(#005) 1 Corinthians - People are Not Role Models for Christians

Class Outline:

---

Your focus can be a game changer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome To 

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with worldwide impact.  My name is Pastor Rory Clark.  At Barah Ministries we know this truth…that Jesus Christ is God.  As our Lord He is 100% Deity…He is God the Son.  God the Son became flesh as Jesus Christ and tabernacled among us here on earth as 100% true humanity.  Therefore, He is the uniquely born One…the Lord Jesus Christ…the God-Man…100% God and 100% man in One Person forever.  He is the Sovereign God of the Universe, He is the Savior of the whole world, and He is the Jewish Messiah.  

 

Barah Ministries makes a difference by teaching the Word of God from the Lord Jesus Christ’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective because how God sees things is very different from how people see things.  Instead of trusting what man has to say about God, we prefer to search the Scriptures…the Bible…the inerrant Canon…to learn what God says, not only about Himself but also about His plan for mankind.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

People are Not Role Models for Christians

 

LESSON INTRODUCTION

 

Charles Barkley is a former professional basketball player, now a basketball broadcaster who was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.  He is known for his sense of humor and his candor.  To call him controversial is an understatement.  One of the most controversial things he has done is to star in a commercial for Nike, in which he said, “I am not a role model.  Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I can raise your kids.  Parents should be role models.”

 

Barkley was vilified for these comments by all the phonies in the world who have their eyes on people.  These phonies want human role models, knowing humans are inherently imperfect, so they can put these people on a pedestal, and then tear them down.  Role model bashing is endemic in our culture, full proof that we don't learn anything because we don't examine the evidence.  People fail over and over, yet we still place our confidence in them as if they could ever live up to our impossible to fulfill expectations. 

 

That’s why I hate doing weddings.  It’s sickening to watch two people caught up in alleged wedded bliss knowing that they are thinking they have married a role model rather than thinking they have married a plain old fallible human being who is going to be making mistakes, some as painful as betrayal, for the rest of their lives.

 

In today’s lesson, the Lord, through the apostle Paul, teaches us a valuable lesson…unity is preserved in the Body of Christ when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith…and when we keep our eyes off of people.

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

What did the Lord mean in Luke, Chapter 22, Verse 42 when He said, on the night before He went to the Cross…

 

LUKE 22:42

“Father…if (for the sake of argument) You are willing…remove this cup from Me…yet not My will…but Your will be done.”

 

As Jesus was being buffeted with temptations to go against His Father's plan for salvation…the Cross…the Lord asked for the trial to pass…and then the Lord said the most important words we can say in prayer…thy will be done.  In other words, “Father, handle this trial the way you think is best to handle it…I will follow you.”  Here’s Hillary Scott to remind us to do the same in our own lives with her song THY WILL.

 

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

THY WILL

Hillary Scott

 

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for being the real role model…the paragon of virtue that gives us a standard to follow…thank you for teaching us through our study of the Corinthian Church, all the thing we do to ruin the lifestyle You have planned for us…thank you for being patient with us as You lead us to a life of purity during our time on earth through the guidance and the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit…

 

Remove all the things from our lives that are harmful…direct us to all the things that are pure…and help us to have lives of impact that make a difference to every person we meet…one person at a time…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s

name...Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

People are Not Role Models for Christians

 

Two things need to be cleared up from last week’s lesson.  I said in passing that for Church Age Believers, we need not concern ourselves with the Old Testament…our instructions are in the New Testament.  The Old Testament was directed to The Jewish Nation Israel and to the Jewish Race.  There were some questions about that so let me make the divine plan of history clear to you…

 

 

The Old Testament covers the Age of the Gentiles and The Age of Israel.  It is the instruction set to Israel, God’s Chosen Nation.  Through Abraham, The Jewish Race was promised 490 years of evangelism as God’s Chosen People.  When The Jewish Race rejected their Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, they were set aside for a period of time.  God will still keep His promises to The Jewish Race and to the Jewish Nation, as we learned in Romans, Chapters 9 to 11.  This setting aside of The Jewish Race occurred during the Age of the Hypostatic Union, the thirty-three years when God the Son, the Lord, took on the form of true humanity as Jesus Christ, to become the Savior of the whole world.  John, Chapter 1, Verse 14…

 

JOHN 1:14

And the Word (the Lord…God the Son) became flesh (as Jesus Christ) and lived among us…and we beheld His glory…glory as of the uniquely born one from God the Father…full of grace and full of truth.|

 

When the salvation of mankind was accomplished at the Cross, it ushered in the Church Age…our current age, which is the Lord's evangelism to the Gentiles.  When this age ends with the exit resurrection of the Church, the Rapture, the Age of Israel will be completed during seven years called the Tribulation.  During the tribulation, Satan, the enemy of God will continue his efforts to wipe out The Jewish Race…something he has been trying to accomplish for all of divine history…and just when he is about to be successful, the Lord Jesus Christ will come again to save His people, The Jewish Race.

