1 Corinthians 1:8-17 | Episode #978

July 9, 2025

Hope Alive: Applying God’s Word to Your Daily Life

1 Corinthians 1:8-17

I am Chad Harrison, and I am the teaching pastor of Lake Community Church and had been serving as a pastor for 25 years. I'm also a practicing attorney. This podcast is designed to help you study God's word and find God's will for your life. The purpose of studying scripture is that you might know the character of Jesus Christ, and that you might see the world from the Father's perspective. That you gain wisdom that changes your life. I pray in the name of Jesus right now that God would open His word to you and allow you to see Him and to know Him. To know His will, that you might glorify Him and that you might walk in faith and power each day, especially today. In Jesus name.

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Transcript

This is Chad Harrison, and you're listening to Hope.

Applying God's word to your daily life.

As we finish Faithful Finance, we want to produce our winter Bible study done at Lake Community Church on First Corinthians.

It'll be a fairly long Bible study.

We will break it up into different parts,

and so you will get a really good, really fast study through the book of 1 Corinthians before we move on to the book of Joshua.

God,

who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is faithful by whom you were called Cleitos.

You were called you, you, everybody here.

You were called to fellowship with Jesus Christ to mean, meaning to be intimate with Jesus Christ.

There's nobody that's a believer that was not called to quant a kneel with Jesus Christ. It was not called to intimacy with God.

Nobody.

There's not levels to this,

okay?

Now, there is position in heaven, but that's after it's all over,

right? Now you have all the gifts,

all the Holy Spirit,

all the calling, all the establishment, all of it. Grace,

charisma, all of those things.

Now, I plead with you, brethren,

by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no division among you.

All right, well, there's the problem,

all right? We're getting right on into it. Apparently, they got some speaking against each other and some dividing going on.

It's a problem.

It's a problem when believers can't work things out and talk things out,

okay? They're not operating in their charisma.

They're not operating in their gifts.

They are not operating in the fruit of the Spirit. They are not being led by the Holy Spirit.

They are not doing this thing right.

And it's amazing how believers,

Brother Dean, have a propensity not to do what's right.

It is amazing. It is really shocking.

And let me tell you something.

I seem to, in my life,

never endlessly be. Be shocked by what a believer will do.

What's cool about that is I can give a lot of grace.

You know what I'm talking about?

I can,

because we just don't do it right.

Says by, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. What he's saying is, I want there to be unity in your mind.

Now, listen, you can't have unity of your mind and somebody else's mind. And he's going to explain this.

The only way for there to be unity is There to be unity in the mind of Christ.

And he's going to explain that.

Okay? Now I want you to hear me.

There is a lot of people who are into arguing about spiritual things.

Are you following me?

And they use argument as the methodology by which to increase their presence, their identity in other people's eyes by. Because they're trying to prove how much they know.

If you are dealing with a contentious Christian who is liking to argue about spiritual things, I want you to hear me today.

They are a immature believer.

Cause the Bible says avoid foolish arguments and to argue over the mind of God rather than seek the mind of Christ and seek to be joined in the mind of Christ and is foolishness.

He's going to use that word here.

He says, for it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren,

that by. By those of close household.

Now I'm just going to step aside here for just a second and.

And mention this,

okay? I want you to hear me because this is important.

Something I learned as pastor as very young man.

If you come to me and say this group of people,

and I have a problem with this group of people, I've dealt with them my whole ministry.

I'm going to name them publicly right now.

The Days.

I have got an issue with the Days because Days is always doing stuff.

They said this, they did that.

They want this to happen. It's always They.

I have come to find out that they is usually the person I'm talking to and maybe one other person.

Are you following me?

I do not. Pastor.

Under the whims of the Days,

me and them are at odds with each other.

They will never ever come and tell me who they are,

and I'm sick of it.

I want you to notice that the Apostle Paul does not deal with the Days either.

What does he say? I'm fixing to tell you something. I know there's a problem and the household of Chloe told me that.

Notice, he didn't say they said it. He said the household of Chloe said it.

I don't know how many is in the household of Chloe, but they ain't theys. They're the household of Chloe.

