Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
11. We are going to look this morning at the first two verses
of 1 Corinthians 11. When you find your place, just put
a marker there and let me say a few things before we get into
our lesson. The Apostle Paul has been dealing
with the preaching of the Gospel and its effects and applications
on our everyday lives. We don't have a different message
for different occasions. I don't have one Gospel for the
church and another Gospel for the world. I don't have one Gospel
for believers and another for unbelievers. I just have one
all-sufficient Gospel. They're just one. Just one. No other news. And we don't vary
from it. And we don't compromise it or
water it down no matter who's gathered to hear it. No matter
what the occasion is. If there's one believer and 50
unbelievers, we still don't water it down. We don't compromise
it because of situation. But there's problems and situations
that arise and become even bigger problems if we're not instructed
on how to handle or how to deal with those problems. There's
things that we sometimes enter into. And we enter into these things, and
down the road, they begin to cause problems. And we could
have avoided it altogether if we just had a little more instruction
on the situations. things like marriage and business
partnerships and community celebrations and family gatherings, and the
list goes on and on. My friend, we live in an evil
world, an evil world. I don't say that because I look
at it or watch the news or hear what's going on in it. That's
bad enough. But I don't say that for this
reason. I say that because the Scriptures
define this world as evil. It's what the Bible says. We
live in an evil world. In 1 John 5, verse 19, it says,
And we know that the whole world lieth in wickedness. The whole
world. It doesn't matter where you go.
It's not a matter geography. The whole world lieth in wickedness. In Galatians 1, verse 4, it says,
Christ gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from
this present evil world. We live in an evil world. Mankind
is totally depraved. He's without spiritual value. He loves darkness rather than
light because his deeds are evil. Men and women are not basically
good but have a few problems. I hear that all the time. They
don't live in innocence until the age of accountability and
then choose the wrong path or the right path. They're not good
people with the exception of a few things they did wrong.
I've known people who who go to church and who seemingly hear
what you say, but they're plagued with this one or two things that
they did in their life. The Bible says that we drink
iniquity like water, like water. The Bible says at our best state,
we're altogether vanity. And all of our so-called righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. And because man is depraved,
he's an easy target for Satan and the rulers of the darkness
of this world. I want you to turn with me to
Ephesians chapter 6. This is important. I'm saying
that we live in an evil world, that men are totally depraved,
And that because they are, they are an easy prey for Satan and
his ministers. Look here in Ephesians chapter
6 verse 11. Put on the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devils. What is this wiles that he talks
about? Well, in the old English it means
trick. or deceit, or fraud, or shiftyness,
or cunningness, the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not,
verse 12, against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto
you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." We live in an
evil world. It's camouflaged. That's Satan's
expertise. That's how he works. He camouflages. He paints over things. twist
things and make things that are wrong appear to be right. He
makes motives that are contrary to God. He makes those seem good
and wholesome. We live in an evil world. Men
are totally depraved. And because they are, they are
easy mark for Satan. Satan is reality. And He reigns
in the religion of this world by whom the hearts and minds
of every man and woman are infected. And His intent is to destroy
the work of Christ, to deny it altogether, and to deny the glory
of God by whatever means that He can use. We live in an evil world, and
because we do and because Satan and the rulers of darkness are
at work, we'll always have circumstances and situations to overthrow our
faith and to make the testimony of God without effect. We, every
one of us, need instruction, counsel, correction, and rebuke. Every one of us. Nick Clooney, the father of George
Clooney, the actor, gave a commencement speech years ago, about 10 years
ago, at the University of Kentucky. And they printed his speech in
the newspaper. And one of the things that he
said to the graduates is this, it's not so much what you don't
know that hurts you. It's what you think you know
that just isn't so. Now, that's how Satan works.
