Once again, First Corinthians chapter one, verses one through nine. Here now the word of the living God. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our brother to the church of God, which is at Corinth to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God, which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by him and all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is the word of the living God. And we say thanks be to God. Amen. Please be seated. Let's pray together. Now, O Lord, we pray your blessing once more on the preaching of the word. We ask that in this time you might encourage the hearts of your saints. Give us aid as we seek to hear and to preach your word. Point us to Christ once more, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Love letters that you might write to a spouse or encouraging notes that you might receive from a friend are always valuable. They are always helpful and important. But the notes of encouragement that you often receive or the love letters that you may get from a spouse or a parent even, oftentimes mean the most to us when those things about us, the things that are true about us, are listed in those letters. Think, for instance, of the person who sends you the note to encourage you and tells you in that note or that letter or that email several ways in which you've been an encouragement to them. Or they may mention certain characteristics that are true about you, and reading those things and seeing them through the pen of another are so often very encouraging. Or perhaps it is that cherished letter from a parent or a grandparent, perhaps now with the Lord, that speaks of things that are true about you. And as you read over those same sentences through the years, perhaps pulling them out from time to time to be reminded of them, the things that they saw in you or said about you can mean so much. First Corinthians is a letter where Paul begins by giving some statements that are true about the Church of Jesus Christ. Several years ago, our church walked through this letter, and when we walked through this letter at the time, we talked about the distinctions of this letter. In fact, you'll see many of them coming to the forefront here. But tonight I want us to look not so much at the various themes that we covered then. But I want us to see things that are true about the church of Jesus Christ, things that by the pen of Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are said about the church and they're said about the church at Corinth. But they're not just true about the church at Corinth, they're true of every gospel believing church. In fact, you could say that these seven things that are written here are things that the Holy Spirit says are true about his church. Let's look briefly tonight at these seven characteristics of the church of God. Now, of course, context is important. You remember that If there is any letter in the New Testament that churches could take encouragement from when they are going through difficult times, it's the letter at First Corinthians. We, as a church, are not going through difficult times necessarily. But this letter is a letter that could bring great encouragement to Christian churches that are struggling. Think about the church at Corinth. They're wrestling with how to get the sacraments right. They're wrestling with pride and spiritual gifts. They're wrestling with how to get discipline and holiness right as the body of Christ. They're wrestling with what to do with speaking in tongues and prophecy. They're wrestling with understanding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And yet notice the things that the Holy Spirit, through the pen of Paul, says about this church. Seven realities. I just want to walk through this section together. A church at Corinth, but we could say this same reality could be written of any church in Jesus Christ. Paul opens as he often does. Very common in the first century, Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sothenes, our brother. And then notice firstly what he says, to the church of God, which is at Corinth. One of the things that the Holy Spirit reminds Corinthian believers about, one of the things that the Holy Spirit reminds believers in our church about is that firstly, we belong to another. We belong to another. These are words which we might easily skim over in reading. We might think, well, my daily reading for the month ahead is going to be in the book of First Corinthians. So let me get into the meat of the letter. But there is meat in the first few words to the church of God. The church is God's church. We are owned by God. We are the assembly of God. In fact, Luke would write in Acts 20, verse 28, that it is the church which God purchased with his own very blood. Church of God belongs to another. The applications here are many for us. Let me just say tonight as we quickly gloss over this first reality that we don't own the church. You don't own this church. I don't own this church. The elders don't own this church. This church belongs to God. And this reality ought to frame everything that we do, everything that we think when we think about the church. But there's also comfort here, isn't there? Grace Baptist Chapel is a church of God, a church belonging to God. But there's a second reality in this text, isn't there? Not only does the church of Jesus Christ belong to God, but the church of Jesus Christ is a gathered people. Look at the