first eight verses, and by God's
grace say something about them. 1 Corinthians 4, 1. Let a man so
account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the stewards of
the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards
that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small
thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment.
Yea, I judge not mine own self, for I know nothing by myself,
yet am I not thereby justified. But he that judges me is the
Lord. 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 hearts. This shall every
man have praise of God. And in these things, brethren,
I have in a figure transferred to myself into a policy. for
your sakes, that ye might learn in us not to think of men above
that which is written, that not one of you be puffed up one for
one against another. Whom maketh he to differ? And
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst
not receive, if thou didst receive it, why doest thy glories if
thou hast not received it? Now ye are full, now ye are rich,
ye have reigned as kings without us, and I would to God ye did
reign, that ye also But we also might reign with you. You remember
Paul was really concerned over the divisions and factions of
these Corinthians, over personalities, over preachers, disliking certain
ministers and liking others. And that's why he came down there
to say in verse 21 of chapter 3, Therefore let no man glory
in men, because all things are for yours. You know, all things
are yours. The only reason God gave Paul was for your sakes,
our sakes. Apollos, God called him to preach,
gave him a message for your sakes. This world, He raised this world
up, made it, blesses it with the things that are necessary
for you. For you, life, death, things to come, things present,
they're yours, and you're Christ, and Christ is God. Now, it comes
back to this business of the ministry. And there's four things
here that we'll look at. First of all, he describes the
office of the ministers of Christ as the servants of Christ. He
says they're stewards. And then the duty of them, they're
required to be faithful. Then he says that the servants
of the Lord will only face the true judge, the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. They don't even judge themselves.
And he ascribes all gifts to the grace of God, who maketh
you to differ. What have you got that you didn't receive?
So let's start right off here, and Paul says, so let a man count
of us. If God gave us this ministry, if God called us, let a man so
account of us. Let him look upon us as servants
of Christ, called of Christ, called and qualified by Christ,
sent of him to preach his gospel. His servant, not our own servant.
Not our own servant. We're His servants. Paul said,
you know, that we're ambassadors for Christ, as if God by you
did beseech you through us that you be reconciled to Christ.
So that's what we are. We're ambassadors, just servants
of Christ. And every man's a servant. So
what difference does it make? What else he is? He's a servant
of Christ. And then he goes on to say, let
a man so account of us as ministers of Christ and stewards, stewards
of the mysteries of God. Now, steward, and we find in
the scriptures, the word steward's used often. They don't use it
so much today. Maybe in other countries they
do. But what it means is a person that's put in charge of the affairs
of his master's household. He's put in charge, he's over
all the other servants, he manages his affairs, makes his accounts
payable and all that. And you find so many times through
the scriptures where there were Stewards, Joseph was made stewards.
You know, when he brought him up out of the prison, Pharaoh
made him Lord over everything. He said, everything in this nation,
you're over it. Nobody can have anything, do
anything, go anywhere, have nothing unless you give it to them. He
was stewards over those things. And then Eliezer, you remember
Abraham serving Eliezer? He made him swear when he went
down over to get a bride for his son Isaac. And he says, you
know, he said, Father, I don't have an heir. I do not have an
heir. He said, there's nobody going
to have anything. He said, but my servant, I don't
have an heir. My servant Elias is going to get it all. He was
the steward. And that's what Paul said. We're
just stewards. Christ put us over his affairs, over the affairs
of our master. Then what he trusted us with
was this, the mysteries of God. That's what we're stewards of.
Stewards of the grace of God. Stewards of the mysteries of
God. God put us in trust. He says, now this is what you're
over. This is what you deal with. This
is what you must be faithful over. The mysteries of God. And
when he's talking about the mysteries of God here, he's talking about
things that's already been revealed. Not things that's hidden out.
Things that's revealed. The revelation of God. The truth
as it's revealed in Christ. The gospel is what he's talking
about. That's what we've been called to do. Deal with the mysteries
of the gospel, the revelation of God, truth revealed. And I
tell you, that's the way truth is. It's revealed. It's revealed. Not that you know a man can tell
all the truth that there is to tell. But if God does not reveal
it to you, you'll never know it. Now, I tell you, things are
so easy to understand. Free willism is easy to understand.
