I Corinthians 15-16, Psalm 121

1 Corinthians 15

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.

7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.

28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

29 Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?

30 And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?

31 I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.

32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.

33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?

36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die:

37 And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain:

38 But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.

39 All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

43 It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

47 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.

49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52 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.

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 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.

55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory.

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 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.



1 Corinthians 16

1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.

2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.

3 And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.

4 And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.

5 Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia.

6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go.

7 For I will not see you now by the way; but I trust to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit.

8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.

9 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries.

10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do.

11 Let no man therefore despise him: but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me: for I look for him with the brethren.

12 As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren: but his will was not at all to come at this time; but he will come when he shall have convenient time.

13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

14 Let all your things be done with charity.

15 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,)

16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth.

17 I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking on your part they have supplied.

18 For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.

19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.

20 All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss.

21 The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.

22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

24 My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.



Psalm 121

A Song of degrees.

1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore

Jessica
2/23/2009 08:55:42 pm

Found This Online while looking up the phrase in the reading today:
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Anathema Maranatha!

by David J. Stewart


"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." -1st Corinthians 16:22

The word "anathema" means "cursed." The word "Maranatha" means "the Lord is coming." The Word of God is saying that if anyone does not want to get saved, then let him be cursed because the Lord is coming. You can try to warn people, but they ultimately must make the decision to accept or reject Christ as their own personal Saviour. If we warn people of the judgment to come and they laugh in our faces, then they are choosing to go to hell by their own freewill. They will be cursed to burn in hell if they don't become born-again.

"A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." -Titus 3:10-11

People may sometimes swear at us and curse God when we witness to them (which I had happen last weekend), but they are the one's who will be the losers when they die without Christ in their sins. I say that kindly. I was courteous to the unsaved man and prayed for him as I was leaving, but he is making a horrible decision. Did you know that no one goes to hell by mistake? It's true! No one accidentally goes to hell, people decide to go there by deciding to reject Christ as their Saviour. If Jesus is not your Saviour, then your sins have not been forgiven yet and you are still under the condemnation of God's Law. If you die in your unrepentant state, you WILL go straight to hell when you die to pay for your own sins. Have you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart?

A "heretick" is an unsaved person. The Bible says that if someone has witnessed to you at least twice but you refuse to get saved, then you are subverted. The word "subverted" in this passage of Scripture in the Greek means "to change for the worse, pervert, corrupt." Hence, people who repeatedly reject the gospel are corrupted within their own heart. Is God saying that we should give up on people? Of course not! Look back to Titus 3:9 please.

"But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain." -Titus 3:9

I don't believe we should ever throw people away by giving up on on them, but God does NOT want us wasting our time trying to win over stiff-necked unbelievers when there are so many people in this world waiting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul meant here in Titus 3:10-11. Our time is short upon the earth and we must use our resources wisely for God. Arguing only sheds more heat than light when sharing the Bible with people. It's ok to argue if the conversation is beneficial, but trying to reason with belligerent people is simply a waste of time. I simply won't let the conversation go there! If a person does not want to trust Christ as Saviour after a couple conversations, then they simply don't want to get saved. Arguing is an enjoyable sport to some people.

The world spends billions of dollars on silly and foolish things. I recently read an article in the newspaper which displayed a diamond designer hat worth $2,700,000! How many missionaries could that money support? All that money wasted for one hat! We may not have the large sums of money that the heathen do, but friend...the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof (1st Corinthians 10:26). God will provide for our needs, even though the world would just as well we perished from off the face of the earth.

"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." -1st Corinthians 16:22

All we can do is witness to lost sinners of the saving power of the gospel of Christ Jesus. Only God can save a soul. We go soulwinning to LEAD people to Jesus Christ, but we can only bring them to the Master. As the saying goes..."You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink it." We can bring people to the throne of grace, but we can't save them. Each individual must deal directly with God in their heart. If a person wants to hear the gospel...amen! If a person does not, then the Bible says let them be ANATHEMA MARANATHA! Let them be cursed for the Lord cometh!

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