Woodhouse, Ernest: Studies In ! Corinthians-01 ~ Introduction

Our Lord. Now that's as far as we'll read this morning, and it has been several years since I took up with you a Pauline letter, that is one written by the Apostle Paul, and so I think that we'll begin our study by putting this epistle into its setting, setting among the rest that Paul wrote that we have preserved for us in the New Testament. Now I know that you know that the Apostle Paul wrote many more letters than the thirteen that we have in our New Testament, but God has seen fit to preserve only these thirteen for us. Now, of course, if you reckon the Epistle to the Hebrews to be a Pauline letter, then you have to come up with fourteen and not thirteen. But since scholars don't agree upon this, and since God has shrouded the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, uh, with some, uh, anonymity, I don't think we can declare positively who wrote that letter. And so we'll confine ourselves to the thirteen that we know came from the pen of the Apostle Paul. Now I want to remind you of the order in which they were written. I think it's always a good idea to know when you turn to one of these letters just where it fits into the life of the apostle and just how it, it is to be found chronologically when compared with the other of his letters. The Apostle Paul wrote his thirteen letters in four separate groups. Now, this is review for some of you who were here three or four years ago when we took up the epistle, the second epistle to Timothy. So this is review for you, and you may he even have it down somewhere if you took my advice at that time. If you didn't, then take it now and scribble it down somewhere, and then maybe copy it into the front of your Bible, because it's always helpful, helpful to have this to refer to. The Apostle Paul wrote thirteen letters, and he wrote them in four separate groups. In the first group, there were just two letters. In the second group, there were four letters. In the third group again, there were four letters, and in the last group, there were three. letters. Now, if you put two and four together, that makes six, and then you add four to those, that makes ten, and then you add three to those, you come up with thirteen, which is rather a relief to me because that doesn't leave any over. Now, the first two letters the Apostle Paul wrote were the letters to the Thessalonians. The first and second letters to the Thessalonians. Now, all I always remember that he wrote them first when I realize that they have to do with last things. So he wrote the- the letter about last things first. The first and second letters to the Thessalonians. Now, you scholars, you students, you theologians, do you remember the long name that scholars have given to this first group of two letters? This is called the eschatological group. My, that sounds like a bug or a beetle, doesn't it? But eschatology is the doctrine or teaching of future things. And of course, Paul wrote two letters in this connection because the future, the coming of the Lord Jesus is going to be in two parts. He's coming for his people, and he's coming with his people. And in a general sense, the first epistle to the Thessalonians has to do with his coming for his people, and the second letter to the Thessalonians has to do with his coming with his people. That's in a general sense, though that is really oversimplifying. But that's the first group that he wrote. Now, the epistle that we're going to study together during these days belongs to the second group. In that second group, we have the first and second letters to the Corinthians, the letter to the Galatians, and the letter to the Romans. Now, these four letters, I'll give them to you again. I see some of you writing rather feverishly. First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans. Now again, you theologians, what's the long name that is given to this second group of letters? I know that you would be able to tell me, but you're rather shy. This is called the soteriological group. And that sounds like another bug or, uh, insect, doesn't it? But soterio is a prefix meaning safety. These are the letters that have to do with salvation. I'll give them to you again, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans. Now, the third group of letters, again, four in number, and these are sometimes called the prison epistles. Do you know why? Of course you know why, because the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote them. And here we have the letters to the Ephesians and the Colossians and to Philemon, and the letter to, what's the other one? The Philippian letter, of course. So put them all down there, and these are the prison epistles. Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and then the Philippian letter. Now, when we come to the last group, which is only three in number, and by the way, that third group also has a long name, which you ought to know because you'll come across it. It's not really a very long name, and it speaks for itself. This group is called the Christological group because the Lord Jesus is the theme of these letters. Now, the last group of three is sometimes called the pastoral group of letters, the pastoral epistles, and they were written in this order, First Timothy, and then Titus, and then Second Timothy. First Timothy was written along with Titus, uh, after the Apostle Paul was released from prison, then he was taken back and put into the common dungeon, and before he was taken out and beheaded and died a martyr's death, he wrote his very last epistle. It was the second to Timothy. Now, of course, the scholars have to have a long name for this group too, and so they call it the ecclesiological group. And you know what things ecclesiastical are, don't you? You know what the ecclesia is, that's the church. And so these are the things that have to do with the church. So we have four groups, and they all have long names, which you don't