WEBVTT 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:03.799 Well, we laugh when humorists get like that, 00:00:03.899 --> 00:00:07.360 and we weep as well, because it's a lot of fun 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.259 when these humorous things tear a picture. But 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:15.939 we're like, don't be. So after he came home from 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:18.539 his office one day, and as he came in the front 00:00:18.539 --> 00:00:21.379 door of the house, he heard his children yelling 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:23.879 and screaming at one another upstairs as they 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:25.800 were running up the steps to see what the problem 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:28.480 was. He went into the bedroom and said, what's 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:31.469 going on here? A little five -year -old looked 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:33.670 up at him and smiled and said, oh, daddy, it's 00:00:33.670 --> 00:00:38.689 okay. We're just playing church. Well, you see 00:00:38.689 --> 00:00:42.590 another situation how we smile and laugh, but 00:00:42.590 --> 00:00:47.030 yet too often it represents us, doesn't it? It 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:49.750 represented certainly the church that we're studying 00:00:49.750 --> 00:00:55.710 in our exposition of First Corinthians. Hope 00:00:55.710 --> 00:00:59.429 was a large and cultured cosmopolitan center 00:00:59.429 --> 00:01:04.239 of If people were therefore comparatively well 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:06.959 off, and in addition to that, they were wealthy, 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:12.379 they were religious, worshipping pagan gods and 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:15.359 goddesses like Aphrodite, who we described last 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.500 week. However, through both preaching, the living 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:24.120 God had moved into the city of Corinth. God had 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.400 called out a number of people into the fellowship 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:29.769 of Jesus Christ about four or five years after 00:01:29.769 --> 00:01:33.129 Paul's ministry there, he writes to the church 00:01:33.129 --> 00:01:37.230 to answer their questions sent to him and to 00:01:37.230 --> 00:01:41.469 address some concerns that he had. He thanks 00:01:41.469 --> 00:01:45.650 God for their past because as believers they 00:01:45.650 --> 00:01:49.670 share in the grace of God. He thanks God for 00:01:49.670 --> 00:01:53.030 their future because they will share in the glory 00:01:53.030 --> 00:01:57.010 of Jesus Christ and his revelation. But he does 00:01:57.010 --> 00:02:01.879 not thank God for their... Someone has said in 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:04.459 the church where there's a will, there's also 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:08.699 a won't. And that is true in the church at Corinth, 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:11.319 just like Grace Church, Roseville, and in every 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:14.599 other local church. When you see in the city 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:16.759 of Corinth, the people were saints, but they 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:20.080 didn't live like it. They were behaving in the 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.919 flesh and not in the spirit, and as a result 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:27.080 of that, they were divisive and critical of one 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:29.879 another. They were self -centered and nasty. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:34.379 So they try to make it all seem very spiritual. 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:41.759 John McCartyre, in his quote, says, Quarles are 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:45.460 part of life. We grow up in them and around them. 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:48.319 Infants are quick to express displeasure when 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:50.479 they're not given something they want or when 00:02:50.479 --> 00:02:53.500 something they like is taken away. Little children 00:02:53.500 --> 00:02:56.900 cry, try to control tantrums because they cannot 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:00.080 have their ways. We argue, fight over arrival 00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.810 of another. in a football, in a position on the 00:03:03.810 --> 00:03:07.090 football team or in a cheerleading squad, then 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:10.770 in business, PTA or politics, friends fight, 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:13.830 husbands and wives fight, businesses fight, cities 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:16.870 fight, even nations fight, sometimes to the point 00:03:16.870 --> 00:03:19.870 of war, and the source of all the fighting is 00:03:19.870 --> 00:03:25.909 the same, man's depraved, egoistic, selfish nature. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:31.300 I say that quarreling is a reality of the Church 00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:35.000 because selfishness and other sins are realities 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:38.520 of the Church. Because of quarreling, the Father 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.659 is dishonored, the Son is disgraced, his people 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:44.780 are demoralized and discredited, and the world 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:48.520 is turned off and confirmed in unbelief. Fractured 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.699 fellowship robs Christians of joy and effectiveness, 00:03:52.379 --> 00:03:55.639 robs God and glory and robs the world of the 00:03:55.639 --> 00:04:00.990 true testimony of the Gospel. That's a high price 00:04:00.990 --> 00:04:05.689 for an ego trip. That's what was taking place 00:04:05.689 --> 00:04:09.150 in the church. That's what was taking place in 00:04:09.150 --> 00:04:13.030 literally every church in the last 2 ,000 years. 