Introduction To First Corinthians Series

CALLED BY GOD

Corinthians Series (Part One)

TEXT: Acts 18:1-11, 1 Cor. 1:1-9

OPEN WITH PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING

We’re going to begin a series on 1st Corinthians today. And I think it’s important for where you are as a congregation, starting afresh like you are that we go through this book, and examine what God teaches to His Church through the Apostle Paul.

This book (1 Cor.) is extremely relevant for us today… it’s relevant for us as individuals, and relevant for the life of the Church. It explains to us what the Gospel is, it explains to us the importance of the Resurrection. It gives us principles for Biblical interpretation and how we should understand Scripture. It teaches on the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Church discipline, Christian Marriage, proper worship, spiritual gifts and their proper use… It teaches a little about eschatology (the end times) – such as the resurrection of believers and the rapture and Second Coming. And throughout this book we see general practices for the Church as well.

And so it’s a helpful book, it’s a useful book, and like I said, it’s very relevant to where Fairview Fellowship is today – right here and now.

So let’s get right into it. Take your Bibles and open them up to Acts 18:1-11. We’ll get to Corinthians in a bit, but I want you to see Luke’s historical account of Paul in Corinth before we get to our main text (READ Acts 18:1-11)… So this is Paul’s second missionary journey. He launched out from the Middle East and come into Europe. He’s been to Philippi, then down to Athens and now he’s traveled into Corinth – which is also in modern day Greece. So think about this for a second… you’re Paul the Apostle… you’ve just been to Athens, which is the center of intellectual thought, and arts, and history, and philosophy, and now you’re in Corinth, which is a center of trade, and commerce. Corinth was an important port city… it even has its own gulf named after it. And during the New Testament times, Corinth was also a center for debauchery and sinful activity. So in one sense, we might say that Athens was full of idolatry, but Corinth was full of sensuality. So Corinth was a super important city when it came to trade and wealth and commercialism, but it was also morally depraved as well. Needless to say, it wasn’t the kind of place you would want to raise a family.

And this is where the Holy Spirit has led Paul.

And when Paul arrives he immediately starts preaching… and Acts 18:5 tells us what he preached – that Jesus was the Messiah! That Jesus was the promised Savior. That’s basically how all the Apostles and early evangelists preached. They would take the Old Testament and go through it and point out how all of it was pointing to Jesus. In Genesis when God promised that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent – that’s Jesus. When Noah built an ark of salvation, the one true Ark is Jesus. When Abraham offered up Isaac that was pointing to Jesus being offered up for our sin. When Moses brought deliverance, or the Judges defeated their enemies, or David killed a giant, or the prophets called for repentance… all of those things – the entire Old Testament was point to and speaking about Jesus.

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS!

The Bible is not a story about good guys and bad guys… it’s a story about bad guys (and girls) and a good God.

So Paul is in the synagogue and he’s telling the Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and the He alone is our only hope to be reconciled to God. And God worked in a powerful way… Acts 18:8 tells us that Crispus – the leader of the synagogue was converted and became a believer, and many others in Corinth. (Crispus is also called Sosthenes by the way… you see that if you go down to Acts 18:17)

Now I’ve said all of that by way of introduction… so that we can actually read Paul’s introduction in the letter to the Corinthians. So if you will please turn to 1 Cor. And follow along as I read verses 1-9 (READ 1 Corinthians 1:1-9).

The thing that immediately strikes me here is Paul’s thankfulness. I’d be thankful too. Remember; Corinth is a wicked place, and yet Paul has seen God do an amazing work there. God has taken people who were vile and wicked, who lived in a city that was vile and wicked and has saved them by His grace.

So Paul starts out by introducing himself… he’s saying “Hey guys this letter you’re reading is from Paul.”