have to remember, but our epistle, the one that's before us now, belongs to group number two. and it is soteriological in character. It has to do with salvation. Now, the aim of this epistle is by Mr. Campbell Morgan described as a twofold aim. He says it was written for the correction of carnalities and the construction of spiritualities. Now there's a change in the middle of these, this letter, and it occurs at chapter twelve and verse one: Now concerning the spiritualities. Now that's where the change occurs, that's where his main division occurs, and he says carnalities are the concern of the chapters one through eleven and spiritualities the concern of the chapters twelve through sixteen. Now, more specifically, I think perhaps we might say that the apostle had four things in mind, and they are very apparent right on the surface. In the first place, he writes in order that he might dissolve their factions. The church has become split into segments, and he's very concerned about its lack of unity, and so he writes in order that he might dissolve their factions. Secondly, he writes in order that he might correct their conduct. It's a very striking thing that he should say things to them that he says in the introduction, speaking about their being enriched and so on, and yet have to talk to them about adultery and fornication among them. So he writes not only to dissolve their factions, but also to r- to correct their conduct. But he has a third thing in mind. He writes to answer their questions. There are certain things that they have asked him, information that they have requested of him, and so he puts his answers into this epistle, and fourthly, he writes to them in order that he might guide their thinking. They're rather hazy on certain things, and so he wants to clarify and guide the way that they think. Now, as I study the epistle, these are the four things that it seems to me that Paul has in mind when he writes this letter. I give them to you again, to dissolve their factions, to correct their conduct, to answer their questions, and to guide their thinking. So when we come to the end of the epistle, we find we have some very clear and challenging doctrine in this epistle. Now, the Spirit of God has very beautifully analyzed it for us, and if you will turn to the end of chapter one, you'll notice in verse thirty, four words, and students of this epistle are, I think, united in suggesting that here is an analysis for the epistle. Verse thirty says of the Lord Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. And it is generally thought that we can put together chapters one, two, three, and four under this title, wisdom. Now, of course, in those chapters he deals with the matter of division in the church and shows how that it is opposed to everything that is truly wise. Wisdom, and you'll find that word time and again in these early chapters. It certainly applies. Our gaze is focused upon wisdom, and we see how the Corinthian church did not measure up to this wisdom. Then it says, Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. Now, again, as we go from chapter five through chapter eleven, we see that our gaze is focused upon righteousness, and once again we see how that the church at Corinth did not measure up to this righteousness. Then the verse says, of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. Now, beginning at verse one and chapter twelve, in chapter 12, where we read about the, the spiritualities, we're brought face to face with the activity of the Spirit of God in the church, and here the focus is definitely upon sanctification. And we see again how the church at Corinth is instructed because they do not measure up in this area, and yet in the Spirit of God they have all that is necessary for sanctification. You see the behavior of the church, and here you see instruction with regard to church, uh, practice. And this is called by the Spirit of God sanctification or entitled sanctification. Then we have redemption, and when we come to chapter fifteen, which has to do with resurrection, then we have, of course, the, uh, we have redemption in its final analysis. For we have been redeemed, we are being redeemed, we are going to be redeemed. Redemption is a thing that reaches into the past, envelops the the present, and reaches forward into the future. And this then is the final thing, uh, in this chapter one and verse thirty, where where we have the Spirit of God's analysis. Now, I'm going to give you an outline for the epistle because I think that, uh, this gives you four pegs on which to hang the thoughts that we're going to speak, uh, place before you and speak about. Number one is cleavage. We are right away plunged into this as we leave the introduction and read verse ten in chapter one. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you. And then he goes on to speak about the cleavage that exists in this local church. So our first topic is going to be cleavage, and we're going to look at that in chapters one, two, three and four and we are going to see, and you can put this down, that the church is involved. And this is a study in corporate folly and ferment. Now, wherever you have division, you have folly, and wherever you have division, you have ferment. And this study is going to bring these things before us. So, first of all, as we look at cleavage in these first four chapters where the church is involved, we're going to find ourselves looking at a study in corporate folly and ferment. Our second section has to do with conduct, and those are the chapters five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven. and here we shall see that the individual is involved. And this becomes a study in personal frailty and failure. We are going to see how the human being really goofs things up. I repeat then, our second section is going to focus upon conduct, and here the individual is involved, and this becomes a study in personal frailty and failure. Our third section, or