1 Corinthians 1 - The Gospel Lived In The Church

The Church of Corinth is quite the church. It

is a multi -generational church. It is a multi,

what we would call a diverse church. It's really,

there's people from all over at this church.

And there's a predominant Jewish membership of

this church. Understand, this is not like there's

one building sitting outside of Corinth where

everybody comes and meets once a week. These

are house churches everywhere. It was like that

in every city, okay? Now, understanding that

there are some issues that Paul needs to deal

with because there's some divisive things happening

within the church that could rip the church apart.

And there's many things we're going to deal with

in this. So how do we live out the gospel in

the church? How do we make sure that we're exemplifying

Christ in everything we do? And that's really

how he kind of handles and answers this particular

church. And he guides them through this in two

letters. Okay? Which we will get to. There are

a lot of issues here. And so we're going to manage

that. Okay? Now, let's read 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 1:1–17

1, verse 1 through 17, and then we're going to

pick up next week on the rest. Okay? Paul, called

by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ

Jesus and our brother Sosthenes, to the church

of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified

in Christ Jesus. called to be saints, together

with all those who are in every place, call upon

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. both their

Lord and ours, grace to you and peace from God

our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give

thanks to my God always for you because of the

grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,

that in every way you were enriched in him in

all speech and all knowledge. even as the testimony

about Christ was confirmed among you, so that

you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for

the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will

sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day

of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by

whom you were called into fellowship of his Son,

Jesus Christ, our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers,

by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all

of you agree that there be no divisions among

you, but that you be united in the same mind

and same judgment. For it has been reported to

me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling

among you, my brothers. Each one of you says,

I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow

Cephas, or I follow Christ. Is Christ divided?

Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized

in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized

none of you except. Crispus and Gaius, so that

no one may say that you were baptized in my name.

I did baptize also the household of Stephanas.

Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized

anyone else. For 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. So I want you to, did you

hear the common, a common theme here? The Lord

Jesus Christ. This is his church. That's what

he's saying here. You are responsible to the

master Jesus Christ. He is the master of his

people. You are his slaves and his people. He

purchased you at a price. There's a cost that

was paid. You don't belong to yourself. You belong

to him. That's why Paul reiterates this Lord

Jesus Christ. That's number one. Number two,

he reiterates Lord Jesus Christ to show authority

to whom you answer to. It's him and him alone.

Okay? So this constant in these first 17 verses

is a constant theme, the Lord Jesus Christ. The

Lord Jesus Christ. Over and over again because

he's setting a precedent so that they know that

they just don't do whatever they want. They do

what God commands. And he's the master. And that's

the way it is. He's the boss. Okay? Principle

number one, the privilege and joy of being in

God's family is solely due to his will, his work,

and for his glory. The privilege and joy of being

in God's family is solely due to his will, his

work, and for his glory. In Hebrews 10, 14, it

states it this way, for by a single offering,

he has perfected for all time those. who are

being sanctified. In other words, we who have

been saved by Christ, for Christ, he is our offering

on our behalf, and he has been sanctifying us

and has already perfected us in the kingdom.

1 Corinthians 1, 1 -3. Paul, called by the will

of God. Very important to understand. A man of

God who is a preacher of God is called by God.

That is a great responsibility for anyone called

by God. Okay? But specifically, Paul is not only

talking about him being a preacher, he's talking

about his apostleship. Called by the will of

God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. Three very

important things. Three basic things you need

to understand about an apostle. In these modern

days, there's a lot of quote -unquote apostles.

Apostle, whatever you want to call themselves.

Okay? Like female apostles, which is crazy. I

don't even know where that came from. But an

apostle must be taught by Christ directly, must

have seen Christ, and must be called by Christ.

Called, seen, taught. Paul was called, seen,

and taught. He was called by God, which we know,

because he came face to face with Jesus on the

road to Damascus. Do you remember that little?

And then people go, well, how could he be taught

by Jesus? He didn't walk with Jesus for the three

years he was here. Do you remember he was blind

for three days? Sat in a bed, blind, couldn't

do anything. Do you think he was just sitting

there having like whatevers? No, he was taught

all the things that Paul had studied, Christ

had brought to him. Right? So he was taught by

Christ. And so there's a clear apostleship of

Paul. Paul clarifies that apostleship based upon

not only his work, but his preaching and his

life. It's been verified by the Spirit of God.

