1 Corinthians 1, and we're looking at the first three verses, particularly verses 2 and 3. Go back. There we go. And so I've been talking about last week was the first part of defining the church. What is a church? And this week, really, what is our identity in the church? Or what is our obligations that God gives kind of a standard, a desire for us to aspire to? And a little illustration, I remember a time when a friend and I volunteered a local shelter. Initially, I thought I was there to help others, but it turned out to be a humbling experience that revealed my own shortcomings. My heart felt heavier with recognition of my need for God's grace. Purity is about open and honesty with ourselves and with God, seeking his forgiveness and striving to reflect his love and purity in everything we do. Here in 1 Corinthians 1, if you found your place, would you follow along with me as I read? 1 Corinthians 1, verse 1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Here the Apostle Paul speaks of the church at Corinth. The words that he has here, the church at Corinth, here is an assembly of believers who've come together, covenanted together, and they're desiring to serve the Lord. But when you think of the church at Corinth, it is a messy church. I don't know if you've ever attended a church before where there's a whole bunch of fighting. I mean, the believers, they just can't get along. They're like siblings at home. They fight with each other like cats and dogs. And that's exactly what's going on in the church at Corinth. There's a whole bunch of squabbling. I mean, it even goes so far that some of the people in the church are suing each other. This place is a wreck. And the Apostle Paul, he's bringing some things towards them. And as he's giving, we've talked about really finding our identity in Christ. We spoke about last week defining the church, and really this week in part two of that is an idea of the standard with which God desires us to aspire to. This church here is quite the problem. And one John Phillips says, between the two there was a great goal fixed. The Corinth known to Paul had been founded by Julius Caesar. The church of Corinth had been founded, the church had been founded by Jesus Christ there in Jerusalem and then spread. The great word at Corinth was commerce. The great word in the church was Calvary. Corinth was noted for its filth. The church was noted for its faith. Corinth was a place for business. The church of Corinth was a place for believers. The great commodity at the city of Corinth was pleasure. The great commodity in the church of Corinth was purity. Corinth was a product of the world. The church was a product of the Word, the Word of God." Paul is guided by the Spirit of God to address a church with some problems. I don't know if you've ever been in a church like that that's had squabbles. It sure is an unsettling place to be. It then settles on the church's conduct. And he's setting kind of some of the standards. He's first of all saying, this is what a church is supposed to look like. And then in the rest of the book, he begins to deal with the problems. And we'll be looking at that in the coming weeks. But my conduct, my lifestyle and actions are always, God's desire is to bring praises to the Lord who made you and me. It is to point the loss to the Savior who is worthy and willing to receive us. You see, joining a church and being a member is easy. It's easy to be saved, scripturally baptized, added to the church, as 3,000 people did on the day of Pentecost. They put their faith in Christ, they got baptized, and they joined the church of Jerusalem. When they joined, writes one author, these 3,000 persons left the scribes and Pharisees. put themselves under the teaching of the apostles, professing the Christian doctrine and acknowledging that Christ was come, that he who was lately crucified by the Jews was the promised and only Messiah. And in this faith they were baptized. They were saying no to the Jewish faith and yes to Jesus. And so it would have been quite the upset as they were going forth to say, I'm going to let my life serve for Jesus. they would abandon the religion of their parents, or maybe the parents with no religion. And they now identify with a group of believers, the teachings of Christ and his apostles. It says in Acts 2 42, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. I mean, they just, they were, they loved to enjoy one another's company. It's such a blessing. I was mentioning last night, I was talking to a couple last night, I said, when I was first at a church, and I was a single guy, I was in the military, I was, I don't know how old I was, 23, 24 years old. I went to a church where I was stationed, my first duty station in the military. And as I walked in, one of the older men of the church, he said, I went in the morning and then I also went back that evening. As I went back to the evening service, get away fly, I went back in the evening service, this gentleman invited me out to a meal at Denny's. And Denny's food speaks to the heart, amen? I like food, I hope you do too. But you know what, it was one of those things, being invited out, it made an impact on me. and I got to know a lot of good people in that church and as time went on we would even sometimes celebrate birthdays together and it was just a good time and it became a family, a family away from family. I was there as a young lieutenant straight out of university and first duty station, learning my way, and the gentleman actually I went to eat with, he was a retired lieutenant colonel, and so he had some experience in the military, so we gave some common ground, and so that was always a tremendous blessing. But as I think about this, living for Christ and being his disciple is not a Sunday