focus, is upon complexity, and that means having many parts. And here the spirit is involved. Chapters twelve and thirteen and fourteen. This is the main part of the charter for the local church, and here the Spirit is involved, and this, we shall see, is a study in divine fullness and freshness. For the Spirit of God not only in his fullness distributes gifts to the church, but in his freshness, he newly empowers the exercise of every one of them. So it becomes a study in divine fullness and freshness. And then finally, as we come to chapter fifteen, the focus is upon consummation, because the study is the resurrection, and the resurrection is involved, and this becomes a study in triumphant faith and future. Now, have you got all that, or would you like me to go over it again so that you have something upon which to build? This is your Skellington number two. The focus is upon cleavage in our first section, and the chapters are the chapters one, two, three, and four. Here the church is involved, and the study is one in corporate folly and ferment. In number two, the focus is upon conduct, and the individual is involved, and this becomes a study in personal frailty and failure. Our third focus is upon complexity, and the spirit is involved, and this becomes a study in divine fullness and freshness. And finally, we focus upon consummation or climax. This is the end, and resurrection is involved, and this becomes a study in triumphant faith and future. Now we'll go to our nine verses and the introduction to the epistle, and we'll notice it is a classic introduction with a greeting and a blessing, and then after this comes a thanksgiving. Now the greeting in fa- is found in verses one and two, and the blessing is found in verse 3, and the thanksgiving is found in the verses four through nine. Let me, in these last eighteen minutes, just very briefly go over all of this. The greeting, verses one and two. We have the writers in verse one and we have the readers in verse two. Rather interesting, there are four things about the writer and his associate, and in verse two, there are four things about the, the church at Corinth and its associates. And you will notice, won't you, that there is an associate for the writer, and there are associates, uh, for the, the readers to whom the letter was originally sent. It says Paul, there's the writer and, or the author, if you will, and here is his associate, and Sosthenes our brother. Now, if you want to know anything about Sosthenes, you can turn later to Acts chapter eighteen, and I think it's the seventeenth verse, and there you read about Sosthenes, who was a chief ruler in the synagogue at Corinth, and he was taken out and, and badly beaten by the Jews. You can read about him, and here he is now, away from Corinth and joining with the Apostle Paul in writing to the church which is at Corinth. But I want you to notice the four things that are said about the author. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother. Now, his apostleship is referred to here, and I want you to notice that, first of all, he is certain of his apostleship. He says very positively, Paul, an apostle. The, the apostle Paul refers to himself in one place as being less than the least of all saints, and he speaks of himself as being the least among the apostles, and yet in another place he says he is not one whit behind the chiefest of all the apostles. Now, when he's speaking of himself, he says less than the least. When he's defending his apostleship, he says not one whit behind the chiefest of all the apostles. The Apostle Paul had no illusions about himself and his own nothingness, but he boasted in his apostleship because it was of God. Now, what is an apostle? Do you remember back in the, in the Gospels, the Lord Jesus healed a, a blind man. He gave sight to a blind man. He did it in rather a strange way. He bent down and picked up dust and mixed it with his own spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay that he had thus made, and he said, go wash in the pool of Siloam. And interestingly enough, the interpretation of that word Siloam is given to us, which being interpreted is sent. Now, if you look at that word sent, the word that is, is used there, the word Siloam actually goes back to a root apostelo, which is the word, the root from which we get our word apostle, and it means sent. So an apostle was a sent one, and the Apostle Paul is certain of his apostleship. There's not one hint of doubt here. Paul, an apostle, he says. He was certain of his apostleship. But you'll notice a second thing. He was classified by his apostleship because he says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, there have been other ones with missions. There have been other ones who were sent, but Paul wants them to know that his master is the Lord Jesus, that his mission comes from the Christ, and that he has been sent by the Lord Jesus, and so he puts himself into this category, an apostle of Jesus Christ. So he's classified by his apostleship. You know, in other places, he calls himself a bondslave of Jesus Christ. That was his category, that was his class, that was his classification, a bondslave. Now, in our English version, it says a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus said no man can serve two masters, but you know that men do moonlight, and they do have two jobs, and therefore they do have two masters. The word servant actually is not a strong enough word because it should be a bond slave. And while a man can serve two masters, he cannot be a bond slave to two masters because by such a master he is owned lock, stock, and barrel, and that was the boast of the Apostle Paul in other places, and so that's what he means when he says in this classification, a, an apostle of Jesus Christ. But you notice also, he was certain of his apostleship, and classified by his apostle- apostleship is chosen for his apostleship because it goes on to say