WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.280 When we think about greeting somebody or even 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:07.820 greeting a group of people, we tend to think 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:11.259 of greetings as obligatory. We tend to think 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:14.660 of them as not all that important. In fact, when 00:00:14.660 --> 00:00:17.300 we come together, we often say, well, how are 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:21.359 you, right? And we say it very quickly, not without 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:24.660 a lot of thought, because the greeting is something 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:26.839 that we all think, well, we just rush past it. 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:29.339 in order to get to the meat of the conversation, 00:00:29.559 --> 00:00:30.980 right? We want to get to the things that really 00:00:30.980 --> 00:00:33.820 matter, but we enter into it with this quick 00:00:33.820 --> 00:00:37.179 greeting, how you doing? Well, scripture doesn't 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:40.259 do that. Scripture does not rush through a greeting. 00:00:40.420 --> 00:00:42.539 In fact, in most cases, the authors in the New 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:46.100 Testament letters preach entire sermons, just 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:49.259 in the greetings, just in the salutations. So 00:00:49.259 --> 00:00:51.520 what we tend to skim over or just read right 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:53.710 past and I think we've all done this before. 00:00:53.770 --> 00:00:55.710 We decide we're gonna read a book in the New 00:00:55.710 --> 00:00:58.009 Testament, we open it up, and we just zip through 00:00:58.009 --> 00:01:00.130 the greeting, right, so that we can get to the 00:01:00.130 --> 00:01:03.070 meat. The things that we read past are often 00:01:03.070 --> 00:01:07.730 absolutely loaded with important theology, absolutely 00:01:07.730 --> 00:01:10.750 loaded with pastoral care. Sometimes you'll find 00:01:10.750 --> 00:01:13.650 entire summaries of the gospel just in the opening 00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.489 verses of a letter. And our passage for this 00:01:16.489 --> 00:01:19.670 morning is a perfect example of this. It is packed 00:01:19.670 --> 00:01:24.019 full of essential, Christian doctrine, things 00:01:24.019 --> 00:01:26.200 that define the historic faith of Christianity, 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:28.879 packed into just nine verses in the greeting 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:33.900 of our letter for this morning. And it's sort 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:36.280 of ironic, when we think of 1 Corinthians, you 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:38.219 think, well, this is a really practical letter 00:01:38.219 --> 00:01:40.760 for the church, and that's true. But what we're 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:42.920 going to find out, that it starts with the theology. 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:45.079 Here's the thing, and I hope this truth comes 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:46.700 through loud and clear throughout this preaching 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:49.680 series. How we live life together practically 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:53.579 in the local church has to be built on theology. 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:57.019 It has to be built on essential theology and 00:01:57.019 --> 00:01:59.260 biblical convictions. We don't just wander in 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:01.079 and say, well, let's start with the practical 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:04.819 stuff. They have to be built on eternal truths. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:07.819 So as we dive into our passage for today, we're 00:02:07.819 --> 00:02:09.780 going to linger here in the greeting, spend our 00:02:09.780 --> 00:02:12.039 entire message on it. And we're going to see 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:14.759 how Paul's choice of words here, inspired by 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:17.120 the Holy Spirit, how they set the course for 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:20.099 the rest of his letter. So grab your Bibles. 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:27.840 We're going to 1 Corinthians 1. If you missed 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:29.960 last Sunday's introduction, I want to encourage 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:31.960 you to go back because it really does set the 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:33.719 context for everything that we're going to read 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:35.659 over, I don't know, the next couple of years. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.139 So go back and listen to it. And let me also 00:02:39.139 --> 00:02:41.469 say this. I referenced a lot of pictures and 00:02:41.469 --> 00:02:44.129 maps and timelines in that sermon. And some of 00:02:44.129 --> 00:02:45.750 you reached out this last week and said, can 00:02:45.750 --> 00:02:48.430 you send me those pictures? And I can do that. 00:02:48.469 --> 00:02:50.650 I can send you a PDF with all those pictures 00:02:50.650 --> 00:02:52.889 and all of those timelines and maps. All you 00:02:52.889 --> 00:02:55.189 have to do is text me or email me and say, send 00:02:55.189 --> 00:02:57.449 it my way. Happy to do that. But that message 00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:00.090 from last Sunday really is important for context. 00:03:00.770 --> 00:03:03.030 Now, we know that Paul is writing here to a troubled 00:03:03.030 --> 00:03:05.830 church. That's what we saw last week. We looked 00:03:05.830 --> 00:03:07.870 at the city of Corinth. We looked at Paul's connection 00:03:07.870 --> 00:03:11.729 to this unique body of believers. This is a church 00:03:11.729 --> 00:03:15.449 that exists in a very wealthy, very materialistic, 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:19.289 very idolatrous city and culture. But in spite 00:03:19.289 --> 00:03:22.169 of that truth, Paul begins his letter here to 00:03:22.169 --> 00:03:24.530 the members of this church with great confidence. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:27.659 which you might not expect. He doesn't begin 00:03:27.659 --> 00:03:30.000 by questioning the reality of their conversion. 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:33.240 Instead, he starts to affirm what God has done 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:36.199 for them in Christ. There's going to be plenty 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:38.520 of time in this letter for Paul to rebuke them 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.479 and correct them and instruct them, but not yet. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.680 First, they have to be reminded of the certainty 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:47.439 of their salvation. They've got to be reminded 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.860 about the hope that they have in Christ and to 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:52.300 make sure that they understand that the certainty 00:03:52.300 --> 00:03:55.219 that they have doesn't rest in themselves. Because 00:03:55.219 --> 00:03:57.139 none of us can keep ourselves in the kingdom, 00:03:57.240 --> 00:03:59.900 right? It rests in the power of God, in the one 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:03.620 who has the gift of salvation in his sovereign 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:06.379 hands. And so every one of the nine verses that 00:04:06.379 --> 00:04:08.400 we're going to look at this morning is intended 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:12.120 to help the Corinthians and you and I by extension 00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:17.220 to know who we are in relation to God. Let me 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:19.060 say this again. All nine of the verses we're 00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:22.139 going to look at today. given to us so that we'll 00:04:22.139 --> 00:04:25.779 understand who we are in relation to God. So 00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:27.439 this is what Paul's going to tell them in this 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:31.519 section. This is who you are in Christ. And we 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:33.079 should listen for ourselves as well, because 00:04:33.079 --> 00:04:35.459 what's true of the Corinthians back then is true 00:04:35.459 --> 00:04:39.100 of believers today. Who are we in Christ? And 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:41.199 the way that Paul goes about laying this out 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.680 is actually very brilliant. He's going to start 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:47.139 by looking back into the past. to define how 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:49.959 these men and women became believers in the first 00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:52.939 place. So he starts in the past. Then he's going 00:04:52.939 --> 00:04:55.319 to look at the present situation to see what 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:59.279 their experience is right now as a local church 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.920 living life together, just like we are. And finally, 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:04.800 he's going to look to the future. He's going 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.019 to look down the road eschatologically to their 00:05:07.019 --> 00:05:10.060 end and how they can be assured of where they're 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:13.560 going to end up. So, past, present, and future. 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:15.500 You're gonna see it throughout. So let's back 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:17.560 up to verse one. We're just actually gonna, let's 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:19.339 just read this whole greeting, verses one through 00:05:19.339 --> 00:05:22.579 nine. Here's what it says. Paul, called as an 00:05:22.579 --> 00:05:25.420 apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:28.939 Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God, 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.899 which is at Corinth, to those who've been sanctified 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:35.579 in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all 00:05:35.579 --> 00:05:38.819 who in every place call on the name of our Lord 00:05:38.819 --> 00:05:42.980 Jesus Christ. their Lord and ours. Grace to you 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:45.639 and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:48.100 Christ. Now, before we read the rest of it here, 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:51.139 I want you to notice the absence of something 00:05:51.139 --> 00:05:54.319 that's very important. Normally in Paul's letters, 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:56.980 at this point, he would say something positive 00:05:56.980 --> 00:05:59.720 about the church there. He would say something 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.740 praiseworthy. That's usually how we start. So, 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:04.420 for example, I'll put some of these on the screen. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:07.220 To the church of Rome, he writes, I thank my 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:10.040 God through Jesus Christ for you all because 00:06:10.040 --> 00:06:12.800 your faith is being proclaimed throughout the 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.740 whole world. That's a real praiseworthy thing. 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:18.420 To the Ephesian church, he says, I've heard of 00:06:18.420 --> 00:06:21.000 the faith in the Lord Jesus, which exists among 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.480 you and your love for all the saints. To the 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.899 Philippian church, he speaks of their participation 00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:31.459 in the gospel from the first day until now. To 00:06:31.459 --> 00:06:34.420 the church in Colossae, he says, we heard of 00:06:34.420 --> 00:06:36.819 your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:39.300 you have for all the saints. And to the church 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:41.800 of Thessalonica, what scholars think is probably 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:44.660 the most healthy church of all the New Testament 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:47.639 churches, he says, we make mention of you in 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:50.779 our prayers, constantly bearing in mind your 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:54.120 work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:57.120 of hope. in our Lord Jesus Christ. Man, if you 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:59.420 wanted to be just really thrilled with what God 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:01.540 says about your local church, that's a really 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:04.399 good example, right? Did you see it? Your work 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.819 of faith, your labor of love, your steadfastness 00:07:06.819 --> 00:07:10.240 of hope. But guess what? You don't see anything 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:14.519 like that in the 1 Corinthians, do you? It's 00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:18.160 not there. Nothing really praiseworthy. But here's 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.100 what Paul's going to do. Instead, he's going 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:22.939 to focus like a laser beam, not on the believers, 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:26.639 but on what God has done among them. And this 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:29.459 is so important, right? What he has done, what 00:07:29.459 --> 00:07:32.660 he is doing, what he will do among the believers 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:34.480 there in Corinth. So let's look at verses four 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:39.459 through nine now. I thank my God always concerning 00:07:39.459 --> 00:07:42.319 you for the grace of God which was given you 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:45.079 in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were 00:07:45.079 --> 00:07:47.439 enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:51.259 even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed 00:07:51.259 --> 00:08:11.319 in you. So let me point that again. What you 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.220 see in these six verses are references to the 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:16.899 past, to the present, and to the future. And 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:19.439 the verb tenses... Really tell the story in this, 00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:21.319 and we'll see that as we go along. So we want 00:08:21.319 --> 00:08:23.120 to look at all three of those areas, one at a 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:25.139 time. We'll spend the most time on the first 00:08:25.139 --> 00:08:27.740 one, on the past, because that's where Paul spends 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:31.379 the most time in both verses two and verses four 00:08:31.379 --> 00:08:34.100 through six. So let's look at verse two again. 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:38.559 To those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, 00:08:38.899 --> 00:08:43.600 saints by calling, with all who in every place 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:46.019 call on the name of Jesus, of our Lord Jesus 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:49.159 Christ. So this is true of the believers in first 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:51.759 century Corinth, and it's true of believers today. 00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:55.100 We should be able to ask the question and answer 00:08:55.100 --> 00:08:57.879 the question, what happened in the past that 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.240 brought us into the kingdom of God? What happened 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.840 that brought us into union with Christ? And what 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:06.159 we see here are three things. Number one, we 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:09.559 were sanctified in him. Number two, he called 00:09:09.559 --> 00:09:12.259 us to be saints. And number three, we responded 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:15.659 to being sanctified and called. By calling on 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:19.659 the name of Jesus as Lord. Do you see it? Let 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:23.000 me say it again. We were sanctified in him. He 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:25.600 called us to be saints. And then we responded 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.960 to that by calling on the name of Jesus as Lord. 00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:33.259 And that order is important, right? First, God 00:09:33.259 --> 00:09:36.399 sanctified us. In what sense? In the sense that 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:41.059 he set us apart to be holy in his sight. Now, 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:42.980 I know we talk about sanctification as an ongoing 00:09:42.980 --> 00:09:46.240 life process of maturing in the Lord. The way 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.700 it's being used here in this verse is, no, set 00:09:48.700 --> 00:09:52.759 apart, set apart as holy in God's sight. That 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:56.159 is positionally true of anybody that is found 00:09:56.159 --> 00:10:00.039 in Christ. And that action was completed before 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:03.179 time began. You heard Paul say the same thing 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:05.419 in our call to worship passage that Dave read 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:09.440 from Ephesians 1. He chose us in him. This is 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.840 what Dave read. He chose us in him, meaning he 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.740 set us apart in Christ before the foundation 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:18.000 of the world that we would be holy and blameless 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:24.840 before him. Do you believe that? I hope so. And 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:26.620 the way Paul writes that here in 1 Corinthians 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:31.179 is important. He says, This is the Greek verb 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:33.879 hagiadzo written in what we call the perfect 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:36.179 tense. And the perfect tense is very important 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:38.899 in the Greek language. It refers to an action 00:10:38.899 --> 00:10:42.519 that was completed in the past, but the results 00:10:42.519 --> 00:10:46.820 of that action continue on. Okay, completed in 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:49.320 the past, but the results continue on. Here's 00:10:49.320 --> 00:10:51.419 what that means. The believers in Corinth were 00:10:51.419 --> 00:10:56.039 chosen by God in eternity past. They were sanctified 00:10:56.039 --> 00:10:59.019 or set apart to be in union with Christ, and 00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:03.379 that set apartness continues. It continues on. 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:05.779 In fact, this is such an important truth. As 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:08.600 believers, we are forever set apart in Christ. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.399 We were set apart in eternity past, and we'll 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:15.620 be set apart into eternity future. We belong 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:19.299 to him. We're in union with Christ. So we are 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:23.539 called by God to be what Paul refers to as saints. 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:26.960 Hagios in the Greek, which, get this, translates 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:32.179 to what? What is a saint? A holy one. A holy 00:11:32.179 --> 00:11:36.399 one. Now, he's not talking about saints as the 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:39.919 Roman Catholic Church canonized saints. Their 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.480 definition of saints as men and women who are 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:47.480 uniquely virtuous is not at all biblical. That 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.580 is simply a tradition. Paul uses the word. to 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:53.019 refer to just ordinary Christians like you and 00:11:53.019 --> 00:11:57.419 I, even the Corinthians. They're saints. In fact, 00:11:57.440 --> 00:11:59.820 this is one of Paul's favorite words to describe 00:11:59.820 --> 00:12:03.740 believers. He uses it some 40 times in the New 00:12:03.740 --> 00:12:07.340 Testament. Now, did you realize that you are 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:11.600 a holy one? Do you realize that God sees you 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:15.019 as a holy one? And you can see how this relates 00:12:15.019 --> 00:12:17.399 to being sanctified. Look at the screen and you 00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:20.059 can see how both of these words share the same 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:23.559 root in the Greek language. Hagios, Hagiazo. 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:27.120 We are sanctified saints chosen and set apart 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:31.860 by God to be holy in his sight. That is our positional 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:35.559 truth. It is true about us as we sit here this 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:37.960 morning. And that positional truth is secured 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:40.679 by God's sovereign grace and his sovereign will. 00:12:42.029 --> 00:12:44.429 I know it's hard to believe, right? Because we 00:12:44.429 --> 00:12:47.190 all wrestle with sin. But positionally, Christ 00:12:47.190 --> 00:12:50.990 has declared this about us. We are his holy ones. 00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:54.649 So the calling described here isn't just an external 00:12:54.649 --> 00:12:57.269 offer that God makes to us as we tend to think 00:12:57.269 --> 00:12:59.769 about calling. It's not just that we hear the 00:12:59.769 --> 00:13:02.049 gospel. What Paul's talking about here in verse 00:13:02.049 --> 00:13:06.029 two is an effectual action on God's part that 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:10.470 results in us being holy ones. It's an effectual 00:13:10.470 --> 00:13:15.120 act. God declares it to be so. We are his holy 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.799 ones. And this type of calling, what God does 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:20.779 is he, in time and space, he marks us out in 00:13:20.779 --> 00:13:23.740 eternity past. In time and space, he opens up 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:26.820 our eyes spiritually. He breaks through our resistance. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:31.220 He awakens us out of spiritual death and he massages 00:13:31.220 --> 00:13:34.500 our heart to life. He brings us to life. And 00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:37.179 then he grants us the ability to turn to him, 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:40.259 to see the beauty of Christ, and to embrace the 00:13:40.259 --> 00:13:44.820 truth of the gospel. Is that your testimony? 00:13:45.539 --> 00:13:48.299 Do you remember when God did this in your life? 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:51.639 I remember it clearly in my college days, when 00:13:51.639 --> 00:13:54.220 God did this work in me. And I didn't really 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:56.759 know what was going on. I couldn't really answer, 00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.419 why am I suddenly paying attention to the things 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:04.049 of God? Last week, I could have cared less, and 00:14:04.049 --> 00:14:06.409 God's drawing me, and he's doing this work in 00:14:06.409 --> 00:14:09.870 my heart. He's massaging my heart to life. It's 00:14:09.870 --> 00:14:13.789 amazing, right? And so God changes our affections. 00:14:14.649 --> 00:14:17.830 From our perspective, it's a free and glad submission 00:14:17.830 --> 00:14:21.690 to Christ. As he changes our affections, he causes 00:14:21.690 --> 00:14:27.179 us to truly want to worship Jesus. So these two 00:14:27.179 --> 00:14:28.940 things work together, God's divine sovereignty, 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:32.279 and yet we really do desire and want to submit 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:35.500 to Christ because God creates that. He causes 00:14:35.500 --> 00:14:38.720 that in us, in our hearts. He brings us to life. 00:14:38.899 --> 00:14:41.080 It's a beautiful thing, isn't it? We don't have 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:43.279 to pick one or the other, sovereignty or human 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:46.220 responsibility. They fit together biblically. 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:49.840 And as Paul describes here in verse two, when 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.220 that happens, when God changes our hearts, we 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:54.700 can incline ourselves towards him and we call 00:14:54.700 --> 00:14:58.019 upon the name of the Lord. We call upon Jesus 00:14:58.019 --> 00:15:03.460 as Lord, just as he predestined we would. Hmm. 00:15:04.740 --> 00:15:08.440 Hmm. Interesting, right? Here's the amazing thing 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:11.480 about this. He chose to call and sanctify and 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:14.929 save first century Corinthians. And he chose 00:15:14.929 --> 00:15:17.889 to call, sanctify, and save a knucklehead like 00:15:17.889 --> 00:15:23.649 me. And like you. That's what's so amazing about 00:15:23.649 --> 00:15:26.950 amazing grace. But that's not all he does. He 00:15:26.950 --> 00:15:28.990 doesn't just leave us there positionally. Then 00:15:28.990 --> 00:15:32.570 he summons us to work out our salvation practically. 00:15:34.129 --> 00:15:37.549 To progressively, over time, turn that positional 00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:40.960 holiness into practical holiness. He invites 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.299 us to abide in Christ. He commands us to walk 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:47.399 by the Spirit even as he does the work in us 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:51.659 to transform us into the image of Christ. And 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:53.200 again, those things work together, right? We 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:55.919 work out our salvation as God does that work 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:59.620 in us. And that positional holiness that we've 00:15:59.620 --> 00:16:03.139 been given slowly becomes practical holiness. 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:07.279 Sometimes not as fast as we wished. Amen? But 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.580 God is gonna complete that work in each one of 00:16:09.580 --> 00:16:12.159 us. Therefore, we walk in a way that's consistent 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.580 with the truth of our identity, what God has 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:17.960 said we are, what he has made us positionally. 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:21.500 We walk in the truth of that identity. We keep 00:16:21.500 --> 00:16:24.519 putting off the old nature and we keep striving 00:16:24.519 --> 00:16:27.279 to put on the new nature, being conformed to 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:31.700 the image of the one who saved us. Wow, the theology 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:34.759 in this, right? Just in a greeting, in a letter 00:16:34.759 --> 00:16:37.820 is amazing. Now, that's not all that Paul has 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:39.580 to say about our past. There's more in verses 00:16:39.580 --> 00:16:42.519 four to six. Look again at verse four. Paul says, 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:45.659 I thank my God always concerning you. By the 00:16:45.659 --> 00:16:47.320 way, did you think that Paul would be thankful 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:51.279 as he writes to the Corinthians with all of their 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:55.220 problems? But he is. We might open this letter 00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:56.919 and think, you know what, man, Paul's gonna give 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:00.480 these guys a spanking and they deserve it, right? 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.700 But he starts. Where we should all start, with 00:17:04.700 --> 00:17:08.700 his theology in place. His understanding of our 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:11.240 relationship with God first. What he knows to 00:17:11.240 --> 00:17:13.559 be true. And he knows that these Christians in 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:15.660 Corinth, though they're immature in their faith, 00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:17.980 though that they need time and they need correction, 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:21.539 they are truly saints. And so therefore he can 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:24.339 be thankful. Thankful that God has begun the 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:26.980 good work there. Thankful that when God begins 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:30.369 a good work, he's going to complete it. And he 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:32.289 always does that, first of all, for his glory, 00:17:32.390 --> 00:17:36.750 but second, for our good, right? Verse four goes 00:17:36.750 --> 00:17:39.990 on. I thank my God always concerning you for 00:17:39.990 --> 00:17:44.869 the grace of God, which was given to you in Christ 00:17:44.869 --> 00:17:49.490 Jesus. So there it is. Paul is thankful that 00:17:49.490 --> 00:17:52.150 God has lavished his grace upon these chosen 00:17:52.150 --> 00:17:56.230 saints. In that city, these sanctified holy ones, 00:17:56.329 --> 00:17:59.750 this grace that we speak of is nothing less than 00:17:59.750 --> 00:18:03.950 unmerited, unearned favor and blessing from God. 00:18:05.109 --> 00:18:08.269 That's what grace is. I'll say it again. Unmerited, 00:18:08.349 --> 00:18:11.410 unearned favor and blessing from the creator 00:18:11.410 --> 00:18:16.089 of which nobody on this earth deserves. Not one 00:18:16.089 --> 00:18:19.890 of us. We have to get that straight, right? Certainly 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:21.789 not the Corinthians. They didn't deserve this 00:18:21.789 --> 00:18:25.009 grace. So make sure you understand the basics 00:18:25.009 --> 00:18:28.349 here. God's grace is a free gift. It cannot be 00:18:28.349 --> 00:18:31.150 earned because as soon as you say, I earned that, 00:18:31.269 --> 00:18:35.190 you actually nullify grace, don't you? You nullify 00:18:35.190 --> 00:18:38.150 it. When you earn something, it's called a wage. 00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:41.890 And the only thing that scripture says we've 00:18:41.890 --> 00:18:45.329 earned as sinful human beings is what? Is death. 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:49.619 Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death. Death 00:18:49.619 --> 00:18:51.940 is actually what we've all earned. It is what 00:18:51.940 --> 00:18:54.880 we deserve. And yet Paul says here in verse four 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:57.720 that these men and women in Corinth were instead 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:02.220 given grace. They weren't given what they deserved. 00:19:03.259 --> 00:19:07.140 They were given a gift. This is why we talk about 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:09.339 grace all the time here, right? It's amazing. 00:19:10.339 --> 00:19:12.599 Now here's what I think Paul is aiming at as 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:16.339 he starts with this topic. We can now look back 00:19:16.339 --> 00:19:18.200 at this letter. It's been 2 ,000 years, right? 00:19:18.339 --> 00:19:20.480 And we can see some of the problems that are 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:23.420 happening in Corinth. At the top of the list 00:19:23.420 --> 00:19:26.339 is, and this is maybe hard to believe, but these 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:28.339 immature believers are struggling with spiritual 00:19:28.339 --> 00:19:31.119 pride. This is gonna come out throughout the 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:33.619 letter. They were lining up, first of all, behind 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:37.500 certain gifted leaders. And they were prideful 00:19:37.500 --> 00:19:39.759 in that. Well, I follow this guy. Oh, I follow 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:43.000 this guy. And they were creating rivalries in 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:45.660 the church and dividing it. These guys were obsessed 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:48.740 with seeking after certain spiritual gifts that 00:19:48.740 --> 00:19:51.799 would shine the spotlight on them. Look how godly 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:55.359 I am. They were boasting in their tolerance of 00:19:55.359 --> 00:19:59.619 sin. They knew about sin in the body. They were 00:19:59.619 --> 00:20:02.079 masking it by calling it the so -called freedom 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:06.420 in Christ. They were prideful in that. They're 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:08.680 proud of their intellectual background as Greeks, 00:20:08.779 --> 00:20:11.380 thinking themselves to be wise when in reality 00:20:11.380 --> 00:20:14.390 they were just being puffed up by it. So what 00:20:14.390 --> 00:20:16.430 Paul seems to be doing here right out of the 00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:19.150 gate in the greeting is trying to counter that 00:20:19.150 --> 00:20:22.089 sense of pride in the Corinthians and to try 00:20:22.089 --> 00:20:23.990 to let them know, look, if you have anything 00:20:23.990 --> 00:20:29.109 at all, you Corinthians, it's all by grace. In 00:20:29.109 --> 00:20:31.529 fact, he's going to say in chapter four, what 00:20:31.529 --> 00:20:36.269 do you have that you did not receive? And if 00:20:36.269 --> 00:20:38.769 you did receive it, why do you boast as if you 00:20:38.769 --> 00:20:42.710 hadn't received it? So he's already, he's laying 00:20:42.710 --> 00:20:45.390 it out right out of the gate. Everything you 00:20:45.390 --> 00:20:47.369 have is by God's grace. Friends, this is true 00:20:47.369 --> 00:20:51.029 of us. Everything that we have. I know, look, 00:20:51.069 --> 00:20:57.269 we're Americans, right? Right? I pull myself 00:20:57.269 --> 00:20:59.390 up by the bootstraps. Everything I have, I worked 00:20:59.390 --> 00:21:02.609 hard for. Practical sense, that may be true. 00:21:02.690 --> 00:21:04.789 You put out the effort, but everything that we 00:21:04.789 --> 00:21:08.269 have is only because God has had a gracious hand 00:21:08.269 --> 00:21:11.410 in your life. Even this day, the fact that you 00:21:11.410 --> 00:21:13.390 woke up with breath in your lungs comes from 00:21:13.390 --> 00:21:17.269 God. This worship service, we wouldn't be here 00:21:17.269 --> 00:21:20.029 had God not done these things in our life from 00:21:20.029 --> 00:21:23.309 eternity past, marked us out, sanctified us, 00:21:23.390 --> 00:21:25.650 called us, saved us. None of us would be here 00:21:25.650 --> 00:21:29.650 this morning. And we'd be in our sins, heading 00:21:29.650 --> 00:21:33.119 towards spiritual death. But think about so many 00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:35.440 more things that we so easily take for granted. 00:21:35.480 --> 00:21:38.359 Our families, our spouses, our children, our 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:41.599 jobs, our homes, the clothing on our backs, all 00:21:41.599 --> 00:21:45.259 the amenities that we enjoy as 21st century Americans. 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:48.359 Too many things to count, but we should count 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:52.660 them as grace. They're all gifts of grace from 00:21:52.660 --> 00:21:55.839 the hand of our God. Amen? If you look now at 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.589 verse 5. Paul puts it this way, and I think this 00:21:59.589 --> 00:22:01.609 is the word that jumped off the page to me when 00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:05.109 I was praying through this passage. That in everything 00:22:05.109 --> 00:22:09.109 you were enriched in him. Underline that word 00:22:09.109 --> 00:22:14.430 enriched. Highlight that. You find here the Greek 00:22:14.430 --> 00:22:19.410 word pas, which means in all things. Enriched, 00:22:19.410 --> 00:22:23.240 not in some things, but in everything. you've 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.440 been made rich. That's what the verb means there. 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:27.839 If you're found in Christ, you've been made rich. 00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:30.960 Do you feel rich? Who feels rich? Okay, this 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:33.259 is not according to how the world defines that 00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:37.460 term. In fact, it's spiritual, so the world can 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:40.660 never understand it. If you said to them, you 00:22:40.660 --> 00:22:42.740 walk out there and go, I am rich, they'll go, 00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:47.220 you're crazy. Because they can't understand it. 00:22:47.480 --> 00:22:50.559 It's spiritually discerned. But we are rich. 00:22:51.130 --> 00:22:53.230 You've been lavished with grace by the creator. 00:22:53.690 --> 00:22:56.369 Every sin of yours is washed away. You have a 00:22:56.369 --> 00:22:58.930 guaranteed future in heaven. Are we not rich? 00:22:59.789 --> 00:23:02.170 Can you put a price on that? Have you ever done 00:23:02.170 --> 00:23:04.730 this thought experiment? Could you put a price 00:23:04.730 --> 00:23:07.390 on what you have in Christ? Would you trade it 00:23:07.390 --> 00:23:11.690 for a billion dollars on this earth? And if so, 00:23:11.750 --> 00:23:14.009 that's the height of foolishness. You don't really 00:23:14.009 --> 00:23:16.730 understand what you have if you would make that 00:23:16.730 --> 00:23:21.920 trade. You and I are rich. Because we lack nothing 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:25.539 in Christ. The Lord has held back nothing from 00:23:25.539 --> 00:23:27.740 his children. The scriptures say that we have 00:23:27.740 --> 00:23:29.880 all things that pertain to life and godliness, 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.740 that in Christ we've been made complete. Again, 00:23:33.779 --> 00:23:35.640 back to our call to worship passage, Ephesians 00:23:35.640 --> 00:23:38.559 1, we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:41.900 in the heavenly realms. So I ask again, are we 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:49.319 not rich? We are. Then in verse five, it's interesting 00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:52.099 now. This is where it gets really contextual. 