Called to be Saints Together

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.759 And too, first Corinthians one. This morning I'm going to read verses one 2 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:33.659 through nine, but focusing on verse two. First Corinthians one one through nine, 3 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:40.649 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ 4 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:46.289 Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, to the Church of God that is in 5 00:00:46.450 --> 00:00:51.960 Corinth to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with 6 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:55.880 all those who, in every place, call upon the name of our Lord 7 00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:02.240 Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from 8 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:06.549 God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my 9 00:01:06.709 --> 00:01:08.989 God always for you, because of the grace of God that was given you 10 00:01:10.150 --> 00:01:14.230 in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him and all 11 00:01:14.310 --> 00:01:19.379 speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, 12 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:23.060 so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the 13 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:26.859 revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, 14 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:33.569 guiltless, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, 15 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:38.329 by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, 16 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:57.840 our Lord. We here at the beginning of this letter. We have what 17 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:01.870 in some ways is a typical opening for Paul and his letters. He introduces 18 00:02:01.909 --> 00:02:07.069 himself, his coauthor, Sastanes, and he tells us who he is, 19 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:13.830 writing to the church in Corinth. But we know this word of God is 20 00:02:13.949 --> 00:02:16.580 not just for the church and Corinth, it is for us as well, 21 00:02:16.819 --> 00:02:22.139 and there are many, many things for us to learn through the word, 22 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:29.259 through this letter. Paul speaks to a church that has many struggles that are 23 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:38.169 similar to our own. worldliness and various aspects of of their old life creeping 24 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:43.090 in, hanging on, infecting the way that they think, the way that 25 00:02:43.210 --> 00:02:49.520 they act, and Paul brings some perspective, some heavenly perspective, some Christ 26 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.840 centered perspective, and various areas of their church life. How they think about 27 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:58.400 their ministers, for example, how they think about giving, how they think 28 00:02:58.439 --> 00:03:04.509 about the Lord's supper or worship, all kinds of different things. And he 29 00:03:04.629 --> 00:03:09.629 begins that not by just calling them out and in terms of an address to 30 00:03:09.710 --> 00:03:14.379 them, to the Church of God that is in Corinth, but he speaks 31 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:16.860 to them and he he talks about them in a very particular way, a 32 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:25.139 way that helps us to understand ourselves and the church as a whole. I 33 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:31.370 want to use the structure of the nicene creed, one holy Catholic and Apostolic 34 00:03:31.409 --> 00:03:36.210 Church, as a way to think about what Paul says here in the beginning 35 00:03:36.250 --> 00:03:45.879 of First Corinthians. But first we begin with this word know. We're not 36 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.680 necessarily found in the text, but a verb that I am after here. 37 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.960 I want us to know something. I want us to know something about who 38 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:58.349 we are. Paul wants them to know something about who they are. They 39 00:03:58.349 --> 00:04:03.629 are a very particular kind of church. A church is a gathering of people 40 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:12.060 on the word Ecclesia was used in nonreligious contexts in Paul's Day as a people 41 00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:15.860 that were just called out right. So you have a group of people, 42 00:04:15.339 --> 00:04:20.980 some people are called out of that larger group for a particular purpose, usually 43 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:26.209 a meeting, some kind of assembly or something like that. This is a 44 00:04:26.769 --> 00:04:30.850 called out body. This is a group of people that have been called out 45 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:38.370 of the world in particular to be a a called out body. And Ecclesia 46 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:44.079 a Church of God, and that means a very particular kind of thing. 