00:04:13.349 --> 00:04:18.250 We must say it to shame and with weeping. The 00:04:18.250 --> 00:04:22.850 Apostle in verse 10 begins a new tone in his 00:04:22.850 --> 00:04:29.519 letter after rejoicing in and expressing thankfulness 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:32.439 to God for the past and the future of the Corinthians. 00:04:33.259 --> 00:04:38.959 He says, but I exhort you. Our translation God 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:41.980 using the New American Standard says, now I exhort 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:44.180 you, but really it's but I exhort you because 00:04:44.180 --> 00:04:49.420 he is turning 180 degrees in his stone. He says, 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:52.839 now I exhort you brethren by the name of our 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:57.480 Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree. and that 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.639 there be no divisions among you, but should be 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.519 made complete in the same mind and the same judgment. 00:05:06.579 --> 00:05:09.220 For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.800 my glorious people, that there are quarrels among 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.399 you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:22.740 saying, I am of Paul, and I am of Paulus, and 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:28.430 I am of Cephas, and I am of Christ. Was Christ 00:05:28.430 --> 00:05:32.889 then divided? Paul was not crucified for you, 00:05:33.110 --> 00:05:38.990 was he? Or were you baptized in vain, Paul? I 00:05:38.990 --> 00:05:42.069 thank God that I baptize none of you except Christus, 00:05:42.189 --> 00:05:46.870 yes. That no man should say you were baptized 00:05:46.870 --> 00:05:51.449 in my name. Now, I did baptize also the household 00:05:51.449 --> 00:05:54.589 of Staphanus. Beyond that, I do not know whether 00:05:54.589 --> 00:05:58.600 I baptized any other. For Christ did not send 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:02.199 me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:05.180 in cleverness of speech, but the cross of Christ 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:10.040 should be made void. And there the apostle begins 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.639 introducing the next theme here, but he spends 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:16.199 actually the first four chapters of this book 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:20.019 on this one problem of the contention in the 00:06:20.019 --> 00:06:26.180 fellowship of God's people, the infighting, the 00:06:27.840 --> 00:06:30.779 quarreling, the fracturing that was going on 00:06:30.779 --> 00:06:35.319 within that church. In fact, it's interesting 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.480 to me that that's the very first thing the Apostle 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.699 Paul talks about when there was false doctrine 00:06:39.699 --> 00:06:43.220 in the church as well. Then he finally gets around 00:06:43.220 --> 00:06:48.259 to the chapter 15. That suggests to me that Paul 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:51.680 was more concerned about the spirit of the people 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.839 in the church than he was about the little bit 00:06:53.839 --> 00:07:01.519 of false doctrine. that he was more concerned 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:05.379 about the lasting result of the divisive spirit 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:09.019 of the people than he was about the fact that 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:11.620 they believed something wrong regarding the resurrection. 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:16.060 It's so difficult to launch his envy as reason 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:20.160 for the letter in these verses in order to correct 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.939 their carnal and fleshly attitudes and to instruct 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:27.870 them that how Christians ought to behave. And 00:07:27.870 --> 00:07:31.110 yet the apostle does this gently. As concerned 00:07:31.110 --> 00:07:35.610 as he is, he does not begin with a scolding at 00:07:35.610 --> 00:07:40.509 all. He begins gently to exhort them. This word 00:07:40.509 --> 00:07:46.170 exhort is a word that's related to the word comforter. 00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:49.610 When Jesus said, I will send a comforter to you. 00:07:51.089 --> 00:07:53.569 And so the apostle Paul is using the word that 00:07:53.569 --> 00:07:57.699 means to come alongside a person. And to sit 00:07:57.699 --> 00:08:00.040 down next to that person and to look them in 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:05.800 the eye and to communicate genuine concern. It's 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:08.500 the word of a coach that comes alongside his 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:11.680 player who's not playing well or is defective 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:17.139 in some aspect of his teammanship. And the coach 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:19.519 ought to be concerned for the player, the team 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:22.240 gets close to that player and says, well, here's 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:24.740 what you need to do. And then pats him on the 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:38.299 rump as he goes back into the... He says, now 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:43.820 look, do I need to come to you with a rod? Do 00:08:43.820 --> 00:08:45.679 I need to come to you with a spanking stick? 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:51.139 In other words, or do you want me to come gently? 00:08:54.250 --> 00:08:56.529 It's what he feels very deeply about what he 00:08:56.529 --> 00:09:00.690 writes of them. And he takes this action of exhorting 00:09:00.690 --> 00:09:04.669 them, as he says it, in or by the name of our 00:09:04.669 --> 00:09:07.049 Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, he is doing 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:11.309 this as an official representative of Jesus Christ. 