Southside Baptist Church
2021-04-25 Sn SERVICE
  • Jesus We Just Want To Thank You
  • All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name (Coronation)
  • God Of Grace And Glory
  • Love Grew Where The Blood Fell

  • A. Introduction to Text

    In Paul’s greeting to the church of God in Corinth, he introduced the authors of this letter, the audience of this letter, and the acknowledgements of this letter known as 1 Corinthians.
    It is a letter from Paul, who is called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, [a special messenger of Jesus], and the brother Sosthenes.
    It is a letter to the church of God, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    It is a letter acknowledging grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    After greeting the church, Paul then gives thanks for them.
    Pray
    Hear this reading from God’s Word, 1 Corinthians 1:4-9:

    I. Reading of Scripture

    1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV
    4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
    1 Corinthians 1:5 ESV
    5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
    1 Corinthians 1:6 ESV
    6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—
    1 Corinthians 1:7 ESV
    7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    1 Corinthians 1:8 ESV
    8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV
    9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
    This is God’s Word - Thanks be to God! Amen.

    1 Corinthians 1:4-9 “God Is Faithful”

    II. Introduction

    B. Introduction to Theme

    The title of this message is lifted from verse 6. It is that declaration and wonderful truth about God: “God is Faithful.”
    We sing these words from Lamentations 3:
    Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!
    God is faithful!
    This means God is trustworthy (LN, GCM). God is dependable. God is reliable (LN).
    This is more than just a theme for this introductory thanksgiving, it is also the foundation upon which this entire letter of 1 Corinthians is written. It is what will compel the commands at the end.
    God is faithful!
    And like many of the words used to describe God, the word "faithful” is a relational word. It is a word that is understood as God relates faithfully with His people who are often not dependable, not reliable, and not trustworthy.
    Nevertheless, God is faithful.
    Whenever Scripture uses a word to describe God, we should pay close attention to that word and not pass over it too quickly. As a relational word, that word is saying something about God in relationship to us. It is saying something about God that is not natural to us.
    Scripture does not waste adjectives. If God is “faithful,” — if this is the word and the revelation about God’s character given for this introduction to 1 Corinthians, out of all the other words that could have been used to describe God, what might the Scriptures be saying about the audience of this letter, as it relates to God?
    In the singing of the Church, and the worship of the Church, we look for whatever words we can find to describe God (who is indescribable) and praise God (who is worthy of all praise). So we go to our theological thesauruses and pull out all kinds of words — holy, righteous, worthy, faithful, loving, kind, and so on. And every one of these words is true about God.
    But these words are most meaningful, not when they are chosen to fit a melody or rhyme, but when they praise God for what He is as we consider what we are not without Him.
    Every descriptor of God in Scripture is intentionally inspired and purposefully placed right where it is, for a reason.
    That word “faithful” is saying something about God in relationship to us. It is saying something about God in contradiction to us!
    Why do you think there might be a need to reveal this truth about God at the beginning of 1 Corinthians? Is Paul just looking for another way to describe God? If so, He could have chosen a number of other words! But why this word?
    If this text is telling us that “God is faithful,” what do you think it might be saying about the audience of this text? What do you think this might be saying about us?
    Paul was inspired to use the word “faithful” to describe God in relationship to His church.
    And because God is faithful, Paul has reason to be thankful.