very next phrase to the church of God, which is at Corinth. Now, again, we might quickly gloss over this and think, well, Paul is saying that because he's writing to the church at Corinth and, you know, he wants to say hello and have all of these formalities to the church of God, which is at Corinth. And that's true. We do get Paul's introduction in verse one, and we get a description of the church at Corinth in verse two. Paul in this letter is not immediately writing to Ephesus. He's not immediately writing to the church at Galatia. He's writing to the church at Corinth. But notice what he says to the Church of God, which is at Corinth to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Not only does the church belong to God to belong to another, but the church is a gathered people. You can certainly pull this out from the pew in front of you. I'll read it to each of us. But our church's statement of faith speaks to this very, very well. The London Baptist Confession of Faith, Chapter 26, paragraph seven. reads this way, to each of these churches thus gathered, according to his mind declared in his word, he, that is God, has given all the power and authority which is any way needful for their carrying out that order of worship and discipline, which he has instituted for them to observe with commands and rules for the do and right exerting and executing of that power. What is being said here in the confession arises right out of the pages of scripture. There is indeed a church of Jesus Christ. Made up of believers from every nation and tribe and tongue from every era, and yet the church is a people that is gathered. We're owned by God and we are a people that gathers. Without gathering of the saints, it could be said. The church is not existent, that the church is faulty. The church has been meant to be a gathered people. Now think about this. You're the church at Corinth. You're going through great difficulty, and Paul begins, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to say things that are true of you. You belong to God, and you are a particular people gathered in a particular place. The same is true of us today, beloved. We are owned by God. We belong to God. And we are gathered not in Corinth, not in Ephesus, not in Galatia, but we are gathered here in Hampton, Virginia. And should the Lord, Terry, and all of us go to be with him a hundred years from now, by his grace, there will be a church gathered in Hampton, Virginia. These things are true about the people of God. But notice thirdly, that the church of God is a people set apart in Jesus. Look there at verse two. To the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Is that a descriptor that you regularly think about when you think about who you are? When you think about this particular church, yes, gathered in this particular place and location, do you think about the reality that we are, quote, sanctified in Christ Jesus or set apart in Jesus? This warrants us taking just a moment to consider this word sanctified in the pages of the New Testament. The word sanctified does have several different variations, and here's what I mean. In some sense, Paul will say that there's a process that we are undergoing that we call sanctification. Think of First Thessalonians chapter four. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, your sanctification. that you're growing into the image of the sun. We call that progressive sanctification. It's an ongoing work. But then there are other times in the New Testament where the people of God are just called sanctified. And what is not referenced necessarily is the ongoing work, but the objective reality that they have been set apart by God in Christ Jesus. You're a peculiar people. We are a peculiar people. We are set apart. Increasingly, we're feeling that in our days, aren't we? But the Holy Spirit pens a letter to the church. And he comforts them with these words. You belong to God. You are a particular gathered people. You are set apart in Jesus. You're sanctified in Jesus. Reality is that believers are being sanctified, they are growing in sanctification. There's another sense in which what could be said about us, what is true of us is that we are set apart. We're set apart. Think of the Old Testament economy where there were certain instruments, certain priests, certain aspects to the tabernacle or the temple. You could say in one sense that they were sanctified. They were set apart for special use. The New Testament believers are seen to be churches are seen to be sanctified, set apart. in Christ Jesus. That is a truer reality of you. That is a truer reality of me than very physical things which we will experience this week. You may be employed. You may not be employed. You may have money in the bank. You may not have money in the bank. You may be happy with yourself. You may not be happy with yourself. There may be plentiful food on the table. There may not be plentiful food on the table. But a reality that is unchanging about you as the people of God is that you are set apart in Christ Jesus. You are God's special people. Now, let me just take this point. This moment to make one particular point on this word, we are growing in Christ likeness, believers are being sanctified, and it is very crucial. brothers and sisters, that we do not confuse that ongoing growth in holiness with justification. Paul doesn't use the word justification here, but so often when we see the word sanctified, it