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READ: A Look at the Book - 1st Corinthians | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
This month Dr. Barber begins a new study by taking a general look at the book of 1 Corinthians and making some observations about what the book teaches.

READ: The Authority of the Word of God - I Cor. 1:1 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The Word of God is God's authority to man. He gave it to us through men like the Apostle Paul and he signs the letter, "Paul an apostle by the will of God." So we understand then that this is God's word to us.

READ: The Fruit of Surrender - I Cor. 1:1 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Dr. Barber introduces us to Sosthenes an unlikely character to be singled out by the apostle Paul. Why does Paul call him not just “a brother” but “the brother”?

READ: What is the Church of God - I Cor. 1:2 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
If somebody stopped you on the street and said, "What is the church?" what would you say to them?

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 2 - I Cor. 1:2 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
In the last part of verse 2 Paul says, “to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” So the next thing that identifies someone as a member of God’s church is that they call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 3 - I Cor. 1:3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The fourth thing that we are going to look at is the church of God is made up of those who are in need of God’s grace whether they know it or not. I guarantee you the church of God did not realize it. When we think of grace we think, “Oh, that day when God saved me by His grace; I already have it. I don’t need it anymore. But boy, it was good enough to save me.” We miss the whole understanding of what grace is all about.

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 4 - I Cor. 1:3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
All humanity is born into eternal conflict, first with God and then with man. Because of Adam’s sin, we are born into conflict. We are at enmity with God the very moment you breathe the first time. It is sin that is passed down from generation to generation to generation from Adam.

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 5 - I Cor. 1:4-6 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The sixth characteristic of the Church of God is that the church of God lacks nothing in Jesus Christ our Lord. Absolutely lacks nothing.

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 6 - I Cor. 1:7 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The next characteristic of the church of God is they live eager for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me ask you a question. Are you really living this way? People live as if He’s never going to come. They don’t live walking righteously before Him. They don’t live convicted by sin. All of us sometimes drift into that kind of apathy. We say that we look forward to the coming of Jesus. But our live doesn’t show it.

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 7 - I Cor. 1:8 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The eighth characteristic of the church of God is the church of God walks and lives in eternal assurance. Now if you have any struggle with the assurance of your salvation, you listen up to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:8, “who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

READ: What is the Church of God - Part 8 - I Cor. 1:9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The final characteristic we will see in this passage is that the church of God is made up of those who have fellowship with Christ: “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

READ: Division Among God's People - Part 1 - I Cor. 1:10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Paul is talking to a body of believers he loves, a body of believers that he, through the Holy Spirit’s power in his life, started and initiated there at Corinth. When he tells them, “be made complete” it has the idea of repairing something, mending something. It also has the idea here of fitting something together so that it comes back into unity and oneness.

READ: Division Among God's People - Part 2 - I Cor. 1:12-16 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We have physical bodies that have many members which are different. It’s that way in the body of Christ. Isn’t it amazing? The first thing that happens when you live surrendered to Him, not perfect but predictable, when you’re about His purposes in your life, is you become inclusive of others, not exclusive of others.

READ: The Fallacy of Following After Man - I Cor. 1:17-20 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The church of Corinth, because of their fleshly living, were much divided, and it was because they weren’t living attached to Christ. They were attaching themselves to men. That was their problem. Paul is saying to them, “The fallacy of attaching yourself to me. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. There’s a fallacy in it.”

READ: The Wisdom of Boasting in the Lord - I Cor. 1:30-31 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Wisdom, to me, is the right use of truth. You see, man without God is stumbling in the truth all the time. He finds the truth of laws of gravity, etc. He stumbles into truth. But when he does stumble into it, he doesn’t have the wisdom of knowing how to use it. Therefore, he never relates it back to God. Now wisdom is not just the truth, it is the right use of truth.

READ: The Wonderful Message of the Cross - I Cor. 1:21-25 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We want to begin looking now at the wonderful message of the cross. This message is seen by men as being utter foolishness which shows how foolish man is in his own wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:21 says, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

READ: That No Man Should Boast - I Cor. 1:26-31 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Oh, how God knows the heart and the mind of man. He knows what man thinks he can do. He knows what man thinks he knows. He knows what man thinks he is by what he has. And God has so come up with wisdom, the preaching of the cross that just puts all of this to shame.