Free willism, you choose not to choose. I said before you
this day who you're going to choose. You can choose to be
saved or you can choose to be lost. You know, God gives you
your choice. If you exercise your free will,
you can be saved. Anybody can understand that. Anybody can
understand salvation by works. Anybody can understand that.
You know, that you do something, you be obedient, you be a good
man, you be a faithful man, you be a good husband, be a good
Serve and do all the things that you're supposed to do, and then
God will reward you at the end with salvation. Men can understand. They can understand fatalism.
What will be, will be. That, you know, we're out of
everything, you know, it's just fatalism. And men can understand
that with no wisdom behind it, no God behind it, no glory behind
it, none of the divine providence behind it. Man just stands back
and says, well, you know, this world, we've got nothing to say
in it. And they just believe in fatalism. But if you ever
know anything about the gospel, anything about the grace of God,
God's got to reveal that to you. And that's what Paul's saying
about, this mysteries of God's what we've been accounted to
give to us. We're stewards over the mysteries of God, the gospel. And without the truth of the
gospel, and the gospel has to do, and I've said it over and
over and over again, and I think I'm in good company saying this,
the gospel has to do with how God can be just and justify the
ungodly. How that God can save a sinner
and stay holy and righteous in glory and honor every attribute
of himself, and at the same time save a man who's dishonored him
every day of his life, and do it in such a way that the sinner
can be saved, the sinner can be righteous, and God can stay
holy. That's the gospel that we have to, those are the mysteries.
Now how you can see, if you can ever, here's the thing about
it, if you ever see the wisdom of God in Jesus Christ, now what
do I mean by that? The wisdom of God in Christ,
if you ever see that, the wisdom and power of God in Christ, that's
why Paul says, you know, we preach Christ crucified unto them that
are called, both the wisdom and power of God. The wisdom of God
revealed in Christ, how He can be judged and justified. That
God demanded perfection. He gave us perfection in Christ.
God demanded death for sin. He put death in sin. On Christ
was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin. And in the likeness
of sinful flesh, He was condemned for sin and raised for our justification. And in the power that God uses
Him, He was the power of God by which He saves every man.
And oh, that's what I'm saying, if you ever see the wisdom of
God in Christ, it's easy. And that's why he says these
things are revelations. And Paul's talking about here
our doctrine, our message, these mysteries. They didn't originate
with us. This doctrine didn't originate
with us. We're not teaching the doctrines
of other men. He says, you know, we're ministers
of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. And he just
told the truth that had been revealed to him. He said over
in 1 Corinthians 15, as I have received, so I deliver it unto
you. Isn't that what he said? Look
with me, you keep that and look over with me in John chapter
7, just a moment. John chapter 7. You know, that's
the thing about it, that's, I don't care, you know, a man can, this business of the
gospel, It's a great leveler. It's the great leveler. Two things
that level a man in this world. The gospel and death. The gospel
regards every man exactly the same. It makes no difference
in men. We face all men with the same
truth and truths that's revealed. And then death is the second
thing. It's going to level everybody. I don't care how smart you are,
death's going to get you. I don't care how smart you are,
the gospel has to be revealed. I don't care how dumb you are,
death's going to get you. I don't care how dumb you are,
God has to reveal the truth to you. The gospel has to be revealed.
And that's why it's labeled in the Psalms, that a man can come
in with All of them brag about his intelligence and brag about
where he's been, brag about what he's done with all of his degrees
and all of these things, and doctor this and nurse that and
everything else, and yet, but the gospel is a revelation. Paul
said he's a steward of the mysteries of God, truths that's revealed.
And look what he said here in John 7, 14. Now about the midst of the feast,
Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled,
saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
That's what they said about the apostles. Here they're up there
preaching these great truths, these mysteries, and these things
of God, and God's doing something with them. Oh my, what in the
murder of the world? How did he tell us to learn all
this stuff? And then Lord Jesus said in verse 16, Jesus said
to them and says, My doctrine is not mine, but he has to send
me. That's what Paul said, my doctrine's
not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will,
he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether
I speak of myself. And that's the way you can tell
whether a man's preaching the gospel or not, whether he's preaching
the mysteries of God as a revelation. Now back over here in our text.
Let me go to the next one. And he goes on here, so since
we're stewards of the mysteries of God, ministers of Christ,
servants of Christ, Moreover, it's required in Stewart's that
a man be found faithful. It's required. It's required. It's not left up to him whether
he wants to be faithful or not. If God calls him, it's required
that he be faithful. If a man's not faithful, that's
why Paul says, you know, Not only to others, but to myself,
lest I myself should be cast away. I don't want to be cast
away. I don't want to be set on a shelf. And he says, moreover,
it's required that a man be found faithful. Now, what is he talking
about being faithful? That means just showing up. Does
that mean just punching the time clock? Does that mean just doing
the best? No. Required faithful in the
spirits of the mysteries of God. Faithful in the Gospel. Faithful
in the truths of Christ. Faithful in the Word of God.
And be faithful as a servant. And the first person we must
be faithful to is the Master. You know, He's the one we're
going to have to answer to. He says, be faithful to your Master.
You all know the story very well of those two, this unjust steward,
you know, and the Master called them in and says, you know, it's
time to give an account of your stewardship. How have you been
dealing with my affairs? What have you been doing with
my money? What have you been doing with my buildings? What
have you been doing with my service? What have you been doing with
all my bars? What have you been doing with my goods? He said,
it's time for you to pay up. Give an account. Open the books.
Let me see how you've been doing. He opened the books, come to
find out that he had really made a mess out of things. And he
said, oh, listen. I want all of this. I want these
books straightened out. You've got to get out of here,
and you've got to get what's mine and get it back in here."
And he says, Oh, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. And I
will, if you'll give me time, I'll get it all for you. Well,
he turned right around and went out and started grabbing people
that owned him. Started choking them. Beating them. Pay me what
you owe me, or I'll put you in jail. See, he wasn't faithful. Wasn't faithful to his master.
Wasn't faithful to those under him. And he says, it's required
that a man be found faithful. One of these days, just as sure
as God's on his throne, there's going to be a lot of folks, when
God opens the books, they're going to say, Lord, I have done
so much for you. Come to find out, he read it
tonight. Not everyone saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of God, but he that doeth the will of my Father which
is in heaven. And he will say unto them, Lord, have we done
this? Have we done that? Have we done this other thing?
He says, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never
knew you. But all faithful to, not only faithful to his master,
but faithful to the gospel his master entrusted him with. And
there's one of my favorite verses of scripture, and I remind myself
of this all the time, over in Thessalonians 2.4. I remind myself
of this all the time. 1 Thessalonians 2, 4. We've got to be faithful to the
gospel our Master entrusted us with. Faithful to that. And I have seen men faithful
to one or two. I know men even now that's faithful
to preach to one or two or three people, whoever so will. And
they preach the gospel. They preach the gospel. I know
men that struggle and labor And they get discouraged, but no,
they just get up and keep on preaching, preaching the gospel.
They preach the gospel to their son, to their wife, if that's
all there is. And I'm grateful for that, whether
you meet in the home, whether you meet in the kitchen table.
I'll never forget as long as I live, and I know I've told
you this. We was down in Mexico one time. We was down in Chiavas. And we went way up this mountainside,
went way up on this mountainside, and there's a village way up
in this high mountain. And we got up there as far as we could,
and there wasn't but just a half a dozen houses or something in
there, not very many. And we went in there, and we
went into people's houses, and there sat the wife and the husband
and the son and the daughter-in-law, if I'm not mistaken. And Henry
Mahan sat down at a table, and the rest of us sat around, and
he opened his Bible. None of them people confessed
to be believers but the man of the household. And he come in,
he sat there, and he rewrote his Bible and preached to that
one man. Preached out of 1 Peter. And just went back to sit down
there and preach to that one man. Just him and him. You know, the Lord Jesus preached
to one woman one time at the wedding. Yeah. You know, many
times the Lord Jesus went to one. He only went to Paul. You know, that's the way he saves
us, one at a time. He preaches the gospel to us
individually. And look what it says here in 1 Thessalonians
2.4. Even as God has allowed us to
be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak not as pleasing
men, but God which tries our heart. See, that's just God that put
us in trust with the gospel. So if somebody else put me in
trust with it, I'd have to answer to them. I'd have to answer to
them. So we have to be faithful to
the gospel. And I tell you, somebody else it's required that we be
faithful to. Must be faithful to those to whom we minister.
