You guys have a pen with you? There's a line in this that we're
going to change. Go ahead and mark it in your
book. Mark it out under the refrain
where it says his anger He, I can't read because of my mouth. His
anger he retains no more. We're going to mark that out
and saying his anger we can fear no more. The reason is because his anger
has not been set upon us. His love has. It's down the bottom
too. Huh? Yes, down at the bottom. Same thing down at the bottom. Because anger we can fear no
more. We'll sing this to the tune of
Sweet Hour of Prayer. Who is a God like unto Thee,
that pardoneth iniquity? Jehovah God, the great I Am,
forgives our sins through Christ the Lamb. Who is the God like
unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity? His anger we can fear no more,
His grace and mercy shall endure. The God of truth must punish
him, but in his love he formed a plan to satisfy the law's demands. For sinners numerous has the
saint Who is a God like unto thee That pardoneth iniquity
His anger we can fear no more His grace and mercy shall endure
Behold His love and compassion In the death of Christ His Son
The precious sin of atoning blood Reveals the love and truth of
God Who is a God like unto Thee That pardoneth iniquity His anger
we can fear no more His grace and mercy shall endure He passes
by the transgressions of all His loved and chosen ones. In mercy, God, delight we see. He cast our sins into the sea. Who is a God like unto Thee that
pardoneth iniquity? His anger we can fear no more,
His grace and mercy shall endure. None can with our great God compare. He gave his son sinners to spare. His anger we can fear no more. Christ died and God requires
no more. who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity. His anger we can fear no more. His grace and mercy shall endure. Amen. That's all that's required
is the death of Christ for you. Nothing that we do of our own. Turn with me, if you would, to
hymn number 95. Emmanuel, we bless your name. Sing this to the tune of Camp
on a Midnight Clear. Y'all know what the word Emmanuel
means? Word Emmanuel, y'all know what
that means? It means God with us, that's
what the word means. That was the name that was given
to Jesus. Emmanuel, we bless your name,
our Savior God and King. Our God, a man like us became,
that He might mercy bring. The mystery we cannot explain,
how God became a man. But his great praise we can proclaim. Christ is both God and man. God could not suffer, bleed,
and die to put away man's sins. And man could never satisfy the
laws he met for sin. But Christ, the God-man, bled
and died instead of his belay. His blood, God's law has satisfied
and fully paid our debt. The merit of Christ's righteousness
imputed unto us makes us complete in holiness in Christ God accepts
us Emmanuel God came to save us the people of his choice. Emmanuel, God who has saved. Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice. How about hymn number 18? The Bible is a book of Christ.
The Bible says that in the low, in the volume of the book, came
I. Jesus is the sum and substance
of all the scriptures. Singles to Tim, my faith has
found a resting place. God gave His holy inspired word
for only one great end. The prophets and apostles to
reveal the sinner's friend. The Bible is a book of Christ,
it only speaks of Him. On every page it shows us Christ. It only speaks of him. The prophecies of old report
God's wondrous mighty deeds. Those deeds of power and of grace
set forth the woman see. The Bible is a book of Christ,
it only speaks of Him. On every page it shows us Christ,
it only speaks of Him. The prophets all reveal our Lord
as prophet, priest, and king. The tides the great redemption
show, Christ's blood and grace now bring. Behold the Lamb. I'm sorry. The Bible is a book
of Christ. It only speaks of Him. On every page it shows us Christ. It only speaks of Him. Behold the Lamb, the Baptist
said, the sin-atoning One. As it was promised long before,
God's Son as man has come. The Bible is the book of Christ,
it only speaks of Him. On every page it shows us Christ,
it only speaks of Him. Our substitute obeyed the law,
then died and rose again. and in his word, our savior said,
rejoice, I come again. The Bible is a book of Christ. It only speaks of him. On every page, it shows us Christ. It only speaks of him. All right. Does anybody have
something they'd like to say? We'll turn with me now, if you
would, in your Bibles. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, we're
continuing through exposition of these chapters. First letter
to the Corinthians. One Corinthians chapter four. Left off last week, uh, ending
in chapter three. We've been seeing in the first
three chapters and as we'll see, continuing in chapter four, the,
uh, the preaching of Paul to the Corinthians, who had become
puffed up because of their knowledge, been puffed up because of their
abundance of gifts within the church. As a matter of fact,
the church was in a pretty good mess. Paul was writing a letter
of correction to them. And one of the things that he
began with here in the first four chapters is to lay a foundation that everything
that we know and understand comes from Christ, comes from God's
Word. God's Word. You know, whenever I say open
up in your Bibles, we're opening up God's Word. This is God's
Word. The scriptures say that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. This is God's Word. We don't
have to go outside of God's Word to learn God's Word. Unfortunately,
there's so many people today that think that they have to
go to commentators and theologians and go to extra biblical things
to know God's word. God has promised that he would
preserve his word. He has preserved his word. We
can trust that this Bible, this is the word of God. It just doesn't
have some of the word of God in it. It is the word of God
and we can trust it. And we look to it to tell us
what we need to know. and what we need to understand.
And through the word of God, by the Holy Spirit, God gives
wisdom and understanding to those who have been born from above.
And Paul has begun a foundation in these things before he even
gets into the correction of the Corinthians about other things
that they are doing wrong within the church. He first lays the
foundation that you cannot do things in the wisdom of man. You cannot do things in the wisdom
of man. We saw this in multiple verses. We've seen over in verse 18 of
chapter one, it says, for the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God, for it is written, I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. The wisdom of God is something
that is foolishness to those who are perishing or to those
who do not have the spirit of God to give them understanding
of these things. And so whenever we preach and
teach the word of God, People might be able to amass facts
about the Word of God. They might take the Word of God
and then apply outward teachings from uh... you know people of
all over from commentaries systematic theologies and things like that
and apply that to uh... what the scripture says the wisdom
of the wise will always be confounded will always be uh... confused
will always look at what the man of god uh... who teaches
the simplicity of god's word will always look at that as foolish. They will believe that it's got
to be more than that. They will believe that it's got
to be different than that. They'll hold on to their traditions.
They'll hold on to their upbringings. They'll hold on to whatever.
But whenever God's word is clear and open about some things, it
will be foolishness to them. While to those who have been
saved to the elect of God, these things have been revealed. And
I will say, not sometimes fully revealed. They may be revealed
in different levels. There is a measure of faith that
the Holy Spirit gives and understanding. We're not all in the same place
at the same time. And we all are learning of God. Of course, we're gonna talk a
little bit about that today. But verse 27 says, but God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,
and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things that are mighty. He says that in chapter two,
he says, for I determined not to know anything among you, save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. So many of our
brothers and sisters in Christ, they look to the wisdom of men
and their faith stands in how that man can, quote unquote,
exegete the scriptures, how that man can quote the Old Testament
Hebrew or quote the New Testament Greek or how that man can parse
words or anything like that. And they look to man in his,
puffed upness in his knowledge, and they take confidence in that,
and they rejoice in that, but God says that his wisdom is gonna
confound those things, and that we should not look to man's wisdom,
we should not look to man's pride. Listen, I'll tell you, I don't
know how often I hear it, how scholarly men often run down
men that do not have degrees and do not have, letters behind
their names. They run them down because they
don't think that they know enough. They don't think that they know
enough to preach the Word of God or to know the Word of God,
and so they ridicule them. That's nothing different than
what the Pharisees did whenever they looked at the fisherman
who was out there preaching and with power and authority, and
they just, how do these men preach this way? I mean, these are unlearned
men. Brethren, it doesn't take a doctor's
degree, it doesn't take a master of divinities degree, it doesn't
take a seminary college course to be able to know and to preach
the word of God. God calls men to preach that
have never stepped foot in a seminary, God has given understanding to
the Word of God to people all over the world who has never
known Greek or Hebrew. The Holy Spirit is our teacher.
We don't have any better teacher than that. So the Word of God,
we have the Word of God, everything that we need found in the Word
of God. It defines itself. It relies
on itself. It's consistent with itself.
And so we preach and teach the Word of God and we stay with
the Word of God and we look to the Word of God. We don't have
enough men out there praying, God, show me what the Word of
God says. Show me what the Word of God
says. We want to run and see, well, what does John Gil say?
Well, what does C. H. Spurgeon say? Well, what does
this guy say or what does that guy say? instead of just humbling
ourselves before God and saying, God, I want to know what your
word says. I want to know what scripture defines, how scripture
defines things. I want to know how this is to
be preached so that I might not lead anybody astray, that I might
not speak something false about you, that I might not bear false
witness against God, that I might not tell people something untruthful
about salvation and what Christ has done for us. And so we see
here that Paul is instructing the Corinthians to quit looking
to the wisdom of the wise, men's fleshly wisdom, men's outward
wisdom, and look to Christ, look to the word of God and trust
that Christ's spirit that has been given to us will be our
teacher. And I think that all of us, whether
you're a preacher, whether you're just a a lay person coming in
and worshiping with us, that we need to pray that God gives
us spiritual understanding and spiritual wisdom. Paul says,
how be it we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not
the wisdom of the world, nor the princes of the world that
come not, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the
hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. So these things are not revealed
by human learning. It's revealed by the Spirit.