Okay?

So if there's a problem and you want to deal with the problem and you come into me to tell me how to deal with the problem and you bring up they.

I'm just going to tell you. Just like these beautiful new black curtains we got, that giant black curtain will come down in front of me and. And I will leave stage right mentally even if I stay talking to you.

Are you following me now, if you come to me and say, I love it, I love it,

then me and you can discuss and try to find the mind of Christ.

If you come to me and say so, and so is having a real big problem. I love them. I wish they wasn't having that problem. Then I can go talk to them and have the mind of Christ.

I cannot find they. I don't know their address, their phone number. I don't know where they're at.

Exit,

exit soapbox right now. All right.

He said that there are contentions among you.

The household of Chloe said, paul,

we got some contentions,

we got some arguing,

we got some fighting.

I don't know if she's from South Alabama, but that's how it sounded to me. Okay,

Is Christ. Now notice now I say this, that each of you says,

I'm of Paul or I'm of Apollos,

or I'm of Cephas or the really, really spiritual ones. I'm of Christ,

okay?

They're the worst ones, by the way, okay? They're going to argue and fight and then they're going to act like they're really spiritual,

okay?

They're the ones you can't stand the most,

okay? Now, I want you to notice from here on,

him and Apollos are not against each other.

They're not.

The primary argument is some teaching that Paul taught. And somehow something Apollos said they feel like is different. And they broke up into groups to fight and argue over this.

What did I tell you?

If you are a source of contention and argument on spiritual matters or in general in the church,

you are an immature Christian and I will treat you as such,

which means I'll give little weight to what you say.

That's how I. Pastor. I'm sorry, it's how I Pastor,

if you come bringing an issue that we can work out with people, then that shows maturity.

If you come with strife and argument, that shows immaturity.

Sorry, that's just the way it is.

Some say I'm a Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and I mean, why Cephas? Why we gotta bring Cephas into it? By the way, he didn't mention Cephas much after this, but I'm going to mention Cephas because some of them are of Cephas.

They're on Team Cephas, okay?

And really, who wants to be on Cephas Day? Okay? I mean, you know,

he says, here is Christ divided.

Was Paul crucified for you or when you were baptized in. Or were you baptized in the name of Paul. He's going after the folks who are saying, I'm in Paul's camp.

He is disassociating himself with his own team.

That traitor Paul.

What he's saying is, did I do any of these things?

This is very important,

because remember, all the things we do are based off of the grace God give us, the charis.

And it then flows into the gifts God gives us, which are the charisma.

Are you following me?

Where do they have their source?

From Christ,

through the Holy Spirit.

So if you are saying a teaching from God. And I've told y' all this many times before, and I'll say it again. If I hear out in the community that you are saying Chad said this.

And you're talking about a spiritual matter that you're arguing with somebody about.

I want you to hear me. Me and you going to have problems.

Because first of all,

just to be honest with you, you don't think of it like I think of it. Because you ain't in my brain.

You with me.

Now, you may be no more knowledgeable about it. You may be less knowledgeable about it. But please don't bring me into it. I am not a they not on that team.

They're not one of me.

I gotta move.

He says, is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified to you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus.

I love that name, Crispus. Why don't we have any children named after Crispus?

You know what I'm talking about. Or Gaius,

lest anyone would say that I baptized in my own name.

Now, I want you to follow me because he's fixing to remember something. And they're thinking about it. And they're about to write the next verse. And Paul goes,

oh,

yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other.

Notice he stopped and he was thinking about what he's writing. And then he realized, stephanus, we got him, too.

Okay. All right.

That ought to make you realize that this is inspired Word of God.

Because he is making sure he hears from the Holy Spirit and says it exactly right.

He says, for Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.

Not with wisdom of words,

meaning not with eloquent speech.

Lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. What he's saying is, eloquent speech does not create the revelation of God. The revelation of God comes from God's word.

Comes from the faithfulness of someone to get up and speak it and the revelation of the Holy Spirit of that word. That's all. That is as you go today I pray that the Lord will bless you and keep you, that he'll make his face to shine upon you and that he will give you hope and peace today in Jesus name.