Must be faithful. Paul was faithful to the Corinthians.
Faithful to the Ephesians. Wherever he went, he was faithful.
We have to be faithful to those whom we minister, and that means,
beloved, preaching the gospel without any mixture, and no human
wisdom involved in it, no human knowledge, no philosophy, not
substituting anything for the truth of Christ, not substituting
anything for it. Just deal with the things of
Christ in Christ alone. Shut men up to the truth that
there's only one Savior, one Redeemer, one way to God, one
load of hope, and that's the Lord Jesus Himself. Did not let
anybody find any hope, any rest, any peace, any assurance, any
place but in Christ. It's required that we do that.
And then look what he goes on to say here in verse 3 then. But with me it's a very small
thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment.
Yea, I judge not mine own self. You see, these people have said
in Old Judgment, I like Paul, I like Apollos, I like Cephas,
Paul, we are Christ, little fellas, there ain't nothing. And he comes
on here to say, but with me, and what he says, it's a very
small thing. In my estimation, he said, it
amounts to nothing, what you judge of me. What he's saying,
it's a small matter, it's a little estimation, it's nothing to me
that I judged of you, of your opinion of me. what you think
of me as a preacher. Whether you think Paul or Apollos
is better than I am, see that don't have nothing to do with
it. Your opinion of me, it matters little what you think of me,
as I'm a minister of Christ and I'm required to be faithful.
That's the only thing I'm required to do. What you think of me,
your opinion of me, what you say about me, and the judgments
you pass on me, that has nothing to do with it. I'm called to
be a minister of Christ, I have to be faithful in. You didn't
send me, and what he's saying, my responsibility's not to you.
You didn't send me, you didn't teach me what to preach. I'm
not your steward, but I'm God's steward. Look what he said over
here in 1 Corinthians 1-1. That's what he's talking about. Paul called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ. Not an apostle of Corinth. By the will of God, not by the
will of the people at Corinth. Not by the will of the people
at Ephesus, not by the will of the people at Galatia. I was
called to be an apostle by the will of God. So what you say
about me, how you preach, your bodily presence, how you speak,
all these things, your judgment of me, it just means nothing.
And then what he goes on to say here, yea, I judge not my own
self. He said, you fellas can get together
and send in judgment on me, and say, Paul's this and Paul's that,
and we'd rather have this preacher, and I don't care if Paul ever
comes back, make your judgment of me. But he said, I don't even
judge my own self. Huh? And that's what he's saying,
I don't judge myself. I don't even give an opinion
about myself, about this business of faith. I just know that Christ
is the one who does it. And many are going to find themselves
one of these days, who claim to be faithful, who are most
unfaithful. You see, it isn't enough. That's
why Paul said, I judge not myself. He said, who's sufficient for
these things? It isn't enough that our conscience doesn't condemn
us. You know why it isn't? Because
our conscience is partial. It'll let us get by with things.
It'll always give us the, put the best light on what we do,
won't it? You know, it'll always tell you,
you're doing much better than folks are saying, you know. Your
conscience will be partial to you. And we may justify ourselves,
and that's why Paul says, you know, I don't, he judges me.
