Caption transcript for In The Footsteps of The Rabbi From Tarsus: “Follow-up to the Thessalonians, and 1 Corinthians” (8/12)

• 00:02 WITH DR. JEFFERY SEIF AND SANDRA LEVITT
• 01:00 A HEARTY SHALOM TO ALL OF YOU.
• 01:01 JEFFERY SEIF HERE WITH MY FRIEND SANDRA LEVITT.
• 01:03 SHALOM
• 01:04 AND WELCOME BACK
• 01:05 TO "IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS."
• 01:08 OF COURSE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PAUL.
• 01:09 WE'RE LOOKING AT SOME MORE OF HIS PARCHMENTS THIS WEEK.
• 01:12 CORINTHIANS, 2ND THESSALONIANS.
• 01:14 YES, IN FACT IN THE THESSALONIAN CORRESPONDENCE,
• 01:17 WE'RE WALKING INTO THE FOOTSTEPS OF PAUL'S DISCIPLES
• 01:20 WHO ARE ACCORDING TO CHAPTER 1, VERSE 7, TROUBLED.
• 01:24 TROUBLED.
• 01:24 YOU EVER BEEN THERE BEFORE?
• 01:26 ONCE OR TWICE.
• 01:27 NOT LOOKING FOR TOO MUCH PERSONAL DISCLOSURE
• 01:29 ON NATIONAL TELEVISION. NO.
• 01:31 BUT THE GUT LEVEL TRUTH IS THAT WE ALL HAVE OUR TROUBLES.
• 01:34 JEWISH EXPRESSION,
• 01:35 "YOU GOT TROUBLE LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE TROUBLES."
• 01:36 THESE PEOPLE REALLY ARE TROUBLED, THAT'S RIGHT THEY ARE TROUBLED.
• 01:39 BECAUSE THEY'RE BEING PERSECUTED.
• 01:40 BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THERE'S SOMEONE WHO LOVES THEM, PAUL.
• 01:42 AND SO HE GOES TO SHARE WITH THEM.
• 01:44 AND IT'S GOOD WHEN WE'RE IN TROUBLE
• 01:46 TO GET A LITTLE HELP FROM SOME FRIENDS, DON'T YOU THINK?
• 01:49 WELL, BUT HE ENCOURAGES THEM.
• 01:50 HE TELLS THEM IT'S OK, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE PERSECUTIONS.
• 01:52 PLEASE KNOW THAT.
• 01:54 IT'S OK, YOU'LL GET THROUGH IT.
• 01:55 THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, BE STRONG.
• 01:57 ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAD THEM BEFUDDLED TOO,
• 02:00 WAS THE FACT THAT THEY FELT THE END OF THE WORLD WAS AT HAND
• 02:03 AND THEY WERE CONFUSED ESCHATOLOGICALLY.
• 02:06 WE DON'T HAVE THAT PROBLEM TODAY, DO WE?
• 02:07 NO, OH NO.
• 02:09 WE ALL KNOW THAT WE'RE ALL PRE-TRIBS.
• 02:10 RIGHT.
• 02:12 I FIND IT FASCINATING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE UNFOLDING OF THE WORD
• 02:15 THERE'S CONFUSION ABOUT THE ENDGAME IN HUMAN EXPERIENCE,
• 02:19 BIBLE PROPHECY, IN MUCH THE SAME WAY TODAY,
• 02:21 THERE'S ALL KINDS OF COMPETING VISIONS AND CONFUSION AND EVERYTHING.
• 02:25 OH, IS THE END NOW?
• 02:27 IS THE END GONNA BE IN THE MIDDLE?
• 02:28 IS THE END GONNA BE AT THE END?
• 02:30 THERE IS, THERE ALWAYS IS A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE END TIMES
• 02:33 AND PAUL GIVES THE CLEAR SIGNS AGAIN, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN.
• 02:36 AND HOW BOUT THAT WE WHO WANNA KNOW THE END
• 02:39 DECIDE TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING. AMEN
• 02:42 AND WE LET OURSELVES BE INSTRUCTED BY THE SAGE RABBI.
• 02:45 WE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS
• 02:48 AND SEE WHAT WE CAN LEARN.
• 02:49 ABSOLUTELY.
• 02:50 HERE IS JEFF AND HE'S TEACHING AGAIN.
• 02:51 WE'RE IN ATHENS.
• 02:54 PAUL, THE APOSTLE HAD CITIZENSHIP IN TWO WORLDS.
• 03:01 WE KNOW THAT HE HAS ROOTS IN BIBLICAL ISRAELITE CULTURE ON THE ONE HAND,
• 03:06 ON THE OTHER HAND HE BELONGED TO ROME AND HE WAS PROUD OF IT.
• 03:12 AND ROME WAS THE GRANDCHILD OF GREECE.
• 03:18 AND HERE WE ARE IN ATHENS.
• 03:22 ATHENS WAS A CITY IN ITS GLORY WHEN PAUL WALKED ATOP THESE ROCKS SOME 2000 YEARS AGO,
• 03:29 DURING WHICH TIME HIS HEART WAS STIRRED WITHIN HIM.
