Gospel Eyes (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:03.439 What's good to be with you all this morning. I am going to have 2 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.759 you turn with me to the book of First Corinthians, the opening portion of 3 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:11.830 that book, the first chapter, and we will read the text once I've 4 00:00:11.910 --> 00:00:15.509 introduced the message. First Corinthians one, one, two, nine. So 5 00:00:15.589 --> 00:00:18.510 if you want to have your Bible open to there, it'll help you as 6 00:00:18.550 --> 00:00:22.859 we follow along. It's good to be with you. It's good to be 7 00:00:23.059 --> 00:00:27.460 part of a partnering Church. Though in the PCA, we at Rincon pray 8 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:33.579 for you all. We Love the Faithful Ministry of the word and our reformed 9 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:37.729 heritage that you all bring to this community and we're glad to be partners with 10 00:00:37.929 --> 00:00:43.409 you in this work. And I had a really delightful coffee with Pastor Chris 11 00:00:44.409 --> 00:00:47.770 Opportunity to get to know him better and look forward to getting to know him 12 00:00:47.770 --> 00:00:51.359 more. We share a common education. I spent a year and a half 13 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:55.640 at Westminster as I came into the PCA, so we know a lot of 14 00:00:55.719 --> 00:01:00.000 people together and we're able to tell some pretty amusing stories about some of our 15 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:04.870 professors in those days. Well, today I'm going to give you an eye 16 00:01:04.909 --> 00:01:11.590 exam. I have all kinds of eye problems throughout my life and I've gotten 17 00:01:11.629 --> 00:01:15.150 used to eye exams. I'm going to talk to you about how you see 18 00:01:15.549 --> 00:01:19.819 and from First Corinthians one, we're going to ask questions about how we see. 19 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:27.099 Specifically, I'm going to talk to you about how you see each other, 20 00:01:29.620 --> 00:01:33.329 how you see other believers, not just in this church but beyond this 21 00:01:33.569 --> 00:01:37.609 church, and we're going to talk about how you see the church. When 22 00:01:37.650 --> 00:01:42.129 you look at the church, if you're like me, when you look out 23 00:01:42.129 --> 00:01:49.120 around you, there are things you notice and things you don't notice. Advertisers 24 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:53.599 are aware that you're only going to see certain billboards when you have an interest 25 00:01:53.640 --> 00:01:56.799 in them, and otherwise they're invisible. So we notice some things and we 26 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:00.549 don't see others, and some of us just have a certain thing we're always 27 00:02:00.629 --> 00:02:07.590 looking for. For example, I am by nature a proof reader. Now 28 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:13.030 what does that mean? That means you can hand me your essay upside down 29 00:02:13.830 --> 00:02:16.699 to my view, handed across to me if I'm teaching you, and I 30 00:02:16.979 --> 00:02:21.699 will, just by looking at the paper, identify every Typo on the front 31 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:25.740 page. I don't want to read it, I just want to show you 32 00:02:25.939 --> 00:02:35.610 your mistakes. And I'm that way with people when I first meet people. 33 00:02:35.689 --> 00:02:40.370 I'm sizing them up, trying to assess their personality, their faults, their 34 00:02:40.449 --> 00:02:46.199 flaws. I tend to see people as critically as I see a typed page. 35 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:53.960 And over the years I've noticed that we of the reform tradition can and 36 00:02:54.719 --> 00:03:01.590 can be a little bit focused on sin and a little bit focused on doctrine. 37 00:03:01.629 --> 00:03:06.150 So the first thing we notice has to do with Sin and Righteousness and 38 00:03:06.270 --> 00:03:10.509 doctrinal faithfulness. And it's right to take sin seriously and take truth seriously, 39 00:03:12.860 --> 00:03:15.900 but we have filters we use, you use, I use, depends on 40 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:21.300 how you put together your state of sanctification and your particular gifts and history. 41 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:23.659 Well, like this morning, I'd like to talk about a different way of 42 00:03:23.780 --> 00:03:31.969 seeing. I think the Gospel changes how we see and what we see when 43 00:03:32.009 --> 00:03:38.930 we look on others. I I call it Gospel Eyes. When I look 44 00:03:38.969 --> 00:03:43.879 at God's people through the Work of Christ on the Cross, I'm looking at 45 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:51.719 them with Gospel eyes. I'm seeing them as Christ sees them and died for 46 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:55.870 them and rose again for them. Now I get that idea from a lot 47 00:03:55.949 --> 00:04:00.469 of places in the New Testament. And what it looks like I get from 48 00:04:00.469 --> 00:04:01.949 a lot of places in the New Testament. But the place I like to 49 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:06.750 go to talk about this is First Corinthians, chapter one, because this chapter, 50 00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:11.900 these opening verses, as much as anywhere in the New Testament, are 51 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:17.980 a fabulous example of Gospel eyes. Now I pick Korn for a reason. 