warrants that we say that it differs from justification. You are declared righteous in Christ once for all and you are set apart. The word sanctified here. But there is another reality about you. You are growing in holiness. And the pursuit of holiness and godliness is not a legalistic pursuit. We ought to be growing in Christ likeness, we ought to be growing in godliness, but here Paul simply makes the Holy Spirit simply makes a blanket statement about the church set apart in Christ Jesus. What is true in this letter? about the church. Well, the church belongs to another. The church gathers particular places, particular areas, particular locations, and the church is set apart in Jesus. There's a fourth reality that Paul speaks to, and it still remains in verse two. And that is we are the church gathered is connected to all saints. Notice what Paul says to the Church of God, which is at Corinth. To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. You see, there's a sense in which the church is gathered in a particular place. There are local expressions of the body of Christ and those local churches. Ordered according to the mind of Christ through his word, have all that they need to administer discipline and sacraments. They are a church and yet local churches are connected. We are connected to all the saints. Paul says as much, doesn't he? Called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name. There is a worldwide or universal church made up of believers from all times and all places. Brothers and sisters, we are connected to a larger body. We're not simply a local reality only, we are more connected to other believers than to our closest non-Christian friends. We're united to Christ. Believers who claim the name of Christ at the Presbyterian church down the street or the Lutheran church down the street may have very different expressions in their local gatherings. And we may have good and right quibbles with those brothers and sisters over what to do and worship and how to be organized. But if they are a gospel proclaiming church, if the spirit of God has set them apart, then they're our brothers and sisters and we can rejoice. Christ's body all across this globe, it's why we ought to pray for believers, we ought to be regularly praying for churches in this city, in this region and all across the world. We ought to be thinking even in this time of churches in Russia and churches in the Ukraine, brothers and sisters that we have never met, but brothers and sisters that we are united with nonetheless. So think on this reality of who we are. We are locally gathered, but there is more to our local gathering. It's a local gathering that is connected to believers. Notice what Paul says here, he says, called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's a very common phrase, perhaps you could read of it in Joel chapter two, verse 32, or Romans chapter 10, verse 13. All who call savingly upon Jesus Christ as Lord are part of his church. You see, this letter written by the Holy Spirit is a letter that is listing things that are true of us. They were true of the believers in Corinth, but they're true of us. Think on this reality, you belong to God, Grace Baptist Chapel. You are a gathered people. You are set apart in Jesus, and you are connected to all the saints. And what is the connection among the saints? Is it that we share a bishop somewhere, a pope in Rome? No, that's not the connection at all. Notice what Paul says, called to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. What connects believers is their union with Christ. But there's a fifth reality here, and it's a glorious one. And that is that the church has received grace. We have been given grace. Paul says in verse three, grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he begins to pray, doesn't he? And he says this, I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God, which was given to you by Christ Jesus. Now, in the very next verse, verse five, he's going to Give a very tangible example of this expression of grace, and it's a tangible example that in the context of first Corinthians is going to be very important. Namely, part of the grace that they've received in Christ Jesus is that they've been enriched with gifts. Now think about the context of first Corinthians. What were they debating about? What were they arguing about? Whose gifts were greater? Which preacher, which apostle, which church planter was the best? So, of course, there's a context here to the kind of specific things that the Holy Spirit mentions. But before you even get into the discussion of being enriched in utterances and knowledge, notice what the Holy Spirit says about his church. They have been given the grace of God by Jesus Christ. It would be helpful in our own lives from time to time if we simply opened our Bibles, open them right to first Corinthians, chapter one, verse four, and said, one of the things that is true about me is that I have been given the grace of God by Jesus Christ. Or when we're wrestling with other believers, when we're struggling to get along with other believers. When the Lord. Causes there to be a variety of changes in his local church gathered. One of the helpful realities is that these other brothers and sisters have been given the grace of God. By Christ Jesus. They are people that have received the greatest of all gifts. Later in the letter in First Corinthians, chapter four, verse seven. Paul will