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:54.799 Paul mentions two things in particular that the 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:58.519 Corinthians had great richness in. He says, in 00:23:58.519 --> 00:24:01.140 all speech and knowledge. Again, this is Paul 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:04.500 anticipating where he's going to go in this letter, 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.839 the issues he's going to address. Because speech 00:24:06.839 --> 00:24:09.200 and knowledge were two things that the Corinthians 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:12.220 were very proud about. Speech and knowledge were 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:16.599 two things that were huge in Greek culture. Incredibly 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:18.900 important. And they think they have plenty of 00:24:18.900 --> 00:24:22.430 it. So Paul's reminding them, all that refined 00:24:22.430 --> 00:24:24.490 speech that you love, remember we talked about 00:24:24.490 --> 00:24:26.529 last week how they love great orders, they love 00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:29.349 theater, they love all this stuff. All that refined 00:24:29.349 --> 00:24:32.630 speech that you love, now that you're saved, 00:24:32.730 --> 00:24:35.049 now that you're called and sanctified, that speech 00:24:35.049 --> 00:24:37.990 has to be used for God's glory and for accomplishing 00:24:37.990 --> 00:24:41.529 his will. It's been granted to you by grace to 00:24:41.529 --> 00:24:43.930 now speak truth into the culture that you live 00:24:43.930 --> 00:24:46.710 in as a witness to his goodness and to your salvation. 00:24:47.660 --> 00:24:50.740 So you might be puffed up in your speech. You 00:24:50.740 --> 00:24:53.519 need to transform that now to speak into your 00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:56.640 culture. And the power of the mind that you love 00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:59.579 so much, knowledge, it also has to be used for 00:24:59.579 --> 00:25:03.079 God's purposes. The renewing of your mind. The 00:25:03.079 --> 00:25:05.359 changing of the way you see the world. The changing 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:07.960 of the way you think. The accumulation of knowledge 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.539 about things that actually matter. Things about 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:15.240 life and death and sin and righteousness. Apply 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:18.519 your knowledge to that. is where Paul is gonna 00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:21.500 go. The human knowledge out there in the culture 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:24.099 is only gonna puff you up, but spiritual knowledge 00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:27.980 found in God's word will build you up. And those 00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:30.619 are two completely different things, right? Puffed 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:34.940 up or built up in Christ. Then Paul adds, verse 00:25:34.940 --> 00:25:36.839 six, he says, in everything you were enriched 00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:39.740 in him, even as the testimony concerning Christ 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:44.640 was confirmed or made certain in you. made certain 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:47.259 in you. God had chosen them to be saved before 00:25:47.259 --> 00:25:49.660 the foundation of the world. Then he drew them 00:25:49.660 --> 00:25:52.259 to himself within time and space. And at the 00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:54.599 moment of their conversion, when his grace was 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:57.059 extended and they were justified in his sight, 00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:00.420 in that moment, the truth of the gospel was made 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:04.599 certain in their hearts. And that should be said 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:07.960 of us as well. The message of salvation, how 00:26:07.960 --> 00:26:11.130 they were saved. by God's grace alone through 00:26:11.130 --> 00:26:14.529 faith, was made steadfast in them. It was shown 00:26:14.529 --> 00:26:18.089 to be real and true in their lives. Paul knows 00:26:18.089 --> 00:26:20.049 this about the Corinthians, in spite of all the 00:26:20.049 --> 00:26:24.390 problems. You see what Paul's doing here? He's 00:26:24.390 --> 00:26:27.430 preparing the soil for what's to come later in 00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:29.789 this letter. He's gonna address this wide variety 00:26:29.789 --> 00:26:34.349 of subjects, and he is preparing that soil. For 00:26:34.349 --> 00:26:38.089 rebuke and correction and conviction and encouragement 00:26:38.089 --> 00:26:40.890 and all the things that God wants to do in this 00:26:40.890 --> 00:26:44.210 local church. How these truths ought to be manifested 00:26:44.210 --> 00:26:47.210 in their lives as they live together as a local 00:26:47.210 --> 00:26:50.650 body. So that's the past. And there's a lot to 00:26:50.650 --> 00:26:52.670 be said. You see the list on the screen. Our 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:55.470 past as believers. True of the Corinthians in 00:26:55.470 --> 00:26:58.029 the first century. True of us in the 21st century. 00:26:58.569 --> 00:27:02.720 Now, the present. Let's look at verse 7. And 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:05.619 let's talk about the present. Verse seven says, 00:27:05.740 --> 00:27:08.079 so that, and what he means by that is, right 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.039 now, at the time that you receive this letter, 00:27:11.240 --> 00:27:16.920 you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly 00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:20.579 the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. So in 00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:22.680 the past, you were set apart, you were called 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:24.980 to saints, you were lavished with grace, you 00:27:24.980 --> 00:27:27.259 were enriched in every way, and the result of 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:31.400 that is, presently, you are not lacking any gift 00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:36.160 whatsoever. You have every gift that you need 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:40.319 from the hand of God. Now the word for gift here 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:43.259 is charisma. It's where we get our word charismatic 00:27:43.259 --> 00:27:46.400 from. It also comes from the same root as the 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:50.240 Greek word for grace, charis. And that means 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.460 that even the divine spiritual gifts that are 00:27:52.460 --> 00:27:57.140 given to believers comes to us by what? By grace. 00:27:57.259 --> 00:28:02.869 It's the same root word. Grace, grace, and these 00:28:02.869 --> 00:28:07.190 gifts, same root in the Greek. So we don't earn 00:28:07.190 --> 00:28:10.650 spiritual gifts. We don't go, man, you thump 00:28:10.650 --> 00:28:13.529 our chest and go, I ought to have X, Y, or Z 00:28:13.529 --> 00:28:18.029 gift. They're divinely given to us by grace alone. 00:28:18.990 --> 00:28:22.910 Again, this is Paul foreshadowing where he's 00:28:22.910 --> 00:28:24.849 going in the letter. When we get to chapters 00:28:24.849 --> 00:28:29.259 12, 13, and 14, it's gonna be wild. You know 00:28:29.259 --> 00:28:30.880 what's coming, right? He's gonna talk about this 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:35.019 variety of charismata in detail and try to explain 00:28:35.019 --> 00:28:37.240 to the Corinthians how they've messed this up. 00:28:38.059 --> 00:28:40.359 But understand this, and this is a bit of a preview 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:42.680 to where Paul's gonna go in his argument. These 00:28:42.680 --> 00:28:45.339 spiritual gifts are given to members of the church 00:28:45.339 --> 00:28:49.099 for one purpose, for one purpose, for the common 00:28:49.099 --> 00:28:53.819 good, to build up and encourage the body of Christ. 00:28:54.619 --> 00:28:56.960 They're not given to draw attention to yourself. 00:28:58.279 --> 00:29:00.759 They're not given so that you can be spectacular 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.539 in the church. They're not given so that you 00:29:03.539 --> 00:29:06.339 can disrupt things or cause confusion. They're 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:08.119 not given to you so you can have a whole new 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:11.799 source of pride in yourself. They are gracious 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:16.039 gifts to be used not for self, not for self, 00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:18.299 but for building up other believers and the church 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:22.609 as a whole. So Paul's laying the foundation for 00:29:22.609 --> 00:29:25.069 this right out of the gate. You are not lacking 00:29:25.069 --> 00:29:27.170 in any gift, Paul writes. That means you have 00:29:27.170 --> 00:29:30.109 everything that you need right now to build up 00:29:30.109 --> 00:29:33.190 that local church in Corinth. God's given you 00:29:33.190 --> 00:29:37.039 everything. So you can now minister to each other. 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:39.819 You can serve each other. You can love each other. 00:29:39.900 --> 00:29:42.640 You can encourage each other. You can bear with 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:45.299 one another's burdens. You can show hospitality. 00:29:45.660 --> 00:29:48.599 You can teach and admonish one another. You can 00:29:48.599 --> 00:29:53.000 comfort one another. So on and so on. And here 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.099 at Oak Hill, we talk about these one another's 00:29:55.099 --> 00:29:58.720 all the time, don't we? Because it really does 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:01.519 define what New Testament living looks like. 00:30:02.709 --> 00:30:04.809 Look, you can be part of some big church and 00:30:04.809 --> 00:30:07.390 slide in and out whenever you feel like it, show 00:30:07.390 --> 00:30:09.750 up whenever you feel like it, don't meet anybody, 00:30:10.130 --> 00:30:12.529 get some good teaching, get a good cup of coffee 00:30:12.529 --> 00:30:14.869 and go home and think you're a part of a church. 00:30:15.690 --> 00:30:17.910 And I'm here to tell you that if you're not living 00:30:17.910 --> 00:30:20.529 out the one another's with real actual people 00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:23.609 and all the rock tumbler that goes with that, 00:30:23.730 --> 00:30:27.190 you're not living a New Testament life. You're 00:30:27.190 --> 00:30:31.259 living an American church life. And don't be 00:30:31.259 --> 00:30:35.599 deceived by that. So we stress this over and 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.079 over again. Paul is gonna say, look, you Corinthians, 00:30:38.380 --> 00:30:42.319 I know you all wanna speak in tongues. I know 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:45.180 you all wanna do healings. You all wanna see 00:30:45.180 --> 00:30:47.819 miracles, fine, but how about we start with the 00:30:47.819 --> 00:30:52.700 greater gifts? Start loving each other. Start 00:30:52.700 --> 00:30:54.759 serving each other in practical ways. Before 00:30:54.759 --> 00:30:56.519 you get to those things, and we'll talk about 00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:00.230 those things, do the basics. Live out the one 00:31:00.230 --> 00:31:02.730 in others. So the Corinthian church is a mess. 00:31:03.410 --> 00:31:05.869 But it wasn't because they lacked spiritual resources. 00:31:06.109 --> 00:31:08.210 God had given them everything that they needed. 00:31:08.349 --> 00:31:11.109 And Paul's reminding of that. You have everything 00:31:11.109 --> 00:31:13.789 you need to live a healthy New Testament life. 00:31:13.910 --> 00:31:16.069 And as we live that life together, Paul says, 00:31:16.130 --> 00:31:18.309 look, we should be eagerly awaiting the revealing 00:31:18.309 --> 00:31:22.730 of the Son of God in power. How many of you guys 00:31:22.730 --> 00:31:26.630 are starting to think more about this in these 00:31:26.630 --> 00:31:31.569 days that we live in? In the days where all the 00:31:31.569 --> 00:31:35.589 news is about what? War, artificial intelligence, 00:31:36.170 --> 00:31:42.650 and UFOs. How many of you are starting to think 00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:44.630 about it? It's hard to ignore some of the things 00:31:44.630 --> 00:31:46.990 going on in our world right now. Now, we don't 00:31:46.990 --> 00:31:48.369 want to be deceived. We've got to be careful. 00:31:49.630 --> 00:31:51.789 But it's hard to ignore what's happening in our 00:31:51.789 --> 00:31:53.569 world right now. There are ominous predictions 00:31:53.569 --> 00:31:57.859 made by very... smart and sometimes spiritual 00:31:57.859 --> 00:32:00.579 people about what's coming down the pike in the 00:32:00.579 --> 00:32:03.599 next couple of years. We should pay attention 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:05.400 to that. I know there's been a push in recent 00:32:05.400 --> 00:32:08.559 years for Christians to stop thinking about Christ's 00:32:08.559 --> 00:32:11.579 return. I've heard this for, I don't know, 20 00:32:11.579 --> 00:32:13.839 years now. Well, we gotta be careful that we 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:17.339 don't, we focus so much on that that we're not 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:21.180 focusing on practical life in the church. But 00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:23.039 we should be careful not to ignore it. God's 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:25.480 given us all the warning signs in scripture. 00:32:26.140 --> 00:32:29.740 And he's told us, look, in this letter, we should 00:32:29.740 --> 00:32:31.680 be eagerly awaiting the return of our Savior. 00:32:31.759 --> 00:32:33.940 We should be looking to the skies. We should 00:32:33.940 --> 00:32:37.779 be praying for Christ to return. We shouldn't 00:32:37.779 --> 00:32:40.420 be so obsessed with it that we lose sight of 00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:42.359 practical Christian life, the one in others, 00:32:42.500 --> 00:32:45.940 and things of that nature. But friends, Christ's 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:50.180 return is our hope, right? Our hope is to be 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:52.640 home, to be in the presence of our Savior. So 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:56.200 why would we stop watching? Find the balance 00:32:56.200 --> 00:32:59.200 in that. Why would we stop anticipating that 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:03.539 Christ could come back today? The rapture could 00:33:03.539 --> 00:33:10.000 happen today. Would any of us be surprised? Finally, 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:13.599 from the past to the present, let's look at the 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:19.000 future. Look at verses eight and nine. Verse 00:33:19.000 --> 00:33:21.019 seven finishes, awaiting eagerly the revelation 00:33:21.019 --> 00:33:23.630 of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse eight. who will 00:33:23.630 --> 00:33:27.890 also confirm you, and some translations say sustain 00:33:27.890 --> 00:33:33.410 you or strengthen you, to the end, blameless 00:33:33.410 --> 00:33:37.549 in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. So as messed 00:33:37.549 --> 00:33:40.150 up as the Corinthian church was, Paul wants them 00:33:40.150 --> 00:33:42.529 to know, if you've been called, if you've been 00:33:42.529 --> 00:33:44.690 sanctified, if you've been lavished with grace, 00:33:44.849 --> 00:33:47.309 if you've been enriched in every way, this is 00:33:47.309 --> 00:33:50.630 also true. You ready? The security of your salvation 00:33:50.630 --> 00:33:57.079 is unquestioned. What God has started, he will 00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:02.519 strengthen and he will sustain and he will ultimately 00:34:02.519 --> 00:34:06.279 finish. So if they're truly found in Christ, 00:34:06.339 --> 00:34:08.800 then their eternal hope is certain. Having the 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:10.800 penalty for their sins paid for at the cross, 00:34:11.019 --> 00:34:14.760 they would be, without question, found blameless 00:34:14.760 --> 00:34:18.340 at the judgment seat because Christ had paid 00:34:18.340 --> 00:34:21.880 the penalty, a sufficient penalty for every sin. 00:34:24.099 --> 00:34:26.599 Blameless at the day of his return. So listen, 00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:28.400 when we talk about this concept, we're talking 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:31.980 about an essential Christian doctrine, the doctrine 00:34:31.980 --> 00:34:35.840 of perseverance. In a practical sense, we're 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:37.760 talking about the assurance of our salvation. 00:34:38.059 --> 00:34:41.000 This is the biblical truth that God will hold 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:43.860 us in his grasp right until the day of judgment. 00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:48.989 He will cause you and I to persevere. to the 00:34:48.989 --> 00:34:51.889 end in our faith and our trust. And this is an 00:34:51.889 --> 00:34:54.329 important issue. This goes to how we read the 00:34:54.329 --> 00:34:56.570 Bible in a consistent fashion. Think about this. 00:34:56.750 --> 00:34:59.489 If God is the sole reason that we've come into 00:34:59.489 --> 00:35:01.750 the kingdom in the first place, he's not gonna 00:35:01.750 --> 00:35:06.469 fail to keep us, right? If he alone saved us 00:35:06.469 --> 00:35:09.530 and brought us into the kingdom, he's gonna keep 00:35:09.530 --> 00:35:13.250 us. But on the other hand, if you believe that 00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:16.300 you're responsible, for your salvation, that 00:35:16.300 --> 00:35:19.280 your decision was the determining factor that 00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:22.139 brought you into the kingdom, well, then it stands 00:35:22.139 --> 00:35:24.099 to reason that you can choose to remove yourself 00:35:24.099 --> 00:35:29.300 from the kingdom too. So choose this day. Who's 00:35:29.300 --> 00:35:31.539 responsible for your salvation? Is it God or 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:39.579 is it you? The idea that we can walk into the 00:35:39.579 --> 00:35:41.940 kingdom on our own, from our own goodness, our 00:35:41.940 --> 00:35:44.340 own merit, our own choice, our own decision, 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.059 Goes against what scripture tells us. The fact 00:35:47.059 --> 00:35:49.559 that we can walk away from it once we've been 00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:53.440 in it also goes against so many affirmations 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:56.639 in scripture. John chapter 10, for example. Jesus 00:35:56.639 --> 00:36:00.260 says, my sheep. Who are his sheep? Those who 00:36:00.260 --> 00:36:02.420 belong to him. Those who have been marked out, 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:05.900 sanctified, called, enriched. My sheep listen 00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:09.099 to my voice. He says, I know them. Jesus isn't 00:36:09.099 --> 00:36:12.099 surprised by the fact that you're in the kingdom. 00:36:12.619 --> 00:36:14.539 He's not going to go, oh, I didn't expect Glenn 00:36:14.539 --> 00:36:18.500 to be here. This is amazing. Good job, Glenn. 00:36:20.239 --> 00:36:25.139 Sorry, Glenn. Right? He says, no, I know my sheep. 00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:29.480 It's not a mystery to me. He says, they follow 00:36:29.480 --> 00:36:34.679 me. Doesn't say they make a decision, do I follow 00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:36.659 or not? He says, no, they follow me. He says, 00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:39.059 I give them eternal life and they shall never 00:36:39.059 --> 00:36:42.679 perish. no one will snatch them out of my hand. 00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:48.159 No one. Or the entire second half of Romans 8, 00:36:48.219 --> 00:36:50.980 which you should read someday. Nothing can separate 00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:53.860 us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus 00:36:53.860 --> 00:36:58.880 our Lord. Not even you. If God has brought you 00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.139 in, first of all, you're not going to want to 00:37:01.139 --> 00:37:05.599 go out, but even your will cannot override the 00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:10.309 will of the sovereign creator. You have the golden 00:37:10.309 --> 00:37:12.829 chain of salvation at the end of Romans 8. Those 00:37:12.829 --> 00:37:16.170 whom he predestined, he also called. Not a question 00:37:16.170 --> 00:37:18.849 there. Those that he called, he also justified. 00:37:19.150 --> 00:37:21.710 And those who he justified, he also glorified. 00:37:21.929 --> 00:37:25.170 There's no room given in that chain for failure 00:37:25.170 --> 00:37:28.980 on God's part. And what's at stake in all of 00:37:28.980 --> 00:37:31.179 this is God's sovereignty and his purposes in 00:37:31.179 --> 00:37:34.099 election, which are unfailing. So he will see 00:37:34.099 --> 00:37:36.539 to it that every man or woman marked out for 00:37:36.539 --> 00:37:39.380 salvation will be saved and will persevere to 00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:42.559 the end. The testimony of scripture is very clear 00:37:42.559 --> 00:37:46.420 on this. And what is the basis and guarantee 00:37:46.420 --> 00:37:49.119 of that? It's a great promise. Isn't it a great 00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:51.579 promise that God's going to keep you believing? 00:37:53.099 --> 00:37:55.619 There's going to be ups and downs. In your faith, 00:37:55.639 --> 00:37:57.119 in your walk, right? There's gonna be ups and 00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:59.599 downs. God will keep you believing to the end. 00:37:59.900 --> 00:38:01.960 Man, I'm so glad for that. If it was up to me, 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:04.980 I'd have fallen away a long time ago. But God 00:38:04.980 --> 00:38:08.780 will keep us. What's the basis? The guarantee 00:38:08.780 --> 00:38:11.500 that we have? Well, Paul says it in verse nine. 00:38:11.599 --> 00:38:16.159 God is faithful. It's God's faithfulness that 00:38:16.159 --> 00:38:18.619 is the basis for this promise. The scriptures 00:38:18.619 --> 00:38:22.039 always focus on this. Not our fluctuating faith. 00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:26.199 but on God's absolute faithfulness. It's true 00:38:26.199 --> 00:38:28.780 that faith on our part is required, is part of 00:38:28.780 --> 00:38:32.059 the equation, but even the faith that is produced 00:38:32.059 --> 00:38:35.099 in us and comes out of us is a gift from God's 00:38:35.099 --> 00:38:39.300 hand. It's very real. My faith is in Christ. 00:38:39.380 --> 00:38:42.039 I know it's very real, but I also know where 00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:44.780 it came from. It came from him, and praise God 00:38:44.780 --> 00:38:47.960 he's given me that gift. Now I can exercise it. 00:38:50.829 --> 00:38:53.829 Our being saved is never said to be contingent 00:38:53.829 --> 00:38:57.650 upon a certain amount of faith that we need to 00:38:57.650 --> 00:39:00.869 have. Like there's no number, like if you're, 00:39:00.869 --> 00:39:02.949 you see the bars that go up and down, like if 00:39:02.949 --> 00:39:05.429 your faith goes above this line, then you're 00:39:05.429 --> 00:39:08.369 saved. It's just never described in scripture. 00:39:08.670 --> 00:39:11.769 It's rooted solely in the trustworthiness of 00:39:11.769 --> 00:39:16.429 the object of our faith, who is Christ, and he's 00:39:16.429 --> 00:39:19.840 marked us out. And he's called us and he's sanctified 00:39:19.840 --> 00:39:22.840 us and he's justified us and he's enriched us. 00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:27.599 And his purposes always come to pass. Aren't 00:39:27.599 --> 00:39:30.300 you glad that it all depends on the object of 00:39:30.300 --> 00:39:34.579 our faith, not our faith? Man, listen to these 00:39:34.579 --> 00:39:36.599 very simple and clear words from Dr. MacArthur. 00:39:36.699 --> 00:39:38.960 It's one of my favorite quotes of his. Because 00:39:38.960 --> 00:39:41.340 sometimes John just speaks really plainly, which 00:39:41.340 --> 00:39:44.199 I love. He says, listen, you got saved because 00:39:44.199 --> 00:39:47.369 he wanted you saved. And that's how you're gonna 00:39:47.369 --> 00:39:50.030 stay because that's how he wants you to stay. 00:39:50.889 --> 00:39:53.070 If he called you into fellowship with the son, 00:39:53.250 --> 00:39:56.269 then he'll keep you. If you came in by grace, 00:39:56.429 --> 00:39:59.050 you'll be kept by grace. And if he called me 00:39:59.050 --> 00:40:01.409 into that fellowship, he wanted me in there. 00:40:01.550 --> 00:40:03.809 And if he wanted me in there, he's gonna keep 00:40:03.809 --> 00:40:08.130 me in there. I mean, I can't say it any more 00:40:08.130 --> 00:40:11.389 plainly than that. This is the good news of the 00:40:11.389 --> 00:40:15.369 gospel, isn't it? One last thing, Paul uses an 00:40:15.369 --> 00:40:17.269 interesting phrase here at the end of verse eight, 00:40:17.369 --> 00:40:19.829 the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why is that 00:40:19.829 --> 00:40:22.170 interesting? Understand that throughout the Old 00:40:22.170 --> 00:40:25.170 Testament, the term for that moment in time is 00:40:25.170 --> 00:40:28.690 called the day of the Lord or the day of Yahweh. 00:40:29.110 --> 00:40:32.369 And now Paul is taking that term from the Old 00:40:32.369 --> 00:40:36.070 Testament and giving it, applying it to Jesus 00:40:36.070 --> 00:40:38.489 at his second coming. So this is a very subtle 00:40:38.489 --> 00:40:40.789 but important statement of Christ's identity 00:40:40.789 --> 00:40:43.909 as fully God. The day of the Lord in the Old 00:40:43.909 --> 00:40:47.309 Testament, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ in 00:40:47.309 --> 00:40:51.329 the New. That's who he is. And it makes sense. 00:40:51.449 --> 00:40:54.349 We're told that Jesus is the exact representation 00:40:54.349 --> 00:40:58.409 of the being of God. And he is the exact representation 00:40:58.409 --> 00:41:01.329 in all the areas of life and death that matter 00:41:01.329 --> 00:41:05.050 most. In creation, in redemption, and yes, in 00:41:05.050 --> 00:41:10.690 judgment. That's our Lord and Savior. Okay, so. 00:41:11.429 --> 00:41:14.989 There's the greeting. Don't read past this in 00:41:14.989 --> 00:41:17.949 the future, right? Slow down. See the theology. 00:41:18.449 --> 00:41:20.610 But now let's tie a bow on all of this stuff. 00:41:21.510 --> 00:41:24.449 Let's just sort of wrap up with some extra thoughts. 00:41:25.849 --> 00:41:27.769 First of all, this struck me last night as I 00:41:27.769 --> 00:41:30.190 was working on the message. I can tell you that 00:41:30.190 --> 00:41:33.250 Paul's words in this greeting ring a certain 00:41:33.250 --> 00:41:35.809 bell for me personally. I'll just share this 00:41:35.809 --> 00:41:38.809 personally. I know what it's like to shepherd 00:41:38.809 --> 00:41:41.679 a church. that has a lot of growing up to do. 00:41:41.980 --> 00:41:47.019 Not talking about you guys. But can I just tell 00:41:47.019 --> 00:41:53.039 you in the early years of Oak Hill, some of you 00:41:53.039 --> 00:41:55.739 guys know, I wasn't sure we were going to make 00:41:55.739 --> 00:41:58.400 it. The amount of immaturity we had in the body 00:41:58.400 --> 00:42:02.679 in those first months, the first year. And I 00:42:02.679 --> 00:42:05.679 wasn't sure I was up to the task to pastor either. 00:42:05.860 --> 00:42:09.460 So it's not like I was all that. The congregation 00:42:09.460 --> 00:42:12.079 wasn't. I wasn't sure I could do this. It was 00:42:12.079 --> 00:42:16.059 all so overwhelming. But I remember the one thing 00:42:16.059 --> 00:42:18.820 I could bank on in those days was that God was 00:42:18.820 --> 00:42:21.119 in control. He was sovereign over that little 00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:24.400 church that we planted. And that he would somehow, 00:42:24.679 --> 00:42:27.920 I didn't know how, he would equip me to shepherd 00:42:27.920 --> 00:42:30.099 these folks, even though I still didn't know 00:42:30.099 --> 00:42:32.920 how to do it very well. But I knew he would do 00:42:32.920 --> 00:42:35.539 that. And when things got discouraging, I knew 00:42:35.539 --> 00:42:37.760 that God alone would determine the future of 00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:40.039 this church. And look at us today. We're still 00:42:40.039 --> 00:42:42.739 here by God's grace and by his sovereign hand. 00:42:42.940 --> 00:42:47.119 Not by me, not by any of our elders, but by God's 00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:50.199 grace. And so here in these verses, in a very 00:42:50.199 --> 00:42:54.139 limited way, man, I sympathize with Paul. The 00:42:54.139 --> 00:42:57.360 idea in the ancient world of shepherding this 00:42:57.360 --> 00:42:59.460 church in Corinth, from afar, where it would 00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:02.139 take three months to get on a ship and go there 00:43:02.139 --> 00:43:05.269 to visit anybody. We can just drive and meet 00:43:05.269 --> 00:43:08.909 for coffee and text each other. It's so much 00:43:08.909 --> 00:43:11.809 more difficult back in that day than I ever had 00:43:11.809 --> 00:43:15.050 it at Oak Hill. How overwhelming he must have 00:43:15.050 --> 00:43:17.829 felt. So many problems. He's got so many fires 00:43:17.829 --> 00:43:20.750 to put out, so many corrections to be made, and 00:43:20.750 --> 00:43:24.690 facing so much resistance from these believers. 00:43:24.769 --> 00:43:27.489 It shows up, especially in 2 Corinthians, so 00:43:27.489 --> 00:43:32.519 much resistance. And yet, look again. at how 00:43:32.519 --> 00:43:35.880 he begins. I always thank my God for you, Corinthians. 