The Great Separation: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

THE GREAT SEPARATION

"His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matthew 3:12

1. The two great classes into which mankind may be divided. The passage of Scripture above was spoken by John the Baptizer. It is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus Christ that has not yet been fulfilled. Viewed with the eye of man, the earth contains many different sorts of inhabitants. Viewed with the eye of God it contains only two. Man's eye looks at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. Tried by the state of their hearts, the two classes are illustrated here by wheat and chaff.

A. The wheat. The wheat are all men and women who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been led by the Holy Spirit of God to feel themselves sinners and flee for refuge to the salvation offered in the Gospel for all. They therefore love the Lord Jesus, serving and obeying Him, taking the Bible for their only guide, regarding sin as their deadliest enemy, and looking to heaven as their only home. All such individuals of every church, name, nation, people, language, rank, station, condition, and degree constitute God's wheat.

They are the sons and daughters of God the Father. They are the delight of God the Son. God the Holy Spirit regards them as spiritual temples He Himself has erected.

B. The chaff. The chaff are all men and women who have no saving faith in Christ and no sanctification of the Spirit. Some are irreligious and some are very religious. Some are sneering Sadducees and some self-righteous Pharisees. Some of them make a point of keeping up religious practices and some are careless of everything except their own pleasures. What they have in common is no faith and no sanctification or holiness in God's sight.

They bring no glory to God the Father, for "he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:23). They neglect that mighty salvation countless angels admire. They disobey the Word of God, which was graciously written for their learning. They do not listen to the voice of Him who condescended to leave heaven and purchase salvation through His righteous life, death, and resurrection. They pay no tribute of service and affection to Him who gives them "life, breath, and all things" (Acts 17:25). Therefore God takes no pleasure in them. He pities them, but He reckons them no better than chaff, which is useless vegetation.

This is humbling truth: You may have rare intellectual gifts and high attainments; you may sway many by your influence, but if you have never submitted yourself to the yoke of Christ and honored His Gospel by heartfelt reception of it, you are spiritually lacking in His sight. Natural gifts without grace are of no eternal value. You do not honor God with heart, will, intellect, and body, which are all His. You invert His order and arrangement, living as if time is more important than eternity and body better than soul. You are cold about the subject that fills all heaven with hallelujahs. So long as that remains the case, you belong to the ultimately worthless part of mankind: you are the chaff of the earth.

See now what cause there is for self-inquiry! Are you among the wheat or the chaff? Neutrality is impossible. Either you are in one class or in the other. Which is it of the two? Do not rest until you know how it is between you and God. Better a thousand times to find you are in a dreadful spiritual state and then repent than to live on in uncertainty and be lost eternally.

2. The time when the wheat and the chaff  shall be separated. There is no separation yet. Good and bad are now all mingled together in the world and even in the visible church of Christ. But it shall no always be so. Christ shall come the second time with His winnowing fan in His hand to separate the wheat from the chaff.

A. Before Christ returns, separation is impossible. It is not in man's power to effect it. There is no minister on earth who can read the hearts of everyone in his congregation. The winnowing fan is not put in their hands. Grace is sometimes so weak and feeble that it looks like nature. Nature is sometimes so plausible and well dressed that it looks like grace. Judas looked as good as any of the apostles, yet he was proved to be a traitor only at the end. Peter looked like chaff when he denied the Lord Jesus, yet he repented immediately and rose again. We are all fallible, for we "know in part" (1 Corinthians 13:9) and scarcely understand our own hearts. It is no great wonder we cannot read the hearts of others. 

But it will not always be so. One is coming who never errs in judgment and is perfect in knowledge. Jesus shall purge His floor, sifting the lightweight chaff from the dense wheat. Until then, we are to lean on the side of charity in our judgments. As Jesus taught in His Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, it is better to tolerate some chaff in the church than cast out one grain of wheat. The certainty about every one shall be known soon enough.

B. Before Christ returns, it is useless to expect to see a perfect church. There cannot be such a thing now. I pity those who leave one church and join another because of a few minor faults and unsound members. They are seeking that which cannot be found on this earth. Only when Christ returns will there be a "glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). Then, and not until then, the floor will be purged.

C. Before Christ returns, it is futile to look for the conversion of the world. How can it be since He is to find wheat and chaff side by side in the day of His second coming? I see nothing in the Bible or in the world around me to make me expect it. What we can expect to see is a few raised up as witnesses to Christ in every nation and place. Then I expect the Lord will return with His fan in His hand. When He has purged His floor, and not until then, His Kingdom will be realized in full.

