00:00:00.000 - 00:00:53.160

[ Music ] Lord, it's in you. (Oh Lord, I'm trusting) Lord, it's in you. (Oh Lord, I'm trusting) Lord, it's in you. (Oh Lord, I'm trusting) ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord, to see me through ♪ ♪ Oh, the road may be rough ♪

00:00:53.160 - 00:01:03.860

♪ Lord, I'm trusting ♪ ♪ The road may be rough ♪ ♪ Lord, I'm trusting ♪ ♪ The road may be rough ♪

00:01:03.860 - 00:01:22.820

♪ Lord, I'm trusting ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord, to see me through ♪ Oh, 'tis so sweet to trust in you, Jesus I'm trusting in you, Lord, I'm trusting in you

00:01:22.820 - 00:01:37.820

Just to take you at your word I'm trusting in you, Lord, I'm trusting in you Oh, the road may be rough Oh, Lord, and trust me

00:01:37.820 - 00:01:48.120

The going gets tough ♪ Oh Lord I'm trusting ♪ ♪ The road may be rough ♪ ♪ Lord I'm trusting ♪

00:01:48.120 - 00:02:04.540

♪ I'm trusting in you Lord to see me through ♪ ♪ Oh 'tis so sweet to trust in you Jesus ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you dear Lord ♪

00:02:04.540 - 00:02:19.360

♪ Just to take you at your word ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord, I'm trusting in you ♪ ♪ Oh, the road may be rough ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord, I'm trusting ♪

00:02:19.360 - 00:02:32.340

♪ The going gets tough ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord, I'm trusting ♪ ♪ The road may be rough ♪ ♪ But I'm trusting, I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪

00:02:32.340 - 00:02:42.680

♪ You see me ♪ ♪ Yes, I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪

00:02:42.680 - 00:02:55.640

♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪

00:02:55.640 - 00:03:04.580

♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪

00:03:04.580 - 00:03:19.520

♪ And I will trust you ♪ ♪ In the Lord ♪ ♪ I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ Trust in the Lord ♪

00:03:19.520 - 00:03:39.740

♪ Until I die ♪ ♪ Trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you Lord, trusting in you ♪

00:03:39.740 - 00:03:59.860

♪ And I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ And I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ Until I die ♪

00:03:59.860 - 00:04:15.960

♪ Trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I will trust in the Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you ♪

00:04:15.960 - 00:04:26.560

♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you ♪ ♪ I'm trusting in you, Lord ♪ ♪ To see me through ♪

00:04:32.700 - 00:05:15.380

I'm going to read the scripture again, the epistle of Paul, the apostle to the Corinthians, the first epistle enlisted in the King James, the first chapter and the first 11 verses. All call to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and sustenance our brethren.

00:05:15.380 - 00:05:55.860

To the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, to be saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:05:55.860 - 00:06:32.340

I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ that in everything ye are enriched by him in all utterance, and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in

00:06:32.340 - 00:07:23.460

you, so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

00:07:23.460 - 00:08:15.960

Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak same thing and that there be no divisions among you but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment for it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the household of clove,

00:08:15.960 - 00:08:57.880

that there are contentions among you." May the Lord bless the reading of his holy word. As the basis of our message, we shall read again that 11th verse and include the 14th. "For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the household

00:08:57.880 - 00:09:35.240

of Clo, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?

00:09:35.240 - 00:10:17.760

Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Christmas and gifts. any should say I had baptized in mine own name. I want to talk about gossip in

00:10:17.760 - 00:11:08.880

the church. Gossip in the church. Paul is a missionary who possibly did more, as far as our record goes, to spread the gospel than any other during the first century. As he moves about establishing churches and encouraging churches, he makes a significant contribution to the early development of the Christian Church.

00:11:08.880 - 00:11:37.480

He reports in this particular letter, we call it 1 Corinthians, we don't know whether this is actually the first letter or not, but it is a letter that was preserved by the Church, kept in such a manner that it was part of the New Testament canon, and has been passed on to us so that we have it today.

