Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in 1 Corinthians chapter one. 1 Corinthians chapter
one. Now. I'm gonna begin reading in verse
26. Hopefully a very familiar passage
of scripture. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen. yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught things that are. That no flesh
should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus. Who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Grace experienced makes people
gracious. Mercy enjoyed makes them merciful. Forgiveness received makes them
forgiving, and faith bestowed makes them faithful. Any good trait we have, God gave
it to us. I want to try and tell you today
who gives grace, who gives mercy, who gives forgiveness, and who
gives faith. Please understand, I have nothing
new here. There is nothing new under the
sun. People try to package it up and sell it as something different,
but there's nothing new under the sun. And what I have is good
news. Christ's gospel. And it's as
old as Christ himself. It's eternal. It's the eternal
gospel, that's what it's called. It's the same gospel that Jesus
Christ preached to Adam and Eve in the garden. But here we have
Paul writing in Corinthians. And I love Paul's address here. Where is it? Verse two of chapter
one. Well, Paul called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother,
unto the church of God which is at Corinth. It tells you who
Paul's writing to, but he didn't stop there. What? To them that
are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Called to be saints with all
that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our
Lord, both theirs and ours. This epistle is written to us.
If you call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, this epistle
is written to you. I like that, I like that address,
I do. Because this epistle is written
to believers. Believers in Christ Jesus. And therefore, it is written
to us. Now, I'm just going to basically concentrate on verse
30. and the first eight words of
verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus. But the first word he uses here
is that word but. And that means there's a difference
between what he's saying now and what he just said. It's a
word of contrast, but is. In verse 29, he says, that no
flesh should glory in his presence. Now, I want you to read that,
that no man should glory in his presence. That's what he's talking
about. He's not talking about angels.
No, no, he's talking about us. And he's talking to believers.
Understand that, this letter is to believers. We are so bad
that we might wanna try and steal some of God's glory. Whether
we do it wittingly or unwittingly, it doesn't matter, don't do it.
Don't do it. Don't try and take any credit
for anything in your life that God has done. But, ah, here we go. But, of God are ye in Christ Jesus. I like that, I love that verse,
I love it. See he started, well here, let
me point this out. In verse 29 he says no flesh
should glory in his sight, but in verse 27, 28 he says but God
hath chosen. the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise, God hath chosen the weak things of the
world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things
of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen,
and yea, things which are not, to bring to nothing, to not,
things that are. He went from what God does, and
then he told us what not to do. and now he comes back to more
of what God does. I like that. Understand, the
foolish, the weak, the base, and the despised, and those that
are not, that's us. That's us. That's believers. That's who he's talking to. God
chose the weak. God chose the foolish to confound
the wise. I like that. God chose the weak
to confound the mighty. And God chose the base and despise
and the nothing to bring to nothing they that think they are something. He said it, not many mighty,
not many noble are called. There's a reason for that. This
is the way God works. When we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. Now, if you weren't ungodly,
that means Christ didn't die for you. Now everyone's ungodly,
but there are those who know it. There are those to whom he
has revealed it. But God, here's the thing, No
matter what you might think about it, don't ever forget this point.
God did the choosing. He didn't consent. He didn't
check with us. He didn't ask us. He chose. What? The foolish, the weak,
the base, the despised, and the nothing. Oh, I like that. Why? that no flesh should glory in
his presence. In his presence. Now, this is
what I want to call biblical self-esteem. You don't have any. You understand? I'm not talking
about in your workplace. Because hey, you might be a better
worm than the worm next to you. and it doesn't hurt you to know
that you're good at your job or that you need to be better
at your job. There's nothing wrong with that.
