Anathema Maranatha – a Gospel Curse

The Arresting Nature and Setting of the Gospel Curse

0:03 to do this morning is to direct your attention, just for this hour, this will not be a series of studies, to one of the most arresting verses in all of the New Testament. I don't know what else to call it, but an arresting verse. The kind of verse that if you're just sort of reading casually, you cannot come to it if you're reading with any comprehension, without finding yourself arrested by the tremendous force of the thoughts contained in it. It's a text that breathes of the spirit of the Gospel. It breathes of what we would call the tender, intimate overtones of the Gospel. It speaks of love in its most intimate dimensions, not the agapao or the agape love, but the philao or the philos love. And yet, it's followed or intimately connected with it, is one of the...

1:07 strongest words to be found anywhere in all of Holy Scripture. So, it's an arresting verse because it brings together concepts that generally, when found in the Word of God, are found quite separate from one another. And the text to which I refer is 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse 22, which we have what I am entitling, A Gospel, A Gospel, Man Loveth. Not the Lord, anathema, maranatha. That is not a verse, a strange verse. If any man loves the Lord, let him be anathema. In order to think our way through this arresting, this strange text calling a Gospel curse, we shall follow the following lines of thought. First

2:25 of all, we want to notice something about the setting of this Gospel curse. Secondly, the substance. The context of this Gospel curse. And thirdly, the seal upon this Gospel. First of all, then, the setting of this Gospel paragraphed version of the New Testament. You will notice that a new and the closing paragraph of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians begins with verse 21, the salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand. That precedes it. And then followed with this benediction, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you, my love be with you all in Christ Jesus, amen. Setting then of this gospel curse, one in which the

3:23 apostle himself has taken pen in hand to write the final words of this epistle to the Corinthians. As many, if not all of you are aware, the apostle Paul very frequently and perhaps in most, if not all of the angels, did not actually write then with his own pen and ink. He used the secretary, if you want to sound learned if you're talking about an amanuensis, well that's just a fancy big word, for a recording secretary, someone who took the words from Paul's mouth and recorded them. Because there were imposters in the religious world then as now, who figured they'd capitalize on the popularity. The great apostle, you have these false epistles. Remember Paul said, if anyone claims to have an epistle from me or some other apostle saying that the day of the Lord is already coming, tell him he's all wet. It's a fake epistle, it's not the real thing. I was going to say

4:27 the real McCoy, but we shouldn't pick on one of our church members who happens to have that name. And so what he would do at the end of an epistle, he would take the pen in hand himself, and he would write a few words to authenticate that he was an apostle. And indeed, this did come from the apostle. You read this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 17. I shall just refer you to that passage briefly. 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 17. The salutation of me, Paul, with mine own hand, which is the tone in every epistle, so I write. So the apostle explains why he would give these few personal words at the end. Now get the picture. The apostle Paul has been involved in all of the tremendous problems of this church at Corinth, the church which he himself gave birth to under the blessing of the Spirit of God. The record of this church is found in the book chapter 18. And so the apostle

5:35 has had tremendous concerns as the spiritual father of the church. Reports have come to him concerning tremendous areas of confusion, confusion, confusion, confusion, confusion, tremendous areas of declension morally. There was the intrusion of the heretic who was denying cardinal doctrines. And he has poured out his soul. At times he becomes white hot with emotion. He talks about jealousy. He talks about being consumed with anger. He talks about being upset. It is a powerful epistle in which the genuine humanity of the apostle Paul bristles on every single page. It is a powerful epistle. It is a powerful epistle. The sale of the area is an epistle, and the sales are on the bristles on every single page, the manuses of the area, the manuses of the area, the manuses of the area, the manuses of the his treatment of all of these areas of critical concern as it were just poured out the last drop of his own emotion and mind and judgment on the things and he's going to pick up pen to authenticate the epistle and he's only going to say a few words and so these words are of tremendous importance and looking back over everything that he has said looking back over everything that he has felt as he's written the letter he then pens these strange words any man love not let him be

