with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. I would like for us to look at
verses 8 through the end of the chapter. 8 to 21. The Spirit
of God and moved upon the Apostle Paul
to deal with the situation that was found in the church at Corinth. And what the situation was, was
that there were divisions found among the people concerning their
different preferences among preachers of the gospel. They were the
preachers of the gospel, but they were segmenting themselves. And though it appears that a
situation like that, I've said before, I understand, I can understand
appreciating, listening to preachers. If I'm going to listen, I usually
will listen to certain ones that I enjoy. And it's not that I
want to be omitting someone, but it's just how we're human. That's what we do. I know how
that is. But the problem was that it was
not just someone saying, well, I just prefer, you know, I kind
of like to listen to so-and-so, and then letting go. What was
happening is, it was actually causing division. It was causing
some problems. And people were, you know, a
click. And the apostles designed. in writing to this church at
Corinth was to heal the divisions found within the assembly because
of the people and their dogmatic preferences. And the Apostle
Paul had explained to them, you know, we're just ministers. We're
ministers called of God, taught of God, and we're to be faithful
stewards of the gospel and God's gift to His church, these different
preachers. So, the apostle wisely told the
people, you know, because of your thoughts, you're setting
yourselves up and making yourselves to be judges over God's gift
to you. You're thinking way too highly
of yourselves. And so, he's telling the people,
he said, I want you to remember something. Preachers that God
has called taught the gospel of God's grace. He said, these
are gifts from the Lord. And he said, I want you to understand,
he said, the struggles that these preachers go through. He said
the trials and tribulations. King David cried unto the Lord
because of the burden of men's hatred and resentment, especially
found among the world's Religious resentment. By and large, you
don't find outwardly, I guess, I don't know men's heart, but
I can tell you this, by and large, you don't find people that make
no outward religious commitment. Really, outwardly, I'll say it
like that, resenting preachers of the gospel. But preachers
of the gospel among the religion of this world and their resentment
to God's preachers is pretty dogmatic, pretty real. David said this concerning the
burden that God's preachers, God's people, but especially
God's preachers, those that God has put in positions of leadership,
like David, King, he said, I am a wonder. That is a shocking
sight and a spectacle. I am a wonder unto many, but
thou art my strong refuge. The Lord had told His disciples,
He said, you're going to be hated. You're going to be hated for
My namesake. People are going to hear what
you're saying, and when they hear what you're saying, unless
the Spirit of God gives them an understanding of what you're
saying, and gives them a heart for it, they're going to hate
you for what you're saying. Because what you're saying is you're saying they're wrong.
And they're lost. That's what you're saying. But is that not what the Lord
said through the Apostle Paul? Look at Galatians. I've quoted
this before. Look at Galatians chapter 1.
Verse, I think, 8 or 9. 8. Galatians 1. Though we, or an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be cursed of God. He said if we, or an angel, preaches
another gospel, a gospel that gives man the glory, or exercising
His free will, or His free works to do something, to be saved. Paul said, if we preach another
gospel, let it be accursed. Woe, Paul says, woe is unto me
if I preach not the gospel. Let me tell you what the word
woe signifies. May I be damned. May I be damned, damned of God,
sent to hell if I preach not the gospel. So whenever the bickering over
this, they were having squabbles. So now I want us to consider
how the Lord has set forth through the Apostle Paul the dealing with this subject. And so Paul,
now he's going to correct them, he's going to talk to them. And
as we go through these scriptures, I went over these scriptures
time and time and time again, and to try to get the heart and
the message of what he was saying to them. And realizing that what
they had done, what they were doing, is they were lifting themselves
up in their minds. seeing themselves as spiritual
giants, able to discern who was the more gifted or who was the
better of the preachers. I heard Brother Henry say one
time, he said, Many may preach better than I do, but they won't
preach a better gospel than I preach. So we all preach. All God's preachers
preach the same message. They preach the same gospel.