47 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:46.480 Just like any group that is called out of another group, it has a 48 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:51.399 purpose. So does this one, and this is one that is marked by 49 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:58.389 these words, one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Jesus wants us to know 50 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:02.709 about these things so that we would believe it and so that we would be 51 00:05:03.110 --> 00:05:09.779 it. Before we talk about those, I want to talk just about that, 52 00:05:10.019 --> 00:05:13.259 those two things, believing it and being in it, being it, 53 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:19.180 in other words, one holy Catholic and apostolic. That's who we are now 54 00:05:20.139 --> 00:05:26.449 and it's also something we are growing into. Think about the way a child 55 00:05:26.730 --> 00:05:30.730 becomes an adult. A child is a child. Let's say eighteen is the 56 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:35.480 age of adulthood and a child is it. Turns eighteen and they are now 57 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:44.600 an adult. But we all know that you don't instantly become fully mature when 58 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:49.029 you're eighteen years old or nineteen or twenty or thirty or forty or fifty. 59 00:05:49.790 --> 00:05:56.110 There is a growing isn't there a growing into manhood, a growing into womanhood. 60 00:05:56.149 --> 00:06:00.790 are growing into adulthood even though you are an adult. And it's a 61 00:06:00.870 --> 00:06:03.939 similar way with the church. We are one holy, Catholic and Apostolic. 62 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:08.819 That is the nature of the Church that God has called. It is who 63 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:11.980 he has made us to be, and yet at the same time he wants 64 00:06:11.980 --> 00:06:15.060 us to understand that so that we might live it out, we might live 65 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:19.329 in light of that truth, we might become and grow up. Paul in 66 00:06:19.449 --> 00:06:27.170 First Corinthians uses this example of adulthood and Childhood and thirteen eleven. He says, 67 00:06:27.529 --> 00:06:30.490 when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought 68 00:06:30.610 --> 00:06:33.000 like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, 69 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:38.240 I gave up my childish ways, and that's what we want to do 70 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:42.360 as well. We know that not all men give up their childish ways and 71 00:06:42.519 --> 00:06:46.709 not all churches are as one, holy, Catholic or apostolic as they ought 72 00:06:46.750 --> 00:06:50.949 to be, this church included. And so as we hear these words, 73 00:06:50.990 --> 00:06:55.550 we hear both what God has, has called us and has made us to 74 00:06:55.670 --> 00:07:00.829 be, and what he is continuing to call us to as well, and 75 00:07:00.949 --> 00:07:04.899 I believe that will impact us in different ways. For those of us who 76 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:11.540 don't belong to the Church of God and are perhaps on the edge, looking 77 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:17.329 in, wondering, curious, perhaps you'll join. You will become one of 78 00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:21.250 the called ones, one of the saints, one of those who are sanctified. 79 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:27.089 Others will hear this calling of God on the life of the church and 80 00:07:27.209 --> 00:07:31.720 will rejoice and seeing what God has done praising them, for praising God for 81 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:38.879 who we are now, over and against what we once were. Others will 82 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:44.470 see God's work and hear about it and realize that they've gone astray like childish 83 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:48.110 adults living and thinking like children. Sometimes we as a church hold on too 84 00:07:48.470 --> 00:07:55.230 immature ways worldly thinking and living, and this call is a reminder and a 85 00:07:55.750 --> 00:08:01.779 call to action as well. So let's consider these things. Let's consider who 86 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:09.579 God has called us to be. First One, this describes for us the 87 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.889 unity of the church, a togetherness. We see that here in verse two, 88 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:18.410 to the Church of God that is in Corinth. But they are called 89 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:24.610 to be saints together not only with others in sure in Corinth, but with 90 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.639 all those who, in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus 91 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:37.639 Christ. They are unified not only in their particular city but even with people 92 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.710 throughout the world. There is a unity there, and that unity is marked 93 00:08:41.710 --> 00:08:46.590 and very various ways. One Way Paul marks it is by sanctification. He 94 00:08:46.710 --> 00:08:50.789 says to the Church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in 95 00:08:52.309 --> 00:08:56.500 Christ Jesus, to be sanctified, and will come