Now, that's enough on Paul's issue. And he also

talks about our brother Sosthenes. I'm not going

to get into Sosthenes right now. Okay? He's mentioned

like once. And there's no need to go into a whole

sermon on Sosthenes. To the church of God. He

starts at verse 2. To the church of God. This

term, church of God, shows ownership of his people.

This is God's church. And this term literally

shows, in the original language, ownership. God

owns you. Now think about that. God owns you.

How does he own you? Did you have a debt you

could not pay? And if someone comes and pays

a debt you cannot pay, what's that called? A

slave. Except in Christ, he gives us freedom.

That doesn't mean he does not keep us. He gives

us freedom within him to do whatever he's called

us to do. As long as we live according to his

word and his ways and love his things. We can

walk freely and we are free because where the

spirit of Lord is, there is freedom. But we have

a debt. He is our owner. He owns the church.

He paid for her by his own blood. A cost you

could not pay. So not only did you have a debt

you couldn't pay, the cost was too deep for you

to pay. Okay? And this is important. So he's

saying the church of God, my people, that is

in Corinth. To those sanctified in Christ Jesus.

This word sanctified means purified and consecrated

ones. In Christ Jesus, we have been purified

and consecrated to him. Set apart for him, to

him, to do as he pleases with us. Thank God he's

so good. Second thing, called to be saints. This

understanding of saints is not what the Catholic

Church states. What a saint is. I'm sorry. The

Pope does not have any legal right to determine

who is the privileged ones. This is only God

and God alone. Now, this word called to be saints

means given the privilege to be a holy one. You've

been given the privilege to be one of God's holy

ones. Think about that. Not only is that a privilege,

but it's a pretty... Pretty high to hold, isn't

it? That's why God does it for us. We're going

to see that in a minute. Now, together with all

those, meaning believers, in every place who

call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So you are saints with all the saints of the

entire world. That's what Paul's saying here.

In other words, you're not to your own little

self in your own little city. You have a much

bigger connection in reality of the family of

God. And what happens to you happens to all of

us. That's what he's trying to imply here. Trying

to set a precedent. Now, let's keep reading.

He says, so if we call on the name of the Lord

Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Notice

he says this, master, both their master and our

master. Isn't that interesting? And then he ends

it with his common statement, grace to you and

peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus

Christ, meaning the son. We see the two persons

of the Trinity here. Why? They are the ones who

declared the authority of what they have done,

okay? Scripture says that Jesus says, all authority

has been given unto me. It's showing that the

reality of our position with God is because of

the Father's plan and the fulfillment of Christ.

Without that, there is no guarantee. Okay? Second.

The Father has provided everything we need in

Christ to abound in his word and the truth of

his gospel, specifically for us in the gospel

and in life. The Father has provided everything

we need in Christ to abound in word and the truth

of the gospel and life. Everything we need is

in Christ. That's the idea here. 2 Peter 1, 3

-4. His divine power has granted to us all things

that pertain to life and godliness through the

knowledge of him who called us to his own glory

and excellence, by which he has granted to us

his precious and very great power. promises so

that through them you may become partakers of

the divine nature having escaped the corruption

that is in the world because of sinful desires.

That is a complete work of soteriology. A complete

work in every way. And that's what Peter is clarifying

in 2 Peter 1, 3 -4. So 1 Corinthians 1, 4 -8.

This is the way Paul states it here. I give thanks

to my God always for you because of the grace

of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. Who

has given us grace? God the Father has given

us grace. Where is our grace? Where do we attain

our grace? Where do we obtain our grace? Through

Christ and Christ alone. The word grace of God

here means the favor of God delivered in Christ

to you. That's God's favor from the Father to

you through the Son. That. Verse 5, in every

way you were enriched in him in all speech and

all knowledge. In every way. The term enriched

here means richly furnished. I want you to think

about that. What an amazing statement. It'd be

one thing if I was enriched. But it's another

thing when we are furnished with what we need

to do the job. Like think about it. To be richly

furnished in Christ. Concerning his word and

concerning the knowledge of truth. Everything

you need, Christ has furnished for you to be

a faithful witness in the word and the knowledge

of truth. You need nothing else but the Holy

Spirit and his word. It is by God's grace that

we have those who help us to understand some

things maybe through other books and writings.

