Psalm 145:1-3

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in 1 Corinthians 5. Verses 4-5 got me!

1 Corinthians 5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

1 Corinthians 5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

The Mind of the Spirit hooked the spirit of my mind with two thoughts, one from each of the above verses.

In verse 4, I was intrigued that Paul anticipated the gathering of the believers in Corinth would include his “spirit,” and “the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 5:4).

In verse 5, the idea that the church, in assembly, had the authority to “deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh” has always been fascinating and concerning.

Along the still waters, the insights swamped me. I thought, No way can I get this in one devotion. I’ll summarize here.

How could Paul be in the assembly in spirit while not there physically? First, Paul actually did not say “with my spirit,” or “and also my spirit.” Paul was not saying his spirit would leave his body and assemble with the believers in Corinth. The Bible establishes a very close connection between the mind and our spirit. (See God’s War, pages 233-235.)* When our minds are in agreement, our spirits are in fellowship. It’s wonderful to know that when we assemble in one mind with the LORD and His Word, we are together in “one spirit,” having fellowship together with the Apostles and Prophets (1 John 1:3), “with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

My “spirit” is with our congregation when I’m away because my thoughts are with them, and because they conduct the service according to what I have directed and taught. The presence of Paul’s spirit in the assembly happens whenever we act in concert with his instruction.

The “power of our Lord Jesus Christ” is also present in the assembly of the believers. The word power is dunamis, and refers to His might, His omnipotence. He exercises His power when we act “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” in the assembly (1 Corinthians 5:4a-b; Matthew 18:20). He binds in Heaven when we bind on earth, and looses in Heaven what we loose on earth (Matthew 18:18-20).

The fact that the church has the authority to exercise the power of Christ in discipline to the point of turning a saint over to the power of Satan for the destruction of the flesh is something virtually no church considers or takes seriously. Paul delivered to Satan two antichrist opposers of the gospel who blasphemed God and His Son (1 Timothy 1:20).**

The church is Christ’s ekklesia, given the keys of the kingdom, and may exercise extraordinary power when it acts in Jesus’ Name and under His authority (James 4:7).

According to Paul, to turn someone over to Satan is to remove from them any hedge of divine protection, giving them to the power of Satan to destroy their lives. The church has the authority to act in Jesus’ name and command a saint or sinner to go to the Devil. The disposition of Christ on the matter determines what judgment follows, when, and in what manner it will be executed. Remember that the “curse causeless shall not come” (Proverbs 26:2). This certainly should not encourage us to be careless in exercising this profound authority. However, it does correct any notion that the Church may act with this authority in its own name, or use the Name with some superstitious belief that the power called upon is under the control of the Church’s will.

In the valley, shadowed by His Cross, I sought His face and desired grace to manifest His power through my faith. And what do you suppose He said to me? You are right! He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, I resolved to keep self out of the way so that Jesus may manifest in my mortal flesh (2 Corinthians 4:11). Jesus anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed us into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v6zs1j0-shepherds-pasture.html

[*The mind is the place where our spirit connects with our soul. Our spirit expresses itself through our mind and manifests in our thoughts. Our thoughts are the actions of our spirit.]

[**Understandably, many connect Hymaneaus to the person of the same name mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:17-18. There, he is connected with Philetus, who, with Hymanaeus, taught a form of preterism (the teaching that all, or a significant portion, of the prophecies concerning the return of Christ have already been fulfilled. If this Hymanaeus is the same as the Hymanaeus mentioned in 1 Timothy, Paul is equating a false teacher with blasphemy. There is an Alexander the coppersmith mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:14. Some conclude this is Alexander, a ruler of the Jews, who examined Paul and his team, asking, “By what power, or by what name have ye done this?” (Acts 4:6-7). Peter and the Apostles preached the resurrection of Christ (Acts 3:26), and the rulers of the Jews were grieved against them because they “preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:1-2). These rulers of the Jews “laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day” (Acts 4:3). Some dispute whether this is the same Alexander the coppersmith, and believe that person was an unbelieving Gentile who opposed Paul later. It’s possible that the Alexander mentioned in Acts 4 is the same Alexander the coppersmith. Perhaps Alexander bought into the heresy of Hymaneaus concerning the resurrection, and this false teaching might have arisen from the phenomenon of the partial resurrection that occurred after Christ arose (Matthew 27:51-53). Testimony of many who witnessed these risen bodies of the saints might have inspired this false teaching, or was deceptively used to support it. However, we don’t know! Any conclusion is premised upon insufficient evidence to be certain. What we know is that Hymanaeus and Philetus taught a false doctrine concerning the resurrection, and Alexander the coppersmith did much evil to Paul during his ministry. The matter of significance to us is whether this power to send someone to the Devil for judgment applied to saints and sinners. I believe it applies to everyone generally. For example, we note that Paul exercised like power over Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:6-12).]