Someone: “The church is like Noah’s Ark: If it were not for the storm on the outside,
no one could stand the stench on the inside.”
The message of First Corinthians is written to a troubled church. Corinth was full of problems. Paul is writing to that church in order to deal with all of the problems that have been reported to him.
Even the early church had problems! Often, I hear people say that if we could just get back to the way things were in the early church, all our problems would be solved. Corinth was the early church! Every church has problems and will continue to have problems as long as we have people.
Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, “Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this.” Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, “We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this”
Divine calling: Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
1. Divine language: called….apostle….will of God……sanctified…saints by calling
2. Paul begins by establishing his authority to say what he needs to say.
Opinions are like noses/Everybody has one and sometimes they get stuck into where they cause
more harm than good.
Paul was called by God and spoken to by God with regard to the concerns in Corinth.
3. Acts Ch. 18 - Paul like usual went to the Synagogue to teach - rejected as usual by the Jews
Next door - house adjoining wall Crispus - ruler of Synagogue. Saved
Sosthenes was the guy who took his place & took Paul to court - when the case was thrown out
Sosthenes was beaten up - opposed Paul ended up getting saved & ministered w/ Paul.
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth,
Corinth was a large city - 700,000 people - a Roman colony on Grecian Soil
A wealthy city - It was called the VANITY FAIR Of the Roman Empire ! The lounge of Greece
But Corinth was a wicked city ! A Port city that sat between the Adriatic & Aegean Seas
Because of its 2 seaports Corinth became a major Commercial center. Canal nearby
To avoid sailing 200 extra miles around Southern Greece / sailors would put their boats on rollers / roll them 4 miles. This made Corinth a convenient & popular stopping place for these sailors / looking to get drunk & indulge in one night stands
The city of Corinth was also filled w/ shrines & pagan temples the most popular was the Temple of Aphrodite " Goddess of love" City of Aphrodite
1000 temple prostitutes who went out every night soliciting business in the name of worship
Paul Wrote the book of Romans / there In Ch. 1 : 18 Man’s demise
Paul only had to look out His window!
In Rome they had a saying to describe those who lives were characterized by living Loose
They said you are behaving like a Corinthian. If a ‘Corinthian’ was on stage in a Greek play he was expected to be a drunk or something similar.
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Corinth was a Wicked pagan place & the wickedness had crept into the church! MESS!
It is here in this epistle that we are introduced to the concept of a carnal Christian!
a) Paul founded Acts 18 - 18 months - Now the church was a mess. Multiple problems.
People focused on men/ Immorality / Marriage problems / Lawsuits/ Divisions / Abuse of gifts /
abuse of Lords supper
The interesting thing in contrasting the Corinthian letters w/ some of Paul’s other letters is that in this letter is there is no mention of the problem of wrestling legalism. wrong rituals - Circumcision - resting upon dead works(Philippians) No questions raised in this letter on the deity of Christ, or the virgin birth, or the substitutionary atonement, or the incarnation of Jesus.
Here in Corinthians the problem was license. They had accepted the grace of God to such a degree that they did not think it made any difference how they behaved, and that is part of what was causing the problem.
Divine Enablement : 4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,
1. Avenue of grace comes through our relationship with Jesus Christ
2. God has given us all that we need. The grace we need has been given to us.
The spiritual resources we need to serve Jesus Christ .
The spiritual gifts that we need to encourage one another and minister to one another.
All that we need we already have in Christ and by his grace. We have truly been enriched.
3. What are you doing with what you have been given?
All have been given a spiritual gift and our task is to discover that gift and use it in serving Christ.
"Pastor, I think I have the gift of attendance."
Attendance is not a gift; it is our Christian responsibility. Gift of Gossip Gift of Criticism
5 that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift,
1. Spiritual wealth - Notice Paul says that we have been enriched in everything by Him
a. Haven’t you found that to be true that your relationship w/ Jesus has enriched your life in every way –
in every area - Marriage - friendships / your job / view of the bible coming to Church - all enriched by him
b. Paul mentions specifically in speech - knowing Jesus & Grace has affected your conversations
1) Gothard – meditation effected everything else(grades)
Prov. 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Psa. 119 Thy word is a lamp … & a light unto my path.
Divine Security : 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Eagerly waiting speaks of waiting w/ anticipation & also activity - being active .
No Christian couch potatoes
2. Grace also includes the power of endurance:
One of the greatest evidences of His working in us is how we finish
Divine Fellowship: 9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Part of our calling is to enter into a living relationship with Jesus Christ in which we are in a constant communication with him. It’s like calling someone up on the telephone but never hanging up. Sometimes I see people walking around with an earpiece attached to their cellular phone. They may be going about their daily routine with someone on the other end. Paul called it "praying without ceasing." Just keep the line open. And whenever you find yourself in need, God’s already on the phone! Keep yourself in that constant state of communication through prayer to God. Practice the presence of God. Remind yourself constantly that he is with you and in you. Make prayer as common as breathing. Make it something you do without thinking.
1. This is the key verse of First Corinthians. The rest of the letter centers around it.
a. Paul mentions this here at the very beginning of this letter because it is the reason for all of the problems
in the Corinthian church. They had not understood the implications of their calling, and the relationship
they personally and individually had with Jesus Christ himself.
b. Instead Paul has to deal with divisions, scandals, lawsuits, immorality, drunkenness, quarreling, and
various other things.
c. Despite this fullness of provision which they had received, they were experiencing a great failure in the
church. They had all this ability to do all these mighty things in the Spirit, but not much was happening.
Instead of making an impact on Corinth, Corinth was making an impact on the church.
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.
Despite all this mighty provision, great knowledge & gifting there was no manifestation of the power of God.
Howard Rutledge was a prisoner of North Viet Nam for years. He describes in his book, ‘In The Presence of Mine Enemies’ that the worst torture was solitary confinement.
In the Hanoi Hilton they developed methods of communication by tapping, coughs, sliding sandels to talk to each other every day.
God had gifted us for fellowship:
