 let's pray and then we'll get started. Let's pray. Let's look to the Lord at this time. Father, we thank you that you are ever-present, that you're always there and you are with us today, Lord. And even as we look into your Word, Father God, I pray that, Spirit of God, that you will open our eyes to see the truth that's in Scripture. And I just pray that you will enable us, empower us, Lord, to be doers of your Word, Father God. Enable us to apply what we see, what we learn. God, what you teach us in our daily lives, Father God. And so we just want to commit ourselves and we commit this term, this course into your mighty hands. We pray that you'll continue to lead us and reveal great and wonderful things that are there in your Word that only you can reveal to our hearts, God. And we just want to give you all the praise. I commit this class into your mighty hands. I pray that you'll be with each and every person here. And I pray, God, that you will work out every challenge that is in their lives, Lord. And I just pray that you'll give them hearts and minds to look to you and to focus on you and your Word, God. We thank you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Okay, so one Corinthians. So we're going to be looking at first and second Corinthians in the coming days. And this first we look at one Corinthians and that's the note that we've uploaded also. So you can take a look at it and follow through. So it's going to be a verse by verse study. I can say that it's, it's going to be very interesting. And even as we go verse by verse, I'm sure that the Lord will reveal wonderful things. We want to look at some of the words that are there. We're going to look at the historical background of the episode. So definitely it's going to be a meaningful time as we journey through Corinthians, right? So, so let's get started. If you have your notes, you can open up and follow through. Okay. So we see, we read about this place, Corinth, we see Paul writes two epistles to the Corinthians. And in, in Corinthians, we see that a lot of instructions, right? Paul writes a lot of instructions. He gives certain revelations about his own experience that we see in second Corinthians. We see he writes about his own experience. He writes about how a church should function. And we see all those, all those principles that he, Paul, laying down in, in the book of Corinthians in both the epistles. So it's, it's quite valuable for a person who is getting trained for ministry, because Paul writes from a lot of experience and by the wisdom and revelation of the Holy Spirit. And he writes to the church, and he sees certain things not in place. And he writes to them. And he says, Okay, this is how it should be. And so on. Okay, so we start right at the beginning. If you look at the city, okay, the place Corinth, Corinth is, we see that it was ancient city, city that is a port city. And it is, it was established by Julius Caesar on an ancient site in a BC, BC 44. Right. So it became the capital of the Roman province of Acaya, and a lot of renovation, a lot of rebuilding, but really a thriving place, a place that was thriving during Paul's time, commercially, okay, which means there was a lot of business, a lot of trade that was happening. So it was, it was thriving. And also, it had a multicultural kind of a population there. And we also, when we, when we read, we see that it was also a place, when you read about Corinth, you see that it was also a place which had, which was hedonistic, in the sense, you know, they were very, it was a very permissive society, a permissive society, meaning that they were quite liberal in their views with regard to their sexuality, with regard to their worship. They had, they worshiped, for example, they worshiped Aphrodite, they had temples of worship for these two deities, deities that is Apollo and Aphrodite. And Aphrodite was supposed to be a goddess of Greek goddess of love. So they had this temple built on the highest place on the land known as Acro Corinth, built on a hill. And it had, it was supposed to be a place of, where people went and they were also, you know, they were having all kinds of immoral activities as part of worship. So you can imagine the kind of place it was, the kind of culture and the kind of values that people had, right? So, so that, that was the kind of place to which Paul went and he established the church. So when we, when we study about, you know, when we read about all this, then we are really able to appreciate the kind of ministry and the kind of work that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to do in such a place. You know, many, many times we look at, you know, our own cities and our own cultures and we say, you know, can God do something, can, can really, can, can people be saved in this kind of an environment? You know, we, we think about all that. But when we look at Corinth, we see that it was what you would call a sin city, you know, very permissive culture, very immoral lifestyles, very values and everything, very, very, very different, very moral, very permissive, right? And in such a place, Paul goes and he establishes the church right there. Okay, so let's read through some portion of scripture from the book of Acts, right? So Corinth is mentioned in the book of Acts as one of the places that Paul travels to and stays there and establishes the church. Okay, so when we read Acts chapter 15, that is where we read about Paul's second missionary journey. Okay, so Acts 15 and maybe we should look at verse 36, right? So I'm just going to read through a few verses here and mention a few things and then move on. Okay, skip a few verses also. So Acts chapter 15, if you have your Bibles, verse 36. Okay, so then after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let us go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing. Okay, so that's how the whole missionary journey starts. So he has this discussion with Barnabas and he says, okay, let's go. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark and Paul was against taking John Mark because John Mark was, of course, Barnabas is a relative nephew and John Mark actually, if you read the verse before that, you see that he left. He actually left them on their mission and they do go on their first missionary journey. So he didn't continue with them. So Paul was actually against taking John Mark. So they had this argument and then Barnabas and John Mark leave separately. They go to Cyprus and Paul takes Silas and they go on their second missionary journey. Okay, so let me just present a map of the second missionary journey. Okay, just a minute. You can see that, I think. Right, so we see from Antioch. So Antioch is where they start. So you see that on the right hand side corner Antioch in Syria and then they start the journey. So Paul and Silas, they travel from there. Okay, so chapter 16, Acts chapter 16, we read about Paul and Silas traveling from Antioch going to Derby and in Derby Paul meets Timothy. He hears about Timothy and has a good reputation. So this is what is written about Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed that his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at and Iconium. Okay, so you see Lystra and Iconium close to Derby on the right hand side corner. You see that Derby, then Lystra, then Iconium. So Timothy was from Derby and these are all places which are close to Derby. So they knew about the people in Iconium and Lystra knew about Timothy. So they go through these cities, they talk to the people and just before this they had the Council, Jerusalem Council, people to the Gentile churches. They had actually written the letter saying that, okay, this is what you need to do. You don't need to be circumcised. You don't need to keep the law of Moses and then, so that letter which was given, they went and announced that, they taught that and they moved on. Okay, so we see that they go to the Galatian region, then they go to Truas and then from there to Neopolis and from there to Philippi. So we see all that mentioned in the Acts chapter 16. As we go through Acts chapter 16, then we see that we know about that incident in Philippi where they were jailed and there was an earthquake and the jailer and his family gets saved and so on. So we read that in Acts chapter 16 and that happens in Philippi. From Philippi, we read this in chapter 17 of the Book of Acts. They move on to Amphipolis and Apollonia, then they come to Thessalonica. You see those places. Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia, Thessalonica. In Thessalonica also they go and they preach in the synagogues and there's some persecution and from there they move to Berea. Now in Acts chapter 17, you read about people in Berea where they heard the message. I hope you can hear me. Yeah, so from Berea, he goes on to Athens and from Athens to Corinth. Okay, so let's read chapter 17 and verse 16. Okay, so verse 16, he's in Athens and he's actually waiting for Timothy and Silas to join him. Okay, because there's a lot of persecution happening right from Philippi, Thessalonica and Paul is actually sent onward. So he sails and comes on to this place, Athens and he's waiting for Timothy and Silas to join him. Okay, let me just, okay. Oh, you want this slide to be there in the stream? Sure, yeah. Sure, I can do that. Okay, so they come to Athens and we read about in chapter 17 and verse 16 onwards, we read about what happens in Athens. Okay, so Paul has this, he meets this, he comes to the place, he is provoked, we see that the city is given over to idols and so he goes and he of course goes and reasoned with the Jews and the synagogue and also in the marketplace. He talks to them, he engages with them and then shares the gospel to them and so on. So from there, he moves on to Corinth. Okay, so in Corinth, he meets Priscilla and Achila. Okay, if you look at Acts chapter 18 and verse two, we see that he found a certain Jew named Achila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them and they were of the same trade, they were all tent makers, so they kind of rejoined them and he worked alongside them and he would also go to the synagogues, share the gospel and every Sabbath he would do that and then Silas and Timothy, they come, they join Paul and Paul testifies everywhere that Jesus is the Christ. Okay, so he faces opposition and from there he moves on. So in Corinth, verse 11, okay, Acts chapter 18 and verse 11, we see that he continued there for about a year and a half. So a year and six months, he is there in Corinth and he's teaching. Okay, let's read about that, the kind of ministry that he did in Corinth. Okay, let's read from verse five, Acts chapter 18 and verse five. Okay, we see Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles and he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justice, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Then, Christmas, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. Do not be afraid but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you for I have many people in this city. So the Lord was specifically, he has this encounter with the Lord and the Lord encourages him and gives him that instruction. No one will hurt you, I have many people in this city and I am with you and no one will attack you. So he's encouraged verse 11 and he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. When Galio was proconsul of Akhaya, the Jews, then we read about some confusion that happened there, the persecution that happened there and so on. But Paul continues to stay there verse 18. So Paul still remained a good while, then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria and Priscilla and Akhila were with him. So from there he moves on to Syria and then from there he goes to Centuria and then comes to Ephesus. Now at Ephesus he again ministers there but he spends a short time there in Ephesus and from there he goes to Caesarea and then goes to another Antioch. Antioch and Caesarea and then goes on to Galatia and so on. So he moves on but we see that he comes to Ephesus again Acts chapter 19. When Apollos is at Corinth, Paul having passed to the upper regions came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, then he talks to them about the Holy Spirit, he prays with them and they get filled with the Spirit and so on. So we read that in Ephesus he was there for about two and a half years almost three years. He is there in Ephesus and it is from Ephesus that Paul writes the letter to the Corinthians. So he gets news about what is happening in Corinth and then he writes. So he is actually in Ephesus when he writes the letter to the Corinthians. So we see that Paul writes from Ephesus, he writes to the this first episode to the Corinthians was written from Paul to the Corinthian church in Ephesus. Now Paul also addresses a few things here as he writes to the Corinthian church and as we read through chapters one we see you know the based on what he is actually writing, what he is teaching, what he is setting right, we are able to understand the kind of issues or the kind of problems or the challenges that the church has been having. So when we read through we also understand that Paul spent about 18 months in Corinth and in those 18 months the church had really become a very vibrant church. We get to see that also because based on what he is actually teaching them, he is teaching them about the gifts we will read about that. He is teaching them about the gifts, he is teaching them about how to properly administer the gifts and the proper foundation for the gifts and so on. So we see that in those 18 months the church had actually moved from just by believing in the Lord Jesus to really he had actually taught them about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he had taught them about the use of the gifts and many of them were moving in the gifts so we read about all that. So we also know that even though it was a vibrant church it had challenges, it had problems. It had problems like division, like people were one against the other. It had problems like of a very grave nature in the sense that there were people living immoral lifestyles and particularly one person continuing to live a immoral life and then he addresses that and it admonishes and also we read that he has to take a very difficult decision to put that person out of the fellowship of the church. So we read all about that. So from this I just wanted to share that whenever we see Paul addressing certain things we know that this church has that particular challenge or is going through that thing or maybe some kind of difficulty of that nature and that is why Paul is writing to address it. So let's move on to the first chapter of Corinthians and so this was probably written around AD 58 or AD 59 and the timeline is that probably around, see he was there in Ephesus for about three and a half years here about one and a half years so maybe about even about seven years after establishing the church. So these are just approximations so we don't know the exact dates or exact timeline but these are approximately it could be around this time so AD 58, AD 59 is when he addresses, he writes the letter and so he's writing the letter from Ephesus. So let's look at chapter one chapter one verse one. So what I'll do is I'll read the verse and then we'll talk about it and then move on to the next verse and talk a little more about that okay. So verse one okay Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sostenus our brother to the church of God which is at Corinth to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ okay so so Paul identifies himself as the author at the beginning of the letter you know normally when we write letters in our day and time we would sign off right we would we would of course address the people who were to whom we are writing like suppose I were to write a letter to Thomas I would say hello Thomas the audio Thomas how are you and then at the end of the letter I would say you know okay regards best regards or sincerely and I would put my name there so we see that you know this is the way in which these epistles were written where the author most of the times more author would identify you know oneself right in the greetings itself so so here Paul is saying Paul called to be an apostle through the will of God and Sostenus our brother so he also mentions Sostenus who's another person who's with him and and if we see here Sostenus is also most likely right he was the person who was mentioned in Acts chapter 18 and verse 17 so Acts chapter 18 and verse 17 we read about you know most probably it was the same Sostenus okay so because it's a church at Corinth right so verse 17 Acts chapter 