Responsibilities, Rights, and Privileges of the Church
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Some of the topics that will be covered
1. The church consists of those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy. (v. 2)
2. The church does not lack any spiritual gift (v. 7)
3. The church is kept strong to the end by Jesus Christ. (v. 8-9)
INTRO:
“If you ever find the perfect church – don’t join it –you’ll wreck it!”
“I thought I had found the perfect church, except for all the people.”
There is no such thing as a perfect church. A church, quite literally is a group of disciples of Jesus Christ. It is not an organization. It is not a building. It is people. And EVERY church, large or small, old or new, has its flaws because it has PEOPLE in it!
One might think that if you had an extremely gifted pastor, filled with Holy Spirit power, planting and giving leadership to a church, that it would be more likely to be free from problems. But that’s not the truth.
The church founded by Paul in the ancient city of Corinth is the clearest example.
INTRO Paul and the Corinthian church plant….In the book of Acts we learn about how a Jewish Pharisee named Saul who was consumed with persecuting followers of Jesus was miraculously converted. He changed his name to Paul and then began changing the spiritual landscape of Asia Minor through preaching the gospel and planting churches. In Acts 18 we discover that Paul finds himself in Corinth, (show map) a prominent city linking the East and the West, found on an isthmus in the Mediterranean Sea. He spent somewhere around 2 years there around the year 50 AD, preaching and teaching the converts there in how to live the Christian life.
Paul then left, and ended up spending a couple of years in Ephesus, leading the church there. While there, he receives word from some members of the church in Corinth about some problems that have sprung up. He also receives a gift from an official delegation from the church in Corinth, and again hears some disturbing news. The church has divided into factions following different teachers. Certain members of the church have fallen into sin, and the church body has not responded correctly. Problems have come up surrounding their gatherings for worship.
In response, Paul finds someone to write down his words, and he begins dictating a letter to the church.
In this letter he will encourage them for what they are doing right. He will instruct them on who they are in Christ, and how God is at work in and through them. But he will also instruct them about how to handle the numerous problems he has heard are happening in the church. Along the way he gives incredible insight into such subjects as the following:• The true nature and foundation of the church
• what to do when people who call themselves Christians are involved in blatant sin
• how to handle “gray areas” in which Christians disagree over what is right
• dealing with sexual temptations
• marriage, divorce, and remarriage
• Spiritual gifts and their proper role in the life of a church
• An incredible exposition of the true nature of love
• The roles of men and women in the church.
• The importance of the resurrection of Christ.
It is an incredible letter to a real life group of people trying to live out their new-found Christian faith in real life situations. And it is an incredible wealth of information for people like US to learn how to live OUR Christian faith in the midst of the real life situations we all face.
Let’s get started! Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1:1, and lets hear how Paul begins what will be a lengthy letter to the church in Corinth.
1 Corinthians 1
1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:
3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
Sometimes it can be easy to gloss over the introductory remarks or Paul’s letters. But let’s not do that today! For in these few sentences of introduction, we learn some incredible truths about the church that can have powerful applications in our lives.
1. The church consists of those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy. (v. 2)
Paul says these exact things in verse two in describing who this letter is sent to: 2To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy…
QUESTION: What does it mean to be “sanctified”?
Sanctified= set apart for holy purposesThe most basic definition is to be set apart for holy purposes. In the Old Testament we find the same idea in the word “consecrate”. Offerings of animals and of grain would be consecrated, or set apart as holy to the Lord. The instruments used in the temple worship services were first “consecrated” before being used. And in fact, the very priests themselves had to be consecrated before doing their duties before the Lord in the tabernacle and, later, in the temple.
How were these people and things consecrated (or in the NT word, “sanctified”)? One word: blood. Exodus 29 details the way for the priests to be consecrated. A sacrificial animal was offered on the altar, and then some of the blood of that animal was placed on the lobes of the right ear, the thumbs of the right hand, and the big toe of their right feet. Then some of the blood was actually sprinkled on their priestly garments.
This blood demonstrated that the sins of the priests had been paid for through the death of the lamb or ram sacrificed in their behalf.What a beautiful picture this gives us, zooming back into Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church. He calls the church “those sanctified in Christ Jesus”. Rather than being sanctified by the blood of lambs and rams, the church is sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ. Through the blood of Jesus, we are set apart for holy purposes. Through the blood of Jesus, though we know we are sinful, we are made clean, and useful for the Kingdom work God wants us to perform.
The people of Corinth were just like us. They were sinners, undeserving of forgiveness and the grace of God in their lives. Yet through Jesus Christ, blood, these imperfect people had been sanctified – set apart for holy purposes.
APP: And so – applying this truth to our lives here on Whidbey Island – if you are a part of the church of Jesus Christ (meaning you have accepted the gift of forgiveness of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ, and made him the Lord of your life), then your life has been sanctified - set apart for holy purposes!
God has a plan for your life.This plan includes more than you can imagine! Eph. 3:20 ¶ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, Eph. 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
You’ve got work to do!
In order to do that work we have to understand and apply the last part of verse 2 – that not only are we sanctified in Christ Jesus, but we are also called to be holy.
God loves us and desires relationship with us. He has made a way for our sin to be paid for, and for us to be sanctified and put to work for his purposes in the world – but if it is going to happen we must live our lives striving for holiness (or moral purity). That is, we must learn to have the same attitude toward sin that God has. We must learn to take sin as seriously as he does, and do everything in our power to keep our lives free from the stain of sin. The church of Jesus Christ is no place for compromise and justifying sin – it is a place for those who have been sanctified to live lives free from the sin that would entangle us and keep us from performing the spiritual work God has for us in this world.
TRANS: In order to carry out the work God has for us, he has not left us alone with our own knowledge and strength. Listen as Paul encourages the believers in Corinth:
4I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
Here we learn that…
2. The church does not lack any spiritual gift (v. 7)
In God’s plan, he provides not only the way for those in his church to be sanctified, he also provides the means for doing the work he calls us to. He gives us spiritual gifts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. One of the things I’m so looking forward to as we work through this letter is Paul’s important teaching about spiritual gifts found in chapter 12. We’ll get to that in time – until then I simply want you to notice something important.
The church does not lack any spiritual gift. When Paul says “you” do not lack any spiritual gift he means “all of you together”. What difference does this make?
It means that we need each other.
APPLICATION:
You need the church and the church needs you!You are needed! You are needed as a functioning part of this body of believers. God has given you spiritual gifts that are meant to be used in his service. And at the same time, he has provided other people in this congregation to do types of ministry that you are NOT empowered to do.
The church is meant to function as a unit, accomplishing God’s work in the world. I know this may be really hard to believe, but I don’t have every spiritual gift! I know, I know, it’s shocking. God has gifted me in certain ways – but every week I come face to face with those areas that I am NOT gifted. That’s where you come in. Some of you are passionate and gifted in areas that I’m not much good at.
David Saunders – a relatively new believer – has the heart of an evangelist. He witnesses all the time and we need that!Enny Girouard – a prayer warrior – motivated to pray! We need that!Ken Mann – people person and effective discipler! We need that!
Sam and Nicole – ministry to middle school students. We need that!
Bruce and Ronda – ministry to high school students. We need that!
On the other hand, there are areas where each of you need the ministry of others in this church body to make up for your lacks. It has never been God’s design for Christians to function on their own but as part of a body of believers. When we do this we will find ourselves much more able to change the spiritual landscape of Whidbey Island!
3. The church is kept strong to the end by Jesus Christ. (v. 8-9)
Paul has heard some disturbing news about the church, and all throughout the letter he is writing to them he will deal with the problems that have arisen. But he is not discouraged. He has not lost his faith. He is not anxious.
Let’s read verse 8-9 again:
8He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.He knows that the church belongs to God, created through the will of Jesus Christ – and that ultimately it will stand.
APP: Be optimistic!
There is reason for hope. No need to despair. The gates of Hell cannot prevail against the church (us) because Jesus Christ is our King and the Holy Spirit is our power source.
Yes things can look bleak. Yes, there are problems in the church of Jesus Christ. Yes we need revival in the church and out of it. But “God, who has called us into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”
We can trust him. The church is His, and as Jesus told Peter, the gates of Hell will not prevail against the church.
CONCLUSION:
You are invited, by Jesus Christ himself, into a life full of meaning, purpose, and adventure. You’re invited to a life that is beyond yourself, and your hopes and dreams. You’re invited to be a part of something that can change the status quo. It’s called the church.
For all who will accept the invitation, he will sanctify you (set you apart for holy purposes), empower you with a spiritual gift to be used as part of his body, and he promises to keep you strong until the end!
Together we can do what none of us could do individually or apart from Christ. We can change the spiritual landscape of Whidbey Island. Let’s do it.
Pray.