I don't even judge myself. Your opinion of me, I don't even
judge myself." And we may justify ourselves. That's why Paul said,
you know, he can stand up and argue with these fellas, and
tell them all of his calling, all of his credentials, and all
the things that he's done, and how God's used me to do all that
stuff. But he says, your opinion of me, at my estimation, amounts
to nothing. I don't even set any judgment
on myself. So why in the world are you doing it? And we may
justify ourselves, and at the very last, may even be condemned
of God. That would be a horrible thing,
wouldn't it? That would be an awful thing, to be condemned
of God. That's why Paul said, I fought a good fight. He said,
oh, it was a fight. I fought a good fight. I fought
it all the way. There's no discharge in this
war. I got a discharge from the United States Marine Corps in
1969. I got it. Signed. Don't have to go back. I'm out. Discharged. Got discharged
out of that war. But there's no discharge in this
war. And Paul said, I fought a good fight. And then I kept
the faith. He said he was required to be
faithful. Be a steward. Be faithful. He
said, I kept that faith. That mysteries of the gospel
that God taught me and revealed to me and gave to me and trusted
me with, I kept it. I guarded it, I used it, I honored
God with it. And oh, now, I finished my course. I'm done. My departures at hand. And then look what he says here
in verse five. Therefore, therefore, No, excuse me, in verse 4, I'm
sorry. Yeah, I judge not mine own self,
but he said in verse 4, for I know nothing by myself, yet am I not
hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord. And when
he said, I judge not my own self, I know nothing by myself, you've
got to keep this in the context. He says, you know, I know nothing.
I didn't take myself into this ministry. I know nothing. All
I know is that I'm to be faithful in the ministry that Christ gave
me. And he says, and I can tell you
this, I know nothing by myself. I know that I'm free from the
blood of all men. I know that I've kept nothing
back profitable that's profitable to you. But he says, just because
of that, yet I'm not hereby justified by that because I don't know
nothing by myself. What have I got that I didn't receive that
God didn't teach me? He said, I'm not clear or vindicated
by my opinion. or your opinion of me." That's
what he's saying. Hereby am I not justified just
because I say I do something, just because I'm preached that
I do something, just because I say I've accomplished something. But here's what he says, but
you know who's going to be my judge, and who is my judge? That
he that judges me is the Lord. It's the Lord Himself. That examines
my message. It's the Lord Himself that knows
my motive. It's the Lord Himself. Since
I'm His servant, He's the only one who can judge me and set
in judgment on me. And pass judgment on me. And
that's the only one I'm interested in, in judging me. Not you. Not anybody else. It's whether
Christ knows I'm faithful or not. It's whether Christ knows
that I've been preaching the gospel or not. I'm His master. He's my master. And the Lord
Himself examined me and judged me. And that's what he said in
verse 5. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time. You're making all these judgments
about these preachers. You're making all these judgments
about who you like and who you don't like. Who's preaching the
gospel and who isn't preaching the gospel. Who is faithful and
who isn't faithful. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time until the Lord comes. And He's
coming, who will bring to light The hidden things of darkness.
Remember our Lord said that, he said, that which is done in
secret will be brought to the light, that which is done in
the dark will be shouted out on the housetops, and will make
manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every
man have praise of God. When he says, therefore judge
nothing before the time, he said, be slow in your judgment. Be
slow in it. Don't be hasty to pass sentence,
especially of your preachers, especially of these ministers.
Be slow. Judge nothing before the time.
And don't you be so quick to pass judgment until the Lord
comes. And then everything will be just revealed just like it
really, really is. It's just like he read again
tonight. Those folks argued and said, we prophesied in your name,
we cast out devils in your name, we've done many wonderful works
in your name. If they had read this right here, they'd say,
I'm like Paul, I am faithful, I am true, I've really done some
works and I've accomplished some things. And then the Lord said
in that day of the Lord, that day of the Lord says, no, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. And that's what Paul's saying
here. He said, don't be so quick to judge. You don't know the
matter, you don't know the motive, you don't know anything about
it. What he's saying here is, until the Lord comes, and the
Lord comes, then all things will be judged and brought out as
they really are. What does he say? He'll bring
to light the hidden things of darkness. If I was a preacher,
if I was a minister of somebody, he said he'll bring to light
what that fellow's been doing all of his life. He'll bring the peace that's
been in darkness. His message ain't been right. He said he'll
bring it right out where you can see it. Oh, my. Then it goes on to say,
and will make manifest the counsels. The counsels. You know, everybody
takes counsel with himself, and he makes his decisions about
what he's doing, what he's accomplishing, and he counsels in his heart
what he's going to do, and how he's going to do it. He said
he'll make manifest the counsels of a man's heart. Oh my! Next time you get upset with
me or any other preacher who comes along, you start thinking
about this business. Man, this is a horrible, this
is a terrible thing to stand here before God Almighty and
give an account of what you said to. Man alive, you know, you
say, I know you, preacher. No, no, you really don't know.