52 00:04:19.139 --> 00:04:26.250 The CORINTHIAN church is are the bad boys of the New Testament. They're like 53 00:04:26.410 --> 00:04:30.170 the Oakland Raiders in football. We have nothing good to say about them that 54 00:04:30.290 --> 00:04:38.170 they have loyal fans and this church deserves its reputation. They had all the 55 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:42.439 basic categories of problems in their myths. They they had immorality. As a 56 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:45.959 matter of fact, they had an example of immorality in their myths that would 57 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:50.000 make a pagan blush. They had contention and divisions among them. They even 58 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:55.709 had lawsuits, believers taking other believers before the courts of the Roman world. 59 00:04:56.389 --> 00:05:01.550 They had factions around their various teachers and theologians. They resisted Paul's leadership. 60 00:05:01.550 --> 00:05:05.910 They were competitive and they also had heresy and crept among them. They had 61 00:05:05.949 --> 00:05:11.779 people actually questioning the doctrine of the resurrection. Why? I would put it 62 00:05:11.819 --> 00:05:15.300 as some churches of the New Testament have problems. This church has all of 63 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:23.089 the problems and this church is dear to Paul. Before we read the passage, 64 00:05:23.089 --> 00:05:26.410 if to understand this church is dear to Paul Paul. Paul came into 65 00:05:26.490 --> 00:05:31.490 Corinth to preach the Gospel, a very weary man, having been persecuted down 66 00:05:31.730 --> 00:05:38.800 the peninsula, the the from the Balkans all the way to corinth, persecuted, 67 00:05:39.079 --> 00:05:43.879 worn out, hot, treated with hostility. arrived in Corinth worn down 68 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:48.199 and while he began, God gave Him the vision that there would be great 69 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:53.189 fruit and a city. You'll find it an acse eighteen, and Paul took 70 00:05:53.269 --> 00:05:57.949 courage from that and with his team preach the Gospel. God called people to 71 00:05:58.069 --> 00:06:00.829 faith. A church was formed. There was opposition to the church. God 72 00:06:00.949 --> 00:06:06.339 preserve the Church and God was doing a great work in Corinth and Paul moved 73 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:13.300 on as he did, continued in his his church planting journey and he had 74 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:15.939 some friends from Corinth come over to see him while he was an ephesus, 75 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:21.009 just across the water from Corinth. They arrived and they brought him good news 76 00:06:21.050 --> 00:06:24.930 of everything I just described. There was a problem of their morality, there 77 00:06:24.970 --> 00:06:29.170 was a problem with vision, there was a problem of heresy. Now just 78 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:33.120 stop and ask if you were Paul having spent eighteen months planting that church at 79 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:39.519 great cost. If you are Paul, having watched that church formed and preserved 80 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.199 in the midst of a wave of harsh persecution, what would that feel like? 81 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:48.189 What would that feel like to pull? He was a man like us. 82 00:06:49.670 --> 00:06:53.589 He didn't sprout wings when he became an apostle. He was a man 83 00:06:53.709 --> 00:06:59.189 like us and and he would have felt maybe disillusioned, maybe tempted to anger. 84 00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:06.860 May Be disappointed, maybe discouraged. He might tend to think he had 85 00:07:06.939 --> 00:07:12.420 failed in his work, that within short periods of time, all his work 86 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:15.139 seemed to be undone. He must have made mistakes, didn't do it well. 87 00:07:15.620 --> 00:07:18.730 He might be angry that they were ungrateful and he might be tempted to 88 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:23.569 give them a talking to, as my mother in law says it. Being 89 00:07:23.649 --> 00:07:29.769 from the south, he might be tempted to dress them down. Paul, 90 00:07:29.930 --> 00:07:35.160 Paul is looking at a messy situation now. He's not going immence words. 