The Village Church
Eyes on the Bridegroom - Audio
I love weddings and what I love about weddings is he's watching the groom's face as his bride comes toward him and they're totally focused on each other. The bride's eyes are on her groom's face, the eyes of the groom are on his bride's face. It's a wonderful picture of what needs to take place in the marriage. See the eyes of the spouse should be on the other spouse and not on himself or herself. You see the wedding day, that wedding day is one important moment in the life of the relationship, but the marriage, the marriage itself is a lifetime and when a person receives Jesus in seven faith, it's a beautiful moment of conversion because at that moment the gospel made sense for the first time. At that moment, that person's eyes are totally fixed on Christ, totally fixed on the cross. Do you remember your conversion? That moment when you gazed upon Christ in saving faith, that was a very important moment. What comes after that moment is a lifetime of fellowship with Jesus, a lifetime of fellowship, which means it's a lifetime of knowing him, a lifetime of enjoying him, a lifetime of even glorifying him. Are you growing and knowing Christ? Are you enjoying Christ at this moment in your relationship with him? Are you glorifying him? Are we? Are your eyes still fixed on Jesus? As they were, the moment of your conversion, are you still seeing? Are you still fixed upon him? General William Booth, he is the founder of the Salvation Army, he said to a group of soldiers, "I want you young men to always bear in mind that it's the nature of a fire to go out." It's the nature of a fire to go out. He must keep it stirred, he must keep it fed and the ashes removed. It's our nature, it's our nature of our eyes to a wonderful Christ. It's prone to wander away from him. Oh, him says that the bride's eyes, not her garment, but her dim rise from his face. I would not gaze at glory, but on my King of Grace, now that the crown he gives, but at his piercing hands. There are times when we do gaze at glory, I know I do, there are times where I gaze at the crowns and gifts that Jesus gives, and I know you do the same. Reasoning that glory and gazing at the gifts he gives are ashes that smothers out our passion for Christ because they take our eyes away from him. They take our eyes away from our first love and we place it on glory or the gifts that he gives us. So the question for us this morning is what brings us back? What brings my eyes back to the cross when they wander away from it? What keeps the fire stirred and fed throughout my lifetime, not just at the moment of conversion, but as I live the rest of my life, what keeps my excitement about Jesus alive, the passion alive here in 1st Corinthians Paul shows us in those five verses, he shows us what keeps the fire going, what keeps the fire stirred. In those verses, we see clearly that the eyes of Christ, the eyes of our Savior are on his bride, even down heaven in the seas for you, his people, his church. What brings our eyes back to him is the spirit who continues to reassure us of the gospel promises that are ours in Christ, those promises that you believed when you first came to him, those promises that were sweet when you first came to him still need to be sweet to you now as you live and fellowship with him, already still sweet, already better or have you forgotten them because you're gazing upon other things, gazing upon other Savior's. So what's the first thing your spirit reassures us of, he reassures us of his grace that is ours in Christ, this is what Paul shows us in verse 4, I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus, Paul has a pastoral heart here, he wants these Corinthian Christians and us as well that God's grace has been given to us and he thanked God for the working of his grace in their lives, see I found it interesting here that the church in Corinth had many issues and problems, many issues and problems, if you ever read through the book you know that, there was many issues, there were divisions, there was an infighting, fussing and fighting over spiritual gifts, and Paul spent half of the book correcting their believers in the way they were behaving and living. But here in the very outset to the book he thanked God for the working of his grace in their lives, I'm like what gives, what messages he communicating here, is this, when you place these verses in the context of the whole letter, you will see they actually serve as a backdrop to the whole book that Paul knew that God's grace was at work despite what he's getting ready to correct the Corinthians 4, that God's grace was still a work in their lives, even though there's a vision in the church, even when a fussing over spiritual gifts, God's grace is still at work, do you believe that, do you believe our sin can cancel out his grace, well do you, they are quiet, no, his grace is always greater than our infighting and our issues and our problems, he knew that God's grace has freed them and us from the power of sin, so if 4 Paul corrects him, he reassures them that God's grace is still at work within your church, within you, no matter what you deal with, no matter your struggle, his grace is always and will forever be greater than our sin, and look at your life and your struggles and your battle with sin, those things that we see on the surface, our problems our sin know that God's grace is greater, and we often forget that, we often forget it, we wake up in that state thinking he doesn't love me, because we forget man, we forget the gospel every day, I know I do, you have to believe that, that he who began a good work, he who began a good work would do what, notice what it doesn't say, it doesn't say you who began a good work, doesn't say Alex who began a good work, he who began