"I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus, 5 that by Him you were enriched in everything—in all speech and all knowledge. 6 In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, 7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
I Corinthians 1:4-9
Good Morning Beloved,
Welcome to worship, we're so glad to have you here.
Thank you all for joining us.
First let's bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for this wonderful day we've been given, for the blessings that You've given to us, for the opportunity to read and study Your Word, for the life saving message of blessed gospel, which all of us who believe have received. Father we also thank You for the many saints who have come to Christ, whose lives have passed from darkness to light, from death to life. Thank You for a gospel that establishes us, a gospel that gives to us all the work of Christ, a gospel that makes us a part of the wonderful unfolding of something hidden from the foundation of the world. We thank You for the wisdom, knowledge and discernment given to us by revelation through Your Holy spirit.
Father, we give thanks to You, for what You have done, are doing, working it out on our behalf, and what You will do, that is yet unseen, that which has all been secured by faith, because faithful are You our God. We love You, and offer our thanks and praise
In Jesus’ blessed name, the One who saved us death, our Redeemer
Amen.
Today's Message
Today, as we continue our study on I Corinthians chapter 1, we'll be looking at verses 4-9. So open with me your Bibles to I Corinthians 1:4-9, follow along with me if you would as I read to you from today's text.
"I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus, that by Him you were enriched in everything—in all speech and all knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
The name Jesus Christ is mentioned ten times in the first ten verses of I Corinthians. I believe that Paul did this intentionally, because he wanted the minds of the Corinthian believers to be immediately centered upon Jesus Christ. He knew that the answer to the Corinthian problems didn’t lay in his ability to discuss and reason, not in his laying down rules and regulations for them. He knew that the answer to their problems was in Jesus Christ. So, Paul in verses 4-9, discusses some of the resources which the believer receives when he accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.
The first resource a believer receives is the grace of God. Paul writes in verse 4, "I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus"
Very simply, grace means the undeserved favor and blessing of God. It’s when God gives us what we don’t deserve. GRACE = God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace means the kindness and love that God freely gives to those who have acted against Him. God’s grace is not earned. His grace is a free gift. God’s grace is the only way a person can be saved. We don’t deserve grace but God loves us with an unbelievable love, so He favors us with the most unbelievable gifts.
The Corinthian church, the believers there, knew and experienced the grace of God. They knew what it was to receive the favor and blessings of God.
"that by Him you were enriched in everything—in all speech and all knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The second resource for believers is the gift of God’s grace and Spirit. God’s grace had enriched the Corinthian believers "in every way." They were especially blessed with the gifts of speaking and of knowledge.
In the area of speaking, they were blessed with all the spiritual gifts involving speech which includes prophecy, teaching, and tongues—any form of speech needed to praise God and to witness for Christ.
In the area of knowledge they had the spiritual gift of understanding spiritual truth and doctrine. They had unusual insight into the nature of God and His call and mission in the world.
The church and its believers were enabled to know and understand the truth of God’s Word and to speak the truth to a lost and dying world. The Spirit of God had enriched their lives with these gifts.
The result of God’s grace and gifts were wonderful. They show what can happen to our faith when God’s Spirit extends us His grace. Three of those results are mentioned within these verses.
The gifts and grace of God confirmed our testimony about Christ in the hearts of the believers. The believers were sure of their salvation. They knew beyond question that they were saved. Jesus had testified the truth that He was the Son of God. The disciples also had testified that Christ was the Son of God, the Savior of the world. The Corinthian believers’ faith was confirmed by the gifts of God’s grace. God showed His grace and showered them with blessings to confirm that their salvation and experience with Christ were genuine.
The second thing we see is that the gifts and grace of God were a full provision to the Corinthian believers. By that, I mean that they lacked no spiritual gifts. They experienced not only the personal gifts like faith and knowledge and tongues, but also the public gifts such as miracles, healing, and prophecy; and they possessed them in abundance.
In chapters 12 and 14 of I Corinthians, we are going to see that the believer is to eagerly desire the greater gifts and the spiritual gifts. But just because someone has the gifts of the Spirit does not mean that person is necessarily strong in the Lord. The Corinthians are a good example of that. There was no one more carnal in the early days of the church than the Corinthian believers. Their abuse of their gifts and their judgment, as we will later see in chapters 12-14, serves as a strong warning to all.
