The Key To Dealing With Difficult Christians

Transcript

Good morning, family. We’re continuing in our sermon series on 1 Corinthians. And if you’d be so kind as to turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 4 through 9. Last week, we made it through three verses. Looked at the greeting. And this morning, we’re still in the greeting. As you turn there, would you please stand with me as we read from God’s Word? I know you just sat down.

Paul writes, 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 in all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our 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 His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Family, this is the Word

— 1 Corinthians 1

(ESV)

of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we do thank you for your Word. We pray, O Lord, that you would help us to submit ourselves under the authority of your Word, and that you would use your Word,

and the help of the Holy Spirit to conform our hearts into the image of Jesus Christ, that you would help us to not only see the beauty of your Word, but that we would live by it, and live according to it, and align ourselves to it. We pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus, our Savior and King. Amen. And you may be seated. One of the most wonderful and difficult to comprehend qualities about the Apostle Paul was his remarkable ability to thank God in all circumstances. And when I say all circumstances, I mean all, including suffering. I mean, how many times do you see in Paul’s letters his thankfulness to God despite the most difficult of circumstances? And this includes when dealing with difficult people. I mentioned last week that Paul’s call into ministry was one marked by incredible suffering. We saw briefly in Acts 9,

Paul’s Suffering and Grace

where God tells Ananias that Paul would be God’s chosen instrument to preach the Gospel. But God also reveals to Ananias the extent of suffering Paul would endure for the sake of the Gospel. So Paul’s life was shaped by this divinely appointed suffering in every possible way. It’s so marked by suffering, that in Acts 20, 23, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit testifies to him in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await him. So no matter where Paul went, suffering was the shadow that followed him everywhere. And we see this all throughout the book of Acts, especially from chapters 20 to 28. There we get a glimpse into the various kinds of suffering that Paul endured for the sake of Christ’s name. We see that Paul was kidnapped, he was beaten, threatened, accused in lawsuits, interrogated, ridiculed, ignored, shipwrecked, and even bitten by a viper.

That’s what the text says. Bitten by a viper. In 2 Timothy 4, 16, Paul reveals that while he’s on trial, not one of his friends, not one of his ministry partners, stood by him. All the people that he loved, all the people that he cared for, that he poured into, they all deserted him. Just listen to how Paul recounts his highlight reel of suffering ministry in 2 Corinthians 11, 23-29. He says, Are they servants of Christ? And just a side note, when he says that, he means, are they suffering for Christ? For Paul, servants, being a servant of Christ, meant being a sufferer for Christ. He says, are they servants of Christ? I’m a better one. With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times, I received at the hands of the Jews, the forty lashes minus one.

Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardships, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And then I want you to notice, one aspect of Paul’s suffering, that often gets overlooked, in the very end of this verse. In verse 29, he says, and apart from other things, meaning apart from all the physical suffering, there is the daily pressure on me, all my anxiety, for all the churches. In other words, Paul’s suffering was not just physical, but emotional, and spiritual, and relational. A massive part of Paul’s suffering,

was carrying the personal weight, and responsibility for all the churches, and all the people in those churches, whom he loved. Not just the churches, suffering persecution for their faith, but also those brothers and sisters, caught up in sin, doctrinal error, and compromise. Paul suffered in every possible way, for the name of Christ, but Paul also suffered, specifically for the church. But despite his great suffering, strangely, Paul had learned, how to experience joy, and contentment, while in the midst of all this suffering. In other words, Paul learned the secret to suffering. And when it came to his anxiety, for all the churches, including this one, that was compromised, and was complacent, Paul was able to deal kindly, with those difficult Christians, that were causing him so much grief. Paul had learned the art and skill, of dealing graciously with saints, when they were completely entrenched in sin.

Which is crazy, when you think about Paul writing this church. After hearing about all the crazy things, going on in the church, ultimately because of their compromise, he doesn’t fill his pages, with vitriol, or disgust, or anger, or bitterness. He never exposes, at least in his letters, a sense of cynicism, towards God’s people in Corinth, who were compromising their Christian walk. Now he maintained a gracious, and hopeful outlook, on the people of God, no matter what they were going through, and no matter what he was going through, in terms of suffering, and stress, and anxiety, that came directly from them. And family, the reason I bring up Paul’s suffering, is because it seems altogether ridiculous, that Paul, who suffered so much for the church, would have sympathy for difficult saints, who were experiencing no suffering, precisely because they were compromising, their Christian walk with the culture.