Look down at verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the
deep things of God. So these things are known only
by spiritual understanding. And then we looked last week,
and we seen how men often follow other men. They begin to look
to other men. And they will say, well, hey,
I'm of this guy's group, or I'm of that guy's group. And in this case, it was Paul
and Apollos. He says, for while one saith,
I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, he says, are you
not Carmel? And unfortunately, we see that
a lot today, too. Well, what camp are you in? Well, I'm from
this camp. Well, I'm over here for this camp. You know, I'm
of the sovereign Greece camp over here. Well, I'm of the landmark
camp over here. Well, I'm of the reform camp
over here." Or, you know, it may be about, well, I'm of the
Mahanites, or I'm of the Gilites, or I'm of the Bibiites, or, you
know, whatever, you know, following after men and how we often do
that, where Paul here is instructing that even he himself and Apollos
both very learned men and able in the scriptures. He says, all
we are are tools that the Lord has used. He said not to follow
us, or not to look to us, because
it is God who gives the increase. It's God who gives the increase.
He goes on to say in verse, Let's see, it was down in verse
12. Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, and several, every man's work shall
be made manifest, for the day shall declare it because it shall
be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work
of what sort it is. If a man's work abide, which
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive reward. If any man's
work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall
be saved, yet so as by fire. And so we see here that in the
end, our preaching, our teaching, our ministry, our work will all
be shown for what it was. Was it that which was true? Was it that which was correct?
Did we really build upon the foundation of Christ? Did we
really Lay that which was, speak from that which was already laid?
Or did we try to lay our own agendas? Did we lay our own programs?
Did we lay our own doctrines upon these things? It's gonna
be shown for what it is. It says in verse 18, let no man
deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may
be wise. He's saying, listen, it's better for you to humble
yourself and be a fool so that you might become wise in the
Lord than wise in the eyes of man and be a fool. And much today,
there are many men who are scholarly men that have learned through
the wisdom of the world, that is, learned and become puffed
up, and they have become fools to those who have spiritual understanding. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God, for it is written, he taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore, let no man
glory in men. Let no man glory in men, for
all things are yours. Rather, we should be glorying
in other men. And how often we put preachers up on pedestals.
And I'm just as guilty as anybody else, you know. There is a man
that I love to listen to preach, There are men that I know that
preach the truth and are uncompromising on that. I know that there's
preachers that are out there laboring, even in small churches
like us, who preach and teach the word of God faithfully week
after week after week. And I have a lot of respect for
them. But we should never look to any
man and glory in what man is doing. Let no man glory in men. whether it's from preaching or
whether it's from those who come to the Lord because of their
preaching and teaching. We shouldn't glory in men, but
we should glory in the word of God and in Christ Jesus. He says that he ends last week,
and this is where we left off, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
or the world or life or death or things present or things to
come, all are yours and ye are Christ and Christ is God's. Now we pick up our reading this
morning in chapter four, verse one, it says, let a man so account
of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. So what's Paul saying here? He
says, let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ,
the stewards of the mysteries of God. We as preachers are given
and called by God to minister as stewards the mysteries of
God, the things found in God's word, that as we heard before,
these mysteries are mysteries to those that are outside who
don't have understanding, those who are not spiritually and able
to know and to learn of God and being taught of God, that those
things are mysteries to them. But as Paul said, to us who are
the perfect, those who are robed in the righteousness of God,
those who have been born again and given spiritual understanding,
God has given us the ability to understand spiritual things
as he teaches and reveals them to us. And so we are ministers
of those things that are mysteries to the outward people. We minister
those things to the people that are perfect. And when we think
about the mysteries of God, we think about all kinds of things.
