Well, we turn this morning to the passage that we read. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verses 1 to 17. I'm working through the book of Corinthians in my own congregation at the moment and thought that it might be helpful to share this portion with you this morning as I thought and prayed about what should preach on today. The city of Corinth, Paul had gone there during his second missionary journey. He had spent 18 months in that city. He had seen some Jews come to faith and a great many Gentiles. It was a city that Paul had gone to, we read in Corinthians, with great fear and much trembling. And part of that may well have been because of the kind of culture and context that existed within Corinth in the middle of the first century. It was a very cosmopolitan city. There were Romans there. There were Greeks there. There were peoples from other parts of the world. It was also a very immoral city. And indeed, there was a play on the name of the city, which meant to lead a very immoral life, and it was associated with that city. And so Paul is now writing to the church here in 1 Corinthians. As far as we can tell, there were four letters to the church in Corinth, but God in his wisdom has preserved only two for us. And if we were to put them in order, then what we have here in 1 Corinthians is actually the second letter. And what we have in 2 Corinthians was, in fact, the fourth letter. But that's just so that you know the wider background that Paul has been involved with this church for a period of five years. The church is about five years old now when he writes 1 Corinthians. And he's writing to a church in a corrupt city, a city that believes the lie of human autonomy, and a city that serves itself instead of the Creator, Saviour, God. And at the same time, the church, though called to be light and salt within the city, is tragically conformed to the values and the conduct of the city. And the theme that I've been taking for these studies in my own congregation is that Paul's clarion call to the church is be transformed. Be transformed. And there to be transformed in Christ as those who profess Christ. And so the question we want to ask this morning is this, what is the answer when a church is conformed to the world. How do you begin to reform and transform that church to what Christ wants her to be? Well, Paul's remedy, strikingly and very simply and clearly, is to focus their minds on Christ. And this opening section Verses 1 to 17 is bursting with Christ. It's bursting with Christ in the names and titles that it gives to him in various combinations. Let's just notice them. In verse one, he's referred to as Jesus Christ. In verse two and four, he's referred to as Christ Jesus. And then four times, we have the title Our Lord Jesus Christ, verse two, verse seven, verse eight, verse 10. And then he's referred to once as the Lord Jesus Christ, verse three, and then once as the Christ, verse six, and once as Jesus Christ, Our Lord, verse nine. 10 times. The Apostle quotes Christ in his various titles and names. And so Paul's answer to the problem of the well-being of the Church is to remind the Corinthians of what they are in Christ. And this section, verses 1 to 17, divides into three parts. Verses 1 to 3 are Paul's opening greeting to the church, where he says who he's writing, and he says who he's writing to, and then he brings them a word of greeting. And that's the way in which letters were written in those days. We start our letters, Dear John, or Dear Mary. Well, they started their letters from John, from Mary. and then proceeded to name who it was to, and then to say, how are you? Or I hope that you are doing well. So that's his greeting, verses one to three. And then in verses four to six, we have Paul's heartfelt thanksgiving for the church. And then verses 10 to 17, we have his passionate appeal to the church. And all three parts His greeting, His thanksgiving, and His appeal come in Christ to them. And so, He's teaching them in each section a vital truth regarding their position in Christ. So the title of our sermon this morning is, What You Are in Christ. What You Are in Christ. First of all, we want to think about how they and we, and also Paul, are called in Christ. Called in Christ. Verses 1 to 3. Paul writes, literally it is, called an apostle of Jesus Christ. The words to be are understood, and here Paul is stating his authority in the church at the outset. The risen Christ has appointed him and vested him with his authority in the church. An apostle, this is his vocation. This is Paul's position in regard to the churches. This is Paul's function in the churches. He is one of that small group that Christ called and gifted and graced in order to be his representatives in the first century, to write down his truth and to continue the work that Christ had begun when he was on earth. And to strengthen his position further, Paul adds, through the will of God. Christ called Paul not just to salvation on the road to Damascus, but to this work among the Gentiles. And why did Christ do that? Because it was the will of God established in eternity. that Saul of Tarsus would become Paul the Apostle of Christ. And as Paul writes this in this opening section, called in Christ to be an Apostle, he is already seeking to correct those who are judging him in the congregation. Read through the letter of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians And you will discern that there is a