18 and verse 17 says then all the Greek took Sostenus the ruler of the synagogue and beat him before the judgment seat but Galio took no notice of these things so you know there was this confusion there was this persecution because the Jews all rose up they were very envious of the ministry of Paul and so on so Sostenus is mentioned there as a ruler as one of the leaders of the synagogue there so most probably this Sostenus that Paul is referring to could be the same person maybe this person became member of of Paul's ministry team and traveled with Paul we don't know most likely right so Sostenus is mentioned there so Paul along with Sostenus so he says he's called to be an apostle right so Apostolus which means a sent one called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God so it's not something that he took up when we read about Paul we know that it's not something that he took up on his own it's not some venture that he said oh it's a great idea but he was called right through his encounter on the road to Damascus we know that he was called he was prepared by the Lord for this for this calling the calling was given by the Lord so we learn we understand something about ministry about the call and that it is the will of God right whether he calls us to be an apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher or you know not necessarily the five-fold ministry but maybe in the marketplace whatever it is it is the the will of God right it is a plan and purpose of God it's not something that we take for ourselves it's not something that we we decide of our own it is the will and purpose of God okay so what else do we see we see that he's writing to the church at Corinth okay and the word used there is ecclesia okay ecclesia meaning the sent out ones to the church at Corinth it's the ecclesia the ones who are called out okay not sent out sorry the ones who are called out and who gather together for a purpose okay so so when we look at again just to remind ourselves ecclesia the church it does not mean the physical place but the people of God because he's writing to the believers the church at Corinth the ecclesia at Corinth okay and he also mentions who are those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus okay set apart in Christ Jesus the the Greek word that he uses there is Haggidzo meaning set apart consecrated okay and called to be saints meaning the set apart ones Haggios he uses the word Haggios called to be saints okay so another clarification there is that you know many times we use the word saints as a title right he is a saint of God she is a saint of God saints are the word saint is used as a title a title and sometimes in the you know in a in a different background like a catholic church it's definitely used as a as a title and it's something that that is given or conferred by the pope and so on right but yeah originally you know if you look at the meaning of saints it's just means it just means that saints are the set apart ones the ones who are set apart consecrated okay so his his call is addressing the letter to the church the believers at Corinth to those who are sanctified set apart in Christ Jesus with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours so saying it's not confined just for Corinth but to the saints right who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus so which means that even in our day and time today it is applicable for us so the truth in this epistle in this scripture is applicable for us as well okay right so call to be said let's read verse 3 grace you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ now this was a typical greeting if you look at you know second Corinthians if you see Paul has the same kind of greetings it was a typical way by which he greeted the people you know second Corinthians verse 2 grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ Galatians grace to you and peace from God our Father the Lord Jesus Christ if you look at Ephesians again grace to you and so you see that this was a typical way of Paul greeting the believers but also the fact that this grace and peace was something that had that had really made a mark in his life or he had received a revelation about the grace of God about the peace that comes from God so he was just declaring it over the people to whoever he was writing to he would say okay let the grace of God grace to you and peace from God how may you experience the grace and the Greek word Charis okay which means divine favor divine enablement right and also divine character and of course gifts okay so four things favor from God divine enablement or empowering by the Holy Spirit divine empowerment it also means divine character divine virtues values character and divine gifts right so it's an it's an all-in-compassing word just like sozo right when we talk about salvation sozo which means healing forgiveness prosperity deliverance and so on so Charis which talks about the grace of God which talks about the enablement of God the gifts of God and the favor from God and so he's saying grace to you and peace peace meaning Irene Irene harmony and security and safety and prosperity and and total well-being you know something like Shalom not exactly that but similar to that because Shalom is a Hebrew word and Irene is a Greek word so he's declaring this and let it be to you in the from our father and the Lord Jesus Christ okay so so this is what the greeting that he starts off with okay so let's read from verse four four to nine okay I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus that you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance and all knowledge even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you so that you come short in no gift eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord okay so he is uh he's thanking God he was for saying I thank my God concerning you for the grace which was given to you by Christ Jesus okay and he says I thank my God always concerning you which means that you know he he just didn't plant the church and then move but he was actually praying for them he was thanking God for them the believers at Corinth you know maybe the leaders that he spent time he spent a time about one and a half years with them so they were in there they were in his thoughts they were in his prayers and he would thank the Lord for them and he says you know I thank always concerning you and and also he also talks about the grace of God which was given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ there is so we need to talk about something you know that there is the general grace of God okay the grace of God the carous which is given for all of us as believers you know we receive this unmerited favor from God we receive this the enablement from God right but also we need to know that there is that special grace of God which is given to us in order to fulfill the call of God okay maybe because the call of God is different for each of us as believers and God's grace is specific to that call for for example if you look at Romans 12 and verse 13 okay let's quickly turn there Romans 12 and verse 3 sorry Romans 12 and verse 3 um the Paul writes and he says for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who is among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith so he's here referring to himself his ministry and he's saying that through the grace given to me through this grace that was given to me I to everyone you know I say to everyone I address everyone and I'm saying that you know do not think yourself highly more highly than you ought to right we think soberly right he says this in a several other places also like if you look at Ephesians 3 and verse 3 Ephesians 3 and verse 3 um how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery as I've all as I've briefly written already so Paul was actually used by God in a special way to write two-thirds of the New Testament right of scripture so the foundation doctrines and so on and and revelation about the cross and the grace of God and and all that God used him so there was this special grace that was available on Paul that he wrote this there was grace available or released by God upon his life to go to the Gentiles just as there was a specific grace upon Peter to go to the Jews right so so we need to understand that there is the general grace and the special specific grace of God and so to enable us to do what we have been called to do so he's talking about that he always says I always thank God concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you so he saying I'm aware of the grace of God I recognize the grace of God which has been given to you and I want to I want I thank God always verse 5 that you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance and all knowledge okay so so Paul is saying that you were actually made you were enriched or you were made wealthy and he's referring to all the spiritual wealth and the material wealth and it was all because of the grace of God and it was all because of the Lord Jesus and he's saying that you know the the utterance and the knowledge and everything that that they had later we see in in 12 13 14 chapters 12 13 and 14 you see that Paul writing about the gifts right so probably the the way he's saying the utterance maybe he's referring to the gifts there it could be that because he also says that you know that they come short in no gift right versus six and so on so so Paul is saying you know he's saying he's thanking God because they were enriched in everything enriched in all knowledge enriched in all utterance and and and saying that you know in verses six he says even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you right the fact that the evidence that was given the evidence that Christ is Lord was confirmed in you there was test that the the testimony of Christ the gospel of Christ that came to the evidence was actually confirmed in you right make firm established and secure in you right so that in the sense that you saw it you saw that it was true you saw that it was it was confirmed it was established and there were seven he says that so that you come short in no gift okay so the gospel of God the gospel of Christ it was preached they received it and they were enriched in all knowledge and utterance and the gospel of Christ the gospel came with power and came with demonstration of the Holy Spirit and verse seven he says so that you come short in no gift okay so so we we we see that they had no lack when it came to spiritual knowledge when it came to spiritual experience of the Holy Spirit okay they came short in no gift is what he mentions here and see some of the things that we need to understand is that the Corinthian church had a lot of problems okay they had a lot of challenges immaturity division you know fighting and and Paul you know later he writes he calls them you know I I could not speak to you as a mature people but I had to speak to you as babes because you are carnal so they had all these challenges but we see that they did have the manifestation of the Holy Spirit that is these gifts and and they moved powerfully in it there