00:11:37.480 - 00:12:07.120

I know all of us write letters, but wouldn't it be a wonderful thing that we would write letters? Think of Paul writing a letter 2,000 years ago almost, and it is so important, so meaningful, helpful, such a vital contribution to the Christian faith that it has been kept

00:12:07.120 - 00:12:49.600

all these years and here we are this morning reading this letter written by first century missionary to gain strength and encouragement for the Christian life. Now in this particular emphasis, Paul says that he has heard, he has received word from the household of clove. Most of the time we'd say we'll

00:12:49.600 - 00:13:32.120

no paying attention to gossip and yet while we say that we are paying all the attention we can to what is said. When I was a boy in Dallas I remember a little newspaper. It had a huge eye on the front page and the Brotherhood eye always seemed to be able to see what very few people saw and to report it with great

00:13:32.120 - 00:13:58.280

clarity and in meetings where you only thought that there were people who were committed to the cause there always came a word and a quote about what was happening. It talked about what was happening in the leading churches and leading preachers and all that.

00:13:58.280 - 00:14:10.640

And I learned then as a boy how popular gossip can be. How popular gossip.

00:14:10.640 - 00:14:44.720

And most of the time we hear about it is something that's detrimental. But here in this lesson, this is something that is uplifting Paul had many things to consider, many things to which he had his attention, but he points out this particular fact, I think as in no other letter does he report it in such a manner as to say,

00:14:44.720 - 00:15:46.160

I have heard from the household of Clow, from some members of the household of Clow. We used to say, "It wasn't told to me, I only heard what he said, she said, they said, but I really don't know, I only heard." It's come to the household of Clow. He thinks, he feels that this information he has received from the household of Clow is of such significance that as he is making his missionary rounds, that it's necessary for him to write to the Church of Chirith and use this particular event, this happening, in his word to the Church.

00:15:46.160 - 00:16:10.940

I have heard from the household of clothes. It has come to me, my brethren, by them, which are of the household of clothes, that there are some contentions among you. Now, there are two types of gossip.

00:16:10.940 - 00:16:55.040

Some that are very harmful and detrimental. You know the story of a person who circulated a certain word And then later tried to get it retracted and the person illustrated the impossibility of doing that, of taking a fowl and walking through the streets and the feathers were blowing everywhere. said just it is impossible to go back and find all those feathers and put it

00:16:55.040 - 00:17:31.720

back into the file that's the way it is with gossip so he says I've had the report that there are divisions among you now some gossip is good because it's true and it's helpful when you respond to it. Oh Paul isn't some person who's running around collecting gossip making his life like a garbage can where all

00:17:31.720 - 00:18:07.240

kinds of rumors can be deposited. Here is one who is giving his life pouring himself out in the cause of the Christian faith and he hears a word that he believes is harmful to the church and he writes back to Carvin saying I've heard from members of the household of clothes that there are divisions among

00:18:07.240 - 00:18:57.200

divisions. The church is designed by God to be unified, but here there are divisions. and these divisions are over human personalities. One says I am of Paul, I'm a follower of Paul. I like the way he delivers his sermons, how he presents the gospel message with such logic, such deep theological insights. I love that!

00:18:57.200 - 00:19:33.840

Says one, I'm an apostle to Paul. And then another says, well all that rhetoric that Paul engages in may be all right with you, but I am for Apollos. Apollos is a silver-toned orator and the words just slipped from his lips with such ease and delight. I like that. I am of a palace.

00:19:33.840 - 00:20:00.840

And then there comes another who says well I I like the preaching of Peter Cephas, he's evangelistic. Oh, the tones that he has, they thrill me. You see, Peter is what we would call today a hooper.

00:20:00.840 - 00:20:16.840

[laughter] And I love that. He moves the congregation when he speaks. I am for Peter, put my vote there.

00:20:16.840 - 00:20:36.840

Another said, well I'm not for any of these. I am for Christ, Jesus Christ. He's the founder, he's the author and finisher of our faith. And I am for him.

