This is Sunday evening, August the 5th, 1973,
in Richmond, Virginia.
The ministry is being given through Brother Stephen
Kong.
Will you please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1?
1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 1.
I'm reading from the new translation, so it
may be a little bit different from yours,
but the substance is the same.
Paul, a called apostle of Jesus Christ, by
God's will, and Socrates, the brother, to the
assembly of God which is in Corinth, to
those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with
all that in every place, call on the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both theirs
and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 10.
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all
say the same thing, and that there be
not among you divisions, but that ye be
perfectly united in the same mind and in
the same opinion.
For it has been shown to me concerning
you, my brethren, by those of the house
of Caloi, that there are strifes among you.
But I speak of this, that each of
you says, I am of Paul, and I
of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I
of Christ.
Is the Christ divided?
Has Paul been crucified for you?
Or have you been baptized unto the name
of Paul?
Let us pray.
Lord, we commit thy word into thy hands.
We look to thee to bless it and
to give it to us, that we may
be satisfied with thy word, with thyself.
O, how we praise and thank thee, because
thou art very living, thou art very real.
And we know that thou art here in
our midst, as thou hast promised.
Lord, we pray that thou would manifest thyself
to us.
We pray that thou would remove every veil
that may be upon our heart.
O, as we turn to thee, Lord, we
may see thy glory.
We may be transformed from glory to glory,
as by thy Spirit, Lord, the Spirit.
We ask in thy precious name.
Amen.
Of all the letters written by the Apostle
Paul, there is none that is more diversified
and practical than the first letter to the
Corinthians.
It is so practical that it does not
probably give us a very pleasant reading.
I think most people would rather read the
letter to the Ephesians.
Because when you read the letter to the
Ephesians, you feel as if you were uplifted
to the third heaven.
You are living in the heavenlies.
Everything is underneath your feet.
And that gives us such a glorious time.
But when you read 1 Corinthians, it reminds
you that you are still on earth.
You are not only still on earth, but
you may yet to be delivered from being
fleshly, that is, from being carnal.
And that is not very flattering.
But dear brothers and sisters, even so, this
first letter to the Corinthians is most needed
and necessary for us.
There are lessons that we need to learn
before God.
And unless we learn these lessons, we will
not be able to get into the reality
of the letter to the Ephesians.
We may theorize, philosophize, spiritualize the letter to
the Ephesians.
But in reality, we are not in.
We are not there.
To enter into Ephesians, we have to come
through Corinthians.
So I feel probably this time we will
like to fellowship together a little bit on
1 Corinthians.
Probably only the first few chapters.
Now tonight, I would like to fellowship with
you dear brothers and sisters just on one
thing.
And that is, Paul says, he is the
Christ divided.
He is the Christ divided.
During Paul's second so-called missionary trip, he
spent a year and a half in the
city of Corinth.
That city was a center of wealth and
culture.
But it was also a very wicked city.
He becomes part of the Greek language.
To say that, to live like a Corinthian.
To live like a Corinthian means to live
an immoral, drunken life.
As in many big cities, as in many
cultural centers, you find the depths of corruption.
So there you find in the city of
Corinth, it was highly sophisticated.
And yet, it was deeply immoral.
But thank God, when the gospel of Jesus
Christ reached that city, even the chiefs of
sinners were saved.
And the work of God was such that
many were converted, both the Jews and the
Gentiles.
And during the 18 months that Paul was
there, an assembly of God was raised up
there as a light in darkness.
Then Paul left Corinth.
And at his third missionary trip, he came
to Ephesus.
He stayed for three years there.
But during his stay in Ephesus, he learned
something of the conditions of the assembly in
Corinth.
Now he learned this from various sources.
So he wrote the first letter to the
Corinthians from Ephesus.
It was only a few years after he
left the city of Corinth, after he left
behind him the assembly of God which was
in Corinth.
And yet, he got information concerning that church.
Number one, he learned something of their situation
in Corinth through the household of Calor.
