Jesus toyed with Pharisees about death & life
 
John 8:51-59
51 Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”
54 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. 55 You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”
57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?”
58 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”
59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple. [1]

• We have always been fascinated with death & the afterlife.
• Death Education Class in China
• “Heaven is For Real”
• In all created things God has created this incredible symphony.

 
1 Corinthians 15:35–58 (NLT)
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone may ask, “How will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have?” 36 What a foolish question! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. 37 And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. 38 Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed. 39 Similarly there are different kinds of flesh—one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.
40 There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. 41 The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and stars each have another kind. And even the stars differ from each other in their glory.
42 It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. 43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 44 They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies.
45 The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. 46 What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. 47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.
50 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
54 Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.[2]

• It’s important to remember that resurrection after death was not a new idea:
• In the Fall, leaves drop from the trees and the plants die. They turn brown, wither, and lose their life.
• They remain that way for the winter – dormant, dead and lifeless.
• And then Spring comes, and they burst into life again. Growing, sprouting, producing new leaves and buds.
• For there to be Spring, there has to be Fall and Winter. For nature to spring to life it first must die.
• Death then resurrection.
• It’s true across our environment with ecosystems, food chains and seasons.

"The death of one living thing for the life of another." (Circle of Life)
What are some examples of death leading to life?

• Genesis – Produce from the trees – Died.
• (Death entered the world.
• Adam & Eve’s spirits died.
• Animal was the first sacrifice.
• Skin cells die and flake off daily and after 30 days we have a new skin.
• Firemen at 9-11
• Now these oranges were originally alive; they were connected to the tree which has its roots in the soil.
• They grew from the earth.
• They were once all receiving nutrients from the earth, but then they were harvested, thrown on a truck, brought to the farmer’s market, and eventually ended up in our kitchen.
• When they were harvested, they were severed from the tree, they were pulled from the soil, they were disconnected from their life source, and they were brought to us so that we could eat them.

 

• And if we don’t eat, we don’t live.
• This food …this dead food …gives us life,
• The more recently food has been living the more life it gives us. Fresh food is better for us.

John 12:24 - Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.[3]

• Jesus teaches us how to die so that we can really live.
• Jesus invites parts of us to die to our flesh.
• This is what holds us back from living – like the part of us that constantly tries to make ourselves look good, or the part of us that always has to be right, or the part of us that always has to be better than others, or the part of us that always tries to look like we have it together.

 
What Jesus is teaching with the use of the metaphor is that we must undergo a process of transformation ...a change from death to life.

Admittedly, we resist the process. It is hard to give up our agendas, our objectives, our aspirations, our interests—our ego. Yet this is what we have been called to: the new life of Christ in us. That is a marvelous exchange!

• In our dying, Christ is alive within us.
• In our brokenness Christ is seen clearly. The way to fullness is brokenness; the way to life is by death.

Two points seem unmistakably clear to me here: the first is that this is hard; the second is that this is glorious.

• We don’t need to miss either of these. If we only see the hard part, we will miss the power and the freedom.
• If we only see the glorious part, we will minimize the sacrifice.
• The seed must die. ―Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear any fruit.

 
Jesus refers here to his own impending death and resurrection. Jesus makes a promise.

• His death will result in life, not only for his crucified body, but for all humankind.
• I hope we all understand the truth Jesus is sharing: our hope for life is in his death, burial, and resurrection.
• To receive God’s free gift of eternal life, we must die to our own efforts to earn or control our destiny and put ourselves totally in Jesus’ hands.

 
In Luke 9:23 Jesus says, ― “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.”[4]

• Denying ourselves is dying to self.
• What we allow to die in our lives
• We’re invited to trust Jesus because we’ve been told we can never do it alone.
• But some people refuse to die.
• They relentlessly cling to their egos and false selves and keep propping up that version of themselves that they think is desirable, and trust in their own efforts to accomplish this somehow, someday.

 
Is this you holding on to your life so tightly that you are actually losing it? And you can’t really experience it?
 
“All men die… Not all men really live.” – William Wallace
 
Trying to kill the flesh through our flesh always fails!

• Truly dying to self means saying no to the flesh and its attempts to decide what's good for us apart from God. 
• It means coming under the authority of God's Word and submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. 
• The Holy Spirit is the one who leads us down the path of death to self-rule. 
• As we entrust ourselves to Jesus, the Spirit enables us more and more to die to self and live to Christ. – (Jeff Pokone)

 
In a supreme act of faith, a farmer opens his hands and drops his seed into the earth.

• It lies there dead and buried, and he waits throughout the long winter for some sign that there will be a crop in the spring.
• Scientists cannot explain this mystery.
• A dead seed lies buried in the soil for weeks.
• And then, defying all logic, it comes alive.

We want to control everything.

• The problem with this picture is that it is not about living …it may be about existing, but it is hardly the abundant life that Jesus said he had come to bring.
• May we remember that if we die to self …if we die with Christ …we will also be raised to new life in Christ …that death leads to life.

 
Our Lord's cross is the gateway into His life.

• The tomb was the beginning... Not the end.
  
  

1 Corinthians 15:26 - 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.[5]
 
Oswald Chambers - The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 8:51–59). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 15:35–58). Tyndale House Publishers
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Jn 12:24). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Lk 9:23). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (1 Co 15:26). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• The final issue out of the barrage of questions that Paul has to deal with in 1 Corinthians—quite possibly the final issue that the Corinthian church wrote to him about in the letter that he turns to in 7:1—has to do with a collection that Paul has embarked on, and that will occupy his attention for at least another couple of years, for a group of fellow believers in Jerusalem and in the province of Judaea surrounding it, that was necessitated by a severe drought leading to a considerable famine in the late 40s of the first century.
• It’s now the mid-50s, but there are still lingering effects, and in 2 Cor 8–9 Paul will discuss this collection in considerably greater detail.[1]

COLLECTION FOR THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
16 Now about the collection for the saints: Do the same as I instructed the Galatian churches. 2 On the first day of the week, each of you is to set something aside and save in keeping with how he is prospering, so that no collections will need to be made when I come.

• It seems unlikely that Paul is referring to a fixed percentage of their income; that would be an odd way of expressing it.
• Each person should give generously, even sacrificially, not to trade places with the poor but giving from their surplus but being ruthlessly honest about how much is surplus.[2]
• Everyone can give something and it is highly encouraged… we are not talking about Leavener specifically.
• Every group of people will have givers and takers.
• It is hard to do the opposite of what you are gifted to do.
• We just came out of holidays… gift exchange.
• You had to take.
• Cory bought our dinner last night.
• I take from you each week.
• The Cates had a new baby this week. Meal train.
• The Langmaacks are huge givers but are having to learn how to take.