hostile spread amongst some that becomes very difficult by the time you get to 2 Corinthians. And so here at the very outset, Paul is reminding them, I am an apostle of Christ. I minister in the church. I write to the church. rule in the church by virtue of the authority of Christ. The Corinthians have also been called, but their calling is a different calling. Verse two, to those who are, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Do you get the phrase? in Christ Jesus. And it's actually in a tense here, which means to those having been sanctified in Christ Jesus. And yes, it's something that continues into the present. God began it in them, in Christ. And God continues this work where they've been called to be sanctified, called to be saints. Five years ago, Paul visited the city, he preached in various places, and people repented from a Jewish and predominantly then from a Gentile background. They believed in Christ, they were saved. Their calling is to be saints. Now that doesn't mean they're called to be sinless. It's not the idea of sainthood that we find within Roman Catholicism either. This word, to be saints, it means to be holy. It means to be set apart from the ordinary, set apart to God, set apart to be God's people, Exodus 19. in the Old Testament church, set apart for God's use like the utensils in the tabernacle and in the temple. They're saints, you see, called to be saints. They cannot live like their fellow Corinthians. They cannot continue their old way of life. That is a denial of their calling in Christ. They are to mirror the God who has saved them in Christ, who himself is holy. They are in, they're the church gathered in Christ. The church of God, Paul describes them as. And so called in Christ. Paul is called. The Corinthians are called. Called to be saints. Called to be the church of God. Out of the world and into relationship with Christ. Notice that the church belongs unto God. Church doesn't belong to Paul. Church doesn't belong to Apollos. Church doesn't belong to Sophonis, this other man that Paul associates with himself and his writing here. And he was probably a fellow worker, perhaps the one mentioned, the Sophonis mentioned in Acts 18. And today the church is not mine. It's not yours. It's not ours. It's God's church. We are his guests. We are here by His grace in Christ to us. Grace that has forgiven our sins because of Christ's death on the cross. And we are Christ's, we belong to the church because our faith is fixed in Him and all that He did for us, called in Christ. Now, some things have changed since Paul wrote. He was the last man Christ called to be an apostle. Since then, Christ has no further apostles, but he does call elders to lead his church. Some of those elders labor in the word to convince, to rebuke, to correct, to train in righteousness. 2 Timothy, to shepherd the flock of God, 1 Peter 5 verse 1, to admit and to exclude from the church membership, Matthew 18 verse 18, and we are to obey those who rule over us, and we are to be submissive, Hebrews 13 verse 17. That refers to you and applies to you in relation to your elders here. But also then it applies to us, your elders, as we come into the courts of the church, where others give judgment upon our lives or upon our questions. We are to give honor to them, we're to submit to their authority. Because the authority they exercise is ultimately the authority of Christ. It's not the authority of man, it's not the authority of a synod, it's not the authority of a church, it's the authority of Christ. And to resist such authority is to resist the ordinance of God. Romans 13 verse 2. So, some things have changed only in how authority works out. But something also has not changed. not in the slightest. All believers still are called to be saints. You are called to be saints. Whatever your family circumstance, whatever challenges you face at work, whatever issues arise in your health, whatever relational issues may arise within your neighborhood, or within your family, or within the church, we are called to be saints. You are called to be saints. And our calling then is to be set apart to God, in Christ, to be his instruments, to be his servants, the channels through whom he works in our world and in the lives of others today. We're not to be like the world around us. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed, Paul writes, in another place. And Paul actually widens out their horizons here, because he says, called to be saints with, this is verse two, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. And I think Paul is already here putting his finger on an issue in the congregation of Corinth. There's a kind of elitist group in the church and they are They think themselves that they are super spiritual, that they're beyond the apostle, that they have greater and deeper experiences, and that they have a very independent mindset, and they're combining things of the world with things of the scriptures. And they have a kind of mindset that we will go it alone. And Paul says, within the church of Christ, in Corinth, you don't go it. alone. You are saints, you're called to be saints with all that and every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And for us today, I'm called to be a saint and the people with me in Kite Fergus, not just in our own little corner, but as part of the reformed Presbyterian church family, and then as part of the wider church of Christ that is in our world. And so Paul is helping even us to remember that we are part of something bigger than just our own individual congregation. We're part of the worldwide universal Catholic church. And then we are part, more locally, of a denominational church, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland, called in Christ. Paul was, and the people to whom he wrote were. Let's notice then, secondly this morning, equipped in Christ. Equipped in Christ. We're looking now at verses four to nine. And it was customary in the first century when you wrote a letter, after you wrote the introductory greeting, and I forgot to mention that, verse three, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, that's Paul's introductory greeting. And he takes grace, or a word, which derives from grace and the Greek, and that was a Greek greeting. And then as you know, the Jewish greeting was shalom or peace. And Paul brings these two together and he reminds them that they have grace from God in Christ and they have peace from God in Jesus Christ. And there is this wonderful unity that he has and sees between the father and the son. They are, and he's speaking of the deity of Christ here. He's not inferior. He is equal with the father in power and in glory. But now we come to look at that and see how Paul expounds this grace more in these next verses four to nine. Because after introductory greeting in a Greek letter, a Roman letter, and of course that was given to the pagan gods. Paul turns that around and he makes it a thanksgiving to the one true God. Look at what he says, I thank not the pagan gods of Rome or Corinth, but my God. I thank my God the God of the Old Testament Scriptures that Paul had studied as a Jewish rabbi. The Old Testament Scriptures in which he saw and discovered the Christ and the Old Testament Scriptures that he preaches. And where he magnifies God as the God of grace who saves sinners in Christ. And so Paul thanks God. for his saving grace to the Corinthians. I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you. Again, it's in a tense which means having been given. It's given once. That's the kind of tense here. Given once and it's not something that they had in themselves. It's something that came from outside. given to them by God. And given in Christ. It's important to notice that this grace is given in Christ. And grace, like our daily bread, is the daily portion of the person in Christ. Yes, there's a point in the past where that grace broke into our lives from God, through Christ, but it doesn't stop there. It's a daily portion. And that's why Paul can say in verse three, grace be unto you. It's given for each new day. Verse five, that in everything ye are enriched by him or literally it is that ye are enriched in him. See how he's continually saying in Christ, in Christ and then he says in all utterance and in all knowledge. It's truly remarkable that Paul gives thanks to God here, and it's very challenging for us, when we consider that he does so despite all their faults and failures, despite all the issues and the abuses that are there. Because 1 Corinthians, more than any of Paul's letters, goes from the issues that Paul raises in chapters one to six, to the issues that they have raised with Paul in chapter 7 and following. And it's just one thing after another. And sometimes you read Corinthians, you say, well, our churches are not too bad today, after all. But notice, Paul gives thanks. And you see, even when there are issues in people's lives and disappointments that we have in people, in their walk with Christ or in their service for Christ, let's remember to give thanks. It's not all bad. It's not all bad. If they're in Christ, that is something to give thanks for. And from that then we can pray that they will become more and more what they ought to be. Now, what about these words then? utterance and knowledge. What's Paul referring to there? Well, I think again he's flagging up something that's going to come up in chapters 12 to 14. Because these words, the exact words occur again in chapters 12 and 14 and are unique gifts of the Holy Spirit for the apostolic age. And the point that Paul is making at this point is despite whatever issues or abuses they may have in regard to these things, they are enriched, they are equipped to live for Christ in their day and to serve him in their generation, in the present. In verse six, Paul, recognizes that these gifts are the confirmation of the gospel that he preached to them. Verse six, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Sometimes people ask me, how can I be sure I'm a Christian? That's a very real question for some folks. And you begin with the scriptures. Well, I don't mean that you don't at any point use the scriptures, but you begin with the work of Christ. And you say, have you let hold of Christ? Have you repented? You've believed, you've done that. Look at the promises that Christ makes. And then you say, well, now let's look at your life. And let's look at some of the changes that God is making and has made in your life. And let's look at some of the gifts that God has given you. And in the midst of that, you're seeking to show them that the testimony of Christ was confirmed in them, in them. Verse seven, so that you become behind in no gift, or so that you come short in no gift. So this grace, the past grace for the present and that grace goes all into the future look at the end of verse 7 waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ that is a future event when Paul is writing to them and so he's saying to them you are equipped in Christ with grace for the present and on into future. Now what does God want to achieve in the Corinthians and in us as he equips them and us in Christ with grace and grace that includes gift because every Christian is a charismatic in the biblical sense of the word. because every gift is of grace. Does the Lord want us to preen ourselves and say, look at me, look at what I've become, look at what I can do? Does he want us to draw up a church league table and we rank ourselves against one another? Well, that is the trap that the Corinthians are falling into. and there are those who think they are better than others because of what they can do, because of what they can say. And in chapters 12 to 14, Paul rebukes such a worldly use of his grace and gifts, of God's grace and gifts. The purpose of God's grace in Christ is what? Well, it's covered, is it not? in verse um eight who shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our lord jesus christ the purpose of god's grace in christ is to make you and me the corinthians in the past paul also blameless in the day of christ in other words It's sanctification that leads to glorification, leads to perfection. And so that's the purpose of grace. That's the reason that we use our gifts as well to minister to one another in the name of Christ and for our growth in Christ. So Paul is saying to them here, In that environment in which you live, which is so hostile and so corrupt and so immoral, remember that the Christ who called you is the Christ who equips you to live in that environment. And you are to pursue that goal of being blameless. You'll not achieve it. but you're never to lift your eyes up. And is that not immensely encouraging for us today? In 21st century Northern Ireland, we see the collapse all around us of godly morality and spirituality. And sadly, we see the wider Church of Christ often selling short the things that are essential to the gospel. And we hear of Christians, not only in our own land, but in other lands, being taken to court because they honor Christ in the place of their work. And you and I could ask rightly, who is sufficient for these things? And Paul says here, your sufficiency is in Christ, in Christ. He's over the times. He's over our prime minister. He's over our government. He's over the assembly. He's over all things and he is able to give grace and strength and so uh from the big picture of living in the world to the small picture of your life, whatever the circumstances are in your life this morning, Christ is saying to you or Paul is Christ. With grace. For every challenge you face, for every responsibility you have, for every burden you bear, for every opportunity you take, for every remaining sin that you need to overcome. Precious grace. Called in Christ, equipped in Christ, and then we want to note thirdly this morning, united in Christ. Verses ten, through to 17. In these verses, Paul addresses for the first time, but not the last, the division that exists within the congregation. And he says that he is aware of this by them of Chloe. Verse 11, Chloe was most likely to have been a wealthy woman from Asia Minor. who had business interests in Corinth. And so some of her representatives, or she herself, has been in Corinth recently. They've visited the Corinthian church. They have witnessed this kind of tension and division that is there over gifts and over the world coming into the church. And they've brought news back to Paul in Ephesus. And verse 12 records slogans, I believe, that members are using, and Chloe's household may have heard these. I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I of Cephas, and I of Christ. What are they saying? Well, some of them are saying, I'm a Paul's man, I'm Paul's man. And then you went and you talked to somebody else and, oh, I'm an Apollos man. And somebody else, when you spoke to them, they said, oh, I'm a Peter man. And then there were some who were saying, I am of Christ. And by that, I don't think they meant I'm saved in Christ, but I think it's their attempt to rise above some of the other groups. And in the midst of that, It becomes their own brand of spiritual elitism. I wouldn't dare fall into these little cliques of Paul and Apollos and Peter. No, I'm of Christ. And so there's something of an attitude, I think, of superiority that was coming across in that. I don't see any other way to understand that. And I thought about it. and considered it. And so they're dividing. And they're dividing largely in this congregation over the preachers they have heard. So what started this? Well, we get a hint in Paul's reverence to his own ministry, verse 17, when he says, not with wisdom of words. That's a crucial phrase. And the first four chapters are all about this wisdom of words. Corinthian society, and this is vital to understand Paul's, the context into which Paul was writing. Corinthian society loves rhetoric. Loves talking. It loves debate. Loves philosophy. Loves oratory. It loves wisdom. And what seems to be happening here is that as the church members listen to preaching, as they listen to preaching, they are reading the preachers according to their ability. They're weighing up the skill of the preacher, how good he's with words. And Paul, of course, talks about that he does not go in for flowery language. Whereas it would seem, and Paul has no criticism of Apollos by the