• 03:33 IN FACT, HIS HEART WAS STIRRED BEFORE HE GOT HERE,
• 03:36 BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT HE WAS IN EFFECT KICKED OUT OF THESSALONICA.
• 03:40 HE LEFT IN HASTE AND THERE WAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
• 03:43 HIS HEART REMAINED THERE AND SO WHEN HE HEARD WORD THERE ABOUT DIFFICULTIES, HE WROTE BACK.
• 03:49 HE WROTE 1ST THESSALONIANS TO ENCOURAGE THE CHURCH IN PART, BECAUSE THEY WERE SUFFERING.
• 03:55 AND NOT JUST SUFFERING IN GENERAL,
• 03:57 BUT THERE'S AN ARGUMENT THAT SOME EVEN DIED IN PERSECUTION.
• 04:01 IN FACT, PAUL ADDRESSED THAT ISSUE WHEN HE WROTE THEM THE 1ST LETTER IN 1ST THESSALONIANS,
• 04:07 WHICH HE ARGUABLY WROTE FROM HERE, FROM ATHENS.
• 04:12 PAUL WROTE THEM AND ENCOURAGED THEM IN THEIR FAITH.
• 04:15 AND HE NOTED THOSE WHO HAD FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST, THOSE WHO HAD DIED.
• 04:19 HE SAYS IN VERSE 13 OF THE 4TH CHAPTER,
• 04:35 IT SEEMS HOWEVER THAT AFTER WRITING THE FIRST LETTER
• 04:38 THAT THERE WAS SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
• 04:41 THERE SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN SOME CONFUSION AS WELL
• 04:43 PROMPTING PAUL TO WRITE BACK A 2ND LETTER FROM HERE
• 04:48 AND IF NOT FROM HERE IN ATHENS SPECIFICALLY,
• 04:51 HE AT LEAST WROTE FROM PROXIMITY TO HERE,
• 04:54 IN ORDER TO CLEAR UP SOME CONFUSION. IT WAS LEFT OVER FROM HIS 1ST LETTER.
• 04:59 IT SEEMED TO ME THAT THE THESSALONIANS WERE CONCERNED.
• 05:03 PAUL SPOKE ABOUT DEATH, PAUL SPOKE ABOUT THE COMING OF THE LORD
• 05:07 AND IT WAS CONFUSION ABOUT WHAT IT ALL MEANT.
• 05:10 PROMPTING HIM TO WRITE IN THE 2ND CHAPTER, IN THE 1ST VERSE HE SAYS,
• 05:30 IT'S STRIKING AT ONE LEVEL THAT AS PAUL IS IN AND AROUND ATHENS
• 05:34 AND HE'S THINKING ABOUT THE CHURCH IN THESSALONICA.
• 05:37 HE'S CONCERNED BECAUSE THEY'RE CONCERNED WHY THERE'S CONFUSION
• 05:41 ABOUT HOW HISTORY'S GONNA PLAY ITSELF OUT,
• 05:43 PROMPTING CALLED PAUL TO SPELL IT OUT THE MORE SO.
• 05:46 AND HERE HE TALKS TO THEM ABOUT ISSUES GERMANE TO CHRIST'S 2ND COMING.
• 05:50 AND IT'S INTERESTING, EVEN AS MUCH AS THERE'S CONFUSION TODAY IT SEEMS THAT YESTERDAY,
• 05:54 IN FACT AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH
• 05:57 IT WAS CONFUSION ABOUT HOW THE ENDGAME WAS GONNA PLAY ITSELF OUT.
• 06:00 PROMPTING PAUL TO SPELL IT OUT FOR THEM,
• 06:03 WHICH HE DOES HERE WHEN HE WRITES TO THE THESSALONIANS, HERE IN 2ND THESSALONIANS.
• 06:15 IT'S CALLED THE ERECHTHEION.
• 06:16 ARGUABLY THE PLACE, WELL ACCORDING THE MYTHOLOGY
• 06:19 WHERE ATHENA FOUGHT POSEIDON FOR ATHENS.
• 06:24 AND THERE'S A TEMPLE BUILT OVER THE SPOT TO COMMEMORATE THAT VICTORY.
• 06:30 PAUL WRITES FROM ATHENS TO THE THESSALONIANS
• 06:35 AND IN HIS 2ND CORRESPONDENCE TO THE THESSALONIANS
• 06:40 HE WRITES THEM ABOUT ANOTHER TEMPLE, NOT THIS ONE.
• 06:44 HE WRITES THEM ABOUT A DESECRATION OF A TEMPLE.
• 06:46 WHY?
• 06:48 BECAUSE, THE THESSALONIANS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT LIFE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GRAVE.
• 06:53 AND WHAT WILL BE TRANSACTED AT THE END OF TIME
• 06:56 AS CHRISTIANS ARE TRANSPORTED AWAY TO THEIR ETERNAL HOME RIGHT AT THE EDGE OF HISTORY.
