a) This is the usual manner in which...

a) This is the usual manner in which Paul greets those to whom he is writing to. Most, if not all of his letters to the churches include this greeting.

b) It sounds a bit odd to us today, we just don’t really talk this way anymore, but it is rich with deep theological truth about the grace and peace which flows from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

i) Grace –

(1) “The sum total of all God’s activity toward his human creatures is found in the word ‘grace’; God has given himself to them mercifully and bountifully in Christ. Nothing is deserved; nothing can be achieved. ‘Tis mercy all, immense and free” (Fee, 35).

ii) Peace

(1) “The sum total of those benefits as they are experienced by the recipients of God’s grace is found in the word peace” (Fee, 35).

(2) Means “well being, wholeness, welfare.” It is not the absence of strife, but the presence of positive blessings. It is the prosperity of the whole person, especially spiritually speaking.

c) Peace flows out from grace and both flow together from God our Father and were made effective in human history through our Lord Jesus Christ.

d) So, although odd to our ears today, it would be valuable for us today, and each day, to pray for this grace and peace in each of our lives. We could all use it, as undeserving as we may be of it.

e) “A final note, therefore, about the salutation as a whole, namely its Christological emphasis. Paul is an apostle of Christ Jesus; the Corinthians have become believers in Christ Jesus; Christians universal are designated as those who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; and grace and peace from God the Father are effected through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Fee, 35).

God’s Holy Calling – Its Gracious Blessings

Structure –

Four things I want us to notice about verses 4-9 as a whole before we start digging deeper into it. It is unique, it is thematic, it is corporate, and it is God centered and Christ exalting.

First, it is unique.

Here we enter upon the characteristic thanksgiving that is to be found in all but one of Paul’s letters to the churches (two if he wrote Hebrews). In some ways, it is very similar to the other thanksgivings, in other ways it is unique. This “thanksgiving” is very similar to others that Paul wrote in that He gives thanks, to God, always, for the recipients, and reasons then elaborated. However, in other ways, this introduction to the letter is quite different from others. When Paul enters into thanksgiving to God for the other churches, he is filled with praise for the recipient’s love and work. To the church of Philippi he says, “and this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight…” (Phil. 1:9), to the churches of Colosse he says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints…” (Col. 1:3, 4), and to the church in Thessalonica he says, “We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:2-3). But you will notice Paul makes no mention of praise to God for the Corinthians love and work. Both appear to be wanting in the Corinthian church. Paul will later seek to correct the problem of the Corinthians lack of love by exalting it over both knowledge in 8:1-3 and 13:2 and speech in 13:1, 8-13.

What is not found to be wanting in the Corinthian church are the spiritual gifts, especially those of speech and knowledge, and Paul makes no hesitation to give thanks to God for this even though the Corinthian church abused these spiritual gifts. Indeed, they do not lack gifts in any way, but they use them disorderly and improperly. In this thanksgiving, therefore, Paul accomplishes two things: he gives genuine thanks to God both for the Corinthians themselves and for God’s having ‘gifted’ them, but at the same time he redirects their focus” (Fee, 36).Paul redirects their focus in two ways. First, as was already touched on, he redirects them to why they have these gifts to begin with, the grace of God given to them. Second, he redirects them from focusing on these temporal gifts to the eternal glory of the day when our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed. In short, Paul wants them to stop being short sighted. Stop focusing on the here and now, and live with eternity in mind.

Second, it is thematic.

As is the usual case, this introduction contains a number of items that anticipate the body of the letter and I point this out to you because I find it quite fascinating how Paul does this and to help you appreciate all the more the depth of God’s word. In verse 5, Paul touches on the topic of spiritual gifts, and later in chapters 12-14, he will discuss grace gifts in depth. More specifically, he addresses the gift of “word” or “speech” in verse 5 ( reference to tongues and prophecy) and he will later expand upon this in 1:10-4:21 and 13:1-14:40. He addresses the gift of knowledge in verse 5 (prophetic revelation, special knowledge) and will later expand upon this in 8:1-13 and 13:1-13. In verse 6, Paul’s preaching to the Corinthians is mentioned, and is later the topic at hand in 2:1-16. In verses 7 and 8 Paul mentions the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is, eschatology, and this is addressed repeatedly throughout the entire letter, especially in chapter 15, and even at the close of the letter out in 16:22, “Anathema and Maranatha,” Come Lord Jesus. In verse 9 Paul makes mention of our fellowship together in Jesus Christ our Lord and who can miss all the emphasis and comment Paul makes upon this throughout this letter.