3 When I arrive, I will send with letters those you recommend to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it is suitable for me to go as well, they will travel with me.

• “If you give enough that it’s clear you were generous, then I’ll accompany it. I don’t want to lose faith or look bad if the collection is a meager one.”
• We are never told in so many words that the money was handed over; we can only assume that it was.
• But there is conflict that arises when Paul is falsely alleged as having brought a Gentile into the portion of the temple precincts that they were not permitted to go into. (Acts 21)
• So, what began out of all the best motives in the world leads to a riot, leads to Paul being arrested to save his own life, leads to him addressing the crowds and then languishing in detention for several years after that.[3]

 
PAUL’S TRAVEL PLANS
5 I will come to you after I pass through Macedonia—for I will be traveling through Macedonia--6 and perhaps I will remain with you or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I go.

• Paul indicates his plans for the future but as we read ahead in Romans and 2 Corinthians we find out that it doesn’t always go as planned.

7 I don’t want to see you now just in passing, since I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord allows.

• Paul was willing to allow time to pass before he visits because he thought his letter needed time to circulate and for them to work on these issues he has written about.
• It would not make much sense to send this letter and then immediately follow up with a visit.

 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a wide door for effective ministry has opened for me—yet many oppose me.

• Verses 8–9 also indicate that there is much opposition in Ephesus, and it would be easy to think that Paul should have written (or that we should have translated) that he’ll remain in Ephesus until Pentecost, because there’s an open door for effective ministry or service, but there is much opposition.
• But he uses the word normally translated “and,” and I see no reason to change that here.[4]
• That is a good reason to stay in one place when you have both acceptance and opposition.
• If you have one or another it is probably a sign that Paul needs to move on to another region.

10 If Timothy comes, see that he has nothing to fear while with you, because he is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 So let no one look down on him. Send him on his way in peace so that he can come to me, because I am expecting him with the brothers.

• Timothy is Paul’s young disciple.
• Paul gives Timothy accreditation here.
• Stamp of approval
• Paul depends on encouragement from Timothy by listening not only to his ministry but also how well the Church is doing.

12 Now about our brother Apollos: I strongly urged him to come to you with the brothers, but he was not at all willing to come now. However, he will come when he has an opportunity.

• There is no indication of why Apollos would not go to Corinth other than he understood the conflict of having multiple teachers.
• Remember the “some followed Paul and some followed Apollos” issue.

 
FINAL EXHORTATION
13 Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. 14 Do everything in love.

• Constantly, we say. “Stay focused” as we depart ways with one another.
• “Stay focused” on what? – Jesus
• We know that the evil one is constantly putting negative thoughts into our head and we have to know the difference between them and the Truth.
• Paul is literally just saying “BE”

15 Brothers and sisters, you know the household of Stephanas: They are the firstfruits of Achaia and have devoted themselves to serving the saints. I urge you 16 also to submit to such people, and to everyone who works and labors with them. 17 I am delighted to have Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus present, because these men have made up for your absence. 18 For they have refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore, recognize such people.

• Respectfully submit to those you recognize as spiritual leaders.
• There was not a “Bible” at this time for everyone to filter messages through.
• But there were proven messengers, teachers and role models of the faith that were highly respected.
• Paul encouraged the Church at Corinth to pattern their lives after these leaders.
• Why did Paul want to be around these men?
• Because they were encouragers in the faith.

 
CONCLUSION
19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla send you greetings warmly in the Lord, along with the church that meets in their home. 20 All the brothers and sisters send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

• And in our sexually charged world, we need to stress that this was a warm and affectionate greeting on one or both cheeks—not any erotic or sexual context involved with it.
• We need to look for equivalents in today’s world; and if that’s not it, then an appropriate kind of hug, a warm handshake, or some other culturally appropriate greeting may be the way to go.[5]
• In a pandemic, it is more of a wave, knuckles or elbow bump.
• “Greet” is the key word rather than kiss.
• Some might say “holy” is the key word because it is what we are choosing to recognize between the two believers.
• Being in one another’s presence is huge!
• Michelle’s drive by parade was just a few seconds but something she will remember the rest of her life.
• Just bring in the presence of one another is a big deal.

21 This greeting is in my own hand—Paul.

• We believe that Luke penned the letter for Paul because he had issues with his eyes.
• But Paul at least signed the letter at the end.

22 If anyone does not love the Lord, a curse be on him.

• It would not have been politically incorrect—there was no political correctness in Paul’s world—but it still would have had a certain shock value, and Paul would have known that.
• It’s a way of stressing how serious this matter is and not one that’s given directly to the enemies of God, outside of the church, but to those inside the church professing to be believers: “Make sure you are loving God!”[6]
• I don’t believe Paul is wishing or placing a curse on the nonbeliever.
• I think Paul’s understanding is that one who rejects the Gospel has a curse on their life.

Our Lord, come!

• Marantha

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

• Let grace permeate among you!
• Let grace be the aroma that surrounds you.

24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.[7]

• Paul literally is telling his reader that he loves them.
• Are you one of his readers? Yes! Paul loves you!
• What a great way to end the letter.

 

• This letter is sent to Corinth by Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus.
• Paul gets to see Timothy and then send Timothy to Corinth.
• Nero lifts the ban on Jews and allows them to return to Rome.
• Paul hears of this and send Aquila and Priscilla to Rome.
• Paul wants to establish a gentile church in the Eternal City before the Jews start trickling back into Rome.
• Delegates to the Church in Rome:
•  - Aquila and Priscilla from Ephesus
•  - Phoebe from Cenchrea
•  - Rufus from Syrian Antioch
•  - Andronicus and Junias from Jerusalem
•  - Urbanus from Macedonia
•  - Apelles from Asia Minor

 
Sharpening the Focus: First-century Rome is a cosmopolitan city—the melting pot of the entire world.

