The sermon, based on 1 Corinthians, emphasizes the importance of dwelling together in unity within the church. It discusses how Paul addresses the need to break away from sin to achieve true unity, highlighting his relationship with Sostanis and Apollos as examples of reconciliation and unity. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is about the transformation from enmity to peace, accomplished through the grace of God and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The speaker reflects on personal experiences of conflict and reconciliation, illustrating how conversion and understanding of Jesus’ sacrifice foster love and unity among believers. The sermon underscores that believers are a 'sure' and 'sanctified' people, called by God's grace to live in holiness and unity, as part of the Church of God. It calls for believers to embrace their identity in Christ, emphasizing that true unity is possible through the peace offered by God, uniting all under one Lord.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 beginning in verse 1 and I'll ask the congregation to stand as God now speaks. Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sostanese our brother, to the Church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours. Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless the reading and other preaching of this perfect word. Amen.

You may be seated. What is 1 Corinthians all about? Well 1 Corinthians is all about, or at least majorly about, dwelling together in unity, gathering together in unity as you worship together as a church, brothers dwelling together in unity. And a big part of brothers dwelling together in unity is to break away from sin, which is why Paul just goes through a litany of sins in this letter and says if you're gonna dwell together with Christ and each other, you cannot dwell in sin. This book is full of brothers dwelling together in unity.

So how does 1 Corinthians begin? Paul and Sostanis. You remember Sostanis? We just talked about it a week ago. He's the synagogue leader in Acts chapter 18.

He gets beat up by his own people. He's at odds with Paul in Acts 18. They're not united in Acts 18. They're divided. But by the time Paul writes 1st Corinthians three or four years later, what's the first thing that Paul says?

United. Paul and Sostenes, the same two men once at odds are now standing side by side. Here are brothers dwelling together, worshiping together in unity. That's how Paul begins the letter. Paul in Sostanese.

How does Paul end the letter? Paul in Apollos. The guy that so many people thought was a way better preacher than Paul. The guy that so many people thought was a way better preacher than Paul, the guy that so many people thought had better systematic theology than Paul, which come on. The guy that Paul had Every reason to call a rival, what does Paul call that guy?

Apollos, this is chapter 16 verse 12. Apollos, our brother. From start to finish, Brothers dwelling in unity. That's Paul's concern in 1 Corinthians. Brothers dwelling together in unity, and all the ways that you guys are not united, all the ways that you're united in sin, and that's not real unity, it's not real godly unity, the ways that you must be united because Jesus Christ shed his blood and broke his body that you might be whole That you might be one You might come to this table and say that's my brother and I love my brother Christ died for that brother Christ died for that sister and I'm united in him even if I disagree Because we agree that Jesus Christ is risen from the grave and that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We agree on so much because Jesus Christ is our Lord. We have union with the Lord. And so, brothers dwelling together in unity. How is that possible? How is it possible that brothers can dwell together in unity?

Well, I just said it. But Paul says it far better than what I just said in verses 1-9. Verses 1-9, here is how it is possible that men who were once at enmity with each other, men who have every reason to be angry with each other, men who have every reason to be divided, can come together and worship in the bond of peace. How is it possible that men who have every reason to be at enmity can be at peace? How is it possible?

Answer. Because their enmity with God has been put away. Because the hostility that was once between them and God has been triumphed over through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And that changes everything about how men, once hostile to one another, are now at peace with one another because there is first peace with Almighty God. So children, children I think you will relate to this.

Children, please look at me. When I was a little boy, I fought with my brothers, plural, like crazy. I might have been one of the smaller ones, but I could give a good one too. I'd fight with both of my brothers like crazy. The youngest brother Carson, he just knew how to push the buttons.

And there was often, I mean just division amongst us. To this day we joke about how much division, gratefully, how much division that there was. And like how crazy it is that now I'm like best friends with those men. They're among my closest friends. When I heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, And God opened my eyes to see my need for the Savior who could forgive me of my sins and to give me a new heart and to make me at peace with God the Father.

When I was converted, when God did a miracle inside me children, that changed everything about the way I viewed my little brothers. I still fought with them. I still wrestled with them. But there was a major difference. I loved them.

I wanted what was best for them. It changed everything about the way I lived with my brothers when God saved me. Because when God saved me, He changed who I was. He changed who I was. He made me see who I was in Jesus Christ, and that there was a power, there was hope, there was the capacity to stop being a little guy who loved division instead of brother who loved peace, because of who God had made me by His grace, because of the peace I had with God.