way, but it seems that Apollos was probably trained in Greek ideas of oratory, and so he had particular skill. And it was something that came to him naturally. But you see, the Corinthians, they've brought the world of wisdom and love of rhetoric into the church, and so now they're weighing Paul, and they're weighing Apollos, and they're weighing Cephas or Peter, there's some evidence that Peter may have been in Corinth at a time, not by the truth that they present, and by the Christ that they preach, but by the skill of the man. Paul says, not with words of wisdom, or not with wisdom of words. He says, I'll never go down that road. He's aghast at the thought. And in verses 13 to 17, he shows them how foolish, how wicked they are to divide over their preachers. Paul, if we could sum it up this way, he says, in effect, What did I contribute to your salvation? What did I do for your salvation? I didn't die for you, Christ did. If I had baptised you, and yes I did a few baptisms in Corinth, the sacrament and its efficacy flow from Christ who established the sacrament, not from me who administered it. And so Paul says in verse 17, my role was to preach the gospel to you. Nothing more. I was just a mouthpiece. That's all. That's all I could do. That's all Christ appointed me to do. Now let me try and illustrate. as we come to a close, the folly of what is happening. I want you to imagine a family, which is a large family of children. And the children begin to argue and divide over the different midwives that were present at their birth. And there was a range of midwives. Each one of them had a different midwife. And one said, well, it was Mrs. So-and-so. No, no, no, the second one says it was Miss, she was the best midwife. Well, imagine that going on. Would you not say to them, how foolish, how ungrateful of you, your mother did all the work. Your mother gave you birth, not the midwife. And similarly, Paul wants the Corinthians to get back to the fact Christ did everything in and for their salvation. He did nothing except open his mouth. And he's saying to them, united in Christ, do not divide around your preachers. Do not divide around men. And Paul makes this plea to maintain their unity by the name, that's by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's an appeal, I beseech you, I beseech that ye all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions. It's a word which means no tearings. We find it in Mark chapter two, verse 21. but ye be joined together. Mark one verse nineteen. The mending of nets. In the same mind and the same judgment. What's Paul saying? Is he saying that you and I and all Christians are to be like peas in a pod? Or baked beans on the dinner plate that you can't tell one from the other? No, he's not saying that. But he's saying get back to the point where you think and speak and act on the basis Christ is all important. And don't bring your ideas of wisdom and philosophy and rhetoric into the church, and don't rate your preachers or rate one another on the basis of those things. And so by way of final application, Let's reflect on the fact of how easy it is for us to lose focus, the focus that we are united in Christ. And how easy it is for any one of us to get locked into only our way of seeing things, only my way of doing things. And if anybody as much as suggests that we might think about something differently or do something differently, we dig in our heels. We lock horns. And we very quickly and very easily can start gathering others around us before we realize it. As Paul, the words, the verbs that Paul uses here in verse, in this verse, speaking all the same thing, no divisions, Before we realize it, there's a tearing apart around us and our issues. And we've lost sight that we are united in Christ, and he is what matters. So then, what we are in Christ, called, equipped, united, and we are to go out into the world in the strength of that. Knowing that we're built together in Christ. Knowing that we're fellow believers praying for us. Standing with us. Supporting us. And we need that in a hostile world that we have today. And so let's be transformed and keep on being transformed. Holding to what we are in Christ. called, equipped, and united until the day that either he called us or he comes. Amen. Well, let's pray together. Eternal God, we thank you for our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. the one in whom we live and move and have our spiritual being. And we thank you for these opening words of the Apostle Paul, spoken into the church in Corinth, where there were many pressures and many pressure points that were upon her because of the world around her, because of the backdrop from which they had been saved, and because they needed to be continually and keep on being transformed by the gospel. Lord, help us to know that we need to keep on being transformed also. And so, help us today to be renewed and refreshed and reinvigorated by the fact that we are called in Christ. That we are called to be holy. That we are equipped in Christ by his grace, past, present, and into the future. And that we are and we are not to allow the ideas of the world to hold sway in our thinking so that we judge people or evaluate people on any wrong basis or that we disunite in Christ and tear apart one from the other. Have mercy upon us and bless us in the light of your word and seal it to our hearts and enable us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us. Amen.