When we come to verse Corinthians it says a whole lot about how we're to behave as the people of God and especially in the house of God. Isn't that interesting? And we're going to begin by looking at verse number 1 if we could tonight. Notice the Bible said, Paul... Do you know there's a message right there in itself? Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place, called upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians is the second of four letters that Paul wrote or that were written to the saints at Corinth. We only have two of those letters in the Scriptures. What we know is 1 and 2 Corinthians. The other two letters are lost. Some believe that there are fragments of them that are in 2 Corinthians and in 1 Corinthians. But the letters themselves, Paul's going to refer to them, but we do not have them. And the reason for that is that those letters were from Paul to the church at Corinth. They were non-inspired. But 1st and 2nd Corinthians that are in our Bible, they are messages from God. They are inspired. Paul's just merely the human penman. These are not Paul's words. They're God's words to us given to him through the Holy Spirit. And it's not just a message from Paul. If we can understand that Paul may have been the human penman. God the Holy Spirit is the author. God has something to say to you and me. God had a message for Corinth. Look, if you would, verse 2. He said, under the church of God, which is at Corinth, but He's got a message for us. Look what He said again. He said, and talks about under the church of God, which is at Corinth, and then notice the end of it, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ. He said, I'm writing to you, but really it's for everybody. Aren't you glad God has something for you and me tonight? Every time you open the Bible, God has something to say to you, has something to say to me. If we're going to understand God's message to us, we need to understand something about Corinth, and we need to understand something about the church that was located in that city. So tonight we're going to go back and do an overview of the book of I Corinthians, and then we're going to dive in verse by verse through the book on Wednesday nights. Number one, I want to talk to you tonight about the city Paul is writing to people that are geographically living in a city in ancient Greece on the Isthmus of Corinth. And so you're going to find that the Isthmus of Corinth, there may be a little map there that's going to come up and you'll see it. It's on the other side about 50 miles from Athens. And you're going to find that it's there located on a peninsula or a narrow stretch of land that joined to the mainland of Greece. It's about halfway between Athens and Sparta, okay? And so that gives you sort of an idea where Corinth was located. If you'll notice, there's a body of water. in that map. I know it's all black and all that around it, but actually there's a harbor. You're going to see that body of water that comes back out into the ocean itself. The Romans actually destroyed Corinth in 146 B.C. About a hundred years later, Julius Caesar is going to rebuild the city as an imperial city of Rome. It's going to be the capital city of Achaia, of the Roman province of Achaia. And so by the time we get to Paul's day, it is a bustling metropolis. And so it is a commercial city in your notes. It's a commercial city. Corinth was very wealthy. It was one of the great trade centers of the ancient world. It had actually not one harbor but two harbors. They were located on either side of the city and they had a paved road that connected these two harbors together and they actually could move ships from one harbor to the next harbor. different kinds of cargo back and forth to be traded, to be sold, merchandise. And so it's a very wealthy city. It's a stopping point. Not only had it two great harbors where shipping came in and unloaded stuff as they would trade with other areas in the Roman Empire, but it was also on a leading trade route or travel route on one of the Roman Empire's highway systems. By the way, did you know our interstate system that was instituted by President Eisenhower in the 50s is based on the Roman highway or interstate system in ancient Rome? Do you realize today in England, in France, in Germany, and many of these European nations that were part of the Roman Empire, the roads that they travel on today were actually built by the Romans? And that was the roadbed that they paved over and they've built and they've lasted for thousands of years. Isn't that amazing? Actually, you can go and see bridges that were built during the Roman era. And we talk about going and seeing old things in America. You really don't see old until you go to Europe. And if you really want to see old, then go to Israel in the Middle East and then you really see old. And so we find that it was a very commercial city, but it was a crowded city. It was known as one of the great metropolitan centers of Paul's day. It had a population of about 700,000 people. Let me put that in perspective. That would be about the population of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point combined. That's how