Latest / Scripture Central / 1 Corinthians 1-7: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me)

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1 Corinthians 1-7: New Testament with Lynne Wilson (Come, Follow Me) · Scripture Central

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Welcome back to Scripture Central.
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I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, excited to talk about First Corinthians
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chapters one through 7. This is a very confusing letter
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because there's so many dissensions and it's only one
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side, and we don't know all the questions, and so there's a lot
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of misunderstandings. But it's a letter of correction.
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He's trying to realign the Saints.
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It's not his first letter to the Corinthians, though.
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We're told in one of the chapters that he's already
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written them and he's heard back from the Saints in Corinth, and
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so now he's writing them again, trying to correct things.
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And chapters one through 6 all deal with things that he has
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heard. And chapters 7 through the end
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of the book and 15 deal with things that they have asked him
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and he is now answering. But we don't know those
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questions, so it's very difficult to try to figure it
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out. Just as a reminder, I want to
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talk to you a little bit about Corinth and a little bit about
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where it falls in the the list of Epistles.
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Remember we talked earlier about the Epistles being organized by
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length. They're not chronological and
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1st Corinthians is pretty early. We've got probably Galatians and
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1st and 2nd Thessalonians before First Corinthians, but it comes
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between the years of 54 and 57. He's probably writing this in
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Ephesus. He's already visited Corinthia
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already was on his second mission, but now on his third
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mission he is writing to them, giving them some advice before
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he comes to tell them he's coming Now.
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It's probably written in the spring shortly before he comes.
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But there's a there's a lot of discussion on whether or not it
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can been written in 57 or 55 or whatever.
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So I just, I just say it doesn't really matter.
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It's probably after he's already served with them for 18 months.
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So it's after that second mission.
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During his third mission time. We're told the author is Paul.
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Chapter one, verse one. We're told that he's got a
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female St. who's carrying the letters.
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He's got a Scribesosthenes, we're also told, whose audiences
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he says they're Corinthians who are believing Paul.
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We're baptized members in this book we have half of the names
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are Greek and half of the names are Latin.
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I also have this chart to show you where the book of
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Corinthians falls in the historical sections of Acts.
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We're right here in chapters 18 through 21.
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On his third mission, Nairo has become the Caesar ruling in Rome
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and it's before he writes the difficult letters of
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imprisonment. And it's consistent with the
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time period from Acts chapter 18, verses 9 and 10.
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Do you remember when Paul was being persecuted and he has a
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vision. It's actually the third vision
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of of the visions that were he received that are recorded in
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the book of of Acts. It says one night the Lord spoke
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to Paul in a vision, Do not be afraid, keep speaking.
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That's the Corinthian Saints. That's where he says don't
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leave. Well, the purpose I think is to
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correct these dissensions, these false teachers.
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There's a lot of people who are teaching false things, and it
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appears that Paul went back and forth in at least 7 letters.
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I think in order to understand a lot of what Paul says, it helps
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understand a little bit about Corinth, the location.
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So initially it becomes a very important Roman place in 146 BC.
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By 44 BC, Julius Caesar has conquered it and made it into a
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Roman colony, but it becomes the capital of Akaya, which is
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southern Greece in 27 AD. Now the problem is it's a double
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port city and like most port cities, you get a lot of
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international people, you got a lot of transient people and you
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got a lot of sailors who are looking for drink and
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permiscuity. The area of Corinth is also very
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fertile, had a a Jewish synagogue that they've been able
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to find. So we know that they had Jewish
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converts as well as Gentile converts in this congregation
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that are trying to work together, which was probably
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part of the problem of the arguments and the dissensions.
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One of the most famous things about Corinth was their temple
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to the goddess Venus and they had 1000 priestesses who were
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acting as prostitutes in the temple for everyone in the city
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to come and worship through prostitution.
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It was absolutely tragic and immorality was so well known in
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this area that the word Corinth became used in terrible ways.
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Let me give you some example. To live like a Corinthian was to
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live a desolate life. To play the Corinthian was to
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visit the House of ill repute. To fornicate was to Corinthian
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On my a Corinthian girl was a prostitute.
