WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.879
Well, good morning, church family, and welcome

00:00:01.879 --> 00:00:04.519
to our brand new preaching series in the book

00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:08.359
of 1 Corinthians. Mornings like this are always

00:00:08.359 --> 00:00:11.039
an incredible joy for me. This is one of those

00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:13.939
mornings where, as a church family, we get to

00:00:13.939 --> 00:00:17.100
take a collective first step on a long journey

00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:20.219
into the depths of God's Word. And I was thinking

00:00:20.219 --> 00:00:22.160
about this last night. Who but the Lord knows

00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.980
where this is going to take us? And who but the

00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:27.480
Spirit of God knows what we're going to be shown

00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:30.480
along the way? Isn't that true? I know this for

00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.079
sure. Every time that we have finished a substantial

00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.740
book like this one, and in recent years, we have

00:00:36.740 --> 00:00:39.520
walked together through the book of Romans and

00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:42.020
through the gospel of John. Every time that we

00:00:42.020 --> 00:00:44.920
finished a book like that, I look back at where

00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:47.780
we started, and I think to myself, you know what?

00:00:47.820 --> 00:00:50.689
We're not the same church we were before. And

00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:53.649
that's a really good and healthy thing. So when

00:00:53.649 --> 00:00:55.590
it comes to this new series, I know that the

00:00:55.590 --> 00:00:58.490
Lord is going to grow us as well, because I know

00:00:58.490 --> 00:01:01.429
that he's always faithful to bless his church

00:01:01.429 --> 00:01:04.450
when we commit our hearts and our minds to know

00:01:04.450 --> 00:01:07.549
him better. Now, as you can see on the screen,

00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:11.370
we have chosen a particular title for this series,

00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:15.629
Kingdom Living in a Foolish World. And that is

00:01:15.629 --> 00:01:18.469
certainly an accurate description of where we

00:01:18.469 --> 00:01:20.849
live today. We live in a world that is lacking

00:01:20.849 --> 00:01:24.849
in wisdom and filled with foolish thinking. And

00:01:24.849 --> 00:01:27.810
so together we want to find out in this study

00:01:27.810 --> 00:01:31.909
how God desires us to walk, both as saints but

00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:35.010
also as strangers and aliens in the midst of

00:01:35.010 --> 00:01:38.569
a chaotic world where temptation and distractions

00:01:38.569 --> 00:01:42.170
are all around us. Now today, all we're going

00:01:42.170 --> 00:01:45.489
to do is introduce the letter. We're just going

00:01:45.489 --> 00:01:47.390
to look at the initial greeting that Paul writes

00:01:47.390 --> 00:01:50.030
to the Corinthians, and then we will dive into

00:01:50.030 --> 00:01:52.329
some important context. We're going to talk about

00:01:52.329 --> 00:01:55.170
the history of Corinth. We're going to talk about

00:01:55.170 --> 00:01:57.569
Paul's connection to the church in that city.

00:01:57.769 --> 00:02:00.349
And hopefully what we'll do today is set the

00:02:00.349 --> 00:02:03.849
table for what's to come. So let's dive into

00:02:03.849 --> 00:02:07.209
it. Grab your Bibles and let's open up to the

00:02:07.209 --> 00:02:11.669
New Testament and go to 1 Corinthians 1, very

00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:15.719
first verse. 1 Corinthians 1, we're going to

00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.360
read actually all the way through verse 9 here

00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:21.719
together, this entire greeting that Paul gives

00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.419
to the church. So here's what it says. Hear the

00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:28.159
word of the Lord. Verse 1, Paul, called as an

00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:31.560
apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and

00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:35.120
Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God,

00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:38.120
which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified

00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:54.389
in Christ Jesus, saints by calling. Verse 4.

00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:05.520
in everything. You were enriched in Him, in all

00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:08.539
speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony

00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:11.639
concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that

00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:15.539
you're not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly

00:03:15.539 --> 00:03:18.319
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who

00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:21.680
will also confirm you to the end, blameless in

00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.879
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful,

00:03:25.159 --> 00:03:27.699
through whom you were called into fellowship

00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:32.129
with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. By the way,

00:03:32.150 --> 00:03:34.870
did you notice how many times in that passage

00:03:34.870 --> 00:03:37.449
you've got the name of Jesus, but also the term

00:03:37.449 --> 00:03:40.729
Lord? We'll pick up on more on that next week

00:03:40.729 --> 00:03:42.629
together. Now, we're going to come back to the

00:03:42.629 --> 00:03:45.009
first three verses of those nine at the end of

00:03:45.009 --> 00:03:47.490
this message, and we'll look at them more closely.

00:03:47.610 --> 00:03:51.129
But now I want to talk about the historical context

00:03:51.129 --> 00:03:54.490
of what we just read. And let me start with this.

00:03:54.530 --> 00:03:57.469
Why does it matter in the first place? Listen,

00:03:57.590 --> 00:04:00.629
today is not just about letting me fly my historical

00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:04.710
nerd flag. There is an actual purpose in studying

00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:07.629
the history. And it's about two things in particular

00:04:07.629 --> 00:04:10.110
that I want to share with you this morning. First

00:04:10.110 --> 00:04:13.129
of all, it's about veracity. And second, it's

00:04:13.129 --> 00:04:16.730
about the difference between interpretation and

00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:20.529
application. When we talk about the veracity,

00:04:20.529 --> 00:04:23.529
or better word, the truthfulness of a passage

00:04:23.529 --> 00:04:26.930
of Scripture, what we're talking about is whether

00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:30.449
or not the history, the geography, and the culture

00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:33.790
found in the narrative lines up with facts on

00:04:33.790 --> 00:04:37.629
the ground. So, for example, if a story in the

00:04:37.629 --> 00:04:40.269
Bible were to misidentify a particular location

00:04:40.269 --> 00:04:44.629
or misidentify a person of importance or not

00:04:44.629 --> 00:04:47.850
describe a cultural practice correctly, well,

00:04:47.889 --> 00:04:51.029
that would call into question the veracity of

00:04:51.029 --> 00:04:54.110
that biblical account. So as we study a book

00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:56.750
like 1 Corinthians, we want to look at the history

00:04:56.750 --> 00:04:59.170
of the city. We want to look at its geography,

00:04:59.430 --> 00:05:02.230
its culture, and then we want to look to see

00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:05.209
if Paul's letter reflects what historians and

00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:08.129
archaeologists know about that time and about

00:05:08.129 --> 00:05:10.449
that part of the world. And if it does support

00:05:10.449 --> 00:05:13.589
what we know to be true, guess what? Then that's

00:05:13.589 --> 00:05:16.430
going to increase our trust in the text, and

00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:19.269
it's going to strengthen our faith. So veracity

00:05:19.269 --> 00:05:22.290
matters. Second, the history matters because

00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:24.829
we want to interpret the scriptures properly

00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:29.129
before we start to apply it. So we have to understand

00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:32.209
what a text means, what it meant back in the

00:05:32.209 --> 00:05:35.329
original time before we talk about what the text

00:05:35.329 --> 00:05:39.149
means in our lives today. So what we have to

00:05:39.149 --> 00:05:40.990
figure out is, first of all, what did the original

00:05:40.990 --> 00:05:44.370
author, in this case Paul, what did he intend

00:05:44.370 --> 00:05:47.319
to communicate? to the particular audience of

00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:50.860
that day, the Corinthian church, in that historical

00:05:50.860 --> 00:05:53.660
and cultural context, which, of course, is the

00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:56.759
first century Greek world. So, for example, when

00:05:56.759 --> 00:05:58.680
Paul talks about whether or not Christians can

00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:02.420
eat meat sacrificed to idols, We can't just jump

00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:05.620
to any application until we understand what was

00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:08.759
going on in Greco -Roman religion and in those

00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.779
pagan temples in the first century. And once

00:06:11.779 --> 00:06:14.839
we figure that out, then we can look at how principles

00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:18.040
from that instruction apply to the boundaries

00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:21.360
of freedom that we have in Christ today. So we've

00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:23.740
got to make sure that we understand the context

00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:26.740
and the meaning in that day before we talk about

00:06:26.740 --> 00:06:29.279
application. That means that knowing the history

00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.180
of a region really does matter. And seeing its

00:06:32.180 --> 00:06:35.519
geography on an actual map and studying the cultural

00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.750
nuances of life in that day and age. All of those

00:06:38.750 --> 00:06:41.790
things, all of those things help us to appreciate

00:06:41.790 --> 00:06:44.949
the truth and the beauty and the practicality

00:06:44.949 --> 00:06:47.350
of God's word. And they help us grow deeper in

00:06:47.350 --> 00:06:50.970
our faith as we seek to apply ancient principles

00:06:50.970 --> 00:06:55.149
in our day and age. Does that make sense? Okay,

00:06:55.189 --> 00:06:57.350
good. So let's start this morning by talking

00:06:57.350 --> 00:07:00.620
about the history of Corinth. And I want to go

00:07:00.620 --> 00:07:03.800
back to before the time of Christ, before Paul

00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:06.800
arrives in that city, I want to go back into

00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:10.860
the BC era. And the first thing we have to acknowledge

00:07:10.860 --> 00:07:13.740
is that by the time that Paul does come upon

00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:16.420
the scene in the first century, before he comes

00:07:16.420 --> 00:07:19.839
to Corinth, it is both an old city, a very old

00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:23.920
city, and also a very new city. Now, here's what

00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:26.139
I mean by that. First of all, let's go back in

00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:28.379
our minds, back to the days of ancient Greece.

00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:31.509
I want you to go back to the days of Socrates

00:07:31.509 --> 00:07:34.629
and Plato, back to the days of pagan temples

00:07:34.629 --> 00:07:38.430
and mythological gods and, yes, togas, men in

00:07:38.430 --> 00:07:41.509
togas. Don't get me started on that. Back to

00:07:41.509 --> 00:07:43.889
the period of classical Greece, prior to the

00:07:43.889 --> 00:07:46.730
rise of Alexander the Great. Back in classical

00:07:46.730 --> 00:07:49.810
Greece, there was no central government that

00:07:49.810 --> 00:07:51.970
ruled all of Greece. If you know anything about

00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:54.870
the Greeks, fiercely independent. They didn't

00:07:54.870 --> 00:07:56.970
like the idea of central government. So each

00:07:56.970 --> 00:08:00.350
area within Greece, including all the islands

00:08:00.350 --> 00:08:03.350
there in the Aegean Sea, were ruled as part of

00:08:03.350 --> 00:08:06.910
a concept called the polis. Very important word,

00:08:06.949 --> 00:08:10.480
or the city -state. So each region, each city

00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:13.759
-state had its own set of laws, its own temples,

00:08:14.019 --> 00:08:17.480
its own fortifications, its own armies. And some

00:08:17.480 --> 00:08:20.759
of these polises were small. Some of them had

00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:24.100
vast amounts of mountainous land. Some of them

00:08:24.100 --> 00:08:26.220
were even just individual islands there in the

00:08:26.220 --> 00:08:29.199
Aegean Sea. So most prominently, you had like

00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:32.419
the polis of Athens, and you had the polis of

00:08:32.419 --> 00:08:35.830
Sparta. and the polis of Thebes, and the polis

00:08:35.830 --> 00:08:38.690
of Argos, and of course you had the polis of

00:08:38.690 --> 00:08:42.009
Corinth. And in the classical period, most of

00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:44.649
these city -states were ruled by something called

00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:46.889
oligarchs, and that's a word you hear coming

00:08:46.889 --> 00:08:48.889
up more and more these days in our political

00:08:48.889 --> 00:08:51.450
discussions. Oligarchs, the word literally means

00:08:51.450 --> 00:08:55.360
in the Greek, rule by a few. So in an oligarchy,

00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:58.059
power was concentrated in the hands of just a

00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:01.179
few men who were sort of recognized by the citizens

00:09:01.179 --> 00:09:04.480
of that polis based on their family lines, based

00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:07.279
on their wealth, and oftentimes based on their

00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:10.220
military power. And sometimes these oligarchs

00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:13.179
were benevolent rulers. They were good governors,

00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:16.179
but more often than not, they were corrupt and

00:09:16.179 --> 00:09:19.139
abusive. And later, some of these men would be

00:09:19.139 --> 00:09:22.519
called tyrannos, where we get our word tyrant

00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:25.490
from. because of their corruption and abuse.