You know, the name Calor actually is a
woman's name.
So probably this lady has a big household
with many children and probably many slaves, many
servants.
And from the household of Calor, Paul learned
something of the conditions of the assembly in
Corinth.
But that was not the only source of
information.
Three brothers from Corinth came to visit Ephesus.
As you find in the 16th chapter of
1 Corinthians.
Stephanus, Fortinus, and Atticus.
Now these three brothers, they came from Corinth
to Ephesus.
And from them, Paul learned something more about
the situation in the church there.
Furthermore, the assembly in Corinth wrote Paul a
letter.
And in that letter, they asked of Paul
on various problems.
They had some problems.
And they would like to seek some advice
from Paul.
Therefore, you'll find when Paul wrote the first
letter to the Corinthians, sometimes he said, concerning
this and concerning that.
That is to say, which you have written
to me and asked for my opinion.
So from these various sources, Paul gathered something
about the actual spiritual conditions of the church
there in Ephesus, in Corinth.
And he was deeply burdened before God to
write them a letter.
I wonder, brothers and sisters, when you read
the first letter to the Corinthians, I wonder
if you wonder, why is it when the
church at Corinth wrote a letter to Paul,
asking his opinions or his advice on various
problems, why is it that the questions they
asked were all, what we would say, all,
according to Paul, minor questions, if I may
put it that way.
Well, that's not the right word.
Not the basic questions.
In other words, they asked Paul about marriage.
Now, marriage is an important question.
That's true.
They asked Paul about virginity, virgins.
They asked Paul about remarrying.
They asked Paul about eating the things that
were sacrificed to idols.
They asked Paul about gifts, spiritual gifts.
Now, I would not say these are non
-important things.
I think that is wrong.
But, among them, there were more basic and
essential and important matters to be solved.
And yet, they asked nothing of these questions.
There were divisions in their midst.
There was immorality in their midst.
And yet, they did not ask Paul about
these things.
Instead, they asked Paul about other things.
Now, isn't that human nature?
These Corinthian believers, they were so proud of
their intellect.
They were so proud of their spirituality or
pseudo-spirituality that they could overlook the basic
questions, the basic problems that existed in their
midst.
And yet, seemed to want to rationalize and
theorize and argue about different things.
I do not say the other things are
not important.
But I do say that there are more
important things that need to be settled unless
these basic and more important problems are solved.
All these other questions which are the superstructure,
actually, can never be solved in a real
way.
Dear brothers and sisters, how often God's people
are so proud of their knowledge, of their
spirituality, that they can really be blind to
the basic problems that exist.
And yet, seem to be very anxious to
know many things, lots of things.
And that was the condition in the church
in Corinth.
To Paul, as he knew God, the most
basic problems that existed in the assembly at
Corinth were twofold.
First, it was a spiritual problem.
The division that was in their midst.
And to Paul, this was a tremendous problem.
This was a problem that was at the
root of the church.
And then secondly, the moral question.
There was immorality in their midst that even
the Gentiles did not have.
They were worse than the Gentiles.
And brothers went to court against brothers.
And yet, the people in Corinth, the saints
at Corinth, didn't seem to mind these two
things.
They didn't even bother to ask Paul about
these things.
As if they were minor, they were of
no importance.
So in answering them, instead of answering what
they asked first, you find Paul began to
write to them first on the first things
that were upon Paul's heart.
Paul said, I have heard, I have received
information from the household of Caleb that there
were divisions in your midst.
The saints at Corinth, they were still gathering
together.
They were not being scattered or divided physically
yet.
But among them there were this party spirit.
Some say, I am of Paul.
Some say, I am of Apollos.
Some say, I am of Cephas.
And then some others say, I am of
Christ in a special way.
And to Paul, this is division.
We may think that division to us is
when God's people are really divided and separated.
But to Paul, where there is that party
spirit and sectarian spirit in the church, there
is already division.
And unless this is corrected, eventually the church
in Corinth will be broken into at least
four different denominations.
Why did Paul consider this so serious?
