Isaiah 3:1-5:30, 2 Corinthians 11:1-15, Psalms 53:1-6, Proverbs 22:28-29
Today is the 9th day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we do what we do and take the next step forward together, the next step through the Scriptures of course, and the next step forward in our lives. We have just begun our journey through the book of Isaiah. And, so, we will continue that journey. Isaiah chapters 3, 4, and 5 today.
Commentary:
Okay. Have you ever encountered somebody who’s like…who really needs to prove they’re a better Christian than somebody else…like a superior Christ follower to somebody else? The answers probably yes. The answer probably should be yes. For all of us, all we really have to do is go on social media to find this sort of thing going on pretty much 24 hours a day battling with one another over doctrine, battling with one another over right posture, battling with one another over interpretation, all these kinds of things. This is part of our history. This has…this has been going on a while now. In fact, it was going on in the beginning of the church and that is what we are beginning to encounter in the letter, the second letter to the Corinthians. So, Paul referenced “great emissaries” in our reading today. In other translations “super apostles”. And who exactly we’re referencing here, that's…that’s been a matter of scholarly debate for a very long time but it’s pretty clear from Paul’s letter that he’s not pleased, and he doesn’t like that they are coming to the churched that he has founded. So, probably what’s happening here is that believers in Jesus who have a bit of a different understanding, or maybe different convictions about certain things about Jesus or His teachings have begun to visit the churched that Paul established. And to take it even further it…it wouldn’t be unlikely that these would be maybe Jewish believers who were not in agreement with things like the Jerusalem Council, allowing Gentiles like…in other words, allowing the gospel to be inclusive, including the Gentiles, including anyone in the world who believed. There were definitely in the early church people who were for sure not on board with that idea at all, believing rather that Jesus was Jewish, and you would need to convert to Judaism and then follow Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. But they weren’t the only ones coming up with ideas. Once Gentile people began to believe in Jesus, having had no background in Judaism, so having had no real understanding of like how the story came to be they started crafting stories of their own about what Jesus meant, and what His mission was, and what He ultimately was trying to do. Regardless, these super apostles, these great emissaries had some sort of association with the apostles of Jesus, some of the men who actually were disciples who walked with Jesus, which lends some credibility to the idea that these might have been those of the Jewish persuasion coming into the Gentile churches and trying to set things right, that they in association with the actual apostles of Jesus had higher validity in what they were saying, more authority than Paul who had established the church, they were the super Christians. They were the ones who had come to make things right. Well Paul has a bit of a problem here because he didn’t have the credibility some of these people might have having been maybe sent or having walked in close association with some of the apostles of Jesus. Paul had never met Jesus in his earthly life and wasn’t really in close association for that matter with the Jerusalem church. They were certainly aware of each other. But Paul was out doing work among the Gentiles all over the Roman Empire. The thing that was sort of putting Paul this weird situation is that when these people came in to visit churches and Paul, he’s out ministering all over the place, some these people come in, roll out their credentials, are accepted into speak to the people, they’re not saying the gospel that Paul had taught in the first place that he’s trying to standardize throughout the Roman Empire, at least in the church is that he is planting. But they seem to have legitimate credibility at least as much credibility as Paul in the eyes of the people. And, so, this creates this weird problem where Paul has done the work, risked his life, maybe been beaten up, maybe been thrown out of town to establish a church, a little baby church that he wants to nurture up. And after he’s done the hard work of risking and planting then there’s people coming in behind him, saying, we’re more credible, we should take this place over, here’s how you got to do this, and here’s how to believe in Jesus. It just felt self-serving. They weren’t there when…there when lives were on the line. They showed up afterward. So, now Paul has a situation where these people are kind of showing their credibility which then makes Paul’s little church look toward Paul and essentially say, so what’s your credibility? We need to decide who’s more credible. And, so, it’s like a boasting match about who is the best Christian. And boasting, especially like self-promotion style boasting. Most people don’t like that. If you can see it, if you can spot it, it’s a turnoff. But it’s definitely not a characteristic that we would associate with Jesus or his followers, at least in the Scriptures. Trust me, it happens plenty…plenty to plenty in the world today. So, Paul’s in a situation where he’s gotta like boast back in order to just find even ground with the people that he’s risked his life to bring the gospel to. So, Paul’s uncomfortable with this idea because who wins in these scenarios? So, Paul sort of sets up like, hey I don’t really don’t want to be talking about myself. I’m in a bad position here, but if they’re going to do this then if they think they’ve got credibility than I…I have to say my own credibility. But before all that gets going, he’s like, and I’m quoting here, “to be completely honest, I am extremely jealous for you. But it’s the same kind of jealousy God has for you. You see, like an attentive father I have pledged your hand in marriage and promise to present you as a pure virgin to the one who would be your husband, the Anointed one.” So, he’s like the thing that’s kinda getting me up in arms here about what’s going on and these people coming in and telling you the nuanced…a nuanced gospel that I didn’t teach you, is that you are my life’s work. Your life, your…presenting you to God is why I am alive now, why I risk my life everywhere I go. And, so, all of that is to sort of set up where we’re gonna be going here tomorrow as we read from this letter because we’ll be hearing Paul’s quote unquote boasting in his own defense against great emissaries who have association with the actual apostles of Jesus who have been coming in behind him into the churches that he has planted. And we’ll get some of that starting tomorrow. But let’s think today though about the names we try to drop to get validation or credibility toward ourselves, especially in Christian service. What is the goal here, that we become a super apostle? A celebrated Christian? A better servant of Jesus than anybody else? You see how kinda counterintuitive even an idea is especially in the face of Jesus saying, “make them one father as we are one”, or as we look at the apostle Paul describing us as a body where all parts are irreplaceable and completely necessary. So, let’s think about the ways in which…well…we try to be super apostles, which really just exposes our own insecurity and our own pride.