activity. It's a 24-7, 365 or 66 day duty that God desires for us. And God wants the principle today is love the local church, join it, and live a holy life that displays our love for Jesus and his local church. Let's pray. Father, I sure do thank you for this day. I thank you for your precious people that are here. Lord Jesus, I love you, and Lord, I do pray that our hearts and minds would be stirred to be more like you. Father, I know that there's a number that have been away, and Lord, I pray that you bring them back. Father, I ask that today that you'd help me as I preach your precious word. God, I need you. I need your grace, I need your mercy. Father, help us to be found faithful. And Lord, as we look at this, really a standard for a desire for a Christian. God, we would seek for this very thing. Lord Jesus, I love you and I thank you for being our precious Savior. I pray, God, to work in our hearts, and should there be someone watching that's never accepted Jesus Christ, never come to that place, to settle their eternity. When we step from this life into the next, Lord, we can know where we're going, and Lord, I pray that they'd be settled today. Father, I love you, and thank you for all that you've done. Thank you for your grace and mercy. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. As I think about just a little bit of review, the first mention of church is in Matthew 16, 18. And in this Matthew 16, 18, I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I, Jesus speaking, will build my, Jesus' church, he said. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus said that my church will not be prevailed against. Now we find that the only other gospel mention of the church is in Acts 18. I want you to look with me here. Here's a situation that Jesus is dealing with when the believers come together in corporate worship if there's disunity, if there's conflict. This is how they are to conduct themselves. This is how they are to go about resolving issues. It sure is nice when you can come together and there's not fighting. If you're a parent or have had siblings, I don't know about you, did any of you have siblings? I had siblings and we would fight together and yell and mom and dad would be like, stop it. They're like losing their mind and I understand it now as a parent. Now I've only got one daughter, but I can understand it. Man, if it was multiplied by multiple siblings, it would be one of those things you're like, quiet down. Well, here in Matthew 18, the only other mention of the word church in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So in Matthew 18, verse 17, we look at this and it says, and tell it unto the church. But if ye neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. It can be so easy, either in your workplace or somewhere else you're at, if someone offends you, to now kind of rally your friends, rally your colleagues, so that we're all gonna join together and we're gonna hate on whomever the person is that offended me. Ever seen that happen? You people kind of get all together, but he's saying here, he says, listen, you know what? How about you give the benefit of the doubt? Someone offends you, how about you go and talk with them? Hey. Man, what you said, it was kind of offensive. You go and you talk with him. That's what he's saying. He's saying, in the church, rather than trying to play politics. You ever seen that? I mean, again, at home or somewhere else, you're trying to play politics to try to get people to gang up on someone else who did you wrong. And God's saying, listen, go to that person alone. We don't need to spread how their character, defame their character, let's deal with it personally. And then he says, if you can't deal with one, you go with two, and then three, and then if they still won't deal with the situation, you go to the church, and then if that doesn't work, then that man is no longer in the church. But he's just saying, hey, it is important to be unified. In fact, that's actually what we'll be talking about on Wednesday, is unity. There's also a structure in first timothy 315, but if I tarry long That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of god Which is the church of the living god the pillar and ground of the truth we find here that behave thyself. There's an order There's a structure that god has in church. It's a very important thing and this idea of how to behave thyself Circumstances or conditions expressed or implied there's an outcome, you know, there is things that God says that I want you to behave this way It does quite a bit of disservice and and it does quite a bit of damage to the cause of Christ when believers who supposedly have the Lord Jesus Christ have God's spirit living within them and they live in disunity Now, we're gonna transition here into some distinctive qualities of the church member, and I really wanna focus on some things. But we find here, under the church of God, which is accorant to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. That's a very important distinction. Now, as we move here, again, just a little bit of review, we looked at a person who's accepted into the fold of the church according to Acts 2.41. They that gladly received him, His word, Peter's word, they received the Lord Jesus Christ, were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls. So you go from 120 believers to 3,120 members here in the Church of Jerusalem. A pretty good day, if you'd say. Now, in Romans chapter 16, we also find another area where someone joins a church. I commended to you Phoebe, our sister, which is a servant of the church, which is at St. Crea. The Apostle Paul, he says, listen, there's a lady, Phoebe, she's coming from St. Crea, and she's coming to the church of Rome. She is a