6:58 anathema maranath the setting of this gospel curse now why are they found in such a setting well think of the substance of the Corinthian letter and I believe it's pivotal if we're to understand the mind of the apostle in these words in all of the problems one thing stands head and shoulders above everything else and it is this the centrality of Jesus Christ the Lord every problem all the way from the problem of divisions which he begins to treat in chapter one to the problem of those who are denying the physical resurrection of the dead the dead in chapter fifteen Jesus Christ is sinful in the apostles treatment of these problems for instance when he's trying to show them the folly of division among believers how does he do it he says he's Christ divine you've all been made partakers of the one salvation in the one savior when he goes on in chapters one and two then to treat the subject of human wisdom as opposed to divine wisdom how did he treat it

8:23 he says Christ is the wisdom of God he's talking about weakness and power Christ is the power of God and when he comes to treat immorality in chapter six how does he do it what don't you know that your bodies are mental bodies members of Christ. Then he's treating the practical problems of singleness. And when he wants to show the advantages of singleness, he says, he that is unmarried is careful how he may please the Lord. And all the way through, I care not how mundane, how earthy, how tacky the problem. No one cannot view a problem in the Christian experience in detachment from Jesus Christ. What happened in the apostles' mind, I believe, was this. Having had to treat tremendous diversity of problems, all the way from immorality, to singleness, to divisions, to people going to court with one another, and having been reminded afresh in his own treatment of the problems, of the

9:23 absolution of the gospel. And this, when he finishes reading this letter, he wants everyone

11:01 in the assembly at Corinth to go home with these words. It's bringing in his ears to change the figure reverberating in the chambers of his heart. If I do not love the Lord who has been sent to, to that letter from the apostle, the wrath of a fog is upon me, soon coming, to that there's one word that I could wish above all others, above all others, that I could wish would reverberate in the chambers of your heart. It is this. If any of you love not the Lord, let him be unmarried.

The Substance of the Curse: 'If Anyone Loves Not the Lord'

11:54 Now, the heart of our message, the substance of this gospel curse, these words, will notice for all as we try to open up the substance of this curse, the extent of its application. Look at the text. If any man, and here are the chauvinism of the translators, the male chauvinism, there can be female chauvinism, chauvinism is taking a superior posture with reference to anyone, any class, any sex. Well, here are some of the male chauvinism of the translators comes through, because it should not be rendered if any man, but simply if anyone. It is an indefinite pronoun. It is not focusing upon the masculine gender and that of pure age, but Paul uses an indefinite pronoun, and he says the extent of the application of this gospel curse is as broad as humanity, any segment of humanity that has set before it the glory of Christ in his presence. And it is work. And so it is applicable to boys, to girls, to men, to women, regardless

13:10 of age, nationality, background. The only limitation in the application of this text is that of exposure concerning the truth of Christ. The only limitation. This curse cannot be pronounced where the gospel has not come. Anyone who has not heard the gospel has not the gospel has spice and a curse resting upon him, but it is not this curse. It is a different curse. Its ultimate end is essentially the same. But this is a gospel curse. A man cannot love the LORD and therefore be guilty of the sin of not loving the LORD who has not heard without the LORD. You cannot love an unknown. God holds no man guilty for not loving the LORD of whom is not heard. He DOES hold him guilty for not loving the LORD whom he has not heard.

14:05 The God who is revealed in creation. The God who speaks to him in terms of his law written upon his own heart. And though that anyone go out saying that preacher said that people have not heard the gospel or not lost, the preacher did not say that. The preacher would deny that.

14:21 All men are under the judgment of God. But the end of the application of this text is more narrow. It is to be applied only where the Lord of glory has been set before men in the glory of his person and the sufficiency of his work as described in the scriptures. In other words, this has peculiar application to those of you who sit in this place this morning.