• 07:01 HE IS TALKING ABOUT EVIL THINGS AT DAYS END IN 2ND THESSALONIANS.
• 07:08 HE EXHORTS THEM IN CHAPTER 2, VERSE 3,
• 07:21 PAUL ENVISIONS A WORLD WHERE THINGS GO BAD.
• 07:23 HE SEES DEFILEMENT IN THE WORLD.
• 07:26 THIS MAY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT HAVE BEEN STIMULATED THE MORE SO
• 07:30 BY VIRTUE OF HIS RECENT EXPERIENCES IN ATHENS,
• 07:33 WHERE HE'S SEEN ALL KINDS OF PAGAN WORSHIP.
• 07:36 LUKE ALREADY TELLS US THAT HE'S TROUBLED IN SPIRIT BECAUSE OF IT ALL.
• 07:40 DOES HE SEE THAT BIBLICAL WORSHIP'S GONNA BE OVER RUN BY PAGAN
• 07:44 AND EVIL THINGS THAT SEEMS THAT HE DOES?
• 07:48 HE SAY'S THERE'S A FALLING AWAY AND THEN HE SAYS THAT THERE'S THIS PERSONALITY WHO EMERGES,
• 07:53 WHO ACCORDING TO PAUL:
• 08:08 FOR ME IT'S STRIKING IN PART THAT PAUL WOULD BE SPEAKING THIS WAY.
• 08:11 IN PART BECAUSE THE LANDSCAPE AROUND ATHENS IS DOTTED BY TEMPLES,
• 08:15 THAT ARE SEATS TO VARIOUS DEITIES AND FOR HIM
• 08:17 THIS EPITOMIZES WHAT THE ANTI-MESSIAH WILL DO AT DAYS END,
• 08:23 COME AND CLAIM THAT HE'S GOD.
• 08:25 BUT HERE HE HAS IN MIND, NOT SO MUCH THE WORSHIP FACILITIES BEHIND ME.
• 08:30 AND BY THE WAY I'M COMING TO YOU FROM THE ACROPOLIS IN THE PARTHENONS CLOSE TO ME.
• 08:37 THIS IS THE MAJOR SIGHT OF GREEK INFLUENCE AND PHILOSOPHY IN THE WORLD.
• 08:42 WHEN PAUL TALKS ABOUT A TEMPLE GOING BAD HE'S NOT SPEAKING ABOUT SIGHTS HERE,
• 08:46 HIS SIGHTS ARE SET ON THE JEWISH WORLD WHERE THE TEMPLE STANDS.
• 08:50 AND HE SEES A GREAT DEFILEMENT AT DAYS END.
• 08:53 AND HE WARNS THE THESSALONIANS TO BE EVER IN THE READY,
• 08:57 TO BE WALKING WITH THE LORD SUCH THAT AS HISTORY UNFOLDS
• 09:02 THEY MIGHT NOT CONCEIVABLY GET SWEPT AWAY IN DELUSION AND DECEPTION.
• 09:07 IT SEEMS TO ME IT'S A GOOD WORD FOR TODAY AS WELL.
• 09:09 PAUL SAID THIS AND OTHER THINGS AS WELL.
• 09:12 AND OF COURSE WE'LL WELL SERVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE TEACHINGS OF THIS MAN.
• 09:15 AS WE WALK IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 09:31 A PICTURE TELLS A THOUSAND WORDS.
• 09:35 AND IF YOU LOVE THE ON LOCATION PICTURES
• 09:37 AS WE'RE WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS,
• 09:41 THEN YOU WILL LOVE OUR 12 PROGRAM, 3 DVD SET
• 09:47 WHEREIN WE GIVE TO YOU THE WHOLE PACKAGE.
• 09:50 YOU CAN WALK WITH US IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF PAUL.
• 09:52 IF YOU'D LIKE TO WALK WITH US DOWN LIFE'S HIGHWAY:
• 09:55 1-800-WONDERS IS THE NUMBER TO CALL.
• 09:59 YOU CAN GET OUR FREE LEVITT LETTER, OUR MAGAZINE.
• 10:02 YOU CAN ORDER THE DVD SERIES AND MORE.
• 10:06 AND IF YOU'D LIKE TO TRAVEL WITH US TO JEWISH LANDS, ISRAEL,
• 10:10 AND TO LANDS WHERE PAUL TRAVELED IN GREECE.
• 10:16 AS GORGEOUS AND AS MUCH AS I LIKE GREECE I DON'T EVER WANNA FORGET MY FIRST LOVE
• 10:22 AND MY FIRST LOVE IS ISRAEL.
• 10:24 I LOVE SHOWING YOU ISRAEL, JEFF AND I WOULD LOVE TO SHOW YOU ISRAEL, IT'S JUST MY HEART.
• 10:28 I HOPE YOU DON'T LET OUR GUIDE GINA HEAR YOU TALK LIKE THAT.
