We covered Paul’s opening words of the letter last Sunday, from 1 Cor 1:1-9.
• He addressed them as those who are sanctified and called saints in Christ.
• He gave thanks to God for the many gifts that they have been blessed with.
• The faithful God who started the work in them will see them through to the end.
With that, Paul launched into his great concern – the divisions in the church.
1 Cor 1:10-17
10I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarrelling among you, my brothers. 12What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16(I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Chloe’s people came and reported to Paul that there were quarrelling among them.
• It seems that the church was divided into at least four factions, each having its own following and emphasis.
• They were taking sides to support their “favourite” leaders, which was tearing them apart.
In the context of how Paul described it, the different “parties” were exalting their favourite leaders against the others.
• There is no indication that the leaders were fighting among themselves. It wasn’t about Paul fighting against Apollos, or Apollos against Cephas, or Cephas against Paul.
• The people were quarrelling because they were taking sides and forming alliances supporting the respective leaders.
The context gave us a hint as to why – each leader has his own personality and giftings, and hence unfortunately a following.
• The people were divided as to who is the better leader to follow; who is the more capable, more superior, or more spiritual leader.
Would it be PAUL, since he founded the church? Was he the better leader?
• Those who came to know Christ right at the beginning would appreciate him.
• Being trained as a Pharisee, Paul was an excellent teacher of the Law and great knowledge, as we know from his writings.
• But not everyone likes him. We know of more of his opponents in 2 Corinthians.
• Paul was in Corinth only for 1½ years. He was more like an absent leader.
What about APOLLOS? Should the church follow him?
• We learnt of him from Acts 18. Luke introduced him to us in Acts 18:24-28
24Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27And when he wished to cross to Achaia [Corinth], the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
That was impressive. Besides an initial weakness – not “knowing the way of God more accurately” but corrected by Priscilla and Aquilla -
• Luke tells us he was eloquent, competent, fervent in spirit, a great help to believers.
• A gifted teacher, good debater and an excellent apologist, all rolled into one.
• And he came to Corinth. Paul left when he came, handing the church to Apollos.
Many would have liked Apollos, a really impressive leader. But Paul has this to say.
1 Cor 3:5-9 5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labour. 9For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Get the perspective right, Paul says. We are all merely servants of God doing the work that God has assigned.
• Even the gifts that we have come from God, Paul would later emphasize in 1 Cor 12.
• 12:11 “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
• I can plant, Apollos can water, but only God can cause it to grow. Nothing for us to boast about.
What about CEPHAS? He is SIMON PETER. Cephas is Aramaic, Peter is Greek.
• Simon Peter was an apostle of Jesus Christ, among His earliest followers. He was the de facto spokesman for the Twelve, being outspoken and a natural-born leader and
• He was part of the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples, along with James and John.
Peter played a very significant role in the founding of the church.
• At Pentecost, he preached his first sermon to the Jewish crowd and 3000 were saved (Acts 2).
• Later when they heard that Samaria has accepted the Gospel (through deacon Philip), Peter went with John and preached to the Samaritans (Acts 8).
• He was called to the home of the Roman centurion Cornelius and the first Gentile family came to know Christ (Acts 10),
• Peter was the apostle who entered the 3 different worlds with the Gospel of Christ - to the Jews, the Samaritans and the Gentiles.
Being the only apostle among them, wouldn’t Peter be more than qualified to be their leader?
There was still one group that says, “We follow CHRIST.”
• Those wanting to sound more “spiritual” than the rest. Saying “We follow Christ” will make them stand above the rest because the others are mortal leaders.
• If their heart was right, they would be rallying the others and uniting the church, not forming another “party”.
• The fact that Paul named them suggests that they were thinking of themselves as more superior than the rest and probably looking at the rest with contempt.
To be honest, the leaders named were good leaders, fully qualified and gifted.
• They were not the problem. Their character and service were not in question.
• The people were divided in their allegiance. The church does not revolve around human leaders, but CHRIST.