00:09:11.330 --> 00:09:14.309 He is coming to them as one who has been appointed 00:09:14.309 --> 00:09:17.789 by God, and he wants them to realize that how 00:09:17.789 --> 00:09:20.889 they respond to him and to this land was how 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:23.850 they were going to respond to Jesus himself. 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:29.419 because he was Jesus' representative. So there's 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:32.500 a crisis of contention in the Corinthian Church. 00:09:33.379 --> 00:09:35.820 The story is told about a stubborn old farmer 00:09:35.820 --> 00:09:41.039 who was plowing his field with his mules, and 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:44.360 a neighbor of his was watching him in this process, 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:48.019 and he noticed that he was jerking the reins 00:09:48.019 --> 00:09:50.840 on the mule instead of speaking to the mule, 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:52.440 and so he went to his neighbor and says, look, 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:55.500 I don't like to butt in. But couldn't you get 00:09:55.500 --> 00:09:58.360 a lot further with your mule by saying, gee, 00:09:58.620 --> 00:10:03.080 and paw, by speaking to the mule rather than 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.179 jerking on the reins? The old timer looked at 00:10:07.179 --> 00:10:09.940 his neighbor and said, yeah, I know that. But 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:12.179 this here mule kicked me six years ago, and I 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:17.659 ain't spoke to him since. How do you deal with 00:10:17.659 --> 00:10:20.320 contention? How do you deal with a disagreeable 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:25.289 situation? The best way to deal with contention, 00:10:25.590 --> 00:10:29.929 when the mule kicks you, is to confront the contention 00:10:29.929 --> 00:10:33.750 directly, as the Apostle Paul does here, ignoring 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:38.710 it only helps the conflict to grow. But the question 00:10:38.710 --> 00:10:42.090 is raised, how then do you directly confront 00:10:42.090 --> 00:10:46.350 contention? The Apostle Paul, it seems to me, 00:10:46.629 --> 00:10:50.710 lays out some models for us here. First of all, 00:10:50.830 --> 00:10:56.159 he appears... for unity in the body. He appeals 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:59.440 to them for unity in the body. The unity of a 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:04.299 church is its glory. If you remove that unity, 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:10.639 a church is disgraced. Guarding the unity of 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:13.220 the fellowship of God's people is the job of 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:17.500 every member of a church. Ephesians chapter 4, 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:20.720 the apostle writes to them, I the prisoner, the 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:26.279 Lord, treat you to walk in a manner worthy of 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:29.399 the calling with which you've been called with 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:33.860 humility and gentleness, patience, showing forbearance 00:11:33.860 --> 00:11:37.639 to one another in love. And as they're doing 00:11:37.639 --> 00:11:41.440 all of that, he says, being diligent to preserve 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:46.340 the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.960 So you see it as the responsibility of all of 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:54.200 God's people to guard and to keep the unity of 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:59.320 the Church. He also appeals to them to take three 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.960 actions. He first of all says, I appeal to you, 00:12:03.019 --> 00:12:07.559 I exhort you, that you all agree. Literary says 00:12:07.559 --> 00:12:12.000 that you all say the same thing. But Paul cannot 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.460 mean or expect that the Corinthians are going 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:19.299 to agree on absolutely everything. Because later 00:12:19.299 --> 00:12:21.909 in chapter 8 he acknowledges that there will 00:12:21.909 --> 00:12:24.269 be differences of opinion among God's people 00:12:24.269 --> 00:12:28.110 and matters about which God has not spoken clearly. 00:12:29.129 --> 00:12:32.250 But when he says that we are to all say the same 00:12:32.250 --> 00:12:40.070 thing, he is saying that we all need to agree 00:12:40.070 --> 00:12:43.350 on those things where God has clearly spoken. 00:12:44.909 --> 00:12:49.250 God has clearly spoken on many things. And he 00:12:49.250 --> 00:12:54.700 says on these things, Don't disagree. And don't 00:12:54.700 --> 00:12:58.600 bring in secondary, non -essential matters into 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:01.740 the fellowship of the Church. There's an expression 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:03.840 in the Greek political life that kind of gets 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.019 to this, and it's one that really speaks to our 00:13:06.019 --> 00:13:10.320 contemporary political life in America. The Greek 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:15.799 expression was, drop the party prize. Drop the 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:19.340 party prize. You can see how that applies to 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:22.659 the Church of Christ. because they were divided 00:13:22.659 --> 00:13:25.620 up into parties around personalities that the 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:32.340 police wanted. But today, in our political process 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:35.659 in this country, partisanship has become so deep 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:40.360 and so bitter that those who've been elected 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:44.059 to do well with people can't get along well enough 00:13:44.059 --> 00:13:49.240 to see things progress, to see something introduced 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:52.379 and reasonably debated and compromises to be 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:55.259 made and then for them to come together. They're 00:13:55.259 --> 00:13:58.159 always looking for the difference. They're always 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.519 looking for some way to gain some advantage for 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:06.580 their party. That is not to their credit. And 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:09.120 we give out to people wise enough and smart enough 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:12.559 that they recognize that and vote out partisanship. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:17.539 What the apostle states here is that partisanship 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:21.200 has no place in a church. He says there ought 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:24.480 not to be in the church people dividing themselves 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:28.519 up into parties over secondary non -essential 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:33.639 matters. All of you agree the second action is 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:37.360 that there be no divisions among you. This word 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:41.740 divisions is where we get our English word sizzle. 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:46.059 It refers to a tear or to a crack that is used 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:49.419 in Matthew 9, 16 of the tearing of a garment. 00:14:50.730 --> 00:14:53.049 It's a word that was used in the secular world 00:14:53.049 --> 00:14:56.450 on that day of the spreading of wood, or the 00:14:56.450 --> 00:15:01.929 plowing of ground, opening up ground. He uses 00:15:01.929 --> 00:15:04.250 it again in 1 Corinthians in chapter 11 where 00:15:04.250 --> 00:15:07.950 he says, for the first place when you come together 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:11.590 as a church, I hear there are divisions existing 00:15:11.590 --> 00:15:16.389 among you. And in part, I believe it. Sisms. 00:15:16.409 --> 00:15:20.620 He says that there be no sisms, no one. plowing 00:15:20.620 --> 00:15:26.519 the ground to create an opening, a lift, a tear 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:30.960 in God's people. The thirdly says that you be 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:35.360 made complete, that you be perfectly united, 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:38.879 is how the NIV puts it. That what it means to 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.500 be put in the good order is a word that those 00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:47.639 of you who are craftsmen with wood would enjoy 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:51.639 because it means It means to frame something 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.620 together, to join two pieces of wood in such 00:15:54.620 --> 00:16:01.279 a way that the joint is not obvious. It's a word 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.039 that is used in Hebrews 11 .3 when it says, By 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:07.179 faith we understand that the worlds were framed 00:16:07.179 --> 00:16:11.519 by the word of God. That is, that God caused 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:15.580 the universe to come into existence in the order 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:18.639 that it is, so that the world is framed, it's 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:21.539 brought forth. together in such a way that it 00:16:21.539 --> 00:16:24.340 testifies to the wisdom and the power of God. 00:16:25.360 --> 00:16:28.059 It is a word of the great physician whose name 00:16:28.059 --> 00:16:31.639 happened to be Galen, the use of setting a bone. 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:36.659 When a bone is broken, you bring the pieces together, 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:40.279 you set the bone, and it's used in the Bible 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:43.500 again in Matthew 421 of the mending of nets. 00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:49.220 It means to take the pieces of the fishing net 00:16:49.220 --> 00:16:52.399 that have been torn to the rocks and to sew them 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:57.200 together so as to preserve the net. All of those 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.200 weren't pictures to say that that's what the 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.080 fossil was from these believers, that they be 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:07.680 made completely united. That instead of being 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:11.220 torn, instead of being like broken bones, they're 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:16.710 out of place. That they be locked together. in 00:17:16.710 --> 00:17:21.069 their thinking. And so the apostle appeals to 00:17:21.069 --> 00:17:24.950 them for unity. And he asks for evidence of this 00:17:24.950 --> 00:17:28.630 unity in two very specific ways. He says, in 00:17:28.630 --> 00:17:34.710 the same mind and in the same judgment. Two related 00:17:34.710 --> 00:17:38.089 but different thoughts. To be of the same mind 00:17:38.089 --> 00:17:43.829 means to be in aloneness in thinking. To have 00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:53.190 harmony in attitude. to be united in ideas. But 00:17:53.190 --> 00:17:55.809 he's talking not only doctrine here, but beyond 00:17:55.809 --> 00:18:00.109 doctrine here. He's talking about what we think 00:18:00.109 --> 00:18:03.670 about ministry in the terms of a local church. 