essentially say the Holy Spirit will essentially say that we have received nothing. Because of deserving it, but it's been given by grace. Think about your brothers and sisters here in this place. They're people who've received grace. I don't want to press into this too much tonight, brothers and sisters, but think about this reality. When you look around this room, when you fellowship tonight with other saints, there's a lot about them. There's a lot about the exterior about them. You see personalities, you see things that they're interested in. Some of them like this, some of them like that. Some of them are in the middle of mountaintops. Others of them, whether you know it or not, are in the deepest valleys of life. But you are standing there conversing with another saint that God has seen fit for his glory alone to give unmerited favor to. God has given this man, this woman grace. You see, the Holy Spirit says, before many, many chapters of correcting this church. He says various things that are true about them. They belong to God, they're gathered people. They've been set apart in Jesus Christ, they're connected to saints everywhere who call on the name of Christ, and they are a people who have received grace. That ought to grip me when I interact with you. And that ought to grip you when you interact with me. And when we interact with one another, we are a part of a covenant community of people that is set apart in Christ Jesus that has received grace. There's a sixth reality, isn't there? And it could be argued that it flows out of this gifting of grace. Look at verse five, that you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance and all knowledge. Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Topic for another time, but notice the connection of spiritual gifts with waiting on the return of Christ. You don't often think about spiritual gifts that way, do we? I've been given gifts. as I wait. He's coming. He's coming soon. And I've been given gifts to use as we wait. Think about how many people are huddled in abandoned buildings, perhaps airports and cities like Afghanistan or the Ukraine, and they're all huddled together. And a common purpose that they all have is they're being bombed. They're being attacked. And that's what unites them. And they don't know from moment to moment when the end will come. And so can you imagine them there sharing water, sharing food, sharing medical supplies? Here, I have two loaves of bread. Would you like one as we wait? We certainly are not, by God's grace, in bombed out buildings. And only because of the Lord's providence are we not in the midst of an airport trying to get out of a land that is falling apart. But we are waiting for a glorious reality. And the Lord Christ has given gifts to his church as we wait. Notice in the text. That as the spirit says that we've been given blessings, that God was behind these blessings. Notice in verse five that you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance. You could translate that speech in all knowledge. Verse seven, in all gifts, God is behind the blessing of his church. Every gift that comes to the Church of Jesus Christ is given through the hands, as it were, of Jesus Christ. There are others, saints who've gone on before us, some examples would be the Puritans who would make a very keen point to say that when you receive a spiritual blessing, when you receive a sermon that encourages you, when a brother or sister writes you a card or prays for you or offers you assistance, that that is, as it were, coming from the hand of Christ to you by the saints. Think about this. You're in the middle of a very difficult week. The church doesn't know all that you're going through, but a brother or a sister ministers to you according to their own gifting in a way that only in that moment they could have. And it is a glorious reality that that brother or sister met a need, exercised a gift for you. But that gift, as it were, comes to you from the hand of your savior. He is intimately involved. God is intimately involved in gifting his church. We don't think about spiritual gifts that way, do we? We often think, the Lord Jesus died for me. He was raised. He ascended to the right hand with the majesty on high. He intercedes for me. And he's left me here with all these people who are imperfect like me. What am I to do with all this? I'll tell you what the Lord Christ does with all this. Through their hands and through their feet and through their lips and through their eyes, he gives you gifts. He enriches your faith. And what's very interesting here, the word that he uses is verse seven for spiritual gift will be a word that even though I'll say it in Greek, you'll recognize charismata. Don't let that scare you, reformed folk. Just means gift, freely given gift. What does he say about Corinth? that they will come short in no gift as they eagerly await the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fast forward about 2,000 years and here I am, a sinner saved by the grace of Christ. And he specifically plucks me out of a sinful world and puts me into this church, a sanctified people, a people that belong to God, a people that are regularly gathered, but yet connected to all of his people worldwide. He's given me grace and he's given me you. And you are the ones that will regularly be the hands and feet that enrich my soul as a member of his body. When you think of serving this church, do you regularly