As you said, a word from thee.
That caught my attention. We don't need a lot of words,
do we? We just need a word from thee. A word spoken from God
is worth far more than a thousand that I could stand here and speak.
Just a word. I'm going to back up here to
verse 5, chapter 4, and I'm going to read a few of these verses.
We will begin in verse 9. Paul says in verse 5 of chapter
4, 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. And then shall
every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, I
have in a figure transferred to myself. God has revealed these
things to me and to Apollos for your sakes. that you might learn
in us through our examples not to think of men above that which
is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against
another." This was one of their great problems, being puffed
up one against another like they were somebody and the other was
not. "'For whom maketh thee to differ? Who made you to differ? Who made
you to differ from this world? Who made you to differ in your
own family? Who made you to differ? Who made
you a believer? Who gave you faith? Who gave
you grace? Who did that? And what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? What do you have? Can any one
of us take anything that we have anything that we know and say
that I came up with this other than sin. He said, what do you have that
you did not receive? Now if thou didst not receive
it, now if thou didst receive it, if it was given to you, given
to you by the grace of God, then why do you glory, why do you
brag, why do you boast as if thou hast not received it, as
if you came up with it? Now you're full. You think you're
full. You think you're full. Now you're
rich. You think you're rich. You like
to lay out of sins. They're rich and increased with
goods and in need of nothing. God said you're bankrupt. You're
poor. You're broke. You don't have
anything. He said you have reigned as kings without us and I would
to God you did reign that we also might reign with you. For
I think that God has set forth us the apostles last. as it were
appointed to death, for we are made a spectacle unto the world
and to angels and to men." What Paul is doing here, he's trying
to correct this matter of pride and arrogancy that was in that
church. It was just dominating in that
church. And Paul is trying to correct
them. There's nothing more unbecoming
and a believer, those who profess to believe God in pride and arrogance. Hannah said, let not arrogancy
come out of your mouth when she made that prayer. They thought
that they had arrived. They thought that they did not
need any more instructions or guidance from the Apostle Paul
or any of the other apostles. They thought they had arrived.
You cannot teach anyone who knows it all. You can't teach a know-it-all. And they had gotten to that point.
It's sad. It's sad, but it's so. And this
is the Lord's church. This can happen. It's the Lord's
church. They thought that they were rich
because of all these gifts that God had given this church. Paul
was there for a year and a half. He preached the gospel. was a
priest to them. Christ was evidently set forth
before them by the Apostle Paul. And after he left, some Paul's
teachers and preachers came in and some of those men who were
well-educated, you know, they became lifted up with pride in
their intelligence and they started using human reasoning. And that
is the last thing you can use in spiritual matters is human
logic. And that's what they started
to do. And so they thought they were so rich in these things,
they thought they were rich in knowledge and grace. And it was
evident, it was very evident by their behavior that they didn't
have any of these things. They were not full and they were
not rich. Paul said in one place, you're
babes. When you ought to be grown up, you ought to be men and women,
mature men and women. Growing up in Christ, he said
you are babes. You're babes. And he's going
to do something here in these next few verses. He's going to
show how a believer is treated by this world. And he's going
to use himself here as an example and the way he's been treated.
He says here, it seems in verse 9, I think that God has set forth
us, the apostles, last. Last. He's made us, put us on
display. put us on display before wicked
men and angels. He's put us on display last at
the back of the line. And he no doubt is referring
here that back in that day when a king would conquer another
kingdom, they would take that kingdom and the people of that
kingdom and they would put them in the back of the line and they
would parade through town. Of course, the king and his army,
and they would come through with all the pomp and all the glory,
and they would take all the credit. And in the back of the line would
come these slaves. In the back of that line would
come those who'd been sentenced to death. And the people would
just throw things at them. And they would mock them. And
they'd call them names. And Paul said, that's what's
happened to us. He said, I think that God has
sent us the apostles in the back of the line. It made an example
of us. We are looked upon, he says here
in verse 10, we are fools for Christ's sake. In other words,
we are looked upon as fools for our devotion. Paul said, I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. I count everything as loss. Well,
Paul, you're a fool. You've given up all these things,
and look how you're treated. You've counted all the achievements
that you have made, and he made a lot of them. And look at you,
Paul. You don't have a home. You have
no credibility. You don't have anything. For
following Christ, what have you gained in this world? Nothing. Absolutely nothing in
the world to come. Absolutely everything. Everything. We are looked upon, he said,
as fools for our devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. But you!