I mean, just consider the crazy contrast, between Paul, and the church in Corinth. Paul was suffering for the name of Christ, while the Christians in Corinth were compromising that same name. Paul’s death was ever before him because of his radical commitment to serving the church and calling people out of the world, while the Christians in Corinth, were living like the world, trying to receive all the benefits of the world, not considering the reputation of the church. Paul was willing to empty himself for the church, following in the footsteps of his Lord and Savior. The Corinthians, they were full of pride, walking in the footsteps of the culture. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 31, I die every day. Meaning, I suffer every day, to the point of death for the church. And they seemed to only care about living a comfortable life. And that’s why they compromised every day.

You see, the experience of the Corinthian Christians was largely different from Paul’s. And the thing that defined the difference, was compromise and complacency. You see, there is no persecution of the church, if there’s no radical commitment to Jesus. There is no Christian suffering, if your Christianity is marked by compromise. No one will treat you any differently, like an alien or a stranger in this world, if you look no different from the world. So then this begs the question, how in the world could Paul, knowing the complacent and compromised condition, of the Corinthian church, having experienced so much suffering for the Lord, and for the church, deal so graciously with them? In other words, what was Paul’s key, to dealing with difficult Christians, in the church in Corinth? Well, I think chapter 1 verse 4-9, in this introduction, helps us to understand how Paul, could write them without being jaded,

The Key to Difficult Christians

and cynical, without being angry, and without wanting to give up on them. In these six verses, I think we see something, extremely counterintuitive. We see that the key, to dealing with difficult Christians, is thankfulness. It’s thankfulness. Not a thankfulness, because of their Christian immaturity, but a thankfulness to God, for the things that Paul, could genuinely identify as good. And so family, let’s unpack these things, that Paul can be thankful for, in the lives of these complacent, and compromised Christians. Paul begins in verse 4, by directly stating his key. He writes, I give thanks to my God, always for you. Now, if you’ve spent any time, reading Paul’s letters, you’ll notice that this is, kind of standard way, that Paul addresses the various churches, he planted when he wrote these letters. He always found something, to be thankful for. Except for the church in Galatia, but that’s another sermon,

for another day. But I do want you to consider, for example, Paul’s letter to the Philippian church. A church that had some, very difficult issues. They also had some divisions, in the church. In fact, there were these two ladies, who had so much beef with each other, that it was causing all kinds of drama, in the church. There were some false teachers, in the church. And so this was, far from a perfect church. But look at how Paul addresses them, in chapter one, verses three through five.

So despite the issues, of the Philippian church, Paul is thankful, for their gospel partnership. Or think about the Colossians, who in a very similar way, to Corinth, were completely caught up, in philosophy and knowledge. This obviously created some issues, with the church. But look at how Paul addresses them, in chapter one, verses three and four.

So, despite their issues, Paul is thankful, for their faith, and for their love, towards one another. He sees the good. Or think about the Thessalonians, who were completely caught up, in this false report, that the Lord Jesus, had already returned. Which led to all sorts, of doctrinal problems in the church. Look at how Paul addresses them, in his letter. Chapter one, verses two and three. So, Paul, despite his issues, despite their issues, gives thanks, for their faith, for their love, and constant hope. So, though those churches had problems, Paul always found, something with those churches, to be thankful for. And family, those church problems, paled in comparison, to the Corinthian church. By far. Even though, Corinth was far worse, Paul doesn’t cancel them. Which, if you understand the extent, of their problems, is crazy. Again, I mentioned this last week, but this church was fueled,