14:52 It has peculiar and special reference to those of you who are at it here for the first time or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet,

16:10 or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet,

17:32 or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet,

18:37 or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet,

19:42 or if you are not at it yet, or if you are not at it yet, who is the Lord of glory, who fleshed Jehovah, speaking of the one who had a true humanity,

21:00 the one who stands at the right hand or sits at the right hand of the Father, full of saving efficacy, replete with all authority in heaven and in earth, Ephesians chapter 1, the one who will come in flaming fire to take vengeance on his enemies. What am I saying? I'm simply giving a brief overview, and that's all it is, just a mountain piece of everything that is compressed in close use of the word Lord. Now do you begin to understand the substance of it? Extended it, if any man, any woman, boy, girl, regardless of race, sex, background, or anything else that sets us apart from one another, if any, does not have a personal attachment to, a friendship with, and a fondness for the Lord. Lord, that person who is God's card, that one who by the virtue of his perfect life and death, mighty resurrection and heavenly session, sits in all the power of his saving might, head over all things, all principalities and powers subject to him. If anyone has not

The Nature of 'Anathema': Marked for Destruction

22:19 love for this particular Lord, the revealed Lord of glory, now he says, let him be the Lord of glory. Now he says, let him be the Lord of glory. Now he says, let him be the Lord of glory. Now he says, let him be anathema. And this brings us to the nature of the curse.

22:31 Having looked at the extent of its application, the objects of its application, now look at the nature of the curse itself. He says let him be anathema. This is the untranslated word. Just like the word baptism in your bible is an untranslated word, it a transliterated word. All our translators did was to take the Greek word and find an English equivalent for each letter. For the alpha, they found an A. For the nu, they found an N, right across.

23:11 So you have anathema, which is just a Greek word transliterated into English, but that doesn't tell us what it means. And so the task of the one who would expound the scriptures is to try to ascertain the precise meaning of this word. Now, the Greek word parallels the Old Testament word, which is cherem, which means a thing devoted unto God. And I want you to look at one key passage in the Old Testament.

23:42 I don't want to take you through a puzzle of a dozen verses, but one key passage, Leviticus chapter 27, where God is concerning a thing devoted. Leviticus 27, 28. Notwithstanding no devoted thing that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all things, all that he hath, whether of man or beast, or of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed, every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. No one devoted that shall be devoted from among you shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death. Now, you see, the concept is of something set apart unto God, originally for sacrifice, and once it had been, there was no way he could take it back. Once it had been, devoted unto God, it could not be redeemed.

24:46 It could not come with a cash equivalent. It could not come with a one-for-one exchange. No, no. It was devoted unto God, and therefore it was slated for death.

24:57 Notice, he shall surely be put to death. And so as the word gathered meaning, and as it was used, it broadened out in its significance to mean not only that which is given unto God, to be given up to him in sacrifice, but anything that was, marked off by God for destruction, was said to be a devoted thing. Now, you ought already to be thinking about our expositions in Joshua, back about two years ago. For you remember what God said, when you go in and conquer Jericho, do not take any devoted thing.

25:36 What was God saying? He was saying everything but the gold and the silver and the precious metals in Jericho is marked for destruction. Therefore, don't take anything out of that city except the things I've mentioned. Everything else is devoted.

25:53 That's the very term that is used. It is a curse. It is marked out for destruction. It is fit for nothing but annihilation.

26:02 All right? The Apostle Paul, as he draws his Corinthian letter to a close, reflecting upon the glory, the sufficiency, the full-orbed manifestation of the saving virtue, the genuine power of the Lord Jesus, says, if any does not love this Lord, let him be left alone. Let him be marked out and set apart, nothing less than destruction of the Almighty.

26:45 It means to be marked out and set apart and cover addiction under the malediction of God. I shall forego any application. This point I'm just seeking to open up the substance of the curse. Now notice, having looked at the extent of its application, the specific objects, those who love not the nature of it, marked out, set apart for destruction by God.

27:17 Notice the certainty. Notice the certainty. If any man love not the Lord, and then he uses imperative of the to-be verb, let him be with sin of nothing. If any person lives and dies with no love, for this glorious Lord, he must be, he shall be, accursed.

27:43 He must be, he shall, he shall be. The evolutive substance of this gospel is, in short, a certain pronouncement of divine displeasure upon all and everyone who does not possess a personal attachment in love to the manifested Lord of glory. That's the sum substance, certain pronouncement of divine displeasure. certain pronouncement of divine displeasure.