00:09:25.789 --> 00:09:28.929
And that was true in the polis of Corinth in

00:09:28.929 --> 00:09:32.889
the 6th century BC. In fact, these two men, the

00:09:32.889 --> 00:09:34.990
first one has lost his nose, sorry about that.

00:09:35.809 --> 00:09:40.590
Sipsilus and his son, Periander, ruled as tyrants

00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:44.309
over Corinth for more than 70 years in the 6th

00:09:44.309 --> 00:09:47.509
century BC. When their days of power were over,

00:09:47.529 --> 00:09:50.700
then Corinth suffered through a whole Long period

00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:55.860
of instability. Rulers and leadership in government

00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:57.759
that went up and down and all over the place.

00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:01.120
And they struggled economically because this

00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.019
Polish, just about 40 miles away, we call Athens,

00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:06.879
began to become a more successful commercial

00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:10.179
center. Still, the Corinthians were able to protect

00:10:10.179 --> 00:10:12.879
their city. I'm going to give you a timeline

00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:15.840
here. They were able to protect their city and,

00:10:15.899 --> 00:10:20.009
in fact, sent soldiers. to be part of a Greek

00:10:20.009 --> 00:10:23.429
confederacy that fought against multiple Persian

00:10:23.429 --> 00:10:25.929
invasions. If you know anything about the story

00:10:25.929 --> 00:10:28.129
of the Persians and the Greeks, some of you guys

00:10:28.129 --> 00:10:30.750
have seen the movie 300. We talked about Xerxes

00:10:30.750 --> 00:10:33.809
when we were in the book of Esther. This is where

00:10:33.809 --> 00:10:36.659
those worlds sort of collide together. So they

00:10:36.659 --> 00:10:40.600
sent soldiers to fight in these wars, first of

00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:43.259
all against King Darius of Persia in the year

00:10:43.259 --> 00:10:46.440
490 BC. Ten years later, when Xerxes brought

00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:49.639
his massive army from Persia over to Greece,

00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:52.259
the Corinthians were part of fighting that war

00:10:52.259 --> 00:10:56.080
as well. That was in 480 BC. Now, 50 years after

00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:59.960
those wars with Persia, and they had successfully

00:10:59.960 --> 00:11:02.759
pushed the Persians away, well, then the city

00:11:02.759 --> 00:11:05.659
-states did what so many human beings do. They

00:11:05.659 --> 00:11:07.419
turned their attention to fighting with each

00:11:07.419 --> 00:11:09.720
other. And they fought against each other in

00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:12.320
what we call the Peloponnesian Wars. And in that

00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.539
conflict, Corinth allied itself with Sparta.

00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:19.429
against Athens and her allies, and they were

00:11:19.429 --> 00:11:22.490
victorious in that. However, Corinth didn't win

00:11:22.490 --> 00:11:24.950
its independence. Whereas it had been dominated

00:11:24.950 --> 00:11:27.750
by Athens for a while, now it became dominated

00:11:27.750 --> 00:11:31.610
by Sparta. And that continued for quite a while

00:11:31.610 --> 00:11:36.309
until the year 338 BC when a brand new power

00:11:36.309 --> 00:11:40.049
arose in the Greek mainland from the north, not

00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:43.389
a classical Greek polis, not a democracy, but

00:11:43.389 --> 00:11:46.840
a warrior state. ruled by a king. This is the

00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:50.460
Macedonians. We hear a lot about Macedonia in

00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:54.259
the New Testament. King Philip of Macedon, who's

00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:57.019
Alexander the Great's father, was the first great

00:11:57.019 --> 00:11:59.679
Macedonian king. He brought his forces south

00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:03.259
and began picking off one Greek city -state after

00:12:03.259 --> 00:12:06.620
another, moving south, defeating Thebes, defeating

00:12:06.620 --> 00:12:10.639
Athens, defeating everybody. And eventually came

00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.740
to Corinth and occupied Corinth as well. In fact,

00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.059
he garrisoned the whole of his army in the city

00:12:18.059 --> 00:12:21.600
of Corinth. And all of Greece basically, except

00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.039
for Sparta, Sparta was sort of isolated. All

00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:27.460
of Greece became Macedonian. That was just the

00:12:27.460 --> 00:12:29.799
fact. Even after Philip's death, his son Alexander

00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:33.899
made Corinth the administrative center. of his

00:12:33.899 --> 00:12:37.200
force as he was planning to invade Persia himself.

00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:40.179
And as we know, a dozen years after that, he

00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:42.659
had absolutely annihilated the Persian Empire.

00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:46.019
Now, fast forward past the days of Alexander

00:12:46.019 --> 00:12:48.980
to the next great power, this one coming out

00:12:48.980 --> 00:12:52.059
of the West, the ever -expanding Roman Empire.

00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:56.379
In the 2nd century BC, Roman legions for the

00:12:56.379 --> 00:12:59.419
first time begin showing up on the shores of

00:12:59.419 --> 00:13:05.750
Macedonia. By 146 BC, 146 BC, they had crushed

00:13:05.750 --> 00:13:08.750
every Greek army on the mainland, and in the

00:13:08.750 --> 00:13:11.610
process of this, this is important, Rome completely

00:13:11.610 --> 00:13:14.210
leveled the city of Corinth, knocked every stone

00:13:14.210 --> 00:13:19.090
down, flattened it, put every single male in

00:13:19.090 --> 00:13:22.169
the city to the sword, and sold every woman and

00:13:22.169 --> 00:13:28.350
every child into slavery in 146 BC. For 100 years,

00:13:28.509 --> 00:13:31.929
Corinth lay... in absolute ruins, flattened to

00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:34.809
the earth, completely desolate, uninhabited.

00:13:34.970 --> 00:13:38.049
And there was no sign that it was going to ever

00:13:38.049 --> 00:13:40.730
rise again, except for the man we know as Julius

00:13:40.730 --> 00:13:45.309
Caesar. And Julius Caesar in 44 BC looked at

00:13:45.309 --> 00:13:48.889
the landscape of Corinth and saw its potential,

00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:52.649
and he ordered the city to be rebuilt. Not just

00:13:52.649 --> 00:13:56.570
rebuilt, but made the actual Roman capital of

00:13:56.570 --> 00:14:00.299
the entire region of of what we call Achaia today.

00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:03.279
So this rebirth of the city then brought a whole

00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:06.039
new life to it. Corinth once again sprang from

00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:08.419
the ground and it brought a whole new batch of

00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:11.580
citizens to the region. Now it was flooded with

00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:13.740
merchants and traders from all over the ancient

00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:16.659
world. Roman soldiers were housed there, but

00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:19.460
also retiring Roman soldiers who were given land

00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:22.179
grants and a pension after their service all

00:14:22.179 --> 00:14:24.659
came to Corinth. And we're going to find out

00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:28.289
a good number of Jews as well. came from Israel

00:14:28.289 --> 00:14:31.730
and settled in Corinth. So this is why I said

00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:34.590
just a bit ago, by the time Paul gets there,

00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:38.029
it's an old city, very ancient, but it's also

00:14:38.029 --> 00:14:41.269
very new, having been rebuilt and reconstructed

00:14:41.269 --> 00:14:44.610
under Roman power. And now, as we come to the

00:14:44.610 --> 00:14:46.929
time of Christ, Corinth is now a very important

00:14:46.929 --> 00:14:51.169
city and a very prosperous city. So let's fast

00:14:51.169 --> 00:14:53.110
forward now to the time of Christ and beyond.

00:14:53.210 --> 00:14:56.409
We'll get to Paul's connection to the city. And

00:14:56.409 --> 00:14:58.230
first, we're going to do some maps. I promised

00:14:58.230 --> 00:15:00.629
this on social media that we'll do some maps

00:15:00.629 --> 00:15:03.230
today. Thank you very much, map fans over here.

00:15:03.730 --> 00:15:05.909
We'll do a whole bunch of maps here. But this

00:15:05.909 --> 00:15:08.990
is an important timeline to understand how Corinth

00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:12.049
got to where it is by the time of Christ and

00:15:12.049 --> 00:15:14.809
by the time of Paul. Okay, so real quick, let's

00:15:14.809 --> 00:15:17.070
look at the Mediterranean world. Make sure we

00:15:17.070 --> 00:15:19.919
get our bearings. And I've given you some important

00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.519
places here. You see where Egypt is, and then

00:15:22.519 --> 00:15:25.879
Israel, Syria to the north, coming then west,

00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:28.919
you have Asia Minor, Italy, and the dots are,

00:15:29.019 --> 00:15:31.940
what's the blue dot? Blue dot's always Jerusalem,

00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:35.600
good. That orange dot is called Syrian Antioch.

00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:38.059
That's the launching point for all of Paul's

00:15:38.059 --> 00:15:40.299
missionary journeys. This is where he starts

00:15:40.299 --> 00:15:43.379
out of. And just as a sort of a boundary, you

00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:46.159
have the red dot, which is what? Rome. Okay,

00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:48.840
where is Greece in the middle of all this? Okay,

00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:52.259
it's right there. So it's smack dab in the middle

00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:54.580
of the Mediterranean world, and you can see why

00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:57.360
this would be such an important place for any

00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:00.559
nation to occupy. So now we're going to zoom

00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:03.100
in into this area here, and just we have Asia

00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:06.100
Minor, Macedonia to the north, Greece to the

00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:08.679
south, and what is that island I've circled there?

00:16:11.339 --> 00:16:14.200
Bonus points, Crete, very good. So we just recently

00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:16.700
came out of Titus, right, which was Paul's letter

00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:19.360
to Titus on the island of Crete. So that's where

00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.379
that is. And then just one last thing here. Anybody

00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:26.919
know what that is? It's called the Peloponnese.