And that started to change me from wanting to hit my brother to wanting to love my brother. I remember growing up, and one of the things that my parents would do, Parents, this is really effective for me, is when we were at odds, my parents would have us sit on the stair and put our arms around each other. And man, you can have your arm around Greg Brown for very long before you're like, man, you're the best. I know I just socked you in the face, but you are so wonderful. Peace with God will result in peace with men, and that's how brothers dwell together in unity.

That is Paul's letter to the Corinthians. Here is how brothers may dwell together in unity, verses one through nine, the work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. So that's divided into two sections, verses one through nine, verses one through three. So verses one through nine, the work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

And verses one through three of that is who God has made you in Jesus Christ our Lord. Who God has made you. And then in verses four through nine, what God has given to you in Jesus Christ our Lord. So who he's made you and what he's given to you. That's a summary of verses one through nine.

The work of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. And verses one through three, who God has made you. And verses four through nine, what God has given to you in his son. And if you get who he's made you and what God has given to you in his Son. And if you get who he's made you and what God has given to you in his Son, it changes everything about the way you look at your brothers and sisters in this body, and indeed the whole world.

So this morning we're going to tackle verses one through three. Who God has made you. Number one, God has made you a sure people. God has made you a sure people. Number two, God has made you a sanctified people, a sanctified people.

And number three, God has made you a solid people or a united people through Jesus Christ, crucified, risen and descended and now reigning. Number one, God has made you a sure people. Verse one, let's read that again, verse one of our passage, Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Sostanese our brother. Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Well, let's pause there.

What is an apostle? An apostle was someone who had seen the resurrected Jesus Christ and was sent out by that resurrected Jesus Christ with the authority of Jesus Christ to preach the gospel and establish the church of Jesus Christ. Had Paul seen the resurrected Christ? Yes. Aaron nailed it.

The only one. Yes. Acts chapter 9, Paul's on his way to fight against Christianity. Get this. Paul is on his way to put Christians in jail, to lock them up, and maybe even kill them.

Probably even kill some of them. He hates Jesus, and he hates those who follow Jesus. And if you're wondering, well, does he really hate Jesus? The body of Christ is his church Paul hates the church so Paul hates the body of Christ Paul hates Christ so he's on his way with a heart full of hatred for Jesus Christ the Creator and then boom literally boom he sees Jesus and everything changes The enemy of Christ becomes a new creation who loves Christ. The enemy of the body becomes a lover of the body.

The enemy of the body of Christ becomes someone who is part of the body in Christ and wants to See the body flourish That's a miracle. That's the same miracle that happened to you. It's the same miracle happened to Easton And it being declared right there the death and resurrection of Jesus being your death and your resurrection That's what happened to Paul and you need to recognize Paul is on the road as an assaulter of the church and Assaulter of Jesus He's assaulting the very body of Jesus Christ the church and so when Jesus Christ comes up and appears to Paul in this bright flashing light he sees the resurrected Jesus. Was there Something in Paul that created that moment was God looking down in heaven and saying, oh, I see a good man. No, I see a murderer.

I see someone that is not righteous, someone that's running the exact opposite way that I would have them run. And God says in heaven, right where I want it. Desperately needy for the Savior, and I'm going to show it. Friends, If any of you think that you are too sinful, or that you're too far gone for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. If any in this room think that you have fallen too far into the pit of your sin, perhaps last night or this morning, you have given yourself away, and right now you say, there is no hope for me.

I am too far gone in the pit I want you to consider Paul assaulting the very creator himself assaulting the very Savior himself by assaulting the body the church consider that Paul a killer of Christians meets Jesus and is made born again and made a part of Christ's kingdom, his sin totally and forever forgiven. God did that for Paul. So anyone in this room who feels like they are too far gone for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, Paul would have you know that God has you right where he wants you. Desperately needy for the Savior, and that Savior loves to show the riches of his grace by taking people right where they are and making them new by reaching into the pit of their sins and Bringing them up to newness of life The Lord Jesus saved Paul and the Lord Jesus saved your pastor And I'm telling you right now if he can save Paul and if he can save grant Brown. Oh Man, he could save you The Lord Jesus may save you there is more righteousness in the Lord Jesus Than there is sin in you his blood is real his resurrection is real redemption is real He did it for Paul did it for me.

He could do it for you So Jesus says come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. The one requirement for the kingdom Is that you know that you need him Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ bring your sin And he is faithful and righteous to forgive you of your sin if you've been wondering in this room Why do you start with adoration? Why do you say he's thrice holy and don't stay there? I mean wouldn't it be nice if we just say, you know, God is good, God is good, God is good. Why do we got to go to the next part?

We got to confess our sins. I don't like that. Makes me feel bad. Yes, because that's who You are apart from the next part, the assurance of pardon in Jesus Christ, who breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets prisoners free, His blood can make the phallus clean, His blood availed for me. That's why we do it, because the one who was thrice holy doesn't leave us in our sin.

He raises us up with his son. And he seats us in the heavenly places. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I just want you to hear that. Paul would have you hear that.

Paul is converted on the road to Damascus. He sees the resurrected Christ, and Jesus sets Paul apart as an apostle. So he's going to go preach to the Gentiles, and early on in his ministry he goes to Corinth. And Paul preaches Christ in Corinth. We did this last Lord's Day, that's Acts 18.

And he establishes the church of Christ in Corinth. And he writes this letter to the church of Christ in Corinth as an apostle, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now that's explosive. I really want you to feel the weight of the statement. I don't know that we do.

When you read Paul called that is an apostle of Jesus Christ, you need to pause and say, okay, this isn't some man who has some good advice for me that you should maybe consider. That's not what you should be doing right now. This isn't some man who offers self-help, some life coaching that will help take your problems away. No, this isn't just some man writing because he felt like it. Here is a man writing with the authority of God the Son, speaking to you as if he was saying the very words of Jesus Christ.

So when you read this letter, it's as if Paul was speaking the very words of Jesus Christ. It's as if Christ was speaking, because he is. I hear too many people talk about the red letters of the Bible. Okay, some Bibles do have red letters, the words of Jesus. But if you want to get technical, the whole Bible is red.

Because it is inspired by the Spirit of Christ. And so when Paul writes in this letter, I'm an apostle, you say, pause. Everything he's saying is coming from the Lord Jesus. And so what he says I must do because I belong to the Lord Jesus. Paul is speaking with authority, the very authority of Jesus Christ.

Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ. So we should listen. Paul says something, that's what Christ says. What Paul says, Jesus says. What Paul says is binding, what Jesus says is binding.

So what is Paul said? What is Jesus said? Verse one, I'm an apostle, so what I say is what Jesus has said. Okay, okay Paul, I got it. What is Jesus said?

Verse two, to the church of God, which is at Corinth. I want you to understand this. Paul says in verse 1, I'm an apostle. So what I say, Jesus says, and okay, what has Jesus said? You're the Church of God at Corinth.

I think you should be amazed by that. What I say comes with the authority of the Creator. Alright, what does the Creator say? You're the Church of God. You Christians gathered together as the Church in Corinth, you are the Church of God.

What Paul says is binding and Paul declares that God has established His Church at Corinth. Paul says, you are a sure people. You are a sure people. God says it. In Corinth, you're the Church of God.

In Erlum, you're the Church of God. Paul called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the Church of God at Corinth. As sure as Paul is an apostle of Jesus, you are the church of Jesus Christ. As sure as Paul is an apostle by the will of God, you are the church of God by the will of God. You, beloved, are a sure people.

You really are God's people. This really is an assembly ordained and established by God. Was Jesus Christ raised from the dead? Yes. Yes.

It's a very sure thing. Then everything that His apostles, that are witnesses of that resurrected Savior Everything they say is a sure thing and his apostles say to you this morning. You are the Church of God You are a sure people you are his people And I need you to understand just how amazing this is. Paul says that he's an apostle by the will of God. Which God?

Who's God? The God of the Jews? Or some new God? That would have been a question. Which God?

There was a heretic over 1800 years ago named Marcion and he taught that the Jewish God of the Old Testament Was different from the Christian God in the New Testament And what does Paul say this morning? Na na na Marcion no Paul writes called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, which God, which God. Look at verse three. Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God our Father and the God of peace.

Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the God of peace and who is the God our father well throughout the Old Testament what is God referred to as throughout the Old Testament let me just give you a few. Deuteronomy 32, Moses asks Israel, is not he God your Father who created you, who made you and established you? Isaiah 63, 16, for you are our Father, O Lord you are our Father. Isaiah 64, 8, yet O Lord you are our Father.

