Since we're beginning a new sermon series,
we just concluded our series through the book of Ephesians.
And let me provide a little bit of background
for this new letter through 1 Corinthians.
So the epistle to the 1 Corinthians
written by the Apostle Paul around 55 AD.
And Corinth was at the time a Roman colony.
And it's a narrow strip of land
that connects basically the northern mainland of Greece
to the southern peninsula.
So it's a narrow strip of land
that has the Mediterranean Sea
on either side of it to the east and the west.
So it's a very strategic location.
And because of that, it was a very diverse city.
And it's not really not unlike Cambridge and Boston really today.
But because of diversity and not just that,
the Corinthian church was also very divisive.
It was what we might call a problem church.
And Paul is having to address a lot of different things.
And one of the issues being,
they were challenging Apostle Paul's very authority.
They were saying, well, I mean, why should we listen to you?
I mean, we have these great people to follow.
So Paul is addressing a lot of serious problems
as he writes this letter.
They disagreed on a number of issues,
including sexual immorality, lawsuits, marriage and divorce,
singleness, spiritual gifts, and public worship.
And they were engaging in all this kind of back and forth
of one-upmanship with one another.
And so Paul is trying to tell them through this letter
to stop their one-upmanship and prideful, basically, divisions,
and then to unite together for the advancement
of the good news of Jesus Christ.
So that's really the main point of the reason
why Paul writes this letter.
And as our church continues to get older,
and as our church continues to grow, the Lord willing,
by His grace, there will be increasing temptations
for disagreements and divisions.
And because of that, our hope is that
as we go through the first Corinthians together,
the sermon series entitled Undivided,
that we will come through the end of it
stronger in our unity in Christ as a church.
And at the root of all forms of divisiveness,
and especially the divisiveness of the Corinthian church here,
was spiritual pride and elitism,
which our passage for today addresses.
And there's a book entitled Privilege.
The subtitle is The Making of an Adolescent Elite
at St. Paul School.
It's an interesting sociological study
about our social elite and how it develops.
And the author's name is Shamus Khan,
and he was once a student at St. Paul School,
and then he became later a teacher,
and then later a researcher at the institution.
St. Paul School is a college prep-forter school.
It's in New Hampshire.
It's one of the most exclusive college prep-forter schools
in the whole country.
It's one of the eight, I believe,
schools in the Eight Schools Association,
which is basically the Ivy League of high schools.
And so they, it's really hard to get in.
And as he was researching this, though,
he noted that the most successful students at this school,
basically the students that will in the future make up the social elite,
are not necessarily the most hardworking students.
Instead, he wrote this.
He says that they are the students who embody what he calls,
in quote,
the ease of privilege.
He writes,
these students,
because they were conditioned by their academic,
economic, and environmental privilege,
they carry themselves with tremendous confidence,
and in a sense,
this air of superiority about them.
And that helps them to get ahead in life,
succeed,
and to get people's esteem.
It's what he calls the ease of privilege.
The most successful students,
he noted during his research,
are people who embody that ease of privilege.
But what's interesting about that is also that he notes that
while these are the most successful students for this reason,
and while they are products of their privilege,
they themselves believe that they're successful
solely because of their intrinsic talent and hard work.
That's kind of the example of social elitism,
how that develops.
And that kind of mistaken elitism also finds its way in the church.
Christians who have been privileged to receive much grace from God
can imagine themselves as belonging to this elite class of Christians
and look down on other believers.
The grace that they have received from God is a gift.
They take credit for it themselves
and flaunt their own merits.
Ah, it's my superior devotion to God.
Ah, it's because I serve God more than these people.
Ah, it's because I had great mentors and teachers.
Oh, it's because of my superior upbringing in a Christian home.
Oh, it's because I got a great theological education
from this Christian college or seminary.
All of us, I would say, have at some point been guilty of this spiritual elitism
or have been offended by this spiritual elitism.
Probably many of us have done both, right?
And the church in Corinth was falling into a similar pitfall.
And so Apostle Paul graciously and forcefully addresses this issue
in our passage for today.
And his main point is this,
that those who belong to the church of God
by the grace of God should boast only in the cross of Christ.
That's the main point.
And those will be my three points.
It's that the first, the church of God in verses 1 to 3.
Second, the grace of God in verses 4 to 9.
And lastly, the cross of Christ in verses 10 to 17.
Paul begins the letter by identifying himself in verse 1 as the author.
Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus
and our brother Sosthenes.
It's a similar introduction to the one found in Ephesians,
but it's actually far more detailed than any other introduction we find
in Paul's other epistles.
And I think the reason for that is this,
because we later learn in the letter that in chapter 4, verses 1 to 5,
that these Corinthian believers were judging Paul, right?
And we also find out in chapter 9 that they were questioning his apostleship.
Is Paul really a true apostle, right?
And fully aware of this,
so Paul, right from the get-go, emphasized the divine origin of his apostleship.
He says,
Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.
The word apostle can be used generally to refer to the messengers of the gospel,
but Paul is using the word in a more formal, official sense
to refer to those who belong to the office of apostle,
who are laying the foundations of the church
by proclaiming authoritatively the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So he's claiming to be someone who was personally appointed and commissioned
by the resurrected Christ to be a church-planting missionary,
as 1 Corinthians 9 talks about.
So he's saying,
I am an apostle by the will of God.
And this self-awareness of Paul is very important
as we go through this letter as a whole,
because on the one hand,
Paul is incredibly self-effacing and humble.
He doesn't like to take credit for himself.
But on the other hand,
when it comes to defending his ministry and authority as an apostle,
he's very assertive,
and he's staunchly defensive of his own basic calling.
And I think the reason why we see,
on the one hand,
great humility and great confidence in Paul at the same time
is because he knew,
without a doubt,
that he were called by the will of God to be an apostle.
And so,
and that,
we'll see,
and recognizing that,
the fact that he is so,
by the grace of God,
will be the antidote,
will be what heals the spiritual elitism
that's besetting the Corinthians at the moment.
But Paul also mentions one of his companions,
as he writes,
he calls him our brother,
Sosthenes.
It's not clear who he is,
but there is a guy that's with the same name
that's mentioned in Acts 18, 17,
who was a leader in the synagogue there,
but later was beaten by an angry Jewish mob.
He probably converted to Christianity at this point.
And then afterward,
joined Paul and his missionary journey.
So he mentions him as well
as someone who is greeting the Corinthian church.
And then,
having introduced himself and Sosthenes,
Paul names his addressees,
the people whom he is addressing in verse 2.
To the church of God that is in Corinth,
to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints together with all those
who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both their Lord and ours.
This is very interesting,
because nowhere else in all of his letters,
except for his two letters to the Corinthian church,
Paul addresses his recipients as the church of God.
So,
in Romans,
he says,
to all those in Rome
who are loved by God
and called to be saints.
In Galatians,
he says,
to the churches of Galatia.
In Ephesians,
he says,
to the saints who are in Ephesus.
Colossians,
he says,
to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ,
the Colossians.
In 1 and 2 Thessalonians,
he writes,
to the church of the Thessalonians in God.
But when addressing the Corinthians,
he doesn't just call them saints,
he doesn't just call them brothers or sisters,
he tells them,
to the church of God
that is in Corinth.
And with that phrasing,
Paul's intentionally addressing
one of their chief problems,
namely spiritual pride.
Because they don't belong
to some special class of Christians
distinct from the rest of the churches.
He's saying,
no,
you are one of the churches of God.
You belong to him.
He is your owner,
he is your Lord,
and you are the church of God.
And because the church belongs to God,
they are called sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints.
When we hear the word sanctification,
we usually think of
the progressive sanctification,
that Christians,
as Christians,
we strive to become more like God in our life,
and we grow in our holiness day to day.
But that's not the kind of sanctification
that is in view.
What's in view here
is what theologians call
definitive sanctification,
that at the moment we turn to Christ in faith,
that we are sanctified,
sanctified,
that we are,
and it's really simultaneous
with our justification,
that we're considered saints of God
in a real way.
That's what he references
in 1 Corinthians 6,
11 later,
when he says,
you were washed,
you were sanctified,
you were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and by the Spirit of our God.
It's something that's already taken place.
We are sanctified in Christ Jesus
when we believe in Jesus for salvation.
And then,
the fact that they are called to be saints
is also speaking about the same reality,
right?
The words sanctified and saint
come from the same Greek word
that means holy.
And the basic meaning of the word holy
is to be set apart,
right?
So holiness is an attribute of God
because God is set apart.
He's someone that transcends
the created world,
right?
He's set apart from the rest of the world.
And so when something is called holy,
where someone is called holy,
we're saying that that person
is set apart for God's special purposes,
right?
And so saints are those who are,
they're the holy ones.
They're the ones who are sanctified.
They're the ones who are set apart
for God's special purposes.
And for that reason,
church is very special.
And Paul freely acknowledges that.
However,
the Corinthian church believed
that they were superior to other churches.
They were charting an independent course.
And because of that,
later in 1436,
Paul rebukes them.
Was it from you
that the word of God came?
Or are you the only ones
it has reached?
Right?
So all throughout this letter,
Paul emphasizes the fact
that they belong to,
he emphasizes practices
and teachings
that are basically found
in all the churches.
Because Paul wants to bring them back
to,
instead of charting
their own independent course,
to be united
with the practices
of the other churches.
You know,
to reign them back in.
And that's what Paul's trying to do
in verse 2 here.
He's trying to bring them back
down to earth.
He says,
To the church of God
that is in Corinth,
to those sanctified in Christ Jesus,
called to be saints
together with all those
who in every place
call upon the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both their Lord
and ours.
Their Lord
and our Lord
the same.
The church in every place
calls on the same name
of Jesus Christ.
And the Corinthian church
is not called to be
a superior church,
a better church,
a different church,
but called to be
the church
together with all
the saints.
And sometimes,
this is true
in the modern day as well,
right?
Specific local churches
and specific denominations
can be so enamored
with themselves
that they begin to think
that their way
of doing things
is the only way
of doing things.
They think that they have
a monopoly on truth
and best practices.
But the truth is that
every church
that calls upon
the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ
belongs to the same
extended family of God
and have the same
spirit of God.
And in all likelihood,
for that reason,
there are probably
other churches
in the world
that have done
what we're doing
and have thought about
what we are thinking about
and what we're wrestling with.
And therefore,
we should assume
not a posture of pride
but a posture of humility
and a posture of learning
as we dialogue
with other churches
and with the spirit fellowship.
And after addressing
his recipients,
Paul greets them formally
in verse 3,
Grace to you
and peace from God
our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's it.
Paul's trademark greeting,
right?
Grace and peace.
And the same one
he uses in Ephesians 1-2,
the standard Greek salutation
was simply greetings
which is a variation
of the word rejoice,
right?
But Paul transforms that,
just changes one constant here
and one verb there
and he,
to turn that into grace
so that the Christian,
distinctively Christian greeting
becomes not just greetings
but grace.
And grace refers to
God's unmerited favor
as one Bible dictionary puts it,
the absolutely free expression
of the loving kindness
of God to men
in the bounty
and benevolence
of the giver.
It's unmerited,
meaning that we didn't earn it.
It's out of God's
absolute freedom
that he bestows
his grace on us.
It's a gift
given to us
out of his sheer bounty
and benevolence.
And God treats us
with the favor
that we don't deserve.
That's grace.
It's the grace,
the reason for God's
saving acts,
all of his saving acts.
And if grace is the reason
for God's saving activity,
then peace
is the result
of God's saving activity.
The word peace
doesn't refer merely
to an absence of conflict.
It's a translation
of the Old Testament
concept of shalom
which refers to
a state of being whole,
of having a life
that is whole,
well-ordered before God,
according to God's purpose
and design.
Right?
And that's only possible
through the grace of God.
So really,
when he says grace and peace,
Paul's summarizing
his entire theology.
The grace,
the reason why God saves,
and the peace,
the result of God's
saving activity.
May that be to you,
Paul is saying.
That's his blessing
as he begins
his letter.
So the true
church of God,
then,
is the church
that has been constituted,
that has been formed
by the grace
and peace
from God.
And that's my first point,
the church of God.
Then,
having greeted
the Corinthian believers
as the church of God,
Paul proceeds
to give thanks to God
for the grace of God
at work in their lives.
And that's my second point,
the grace of God.
Paul says in verse 4,
I give thanks to my God
always for you
because of the grace of God
that was given you
in Christ Jesus.
Notice how Christ-centered
this whole passage is.
Right?
You look at Christ
is mentioned
no less than 12 times
in the span
of just these 17 verses.
Right?
Paul describes himself
as an apostle
of Christ Jesus
in verse 1.
Corinthian believers
have been sanctified
in Christ Jesus
in verse 2.
And here in verse 4,
he says that grace
was given
in Christ Jesus.
And Paul's theology
is Christ-centered
because he understands
that all of the
spiritual blessings
that we receive
from God the Father
are mediated
through Jesus Christ.
There's no grace
of God that comes to us,
that reaches us
apart from Jesus Christ,
that doesn't come
through Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit,
our comforter
and our advocate,
would not indwell
us apart from Christ.
The sweet fellowship
that we enjoy
as the body of Christ,
as the family of God,
would not be ours
apart from the grace
through Jesus Christ.
That's why Paul
can't help but speak
so frequently
about Christ.
Right?
And later in chapter 2,
verse 2,
he says,
I decided to know
nothing among you
except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
As believers,
we need to be characterized
by that,
the dominance
of Christ
in our lives.
That's why when we gather,
we don't tire
of speaking about Christ.
We don't ever
tire of singing
about Christ.
Christ.
That's what God
ordained.
God the Father
ordained that Christ
will be exalted
and the Spirit
glorifies the Son.
That's,
and sometimes I think
we get a little bit,
sometimes I've seen people
criticize churches
that they say
are too Christ-centered.
That church is
too Christ-centered,
too gospel-centered.
It's imbalanced.
There is no such thing.
to be Christ-centered
is to be profoundly
Trinitarian
because that's what
God the Father
ordained.
That's what the Spirit
of God does.
They glorify the Son.
Every grace we receive
comes through
Jesus Christ.
And I already explained
what Paul means
by grace earlier,
but here in verse 4,
Paul's not simply
speaking about,
in general,
about the grace of God,
but he has in mind
as he writes this,
a very specific
manifestation
of the grace of God.
He names what
he's talking about
in verse 48.
I give thanks
to my God always for you
because of the grace
of God that was given you
in Christ Jesus
that in every way
you are enriched in Him,
in all speech,
in all knowledge,
even as the testimony
about Christ
was confirmed among you
so that you are not
lacking in any gift
as you wait
for the revealing
of our Lord Jesus Christ
who will sustain you
to the end,
guiltless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The grace of God
was given
to the church of God
with the result
that in every way
the Corinthian believers
were enriched in Him
in all speech
and knowledge
so that they were
not lacking in any gift.
So especially here
in the context
of 1 Corinthians,
Paul closely associates
the grace of God
with the gifts of God.
And that's what Paul
is doing here too.
He's saying that
the gifts of God
that you have now
among you
is an expression
of the grace of God
and in that Paul
is rejoicing
and giving thanks
to God for it.
And he describes it
this way,
he says,
they were enriched
in every way
with all speech
and all knowledge.
So the full spectrum
according to Paul
of spiritual gifts
have been demonstrated,
have been witnessed
in the context
of the Corinthian church.
And what does it mean?
What does it mean
by speech and all knowledge?
So later in 1 Corinthians 12,
Paul lists the various gifts
of the Holy Spirit.
And then in verse 8
of that chapter,
he specifically mentions
the utterance of wisdom
and the utterance of knowledge.
So the word utterance
is the same word
that is translated here
as speech.
And knowledge,
of course,
is the same word.
So by all speech
and knowledge,
Paul's referring
not to just talking,
but to various gifts
of spirit-inspired speech.
So such as knowledge,
wisdom,
tongues,
prophecy
that he all specifically
mentions in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
And interestingly enough,
though,
this is helpful
because in those later chapters,
Paul's offering
a stern rebuke,
a correction
of how the Corinthian church
was thinking too highly
of themselves
because of their gifts
of speech
and knowledge.
in particular,
the gift of tongues,
which is a form
of spiritual speech
addressed to God.
And I'll teach on the tongues
more specifically
when we get to 1 Corinthians 14.
And they thought
that because they spoke
in tongues
that they had spiritually alive.
We're already there.
We're enjoying
the fullness
of God's presence
in the kingdom now.
And so they were
puffed up because of it.
And because of this
disproportionately enlarged
view of spiritual gifts
of speech and knowledge,
they used them
in an unruly
and disorderly manner
in the corporate worship context.
And that's why
Paul corrects them later.
And so when you keep
that context in mind,
it's remarkable
that Paul thanks God
for those very gifts
that's causing
all these problems
in the Corinthian church.
He says,
these very gifts
of speech and knowledge
are the source
that they're
manifestation
of God's grace.
gifts.
This is a helpful example
of not throwing
the baby out
with the bathwater.
So they are
definitely
misunderstanding
the spiritual gifts
and definitely
misusing
the spiritual gifts.
But nevertheless,
Paul says,
that is a real
and good demonstration
of God's grace.
And for that part
of that,
I thank God.
And Paul is,
I think,
completely sincere
when he offers
that thanksgiving.
It's,
I think that's remarkable
because,
you know,
it's easy for me
to thank God
for you guys.
I can pray this passage
on behalf of you guys
because I'm thankful
for you all.
And it's easy
for me to do that.
But to be in Paul's shoes,
to be writing
to the church,
that's challenging
his very apostleship.
And for him
to write about
the very things
that's causing
the strike
and discord
in the church
and for him
to say,
you know what,
I know you're
kind of messing
the use of that up,
but I still thank God
that that's an evidence
of God's grace for you.
That's such a helpful
practice for us
as we relate
to one another.
That helps us
to bear with one another,
doesn't it?
Yeah,
you were
sinning in that way.
Yeah,
you are messing
that up in that way.
But you know what,
I see that grace
of God in you.
And even as he's
thanking God
for the Corinthians,
the gifts that are
among the Corinthian believers,
he also pastorally
redirects them.
Right?
And he does that
in two ways.
First,
rather than emphasizing
the gifts
in and of themselves,
Paul emphasizes
the grace of God
in giving these gifts
to them.
So he focuses
on God
as the giver
instead of the recipients
as the gifted.
Right?
And by redirecting
the Corinthian believers
focused in that way,
he calls for greater
humility among them.
He's saying,
in essence,
what you have
is a gift from God.
You didn't earn it,
so why boast about it
as if you didn't
receive it freely
from the Lord?
In the same way,
when we encounter
highly gifted people
in our church,
and there's quite a few
highly gifted people
in our church,
as you look at them,
we shouldn't admire them
in and of themselves
and be jealous of them,
but rather we should
adore and thank God
for the gifts
that they have.
It's good to acknowledge
one another's gifts,
that's true,
but our focus
shouldn't be,
oh, how gifted
is so and so,
but rather,
oh, how generous
of our God
to give them those gifts.
Second,
he redirects them
another way,
second,
the Corinthian believers
thought that the
spiritual gifts
were evidence
of their spiritual arrival.
I mentioned this earlier,
right?
And he addresses this
in greater depth
in chapter 4
and chapter 13,
but they were basically
acting as if their salvation
was already fulfilled
and consummated,
right?
They have all that
is needful
to enjoy
the fullness of Christ.
That's what they believed
because they had these
gifts of tongues
and prophecy
and all of this.
But what Paul reminds them
of is that
the gifts that they
possess currently
is not evidence
of their arrival,
but evidence of their
waiting for arrival,
arrival and return
of Jesus Christ.
So he says in
verses 7 to 8,
so that you are not
lacking in any gift
as you wait
for the revealing
of our Lord Jesus Christ
who will sustain you
to the end,
guiltless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says very clearly
in chapter 13
of this epistle
that the spiritual gifts
like prophecy and tongues
will cease
when Christ returns
because their purpose
is to build up the church
until they are fully built up.
So the very existence
of those gifts
is a sign
that we have not arrived,
that we are not done
being sanctified,
we are not done growing,
that we need to wait eagerly
for the coming,
second coming of Christ.
And I think
those two things
are connected.