many people lived in Corinth. And it was a melting pot of cultures and people. Travelers from all over the world came and settled in Corinth. There was a large sports arena in the town, a stadium of Isthmia. The Isthmian Games there, like the Olympic Games in Greece, were held about every two years. Paul was a small man, really wasn't an athletic guy. Matter of fact, he was looked at, was very small in stature, very frail man. And so he wasn't very athletic, but I believe he loved athletics. You say, Preacher, why is that? Because of the many references to athletics in his writings. He talks about boxing and running and all the different games that would take place and compares the Christian life to athletic contests. And so I believe that more than likely he attended sporting events athletic events as much as he wrote about that. You're going to find it was a cultured city. It was a cultured city. They were an exporter of black clay pottery. They made little figurines or gods, idols that they would worship and sold them in the marketplaces. There were schools of philosophy. As a matter of fact, Socrates and Plato and the so-called great Grecian philosophers had students and schools in this city and they were the heirs, so to speak, of the philosophers of that day. And it was a great place of architecture with big ornamented buildings and giant column temples. And they reveled in their Greek culture. And you're going to find that they were also proud and boasted that they were an imperial city. Their status as a Roman colony and Roman citizenship. And so you're going to find it was a commercial city. It was a crowded city. It was a cultural city. But if you know anything about Corinth, it was a cultic city. It was a cultic city. Corinth was filled with every type of religion in its pluralistic society that its pluralistic society could bring to it. It was filled with idolatrous temples. Its worshipers paid tribute to the pagan gods of ancient Greece and Rome. The main center of religion was a massive temple on the hill of Corinth on the outskirts of the city dedicated to the worship of Aphrodite, which was the goddess of love. They boasted of a thousand—there's not a lot of young people in here, so I'm not going to say things. If we talked in detail, we couldn't talk in mixed company about what took place in the worship of these pagan gods. Can I help us understand something? America is a wicked, wicked nation. But it's nothing compared to Corinth. We can't even imagine the wickedness of Corinth and these pagan cities of that day. men and women that were involved in perverse worship of the false deities that led to the corruption of the Corinthian society. They were priests and priestesses that would involve themselves in not only perverse worship of the basest sort, homosexuality, perversion that's beyond anything you and I can imagine. A father in that day would be proud that his daughter was a temple priestess that would involve herself in base, immoral acts in worship of these false gods. We can't even imagine it. They also would involve themselves in ecstatic, incoherent babbling. So much was it a part of their pagan worship in society that it's going to carry over into the church and will actually pervert the New Testament gift of tongues. Let's hold our place. Look over, if you would, 1 Corinthians 14. Would you do that? We're going to get there. Believe me, we will. 1 Corinthians 14, if the Lord don't come. Look at 1 Corinthians 14, find verse number 9. He said, verse 9, So likewise ye, given your moment to find it, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For ye shall speak into the air. And he talked about how they were just babbling into the air. and they were perverting the true gift of languages that was given to the early church that we find in the book of Acts. I hear Christians, I'm talking about good, solid, Bible-believing Christians that will say, well, you know what, I don't understand this thing about speaking in tongues, and I'm not going to say anything negative about it. I promise you I will. It is wicked and wrong. There is nothing right about it. It has its roots in satanic paganism. And it's been carried over into these churches that claim to be filled with the Spirit of God, and they speak in these unknown tongues, and they're doing nothing different than the priests and priestesses did in the pagan worship of Aphrodite. And it's an affront to the Spirit of God. You say, Preacher, that is harsh. No, that is biblical. And I'm going to stand and preach the Bible. And we don't have any time and I don't have any patience for absolute foolishness. And we're going to talk about that when we get there. And you're going to find the Apostle Paul didn't either. And he rebukes them for it. And I have no problem rebuking someone for that. I had a lady one time call me on the phone when I was pastoring in Lenore. You remember that? She called me and she said, I can see the day when a woman preacher stands up in your church. Evidently she'd heard me preach on the radio or listen to a tape or heard me preach or something in your church and prophesies and speak in tongues. And I said, Ma'am, you come in my church and