Divisions in

The Church

1 Corinthians

Chapter 1

Pastor Tony Silveira

Cori

nth

’s

import

ance

in t

he

anci

ent

worl

d

It was the densely populated capital of the Roman province of AchaiaA thriving port

city, it was infamous for its sexual vice and immorality.

Loca

ted o

n t

he

route

fro

m R

om

e

to t

he E

ast

the fame of Corinth would be

comparable today to cities like

Las Vegas or Montreal

Paul’s

Mis

sionary

Tr

ips

Paul preached the gospel in Corinth in the early 50s AD

during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1–18) When opposition grew

fierce there, the Lord

Jesus spoke to him in a

vision assuring him that

he had ‘many people’

in the city (Acts 18:10)

The Book of

1Corinthians

We may identify

nine major

difficulties, all of

which have

lessons to teach

us.

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SDIVISION

S (1:10–17;

3:1–23),

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SSEXUAL

IMMORALITY

(5:1–13;

6:12–20)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SLAWSUIT

S among

Christians

(6:1–11)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SMARRIAG

E and

divorc

e (7:1–17)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SFOOD

sacrificed

to idols

(8:1–13)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SACCEPTABL

E BEHAVIOUR

in church

services

(11:2–16)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SDISORDE

R at the

Lord’s

Supper

(11:17–34)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

STHE RIGHT

USE OF

SPIRITUAL

GIFTS

(12:1–14:40)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

SUNCERTAINTY

about basic

Christian truth

—especially the

resurrection of

the dead (15:1–

58)

three Christian

priorities

UnityAllegiance to the

Lord Jesus ChristThe proclamation

of his gospel

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S10 I appeal to you,

brothers, by the name

of our Lord Jesus

Christ, that all of you

agree, and that there

be no divisions among

you, but that you be

united in the same

mind and the same

judgment.

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S11 For it h

as

been reported to

me by Chloe’s

people that

there is

quarreling

among you, my

brothers.

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S12 What I m

ean

is that each one

of you says, “I

follow Paul,” or “I

follow Apollos,”

or “I follow

Cephas,” or “I

follow Christ.”

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S13 Is Christ

divided? Was

Paul crucified

for you? Or

were you

baptized in the

name of Paul?

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S14 I thank God

that I baptized

none of you

except Crispus and

Gaius,

15 so that no one

may say that you

were baptized in

my name.

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S16 (I did baptize

also the

household of

Stephanas.

Beyond that, I do

not know whether

I baptized anyone

else.)

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S17 For Christ did not

send me to baptize

but to preach the

gospel, and not with

words of eloquent

wisdom, lest the

cross of Christ be

emptied of its

power.

Video Illustration: “Me Church” clip from Sermon Spice.com. This clip takes a humorous look at a self-centered church

A. What was

causing divisions

in Corinth?VERSE 10

10 I appeal to you,

brothers, by the name

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

that all of you agree,

and that there be no

divisions among you….

The C

hri

stia

ns

in

this

churc

h w

ere

te

ari

ng t

he c

hurc

h

apart

The word division means to “rip” or “tear”

DIV

ISIO

NS IN

TH

E C

HU

RC

H

they were allowing the

spirit of offense to rip out

the heart and the life

changing power of the

church.Every family, organization and movement struggles with the

problem of internal divisions.

We n

eed t

o u

nit

ed in

Chri

st n

ot

div

ided in

C

hri

st!

The church was formed by

Christ to serve one another and not to focus

on ourselves. The church

is not about me but about

the message of Jesus and

about service to the Kingdom of God! Let us

examine what was happening to this New

Testament Church and try

to avoid the same kind of

problems that they were

facing.

B. The Style

of Preaching

(the preacher)

VERSE 10

The divisions at Corinth

may well have been

over the different styles

of preaching that Paul,

Apollos and Cephas

practised.

1. I fo

llow

Paul

This group may have

taken the attitude that

Paul started this church and he will always be the leader.

These are the traditionalists. They always live in

the past and never want to move on into

the future

1. I fo

llow

Paul

They like saying leave

everything the way it

was this is what the Lord wants! Paul saw Christ so we

will only listen to what

He tells us to do! He is

the founding apostle

and we need to do church the way he does it!

