1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 There she is, sitting right down here. 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:05,500 Can you hear me, Eleanor? 3 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:07,600 Oh, you do hear me. 4 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:08,600 Okay. 5 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:12,000 Yesterday, she celebrated her 90th birthday. 6 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Congratulations. 7 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:23,920 There she is. 8 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:28,680 And one of the things I like most about Eleanor is the fact that every day she thinks could 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:31,320 be the day that Jesus is coming. 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:32,740 And I agree with her on that. 11 00:00:32,740 --> 00:00:37,240 She believes in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ and looks forward to His 12 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:38,240 return. 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:39,240 Amen. 14 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,840 I'm on the same page. 15 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:51,600 We're going to open our Bibles together this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 16 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,880 My wife and I have a little arrangement that when one of us gets sick, the other one will 17 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,800 not catch that virus. 18 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,240 I don't know if you've arranged that yet in your marriage or not, but every now and then 19 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,800 we break that agreement and we have broken it this weekend. 20 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:15,160 We've been battling a virus and it's my turn now. 21 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,400 But that's why I married a nurse after all. 22 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,520 I figured if I'm a hypochondriac, I might as well marry a nurse so she can take care 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:23,520 of me. 24 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:29,880 I married a doctor so I married a nurse and it has worked out well for 37 years. 25 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,320 And Stephen Gregory is gone now, but he and his wife just celebrated 21 years of marriage 26 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:35,720 yesterday. 27 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:40,720 And so congratulations to them and if you see them after the service, be sure to congratulate 28 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,600 them, won't you? 29 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:48,720 I'm going to talk today about what it, you've got what it takes from 1 Corinthians chapter 30 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,220 1. 31 00:01:50,220 --> 00:01:56,840 Today we are starting a journey that I think will prove exciting and spiritually stretching 32 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:58,760 as well. 33 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:04,400 We're beginning an expositional study of the book of 1 Corinthians, a book that was written 34 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:12,560 by the apostle Paul as he says in verse 1 with the help of our brother, he says, Sosthenes. 35 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:17,600 Now Sosthenes is not a common name in the New Testament. 36 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:22,600 There is one other use of the term, the name rather, and that is in the book of Acts, the 37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:24,280 18th chapter. 38 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:32,240 Interestingly, it is the chapter that talks about Paul's visit to Corinth. 39 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:38,800 While he was there, he was preaching the gospel as was his manner in the synagogues first 40 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:44,400 and then he left the synagogues when they eventually rejected the message. 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:52,200 One of the, the, the ruler actually of the synagogue in Corinth was a man named Sosthenes. 42 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,280 Eventually the Jews of that city had had enough of Paul and they brought a charge against 43 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:04,800 him before Galio, who was the proconsul of that area that was called Achaia. 44 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:12,720 They dragged Paul into court, but Galio was a very pleasant, genteel sort of a leader. 45 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:19,000 He didn't like to get involved in these sorts of things and his decision early on was just 46 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,000 throw this out of court. 47 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,640 He says, I don't want to think to do with this. 48 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:23,720 You Jews look after this kind of stuff. 49 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,640 It's your own business. 50 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:28,280 I don't want to hear it. 51 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:36,320 But it says that after he had made that decision, they beat Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue. 52 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,120 Now it doesn't explain who they were. 53 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:45,440 It could have been the Romans beating him because they had brought a worthless case 54 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:49,040 to the court, that's possible. 55 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:54,080 Or it could have been actually the Jews themselves who beat Sosthenes because he had brought 56 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,560 such an ineffective case to court. 57 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:58,680 It's not clear, but he suffered at that point. 58 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,120 And apparently at some time, if this is the same man, and I lean toward the fact that 59 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,680 it is, at some point Sosthenes became a convert. 60 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,320 He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. 61 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,720 He believed in the Messiah, his people, the Jews. 62 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:21,200 And so now he is with Paul as Paul is writing this letter back to the city. 63 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:22,200 Some years have passed. 64 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:27,440 Paul is now in the city of Ephesus where he has been for about three years or so. 65 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:35,640 And there in the city of Ephesus, he receives three guests, three visitors from the city 66 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:36,640 of Corinth. 67 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:42,600 Ephesus, of course, is across the body of water there in Asia Minor or Turkey, as we 68 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,520 call it today. 69 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:49,040 And these three men brought news from the church in Corinth. 70 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,360 They said that things were not real well there, that there were problems in the church. 71 00:04:54,360 --> 00:05:02,040 And they also apparently delivered a letter from the church to Paul asking specific questions. 72 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:06,600 And so Paul sits down and then by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he pens what we can see 73 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,000 call First Corinthians. 