You see then, this thanksgiving does more than just recount Paul’s cheery attitude, it is proleptic. It anticipates a number of themes that will dominate the letter. I should also note the emphasis on grace, specifically its past, present, and future blessings. Notice in verse 4 it is past tense, “given you” in Christ Jesus. In verse 7 it is present, right now “you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ…” and in verse 8 it moves to the future with, “He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Third, it is corporate.

Eleven times Paul makes mention of the church as a whole with the use of the plural pronoun “you.” Paul is not addressing individual believers here. He is rather addressing the church as a whole. It is the entire assembly of called out ones who have been given the grace of God, enriched in every way, and are not lacking in any spiritual gift. It is the entire assembly of called out ones who eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ, who God will keep strong to the end, so that they will be blameless, and who have been called into fellowship with Jesus Christ. The implication of this is profound. If we are “to know the fullness of God’s blessing, if we are to experience all the gifts of his grace which are ours in Christ, it has to be together in fellowship” (Prior, 24). This is a fellowship that begins because of our union with Christ and it extends to all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fourth, it is God centered and Christ exalting.

Just as the introduction to the letter by Paul was Christ centered, so this body of Scripture is both God centered and Christ exalting. Notice with me how the thanksgiving centers on God. God is thanked for every blessing of grace given in Christ Jesus. God will keep us strong to the end so we might be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called us into fellowship with His son Jesus Christ our Lord. God is faithful. Additionally, notice with me how the thanksgiving exalts our Lord Jesus Christ. Six times Christ is referenced by either name or pronoun in a matter of six verses. God’s grace is given to us in Christ Jesus. In Christ we have been enriched in every way. We read of the “testimony about Christ” in verse 6, of eagerly waiting for “our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” in verse 7, of “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” in verse 8, and of the “fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” in verse 9. One cannot help but rejoice at the manifold blessings of grace that God gives in Christ Jesus.

1) God’s Gracious Blessings

a) A Spirit of Thankfulness (v.4a) God’s gracious blessings begin with this.

i) Remarkable thankfulness-It really is quite remarkable that Paul can begin this section of his letter with a spirit of genuine thankfulness to God for the Corinthians. It speaks volumes about his character, because as we all know, the Corinthian church was a mess – full of problems, sins, division, and heresy.

(1) As Fee says, “If he must speak strongly to them, indeed at times be sarcastic and shame them, he nonetheless never ceases to be thankful for them….In every redeemed person there is evidence of the grace of God, and that brings forth Paul’s gratitude, both to God and for them.” (Fee, 37).

(a) This genuine spirit of thankfulness really should take us back. Our nature is to complain and whine when things do not go right. Our nature is to see the bad in things instead of the good. If I was Paul writing back to the Corinthian church I am pretty sure it would not begin with a kind greeting and word of thanksgiving for them. It would more be filled with words like, “what are you thinking!” “Why would you be doing such a thing!” “How could you do that!”

(b) Don’t get me wrong, Paul will get to a point in the letter where he uses very strong language to correct and reform their errors, but he does not start there. He starts with grace and thanksgiving. In addition, Paul is not naïve and thinking that having a cheery, thankful disposition will make everything OK. That is just madness.

(2) What is even more remarkable about this is he is thankful to God for the very things in the church that, because of the abuses, are also causing him grief. Paul recognizes something here we would all do well to note. The problem with the Corinthians lies not in their gift, but in their attitude toward these gifts. As O’Brien points out in his book, “The Corinthians had forgotten that what they had received were gifts, sovereignly distributed by the Holy Spirit and that their purpose was ‘for the common good’ (12:7), or that the church might be edified (14:5)” (O’Brien, 114). Remember also Paul’s biting words in 4:7, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” Precisely because the gifts come from God, Paul is bound to give thanks for them. After all, they are good things that have gone sour.

ii) Source for thankfulness – Paul does not give thanks to them for trusting God, he does not say, I give thanks to you Corinthians for changing your lives around. He gives the Corinthians no pat on the back; they have been doing that enough on their own.

(1) No. He goes straight to the source, to God, and gives thanks to Him for being gracious in their lives and confirming the testimony of Christ in their lives. If it were not for God’s graciousness in their lives, they would still be dead in their sins.

(2) The source for all of our rejoicing, gladness, and thankfulness is to be found in God for it is from God, and through God, and to God are all things.

iii) Reason for thankfulness – Grace of God given in Christ Jesus

(1) Thankfulness does not characterize our generation too well. In fact, the exact opposite is probably true of this generation. Thankfulness is the last thing on the mind of most people. You would think with everything going on at the church in Corinth that Paul would not be very thankful for anything either, but indeed he was. What made him thankful? What gave him the ability to thank God even in hard times? God’s grace. Paul is one who was ever mindful of the grace of God and that no matter how bad things seemed to be, he could thank God for that. This is why he could thank God for the Corinthians at every opportunity, because of the grace of God given to them and confirmed in them.

(2) As bad as their problems might be, Paul recognized that they were still far better off than they were when he first met them because the testimony of Christ has been confirmed in them. Indeed, we know from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 that some of them were at one time sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers but God in his grace through Jesus Christ washed them of their sin, sanctified and justified them.

(3) Paul never gets tired of giving thanks to God for his grace. In fact, verses 5-9 go on to explain how that grace of God that was given has impacted the Corinthian believers. Because of it they are enriched in every way, they do not lack any spiritual gift, God will keep them strong so that they will be blameless, they have been called into fellowship with Christ, and God is faithful. These things are all because of God’ grace and these things are all undeserved.

(4) The Corinthians however have started to treat the gift of God’ grace as a foregone conclusion, even as though it is deserved.

(5) G.W. Knight has said - When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a wage. When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize. When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award. But when a person is not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserves no award--yet receives such a gift anyway--that is a good picture of God's unmerited favor. This is what we mean when we talk about the grace of God. Grace, in a word, means undeserved, and what is so amazing about grace is that God still loves me and richly blesses me despite my stubborn sin and pride.

(6) Whenever we talk to someone about God’s love, and share the verse of John 3:16 the expected response is something like – “Whoa! God loves me? I don’t deserve such love! Who am I that he would love and send his son to die in my place?” More and more though the response to this absolutely soul stirring proclamation of God’s great love for a sin-wrecked world is, “well, duh.” Of course, he loves me.

(7) More often than not, I think we treat God’s grace this way. It is so expected and commonplace that it is taken for granted. We often sing the song amazing grace and I can’t help but wonder how many of us feel it is still amazing? Philip Yancey, a popular Christian author wrote a few years back a book called, “What’ So Amazing About Grace?” In it he explores exactly what I am talking about now. We take it as a foregone conclusion. We’ve lost the wonder of it, the amazing about it, because we have lost the perspective of God who gives us undeservedly grace in Christ Jesus.

(8) Paul never loses perspective. He starts right where all of us need to start, with a spirit of thanksgiving to God because he has given us grace in Christ Jesus. Because of this perspective, he can thank God for a church like Corinth.

A young woman named Anne Steele had encountered one trial and disappointment after another. Being a devout Christian, she continuously sought to praise God—even in sorrow. She was engaged to be married, and had looked forward to her wedding day with eagerness. The big day finally arrived and so did the guests—but the groom was missing. After about an hour of waiting, a messenger brought the tragic news that Anne’s fiancé had drowned. The sudden shock was almost too much for her, but after a while she regained her spiritual composure.

Later Anne Steele penned the song that is still found in many hymnbooks:

Father, whate’er of earthly bliss Thy sovereign will denies,
Accepted at Thy throne of grace, let this petition rise:
Give me a calm, a thankful heart, from every murmur free!
The blessings of Thy grace impart, and make me live to Thee.
- H.G.B.

(9) Anne Steele understood something about life we need to remember. Life is of grace, especially for those who have saving faith in Christ. ‘Tis mercy, immense, and free.’ Paul had a lot of good reasons to complain and be upset about the church in Corinth, but he first started with thanksgiving for God’s marvelous grace.

iv) Today’s problem – So the Corinthian church was a mess. It was beset with many weaknesses and sins. It was, in this sense, no different from any modern church. The church is a fellowship of sinners before it is a fellowship of saints. Every church, no matter how glamorous the show on the outside, struggles with various issues of sin and weakness. There is no perfect church. Every church has faults, some more obvious than others. The sooner we realize this truth the better we will be for it. The sad thing is that dissatisfied church goers will often naively think that another church in this area will somehow be better than the one they now attend. From this restlessness comes the habit of church-swapping. The best cure for this terrible habit is a close examination of this passage.

(1) We need to register this truth – Paul looks at the Corinthian church as it is in Christ Jesus, enriched in every way, before he looks at anything else that is true of the church and he thanks God for it.

(a) Too often, what happens in our churches is people are all too quick to point out the things wrong with the church, its errors, its mistakes, etc. People are all too good at that. Some people seem to major in it.

(i) If I can offer this bit of wisdom, if you’re looking for trouble, you’re sure going to find it. If you’re going to church looking for all of its problems, that’s all your going to see is its problems.

(ii) It doesn’t take much before criticism becomes cynicism and cynicism becomes discontentment and discontentment becomes abandonment. We must learn to first have a thankful disposition.

(b) Sure, the church in Corinth has some terrible warts that need to be remedied. Paul is not ignorant of that fact, indeed, that is why he has written this letter, to urge them to holiness, but he is first thankful for what God has already graciously given in Christ at this church.

(2) Thankfulness is supposed to characterize believers

(a) As you read through the Psalms, you cannot help but be overwhelmed by the constant references to praise and thanksgiving from David.

(i) Psalm 7:17 – “I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.”

(ii) Psalm 9:1 – “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”

(iii) Psalm 92:1-2 – “It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.”

(b) Christ is one who was thankful

(i) He even expressed thanks to God for the bread and wine he and the disciples ate at the Last Supper. Food that symbolizes his death.

(c) Paul expressed thanks

(i) Every letter he writes, except to the Galatians, begins with thanks.

1. Ephesians 5:19, 20 – “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

(3) Being unthankful is a rejection of God

(a) Romans 1:21 - “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him…”

(4) We need to foster this spirit of thankfulness to God for the grace he has already given. Choose thankfulness because you know God’s grace has been so great in your life. To delight in God for his working in the lives of others, even in the lives of those with whom one feels compelled to disagree, is sure evidence of one’s awareness of being the recipient of God’s mercies.

Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it was soon apparent they wouldn't make it.

Terrified, the one shouted to the other, "Put up a prayer, John. We're in for it!"

John answered, "I can't. I've never made a public prayer in my life."

"But you must!" implored his companion. "The bull is catching up to us."

"All right," panted John, "I'll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: 'O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.'"

(5) Thankfulness does not come naturally to the self-disposed or to those who believe themselves to be self-sufficient. To such people, it is believed that they deserve all the credit and honor and thanks. Yet, if there is anything Scripture teaches, it is this, that you are dependent upon God for your life. Your body is not your own. Thankfulness then should roll off our lips unceasingly as it does with Paul for the grace given to us in Christ Jesus.

(a) 1 Thess. 5:16-18 – “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

(b) Job 1:21 – “…The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

v) The Challenge for thankfulness– Can you say this morning that you are you truly thankful for God’s church here in Newberry, problems and all? Do we have a lot of hard work ahead of us? Sure. But the road to remedy begins with a spirit of thanksgiving.

b) Enriched – the second blessing of God’s holy calling

i) What it means

(1) “To cause to abound in something, make rich in spiritual blessings.”

ii) Source

(1) “in him” – the source of such enrichment is found in Jesus Christ.

(2) “Christ and his work are the true wealth of the community” (TDNT, ploutizw).

(3) We are enriched by close communion with Christ

(a) Read John 15:1-8

(i) No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine (v.4)

(ii) You will bear much fruit in Christ (v.5)

(iii) Apart from Christ you can do nothing (v.5)

(b) Read Colossians 3:16-17

(i) How you remain in Christ -

(ii) Purpose of such enrichment –

(c) Richly blessed

(i) Romans 10:12 – “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.”

(d) Unsearchable riches

(i) Ephesians 3:8 – “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

(e) Glorious

(i) Phil. 4:19 – “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

iii) Scope

(1) In Every Way

(a) We are not enriched in just one or two ways, we are not enriched just a little bit, but we are enriched in every way. There is not a single way in your life as a believer that you have not been enriched in Christ.

(b) Application –

(i) Riches to Paul are not about material wealth and prosperity; rather it is about the work of God in Christ.

1. This is why I despise the health and wealth gospel that teaches if you have enough faith, God will give you great wealth and health. Nonsense. If you are in Christ, you are rich toward God! Great wealth and heath mean nothing withour being enriched in Christ and being rich toward God.

(ii) Christ taught the same thing in Luke 12:16-21

1. It is wonderful if God has materially blessed with great possessions and affluences, but that is nothing if you are not rich toward God.

(iii) We are made spiritually rich in Christ. This speaks volumes for Scripture is emphatic that before being made spiritually rich in Christ, we were spiritually broken, destitute, and empty. Yet because of the grace of God given in Christ Jesus, we have now been enriched in Christ.

Let me draw an application here. John D. Rockefeller's three simple rules for anyone who wants to become rich: 1. Go to work early. 2. Stay at work late. 3. Find oil. All over the world, people are striving after the riches of this world thinking that will make their lives full of purpose. All the while, we who are in Christ are made rich not because of anything we did, but because of God’s great grace and mercy. Indeed, God, who is rich in mercy and grace, has made us rich in every way. “You say, how am I rich? I have little money, hardly any possessions, no car, I rent a house, etc. I am not rich, I am poor. Here is the beauty of the gospel. You are made rich in Christ. You may not have much money, have hardly any possessions, have a car, or own a house but you possess Jesus Christ, the creator and sustainer of the universe, the author and finisher of your faith, whose riches are unsearchable and glorious. In Christ, we have the hope of eternal life in Christ. In Christ we are made rich by God. How much greater this is than any car or house, or possession you could ever have? What earthly possession could satisfy you more than this? What earthly possession compares at all to this? Christ is appointed heir of all things, and we are co-heirs with him. Behold then the rich mercy and grace of God who has bestowed such a wonderful gift to us, that we should be called children of God! You have been made rich in Christ! The fleeting, tarnished, corruptible riches of this world pale to the timeless, eternal, priceless, unsearchable riches of Christ that is ours because of God’s great grace and mercy. Do not put your hope in the riches of this world, but put your hope in God who richly provides us with everything we need in Christ Jesus. Patrick Henry said, “I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There is one thing more I wish I could give them and that is faith in Jesus Christ. If they had that and I had not given them a single shilling, they would have been rich; and if they had not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor indeed.” - Patrick Henry “In giving us his Son Jesus, God has given us all he has; he can give us no more; we have everything in him” (Prior, 24).

Let me make a second connection here. Remember, we noticed how Paul has emphasized the corporate nature of the church and pointed out If we are “to know the fullness of God’s blessing, if we are to experience all the gifts of his grace which are ours in Christ, it has to be together in fellowship” (Prior, 24). This makes clear that we come to know just how mysterious, deep, and glorious the riches of Christ are as we come together in fellowship in Christ. The deeper the fellowship, the deeper we come to know Christ. This serves to demonstrate how crucial it is for you and me to be here in fellowship with each other and not to skip out and church hop. I do not, and God does not, want you here just to fill up the seats. I want you here, and God wants you here, not to fill seats, but because we are all one in Christ, and we are all enriched with each other’s presence. When you are not here, you cannot experience just how deep, and mysterious, and glorious the riches of Christ are and neither can we. We need each other in this way. We are interdependent upon each other in this manner.

Scripture knows nothing of Christianity in isolation. It knows nothing of believers who “go it alone” and are rugged individualists. Scripture is emphatic that we are all members of the body of Christ, each put there by God, each dependent upon each other and the head, which is Christ. “Believers learn what Christ-likeness is by observing it in fellow Christians. We see the love of Christ reflected in the lives of our fellow believers; we are enriched by Christ through our contact with them; we hear Christ speaking to us through them. Believers are inspired by the example of their fellow Christians, sustained by their prayers, corrected by their loving admonitions, and encouraged by their support” (Hoekema, 89, Gods Image). It is here, as a church united in the name of Christ, that we are enriched. Please then commit yourselves to being an active participant in this body for your own spiritual enrichment and for ours. If your passion is to live a holy life, honor God in everything, as well it should be, there is no better place and no better way to do it than here in the fellowship of like brothers and sisters in Christ.

(2) Word and Knowledge

(a) With the mentioning of “word” and “knowledge” Paul then focuses on two areas in which the believers at Corinth were made rich in Christ.

(b) These two words are making reference to spiritual gifts, not every day, natural speech and knowledge.

(i) “Word” makes reference to all gifts and ministry involving speech, including but not limited to, tongues, prophecy, preaching, teaching, exhortation and evangelism.

(ii) The word “knowledge” makes reference to all gifts and ministry involving knowledge, including but not limited to, a gift of special knowledge and prophetic revelation.

(c) Paul singles out these two in particular for two reasons.

(i) First, he points them out due to the Corinthians great enrichment in them. Most of chapter 8 is concerned with this special knowledge, and chapters 12-14 discusses, along with many other gifts, both knowledge and speech. In fact, Paul talks more about the gift of knowledge in this book more than any other book in the NT. The believers at Corinth were greatly blessed in this area.

1. 2 Corinthians 8:7 – “But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

(ii) The second reason Paul points them out here is because of their great abuse of and pride in them. As one commentator notes, “The Corinthians’ greatest liabilities and greatest strengths lie in their gifts” (Brown, 71).

1. They have started to treat these grace gifts as though they were deserved and this leads to Paul eventual rebuke.

a. Notice Paul’s biting remark to them in 1 Corinthians 4:7 – “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not

b. Notice his biting mark to them also in 1 Co. 14:36 – “Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached?”

2. They were not practicing them in an orderly manner

a. “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” 1 Cor. 14:40

3. Additionally, the Corinthians had a habit of exalting these two spiritual gifts above all the other gifts, a notion that Paul will make every effort to rid them of in this letter.

a. It is somewhat humorous that Paul will ask the wise and knowledgeable Corinthians 11 times, “Do you not know?”

b. but we do not want to get to far ahead of ourselves.

4. “As material riches can inspire poisonous, self-destructive attitudes and behaviors, so can spiritual riches.”

(iii) For now, it will do us well to notice again the ability of Paul to be thankful for these gifts in the lives of the Corinthians despite their abuse of them precisely because they are gifts from God.

1. May I also encourage you to give thanks to God for your spiritual gift, do not presume upon it, use it orderly and for God’s glory and honor.

c) Confirmed – the third blessing of God’s holy calling - Verse six has a causal connection with the previous verses. That is, it is the foundation or reason for what has preceded. The sense of it is this. Paul and companions preached the testimony of Christ, God blessed the preaching of Christ by giving grace in Christ Jesus, and enriching them in every way in Christ Jesus, especially in their speech and knowledge. In other words, Paul preached, then God confirmed, or secured, or even better, put into effect that preaching of Christ by his grace and enriching in Christ Jesus. Paul spoke the words of Christ; God put the force into it. God put the power into it. 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 – “my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. What I really like about this verse is it gives us, in a condensed manner, how God builds his church. I always like when God does this because I have a thick head and the simpler the better. Verses like these are in here so I can have some hope of grasping it. This one is so simple, even cavemen can understand it. First, there is the proclamation or testimony given of Christ, and then God confirms this proclamation, that is, puts it into effect, by graciously awakening sinners from their sins, and enriching them in every way in Christ. God builds his church this way. We proclaim the testimony of Christ and God confirms it. If we were to put it in the form of a catechism it would go like this, “How does God build his church? Through proclamation and confirmation.” Or if we were watching Jeopardy, the category would be God’s Church, the answer would be, “How God builds his church,” the question would be “what is proclamation and confirmation.”

i) First, the necessity to preach the gospel of Christ – I do not want to undermine here the importance of living what you preach for certainly if you do not live what you preach no one will likely listen to you anyways. It is of the utmost importance that our lives reflect what we preach, but I need to be clear that it is not the way you live your life that will save people. At some point you need to verbally share the gospel. Suppose that when Paul stayed in Corinth for 18mths he never said a word to anyone but lived a holy life. Would anyone be saved from his or her sins? NO! Faith does not come by good testimony; faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. That is why God sent forth Paul as a preacher for how can anyone believe in the one of whom they have never heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? You each this morning are sent ones by God to proclaim Christ to all your friends, family, and enemies. You are all preachers of Christ crucified, not in the same way that I am up here preaching, but preachers nonetheless. God has sent you forth in this manner.

George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man by the name of John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was transferred and paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1968, Currier's sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Life on that farm was hard and without promise for the future. Yet John kept doing what he was told even after the farmer for whom he worked had died.

Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about Currier's plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.

Sweeting concluded that story by asking, "Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message -- the most important in your life -- and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?"

We who have heard the good news and experienced freedom through Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message?

Our Daily Bread, November 6, 1994.

(1) Christ commanded it

(a) Mark 16:15 – “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.”

(b) Acts 1:8 – “you will be my witnesses…”

(2) John the Baptist practiced it –

(a) John 1:7-8 – “He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.”

(3) Apostles practiced it

(a) Acts 4:33 – “and with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.”

(4) Paul practiced it

(a) 1 Co. 2:1-2 – “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

(5) Don’t be ashamed of it

(a) 2 Tim. 1:8 – “so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel…”

(b) Rom. 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”

(6) So live godly, humble, holy lives so that you do not undue with your actions what you say with your lips, but also verbally proclaim Christ.

(7) Paul proclaimed the testimony of Christ. That Jesus is Lord, and that he died for our sins and that God raised him from the dead and this morning if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

ii) Second, the necessity of God to confirm it.

(1) Bare preaching is not adequate, it must be confirmed, that is put into effect, in the lives of the hearers, and that requires the work of God’s Spirit, bringing conviction, illumination, and faith.

(a) 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ, he anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

(b) Isa. 55:10-11 – “as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

(2) We need to pray for two things then, first, the boldness to proclaim Christ and second, for God to establish the proclamation of Christ in their lives.

(a) Salvation comes from the Lord and is wholly of Him

(b) What is dependent upon you is giving the testimony of Christ. Whether the person accepts or rejects the testimony of Christ is not in your hands. What is in your hands is the faithful proclaiming of the gospel.

(3) Let us then give thanks to God for those he sent into our lives to proclaim Christ to us, for enriching us and confirming us. What a gracious God.

d) Not Lacking

i) Not individually speaking

ii) How we receive them

iii) Why we have them

e) The Revealing

i) Day of Glory for saints

ii) Day of Wrath for others

f) Eagerly Waiting

i) Not idle

ii) Active

The problem is many of us do not appropriate our spiritual gifts. We all have them; we just fail to use them. Worse, there seems to be an epidemic of people who insist they have no idea what their spiritual gift is or are! May I suggest this is true due to a general lack of enthusiasm for participation in the local church.