• 10:32 SHE KNOWS HOW MUCH I LOVE ISRAEL,
• 10:33 EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW MUCH I LOVE ISRAEL.
• 10:35 I JUST LOVE GETTING INTO THE BIBLICAL DRAMA
• 10:37 AND ESCORTING PEOPLE THERE TO THE GREATEST STORY IN THE WORLD.
• 10:40 WELL AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CORINTH.
• 10:42 YOU'RE GONNA DO SOME TEACHING FROM CORINTH AND IT'S WONDERFUL.
• 10:44 I LOVE IN 2ND THESSALONIANS
• 10:46 WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT PAUL AND THE BRETHREN.
• 10:48 HE SAYS IN 2ND THESSALONIANS 3:13,
• 10:51 "BE YE BRETHREN, BE NOT WEARY IN DOING GOOD, KEEP ON GOING."
• 10:57 WE'VE GOT INSTRUCTIONS RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF US.
• 10:59 WHAT? PEOPLE RUN OUTTA STEAM?
• 11:01 THEY GET TIRED.
• 11:03 YOU KNOW THE WORD ENCOURAGE MEANS TO BREATHE COURAGE IN.
• 11:06 SOMETIMES PEOPLE CAN BECOME DISTRAUGHT.
• 11:09 WELL THINK ABOUT IT,
• 11:10 YOU BECOME A NEW BELIEVER AND YOU'RE A CHURCH
• 11:13 AND FALSE TEACHING COMES IN AND YOU'RE NOT REALLY STRONG, YOU'VE GOT TO GET STRONG.
• 11:17 HE'S GIVING THEM INSTRUCTIONS.
• 11:18 LET'S LISTEN TO YOU IN CORINTH.
• 11:20 HERE'S JEFF IN CORINTH.
• 11:24 WELCOME TO ANCIENT CORINTH,
• 11:27 WHERE ANCIENT WORLDS COLLIDED AND WHERE PEOPLE COLLIDED WITHIN THOSE WORLDS.
• 11:35 EVIDENCE OF THIS MULTICULTURAL ENVIRONMENT IS STILL GLEAMED FROM THIS SIGHT
• 11:42 2000 YEARS AFTER THE BIBLICAL STORY WAS PLAYED OUT HERE.
• 11:45 EVEN IT EXTENDS WAY BEYOND THAT, WE HAVE THE ONCE GREAT TEMPLE TO APOLLOS TO MY WEST.
• 11:53 WE HAVE A SANCTUARY TO MY EAST WHERE THE GREEKS WERE LOOKING OVER TO THE EDGE OF LIFE,
• 12:02 OVER THE EDGE IN FACT TO THE GRAVE.
• 12:04 YOU CAN SEE A LAUREL WREATH
• 12:06 WHERE A FERRYMAN IS TENDERING A BOAT TO TAKE THE DEAD TO HADES.
• 12:13 WE CAN FIND JUST TO MY NORTH WHAT WAS THE SIGHT OF THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITES.
• 12:22 JUST STRAIGHT AWAY IS THE IONIAN SEA WHICH TOOK SAILERS DUE WEST TO ITALY.
• 12:28 AND THEN NOT FAR FROM HERE THERE'S A PORT WHERE ANCIENT CORINTH COULD
• 12:34 IN A REASONABLY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME GET CONNECTED TO THE AEGEAN SEA.
• 12:39 AND BY VIRTUE OF THAT ASIA MINOR AND POINTS EAST.
• 12:43 CORINTH, IT WAS A VAST CITY.
• 12:46 A FEW HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE LIVED HERE.
• 12:49 AND IT'S ESTIMATED BY SOME THAT 200,000 OF THEM WERE JEWS.
• 12:54 ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE CAME TO THIS PLACE AND ALL KINDS OF IDEAS WERE REPRESENTED IN THIS PLACE.
• 13:01 ON PAUL'S 2ND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, PAUL INJECTED A NEW WAY OF THINKING INTO THIS WORLD,
• 13:09 AS HE, WE'RE TOLD IN ACTS CHAPTER 18, HE MADE HIS WAY TO CORINTH AFTER ATHENS.
• 13:16 AND THERE HE WE'RE TOLD ENTERED INTO A SYNAGOGUE.
• 13:20 HE ALWAYS COULD GET A SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT.
• 13:23 HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE PERUSHIM, THE PHARISEES, SO HE COULD GET INVITED IN,
• 13:26 BUT THEN HE TAUGHT STRANGE NEW THINGS AND INVOKED THE IRE OF SOME BY VIRTUE OF HIS SO DOING.
• 13:32 STILL PROMINENT JEWS HAD COME TO FAITH AND LUKE TELLS US THAT THE HEAD,
• 13:38 ZEKENIM, THE HEAD ELDER OF THE SYNAGOGUE, THE ARCH SYNAGAGOS,
• 13:43 TO USE A GREEK EXPRESSION HAD COME TO FAITH AS WELL.
• 13:46 CREATING QUITE A STIR I'D IMAGINE.