by countless divisions, and quarrels. All kinds of sexual immorality, happening in the church. Divorce and lawsuits, among Christians, were abounding, for all the wrong reasons. It’s the same church, where spiritual gifts, were being abused, and used for wicked purposes. It’s a very prideful, and loveless church. The resurrection, was being denied, and Paul’s very, apostolic authority, was being called into question. With all of that, you would think, that Paul would have told them, not that I’m thankful for you, but that I’m prayerful for you. I mean, right? That would be the typical response, from someone like Paul, in his position. I pray to God always for you, that you might, stop being foolish. That you might be sobered up, to the realities, of who you are in Christ. What you’ve been called to, and how you’re, ruining the reputation, of God’s church. This would be the natural way,

someone in Paul’s position, would pray. But he doesn’t say that. He says, I thank God for you. Paul, surveying the landscape of the church, looks beyond their compromise, and their complacency, and he thanks God for them. You see, Paul knows that the key, to dealing with difficult Christians, is thankfulness. Finding ways, to be thankful to God. Looking for glimpses, of God’s grace in their lives. And it’s important to notice, that Paul thanks God, not the Corinthians. He thanks God. Because Paul knows, and we saw this last week, the church belongs to God. Including all the people, within the church. So he can thank God, for what God has done, for them. And what God will continue, to do in them. And notice the scope, of Paul’s thankfulness. Paul says, I give thanks to God, always, for you. This means every situation, every difficult circumstance, every hardship,

every misstep, every compromise, every annoying, and frustrating interaction. He is always, thanking God, for these brothers and sisters, in the church of Corinth. Amen. But not because of their issues, but because of what is true of them, despite their issues. And listen, it’s not that Paul, won’t get to addressing their issues. You will see, all throughout this letter, clearly, Paul has some issues to address. But just because, he has issues to address, doesn’t mean that he’s not thankful, to God for them. He doesn’t cancel them. And so what exactly, is Paul thankful for? I mean, specifically, given the crazy compromise, the church was engaged in. What does he see? What is he thankful for? Well we see this, in the second half of verse four. Because of the grace of God, that was given you, in Christ Jesus. That’s what Paul is thankful for. The grace of God.

Grace Through Gifts

So Paul, no doubt is thankful to God, that these brothers and sisters, have received the saving grace of God. Meaning the unmerited, undeserved favor of God, in salvation. It’s absolutely true, that their experience with God, and his saving work, was not because, they were such good people. Because they were so put together. Because of their behavior, or their religious accomplishments. No, God didn’t save them, because of some kind of karma. No, they didn’t do anything, to earn God’s love. And we didn’t do anything, to earn God’s love. It wasn’t our good works, that saved us. Our salvation, is owing all to God’s grace. So, though Paul would be thankful, for that kind of grace, that saving grace. That’s not the grace, that Paul has in mind, when he thanks God here, specifically. The grace that Paul is thankful for, is grace, in terms of the gifts of God.

Now, certainly salvation, is a gift from God. But that’s different, from what Paul means here. This grace, is the same kind of grace, we looked at, about a month or so ago, when we were in Ephesians 4. In fact, Ephesians 4.7 says, but grace, was given to each one of us, according to the measure, of Christ’s gift. This grace, that Paul thanks God for, are the gifts, that God gives the church. And we looked at, some of those examples, in Ephesians 4, verse 11. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. Paul gives thanks to God, because God has given gifts, to the church in Corinth. And if you remember that sermon, those gifts, were won, by Jesus’ own blood. But Paul is not giving thanks, simply because the church, has been given gifts, or that it’s a gifted church.

I mentioned this last week, the church in Corinth, was exceedingly gifted. Probably gifted, than all the other churches, that Paul planted. But that’s not why Paul is thankful. Paul is thankful for the gifts, because of the giver of those gifts, and what those gifts, are supposed to produce, in the life of the church. And this is why Paul clarifies, what the gifts are for, in verse 5. He says, that in every way, you were enriched in him. So, this verse right here, points to the purpose of the gifts. First, notice that the gifts are in him. So they are God’s gifts, given to them, to use for God’s purposes. And then secondly, that phrase, in every way, might be better understood, for every service. So essentially, Paul is expressing, thanks to God, the giver of those gifts, for giving gifts to the church, that in every way,

are meant for the service of the church. In fact, there are so many gifts, that God has given the church, that they are wealthy, in these service oriented gifts. That’s what Paul means, when he says they are enriched. Meaning, God has lavished the church, with a surplus of wonderful service gifts, that are meant to be used, in service of him. Which means then, that the gifts aren’t for their own use, or for their own purposes, or advantages. In other words, the gifts are theirs, they have those gifts, they possess those gifts, but those gifts aren’t ultimately for them. They are supposed to be used, for the service of others. Not for building themselves up, not for putting the spotlight on themselves, not to showcase their gifts, to kind of prioritize themselves, above other people. Not to show everyone, how amazing they are, in front of other people.