    III. Exposition

    A. 1:4

    1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV
    4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
    “I give thanks”
    Paul gives ongoing thanks to God. This is the verb [ εὐχαριστέω ]. You hear the word “Eucharist.” It describes the action of giving thanks — not to the Corinthians, but to God.
    This is the kind of thanksgiving that belongs in praise to God alone. And it seems contrary to the the events taking place on the ground in Corinth.
    The church in Corinth is a divided, disturbed, dysfunctional assembly, but you would not know that yet! Because Paul does not begin his letter to them berating them, rebuking them, or even disciplining them.
    Instead, he begins by thanking God for them!
    He doesn’t give thanks for what they are currently making of themselves. He gives thanks for what God has already made of them. What God has already given to them! God’s actions. God’s grace!
    This is something very helpful for all of us to apply. Start with giving thanks, in all circumstances. Not because the circumstances are praiseworthy, but because God is praiseworthy!
    This is God’s will for us!
    1 Thessalonians 5:16 ESV
    16 Rejoice always,
    1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV
    17 pray without ceasing,
    1 Thessalonians 5:18 ESV
    18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
    (same word).
    I don’t have to like what I am seeing or experiencing in order to give thanks to God.
    When I give thanks, I am submitting myself and my situation to God.
    It is one of the most freeing things we can do because thanksgiving gives us the right frame of mind to address any challenge!
    Thanksgiving is not reserved only for good times. It is especially reserved for bad times too.
    In this way, thanksgiving is a Gospel proclamation over whatever we face.
    Try this out for yourself and see if this works. Think about something you are not thankful for. Something you could do without. And try giving God thanks for it anyway.
    Watch what happens not to that situation, but to your own soul.
    It’s like Jesus teaching:
    Don’t hate your enemies, love them.
    Pray for those who persecute you!
    You think you are blessed in receiving. It is more blessed to give!
    God’s ways are contrary to the the ways of the world. And that is how you know something is of God in the world.
    Thanksgiving to God may not change your circumstances, but it will transform you!
    And with thanksgiving, you will begin to see that with God, there is a good in all things for those who love God, for those who are called according to God’s purpose (Rom 8:28). Because the one in control of all things, and the outcome of all things — is God!
    And God is faithful!
    Before diving in to address the church’s division and dysfunction, Paul decides to approach those things not from a perspective of anger, but from a perspective of thanksgiving.
    He attacks the problems not from human weakness and emotion, but from a position of strength appealing to God through the act of thanksgiving.
    Recognizing in praise, what God has already done, is doing, and what God will do on the basis of His faithfulness.
    How many of us who are parents have ever come this close to loosing it on our kids for acting foolish? Right before we lose all since of sanity, we pause and say “Boy, I’m about to, you better, if you don’t....I’m going to...” We can’t complete a sentence! Because we are grasping for a framework to structure what we are about to say.
    Paul’s setting his framework. So that the end result of his correcting, and instructing, and rebuking, and disciplining, bears the same fruit in them that he started with. Thanksgiving.
    Here’s a principle: The place where we start will inform the result.
    This perspective of thanksgiving will enable Paul to deal with the dysfunction from the right place. And for it to be received by the church, from the right place.
    A place of dependence upon God.
    Ascribing praise to the solution at the source.
    Think about this practically.
    The starting place influences the ending place.
    If I discipline my children out of anger, the result of that discipline will be anger.
    If I get in an argument with my wife out of frustration, the result will be frustration.
    If I want the church to give thanks, I need to start by giving thanks for the church.
    Paul gives thanks because the first thing he sees in the church of Corinth, is not what they are doing, but what God has already made them to be — in Christ Jesus!
    1 Corinthians 1:4 ESV
    4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
    This is the grace acknowledged in v.3:
    1 Corinthians 1:3 ESV
    3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
    God has already given the church in Corinth His grace. That is something that has already happened. And God is not one to take back what He has given.
    We like to give with strings attached, don’t we? We like to loan more than we like to give, so we can take it back.
    God is not a loaner. God is a giver. And God has given His grace.
    The church in Corinth, whether they know it yet or not, whether they reflect it yet or not — are recipients of God’s grace. God’s favor.
    And because it is God’s grace, it has nothing to do with whether they deserved it or not. We never deserve grace. If we deserve it, it’s not grace.
    And this means, as recipients of God’s favor, there is something in them worth giving thanks for. Because God’s grace will sustain them, and be patient with them, and will bear fruit in them, because God is faithful.
    Some people need to hear that spoken over them. That in Christ, you have much to offer. You have an amazing gift to build up the body of Christ. You have a wonderful relationship in your marriage.
    None of these things may seem true to you right now, but in Christ they are, by the grace of God, and they can be.
    When Paul speaks of grace “that was given” he is not speaking about what WILL be given, but what is ALREADY given.
    Part of this work of preaching, is telling the church what things God has already given to you.
    You can go online and find a website that will tell you if you have any unclaimed property in a state. If you have refunds, or money owed to you that you didn’t know you had, or had forgotten about, and never claimed, this website will tell you what you already have so you can claim it.
    In a way, this is what Paul is doing. He is informing the church in Corinth about what they already have - and is their’s to claim.
    This isn’t “name it claim it.” This is claiming what God has already given.
    God has given you grace! It is yours! You have it in Christ!
    God has given you peace. It is yours! You have it in Christ!
    If you don’t have grace and peace, you don’t have CHRIST! For He is the source of both.
    It all is given “in Christ Jesus.”
    One more comment on this phrase “in Christ Jesus.”
    This grace that was given “in Christ Jesus” was given “to the church....sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…with all who call upon the name of OUR Lord Jesus Christ, both THEIR Lord and OURS.”
    Being “in Christ Jesus” does not mean merely that you have a personal relationship with Jesus. It means you have a communal relationship with Christ — as part of His Church.
    For decades preachers have pleaded with people to have a personal relationship with Jesus which is good, but it is not complete. For we are to have a personal relationship with Jesus that is part of a community.
    Our personal relationship with Jesus doesn’t mean very much if it stays personal.
    Our personal relationship with Jesus is meant to be communal. That means, shared by all in a community, in a fellowship of faith.
    If you don’t have grace and peace, it may be that you don’t have Christ personally, it may also be that you aren’t where Christ is — where two or three are gathered in His name - with His Church.
    The phrase “in Christ Jesus” always means more communally than it does individually.
    Simply put, you can never say “I’m in Christ but not in His Church.”
    If you are in Christ, you are in His Church, and your presence reflects that.
    Paul consistently speaks of the community when he speaks of being “in Christ” (TTC). Using words like “theirs” and “ours.” Not speaking of the individuals, but of the body of Christ.
    God’s grace to His church is evident everywhere they look — as they look back at what God has done in the past, as they look present at what God is now doing, and as they look ahead at what God will do. God’s grace is evident whichever way they look (GCM).
    First, as they look back at what God has already done for them in the past.

