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1 Corinthians 1 - The Gospel Lived In The Church · Mount Eaton Church

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The Church of Corinth is quite the church. It
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is a multi -generational church. It is a multi,
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what we would call a diverse church. It's really,
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there's people from all over at this church.
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And there's a predominant Jewish membership of
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this church. Understand, this is not like there's
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one building sitting outside of Corinth where
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everybody comes and meets once a week. These
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are house churches everywhere. It was like that
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in every city, okay? Now, understanding that
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there are some issues that Paul needs to deal
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with because there's some divisive things happening
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within the church that could rip the church apart.
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And there's many things we're going to deal with
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in this. So how do we live out the gospel in
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the church? How do we make sure that we're exemplifying
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Christ in everything we do? And that's really
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how he kind of handles and answers this particular
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church. And he guides them through this in two
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letters. Okay? Which we will get to. There are
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a lot of issues here. And so we're going to manage
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that. Okay? Now, let's read 1 Corinthians chapter
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1, verse 1 through 17, and then we're going to
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pick up next week on the rest. Okay? Paul, called
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by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ
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Jesus and our brother Sosthenes, to the church
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of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified
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in Christ Jesus. called to be saints, together
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with all those who are in every place, call upon
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the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. both their
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Lord and ours, grace to you and peace from God
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our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give
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thanks to my God always for you because of the
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grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
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that in every way you were enriched in him in
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all speech and all knowledge. even as the testimony
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about Christ was confirmed among you, so that
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you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for
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the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will
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sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day
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of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by
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whom you were called into fellowship of his Son,
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Jesus Christ, our Lord. I appeal to you, brothers,
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by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all
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of you agree that there be no divisions among
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you, but that you be united in the same mind
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and same judgment. For it has been reported to
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me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling
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among you, my brothers. Each one of you says,
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I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow
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Cephas, or I follow Christ. Is Christ divided?
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Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized
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in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized
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none of you except. Crispus and Gaius, so that
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no one may say that you were baptized in my name.
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I did baptize also the household of Stephanas.
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Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized
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anyone else. For Christ did not send me to baptize,
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but to preach the gospel and not with words of
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eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be
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emptied of its power. So I want you to, did you
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hear the common, a common theme here? The Lord
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Jesus Christ. This is his church. That's what
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he's saying here. You are responsible to the
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master Jesus Christ. He is the master of his
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people. You are his slaves and his people. He
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purchased you at a price. There's a cost that
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was paid. You don't belong to yourself. You belong
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to him. That's why Paul reiterates this Lord
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Jesus Christ. That's number one. Number two,
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he reiterates Lord Jesus Christ to show authority
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to whom you answer to. It's him and him alone.
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Okay? So this constant in these first 17 verses
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is a constant theme, the Lord Jesus Christ. The
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Lord Jesus Christ. Over and over again because
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he's setting a precedent so that they know that
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they just don't do whatever they want. They do
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what God commands. And he's the master. And that's
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the way it is. He's the boss. Okay? Principle
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number one, the privilege and joy of being in
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God's family is solely due to his will, his work,
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and for his glory. The privilege and joy of being
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in God's family is solely due to his will, his
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work, and for his glory. In Hebrews 10, 14, it
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states it this way, for by a single offering,
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he has perfected for all time those. who are
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being sanctified. In other words, we who have
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been saved by Christ, for Christ, he is our offering
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on our behalf, and he has been sanctifying us
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and has already perfected us in the kingdom.
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1 Corinthians 1, 1 -3. Paul, called by the will
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of God. Very important to understand. A man of
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God who is a preacher of God is called by God.
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That is a great responsibility for anyone called
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by God. Okay? But specifically, Paul is not only
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talking about him being a preacher, he's talking
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about his apostleship. Called by the will of
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God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. Three very
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important things. Three basic things you need
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to understand about an apostle. In these modern
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days, there's a lot of quote -unquote apostles.
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Apostle, whatever you want to call themselves.
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Okay? Like female apostles, which is crazy. I
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don't even know where that came from. But an
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apostle must be taught by Christ directly, must
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have seen Christ, and must be called by Christ.
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Called, seen, taught. Paul was called, seen,
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and taught. He was called by God, which we know,
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because he came face to face with Jesus on the
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road to Damascus. Do you remember that little?
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And then people go, well, how could he be taught
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by Jesus? He didn't walk with Jesus for the three
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years he was here. Do you remember he was blind
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for three days? Sat in a bed, blind, couldn't
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do anything. Do you think he was just sitting
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there having like whatevers? No, he was taught
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all the things that Paul had studied, Christ
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had brought to him. Right? So he was taught by
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Christ. And so there's a clear apostleship of
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Paul. Paul clarifies that apostleship based upon
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not only his work, but his preaching and his
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life. It's been verified by the Spirit of God.
