Transcript

Well, congratulations, God has called you into the ministry. Congratulation, you have been assigned to your first pastorate, and triple congratulations, you’ve made it to the church field, and its Saturday afternoon and you’re putting some things away in the new pastorium, and (knock, knock, knock), you hear a knock on the door. As a new pastor, all excited, your first pastorate, your first church, your first time, you go to the door and open the door and its the chairman of the deacons. He says, congratulations, pastor, we, we’re glad to have you here at our church, and by the way, have you got just a few minutes. And the pastor says fine, come on in, we’re just putting a few things away, we have a few minutes though. And he says, well, there are some things I’ve been wanting to tell you about our church, you know our church is rather a, a unique church. The young pastor, all excited, well, well, sure, tell me, tell me about those things. He says, well, first of all, I want you to know about, that, that there are some doctrinal problems in our church, and, and, and we just didn’t want you to be caught off guard about that thing, and the pastor says, well, you know, that’s what the preaching of the word is for, sound doctrine, and we, you just pray with me, and we’ll see about that problem. And he said, oh, but pastor, there, there’s another one. The pastor says, oh, there’s another. He says, yeah, we want you to know also that there are some divisions in the church. Yeah, some people were baptized by one man and some were baptized by another, and they are very dynamic spiritual leaders, and each group thinks they are more spiritual than the other one. Pastor said, well, you just need to pray with me about that, and we’ll try to deal with that problem as we can, and just do the best we can with it.

And the chairman of the deacons said, well, pastor, I want to let you know about something else also. Its a unique church. He says our church just has a quarrelsome spirit about it. I mean, every month, when we have our business meeting, folks just almost get in literal fist fights on the church floor. Just fussing and fighting all the time. The pastor says, oh my goodness, uh, you just pray with me about these things, and let’s just see what, how we can do with them. Oh, by the way pastor, there, there’s another problem I want to tell you about in the church um, some of the brothers are, are taking other brothers to court and filing lawsuits against one another. The pastor said, Christian brothers going to court with one another before unbelievers? I’m afraid so. He said, my goodness, boy, I’m glad you came by and told me these things, this is quite a challenge, I want to be prepared for them. Pastor, there is more. There’s more? Yeah, you know, its a unique church. Um, to be honest with you, sexual immorality is just rampant in the church. Its a real, real problem here, and we’re not talking about rumor, we’re, I mean, its a fact, we know about it. And the pastor is just overwhelmed, and says, well, listen, you’ve got to covenant with me that you’ll pray with me about all these different things in this church. By the way, when the pulpit committee talked to me they didn’t mention any of these things. Said, well, yes sir, I understand that, but we just want you to know about them, and, so, so that you would be ignorant. And then pastor, there’s the Lord’s supper. There’s more? Yes sir, I’m afraid there’s more, you see it appears that we have our Lord’s supper with our love feast, great meal we have, and some people come early and eat all the food, and then poor folks arrive later and there’s nothing to eat. And then there is a collection of guys, well, every Lord’s supper, they bring fermented juice and they get drunk, before the Lord’s supper is over. My goodness, pastor scratches his head, he’s just overwhelmed, he said, well, I, I don’t know what to say, but I appreciate you sharing these things with me. He said, there’s one other problem. There is a man whose having sexual relations with his step mother in the church. Its well known, everybody knows about it. I just wanted you to be aware of these things, as you begin your first Sunday with us tomorrow.

That could have been what the first pastor of the first church in Corinth heard if he took the pastorate in 55 A. D. And whether he heard those things or not, that’s exactly what he would face, because that was the status of the church. At Corinth. Turn with me to I Corinthians. And I want to share some things with you by way of introduction about this wonderful New Testament book. This is a letter written by the apostle Paul, the founder of this church, of course, Christ is the founder, Paul was the human instrument. And its written to the church in response to a letter they had written to the apostle Paul, and its a church filled with problems. And as we said, the apostle Paul is the author, it was written from Ephesus to Corinth, about 55 A. D.

The setting of course is the city of Corinth. Now Corinth was an excellent geographical location, it set on a little narrow neck of land with the Corinthian gulf on one side, the Saronic gulf on the other side, and, and a major cross roads, or trade roads, north, south, east and west intersected at this city. It was a Roman colony populated chiefly by Romans and Greeks, but there were enough Jews there to have a Jewish synagogue. And that’s where Paul usually began his preaching and he did so here. But it was an exceedingly sinful city. Sexual immorality was rampant in the city. As a matter of fact, church historians talk about the fact that the temple of Aphrodite alone had 1000 prostitutes. Another historian talks about that there was an army of prostitutes that worked the city of Corinth. But it was one of the most important cities in Greece, very populous and very wealthy.

