Sunday Sermon: Highlights of 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1-16)

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You are listening to the teaching ministry of Gabrielle Hughes, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.

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Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature 20 minutes of Bible study through a

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New Testament book. On Thursday is our Old Testament study, and then we answer questions from listeners on Friday.

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Each Sunday we are pleased to share our sermon series, presently going through the letters to the

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Corinthians. This is the sermon that was preached last week from our pulpit. Here's Pastor Gabe.

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What we're going to be doing as we go back through everything that we've studied over the last year and a half, we're going to be highlighting passages so that we catch the most emphatic points of what

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Paul meant to address with the church in Corinth. And likewise, the Holy Spirit of God addresses with us now.

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So I hope that as you came in this morning, you were given a pen or you received a pen. Maybe you brought one with you.

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Maybe you grabbed your favorite highlighter. Is there anybody that does not have a pen that would like a pen?

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Anybody not have one that would want one? Great. Everybody got a writing utensil. You know, the last time we did this with the book of Romans, I actually went and bought a bunch of highlighters that were perfect for Bible highlighting.

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Typically, you have a little thinner pages in your Bible. And I was just thinking about this this past week, where did

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I get those highlighters from? How did I come about that? And then it occurred to me, I picked them up at the Christian bookstore in Manhattan, which went out of business this past year.

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So I'm sorry, I don't have any of those highlighters for you this time around. Also, as I was going through this last night and trying to keep this to time, and I kept going way over time,

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I was going, how did I do this when we went through Romans? Sixteen chapters in Romans, and I fit all of that into one sermon.

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Why can't I seem to do that with 1 Corinthians? Well, that's because we broke it up. We did 11 chapters in Romans, and then we did chapters 12 through 16.

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So here I'm trying to do all 16 chapters in one sermon, but I think we can keep this down to 40 minutes here.

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So the book of 1 Corinthians was broken up into five main sections. I'm going to summarize this for you quickly, and if you keep notes in any way you write this down somewhere in your

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Bible or otherwise, that insert that was in your bulletin, it's blank on the backside if you would like to keep notes there.

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So these are the five sections that 1 Corinthians was broken up into. Number one is the division of the body, division in the body that Paul is addressing in the first four chapters.

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So chapters one through four, Paul addresses division in the body, and there's divisions over lots of things.

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There's divisions over which teacher is the best. There's divisions over who's more mature and who's not.

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There's class division. Some people think they're more important because they're richer, or they bring more food to the agape feast.

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A lot of different divisions and cliques and sects in the church in Corinth, and Paul is addressing those things first and foremost in those first four chapters, or number two, the second section is chapters five through seven where Paul addresses sexual immorality in the body, and that's not just immorality in the body of Christ that was being practiced in this church, but also how that pertains to the body.

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Every other sin a person commits they do outside the body, but sexual sin a person does with their body, and we'll look at that passage when we get to chapter six.

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The third section is chapters eight through 10 where Paul addresses food for the body.

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The fourth section is chapters 11 through 14 where we talk about order in the body.

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A church worship service should be conducted in orderliness, and that is what

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Paul confronts addresses in those chapters, one of which includes chapter 13, what we commonly call the love chapter of the

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Bible. And then the fifth section gets its own chapter, and that's the resurrection body, and that's chapter 15.

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So these are the five sections, the way that you could divide up the book of 1

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Corinthians into these five sections, and mainly what Paul is addressing is that the gospel affects every area of our lives.

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It affects what we do in the body of Christ, and it should also affect what we do in our physical bodies.

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Everything that we do is affected by the gospel. So this isn't just a matter of, I believed the gospel once, and then

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I can go on doing what every other pagan does in my city. No, we have been transformed by the spirit of God, so everything that we do should conform to the spirit of Christ, not the fallen spirit of this world.

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Our thesis statement of 1 Corinthians is in chapter 1, verse 18, where Paul says,

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For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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That's the verse that is printed on the front of your bulletin. It was our key signature verse as we go through the book of 1

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Corinthians. But before we get there and highlight that one, because that is an important verse, let's go back to verse 1.

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Paul called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother Sosthenes.

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Now the first thing that I've highlighted or underlined in this letter is called by the will of God, those six words.

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So if you would underline that, Paul called by the will of God. You yourself are a

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Christian because you have been called by the will of God. In John chapter 1, we are told that we have been born again, not by the will of man, but by the will of God.

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And so this is a very important introduction to the letter to these

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Corinthians. That everything that is being addressed to them is according to the will of God, not the will of man.

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This is not Paul's passing opinion. This is the word of God that endures forever.

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Called by the will of God. You have been called through the gospel of Jesus Christ to be followers of Jesus by his will, not by the will of any man.

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And so as I was doing a study of 1 Corinthians, when we first embarked upon this a year and a half ago,

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I really entered into a deep study of this concept of calling.

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And we talked about this when, like about the second or third sermon that I did in 1

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Corinthians. And so I actually went through and underlined all of the different occasions in which the word called appears in the first chapter.

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And you don't necessarily have to do that, but we have the first one there in verse 1. Another one, another two occasions of called in verse 2.

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Christ Jesus called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of the

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Lord Christ, both their Lord and ours. And then that word appears again in verse 9. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son,

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Jesus Christ, our Lord. If you are a Christian, you've been effectually called.

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The Spirit called you by the gospel of Christ and you answered it and became a follower of Jesus Christ.

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Now this whole section that goes from verses 4 through 9 is very important because it talks about that calling that we have received in the

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Holy Spirit. But don't underline that entire thing because that's a lot of underlining. So what I did is

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I put a bracket to the outside that just kind of encapsulates there verses 4 through 9.

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So you might put a bracket around that and let me read that to you as you're drawing that bracket. I give thanks to my

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God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.

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That in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and 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

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Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his

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Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul is addressing the Corinthians, but my brothers and sisters in Christ, that is addressed to every one of us.

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It is by the grace of God that we have been enriched in every way in all speech and knowledge.

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And we have received the testimony about Christ through the gospel that was preached. And it is

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Christ who saves us. It is Christ who, verse 8, sustains us to the very end.

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So you see how important that whole section is. It's difficult to pull out parts that would be worth underlining.

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I just put a bracket around that whole thing. This applies to every believer in Christ, and it sets the tone for the entire letter.

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For it is in Christ that we have been enriched in all way, in all speech, and all knowledge.

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And so that's what Paul is going to unfold for the rest of the letter, how the gospel of Christ transforms us in every aspect of our lives, speech, knowledge, and everything.

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So then Paul goes right into addressing the divisions that he's heard about in the church in Corinth.

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And one of the first divisions that he confronts is a division based on loyalty to specific teachers.

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One says, I follow Paul, one says, I follow Apollos, one says, I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. Is Christ divided?

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Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Underline verses 12 and 13.

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Because even though Paul is addressing the church in Corinth with something specific here, this absolutely applies in our day and age.

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One of you says, I follow John Wesley. One of you says, I follow

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John Calvin. Another one says, I follow John Edwards.

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Another one says, I follow John MacArthur. Whatever John you want to pick, there is a

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John for the beliefs that you have, all right? And we can tend to cling to those particular teachers and whatever that teacher says is superior to all other teachers.

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And if we think that teacher is more important than another, then we can fall into division.

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There is going to be, even within this body of believers, there are going to be differences of opinion.

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We probably agree on all the secondary issues. I hope we agree on all the main issues, those things that pertain specifically to salvation in Christ.

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If we don't agree, then you're falling in line with heresy. But if we all agree on those secondary issues, then there are going to be those tertiary issues, or what are called third -tier issues, we don't all agree upon.

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And that's fine. That's going to exist in the body, so long as it does not cause division.

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What was happening here in Corinth is those adherences to third -tier issues were causing division in the body.

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It was causing separation. It was probably even causing some people to leave the church because of the divisions that this had caused.

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And so Paul confronts this outright. We are all after the same thing. Paul, Apollo, Cephas, Christ, all of us are in the same work, and that is to exalt

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Christ to the glory of God the Father. So there is no one who is better than another one.

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So Paul says in verse 17, 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.

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And then we come to that key verse here in verse 18, and this is the one you should underline.

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For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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And then everything that's going to come about in the rest of chapter 1 through chapters 2, 3, and 4 are going to flow from that statement.

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The word of the cross is folly, it's foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

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The short of it is this, my brothers and sisters in Christ, none of us should be boasting about being smarter than anyone else because we are followers of Christ.

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For the rest of the world who is not believing in the cross of Christ, they think it's absolutely ridiculous what it is that we believe.

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It's foolishness to those who are perishing. To us who are being saved, we look at the cross and we see the power of God.

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The rest of the world looks at the cross and they go, wait, really? God who created all things was crucified?

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He let his own creatures crucify him? How ridiculous is that? Resurrection of the dead?

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Who do you think you are to think that a person can come back again from the grave? Who is it you worship? Zombie Jesus?