Same message from heaven. Now let's see what the Apostle
Paul says then. And again, remember, as he's dealing with them, he's
dealing with them under the inspiration of God's Spirit. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. So what did the Spirit of God
tell Paul to say? Verse 8, 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." Now, here's what he's saying. He said,
in your opinion, you see yourselves as being filled up. That's what
he's saying. He said, you're full. You see
yourselves as being filled up spiritually. You can take no
more. You can take no more instruction
or growth. He said you have no further need
of instruction or correction. What he's saying is you see yourselves
as having arrived spiritually. You think yourself rich, rich
in grace and reigning as kings without need of counsel. from the ministers that have
been sent from God. Ministers of God's choosing. He's telling them, he said, you're
acting as if the Lord had already come, had returned, and they
were already enjoying the blessedness of the Messiah's reign. Now listen
to what he's saying. I'll read it again. He says,
now you're full. Now you're rich, you have reigned
as kings without us, no further need, no further need of us. I would to God you did reign,
that we also might reign with you." He said, your behavior
reveals that you don't see yourselves. as you really are. Your actions
reveal your immaturity, showing that you are in need of correction. You are in need of teaching. He said you're acting like children
and you're understanding. That's what he had told him over
and 1 Corinthians 3, 1-3, "...and I, brethren, could not speak
unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto
babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with
meek, for hitherto you were not able to bear it. Neither yet
now are you able, for you are yet carnal. For whereas there
is among you envy, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal
and walk as men?" He said, you see yourselves. You think, I've
come to such a point to where God sends a preacher and he said,
you just nitpick him and just put this one over him. Oh, he's preaching? Well, I don't
know. I'd rather not come. I'd rather
not hear him. Look at verse 9. He said, For
I think, I think that God has set forth us, the apostles, last. For as it were appointed to death,
For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and
to men." He's declaring. He said, it appears as though
to me. For I think that God hath. This
is the way I'm seeing it. He said, while you think you've
arrived spiritually, you're reigning as kings. That's how you see
yourselves. The Lord, He said, has actually
been pleased to set us, His apostles, to be exhibited as nothing more
than spectacles before wicked men and angels. He said, we're
actually being made nothing more than sport. He said, while you're
arguing over who is the better of the preachers, here's those
preachers that people are bickering over. He says, the world is looking
at them as nothing more than enemies. who have been taken
hostage by a conquering king. You know, kings used to go in
there and conquer a nation or a city or something like that
and they'd take all those that they'd conquered and they'd parade
them through their city where they were from. You know, they'd
come back and they're the spoils of war. And at the very end,
the dregs of the society, the scum, You know? He said they
were the ones who were actually sentenced to death and ridiculed
as they were being paraded in front of everybody else. This
is what Paul said. He said, I think that God has
set us, while you're bickering, God has set us forth, the apostles,
last. We're the ones, so to speak,
carrying up the rear here. And he said, as we were appointed
like those spoils of war to death, we're made a spectacle unto the
world. And angels and men, angels that
look into these things with wonder of the mercy and redemption of
God, beholding what's actually going on. He said, verse 10,
we're fools for Christ's sake, but you're wise in Christ. We're
weak, but you're strong. You're honorable, we're despised. He continues his correction at
Christ by those who foolishly thought themselves to be wise
by contrasting their situation, what they thought they were,
in the true situation of God called preachers. He said, we're
looked at like fools to the world for who we love, the Lord, the
Lord God of heaven, Christ. And for what we preach the gospel. And he said, while we're looked
upon with disdain, he said, you consider yourself to be so wise
and so uppity and exalted, kings reigning. He said, we're weak
and we know it. He said, we know ourselves to
be so. You consider yourselves along with those who see you
also as wise. You see yourselves and those
like you to be strong. And he said, you're objects of
respect among men because of your supposed knowledge and success
We have nothing but contempt. And what the apostle was telling
them was this, he said, when you act with disrespect toward,
especially God's preachers, and put one over another one, and
you know, elevate them, and he said, you form divisions, and
you get cliques and things, and he said, when you act like the
world acts, he said, they accept you. But he said, but I'm warning
you about something. I'm warning you concerning your
pride and your friendship with the world. And then the Apostle
Paul in verses 11 and 12 describes the true state of all who will
live godly in this world and suffer. Verse 11 and 12, he said,
even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, buffeted,
we have no certain dwelling place, and labor, working with our own
hands, being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suffer. You know, the sufferings that
all those called of God will suffer. whatever state that they're
found to be in. They realize that it's only by
the grace of God that I know anything, that I love Him, that
I want to be found in Him. But for those that see themselves
as elevated spiritual giants, and he said, you're not realizing
the state of those men that you're trying to you know, pit one against
the other or within the congregation, trying to start cliques. He said,
you have continually, he said, you have no resistance from the
world. He said, we're subject to hunger,
to thirst, to wear whatever we can, beaten. He said, actually
no place to call home. Times we have to toil to make
a living when we're reproached. He said, by the grace of God,
we patiently submit to it without complaint. Verse 13, being defamed,
we entreat, we are made the filth of the world and are the off-scouring
of all things unto this day. Being defamed. That is, having
evil deeds ascribed to us. I can't help but think of the
things that I've heard. concerning what was said for
years and years and years, those of you that have been here forever,
concerning our blessed pastor, things that were said concerning
him. Why? Why? Why? Because he preached the truth.
