Turn back with me to 1st Corinthians
chapter 3. We're going to read these last
few verses again, beginning with verse 21. 1st Corinthians 3 verse 21. Let no man glory in men, for
all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas,
or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things
to come, all are yours. And you are Christ, and Christ
is God's. Title of the message is All Things
Are Yours. All things are yours. I saw on
the news, I believe it was yesterday, that David Rockefeller passed
away at the age of 102. And I heard someone say that
in his lifetime, he had given away, he was a philanthropist,
he had given away approximately a billion dollars. That's a lot
of money, isn't it? A billion dollars. But you know,
that wasn't all. That wasn't all the money in
this world, was it? But here we have a very broad,
broad statement. All things are yours. Can you imagine that? All things
are yours. Now we recognize, first of all,
the Apostle Paul, this is not a blanket statement that is given
out to all the world. The Apostle Paul makes this statement
to certain people, to those to whom he wrote this letter. So when we ask ourselves, does
this speak to me? Is all things mine? We've got
to ask ourselves, first of all, are we in this group to whom
the Apostle Paul wrote these words? All things are yours. And so we go back to chapter
one. And verse 2, and let's see to
whom he directed these words. First Corinthians chapter 1 and
verse 2. Unto the church of God which
is at Carth, 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. Now when we break that verse
down to identify the people to whom Paul says all things are
yours, the first thing we see is to the church. It is to the
church. And I would just remind us that
Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. So these words
were written to the church, to those whom Christ loved and gave
himself for. And then secondly, we see it
is to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Sanctified and
set apart in Christ Jesus. The Apostle in 2 Thessalonians
2 and verse 13 said, God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. So we see two ways these people
are identified. First of all, they are part of
the church for whom Christ died. And secondly, they are sanctified
in Christ Jesus. They are part of God's chosen,
His elect people that He's set apart or chose in Christ. And then third, you see here,
it is to them that are called to be saints. Called to be saints. That same verse in 2 Thessalonians,
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. When we come into this world,
though we've been loved by Christ, though we've been chosen in Christ,
but we must be called We must be sanctified by the Spirit and
come to believe the truth. That is to believe the gospel,
to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And then
notice this last way that they are identified. It is to all
who in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Is that you? Is it? What did Paul say in Romans chapter
10? He said that whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now he says in
every place, all those who in every place in Houston, Texas,
on the north side of Houston, Texas, whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? So all things are yours if you
are in this select group of people who are identified here in these
four ways. Now that's clear, isn't it? That's
clear. You don't just go to the mailbox
and take out a letter and it may be addressed to your neighbor.
You don't just open it up and start reading it. That mail is
not to you. It's to your neighbor next door.
And many people take the Bible and they just began to read it
and they're reading someone else's mail. They're reading someone
else's letter. This letter, as we have just
seen, is to a particular people who are identified in these ways,
and the Apostle Paul makes this very broad statement. All things are yours. Now it seems to me, if you look
at the text again, it seems to me that Paul begins with the
stream and works his way up to the fountainhead. But tonight, I want us to begin
at the fountainhead and work back to the stream. You understand
what I'm saying? It seems like Paul begins with
the stream and then he works his way back to where the stream
originated, the fountainhead. I want to begin at the fountainhead
tonight and work our way down to the stream. So the first thing
that we see is Christ is God's. Christ is God's. Now, when you look at that statement,
here are some things that I've thought of that we should consider
when we read here that Christ is God's. First of all, Christ
is God's Son. His only begotten Son. His well-beloved
Son. He has many sons, that's true,
many sons by adoption, but He only has one only begotten Son. Christ is God's. Christ is God's Son. Now I know Christ identifies
His office, and I'll get to that in a moment, but He is God's
Son. Number two, Christ is God's servant. He is His servant. When you read
in the New Testament, in the book of John, when the Lord Jesus
Christ said, My Father is greater than I, you know He is speaking
now as Christ as the God-man, as God's servant. God's servant. As God, He is equal with the
Father. The Father is not greater than
the Son or the Holy Spirit. But as the God-man, as He agreed
to come into this world as God's servant. Look, keep your place
here, but let's go back to Isaiah 42. Because we see here in this passage,
he is called God's servant, and also we see something else. Christ is God's son. The text
said Christ is God's. Christ is God's son. Number two,
Christ is God's servant. He's God's servant. You remember
he said this, Listen to me just a moment. This is what the Lord
Jesus Christ said. He said, the Son of Man is not
come to be ministered unto, but to minister. That word minister
means to serve. He didn't come to be served.