Great. But according to this, we don't need anything

else. You have everything you need. You've been

richly furnished in him concerning his word and

the knowledge of truth, concerning all speech

and all knowledge. The thing is, do you know

and believe that the Holy Spirit will do as he's

promised, guide you in all truth? Now, verse

six, how do we know that this is true? The truth

is here. This is how we know that he's furnished

us in all speech and in all knowledge. Even as

the testimony, the evidence, the proof about

Christ was confirmed in you. How do you know

that God has furnished you in all word, in all

speech, and in all knowledge? Because the testimony

of Christ being crucified and resurrected is

confirmed among you. That's how you know. How

do I know I'm a believer? He's confirmed it.

All of us go through times when we wonder, man,

if I was really a believer, would I do something

dumb? Yes, you will. We all do it. But he confirms

again and again and again. What's the evidence

of proof? A changed life. Obedience is the evidence

of proof here. Okay? So you have been furnished

in all knowledge and all truth. Why? Because

the proof of that is Christ in you. Okay? There.

Continue, verse 6, so that you are not lacking

in any gift. In other words, what Paul is saying

is here, because Christ is in you, because the

Spirit of God is in you, you lack nothing. Nothing

to accomplish the mission. Everything you need

for the gospel is there. Now, understanding that,

let's keep reading. As you wait for the revealing

of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, I stand, when you

look at the issue of sensationism versus the

continuation of gifts, I stand on John Piper's

side on this. It's hard. Concerning some things,

you go, okay, I see where I'm a cessationist.

A cessationist is one who believes that none

of the gifts exist. Unless you're a partial cessationist,

that means you believe that some of them do,

but not all of them do. Specifically, the miracle

gifts, tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy,

meaning future telling, and miracles, healings.

Now, which is kind of weird, because I don't

know about you, but if I'm preaching the gospel

in some unknown jungle, and a dude is sick, and

I go to the Lord and say, like, Lord, this is,

I mean, can you heal this guy so his family come

to Christ? Or, you don't know. Something like

that can happen. So I'm not willing to say definitively

that the gifts do not exist. So I stand with

John on this. And here's where John and I stand

specifically. All gifts are for the gospel, period.

That's the end of the discussion. They're not

for you to be saying, I have the spirit of God

because I speak in tongues and now I'm going

to heaven. That is not what the gift is for.

The gifts are for the gospel. You can read that

in Hebrews chapter two. All gifts are for the

gospel, period. How do we know that? Because

that's what we're talking about here. So all

of these gifts are for you as you wait for the

revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, obviously

he's talking to the church in Corinth, but what

are they waiting for if Jesus reveals himself

while they're there? What's that mean for all

of us? Is it only for them and not for us? These

are all good questions. That's called metaphysics.

Asking questions that can be difficult to answer.

Verse 8. And he, meaning Christ, will sustain

you, will keep you, will make firm you to the

end, guiltless. So there it is. It's continued.

Whether you read verse 6 and 7 or verse 8, there's

this. Constant communication of the revealing

of Christ or the coming of Christ. We know because

it's part of what we believe. In the Apostles'

Creed, we believe in the second coming of Christ,

do we not? So there it is. The second coming

of Christ is clearly proclaimed concerning whether

gifts exist or not here. Can't have one without

the other. And that's the argument among us who

do hold that there's gifts, Need to be properly

used. Here's another example. Whether you want

to see that or not. The teaching of the scripture.

Is that a gift? Teaching scripture is a gift.

How do we know? Because the scripture says so.

We'll get to those in a few weeks. Not, well,

a couple months. Okay? I teach you every Sunday.

I teach you every Wednesday. That's a spiritual

gift. I also prophesy every Sunday and every

Wednesday. You're like, what? I foretell. The

word prophecy means to foretell the truth. God's

given me his word. I foretell the truth of the

word of God to you. That's the gift of prophecy.

