Antioch Odessa
Matt - 1st Corinthians
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    Good morning. Turn with me in your Bibles to the first chapter of 1 Corinthians. Today we are beginning a brand new series on the book of 1 Corinthians. The title of our series is “Foundational Truths for godly behavior.” The Corinthian church began well. They actually started ahead of the pack in many ways because they had some great leaders to guide them in godly living. The church had a great foundation and had a level of giftedness, enthusiasm, and deep diversity. These things however, resulted in opportunities for great pride and envy which ended in division and conflict. Church may this be a lesson for us today to not only start well, but also finish well. As we look to the preaching and teaching of God’s Word in the church it should cause us to live godly lives for Jesus Christ. Sadly, there can be many distractions and sinful enticements in our evil culture that lure many people away from godly living. We have been called to be set apart from the rest of the world and live lives that are pleasing to the Lord. Is that you today? Is Antioch known as a church that is set apart for Christ, and being a bright light into our community?
    The word church in the greek language is (ekklesia) which means an assembly or a “a called out people.” The church is made up of saints or brothers and sisters in Christ whose lives look differently than the world or at least should look differently. I tell you this today because over recent years many church leaders want the church to blend in with the world. The mindset is that in order for us to reach the world we must be culturally relevant. So many church today want to blend in with the world that they have become like the world in how they live and act disregarding and disobeying God and His word.
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    As we begin our time in 1 Corinthians I want to do something that will be helpful since there is a lot that is happening here in this letter.
    I grew up in small town Iowa right next to our capitol city of Des Moines. I learned how to drive on the farm roads of Iowa so any time I was driving in a large city I felt lost and confused. I remember the first time our family went to St. Louis which was a big city for me, and my dad had me drive. I was so lost and did not understand where I was going. I will never forget that on the next day we all went to the St. Louis Arch and once we got to the very top I looked down at the city of St.Louis. Everything was a lot smaller and it was all laid out in front of me. I was then better able to understand where I was going and what I was dealing with.
    I tell you this today because when we come to letter’s like First Corinthians it can seem to be overwhelming and complex like driving through some crazy cities for the first time. If we are not able to get a bird’s-eye view of the whole idea and place of it’s biblical and historical context than it might be hard to understand. In the days ahead we will look into the twists and turns of the verses and chapters of First Corinthians. There is much that we need to learn here so what I want to do to help you is to get you an overview before we get into the main sections. Let’s begin here in verse 1 of chapter 1.
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    1 Corinthians 1:1–3 ESV
    1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    As we look into this short picture of the church at Corinth and the greeting of this book we learn about the writer, the recipients and the requirements that Paul lays out for this church. The church at Corinth began well. It was a dynamic and gifted church at a crossroads of commerce and culture that would set them up for a powerful impact to share the gospel in this town. Within a short time the church at Corinth was pulled into mediocrity as the weight of sin pulled its members into guilt and shame. Let this be a reminder for us today in how we should live and be watchful as the culture around us tries to suck us in and pull us down.
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    1. Notice the Recognition of Authority.

    1 Corinthians 1:1 ESV
    1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
    In Paul’s greeting here he also includes Sosthenes our brother. His name appears in Acts 18 and verse 17 as the leader of the synagogue in Corinth. Sosthenes had come to know Christ and then later joined Paul in Ephesus..
    Why did Paul need to take time to remind this church that he had been called? Paul reminded the Corinthians that he was not only their founding pastor or leader but also an apostle of Jesus by the will of God. Paul needed to take time here to firm up his authority at a time when it could be most likely resisted. Paul was not using this title to boast about his position of authority as some speakers or writers can do because of all their accomplishments. Paul was never trying to boast about himself and always gave glory to God. In fact, Paul refers to himself as the least of the apostles, because he felt not called to be an apostle because he persecuted the church.
    Sometimes, however it is important to establish your right to speak authoritatively on a subject. You would never go to hear a medical professional speak at a conference if they did not have some type of medical degree or credentials. A person’s degree or background give some indication as to whether or not what he or she has to say should be taken seriously. Paul was given this apostle position by the will of God. It was not by his own appointment or even the churches, but by God. Paul had been specifically chosen by the Lord to be an apostle after the Lord’s resurrection. Christ met Paul on the road to Damascus and radically transformed his life. Paul would never be the same person he was. Paul was the fierce persecutor of the church and now the Lord had called him to be the reliable Christian leader who would give his life for the church. Paul had a deep love and compassion for the church. Paul was now God’s ambassador. While there in Corinth he was not preaching his own message but God’s message. In the light of many false teachers and false teaching the Corinthian church and this church of God deeply needed Paul and other godly leaders. Paul had truly been called by God and was careful to lay out the legitimacy of his calling and apostleship in order to establish the legitimacy of his message. This message was truly a life changing message that every person needed to hear that is why this was of much importance.
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    2. Notice the Recipients of the Message.