• 13:48 SO PAUL AS HIS CUSTOM WAS HE GOES INTO SYNAGOGUES AND PEOPLE COME TO FAITH IN HIM,
• 13:56 BUT THEN THERE'S QUITE A STIR.
• 13:58 WELL, HE LABORED FOR THE BETTER PART OF 18 MONTHS HERE IN CORINTH
• 14:02 TO ESTABLISH A CONGREGATION, BUT THEN HE MOVES ON DOWN THE ROAD
• 14:07 AND HE WRITES THIS DOCUMENT CALLED 1ST CORINTHIANS FROM THE CITY OF EPHESUS.
• 14:15 WE'VE TAKEN YOU THERE.
• 14:16 YOU'LL SEE EPHESUS IN ALL OF IT'S ANCIENT GRANDEUR AS WELL.
• 14:20 WELL WHAT HAPPENS IS PAUL GETS WORD.
• 14:24 WE'RE TOLD IN 1ST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 1, VERSE 11,
• 14:27 THAT MEMBERS FROM CLOE'S HOUSEHOLD, PROBABLY A LEADING MEMBER OF A CONGREGATION HERE,
• 14:33 HAD GOTTEN THE OFF TO PAUL THAT THINGS HAVE CRATERED IN CORINTH.
• 14:37 PAUL WAS VERY DISCONCERTED THAT NOT EVERYONE WAS MINDED TO RESPOND TO HIS AUTHORITY.
• 14:43 SOME SAID I BELONG TO PAUL, SOME SAID BELONG TO APPOLOS,
• 14:47 A NOTE WORTHY TEACHER FROM ALEXANDRIA EGYPT IN ANTIQUITY.
• 14:52 A GUY WHO'D COME TO FAITH IN JESUS.
• 14:54 SOME SAY I BELONG TO PAUL, I BELONG TO APPOLOS,
• 14:56 I BELONG TO THIS AND THAT AND PAUL IS WRAPPED AROUND THE AXLE.
• 15:00 HE IS NOT A HAPPY CAMPER, BECAUSE HIS AUTHORITY HAS BEEN QUESTIONED.
• 15:03 BEYOND THAT, PAUL LEARNS OF SEXUAL IMPROPRIETY THAT IT WAS RIPE IN CORINTH.
• 15:10 IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE AT ONE LEVEL WE'RE ALL WIRED WITH SEXUAL IMPULSES,
• 15:15 BUT THE CORINTHIANS WERE GIVEN TO GIVE FREE VENT TO THEIR INTEREST AND EXPRESSIONS.
• 15:20 THIS IS SO MUCH THE CASE THAT TO REFER TO SOMEONE AS A CORINTHIAN,
• 15:23 WAS IN AFFECT TO SAY THAT THEY WERE LOOSE WITH THEIR SEXUAL FAVORS.
• 15:27 THIS IS MADE POPULAR IN HISTORY
• 15:30 IN FACT BECAUSE OF A TEMPLE THAT I ALLUDED TO EARLIER TO APHRODITES,
• 15:34 WHERE STRABO AN ANCIENT HISTORIAN SAYS,
• 15:37 THERE WERE THE BETTER PART OF 1,000 TEMPLE PROSTITUTES,
• 15:41 THAT USE TO WEAR ON THE HEELS OF THE SHOES A LITTLE SIGN THAT SAID, "FOLLOW ME."
• 15:45 AND THEY'D LEAD PEOPLE OFF TO ATTEND TO THEIR BUSINESS.
• 15:48 WELL THE GREEKS AND THE ROMANS WEREN'T VERY SQUEAMISH ABOUT SEXUALITY
• 15:53 AND HERE IN CORINTH LICENTIOUSNESS SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN CELEBRATED.
• 15:58 SO WHAT HAPPENS IS SOME PEOPLE COME TO FAITH IN JESUS,
• 16:01 BUT THEY'D BRING THEIR OLD WAY OF BEING IN THE NEW ECONOMY.
• 16:04 AND THE NET RESULT IS THAT PAUL DEALS WITH A CHURCH WHERE THERE'S SEXUAL RELATED ISSUES
• 16:09 THAT NEED TO BE ATTENDED TO.
• 16:11 AS IT'S AMPLY REFLECTED IN THIS DOCUMENT THAT WE CALL 1ST CORINTHIANS.
• 16:24 IT WAS A FRACTURED CHURCH, IT WAS A DIVIDED CHURCH.
• 16:28 AND THE BUSINESS OF THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BODY BEING SCATTERED
• 16:32 AND FRACTURED SEEMS AMPLY ATTESTED NOT JUST IN THE VERBIAGE,
• 16:36 IN THE LITERATURE FROM THIS ANCIENT CORINTHIAN DOCUMENT,
• 16:39 BUT EVEN IN CORINTH ITSELF, HERE THERE WAS A SHRINE TO ASCLEPIUS THE GOD OF HEALING.