91 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:38.800 As you get into the book you'll find that he doesn't. He's not going 92 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:42.600 to dodge the issues at hand. But with all that is background. Now 93 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:47.550 let me read the first nine verses. This is what Paul writes to a 94 00:07:47.629 --> 00:07:55.790 church where there is immorality, division and heresy. Paul, called by the 95 00:07:55.829 --> 00:08:00.180 will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sostanes, 96 00:08:01.100 --> 00:08:05.420 to the Church of God that is in Corint to those sanctified in Christ 97 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:09.300 Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who, in every 98 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:13.930 place, call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord 99 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:18.569 and ours. Grace to you in peace from God, our father and the 100 00:08:18.730 --> 00:08:24.209 Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you, because 101 00:08:24.250 --> 00:08:26.360 of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in 102 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:30.920 every way you were enriched in him, at all speech and all knowledge, 103 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.840 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are 104 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.120 not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus 105 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.350 Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless, in the day 106 00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:48.909 of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into 107 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:54.590 the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And, knowing 108 00:08:54.669 --> 00:09:07.259 the background, you might say what he's expressing gratitude, confidence, hope. 109 00:09:07.940 --> 00:09:16.129 Christ is mentioned nine times as he's introducing this letter to an immoral, divided, 110 00:09:16.289 --> 00:09:26.039 heretical church. That's not what I would have expected. It's a matter 111 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:30.279 of fact. If all I had was these opening nine verses with me as 112 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:35.399 I was heading to visit Corinth, I would have expected something very different than 113 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:41.029 what I would have found when I arrived. How can Paul write this way 114 00:09:41.110 --> 00:09:43.750 to this church? Well, he's not buttering them up. A friend of 115 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:46.309 mine years ago said, Oh, he is buttering them up before the kill. 116 00:09:46.389 --> 00:09:50.429 Apostles don't butter up. Okay, let me just make that clear. 117 00:09:50.509 --> 00:09:56.860 They write God's word. God doesn't butter up. Now he's writing to them 118 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:03.259 as he's looking at them through the eyes of the Gospel. He's looking at 119 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:07.009 them through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. He seeing them as 120 00:10:07.169 --> 00:10:13.250 Christ sees them. Not just here, it throughout the letters. So I 121 00:10:13.289 --> 00:10:16.529 want to walk through that with you today and hopefully it will be as helpful 122 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:20.250 to you as it has been to me for well over fifteen years since I 123 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:24.519 first began to think on this. So three things were going to look at 124 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:28.559 in these opening verses. Number one, Paul, with Gospelie, sees what 125 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:33.480 Christ has made them. Number two, he sees what Christ is doing among 126 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:37.909 them. And number three, he sees what Christ will do for them, 127 00:10:37.950 --> 00:10:43.110 or you might say past tense, present tense, future tense of what Christ 128 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:48.509 is doing. Number One sees what Christ has made them. Now you'll notice 129 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:54.940 in those verses I read to you, he he's describing them. He calls 130 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:58.059 them, in verse too, the Church or the congregation of God's people. 131 00:10:58.220 --> 00:11:03.289 Like Israel, they are a holy nation. He says in verse two that 132 00:11:03.370 --> 00:11:09.490 they are sanctified in Christ Jesus. That's that's means that they have been owned 133 00:11:09.529 --> 00:11:13.970 by God and set apart for God. God says to them, you are 134 00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:22.120 mine completely. He calls them saints. Same idea. You belong to God, 135 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.399 the Holy One, and he says they are saints. It has nothing 136 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:31.679 to do with their performance. It has to do with Christ. He says 137 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:35.350 they are together with all those in every place call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. 