74 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:15,280 And he mentioned Sosthenes because the people there would have known him and appreciated 75 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:22,560 the fact that he was helping Paul in his ministry and even in writing this letter back to them. 76 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:29,720 You say to me, well what relevance really does a letter written by an apostle 1950 years 77 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:33,040 ago have for the church today? 78 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:34,680 A couple of responses to that. 79 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:39,840 First of all, this is the Word of God. 80 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,320 And folks, the Word of God is always relevant to us. 81 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:52,000 We may or we may not grasp its relevance personally, but it is always relevant to our situation 82 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,720 because it's God's Word. 83 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,360 We don't have to make it relevant, it is relevant. 84 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,840 But beyond that, I would say this, that the letter of First Corinthians addresses many 85 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:10,520 of the concerns and issues that we face today in our world and in today's church. 86 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:19,360 This was a very materialistic and affluent church that was beset by numerous problems. 87 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,320 It was a church that was badly divided. 88 00:06:23,320 --> 00:06:27,040 We get into that issue very early on in the letter. 89 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,760 In fact, we'll begin talking about it even next week. 90 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,880 It was a badly divided church. 91 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:43,520 It was a church that had experienced what I'm going to call superficial discipleship. 92 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:49,960 People became believers, but they didn't ever deepen themselves in the things of God, much 93 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:55,560 like the contemporary church today, at least in the West. 94 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,360 Perhaps you have heard about the study that Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, 95 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:03,280 Illinois, did about six months ago now. 96 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:08,440 Very courageously, Bill Hybel is the pastor there, asked for some research to be done 97 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:10,440 on their converts. 98 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:19,080 Willow Creek has led the way for 25 more years on what a seeker-driven church is all about. 99 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:25,000 So after 25 years or more, they wanted to find out what's happening among our converts. 100 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:32,560 They put together a study that was professionally done by an outside organization. 101 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:39,000 I'm sorry, it wasn't an outside organization, but they utilized outside resources for it. 102 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:40,480 The results shocked them. 103 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:44,880 When they got the results back, basically Bill Hybel's got before his congregation, 104 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:49,880 he said to them, ladies and gentlemen, we have failed. 105 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,800 We have failed. 106 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:59,240 What they discovered in the course of this research was that the converts that they had 107 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,040 produced over these years tended to be very superficial. 108 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:08,800 They came to church to get themselves fed and spiritually nourished. 109 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:16,240 They had never been taught or never followed through on how to feed themselves. 110 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:21,280 And consequently, they were superficial converts to Christ. 111 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:26,240 They may have been genuine, but their discipleship, their commitments were very shallow. 112 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,400 Now I can almost hear somebody here say, well, yeah, that's what I've been telling people 113 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,360 about the seeker-sensitive church all this time. 114 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,200 And some of us have said that. 115 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:44,160 But before we criticize them too much, perhaps we ought to do some research on our own converts 116 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:50,040 and be courageous enough to put it out in public, as Willow Creek was, and challenge ourselves 117 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:56,440 as to whether we're really producing disciples of Jesus Christ and what we're about. 118 00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:01,160 The Corinthian church was not. 119 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,920 It was also a church that was very accepting of immoral behavior. 120 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,640 It was a church that lacked commitment to marriage. 121 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,000 Paul spends a very long chapter on that subject. 122 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:19,880 It was a church that disagreed about how Christians are to relate to and live in a pagan culture. 123 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:24,600 Now we have an increasingly pagan culture on our hands. 124 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,040 How are we to relate to that culture? 125 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:27,960 We'll find out. 126 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,720 There was doctrinal confusion in the church. 127 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:37,800 And there was also the seeking of experience in worship over substance. 128 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:44,080 So you see, as you think through this, there were a lot of parallels in the Corinthian church 129 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:48,320 to what the church is facing today in our world. 130 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:55,680 And so this is a letter that Paul writes to them, a letter of correction and instruction. 131 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:02,000 Now in one sense, what we understand about the Corinthian church should encourage us a 132 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:03,000 lot. 133 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:08,520 It should encourage us because sometimes we think that the issues and the battles that 134 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:16,760 we fight in today's church are unique to our age, and that simply is not the case. 135 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:26,040 Throughout the centuries, God's people have demonstrated one consistent characteristic. 136 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:32,600 Despite all the blessings that we enjoy in Jesus Christ and our calling in Him, we still 137 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:36,120 have problems. 