Notice, he's going to really make a point here. But you are wise in Christ. We're weak. You're strong. You
are honorable. We are despised. Here's what
he's saying. But you have attained You have
supposedly attained worldly wisdom through your carnal policies
that you brought into your religion and to the services. You have
gained the favor of the world. They applaud you. And here's
what Paul says. There's something wrong with
this picture. A pastor was talking about this this past week. There's
something wrong with this picture. There's something wrong here.
Here's God's servant being treated like a slave, being treated with
contempt. And here's the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ being treated as though they were something
by the world. Paul said there's something wrong with this picture
here. Something wrong with it. You've gained the favor of the
world. You've escaped persecution. You've escaped it. We are weak. Paul says I'm weak in body. He's
not talking about weak in preaching or weak in word. Weak in body. Neglected the body. He neglected
his body. Neglected his health. Paul neglected
his health. He said we're weak in it. We
don't have any influence. Only among those who believe
God have we any influence. Outside of that, we have no influence.
We are considered fools. We have no influence. And we
had no worldly goods. They'd all been taken away. Counted
them all as lost. Paul didn't have a home no more.
He traveled everywhere. Everything was gone. He said, but you're strong. You're
strong. You have health. You're well
taken care of. You have land. You own things. You have businesses. You have
these things. You have all these credentials
and degrees and you have friends and influential friends. Influential. You're honored among
men. He's saying, here's what Paul's
saying, there's something wrong with this picture. Something
wrong with this. We are held in contempt and despised,
but you're not. What's happened? And here's what he's doing in
verses 11 through 13. Even under this present hour,
we both hunger or hungry. Nobody wants to feed us but a
few believers. We're thirsty, naked. We don't have a closet full of
clothes. Imagine he wore the same stuff
over and over and over and over. We are buffeted. We had no certain
dwelling place. Our Lord said that the Son of
Man had no place to lay his head. And labor, we work with our own
hands, providing for ourselves so we don't burden the church.
Being reviled, we bless. We bless. Being persecuted, we
suffer it. Being defamed. See, this is the
treatment he's talking about. This is the treatment that the
servant of Christ was receiving. And the Lord said, the servant
is not above the master. If the world has hated you, they
will hate me. I said to this pastor, well, maybe
we're not saying anything. Maybe we're not. Maybe that's
why everybody likes me. And when labor, working with
our hands, being revived with blessed, being persecuted, we
suffer it. We suffer it. In an order, here
in an effort, Here Paul's making an effort to try and curb their
pride and warn them against the friendship of the world. The
Scripture warns us against this. And Paul describes here the real
attitude toward a treatment of a devoted witness of Christ by
the world. He said this is the way the world
will treat those who are devoted, totally devoted and committed
to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the way they'll be treated.
Look at some scriptures. Well, over in Isaiah 53, look
how they treated our Lord. We know this scripture well.
In Isaiah 53. In Isaiah 53, it says, Who's that? Our Master. The One
we are not above. Our Lord. He is despised and
rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. We hid, as it were, our faces
from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not. He's despised.
Look over in Luke chapter 6. In Luke chapter 6, we find verse
22. Blessed are ye when men shall
hate you and when they shall separate you from their company.
Don't invite them over to dinners. It's too uncomfortable. They'll separate you from their
company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil
for the son of man's sake. for the gospel you believe, the
one you follow. Rejoice ye in that day. Be glad
if this happens. Boy, he said, be glad if it happens.
And leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.
For in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But
woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation.
Woe unto you that are full. For you shall hunger. Woe to
you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when
all men, all men, shall speak well of you. For so did their
fathers to the false prophets." That's coming from our Lord.
And then over in John chapter 15, let's listen
to our Lord Here, John 15, verse 18. If the world hate you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. He said it's a sure thing. They'll
treat you like they've treated me. And that's what Paul is teaching
here. There's something wrong. He's
saying to these Corinthians, there's something wrong with
this picture. The servants of Christ, the apostles, are being
treated as the scum of the earth, and yet you are popular with
the world, you're popular with men. He said there's something
wrong with that picture. Something wrong with it. And
Paul says in verse 14, I didn't write this to shame you. You
cannot shame any man into repentance. You can't do it. I didn't write
this to shame you, to embarrass you, because it wouldn't work. It would not work. They should
have been ashamed. We ought to be ashamed of ourselves
and our sins and we ought to be ashamed. But Paul said, I
wrote, here's why I wrote this, to warn you of compromising with
the world. of taking the edge of it all,
of not speaking when you ought to speak, of being silent when
you ought to speak, and for all these worldly companions that
are causing you these problems. Paul says, I warn you, I warn
you. That's what he's doing. And I
warn you about this thing of being lifted up with pride and
discrediting the apostles, not paying attention to us, not listening
to us. Not listening. Though you have
many preachers and teachers, it says here in verse 15, for
though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers?