We think about how we are in union with Christ Jesus. We think
about how God, the mysteries of godliness, how Christ, God,
how God came as man in Christ Jesus. and that union between
God and man, how could that be? When we think about the mysteries
of God, we think about Christ dying. How can God die? How can
God do the things that he did? How can God love sinners and
justify sinners? When we look at the mystery of
God, we look at Christ's love for the church. That's a mystery. We look at the Godhead itself
and how it is a mystery and how we can have the triunity of the
Godhead, but one God with Jesus Christ being the manifestation
of that God. It's just an amazing thing that
goes beyond reason and without the teaching of the Holy Spirit,
it truly is a mystery. He goes on, he says, okay, so
we see that they're the ministers of Christ and the stewards of
the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that
a man be found faithful, that a man be found faithful. If we're
to be stewards of God, if we are to be preachers of God, we
are to be found faithful. That means that we need to be
in God's word. We need to be studying God's
word. praying that God give us understanding, that we might
seek the Word of God for everything that we know, and that whenever
we preach, we don't preach our dogmas, we don't preach our presuppositions,
we don't preach our candy sticks, as we've heard before. We preach
unbridled the Word of God, whether it steps on our toes or it doesn't
step on our toes, We're to preach the Word of God. We're to preach
the Word of God no matter who's in our audience. We're to preach
the Word of God and be faithful to the Word of God. The Word
of God isn't to be changed because of our circumstances. The Word
of God is not to be changed because of our society. The Word of God
never changes. It's always the same. And the
Word of God is, as I quoted earlier, all Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable. The Word of God is profitable
for correction, for instruction, for reproof, for rebuke, to equip
the child of God for every work of service. And so the Word of
God, if we faithfully study God's Word, faithfully pray that the
Lord give us understanding, and then faithfully deliver the Word
of God, and not worry, we don't have to worry about the outcomes. I remember back when I was a
younger preacher, whenever I first started, I would study and study
and study and study and study. I would write my sermons out
word for word, how I wanted to preach them. So I made sure that,
you know, I didn't chase rabbits, that I didn't miss anything.
And I would write those things out. And then I would go and
I would preach and then nothing would happen. Nobody would make
a decision for Jesus. Of course, that was back when
I was an Armenian and we had our altar calls and things like
that. Nobody would come to the front, to the altar, quote-unquote,
the altar. And I would go away discouraged. I'd go away depressed because
I spent all that time, all that preparation, and then whenever
I preached, all that fervor of preaching God's Word and never
seeing a result happen from it. I begin to think, well, maybe
it's because of what I'm saying. So I would adjust the things
that I would say to be more pleasing to men. And that's what the Bible
teaches, that men began to gather around them, men that tickled
their ear. Well, I began to want to tickle
people's ears so that they might pat me on the back. Oh, you're
a good preacher. Oh, that was a great message.
Shake my hand. You come back. You know, we want
you to come back, preacher or whatever the case might be. Brethren,
we need to be found faithful preaching God's Word in season,
out of season. We need to be faithful preaching
God's Word no matter who it is that we might offend. We are
to preach God's Word. And I'm thankful for faithful
preachers out there that preach God's Word and stick to God's
Word. Listen, we're living in a day
where churches all over the city are preaching a message to pander
to the people of the day. They're preaching a message now
to soften down the stand against sodomy, homosexuality. They're preaching a message of
acceptance and love and compassion and they're not preaching that
that's sin so that they might be accepted because they're afraid
of either the ridicule or the abuse or even the condemnation
of the city or of the government or whoever. They're afraid of
that so they change their words and they don't faithfully preach
about that. About marriage, about finances, whatever the case might
be, Men are out there preaching unfaithfully so that they might
keep their crowds, keep their money rolling in, keep their
fame, keep their popularity. We need faithful men of God preaching
the word of God. Look at verse three, it says,
but with me it is very small thing that I should be judged
of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not my own self. Paul here is saying, hey, listen,
it doesn't matter what other people think of me. I don't care
what other people think. If I'm going to be a faithful
steward, I cannot worry about what other people think. If there
are preachers out there who want to be faithful preachers, they're
going to be persecuted. They're going to be ridiculed.
Whenever the Lord teaches them some things and they begin to
preach those things, sometimes that may even be outside the
norm of what most people understand. Listen, they're going to be ridiculed.
They're going to be attacked. And if you're going to be a faithful
child of God, a faithful preacher of God, you can't worry about
what other men say. Now, you do need to take into
account the Word of God. We need to look to God's Word.
If a man is preaching in error and teaching in error, he needs
to be corrected by God's Word. But that goes back to being a
faithful steward. If you're a man being found a
faithful steward, preaching the word of God and everything, there
will be people from without that are going to judge you. And most
of that's going to come from the religious community. Just like here in Joplin, we
preach free and sovereign grace here. We preach imputed righteousness
here. And what happens to all these
churches that's out there? Oh, that's that church over there
that preaches that God doesn't love everybody. Oh, that's that
church over there that preaches that Jesus didn't die for everybody. See, so there will become a judgment
upon the man of God who faithfully preaches the word of God. But
Paul here is saying, for me, it's a very small thing that
I should be judged of you. He doesn't care what men's judgment
about him is, as long as he's the faithful minister or steward
of God's word. Verse four, it says, for I know
nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified, but he that
judges me is the Lord. Okay, so we know nothing by ourselves. We have to be taught of God.
Verse five, therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord
come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest the counsels of the heart, and then shall
every man have praise of God. Okay, so here it says, judge
nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will
bring to light the hidden things of God. If I know a brother that
I believe is not preaching something that I agree with, and I present
him the word of God, and try to instruct and correct him,
and he doesn't listen to that, or he doesn't see that, then
I continue to just pray for that man, give him time that the Holy
Spirit might give him time. Now, whenever we're talking about
in the church, whenever we come together, we're to be in unity
of doctrine, unity of spirit here. At that point, you know,
in our church, if there is a doctrine contrary to the doctrine that
we preach and teach here, which should be the doctrine of Christ,
then we have to deal with that. And the Bible tells us that we
are to exercise discipline upon those within our membership there. But whenever we do these things,
we don't judge the person as, well, you don't agree with me,
so you're obviously lost, you're a heretic, and you're lost, and
you're not converted. No, matter of fact, even here
in Corinth, Look, matter of fact, turn back with me a couple pages
there to the first chapter at the very beginning. Remember, the church at Corinth
was messed up bad. They had all kinds of wrong doctrine
that they were doing, that they were preaching. It says, under
the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be saints with all that in every
place, call upon the name of our Christ, our Lord, both theirs
and ours. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always
on behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ."
He believes that they've been given the grace of God. He says,
drop down, if you would, to verse 10. He says, Now I beseech you,
brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all
speak the same things. Paul here is addressing this
errant church, this church that's in turmoil and discord, this
church that has got all kinds of doctrinal problems. He still
considers them brothers. Why? Because there needs to be
a time of correction. There needs to be a time of instruction
and reprove and rebuke. And there needs to be a time
of repentance, a time of study, a time of learning. You know,
all of us, I think, in sophomore grade circles, we believe that
a man must be taught of God, that there's no way that we can
understand the Word of God without the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
but yet then we turn on each other and we pound each other
into the dirt when somebody doesn't agree exactly with us. And we
think that just because we said it to them that they automatically
ought to just say, oh, well, okay, I'm going to change my
mind and believe it. Brethren, it takes the revelation
of the Holy Spirit. It takes the teaching of the
Spirit. And that sometimes doesn't come
right now. It takes time. and we need to
be patient and along suffering with our brothers and sisters
in Christ whenever we are confronting them or when we are being confronted
with things of correction. And so Paul here, he says, therefore
judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who both
will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make
manifest the counsels of the heart and then shall every man
have praise of God. I look forward to that day whenever
we come before the Lord. And as we have been looking in
the glass darkly, we will see clearly, we will know, the Lord
will explain fuller to us the things of God. We will understand
these. And finally, all these debates
that we've had for years and years and years over everything
will be settled. And in the end, we'll be praising
God. And thank God we won't be pointing fingers at each other
saying, see, I told you so. Verse six, it says, and these
things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred
to myself and to Apollos for your sakes. What is he talking
about? He's going back to the illustration
that he had of Apollos and Paul and how they were choosing up
sides and getting into cliques and groups and saying, well,
I'm of the group of Paul, well, I'm of the group of Apollos,
okay? And how Paul will give the illustration
how one plants and how one waters. He said, I've given this figure
to you of myself and Apollos for your sakes that you might
learn in us not to think of men above which is written that no
one of you be puffed up for one against another. He's saying,
if you're a minister of God, if you are a steward, then that
means you are a servant of God. You're the lowest of low. You're
the servant of God. And he said, here I am, I'm Paul,
the apostle. And here is Apollos, the silver
tongue preacher. But both of us are just waterers
and planters. The only one that gets glory
is God, because he gets the increase. So there should be no puffing
up. Paul has his place. Apollos has his place. Mike Smith
has his place. J.C. Fulton, Roy Smith, all these
guys out there that are preachers, they have their place to do what
God has called them to do. And we should not be puffed up
and say, well, look at my ministry. Look how well I'm doing. Look
how much I know. See, we shouldn't look out. And listen, we as people shouldn't
be puffing preachers up, because that helps them to become puffed
up as well. Verse seven, this is the reason
why. Paul asked the question, for
who maketh thee to differ from another? For any other preacher
to look down on another preacher and to tell him, You know, well,
you just need to listen to what I tell you to do. For another
preacher to look down on another preacher and just say, well,
you know, you just don't know enough. You're not scholarly
enough. That's condescension. That is puffed upness. This is
the very thing that Paul was talking about. He said not to
be puffed up. If you know anything, if I know
anything, if I understand anything, If I'm able to deliver a message
or preach a message, and if anybody is spiritually edified by that,
it's not because of Mike Smith. It's not because I learn more
than anybody else. It's not because I have more
learning than anybody else. If anybody is taught from the
preaching of Mike Smith, it is because the Holy Spirit with
the Word of God touched the heart and mind of that person and give
them revelation of the truth that was confirmed in God's Word
and by that preacher, whether it's me or anybody else. See,
what maketh thee to differ? What makes you better than this
guy? If you know more than this guy does, it's not because you're
something special or you did the work and put in the work
and just was able to become a more wiser person in the Scriptures.
No, you are what you are because God did it. And guess what? God can also take it away. God
can also take it away. He can blind your eyes from learning. God can also make the other man
know more and exceed in wisdom above all. And I think Solomon,
he could ask for anything whenever he prayed to the Lord. He could
have asked for anything. Whenever God said, you know,
ask anything and I'll give it to you. He could have asked for
anything. And all he did is he had said, You know, I need wisdom,
I need wisdom. We need men who pray for wisdom
instead of lauding their wisdom. It says, for who maketh thee
to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not
receive? Now if thou didst receive it,
why didst thou glory as if thou hast not received it? You want your accolades? You'll
get your accolades here in this life. You want your rewards? You'll get your rewards here
in this life. If you want your puffed up pats on the back and
your followers to follow after you, you'll have it in this life,
brother. But know one thing. that if you
have anything of spiritual value, if you have anything of spiritual
worth, if you have anything of spiritual merit, if you have
anything of spiritual edification towards another, it is only because
of God's work in you and God's work in the listener. Verse 8,
now Paul is becoming a little bit sarcastic here, as Paul often
does in his He's becoming sarcastic. He's fixing to contrast him and
the apostles with this Corinthian church. Now notice, now remember,
y'all know what sarcasm is, right? Sarcasm is someone saying something
outlandish or saying something that's usually not true to prove
a truth, right? And so we can be sarcastic. Well here Paul is using sarcasm
to prove a point to these Corinthians. Now look at it in verse eight.
He says, now ye are full. Now ye are rich. See he's talking
to these Corinthians and saying, you guys think you're rich? You
think you're full? Not belly full, but that you
have it all, that you have everything that's required of it, everything
that's needed. Now ye are full, don't need anything else. Self-sufficient. You've got it all. Nobody can
teach you anything. You've learned. You've been to
seminary. You've got your degree. You're
a master in Greek and Hebrew. And now you're the instructor
of instructors. You have it all. You don't need
anything else. Look what he's saying. Now you're full. Now
you're rich. You have reigned as kings without
us. And I would to God you did reign
that we also might reign with you. See, these men thought they had
everything that they needed. They thought they were self-sufficient.
But yet Paul here is about to lay the axe to the roof. He says,
for I think that God has set forth us apostles last, as it
were appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto
the world and to angels and unto men. See, whenever you're preaching
the truth of God's word, you become a spectacle under the
world. You become persecuted, you become
looked down on by the world, not allotted by the world. Listen,
if you're a preacher that the whole entire world loves, something's
wrong with you. Something's wrong with your message.
He says, he says, we are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are
wise in Christ. We are weak, but he are strong. He's not saying that as a fact.
They're not weak. I mean, excuse me. They're not
strong. They're not wise. They think
they're wise. They think they're strong because
of their worldly wisdom. They think they're wise and strong
because of their learning of man and tradition and following
after the things that men look at. But Christ here is saying
through Paul, He's saying, listen, if you're a good steward, going
back to verse one, let a man account himself as the ministers
of Christ, as stewards of the mysteries of God, and that they
should be found faithful, that the stewards of God are gonna
look at themselves as being weak, as being fools. And I find that
often. A lot of times I see some of
these old country preachers, old preachers preaching in little
big churches like this that nobody has ever seen, that sometimes
their understanding of God's Word far exceeds the greatest
professors in these colleges. Yet whenever you talk to them,
they never talk about themselves. They never applaud themselves.
They never try to command the conversation all the time to
show how much they know and how much they learned. Matter of
fact, whenever you talk to a lot of those guys, you'll see that
they really are the first ones to admit, I really don't, I could
be wrong about that, I don't know. But to those that have
listened on that have spiritual leadership, you're like, how
can you even think that? I mean, man, you know more than
just about anybody I've ever met. It says, ye are honorable, but we
are despised. See, they're taking honor upon
themselves. These Corinthians, they are lauding themselves as
wise. They're lauding themselves as
strong in the faith. They're lauding themselves as
honorable men. And men are giving them honor.
And they're taking on that honor. You know, brother, it's a good
habit to have if you're a preacher especially. It's a good habit
that whenever people come and say, you know, I enjoyed your
sermon, that you give the praise to the Lord. You let them know,
you know, hey, we'll praise the Lord for that. You know, if the
Lord taught you, that's the Lord. You know, I'm just sharing the
message. I'm just a preacher. And I try
to do that. so that I don't let myself be
puffed up because it isn't about me. Just like this passage said,
what made me to differ? The only reason I'm up here preaching
to you is because of God, not because of me. It wasn't because
I got down and learned more than you did. It's because God. And
he says here, he says, these men, while they're walking around
acting to be the wise and the strong and the honorable, The
true stewards of God are the ones who are the fools, the weak,
and the despised. Verse 11, he says, even unto
this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked and
are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place. He's saying,
listen, you want a good glimpse of what a real preacher, what
a real teacher of the Word of God is like? Guess what? This
is going to be your lot. Men are not going to be putting
you up on your shoulders and carrying you around. You're going
to have to suffer for His sake. It says, Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as filth of the world
and are of the offspring of all things under this day. Look at verse 14. I write not
these things to shame you, but as My beloved sons, I warn you.
See, He wasn't doing this just to shame them. He was doing this
so that it might warned them. For though he had 10,000 instructors
in Christ, yet have you not many fathers? For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten
you through the gospel. Wherefore, I beseech you, be
ye followers of me. He said, put down those things
that are puffing you up. That passage in verse 15, for
though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. He said, you got a lot of people
telling you about Christ, telling you what to think, but you don't
have too many fathers that are taking you under their wing and
trying to teach you and instruct you rightly. He says, In Christ
Jesus, I have begotten you or brought you forth through the
gospel. We're never born again by the
gospel. We're brought forth, we're converted
by the gospel. Spiritual life, spiritual birth
is by the immediate work of the Holy Spirit of God, who does
that work independently of any work of man. But yet our conversion,
bringing us to repentance and faith in the true gospel, that
conversion comes by the preaching of the gospel. And Paul begot
them or brought them forth, that's what the word begot means, is
to bring forth or to make manifest. They were made manifest by the
word of God. It says, wherefore I beseech
ye, be ye followers of me, for this cause have I sent unto you
Timotheus, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord. Now, Timotheus wasn't his actual
son, right? This was just a, a euphemism
that Paul used, Timothy would come and was converted under
the ministry of Paul. And just as these Corinthians
was said to be begat by the ministry of Paul, that whenever he said
there, that I begat you through the gospel, then that is another
term for being born, okay, or being brought forth, made manifest. He says, who shall bring you
into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ as I teach
everywhere in every church. One thing I point out here is
this letter isn't just for Christian Corinthian church in that day,
under that understanding of things, under that society, under that
type of people. You know, we hear whenever we
look at the things in Corinth, Well, that was a letter to them
that doesn't have any bearing on us today. Well, Paul here,
not only did he begin this letter by writing it to the people in
Corinth, but to all in every place that call upon the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here he says, the things
that I instructed to you in Corinth, I have also instructed and taught
everywhere in every church. It's a pattern. Paul is following
a pattern. There are many out there today
that believe that there's no such thing as patternism. That's
a new word I learned recently, is patternism. Didn't even know
that word was a thing. But they say that the church
should be following patterns. I can understand if you mean
in following programs, but brethren, there is a pattern that the church
of Jesus Christ is to follow. Number one, the commission is
a pattern. Jesus said that you're to make
disciples, you're to baptize those disciples, and then you're
bringing those disciples back into the membership of the church
and to teach them all things whatsoever Christ has commanded
you. That's a pattern. There's a pattern that they met
and continued in the apostles' doctrine and in the breaking
of bread. They met and they sung hymns.
They met and they had the word of God being preached. That's
a pattern. But here Paul is saying, hey, listen, I have given you
a pattern, I've told you, I've showed you what Christ has said
should be done as far as these things are concerned, about the
Lord's supper, about the way that worship should be, about
the way that family should be conducted. All these things that
we find in Corinth, we find is a pattern that Christ give to
Paul, and Paul faithfully as a steward of God, give that to
the Corinthian church. And so to say that there's not
a pattern within the New Testament church is foolish. He says, I
sent Timothy, who is a beloved son and faithful in the Lord. Notice again there that he's
faithful in the Lord. And he shall bring you into remembrance
of my ways. So he sent Timothy to remind
them of what was taught by Paul. Verse 18, now some are puffed
up as though I would not come to you, but I will come to you
shortly. if the Lord will and will know,
not the speech of them that are puffed up, but the power." And
Paul's saying, listen, you can talk a good stick all you want,
but I am gonna come. And whenever I come, it's not
gonna be coming in the wisdom of the world. It's not gonna
be coming in the wisdom of man, but it's gonna come, as we read
earlier, in the power of God. For the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power. It's not about how well you exegete.
That's important. But it's not in how well you
deliver. That's important too. You should try to deliver as
best as you can. But don't look at that as being
the best thing. Many a man can preach the word
of God who might not be able to speak a proper grammatical sentence, says, For the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power. The building of the kingdom of
God is by God's power. The preservation of the kingdom
of God is by God's power. The continuation of God's kingdom
is by God's power. The preaching of the Kingdom
of God is by power. It's about what God does, not
what man can accomplish in his own efforts. Verse 21, Why will
ye? Shall I come unto you with a
rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? Well, we know that Brother Paul
came in spirit and in meekness. We see a beautiful letter in
the second book to the Corinthians. It's in verse one
of chapter two, second Corinthians. But I determined this with myself,
that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make
you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same
which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same unto you,
lest when I came, I should have sorrow for them of whom I ought
to rejoice, having confidence in you all, that my joy is the
joy of you all. For out of much affliction and
anguish of heart, I wrote unto you, with many tears, not that
ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which
I have more abundantly unto you. But if any have caused grief,
he hath not grieved me, but in part that I may not overcharge
you all. Sufficient to such a man is this
punishment which was inflicted of many, so that contrarywise,
ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps
such a one should be swallowed up over much sorrow. Wherefore, I beseech you, that
you would confirm your love towards him. For to this end also did
I ride, that I might know the proof of you, whether you be
obedient in all things. To whom you forgive anything,
I forgive also. For if I forgive anything, to
whom I forgive it, for your sakes forgive I it in the person of
Christ. Lest Satan should get an advantage
of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. Furthermore,
when I came to Choas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was
opened unto me, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found
not Titus my brother. But taking my leave of them,
I went from thence unto Macedonia. Now thanks be to God, which always
causes us to triumph in Christ, and make it manifest, the Savior
of His knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a
sweet Savior of Christ, and them that are saved, and in them that
perish. We are the saver of death unto death, unto others the saver
of life unto life, and who is sufficient for these things?
For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but
as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we
Christ. And so Paul here has let them
know that his love for this, for them, that whenever he comes,
he didn't want to come in heaviness, that he loved them and that he
wanted them to, their repentance and listening to his instruction was his desire. All right, I
think we'll stop right there before we go on into verse five. Verse five kind of takes a turn
where Paul begins his correction on other things. And we'll pick
up with that, Lord willing, next week. Anybody have any questions
or anything you'd like to add? All right, let's pray. Father, we come to you once again
thanking you for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank you, Father,
for the time that we've had to come and to minister the word
of God together for the time that we have of worship. And Lord, we just pray that it's
been honoring to you. And Father, we thank you for
the message that we have today. And may you help us as your people
and as your ministers to be humble, in the message that we bring,
to be faithful in the message that we bring, and to be long-suffering
with meekness and kindness and gentleness as we minister to
those, especially to those that might oppose the message. Father, we pray that you would
help us. And Lord, we just pray for our church. We ask, Lord,
that you might do a work here, that you might bring others.
into the labors and the ministry and the work here. Father, we
pray for our members that are not here today. We ask that you
might be with them, that you might minister to them. Father,
we pray that you'd be with them in their health. For Sister Louetta,
Lord, we just pray for them, that you might be with her in
her rehabilitation, Lord. We pray for her also, that you
might keep her from depression, being locked up in the assisted
living and not being able to see your family or have anybody
come visit or we just know that that can be very taxing to a
person especially whenever they are going through surgery recovery and rehabilitation
for strokes and things. Father, we lift up to Brother
Larry Armstrong and his family, Lord, after the death this weekend
of Sister Debbie. Lord, we pray that you'll be
with the family, that you'll strengthen and encourage them,
that you'll comfort them in this time, Father, that you might
hold fast their hope that they might see Christ one of these
days and that these bodies will raise and be united with Christ
Jesus and with our loved ones. And so, Father Lord, may you
give them comfort and may their sorrow and grief through this
death, Lord, be a testimony to Christ Jesus. We also pray for
Brother Crawford and his wife that passed away as well these
last few days. And we ask, Lord, that you'd
be with him and his family for the church as they minister to
Brother Crawford. Lord, we just thank you for the
testimony and the life that these two ladies have had before us.
We thank you, Father, for the way that they stood for you and served you,
especially Sister Crawford and the many times that she give
kind words to our family and to our church and for the many
hours of service that she's done for the church there in Choctaw
and during Bible conferences and things. Lord, we just thank
you for these faithful men and women that we encounter around
this country. And Lord, we're thankful for
these churches, we're thankful for the preachers that you've
given to them to faithfully minister the word of God. And Lord, we
just pray as we leave this day that you might enable us to be
witnesses for you wherever we go. Be with us now as we eat,
that you might bless the food that we're about to partake of,
to the nourishment of our bodies, which in Jesus' name we pray,
amen.