Twice in this portion, My servant Paul admonishes the believers not to seek their own good, but the good of others. In the end he says that the good of many is what he himself seeks and he does this so that they may be saved. And you see that he extends this principle beyond eating and drinking to whatever you do. And the goal is not only the salvation of others, but My glory. He declares, “Do it all for the glory of God”. On the negative side, this involves avoiding putting any stumbling block before anyone. On the positive side, it involves seeking in every way to please others. Now you may have questions about these admonitions. You may wonder how it is possible to know what really is good for others and, even if knowing that, how you might consistently carry it out. You may also question how it is really possible to please everybody, especially since it might involve compromise or it might prove impossible, because to please some may involve the offense of others. My servant Paul, as you know, never sought to please others at the expense of compromising his faith or his ministry in the gospel. And he never walked in the misconception that he could actually do good in such a way that everyone would recognize his intention. But what he is declaring here is that for My glory, for the salvation of unbelievers and for the blessing of others, whether believer or not, he would purpose within his heart to seek to do good for everyone, the he would place the good of others before his own good. And he was confident that as he purposed this within his heart, he would be given what was needed to walk it out. In this way, he became an example to those who believe in My Son, who in doing good purposed within His heart to please and glorify Me at his own expense. He did good to the point of laying down His life, not only for those who followed Him, but even for those who opposed Him. I want you to recognize that this is not an unattainable ideal. It is very much what you may practice, because, as My servant Paul did, you can set your heart upon glorifying Me in all that you do. And even if it is not always appreciated for what it really is by others and even if at times you seem to fall short of what you had hoped would be accomplished, still in purposing this within your heart, will I not be faithful in helping you to walk it out, even as I did for My servant Paul. And by so purposing within your heart, I promise you that as you are enabled to walk out that purpose, you will indeed, as My servant Paul, become an example of My Son to others.
My servant Paul declares here that those things which happened to your forefathers in the wilderness were written down for your instruction and for warnings. So it is important for you to gain the instruction as it applies to your lives this day and also to take heed to the warnings, because the same kinds of temptations are in your path. You see first of all that all of the benefits and blessings, all of the wonders of My mighty hand which your fathers experienced did not keep them from sinning. You can see that they turned easily away from Me, that they forgot those mighty wonders and that they easily gave themselves over to idolatry, to immorality, to testing Me and grumbling and complaining against Me. You may think that none of these are dangerous for you. You may think that My servants words of instruction and warnings were applicable to the Corinthian believers because they lived in a pagan society in which they were surrounded by similar temptations as those which were faced by My people in the wilderness. You may think that these words were more applicable to them because they were newer to the faith and less mature.
But what does it say here? It says, “These things were written down for warnings on which the fulfillment of the ages has come”. Are you not among those on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come? Further it declares, if you think you are standing firm be careful that you don’t fall. Is it not possible for you to think this way and therefore to need these warnings and this instruction? And further it declares that no temptation has seized you but that which is common to man and that I am faithful when you are tempted to provide a way out of the temptation. Does this not declare that, however your present circumstances may differ; you are no less subject to those temptations which befell those who went before you, for it is not a matter of the outward form which the temptation may take, but of that which is as true of your nature as it was of theirs. So this is to say that these warnings and this instruction is surely for you as well.
You can be subject to the same kinds of temptation and the same propensity to fall into sin. Therefore you are to take close heed to yourselves. And whatever you do, as it declares here, you are to do for My glory. And this means that whatever you do should be that which will not only bless you, but bless others as well. If you would ever be mindful of the necessity of doing all to My glory, you will certainly walk in a way that will honor Me, bless others and keep you protected from falling to the temptations that are common to man. But there is one more very important admonition that I would give you in this current connection and that is, if you do fall to temptation, that you be repentant and correctable or else you will stray into the same kind of stubbornness and hardness of heart that caused your fathers to perish in the wilderness. Let it not be said of you that you have received My many blessings and experienced My great wonders and yet I was not pleased with you, even as I was not pleased with them.
By what means are you joined to the body of My Son? It declares here that by one Spirit you are baptized into one body. It is by My Spirit and not by mere human choice. But if it is by the Spirit that you were placed in the body of My Son, it must also be by the Spirit that you will function properly as a member of His body. And it is not only the work of My Spirit to place you within the body, but to enable you to function as you ought within the body. And you see here that my servant Paul emphasizes that there are many members and that there are numerous modes of functioning.
This diversity is also the work of My Spirit. For those ministries which define the functions of each member are given by the Spirit and those gifts which operate within the various ministries all come from My Spirit. I have told you before that the difference between the members of the body of My Son and the members of the human body involves the fact that the members of the body of My Son have wills which can exercise choices. And it is because choices can be made that it is exceedingly important as to what will be the basis and the motivation of those choices. And that is why My servant takes great pains to express in this portion how the various members are to function harmoniously in the body of My Son. For I do not need to emphasize to you how often that harmony is disrupted even as it was among the believers at Corinth to whom this word was written originally.
But you see that my servant first emphasizes that it was by one Spirit that all were baptized into one body. Therefore, when there is division, when one member regards himself or herself as sufficient to function apart from other members, you must recognize that in such a case a decision, a choice has been made which is contrary to and independent of the leading of My Spirit. Let Me be very clear in this matter. Such a member cannot function separate from the body nor can such a member decide which of the other members are valuable to him or her and which are not valuable. Nor can such a member truly sustain that life which is in the body within him or herself, by such a choice as divides him from the other members. Such a member will not only tend to prove a hindrance to the functioning of the body, but he will be like the branch in the vine of which My Son spoke which will wither and dry up. The healthy functioning member will continually recognize his dependence upon My Spirit. He will also recognize his need for the other members and their need for him. He will honor and appreciate every member and especially as it declares here, the weaker and less honorable members. He will understand that there should be no division in the body and that he should have equal concern for all the members even though on a natural level he may not have direct functioning or intimate fellowship with all. And he will be ever mindful of the necessity of receiving from and giving to the other members according to the ministry and the gifts that I have apportioned to him or to her by My Spirit. This is the way that the members will truly function if they are indeed depending upon My Spirit.