We may say that they are still together.
They haven't yet been divided.
Physically, they are still together.
Why did Paul get so excited over this
matter?
Probably the saints in Corinth thought that they
were so sophisticated that they were able to
tolerate these things.
They could be of Paul, of Apollo, of
Cephas, or even of Christ, and yet they
still could be together.
That was their spirituality, probably.
Now, why did Paul get so excited about
this whole thing?
The reason is, this attacks the very nature
of the church.
Other things may concern with, say, the conduct
of the church, or something of the church,
but this matter of division, this matter of
party spirit, touches the very nature of the
church.
If this thing is not corrected, then the
very nature of the church is corrupted.
What is the church?
The ecclesia?
You know, today we use the word church,
but actually the English word church is not
the correct translation of the Greek word ecclesia.
I forgot what is the Greek word to
be translated into English into church.
I forgot the word.
I only have a faint memory that it
is another word, and that word means something
organized.
But the word in the scripture ecclesia, which
our Lord Jesus used, and which is used
in the Bible, ecclesia means called out ones,
those who are called out of this world,
gathered together unto the name of the Lord
Jesus.
It is not an organization.
It is an organism.
Ecclesia is in opposition to cosmos.
The world is a cosmos.
The world is so organized under the prism
of this world.
It becomes a very highly organized thing, a
cosmos, a system, whether it is religious, whether
it is political, whether it is economical, in
whatever area it may be.
You'll find the world is so highly organized
under the control of the wicked one.
It is a cosmos.
But God, by his grace, through the salvation
of our Lord Jesus, has delivered us out
of this cosmos, out of this organized system
that is hostile to God.
God has delivered us out of all of
it, and he has gathered us together unto
himself, ecclesia.
So you'll find that ecclesia is in opposition
to cosmos.
We are called out of this world system,
whether it is political or economical or educational
or cultural or social or even religious.
He has delivered out of this world and
make us ecclesia, the church or the assembly.
You know, actually, the word ecclesia, if you
really want to translate it into English, should
be assembly.
The called out ones assembled together.
Now, that is the word church.
When Paul begins his letter, he said, Paul,
a called apostle of Jesus Christ by God's
will, and Sotomay, the brother, to the assembly
of God, which is in Corinth.
Paul wrote this letter to the assembly of
God, which was in Corinth.
I wonder if you notice the word church
or assembly.
Is it in capital letter or is it
in small letter?
Do you find in the Bible the word
church or assembly ever be in capital letter?
If you put it in capital letter, it
becomes a proper noun, is it?
If it is in small letter, it is
a common noun.
The word church is a common noun.
In other words, it is commonly shared by
all the believers.
What is the church?
The church is the called out ones assembled
universally.
It includes all those who belong to the
Lord.
It is in opposition to cosmos.
It is not a proper noun in itself.
It is shared by all God's people.
And locally, it is shared by all God's
people in that locality.
Therefore, you'll find the word church or assembly
is never capitalized.
It is a common noun, not a proper
noun.
The assembly of God.
Why?
Because the assembly belongs to God.
In other words, the assembly of God is
not a proper noun.
We cannot make the assembly of God a
proper noun and call ourselves the assembly of
God in distinguishing ourselves from the other assembly.
No.
The assembly of God or the church of
God, the church is still in small letter.
God is a proper noun, but the church
is still a common noun in small letter.
In other words, it just shows us to
whom does the church belong.
It is not a proper noun that somebody
can use it as distinguishing themselves from other
believers.
No.
All the believers belong to God.
All the believers form the assembly of God.
And you know, sometimes it is called the
churches or the assemblies of Christ.
You'll find that in 1 Corinthians, in Romans
chapter 16, verse 16.
In the assemblies of Christ, in the churches
of Christ.
And again you'll find the churches of Christ
is a common noun.
You cannot call yourself the church of Christ
and capitalize it.
The churches of Christ just tell us to
whom does the church belong.
We belong to Christ.
