Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the first epistle of Paul
to the Corinthians, chapter one, the chapter that we read. And
reading for our text, verse nine. Verse nine. God is faithful. By whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ. our Lord. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse
9. In the verses that precede our
text, the apostle describes the Corinthians and what God has
done for them in calling them. In verse 2, He says that they
have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. That is, set apart, they
have been made of a holy use in Christ Jesus. And they have
been called to be saints. And we would understand the word
saints to mean a person that is acknowledged as holy or virtuous,
and in the Christian faith, one that when they die will be found
in heaven. Not holy in themselves, but in
the Lord Jesus Christ, those that are called to a holy life
and witness. He also says in verse four that
the grace of God was given to them. He thanks God on every
remembrance of them on their behalf for the grace of God which
is given you by Jesus Christ. He also says that they are enriched
as well by him, by Christ, in all utterance and in all knowledge. And not only have they been called
by Christ, they've been sanctified by him, given his grace, enriched
by him, all that they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse
six, the testimony of Christ, that is the gospel, was confirmed
in them. They have been the receipt of
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The good news of salvation
has come to these Corinthians. and that they are not coming
behind in any gift. And what are they doing? They're
waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he
says in the verse prior to our text, that the Lord Jesus Christ,
as well as all the other things that these Corinthians are so
dependent upon him for, that he shall confirm you unto the
end. that ye may be blameless in the
day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Confirm you unto the end. Confirm in what? Confirm in those
things he has already done, but especially in the verse where
our text is. God is spoken of as being faithful,
and the way that he is confirming is in fellowship. It's introduced
to them, in addition to all that is said before, that they've
been called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ. Called into fellowship. Fellowship
means to have a friendliness and companionship, and it is
based on shared interests and those things that bind them together. And these first verses, it's
been very evident that these Corinthians are bound to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the apostle says, here they
are called, they are called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus
Christ our Lord. But it's not just that fellowship,
it's fellowship one with another and with the brethren. And what
is upon my spirit, especially this evening, this aspect of
calling, many things that we might describe, like in the first
part of this chapter, that describe what a calling is. But I want to highlight this.
this aspect of calling, a calling into fellowship. Fellowship with the Lord Jesus
Christ and with his people. And that the way that God faithfully
confirms his people is by maintaining that fellowship. And that is the message that
I want to bring tonight, to really to highlight the importance,
the great token that it is, and that the joy and happiness of
the people of God is in this. It's not just a token that is
separate from the life of the people of God. It's a token that
if we have it, will not only give us that assurance but give
us joy and love and union with the Lord and with his dear people. It's in that way that I desire
to bring this word before you this evening. And so I want to
look firstly at God's people assured of being confirmed in
grace. And then secondly, the means
of assurance. Who has called us to fellowship
and with whom? God has called us unto fellowship
and with whom? With his Son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. And then thirdly, wherein is
the fellowship evidenced. But firstly, God's people assured
of being confirmed in grace. When God calls his people by
grace, he assures them that he will confirm what work that he
has done in them. Verse 7, that ye come behind
in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall also confirm you unto the end? And God's people are assured
of that because of the first words in our text. God is faithful. God is faithful. God is faithful to his word,
what he has said there in verse 8. Not who might confirm you,
this is the holy, inspired, inerrant word of God, who shall also confirm
you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Tis the Lord that confirms his
dear people, and he's bound up in this God is faithful. Whatever
he has set forth in his word, whatever he has said, it is his
faithfulness that shall perform it. And some of you may be thinking
and bemoaning your unfaithfulness. You've been looking at yourself,
you've been looking at your actions, your path, your walk, And it
so causes dismay and despondency. But when we're brought to look
outside of ourselves, it's the faithfulness of God that shall
confirm us, not ourselves. And so we think of the scriptures
where this is so beautifully set forth before us. When Paul