Because he preached the truth. Defamed. just, he said, we're
defamed. Just evil deeds are ascribed
to us, he said, but we entreat. We return, as the Lord did, abuse
with kindness. He said, we're made as the filth
of the world. The off-scouring of all things
and to this day, he said, we're considered by the world's standard. Now this is, you know, and I
I keep wanting to preface this, this is absolutely moved upon
the Apostle Paul by the Spirit of God to say just exactly what
he said. The Spirit of God told him to say this. And therefore,
knowing that the Spirit of God said to say this, this is what
he said. He said, we, he's talking about
himself and preachers like him. He said, we're considered by
this world's standard. to be the filthiest of mankind,
the dregs of the earth, of society, the refuge, only fit to be put
to death for the good of others. Why do you think they killed
Stephen? Why do you think they killed
the Lord? What was the thinking of those that crucified? He's a blasphemer. He made himself be God. Paul
said, you know, this is the way that we're looked upon in this
world. And the best friend The best
friend that any of us have ever had, the best friend we've ever
had, is to have somebody tell us the truth concerning God of
Heaven. That was the best friend we ever
had. Because faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Tell me the truth. I'm sure I
told you this, but I heard Brother Henry say, He said there was
a man lying on his deathbed. Henry went by to see him. Asked
him, he said, how are you doing? He said, I'm doing okay if you've
been telling me the truth. The man was getting ready to
leave this world. But as far as those that believe
not the truth, a preacher of the gospel of God's grace is
a despised person. despised. But here's what the
Spirit of God has revealed concerning God's people. All of them, all
of them, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,
were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheep skins,
goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom
the world was not worthy. You know, that's such a humbling
scripture. The world wasn't worthy of them.
And a believer looks at himself and says this, I'm the one that's
not worthy. In me, there dwelleth no good
thing. That's what Paul says. But concerning
the way they're considered and looked upon, truly, they're despised. Look at verse 14. I write not
these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. Paul's saying, I'm not saying
this to cover you with shame, but rather to bring the truth
to your minds. and to admonish you with parental
affection, to be a help to you, hoping that you would, by the
grace of God, experience this pleasure with yourself. That's
what God's people do. They see something of themselves,
and they say, oh, wretched man that I am. Just why? For imagining
yourselves to be so wise, And obviously when you see yourself
like that, you're not. To see yourself so elevated and
so have arrived, you know you haven't. For I thought, no no
I'm sorry, for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ,
yet have you not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten
you through the gospel. The Apostle Paul then relates
the tenderness. It told him in verse 14, he said,
I'm not telling you this to shame you, but as my beloved sons,
I warn you. I think of a parent talking to
their child and seeing a problem. having to correct them and have
them tell something. You know, he's saying, I'm not
just saying this to hurt your feelings. I'm not saying this
to shame you. But as my beloved sons, I'm warning
you. I'm warning you about something.
He says, though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, He said,
you were bickering about, I like Cephas, I like Paul, I like Apollos,
I just hear Christ. If you have 10,000 instructors,
he said, yet you have not many fathers. A father in the faith. Those that the Lord was pleased
to teach you from the first, from the beginning. of the gospel. He said, I have a heart for you
because I see what's happening. He said, the Lord could send
10,000 teachers, faithful preachers of the gospel, but you don't
have many fathers or parents, you only have one, is what he's
saying. And he said, I was the one that the Lord was pleased
to use as He blessed the preaching of the gospel to your conversion.