    B. 1:5

    1 Corinthians 1:5 ESV
    5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
    Who was enriched? You singularly? You individually? No. You together. The “you” is plural. The “you” is the church.
    That word “you were enriched” or “you were made rich” speaks of wealth or abundance of something. And that abundance did not come from within, but from outside themselves. Someone gave this abundance to them.
    Who made them rich? Christ.
    “that in every way you were enriched in him.”
    That “in him” is important. Take away Christ and we have nothing. Take away Christ, and even what we do have is absolutely and utterly worthless.
    Christ is not stingy, but favors his Church “in every way.” Meaning, in every way that we have need of God’s grace, God gives us that grace.
    Specifically, Paul writes that the church has been “enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge.”
    God makes us wealthy in what we need to do what He has for us to do. We have an abundance of what we need to witness for Christ in the world.
    God does not give us a credit card, where we spend from what we do not have and have to pay back. God gives us a debit card, where we spend from what He has already deposited.
    I was watching a video listing the top five things that most millionaires do. I was surprised to see near the top of that list was that most millionaires check their bank account.
    Apparently, many people never check their bank account and simply don’t know how much money they have or what is happening with it.
    God is revealing through Paul what is already in the Corinthian’s bank account.
    In view here is not a material wealth of money, property, Gulfstream private jets, mansions. None of these things are necessary to be a witness for Christ in the world.
    What is necessary? What is in the church’s account at Abundant Grace Bank in Christ?
    Verse 5 says: “all speech and all knowledge.”
    Literally, “all word and all knowledge.”
    G.Campbell-Morgan says it this way, he says “They were enriched with a deposit, to be declared.” (GCM, 16).
    They were given what they needed to give away.
    They were given the word, the testimony of Christ, and the knowledge to understand it and make it known.
    Riches in Christ are not identified by what is kept. Riches in Christ are identified by what is given away. Wealth in Christ is not what we store in. Wealth in Christ is what we send out.
    As someone has said, the size of a church should not be determined in “seating capacity” but in “sending capacity.”
    Are we making much of Christ with the Gospel we have received and believed? Are we obeying what word and knowledge we have been given in abundance, and using those gifts to build up the church and make disciples of Jesus?
    God has already graced his church with speech and knowledge.