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These are some of the criticisms that will come from the world. It's foolishness to them, it makes no sense. To the one who has not been transformed by the spirit of God, but to us who are being saved.

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We've been justified in Christ, we're growing in sanctification. To us who are being saved, we look at the cross and we see the power of God.

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It is by the cross we've been forgiven of our sins and given the resurrection from the dead. There's power in the blood of Christ as we sing about in our hymns.

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So we see the power of God there displayed in the cross. The world sees foolishness. Share the gospel with the world, but when a person will not receive the gospel, don't think that you can badger them with an argument, bashing them over the head with it until they finally get it.

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The reason why they don't get it is because they're hardened in heart and they're rebelling against God. Respond to everyone gently and compassionately, always holding out the word of truth.

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The spirit of God will do His work to soften the hardened heart and bring them to believing faith in Christ.

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The word of the cross is the power of God for salvation to all who believe it.

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It's 1 Corinthians 1 .18. The last verse that I have in chapter 1 that I underline is verse 28.

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Still on this same concept of what Paul introduced in verse 18, he says,

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God shows what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.

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Underline also verse 29, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. So once again, we have nothing to boast of before the world or in the presence of God.

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You've come to belief, you've come to faith in Christ by the power of God, not your own will.

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So underline the very last sentence of this chapter, verse 31, where it says, let the one who boasts, boast in the

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Lord. Amen, glory, hallelujah. Chapter 2 now.

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We'll go through the rest of this more rapidly. Verse 5, still on the same concept we introduced in chapter 1, verse 18, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

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That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

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Again, it's great to have a teacher, and we definitely need teachers to help us understand the more difficult truths and passages that we find in the scriptures.

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But our belief is not based upon the wisdom that they share. Our belief comes from the power of God.

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It is the Holy Spirit of God that brought you to saving faith and will grow you in that faith as well.

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Why is it that an atheist can read all the way through the Bible and not be transformed by it, but when you read through the scriptures, you were?

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Well, the answer to that question is given in verse 14. Underline 1 Corinthians 2, 14.

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The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

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As Paul goes on to confront the strife and jealousy that exists in this church, the conflict, the debates, the quarrels between people, in 1

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Corinthians 3, verse 7, he says the following. Neither he who plants, nor he who waters is anything, but only

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God who gives the growth. Underline that. 1 Corinthians 3, 7. Neither he who plants, nor he who waters is anything, but God who gives the growth.

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Are you seeing the themes that are coming about here? In chapters 1, 2, and 3, it's not dependent upon man.

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It is by the will of God. It is by his strength. We are saved and we endure in this faith.

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Verse 16, verses 16 and 17, these you want to underline. 1

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Corinthians 3, 16 and 17. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

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If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is holy and you are that temple.

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And this is Paul saying this in light of the divisions and quarrels that were going on in the church of Corinth.

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Why are you tearing each other down? Rather, you should be encouraging one another and building each other up, because whoever destroys

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God's temple, God will destroy that person. We should be looking out for one another and building each other up, not tearing each other down.

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Lastly, in chapter 3 is verse 19. Underline just that first sentence in verse 19.

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For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. The wisdom that man tries to devise will not hold up to scrutiny.

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God makes it foolish. How many years is it that we've been hearing from atheists and agnostic communities that science is everything that there is to know?

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Richard Dawkins, perhaps the most famous atheist on the planet right now, has said that Darwin is what made being an atheist intelligent.

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Once Darwin came up with naturalism, Darwinism, the theory of evolution, once he came up with that, you could now be an atheist and not sound stupid about it.

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And science has therefore confirmed that we don't even need God. I think it was Carl Sagan that said that.

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Because of science, we don't even need God, for science gives us the answers to life and origin and all things.

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And yet, that same science that they claim gives us the answer to all life, they ignore when they take life and say that a child in the womb is not a human being, but instead is a glob of tissue that can be thrown away and destroyed.

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Or those same people that cling to science will ignore science when they say that a man can become a woman just because he feels like being a woman today.

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So all this world who tries to cling to a certain mentality, by their own beliefs, by their own system of worldview, their beliefs fall apart.

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They contradict themselves at every turn. So that which God has established remains true.

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Science is on God's side, not the atheist's side. And God has made foolish the wisdom of this world.

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For the wisdom of the world is folly with God. Remember that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but for those who are being saved, it is the power of God.

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Those in this world who boast about their own wisdom, that's what's foolishness before God. Hold fast to the word of truth in Christ Jesus and the message of the blood of his cross.

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Chapter 4. We have something very plainly stated here.