138 00:11:35.429 --> 00:11:41.629 They are part of the one true church, now manifested in many particular 139 00:11:41.750 --> 00:11:46.990 churches. They are Christ's congregation, they are his people, fully owned, 140 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:54.460 set apart for Christ. They are saints. He sees what Christ has made 141 00:11:54.139 --> 00:12:01.019 them, and that's how he writes to them. If we were to add 142 00:12:01.059 --> 00:12:05.809 other scripture to this picture, we could say, as Hebrews does, Jesus 143 00:12:05.809 --> 00:12:11.490 is not ashamed to call this church his own. He has placed his name 144 00:12:11.970 --> 00:12:18.480 on this church and he has not withdrawn his name from this church, though 145 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:24.360 they have these problems. He is not ashamed, says Hebrews, to call 146 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:31.990 US brothers. And that is what Paul Sees, what Christ has made them, 147 00:12:33.309 --> 00:12:39.909 what Jesus sees when he looks on this church. Well, how can 148 00:12:39.990 --> 00:12:41.710 he say that? Well, yet yes, there is sin among them, 149 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:46.740 but from Paul's point of view, looking at us through the eyes of the 150 00:12:46.860 --> 00:12:54.139 Gospel, their identity is not grounded in their sin. But in fact their 151 00:12:54.220 --> 00:13:00.730 identity isn't grounded in their good behavior. Their identity is grounded in Jesus Christ, 152 00:13:00.889 --> 00:13:07.649 crucified and risen. That's who they are. They have had their whole 153 00:13:07.850 --> 00:13:13.759 identity swallowed up in the death, Marylyn resurrection of God's son. For Sinners, 154 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:20.279 their sin does not define them. Christ defines them. And Paul, 155 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:28.590 though he sees their sin, also sees them with Gospel eyes and therefore he 156 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:33.509 approaches them as those who have been made God's people, Holy, beloved owns, 157 00:13:33.629 --> 00:13:41.539 set apart for Christ and saints switch the analogy. It's as though Paul 158 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:46.259 sees the disease, that he sees them in light of the great physician, 159 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.019 which changes your perspective on the disease, doesn't it? If you know there 160 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:58.809 is an infallible cure, how you see the sickness changes. Christ has made 161 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:03.450 them his people. They are fully owned, set apart for Christ, they 162 00:14:03.490 --> 00:14:09.559 are saying. So let me ask you, let me ask myself, when 163 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:16.960 you look around, when you look at other believers in this congregation, in 164 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:24.470 your relationships outside this congregation, what do you see? What do you see? 165 00:14:24.629 --> 00:14:31.669 What do you notice? What identity or are you attributing to them? 166 00:14:31.990 --> 00:14:35.909 How do you define them the church? Do you look for their behavior, 167 00:14:37.710 --> 00:14:41.019 good or bad? Do you look for their theology, good or bad? 168 00:14:43.620 --> 00:14:50.419 So here's another analogy. If Jesus were introducing them to you, these people 169 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:54.049 around you, what would he say? Here's what Jesus would say about the 170 00:14:54.090 --> 00:14:58.009 Corinthians. These are my people, my congregation, saints, Holy Ones. 171 00:14:58.490 --> 00:15:03.850 I own them, their mine. Let me introduce you to what would Jesus 172 00:15:03.929 --> 00:15:09.600 say about you? How would Jesus introduce you? This is such a helpful 173 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:13.639 exercise for me because because this is how I introduce people. All this is 174 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:22.070 bill he's a five point calvinist. Let me different than what Jesus might say. 175 00:15:22.149 --> 00:15:28.710 Or this is this is brother sound. So he has a problem with 176 00:15:28.789 --> 00:15:35.580 anger, or he's not a really good dad. There's I tended to find 177 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:39.179 people by their behavior, that with their beliefs, good behavior, bad behavior, 178 00:15:39.379 --> 00:15:43.580 whatever it may be. Now Jesus would introduce every one of us saying 179 00:15:43.659 --> 00:15:48.019 this is mark, this is Mary, this is Pete, this is my 180 00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:56.610 beloved son, the one I've made my own. He's mine, she's mine. 181 00:15:58.529 --> 00:16:04.559 That's who you are. So Paul begins by seeing what Christ has made 182 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.919 them. Secondly, he doesn't just see what Christ has made them. Past 183 