to this a little bit 96 00:08:56.539 --> 00:09:01.019 later, is to be set apart as holy. They share this calling, 97 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:03.259 not only as being called out, but it put it in another way, 98 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:07.779 or to see it from another angle, they're set apart. You do this 99 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:11.610 in your homes, right, if you have a special heirloom or a decoration, 100 00:09:11.730 --> 00:09:18.490 right, you set it apart. You may frame a painting and hang 101 00:09:18.570 --> 00:09:22.529 it on the wall. You might take a momentum and put it on your 102 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:26.559 desk, right with space around it. You set it apart. Maybe you 103 00:09:26.679 --> 00:09:31.159 even have a room in your house that's set apart for a particular purpose, 104 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:37.519 a guest room or a study or an exercise room or a kitchen and or 105 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:39.190 a bathroom. Right, we do this all the time. We set things 106 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:43.429 apart. That's what God does with us. But what does he set us 107 00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:48.629 apart for? What does he call us out to? Well, he sanctifies 108 00:09:48.710 --> 00:09:52.700 US in Christ, Jesus too, and calls us to be saints, Holy 109 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:58.460 Ones, set apart, ones for this calling to call upon the name of 110 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:03.019 the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what he sets US apart for. That's what 111 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:07.450 he makes us for so that we can he calls us out so that we 112 00:10:07.570 --> 00:10:13.529 can call on him. In other words, he calls us out to a 113 00:10:13.690 --> 00:10:18.049 new kind of life where we're no longer chasing after false gods, but we're 114 00:10:18.129 --> 00:10:22.919 clinging to him, calling upon him, believing on him. So we're one 115 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:28.759 with another in this setting. Apart, we all find ourselves in this same 116 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:35.509 room, in the same designated spot in the world, done so through the 117 00:10:35.629 --> 00:10:41.389 one person, Jesus Christ, for this one goal, to call upon him 118 00:10:41.389 --> 00:10:46.629 and trust him, to worship him and all under this under him, as 119 00:10:48.149 --> 00:10:50.860 one Lord. Notice, as he says at the end of verse two, 120 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:54.980 here to call upon the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, both their 121 00:10:54.100 --> 00:11:01.779 Lord and our Lord. We belong to the same house. We have the 122 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:05.210 same king, the same hope, the same rules, the same citizenship. 123 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:11.730 Under him we find a unity, and that's pretty remarkable when you consider that 124 00:11:11.009 --> 00:11:16.370 the people in Corinth, like the people here, are very diverse. Jesus 125 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:20.480 says there is apostle that now, Jew or Greek, male or female, 126 00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.600 slaver, free, all are in Christ Jesus. The same for us here. 127 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.960 There's there's no distinctions in our background that have any effect on our or 128 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:35.389 any bearing on our citizenship. In Heaven. We have this unity that together 129 00:11:35.950 --> 00:11:39.750 in Christ well, and having this unity this means we are also called to 130 00:11:39.909 --> 00:11:45.470 walk with unity and Effesians for verse three, Paul says, with all humility 131 00:11:46.029 --> 00:11:50.139 and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain 132 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:56.059 the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. That's what Paul wants 133 00:11:56.100 --> 00:11:58.299 us to be. He wants us not only to have and to receive this 134 00:11:58.460 --> 00:12:05.370 unity, to recognize it, but be eager to maintain it, to see 135 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:09.730 that this is valuable. Right. Perhaps you're like me, you will sets 136 00:12:09.970 --> 00:12:13.330 using the going back to my former analogy, you set something apart, maybe 137 00:12:13.450 --> 00:12:18.480 on your desk, and then a paper kind of comes up next to it, 138 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:20.960 and then another one, and then you put a book there and then 139 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.960 another book and this book stack up and next thing you know, the thing 140 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:28.639 that was set apart has not been maintained, a set apart and it's crowded 141 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:31.269 by all this clutter and all these things and it has to be cleared away. 142 00:12:33.149 --> 00:12:37.590 We have to clear things away sometimes if we're going to be eager in 143 00:12:37.990 --> 00:12:41.750 maintaining the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, and that's done 144 00:12:41.789 --> 00:12:48.460 by