Perhaps it's because
we are not eagerly
awaiting the return of Christ.
We are not eagerly
preparing ourselves
for the return of Christ
and for that reason
we don't eagerly desire
the spiritual gifts.
because if we see
the need for our preparation,
if we see
and anticipate
the coming of Christ,
then we will want
to be edified,
we will want to be built up
and the spiritual gifts
are given for that purpose.
And so Paul wisely
reorients
these Corinthian believers
even while he's sincerely
thanking God for them.
And then Paul expresses
his faith that God
will sustain them
to the end,
guiltless in the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Man, the Corinthians
are far from guiltless
and misguided
in so many ways.
So what gives Paul
such confidence
that they will be sustained
until the end?
The answer we find
in verse 9.
God is faithful
by whom you were called
into the fellowship
of his Son,
Jesus Christ,
our Lord.
I'm so grateful
for that verse.
The basis for Paul's faith
that the Corinthians
would be sustained
to the end
is not their faithfulness
but God's faithfulness.
Because even if we are faithless,
he remains faithful
for he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2.13
Now that does not mean
that we do not have to
persevere in our faith.
We do have to persevere
to the end.
But the preserving grace
of God
is prior to our own perseverance
because it's God
who enables our perseverance.
Our perseverance itself
depends on God's faithfulness.
And that's why
the subject of the verb
is God.
In verse 8,
he says that God
will sustain them
to the end.
Some people debate
whether the subject
is Christ or God,
but either way,
it's the same difference.
It's God,
not us,
who is sustaining.
The word sustain
in verse 8
actually is exactly
the same word
that is translated
as confirmed
in verse 6.
So Paul repeats
that same word
to emphasize
the fact that
the God
who initially
confirmed
the testimony
about Christ
in our midst,
he's the same God
who will confirm
our salvation
in the end.
It's God
who guarantees
our salvation
from the beginning
to the end.
That's what makes
Paul so hopeful.
And that attitude
also informed
Paul's perspective
about the Corinthians.
That's super helpful
for us as well.
As we look at
each other's shortcoming
as the family of God,
we remind ourselves
as we see
each other's sins,
we remind ourselves
that's just dross
that is being removed
from the gold
that will be.
That's not
who we will be
in the end.
God's going to sustain
us to the end
because God
is faithful.
So that gives us
hope as we pray
for one another
and as we live
together
in seeking
to grow in Christ.
So that's my
second point,
the grace of God.
We belong
to the church of God
by the grace of God.
And after
the introductory
greeting and thanksgiving,
Paul turns to the
main body of his
letter in verse 10
where he teaches
that those who belong
to the church of God
by the grace of God
should boast only
in the cross
of Christ.
And that's my third point,
the cross of Christ
and he finds it
necessary to emphasize
the cross of Christ
for this reason.
Let's read verse 10
together.
I appeal to you,
brothers,
by the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ
that all of you
agree
and that there be
no divisions
among you
but that you be
united in the same
mind and the same
judgment.
The word that is
translated agree
literally means
speak the same
in Greek.
And so
three times
in this verse
Paul is repeating
this word
same.
So he says
to emphasize
the importance
of unity
he exhorts
him to speak
the same
and to have
the same
mind
and to have
the same
judgment.
And Paul
does that,
exhorts this
with the authority
of Christ.
He says,
I appeal to you
brothers by the
name of our
Lord Jesus Christ
that all of you
agree and that
there be no
divisions among
you.
you know,
for us
moderners,
telling other
people to
agree with
each other
kind of strikes
us as a little
strange and
maybe a little
bit pushy,
right?
I mean,
how can you
tell someone
to agree?
If they agree,
they agree.
If they don't,
they don't,
right?
I mean,
how can you
tell someone
to agree?
And that's
kind of how
we think about
it.
But when it
comes to our
confession of
faith,
right?
Because Paul's
not here,
and this is
actually not,
for Paul this
is actually kind of
common when he
tells people to
have the same
mind and agree.
And in
Philippians 4,
2,
actually he
says,
I entreat
Eodia and
I entreat
Syntyche to
agree in the
Lord,
right?
So he tells
them to agree
because they
were disagreeing
about something.
So this is a
very different,
it's radically
different from
our kind of
modern day
perception of
agreement and
people's own
opinions because
the modern
motto is to
each is home,
to each his
own,
right?
Whatever you
believe,
you believe,
and I'll
believe,
I'll
believe.
I mean,
that's really
the modern
attitude.
But for
Paul,
that's not
the attitude.
He says,
I appeal to
you,
brothers,
by the name
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ that
all of you
agree.
In Paul's
thinking,
he believes
that in the
context of
the church,
it's possible
for believers
to agree.
But what
are we supposed
to agree on?
Paul is not
telling us to
agree on every
single personal
preference or
taste or
opinion,
but when it
comes to our
confession of
faith,
when it comes
to our knowledge
about Jesus
Christ,
Paul expects
and enjoins
agreement.
In short,
he's calling
for unity,
not uniformity,
and he says
in Ephesians
4.13 that
the church
should strive
to attain
to the
unity of
the faith
and of the
knowledge of
the Son of
God.
