The Holy Bible | 1 CORINTHIANS | Contemporary English (FULL) With Text

Paul's first letter to the church in Corinth first Corinthians 1 from Paul chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and from Sosthenes who is also a follower to God's church in Corinth Christ Jesus chose you to be his very own people and you worship in his name as we and all others do who call him Lord my prayer is that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace I never stopped thanking my God for being kind enough to give you Christ Jesus who helps you speak and understand so well now you are certain that everything we told you about our Lord Jesus Christ is true you are not missing out on any blessings as you wait for him to return and until the day Christ does return he will keep you completely innocent God can be trusted and he chose you to be partners with his son our Lord Jesus Christ my dear friends as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ I beg you to get along with each other don't take sides always try to agree in what you think several people from Chloe's family have already reported to me that you keep arguing with each other they have said that some of you claim to follow me while others claim to follow Apollo sorr Peter or Christ as Christ been divided up was I nailed to a cross for you were you baptized in my name I thank God that I didn't baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius not one of you can say that you were baptized in my name I did baptize the family of Staff but I don't remember if I baptised anyone else Christ did not send me to baptize he sent me to tell the good news without using big words that would make the cross of Christ lose its power the message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people but for those of us who are being saved it is God's power at work as God says in the scriptures I will destroy the wisdom of all who claim to be wise I will confuse those who think they know so much what happened to those wise people what happened to those experts in the scriptures what happened to the ones who think they have all the answers didn't God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him instead God chose to save only those who believed the foolish message we preach Jews asked for miracles and Greeks want something that sounds wise but we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross most Jews have problems with this and most Gentiles think it is foolish our message is God's power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen even when God is foolish he is wiser than everyone else and even when God is weak he is stronger than everyone else my dear friends remember what you were when God chose you the people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise only a few of you were in places of power and not many of you came from important families but God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame he chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame what the world thinks is worthless useless and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him you are God's children he sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise acceptable and holy so if you want to brag do what the scriptures say and brag about the Lord first Corinthians - friends when I came and told you the mystery that God had shared with us I didn't use big words or try to sound wise in fact while I was with you I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ who had been nailed to a cross at first I was weak and trembling with fear when I talked with you or preached I didn't try to prove anything by sounding wise I simply let God's Spirit show his power that way you would have faith because of God's power and not because of human wisdom we do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith but it is not the wisdom of this world or of its rulers who will soon disappear we speak of God's hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began the rulers of this world didn't know anything about this wisdom if they had known about it they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross but it is just as the scriptures say what God has planned for people who love him is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard it has never even entered our minds God's Spirit has shown you everything his spirit finds out everything even what is deep in the mind of God you are the only one who knows what is in your own mind and God's Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God's mind but God has given us his spirit that's why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think it's also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us every word we speak was taught to us by God's Spirit not by human wisdom and the same spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people that's why only someone who has God's Spirit can understand spiritual blessings anyone who does not have God's Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish people who are guided by the Spirit can make all kinds of judgments but they cannot be judged by others the Scriptures asked has anyone ever known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice but we understand what Christ is thinking 1st Corinthians 3 my friends you are acting like the people of this world that's why I could not speak to you as spiritual people you are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned so I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk you could not take solid food and you still cannot because you are not yet spiritual you are jealous and argue with each other this proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world some of you say that you follow me and others claim to follow a policy isn't that how ordinary people behave Apollo's and I are merely servants who helped you to have faith it was the Lord who made it all happen I planted the seeds Apollo's watered them but God made them sprout and grow what matters is not those who planted