an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. It was God who put his finger upon the apostle Paul and chose him for the job and chose the job for him, and so he becomes the one chosen for that apostleship. And that's not the end. We notice that this one who is certain of his apostleship and classified by his apostleship and chosen for his apostleship is called into his apostleship because it says Paul called an apostle. The words to be are in italics, and they're not in the original. In other words, he is say- he is saying, I am an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and called into this responsibility. You know, we could take time and dwell on each of those, but I just commend them to you for your own study. We haven't yet got out of, gotten out of verse one, and yet you can see how very full it is. These four things are said about the author, and then his associate is mentioned, Sosthenes, about whom you can read in Acts chapter eighteen. Then we come to verse two and we read, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called, and again to be is in italics, called saints or saints by calling, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Now, as there was an author and an associate in verse one, so there is an assembly and an association in verse two. The assembly is at Corinth, and the association is with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ. But just as there are four things said about the apostle, so there are four things, uh, noted here about the assembly. Let me just mention them, and then we'll pass on, and you can think about them at your leisure. First of all, we have the assembly's origination. It is the church of God. Not the church of the Latter-day Saints. Not the church of the brethren, but the church of God. The thought is that God was its spring and its source, and God brought about its being. It originated with God himself. You know what the word church here is, don't you? The word assembly, it's the word ecclesia. And the word, the Greek word ecclesia is really a combination of two words, ek and klesis, which means, uh, a called out or a company called out. Ek is out. And so you have a, uh, a called out company. Now we could spend time on that word because it is used in a secular sense in the New Testament. It means exactly the same. It's used of a mob called out to riot. That's an ecclesia, a called out company. Nothing to do with the church as we know it, but a called out company. And so in the New Testament, it's, it's called an ecclesia because it's a com- it was a company called out to riot. Then you have another company called out to judge, uh, legal matters. That also is called an ecclesia because it's a called out company. Nothing to do with religious things, but secular things, and this called out company is referred to in the New Testament as an ecclesia. Israel, a called out company, is called the Church of God in the wilderness. Nothing to do with things as we know them today, and yet an ecclesia because it was a called out company. And so we have it here, an ecclesia in the Christian sense of God, and called out, of course, by him. So here we have its origination, the church or assembly of God. Then we have its situation, the assembly of God at Corinth. Here God has placed a company of his people, and it is their responsibility to reflect his glory and the person of his son to the people that surround them. So it is situated at Corinth. That's its situation. Now here you are, an assembly of God at Park of the Palms, with a responsibility to do the self same thing. For the local ecclesia is meant to be representative of the whole ecclesia, the Church of God universal. And sometimes the reflection that we give is a very distorted one. Here is its situation. Then comes its position. The Church of God, which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. So the church which originated with God himself and is situated at Corinth is found in Christ Jesus, and then comes, uh, the designation of the people that make up that ecclesia called saints, or saints by calling. So I'm looking into the faces of a local ecclesia this, this morning, and into the face of Saint Albert and Saint George and Saint Margaret and Saint Grace and so on. I don't see any halos, but I'm looking into the face of sixty or more saints here this morning. I'd like to stop and talk about those, but I mustn't. But you see, after the assembly comes the association, together with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Now, I have eight minutes, and I'm going to finish promptly this morning. I may never do it again during the rest of the conference, but at least this morning, just to create a good impression. Now, look at the blessing in verse three, and then we'll just refer to it and and leave it. Now, there's a twofold source for this blessing, and there's a twofold substance. It says, grace be unto you and peace. Grace and peace. Now there's the twofold substance, substance from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, and there's the twofold source. It is just interesting in passing to notice grace and peace. Grace has a New Testament association, and peace has an Old Testament association, why the Jews today greet one another with that word shalom, which means peace, and this has always been an Old Testament, uh, word. It's beautiful how the, the, uh, the greeting brings the two of them together. But I want to just spend a little time with the verses four through nine. This greeting and blessing, which is the way the Apostle Paul be- begins most of his letters, in this instance, and in others too, but not every one of the others, uh, in this one, it- it's followed by a thanksgiving. Now, the apo- the Apostle Paul was nothing if he wasn't thankful. Constantly and continually, you find him thanking God. He is going to say some very solemn things to these Corinthians. He's going to make some very solemn charges against this church. He is going to