    C. 1:6-7

    1 Corinthians 1:6 ESV
    6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—
    1 Corinthians 1:7 ESV
    7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    God confirmed the word they received, and their knowledge of Christ, by bestowing upon them gifts.
    Grace gifts.
    The word for grace is [ χάρις ]. The word for “gift” is [ χάρισμα ]. These are grace gifts. The spiritual gifts. The gifts of God for His Church.
    And looking now to the present, Paul proclaims that in Christ — they are not lacking in any gift!
    They have everything that is necessary (GCM).
    Practically, we look around and we identify things that we want in this church, things we might think we need in this church. But God has given His Church everything that is necessary, so that we do not lack.
    If we perceive a lack, we are not checking our spiritual bank account. We are not looking at things with spiritual eyes.
    Every believer is gifted in some way — and you may ask “What is my spiritual gift?” And you will only find that answer in the context of the church. It will become evident as you use that gift and the church is built up.
    We all need each other. It’s not a cute saying, it is a theological fact!
    And one that we can find comfort in as we look toward the future.
    1 Corinthians 1:7 ESV
    7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    “as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
    That is future grace.
    God gives us grace for waiting. For the revealing, for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    The gifts that God gives His Church now, are glimpses of what will be fully realized in glory.
    As we eagerly wait for Christ’s return, we will eagerly desire to make much of Christ, serving His Church! We will unite around what is most important, keeping busy on mission, and there will be little opportunity for disunity and division.

    IV. Conclusion

    A. Gospel Proclamation

    E. 1:8

    1 Corinthians 1:8 ESV
    8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    God will sustain you. Jesus will sustain His church to the end!
    If the Spirit of God dwells within you by faith, the Spirit of God will see you through to the end — guiltless. That is the word “blameless.”
    And blameless is needed - because “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” will be a day of judgment.
    How will you fare in judgment?
    If God were to judge you right now, would be be found blameless?
    Would you be innocent or guilty before God?
    Would you be welcomed into everlasting life in Heaven? Or condemned to eternal destruction of Hell?
    We all have sinned against God. We all deserve death.
    But on the cross, Jesus washed all sin away by paying for it in full, by his own death in our place.
    By his burial and resurrection we are no longer called “sinners” but “saints” — in Him.
    We are not longer known by what we have done, but by what God has done for us in Christ.
    God has favored us, and made us blameless in Christ.
    And as God has been faithful in the past, and is faithful in the present, God will be faithful in the end. You can rest secure not in yourself, but in Christ! This is the Gospel message!

    F. 1:9

    1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV
    9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
    You are not only called “saints” but you are called into fellowship. Faithfulness is relational.
    And God’s faithfulness is seen supremely in the relationship He has with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
    God did not abandon Jesus to the grave.
    God did not abandon Jesus to death.
    But God raised Christ from the dead. Which means God’s faithfulness has a past, present and future!
    And my future is bound to our future, which is bound to Christ. Not in my worthiness, but in God’s loving grace.
    In these six verses, Jesus is referred to six times. One time for each verse. Five times by name.
    From the beginning of this letter in verse one, to verse 9 which we just read, Christ is mentioned in every verse.
    Christ is mentioned for every situation. Christ is sufficient for every part of our lives.
    We are still in the introduction to this letter, and the introduction is an invitation to know Jesus.
    For without Jesus, this letter will mean nothing to us. Without Jesus, we cannot know God’s faithfulness.

      • 1 Corinthians 1:4ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:5ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:6ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:7ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:8ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:9ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:4ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:16ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:17ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:18ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:4ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:3ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:5ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:6ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:7ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:7ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:8ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 1:9ESV

  • The Bond Of Love
Southside Baptist Church
info@southsidebaptist.net
2563538814
http://www.southsidebaptist.net
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