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A Corinth became a metaphor for fertility and usually
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illegitimately so. It's absolutely a worldly boom
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town and it needed Christianity. And so the Lord told Paul when
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he's being persecuted. And when Paul came and said, I
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got to get out of here, I don't want anything to do with this
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filthy place, you know, Remember he was raised as a as a very,
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very strict Pharisee. And the Lord says no
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Christianity is needed. We need Christianity to be
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taught. And so he came and it that's
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exactly what happens. I really appreciate John W
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Welch's book called Charting the New Testament.
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And in there he not only has a lot of charts, but he also has
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every epistle organized. And I've got a copy of that here
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on my slides. But now let's move ahead into
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the text. And the 1st 4 chapters of First
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Corinthians all discuss the members division and the need
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for unity. And he called them on the need
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for unity to come unto Christ. He uses the name of Christ nine
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times in his introduction. Let's start with First
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Corinthians chapter one, verse 9.
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God is faithful who has called you into fellowship with his son
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and Jesus Christ our Lord. This is repeated over and over
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again. Verse 10 reads in the NIVI
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appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord
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Jesus Christ, that there be no divisions among you and that
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you'd be perfectly united in mind and thought, you know, he
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this urgent plea is just shy of a commandment.
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You know he's he's really begging them.
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The way to find unity is to come into Christ, stop worrying about
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things that are not eternal. If it's not eternal, it's not
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important. That was one of my favorite
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things to tell my children That was they were growing up.
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Verse 11 reads in the NIV. My brothers and sisters, some
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from Chloe's household, have informed me and then he's going
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to go and tell them what Chloe taught them.
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This is very interesting to me because they remember they have
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house churches at this time. So Chloe is probably a wealthy
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Christian who's inviting a branch of Saints to meet there
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at her house. And Paul respects Chloe enough
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that he is saying we can depend on what she says, and she is
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reporting these things. She is.
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She's an upstanding member. This is absolutely phenomenal at
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this time in both the Greek, Roman and Judaic world, to have
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a woman's voice as a trusted source and one who's giving
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opinions that an apostle of Jesus Christ is using now to
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give advice from. It's it's Absolutely Fabulous to
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see the way how early Christianity is using sisters to
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build the Kingdom and using their voice and their opinions
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to help establish righteousness. First 12 continues on to read
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every one of you say it. I'm appalled.
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I'm Apollos. I'm a cephist.
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And then Paul later on says, you know I only baptize 2 of you.
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Oh, I'm the House of Stefanos. You know he listed them by name.
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Said, I didn't come to baptize, but.
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But why are you arguing? Do you think I baptized you
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under my name or did Apollo baptized you?
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No, we all baptized you in Jesus Christ.
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It's Christ Church. It's his Kingdom.
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You know, he's he's really good at that.
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In verse 17 he reads he came to preach the gospel not with
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wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
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effect. Now we read a little bit of more
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wisdom in the book of Romans, where he uses a lot of Judaic
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debate techniques, and here he's saying, I'm not going to debate
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with you. I don't want to talk about the
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wisdom of the world. I want to preach Christ.
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Verse 18 reads in the NIV. The message of the cross is
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foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are
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being saved, it is the power of God.
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I've got to give you a little bit of background on the Roman
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and the Greek thought at the time anything physical was
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ridiculously awful. It's only the Spirit that lives
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eternally. And so the idea that a God had a
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physical body that was crucified is, is blasphemy to them.
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And that's why Paul is saying, you know, it may be foolishness
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to many of our fellow human beings, but to us it's because
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Satan had altered something that was so important, the shame of
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the wise. But in First Corinthians chapter
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2, verse one through 9, he then talks about the wisdom of God
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again reading in the NIV to get the genders right.
