Introduction to Corinth

When I had signed up for my first theology class at College there at Liberty University a very if you look into Christian colleges and I kind of want their Doctrine is was very pretty vague and one cent They are a Baptist school but there are a lot of people who attend that from various backgrounds and traditions and sinking the fairly easy school to get into that's that's why I was there and so I'll never forget what I want of my college professors said and we're going through what his professors book was Elmer towns in anesthesiology 201 and it was a book that was like as thick as one of those speakers just one of those horribly huge uninteresting when you read the titles nearby hermitology soteriology and there's also interesting Christ ology and you're like, wow, what am I? What am I getting myself into and this prefer? Are opened up this class with this idea. He said you all have presuppositions and I'm like I should already check out that I don't even know what that means. But you have a free sub positions and you come from various traditions and backgrounds and we don't want to be argumentative in this class really what he was saying is make my life easier just agree with what the book sets for a fantastic and here I am as a pastor. I don't know. This is been now 10-12 years later and we're coming into a very controversial book on one Hands First Corinthians and it says letter written by a man named Paul is we're going to see and like my professor. I would love to say make my life easy over the next 18 months like just listen and Nod and agree and let's move on. However, I am no fool and it's become into a book like this. I know in a size room is size there going to be a lot of presuppositions are predetermined thoughts and ideas on controversial issues. This book is actually going to bring out there's going to be all sorts of topics that you've been taught one way and you've heard a certain way. Are you come to your own conclusions or you read a commentary years ago. Are you sat in a seminary class? And here's the thing about 1st Corinthians. I promise you it hasn't changed in the last two thousand years. I'm reading the exact same Bible that whoever you last sat under taught as well as we get into this study for our church and as we dig in and on Earth what this book has for us. Maybe we just drop some presuppositions these ideas of I already know what this is going to say. I already know what we are going to talk about and may we engage in the study quite literally going to be at minimum of 15 months of outline chapter 1 will still be in it in October. I promise not going to go very quickly for us. Let's engage what's discuss let's talk. You don't know much about our church for a non-denominational but it looks more like an interdenominational with people with all kind of backgrounds have come together and they say we love Jesus. We want to serve Jesus we want to worship Jesus and there's an open-handed issues that maybe we're not all on the same page on and we're okay with that put on these clothes handed issues. I will go to battle over those and I'm excited to teach through this book because I think there's so much for us to learn here over the course of the next year-and-a-half. I think there's so much that God has for us and so we're going to read just the first three verses here this morning and it starts out like this Paul. Called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother softness to the Church of God that is in corn to those Sanctified in Christ. Jesus called to be Saints together with all those when every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ both their lord and ours grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing that I want to open up here with this morning before we get into a lot of history of Corinth and who is this Paul character and why would anybody even want to listen to him is that God established a church in Corinth? God established a church in corn. Let me just give you a little picture and we're going to get into it deeper in a little bit of corn Corinth is not a place you family vacation. It's a place where the people bachelor party Corinth probably would make Vegas even looked at him today. And the reason for that is that this point in time you haven't had the gospel spreading in transforming and working in the hearts and life of many upon many upon many people who found themselves in power. However, it was a very perverse Society in a very perverse culture where they're very worship entailed all sorts of Acts of sexual immorality were there worship under the gods and goddesses involved in engaging all kinds of immoral practices. Korra Corinth would make us blush today in the kinds of things they partook in There's a place where I Dollar Tree was celebrated or temples were plentiful and where prostitutes were celebrated and available and ready for whenever in the ax and worships of those gods. What's intriguing is God decides to plant a church in Corinth Ms. Light post that supposed to be this bright and Shining Community for the gospel. And for what God wants to do and this church is in this very perverse and quite frankly dysfunctional society. And what happens is is culture tends to have its way on people and this church becomes a capital D dysfunctional Church some of your like I've been in Dysfunctional church. This is dysfunctional church. This is problem after problem after problem