Well, how do we know? Because not everybody can

do this. Okay? That's a gift. It's a gift of

the spirit by the grace of God upon a very corrupt

and broken man. It's his goodness in reflection

to what I am apart from him. Now, understanding

that there's two particular gifts that are practiced

right in front of you every single day. So if

those gifts don't exist and the gifts have ceased,

I wonder who's teaching. And what's the sense

of asking the Lord to guide us in all truth if

it's from your own mind anyway? And then you

have to give the credit to the school because

the school is the one that's taught you all that

stuff. Not the spirit. Can't have one without

the other. There's my argument. Third principle.

The father who is faithful has called us into

fellowship with his son, commands his people

to be faithful in fellowship with one another

by having the mind of Christ. Okay? So, if God

is faithful and has called... Called us into

fellowship with his son. Which we'll read in

a minute. He also commands us to be faithful.

As he is in fellowship with one another. And

the way we have fellowship with one another.

Is to have the mind of Jesus. First Corinthians

2 .16. For who has understood the mind of the

Lord. So as to instruct him. But we have the

mind of Christ. You have it. He lives in you.

His mind is with you. 1 Corinthians 1, 19 through

17. God is faithful. Do you see that? By whom

you were called. Isn't that interesting? God,

the faithful one, has called you into fellowship

with his son. Now, here's the interesting term,

the word called here. The word called means to

be summoned by a king. So when God calls you,

him being king says, come. And what do you do

when you come before the king? You kneel. That's

the idea here. This is not an option. This is

a command. It's implied in the understanding

of the word called. And the word called means

to be summoned by the king. Now, he has called

us. into fellowship with his son, which he puts

us into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ,

our master. And as a result of understanding

that reality, the scripture here in verse 10

says, I appeal to you. I urge you. Someone used

the word beg. I wouldn't say beg. I think more

the term is, listen, you're going to do this

or there's going to be problems. That's what

I think he's saying here. He says, I appeal to

you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what he's saying is this reality concerning

what I'm going to talk to you about is by the

name, the authority of Christ, our master. This

is him. This is a required obedient act. That's

what he means here. That you all agree. This

word agree means to be sure and certain of the

faith. Agree in what? Agree concerning all things

concerning him. His ways. Okay? And that there

be no divisions, no dissensions, no damage to

the unity among you is what he says here. That's

the word divisions. Okay? Now, Understanding

that, the reason why is because in order to be

in fellowship with the Son and be in fellowship

with one another, we must agree. We must keep

the unity of the faith in the bond of peace.

That's the most important thing here. Then he

says, but that you be united. This word united

means united completely. And here it is. In the

same mind and the same judgment. This word same

is the word his. It should be his because it

implies immutability. In the original language,

when it says the same mind, it's meaning the

immutable mind of Christ. I don't know about

you, but I'm not immutable. You're not immutable.

Your mind is not immutable and neither is mine.

But I know his is. So we must be united. In his

immutable mind, nos is the word here, means to

think like Christ. That's literally what this

word means. It's not the same as in Philippians

Philippians 2:2

chapter 2, verses 2 and 5, which is froneo. Froneo.

That word froneo means to have regard or to set

one's mind on. Set your mind on Christ. As he

has left you this example to live. That's what

chapter 2 of Philippians means. Here, this means

that you are to have, you must think like Jesus

thinks. Now that makes a lot of sense, doesn't

it? Because in order for me to be in fellowship

with the Son and be in proper fellowship with

one another, we must think like he thinks. And

we must have his view. This word judgment means

Christ's view or opinion. Now this word opinion

is not like you think you have an opinion and

I have an opinion. This is not, God doesn't have

opinions in the way you think he has opinions.

He doesn't go, you know, Joe has an opinion.

Oh my goodness. I got to hear this opinion. It's

not an opinion like that. It means it's his view.

It's the way he thinks. That's the idea here.