    1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV
    2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
    The interesting part of this message is that we see both a geographic address in that the recipients are those people who are part of the church at Corinth, but also we see here the spiritual address because it is also given to the church of God, to those in Christ Jesus. The church is made up of saints or people who have been sanctified or set apart by God.
    Now some of you when you hear the word “saint” you may naturally think of the dead saints that men and women can worship or even honor because of their holy lives. However, a saint was not a dead person. No, Paul wrote to living saints, people who through faith in Christ, had been set apart for God’s use. Church please here me today when I say that every true believer is a saint this is true because every believer has been set apart by God and for God.
    So what do we know about this city of Corinth? Julias Caesar built a new Corinth in 44 B.C. after the Romans destroyed the old city. It was the largest and most cosmopolitan city of Greece. John Stott says that while the population of Ephesus was over a half a million, Corinth was around 750,000. Tim Keller helpfully says that Athens was like Boston, which was an intellectual center; Corinth was like New York City, a commercial center; and Rome was like Washington, DC; which was the political center. When Paul strolled into town there was no building that was more than one hundred years old.
    Turn with me back to Acts chapter 18 to see a little more background. The year was A.D. 50. After Paul had experienced a full year of hard travel over land and sea from Antioch, across Asia Minor, and through Macedonia preaching the gospel with Silas and Timothy, Paul went into Athens which was the center of Greek philosophy and culture. Having just escaped from the anger of some Jewish agitators Paul was hoping to get a little rest. Paul immediately began speaking to the Jews and Gentiles with the truth of Jesus. They even arranged a meeting at the Areopagus which was known as Mars Hill. From this famous city of Athens, Paul now crossed over the narrow Isthmus of Corinth. This was a two-day trip which took Paul from the famous to the infamous, from what most people considered the center of Greek intellectual culture to what we would see as the great immoral corruption in Corinth.
    Acts 18:1–17 ESV
    1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
    Here we now learn about the beginnings of the church at Corinth. God brought two bright lights into Paul’s life. These lights were Aquila and Priscilla. This couple was ordered out of Rome along with the rest of the Jews and they came to Corinth to join Paul. The two men shared the trade of tentmaking. As this couple along with Paul began to start up a ministry, they came to see just how challenging this outreach would be. However, God was with Paul and helped with what to say. God also put believers there to get this church started. This church soon found out that living a godly life in the midst of Corinth was a huge challenge. The temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was at the city’s center. Thousands of cult-prostitutes walked through the city in search of worshipers. The major problems that we see Paul confronted with in this church at Corinth was unity and morality.
    As we come back to 1 Corinthians keep in mind how the church is a body of people saved through faith in Christ and they have been called together to live in a community with one another. Again as I stated earlier the Greek word for church means ekklesia which means “called out.” This helps us to see that this special group has been called out from the rest of the world to be part of a new corporate body under the headship of Christ.
    What does this mean for us today? Church we are to look different, talk differently, act differently, and live differently. The church of God is much more than just a brick and mortar building. Every believer is the church.
    Paul also addresses here that the Corinthians are sanctified in Christ Jesus. This helps us to see that they were set apart by God to be his holy people. The word sanctification is an ongoing transformation that continues throughout a believer’s life. Sanctification will continue on until our glorification when we have new bodies in a new heaven and new earth. This shows us that we as God’s saints are to be devoted, consecrated, to be pure, and to be holy because we have been uniquely set apart for God use. Paul’s words to this local church in Corinth are able to transcend the geographical and historical boundaries in which they were written. In other words church this letter is as much for you and me right now as it was for the Corinthians at the very beginning. May we all today see the importance of living set apart lives for Christ.
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    3. Notice the most important Requirements.

    1 Corinthians 1:3 ESV
    3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    Paul now takes time to address some of the most important needs or requirements for the Corinthian church. Although this is a rather common greeting in Paul’s letters of both grace and peace he has an intended purpose. The word grace here means favor while the word peace is speaking of its fruits. The blessing of grace and peace would have had a particular meaning for Christians and especially those in Corinth. Paul here is not talking about the saving grace that happens from spiritual death to spiritual life. He is also not speaking about the eternal peace a believer has with God through justification by faith in the finished work of Christ. No, this is different although these things do happen. The grace and peace Paul mentions here should have brought to mind the virtues of the Christian life that must be present to continue on in church unity and harmony. As we will see throughout the rest of this letter, Paul wanted the Corinthians to be known as gracious saints who lived at peace with one another. This was especially important as a sinful and unbelieving culture looked at this church. Paul wanted this church to have a love for God so that they would turn from immoral sin and be pure in their hearts and minds. In the following verses we are going to see exactly why the Corinthian church needed an extra measure of grace and peace from God.
    Before Paul gets on to them for the things they did wrong, he first takes time to share with them the things they needed the most and to lift up this troubled church for the things they did right.
    Church it is so important that we see the bigger picture here. It is so easy today to live in the here and now or to even live for ourselves, our needs, and pleasures. As Proverbs 16 and verse 18 says,
    Proverbs 16:18 ESV
    18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
    The race is long and often times we can all take a fall or get tripped up. The important lesson today is to get back up with the Lord’s help and guidance and keep our eyes on Him and His Words. Our pride, our egos and our desires can often get in the road of finishing well. Even though it is easy to start the race and begin well this Christian journey does not mean that we will finish well. Here is what I want to encourage us with today. The author of Hebrews gives us some great wisdom and encouragement.
    Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV
    1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
    Church may we look to Christ the founder and perfecter of our faith as we journey through this life.
    (Close in Prayer)
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      • 1 Corinthians 1:1–3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:1ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:2ESV

      • Acts 18:1–17ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:3ESV

      • Proverbs 16:18ESV

      • Hebrews 12:1–2ESV

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Antioch Odessa
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