Jeremiah 31, 9, God says I am a Father to Israel. Throughout the Old Testament, what is God called? God is the Father of Israel. And Israel is his son. And throughout the Old Testament, God who is the Father is also the God of peace.

You've heard the word Shalom. The Old Testament is saturated with the idea and word Shalom. Peace, peace that comes from God. Peace, Shalom with God the Father. So when Paul says, you are the church of God by the will of God, and then in verse three he says, and this God that made you the church, he's the God the Father, and he's the God of peace, when Paul says that, and you ask the question, which God, Well it's the God who's the Father and the God of peace which is the God of Israel.

The Father of Israel, the God of peace, the God of Israel. That's the God who brought His people out of Egypt. That's the God who met with His gathered people in the wilderness. And the God who established the church in Corinth. That God and that church.

Now the implications of this are pretty big. Christian, saints of crossroads, you belong to the Church of God. You are the Israel of God. I'm not replacing anybody. There has always been one Church of God.

I'm not replacing the Church. I am saying who the Church is. The Israel of God, you belong to it. As sure as God had a people in Abraham, as sure as God brought that gathered people out of Egypt, as sure as God established that people into the promised land, as sure as His church existed in the Old Covenant and was promised to never be forsaken, as sure as God preserved that people up until this very day, you are of that same sure people, the Israel of God. The people of God, the Church of God.

In the Old Testament, the people of God, as they gathered together in the wilderness were the ecclesia, the assembly of God. In the new covenant, those that gather in the name of Jesus are the ecclesia, the gathering, the assembly of God. A sure people. You are a sure people of the covenant keeping God which means that all the promises That belong in the Old Testament belong to you All the promises of God are yes, and amen and Jesus Christ your Lord you're the Church of God you are a sure people you're a sure people so the old church father Tertullian what a name right old dirty as I like calling old Tertullian said Paul's language here in verse 3 I'm paraphrasing him he's much more beautiful sounding than I am. Paul's language here in verse 3 of using the word peace and God our Father is Paul establishing that the God of Paul is the God of the Old Testament Scriptures.

That the God of Paul is the God of the Old Testament Scriptures. Tertullian is saying, Paul is telling Marcia, And you're wrong. It's not two different gods. It's one Not two different gods between the testaments. There's one the one true living God and Paul says to you beloved Saints of Crossroad that one true living God established you as a part of his church.

And he gave you that sign, and he gave you that sign so that you'd know it forever. You're part of the people of God stretching all the way back to the book of Genesis. You're part of the people of God, stretching all the way back to the book of Genesis. The God of the old is the God of the new. The Ecclesia of the old is the Ecclesia of the new.

There is one true people of God. There is one Israel of God, and that includes you by faith in Jesus Christ. So I want you to hear it. Church of Corinth, you're the Church of God. Church in Erlend, Crossroad Church, you're the Church of God.

You're His people, He established you, and you belong to him. And Sostanis comes along in verse 1 and he gets what Paul's doing and Sostanis says amen to that. Sostanis comes along and says, oh yeah, so hey By the way, I used to be a synagogue leader. I was all about the division. That's a false god of the Christians, and we got the one true god.

Sosnian goes, oh yeah, that's a yes and amen. Amen to that, right? That's one of the reasons we see Sosanese there at the end of verse 1. Deuteronomy 17, Deuteronomy 19, from the testimony of two or more witnesses, a matter shall be established. Well, Paul says, you're the church of God, you're the covenant people of God, you Christian today belong to the same God and the same promise that began all the way back in Genesis.

You today are a sure people. And Sosan is our brother, a Jew. Here's all that Paul says and at the end of verse one says to all of that, amen. The matter is established. Saints of Corinth, saints of Crossroad, you're assured people, the people of promise.

You're Abraham's offspring, the Church of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. I think we should close the Bible and go home and think about that, but there's more. To the church of God, verse two, which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints, by calling. God has made you a sure people, and number two, God has made you a sanctified people. A sanctified people.

Now, if you've been reading 1 Corinthians, you'll notice that the word calling is a really big part of Paul's letter. It's throughout the letter, especially in the first half. Paul is called to be an apostle. That's verse 1. And the same God who called Paul in verse 1 is the one who calls the church in verse 2 saints.

Verse 1 there's calling. Verse 2 there's calling. There's a lot of calling going on. Verse 2, do those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus saints by calling? Saints and sanctified.