writes to the Philippians, He says to them in the first chapter,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now Paul is telling this to the
Philippians and he knew he was the instrument used how they
began there. We think of Lydia and the the
Philippian jailer. But it's not just because Paul
is confident of this thing. What he is setting forth, this
is the inspired word of God, as if the Lord would speak to
us through this word. He which hath begun a good work
in you, will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ, and
God is faithful. He will. He will do so. We think of how it is set forth
when Paul writes to the Romans, and he draws together how the
Lord began and the continuing of a work in a sinner's heart,
in a sinner's life. In Romans 5, And verse six, he
says, for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet perventure for a good man some would even
dare to die, but God commended his love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And he pictures that
we're dead in trespasses and sins. We're sinners. We're walking
in open rebellion, unreconciled, no fellowship with him, no desire
after him whatsoever. And the Lord passed by us and
bid us live. He died for us when he saw us
lost and ruined in the fall. And he quickened us with no input
from ourselves, from no desire from ourselves. It was the Lord
that began that good work. And the apostle sets this forth
to the Romans. And then he says this in verse
nine, much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall
be saved from wrath through him. And he says, if the Lord blessed
you in that way, when you were dead in sins and enemies to God? How much more now? Now that you're
called, now that you're reconciled, now that you've already partaken
of the benefits and blessings of Christ's death, you've already proved the love
of God to you. You've already proved the power
of that precious blood. that which looseth from sin. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. But, he says, these Romans, you've
had remission. And now you're going on your
way. Now you have all the enemies. Now you have the oppositions. Now you realize the old nature. You're walking in that path and
you wonder where the scene will end. And you feel much your own
evil heart and your proneness to fall. You wonder whether you'll
get to the end or not. And he says, for if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life. It's a beautiful chapter, drawing
from what the Lord has done to assure those that are called
of the Lord's faithfulness in continuing of that sacred, blessed
work. You think of how Paul then finishes
Romans 8. He says, I am persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God. which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Able to separate us. What is
this mark? What is this assurance that the
Apostle is speaking to the Corinthians of? It's when they've been brought
together, brought into fellowship, brought to walk with one another.
And the Apostle says in Romans, he's persuaded nothing will break
that. Nothing will separate that. We think of how it's set forth
in the Psalm, Psalm 138, where we read in the last verse, the
Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord,
endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. How many a soul that has been
really exercised and burdened. I know this word was a real help
to me when for many, many years being exercised on the ministry,
and there was that which it concerned me. And the assurance the Lord
will perfect that He will complete it, and I believe He has, and
He will yet complete it. But there is a that the Lord
will not forsake the works of his own hands. He will be inquired
of by the House of Israel to do it for them. But there is
that persuasion that the thing prayed for is in complete accord
with the will and purpose of God. We know that if we ask according
to his will, he heareth us. And if our prayer is Maybe yours
has been in this week. Forsake not the work of thine
own hands. Dear friend, it is a prayer consistent
with the will of God. He will not forsake the work
of his own hands. And if he's begun a scriptural,
a right, honourable, God-glorifying exercise, then he will complete
that. He'll bring it to pass. and especially in the confirming
of his dear people in their walk, in their conduct, in their calling,
God is faithful and he will certainly perform that. The introductory
words to our text, God is faithful. By whom you were, you've already
tasted his faithfulness. You say, what was he faithful
to then? To his dear father. Thine they were, thou gavest
them me. I've lost nothing, but the son
of perdition that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Faithful
unto him that called him and that sent him and that gave him
the charge and gave him his people. It is finished, a faithful work. God is faithful by whom you were
called. And each one of the children
of God, when they're called, we say God is faithful. He has
called by Jesus Christ and he's called them into fellowship of
his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. May we tonight be really confirmed
in the faithfulness of our God. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. He cannot deny Himself and He
cannot deny His Word. And all the promises of God are
yea and amen in Christ Jesus. And the Lord will never, never
go back on what He has said and what He has done. and the assurance
here that where he's called a poor sinner, he won't forsake them.