a father that you, you know, should have the same respect
for that I have for you." He said, I was the one, he said,
you're very tender to me. And as a spiritual parent, he
said, I want to tell you something, I want to tell you what's going
on. Because he said, I see, I see a problem. The Spirit of God
had shown him some things. Look what he said. Wherefore,
verse 16, I beseech you, be ye followers of me, you know, because
I am your father in the faith, the one that the Lord was pleased
to use, the one who the Lord first gave a love for him through
the preaching that I preached to you. He said, I urge you to
be followers are imitators of me, not obviously at the expense
of following Christ. But follow me as I follow Christ,
is what Paul was saying. Don't depart from the message
that I preach. I can understand that. I would
say, listen, don't... Don't, you know, don't depart
from the truth. You know, if God keeps a man,
He's going to keep him. But that's the admonishment,
you know. Listen to Hebrews 13, 7. Remember
them that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you
the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of
their conversation. And then he said in verse 17,
for this cause, I have sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved
son and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance
of my ways, which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every
church." Now, again, according to the leadership of the Spirit
of God, nothing was more needful for these Corinthians than that
one would be sent to be a reminder to them of how the Lord had blessed
them, as Paul was found among them. He's writing a letter to
them. But he was there at one time. And he said, I'm going
to send Timothy. I'm going to send Timothy
to you. He said, My beloved son and faithful
in the Lord. Now, concerning Timothy, hold
your place right there and turn over to 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy
1 verses 1 and 2. Paul loved these people. The Lord had blessed the preaching
of the gospel to them. He had blessed the ministry.
And many of them were converted under Paul's ministry. And now
Paul is gone and he's heard what's going on. He's heard of the bickering. I've got four kids. And my four kids were bickering
about something. And it was ridiculous. And it caused division in the
home. Neil, you're kids, you're just
kids, you know. And you're writing him a letter
saying, listen, listen. This shouldn't be. He's writing
this letter and he said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna send Timothy
to you. He said, my beloved son, faithful
in the Lord, but let me tell you, here's what, Here's Timothy. 1 Timothy 1, verses 1 and 2.
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our
Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope, unto Timothy,
my own son in the faith, grace, mercy, and peace from God our
Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, Timothy was one that had
heard the gospel from Paul. And the Spirit of God blessed
the Word to Timothy through the Apostle Paul. You know, Paul
didn't have any power to grant faith. Paul preached the Gospel,
but God blessed it. And He blessed it to Timothy's
conversion. So he was a son. He said, you're
my son, beloved son in the faith. That's what he's doing. And he's
writing now to this church in Corinth, and he's telling them,
he said, many of you, I was your spiritual father that the Lord
blessed the message through the message that I was preaching.
God blessed it, and you were converted unto the ministry. And he said, now I'm going to
do something. He said, I'm going to, verse 17, I'm going to send
Timothy, my beloved son, faithful, in the Lord. Here's what he's
doing. He said they needed to be reminded
concerning their conduct from one that was like many of them. One that was also converted under
Paul's ministry. He sent a man named Timothy that
could relate to the people that were there in Corinth. that he
was a faithful man, faithful in the gospel. Let me just, again,
one more time here, just get real personal. Many of you came
up under Brother Scott. You heard the gospel from Brother
Scott. God raised up a faithful, faithful
preacher of the gospel, and taught you, and taught you well. taught
you consistently, and the Lord blessed it, and established this
church, coming up now 62 years ago, this next month, concerning those things that
He taught you. He was pleased, just like Paul
said, I'm going to send Timothy, who shall bring into your remembrance
of my ways which be in Christ, The Lord was pleased, because
I'm going to tell you right now, there'd never be another Brother
Scott, you know. The Lord was pleased to bless
his ministry and take it. And then he was pleased to send
another pastor here. And the message that I preach,
like Timothy going there and preaching, he preached just exactly
what Paul preached. Preached to those people there.
And concerning the things that were taught to the believers
here at Katy, The things that Brother Scott preached, I, by
the grace of God, preach the same things, say the same things.
I heard Brother Scott say that. But see what I'm saying? Paul
said, I love you. I'm concerned about you. I'm
not there anymore. But I'm going to send Timothy,
and he's going to preach, you know, and bring back to remember,
bring into your remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ.
