If you've lived upon
this earth for any length of time, you realize that strife is a part
of life. As infants you may not have been able to get into a verbal
argument with your parents, but you quickly learned that a way of expressing
your displeasure was to throw a temper tantrum. There's not a parent
alive who hasn't been totally embarrassed by their child sitting in
a shopping cart, screaming at the top of his/her lungs, just because
you wouldn't buy them something. Those temper tantrums were just a prelude
of what was to come as your children passed from the terrible 2's to
the dreaded teenage stage, when they totally rebel against your authority.
What causes us to want to spend so much of our time quarreling with
people? James tells us that it is the "Evil desires at war within us"
(James
4:1). These evil desires cause you to be "jealous for what others
have, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them" (James
4:2). The war within us, that produces these evil desires, all comes
from our ego. Which tells us to look out for number 1, even if it means
putting yourself before others.
Right from the very beginning, Satan convinced Adam and Eve that God
was robbing them of something that was rightfully theirs. And because
they fell for Satan's lie, they started to look out for number 1, instead
of looking to God. Adam's rebellion against God's authority caused the
sin of selfishness to be part of mankind's DNA. And it wasn't too long
before the sin of selfishness caused Cain to kill Abel, because he was
jealous that God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not his.
Since selfishness is part of our genetic makeup, it is only a matter
of time before we too start to have quarrels and fights with those around
us. These quarrels and fights not only hurt our relationships within
families, not only do they hurt relationships between nations, not only
can they destroy the relationships within a local church, but most importantly,
they can destroy the witness God intended for his church to be.
In the high priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus, Jesus prays that his
disciples would not bring this fighting into his church. He prayed,
"My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as You and
are I one, Father, and the world will believe that You have sent Me."
(John
17:21) Jesus knew that the greatest proof that he had been sent
by God as the Messiah, was that those who believed in him would get
along with each other. Sadly, the truth of how the church of Jesus Christ
is getting along is best summed up in this poem: "To live above with
saints we love, won't that be glory! But to live below with saints we
know, well that's another story."
We've got to wonder, with so many divisions, with so many quarrels over
doctrine and practice in the universal church, has the purpose God intended
for his church been aborted? The answer is no, because the Lord Jesus
made this promise about the church: "I will build My church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew
16:18) So despite the fighting that is going on between the different
denominations, despite all the church splits over petty issues like
worship styles, tongues, even the color of the carpet, God is still
using his church as the primary means of getting out the good news about
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want you to understand that Paul had great sins to deal with, in the
church at Corinth. Such as: incest, getting drunk at the Lord's Table,
adultery, even idol worship. Sins that we put in the top 10 list of
sins we know that makes God mad. What I find so amazing is the first
sin that Paul deals with is the sin of strive.
Paul, in verses 10 through 17, outlines for us a plan of how we ought
to deal with division. It is going to take us 2 weeks to look at it.
But that's okay because my greatest fear is that something will happen
that will cause this church to split. One of the things I am so thankful
for how the Lord has worked in this church, is that despite all the
normal church problems we have had, we've never had a split. It is truly
a miracle that in our 20 yrs. of existence, that we've never got into
an argument that caused a group of people to break away and start another
fellowship. And I pray we never will.
The first thing Paul does is that he pleads with us to listen to what
he has to say on this matter. Notice the word exhort/beseech in v. 10.
The Greek word for beseech/exhort comes from the word we use to describe
the work of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word is "paraklete," means "to
come alongside to offer aide & assistance."
The literal meaning of this word shows that the Holy Spirit comes alongside
us, places our arm in his, to help us as we go through our Christian
journey. Paul uses the word paraklete to show us that his motivation
is not to beat the living daylights out of us because we've failed to
get along with each other. Instead, he wants to come alongside us, and
guide us step by step as we learn the process of getting along.
Paul tells us that the first step of this process is having a proper
attitude. We've all seen kids wearing T-shirts that say, "I have an
attitude problem!" And you know that what the shirt is saying is right
by the behavior the kid exhibits towards other people. An attitude is
something that begins in the mind, moves down to the heart, and comes
out through our flesh. Jesus told us that "Evil words come from an evil
heart. . .For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all
other sexual immorality, theft, lying and slander." (Matthew
15:18-19)
Paul lets us know that in order for there to be unity within the body
of Christ, then we have to a proper attitude that comes from both our
mind and our heart. The unity that Paul speaks of here is the unity
that is based on the common leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul is not talking about uniformity. Which happens when we surrender
our minds and wills over to a someone who won't let us think any more
for ourselves. Or do something without first getting their permission.