00:16:27.460 --> 00:16:31.700
And it looks distinct from Greece, but there's

00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:34.899
a little landmass called an isthmus, say that

00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:38.039
word, that connects the Peloponnese to mainland

00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:40.919
Greece. That's very important. for Corinth, and

00:16:40.919 --> 00:16:43.320
we'll come back to that in just a moment. Okay,

00:16:43.419 --> 00:16:46.080
so let's get to a timeline here. I want you to

00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:49.860
now go to the year 46 AD. We've now crossed from

00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:55.279
44 BC, 100 years later, 46 AD. The Apostle Paul

00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.360
and his partner Barnabas are on what we call

00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:01.639
his first missionary journey, and they sail out

00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:04.940
of Antioch. in Syria, and they first visit the

00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:07.339
island of Cyprus, and then they go to a place

00:17:07.339 --> 00:17:10.160
called Pamphylia, and then they go to Pisidian

00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:13.119
Antioch and through a number of locations that

00:17:13.119 --> 00:17:16.680
later will come to be known as the Galatian churches,

00:17:17.099 --> 00:17:21.220
Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, the Galatian churches,

00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:24.900
and they come back in 48. at the end of this

00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:27.380
first missionary journey, and they come back

00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:29.460
because they're being called to a very specific

00:17:29.460 --> 00:17:31.980
event, a very important event in the book of

00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:35.000
Acts. In the year 49, they attend what's called

00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:38.240
the Jerusalem Council. You find it in Acts 15.

00:17:38.579 --> 00:17:41.680
It's a very important marker for the church that

00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:43.920
you should know about. That is where all the

00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:47.099
apostles and sort of the elders of the missionary

00:17:47.099 --> 00:17:50.839
movement came to decide, what do we do with all

00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:53.039
these Gentiles who are coming to faith in Christ?

00:17:53.319 --> 00:17:55.839
Before this, everybody coming to faith was Jewish.

00:17:56.509 --> 00:17:58.309
They had a background in the Hebrew scriptures.

00:17:58.650 --> 00:18:01.769
But now everywhere we go, we're finding Gentiles

00:18:01.769 --> 00:18:04.849
with pagan backgrounds. They're coming to faith

00:18:04.849 --> 00:18:07.529
in Christ. So the elders and apostles got together

00:18:07.529 --> 00:18:09.529
and said, what do we do with these people? What

00:18:09.529 --> 00:18:12.750
do we require of them in order to be considered

00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:16.569
believers? So they go to the Jerusalem council.

00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:18.549
I don't have time to unpack all that. But the

00:18:18.549 --> 00:18:20.930
following year, then Paul and Barnabas, they

00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:23.759
go their separate ways. And Paul takes on a new

00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:25.900
partner by the name of Silas, and they start

00:18:25.900 --> 00:18:28.980
out on what we call the second missionary journey

00:18:28.980 --> 00:18:32.420
around the year 50. And so they go back to some

00:18:32.420 --> 00:18:34.640
of those churches that they had planted, and

00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:37.079
they deliver to them the news about, here's what

00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:40.259
was decided at the Jerusalem council. And they're

00:18:40.259 --> 00:18:42.099
talking to Gentiles, they're going, good news,

00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:44.519
you don't have to become Jewish to be a follower

00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.359
of Christ. So he delivers that news to them.

00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:51.779
And then in the next year, the year 51, after

00:18:51.779 --> 00:18:54.900
being divinely prohibitive from preaching in

00:18:54.900 --> 00:18:59.420
Asia and Bithynia, Paul, Silas, and Timothy all

00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:02.319
together now find themselves in a very important

00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:05.019
place. I'm going to put it on a map. A couple

00:19:05.019 --> 00:19:06.900
important cities in Asia Minor. There's where

00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:11.880
Ephesus is. That green dot is Troas. Paul, Silas,

00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:14.619
and Timothy find themselves in this port city

00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:17.750
called Troas. And in this moment comes another

00:19:17.750 --> 00:19:19.670
one of the most important moments in the history

00:19:19.670 --> 00:19:22.250
of the church. It's described in Acts chapter

00:19:22.250 --> 00:19:25.390
16, and I'll read it to you here. It says this,

00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:29.849
a vision appeared to Paul in the night. Okay,

00:19:29.910 --> 00:19:34.490
he's in Troas. He gets a vision. A man of Macedonia

00:19:34.490 --> 00:19:37.750
was standing and appealing to him, saying, come

00:19:37.750 --> 00:19:41.380
over to Macedonia and help us. When he had seen

00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:44.359
the vision, immediately we sought to go into

00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:47.500
Macedonia, concluding that God had called us

00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:50.700
to preach the gospel to them. What was your first

00:19:50.700 --> 00:19:54.420
clue? Right? Yeah. We just got a vision saying,

00:19:54.480 --> 00:19:56.960
come over here. We've decided that's a good idea.

00:19:57.059 --> 00:19:59.160
We should do that because this is what God is

00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:02.420
calling us to. So they hop on a ship from Troas

00:20:02.420 --> 00:20:06.339
across the Aegean Sea and they land in Macedonia.

00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:09.039
Okay, so there's a couple more dots on here for

00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:11.380
you to look at. They land in Macedonia. They

00:20:11.380 --> 00:20:14.380
eventually make their way to Philippi, that kind

00:20:14.380 --> 00:20:17.980
of orangish dot in the northern part of Macedonia.

00:20:18.099 --> 00:20:20.740
Remember, that's where they meet Lydia, and they

00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:23.079
plant a church there in Philippi. Of course,

00:20:23.099 --> 00:20:25.920
later, the letter to the Philippians. And then

00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.740
after spending a night in jail there, remember,

00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:31.119
and being miraculously freed, Paul and his friends

00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.180
make their way further south into Thessalonica.

00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:37.789
where they plant the Thessalonian church, and

00:20:37.789 --> 00:20:40.569
then on to a place called Berea, that light blue

00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:44.009
dot. So all of that is up in Macedonia. And then

00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:46.069
finally, they leave Macedonia. They begin to

00:20:46.069 --> 00:20:49.549
travel south into the region of Achaia, and they

00:20:49.549 --> 00:20:53.470
arrive in the city of Athens, this glorious Greek,

00:20:53.650 --> 00:20:56.650
the ultimate Greek city of Athens. And it's there

00:20:56.650 --> 00:20:59.569
where Paul delivers his famous sermon to all

00:20:59.569 --> 00:21:02.549
the philosophers on this place we call Mars Hill.

00:21:03.150 --> 00:21:06.289
All this is in the book of Acts. We come to Acts

00:21:06.289 --> 00:21:09.589
18 then. We see Paul leaving Athens. This time

00:21:09.589 --> 00:21:12.490
he leaves without Silas and Timothy, and he comes

00:21:12.490 --> 00:21:15.089
to Corinth for the first time. So this is the

00:21:15.089 --> 00:21:18.450
important moment. Corinth is that red dot, and

00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:21.369
you can see where Sparta is as well. That location

00:21:21.369 --> 00:21:25.470
is incredibly important. Paul comes to Corinth.

00:21:25.710 --> 00:21:28.589
What happens when he arrives in Corinth? Well,

00:21:28.630 --> 00:21:30.690
right off the bat, he meets an important couple.

00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:34.640
We call them in English, we always say Aquila

00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:38.180
and Priscilla or whatever. Their names in Greek,

00:21:38.279 --> 00:21:41.660
Aquilos and Priscilla. That's for another day.

00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:43.759
We'll just go with the English, but that's how

00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:46.319
they were pronounced. But these were Jewish believers

00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:50.349
in Christ. They're in Corinth. They were from

00:21:50.349 --> 00:21:53.730
Pontus, which is in Asia Minor, and they had

00:21:53.730 --> 00:21:56.609
been living in Rome, but Emperor Claudius, we

00:21:56.609 --> 00:21:58.930
know this historically, expelled the Jews out

00:21:58.930 --> 00:22:01.490
of the city of Rome. So Aquila and Priscilla

00:22:01.490 --> 00:22:03.630
had to leave Rome, and they ended up in Corinth,

00:22:03.750 --> 00:22:06.089
and they meet Paul. And Paul stays with this

00:22:06.089 --> 00:22:09.069
couple and joins them in their trade, which is

00:22:09.069 --> 00:22:12.450
what? Tent making. And they make tents together

00:22:12.450 --> 00:22:15.849
while they're out evangelizing and teaching about

00:22:15.849 --> 00:22:18.470
the gospel. So we're told, and I'll give you

00:22:18.470 --> 00:22:21.910
the date here. This is in 51 to 52. We're told

00:22:21.910 --> 00:22:24.369
that every Sabbath, Paul would go to the synagogue

00:22:24.369 --> 00:22:27.569
there in Corinth. Okay, Paul always started with

00:22:27.569 --> 00:22:30.009
his fellow Jews. We know this from the book of

00:22:30.009 --> 00:22:31.890
Romans, right? He has a great heart for his people,

00:22:32.029 --> 00:22:34.430
the ethnic Jews. And he would go to the synagogue

00:22:34.430 --> 00:22:37.269
and reason with them, trying to win them to Christ.

00:22:37.369 --> 00:22:39.890
And then Silas and Timothy eventually come down

00:22:39.890 --> 00:22:42.309
to Corinth as well. And whatever they bring to

00:22:42.309 --> 00:22:44.710
the table, now it says that Paul's able to devote

00:22:44.710 --> 00:22:47.170
100 % of his time to preaching and teaching.

00:22:47.569 --> 00:22:51.630
But what happens in the synagogue? The same thing

00:22:51.630 --> 00:22:54.430
that happens everywhere Paul goes. His boldness

00:22:54.430 --> 00:22:57.829
prompts a hostile reaction from the unbelieving

00:22:57.829 --> 00:22:59.769
Jews. And we shouldn't be surprised by that,

00:22:59.829 --> 00:23:02.589
right? The Jews are very set in what they believe.

00:23:02.690 --> 00:23:04.829
They have the Torah. They have their scriptures.

00:23:04.910 --> 00:23:08.109
And what they believe is happening is, here's

00:23:08.109 --> 00:23:11.369
Paul. He's an apostate Jew who is preaching this

00:23:11.369 --> 00:23:15.089
new faith in the way they're thinking. And it

00:23:15.089 --> 00:23:17.210
doesn't make sense to them because God hasn't

00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:19.470
yet opened their eyes. And so they react very

00:23:19.470 --> 00:23:23.480
hostily. to Paul. So he has to leave the synagogue

00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.940
and start focusing on evangelizing the Greeks

00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:29.640
there in Corinth. To do that, the Bible tells

00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:32.339
us that he set up headquarters in the house of

00:23:32.339 --> 00:23:35.240
a man named Titius Justice, who was a Gentile

00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:39.019
God -fearer. He had been in the synagogue worshiping

00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:42.099
as a Gentile. Now he pulls away from there. Paul

00:23:42.099 --> 00:23:44.680
sets up his ministry in his house. And where

00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:47.579
is his house located? Right next door to the

00:23:47.579 --> 00:23:50.680
synagogue. I love that little detail. Paul's

00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:52.960
like, fine, I'm going to go right over here and

00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.099
I'll talk to the Gentiles and you'll see me doing

00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:58.880
that. I just love that. And by the grace of God,

00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:01.720
Paul's efforts are successful. Gentiles start

00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:03.700
getting saved. They're submitting to baptism.