And then sometimes you'll find the Scripture says
the assemblies of the saints in 1 Corinthians.
Again, it is not a proper noun.
It simply means that the church belongs to
the saints.
So all these are descriptive words to tell
us to whom does the church belong.
The church belongs to God.
The church belongs to Christ.
The church belongs to the saints.
And then, of course, in the Scripture sometimes
you'll find other descriptions such as the churches
of the nations.
Why?
In distinguishing them from the churches in Judea
and in Samaria.
And in Hebrews, even the church of the
firstborn.
Why?
Because all those who are the Lord are
firstborn in relation to the creation.
All these are descriptive words.
Now, aside from these descriptive words, the other
descriptions you'll find are the church which was
in Corinth.
Or the church in Ephesus.
Or the church in Philadelphia.
The church in Corinth just tells us where
was the church.
Where were these people?
Where did they assemble?
Again, you cannot turn it around and say
Corinthian church.
The church in Corinth, but not Corinthian church.
The church in Ephesus, but not Ephesian church.
And sometimes even you'll find the church in
the house of certain person.
That just shows us where the church is.
You cannot turn around and say house church.
No, you don't do that.
You cannot limit the church to a house.
But the church can meet in a house.
The church can be in a certain locality,
but that locality does not make up the
church.
So, brothers and sisters, you'll find in the
Bible the word church is always in small
letters.
It is always a common noun.
It is used in this fashion.
But there are other descriptions that describe the
church.
But anyway, here you'll find to the assembly
of God which is in Corinth.
To those sanctified in Christ Jesus called saints.
Now, these were the people that made up
the church which was in Corinth.
Sanctified in Christ Jesus.
Called saints.
Not called to be saints, but called saints.
Now, there is a great difference here.
Today, we say St. John, St. Mark, St.
Luke, and St. Nephew.
We canonize these evangelists as saints.
And we consider ourselves as what?
Not saints.
But the Bible considered all who have been
sanctified in Christ Jesus as saints.
Not because we are so saintly, so pious,
that we are canonized to be saints, but
because by the grace of God we have
been sanctified in Christ Jesus.
It is His work, not our work.
And because of His finished work, because of
His marvelous, wonderful work in our life, He
has sanctified us.
He has set us apart from this world
unto Himself.
Therefore, we are called saints.
And the saints make up the church.
The sinners do not make up the church.
Sometimes we try to be very humble and
say, no, we are but a sinner.
Now, you may be very humble, but you
are not giving the Lord His glory and
honor.
The church is not made up of sinners,
no.
The world is made up of sinners.
The church is made up of saints.
Of saints.
Those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus.
Now, thank God for that.
The church of God, which was in Corinth.
And you find the word church here is
singular in number.
Not the churches of God, which was in
Corinth.
But the church of God, which was in
Corinth.
Why?
Because there is only one church.
Our Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 16 and
in Matthew chapter 18 used the word church
twice.
In the four Gospels, you'll find the word
assembly, the word ecclesia, used by the Lord
only twice.
One in Matthew 16, one in Matthew 18.
Now, in Matthew 16, He is speaking, of
course, but we will call today the church
universal.
Now, that is just a way we use
to distinguish.
You don't find the word universal there.
But the Lord said, I will build my
church upon this rock.
And the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it.
I will build my church.
And the word church there is singular in
number.
Upon this rock, this confession that He is
Christ, the Son of the Living God.
This revelation of the Father.
This living knowledge of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, there is only one church
upon one foundation.
And all who confess that confession through the
revelation of the Father is all a living
stone, like Peter.
Being built up together upon this foundation.
And the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it.
That is one church.
The church universal.
Only one.
Do you hear in Matthew chapter 18?
Our Lord Jesus said, if your brother sins
against you, out of love, you should go
to your brother and try to bring him
to his sense.
Why?
Not to vindicate yourself, but to restore your
brother.
And if your brother does not listen to
you, your duty is not finished yet.
Love goes the second mile.