• 16:46 AND THEREIN THE PEOPLE THAT WERE AFFLICTED WITH SICKNESSES WOULD TAKE A BODY PART THAT WAS ILL
• 16:52 AND THEY WOULD GIVE A CAST OF THAT TO TRY AND GET ATTENTION OF THE GOD
• 16:56 AND SAY LOOK AT THIS BODY PART.
• 16:58 SO THERE ARE A VARIETY OF BODY PARTS THAT WERE UNCOVERED HERE WHEN IT WAS EXCAVATED,
• 17:01 SOME OF WHICH ARE IN FACT ARE BEING DISPLAYED RIGHT NOW.
• 17:04 WELL THE IMAGE OF BODY PARTS SCATTERED ABOUT PAUL USES IT IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE TEXT TO SAY,
• 17:11 DON'T SAY I'M BETTER THAN THIS AND THAT, WE'RE ALL ONE BODY ORGANICALLY LINKED TOGETHER.
• 17:16 OF COURSE PAUL WAS CHALLENGING THAT BODY TO COME TOGETHER
• 17:20 BECAUSE THEY WERE GOING A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
• 17:22 SPEAKING OF DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS PAUL WHO WRITES FROM EPHESUS WAS MINDED TO CROSS THE AEGEAN SEA
• 17:29 AND COME AND SEE THEM, HOWEVER, HE WAS NOT WANTING TO DO SO AT THIS JUNCTURE.
• 17:33 HE WANTED TO GIVE THEM A TENSE LETTER OR REBUKE,
• 17:36 THE KIND OF REBUKE THAT A FATHER WILL GIVE IN ORDER TO TRY AND CORRECT THE WAYWARD CHILDREN.
• 17:42 I LOVE THE WAY HE ENDS AND LET ME END ON THAT NOTE AS WELL.
• 17:45 HE SHARES TRAVEL PLANS HERE IN 1ST CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 16, VERSE 5 HE SAYS,
• 18:03 HE SAYS IN VERSE 7 SOMETHING THAT'S REVEALING I BELIEVE, HE SAYS,
• 18:10 THIS WAS A REBUKE.
• 18:11 THE RABBI FROM TARSUS WAS DISCONCERTED
• 18:14 BY INFORMATION THAT HE RECEIVED RELEVANT TO THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH
• 18:20 AND HE WANTED THEM TO MEND THEIR WAYS IN ORDER THAT WHEN HE CAME TO THEM
• 18:24 HE MIGHT NOT HAVE TO HAVE SUCH A TENSE DISPOSITION,
• 18:27 BUT CAN SHARE SOME OF THE AFFECTION THAT HE WANTED.
• 18:30 WELL IT'S ALL ABOUT GROWING AND GROWING AND HERE PAUL AS WE FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS
• 18:35 WE SEE HIM WRITING, EXHORTING, DISCIPLINING,
• 18:38 BUT LOVING AMIDST IT ALL AS HE LOOKS TO HOW PEOPLE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS.
• 18:44 THIS WE SEE AS WE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 19:00 PAUL DIDN'T HAVE DVDs AND MOVIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, HE HAD TO USE WHAT WAS AVAILABLE TO HIM.
• 19:07 AND HE USED THESE IDOLS THAT THESE PEOPLE MADE
• 19:10 THAT THEY GAVE,
• 19:11 PLEASE HEAL ME IF MY HAND IS HURT OR MY FOOT IS HURT,
• 19:13 THE FRACTURING AND THEN HE TAKES THAT
• 19:15 AND USES IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE.
• 19:17 YEAH THEY HAD CAST OF HANDS AND BODY PARTS. YES, AWFUL.
• 19:19 YOU KNOW PAUL'S USING VISUALS AWFUL.
• 19:22 REMINDS ME OF JESUS WHO SPOKE PARABLES YEAH, RIGHT
• 19:24 AND PAUL USED THE ANALOGY OF THE HUMAN BODY.
• 19:28 NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK, PAUL SAYS HERE
• 19:30 IN THE CORINTHIAN CORRESPONDENCES HE SAYS,
• 19:32 "LISTEN GUYS DON'T BE LIKE THOSE DISMEMBERED PARTS CHOPPED UP."
• 19:35 HAVE WE REALLY HEARD THAT MESSAGE TODAY AND APPLIED IT?
• 19:38 I'M NOT TOO SURE, I DON'T THINK SO.
• 19:40 IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT'S ALL HACKED UP.
• 19:44 FAMILIES ARE HACKED UP, CONGREGATIONS CAN BE HACKED UP.
• 19:48 THE CORINTHIAN COMMUNITY WAS HACKED UP AND PAUL'S TRYING TO GET THEM TOGETHER.
• 19:52 WELL AND THEY'RE A NEW CONGREGATION AS MOST OF THEM WERE,
• 19:55 BUT THEY LET THEMSELVES GET CAUGHT UP IN THE CULTURE OF THE DAY.
• 19:59 AND HERE IS THE CULTURE THAT IS CORINTHIAN, IT IS THE WORST.
