Of First Importance - Our Unity

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Our scripture this morning is 1 Corinthians 1 -9, this will be the first message in a 12 -part series that Pastor Owens and I have put together in the subject of this series, and the first two chapters of 1

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Corinthians is unity. We're going to share, Pastor Owens and I are going to share the preaching duties, so you're going to have both voices as we go through these few chapters, and God willing, you will hear the voice of God from his living word, calling his church to a unity that can only have been created by and maintained by God's power and faithfulness.

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These opening verses to this first letter to the Corinthians are going to be our opening for this series as well, so read along with me, 1

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Corinthians 1 -9, Paul, called by the faithful God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother

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Sostenes, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the

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Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. May God bless thee. Reading and now the hearing of this word.

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The church of God that was at Corinth was famously pregnant with problems.

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Today we might say that, hey, they've got issues, or they had issues, and Corinth had so many.

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There were tongues, there were head coverings, there were prophecies, there were miracle workers, there were resurrections, there were false apostles.

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So many things. One might wonder just what part of the Christian life they did understand. Which one rose to the front, though, of Paul's concerns?

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Which one rises to the fore of all these things going on in this famously troubled church?

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Well, factions. Factions were his first concern. You're going to hear more about that next week as Conley Owens picks this up from this pulpit.

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You'll hear more about that, about factions. But today I just want you to notice that with all the stuff he had to deal with for the church of God at Corinth, all these strange things that have defied scholarship consensus for, what, some 20 centuries?

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With all that going on, then, when Paul was there, or in the first century, he opens this letter with the only starting point for dealing with the multitude of all these issues that they had.

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Not just factions, all of them. But this he deals with first. Factions.

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And the answer, our subject for this morning, to factionalism, is unity.

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This is where Paul begins, this is where we will begin. Without unity, you see, without unity, the church has little, if any, gospel witness at all.

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Absent unity, we have nothing to point to that proves that God is with us by His Spirit and that we are in His Son, Jesus.

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It is that important. Unity. I want to take a brief moment to introduce to you first century

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Corinth. This place, this church that Paul founded, or this place, this city wherein lies this church that Paul founded.

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The city sits on an isthmus, and I challenge you to take pity for me in having to say that word even once.

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You say it five times, if you can do it, teach me how. The city sits on that type of land, a strip of land that connects two greater parts of the land, the connected northern and southern

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Greece, about six miles across. Sparta was in the southern part, called Peloponnesus, Athens was in the north.

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It was a militarily important place, and it was commercially vital. As a

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Roman colony, in 146 BC, so almost 150 years before Jesus was born, it revolted against Rome, and it met the fate that Rome was so good at meeting out to rebels.

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It was destroyed. It was razed to the ground, but years later, seeing its revenue -generating machinery and its military importance,

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Julius Caesar, in 44 BC, restored it and rebuilt it and made it a

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Roman colony. That was just before, as a matter of fact, he was assassinated.

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But it prospered as a commercial center, and it soon attracted pagan temples of worship, and became a famous tourist attraction for those, much like Ephesus, which you read about in Acts chapter 19.

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Aphrodite's temple was there, it was high on a hill, it was very prominent. The priestesses there engaged worshippers' desires, and were really little more than prostitutes.

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There was also a temple to Apollo, where men met together in what Romans 1 .26 would call dishonorable passions, with a sort of a vanity fair, if you will.

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Whatever you wanted to do was readily available in Corinth. It was accepted, it was celebrated, so long as you accepted and celebrated what others also wanted.

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They were proud of their diversity in this city of about 600 ,000, and they valued especially eloquence and wisdom.

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That's going to ring a bell with many of you familiar with 1 Corinthians. Eloquence and wisdom were especially valued by them then.

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They boasted about which grand teacher they followed. They hosted the Ethiopian games every two years, and these were almost as big as the

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Olympics, which seems to be the reason that Paul used so many athletic symbols as metaphors for the gospel of Christian life.

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So that's the very quickest thumbnail sketch of Corinth, the place where the

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Church of God in Corinth resided. And you can right away see the many connections we have with our own day.