because what you have is this birth of a church with these new Christians these new Believers in his perverse society and they're trying to figure out how to react and behave and respond to one another. How do we respond back to the culture in the world outside of a What can we do? Can we go to the temples? Can we participate in all that they participate in should.we and they're trying to get some of these answers from Paul. This sort of set the stage for this book and for our understanding this morning, we're going to follow this basic outline of who wrote it who was it written to and why was it written? And this is where you been a Christian for 15 years 20 years 30 years you've checked out and you're already thinking of pizza next door. I, I know I will be at all but I think and believe that God has stuff in here for us today because the word of God is sharper powerful sharper than any two-edged sword that wants to speak to our heart even the things that we think are Monday and that we'd know so who is writing this letter? Why does he have any authority to even write this letter? It starts out of the beginning and it's very different than how we write a letter if you've ever written a letter. Those are very foreign to us today now, isn't it? They may be an email but it never written a letter. You don't start out by saying who you are when you write that letter you always address at the end, you know, love so-and-so or sincerely yours and you put your name on the end of it or thank you and you write your name on the end of it. However in this letter, we have Paul identifying himself from the very beginning of this is who this letter is coming from this is why it has some significance some weight some Authority because you want to know who is actually speak. Chu-u who's communicating to you and you can kind of think of it like this. I've got a three-year-old and she's a bit sassy as well as we talked about last week. Whiny edit. My three-year-old got on the phone and called me up and said hey Dad, you need to get home and pick your clothes up off the floor. You need to make your side of the bed and there's some crumbs from the food you're eating in bed last night and you left your teacup out on the side. I would go that's cute. But how about no you don't have that authority to speak into my life. You don't have that relationship to speak into my life. But if my wife called me up and share those things my goodness, I believe you are meeting so quickly to go handle the business to make sure things work done because of one of the proximity of the relationship who it is coming from and it's not an ID. Showing preference over one person of another which is going to be a problem in Corinth as we're going to unravel today a little bit and over the course of this letter. It's not because I should show respect more to one person more than other but because of the relationship because of what's there. I'm going to say I'm going to listen and soap all starts out saying this is who this is coming from. He told Timothy to guard your Doctrine to avoid false teachers is speaking to the church in do that letter to Timothy and he's giving us this important reason of I have authority and I want to speak to you and I want to speak to the church and he's doing things with corn. I have reason to be telling you these things because of the relationship and what I have done

The reason I bring this up is because Paul is sharing this information and this letter there's a warning to each and everyone of us to be careful to who we take can and what we listen to. I made this new friend over the last year-and-a-half. He goes to my brother's Church down in band. He's a great guy and he used to be a catcher not in Major League Baseball, but in Benny Hinn's Ministry.

He said again, this is a real job a catcher and Benny Hinn's Ministry know there's a lot going on in his life right now. If you're not aware of and if you are aware of him, his nephew costi Hinn has written some things and Benny's actually come out and renounce some things. However, this man was hanging with the hens rolling in their family, and he said one night. I was in the back of one of their blacked out Escalade nice vehicles, and we were being chauffeured around. And one of the guys really likes me in the family and they said you know what we got to get you up front man. We got to get you involved in this we're going to make you some money. Here's what you need to do. Write a book say anything you want. It doesn't matter what you say will get you published will get you out there. If you write this book and we get you out there. Then we're going to get you speaking opportunity and if we get you speaking opportunities, we can start making you the big butts.

Share this story to open up this morning is because there are people in the ministry in church who will write and say and do anything for selfish gain for selfish pleasure. They will use godliness as a mask to achieve worldliness in their lives. So we have to be on guard and careful who are what we're taking in because what we take shapes us and his church and Corinth was taking in all kinds of different thoughts and ideas what it was pretending to culture or speakers that were moving in Nepal is riding anything. I'm not here in physical and body presents, but this letter serves as Mead present in person and I have something incredibly important to share with you. You need to hear this and receive this.