The third result of God’s gifts and grace is that it stirred a strong longing for the return of Christ. The gifts of the Spirit give us a foretaste of the glories of heaven. For example:
The gift of prophecy or of preaching proclaims what heaven will be like.
The gift of ministering demonstrates the loving compassion and care that exists in heaven.
The gift of healing shows the power and will of God for man to live without corruption and pain.
The more active the gifts of the Spirit are among a church, the more the people long for the Lord’s return because, using the gifts of the Spirit, the church experiences the presence of the Lord. Let me put this in every day terms that might be easier to understand.
A body of believers comes together. They minister to one another. They hear the Word of God preached and taught. They pray together. They experience the moving of the Holy Spirit as He touches hearts and draws them closer to God. They see people healed. They see relationships mended. And on and on it goes. They are getting a foretaste of what heaven will be like. And then we start expecting things based upon what God’s Word says to us.
In Colossians, chapter 3, verse 9, I find it quite interesting to see what the apostle says, "Lie not one to another." Paul is saying to quit lying; but, what is the basis of that? "because you have put off the old man with his deeds, and you have put on a new man, renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him." In I Corinthians, verse 1-9, Paul is laying down the foundation of "here is who you are now." Then, in 1:10 clear through the end of chapter 16, he says, "Here’s how to act commensurate with who you are."
The reason we are not to lie is because it’s inconsistent with who we are in Christ. We have put off the old man, and we've put on what? The new man, and the new man doesn’t do that. The new man is conformed to the image of Christ. We are holy in Christ before God, so best we start acting like Christ.
Now, you can govern your life that way; but since I’m in Christ, I would never do anything that He would not do. I don’t lie because He wouldn't. I don’t steal because He doesn’t. I don’t commit adultery because that’s totally foreign and unacceptable to the life of Christ. All of the things in my life are to conform to His life, because He is in me and I am in Him. Beloved, that then is to be the foundation of behavior of someone living the Christian life.
When did it occur? In verse 6, Paul tells us "In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you. "And that is an aorist verb, meaning something in the past that happened in a moment of time. So, you see, from the past standpoint, at a moment in time, you received grace, and it was at the moment the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you.
The believer knows that he will receive a mansion in heaven. He knows that the sufferings of this world don’t come close to comparing with the glory of the Lord’s return and of heaven.
The believer knows that his corruptible body will be changed into a perfect incorruptible body when Jesus returns. The believer knows that when Christ appears, he will appear with Christ in glory.
The believer knows that he will be reunited with all his loved ones (who were believers) when Jesus returns. The believer knows that he will receive a crown of glory. And he knows that he will be made in the image of His Lord.
So in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he assures them that they don’t lack any of the spiritual gifts and as they exercise these gifts they will be caused to eagerly wait upon the return of Jesus Christ.
In verse 8, Paul then tells them, "He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Here we find the believers’ third resource and that is the security of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, the assurance that He brings to the believer’s heart. Jesus will preserve and secure the believer from falling so that the believer may be blameless on the day of our Lord.
The word "blameless" means unreprovable or guiltless. It means no one will be able to accuse or bring any accusation against the believer when he stands before Christ in the Day of Judgment. When the day of the Lord comes, we will be counted blameless because the believer is preserved by the blood and power of Jesus Christ.
Verse 9, "God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
So, the believer’s fourth resource is God Himself—His call on our lives. And God is faithful. God calls believers for the specific purpose of being in fellowship with Jesus. God simply longs for people to know His Son. He wants to a person to know Him by becoming personally related to Him through adoption and by fellowshipping with Him day by day, all day long.
In Closing....
Now with all that said, let’s go back and read verses 1-9 again. As we read this dramatic introduction to I Corinthians, it appears that Paul is simply reminding the Corinthian believers of all the blessings they have received as a gift from God through His grace. Allow me to read to you I Corinthians 1:1-9
"Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, and Sosthenes our brother:
To God’s church at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord—both their Lord and ours.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
"I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus, that by Him you were enriched in everything—in all speech and all knowledge. In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Paul then gets into the first problem, the issue of a divided church. We will resume our study in I Corinthians 1 picking up in verse 10 next time.
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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