And when God the Holy Spirit regenerates a chosen sinner,
He calls him out of darkness. He shines the glorious light
of Christ into his mind and heart. He doesn't leave him to fend
for himself. He does not leave him to fight
this fight alone. He does not leave him to decipher
the mysteries of God, but opens his eyes and ears to the gospel
of Christ. He teaches him the truth. And drunks and dope dealers and
pornographers and child molesters and thieves and murderers do
not make up the majority of lost men. Religion holds that title. Don't you ever forget that. Religion
holds that title. And because it does, we all need
instruction and correction and rebuke. The basis of Christian
life is the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this
light must be applied to every portion of our lives. Now Paul
has three things that he is going to teach us here in I Corinthians
chapter 11. The way of instruction and light. That is the first thing he is
going to get us clear on that. Instruction and the way of instruction
and light. And then he is going to teach
us something about the distinction of the sexes. There's a reason
why there's men and women. There's a reason why they're
different, why they hold different titles and different offices,
and why one does one thing that another can't do, and this one
does something that this one can't do. There's a distinction
in the sexes, and it's very clear in the Word of God. Not clear
at all in our day, not in society, but it's clear in the Word of
God. And then the last thing that he is going to teach us
here in chapter 11 is the ordinance of the Lord's tape. Now this
morning I want us to look at these first two verses, the way
of instruction and spiritual growth. 1 Corinthians 11 verse
1. Be ye followers of me even as
I also am of Christ. Now, no faithful pastor or evangelist
would have anyone to blindly follow them. I've never told
you to blindly follow me in anything. But they would have you to follow
them only as they follow our Lord and Savior and follow His
Word. And the Word of God is our rule
of faith and practice. Look with me at this passage
over in 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. This is a very familiar passage
to anyone who studies the Scriptures. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. And it's
one of those verses that's a fundamental verse. It has a lot to do with
the basis of what we believe. 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. All Scripture Even those parts of it that you
don't understand. Even those mysteries and those
prophecies yet unfulfilled. Even those things that are beyond
your scope of reason. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And it's profitable. The Word
of God is profitable. What's it profitable for? For
doctrine. Now I'm telling you, you've got
a job on your hands if you take a religious man or woman who's
never heard the truth, and you try to shut them up to the Word
of God. They won't do it. I don't care
how many scriptures you read to them out of the Word of God,
they'll go back to their natural reasoning, they'll go back to
the way they were raised, they'll go back to whatever religion
it was that they grew up in, and that's how they'll argue
what they believe. And where does it say that in
the Word of God? And finally, one fellow not too
long ago that was asked that, he said, I don't care what it
says in the Word of God. Oh, my soul, you're in trouble. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. for instruction in righteousness
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works. If I rest in a man's interpretation
and blindly follow him, I can only have as much confidence
as that man is able to give me. And that's why it's so important
to people that there be something on the wall to acknowledge that
this man's been to seminary, or he's been here, he's been
there, because he's trying to recommend himself. He's trying
to establish himself, because himself is all the hope that
you have. And you're trying to follow this
man. But if I rest in a man's interpretation
and blindly follow him, I can only have as much confidence
as that man is able to give me. But if that man points me to
the Word of God, and I see what he is teaching in the Word of
God, then I no longer follow him. I have confidence in the
Word of God and in the promises of God who cannot lie and who
cannot change. The Word of God is our rule of
faith and practice, but God's Word is a mystery. You can't
read it like a book of science or math or history. You sit down
and read this book, and if you're honest with yourself, you'll
tell me, I don't understand. I don't understand. You don't
understand because it's not a science book. It's not a history book.
It's not a book of genealogies. It's a book of redemption. It's
a book of redemption. It declares God's eternal purpose
of grace to save a people through the person and work of His Son
for the glory of His name. And I know the mysteries of His
Word is to know the way of salvation. To know that is to know the way
of salvation, to know these mysteries. To His disciples, our Lord said,
it's given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but unto them, those proud Pharisees, it's not given. Not giving. Did they read the Word of God?