He said in verses 18 and 19, he said, But 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 we'll know, not the speech
of them which are puffed up, but the power. Paul, by sending
Timothy, he wanted them to know that that action, sending Timothy,
was not because he didn't plan to come back. He said, I do plan
to come back. But he said, I'm telling you,
he said, based on what I'm hearing, what he knew, he said, there
are some that are puffed up. There are some conceited, arrogant,
haughty in the midst. And you're puffed up over what
they consider to be their spiritual gifts and their position in the
church. And they see themselves as being filled up. But he said,
you're just filled with human wisdom and they're hoping that
Paul wouldn't come back and call them out to have to give an account
of their actions and errors. Now you have to remember this.
Paul was an apostle. He was an apostle. and an apostle
that had been directly taught of God and sent by the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord sent Paul personally
and He said, I will tell you. He said, I will come back. And
He said, I'm going to know. I'm going to know actually what's
going on according to the good pleasure of God. He said, I will. the revelation of God's Spirit,
I'm going to expose those puffed up words, which are going to
be found not according to the working and power of God, it
wasn't to the glory of God, or for the good of the church, or
the conversion of sinners, but it was all for just self-righteousness,
self-gain. So, he said, I'm coming back. He said, for the kingdom, verse
20 and 21, of God is not in word, but in power. What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a
rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?" In closing, we're
reminded the Kingdom of God, that is, the Lord's Church, His
Bride, and the blessing of its manifestation and building up
and establishing that royal dominion of God's people. indwelt by the
Spirit of God, those over whom He's watched eternally, chosen
in Christ, and been pleased to bless by grace and compassion. He said, the Kingdom of God is
not in word, it's not brought about. Not brought about in word
consisting of human wisdom, is what he's talking about. It is
by the word of God, but not in human. It's not in word with
empty religious talk. And this kind of shenanigans,
he said, I'm seeing. He said, that's not building
up the assembly. That's not profiting. That's
not helping. It's harming. He says, just a
vain outward show, but the Kingdom of God consists of the powerful
working of God's Spirit, attending the preaching of God's Gospel
as He is elect, or effectually called out of spiritual darkness,
and taught, just the preaching of the truth. Where the Spirit
of God is, He convicts, He teaches, he converts
God's sheep, brings them to Christ as they buy a new heart. They
bow to the good pleasure of the one who loved them and gave himself
for them. Let's don't be arguing over these
things. Let's don't be bickering over
who's the, you know, this preacher, this preacher. Just realize that
by the grace of God, we're here. That God would send a preacher.
What if there wasn't one here? What if there wasn't a preacher?
What if God didn't send a preacher? He said, what are you going to
bicker over? That's what he's saying, you know. He said, shall
I come, in closing, what will you, what do you desire? Shall
I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of
meekness?" He said, shall I come as one who the Lord God of heaven
has given authority and responsibility to rebuke and correct with the
rod of apostolic discipline. The Lord called these apostles
for the establishing of these churches. These apostles were
given authority to do what they did. He said, do you want me
to come that way and have to exercise? And you know, because of the
account that I'm going to have to give before God, I got to
give an account. You know, I used to tell my children,
I remember telling you this too, usually the stories I have are
just, I wear them out, but that's okay. This one fits here. I tell
my kids every time I had to whip them, which was often, I said, Sarah, Sarah was the
one that actually brought this up to me. She said, after she
was grown, She said, Dad, I never understood what you were talking
about. She said, you'd always say, kids, listen, I love you,
but I'm going to have to spank you. And if I don't spank you,
the Lord's going to spank me. What I was talking about, you
know what I was talking about, later in life, if I don't correct
you, I'm going to suffer because of that. If I don't exercise
my parental responsibility, to discipline my children because
of disobedience, then the Lord's going to deal with me because
He told me to do it, you know, as a parent. And she said, I
never knew what you meant until I had kids. I said, well, that's
it. That's what Paul, he said, do you want me to come with a
rod because of God's command, of the responsibility, or shall
I come with the affection of a father? one who has a pleasant
countenance and meekness of spirit. May we, by the grace of God,
be taught by God's Spirit concerning God's dealing with us. And when
the Lord is pleased to send the hand of chastisement because
of the correction that we need, And anyone that would say, well,
I don't see myself in need of correction. Well, Paul was talking
to a group of them that saw themselves that way. We all need it. We
all need it. And as the Lord is pleased to
correct us, remember why He does. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. Corrects everyone that He receiveth. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart, and may we, by the grace of God, say, I'm in
need of correction. Lord, correct me, for Christ's
sake and my good. Amen.