David Pawson - Unlocking the Bible - Corinthians Part 1

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THOUGHTFUL THOUGHTS 12.12.25 BY JOHN DUNNING.

“IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF IT”;- CORINTHIANS; (Part 1 of 2).

PROLOGUE. 

Paul stopped what he was doing to write four letters to the Corinthians, (but only two survived, and are now the Bible). Paul sent a postman to deliver his letters to the church at Corinth several times - more than any other church… Altogether, the letters would have cost Paul the price of making many tents, so why was there such a great need? 

The Corinthian church had problems so big that Paul went to the expense and took the time to travel there to sort it out. We can only imagine the toll it took on Paul by way of the personal wear and tear. It left Paul so exhausted that he became angry enough for God not to use two of his letters as part of the Bible. So let’s start at the very beginning to see what was going on…

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INTRODUCTION…

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians on his third missionary journey, (see the map for that journey). Having already covered the first of Paul’s letters, written on his second missionary journey, (to the Galatians and Thessalonians), we move on next to the letters he wrote on his 3rd missionary journey from Ephesus about 57AD; (See Acts 19:22). 

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Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus, on his 3rd missionary journey.

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a). When Paul visited Corinth for the first time, he stayed 18 months whilst starting the church. After leaving, Paul received such a bad report concerning the Corinthian church, that he sent off a letter in red hot anger anger, (which Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians, but which we do not have, as God didn’t include in the Bible.)

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b). Following that, Paul received another bad report from Chloe’s household, who reported about the ‘goings on’ in the church at Corinth. 

Then, three more believers arrived with a letter from the Corinthian church asking Paul to answer some questions, so it seems they looked to Paul to settle the disputes. 

Paul then wrote what we now call 1 Corinthians, (but which was really his 2nd letter, as his first one was not used by God in the Bible). Paul then sent Timothy off to deliver that letter, and at the same time asked him to do some trouble shooting in the church – in his name. That letter which Timothy took, answered the questions brought by the congregation, as well as giving instructions to the church on the problems which St. Chloe had reported on.

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c.) When Timothy returned from delivering that letter, he reported that they were worse than ever. At this, Paul packed his bags and paid them a second visit. Paul found the situation was even worse than Timothy had reported. It was so bad that Paul gave up in sheer frustration and walked out on them – as they would not repent. 

So, how much do we know about the “touchy” issues that Paul was dealing with.

i). There was sexual immorality…

ii). They were taking each other to court…

iii). They were getting drunk when they had their fellowship meals, even though others were not having enough, and we all know what people are like when they get drunk. (see 1 Cor.11:21 & 1 Cor. 5:11 & 6:10 for more…)

Notice that when they met together it was a whole meal.

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d). Paul responded to his visit by sending a third letter with the tough talking ‘no- nonsense’ Titus being sent to deliver it. We don’t have that letter either. After delivering that letter, Titus returned with the report that things were now much better. After receiving the news that the church was ready to put their house in order, Paul sent Titus back with a fourth letter, which we now call “2 Corinthians”, which shows us that Paul did not give up, as soon as they repented.

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e). An excellent report led on to Paul making a more “upbeat” visit to Corinth for the third (and last) time.

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SUMMARY…

These were the problems inside the church that made Paul divert his time and money away from other mission trips to, to fix it. In the same way that a life-boat needs to be in the water without water getting into it, so too the church must be in the world without allowing worldliness to get into it. 

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EPILOGUE

In spite of Paul’s warning of the serious nature of these sins, the same compromise with sin in the church, still makes the news 2,000 years later. Paul saw that there can be no compromise on these issues.

1 Corinthians deals with practical issues, such as how church members should behave. 

Rev.3:20 speaks of Jesus knocking on the outside of the church door at Laodicea, where the church was going its own way – without the Lord. Jesus warned them that they were on the brink of being removed out of His presence. 

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Next week, part two deals with the personal insults made against Paul and how he defended himself against the insults.  He made sure that the message did not get undermined by bad people undermining the messenger. 

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If you would like to know how to find peace with God, listen to the podcasts at this link…

https://www.inspirational.org.nz/pages/johns-devotionals-podcast

This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.

This link takes you to our devotional https://blog.inspirationalmedia.org.nz/

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