00:20:36.840 - 00:21:07.460

for him and here are all of these groups. And after two thousand years we still have these divisions among us. Some years ago the World Council of Churches had as its theme a session that I attended back in 1954, I believe it was,

00:21:07.460 - 00:21:53.360

our unity in Christ and our diversity as churches. Our unity in Christ and our diversity as churches. This is a question that Paul had addressed in the first century. I hear that there are divisions among you. I'm sure that there were some people who said Paul don't pay any attention to that, let's go right on. But for some reason, he takes time to address it and to point out where the divisions are.

00:21:53.360 - 00:22:47.360

I hear that there are contentions and these contentions are hindrances to the work of God. So they have fueled the divisions that have emerged, and Paul calls not only attention to them, but he deals with them as he writes his letter. New York Times, which is considered the leading newspaper in this country, has as its motto,

00:22:47.360 - 00:23:30.360

"All the news that's fit to print." It suggests that there may be some news not fit to print. And it would be a good thing of the church that we circulated all of the news that's fit to be circulated. But sometimes there are those who circulate and delight to circulate news that's not fit to print.

00:23:30.360 - 00:24:07.440

I remember I was going away to a meeting and the World Council of Churches, I think it was the Baptist World Alliance, and I was leaving for the meeting and I told one dear brother that it would be a nice thing that if the church had a station wagon. Church had been talking about one and they'd be spending quite a bit of money on my taking that trip

00:24:07.440 - 00:24:42.080

to be a good down payment on the station wagon. I just stole one brother. And I was gone about ten days and when I came back it was all over town that the pastor had taken the church's money and bought a station wagon and gone to the convention. (audience laughing) And I just happened to drop by the library

00:24:42.080 - 00:24:57.120

as was my custom. The lady who was there was one of the senior members of the church and she was a librarian. And she said to me, "Reverend, where is the station way?"

00:24:57.120 - 00:25:11.800

(audience laughing) Well, this is not the kind of situation that Paul has. Here's a situation where he seeks to build up the church, where he seeks to strengthen the church,

00:25:11.800 - 00:25:31.140

and he warns them against divisions. Division is not good for the Christian faith anywhere. In the home, in the community, in the church, divisions are unhealthy.

00:25:32.280 - 00:26:19.280

So Paul warns them, "Is Christ divided?" He didn't give part of himself for the church and the world, but he gave all of himself for the church. So the Apostle Paul here seems to be in the role of the pastor of the First Baptist Church. And we don't know how long he was there, but he had a profound influence upon the church during the period that he was there.

00:26:19.280 - 00:26:55.280

And so here he is laying out some ways we may be effective in spreading the good news. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people in the churches who claim to know Christ would be gossiping about Christ? Yes Lord, Lord. Well, you know, I know God is good. I know how he's helped me. I know how he's brought me. I know how he has led me.

00:26:55.280 - 00:27:07.480

In fact, instead of that happening, people wonder what's wrong with you. Mr. Johnson must be a fanatic. - Yes. - She's always talking about Christ.

00:27:07.480 - 00:27:25.320

- Yes. - But Paul is writing, not only is he speaking from the pulpit, he's writing letters, he's using all of the avenues available to him at that time to preach it.

00:27:25.320 - 00:27:59.840

So Paul, say I have heard from the high priest the household of clothes that there are contentions among you. I have left, when I left the car rent, I had the impression that we were together, that we were all We were in one accord, but since I've been away.

00:27:59.840 - 00:28:11.900

So many things happened since you've been away. Many go off to the army and come back and find some things since they've been away. - Yes.

00:28:11.900 - 00:28:25.900

- Now here, Paul is talking about what has happened to the church since I've been away. We have a saying, when the cats away the mice will play.

00:28:25.900 - 00:28:46.860

And he's talking about since I have been away. I heard you were acting in a wonderful manner when I was there, but since I have been away, I hear that there are contentions among you.

00:28:46.860 - 00:29:12.900

You are divided over human personality. One says I'm appalled and one says I'm appalled and another says I'm a fever. Yes, such being the case, you are divided. And we can thank God who sent his word to us.

