1 Corinthians 5 - Part A

Chloe's household told Paul some divisions going on in the church that people were rallying around different spiritual teachers. Some were saying that they were a good school called orders of Apollo's other Zepeda receipts and was it was ruining their unity so they have their eyes on the servants of our rather than having their eyes on the Lord of those serving the possible student Corinthian church when they became preoccupied with worldly matters today on connect with Skip Skip shares whites to focus on Christ instead of people and things of the world right now to tell you about a recent will encourage you to trust the good plans that God has for us.com recently published an article with 22 tips for how to completely change your life, and one year found complicated.

The Bible tells a different story about how to change your life. The Bible says repent and return to God reminds us we need to always insert but God to every situation here. Skip, I think what God is a phrase that appears 45 times in Scripture. It's a game changing phrase means that no matter who you are what you have done no matter how you may have failed. The truth is God can make things different for you, from now on, but God discover the power of God in Scripture. It's a game changer for your own life with the black-eyed teaching theories from pastor skip. I think our thanks when you get $35 or more to help keep the Bible teaching ministry on the air. Get your CD collection today. Call 819 to 1884. Get online securely connectwithskip.com/offer chapter for today's message left off in chapter 4 and finish that early phase time which is always a problem that I face teach chapters Bible so I'm a medical just a few verses jump chapter 5. To give you little bit of background again since we may forget where we are with the book of Corinthians. The Corinthian church was a new church in a worldly city. That's why it's so relevant because we are God's people in a worldly environment and so first Corinthians always and ever is a contemporary book. I often refer to first Corinthians is first Californians because there are many similarities between the state of California, my home state and this ancient city of Corinth, but the Corinthian church, God's people were facing many problems they were. They were a growing church, but they weren't a glowing church. They were more of a slowing church. They were sort of being dragged down and slow down in their pace and their wetness in their testimony by the value system of the city of Corinth and by the Greek culture and we gave a little bit about introduction and in the very first chapter when we began, we also told you that Paul spent a fairly long time in the city of Corinth released by Pauline standards.

It was a long time. He spent 18 months in the city of Corinth plowing the ground sharing the gospel teaching the believers discipling them 18 months. That's long for Paul usually did not spend long in the city to establish a church after a few weeks he would he bucket he spent a year and 1/2 and current and that is the second-longest place he stayed the first longest was a three year spent in the city of Ephesus which we believe when Paul wrote this book. He was in the city of Ephesus and getting reports about current while he was living in that city. But he had spent 18 months there. Then he moved on to the city of Ephesus. We also mentioned to you that Corinth was on the crossroads of very important trade routes and they were just a few miles from a very important geographical place.

Are we told you if you remember, you can certainly look at the map of the back of your Bible for a reference but the city of Corinth was located on a piece of land that was more or less an island to itself note wasn't really an island but it was almost an island and when something is a large peninsula that is almost an island, but still connected by a little piece of land we call that an geography in its assessments and or or a peninsula, and in this peninsula was called the Pella and Asian peninsula in the Peloponnesus or the Peloponnesian peninsula on one side had a body of water called the Adriatic Sea and on the other side an entirely different body of water called the agency that little piece of land that connected the mainland of Greece with that peninsula. The Peloponnesus was only 3 1/2 miles in diameter, so boats would go to one side.

Lift the boat if it was small enough on wheels and take it over land to the other port and continue sailing your alternative was to go to hundred miles by C around the Cape of Melia Cape of Melia was not an easy feat.

The crosswinds and the tides. I would was very dangerous for sailors.

There was even a saying that said before you sail the Cape of Malaya. Make sure that you fill out your will. So it was dangerous but because it had so much traffic, North and South, East and West.

It was it was the center of a lot of activity a lot of ideas.

A lot of religious ideas. A lot of pleasure because you have sailors and you have workmen going in and out, and so it was a very loose wild kind of a riotous city and there. Paul the apostle ended up in spent 18 months after he had been in the city of Athens and a work of God was established by the time Paul writes this letter from Ephesus sometime later by this time already this growing church is filled with all sorts of problems.

By the way, I'm always happy to report I'm happy to report the churches in the Bible were not perfect but filled with problems because every now and then I will meet in idealistic Christian who is looking for the perfect church stop looking, and if you find one please don't join it, you'll ruin it. They don't exist, and if they did exist, you would ruin it because you're not perfect nor a lot.

