Podcasts by 1 Corinthians: Epistle to the 21st Century
The first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians is a very, very important letter for us because it so thoroughly captures the problems that we face as moderns living in this modern age. The reason is, of course, that Corinth was the most American city in the New Testament -- it was a resort city, the capital of pleasure in the Roman Empire.
If you remember your geography you know it was located on the Peloponnesian peninsula, and the conditions under which the Corinthians lived were very much like the conditions under which we live, or to put that the other way, the conditions under which we live today are Corinthian conditions. Corinth was a beautiful city, a lovely city of palms and beautiful buildings, the center of pleasure for the whole empire, and it was devoted to two things -- the pursuit of pleasure (largely passion), and of wisdom. It was a Greek city, and its inhabitants loved to philosophize, and they were given to what Paul calls, "the wisdom of words."
Further podcasts by Ray C. Stedman
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The Care and Feeding of Fellow-Workers (1 Corinthians 16:10-24) from 2023-12-14T05:02:02.663767
The Apostle Paul is dealing with the practicalities of life here in the 16th chapter of First Corinthians. Last week we discussed his words on how to give and on how to plan and schedule your life....
ListenThe Care and Feeding of Fellow-Workers (1 Corinthians 16:10-24) from 2022-03-07T09:52:01.481417
The Apostle Paul is dealing with the practicalities of life here in the 16th chapter of First Corinthians. Last week we discussed his words on how to give and on how to plan and schedule your life....
ListenBehind Divisions (1 Corinthians 1:10-17) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
As we read through First Corinthians, I think we will see how very much like modern day churches this ancient church of Corinth was. Unlike most of his other epistles, Paul plunges right into the ...
ListenGod's Nonsense (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
I think no American Christian can read First Corinthians without feeling right at home. I was told recently of a young pastor who was inquiring of an older pastor what he should do to prepare for ...
ListenGod's Tools (1 Corinthians 1:26-31) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
I have entitled this study God's Tools because it deals with those whom God uses to change the world, but I could have entitled it God's Fools, because the startling truth that Paul ...
ListenGod's Wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:1-10) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
As we are looking at this passage from First Corinthians together, we are learning why it is that all our accumulation of knowledge does not ever seem to help us handle life better. The reason, ho...
ListenGod's Teacher (1 Corinthians 2:10-13) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
I think one of the things that must have deeply impressed everyone who heard Jesus himself teach was the fact that he spoke with such authority about things that other people knew nothing about. R...
ListenThe Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Last week my wife and I were privileged to be in Portland, Oregon, for the inauguration of young Joe Aldrich to succeed his father, Dr. Willard Aldrich, as President of Multnomah School of th...
ListenCarnal and Spiritual Christians (1 Corinthians 3:1-9) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The church at Corinth was full of problems, factions, divisions and splits largely because its members loved the wisdom of men. They were proud of their eloquent ability to explore and explain man...
ListenGod's Builders (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Several weeks ago I was down in Austin, Texas, where I was privileged to dedicate a new building for the Grace Community Church there. It was an exciting time as we gathered to set this new buildi...
ListenHow to Destroy a Church (1 Corinthians 3:16-23) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
One of the most popular hymns of all time about the church is the well known Onward, Christian Soldiers, Marching As To War. The second verse is a great description, biblically, of the chur...
ListenThe True Minister (1 Corinthians 4:1-7) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We will be looking at the first seven verses of First Corinthians 4 this morning, the passage that defines for us the true view of a minister of Christ. There are many stereotypes abroad toda...
ListenScandal in the Church (1 Corinthians 5:1-13) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
One of the growing problems the church is facing today is what to do about the frightening increase in sexual immorality among Christians. I do not think a week goes by but we hear reports of chur...
ListenThe Wrong Way to Right Wrongs (1 Corinthians 6:1-11) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The Apostle Paul is dealing with the problem of lawsuits among brethren in this passage from First Corinthians 6. Just last week, I picked up a current issue of a Christian magazine and read ...
ListenWhat are Bodies For? (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Corinth was a city given over to the worship of sex. A thousand priestesses from the temple of Aphrodite that stood on the little hill behind the ancient city would come down into the streets at n...
ListenSex in Marriage (1 Corinthians 7:1-9) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
When we come to the seventh chapter of First Corinthians we plunge right into a very explicit and forthright passage dealing with sex in marriage. Some people are squeamish about hearing this subj...
ListenAnswers on Divorce (1 Corinthians 7:10-24) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In the seventh chapter of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul leads us into confrontation with one of the major social problems of our day, and that is the breakup of marriages. Next month my wife...
