Today’s Scrip-Bit   9 July 2023   1 Corinthians 3:11.

09 Jul 2023 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Corinthians 3:11.       For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Sunday greetings friends! It’s sure good to be in the Lord’s sanctuary once again, preparing to worship Him, to give Him much thanks and praise in the company of other believers. There’s nothing like it! And today we’ll begin our celebrations with a wonderful old favourite written in the 1860’s by the English Anglican Parish Priest, Samuel John Stone and put to music by Samuel Sebastian Wesley. This Christian hymn is ever so important to our faith, one might call it the foundation on which our faith is built. (smile) 

So, with sincere, heartfelt, sacrifices of praise, let’s raise our voices in sweet harmony as we let Jesus know, that we know, appreciate and are ever grateful that He is ‘The Church’s One Foundation.’ Singing: ‘The Church’s one foundation Is Jesus Christ her Lord, She is His new creation By water and the Word: From Heav’n He came and sought her To be His holy bride, With His own blood He bought her And for her life He died. – She is from every nation, Yet one o’er all the earth; Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth; One holy name she blesses, Partakes one holy food, And to one hope she presses, With every grace endued. –

The Church shall never perish! Her dear Lord to defend, To guide, sustain, and cherish, Is with her to the end: Though there be those who hate her, And false sons in her pale, Against both foe and traitor She ever shall prevail. – Though with a scornful wonder Men see her sore oppressed, By schisms rent asunder, By heresies distressed: Yet saints their watch are keeping, Their cry goes up, How long? And soon the night of weeping Shall be the morn of song! – ’Mid toil and tribulation, And tumult of her war, She waits the consummation Of peace forevermore; Till, with the vision glorious, Her longing eyes are blest, And the great Church victorious Shall be the Church at rest! – 

Yet she on earth hath union With God the Three in One, And mystic sweet communion With those whose rest is won, With all her sons and daughters Who, by the Master’s hand Led through the deathly waters, Repose in Eden land. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we Like them, the meek and lowly, On high may dwell with Thee: There, past the border mountains, Where in sweet vales the Bride With Thee by living fountains Forever shall abide!’ 

Oh my people, that was indeed a rousing version of that wonderful hymn filled with marvellous sentiments of truth and faith upon which Christianity is built! And I find it strange that several versions that I listened to took out the verses which say: ‘The church shall never perish! Her dear Lord to defend…. And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.’ Now that to me is possibly the most important verse in the song, because it lets us know in all certainty that the church will last forever under Christ’s leadership, and the watchful eyes of all the saints, with the promises of a night of weeping that will end with a joyous morn. 

Bruh David says it in Psalm 30:5: ‘weeping may endure for a night, but joy (a shout of joy) cometh in the morning,’ meaning that our sorrows and problems are only temporary, they will eventually end; this too shall pass. But I guess to each his own. And what’s the purpose or message of the hymn, you ask? ‘It describes the church’s relationship to its “foundation” being Jesus Christ. The church is represented as the collective Christian fellowship of the earth as it is wholly united by its Savior, the son of God.’ 

And the song was written as a direct response to the schism within the Church of South Africa caused by John William Colenso, first Bishop of Natal, who denounced much of the Bible as untrue. When the bishop was deposed for his teachings, he appealed to the higher ecclesiastical authorities in England and thus Rev. Stone became involved in the discussion. And how do we get the idea that Christ is the foundation of the church eh? Simple. He founded it! 

Hebrews tells us about ‘Looking unto Jesus, the author (originator) and finisher (perfector) of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God.’ (Heb. 12:2) Jesus undoubtedly began the New Testament Church of which we are a part! And if you don’t believe that, then listen to Bruh Paul as he explains the situation to the church at Corinth in his first letter. 

‘For we are labourers (fellow workers) with God: ye are God’s husbandry (field), ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor. 3:9-11) 

Yes friends, we can build, but our foundation must be on Jesus and His good news gospel. Even the masterbuilder Bruh Paul must use Christ as his foundation. As he pointed out earlier in the chapter. ‘I have planted, Apollo watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but that God giveth the increase.’ (1 Cor. 3:6-7) So whether we plant, water, build or whatever concerning our faith, the increase or prosperity always comes through God’s grace and mercy. That’s because He is the One behind everything we do, including the One who sent Jesu to die for us, to provide the foundation for our Christian faith. 

The psalmist wrote: ‘The stone which the builders refused (rejected) is become the head stone of the corner (chief corner stone, the foundation stone). This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ (Ps. 118:22-24) And Jesus repeated those very words regarding His triumph over hell, death and the grave. (Matt. 21:42-44) As this commentary explains: ‘He on whom the stone falls will be crushed.” Matthew 21:42-44 By rejecting Jesus’ authority over their lives / “the cornerstone,” they lost all of the blessings God desired for them. The death and resurrection of Jesus is “the capstone / cornerstone,” the “beginning and the end” for all of us.’ 

And when Peter and John healed the lame man in the temple and were brought before the Jewish elders, ‘Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, said unto them… Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of (rejected by) you builders, which is become the head of the corner (chief corner stone). Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:10-12) 

Now my fellow saints, that is something we cannot dispute, because it is the gospel truth! So please, with all the evil and tribulation in our world, I’m pleading with us to get together and begin living seriously for Jesus, our foundation stone, instead of just talking it. He so deserves our serious and faithful witness. Much LOVE!