stand up and prophesy and speak in tongues and I promise you there'll be people escorting you and setting you on the front porch. And I said, you can prophesy all you want to out there. How about that? Letter E. It is a corrupted city. Now, I'm going to preach on Wednesday night what I wouldn't say on Sunday morning, alright? Because you have people coming on Sunday morning that they don't know any better. They've been influenced by doctrines and teachings and preachers. And what we're trying to do on Sunday morning is reach people. Amen? On Wednesday night we're teaching people. And there's a little difference. That's why I said this is more for a Wednesday night in-depth Bible study than it is really a Sunday morning, Sunday night preaching experience. And so that's what we're going to do together. Letter E. It was a corrupted city. There was a large synagogue there of Jews. And you're going to find that the Jews are the ones who are going to lead in the opposition of Paul's ministry. Letter E, it's a corrupted city. By the way, this stuff goes out over Facebook, so there's no telling what I'm going to get back. But I don't look at Facebook, so it doesn't matter. Nobody's going to say anything, and I won't see it. So it won't matter. Letter E, it's a corrupted city. It was famous for its debauchery and wickedness. Every known vice, every known immorality was predominant in Corinth and their culture. One writer spoke of it as a seaman's paradise and a moral cesspool. The air was polluted with the luring aroma of sin. Corinth was the Las Vegas. It was the sin city of the ancient world. Matter of fact, it was so well known, the wickedness and perversion of Corinth was so well known that a person of immoral character that habitually immersed themselves in this perversity was said to have been Corinthianized. or to act the Corinthian. One person said it was from this filthy slough that Paul's converts had been extracted. It's no wonder this church had the problems that it had. Why don't you look with me over at chapter 6 verse 9. He's going to mention some of the lifestyles that people were involved in when they got saved. I love this passage. Notice what he says in verse number 9. He said, No you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This is chapter 6 verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate. These next two would be sins of homosexuality, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Look at verse 11. And such were some of you. but you're washed, but you're sanctified, but you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Isn't that wonderful? Let me give you letter F real quickly tonight. It was a churched city. God loved the city of Corinth. He's going to do something wonderful. He did something wonderful in this city. You say, preacher, what did He do? He sent them a preacher, a missionary by the name of the Apostle Paul. He's going to go there on His second missionary journey, 52 A.D. Acts 17, he leaves Athens. Acts 18, he comes to Corinth. He travels about 50 miles over land to Corinth. He's going to spend 18 months in this city around 52 to 53 AD and further. He's going to write from Ephesus in 56 AD the epistle that we're reading right now. Paul, I love Acts chapter 18 verse 10, what God said to him right before he's going to be arrested and arraigned before Galileo, the governor of Achaia. God says this to him. He said in Acts 18 10, For I am with thee, Paul, don't be worried. Don't be timid. Don't be afraid. I'm with you. No man shall set on thee to hurt thee. Paul has been stoned. He's been beaten. He's been mistreated. He's been persecuted. He comes to Corinth. No doubt we find that maybe there's some fear. Maybe there's some timidity. Maybe there's a lack of boldness at this point. And God said, I just want you to know, nobody's going to hurt you here. And I love this, what God says. He said, for I have much people in this city. He said, Paul, I'm going to plant you here because there's a whole lot of people that I'm getting ready to save. And I'm getting ready to pull out of this and I'm going to make them my saints. That's what God's saying. And I'm going to tell you something, church. I believe in king and surrounding communities, God has much people. There are people in our community that God wants to save. And He wants to use you and this church and this ministry to impact not only our community, but the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, listen, can I tell you what's happened in our church is because of you being all in for Jesus Christ and reaching people and loving people and impacting our community. And I'm going to tell you, hey, God's blessed this and He's used you as a church in this last year in an amazing way. And I praise God for it. The Gospel was preached. Can I tell you it doesn't matter if Paul's in religious Jerusalem, philosophical Athens, or in wicked Corinth. You know what he preaches? The Gospel of Jesus Christ. You know what the message for our world is today? The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm going to preach this when I get on Vision Sunday. I've already been thinking in my mind and preparing in my heart what I'm