Maybe there's one tonight hearing the word. You exercise burden
of an open profession in the Lord, and your thought and what's
holding you back, you thought, well, I don't think I can keep
it up. If I make a profession, how will
I continue? How will I be able to go on? I'm sure to fall. I'm sure to bring even a reproach
upon the Lord's name. And instead of looking at the
step immediately before you, which you may be persuaded that
you should take, there's that unknown way. There's your life
right through to the end before you. and you're stumbled, you're
hindered because of that. May the Lord speak to you tonight
through this word, God is faithful, by whom you were called into
the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. I want to then consider secondly,
the means of assurance who has called us to the fellowship
and with whom. The means of assuring us that
he will confirm us unto the end and assuring us that we are his
dear people is by showing us who has called us and to whom he has called us
to have fellowship with. Our text says, God is faithful
by whom ye were called. Are you persuaded of that, am
I, that we have been called by God? God has called us. But then the second point is
that He has called us and it's to fellowship. With whom? It is unto the fellowship of
His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Remember what we said, a fellowship
is those that are brought into friendly relations, they have
confirmed, and common interests together. And we spoke of, in
the first part of this chapter, how much the Lord and his people
are intertwined, and his people depend upon him for those things
that he has given them. But our text is emphasising in
this that they're brought into fellowship, they're brought into
friendship, You know, hymn 76, I used to stumble at that as
a child. I asked my parents, surely the hymn writers got it
wrong. At peace with hell, with God at war, in sin's dark maze
they wander far. Surely that should be at war
with hell, at peace with God. I didn't know my own heart at
that time. But by nature we are not reconciled,
and we are at war. And it is a great thing. When
the work of God brings a poor sinner to desire the Lord, to
look to his maker, to seek unto the Lord, to have those things that he
wants the Lord, he wants to be with him, you think of the great
contrast in heaven. The people of God are with the
Lord. He says, Father, I will that
they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. And what
happens in calling? We have that people that the
Lord says, I will have them with me. They want to be with him. The apostle says that I am crucified
unto the world by Christ and the world is crucified unto me. Really what he means is, I don't
want the world, once he did, I don't want that world and the
world doesn't want me. There's been a change of source,
brought from serving idols to serve the true and living God,
brought from one fellowship to another fellowship, brought from
out of the camp to go out of the camp unto Christ. Let us
go unto him without the camp bearing his reproach. And so
it's a call into that fellowship of his Son. And this is one that
I want to really emphasise tonight. You may have thought of many
marks of calling, many evidences of grace, but has the dear Lord,
has God the Father, drawn you to his Son, the Holy Spirit,
takes the things of Jesus and reveals them unto us. And the
Lord says, no man can come unto me except the Father which sent
me draw him. And there's this blessed Mark,
and this poor sinner that once was far off from the Lord now
wants fellowship with him. He wants to be with him. He wants
to hear him. He wants to hear his voice and
to have that communion with him. And you've been called to that.
But it's not just called to fellowship with the Lord. And when I say
not just, I'm not in any way making that a small thing. But it's always in the scriptures. It's put with the two. In the
first epistle general of John, we read this in chapter one,
that that which, in verse three, that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And here is this
beautiful bringing together. This is where the fellowship
is. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God, my God is your language,
the language, of dear Ruth, those that are drawn to the people
of God. We know that we have passed from
death unto life in that we love the brethren. And you think of
the apostle where he writes to, I think, many of the churches,
he says, of the Thessalonian church, that the gospel had come
to them not in word only, but also in power. And in the Holy
Ghost and in much assurance, as ye know what manner of men
we were among you for your sakes. And listen, what was the effect
of that power? What was the effect of that calling? And ye became followers of us
and of the Lord. And we have here something we
may touch upon our third point, having received the word in much
affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost. It's the things that bind
them together that are common that they can have fellowship
together in. But this is to be specifically
noted, and I draw your attention to the fact as well that where
the Lord keeps and brings into such a fellowship and keeps and
maintains that fellowship, he uses means, and he is using the
means of the ministry of the Apostle here to the Corinthians,
because the very next verse from our text, he is saying that these
Corinthians, though they're being called to this, how they are
acting is not going to be very conducive to fellowship. Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the
same thing, and that there is no divisions among you, but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment." He's describing what fellowship is. And then he's
going to speak to them about those things, the way they are
walking, that is not conducive to fellowship at all? Is that
a warning that I need, that you need this evening? The way that
we're walking, the things that we're doing that is not conducive
to church fellowship, to fellowship with the people of God, to fellowship
with the Lord at all? And there's many things that are
set forth in the word of God come between that we try to break