exercising humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and love. 145 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:54.539 This is the way that we clear away the clutter. Christians must love one 146 00:12:54.580 --> 00:13:00.370 another sacrificially, admonish and courage and bear one as another's burdens, and in 147 00:13:00.529 --> 00:13:03.809 that our unity is made known. In Our love for one another, they're 148 00:13:05.129 --> 00:13:07.850 the unity that we have in Christ, in his love for us. This 149 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:15.039 is made known in the world. Many people today, however, our favor 150 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:20.120 only of a unity of one. They want to have everything their own way. 151 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.080 They neglect worship because they don't like other saints. It's inconvenient, it's 152 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:33.549 uncomfortable. The people there are weird, and it's true we're a little weird, 153 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:37.909 maybe even a lot weird sometimes, and obnoxious and other things we could 154 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:45.019 say. The truth is is whenever we join with other people, conflicts arise, 155 00:13:46.139 --> 00:13:50.620 there are disagreements, there are tensions, they expose weaknesses. There's a 156 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:54.539 there's a book, a book about marriage, that says when sinners say, 157 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:58.250 I do right, and it's like that in the church as well. When 158 00:13:58.330 --> 00:14:07.090 sinners get together, there's gonna be sin there's gonna be problems, but it 159 00:14:07.210 --> 00:14:13.279 doesn't really matter too much these differences and tensions and conflicts, because we remember 160 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.200 that at the base of it all we're not holding ourselves together, God is 161 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:26.070 holding us together. We're held together not by US holding our noses. We're 162 00:14:26.149 --> 00:14:31.669 held together by God holding us in his hands, keeping US safe, keeping 163 00:14:31.750 --> 00:14:41.580 US separate. and John Seventeen, Jesus himself prays that the Church would be 164 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:48.139 one no less than four times. And what's remarkable is how he prays for 165 00:14:48.259 --> 00:14:50.740 this unity. Jesus prays to the Father and he says, Holy Father, 166 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:56.009 keep them in your name, which you have given to me, that they 167 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:00.090 may be one, even as we are one. A few verses later, 168 00:15:00.129 --> 00:15:03.250 he says that they may all be one, just as you, father, 169 00:15:03.289 --> 00:15:07.440 are in me and I am in you. In other words, the unity 170 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.000 that the son of God has with the father of God is the model and 171 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:18.840 the basis for the unity that we have for one another. There's no higher 172 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:24.549 way that you could express this, and that's Jesus expressing that in his prayer 173 00:15:26.669 --> 00:15:33.710 to the heavenly father. That's where Paul starts here in First Corinthians, as 174 00:15:33.750 --> 00:15:37.379 they come to think about all these issues and conflicts and troubles within their church, 175 00:15:37.820 --> 00:15:41.740 troubles outside of their church and relation with the world. He starts here 176 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:50.210 thinking about their sanctification in Christ, their unity in him, with one voice, 177 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:54.009 one mind, one heart, one mission, one Lord, one one, 178 00:15:54.169 --> 00:15:58.690 one, one, all in the one true God. We are one, 179 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:03.720 Paul says. Well, we all star as holy as I've already begun 180 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:10.879 to say first Peter Fifteen, or yes, first Peter one verse fifteen says. 181 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:15.080 As he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all 182 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:21.029 your conduct and all your conduct. Many in the church do not seek holiness. 183 00:16:21.149 --> 00:16:27.230 We seek acceptance, normalcy, convenience. If it's easy, we're cool 184 00:16:27.309 --> 00:16:30.710 with it. If it's not easy, we're going to find another way. 185 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:34.860 But we are called to be holy. We are called to be different, 186 00:16:37.460 --> 00:16:41.500 sometimes not different. We speak the same language, we were the same clothes. 