It’s All in Your Mind

l ] @na,p,lu. 13 (),u.Jllin.dttbuu ~(1uud/JJ, /,,dJ,nn,, /auu,Jl tJJe pu/aJ., k al- (JJJod ~ bL o./. ML mind, lw-L UL pintt,• and tJu .(j,JJd "' fu.tu_ and fUJlll,. JuJ1 bL with fJ-bll..,, 2 Corinthians 13:11 The previous chapter reierred to the fact that a number of times the Apostle Paul. writing to the believers in the churches, exhorts them to be one-minded. This is an area of much discussion, even to the eKtent of the effectiveness of the local church today. The problem facing many churches is the problem of unity. As long as we deal in the flesh, we will have differences. And Paul knew this even in his day. Many times in his epistles, Paul, by the Holy Spirit exhorted believers in the local fellowships to be united in the work ofChrist. Is it possible for a group of believers to think alike? Is it possible for believers in the local church to have agreement on most things? I believe it is. And if it is not, then the Holy Spirit, through Paul, wrote a number of exhortations that were impossible. As we read Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, we know that we have a group of saints who were totally divided. In fact, if this were true today, we would have at least four new churches from this one church. It has always amazed me that the Corinthian church even stayed together with all oftheir "in-fighting." Paul, in closing the twelfth chapter, lays a foundation for his needed formula in chapter thirteen. The Apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, was always concerned with edifying the believer. This he says in chapter twelve, beginning with verse nineteen. ".. . lml OJ.L do- all l:1tintµ.. .. /o,- fJ-fJt.t,F. ~-" He fears lest when he comes to Corinth again he would not find them as he desired them to be. What does he not want to find? He lists "'... dJudn., nwyuuµ, tDNI1lu, ~~~ .wullbuµ, b.unultt." Many of these sound familiar in local churches today. He fears that if he came to Corinth and these things were taking place he would again have to "lu.uudl mlUl.!J umiJt. lw.tu .wuud." Paul did not desire to find that he had to again straighten out the problems of sin in the lives of the Corinthian saints. So we come to his closing in chapter thirteen. This is the last time he is going to write to them. Verse eleven says, "(Jinolf.v,,. hn1.hun." He is not writing to individuals; he is writing to the group. True, to get the group to act right, you must get the individuals to act right; but here he appeals to all the saints at Corinth. How do you get one-mindedness in the local church? I believe Paul gives us the formula in the right order. The fit-st command in this order is, "'{lauu,JL" Our reference 59