remember that anything that you have is a gift of God? And when you think about how others have served you, as wonderfully encouraging as it can be to say, brother, that sister has been so kind and so sweet. Do you regularly think that the Lord Christ, who is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high, who's led captives in his train, who's given gifts to men in his church and women in his church? Do you regularly think not only did this brother encourage me, this comes from my savior who loves me? We've been given blessings, church Corinth and Grace Chapel. Well, the seventh and final reality about the church, you know, a reality that the Holy Spirit says is true of us is that we are kept by the faithful God. Now, I know that this is a letter that's been written by Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But how often do we take up and read and see in statements like this what is true of us? Notice there in verse eight. Paul has just finished saying the spirit has just finished saying so that you come short and no gift eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end? That you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son. Jesus Christ, our Lord. The seventh reality that is true of every true church is that they are kept by the faithful God. And notice the way that it's written. Verse eight ends this way, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you feel blameless every day? It's a very 21st century way of asking, isn't it? Teenagers tonight are going to talk about the difference between subjective and objective truth in Sunday school, how we live in a world that makes up truth, tries to discover truth. And don't we often live in a world that says, how does that make you feel? Well, I'm going to ask you, do you feel Monday through Saturday that you are blameless to the end? If you're like me, I don't think that you do. But notice the very next words, God, is faithful. You're not faithful. I'm not faithful. Who's the faithful one? God is faithful. By whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Notice a few details here as we close. We will be confirmed to the end. Jesus keeps his people. Remember what the word says in Romans 8? 38 and 39, I am persuaded neither death or life. Angels, principalities. Nothing will be able to separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus keeps his people. Let me make this abundantly clear. Believer, Jesus keeps you. And then notice the final statement that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to Romans chapter eight, just for a moment, Romans chapter eight, verses 33 and 34. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies who is he who condemns it is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. The intercession of Jesus is always met. Charles Hodge, writing a century or so ago in his commentary on this verse, says this, when we remember on the one hand how great is our guilt and on the other, how great is our danger from without and from within, we feel that nothing Nothing but the righteousness of Christ and the power of God can secure our being preserved and presented blameless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you just look at your life for a moment? And I mean, you know, offense, friend, but can you look at your life? Look at my life. Are there not times where there are inconsistencies, coldness of heart, clear and just immediately apparent sins? And you may begin to think to yourself, even as we thought this morning is perhaps Satan comes with whispering words. Let me think. There is absolutely no way, absolutely no way that I will be blameless on that last day unless the Lord Christ presents me so. There's just no way. And you might even be of the personality type or the current place in your spiritual life where you begin to believe. So maybe I won't be, because if I look at me, the day terrifies me. And so unless, Lord Christ, you preserve me and confirm me to the end, I won't make it. What does the Holy Spirit say of his churches? In this case, Corinth, a really disturbed church. What does he say of his churches? The Lord Jesus Christ. Will confirm you to the end that you will be blameless in the day. Some of my favorite letters of all time. Are letters from loved ones or letters from brothers and sisters, perhaps sentences or even pages where they just say, this is what you've meant to me. Here in First Corinthians, we see the Holy Spirit writing to the church saying, you are a people belonging to God. You're gathered. You're set apart in Christ Jesus. You're connected to churches all over the place. You've been given grace upon grace. You've been given blessings from the very hand of the Savior. And. The spirit can say of the church. You are kept by the faithful God. Paul will end by saying that we were called into the fellowship of his son. Each person who believes that there is sinner, that God is holy and must punish sin, the son of God died for sinners and will receive any who come to him for forgiveness, for life will be saved. Those are believers. And tonight, even you, unbeliever, can have the Holy Spirit, by his word, speak to you. Say, come to Christ. Let's pray. Almighty God, we pray that as we look at realities of who the people of God are, that you might encourage our souls, that you might remind us of the glories of your church because of the glories of her bridegroom. Help us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.