READ: Grow Up - I Cor. 2 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
When Christians live as if they are lacking, they are still immature. They don't realize who they are and whose they are and what they receive when they receive Jesus Christ. As a result, they attach themselves to a man or they attach themselves to a gift as if they are always lacking. We are not lacking, and when we mature in Christ, we will detach ourselves from these things and attach ourselves to Christ and live in the fullness that He offers each of us.

READ: The Wisdom of God - Part 1 - I Cor. 2 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We have seen in Corinthians already that there are two kinds of wisdom. There is the wisdom of man, fleshly wisdom, and then there is the wisdom of God. Of course man thinks he is so smart, but he shows himself to be a fool when he looks at God’s wisdom and calls it foolishness. Man does not want to hear about God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom is wrapped up in a message, in the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

READ: The Wisdom of God - Part 2 - I Cor. 2 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The wisdom of God cannot be delivered by man; the wisdom of God cannot be discerned by man. The Christian must rely on the Holy Spirit with to help him discern the wisdom that comes from God.

READ: Spiritual Babies - I Cor. 3:1-3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Spiritual babies are cute when they are babies, but they are not supposed to remain that way. We are birthed into the kingdom. We come in as new‑born babes in Jesus Christ. Then there is the growth process and the stages that God wants to take us through, one day to conform us even into the image of Christ Jesus. And to refuse to grow, to make a choice and say, “I am not going to do what you tell me, God. I am not going to grow,” that is sin.

READ: Vessels through Which God Works - I Cor. 3:3-9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
God’s plan to use surrendered vessels; the prerequisite for men to be used as vessels; the partnership of God’s surrendered vessel; the proof of God using surrendered vessels; and the parity [equality] of God’s surrendered vessel.

READ: The Work of God - Part 1 - I Cor. 3:9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There are three things about the works of God that I want you to see. First of all is the grace that enables the work; second, the warning that accompanies the work; and third, the test that will determine the work.

READ: The Work of God - Part 2 - I Cor. 3:13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There are three things about the works of God that I want you to see. First of all is the grace that enables the work; second, the warning that accompanies the work; and third, the test that will determine the work.

READ: The Preparation for the Test - I Cor. 3:14-15 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
One day we are going to stand before God and everything of our life that has been built will stand before Him. There is a house that is being built the moment we get saved. The moment you receive Jesus Christ into your life, the foundation is laid. And that foundation is Jesus Christ. Paul says to be careful how you build upon it.

READ: Don't Mess with God's People - I Cor. 3:16-17 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We are the dwelling of God. Secondly, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Thirdly, Paul says there are those who seek to defile the dwelling of God. Here is when God, through Paul, is going to say, “You had better not mess with my people!”

READ: Beware of Self Deception - I Cor. 3:18 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
When you ask someone how tall he is, he can immediately respond. Do you know why? Because there is a standard by which he can measure himself. But when you ask somebody how beautiful or how handsome they are, that becomes a matter of one’s opinion. It is the same way when you ask somebody how wise you are. What man calls wisdom is foolishness to God. A man can deceive himself quickly in this area by thinking himself to be wise.

READ: The Meaning of Being Foolish - I Cor. 3:18 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
In 1 Corinthians 3:18 the apostle Paul says, “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise.” What does it mean to become foolish?

READ: All Things Belong to You - I Cor. 3:21-23 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There are two things I want you to see. I want you to think clearly now as to what Paul is trying to say. Why in the world would you run around attaching yourself to man’s ways and wisdom when you can live attached to Jesus Christ Himself? We belong to Him and all things belong to us.

READ: The Marks of a GodCalled Preacher - I Cor. 4:15 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Paul says, do you want to regard a preacher? Do you want to esteem a preacher? Then there are some guidelines for you that you are going to have to follow. If you are going to regard Paul, or Apollos, this is the format you are going to have to use. These are the marks of a God called preacher. He says it so clearly in 1 Corinthian 4:15. Let’s get into it and just see: The responsibility of a God-called preacher; the requirement of a God-called preacher; and the reward of the God-called preacher.

READ: The Characteristics of a Conceited Church - I Cor. 4:6-8 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
What we are going to start seeing here in verse 6, to me, is very, very important. We are going to see a stark contrast between a conceited church and the humility of the apostles whom God had sent to them. The people whom God was using and the people who would not allow God to use them are going to stand out. It is as clear as a bell. We see the conceited Corinthian church and the humble apostles God had sent to them.

READ: A Profile of the Approved - I Cor. 4:9-13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We are going to see the contrast between the conceited and the approved. Over here the arrogant, Corinthian believer is putting himself on a pedestal and exalting himself. But over here we are going to have the apostles, those men God singled out, approved and used to give us the New Testament. We are going to see the humility of those apostles. We are going to see a profile of those who have been approved.

READ: Tough Love - I Cor. 4:14-17 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You know, you say tough things to the people you love. You probably would not say the same things to people you don’t know, love or care about. But to the people you love, you will say the hard things.

READ: Spiritual Arrogance - I Cor. 4:18-21 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
It is a hard thing to be around arrogant people, but particularly when they are spiritually arrogant. The apostle Paul, as we have seen in chapter 4, loves the Corinthian believers. All that he has told them is from a loving heart. He has been very tough on them, but all of it has to do with people who have detached themselves from Christ and attached themselves to something else. He has said all those tough things to help them to understand that they need to come back and live by faith, come back to just attach themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.

READ: The Consequences of Fleshly Living - I Cor. 5:16 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
In Corinth, we are dealing with an intentionally, willfully, deceived, immature people; people who will not get up under the doctrine and, therefore, it is beginning to show in the deeds that come forth from their life.

READ: The Painful Act of Church Discipline - I Cor. 5:5 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There are three things we are going to try to explain in relation to church discipline: the authority this decision involves; the action this decision invokes; the attitude this decision invites.

READ: The Particular Focus of Church Discipline - I Cor. 5:9-13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We’ve looked at the painful act of church discipline. We looked at the crucifying effect of church discipline. Now we’re going to look at the particular focus of church discipline. Church discipline’s focus is on believers, not unbelievers. We share the Gospel with unbelievers, we pray for them, but we don’t discipline them. We discipline those of our own body, the body of believers.

READ: The Sin of Demanding Your Rights - I Cor. 6:1-2 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You would think that when you join a church, surely you’re going to find a better bunch of people than you would find in the world. Well, hopefully, you do. But that doesn’t mean there are not going to be people who fight and grumble and that sort of thing. It doesn’t mean you’re not going to be offended. It doesn’t mean you’re not going to be harmed. It doesn’t mean that somebody’s not going to do you wrong. That’s not the issue. The issue is how you are going to respond to it.

READ: The Sin of Demanding Your Rights - Part 2 - I Cor. 6:3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Paul is saying, If you’ll go to the cross and let Jesus get involved in the situation, then your witness is protected. Can’t you do that? You're going to rule over the nations. Can’t you solve your own problem? Can't you, yourself, die to that situation and let God handle it so that your witness can be protected in this awful insane world?”

READ: The Sin of Demanding Your Rights - Part 3 - I Cor. 6:7-10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
When we’re offended, particularly when it comes to affecting our pocketbook, that’s when our flesh usually takes over. We refuse to die to self; we refuse to seek a biblical solution; and our testimony in the world is ruined.

READ: The Terrible Sin of Immorality - Part 1 - I Cor. 6:11-14 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We’re picking up in verse 12 where there are things I want you to see about the terrible sin of immorality: first, choosing immoral sin is harmful; second, choosing immorality is demeaning.

READ: The Terrible Sin of Immorality - Part 2 - I Cor. 6:15-20 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We’ve seen that choosing immorality is harmful and choosing immorality is demeaning. But choosing immorality is also a sign of spiritual ignorance to a believer.

READ: Should I Remarry or Remain Single? - Part 1 - I Cor. 7:1 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
After talking about the sin of immorality, coming down to the fact that our bodies are the temple of God, he changed gears. But you have to continue the flow of that thought because that dictates how we live, whether He lives in us to rule and reign through us. He begins to talk about marriage, divorce, remarriage, celibacy, a lot of things in chapter 7.

READ: Should I Remarry or Remain Single? - Part 2 - I Cor. 7:2-3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
At some point in our lives, folks, we have got to stop living out of our past and live as products of the cross. We have got to let the Word of God renew our thinking and get our ideas not from what society tells us, not from what experience dictates, but what does the Word of God say and stand upon it.

READ: Should I Remarry or Remain Single? - Part 3 - I Cor. 7:4-5 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There are three things we’re going to see in verses 4 and 5. First of all, we’re going to see a willingness on each person’s part in this determination to make this thing work, a willingness to surrender one’s rights to their own body. Second, a willingness to surrender the desire for sexual intimacy. And third, the whole thing comes from a heartbeat of a willingness to surrender to God’s plan so that Satan can be defeated.

READ: Should I Remarry or Remain Single? - Part 4 - I Cor. 7:6-7 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The church of Corinth had a perverted view of sex, even in marriage. They equated sexual intimacy in marriage with immorality, which was in the pagan culture around them. As verse 5 said, they were weak in their flesh regarding immoral temptations that they were facing.

READ: Should I Remarry or Remain Single? - Part 5 - I Cor. 7:8-9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
In 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 we’re going to look at “May I Marry or Should I Remain Single?” You say, “That’s what we’ve already looked at.” No, in verses 1-7 we looked at “Should I marry or remain single?” Now we’re changing gears a little bit: May I marry or should I remain single?

READ: Should I Stay Married? - Part 1 - I Cor. 7:10-14 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We need to understand the marriage contract between two individuals, though made in the state of unbelief, does not become void when one gets saved. You see, you can’t get saved and say, “Oh, therefore any man in Christ is a brand new creature so, therefore, I can divorce my husband or divorce my wife, find me another believer and we can go right on.” No, it does not work that way.

READ: Should I Stay Married? - Part 2 - I Cor. 7:15-17 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
In verses 12-14 Paul deals with an unbelieving spouse that is willing to stay. So stay with them. But in verse 15, we find a different category. We find a category of an unbelieving spouse who is not willing to stay. This is a brand new situation altogether. What does a believer do when an unbelieving spouse divorces them, separates themselves from them?

READ: The Inward Work of Salvation - I Cor. 7:18-24 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
One of the misunderstandings of the word “grace” is its enabling power. It enables us to bear up under whatever circumstance we’re found, but grace, even though it enables us, does not spare the pain that we go through in those circumstances.

READ: What a Single Person Considers Before Marriage - I Cor. 7:25-31 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There are four things Paul wants a single person to consider before they get married. If you’re not careful you’ll hear this as if Paul is against marriage. No, he’s not. But he very honestly wants them to think on some things before they married.

READ: Our Supreme Goals in Life - I Cor. 7:32 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The apostle Paul said over and over again and would want you to know that the supreme goal of every believer’s life is not whether he is married or single. That is not his supreme goal. His supreme goal is to live attached to Jesus Christ, to be a vessel through which God might do His work. Paul would shout that at us in the midst of a chapter that is dealing with whether I should stay single or whether I should be married.

READ: Our Supreme Goals in Life - Part 2 - I Cor. 7:34 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Have you noticed the silent theme in chapter 7? The theme is that the believer is not to be distracted from his life’s purpose of being a vessel through which God can do His work. He has to live attached to Him and Him only.

READ: Fathers and Daughters - I Cor. 7:35-38 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Single women were divided into three groups: those who have been divorced, those who have been widowed and those who are virgins and had never married.

READ: How to Deal with the Grey Areas of Life - I Corinthians 7:39-8:3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Now the first thing he does here is give the biblical precedent for marriage and that’s this, a wife is bound as long as her husband lives. Now that’s a clear as anything can be written. A woman is bound to her husband in marriage, not because of a law, but because of the law. For how long?

READ: Dealing with the Grey Areas of Life – Part 2 - 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
There is no such thing as an idol in this world. Verse 4 says again, “Therefore, concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world.”

READ: Handling the Grey Areas of Life – Part 3 - I Corinthians 8:7-13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Now, what in the world does the word “conscience” mean? In verse 7, the Greek word is suneidesis. It means to be conscious or inwardly aware of something as to whether or not it was morally right or morally wrong. It comes from the word suneido, which comes from sun, together, and eido, which means see and fully perceive. In other words, there is something inside of all of us, whether lost or saved, that gives us an inner awareness as to what is morally right and what is morally wrong.

READ: Denying Self for the Sake of Others – Part 1 - I Corinthians 9:1-14 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
I want you to know at the outset that it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to choose to deny what you know is right, your own right, your own privilege, for the sake of your brother unless you’re filled with the Spirit of God. Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the cluster. He says, “For the fruit of the Spirit is love.” Now, these other things are a part of that love. You can’t have one without the other.

READ: Denying Self for the Sake of Others – Part 2 - I Corinthians 9:15 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You love somebody who is real, somebody who is everything that they say that they are. Well, the apostle Paul was a man just like that. He was what he said he was.

READ: Denying Self for the Sake of Others – Part 3 - I Corinthians 9; Philippians 2:6-11 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We’re staying right in the context of 1 Corinthians 8 and 9, denying self for the sake of others, but we’re going to look at Jesus, the greatest example of this. If He lives in us, then it’s His heart beating in us to do that very thing. The whole of the context of the book of Philippians to me is wrapped around what I believe is the key verse, 1:21. He says in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

READ: Denying Self for the Sake of Others – Part 4 - I Corinthians 9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You can put just about anything in a grey area. This is the way you approach it. Are you willing to deny yourself for the sake of others? That’s what he’s addressing in chapter 8.

READ: The Discipline of the Christian Life - I Corinthians 9:24-27 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Sometimes in your life you’ve got to back up and look at the whole picture. You can’t just look at the chapter that you’re in. You’ve got to look at the whole book. You’ve got to see the whole picture of what’s going on.

READ: The Discipline of the Christian Life – Part 2 - I Corinthians 9:26 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Our Christian life is directly measured by the way we relate to one another. In other words, if a person is walking with God, then he is going to be rightly related to his brother in Christ within the body of Christ.

READ: A Caution to the Strong – Part 1 - I Corinthians 10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
And once we have understood and God has allowed us to experience the Word of God in our Christian walk and we are labeled to be the strong, now we have a greater responsibility than ever. The ones who are walking with God, the ones who understand, always make the biggest concession. The responsibility is always heavier upon them.

READ: A Caution to the Strong – Part 2 - I Corinthians 10:7-12 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The apostle Paul wants the Corinthian believers to understand that living the Christian life is not a once in a while thing. There is no way you can play games with God. In fact, the Christian life is very much like a runner who runs a race in order to win that race.

READ: Comfort in the Midst of Temptation - I Corinthians 10:13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
All sin is idolatry. Idolatry is simply a choice not to obey God and to obey our flesh. Remember in Matthew 6 Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters.”

READ: A Word to the Wise – Part 1 - I Corinthians 10:15 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Peter said of Paul, “You know, he says some things sometimes that are over our heads. They are hard to understand.” I like that, because Peter was a fisherman. What did he know about what Paul was talking about? Thank God, we have the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us today.

READ: A Word to the Wise – Part 2 - I Corinthians 10:16 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Now what he is saying is, when we have the Lord’s Supper, there is a beautiful, spiritual intimacy that we are drawn together. Why? Because we are all celebrating the same thing. We would not be believers if we were not celebrating the Lord’s Supper. You see, believers celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

READ: Respecting God’s Order – Part 1 - I Corinthians 11 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The Corinthians were living attached to men and everything else other than Christ. But when you attach yourself to Christ and surrender to Him, God so changes you in your perspective. Not only is there a love that is sensitive to others, but there also is a deep respect for the design and the order with which God has set things up in your life, a deep, deep respect. You can never get somebody to respect the order until that person respects God enough to surrender to Him.

READ: Respecting God’s Order – Part 2 - I Corinthians 11:11 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
God has an order of how things should function and of how things are designed to be. He’s the potter, we’re the clay. The clay never messes with the potter, because the clay doesn’t understand fully what the design is all about.

READ: The Silent Killer - I Corinthians 11:16 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
When we choose not to live in the Word of God, we have chosen to live by something else. We have bought the doctrine of the church. We have bought the doctrine of the world. And to live this way, but not let anybody know about it, is a very dangerous thing in the body of Christ. It becomes life-threatening to the body. It becomes threatening to the relationship within the body, when people come to church wearing a mask covering what they know to be cancerous, what they know to be something that they are not willing to do that God has told them to do.

READ: Examine Yourself - I Corinthians 11:27-29 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
So often we love to examine somebody else. It’s amazing how we look at other people more than we look at ourselves. So examine yourself. As we say many times, draw that circle around yourself. Don’t be pointing a finger or wishing somebody else was here to hear the message. Ask the Lord what He is saying to you.

READ: The Chastening of God - I Corinthians 11:30-31 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Oh, we love the songs, “Jesus loves me, this I know.” He does; He really does. But somehow we fail to associate His chastening with His love. You know, He loves us so much He will bring great pain in our lives in order to correct sinful behavior. God does not allow a Christian, a child of God, to get away with sin.

READ: The Signs of Spiritual Immaturity–Part 1 - I Corinthians 12:12 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We need to live attached to Christ. Now, what I mean by that, we are already attached to Him as believers. When you get saved, you are attached. He attaches you to Himself. You are a part of His body. However, to live attached to Him means on our end towards Him and our willingness to surrender to Him, to yield to His Word, to yield to His will. When that happens, there is automatic growth in our life.

READ: The Signs of Spiritual Immaturity–Part 2 - I Corinthians 12:3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
So, spiritual immaturity is characterized, first of all, by spiritual ignorance of spiritual matters. I mean, you know maybe one area or two areas, but you cannot highlight one or the other, you’ve got to see the balance. And only God can give you that balance as you are surrendered to Him. And then, secondly, the influence of a pagan past.

READ: The Essentials of Understanding Spiritual Gifts - I Corinthians 12:4-6 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Now what the apostle Paul does in verses 4, 5 and 6 is show us some essentials that a person must master and understand before he ever gets into the discussion of spiritual gifts. You’ve got to get these things down.

READ: The Essentials of Understanding Spiritual Gifts – Part 2 - I Corinthians 12:4-6 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The apostle Paul is laying a grid through which we view the rest of chapters 12, 13 and 14. Rules are important. Boundaries are important. Guidelines are necessary.

READ: To Each His Own - I Corinthians 12:7-9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Everyone has a spiritual gift through which God wants to minister to others and to give an effect that is eternal. Everyone has a gift. Don’t think for a second that God left you out.

READ: To Each His Own - Part 2 - I Corinthians 12:7-9 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Listen to me, if a gift or a manifestation of any kind is bringing division in the body, then you have to question whether or not that person with that gift or manifestation is truly influenced by the Holy Spirit of God, for the Spirit Himself unites the body.

READ: To Each His Own - Part 3 - I Corinthians 12:9-10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Distinguishing between the gifts of healings and the effecting of miracles.

READ: To Each His Own - Part 4 - I Corinthians 12:9-10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
God is the God of purpose. He does not ask our opinion; however, by His grace He allows us to participate in His purposes. Only God’s grace allows us to participate in His purposes. He establishes the rules. The rules are, priority number one, that we surrender to Him. That is the only way we get to participate.

READ: To Each His Own - Part 5 - I Corinthians 12:9-10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The word “prophecy” is prophetes. It comes from two words, the word pro, which means toward or forth, and also the word phemi, which means to tell, to tell forth. It has three ways that you can translate it and all three ways are found especially in the early church.

READ: To Each His Own - Part 6 - I Corinthians 12:9-10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You know, there is no greater truth in scripture than this: God wants to let us in on what He is up to. It really takes the pride out from under you when you realize it is not us working for God, but it is God doing His work in and through us. Just imagine—God wants us to be the vessels.

READ: To Each His Own - Part 7 - I Corinthians 12:9-10 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We come now to the last grouping of manifestations that the Holy Spirit led Paul to give us in chapter 12. As you know by now, there are two Greek words for “another,” and when they are used together in the same text, they are very significantly different. This is why it is important to know those.

READ: Just Who is In Charge - I Corinthians 12:10-11 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Have you ever noticed how an immature child will test you to see who is in charge? They’ll do what they can to see what they can get away with. Finally, you just have to yank that leash to get them straight. Well, in a very similar way the church of Corinth was a very immature church. So whatever was going on, you can rest assured God was not in control. They were in control. What the apostle Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians 12 is setting the record straight as to who really is in control.

READ: All for One, One for All - I Corinthians 12:12-17 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
How many times have you heard the statement that you and I are free in Jesus Christ? How many times have you heard me balance it by saying freedom is not the right to do as you please; freedom is the power to do as you should? If we’re ever going to live in freedom, we’re going to have to live attached to and surrendered to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the only way to live free and empowered to do what we’re called to do.

READ: All for One, One for All - Part 2 - I Corinthians 12:18-23 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The church of Corinth was in a spiritual mess. As a result of that, they didn’t have a concept. They didn’t have a clue about the body of Christ and how it worked. They were coveting each other’s gifts.

READ: All for One, One for All - Part 3 - I Corinthians 12:24-31 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
It’s really precious to realize that no gift is ever real unless it’s received. If we’re going to receive the gift that God has given us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are receiving daily His life. We’re receiving daily His peace. We’re receiving daily the wisdom and all of the other things that He embodies. But if we’re not going to receive it, then we might as well forget it.

READ: The Absolute Proof of a Surrendered Life - Part 1 - I Corinthians 12:31 and 1 Peter 2:1 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You’ve heard the saying, “If it acts like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it must be a duck.” That’s a good way of determining a duck. But in the context of what we’re studying in 1 Corinthians, particularly chapters 12 and 13, the question we must ask is this: Is there an absolute way to prove that a person is living surrendered to Christ? Is there an absolute mark on a person who truly is spiritual?

READ: The Absolute Proof of a Surrendered Life - Part 2 - I Corinthians 13:1-3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
What is it? First Corinthians 13 focuses on it. It’s love, but not this humanistic, fluffy kind of love. It’s God’s love actually produced in and through us by the means of His Holy Spirit who now lives in us.

READ: Nine Characteristics of Love - I Corinthians 13:4-5 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
If you seek after the Giver, you’ll take care of the gifts. They’ll all point back to Him. That’s his whole point. Corinth is an upside down, fleshly minded, immature church, and he’s trying to show them the better way. Attach yourself to Christ; surrender to Him. Be the vessel through which the living water can flow and the gifts will take care of themselves.

READ: When Love is Present - I Corinthians 13:6-7 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
You know, folks, there’s no mistake that chapter 13 follows chapter 12 and comes before chapter 14. There’s no mistake. What I’m talking about in this passage or this portion of Paul’s letter is injected there for a very, very good reason. What’s going on in Corinth had no love in it whatsoever.

READ: Love That Never Fails - I Corinthians 13:8-12 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We’ve been talking about the absolute proof of a surrendered life. Of course, that proof is the love that God produces in us. But I’m going to change gears just a little bit and entitle the message, “Love that Never Fails.” We find that phrase in verse 8.

READ: His Love That Will Not Let Us Go - I Corinthians 13:12-13 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
This chapter has been so phenomenal in how it’s focused upon the one way in which you can know a person is surrendered to Christ—that is the love that God’s Spirit produces in their life. This love is a love that will not let us go. That’s what I want us to think about, “His Love That Will Not Let Us Go.”

READ: What is the Problem in Corinth? - I Corinthians 14:1-3 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We’re going to be looking at verses 1-3, and we’re going to be talking about the problem at Corinth. “What is the Problem in Corinth?” We live in a day and a time today much like the time the Corinthians lived in during the writing of this epistle. It’s a time when ability, performance, and experience seem to dominate our spiritual vocabulary. It’s not very different.

READ: The Spiritual Power of Language - I Corinthians 14:5-12 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Language is to communicate. The fruit of any language is understanding. You say something to someone so that they might hear you and benefit from what you say. But what is the spiritual power of language?

READ: Baby Talk - I Corinthians 14:13-17 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Well, a lot of babies were in the church of Corinth, a lot of babies. And because they were babies, they were absolutely of no use to anybody else in the body of Christ. That is what is on Paul’s mind. That is what he has been trying to say, building up the body of Christ is his whole thought process as here in chapters 12, 13 and 14. It is what spiritual giftedness is all about.

READ: Up From the Grave He Arose - I Corinthians 15 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of all of Christianity. In fact, if one could prove that Jesus did not bodily resurrect from the grave, then Christianity is dead.

READ: Good Intentions Don't Necessarily Make Things Right - I Corinthians 14:20-25 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
Paul wasted no time in getting to the very crux of the matter. He says, “You people just won’t grow up.” In 1:12, he says, “Some of you are attached to Paul, some of you are attached to Cephas, some of you are attached to Apollos. That is your problem. You are attached to everything and anybody except Christ. You are living like babies. Perhaps your intentions are good, but you are doing some very ignorant things.”

READ: Order in the Church - Part 1 - I Corinthians 14:26-28 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We are going to be talking about “Order in the Church.” It is humanly impossible to reconstruct the chaos that was going on at the church of Corinth in their public worship services.

READ: Order in the Church - Part 2 - I Corinthians 14:29-33 | LISTEN TO AUDIO
By: Dr. Wayne Barber
We are talking about Order in the Church, and this is Part 2. The Corinthians needed to hear this message. You talk about chaos, it was a circus at their public worship services.