I read this hymn earlier today. We sang it earlier in the meeting,
but I was reading this earlier this morning. And this third
verse was really, I think, so very typical of the
concept that so many have of what salvation is It is number
1149 in the Gadsby Hymnal. And it is verse 3. It says, Some call him a Savior
in word, but mix their own works with his plan, and hope he his
help will afford, when they have done all that they can. That's kind of the way that a
lot of people view how the Lord saves people, is that folks do
all that they can, and then the Lord, He has regard to the fact
that, well, they've just done everything they could. And, you
know, you've heard the old saying, the Lord helps those that help
themselves. And that sounds good. I mean,
that's good. carnal wisdom. I mean, that's
how people think. That's what people, how they
view. Well, you know the Lord, He won't
help you unless you help yourself. And so that's how they view it. And they think, well, you know,
they hope He'll help them when they've done all that they can.
If doings prove rather too light, A little they own they may fail.
Now everybody knows they're not up to the task, don't they? I
mean, you wouldn't find anybody, probably, anywhere that would
say, well, I'm going to make it on my own. I'm going to earn
salvation with God. You know, they wouldn't say that.
They'd say, Lord, we need a little help. If doings prove rather
too light, I mean, we look at ourselves and say, you know,
what we're doing is not good enough. It's not going to get
us fully in there. A little they own, they may fail. They purpose to make up full
weight, but then they say, but we can take and add what Christ
has done to what we've done and that will get us over the top.
You know, we'll add a little bit. Now, that old John Newton,
when he wrote this, he kind of understood the nature of men.
This isn't a modern problem. I mean, we look around us, it's
the predominant thought that prevails around us in many churches
and whatnot. It is the predominant thought,
but it's not a new thought because it's always been around ever
since man's been alive and walking on the earth. even from the early
days. They purposed to make up full
weight by casting His name on the scale. You know, if what
we've done is not enough, we'll put Christ in there and then
that will surely get us over the top and we'll be alright.
But you know, if it's not Christ as all, then it can't be Christ
at all. Because the Lord's not in partnership
for men to do part of it. He does part of it. The Lord
is going to save His people just like He saved Jacob. And He did
exactly as He would with Jacob. And He brought Jacob in a way
that he knew not. And it wasn't necessarily a way
that Jacob would have chosen. I mean, you know, who would have
wanted to work for fourteen years for Laban. He wasn't wanted to
have done that, but the Lord ordained it to be so, and He
blessed him as a result of all of those things that He determined
to do with him. We're going to be looking in
Chapter 4 of I Corinthians. Let's ask the Lord to bless His
Word. Father, we bless You and praise Your Name. You are worthy
of all praise. Glory belongeth to Thee. And
we pray, dear Father, that we might not be found among those
who make empty professions, say that we love Thee, and then by
our actions prove that we do not. Nor then, Lord, that we
would be numbered among those who would expect that we could
add your works and ours together and come up with something that
would be acceptable in Thy sight. For Lord, we are convinced that
there is no righteousness that will prevail in the courts of
heaven except the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And it is in
His name and in His power that we desire to approach unto Thee. For Lord, as Jacob prayed, We
are not worthy of the least of Thy mercies. But yet, Lord, in
Thy kindness, Thou hast seen fit to demonstrate Your mercy
to us over and over again. And we pray, Lord, that we might
be ever thankful, that we might fall on our faces before Thee
and worship Thee in spirit and truth, that You might open our
ears, that we might hear those things that Thou wouldst teach
us, and that we would be, Lord, those with a ready mind and heart
to receive all of those things that Thou hast prepared for us.
Blessed be Thy name. We praise You in Jesus' name.
Amen. Last week we kind of left off
with looking at verse 7. And this is really the definition of what grace
is. And it says here, as Paul said
to them as he spoke and he has been speaking of them, about
making a big deal out of Apollos or himself or Peter or any of
the other apostles. that we would be puffed up in
saying, well, we know this because so-and-so taught us this or we're
latching on to somebody's shirt tails and we're proud of who
it is that we listen to and this kind of stuff. And he said that
is being puffed up. He said, for who maketh thee
to differ from another? Why would you be in strife with
one another over who it is that you are receiving the blessings
of God from? For who makes thee to differ?
And what have you ever gotten that you did not receive? And
if you received it, why do you glory as if you had not received
it? You can't say, well, I'm appalled
because I got something from Him. No, because it was just
given to you. There's nothing in you that would
cause a difference, so why would you set yourself over against
your brethren and say, I'm this or I'm that? He says, now you're
full. Now you're rich. You don't have
to boast about being rich. You know, it's often true that
the richest people never say anything about it. It's the people
that want to be rich or want you to think that they're rich
that talk about being rich. I mean, that's generally true.
