This morning we begin our study of Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Mark's gospel, which we just finished is all about the life of Christ.

First Corinthians is all about the church he founded; a problem church driven by wild passions, carnality, fighting, divisions, and bickerings.

Paul spent 18 months in the city of Corinth, first preaching at the Synagogue and then in houses and in the market place. Many came to Christ as their Savior. It is now five years later and Paul gets word of the chaos that abounds; the church is full of . He sits down and writes to address the issues at hand. These issues were very real and very practical. This week, thumb through each page and read the paragraph titles and you will get a good idea as to what Paul covers in this lengthy letter.

"Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes." v.1

"To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Lord and ours:" v.2

"To the church of God in Corinth"

The nature of the church

Church of God in Vancouver. There is a church on 78th street.

Not a reference to organized churches, but to the true body of Christ no matter where they happen to worship.

"together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-their Lord and ours:"

J Bumper Sticker, "The church is our mother, treat her with respect." Reference to the organized Catholic Church.

"Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved." Ro 9:27

The remnant is sprinkled throughout the denominations and churches in any city and is not identified by any organized church.

We are all members of his church, his body, and you can't join it. It got to be born into it; born again by the Spirit.

The city: Corinth

Location: The country of Greece

A Major seaport city, it was one of the great centers of commerce in the Roman world.

The city of Corinth was a Roman colony on Greek soil, the seat of Roman government for the area.

"Being a major center of trade it became a meeting place for sailors, salesmen, bankers, and travelers from every part of the Mediterranean. Enjoying rapid growth and wealth in commerce, it became a hometown of luxury, sensuality and sport."

There was a large population of Jews in the city. When Paul first came to Corinth he went to the synogogue and spoke to them about Christ.

"Paul walked its streets, rubbing shoulders with Jews and peddlers, merchants and seamen, retired soldiers and shopkeepers, slaves, harlots, jugglers, and purveyors of vice. He took them all to his heart and set about winning as many as he could Christ." John Phillips

It was a cosmopolitan city of some 600,000 inhabitants. It was a tumultuous city; the Greek was there, and the Roman, and the Jew; curious languages, various customs all blended together into a strange mixture of ideas, values, and practices.

Church of God in Corinth (described as:) v.2

"Those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and"

"Those who are called to be holy"

"Those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Lost people are described in the Bible as those who, "do not call on your name" Ps 79:6

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Rom 10:13

"Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." v.3

"I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way" v.4-5 (4-9)

Grace:

The unmerited favor of God. Salvation is by grace (gift) as well as everything else God gives to us.

Flowing from this fountain of grace is an enrichment of our lives.

Enriched by giving you gifts of speaking and knowledge v.5

"For in him you have been enriched in every way-in all your speaking and in all your knowledge"

Speaking: prophecy, teaching, and tongues.

Knowledge: understanding spiritual truth and doctrine, having unusual and perceptive insight into the nature of God.

"you do not lack any spiritual gift" v.7. The Bible lists 21 different spiritual gifts and they manifested every one of them.

Enriched by confirming his message within you. v.6

"our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you"

"For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." 1 Th 1:4-5

Genuine healings, miracles, and tongues confirmed the efficacy and truth of Paul's Gospel message.

Enriched by granting you hope. v.7

"Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed."

Paul wants to set the problems which they now face in the context of eternity. It’s easy to get so bogged down in today’s failures that we lose sight of the ultimate victory we have in Christ.

I read of a man whose mother would always read the last chapter of the book first to see how the story would end. "This both amazed and upset me because it seemed to me that would take all the fun out of reading the book. One day I just couldn't stand it any longer, and I asked her why she always read the last chapter first. Without a moment of hesitation she said, If I don't like the way a book ends, I don't see any sense wasting my time reading it."

We already know how things are going to turn out; we know what’s in our last chapter, and this means that we can live in the present with confidence. I believe Paul was wanting to assure his Corinthian friends right in the beginning that their future was as secure as the promises of God.

Enriched by keeping you strong. v.8

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

People need to be strong to live for Christ today. Paul says, "be strong in the Lord an in the power of his might."

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Is 40:31

When we stand at last at the judgment seat of Christ, God himself is going to see to it that no charge can stand against any believer.

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-" Jud 24

Enriched by inviting you into fellowship with his son. v.9

"God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord"

Enriched by providing you with security. v.10

"God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."

The confident hope expressed in verse 8 rests upon the faithfulness of God.

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Dt 7:9

Sanctified and called to be holy ("saints" KJV) v.2

Sanctified

Set apart from the world and from sin.

Set apart for exclusive purposes. In the Old Testament, when they constructed the tabernacle they made the vessels that were used in the service of the tabernacle. Before they use these vessels, they sanctified them. That is, they set them apart for exclusive use and thus they were never to be used for anything other than the service and worship of God.

Called to be holy

"For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life." 1 Th 4:7

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;" 1 Pe 1:15

J "Holiness is the unmistakable characteristic of the true Church. The glory of God is his Holiness, his willing and doing only what is the very best. To think of God as doing wrong is blasphemy. Were God even once to do other than the best and the right, the loving and just thing, he would cease to be God. It is the task of the church to exhibit in human life and character this holiness of God's. Those whom God calls into his church, he calls to be, above all else, holy." Marcus Dods

This is were the Corinthian church was falling short.

"All these ugly attitudes and actions and activities that were going on every day and night out in the city were beginning to infiltrate into the church, instead of the church changing the city, the city was changing the church." Ray Stedman

"Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Co 15:33 I don't believe that this was the case.

They brought the corruption with them when they came into the church. Nobody corrupted them, they came corrupted.

The kind of people they were

One of the most debased and wicked cities in the world. Corinth became a synonym for luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, and filth. Corinth was so notorious that in all parts of the Greek speaking world, if men or women were found behaving in an unclean way, the worst that anybody could say of them was that they acted like Corinthians. In the Greek theater, whenever they would depict a drunkard, they would refer to him as the Corinthian.

On the top of the hill called the Acropolis stood the great temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Its had thousand consecrated prostitutes and drew thousands of people to Corinth.

If you were raised in Corinth, you came into the church with a lot of baggage.

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Co 6:9-11

Some of us, are just like the Corinthians

We are struggling with the aftermath or consequences of being raised in a city like Corinth, or in a Corinthian family which showcased the raw side of life before our eyes.

Were you raised in a Christian city? A Christian family? Were your family member decent caring people?

Or were you raised in Corinth were you lived among foul language, drunkenness, violence, and debauchery?

Means more struggles but also more victories.

Don't give-in to your corruption, go all the way to Christ-likeness.