or watered but God who made the plants grow the one who plants is just as important as the one who waters each one will be paid for what they do nopales and I work together for God and you are God's garden and God's building God was kind and let me become an expert builder I laid a foundation on which others have built but we must each be careful how we build because Christ is the only foundation whatever we build on that foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment then everyone will find out if we have used gold silver and precious stones or wood hay and straw we will be rewarded if our building is left standing but if it is destroyed by the fire we will lose everything yet we ourselves will be saved like someone escaping from flames all of you surely know that you are God's temple and that his spirit lives in you together you are God's holy temple and God will destroy anyone who destroys his temple don't fool yourselves if any of you think you are wise in the things of this world you will have to become foolish before you can be truly wise this is because God considers the wisdom of this world to be foolish it is just as the Scriptures say God catches the wise when they try to outsmart him the Scriptures also say the Lord knows that the plans made by wise people are useless so stop bragging about what anyone has done Paul and nopales and Peter all belong to you in fact everything is yours including the world life death the present and the future everything belongs to you and you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God 1st Corinthians 4 think of us as servants of Christ who have been given the work of explaining God's mysterious ways and since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for it doesn't matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law in fact I don't judge myself I don't know of anything against me but that doesn't prove that I am right the Lord is my judge so don't judge anyone until the Lord comes he will show what is hidden in the dark and what is in everyone's heart then God will be the one who praises each of us friends I have used Apollo's and myself as examples to teach you the meaning of the saying follow the rules I want you to stop saying that one of us is better than the other what is so special about you what do you have that you were not given and if it was given to you how can you brag are you already satisfied are you now rich have you become kings while we are still nobodies I wish you were Kings then we could have a share in your kingdom it seems to me that God has put us apostles in the worst possible place we are like prisoners on their way to death angels and the people of this world just laugh at us because of Christ we are thought of as fools but Christ has made you wise we are weak and hated but you are powerful and respected even today we go hungry and thirsty and don't have anything to wear except rags we are mistreated and don't have a place to live we work hard with our own hands and when people abuse us we wish them well when we suffer we are patient when someone curses us we answer with kind words until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and garbage of this world I am not writing to embarrass you I want to help you just as parents help their own dear children 10,000 people may teach you about Christ but I am your only father you became my children when I told you about Christ Jesus and I want you to be like me that's why I sent Timothy to you I love him like a son and he is a faithful servant of the lord Timothy will tell you what I do to follow Christ and how it agrees with what I always teach about Christ in every church some of you think I am NOT coming for a visit and so you are bragging but if the Lord lets me come I will soon be there then I will find out if the ones who are doing all this bragging really have any power God's kingdom is not just a lot of words it is power what do you want me to do when I arrive do you want me to be hard on you or to be kind and gentle 1st Corinthians 5 I have heard terrible things about some of you in fact you are behaving worse than the Gentiles a man is even sleeping with his own stepmother you are proud when you ought to feel bad enough to chase away anyone who acts like that I am with you only in my thoughts but in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already judged this man as though I were with you in person so when you meet together in the power of the Lord Jesus is with you I will be there too you must then hand that man over to Satan his body would be destroyed but his spirit will be saved when the Lord Jesus returns stop being proud don't you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough get rid of the old yeast then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast and that is what you are our Passover lamb is Christ who has already been sacrificed so don't celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful which is like serving bread made with yeast be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast in my other letter I told you not to have anything to do with immoral people but I wasn't talking about the people of this world you would have to leave this world to get away from everyone who is immoral or greedy or who cheats or worships idols I was talking about your own people who are immoral or greedy or worship idols or curse others or get drunk or cheat don't even eat with them why should I judge outsiders aren't we supposed to judge only church members God judges everyone else the scriptures say chase away any of your own people who are evil 1st Corinthians 6 when one of you has a complaint against another do you take your complaint to a court of sinners or do you take it to God's people don't you know that God's people will judge the world and if you are going to judge the world can't you settle small problems don't you know that we will judge angels and if that is so we can surely judge everyday matters why do you take everyday complaints to judges who are not respected