going to be preaching on that night, and I'm going to get a little ahead of myself, and I don't mean to do that, but here's what I do understand. Folks, listen. Just because there's a change in administration, just because maybe some darkness is lifted in our land, and I rejoice in that, and I'm thankful. The crisis in our nation is not over. People still need Jesus Christ. Look at chapter 2 verse 2. I'm probably going to preach this in College Chapel here real soon. Look at what Paul said. For I determine. That means I'm making it a point of emphasis. I determine not to know anything among you. I'm not going to come here and philosophize. He said, I'm just going to preach. Here's what I'm going to preach. I'm not going to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know what Paul knew? He knew the cross of Christ was the answer. Can I tell you for everything in our lives, whatever the point of need, God's already met that need through the cross of His Son Jesus Christ. People are getting ready to be saved. Look at chapter 4 verse 15. Paul preached and people were saved. Look what he says. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers in Christ Jesus? I have begotten you through the gospel. God's used me to preach the gospel, and you've come to know Him. Isn't that wonderful? I still believe it's the power of God unto salvation, don't you? Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God to everyone that believeth. Isn't that a blessing? Anybody and everybody. And a church was founded. You remember what He said back in chapter 1 verses 1 and 2? Under the church of God which is at Corinth. Can I remind us? Calvary Baptist Church isn't my church. It's His church. It belongs to Him. God's just entrusted me to lead and pastor and care for this church spiritually for this time, this moment, this hour. But this is His church. And I'm responsible for it. Called to be saints. That's what he said. Called to be saints. They were saints in a sinful city. They didn't act very saintly. You're going to learn that. They got some major problems. They were still saints. Can I just tell you something tonight? I got some problems. Any of y'all got any problems? I got struggles. Any of y'all have any struggles? I got battles. Any of y'all have battles? Do you act saintly all the time? I don't either. I don't walk around with a halo. I've got problems just like everybody else does. Struggles. But you know what? I'm glad I'm one of God's saints, aren't you? I'm glad that never changes. Isn't that a blessing? Let's talk about the saints in Corinth real quickly. We've got a few minutes. Let's try to finish up. Let me give you the theme of the book. It's in verse number 9. Look at verse number 9. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God has given us a relationship with Himself through His Son Jesus and He wants to fellowship with us. He wants us to enjoy being saved. Remember I told you my theme for this year, personal theme. It's not the church theme. My personal theme is joy. Rejoice. I want to have more of God's joy in my life. We had a staff meeting on Tuesday. No. What day did I have that? Tuesday. That's right. My wife's helping me. I couldn't remember what happened Monday. I think nothing happened Monday. You know what I'm talking about? Except I just worked at home Monday. But anyway, Tuesday. We had a big staff meeting. I went around the room because I'd given a little task for everybody about reviewing their last year's ministry and their own personal life. and all of our staff members. I wanted them to give me two areas that they wanted to work on in the coming year. And they went around the room. We talked about that. Each one of them had a personal theme, things that they wanted to work on. What's your theme? What is it that you want God to do in your life? What is it you want more of this coming year? Maybe pick a fruit of the Spirit that you feel like is lacking in your life. but enjoy being saved. Hey, it's good to be saved. This ought to be a happy place. Wouldn't you agree with that? God was at work in their lives. fashioning them into His image, making them less and less of who they ought to be and more and more of who they should be in Jesus. He was recalibrating their lives spiritually. When Paul wrote this letter to the church at Corinth, they were a church in crisis. They were carnal in their spirit. They were chaotic in their worship. They were corrupt in their character. They were conceited in their attitude. There were cracks in the superstructure of the church that if allowed to remain would lead to its destruction. Can I help us understand? There are a lot of sick churches in America. They're not healthy. I'm convinced that the health of a church is directly tied to its pulpit. And where there is not a strong diet of biblical preaching, Expounding the Word of God, it leads to an unhealthy congregation because healthy preaching and teaching leads to healthy Christians. Because you know what? We're feasting on the Word of God. And when you eat the right things, guess what? It nourishes us and strengthens us and helps us be the right kind of people. Wouldn't we say amen to that? One of the things