00:18:04.190 --> 00:18:06.650 He's talking about what might be called a philosophy 00:18:06.650 --> 00:18:12.170 of ministry. What you do and why you do it. He 00:18:12.170 --> 00:18:15.250 says the evidence of the unity I'm appealing 00:18:15.319 --> 00:18:18.180 before is that you will come together and there 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:22.359 will be a harmony and attitude. But not only 00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:24.660 in the way that you think, he says, also in the 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:27.079 judgments you make. That is, in the decisions 00:18:27.079 --> 00:18:31.980 that you make, in the direction that you take, 00:18:33.079 --> 00:18:36.839 in the strategies that you employ to carry out 00:18:36.839 --> 00:18:41.420 what you say you want to do. He says in these 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:45.150 things that there may be unity. There's not a 00:18:45.150 --> 00:18:50.210 place, he says, for misunity in them. So the 00:18:50.210 --> 00:18:52.569 first action he takes is that he appeals to them 00:18:52.569 --> 00:18:54.849 for unity, but he takes the second action when 00:18:54.849 --> 00:18:58.569 he anticipates the response in verses 11 to 12. 00:18:58.690 --> 00:19:01.670 You can almost hear the Corinthian church saying, 00:19:01.930 --> 00:19:06.269 well, Paul, how do you know what's going on here? 00:19:07.049 --> 00:19:11.329 How do you know? And so, with those two questions 00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:15.099 in mind, Paul seems to answer them. when he says 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:18.059 to them what he does in verse 11, Paul, what 00:19:18.059 --> 00:19:21.559 makes you think we have problems? He says, well, 00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:24.539 I've been informed concerning you, my brethren. 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:29.160 The word informed means that he has been set 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:33.019 clear regarding them. He's had a report, you 00:19:33.019 --> 00:19:36.720 see, from the household of Chloe, the delegation 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.299 of Chloe's house, whether it was his servants 00:19:39.299 --> 00:19:42.720 or his family, we do not know. I said his, Chloe, 00:19:42.740 --> 00:19:45.740 is a woman's name. It was a woman who was apparently 00:19:45.740 --> 00:19:48.660 well -known among the grandkids. So that when 00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:51.480 he mentioned her name, she would be immediately 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:54.960 recognized. They were the ones who had brought 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:59.680 to Paul the letter that they had sent that caused 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.940 this letter to be written. And in addition to 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:05.440 the letter that they sent, they also had some 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:09.400 verbal things to say to Paul. And so based upon 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:14.190 their report, He is writing these things. They 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:16.650 are the ones that said to Paul, Paul, there are 00:20:16.650 --> 00:20:21.250 problems in Corinth. The church there is divided. 00:20:23.029 --> 00:20:25.309 I asked the question, was this a righteous act 00:20:25.309 --> 00:20:30.089 for the part of those people? Or was this gossip 00:20:30.089 --> 00:20:35.109 on their part? To pass along in a prayer request 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:39.529 as we saw earlier what the real situation was. 00:20:42.569 --> 00:20:45.049 The moment I ask it this way, is it ever right 00:20:45.049 --> 00:20:52.190 to tell? Is it ever right to squeal? Well, the 00:20:52.190 --> 00:20:54.490 answer to that is that we have to ask three questions 00:20:54.490 --> 00:20:58.410 before we squeal. The first question we have 00:20:58.410 --> 00:21:01.349 to ask is what is my motive in wanting to tell 00:21:01.349 --> 00:21:05.609 this? The motive needs to be that of course of 00:21:05.609 --> 00:21:10.049 love. Secondly, I need to ask the question before 00:21:10.049 --> 00:21:13.099 I tell somebody what I know. Am I willing to 00:21:13.099 --> 00:21:18.579 be identified with this message? Am I willing 00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:21.859 to be known as the one who passed this along? 00:21:23.660 --> 00:21:25.839 If I'm seeking the anonymity, then I need to 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.839 really go back and check my motor again. And 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:32.380 the third question is, am I telling someone who 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:35.660 could intervene and do something? Because if 00:21:35.660 --> 00:21:38.539 I'm passing along a report to somebody who can't 00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:42.710 do anything about it anyway, and what is the 00:21:42.710 --> 00:21:47.509 real benefit. You see, as a household employee 00:21:47.509 --> 00:21:50.190 would ask those questions, they could answer 00:21:50.190 --> 00:21:54.690 them all in a positive way. They were part of 00:21:54.690 --> 00:21:56.569 the church, they loved the church, they were 00:21:56.569 --> 00:21:58.470 willing to be identified, and they were bringing 00:21:58.470 --> 00:22:03.710 the issues to the one man that God had appointed 00:22:03.710 --> 00:22:08.390 as the apostle to answer these questions. The 00:22:08.390 --> 00:22:10.890 report was that there were quarrels among them, 00:22:10.890 --> 00:22:13.789 he wants them to know them. The word quarrels 00:22:13.789 --> 00:22:19.890 means contentions or debates. And we know from 00:22:19.890 --> 00:22:22.410 what Paul writes in Galatians chapter 5 that 00:22:22.410 --> 00:22:24.769 when there are debates among the people of God, 00:22:25.009 --> 00:22:30.029 somebody is in the flesh. Because contentions 00:22:30.029 --> 00:22:35.130 is the work of the flesh, of the sin that still 00:22:35.130 --> 00:22:41.730 operates within our universe. Zodiac says, in 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:45.829 his words about this text, a quarrelsome spirit 00:22:45.829 --> 00:22:51.190 is a carnal spirit. But there is somebody who 00:22:51.190 --> 00:22:54.509 wants to fight. But there is someone who wants 00:22:54.509 --> 00:23:00.710 to quarrel, or to take issue. Then that person 00:23:00.710 --> 00:23:05.230 needs to check his spirit. I don't know why jokes 00:23:05.230 --> 00:23:07.250 about this, you know, you're always told on the 00:23:07.250 --> 00:23:10.150 choir. I suppose they aren't always with so many 00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:12.430 choir that I read just recently that I thought 00:23:12.430 --> 00:23:14.650 was rather new message. Although if you're a 00:23:14.650 --> 00:23:16.829 choir member, you probably won't think so. A 00:23:16.829 --> 00:23:19.910 new choir member said, no, what is your position 00:23:19.910 --> 00:23:23.930 in the choir? And the experienced choir member 00:23:23.930 --> 00:23:26.470 said, neutral, idle side with either faction. 