 

Then Satan, the enemy of God, will be locked up for 1000 years…and the Lord Jesus Christ will reign on the earth in an age known as The Millennium.  At the end of the Millennium, the earth and universe as we know it will be destroyed…and a new earth and a new universe will be created by God.  The creation of the new earth and a new universe ushers in the eternal state, and forever His believers will live with the Lord.

 

The second thing that requires clearing up is the Romans, Chapter 7 passage from last week.  There were several questions about it.  IT was a simple lesson.

 

As a believer in Christ, you have a body, a soul, and a spirit.

 

BODY                 SOUL                  SPIRIT

 

Your soul is the real you.  The real you is not able to sin.  When you sin, as a believer in Christ, the body (the flesh…indwelling sin resident in the body) is doing the sinning.  The lesson is, don’t confuse who you are with the body.

 

The body (the flesh…indwelling sin resident in the body) is influencing you to sin all the time.  God the Holy Spirit, through your human spirit, is influencing you to be righteous all the time.  You decide who wins at every single moment in time.  Galatians, Chapter 5, Verse 17 says…

 

GALATIANS 5:17a

…the flesh sets its desire against God the Holy Spirit…and God the Holy Spirit set His desire against the flesh…for these two are in opposition to one another…

 

You are doing well when you ignore the flesh and obey the Spirit.

 

We’re studying the apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian Church.  What we know so far is that Paul is a “sent man” from God, and God directed Paul to establish God’s church in Corinth.  Paul did so in eighteen months, teaching them the gospel message and everything they would need to know about the Christian Way of Living.  When Paul left for Ephesus, all hell broke loose in the Corinthian Church.

 

This letter has sixteen chapters.  In the first six chapters, Paul surfaces the issues facing the immoral Corinthian Church.  In the final ten chapters, Paul offers spiritual solutions to the problems.  We continue our study in the third passage of the first chapter, First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verses 10 to 17…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:10 

Now I (Paul) exhort you, brethren (fellow believers in Christ), by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions (no rivalries) among you…but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same purpose.

 

 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:11 

For I (Paul) have been informed concerning you, my brethren (in the church at Corinth)…by Chloe’s people…that there are quarrels among you.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:12 

Now what I (Paul) mean by this is that each one of you is saying, “I belong to Paul” … and “I belong to Apollos” … and “I belong to Cephas (Simon Peter)” … and “I belong to Christ.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:13 

Has Christ been divided (into parts)? Paul was not crucified for your sake, was he? You weren’t baptized in the name of Paul, were you?

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:14

I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:15 

…so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:16 

Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas…beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:17 

For Christ did not send me to baptize…He sent me to preach the gospel…not in smooth, slick speech…so that the Cross of Christ would not be emptied of its effect.

 

Let’s look at the passage verse by verse, starting with First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 10…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:10 

Now I (Paul) exhort you, brethren (fellow believers in Christ), by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions (no rivalries) among you…but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same purpose.

 

What is Paul requesting for this church?  That there be no division…no rivalries…that there be unity…that people look out for each other…that we recognize that we all are equals in the eyes of the Lord.  As a Pastor, it would be easy for me to lord my spiritual gift over you.  I'm using it every week.  It's visible.  It has an impact.  I could easily lead you to believe that I am more special than you.  The truth is a Pastor must speak to congregation members as equals…other parts of the body who have gifts to share…not encouraging you to say, "I am of Pastor Rory!"

 

Paul is requesting that we all agree…that we think the same things…that we say the same things…that we are on one page.  A lot of Christians like wandering off from the faith.  For example, we are studying Romans, and you wander off to John…you wander off to other Pastors…we’re studying the New Testament and you constantly study the Old Testament…this is not unity.

 

Paul is requesting that we not allow the mindset being instilled by the world to mix with the mindset being instilled by the Word of God.

 

<example:  forming a="" team…collection="" of="" individuals…to="" groups…to="" team,="" if="" you're="" lucky="">

 

First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 11…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:11 

For I (Paul) have been informed concerning you, my brethren (in the church at Corinth)…by Chloe’s people…that there are quarrels among you.

 

People whom Paul trusts are reporting that there is in-fighting in the Corinthians Church.  Paul wants them to stop it!

 

When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take the offering and then we’ll continue our study of this passage to see why the quarrels are happening.

 

FIVE MINUTE BREAK

Unconditional Love

Donna Summers

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

People are Not Role Models for Christians

 

Giving is a “want to” not a “have to” experience.  Why should you give generously?  Second Corinthians, Chapter 9, Verses 6 to 8…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:6

Now, this I (Paul) say (on behalf of the Lord) … he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly…and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:7 

Each one must give just as he has purposed in his heart…not grudgingly or under compulsion…for God loves a non-reluctant giver.