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Now, that's enough on Paul's issue. And he also
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talks about our brother Sosthenes. I'm not going
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to get into Sosthenes right now. Okay? He's mentioned
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like once. And there's no need to go into a whole
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sermon on Sosthenes. To the church of God. He
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starts at verse 2. To the church of God. This
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term, church of God, shows ownership of his people.
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This is God's church. And this term literally
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shows, in the original language, ownership. God
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owns you. Now think about that. God owns you.
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How does he own you? Did you have a debt you
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could not pay? And if someone comes and pays
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a debt you cannot pay, what's that called? A
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slave. Except in Christ, he gives us freedom.
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That doesn't mean he does not keep us. He gives
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us freedom within him to do whatever he's called
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us to do. As long as we live according to his
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word and his ways and love his things. We can
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walk freely and we are free because where the
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spirit of Lord is, there is freedom. But we have
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a debt. He is our owner. He owns the church.
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He paid for her by his own blood. A cost you
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could not pay. So not only did you have a debt
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you couldn't pay, the cost was too deep for you
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to pay. Okay? And this is important. So he's
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saying the church of God, my people, that is
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in Corinth. To those sanctified in Christ Jesus.
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This word sanctified means purified and consecrated
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ones. In Christ Jesus, we have been purified
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and consecrated to him. Set apart for him, to
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him, to do as he pleases with us. Thank God he's
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so good. Second thing, called to be saints. This
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understanding of saints is not what the Catholic
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Church states. What a saint is. I'm sorry. The
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Pope does not have any legal right to determine
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who is the privileged ones. This is only God
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and God alone. Now, this word called to be saints
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means given the privilege to be a holy one. You've
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been given the privilege to be one of God's holy
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ones. Think about that. Not only is that a privilege,
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but it's a pretty... Pretty high to hold, isn't
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it? That's why God does it for us. We're going
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to see that in a minute. Now, together with all
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those, meaning believers, in every place who
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call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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So you are saints with all the saints of the
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entire world. That's what Paul's saying here.
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In other words, you're not to your own little
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self in your own little city. You have a much
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bigger connection in reality of the family of
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God. And what happens to you happens to all of
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us. That's what he's trying to imply here. Trying
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to set a precedent. Now, let's keep reading.
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He says, so if we call on the name of the Lord
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Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Notice
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he says this, master, both their master and our
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master. Isn't that interesting? And then he ends
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it with his common statement, grace to you and
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peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus
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Christ, meaning the son. We see the two persons
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of the Trinity here. Why? They are the ones who
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declared the authority of what they have done,
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okay? Scripture says that Jesus says, all authority
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has been given unto me. It's showing that the
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reality of our position with God is because of
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the Father's plan and the fulfillment of Christ.
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Without that, there is no guarantee. Okay? Second.
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The Father has provided everything we need in
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Christ to abound in his word and the truth of
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his gospel, specifically for us in the gospel
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and in life. The Father has provided everything
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we need in Christ to abound in word and the truth
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of the gospel and life. Everything we need is
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in Christ. That's the idea here. 2 Peter 1, 3
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-4. His divine power has granted to us all things
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that pertain to life and godliness through the
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knowledge of him who called us to his own glory
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and excellence, by which he has granted to us
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his precious and very great power. promises so
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that through them you may become partakers of
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the divine nature having escaped the corruption
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that is in the world because of sinful desires.
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That is a complete work of soteriology. A complete
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work in every way. And that's what Peter is clarifying
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in 2 Peter 1, 3 -4. So 1 Corinthians 1, 4 -8.
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This is the way Paul states it here. I give thanks
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to my God always for you because of the grace
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of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. Who
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has given us grace? God the Father has given
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us grace. Where is our grace? Where do we attain
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our grace? Where do we obtain our grace? Through
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Christ and Christ alone. The word grace of God
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here means the favor of God delivered in Christ
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to you. That's God's favor from the Father to
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you through the Son. That. Verse 5, in every
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way you were enriched in him in all speech and
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all knowledge. In every way. The term enriched
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here means richly furnished. I want you to think
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about that. What an amazing statement. It'd be
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one thing if I was enriched. But it's another
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thing when we are furnished with what we need
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to do the job. Like think about it. To be richly
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furnished in Christ. Concerning his word and
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concerning the knowledge of truth. Everything
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you need, Christ has furnished for you to be
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a faithful witness in the word and the knowledge
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of truth. You need nothing else but the Holy
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Spirit and his word. It is by God's grace that
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we have those who help us to understand some
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things maybe through other books and writings.