187 00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:45.860 You know, we basically do a lot of same things as the people 188 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:51.690 around us, but in other ways very different. We might speak the same 189 00:16:51.730 --> 00:16:57.450 language, but we speak with a heavenly grace in our words. We don't 190 00:16:57.529 --> 00:17:03.480 lie, we trust the Lord. We speak of his promises, we admonish 191 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:07.319 one another, we keep a heavenly perspective. Sometimes people are willing to be 192 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.359 odd as Christians is long as it makes them cool, but not if it 193 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:18.630 means losing a friend, not if it means losing a job or the esteem 194 00:17:18.630 --> 00:17:22.990 of the world. But remember when God, for example, called out his 195 00:17:23.190 --> 00:17:27.549 church in the Old Testament, when he called out the Israelites out of Egypt, 196 00:17:27.910 --> 00:17:32.819 he called them to be a holy nation and to worship him. That 197 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:37.220 was why he called them out of Egypt. Exodus Nineteen in the lividicus eleven 198 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:41.619 say this. Today he does the same. He calls the church out of 199 00:17:41.259 --> 00:17:48.009 the world, not to be more man centered, more consumer driven, to 200 00:17:48.170 --> 00:17:52.569 do more of the same, but in a with like spiritual overtones, but 201 00:17:52.730 --> 00:17:56.690 to be a different kind of people. The Bible says we are to be 202 00:17:56.769 --> 00:18:02.279 a light that shines. We are to be a place of rest that people 203 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:07.920 might come and experience something that's different from the turmoil that's all around us. 204 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.200 And, as I mentioned, with the first attribute, here, with the 205 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:15.670 second, but this holiness, with the SEPARATI set apartness. We can do 206 00:18:15.910 --> 00:18:22.349 that because that is God who God made us to be brothers and sisters. 207 00:18:22.390 --> 00:18:26.109 We don't have to conjure this up. We just live by his strength, 208 00:18:27.059 --> 00:18:30.940 we just trust in his promises. When he says you are sanctified, we 209 00:18:32.099 --> 00:18:37.740 say yes, sir, simple as that. We just believe him that what 210 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:41.130 he says is true, and then we act on the basis of those beliefs. 211 00:18:44.009 --> 00:18:47.009 We don't have to make it up. Consider the picture of a temple. 212 00:18:48.049 --> 00:18:52.329 The Bible describes the Church and Ephesians to nineteen as a holy temple. 213 00:18:52.970 --> 00:18:56.920 Bill Bolt on the foundation of the POSTLES and Prophets, Christ, Jesus himself, 214 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:02.319 being the corner stone and whom, the whole structure being joined together, 215 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:08.559 grows into a Holy Temple in the Lord. Why are we holy? Because 216 00:19:10.029 --> 00:19:14.950 Jesus Christ is holy. That's who we're built on, that's who we live 217 00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:18.109 in. Or consider the example of the vine and the branches. Why do 218 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:25.900 the Branches Produce Fruit of righteousness? Because they're united to the vine. That's 219 00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:29.980 what branches do that are united to the vine. Branches aren't there are going 220 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:33.740 trying to be something that they're not. They just are who they who they 221 00:19:33.779 --> 00:19:40.930 are again, first Peter Fifteen. I'll say the rest of the verse this 222 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:44.970 time he says but as a first Peter one fifteen. But is he who 223 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:48.210 called you as holy? You should be holy in all your conducts, since 224 00:19:48.289 --> 00:19:53.759 it is written you shall be holy for I am holy. This is not 225 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:59.440 just a command to model ourselves after Jesus, it's also a promise. This 226 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:06.559 will happen because it is what God has ordained. The foundation of any building 227 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:10.309 defines the rest of the building, and it's true for the church as well. 228 00:20:11.150 --> 00:20:15.349 And the foundation isn't one that we've laid, it's one that God has 229 00:20:15.390 --> 00:20:18.670 laid, and we can trust him for that. And as we trust him 230 00:20:18.670 --> 00:20:22.420 for that, we will be the kind of people that he has called us 231 00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:32.259 to be. Next Catholic, one holy, and now Catholic. Catholic means 232 00:20:32.299 --> 00:20:37.529 universal, it means if the it's the flip side to the unity. We 233 00:20:37.769 --> 00:20:42.490 have this unity together, unity and mission, unity and Sanctification, unity under 234 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:48.769 the Lord. But there's also diversity there. We're not unity as in only 235 00:20:48.930 --> 00:20:53.160 one person is a Christian or only Jesus Christ is the church, but he 236 00:20:53.240 --> 00:21:02.079 has created for himself a body of people with many members. This is expressed 237 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:04.430 in First Corinthians. To hear what he addresses to the Church that is, 238 00:21:04.470 --> 00:21:08.390 in Corinth called to be saints, together with all those who, in every 239 00:21:08.509 --> 00:21:15.109 place call upon the name of the Lord. Here we are reminded as to 240 00:21:15.269 --> 