• It is the Roman Empire in microcosm with representatives of every race, ethnic group, social status, and religion.
• The city is a perfect square—about two and one-half miles by two and one-half miles (many of the poor are densely populated outside the city walls).
• Rome sits on seven hills and contains fourteen districts. The city has 1,790 palaces and 46,602 tenement apartments (called insulas).
• The population is about one million.
• Citizens range from the miserably poor to the lavishly rich.
• Half the population is made up of slaves, making it the “slave capital of the world.” Many of the freedmen live in horrible poverty.
• The Roman poet Juvenal (A.D. 110) described Rome as a filthy sewer into which flowed every abominable dreg.
• The Stoic philosopher Seneca (A.D. 55) spoke of Rome as a cesspool of iniquity.
• The Jewish population is large and free, sitting around 40,000-60,000. Jews are spread all over the city, but most of them live in a pocket of the city called the Trastevere area.
• Rome has about a dozen synagogues. All but the rich (excluding the homeless) live in insulas. Most insulas are seven stories high, covering an entire block.
• Heat and light are very inadequate. The first floor is used for shops. The second floor is very expensive. The poor live on the third floor or above. The third-floor rooms are very tiny. They do not have running water. They are also poorly built and sometimes collapse, killing the tenants inside.
• The insulas are made mostly of timber, so they are a fire hazard in the dry season.
• The city is extremely crowded with densely packed apartments. It is also unbearably noisy. From dawn to dusk, there is constant babbling in the streets and from the apartments.
• It is hard to sleep because of the racket. There is no public transportation and no street lighting (these things will not appear in Rome until the fourth century).
• While the main concourses of the city are attractive, the back streets are dirty, unlighted, pitiful, and smelly.
• They are littered with garbage and covered with flies. The garbage is never removed. The residents must await a heavy downpour to flush it into the Tiber River.
• In the pits along the sideways you can see the bodies of the poor who could not afford burials.

If you are poor, Rome is the worst place to live on planet Earth.[8]

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 16:1-24). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Viola, Frank. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church. Destiny Image Publishers, Inc, 2004. PP 121-122.

RESURRECTION SUPPORTED BY CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE
1 CORINTHIANS 15
29 Otherwise what will they do who are being baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?

• Baptism of believers has always been debated as essential or non-essential for salvation… or for future resurrection of the body.
• In the Corinth church there is record of them vicariously baptizing living believers for the sake of the believers who had already died without being baptized. Solely for the purpose of their physical bodies to be resurrected upon Christ’s return.
• A proxy baptism.
• 1) Salvation is a personal matter that each must decide for himself.
• 2) Nobody needs to be baptized to be saved.

30 Why are we in danger every hour? 31 I face death every day, as surely as I may boast about you, brothers and sisters, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• “I die daily” – Not talking about “dying to self” as Paul mentions in Romans 6… but physical dangers.

32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus as a mere man, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

• Actually a quote from Isaiah 22:13 – But Isaiah was quoting it as a popular philosophy at the time Israel was about to be invaded by the Babylonians.
• If the resurrection is not true, then we can forget about the future and live as we please!
• But the resurrection is true!
• Jesus is coming again!
• Even if we die before He comes, we shall be raised at His coming and stand before Him in a glorified body.[1]
• Paul is simply arguing ad hoc from things that actually are happening and making the point that the reason people participate in them and tolerate them and accept them, rightly or wrongly, is because there is a hope of life to come.[2]

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

• Just because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right.
• Think of all the things that are acceptable today that weren’t acceptable when you were a child.
• It happens… it creeps in…
• Mob mentality… everyone else is doing it.

34 Come to your senses, and stop sinning; for some people are ignorant about God. I say this to your shame.

• Quit living your life by the way of the world.
• Quit getting in worldly arguments.
• I’m going to live in a world that is facing a pandemic.
• I’m going to live in a political world that finds itself greatly divided.
• But that doesn’t mean that has to become my world… especially my discussion.
• My opinion is not going to change the world.
• My participation in protests, discussions, rallies, social network feeds is not going to change the world.
• But my servanthood, my love for God, my love for others… may greatly impact those around me.
• In those days, public shame was a huge deterrent.

 
THE NATURE OF THE RESURRECTION BODY
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have when they come?”

• This is a typical question even for today.
• Everyone wants to know what does the future hold?
• What is going to happen? What does it look like?

36 You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And as for what you sow—you are not sowing the body that will be, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain.

• Paul can’t even answer their questions.
• We don’t know!
• Have you ever planted an unknown seed to see what it becomes?

38 But God gives it a body as he wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from that of the earthly ones. 41 There is a splendor of the sun, another of the moon, and another of the stars; in fact, one star differs from another star in splendor.

• Paul goes on a tangent about all the different subjects that we have determined to have/be “bodies”.
• Humans (gender, size, ethnicity, etc)
• Animals (2 legged – multi-legged, winged, water)
• Heavenly bodies (moon/stars, sun, galaxies)
• Who has any idea what a “resurrected body” likes like except God?
• With Jesus, we assume we saw a transitional body.
• The disciples didn’t even recognize Him, yet he still had scars in His hands.
• Assuming there won’t be scars in resurrected bodies in heaven.
• His point is simply to say, “Think of the extraordinary, rich diversity of things God has created that we as people call ‘bodies,’ we think of as having embodied form—and if God is that creative, surely He knows how to create resurrection bodies.”[3]

42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead: Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; 43 sown in dishonor, raised in glory; sown in weakness, raised in power; 44 sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.

• There will be nothing wicked, nothing flawed, nothing imperfect.[4]
• Our baptism represents this transition.
• We recognized people (as non-believers) for the things they did.
• They were born with a dead spirit because they came from the seed of Adam.
• They are born dead.
• But because of their belief in Jesus… they are made a new creation.
• We no longer view them as a physical being that does things… but as a spiritual being who can’t be made any more perfect than they already are.
• So what we do does not define us.
• Who we are impacts what we do.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written, The first man Adam became a living being; (Genesis 2:7) the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual.

• First you are physically born… with a spirit… that is dead… inherited from Adam.
• Then Jesus came along so that our Spirit could have life.

47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust;

• Born dead, separated from God.

like the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven.

• Made alive with the Spirit inside.

49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

• We still have these physical bodies but we are recognized by our living Spirit.
• The world is only going to know we are different because we are more interested in things above than the things of this world.
• How am I any different if all I talk about is the things of this world?
• If it’s real, it ought to change the way we think about everything in this life, putting no ultimate allegiance in anything that lasts only for this life.[5]

 
VICTORIOUS RESURRECTION
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor can corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Listen, I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, (a church nursery posted that on their door) 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

• But flesh and blood (basar ve-dam in the Hebrew) was a standard Jewish idiom for finite fallen humanity.
• There are literally hundreds of parables in the writings of the rabbis in the early centuries of the common era that begin, “There was a king of flesh and blood.”
• And the moment you read that, you know that what follows is going to be a comparison, usually from the lesser to the greater, of something about the nature of human kings with something that is true all the more about God as King.
• “Flesh and blood” does not mean “embodied” then here, it means finite fallen humanity cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
• The perishable cannot inherit the kingdom of God, that which is imperishable. So Paul is pursuing his same line of argumentation.[6]

53 For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality. 54 When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place:
Death has been swallowed up in victory. (Isaiah 25:8)
55 Where, death, is your victory?
Where, death, is your sting? (Hosea 13:14)

• The Church of Corinth was consumed with the idea of death – terrified.
• Life span was short and many illnesses.
• Today we live in a pandemic and we have death statistics all around us.
• There is anxiety and depression consuming us because of the thought of death.