28:21 certain pronouncement of divine displeasure. Displeasure upon all and everyone who does not possess a personal attachment in love to the manifested Lord of glory utterly bypasses all other moral distinction.

28:39 It does not say, if any man is given over to murder, let him be anathema. If anyone is given over to complicacy, let him be anathema. No, no. The one quality in the mind of the apostles, a man for the anathema, is that if you could peel away those layers of whatever it is that keeps us from truly looking at a man's heart, if we could peel it all away, and gaze into his heart, we could look from the top to the bottom, from one side to another, and we'd find in a heart utterly devoid a loving attachment to and affection for the manifested Lord of glory.

29:22 And Paul says, wherever there's such a heart, God has marked it out, for me with that, my friend, your quarrels with God. I don't think that's fair. Well, you're entitled to think that, my friend. Brings us to what is perhaps the most sobering note in this gospel curse, having looked at its setting and its substance, now will you notice its seal?

The Seal of the Curse: 'Maranatha' and the Lord's Return

29:47 The seal of this gospel curse? And it's this strange little word, maranatha. Now again, what is the meaning of the word? Like anathema, it's an untranslated word.

30:02 Few times will you find two untranslated words back to back. In the scriptures. But when you do, it usually bespeaks the problem that the translators had with trying to give an accurate translation. It was a confession of uncertainty.

30:17 In some cases, and I won't go into what they are, I think it was a display and evidence of theological bias, that certain words, if translated according to their common usage, would have clearly sounded certain notes that the translators did not want sounded. But be that as it may, here we have an untranslated word. It is not a Greek word in its origin. It's an Aramaic word.

30:43 And as best we can ascertain, Aramaic, which is a West Semitic language, was the language spoken in Palestine at the time of our Lord. Our Lord probably spoke the majority of the time in Aramaic, though he could also probably speak, and obviously could speak and read Hebrew. And so the Christian faith, which had, as it were, in Palestine, naturally approved to itself certain expressions of the Christian faith that were distinctly Aramaic. And as the apostles went out, and as there were Jews of the dispersion in other places, it was only right that certain phrases, certain little catch words, certain little sanctified clichés and coin words, would partake of some of the Aramaic faith. In the Galatians passage, He sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Well, the Abba, that's an Aramaic word for Father. And so it was carried over.

31:50 Well, here we have one of those Aramaic words. Well, or a couple of them. Now, what precisely does this Aramaic phrase mean? Well, here you have problems again, because you can divide it two ways.

32:00 You don't mind a little linguistic lesson, do you? Because again, he who asserts must prove. You hear that frequently here, and I'm just trying to give you a reason for the assertions made. We could break it up into Maranath and Athah.

32:18 Now, if we did, it's the difference between Our Lord come, or Our Lord is come, or O Lord come. Now, what precisely is it? Well, I'm not prepared to make a judgment on that. I've read enough this week in my preparation to know that men far more confident to make these judgments than I are quite, quite reticent to make a judgment whether it ought to be Our Lord is come, or Our Lord come, or Lord come.

32:49 But in either case, and really this is irrelevant, whether we come down on one or the other, the one thing is clear. When the Apostle Paul would put, as it were, a seal, a capstone upon this gospel curse, he directs the Corinthians and us away from the existing problems, away from the existing circumstances of life, away from their present relationship to the Apostle Paul. He directs them away from every other consideration but this. The Lord is come, or the Lord shall come.

33:29 And some would assert that this, as it were, is an assertion of prophetic certainty. The Lord is come. It is as certain that the day of His coming is upon us that we can put it in the past tense if the proper rendering is Our Lord is come. Then it is an intriguing Lord hasten the day.

33:49 Now what does that have to do with this gospel curse? Simply this. In the mind of the Apostle Paul and all of the biblical writers, the return of the Lord in glory and in power is His return to judgment. And His return to judgment is His return to reckon with every single son and daughter of the human race.

