Would you turn to 1 Corinthians
1. I want to read the first nine verses
of 1 Corinthians 1. 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 a 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 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 you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful. by whom you were called under
the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, we ask in his name
that you would be pleased to meet with us and to speak in
power to our hearts. Lord, we ask that we might be
enabled to see your son, to believe on him, to call upon his name,
to rest in him, to worship him, to exalt him, to trust him. Lord, may his name be exalted. May we be awed by his majesty. Lord, we confess our sins. We
pray for forgiveness and cleansing for Christ's sake. We pray for
your blessing, your presence. Be with us. We ask that you would
save our children. We ask that you would be with
all your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's name
we pray, amen. I have entitled this lesson Positive
Before Negative. Now why am I giving it a name
like that? As we saw a few weeks ago, Corinth
was a church with a lot of inconsistencies, a lot of contradictions, a lot
of sinful practices among them. I would dare say that that's
about the way any church is, wouldn't you? As long as people
like me and you are there, that's the way it will be. And Corinth
was a church with many inconsistencies. And Paul is going to bring those
things up. He does so right after this opening
statement. Look what he says in verse 10.
I stopped in verse 9. 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. but that
you'd be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same
judgment. For it's been declared unto me of you, my brethren,
by the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. And
he names quite a number of contentions and divisions that had taken
place in that church. But I think it's interesting
how he begins with commendation. And this is very important. He begins with commendation. And you would think by what he
says to the church of Corinth that this is the greatest bunch
of people that ever lived. I mean, look at the commendation
he gives them in this opening chapter. Now, let me say this. This is not flattery. Flattery
is trying to manipulate people and elicit a certain response
so you're going to be real positive with them and elicit something
from them. You've all had people flatter
you. I've had people flatter me. I love it. Give me some more.
It's ridiculous. That's the way we are. But the
point is, Paul is not trying to flatter. Paul is speaking
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he begins on
this positive note with the Church of Corinth. He could have said, shame on
you for your conduct, for your actions, and he could have named
a dozen things, but that's not the way he begins. And the reason
this is, is because the gospel begins with what God has done. The gospel doesn't end in forgiveness,
it doesn't end in salvation, it begins there. And this is
what he's dealing with, what God has done for them. And so he begins on a very positive
note. And I think that we ought to
all learn from this. Always begin on a positive note.
May the Lord teach me that. May I be enabled to embody this.
Because like I said, Paul wasn't using flattery at this time.
No attempt on that at all. He was speaking under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, and look how he begins. He's speaking,
verse two, under the church of God, which is a 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 and peace. God our Father, and from the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me remind you of this.
Peace is a great feeling, isn't it? You know, I woke up last
night, a couple hours, I was awake, things troubling me. I
hate it when it's like that. You know, your mind starts buzzing,
you start thinking about things that trouble you. Isn't peace
a great feeling when you can just go to bed and just feel
the peace? Well, the only real peace there
is that's a well-grounded peace is a peace that's founded on
grace. Grace. And by grace, God always means
in his word, saving grace. Free grace. Saving grace. The only peace that is well-grounded
is that peace that is based upon the saving grace of God. Electing grace, redeeming grace,
justifying grace, regenerating grace, calling grace, preserving
grace, glorifying grace. grace and peace from God our
Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that scripture
in Acts chapter 15 verse 11 where Peter says, we believe that by
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. Now, This is spoken in the original
in such a way as it could fairly and truly be translated. We believe
that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we've been saved.
We believe by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we're being
saved. We believe that by the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved. Grace and peace. Now look at verse four. I thank
my God always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is
given you by Jesus Christ. Now he doesn't say, I thank you
for your reception of grace. Others reject it, but you received
it. Glory be to you. Nothing like that. I thank my
God. for the grace given you by Jesus
Christ. And indeed, it is given by Jesus
Christ. I love that scripture in John
117, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth come by Jesus
Christ. But it can also fairly be translated,
the grace of God that is given you in Jesus Christ. Now this is so important. Everything
we have is mediated to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. God gave
me grace in Jesus Christ. He didn't give it to me independently
of Him. He gave it to me for His sake
because I'm in Him. This is speaking of the eternal
union of the believer with the Lord Jesus Christ. And all God
gives us is in Jesus Christ. Now remember this, grace is not
an offer. I hate it when preachers present
God's offering you grace. No, He's not. He gives you grace.