00:23:30.529 --> 00:23:33.509 The second question that may have come to the 00:23:33.509 --> 00:23:37.970 Corinthian believers was, well, Paul... What 00:23:37.970 --> 00:23:43.769 contention are you writing about? And so the 00:23:43.769 --> 00:23:46.170 Apostle makes it very clear in verse 12 what 00:23:46.170 --> 00:23:51.130 he's talking about. Here's what I mean. He says, 00:23:51.309 --> 00:23:54.029 each one of you, indicating the breadth of this 00:23:54.029 --> 00:23:57.009 problem by the way, each one of you, he says, 00:23:57.630 --> 00:24:01.529 is saying, I'm a fall of all of Cephas in Christ. 00:24:03.289 --> 00:24:05.329 The problem in the church was that they were 00:24:05.329 --> 00:24:08.670 divided over personalities. There were some who 00:24:08.670 --> 00:24:12.049 liked Paul best because he was the founder of 00:24:12.049 --> 00:24:15.329 the church. Eve was the one who had come to preach 00:24:15.329 --> 00:24:18.609 the gospel there. He was the apostle of our Lord 00:24:18.609 --> 00:24:22.009 Jesus Christ and he was the first on the scene 00:24:22.009 --> 00:24:26.190 and therefore they were loyal to Paul. But there 00:24:26.190 --> 00:24:29.650 were others who liked Apollos better. Apollos 00:24:29.650 --> 00:24:32.390 who was the pastor of the church when Paul left. 00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:37.140 Apollos was a very eloquent speaker. Apollos 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:40.299 was a man who apparently loved Greek philosophy 00:24:40.299 --> 00:24:43.559 and he was able in his oratorical ability to 00:24:43.559 --> 00:24:47.559 bring in all kinds of aspects to his preaching 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:51.079 that some people like to bring deal. And so they 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:55.000 said, well, we like Apollos best. And then there 00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.339 was a group who liked Peter. Now, what Peter's 00:24:59.339 --> 00:25:01.359 relationship was there, we don't really know. 00:25:01.859 --> 00:25:04.299 He may have ministered in Corinth, or perhaps 00:25:04.299 --> 00:25:06.700 there were others who came to Corinth later, 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:10.519 and who had known Peter. But there were some, 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:12.619 apparently, who thought, well, Peter was one 00:25:12.619 --> 00:25:16.579 of the originals. He goes all the way back to 00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:20.519 the 12th. Maybe this was a Jewish element, and 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:23.140 they said, well, Peter is the apostle to the 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:28.539 Jews. Therefore, we're in Peter's party. And 00:25:28.539 --> 00:25:30.420 then there were some who said, I am with Christ. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:36.259 Notice that Paul does not commend them, because 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:38.359 these people were saying that they were of Christ. 00:25:38.420 --> 00:25:41.200 They had the right name, but they had the wrong 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:45.579 spirit. Apparently these were a very super spiritual 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:50.640 group that disavowed any human leader. They might 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:53.779 even have plain, some special relationship to 00:25:53.779 --> 00:25:58.039 Christ, but they had a holier than thou attitude, 00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:03.730 apparently. And so he includes this group as 00:26:03.730 --> 00:26:06.049 among those who are devising, even though they 00:26:06.049 --> 00:26:10.710 use the name of Christ. And he talks to them 00:26:10.710 --> 00:26:15.609 very bluntly. He anticipates what their response 00:26:15.609 --> 00:26:18.269 is going to be. And he says, look, here's how 00:26:18.269 --> 00:26:20.690 I got the information and here's what I know. 00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:25.630 That's what you have to do. You confront contention. 00:26:26.990 --> 00:26:30.240 You have to have your facts in order. You have 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:34.380 to know what you know, and you have to explain 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:39.319 what you know. By the way, as we think about 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:41.680 the division that was in the Quintin Church, 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.119 there's a word of warning that we have to bring 00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:48.180 to our contemporary church, and that is, beware 00:26:48.180 --> 00:26:55.240 of celebrityism. We are invaded because of mass 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:59.140 media, for one thing, but just because of the 00:26:59.049 --> 00:27:03.630 the spirit of the age when certain preachers 00:27:03.630 --> 00:27:09.109 are exalted. Someone listens to a certain radio 00:27:09.109 --> 00:27:13.109 preacher and everything that is said in their 00:27:13.109 --> 00:27:15.829 hearing from them on their Sunday school class 00:27:15.829 --> 00:27:19.690 or their Bible study group or their church is 00:27:19.690 --> 00:27:23.309 measured in light of what their idol on the radio 00:27:23.309 --> 00:27:28.089 says. I have one pastor friend who has a John 00:27:28.089 --> 00:27:31.990 MacArthurite And believing John MacArthur puts 00:27:31.990 --> 00:27:34.589 up with none of this, but how do you control 00:27:34.589 --> 00:27:38.329 people who have these attitudes, you know? And 00:27:38.329 --> 00:27:41.950 so, he follows John MacArthur to the letter, 00:27:42.829 --> 00:27:46.329 and after every Sunday's sermon, this man is 00:27:46.329 --> 00:27:48.470 waiting in the back of his church to say, well, 00:27:48.569 --> 00:27:50.750 now what you said today was good, but John says 00:27:50.750 --> 00:27:54.670 this about it. That would take me about two Sundays 00:27:54.670 --> 00:27:56.750 before I would invite him to find a little pastor. 