And so he says, now you're full, now you're rich. You are. I mean, in Christ we have everything. So what would we want to boast
in some insignificant thing, he said? Why would you want to
go around boasting that you're a follower of Apollos or you've
been baptized by Paul when he said, you own everything. It's all yours. It's been given
to you in Christ, the riches of God's kingdom. What do you
want to mess with some little old pipsqueak thing like that
for? What are you talking about that
for? He said, now you're rich. You've reigned as kings without
us. He says, you didn't need us.
He said, God made you kings and princes in the earth. We didn't
do anything. He said, we didn't cause you
to be princes and kings. The Lord ordained it to you.
He said, now you have reigned without us. You didn't need us. And I would to God you did reign.
He says, I'm glad. He said, I don't want it to depend
on me. He says, I'm glad that the Lord
gave it to you, because He said, that we might also reign with
you, because He says, if I was having to wait around for somebody
to give it to me of human stock, He said, I'd be most miserable,
but he said, we reign because God, who is rich in mercy, has
poured out His blessings upon us, so why do we want to boast
around to one another about something that we've obtained through the
instrumentality of men, that we might also reign with you?
We want to reign with you. For I think that God has set
forth us the apostles last, as it were, appointed to death,
that we might be made a spectacle to the world, to angels, to men."
He said, what is there in us that you would desire? Why would
you want to say, I'm a follower of Paul? We're all scouring up
the earth. We're despised among men. I mean,
nobody wants to listen to us. We're a bunch of idiots according
to the world. So what do you think you're going
to gain by being that? He said, the Lord has ordained
this, that we've been made a spectacle of the world. We are fooled for
Christ's sake. We're nothing, he says, but ye
are wise in Christ. We are weak. You are strong. You are honorable, but we are
despised. Even under this present hour,
we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and
have no certain dwelling place. And labor, working with our own
hands, being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it.
Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the
world and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
Now listen to what he says. But he says, I'm not writing
these things to shame you. He says, I'm not telling you
this so you'll feel sorry for us and make yourself feel bad
about it. He says, I'm just telling you
the way that it is. He says, you're kings and princes
in the earth. Get over it, he says. Recognize
what you are and who you are in Christ. without the aid of
men in any way. These things belong to you. I'm
not writing this to make you feel bad for our sake." Because
he said, these are the things that God has ordered. But he
said, but as my beloved sons, I'm warning you. He says, I'm
coming to you telling you not to be saying I'm of Paul or I'm
of Apollos. I want to give you this warning
that you don't listen to those who come along trying to take
away that which the Lord has given you by causing you to say,
I am of this or I am of that. But it says, though you have
ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers.
Now what he is pointing out to them here is the fact that he
came to them in the beginning preaching the gospel to them.
Now, he's not telling them this so that they'll turn around and
say what he's warning them against, is he? I mean, he's not saying,
I want you all to say you're of Paul. No, that's not what
he's saying. He says, I want to warn you. He says, I've got your interest
at heart here when I'm telling you that it's not of men, but
it is of Christ. He says, I've told you that from
the beginning. He says, you don't have many
fathers. He says, you've got many instructors.
And dear brethren, there are many instructors in the world.
There are many who want to tell you stuff so you'll listen to
them and send your cards and letters to them. Look, you can turn on the TV
and I bet you there's twenty channels on there. There's nothing
but people trying to get folks to send them money to support
their ministry to do all these wonderful things. Now this is
what Paul, I believe, is warning against. He said, don't be listening
to that stuff. Don't be thinking that men are
going to tell you something that is going to benefit you so that
they're so instrumental, well, we've got to support this guy
because he's really shelling the corn, you know, that he's
given us something that nobody else can give us. He said the
truth of God comes from God. Now, he may use men to bring
it. But He doesn't send men into
the world to beg for money. Now I'm telling you, I have them
come in the store. I had a bunch come in the other
day. They were telling me how all these great works they were
doing for God, and they were selling these little trinkets
with something written on it. And they wanted me, would I support
their ministry by buying some of that stuff? You know, I said,
number one, I mean, the Lord doesn't send His people and His
disciples into the world to sell trinkets. That's not the way the Lord sends
His people out. Did Paul go around and go into
the marketplace trying to sell cookies or candy bars or something
to support himself? No. He worked in a trade that
he was doing. And he did what he was doing,
but he didn't go around and say, I want you to buy a tent for
me because I'm doing great works for the Lord. No, he just did
what he did. And dear brethren, that's what
he's telling them. He says, I'm warning you, you
don't need all these instructors. You don't need to latch on to
somebody. He said, I've begun you through
the gospel by the grace of God. He's not saying he did it. But
he's pointing them out. He's saying, listen to what I'm
telling you. I've got your best interest at heart. Now, if you
were going to listen to somebody give you advice, and you wanted
to know who would have your best interest at heart, would you
go to some guy that comes along telling you this, or would you
go to your father? I mean, that's what he said.