138 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:41,200 Now maybe that's not true of you, but I've got to tell you it's true of me. 139 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:42,440 There are still issues in my life. 140 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,800 I don't have it all together yet. 141 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,960 Most likely you don't either, if you're honest with yourself. 142 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,840 So we're very much like the believers down through the centuries and like the Corinthian 143 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:55,920 church as well. 144 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:03,560 We have tremendous blessings, but we're not yet at the point of perfection. 145 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:10,640 The church comprises imperfect people, and that's the first blank in your outline. 146 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:17,400 The church comprises imperfect people who are nonetheless called by God to share the 147 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:23,520 venture of knowing His Son, Jesus Christ. 148 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,920 Now we don't boast in our imperfections. 149 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,680 To be honest with you, I've heard some testimonies through the years in which people seem to 150 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:32,280 be boasting a little bit about their imperfections. 151 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:33,640 That's wrong. 152 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:38,360 We shouldn't boast in them, but we should recognize them and acknowledge them. 153 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:44,200 And we certainly also wish that we had it all together, but it's good for us to acknowledge 154 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:49,800 the truth to one another and to ourselves personally. 155 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,680 That we still do need to learn. 156 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:52,840 We still need to grow. 157 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:59,200 We still do need correction and instruction in the ways of God so that we will grow to 158 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,880 be more like Jesus. 159 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,240 That's what discipleship is all about. 160 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,840 We're on a venture as the people of God. 161 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,680 That means we're on a journey. 162 00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:11,760 We have not arrived. 163 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,600 We're not called destination Christian church. 164 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,560 We're called venture Christian church because we're on the move. 165 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:20,680 We're still growing. 166 00:12:20,680 --> 00:12:25,680 We're still coming toward the goal. 167 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:31,000 The Apostle says in verse 9 here that these believers were called into fellowship with 168 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:32,000 His Son. 169 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,800 That is the case with all of us. 170 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:39,480 So the good news is that you and I are not alone. 171 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:44,440 We have a company of believers who are around us now and with whom we can identify through 172 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:50,520 the ages really, who are imperfect, but who are nonetheless called by God to join in this 173 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:57,000 great journey, this great venture toward becoming like Jesus Christ. 174 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:02,640 We are part of a church that shares the same wonderful blessings from Jesus that God's 175 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:06,280 people have enjoyed through the ages. 176 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,160 The first blessing I want to point out is in verses 1 through 4 where Paul seems to 177 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:14,840 be saying, you share in his grace. 178 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:21,320 We'll pick up the reading in verse 2 where it says, Paul to the church of God in Corinth, 179 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:27,600 to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere 180 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:34,480 who call in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. 181 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,920 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 182 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:45,960 I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus. 183 00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:52,640 You see as a follower of Jesus Christ, you share with other believers in His grace. 184 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:53,640 What is that grace? 185 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:57,560 Well, Paul seems to lay it out for us here in three actions of God. 186 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,400 First of all, he has called you in his grace. 187 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:02,880 He's called you. 188 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,520 The word ecclesia is found here. 189 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:10,440 It's the word church in the English versions. 190 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:16,880 That means people who are called out, people who are called out from the rest. 191 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:23,680 You see a church is an assembly of people who are summoned out from everybody else for 192 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:25,640 a particular purpose. 193 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:32,880 Now in kind of a, I suppose a negative sense, you might compare this to getting your summons 194 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,720 to be on the jury here in Santa Clara County. 195 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:40,240 How many of you over the years have been summoned at least once to the jury? 196 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,080 Well, that's most of you. 197 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,520 Congratulations, you must be citizens. 198 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:52,280 Now I don't know what it is about this county, but I've had at least three summons to the 199 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:53,720 jury in the eight years I've lived here. 200 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,440 That's more than I had in 19 years in Minnesota. 201 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:02,920 I don't know if there are so few of us who are citizens or what. 202 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:04,760 But you know what it's like. 203 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,920 You are called to come down there. 204 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:09,120 You're summoned. 205 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,800 And when you get there, you sit in this room and you wait for your number to be called. 206 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,960 The fact is that you've been summoned out from all the other people who live in this 207 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:21,320 county and you're there for a purpose. 208 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,880 May not be the happiest purpose in the world, but that's the idea. 209 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,200 You've been called out. 210 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,040 I remember when I was in 4-H Club. 211 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:31,840 How many of you know what 4-H is? 212 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:33,880 Oh my goodness! 