make some very stern demands of this assembly, and yet he begins by saying, I thank my God always on your behalf. I don't know whether you make a practice of praying for those whose lives are very much out of kilter. You look at other believers and say, I- I'm very distressed at that man's life. Now, when you pray for him, do you always concentrate on the things that are wrong in his life? You know the reason why we don't appreciate each other the way that we should? It's because we don't concentrate on the positives, but we concentrate on the negatives. We major on the minors. We accentuate the negative instead of accentuating the positive. The Apostle Paul begins on a positive note. You know, we'd appreciate one another just a little more if, when we prayed for each other, we concentrated a little more on the virtues. I used to work for a jeweler in the city of Birmingham. I didn't work for him very long, but in the few months that I was in his employ, I used to have the responsibility of taking some of the gem rings and pendants and so on that were valuable, uh, to their, uh, their destinations. And there was one jeweler's store that I used to visit. It had a little motto on the wall, and it read this way: Don't look for the flaws, that is FLAWS. Don't look for the flaws as you go through life, and even if you find them, it is good and kind to be somewhat blind and to look for the virtues behind them. And I think that was a little bit of sage advice, and I've tried to remember it, though I haven't always done it, down through the years. Now here's the Apostle Paul, knowing all that's wrong with this assembly, beginning with these words, I thank my God on your behalf. Now, to some believers, he says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. He doesn't say that to the Corinthians because some of the things that he remembers grieve him at his heart, but he does say, I thank God on your behalf. He finds in this church something to really thank God about, and so he does just that. Now, I want you to see what he thanks God for. He thanks God for something about them in the present, and he thanks God for something about them in the past, and he thanks God for something about them in the future. Let's see if we can find these things. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you, which is being given you by Jesus Christ, so that in everything at the present time ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge. Here then is his thanksgiving for grace in the present, and grace that included two things, utterance and knowledge. He says, I look at you as an assembly at this present time, and I thank God for the grace that has been bestowed upon you so that you stand out as a church, able to express itself, and with, with much of, of knowledge of spiritual things. Grace in the present, linked with utterance and knowledge. But then he goes on to say, verse six, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Now you notice now we're in the past tense. We are being projected back into the past, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come behind in no gift. He's thanking God for their witness in the past, producing confirmation and gift. They have become an established assembly, having witnessed for God strongly in the past, so they've become confirmed or established, and there has developed within them gift. Then he goes on to say, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. So as he gives thanks to God, he gives thanks to God for grace in the present, producing utterance and knowledge. He gives thanks for witness in the past, in producing confirmation or establishment and gift. Now he gives thanks to God for hope in the future, involving three things: the coming of Jesus Christ, and the day of Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of Jesus Christ. And again, I commend those things to you for a study because I'm going to leave them right there. One thought, and I'm through. Did you notice that the name of the Lord Jesus is mentioned no less than nine times in these nine chapters? Now, that's very deliberate. We sing sometimes, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. And so Paul begins by facing the Lord Jesus before this people, knowing that only as they look upon him will they able, be able to live in the way that he wants them to live and in the way in which he's going to exhort them to live as the chapters unfold. You see, looking affects living, and gazing accepts, accentuates growth, and beholding affects behaving. And so nine times in nine verses, we get the name of the Lord Jesus. And just this, uh, I'll mention by, by way of interest, though I don't have time to, to dwell upon it. You will notice the different orders of the name. He is called in these nine verses Jesus Christ. That's significant. He's called in these verses Christ Jesus. That is also significant. He's called Jesus Christ our Lord. He's called our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's called simply Christ. But in every instance, we have the name Christ. Why? Because what is going to emphasize all through this letter is the headship and the wonder and the deity and the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus. So he's presented at the beginning as the Christ, and all the way through his sufficiency is emphasized so that they might meet the demands that are going to be made upon them. Shall we bow in prayer? Our Father, we believe that today we've launched ourselves into a study that can be very valuable to us. But only, Lord, as thy Holy Spirit himself touches our hearts, opens our eyes and understandings, and causes of thy word become clear and plain and real and powerful to us. Lord, will it please thee to grant that we might see thyself in this word, and that we might see thy way for us in it also? For we ask it in the name of the one about whom we have been reminded verse after verse in this introduction, even our Lord Jesus Christ.