The Footsteps of the Flock #4 — Stephen Kaung

The Fellowship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

The whole universe, there is one fellowship, which is the most perfect, which is the fellowship in deity, and this is the fellowship between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. And this fellowship is also the most exclusive, because there are only three, the Father and the Son in the Spirit, no one else can participate.

And this is too holy, and this is perfect, and no one is qualified to enter. But we thank God, because of His love, He is willing to open His fellowship, and to bring men into this fellowship. And Lord Jesus is willing to share this fellowship between Him and the Father with us.

And what the Father has shared to Him, He shares to us. So that we can have a portion in that fellowship. And this fellowship, you cannot just enter. You cannot join, but you have to be born into it. So we have to be born again.

And after we are born again, we are in that fellowship. We can enjoy our Lord. We can enjoy our Father. Now we can enjoy each other. And this is a beautiful fellowship. There is only one fellowship. There is no other fellowship.

Division in the Corinthian Church

So Paul said, is Christ divided? Christ is not divided. There is only one Christ. We are all in that fellowship. And this is the footstep of the flock. But the Corinthian believers, they departed from this fellowship.

Their footsteps is the footsteps of division. Because Paul said, there is this family of kleos coming to me. And he informed me that there is division among you. And Paul said, I believe that too. Because some of you said, I belong to Paul.

And I belong to Apollo. And I belong to Stephen. Some said, I am of Christ. And you are not of Christ. Christ is my privilege, my monopoly. And Paul said, is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?

And are you baptized in the name of Paul? Paul counts nothing. Apollo was nothing. And God is all. Brothers and sisters. Here you see in the Corinthian church. Some said, I am for Paul. Because I was saved by his preaching.

And some said, I am for Apollo. Because Apollo taught me about the Bible. Some said, I am for Stephen. Because Stephen was the orthodox. Some said, I am higher than you. I am of Christ. Brothers and sisters.

Is Christ divided? At that time they were still together. But they were divided into different divisions. Why that happened? Because they live in the flesh. You know that flesh is always dividing. There are not two flesh that can be in one.

Your own flesh is weak. You raise up another person who has a bigger flesh. And you say that you are for him. But in reality you are trying to boost yourself. So Paul told them that you are wrong. And Paul counts nothing.

Apollo counts nothing. All is yours. You have the Lord. Everything is yours. Paul is yours. Apollo is yours. And the whole world is yours. And you belong to the Lord. And the Lord belongs to God. And this is unity.

So brothers and sisters. Now here we have a warning. When we deviate from the footsteps of the flock. We fall into division. The more we divide, the poorer we are. Because if we are in unity, then all the riches of Christ is ours.

Holiness, Sanctification, and Separation from the World

So brothers and sisters. Here we have to learn a deep lesson. From chapter 5 to chapter 6. We can say that it speaks about holiness and worldliness. Chapter 5 verse 7. Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened.

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Brothers and sisters, our Lord is the land of Passover. We now have already passed Passover. Now we are in the festival of unleavened bread. We know that the festival of unleavened bread is immediately following the Passover.

The unleavened bread is seven days. That means that we have already passed the Passover. The unleavened bread represents sin. Sometimes it represents the sin of life. Sometimes it represents the sin of morality.

But today we belong to the Lord. We are a new lump. The leaven was taken out. You know that in the festival of unleavened bread, the whole family of Israel cannot have a little bit of leaven. In the festival of unleavened bread, the whole household of Israel cannot have any trace of leaven.

And this is the church. The church is a new lump. And the old leaven is taken away. Lord Jesus Christ, through His blood, our sins are washed away. He has saved us from this world. Now we are in unleavened bread.

Now we need to follow the Lord with sincerity and truth. And to live a separated life. But we see the Corinthian church. In chapter 5, it tells us the sin that they find among the believers are even cannot find in the world.

And that brother has committed that sin. And the brothers and the sisters just let it alone, did not think this is a problem. Then they even boast that they themselves are tolerating. They do not have a sense of sin.

The church did not rise up and to abolish, to deal with the sin. It has completely fallen into the sin of the world. In chapter 6, we see the brothers went to the court against brothers. And Paul said, you belong to the Lord.