Prayer:
Jesus, we invite Your Holy Spirit into that because we all have insecurities and pride and they have never really served us well. They have lingered and been a part of our story. We have fed them and allowed them to live in our minds and in our hearts, but they were never actually our friends. They were just there to take what they could get from us, and we allowed it. Come Holy Spirit into those insecurities that then breed pride, that then lead us into competition, that then lead us into identity crisis, that then lead us into trouble, and then lead us in the circle of repentance that we keep circling. Come Holy Spirit and let us humble ourselves under Your mighty hand knowing that our identity is in You. There is no other identity. We do not need an identity as compared to somebody else. We don’t need to be a better Christian than somebody else. It’s not a competition. We are fortunate and grateful that You have grafted us into Your family, and we are Your children. May we live like that we pray. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.
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Community Prayer and Praise:
Good morning, Jesus, good morning, DABbers, this is God’s Chosen from Georgia. Father we thank You for the gift of life. We thank You that You are God, and we are not. We thank You for Your mercies that are new every morning. We thank You for the peace that You give us each night to be able to sleep and rest and remold our bodies. Thank You for Your provision for this brand-new day. Thank You because You reign, and You listen to every single prayer request that is brought before Your throne of mercy. Thank You for all unspoken requests. Thank You for the words that we would never hear because You know them all and You add meet them. Thank You that You created each one of us equal, You are loving, You are kind, You are faithful, You’re our provider, and You listen to us. Sometimes we have needs that we want to bring before You but when we listen to other people’s needs, we put our own needs aside and we intercede for all that are urgent. So, this morning Lord we want to say thank You for You have been gracious, You have been faithful, You have been loving, You have been kind. We pray Lord heavenly Father Lord that You would come with Your might and Your power, You would as You reign in glory You continue to look down upon us Your children and bless us. Bless all of us this morning. Bless all who take time to intercede for others. Blessed their lives, bless everything they touch. Help us Lord to look up to You for we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hey DABalonians shout out to my little sis it’s Doctor John from Jordan New York and I’m just calling in to let you guys know about how much I appreciate the outpouring of love. This community is just phenomenal. It…it really is a phenomenon that wraps its arms around people and loves unconditionally. I’ve witnessed it so many times through the years with different people where there’s this outpouring of prayer and love and people just saying, “hey we’ve got your back, we’ve got you.” And I actually never thought this would happen to me. And, so, it’s a little bit humbling, it’s very humbling but we have this community of heaven here on earth where we just…we just love each other and it’s phenomenal. So, I’m just saying thank you all for all the shout outs, all the prayers mentioned and unmentioned. And I'm…I’m humbled, completely humbled by everyone and what you’ve done. The funny part is when I listened to the first miracle call in that I made, I cried. You know, I just…it was so beautiful to me. And, so, I can imagine others of you tearing up…at at the miracles that we can accomplish here on earth. So, keep praying, keep the faith, keep it flowing y'all. OK? Make it a great day. Love you all. Bye bye.
Hey all this is Natalie all the way from phoenix AZ. I’ve only had this app for three days and I got it to listen to at night or whenever I’m cleaning around the house because I wasn’t making enough time to read my Bible and by the time I did I was exhausted, and I would fall asleep, and I just felt discouraged. So, I just randomly found this app. I picked the first one that looked interesting, and it has been such a blessing to hear all the other prayer requests from all around the world to hear all the encouragement and to hear how it’s really family on here. It’s just really encouraging to see that there is people struggling with the same things, there’s other people rooting for you that don’t even know you. This year for some reason has been especially hard for me and I’ve just been struggling recently but the messages and the readings that I’ve been listening to since September 1st, I believe, have just really changed my outlook and it’s starting to really affect me during the day. And that’s the purpose of God’s word. And I’m so thankful that I can have it on the go. It makes it so much easier to connect. And I’m just so thankful. So, thank you.
Hello there, DAB family this is Kevin from England I’d like to give a prayer of encouragement to everyone who’s listening to this right now, all…everyone that has been going through pain, through suffering, losing anyone or just feeling lonely or any…any of the sorts. I just want to pray to each and every one of you. And I pray that the Holy Spirit is with you and that you are uplifted, and that Jesus is with you and carries you and…and holds your hand through all…everything that you go through in life. I pray that all that listen to this that your day becomes brighter than it was before and continues to be bright. And continue to pray to the Lord. Continue to pray to pray…pray to Him not just on here but pray to Him even when you’re done praying here go pray some more. Pray and pray and pray. And I pray that every single one of you feel the Holy Spirit and are uplifted in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Hi, I’m calling just because I feel like I'm…I’m desperate. My name is Lisa and I’ve been really quite sick since January, and I feel like I’m a real burden to my family and I’m costing a lot of money for my medical treatment and still not better. They won’t go as far as calling it COVID long haul but they’re calling it chronic viral inflammation. And I just…I’m growing impatient, and I just need prayer. I feel all alone, and I feel like I’m a burden to my family. And, so, please pray for me, pray from my healing, pray for my sense of peace. I…I just feel really worn out and I feel very overwhelmed. Thank you.