Introduction to 1 Corinthians
Reading …
1 Cor 1;1-9
Introduction…
Geographic location …
o Southern part of modern day Greece
o Surrounded by …
Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey
Ionian Sea and Adriatic Sea
o Corinth on the isthmus which separates the Gulf of Corinth from the Saronic Gulf
About 6.4 kiss wide
o Harbours …
Cenchrea … east … on the Saronic Gulf
Lichaeum …West … On the Gulf of Corinth
o Commercial City …
240 000 free men/ 400 000 slaves
Waters to the south very unpredictable therefore using the gulfs.
E.g. Pauls shipwreck on route to Rome … Acts 27
Trade from east to west … Grain from Egypt … etc.
Very wealthy place … lots of opportunity
Culture …
o Greeks …Not a university city like Athens but heavily influenced by the culture
Athenians spend all their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas… Act 17;21
Intellectuals ruled by the wisdom of man
Many temples and gods worshipped…
Who had to be appeased
o Jews …
Synagogue … with the law and Pharisees etc.
Proselytes … God fearers … converts to Judaism
Diaspora … fled from Jerusalem
o Romans …
Soldiers
Business
All believing in the power and privilege owed to them.
o Slaves … 400 000
Poor and disenfranchised.
o The nobodies.
o Wealthy business men …
Demanding special privileges.
o Morals …
Highly immoral lifestyles
Prostitution and many other immoral practises were rife and the norm …
Corinthianising was common immoral practise.
Church …
It is into this melting pot of humanity that Paul is called to plant a church
o In Acts 18 we see them all starting to come together under the banner of the Lord Jesus …
o They started this church in the home of Titius Justus …
The church grows rapidly …
Mainly gentile and some Jews
Crispus the synagogue leader and his entire household (Family and slaves) join.
It should be no surprize that with that mish mash of cultures, differences would arise sooner or later
o As South Africans we know that …
Integrating cultures is very difficult…
o Change of itself is never easy …
Many examples in the life of Medway …
Even small changes are met with resistance
Black people who are converted find letting go of ancestral worship difficult
o So as the church grows differences and divisions start making their presence felt.
And they have the potential to tear the church apart.
The difficulties …
Paul is advised on 3 different fronts of these problems …
o Household of Chloe … 1;11
o A letter received … 7;1
o Stephanus and 2 friends … 16;17
Three areas of difficulty …
Divisions in the church …
o Believers were following men.
Paul, Apollos, Cephas.
Disorderly behaviour in the church …
o Moral disorders
o Legal disorders
o Sexual disorders
Difficult questions that needed answers as they no doubt were causing problems.
o Domestic … Marriage and divorce … 7;1-40
o Social …Liberty and license …8’1- 11;1
o Ecclesiastical … Worship … 11;2-34
o Practical … Gifts of the Spirit and the body …12;1- 14;40
o Doctrinal … Death and resurrection … 15;1-58
o Financial … financial gifts 16;1-9
Paul’s response …
Paul responds to these issues with a letter … 1 Corinthians …
His approach is very varied …
o In some places he makes a gentle appeal … 1;10 … I appeal to you
o In others a strong rebuke … 4;18, 21 … shall I come with a whip
o With warnings of a father figure … 4;14
o Some with the dogmatic approach of quoted Scripture … 1;19
o Some with the appeal born of experience … 7;12
Our 6 week series
These are some of the topics we are going to deal with over the next 6 weeks
The elders have chosen 1 Corinthians because of its relevance in today’s society…
o All of these issues raised are prevalent in churches today
Divisions …
Paul starts his teaching on the problem of divisions by laying a firm foundation of unity in Christ … ch.1;1-9 …
o It is all about one person only … The Lord Jesus Christ… X9 plus X2 direct references
He proves his case by saying to the …
o Demanding wealthy he says … Enriched in every way in Him … 5
o Power hungry Romans …kept by his power … 8
o Corinthianising lustful … Lack nothing in Him …7
o Law abiding Jews … He is faithful to all promises …9
Nobody needs more than Christ Jesus
His grounds for his appeal to unity …
o I appeal to you brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree… no divisions… perfectly united….10
Is Christ divided, was Paul crucified … No, No, No… 13
It is all about … and only about Jesus Christ.
No room for divisions …
Question … So where do the so called big guns fit in …
o What is Apollos, what is Paul … 3;5
Only servants …
Serving … God and the church.
o Process …How do they serve …in Corinth …3;6
Paul planted …
Apollos watered …
BUT God made it grow.
There is no status in the church of Jesus … no big guns … water pistols yes
o Only servants… serving … 3;5
o Only privilege … 3;9,10
Fellow workers with God by grace given me … 9,10
o With privilege goes responsibility …
The master builder …3;10
Foundation … Jesus Christ … 3;11
Brick layers … 3;10
o But each one should be very careful how he works … 3;10
Temple builders … 3;16
Congregation are all temples
If anyone destroys Gods temple he will be destroyed… 3;17
Wisdom of the world vs wisdom of God …
Where did this problem start …
o Paul lays the cause of the problem firmly at the door of spiritual immaturity …
In chapter 3;1-4 he highlights the causes …
o I gave you milk not solid food … not ready then for solid food
But you are still not ready for it now… you are still worldly.
Worldly means …
o The way you conduct yourself is the same as the unsaved world
You live by the wisdom, power, greed, licentiousness, legalism of man not grace of God.
The line between the world and your Christianity is so fine as to be unnoticeable.
The world you were saved from display jealousy and quarrelling’s
o You are the same in your divisions.
o Since the day of their conversion to Jesus you have not grown at all…
You have not changed from what you were…
Challenge …
Worldliness …
o How much growth is there in me …
o Do people out there recognise a difference … is there a difference
When I get angry … how do I react …
Do I raise my voice at my wife/husband
Discipline children out of anger or love.
o There are a million applications
o Are you spiritually mature … 1 Pet 2;1-3
Rid yourselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander.
Like new born babes crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up.
Servanthood …
o Terms used in the English language are there because they have value
Yet I am told we are not permitted to use the term servant …
It is regarded as derogatory, belittling.
Consequently many servants have lost the plot …
Their job is to serve others … but many do not.
We like to laud it over people
To serve mean to meet the needs of others …
o Paul calls us to serve
Service in Gods kingdom is an absolute privilege …
So in the light of these truthes where do I stand …
o Am I growing in grace and knowledge
Am I becoming more mature each day
o Do I see myself as a servant
Do I see service as a privilege or an inconvenience …
