One of the characteristics of the last of the Last Days is confusion and division. People are standing and dividing on the wrong things. It is true in the Church as well as in the world.
Jesus said, the last sign of His coming again is, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come "(Matthew 24:14, NKJV).
What Jesus wanted the Church to do is to preach a united message concerning the gospel of the kingdom. This is the greatest need in the world. It is the only hope for mankind. It is the only hope for the world and, in general, it is the only hope for the Church. If Christians are divided in their stand on the message of the Gospel it will be difficult for the world to believe that God has sent Jesus to be the savior of the world (John 17:20, 21).
Lessons from the Corinthian Church
There are lessons which we urgently need to learn which are to be found in the first Epistle to the Corinthians. There is a close parallel the Corinthian Church presents, to the situation that confronts us in the present day Church.
Paul received letters and spoken messages, as he tells us himself in the first chapter, from the house of Chloe and other people in Corinth, telling him about the troubles and difficulties there. The Corinthians had a defective and faulty view of the nature of the Church. That was their basic trouble. They were converted. They were born again. They were true Christians, they were behind no other Church in their gifts, but they were confused. How did they ever get into this confused condition with regard to the nature of the Church?
I believe all divisions, schism and disunities were due to the fact that believers were standing and dividing on the wrong things. There is a question we can ask ourselves – What is the difference between schism and Biblical separation? In a more practical manner, the question is, “What are the things on which we should not take a stand? And what are the things on which we should take a stand?” In other words, what must we stand on and what must we not stand on; on what grounds we should separate and on what ground we should not separated. All the troubles and confusions in Corinthian Church were due to their failure to make that distinction.
Wrong Divisions in the Church
The first 14 Chapters of 1 Corinthians are devoted to an exposition by the apostle Paul of the way in which the members of the Church at Corinth were taking a stand on things which they should not have done. We can classify these wrong divisions under three headings:
1. They were standing and dividing on carnal matters
In their carnality they were quarrelling, forming factions and were rending the Body of Christ. They were guilty of schism.
They were dividing and taking a stand on their favorite preachers and leaders:
“Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ’” (1 Cor.1:12, NKJV).
Later on Paul said, “… for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:3).
They were not only quarrelling among themselves but taking their quarrels, as Paul told us in Chapter 6, to the public law courts.
“Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge” (1 Cor. 6:3, 4)?
It is not right for Christians to quarrel before the world over matters that have nothing to do with the faith. This is sheer carnality.
They were also guilty of carnality at the communion table, and even at the love feasts and so on. Some people had too much food and some had too little. Some had been drinking too much, and some did not have enough to drink. And that was the cause of a division between the rich and the poor. All these troubles were due to carnality.
2. The problem of “intellectualism”
There is nothing wrong with intellect, but intellectualism is an abomination. People do not have an equal amount of brains and intellect. Some are more knowledgeable than others.
Paul took this up immediately in the First and Second Chapter. He was concerned that the philosophy which some were favoring would make the cross of Christ of none effect. Intellectualism can robe the gospel of its power.
“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor. 1:20)?
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:1, 2).
Another area we need to consider is Chapter 8 with regard to the different views taken concerning the matter of meat offered to idols. When the Corinthian Christians were pagans (before their convertion) they took their meat to the temples as offerings to their gods. Having done so, they regarded them as sacred and believed it was wrong to eat them. But, having become Christians, they did not all immediately see the truth in exactly the same way on this matter. The more intelligent people, the more enlightened people could see at a glance that there was nothing wrong in eating the food. They knew that idols do not actually exist and therefore nothing wrong with the food which had been offered to them. But there were other weaker brethren, who still felt it was wrong to eat these meats. Over intellectual understanding the Church was divided.
3. The problem of false spirituality
Chapters 12, 13 and 14 show how the Corinthian Christians were divided because of spiritual gifts. First of all they were ignorant:
“Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant” (1 Cor.12:1).
They failed to understand that the gifts were given according to the will of God (1 Cor. 12:11). Instead of rejoicing together in the gifts that God had given to them as a Church they had made the gifts themselves into a cause of division and schism. Some were standing on certain gifts, and other on some other gifts. Some believed some gifts are greater than others. Their whole attitude was carnal in nature. Some who believed they had “lesser gifts” were envious and jealous of those people who had the more spectacular gifts.
Things on which the Church must stand
From the very beginning of Chapter 15 Paul told the Corinthian Church what they should be taking their stand on. These are the things that they must regard as essential and over which they must be prepared to separate from the unbelieving world. He made this clear by saying:
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:1 to 4, NKJV, emphasis added).
The things which they must stand are:
1. The Gospel which Paul preached
Paul said, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11, 12, emphasis added).
Paul’s Gospel message was not his own nor from man’s teaching. It came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. God’s Mystery of the dispensation of grace for the Gentiles had been revealed to Paul through revelation:
“… if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)” (Ephesians 3:2, 3, emphasis added).
In fact Paul did everything by revelation:
“And I went up by revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain” (Gal. 2:2, emphasis added).
Paul knew that without revelation his preaching would be in vain.
What happens to some of the Local Churches today? New Age teachings are coming to our mega-churches. Why? People “will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables …” (2 Tim. 4:3, 4). This prophecy of Paul is being fulfilled in our days! The messages of the New Age are the most compromising messages – they are itching ears messages! They "promise" love and unity and a good life among believers.
2. The Scripture
The most basic thing that all true Christians must stand on, Paul referred to, is the Scripture:
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3, 4, emphasis added).
Paul mentioned the Scriptures twice so that we understand the importance of the Scriptures. Paul himself received the Scriptures first or he would not be qualified to preach to others. Paul did not become a Christian at the end of a process of reason and of logic. He received the Scriptures by revelation and revelation only for He said:
“All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).
Because the Scriptures are “revelation” and “inspiration”, they are authoritative. They are ageless, changeless, because they are God’s revealed truth which He enabled men to record.
If we stand firm on the Scripture we will not be deceived by the coming New Age Movement.
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