00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:07.140
In fact, the leader of the synagogue, a man named

00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:10.579
Crispus, we're told, becomes a believer along

00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:13.519
with the rest of his household. But even with

00:24:13.519 --> 00:24:15.519
the good news that's going on, Paul knows he

00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.319
is stirring up a hornet's nest in Corinth. The

00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:20.920
Jews are getting more hostile. And it becomes

00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:23.059
obvious that Paul is concerned for his safety.

00:24:23.259 --> 00:24:26.279
Here's how we know that. Listen to how God comforts

00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:28.000
him in the midst of this. This is Acts chapter

00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:31.339
18. Paul's in Corinth. He's worried about his

00:24:31.339 --> 00:24:34.019
safety. And the Lord said to Paul in the night

00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:37.259
by another vision, do not be afraid any longer,

00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:40.839
Paul, but go on speaking and do not be silent

00:24:40.839 --> 00:24:44.359
for I am with you. How comforting would that

00:24:44.359 --> 00:24:47.569
be? And no man will attack you in order to harm

00:24:47.569 --> 00:24:50.490
you. Look at this now. For I have many people

00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:55.309
in this city. What a statement of assurance that

00:24:55.309 --> 00:24:58.170
must have been for Paul. God speaks to him directly

00:24:58.170 --> 00:25:01.069
in a vision. He commits his own hand of protection

00:25:01.069 --> 00:25:04.650
over Paul's ministry. And he says, look, I'm

00:25:04.650 --> 00:25:07.269
sovereign over the entire population in Corinth,

00:25:07.349 --> 00:25:09.990
every person. And I have many people there that

00:25:09.990 --> 00:25:12.890
belong to me. And what a brilliant illustration

00:25:12.890 --> 00:25:15.880
this is. For those of us, who hold to a balanced,

00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.900
reformed view of salvation, this is a beautiful

00:25:18.900 --> 00:25:21.819
example for us. Think about this. Those who often

00:25:21.819 --> 00:25:24.920
attack our view about salvation, about election,

00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:26.819
they will say, well, look, if God elects some

00:25:26.819 --> 00:25:30.319
to salvation, what's the point of praying? What's

00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:32.539
the point of evangelizing? God is gonna save

00:25:32.539 --> 00:25:36.160
whoever he marks out, whether you get involved

00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:38.279
or not. So why would you pray? Why would you

00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:40.680
evangelize? But we know, biblically, that is

00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:43.940
a distortion of the truth. And this passage,

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:47.880
gives us a perfect response. We affirm this.

00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:50.779
Yes, God will save whom he will save. We affirm

00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:53.960
that. But God works through secondary causes,

00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:58.259
like Paul, like you, like me, like all of us,

00:25:58.299 --> 00:26:01.579
to accomplish his will on the earth by bringing

00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:04.880
sinners to repentance and salvation. It's not

00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:09.000
that he needs us to save people, right? He doesn't

00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:11.680
need anything, but it's part of his sovereign

00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:15.269
will to work through us. If Paul didn't think

00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:18.049
he had a role to play in this process, he would

00:26:18.049 --> 00:26:20.130
have said, oh, thank you, Lord, for letting me

00:26:20.130 --> 00:26:21.849
know that you have a whole bunch of people in

00:26:21.849 --> 00:26:24.190
this city. Now I can move on to somewhere else.

00:26:25.450 --> 00:26:28.509
Right? But he does the opposite. It's precisely

00:26:28.509 --> 00:26:31.609
because God said, I have many that belong to

00:26:31.609 --> 00:26:34.369
me here, that Paul said, great, I'm staying.

00:26:35.349 --> 00:26:37.839
Do you understand the importance of this? For

00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.819
our view of salvation, Paul says, precisely because

00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:42.960
of that, I am going to stay. And we're told in

00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:45.759
verse 11 that he settles there a year and six

00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:49.140
months, which is much longer than Paul ever wanted

00:26:49.140 --> 00:26:52.099
to stay anywhere because he's a mover. But he

00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:54.980
says, look, if God has many here, I've got a

00:26:54.980 --> 00:26:58.319
role to play here. And this principle is true

00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:01.220
for us today. We know in Santa Clarita, God has

00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:04.599
marked out many for salvation. He is sovereign

00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:07.000
to save. But that doesn't mean we go, oh, well,

00:27:07.019 --> 00:27:09.559
good. We can go sit on the couch and watch TV

00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:12.880
and God will somehow save people, right? He doesn't

00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:16.680
need us, but it's our job to go. And it's our

00:27:16.680 --> 00:27:19.119
job to seek those who need Christ, to share the

00:27:19.119 --> 00:27:22.160
gospel, to lead them towards repentance and faith.

00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:25.480
And you know what? If they do, if we're out there

00:27:25.480 --> 00:27:27.720
and we go and we talk to people and they receive

00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:31.460
Christ by faith, guess what? We will know that

00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.549
God had marked them out from the beginning. That's

00:27:34.549 --> 00:27:36.210
what the Bible tells us, that they belonged to

00:27:36.210 --> 00:27:38.970
him even before the world was made. And that

00:27:38.970 --> 00:27:42.069
somehow, and this blows my mind, that God gave

00:27:42.069 --> 00:27:45.589
us the privilege of playing a small role, participating

00:27:45.589 --> 00:27:49.130
in seeing people come to know Christ. That's

00:27:49.130 --> 00:27:51.589
how God works. He's the primary cause. He's the

00:27:51.589 --> 00:27:53.890
one who saves, but he works through his servants.

00:27:53.950 --> 00:27:58.170
Amen? What a great passage. Highlight this. Underline

00:27:58.170 --> 00:28:00.430
it. If people start asking you, why do you believe

00:28:00.430 --> 00:28:03.180
about election? Wow, right? What a great passage

00:28:03.180 --> 00:28:06.480
for that. So Paul chooses to stay in Corinth

00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:09.720
for a year and a half. And immediately in the

00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:12.220
text, we see God doing exactly what he promised,

00:28:12.339 --> 00:28:15.500
protecting Paul. The very next verse says this.

00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:20.740
While Galileo was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews

00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:24.099
with one accord rose up against Paul and brought

00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:27.380
him, really it's dragged him before the judgment

00:28:27.380 --> 00:28:30.779
seat. Paul was concerned about this. He knew

00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:33.920
things were getting tense, and he gets dragged

00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:35.619
before the judgment seat. A couple important

00:28:35.619 --> 00:28:38.200
things here. First of all, this is another example

00:28:38.200 --> 00:28:41.220
of why history matters, why it helps us to trust

00:28:41.220 --> 00:28:43.880
the text. You say, well, why would a proconsul

00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:47.400
be in Corinth? That's a very important office.

00:28:47.460 --> 00:28:49.740
It's like the governor of our state. Well, the

00:28:49.740 --> 00:28:51.700
answer is, it's because we know Julius Caesar

00:28:51.700 --> 00:28:55.539
made Corinth the capital of that region of Achaia.

00:28:55.619 --> 00:28:58.140
So it's historically true. That's important.

00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.180
Second, look at the phrase judgment seat at the

00:29:01.180 --> 00:29:03.660
end of the verse there. It's just one word in

00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:07.079
the Greek. It's bema. Just one word. Two big

00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:10.119
things about the bema. Once again, we know by

00:29:10.119 --> 00:29:12.980
archaeology it is a historically accurate feature

00:29:12.980 --> 00:29:16.700
of Corinth. Excavations at the ancient site have

00:29:16.700 --> 00:29:19.160
literally uncovered the platform where the bema

00:29:19.160 --> 00:29:22.059
was located. We know that's true. But what's

00:29:22.059 --> 00:29:25.160
cool about this is Paul is later, in writing

00:29:25.160 --> 00:29:27.099
to the Corinthians, is going to use the image

00:29:27.099 --> 00:29:29.920
of the bema In two different places, in chapter

00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:33.019
three of 1 Corinthians, he's gonna talk about

00:29:33.019 --> 00:29:35.619
when the day comes when believers' works will

00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:39.339
be tested by fire. And the picture is, it's gonna

00:29:39.339 --> 00:29:43.119
be tested at Abema, at the judgment seat, your

00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.640
works. Not you, but your works, the things that

00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:47.759
you did. Did you do them for the glory of God

00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:50.259
or for the glory of self? They'll be tested by

00:29:50.259 --> 00:29:52.839
fire. Then in 2 Corinthians, he's gonna write,

00:29:52.980 --> 00:29:57.220
for all of us must appear before God. The judgment

00:29:57.220 --> 00:30:01.259
seat of Christ, the Bema of Christ. So the Corinthians

00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:03.680
receiving these two letters, they completely

00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:07.240
understand. This is one of those cultural archaeological

00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:10.039
nuances that help us with the text. They fully

00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:12.559
understand what Paul is talking about when he

00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:15.960
mentions the Bema. So the Jews seize Paul, they

00:30:15.960 --> 00:30:18.700
bring him up on charges before Galileo, but guess

00:30:18.700 --> 00:30:22.059
what happens? By God's sovereign grace and protection,

00:30:22.380 --> 00:30:26.630
this Gentile governor, who couldn't care less

00:30:26.630 --> 00:30:29.670
about Christianity, dismisses all the charges

00:30:29.670 --> 00:30:32.670
against Paul outright and completely frees him

00:30:32.670 --> 00:30:36.109
and lets him keep teaching in Corinth. God was

00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:39.440
faithful to his promise in the vision. So he

00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:42.279
spends 18 months in the city and he plants the

00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:44.359
Corinthian church there. And then we're told

00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:47.019
that Paul sails back towards his home base in

00:30:47.019 --> 00:30:50.099
Syrian Antioch. And he comes with Priscilla and

00:30:50.099 --> 00:30:52.740
Aquila. And then they stop at the very important

00:30:52.740 --> 00:30:57.039
city of Ephesus in the year 53. This is important.

00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:00.940
This is likely when the Ephesian church is planted.

00:31:01.460 --> 00:31:03.980
Paul doesn't stay there long. He leaves Priscilla

00:31:03.980 --> 00:31:06.880
and Aquila there and he goes back to Antioch.

00:31:07.309 --> 00:31:09.029
But then he doesn't stay at home long either.

00:31:09.170 --> 00:31:12.650
Very soon after, he goes off on his third missionary

00:31:12.650 --> 00:31:16.490
journey in 53. Once again, takes a similar route.

00:31:16.690 --> 00:31:19.430
He goes to Asia Minor. He strengthens all those

00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:22.710
Galatian churches. Then he comes back to Ephesus.

00:31:23.930 --> 00:31:27.509
This is where everything becomes important for

00:31:27.509 --> 00:31:29.930
the letter to the Corinthians. He comes back

00:31:29.930 --> 00:31:31.829
to Ephesus. Remember, he was only there briefly.