00:29:12.900 - 00:29:33.980

He's spoken through me to you. We can thank God that he has sent to us a good word. Let us not engage in malicious gossip. One thing about gossip is that people talk about

00:29:33.980 - 00:29:49.260

what they are interested in. They talk about it. It may be good or bad, but they talk about it. that's what they're interested in,

00:29:49.260 - 00:30:11.220

that's what their mind, their lives are focused upon. So once upon a time, people used to debate about whether or not they, how many angels could stand on the corner of a needle.

00:30:11.220 - 00:30:33.900

They were concerned about heavenly things. that seems so out of place and almost seems ridiculous to us today, but they were interested in heaven and our relationship to heaven. people gossip about what they are concerned about, what they are interested in.

00:30:33.900 - 00:30:54.340

So baptism is a vital experience in the Christian church. And Paul goes on to talk about the significance of being baptized in Christ.

00:30:55.240 - 00:31:23.240

We have scheduled this morning a baptism for the 11 o'clock Savior. And every person who is baptized, who is submerged into the water, who is buried there and lifted up again, every person who is baptized in Christ ought to be gossiping about Christ. Spray!

00:31:23.240 - 00:32:07.240

In the Word! Telling others about the goodness of God and what God has done to save his people. That's what Paul did in his day and that's what we are to do in ours. When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit of God descended upon him in the form of a dog, and after that we find him going forth engaged in a ministry that is meaningful and saving for the people of his day and the people of all time.

00:32:07.240 - 00:32:28.240

Thanks be to God that we have the opportunity to gossip about God. Thank God for that. I remember when I was a boy, my mother helped a lady get a job. Jobs were very difficult to get.

00:32:28.240 - 00:32:46.420

And this particular lady was unemployed, and my mother told her about a job, and she got that job, and she never stopped talking about

00:32:46.420 - 00:32:56.680

how she appreciated that job. So much so that my mother got tired of hearing about it. (audience laughing) But she was grateful.

00:32:56.680 - 00:33:12.880

And God wants us, He wants us to talk about His goodness. He wants us to talk about His grace. He wants us to talk about His love and to be together in spreading that word.

00:33:12.880 - 00:33:24.480

Oh, how wonderful it would be. Jesus started out with just 12 and one of them was a rascal. And here we have several hundred

00:33:24.480 - 00:33:37.060

"Oh, how wonderful, how wonderful, how glorious!" It would be just to talk about how good God has been to you. - Oh, yeah. - That's right. - And what he has done in bringing you

00:33:37.060 - 00:33:46.800

thus far along the way. We come now to the hymn of invitation to the privileges of joining the church and being a follower of Jesus Christ.

00:33:46.800 - 00:34:02.480

As the choir sings, we extend to you that blessed privilege of joining in the band of the disciples of the master. - Yeah. (piano music)

00:34:02.480 - 00:34:36.620

- The door of the church is open. (mumbles) [ Music ] [MUSIC]

00:34:36.620 - 00:34:53.820

♪ We unrest ♪ ♪ Lay down our weary ♪ ♪ Wounded crown ♪ ♪ Thy head upon thy breast ♪

00:34:53.820 - 00:35:17.760

♪ Our aim to thee ♪ ♪ Is a sad and proud quest ♪ ♪ Weary and poor and sad ♪ ♪ I found in Him a resting place ♪

00:35:17.760 - 00:35:48.400

♪ And He has made me glad ♪ ♪ I heard the voice of Jesus ♪ ♪ Sleep below thy dreamy gill ♪ ♪ Running in water thirsty for ♪

00:35:48.400 - 00:36:19.200

♪ Sodium and drink and milk ♪ ♪ I came to Jesus as a child ♪ ♪ As I heard the world's life-giving stream ♪ ♪ Bright as the space my soul revived ♪

00:36:19.200 - 00:36:42.640

♪ And now I live in thee ♪ ♪ I hear the voice of Jesus saying ♪ ♪ I am his God ♪ [MUSIC]

00:36:42.640 - 00:36:48.620

[ Silence ]