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Great. But according to this, we don't need anything
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else. You have everything you need. You've been
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richly furnished in him concerning his word and
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the knowledge of truth, concerning all speech
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and all knowledge. The thing is, do you know
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and believe that the Holy Spirit will do as he's
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promised, guide you in all truth? Now, verse
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six, how do we know that this is true? The truth
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is here. This is how we know that he's furnished
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us in all speech and in all knowledge. Even as
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the testimony, the evidence, the proof about
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Christ was confirmed in you. How do you know
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that God has furnished you in all word, in all
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speech, and in all knowledge? Because the testimony
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of Christ being crucified and resurrected is
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confirmed among you. That's how you know. How
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do I know I'm a believer? He's confirmed it.
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All of us go through times when we wonder, man,
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if I was really a believer, would I do something
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dumb? Yes, you will. We all do it. But he confirms
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again and again and again. What's the evidence
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of proof? A changed life. Obedience is the evidence
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of proof here. Okay? So you have been furnished
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in all knowledge and all truth. Why? Because
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the proof of that is Christ in you. Okay? There.
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Continue, verse 6, so that you are not lacking
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in any gift. In other words, what Paul is saying
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is here, because Christ is in you, because the
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Spirit of God is in you, you lack nothing. Nothing
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to accomplish the mission. Everything you need
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for the gospel is there. Now, understanding that,
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let's keep reading. As you wait for the revealing
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of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, I stand, when you
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look at the issue of sensationism versus the
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continuation of gifts, I stand on John Piper's
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side on this. It's hard. Concerning some things,
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you go, okay, I see where I'm a cessationist.
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A cessationist is one who believes that none
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of the gifts exist. Unless you're a partial cessationist,
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that means you believe that some of them do,
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but not all of them do. Specifically, the miracle
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gifts, tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy,
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meaning future telling, and miracles, healings.
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Now, which is kind of weird, because I don't
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know about you, but if I'm preaching the gospel
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in some unknown jungle, and a dude is sick, and
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I go to the Lord and say, like, Lord, this is,
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I mean, can you heal this guy so his family come
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to Christ? Or, you don't know. Something like
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that can happen. So I'm not willing to say definitively
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that the gifts do not exist. So I stand with
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John on this. And here's where John and I stand
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specifically. All gifts are for the gospel, period.
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That's the end of the discussion. They're not
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for you to be saying, I have the spirit of God
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because I speak in tongues and now I'm going
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to heaven. That is not what the gift is for.
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The gifts are for the gospel. You can read that
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in Hebrews chapter two. All gifts are for the
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gospel, period. How do we know that? Because
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that's what we're talking about here. So all
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of these gifts are for you as you wait for the
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revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, obviously
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he's talking to the church in Corinth, but what
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are they waiting for if Jesus reveals himself
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while they're there? What's that mean for all
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of us? Is it only for them and not for us? These
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are all good questions. That's called metaphysics.
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Asking questions that can be difficult to answer.
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Verse 8. And he, meaning Christ, will sustain
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you, will keep you, will make firm you to the
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end, guiltless. So there it is. It's continued.
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Whether you read verse 6 and 7 or verse 8, there's
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this. Constant communication of the revealing
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of Christ or the coming of Christ. We know because
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it's part of what we believe. In the Apostles'
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Creed, we believe in the second coming of Christ,
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do we not? So there it is. The second coming
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of Christ is clearly proclaimed concerning whether
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gifts exist or not here. Can't have one without
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the other. And that's the argument among us who
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do hold that there's gifts, Need to be properly
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used. Here's another example. Whether you want
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to see that or not. The teaching of the scripture.
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Is that a gift? Teaching scripture is a gift.
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How do we know? Because the scripture says so.
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We'll get to those in a few weeks. Not, well,
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a couple months. Okay? I teach you every Sunday.
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I teach you every Wednesday. That's a spiritual
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gift. I also prophesy every Sunday and every
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Wednesday. You're like, what? I foretell. The
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word prophecy means to foretell the truth. God's
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given me his word. I foretell the truth of the
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word of God to you. That's the gift of prophecy.
