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

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