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Now, most of what Paul talks about in chapter 4 is directly addressing the

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Corinthians in a context of something that's going on in that church. So I'm not going to go through everything in chapter 4.

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There are just two phrases I want you to underline. And they're pieces of verses. The first is in verse 6, 1

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Corinthians 4, 6, where Paul says this, Learn by us not to go beyond what is written.

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Underline that. Learn by us not to go beyond what is written.

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As Paul addressed this with Timothy in 1 Timothy 1, he said, Don't let anyone teach any different doctrine that leads to speculations and divisions and myths, but teach only that which flows from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Same thing that Paul is saying here to the church in Corinth. Don't go beyond what is written. There are plenty of teachers out there who will wax fancy on their own ideas and how intelligent or creative they can be, but if it does not come from the word of God, they're adding to the word of God.

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And Paul here warns very cautiously, Don't go beyond what is written. There are plenty of people in the church in Corinth that were causing division over this very thing, trying to come up with their own fanciful thoughts and ideas.

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We must be careful of that as well, even in the realm of faith today.

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The second statement out of chapter 4 that I want you to underline is in verse 20, second to last verse, 1

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Corinthians 4, 20, where it says, The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

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Underline that. So we can talk fancy all day long, but it is the power of God through the word of God that we've been transformed from death into life in Christ Jesus.

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Next in chapter 5, now we enter into that second section of 1

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Corinthians where Paul addresses sexual immorality in the body. This is chapters 5, 6, and 7.

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The first thing that Paul addresses is related to church discipline, and this is mostly chapter 5.

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In verse 5, he says the following, You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the

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Lord. Underline that. That's 1 Corinthians 5, 5. Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the

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Lord. That's how we are to confront sexual immorality in the body of Christ, in His church.

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If there is one who is engaging in something sexually immoral, he must actually be removed from the church so he would be convicted to understand that what he has done is sin before God.

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That way he would not fall to Satan, but he would be saved in the day of the Lord. And this is an important bridging passage, too, into something that we're going to read about when we get to 2

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Corinthians, because this man that has been delivered over to Satan is later forgiven and restored to the church, which we get to read about in 2

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Corinthians. Put a bracket around verses 9 through 13.

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So it's basically 9 to the end of 1 Corinthians 5. And this is the church discipline section where Paul says, if there is anyone who calls himself a brother, but he's guilty of sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, reviling, if he's a drunkard or a swindler, don't even eat with such a one.

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Purge the evil person from among you. It's 1 Corinthians 5, verses 9 through 13.

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Then we get into chapter 6, and Paul starts to get a little bit more particular about sexual immorality.

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And I'm going to be careful with how I address this since we have children in the audience. Underline verses 2 and 3.

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First of all, Paul is talking about lawsuits among believers, and I think the principle of the lawsuits is best summarized in verses 2 and 3.

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Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, Are you incompetent to try trivial cases?

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Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more than matters pertaining to this life?

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So be cautious and careful when it comes to bringing one another before the magistrates, before the world for judgment, when we who are in Christ will be judging in the very end.

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Put a bracket around verses 9 through 11. This is, to me, one of the most important passages in the book of 1

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Corinthians. A lot of people get caught up in 1 Corinthians 13 because that's the love chapter. I think one of the most important sections worth memorizing and sharing over and over again is here in 1

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Corinthians 6, 9 through 11. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

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Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

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And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. My friends, in our church, there should be people sitting among us who can point to this passage and be able to say,

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I once was that, but I have been washed in Christ.

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What an important presentation of the gospel that we have there in the middle of this letter. Paul says in verse 13, this is the last sentence of verse 13, the body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the

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Lord, and the Lord for the body. Underline that. Important for everyone to remember and understand.

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The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

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Put a bracket around verses 18 through 20, and underline specifically the statement, flee from sexual immorality.

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Run away from it. Turn around and go the other direction. You do have it within your willpower to resist the temptation of sexual immorality.

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Flee from sexual immorality. And the other part of that to underline is the very last statement in verse 20, very end of the chapter.

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Glorify God in your body. Glorify God in your body.

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Submit your whole body unto Christ. If you have a margin off to the right, right in there, right next to verse 20,

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Romans 12 .1, which tells us to submit our bodies to the

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Lord as a living sacrifice. That goes right along with 1 Corinthians 6 .20. Glorify God in your body.

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Now in chapter 7, still on the section about sexual immorality in the body,

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Paul talks about principles for marriage. Like with chapter 4, he's addressing something that pertains more specifically to the church in Corinth.