Now those two words, saint and sanctified, they're almost identical in Greek. Almost identical. To be a saint is to be sanctified. The root word, the operative word there is the word holy. God has made you holy.

So what is Paul saying in verse 2? Church, God has called you holy. God has declared you to be holy. And in essence, He says because that's what God has made you to be Go be it. It's the rest of the letter God has done this he says who he has made you So now go act like go live in light of your sanctification.

God has made you holy. God has called you a set apart, a holy people. So, crossword, saying it's a crossword, I want you to hear that. You are the Church of God and as the Church of God, He has declared you holy. You are set apart as holy.

By virtue of your union with Jesus Christ, you are holy. That's verse 2. God has made you holy. And I don't want you to forget verse 1. God called Paul.

Yes? God called Paul? And what was it in Paul that had made God call him? Nothing. Nothing except the requirement that Paul be dead in his sin so that God could display the excellencies of his glory by raising a dead man spiritually to life in Jesus Christ.

So God called Paul not because Paul was great in righteousness. No, far from it. God called Paul because God is great in mercy. God called Paul not because Paul was great in righteousness. No, God called Paul because God is great in mercy.

God called Paul not because Paul was great in righteousness, no, God called Paul because God is great in mercy. So God calls Paul out of a sin by grace and that calling resulted in exactly what God intended for it to do. Paul's soul being raised, Paul's conversion. So God called Paul that way. If God called Paul that way, why would you insist that verse 2 is a different kind of calling?

If God's calling of Paul was unmerited, just a massive display of God's grace, isn't that the same for you? When he calls you holy in verse 2, the Church of God you're holy, it is the exact same thing. God called Paul that way and God has called you that way and he has called you by his grace through no merit of your own to be a member of his body and that calling is to result in exactly what God desires namely that you be holy as he is holy I've declared you to be holy I've given you my son so now go and live in light of that calling Crossroad Church get this you exist we exist not because of some goodness that we've manufactured. It's not because we just have more manly, masculine men, though I think we do. Not because we have more wonderful women that take their God-given task of nurturing in their home so serious.

We do have a lot of that too. But it's not because we have some glory in and of ourselves that we've manufactured some, Oh God, look at us. No, we exist because, not because we are strong and mighty, no, we exist because He is strong and mighty. Because His goodness, not our merit, but the merit of His Son, Jesus the Christ, The thrice holy one took on flesh, he kept every jot and tittle of God's law, he lived a life of perfect obedience, he went to a cross, he took the place of lawbreakers like every single one of you So that in that Holy One, in that anointed One, in that sanctified One named Jesus, through His finished work in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, lawbreakers like you, People once stained like black with sin might be washed and made holy themselves. The righteous for the unrighteous.

The holy one for the unholy one. Do you remember Isaiah? Remember Isaiah the prophet? Isaiah chapter 6? Holy, holy, holy.

Isaiah sees God in his thrice holiness and he cries out what? Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips. I live among a people, an assembly, a church of unclean lips and in that moment what does God do he takes a cold and he touches it to Isaiah's lips and Isaiah is a covenant representation of all the church of God. He says, I have taken your sin away.

I have purified you, Isaiah. I have purified you, Church of God. I have sanctified you. That is what God has done for you church. Through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son Jesus.

And we come to this table beloved, as His called out ones, as His sanctified ones, made holy, washed by His blood. We see, in just a moment, we see and we eat of His body broken, so that we might be made whole. In the Old Testament, who had access to the sanctuary? Who had access to the sanctuary? Who was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies?

Only the sanctified ones. God called the nation of Israel holy and then only the priests of Israel were allowed to enter the sanctuary of Yahweh. But now here is Paul saying to these Corinthians and to you saints of Crossroad, you are my sanctified ones. That should just blow your mind. You are my sanctified ones.

You are my holy ones. You have access into my sanctuary. All of you through the body and the blood of my son Jesus. Here is the sacrifice, it's finished, you are the holy ones of Israel. I hope you're understanding what Paul is telling you.

Beloved, you are a sure people. You are a part of the Israel of God. Only the Holy Ones of God can enter into a sanctuary and Paul says, to all who were washed by the blood of his son and given the holiness and righteousness of that son by faith, to all who have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus. God has declared you holy ones. And when He sees you, He sees the righteousness of His Son.

