Our PRINCIPLE ASSETS-I—1Corinthians 1:1(:1-9)
Attention:
Back-in-the-day, when we lived in Savannah, GA, before children, we frequented Hunting Island, SC. Hunting Island had a ‘bone-yard’ beach-Tidal pools-Swimming-Light house-Snack Shop- & was Secluded...
For us, Hunting Island was a Fantastic & Calming...It was our ‘special place’ or ‘happy place’!
•It’s those principle Assets that made Hunting Island appealing to us.
*Likewise, the Church has specific & undeniable assets, that make it THE ‘Special Place’ or THE ‘Happy Place’ for those who are part of it!
Is Jesus your ‘Happy Place’?
Need:
Local churches can sometimes see themselves as inadequate. They ‘feel’ as if they ‘need more’ than what they have. Such ‘feelings’ of inadequacy can cause them to become overly-focused on making themselves attractive to certain types of people(musically gifted, teachers, people with monetary means, ) or particular age groups of people. Undue attention toward attracting specific people, can lead to the church’s living a limiting lie, so that the Good News of Jesus(Gospel) becomes unbalanced, skewed, & tainted with sin. And as such, it is no longer ‘THE Good News’, but rather, SOME Good News!
Paul & Sosthenes opened their letter to the Corinthian church by informing them of their most important spiritual assets.
ASSET— ‘A useful or valuable thing, person, or quality’; ‘An advantage or A resource.’
The local(our) church has important spiritual assets.
What are some of our church’s most important spiritual assets?
1Cor. 1:1-9 reveals at least 5 principle spiritual assets of the Christian Church.
1—A Principle Asset of the Christian church is...
APPROPRIATE APOSTLES(:1)
Explanation:(:1)
:1—“Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, & Sosthenes our brother,”
“Paul” & “Sosthenes” were partners in producing the following letter written to the Church in Corinth(:2).
“Paul” is one who has been “called”[of God].
•God's “calling” is an undeniable yearning of the heart, that is placed there by God Himself.
“Paul’s” “calling” is to definitive service in the capacity of “an apostle” = ‘One sent forth with orders.’
•He is “an apostle” “of Jesus Christ.” So the “apostle” “Paul” is recruited & sent-out for specific tasks that surround or revolve around “Jesus Christ” & His desire.
That is, the “apostle” “Paul” has been designated & officially commissioned of Jesus. “Jesus Christ” is the only-begotten Son of God who is recognized as Messiah.
“Paul’s” “apostleship” comes to him strictly “through the will of God.”
“Paul” writes this letter in his official capacity as “an apostle.” Stemming from “Paul’s” God ordained “apostleship”, comes a Divine compulsion that drives him to write this letter in the first place.
In a sense, Jesus is the Apostle of the Father, &...Paul is an apostle[among others] of Jesus.
Gal. 2:7—“...I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised.”
Given that Paul has written this letter as “an apostle”, it bears the mark & purpose of “an apostle”.....That is, this letter divulges/unfolds God’s authoritative instruction of Biblical importance, & within the context of God’s love. It is particularly for God’s people at Corinth, with a larger application for the whole of mankind.
“Sosthenes”, on the other hand, is NOT “an apostle” in the same sense as “Paul” is “an apostle.”
•“Sosthenes” works with “Paul”, & “Sosthenes” is vital to the overall success of their ministry together. So “Sosthenes” is also vital to the overall success of the Church’s ministries in other capacities, BUT he is NOT an “apostle” in the same sense as Paul.
‘Ministers of God’ are sent by God to specific locations & peoples with specific tasks. In all of these places, peoples, & tasks, they are to faithfully represent God’s interests thru Jesus Christ. So “Paul” & “Sosthenes” operate within the context of God’s desire for their unified ministry.
It is possible that this “Sosthenes” is one & the same “ruler of the synagogue”(Corinthian) mentioned in Acts 18:17, but that is only a possibility. However, if so, he would have become 'saved' sometime following actively being recognized as the ruler of the Corinthian synagogue.
•Acts 18:12-17—“When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul & brought him to the judgment seat, saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words & names & your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, & beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.”
“Sosthenes” is co-author with Paul & is “our[“the”] brother.” “Literally, ‘the brother’[o adelfov], but regular Greek idiom for our brother.”—RWP.
•That is, “Sosthenes” is considered “our[“the”] brother” to both “Paul” & the Corinthian believers. “Sosthenes” is their “brother” in the sense of his being a faithful Christian specifically associated with them.
•“Sosthenes” is a ‘TRUE’ “brother” in Christ, & NOT a “brother” ‘in name only’ as described in 1Cor. 5:11!
•1Cor. 5:11—“But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner--not even to eat with such a person.”
“Apostle”—apostolov—1) A delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders. Strong—A delegate; specially--An ambassador of the Gospel; officially--A commissioner of Christ ["apostle"] (with miraculous powers).
“Sosthenes”—Swsyenhv—Strong—from the base of swzw[To save, deliver, protect] & that of syenow[To strengthen, confirm]; = ‘Of safe strength.’
Argumentation:
Eph. 4:11-16—“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, & some pastors & teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith & of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to & fro & carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- from whom the whole body, joined & knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Eph. 3:8-10—“To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, & to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities & powers in the heavenly places,””
Eph. 2:19-22—“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers & foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints & members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles & prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
1Cor. 12:12—“For as the body is one & has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.”
Illustration:
One summer, during summer break from college, I did some part-time work for a local courier service owned by Vic Moore, in my home town of Granite Quarry. Vic had a couple of employees, but had to deliver one small box to Wilmington, NC(3 ½- 4 hrs.one way). Vic allowed me to take his personal car—a new Camaro Z-28! Even though the business I delivered the package to, did not know me personally, I was readily accepted thru the client’s doors with their package in hand. Vic provided the fundamentals of the business—The manner in which it was run. Vic was the ‘apostle’ of Associate’s Express, & I was merely his ‘assistant’! APPROPRIATE APOSTLES
Application:
?Are APPROPRIATE APOSTLES an Asset for you?
?Are YOU an Asset to the Christian Church?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Hunting Island’s Assets
Our ‘special place’ or ‘happy place’
Action:
5 Principle Assets of the Christian Church are...
1. APPROPRIATE APOSTLES(:1)
Point 1 only! presented 06/04/2023am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC, 29512
Points 1-5 presented 07/21/2013pm to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave.
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Points 1-5 presented 03/01/1998pm to:
Penia Baptist Church
3738 Old Penia Rd.
Cordele, GA 31015