So he's calling
here for a
confessional unity
that deals with
the content of
our faith,
especially that
which concerns
the knowledge of
the Son of
God.
And the fact
that that's the
kind of unity
Paul has in
mind is
confirmed in
later verses.
You get
verses 11-13
with me.
It says,
For it has
been reported
to me by
Chloe's people
that there is
quarreling among
you, my
brothers.
What I mean
is that each
one of you
says,
I follow
Paul,
or I follow
Apollos,
or I follow
Cephas,
or I follow
Christ.
Is Christ
divided?
Was Paul
crucified for
you?
Or were
you baptized
in the name
of Paul?
So Paul,
this is so
fascinating,
but Paul
received a
report from
Chloe's people.
I have no
idea who
those people
are,
but most
likely Chloe's
people didn't
belong to the
Corinthian church
because he
cites their
report as
something that's
credible and
objective,
something that
the Corinthian
believers would
accept.
And if they
were one of
the factions in
the Corinthian
church,
it probably
would not be
a reliable
thing to
cite.
And so
Paul,
these are
probably
kind of
third-party
believers who
are on
their way to
Paul,
stopped by
the Corinthian
church and
got to
witness this
first hand.
And they're
reporting some
serious issues
in the
Corinthian church
that they are
taking on
names of
various Christian
leaders as
slogans for
themselves and
declaring allegiance
to them in
a position to
others.
The fact that
only some
of the people
said,
I follow
Paul,
shows clearly
that there
were people
in the
Corinthian
church who
opposed Paul
himself.
Others
claimed,
I follow
Apollos,
or I
follow Cephas,
which is
Peter.
And still
others,
arrogantly,
claiming to
rise above
the fray,
they said,
oh, I
follow Christ.
Christ.
I mean, that
seems pious
on the
surface, but
claiming to
saying, I
follow Christ,
not as a
way of trying
to bring
people together
into unity,
but as
another one of
the factions
saying, oh,
you follow
Paul, I
follow Christ.
I mean, that
shows their
immaturity.
This is also a
problematic
attitude that
they had.
They suffered
from the same
spiritual elitism
that the
others were
guilty of,
even though
they're saying
what is true,
that we
should all
follow Christ.
And we
can easily
become guilty
of this
ourselves,
can't we?
At the
local level,
a group of
believers can
say, you
know, I
follow pastor
so-and-so.
He preaches
the best
sermons.
Oh, yeah?
Others can
say, I
follow pastor
so-and-so.
He's wiser
and more
mature.
Right?
At the
more regional
level, a
group of
believers can
say, oh, I
follow John
Piper.
He's the
most biblical
and bold.
And then
others can
say, oh,
yeah?
But he's so
overbearing and
inflexible.
I follow Tim
Keller.
He's much more
reasonable and
nuanced.
At a more
historical level,
people can
say, you
know, I
follow John
Wesley.
Because he
really understands
the prominence
of the Holy
Spirit.
And then
others will
say, oh,
yeah?
I follow
John Calvin.
Only he
really understood
the doctrines
of grace.
That hits way
too close to
home, doesn't
it?
It does for
me, too.
The problem
is not these
men's ministry
per se, but
that we use
their names for
the purpose of
asserting our
spiritual
superiority
over other
people.
That we are
dividing and
quarreling rather
than seeking
agreement,
seeking unity.
A similar
thing was
happening within
the Corinthian
church.
And we
don't know
the details
of what each
of these
groups of
people were
claiming for
themselves,
but there
seems to
have been a
particularly loyal
following of
Apollos,
because Paul
specifically
mentions
Apollos several
times throughout
his letter.
He says in
chapter 3,
verse 3-7,
For while there
is jealousy and
strife among
you, are you
not of the
flesh and
behaving only
in a human
way?
For when one
says, I
follow Paul,
and another,
I follow
Apollos, are
you not being
merely human?
What then is
Apollos?
What is
Paul, servant
through whom
you believe as
the Lord
assigned to
each?
I planted
Apollos'
water, but
God gave
the growth.
So neither
he who plants
nor he who
waters is
anything, but
only God
who gives
the growth.
And then
later, in
chapter 4,
verse 6, he
encourages the
Corinthian believers
to learn from
his example and
Apollos'
example, and
to not to go
beyond, I'm
quoting, not to
go beyond what
is written, that
none of you may
be puffed up in
favor of one
against another.
So that's the
problem here.
Some people were
getting puffed up
in favor of
Apollos against
Paul, and
vice versa.
And we
could infer
what the
problem might
have been,
because Acts
18.24
teaches us
that Apollos
was a native
of Alexandria,
an eloquent
man, competent
in the
scriptures.
Alexandria was
an ancient
city famous
as the center
of Greek
philosophy, and
Apollos was a
learned and
eloquent man,
and the fact
that he's
described as
eloquent probably
refers to his
Greek training,
formal training
in Greek
rhetoric, which
means he was a
trained philosopher
and a trained
orator like the
traveling Greek
philosophers of
that time.
And Corinthians,
it seems, were
enamored with
Apollos' gift,
with his
ability.
And so they
developed a
cult of
personality around
him.
And that
happens so
often nowadays
too, when
someone that's
very charismatic
or gifted, a
cult of
personality develops
around a
person.
