Our PRINCIPLE ASSETS-IV--A—1Corinthians 1:4-5(:1-9)
ATTENTION:
WILD VINES—At the pastor’s house we are in the midst of a battle with Wild Grape vines & Carolina Jessamine vines. They are so prolific that they especially ‘wreak havoc’ on tree seedlings, pulling the young trees to the ground with the weight of their vines. Even mature trees much older than the vines, are weighed down with the bulk of the vines, & become competitors with the vines for access to sunlight.
But what makes the vines so difficult to get rid of—i.e., one of their principle assets— is that every grapevine you see has a woody rootstock that travels many yards horizontally. The rootstocks themselves branch out to form a massive rootstock ‘network’, just an inch or so under ground so you can’t see them! They are unseen but run all thru the edge of the woods!
Those large networks of underground rootstocks send up branches from the ground, with leaves & tendrils which climb up & choke other plants. And these branches regularly emerge from the soil at multiple locations, & simultaneously along the entire length of the hidden rootstock.
Then the smaller more fragile Jessamine vines simply wrap around the grape vines for support. Once the tips reach a sunny location on the tree, then they bulk up high in the air, overtaking the tree leaves. The Jessamine leaves the tree just enough sun to keep the tree from dying, so that the Jessamine won’t lose it’s physical ‘support’ system.
The vines Principle Assets make them particularly successful along the edges of the tree-line or fence-line or hedge-row.
*The Church also has Principle Assets, that are essential for it’ to be successful in matters of eternal significance!
NEED:
God’s church must administer ‘The Good News’/‘The Gospel’ to each other, & to a world that is lost in sin!
IF we ‘forget’ or ‘neglect’ or ‘discard’ our Assets, which God has provided for us, then we will fail our God-ordained mission!
An ASSET— ‘A useful or valuable thing, person, or quality’; ‘An advantage or A resource.’
TEXT to SERMON:
Paul & Sosthenes opened their letter to the Corinthian church by informing them of their most important spiritual assets.
The local(our) church has important spiritual assets.
We will attempt to answer the question:
‘?What are some of our church’s most important spiritual assets?’
In previous weeks we found that...
1. APPROPRIATE APOSTLES(:1)
2. SANCTIFIED SAINTS(:2)...
&
3. GOD’s GRACE & PEACE(:3)
...are principle assets of the Christian church.
Today we’ll find that...
4—Another Principle Asset of the Christian church is...
GOD’s ENRICHMENT--A(:4-5)
Explanation:(:4-5)
:4—“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,”
Paul has a godly ‘habit’ of “thanking” “God” continually(“always”) in reference to the Corinthians.
Thru Paul’s offering up “thanks” to his “God”, God’s people—you & me— are also exhorted to ‘PRAY’!
*PRAYER is ‘mutual communication’ with God. Please keep in mind that prayer is MUTUAL communication. That is, before you throw a huge ‘laundry-list’ of your wants at God, consider the fact that your ‘wants’ would be better served by listening to Him! If you really listen to YHWH, I guarantee that your ‘laundry list’ will shrink considerably! You will recognize that the vast majority of what you think of as ‘needs’, are actually fleshly-driven ‘wants.’...And that recognition will change the ‘prayer’ landscape entirely!
Mat. 6:5-6, 7-15—“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues & on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, & when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; & your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom & the power & the glory forever. Amen. For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
•That passage of scripture is NOT to be ‘mindlessly repeated’, as is the habit of some, but it is to be committed to memory & ‘faithfully heeded’ as a tool to help us serve God better! The so-called ‘Lord’s Prayer’ is intended to inform the ‘prayer life’ of His servants/people.
Specifically, Paul “thanks” “God” “for the grace” that God has bestowed upon the Corinthian church(“you”-plural).
*“Christ Jesus” Himself is the One “by”, [“in”], & thru whom, the Corinthian church had received “God’s” “grace.”(:3)
•Or said another way, They received God’s “grace” by virtue of their being “in” “Christ Jesus” or by virtue of their being saved “by Christ Jesus.”
*Either way, the “Grace of God” was ‘gifted’ to them “by Jesus Christ”!
?WHY has Paul gone to the effort of writing this to the Corinthians, & potentially others(other generations of Christians)? ?Why does Paul need to let the Corinthian church know that he is “thankful” to his “God”?.....
•Because God’s people are ‘forgetful’ that they are a ‘new creation’ “in Christ”(2Cor. 5:17). God’s people everywhere need to be collectively(as a group), regularly, & continually reminded(Heb. 10:24-25) of who they are “in Christ”!
2Cor. 5:17—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Heb. 10:24-25—“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love & good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, & so much the more as you see the Day[of the LORD] approaching.”
“Concerning/On...Behalf/For”—peri—Preposition—1) About, concerning, on account of, because of, around, near. Strong—from the base of peran[(pierce)through]; properly, Through(all over), i.e. Around; figuratively--With respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time (with the genitive case--denoting the subject or occasion or superlative point; with the accusative case--the locality, circuit, matter, circumstance or general period).
