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What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

We might be tempted to think that the party who said, “I follow Christ” got it right. After all, this is the believer’s true standing. We belong first and foremost to the Lord – to the Christ who bought us (see the next verse, and the end of chapter 6). We do not belong to any human leaders.

But commentators tend to see here a ‘super-spiritual’ group, who in their pride looked down on everyone else. Such super-spiritual thinking is a constant danger for Christians, local churches, movements and denominations: we believe we are better than others; that we have got it all right and correct, while others are wrong in so many ways. This is an ugly weed that can easily grow in the garden of a soul, and if we see it may God give us the grace to pluck it out before it spreads and chokes many other lovely flowers. We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but with sober judgment (see Romans 12).

‘They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves, cannot be proud.’ John Flavel

Prayer: Lord, let me see my true self that I may repent of every manifestation of sinful pride. Help me pull those weeds out by the roots as soon as I see them.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

Was Paul saying that Christians should always agree on everything? On the face of it this would seem to be the case. But it does not fit with what he taught elsewhere. There are such things as disputable matters – non-essentials where we need to be charitable towards one another.

No, the problem in Corinth was that what we might call ‘personality cults’ had arisen around certain leaders. People were dividing over their favourite leaders. (There is no indication that any of those  mentioned here were trying to build their own following. This was what people were doing to them).

Sadly, this problem has not gone away. Still, today, some Christians establish ‘fan clubs’; and no doubt there are some church leaders who build them. This is not good, it is not right, it is not healthy. In recent years so many high profile leaders have dramatically fallen from their pedestals. Of course you don’t have to be well known to have your ‘Humpty Dumpty’ moment. But there is often unbearable pressure brought to bear on famous Christian leaders.

In a little while Paul is going to put things into perspective, reminding the Corinthians that even their greatest leaders are “only servants” through whom they came to believe. It is God alone who gives the growth.

Celebrity Christianity is a contradiction in terms. Let us shun every manifestation of superstar church leadership.

Prayer: Lord God, we pray for our leaders to see themselves through your eyes, so that they may not become discouraged, nor overly puffed-up with pride. Let them walk humbly with their God.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Jilly and I were struck by the Christo-centric nature of the Queen’s funeral services. There can be no doubt that in planning them, Her Majesty rightly put the focus on the Jesus she trusted and served.

The whole Bible is Christo-centric. God’s purpose for the universe centres in Christ, and I note the Christ-centred nature of Paul’s appeal in 1 Corinthians 1:10. The only genuinely authoritative basis we have for urging believers to behave in a certain way (or to change their behaviour) is Jesus Himself: Who He is; what He taught, and what He has done. The Queen could say that it was the example of Jesus that caused her to seek to treat all people with love, kindness and respect. Paul is here making his own appeal for loving behaviour in the church, based on the reality of who Jesus is. If we really want to honour Him we will seek to live in harmony with one another. To continue to live in unrepented disunity is to be out of kilter with the Person of Christ.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place

    throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born

    or you brought forth the whole world,

    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,

    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”

4 A thousand years in your sight

    are like a day that has just gone by,

    or like a watch in the night.

5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—

    they are like the new grass of the morning:

6 In the morning it springs up new,

    but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger

    and terrified by your indignation.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,

    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath;

    we finish our years with a moan.

10 Our days may come to seventy years,

    or eighty, if our strength endures;

yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,

    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 If only we knew the power of your anger!

    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

12 Teach us to number our days,

    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

    Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,

    your splendour to their children.

17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;

    establish the work of our hands for us—

    yes, establish the work of our hands.

Lord God,

On this sad and solemn day, we thank you for the life and reign of our gracious Queen, Elizabeth. We are grateful for her Christian faith, witness and service, and for the remarkable impact of her example.

We pray for her family who mourn today – especially for her children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren – who have suffered two significant losses in the last eighteen months. Like other families they grieve. But they have to do their grieving before billions of watching eyes. Strengthen them to face the demands of the day (and the days to come). We pray that the service will be full of the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing comfort, peace and joy, and creating faith in Jesus, who is our only true hope in this short life, and for the life to come.