34:11 And in that day, the Apostle says, the presence or absence of love to the Lord will be discerned not by the fallible eye of fellow human beings. And the issue of the presence or absence of love to the Lord will be determined not by fallible parts of human judgment. He says the presence or absence of love to the Lord will be discerned by Him whose eyes are as a flame fire, who knows with perfect infallibility. And the issue of the presence or absence of that Lord will be determined by that same omniscient, appointed judge of the universe.

34:52 And He gives, as it were, as the seal to this gospel curse, this pronouncement, Maranatha, O Lord, hasten the day when it shall be known to every member of the human race that nothing mattered but whether or not a man, a woman, a boy or a girl loved the Lord Jesus. Now if this is the proper understanding and all I've been doing is seeking to expound the meaning of words and their relationship one to another, do you see what the burning issue is in the light of this text? Is it not this? It is this question that the youngest of the children here who can understand simple English ought to be able to ask. And the question is this. Do I love this Lord? That's a simple question, isn't it?

The Central Question: 'Do I Love This Lord?'

35:51 Do I have a personal attachment to and a fondness for a delight in this Lord, the manifested Lord of glory revealed in Holy Scripture? Furthermore, I look into the face of that same Lord and say with Peter, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. And Peter used this very word phileo.

36:25 He said, Lord, there's much I don't know about Peter. I thought I knew a lot about Peter a few days ago. If you asked me who Peter was, I'd say Peter's strong pose. Remember what he said?

36:41 The Lord said, hey, the whole bunch of you are going to forsake me. He said, Lord, you don't know me. I know me, Lord. Forsake you?

36:50 What if the whole bunch of these turn, you know, need it not? They all forsake you. Not me, I'll die for you. Lord, you don't know me.

36:59 I know me better than you do. What are you saying? The Lord said, I know the whole bunch of you. And the whole bunch of you is going to forsake me.

37:07 And Peter was saying, in essence, Lord, I know me better than you think you know me. It's amazing how quickly God brought him around, huh? From a few short hours he curses and denies that he ever knows him. And now when he faces his Lord and the Lord says, do you love me, Peter?

37:26 He says, Lord, you know everything. Lord, you know everything. I thought I knew more than you did. And, Lord, I can no longer claim that I know that I am Peter the strong one.

37:39 I can no longer claim that I know me as the bold one. But, Lord, one thing I do know, and this, know that you know that I love you. And the Lord didn't contradict him. He says, Peter, in essence, he said, yes, I do know that you love me.

38:01 And in love to me, feed my lambs. Oh, my dear people this morning, listen. Listen. Can you look into the face of the omniscient Lord who knows you all together?

38:13 And in answer to his question, do you love me? And you say, Lord, how can I know it? That I, I'd like to be able to know whether I could say that. How can I?

Love's Necessary Root: Faith in Christ

38:35 The two final principles that I leave with you this morning. Love to Christ. Listen carefully now. Has faith as its necessary root and obedience as its inevitable fruit?

38:52 Is its necessary root and obedience is its inevitable fruit? When Paul said, If any loves not the Lord, Let him be anathema. What he was saying is, if anyone does not believe in the Lord, let him be anathema. Why do I assert that faith is the necessary and only root of true love to Christ?

39:22 Well, I make that statement because of the clear teaching of the Word of God. I'll give you just two passages. 1 John 4, verses 10 and 16. In his love, he said, we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

39:46 Now, verse 16. And we know and have believed the love which God hath toward us. We love him, John says, because he first loved us. Our love to Christ is the response to come to rest as the only Savior of sinners.

40:10 Now, don't ever reverse those two things. You may sit here this morning and say, my heart is dead, my heart is cold. I have no love to Christ. Oh, that I could love him, my friend.

40:22 Believe on him, and you shall love him.

40:27 We have known and have believed the love which he hath toward us. Now, John says, we love him. We've known and believed. We love.

40:39 That's the divine order. We know. We believe. We believe.

40:42 We love. The second passage is found in Peter, 1 Peter 1, where we see the same perspective in the writing of this apostle. 1 Peter 1, verse 8. Whom having not seen, ye love.

40:59 Well, how in the world do we come to love an unseen Christ? On whom, though you see him not, yet believe. That's it. It is believing that we love.