When He sees you, He sees your guilt taken away. And so He says to you, as His holy ones, come into my gates with thanksgiving. Enter my courts with praise. I've Prepared a table for you in the midst of your enemies Because victory is coming I have been triumphant God is your God you are the Israel of God you are sure and holy people made holy by Jesus the Christ remember Revelation chapter 1 church your people you are a people made to be a kingdom priests to the God and Father why Because Jesus Christ loves you and has released you from your sins by His blood. That's Revelation chapter 1.

Now I say to that, what a table, what a Savior, what a calling. What a calling. So every time you participate in this table, here's what you need to do. You need to take the body and the blood of Jesus and you've got to remember your baptism. Say, He marked me out.

He marked me out. I remember my baptism. He put His covenant sign on me. I'm a sure people. He put His sign on me.

I'm a holy people. Why? Through the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. How's it all possible?

How's it all possible? Well it's all because of grace, isn't it? Everything that I've been trying to say, it's all because of grace. That's what Paul says in verse 3, the end of our passage. Grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

It's all God's grace. What is that? Can you sum up? What is grace? Children, you probably hear that a lot on Sunday mornings.

Grace, it's my daughter's middle name, it's a pretty name. But what does it mean? What is grace? Children, grace is God's unmerited favor. It is God's unmerited favor.

As one brother put it, grace is not some kind of holy ooze that you just kind of lather up Like olive oil. It's not some kind of thing you pull out of a box and you put on. No, no. Grace is God's favorable disposition given to you because of who he is. Despite who you are.

Now children, I want you to get this. Grace is God's favorable disposition Given to you because of who he is despite who you are despite who you are So put it all together Let's rephrase Paul sentence here to the Church of God, which is at Erlem To those who've been sanctified in Christ Jesus saints by calling all by the grace of God All by the grace of God all because he has been favorable towards you though. You deserved it not He's called you holy And a holy people cannot and will not look like an unholy world. A sanctified people cannot and will not look like an unsanctified world. A holy people will not look like their unholy neighbors.

Online a holy People will not look like unholy people online That's what Paul says here in verses 10 and 11 So if you're looking verse 10 and 11 verse 10 and 11 stop being divisive, That's verse 10 verse 11 stop being quarrelsome because when you do that you look like everybody else that isn't holy So stop it Stop being divisive stop being quarrelsome You look like everybody else that isn't holy when you do these things. You look like the world and that's not what God made you to be. Instead, He made you holy. He made you a sure people. And a holy and sure people are a united people.

A holy and sure people are a united people. The one who made you holy by His blood of His cross, the one who made you holy by the blood of His cross is the same Lord who made the brother next to you holy by the blood of his cross The one who made you holy is the same Lord who made your brother holy And so the one that's you're tempted to quarrel with the one that you're tempted to be divisive with Remember the one who made you holy also died for him And that changes the way you look at him. It changes the way you talk to him. It changes the way you give him the benefit of the doubt. It changes your tone.

It changes everything. You don't revile that brother. You pray for that brother. So we were in Ogden this past week and we were visiting with some pastors down there. And there's all kinds of controversy with those men down there.

And we don't have to agree on everything, though I agree with a lot. But one of the things that struck me so much was I was aware of all the victory all directed towards them. All of the ways that they have been slandered. And I asked them point blank, are all these things true? And they gave me direct answers.

We don't believe this, we don't believe this, we don't believe this. So it's slandered, it's not true. And the way that they have responded. And so I spoke with one of them, he was so gracious to sit down next to us and have lunch with us, just me, Isaac, and Matthew. He talked about how slander had come his way by brothers that he really loved, he really thought the world of, he learned so much from them, And slander was coming online from these brothers.

And so, he was upset, and he went to his fellow pastor, and he said, man, I'm so mad. Why are they saying lies about us? Why are they talking this way about us? I just want to get them. I'm gonna get online and get them." And this other pastor said, brother, that man that's saying those things about you is a brother for whom Christ died.

He shed his blood for that brother and that brother is gonna give an account one day. Let's sit down right now. Let's pray for that brother. How do you account for that kind of response? How do you account for that kind of love and unity to say, I'm not going to revile when reviled?

How do you account for that? Peace with God. A power of the Gospel that's so strong that says, I will not revile because the one who declared me holy is the one who declared that man holy. And I'm not about to talk to a brother that God has declared holy in an unholy way. You know what you're doing when you do that?