I'm so thankful about Calvary Baptist Church that from the day of its founding, Every pastor, and I'm number five, Preacher Baker for 32 years, I sat at his feet as a student. God's allowed me to take what he's poured into me and pour it into other Bible college students. I'm thankful for that. But you say, Preacher, what is that common denominator? What is the thread that I believe has made Calvary Baptist Church a great church? It is the expositional preaching of the Word of God. That's what it is. It's not preaching about the Word, it is preaching the Word. And that has brought about a depth of character in our church family that has led to the health and the growth of our church, not just numerically, but spiritually. And that's why Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night are so important. Because we're getting spiritual nourishment to help us be the people that God wants us to be. And it brings health to our church. So the theme is that we've been called to fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ. And He's going to deal with that throughout the book. He's going to deal with the issues. We're going to look at that. The key verse is chapter 1 verse 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us which are saved it is the power of God. Let me give you a few things real quickly. Fill in your blanks. The cross of Christ is an evangelizing agent. But unto us which are saved is the power of God. He was reminding them of what God had done in their lives, how they were brought to Him. They were called to be saints. It was through the cross of Christ that they had been transformed from sinners into saints. Letter B, it is a humbling agent. Can I tell you, when you get a good view of Jesus and His cross, it'll humble you. This was a puffed up church. They were full of pride. Five times he tells them they're puffed up. They were inflated with themselves. Two times he's going to remind them in chapter 1, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Can I tell you, the only good thing about us is what God's done in our lives. It's what we can boast about. By the grace of God, Paul says, I am what I am. It's a unifying agent. There were divisions in this church. And notice it's interesting that after he deals with the division, the first thing he brings them to is the cross of Christ. Because it's through His cross that we're saved. And we're all in the same family. We have the same Savior. We have the same Father. The same faith. The same Lord. The same baptism. You see, there's unity there. I believe that. Notice he says in verse 10, chapter 1, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Then he talks about the cross and their lives. It's a purifying agent. You're going to find there was deep sin in this church. Deep sin. Paul said it was such a nature that even the Gentiles were aghast at it. And they were puffed up about it. They were proud that they were parading this sin in their church. And you know what? Paul is going to deal with and remind them that our sin is what nailed Jesus to the cross. And God takes our sin as Christians seriously and so should you and I. We ought to be sensitive to that. It was an edifying, the cross is an edifying agent. The saints at Corinth were experiencing inward struggles. There was outward resistance. They were living in a world hostile to the gospel, to the cross of Christ, to the God of heaven. And it reminds them of the prize, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Chapter 9, you come to verse number 23. He's going to talk about that they're running a race. and they're doing it for an incorruptible crown. And he talks about the danger of being cast away. We'll see that. Not cast off, but cast away. That you and I, our lives can be so riddled with sin that we become unusable. Wouldn't that be sad? And then let me say this. It was a glorifying agent. 1 Corinthians, there's two great chapters in this book. We're going to see them. The first one is chapter 13 and it's a great love chapter of the Bible. And he defines what agape love is. God's love that's been shed abroad in our hearts. And we're going to do an in-depth study of chapter 13 to love God's way and what it looks like among a group of believers because God wants us to love more and more. But then you come to 1 Corinthians 15. It's a great resurrection chapter of the Bible. It's an amazing chapter that talks about our future as believers. And I want you to look at one more verse and then I'm going to just talk about the outline and we're going to be done. Look at chapter 15. Could you do that and find verse number 58? Chapter 15 and verse number 58. You come to the very end of it and he talks about we have the victory. What kind of victory? Victory over death. Victory over the grave. Hey, I'm glad that there's an after this for the children of God, aren't you? And notice what he says, "...because of the resurrection, therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." You know what he's saying? He's saying this, that our service for Jesus Christ is not just... it doesn't just affect this life. It affects the life to come. We're not just living for now. We're living for