marvelous, wonderful lady. You need to receive her as membership. So there's a letter of commendation upon her character. So one church, they go from one church to another in membership, and they give a letter of membership to the church she's moving to saying, hey, take care of this lady. Praise the Lord for that. We've had that before with those that have left here. We had a couple several years ago. They went to PEI. And we wrote a letter to the pastor and the church that they would join, just saying, hey, they've been a tremendous help, tremendous blessing. And that's a good, it's a good testimony. Now, the distinction of the believer, as we look here, so we find that joining a church is by baptism or by a letter of commendation from your previous church where you were a member. Now, as we think about this, the distinction of the believer here in verse two, I want to look at, this is really the idea of the aspiration of what God has called this to be. He says, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Now, what does that word sanctified mean? It means to consecrate, to dedicate, to set apart. Now, when I was in the military, I was set apart as a member of the armed forces. And I put on a uniform distinguishing me that I wasn't just an average citizen, I was a military personnel. When you put on a uniform or you put on something else, that word sanctified in Matthew 6, 9 is elsewhere translated hallowed. It means we're set apart. There's something very special about God's people and the members here in the Church of Corinth. The concept of sanctification can better be understood through the story of a sculptor. Here's a little illustration for you. When a piece of marble is chiseled away, it becomes a beautiful statue. The sculptor represents God and the marble represents us, flawed and rough at first. Through the process of sanctification, God shapes us into saints, removing impurities and revealing our true selves. This metaphor illustrates the ongoing journey of becoming a saint. Now, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. The idea of a saint is a loyal follower of Christ. We're saved, but now I'm sanctified, he's saying, called to be saints. God's saying, I want you to be a saint. A saint is someone who's loyally following Christ. It's not as though you've done enough good deeds and now some church universal, corporately, decides, oh, this person's done it good enough and will make them a saint. No, we all can be saints. if you've trusted Christ and a loyal follower of Him. The word saint itself is a believer, a loyal follower of Christ. That idea of saint is elsewhere, it's translated holiness. Look with me at 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 12. This is where this word is elsewhere, the word hagios. 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 12. First Thessalonians, chapter three, verse 12. It reads here, to the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, the coming of our, First Thessalonians three, verse 12, excuse me, and the Lord make you to increase and bound in love, one toward another and toward all men, even as we do towards you. To the end, he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness. The same word saint is here translated holiness. And the idea is you're set apart saying, you know what? My passion and my desire is Jesus. I want to serve Jesus. I'm not serving a man. I'm not following a priest or anyone else. I'm following Jesus. And this idea also goes forth to say in Ephesians 5, 26 and 27 that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. There is a calling here that God's desire is set apart, a purity. Now purity doesn't mean that we don't ever sin because we know that we do. We know that there's a daily battle. Romans chapter 7, the Apostle Paul says, listen, I want to do some good things, but when I'm trying to do good, I find that I don't do good. And when I find that I don't want to, you know, when I know I should be doing something, I'm not doing it. And so there's this battle that rages on the inside, but the desire of our heart is, you know what, I mess up, but now I'm gonna confess up, and I'm gonna make it right with God. It's the same way as if I offend my wife. I say something wrong to her, and I offend her. That relationship is strained, but it means there's still a relationship. Now, what is my duty? My duty is to go to her and ask her, hey, I haven't been so nice, I need you to forgive me for whatever I had said. that reconciles that relationship. And so God's desire, that purity, is that I'm reconciled, that I'm staying close to God. Now in ancient Rome, a little illustration, the early Christians often faced persecution, yet remained steadfast. They were just determined, steadfast in their faith. They were called saints, not because of their perfection. because they stood apart from societal norms. This historical perspective reveals that being sanctified means set apart for God's mission, emphasizing that holiness isn't about achieving perfection, as we know none of us can be, but about living a life dedicated to Christ amidst challenges. You know what, I'm gonna live for Christ. What a kind of a distinction in lifestyle language. And God kind of, not kind of, he does give us a course. He's saying this is what I want you to be like. I'd like you to turn with me to Ephesians chapter five, verse one. Ephesians chapter five, verse one. And this is what the Apostle Paul is establishing when he's writing this. He's saying, Church, Corinth, you're falling less than the standard that God desires for you. Hey, put aside the pettiness. Put aside the grievances, the offenses. Now I understand if someone says something harsh to you, it can really hurt and hurt deeply. And it might take some time to forgive. But