00:43:36.760 --> 00:43:39.599 What a great lesson that is. Especially for those 00:43:39.599 --> 00:43:41.119 of us in ministry, those of us who are elders, 00:43:41.300 --> 00:43:44.420 we always keep thanking God for every one of 00:43:44.420 --> 00:43:48.019 you because God has started a great work and 00:43:48.019 --> 00:43:50.639 he will finish that work. And you know what? 00:43:50.679 --> 00:43:52.679 We just have to be faithful to do our best to 00:43:52.679 --> 00:43:56.739 shepherd, but it's all up to God. Man, that's 00:43:56.739 --> 00:44:00.110 encouraging. Obviously, Paul wasn't being naive 00:44:00.110 --> 00:44:02.150 about what he was faced with. He knew the sin, 00:44:02.289 --> 00:44:05.989 but he saw something more clearly. He saw something 00:44:05.989 --> 00:44:08.090 more clearly than the sin in those people. He 00:44:08.090 --> 00:44:10.869 saw that God had lavished his grace upon them, 00:44:10.949 --> 00:44:13.449 and he knew that God would finish that work. 00:44:13.510 --> 00:44:15.769 So he could be thankful. In spite of the messiness, 00:44:15.869 --> 00:44:17.909 right? There were real saints there in Corinth, 00:44:18.010 --> 00:44:20.250 and that... That truth must have given Paul the 00:44:20.250 --> 00:44:22.989 energy to keep going forward, right? He had to 00:44:22.989 --> 00:44:25.329 know that his ministry wouldn't be in vain. His 00:44:25.329 --> 00:44:27.809 work was ultimately God's work and God was gonna 00:44:27.809 --> 00:44:31.090 decide. That's a good feeling when you're in 00:44:31.090 --> 00:44:33.949 ministry. So as we close, I want you to hear 00:44:33.949 --> 00:44:37.469 these verses. Don't hear them just, you know, 00:44:37.469 --> 00:44:39.690 words written to an ancient church in the first 00:44:39.690 --> 00:44:42.570 century. Hear them as God's word spoken over 00:44:42.570 --> 00:44:46.320 you in Christ. That's what we have to do. Remember, 00:44:46.340 --> 00:44:48.599 we talked about it last week. We first of all 00:44:48.599 --> 00:44:50.119 figure out what the author was saying to the 00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:52.360 audience in that day, but then we bridge that 00:44:52.360 --> 00:44:55.559 gap to ourselves, to our lives. And we say, what 00:44:55.559 --> 00:44:58.420 principles can we apply in our church today? 00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:00.659 So I want to ask you, have you ever felt like 00:45:00.659 --> 00:45:04.099 one of these Corinthians? Have you ever felt 00:45:04.099 --> 00:45:07.199 like, man, my life is a mess. I don't even, I'm 00:45:07.199 --> 00:45:08.860 not sure I should even go to church. My life 00:45:08.860 --> 00:45:12.639 is so messy. I've got so many challenges. Maybe 00:45:12.639 --> 00:45:15.980 I'm beyond hope. If that's you, reread verses 00:45:15.980 --> 00:45:18.599 one through nine. Put yourself there in Corinth 00:45:18.599 --> 00:45:23.659 and remember who's writing. Paul was a persecutor 00:45:23.659 --> 00:45:27.960 of the church, a murderer. He calls himself the 00:45:27.960 --> 00:45:31.559 chief of sinners. Sosthenes, we saw last week, 00:45:31.579 --> 00:45:34.400 was the leader of the Jewish synagogue in Corinth, 00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:37.019 the leader of everybody there who was hostile 00:45:37.019 --> 00:45:40.739 to the gospel of Christ. So if there's hope for 00:45:40.739 --> 00:45:44.380 Paul and hope for Sosthenes, Why is there no 00:45:44.380 --> 00:45:49.019 hope for you? Of course there is. Because God's 00:45:49.019 --> 00:45:51.820 sovereign. He can do as he pleases. And he can 00:45:51.820 --> 00:45:54.039 transform your life beyond anything you could 00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:56.739 even imagine. Some of you can testify to this. 00:45:56.860 --> 00:45:59.239 I can testify. Knowing who I was in my 20s, I 00:45:59.239 --> 00:46:02.639 can testify to this. God can do amazing transforming 00:46:02.639 --> 00:46:05.079 things. There is never a reason to lose hope 00:46:05.079 --> 00:46:10.019 if you're found in Christ. Reread verses one 00:46:10.019 --> 00:46:12.789 through nine. Understand who you are in relation 00:46:12.789 --> 00:46:16.789 to God. If you truly belong to him, go back and 00:46:16.789 --> 00:46:20.110 say, if I truly belong to him, I know God chose 00:46:20.110 --> 00:46:25.250 me. In eternity past, he marked me out. He's 00:46:25.250 --> 00:46:28.309 called me to be a holy one. He's given me that 00:46:28.309 --> 00:46:30.650 positional truth. He actually looks through the 00:46:30.650 --> 00:46:34.389 lens of his son and sees me as a holy one, a 00:46:34.389 --> 00:46:37.519 saint. Know that you've been given everything 00:46:37.519 --> 00:46:40.679 you need now to grow, every gift to grow and 00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:43.800 to see your life transformed and know that ultimately 00:46:43.800 --> 00:46:47.440 God is going to keep you secure in his grasp 00:46:47.440 --> 00:46:50.460 and nothing can snatch you out of his hand. So 00:46:50.460 --> 00:46:53.460 if you're struggling, but you know you're in 00:46:53.460 --> 00:46:56.119 Christ, you know that you love Jesus, you've 00:46:56.119 --> 00:46:58.199 given your life to him, you've submitted to him, 00:46:58.260 --> 00:47:03.099 know these truths. Verses one through nine. Know 00:47:03.099 --> 00:47:04.940 that you've been enriched in every way, that 00:47:04.940 --> 00:47:08.219 you have fellowship with God the Son. And know 00:47:08.219 --> 00:47:10.480 that your story is not anchored in your performance, 00:47:10.559 --> 00:47:15.619 but in his faithfulness. That means two things 00:47:15.619 --> 00:47:19.460 for us as we go. And this is a big one. This 00:47:19.460 --> 00:47:22.340 is a hard one. First of all, the truths we just 00:47:22.340 --> 00:47:25.500 read tells us that we can be honest about our 00:47:25.500 --> 00:47:29.610 sin. We can face our sin honestly. We can face 00:47:29.610 --> 00:47:31.949 our weaknesses, our shortcomings, our failures. 00:47:32.130 --> 00:47:35.010 We don't have to try to mask them. We don't have 00:47:35.010 --> 00:47:38.150 to pretend, put on that face, the church face, 00:47:38.329 --> 00:47:42.469 and pretend that they don't exist because God's 00:47:42.469 --> 00:47:45.309 faithful. Our hope is not in ourselves. Our hope 00:47:45.309 --> 00:47:47.190 is in the grace that we've already received. 00:47:48.409 --> 00:47:50.690 So we can be honest with each other, trusted 00:47:50.690 --> 00:47:54.269 friends, trusted brothers and sisters. We don't 00:47:54.269 --> 00:47:59.460 have to play church. You're loved by God if you're 00:47:59.460 --> 00:48:01.760 found in Christ. You're accepted by God. Oh, 00:48:01.780 --> 00:48:03.820 he wants you to be transformed. Don't get me 00:48:03.820 --> 00:48:08.360 wrong. But he loves you. Second, we can step 00:48:08.360 --> 00:48:10.500 into the calling that God has on our life. And 00:48:10.500 --> 00:48:12.840 we can do it with confidence. To use those gifts 00:48:12.840 --> 00:48:15.820 that he's given you to build up the church. And 00:48:15.820 --> 00:48:17.699 to know that he will complete whatever work he 00:48:17.699 --> 00:48:20.469 wants to do in us. So if you feel discouraged 00:48:20.469 --> 00:48:23.030 this week, if you are tempted to give up on what 00:48:23.030 --> 00:48:25.590 God has called you to, again, come back to the 00:48:25.590 --> 00:48:28.849 promises in verses one through nine. Your past, 00:48:29.010 --> 00:48:32.309 your present, and your future. And let hope and 00:48:32.309 --> 00:48:36.110 gratitude for all that he's done for you, let 00:48:36.110 --> 00:48:40.690 it translate into action. Even this week, live 00:48:40.690 --> 00:48:48.119 for his glory. He's worthy of your all. God stands 00:48:48.119 --> 00:48:52.139 ready to do a great work in you. Let us strive 00:48:52.139 --> 00:48:57.019 to please him in everything, amen? All right, 00:48:57.039 --> 00:49:02.840 let's seal this with prayer. Father, how good 00:49:02.840 --> 00:49:07.340 it is to come together and Lord, to seek your 00:49:07.340 --> 00:49:09.559 face, to come to your throne of grace and to 00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:13.300 deal honestly with our weaknesses and our sin. 00:49:15.730 --> 00:49:18.409 Knowing, God, that we fall short of your glory 00:49:18.409 --> 00:49:21.750 and yet, Lord, to trust in what we've read this 00:49:21.750 --> 00:49:26.050 morning in these important verses that in spite 00:49:26.050 --> 00:49:28.150 of the mess of our lives at times, Lord, that 00:49:28.150 --> 00:49:30.650 you have done these things in our lives, in our 00:49:30.650 --> 00:49:33.610 past, that you chose us and you sanctified us 00:49:33.610 --> 00:49:37.630 and you called us positionally holy and you saved 00:49:37.630 --> 00:49:41.949 us and you enriched us in every way. And in the 00:49:41.949 --> 00:49:44.130 present, Lord, you're giving us these divine 00:49:44.130 --> 00:49:46.090 gifts so that we can live out the one in others. 00:49:46.230 --> 00:49:49.429 And then you say, just the icing on the cake, 00:49:49.630 --> 00:49:54.969 you say, I will hold you in spite of the mess 00:49:54.969 --> 00:49:57.949 of things down here. I will hold you to the end 00:49:57.949 --> 00:50:01.190 and you will be found blameless by the blood 00:50:01.190 --> 00:50:05.349 of my son. Father, never let us forget these 00:50:05.349 --> 00:50:08.489 things. I know this is just essential gospel 00:50:08.489 --> 00:50:10.409 doctrine, Lord, but sometimes we take them for 00:50:10.409 --> 00:50:13.369 granted. God, by your spirit, continue to remind 00:50:13.369 --> 00:50:15.429 us of these things so that we might glory in 00:50:15.429 --> 00:50:17.630 you more, so that we might devote more of our 00:50:17.630 --> 00:50:20.030 lives in practical ways to serve you and to worship 00:50:20.030 --> 00:50:24.210 you and to love you. And continue, God, to do 00:50:24.210 --> 00:50:26.710 a work in this local church, just as you were 00:50:26.710 --> 00:50:28.530 doing a work in the Corinthian church, Lord. 00:50:28.889 --> 00:50:31.090 Do a work in this church. Grow us, transform 00:50:31.090 --> 00:50:33.829 us, bring us together in unity so that we might 00:50:33.829 --> 00:50:36.510 be a force to be reckoned with in this community, 00:50:36.750 --> 00:50:39.659 even as we await for you to return, Lord. Do 00:50:39.659 --> 00:50:41.440 a great work in this church, God. Thank you for 00:50:41.440 --> 00:50:43.920 our time together in your word. We pray in the 00:50:43.920 --> 00:50:44.420 name of Christ.