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So I have only two statements in chapter 7 that I think are worth underlining to capture the principle of what

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Paul is addressing here. In verse 2, Paul says this, Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

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Now that doesn't sound like the most romantic description of sex in a marriage in the world.

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I'm married so that I would not be tempted to sexual immorality outside of marriage.

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Doesn't seem like the most romantic reason to get married. But the reason why I have you underline that and hold that firm as a principle is to just reiterate the point that God created sex for marriage.

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That's what he made it for. And so anything outside the marriage covenant is sexual immorality.

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And remember how seriously that was addressed and talked about in chapters 5 and 6. That it would cause a person, sexual immorality would cause a person to be removed from the body of Christ and even exclude them from the kingdom of God if they do not repent.

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And so how is it that we are supposed to conduct our body honorable before the Lord and even treat this gift that God has given called sex in a way that is honoring to God?

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We reserve it specifically for marriage because that's what God designed it for.

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So that's the principle that's being articulated there in 1 Corinthians 7. Lastly, verse 23 in 1

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Corinthians 7. Underline that. 1 Corinthians 7 .23.

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You were bought with a price. Do not become bond servants of men.

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Do not be slaves of men. Do not be slaves to your passions. You have been bought with a price.

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1 Corinthians 7 .23. I have nothing else underlined in chapter 7.

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Let's go to chapter 8. And likewise here we have contextual arguments that Paul is raising related to food for the body.

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This is the third section of 1 Corinthians in which Paul addresses food for the body in chapters 8 through 10.

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But there are two principles that I want to highlight out of chapter 8. The first one is in verse 1.

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Underline this sentence. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

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You see where that is? Right at the end of verse 1. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

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In other words, we store up knowledge for ourselves. It can lead to vanity, bragging, boastfulness, which is exactly what's going on in Corinth.

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Because they're Greeks, they love new knowledge. But knowledge will puff up. It is the love that we have for one another that builds each other up.

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And we can use the knowledge that we have for the betterment of somebody else. We're kind of like building into a crescendo that's going to capitalize with chapter 13 where Paul talks about a more excellent way.

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Verse 13. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat lest I make my brother stumble.

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Underline that verse. And not to say that everybody here should become vegans or vegetarians, but the principle is that whatever would cause a brother or sister to stumble,

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I need to be mindful of that. Not just enjoying life the way that I want to enjoy it, but even being considerate of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

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Is what I'm doing, would it cause them to sin? So I must be conscious of even what it is that I'm eating or drinking or putting before me lest I make my brother stumble.

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For there were some in Corinth that thought by eating meat that had been sacrificed to false gods in the temple that you were eating something that was therefore unclean.

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Paul says there's nothing unclean about it. An idol is just an empty thing. But if it's going to cause my brother to stumble, it would be better for me to just not eat it.

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So this just basically is to emphasize whatever we do, be mindful of one another, do all things in love.

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Chapter 9. I have a few passages underlined.

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I'm looking at them here and realizing this more specifically pertains to me and my calling as a pastor.

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Underline verse 22, the second half of verse 22. That whole verse rather.

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1 Corinthians 9 .22. To the weak I became weak that I might win the weak.

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I have become all things to all people that by all means

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I might save some. So this still goes with the principle that we were reading in chapter 8 where Paul said if I'm going to eat something that's going to cause my brother to stumble, it would be better for me to not eat it.

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Well, that principle continues on in chapter 9 where he says I've become all things to all people that by all means

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I might save some. Putting someone else's needs ahead of his own so he might aid them in coming to a knowledge of the truth of Christ.

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We're all weak in our flesh. We're all hard -hearted human beings because we're descended from the seed of Adam.

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And so we must be mindful of one another when it comes to sharing the gospel with each other. He says

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I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings. That's verse 23.

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Underline verse 27. I discipline my body and keep it under control lest after preaching to others

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I myself should be disqualified. Like I said, there's some passages in chapter 9 that I underline for myself and my calling specifically as a pastor.

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But this one in verse 27 is a principle that applies to everyone. Be consistent in your faith.

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What you say you believe, do that thing. So that when you share the gospel with somebody else you don't disqualify this gospel that you share because they hear you saying one thing but see you doing something else.

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So discipline your body, keep it under control so that the message that you preach would not be disqualified in their ears.

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Now we are on to chapter 10 and this is still in the section of food for the body. Underline in verse 3, or I'm sorry, verse 4, the sentence where it says for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was

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Christ. Paul is making a reference to something in the Old Testament but I like the verse just because of how much it emphasizes

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Christ is the focus in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. He's not named until we get to the

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New Testament but He was there even with the people wandering in the desert in the Old Testament as much as He is with us now in our service in church.

