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After reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we may look down at the church in Corinth because it was filled with so many problems. However, we should remember that this is the only book in the New Testament that specifically tells us it is written to all the believers in Christ (1:2). So Paul here is not just dealing with the problems in that local church, but with problems that have afflicted the church as a whole ever since.

And one of these problems is an improper relationship with the servants of the Lord. We need to be clear that the fellowship of God’s Son (1 Cor. 1:9) is also the fellowship of the apostles (Acts 2:42), because it is the labor of the apostles and of the genuine servants of the Lord that brings us into the genuine New Testament fellowship. Thus, if we are not properly related to such ones, there is no way for us to be in the proper fellowship, and the result will disastrous both for our own spiritual life and for the church.

That is why Paul inserts chapter 4 in his epistle, after he has dealt with the problem of divisions in chapters 1 to 3, and before he goes on to deal with the problem of immorality in chapter 5. In brief, what we see in this chapter is what it means to have a proper relationship with those who serve us in the Lord.

Length: 45 minutes

To download the pamphlet we use as
the basis for this study, go to this page:
“What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
To view the pamphlet online,
go to the “Look Inside” page.

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RESOURCES

Previous Episodes in this Series:
Podcast Series: “What Is the Church?”
Pamphlet: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”
Look Inside: “What Is God’s Purpose for the Church?”

Note: “The Bible in One Verse”
Video: “How I Found the New Testament Fellowship.”
Podcast Series: “Spirit and Soul and Body”

Books
E.H. Broadbent, The Pilgrim Church

Witness Lee The New Testament: Recovery Version
J.N. Darby: “The Nature and Unity of the Church”
Witness Lee, The Life and Way for the Practice of the Church Life
Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Church Life
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BIBLE VERSES REFERENCED

IN THIS SERIES:
Ephesians 1:22-23: The Body, the fullness of Christ.
Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13: The many members of Christ.
John 1:12-13, 3:3-8, 2 Peter 1:4: Born anew with the divine life and nature.
Ephesians 2:19, 1 Corinthians 1:9: God’s family and the fellowship of God’s Son.
Revelation 1:10-13: The golden lampstands.

IN THIS EPISODE:
1 Corinthians 1:24, 30: Christ as God’s wisdom.
Colossians 1:24-27: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Acts 4:13: A couple of idiots.
Acts 20:27: Declaring the whole counsel of God.
Revelation 2-3: The prophecy concerning church history.
Revelation 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:15: The church forsaking Paul and his ministry.

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Recorded…
in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, 7 May 2025