by the church I say this to your shame aren't any of you wise enough to act as a judge between one follower and another why should one of you take another to be tried by unbelievers when one of you takes another to court all of you lose it would be better to let yourselves be cheated and robbed but instead you cheat and robbed other followers don't you know that evil people won't have a share in the blessings of God's kingdom don't fool yourselves no one who is immoral or worships idols or is unfaithful in marriage or is a pervert or behaves like a homosexual will share in God's kingdom neither will any thief or greedy person or drunkard or anyone who curses and cheats others some of you used to be like that but now the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of God's Spirit have washed you made you holy and acceptable to God some of you say we can do anything we want to but I tell you that not everything is good for us so I refuse to let anything have power over me you also say food is meant for our bodies and our bodies are meant for food but I tell you that God will destroy them both we are not supposed to do indecent things with our bodies we are to use them for the Lord who is in charge of our bodies God will raise us from death by the same power that he used when he raised our Lord to life don't you know that your bodies are part of the body of Christ is it right for me to join part of the body of Christ to an immoral woman no it isn't don't you know that a man who does that becomes part of her body the scriptures say the two of them will be like one person but anyone who is joined to the Lord is one in spirit with him don't be immoral in matters of sex this is a sin against your own body in a way that no other sin is surely you know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives the Spirit is in you and is a gift from God you are no longer your own God paid a great price for you so use your body to honor God 1st Corinthians 7 now I will answer the questions that you asked in your letter you asked is it best for people not to marry well having your own husband or wife should keep you from doing something immoral husbands and wives should be fair with each other about having sex a wife belongs to her husband instead of to herself and a husband belongs to his wife instead of to himself so don't refuse sex to each other unless you agree not to have sex for a little while in order to spend time in prayer then Satan won't be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control in my opinion that is what should be done though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter I wish that all of you were like me but God has given different gifts to each of us here is my advice for people who have never been married and for widows you should stay single just as I am but if you don't have enough self-control then go ahead and get married after all it is better to marry than to burn with desire I instruct married couples to stay together and this is exactly what the Lord Himself taught a wife who leaves her husband should either stay single or go back to her husband and a husband should not leave his wife I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage all I can do is give you my own advice if your wife is not a follower of the Lord but is willing to stay with you don't divorce her if your husband is not a follower but is willing to stay with you don't divorce him your husband or wife who is not a follower is made holy by having you as a mate this also makes your children holy and keeps them from being unclean in God's sight if your husband or wife is not a follower of the Lord and decides to divorce you then you should agree to it you are no longer bound to that person after all God chose you and wants you to live at peace and besides how do you know if you will be able to save your husband or wife who is not a follower in every Church I tell the people to stay as they were when the Lord Jesus chose them and God called them to be his own now I say the same thing to you if you are already circumcised don't try to change it if you are not circumcised don't get circumcised being circumcised or uncircumcised is not really what matters the important thing is to obey God's commands so don't try to change what you were when God chose you are you a slave don't let that bother you but if you can win your freedom you should when the Lord chooses slaves they become his free people and when he chooses free people they become slaves of Christ God paid a great price for you so don't become slaves of anyone else stay what you were when God chose you I don't know of anything that the Lord said about widows or people who have never been married but I will tell you what I think and you can trust me because the Lord has treated me with kindness we are now going through hard times and I think it is best for you to stay as you are if you are married stay married if you are not married don't try to get married it isn't wrong to marry even if you have never been married before but those who marry will have a lot of trouble and I want to protect you from that my friends what I mean is that the Lord will soon come and it won't matter if you are married or not it will be all the same if you are crying or laughing or if you are buying or are completely broke it won't make any difference how much good you are getting from this world or how much you like it this world as we know it is now passing away I want all of you to be free from worry an unmarried man worries about how to please the Lord but a married man has more worries he must worry about the things of this world because he wants to please his wife so he is pulled in two directions unmarried women and women who have never been married worry only about pleasing the Lord and they keep their bodies and minds pure but a married woman worries about the things of this world because she wants to please her husband what I am saying is for your own good I want to help you to live right and to love the Lord above all else but