00:21:18.299 think broadly about the church, even as we think in a unified way about 241 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:23.380 the church. The Church of God is not tied to any particular time, 242 00:21:25.619 --> 00:21:30.900 because Jesus existed before all time. The church is not tied any particular city, 243 00:21:30.700 --> 00:21:37.609 because our citizenship is in heaven, where Christ is. Christians live in 244 00:21:37.650 --> 00:21:40.690 the world, of course, but we do so, to use the language 245 00:21:40.690 --> 00:21:45.450 of the Bible, as exiles, as aliens, as sojourners. Is Resident, 246 00:21:45.490 --> 00:21:52.599 aliens is pilgrims. Christians are found in every country, but our citizenship 247 00:21:52.680 --> 00:22:00.440 is in heaven, our ultimate citizenship, Peter says. But our citizenship is 248 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:06.190 in heaven and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 249 00:22:07.390 --> 00:22:10.950 One or writer in the early Church expressed it this way. He says in 250 00:22:11.150 --> 00:22:15.630 writing about Christians, he's describing them, and he says every foreign country is 251 00:22:15.740 --> 00:22:22.500 their fatherland and every fatherland is foreign. Every foreign country is there, every 252 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:26.140 foreign country is their fatherland. In other words, they're not. Christians aren't 253 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:37.609 Justin Italy or in Greece or an Asia, United States or anywhere else. 254 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:44.089 You'll find them anywhere. You'll find them living out their citizenship in all kinds 255 00:22:44.089 --> 00:22:48.400 of places, but all their fatherlands are also foreign to them as well. 256 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:53.160 They live everywhere, a citizens everywhere, but also a little bit separate, 257 00:22:53.680 --> 00:23:00.190 a little bit weird. Early we emphasized our university is grounded in our universality, 258 00:23:00.309 --> 00:23:04.509 in our diversity is grounded in our unity. It's also true that our 259 00:23:04.589 --> 00:23:10.750 unity is grounded in this universality. You can't deny either. As the point 260 00:23:10.829 --> 00:23:15.299 I'm trying to make. You leave aside our unity for the sake of adversity 261 00:23:15.380 --> 00:23:18.460 and you get a bunch of marbles in a bowl, totally disconnected from each 262 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:23.779 other, just individual pieces. No, not a body, not a unity. 263 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:29.130 but You de die our diversity for the sake of lute unity and you 264 00:23:29.250 --> 00:23:33.089 lose the whole body of Christ. You end up with like an ugly toe 265 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:37.609 or something nothing but just one thing, when God has created something that is 266 00:23:37.769 --> 00:23:44.759 rich and diverse. First Corinthians will tell us that he distributes gifts variously. 267 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.640 He gives to people different measures of different things, and he does so not 268 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:56.710 dependent on the cultural things that we often think are so important, and this 269 00:23:56.829 --> 00:24:02.910 will inform both of these things. Will inform how we think about various conflicts 270 00:24:02.950 --> 00:24:07.589 and issues within the church. The moment that we say others must be connected 271 00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:12.779 to our time, our place, our traditions are customs, we begin denying 272 00:24:14.099 --> 00:24:23.490 our calling in Christ when we replace the head of the Church, who is 273 00:24:23.609 --> 00:24:29.450 Christ in heaven with someone here on Earth in a particular time or a particular 274 00:24:29.609 --> 00:24:36.609 place, we begin to disconnecting ourselves from the one true church. Whenever we 275 00:24:36.809 --> 00:24:41.640 elevate issues of liberty to issues of principle, whether it's the clothes we wear 276 00:24:41.079 --> 00:24:48.960 or the style of music or postures of prayer, we begin to slip away. 277 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:55.670 We have to fight this temptation because our culture, I don't know if 278 00:24:55.670 --> 00:24:57.829 it's true, now more than ever, feels like it. You can judge 279 00:24:57.829 --> 00:25:03.589 that for yourself. It's not important, but our culture wants to divide us, 280 00:25:03.630 --> 00:25:07.140 especially, I think, a consumer driven culture. It's all about Niche 281 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:14.700 Marketing, finding your angle. We are always constantly, every day, divide 282 00:25:14.740 --> 00:25:18.700 it up based on class and age, skin color, culture, money, 283 00:25:18.740 --> 00:25:25.930 education and more. The Bible doesn't say go find your little niche and develop 284 00:25:25.930 --> 00:25:30.890 a church. That says evangelize all the lost, the ones you're comfortable with, 285 00:25:30.049 --> 00:25:33.329 in the ones you're not comfortable with, the ones you know and the 286 00:25:33.410 --> 00:25:37.759 ones you don't know. There's no either Jew nor Greek, slaver, free, 287 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:40.799 male or female. You're all one in Christ, Jesus, Paul says 288 00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:45.880 in Galatians three, and this is something that he has