3. The Lord's provision for His people.

A. The Lord takes pleasure in His people. It is comforting to know that "the Lord takes pleasure in His people" (Psalm 149:4) and "cares for [them]" (1 Peter 5:7). But how much He cares for them I fear is little known and dimly seen. Believers have their many trials, the flesh is weak, the world is full of snares, the cross is heavy, the way is narrow, and the companions are few. But still they have strong consolations if their eyes are widely opened. Like Hagar, they have a well of water near them in the wilderness (Genesis 21:19) and like Mary Magdalene, they have Jesus standing by their side, though their eyes are blinded by tears (John 20:14). They need to be reminded they are sons and daughters of God by adoption and enjoy full and perfect forgiveness. They have a place in the Book of Life and a name on the breastplate of the Great High Priest in heaven.

He took them for His own with a perfect understanding of their liabilities and infirmities. He will never break His covenant and cast them off. When they fall, He will raise them again. When they wander, He will bring them back. Their prayers are pleasing to Him. As a father loves the first stammering efforts of his child to speak, so the Lord loves the petitions of His people. He endorses them with His own mighty intercession and gives them power on high. Their services are pleasant to Him. As a father delights in the first daisy his child picks up and brings him, even so the Lord is pleased with the weak attempts of His people to serve Him. Not a cup of cold water shall lose its reward. Not a word spoken in love shall ever be forgotten. 

B. The Lord cares for His people in life. Their addresses are intimately known by Him. The street called Straight where Saul/Paul temporarily lodged and the seaside place where Peter prayed were familiar to their Lord (Acts 9-10). No one has better assistants than His people. Angels rejoice when they are born again, angels minister to them, and angels encompass them for protection. No one has better food. Their daily bread is provided and they are nourished by the water of life. They have food to eat of which the world knows nothing. No one has better company than they do. The Spirit indwells them and the Father and the Son make Their home with them (John 14:23). Their steps are all ordered from grace to glory. Their difficulties are all measured out by a wise Physician: not a grain of bitterness is ever mixed in their cup that is not good for the health of their souls. Their temptations, like Job's, are all under God's control. Satan cannot touch a hair of their head without their Lord's permission or tempt them beyond what they are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). When they are transplanted from place to place, it is so they may bloom more brightly. All things are continually working together for their good (Romans 8:28).

C. The Lord cares for His people in death. Their times are all in His hand. The hairs of their heads are all numbered and no one can ever fall to the ground without their Father (Matthew 10:29-31). They are kept on earth until they are ripe and ready for glory, and not one moment longer. When they have had sun, rain, wind, and storm enough, when the grain is perfect in the stalk, only then will they be harvested. It is a blessed thing to be Christ's wheat. Death opens the door to believer and instantly lets him or her into paradise.

D. The Lord will protect His people on the awesome and dreadful day of His return. The voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God shall proclaim no terrors to their ears. They shall lift up their heads with joy as they see their full redemption approach. They shall be instantly changed, putting on their beautiful garments in the blink of an eye, caught up together "to meet the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Jesus will do nothing to a sin-laden world until all His people are safe, just like there was an ark for Noah when the Flood began. There will be a barn for all the wheat on Judgment Day. Whether then or now, Christ's people persevere throughout life. "My sheep," says the Good Shepherd, "shall never perish" (John 10:28). They shall all be gathered into the same fold and barn. 

4. The Lord's punishment of those who are not His people. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to purge His floor of the chaff, all who are found impenitent and unbelieving—who "suppress the truth unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18), clinging to sin and the world instead of Christ and His Word, will come to an awful end. Christ will "burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." There is no pain like burning. Fire is of all elements most opposed to life. Creatures can live in air, earth, and water, but nothing can live in fire. This punishment will be eternal. The fuel of that fire will never waste away or be consumed. These are sad and painful things to speak of, yet they are written for our learning and it is good to consider them. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

A. Hell is real. Some believe there is no hell at all, thinking such a place is inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil delights in the views of such people, for they are preaching his favorite doctrine: "You surely shall not die" (Genesis 3:4). Jesus at His return, however, will say to those who wickedly forget God and His people, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.... These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:41-46). The same blessed Savior who now sits on a throne of grace will one day sit on a throne of judgment. Terrified people will discover there is such a thing as "the wrath of the Lamb" (Revelation 6:16). The same lips that now say, "Come to Me" will then say, "Depart from Me."

B. Hell is eternal. These are all biblical descriptions of hell: eternal fire, eternal punishment, their worm does not die, torment of thirst, weeping and gnashing of teeth, darkness, blackness, and the second death. All are figures of speech, but they describe something real and even worse than what mere words can describe. The present suffering, the bitter recollection of the past, the hopeless prospect of the future will never be thoroughly known except by those who go there. "Trembling has seized the godless: 'Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?'" (Isaiah 33:14). "Those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt" (Daniel 12:2). "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.... He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:16-36).