He said, I was instrumental in birthing you into the kingdom
of God, or I saw you when you were babies, and I'm your father
in the gospel in that limited sense. But he said, listen to
me, I'm warning you. Don't be caught up in being of
this one or of that one. Wherefore, I beseech you, be
followers of me. Listen to what I'm telling you
here. Now what was he telling you? He is telling them, don't
be followers of men. He is telling them, don't be
listening to many instructors, because if the message, as He
told them from the start, He said, I am determined to know
one thing among you. And He said, if somebody comes
and they are teaching and preaching any other thing, don't listen
to them. That is all you need. You don't need some high-powered
preacher to set you straight. You need Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. That's the message. That's the
truth. And he said, for this cause,
for what cause? He said, because I want you to
be followers of me. Not so he could add up the statistics
and say, I've got this many followers. Now most of these things, and
of course, sermon audio, we've got those sermons on there, but
you know, it's a big thing with a lot of these outfits because
they want to compile, they want you to know how much good they're
doing. And you know, and they let you
see these numbers of how many people's listening to all this
stuff. And of course, the whole idea behind that is so you'll
say, well, man, we're really doing good, so we're going to
do more, you know, we're going to up the ante on this thing. Listen, it's not... I mean, we're
encouraged when we find out that, you know, people are listening
to this stuff. Sure, we're encouraged by it.
But that's not the motivation that we have for it. That's not
what we want to know these things for. So Paul says, I beseech
you to be followers of me. That is, I'm not going to tell
you the wrong thing. And he said, This is why I'm
sending Timothy to you. Because remember what he said
about Timothy? He says, I have no other person who is of like
mind with me. Now that's an amazing thing,
is it not? I mean, Paul, you know, we've
got to view all these early Preachers and teachers as all
being on the real up and up, you know, and everything went
to heck later. But no, everything was going
to heck at that time. I mean, you know, there were
people there. And Paul told the Ephesian elders,
didn't he? He says, I'm telling you, of
your own selves is going to some of you arise, and you're going
to try to gain up followings. And you're going to say, well,
you know, this is a pretty good deal. We can make some pretty good money doing
this. And preachers have been making money preaching since
the beginning. Now, the Scripture says, Hey,
that preach the gospel shall live of the gospel. It's not
an unheard of thing that God's people, you know, would be thankful
for the efforts and what not that's put out by somebody. But
that's not the reason that we're to preach, nor is it a motivation. as it is with many. Well, you
know, brother, we had this and this number last week. We were
really building this congregation and all that stuff. And with
it come all the perks. And Paul said, this is why I'm
sending Timothy to you, because he's of the same mind about this
as I am. He's not in this to get something. He's in this to give something. For this cause have I sent to
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 and in every church." Now remember,
I don't know if you've seen the Grace Gazette this week, but
the title of it is Paul's Legacy. Now, I'm not going into a big
deal with that, but people want to be remembered for stuff, don't
they? If you don't think so, go look at the cemetery. I mean,
there's a bunch of markers out there. And I'm not against somebody
marking somebody's grave. That's not my point. But people,
it's kind of a bad thing in the human thought process to think
that they're going to just bury you in the ground and nobody's
ever going to know you was ever here. So we put these monuments
up. But in reality, whose monument
do we care about seeing? There's only one name that's
worthy to be remembered. It's the name of Christ. And
so, you know, it's not about what we've done that men will
remember, but it's about what Christ has done that we will
remember. That's what we're sent in to
the world to teach. And so that's what Paul's told
to Timothy. He says, I want you to remember
my doctrine. First thing he said. He said
to Timothy, you've known my doctrine. You've known my manner of life.
You've known my patience and my perseverance. He said, you've
known these things, see, because Timothy saw them firsthand. And
he wasn't saying that to build himself up in Timothy's eyes.
He said, Timothy, this is the truth. This is the way to go.
And this is how I would have you. And so he sent Timothy.
here to the Corinthians. And he said, "...who shall bring
you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ as I teach
everywhere and in every church." Paul didn't have but one message,
did he? I mean, when you look at what Paul says in every one
of his letters, it's always the same thing, isn't it? I mean,
he always just comes back to one thing. It's Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Now he exhorts the brethren in
different ways and points out different various particular
problems that are in each church. But the message that he has is
always the same. It always is Christ and Him crucified. And he said, that's what I'm
seeing in Timothy. He says, now some of you are
puffed up as though I wouldn't come to you. He says, some of
you are thinking, well, we don't have to listen to what Paul is
saying. I mean, we've got these other guys over here and they're
telling us things we want to hear. They're telling us stuff
that gives us reason to boast a little or to hold ourselves
up and say, well, I, you know, those guys over there, they're
following, after all, Cephas, but not us. No, sir. No, we're
following Christ. I mean, we're the in crowd, you
see. We wouldn't have anything to
do with with Apollos, no, no, no, we're of Cephas." He says,
some of you are puffed up. And he's speaking to them now
as their father, as a father would say. He says, you think
that I won't come to you. You don't think I'll do anything
about it, he says. He says, you're saying, well,
we're just going to do what we want to. We won't pay any attention
to what Paul says. He says, no, I care about you.