And they
were saying
to Paul,
Paul, okay,
well, he's an
accomplished Jewish
theologian, we'll
admit that, but
Apollos, he's the
Greek philosopher.
Have you ever
heard him preach?
He's got the
real goods.
We follow
Apollos.
That's the
attitude that
Paul's dealing
with.
And so that's
what he seems to
be aiming at
when in chapter
two, verses
one to five,
it's a preview of
next week where
he says,
And I, when I
came to you,
brothers, did
not come proclaiming
to you the
testimony of God
with lofty
speech or
wisdom.
For I decided to
know nothing
among you except
Jesus Christ and
him crucified.
And I was with
you in weakness
and in fear and
much trembling.
And my speech and
my message were
not in plausible
words of wisdom,
but in demonstration
of the spirit and
of power so that
your faith might
not rest in the
wisdom of man,
but in the
power of God.
All of this is
absurd nonsense
to Paul.
Because he
corrects the
Corinthians in
verse 13 with a
series of rhetorical
questions.
Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified
for you?
Or were you
baptized in the
name of Paul?
There's only one
Jesus Christ, and
that means there's
only one body of
Christ, which is the
church of God, so
that divisions and
factions should have
no place in the
church.
And Paul's
clearly not
impressed, even
with the people
who are saying,
I follow Paul,
right?
He's saying,
what is Paul?
Was Paul crucified
for you?
If they thought
that they're going
to win some points
with Paul by saying,
oh, I follow Paul,
they were dead
wrong.
He's not impressed
that his name is
being used as a
slogan, because
that's not what he
wants for himself
or Apollos or
anyone else.
to be baptized
into the name
of someone is
to owe your
allegiance to that
person.
That's why Christians
are baptized in the
name of the Father
and the Son and
the Holy Spirit.
So of course they
were not baptized
in the name of
Paul.
But it seems that
the Corinthians are
making a big deal
of who baptized
them.
Oh, you got
baptized by Paul?
Guess what?
I got baptized by
Apollos.
But Paul rebukes
this kind of
attitude.
And the mention
of baptism
sidetracks Paul
for a bit, and
you guys probably
noticed that as
we were reading,
in verses 14 to
16 he says,
I thank God
that I baptized
none of you
except Crispus
and Gaius, so
that no one may
say that you
were baptized
in my name.
Well, I did
baptize also the
house of Stephanas.
Beyond that, I
do not know
whether I
baptized anyone
else.
It's really
kind of a
funny little
glimpse into
Paul's thinking,
right, as he's
writing this,
kind of ad hoc,
right, he's just,
and Gaius
mentioned Acts
18, 8, I
mean, Crispus
is mentioned
there, and Gaius
is mentioned
in Romans 16,
23.
He doesn't
think that he
baptized anyone
except for those
guys, and then
as he's writing,
his memory is
dropped, and
everyone's, oh
wait, but I did
baptize the
Stephanas, the
household of
Stephanas, but
apart from that,
I don't think I
baptized anyone
else, right?
It's like, so
he's like, it's
kind of a
humorous glimpse
into his own
humanity, right?
Paul's a man
just like us, he
forgets just like
us, and he
sometimes remembers
things just like
us, and so
even though this
was an
unintentional
thing, it
kind of proves
his point in
an uncalculated
way that we
shouldn't idolize
him, we
shouldn't follow
him, he's just
a man, we
should follow
Christ.
The ministers
of the gospel
are just tools,
just servants,
how ridiculous
than to give
their name such
prominence in
the Christian
life.
Nowadays,
vocational
ministers are
not highly
regarded outside
of the church,
but there is
still a measure
of prestige and
respect that
comes from
within the
church toward
ministers.
And ministers,
and I'm aware
of this, have
to be careful,
have to watch
their hearts,
lest they become
accustomed to
that, comfortable
with the
praise and
esteem, and
seek that, and
demand that from
other people.
Hannah and I
are, this is a
good opportunity
to let you
guys know, I
guess, is that
Hannah and I
are going on
our annual
vacation starting
tomorrow, and
with the kids,
we're going to
Seattle to visit
my parents, and
taking time away
like this on
occasion I think
is a great
opportunity for
us, and for
me personally, and
for the church.
And the reason
why I think that
is because for
me it's an
exercise in
relinquishing my
control over the
church.
It's an exercise
in humility to
recognize that, you
know what, the
church really
doesn't need me.
If the Lord
wills it, he
will grow the
church even if I
fall off the
planet tomorrow.
I'm not essential
to this church,
Christ is.
And for the
church, I think
it's a great
opportunity to hear
other voices,
people still
scriptural, yes,
but people
speaking from
different backgrounds
and experiences.
And it's a
reminder for all
of you to take
ownership of the
church since it
belongs to God, and
because of that it
belongs to all of
you who belong to
God.
It's a reminder to
not build a church
around Sean, but
around the cross of
Christ.
And so Paul
concludes this
section by
reorienting the
Corinthian church to
focus on the
gospel, the cross of
Christ in verse 17.
It says,
for Christ did
not send me to
baptize, but to
preach the gospel,
and not with words
of eloquent wisdom,
lest the cross of
Christ be emptied of
its power.
