 Hi everyone, I'm just recording this video for us to catch up on the content because we'd fallen a little bit behind from a few weeks ago when I had to cancel class. So I'll take us through some of the chapters till the end of first Corinthians. I'll cover in this video and then we'll do another video for second Corinthians. So before we begin, let me just open us in prayer. Father, we just thank you that you are the author of Scripture, that, Lord, you are the one who inspired what was written. And even as we look at your word, we just ask Holy Spirit that you would move in our midst, that you would inspire us in new ways, that you would reveal yourself to us, that you would open our eyes to see you, to know you more, to love you and experience you more powerfully in our lives, Lord. We ask you to just expand our understanding of who you are through this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So we'll go from first Corinthians chapter 15 verses 35 onwards. I'll just read from verse 35 to 49. But someone will say, how are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come? Foolish one. What you sow is not made alive until it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow. That body that shall be but mere grain. Perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases and to each seed its own body. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption. It is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonour. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written. The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust. And as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. So here Paul is going further in his explanation of the resurrection. We saw in our previous class that people were questioning whether there is resurrection. And so Paul was first affirming that we can look forward to future resurrection where we will be raised from the dead to live with Christ for eternity. And so now he is answering seemingly another question that the people had, which is what kind of body will we have when we are raised from the dead? And he talks about the difference between the body that we will have in the new life in eternity versus the bodies that we have at present, whereas our present bodies are made of dust. They are corruptible. They are natural and they are mortal, that is, they have the ability to die. Our future bodies will be a body that is incorruptible, that will be raised in honor, that will be without weakness, and that will be a spiritual body, not a natural body. And so we see this also in 1 John 3-2 where it says, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So we will have those immortal, incorruptible, spiritual bodies that are raised in glory and raised in power as Jesus's body was raised. So that's what we see covered here in these verses. Paul then goes on verses 50 to 58. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall he be brought to pass the saying that it is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So the apostle completes his teaching on the resurrection, pointing to the return of Christ, to take his people to be with him. This is similar to what he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4 as well. He says, at that moment, for those of us who are alive in an instant, we will have resurrected bodies. Death will be overcome. God himself will grant us this victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse 58, let's just look at that verse 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. So knowing that we are no longer going to be in these bodies and this life in this body on the earth is just a temporary place for us. And that we have this hope of a future that is eternal in the presence of God. He says, we can live our present lives being steadfast. So remaining strong in the Lord, not being tossed around by teaching that is upsetting as this teaching was, but always abounding, continuing to do the work of the Lord. So focusing on our labor, focusing on continuing to serve the Lord, not being distracted by wrong teaching, not being distracted by the world, but staying on track with the Lord because we know that eternity, that hope, that is us in Christ. So with that we move into chapter 16. So we come to the close of Corinthians here because Paul has addressed all of the issues that were problems in the church. He has also answered questions that the people had and now he just presents some closing thoughts before he closes his letter to them. So we'll read from verses one to four, chapter 16. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there may be no collections when I come. And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. So we see here Paul reminding them of a collection that he had already asked them to take for the church in Jerusalem, most likely because of the famine that was there. We read about this in Acts 11, 27 to 30. And also the church in Jerusalem was taking care of a large number of widows. So we see here in these verses the responsibility of the church to take care of those in need within God's church. So this church in Corinth is being encouraged to support the church in Jerusalem because the church in Jerusalem is in a time of need. And that is something that we see in Jesus's ministry as well. Jesus also cared for the needs of people. And he ministered to them physically as well. So in the same way, this is an encouragement for us as churches today to give towards material needs of people. So apart from taking the gospel, to also recognize the physical needs of people to be ministering to those physical needs. James 1, 27 is another example of this where we read from their pure and undefiled religion, before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. So we see this meeting the needs of those who are in some way less less, less fortunate in a sense that they are not, they don't have the support of a family source of people who are taking care of them. And so the church steps in and takes care of these people in need. And then we see in verse three, let me just read verse three for us. And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. So he recognizes that this gift will be a work of grace. So the word gift here is a Greek word, and which means grace. So it is a work of grace to be able to share what we have been blessed with, with others. And then he says, if it's fitting, I will, they will, he would also go with them. So they were meeting. Now we see on the first day of the week, they were no longer meeting on the Sabbath as was the practice of the Jews. And we see here Paul, his wisdom in handling money that the people who were being chosen were being chosen by the church. And no one then could accuse Paul of misappropriating the money because they, they would have people that they themselves are sending to take the gift to Jerusalem. So a lesson for us as ministers to handle money in a way that is wise and responsible and be able to keep ourselves from any kind of questionable behavior when it comes to dealing with money. So let's go on from there versus five to 12. Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, for I'm passing through Macedonia. And it may be that I will remain or even spend the winter with you that you may send me on my journey wherever I go. For I do not wish to see you now on the way, but I hope to stay a while with you if the Lord permits. But I will tarry in Ephesus until Pentecost for a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries. And if Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear, for he does the work of the Lord as I also do. Therefore, let no one despise him, but send him on his journey in peace that he may come to me for I'm waiting for him with the brethren. Now concerning our brother, Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time. However, he will come when he has a convenient time. So here we see Paul sharing about his travel plans. He was at Ephesus when he was writing the letter to the Corinthians and he planned to stay on in Ephesus until the Feast of the Pentecost. Feast of the Pentecost was 50 days after the Feast of the Passover. It was sometime in May or June in our calendars. And so he was planning to stay until that time in Ephesus and then go to Corinth to spend some time with the believers there. But at the same time, he says in verse 7, he says, if the Lord permits learning to submit his plans to the leading of the Holy Spirit, that it was not his own plan that would be done, but as the Holy Spirit allowed and as the Holy Spirit led him. We go on from there to verse 9. For a great and effective door has opened to me and there are many adversaries. So we see here when he was in Ephesus, there is an account in Acts 19 of the challenges that he was facing there. And he recognized that God was at work even in the midst of those challenges. He recognized that there was opportunity for him to be reaching people and he didn't let the challenges he was facing or the people who were coming against him stand in the way of the work that he would do. In the same way, that is something for us to recognize that when there is an opportune moment to serve God, we step into those moments. We don't let those moments go by, those opportunities go by. At the same time, just because we see that it is an open door from God, it doesn't mean that there will not be challenges, there will not be adversaries, there will not be people who come against us and so even in that for us to continue strong in the work. Verses 10 and 11. If Timothy comes, see that he may be with you without fear for he does the work of the Lord. So here we see him commending Timothy to them encouraging a younger worker. So as someone who was experienced as someone who had mentored Timothy, he could stand up and say these things about Timothy to the church so that Timothy had his backing before the church and also the church was being told to not intimidate Timothy because Timothy was a younger person, but to respect him and honor him as Paul's fellow worker. And then he says, do not let no one despise him, but send him on his journey in peace so that he may come to me for I'm waiting for him here. And then we see in verse 12 where he talks also about Apollos, another younger minister and here Paul shows that he doesn't exercise any kind of control over Apollos. He encourages him to come, but when Apollos is unwilling, he allows him to make his own decision in that. So how as senior ministers and senior leaders, how we should, we can learn from Paul's example of both encouraging younger leaders, of standing by them, of supporting them with words of encouragement, with words of commendation to the church on their behalf. And then also how we can not take a place of control over younger leaders, we can encourage them, we can direct them, but then we leave it up to them to decide where they should serve, how they should serve. And finally Paul ends with these with words of exhortation in verse 13 to 14, watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong, let all that you do be done with love. We see a lot of military words that Paul uses here, the word watch means to be vigilant, to be on your guard against the enemy. Just as Matthew 2641 also teaches us to watch and pray so we do not fall into temptation. And one Peter 5.8 says be sober and vigilant because we have an adversity who is looking for opportunities to take advantage of us. In the same way Paul is encouraging them to be on guard, to stay awake, to be vigilant. He also says stand fast in the faith, that is stand firm in what you believe. So in military terms, that means even if the enemy is coming against you, you don't retreat, you don't step out of your rank or step out of your position, you all stay close together and stay firm. He says be brave means it's a word that's only used once here in the New Testament and literally means to act like a man, which means even in when you are being attacked to stay your ground, to resist, to continue to press forward, conquer in spite of the adversity you're facing. Be strong, so continue to increase in strength, continue to stay fit yourself so that you can conquer, so that you can continue to remain in this battle without giving up, without losing ground. And then finally he concludes with let all that you do be done in love, to remind them of what he has said in 1 Corinthians that all that we do must be grounded in love because that is what gives what we are doing, purpose gives it effectiveness and allows us to actually bear fruit for God. We move on 15 to 18. I urge you brethren, you know the household of Stephanists that it is the first fruits of Achaia and they had voted themselves a ministry of the saints that you also submit to such and to everyone who works in labors with us. I'm glad about the coming of Stephanists, Fortunatis and Akkis who for what was lacking on your part they supplied for they refreshed my spirit and yours therefore acknowledge such men. So he's referring to a few people from the church who had gone from the church to to meet with Paul and these some of the first believers in Corinth, Stephanists and Fortunatis and Akkis may have been servants from his household who had gone with him. So Paul commends these people as some of the initial believers and instructs Corinthian believers to honor them because they were the leaders within the church. We look at then final greetings from verses 19 to 24. The churches of Asia greet you, Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord with the church that is in their house. All the brethren greet you, greet one another with a holy kiss. The salutation with my own hand Paul's. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be cursed. O Lord come, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen. And so here he's just closing with greetings from the churches that he is visiting and ministering at that time and the leaders Aquila and Priscilla and also from the church that meets at their house sending greetings to them because the churches were house churches at that time. So greet one another with a holy kiss was a cultural practice not something that we continue to practice in the church today. It is similar to the head covering. So something that they were doing commonly in their culture but what we can learn from that is to be able to express that brotherly and sisterly love to one another in the church in a way that is appropriate in our cultures. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus let him be a cursed. So a reminder that we are not only to love our fellow believers but we are to love Jesus first and if we do not love Jesus then we are to be cursed that is the opposite of being blessed. So whereas if we love the Lord Jesus we receive blessings that are ours in Christ. If we choose to hate Jesus we choose not to love him then we will be in a place of being under curses rather than the blessings of Jesus and he closes with O Lord come which is the term is maranata. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus amen. So he closes although this letter has a lot of correction a lot of rebuke a lot of exhortation he reminds them that all of this is coming from his love for the church and for the people and he closes with this affirmation of his love for them. So I'll end this video and we'll do another video starting with 2nd Corinthians. Thank you.