And one day you are going to judge the angels. And you have on these small things that you go to the Gentiles to the court against the brother. And now why do you abuse your brother? And why you are not willing to be abused?

And you really put your Lord to shame, brothers and sisters. We see the church is holy. Because our Lord is holy. Now the salvation will bring us into sanctification and to be made holy. How can we return to the world, to the sins of the world?

Discipline, Self-Control, and Christian Liberty

And this is not the footstep of the flock. This is the footstep of the world. Number 3, from chapter 7 to chapter 10. We can say this is about discipline and indulgence. We see chapter 9, from verse 24.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may obtain it. All those who are holy in the church have discipline. They just want to get a good reputation.

We just want to get a bad reputation. Verse 25, and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we want an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty.

Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Paul shows us here, and he is the one who disciplines his body and brings it into subjection.

And in the original language he actually says he buffets his body. And this is not to abuse his body. This means that he is a disciplined person. And for the sake of the Lord, he has a very disciplined life.

But the Corinthians, they just let go. And they write to Paul about marriage. And they write to Paul about eating the meat that has been sacrificed to idols. In other words, they are actually very loose in the matter of marriage.

They are very loose in the matter of eating the meat that is sacrificed to idols. And they even say that we believe only one God. Now, only this God and there is no other God. Now these idols are all false.

Therefore, the sacrifice to an idol is a sacrifice to nothing. So it does not matter if we eat. And also the meat that is sacrificed to idols are the best meat and the lowest cost. Then why can't we eat it?

And at that time most of the social activities happened in the temples. Now if we do not go to the temples of the idols, then my life is very bland. Paul said yes. You have that knowledge. But the knowledge pops up.

Love. Only love edifies. You have to think about those brothers and sisters for a week. They were worshippers before of idols. Now behind the idols there were indeed that evil. Evil spirit. After they believed the love.

They dare not touch these things. Because when they think about eating these things, they think that they have a portion in these things. And Paul says you eat and drink of the cup and the bread of the Lord.

And then you go ahead to eat the cup of the evil. And you have to for other people's sake. For other people's conscience. You have to be mindful of the week. You have to use love to be the reference and the standard of your work.

Not according to the knowledge in your brain. Your knowledge may be right. But the knowledge pops up. Now the Corinthians only look to the exterior knowledge and utterance. They lack love. They lack life.

They indulge their own flesh. So brothers and sisters. So here we see that the footstep of the flock is discipline. Because our Lord is discipline. Do you see the discipline our Lord to himself is to such an extent.

Spiritual Order and the Edification of the Church

He even said for their sake I sanctify myself. Brothers and sisters. And this is the footstep of the flock. From chapter 11 to chapter 14. Now here we can say this is about on one hand is the spiritual order.

On the other hand is the carnal liberty. Here we see before God there is an order. Because the beginning of chapter 11 it says. He says God is the head of Christ. And Christ is the head of man. And the man is the head of woman.

Here we see there is an order not only in the family but also in the church. When we gather together there is an order. In chapter 14. Verse 40. Let all things be done decently and in order. Our God is not a God of disorder.

Our God is a God of peace. Of course this order is not destined by man. And this order is the order of God. We see our God when he rules the whole universe there is an order. Today among God's children there is also order.

There is the order of the spirit there. It is not the man who organize the design. It is the spirit of life that brings in a spiritual order. And this is the footstep of the cross. But the Corinthians want liberty.

And they want to do everything according to what is right in their own life. Now even when they use the gift, they use the gift in order to magnify themselves. They have not thought of edifying others.

Believing and Obedience Versus Doubt and Disobedience

And this is that the Corinthians went astray. In chapter 15 and 16. And we can say that it is about believing and obedience on the one hand and doubt and disobedience on the other hand. And Paul says at the beginning we have preached to you what we have received.

And if you do not suddenly believe, then what I have preached to you is only the second chapter. But among them there are some who do not believe in resurrection. Then when it comes to chapter 16, Paul tells us at the end of the chapter.

He says, those who are devoted to serving the Holy Spirit, I advise you to obey such people and work together. Chapter 16, verse 15. I urge you brethren, you know the household of Stephanos, that it is the first fruit of Archaea and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints.

That you also submit to such and to everyone who works and labors with you. Now, along the footstep of the flock, we believe and we obey. If we deviate, go astray from this footstep, then we will doubt and we will not obey.

So when Paul concluded his letter, in chapter 16, verse 22. He said, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come. If anyone does not love the Lord, that love is not agape.

It is not that absolute love. It is not a God-like love. Paul does not count Corinthians to be able to receive that word. Because they do not understand the agape love of God. And Paul said, men, that you do not even have the filial love among men.

And you have no feeling for the Lord. If you have some compassion for the Lord, you will not fall to this extent. If you have no feeling for the Lord at all, then you are accursed. Because the Lord will come.

Maranatha Anathema. Brothers and sisters, this is a very serious word. So here we see, if we deviate from the footstep of the flock, it is very dreadful. Because the Lord is coming. We thank God. And Paul did not give up.

Paul's Letters and the Restoration of Corinth

Strictly speaking, Paul has written four letters to the Corinthians, according to what we can discover now. But only two letters remain. The first Corinthians is actually the second letter. Why is that?

Because Paul wrote it in Corinthians 5. Verse 9. He said, I wrote to you in my epistle, not to keep company with sexually immoral people. This is not only to keep company with sexually immoral people.

If this is the case, you must leave the world. But now I write to you in my epistle, not to keep company and so on and so forth. So the first Corinthians is actually the second letter. So in verse 9 he says, I already wrote to you.

So after he wrote the first Corinthians, he really had a love for the Corinthian brothers. And then the result, according to what we can determine today, not recorded in the Acts. He went from Ephesus to Corinth in a hurry.

After he wrote the first letter, he did not feel peace. So he went to Corinth quickly. Hoping that he could help them in faith. But very regrettably, they did not accept. How do we know? Because in the second Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 1, he says, the third time when I went to you, so he must have gone there the second time.

So we know that he must have gone there quickly. Maybe that visit was very short. Because they are not willing to accept him. So he wrote another letter. When he wrote that letter, he was writing in tears.

When you look at the second Corinthians, chapter 2, in chapter 7, when he wrote that letter, he was weeping in his heart. He also wrote a very severe letter. So that to make them worry, make them grieve, and he asked Titus to bring the letter to them.

So he went in. Titus went in.

He wanted to meet Titus. He wanted to meet Titus in Troy. Because he wanted to know what would happen if Titus brought the letter. This is the second Corinthians, chapter 2. When he went to Troy, Titus was not there.

He was uneasy in his heart. Even the door of the gospel is open, he has no heart to work. So he went to Macedonia. Then Titus went to Macedonia and brought him good news. When the Corinthians received this very severe letter, and they repented, in the second Corinthians, chapter 7, and Paul says, because of this letter, they grieve in their hearts.

And they fear, tremble with fear. And they rose up to deal with the sin. And they received Titus. So Paul has joy in his heart. So we thank God. So we see when Paul wrote the second Corinthians, and his tone is different.

We see that the Corinthian church was then brought back to the footsteps of the flock. How can one come back from deviation to walk according to the footsteps? There is only one way. The way of the cross.

The Cross and Returning to the Footsteps of the Flock

If man is willing to accept the cross, and let the cross deal with the flesh, deal with sin, and deal with the world, deal with self, brothers and sisters, then we see, and we will be restored brought back to the footsteps of the flock.

So when Paul wrote the second Corinthians, and at conclusion, and he said, chapter 13, verse 11,. Finally, brethren, farewell. Become complete. Be of good comfort. Be of one mind. Live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

For those of you who are not willing to accept the cross, although there are still few people opposing, but by and large, the church was restored. So finally, Paul said in verse 14,. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Amen. Thank the Lord. Let's pray. Our Lord, you never disappear. You never let us lose. We thank you and praise you. Your love always follows us to bring us back to yourself. We thank you. We put forth ourselves again into your hands.

May you have a freedom in every one of us. In the name of Lord Jesus. Amen.