Spiritual Training

Spiritual Training X2

  • Stacks Image 6357

November 4 - Evening

"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!"
- First Corinthians 10:11-12

Be Looking at the Old Testament


Lessons from Jewish history in the Old Testament are examples us today of God’s character, human nature, faith, salvation, judgment, etc. Concerning the Old Testament narrative Paul says:
“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”

God made sure the stories and events of Old Testament history were recorded accurately so that we could use them to navigate our way through life. They were recorded as examples and warnings for us so that we could anticipate the results of choices we make and increase the odds of our success as believers. It would seem that according to this verse the knowledge of the facts and an understanding of the details of the Old Testament would be a necessity for a successful and productive Christian life in our Church age.
Since this is God’s intention for the Old Testament text, Paul warns the Corinthians that even:
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”  

The word “think” is dokon and means, “to be of the opinion.” The verb “be careful” is blepeto which means “to see, to beware, to be watchful” in the imperative mood (the mood of command). Together, these are telling the Corinthians:
“If it is your opinion that you are living the Christian life and standing solid in Christ, then be looking at these Old Testament examples so you do not fall.”

Paul has just commanded the Greeks in Corinth to study the Jewish Scriptures in the Old Testament in order to live a successful and productive Christian life.
Ergazomai (Gr) - Working (Eng) - this Greek word ergazomai means "to work," "to labor," "to trade," "to make gains by trade," "to do business." This word is used in Acts 18:3 (ergazeto, imperfect, indicative, middle of ergazomai) when Luke records Paul working as a tentmaker with Aquila and Priscilla:
"Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked (
ergazeto) with them." - Acts 18:3
Do I read the Old Testament?
I am living without knowing the examples and warnings of the Old Testament?
I will read and know the Old Testament so I can mature and produce as a believer.



Bible Reading Descriptions Here

Narrative

(morning only)

Complete Text

General Text




Personal

Eyes to see needs that you can meet

Church

Deacons and deaconesses
Unemployment
Sri Lanka - need for workers, unity and centralized strategy



The shore of the Dead Sea.
(click on image for larger size)
A fragment of the oxyrhynchos papyrus from a set of 12 fragments known as Papyrus 115. Together these 12 fragments contain portions of the book Revelation copied in 225-250 AD. The text includes 2:1-3, 13-15, 27-29; 3:10-12; 5:8-9; 6:5-6; 8:3-8, 11-13; 9:1-5, 7-16, 18-21; 10:1-4, 8-11; 11:1-5, 8-15, 18-19; 12:1-5, 8-10, 12-17; 13:1-3, 6-16, 18; 14:1-3, 5-7, 10-11, 14-15, 18-20; 15:1, 4-7. ( images, details.)
(click on image for larger size)




Someone to Quote

“You may speak but a word to a child, and in that child there may be slumbering a noble heart which shall stir the Christian Church in years to come.”
- Charles Spurgeon

Something to Ponder

Key OT actors appear every 500 years:
Noah, 2500 BC
Abraham, 2000
Moses, 1500
David, 1000
Ezra, 500

Egyptian period is 1750 BC
The judges are 1250
Elijah is about 750

The general Church Age follows a similar pattern:
Paul, 0 AD
Augustine, 500
Thomas Aquinas, 1000
Calvin, 1500
Barth, 2000


Here’s a Fact

There have been 7 inscriptions found in Corinth that confirm a Jewish presence as Luke reports in Acts. Luke says that when Paul reasoned in the Corinth synagogue “Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord.” An inscription called the “Theodotus Inscription” has been found from a synagogue in Jerusalem before 70 AD by archaeologists saying: “ruler of the synagogue.” (details)

Proverb

"Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you."
Proverbs 4:25

Coach’s Corner

Perspective is influenced by time, distance and emotional connection.

2 Corinthians 3
New International Version (NIV)
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Greater Glory of the New Covenant
Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!
12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Matthew 23:26-39
New International Version (NIV)
26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”


Reps & Sets     Today's Workout   |   Locker Room   |   Coach Wiemers   |   Radio   |   Donate   |   Contact