213 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,280 I did not expect that response. 214 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:47,720 4-H has been a fairly rural association of kids. 215 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,320 It has changed through the years considerably since when I was in there, but the 4-H's are 216 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:58,720 head, heart, hands, and health. 217 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:00,520 Very good, you remember. 218 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,880 Those are the 4-H's. 219 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,360 And as being a part of 4-H, you have projects that you do. 220 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:13,040 And I took sheep, for example, and showed sheep at the county fair. 221 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:23,400 And also I think the same year got a blue ribbon on my cookies that I took. 222 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:26,920 They were good. 223 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,840 One particular year, though, I was, I don't know how. 224 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:32,400 I was bullied into it, I think. 225 00:16:32,400 --> 00:16:38,960 I was enrolled in a contest for dressing up. 226 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:42,800 And I've been trying my best to remember what the name of this was. 227 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:49,760 There was a particular name for it, but the idea is that you come well groomed, and they 228 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,120 judge you on how groomed you are. 229 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,840 It kind of sounds like church, doesn't it? 230 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,440 And so I didn't have a suit. 231 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,120 I didn't have a suit. 232 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:01,920 What would I need a suit for? 233 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:06,520 So my cousin gave me one. 234 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:07,520 It was a good suit. 235 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:09,000 It almost fit. 236 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:13,040 It had a little spot up here where something had happened to it. 237 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:18,160 I have no idea what happened to it, but its color was gone a little bit in that area, 238 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:19,320 but that was the best I had. 239 00:17:19,320 --> 00:17:20,560 And so I put that on. 240 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:21,800 My mother bought me a tie. 241 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,720 I put on my shoes and my white socks. 242 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,280 And I went to the contest. 243 00:17:30,280 --> 00:17:31,960 And we were judged. 244 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:38,240 And I remember afterward, as soon as we were off the stage, I was out to enjoy the fair, 245 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,320 because who am I? 246 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:42,680 So we are not to enjoy the fair. 247 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:45,920 About five minutes later, somebody came running after me, gill, gill, gill. 248 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:46,920 They want you. 249 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,320 They want you back there at the stage. 250 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,000 I said, what for? 251 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,600 I said, you won something. 252 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,000 So I went back to the stage. 253 00:17:55,000 --> 00:18:03,920 And sure enough, I had come in, reserved champion, which means you're number two. 254 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:09,240 I've done a lot of that in my life, coming in number two. 255 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:10,240 And so I won. 256 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:17,240 Now, I think there are only three of us in the contest, which may tell you something. 257 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:22,520 But I remember, even though I wasn't dressed in the finest, I felt very special being summoned 258 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,720 out from everybody else and told, I am the reserved champion. 259 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,280 You've had times like that in your life. 260 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,680 Well, folks, listen. 261 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:34,320 God in His grace has called you out from the world to belong to Jesus Christ. 262 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,600 That's amazing, isn't it? 263 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:41,720 He has called us out that we might fulfill a specific purpose, and that is glorify Him 264 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:47,720 through worship, fellowship, discipleship, service, and evangelism in the context of 265 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:49,280 the local church. 266 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:56,000 We are called out of our past, out of our brokenness, out of our condemnation, out of 267 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:02,440 our identity with the culture to become a part of the body of Jesus Christ. 268 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,960 Now, you think our culture is tough. 269 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,840 The culture here was really rotten. 270 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:13,000 In fact, in that day there, they took the name of the city, Corinth, and they made a 271 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,880 verb out of it. 272 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:24,240 And the verb meant that you were acting very immorally. 273 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:29,400 If you Corinthianized, you were a very immoral person. 274 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:33,760 God had called these people out in His grace, just like He's called you out in His grace. 275 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:39,240 Secondly, He says that the blessings that we have in Christ that we share in His grace 276 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,320 is that He has set us apart. 277 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:48,320 You notice that when He says, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, or 278 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,480 literally He says called saints. 279 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:55,080 Now, if you come out of some backgrounds, particularly Roman Catholic background, you're 280 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:03,320 used to the term saint being used of a certain class of people who've died, and they are 281 00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,440 now set apart for some purpose, I guess, in heaven. 282 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,560 I want to tell you something. 283 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:13,320 That is a concept that's absolutely foreign to the Word of God. 284 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:19,160 A saint in the Bible is anyone who is trusted in Christ. 285 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:22,840 It's anyone who is trusted in Christ, because the Word really means that you've been set 286 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,200 apart. 287 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,760 You have been set apart. 