You don't know. I'll tell you this business,
you know, and I hope that I've been honest. I hope I've been
true. But God's the only one who really knows. I know there's
been several times in my lifetime that I would throw in the towel
if God would let me. But He's going to reveal the
secrets of men's hearts and the counsels of men. My goodness, are we going to
be faithful? Have I been faithful? Have I been faithful to you?
Have I been faithful to my Master? Been faithful to His Word? Man, if there's any thin things
and darkness in my heart, if there's a rotspot in there, and
I'm seeking long praise and the love of men, the praise of men,
hats on the back, coveted men, silver and gold, coveted new
suits, Oh, boy, I'll tell you what, I sure need a new suit,
hoping they'll get me one at Christmas. You know, covered
in these things, dropping these hints, poor mouth in those kind
of things. That's what he's saying here.
These hidden things, as you motivate the councils of your heart. And
he says, And when that day comes, and then shall every man have
praise of God, those that have been faithfully stewarded, they'll
have praise of God. No matter what anybody else says,
if they've been true, they've been faithful, then you'll hear,
well done, thou good and faithful servant. Well done, thou good
and faithful servant. And then he goes on to say in
verse 6 here, and these things, it goes right back to where he
started, and these things have I, brethren, have I in a figure,
in a type, transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes. that
you might learn in us not to think above men that which is
written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another."
Now, he's talking about preachers. He's going to be supposed to
say, oh, I think Apollos is the best, Paul's the best, Cephas
is. And Paul said, I took these two
things, Paul and I've transfigured them to me and Apollos, whether
we're faithful or not, whether God judges the secrets of man's
heart. And I've applied these things
to me and Apollos, and I did it for your sake. for your sake. Why did he do that? Look back
over here in chapter 3 and verse 4. He said, For a while, one saith,
I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? You're setting men and preachers
against one another. You're Talking like babies, you're talking
like, you know, who is Paul and who is Apollos? That's what he
said. Who then are they? They're just ministers, servants
by whom you believed. And what, look here, and the
ministry they have, God gave it to them. Apollos had nothing
to say if God didn't put it in his mouth. Paul had nothing to
say if God didn't put it in his mouth. He said, I planted Apollos'
water, but it's God that does the work. And he goes on to say
this, so then neither he that planteth anything, neither he
that watereth, they're nothing. Service, stewards. And we surely
got to plant, we surely got to water, we got to do that, and
that's what our master calls us to do, get out the water bucket
and get out the bag and start sowing. And oh, beloved, but
it's God that giveth the increase. Oh, so that's what he's saying.
And I put these things in a figure transferred to me in Apollos
for your sakes. For your sakes. Don't do no judging. Don't set one up against another.
And oh, he says this, that you might learn. You need to learn
some things. You need to learn some things.
And you need to learn in us. Look at me. Look at Apollos.
Look at Cephas. that you might learn in us. We have this treasure, but it's
in an earthen vessel. And not to think, might learn
in us not to think of men above that which is written. What's
it written about men? Men whose best state is all togetherness.
World unto him that maketh the arm of the flesh to be his trust.
unto him who leans to his own understanding. And that's what
he's saying, oh my, don't do that. And he goes on to say this,
that not one of you be puffed up against one another. And this
word here means inflicted with pride. Inflicted with pride. Well, I'll tell you one thing,
buddy. You can have a palace, you can go listen to him. You
can say he's the best preacher there ever was, but he don't
do a thing in the world for me. When Paul comes to town, I'll
tell you who I'm going to listen to." And that's what he's saying.
And then he asks him a question. He asks him a question. For this
church, And third fact, that they were glorying in preachers,
they were glorying in gifts, they were setting one preacher
against another. And look what he says, Who maketh
thee to differ? Who distinguishes you? Now, if
God distinguished you, who made you to differ? Who distinguished
you? Who called you out of darkness? Who called you from death into
life? Who called you from sin by His
grace? Who gave you the ministers? Who gave you Paul? Who gave you
Apollos? Who gave you the world? Who gave
you Christ? Who did this? Who gave you the
ministers to preach to you? Who gave you the hearers to hear?
Who gave you the faith to believe? What have you got? You set yourself
up here as judge. You're inflicted with this pride.
You're puffed up. But what in the world have you
got that you didn't receive? Who gave it to you? And then
he says, well, why do you glory then? You ought not to glory
in yourselves. Don't glory in your preachers.
Don't glory in men. Don't glory in anybody but in
God. In God. It's He that made you
to differ. He gave you all you have. All
you know and all you believe. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this,
He says, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. And every good and perfect gift
cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no bearableness,
the shadow attorney. And now look what He says. This
is sarcasm here. This is Paul exposing them, and
he's saying, he says, now you are full, now you are rich. You
have reigned as kings without us, and I would to God you did
reign, that we also might reign with you. What he's saying here
is this. Now, this is your opinion of yourselves. This is the way
you look at yourselves. This is the way you think you
really are. He said, in your opinion, you're full. Full. Man, oh man, we've got everything. And then he goes on to say, you
say you're rich. Oh, you're kings. You don't need
to grow. You don't need to learn anything.
You don't need to become a sinner. You don't need to humble yourselves
before God. You don't need us preachers. You don't need nobody.
For if you're like the Lamb of Sin, you're a rich and priest
of goods and have neither nothing. You don't need to be instructed.
You don't need to grow. Huh? He said, you reigned as
kings and you did it without us. You surely know that we wouldn't
make you to be a king. We wouldn't bring you up here
and set you up and tell you all that you've done without a preacher
and all beloved. You've ascended your throne and
come into your kingdom. He says, yet you've done it without
us. We didn't help you to exalt yourself.
We didn't inflict you with this pride. We never brought a message
that filled you with pride, make you think that you was like the
loudest, that you was full and rich and reigned as kings. No,
no. And you've done it without us,
without our instruction, without our preaching. But he goes on
to say, I would to God you did reign. I wished, I would to God
that it was time for us all to reign right now. I wished it
was time for us all to reign with Christ in glory right now. Because if it was so, We'd reign
with Him. If you was really reigning, if
you really had this power, if you was really this good a condition,
He said, I wish it was that way. We'd all reign together. We'd
reign with Christ. But here's the way they really
was. This is what they think of themselves. And here's what
they really are. Chapter 3 and verse 1. This is what they really are.
Here it says, you know, we're kings and they're full, rich.
And our brethren could not speak unto you as under spiritual.
That don't hard sound like a king, does it? Don't hard sound like
he's rich? But as under Carl, even as under
Babes in Christ. I fed you with milk. You think
you got a throne, so I'm feeding you with milk. Not with me. Because you ain't able to bear
it. And you're knocked down. And oh my, you know how I know
you're carnal? Because you have envy and strife
and factions and divisions and you walk as unregenerate men
because you say, oh boy, I tell you what, I'm of Paul, I'm of
Apollos, I'm of Cephas. You know. That old man, setting
one preacher against another, one truth against another. Huffed
up over another instead of saying, oh my, let's just humble ourselves
and if the man's preaching the gospel, let's hear him. Let's
shut our mouths. Let's give thanks to God that
He sent us the gospel. Let's give thanks to God that
He gave us a preacher. Let's give thanks to God. If
He sends Paul, let's listen to what Paul's got to say. If Apollos
comes, let's just bow our heads down and hear what he's got to
say. If Cephas comes by, let's just hear what he's got to say.
They're all preaching the same gospel. They're preaching Christ.
They're preaching the truth of the grace of God, and we need
to hear it? No, no. No, no. Hey, wait, there she stops.