made us to be 289 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:51.509 and it's beautiful and it's wonderful and it must be affirmed and embraced along with 290 00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:59.230 our other attributes. We are Catholic, universal, diverse and it's a wonderful 291 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:07.819 thing and it's God's grace to US apostolic. In a second letter to Timothy, 292 00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:11.299 Paul says to him fall all the pattern of sound words that you have 293 00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:15.220 heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. When 294 00:26:15.259 --> 00:26:21.490 we confess that the church is apostolic, we mean that we believe that the 295 00:26:21.529 --> 00:26:26.170 same faith that was given to Timothy by the Apostle Paul is the faith that 296 00:26:26.289 --> 00:26:32.009 we also want to trust and and live in. Remember back and Ephesians, 297 00:26:32.049 --> 00:26:36.559 we talked about the church is this temple built on the foundation of the Apostles 298 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:41.880 and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. As the Church was 299 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:48.589 inaugurated, Christ, the cornerstone, squared everything up. He was that piece 300 00:26:48.710 --> 00:26:52.750 which defined all the other angles and he was the ruler by which the apostles 301 00:26:52.829 --> 00:27:00.390 and their doctrine was governed. We're not seeking to lay the foundation of the 302 00:27:00.470 --> 00:27:06.059 Church again on the twenty one century floor. We're not seeking new doctrines or 303 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:11.140 new ways of salvation. We hold fast to the Foundation, the foundation that 304 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:21.250 Christ laid. Apart from it we crumble, we fall apart. To say 305 00:27:21.289 --> 00:27:25.450 that the church is apostolic is another way of saying that it's based in scripture. 306 00:27:26.450 --> 00:27:30.640 The word is what defines us. It reminds us that our faith is 307 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:34.720 not based at the appath Word Apostolic, and it's the sense in which it 308 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:40.079 is based in the scriptures. It reminds us that our faith is not based 309 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:45.829 on the vain imaginations of men or speculations are guesses. Our faith is based 310 00:27:45.950 --> 00:27:52.150 on the revealed word of Christ. An apostle wasn't just a holy man, 311 00:27:52.549 --> 00:27:56.470 he was someone who had been filled with the Holy Spirit to speak with the 312 00:27:56.549 --> 00:28:03.619 authority of God himself. The Apostles weren't just nice people, they were men 313 00:28:03.740 --> 00:28:10.099 chosen by God to represent him on earth. And Acts Two hundred forty two, 314 00:28:10.220 --> 00:28:12.609 we read that the early church, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, 315 00:28:12.690 --> 00:28:18.089 after being regenerated and saved, this called out body, devoted to themselves 316 00:28:18.529 --> 00:28:23.009 to the teaching of the apostles, and if we are to be a true 317 00:28:23.049 --> 00:28:29.000 Christian church, we must do the same. It was through the apostles that 318 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:34.519 Christ continued his ministry. He told the apostles, you will do greater works 319 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:40.400 than I will do. That's what Jesus said. We sometimes ask how is 320 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:45.710 that possible? It's because of the extent of that work. Jesus is ministry 321 00:28:45.829 --> 00:28:49.829 to the whole world. In his life only began in a tiny little area, 322 00:28:51.710 --> 00:28:55.230 but he promised to send his spirit to these men who would send out 323 00:28:55.309 --> 00:28:57.980 his gospel to the ends of the world, and he did, and on 324 00:28:59.099 --> 00:29:04.140 that foundation the Church has been built. It was through the apostles that Jesus, 325 00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:08.500 Our Lord, took care of his early church and continues to take care 326 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:14.450 of us today. It was through them that Christ finished his work of the 327 00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:18.890 spreading of the Gospel to the nation's it was through the apostles that he confirmed 328 00:29:18.930 --> 00:29:22.329 the words of the Gospels about the coming kingdom. And so when we think 329 00:29:22.450 --> 00:29:27.240 that of us as being apostolic, we are reminded of these two things. 330 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:33.599 We are reminded that our faith is biblical, but also that we're well cared 331 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:44.829 for by the Lord Jesus. Christ Paul Addresses these things as an apostle. 