288 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:32,600 And the tense of the verb that Paul uses here to those sanctified is that it happened in 289 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:36,040 the past, and it's a done deal. 290 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,520 It's a done deal. 291 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:46,880 We see this illustrated a little bit in Exodus chapter 11, where the apostle, where Moses, 292 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:51,880 rather, is told by God that he's going to bring one more plague upon the Egyptians. 293 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:55,080 It's number 10, and it's the death of the what? 294 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,960 The firstborn, exactly. 295 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:04,360 And so he says, all the firstborn and all the land of Egypt will die. 296 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:12,240 But I will make a distinction between Israel and Egypt. 297 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:20,240 The word distinction there in the Hebrew means I will make a deliverance between the Egyptians 298 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:21,240 and my people. 299 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,760 And then in the next chapter, chapter 12, he tells them how that deliverance was going 300 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:25,760 to happen. 301 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:29,240 It was going to be through the sacrifice of a lamb, the Passover lamb. 302 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,600 And you remember the story. 303 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,480 The lamb was killed at the doorpost of the house when the angel of death came through 304 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:39,720 the land of Egypt that night, taking all of the firstborn, a man and beast. 305 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,200 Wherever he saw the blood, there was deliverance. 306 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:46,400 He passed over that house. 307 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:53,000 God made a distinction between his people who were saved by the blood of the lamb and 308 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,520 the people of the world. 309 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,680 And folks, God is still doing that today. 310 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,680 God is making a distinction between his people who are saved through the blood of the lamb 311 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,920 of God and the people who are still in the world. 312 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,200 You shared his grace. 313 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:11,600 He has set you apart. 314 00:22:11,600 --> 00:22:17,760 And third, let me say quickly, he has joined you together. 315 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:25,040 Paul says, I'm writing to all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, 316 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,200 their Lord and ours. 317 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:29,800 He's tying the whole body together here. 318 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,640 We are joined as God's people. 319 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,800 We are part of His new creation, the body of Christ. 320 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:44,000 Jude writes a little bit about this when he uses that phrase referring to our common 321 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,000 salvation. 322 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:53,080 Now, he didn't mean by that that our salvation is ordinary, it's routine, it's common. 323 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,640 He means that it's a salvation that we share in common. 324 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:03,760 The same idea that Paul had in Titus, chapter 1, verse 4, when he writes of our common faith 325 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:10,680 in Peter writes, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, equally 326 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,280 precious with ours. 327 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,000 You see, these are the wonderful blessings that come by the grace that you and I share 328 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:19,000 in. 329 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,920 That we have been called out, we've been set apart, and we have been called to belong 330 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,680 together as the body of Christ. 331 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:32,440 Now, there's a second blessing that we share in Christ, and that is that you share in His 332 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,720 gifts. 333 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:35,600 You share in His gifts. 334 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:42,440 In verse 5, Paul goes on to say, for in him you have been enriched in every way, in your 335 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:47,440 speaking and in all your knowledge, because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in 336 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:48,440 you. 337 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:55,360 You do not lack any spiritual gift. 338 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:59,600 You share in the gifts of Christ to His church. 339 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,320 Well, what are these gifts that we're talking about? 340 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:09,160 Well, the word gift here is the word Charismity, and you hear the word Charismatic in there, 341 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,720 which refers to spiritual gifts. 342 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:16,200 A Charismity is something that is given to you freely. 343 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,560 It is a grace gift. 344 00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:23,680 It is a deposit that God makes in your life. 345 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:28,880 It's an inheritance that you have, and I'm defining it here in the context of 1 Corinthians 346 00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:35,000 as special abilities to serve others for their good and God's purpose. 347 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,400 That's what gifts are. 348 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,320 Paul is going to have a good deal more to say about these gifts. 349 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:46,520 What had been given for good, unfortunately, were being exploited by the Corinthians for 350 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,200 selfish ends. 351 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:55,280 Paul mentions two general categories in which the Corinthians were especially rich in gifts 352 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,760 of speaking and gifts of knowledge. 353 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,960 He says, you're wealthy in these things. 354 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,160 Now, from whom did these gifts come? 355 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:09,680 Well, the answer is they came through the Holy Spirit from Jesus. 356 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:14,160 You were enriched by Him, by Jesus, Paul says. 357 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,360 And when were they given? 358 00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:22,600 Well, the answer is found in the text, in the tense, rather, of the verb, you were enriched 359 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:23,600 by Him. 360 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,720 It points to a completed action in the past. 361 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,360 Something that is done, it's finished. 