He came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Isaiah 42, behold, my servant. These are the words of God Almighty,
isn't it? And it is an exhortation to you
and I. Behold, just like John the Baptist
said, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of
the world. Behold, look, behold my servant. Christ is God's servant. Number three, Christ is God's
elect. Notice that in the text here
in Isaiah 42. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect. He is God's first elect, Christ. Christ is God's first elect and
then all of his people were chosen in him. But He is God's first
elect. In the Lamb's Book of Life, the
first name in that book is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. His name is registered there
first, and then all of His elect, our names are placed there. We
were chosen in Christ. In Christ. Those two words. Take
your concordance sometime, and just look in the New Testament.
at the verses which speak of in Christ. In Christ. Every blessing that God has for
you, for me, is in Christ. Don't look for them anywhere
else. In Christ. Remember that old saying, don't
put all your eggs in one basket. You might trip and drop that
basket and lose all your eggs, but let me tell you something.
God put all his blessings, all his eggs in one person, Jesus
Christ. So Christ is God's. He's God's
son. He's God's servant. He's God's
elect. And number four, he is God's
sealed one, S-E-A-L-E-D, sealed one. This is what the Lord Jesus
Christ Him said in the Gospel of John. John chapter 6 and verse
27. The Lord is speaking of Himself
when He said this, Him. Well, let's just turn there.
John chapter 6 and verse 27. Let's begin with verse 25. And
when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said
unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them
and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because
you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and
were filled. Now watch this. Labor not for
the meat which perisheth. but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you for Him." Who? The Son of Man, Christ. For Him
hath God the Father sealed. Christ is God's sealed one. That means that He is the one,
He is the only one that God has appointed to be the Savior, to
be the Redeemer of His people. He is the one mediator between
God and men. There's no going to God other
than through Jesus Christ our Lord. He stands between. Aren't
you thankful tonight that there's one who stands between, between
you and God Almighty. There's one mediator and it is
the man, the God man. Jesus Christ, who was tempted
in all points, such as we are, yet without sin. You know, sometimes
people say, well, preacher, you just don't know what I'm going
through. You're right. I haven't experienced a lot of
things that other people have experienced. But I am so thankful. I can always point you to one
who can sympathize with you, who can empathize with you, no
matter what you are going through. woman told me recently, she said,
I felt deserted of all people. And I said, well, that's wonderful.
She looked at me and I said, and she brought this up. She
said, I experienced just a little of what Christ experienced when
he was deserted by all people. I said, that's a blessing. If
he lets you enter into that, that's a blessing. He can sympathize
with you. We sing that hymn sometimes,
tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Whatever it
is, whatever the trial, whatever the temptation is, tell it to
Jesus. He's a friend. That's well known. And number five, Christ is God's
gift. Christ is God's. He's God's son. He's God's servant. He's God's
elect. He's God's sealed one. And yes,
Christ is God's gift. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. So that's where we begin
tonight. Christ is God's. But now notice, secondly, you
are Christ." Back in our text. Christ is God's. That's the last
three words in the text, isn't it? Christ is God's, but now
above that, and you are Christ. Now we recognize tonight, I do,
and I know that you do as well. We recognize that all men All
men, I don't care how many billions of people who've lived on the
face of God's earth, all men are His by creation. Because
without Him, the Apostle John tells us, all things were made
by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
Speaking of the Word, in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things, all men
are His by creation. That's true. But when Paul here
writes, You are Christ, we know that there are those in this
world who are His in a special way, a threefold special way. Number one, they are His because
they were given to Him. We were reading this morning
again John chapter 17, that wonderful prayer of our Savior. And I have
a new Bible, most of you know that, so later in the day I read
through that again and I knew there's six verses there that
refer to Christ being given His people. And I put a little mark
by the verse when I went through it and I got to the end and I
only counted five. There's got to be another one
here. So I went back through it, and sure enough, I found
that sixth one. The scripture says, I pray not
for the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. You are Christ. You are His by
donation, by gift the Father gave them unto Christ. gave them unto Him, to be members
of His body, to be sheep of His fold, to be stones in His building,
you are Christ. First of all, because you are
His by gift. Number two, they are His by purchase. By purchase. He purchased those
that the Father gave unto Him. I quoted that verse just a few
minutes ago. Christ loved the church and gave
Himself for it. For all of those who make up
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He purchased with His
own blood. And number three, they are His
by surrender. By surrender. By nature, when
we come into this world, we are all rebels. That's all you can
say. We are all rebels. You know,
Job, in the book of Job, man is described like this. For vain
man would be wise, though born like a wild ass is cold. Like
a wild ass is cold. Never tamed, never had a bridle
on it, never anyone set on this wild ass is cold. Just as wild
as it can be. That's every one of us by nature. We will not have this man to
rule over us. I'm going to be my own boss. That's all of us by nature. And yet, by the power of the
Spirit of God, we come willingly to bow to King Jesus. Someone said, well, I thought
man didn't have a free will. His will is enslaved. And yet God, in the day of His
power, His people shall be made willing in the day of His power. And God so works on our hearts
that we come willingly to Christ. We desire Christ. We desire Christ
above everything in this world to know Him, to be found in Him. That's everything. But we were not always this way,
were we? There was a time when we were
like that wild asses colt. And I thought about the time
when The Lord Jesus Christ entered into Jerusalem on that first
day of the week in which he was crucified on a Sunday. And how
did he enter there? He rode on the back of an ass. And the scripture says, whereon
never man sit. He was the first one to sit on
the back of that donkey. And that donkey was just as calm
and docile And He rode into Jerusalem. He conquers us, doesn't He? And
we raise up that white flag. And we don't make a deal with
God. These people who tell you, well,
I told God this. If He'd do this, I'd do that.