2. I fo

llow

A

pollos

These people may have put great emphasis on the knowledge of Scripture. Apollos was mighty in

his use of the Word (Acts 18:24, 25). These may have been

the Bible intellectuals.

2. I fo

llow

A

pollos

Listen we need to follow after Apollos because man that guy

can preach with charisma! Paul is dry

and boring and people

have even fallen asleep in his meetings! So church is all about

the preaching of dynamic messages that are powerful.

3. I fo

llow

P

ete

r

These people may have

put great emphasis on

the church and were

taking the attitude that

Peter had been given

the keys to the kingdom, instituted the

church on Pentecost,

and they would follow

him. They may have been

great “church” men without going further.

3. I fo

llow

P

ete

r

This group claimed divine

apostleship as the only link

to doing church the right

way. They were for using a style

that Peter promoted an

emphasis on Jewish tradition mixed with Christianity. A in your face type church

that was bold and aggressive a true apostolic

church – one that followed

the leading of Peter only

because he lived with Jesus.

4. I fo

llow

C

hri

st

These people may have

been saying, “We don’t

need anyone or anything

but Jesus.” This group was

the spiritual elite who said

“We only do things Jesus’

way and the rest of these

idol worshippers need to

repent! We know the truth it’s all

Jesus and these others

are people chasers not

God chasers!”

4. I fo

llow

C

hri

st

“The fourth group could thereupon be pictured as looking down their long spiritual noses at the

other three and piously saying, “We are of Christ, and therefore look to no human preacher to lead us and feed us.”

Reality Check for the

this church and for

the church today:

Division and dissension never comes

from the Spirit of God but from the

spirit of offense rooted in the “Bait of

Satan” who wants to divide and

conquer:

The reality is God designed the

church of today and He knew that the

church would be filled with imperfect

people.

Reality Check for the

this church and for

the church today:

A church filled with

imperfect people needed to

learn how to get along, how

to forgive each other, how

to die to self, and in

process mature in the faith

for the glory of Kingdom of

God

C. Lack of Unity =

Lack of

PowerVERSE 17

For Christ did not send

me to baptize but to

preach the gospel, and

not with words of

eloquent wisdom, lest

the cross of Christ be

emptied of its power.

The S

ympto

ms

Very few people getting savedVery few miracles and almost no Divine

healingSmall Church growth

The a

nsw

er to

the

pro

ble

m is th

e

Cro

ss

1 Corinthians

1

18 For the word of the cross is

folly to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it

is the power of God.

23 but we preach Christ

crucified, a stumbling block to

Jews and folly to Gentiles

The a

nsw

er to

the

pro

ble

m is th

e

Cro

ssWe need to decide

to not allow the

enemy of the

church, which is the

spirit of offense,

which is the spirit of

division and

dissension to tear it

apart.

The a

nsw

er to

the

pro

ble

m is th

e

Cro

ss

We need to be

committed to

honoring the name

of Jesus and doing

what He called us to

do! We are to be the

light of the world

and the preservative

of this world.

The a

nsw

er to

the

pro

ble

m is th

e

Cro

ss

We need to fulfill

the Great

Commission and

fulfill our divine

purpose in life.

What do you think

Jesus thinks about

all this disunity in

the church?

Is Christ

divid

ed?

Who is influencing your

life and your choices?

Are you following Biblical

teachings and Biblical

values or something else?

WHO ARE YOU

FOLLOWING?

What place should

gospel preaching

have in the life of

the local church?

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S27 But God chose

what is foolish in

the world to

shame the wise;

God chose what is

weak in the world

to shame the

strong;

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S28 God chose

what is low and

despised in the

world, even

things that are

not, to bring to

nothing things

that are,

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S29 so that no human

being might boast in

the presence of God. 30 And because of

him you are in Christ

Jesus, who became to

us wisdom from God,

righteousness and

sanctification and

redemption,

1 C

OR

INTH

IAN

S31 so that,

as it is

written, “Let

the one who

boasts, boast

in the Lord.”