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

• It is because of our sin that death entered into this world.
• And what gives sin its power is the law.
• The law came along so sin would increase (Romans 5:20)
• This is the corruptible
• The incorruptible is that God gives you freedom.
• Live your life by the Spirit and there is no law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

• Throughout the New Testament, and particularly throughout Paul, eschatological teaching—teaching about the end times and the last days in the eternal state—is never given simply to satisfy someone’s curiosity.
• It appears in contexts of encouragement, of encouraging the beleaguered, of encouraging the persecuted, of telling folks “All that makes life hard now is worthwhile.”
• Today’s bumper sticker “Life is hard, and then you die,” if by that one means “and there is nothing more after that,” is absolutely false from Paul’s perspective.
• The only way to redeem that bumper sticker is to make the slogan longer: “Life is short, life is hard, and then you die, and then it gets fantastic if you’re a follower of Jesus.”

 
In everything you hold dear and in everything that is trivial, ask yourself “What does it mean to make this choice in light of the fact that I am living forever?”[7]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 618–619). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

ORDER IN CHURCH MEETINGS
1 CORINTHIANS 14
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up.

• For one verse, Paul reflects again on a representative sampling of the whole range of spiritual gifts.[1]

27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.

• But even there, he didn’t rule out the public use of tongues altogether.
• When we get to the end of the chapter he will say, “Do not forbid speaking in tongues.”
• We need to be extraordinarily cautious, therefore, in our contemporary world whenever we hear Christians claiming that this gift or any of the gifts is not for today or should not be practiced or should be practiced but limited to a private context.
• We should also be extraordinarily careful for those who refer to tongues or prophecy or any other gift without reflecting on checks and balances, accountability, mechanisms for controlling and evaluating the alleged presence and use of these gifts.
• So what Paul does in verses 29–36, recognizing that no true gift of the Holy Spirit is ever given in a way that that individual cannot exercise control over it, is to give some criteria for their regulation, for what he will call, at the end of the chapter, “a fitting and orderly [practice].”[2]

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

• If there is a prophecy in the nature of a future prediction, we need to wait to see if it, in fact, comes true.
• If it is an instruction for people today, is what it is teaching or commending consistent with biblical teaching elsewhere?
• If it’s something that can’t readily be evaluated by these criteria, does it seem to have the intention of edifying or building people up?
• We can never allow the so-called word of a Christian prophet, whether it’s in “ordinary preaching” or a spontaneous utterance to trump what we know God is saying from His Word.
• There has to be discernment.
• There has to be evaluation.[3]
• This was typically done by the elders in the church.

As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says. 35 If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

• Paul had already permitted the women to pray and prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5), so this instruction must apply to the immediate context of evaluating the prophetic messages.
• It would appear that the major responsibility for doctrinal purity in the early church rested on the shoulders of the men, the elders in particular (1 Tim. 2:11–12).[4]
• It seems much more likely that some combination of a privilege restricted to the elders as the leaders of the church, in conjunction possibly with the intrusive questions, lack of education, need for women to in public be perceived as appropriately submitting to their husbands, is what’s going on.[5]

36 Or did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?

• How am I able to speak to you each week?
• If this is me making these messages up… look out!
• You can be mad at me, but all I am actually doing is reading the Word, studying it in context of all 66 books and teaching what has been revealed to me.
• You have the ability to evaluate what I am teaching as truth.
• But there is no reason to be mad at me.

37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored. 39 So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
40 But everything is to be done decently and in order.[6]

• So, he winds up the passage by saying, “Prefer prophecy.
• Seek prophecy.
• Don’t forbid speaking in tongues, but let everything be done decently and in order.”
• And to whatever degree there still is some tension, as there is at times in our world, between the noncharismatic and the charismatic world.
• These two closing verses say almost all that we need to hear:
• To the noncharismatics, “Don’t exclude any spiritual gift;”
• To the charismatics: “Don’t see how wild you can get. Do everything decently and in order.”[7]

 
RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL TO THE GOSPEL
1 CORINTHIANS 15
1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

• It’s not surprising because, while bodily resurrection was commonplace in the Jewish world (indeed all but the Sadducees of the major leadership sects strongly believed in it), it was not at all common in the Graeco-Roman world.
• Much more common was a belief in a disembodied immortality of the soul, if indeed there was a hope for an afterlife at all.
• The movie “Soul” – Conveyer belt of souls to the big bug zapper in the sky. What?
• And here is the potential creed or early Christian confession: “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.”[8]

6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

• Jesus appeared to the witnesses and disciples within 40 days of his resurrection from the tomb.
• The 500 plus brethren all saw Him at the same time, so it could not have been a hallucination or a deception.
• Mass hallucination has occurred numbers of times throughout history, but always in conjunction with a place and a visible, tangible, physical element of some kind—a statue of a person perhaps, or a painting, or an icon, a holy shrine.
• There was nothing in common about the locations or the contexts of all the places that Jesus was said to have appeared.[9]
• This event may have been just before His ascension[10]
• For Paul, it was within 2-3 years from Jesus’ resurrection, on the road to Damascus.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

• 1 Timothy 1:15 - This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them.[11]
• Paul is referring to his life before his spiritual conversion and transformation.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, so we proclaim and so you have believed.

• He acknowledges his utter unworthiness to even being the recipient of this gracious—three times referring to the concept of God and His grace—being the recipient of this gracious touch from God’s Spirit, and puts himself on a level playing field, neither above nor below these other apostles because of this experience.
• “Whether it was they or I who preached, it was this same gospel.”
• It was the gospel that you believed.
• The bodily resurrection is central to it all.[12]

 
RESURRECTION ESSENTIAL TO THE FAITH
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?

• Those of you Corinthians who are still inappropriately influenced by your Graeco-Roman background, who don’t believe in the resurrection of a dead person ever, let’s think through the logic that inexorably follows from that.
• That means that our teaching that Jesus was raised is false.
• But if He was not raised bodily, then our teaching that we can look forward, one day, to all the wrongs of this world being righted in a glorious and perfected and eternal future of incomparable joy and blessing is equally false.[13]

13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

• This is very similar to putting our hope in 2021.
• Yes, 2020 was a dumpster fire for many.
• That’s because they view life from a worldly perspective.
• The perspective of 2020 is different for those who stay focused on the resurrection of Christ and the eternal abundant life that is afforded to us.