00:31:32.349 --> 00:31:34.130
He comes back there and we're gonna find out

00:31:34.130 --> 00:31:37.630
he spends two years ministering there in Ephesus.

00:31:37.910 --> 00:31:41.250
So where does he go first? To the synagogue in

00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:44.410
Ephesus, okay? Three months it says in the book

00:31:44.410 --> 00:31:46.869
of Acts that he tried to reason with the Jews

00:31:46.869 --> 00:31:50.150
to come to salvation in Christ. And when they

00:31:50.150 --> 00:31:52.750
hardened their hearts, he withdrew and he set

00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:55.309
up his teaching ministry. I love this part. In

00:31:55.309 --> 00:32:00.859
what? A school. Yeah, he set up his ministry

00:32:00.859 --> 00:32:03.980
for two years in a school, and he taught the

00:32:03.980 --> 00:32:06.779
Gentiles from this school. So much so, it says,

00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:10.039
all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord,

00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:13.759
both Jews and Greeks, because of Paul's teaching

00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:16.859
ministry. Now, here's where it really gets interesting.

00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:21.619
While he's in Ephesus, Paul receives some unfavorable

00:32:21.619 --> 00:32:25.039
reports about what's happening across the ocean,

00:32:25.079 --> 00:32:27.799
across the sea, over in the Corinthian church.

00:32:28.620 --> 00:32:34.140
So he sits down and he writes a letter to them

00:32:34.140 --> 00:32:37.220
and he sends it by messenger. Now this first

00:32:37.220 --> 00:32:40.079
letter is not our 1 Corinthians. We're going

00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.079
to find out that 1 Corinthians is actually 2

00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:44.519
Corinthians. 2 Corinthians is actually 4 Corinthians.

00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:49.019
But I'm jumping ahead. He writes a first letter,

00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:52.839
not 1 Corinthians, and not preserved for us.

00:32:53.039 --> 00:32:55.660
Not one manuscript of this letter has ever been

00:32:55.660 --> 00:32:58.660
found. It's not part of the canon, obviously,

00:32:58.660 --> 00:33:01.779
because we don't even have it. But Paul talks

00:33:01.779 --> 00:33:05.319
about it in our 1 Corinthians. He says in chapter

00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:09.640
5, he says, I wrote you in my letter not to associate

00:33:09.640 --> 00:33:12.259
with immoral people. That's 1 Corinthians 5,

00:33:12.299 --> 00:33:15.519
9. So he himself says, hey, remember that letter

00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.880
I sent you? And it may have been a very short

00:33:17.880 --> 00:33:20.400
letter that he just fired off and sent to Corinth.

00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:22.740
And we're going to find out they didn't understand

00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:26.369
what he was, they didn't get it. So when he writes

00:33:26.369 --> 00:33:28.390
1 Corinthians, you have to bring more corrections

00:33:28.390 --> 00:33:31.670
to what he previously wrote. And there's more

00:33:31.670 --> 00:33:34.009
of this to come there in Ephesus. Remember, he's

00:33:34.009 --> 00:33:37.089
across the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor on the coast

00:33:37.089 --> 00:33:39.930
in Ephesus. And then he hears from a woman named

00:33:39.930 --> 00:33:43.349
Chloe. Her name is in the text. This Christian

00:33:43.349 --> 00:33:46.009
woman who lives in Corinth by the name of Chloe.

00:33:46.329 --> 00:33:49.630
And she writes and says, all kinds of divisions

00:33:49.630 --> 00:33:53.539
are happening in our church. People are lining

00:33:53.539 --> 00:33:56.940
up behind certain preachers and the unity of

00:33:56.940 --> 00:33:59.660
this brand new church is being destroyed. And

00:33:59.660 --> 00:34:01.660
by the way, there's all kinds of sexual immorality

00:34:01.660 --> 00:34:04.039
too that's running rampant through the church.

00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:06.519
And she warns Paul about this. And then there's

00:34:06.519 --> 00:34:10.219
more. It seems from the letter in 1 Corinthians

00:34:10.219 --> 00:34:14.099
that a three -man delegation came from Corinth,

00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:17.559
got on a ship, came over to Ephesus, visited

00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:20.219
with Paul, and brought with them a list of questions.

00:34:21.230 --> 00:34:25.070
Paul, we need help in Corinth. We have questions.

00:34:25.110 --> 00:34:28.010
Will you write something down that helps us with

00:34:28.010 --> 00:34:31.329
these issues? Questions about marriage and divorce,

00:34:31.630 --> 00:34:35.590
about food sacrifice to idols, questions about

00:34:35.590 --> 00:34:38.550
worship, about the Lord's table, about the practice

00:34:38.550 --> 00:34:41.530
of spiritual gifts, about the resurrection. All

00:34:41.530 --> 00:34:45.050
of these questions they put before Paul. And

00:34:45.050 --> 00:34:47.449
then having received this, first of all, alarming

00:34:47.449 --> 00:34:50.400
report from Chloe. about problems, and then this

00:34:50.400 --> 00:34:53.579
list of questions from these men, this is when

00:34:53.579 --> 00:34:57.320
Paul writes the letter of 1 Corinthians from

00:34:57.320 --> 00:35:02.940
Ephesus in the year 54. Does that comport in

00:35:02.940 --> 00:35:05.699
your brain? So you see the timeline there. It's

00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:13.179
very, very important. Okay. Big drink. Can we

00:35:13.179 --> 00:35:16.099
talk about Corinth itself now? Because when we

00:35:16.099 --> 00:35:18.869
get into the interpretation of this letter, We're

00:35:18.869 --> 00:35:21.050
going to see all kinds of weird cultural things

00:35:21.050 --> 00:35:23.670
in there that you have to know something about

00:35:23.670 --> 00:35:26.909
the city in order to truly understand. So the

00:35:26.909 --> 00:35:28.829
first thing to know is in the first century,

00:35:29.070 --> 00:35:34.150
Corinth proper was located on a plateau overlooking

00:35:34.150 --> 00:35:38.409
this thing I mentioned earlier, the Isthmus of

00:35:38.409 --> 00:35:42.610
Corinth. See that red object there? It's a land

00:35:42.610 --> 00:35:46.980
bridge. that connects the Peloponnese, this giant

00:35:46.980 --> 00:35:49.039
landmass that at first glance might look like

00:35:49.039 --> 00:35:51.500
an island, but it's not. It's connected by that

00:35:51.500 --> 00:35:54.119
landmass, and then what you have is southern

00:35:54.119 --> 00:35:57.260
Greece above that. So this isthmus, correct,

00:35:57.300 --> 00:36:01.559
it is 20 miles long, and at its narrowest place,

00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:04.840
it's four miles wide, four to eight miles wide,

00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:08.860
okay? And what this isthmus creates is, you can

00:36:08.860 --> 00:36:11.980
see it here, natural harbors on both sides of

00:36:11.980 --> 00:36:16.130
it, okay? Perfect for trade. Perfect for ships.

00:36:16.530 --> 00:36:19.650
Natural harbors. On one side, the Aegean Sea.

00:36:19.769 --> 00:36:22.349
In the south and in the north, the Ionian Sea.

00:36:22.849 --> 00:36:24.730
And the harbor, I'm going to give you another

00:36:24.730 --> 00:36:27.489
map here that gives you some actual color to

00:36:27.489 --> 00:36:31.349
it. The harbor on the Ionian side is called Lecheon.

00:36:31.489 --> 00:36:33.849
That's the yellow dot you see there. The harbor

00:36:33.849 --> 00:36:36.869
on the Aegean side is called Sencria. which is

00:36:36.869 --> 00:36:39.210
the green dot. And Sancria is actually a place

00:36:39.210 --> 00:36:41.989
that shows up multiple times in the New Testament.

00:36:42.070 --> 00:36:44.550
In fact, when we learn later on about the deaconess

00:36:44.550 --> 00:36:47.010
named Phoebe, we're told that she comes from

00:36:47.010 --> 00:36:49.809
the church of Sancria, which is that green dot

00:36:49.809 --> 00:36:52.630
there. And one of the interesting features about

00:36:52.630 --> 00:36:56.070
this isthmus is how it was used by ship captains.

00:36:56.590 --> 00:36:59.610
Here's what's interesting. Apparently... The

00:36:59.610 --> 00:37:02.650
tip of the Peloponnese, if you were to sail around

00:37:02.650 --> 00:37:05.550
the tip of Greece, the Peloponnese, notorious

00:37:05.550 --> 00:37:08.949
for violent storms. Ship captains did not like

00:37:08.949 --> 00:37:11.989
sailing around that route. It added 200 miles

00:37:11.989 --> 00:37:15.289
to their route, but it was also very dangerous.

00:37:15.590 --> 00:37:18.510
So what the Corinthians did was they built an

00:37:18.510 --> 00:37:22.070
overland ship road. See that little red line?

00:37:22.630 --> 00:37:26.940
That connected the two bodies of water. So what

00:37:26.940 --> 00:37:28.980
would happen is if a ship came and they were

00:37:28.980 --> 00:37:31.719
coming down from the Gulf of Corinth there and

00:37:31.719 --> 00:37:34.480
they wanted to get across the Isthmus, they would

00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.760
harbor there, they would offload their cargo,

00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:40.920
it would be transported four miles across the

00:37:40.920 --> 00:37:44.699
road and reloaded onto another ship. That was

00:37:44.699 --> 00:37:47.280
the safest way to do it. If the ship was small

00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:50.119
enough, they had the technology to lift the ship

00:37:50.119 --> 00:37:53.340
out of the water and using a roller system, move

00:37:53.340 --> 00:37:56.250
it to the other body of water. This is one of

00:37:56.250 --> 00:37:59.429
the things that made Corinth very, very prosperous.

00:37:59.750 --> 00:38:02.710
By the way, that road is still visible today

00:38:02.710 --> 00:38:06.170
if you go to Corinth. So, in fact, I'll give

00:38:06.170 --> 00:38:09.610
you, there it is today, still with the ancient

00:38:09.610 --> 00:38:12.409
stones. Now, it's been upgraded. I'll show you

00:38:12.409 --> 00:38:14.289
that picture later, but those stones still exist.

00:38:14.349 --> 00:38:16.670
That's where they would drag the cargo across

00:38:16.670 --> 00:38:20.769
the Isthmus. It's called the Dialkos Road. That's

00:38:20.769 --> 00:38:22.489
a word in Greek that literally means, ready,

00:38:22.550 --> 00:38:27.070
to drag across. Makes perfect sense. Perfect

00:38:27.070 --> 00:38:29.949
sense. By the way, here's an image of the harbor

00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:33.269
at Sancria. So you see some of the ancient stones

00:38:33.269 --> 00:38:36.369
that are still there on that side of the Isthmus.