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Brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I did not come with
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eloquence or human wisdom, and skipping down to verse five,
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came to your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on
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God's power. Continuing on in verse 70
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introduces a new thought. We spake the wisdom of God in a
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mystery, even in the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
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the world, even our glory. And even in, in a more literal
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translation, the Bob, it reads, which God for ordained before
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the ages of our glory. So he is talking about a
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premortal existence here and you know very very very few
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Christians believe this idea and yet we find it here in Paul's
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teachings that the wisdom of God and the mysteries of God and
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what happened before this earth is not well known but it was
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hidden wisdom. Now the word wisdom Sophie
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philosophy comes from the study of wisdom is very important to
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the Roman world, very important to this area of of Corinth which
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is part of the ancient Greek that is studied.
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Sophie all the time wisdom and he's saying you know the wisdom
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of God is what we're seeking because God knew things before
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the times verse nine. He continues on.
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I have not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the
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heart of man that things which God had prepared for them that
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love him. This is such a beautiful verse
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and he's harkening back to Isaiah.
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There's three portions of Isaiah that refer to this as well, and
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all of them are in my handout. In them, in my slides.
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This message of God's love permeates Paul's letters.
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We read about it in Romans. We're now reading about it again
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in First Corinthians. We're going to read about it
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next week in the second-half of First Corinthians.
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He moves on in chapter 2, verse 10, all the way through chapter
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3, verse three to the Spirit of Revelation.
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He says the way to combat this disunity is through a connection
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with God. Our personal inspiration needs
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to be through the Spirit of God and connecting with Him every
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day, every minute. We need to make sure we are not
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offending the Spirit. We need to be asking and doing
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all things in the name of the Lord and always remembering him
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so that we can have the Spirit to be with us, Chapter 2, verse
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13 reads. We speak in the words taught by
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the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
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I've mentioned a few times that I'm losing my vision.
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I like to think of it as a seeing eye God.
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The Spirit is my seeing eye God. I want to follow the spirit as
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if I was using a dog to help me move forward and see.
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In verse 14, he says The natural man receiveth not the things of
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the spirit. You know, if we are being filled
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with pride, if we're being selfish, we are not going to be
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able to hear this sweet spirit whispering quietly in our mind.
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Unless we are approaching the Lord with meekness and humility,
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we aren't going to hear the Lord.
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As Elder Bednar recently quoted Elder Scott.
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If we've got a jalapeno of anger and pride, we're not going to
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get the whole message Continuing on.
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Now in chapter 2, verse 16 of First Corinthians, we read who
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hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?
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And that is very similar also to what he said in Romans.
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You know, we see so many overlaps in these epistles,
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which helps identify these are written by Paul.
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First three now continues on in the NIV brothers and sisters I
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could not address to you as people who live by the Spirit,
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but as people who are still worldly.
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You're infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food.
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And he said you're you're not progressing, you're just acting
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like a baby in your spiritual development.
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Please, please move forward and in First Corinthians chapter 3,
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verse 4 to 15 he then moves on to another idea of building the
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church on Jesus's foundation and the six.
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He says I planted Apollo's watered but it's God that gave
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the increase. It's again this beautiful image
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of our faith is growing and it all comes from the Spirit of
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Christ. Verse 11 says for other
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foundation can no man lay Then that is laid which is of Jesus
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Christ and our Savior talked about this need for a firm
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foundation of the on revelation. And then Paul again is preaching
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the same teachings our Savior taught.
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Paul is not starting Christianity.
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That is a very common thing right now amongst theologians
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and biblical scholars that Christianity was formed and
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developed by Pauline doctrines. No it was not.
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If we go back to the original writings and we look at Paul in
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its entirety, he is teaching Christ and he is preaching
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Christ's doctrine. And we have interpreted Paul in
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many Christian denominations differently than I believe what
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was intended by Christ. Let's move ahead now to First
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Corinthians chapter 3, from verses 16 to 21.
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He talks about the fact that we are temples of God.
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And I chose this beautiful blueprint of the Oakland temple
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because my grandpa was so influential in helping the land
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of this temple that this is very meaningful to me, that the
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construction of a temple is what's happening with all of us
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as disciples of Christ. We are as if a blueprint and
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we're having to be built and we need to add firm structures and
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we need to add and beautify so that we can become temples of
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Christ. Verse 16 says no, you, not that
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you are the temples of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth
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in you. So how is our body a temple if
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it is the place where the Spirit of God can dwell?
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Because a temple is a House of God, and if the Spirit can dwell
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with us then we become a House of God.
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He continues on in the same thing in chapter 4 verses one
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through 5. Being servants of Christ.
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He said regardless as servants of Christ, as stewards of the
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mysteries of gods, I love the image of a steward.
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You know it's not a slave. You're you're an heir.
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But you are given an assignment, you are giving a calling, and
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you have to take responsibility for it.
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I felt like all of my children were stewards to me, that God
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loaned them to me, that I was to be a missionary to them and
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raise them in the love of the gospel.
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I feel my church callings are stewardships, that I have the
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responsibility to nurture this soil and to plant my sweet
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primary children. And the mysteries of God are the
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things. Perhaps talking about the
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temple, I'm not sure. But we know that Paul had all of
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the ordinances. We read them all over his
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gospels. For example, in Chapter 11 we're
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going to talk about during special prayers, women veil
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their faces. He talked about in First Peter
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there's an eternal marriage where couples become joint heirs
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of Christ. In this very book, First
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Corinthians chapter 15, he talks about baptisms of the dead and
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as we read Ephesians and Hebrews and the Epistles of First John
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in the Book of Revelation, it talks about washings and
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anointings and clothings and receiving new names.
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I'm wondering if that word mystery is being used for the
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ordinances that we refer to as sacred temple covenants.
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The word mystery is translated as a secret of an initiation
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that is absolutely necessary. We also learned that not only
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did Joseph Smith say that Paul had and the endowment and the
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ordinances, but the early church Saints had all of their
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covenants that we now have restored.
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Again, Chapter 4 in First Corinthians reads in the ESV in
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verse two. It is required for stewards that
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they be found faithful and motives of their heart.
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I love this. It's not just faithful in our
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actions. I can't just show up to church
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and think I'm checking the box. It has to be with a pure and
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humble and meek heart as I go before that sacrament table.
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It has to be a humble and pure heart as I go ministering and as
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I serve in my home. It has to be that our motives
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are to serve God with meekness and humility and charity.
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He continues on in the next portion of First Corinthians
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chapter 4, verses 6 to 13, to ask us to not to be so proud and
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not to be so judgmental. There's obviously real problems
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in the church here. And he says in verse seven of
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chapter 4 in the BSB, who made you so superior?
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What do you have that you did not receive?
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You know nothing. Nothing that you have is is is
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yours alone. It's it's from God.
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These are all gifts of God. Don't think that you're so
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great. Verse 11 continues on in the
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NIV. We go hungry and thirsty.
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We're in rags. We are brutally treated.
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We are homeless. Then he skips down to verse 13.
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When we are cursed, we bless. When we're persecuted, we endure
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it. When we are slandered, we answer
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kindly and he's teaching us how to be peacemakers.
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Our prophet has given us a whole sermon in General Conference of
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2023 on becoming peacemakers, Chapter 4, verse 14 reads in the
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Ivy. I am writing this not to shame
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you, but to warn you, my dear children, Skipping down to verse
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17. I have sent to you Timothy, my
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son, whom I love and who is faithful in the Lord.
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He will remind you of the way of life in Christ.
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And we have a change of subject in chapter 5.
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And now he's going to address the problems with the sexual
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sins which are just saturated. The area of Corinth.
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Chapter 5, verse one through 6, talks about fornication.
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I remember the word fornication is poor NIA, and it includes all
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sorts of immoral behaviors. And that's I think where our
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root for pornography comes from. They're all breaking the law of
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chastity and in verse one of the NIV it reads, it's actually
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reported to me that there is sexual immorality among you.
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Paul addresses 2 problems on either end of the spectrum of
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this. Initially he talks here in
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chapter 5 about these libertines who says love is you can do
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anything you want, love is completely free, there's no
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responsibility. And then he addresses in Chapter
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7 those people that say never touch the body.
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One of my favorite verses in all of First Corinthians is chapter
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5, verse seven, and he makes this beautiful analogy of Jesus
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Christ as the symbol of the Passover lamb.