Just a
qualification here.
Paul is not saying
here that baptism is
unimportant.
He says in Romans 6,
3 to 4,
do you not know
that all of us who
have been baptized
into Christ Jesus
were baptized into
his death?
We were buried
therefore with him
by baptism into
death in order that
just as Christ was
raised from the
dead by the glory
of the Father, we
too might walk in
newness of life.
So Paul clearly
understood that
baptism is important
for the life of
the believer, but
what he is saying
here is that
baptism apart from
faith in the
gospel is useless.
Baptism is intended
to be an outward
profession of an
inward faith, and
baptism is effective
only insofar as it
is a genuine
expression of
of our repentance
and faith in God.
If baptism, imagine
this, in and of
itself saved people,
Paul would never
have to preach the
gospel.
All he has to do is
gather a large
class and have them
line up and just
dunk them all in the
water.
Everybody will be
saved.
Hooray.
No need to preach
the gospel.
But Paul doesn't do
that because apart
from faith in the
gospel, which only
comes through the
hearing of the word,
which only comes if
someone preaches the
gospel, baptism is
useless.
So Paul made it the
focus of his ministry
to preach the
gospel.
And Paul preached,
he says, not with
words of eloquent
wisdom, lest the
cross of Christ be
emptied of its power.
In next week's
passage, Paul contrasts
divine wisdom from
human wisdom.
And that's a preview
of that.
The word wisdom is a
key word that
occurs throughout the
book of 1 Corinthians
and it's something
that the Corinthians
really cherished,
kind of like what I
mentioned with
relation to Apollos,
right?
This wisdom,
philosophy, this
system of thought,
right?
And they put a
premium value on the
Greek philosophical
tradition, rhetorical
tradition.
But Paul argues that
in his ministry, he
intentionally avoided
such teaching, lest the
cross of Christ be
emptied of its power.
Imagine you have a
jewel of singular
beauty, maybe a very
rare and precious
diamond.
Then you would not
encumber that diamond
with a whole bunch of
distracting and ornate
setting.
No, you would want a
setting that's simple,
that highlights and
points to the beauty
of the diamond, that
doesn't distract from
it.
For Paul, that's the
gospel.
That's the cross of
Christ.
So let's not encumber
it.
Let's not put a
varnish on it.
Let's not cover it up,
detract from it with
other things.
Lest the cross of
Christ be emptied of
its power.
Paul didn't want
anyone to be drawn to
Jesus by human
eloquence or wisdom.
He didn't want any
onlooker from the
outside to be able to
see a conversion and
say, oh, that
person became a
Christian just because
he was beguiled by
that preacher's
eloquence or
wisdom.
He wanted everyone
looking on to be able
to say, that guy,
that person came to
Jesus because of the
power of the cross.
Think about that for a
minute in the context
of our church.
What are we trying to
draw people with?
What are we trying to
win people with?
Is it how friendly and
social we are?
Is it how good our
music is?
Is it good preaching?
Is it a smooth service?
Is it a particular
personality?
Is it the benefits that
we give to them,
material benefits?
If the answer is
anything other than
the cross of Christ,
then our ministry is
fundamentally misaligned.
God is the power of the
cross of Christ.
Paul is referring to the
saving power of the
cross of Christ, the
gospel, the good news of
Jesus Christ.
It's that we are sinful,
that we have no hope of
saving ourselves, that we
who are the creatures who
were created for God's
glory to live for him, we
thought to usurp God's
own authority, to place
ourselves on his throne
and to live for
ourselves.
That's what we did.
That's what we call sin.
But God, who had every
right for the sake of
justice to punish us, to
condemn us for eternity, in
love, out of grace and
mercy toward us, sends his
only son to die for us on
the cross for our sins.
We put ourselves where only
God deserved to be.
And God substitutes his son
to the place, the cross,
where only we deserve to
be.
That's the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
And for Paul, that's the
power of God for salvation.
That beautiful, glorious
exchange has to be the
center of our lives, has to
the ballast for our church.
For those of you who are
not yet a believer in
Jesus Christ, I would
plead with you today.
There is grace sufficient
for you, and you can know
the peace of God if you
turn to Jesus.
Put your faith in the cross
of Christ.
And for those of you who are
already believers, let's
remember together that those
who belong to the church of
God by the grace of God
should boast only in the
cross of Christ.
Let's daily lay aside our
crowns, subdue our pride,
forsake our spiritual elitism,
and seek to live in humility
and unity with one another in
Jesus Christ.
Let's pray together.
God, you have
loved us so freely.
You have been bountiful
toward us.
You have not been stingy.
You have been so patient
with us.
And it's that grace,
power to cross the
Christ.
that alone can enable us
to be gracious toward one
another, to forgive one
another.
So we pray, God, for your
help.
That you would so
fill our hearts with your
grace, with your love, that
we would overflow in our
dealings with one another
with such grace and love.
So that our church would be
characterized by the peace
that Christ won for us.
Peace with you, Father, and
peace with one another.
Let our boast always and ever
be Christ crucified.
not our own righteousness,
not our own merits,
not our own strivings and
efforts.
We entrust ourselves to you.
You are the Lord and the
builder of our church.
Thank you, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.