WEBVTT 00:00:14.990 --> 00:00:17.850 I want you to open your Bible to 1 Corinthians. 00:00:17.969 --> 00:00:21.550 We've got just a few minutes. 1 Corinthians chapter 00:00:21.550 --> 00:00:25.969 1. Today is a day of reading Scripture. I read 00:00:25.969 --> 00:00:28.850 to you about over half of Ephesians chapter 5. 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:37.649 This morning, I want to read 1 Corinthians chapter 00:00:37.649 --> 00:00:46.200 1. Part of it. Last week I left you off with 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:52.359 Sosanes and this guy that was most likely the 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.820 ruler of the synagogue as he was the replacement 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:59.950 for... Crispus who was a ruler of a Jewish synagogue 00:00:59.950 --> 00:01:03.049 that got saved under Paul's ministry when Paul 00:01:03.049 --> 00:01:06.310 was in the book of Acts chapter 18. You can read 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:09.629 it chapter 18 of the book of Acts and Paul is 00:01:09.629 --> 00:01:12.430 now writing the Corinthian church. Now here's 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:14.629 an amazing thing about this as we kind of just 00:01:15.900 --> 00:01:17.859 Because I've only got 10 minutes, I'm going to 00:01:17.859 --> 00:01:20.540 give you an exhortation as we move through this. 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:23.799 Maybe 10, 15, I hear 15 now, 16 now, 17 now. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:31.140 The reality is, Paul was 18 months preaching 00:01:31.140 --> 00:01:34.280 the gospel, and the Bible says that all of Asia 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:39.859 heard the gospel from Corinth. And in that 18 00:01:39.859 --> 00:01:44.120 months, as you begin to read it in chapter 18 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:48.980 of what was taking place, God spoke to him. God 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:51.920 spoke to Paul and said, Paul, you keep preaching 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.620 the gospel in this city. I've set an open door 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:58.519 before you, and they will not hurt you here. 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:02.799 Meaning, I am bringing you into a divine... placement 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:06.379 and the shield, an angelic, if you will, shield 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:09.939 around you that you are going to have favor. 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.400 How many know Paul experienced a few unpleasant 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.000 things preaching the gospel on some missionary 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.659 journeys? God sometimes in the midst of some 00:02:19.659 --> 00:02:22.340 unpleasantness brings pleasantness. How many 00:02:22.340 --> 00:02:24.419 can thank the Lord for some pleasantness in the 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:27.080 midst of the ministry? Amen? Listen, if you've 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:29.099 been in the ministry any type of all, some of 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:31.719 you have been seasoned ministers. We have lots 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.460 of different pastors in this church of different 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:37.020 affiliations that have worked for the Lord. You 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.740 may be deacons, elders, pastors, just people, 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.500 life group leaders from all other places and 00:02:42.500 --> 00:02:44.479 then those that are being born again. But if 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:47.110 you've spent any time with Jesus Christ, and 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:50.490 ministering to his body, you'll understand that 00:02:50.490 --> 00:02:53.389 if you minister to the body of Christ, you will 00:02:53.389 --> 00:02:58.430 experience some form of suffering. I'm not kidding. 00:02:58.629 --> 00:03:00.389 I mean, that wasn't a funny point. That was the 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:03.789 reality. I mean, it does sound kind of funny. 