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Now I know we talked about this at the Last Supper.
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I know we talked about this at the death and resurrection, but
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I just am thrilled that Paul talks about it here.
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He says for Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
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That's the NIV. This idea of the sacrifice of
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God as the Lamb of God is also consistent with the vocabulary
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in the Book of Mormon. In chapter six, he gets angry at
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them going to law, he said. Why are you suing yourselves?
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Why can't you become mutual enough to work things out?
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Can't you give up some of your highminded ways and can you work
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things out? Can you compromise and can you
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learn how to have mutuality? He says the very fact that you
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have lawsuits among you means that you yourselves cheat and do
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wrong even against your own brothers, meaning your own
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fellow Saints in the gospel. This is the BSB translation.
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These lawsuits are a real problem.
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And he says, I expect you to someday to be able to judge.
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And so how can I expect you to be a judge if you can't even
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work out and be a mediator in your communities?
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He says in verses two and three of chapter 6.
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Do you know that the Saints shall judge the world?
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And if the world should be judged by you, are you unworthy
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to even judge the smallest matters?
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Know ye not that ye shall judge angels.
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It's just beautiful. He continues on in verses 9 to
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11 in First Corinthians in the BSB, the wicked will not inherit
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the Kingdom of God. But you were washed.
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You were sanctified. No, when we are washed and
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anointed, we are made holy. Sanctified is the word for holy,
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and I believe that this refers not only to our baptism, but our
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initiations in the temple, our initiatories, that allow us to
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have this cleansing of the Spirit again to be made clean.
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Verse 12 in First Corinthians chapter 6 reads.
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Some of you say we can do anything we want, and in the CEV
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translation, the common English version, it reads, But I tell
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you, not everything is good for us.
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Food for the belly and belly for foods.
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And then in a very literal translation of the BLB, it
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reads. But God will destroy both, you
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know, he say stop arguing about if it's kosher, if you can eat
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pork, if you can eat this meat that was sacrifice to idols.
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The arguing is more of a problem.
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And I feel the same way about so many things.
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Even amongst my own dearly beloved friends who believe the
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Book of Mormon, if you're going to argue about archaeology and
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geography, you're arguing about the wrong things.
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The text is to bring us to Christ.
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We're not going to argue about where Zara Hamlet is.
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We're going to come unto Christ and say let's all repent and
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let's all help and serve each other.
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It also appears that at this time there was some sort of a
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scandal about fornication in the church.
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And so First Corinthians Chapter 6 leaves the lawsuits now and
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goes back to the problems with sexual immorality.
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And then that will continue on through Chapter 7.
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Chapter 6, verse 13, reads the body is not intended for sexual
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immorality, but for the Lord. That's the BSB.
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He's saying freedom does not mean license to do whatever one
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wants without obligations, you know, But coming into Christ,
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we're getting, we're getting freedom from our sins and we're
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getting the ability to repent. But does does the fact that we
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can repent means that we don't have to take any responsibility
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for obeying God's laws? No.
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You know, continuing on in verse 15, the BSB, it says, do you
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know that your bodies are members of Christ?
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You know, he's bought us, he's paid for us, He's suffered for
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our sins. Skipping 40 says, shall I then
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and then to verse 20, unite them with a prostitute.
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Never. You were bought with a price.
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I want to go back and read verse 19, though, because he repeats
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again something he had in chapter 3, and I think he's
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repeating it for emphasis. This is one of his major themes.
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He wants to bring it home, he reads.
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Know ye not that ye are Your body is the temple of the Holy
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Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
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own. And he's trying to say, how can
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you be defining your body? Those of us that don't control
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our appetites, whether it's food or passions or or our tongues,
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we are not receiving all that Christ has for us.
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The natural man is an enemy to God.
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Section 88 repeats the same thing.
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Actually, this was repeated not only in Section 88, but again at
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the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in Section 109.
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The Lord wants us to learn this, that your incomings may be in
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the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of
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the Lord, that all your salutations may be in the name
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of the Lord with uplifted hands under the Most High.