When it comes to things of godliness Be watchful be careful what you take in what you receive what you chew on and so, who is this Paul? That is right. Paul was the product. He was a product of the Confluence of different culture orientations. He was a Jew living in the Hellenistic City and he also had Roman citizenship and he was influenced by all three of these categories and you can sort of Peace his life together as you read through his testimony a little bit in accent as well as installation vinicius bits and pieces of his life. But Paul was a guy who was raised in an incredibly religious home. If you were here last week, I should a Lil Bit of my story kind of in the same sense that we were gospel centered and hope to Christ. We didn't have the same kind of religious rigorousness that Paul would have walked in because we understood Jesus. We still have more realistic approach in some ways of if I do this then maybe God will respond this way. At least these are the things in my children's rain that I processed. And here is Paul. He's in a very religious home and he loves to follow rules. He's a skilled tentmaker. He's also incredibly intelligent top of his class can a guy he came from the University Town of Tarsus. He was a disciple of one of the best teachers. His name was kamailio, and he talked the Pharisee charts in the religious movement not in the Jesus movement. He was a very religious man, but he didn't know God you didn't love God. That's a warning for us all we can be extremely religious would be extremely cleaned up on the outside, but inwardly not know God religious devotion void of the Gospel. Is just dong according to Paul? List of religious Devotion to being appear to certainly on the outside without gospel transformation gospel transformation of something outside of us has come upon as head. It works from the inside out religious rules and laws is I'm working from the outside in if I look and appear a certain way than the religious community at large is going to accept and embrace me. What is all different kinds of ways we can do this that we can look and appear to be religious whether it's through attendants are good deeds the way we dress the way we speak the way we act there are ways in which we can apply with very religious people, but void of gospel transformation the Holy Spirit moving and working in our hearts. Paul uses incredibly harsh language in Philippians. Can we get a toned down here? He says I counted but dung and because of his upbringing Paul spent the majority of his early life there persecuting Christians. Do you want to read his story he shows up on the pages of Acts chapter 7 and the first time we read about him. Is there as this young man who is preaching the Good News of Jesus and their if they decided because it was Blasphemous words to their ears if they would Stone this man named Steven and there it read that Paul head of this, but he's part of this group that have come together. Instead of having open his heart to Jesus. He hardened his heart and the members of the Sanhedrin Council old said, let's kill Steven. when you read about Paul his first name as you as you read of him pops up as saw I was just Hebrew given name and they're his friends are standing around that moment with her getting ready to kill this man Steven for preaching the gospel and they lay their garment at his feet and he gives his approval. This is the kind of man that were listening to he is a man that persecuted killed ripped apart Christian families name is also extremely religious and our elders meeting this last week. We were talking about Paul specifically and how he's such an enigma because he can relate to any person in this room. And I grew up religious. So did Paul I grew up a criminal so did Paul. And look how God begins to work and move in. This man life is what happens shortly after this stoning. He gets approval to go out to to persecuted to kill it to take away Christians and put them in prison and God meets him on the road to Damascus any blinds him and he says Saul Saul. Why do you persecute me? Why do you kick against the codes? What are you doing? And he's there blinded and he says, who are you Lord answering his own question and he says I want you to go to the street called straight and I want you to go talk to ananias and as you talk with them, you will receive your sights. And tall does just that and they're his life begins to become a radically transform and changed. He preaches his first sermon and it doesn't go. Well he has to get lower down in a basket and he goes and runs away and hides never going to Pastor. Maybe you felt like that Bible studies on all boy that did not go well for me the things begin to change and pause life and at this time and he's at a church in Antioch that shows to send him out with Barnabas wearied of Paul's missionary Journeys in the other Bible flip over to acts 18 because this gives us some insight into where and what happened in court. An 18 verse 1 says after this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth Corinth held games and they were second to the Olympics. So they were pretty big deal. Paul was a tentmaker by trade and whenever you have huge amounts of crowd come into a city all the ends would be filled up. The hotels are be booked. You weren't able to you know, hop on Airbnb and find anything available. It's a great place for a tentmaker many commentators think that's what drove him to go to Corinth. And so it says he found a Jew named Aquilla a native Pontius recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudia's I commanded all the Jews to leave Rome and he went to see them in because you have the same trait. He's stayed with them and worked but they were tentmakers by trade any reason