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:12.120 tense. That's their identity. He sees what Christ is doing among them, 184 00:16:12.200 --> 00:16:15.000 how he is at work among them, what he is doing, what he 185 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:19.509 has done and what he is doing. Highlighting again, you'll notice what Paul 186 00:16:19.549 --> 00:16:23.870 says in these opening verses. He says, I give thanks to my God 187 00:16:23.950 --> 00:16:26.789 always for you, because of the grace of God that was given you. 188 00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:33.139 There's there's an operation of God's grace among them, and he describes it in 189 00:16:33.379 --> 00:16:37.779 every way. You were enriched in him. In all speech and all knowledges 190 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:45.220 are activities of God's spirit. In this church. The testimony about Christ is 191 00:16:45.379 --> 00:16:49.450 confirmed among you and you are not lacking in any gift and waiting for the 192 00:16:49.529 --> 00:16:56.370 revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has poured out grace and is working 193 00:16:56.409 --> 00:17:03.080 in this church. Yes, in the midst of Pharisee, immorality and division, 194 00:17:03.119 --> 00:17:07.680 God is at work in the midst of his people. How can Paul 195 00:17:07.720 --> 00:17:12.119 say that? Well, Paul knew there was no such thing as a pure 196 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:22.269 work of God. The flesh tarnishes everything, but he also knew God was 197 00:17:22.309 --> 00:17:30.819 at work here and is at work in this church. He sees men and 198 00:17:30.900 --> 00:17:33.980 women who were objects of God's Wrath, now, through Christ, washed and 199 00:17:34.180 --> 00:17:38.259 forgiven. He sees men and women in whom the Holy Spirit dwells and in 200 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:47.410 whom God is at work and sin is present. Paul, Paul reminds them 201 00:17:47.490 --> 00:17:51.329 of his generous of God's generous grace to them, the grace of God that 202 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:55.569 was given your he he he believes all that God is doing is not because 203 00:17:55.609 --> 00:17:59.039 of anything they've done. He'll later say, what do you have that you 204 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.480 have not received? Everything is received. There's no grounds of boasting in it. 205 00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:08.160 But Paul is focusing on the things God has done in them and the 206 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:15.069 things only God can do. God has been at work in this church and 207 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:19.990 the the analogy I use as Paul is looking for the finger Prince of God. 208 00:18:22.430 --> 00:18:26.539 What is God touching? Where is God at work? He's looking for 209 00:18:26.900 --> 00:18:34.059 the signs and the indications of God's activity and he names them. Here the 210 00:18:34.180 --> 00:18:40.819 enriching of God's spirit that gives gifts to this church, the assurance of Salvation. 211 00:18:44.329 --> 00:18:47.170 He sees the sin, but he's looking for the finger prints of God. 212 00:18:48.289 --> 00:18:53.650 These people in this church are people who are a work of God in 213 00:18:53.809 --> 00:19:03.359 progress, and that's what Paul looks for. He sees the sickness that he 214 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:07.079 sees the healing work of the savior progressing in them. He sees what God 215 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:12.910 is doing. Here's another way to say this. He's not shocked by their 216 00:19:12.990 --> 00:19:21.829 sin. He shocked that God would save sinners. He's not amazed that they 217 00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:25.700 have problems. He's amazed that Christ is at work among people like us. 218 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:33.700 It's always a good question to ask what shocks me. Am I shockable? 219 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:41.089 I think a mark of people that understand God saving grace to sinners, as 220 00:19:41.130 --> 00:19:45.089 we're not shocked by anything, does mean we diminish it and mean we minimize 221 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:48.569 the sin. But it's like yeah, that's why we need a savior. 222 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:53.880 It's exactly why we need a savior. Isn't it amazing that there is a 223 00:19:53.960 --> 00:20:02.000 savior for people like us? See, it's all about expectations, isn't it? 224 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:06.839 Paul is looking here in a congregation with its members and pastors, and 225 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:11.309 I think if we used a modern analogy, we might say a church has 226 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:18.230 some elements in it that are like a hospital and a hospital this hospital is 227 00:20:18.349 --> 00:20:23.940 a hospital where everyone eventually walks out totally cured. But it's all so we're 228 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:33.539 