If there is one thing the Corinthian church excelled at it was this, they knew what their gifts were and they sought to fully employ them. Where they went wrong was they wrongfully abused them by promoting self-glory and pride with them.

You may excel at one thing and be terrible at something else and that is ok because there is someone else in the church who will excel at it and who can come along side you and help you. This is truly a beautiful dynamic of corporate church life. May I also say in passing that just because you think you may be terrible at something that can never be used as an excuse not to participate in it. Where there is a need, you can fill it.

It cannot be said of one individual believer “you do not lack any spiritual gift.” In fact, for one to claim so would be ludicrous and flatly reject all that Scripture says about community. If 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 make any point at all, it is that we are each given gifts for the edification of each other. If we each possessed all of the gifts, we would not need each other’s gifts. We would be an island unto ourselves.

I have read several commentators who upon getting to this text make all sorts of elaborate comments of how we as individuals do not lack any spiritual gifts. They could not be any more wrong. They would be correct in saying you do not lack at all in the gift(s) you have. Therefore, “you” do not lack any spiritual gifts makes reference to the entire local church of Corinth. As a whole, as an entire community, they do not lack any spiritual gifts. “But the local church potentially does have every spiritual gift within its corporate life, and should prayerfully expect God to bring them into mature expression (Prior, 24).” The church as a whole has an abundance of spiritual talents. It is not lacking.

Talk about how we receive them, we all have them,

Talk about the connection between this verse and the previous ones. In verse seven, Paul is making this point; You do not lack any spiritual gift, not as an end in itself, but to encourage you as you eagerly anticipate the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. These gifts are here to help as you wait, as a confirmation than it will happen. Additionally, Paul seems to be saying don’t put too much weight on these gifts. They are not an end in themselves, rather the revelation of Christ is.

We are too easily distracted. The worries, weights, and concerns of this world too easily drown out the certainty of a returning Savior. We are too easily caught up in the here and now. We must teach ourselves to live with eager anticipation for the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Believers wait, not in apathy, but in hope. We are to await with intensity and earnestess.

Spiritual gift would seem to lend itself to every gift from God, not just special gifts of a non-material sort. The entire first half seems to echo v. 5 with “enriched in every way.” In the same manner we are not lacking any spiritual gift. That is, we have all we need because of the glorious, unsearchable riches of being in Christ. Spiritual gift seems to imply all gifts we have received due to God’s grace, or favor.

The word spiritual is not even there in the Greek.

Since charisma and it's plural charismata are frequently discussed in the past century, particularly with the onset of the Charismatic movement, there will be some elaboration on these words and their relationship to grace (charis). Gordon Fee had some things to say about these words in his work on pneumatology -- God's Empowering Presence. He mentions that "charisma is almost exclusively a Pauline word in the New Testament as well as "in all other known instances in Greek antiquity, up to and including the first Christian century." Fee further says that the translation "spiritual gifts" is somewhat misleading because "on it's own the word has little or nothing to do with the Spirit; it picksup Spirit overtones only by context or by explicit qualifiers." In Paul's writings charisma is "a concrete expression of grace, thus a 'gracious bestowment.' In nearly half of it's uses it simply designates a variety of ways God's grace is evidenced in the midst of or in the lives of, his people."

"On the other hand, the word frequently relates to special manifestations or activities of the Spirit, indicating 'gracious gifts' of the Spirit, which is why it has come to be thought of as a Spirit activity as such. That its basic relationship is to 'grace' surfaces in two texts. First, in 1 Cor. 1:4-7 God expresses his grace concretely in the rich number of charismata he bestows upon the community; it is in this way, especially as the word is picked up in chapter 12, that charismata comes to be understood as 'gifts of the Spirit.' Second, in Rom. 1:11 Paul specifically associates these ideas by qualifying the noun charisma with the adjective pneumatikos." (pp. 32-33)

Not lacking

i) How we receive them

ii) Who has them