We pray you will anoint our new King Charles, that He may follow you as his mother and grandmother did. May he rule in your wisdom and strength, and we ask that his reign will be a beacon of light for our nation, the commonwealth, and the whole world. Lord, in your mercy, grant that this may be a new day of spiritual renewal in our land.

God save the King.

As we come towards the end of an emotional and momentous week, and prepare for the solemn days ahead, I want to share a thought from Frederick Beuchner, who also passed away recently at the great age of 96:

To Truly Live

FREDERICK BUECHNER

Have you wept at anything during the past year? Has your heart beat faster at the sight of young beauty? Have you thought seriously about the fact that someday you are going to die? More often than not, do you really listen when people are speaking to you, instead of just waiting for your turn to speak? Is there anybody you know in whose place, if one of you had to suffer great pain, you would volunteer yourself? If your answer to all or most of these questions is no, the chances are that you’re dead.

Source: Listen to Your Life

Prayer: Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In January 2020, just before the pandemic took hold, Jilly and I spent a couple of nights in a hotel overlooking the Royal Mews in London. It was tantalising to be so close to the mystique of royalty, and yet so far away.

During this past, sad, week, I have regularly found myself feeling sorry that I never saw or met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. As far as I am aware, she never knew of my existence – and this would be true of multitudes of her subjects. How could she? She was, after all, mortal. It is remarkable how many lives she did touch personally. But not mine – although like so many others I felt I did know her, and I grieve her loss.

Hearing stories from those who got to be with the Queen and her family at Balmoral, I have to admit to feeling a twinge of envy for their proximity to them. However, even that ‘nearness’ was limited and temporary. But we have been called into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. He knows His own people fully, and we are getting to know Him more and more. We can talk to Him any time in the day or the night. We don’t just get to pay an occasional visit. May we never lose the wonder – the sense of sheer privilege – that it should be so. We have been brought, by grace and mercy, into what Leslie Wetherhead called ‘the Transforming Friendship.’

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons (Mark 3:13-15).

I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16).

For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction (1Thess.1:4,5a).

The gospel works. It is powerful. We tell people they will find true riches in Christ – that “in him” they will be “enriched in every way”- and lo and behold it happens. We not only speak words; God actually does something in their lives. He confirms our testimony in them. He works not only through our speaking, but also in their hearing and understanding; in their experience. He gives us conviction in the message and He convinces in their hearts.

I am not saying that everyone who hears the good news about Jesus will be saved. But the elect will be, at the time of God’s choosing. So may God help us to be brave in broadcasting this message.

Prayer: Help me to never be ashamed of the gospel, but believe in its power.

He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

His name was Ernie, and I knew him many years ago when I was first in the ministry. I tended to make the same mistake with Ernie. When I saw him I asked him how he was keeping. His rather dour reply, in a thick Liverpudlian accent was, ‘I’m not keeping brother, I’m being kept!’

We have seen in the opening verses that we are set apart to belong to Jesus and called to live holy lives. Thankfully, we don’t have to do this in our own strength or we would fail. We rely on the keeping power of God.

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.

Since I last wrote one of these Bible thoughts, most of us in the U.K. have experienced a collective sense of bereavement. We knew that our Queen, who was 96, could not go on forever, and the signs of increasing frailty were clearly there to be seen. Still, it was hard to believe that she was  impermanent, even though we knew she had to be. Now we are living with shock and sadness, and we can’t believe she has gone. For many of us, she was always there.

In the days after her passing, I felt it important to leave aside our Corinthian devotions for a day and turn to 1 Timothy 2:1-7. When Paul says “first of all”  in verse 1, he is emphasising the priority of prayer in public worship, and in particular intercession for our leaders. He wants us to understand that God’s heart is for them to be saved, and that Jesus came into the world for this very purpose. He wants everyone to be saved, and this includes our leaders. Furthermore, these prayers can help to shape a culture in which the gospel can continue to be freely preached.

So at this time, I’m sure we recognise the need for renewed commitment to pray for our new King, Charles 111, and our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss – “and all those in authority”.

God save the King!