C. Hell should be spoken about. It is striking to observe the many texts about it in Scripture. No one says more about hell than our gracious and merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. John, the most loving apostle, wrote often about hell. The most loving thing we can do for others is to speak the truth in love about supremely important matters. What would you say of the man who saw his neighbor's house in danger of being burned down but never said a word of warning? Beware of manufacturing a god of your own who is all mercy, but not just; all love, but not holy; a god who has a heaven for everybody, but a hell for none; a god who can allow good and bad to be side by side in time, but will make no distinction between good and bad in eternity. Such a god is an idol. The hands of your own sentimentality have made him. He is not the God of the Bible, and beside the God of the Bible there is no God at all.

5. The Lord's merciful provision for people now. Realize you are reading this by God's design. The truth about hell is for you to know and take to heart. Never mind now what it means for others. You will be either gathered with the wheat when Jesus returns or burned with the chaff. If you are willing to be of the wheat, the Lord Jesus Christ is willing to receive you. Do you suppose He is not willing to see His barn filled? Do you think He does not desire to bring many sons and daughters to glory? If so, you know little of the depth of His mercy and compassion. He wept over unrepentant Jerusalem. He mourns over the impenitent and careless in the present day. He sends you an invitation right now to hear and live, to forsake the way of the foolish and go in the path of understanding. "I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!" (Ezekiel 18:32).

If you are determined to have the world and the things of the world, all its pleasures and rewards, all its follies and sins; if you must have your own way and cannot give up anything for Christ and the sake of your soul, there is but one end before you. Sooner or later you will come to the unquenchable fire. But if you want to be rescued from that fate, the Lord Jesus stands ready to save you. "Come to Me," He says, "and I will give you rest. Come, guilty and sinful soul, and I will give you free pardon. Come, lost and ruined soul, and I will give you eternal life" (Matthew 11:28). Arise and call upon the Lord. Let the angels of God rejoice over one more saved soul.

Settle it down in your mind that if you have committed your soul to Christ, He will never let you perish. The everlasting arms are around you. Lean back in them and know your safety. The same hand that was nailed to the cross is holding you. The same wisdom that framed the heavens and the earth is maintaining your cause. Take comfort and know your privileges. Cast every care on Jesus. Tell Him about every need. He loves serving as your High Priest. He loves to be trusted and seeing His people ceasing from the vain effort of carrying their fears, anxieties, and doubts for themselves. Be among Christ's wheat now and then, on the great day of separation, you will be gathered into Christ's barn.

The Family of God: from An Illustrated Summary of J.C. Ryle's Practical Religion

This is a chapter from J.C. Ryle's classic book Practical Religion.

THE FAMILY OF GOD

"The whole family in heaven and earth." Ephesians 3:15

There lives not a man or woman who is not a member of some family. Family gatherings are natural, right and good. Next to the grace of God, I see no principle that unites people so much in this world as family feeling. Nevertheless, family gatherings are often sorrowful things that show gaps and vacant places. Changes and deaths make sad havoc as time goes on.

There is one family to which I want everyone reading this to belong. It is a family more important than any on earth. To belong to it entitles one to far greater privileges than being the son or daughter of the wealthiest and most prominent people imaginable. It is the family of God, which the apostle Paul describes above as "the whole family in heaven and earth."

1. What is God's family? This family consists of all true believers in God and Christ from every age, nation, and tongue. Other names of this family from the Bible and from creeds are the Body of Christ, the elect of God, the household of faith, the Israel of God, the Bride of Christ, the living temple, the holy Catholic [universal] Church. Membership into this family does not depend on any earthly connection. It comes not by natural birth, but by the new birth (John 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:3; Ezekiel 36:25-27). Ministers cannot impart it to their hearers. Parents cannot give it to their children. Only the Holy Spirit can make you a living member of His family. Those who are born again are born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). Why does the Bible describe this company of all true Christians as a family?

A. True Christians are called family because they all have one Father. They are all children "of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). They are all "born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). This is what "the Lord Almighty" Himself says: "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters" (2 Corinthians 6:18). Paul explains, "You did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Romans 8:15). Christians do not regard God with slavish fear, as if He were an austere Being ready only to punish. They look up to Him with tender confidence as a reconciled and loving parent who forgave all their sins because of their faith in Jesus, and is full of pity for the feeblest among them. It is our Lord Jesus who taught us to pray, saying, "Our Father" first and foremost (Matthew 6:9-13). That is because true believers in Him instantly become part of God's family.

B. True Christians are called family because they all rejoice in one name. That name is the name of their great Head and Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as a common family name is the uniting link to all the members of a Scottish Highland clan, so does the name of Jesus tie all believers together in one vast family. As members of outward visible churches, they have various names, but as living members of Christ, they all with one heart and mind rejoice in one Savior. Every one of them feels drawn to Jesus as the only object of hope. All freely confess that Christ is all in all in His death on the cross for them; His triumphant resurrection, ascension, and daily intercession for them; and His coming again to unite them to Himself in one glorified company forever. You might as well take away the sun from the sky as take away the name of Christ from believers. No wonder they are called a family.