00:03:03.849 --> 00:03:05.949 It's like you minister to Jesus, and the word 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:08.789 that we have around here, you minister to Jesus' 00:03:08.990 --> 00:03:14.669 body, we just say, sheep have teeth. And sometimes 00:03:14.669 --> 00:03:21.060 they bite. And in Paul's life, he got bit by 00:03:21.060 --> 00:03:24.060 some sheep. He also got bit by some goats, but 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:29.120 he got bit by the sheep and the goats. And here 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.259 he's writing to 1 Corinthians. He's writing a 00:03:32.259 --> 00:03:34.860 letter. Now, get this in your time frame, just 00:03:34.860 --> 00:03:38.219 in your mind, so you can understand Acts 18 of 00:03:38.219 --> 00:03:41.139 what we read last week and took place within 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:44.879 the... The salvation of a Jewish leader gets 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.520 kicked out of the synagogue and a new person 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.000 gets put in. During that time, in that 18 months 00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:55.439 Paul was there, he then writes this letter to 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:00.699 the Corinthians four years later. So he'd been 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:04.439 in Corinth 18 months sharing the gospel. Now 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:06.639 when this letter comes back to them, it's most 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:10.159 likely it's been four years since he has been 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:14.009 there. And as he writes this letter, 1 Corinthians, 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:18.329 fact is, most scholars believe that this is the 00:04:18.329 --> 00:04:20.769 second letter, even though it's the first letter, 00:04:20.850 --> 00:04:23.689 because nobody can find the first letter that 00:04:23.689 --> 00:04:27.269 he references in 1 Corinthians 5. And so we start 00:04:27.269 --> 00:04:29.310 this off as the first letter that we have, but 00:04:29.310 --> 00:04:31.569 really it's probably the second letter that they 00:04:31.569 --> 00:04:38.709 had. 1 Corinthians, he starts off with this amazing... 00:04:40.870 --> 00:04:45.110 Salutation. He says, Paul, called by the will 00:04:45.110 --> 00:04:49.430 of God to be an apostle of Jesus Christ and our 00:04:49.430 --> 00:04:55.709 brother Sosthenes. To the church of God that 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:59.730 is in Corinth. To those sanctified in Christ 00:04:59.730 --> 00:05:05.629 Jesus. Called to be saints together. Called to 00:05:05.629 --> 00:05:09.610 be saints what? Called to be saints together. 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:11.879 All right, we're still not getting it. The choir 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:13.439 master is going to work it again. Here we go. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:18.420 Called to be saints. Oh, beautiful. Hallelujah. 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:23.560 Called to be saints together with all of those 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:28.860 who in every place call upon the name of our 00:05:28.860 --> 00:05:33.779 Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. 00:05:35.220 --> 00:05:41.870 Grace and peace. From God our Father. Grace to 00:05:41.870 --> 00:05:46.290 you. And peace from God our Father. And the Lord 00:05:46.290 --> 00:05:49.810 Jesus Christ. Now let me just continue on. Verse 00:05:49.810 --> 00:05:55.569 4. I give thanks to my God always for you because 00:05:55.569 --> 00:06:01.009 of the grace of God that was given you in Christ 00:06:01.009 --> 00:06:06.350 Jesus. That in every way you were enriched in 00:06:06.350 --> 00:06:12.420 Him. In all speech, in all knowledge, even as 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:16.519 the testimony about Christ was confirmed among 00:06:16.519 --> 00:06:21.220 you. So that you are not lacking in any gift 00:06:21.220 --> 00:06:24.959 as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:30.879 Christ who will sustain you to the end. Guiltless. 00:06:31.819 --> 00:06:34.879 In the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful. 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:41.819 By whom you were called into the fellowship of 00:06:41.819 --> 00:06:52.579 his son, Jesus our Lord. Now, I think this salutation 00:06:52.579 --> 00:07:02.839 and this first 10 verses is sneaky. On the outset, 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:07.279 by just hearing it and reading it, man, there's 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.480 a lot of great stuff in there. I mean, we have 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.410 been... We're in Jesus Christ. We've been given 00:07:14.410 --> 00:07:17.970 all speech. We've been given all knowledge. We 00:07:17.970 --> 00:07:20.170 have every gift. We're not lacking anything. 00:07:20.410 --> 00:07:24.430 And we've been called into fellowship with Jesus 00:07:24.430 --> 00:07:28.189 Christ himself. And with everybody else that 00:07:28.189 --> 00:07:31.290 calls on his name. Now that's true. And that's 00:07:31.290 --> 00:07:36.170 wonderful. And yes, that is awesome. But it is. 00:07:36.329 --> 00:07:44.860 One of the names of God is El Sneaky. Some call 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:52.000 him El Shaddai. But I call him El Sneeko. I'm 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.779 not meaning to be disrespectful, but he always 00:07:54.779 --> 00:08:02.839 has an amazing truth inside a truth. Have you 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:04.680 noticed that? God builds the best sandwiches. 