Those are the things that cults force people to do. Paul is talking
about a unity that comes when we surrender our mind & will to the lordship
of Jesus.
Let me illustrate what this unity looks like by telling about a music
festival that was held in New York City, in 1887. It was organized by
a very famous musician of the day. He wanted an orchestra and a choir
that was so massive, that it required him to get musicians and choirs
from New York, from Brooklyn, from Albany, from Newark, and from Philadelphia.
In order to do this, he had to work with them separately. Even though
they were all taught separately, when they all came together, they all
played & sang in perfect harmony. The reason they could do so is because
they were all trained by the same leader. As Paul says, the only way
there will ever be harmony in the church is when we all have a proper
attitude. Which is the result of all of us submitting our minds & our
wills to the lordship of Jesus.
Notice also in v. 10 that Paul calls them brothers & sisters! In doing
so, he's showing that despite all the problems the church was having,
he still considers them to be part of God's family. When Paul addressed
people by the term brothers, it showed how deeply he loved them. He
reserved this term of address only for those who belonged to Jesus Christ.
He never uses the term brother when he addressed an unbeliever.
And if you take this term a step further, he is implying that since
we are brothers & sisters in Christ, then we've got to treat each other
like we do the members of our biological family. You can pick and choose
who will be your friend. But just like your biological family, you're
stuck with those who God brings into the body of Christ.
God, through Paul, is telling the church that he wants us all to get
along. Now, you're probably thinking, "There's no way that I can along
with every person in this fellowship!" You can, because God doesn't
give us commands that are based on the basis of our human ability. God
never demotes his own standards and practices because of our human limitations.
Instead, he does the exact opposite. He provides the strength and the
ability to keep his commands that he knows we can't keep on our own.
The ability to fulfill his commands comes through the power of his Spirit.
We can show the same kind of love to each other, as we do our biological
family, because the Holy Spirit has put his love in us. And not just
the agape type of love, but also the philio type of love. Which is what
we call brotherly love.
In v. 10 Paul tells us that the problem in Corinth, and the problem
with us today, is that there were divisions among the people. The Greek
word for "divisions" is the word we get our English word "schism" from.
The word means "to tear, or to rip apart." The way Paul uses the word
in this passage shows that the difference of opinion that was coming
between the different groups were literally ripping apart the family
of God. Just like what happened to the Jewish people when Jesus lived
among them. John reports that there arose a division among the Jews
because of Jesus. Family & friends literally were being ripped apart
because they held different opinions as to who Jesus was. Some said
"Jesus is the Messiah. Still others said, He can't be." (John
7:41)
Jesus knew that his coming was going to rip apart families. For He said
"Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, I came to
bring a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter
against her mother." (Matthew
10:34-35)
However, within the church of Jesus Christ, there is never to arise
anything that could rip apart a church family. And the reason why is
because in v. 10 Paul tells us that we have been joined together. In
the New Testament the Greek word that is used here has the meaning of
fixing something that is broke or mending something that is torn.
At one time, our relationships with other people, were just like Humpty
Dumpty after he fell off the wall. Mankind's relationship had been split
into so many pieces that all the king's horses, and all the king's men
couldn't put it the Humpty of human relationships back together again.
But when we became a Christian, God first of all crucified our flesh's
sinful desire to only look out for number 1. Secondly, he gave us the
indwelling presence of his Spirit, who places within us his love so
we can tear down the barriers of hatred & prejudice that have separated
us. And finally, he repaired mankind's broken relationship by joining
us together in a family called the church.
If we will allow God to join us together as a family, we will be just
like the early Church was at the beginning! The testimony of the early
church was that "All the believers were of one heart and of one mind,
and they felt that what they owned was not their own; they shared everything
they had." (Acts
4:32) It was the unity of the early church that caused her to be
such a powerful witness. It was the disunity that arose later that caused
her to lose her power to witness to the goodness of God found in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
How do you deal with division? First of all, pray that the Holy Spirit
will restore peace between the warring parties. If they refuse to listen
to the Spirit, then it's up to you to take the matter to the elders.
Who will then seek God's wisdom so they can identify the source of the
problem. This is process that Paul lays out for us in verses 11-12.