00:38:37.010 --> 00:38:39.650
Now, the population in Corinth in the days of

00:38:39.650 --> 00:38:42.110
Paul is a little bit difficult to estimate all

00:38:42.110 --> 00:38:44.449
kinds of numbers, but it's definitely in the

00:38:44.449 --> 00:38:46.969
hundreds of thousands of people. It's a big city.

00:38:47.050 --> 00:38:49.389
In fact, scholars believe that Corinth was...

00:38:49.789 --> 00:38:52.849
was in the top five or six most populous cities

00:38:52.849 --> 00:38:56.090
in the ancient world. And much of that size was

00:38:56.090 --> 00:38:59.050
due to its location, due to its commercial power

00:38:59.050 --> 00:39:01.949
as a crossroads for trading. Whether you're going

00:39:01.949 --> 00:39:04.949
north to south or you're going from the Peloponnese

00:39:04.949 --> 00:39:07.550
to the mainland or back, you have to go through

00:39:07.550 --> 00:39:10.769
Corinth. So they could tax you and they could

00:39:10.769 --> 00:39:12.829
be involved in that trade. It makes sense. They

00:39:12.829 --> 00:39:15.389
became very prosperous. Luxuries from all over

00:39:15.389 --> 00:39:18.360
the world came through their ports. Pottery,

00:39:18.360 --> 00:39:22.239
bronze, brass, all the marble that was used in

00:39:22.239 --> 00:39:25.119
all of the beautiful Greek buildings that we

00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:28.099
so easily recognize. Most of it came through

00:39:28.099 --> 00:39:30.179
Corinth. In fact, if you know anything about

00:39:30.179 --> 00:39:32.840
architecture, these little things at the top

00:39:32.840 --> 00:39:35.800
of columns are called capitals. And there were

00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:37.980
three main styles in the ancient world. There

00:39:37.980 --> 00:39:41.519
was a Doric, the most simple, then the Ionian,

00:39:41.579 --> 00:39:44.039
and the most ornate, the most beautiful, the

00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:46.929
most creative. were the Corinthian capitals,

00:39:46.949 --> 00:39:49.929
and you see those all over the place. So Corinth

00:39:49.929 --> 00:39:53.230
was known for this, for its beauty, its wealth,

00:39:53.429 --> 00:39:57.530
its learning, its international flavor, and also

00:39:57.530 --> 00:40:01.230
for its many, many vices. And that is important

00:40:01.230 --> 00:40:03.829
to understand. In fact, speaking of vices, let's

00:40:03.829 --> 00:40:06.610
talk about the gods that are worshipped in Corinth.

00:40:06.929 --> 00:40:10.150
The most notable feature in the city of Corinth

00:40:10.150 --> 00:40:13.090
is known as the Acrocorinthus. See that giant

00:40:13.090 --> 00:40:16.230
mountain? It's the most notable feature of the

00:40:16.230 --> 00:40:19.849
city. It's almost 2 ,000 feet high, and it rises

00:40:19.849 --> 00:40:22.969
up on this plateau just north of the city. In

00:40:22.969 --> 00:40:26.070
the days of Paul, at the very top of that mountain

00:40:26.070 --> 00:40:29.409
was a massive pagan temple. If you've ever been

00:40:29.409 --> 00:40:31.530
to Israel, you know this is true. They always

00:40:31.530 --> 00:40:34.030
put temples where? At the highest point of a

00:40:34.030 --> 00:40:37.389
city. It was designed for worship. And so the

00:40:37.389 --> 00:40:40.550
massive temple on the top of that mountain, a

00:40:40.550 --> 00:40:44.090
temple to the pagan goddess Aphrodite. the goddess

00:40:44.090 --> 00:40:47.429
of love. And the Greek historian Strabo writes

00:40:47.429 --> 00:40:49.550
in his journal that the temple of Aphrodite was

00:40:49.550 --> 00:40:53.489
so filled with riches, get this now, it was able

00:40:53.489 --> 00:40:58.369
to house more than a thousand temple slaves dedicated

00:40:58.369 --> 00:41:02.530
to the worship of Aphrodite. Some were men, mostly

00:41:02.530 --> 00:41:05.929
women, and they served as temple prostitutes.

00:41:06.130 --> 00:41:09.940
That's how you worshiped Aphrodite. was by visiting

00:41:09.940 --> 00:41:12.679
the temple prostitutes. Strabo writes that it's

00:41:12.679 --> 00:41:15.760
on account of these women that the city was perpetually

00:41:15.760 --> 00:41:19.400
crowded with travelers and merchants, and they

00:41:19.400 --> 00:41:22.599
freely squandered their money worshiping Aphrodite

00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:25.639
on that mountain, right? And you can sort of

00:41:25.639 --> 00:41:27.400
picture that, right? I don't know if you want

00:41:27.400 --> 00:41:31.719
to think it's Las Vegas or whatever, right? It's

00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:35.469
the place you go to sin. And that's what's going

00:41:35.469 --> 00:41:39.090
on here. In fact, the sexual depravity of the

00:41:39.090 --> 00:41:42.429
city was so well known that the Greeks coined

00:41:42.429 --> 00:41:46.010
a term to Corinthianize that described what it

00:41:46.010 --> 00:41:49.570
meant to be a prostitute, what it meant to be

00:41:49.570 --> 00:41:52.769
involved in fornication. But it wasn't just Aphrodite.

00:41:52.789 --> 00:41:55.349
In Paul's day, there's no less than a dozen.

00:41:55.929 --> 00:41:57.869
pagan temples in different parts of the city.

00:41:57.989 --> 00:42:01.469
Worship sites dedicated to Athena, Poseidon,

00:42:01.469 --> 00:42:05.010
Hermes, Isis, Heracles, and more. And one very

00:42:05.010 --> 00:42:08.150
prominent temple right smack dab in the middle

00:42:08.150 --> 00:42:12.170
of the city itself dedicated to Apollo, who was

00:42:12.170 --> 00:42:15.329
the god of music and poetry and archery and healing.

00:42:15.510 --> 00:42:18.570
And by the way, Apollo was said to be the son

00:42:18.570 --> 00:42:23.369
of Zeus and the twin brother of Artemis. Artemis

00:42:23.369 --> 00:42:25.550
of the Ephesians, the patron goddess of Ephesus,

00:42:25.590 --> 00:42:29.010
just across the sea. So you had Apollo and you

00:42:29.010 --> 00:42:33.070
had Artemis, twins in the pantheon of gods. Today,

00:42:33.289 --> 00:42:37.530
seven of the 38 columns in the temple to Apollo

00:42:37.530 --> 00:42:40.250
are still standing. You can visit them today.

00:42:40.829 --> 00:42:42.949
In the northern part of the city, you find something

00:42:42.949 --> 00:42:45.599
called the Agora. which was present in every

00:42:45.599 --> 00:42:48.599
Greek city. It's the marketplace. And the marketplace

00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:51.599
there was part of this large courtyard. And that

00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:55.239
is where the Bema seat was also found. That's

00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:58.159
where it was a speaker's platform. So government

00:42:58.159 --> 00:43:00.940
officials would use the Bema seat in the courtyard

00:43:00.940 --> 00:43:03.840
of the Agora of Corinth to speak to the people.

00:43:03.940 --> 00:43:06.320
In fact, here's a picture of the platform that

00:43:06.320 --> 00:43:09.900
still stands to this day. So you would have this

00:43:09.900 --> 00:43:12.880
platform and a big seat up there where Galio

00:43:12.880 --> 00:43:14.960
or whoever would sit there, and you had benches

00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:18.599
in the back and benches on the side. And this

00:43:18.599 --> 00:43:20.659
is where all the important business of the city

00:43:20.659 --> 00:43:23.300
took place. Again, that idea of Bema is going

00:43:23.300 --> 00:43:26.059
to come into play in both Corinthian letters.

00:43:27.500 --> 00:43:29.480
And then this is just an artist's rendering of

00:43:29.480 --> 00:43:31.500
the city based on archaeological work that's

00:43:31.500 --> 00:43:33.320
been done there. So you see how the city was

00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:36.519
laid out. You have this massive theater. which

00:43:36.519 --> 00:43:38.300
was very important to the Greeks in the front,

00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:41.059
that A, that's the temple of Apollo that was

00:43:41.059 --> 00:43:44.059
right in the middle of the city, and B, that's

00:43:44.059 --> 00:43:46.039
where the courtyard, the agora was, and where

00:43:46.039 --> 00:43:49.539
the bema seat was located. And it's important

00:43:49.539 --> 00:43:54.269
to understand all that. So... A couple more important

00:43:54.269 --> 00:43:57.510
things. In all the streets that led into that

00:43:57.510 --> 00:43:59.789
courtyard, you would find shops and taverns.

00:43:59.789 --> 00:44:02.329
In fact, along all the city streets, archaeologists

00:44:02.329 --> 00:44:05.989
have dug up just a boatload of drinking vessels

00:44:05.989 --> 00:44:10.949
and cups. In his writing, Strabo says that all

00:44:10.949 --> 00:44:13.789
the people of Corinth gorged themselves constantly.

00:44:14.010 --> 00:44:16.289
He says it's even customary that when actors

00:44:16.289 --> 00:44:18.550
come on the stage in the theater that they would

00:44:18.550 --> 00:44:20.969
come out drunk. That was just a normal thing

00:44:20.969 --> 00:44:24.349
in Corinth. A couple more important things to

00:44:24.349 --> 00:44:26.090
note. We know that the Corinthians took great

00:44:26.090 --> 00:44:29.510
interest in philosophy. They loved great orators.

00:44:29.590 --> 00:44:33.829
They loved stage plays. That theater held, according

00:44:33.829 --> 00:44:37.480
to... Scholars who have dug it up there held

00:44:37.480 --> 00:44:41.539
up to 18 ,000 people. Basically the size of a

00:44:41.539 --> 00:44:45.780
large college basketball arena today. They loved

00:44:45.780 --> 00:44:47.780
their plays. The final thing I'll mention is

00:44:47.780 --> 00:44:51.860
they also loved athletics. Corinth hosted the

00:44:51.860 --> 00:44:54.860
second most important athletic games in the Greek

00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:57.460
world, the Isthmian Games. I'm just gonna have

00:44:57.460 --> 00:44:59.820
to keep saying that word. Second only to the

00:44:59.820 --> 00:45:02.480
Olympics in the Greek world. So they loved that

00:45:02.480 --> 00:45:06.519
as well. All that to say, just to summarize what

00:45:06.519 --> 00:45:08.099
Corinth was about, I'm going to put up an AI

00:45:08.099 --> 00:45:11.420
image just because I love this. You've got to

00:45:11.420 --> 00:45:13.480
get a flavor for what this felt like. This is

00:45:13.480 --> 00:45:17.519
a great image. Could you imagine being a Christian

00:45:17.519 --> 00:45:20.500
missionary and you're walking into this and you

00:45:20.500 --> 00:45:23.940
see the worship of pagans everywhere? It's wild.

00:45:24.659 --> 00:45:27.219
The world of the first Corinthians was very much

00:45:27.219 --> 00:45:31.619
like our cities today. That's important to understand.