You go and find another two brothers and
with one or two witnesses, you go to
the same brother and try to bring him
back to the Lord.
If he does not listen, then you go
and tell the church.
Singular number.
And the church will go and deal with
that brother.
And if he does not listen to the
church, then he will be looked upon as
a stranger and outsider.
In other words, he comes under discipline.
Now here you find the Lord Jesus mentioned
the word church.
But of course the word church there is
used differently.
In what sense?
In a local sense.
You cannot tell the church universal.
Where do you go to find it?
It is a local problem.
Not a universal problem.
The conflict with the gates of Hades is
a universal problem.
But a brother sing against you is a
local problem.
He must live pretty close to you, therefore
he can sing against you.
My brother in London cannot sing against me
because he is so far away.
It must be a brother who lives in
the same town or in the same village
or in the same city.
And go and tell the church.
So the church here is the assembly of
the faith in that locality that is, in
the case of Corinth, in Corinth.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are still in
this body.
And being in this body, we are still
subject to time and space.
One day, when we put on a resurrection
body, then we are delivered from time and
space.
And thank God for that.
How good it will be that when the
door is open you can enter in.
It's closed, you can enter in.
How good it will be that you can
be in heaven and then you can come
down on earth.
You don't need a rocket.
You are completely delivered from time and space.
But today we are still in this mortal
body.
And being in this mortal body, we are
still subject to time and space.
And because of that, the church universal has
its local expression.
It can only be expressed locally.
But all the spiritual principles in the church
universal are to be practiced locally.
And that's why you'll find, go and tell
the church.
Singular number.
One church.
The church universal is one.
The church local is one.
Why?
Because the church local is only the local
expression of the church universal.
It is not something else.
One church.
The very nature of the church is indivisible.
The very nature of the church is oneness.
It's unity.
Why?
Because Christ is one.
Christ is not divided.
Christ is indivisible.
If you try to divide Christ, you get
a dead Christ.
There is a unity that is in Christ
which is eternal and indivisible.
And brothers and sisters, because Christ is not
divided, therefore the Christ is not divided.
You know?
In Greek, there is a difference there.
Sometimes the word Christ is used without an
article.
But sometimes the word Christ is used with
an article, definite article, the before it.
Now, in our English translation, you may not
be able to find this.
Because when the Bible is translated, people do
not have that understanding.
But if you read the Greek text, you'll
find sometimes Christ is mentioned without an article.
And sometimes the word Christ is used with
an article there.
Now, what is the difference?
Whenever Christ is used without an article, it
refers to Christ himself as a person.
But when the word Christ with the the
preceding it, it always refers to Christ with
his people, with his church.
And that is the difference.
So you'll find in 1 Corinthians 12, the
body is one and has many members.
And though the members are many, yet the
body is one, so also is the Christ.
It doesn't make any sense.
If so also is Christ.
Of course, Christ as a person has one
body and with many members.
Everybody knows that.
Even a child knows that.
So it seems it would be absurd.
But here you'll find because the church, which
is the body of Christ, in union with
the head, is composed of so many members
and yet only one body, so also is
the Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, why is the church
cannot be divided?
The one and the basic reason is because
Christ is not divided.
You may think of a hundred reasons why
the church should be divided.
But the Bible says the church cannot be
divided because Christ is not divided.
If you can divide Christ, then you can
divide the Christ.
When any division should come into God's people,
it touches the very nature of the church.
And it goes back.
It's an affront, an offense to Christ.
Oh, brothers and sisters, for that reason to
Paul, when these Corinthian believers began to say,
I am of Paul, I am of Apollos,
I am of Cephas, I am of Christ,
Paul's heart was broken.
He said, is the Christ divided?
Can the church be divided?
It cannot be.
Because it is Christ who crucified for us.
Not Paul, not Apollos, not Cephas.
We are baptized in the name, into the
name of Jesus Christ.
In the name of Jesus Christ, not in
the name of Paul.
Brothers and sisters, today we are so used
to division, and division to such an extent
that it is not only something that is
boiling within, but something that has broken out
in open.