1 Cor 1:10 “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment (thought).”
• For the sake of Christ, because of Christ, unite. Not for me, not for Apollos, not for Cephas, but for Christ’s sake… Be united in the same mind and the same judgment!
• Paul draws them back to the one NAME that is above the other names, the ONE Name that is above EVERY other name.
But how do we agree when we disagree? Do I let go of my stand and give in to you? Or do you give up your view and agree with me?
• We unite in Christ, around Christ, because of Christ and for Christ.
• He is our focus. It is not about your view or mine, but Christ! What does the Lord want? What is His will?
1 Cor 1:13 “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
• Paul asked THREE rhetorical questions with no answer because the answer is obvious. No!
• No, Christ is not divided. No, Paul was not crucified for us. And no, we were not baptised into the name of Paul.
• Paul says he was thankful that he did not baptise any of them, else they would probably be boasting about it.
• He baptised only Crispus, Gaius and the household Stephanas.
The force of these questions was to direct their focus to CHRIST! It’s all about Christ.
• Is Christ divided? Can we have a piece of Christ, you take one part and I take another? We either have Christ or NO Christ at all.
• Was Paul, or any of the other leaders, crucified for you? If not, why then are you boasting about following Paul or Apollos or Cephas?
• Are we not baptised in the Name of Christ and made alive in Him? Did not Jesus die for us and grant us forgiveness and a new life?
Why then are we boasting about men when it was Christ who saved us?
• Why focus on the LEADERS whom Christ uses, and not the CHRIST who uses the leaders? Why exalt the SERVANTS of Christ and not CHRIST?!
Focus right! Don’t get distracted. Our focus is on Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
• We unite IN Christ, AROUND Christ, BECAUSE of Christ and FOR Christ.
• If you want to boast, Paul says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1:31)
• 1 Cor 2:2 “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
Divisions will not have a grip in the church if everyone unites around Christ, with the desire to seek His will, live like Him and exalt only the Name of Jesus Christ.
• As Paul said in 1:10, “all of us can agree” and “be united in the same mind and the same thought!
• Unity is not uniformity (making everyone the same). Unity is not having “no diversity” (we are all different). [Later in 1 Cor 12-14 we see that diversity is necessary and good. It makes the church healthy.]
• Unity is about CHRIST. We seek to honour Him and please Him in every way.
• We love Him and therefore we love one another. We love each other because we love Him.
A. W. Tozer illustrates it beautifully in his book THE PURSUIT OF GOD:
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.
So one hundred worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.
If we are tuned to Christ, we will be in tune with one another.
• If we are not in tune with one another, then check our hearts, we may not be in tune with Christ.
• At the foot of the cross, we are all equal. We are sinners in need of God’s mercy and we are saved by His grace. Before Christ, we have nothing to boast.
We will continue to have differences but that doesn’t divide us, because our focus is on Christ Jesus. We unite IN Christ, AROUND Christ, BECAUSE of Christ and FOR Christ.
Stay focused on Christ and we will not be distracted by men or overwhelmed by worldly affairs.
Let me close with this:
• Col 3:1-4 (NIV) 1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. [That’s where we ultimately belong.] 4When Christ, who is your a life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [That’s our destiny.]
• If that is the case, then set our hearts and our minds on the things above – where we belong and where we are heading to right now.
• Don’t lose sight of Him. Keep Him always in sight and we will be fine.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. We are reminded of who we are in Christ and what we have received from you.
• Let us walk worthy of our salvation in Christ and help us live and work together in love and harmony.
• Let us stay focused on you and not be distracted by our selfish desires and worried about the affairs of this world.
• Guard our heart and mind in Christ so that we do not stray from you and your will for us.
• Set our hearts and minds on the things above and fill us with hope as we look forward to the day we see you again. This we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
Note: You can hear and view the audio sermon with slides at https://youtu.be/v17ApMg_Dbc
You can access all our earlier sermons at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService
