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Thru the Bible #44
Thru the Bible Vol. 44: The Epistles (1 Corinthians)
Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student! Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.
204 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
29 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
J. Vernon McGee
482 books67 followersJohn Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. Dr. McGee remarked, "When I was born and the doctor gave me the customary whack, my mother said that I let out a yell that could be heard on all four borders of Texas!" His Creator well knew that he would need a powerful voice to deliver a powerful message.
As a student pastor, Dr. McGee's first church was located on a red clay hill in Midway, Georgia. It was there that he received his greatest compliment: "It was from a country boy wearing high buttoned, yellow shoes. After a morning service he came to speak to me. He groped for words, then blurted out, 'I never knew Jesus was so wonderful!' He started to say more but choked up and hurried out of the church. As I watched him stride across the field, I prayed, 'Oh, God, help me to always preach so that it can be said, I never knew Jesus was so wonderful.'"
After completing his education (earning his A.B. from Southwestern University in Memphis, Tennessee; his B.D. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; his Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas), and after pastoring Presbyterian churches in Decatur, GA, Nashville, TN, and Cleburne, TX, he and his wife came west, settling in Pasadena, where he accepted a call to the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church. He recalls this period as the happiest in his life, with a young family and a young congregation whom he loved.
Dr. McGee's greatest pastorate was at the historic, Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he served from 1949 to 1970. There he began a daily radio broadcast called "High Noon Bible Class" on a single station.
Dr. McGee began teaching Thru the Bible in 1967. After retiring from the pastorate, he set up radio headquarters in Pasadena, and the radio ministry expanded rapidly. Today the program airs on over 400 stations each day in the United States and Canada, is heard in more than 100 languages around the world and is broadcast worldwide via the Internet.
As a student pastor, Dr. McGee's first church was located on a red clay hill in Midway, Georgia. It was there that he received his greatest compliment: "It was from a country boy wearing high buttoned, yellow shoes. After a morning service he came to speak to me. He groped for words, then blurted out, 'I never knew Jesus was so wonderful!' He started to say more but choked up and hurried out of the church. As I watched him stride across the field, I prayed, 'Oh, God, help me to always preach so that it can be said, I never knew Jesus was so wonderful.'"
After completing his education (earning his A.B. from Southwestern University in Memphis, Tennessee; his B.D. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; his Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas), and after pastoring Presbyterian churches in Decatur, GA, Nashville, TN, and Cleburne, TX, he and his wife came west, settling in Pasadena, where he accepted a call to the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church. He recalls this period as the happiest in his life, with a young family and a young congregation whom he loved.
Dr. McGee's greatest pastorate was at the historic, Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he served from 1949 to 1970. There he began a daily radio broadcast called "High Noon Bible Class" on a single station.
Dr. McGee began teaching Thru the Bible in 1967. After retiring from the pastorate, he set up radio headquarters in Pasadena, and the radio ministry expanded rapidly. Today the program airs on over 400 stations each day in the United States and Canada, is heard in more than 100 languages around the world and is broadcast worldwide via the Internet.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 11, 2020
First sentence: The First Epistle to the Corinthians Introduction Paul addressed this epistle to the church which was in the city of Corinth. He wrote it from Ephesus around A.D. 55–57 (more likely 57).
I am reading the Bible in 2020 using the daily M'Cheyne (Robert Murray M'Cheyne) plan. I thought it would add a layer of substance to in addition to the four chapters a day, to also read commentaries for those chapters. For that I am using Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. But the plan goes through the New Testament (and Psalms, I believe) twice. So now that I've finished Henry's commentary for the New Testament, I am tackling the New Testament commentary section of J. Vernon McGee's series.
This is not my first time reading J. Vernon McGee. I've read twelve or so of his commentaries. (Most recently his volume on Romans 9-16.)
Overall, I like his laidback, casual, straightforward, tell it like it is approach to teaching Scripture. There is something so grounded and down to earth about him. Each reader is "his" friend. It's hard not to feel like he is a friend too.
One of the things that I love about McGee's commentaries is that he just speaks timeless truths. He almost always leaves me thinking!!!
Quotes:
It is wonderful today to be able to say, “I am where I am and I am doing what I am doing because of the will of God.” Is that your situation? If you can say that, then I do not need to add that you are a very happy, joyful Christian.
You see, friend, you are not going to heaven until you are perfect—I am not either. And I am not perfect, not even near it. The fact of the matter is that if you knew me like I know myself, you wouldn’t listen to me. But wait a minute! Don’t tune me out because, if I knew you like you know yourself, I wouldn’t speak to you. So let’s just stay connected here, if you don’t mind.
We do not become saints by what we do; we become saints because of our position in Christ. The word saint actually means “set aside to God.” Every Christian should be set aside to God.
The important thing is to have the Word of Christ in our hearts. That does not necessarily mean to memorize it. It means to obey it. If Christ is in your heart, you are obeying Him, and you are thinking upon Him. He occupies your mind and your heart.
My friend, when there is sin in the church, it is like a cancer. It needs to be dealt with. When I had cancer, I went to my doctor for help. Imagine him saying, “Now we don’t want to get excited; we don’t want to get disturbed; we don’t want to become emotional; we don’t want to cause any trouble. We want you to have a nice, peaceful mind; so I will sprinkle a little talcum powder on this place and everything will be all right.” Well, friend, I would have smelled good, but I would have died of the cancer. You’ve got to deal with a cancer, and you’ve got to deal with trouble in the church.
Today the wisdom of the world is to have an antipoverty program or some other kind of program. Or the wisdom of the world is to save man from his problems by education. May I say that what man needs today is the gospel. The wisdom of the world has never considered that.
There are certain things that we can understand only if the Spirit of God reveals them to us, and He does this freely. He wants to be our Teacher!
We cannot tell God anything, but God can reveal a great deal to us. However, the Spirit of God cannot reveal spiritual things to us until we have the mind of Christ.
Well, we are all preachers. As I told him, “We preach some message by our lives. You are saying something to the world and to those around you by your life. You can’t help it. I live my life unto you and you live our life unto me. It’s just that way. We have that kind of influence.” My friend, if you are a believer, you are a minister of Christ. What kind of message are you giving?
Abraham Lincoln said, “Public opinion in this country is everything.” Unfortunately, it is true. There is a danger to defer to the opinion of others, to yield to the criticism of our enemies and surrender to them. Many of our courts favor the popularity of the crowd instead of justice—certainly the politicians favor the crowd. Some will surrender principles and honor and reputation.
Does the church today think it can drop down to the immorality of the world and get away with it?
In a secular society, secularism always takes the place of God. That is modern idolatry today. A great many people are putting secularism in the place of God.
There is a limitation on our Christian liberty. This can be stated in a graphic way. You have a perfect right to swing your fist any way you want to, but where my nose begins your liberty ends.
One of the reasons we yield to temptation is that we are like the little boy in the pantry. His mother heard a noise because he had taken down the cookie jar. She said, “Willie, where are you?” He answered that he was in the pantry. “What are you doing there?” He said, “I’m fighting temptation.” My friend, that is not the place to fight temptation! That is the place to start running.
The Christian faith always looks beyond the sunset to the sunrise. It looks out yonder into eternity—and what a hope it offers! This is another factor which gives meaning and purpose to life.
I am reading the Bible in 2020 using the daily M'Cheyne (Robert Murray M'Cheyne) plan. I thought it would add a layer of substance to in addition to the four chapters a day, to also read commentaries for those chapters. For that I am using Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. But the plan goes through the New Testament (and Psalms, I believe) twice. So now that I've finished Henry's commentary for the New Testament, I am tackling the New Testament commentary section of J. Vernon McGee's series.
This is not my first time reading J. Vernon McGee. I've read twelve or so of his commentaries. (Most recently his volume on Romans 9-16.)
Overall, I like his laidback, casual, straightforward, tell it like it is approach to teaching Scripture. There is something so grounded and down to earth about him. Each reader is "his" friend. It's hard not to feel like he is a friend too.
One of the things that I love about McGee's commentaries is that he just speaks timeless truths. He almost always leaves me thinking!!!
Quotes:
It is wonderful today to be able to say, “I am where I am and I am doing what I am doing because of the will of God.” Is that your situation? If you can say that, then I do not need to add that you are a very happy, joyful Christian.
You see, friend, you are not going to heaven until you are perfect—I am not either. And I am not perfect, not even near it. The fact of the matter is that if you knew me like I know myself, you wouldn’t listen to me. But wait a minute! Don’t tune me out because, if I knew you like you know yourself, I wouldn’t speak to you. So let’s just stay connected here, if you don’t mind.
We do not become saints by what we do; we become saints because of our position in Christ. The word saint actually means “set aside to God.” Every Christian should be set aside to God.
The important thing is to have the Word of Christ in our hearts. That does not necessarily mean to memorize it. It means to obey it. If Christ is in your heart, you are obeying Him, and you are thinking upon Him. He occupies your mind and your heart.
My friend, when there is sin in the church, it is like a cancer. It needs to be dealt with. When I had cancer, I went to my doctor for help. Imagine him saying, “Now we don’t want to get excited; we don’t want to get disturbed; we don’t want to become emotional; we don’t want to cause any trouble. We want you to have a nice, peaceful mind; so I will sprinkle a little talcum powder on this place and everything will be all right.” Well, friend, I would have smelled good, but I would have died of the cancer. You’ve got to deal with a cancer, and you’ve got to deal with trouble in the church.
Today the wisdom of the world is to have an antipoverty program or some other kind of program. Or the wisdom of the world is to save man from his problems by education. May I say that what man needs today is the gospel. The wisdom of the world has never considered that.
There are certain things that we can understand only if the Spirit of God reveals them to us, and He does this freely. He wants to be our Teacher!
We cannot tell God anything, but God can reveal a great deal to us. However, the Spirit of God cannot reveal spiritual things to us until we have the mind of Christ.
Well, we are all preachers. As I told him, “We preach some message by our lives. You are saying something to the world and to those around you by your life. You can’t help it. I live my life unto you and you live our life unto me. It’s just that way. We have that kind of influence.” My friend, if you are a believer, you are a minister of Christ. What kind of message are you giving?
Abraham Lincoln said, “Public opinion in this country is everything.” Unfortunately, it is true. There is a danger to defer to the opinion of others, to yield to the criticism of our enemies and surrender to them. Many of our courts favor the popularity of the crowd instead of justice—certainly the politicians favor the crowd. Some will surrender principles and honor and reputation.
Does the church today think it can drop down to the immorality of the world and get away with it?
In a secular society, secularism always takes the place of God. That is modern idolatry today. A great many people are putting secularism in the place of God.
There is a limitation on our Christian liberty. This can be stated in a graphic way. You have a perfect right to swing your fist any way you want to, but where my nose begins your liberty ends.
One of the reasons we yield to temptation is that we are like the little boy in the pantry. His mother heard a noise because he had taken down the cookie jar. She said, “Willie, where are you?” He answered that he was in the pantry. “What are you doing there?” He said, “I’m fighting temptation.” My friend, that is not the place to fight temptation! That is the place to start running.
The Christian faith always looks beyond the sunset to the sunrise. It looks out yonder into eternity—and what a hope it offers! This is another factor which gives meaning and purpose to life.
June 25, 2014
McGee is very easy to read and very accurately presents a concise interpretation off each passage. This is a great resource for those just starting out with commentaries for bible study. He gives easily digestible illustrations and keeps it very simple. If he chases a rabbit it is always relevant even if a touch preachy. A very sound source which is useful to the beginning student and the master scholar.
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October 5, 2015Mr. McGee's interpretation is easy to understand and clears up any misunderstanding of this book. I appreciate his commentary very much.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews