I ALWAYS THANK GOD FOR YOU
1 Cor 1:4-9 (P806) November 27, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
My favorite people to worship with and talk about Jesus with are individuals who are overflowing with thanksgiving for their salvation…
You know the kind of folks I’m talking about…those who know without a double they were horrible sinners…The “Worst of sinners” and were rescued from the dark….like me, they constantly celebrate the fact they are “dogs rescued from the pound…
Those are my favorite people to be around…to share ministry with…to laugh, cry and pray with…for us…God’s amazing grace is overflowing syrup that covers our pancakes!!!!
It’s to these kinds of people that the Apostle Paul writes to in Corinth…Paul constantly celebrates his salvation through a heart immersed in gratitude….
Remember these words “I was once a blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent man…but I was shone mercy…the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly….I was the worst sinner, but for that very reason I was shone mercy…so that the unlimited patience of Christ might be put on display in me” (1 Tim 1: 13-16)
Paul is now an Apostle…called by the will of God…called by Jesus Christ…But he doesn’t approach people from this lofty perch…He still approaches people through the doorway of grace…a grace he completely understands….Please church….
I MAKE GRACE THE STARTING PLACE
The Apostle Paul begins….”I always thank God for you because of His grace given you in Christ Jesus”
I think Paul and the Corinthians share that bond I was talking about…both have experienced “Abundant grace…poured out grace…extraordinary grace….amazing grace.”
It’s this connection of grace that causes the Apostle to thank god…always for the Corinthians. Grateful, graceful people who are surrounded by grateful, graceful people are in a wonderful place…even if the circumstances aren’t so wonderful.
Grateful, graceful people have been enriched in every way…their speech encourages and their wisdom is spirit filled. I looked at this text and wrote down a question… “What does it mean to have your testimony about Christ confirmed in another person?”
Paul, thanks God for the Corinthians…for the grace they share in Christ…that it has enriched their words and wisdom and then he says
“Because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you!” (v6)
What does that mean?
It means they are the evidence that Christ lives!!! And not just the Corinthians…”All those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ---their Lord and ours!” (v2)
We are the evidence that Christ lives…and it all hinges on a heart that’s thankful for God’s grace….
Imagine if you will you are in one of the most metropolitan, eccentric cities in the world. Soldiers, Politicians, businessmen, sailors, and slaves…A city known for its passionate pursuit of sports…and its passionate pursuit of immorality…It’s Temple is housed by 1000 prostitutes…sexual sin is rampant drunkenness and immorality are the standard way of life.
This is the city of Corinth…and in the midst of this city is a small group of individuals who claim to follow Jesus….A Church….
What kind of people were they at one time…Remember this city? Here’s who they use to be…
1 Cor 6: 9-11 (p809)
This church in Corinth is filled with former adulterers and players…prostitutes and homosexuals, thieves and drunks, liars, gossips, greedy swindlers…
Paul says…”that is what some of you were…” The key word there….’WERE’ Paul at one time was a blasphemer, persecutor…violent man…” was”.
But then came forgiveness…abundant grace…Ignorance and unbelief became the words that described life before Christ…How is life after described…”But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God…(1 Cor 6:10)
Paul testimony about Christ…He died for our sins as a perfect sacrificed, was buried and then rose victoriously from the grace…He appeared to me…a blasphemer, persecutor, a violent man…and called me, saved me, changed me by his grace… I now have seen that same truth confirmed in you. What are some of the evidences of this transformation by Grace…
II CHANGED PEOPLE LIVE EXPECTANT LIVES!!
Paul makes that statement about his testimony being confirmed in the Corinthian’s lives and then says…”THEREFORE”
Therefore is an important word in scripture….when you see it consider what it’s there…for.. .Paul says, because you are saved and changed by Jesus… (Therefore) you don’t lack anything you need for a victorious life. “No spiritual gift is lacking.” “He will keep you strong to the end” and then…”On that Day He returns you’ll be blameless”
Washed, Sanctified, justified…God has cleansed you in Christ, He’s set you apart for His service, and He’s declared you righteous…
He’s done everything needed in his grace to make you new and make you ready for His Kingdom. But these are new believers…they’ve brought their reputations into the church…Paul spends a year and a half as their pastor going over this good news, message and teaching and modeling how they should live out this new life and holiness in a community of believers..He then goes on his way to other towns and churches.
Sometime later Paul gets news from one of the Corinthian families that in his absence things have more or less fallen apart….Factions here developed…selfish, cliques of power in the church…Words are in disrespect of power in the church. Worship has degenerated into a selfish argument over supernatural gift...It was the kind of thing you’d expect from….Corinthians.
Paul’s response is from the heart of a Pastor…It’s not an angry shout….but a clear, affectionate firm response that if Jesus and the Holy spirit are present…If they are central in our lives….Grace, love and unity abound…if not…we will find ourselves in a mess.
When people become Christians they don’t accidentally become NICE.
Scripture teaches us that killing self and growing to be more mature in Christ is a lifelong process. Each of us needs the reminder of changed people live expectant lives. ..Dogs that are rescued from the pond are grateful for their new home.
How can you be a prostitute setting in a room with an adulterer and next to him is a swindler and liar…and rounding out the circle are a bunch of former permiscusous men and women…and your turning your nose up at how bad they’re been?
Well, let me tell you I’ve seen it in churches over and over again where instead of us be captivated by God grace we forget the truth that we are sinners…and begin to maneuver for power and popularity…
And instead of changed people living expectant lives we become fundamental people condemning others outside the church and in. But Paul expects something more from these believers and from us.
1 Cor 1: 10-13 (p807)
It’s so easy to draw upsides isn’t it? To forget about thankfulness, to lose sight of our calling and to build a following…not for Christ, but for yourself. It’s natural…It’s also evidence of someone who follows their natural instead of the Holy spirits leading.
Do you know why the Corinthians weren’t lacking in any spiritual gift…why they could be steady until the end…It’s because they had Christ and each other…none of them had every gift, but all the gifts for growth and maturity were in this body of believers. They just needed each other. No wonder Satan wanted to divide them.
Instead of using the Amour of the gospel, for victory, they were using it to fight with one another..It left them bloody and the outside world…lost.
[Soren Kierkegaard tells the story of a dream he had where he got to see the same scene in heaven and in hell….In both settings people sat with giant forks around a banquet table…in hell, because the utensils were too long to pick up food and bring it to your mouth….there was anger, a riot, fights… While in heaven around a banquet table with the same giant forks…people picked up the food and feed one another.]
Our, text ends “God who has called us into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ our Lord is faithful.
Never forget …
III THE GLUE THAT CONNECTS US IS THE BLOOD OF CHRIST.
Would we really fight about whose baptism was better, or what color of carpet to put down at the foot of the cross? Would we really demand our rights and hold so tightly to our control when we see the son of God empty his hands of heaven so they can be filled with nails?
Would we really speak about how horrible our brother or sister in Christ is at the same time the Savior of the World says…..”Father Forgive them?
Would we really hate those who do not understand the Kingdom of God or know its ways… while they’re creator and ours was ripped apart in order to offer a new and living way for salvation? And the answer is “yes” “We would”
We do it all the time” It happened in Corinth…and it happens in Louisville…I promise you it stops when we focus on the cross…and understand it’s the blood of Christ that connects us to God and each other…
From Daily Encounter comes this story by a Chaplain Robinson”
“In 1949, my father had just returned from the war. On every highway you could see soldiers in uniform hitchhiking home to their families. The thrill of the reunion with his family was soon overshadowed b y my grandmother’s illness. There was a problem with her kidneys. The doctors told my father that she needed a blood transfusion immediately or she would not live through the night.
Grandmother’s blood type was AB negative, a very rare type. In those days there were no blood banks like there are today. No one in the family had that type blood and the hospital had not been able to find anyone with that rare type. The Doctor gave our family little hope. My Dad decided to head home for a little while to change clothes and then return for the inevitable good-byes.
As my father was driving home he passed a soldier in uniform hitchhiking. Deep in grief, my father was not going to stop. But something compelled him to pull over. The soldier climbed in but my father never spoke. He just continued driving down the road toward home. The soldier could tell my father was upset as a tear ran down his cheek.
The soldier asked about the tear. My father began telling the stranger that his mother was going to die because the hospital couldn’t find anyone who could donate AB negative blood. MY father explained that he was just heading home to change clothes. That is when he noticed the soldier’s open hand holding dog tags that read AB negative. The soldier told my father to turn the car around and head back to the hospital.
My grandmother lived until 1996, 47 more years. To this day my family doesn’t know the name of that soldier. My father wonders if that stranger really was a soldier or if he was an angel in uniform.”