C. True Christians are called family because there is a strong family likeness among them. They are all led by one Spirit and are marked by the same general features of life, heart, taste, and character. All true sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty hate sin and love God, resting their hope of salvation on Christ and having no confidence in themselves. They all endeavor to separate from the ways of the world and set their affections on things above. They all turn naturally to the same Bible as the only food for the souls and only sure guide in their pilgrimage toward heaven as a lamp for their feet and a light to their path (Psalm 119:105). They all go to the same "throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16) in prayer, finding it as needful and natural to speak to God as to breathe. They all live by the same rule, the Word of God, striving to conform their daily lives to its precepts. They all have the same inward experience of repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, and spiritual discipline. No wonder they are called a family.

The family likeness among true believers deserves special attention as one of the strongest indirect evidences of the truth of Christianity. It is one of the greatest proofs of  the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself, Jesus said, is like the wind (John 3:8) in that He is invisible, but His effects are not, ranging from a gentle breeze to a mighty hurricane. Among true Christians around the world, some are highly educated and some unable to read; some are rich and some poor; some are old and some young; some attend formal churches and some informal. Notwithstanding, there is a marvelous oneness of heart and character among them all: their joys and sorrows, loves and hatreds, likes and dislikes, hopes and fears are very much the same. The Englishman will find he has more in common with an African brother in Christ than with non-Christian family members and school fellows. The same Spirit inhabits and guides each member of the forever family of God.

2. What is the present position of God's family? The family of God is currently in two places: part of the family is in heaven and part is on earth, but they form one Body in God's sight. Their union is sure to take place in the future.

Two places, and two only, contain the family of God. There is no third habitation, such as purgatory, which is not a biblical concept. There is no house of purifying, training, or probation for those who are not true Christians when they die. 

A. Some of God's family are safe in heaven. They are in a joyful, active state of rest in the place Jesus referred to as Paradise (Luke 23:43). They have finished their course on earth, having fought their battles and completed their appointed work. They learned their lessons and carried their crosses. They passed through the waves of this troubled world and reached the safe harbor. Little as we know of what their lives are like in detail, we do know they are happy, no longer troubled by sin and temptation, poverty and anxiety, pain and sickness, sorrow and tears. They are with Christ Himself, who loved them and gave Himself for them. Being with Him is "far better" than anything we can imagine or experience here (Philippians 1:23). They have nothing to fear when looking back and nothing to dread when looking forward. Three things only are lacking to make their happiness complete: the second coming of Christ in glory, the resurrection of their own bodies, and the gathering together of all believers. And of those things they are sure.

B. Some of God's family are still upon earth. They are scattered to and fro in the midst of a wicked world. All are more or less occupied in the same way, according to the gifts of God's grace (Romans 12:3-8). All are running a race, doing a work, engaging in spiritual warfare, carrying a cross, striving against sin, resisting the devil, crucifying the flesh, struggling against the world, witnessing for Christ, hearing the Word of God, reading, and praying—however feebly—for the nourishment of their souls. Each and all stay on their path, a wonder to the ignorant world around them and often a wonder to themselves.

However divided God's family may be now in location, it is still one family. Both parts, in heaven and on earth, are one in character, possessions, and relation to God. The part in heaven has not so much superiority over the part on earth as at first sight may appear. The difference between the two is only of degree.

(1) Both parts of the family love our Savior and delight in God's will. The part on earth loves with much imperfection and infirmity, living by faith not sight. The part in heaven loves without weakness, doubt, or distraction. It walks by sight, not faith, and sees what it once believed.

(2) Both parts of the family are saints. The saints on earth are often poor, weary pilgrims who find their flesh lusting against their spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh, so they do not do the things they wish they would (Galatians 5:17). They live in the midst of an evil world and are often sick of themselves and the sin they see all around them. The saints in heaven, on the contrary, are delivered from the world, the flesh, and the devil, enjoying a glorious liberty. They are called "the spirits of just men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:23).

(3) Both parts of the family are God's children. But the children in heaven have all learned their lessons, finished their appointed tasks, and have begun an eternal holiday. The children on earth are still at school. They are daily learning wisdom, though slowly and with much trouble, often needing to be reminded of their past lessons with disciplinary actions. Their holiday is yet to come.

(4) Both parts of the family are God's soldiers. The soldiers on earth are still on duty. Their fight is not yet over, which is why they need every day to "put on the full armor of God" (Ephesians 6:10-18). The soldiers in heaven are all triumphant. No enemy can hurt them now. No fiery dart can reach them. Helmet and shield may be laid aside. No longer do they need to watch and stand on guard.