You are saying to God, I disagree with you. He's unholy. Oh, that's dangerous. That's dangerous. The one who made that brother holy by the blood of his cross is the one who made you holy by the blood of his cross.

That changes everything about the way we quarrel and divide. And that really is the way that Paul ends verse 2. Unity among brothers dwelling together in unity. Look at the end of verse 2. With all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ their Lord and ours.

God has made you a sure people, God has made you a sanctified people, and now God has made you a united people, a solid people, not fractured but solid, not divided but united. God has made you a united people. Look again at the second half of verse 2 there. Notice the way that Paul uses the word our. We're almost done here, just hang with me.

Notice the way that Paul uses the word our. Our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. And then in verse 3, God our Father. All kinds of plural possessive. Their Lord and ours.

God our Father. We share the same Lord as the brothers around the world and the brothers in this church The logic of Paul is simple He's going to tell the Corinthians later on in chapter 1 to stop being divided, to stop quarreling. If you all are embracing the same Lord, how come you can't embrace one another? That's the logic. If you all are embracing the same Lord, how come you can't embrace each other?

Something wrong. It's the same logic as Ephesians chapter 4 verse 5. For the people of God, there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. That's Ephesians 4-5. One faith, one Lord, one baptism.

There's one Lord, Jesus Christ. There's one faith that unites us to that Lord Jesus Christ. And there's one baptism that marks us out covenantally belonging to that one Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, we all have received that same covenant sign from the Lord Jesus at our baptisms. We've all received that same gift of faith from the Lord Jesus Christ, and we all call upon the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ together.

Do you see how much you have together? Do you see how much should unite you? You've been tattooed by God. This is my child. You come to his table.

You eat of the body and blood of his son. And you're going to get mad at each other? Stop that. Look at all that you share, Paul's saying. Look at all that you share together.

How can you then be divided? How can you insist on quarreling with each other when you have the same Lord, the same faith, the same baptism? Stop getting at each other. And friends, if that's you, if that isn't all happening in this church or against brothers in other churches, you need to stop it. Their Lord and ours.

There's no way to get around that. Their Lord and ours. Stop being divided. Their Lord and ours. And notice again, what do you see there at the end of verse 2, almost done here.

With all who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you see that word call again? I told you earlier Paul really likes this word call. Paul was called, the church is called, But now what's the church doing at the end of verse 2? The church is the one calling.

That's really important for you to understand. Paul was called, the church is called by God, but now the church is calling. The called out ones call upon the one who first called upon them. Is that confusing? The called out ones call upon the one who first called them.

That changes everything about the way you view one another. As you call upon the name of the Lord together as a church. God called Paul when Paul was an enemy. God called you, saints of Crossroad, when you were an enemy. So when enemies turn saints, call upon the Lord together.

Once enemies, now children of God, you cannot look at your brother and say you're enemies. It doesn't compute. God called you when you were his enemy. God called Paul when he was his enemy. And when we, as those formerly enemies, now call upon the Lord, if we look at each other and call each other enemies you might not know the Lord that's the logic here You were called by His grace and so was I.

And so was that brother you want to quarrel with. And so we together, we call on the Lord Jesus Christ because He first called us to be His holy bride, to be a sure and sanctified people when we deserve the opposite. So how can you and I, as we're calling together, look at our brothers and sisters, gazing upon the one who bled and died to take away our sins, and how can we look down at one another and start to quarrel. You cannot and you must not. That's one of Paul's primary concerns in this letter, brothers dwelling together in unity.

How's that possible? How's it possible when a brother reviles you that you don't revile in return? How is it possible when others insult you that instead of returning insult for insult, you bow your knees and you pray for that brother for whom Christ died? How on earth is that kind of holy, unlike the world behavior possible? Verse 3, the grace and peace of God.

It's the only way. For men who are once at enmity with each other, men who have every worldly reason to be angry with each other, how can they live together and dwell together in peace? Only through the peace that is offered in the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, their Lord and ours. Verse 3, grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We used to be at war with God, but now we're at peace with God, seated at His table and with one another as a sure, sanctified, and united people.

Let's pray. Our Father in Heaven, thank you for this your word. I pray Lord that it would have its intended effect. Make us into a people that are happy, into a people that are joyful because we belong to you as a sure people and you are our Lord. Make us united because of people that are full of joy and peace.

You might get the glory and we might get the joy. In Jesus name, Amen.