And we are so used to it, then
that it does not even create a problem
to us.
Brothers and sisters, we should be exercised before
the Lord.
God has called us out as the ecclesia,
in opposition to the world as gospel.
Where is our testimony if we are divided?
It contradicts the very nature of our calling.
The very meaning of our existence.
It goes to the very heart, the very
root of all things.
So brothers and sisters, this is not a
light thing, it's a serious thing.
Why?
What were the causes of such divisions and
strife?
What made the church in Corinth broken into
such parties?
What reason?
Paul said, I exhort you, by
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
you all say the same thing, and that
there be not among you division, but that
ye be perfectly united in the same mind
and in the same opinion.
Paul said, I exhort you by the name
of our Lord Jesus that you all say
the same thing.
Now what does that mean?
Does it mean that everybody has to say
the same thing?
Literally?
That is to say, if I say, this
is a good day, and you say this
is a good day, this is a good
day, this is a good day, everybody say
this is a good day, we are just
like parrots copying and just try to uniform
everything and say, well, we all say the
same thing.
Does it mean that?
When Paul said, that you all say the
same thing, now let us see what they
are saying.
What they say is, one say I am
of Paul, the other say I am of
Apollos, the other say I am of Cephas,
and the other in strife saying I am
of Christ.
So in other words you'll find these people
of God in Corinth, they began to say
different things.
And the different things that they say were,
some say I am of Paul, some say
I am of Apollos, some say I am
of Cephas, and some say I am of
Christ.
Paul said, let us all say the same
thing.
Now it refers to that.
It is not that God's people have to
say the same thing mechanically.
And that is unity.
Not at all.
In a totalitarian country, they make every people
say the same thing.
If the leader say this is black, everybody
say it is black.
And tomorrow the leader say, no, this is
white, and everybody say, no, it is white.
Now, does that mean they all say the
same thing?
No, not at all.
That is not the Scripture meaning.
The Scripture meaning is, instead of saying, I
am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I
am Cephas, I am of Christ, let's all
say the same thing.
And that is Christ, but not in sectarian
spirit.
Let us not say of Paul, let us
not say of Apollos, let us not say
of Cephas, let us not say of Christ
in sectarian spirit, but let us say of
Christ in a spirit that embraces all.
That is saying the same thing.
Why do they say different things?
And Paul said, Be perfectly united in the
same mind and in the same opinion.
The word perfectly united or closely knit is
a medical word.
When your bones are fractured, try to knit
your fractured bones together and mend it.
Or if your joint is out of joint,
you reset it and connect it.
Now that is the meaning behind the word
perfectly united.
In other words, you Corinthian believers, your body
is fractured, your joints are out of socket.
Now bind them together, knit them together, mend
them, and put back, reset them, so that
the body may really function as one and
healthily.
Now that is the meaning behind it.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how the body of
Christ is fractured!
How the body of Christ is out of
joints!
How unhealthy the body is!
How we need to be mended up, knit
together, join together, that we may live healthily
before God.
So in other words, what Paul is trying
to say is, let there be no division.
Do not have parties and party spirits.
Be one, perfectly joined together.
Why?
Because we are all called by the name
of our Lord Jesus.
Instead of calling on the name of the
Lord Jesus, some say, I am of Paul.
Others say, I am of Paul.
Still others say, I am of Cephas.
And in distinguishing themselves, those pseudo-spiritual people
say, well, we are of...
I think that's the worst possible.
Because they say it with boast, with pride,
spiritual pride, so-called.
Brothers and sisters, we have been given no
other name but the name of our Lord
Jesus, whereby we are saved.
God has given us the name of our
Lord Jesus.
And His name is sufficient for us.
Why should we call ourselves by others, I
am of Paul?
Instead of holding fast ahead, we begin to
group around a great man, a spiritual man,
a great apostle.
The apostles themselves have no intention to have
their names used in that way.
But it is the people who try to
uplift the name of a person instead of
holding fast the name of our Lord Jesus.
I remember, forgive me to use, to say
something about our brother, because, as you know,
I know him so well.
Once, as he was talking with his fellow
workers, he apologized to his associates.
He said, I apologize to you.
Why?
Because people label you as of me.
This was not his intention.
But people began to label his fellow workers
as of me.
The knee party.
The knee kites.
So he apologized to his fellow workers and
then he closed what he said with this
word.
He said, the name of watching the knee
is to be cursed.
Brothers and sisters, Paul has no intention to
lend his name to a party.
Apollos had no such intention.
Nor Cephas.
But here you'll find, instead of holding fast
the head Christ, people began to uplift man.
The name of a man.
A great man, a spiritual man.
That's hero worship.
Natural.
That's according to the flesh.
Now why is it people want to form
parties?
Why?
Now probably some of the people in Corinth,
they received so much help from Paul.
Maybe they were saved.
Through the preaching of the gospel of Paul.
And Paul preached the sinful gospel to them.
Christ, Jesus and him crucified and nothing else.
And they were saved.
And because they were saved through the instrumentality
of Paul, so naturally they surrounded Paul and
said, I'm a Paul.
Then other people who are more intellectual, Apollos
came, a great teacher.
And he taught them all the mysteries that
were hidden in the Old Testament.
He expounded the mysteries, the secrets of the
Old Testament to them in clarity.
And these people with intellectual desire, they were
greatly helped by Apollo.
So they said, I am of Apollo.
I stand for him.
He is my leader.
I follow him.
And then some people with Jewish background, when
they say, we are of Cephas.
Because Cephas was the first apostle.
Brothers and sisters, is this not according to
man?
Is it not because they live in the
flesh?
Is it not a sign of carnality?
Oh, how we need to hold on Christ
and not to man.
God may use these men to help us,
but they are only channels.
Our eyes should be set upon Christ.
You know, hero worship is a natural lust.
Now, why do you surround a man?
Why?
Why do you try to identify yourself with
a particular person?
Is it not because that man seems to
be successful in what you are hoping for
yourself?
You want to be that, but you cannot
arrive there.
And someone has arrived, so you identify yourself
to him.
And give you a little boost to your
ego.
That is of the flesh.
Of the flesh.
Brothers and sisters, the name of the Lord
Jesus is above everything.
Whether it is the name of an apostle,
or even the name of an angel, or
any other name.
The church has no other name but Christ.
Because the church is the Christ.
The body of Christ.
Joined to the head.
Indivisible.
One with Christ.
And one with one another.
I wonder, when they say, I am of
Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of
Cephas, what do they mean?
What do they really mean?
Do they really mean that they belong to
Paul?
They belong to Cephas?
They belong to Apollos?
Maybe they are more sophisticated than that.
When they say, I am of Paul, probably,
probably they mean, I am for the Christ
that Paul preached.
I am of Apollos, I am of the
Christ that Apollos teaches.
I am of Cephas, I am of Christ
that Cephas stands for.
In other words, it is still Christ.
But it is partial.
Not the whole Christ.
I wonder if that is the reason.
Probably we are too sophisticated to follow a
man.
However great that man may be.
But it is so subtle.
We say, we stand for the Christ that
that man preaches.
Oh, how often you find today, people stand
for a partial truth, a certain truth, but
not the whole truth.
Not the whole Christ.
You cannot say they are wrong.
They are right.
Certainly the Christ that Paul preaches is right.
But Christ is preached and taught and presented
not only by Paul, but by Apollos and
by Cephas.
In other words, Christ is the whole Christ.
The truth that is in Christ is the
whole truth.
If you hold on to one particular truth
and neglect the other truth, you stand for
one truth against everything that is sectarian.
The word heresy in the Scripture actually means
schools of opinions.
You hold to a certain school of opinions.
That's heresy.
Today we think of heresy as a grave
error in teaching.
No.
The teaching may be correct, but it becomes
a school of opinions.
That's heresy.
Instead of holding the whole Christ.