(5) Both parts of the family are secure. Both are secured by "an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and secure" (2 Samuel 23:5). The members on earth, through the burden of the flesh and the dimness of their faith, may neither see nor feel their own safety. But they are safe. The whole family is "kept by the power of God through faith for salvation" (1 Peter 1:5). The family members yet on the road are as secure as those already home. Not one shall be found missing at the last day.

Learn not to measure the numbers or privileges of God's family by what you see with your eyes. You see only a small body of believers in this present time. Do not forget that a great company has got safe to heaven already, and that when all are assembled at the last day they will be a multitude no one can number (Revelation 7:9). You currently see only the part of the family that is struggling on earth. The family of God is far more rich and glorious that you can even imagine. It is no small thing to belong to the "whole family in heaven and on earth" (Ephesians 3:15).

3. What are the future prospects of God's family? They are good and happy!

A. The members of God's family shall all be brought safe home. Here on earth they may be scattered, tried, and bowed down with afflictions, but to quote the Lord Jesus, "they shall never perish" (John 10:28). The weakest lamb shall not be left to perish in the wilderness.

B. The members of God's family shall all have glorious bodies. When Jesus comes the second time, the dead saints shall all be raised and the living shall all be changed. They shall no longer have a mortal body, full of weaknesses and infirmities; they shall have a body like that of their risen Lord, without the slightest liability to sickness and pain. Nothing will hinder them in their desire to serve God night and day without weariness or distraction. The former things will have passed away and this divine saying will then come true: "Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).

C. The members of God's family shall all be gathered into one company. It does not matter where and when they have lived and died. All shall be gathered together from north, south, east, and west to meet in one happy assembly, and never to be parted from our Lord and each other again.

D. The members of God's family shall all be united in mind and judgment. They are not so now about many little issues. About the things needful to salvation there is a marvelous unity among them. One day partial knowledge and dim vision shall be at an end forever (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).

E. The members of God's family shall all be perfected in holiness. They are not literally perfect now, although complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10). Though born again and renewed after the image of Christ, they offend and fall short in many things (James 3:2). No one knows that better than they do, but one day they will be presented by their Head "without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27), "fair as the moon, clear as the sun" (Song of Solomon 6:10). Those are word pictures representing perfect holiness. Grace even now is a beautiful thing when it lives, shines, and flourishes in the midst of imperfection. How much more beautiful will it appear pure and unmixed when Christ comes to be glorified in His saints at the last day!

F. The members of God's family shall all be eternally provided for. When the affairs of this sinful world are finally settled, there shall be an everlasting portion for all the sons and daughters of the Lord almighty. The smallest vessel of grace, as well as the greatest, shall be filled to the brim with glory. The precise nature of that reward is beyond what eye has seen or hear has heard (1 Corinthians 2:9). It is enough for us to know we will be satisfied when we see our Savior face to face, reflecting His likeness (Psalm 17:15). The inheritance reserved for us when we come of age is incorruptible, undefiled, and does not fade away ( 1 Peter 1:4). 

These prospects of God's family are great realities. They are not vague, shadowy talk of human invention. These are real, true things that will be seen before long. They deserve your serious consideration. Examine them well. Do you yet belong to the family of God? Do not miss the priceless opportunity set before you. If you indeed belong to the whole family in heaven and earth, count your privileges and learn to be more thankful. Think what a mercy it is to have something the world can neither give nor take away. Living by the grace of God, we shall make "our calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:3-15), both to ourselves and others, inclining them by God's grace to say, "We will go with you."

1 CORINTHIANS+—An Illustrated Summary of Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible by G. Campbell Morgan

"On every page of the God-breathed writings are many thoughts that stretch out like long, clear arms of light across the darkness, discovering things otherwise hidden and illuminating wider areas than those of the immediate context. They are searchlights. I have selected one in each chapter of Scripture, for at least one central thought in every chapter should arrest the mind and affect the life," wrote G. Campbell Morgan, a skilled, wise, warm-hearted Bible teacher who conducted a classic 3-year study called Life Applications from Every Chapter of the Bible. Here is the fruit of that research—summarized, illustrated, and amplified with useful details—on all 66 books of the Bible.

GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, 

DEUTERONOMY, JOSHUA, JUDGES, RUTH, 

1 SAMUEL, 2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS,  2 KINGS, 

1 CHRONICLES, 2 CHRONICLES, EZRA, 

NEHEMIAH, ESTHER, JOB, PSALMS, 

PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, 

SONG OF SOLOMON,  ISAIAH, JEREMIAH,

 LAMENTATIONS, EZEKIEL, DANIEL, 

HOSEA, JOEL, AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH, 

MICAH, NAHUM, HABAKKUK, ZEPHANIAH,  

HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, MALACHI,

 MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN, 

ACTS, ROMANS, 1 CORINTHIANS,

2 CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, 

PHILIPPIANS, COLOSSIANS, 1 THESSALONIANS,

2 THESSALONIANS, 1 TIMOTHY,  2 TIMOTHY, TITUS,

PHILEMON, HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 PETER, 2 PETER,

1 JOHN, 2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE, REVELATION

1 Corinthians 1:9 "Called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Paul addresses this letter "to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints." He begins a similar way in his letter to the Ephesian church: "to the saints who are in Ephesus ... faithful in Christ Jesus." Saints, in the biblical usage of the term, are all genuine Christians, whom Christ saved to be increasingly faithful and holy in this life and perfected in the next.  That sanctification process takes place in the context of fellowship with the risen Christ. Those who are in fellowship have resources and responsibilities in common. All our Lord's resources are at His people's disposal; all our resources are at His. We are committed to His responsibilities; He is committed to our responsibilities. When there is any failure in this relationship of resource and responsibility, it is in us, never in Him. Are our resources all at His disposal? Are we availing ourselves of His resources? Are we facing His responsibilities? Are we trusting Him to help us with our responsibilities? Thus we may profitably question our souls when we are alone with the Lord.

1 Corinthians 2:12 "We have received ... the Spirit who is from God that we might understand." Just before that encouraging declaration is this quote Paul gives from the prophet Isaiah: "As it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him'—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit." There are secrets God keeps from us temporarily or even forever for His good pleasure and our own good, but our great privilege is all He has been pleased to reveal to us so we might understand and obey Him! As Deuteronomy 29:29 states, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Law." Divine wisdom about redemption and salvation cannot be apprehended by the seeing eye and hearing ear of human intelligence. They need divine revelation and interpretation, being made known by the Spirit of God, who alone knows the deep things of God. We are not to live in ignorance of these things when He makes them known to us. The child of God, who by definition has the Spirit of God, has no right to be content not to understand the deep things of God. The Spirit is ours that we may know. Therefore, we should give all diligence to know, depending on the teaching of that Spirit.

1 Corinthians 3:15 "Saved, yet so as through fire." Those sobering words describe the possible condition of a Christian in the Day of final testing. The testing is of one's service, not eternal life. It is not a reference to the non-biblical doctrine of purgatory. As we have seen, the saint of God is in fellowship with the Lord in responsibility. That means work, and here Paul describes it with the analogy of building on a secure foundation, which is Jesus Christ and His saving Gospel. All that we build will be tested with fire, which in the Bible is a word picture for difficulties and trials. That which is true and precious will be made more beautiful by the fire. That which is false and unworthy will be destroyed by the fire. Can anything be more calculated to give us pause in our work? What are we building? What sort of material are we laying on the foundation? Things of "gold, silver, and costly stones" represent eternal things. Those of "wood, hay, and stubble" are only of time. When the saints of God are tempted to forget the spiritual and eternal implication and application of all they do, they are in danger of doing work that must be destroyed. We are humbled by the grace that will destroy our unworthy works, yet preserve our salvation. Therefore, we are constrained to take heed how we build, "making the best use of the time because the days are evil." 

1 Corinthians 4:7 "What do you have that you did not receive?" That question is a prescription for pride, either for those subtly proud of themselves or of their favorite teachers, such as Paul and Apollos. All such pride is foolish. "Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift," as Paul explains elsewhere with detailed teaching on the different types of spiritual gifts Christ chooses to give those who love and serve Him. We are to thank God for these gifts in others and ourselves with all humility, which is the virtue opposite to the vice of pride. The gifts by which we serve, and the gifts that bless us from the service of others, are all gifts from God. We do not create them; we are to receive them joyfully and with gratitude.

1 Corinthians 5:13 "Remove the wicked man from among yourselves." That was the Apostle's final word in dealing with a specific case in the Corinthian church. One of its members had been guilty of  flagrant immorality, but no church discipline as outlined by Jesus Himself  had taken place. Incredible as it may seem, Paul tells us with horror that in some way the church was glorying in the matter! They probably were not happy about the sin itself, but apparently were congratulating themselves on their tolerance of it. Paul protests strongly against that attitude of disobedience to the Lord's clear command for the purity of His Bride, the Church. Using the analogy of removing leaven before the Passover feast, Paul explains that the life of the Church is a perpetual Passover feast that must be maintained in sincerity and truth. No defiling leaven must be permitted to remain. The Church is always weakened when it lacks the power to maintain its purity. Our one business is to represent the Lord to others, individually and corporately. Tolerating evil in our fellowship is treachery to the Great Commission Jesus gave His disciples then and now. Church discipline, however, is always to be carried out in a spirit of love. As Jesus Himself said, the goal is to gain back our brother. Paul ordered the unrepentant church member to be removed from their fellowship so he would be moved to repentance. By God's grace through the church's obedience to Christ's command this time, the man was apparently restored to fellowship and the church was purified.