362 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,280 The Lord has made you rich, and when was that? 363 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:38,160 Well, the answer is at the moment of your new birth. 364 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:44,440 You see, spiritual gifts are not the same as talents that we have, natural talents. 365 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:50,240 Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities that come to us at our new birth. 366 00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:56,280 And it's the gifts that God intends for us to make use of in the context of serving other 367 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,280 people and fulfilling His purpose in our lives. 368 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,040 What are the results of the gifts? 369 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:04,080 Paul points to two. 370 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:10,680 One, the gifts confirm the fact that these people really saved. 371 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:16,360 And verse six, that seems to be the intent of his rather enigmatic statement because 372 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:21,120 our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 373 00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:24,520 The word confirmed means to guarantee or to secure something. 374 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:28,600 And what Paul seems to be saying is to the Corinthians is this, look, I see all of these 375 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:31,440 gifts that work in you. 376 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:38,080 And that confirms, that secures the fact that you truly believed the message that I preached, 377 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:39,240 that you're really saved. 378 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,520 Now I know that there are some people who say unless you have a particular gift, you're 379 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:45,360 not saved yet. 380 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,200 Wrong. 381 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:48,200 That's wrong. 382 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:55,880 But it is true that the presence of spiritual gifts in your life that God gives you, a deposit 383 00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:04,160 of abilities to serve Him, that is evidence of the fact that you are a believer. 384 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:08,120 But the second result that Paul points to is the fact that these gifts enrich the whole 385 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:09,120 church. 386 00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:13,840 They're not intended to bless just the individual who has them. 387 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,920 They are for everyone in the church. 388 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,000 These believers were not lacking. 389 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,080 They were not coming short. 390 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:27,080 In any respect to the blessings that they had in Christ, they had all that they needed 391 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:28,760 in terms of spiritual gifts. 392 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:34,160 Here's a very wealthy church in spiritual terms. 393 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:39,000 They had a lot of people who had a lot of abilities that God had given them to use for 394 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,160 His purpose. 395 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:49,000 So the blessings of Christ that we have for this journey include the fact that we are, 396 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,120 we're shares of His grace, we're shares of His gifts, and finally we are shares of His 397 00:27:53,120 --> 00:27:54,800 glory. 398 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,360 You share in His glory. 399 00:27:57,360 --> 00:28:02,000 In the last part of verse 7, Paul goes on to say, you do not lack any spiritual gift 400 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:08,520 as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 401 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:14,800 He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord 402 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,320 Jesus Christ. 403 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:22,680 Paul is here looking ahead in history, and he is saying that Jesus Christ is one day 404 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:24,600 going to be revealed. 405 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,240 He is going to be made visible. 406 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,480 He is not today, but one day He will be manifested to the world. 407 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,720 When is this going to be, we ask? 408 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:40,880 Well, the answer Paul seems to give here is that it's the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 409 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:45,800 Do you see that at the end of verse 8? 410 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,560 You need to make a distinction when you read the New Testament between this phrase, the 411 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:56,160 day of the Lord Jesus Christ and the day of the Lord. 412 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,680 They're not the same. 413 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,840 Sometimes the day of the Lord Jesus Christ is contracted, it's shortened to be the day 414 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,320 of Christ, for example. 415 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:07,320 But they're not the same thing. 416 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:13,200 The day of the Lord Jesus Christ refers to that time when Jesus Christ will come back 417 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:19,320 into the atmosphere of the world and will call out His people. 418 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:25,440 That's what we call in our English the rapture of the church. 419 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:30,440 When Jesus will come back not to the earth, but into the atmosphere of the world, and 420 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:35,120 He will call us to come up, and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive 421 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:40,880 on that day will be changed, and with them we will be caught up into the presence of 422 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:41,880 the Lord. 423 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:44,560 That's the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. 424 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:51,920 But you will also see the phrase the day of the Lord used, and the day of the Lord comes 425 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,520 out of the Old Testament. 426 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,680 The day of the Lord Jesus Christ is not used there at all. 427 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:04,080 The day of the Lord refers to that time that the Old Testament prophets also foresaw. 428 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:08,640 The day of the Lord Jesus Christ is an event. 