00:27:58.190 --> 00:28:01.789 Because that spirit is wrong. And those who worship 00:28:01.789 --> 00:28:04.650 celebrities and worship preachers are wrong. 00:28:04.769 --> 00:28:07.829 Those who divide themselves up over personalities 00:28:07.829 --> 00:28:10.869 are in the flesh. That is not of God. That is 00:28:10.869 --> 00:28:14.730 not of God. All of us don't want these people 00:28:14.730 --> 00:28:18.710 becoming his disciples in that narrow party spirit. 00:28:20.170 --> 00:28:22.190 And he goes on to show that by what he says in 00:28:22.190 --> 00:28:26.230 verses 13 through 17. For here he now admonishes 00:28:26.230 --> 00:28:30.309 them for their attitude. He appeals to them. 00:28:30.349 --> 00:28:32.970 He anticipates their response. He's willing to 00:28:32.970 --> 00:28:35.089 tell them what he knows and how he knows it. 00:28:35.549 --> 00:28:38.349 And now he admonishes them for their attitude 00:28:38.349 --> 00:28:41.809 of divisiveness. He does this really in two ways. 00:28:41.849 --> 00:28:46.029 First, he asks rhetorical questions. He says, 00:28:46.130 --> 00:28:50.630 has Christ been divided? Now, you stop and think 00:28:50.630 --> 00:28:54.569 about them as a rather impulsive fiction. He 00:28:54.569 --> 00:28:57.789 says, has Jesus' body of resurrection, body been 00:28:57.789 --> 00:28:59.960 divided up? Some of you have his arm and some 00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:03.400 of you have a leg. And some of you have his head. 00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:11.019 He says is Christ divided? Most rhetorical because 00:29:11.019 --> 00:29:13.519 obviously Christ is not divided and nobody has 00:29:13.519 --> 00:29:21.039 a piece of Jesus. We all have all of Jesus. But 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.220 then he asks a second question. Paul was not 00:29:23.220 --> 00:29:27.180 crucified before he was. The way to put it is 00:29:27.180 --> 00:29:34.099 he expected it. Notice he doesn't mention Apollos 00:29:34.099 --> 00:29:37.119 catered here in these questions. He does this 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:40.039 out of reserve about why you further inflame 00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:43.920 people in court, but he points to himself. But 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.440 neither Apollos nor Peter were crucified for 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:50.059 the name. He asks a third question, were you 00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:54.519 baptized in the name of Paul? Well, of course 00:29:54.519 --> 00:30:00.920 they were not. And then he moves ahead to remind 00:30:00.920 --> 00:30:04.099 them of what unites them. He mentions baptism. 00:30:05.859 --> 00:30:07.960 Baptism is one of the things that should unite 00:30:07.960 --> 00:30:12.779 them. Baptism is a picture of them being placed 00:30:12.779 --> 00:30:18.660 into the body of Jesus Christ. Baptism is an 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:21.019 illustration of the fact that they belonged to 00:30:21.019 --> 00:30:23.500 Jesus, that they died with him, they were raised 00:30:23.500 --> 00:30:27.960 from the dead, that they were one body in Christ. 00:30:28.779 --> 00:30:31.420 He says, will you back? and the name of all of 00:30:31.420 --> 00:30:34.160 that takes him in a little bit of a diversion. 00:30:34.259 --> 00:30:36.599 He wants to remind them that he hadn't baptized 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:40.359 many of them. The second thing that he wants 00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:43.900 to remind them of, not even baptism, is a picture 00:30:43.900 --> 00:30:46.440 of their unity. And they have been baptized, 00:30:46.779 --> 00:30:49.799 they shared baptism. He said, they all believed 00:30:49.799 --> 00:30:53.619 the same message. He said, I came to you to evangelize, 00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:57.680 to preach to you the gospel. That gospel will 00:30:57.680 --> 00:30:59.460 be defined very clearly in the next few weeks. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:04.240 verses, is the gospel of Christ crucified, for 00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:08.140 our sins risen from the dead. They had all believed 00:31:08.140 --> 00:31:10.880 the same message, and now here they were dividing 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:16.940 themselves over creatures. And so the apostle 00:31:16.940 --> 00:31:19.920 is admonishing them that he brings the point 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:24.339 of his whole paragraph to this agonizing exhortation, 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:26.740 and he sits down as it were beside them. He puts 00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:29.619 his arm around them. He looks directly in their 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:33.140 eyes, and He tells them, look, you were baptized 00:31:33.140 --> 00:31:36.740 just like most people were. When you were baptized, 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:39.279 you said that you belonged to Christ. You said 00:31:39.279 --> 00:31:41.180 that you were His disciple. You said you were 00:31:41.180 --> 00:31:45.819 under His Lordship. When you were baptized, it 00:31:45.819 --> 00:31:49.839 pictured the fact that you were one. When you 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:52.079 were baptized, you said you believed the gospel 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:56.339 message that I preached. That's what He's saying, 00:31:56.339 --> 00:32:01.019 how did it? How then can you justify the divisions 00:32:01.019 --> 00:32:07.359 that exist within you? But they didn't. And so 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:14.279 often, don't we justify our divisions? We wrap 00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:19.619 our contentions in spirituality. And we say, 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.319 well, here is my position. Here is my opinion. 00:32:25.700 --> 00:32:29.789 And we do that. turns to that we identify that 00:32:29.789 --> 00:32:35.390 as though it were exactly what Jesus would say 00:32:35.390 --> 00:32:40.029 if he were here. But Jesus isn't going to say 00:32:40.029 --> 00:32:46.829 two or three or ten different things. Of all 00:32:46.829 --> 00:32:48.829 the people who are the most dangerous perhaps 00:32:48.829 --> 00:32:51.069 in the Trinity Church, it was most visible by 00:32:51.069 --> 00:33:18.640 the Christ. It was this very spiritual In this 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:21.720 paragraph, the apostle Paul gives to you an example 00:33:21.720 --> 00:33:30.130 of how you also can seek to in your marriage. 00:33:31.869 --> 00:33:36.990 Perhaps it is with your married children. Perhaps 00:33:36.990 --> 00:33:39.410 it is with your employees at work. How do you 00:33:39.410 --> 00:33:43.569 do that? Well, the first thing that Paul gives 00:33:43.569 --> 00:33:48.569 by example is this appeal. And he says, gently 00:33:48.569 --> 00:33:51.369 approach, at least at first. Don't carry the 00:33:51.369 --> 00:33:54.130 big stick and question and ask the questions 00:33:54.130 --> 00:33:58.349 later. He comes with an appeal that is gentle, 00:33:59.079 --> 00:34:03.059 expresses deep concern for them. And then he 00:34:03.059 --> 00:34:05.160 anticipates their response. He tells them what 00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:08.280 he knows. He tells them how he knows it, which 00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:11.980 they can't deny. And then he admonishes them 00:34:11.980 --> 00:34:18.400 for their wrong attitudes. All of us, all of 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:21.000 us are responsible for the health of this church 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:23.639 that we're part of. Or if you're visiting today, 00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:26.059 you're responsible for the health of your church, 00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:31.460 whatever it is. As unity, as freedom from strife 00:34:31.460 --> 00:34:34.599 is your responsibility as much as anyone else 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:38.820 in the church. Though we may not be able to correct 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:44.840 the other person's contentious spirit. Paul wasn't 00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:48.159 successful in everybody carrying it. But what 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:52.039 we can do is arrest our own contentious spirit. 00:34:53.579 --> 00:35:00.789 We can bring our own to quarrel under the lordship 00:35:00.789 --> 00:35:05.889 of Jesus Christ. And we can determine in our 00:35:05.889 --> 00:35:10.050 own hearts that we will do what we need to do 00:35:10.050 --> 00:35:13.550 in order that there be no strife among the people 00:35:13.550 --> 00:35:18.230 of God. During the hike through some woods there 00:35:18.230 --> 00:35:22.210 was a boy scout group that came upon some railroad 00:35:22.210 --> 00:35:24.889 tracks. So they began to dare each other as boys 00:35:24.889 --> 00:35:29.019 would do to walk. certain distance on the track. 00:35:30.159 --> 00:35:32.860 And each of the boys got up on the railing and 00:35:32.860 --> 00:35:35.679 they began to walk, and some got a step or two, 00:35:35.699 --> 00:35:38.260 and some got several steps, and yet ultimately 00:35:38.260 --> 00:35:41.860 they all fell off. And then told them they had 00:35:41.860 --> 00:35:46.699 an idea, and they said to the whole group, we 00:35:46.699 --> 00:35:49.679 bet you we can do this, that we can walk on this 00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:52.519 railing. And they made some sort of a deal among 00:35:52.519 --> 00:35:56.059 each other. And then the two of them held hands. 00:35:57.099 --> 00:35:59.579 They each got on a railing and began to walk. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:03.380 They walked the full distance. And the reason 00:36:03.380 --> 00:36:06.900 was that they were trying to do it by themselves. 00:36:07.000 --> 00:36:09.539 They were doing it in unity with somebody else. 00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:13.199 They were holding hands. And that's what we did. 00:36:14.940 --> 00:36:18.260 And instead of saying, well, this is our thing. 00:36:19.420 --> 00:36:40.239 This is my thing. This is my problem. You say, 00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:42.599 well, who are you talking to at this point? I'll 00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:45.119 tell you exactly who I'm talking to. Paul said, 00:36:46.360 --> 00:36:48.659 here's why I'm saying this, and here's why I'm 00:36:48.659 --> 00:36:53.380 saying, I'm talking to all of us. All of us. 00:36:53.880 --> 00:36:56.199 Because there's not one of us here who's incapable 00:36:56.199 --> 00:37:00.559 of bringing salvation to the Church of God. When 00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:03.079 we get to chapter 3, we'll see what a dangerous... 00:37:18.860 --> 00:37:21.440 There's the unity of the Spirit and the bond 00:37:21.440 --> 00:37:30.820 of peace. Let's pray together. Lord, in a day 00:37:30.820 --> 00:37:39.300 when division in churches is so common, in a 00:37:39.300 --> 00:37:45.420 day when strife and quarrels are justified and 00:37:45.420 --> 00:37:52.010 wrapped in spiritual language, biblical rationale 00:37:52.010 --> 00:37:55.409 can be given for why one person does this, or 00:37:55.409 --> 00:37:59.070 says that, or believes this, or takes that position. 00:38:02.030 --> 00:38:05.590 Lord, would they like to just help us to be part 00:38:05.590 --> 00:38:10.150 of the answer to your prayer, that we be one, 00:38:13.710 --> 00:38:18.909 that wherein we have the quals of spirit, and 00:38:18.909 --> 00:38:24.280 then devise it. Give us words to deeply repent 00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:31.340 of that. To confess our sin. And to bring ourselves 00:38:31.340 --> 00:38:38.780 out of the lordship of Jesus Christ. Just make 00:38:38.780 --> 00:38:43.599 me pray. Amen. I like us to stand and fall on 00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:46.599 the cliff and we sing that last chorus, soft 00:38:46.599 --> 00:38:49.760 in my heart, Lord, soft in my heart, from all 00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:53.639 the nymphs. Let's stand, please, let's stand. 00:38:55.840 --> 00:38:58.940 Hope you can sing from memory and soften my heart. 00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:01.000 Soften my heart.