The three questions we need to
remember are the three questions listed in 1 Corinthians 4, verse
7. Here's the first question. Who
maketh thee to differ from another? Here's the second. What hast
thou that thou didst not receive? And here's the third. Now if
thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not
received it? The antithesis of glorying in
the Lord only is pride. The very opposite of glorying
in the Lord only is pride. That was the thing that caused
Lucifer to fall in the beginning. I'm persuaded that just from
the fact that how fallen men despise Christ having the preeminence,
that when Lucifer heard Christ would have the preeminence in
eternity, it's when he said, I will ascend into heaven. I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon
the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I'll be like the
most high." The first thing listed in the abominations that the
Lord hates is a proud look. Pride is a deceiver. It's a deceiver. When you watch all the stars
on television, like at award shows and things, they really
believe what everybody's telling them. They really do. They really do think they are
what everybody's telling them. You can tell. You can tell. Pride's a deceiver. It's a deceiver. It's the heart of all division.
It's the heart of all strife. There's none so proud as those
that call themselves humble of all. When this ugly thing starts
to bubble up within us, these three questions are what we need
to remember. Who maketh thee to differ from another? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive
it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Now
here's what I want you to see. If there's any difference, God
did it. If you have anything, God gave
it. And we have no one to glory in
but God only. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? In our natural state, as we're born into this world,
there is no difference between anybody. For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. There's no difference at
all. And yet, even as believers, still in our flesh dwells no
good thing. And in our flesh still, there's
nothing different about us. Our most noble deeds are still
in themselves filthy. Our flesh is dying every day,
just like a leaf in the fall. Our iniquities take us away in
an instant. And if it weren't for the power
of God, The grace of God who says that he will subdue our
iniquities, that sin shall not have dominion over us if it weren't
for his power working in us, we'd forsake our God and his
mercies in an instant. Every one of us sitting here
that believe him. Now that's so. Well, there is something
that is different about a believer though. There is a difference. And we'll get to that here in
a moment. But here's the question. Who maketh thee to differ? Who
maketh thee to differ? When the children of Israel were
in bondage, look with me over here at Exodus chapter 11. When the children of Israel were
in bondage, this is a picture, a good illustration for us. You
know there was no difference between the children of Israel
who were in bondage and the Egyptians? There was no difference in them.
They were all alike in bondage. It's just that one worm had the
other worm in bondage, had them actually in slavery. But they
were all in bondage, every one of them, every one of them. But
God declares who made the difference. Look at Exodus 11, 4. Moses said,
Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst
of Egypt, and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die,
from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne,
even in the king's house, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant
that is behind the mill, that is, from the least to the greatest. and all the firstborn of beasts.
And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt,
such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel." And that's how the difference is
made. The Lord puts the difference between. In sovereign electing
grace, it's the Lord who puts the difference between men and
men. God hath from the beginning chosen
you unto salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel. This is the The
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ we're talking about, and if we're
going to be brought to His glory, it's going to be by God's sovereign
prerogative, by His choice. The grace of Christ's redemptive
blood makes His children to differ from others. He came to where
we are, He lived and He died, and He redeemed His children
out of bondage, out from the guilt of sin, and He redeemed
us out of the power of sin so that He can send forth the Holy
Spirit and free us from sin's dominion in spirit and in truth. Christ did this. Revelation 5.9
says, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals
thereof for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
The grace of the Holy Spirit's effectual call makes his children
to differ. Look over Titus chapter 3. Titus
chapter 3. Look at verse 3. We ourselves also are sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving different lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But after
that, the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing
of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Savior. Well, who keeps you to differ
as you go through this life believing on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do
you do that? God does that too. He makes us
to differ. We're kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. It's God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. And look with
me at Matthew 25, verse 31. There's coming a day When Christ speaks and He raises
all from the dead, and there's going to come a day in resurrection
glory when God shall declare He's made the difference, even
in resurrection glory. Matthew 25, verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all nations. And He shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And
He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on
the left. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, come, ye blessed of my father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took
me in. Naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited
me. I was in prison and you came unto me. This is the grace of
God and he is the only one who makes thee to differ. All right,
here's the next question. What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Well, are you a new creature? Have you been created anew in
righteousness and true holiness by the Spirit of God? Well, we
didn't have anything to do with that. That was given to us. Created
by God. The Spirit, the Lord said, the
Spirit quickens. The flesh profits nothing. The
words that I speak, he said, they're spirit and they're life.
Well, have you repented? Have you believed on Christ?
God gave that to you. Ephesians 2.8 says, by grace
you're saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Well, have you been justified?
Have you been sanctified? Have you been made righteous?
That's a gift, a gift, and a gift. Every bit of it. As such were
some of you, but you're washed, you're sanctified, you're justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
All a gift. Do you bear fruit? Look at Galatians
5.22. Do you bear fruit? If you're a believer, you do. Is that a gift? Galatians 5.22. The fruit of the Spirit. That means that's where it came
from. That's who produced it. That
means it was a gift to you. The fruit of the Spirit. is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law,
and it's the fruit of the spirit. Well, it matters greatly how
we live. That matters a great deal. Are
you zealous for good works? Are you zealous for good works?
If you are, that's a gift, too. Ephesians 2.10 says, We are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Turn
over to Titus 2 again with me. I want you to see this. Titus
2. It matters greatly if we serve
the Lord and follow after Him. or zealous for good works, where
do we learn these things? Who teaches us these things in
the heart and gives us a heart and a willingness, a desire to
honor our God? Titus 2.11, the grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching
us. That's how we're taught. It's
the grace of God that brings salvation. teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He, that He, this
is what He's done, might redeem us from all iniquity, and that
He might purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. And that's what he's done. That's
what he's done. And it's a gift. If we have a
zeal to follow after him and to walk after him and to honor
him in all that we do, it's a gift. What about everything that happens
in providence in our life? Whether we think it's good or
we think it's bad. What about every bit of it that
happens in our life? All things work together for
good to them who are called of God, to them that love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. Everything. If
the trial is needful, God will give it, and it's a gift. It
really is. If the times are good, it's needful,
and God gives them, and it's a gift. And all together, all
things by Him are worked together for the good of His children.
Every bit of it. It's a gift. Do you have eternal
life? The Scripture says the wages
of sin is death. But the gift of God, the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is
the record God hath given to us, eternal life, and this life's
in His Son. Well, look at 1 Peter. We've
been seeing this some as we've been going through 1 Peter. You have a gift awaiting you
that you haven't even seen yet. We don't even know what it's
going to be like. We just know it's there and it's ours. Look
at 1 Peter 1.4. an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you."
So what do we have that we didn't receive? If you can think of
anything else, it's in this book. And God gave it to you. And I'll
leave it to you to find it. But I try to think of everything
I could think of that we have that matters to us. And this
is all, everything. So what do we have that we didn't
receive? Nothing. We don't have anything that was
not freely given to us of God. Nothing in nature, nothing in
grace, nothing in time, nothing in eternity. Everything is a
gift of God's free grace to his children. Now here's the third
question. It's the last question. Now,
if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst
not received it? When we're reminded of who makes
the difference, God only, reminded that everything that we have,
He's given it to us. Doesn't it make us feel like
total morons for us to glory as if we didn't receive anything?
Doesn't it? The Pharisee stood and he prayed
with himself, saying, God, I thank Thee that I'm not as other men
are. But he wasn't thanking God. He was patting himself on the
back. He was saying, I'm not an extortioner, I'm not unjust,
I'm not an adulterer, I'm not like this publican over here. But Paul said, by the grace of
God, I am what I am. The psalmist said, not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. Turn over to Jeremiah 9. We'll
close with this. Jeremiah 9. Verse 23. Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in
the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. Let's pray together.