and all of them they came short in no gift meaning they know they they pursued they received and they moved in it so so the thing is not for us not to be confused you know we a person can be gifted a group of people can be moving in the gifts and at the same time there can be immaturity as well okay so we know that the gifts of God are received by faith right and when it comes to character you know it's an everyday choice it's an everyday decision that it's it's a choice that we make to obey God to obey his instructions and it's a moment by moment day to day thing okay so how we live our lives and two neat and both needs to go hand in hand both need to go hand in hand right we we will read later and I'm sure you know it's just a reiteration of what you know already Paul writes and he says pursue love and desire spiritual gifts spiritual gifts referring to the you know gifts of grace and which is freely given pursue love loving God loving people character right it talks about the character so one on one side is talking about the gifts of the spirit on the other side is talking about the fruit of the Holy Spirit and both we need pursue love desire spiritual gifts okay so the fact is that well there could be maturity but that should not stop us from pursuing both right pursuing love of God and the gifts okay so then verse nine God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ all Lord so we have been called as people as followers of Christ we have been called first of all we have been called into the fellowship of God uh cohenonia you know to share to to be with to uh to pour out our hearts um so that is what we have called to you know that friendship that partnership that closeness for each one of us for every believer okay this is for every believer we have been called for that we've been called to that and it is the right and privilege of every believer because God is a faithful God and this faithful God has invited us to this place okay one thing that we um okay so the question is is it possible that they could have gifts even when they are not mature yet so this this group of people is a classic example of that they were carnal as we are going to read now um they were carnal and yet they were gifted right so it is possible so when we see people of God when we see churches moving in the gifts and yet uh you know having these problems uh of immaturity uh that that just means that they need to move consciously and uh be mature in Christ okay so that doesn't mean that I need to leave out the other thing and hold on to one thing we need both okay so yes it is possible Prince it is possible for people to you know just go after the things of God the power the gifts and because you receive by faith and God is a faithful God he does give um but he expects us to grow in Christ's likeness and come to a place of maturity of being uh like like Jesus that is right okay so he's called us into this fellowship first and foremost you know we're not yes we are you know one thing to note is that he's called us to this fellowship uh with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit we are called to that fellowship first and foremost and then the fellowship with people okay so this is a fellowship that we are called to this is a fellowship that we can enjoy this is a fellowship that we are invited to and uses that word quinonia okay which means communion or sharing friendship partnership okay so it's wonderful to know that God has called us for this partnership that God has called us for this friendship that he has called us for this close friendship it's available for us he's invited us to this okay okay um let's uh move on to verse 10 um okay any questions before we probably will end this session um with this but any any questions from what we have read so far um from the verses that we have seen so far any are there any questions any doubts any clarifications okay uh if there's nothing okay if there's anything you can always put it in the chat right okay so let's look at to uh let's just read through verses 10 to 17 and um let's let's read through those verses now I plead with you brethren by this by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment for it has been declared to me concerning you my brethren by those of Chloe's household that there are contentions among you now I say this that each of you says I am of Paul or I am of or I am of Apollos or I am of Cephas or I am of Christ is Christ divided was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of Paul I thank God that I baptized none of you except Christmas and Gaius lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name yes I also baptized the household of stiffness besides I do not know whether I baptize any other for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel not with words of wisdom lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect okay so here when we read through the verses we get the first glimpse of what was the challenge what was actually going on in the church so we see the church all mentioning that it was brilliant I mean brilliant in a sense a thriving vibrant church he says you come short in no gift you are enriched in all knowledge and on all utterance and he's thanking God for the grace of God that was given to them okay and here he starts by addressing them and he's requesting them he says you know I plead with you okay it's a very strong word I plead with you I urge you right he's is literally begging them okay so we'll take a break and when we come back we'll continue with from verse 10 okay so we'll take a break now