00:45:32.400 --> 00:45:35.739
where there's a thirst for wealth and power and

00:45:35.739 --> 00:45:39.579
beauty and intellectualism, but most of all,

00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:42.980
a thirst and a hunger for all kinds of forms

00:45:42.980 --> 00:45:46.800
of comfort and pleasure, which is what we as

00:45:46.800 --> 00:45:49.719
Americans are driven by, comfort and pleasure.

00:45:50.019 --> 00:45:53.059
They were a proud people, affluent, materialistic,

00:45:53.119 --> 00:45:55.699
and based on what we're gonna read in this letter,

00:45:55.820 --> 00:45:59.159
a lot of that seeped into the young Christian

00:45:59.159 --> 00:46:04.119
church, right? So much of American culture seeps

00:46:04.119 --> 00:46:06.619
into our church today, which we have to be on

00:46:06.619 --> 00:46:09.400
guard for. Now, as for modern -day Corinth, it's

00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:12.119
very interesting with what God has done with

00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:16.300
this once -powerful city. The ancient biblical

00:46:16.300 --> 00:46:19.800
city today is nothing but a small village. Nobody

00:46:19.800 --> 00:46:23.039
lives there. It's really just open to tourists

00:46:23.039 --> 00:46:24.960
who want to come and see the ruins. That's it.

00:46:25.099 --> 00:46:28.519
There is a modern -day city of Corinth a few

00:46:28.519 --> 00:46:31.440
miles away. It calls itself Corinth. There's

00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:35.539
only 30 ,000 people that live there, about a

00:46:35.539 --> 00:46:39.400
tenth the size of Santa Clarita. So it's not

00:46:39.400 --> 00:46:41.840
what it once was, that's for sure. And as for

00:46:41.840 --> 00:46:46.139
that road that went across the Isthmus, that's

00:46:46.139 --> 00:46:50.010
what it looks like today. In the late 1800s,

00:46:50.010 --> 00:46:53.150
the Greek government finally, with all the engineering

00:46:53.150 --> 00:46:55.329
that was required, built a canal that connects

00:46:55.329 --> 00:46:58.690
those two bodies of water. So it's a very different

00:46:58.690 --> 00:47:04.510
place than it was back in Paul's day. Good? Bookmark

00:47:04.510 --> 00:47:06.349
this sermon so that you have to go back and go,

00:47:06.389 --> 00:47:08.719
wait, what? Give me the context again. It's very

00:47:08.719 --> 00:47:10.119
important. But before we're done, we're going

00:47:10.119 --> 00:47:12.079
to go back. Go back to your Bibles. Let's go

00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:13.679
back to those first three verses. I just want

00:47:13.679 --> 00:47:16.179
to make a few comments about the first three

00:47:16.179 --> 00:47:20.980
verses, and then we'll wrap up. 1 Corinthians

00:47:20.980 --> 00:47:23.800
1, verses 1 through 3. There's actually some,

00:47:23.880 --> 00:47:25.639
sometimes, have you ever noticed when you read

00:47:25.639 --> 00:47:27.199
your Bibles, you sort of read right past the

00:47:27.199 --> 00:47:29.519
greeting? Right? We're just like, let's get to

00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:31.280
the meat. But there's actually a ton of really

00:47:31.280 --> 00:47:34.539
important stuff in here. Verse 1, Paul. Called

00:47:34.539 --> 00:47:36.619
as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of

00:47:36.619 --> 00:47:39.800
God and Sosthenes, our brother. And here's all

00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:43.119
this very simple verse communicates to us. Paul

00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:46.400
knew exactly who he was. He knew what his purpose

00:47:46.400 --> 00:47:50.460
was in life. And he knew how he got there. That

00:47:50.460 --> 00:47:52.659
is so important for every one of us in this room.

00:47:52.739 --> 00:47:55.400
We say again, he knew who he was. He understood

00:47:55.400 --> 00:47:58.900
his purpose. And he knew how he got to that place.

00:47:59.920 --> 00:48:02.260
Those are valuable things for all of us to know

00:48:02.260 --> 00:48:04.119
about ourselves. No matter what you do for a

00:48:04.119 --> 00:48:06.219
living or don't do for a living, to know who

00:48:06.219 --> 00:48:09.480
you are in Christ makes a huge difference. Paul

00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:12.679
was called, and I think a clear way to say that

00:48:12.679 --> 00:48:15.860
is he was divinely appointed by God to be an

00:48:15.860 --> 00:48:19.639
apostle of Jesus Christ, meaning he was uniquely

00:48:19.639 --> 00:48:23.360
chosen by the Lord to be a special seminary,

00:48:23.500 --> 00:48:27.300
emissary, I should say. a special emissary, an

00:48:27.300 --> 00:48:30.960
ambassador and spokesman who wielded inspired

00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:34.920
authority. This is why we talk about the apostolic

00:48:34.920 --> 00:48:40.480
office is closed. He wields an inspired authority

00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:43.880
on behalf of the one who called him to that role

00:48:43.880 --> 00:48:47.579
and sent him into the world. Apostles were unique

00:48:47.579 --> 00:48:51.099
for that day. And that unique calling Paul knew

00:48:51.099 --> 00:48:55.099
was, I'm gonna get rid of that. Paul knew was

00:48:55.099 --> 00:48:57.739
not because he was all that special. This is

00:48:57.739 --> 00:49:00.360
so important. I'm going to click one more time.

00:49:01.739 --> 00:49:03.679
This is so important. Paul calls himself the

00:49:03.679 --> 00:49:07.599
chief of sinners, doesn't he? He knew that this

00:49:07.599 --> 00:49:10.079
was a gift from God, that it was by the will

00:49:10.079 --> 00:49:13.880
of God alone, nothing special in him, by the

00:49:13.880 --> 00:49:16.260
will of God alone, that he had been called to

00:49:16.260 --> 00:49:19.340
be an apostle. And now it was God's will that

00:49:19.340 --> 00:49:22.340
he, of all people, be called to go into the Gentile

00:49:22.340 --> 00:49:25.980
world. to places like Corinth and to speak the

00:49:25.980 --> 00:49:29.039
truth on behalf of the king of kings, calling

00:49:29.039 --> 00:49:31.780
men and women to repent of their sins and submit

00:49:31.780 --> 00:49:35.360
to the lordship of Christ by faith. Paul knew

00:49:35.360 --> 00:49:37.820
that was his purpose and he knew it was only

00:49:37.820 --> 00:49:40.900
because of the will of God and therefore God

00:49:40.900 --> 00:49:43.889
would be faithful to carry out his mission. And

00:49:43.889 --> 00:49:46.150
then we have this man Sosthenes. Who is he? Well,

00:49:46.210 --> 00:49:48.469
earlier we talked about how in Acts 18, Paul

00:49:48.469 --> 00:49:51.269
moved his ministry away from the synagogue right

00:49:51.269 --> 00:49:53.730
next door to the synagogue and how a man named

00:49:53.730 --> 00:49:56.030
Crispus, who had been a leader of synagogue,

00:49:56.269 --> 00:49:59.150
came to know Christ. Well, it appears that Sosthenes

00:49:59.150 --> 00:50:02.460
was the guy who replaced him. When the one guy

00:50:02.460 --> 00:50:04.960
stepped down from the synagogue, Sosthenes took

00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:07.659
his place. If you read Acts 18, what happens

00:50:07.659 --> 00:50:11.000
is Paul gets dragged before Galio, the proconsul,

00:50:11.059 --> 00:50:14.500
and he dismisses the charges and the people riot

00:50:14.500 --> 00:50:18.179
and they beat a man called Sosthenes because

00:50:18.179 --> 00:50:21.320
he was the new leader of the synagogue. And then

00:50:21.320 --> 00:50:25.019
later on, we read 1 Corinthians and wow, by God's

00:50:25.019 --> 00:50:28.119
grace, we find out that Sosthenes who had protected

00:50:28.119 --> 00:50:30.860
Paul on that day and got beaten for it, is now

00:50:30.860 --> 00:50:33.659
a believer in Christ. He's our brother. That's

00:50:33.659 --> 00:50:36.739
pretty cool, huh? Verse two, to the church of

00:50:36.739 --> 00:50:39.840
God, which is at Corinth, notice that Paul wants

00:50:39.840 --> 00:50:44.219
us to see who the church belongs to. Who does

00:50:44.219 --> 00:50:48.820
it belong to? Say it with me. God. Now that sounds

00:50:48.820 --> 00:50:51.880
straightforward, right? But how often do we find

00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:54.860
ourselves identifying a church with a person,

00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:58.449
usually a pastor? And we say, that's so -and

00:50:58.449 --> 00:51:03.010
-so's church. Stop doing that. I don't care how

00:51:03.010 --> 00:51:05.329
great a pastor he is, how great a preacher he

00:51:05.329 --> 00:51:08.809
is. Stop doing that. The universal church belongs

00:51:08.809 --> 00:51:14.909
to God. It is the body of Christ. And every true

00:51:14.909 --> 00:51:18.199
local church also belongs to him. Even troubled

00:51:18.199 --> 00:51:20.639
churches like the one in Corinth. Christ is king.

00:51:20.860 --> 00:51:24.159
Christ is Lord over every assembly of believers

00:51:24.159 --> 00:51:27.000
who gather in his name, who gather in spirit

00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:30.239
and truth to worship him, including the church

00:51:30.239 --> 00:51:33.039
at Oak Hill. Please never say this is Jeff's

00:51:33.039 --> 00:51:38.699
church. I rebuke it. It is God's church. I know,

00:51:38.719 --> 00:51:40.980
again, something really simple, but really, really

00:51:40.980 --> 00:51:44.190
profound. And verse two continues, to those who

00:51:44.190 --> 00:51:46.889
have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints

00:51:46.889 --> 00:51:50.170
by calling, with all who in every place call

00:51:50.170 --> 00:51:52.550
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord

00:51:52.550 --> 00:51:56.949
and ours. Notice the two key words here, sanctified

00:51:56.949 --> 00:52:00.170
in calling. Listen, friends, take note that both

00:52:00.170 --> 00:52:03.750
of those things come from God. They are not things

00:52:03.750 --> 00:52:06.389
that we have the ability to initiate or generate

00:52:06.389 --> 00:52:10.079
on our own. They come from God. So right out

00:52:10.079 --> 00:52:13.119
of the gate, Paul is being very careful to emphasize

00:52:13.119 --> 00:52:15.320
that the standing of the believers in Corinth

00:52:15.320 --> 00:52:19.800
is solely the result of God's grace manifested

00:52:19.800 --> 00:52:23.679
through the gospel in Jesus Christ. Because we

00:52:23.679 --> 00:52:26.880
don't initiate our sanctification. We don't initiate

00:52:26.880 --> 00:52:29.500
our calling. It comes from God. And therefore,

00:52:29.599 --> 00:52:32.159
nobody in Corinth had any grounds to boast in

00:52:32.159 --> 00:52:35.840
themselves. It's all grace as a gift from God.