• 20:03 IT'S SORT OF LIKE,
• 20:04 "WHAT STAYS, HAPPENS IN CORINTH, STAYS IN CORINTH."
• 20:06 IT WAS NOT A GOOD PLACE TO BE.
• 20:08 AND THEY'RE YOUNG, THEY'RE TRYING,
• 20:09 SO HE'S RIDING IN AND HELPING THEM,
• 20:11 PLEASE UNDERSTAND YOU ARE WHAT YOU ARE.
• 20:14 NOW SPEAK ABOUT UNDERSTANDING, GINA IS... SHE'S ENCYCLOPEDIC OF HER KNOWLEDGE OH, MY.
• 20:20 AND SHE DOES A GREAT JOB OF GETTING US INTO THE GREEK WORLD, DOESN'T SHE?
• 20:24 SHE REALLY DOES.
• 20:25 I KNOW I LEARN SOMETHING FROM HER ALMOST EVERY SINGLE TIME I GO TO GREECE.
• 20:28 HERE IS GINA.
• 20:31 WE ARE IN CORINTH, GREECE.
• 20:34 IN FACT WE'RE NOT VERY FAR FROM THE BEMA,
• 20:36 WHAT WE CALL THE BEMA SEA.
• 20:38 WHAT IS BEHIND US? IT'S THE AGORA. THAT'S, VERY TRUE, THE AGORA.
• 20:40 THE AGORA OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE MARKETPLACE,
• 20:43 THE FORUM TO THE ANCIENT ROMANS,
• 20:46 BUT WE USE TO CALL IT AGORA.
• 20:48 WHICH MEANS A PLACE OF REUNION.
• 20:52 AND A SIMPLE PLACE FOR THE CITIZENS OF AN ANCIENT CITY.
• 20:55 IT HAD A GREAT MEANING, I MEAN IT WAS POLITICAL CENTERED,
• 21:00 IT WAS A SOCIAL CENTER.
• 21:01 THE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF THE CITY WAS THERE ALSO.
• 21:05 AND IT WAS THERE WHERE THE PHILOSOPHERS USE TO GATHER
• 21:09 IN ORDER TO SPEAK IN PUBLIC TO THE CITIZENS OF THE CITIES.
• 21:12 I'M ALSO THINKING THERE WERE SHOPPING,
• 21:14 THERE WERE SHOPS AROUND. I LOVE THE SHOPS
• 21:16 GOLD SHOPS, SILVER SHOPS, POTTERY. YES
• 21:18 YES, BASICALLY POTTERY, BECAUSE POTTERY WAS LOCAL ART OF CORINTH,
• 21:25 BECAUSE OF THE VERY GOOD QUALITY,
• 21:28 THE VERY FINE QUALITY OF CLAY.
• 21:29 THEY CREATED, YOU KNOW THEY STARTED CREATING POTTERY SINCE THE 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.,
• 21:35 THE CORINTHIANS.
• 21:36 AND THEY USE TO TRADE THE VASES.
• 21:38 THE CORINTHIAN VASES BECAME VERY WELL KNOW
• 21:42 ALL THROUGHOUT THE HISTORICAL ERA. RIGHT.
• 21:46 AND WE CAN SEE SOME OF THEM IN THE MUSEUM.
• 21:48 THE PLACE IS LOCATED BETWEEN 2 PORTS.
• 21:51 RIGHT
• 21:53 THE PORT OF CENCHREA ON THIS SIDE ON THE EAST
• 21:56 IN THE SARONIC GULF WHERE THE AEGEAN SEAS.
• 21:59 AND THE PORT OF LECHIUM ON THE WEST WHERE THE CORINTHIAN GULF IS.
• 22:05 SO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT MANY SHIP USE TO COME HERE
• 22:08 AND DOCK AND SPEND A FEW DAYS,
• 22:10 CAPTAINS OF SHIPS AND SAILORS USED TO GO UP TO THE ACROCORINTH
• 22:15 WHERE THIS CENTER OF APHRODITE WAS,
• 22:17 WHERE THE 1,000 PRIESTESSES ARE, YOU KNOW.
• 22:20 AND OF COURSE THE PLACE ITSELF WAS REALLY VERY PROSPEROUS,
• 22:25 BECAUSE OF THE PLAIN OF CORINTH, IT LIES FURTHER DOWN.
• 22:29 IT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT PAUL WOULD'VE SEEN.
• 22:31 HE WOULD'VE SEEN THE COMMERCIAL.
• 22:32 HE WOULD'VE SEEN THE RELIGIOUS.
• 22:34 HE WOULD'VE SEEN THERE'S A SYNAGOGUE HERE.
• 22:36 OF COURSE THERE WAS A SYNAGOGUE.
• 22:38 AND WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVED HERE
• 22:40 AND HOW MANY WERE JEW AND IT WAS...
• 22:41 WITH THE ESTIMATED FIGURE OF THE POPULATION
• 22:45 IS 400,000 OUT OF WHICH 200,000 MUST HAVE BEEN JEWS, RIGHT?