332 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:48.750 He speaks in verse one. He tells them that he has been called by 333 00:29:48.990 --> 00:29:55.339 the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. That's why he 334 00:29:55.539 --> 00:30:00.740 writes, that's why he speaks and Sasthanes, their brother, our brother as 335 00:30:00.859 --> 00:30:06.380 well, joins with him in that. He speaks to the Church and Corinth 336 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:10.769 and he speaks to them this word, and he begins by reminding them and 337 00:30:11.009 --> 00:30:17.609 us who we are. To conclude, as I mentioned, Paul is going 338 00:30:17.690 --> 00:30:22.720 to address a whole wide variety of issues. He's going to expose, and 339 00:30:22.839 --> 00:30:27.559 sometimes painful and even embarrassing ways, the worldly assumptions that have crept into the 340 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:33.039 church. He's going to show them how and why they must get rid of 341 00:30:33.079 --> 00:30:37.789 them, whether it's touching on preaching or the Lord's Supper, worship, giving 342 00:30:37.829 --> 00:30:44.269 spiritual gifts and more. And in the midst of it he begins to cultivate 343 00:30:44.390 --> 00:30:49.259 and help us to understand more and more and more who we are in Christ. 344 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:56.779 How Jesus and Him Crucified is central to everything, how he is the 345 00:30:56.940 --> 00:31:00.579 corner stone, is the is the one in whom we hope, how he 346 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:03.450 and his word is the one in whom we find our identity, not only 347 00:31:03.490 --> 00:31:10.569 as individuals but as a body. He begins to help us to understand how 348 00:31:10.650 --> 00:31:17.410 we can repent of our sins and trust in His grace. Apart from the 349 00:31:17.490 --> 00:31:23.319 Lord Jesus Christ, we can indeed do nothing, be nothing. But in 350 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:30.000 him, and because of his shed blood, we become a people the world 351 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:40.589 has never seen before, one holy, Catholic and apostolic. We are sanctified 352 00:31:40.710 --> 00:31:45.470 in Christ Jesus, called together to be assaulved, called to be saints, 353 00:31:45.549 --> 00:31:48.140 together with all those who, in every place, call upon the name of 354 00:31:48.220 --> 00:31:53.420 our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. May God do this 355 00:31:53.460 --> 00:32:00.819 among us as well. Amen. Let's pray together. Our heavenly father, 356 00:32:00.940 --> 00:32:02.769 we thank you and we praise you for the work that you have done us, 357 00:32:02.930 --> 00:32:07.769 in us and among your people. We thank you for the joys and 358 00:32:07.849 --> 00:32:13.369 the pleasures it is and being brought into such a wonderful body, to have 359 00:32:13.529 --> 00:32:17.880 union with you and and to know and to know your presence, to live 360 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:24.480 and dwell with you forever. These are great and difficult things to express. 361 00:32:27.000 --> 00:32:30.190 As we consider this church that you have founded here on Earth, we look 362 00:32:30.269 --> 00:32:35.710 forward to the Perfect Church in heaven, Lord, were all of these things 363 00:32:35.789 --> 00:32:42.710 will be made perfect. No, there will no longer be a remaining sin, 364 00:32:43.309 --> 00:32:47.700 no longer any threat of the evil one, no longer any temptations to 365 00:32:49.700 --> 00:32:52.900 cling to the things of this world. Instead, Lord, it will be 366 00:32:53.059 --> 00:33:00.250 you, only you, and always you, glorifying and enjoying you, forever 367 00:33:00.529 --> 00:33:05.089 calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and doing so together. 368 00:33:06.609 --> 00:33:09.490 We thank you for the pleasure of giving us a fore taste of this, 369 00:33:10.009 --> 00:33:15.640 experiences of this. Even now, even this morning, here in our city, 370 00:33:15.799 --> 00:33:22.680 we gather together and call upon your name in prayer and praise, confession 371 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:29.390 of our sins and hopeful respond once in doxology. Lord, and all of 372 00:33:29.509 --> 00:33:31.990 these things, we see your work among us. As we look at our 373 00:33:32.029 --> 00:33:37.910 brothers and sisters sitting around us this morning, we see your gifts made manifest. 374 00:33:37.789 --> 00:33:42.500 We see love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, 375 00:33:42.619 --> 00:33:46.420 gentleness and self control. We see gifts of service and administration, gifts of 376 00:33:46.539 --> 00:33:52.819 healing and and love. We see gifts that speak into our lives and give 377 00:33:52.859 --> 00:33:59.170 grace. We see gifts that build up and lift us up, Lord, 378 00:33:59.210 --> 00:34:02.490 even in ourselves. We see you putting to death that evil things and desires 379 00:34:02.569 --> 00:34:07.289 in US and changing us into new creatures. We see how far we have 380 00:34:07.449 --> 00:34:12.719 to go, and we do bemoan our sins, but we also see the 381 00:34:12.920 --> 00:34:16.840 work that you are doing and we give you praise. We thank you that 382 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:22.840 we are not as we once were, that, by your most wonderful grace, 383 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:25.110 you are at work in us. You, who have called us, 384 00:34:25.230 --> 00:34:30.670 are faithful and you've called us into the fellowship of your son, and so 385 00:34:30.829 --> 00:34:35.590 we asked that you would continue this good word in us, help us to 386 00:34:35.750 --> 00:34:39.059 grow through this book as we study and learn from it, some for the 387 00:34:39.139 --> 00:34:45.420 first time and some from the many, many, many time. And we 388 00:34:45.500 --> 00:34:49.579 ask now for your grace in these things and pray this in Jesus name.