suppose you are engaged to someone old enough to be married and you want her so much that all you can think about is getting married then go ahead and marry there is nothing wrong with that but it is better to have self-control and to make up your mind not to marry it is perfectly all right to marry but it is better not to get married at all a wife should stay married to her husband until he dies then she is free to marry again but only to a man who is a follower of the Lord however I think I am obeying God's Spirit when I say she would be happier to stay single 1st corinthians 8 in your letter you asked me about food offered to idols all of us know something about this subject but knowledge makes us proud of ourselves while love makes us helpful to others in fact people who think they know so much don't know anything at all but God has no doubts about who loves him even though food is offered to idols we know that none of the idols in this world are alive after all there is only one God many things in heaven and on earth are called gods and Lords but none of them really are gods or Lords we have only one God and he is the father he created everything and we live for him Jesus Christ is our only Lord everything was made by him and by him life was given to us not everyone knows these things in fact many people have grown up with the belief that idols have life in them so when they eat meat offered to idols they are bothered by a weak conscience but food doesn't bring us any closer to God we are no worse off if we don't eat and we are no better off if we do don't cause problems for someone with a weak conscience just because you have the right to eat anything you know all this and so it doesn't bother you to eat in the temple of an idol but suppose a person with a weak conscience sees you and decides to eat food that has been offered to idols then what you know has destroyed someone Christ died for when you sinned by hurting a follower with a weak conscience you sin against Christ so if I hurt one of the Lord's followers by what I eat I will never eat meat as long as I live first Corinthians 9 I am free I am an apostle I have seen the Lord Jesus and have led you to have faith in Him others may think that I am NOT an apostle but you are proof that I am an apostle to you when people question me I tell them that Barnabas and I have the right to our food and drink we each have the right to marry one of the Lord's followers and to take her along with us just as the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter do are we the only ones who have to support ourselves by working at another job do soldiers pay their own salaries don't people who raise grapes eat some of what they grow don't Shepherds get milk from their own goats I am NOT saying this on my own authority the law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain but was God concerned only about an ox now he wasn't he was talking about us this was written in the scriptures so that all who plough and all who grind the grain will look forward to sharing in the harvest when we told the message to you it was like planting spiritual seed so we have the right to accept material things as our harvest from you if others have the right to do this we have an even greater right but we haven't used this right of ours we are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ don't you know that people who work in the temple make their living from what is brought to the temple don't you know that a person who serves at the altar is given part of what is offered in the same way the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message but I have never used these privileges of mine and I am NOT writing this because I want to start now I would rather die than have someone robbed me of the right to take pride in this I don't have any reason to brag about preaching the good news preaching is something God told me to do and if I don't do it I am doomed if I preach because I want to I will be paid but even if I don't want to it is still something that God has sent me to do what pay am i given it is the chance to preach the good news free of charge and not to use the privileges that are mine because I am a preacher I am not anyone's slave but I have become a slave to everyone so that I can win as many people as possible when I am with the Jews I live like a Jew to win Jews they are ruled by the law of Moses and I am NOT but I live by the law to win them and when I am with people who are not ruled by the law I forget about the law to win them of course I never really forget about the law of God in fact I am ruled by the law of Christ when I am with people whose faith is weak I live as they do to win them I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can I do all this for the good news because I want to share in its blessings you know that many runners enter a race and only one of them wins the prize so run to win athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last but we do it for a crown that will last forever I don't run without a goal and I don't box by beating my fists in the air I keep my body under control and make it my slave so I won't lose out after telling the good news to others first Corinthians 10 friends I want to remind you that all of our ancestors walked under the cloud and went through the sea this was like being baptized and becoming followers of Moses all of them also ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink which flowed from the spiritual rock that followed them that rock was Christ but most of them did not please God so they died and their bodies were scattered all over the desert what happened to them is a warning to keep us from wanting to do the same evil things they worshipped idols just as the scriptures say the people sat down to eat and drink then they got up to dance around so don't worship idols some of those people did shameful things and in a single day about 23,000 of them died don't do shameful things as they did and don't try to test Christ as some of them did and were