Chapter 29—A Message of Warning and Entreaty
This chapter is based on the
First Epistle to the Corinthians
.
The first epistle to the Corinthian church was written by the apostle
Paul during the latter part of his stay at Ephesus. For no others had
he felt a deeper interest or put forth more untiring effort than for the
believers in Corinth. For a year and a half he had labored among them,
pointing them to a crucified and risen Saviour as the only means of
salvation, and urging them to rely implicitly on the transforming power
of His grace. Before accepting into church fellowship those who made
a profession of Christianity, he had been careful to give them special
instruction as to the privileges and duties of the Christian believer,
and he had earnestly endeavored to help them to be faithful to their
baptismal vows.
Paul had a keen sense of the conflict which every soul must wage
with the agencies of evil that are continually seeking to deceive and
ensnare, and he had worked untiringly to strengthen and confirm those
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who were young in the faith. He had entreated them to make an entire
surrender to God; for he knew that when the soul fails to make this
surrender, then sin is not forsaken, the appetites and passions still
strive for the mastery, and temptations confuse the conscience.
The surrender must be complete. Every weak, doubting, struggling
soul who yields fully to the Lord is placed in direct touch with agencies
that enable him to overcome. Heaven is near to him, and he has the
support and help of angels of mercy in every time of trial and need.
The members of the church at Corinth were surrounded by idolatry
and sensuality of the most alluring form. While the apostle was with
them, these influences had but little power over them. Paul’s firm faith,
his fervent prayers and earnest words of instruction, and, above all, his
godly life had helped them to deny self for Christ’s sake rather than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin.
After the departure of Paul, however, unfavorable conditions arose;
tares that had been sown by the enemy appeared among the wheat,
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