Now the purpose of the letter. The purpose of the letter is simply this. Paul is responding to a letter that he received. He stayed there 18 months, he’s left, he’s in Ephesus now, and he’s received some reports in a letter, and he writes back about these issues at the church. And as he’s writing this letter, and that’s what we have as I Corinthians, in the first six chapters he deals with some issues that he’s heard about, before he deals with the questions they sent him in their letter. Its kind of like, well, I’m going to take advantage of this shot, I’m going to get in some concerns of my own. He talks about the problem, the divisions in the church, and immorality, and incest, the quarrelsome spirit, the lawsuits between brothers, and sexual immorality in general. And then later he responds in chapter 7, to the questions that they had. And they had some questions about marriage and celibacy, it seems like some of the brethren believe that to really be spiritual you had to be single, and they were starting to divorce their spouses. Food offered to idols, because, if you went down to the marketplace and, there was a fresh side of beef there, man, it looks so good, but you found out three hours earlier it was sacrificed at a pagan temple, could a Christian eat that food. Those are the kind of questions, public worship, spiritual gifts. And then in I Corinthians 13, Paul gives us that glorious chapter on love, and then also extensive treatment on the resurrection.

Now I want to, do an exposition of verses 1-3, and then we’ll draw some conclusions for practical application. Let’s just read those first three verses. “Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in everyplace call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Now first of all, in the first verse, Paul talks about the fact that he is called as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now apostle means an office of ministry, its a position that God gave him. As a matter of fact, this word was used a lot by the Sanhedrin, this word apostle, when the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish supreme court made a decision about a matter, they would send an apostle. And that apostle would go to the interested parties, or the involved parties and render the verdict of the Sanhedrin. So this guy who went out was more than just a messenger, he didn’t just send message, he was an ambassador, he was an envoy, he had more authority than just a messenger. And that’s what Paul means about this office of apostle, more than just a messenger, an envoy, a special ambassador for God. So in a very true sense the church is founded upon not only Jesus Christ, but on the apostles. They were special men who were given a special office for the specific task of, of rendering the doctrinal truths that the church would be founded upon and would function by. And I’m personally convinced that once that job was accomplished, which was chiefly the penning of scripture, so that the church would have a foundation to pen, to function by, not, when I say penning the scripture, I mean the finishing of the New Testament. Once God used his apostles, to evangelize the world and pen scripture, that office passed away, there was no longer a need, and then the baton was passed from the apostles to the elders, the local church pastors. Because now what you need is not an apostle, with unique and special authority, you need a pastor teacher to give you what the apostle said. Recorded in the New Testament. It makes perfect sense.

Let me just share some things that these guys did who had the office of apostle. First of all, they preached the gospel and taught doctrine. The appointed elders in local churches, and I think that’s very significant. As Paul’s ministry was winding down, he didn’t appoint apostles, he appointed elders, or local church pastors. Overseers, whatever you want to call them. They had special manifestations of power that would occur when they laid hands on people. Their work was accompanied by signs and wonders. It was the preeminent office of the church, the top office, if you will, because they founded it, they were given the teachings directly from Christ, or by direct revelation of the holy spirit. They had special authority, they had special power, they could walk in a church and exercise discipline, they penned sacred scripture, and their office concluded once, that first group of apostles passed off the scene. So I think its very important for us to understand, some people may have certain gifts and other gifts, but I do not believe in anyway shape or fashion, there are men in the office of apostle today. For example, the apostle Paul could walk in any church anywhere and tell me to sit down and tell the church what God has to say. I don’t think we’d stand for that today, do you? Paul say, could come in and just reassign everything in the whole church, that’s the kind of authority they had. But God is not using men in the office of apostle today.

Secondly, he says, I’m an apostle by the will of God. He says, God called me to the office. Now Paul is not arrogant and he’s not proud about this office, its just simply the truth, and he’s simply saying, I didn’t choose it, I didn’t plan it, and this is my calling from God, and he actually said in I Corinthians 9:16, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel, I’m under compulsion, God has called me to do this very thing. Then he mentions Sosthenes our brother, and this could be the converted synagogue ruler recorded in Acts chapter 18, we don’t know for sure, its a common name, its just one of Paul’s ministerial staff members. And thank God for those, I have good ministerial staff that help me, and Paul had good ones to come alongside and help him.