eternity. God lets us touch not only earth but heaven. We're going to enjoy what we do for Jesus forever. How about that? That's why every saint ought to be a servant of Jesus Christ. If you haven't got into the All In... And by the way, we had our 100 brand new serving members back around the end of October, 1st of November. We have many more people than that serving. But you know what I found? There's still 30% of our congregation that doesn't serve. Thirty percent. That might be some of you. Hey, this scripture project gives you an opportunity to serve. Whether it's an event service one time in a year or a few times in a year, whether it's a weekly, monthly, whatever it is, everybody ought to be doing something for Jesus Christ through his local church so we can be like him. Isn't that right? And he reminds us of the future glory that one day church is going to be worth it all. Wow, what a message. Now I've given you some action steps from tonight's message out of verse 1 in your notes. And there's some reading for the next message next week. But I've given you an outline. Do you see that outline? Let's look at it real quick. We'll be done here in just a minute. Alright. Everybody see the outline? Alright. I think it's completely filled in. Okay, good. We don't have to fill in any blanks. Good. That way I don't have to work through that. So when you come to chapter 1 through 4, the main emphasis of those chapters is dealing with the divisions that are in this church. So as you're reading that, you want to keep that in mind. Paul's dealing with the divisions. and the chaos in this church. When you come to chapters 5 and 6, he deals with disorders in the church. There were some problems. He's going to talk about disciplining church members because of sin. He's going to talk about that. He's going to talk about this and how the church should respond to that and how they should mourn. Here's what I want you to always learn about discipline through the local church. Say, Preacher, what is it? It's with always a view to restoration. And then about lawsuits in the church. They were suing each other. He's going to deal with that. And then he's going to deal with loose morals in the church in chapter 6 verses 9 through 20. See, I'm giving you a little outline to follow as you're reading so you'll sort of have an idea of what that area that you're reading is about. Then there's going to be a series of questions that precipitated the latter. Difficulties in the church. There was just some problems concerning marriage. And what to do with an unbelieving spouse. How do you handle that? What should a Christian marriage look like? What about singleness? He's going to deal with that. And they had questions. They had questions about meat or things that had been offered to idols that was affecting the fellowship and the liberty within that church. And he's going to deal with how to deal. And we're going to find how. You say, well preacher, we don't have to worry about going down to Food Line or Lowe's or Fresh Market and worry about that meat had been sacrificed to idols and used in pagan worship. We don't have to worry about that today. You're right. But you know what? There's still problems with Christian liberty today and Christians judging one another and looking down on one another. You following me? And so we're going to learn how that applies to us as God's people. And then there was public worship issues. And we're going to get there. And we're going to deal with that. Matter of fact, I was preaching in Germany. And I'm not trying to run a rabbit trail and keep us longer than I should. I was preaching in Germany and all the women had scarves on. Because they believe if you're in church and you're praying, you ought to wear some kind of covering. Should women wear hats to church? Now it's okay if they do, but is it a biblical requirement that a woman have a head covering when she prays? Because there's entire denominations and even among Baptists. It was a Baptist church. They were Russian Baptists and they believed if you were in church or you were praying you should have a covering on your head. Some of you come from Mennonite communities or Amish communities and they always wear a hat or a covering because they could pray without ceasing. Is that a biblical mandate today? We're going to deal with that. And then the problem of spiritual gifts. Chapters 12, 13, and 14 deal with the abuse of spiritual gifts. Chapter 4 is doctrine in the church. There was a question about resurrection and an issue there. And Paul gives a great doctrinal treatise on the resurrection of Christ and the Christian. And then chapter number 16, number 5 is diligence in the church. He's going to give some closing remarks about being diligent believers. and diligence and service to the Lord. And we're going to deal with that. And so we have a lot to talk about, a lot to study. I hope you'll join with me in this study. Bring somebody with you. And I believe we're going to learn a lot of truths out of the Word of God. And maybe even some things that will surprise you that may not mean what you think they do. And we're going to come back and we're going to look at some of that.