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1 Corinthians 10, 4, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them and the rock was

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Christ. Verse 11, and this goes right with what Miss Julie shared with the kids this morning.

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Underline verse 11. These things happened to them as an example but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

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This Bible that has been given to us for our instruction. If you have a margin off to the right, write down this reference,

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Romans 15, 4. For that says the same thing in Romans that we read here in 1

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Corinthians 10, 11. Romans 15, 4. Underline verses...

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I'm sorry, underline verse 13. This was actually the verse that Matt Johnson just shared with our teenagers at Bible Lunch Tuesday this past Tuesday.

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1 Corinthians 10, 13. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.

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In other words, you're not going through anything that no one else has ever gone through before. God is faithful and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.

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But with the temptation, He will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

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There is nothing going on in your life by which you can say, God is tempting me. And James addressed that in James 1.

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God tempts no one. There is always a way of escape. There is always a way for you to resist that temptation that is before you.

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There is no excuse to give in. So earlier in chapter 6, I had you underline a passage that said, flee from sexual immorality.

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I want you to underline in verse 14 these three words, flee from idolatry.

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Flee from it. Don't exalt anything above Christ. Christ is everything.

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He is your all in all. Flee from idolatry. Underline verse 21.

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You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake in the table of the

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Lord and the table of demons. Another way

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I put this when we were going through 1 Corinthians 10, you can't have one foot in the gate of heaven and one foot in the world. You are either all in with Christ or you are all out.

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Underline verses 23 and 24. All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful.

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All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

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So do not say to yourself, because I have the grace of God, I'm free to do whatever I want. Well, not all things are helpful and not all things build one another up.

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So no, you're not free to do whatever it is that you want. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

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Last verse in chapter 10, 1 Corinthians 10 31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

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That's the last one we're underlining anyway. Underline that one. 1 Corinthians 10 31. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

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Now in chapter 11, we enter into the next section, section 3, or I'm sorry, section 4 of 1

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Corinthians. It goes from chapters 11 through 14, and this is about order in the body. Underline the very first verse.

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Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

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We do need mature Christians to imitate. They show us what godly living should look like in this world.

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And the point is not to lavish praise upon themselves, but to point us to Christ.

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We have an example of Christ in that mature Christian. Now in this next section, verses 2 through 16, this is the section that I told you

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I hate preaching on, is the concept of head coverings for women.

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To emphasize the principle rather than going through everything verse by verse, underline verse 3.

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1 Corinthians 11 3. I want you to understand that the head of every man is

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Christ, and the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is

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God. That's the principle that's being emphasized in chapter 11.

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Just recently on the podcast, I was teaching through 1 Timothy 2, and of course, there's that passage in 1

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Timothy 2 12 that says, I do not permit a woman to exercise authority over a man.

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Rather, she is to remain silent, and specifically in context, that is referencing the fact that the pastor, the elder in the church, is supposed to be filled by a man.

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Men are supposed to step up and lead. That's not for a woman to fill. And there was somebody who was upset with my explanation of that in 1

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Timothy 2 based on the way that Paul gave it, and I explained it in context. And they said to me, okay, if you don't permit women to teach in your church, do you require that they wear head coverings?

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Because that's in 1 Corinthians 11. And my response to that critic was, we practice that in principle, not in custom.

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And she said, I don't understand. What's the difference? What's the difference between principle and custom? And I said, what is a head covering?

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And she couldn't give me an answer to that. I said, see, that's the custom. What's a head covering?

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Is it a toupee? Is it a scarf? Is it a shroud of some kind?

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Is it a hat? You don't know what a head covering is. And so the head covering is the custom.

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The principle is that the head of every man is Christ. The head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is

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God. So here in our church, we practice the head covering rule in 1 Corinthians 11, 2 through 16, in principle, but not in custom.

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So hopefully that gave you the Cliff Notes version of understanding what it is that Paul is addressing there in that particular passage.

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Paul then addresses the Lord's Supper in the latter portion of chapter 11. Put a bracket around verses 23 through 26.

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And that's so important because Paul gives us the manner in which the Supper should be practiced in the church.

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And again, it's the principle, not the custom. Same as in the head coverings address at the start of chapter 11.

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The principle of the Lord's Supper is addressed here. Why do I say that it's the principle and not the custom? Because in verse 25, he says, in the same way, he took also the cup after supper, saying,

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This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

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For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. What's in the cup?