00:08:08.290 --> 00:08:11.490 I mean, you get into the middle of it and you 00:08:11.490 --> 00:08:15.910 realize it's deeper and grander and more just 00:08:15.910 --> 00:08:18.730 stuff that you would have never realized till 00:08:18.730 --> 00:08:22.610 you begin to open up what's on the inside. And 00:08:22.610 --> 00:08:28.129 the reason, the reason Paul was saying this, 00:08:28.189 --> 00:08:30.310 or I believe the reason the Holy Spirit was saying 00:08:30.310 --> 00:08:33.970 this, remember he starts off by naming this brother 00:08:33.970 --> 00:08:39.600 Sosthenes who was the guy That four years earlier 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:44.120 persecuted Paul to try to take Paul to the civil 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.120 court and get Paul sentenced and beat and run 00:08:48.120 --> 00:08:50.679 out of town. And guess what happened? The judge 00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:54.700 dismissed the case. Sothenes gets beat by the 00:08:54.700 --> 00:08:58.159 lawyers, by the people. I mean, it's bad enough 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:00.000 that you've got to pay a lawyer, but the lawyer 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.600 beats you on top of it. Sothenes had a bad day. 00:09:04.970 --> 00:09:08.850 His plan to run Paul out of the city backfired. 00:09:08.850 --> 00:09:13.250 He gets beat by people, and the judge is watching, 00:09:13.309 --> 00:09:19.090 and it says literally in Acts 18, and the magistrate 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:28.769 paid no notice. Amen. We're still working with 00:09:28.769 --> 00:09:31.230 him to try to come out of the law of Moses. Hallelujah. 00:09:31.330 --> 00:09:35.840 But anyways. Sosanace gets beat there at the 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.559 judge, and then four years later, we read the 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:43.259 opening line of 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and 00:09:43.259 --> 00:09:46.279 it says what? Called by the will of God to be 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:49.039 an apostle of Jesus Christ and to our brother 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:53.679 Sosanace. So somewhere from Paul's journey of 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:57.500 being in Asia 18 months, and now four years later 00:09:57.500 --> 00:10:02.220 writing back, Paul... had heard word that Sosanase 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:05.600 had given his life to Christ. And in the opening 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:10.320 letter, Paul writes Sosanase's name that the 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:14.059 church would recognize God is doing something 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:16.759 different than that's the mind of the flesh. 00:10:16.940 --> 00:10:19.919 He is operating in his church by the mind of 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:23.840 the Spirit. And we must have renewed thinking 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.100 if we're going to operate according to how God 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:30.009 wants us to operate. Because everybody, Paul 00:10:30.009 --> 00:10:33.669 experiences himself. Remember when he got saved, 00:10:33.710 --> 00:10:36.830 he persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. Saul 00:10:36.830 --> 00:10:39.870 from Tarsus, whose name changed. But he was a, 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:44.549 he might have been little, but he was one furious 00:10:44.549 --> 00:10:48.950 dude when it came to hating Christians. He sent 00:10:48.950 --> 00:10:53.509 people to death. Men and women broke up families 00:10:53.509 --> 00:10:57.029 for persecuting the church of Jesus Christ. So 00:10:57.029 --> 00:11:00.009 the apostle Paul knew a little bit about what 00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:03.190 it was like to come and face a crowd that had 00:11:03.190 --> 00:11:05.649 heard you were on the other side of the tracks 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:09.250 and persecuted them. So what does the Holy Spirit 00:11:09.250 --> 00:11:14.389 do? He makes sure that Paul writes Sosene's name 00:11:14.389 --> 00:11:17.629 right in the scripture. And then what I think 00:11:17.629 --> 00:11:21.610 is just marvelous. Is he begins, and this is 00:11:21.610 --> 00:11:23.870 not just tongue in cheek and it's not he wasn't 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:27.070 playing with us. It's that deep sandwich in God. 00:11:27.830 --> 00:11:33.649 He says you have every gift in God. Now if somebody 00:11:33.649 --> 00:11:37.230 tells you that, there is something more that's 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:40.870 about ready to happen. He says you've been given 00:11:40.870 --> 00:11:45.379 grace in all speech. In all knowledge. What was 00:11:45.379 --> 00:11:48.879 he saying? He's saying, listen, guys, you have 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.059 been given the mind of Christ. And it is not 00:11:52.059 --> 00:11:55.460 above my notice to let you know that I see the 00:11:55.460 --> 00:11:58.179 deposit that God has put in each of you. And 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:01.159 you have been instructed and imparted with the 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:04.820 grace gifts of God to walk this out according 00:12:04.820 --> 00:12:08.620 to God's will. That's what he was saying to them. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:13.179 And then after verse 10, the deeper part of the 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:14.899 sandwich is I'm getting ready to close here. 00:12:15.259 --> 00:12:21.399 So, Clark, if you'd come up. I appeal to you, 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:25.179 brothers, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:34.399 that you all agree. Now, you've been given all 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:38.090 speech. You've been given all knowledge. You've 00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:41.029 been given every grace gift of God. And now you 00:12:41.029 --> 00:12:44.409 have fellowship, koinonia, partnership in this 00:12:44.409 --> 00:12:47.289 whole thing that God has opened to you. Now, 00:12:47.350 --> 00:12:50.669 I beseech you. That word beseech is I appeal 00:12:50.669 --> 00:12:57.730 to you. I begin. To make an appeal not on the 00:12:57.730 --> 00:13:01.110 basis of what you know in your flesh, but I begin 00:13:01.110 --> 00:13:04.210 to appeal to you on the things that have been 00:13:04.210 --> 00:13:07.730 given to you by the Spirit. And I'm calling that 00:13:07.730 --> 00:13:10.950 you begin to draw on the way the Spirit of God 00:13:10.950 --> 00:13:15.029 thinks and not how you've been thinking. The 00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:19.610 whole letter to the book of Corinthians is a 00:13:19.610 --> 00:13:26.190 shift. Have you read the book? Maybe that would 00:13:26.190 --> 00:13:29.769 be a great assignment. In the month of September, 00:13:30.009 --> 00:13:33.429 read the book of Corinthians. The whole thing 00:13:33.429 --> 00:13:39.830 is a shift. Paul never, he builds them up in 00:13:39.830 --> 00:13:42.769 the truth, but the Holy Spirit comes and he begins 00:13:42.769 --> 00:13:46.090 to almost like move them. Have you ever just? 00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:49.730 You needed your child to sit closer to you and 00:13:49.730 --> 00:13:52.710 instead of actually saying, move your chair up, 00:13:52.789 --> 00:13:54.990 you just kind of grab the chair because you have 00:13:54.990 --> 00:13:58.029 the force and the grace to do it and just slide 00:13:58.029 --> 00:14:00.809 it over with one hand and they just kind of look 00:14:00.809 --> 00:14:05.690 at you as you bring them near. That's exactly 00:14:05.690 --> 00:14:08.610 what the Holy Spirit is doing here in 1 Corinthians. 00:14:09.190 --> 00:14:15.009 It's like, come here. He says, you've been given 00:14:15.009 --> 00:14:20.860 all speech. All knowledge. All grace. You have 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:24.279 fellowship with Jesus Christ. Now I appeal to 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:29.320 you. I appeal to you, brethren. By the name of 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:31.620 our Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice he invokes 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:35.480 the name of Jesus. This wasn't by Paul's own 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:39.460 words. He said by the name. How many know there's 00:14:39.460 --> 00:14:42.240 only one name? In which men can be saved. There's 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.960 only one name in which healing can be done. There's 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.500 only one name in which demons will flee. There's 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:51.419 only one name which you can change your thinking. 00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:56.799 It's the transforming power of the Lord Jesus 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.580 Christ through His name. He said, I appeal to 00:14:59.580 --> 00:15:03.940 you by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that 00:15:03.940 --> 00:15:09.919 there be no divisions among you. And that you 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:16.169 be united in the same judgment the same mind 00:15:16.169 --> 00:15:22.809 you further read on I've got to preach on this 00:15:22.809 --> 00:15:26.570 the next couple of weeks but it's an amazing 00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:31.029 thing what the Holy Spirit does he lists everything 00:15:31.029 --> 00:15:35.509 that we are in and then he says now I appeal 00:15:35.509 --> 00:15:41.539 to you that you begin to draw on that That you 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:46.360 begin to leave what you came into the body of 00:15:46.360 --> 00:15:49.840 Christ with that's carnal. And you begin to draw 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.240 on that which is spiritual. And you begin to 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:59.980 share and have the same mind with one another. 