Now look at verse 2. “To the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” Now first of all, he writes to this group of folks, that are known to have sexual immorality among them, incest is happening in the truth, drunkenness at the Lord’s table, quarrelsome and divisions, and he said, I want to greet the church at Corinth. What a statement. The word church there means assembly. It was a common word, ekklesia in the Greek, and actually any pagan gathering could have been called an assembly. And I think its interesting that the apostle Paul uses the word church and not another religious term that was commonly used in this day for religious gatherings. And I believe that’s because this wasn’t just another religious group meeting, this was the church of the living God. So he calls it the assembly, the church of God.

Now he says to these very same people, we described so well earlier, as those who have been sanctified as Christ Jesus, saints by calling. Those who have been sanctified. Now the word sanctified and the word saints, he says, you’re both. They both come from the word, root word which means holy. The holy ones. My friend, what he’s saying is you’re sanctified and you’re a saint, not because of your conduct. But because you are in Christ. Not because of your conduct, because you are in Christ. He says, you are saints by calling. The Corinthians were holy and sanctified because of what Jesus Christ had done for them, not what they had done for Jesus. And this is the position we have, we should live holy lives, but holy living doesn’t make you holy. Are you listening. We should live holy lives, but holy living cannot and does not make you holy. If you live holy, its because the Christ who made you holy in him, lives out some of his holiness through you. But your holiness cannot make you holy. Your holiness cannot make you sanctified, and your holiness cannot make you a saint. Christ makes you a saint. Christ makes you holy. Because of what he has done and accomplished on the cross.

Then he uses that phrase, the last phrase of verse 2, “with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” He links the Corinthian believers, with all true believers everywhere, that is those who called on Christ to be their Lord and their Savior. And then verse 3, he says, “grace to you and peace to God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Grace is God’s favor. God’s favor to save you, to cleanse you, to forgive you and make you his child. Peace is the fruit of that favor. There is a peace that goes beyond comprehension that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now hurrying along, I want to give you some conclusions for practical application from this text. I believe what we see here is the apostle Paul giving the church at Corinth a motivation for reformation. A motivation for reformation. If there was ever a church on planet earth that needed reformation of their ways, the church at Corinth needed it. And Paul’s going to be very strict, very stern, and he’s not going to pull any punches and he’s going to be right to the point, as we go through this letter about the problems in the church. But the first thing he does to motivate them for reformation is he begins to affirm them as the children of God. Now listen, Paul knew about their worldliness, he well knew about their doctrinal error, he well knew about the divisions in the church, he well knew about the quarrelsome spirit, he knew about the lawsuits that were going on, he knew about the sexual immorality, he knew about the drunkenness at the Lord’s table, he knew about the abuse of spiritual gifts, he knew about the incest and many, many other problems, but the first thing he does is affirm them as the children of God. Does that not strike you as strange? It did me at first. But you know what he’s doing? He’s saying, if I can get you to realize who you are, that will motivate you to change how you are acting. If you can just see who you are, you will be shamed and sickened over the way you are acting.

First of all, he said, I want to affirm your profession. I want to affirm your profession. That’s why the first phrase of verse 2 he says, you are the church of God. You are the assembly of the people of the holy God of heaven. You are the body of the Lord Jesus Christ on planet earth. You are the bride of Jesus Christ. You are the presence and the representative of the God of heaven, in a Godless world. That’s our profession, we are the church of God. We’re the representatives of God, on planet earth. Not only does he affirm them in their profession, but I want to take a little more time, secondly, he affirms them in their position. Their position. There in verse 2, we saw it again, sanctified and saints. But notice there, don’t leave out three important words. They are sanctified and they are saints because they are in Christ Jesus. I turned on my computer and I rolled it by and I looked up the words “in Christ.” You know, just rolling it by, and I missed some, as a matter of fact, I got dizzy looking at it. But I counted 81 times where the New Testament says we are in “Christ.” Eighty one times, and I missed a lot of them like “in him”, and other ways the same truth is worded. But I mean, in Christ, 81 different times. God wants to get that message across. You’ve got to realize your position in Christ. Not your practice, focus on your position.