No, these gifts are given, to serve Christ, by serving the church. And here, in this wonderful declaration, of thanksgiving from Paul, you see Paul’s subtle corrective, in terms of the Corinthians, abuse of gifts. And so, though these gifts, are currently being exploited, in the church, for personal purposes, they are God’s gifts, first and foremost. And Paul can be thankful, for the kaleidoscope of gifts, given to the church. And then Paul references, two specific gifts, that God has graced the church with. And it’s very interesting, when you think about these, two gifts. Why in the world, would Paul highlight, these two specific gifts? Let’s look at what these gifts are, in the second half of verse five. He says that, in every way, you were enriched in him, in all speech, and in all knowledge. So Paul emphasizes here, that they are, specifically wealthy, with these gifts,

when it comes to the sphere, of speech and knowledge. And here again, you see Paul’s thankfulness to God, for these wonderful gifts, even though these two particular gifts, as I mentioned last week, were at the very center, of all their problems. These were very difficult issues, that the church was experienced, when it came to speech and knowledge. You have to remember, wisdom and words, speech and knowledge, were huge problems. These Christians, were largely driven, and persuaded, by wisdom and philosophy, and also by rhetoric, and beautiful words. It was this emphasis, on knowledge and speech, that largely shaped, the ethos of the culture, that made its way into the church, causing all kinds of problems. And it’s crazy, that Paul could give thanks to God, for the very gifts, that are being misused, and abused, and causing all kinds of harm, to the church, and all kinds of grief,

to Paul. I mean their knowledge, and philosophy, was causing the church, to call into question, certain truths, that Paul proclaimed to them. It was their speech, or Paul’s lack of speaking ability, when it came to his speech, that caused some of the church, to call into question, Paul’s knowledge and authority. I mean these two things, were likely Paul’s greatest impediment, and the cause for all of his frustration, in his ministry to the church. But he’s thankful to God for them. Additionally, his speech and knowledge gifts, were the most abused, of the spiritual gifts. Speaking gifts in particular. This is why so many folks, were preoccupied with, speaking in tongues, and the gift of prophecy. Because of its emphasis on speech. And the companion, to these gifts of speaking, is the gift of knowledge. I mean you can’t, speak about things, unless you actually have knowledge of things.

Now this isn’t true in our culture. I mean you could say a lot of things, and know nothing. You know? But in this culture, what you spoke, was in every way connected, to what you knew. And this is why the Corinthians, were all about prophecy. Because it was, you know it had this ability, to showcase this kind of special knowledge, before people. So though these were abused, and misused in the church, Paul still thanks God, for the gifts of knowledge and speech. Crazy. And what we see from Paul’s thankfulness, is that it’s not the gifts, that are the problem. It’s the people, who are the problem. It’s their pride. It’s their misuse of the gifts, that God has given them, that are the problem. But nonetheless, he can thank God for the gifts, because the gifts are good things, that come from a good God,

that have completely fallen apart, in the church because of sin. And isn’t this the case, with most things in our world? God is the giver, of every good and perfect gift. But because of sin, we take those good gifts, and we find ways to use them, not to help people, but to hurt people, and to hurt ourselves. So much so, that we often no longer consider, those gifts good things. I mean, think about the wonderful gift, of sex and money, and marriage and authority. Those are good things, given by God for good purposes. But we misuse and abuse those things, and we make those things our gods, and they ultimately hurt us, and hurt other people. So Paul’s thankfulness, is a good thing. The gifts that he’s thankful for, are good gifts. And in his thankfulness, there is a covert correction, to use God’s gifts,