sick, people go and there's a slow process of healing and recovery. My 229 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:37.769 son is a doctor up in Minneapolis and I don't think he ever walks into 230 00:20:37.809 --> 00:20:41.410 his shift in the emergency room and look around and say what's all? What's 231 00:20:41.450 --> 00:20:45.210 up with all the sick people here? Get Out of here now. What 232 00:20:45.410 --> 00:20:51.440 that's what hospitals are for, is the sick. But you look for signs 233 00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:56.480 of healing and you look for signs of healing in the church. That's what 234 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.400 Paul's doing. God is at work, he has made them his own and 235 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:06.309 he is at work in them. So Paul focuses on the finger prints of 236 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:08.589 God. What does he see? He sees what God has done. He 237 00:21:08.710 --> 00:21:15.029 sees what God is doing, the finger prints of God. Is that where 238 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:21.740 you and I focus? Are We quick to identify sin and faults and flaws 239 00:21:21.779 --> 00:21:27.099 and errors? Are we quick to see the amazing fingerprints of God in each 240 00:21:27.140 --> 00:21:37.329 other's lives? Are you and I proof readers or encouragers? Do we love 241 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:44.490 to find the disease or talk about the cure? See, I've learned over 242 00:21:44.569 --> 00:21:52.119 the years finding fault is a child's job. Anybody can do it. But 243 00:21:52.240 --> 00:22:00.160 to see the finger prints of God requires eyes changed by God's grace and wonderful, 244 00:22:00.430 --> 00:22:07.710 wonder filled eyes amazed at grace for people like us. Paul sees with 245 00:22:07.789 --> 00:22:12.029 Christ has done, made them his own, their identity. Paul sees with 246 00:22:12.109 --> 00:22:18.420 Christ is doing his present activity and finally, Paul sees what Christ will do 247 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:25.339 their certain glory. I love versus eight and nine. They become more and 248 00:22:25.420 --> 00:22:29.900 more meaningful over the years and ministry. But listen with Paul says. Listen 249 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:33.490 to what Paul says about this church. He says to them, after describing 250 00:22:33.569 --> 00:22:41.809 all this, Christ God who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in 251 00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:48.960 the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, God is faithful by whom you were 252 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:53.599 called. So this the last way Paul looks on this church. The Gospel 253 00:22:53.640 --> 00:22:59.789 came by grace. They believed God made them as holy people. They are 254 00:23:00.029 --> 00:23:03.549 his church. They were created by the word of the Gospel. God as 255 00:23:03.589 --> 00:23:07.630 at work freely among them, all by grace. The finger prints of God 256 00:23:07.670 --> 00:23:14.420 are all over this church. He's purifying them, ridding them of the innumerable 257 00:23:14.500 --> 00:23:18.180 diseases of their souls. They are in the Hospital of redemption and Paul says 258 00:23:18.740 --> 00:23:26.019 God will not forsake the work he has begun. God will present them guiltless 259 00:23:26.170 --> 00:23:30.210 some day before him with great joy. Paul is saying, I am not 260 00:23:30.569 --> 00:23:37.890 despairing because God is faithful. God does what he says he will do and 261 00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:41.920 sets out to do. He is utterly reliable. The other way, the 262 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:47.400 way I paraphrase this is Paul looks at this church and says sin will not 263 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:52.799 be the last word. The last word will be Christ paid for sin, 264 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:57.750 Christ defeated the powers of darkness, Christ broke the power of death. You 265 00:23:57.910 --> 00:24:06.670 are his. He will bring you home. So I have no reason to 266 00:24:06.750 --> 00:24:15.460 despair. What an amazing thing. Paul looks on this troubled church that is 267 00:24:15.539 --> 00:24:19.420 at the head of all troubled churches in the New Testament, with confidence in 268 00:24:19.660 --> 00:24:26.490 God's saving work among them. He doesn't say, well, we'll see how 269 00:24:26.529 --> 00:24:33.250 it works out. He Says No, God is faithful and this is what 270 00:24:33.170 --> 00:24:41.319 his work looks like and he will bring it to completion. I don't know 271 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:48.559 about you, some of you are in my stage of life, but I 272 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:53.069 can tell you, having walked with Christ for forty seven years, the only 273 00:24:53.230 --> 00:25:00.869 reason I am standing before you faithful today is because God is faithful and that 274 00:25:00.990 --> 00:25:06.029 gives me confidence that he will complete the work he has begun, and that 275 00:25:06.190 --> 00:25:08.779 helps me look on others and be confident that he will complete the work he 276 00:25:08.859 --> 00:25:15.779 has begun. So that's what gospelize are. Looking at people through their identity 277 00:25:15.859 --> 00:25:23.130 with Christ has done, through God's progression in their life, looking for the 278 00:25:23.170 --> 00:25:27.250 fingerprints of God and looking at people through the certain future that awaits them if 279 00:25:27.289 --> 00:25:33.970 they are in Christ. There are lots of examples of gospelizes in the rest 280 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:36.799 of the New Testament. How we see each other, how we see the 281 00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:41.480 church, and learning to see, disciplining ourselves to see as Christ see, 282 00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:48.920 because our savior does not deal with us as our sins deserve or reward us 283 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:53.390 according to our iniquities. See, I need Gospelize, you need gospelize. 284 00:25:55.430 --> 00:25:59.470 It is a shaping of our eyes by the Gospel that changes how we see. 285 00:26:00.470 --> 00:26:03.910 So I'm going to tell you about one area of my life where this 286 00:26:03.150 --> 00:26:11.099 became very challenging and very fruitful. It's one of many areas, because God 287 00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:18.380 is still working on these proofreading eyes of mine to become Gospel lives. We 288 00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:22.329 have three children and they're many things we did as parents that were good and 289 00:26:22.450 --> 00:26:26.890 many we did that we're wrong, as is true with all parents, and 290 00:26:26.049 --> 00:26:33.160 I parted with a very deep confidency in the my ability to pressure my kids 291 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:42.240 into conforming to my wishes, and I was good at it. I scrutinized 292 00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:48.430 them, found their faults and corrected them, and I had a lot of 293 00:26:48.470 --> 00:26:52.029 different ways to correct them. I A lot of tools in the tool kit, 294 00:26:52.190 --> 00:26:59.029 subtle nagging, outright criticism, using guilt to pressure them to try harder 295 00:26:59.109 --> 00:27:03.420 and do better. You've heard of tiger MOM's. I was a Tiger Dad 296 00:27:03.579 --> 00:27:08.259 as a helicopter den and the fruit of that was early on in the kids 297 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:14.700 lives. They were they learned to conform outwardly, but as they moved into 298 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:18.849 young adulthood and moved through the teenagers, they became discouraged because they could never 299 00:27:18.930 --> 00:27:26.769 measure up. Not only discourage but at times alienation begin to set in. 300 00:27:29.329 --> 00:27:34.000 As they dug in their heels, I dug in mine and I kept criticizing 301 00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:41.200 and correcting. Well, I was anticipating a summer with all the kids home, 302 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:45.990 as they were scattered in their various colleges and moving into young adulthood, 303 00:27:45.990 --> 00:27:52.150 and I was troubled because my relationship with one of my kids wasn't so good. 304 00:27:52.670 --> 00:27:56.470 There was a significant amount of alienation and a lot of anger had developed 305 00:27:56.509 --> 00:28:02.380 between me and this child of ours, and I I went to a friend 306 00:28:02.619 --> 00:28:06.579 to ask him how I could fix my child. That was what I did. 307 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:11.339 So my son, my child, is coming home this summer and he 308 00:28:11.500 --> 00:28:14.289 and I have a difficult relationship and I just wanted to get your AC council 309 00:28:14.769 --> 00:28:19.009 meaning tell me how to fix him. But my friend listen to me talk 310 00:28:19.089 --> 00:28:23.329 about this relationship and got all done any pause and he said, Mark, 311 00:28:26.410 --> 00:28:29.319 I've known you a while and and what I find in you as a man 312 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:36.960 with very high standards and you're someone who never measures up to your own standards 313 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:40.279 and you're very hard to please. You never please your own standards and you're 314 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:44.950 very demanding with yourself. I see. Well, that's true. He said, 315 00:28:44.950 --> 00:28:47.390 I wonder what it's like to be a child in a home with a 316 00:28:47.470 --> 00:29:00.539 father like that. There was a long silence and I realized I had never 317 00:29:00.619 --> 00:29:07.859 looked at it from that angle, that yes, I I'm very hard to 318 00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:12.809 please and I never measure up to my own standards, and my children grew 319 00:29:12.809 --> 00:29:18.849 up with a dad like that. My wife grew up with a husband like 320 00:29:18.970 --> 00:29:22.410 that and I grew up. We grew in our marriage together. As somebody 321 00:29:22.450 --> 00:29:26.680 said, it must be really hard being married to you, mark. And 322 00:29:26.839 --> 00:29:32.920 then this friend of Mine, who is twenty years younger, said I have 323 00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:37.240 something to challenge you with, and I said challenge on. He said, 324 00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:41.670 this summer, when your kids are home, especially this one child that you 325 00:29:41.750 --> 00:29:48.509 feel alienated from, maybe what God wants you to do is see the fingerprints 326 00:29:48.549 --> 00:29:55.779 of God in their life and refuse to offer any criticism the whole summer. 