Oh, brothers and sisters, today if you look
at God's people, you find some people hold
on to a certain thing of Christ, some
people hold on to a certain faith of
Christ, and everybody seems to be circled around
a path to the exclusion of the other
path That is sectarian in spirit.
That is party spirit.
That is dividing Christ.
Oh, how we need to hold on to
the whole Christ.
And then comes this last party.
When some say, I'm a Paul, I'm Apollos,
I'm Cephas, then they come out and say,
we are more spiritual than you are.
We want the whole Christ.
We are of Christ.
But when they say it, they say it
with exclusive spirit.
As if Christ is their exclusive property and
not belong to the other believers.
That is the worst.
The worst.
Brothers and sisters, we need the Christ preached
by Paul.
We need the Christ taught by Apollos.
We need the Christ presented by Cephas.
We need the whole Christ.
And in an all-inclusive spirit and not
an exclusive spirit.
That's what we need.
That will keep us one in Christ.
What is the remedy to this division?
Number one, it is the name of our
Lord Jesus.
Paul said, I got you by the name
of our Lord Jesus.
With all who call upon the name, and
the name is theirs as well as ours.
In other words, the name of the Lord
Jesus is one.
We all call upon that name.
He is my property as well as your
property.
We share Christ together.
All brothers and sisters, if we hold fast
to his name, I remember a poem.
I cannot repeat the poem because I have
very poor memory.
I think it's a poem written by George
Whitefield.
He is a fellow worker with John and
Charles Wesley.
And I remember he said something like that.
That all the names faded but the name
of the Lord Jesus.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how names divide God's
people.
The name of a person, even the name
of a truth, or the name of a
form, of a ritual, even a nation.
How names divide God's people.
But we, by the name of the Lord
Jesus, we are one.
Is not his name sufficient for you?
Must you have some other names?
Secondly, how we need the message of the
cross of our Lord Jesus.
Division is basically a carnal thing.
Why are we divided?
Because we are carnal.
We act like men, people of this world.
We have here to worship.
Brothers and sisters, how our own creation, how
our flesh needs to be dealt with by
the cross of our Lord Jesus.
Oh, if we allow the cross to work
in our lives, to take away that which
is old, to get rid of our flesh,
then we will find ourselves being one in
Christ.
The unity of the Spirit is there.
All we need to do is get out
of the flesh, and as you are in
the Spirit, you will find the unity is
there.
You don't need to create it.
It is already there.
But we need to accept the working of
the cross in our lives.
It is easy to say it, but for
it to work out in our lives, it
is not that easy.
Basically, it is because we do not know
Christ, and we do not know the cross.
That is the reason why we are divided.
But thank God.
The name of the Lord Jesus is given
to us, and the cross is here.
The only thing is, are we willing to
yield ourselves to Him, and let the Holy
Spirit apply the cross to our flesh, that
there may be no boasting of the flesh.
If we boast, we boast in the Lord.
So, here you find in the first chapter,
Paul deals exclusively with this first and foremost
problem that existed in the church at Corinth.
Brothers and sisters, how about us today?
We would like to begin 1 Corinthians with
chapter 7, but Paul begins with chapter 1.
So I do hope that, not in a
spirit of judging, I hope you understand, but
I hope in a spirit of love, that
we may bring these things to the Lord,
because if we know the heart of God,
this is something that makes Him suffer more
than anything else.
The other things are important, but this is
basic.
Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank
Thee for Thy Word.
Thou dost tell us, is the Christ divided?
And there can be no other answer but
one.
The Christ is not divided.
Oh, how can we divide Christ?
It is impossible.
So Lord, we do pray, because this is
the truth, that we may not be divided
in any way, whether externally or even internally.
We pray that Thou would deliver us from
party spirit, from sectarian spirit, and Thou would
deliver us from all appearance of evil, that
we may truly be an expression of the
oneness of the body of Christ in where
Thou hast put us.
We ask in the name of our Lord
Jesus and for His glory.
Amen.