for his purposes. You see, Paul can give thanks, for these two gifts, because he rightly understands, he rightly recognizes, that despite their misuse of them, God has used them for divine purposes. And we see that purpose in verse 6. And I’ll pick up at verse 5, just to help the flow of this verse. That in every way you were enriched in him, in all speech, in all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ, was confirmed among you. Now I want you to notice something here. Speech and knowledge, were very much natural gifts. I mean, when you think about the culture of Corinth, all kinds of people, had these gifts of knowledge and speech. We spent a lot of time talking about this last week. What’s interesting, is that God gave these gifts, to the people in Corinth, prior to them becoming Christians. And these gifts of speech and knowledge,

became the very instrument that God used, to confirm the testimony of Christ. In other words, these gifts, though they are ordinary, and natural gifts, God supernaturally used them, to help those believe the message of the gospel. And when the Corinthians, became Christians, meaning when they understood, the message that was spoken, their natural gifts of speech and knowledge, became supernatural gifts. So that they could now go out, and articulate with speech and knowledge, the very truth of the gospel. You see how that works? As Paul brought the knowledge of the gospel, to bear on their lives, through his speaking gift of preaching, the message was confirmed in their hearts, and they believed. So Paul sees the bigger picture, with these gifts. He sees beyond the misuse, and he sees them as instruments, of God’s saving purposes. This is why he can give thanks to God for them.

Equipped for Faithfulness

But then in verse 7, Paul gives us the purpose, for all of God’s good gifts. Paul says these gifts, speech and knowledge, along with all these other gifts that God gives, are given to us, verse 7, so that you are not lacking in any gift. So that we’re not lacking. Here Paul emphasizes that, we have been given all these gifts, for effective and fruitful service to God. They are given to us, to fully equip us for the work of ministry, in our service to God. Paul says we have all we need. So much so that we lack nothing, when it comes to the church and ministry. Now it is true that, this particular church was exceedingly gifted, more so than other churches. But it’s also true that, God gives every church, every gift they need, for that church to be faithful in ministry. Now those gifts look differently,

from person to person, but God has given each one of us gifts, with a very specific purpose in mind. And you want to know what that purpose is? Faithfulness. It’s faithfulness. And Paul reiterates this because, this church in particular was struggling, when it came to who had what gift, how they elevated certain gifts, how they all desired other people’s gifts. Paul says, no, you lack nothing. Meaning, every gift is important, and every gift is purposeful. Now listen, I understand this temptation, to look at other people’s gifts and think, man I wish I had that particular gift. I could be so much more faithful in my ministry. As a pastor, in all honesty, I can often look at other pastors, and wish that I had their kind of teaching gifts. I mean, just up the street, you have Michael Lawrence, pastor of Henson Church. A man I deeply love and respect.

This man is absolutely brilliant. He just always knows what to say, and how to say it, always puts a little shimmer on it. He’s just super polished. I can oftentimes look at his ministry, and his gifts, and begin to evaluate my effectiveness, my faithfulness as a teaching pastor, by comparing my gifts to his. But when I do that, I lose track of the person God has made me to be, and the people God has given me to pastor. So you, church, you get less academic polish and more grimy street preaching. That’s just how it goes. And listen, because you’re a member of this church, listen, that’s exactly what you need. It’s exactly what you need. Because that’s what God has given the church, so that we can all be faithful. So let me briefly put this into perspective for you, in terms of not lacking any gift.

Just think about your pastors for a second. I didn’t go to seminary. I never had the chance to study academically, biblical languages, or theology. I don’t have the best retention or memory. You all know that because I forget to text you back. That’s my appeal to grace. I’m not the best when it comes to organization. And if you’re close to me, you know that. Ask my wife! I’m a little bit over the top with passion. I have this kind of prophetic temperament sometimes. I get loud and shouty sometimes. But listen to this. God in His infinite wisdom, He gifts the church Jan Verbruggen, a pastor who is a Hebrew scholar, a beast when it comes to biblical languages. God in His infinite wisdom gives the church Greg Taylor, a theological giant, who is as steady as they come, who also has a memory like a computer.