But in his presence, you don't have a leg to stand on. I don't
have a leg to stand on. Matter of fact, I should be in
the dirt. Down where worms belong. That's biblical self-esteem in
God's sight. We're nothing less than the small
dust of the balance and no flesh, I'm gonna tell you, no flesh
is gonna glory in God's presence. I don't know if that's good English
or not. Don't care, it's true, that's
right. You're not going to, it's not
gonna happen because he won't have it. The glory, I will not
share my glory with anyone. What about Jesus? Well he's God,
he's God. Oh, he gets glory. He gets the
glory. But no flesh is gonna glory in
him. And Paul says, but of him. Now, who's of him? Look back
at verse 27, 28. God hath chosen. God hath chosen
and hath God chosen. He's talking about God. But of
God, of God. Paul is writing again, like I
said, of the work of God. Very clearly, very clearly. If
you want to, you can read it, but of God. But it says, but
of him, and he's writing of God, are ye, now who's the ye? I just read it to you. The Church
of God at Corinth. Them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus. Them that are called saints. I like that. Called saints. with all that in every place
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who he's
talking to, that's the ye. But of him are ye all of Jesus Christ, the good
shepherd's found sheep. Okay, he's talking, he's writing
to found sheep here. Now there are other sheep he
has. We'll talk about that in a little bit, maybe. But they're
not of this fold. Them I gotta bring in. But right
now he's talking about the ones that know him. The ones that
are, what does it say? In Christ Jesus. Ye. Believers are in Christ Jesus
their Lord. Their Lord. And guess what? I can tell you a big secret.
That's where believers wanna be. That's where I wanna be. That's where believers want to
be, in Christ Jesus. Because right here, I'm gonna
tell you something. We do this different ways. You
can put everyone in the world in one of two categories. You're
either in Christ Jesus, or you're without Christ. That's it. That's the two categories. In
this instance where I'm talking, that's the two categories. You're
in Christ Jesus or you're not. Just like those two categories,
Jew and Gentile. You're either a Jew or you're
not. You can divide them up. You can
say saved and lost. You can say Elect, I know another fellow that said
that the opposite of the elect was the lost, but that's wrong.
Reprobate's a good word. Reprobate's a good word. That's
the opposite. That's the opposite. But here,
this is the thing. Even believers, especially after
what we just read, okay? Believers are, as early as to
call it, a dichotomy. A dichotomy. Even in Christ Jesus,
you're a dichotomy. What's that mean? You got two
ways. You got two parts in you. There's the old man that's still
there and there's the new man. Understand, you can be miserable
and full of joy at the same time. You're miserable in this world
and have joy in Christ Jesus. You can be empty and you can
be full. This is the way we are. And I can tell you that we have
a joy that we can't describe and a misery that people don't
understand. Because you understand, a lot
of times, there are miseries to be considered in circumstance.
I'm not gonna make light of anybody's circumstances, but that's not
what I'm talking about here. The misery is me in this body. This misery is you in your body. I was listening to that thing
you just read, Walter, about that Spurgeon read about if he
was a hermit, you're still there. You're still there. and the weakness is within. My
sin comes from within and goes out. It's not what comes into
me. Now, granted, don't go places
you don't need to go. Because there's no sense to tempt
yourself because you're already tempted of yourself. But we are
a dichotomy, even in Christ Jesus. But here's the other thing. Believers
are to know that they are in Christ Jesus. Wait a minute. Of God. Of God. But of God are ye in Christ Jesus. These are eight words written
by Paul, given to him of the Holy Spirit. And they put together,
make one tremendous, miraculous statement. But of him are ye
in Christ Jesus. Ah, I like that. And here's what Paul was telling
us. Those in Christ Jesus are there because God put them in
Christ Jesus. Where it says but of him, that's
the same thing as saying but by him. You are in Christ Jesus by him. What did he say? Paul wrote in
verse nine of chapter one of Corinthians. God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful. What? By whom? By God. Ye were called under the fellowship
of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. God is faithful by whom you are
called. Under fellowship with the Lord.
Oh, I like that. Verse 24. But unto them which
are called, both Jew and Greeks, Christ the power of God and Christ
the wisdom of God. God is faithful. God is faithful. Oh, I like that, I do. And when
you look at that, you look at verse nine, it says, God is faithful
by whom ye were called. Then look at verse 24, and it
says, but unto them which are called. These are the same people. These are the same people. Here's the thing, if you were
called, You are called. And if you are called, it's because
you were called by God. By God, by God. Oh, I like that. What does it say? I think I actually
did, yeah. You don't have to turn there.