00:52:36.509 --> 00:52:38.670
And in spite of all the problems in this church,

00:52:38.809 --> 00:52:40.949
Paul wants the believers to know, look, you've

00:52:40.949 --> 00:52:43.969
been sanctified in Christ. What does that mean?

00:52:43.989 --> 00:52:46.730
That you've been set apart for his glory. You've

00:52:46.730 --> 00:52:49.869
been set apart for his use and his purposes.

00:52:50.030 --> 00:52:53.010
He wants them to know about that truth. You're

00:52:53.010 --> 00:52:54.750
sanctified, and therefore that should affect

00:52:54.750 --> 00:52:57.389
every area of your life, how you think, how you

00:52:57.389 --> 00:53:00.869
feel, and all the choices that you make. You've

00:53:00.869 --> 00:53:03.320
been sanctified. And he says, they're not only

00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:06.059
saints, but saints because of God's electing

00:53:06.059 --> 00:53:09.780
call upon their lives. Notice he doesn't say

00:53:09.780 --> 00:53:13.019
they will become saints, right, by doing some

00:53:13.019 --> 00:53:16.099
long list of good works or by improving their

00:53:16.099 --> 00:53:18.900
lives. Paul calls them saints in the present

00:53:18.900 --> 00:53:22.579
tense. In spite of the sin of the church, he

00:53:22.579 --> 00:53:25.920
says, in the present tense, you are saints. To

00:53:25.920 --> 00:53:28.340
be a saint is not to be some kind of higher than

00:53:28.340 --> 00:53:31.260
everybody else. Christian, as the Catholic Church

00:53:31.260 --> 00:53:34.300
would teach. The term saint refers to ordinary

00:53:34.300 --> 00:53:37.480
believers like you and I, redeemed by the blood

00:53:37.480 --> 00:53:40.380
of Christ and now called to match that identity

00:53:40.380 --> 00:53:46.480
with how we live. Saints, very important. And

00:53:46.480 --> 00:53:48.019
then there at the end of verse two, you see Paul

00:53:48.019 --> 00:53:51.260
expressing his desire that this letter, although

00:53:51.260 --> 00:53:54.480
it's addressed to the Corinthian church, he wants

00:53:54.480 --> 00:53:57.619
it to be received by churches everywhere. He

00:53:57.619 --> 00:54:03.320
says all. All believers who in every place call

00:54:03.320 --> 00:54:06.719
on the name of the Lord. That means that the

00:54:06.719 --> 00:54:09.119
principles that he's about to write in 1 Corinthians,

00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:13.039
they apply in the church at Philippi, in the

00:54:13.039 --> 00:54:15.719
church of Ephesus, in Thessalonica, in the church

00:54:15.719 --> 00:54:20.179
in Stevenson Ranch. These principles apply. Amen?

00:54:21.000 --> 00:54:23.380
Listen, too many people over the years, they've

00:54:23.380 --> 00:54:25.099
looked at letters like this and they've said,

00:54:25.239 --> 00:54:27.460
well, we're going to avoid those teachings because

00:54:27.460 --> 00:54:29.760
we're just going to insist that all those things

00:54:29.760 --> 00:54:32.679
only applied in the first century. That Paul

00:54:32.679 --> 00:54:35.099
was just talking to the believers then, not to

00:54:35.099 --> 00:54:38.199
us today. Guys, this is how people try to get

00:54:38.199 --> 00:54:41.619
around hard teachings. See, if I don't like something

00:54:41.619 --> 00:54:43.480
that's written in here, I just go, oh, that only

00:54:43.480 --> 00:54:45.440
applied to the first century Corinthians, not

00:54:45.440 --> 00:54:48.239
to me. What's the basis for your taking that

00:54:48.239 --> 00:54:51.159
position? I don't like the teaching. I don't

00:54:51.159 --> 00:54:53.900
want it to apply to my life. That is a classic

00:54:53.900 --> 00:54:55.900
argument. Well, that's time bound to that culture.

00:54:56.480 --> 00:54:58.460
But what Paul says here at the end of verse two

00:54:58.460 --> 00:55:03.920
is, nope, nope, to all believers in every place.

00:55:04.699 --> 00:55:07.340
That's so important to see. Finally, grace to

00:55:07.340 --> 00:55:09.800
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord

00:55:09.800 --> 00:55:12.460
Jesus Christ. This is a favorite of Paul's, right?

00:55:12.880 --> 00:55:16.920
Notice grace is always first and peace is always

00:55:16.920 --> 00:55:19.989
second. That's because God's grace is the source

00:55:19.989 --> 00:55:22.789
of our peace. Without his grace, you really can't

00:55:22.789 --> 00:55:27.570
have his peace. Amen? That's important. And then

00:55:27.570 --> 00:55:29.210
the last thing I'll say, and then we'll all be

00:55:29.210 --> 00:55:33.090
done. Look, as we're getting ready to jump into

00:55:33.090 --> 00:55:34.909
this letter, we all know that the Corinthian

00:55:34.909 --> 00:55:38.130
church was a mess. That is its reputation. All

00:55:38.130 --> 00:55:39.989
the problems, right? We talk about it all the

00:55:39.989 --> 00:55:43.469
time. But this dawned on me last night. Sometimes

00:55:43.469 --> 00:55:46.670
I just... Ask Tanya. I step back and I look at

00:55:46.670 --> 00:55:49.670
my computer screen and I just stare at it. Like,

00:55:49.670 --> 00:55:52.210
I need to reflect on what's going on here. And

00:55:52.210 --> 00:55:55.510
it hit me last night. The timing of all this.

00:55:55.570 --> 00:56:00.530
Guys, as Paul's writing 1 Corinthians, Christianity

00:56:00.530 --> 00:56:04.889
as a faith apart from Judaism is only about 20

00:56:04.889 --> 00:56:11.650
years old. 20. This church is only a few years

00:56:11.650 --> 00:56:15.670
old. The believers there, the vast majority of

00:56:15.670 --> 00:56:18.630
them would have been absolutely baby believers.

00:56:19.730 --> 00:56:22.969
Would we not expect some problems? Would any

00:56:22.969 --> 00:56:26.630
of us done any better than these folks? And I

00:56:26.630 --> 00:56:28.809
think we see here, Paul's aware of that. He knows

00:56:28.809 --> 00:56:31.630
that grace abounds. He knows how much time it's

00:56:31.630 --> 00:56:34.489
gonna take for spiritual maturity to develop

00:56:34.489 --> 00:56:37.090
in Corinth. And I think this comes through, both

00:56:37.090 --> 00:56:39.010
in these first three verses and all the way through

00:56:39.010 --> 00:56:42.690
verse nine. Paul doesn't come off angry or frustrated.

00:56:43.519 --> 00:56:45.500
In fact, he's quite thankful and optimistic.

00:56:45.599 --> 00:56:48.059
In spite of the problems, he says, you guys are

00:56:48.059 --> 00:56:51.480
saints by calling. You are sanctified in Christ.

00:56:51.619 --> 00:56:55.119
You have a true testimony that Christ is confirmed

00:56:55.119 --> 00:56:58.260
in you, he says. And so these were men and women

00:56:58.260 --> 00:57:01.079
Paul knew. He knew them personally, right? They

00:57:01.079 --> 00:57:03.239
were the fruits of his church planting ministry.

00:57:04.300 --> 00:57:06.760
And one of the things about ministry is one thing

00:57:06.760 --> 00:57:09.000
to step back and go, I'd like to minister to

00:57:09.000 --> 00:57:12.539
that mass of unknown people. But when you actually

00:57:12.539 --> 00:57:15.400
get in there and meet people and minister to

00:57:15.400 --> 00:57:18.099
them face to face and know them personally, it's

00:57:18.099 --> 00:57:21.559
a game changer. Paul knew these people. He's

00:57:21.559 --> 00:57:24.699
writing as a spiritual father. And it's like

00:57:24.699 --> 00:57:27.639
a father who sees this son who has all of this

00:57:27.639 --> 00:57:30.880
potential. But right now, in this moment, he's

00:57:30.880 --> 00:57:34.699
beset with temptations and with all kinds of

00:57:34.699 --> 00:57:37.199
problems. And so Paul, like a good father, says,

00:57:37.300 --> 00:57:40.480
I want to see you start to grow. I want you to

00:57:40.480 --> 00:57:43.519
see you start to mature. And that's where we're

00:57:43.519 --> 00:57:46.960
headed next week. Amen? Let's bow our heads.

00:57:55.079 --> 00:57:58.619
Father, thank you for the encouragement of even

00:57:58.619 --> 00:58:02.940
just a few verses from your word. How you have

00:58:02.940 --> 00:58:05.860
spoken through the Apostle Paul in just simple

00:58:05.860 --> 00:58:08.690
terms, Lord. But by doing that, communicated

00:58:08.690 --> 00:58:12.710
so many important truths to us. And Lord, I know

00:58:12.710 --> 00:58:14.530
that as we prepare our hearts for this series,

00:58:14.630 --> 00:58:18.070
we all kind of have a feeling of what was going

00:58:18.070 --> 00:58:20.329
on in Corinth and the difficulties they faced.

00:58:20.630 --> 00:58:23.289
And so I just want to pray for myself and for

00:58:23.289 --> 00:58:26.210
my brothers and sisters here in this church in

00:58:26.210 --> 00:58:30.030
this time that we would have grace as well, that

00:58:30.030 --> 00:58:34.510
we would see our own sins in the church at Corinth,

00:58:34.590 --> 00:58:37.440
that we would be become more and more aware of

00:58:37.440 --> 00:58:39.380
the things that we're tempted with and maybe

00:58:39.380 --> 00:58:42.440
the subtle things that we engage in that we maybe

00:58:42.440 --> 00:58:45.460
weren't aware of. And so, Father, I pray that

00:58:45.460 --> 00:58:48.179
as we talk about seeing people like the first

00:58:48.179 --> 00:58:51.039
century Corinthians, talk about seeing them spiritually

00:58:51.039 --> 00:58:53.460
mature, that that would be a challenge to us.

00:58:53.880 --> 00:58:56.639
in Stevenson Ranch in the 21st century. Father,

00:58:56.719 --> 00:58:59.900
we ask that you would go before us in this journey

00:58:59.900 --> 00:59:02.280
that we just started on. And Lord, it may last

00:59:02.280 --> 00:59:04.139
a couple of years, we don't know, but we know

00:59:04.139 --> 00:59:06.139
that your spirit will be powerful, that he will

00:59:06.139 --> 00:59:09.119
work in us and he will grow us and lead us and

00:59:09.119 --> 00:59:11.380
guide us into truth. And for that, Lord, we are

00:59:11.380 --> 00:59:14.019
eternally thankful. So thank you for the start

00:59:14.019 --> 00:59:16.760
this morning. Be glorified now as we respond

00:59:16.760 --> 00:59:20.489
in song. Again, let our praise be not just from

00:59:20.489 --> 00:59:22.510
our lips, but from the depths of our heart that

00:59:22.510 --> 00:59:24.489
you might be glorified in this place. In Christ's

00:59:24.489 --> 00:59:25.550
name we pray. Amen.