429 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:15,640 The day of the Lord is a period of time during which God will bring judgment upon a world 430 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:22,800 that has rejected Him, will at the same time save and deliver His people, and then come 431 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:30,480 to reign on the earth at the conclusion of that time of judgment, and bring in the blessings 432 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:36,720 of the day of the Lord that will last for another thousand years of time. 433 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:43,120 Here Paul is looking to that rapture of the church, the time when we who know Christ will 434 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,120 be caught up to be with Him. 435 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:49,600 Now he says, you have a part to play here. 436 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,880 He says, you are to eagerly wait for His coming. 437 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:59,400 That is, you're to intensely and patiently keep your focus on this truth, and folks, 438 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,320 that's not easy to do. 439 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:09,720 Because our lives get overwhelmed so easily in the kind of a world that we live in. 440 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:13,480 That's why it's important for us to remember to do this. 441 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:22,360 If we don't remember to be eager in our anticipation of His return, our lives will tend to drift 442 00:31:22,360 --> 00:31:25,720 toward the world. 443 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:31,880 And so the apostle says, your part in this sharing of His glory is to eagerly await that 444 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:36,120 day when Jesus will come back and take you home. 445 00:31:36,120 --> 00:31:42,320 But His part is this, He will keep you strong until that day. 446 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:43,520 He will keep you stable. 447 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,720 He will grow you to maturity. 448 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:52,520 He will establish you in your faith so that when that day comes, you will be blameless. 449 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:58,040 The word blameless here comes from a verb that means you will not be called in. 450 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:03,560 And when I say that, I immediately think of the principal's office where I astutely tried 451 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,040 to avoid going. 452 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,120 But there were a couple of times when I was called in. 453 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:14,760 It wasn't my fault, but I was called in. 454 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,120 So I understand what that's like. 455 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:22,600 And what Paul is saying is, when Jesus comes back, don't be living in such a way, you're 456 00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,800 going to be in trouble. 457 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,440 You're going to be called in and held to account for it. 458 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:33,760 He says, on that day, you're going to be blameless. 459 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,240 We thank God for His faithfulness. 460 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:41,440 And this morning we've sung a lot about His faithfulness in our singing, our worship of 461 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:46,040 the Lord, great is your faithfulness, forever faithful. 462 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,320 Lord, you're forever strong. 463 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:52,040 These themes have been a part of our worship today. 464 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:55,200 Dear people, you shared His glory. 465 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,640 When Jesus comes, it's yours. 466 00:32:58,640 --> 00:33:01,640 It's yours. 467 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:06,280 We have all of these blessings that the Corinthians had, but the point I want to make this morning 468 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:13,840 is this, that blessings alone don't guarantee much. 469 00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,320 They guarantee opportunity. 470 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,820 They guarantee potential. 471 00:33:18,820 --> 00:33:27,320 But they don't guarantee much beyond that, and the Corinthians sadly give us an example. 472 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:29,040 You see, you've got what it takes. 473 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:37,280 Christ has given you everything you need in this world to live for Him. 474 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,560 But that's not enough. 475 00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:44,360 It takes something from you too. 476 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,600 It takes commitment. 477 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,680 It takes surrender to the Lordship of Christ. 478 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:56,080 It takes self-discipline. 479 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:01,960 In my lifetime I have seen a number of presidents of the United States, and it looks like we're 480 00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:07,400 going to see another one sometime this year. 481 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:11,400 I will tell you that the one who was the president during the 90s is the greatest politician 482 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,720 I ever saw in my life. 483 00:34:13,720 --> 00:34:20,680 I mean, charisma just pours out of the man's genes. 484 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:24,200 He is able to articulate. 485 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:28,040 He's able to empathize. 486 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:33,560 So much going for the man, but it wasn't enough. 487 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:40,480 In that regard, I think of Saul in the Old Testament, who was head and shoulders above 488 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,400 everybody else, handsome. 489 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:49,360 He had everything you could possibly imagine a king should be. 490 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,000 He had it all. 491 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,660 But it wasn't enough. 492 00:34:55,660 --> 00:35:01,200 He didn't have a heart for God. 493 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:10,560 I think of athletes in our day who have prowess that is unbelievable. 494 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:21,480 Very highly skilled athletes, but some of them have attained their fame by cheating, 495 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:25,240 taking steroids. 496 00:35:25,240 --> 00:35:29,440 They had what it took to be successful without doing that. 497 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:37,960 They had what it takes to be a famous athlete, but it wasn't enough. 498 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:47,000 They didn't have the character, and now their names are stained and asterisked. 499 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:59,840 I think of the poor and pitiful person whose name is Britney Spears. 500 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:05,080 She has what it takes to be successful, to be a star, to entertain people, but it's not 501 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,160 enough. 502 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:14,680 And now we have the sad spectacle of her life exploding before all of us in public, and 503 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:21,400 it's very, very sad. 504 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:26,600 You can find just about anything on the Internet, and I've discovered that on YouTube, you can 505 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:36,480 find Tim Conway and Dick Van Dyke and all these funny people who are not around anymore, 506 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,680 if they're around, they're not on the air very much. 507 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:42,200 The other night, I thought, well, I'm going to see if one of the funniest people I've 508 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:46,160 ever seen is on there, and that's John Candy. 