Let's look first at v. 11. This letter is a two-fold response to the
problems Paul heard were going on in the church. Chapters 1-6 deal with
the problems he heard about from some people who were part of Chloe's
household, that she sent to talk to Paul. The rest of the letter is
a response to the questions that people from the church wrote to Paul,
asking him for his opinions about specific beliefs & practices that
the church had adopted. The part that we're looking at this morning
is the problems that Chloe wanted Paul to know about.
I've had people come to me and say, "I've got to tell you something
that is going on in someone's life, but I don't want you to tell the
person that I'm the one who told you." Chloe didn't mind her name being
put to this accusation, because she was determined that the problems
in Corinth needed to be fixed. She wasn't trying to cause trouble by
spreading gossip or being a tattletale. Chloe had such a love for God
that she knew that what was going on within the church was greatly affecting
the testimony of Jesus Christ. And not only in the city of Corinth,
but since the city was a major seaport, what was going on could hurt
the testimony of Jesus Christ throughout the entire region surrounding
the Mediterranean Sea.
Her heart was broken because she knew the bickering that was going on
in her church was hurting the cause of Christ. That's ought to be the
attitude of our heart when we hear there is strive within our church!
If you know there is a problem between members of the church, you are
not gossiping, or trying to run someone down by telling the leadership
what is going on! Instead, not only you are helping preserve the greatest
proof of the reality that Jesus was sent by God to be the Redeemer of
all mankind, but you are also preserving the only proof that shows sinners
that we belong to Jesus. Jesus said: "I am giving you a new commandment:
Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples."
(John
13:34-35)
The lesson we learn from Chloe is that we need to deal immediately with
any quarrelling that is going on between the people who are part of
this fellowship.
Look now at v. 12. Paul tells us that the strife was being caused because
the people were being loyal to men rather than loyal to God. There were
people in the church shouting out "I'm a follower of Paul." In response,
others would then shout out, "I'm a follower of Apollos", or "I'm a
follower of Peter," or even "I only follow Jesus Christ." I want us
to look at each of these groups, because these groups are still alive
in today's church.
First of all there was the Paul Party. Paul led the Corinthians to salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the year he spent in Corinth, he taught
them the gospel of grace. Which teaches us that not only are we set
free from all of our sins, but also set free from legalism. Scholars
believe that those of the Paul Party were taking grace and using it
as a license to sin.
Some of the people had twisted Paul's teaching on grace to the point
that they believed that by sinning they were showing God's goodness.
So Paul's party consisted of people who believed that a church shouldn't
have any kind of rules & regulations for her members. And we still have
Christians today who believe that. Which is why there is very little
difference between believers & unbelievers in the rates of premarital
sex, cohabitation, marital affairs, and divorces. This is the reason
why voters in SC, which is part of the buckle of the Bible belt, voted
in the lottery and Sunday alcohol sales.
But then there is the "Apollos Party." Apollos came from the city of
Alexandria, which was known as the most intellectual city of that day.
Apollos is thought to have been very intellectual concerning spiritual
matters. But what made him famous was that he was extremely eloquent
in his preaching of God's Word.
This made a huge impression on the Greeks, for they loved eloquence.
They were enamored with rhetoric and argumentative skills. They didn't
really care what you were saying as long as you said it in the right
way. So they quickly fell in love with Apollos.
Paul, on the other hand, admits that he wasn't a great preacher. Why
he was even known to put people to sleep while he preached. Whether
he didn't use know how to use his voice, or how to use body gestures
to hold people's attention, we don't know. But what we do know is that
his preaching style didn't impress the Greeks. But Apollos' did.
It wasn't Apollos' fault that the people equated eloquence with good
preaching. He didn't go around saying that his style of preaching was
superior to Paul's. But those who were loyal to Apollos were seeking
after elitism. They would only listen to the best preachers. They judged
preachers by the way they sounded, or by how intellectual the sermon
was, not by what the preacher had to say. The problem of elitism is
still in the church today.
People won't receive a truth unless Stanley, Swindoll, or among the
Calvary Chapel preachers, Courson, or Church Smith said it. My favorite
radio preacher is J. Vernon McGee. I know he sounds like a country hick,
but he is a Greek & Hebrew scholar. So what he says is biblically correct.