 
CHRIST’S RESURRECTION GUARANTEES OURS
20 But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

• Once you saw the first of the crops, you knew that there were plenty more to come, even if not instantly.
• And that’s what Paul is saying about Christ’s resurrection compared to ours.[14]

21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. 22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at his coming, those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death. 27 For God has put everything under his feet., Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. 28 When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.[15]

• There is a functional subordination of the Son and Spirit to God.
• The Father never proceeds from the Son or the Spirit; the Son and the Spirit never command or send God the Father to do anything.
• But God rightly commands and sends the Son and the Spirit to do things.[16]

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 615–616). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 14:26–40). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 617). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Ti 1:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[13] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[14] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 15:1–28). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

PROPHECY: A SUPERIOR GIFT
1 CORINTHIANS 14
1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

• Two divisive spiritual gifts are compared to one another by Paul.
• Tongues allows a person to address God in an unknown language or linguistic configuration of syllables, but the speaker him/herself does not necessarily know what they are saying, and certainly others do not.
• Whereas prophecy, the proclamation of God’s Word in a message directly given by God to an individual, with or without advance preparation, speaks intelligibly to address a whole wide variety of possible human recipients.
• “Tongues edify [oneself],” build up one’s own assurance that God is with one and working in and through one and can bring a great sense of peace and encouragement and love on the part of God’s Spirit, especially in troubled times, especially when, as Rom 8 talks about it, we don’t even know with what words we should pray, and the Spirit prays for us.
• Whereas prophecy immediately edifies others, if the message is truly from God, to encourage, even perhaps to rebuke in a positive way, to communicate important information, to show God’s love and justice and all the other range of His revelatory activities.[1]

6 So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds—whether flute or harp—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8 In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning. 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.
13 Therefore the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding.

• Pray and sing with their mind so that they are benefited with understanding as well as a good feeling.[2]

16 Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

• This is the only time in Paul’s writings that he even hints at speaking in tongues personally.

20 Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.

• In your thinking, function as adults.
• With respect to evil or wickedness, be like children, innocent, at least of certain characteristic adult sins,
• But be fully mature in one’s understanding.[3]

21 It is written in the law,
I will speak to this people
by people of other tongues
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to me,,
says the Lord.

• Paul then goes on to quote Isa 28:11–12, which is a context in which foreigners and their unknown languages, the languages that the Israelites do not understand, are a sign of God’s judgment—in context, referring to the Assyrians from the north who are going to invade Israel.[4]

22 Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.

• This is totally backwards from what Paul was previously saying in verses 1-19.
• But in light of “judgment by God” which is in reference to the verse quoted out of Isaiah…
• Unbelievers won’t be able to speak in tongues.
• Believers will be able to understand prophecy.
• The Corinthians, as we’ve seen throughout this letter, had an unfortunately smug attitude toward numerous issues of Christian growth and maturity and behavior.
• And just as Isaiah had to catch Israel’s attention, so Paul uses the same text, the same principles, the same dynamic to try to shock the Corinthians into attending to these concerns.[5]

23 If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all. 25 The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.” [6]

• Here at Leavener, we have personally tried to remove all the obstacles that would keep nonbelievers from being turned off by religion.
• We meet in a pub.
• Not interested in putting on a show. (no smoke machines or countdown clocks and every minute planned, no pipe and drape)
• Dress casual.
• No hierarchy of leadership
• And no offering
• We don’t do this as a marketing ploy.
• We don’t do this to boast either.
• We just don’t see this as necessary.
• But what we will do every week, is teach from the Word of God for the sake of the believer.
• I’ve always believed that if this community can be real with who they are… and the struggles we have… that outsiders (nonbelievers) would be captivated by the difference we are to the rest of the world.
• The nonbelievers could show up here on a Sunday morning without marketing towards them hear the Good News that is being taught and lived out through this people who are perfect in Christ yet struggle through living in these flesh suits.

 

• Some pastor once defined love as this: “Love is the unconditional giving of the very best we have on behalf of another, regardless of response.”
• And each of those four key parts is crucial.
• We give ourselves unconditionally to others.
• That doesn’t mean we give ourselves to others approving of everything they do, but there is nothing they can do, there are no conditions that we put on our commitment to them.
• And we commit to them the very best we have.
• It’s other-centered and not self-centered; we’re not doing it for some hidden agenda of our own.
• And we continue that self-giving even when it is rejected, even if it’s thrown back in our face; it’s regardless of response.

 

• Using Our Gifts to Build Others Up
• In that spirit of love, how do we use our spiritual gifts?
• Do we go to church?
• Do we participate in Christian gatherings with the goal and the priority of using our gifts to encourage and build others up?
• Or do we go asking what we can get out of the situation?
• Our modern world that does so much church hopping and shopping suggests that way too many people are in it for what they can get out of it, first of all, rather than how they can find a place to best use their gifts.[7]
• Here is the real struggle for newbies to our community:
• You will not be entertained here and provided with a bunch of programming for you to get involved.
• Neither can you ask the question, “How can I get involved and used my spiritual gifts?”
• You might initially become a part of this community because you discovered us in the midst of a crisis.
• This group of people will definitely help people in crisis.
• But at the same time, there is an investment of your own spiritual gifts.
• Have you been checked on lately? I can’t answer that.
• How much checking on have you done of others?
• In this community, you are probably going to get out of it what you put into it… most of the time.
• There will be times when this community does not meet your expectations.
• One of the best areas of ministry with this group is the lack of expectations they have placed on me as the pastor.
• They have discovered they have the same Spirit in them that I have in me.
• They are able to visit, check on, do things for those in need just as well as I can.
• I’m not the only one in here that does weddings and funerals.
• The purpose of the spiritual gifts is to edify and build up the community known as the Church.
• A true Christian is not in it merely for the fire insurance, merely for whatever positive, touchy-feely experiences she or he can get from God, but seeks to identify their spiritual gifts, seeks to exercise them in love, and does so for the building up of the Christian church for the work of God in the world.[8]​

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 14:1–25). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

• The main evidence of maturity in the Christian life is a growing love for God and for God’s people, as well as a love for lost souls.
• Few chapters in the Bible have suffered more misinterpretation and misapplication than 1 Corinthians 13.
• Divorced from its context, it becomes “a hymn to love” or a sentimental sermon on Christian brotherhood.
• Many people fail to see that Paul was still dealing with the Corinthians’ problems when he wrote these words: the abuse of the gift of tongues, division in the church, envy of others’ gifts, selfishness (remember the lawsuits?), impatience with one another in the public meetings, and behavior that was disgracing the Lord.[1]

Review:

• 1 Corinthians 12:31 - But desire the greater gifts. And I will show you an even better way.[2]
  
  

