If you will, turn with me to
1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. If you have a
marker, you might want to put it there. I'll come back to this. I'll be preaching from a couple
of verses here in this first chapter. He begins his letter, his epistle. This is a letter that Paul had
written. And he said, Paul, not Saint
Paul or Bishop Paul or just 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, 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. Grace be unto you. All of these
things has established who he's writing to. All of these things. It would be dishonest for any
man to apply these things to himself who can't apply those
other things that he just said. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you
by Jesus Christ, that in everything you are enriched by him, in all
utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you, so that you come behind in no gift, waiting
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. who shall also confirm
you unto the end, that ye 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 I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing, that there be no divisions among you. Somehow in our day we get the
idea that it's okay to have a lot of divisions. It's not okay. There's just one spirit. There's
just one gospel. There's no reason for all these
divisions. And that's what he said. I don't
want that to be. Don't do that. I beseech you by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ that you all speak the same thing, that
there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and in the same judgment or understanding. For it hath been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of cloth,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say. That every one of you saith,
I am of Paul. They were so proud that they
were, I was converted under Paul. And I of Apollos. Oh, what an
orator Apollos must have been. I was converted under Apollos. And I of Cephas. And then somebody
said, I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptized in the name
of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none
of you but Crispus and Gate, lest any should say that I baptized
in my own name. And I baptized also the household
of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I
baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto
us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? 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 believe. The Jews require
signs. The Greeks seek after wisdom.
But we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, a stumbling block. Unto the Greeks, foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolish things
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. One of the queens of England
said she thanked God for an M. She said it could have said not
any noble. Instead it said not many. 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. Why would he
do such a thing? 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. You will turn back with me to
1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 is an amazing chapter. I probably quote from this chapter
as much as any of the writings of the New Testament. This is Paul's letter. He sat
down. As I prepared this message, he
prepared this letter. And the Spirit of God inspired
every word that he wrote. And he penned this letter and
wrote it to this church. And God made this letter a part
of his word. It's an amazing chapter. This
was a church brought about by the grace of God through the
ministry of a converted Pharisee. Can you imagine a Pharisee going
to the Gentiles? All they looked down on the Gentiles
was dogs. Dogs. There was nothing lower
in the eyes of a Pharisee than a Gentile. And here's a church
now. Calls it the Church of God, which
is at Corinth. This is God's church. And this
church came to be through the ministry of a converted Pharisee. And in this chapter, he tells
them that they were sanctified in Christ Jesus. And when you
go home this afternoon, if you want to know what that word means,
look up Hebrews chapter 10 and read verse 10. We're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for all. Made acceptable
in the blood, having full favor of God. He tells them that they
were sanctified in Christ Jesus and then called to be saints. What are saints? Sanctified men
and women. Called to be saints. He tells
them that in everything they were enriched by Him, not by
Paul, but by Christ. in all utterance and in all knowledge. He's our wisdom, isn't He? He
assures them that the testimony of Christ was confirmed in them. What is the testimony of Christ?
That's God's testimony of His Son. Salvation's all together
in Christ. This salvation is the way God
declares it to be in Christ, not the way you think it is. And he assures them that this
testimony of Christ was confirmed in them and would be confirmed
all the way to their death. They heard it, they understood
it, they received it, and they rejoiced in it. Also in this
chapter, he tells them in the simplest of terms that the means
God has ordained to save chosen sinners is the preaching of the
gospel. Now it's not because men don't
understand the preaching of the gospel that they oppose this. There's nobody in here this morning,
if they read this and had no other information on it, would
be perplexed by it. But what makes men opposed to
it? What makes men object to it? Their preconceived notions about
God. That's what it is. Religious
ideas. He tells them in the simplest
of terms. In the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom knew not God. They're never going to know God
by their wisdom. Never will. They can study creation,
they can study all kinds of things, but they'll never know God by
their own wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. These are the means that God
has ordained. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And then he shows them
the lowliness, the lowliness of themselves and their calling and God's purpose in it. And then he makes one of the
most inclusive statements in the Word of God. He said, but
of Him, that is, of God, are ye in Christ Jesus. How does
a man get in Christ? God puts him there. He puts him
there. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification,
and Redemption. You want to talk about those
four things? Those four things are all given to us in Christ. Why did He do that? That according
as it is written, He that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. You
have wisdom, glory in the Lord. He gave it to you. You didn't
come up with it. You might have, like Phillip
did. He said the Lord found him. He went and told everybody, he
said, I found the Lord. Well, kind of. But the Lord found
him. I know this, how you know it.
He showed it to you. And all of these things being
in his mind and upon his heart, he said to them in verse 4, I
thank my God for you. I thank my God always on your
behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. He said, boy, this was a troubled
church. They had all kinds of problems
and Paul will address them. And then these two letters that
he writes, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, he'll address those problems.
But here he's thanking God for them. And he's thanking God for
the grace of God that was given to him in Christ Jesus. And that's my text, and I pray
it's God's message for you and I this morning. Grateful for
grace. Do you think about it every day?
Grateful for grace. Believers are thankful, folks.
They give thanks always and for all things unto God. And they do so unto God in the
Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 5, verse
20. But above all things, they're
thankful for His grace given to them in Christ Jesus, our
Lord. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Where would we be without His
grace? Huh? Where would you be today
without His grace? I'll tell you where you'd be
without. Without. Without God. That's what he tells those Gentiles.
You was without God in the world. You was without Christ. You didn't
know who Christ was or what the Christ was or anything about
it. Had to be told. You'd be without. Without God. Without blessing.
Without Christ. Without mercy. Without promise.
Without forgiveness. Without hope. Without a refuge.
You'd be without. And he said, without, that's
where you'd be, without are dogs. Dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers,
murderers, idolaters, and all that loveth and maketh a lie.
That's what's without. That's where you'd be without
the grace of God. You'd be just like them. Where would we be without the
grace of God? Oh, my. we'd be without. And salvation to believers, to
them who have been called, who have experienced His mercy and
grace. Those who are quickened to life
everlasting, love to hear and think about and talk about the
grace of God. They love it. You can't wear
them out talking about grace. You can't get enough. Can't get
enough. Why? Because grace is the story
of their life. That's fine. What's your story?
Huh? What's your story? I've heard
a lot of stories in my lifetime. We used to have Wednesday night
meetings and those meetings were called testimonials and people
would stand up and they'd tell, actually most of the time they'd
tell what all they'd done for the Lord. And on a rare occasion
you might hear one of them say something about what the Lord
had done for them. Grace is the story of the believer's
life. That's his story. It tells it
all. Their story begins in the Council
Halls of Eternity. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
1. Now false converts are always
talking about their beginning in a closet, or at a mourner's
bench, or walking down an aisle, or out on the lake in a boat.
in their bed, in a vision, attending some occasion in their
life on the battlefield, wounded and dying. Believers here, they
have their beginning. The beginning of their story
begins in eternity. It don't begin in time, it begins
in eternity. Listen to this, Ephesians 1-2,
Grace be to you. and peace from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according..." Now
you're going to see that word six or seven times going down
through this chapter. "...according as He hath chosen us in Him,
before the foundation of the world. Why? Why would he choose us in Christ
before the foundation of the world? Man hadn't even appeared
yet. He hadn't sinned yet. He hadn't
done anything yet. Why would he do that? Well, he
says here why he did it. It's to bless us. He's talking
about blessings here, not cursing. He's talking about blessings.
Blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ,
according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy. What's that mean? Holiness has to do with the whole
character of God, being in unison with the character of God. That's
holy. Holy. That we might be holy. That we might be without blame.
Do you think there's anybody ever since the birth of Adam
who could stand before God and say, I'm without blame outside
of Christ? Huh? You can't even look yourself
in the mirror and say it. I'm without blame. Oh, my soul. that we might be
holy and without blame. And listen to this, before Him
in love. What's that mean? Being loved. That's not talking about your
love for Him. You weren't born yet. It's talking about an eternal
thing. You before Him in love. You mean
God loved the people before they ever existed? That's exactly
what I'm saying. That's what this is saying. He
chose us in Christ that we might ever be before Him. being loved. There's never a time when God
hated you if you're His. Never a time. There's never a
time coming when He ever will hate you. Never. Why? Because He chose us in Christ
that we might be before Him in love. Now what's this? Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, and to
the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He made us accepted
in the blood." Here's where grace finds its
beginning in eternal election and predestination. That's grace. Grace. The grace of God. was
exercised in your election. Don't believe it? Read Romans
chapter 11. Paul said we should have been
like Sodom and Gomorrah. But there's a remnant left, a
remnant, according to the election of grace. And if it's by grace,
then it's no more works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if
it be a work, Then it's no more grace, otherwise work is no more
work. All those chosen of God the Father
and made provision for in Christ are predestinated to be sons
of God. And this sonship is made possible
by the Son of God who makes His elect acceptable to God. And He does it to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Romans 8.29, for whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son. How so? What image? What's he talking about? Well,
in Hebrews 1, he talks about that image of his Son being the
brightness of the Father's glory and express the image of his
person. The image, Colossians 1.15, he
is of the invisible God. Hey, you know who God is. You
don't apart from Christ. Christ is the manifestation of
God in this world. You don't know anything whatsoever
about God except what you know in Christ. That's all we know
about God. To be conformed to the image
of his Son is to see and know God as he's manifested in the
Son. He called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. But now, he said, it's made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. who have abolished
death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. You cannot by your works be conformed
to this image. It is a work done in us and by
His grace we begin to see Him and to see God as He is, as He
truly is, and to see ourselves being saved in Him and without
compromising His character. Oh, I'm grateful for the grace
of God that wrote my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. I've
heard people say when they were converted or when they made a
profession of faith, that's when God wrote their name in the Lamb's
Book of Life. But it tells you in the book
of Revelation that the Lamb's Book of Life was written in eternity
past. I'm grateful for that grace.
It's all by grace and it's all in Christ. Listen to this over
in Galatians 4.4. He said, but when the fullness
of the time was come, what fullness? What's he talking about? That
fullness set forth in the everlasting covenant of grace, that fullness
of provision in Christ for those given to it. those predestinated
to adoption. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive that adoption that He predestinated. That we might
receive that adoption of sons. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Oh, I become a son when God sent
forth His Spirit. Uh-uh. He sent forth His Spirit
because you're sons. Because you're sons. And Jesus
Christ is the guarantor of all that God has purposed to do.
He's the guarantor. His blood, that blood shed on
the cross of Calvary, is the blood of the everlasting covenant.
And the Holy Spirit Himself is the seal of it. Well, how do
I know if I'm a recipient of His grace? In whom we trusted
after that we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation,
in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. That Holy Spirit opened that
promise to you and made you see what you have in Christ. Christ
is a byword in religion. It's just a byword. It's meaningless. It has no power behind it. It
has nothing behind it. Almost like slime. Me and Jesus
got a good thing going. You can say that with that kind
of familiarity with the Son of God? You see what I'm saying? When the Holy Spirit opens these
promises, these are promises of God. And they're made possible
through the suffering and death of His Son. And He opens that
to your heart. And you see it. And you're affected
by it. Oh, we trusted after we heard
the Word of Truth, the Gospel of our salvation. And then we
were sealed with that Holy Spirit. Oh, that promise went home. Salvation's
in a person. Salvation's in Christ. This seal is the family crest,
and this seal is only known by sons. Only known by sons. The Holy Ghost seals these things
unto us as He shows to us how we are the sons of God in Christ. John said, you go through the
book of 1 John, and you're going to keep running on these words,
and we know, and we know, and we know. Nobody else knows, but
we do. The old call to God, though.
And here's what he says in chapter 5, and we know that the Son of
God has come and given to us an understanding that we may
know Him that's true, that we're in Him that's true. This is the
true God and eternal life. The Holy Ghost seals these things
unto us as He shows us how we are the sons of God in Christ.
How does He do that? Let me give you a couple of examples.
Over in John 6, verse 37. Here's the first example. How
do I know if I'm one of God's elect? He says, All that the
Father hath given me. Are you listening? That's divine election, isn't
it? All that the Father hath given me. Now watch this, shall
come to me. Don't come to the front. Don't
come to a pope. Don't come to a bishop. They
come to Christ. The Christ, the only Christ. They'll come preaching another
Jesus, Paul said, other than the one that I preached. He said,
let him be a curse. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and he that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Then he tells us down in verse
40, this is the will of him that sent me, that every one that
seeth the Son. Can you see the Son as I'm setting
forth to you this morning? He is the one provision that
God has made for sinners. The purpose and glory of God
is bested, He put all His eggs in one basket. It's all trusted
to Christ. We're to the praise of the glory
of His grace who first trusted in Christ, that's God. He trusted
all things to His Son. How does He do that? This is
the will of Him that sent me. Everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on Him may have everlasting life. And I raise Him up at the
last day. Here's another one. 1 John 4,
verse 6. He said, We are God. Now, I'm
going to tell you something. That's a statement. Can you say
that with confidence? We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth
us. He that's not of God, heareth
not us. Here's another one, 1 John 4,
verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. He that loveth not, knoweth not
God, for God is love. The Spirit of God is called in
Romans 8, verse 9, the Spirit of Christ, enlightening believers
to the Son, taking of the things of Christ and showing them unto
us, John 16. In the adoption, He's called
the Spirit of His Son, and He comes into us, and what do we
cry? We cry, Abba, Father. How is God your Father? In Christ. That's the only way. I don't
know why. Listen, the Jews told Christ,
God is our father. We'd be not born again. God is
our father. He said, if God were your father,
you'd love me. For I proceeded forth and come
from God. You're of your father the devil. He's the Spirit of Christ that
calls the prophets to prophesy of Christ, 1 Peter 1, 11, and
12. Hereby know that we dwell in
Him and He in us because He's given us of His Spirit. And we
have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be
the Savior of the world, not every individual in it, but those
for whom it was created, preserved, and they own by the grace of
God. And now what Paul said, don't
you know the world's yours? The world's yours. No wonder
Zerubbabel, a type back in Zechariah, he was the priest God called
and used in the building of the temple. And when he saw what
this temple was going to be and what it represented and all about,
he just, he cried out, grace, grace unto. Grace unto us. God's work is
a work of grace. In Ephesians 2.4, it said, when
God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead and trespassing sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, now listen, over in the parenthesis
there, by grace ye are saved. See the grace of this eternal
covenant union as the Son of God rises from the dead. Even
so, we're quickened together with Him, justified in Him, made
alive in Him. And then see again as He rises
to the throne that we're made to sit together with Him in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2. And all see this divine union
in Christ as He sits on the throne, ordering all things, arranging
all things, bringing all things to pass for our good and His
glory. But there's more. There's a regenerating
grace. By grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Do you
believe? You believe what I'm preaching
to you this morning? You believe this is the message of this book
that I'm preaching to you this morning? It wasn't of yourself. It wasn't of yourself. That, not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. were
his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto such things as faith
and repentance. John Newton said, "'Twas grace
that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.
And oh, how precious did that grace appear, the hour I first
believed.'" To as many as received him, it says in John chapter
1, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. Even to them
that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
This is regenerating grace. Grace to receive the precious
seed of Christ and be begotten of the gospel of Christ. To have
God the Holy Spirit. Show to us the exceeding riches
of His grace and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Regenerating grace. And what
about providential grace? Bringing chosen sinners to cross
paths with His preacher. Here's this old Ethiopian eunuch,
and he's in a chariot, and he's out in the middle of the wilderness.
He's done been to Jerusalem. He wanted to know who Christ
was. What's this whole thing about Christ? Old Testament Scripture
of Baal. And they tried to tell him and
he didn't get it. They said, well, you really want
to learn something, go down to Jerusalem. Go down there and
stay through all the feast days and the holy days. So he did.
He went down there and he came away as ignorant as he was when
he went down. He went through all the ceremonies.
He saw the sacrifices and the priests and heard the words.
He's on his way back now. He's in a caravan. And he's riding
along in the chariot. And he's a wealthy man. He actually
has a copy of the prophets. And he was reading the scroll
of Isaiah. And he's riding along in the
chariot. And he's not understanding what he's reading. And the Lord
sent Philip. Now if you was looking for a
preacher, you wouldn't be looking for him out there in the wilderness.
He's out there in the chariot. Got his entourage all around.
He ain't looking for no preacher. He's reading the scroll. God
sent Phillip out to him. He sent him out there on purpose. And Phillip went out there and
started looking up and down. He didn't know why the Lord sent
him out there, except he sent him out there to preach. He told
him that. And he's looking all around, and who did he send me
out here for? And all of a sudden, he spies
this man. And he's up there with him. He's got that scroll out,
and he's reading it. Phillip said, that's him. You
know what he did? He said, hey, you understand
what you're reading? By now that man was ready to
pull his hair out. He said, how can I understand except some
man tell me what it means? He said, scoot over. He climbed up in that chariot
and preached the gospel to us. And then he had to beg him to
be baptized. Uh-uh. Philip didn't say anything to
him. This man going along, he heard Philip talk about baptism,
but he didn't know. Soon as he spied water, he said,
what does hinder me from being baptized? He said, do you believe? He said, I believe that Jesus
is the Son of God. Philip said, stop the chariot.
And they both went down into the water, and he baptized that
old Ethiopian young man. Huh? That's the story of every
saved man. God crosses His path with His
man according to the means that He's ordained by the power of
the Spirit that He sent to reveal. And in that power, that power
is in the gospel. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believes. They all have the same
story. I can't tell you why. I can't
tell you why. Why did God reveal that to me
and the person standing right beside me is still in religion? Huh? You can't explain it. But I know it's so. Because that's
what the Word says. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the Gospel. I preach in Rome. I ain't afraid to speak in Rome. These uppity-ups. Bunch of Gentile
maggots. I ain't afraid of preaching wrongs.
And I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto
salvation. We'll put you in prison. Good,
the Lord will use that and he'll preach to those in the palace. Put me wherever you want me. Providential grace. God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of spirit and belief of the truth. were unto He called you by our
gospel. Ministers, Paul said, by whom
you believed even as the Lord gave to every man. And then providential
grace intervening in the lives of all His elect. And oh, how
we murmured and mourned over things that seemed to be without
reason or purpose. And then we found out later how
necessary they were for our conversion. God moves... Hymn writer said,
in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps
on the sea and rides upon the storm. Ye faithful saints, fresh
courage take the clouds you so much dread. Boy, I was out forming
concrete the other day, and I looked, and it was solid black. I dreaded
that thing. I know when it rained, but I
didn't need rain right that minute. You fearful saints, fresh courage
takes. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break with blessings on your
head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err
and see his work in vain. God is his own interpreter and
he will make it plain. Providential grace and then understanding
grace. We know that the Son of God has
come giving us an understanding. We know what we're talking about. Understanding grace. Paul said,
I know whom I have believed. And this understanding is called
the mind of Christ. He said, be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. We have the mind of Christ and
with the mind of Christ we serve the law of God. We serve it seeing
it fulfilled in Christ, honored and exalted in Christ, satisfied,
just as satisfied by the death of Christ. We serve the law.
We see it exalted and honored, fulfilled. We see it as it's
intended to be seen. The mind of Christ sees and understands
the person and work of Christ. That's understanding grace. And preserving grace. He said
we're kept by the power of God. Through faith unto salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last
day. What about you? Huh? What about me? Does grace tell our story? Well,
if it don't, I pray that the God of all grace begin this day
to make it so. Make it your story for Christ's
sake.