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 9:8 

And God is able to make all grace abound to you…so that always having all sufficiency in everything…you may have an abundance for every good deed…

 

Giving carries an attitude with it.  Do you worry about how your gift will be used?  Do you worry that it will be misused?  I promise you this…when God gave you life, He KNEW you would misuse it more than you would use it well.  Yet He didn’t hesitate to give you the gift.  Let your attitude be the same when you give…do it because you want to…don’t do it with a reluctant, “have to” attitude.  The gift is more about you than it is about the person to whom you are giving.  Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

PHILIPPIANS 2:2

…make my joy complete by being of the same mind…maintaining the same love…united in spirit…intent on one purpose.

 

OFFERING SONG

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU

David Bauer, Instrumental

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

People are Not Role Models for Christians

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

In a relationship with Christ, we are assured of the comfort of His rest.  Having a relationship with Christ removes the pressures of this life.  Hebrews, Chapter 4, Verse 1 says…

 

HEBREWS 4:1

Therefore, (if we believers in Christ fear anything) … let us fear this… that while a promise remains of entering His rest…any one of us may seem to have come short of it.

 

Ana Laura reminds us to take advantage of God’s provision of rest in her song…SOMETIMES.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

SOMETIMES

Ana Laura

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

People are Not Role Models for Christians

 

Let’s continue our study of First Corinthians at Chapter 1, Verse 12…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:12 

Now what I (Paul) mean by this is that each one of you is saying, “I belong to Paul” … and “I belong to Apollos” … and “I belong to Cephas (Simon Peter)” … and “I belong to Christ.”

 

The people in the church at Corinth have their eyes on people and not on God.  There is rivalry…there is one-upmanship…I am better than you are because I make more money than you…because I have a better teacher than you…because my spiritual gift is cooler than yours.

By the way…what would be wrong with the “I belong to Christ” group?  By mentioning it, Paul is indicating there is something wrong with them.  These are the people who disregard people.  These are the people who live a completely immoral life and then justify it by saying how spiritual they are (in self-righteousness) because they study the Word of God.  These are the “I just give it to God…I just give it to God” people.  Thank God for unbelievers who see right through this crap, and who will have none of this hypocrisy.  They call BS on this lifestyle, as they should.

 

Here’s the point…Romans, Chapter 12, Verse 1… 

 

ROMANS 12:1

Therefore…I (Paul)…urge (beseech) you…brethren (believers in Christ)… as you keep on being persuaded because of the many mercies of God…TO PRESENT YOUR BODIES (by choice, not by command…as) AS A LIVING SACRIFICE…holy and acceptable to God the Father… which is your spiritual service…worship.

 

If you are sinning all the time, and people notice, which they ALWAYS do, then what is the allure of the Christian Way of Living?  How is it different from what unbelievers do?

 

Next, Paul asks the blockbuster question…First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 13…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:13 

Has Christ been divided (into component parts)? Paul was not crucified for your sake, was he? You weren’t baptized in the name of Paul, were you?

 

Paul is appalled!  

 

Religion is idolatry in its worst form.  It breaks the Lord into component parts to worship.  I like this…but I don’t like that…a cafeteria approach to Christianity.  When the first protestants were being called Lutheran, Martin Luther said…

 

MARTIN LUTHER QUOTE

What is Luther?  The teaching is not mine.  Nor was I crucified for anyone.

How did I…the poor stinking bag of maggots that I am…come to the point where people call the children of Christ by my evil name?

 

It is disgusting when we develop social strata, systems by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, to make people better or worse than others.  Galatians, Chapter 3, Verse 28 says with God…

 

GALATIANS 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek (no racial distinction) … there is neither slave nor free man (no social distinction) … there is neither male nor female (no gender distinction) … for you are all one…you who are in union with Christ Jesus (The Body of Christ).

 

Role models?  Human beings are not the source of our salvation.  We are not, nor could we ever be, “Christ-like.”  It’s absolute insanity to infer that this could ever come to pass.

 

Christians are in unity.  Unbelievers, whether they know it or not, are in unity as well.  They are unified in this respect…they are anti-Christ…against Christ…not in relationship with Christ.  No one is better than anyone else in this world.  Luke, Chapter 11, Verse 17…

 

LUKE 11:17

But the Lord knew their thoughts and said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste…and a house divided against itself falls.”

 

 

First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verses 14 to 16…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:14

I (Paul) thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius…

 

These men were likely wealthy and leaders of house churches.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:15 

…so that no one would say you were baptized in my name.

 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:16 

Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas…beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.