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We don't know. That's why so many different churches and denominations argue over as to whether or not it should be fermented wine or grape juice.

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Because what's in the cup is never explicitly stated anywhere in the Bible, not in the

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Gospels when Jesus is passing the cup. We just assume it's fermented wine because that's exactly what it was they drank at that particular time period.

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Why would it be anything other than that? But the principle is what is at play here, not the custom.

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Just the same as what Paul addressed at the start of chapter 11. And we are to do this considering one another's needs ahead of our own and to do this in a proper way.

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As Paul goes on to say in verses 28 and 29, underline this, 1 Corinthians 11, 28, and 29.

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Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

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For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

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Everybody smelling the spaghetti yet? Doing okay? You're still with me? All right, chapter 12.

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Underline verse 7. We're going to talk about spiritual gifts when we get to chapter 12 and the principle of understanding the spiritual gifts.

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I'm actually not going to have you underline anything where Paul gives a list of the spiritual gifts. It's the principle that's at play.

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So verse 7, to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

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Why do we have spiritual gifts? For the common good. It's not for you to be able to thump your chest and say, look at this spiritual gift

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I have. It is to benefit the body of Christ, so it is for the common good. To each is given the manifestation of the

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Spirit for the common good. Underline verse 11. All these are empowered by one and the same

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Spirit who apportions to each one individually as He wills. It's by the will of the

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Spirit, not by your own will. Underline verses 18, 19, and 20.

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But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them as He chose.

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If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet there is one body.

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We all have different spiritual gifts. We're all called to do different things. We'll all apply those gifts in different ways.

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We are going to be different parts, and that's what is required in order to have a functioning body.

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Not everybody can be a foot, not everybody can be a hand. Underline verses 25 and 26.

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Let there be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

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If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one member is honored, all rejoice together.

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What beautiful harmony is being emphasized there for the body of Christ in verses 25 and 26.

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Now, chapter 13, underline that entire chapter. I'm just kidding, don't do that.

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But I think the concept of what Paul is laying out in the love chapter of 1

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Corinthians is best highlighted in verses 4 through 7.

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So you can either underline that or put a bracket around that. That's the one or the section that begins, love is patient and kind, it does not envy or boast.

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Put a bracket around that all the way through verse 7. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

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That, I think, is the main passage to keep in mind out of chapter 13. Chapter 14, so we come back again to talking about spiritual gifts.

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And once again, we want to remember that the spiritual gifts are given for what purpose?

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For the benefit of the body. It's for the benefit of the church. Paul will say this three times in chapter 14, and that's what

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I want to emphasize. All three occasions where Paul says that this is for the benefit of the church.

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The first one is in verse 5. Underline the very last statement of verse 5.

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So that the church may be built up. The spiritual gifts are for the purpose of building up the church, so that the church may be built up.

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And maybe out in the margin, put a number 1. Because that's the first occasion in chapter 14 where Paul says that the church may be built up.

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The second occasion is verse 12. So underline verse 12. And write a number 2 out in the margin.

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That's the second occasion. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the

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Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. Because that's the point of the spiritual gifts.

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As much as we argue about whether speaking in tongues is for today or not, don't miss the principle.

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The purpose is for building up the body of Christ. It's not to benefit yourself. It's to benefit the body.

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That the church may be built up. That was in verse 5. Strive to excel in building up the church.

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That was in verse 12. That was number 2. Now here's the third occasion. It's in verse 26. Underline, let all things be done for building up.

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Let all things be done for building up. And write a number 3 in the margin. So there you go.

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You have all three of those occasions in which Paul says in chapter 14, this is for the benefit of the church.

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It is not for your benefit. It is for the benefit of the body. That is why we have the spiritual gifts.

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Now as Paul brings to a close talking about orderly worship, the order of worship in the body of Christ, we have this statement in verse 33 that I think best summarizes what's been laid out in chapters 11 through 14.

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God is not a God of confusion but of peace. Underline that. God is not a

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God of confusion but of peace. Now in verses 34 and 35,

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I'm not going to have you underline that, but just out in the margin since we've just talked about this, write 1

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Timothy 2, 11 through 15. Put that right next to verses 34 and 35.

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1 Timothy 2, 11 through 15. The next time you go through 1 Corinthians and you're studying that and you see that written there, you're going to go, okay, well,

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I'm going to look that up and compare it with this passage. It'll help you understand it a little bit better. Underline verses 37 and 38.

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If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should acknowledge the things that I am writing to you are a command of the

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Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. And I have you underline that for this purpose.