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.080 It's not that you can't have your own. I'm not 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:05.460 going to call you out on anything. I'm just coming 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:07.320 to shake your hand. If they were looking at me 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:11.179 like, what's he going to do now? I get that. 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:16.299 After today, I get it, okay? That we have the 00:16:16.299 --> 00:16:21.820 same mind. We have the same judgment about what? 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.539 About one another, about spiritual things, about 00:16:25.539 --> 00:16:29.299 walking together in unity and peace and grace. 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:34.289 He's saying, I'm not appealing to you or... mandating 00:16:34.289 --> 00:16:37.870 this as a law I'm appealing to that which has 00:16:37.870 --> 00:16:41.149 been imparted to you in Christ I'm going to draw 00:16:41.149 --> 00:16:44.649 on something that's on the inside of you and 00:16:44.649 --> 00:16:47.549 in order for you to draw on it you have to bypass 00:16:47.549 --> 00:16:51.110 the way you've always thought and you've got 00:16:51.110 --> 00:16:53.710 to get down into the spirit of love and grace 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:56.409 and you've got to begin to change the way you 00:16:56.409 --> 00:17:00.649 think and begin to renew your mind by the word 00:17:00.649 --> 00:17:05.789 of God and remind yourself of who you are with, 00:17:05.930 --> 00:17:10.430 with the saints of God in every place that call 00:17:10.430 --> 00:17:17.549 on his name. So whether, why don't you stand 00:17:17.549 --> 00:17:20.589 up for me? I'm going to love you in fun. Okay. 00:17:20.650 --> 00:17:24.150 So whether you're kind of in the urban renewal 00:17:24.150 --> 00:17:30.900 here, or come on, stand up, or You're in the 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:34.700 clean cut society. I love it. Okay. I'm proud 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:37.259 of you both. Okay. Come on. Give them a big hand. 00:17:37.319 --> 00:17:45.940 Come on. Doesn't matter how you came in in the 00:17:45.940 --> 00:17:49.900 natural. It matters how you're operating here 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:52.359 in the spirit. And that we're going to commit 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:55.400 ourselves to dig deep. deep from the Spirit of 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:57.700 God where the impartation of the Holy Spirit 00:17:57.700 --> 00:18:01.240 is so that we can what? Have the same mind, the 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:04.279 same judgment, the same passions for the things 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:06.940 of God. And when that happens, guess what happens? 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:11.559 Favor, His presence begin to break out all over. 00:18:11.799 --> 00:18:14.740 Would you stand with me this morning as Pastor 00:18:14.740 --> 00:18:20.380 David comes and gets ready to dismiss us? I'm 00:18:20.380 --> 00:18:22.289 going to pray for us and then He's going to give 00:18:22.289 --> 00:18:28.289 us a little direction. Father, today, I sense 00:18:28.289 --> 00:18:32.769 your power in this room. And God, we are thankful 00:18:32.769 --> 00:18:36.490 for all the things that we just read in your 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:40.109 holy word that you've given us. Every gift. You've 00:18:40.109 --> 00:18:42.910 given us godly speech. You've given us speech 00:18:42.910 --> 00:18:46.029 that builds, that encourages, that strengthens, 00:18:46.029 --> 00:18:50.740 that causes ties. Lord, and... nets us together 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:54.619 as family and fabric. God, you've given us every 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:58.079 spiritual grace that we can build your church 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:01.980 and share the love of Jesus Christ in the world 00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:07.039 around us. Together, with every saint in every 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:12.039 place, we say, let your kingdom come. Let your 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:16.720 will be done in us as it is in heaven. In Jesus' 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.470 name. Amen.