Sermon Tone Analysis

As I was growing up my dad was a strong man.

As a fireman, he worked out with weights and he also spent a good deal of his life at the French Riviera Spa ( a local gym in the 70-80s).

He told me a story one time when he was working out at the gym and a guy near him torn his bicep muscle working out.

The elasticity of the bicep muscle is so great, that it rolled up in his arm.

As a kid, I was fascinated by that story for some strange reason.

Looking at the science of it all, the bicep is two muscles, attached to bone in your shoulder and the bone in your forearm.

Your brain communicates with the nerves in your arm and over 200,000 muscle fibers work simultaneously in that one dual-muscle to bend at the elbow.

Tearing it was a major injury that required surgery to reattach the tendons.

The Human body is a great metaphor for the church.

Paul uses this picture over and over again in the Scriptures to describe the composition of the body of believers in relationship to Christ, as the head of the church.

Both of these verses make clear the reality of our union with Christ as his body and our union with one another as members together in the church.

Theses verses lay the groundwork for Paul’s mission to teach a unity in the church.

The first issue of sin that Paul deals with in the Corinthian church is the sin of disunity.

As a matter of fact, we could say that chapters 1-4 are designated to the issue of disunity among tje body.

He introduces the issue from the start of his letter in our verses today.

Today we are going to ask to look at Understanding unity in the church

A Proper Glory (10-11a)

Paul introduces the problem in verse 10 by appealing to the church in Corinth in regards to the Skismata that is among them.

Skiaimata is the NT Gk word for division in the church.

It literally means that something that torn in an unnatural or unhealthy way.

Let’s look at a few examples from Scripture

Disunity: Skismata

Luke 5:36 (tear in clothing)

In Luke 5 Jesus is teaching the disciples about the NEW work that He is accomplishing in them.

He uses the example that a new patch of clothing torn or split from a new garment and sewn on an old garment doesn't work properly nor does it match.

Similarly, the temple curtain in Luke 23 is said to be torn into two pieces when Jesus died upon the cross, signifying the end of the boundary between God and man because of sin.

It is clear then that Paul uses this picture, much like my example of the bicep being torn, to illustrate the dire circumstances when a church is split, or torn by the disunity in the midst of her.

The point is the logical conclusion that disunity is unnatural and unholy for the people of God to allow to dwell within her.

Why is disunity such a bad thing?

We could make the argument that disunity period is unhealthy.

Disunity in families leads to emotional damage to kids, to partners, to the overall function of the home.

I am speaking about any home.

Disunity in the workplace leads to a lack of effectiveness, growth, and profit.

Disunity on the global scene has recently revealed itself as leading to war against nations.

It is not hard to see the negative effects that disunity plays in our world.

But the church is unique because the church transcends the bloodline of families, the culture allegiance to nations, or our commitment to our line of work.

Disunity in the church is not a physical illness, its a spiritual one.

Disunity is a virus that attacks the body and has deadening effects to its vitality and growth.

Disunity is sin because it is unnatural to a spiritual body created by the atoning work of Jesus Christ and the union we have with him.

Look at Paul’s appeal in v 10.

He appeals or pleads with the Corinthian church “in the name of Christ.”

Paul is not just name dropping to get their attention.

Disunity is a way that God’s people dishonor his name.

We should put it in the category with blasphemy.

Using the name of the Lord in an unhealthy way is no different than disunity in his body because it dishonors his name.

His name is worthy of all praise and glory and so Paul’s appeal for unity starts with an appeal to honor the holy name of the Lord Jesus.

The Lord’s name represent his person and Jesus is not a un-unified person in himself or in the larger part of the godhead.

Father, Son and Spirit have always existed in eternity in complete and perfect harmony.

There is no disagreement between them.

They have different diverse function but they do not fight or quarrel in their plan and purposes.

They each understand their roles and the work together to accomplish them.

One example would be their unity in the work of salvation.

Steve lawson writes,

Divine sovereignty in salvation involves each of the three persons of the Godhead—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

All three work in perfect unity to rescue the same undeserving sinners.

Within the Trinity, there is one saving purpose, one saving plan, and one saving enterprise.

Those whom the Father chooses are precisely those whom the Son redeems and those whom the Spirit regenerates.

The persons of the Godhead act as one Savior.

The Trinity is not fractured in its saving activity.

It is not divided in its direction and intent, as if each person of the Godhead seeks to save a different group of sinners.

Instead, each member of the Trinity purposes and irresistibly proceeds to save one and the same people—God's chosen people.”

If the eternal Godhead represents a united front, the the called out ones, the church should also reflect such a unity.

But the called to be unified, for the sake of the honor of Christ and his glory, is not a calling that depends on your strength.

The Holy Spirit is given to empower us to live in such a way that we could say then we are supernaturally equipped to be unified.

He also states in v 10 that we “should be of the same mind and all agree.”

Paul is not advocating that Christians everywhere will agree on every doctrine but he is speaking to a local church that should have doctrinal unity.

Again seeking to honor Christ, Paul wants the people of Corinth not to live under a fractured system of muti-doctrinal options.

The church cannot contain a salad bar of doctrines that you can choose to accept or hold off from consuming.

This type of church that teaches multiple opposing doctrines are seeking to appease a people with itching ears who are rooted in pluralistic thought.

Pluralism is the philosophy that there is such diversity in the world, that unity among such diversity is unattainable.

The Bible on the other hand actually narrates the powerful work of God to bring a people from different tribes, tongue and nations, under his headship and together as one.

The bible speaks against pluralism because we are all under On God who is working to bring about one purpose and unite one people under himself.

We at RCC read our doctrinal statement in our service each week in order to remember our unity of the faith.

We as a body are agreeing upon these articles of the faith and remembering their validity to our daily walk with Christ.

We might not agree on all doctrines for example like our view of eschataology but we should all agree on major doctrines like our understanding of the nature of Christ, the godhead, the gospel, the nature, practices and structure of the home and church, etc.

In all, the name and glory of Christ is at stake when their is a lack of unity among his people.

A Proper Loyalty (11-13)

Particularly, Paul addresses the way in which disunity had reared its ugly head.

The Corinthian church had divided itself in multiple allegiance based groups or factions based on its leadership.

Some sided with Paul and some sided with Apollos as if it sides were being chosen for the church league volleyball game.

This desire to align themselves with certain teachers came from the influence of the world of Philosophy.

The Greek and Roman cultured prided themselves of seeking wisdom and aligning themselves will philosophers who could impart such wisdom.

The philosophers would particiate in public debate to flex their oratorical and rhetorical muscles before the people.

This always led to a greater following of disciples to these so called men of wisdom.

This influence led to similar practices in the church as well.

There is no indication that Paul or Apollos were leading these congregants in the division as if it was a political race.

Instead, these factions were based on individuals aligning themselves with certain teachers who instructed and maybe discipled them.

While loving and caring for your leaders is healthy, pitting them against one another is unhealthy and a stain of sin on the church body.

Now we have learned of Paul, but let us take a moment and be reminded of Apollos ministry in Corinth.

In Acts 18, we learned that Paul’s ministry upon his second missionary journey led him to the home of Aquila and Priscilla.

They were tentmakers and they eventually ministered with Paul in Corinth and then traveled with him after 1.5 years to Ephesus.

While in Ephesus with Paul, Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos teaching there and his understanding of the Scriptures was sound except in one area.

We are not told what Apollos misunderstood, but this couple took Apollos aside, discipled him and eventually Apollos went to Corinth to teach there.

Acts 18:27–19:1 (ESV)

27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him.

When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. 1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth,

It appears that after Paul’s ministry in Corinth, Apollos took root there, ministering effectively.

It appears that such divisions even led to compounding sin among them.

Paul mentions two in v 11.

One sin that seems to have arisen is the poor reputation of the church of Corinth among those outside.