…to be a true disciple of Christ…is to live with Him for eternity… 

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 11 March 2015 1 Corinthians 3:11‏‏‏

11 Mar 2015 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 Corinthians 3:11. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Well my people, it’s Wednesday, another brand new day on God’s wonderful earth! Wow! And all God’s appreciative children declared a loud and grateful: ‘Praise the Lord! Glory Hallelujah!’
 
Yes Friends, we need to be thankful for every new day we see, every breath of life that we breathe, for that means God still has something planned for us to accomplish, else He would have taken us home already.
 
So please don’t be lackadaisical and churlish about greeting each new day, please come to God in prayer and ask Him what are His plans for you on that particular day? Have no fear, if you don’t know, He will certainly inform you of what He desires, and like the wonderful God that He is, will then give you the wherewithal to perform His work successfully.
 
Oh my brethren, I can’t comprehend the magnitude and LOVING-kindness of our God, that’s why I keep reminding us of the wonderful Deity we serve and worship. There’s none other like Him!
 
And how could there ever be eh? No two all-powerful Beings like Him could ever survive in this world together. But fools like Lucifer and his evil minions try to usurp God’s power, unsuccessfully of course!
 
But what is it about power that drives us so crazy eh, that has us doing things that we won’t normally do? And what a lot of us don’t realize is that power for power’s sake is a complete waste of time. And also that with power comes responsibility; the more power, the more responsibility.
 
And that’s where the problems crop up; so often we don’t take seriously enough the responsibility that power brings, that’s why there’s so much corruption and bad decisions in the power bases of our society. Everybody wants power, but apparently just to use it for his or her own selfish purposes and aggrandizement, not for the benefit of the society or world in which they live.
 
But fortunately for us there is one with true power, who uses it selflessly, and for the benefit of all humankind. Yes my fellow believers, we’re talking about our most august Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! He had all power in heaven, but chose to give up that awesome power for a while and come to earth to help poor sinners like you and I get salvation and eternal life.
 
Now why can’t our fellow man do more good works with their earthly power eh, instead of using it for mainly evil and ungodly purposes? I guess that’s just the nature of the human animal. And truly, when most of us get power, especially if we’ve never had much power before, it goes to our head and we just seem to lose the ability for sensible thought and reasoning.
 
Ah Friends, right now the fight for power, for supremacy is proving to be the bane of our existence. Just look at all the people and groups that are jostling, vying and fighting for power in all walks of life. That’s why there are so many wars and rumours of war, so much hate, resentment, anger, selfishness and envy in our world. It’s all about power!
 
And I’m chuckling here Friends, because I don’t know how I ended up writing this treatise on power. (smile) That was never my intention at the beginning. But I guess that’s just where the Lord wanted me to venture.
 
In conclusion, I just want us all to realize the enormous responsibility that comes with power, and if you are a true believer and follower of Jesus Christ, then you are expected to use whatever power you have responsibly, and for the well being of your fellow man, ultimately to lead Him to Jesus, not merely for selfish purposes.
 
End of sermon! Just hope it didn’t or doesn’t fall on deaf ears. (smile)
 
Now here’s our Bit. And I believe today is the last day for it. ‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ Words of awesome truth my people! And if it were not so, I would have told you. (smile)
 
But there are so many references to it in the Good Book that it has to be true. Let’s check out a couple of them, beginning with Bruh Paul’s message to the church at Rome.
 
When talking about the Jew and the gospel, he declares: ‘What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
 
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed (put to shame).’ (Rom.9:30-33)
 
And here’s a word of explanation from the scholars. ‘9:32. They sought it not by faith: Israel mistook the possession of the law as a means of righteousness, when the law was given only to confirm the Fall and to show the need of God’s righteousness (cf. 5:20). Stumbling stone: This is a reference to Messiah (cf. Is.7:14; 1 Pet. 2:8).’
 
Now listen to Peter from Acts, when they were accosted by the chief priests and elders, the day after John and himself healed the blind man in Solomon’s porch at the temple. The Jewish rulers wanted to know by what name or power they had done the healing.
 
‘Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, If we this day be examined of (are judged for) the good deed done to the impotent (helpless) man, by what means he is made whole;
 
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
 
This is the stone which was set at nought of (rejected by) you builders, which is become the head of the corner (chief cornerstone). Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:8-12)
 
Yes Friends, that’s indisputable truth! There is no other name under heaven by which mankind can be saved from his abominable sins!
 
And as the scholars note: ‘4:12. The name of Jesus Christ is the centre of contention (v. 7,10, 12) and ever will be. Salvation for Jew and Gentile alike is exclusively through the name of Jesus Christ. (John 14:6).’
 
Now let’s remember that as we go about doing Jesus’ work today my people, for it’s wisdom that will stand us in very good stead. Much LOVE!
 
…I am the way…the truth…and the life…no man cometh unto the Father…but by me…  (John 14:6)  
 
P.S. Oh Friends, the Bit’s late because I went to bed late and then had to get up early to do something else, and by the time I was finished, the brain still wasn’t in functioning mode, so I just went back to bed until it was ready to function. (smile) Much LOVE!