If you'd like to follow along,
we're gonna be in 1 Corinthians chapter one. Chapter one, I'm
gonna read from verses four through nine. 1 Corinthians chapter one,
verse four. I thank my God always on your
behalf. for the grace of God which is
given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched
by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no
gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. who
shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful. By whom you were called unto
the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, Charles Spurgeon wrote this,
and I really like this. God's children are God's children. That's pretty good. Anywhere
and everywhere. And shall be even unto the end. Nothing can sever that sacred
tie or divide us from his heart. I like that saying, I do. God's
children are God's children, anywhere and everywhere. Paul's writing this letter to
the Corinthians, and as Walter preached so ably last week, Paul
has a message. Paul has a message, and it's
a message for every believer. Now it's written here to what
the church at Corinth, God at Corinth, but it's also addressed,
what? This is verse one. Unto the church
of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in
Christ Jesus, called to be saints, and with all that in every place,
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.
That's verse two, sorry. This is a message for every believer.
This is a message for every believer. These are the words of the apostle
to the Gentiles, and we are Gentiles, but it's just as good for the
Jew if they believe Christ. Doesn't matter. This is the word
of God for believers. I'm gonna look at verse seven. My title, though, for this message
is Confirmation in Christ. Confirmation in Christ. But starting
in verse seven, it says, so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a message for
every believer. Paul's writing this stuff so
you know what's going on. And it's important for us to
know what's going on. Christ is coming. Christ is coming. Oh my, it says Jesus Christ has
given the grace of God to every one of his people. It's in verse
four. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of
God which is given you, and he does say it this way, by Jesus
Christ. Oh. I am the way, the life, and the
truth, and. No man cometh to God but by me. And you know what he meant by
that? No man comes to God but by Jesus Christ. That's the deeper
meaning. And that's the truth of it. It
is by Jesus Christ. There are a lot of people who
want to use Jesus Christ or go through Jesus Christ, but no,
no, no. Grace came. by Jesus Christ. Grace and truth come by Jesus
Christ. Oh my. And God's people are the
recipients of his gifts. And his blessings are his gifts
unto us. And we have all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places but in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. And I'm gonna tell you something
folks, looking at the next one, next part of this verse, we need
the gift of patience. Because patience is not natural
to man. What does it say? That you come
behind in no gift, waiting. Waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm gonna tell you something
folks, people are not good at waiting. And I'm gonna tell you
this, the people of God, believers, are not good at waiting. What's that old saying? Instinct
gratification takes too long. That's the society we live in
now. Everybody wants it now, now, now, now. No, no, God has
his own timetable. And I'm as bad about it as anybody
else, I'll tell you. I'll confess, I shouldn't be,
but sometimes I am. But this is one thing I have
to, wait upon the Lord. He's working, he's working. You may not see it, you may not
know it, you may not understand it, but he's working. And he has his, when his hour
is come, he is coming. And I like that, I do. We not
wait, we wait, but we're not good at it. But we thank God
for his gifts. Now, I understand tribulation
worketh patience, and I don't like tribulation. But tribulation
does work patience. Experience and hope. And in this
world, you're gonna have tribulation. But here's the thing, folks,
I also know the God of patience. This is in Romans 15 and verse
five. Now the God of patience, and
here it is, and consolation, consolation, grant you to be
like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus. Thank
God we have a God of patience. The God of patience grants, gives
to believers to be like-minded. Why? So we can get along with
each other. That's important. The gathering
of the people of God should be in one accord. Sometimes it's
not. But it should be in one accord.
And we have the God of patience and consolation. Oh, I like that
part. Thank the God of patience for the fruit of the
spirit. But the fruit of the spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.
And I'm gonna tell you this, that word longsuffering right
there, that's the word patience. Patience. It's not natural to
man, but it is the gift of God. It is the fruit of the Spirit.
How can we wait? From the gift of patience, from
the God of patience and consolation to our hearts. But we're waiting,
wait a minute, in earnest expectation of the coming of our Lord, our
Savior, Jesus Christ. That's what we're waiting for.
Oh my. But what's it say next? This
is verse eight, it's where I want it to get. Because of the God
of patience, because of the God of consolation, and because of
waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, who
also, shall also, confirm you unto the end. Unto the end. Folks, that's where I need to
be confirmed unto. But first, let's make this point. True confirmation does not come
from man. Now, y'all know my history. I
was born and raised Catholic, okay? So at the age of 12, I
think it was, or 14, whatever, I was confirmed by the Catholic
Church. They didn't know what they was
doing. That's okay, I didn't know either. I didn't know either.