a good work in you, we carry it on to completion, is God a man that he should laugh, no, he's faithful to his word, what he began in your life, he would see it to completion, that is water to your soul, if you're drinking it, or you're drinking it, water to your soul, what does that mean that, whatever you're going through, somehow he's going to use it to build you up, whatever our church goes through, the struggles that, that's to comfort us, he will use that to strengthen us as a body, whatever it may be, because he who began a good work would carry it on to completion, now this grace that he's given to us as believers is a free gift from God, it's not based upon our marriage, it's not based upon us trying to earn it, it was given to us, we receive it as a gift, we are passive recipients of this grace, as one person said, and God is the agent who gives it, we just receive it, this was true in the first century church, and it's still true today, that God's grace we're passive recipients of that grace, he's the agent, and it's given to us only in Christ, only in Him, and it's given to you at the moment of salvation, at the moment of conversion, even as you heard about testimony, about Christ, and he was confirmed among you, that's the preaching of the gospel that went forth in Corinth, Paul lived in Corinth for 18 months, he was there for claiming the gospel, preaching the good news, and in Acts 18, this is what the Lord told Paul, "Don't be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, no one will attack you and harm you, for I have many in the city who are my people, many in the city who are my people, so you go preach to gospel, be faithful, and Paul, God used Paul and others in Corinth to build and establish this church, the gospel message went forth, this is what we heard from Adam, the gospel going forth over in China, he takes the gospel to every part of the world, and it's going forth in every area of the world right now, even in places you don't think it's going forth, just because you ain't there, doesn't mean it ain't there, and it was here before we got here, gotta believe that, it was here before you got here, it was in Huntsville before we got here, he just didn't show up when we put a little sign up, and if you think that, then you got to do business with Jesus, 'cause you have a small picture of his kingdom, it's bigger than us, it's bigger than this church, and he is the one who cares it to completion, I say this before, the work will outlive you, it's gonna outlive me, 'cause it ain't mine, we're all shepherds, and the shepherds are the king, and it's his work, and he will do it, this message to the gospel that Paul preached, the message of grace, it's a message centered on the life and death and resurrection of Christ, and it's not a message about us, it's not about us, he lived the perfect life, right, by obeying God's law, he paid the price for our sins, right, on the cross, and so now in Jesus, those who are once enemies of God, that's what you were, that's what you were, think about that, you were enemy, you weren't a friend, you were not his ally, before Christ came and saved you, you were his enemy, enemy, military language, like our country has enemies, that we defend our country from, you are enemy of God, but when you came to know Christ, what did Christ do, he reconciled you to him, he turned enemies into friends, man, that's the power of the gospel, that's the power of the gospel, it's like Osama bin Laden becoming the friend of our country, that's what I'm talking about, that's the kind of enemy we were to God, but the gospel came in, for Jesus died and brought us peace with him, and the wrath of God is no longer on us, we are now friends with him, friends, are you God's friend, are you his friend, are you still an enemy, there's one or the other, and the only way you can be a friend is through Jesus, it's not by going to church it's not by doing good works, it's not by earning you earning it, you can only receive that gift, and it comes in saving faith to Christ, for he is the bridge that bridges the gap between God and man, and it's all free, it's free, free, we are passive recipients of this grace, God is the agent, and it's the Holy Spirit who applies it to us, he's the one, I've shared with you before about my testimony, because when I grew up, I didn't grew up going to church, I started going to church when I was in eighth grade, the first time I've ever been to church, because my mother recently became a believer, and she made us go, and I had to sing and acquire and all that, I didn't like it, I was the only guy in the choir, and I couldn't sing, I couldn't march, I couldn't clap, nothing, but I still had to do it, but again, that was a seed being planted in me, and even then, even growing up in the neighborhood I grew up in, some families, Christian families would come into the neighborhood, and they had this thing called Bible friends, and they got all the kids up in the projects, and every Saturday they would teach us about Jesus, teach us about Jesus, they gave free food and stuff, so that's why I went, but they preached the gospel every week, every week, and seeds were being planted in me, when I was in high school, playing football, I classmate, share Christ with me then, and I said, well, I'm a good person, that's I think I'm a believer, and so all those seeds were planted in me, I thought I was a Christian, but when I got to college, my freshman year, I went to this meeting, and this guy stood up, again, presented the gospel, something was different, the gospel wasn't different, what was different, was all those seeds that were planted in me years past grew, because that night, the spirit moved in me, for the first time in my life, I saw I was a sinner, that I needed forgiveness, that I wasn't good enough, didn't care if I wasn't like all my other friends who did different things, I still was a sinner, and that night, 1996, the spirit called me into saving faith, that's what the spirit does, that's the factual calling of him, when he applies the gospel of grace to us, and we receive in saving faith, he is the one that awakens our dead soul, so that we can embrace the gospel in saving faith, have you embraced it, have you embraced it, or are you still unembracing it, I'm sure most of you have heard of the book series, I have one or two of them called the complete idiot guys to different things, and I think we need one for the gospel, you know, a complete idiot's guide to the gospel, and it would constantly remind us that it's not about you, it's not about you, it's not about you at conversion, and it's not about you at the conversion, that's where the complete idiot's guide to the gospel tells us, and every day you need to pull it out, to remind yourself of it, it's his grace, it's his work, his salvation, he does it all in and through Jesus, faith in him, it's his grace not mine, and what did he say in John 15, I am the branch, you are divine, you cannot bear fruit unless you abide in him, abiding in him, always, conversion got you into divine, and through him you bear fruit, it's all Jesus, you're never going to get to a place in your life where you don't need grace, but every day we won't to, we won't to, because I want to be independent, I want to do things my way, but you're never going to get to that place where you're not needy, where you're not codependent, because that what the gospel tells us that we are, and that's a good thing, it's a grace for a lifetime, not just grace for a moment, it's grace for a lifetime, not just grace for the moment of conversion, if that's all you have, if that's your view of grace, you're not going to have an enjoying Christian life, you're not going to enjoy it, because you're always going to try to earn what you already have, how a Corinthian brothers and sisters, Paul reminds them, it's his grace, and they received it and accepted it in faith through the Holy Spirit, and because of that, because of that, they were now being enriched in him in every way, this enrichment was a spiritual gift, this is what Paul is talking about here, verse 5 and 7, in every way you have been enriched in him in all speech and knowledge, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, again, this is something that we receive, something has caused the Corinthians to have this abundance, to have this enrichment, and he's not talking about material possessions here, he's talking about spiritual riches, something that's been done to them by the Spirit, and these are spiritual gifts that are being produced, fruit that is being produced in them, you don't produce your own fruit, we know in Galatians 5 that's a Spirit's job, all the gifts you've got, whatever your spiritual gift is, it's a gift of the Spirit, and so guess what, it's not your gift, it's his, you are a steward of it, it's not yours, you are a steward of it, and God has spiritually enriched all of us in every way, for the Corinthians, he said he has enriched him in speech and knowledge, like it could be prophecy, preaching and teaching, knowledge and spiritual insight and discernment, so he's building them up, giving them the things that they need, and why does he highlight these two gifts in the Corinthian church, and I'll say this before, the last time I preached in Corinthians, is that you know, during this time in the 1st century church, again, philosophy, rhetoric, and all these things were properly within the culture, and we had to realize that some of that stuff carried over into the church, and you see that you go on in the book that the people were struggling with that, create divisions in the church, I'm gonna follow up Paul, I'm gonna follow up Paul, all this and that, the Corinthians greatest liabilities and strength lies in their gifts, that's what one commentator said, and we all have a natural tendency to misuse the gifts that God has given us, we can lord it over believers, we can be self-righteous about it, or even get jealous or envious because we don't have the gifts that other people have, that's my struggle, I get jealous of other preachers, I think they're better than them, and that's sin, that's sin, they're His gifts, and He's given them to His church, you've been enriched, and you're not lacking in any spiritual gift, do you believe that? When He says that to that church here, and He says it to you, you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, do you believe that? Then we as a church, we're not lacking in any spiritual gift, the gifts ought to be used to build up the church, not the self, Romans 12 Paul says, we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them, right, in this church, all of us have gifts that differ according to the grace that's been given to us, so let us use them for the purpose of building up one another, not building up ourself, that's the purpose of the gifts. Are you a good steward of the gifts that God has given you? Then my, a good steward of the gifts He has given me, am I using it to build up His kingdom, or is my using it to build my own? Whatever the gifts may be, how are you using it? How are you using it? He says here, He goes on to say, we're not lacking in any spiritual gift as we wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. The idea is you eagerly wait with great expectation, and these spiritual gifts that we have, I believe here, are showing that they're the temporary provisions that God has given us as we wait for Christ to come back. Temporary provisions that Jesus has given us, because the folk of porn in life are never the gifts, there's never the stuff that He gives, but it's Him. We have a tendency, even in the gifts, we can focus on that. I think I have to get the preaching, and I'm in sin whenever I make that, the focus of my faith. I'm in sin, because I've said that this is my first love and not Christ. If you have whatever you're good at, whatever God has given you at, you are a steward of that. Don't make that your identity. Your identity is always forever in Him, and that's never going to change. Okay, how great, apparent you are, where the spouse you are, that stuff cannot be your identity. It can't be your first love. Jesus is your first love. Remember the quote I said, "I would not gaze at glory, but on my king of grace. Not at the crowns He gives, but at His pierce hand." That's all the days of your life, you love it. All the days of it. So we are to be good stewards of those gifts, material gifts as well. Don't gaze at the crowns, gaze upon Him, living fellowship with Him, through knowing Him, enjoying Him, and glorifying Him. That's how we live in fellowship with Christ. Knowing Him, enjoying Him, glorifying Him. So these spiritual gifts are temporary provisions as we wait, we graduate special expectations for the second coming of Christ. It's like a child waiting in bed for Christmas morning. If you're a kid here, you know what that's like. You can't sleep. You can't wait to wake up because of the gifts that you think are going to be on the tree. We should have that excitement as we wait for Him to come. Do we have it or is it gone? Or is it burned out because of life? Or do you think this life is all there is? Are you waiting with that kind of great expectation? We should because we know when He comes back, what happens when He comes back? What happens? What is going to happen for His beloved when He returns? The promised gift of eternal life is going to finally be realized. It's just a promise now. We don't fully grasp it yet, but when He comes in glory, we're going to grab it. We're going to have it. It's going to be ours. We're going to have it as real as day. We wait in great expectation for that because we know what wakes us on the other side. The things here, temporary provisions, the things there, eternity, heaven, salvation, a lifetime returning with Jesus, which is not temporary provision. It's eternal, which we're going to get when He comes. Are you ready? Are you scared? If His beloved, there's no fear, no fear in death if you're His, because you know what wakes you on the other side. And the best news about all of that is that gift of eternal life is eternally secure. You can never lose it. You can never lose it. 8 and 9, verses 8 and 9, the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's eternal security spelled out as clear as possible. That means when you wake up on Christmas morning, you're going to have a giftful in the tree. It ain't no thief going to break in and steal them. Because if Jesus is going to keep your gift of salvation eternally secure, you can't lose it. Do you believe that? Do you think you can lose it to give these giving you? Because if you think you can lose it, you can all what's the natural response? You're going to work hard to try to keep it. Well, I've got to do more of this. So I won't lose the love and affection that Jesus is giving me. You didn't earn it in the first place because you can't. A free gift that is eternally secure because what he paid for with his life, his blood will spill to give you that gift. And it was a good sacrifice. It was a good sacrifice. There's no other sacrifice needed. He fulfilled it all. And he will sustain you to the end. That's good news. If you're struggling right now, that's good news. If you're not struggling because you know you don't sustain yourself. He will sustain you to the end. Getless. Getless. If you make guiltless that when God comes and Jesus comes in glory and when he sees you, he's going to see my getless child. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go home. So no matter what you're going through, no matter where you're going to go through, no matter what awaits you down the road for struggles or suffering, know that you would be sustained to the end. See, it's easy to believe this stuff when life is well, when things are going well, struggles come. If you're not in one, one is right around the corner, but you got to go back to this reassuring yourself of what you have in Christ. So it's gospel promises that it's his grace, his gifts, and he's sustaining me, no matter what my circumstances say, no matter what my circumstances say, the gospel is better, the gospel is true, no matter what the world says, no matter what I'm going through, he will sustain you to the end. So what brings our eyes back to him will keep the fire stirred in us to the gospel, his grace, his gifts, his eternal security. He's called us, he's blessed us, he sustains us getless, and most importantly, he's going to do all this why, because he's faithful. That's what verse nine says, for our God is faithful to do all these things that I just said, because he is the one who called us and to fellowship with his son, and he is faithful to see it as see all this through. It's his, him, amen. Let's pray. Father God, we thank you for the gospel, and I needed this Father, I need this, but so often I forget that it's grace. I think it's performance. I forget that I'm a steward, and these are your gifts that you have given. So often Lord, I live as if I don't have eternal security. I live as if I'm going to lose it. But I thank you for your word and your scriptures, that they remind us of who you are. They remind us of what we are, and that's okay. You're faithful. We're faithless. That's why we need the gospel. That's why we need Christ. I'm Christ in my prayer. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]