ListenAlone but Not Lonely (1 Corinthians 7:25-40) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In this section of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul has already discussed the place of sex in marriage and the right and wrong of divorce. Now, beginning with Verse 25 of Chapter 7, w...
ListenWhat's behind Your Influence? (1 Corinthians 8:1-13) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In the eighth chapter of First Corinthians we come to the second question these Corinthians had asked the Apostle Paul in the letter they wrote to him. It has to do with a problem that is very com...
ListenRights or Wrongs (1 Corinthians 9:1-23) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In Chapter 9 of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is still answering the question that these Corinthians had asked him, "Is it right to eat meat that has been sacrificed to an idol?&qu...
ListenDisqualified! (1 Corinthians 9:24 -10:13) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Yesterday a young Christian with whom I was working said to me, "I do not like to be told that I cannot do something that I enjoy doing because it is going to offend the conscience of someone...
ListenThe Focused Life (1 Corinthians 10:14 - 11:1) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In my judgment one of the most dramatic words that Jesus ever said to his disciples was, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves," (Matthew 10:16).Coming from Montana, ...
ListenWhat is Headship? (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Chapter eleven of First Corinthians has become a great battlefield of the 20th century. It is a very complex chapter that deals with the question, "Are Women Fully Human? or Are They Only Hum...
ListenThe Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-34) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The Apostle Paul deals at some length with the institution of the Lord's Supper in the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians, to which we have now come. In an earlier message in this series, I quo...
ListenThe Spirit's Point (1 Corinthians 12:1-6) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In Chapter 12 of First Corinthians we are beginning a new and major division in this letter. Perhaps it would be helpful if I just briefly give you once again a quick survey of this letter (w...
ListenGuidelines on Gifts (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
In Chapter 12 of First Corinthians, the apostle gives us very clearly the blueprint for the operation of the Body of Christ. Now I know that I am mixing metaphors when I speak of blueprints in con...
ListenHow the Body Works (1 Corinthians 12:12-31) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We are in Chapter 12 of First Corinthians this morning, beginning at the 12th verse, where we come to the passage that, above all others, answers a question frequently asked today. I doubt if...
ListenSupreme Priority (1 Corinthians 13:1-7) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Our theme this morning is love. We are looking at the most beautiful chapter in the whole New Testament, First Corinthians 13. This chapter is justly famous, not only for its majestic languag...
ListenLove never Quits (1 Corinthians 13:8-13) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
It will probably come as no surprise to you that I intend to speak on First Corinthians 13 this morning. We took the first seven verses of this great chapter last week, and I am not going to ...
ListenSpeaking of Tongues (1 Corinthians 14:1-25) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Surely this subject of tongues is one of the most, if notthe most, controversial issues in the church today. Without a doubt it is one of the major eyebrow-raisers of modern times. Many are...
ListenWhen you Come Together (1 Corinthians 14:26-40) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
This morning we will be discussing, in Chapter 14 of First Corinthians, beginning with Verse 26, the answer to a question many are asking today: "When is the church really a church?...
ListenOf First Importance (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We are beginning this great "resurrection" chapter, the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, which is undoubtedly the climax of this letter.
ListenThey Saw Him Alive (1 Corinthians 15:5-11) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
I am sure it is not wholly coincidental that the approaching the Easter season finds us in the great resurrection chapter of the Scripture, First Corinthians 15. Looking at the preaching sche...
ListenWhat if...? (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Have you ever had the "What if's" about your Christian faith? What do you do when doubt attacks, and you feel that perhaps it is Christianity that is wrong, that maybe this is all a delu...
ListenThen Comes the End (1 Corinthians 15:20-34) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The 100th anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein, the great man whose theories of the makeup of the universe revolutionized science, was celebrated last month. The concepts he envisioned have...
ListenThe New Body: What is it Like? (1 Corinthians 15:35-49) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We have now come to what is, for many people, the key question of Chapter 15, the great resurrection chapter of First Corinthians. The Apostle Paul says,
ListenThe Victory of the Mystery (1 Corinthians 15:50-58) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We have just read the passage from First Corinthians 15 that I will be speaking on this morning, and I want to particularly call your attention to the last verse again:
ListenGiving and Living (1 Corinthians 16:1-9) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
We have now come to the 16th and last chapter of First Corinthians. In previous chapters we have covered the great issues of this letter and they have all been faced and settled. First, the "...
ListenThe Care and Feeding of Fellow-Workers (1 Corinthians 16:10-24) from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
The Apostle Paul is dealing with the practicalities of life here in the 16th chapter of First Corinthians. Last week we discussed his words on how to give and on how to plan and schedule your life...
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