LOVE: THE SUPERIOR WAY
1 CORINTHIANS 13
1 If I speak human or angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

• In reference to the spiritual gift of tongues mentioned in Chapter 12.
• Tongues apart from love is just a lot of noise!
• It is love that enriches the gift and that gives it value.
• Ministry without love cheapens both the minister and those who are touched by it; but ministry with love enriches the whole church.[3]

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

• The gifts of prophecy, knowledge and faith

3 And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give over my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

• The gift of giving.
• Without love… these 5 gifts are worthless.
• 1 Thessalonians 4:9 - About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.[4]
• 1 John 4:19 - We love because he first loved us.[5]
• John 13:34-35 - “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”[6]
• Romans 5:5 - This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.[7]
• Ephesians 4:15 - But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.[8]
• Truth does not equal our opinion.
• Opinions can be based on a combination of things… Truth, misinformation, experience, feelings, the processing of thoughts in our head.
• I don’t always have to express my opinions… especially if it is not loving.
• Then you have to ask yourself the question, “I might think this is loving, but will it be received as a loving expression?”
• I don’t always have to share my opinion.
• But at the same time, I might be led by the Spirit to speak Truth (in love) which still hurts when it clashes with others “opinions.”
• The intent of Paul is to remind the Church that the Spiritual Gifts should be wrapped in love for the “enriching” of the Church body.
  ​
  
• In the next 4 verses Paul emphasizes the purpose of love in the Church body is to “edify”.
• 1 Corinthians 8:1 - We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.[9]

4 Love is patient, love is kind.

• Corinthians were impatient and rude with each other.
• 1 Corinthians 14:29-33 - Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.[10]

Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, 5 is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs.

• Knowledge is not puffed up.
• Let the “love feast” be based upon love… not eating.
• 1 Corinthians 4:6 - Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying: “Nothing beyond what is written.” The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another.[11]
• Romans 12:10-18 - Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. 11 Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit;, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. 13 Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.[12]
• Compare verses 4-7 with Galatians 5:22-23
• Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.[13]

6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

• This means we must not think of ourselves, but of others; and this demands love.[14]

8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will come to an end.

• The gifts of the Church are necessary for the enrichment and edifying of the Church.
• But some day they will become less important until they are no longer needed.
• But “love” will always “endure”.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put aside childish things.

• Christmas gifts… As a child, you make your Christmas list. As an adult, you end up saying, “I don’t really need anything.”

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.

• In those days, it was a polished piece of silver or bronze that they looked at their reflection.
• Face to face… so much clearer.

13 Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love—but the greatest of these is love.[15]

• The extent to which faith refers to “the conviction of things unseen,” as Heb 11:1 puts it so powerfully.
• Hope refers to that which one believes is going to happen but does not have the conclusive evidence to demonstrate that it will, in the eternal state the evidence will be conclusive.
• But love, in all of its interpersonal, self-giving nature, will continue throughout all eternity.[16]

 
12:31 - But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
The Way of Love
1 CORINTHIANS 13 (The Message)
1       If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
2       If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.
3–7     If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
        Love never gives up.
        Love cares more for others than for self.
        Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
        Love doesn’t strut,
        Doesn’t have a swelled head,
        Doesn’t force itself on others,
        Isn’t always “me first,”
        Doesn’t fly off the handle,
        Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
        Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
        Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
        Puts up with anything,
        Trusts God always,
        Always looks for the best,
        Never looks back,
        But keeps going to the end.
8–10    Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11      When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12      We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13      But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.[17]

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 610). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 12:31). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 610). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Th 4:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Jn 4:19). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Jn 13:34–35). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 5:5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Eph 4:15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[9] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 8:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[10] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 14:29–33). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 4:6). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 12:10–18). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ga 5:22–23). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[14] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 611). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 13:1–13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[17] Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: the Bible in contemporary language (1 Co 12:31–13:13). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

I inadvertently used the New Living Translation on this message. I normally use the Christian Standard Bible.

​Review:

• We started Chapter 11 two weeks ago with Matt Tully talking about covering your head and submission.
• I talked about the practice of the Lord’s Supper in relation to the Church.
• It is this section that Paul is referring to practices of public worship… when they come together.
• There was obvious division in the Church.
  
  

SPIRITUAL GIFTS
1 CORINTHIANS 12
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

• Special abilities – gifts
• Paul describes here the difference between believers and non-believers.
• Believers won’t curse Jesus
• Non-believers won’t say “Jesus is Lord”
• Paul wants to make clear at the outset that simply because something appears to be a manifestation of the Spirit of Christ, of the Spirit of the living God, it may not necessarily be so.
• One has to observe it, one has to test and evaluate it, and then make an assessment.
• it is an important foundational reminder that one’s fundamental allegiance must be seen and known to be of Jesus.[1]

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

• Paul can three times say, there are diverse gifts, but one Lord, one God, one Spirit.[2]

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.

• The gifts given by God were intended to benefit the Church as a whole and as individuals.
• They are gifts given by God and directed by God.
• Spiritual gifts are for the common good of the Church.
• The gifts are given for the good of the whole church.
• They are not for individual enjoyment, but for corporate employment.[3]

8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.

• Wisdom and knowledge are two different things.
• Knowledge is book or experience smart.
• Wisdom comes from God and is used for applying knowledge to life.

9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another,

• Two types of faith:
• 1) Faith to say, “I need you God” – salvation.
• This faith comes from you.
• 2) Faith that comes from God to believe in Him beyond what the normal person believes.
• This is where trust for the unknown or unseen comes into play.
• This faith comes from God.

and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles,

• An interesting difference of these two gifts from the rest of the list is it they are not the kind of thing that people necessarily have as ongoing abilities or responsibilities but require the Spirit’s choice to work in a particular moment in a way that He doesn’t necessarily in every single instance.[4]
• Do I believe in the gift of healing and miracles today?
• You better believe I do.
• I’ve seen it… I’ve seen massive tumors disappear yet the hole where the tumor was… still was there.
• I’ve seen many marriages that had divorce papers written completely healed.
• I’ve seen people who were told they were never going to walk again… walk.
• People who were told they were going to die… live far beyond predictions or expectations.
• I’ve seen emotional wounds and scars disappear.
• I am praying for an absolute miracle of healing for my friend Randy in Tulsa right now.
• I believe.

and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit.

• Speaking a word that came from God however long a person may have meditated on it or prepared how to say it, or however spontaneous it may have been given, and the gifts of discerning, prophecy determining its origin:
• Is this from the Lord, is this of human manufacture, or something worse?[5]

Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.