• 22:52 AND THAT'S WHY THERE WAS THIS SYNAGOGUE.
• 22:54 NOW WE HAVE MANY THEORIES
• 22:55 AND WE HAVE MANY SPECULATIONS
• 22:56 ABOUT THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE SYNAGOGUE.
• 22:59 THE GREEK ARCHEOLOGISTS WANTED TO BE OUT OF THE MAIN MARKETPLACE.
• 23:05 SOME OTHERS PREFERRED TO INHABITING THE PORT OF CORINTH
• 23:12 WHERE STILL IT REMAINS UNKNOWN,
• 23:14 THE SIGHT OF THE SYNAGOGUE REMAINS UNKNOWN.
• 23:16 THE ONLY THING THAT WE FOUND SO FAR IS A PART OF A MARBLE,
• 23:22 A PIECE OF MARBLE WHICH BEARS IN GREEK THE INSCRIPTION,...
• 23:26 "HEBREW SYNAGOGUE."
• 23:30 AND OF COURSE ANOTHER PIECE OF MARBLE, BOTH IN THE MUSEUM OF CORINTH,
• 23:35 THAT BEARS THE SIGN OF THE MENORAH.
• 23:49 MUSIC
• 24:35 ZOLA MAKES GREAT MUSIC DOESN'T HE?
• 24:38 AND I THINK THAT GINA AND SANDRA MAKE GREAT MUSIC TOO,
• 24:41 AS WE LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND OF CITY OF CORINTH.
• 24:44 ONE THAT WAS VERY ECLECTIC SOCIALLY AND WE KNOW FROM THE BIBLICAL TEXT
• 24:50 THAT THEY WERE VERY DIVIDED SOCIALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.
• 24:54 NOW WOULD THAT THE LESSON THAT PAUL ADVOCATED FOR YESTERDAY BE LEARNED TODAY.
• 25:01 AND BY THAT I MEAN, PAUL SAYS,
• 25:04 LISTEN AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE'RE ALL ONE BODY, IN 1ST CORINTHIANS 12.
• 25:09 MANY PARTS ONE BODY.
• 25:12 COME ON LET'S GET ALONG.
• 25:15 LET'S PRACTICE SOME GRACE, LET'S LUBRICATE RELATIONSHIPS, LET'S KEEP IT SMOOTH.
• 25:22 IT SEEMS TO ME TODAY THAT INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES OF INDIVIDUALS ARE ALL CHOPPED UP,
• 25:28 BECAUSE WE DON'T DO WHAT THE MAN SAID.
• 25:31 HEAR ME ON THIS, PRACTICE FORGIVENESS, PRACTICE GRACE,
• 25:35 AND THEN YOU'LL FIND YOUR PLACE IN THE BODY THAT PAUL'S TALKING ABOUT HERE IN 1ST CORINTHIANS.
• 25:40 WOW!
• 25:41 THAT IS TERRIFIC.
• 25:43 WELL THANK YOU.
• 25:44 A 30 SECOND SERMON.
• 25:45 THAT IS JUST TERRIFIC,
• 25:46 BUT I ALSO LIKE WHAT PAUL SAYS ABOUT WE HAVE VICTORY.
• 25:47 WE HAVE THE VICTORY OVER DEATH, OVER SIN,
• 25:52 WE HAVE THAT POWER OF VICTORY.
• 25:54 WHY IS IT THAT WE WALK AROUND SO DEFEATED SO OFTEN?
• 25:57 I DON'T KNOW.
• 25:58 WHY IS IT THAT WE AS CHRISTIANS, WE WALK AROUND AND SAY,
• 26:00 (MELANCHOLY) "YES I'M A CHRISTIAN?"
• 26:01 WHY DO WE NOT SAY, (ENTHUSIASTIC) "YES, I'M A CHRISTIAN?"
• 26:04 1ST CORINTHIANS 15 UNDERSCORES
• 26:06 THE TRIUMPH OF GOD IN HUMAN AFFAIRS.
• 26:08 AT THE END OF THE DAY WE ARE SO TRIUMPHANT.
• 26:11 WE ARE.
• 26:12 WE HAVE EVERYTHING TO LIVE FOR, EVERYTHING.
• 26:14 OUR SINS HAVE BEEN PAID FOR, WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE WITH OUR MESSIAH.
• 26:18 THERE IS NOTHING WE SHOULD BE DEFEATED ABOUT EVER.
• 26:22 WELL SPEAKING OF DEFEAT, THAT IS "THE FEET," THE FEET.
• 26:26 WE'RE FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 26:29 AND WE JOURNEY ON BACK TO CORINTHIANS AGAIN
• 26:32 IN THE NOT SO DISTANT FUTURE, WE DO.
• 26:33 TO LOOK AT THAT 2ND EPISTLE.
• 26:34 WE DO, AND I HOPE YOU JOIN US.
• 26:36 AND AS YOU GO.
• 26:37 SHA 'ALU SHALOM YERUSHALAYIM.
• 26:39 PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.