later bitten by poisonous snakes don't even grumble as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel these things happen to them is a warning to us all this was written in the scriptures to teach us who live in these last days even if you think you can stand up to temptation be careful not to fall you are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted but God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much and he will show you how to escape from your temptations my friends you must keep away from idols I am speaking to you as people who have enough sense to know what I am talking about when we drink from the cup that we ask God to bless isn't that sharing in the blood of Christ when we eat the bread that we break isn't that sharing in the body of Christ by sharing in the same loaf of bread we become one body even though there are many of us aren't the people of Israel sharing in the worship when they gather around the altar and eat the sacrifices offered there am I saying that either the idols or the food sacrifice to them is anything at all no I am NOT that food is really sacrificed to demons and not to God I don't want you to have anything to do with demons you cannot drink from the cup of demons and still drink from the Lord's cup you cannot eat at the table of demons and still eat at the Lord's table we would make the Lord jealous if we did that and we are not stronger than the Lord some of you say we can do whatever we want to but I tell you that not everything we do is good or helpful we should think about others and not about ourselves however when you buy meat in the market go ahead and eat it keep your conscience clear by not asking where the meat came from the Scriptures say the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord if an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go then go eat whatever you are served don't cause a problem for someone's conscience by asking where the food came from but if you are told that it has been sacrificed to idols don't cause a problem by eating it I don't mean a problem for yourself but for the one who told you why should my freedom be limited by someone else's conscience if I give thanks for what I eat why should anyone accuse me of doing wrong when you eat or drink or do anything else always do it to honor God don't cause problems for Jews or Greeks or anyone else who belongs to God's church I always tried to please others instead of myself in the hope that many of them will be saved you must follow my example as I follow the example of Christ 1st Corinthians 11 verse 2 I am proud of you because you always remember me and obey the teachings I gave you now I want you to know that Christ is the head over all men and a man is the head over a woman but God is the head over Christ this means that any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head brings shame to his head but any woman who prays or prophesies without something on her head brings shame to her head in fact she may as well shave her head a woman should wear something on her head it is a disgrace for a woman to shave her head or cut her hair but if she refuses to wear something on her head let her cut off her hair men were created to be like God and to bring honor to God this means that a man should not wear anything on his head women were created to bring honor to men it was the woman who was made from a man and not the man who was made from the woman he was not created for her she was created for him and so because of this and also because of the Angels a woman ought to wear something on her head this will show that she is under someone's authority as far as the Lord is concerned men and women need each other it is true that the first woman came from a man but all other men have been given birth by women yet God is the one who created everything ask yourselves if it is proper for a woman to pray without something on her head isn't it unnatural and disgraceful for men to have long hair but long hair is a beautiful way for a woman to cover her head this is how things are done in all of God's churches and that's why none of you should argue about what I have said your worship services do you more harm than good I am certainly not going to praise you for this I am told that you can't get along with each other when you worship and I am sure that some of what I have heard is true you are bound to argue with each other but it is easy to see which of you have God's approval when you meet together you don't really celebrate the Lord's Supper you even start eating before everyone gets to the meeting and some of you go hungry while others get drunk don't you have homes where you can eat and drink do you hate God's church do you want to embarrass people who don't have anything what can I say to you I certainly cannot praise you I have already told you what the Lord Jesus did on the night he was betrayed and it came from the Lord himself he took some bread in his hands then after he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is given for you eat this and remember me after the meal Jesus took a cup of wine in his hands and said this is my blood and with it God makes his new agreement with you drink this and remember me the Lord meant that when you eat this bread and drink from this cup you tell about his death until he comes but if you eat the bread and drink the wine in a way that is not worthy of the Lord you sin against his body and blood that's why you must examine the way you eat and drink if you fail to understand that you are the body of the Lord you will condemn yourselves by the way you eat and drink that's why many of you are sick and weak and why a lot of others have died if we carefully judge ourselves we won't be punished but when the Lord judges and punishes us he does it to keep us from being condemned with the rest of the world my dear friends you should wait until everyone gets there before you start eating if you really are hungry you can eat at home then you won't condemn yourselves when you meet together after I