God gifts the church Sam Nagel, the most structured and organized person I know on the planet, who thinks about solving problems pastorally and carefully. God gifts the church Josh Peterson, the gentle and tempered one, the approachable pastor that everyone loves to talk with because he’s just so kind. God has perfectly placed together the pastors in this church like a puzzle for His perfect purposes so that there is nothing lacking. And that’s just with the pastors. He does this with every single member in the church. God has meticulously given this church, just like the church of Corinth, every gift necessary so that there is nothing lacking for faithful ministry. Family, you have to remember, just like I need to remember Ephesians 4, 7, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. That is God’s meticulous providence for every one of you in this church.

He gives a variety of gifts to this church, to each and every one of us so that we can be faithful in our service to Him and one another so that we can do every member ministry effectively. And help us understand the scope of our faithful service. Look at what Paul tells us in the second half of verse 7. He says, As you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what does Paul mean here when he says this? Well, the first thing you need to understand is that all of God’s people are in a state of waiting for Jesus to return. This return of Jesus is the day that we are all waiting for, the culmination of all things that we eagerly anticipate. For the Christian, this is what all of our hope is wrapped up in. This is why every Sunday at the Lord’s table,

we celebrate the Lord’s return. We do this as often as we break bread and drink this cup. We proclaim the saving death of our risen Savior until He comes again. This is what we’re waiting for, for Christ to split the sky when He comes and gathers His people to judge the earth, when all the wrongs of this world will be made right. This is what we’re waiting for ultimately. Family, listen, we’re not waiting for Portland to get better. We’re not waiting for the policies to shift. We’re not waiting for the government to start stitching things together. We’re not waiting for the perfect president to come along. We’re not waiting for our interest rates to drop. Ultimately, we are waiting for Jesus to return in glory because when He comes, all things will be made new. And we will be with Him forever. And all of the suffering and all of the wickedness of this world will be eradicated.

All the injustice of this world will be done away with. And we will be face to face with our God and King. Secondly, we need to understand what waiting looks like. Waiting can have a negative connotation sometimes. But waiting doesn’t mean sitting around and doing nothing or running away from the culture and hiding until the Lord returns. No, we don’t do that. Waiting is an active thing, not a passive thing. Waiting means working, loving, worshiping, serving, evangelizing, teaching, making disciples, making the gospel known to all people, as many people as possible, so that they might know the God who saves before He comes back. And so when we wait, family, we wait with expectation, and we wait with a sense of faithfulness. So Paul is thankful that they have all that they need in terms of gifts to be faithful in ministry until God returns.

This thankfulness, again, it’s a subtle rebuke to the Corinthians and to us. If God has given us everything we need to do the work God has called us to do, then we must be faithful. Can I ask you this morning? Are you using your gifts that God has given you to faithfully and fruitfully serve this church? Or are you just sitting around doing nothing, waiting for the Lord to return? If you are doing nothing, let Paul’s thankfulness for your gifts snap you back into the game and be fruitful, be faithful. But listen, this is also important to understand. Though God calls us to be faithful with the gifts that He’s given us for service to Him and to each other, listen, our faithfulness is not what saves us or sustains us. And I do hope you understand that reality. We are not saved because of our faithfulness or our service.

We are saved by grace. We’re saved by grace. It’s not our faithfulness that keeps us in good graces with God. It’s all grace. All grace. If it were the case that our faithfulness would somehow sustain us, the Corinthian church would be doomed. And more importantly, we would be doomed. We would be doomed. It’s not our faithfulness, but our faith in God that saves us. And this is why Paul is most thankful. Look at what he says in verse 8. It is God who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. So while we wait for the Lord to return, it’s not our faithfulness that will carry us to completion. It is God. And that is so important to understand because we can look at the church like Corinth and think, yo, these dudes are so messed up. They’re so messed up.