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Well, how do we know? Because not everybody can
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do this. Okay? That's a gift. It's a gift of
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the spirit by the grace of God upon a very corrupt
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and broken man. It's his goodness in reflection
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to what I am apart from him. Now, understanding
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that there's two particular gifts that are practiced
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right in front of you every single day. So if
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those gifts don't exist and the gifts have ceased,
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I wonder who's teaching. And what's the sense
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of asking the Lord to guide us in all truth if
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it's from your own mind anyway? And then you
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have to give the credit to the school because
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the school is the one that's taught you all that
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stuff. Not the spirit. Can't have one without
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the other. There's my argument. Third principle.
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The father who is faithful has called us into
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fellowship with his son, commands his people
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to be faithful in fellowship with one another
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by having the mind of Christ. Okay? So, if God
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is faithful and has called... Called us into
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fellowship with his son. Which we'll read in
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a minute. He also commands us to be faithful.
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As he is in fellowship with one another. And
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the way we have fellowship with one another.
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Is to have the mind of Jesus. First Corinthians
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2 .16. For who has understood the mind of the
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Lord. So as to instruct him. But we have the
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mind of Christ. You have it. He lives in you.
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His mind is with you. 1 Corinthians 1, 19 through
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17. God is faithful. Do you see that? By whom
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you were called. Isn't that interesting? God,
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the faithful one, has called you into fellowship
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with his son. Now, here's the interesting term,
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the word called here. The word called means to
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be summoned by a king. So when God calls you,
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him being king says, come. And what do you do
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when you come before the king? You kneel. That's
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the idea here. This is not an option. This is
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a command. It's implied in the understanding
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of the word called. And the word called means
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to be summoned by the king. Now, he has called
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us. into fellowship with his son, which he puts
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us into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ,
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our master. And as a result of understanding
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that reality, the scripture here in verse 10
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says, I appeal to you. I urge you. Someone used
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the word beg. I wouldn't say beg. I think more
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the term is, listen, you're going to do this
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or there's going to be problems. That's what
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I think he's saying here. He says, I appeal to
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you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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So what he's saying is this reality concerning
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what I'm going to talk to you about is by the
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name, the authority of Christ, our master. This
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is him. This is a required obedient act. That's
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what he means here. That you all agree. This
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word agree means to be sure and certain of the
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faith. Agree in what? Agree concerning all things
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concerning him. His ways. Okay? And that there
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be no divisions, no dissensions, no damage to
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the unity among you is what he says here. That's
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the word divisions. Okay? Now, Understanding
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that, the reason why is because in order to be
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in fellowship with the Son and be in fellowship
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with one another, we must agree. We must keep
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the unity of the faith in the bond of peace.
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That's the most important thing here. Then he
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says, but that you be united. This word united
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means united completely. And here it is. In the
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same mind and the same judgment. This word same
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is the word his. It should be his because it
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implies immutability. In the original language,
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when it says the same mind, it's meaning the
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immutable mind of Christ. I don't know about
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you, but I'm not immutable. You're not immutable.
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Your mind is not immutable and neither is mine.
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But I know his is. So we must be united. In his
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immutable mind, nos is the word here, means to
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think like Christ. That's literally what this
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word means. It's not the same as in Philippians
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chapter 2, verses 2 and 5, which is froneo. Froneo.
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That word froneo means to have regard or to set
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one's mind on. Set your mind on Christ. As he
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has left you this example to live. That's what
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chapter 2 of Philippians means. Here, this means
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that you are to have, you must think like Jesus
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thinks. Now that makes a lot of sense, doesn't
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it? Because in order for me to be in fellowship
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with the Son and be in proper fellowship with
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one another, we must think like he thinks. And
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we must have his view. This word judgment means
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Christ's view or opinion. Now this word opinion
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is not like you think you have an opinion and
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I have an opinion. This is not, God doesn't have
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opinions in the way you think he has opinions.
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He doesn't go, you know, Joe has an opinion.
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Oh my goodness. I got to hear this opinion. It's
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not an opinion like that. It means it's his view.
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It's the way he thinks. That's the idea here.