in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade the Jews and the Greek. So this is what Paul did he would go to a town and go to a synagogue any synagogues were erected in built because the Jews wanted a place to gather and where there was I think 15 to 30 males anywhere. There was a Jewish Society a synagogue would be built and he would step in there. He began to preach and cheat to his Jewish brothers and sisters about the things of Jesus first five when Silas and Timothy a ride from Macedonia Paul was occupied with the word testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus when the opposed and reviled him. He shook out his garments instead of the Your blood be on your own head. I am innocent from now on I will go to the Gentiles so his goal and his mindset. I want to preach to the Jews. I want to share the gospel with them. I want them to receive Jesus and here they didn't want anything to do with him. And so he shakes the dust off his feet and it says he left there and went to a house for the name Titus Justice a worshipper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Awkward. Just reaching there in the synagogue. They don't want him and so he just goes to the church next door cuz I'm not used to you guys. I'm going to tell you guys about Jesus Christmas the ruler of the synagogue believe in the Lord. Together for the entire household and many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believe and are baptized and the Lord said DePaul One Night in division. Do not be afraid but go on speaking do not be silent for I am with you. No one will attack you to harm you for a mini in the city who are my people and he stayed a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. But when Galileo was proconsul of acai the Jews me to United attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal saying this man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law when Paul was about to have his mouth Vallejo said to the Jews before a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime or Jews. I would have reason to accept your complaint but it is a matter of questions about words and names your own loss it to yourself. I refuse to be judged of these things and he drove into the tribunal they all see soft and he's the ruler of the synagogue and beat him in front of train on the Leo pay no attention to This is a tall story. This is how this church of Corinth was built. The Jews didn't want to hear it. Although the ruler of the synagogue softness. He becomes a follower of Jesus. They go next story continues to teach and to pretend this church get birth and it's really neat and what you see and Paul story here is the goddess said Paul and protect. Can you buy people in this city, but I need you to preach at a teach the word to the respond to the gospel. So we asked the question what Authority does Paul have to write this letter to the church. It's based on a few things. First of all, he planted this church. They share the gospel at the church. This church was birth as a part of his work. The innocence was their spiritual father and he's giving them wisdom and insights the very word of God. He spent time in this church. Paulding just been a week or two in these places. He spent 18 months in Corinth. They knew him in his life, they could testify to the kind of man and his character who he was not only that we learned 1st Corinthians. They had actually written him a letter and he is not responding to them is responding to them. So who is the recipient church at Corinth sanctified? cry in Christ the Saints together Courant itself was truly a magnificent City magnificent City. It's a beauty it was a wealthy and everything people could actually want in this life geographically was located on the Isthmus does the master of Two Harbors? So ships could come in and port in a bit small ships that they could actually roll them over on the log and they could cut a lot of time after travel or they would unload all their cargo and then put it on another shift on the other side of the harbor once again to ease travel because of where they were located geographically it became an incredibly wealthy City because of these two ports where they would also be many sailors and travelers who would stop by and he would sell and they would party and they would live life if you think I'm a Melting Pot of cultures therefore they served many gods and goddesses. This is important for this entire letters R Us to understand this morning. I really want to know why Paul is ready cuz I really want to know what the issues and the problems are you have to dig into their culture and he is one of the temples Rising high above the city about 1,800 feet was the Acropolis. It's at as a Temple dedicated to Aphrodite. And it 1,000 priestesses would descend upon the city and these priestesses serve also as women of the night women of the street or to be more bluntly they were prostitutes and it would engage in prostitution to receive money for their Temple at the foot of that. There was the worship of melas Sardis the patron deity of navigation and in addition to that Apollo at a temple in that City the god of music and poetry really the idea of names of male Beauty and acts of male worshippers would take place in all sorts of horrible practices. One commentator said never the last one should not underestimate the place of sexual expression not only in some Pagan religious festivals, but also in the Pagan Temple precincts it be surprising as such activities did not take place in Corinth, especially in connection with the dinner parties are often held in the precinct in temples. See if you were just a pick up this letter and read it and they said don't go to the temples like why what's wrong with him and it's even today some people relate modern-day temples like stadiums where they're filled this week with fifty to a hundred thousand people if your Jerry Jones and they're cheering and yelling and yes, it can be at Dollar Tree that take place in here, but there's something even deeper that was going on in Corinth an osis idea that they weren't just simply going to a place to have fun and to party they were engaging in all sorts of activities to worship these gods and goddesses that were bringing much harm and detriment to themselves and were a shame to the gospel. They were enslaved to do these things. It's a Polish saying understand what I talk about. The temple is not just like today if you've ever been to is real. I had the privilege knows about 13 14 years old and there we went on the Temple Mount sub of the Wailing Wall. And there's the Dome there and some visitors we did not but some visitors can go in there, but when you're visiting there was Lee isn't much going on. Talk about even that he saying when you go there it's because you're engaging in these activities, but I do not want you to do that to this culture they had The gods and goddesses is where they were geographically they had all sorts of finances and well they had the games that would go on. They were a glamorous town. They were a wealthy town and they were people that were concerned with their name. Here's here's what I mean by people concerned with their name in Corinth as a resident of a new city those undergoing continual rebuilding and is increasing and fame the people of Corinth had both growing civic pride an individual Pride all sorts of Corinthians even slaves or mentioned inscriptions occupied and erected by and for themselves. They're doing in Corinth New City New Town. I'm going to build something so you know who I am. I want to be an influencer. I want to be important. I want my name to be remembered and made great and says the number of such descriptions of Staggering Corinth was a city where public boasting and self-promotion had become an art form. Is that unimaginable or what? No, it's not and if you're giggling, you know why you understand that the same idea is happening today. Self-promotion is an art form just get on social media and it's where our youth live not because what they just sort of get excited about scrolling through things. They can make a name for themselves by becoming popular famous or the word is an influencer and then they can use that to intern make wealth. She was going on in corn with an incredibly prideful selfish Community. It is not hard to imagine a society like that. It was actually get to the core few humans are. What do We crave? I want to be known.

I don't even think well of me of what we're doing recognition. I want to achieve things. Is What We crave in this world we ought to see the manifestation or the fruits of it and it comes out in forms of sometimes maybe what we invest all over time or energy or effort or money into to Showcase ourselves. We're really deep down. What we want is we want to be known we want to be loved we want to be cared for and so we do all sorts of things in order for that to get portrayed. I mean if you've ever all of a sudden decided I'm going to pick up running or you have friends on Facebook. Like we're going to start running and then they're posting every single week about how many miles are accomplishing what it what are we wanting somebody to encourage us somebody to notice us somebody to say you're doing a good job. We have these inner Cravings as human beings because we've been fractured and shattered. But only as a society at large would have individuals and what comes out of that then is this crying out to look at me hear me know that I exist and I'm real and I'm a person and what we've been do is fight all sorts of means to get attention in order to have people notice us and this is a massive problem in Corinth. Because it's turning out to be an area where people become too prideful. They only give respect to people who are going to benefit them who helped them make their name greats. They're going to neglect the slave neglect the poor they're going to sue their brothers and sisters are going to have all sorts of issues and problems.

This is the town that this church is living in. This church is a young Church Paul's riding. They made even planted for two or three years at this time a maximum of six. What happens if it's got a lot of jacked up people? Pause not getting letters like explain tulip to me. Could you expound on Calvin's theology know he's getting things like Johnny decided to sleep with his father's wife. Is that okay? I was like what? The Gentiles don't even do that. Susie is suing Bob over here because she spilled some hot coffee on herself without a warning label man ties. We owns house going to write back and say hey Paul, there's a few people that pretty much Tipsy by the time they get to communion but afterwards it is a rager. Should we keep serving them? Hey, can we engage in the sexual immorality of the temple? It's kind of fun and her friends are going to it. These are the questions that Paul is getting hit the jacked up Church. Welcome to church. That's what it's like and you know what you're here today. If you've been in the church long enough to get into a small home church. This was a small home church. That's how they still have all sorts of problems. But that's just corn galatia. They had issues to they were all bought into legalism and all these churches had issues and problems and see what Paul is doing is 1 to bring some correction to this church to get some answers to some questions that they're answering but what's intriguing about it. It is not deeply like I be careful how I say this theological issues. They're struggling