That's not the way God saves sinners. God saves sinners when
He brings us down just like the Apostle Paul. And we say, Lord! What wilt thou have me to do? Here's the third thing. All things
are yours. So Christ is God's. You're Christ. Now, all things
are yours. You know, he writes that two
times. Did you notice that? In verse 21, he said, All things
are yours. And then in verse 22, he says,
All are yours. He does not intend to leave anything
out. This is much like when He stressed
in Romans chapter 8 that there's nothing, nothing that can separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. He named
death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things
to come, height, depth, or any other creature. shall separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. So here,
in this place, Paul wants us to know all things are yours. All things. Now, let's go through them quickly. First of all, ministers of the
gospel are yours. This is the context, isn't it?
This church here at Corinth, kind of divided up over different
preachers. Foolish, Paul said you're like
a bunch of babies. You can't take meat because one
of you say I'm of Paul and another one says I'm of Apollos and some
say I'm of Cephas. You're carnal, have to have milk just like babies
in the nursery. Paul said, all things are yours. All ministers are yours. Look
in Ephesians, keep your place there, Ephesians chapter four. In Ephesians chapter four and
verse eight, we read, Wherefore he saith,
when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and
gave gifts unto men. Now look down to verse 11. And
he gave some, these are the gifts, he gave some apostles, some prophets,
and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ. All things are yours, ministers,
Paul, Cephas, Apollos, and every other minister. Ministers are
servants of the churches in spiritual matters. Now, ministers are not
servants of men. If a man is a servant of men,
he's not a servant of Christ. But ministers are servants of
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what Paul is saying
here, don't glory in men. Don't glory in Paul. Don't glory
in Apollos. Don't glory in men, for all things
are yours. The very reason that there are
ministers who come and preach the gospel to you is because
they're given unto you. All things are yours. They're given to you for your
profit. For your profit. Number two,
this world is yours. You've been called out of the
world, but know that this world is yours. This world is yours,
and it continues until the last of Christ's sheep is caught,
and then it will come to an end as it now is. It will be burned
with fire. But this world is yours, and
the afflictions you meet with it will all work together for
your good. And yes, you will meet with afflictions
in this world. This world is yours, and the
evil things in it you've escaped by the power of God. This world
is yours, and when you receive it as an inheritance, it's going
to be changed from what it is now. The meek shall inherit the
earth, but that earth is going to be a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. This world is yours. Number three,
life is yours. The life that Christ lived here
on earth in obedience to His Father, the life of intercession
He lives now at the Father's right hand, it's yours. Life is yours. According as His
divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto
life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us
to glory and virtue. Eternal life, which is in you. is yours. Death. Notice He names death. Death
is yours. The death of Christ was for you. He suffered in our stead. He
tasted death for us to remove the sting of death, which is
sin, and to take away its curse. Death is yours. I thought of death as being ours
like an usher, an usher. One day it will come and it will
usher us out of all our troubles and all our sorrows in this life. And it will usher us into the
presence of God. Death is yours. And then number
five, he says, things present are yours. And I want to say
this, let us, by the grace of God, let us remember this when
trouble comes. This is mine, this trouble. This
is mine. God has purposed this for my
good. Things do not just spring out
of the earth, we know that. When prosperity comes, this is
mine. Let me have the grace to use
all things for his glory. And then he says, things to come
are yours. Things to come. I believe the words of Paul will
apply to answer this question. What does he mean, things to
come? Well, his words in 1 Corinthians when he said, I have not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. All things are
yours, things to come. I read that scripture, I believe
it's in Revelation 21 verse 7 today in a bulletin article, but he
shall wipe away all tears. Don't you look forward to that
day? when God wipes away every tear. No more sorrow, no more sickness,
no more parting, no more death. All things are yours. I'll close
with this. One writer made this comment
on these verses. He said, Paul ransacks heaven
and earth, time and eternity. You know what it is to ransack
something. You see pictures sometimes of
someone looking for something. They pull out every drawer and
throw things here and pull the pillows off the couch and throw
them on the floor. They just ransack the whole house
looking for something. Well, this writer said, Paul,
as it were, ransacks heaven and earth, time and eternity to make
up the Christians' rich catalog of mercies. But as though the
utmost stretch of thought of men or angels might omit some
part of the believer's treasure, and lest anything should be found
wanting for support and comfort to any needy soul, he twice repeats,
all things are yours. All things. That covers everything,
doesn't it? That's what he intended. All
things, just in case he missed something there. Life and death,
things present, things to come. Just in case he missed anything.
All things are yours. What a blessing. What a blessing,
right? To be a child of God. By the
grace of God. Through the blood of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Let's sing a hymn before we're
dismissed.