1 Corinthians 6:5 "Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers?" There is a gentle but definite note of sarcasm in that question. Some members of the church in Corinth were engaged in litigation and taking their cases before the courts of the city. Paul tells them that is wrong. He presents each true church as a society, a household, self-contained, and having the power and right to deal with all matters arising within itself. It has no need to seek guidance or directions from those beyond its own borders. In fact, doing so would lower the church's standard of life and weaken the power of her testimony. In cases where the principles and practices of righteousness have to be maintained between members of a church and those outside, it is right and necessary to appeal to civil courts, as we see Paul himself doing more than once in the latter chapters of the Book of Acts. But the relationship between Christians in Christ is so close and so wide, there can be no dispute or difficulty that cannot be adjusted by the church itself through our Lord's wisdom and grace.

1 Corinthians 7:24 "In whatever condition each was called, let him [or her] remain with God." These words teach us that circumstances are of minor importance in spiritual growth and godliness. They neither help nor hinder believers in Christ from developing purity and strength in character and service, which are the outcomes of their faith. Note the applications of that truth in this chapter: married or unmarried, Jewish or Gentile, slave or free—major social differences like that make no difference in the believer's spiritual progress. On the contrary, his or her faith in Christ changes and qualifies all such conditions. The pressures and frictions of conditions that seem to make the Christian faith difficult to practice actually contribute to maturing Christian character. Therefore the tempting idea that if we change our circumstances, we may develop our saintship is unwarranted. The secret of life is that it be lived with God. Such fellowship transfigures circumstances, changing forces that hinder into forces that help. How freeing to realize that whatever your calling may be as a believer—whatever your family relationships, education, employment, and social standing—you may remain there in the company of God and make the circumstances of your life occasions for manifesting His glory in you!

1 Corinthians 8:1 "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." This contrast is repeated often in the Bible. For example the prophet Habakkuk is given this message from God about the proud man: "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith." Paul here contrasts knowledge with love. Is he saying knowledge is wrong? No, for he just said, "We know that all of us possess knowledge" in the matter under discussion in this chapter, which is food offered to idols. He goes on to explain that mature Christians understand "an idol has no real existence, and there is no God but one." All such knowledge is of supreme value. When does it become dangerous? When we develop pride in what we know and allow that to increase what we think of ourselves, but to diminish what we think of others, which will adversely affect how we treat them. Love will condition our use of knowledge so it becomes useful to others, building them up instead of tearing them down (and ourselves in the process). The person who knows, but lacks love, is dangerous. The one who knows and loves is a perpetual blessing to everyone in his or her sphere of influence.

1 Corinthians 9:22 "I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some." Does that seem like a startling  statement? The examples Paul gives are striking: becoming like one under the Mosaic Law to fellow Jews, becoming like a Gentile to those outside that Law, becoming weak to those who are weak. How far may we go in that direction before we damage our testimony and usefulness? A second look will save us from all doubt in the matter. Paul tells us he became all things to all people "that he might save some." That goal qualifies our accommodations. It is always wrong to endanger our chances of leading people to saving faith in Christ. The idea Paul is communicating is not that the ends justify any means, but that the end qualifies or guides the means. For example, we may travel sympathetically with men and women along the pilgrimage of their doubts, but we must not go so far as to deny the Christian faith in any aspect. If we do, we cannot help them come to sound faith in Christ. To help save others, we may enter into their social life and share their recreations, but never in such ways that jeopardize our power to help them in spiritual matters.

1 Corinthians 10:6 "These things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil, as they did." The historical examples in Scripture are meant to strengthen the faith of God's people in all times. The ones Paul gives in this chapter point to the miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt through the Red Sea and into the wilderness, where God sustained them with bread, meat, and water. "Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness" by their evil desires and ungrateful hearts. They became idolaters, engaged in immorality, and complained against God. We can easily commit similar evils today, even though we have been blessed with much more revelation from God than they had. Let us then read to our profit these historical accounts of God's dealings with others, remembering with holy fear that we have at our disposal in Christ greater spiritual resources than they had. Such remembrance will not make us careless, but more careful to avoid failing as they failed. Indeed, "if they did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, how much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him [Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant] who warns from heaven?" (Hebrews 12:25).

1 Corinthians 11:28 "Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the Bread and drink from the Cup." Participating in the Lord's Supper proclaims fellowship with our Risen Lord and the reality of His death and resurrection on behalf of all who come to Him in repentant faith. It is an act of worship. Before this time of worship and fellowship for the church, there should be solemn self-examination. It should not take place in the service, but before it. The Table of the Lord is not the place for confession of sin; that should precede it. Forgiveness from Jesus, our Great High Priest, and anyone we've sinned against, is to be sought before we enter into the sanctuary to offer our corporate worship. We are to eat the Bread and drink the Cup together as cleansed worshipers. It is at our peril if we neglect such preparation.