• It is the most problematic gift at Corinth, and so he perhaps deliberately waits and puts it at the end.
• “Tongues,” a Greek word that again has a very broad semantic range and can mean everything from the literal part of one’s anatomy fit in one’s mouth to any human utterance in some linguistic configuration, known, unknown, or a collection of syllables that God uses to provide meaning to someone in a particular context.[6]
• I grew up in the charismatic capital of the world, Tulsa, OK.
• It is still problematic and Paul will talk about this issue later.

11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

• No spiritual gift was ever intended to be the gift of every single Christian.
• And any Christian context that claims believers have to have a certain one or a certain combination of the gifts, either to be saved or even simply to reflect a certain level of Christian maturity, is contradicting what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 12.[7]
  ​

ONE BODY WITH MANY PARTS
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

• In this very room, we could be divided many ways.
• Fishers, Carmel, Indianapolis, Westfield, etc.
• Children, teens, adults, senior adults
• Wealthy, median or poor
• Hoosier born or transplants
• Employed or unemployed
• Former Catholic, former Baptist, etc
• Men or women, republican or democrat, conservative or liberal, etc.
• So many ways to divide
• But Paul is saying we have one unifying factor… Jesus.
• We have been baptized into one body…
• Baptism being our identifier of what we believe… Jesus.
• The baptism of the Spirit occurs at conversion when the Spirit enters the believing sinner, gives him new life, and makes his body the temple of God.
• All believers have experienced this once-for-all baptism.
• Nowhere does the Scripture command us to seek this baptism, because we have already experienced it and it need not be repeated.[8]
• You can fight for unity and make that your stance.
• Or you can keep your eyes on Jesus and unity will be a byproduct.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

• Paul was hardly the first in the history of the world to liken a community of people to the members of a body.
• In the Roman world, armies were often thought to be like a body, every individual soldier needing to work together under the various commanding officers themselves, under the top military general, and yet each having a distinctive role to play.[9]
• But think about the diversity in this room.
• The capabilities in this room.
• What if we all did the same thing?
• What if we were all alike?
• But that is not the way it works.
• We seek each other for wisdom.
• We lean on each other in times of need.
• We share what is ours with one another.

20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

• POS – Power of sin
• POS begins to work here… one person is more important than the other.
• It is easy for me to get recognition over my wife.
• Michelle does just as much for this body as I do, if not more.
• During pandemic, she has been less present on Sundays… it hasn’t changed her importance to the body.
• Luke is a loud personality and everyone knows Luke. He is role-model in this community.
• Matt and Keith teach often from this stage. They are recognized as leaders.
• My set up crew… faithful every week and you don’t even know who they are.
• Wanda Pontius, one of the most important people to our body and she has been home since the quarantine.
• I don’t even know the whole chair pusher group after the service.
• I don’t know half the stuff that happens on a weekly occasion.

27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.

• Rhetorical questions
• He wants the recipients of the letter to think… to process.
• The roles inside the body are important.
• We are not going to know everything that happens.
• But each of you are important to this body.
• How so? Don’t ask me… ask the Spirit.
• I’m not going to do any spiritual gifts tests or try to assign you to ministry opportunity.
• Just go do what the Spirit leads you to do.
• If you tell me about a great idea you have for this ministry… I’m going to tell you… “Sounds like the Spirit is leading you…”

But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. [10]

• Did you see the IU win over Wisconsin yesterday?
• Did you see the after game interview on the field with Coach Tom Allen?
• Go look at that video
• https://twitter.com/i/status/1335375688313004041
• This is what Paul is about to jump into next week.

LEO

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 608). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, pp. 608–609). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (1 Co 12). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Review:

• We began in 7:1 with consideration of the issues that the Corinthian church wrote to Paul about.
• Chapter 7 dealt with the collection of issues surrounding marriage
• Chapters 8–10 with issues surrounding food sacrificed to idols and related analogous concerns
• Chapters 11–14 are a series of issues bound up directly with the gathered community in Corinth for Christian worship.[1] (public worship)
• We left off with Matt talking about head coverings and submission.
• During the age of Augustus Caesar, there was a group increasingly called “the new Roman woman.”
• Much more so in Latin or Roman contexts than in a Greek context, but recall that Corinth was a Roman colony, despite being in Greece, where women were given greater freedom, given greater public privilege, and especially those of some substantial means.
• Apparently, some of these women are having the opportunity to pray and prophesy but without what Paul believes is the appropriate head covering.[2]
• There has always been (and always will be… until all things have been made new) a competition between men and women.
• Genesis 3:16 - He said to the woman:

I will intensify your labor pains;
you will bear children with painful effort.
Your desire will be for your husband,
yet he will rule over you.[3]

• As for the head covering (the Greek translates it as “comes down” – which could even mean the length of hair).
• I personally believe it is a cultural practice of both men and women showing fidelity to their relationship with Jesus.
• Signifying identification is different for both men and women.
• Gender identity and competition has always been an issue.

 
THE LORD’S SUPPER
1 CORINTHIANS 11

• Paul turns to a second issue concerning public worship (Chapters 11-14)
• Since the beginning of the church, it was customary for the believers to eat together (Acts 2:42, 46).
• It was an opportunity for fellowship and for sharing with those who were less privileged.
• No doubt they climaxed this meal by observing the Lord’s Supper.[4]

17 Now in giving this instruction I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18 For to begin with, I hear that when you come together as a church there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19 Indeed, it is necessary that there be factions among you, so that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20 When you come together, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. 21 For at the meal, each one eats his own supper. So one person is hungry while another gets drunk!

• Paul is not saying, “Stop having these ‘love feasts’”.
• He is literally telling them what to do and what not to do.
• Sometimes you have to state the obvious.
• Don’t get drunk when we come together.

22 Don’t you have homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? I do not praise you in this matter!

• The divide between the handful of wealthy and the vast majority of poor in the Corinthian congregation (as in the community) created a disproportionate percentage of the problems that Paul has to address.[5]
• Symposium was more of a “love feast” rather than a gathering to talk about a certain subject like it is today.
• They called this meal “the love feast” since its main emphasis was showing love for the saints by sharing with one another.
• It would be more like a pot-luck dinner today.
• Tables were placed in a u-shaped partial square and were served from the middle.
• Very typical to today’s hibachi set up.
• Each family brought food and drink to share among each other
• The rich would bring food and drink enough for them and leave the “leftovers” for the poor.
• Today, we gather on “cyber weekend” but you have still generously filled 175 stockings for those in need this month.
• There is a balance in taking care of the poor and taking care of yourself.
• That balance is dependent upon the Spirit inside of you.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