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We must have the same judgment. We must have
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the same view that Christ has concerning all
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things, not just some things. So it's interesting
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when we sit and we read that we are to be united
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and think like Christ and that we should be having
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Christ's view concerning things. And this is
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why he says it, verse 11, for it's been reported
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to me by Chloe's people. that there is quarreling
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among you, my brothers. So Chloe and Chloe's
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people come to Paul. And he says, yo, Paul, we
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got some issues here. What are they? Well, we've
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witnessed that people are saying, I follow you
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and they follow Apollos and they follow Cephas
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and they follow Christ. And Paul's like, well,
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I got to fix that. So he rebukes them. Like the
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entire book of Corinthians or letter of Corinthians
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is a lot of rebuke because this church has some
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issues. Okay. Now that's what he says here. What
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I mean is that each one of you says, he's verified
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this. I follow Paul or I follow Apollos or I
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follow Cephas or I follow Christ. And Paul's
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like, I can see Paul thinking like, what are
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they thinking? This is not about any of us. It's
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about Christ and Christ alone. And he clarifies
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that statement. And this is what he says. He
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asks a bunch of questions. There's a lot of questions
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in this chapter. Is Christ divided? No. Was Paul
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crucified for you? No. That's clear. Or were
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you baptized in the name of Paul? No. Then why
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are you claiming that you follow a man and not
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follow the God of all men? That's Paul's argument
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here. And what Paul does is he clarifies because
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in 2 Corinthians 2, you see something very common
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in Paul's declaration to the Corinthians. He
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has a clear conscience. And what he does here
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is he clarifies the truth. Not only does he call
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them out on their junk and their issue, he rebukes
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them. Is Christ divided? He then turns around
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and says, here's what I actually did do. I thank
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God that I baptized none of you except for Crispus
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and Gaius, so that no one may say that you were
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baptized in my name. Because I know these two
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guys are going to tell the truth. He mentions
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these two guys. I think it's not only does he
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mention these two guys, I think it was providential.
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Not think, I know it was providential that Paul
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only baptized Crispus and Gaius because God knew
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beforehand he was going to have to deal with
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an issue in this church. And then Paul has an
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epiphany. He's like, oh, wait a minute. I did
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baptize also the house of Stephanas. And beyond
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that, I don't know whether I baptized anyone
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else. What I love about this verse is it makes
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Paul human. He's a pastor who like, I wish I
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had a V8 moment, you know? He's like, oh, I forgot.
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I got to mention this. We're human. Men of God
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are human. We're going to make mistakes. When
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we make mistakes, we go, oh, hey, by the way.
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That's what Paul does here. That's one of the
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things I love about him. Not only does he wreck
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people, but he also goes, oh, I forgot. So good.
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It makes me feel like I can connect to him. It
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was one of my connecting moments. Oh, he forgets
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like I do. If you forget the keys, Paul would
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have forgot them too. Okay? Verse 17. For Christ
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did not send me to baptize. And here is where
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Paul is setting a very clear statement, which
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we'll get to at the end in verse 18 through the
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end of the chapter. This is a pivotal statement
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here because he's clarifying why he's come. For
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Christ did not send me to baptize. Christ doesn't
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call men to just baptize. He calls us to preach
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the gospel. What good is baptism if you don't
30:03
tell them about Jesus? I'm just making people
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wet. That's his point. If I preach Christ and
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him crucified and they come to faith, then baptism
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means something. It's a fruit showing obedience.
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But if they get baptized thinking that's going
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to save them, it doesn't do anything but make
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people wet. For Christ did not send me to baptize
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but to preach the gospel. And he tells them how
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he preached the gospel. Not with the words of
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eloquent wisdom. I didn't make an amazing sermon.
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Nope. He preached just Christ and him crucified.
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Lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
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Here's the power of the gospel. The power of
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the gospel is not how well one can preach or
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not preach. It's not how well we become wordsmiths.
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And Jody knows I'm not a wordsmith. Okay? In
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reality, it's how well we can clarify the truth
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of the gospel in its simplicity. And here's the
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gospel. Christ died on the cross for your sins
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because you are sinful. And without Christ dying
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on the cross for your sins, you are destined
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for God's wrath. God sent his son in propitiation
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in your place to take away your sin, to shed
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his blood as a payment for sin, for the wages
31:25
of sin is death. And on the third day, after
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he'd been crucified and buried, he rose him from
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the dead so that we would have victory over death,
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sin, and the grave. That's the point of the resurrection.
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Without the resurrection, he's just another man
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that was crucified on a cross. But he's not just
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another man. He's the man God who died for you.
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That's the point. That's the simplicity of the
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power of the cross. Christ was crucified according
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to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again
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on the third day according to the scriptures.
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1 Corinthians 15, which we'll get to in about
32:03
eight months. It's going to be a while. Probably
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not eight months, more like six maybe. But that's
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what we're talking about here. Why is the unity
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of the faith and the bond of peace? Why should
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we be striving for fellowship with one another?
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It's the gospel. The gospel is at stake here.
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That's what's at stake. And Paul clarifies that
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with these people. Okay? Now, let's pray and
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then I'll send you off. Father, I want to thank
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you so much for your word. Thank you for this
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wonderful letter to be honor and glory in Jesus'
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name. Amen.