, he uses the term as a figurative title. This is not to say the other apostles were lazy (although some of them may have been), but that Paul was an exceptionally hard worker. And in the midst of judgement, God remembers mercy: he many times punishes those whom he loves. There is nothing more uncomely, unlovely, and loathsome than a dead body; but it will not be so when it shall be raised again, then it shall be a beautiful, comely body. b. d. To the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness: The Jews regarded Christ crucified as a stumbling block; perhaps this is better understood as an offense or a scandal. The weight of the body, pulling down on the arms and shoulders, tended to fix the respiratory muscles in an inhalation state, and hindered exhalation. Probably, Sosthenes was Pauls scribe (or, more technically, his amanuensis). Click to enable/disable _ga - Google Analytics Cookie. After that time, there will be a final, Satan inspired rebellion (Revelation 20:7-10), which Jesus will crush and finally and forever, is an Old Testament figure for total conquest. (Mare), The last enemy that will be destroyed is death, : Death will be present during the millennial reign of Jesus (Revelation 20:9 and Isaiah 65:20), but afterward, death will be abolished. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. It is important and useful for Christians to daily reckon themselves dead to sin with Jesus Christ (as in Romans 6:11. to support that truth is wrong, because in context Paul is writing about the danger to his physical life. iii. No doubt, many of the Corinthian Christians were beginning to think of themselves in high terms because of Gods work in them. iii. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. Those who insist that we must change the emphasis of the gospel because people cant relate to it today must realize that the people of Pauls day couldnt relate to his preaching either, yet he kept it up, and with great results. The sting of death lay in this, that we had sinned and were summoned to appear before the God whom we had offended. Called to be an apostle: At the outset of the letter indeed, the very first few words Paul fearlessly declares his apostolic credentials. But God did not respond to the polling data. (30-31) True wisdom belongs to the believing. He gives thanks for their conversion to the faith of Christ; that grace was given them by Jesus Christ. These meetings were important in proving to the disciples that Jesus was who He said He was. Death is a defeated enemy because of the work of Jesus, an enemy that will one day. e. Was Paul crucified for you? After what has been said about the value of love only one admonition is in place: "Pursue love!" I thank God Christ did not send me to baptize, : For Paul, preaching was more important than baptizing, though he was certainly not opposed to baptism. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. By keeping evil company, the Corinthian Christians were being conformed to this world, and they needed to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, : Paul says to the Corinthians, Look at yourselves. : Even if your labor is vain to everyone else, and everyone else discounts or doesnt appreciate what you do for the Lord, . ? iii. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul. Ironside says that the last trumpet was a figure of speech that came from the Roman military, when they broke camp. We work in a partnership with God, not because He needs us, but because He wants us to share in His work. We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain. Famous athletic contests known as the Isthmian Games second only to the Olympian Games were held at the temple of Poseidon in Corinth every two years. The Gospel of Matthew; The Gospel of Mark; The Gospel of Luke; The Gospel of John; The Book of Acts; The Book of Romans; The Book of 1 Corinthians . These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. i. Human wisdom is constantly rejecting God and opposing Him, and ultimately showing itself foolish and perishing in doing so. It is significant that often the most educated people have the least regard for God. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. When Paul came to Corinth in A.D. 50 the city was famous for hundreds of years before he was born. (1-2) Preface to the proclamation of Pauls gospel. i. Paul expressed the same idea again in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. Let him die the death of a dignified man. The burial of Jesus is important for several reasons. iii. iii.Redemption is a word from the slave trade. Dear friends, if such be death if it be but a sowing, let us have done with all faithless, hopeless, graceless sorrow Our family circle has been broken, say you. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. iii. I. See passages such as Numbers 16:3, Numbers 20:4, Deuteronomy 23:1, and 1 Chronicles 28:8. was a secular term (referring to the gatherings of the citizenry in a city-state to discuss and decide on matters of public interest [Mare]), Paul calls the gathering of Christians in Corinth, . Sinners can have no peace with God, nor any from him, but through Christ. i. a. Session 7: Christ's Poverty, Our Wealth. Paul praises God for their positives, and expresses confidence that God will take care of their weak points, and confirm them to the end, so that they would be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. g. So this corruptible must put on incorruption: Resurrection is a must for the Christians destiny. But resurrection means, that your labor is not in vain in the Lord, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. : In a single moment, Jesus will gather His people (both dead and on the earth) to Himself, for resurrection. iv. However, we never speak of the physical sufferings of Jesus to make us feel sorry for Jesus, as if He needed our pity. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grainperhaps wheat or some other. . Through much of this book, Paul deals with the moral problems of the Corinthians: envy, divisions, pride, immorality, greed, irreverence, and selfishness. He does not speak of the spiritual putting to death of the flesh. i. i. c. To put to shame the wise: This explains part of the pleasure of God described in 1 Corinthians 1:21. vi. By which you are also saved, if you hold fast that word I preached to you. ii. 3. a. But as the ivy grew, one could only read we preach Christ, and the church also started preaching Jesus the Great Man and Jesus the Moral Example instead of Christ crucified. ii. Paul will often (more than 17 times in the letter) refer to Jesus as. Session 3: Superiority of the New Covenant. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching, If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain, : If there is no resurrection, then Jesus is not risen, and Paul and the other apostles have preached. Paul came speaking plainly, without any attempt to dazzle with eloquence or intellect. It is better to bear trouble in this world, than to be miserable for ever. 6. When you bury the body of a believer, you are sowing a seed that will come out of the earth as a resurrection body. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. Conceivably, if Paul had not worked as hard as he did, the grace of God would still have been given to him, but in some measure it would be given. (10) Initial plea: dont be torn apart, but joined. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead do not rise at all? Spurgeon gives seven steps to dying daily in a sermon titled. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. Paul describes "the work of love" in both positive and negative terms. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. 7. Yet, we can see by this that baptism is not essential to salvation. Perhaps this same Sosthenes in Acts 18:17 is now with Paul, so Paul calls attention to the man with him whom the Corinthian Christians would know: Sosthenes our brother. : Paul will later spend most of this letter rebuking sin and correcting error, yet he is still sincerely thankful for Gods work in the Corinthian Christians. They have not been chosen because they are so great, but because God is so great. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul: Even more foolish than dividing Jesus is to center parties in the church around men. Chuck Smith points to a grammatical construction that would be different if this trumpet were the trumpet of Revelation 11. iii. iv. iii. For others, there is resurrection and eternal life, but unto damnation. i. Paul expressed the same idea again in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. means good news. As the word was used in ancient times, it didnt have to describe the message of salvation in Jesus Christ; it could describe any good news. 4. When Paul first came to Corinth, the ruler of the synagogue was a man named Crispus. The bottom line is this: is the church influencing the city, or is the city influencing the church? That is of little importance to me, because I am not an apostle because of a popular election. He has destroyed the wisdom of the wise, just as He said He would., i. , and because in Matthew 12:40 Jesus refers to, : Because this idea is so important, Paul repeats it twice in these two verses. It wasnt so much that they thought Apollos was great, but that they were great for following him. Without grace there is and can be no peace, but when grace is ours, peace must of necessity follow. (Lenski). You can also change some of your preferences. (29-32) More reasons to believe in the principle of resurrection. It was on a four-and-one-half mile-wide isthmus of land. Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, : The apostle Paul follows the normal pattern for writing a letter in ancient times. ii. Jesus will take His rightful place as, He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet, : Paul here refers to the one-thousand-year reign of Jesus described in Revelation 20:1-6.