Certainly, this meeting of the resurrected Jesus with His brother. They were called saints. The. ) We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Was Paul crucified for you? Christians must let the Word of God shape their thinking, not the evil company of this world. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Every Christian must take seriously their responsibility to not only have a good past, and a good present, but to determine to have a great future with the Lord, also. . Paul quotes from an ancient, secular comedy play, Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God, : For Christians to resist Gods process of transformation by the renewing of our minds is to neglect the knowledge of God. We shall rise in a full and perfect age, (as is generally thought) and without those defects and deformities which may here make our bodies appear unlovely. (Poole), ii. Was Paul crucified for you? He recognizes that the gifts were not the problem, but wrong attitudes and beliefs about the gifts. Corinth had a rich ethnic mix, and it was a center for sports, government, military, and business. i. i. Where is your scribe? It doesnt matter if you get the praise or the encouragement; sometimes you will and sometimes you wont. Paul tells them just what kind of apostle he is, . Despite all their problems with carnality, lack of understanding, strife, divisions, immorality, and weird spirituality, they still stood for the gospel. They both describe a work in progress. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. Then life is lived only under the sun, as is considered in Ecclesiastes. Paul says, In light of what God says in Isaiah 29:14, now where is your wise man? The power of baptism is in the spiritual reality it represents, not in who performs it. Session 5: Ministry of Reconciliation. I will not fear thee, death, why should I? And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam, , gave us one kind of body. In light of all this, how could the Corinthian Christians let go of such an important truth? The plain fact is that Paul did not know when these events would take place, and nowhere does he claim to know. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grainperhaps wheat or some other grain. : Paul thanks God for the gifts among the Corinthians, even though they were causing some trouble. b. Whether there are degrees of glory, as it seems probable, so we shall certainly know, when we come to heaven. (Trapp). When Paul first came to Corinth, the ruler of the synagogue was a man named Crispus. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. But all that is temporary. Spiritual elitism is terrible, no matter whose name it is practiced in. the gospel. What will Paul boast about? The Corinthians boasting about their party leaders was really boasting about themselves. Jesus met with these 500 followers in the region of Galilee. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then death has power over Him and defeated Him. i. Morgan says well in his introduction to 1 Corinthians: The measure of failure on the part of the Church is the measure in which she has allowed herself to be influenced by the spirit of the age We are sometimes told to-day that what the Church supremely needs is that she should catch the spirit of the age. Love suffers long: Love will endure a long time. ii. We know He lives because the historical evidence, , the brother of Jesus, who is seen as a prominent leader in the church in Acts 15. Our resurrection body will be a heavenly (celestial) body, suited for life in heaven, not only life on this earth. But God did not respond to the polling data. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. The cross was a time of victorious death, a, is part of the gospel. Jesus gave him the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and hes our man. There is nothing more uncomely, unlovely, and loathsome than a dead body; but it will not be so when it shall be raised again, then it shall be a beautiful, comely body. Many things made Corinth famous. The Lord Jesus Christ: Paul will often (more than 17 times in the letter) refer to Jesus as the Lord Jesus Christ; it is well to recall what the title means. i. Philippians 3:21 repeats Pauls theme: , the best example we have of what a resurrection body will be like is to see what Jesus resurrection body was like. This may seem like a small distinction to us, but it must be an important distinction to God. In the Septuagint it is one of the words used to denote the people of Israel in their religious character as Yahwehs assembly. (Bruce in his. a. Paul tells them just what kind of apostle he is, a called apostle. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. Because it was becoming a divisive issue, Paul was therefore grateful that he had not baptized very many in Corinth (lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name). But as the ivy grew, one could only read we preach Christ, and the church also started preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. The Corinthian Christians just did not think carefully. July 17, 2017 / by Enduring Word 1 Corinthians 14:1-19 - The Gifts of Tongues and Prophecy. c. To the church of God which is at Corinth: Notice the contrast: The church of God (something good), which is at Corinth (someplace bad). how God's power is perfected in our weakness. Session 4: Treasure in Clay Jars. c. There are contentions among you: Though division is ungodly, it is not wrong to make distinctions between churches and ministers. It wasnt because the Corinthian Christians did not believe Jesus rose from the dead. All flesh is not the same flesh explains why animals do not rise in the resurrection. ii. We are following in the footsteps of no one less than Jesus Himself. The Son glorifies the Father (John 17:4), the Father glorifies the Son (John 17:5), and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son (John 16:14). The great Roman statesman Cicero said: The cross, it speaks of that which is so shameful, so horrible, it should never be mentioned in polite society. If we were witnesses to the trial of Jesus when the crowd was shouting out Crucify him! c. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God: For Christians to resist Gods process of transformation by the renewing of our minds is to neglect the knowledge of God. viii. Their desire for wisdom was not bad, but their rejection of Gods wisdom was. They, iii. Einstein asked them, how much of all the knowledge in the world they had amongst themselves collectively, as a class. Secondly, it was right and proper for Paul to live as if the coming of Jesus was imminent, though he did not in fact know when Jesus would return. i. How sobering this is! Answer: First Corinthians 13:8-10: "Love never fails. i. Barclay on joined together: A medical word used of knitting together bones that have been fractured, or joining together a joint that has been dislocated. Adam (, ) is one head of the human race, and all mankind was brought under death by Adam. This isnt the gathering of the world, but, iv. All will be resurrected in the sense that they will receive a resurrection body and live forever. What happened to change them? ii. Finally, one could only read, , and the church also just became another social gathering place, all about, To the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, ; perhaps this is better understood as an, . Corinth was a major city of business, especially because of its location. a. Therefore be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord: Because we know death is defeated and we have an eternal, resurrected destiny with Jesus Christ, we should stand firm and unshakable all the more for Him right now. "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. i. Paul had an extensive history of contact with the city of Corinth, beginning with when he established the church in Corinth, coming there after Athens and staying a year and a half (Acts 18). ii. 1. d. Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect: Paul makes it clear that it is possible to preach the gospel in a way that makes it of no effect. You see that the mark of a child of God is that by the grace of God he is what he is; what do, His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, : Though grace made Paul what he was, Paul still, i. We know that Peter had a wife, because . The words message of the cross sound kind of noble and religious to our twentieth-century ears. a. The ancient Christians were for the most part slaves and men of low station; the whole history of the expansion of the church is in reality a progressive victory of the ignorant over the learned, the lowly over the lofty, until the emperor himself laid down his crown before the cross of Christ. (Alford, quoting Olshausen). It predates the writing of the Gospels, Acts, and Revelation by decades. If you do not believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead in a resurrection body the way the Bible says He did, then, g. When you know what rests on the resurrection, you know why, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. (12-13) The resurrection of Jesus proves there is a resurrection. The Corinthian Christians were indeed gifted, yet carnal. He had the right, and the authority, to command the Corinthian Christians in these matters. (42-44) Comparison of the two kinds of bodies. Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? d. To the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness: The Jews regarded Christ crucified as a stumbling block; perhaps this is better understood as an offense or a scandal. By man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead, : Here, Paul communicates the same ideas found in Romans 5:12-21. God has made different churches and different ministries with different callings and characters, because the job of preaching the gospel is too big for any one group. We are no longer subject to the penalty of the law (death), and we are set free from sin. Trust God, rely on Him, v. If I neglect my end of the partnership, Gods grace doesnt accomplish all that it might, and is therefore given. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. Paul writes this letter from Ephesus, where these people from Chloes household visited and told him about the condition of the the Corinthian church. What message does a cruel, humiliating, unrelenting instrument of death have? For those who are not in Jesus Christ, death still has its sting. d. That no flesh should glory in His presence: This is the end result. Even in his introduction, Paul thinks about the critical issues he needs to communicate to the Corinthian Christians. Save your pity for those who reject the complete work of Jesus on the cross at Calvary, and save your pity for those preachers who do not have the heart of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:23, when he proclaimed the center of the Christian message: ? 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 EXEGESIS: THE CONTEXT: Corinth was an important and wealthy city on the isthmus (narrow strip of land) separating Northern and Southern Greece. i. Philippians 3:21 repeats Pauls theme: Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. This conflict had made them divide up into parties or cliques, each party having its own leader., : There was the Paul Party, who declared We are following in the footsteps of the man who founded our church, the apostle Paul. Gods wisdom is not mans wisdom multiplied to the highest degree. c. There are different bodies or structures in the universe (sun moon stars), and each is created with its own glory, and each is suited to its own particular environment and needs. i. Later, James became a leader in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21; 21:18). i. This is not to say the other apostles were lazy (although some of them may have been), but that Paul was an exceptionally hard worker. O Hades, where is your victory? if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! The bottom line is this: is the church influencing the city, or is the city influencing the church? This danger was constantly on the mind of the apostle Paul, and should be constantly on the mind of any preacher or teacher. They are not lost; they are sown. (Spurgeon). First, every day carefully consider the certainty of death. Corinth was a major city of business, especially because of its location. If you are an unbeliever, death is not your friend; it is your enemy. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. are significant. This is a question Paul doesnt really answer in the following verses, because the answer is obvious. Declare that His solutions prepares another generation for life. Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. It is a mysterious passage, and there have been more than thirty different attempts to interpret it. Probably, was Pauls scribe (or, more technically, his, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called, with a building where Christians meet. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Apparently, some of the Corinthian Christians (probably those of the Paul Party) made a big deal of the fact that they had been baptized by Paul. All rights reserved worldwide. The name Joshua means, Yahweh is salvation.. Those who insist that we must change the emphasis of the gospel because people cant relate to it today must realize that the people of Pauls day couldnt relate to his preaching either, yet he kept it up, and with great results. It is one thing to prefer one minister to another, but we cannot divide into cliques behind one minister or another. Though at the time of his writing 1 Corinthians it was still in the future, Pauls whole arrest, imprisonment, and journey to Rome as done for the sake of the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6, 24:15, and 24:21). Remember though, that it was Jesus, not the Old Testament, which. i. We sometimes sing: You ask me how I know He lives; He lives, He lives inside my heart. But that is not the best way to prove Jesus lives. Someone once said to him, Well, what church are you in now? He said, I am in the true church at last. How many belong to it? Just my wife and myself, and I am not sure about her sometimes.. Those who believe that Jesus gathers His people after He has poured out His wrath on a Jesus-rejecting world sometimes argue that it is the last trumpet of judgment, cited in Revelation 11:15-19. The Book of 1 Kings; The Book of 2 Kings; The Book of Job; The 119th Psalm; The Book of Ecclesiastes; The Song of Solomon; The Book of Isaiah; The Book of Jeremiah; The Book of Daniel; New Testament. So he was fired from or quit his job as ruler of the synagogue! i. If there is no principle of resurrection, and if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then the apostles are. c. I tell you a mystery: In the Biblical sense, a mystery is simply a thing to be understood by spiritual, rather than by merely human perception. By which you are also saved, if you hold fast that word I preached to you. You do not sow that body that shall be God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. i. means good news. As the word was used in ancient times, it didnt have to describe the message of salvation in Jesus Christ; it could describe any good news. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. (22-25) The wisdom of God, though foolish to the world, triumphs. Its wrong to say that Paul preached a watered-down gospel in Athens. Perhaps it would be something along the lines of the way a body was transported on the old Star Trek series; the molecules would alter, and the person could pass through a solid object, and re-assemble themselves into a solid person. iii. (10) Initial plea: dont be torn apart, but joined. It is as if he says, You all may not recognize my apostolic credentials. 1. If one preaches the word with a reliance on wisdom of words, they can make the gospel of no effect. And with what body do they come?. Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . : A title designating not only master and boss, but also the, : The given name of the son of Mary, and adopted son of Joseph, which is the Greek pronunciation of, : This is the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew word for. From the first Adam, we all are made of dust, but from the last Adam we can be made heavenly. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. They did not value the wisdom expressed in, i. A truly Christian minister will seek much more to do spiritual good to men's souls, than to get the greatest applause to himself. Famous athletic contests known as the, iii. a. e. Confirm you to the end: The Corinthian Christians had their strong points, and they had their weak points. e. Both theirs and ours: In his first few words, Paul lays the foundation for a fundamental issue he will address in this letter: Christian unity, based on the common Lordship of Jesus Christ. It was prosperous, busy, and growing; it had a deserved reputation for the reckless pursuit of pleasure. Now, after preparing their minds for rebuke, acting like a good, experienced surgeon, who touches the wound gently when a painful remedy must be used, Paul begins to handle them more severely. (Calvin). They have not been chosen because they are so great, but because God is so great. The weight of the body, pulling down on the arms and shoulders, tended to fix the respiratory muscles in an inhalation state, and hindered exhalation. i. The unspiritual, worldly conduct of the Corinthians . i. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul: Even more foolish than dividing Jesus is to center parties in the church around men. : We dont often think of the burial of Jesus as part of the gospel, but it is. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul deals more fully with what makes a person an apostle. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. We work in a partnership with God, not because He needs us, but because He wants us to share in His work. Called to be an apostle is literally a called apostle. We are not told much about this visit, but we can assume there was some special need for comfort and restoration in Peter that Jesus ministered to. Jesus did not die as a mere martyr for a cause. So this corruptible must put on incorruption. That there be no divisions among you: The ancient Greek word for divisions is schismata. Although we derive our English word schism from this Greek word, it does not really mean a party or a faction; it properly means tear or rend. Pauls plea is that they stop ripping each other apart, tearing up the body of Christ. They are shown to have, at times, morality problems, doctrine problems, church government problems, spiritual gift problems, church service problems, and authority problems. True wisdom isnt about getting smart. Gods wisdom is received in and through the person of Jesus. (5-8) Concrete evidence of Jesus resurrection. Whether there are degrees of glory, as it seems probable, so we shall certainly know, when we come to heaven. (Trapp). Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. The great gospel of Jesus Christ, the very power of God unto salvation made empty and of. 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching, If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain, : If there is no resurrection, then Jesus is not risen, and Paul and the other apostles have preached. 1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, (NASB 1995 - Lockman)Now I make known 1Co 15:3-11 1:23,24 2:2-7 Ac 18:4,5 Ga 1:6-12 . The changed character of the apostles, and their willingness to die for the testimony of the resurrection, eliminate, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. f. See how important the truth of the resurrection is! But death is an enemy nonetheless. ( 1 Corinthians 4:1-2) Servants and stewards. 7. To the church of God: Most people today associate the word church with a building where Christians meet. The Gospel of Matthew; The Gospel of Mark; The Gospel of Luke; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Book of Romans; The Book of 1 Corinthians . God raises the dead. This is proving himself the servant of Christ. This speaks to the vital need described in Romans 12:2: do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If there is no principle of resurrection, then the dead in Christ are gone forever. Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits. Where did the Corinthian Christians get their strange ideas about the resurrection, ideas Paul spent this chapter trying to correct? ! A strong church once inscribed these words on an archway leading to the churchyard. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.