1st Corinthians CH1:

Okay so today we are officially Starting a new book in the New testament

Its been a few weeks since we finished the book of Romans

I had been wondering about which Book to go through next on Wednesday nights and I thought it would be very fitting to go through the book of 1st and 2nd Corinthians

So today we are going to start 1st Corinthians

Why ? Because the church of Corinth is a lot like the church we see today . and we will get into that:

The Church of Corinth was a church that the apostle Paul started back in the book of Acts

before we look at the passage in Acts I want to give a little background on the church of Corinth

So the church of Corinth was a church that was a work of God considering everything Paul had gone through leading up to the start of the church

Paul suffered and was persecuted a- lot by the Romans and the Jews

2 Corinthians 11:22–29 “22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?”

2 Corinthians 11:30 “30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.”

The apostle Paul suffered for christ

and the whole time He suffered he continually Preached the word of God where ever he went

regardless of what would our could happen to Him

Its important to know that he was a warrior for christ

he was a man that had a Heart for christ

and because of His heart for christ we have the Epistles

His letters to the church’s that were forgetting the real reason for Jesus

they were fixated on things that did not matter

they were becoming evil and evil was becoming normal

there hearts were deceitfully wicked and they did not see it

this is the reason for Pauls letter to the church of Corinth

the church of Corinth was a church that was DIVIDED; DEFILED; AND DEFAMED

DIVIDED: choosing to follow man instead of God (arguing about which leader to follow) 1 Corinthians 1:12 “12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.””

DEFILED: they were involved in heavy sexual sin that was portrayed as worship to God (1 Corinthians 1:5 “5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,”)

DEFAMED: there reputation as a church was being destroyed because of there fleshly conduct !

the first 6 chapters of 1st Corinthians deals with the concerns that Paul had for the their church

and the last 10 chapters are the answers Paul has for them to help them get back in line with God

Earlier I said that the church of Corinth was a work of God , and it was

It wasn’ t something that a man orchestrated,

it was a church that at one point God grew because of Pauls obedience

so Lets turn our Bibles to the book of Acts because here we are going to read How the church of Corinth started

Acts 18:1–7 “1 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. 3 So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.”

Acts 18:8–11 “8 Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. 9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”

so just before these 11 verses here in ch 18

in chapter 16 Paul was Imprisoned and by miracle, he was set free

toward the end of Pauls imprisonment , he was saved by an earthquake which released him and Silas

it was an earthquake that was sent by God to free them and give them an oppurtunity to Minister to one of the Guards

vs 25- 34 specifically ( Read Acts 16:25–34)

Now i share this with you guys because Paul was a man that was driven and directed by the Lord

He was doing the Lords work all while being persecuted

and now in chapter 17 he’s out of Prison and he’s traveling preaching the word of God

He lands in Athens for some time and then he picks up from Athens and goes to Corinth , which is what we just read in the 1st 11 verses of chapter 18

Paul was at the church of Corinth for 18 months where he helped build the church before he left

Now the city of Corinth itself was this very important city known for its commerce

it had an amazing economy because of all of the buying and selling that went on there

Geographically it was a great place for commerce , it was 4 miles from the ocean and so instead of sailing all the way around the southern tip of Greece the ships could sail through the channel In Corinth

Corinth had all the riches the world had to offer, and they were wicked

it was prosperous in the day and wicked at night

the World around crept into the church and caused Division, defilement, and they were defamed by there actions of the flesh

So again Paul being the Mature one who started this church writes this beautiful letter to address some of these issues

so lets get into it

1st Corinthians Chapter 1 vs 1-9

1 Corinthians 1:1 “1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,”

1 Corinthians 1:2 “2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”

1 Corinthians 1:3 “3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

in these 3 verses alone we see something pretty awesome that Paul has been able to point out

and this is one of the Main problems that had been going on with the church of Corinth and that is Authority !

(to the church of God which is at Corinth) , who are sanctified in christ Jesus , called to be His Saints , who all call on the name of the lord

right away Paul is addressing who the Ultimate Authority is

its not man , its not a certain leader , its not a certain pastor , its not any Human, its not a certain church

it is the Lord Jesus Christ

Jesus is the main authority

He is realigning this issue with them by addressing it in the first 3 verses

SO because of this , i want to camp here for a while and talk about Gods authority because i think this gets messed up at every church

A-lot of times, and we are going to see Paul address this more as we continue through this book

but a-lot of times people go to church for the wrong reasons

and one of those wrong reasons that Ive experienced and many of you have experienced is for Man

We can get caught up in church because of a Man or a powerful influence

before you know it we lose sight of why we are even really going to church

we lose sight of the fact that we all fall under the Authority of God , not man

yes there is a pecking order and we are called to be obedient to authority placed over us

but we are not called to follow MAN

we are called to follow Jesus Christ

All saints fall under the Authority of Jesus Christ

we are set apart to serve God and when that is not being done properly it hurts those around us and it causes division

for instance when we are here at church and we make it about man , we get offended

we experience things like church Hurt

we tend to make church life about who is in charge and who has authority

we pick sides and create clicks within and amongst ourselves just like the church of Corinth

1 Corinthians 1:12–13 “12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”

Is christ divided ?

Was Paul the one that died for you ? did that man you are so concerned about die for you ? did that leader die for you ?

who is your loyalty to ? Jesus or man ?

do you get baptized in the name of that man or Leader ? or do you get baptized in the Name of the Lord

Paul calls out this fake authority instantly by bringing it back to the Authority we all fall under

we are called to be Holy and Holiness comes from the grace of God not man

Jesus is the Lord in every place, including the church that thinks it follows one man or one denomination

Unity comes through Jesus not through man !

it is important that we understand as Saints that Jesus is King

because if we don’t understand that , things will get sideways like we are about to see in this powerful book

Read Chapter 3: 1-11 we all work together no against each-other

Matthew 28:18 “18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

John 5:26–27 “26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.”

Romans 13:1–2 “1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”

the ultimate authority from any man should be yielded to Christ

1 Corinthians 1:4 “4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,”

1 Corinthians 1:5 “5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,”

1 Corinthians 1:6 “6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,”

1 Corinthians 1:7 “7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

1 Corinthians 1:8 “8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 1:9 “9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

in these verses we see Paul giving thanks for the work that God has done in the lifes of the people at the church of Corinth

they were a gifted group of Saints

people were gifted speakers that were smart

and not only that but the gifts they had were evidence that Christ lived in them

these spiritual gifts they had were all that they needed to eagerly wait for the return of christ

they could continue in ministry because they were graced by God with these gifts

they would be blameless in the sight of the Lord

VS 9 Again we see that Paul brings this all back to being called to fellowship because Of Jesus the son

the Authority Goes right back to Jesus

they have these gifts and experience Grace because of Jesus

Now from vs 4-9

Paul compliments them for the things they are good at and for their gifts

but what is interesting and what we are going to continue to see is that he is also going to be calling them out for abusing those gifts that God so graciously gave them

they Lost sight of true unity which is found in Jesus Christ

Earlier I talked about authority a little bit and i want to continue talking about it

But authority when it is confused created/ creates division and it creates problems in any church

not just the church of Corinth

but when we as the church lose sight of Jesus and the bigger picture, we are failing those around us

if we are not pointing people to Jesus then we are dividing

dividing is not what we are called to do

we are called to live in peace and unity with one another

Romans 12:18 “18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

Psalm 133 “A Song of Ascents. Of David. 1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments. 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.”