And he said, don't you get thinking that I won't do something about
this. He said, but I will come to you
shortly if the Lord wills. He said, if it be necessary.
He says, I will come. And I will know not the speech
of them which are puffed up, but the power," he says, at that
time, he says, he's not going to make a difference what people
are saying. He says it's going to be a demonstration
of the Holy Ghost and the power of God working through the Word
of God. For the kingdom of God is not
in word, but it's in power. It's not in eloquence. It's not
in the wisdom of men. It's not what sounds good to
men. It's not what draws the crowd. That's not the thing. He said it's not what we boast
in. But he said it's in the power. You see, that's what the kingdom
of God is about. It's about power. The power of
God. The power of God in the lives
of His people. Not about what we're doing, it's
what He's doing. So what will ye? Shall I come
to you with a rod or in love and in the spirit of meekness?
He says, how do you want me to come? Are you going to listen
to what I'm saying? Are you going to continue on
in a puffed up state? And He said, if that be the case,
then when I come I'm not going to be kind toward you. Now He's not speaking like in
a mean way, but He's speaking as a father would. He is saying,
look, you can either listen to me or not, but I am not going
to let you go to hell in a handbasket, is essentially what he is saying.
I am not going to sit idly by and let somebody turn you aside
and let you be puffed up in your own way. Now isn't that really
what man's religious divisions are about? Really? Isn't that what man's religious
divisions are generally about? Oh, well, look at us. Here's
our distinctives. Well, brethren, our only distinctive
needs to be Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's the distinctive. Somebody says, well, what makes
your church different from another? Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We don't know
anything else. We don't have any power. These people talk about, you
know, we're going to pray through, and we're going to do this, and
we're going to hold God's feet to the fire, and we're going
to, you know, have faith to be healed, and we're going to do
all these things. We're not going to do anything,
dear brethren. It's what Christ has done. That's
the message we have. And that's the distinctive that
we have. And everything else, according
to Paul, is dumb. It doesn't make any difference.
And so he says to them, and he sums up, I believe this
sums up what he came talking to them about to begin with.
He said, some of you say this and some of you say that. But
he said, the kingdom of God is not in what you say. You can
say, I'm going to fall all day long. But are you walking according
to what Paul said? You can say, I'm of Apollos.
You can say, I'm of Cephas. You can say this, that, or whatever
you can say. It doesn't matter what you say,
dear brethren. Talks cheap. Kingdom of God not in word. I
mean, we can boast in being five-point Calvinists or whatever you... Just come up with something.
What are you? Well, we're this. Are you now? Well, what about Jesus Christ
and Him crucified? You see, that's our message.
That's the truth. You know, that's the only thing
I know. You know, there are so many different things in the
Scripture that I come across. I don't know. Somebody ask me,
well, explain that to me. I can't explain that to you.
I don't know. But I know this. I don't have any doubt about
this. I mean, this is something that is written in stone as far
as I'm concerned, and it will never change. And that is Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. And that's my only hope. That's
my only expectation. And that's the only thing I expect
and hope to stand on in the Day of Judgment, is that Christ has
died for sinners. Oh, what a glorious place to
stand, dear Brenda. What a place to stand! I mean,
that's just like old Jacob when he wrestled with the angel. And
the Lord blessed him. There's no greater blessing than
that. I mean, if a man can come to a place of having a full and
clear understanding that it's Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
I mean, he's received everything. This is the very basis of the
Kingdom of God. I mean, this is it. You know,
some people say, oh, well, that's just baby stuff. Well, is it? Is that baby stuff? That's not
baby stuff. See, baby stuff is when people
take that and think it's baby stuff. And they want to get off,
oh, we want to get off into these real important matters. We want
to know about prophecy and the millennium and the end times. You know how we're going to get
wealthy and all of these kinds of different things. That's what
they want to know. But it's Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. What a glorious place to be.
And Paul said, the Kingdom of God is not in word, but it's
in power. It's not in all the things you
say you know, but it's in this. that I have told you from the
beginning. I never told you anything else. I'm never going to tell
you anything else. And this is it. May the Lord
help us.