But what happens is you have to take a little class and you
have to answer, I don't know if I had a test or not, but I
gotta ask questions, I'm sure. Then the bishop shows up, not
your priest, the bishop shows up, he's the boss of the priest.
And he comes by and he confirms, you have a confirmation class.
And he comes by and confirms these people. And what he does
is he shakes your hand, supposed to slap you in the face, I don't
know why, and you are confirmed into the Catholic Church. That
was worth absolutely every dollar I paid, which was nothing. Okay? I paid nothing for that,
and I'm gonna tell you this, folks, I received absolutely
nothing from it. But I'm gonna tell you something,
true confirmation doesn't come from a man. This is what we're
talking about. True confirmation doesn't come
from a man. Matter of fact, I'm not gonna
mention that. The word confirmed, and I looked
it up in the Greek, it means this. Establish. Establish. What? Wait a minute. Or, to make firm. You understand? I have to be
made first. You have to be made first. You
have to be established, not by me, not by any other man, by
God, by Jesus Christ, by Jesus Christ. Because I'm gonna tell
you something, being confirmed by a man, bishop of otherwise,
is of absolutely no value. Because listen, There's nothing
firm in man. We are the definition of infirm. But the God of patience and the
God of consolation, the God, the God, almighty God, creator
of heaven and earth, I'm gonna tell you something, folks, he
can confirm you. His confirmation is what counts. Oh my. A lot of people though, now let's
be clear about this, a lot of people confuse being established
and being firm with being stubborn. Stubborn is a natural condition
of man. But I'm gonna tell you something,
when he makes you firm, when he confirms you, when he establishes
you, he's establishing you in his word, in himself. Now, being firm, being established
in God, I like the way Paul put it, being grounded and settled. Grounded and settled. That's
not being stubborn. That's being firm. That's being
established. What does it tell you? It tells you that the who that
confirms is not you. You're the who that is confirmed.
We need to be established. We don't establish. Oh. I, uh, I looked at some commentators,
just a couple about this. And I'm about to the point, sometimes
I agree with Walter, where it does you better not to look.
But there seemed to be some discussion of whether it is Christ that
establishes you or whether it's God the Father that establishes
you. And I don't understand the point of that. Because these
three are one. Or answer my favorite answer,
yes. God establishes you, Christ establishes you, and the Holy
Spirit establishes you. These three are one. Oh my. But in verse four, Paul states,
the grace of God given you by Christ Jesus. Oh my. God makes you firm. I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, it is. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit
make you firm. They establish you. Oh my. Paul put it this way in Ephesians.
Ephesians one and verse 13. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth. the gospel of your salvation. I like that. There. In whom also
after that ye believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit
of promise. Now there's fellows that went
around, and a fellow I respect, his name's Martin Lloyd Jones,
His commentary and his preaching on the whole epistle of Ephesians
is great. He gets to this place and he
stumbles. And I don't know why and I don't
really care why, but he's wrong. If he was still alive, I'd tell
him to his face. Because you understand, he went through the
whole first 12 verses of Ephesians and went in and told you, this
is what God says in his word and this is what it means. It
means what it says and it says what it means. And then he gets
up to this verse and he says, in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed. And he says, I understand Paul
wrote that all you needed there was after you believed, but then
he wanted to go on to say that there was something else before
you were sealed. And I looked at it, and it says
this. In whom also after that ye believed,
you were sealed. And what am I saying here? You
were confirmed. You were established by God. You are made to be firm by God
after you believe. After you believe. What? And
you believe by Christ. By Christ, what? Believers are
sealed by Christ, confirmed, made firm, and established by
God. 2 Corinthians 1 and verses 21
and 22 says this. Now he which established us with
you in Christ hath anointed us and hath anointed us is God. Is God. Who also sealed us and
given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts. I'm gonna tell
you something, folks. After you believe, you've been
established, and you've been sealed. You've been confirmed
by God. And it's not of your words, it's
of his. It's not because I believe, no,
no. I believe because of him, and
he establishes me. Understand folks, no matter what
you preach, no matter where you preach, no matter where you are,
faith, you're saved by grace, through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it's still the gift of God. And I won't throw that
in there just for the people out there that haven't heard
that before. That's that old Baptist doctrine. Yes it is,
but it's still here. You're saved by grace, through
faith, and it's not of yourselves. And that actually means it's
not of you. It's a gift. Why? For we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. It says that. You know why? Because
it means that. But he establishes his people. He confirms his people. Established
and sealed, sealed by God and sealed by the Holy Spirit. And
it says, after you believe. After you believe. By grace,
through faith, believers are confirmed and sealed in Christ
Jesus. But let's not forget this last
little part. unto the end, unto the end. You understand, I realize why people think they
can lose their salvation. Because they think it's their
salvation. That's what it is. I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. You can't lose God's salvation.
You can't lose Christ's salvation. because the only reason you got
it is because he gave it to you. And what, he confirms you unto
the end. Unto the end. Oh my, oh I like
that. Matthew 10 and 22 put it this
way, and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake, but
he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Ain't that true? Yes it's true. How can a believer
endure? Well, you can't. Unless God confirms
you to the end. And he does. Every one of his
people. Well, I can't, I can't go anywhere without reading
this. Where is it? John six verse 44, no man can
come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him. And I will raise him up at the
last day. That's the end. That's the end
every believer has been confirmed by God unto. Oh, I like that, I do. This is
my Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day. You are confirmed by God unto
the end. You are established. You understand? In Psalms, I think it's David, I'm
pretty sure it's David. But even if it's not, it's still
in Psalms. He digs you out of the pit, the deep miry clay. But not only that, he sets your
feet on a rock. And not only that, there's more.
He establishes your goings. Why? Because he establishes you. He confirms you unto the end. You understand, he put your feet
on the rock, they're never coming off that rock. You know why?
Because God put you on that rock. I hold not the rock, but the
rock holds me. I do like that part. Oh my. Matter of fact, the Holy Spirit
keeps you by faith. We are kept by the power of God
through Faith unto the end. Salvation ready to be revealed. Oh my, I like that. I'm looking
forward to that day. You understand? And we're waiting. That's what he's talking about.
Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
also confirm you unto the end. Why? It says that ye may be,
and that's in italics there. in that verse, so you can leave
that out. And I like this. What'd he say? Who also shall
confirm you unto the end, blameless. Blameless. Oh my, didn't say
sinless, but blameless. Blameless, I like that. In the
day of our Lord Jesus Christ, there's not gonna be one person
be able to point at you and say, well, you did this. You did that. You sinned. Me too. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. You sin, I sin, but you've been
established, confirmed by God. Oh my. Unto the end. Unto the end. Oh my. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? I'm gonna tell you something,
if God confirms you unto the end, that means God's for you.
That's what it means, God's for you. Oh my, he that spared not
his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Oh, that's him, gifts,
Paul was writing about. Oh, I like that. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? He's blameless. He's blameless. He's blameless
in God's sight. You may see me do a lot of things
I shouldn't do. I'm gonna try and hide them,
but you probably will see some of it. But in God's sight, we're
blameless. We're blameless, why? He's confirmed
us unto the end. He's established us. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Here's the reason
why it got nothing to do with me, nothing to do with you. It's
God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? Tell
you what, it doesn't matter. It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also, here we go, folks. What? Who's gonna lay anything
to my charge? Who's gonna be that Cadabith?
Who also maketh intercession for us. Christ died, yes, and he rose,
yes, and he rose. and he is seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high, and he ever lives to make intercession. He's our advocate. He's our advocate. He's our sacrifice, our offering. He's our substitute. He's our
savior. He's the giver of faith, the
giver of life. He's the keeper of us in his
heart. and yet he makes intercession
for us. And that's why, folks, blessed
is the man to whom God will not impute sin, because Christ makes
intercession for him. Oh, my. Oh, who's gonna separate
us from the love of God, the love of Christ? No one. No one. Oh, my. How is this possible? Both God
and Christ have declared his people, believers, to be righteous
in his son. I was driving up here today,
I was listening to Henry preach on Job. Oh, I like that. Deliver him, deliver him. from going down into the pit. Why? We belong in the pit. That's where we belong. That's
where we deserve to be. But he says, deliver him. But
he tells us why. I have found a ransom. I'm gonna tell you, he found
the ransom. the Lord Jesus Christ. He humbled
himself and made himself come down in the form of a servant,
took on the likeness of sinful flesh and died for his people. Was buried and rose again from
the dead and now he's seated at the right hand, he ascended.
And he's ever living to make intercession for us, for his
people. The ones the father gave to him
before the foundation of the world. The ones the father chose
in him before the foundation of the world. And you know what
he's doing? He's confirming us. Unto the end. Unto the end. And we're waiting for him to
come. Oh, I like that. We have righteousness imparted
and righteousness imputed, and it's the very same righteousness.
He's clothed us in the garments of salvation, but he's robed
us, what? With a robe of righteousness. His robe. His robe. I like that. You ever stop to
think about the prodigal son when he came back? He just came
back from the pigsty. in the hog pen. And the father
says, give that boy a bath, he smells. No, he said, bring forth
the best robe. And he didn't say only that,
put it on him. Put it on him. Because my son that was dead
is now alive. That's what Christ has done for
each and every one of us. Oh yeah, we stumble, we fall,
we sin. I'm gonna use a bad word. We
stink. We smell. But he gives us his
robe. He's confirmed us. He confirms
his people. Unto the end. Unto the end. What is it? God's people are God's people
anywhere and everywhere. Oh God, I need that. I need that. Oh my, I need that. Oh. Both God and Christ have declared
his people to be righteous in Christ Jesus. And have been given the righteousness
of God which is in Christ Jesus. Oh. We're blameless. in Christ. Not in yourself, but
we're blameless in Christ. And we're gonna be blameless
in Christ until the end. So what's the conclusion of this?
Look at verse nine. It ain't you. Sorry, folks. If you want that ego pumped up,
you come to the wrong place. You're listening to the wrong
TV show. God is faithful. God is faithful. By whom ye were called unto the
fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation, confirmation unto
the end is of the Lord. Does that sound familiar? Because
it is. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation always has been of
the Lord. Salvation always will be of the Lord. And salvation
is of the Lord right now. Why? God's faithful. Not you. It's not me. God's faithful. God's faithful. Any faithfulness on the part
of the believer is because God is faithful. He works in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You know, it's
kind of a shame you can't even take credit for your own work.
I don't want credit for my work. I could take credit for that,
but I don't want it. I want that not imputing my sin
unto me. Oh, it's God that's faithful,
by whom you were called. Where does salvation start with
a believer? It starts with God. He's faithful by whom you were
called. Oh my. It doesn't say by whom you answered,
even though you do. No, that's not the important
part. Because if God calls you, you're gonna answer. If God gives
to you, you're gonna have it. I used to use an example of me
giving Christmas presents. I used to drive Debbie up a wall.
I'd say, I buy her a Christmas present, put it under the tree.
Oh, what would you think if you wanna, if I was to open that
up? I said, well, it's yours. I put it under the tree. I told
her, it's hers, it's yours. Do what you want with it. Well,
God says, I'm gonna give you life. You're gonna have life
whether you want it or not. I am found of those that sought
me not. Now that is a gracious statement. And I'm gonna tell you something
folks, that's the thing that the First Baptist Church down
the road is probably not preaching right now. I was found of them
that sought me not. I was made manifest, made known
to those who weren't even asking about me. Weird. No, grace. To the world it's weird. To the
world, it's perverse. To the world, it's nonsense.
To some, they think that's heresy. That's antinomianism. No, it's
grace. It's grace. Oh my, it's the sovereign Christ
who saves. Call upon him. Call upon him. Mm. Christ saves, Christ seals,
Christ confirms, and Christ establishes, and Christ will keep you until
the end. He's our substitute, our advocate, and our elder brother. Oh my. And he ever, ever, ever
liveth to make intercession for us. And his intercession is just
as effectual as his sacrifice. Oh my. John Newton wrote this. I began
to understand the security of the covenant of grace and to
expect to be preserved. not by my own power and holiness,
but by the mighty power and promise of God through faith in an unchangeable
Savior. I like that. That's the kind
of Savior we need, folks. Unchangeable. Good thing he said,
I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Why, because if he could change,
he wouldn't be force anymore. But if God be for you, who can
be against you? I'm gonna tell you something. If you know Christ, you have an unchangeable Savior,
unchangeable. We change, thank God sometimes
we change. Lord help me, I don't wanna be
as dumb as I was at 21. Nothing personal for anybody
out there listening that's 21, you just don't know yet. But you call upon the name of
the Lord and thou shalt be saved. And the God of patience and consolation
shall confirm you unto the end, blameless in his sight, in his
sight. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
this day. Lord, you are so good to us. We don't deserve anything. We
deserve condemnation. We deserve hellfire. We deserve the lake of fire. Thank God you have delivered
us into the kingdom of your dear
son. Translated us from the kingdom
of darkness where we lived and moved into the kingdom of your
dear son, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of life, the kingdom
of love. Thank you, Lord, for calling
us and confirming us and establishing us. Be with Walter as he comes
to preach. Be with Paul as he comes up here
to hold forth. Be with all your men wherever
they are. In Christ's name we pray, amen.