1 Corinthians 12:18 "God arranged the members in the Body, each one of them, as He chose." As the psalmist proclaims, the human body is "fearfully and wonderfully made."  That made it the inspired choice for Paul's illustration in this chapter of unity in the Church, described as the Body of Christ, a picture of all God's people of all time. The astonishing unification of the most diverse powers and capacities, all fitting instruments for life and expression, is beyond wonder. God's Spirit works through them all to accomplish the will of the One who arranged the Body as He chose. These words bring rest and comfort for every Christian. Our place in the Body of Christ is not the result of our own choosing, neither is it the result of appointment by other members of the Body. We are where we are in the Body, and we are who we are there, by the good pleasure and placing of God Himself. To realize that is to be saved from any dissatisfaction. No service or position is unworthy if it is what God has chosen, either for ourselves or for others. Knowing that helps us esteem one another. It also helps us take seriously and joyfully whatever our appointed work may be. As we do so, we are enabling the other members of the Body to do the same.

1 Corinthians 13:8 "Love never fails." Since that is true, how much of what we have called love should be called by another name? Love from God never fails because its final proof is in God Himself, who never fails or falters. What is His love like? Jesus famously described it this way: "

For God so loved the world," that so meaning this is how the Father showed His love for the people of the world:  He

  gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." Later Jesus said to His disciples on the night He was betrayed, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you." Loving one's neighbor was not a new command, but loving with this divine sacrificial love was. This is the kind of love that never fails. By that standard we are rightfully almost afraid to call anything of ours love at all. There is so much selfishness lurking in us. We love those who love us, but as Jesus said, what reward is in merely that? True love, the love with which God loves, continues to love in spite of unworthiness and failure. That kind of love inspires and compels sacrificial love. All the attitudes, habits, and activities of this love are set like jewels in this magnificent chapter, for 1 Corinthians 13 is rightly called the love chapter of the Bible. The more we ponder it, the more we are prompted to practice it, laying ourselves at our Lord's feet for this love from God Himself to master us.

1 Corinthians 14:26 "Let all things be done for edification." That is the standard for all the ministries in any genuine church. We learned in 1 Corinthians 12 that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to every member of the Body of Christ for the common good. This chapter emphasizes that edification, a common theme in the apostolic writings, is not focused on deepening the spiritual life of the individual, but on the whole Body. The test of any ministry is its value in perfecting and building up the Church, which is Christ's Bride or all His redeemed people. No member has the right to exercise a gift, even a gift given by the Spirit, to secure attention or popularity. That needs to be emphasized because this selfish temptation is subtle. Some things need to remain between you and God, but in church life the law of ministry is ministering to each other for the common good. When there is no seeking for glory or personal profit, ministry becomes powerful.

1 Corinthians 15:19 "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable." This chapter is rightly called the Resurrection Chapter of the Bible since Paul by the Spirit talks extensively about the literal, bodily resurrection of Christ, about the future resurrection of all the dead, and about what a resurrected body is like. He begins with these facts: "I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,  and that He was seen by Cephas [Peter], then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain alive, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me." That is sober eyewitness testimony, not wishful thinking. The idea that the resurrection of Christ is meant only as a comfort for this life is patently absurd. Is it conceivable that a delusion could so powerfully and persistently create Christian hope and joy, even amid suffering for testifying faithfully to the reality of the Risen Christ? Jesus said the night before His crucifixion, "In My Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?... I will come again and take you to Myself.... I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus not only tells the truth, but is in fact the essence of truth. Our eternal destiny depends on it.

1 Corinthians 16:2 "On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper." This apostolic command establishes how churches are to be financed. Whether money is needed to help saints in need, maintain the work of God in a given center, or send the Gospel to the remotest parts of the world, if this rule is obeyed by all true church members, there will be no lack. Giving is an activity for an appointed day, the first day of the week. That is Sunday, the day Christ rose from the dead, when His people ever since have gathered to worship Him in faithful local churches around the world. That corporate worship prepares us to be spiritually fruitful during the remaining days of the week. Giving is an individual responsibility between the believer and God without any third party directly involved. That guards against the temptations of not being generous or of trying to appear generous before others. Giving is also to be set aside from all your other possessions, devoted to God's use through your church, so that it will be available each Sunday. That is not raising money to pay debts, but instead providing so that no debt be incurred. The amount we give should be directly proportional to how we prosper. That means continual readjustment. "The point is this," said Paul to the Corinthians in his second letter to them:  "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."

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