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And we're not going to go into them in any detail, I'll just let that rest with you. How close they were, how things, there's nothing new under the sun, how similar they were to what we deal with here today.

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Paul arrived there in about the year 50. You can read about that in Acts chapter 18.

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Well, in a city like that, to promote the gospel in a place of that nature, it would be no wonder that in Acts chapter 18 we also have

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Jesus coming to Paul in a vision during his first ministry there, saying, Do not be afraid, but go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.

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And no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people. And small wonder also that the issues that we read about in 1

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Corinthians came up in that city, or in a church founded in that city.

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For Paul's letter unwraps their problems, beginning with the cure to that thing that comes up first, factionalism.

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Unity with one another by way of unity with Christ is the answer to that. Our unity as believers in Christ is among the most precious gifts that God has given this church.

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It is a gift to be guarded at every point. Your participation in the body of Christ says everything about your regard for the unity of the body, which then circles back and says what you believe about your union with Christ himself.

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Is that important? Unity is God's definition for his church.

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Now, if we had started a social club of some sort, we'd be able to write our own charter and say this is what this club is about, this is what we're going to meet for, these are the activities, and these are the rules, and we're going to make them up, and you're going to read them and sign them and agree to follow them.

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But this is not a social club. This is the church of God, founded on the blood and the sacrifice of his

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Son Jesus. Jesus Christ. And so, who gets to define what this organization, what this unit, if you will, is about?

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It's founder, who is God. Unity is God's definition for his church.

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It's his church, it's founded on the redeeming work of his Son. Let me read verses 1 -3 again. And here's where God defines his church, through the

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Apostle Paul's pen, but it is God's word that gives us this definition. Paul, called by the will of God to be an

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Apostle of Christ Jesus and our brother's sosteness, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, and here's the important part, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours, raised to you in peace from God our Father and the

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Lord Jesus Christ. See, the church of God that was in Corinth was

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God's church. He makes clear whose church it is because in that city there are so many choices.

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The two I named, Aphrodite and Apollo, were just two of the very many choices that could be made.

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And this fact alone must help us lose some of our own opinions of what a church should be like.

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It's not for you or for me to decide. While we have documents that describe us here at Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church, for example our constitution, if it or any other document such as our 1689

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London Baptist Confession of the Faith falls out of line with God's constituting document, out of line with God's definition for what this is about, this church is to be, well which takes precedence?

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Well, God's word, of course, is God's word because God defines the church because it is

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His church to define. Well, the document we rely on, of course, is the

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Bible. And where our constitution does not meet with the Bible or contradicts anything in the

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Bible, that has to be changed. Not the Bible, of course. The 1689

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Confession has held up very well since it was written in 1689. Yet, where it ever contradicts anything in the

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Bible, we need to go with the Bible. It is God's definition for the church. What the

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Bible says, we do. Where it doesn't say, we look for its principles. Where we have freedom, we proceed carefully.

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Where our freedom is to obey the Bible's clear instruction, we do so gladly, we do so faithfully, we do so confidently.

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So this is first. We have to understand this very well. That it is not my church.

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It is not your church. It is not the state's church. It is God's church.

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Second thing is it's a holy place. This is how God defines it. His church, and because it is

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His, we stand on holy ground. It is a holy place. This letter is written to, and the church is defined here, in that verse

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I read, as those sanctified in Christ Jesus. Sanctified is from the same word where we get holiness.

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So the church is populated by those who have been made holy. A status conferred, not earned.

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I'll point out to you that the word here, those sanctified in Christ Jesus, sanctified is in the passive.

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It's in the passive, which means the subject, which is you or me, or anybody else who believes in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, the subject has been acted upon. The subject didn't go out and actively grab hold of this thing and say

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I'll take some of this and by my taking of it be holy. No. We discussed what it means a few moments ago to be given trespass and sin and so forth.

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No. You're acted upon. You are a passive recipient of this holiness.

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Those sanctified in Christ Jesus. And the word here is also what we call perfect.

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It doesn't mean it's a perfect word in a divine sense. It just means that it is the action performed upon it has continuing effect.

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That's all perfect means, is that when the action occurred sometime in the past, the effect of that action continues in us.

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So those sanctified in Christ Jesus, sanctified passively acted upon, and yet that action that was acted upon you, that holiness that was given to you by the grace of God, still is in you and active.

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You are still, if you are Jesus Christ, from that day declared to be holy by faith, the faith given to you, you are still, quote, a passive perfect.

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So with that, I want to give you, as we delve into this, a working definition of unity.

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Because unity comes up very much very quickly in the apostles writing here.

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Unity is the expression of the validity of God's work in the hearts of men, bringing them into fellowship with himself and therefore with each other.

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Unity is that outward expression among ourselves that God has actually worked in each of us and all of us together is the validity of God's work in your heart, bringing us into fellowship with God himself first and therefore, because of that, with each other.

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So Paul goes on now. With that working definition in mind, Paul goes on and says, in Christ Jesus.

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This is still the definition of the church. Those sanctified together in Christ Jesus.

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The apostle Peter taught, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no one, there is no one given among them by which they must be saved.

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The church of God is the redeemed of the Lord, those who are won by the cross work of Jesus Christ, those who by grace have been saved,

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Christ alone is our salvation and in him alone is our sanctification. This is all in Christ Jesus.

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Acted upon and the action that was acted upon you is still active and it is in Christ Jesus because of Christ Jesus that this action even occurred.

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To be in Christ that needs to be sanctified, to be made holy, to be set apart for God's purposes.

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Again, back to Peter, 1 Peter 2 .9. But you are a chosen race, you the church, you are a chosen race.

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We're from all different races here, are we not? A quick survey, we divide up about 50 -50 between Caucasian and others, but you are a chosen race, we together, one race, one chosen race by God.

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You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, not a priesthood that derives from the divine like the priests of old, a royal priesthood, a kingly priesthood.

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Why is it kingly? I would argue it's kingly because our priesthood derives from our great high priest who comes from the kingly line of Judah, our great king, our

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God and Savior, Jesus Christ. So a chosen race, all of us together, made new into one race together, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people of God.

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So what does all this have to do with? Unity. Unity with which the apostle begins this very lengthy letter, unity, the beginning point to unravel such difficult problems, things that still make us scratch our heads and go what is this even about?

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Much less how did he solve it? Unity. The church of God has been called out of the world to be

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God's own special possession. In the world, you and I had no bearing on each other.

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Most of us, if not all of us, met one another here. And so we're brothers and sisters in the

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Lord and beyond that there are even friendships here, friendships in the traditional sense. But where did you meet?

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Here at the church, most of us anyway, met here at this church. See, God called us to be here,

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God called you to be here together, a body of believers united by a common faith, unified together in Christ Jesus.

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Remember, this is God's definition of the church. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 4 through 6 puts it this way.

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There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call,

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Jesus Christ who is over all and through all and in all, called together to be together in Christ Jesus.

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One body, one spirit. Now can you see, can you begin to understand why

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Paul was so alarmed over the Corinthians dividing into factions, abandoning the unity that God by His Son Jesus Christ and the saying of His Spirit worked in that church and has worked in this church here today?

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Can you see why Paul was so alarmed? The rest of verse 2 says, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Saints together with all. We can say that again. I need to read it again.

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Called to be saints together with all, all those who in every place call upon the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. A saint is from the same word we've already met, means sanctified, means made holy.

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A saint is not someone who is morally perfect or even really morally superb. A saint is a sinner transformed by grace and recategorized by that grace and called by God a saint.

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Called by God, again, a passive reception of an action by God.

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Called by God to be saints, to be holy, to be set apart in Christ Jesus our

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Lord. Paul writes to Timothy that Jesus Christ redeemed a people to be his own special possession, zealous for good works.

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Saints together, redeemed, special possession, the apple of his eye. Now nothing could be more opposing to all this, to God's definition for the church.