For in Christ Jesus have I begotten you through the gospel. He says
you have a lot of instructors in Christ. God has given teachers
and pastors But he said, there's only one that has begotten you
through the gospel, and that's me. He said, that's me. You only have one spiritual father
with a small f. God is our Heavenly Father. But
you only have one spiritual father that has begotten you through
the gospel. And Paul said, that's me. That's me. Now listen to me. What are you saying? You know,
many of us in here were begotten by God unto salvation through
the preaching of Henry Mahan. In that sense, in that sense,
he's our spiritual father. God used him in that sense to
bring the gospel and to reveal Christ to us. And that's what
Paul is saying to them. Listen to me. I'm speaking to
you as a father. I'm not just speaking to you
here as an apostle with authority. But as a father, one through
whom God sent the gospel to you. And he said, now listen to me.
Don't discredit me. Pay attention. That's what he
said. So I urge you, in verse 16, wherefore I beseech you,
be ye followers of me. It's a bold statement, isn't
it? I thought of that as I looked
at that. Can I say that? Can I stand here and say, be
ye followers of me? Every last one of us who believe
the gospel ought to be able to say that. If we believe Christ
and love Christ and follow Christ, we ought to be an example. We
ought to be. So I urge you, don't depart from
my teachings. Don't leave the gospel that I
preached to you. Don't get caught up with this
philosophy which they were big on. Don't get caught up with
this vain show and these false... Don't leave the gospel I preached
to you. Don't add to it or take away from it. Stay with it. Stay
with it. And Paul says, because I love
you as a father loves his children, I sent to you Timothy. Timothy. Here in verse 17. For this cause
have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son. What's
he talking about? My beloved son in the faith.
My son in the faith. Timothy heard the gospel under
and from the Apostle Paul. He's my son, and he's faithful.
I wouldn't send someone to you not faithful. This man is faithful. This man is dedicated to the
gospel of Christ. He's dedicated. Who shall bring
you into remembrance of my ways, of my preaching and doctrine
and what I've taught you, which be in Christ, as I teach the
same in every church. I'm not dealing with you any
differently than I deal with the other churches. Same message, same gospel. There's
not one gospel for this place and another for another place.
The same gospel corrects every problem. It corrects every problem. It soothes every heart. Same
gospel. Same gospel. Now, some are puffed
up, he says there in verse 18. Some are puffed up by their knowledge,
gifts, and they think and they hope that I won't come and deal
with this. And I won't come and set this straight, but I will,
if the Lord will. He says that I will come to you
shortly and deal with this matter, if it be the Lord's will. If it be the Lord's will. And
I'll know. He was given discernment. I'll
know who the troublemaker is. I'll know where the problem is
and I'll correct it. I corrected. You know, I remember
many times my dad correcting my problems. And that's what Paul's saying.
Now, Paul's saying this. Now, I can come to you as an
apostle of Christ with the authority of an apostle, or I can come
to you as a loving father. Which do you want? Which way
do you want me to come to you? That's the way he's saying it.
I'll come and I'll understand this problem and I'll deal with
it. I'll deal with it. For the kingdom of God is not
in word. It's not in word. It's not in philosophy. It's
not in fine oratory. It's not in human reasoning.
It's not in human logic. It's in power. It's in the power
of the Spirit of God through the preaching of the gospel.
That's where it is. It's in power. It changes lives. When the gospel takes hold of
a man or a woman, it changes them. There's a new creation
and it's real. It's real and it's powerful because
it's of God. It's of God. Now, he said, what
will you? What do you want? Am I going
to come to you with a rod? Is that what you want? Or do you want me to come to
you in love and in the spirit of me? Paul said, I would much,
much rather come to you in the spirit of meekness. Wouldn't
you deal with your children? Would you not rather deal with
your children in love? It's a whole lot better to deal
with a problem in love than with a rod. I never did like using
the rod, even though you have to a few times. But he said, you make the choice. He said, you make the choice.
You want rod or you want love. But the key thing that Paul is
teaching here is this. There's something wrong with
this picture when we, talk about the apostles, those faithful
ministers of Christ, are being persecuted, defamed, and cashed
down. But you are popular with the
world. The world loves you. Everybody
brags on you. He said, there's something wrong
with that. Something wrong. Something wrong. All right, you're
dismissed.