 

Paul is saying that the one who leads us to be baptized by God the Holy Spirit is a nothing.  

 

 

First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 17…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:17 

For Christ did not send me to baptize…He sent me to preach the gospel…yet not in smooth, slick speech (superficial rhetorical skill) … so that the Cross of Christ (and its depth) would not be emptied of its effect.

 

God didn’t send Paul to be a huckster…a charlatan…a con artist.  Presenting the gospel message casts a net…baptism sorts the fish.  The focus is the Cross…not the man…when the man is the focus it nullifies the power of the Cross.

 

 

As we continue our study of this letter, on the surface, it is about sin and immorality.  As we get deeper into the meaning of the verses, a whole new set of messages appear…the message in Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 9 to 12…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:9

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you (believers in Christ at Colossae) and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:10 

…so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord…to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:11 

…strengthened with all power…according to His glorious might…for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience…joyously…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:12 

…giving thanks to God the Father…who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

 

First Thessalonians, Chapter 4, Verse 7…

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 4:7

For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

 

FIRST THESSALONIANS 4:8 

So, he who rejects this call is not rejecting man but he is rejecting the God and Father who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

 

God has called Christians to a life beyond the law…a life beyond mere right and wrong…a life of righteousness…a righteousness that only His power can accomplish.  By looking at mistakes we’re going to come to know the standards of God’s truth.

 

GOD WANTS YOU!

Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life

 

The closing moments of our study are for the benefit of anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU. 

 

On the day before Thanksgiving in 1987, the news on the radio in my hometown…Chicago, Illinois…was quite shocking.  Our beloved Mayor, Harold Washington, was dead.  He was in a meeting in his fifth-floor office at Chicago’s City Hall.  He slumped forward, his face rested gently on the desk, and in a moment, he was dead from a massive heart attack.

 

I can remember the day as vividly as if it were yesterday.  What I remember most was wondering what it must be like to get up in the morning, and as you’re getting dressed, not knowing that in a few short hours you would be dead.

 

All of us will die physically one day.  That is hardly at issue.  What we don’t know is when we will close our eyes in this life.  My concern is that you may be one of the people who is walking around today unprepared for this reality.

 

I was talking to a young man in Spain recently who is quite unprepared.  I asked him if is he is a Christian.  He said, “No.”  I asked him why not.  He said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t even think about God.”  I appreciated his candor.  I told him, “It would be wise to think about God all the time.”  He asked why, and I’ll share the things with you that I shared with him.  This is especially for those of you who don’t have a relationship with the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22a says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22a

For all in union with Adam at physical birth (and that is every human who comes to earth) are set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

You were born physically alive, yet spiritually dead.  That’s bad news.  Worse news is that you may not have even known that is your situation.  The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ paved the way to get you out of the predicament.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22b says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22b

…yet all those in union with Christ (all believers in Christ) will be made spiritually alive.

 

Do you want to be saved?  Do you want to spend all eternity in a relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord Jesus Christ?  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…

 

ACTS 16:31 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

Right now, right where you sit, you can spend the gift of faith given to you by God…and you can use this faith to be saved…Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9…

 

EPHESIANS 2:8

For by God the Father’s grace you have been saved through faith (in Christ for salvation) … and that grace and that faith and that salvation are not from the source of yourselves…it is the gift of God the Father…

 

EPHESIANS 2:9 

…so being saved is not as a result of your works (deeds you have done in self-righteousness) … so that no one may boast (about saving himself).

 

Right now, the Lord Jesus Christ wants to save you.  Funny thing about the young man I was talking to…he knew what faith is…he said to me, “It sounds like you’re saying if I put my confidence in Jesus Christ I will be saved forever.”  It’s exactly what I am saying.  Faith is placing your confidence in the object of your faith.  John, Chapter 3, Verse 36 warns…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”

 

How can you get to heaven?  Right where you sit, RIGHT NOW, you can tell God the Father that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the moment of eternal life for you.  John, Chapter 14, Verse 6…

 

JOHN 14:6

Jesus said to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation), and I am the truth (through the gospel message from the Word of God), and I am the resurrection life…and no one comes to God the Father (in heaven) but through believing in Me.”

 

Won’t you join me in heaven?  If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ right now you will.

 

Mayor Harold Washington had no idea that he would not celebrate Thanksgiving in 1987…at least not on earth.  Yet he was somewhere.  He was in heaven or he was in hell.  If you choose to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you’ll have no concern about the moment you close your eyes in this life.  You’ll be in heaven.  You’ll have no chance to go to the Lake of Fire.

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

The gospel message you just hear is the Lord saying to you, “Come to Me…”  Here’s June Murphy to tell you the Lord is CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM.  Will you come?

 

CLOSING SONG

CALLING YOU TO FREEDOM

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

www.barahministries.com