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Nothing could be more opposing than for God's people to divide into factions, to lack unity, to not have the same mind together that was also in Christ Jesus as we read in Philippians 2.

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So let me ask you, how do you think of the church? What is your definition for the church?

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God willing, it's God's definition of the church. God willing, as we go through this, you're thinking that I am called to be together with, together with all the saints, with all who call upon the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And brethren, if not here, in this distinct fellowship, here in this place, how?

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If not here, where? If it's not shown in this place, where would it be?

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You see, unity is not just God's definition of the church. But God supplies what we need.

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Unity is God's gift to the church. Unity is God's gift to the church. I say it this way, first of all because that's what the

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Apostle Paul says in verse 4, and I'll read that in a moment. But also because it doesn't come any more naturally to us than repentance, does it?

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Because I want to be me and I want you to be you. And I want there to be a difference. We normally don't make boundaries between.

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Unity is the gift of God. Verse 4, I give thanks to my

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God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus that in every way you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift.

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He thanks God for the very things that cause the problems that He's going to address as this letter unfolds.

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The gifts of God. The gifts of God were given to the church and yet cause the problem in the church that Paul is addressing here at the beginning of this letter.

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As one had one gift, another had another gift. They would divide in those areas.

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As one was of one socioeconomic class, you can read about this in 1 Corinthians 10 -11, they would be different from those who were lesser than them in that sense.

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So Paul is here thanking God for the very things, the gifts of God to them that they're enriched in all speech, they're not lacking in any spiritual gift and yet that's exactly what caused the troubles.

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He sees the grace of God in them anyway. Misused, yes. Misunderstood, yes.

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Yet Paul sees a God who has not withheld His good spirit from them. And we today here in this place see a place where God has not withheld

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His good spirit as He has given us the gifts that we need in order to accomplish

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His will here as a body. Even in a church as bewilderingly messed up as the

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Corinthian church was, Paul is assured and assures them that the grace of God is working in them.

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And sometimes we read 1 Corinthians and we pray with the Pharisees something like God I thank you that my church is not like other churches.

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Tongue waggers, prophesying, all out of order. They don't even know when to cover their heads in that place. Thank you for not making me like those

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Corinthians. But you know if God withdrew His grace from every church that erred in some way, how many churches would be left?

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How long ago in this place here in Sunnyvale would His grace have been withdrawn from us if every time we messed up,

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He left us? It would have been a long time ago folks. And it would have been a long time ago for the

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Corinthians. If God's grace is dependent upon our perfection, then

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God's grace would be nowhere. It's our imperfection, it's our constant stumbling and fumbling as I like to put it that makes

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God's grace so necessary to us and such a blessing for us. Thank God that this is not the case that He would withdraw

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His grace from problematic churches. Thank God He is long -suffering with us.

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God's grace is meant for something. I give thanks to my

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God always because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus. What is the grace of God meant to do?

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It is meant to unify the church. The gifts He gives are apportioned according to His will and they're wisely tailored to the specific needs of a specific discreet assembly.

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The gifts of grace that we have here just here in this student, short passage, they're given to us.

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They're given to us, again, like sanctification. A passive receipt that we have.

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They are enriching. You've been enriched by these, He says. Enriched is the word

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Plutito. And it's where we get our word Plutocrat. And a

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Plutocrat is a very wealthy person. Now, I don't know how many millions and millions of dollars in this valley you have to have before you're considered very wealthy.

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It's a lot more than it was back in my day, whatever day that was, a long time ago. But millions of dollars don't get you into that realm.

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You have to have billions, I think, before you're really a Plutocrat, very wealthy in relation to others.

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But this, 20 centuries ago, relates to us just as much.

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That God has enriched, God has Plutocrated us, if you will. And made us extremely wealthy with every spiritual gift.

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Holding back nothing. Wealthy people usually have a fixed purpose.

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They have a way of attaining what they want, which is often more wealth. In our case, it is different.

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Our wealth is not in silver or in gold, not in our salaries or our savings. We are Plutocrats, we are wealthy beyond all measure, in the shower of spiritual blessings from God.

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They've been enriched in all speech and knowledge, those very abilities that so impress the people of Corinth.

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God's gift outshines them all. We've been enriched in all speech and knowledge, not in eloquence or in wisdom, as we'll come up later in the preaching, but Christ crucified.

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This simple message, that we are bound together by a crucified Lord, a crucified and resurrected

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Lord, not an eloquent, not a wise -sounding message, as we declare it here Sunday after Sunday, Lord willing, in the way

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Paul declared it day after day there 20 centuries ago. All speech and knowledge.

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Here's a speech. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, of whom I am the chief.

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Is that wise? It's the wisdom of God. Is that wise to the world around us, to the world around them, way back then?

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We could say no. And yet, that is eloquent and that is wise, because it is short, it is simple, it's easy to understand, and more importantly, from God's Word, God's gracious,

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God's unifying Word. We have been enriched. Enriched, made wealthy, in all speech and knowledge.

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We have it in the Scripture. When we don't know what to say, we can simply find it and just read it verbatim.

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I heard a preacher once say, when he was told he didn't have time to preach his whole message, because all the other things had gotten in the way and went longer than he was supposed to, and he said, well,

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I told the man then, well, I won't read my sermon then, I'll simply read the chapter from the Scripture and I'll read it word for word, and that way

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I'll be sure I've made no mistake. I always remembered that. This is the enrichment in all wisdom and knowledge.

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God's wisdom. The knowledge that we have in the Word of God. Notice that in verse 7, our inventory of heavenly gifts is complete so that you're not lacking in any spiritual gift.

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We can ask for more. We can seek to expand our reach. We can ask for God to supply what we still lack in order to do more for the

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Kingdom. But at no point can we ever say that God has withheld anything needful for us to accomplish

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His purposes in His Son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4, it says,

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When Jesus ascended on high, He led a host of captives and He gave gifts to men.

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It says much the same thing here. Not lacking in any spiritual gift. The gifts are varied.

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Chapter 12, Chapter 14 make that very clear. The world around us extols diversity almost to the point of idolatry.

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But the way diversity is framed out there, it accomplishes really the opposite of what the purveyors of it claim to be the goal.

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They claim to be paving the way to unity but in fact they do the opposite. Some call it identity politics or the politics of identity.

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You're one of these, I'm one of the other. And because you're one of those you must be this way just as I'm one of these so I'm that way.

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Well that's very simple or simplistic I do confess. But the church couldn't be more different than that.

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The church must be different from that. Now the

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Warriors in their recent heyday had a motto, strength in numbers. The five guys on the court had different strengths but they all played as a unit with a single goal which was to win the game.

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Get the ball to the guy who was then in the best position to make his particular strength used in order to accomplish the one goal that the team had together.

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Get more baskets than the other team. But that's just an analogy because we're not competing against another church for anything.

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We're working towards the same goal to glorify Christ in our worship and in our lives.

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We're all growing together becoming more like him as we pull each other along. One of us is tall and strong and able to block shots the other is light and quick and able to take advantage of small cracks in the defense.

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Another man's hand another one's hand is able to do just what his eye sees and can swish through the hoop from the next county.

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In a word, like that team we're unified. Different strengths together different talents together different spiritual gifts that God has given to us and yet using them all together as a body moving in one direction towards the goal which is to glorify

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God by growing ever more like his son. See, whatever your gift, it needs to be put in play for the common goal.

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We need to be unified. Look at verse 6

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Even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you even there in this confused church that couldn't see its way out of their old worldly ways the apostle had seen the fruit of the spirit flowing into them and flowing out of them for a place where Paul spent so much time and a church that generated at least two lengthy letters and there's scholarly opinions that there was probably four letters three of which we know about that's another lecture for another day one of which we don't have at all but this place where he spent so much time that generated these lengthy letters that we do have we have surprisingly little record

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Acts chapter 18 verse 1 -17 is really about it in verse 8 in Paul's first visit there we read

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Christus, ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household and many of the

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Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized and the Lord strengthened him to keep at it for he had many people in that city who were his

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Paul saw the grace of God bring a Jewish ruler to Jesus he saw the grace of God bring

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Corinthians pagans to Jesus Acts chapter 18 verse 11 tells us they stayed there for a year and a half teaching the word of God among them and it was sure that he was out in the market places, he was evangelizing the people out there but the text says that he taught among them they were probably spread out among various homes, yet by the cement of the gospel they were bound to each other the thing with chronology here for me as we think of the unity that we must have he got there about the year 50, he left 18 months later so 51 to 52 somewhere in there and in about 55 he heard from Chloe's household about the problems that prompted this letter that were beginning this morning you see it took only a year or two for the

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Jews to encamp in one place and for the Gentiles to encamp in another to return to the old animosities a year or two for the gospel of Jesus Christ to become less than sufficient to keep them unified in so short a time

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God's plenteous gifts were used like weapons to accomplish exactly what they were intended to prevent factions think of how quick this happened think of how near the surface lies our pride our desire to be an individual our desire to be just me think of how near the surface that kind of sin is there ready to burst out how anxious we can be just to have our own way to turn the church into the world where diversity is held high and boundaries are broadened

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I don't speak against diversity here the bible commends and teaches that we are diverse and we can celebrate diversity the diversity that God has given us the diversity of us who

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God called together into one group to be one without losing our identity we can agree with all that we can extol all that because that's what

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God's word teaches us we can also warn ourselves by how fast the

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Corinthians went from this wonderful place where the truth of the spirit was bringing them together where Jewish believers left the synagogue and believed in Jesus where pagans left their temples and their idols and believed in Jesus and how quickly they had to write this letter you must guard against this we all must guard against this it's your responsibility as much as it is mine it's our responsibility together think about it this way when we evangelize we might do something like Romans chapter 5 verse 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our

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Lord Jesus Christ come to Christ come with us and be at peace with God believe in the Lord Jesus Christ call out the men at Pentecost and say brothers what shall we do we say repent and come to our church and hear the word of God come to Christ and know this peace with God come here to this place and see what it looks like and too often it looks like people claiming peace with God and then going to war with each other as if we're saying that Christ did somehow manage to tear down the dividing wall that kept people from God and the dividing wall that kept people from people in Ephesians chapter 2 that wall of division kept

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Jew and Gentile apart and Christ demolished that wall and we agree with it and we say come here and see how we managed to build it up again we have a wall we like having that wall between us and God gone so we'll keep that one gone but no we'll resurrect it between us for this or that reason because you're that and I'm this and you believe this and I believe that oh may it never be in the church of God how against the definition that God gives for his church that is what a misuse of God's gifts meant to bring us together that that would be the gospel is big enough for God looking down upon the cross upon which his son suffered for a sin to be at peace with us think of how big a gospel that is that God is at peace with us that God is at peace with you a sinner, a rebel born by nature a child of wrath following your father the devil and God turned you around gave you grace to repent gave you a new heart to believe this is a big gospel brethren this is a big gospel that would make peace between me and God or you and God big enough for that big enough for God looking at us and then looking upon his son to make peace with us but more than at peace with us he is one with us he is one with you if you are in Christ Jesus listen to John chapter 17 verse 22 this

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Jesus in his final prayer before his crucifixion he prays this to his father the glory that you have given me

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I have given to them that they may become one I don't pray for just these alone but for those who will believe in the word that these will preach that's you, that's us that they here in this place looking forward to that Jesus Christ says that this place

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Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church may become one even as we are one

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I in them and you in me that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me you see the gospel is big enough for us to be at peace with God the gospel is big enough for God to have us be in his son who is in his father now stay with me a second here in order for this that they you and me that they may be perfectly one we can by faith be one with God not become as God or anything like that not become perfect in this life one with God but what about each other if the gospel is big enough to remove the enmity between you and God will

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God remove the enmity we didn't do anything to do that we did everything we could to increase it but if the gospel is big enough for God to remove the enmity between him and us because of our sin what about each other is it not big enough for that if God is at peace with us because of the gospel should we not be at peace with one another in all things what agenda needs to be left behind here's a challenge for us you are not told to give up your individuality we have people here of various ethnicities various religious backgrounds various political views we might even have a democrat or two in this place the question is is that difference too big a difference for the gospel is that difference too big for the gospel of Jesus Christ by which you are at peace with God himself to overcome if Christ's death was sufficient for you and me to have unity with God above how could it not be sufficient for each other we don't have to agree on everything we cannot agree on everything it would be impossible is that thing over which we disagree worth risking this key definition of the church whatever that position is is it worth risking this key definition that God gives the church we call men to make peace with God now come to our church and see what it looks like how does it look

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Jesus gave us his glory so we might be one as he and God the father are one Paul opens 1

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Corinthians by assuring them that they are wealthy in speech and knowledge that they are not lacking in any spiritual gift and all this follow to this one purpose to be the church defined in verse 2 sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints together we are called to unity and while we are called to unity we must admit that by our own efforts this is impossible how will we ever maintain this how will we ever do it if it is all passive we have been acted upon verse 7 as you await for the revealing of our

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Lord Jesus Christ who will sustain you to the end guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of the

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Son Jesus Christ our Lord this is virtually the same as Philippians 1 .6 he who began good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus or this other from the book of Philippians for it is

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God who works in you to will and to work for his good pleasure the day of our

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Lord Jesus Christ our hope in Jesus' return is a sustaining hope it makes all the suffering and all the effort of the

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Christian world bearable there is something better that waits for us as the Lord said

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I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you the angel told the bewildered disciples this

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Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way you saw him go into heaven in the meantime we are sustained by our faithful God as Peter says we are kept we are guarded, we are preserved we are cared for by the power of God unity it is unity that this is about it is unity the first two chapters of 1

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Corinthians is about it is so important that these two chapters of this lengthy book are about this one thing to destroy the factions in that church, to destroy the factions here wherever they may be by the unity that God has given us factions so easily made so injurious to our gospel witness that Paul will ask whether Christ is divided here is an

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Apollosis Jesus for you, Apollosites and another one over here for the Paulines and over here is a special version specially molded for the

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Petrines no Jesus is one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit he prayed that our unity would reflect just that now think of this,

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Jesus prayed our Savior prayed to his Father our Creator and our Savior Jesus Christ his beloved

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Son asked God to keep us unified in the same way that they are unified so I'll close with just a couple of questions and a brief comment first, is your gospel big enough for the differences in today's climate, categories aren't just hardening, they're cementing if you're not this, you're that I'm not that, therefore we're different there are no differences between the three persons of the

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Trinity we'll never be perfect, the question to ask is whether the dividing line, the dividing issue is too strong for the sustaining power of God that's first is your gospel big enough and second is it even possible that God would not answer

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Jesus' prayer for our oneness would that even be possible and finally

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I want you to know that if you've heard this message and the Spirit of God is using this message in this word, however weak my effort in explaining it to you has been you can yet repent and be reconciled remember if Paul doesn't say oh no, not those

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Corinthians again not this messed up church I'm done with them no, he says

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I thank God always for you for the grace of God that you have in Christ Jesus if you've heard this and God is stirring you in any way while it is yet the day you can still make amends you can still look at this word as I've declared it to you and go to that brother or sister and destroy that wall that you've been resurrecting and building up Paul didn't throw up his hands and renounce the messed up church he loved them, he thanked

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God for his grace the same grace is in you if you're in Christ Jesus you can go to him or her, your brother your sister, you can seek forgiveness and you can be reconciled even as you are to God we can by God's grace, by the powerful working of the

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Spirit who has enriched us with every spiritual gift live as lights on a hill glorifying God that men might see this is

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God's definition of the church this is what God says we're about this is what God in his definition of the church what

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Paul saw in Corinth says we should have today this kind of unity Amen Heavenly Father we thank you again for the day you've given us, for being able to come to you in worship we just pray that you

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Father will continue to work among us bring us together in a way that pleases you most and bring glory to Christ's name we ask in his name,