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He's referring to the fact that everything we need to do needs
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to be in the name of the Lord. It's not only our baptism
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covenant, not our temple covenants, but it is a
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discipleship is something that we need to put on now.
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In chapter seven we begin the second-half of the epistles
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where now Paul is answering their questions.
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And you know when the questions come because Paul often repeats
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the phrase now concerning and I've got these here in Chapter
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7, verse one now concerning marriage and divorce, and then
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in verse 25, virginity, chapter 8, verse one, foods offered to
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idols and then chapter 12 and 16.
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We'll talk all about those next week, but sometimes he changed
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subjects without saying. Now concerning, like in Chapter
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7, verse 17, he's going to talk about being called on a mission
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and what's our status. And you'll see others as well in
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Chapter 9 and 11 and 15. So let's start with the first
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question, Answer Chapter 7, verse one.
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And 1st Corinthians. And the Joseph Smith translation
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adds a helpful little addition here, but it's also found in
24:29
many of the modern translations. Now concerning the things where
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of ye wrote unto me saying, And now we get their question, which
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is very helpful. This is not Paul's idea.
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This is their miss idea. Is it good for a man not to
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touch a woman? Now he's talking about this
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antiphysical, the aesthetics. This is a Greek and Roman
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philosophy that had percolated down into the church in a very
24:55
unhealthy fashion. He's just going to talk about
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sexual relations. And in Chapter 7, verse two in
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the JST, he says, nevertheless, I say to avoid fornication, let
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every man have his own wife and every woman have her own
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husband. He, you know, he's saying
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marriage is good. And if you read all of the
25:16
corpus of the New Testament together, and of course the Old
25:19
Testament, we have this overwhelming witnesses that
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marriage is good. You know, there's no celibacy in
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early Christianity. It's not till the 4th century
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that they start talking about it and it's not made a law for the
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priest in the Catholic faith until 1000, years after Christ.
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This is not part of the early Christian teachings.
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This was added on over arguments about property.
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I I studied a lot of Catholic history.
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This is not something that was originally part of early
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Christianity. So he starts with a question and
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gives the answer. And then First Corinthians
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Chapter 7, verse five, the Joseph Smith translation adds a
25:53
very important word. Depart not from.
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Then we continue on with the King James the other, except it
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be with consent from a time to come together again that Satan
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may not tempt you with your inconsistency.
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He's saying it's not good for husband and wives to live apart.
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Now you can have a consent for a time.
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And he's going to talk a lot about missionary service.
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You talked about himself being being removed from his wife for
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a time. We don't know exactly Paul's
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marriage situation now, but we know he was married before.
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He talks about it in another epistle.
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It's actually he talks about it in this epistle too, but not
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right here. So he said there can be a time
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when there's a period of consent when you're separated, but only
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for a short time. And their missions usually were
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not as long as Paul's missions are.
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We do not know what the question the answer was talking about,
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but in First Corinthians Chapter 7, verse eight, it appears that
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they're talking about going on missions.
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He says now to the unmarried and the widows, as I am now.
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This is the BSB translation. Is he talking about that he is a
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widow, or that he is unmarried, or that he is serving without
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his family? Right now we don't know, but the
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early Saints did know. In verse nine he says.
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But if they cannot, and then the Joe Smith translation ads abide,
27:07
let them marry. This is back to King James, for
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it is better to marry than Joseph Smith translation ads
27:13
that any should commit sin. You know, he's constantly saying
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we need to live the law of chastity and we are made mortal
27:22
bodies to be married. It is good to be together.
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It is good to have a husband and wife.
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And remember they were getting married very young and these
27:30
people are teenagers when they're married.
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And he's saying stay with your wife.
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So they were serving missions after they were married.
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He then addresses divorce in Chapter 7, verses 10 through 11.
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And the NIV, he reads, a wife must not separate herself from
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her husband, but if she does, she must remain unmarried or
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else become reconciled to her husband.
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A husband must not divorce his wife.
