who has sinned, to break free, so that a man can see that God does not want to kill such a man, but wants to save him. He wants the man to cleanse himself, remove the obstacle. Paul said: They say around you, Corinthians, that there is such a sin among you, that even the Gentiles do not have, that some of you live with his father's wife. You should exclude such a person from among yourself, if he doesn't want to repent and still remain in it, you should throw him out, give the body of such to a devil, that he attack him with disease or whatever, so that a man will repent and save himself. Let him be like a publican to you, but if he would repent, take him back.

 

Abiding in sin and sinning are two different things. Something can happen to someone, but if someone agrees to persists in it, it is a quite different matter. Sin makes a man blind, deaf. If a man persists in sin, that man becomes deaf, goes blind, his heart becomes hard. And then the person hears the Word of God, but his heart is hard. But if a man has sinned and because of this crime, which he knows, and the Church have no idea about many of them, the blood of Jesus cleanses him; but only when if a man is sad and blushes, and he absolutely needs to be back in fellowship with God and with believers. This man will save himself. And if a person agrees to be sick, he says: I am hardly sick and that's it, everyone gets sick, then he will stay sick. There are those who save themselves in Christ, who purify themselves and sanctify themselves. And maybe you saw someone in some sin, but then he cleansed himself, stopped doing it, you can remind him later what he has done, but God doesn't remind it to him. The Lord cleanses, frees and man cannot say: Well, I saw that this man has sinned, so he is a bad man. The moment when he sinned, he committed a crime, but quickly he reflected and found cleansing in the Blood of Christ, repented, cleansed himself. The Lord forgave and gave him the opportunity not to come back to it again - so strength is given.

 

We remember in Peter it is written that we were given the nature of God, so the world with its lust could not embrace us, that we would be free people on earth; God gives it to us. But with this nature of God, we need to take care of fellowship all the time. If a man neglects this, he is on the risk of a crime, that sin can catch up with man. In the Church, in the Body of Christ, there are carnal believers and there are spiritual believers. We remember how Paul wrote to the Corinthians: You are still carnal, because there are still differences and attitudes among you. There are spiritual people who are no longer part of it, like Paul. Corinthians were divided, and Paul says: I am writing to all of you in the same way. I do not accept your division. Everyone who is a carnal Christian lives in some sin, a crime, for this man a congregation is needed, that this man would leave his flesh and enter the territory of a spiritual man who lives in fellowship with God who does not live in apostasy.

 

And Paul, in this 1 Corinthians, describes a spiritual man. When a man converts, he does not understand many things yet, he does many things out of the body, but for this he converts, he comes to the congregation so that he can see that there is a spiritual life, necessary to be achieved in the Lord, to live in a spiritual way, and not in a carnal. To make decisions no longer with the body, but with the spirit, being in this body.

 

1 Corinthians 2:9-16: "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."

 

1 Corinthians 4:1-5: "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." We remember a man who was lying for 38 years and the Lord said: Take your bed and go, he took his bed, he goes and they say to him: You can't do this, it is a sin what are you doing ... But the Lord said this. Likewise, the apostle says: If the Lord guides me, the Lord uses me, someone may judge that I cannot do that, but this is the judgment of a man who does not know deliverance in Christ, does not know freedom. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more." Someone could think, Paul, you are mistaken. Now you are not such a known man, you are either such or such... Where is your steadfastness? This steadfastness is in Christ, and Paul is for men to save them. He is not false, he works to reach man with the truth of the Gospel. "And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." People might judge: No, you are a trickster. No, he loves people and with all these means he tries to reach in order to save the sinner, and so that the sinner begins to seek God, he begins to come closer to God.

 

The spiritual man is free, love has different ways to reach the heart of man, to draw him towards God. The spiritual man is free to reach people. The carnal has its limitations: No, I will not eat this with you, I will not eat meat or anything else. Thus, he thinks that he has his righteousness, while Christ is our righteousness, and the spiritual man already has understanding in these spiritual layers and knows what God called him to.

 

So there are fleshly people who must learn, know, understand, who judge according to the flesh, but when they grow up in the Lord, they begin to see it through the eyes of Christ and begin to see how precious man is in the eyes of Jesus. How important it is that man can be saved and set free from his bondage to sins.