that's our desire is that I want to forgive. But you know what happens when you forgive? You deliver that person who hurts you over to God to deal with. And now you can begin to live in peace in God because now they're not affecting you. When someone hurts you and then that bitterness kind of comes back up and you think that name comes up or some situation where you were hurt, maybe it was a song or, you know, there's some event and something triggers that thought. Brings you back to that moment, those feelings rush back into you. I don't need to be held captive by that when I forgive. And again, it sounds a whole lot easier than it is to do, depending upon what the level of hurt is, but we can still do it. And I can be free from that by God's grace. In Ephesians 5, verse 1, the Bible says, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becoming saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. He's saying if you're called, if you're, as a Christian, you're a saint, you're living for Jesus, he says don't let one of these actions be named amongst you. We're followers of God. Now, I'm not doing it because I wanna make Chris look good. I'm doing it because I want people to see that Jesus, man, he's really the answer. He's not just a choice, he is the choice. As you think about your life, I mean, we're God's children. If you're a child and, or if you have parents, whether living or not, you have a last name. Whatever your last name is, you're carrying forth some sort of, if I say stereotype, or some sort of, when someone says your last name, there's gonna come thoughts to their mind if they know you. Now, do I want my last name to be associated with someone who's unethical, a scoundrel, and a whole, you know, just a rotten fellow? I would say no, I don't think any one of us do. But you realize as a Christian, when I say I'm a Christian, I'm carrying forth that name which has some things that are attributed to it, but if my actions are inconsistent with the name that I carry. I'm an ambassador of Christ and so are you. You know Jesus as your savior. You carry his name. How many of you want to damage your family name? I don't think anyone here would say, oh, I want to damage my family name. I want to take my family name and tear it through the mud. And he's saying here, he says, listen, don't let this once be named among you. Don't let this, and this idea, let it not be once named could elsewhere, that the idea is don't let this ever exist among you. You're called saints. He mentions fornication. He mentions uncleanness. Dirty jokes. Pornography. Covetousness, which is greed. Filthiness, which is vulgarity. Foolish talking, which is dirty words. And jesting is dirty jokes. As he mentions this, God has set some boundaries. He says, listen, you don't have to change your lifestyle. You don't have to change your relationships. You don't have to change your speech. He goes on to say, which are not convenient. means they don't measure up. They're improper. It's unbecoming. As I think about this, the idea here of God, he says, you know what should come out of your mouth? Giving of thanks. You know what, Christian? And I'm guilty of this. I can complain. I mean, it's one of those things, I tend to have a more serious nature and I can be, I can complain. But he says, replacing all of these things with giving of thanks. How many of you like to be around someone that's really cheerful? I sure do. I mean, if you go around someone and they're like just a continual Eeyore, You know what I'm talking about. Man, it just wears on you after a while. I don't want to hang around someone that's an Eeyore over and over, and God's saying, listen, as a Christian, these are things that they don't measure up. Now, does it make you a Christian because if you don't do those? No, it doesn't. I'm doing it because I love the Lord. If you have a family name, you love your family. Maybe some of them. But I don't want to take the family name and throw it through the mud. I just don't want to do that. Or if you work for a company, I don't want to take that company name and be a terrible citizen in the community. It's just not good for the name of the company that you may work for. God's saying, listen, let it not be once named. I said, Christians shouldn't be doing this. I want you to look with me when we come together, Hebrews chapter 10. And the Apostle Paul is telling the church, he says, listen. I mean, the church of Corinth, you'll learn in chapter 5, there's a guy that's sleeping with his dad's wife, his stepmom. It's pretty gross. There's believers suing each other, there's others that just bite, or, you know, backbite and bicker about all sorts of things. But he's saying, listen, you've called to be saints. You're called to be a follower. You're called to be one that points people to Jesus, not away from him. In Hebrews chapter 10, verse 20, the Bible tells us, let's look at verse 19 for context. I had the heat on, I got it, those doors were open, I guess it's cooled it down in here, I apologize. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 19, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiness by the blood of Jesus. Here's the blessing, Christian. You and I can directly enter when we enter into prayer into the very presence of God. You can enter into God's presence. We don't need a high priest anymore. We have a high priest. His name is Jesus. I can, when I'm praying and you're praying, I can enter very directly into the throne room of God. Praise the Lord. And then you come to verse 20, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, that idea of consecrated is set apart, like just distinguished as different, sanctified if you want to think about it, hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, he's saying listen, Jesus opened the door into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was, the presence of God was, Jesus opened it up so you and I can directly enter into God's presence when we pray. and having in high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart. in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. He says, listen, when the priest would go in once a year into the Holy of Holies, he would have to ritually clean himself. He would have to, if there was any, any sin that he knew of in his life, he had to make it right. Then they would tie onto his ankles, one of his ankles, a cord. Because as he would go into the holy place, and that's where the, the lamp and the other objects were there in the tabernacle or the temple. And then he would open up the final veil and come into the Holy of Holies where was the Ark of the Covenant. And he would pour the blood on top of the mercy seat where the two cherubim's wings were coming together. That blood covering the law. That blood covering all the guiltiness. And that's a beautiful thing that Jesus' blood covers what the law condemns us of. I can enter directly in there because Jesus gave his life for my life. From a judicial standpoint, I am no longer guilty, I'm innocent. And so are you. And he's saying, from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. Jesus doesn't change. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. He's saying, listen, be a follower of Christ doing good works because, you know, out of love I'm doing. I'm not doing it because I have to. I'm not doing it because I'm trying to work my way to heaven. None of us can work our way to heaven. None of us are worthy. See, that's the great equalizer in Christianity. There's not one person that's ever totally worth it. None of us are. It's Jesus. And then he goes on to say, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. But we see here corporately coming into God's presence, desiring to enter into purity. You know, we come together in purity, understanding from what you and I have been cleansed. You see, there's times in scripture where believers would come and they would deal with God lightly. I want you to look with me at such a situation in 1 Chronicles, chapter 13, verse 8. And the believers there in the time of David, King David, 1 Chronicles, chapter 13. I mean, it's so important, which are called to be sanctified and called to be saints. God here is saying, and the Apostle Paul, by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, is saying, listen, Christian, your lifestyle and conduct, it matters to God. Again, we're all at a different stage spiritually. So again, we're learning. Now, I wouldn't expect of my daughter when she was an infant to be able to pour the milk on her cereal. She couldn't do it. It takes some time, some maturing. So God gives time for us to mature spiritually, learning more and growing. It starts, obviously, with having accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. In 1 Chronicles 13, verse 8, the Bible tells us, here is Israel, and they're bringing the ark of God back to Israel. It's been in the land of the Philistines for some time, and they're so excited, they're bringing this ark back home. And so, in their excitement, they put this ark of the covenant on a brand new ox cart with some new oxen, and they carry it. This is the situation. Verse eight. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he smote him, because he put his hand in the ark, and there he died before God. Here is the ark of God in front of it, representing the very presence of God among them, and they were told they were not to put it on an ox cart. It was the Levites who were supposed to carry this. God had already said, this is how you deal with my presence. He says, don't deal with my presence lightly. It's a very serious matter. See, there's a distinction here. That ox cart begins to stumble like that cart, and he thinks, oh no, the ark of God has fallen. It's not such a light object. See, Christian, when we come before God, you know sometimes we'll sing the song, holy, holy, holy. The idea of holiness is set apart. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And God is saying, I don't want you to deal with my presence any old way. You can't redefine worship to how you want it. He said, I've given you instructions on how you should do it. Church of Corinth, if you remember the Old Testament, you can't rejoice over all of this chaos going on in the church. It matters who you represent. It matters our lifestyle and my speech. Look with me at Leviticus 10, verses 1 and 2. Here are some of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Babihu. They dealt with God's presence lightly. Now, I'm mentioning these stories that happened. These real stories of real people who dealt lightly with God. And God says, and David here, 1 Chronicles 13, he was mad. He'll tell you he was just furious. He says, I don't even want the ark of God back home. Here, you can keep it here, God. And he was mad. How dare you, God, kill one of the men? God, we're singing to you, and we're praising you, and we're playing our instruments, and you killed someone. What a terrible God you are. I mean, he's just livid. they forgot. Man, God is holy. He's pure. God had already told him. He says, this is how I want you to deal with my presence. In 1 Corinthians 6, verses 19 and 20, tells us we're the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. We're not our own. We belong unto Christ. We've been bought with a price. Praise the Lord. You're saying, Christian, our lives ought to be holy. Does it mean we're perfect and we never sin? No, just ask my wife, she'll tell you I'm not perfect. But my aspiration is, man, I want my daddy upstairs to look good. I want people to