A Model Chuck Swindoll Sermon 1A: The Introduction

10:16 So here's how Chuck laid out the context. My Bible is open to 1 Corinthians 1, and there we read a rather sad account of a church that was squabbling with one another. Think of that. It goes all the way back into the first century. Church is not able to get along. Paul calls it like it is. Verse 11, verse 11, chapter 1. I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. There are quarrels among you. Now, what are the quarrels about? Well, I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ. You see, there were splinter groups in the church.

11:10 One group said, we follow only Paul, the apostle, the one on the road to Damascus who was wonderfully transformed, and he's the founder of our church, and we listen only to Paul. Others would say, but have you heard Apollos? I mean, compared to Apollos, Paul is tongue-tied. Apollos, wonderful rhetoric, wonderful ability, wonderful eloquence, wonderful mind, trained in Alexandria, mentored by Quill and Priscilla and Paul himself. Oh, there's no one like Apollos. And the third group said, but Peter. Peter was walking with the Savior before either Paul or Apollos named his name as Lord. Peter, we follow. Then there was this ultra-pious group. We follow only Jesus. We only listen to him. They're the ones by the way who write you letters of hate saying in the love of Jesus and they sign their name or Usually they don't sign their name They're the ones who say Jesus told me to do this. I Always want to know is he baritone or is he bass?

12:12 Tell me what his voice is like and they don't like that question because you're taking them literally But of course these people believed it literally We follow only we need no earthly leader only Jesus. And from that group, by the way, the Jesus-only cult began, which may be of interest to some of you. They're all wrong way Corinthians. Verse 13, has Christ been divided?

12:44 Paul was not crucified for you, was he? A little sarcasm in that. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God I baptized none of you. A little barb in that. Except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. verse 17 Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would not be made void I love that you love that When I preach Christ, it's not done cleverly or with an emphasis on how I look or sound.

13:42 It's the cross. It's the cross. You remember the cross when I finish speaking. So Paul decides to set them straight. And he does it without mincing words. Chapter 3, verse 1. I love this about the apostle. He slings political correctness to the winds. He doesn't worry about what they say or think about him. He tells them the truth, which is the only way to operate as a spokesman for God. Brethren, I could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh. the Greek term is sarkinos s-a-r-k-i-n-o-s from which the word flesh is translated I could speak to you only as carnal wrong way Corinthians wrong way even as to infants in Christ I gave you milk to drink not solid food but you were not able to receive it indeed.

14:55 Even now you're not able. That's the tragedy. After all this time, you still expect to be nursed, bottle-fed. Why? Verse 3, because you're still sarkinos. You're still flesh. You're still driven by the things that characterize lost humanity. You're still fleshly, for since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not sarkinos? Are you not fleshly? Are you not walking like mere men, meaning like the lost person? It'll surprise you to hear this, some of you, but you cannot tell the difference between a carnal Christian and an unbeliever. Sometimes the carnal Christian can be even more snotty, more difficult, more demanding. more self-willed.

15:53 The enemy loves it when we operate in the flesh. Now you're talking. People know you're a Christian. Listen to me. I'll tell you how to walk. I'll tell you how to run. Problem is, it's in the wrong direction. And how many folks discover it late in life? For he says when one says, I'm of Paul and another, I'm of Apollos. Don't you sound like you're just a bunch of lost people following the popular one? What then is Apollos and who is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, after planting Apollos watered, after watering God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who