arrive I will instruct you about the other matters first Corinthians 12 my friends you asked me about spiritual gifts I want you to remember that before you became followers of the Lord you were led in all the wrong ways by idols that cannot even talk now I want you to know that if you are led by God's Spirit you will say that Jesus is Lord and you will never curse Jesus there are different kinds of spiritual gifts but they all come from the same spirit there are different ways to serve the same Lord and we can each do different things yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do the Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others some of us can speak with wisdom while others can speak with knowledge but these gifts come from the same spirit to others the Spirit has given great faith or the power to heal the sick or the power to work mighty miracles some of us are prophets and some of us recognize when God's Spirit is present others can speak different kinds of languages and still others can tell what these languages mean but it is the spirit who does all this and decides which gifts to give to each of us the body of Christ has many different parts just as any other body does some of us are Jews and others are Gentiles some of us are slaves and others are free but God's Spirit baptized to each of us and made us part of the body of Christ now we each drink from that same spirit our bodies don't have just one part they have many parts suppose a foot says I am NOT a hand and so I am NOT part of the body wouldn't the foot still belong to the body or suppose an ear says I am NOT an eye and so I am NOT part of the body wouldn't the ear still belong to the body if our bodies were only an hi we couldn't hear a thing and if they were only in ear we couldn't smell a thing but God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided his best a body is not really a body unless there is more than one part it takes many parts to make a single body that's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands that's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet in fact we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seemed to be the weakest we take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies we are modest about our personal parts but we don't have to be modest about other parts God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable he did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly with each part caring about the others if one part of our body hurts we heard all over if one part of our body is honored the whole body will be happy together you are the body of Christ each one of you is part of his body first God chose some people to be apostles and prophets and teachers for the church but he also chose some to work miracles or heal the sick or help others or be leaders or speak different kinds of languages not everyone is an apostle not everyone is a prophet not everyone as a teacher not everyone can work miracles not everyone can heal the sick not everyone can speak different kinds of languages not everyone can tell what these languages mean I want you to desire the best gifts so I will show you a much better way first Corinthians 13 what if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels if I did not love others I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal what if I could prophecy and understand all secrets and all knowledge and what if I had faith that moved Mountains I would be nothing unless I loved others what if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive I would gain nothing unless I loved others love is kind and patient never jealous boastful proud or rude love isn't selfish or quick tempered it doesn't keep a record of wrongs that others do love rejoices in the truth but not in evil love is always supportive loyal hopeful and trusting love never fails everyone who prophesize will stop and unknown languages will no longer be spoken all that we know will be forgotten we don't know everything and our prophecies are not complete but what is perfect will someday appear and what is not perfect will then disappear when we were children we thought and reasoned as children do but when we grew up we quit our childish ways now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror later we will see him face to face we don't know everything but then we will just as God completely understands us for now there are faith hope and love but of these three the greatest is love first Corinthians 14 love should be your guide be eager to have the gifts that come from the Holy Spirit especially the gift of prophecy if you speak languages that others don't know God will understand what you are saying though no one else will know what you mean you will be talking about mysteries that only the Spirit understands but when you prophesy you will be understood and others will be helped they will be encouraged and made to feel better by speaking languages that others don't know you help only your but by prophesying you help everyone in the church I am glad for you to speak unknown languages although I had rather for you to prophesy in fact prophesying does much more good than speaking unknown languages unless someone can help the church by explaining what you mean my friends what good would it do if I came and spoke unknown languages to you and didn't explain what I meant how would I help you unless I told you what God had shown me or gave you some knowledge or prophecy or teaching if all musical instruments sounded alike how would you know the difference between a flute and a harp if a bugle call isn't clear how would you know to get ready for battle that's how it is when you speak unknown languages if no one can understand what you are talking about you will only be talking to the wind there are many different languages in this world and all of them make sense but if I don't understand the language that someone is using we will be like foreigners to each other if you really want spiritual gifts choose the ones that will