509 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,440 Do you remember John Candy? 510 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:57,440 A funny person, made some really hilarious films, but died as a young man. 511 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,000 I looked up Chris Farley. 512 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:05,880 You don't have to appreciate all of the language they used or the kinds of things they talked 513 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:11,720 about to realize that these were naturally funny people. 514 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:16,080 Often their humor came out of a lot of pain, but they were naturally funny people. 515 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:17,920 They had a lot. 516 00:37:17,920 --> 00:37:21,520 They could command salaries, they could command movies. 517 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:27,120 They had what it takes, but it wasn't enough. 518 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:31,040 And some of them died of drug overdoses. 519 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:39,960 Now think of Samson in the Bible, brawny, smart. 520 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:46,320 Samson, although he had a lot, didn't have enough. 521 00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,080 He didn't have character. 522 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:54,760 And so my point is this, despite what the Corinthians had in common, it wasn't enough 523 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:58,920 because they were a war with each other. 524 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,640 How sad is this picture? 525 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:06,680 How tragic is this picture of a church that was marvelously gifted, a church that enjoyed 526 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:12,240 the grace of God, a church that shared in the future glory of Jesus Christ, and yet here 527 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:16,960 they are at war with one another. 528 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:22,480 Blessed beyond measure. 529 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,040 But it wasn't enough. 530 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:29,040 They found reason to attack each other. 531 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,640 Paul thanks God for their past. 532 00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:36,680 Oh, he thanks God for the future that awaits them, but Paul does not thank God for their 533 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:46,680 present because they were not behaving as followers of Jesus Christ. 534 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:51,560 The reason they were a war with each other is that they refused to live under the authority 535 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:54,160 of Jesus Christ. 536 00:38:54,160 --> 00:39:03,880 Five times in this opening text, Paul says, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord. 537 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:10,840 He wants to impress upon them the Lordship of Christ, and he is going to press that home 538 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:15,800 through this letter. 539 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:21,920 How much of our lives does Jesus need to be in control of? 540 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:25,880 To be Lord. 541 00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,440 Would you say 51%? 542 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,880 That's a good American number. 543 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:34,920 That's a majority. 544 00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:35,920 Would you say 90%? 545 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,720 No, you see where I'm going with this. 546 00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:42,680 He's not really Lord if he's not Lord of everything. 547 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:48,920 Now folks, we can be wonderfully blessed in many different ways spiritually in Christ, 548 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:57,280 where we are, but what we have to do is bring ourselves under the authority of Christ, under 549 00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:04,680 the Lordship of Jesus Christ, because only then will all of our blessings benefit us 550 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:07,640 and bring honor to Christ. 551 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:11,440 To be under his authority means to put him first in everything. 552 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,640 It means to yield our rights to him. 553 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:20,360 As we get through this book and interact with the various things we're going to be talking 554 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:25,600 about, we're going to talk about ways in which we, you and I, need to be under the authority 555 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:28,760 and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 556 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:30,360 It's going to be a great study. 557 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:31,800 It's an important study for us. 558 00:40:31,800 --> 00:40:36,720 It's an important study for this year, and I'm glad you're along with me on this journey. 559 00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:41,240 Would you pray with me, please? 560 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:45,600 Father God, I am so grateful today for the blessings. 561 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,400 The blessings that we enjoy in Christ. 562 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:53,760 That we share in the grace of God. 563 00:40:53,760 --> 00:41:02,120 And we quickly acknowledge if it weren't for that grace, we would be so lost, so undone. 564 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:03,120 Thank you for your grace. 565 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,640 Thank you Father for the spiritual gifts you give us. 566 00:41:06,640 --> 00:41:10,680 God I thank you that in this church there are all the spiritual gifts that we need to do 567 00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,800 everything you call us to do. 568 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:14,840 Thank you for that. 569 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:18,680 Thank you Father for the glory that's coming. 570 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:22,280 We thank you that Jesus may come today. 571 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:28,000 We thank you that Jesus may come this year and we'll be caught up and be glorified with 572 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,080 him. 573 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:31,080 Thank you for that. 574 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:32,080 Lord it's not enough. 575 00:41:32,080 --> 00:41:44,400 I pray that we, each of us will search our hearts, be sure that we're under the Lordship 576 00:41:44,400 --> 00:41:46,400 of Christ. 577 00:41:46,400 --> 00:41:53,080 Not the majority of our lives or most of it, but all of it. 578 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:58,080 And I pray this in Jesus' name. 579 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:15,120 All of you is more than enough for all of me for every first time. 580 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:33,120 Every need you satisfy me with your love and all I have in you is more than enough.