Positionally, not practically right now, but positionally you and I are the holy ones. Set apart for God’s special use, positionally in Christ we are saints, holy ones. We have the holiness of Christ before the heavenly Father. In Christ. Paul says, before I do any of the reproving and the correcting and the reprimanding, I want to remind you of your position. You’re sanctified one, and a holy one in Christ. Now listen to me. You are not sanctified. And you are not a saint. You are sanctified in Christ, and you are a saint in Christ. But you aren’t on your own. Its not what you do, its what he’s done.

Now notice another phrase there. Who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling. This emphasizes the effectual call of the holy spirit of God. Now listen to me friend, you don’t have to understand it, just be glad you are getting in on it. God the holy spirit came out to you to effectually call you to the Lord Jesus Christ. Effectually means it accomplishes what it set out to do. Because Jesus Christ has done all that is required to make an unworthy sinner holy before God, the holy spirit of God sets out to call those to be the holy ones. And you just float along for the ride, if you will. Sure you have to repent and sure you have to receive Christ, and sure you have to believe on him, but you do that because there was a calling for you to become a holy one. Listen my friend, if you go to bed tonight with any other concept in your mind, about the security of your standing before God other than the effectual calling of the holy spirit to make you a holy one, through the provision and the merit of Christ on the cross, you will go to bed with insecurity. But if you go to bed with that assurance, you’ve got something. Friend, he didn’t just call you and say, would you like to try to get saved, no, I called you to be a saint. Hallelujah, he called me to be a saint.

Ephesians 4:1 says, I want you to walk worthy, in other words, they are not walking perfectly, but listen, he says, I want you to walk worthy of the calling by which we’ve been called. We’ve been called as the holy ones, in Christ’s provision to make me holy, not in my practice or performance to become holy. Now you know what happens when folks put works salvation on this thing. Here’s what happens. When you tell a man he’s got to perform something, if he’s going to perform anything, he’s got to perform up to the absolute standard of the holiness of God. No man, no woman, no boy, no girl, with all of their energy, all their might, all their will power, can even come close to performing to that standard. So you know what they have to do. Bring God’s holiness down. I absolutely abhor that notion. Let God be holy and let Christ, the worthy one, make us holy like him. Don’t bring the holiness of God down, to bring in some sort of man centered works salvation. Let God’s holiness reign as it ought to, and then let’s glory in the provision of Jesus to make us unworthy ones holy ones. He can do it. He has done it, and that’s why he can tell the church at Corinth, listen, I want you to know you are holy ones. You’re saints. We’re sanctified because the sanctifier has sanctified us. Listen to Hebrews 4:11. It says, both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father. He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father, for which reason he’s not ashamed to call them brethren. How can the holy Lord Jesus Christ look at you and say, that’s my brother, and that’s my sister. Because he is the one who sanctified to make you have his worth as you were in Christ. Once you are saved, you are in Christ, and therefore you possess, positionally, not in practice yet, but positionally, the holiness of the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, Paul says, I want to motivate you for reformation by affirming you’re profession, you’re the church of God on planet earth. Secondly, I want to motivate you to reform your behavior by reminding you and affirming to you of your position, you are in Christ, and in Christ you are right now, regardless of conduct, a holy one. And thirdly, I want to motivate you by reminding you and affirming you of your possession. Your possession. Now we don’t have the exhaustive list of our possessions here, but he does show us a possession in I Corinthians 1:3. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” We possess the grace and therefore the peace of God, we’ve received grace, therefore we have obtained peace. First of all, peace with God, the Bible says we are at one time at enmity with God, we were God’s enemy, alienated from God, separated from the common wealth of Israel. But he’s brought us near through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We now have peace with a holy God. I an unholy, fallen sinner, who doesn’t deserve it, now has peace with an absolute holy God. Through the Lord Jesus Christ. But not only peace with God, I walk in fellowship and live with the peace of God in my life. That’s a marvelous thing to have. “Do not be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Paul says, beginning the letter to the church at Corinth, I’m going to give them some motivation for reformation. I want you to remember your profession, you are the church of the holy God of heaven, on planet earth. Remember your position. Right now, you are already settled and finished for all eternity, a holy one, because you are in Christ. That happened the moment you were saved. And I want you to know that right now, you possess grace, and peace, a peace which surpasses comprehension. And I submit to you friend, no true child of God, no matter how badly back slidden, can be reminded of their profession, their position, and their possession, and remain the same. It stirs you. To want to honor him, live for him, be true to him, have faith in him, and glorify him.