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Remember, in this period of time the average Greek and Roman had
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four to five divorces each, men and women, and it was just
28:01
flagrantly had a lot of relationships intimately without
28:05
being married. And it was an awfully immoral
28:08
time. And so Paul is addressing him,
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and he's saying it's much better to stay married.
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He's going to talk about divorce later.
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And he gives exceptions. And he says if someone leaves,
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you don't need to feel guilt. I want you to feel peace.
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It's not, it's not bad. Stay connected to God.
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You can do this. You can do this.
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You know, marriage was very difficult in a world, especially
28:27
in Corinth, where people had such very difficult views of
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morality to deal with. And in verse 12 to 16 of chapter
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seven, he then talks about marriages between people of
28:39
different faith traditions. He says if a brother or a wife.
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So he's talking about people who are converts.
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A woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to
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live with her. She shouldn't divorce him.
28:54
This is the NIV. Just because someone doesn't
28:56
believe in your faith traditions doesn't mean you need to have a
28:59
divorce. If someone doesn't have your
29:01
faith, traditions means you need to work things out if you can
29:07
continue on. In verse 14 he says that the
29:10
sanctification of a believing wife helps.
29:14
You know this is beautiful. He says else your children are
29:16
unclean but now they are holy. He said can't you see if if
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you're a a Christian you can bless your unbelieving family
29:26
and stay married for your children's sake if needed, if
29:29
it's right. But he also says there are times
29:32
when it's not right. Verse 15 says if the unbeliever
29:36
leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister
29:40
is not bound in such case and God has called you to live in
29:44
peace. You don't need to feel awful
29:47
remorse and guilt. If an unbelieving spouse leaves,
29:51
you need to maintain your love of Christ.
29:54
Do not allow hatred and anger to take over.
29:58
Get rid of the contention he does a beautiful job.
30:00
Here in First Corinthians Chapter 7 verses 17 to 24 he
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talks about circumcision. Remember, the word circumcision
30:07
often means covenants. But he's not referring to church
30:10
callings when he refers to circumcision.
30:12
So let's just look here at verse 17 of Chapter 7 in the BSB.
30:16
It says each person should live as a believer in whatever
30:20
situation the Lord has assigned them.
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And then skipping down to verse 20 and 21, he says each one
30:26
should remain in the situation where he is in when he's called.
30:30
So if you're called on admission and you're married, stay
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married. If you're called as a single
30:34
man, stay single. You know, he says.
30:36
Were you a slave when you were called?
30:38
Do not let that concern you, but if you can gain your freedom,
30:41
take opportunity. Remember 1/3 of the Roman world
30:45
is living in servitude and the word slave and servant are the
30:47
same word. It's and you're released at age
30:50
30 or 35 if you're Greek or Roman.
30:52
And as a Jew you only serve for seven years.
30:54
It's not like American and the western world for slavery.
30:58
It's much more like the Middle Ages where you had indentured
31:01
servant or something for a period of time to help them get
31:04
back on their feet if they need help.
31:06
But this is very interesting. He's saying if you have a call
31:09
to serve a mission, just stay in whatever place you are.
31:12
Don't change, just stay apart for a short period of time and
31:15
arrange with your wife and your children that you're going to be
31:18
gone for a month or two. And many missions were not as
31:21
long as Paul's. And there was the same way in
31:23
the early church too. You know Joseph seniors first
31:25
mission up to his family is just for a few months, things like
31:28
that. Few weeks actually.
31:30
First continues. Chapter 7, verse 25 to 26 has a
31:32
nice Joseph Smith translation at the end concerning virgins.
31:36
I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment.
31:40
And then in verse 26, this is good for the present distress.
31:43
And then he adds for a man so to remain that he may do greater
31:48
good. Now he's talking about if you
31:52
are engaged, you have a virgin, you need you.
31:55
You're already planned on being married, Try to go out on your
31:59
mission while you're still single.
32:00
But he says in verse 29 in the Joseph translation, I speak unto
32:05
you who are called unto the ministry.