be pointed to the Almighty God. You and I are lightbearers. Matthew chapter five, the light of the world. Leviticus chapter 10, verse one, and Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either them, his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not, and there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Uh-oh, big problems here. Those surrounding David never said anything about placing the ox in the cart, and here in Nadab and Abihu, they thought, ah, we can light the fire. It was said that God said, I'll light the fire. God doesn't want a surrogate fire. God says, I'll be that fire. I'll keep that lamp burning. You keep the oil there. I want people to see that I'm there in the midst of them. You see, a church stands as a beacon of hope and light in its community. That's what it's supposed to do. It's to be an encouragement. It is to realize there's something different. And I'm not talking different because like, oh, oh, you got to do all this, this, this, this, this. No, I'm not talking about standards, just rules. I'm not saying that. It's kind of like, in a minimal, simple way, when you get to meet someone for a relationship, you start dating. You ever seen the movie Bambi? And you get Twitterpated. I mean, you just desire to call, to text, be around this person. In the same way with the Lord. Man, I'm just excited to be with him. I'm excited to be his child. holiness. Man, I want him to look good. We can so easily say, look at me, look at what I've done. But as a Christian, man, I want God's presence and peace on my life. And you do as well. You're here this morning. I love, it's nice to have peace and joy in the midst, you know when things start going south on you and you're a little bit distracted or chaos begins to go and you know where you can go to get peace. And God is telling this church, He says, listen, get back to being a follower of Christ. There's so much going on. Israel was forbidden in Exodus chapter 19 from touching the mountain where Moses would go up and get the Ten Commandments. Israel was forbidden from touching any holy thing. In Ezekiel 22, 26, the priests would violate God's law. They profaned His holy things. That word profane is to make common. That's why God hates it when we say, oh my! And then you say God. Or someone might say Jesus in Christ. in a more cursing way. Cursing, really, in that respect, is taking God's name and making it common. God doesn't want to be common. He wants to be elevated. I want to ask you, if there's someone you dearly and truly love in your life, would you use their name as a curse word? You'd say, no, I wouldn't. Would you take the name of your mother or someone else that you dearly, dearly love and curse their name? He said, I would never do that. We as Christians have been called to love the Lord, right, with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. That's the first and greatest commandment. But God tells something. Look with me at 1 Peter 4, verse 17. I must hasten here. 1 Peter 4, verse 17. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God. If it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? But he's saying, listen, there's an accountability in a church. And this is exactly what's going on here in the church of Corinth. But one of the things that happens is a tremendous blessing in a church. So I've dealt with God's calling to be saints in my final point, and I'll be done here shortly. There's some blessings in fellowship. When you walk in here, Lord willing, you're not gonna hear the dirty jokes. Again, it's not because I'm any better than, none of us are better than anyone else. We're all the same flesh, all the same skin, but we have a different focus. His name is Jesus. And it ought to change us. Again, it doesn't make me a Christian just because I hold some certain standards. It reveals my heart. Again, the Spirit of God convicts and there's things I do in my life and God's Spirit says, hey, you shouldn't be doing that. See, salvation is, as we think about it, is calling upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to look with me as we look in 1 Corinthians 1, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He's saying grace to you, church. Man, I want you to have God's grace. I want you to have peace in your life, and joy in your life. I don't know about you, but we look sometimes in our community, and I hope this doesn't come across as any arrogant, but sometimes we see such despair around us. And some of you work in the public sector more than others, and you might see it. Man, you see such despair and hopelessness. But in the light of a Christian ought to be hope, ought to be a joy, ought to be a light. Christians are no better than anyone else. But we have a different focus in this world. It tries to find peace in material goods, in toys, in hobbies, in jobs, in relationships, in activities. But you know what? You go through those after a while, and then you get to the end of it, and you're like, there has to be something more. And can I tell you, it starts with a relationship with Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 10. If you're in Corinthians, go back to Romans chapter 10. First Corinthians, go back to Romans chapter 10. Church ought to be a special place you walk in. Romans chapter 10, verse 9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, And shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth in the righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made into salvation. It's as simple as that. It's a gift. Jesus is a gift. And you receive it as his sacrifice of his life for yours. Just simply as a gift that I'm a sinner undeserving. You see, saints are everywhere for those who have called upon the name of Jesus Christ. Holiness is a mindset, a