Some of you have been reading this book, and you have told me how the
Lord is using it to change your life. So I decided to read it. It is
a great book, but what amazed me is everything he says is exactly what
I just got through saying in my teachings on the book of Romans. I've
got a great deal for you this morning. If you want to save $20, get
the series on Romans, listen to 1 tape a day, and after 40 days I promise
you that not only will you have a purpose driven life, but a Spirit-led
life.
I know I sometimes use the wrong grammar and mispronounce words, so
I can relate to the great evangelist D.L. Moody. When Moody first went
to England to preach, the people who attended the intellectual churches
made fun of him because he used poor grammar and the wrong words. But
by the time he finished his crusades, and those people saw how the Spirit
used him to reach the masses for Jesus, they changed their tune of scorn
to a tune of praise.
Then there was the "Cephas Party." Cephas is the Aramaic word for Peter.
Since Cephas is the name Jesus commonly called Peter, most scholars
believe that it's the apostle Peter that is being talked about here.
As far as we know, Peter never visited Corinth. But the church knew
all about the apostle Peter.
Peter was the great apostle to the Jews. He was one of the original
12 apostles. So out of the 3 men, Peter has to be the best one to follow!
After all, he not only saw the Lord Jesus after his resurrection, but
he also spent over 3 years with the Lord before Jesus was crucified.
Something that neither Paul nor Apollos could claim.
Those of the Peter party were probably Jewish believers known as Judaizer's,
we call them legalists. They believed that Christians were still bound
to the laws & regulations set forth in the Old Testament. The book of
Hebrews was written in response to their teachings. In the early church
people were being led astray by these Judaizer's because they were going
around teaching that in order to be a true Christian you had to obey
all the Old Testament laws.
In today's church we also have Judaizer's. Legalists are those who say
that in order to be a true Christian you have to obey certain rules.
They are the ones who teach that true Christians can't go to movies,
watch TV, go coed swimming, go dancing, play cards, chew tobacco or
kiss girls who do. They believe that the KJV of the Bible is the only
inspired one. After all, if it was good enough for Jesus & Paul, it's
good enough me. They are so narrow-minded that they can look through
a keyhole with both eyes. And in a church, they will suck the life right
out of it.
Then fourthly there is the "Christ Party." This group believed that
they spiritually superior then the rest of the people! At first you
would think that there is nothing wrong with this kind of thinking.
But the problem that arose from this group was that they were too holy
to listen to a Holy Ghost anointed man of God teach. They wanted to
be taught directly by the Lord. And the only person whose authority
they would submit to was Jesus Christ. So they were going around telling
people that they didn't need to submit to any of the apostles, prophets,
pastor-teachers, or even the elders & deacons of the local assembly.
We don't have to go very far to find those of the Christ party in today's
church. They are the ones who act as if they are holier than thou. It
is very intimidating to hang around people like this. Their presence
in the church makes most people feel spiritually inadequate. The way
they talk you would believe that they have a hotline to God. After all,
not many of us get such clear messages from the Lord that we can tell
other people what his will is for them. When was the last time the Lord
audibly told you something? But if you listen to these people long enough,
you will soon detect a note of spiritual superiority in their voice.
Remember that the Bible repeatedly reminds us that "God opposes the
proud but gives grace to the humble."(James
4:6)
40 years after Paul wrote this letter, one of the early church fathers,
Clement of Rome, wrote that the cliques of Paul, Apollos and Cephas,
were still in the church. But strangely he doesn't mention the party
of Christ. The reason for that is because I believe those in Christ's
party had moved on.
My experience with the super-spiritual saints is that they are looking
for the perfect church. You can tell this because they find fault with
everything you are doing. They don't like the music, or the types of
sermons the preacher preaches, or the people are friendly enough, or
there aren't enough programs for the kids. And since they can never
find a church that is perfect enough, they keep going from one church
to another. I believe that the only church that will good enough for
them is if they start a church with just their family. But even then
I think they would find fault with the members of that church.
Let me close by saying that unity in the church is of the utmost importance
to God. It was the last thing that was on Jesus' mind the night before
he died. It broke Paul's heart to hear that there was disunity within
the Corinthian church.
Let's make maintaining our unity one of our top priorities. The only
way we can maintain unity in this church is to stay focused on the main
thing. What is the main thing? It's not your pet doctrine! Neither is
it your favorite preacher! The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are
to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus is the
main thing because he is the only one who died for you. So let's fix
our eyes solely on Jesus.
Let's pray!!
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