41:14 That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it.

41:18 That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it.

41:19 That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it.

41:19 That's it. You love the Lord till you believe upon him and follow me closely. You'll never believe upon him till you see your desperate need of him. Whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ has some kind of a psychological accident.

41:35 It just sort of happens. You went to bed one night in unbelief. You woke up the next morning and said, hey, I believe on the Lord Jesus. And I woke up.

41:42 No, no. He said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. They that are well have no need of a doctor, but they that are sick.

41:51 And that's why you don't love the Lord. It's because you don't believe on him. And the reason you don't believe on him is you've never felt your desperate need.

42:02 All these things are bound together.

42:05 You'll never love him till you believe on him. You'll never believe on him till you feel your need of him. And see that in Jesus Christ the need of the vilest of sinners is met. Seeing your need and seeing him as revealed in the gospel and believing upon him is your only grounds of confidence before the living God.

42:26 It is then that you will love him. Faith always. It drives in its train love to the object of faith. Always believing he loved.

42:40 Having known and believed the love that he hath toward us. We love him because he first loved us. You can never love a divine order. Do you love him?

42:56 My friend, that's really a question. Do I believe on him as my only sin? Am I resting in the manifested Lord of glory as the only one? Who can take me with all of my guilt, native and actual and that with which I was born and that that I've accrued to myself in experience in all the totality of my sin?

43:20 Am I resting as the only one who can resolve that problem?

Love's Inevitable Fruit: Obedience to Christ

43:26 And there is the second principle in which I close this morning. All love to Christ will have obedience as its fruit. Faith is its necessary root. And if you disrupt that principle, and try to love him before you believe on him, you're doomed to fail.

43:42 But get the second principle. Obedience is its inevitable fruit. And again I give you the words of the Lord himself in John chapter 14. Beginning with verse.

43:55 He loved me to keep my commandments. Verse 21. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. Verse 23.

44:11 Jesus answered and said, If a man love me, he will keep my word. Verse 24. He that loveth me not, keepeth not my word. Chapter 15 and verse 14.

44:21 Ye are my friends. You are attached to me in loving affection and fondness. If ye do the things which I command you. Love to the Lord.

44:33 Listen carefully. Is love to the Lord. You see the word Lord not only speaks of his inherent deity and his dignity as the regal royal administrator of the kingdom, the mediatorial kingdom at the right hand of the Father, but it speaks of him in his sovereign prerogatives. May I say it without being irreverent.

44:58 It speaks of him as boss, as master. Therefore if we love him as Lord, we will love his ways, his precepts, his commandments, as it is heretical to attempt to create love for Christ by ourselves with no root, the root of faith. It is equally heretical to claim that there can be love. It is equally heretical to claim that there can be love.

45:23 It is equally heretical to claim that there can be love. It is equally heretical to claim that there can be love. can be loved to Christ without its fruit in obedience. And one of the tragedies in the history of the church, as it's recorded of generations past across the stage of history and time, and as it will be written of this generation, is that with a Bible so clear on this point, many have missed their way and destroyed themselves on the left hand and on the right. And there is the pitiable picture of the person trying to love the Lord by something he works, something himself, or coming to see that the necessary root of love is faith. On the other hand, there are those who glibly claim to believe in the Lord Jesus, who show not a shred of evidence of diligence and earnest desire to obey him. The necessary fruit of love is obedience. And I say with the Bible so clear on this point, it is only willful blindness that causes men to destroy themselves in these two ways.

Conclusion: The Gravity of the Gospel Curse

46:29 Now we close where we started. Strange, arresting, gospel curse, if any, of not the Lord, letting be anathema, maranatha, having displayed the sufficiency and the glory of Christ in the epistle, the apostle thinking that there would be men and women and boys and girls at Corinth who, having heard all of this glorious truth about him, would still not love him, think of no lesser words than, Such a one is marked out for destruction by God. Execute the destruction, rid the moral universe of those who do not love so lovely a person as the Lord Jesus. The moral universe, class vestiges of intelligent, rational human beings, will not pour out affection to one so worthy of all that they are and all that they have.