passion, ought to be for every born-again believer. It's a group of set-apart people that grace and peace is afforded. When I think about Joseph, who despite being betrayed by his brothers, imprisoned unfairly, Joseph was a man, in the Bible his brothers were envious of him and they sold him into slavery. But Joseph, while sold into slavery, chose to live a life of holiness. His refusal to compromise his values, even in challenging circumstances, led to peace in his soul when he finally faced his brothers again many years later. Joseph had been elevated to second in command of Egypt. He had been in command of all the food supplies. They had seven years of plenty and seven years of bad, and his brothers had come, and he recognized them. He heard their Hebrew as they were speaking, and he realized that he could have killed them. When he finally faced his brothers again, rather than retaliate, he offered forgiveness. Joseph's holiness acted as a channel for God's peace to flow into his life, illustrating that when we remain holy, we allow God's tranquility to guide our actions and reactions. Some people say, I want joy and peace in my life. In Christian life, God's saying, listen, I've got a standard for you. I've got the best way for you. Now, you can say, I don't like it. That's fine, that's your choice. You just won't get God's presence and peace with you when you go through it. God's not going to make you do right. God's not going to make you choose him. It's a personal choice saying, I want Jesus Christ. And so Paul is establishing a metric, a standard to aspire to. If you're acting out of duty, not love, then you'll be miserable. If you're just trying to follow, well, Christians shouldn't do this, and Christians shouldn't do this, and Christians shouldn't do this, and Christians should do this, and you just have a list. If you try following all of that without a relationship with God, you're gonna be miserable. It's called legalism. I mean, you're just following all this stuff. If I did things for my wife just because that's what a good husband's supposed to do, it's gonna be pretty miserable. I want a close relationship with her. I want to get to know her. God's not going to make you act a certain way. And as I draw this to a close in conclusion, And we look forward to future messages. Paul is laying the groundwork for how a church is to function, what their passion and aspirations are to be. And he deals, and then it transitions to dealing with particular problems, and he talks about giving thanks next week, but emphasis that we had today is being identified as a believer with a purpose. Knowing what a church is, how a believer is to live their life, and your life and your aspirations, they reflect your passions. Your actions determine You know, our actions are determined of our passions. Your passions will either be God-focused or self-focused. Maybe today, if you've never accepted Jesus Christ, you'll say, today I'll accept Jesus as my Savior. I know I fall short. I know I mess up. I know I've offended God. I know I've hurt other people. And God, I'm asking you today to forgive me and be my Savior. In the court of law, before God, I would be found guilty. And I ask Him to forgive me and be my Savior. I repent. I agree with him. Hey, I'm a criminal before you, God. I ask you to forgive me. Be my savior. And as a Christian, may you strive for holiness. We'll all sin. We all fall short. It's not about messing up. It's about what you do to get up. Proverbs 24, 16. A just man follows seven times and riseth up again. Keep getting up. You see, the more time you spend in the presence of the Lord, the more you'll seek his approval upon your life. and allow His Spirit to transform you, do you seek for God to be a proving of your life? Or do you seek for man to be a proving of your life? As I think upon these truths, final illustration, I'm done. Did you know that the early Christians were often known as the Way? They were a bunch of misfits and fishermen who turned the world upside down. Membership back then wasn't about just attending services, it was about living out their faith together, sharing meals, and supporting one another. Let's take a page from their playbook and remember that being a church member is more than a title, it's a way of life filled with love, laughter, and sometimes a little chaos. As you think on these truths today, of defining a church, I trust that you would say, number one, do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Is there a time in your life you've asked Jesus Christ to forgive you and be your Savior? Number two, if you have it, if you said, yes, Pastor, I know for sure I'm saved, number two, have you been baptized? And number three, would you say, I want to follow the Lord, I want to be obedient to Him, And I trust today that you'll make a decision. Do we all mess up? Absolutely. But God's got a plan for your life and mine. It's not about whether we mess up, but am I willing to get right, be held accountable to God and say, God, I'm sorry I've offended you. Will you forgive me? As we come to the invitation period, we're gonna sing number 502 in your blue hymn book, My Savior First of All, 502. And I'll have this song play, the words will not be up here, they'll just be in your hymn book. But while this song plays in the first couple stanzas, I'd like to give you some time to just pray and talk with the Lord. We'll sing on the second stanza, but if you need to keep praying, feel free to keep praying. Number one, do you know Jesus as your Savior? Number two, do you need to come forward for baptism? Number three, what does God want to do with your life? And we'll sing this, my Savior first of all. With heads bowed and eyes closed, pray some, take some time to pray and talk with the Lord.