I love the fact that first Corinthians in second Corinthians and Galatians and a number of other letters were written to churches that lacked that were growing that had issues had probably one of the problems according to a family that lived in Corinth and reported back to Paul Housel by the name of Chloe's household who Chloe was exactly we don't know, but Chloe's household told Paul that there were some divisions going on in the church that people were rallying around a different spiritual teachers. Some were saying that they were of the school Paul others of Paulus others of Peter's and the problem was it was ruining their unity so they had their eyes on the servants of the Lord, rather than having their eyes on the Lord of those servants when you have your eyes on the Lord of the servants you will give servants of right when you have your eyes on the servants of the Lord, you will begin comparing one servant to another server in your Paul will save who are you to judge another man's servant. If you are the Lord's servant then let the Lord handle so that was one of the problems and another was just a number of issues that they had written.

Paul the apostle questions about including the resurrection, including marriage, including divorce, including a number of issues that essentially are all answered by this pretty lengthy letter, Paul called first Corinthians. Now we call it first Corinthians, but in tonight's message. Lord willing, if we actually get to the chapter before us.

Paul will mention that he had written to them previously. He said in the letter that I wrote to you before now, when we read that we going to minute. This is first Corinthians if in first Corinthians. He said I wrote you a letter before that must make the first letter first Corinthians in first Corinthians must be second Corinthians which would make second Corinthians 3rd Corinthians exactly we don't have that first letter we only have a reference to, but in terms of division.

The first chapter, first Corinthians chapter 1 and chapter 2 are about Congregational disk unity. That's the first problem. Paul writes about Congregational disunity of chapters 1 and two, chapters 3 and four are about spiritual immaturity. I'm appalled I'm of a Paul assignment SEVIS. Paul said you're all immature, you're all carnal now in chapters 5 and six. We have yet another issue that is sexual impurity.

The problem he deals with in these two chapters, but before we do I want to get the flow of thought. In chapter 4.

If you recall, if you don't you'll see if you versus Paul takes a tone with them.

A sarcastic kind of a tone he knows that some of them in the Corinthian church felt superior because they were Greek. They had the wisdom of the Greeks. They consider themselves very wise and very important and they had the right to sort of a push Paul and his authority to decide so Paul writes in chapter 4 verse eight in sarcastic tone.

He says you are already full. You are already rich. You have reigned as Kings without us, and indeed I could wish you did rain that we were also reign with you. For I think that God is displayed us the apostles. Last, as man condemned to death were we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and two men that sarcasm, in case you didn't know it it's irony its biting irony, and he's basically saying look, you guys are acting as if you're already raining in the millennial kingdom. The thousand year reign of Christ on the year that I told you about. You act like were already here and that you are raining as Kings. You have all this incredible wisdom and incredible authority. That's how you act because I wish you were because if you were, then we would be.

Also, if you are in the millennium. We'd be there with but he said I'm not there, I'm too busy preaching the gospel and get beat up for. I'm sort of last in the procession and then he says verse 10 we are fools for Christ sake you are wise in Christ we are weak, but you are strong you are distinguished.

We are dishonored, even to the present hour. We both hunger and thirst.

We are poorly clothed and beaten in homeless we labor working with our own hands being reviled. We blast being persecuted, we endure it. If you think about it by human standards by human standards, by a purely human measurement.

Paul was a fool. Paul gave up a lot in his career, to follow Christ travel the world gets thrown out of synagogues put in change thrown in jail, beaten up time and time again for him to leave what he left and the status and the position he left to follow this road follow Christ by human standards was dumb.

And it was stupid it was foolish if Paul the apostle would've stayed a rabbi if you were to state a religious legalistic salad. No problem. He would not have gone to the persecution. He went through, and Becky was the persecutor he was the guy was hunting Christians something happened to Paul on the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus appeared to him and Paul asked two very important questions. Who are you, Lord, to question, you must answer in your life who is Jesus Christ, who is he to you Jesus if you're either for me or against me. The second question once you get the first question answered and you realize Jesus is Lord second question logically must follow and be answered.

Lord, what do you want me to do what is your plan for my life and the Lord told Saul of Tarsus Paul the apostle through a man by the name of Ananias, a believing Jew in Damascus tell Paul tell Saul how many things he must suffer for my sake on that day when he relinquished the rights of his future to the Lord. He stepped into ministry. And whenever you relinquish your life to the Lord. There are no guarantees of safety. Your it being well with your health or well with your relatives or well with your school work well with whatever, but there's a guarantee it will be well with your soul through the Lord what you want me to do. A lot of times we are we are reluctant to ask the question and give God carte blanche Lord, I want to surrender my life to you. But first, tell me what you have up your sleeve and if it sounds good enough to be dental surrender. So if you are thinking the Lord is telling me Hawaii, Maui, Fiji.

Yes, Lord, I hear your voice by your spirit, I'm going if it's Albuquerque all Lord, Lord, You, I find that spirit.