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If anyone tries to tell you that they've received some sort of revelation of God that does not match up with the

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Bible, they are a false prophet. Do not listen to them. Paul is saying here if anyone would proclaim that they have been given some sort of vision or revelation of the

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Lord, but they don't recognize what the apostles say, don't recognize them. They're liars.

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Very last thing I want you to underline in chapter 14 is these four words, the last four words of the chapter, decently and in order.

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All things should be done decently and in order. And there's the summary of the order of worship that's been laid out in chapters 11 through 14.

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Final section of 1 Corinthians. Here we are in the home stretch, folks. Hold tight. 1

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Corinthians chapter 15. Underline all of it.

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I'm just kidding. Don't do that. This is the best chapter in the

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Bible for laying out an apologetic for the resurrection of Christ and why it's so important.

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Underline verses 1 and 2. 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 and 2.

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I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preach to you, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are being saved.

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If you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. Put a bracket around verses 3 through 11.

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That's the apologetic that Paul presents based on the evidence of the Scripture and based on eyewitness account to the resurrection.

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There is absolutely no reason to not believe the resurrection of Christ just based on these first 11 verses of chapter 15.

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Paul presents logic arguments after that in verses 12 through 19, and there's two of them in particular

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I want you to underline. Verse 13, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even

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Christ has been raised. Underline that. If there is no resurrection of the dead, not even

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Christ has been raised. Why is that important?

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Verses 16 and 17, for if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised, and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

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We have a faith that means absolutely nothing if Christ has not been raised from the dead. Underline verses 16 and 17.

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And then the wonderful victorious statement after he presents those if -then arguments is verse 20, and underline to the comma, but in fact

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Christ has been raised from the dead. Amen, somebody.

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There we go. All right. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead.

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Thank you again. Underline verse 42. So it is with the resurrection of the dead.

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What is sown is perishable. What is raised is imperishable. Our body is going to die, but we are going to be raised again imperishable to live in God's imperishable glorious kingdom.

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And going with that thought is verse 51. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed.

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Underline verses 51 and 52. And then if you would like, underline that little poetic phrase where it says death is swallowed up in victory.

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Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? Because that's the hope that we have in the resurrection that death is not our enemy, but will be conquered in Christ.

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I didn't underline it because it's indented. It's kind of by itself, and it already pops off the page at me.

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But underline that if you would like to. Everything that Paul has been laying out as it pertains to the gospel in 1

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Corinthians chapters 1 through 14 is kind of summarized in this presentation of the resurrection of Christ in chapter 15, presenting an apologetic for this particular doctrine.

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Because as I said in the very beginning, the gospel affects every area of our lives.

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And so he begins with the gospel, and then he ends with the gospel, a presentation of the resurrection of Christ.

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If you do love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, as Julie shared with the kids this morning, then it affects every area of your life.

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And if the gospel is indeed affecting every area of your life, you should believe every aspect of the gospel, including the resurrection of Christ, which

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Paul concludes with in his letter to the Corinthians. We finish heavy with doctrine. As we bring this to a close, chapter 16 is kind of its own thing because Paul just presents final instructions to the

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Corinthians. But there are two verses I think kind of stick out from the rest, and these are the two that you can underline, or two sections rather.

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The first is verses 13 and 14. Underline this. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, let all that you do be done in love.

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And lastly, verse 22. If anyone has no love for the

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Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord come.

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In the Greek, by the way, our Lord come is Maranatha. You heard that word before?

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If you have a margin, write that word in the margin. M -A -R -A -N -A -T -H -A.

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Maranatha. Our Lord come. That is what we look forward to is the return of our

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Lord Christ. My brothers and sisters in the Lord, that is our study of 1 Corinthians. My eyes fill with tears thinking about everything we've been focusing on in this particular letter over the year and a half.

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I hope that it has convicted your hearts and is growing you in the spirit. ♪ Holy, holy, holy

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Early in the morning

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Our song shall rise to thee

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Holy, holy, holy

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Merciful and wondrous Blessed Trinity All the saints of heav 'n set aflame

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Calling thou, simple man, mighty

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All thy works shall praise thy name

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In earth and sky and sea

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Holy, holy, holy

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Merciful and mighty

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God in three Persons Blessed Trinity Thank you for listening to our weekly sermon presented by First Southern Baptist Church of Junction City, Kansas.

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For more information about our church, visit fsbcjc .org.

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On behalf of our church family, my name is Becky, inviting you to join us again this week, Growing Together in Christ, when we understand the text.