A Study of First Corinthians
Sermon # 1
“A Dynamic
But Divided Church”
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
As Stuart Briscoe states so well, “The Corinthian church was both
a marvel and a mess, like many churches and many lives. Paul’s intention in his first
epistle to the Corinthians is to preserve the marvel and clear up the mess…”
[D. Stuart Briscoe. Expository
Nuggets from 1 Corinthians. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1995) p. 9]
Paul
Reminds Them of Who they Are.
““Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus
Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, (2) To the church of God which
is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with
all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.”
Paul reminds them of three things about their
identity.
· They
Are the Church - ”To the church of God”
This letter is addressed to the church. The
Greek word is ekklesia
meaning “the called out ones.” The church is not brick and mortar, stained glass
and padded pews, but the body of people saved through faith in Christ. When Christians
gather for worship, the buildings merely provide the gathering place. And we when we go
our separate ways, the church goes with us – for we are the church.
As the church, we are to be a fellowship of
people who were called out of the world to live together, to love each other, and to serve
together, with the result that the world would say, "The way
you folks treat each other is sure is attractive!" In John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this all will know that you
are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
J. Vernon McGee tells the following story. “When I was a boy, my dad died and I went to work to support my
mother and sister; so I stayed with two aunts and a bachelor uncle. One aunt was a Baptist
and the other a Presbyterian. My uncle was an unbeliever and a beer drinker. Every Sunday
he would get up just in time for the noon meal. For dinner every Sunday we heard all the
Baptist dirt and the Presbyterian dirt. Years later, when my uncle was in the hospital,
one of my aunts wept and asked me, “Vernon, why doesn’t he come to Christ?”
I almost told her. Friend, may I say, we do not win the lost by being Christian cannibals.
“But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of
another” (Gal. 5:15). This is the type of thing that is turning the unsaved away from
the church today. This is the reason they don’t come in to hear the gospel. They hear
the gossip before they can hear the gospel! Do you realize that the most important
commandment for a Christian is not to witness, not to serve, but to love other believers? [J. Vernon
McGee. Thru The Bible Commentary
– electronic edition ( Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 1997]
The Roman historian Tertullian wrote this
report about the early church: “These Christians are very strange people. They meet
together in an empty room to worship. They do not have an image. They speak of One by the
name of Jesus, who is absent, but whom they seem to be expecting at any time. And my, how
they love Him and how they love one another.” Could the same report be given
about us today?
· They
Are the Church at Corinth. – “….which
is at Corinth”
Geographically the church is located at
Corinth. Because of its strategic location, there was an incredible amount of wealth that
came into the city. It was a city that attracted all kinds of people as a result.
Yet the city of Corinth had gained a well
known reputation for corruption. Its very name became synonymous with gross immorality,
and evil behavior. The term to “corinthianize” came to mean one given to
immorality or prostitution. Corinth was intellectually alert, materially prosperous and
morally corrupt.
· They are called saints.
“… to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints…”
It is encouraging to consider that there is
no place on earth too immoral for God do a work. The point is that you don’t have to
live in a particular place to walk with Christ.
The church is at Corinth, but it is in Christ Jesus. The address of the church is not important, but the person of Christ is all-important.
To quote J Vernon McGee again, “All of mankind is divided between the “saints” and the
“ain’ts.” If you “ain’t” in Christ, then you are an “ain’t.”
If you are in Christ, then you are a “saint.”
John McArthur puts it a little more
eloquently when he says that the church at Corinth was “particularly
worldly and immoral, yet in his opening words Paul stressed that every one of them who had
truly believed in Jesus Christ was saved and was a saint. Every believer has the right to
call himself a saint. Not only are the saints saved, but all the saved are saints. None of
us is worthy of the title but God has declared us to be saints.” [John MacArthur. The MacArthur New
Testament Commentary – 1 Corinthians. (Chicago: Moody, 1984) p. 6]
Paul
Reminds Them Of What They Have (vv. 4-8)
Before dealing with the problems that
confronted the church at Corinth he wanted to remind them of what they possessed.
Paul reminds them of four things they
possess.
· They are Genuinely Saved (v. 4)
“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of
God which was given to you by Christ Jesus.”
The basis for gratitude in every believer’s
life is grace. The Corinthians as every true believer has experienced God’s grace by
trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
· They are Generously Endowed. (v. 5)
“that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge.”
The Corinthians had received sound teaching
under both Paul and Apollos. They had reason to thank the Lord for the great teachers he
has provided for them down through the years. Each of us in turn should periodically
reflect on the great men and women that God has used in our lives to teach us His truth.
· They are Securely Established (v.
6)
“even as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you,”
The “confirmed”
means “established, made sure, stable.”
They had been instructed to the point that they were stable in their understanding of the
gospel.
· They are Spiritually Gifted
“so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, (8) who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (9) God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
When it came to spiritual gifts, the
Corinthians had everything they needed. There was not one area of spiritual giftedness
that the Lord had not provided for the church at Corinth. It my contention that God has
provided within the local church those individuals with the gifts needed to sustain and
grow that church. Paul says in Ephesians 4:11-13, “And He Himself gave some
to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, (12) for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ, (13) till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect
man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
Two closing thoughts from these verses.
· It
is possible to be blessed without in turn being a blessing.
· Success
in our Christian life is not based on how wealthy we are spiritually but how willing we
are
spiritually.