And if you don't receive it, He never gave it. Grace is not
an offer. The gospel is not an offer. It's something that God does.
And He's given the Corinthians this grace that is in Christ
Jesus. Now look in verse 5. Let's read verses four and five
together. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace
of God which was given you by and in Jesus Christ and in everything
you are enriched by him. In all utterance, and that word
utterance is the word that's usually translated word, it's
the Greek word logos, in all word and in all knowledge. Now in everything, you're enriched.
He's speaking to every believer. He's speaking to you. In everything, you are enriched,
made infinitely wealthy. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he were rich, yet for your sakes,
he became poor, that you through his poverty, might be rich. You are enriched in all things. And I think it's interesting
the two words he uses to speak of this enriching. First, utterance
or word. Aren't you thankful that God
has given you an interest in the word of God? This is God's
inspired word. It's this word, the inspired
word we're looking at that reveals the living word. Haven't you
been enriched in God giving you an interest in this word, the
word of God, the gospel message? Enriched in all word and in all
knowledge. Now, I'm not saved by my knowledge
of him. I'm saved by his knowledge of
me. And I know that. I know that. That's the knowledge
he's speaking of. You know, salvation is called
coming to the knowledge of the truth. Faith, the faith of God's
elect, the acknowledging of the truth, the embracing of the truth,
which is after godliness. Repentance, that change of mind
is called granted repentance under the acknowledging of the
truth. the acknowledging, the full understanding. It doesn't
mean you understand everything intellectually, but it means
you know. Ignorance. My heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be safe, for
I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but not according
to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
the character of God, and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness
of God. Now let's go on reading. And
here's this knowledge, even, verse six, even as the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you. Now that's a powerful statement. What is the testimony of Christ?
We'll turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1 for just a moment. We don't
have to guess. I'm not giving you what I think
the testimony of Christ is. Of course it's this whole word.
I would never try to take away the importance of every word
in this book. The testimony of Christ is the Bible. Amen? It's the Bible. It's the Word
of God. But look what 2 Timothy chapter 1 says in verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power
of God who hath saved us. Now here's the testimony of our
Lord. By his power, he saved us. Beloved, that's everything
we believe. saved us. Don't you know that he saved
you and you didn't save yourself and nobody else saved you? Salvation
is of the Lord. He saved us and called us with
an holy calling. Not according to our works, not
in response to something we've done. but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began." Now, understand this. Everything we have was
given us in Christ Jesus in eternity past. This is an eternal salvation. Everything, justification, redemption,
election, calling, glorification, everything we have was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Let me tell you
something. I love that. I love that. I'm awed by it. I'm amazed by
it, but I love it. I love the order Paul gives in
this passage of scripture. He saved us and he called us.
He saved us. He saved us. You know what that
means? You're saved. And he called us. Which came first, the saving
or the calling? The saving. He saved us and he called us,
not in response to something we've done. Now this is his testimony. This is the testimony of our
Lord that Paul tells Timothy, don't be ashamed of this. Don't
be ashamed of me, the one who brings this testimony. He saved
us, he called us. Now look, what it says in verse
10, but is now, what was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began is now made manifest by the appearing. of our Savior,
Jesus Christ. He created time, came into time,
and did all of this in time. What was determined before, He
does in time by His appearing. I love to think of His appearing
in so many respects. I love to think of His appearing
as our surety before time began. Him using my name and saying
I'm taking full responsibility for His salvation. I love to
think of His appearing here on earth when the Word was made
flesh. I love to think of, it's painful in some respects, but
I love to think of His appearing on the cross, Him bearing my
sins. I mean, it makes me feel horrible
to think that He had to bear my sins, but for me to be saved,
He had to. And I love to think of His appearing
in the resurrection, having put away my sins. He's appearing
right now as my great intercessor. over the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Don't you look forward to when
he appears and comes again, and we see him as he is? But is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, and here's what he did.
Here's what he has done. He abolished death. He put death
to death by taking away the reason for death, sin, and hath brought
life and immortality to the light through the gospel, whereunto
I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the
Gentiles. for which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I've committed to him against
that day. Now you hold fast this form of
sound words. Now this is the testimony of
Christ. And this testimony was confirmed
in you. Now, the word confirmed is passive. That means you didn't do something
to cause this to be confirmed in you. God confirmed it in you. And this is precious to you. It's etched into your heart and
you can't let it go. This testimony of Christ, this
is your gospel. This is your hope. This is all
you have, and God confirmed it in you. He established it in
you, so you won't trade, buy the truth and sell it. No, this
is not for sale. This is not for sale. This is the glorious
gospel of the bless of God confirmed in your heart by God Himself,
by the Holy Spirit. That's the reason you love the
gospel. Verse 7, back to our text, 1 Corinthians 1. Verse seven, so that you come
behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, that almost sounds like, well, you came behind nobody
else. I mean, you haven't left, you're
almost like there's a competition. You're not behind them, but that's
not really what that's saying. That is saying you lacked nothing. All that God requires you have
in its fullness. You've been enriched by him and
you lack absolutely nothing right now, present tense. You didn't
before time began and you never will. That's what he means by
that. Colossians 2.10, you are complete. You are complete. You lack nothing. You've become behind in no gift.
You have the fullness of all of God's salvation right now,
waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who also shall
confirm you. He's the one who will confirm
you, who also shall confirm you unto the end. that you may be
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he's going
to cause you to persevere all the way to the end. He's going
to confirm you all the way to the end. You're going to persevere,
and the reason you're going to persevere is he's going to preserve
you, and he's going to confirm you, and he's going to cause
you to continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and to
not be moved from the hope of the gospel. That's his work.
He confirms you all the way to the end so that you will be blameless
on the day of judgment and that means unaccusable. Nothing to accuse you of. Unblameable,
unapprovable on judgment day. I have such a blessed hope with
regard to judgment day. Nothing to blame me for. We looked
at that scripture a couple of weeks ago in 2 Corinthians 5.10,
where it says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that everyone may receive the things done in the body according
to that he hath done, whether good or bad, because of Christ's
righteousness, because his righteousness is my personal righteousness
before God. The things done in my body have
been all good. All good. And he's gonna confirm you blameless
into the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. And here's why all that's
gonna happen. Verse nine, and I'm going to spend two weeks
on this verse. Next week and the week after,
Lord willing, God is faithful. That's why you're going to be
confirmed all the way to the end. And you're gonna stand blameless
on the day of judgment, because God is faithful. God is utterly
reliable, and he's going to do what he said he's going to do.
He has determined that you're going to persevere all the way
to the end, and he's going to make sure it comes to pass. God
is faithful. He's utterly reliable. He's utterly
predictable. If you ever say this, don't say
it to me. I don't want to put God in a box. I'm not worried
about you putting God in a box. It ain't gonna happen, but he
is utterly predictable. He's always going to act in accordance
to his great glorious attributes. He is faithful. I love that passage of scripture,
Lamentations 3, great is thy faithfulness. God is faithful. By whom? By God you were called. under the fellowship of his son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. What a calling, what a high calling
to be called into the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And that is why you will persevere
all the way to the end because God is the one who's called you.
And he's faithful. Don't you love to think about
the faithfulness of God? Let me give you one scripture. I'm
going to be looking again next week, Lord Willem, but I love
this scripture. If we confess our sins. If we take sides with God against
ourselves and confess our sins. He is merciful and gracious to
forgive our sins. Doesn't say that, does it? What
does it say? If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just. to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Faithful is he that calleth you. Amen.