They are the least faithful church among all Paul’s churches. They are guilty of all kinds of sins and compromising and lovelessness, but you see, it’s not their behavior or their faithfulness that saves them. It is God. Though they are guilty, God is the one who keeps them blameless. The scriptures are clear. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all guilty when it comes to our sin. And not only our sin, but it’s also the mechanism by which it separates us from God. The Bible says that guilty sinners deserve eternal judgment for their sins against a righteous and holy God. But the good news of the gospel is this, that God himself, in the person and work of Jesus, took the punishment for our sin, the punishment that we all rightly deserved, he took upon himself when he died on the cross,

so that all who believed in him would be saved and reconciled to God. And not only that, but declared not just guiltless, but righteous. And this faith in Jesus that saves us is an ongoing reality. For those who have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, we were saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. This Jesus who saved us will also sustain us to the end, without guilt and without shame, when we are face to face with our God and King when he returns, or when he calls us home. And listen, if you are here this morning and you’re not a Christian, this faith in Jesus, it’s offered to you freely. It is the gift of God to you. You, in this moment, stand before God guilty because of your sin. But the good news is that he’s willing to receive you as his own

and declare you innocent. And here’s the thing, you don’t have to clean yourself up. You don’t have to kind of make yourself clean. God will do that. All he requires is that you turn away from your sin and turn to him in faith. Which just means trust that he is who he says he is. The son of God who died for your sins and the one who will rescue you and make you his own. You can do that right where you are. Ask God to help you believe. Ask God to give you faith and he will do it. And if you have questions about that, you want to know what it means to be a Christian and follow Jesus, ask anyone in this room. Ask them, are you a Christian? And if they say yes, say, help me to understand what it means to be a Christian.

God’s Faithfulness Sustains

They will cancel their plans this afternoon and they will tell you everything you need to know about Jesus. I promise you they will do that. It’s that important to them. Don’t leave this morning with your questions unanswered. God can save you this morning. Family, how can we know for sure that God will sustain us to the end? Paul tells us in verse 9, God is faithful. God is faithful. By whom you were called into fellowship, to the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord. Family, we can’t say this enough to each other. God is faithful. God is faithful. The most wonderful words in scripture. Because God is perfect in all of his ways. Because God cannot lie. We can trust that he is faithful to complete what he started in us. That means he will carry us to the end. He is faithful to save us from our sins

and faithful to carry us to the end. And faithful to come again. God is faithful, even when we are not. Amen? In fact, this whole letter, this whole letter to the Corinthian church is a testimony of God’s faithfulness to a church that is exceedingly unfaithful. Again, it’s not our faithfulness that saves you. It’s faith in the one who is faithful that saves you. Family, I just want to close this morning by giving you a few points of application from this text that I think could be helpful for us as a church. First, Paul’s posture towards difficult Christians should serve as a template for us to follow. Because Paul is simply following the template of the Lord. The Bible says in Psalm 145 verse 8 and 9, The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all and is over all that he has made.

Family, we are difficult Christians. All of us are difficult Christians. But God has been gracious to us. He did not cancel us, even though sometimes we deserve to be canceled. So when we find ourselves running out of patience with other brothers and sisters in the church who are difficult, who are struggling with sin, who are living a compromised walk, don’t be the kind of people that will cancel them. Be patient. Abound in steadfast love. Speak the truth to them, but speak the truth in love. Be gracious with people because our Lord has been gracious to us. Then I would say, thank God for them. Thank God for them. Are there people in this church that annoy you? Thank God for them. Are there people in this church that are bothering you, that you try to avoid when you show up on Sunday or small group?

Start thanking God for them. Look for things that you can genuinely be thankful for. And you will find that the more you begin to thank God for the difficult people in this church, the more you will naturally become gracious towards them. You will find that thankfulness will force you to focus on that which is good and lovely and beautiful about those people. And you will focus less and less on how sinful they are and how much they annoy you. This will make you softer. And that’s what we want. We want to be softer when we talk to them about their sin. Secondly, I do want to encourage you to use the gifts that God has given you. And if you are struggling to know what those gifts are, ask the people around you. Ask the people around you, the people that know you well. They will likely help you know exactly what your gifts are

because sometimes they have a better vantage point about the kind of gifts you have than you have for yourself. And family, this is why you need to regularly be meeting with people. Not just on Sunday mornings. It’s hard to get to understand people and their gifts if you’re just connecting with them for 15 minutes on a Sunday morning. You need to be connecting with them regularly so that you can start to let them in on your life so they can say, oh, you know what kind of gifts you have? Man, you have this amazing gift of encouragement. Every time I’m around you, I just feel encouraged. Did you know that you have the gift of encouragement? That only happens when you’re spending time with brothers and sisters. And it’s important for you to be around brothers and sisters so that you can start using your gifts to serve other brothers and sisters.