up that fellowship, especially Satan, coming in as an angel
of light, but coming in as a whisperer that separates two friends. Dear
friends, may we mark this evidence of a calling and the assurance
the Lord gives his people all their journey through. Blessed
soul that through life maintains a sweet fellowship in the closet,
in the house of God, You know, dear David, he says that, I prevent
the night watchers that I might meditate upon thy word. His thoughts,
his affections, his meditation, he says, when I am awake, I am
still with thee. And there's a real sense of walking
with the Lord. And may we have that with the
people of God as well. A real love to them. The Lord
has called us together and to walk together and individual
church fellowships, and inter-church fellowships. There's only one
true, real Church of Jesus Christ, and gathered together. There's
a blessed thing where we may meet one, or may be from another
country, and we hear what they have to say, and we hear what
the Lord has wrought in their heart, and we feel a union to
them, and we love them for the truth's sake, and we decide to
praise God for them. Many times, Apostle, he does
here with the Corinthians, he says, I thank my God always on
your behalf for the grace which is given you by Jesus Christ. Barnabas, he saw at Antioch the
grace of God and was glad, glad to see the Lord uniting his people
together and that grace imparted which brought sinner and saviour
together. and sinners saved by grace to
walk in sweet fellowship one with another. This is a most
blessed assurance and I say to any that the Lord is as quickened,
is drawing them, is bringing them to himself and bringing
them to the Church of God. Mark this. What are the people
of God to you? What do you say to them? Come and hear, all you that fear
God, and I will tell what he hath done for my soul. Do you
say to them, forbid me not? You desire to come, and does
the church of God say, wherefore standest thou without? Come in,
thou blessed of the Lord. And all the time, there's the
Lord working from both sides. and he's uniting and he's bringing
a people together. Now we can look at this in many,
many ways, and I believe with a congregation, a church, and
the Lord appointing them a pastor and one to be an under-shepherd,
you mark that. Is there a fellowship like this
that is one with another and with the Lord? Have we been called
to walk together in that way. And if the Lord has so called
us then to walk in that love, to guard it, to value it, to
see in it such an assurance and a token of the Lord's favour
and loving kindness and mercy to you. May we then really note
in this second point, this is the means of assurance and comfort
for the people of God when they can see who has called them and
to whom he has brought them into fellowship with. They're my best
friends, my kindred dwell, their God, my Saviour reigns. He's brought to see the people
of God and to love them. You know, with the Apostle Paul,
Saul as he was, It was said that he hailed men and women to prison
who called on the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And when he was
converted, when the Lord met with him, then the mark that
was given to him was that he called on that same name. And then he was persecuted the
same as those people were that he had been persecuting. He was
brought to be partakers with them, and have fellowship with
them. So I want to look then at the
third place, at some of those things wherein the fellowship
is evidenced. And remember, what we said with
fellowship was that friendliness and companionship and is based
on a shared interest. The Lord says of his people,
by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples indeed, in
that ye love one another. And yet, again thinking of the
verse 10 after our text, How they need the ministry of
the word, need the Lord's blessing on it, to deal with that love. Those are sacred times when that
love wells up in the heart, when you really feel it to the dear
brethren. Like I did coming back from one
of our prayer meetings of the ministers some years ago, middle
of the M1 driving home, and it suddenly swept over me. Oh, how
I loved the dear brethren that I'd heard there in prayer and
been with them. And you know the tears flowed,
my heart filled with love to them. It just swept over me. It wasn't called for by me. The
Lord gave it to me. I've never forgotten the time,
the feeling, the sense that the Lord gave me. But you know there are those
times that you might say, instead of it poured out, we need to
be instructed, taught and warned. We need to hear the word of the
Lord and out of love to the dear brethren. It will regulate what
we do and what we don't do. You think of the apostle again
in Romans saying, for me, destroy not the work of God. being so
tender, where there is difference of opinion, where the people
of God are easy-wounded, where there is a friendliness. He that hath friends must show
himself friendly. And so it is also with the Lord
that we maintain that friendliness to the Lord. Quite apart from what we might
understand of doctrines, of articles, or whatever it is. When we think
of real religion, it's a friendship with the Lord. The Lord says,
ye are my friends. If ye do whatsoever, I command
you. I have called you friends. Abraham
was called the friend of God. It's a very simple, really, designation. Wherein is the friendship evidenced? Wherein is the fellowship evidenced
in the friendship? You know, if we have a natural
friend, if we have a person, and we say they're my friend,
well, are they friendly? Do they show themselves friendly?
Do I show myself friendly to them? It'd be self-evident. And sometimes it needs to be
worked at, as it were. Going out of our way to show
ourselves friendly. So how is it evidenced, fellowship? By friendliness. to the Lord and to his people.
Another evidence is in verse 7. And you think of the common
interest, those that are waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We read our Lord, he sits and he waits. And the Lord one
day will come again with power and great glory in the clouds
of heaven. And there is his people on earth.