 

We remember from the Corinthians how they wanted to eat the supper, how carnal they were, one brought food, the other wine, and then one was overfed, the other drunk, the other hungry, so they were so focused on themselves, they had so many gifts, but they were still carnal. They still needed a lot of instruction from a spiritual apostle so that they would be led out of their senses focused on spinning around and seeing their own way.

 

We have a letter to the Hebrews, which shows the responsibility of spiritual people, for unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required - we read here (Hebrews 5:11-14; 6:1-6): "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (entered into this spiritual understanding of the Lord Jesus Christ, into this precious knowledge of getting know the Father. They really went into those valuables and when they fell off when they withdrew it is hard to renew them again ...) - If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. A man introduced into this preciousness, into spiritual discernment, revelation, elevation, where in the spiritual dimensions he has a lot of testimonies, and when this man withdraws, God deals with this man differently. You have to grow up, because it is important to win, the spiritual man wins, he defeats the enemy; the natural man will surrender here and there, and he needs constant help to get out of all sorts of troubles. Spiritual men are there to help with this. "There are no wise among you that may judge?" We need those who can judge, but their responsibility is bigger and their life must be a visible life. Now a man who was in the spiritual dimensions and suddenly turns to the world, what harm is this man doing to others. Paul says: Woe to me if I did not preach the Gospel, for this is what I was sent for. We are to grow. As with the father of the family, he is responsible for what happens at home. When he gives up, there is a greater responsibility on him than on children who would not know how to put themselves in this situation. To whom more is given, more is required of him. We are to grow up to help, nourish and save. What is needed? Spiritual people who have discernment, insight, revelation, an indication, because this is a necessity. They are aware of a life in Christ's purity, they know about such a life and can announce it. Paul could have said: You have seen this life, I live because of Jesus Christ, no longer because of my body.

 

We know that we are to be built up into a spiritual Home, there are babies that need to be fed with milk, but then have to grow up to know God's justice and cost themselves in this righteousness.

 

At the end of 1 Corinthians 16:21-24: One of the spiritual ones, the apostle Paul, adds to this letter because he was speaking and someone else was writing. "The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen." Here he shows as a crime the lack of love for Christ. We know what Christ did for us, we know about His love for us, we know that having loved us to the end, He went to the Cross, so that we would die there for sins and live for the sake of righteousness. So let's act, let's live, let's use our time, let's not be like people who don't understand. We understand that in Poland you go to the store to buy goods, not to take goods. You can imagine that if they have so many goods in shops, you can take this and that, but it will be theft. You pay - you buy, and it is not theft, it is correct. Therefore, let us use, in a proper way, from everything we have received in Christ, let us grow, let us develop, let us enjoy freedom, forgiveness, let the Blood of Jesus cleanse us, we have victory over the devil through the Blood of Jesus and through the love of eternal life above the transient. Let's use that Christ, let's not be like people saying: You know, I was in the store, but there were empty shelves. I have money but can't buy anything. And the man is weary. Not. In Christ, you have no money, and everything is full, you don't have to pay, you can take for free, you can use it and give to others the glory that is in Christ Jesus. You don't have to look like there's nothing in Christ to take, but in the store yes, so colorful ... What's colorful? In Christ, we have the opportunity to be cleansed of sin, to be liberated, we can be happy again, glad that we can be clean, because everything is open to the pure. Praise God for cleansing the blood of Jesus. We are aware that we live in such a world, Jesus says: Don't go back to it, don't stick to it; but if something should happen to you, purify yourself, be a free man to do God's good. Let us remember that Jesus says in the book of Revelation: You have given up your first love, return to your love. Paul writes about love, let's love Jesus for all that He has done for us. Showing love is that I used the Lord Jesus to live thanks to Him here on earth. Love is fulfilling His orders, and therefore living thanks to Him here on earth. It's very important for us.

 

If we abide in Christ, the Father cleanses us so that we may bear much fruit. Even if we do not see something and have no idea, the Father sees it and cleanses us of it, and we have no idea about it. He cleans us of it and we see that we can move more freely on the certain topic. Praise God that in Christ we are open to seeing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not sin, in our daily lives. Glory to God for His victory, for His open space for us, for living according to His will. Amen.