Open your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. The name of the message is concerning spiritual gifts. Now, right away when people think, oh, spiritual gifts, he's gonna talk about spiritual gifts. Well, I'm actually gonna talk about the gift, the gift. Is there any greater gift than Christ? None, none. And because we're saved through Christ, We don't have anything to boast over. Even the giftings we have come from him. Come from him.

Now, the Corinthian church, there was some boasting going on. People were saying, oh, look what I can do. I can do this and I can do that. And people were abusing spiritual gifts. And I'm not gonna get into that. That's for another message.

Now this here, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verses 1 to 3. Look what he writes here. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. I'm not going to have you be ignorant about spiritual gifts. You know that you were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as you were led." Look at what he says. He says, you were worshiping a bunch of rocks and wood, dumb idols that couldn't talk to you, couldn't hear you, couldn't speak. My, look what he says here. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God called Jesus accursed. and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." Look at that. Look at that.

Beloved of God, we who are the chosen of God and those who he shall save, chosen and saved by God's grace in Christ, redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and quickened and made alive by the Holy Spirit of God, have no reason to boast of any personal achievement. None. None. I remember when I was in religion, I used to boast about going soul winning, knocking on people's doors, and oh my, gotta tell everybody about what I did. My, oh my. You know what I do now when I go to witness? I go across the road and talk to folks about Christ. when the Lord opens the door, and it's wonderful. It's wonderful. I go into town smiling at people, talking to people. It's wonderful, isn't it? My, oh my. We are what we are by the grace of God.

Now note in this one verse here, note in verse three, Paul uses this powerful phrase, no man. No man. two times in this verse. You know why that? You know why he does that? To exclude from exalting the deeds of the flesh. The deeds of the flesh. Look, he says this. Wherefore, I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God called Jesus accursed. Oh, we praise him, don't we? Look at this, and no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. We can't even cry out to God except the Holy Spirit regenerate us. Isn't that amazing? And here we are, we were once rebels in our hearts. And you know, now we're saints in Christ. You know what saints means? To be holy. I don't feel very holy, do you? but that's what God calls us because we're in Christ. Because we're in Christ, it's absolutely amazing. But notice that no man twice in this verse. So he's writing this to exclude any deeds of the flesh.

So let us consider these three statements. Here's three statements we're gonna consider in this message. Number one, all that every believer knows God, in his mercy, has taught us everything that we know. Everything we know about the Bible, everything we know about secular things, God has allowed us to learn that and taught us. My, and then think of this. Number two, all that every believer has, God in his love gave us. Everything. Everything. It all comes from him. It all comes from his hands. That's why we're supposed to be content where we're at. That's why. It all comes from the Lord.

Number three, all that we are, his grace made us. Oh my, I am what I am, Paul said, by the grace of God.

So number one, all that every believer knows, God in his mercy has taught us. The gospel of God's grace and glory is not something that the natural man in the carnal mind, which is us in our natural state, reasons out. The gospel to the natural man is foolishness, but it's the power of God unto salvation for the believer. By the... by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. See, the gospel must be revealed to us. We can't learn it. We can't learn it on our own. Now, people will learn about doctrine all the time. I was a Calvinist and I was lost. Yeah. Ask Vicki. I had no grace. I was mean as a rattlesnake. But I could spin you with doctrine. Now, now, I know that all that doctrine points me to Christ. Oh my. And now I see the truth of it in Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. See, before I was a Calvinist, I was an Armenian. Yeah, I was. And then I became a Calvinist. I learned the truth. Yeah, it was truth, but there was no grace in my heart. And then I was born again by the power of God. Now I preach Christ. Just preaching Christ. Oh, it's wonderful. And it's being revealed, Christ being revealed to me and to you, beloved, by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, again, salvation's not by education. People think, oh, you can educate people into the kingdom. No, you can't. No. You know how it is? It's by revelation. Listen to this in Matthew. This is a beautiful portion. Matthew chapter 16, verses 15 to 17. Look at this. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? So he's asking his disciples, who do you say I am? Who do you say I am? Listen to what Simon says. And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ. So what he's saying there, thou art the Messiah. You're the long-prophesied one. You're the one sent from God. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, that's a good profession, isn't it, about Christ? That's a good proclamation about Christ.

Now, listen to what the Lord said. This is wonderful. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father, which is in heaven. He's saying, you can't learn that in no school. No. You can't learn that by doing a certain catechism or doing this and that. No, no, no. The Holy Spirit must reveal it, which we see in verse three again of 1 Corinthians 12, three, wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God called Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. It's wonderful. God, the Holy Spirit must take the things concerning Christ and show them unto us, reveal them unto us, or we will never understand the gospel. Oh, my.

Number two, all that every believer has, God in his love and grace has given us. Beloved of God, there's not a single spiritual blessing that the believer enjoys that has not already been freely given to us in Christ, were justified freely by God's grace. And God has loved his people freely in Christ Jesus, our Lord, from before the foundation of the world. Now, I sit and meditate on that and think about that, and it just leaves me in awe. Leaves me in awe. And although the spiritual blessings are freely given to us, they are at the same time came at a great price, beloved. Came at a great price, as our Lord Jesus Christ fully paid our sin debt before God. He endured the wrath of God that was due us, was poured out upon him. My, my.

And you know what the great price of our redemption was? His precious, precious blood. Listen to this. Acts 28, or 2028, speaking of Christ. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God. which he hath purchased with his own blood." That's speaking of the Messiah. That's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's speaking of God incarnate in the flesh, my Savior, my Redeemer, my shield, my buckler, my everything. Is it so for you? I pray God would make it so that Christ is everything for you.

Oh my. My, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? He gives us all things, beloved, all things, everything we have. My. The third point and last point is all that we are, God in his grace has made us. My.

Now, by nature, what are we? We're born dead in trespasses and sins. We're born in sin and shaped in iniquity, Psalm 51.5 says. Scripture says, if the Lord should mark iniquity, who shall stand? None. None. Therefore, beloved, every true born-again, blood-washed believer, can truly say with the Apostle Paul, by the grace of God, I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15 10. Oh my. Everything I am is by the grace of God. My goodness. My.

I praise God for his salvation, eh? Let us praise together, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let us praise God for this wondrous salvation. Let we who are the redeemed of the Lord rejoice, because we're safe from all our sins. Now, sometimes our sins will come back to haunt us, won't they? And you know what to say? They're all under the blood. They're all forgiven. Grace, where sin abounded, grace does much more abound. Praise the name of Jesus. It's wonderful. That's the message of the gospel. That's what gospel preachers are sent to do. It's just preach Christ. Proclaim our wondrous Savior. He heals the brokenhearted, doesn't he? Oh my.

Romans 4.16 says this, "'Therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace, "'so the end of the promise might be sure to all the seed, "'not to that only which is of the law, "'but to them also which is of the faith of Abraham, "'who is the father of us all.'" Isn't that wonderful? God's grace comes to us freely through Christ and Him alone. Through Him alone. Therefore, every believer can rightly boast of what God has done.

See, we don't want to boast in ourselves, because there's nothing to boast in, is there? There's nothing to boast in. I remember when I was in religion, I used to boast about things I did, tell everybody about things I've done. Ah, I don't boast of nothing now. I give all the glory to God. Look what the Lord's done. Right? No, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. My, look what the Lord's done for us. How? Through the Lord Jesus Christ. So salvation is all of God's grace, all in Christ Jesus, and all for God's glory. We say with the apostle, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter six, verse 14. Amen and amen.