If you were called, you are called, right? By God, who's faithful. I know, this is Ecclesiastes
three and verse 14. I know that whatsoever God doeth,
what? It shall be forever. Forever. Forever. And forever. Well, there's more. Nothing can be put to it. Nothing
can be put to it. You can't add anything to what
he's done. and nothing can be taken from
it. Oh gosh, isn't that great? Nor
anything taken from it and God does it. God doeth it. That men should fear before him. Isn't that something? What? By whom ye were called. That's forever. That's forever. but unto them which are called. That's now. And it's gonna be
forever. It's gonna be forever. But of
God, well, are ye in Christ Jesus? What's that mean? That's forever. If God does it, it's forever. So if you wanna take that saved
and lost and saved and lost and stuff, you can take it. Scriptures
don't talk about God that way, and they never have. If God does
it, it's forever. Oh, and nothing, here, that's
the beauty. Nothing can be put to it, nothing
can be taken from it. God does it. God does it. And here's what God has done,
according to the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, but of God are ye in Christ Jesus. Now tell me
another way you can get in Christ Jesus. There isn't one. There isn't one. What's it say? God is by whom you were called
and by whom you are called. Jesus Christ calls, I'll tell
you this, and we come. We come. What do you mean? What
I mean is what he said. My sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. They follow me. He said, I call
them by name. I call them by name. And they
come. And they are called. And here's
the thing, he said, they follow me. They keep coming. You keep
coming. If you are in Christ Jesus, you'll
keep coming. Why, because you are called.
Oh, I like that, I do. This is because God does the
calling. Listen, ye must be born again. Ye must be born from above. First
John said, you must be born of God. That's born by God. Born of God. Oh my, John 5.25, I quoted it
last week, when the dead, hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live, shall live. Now, how is it possible
that they hear and others don't? Well, somebody, he, circumcised
their heart and their ears. And you'll not hear before. But
when Jesus Christ calls, you'll hear, and you'll come, and you'll
follow. And here in Corinthians, what? We preach Christ crucified. Under
the Jews, a stumbling block, and under the Greeks, foolishness.
But under them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and Christ, the wisdom of God. Verse 27,
but, well, no, that's not it. My goodness, I've lost it. Here,
verse 21, I didn't go back far enough. For after that, in the
wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. To save them, that belief. That belief. I'd heard Henry say it, I think
I actually heard Earl say it. Henry said it came from Rolf
Barnard. If my voice is the only voice you hear, nothing of any
eternal value will be accomplished. You have to hear the voice of
the Son of God. And, then you'll hear. Then you hear. Then you'll hear the gospel.
And you'll believe. You'll believe. If you are in
Christ Jesus, you believe. and you shall believe. Understand? I have believed, I believe now,
and I shall believe. Why? Because what God does, it's
forever. And of God are ye in Christ Jesus. Because here it is. If God has
not put you in Christ Jesus, you are not in Christ Jesus. That's just the facts. The only
way in Christ Jesus is for God, of God, ye are in Christ Jesus,
by God. Because here's the thing, if
God doesn't call you, you won't come. If the good shepherd doesn't
call your name, you won't come. Now, understand, I'm not How exactly to say this? I don't
want to discourage you, because listen, when Stephen preached
that message right before he was stoned, and he told them
fellas, you fellas are uncircumcised in heart and ears, and you always
resist the Holy Ghost, just like your fathers did. Saul of Tarsus
was right there. And at that time, Saul of Tarsus
was consenting unto the death of Steva. But God saved him later. You know why? God didn't call
Saul at that time. He called him later. I'm preaching the somebody, the
God, who can save anybody. And he says in his own good time,
but of God are ye in Christ Jesus. There was a time when I wasn't
in Christ Jesus. Didn't care anything for the
gospel, didn't care anything about Christ. Didn't even know
you people, so you know. Didn't care about a whole lot
sometimes. What happened? But of God am I now in Christ
Jesus. And you understand, when you're
in Christ Jesus, this is part of that dichotomy, things change. You change. If you have not had
a change, this is not works for salvation,
but if there hasn't been a change in your life, if there hasn't
been a change in your mind, if there hasn't been a change in
your heart, in the things you care about, you don't know Christ. I'm telling you, you're not in
Christ Jesus. If there's not been a change, because the things
you used to love, you might now hate. Now I'm not talking about
people, but I'm talking about things in your life. But here's
the thing, the people you used to hang out with, you don't wanna
hang out with no more. And the people you wanna hang
out with are the ones you never wanted anything to do with before.
They was church people or something. You understand, when I was lost,
I couldn't tell the difference between a true believer and a
hypocrite.