“By/In”—en—Preposition—1) In, by, with etc.. Strong—“In, “At”, (Up-)On, By, etc.; a primary preposition denoting(fixed)position(in place, time or state), & by implication--Instrumentality(medially or constructively), i.e. A relation of rest(intermediate between eiv[into, unto, to, towards, for, among] & ek/ex[out of, from, by, away from]).
:5—“that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance & all knowledge,”
God’s ‘grace in Christ’(:4) “enriches” & colors ‘every’ aspect(“in everything”) of the Corinthian’s lives.
•And so, God’s ‘grace in Christ’ “enriches” & colors ‘every’ aspect(“in everything”) of ANYONE who belongs to Him!
2Cor. 8:9—“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
*The fullness of the ‘reality’ of spiritual matters in general, becomes ‘known’ to the believer thru Jesus’ “enrichment”!
That “enrichment” is specifically demonstrated/manifested/exhibited in two areas: 1)The Corinthian’s speech(“all utterance”) & in 2)Their “all” encompassing “knowledge.”
“Enriched”—ploutizw—1Aorist Passive Indicative - 2nd Plural—1) To make rich, enrich—1a) Of spiritual riches; 2) To be richly furnished. Strong—To make wealthy(figuratively). Used 3X--1Cor. 1:5; 2Cor. 6:10; 2Cor. 9:11.?From—ploutov—Wealth(as fullness), i.e. literally--Money, possessions, or figuratively--Abundance, richness, specifically--Valuable bestowment.
“In all utterance”
•That Christians are “enriched in everything” “in all utterance”, does NOT mean, that when a person commits him/herself to Christ, that “everything” they say or speak is flawlessly of God!
•Instead, when a person becomes a Christian, they are suddenly enabled to ‘PROPERLY’ comprehend all things, i.e., put them in proper perspective. The Christian’s thinking becomes overwhelmed & consumed by God’s ‘truth’, as it contrasts with worldly ‘pseudo-truth.’ That overwhelming & consuming ‘truth’ of God, pushes the believer to verbally share—“utter”—God’s ‘truth’/reality boldly, unashamedly, & even openly! You won’t keep it to yourself!
•Lk. 12:11-12—“Now when they bring you to the synagogues & magistrates & authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
“Utterance/Speech/Speaking”—logov—Strong—Something said(including the thought); by implication--A topic(subject of discourse), also--Reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension--A computation; specifically(with the article in John)--The Divine Expression(i.e. Christ).
“& all knowledge,”
•Likewise, that Christians are “enriched in everything” “in all knowledge”, does NOT mean that when a person commits him/herself to Christ, that you gain “all knowledge” in the sense that, you immediately become a walking encyclopedia!
Rather, “by Christ” “all knowledge” is granted to every believer in the sense that, what was previously unavailable to your understanding, is now opened up to you...So that you see the world in it’s fullness because in Christ, you are now a ‘new creation’(2Cor. 5:17). “By Christ”, you now grasp the significance of “all”—the entirety of life—which the ‘natural man’ cannot do!(1Cor. 2:9-16)
•1Cor. 2:9-16—“But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[Isa. 64:4] But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
“Knowledge”—gnwsiv—Noun Fem.—1) Knowledge signified in general intelligence, understanding—1a) The general knowledge of Christian religion, 1b) The deeper more perfect & enlarged knowledge of this religion, such as belongs to the more advanced, 1c) Especially of things lawful & unlawful for Christians, 1d) Moral wisdom, such as is seen in right living. Gnwsiv denotes knowledge by itself, sofia denotes wisdom as exhibited in action, gnwsiv applies chiefly to the apprehension of truths, sofia adds the power of reasoning about them & tracing their relationships. Strong—Knowing(the act), i.e. by implication--Knowledge.?•English=dia-‘gnosis’ or pro-‘gnosis’.
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
The Assets of our ‘problem’ vines. Without their ‘vinely’ Assets, there can be no ‘realistic’ growth for those plants & they would cease to exist!
So, the Church has Eternally Significant Assets intended for the benefit of her people, & thereby for all people! God wants you to take hold of those Assets, Put them to use, & not merely hear about it! Ensure your church's success!
Action:
A Principle Asset of the Christian Church is...
4. GOD’s ENRICHMENT--A(:4-5)
As well as:
1. APPROPRIATE APOSTLES(:1-2a)
2. SANCTIFIED SAINTS(:2)
3. GOD’s GRACE & PEACE(:3)
Pt# 4, (:4-5) only! presented 07/30/2023am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC, 29512
Pts. 1-5 presented 07/21/2013pm to:
FBC C’belle
206 Storrs Ave.
Carrabelle, FL 32322
Pts. 1-5 Presented 03/01/1998pm to:
Penia Baptist Church
3738 Old Penia Rd.
Cordele, GA 31015