be most helpful to the church when we speak languages that others don't know we should pray for the power to explain what we mean for example if I use an unknown language in my prayers my spirit prays but my mind is useless then what should I do there are times when I should pray with my spirit and times when I should pray with my mind sometimes I should sing with my spirit and at other times I should sing with my mind suppose some strangers are in your worship service when you are praising God with your spirit if they don't understand you how will they know to say Amen you may be worshipping God in a wonderful way but no one else will be helped I thank God that I speak unknown languages more than any of you but words that make sense can help the church that's why in church I had rather speak five words that make sense than to speak 10,000 words in a language that others don't know my friends stop thinking like children think like mature people and be as innocent as tiny babies in the scriptures the Lord says I will use strangers who speak unknown languages to talk to my people they will speak to them in foreign languages but still my people won't listen to me languages that others don't know may mean something to unbelievers but not to the Lord's followers prophecy on the other hand is for followers not for unbelievers suppose everyone in your worship service started speaking unknown languages and some Outsiders or some unbelievers come in won't they think you are crazy but suppose all of you are prophesying when those unbelievers and outsiders come in they will realize that they are sinners and they will want to change their ways because of what you are saying they will tell what is hidden in their hearts then they will kneel down and say to God we are certain that you are with these people my friends when you meet to worship you must do everything for the good of everyone there that's how it should be when someone sings or teaches or tells what God has said or speaks an unknown language or explains what the language means no more than two or three of you should speak unknown which is during the meeting you must take turns and someone should always be there to explain what you mean if no one can explain you must keep silent in church and speak only to yourself and to God two or three persons may prophesy and everyone else must listen carefully if someone sitting there receives a message from God the speaker must stop and let the other person speak let only one person speak at a time then all of you will learn something and be encouraged a prophet should be willing to stop and let someone else speak God wants everything to be done peacefully and in order when God's people meet in church the women must not be allowed to speak they must keep quiet and listen as the law of Moses teaches if there is something they want to know they can ask their husbands when they get home it is disgraceful for women to speak in church God's message did not start with you people and you are not the only ones it has reached if you think of yourself as a prophet or a spiritual person you will know that I am writing only what the Lord has commanded so don't pay attention to anyone who ignores what I am writing my friends be eager to prophesy and don't stop anyone from speaking languages that others don't know but do everything properly and in order 1st Corinthians 15 my friends I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted you will be saved by this message if you hold firmly to it but if you don't your faith was all for nothing I told you the most important part of the message and you believed it that part is Christ died for our sins as the scriptures say he was buried in three days later he was raised to life as the scriptures say Christ appeared to Peter then to the twelve after this he appeared to more than 500 other followers most of them are still alive but some have died he also appeared to James and then to all of the Apostles finally he appeared to me even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time I am the least important of all the Apostles in fact I caused so much trouble for God's church that I don't even deserve to be called an apostle but God was kind he made me what I am and his kindness was not wasted I worked much harder than any of the other apostles although it was really God's kindness at work and not me but it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached all of you believe the message just the same if we preach that Christ was raised from death how can some of you say that the dead will not be raised to life if they won't be raised to life Christ Himself was not raised to life and if Christ was not raised to life our message is worthless and so is your faith if the dead won't be raised to life we have told lies about God by saying that he raised Christ to life when he really did not so if the dead won't be raised to life Christ was not raised to life unless Christ was raised to life your faith is useless and you are still living in your sins and those people who died after putting their faith in him are completely lost if our hope in Christ is good only for this life we are worse off than anyone else but Christ has been raised to and he makes a certain that others will also be raised to life just as we will die because of Adam we will be raised to life because of Christ Adam brought death to all of us and Christ will bring life to all of us but we must each wait our turn Christ was the first to be raised to life and his people will be raised to life when he returns then after Christ has destroyed all powers and forces the end will come and he will give the kingdom to God the Father Christ will rule until he puts all his enemies under his power and the last enemy he destroys will be death when the Scriptures say that he will put everything under his power they don't include God it was God who put everything under the power of Christ after everything is under the power of God's Son he will put himself under the power of God who put everything under his sons power then God will mean everything to everyone if the dead are not going to be raised to life what will people do who are being baptized for them why are they being baptized for those dead people and why do we always risk our lives and face death every day the pride that I have in you because of Christ Jesus our Lord is what makes me say this what do you think I gained by fighting wild animals in Ephesus if the dead are not raised to life let's eat and drink tomorrow we die don't fool yourselves bad friends will destroy you be sensible and stop sinning you should be embarrassed that some people still don't know about God some of you have asked how will the dead be raised to life what kind of bodies will they have don't be foolish a seed must die before it can sprout from the ground wheat seeds and all other seeds look different from the sprouts that come up this is because God gives everything the kind of body he wants it to have people animals birds and fish are each made of flesh but none of them are alike everything in the heavens has a body and so does everything on earth but each one is very different from all the others the Sun is not like the moon the moon is not like the Stars and each star is different that's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life these bodies will die but the bodies that are raised will live forever these ugly and weak bodies will become beautiful and strong as surely as they're our physical bodies they're our spiritual bodies and our physical bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies the first man was named Adam and the Scriptures tell us that he was a living person but Jesus who may be called the last Adam is a life-giving spirit we see that the one with a spiritual body did not come first he came after the one who had a physical body the first man was made from the dust of the earth but the second man came from heaven everyone on earth has a body like the body of the one who was made from the dust of the earth and everyone in heaven has a body like the body of the one who came from heaven just as we are like the one who was made out of Earth we will be like the one who came from heaven my friends I want you to know that our bodies of flesh and blood will decay this means that they cannot share in God's kingdom which lasts forever I will explain a mystery to you not every one of us will die but we will all be changed it will happen suddenly quicker than the blink of an eye that the sound of the last trumpet the Dead will be raised we will all be changed so that we will never die again our dead and decaying bodies will be changed into bodies that won't die or decay the bodies we now have are weak and can die but they will be changed into bodies that are eternal then the Scriptures will come true death has lost the battle where is its victory where is its sting sin is what gives death its sting and the law is the power behind sin but thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory my dear friends stand firm and don't be shaken always keep busy working for the Lord you know that everything you do for him is worthwhile 1st Corinthians 16 when you collect money for God's people I want you to do exactly what I told the churches in Galatia to do that is each Sunday each of you must put aside part of what you have earned if you do this you won't have to take up a collection when I come choose some followers to take the money to Jerusalem I will send them on with the money and with letters which show that you approve of them if you think I should go along they can go with me after I have gone through Macedonia I hope to see you and visit with you for a while I may even stay all winter so that you can help me on my way to wherever I will be going next if the Lord lets me I would rather come later for a longer visit than to stop off now for only a short visit I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost because there is a wonderful opportunity for me to do some work here but there are also many people who are against me when Timothy arrives give him a friendly welcome he is doing the Lord's work just as I am don't let anyone mistreat him I am looking for him to return to me together with the other followers so when he leaves send him off with your blessings I have tried hard to get our friend Apollo's to visit you with the other followers he doesn't want to come just now but he will come when he can keep alert be firm in your faith stay brave and strong show love in everything you do you know that Stephanus and his family were the first in a Kia to have faith in the Lord they have done all they can for God's people my friends I ask you to obey leaders like them and to do the same for all others who work hard with you I was glad to see Stephanus and fortunate us and aquella kiss having them here was like having you they made me feel much better just as they made you feel better you should appreciate people like them greetings from the churches in Asia Aquila and Priscilla together with the church that meets in their house and greetings in the name of the Lord all of the Lord's followers send their greetings give each other a warm greeting I am signing this letter myself Paul I pray that God will put a curse on everyone who does not love the Lord and may the Lord come soon I pray that the Lord Jesus will be kind to you I love everyone who belongs to Christ of Jesus amen

Channel: Holy Bible

Views: 102,754

Rating: 4.8432989 out of 5

Keywords: letter of paul to the corinthians, corinthians bible, epistle corinthians, paul the apostle, Audio Bible, KJV, King James Version, New Testament, Scourby, Gospel of John, KJV Book of John, john, bible, gospel of john, audio bible, bible study, the gospel of john, john audio bible, book of john, john in bible, john bible study, king james bible, bible teaching, kjv bible, esv bible, holy bible, learn the bible, ecv bible, english contemporary bible, john verse, john bible

Id: 6l3_C_amcWc

Length: 59min 35sec (3575 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2020