• And Paul’s wording is strikingly similar to the wording in Luke 22 about Jesus’ Last Supper.
• All three of the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—have similar accounts of this last night.
• Paul’s is closest to Luke, not because Luke was his travel companion and he got it from Luke;
• Luke’s Gospel would not be written until, at the earliest, the early 60s, and we’re still here in the mid-50s.
• No, it’s Paul and Luke who both know the oral tradition—faithfully passed on—of the words, the sayings, the teachings of Jesus.[6]
• Jesus Christ took the cup and the loaf—the ingredients of a common meal in that day—and transformed them into a meaningful spiritual experience for believers.
• However, the value of the experience depends on the condition of the hearts of those who participate; and this was the problem at Corinth.[7]
• No one would have imagined that somehow that bread supernaturally became molecular extensions of His hand and fingers.
• It’s profoundly symbolic: “This bread represents, in a deep and meaningful and religiously poignant way, my body about to be given for you in death on the cross.”
• Jesus wants us to remember how He died. Why? Because everything we have as Christians centers in that death.
• We must remember that He died, because this is a part of the Gospel message: “Christ died … and was buried” (1 Cor. 15:3–4).[8]
• He rose from the dead so as to conquer death.
• We have the ability to really live here on earth and after for eternity.
• In the midst of the pandemic, let’s practice/remember this by symbolization of eating. Simply by placing your hand to your mouth.
• “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”
• No, the cup and its contents have not suddenly become blood in some physical molecular fashion, but they stand for, memorialize, represent, symbolize, in a profound way, Jesus’ giving of His life blood in death on the cross. “Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
• His blood was shed as a sacrifice for our sins.
• Total for forgiveness was available to all.
• Total forgiveness for all believers.
• All sins: past, present and future.
• Drink from the cup with both hands.
• Jesus may not be literally present in the bread and in the cup, but He is present. He is present spiritually.[9]

 
SELF-EXAMINATION
27 So, then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

• Examine to see if they are worthy?
• We have participated in the Lord’s Supper where condemnation was expressed and we either had to deal with it immediately for refrain from participating in the Lord’s Supper.
• No, examine to see if they are behaving unworthily, in an unworthy manner.[10]

29 For whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 This is why many are sick and ill among you, and many have fallen asleep. 31 If we were properly judging ourselves, we would not be judged, 32 but when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined, so that we may not be condemned with the world.
33 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you gather together you will not come under judgment. I will give instructions about the other matters whenever I come.[11]

• The Communion is not supposed to be a time of “spiritual autopsy” and grief.
• It should be a time of thanksgiving and joyful anticipation of seeing the Lord!
• Jesus gave thanks, even though He was about to suffer and die.
• Let us give thanks also.[12]​
• When we figure out what Jesus truly did for us… and what we have inside… it changes everything.
• Sometimes we lose focus and need to be reminded by stating the obvious.
• Remember what it was like when you stepped out of “religion” into a “relationship”?
• It is the difference of just being alive versus living.

You can really live right now

[1] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ge 3:16). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 604). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 605). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 605). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[10] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[11] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 11:17–34). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[12] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 607). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

Review:

• We left off with 1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity. But God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.[1]
• I explained the distortion of God will not give you more than you can bear.
• The evil one is responsible for evil things that happen in a fallen world.
• What I did not say was that in this life… you will have more than you can bear.
• It is then… when God comes in because you have to become dependent upon Him to get you through the crisis.

 
WARNING AGAINST IDOLATRY
1 CORINTHIANS 10
14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, since all of us share the one bread.

• Paul goes back to the argument of are the Christians able to eat the meat that was sacrificed to the idols/gods.
• Paul is saying, “Idolatry is the distraction.”
• Zoom out… think about it. What is true in this world?
• There is only one truth… why are we even arguing about what is true and what is fake?
• That stuff doesn’t even matter in your own spiritual world.
• Don’t forget that we are all about Jesus.
• We are in this together because of our faith in Jesus.
• We eat from the same loaf of bread and drink from the same cup (except during a pandemic) and that is Jesus Christ.
• We can see Paul’s main point: There is a union that occurs.
• We are united with Christ in a special, even if undefined, way through the sacrament or the ordinance, and we are unified as participants in the ritual with all those who commune with us, as symbolized by what, in the earliest stages of church history, was a single loaf and a common cup from which people ate and drank.[2]

18 Consider the people of Israel. Do not those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? 19 What am I saying then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I do say that what they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons!

• Can you not separate the eating of meat and drink from the worshipping of demons?
• Run from what is evil.
• Run from the appearance of evil.
• Stay focused on what you know is true.
• If you are hungry and need food… eat! But don’t worship the demons.

21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

• Paul is encouraging them to recognize the spiritual side of things.
• You can justify doing evil things because you make light of the spiritual world.
• Paul is saying, it doesn’t matter what you do. It matters that you recognize the two opposing sides: good vs evil… God vs the evil one.
• Spiritual warfare is raging.

 
CHRISTIAN LIBERTY
23 “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything builds up.

• The Corinthian slogan quoted back 1 Corinthians 6:12-13.

24 No one is to seek his own good, but the good of the other person.

• It’s not straightforward how we are to behave in every setting, especially when we are in a group, and we are being scrutinized, and what may give us an advantage for the sake of the gospel with one person is viewed as a drawback by someone else.[3]
• Discernment… if you have to think about it… pause… seek wisdom.

25 Eat everything that is sold in the meat market, without raising questions for the sake of conscience, 26 since the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it.,

• Quoting Psalm 24:1
• Nothing spiritual happens to food itself just because a pagan priest prayed and said, “Isis,” “Osiris,” Apollo”—whoever the individual was—“may you be pleased with this offering.”[4]

27 If any of the unbelievers invites you over and you want to go, eat everything that is set before you, without raising questions for the sake of conscience.

• Don’t create more legalism
• Freedom is the keyword Paul is trying communicate.
• What would expect from an unbeliever? For them to act the same way you do?

28 But if someone says to you, “This is food from a sacrifice,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For why is my freedom judged by another person’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thanksgiving, why am I criticized because of something for which I give thanks?

• Paul is asking them to consider, why is the person telling you about the tainted food? Because they may have a conscience about it.
• Then don’t do it as not to confuse them.
• Measure the room. Use your wisdom.
• Sometimes you will blow it.

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

• Paul summarizes chapters 8-10 with 3 statements:
• 1) God’s glory is your #1 priority… Not your opinion or anyone else’s opinion.
• 2) Be conscious of the non-believers and even the believers who are weak so as not to lead them to sin.

 
1 CORINTHIANS 11
1 Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.[5]

• 3) As I follow Jesus, use me as an example.

 
The Lord’s supper – this is what they did when they ate together… so we shall today.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 10:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Blomberg, C. L. (2017). NT334 Book Study: Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (1 Co 10:14–11:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.