And they're saying, even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. And the church is looking for
his coming. And they have fellowship in that. They have a fellowship in the
testimony of the gospel. We have that in verse six. The Lord Jesus Christ has a gospel,
and he has a people that are interested in that gospel, partakers
of that gospel, and that they unite around that gospel, and
that they love to hear it from his lips. They love to hear it
from his servants. They love to hear his people
speak of what he has accomplished at Calvary. And the apostle,
he goes on in this chapter, And he says, I determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And
he says that he will preach this preaching, for we preach Christ
crucified. And to the Jews, a stumbling
block. And to the Greeks, foolishness. In fact, it's the next chapter,
chapter two, that he states, I determine not to know anything
among you. saved Jesus Christ and him crucified. We spoke of the Apostle Paul,
how he was the persecutor, then he ended up the persecuted, and
the sufferings that he endured, and it brought him into fellowship
with the Lord and his sufferings. That which the Lord endured at
the hands of the world, that which the Lord endured as he
bore the sin of his people, When his people first begin to know
what sin is, they groan under their own sin and they wonder,
if mine's so great, what must that weight have been that the
Lord endured to bear the weight of all his people's sin? They
shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they shall mourn
for him. And there is a fellowship in
this, not a strangeness. but one that has endured the
same. How many times we may come across
one and we think, well, we're the only one that we endured
such things or only one that experienced such things and we
find someone else and they've experienced the same. It knits
their hearts together, doesn't it? And so it is. In the evidencing
of fellowship, there's a walking together and there's a knitting
together. Sometimes it might be like those
two on the way to Emmaus. The two brethren at first, they
were there and all they had was sadness. And then they had the
Lord join with them. And he seemed a stranger at first. Seemed to have no fellowship
with them at all. He was a stranger. He didn't
know what things and he couldn't, as it were, come into their path
of sorrowing. He wanted to know all about it.
But then he just so gently reproved them. Ought not Christ, who suffered
these things, to enter into his kingdom? You know, as they went
on their way, their hearts were knit to that dear man. Their
heart burned within them while he talked with him by the way.
And then he revealed himself to them. You know, the Lord knows
how to bring sweet fellowship. You might be tonight like those
two, so sorrowful, So down, so looking at all that has happened,
so Lord, does thou not know all those things that have happened?
And the Lord takes you and he takes you through the scriptures
and he shows you where he has suffered again and again, where
he has set forth in times of the sufferings that he endured
at Calvary. What an effect it had upon them. There'll be that fellowship,
In a hatred of sin, I hate the sins that made thee mourn, that
drove thee from my breast. There will be a fellowship in
that love of holiness. Peter, he says, be ye holy, for
I am holy, the word of the Lord to his dear people. We think of the fruitfulness
of the people of God. The Lord says that he is divine. I am the vine, ye are the branches.
The branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in
the vine. Neither can ye except ye abide
in me. And you see in the earlier part
of this chapter, the fruitfulness, the grace, the enrichment in
him. And there's a fellowship, a walking
with him. Come unto me, all ye that are
weary and heavy laden. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, who am meek and lowly in heart, ye shall find rest
unto your souls. Have fellowship with me, as if
he'd say, come, walk together. Let us have fellowship together,
let us speak one to another. Dear friend, may you, may I be
helped to pour out our hearts to the Lord, to come before him,
to seek him out, to desire him, Where is that blessedness we
knew when first we saw the Lord? Those sweet times of communion,
those sacred times we delighted in his presence. That's all we
wanted here below. We loved to read his word, loved
to spend the time in prayer, loved to hear the word of God
preached or read those free sermons. Is it the same now? Or maybe
that fellowship is just so waned. What has come in between? Fellowship
of the world, you cannot serve God a mammon. Because iniquity
shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Is something
touching that fellowship between you and the Lord, between you
and the people of God? Is that the reason why? You haven't
got that assurance, that comfort, that joy you once had. May the
Lord be pleased to use the word this evening. May it be the cry
of your heart and mine. Lord, do grant again that sweet
fellowship and union with thee and thy dear people. Do confirm
me again in walking in this way that I have been called unto
and that thou dost call thy dear people unto. that we might have
an evidence here by grace, that one day with no more sin, no
more sorrow, we shall be with the Lord and his dear people
in heaven, enjoying that sweet fellowship with them. Oh, that
we might be with them now and to eternity, numbered with them,
may I be now and to eternity. God is faithful, by whom ye were
called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless the Lord if this text describes
what the Lord has done for you and what the Lord will do and
keep you in right unto the end. May the Lord confirm your interest
in him and his work in you and me tonight. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen.