in our text. So that you come behind in no
gift. Waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I've entitled this message coming
behind in no gift. Now, when I think of coming behind,
I think of being in a race, and somebody is ahead of me, and
I am behind them. Competition. I have run in several
races, and I'm competitive when I run them, not that I ever win
them, but I want to. And I never will forget one time
I ran a half marathon, and usually when you run in a race, you get
in with somebody that you're kind of competing with. And there
was a woman ahead of me that I thought, I will die before
I let her beat me. Guess what? I couldn't even walk
afterwards. She beat me pretty soundly and
competitive. In this thing of the gospel,
competition is anathema. Who's the most blessed? Who's
the most used? Who has the most grace? In the gospel, any kind of competition
is anathema. As a matter of fact, the Lord
said, I mean, Paul said, inspired by the Lord, let each esteem
the other as what? Better than themselves. And if I have the attitude that
I ought to have, I am esteeming you as better than me. And if you have the attitude
that you ought to have, you ought to esteem me as better than you. That is the way every believer
ought to look at each other. Paul said you are all one in
Christ Jesus. If I'm competing with you, I'm
seeking to be better than you, and that's contrary to what Paul
just said. You are all one. in Christ Jesus. Now when Paul is saying you lack
no gift, he's not talking about someone who had more gifts than
another. He's not talking about competition. He is saying that you didn't like anything. Not that
you came behind and somebody came ahead of you, but he says
to every believer, You lacked no gift. There isn't anything,
I'm speaking to every believer in this room, there isn't anything
that you do not have that he has to give right now, present
tense. There's no competition, there's
no male nor female, there's no Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all. And you know, I've heard, I don't
want to be, I don't know how this is gonna
sound, but I've heard this slogan in churches, the church where
everybody's somebody. Well, I'd a whole lot rather
be in a church where everybody's nobody and Christ is all. And that is what he is saying
to the church of Corinth. And we considered last week of
all the problems in this church. He says to this church, you lacked
nothing. There's not one gift of grace
that you do not possess. Now let's look back up in verse
four. He says, I thank my God always. on your behalf. I couldn't help
but think of what Paul said to the Thessalonians. We're bound
to thank God always for you. Brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God had from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification in the spirit and belief in the truth. We're
bound to thank God for you. And he's saying the same thing
to the church at Corinth. I thank my God always on your
behalf. for the grace of God which is
given you by Jesus Christ. Grace is always given. And if I do not have grace, it
was never given to me in the first place. Grace is always
given. Grace is not an offer from God
up for my acceptance or rejection. Grace is given. Grace is saving
grace. Grace is free grace. Grace is sovereign grace. Grace
is given grace. And that's what he's thanking
him for. The grace that is, look what
he says, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace
of God, the saving grace, the unmerited favor, which is given
you by Jesus Christ. Now that he's the one who gave
it to you. But that word by, just as often,
is translated in. The grace of God given you in
Christ Jesus. And that's why this grace is
given you. Because you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the only reason God needs. It's the only reason I need.
In the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this scripture from
Ephesians chapter one, verse three. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings. Have you heard that? You come
behind in no gift. You lack no gift. Verse five, that in everything, you are enriched by him in all
utterance and in all knowledge. Now this grace is given in this
way so that in everything you are enriched. I love that scripture
in 2 Corinthians chapter eight, verse nine. This is one of my
favorites. I've got a lot of favorites, but this is one of
them. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, who can even begin to describe the riches of Jesus
Christ the Lord? Though he was rich, yet, for
your sakes, he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might
be rich. You're enriched in everything,
Paul says to the church at Corinth, and that's true of every believer,
that in everything, you are enriched by him. Let me give you a couple
scriptures. Ephesians 2, 4, and 5, but God
who is rich in mercy. He's got more mercy than you
and I can even imagine. And he never runs out. If he
gave you all mercy, he'd still have the same infinite amount
left. He's rich in mercy. For his great love, wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead. in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. Colossians 2, 3 says, in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And I'd
like you to turn with me here. It's not just a few pages back
to Romans chapter 12. I'm sorry, Romans chapter 11. Verse 33, oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out for who has known
the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has
first given to him and it should be recompensed unto him again.
For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom
be glory forever, amen. Now, back to our text in verse
five, that in everything that you're enriched by him, and he
names two of those riches, in all utterance and in all knowledge. Now, every believer knows all
things because he knows the Lord. And if you know the Lord, you
might not know every detail, but you know all things. Every
believer. I think of that passage of scripture
where John said, you have an unction from the Holy One, and
need not that any teach you, for you know all things. Every
believer knows all things, and notice he also says utterance.
Utterance and knowledge. Utterance is word. Knowledge,
here's two things that can't be separated, the word of God
and the knowledge of God. Where you have the word of God,
you have the knowledge of God. where you have the knowledge
of God, it comes from the word of God. And these two things
can't be separated, they're never independent. Wherever there's
true knowledge of God, and I'm not just talking about proper
information and enough data, I'm talking about the knowledge
of God to where you know him. You know him and he knows you.
Wherever there's the knowledge of God, there's the word of God,
there's utterance. And wherever there's utterance,
there is the knowledge of God, verse six. even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you. Now this is true with regard
to the Church of Corinth. This is true with regard to every
believer. The testimony of Christ was confirmed,
established, stabilized in you. Now first, what is this thing
of the testimony of Christ? Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
one. He says, the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you. I wanna see if this is confirmed
in me, this testimony of Christ. Now, look in verse eight of 2
Timothy chapter one. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. There it is. There it is. He tells us exactly what the
testimony of Christ is. Doesn't that make you want to
hear what it is? He's telling us this is the testimony of Christ.
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor me, his prisoner. but be thou a partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Now, if
by the grace of God, you and I give what God says and give
the testimony of God, there will be afflictions from the world
accompanying it. And if there's not, it's because
we're not giving the testimony of God. We're not saying it as
he says it. If we say it as he says it, there
will be afflictions. And that's what he's telling
Timothy, young Timothy. And evidently Timothy had a problem. Somebody once called him timid
Timothy. And that's why he's saying, don't be ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord. Maybe Timothy had a tendency
toward this. Maybe this was in him and he
was embarrassed or he was afraid of the persecution that would
come from that. And Paul said, don't do that. Don't be ashamed.
of the testimony of our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me as
prisoner. Don't be ashamed to identify with me. But be thou
a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. Now, I couldn't help but think
about the eighth beatitude. Blessed are they. This is just
as much a beatitude as blessed are the poor in spirit and blessed
are they that mourn, blessed are the meek. Blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the
pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are they who are persecuted
for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Now, I don't want to be persecuted,
and I've said this before, I don't want to be persecuted because
of the horrible way I act. I want to be persecuted for righteousness
sake, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And when somebody makes
this statement to the world, the righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the only righteousness there is, there's going to be objection.
There's going, what about this? What about that? There'll be
all kinds of objection. But blessed is that man who is
faithful by the grace of God to be a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God. That's the only
way it'll happen. It's according to the power of God. And I will
not do this apart from the power of God. But now he tells us what
this testimony is. And this is the testimony, he
says, that was confirmed in you. It was real in you. was established
and stabilized in you and you couldn't get away from it. This
is your salvation. This is your Lord. His testimony.
Let's read. Verse nine. Here it is. Who has
saved us? We didn't save ourselves. We
didn't help. He saved us. Has that been confirmed in you?
Do you believe that from the top of your head to the bottom
of your toes that the only way you'll be saved is if he saved
you? He saved us and called us with
an holy calling. And I think the order is so important. He saved us and he called us. That salvation took place and
was accomplished before the calling. Now, has that stabilized in you? It lets you know that he is altogether
salvation. It doesn't have anything to do
with you, it's him. He saved us and he called us. That's salvation that came before
the foundation of the world. Before there was a sinner, there
was a savior. Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. He saved us. When he said it is finished,
I was saved. When he agreed to be my surety
before time began, I was saved. He saved us and he called us.
You see everybody he saves? He calls. He called us with,
Paul says, holy calling. If it came from him, it's a holy
calling. If he saved us, it's a holy calling. Now look what he says next. This
salvation, this is part of the testimony of our Lord that was
confirmed in you. Not according to our works. My salvation has absolutely,
positively nothing to do with anything I've done to earn it
or gain it. Is that confirmed in you? You
believe that with all your heart. Not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose. If you're saved, you know this,
it's because he purposed your salvation. He didn't save you
by accident, he saved you on purpose. He purposed your salvation. He purposed your salvation before
time began. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which were given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now that's the testimony
of the Lord. But let's go on reading. But
is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ. That which was done before time
began is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ. He had to appear. He had to come
to the earth to save me. I couldn't be saved if he didn't
do this. And here's what he did. He abolished death. Death was put to death by the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'll never die before him.
I'll die physically, but my spirit will never die. It'll be brought
into glory and I'll never die. He abolished death. That's the real me. The one that
never dies. That one that's going to die,
I'll be glad to get rid of him. I can't wait. But oh, that one
who will never die. That's the real me. Christ abolished
death and brought life and immortality to light. I've got light as to how I can
have life and immortality. He is my life before God. I got
some life there. You got some life there. This
is this is the simple testimony of Christ that's confirmed in
a believer. The testimony of Christ was confirmed
in you. Where unto I'm appointed a preacher,
this message, the testimony of the Lord, that's what I'm called
upon to be a preacher of, and an apostle, a teacher of the
Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things. You
know everywhere Paul went. He said, I know that bonds and
imprisonment abide me. I can't imagine that. Knowing
that every time, every town I'd go in to preach, I'd know I'm
gonna get beat with rods, I'm gonna be whipped, I'm gonna be
thrown into prison, I'm gonna be thrown into stocks, beat with
the cat and nine tails. Everywhere he went, he knew that
was waiting for him. Oh, I tell you what, by the grace
of God, Paul was one tough man, wasn't he? I mean, the way he
would go through this, knowing, he said, knowing that bonds and
afflictions abide me. For the which cause I also suffer
these things, nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed. And that's everything. If you
know him, if you know who he is, you know everything else.
The doctrine just falls in line. Somebody who knows him, a successful
redemption's obvious. Election's obvious. Preservation
is obvious if you know him. He said, for I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day, the day of judgment.
I have committed the entire salvation of my soul to him. Now this is
something that's confirmed in you. You know that the entirety
of the salvation of your soul is completely dependent upon
him and you've committed it all to him. Your hands are off. If he doesn't do it all, I won't
be saved. You believe that? Is that confirmed
in you? Now look what he says with regard
to all this in verse 13. Hold fast the form of sound words. Now you just heard the form of
sound words. This is the testimony of Christ. This is the form of
sound words. This is one of those beautiful
distilled definitions of the gospel that we have in the scripture
where the whole gospel is just in a few statements, just like
this. He says, you hold fast. You hold this fast, hold fast.
The form of sound words in faith and love. in faith, believing
them and love to God and love to his people and love to men.
You hold fast the form of sound words and faith and love which
is in Christ Jesus. Now that's the testimony that
he was talking about and he said it was confirmed in you. Now let me give you some examples
as to what that means. The testimony of Christ is confirmed
in you. Lord looked at his disciples
and he said, will you also go away? You can if you want. I'm not
gonna have any unwilling disciples. If you wanna leave, and this
is not harsh, this is not harsh. These are the words of the Lord.
He said, as he watched the crowd leave him, y'all wanna go away
too? Now when the truth is confirmed
in you, You'll say the same thing Peter did. Lord, to whom shall
we go? It's not like we have an option.
It's not like there is some other place to go. To whom shall we
go? Thou has the words of eternal life. And we believe and are
sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The truth of Christ is confirmed
in you when you really don't have any other options. How about
you? Do you have any other options
other than this? John chapter 14, verse six, I'm going to quote
this to you. The Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the father,
but by me. Now I'm confirmed in the truth
when I begin with him as the way and I end with him as the
way. When I begin with Him as the
truth, and I end with Him as the truth. When I begin with
Him as the life, my only life before God, and I end with Him
as the life. When I begin coming to the Father
only by Him, and I end with coming to the Father only by Him. That is the one who is confirmed
in the truth. Back to our text in first Corinthians
one. Verse seven, so that you came
behind because the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.
That's the work of God's grace so that you come behind to no
gift. So that you're lacking. In no
gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now the
word gift is the word derived from the word grace. It's a gift
of grace. It's a free gift with regard
to this free gift that he gives you lack. Nothing. Here's what that means in Christ. There's no further perfection
for you to attain. You've already got it. Turn to
1 Corinthians 1, while you're already there, look at verse
30. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. And that wisdom is complete.
He's made unto us righteousness. And that righteousness is complete. He's made into us holiness. And that holiness is complete. He's made into us redemption. And that redemption is complete. In Christ, we're perfectly complete,
lacking nothing, nothing greater to obtain. You lacked nothing. You lack
nothing. You never will lack anything
in Christ Jesus. Perfect in Christ. You lacked, back to verse seven,
so that you came behind or lacked in no gift. Oh, what the gift
of God. The gift of God. Have I understood
that salvation really is a gift? It's not wages paid to me. It's
not given to me in response to something I've done. It's the
gift of God. I love what the Lord said to
that woman at the well. If you knew the gift of God, and who
was that saith unto thee, give me to drink, you would have asked
of him, and he would have given you living water. If you knew, you'd ask. The gift
of God, if you knew, you'd ask and he would have given you living
water. So that you lack in no gift waiting
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the word coming, is the same word generally translated
revelation. The apocalypse. The uncovering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're waiting for the uncovering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, hadn't he been revealed
to us? Yeah. Yeah. But how much of him do you know? How much? How well do you know
the Lord Jesus Christ? I know this. My knowledge is
so minuscule compared to His infinite greatness, the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, even in heaven, after
10 million years, we'll still be waiting for the uncovering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's so glorious that eternity,
eternity will never express to us just how altogether glorious
and lovely he is. I love when Paul said, oh, that
I might know him. Paul, don't you know him? That
I might know him. We see through a glass. How? Darkly. Darkly. then face to face so that you
became behind that you lacked in no gift waiting for the revelation
of our Lord Jesus Christ verse 8 who shall also confirm you
unto the end. Now you've been confirmed and
let me tell you how you know you've been confirmed if you're
confirmed all the way to the end. It's called perseverance. Perseverance
all the way to the end. What is the Proof of true faith,
you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved
from the hope of the gospel. The Lord said, if you continue
in my word, and this thing of perseverance, it's not staying
religious. Somebody stays religious all
the way to the end, that's not perseverance. Here's perseverance. I stay with Christ being the
way, the truth, and the life, only coming by him all the way
to the end. That is perseverance. The Lord said, if you continue
in my word, then are you my disciples. Indeed. Now this is what those
who persevere do. They continue in the word of
the Lord Jesus Christ. confirm you unto the end that
you may, and here's the blessing of this, that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now put your name in
there if you're a believer. If you're somebody that says,
oh, that I might know him. And the reality of somebody knowing
him is knowing they really don't know him that well because he's
so glorious. We can know each other pretty
well. Lynn knows me well enough to get mad at me for what I'm
thinking, because she knows me, and she knows what I'm thinking.
That's one of our challenges, you know, because she'd get mad
at me, and she knows what I'm thinking. She's right. I'm not
going to tell her that. At the time, I'm going to say,
you don't know what I'm thinking. But what I'm saying is all of
us are pretty simple. I know you. You know me. But
we can't say that with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
so altogether other. He's so altogether apart. He is the son of God. Yes, we know him, but we say
with Paul, oh, that I may know him. Verse eight, who shall confirm,
who shall also confirm you, unto the end, that's perseverance,
and here's the end of perseverance, that you may be blameless. Nothing to blame me for. You can't find out anything against
me, nor, nor. Paul said, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justified. Who
is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died, yea rather
that's risen again. Blameless, when I stand before
God in judgment, a holy God will look me over because of what
Christ did for me, and I'll be found to be blameless. Having never sinned, always done
that which is good, and never doing that which is not good. Blameless. That is every believer. in Christ Jesus. Turn with me
to Colossians 1 and we'll end there. Verse 20, and having made peace through the blood of his cross. Anytime somebody says have you
made your peace with God, tell them no. Christ made my peace
with God. That's the only answer. Christ
made my peace with God. Somebody that would ask a question
like that has no idea who he is in the first place. He wouldn't
ask a question like that if he did. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him, to reconcile all things unto
himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometime
or before time alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works. Yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you. holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight if you continue in the faith grounded and settled
and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Now somebody who is not moved
away from the hope of the gospel, Jesus Christ. on judgment day,
he's going to be seen to be holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in the very sight of God. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the way you see us in your son. That we're holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in your sight. Lord, we're not so in our sight.
We're not so in the sight of others. But Lord, we know in
your sight, because of the testimony of your son, what he accomplished
in our behalf. We're holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable. And we will be presented that
way on the day of thy son. That day that he returns, that
day, judgment day, we'll be holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in your sight. And we give thanks, Lord, give
us grace to believe your gospel. Give us grace to come to your
son. for all things. In His name we pray, amen.