32:07
This is very helpful. Now we understand he's not
32:11
saying celibacy is best. He is saying, if you have a
32:15
mission, call, if you've been called to serve and leave your
32:19
family for. And then the King James
32:21
translation continues This I say, brethren, the time that
32:25
remaineth is but short. That's KJV Short.
32:29
And then he goes back to the Joseph Smith translation, That
32:31
ye shall be sent forth unto the ministry, even goes back to KJV.
32:37
They have wives shall be as they that had none continues on the
32:40
Joe Smith translation. For ye are called and chosen to
32:43
do the Lord's work. This is an enormous, clarifying,
32:48
important understanding. I am so grateful that we have
32:51
the Joe Smith translation here to say no, no, no, no.
32:54
This is not about celibacy. He's arguing these two points.
32:57
Are we supposed to never touch a woman?
32:58
Are we supposed to always touch every woman we want, or man or
33:02
whatever Sexual relations were completely either closed or
33:04
open. He's saying no, no, no, no.
33:06
The answer is the law of chastity.
33:09
The answer is marriage. And sometimes our marriages have
33:13
been broken up because of challenges with mission calls.
33:17
That's ridiculous. Keep yourself engaged.
33:21
Keep yourself married, but continue to serve the Lord.
33:24
And if you're a slave, try to receive your freedom.
33:27
Try to work for freedom. Verse 36 says if any man
33:31
thinketh that he behaved himself uncommonly towards his virgin,
33:34
that means they're engaged. The Joe Smith adds that whom he
33:37
hath espoused, and then continuing it back to King
33:40
James, let him do what he And then the Joseph Smith
33:43
translation adds, hath promised. He said not let him marry.
33:49
You know, follow through with your promises.
33:51
If you're engaged, follow through Chapter 7, verse 38 and
33:55
the NIV reads, he who marries the virgin does right, but he
34:00
who does not marry her does better.
34:02
Joseph has already explained that if you can serve your
34:06
mission without your spouse, it's easier now.
34:09
Remember, the men are under 20 years old, usually when they're
34:13
engaged. They're usually under 18 when
34:15
they're engaged. The girls are usually under 12
34:17
1/2 when they're engaged. These are very young and he's
34:19
saying go out and serve. You can get married a little bit
34:23
later, and then Paul turns to give advice for widows.
34:26
And this is Chapter 7, verse 39 in The Niva.
34:30
Woman is free to marry anyone she wishes, but she must belong
34:34
to the Lord. This is a dramatic departure
34:39
from arranged marriages. In the Greco Roman world they
34:41
arranged marriages. In the Judaic world they
34:43
arranged marriages. And here he's saying if a woman
34:47
is a widow, she can choose who she wants to marry, she can
34:51
choose to stay a widow, or she can choose to marry again.
34:54
We are also blessed to have teachings from modern prophets
34:57
on marriage, and I'd like to read from section 49, verse 15.
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Whosoever forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for
35:04
marriage is ordained of God. But Joseph taught this in March
35:08
of 1831. I don't know if you remember
35:09
he's the church is being taken to the Shakers and they believe
35:13
that celibacy was the best way to live.
35:16
There was a congregation not too far from Kirtland at this time,
35:19
so he's telling them no marriage is ordained of God.
35:23
Paul wasn't saying what we've misunderstood him to say.
35:27
Go back and read the Greek, read the Joseph Smith translation and
35:30
that is where we are ending in the bottom of Chapter 7 and the
35:33
rest of the First Corinthians continues to answer these other
35:37
questions that they asked Paul and his letter is just a Q&A and
35:43
we don't know all the questions, that we don't know all of his
35:45
answers. We don't know the perspective.
35:47
It's a difficult book, but usually we can find it by
35:51
comparing and contrasting across all of the polling corpus and
35:56
modern revelation. I also believe that before our
35:58
scripture study, when we start with prayer, we can ask the Lord
36:02
to teach us what is right to teach us truth, especially on
36:07
marriage and matters of morality.
36:09
I feel our generation is almost as confused as the Greco Romans
36:13
and we need God's help. May we receive God's help in all
36:17
of our scripture studies and all of our walks of life.
36:20
I pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior.
36:25
Amen.