We must have the same judgment. We must have

the same view that Christ has concerning all

things, not just some things. So it's interesting

when we sit and we read that we are to be united

and think like Christ and that we should be having

Christ's view concerning things. And this is

why he says it, verse 11, for it's been reported

to me by Chloe's people. that there is quarreling

among you, my brothers. So Chloe and Chloe's

people come to Paul. And he says, yo, Paul, we

got some issues here. What are they? Well, we've

witnessed that people are saying, I follow you

and they follow Apollos and they follow Cephas

and they follow Christ. And Paul's like, well,

I got to fix that. So he rebukes them. Like the

entire book of Corinthians or letter of Corinthians

is a lot of rebuke because this church has some

issues. Okay. Now that's what he says here. What

I mean is that each one of you says, he's verified

this. I follow Paul or I follow Apollos or I

follow Cephas or I follow Christ. And Paul's

like, I can see Paul thinking like, what are

they thinking? This is not about any of us. It's

about Christ and Christ alone. And he clarifies

that statement. And this is what he says. He

asks a bunch of questions. There's a lot of questions

in this chapter. Is Christ divided? No. Was Paul

crucified for you? No. That's clear. Or were

you baptized in the name of Paul? No. Then why

are you claiming that you follow a man and not

follow the God of all men? That's Paul's argument

here. And what Paul does is he clarifies because

in 2 Corinthians 2, you see something very common

in Paul's declaration to the Corinthians. He

has a clear conscience. And what he does here

is he clarifies the truth. Not only does he call

them out on their junk and their issue, he rebukes

them. Is Christ divided? He then turns around

and says, here's what I actually did do. I thank

God that I baptized none of you except for Crispus

and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were

baptized in my name. Because I know these two

guys are going to tell the truth. He mentions

these two guys. I think it's not only does he

mention these two guys, I think it was providential.

Not think, I know it was providential that Paul

only baptized Crispus and Gaius because God knew

beforehand he was going to have to deal with

an issue in this church. And then Paul has an

epiphany. He's like, oh, wait a minute. I did

baptize also the house of Stephanas. And beyond

that, I don't know whether I baptized anyone

else. What I love about this verse is it makes

Paul human. He's a pastor who like, I wish I

had a V8 moment, you know? He's like, oh, I forgot.

I got to mention this. We're human. Men of God

are human. We're going to make mistakes. When

we make mistakes, we go, oh, hey, by the way.

That's what Paul does here. That's one of the

things I love about him. Not only does he wreck

people, but he also goes, oh, I forgot. So good.

It makes me feel like I can connect to him. It

was one of my connecting moments. Oh, he forgets

like I do. If you forget the keys, Paul would

have forgot them too. Okay? Verse 17. For Christ

did not send me to baptize. And here is where

Paul is setting a very clear statement, which

we'll get to at the end in verse 18 through the

end of the chapter. This is a pivotal statement

here because he's clarifying why he's come. For

Christ did not send me to baptize. Christ doesn't

call men to just baptize. He calls us to preach

the gospel. What good is baptism if you don't

tell them about Jesus? I'm just making people

wet. That's his point. If I preach Christ and

him crucified and they come to faith, then baptism

means something. It's a fruit showing obedience.

But if they get baptized thinking that's going

to save them, it doesn't do anything but make

people wet. For Christ did not send me to baptize

but to preach the gospel. And he tells them how

he preached the gospel. Not with the words of

eloquent wisdom. I didn't make an amazing sermon.

Nope. He preached just Christ and him crucified.

Lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Here's the power of the gospel. The power of

the gospel is not how well one can preach or

not preach. It's not how well we become wordsmiths.

And Jody knows I'm not a wordsmith. Okay? In

reality, it's how well we can clarify the truth

of the gospel in its simplicity. And here's the

gospel. Christ died on the cross for your sins

because you are sinful. And without Christ dying

on the cross for your sins, you are destined

for God's wrath. God sent his son in propitiation

in your place to take away your sin, to shed

his blood as a payment for sin, for the wages

of sin is death. And on the third day, after

he'd been crucified and buried, he rose him from

the dead so that we would have victory over death,

sin, and the grave. That's the point of the resurrection.

Without the resurrection, he's just another man

that was crucified on a cross. But he's not just

another man. He's the man God who died for you.

That's the point. That's the simplicity of the

power of the cross. Christ was crucified according

to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again

on the third day according to the scriptures.

1 Corinthians 15, which we'll get to in about

eight months. It's going to be a while. Probably

not eight months, more like six maybe. But that's

what we're talking about here. Why is the unity

of the faith and the bond of peace? Why should

we be striving for fellowship with one another?

It's the gospel. The gospel is at stake here.

That's what's at stake. And Paul clarifies that

with these people. Okay? Now, let's pray and

then I'll send you off. Father, I want to thank

you so much for your word. Thank you for this

wonderful letter to be honor and glory in Jesus'

name. Amen.