Lord speak to my heart. Hey, I had that conversation with the Lord.

I was walking near my home in Huntington Beach and I was in Lord, whatever you want me to do. Just show me what it is. I had no clue and I am so glad I surrender to his will, being in his will is better than being in Maui, not in his will. So Paul the apostle ended up in Corinth that ended up in Ephesus, then ended up in Rome, then ended up getting beheaded by the will of God for the glory of Christ and for the honor of his name so he was persecuted. He said we endure it. Now look at verse 14. I do not write these things to stream you.

But, as my beloved children. I warn you all of this sarcasm is leading up to Paul, kind of giving both barrels to another issue and the issue is the church at Corinth was very tolerant of certain kinds of behavior evil behavior in an instant. Being ashamed over there tolerance of evil behavior in their Mets there were actually proud of, and he mentions that verse 18 of chapter 4.

Now, some are puffed up or proud puffed up as though I were not coming due. But I will come to you shortly if the Lord wills and I will know not the word of those who are puffed up again prideful, but of power that leads us to the third problem that he addresses in the book of first Corinthians in chapter 5 and six the problem of sexual immorality. So look at verse one of chapter 5 now would begin the chapter. I had prepared to cover a couple chapters tonight ship yeah right so this is short enough to cover one chapter he said it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you. You being the Christian church at Corinth, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that a man has his father's wife and you are puffed up there it is again. Third time you use it now, he zeroes in on what made them so prideful. He alluded to it in chapter 4.

Now he just spells it out your proud about this year, puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among I told you in our introduction to first Corinthians that the city of Corinth was a very permissive city in moral terms, anything goes. Any kind of sexuality any kind of homosexuality. Any kind of prostitution and almost anything at all. It was so debauched that the reputation of the Corinthians was everywhere. There was even a term coined in Greek by a single Greek word Carinthia had satisfied Corinth. He had just I is a Greek word that means literally to play the Corinthian order to act like a Caribbean. So if you really wanted to chop a person now to really cut them down really sore, amigo human you act like a Corinthian. That's like saying you're like a sodomite reader from like Gomorrah, religious had such a bad reputation, and in the Greek plays when anybody played a Corinthian in a great play. The always played a drunk. So in a quite a reputation that that phrase could be coined in one of the problems was immorality that was part of the worship system. One of the goddesses that was worshiped was the goddess of love, called Aphrodite and are there at Corinth, just outside of the city was a little hill called the acro Corinth or this little monument hill on top was a walled enclosure a temple to the goddess of Aphrodite on top of that hill. A thousand quote unquote priestesses lived there were essentially prostitutes. They would come down in the evening to the city when there was a new group of sailors coming through town new group of soldiers coming through town of people selling their wares and their ships come around and those women would ply their trade, collect the money to support the goddess Aphrodite in her temple.

Corinth was famous for that. And there was another saying that when around work. People said not every man can afford a trip to current because the prostitutes were, you know, it didn't work constantly come every night and and solicit you and these guys would pay for so that everybody could afford was was the going theme of that town. Evidently that kind of culture is influencing the church rather than the church being in that community to influence that community now indeed some of those people were influence because there Christians in the church, and though there were Christians in that church were indeed truly saved people. After a while, because the culture was so strong, you get used to it instead of being salt and light. Instead of being a strong witness you.

You start, it's just easier to go with the flow and to accommodate the thinking and the values of the world around you and abate smoky smog they drink you drink it because you guys if they say this is okay you say that is okay so instead of exerting and influence in the culture. The culture was exerting its influence in the church and it was becoming problematic.

But now, not only is there immorality. But it's next level immorality. This is the case of incest a man is having sexual relations with his father's wife, probably a reference to somebody's stepmother and the church is saying, well, you know you can't judge people were not supposed to do that and you know we we can light be a policeman. Everybody will let them do what they want, just below bottom faucet you should be ashamed of yourself. You should be morning that should drive you to tears. He says your proud about your your your puffed up a couple things to notice incest was forbidden by the Old Testament. I think that you know but did you know that even according to Roman law, secular law, it was outlawed to have your stepmother in a physical relationship like this. According to Cicero, who is a great Greek philosopher, statesman, and lawyer. It was against Roman law. For this to happen so I was saying. Even pagan cultures don't allow this and you guys are allowing this to happen in your church should be morning. This considered being wrapped up Skip a text message first, we want to let you know special opportunity to pursue biblical studies in a way that works with your schedule. It's never too late to start taking classes in biblical studies Calvin College student Timothy Calvert College was an answer to prayer for me. I was at a point in my life where I long for more of God in his word.

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