with its social issues. Are we going to be human beings towards one another? Are we going to show love how we not going to elevate certain gifting but it can we sandwich 1st Corinthians 13 in there that we are to be those who love and care and serve one another. How can we not be those who are so concerned with riding to positions of prominence and authority and Power in order to dictate everybody else around us. How can we humble ourselves? But Jesus can actually care and love and see people this is what Paul getting at out of five major issues. Only one is deeply theological for others how to deal with social issues of how in the world to be a Christian in an incredibly increasing secular society. That ring a bell with anybody else. It's going to get uncomfortable in here over the next 18 months cuz we're going to have to deal with some very uncomfortable things that are not popular in culture and Society but this book is going to push us to those levels. They're mainly social not just feel logical and policy. This is how we are to work together. This is what we're supposed to look like and what we're supposed to do for his writing for correction is writing to answer questions. I just want to finish with this and will close out this morning. I remember nothing High School 16 years old that come back from a camp and my friend he didn't go to this can be one of my best friend and he asked me how was and I started talking to him and I said this girl's name probably like 20 times and about it wasn't Jazz. She was like 12 back then so we're 5 minutes apart. She's not into this morning so I can say that she know he looked at me finally goes you like this girl. I was like what we talked about man. Like you said her name like 50 times than 5 minutes, but and here's the deal we give ourselves away in her speech, don't we? We often give ourselves away. We already know what somebody's going to say because of the things they've been sharing with us. We give ourselves away in our speech and here is this letter to the Corinthians and they have a messed up Church in a messed up culture and things are going terribly wrong. But what Paul does not do is first and foremost start out with you guys are more on you guys are idiots that you have the Holy Spirit in you, you know better. What does he do in just a handful of versus he mentions who they are and who God is Several times me read this to you Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus our brother soften these to the Church of God that is in court. He reminds me of who they are or identity. Guys, who are we? Who are we? Saints or sinners Evan Ross the same time the Saints or Saints why Paul tells us called to be Saints together with all those in every place to call upon the name of our Lord Jesus. You know, who you are you call on the name of the Lord Jesus. This is your identity. You are a saint you're a saint I sent to someone has been set apart for the purposes of Christ. He says call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ both their lord and ours grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Who does Paul talk about more than anyone in these first three verses it gives himself away who Jesus Jesus, it's Jesus. It's Jesus over and over again. He's mentioning. This is who you are in Jesus in the past of what Jesus has done. He has changed UPS Sanctified you in the present and thin and verse for gifted you heading. Future Keith holding you he is keeping you were going to look at these next three things over the next two weeks. This is who you are because of what Jesus has done and then I have to get every single person sitting in here a great amount of Hope because we can relate to the church at Corinth. We live in a very heated Secular Progressive Society. We're all kinds of thoughts are being shoved down our throats and we have seen oppressive archaic Backwoods because of our firm beliefs rooted on scripture. And Paul, he's going to stay here to us. Just like he says to this church because of Jesus. This is who you are get Jesus into your story. You are not the center of the story, but I want you to see Jesus working in your story and she isn't working in human history and also for the future of humanity humanity is going good deals with their past 50 deals with their present and he deals with their future not own way by putting them down by reminding them of who they are. This is what this letter to do for us. Redeemers, we're not a perfect church, if you thought that leave you messed us up. All right, we're not a perfect Church imperfect perfectly wash in the blood of Jesus Christ. We are place where we are called Saints because we call upon the name of Jesus Paul is writing to these people because he has a love and a passion for Jesus and he wants to see their lives hit his story. How about you do you see your life and his story please this morning log this away understand the culture of Corinth do some research on your own. Read a little bit about Paul brush up on some of that read through 1st Corinthians several times over the next month, but no Paul start out this letter and he says this is who you are. You are a saint. That's your identity. You're in here in your wrestling and struggling with who you are you relate to the bad parts of Corinth. He speaks the Same Love grace and mercy over you. You are a Saints receive respond and walking that is private. Thank you for your word this morning. Did you for the truth and the reality of who we are in Christ Jesus and the key for the first three verses to the Corinthian Church and we can relate with on many different levels that you called us out of Darkness into light. We are your children. They were rejoicing that celebrate that and walk in that reality in Jesus name.