You know how hard it is to use your gifts on a Sunday morning? I would say for the vast majority of you, most of the gifts that God has given you don’t quite fit well on a Sunday morning. And that’s okay. That’s okay. A lot of them will, but not all of them. Most of your gifts are going to be used in the day-to-day grind with other brothers and sisters. But you can only use those gifts if you’re chopping it up with other brothers and sisters in the church. So use your gifts. Take what you are naturally good at and start praying that God will show you how to use them to serve people. And pray that others would confirm those gifts in you and make you more confident in your usefulness with those gifts. And third, family, we need to make a practice of reminding each other

of God’s faithfulness to sustain us and to make us guiltless. Some of you in the church are living lives full of shame, full of guilt, full of depression because of your past sins or even your current sins. And one of the easiest ways for you to love the people of this church is to constantly remind one another, God has made you blameless. He has taken your guilt away. He has taken your shame away. He has paid for your sins. Lift your head up, brothers and sisters. Your guilt has been removed. Look to your Savior, the one who removed that shame. One practical way you can do that is to take the gospel pardon that we recite every single week and start to memorize those for yourself. Meditate on those things so that you can speak them on demand when brothers and sisters are weighed down with guilt and shame.

Speak to them about it and then speak to yourself when you feel the same way. It’s one of the reasons why we print that in the liturgy for you. Not so that you can throw those out on the way out or, sorry, recycle them on the way out, but that you take those with you and you read it throughout your week and you let the Word of God dwell in you richly and you start speaking to one another the truths that we corporately confess, privately and one on one. That’s what we print those things for. Take them with you. And finally, brothers and sisters, we need to keep before our eyes the hope of Christ and His return. This world is broken. Amen? It seems every turn and every corner in the Pacific Northwest we’re confronted with, bam, brokenness. Every scroll through our social media reminds us

this world is broken and it doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better. This world is dark and evil and seems hopeless. But family, this life and this world is not all there is. And we need to be reminded that Jesus is coming soon to center us constantly so that we can have hope. If you just spend all of your days doom-scrolling, what you will find is that your soul will be filled with doom. We need to put in our hearts the hope of heaven, the hope of God’s return. Start spending more time focusing on the hope of Jesus’ return and less time flooding yourself in social media. Family, until He comes, and as we wait, let us be thankful for every gift that God has given us for faithful service to Him and faithful service to one another so that when we see Him on that good and glorious day,

our God and King will say to each and every one of us, well done, good and faithful servant. That’s what we want. So family, let us encourage one another and spur one another on to this future hope that we have while doing everything we can in the here and now to love and serve one another. Amen? Amen. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we do thank You for the encouragement that is in Your Word. We thank You that even though Paul will address these difficult Christians in his church, that he floods them with graciousness, that he thanks God for them, and it has a sobering way of governing the way we deal with difficult people in our church. We pray, O Lord and God, that You would make us gentle, compassionate, thankful, long-suffering, hopeful, kind. We pray, God, that You would grant this church

more fruit of the Spirit as we engage one another. We pray, God, that You would use the gifts that You have given us to serve one another. We’re not going to naturally desire to use those gifts in a way that are fruitful. We need the help of the Holy Spirit to do that. So, God, we pray that You would help us. And, Father, we pray that You would cause for our congregation to grow in godliness as a direct result of our faithfulness with the gifts that You’ve given to us. And, Father, we do pray for those here this morning who do not know You. We pray, O Lord and God, that the words that were spoken this morning throughout the whole service would persuade them that Jesus is better and that Jesus is willing to embrace them, that all they have to do is bend their knee to Jesus

and that Jesus will receive them. Father, we pray that You would move in such a way that they would desire that which is most glorious, our Lord and Savior. We pray that today would be the day of salvation. And we pray these things in the mighty name of our risen King, our saving King, and our returning King, Jesus. Amen.