Absolutely. They transcribed the Word of
God. They studied the Word of God. They knew when a comma or
a period was out of place in the Word of God. He told them,
He said, you search the Scriptures because in them you think you
have eternal life. That is, in your understanding
of them, in your studying of them, of your obedience to them,
you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testified
me, but you won't come to me that you might have life." And
those men who studied the Word of God, who claimed to believe
in the Word of God, they used the Word of God as a means of
self-righteousness. And they practiced legalism. To make known these great mysteries,
God has ordained three things. The first thing is the Word of
God. Until He shuts us up to the Word, we'll continue to follow
after our vain ideas and religious concepts, basically what we think
and feel. That's what men tell you. You
tell them the truth. Well, I just don't think. You
need to just get your thinking out of it. You need to bow to
the Word of God. See what the Word of God says.
Let that settle it. Let every man be a liar and God
be true. And that's basically what we
do. It's what we think and feel, what seems right to us. And we
must be brought by the power of God to say in our hearts,
let God be true and every man a liar. And then secondly, God
has given to His church, by virtue of the person and work of Christ,
the gift of the Holy Ghost. If you read Acts chapter 2, Peter's
sermon at Pentecost tells us clearly that because our Lord
accomplished the will of God and took His place at the right
hand of the Father, God has kept His promise and poured out His
Spirit upon the church. And there's not even a shadow
of hope that any man might perceive these mysteries apart from the
presence and power of the Holy Spirit of God. He alone convinces men of sin
and of righteousness and of judgment satisfied. When Paul wrote these Corinthians
early in this book that we are studying right now, he quoted
this out of the Old Testament. I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. And then the third thing
God has ordained for our understanding these mysteries is gospel preachers. Gospel preachers. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now,
if I have a right understanding of the Word of God, none of those
three things that I just told you, the Word of God, the Holy
Spirit of God, and the preaching of the gospel, If I have a right
understanding of the Word of God, none of these three things
work independent of the other. Now, you look at it. Every time
it's stated, you get in there and study for yourself. Every
time it's stated, every time that work is stated, he goes
to these three areas and they all work in conjunction with
one another. When the Spirit works, He works
through the preaching of the gospel, and the Word of God.
The Word has no effect without the Spirit. Would you agree with
that? I don't care how much you talk.
I don't care how much you study. I don't care how much you know.
The Word of God and the preaching of the Gospel has no effect without
the Spirit. And the preacher has no effect
without the Word of God and without the Spirit of God. Paul said
in II Thessalonians 2.13 that God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation. Now I want you to listen to this.
Through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those three things work in conjunction
that you'll never find them working independent one of the other. Now let's look back at 1 Corinthians
11, verse 2. You see what Paul is telling
them here? He is saying now, he is commending them for following
him as he followed the Lord. He is commending them for that.
And now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things
and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. Paul commends them
for following him and his doctrine and his manner of life and in
instruction. They remembered him, he said,
in all things. That is, in all things that he
taught them. Even in the ordinances, which I'm sure, that seems to
be one of the things that's in the church, that's practiced,
that men always try to twist and change. over to England here not too
long ago and visited some of the other nearby countries. He
was over there and they served the Lord's table to him on one
occasion and they had grape juice and crackers for the elements
of the table. I don't know why it is, but baptism
and the Lord's table, those two ordinances, men attack those
things and they water them down and they change them and they
deny those things as they are given by the Lord. And they are
so simple. So simple. Unleavened bread and
wine. And those two things demonstrate
and say exactly what our Lord teaches about salvation. But
men twist them. They twist them around. They
add stuff to them. They add power to them. They
have the elements changing. And they have all kinds of things
being done. But the Scripture doesn't teach
that. And we'll get into that later on in our study. When Paul talked about knowing
the election of the Thessalonians, one of the things that he said
was, you become followers of me and the Lord. Nothing is more
comforting to a pastor than to know his congregation is listening
to him, listening to what he says, and that he has their respect
and their submission and their affection. And where these things
exist, where these things are manifest, we'll see that congregation
come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, and they'll endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit
and the bond of peace where these things are preached, where these
things are applied. And when men and women come under
that subjection by the power of the Holy Spirit, that's the
church that you'll see. applying these things, these
things will be applied to their lives.