327 00:29:56.259 --> 00:29:59.859 I thought he was going to say the whole Weekk, first week, you 328 00:29:59.940 --> 00:30:02.500 know, could we do this for a week? He said. Now, 329 00:30:02.539 --> 00:30:07.289 how about this during this summer. I challenge you, and you can talk 330 00:30:07.329 --> 00:30:10.970 to randy about it if she agrees. I challenge you to abstain from all 331 00:30:11.410 --> 00:30:17.170 criticism of your child, not once in the summer where you find fault with 332 00:30:17.250 --> 00:30:19.609 them or correct them or tell them how they need to change. But all 333 00:30:19.690 --> 00:30:25.039 you will do in the summer is see and look for the finger prints of 334 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:26.240 God in their life. He said, you believe God's at work in your 335 00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:30.519 child? Oh yeah, they're a believer. Do you see it? Do 336 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:33.000 you see where it's going on? Well, not so much. He said. 337 00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:37.910 Why don't you just make a point this summer of noticing every day everything 338 00:30:37.029 --> 00:30:41.430 that looks like the fingerprints of God in their life and saying that to them? 339 00:30:48.230 --> 00:30:51.059 Well, that that. You May as well have asked me to leap 340 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:53.579 over a tall building with a single bound. For All the likelihood I thought 341 00:30:53.579 --> 00:31:00.660 that was going to happen. But I took the challenge and I covenanted with 342 00:31:00.779 --> 00:31:04.930 my wife and it was very hard, gritted teeth, agony biting my tongue. 343 00:31:07.930 --> 00:31:11.490 The God was at work and me, I was saying what a selfrighteous 344 00:31:11.569 --> 00:31:21.200 and critical father I was. I was seeing how much I thought pressuring changed 345 00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:29.480 my kids and I would get up every morning before this child of Mima drive 346 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:33.509 off to their summer job and I would sit up my desk and pray through 347 00:31:33.509 --> 00:31:37.869 the day before and look for some evidence, some fingerprint of God in their 348 00:31:37.950 --> 00:31:40.910 life, and I would write it on a three by five card and go 349 00:31:41.029 --> 00:31:45.150 out and stick it in the steering wheel of their car and go back inside 350 00:31:47.069 --> 00:31:52.220 to encourage them. Did it five days a week for the entire summer. 351 00:31:55.859 --> 00:32:00.700 They never said anything. I thought the first day they come and say, 352 00:32:00.980 --> 00:32:02.930 Oh, wow, this is great, everything's changed. How do you want 353 00:32:04.250 --> 00:32:06.369 to change now? I mean, I was sort of hoping for that kind 354 00:32:06.410 --> 00:32:10.529 of result. But what I what I noticed was as the summer progressed, 355 00:32:14.130 --> 00:32:19.759 God was at work in my child. In the presence of my encouragement, 356 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:24.839 our relationship changed and in the presence of my encouragement they were changing. It's 357 00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:29.160 a matter of fact, the way I described this as when they got my 358 00:32:29.240 --> 00:32:31.470 nagging, demanding voice out of their heads, they could hear the voice of 359 00:32:31.589 --> 00:32:38.430 God and God was much better at speaking to their hearts than I was, 360 00:32:38.509 --> 00:32:46.059 and they heard and they change and our relationship changed and it's changed all the 361 00:32:46.099 --> 00:32:52.660 way to the present day because God changed. How I saw my child. 362 00:32:55.380 --> 00:33:00.009 I'm the guy with a sharp eye for problems in sins so I can help 363 00:33:00.049 --> 00:33:02.410 people fix them. God was showing me to, teaching me to have a 364 00:33:02.450 --> 00:33:09.049 sharp eye for his finger prints and his work so I could encourage that's what 365 00:33:09.170 --> 00:33:14.559 gospelizes. Are Looking for what God has done, the new identity he gives 366 00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.480 us in Christ, looking for what God is doing, the finger prints of 367 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:22.759 God and people's lives, and looking at people with confidence that would God has 368 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:29.589 begun, he will continue and finish for them. Would you join me as 369 00:33:29.630 --> 00:33:30.029 we pray