Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
4. I want to recap just a little
bit before we get into the lesson this morning. And in so doing, just kind of
picture in your mind what's going on. You know, statements are
made all the time and they don't make sense to us. Somebody be
relating something that happened. and they'll say something and
it just kind of don't make any sense at all. And they said,
well, you needed to be there. Well, that's kind of the way
this is. You have to kind of put yourself in what was going
on in this church. So just try to picture in your
mind what's going on here. There's men who have taken over
the ministry of this church. This church was established by
the Apostle Paul and set up and left under a faithful
minister of Christ. And somewhere down the road,
false prophets had come in. And they had taken over the ministry
of this church who were not called of God. And they preached some
truth, no doubt about it. But they preach it in such a
way as to eliminate the offense of the cross. They preach in
such a way as to appeal to the natural senses of men and women. Their ministry is not a ministry
of God, it's a ministry of men. And that's what they're trying
to minister to. Everything they do is set up
to appeal to men. And they preach in such a way
as to give the idea that conversion is the product of man. That conversion
is something brought to pass by strong persuasion and argument. That conversion is nothing but
man's will and decision to do better. We've all been in those
types of churches. And they do preach truth, some
truth. But they preach it in such a
way as to appeal to men. They preach a gospel which is
congenial with natural man. They preach a gospel that ignores
the eternal appointments of Christ. I never heard, growing up in
the Nazarene church, I never heard one single time any statement
about the eternal appointments of Christ. Not a single statement. And this is the basis of everything
that He did. I came not to do my own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. You know? I am the Father
of woman. And on and on it goes. His eternal
appointments. Why did Christ appear? Why did
He come? Why did all these things go? Because He was appointed of God
before the foundation of the world. He was the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. But they preach a gospel
that ignores the eternal appointments of Christ, ignores the union
of man and God coming into this world, ignores the bloody sacrifice,
ignores the shameful death and public humiliation of Christ,
and ignores His resurrection and present reign in glory. Nobody
ever told me that Christ sat upon the throne of glory ruling
over all things. Never heard such a thing. They
preach a gospel that exalts the law above the law giver, exalts
the law above he who is the end of the law. And the scriptures
are just full of declarations of such men. And these men always
despise God's true preachers. They can't refute what they say,
but they criticize and lambash and falsely accuse them of all
kinds of immoral character and heresies and lack of love for
their hearers, and on and on it goes. Paul says of such men
and those who are deceived by their words, their judgment of
me as a minister of God, he said, is a very small thing. Very small
thing. All their criticisms, he says,
nothing to me. Nothing to me. My success, my
work, my power is of the Lord. And like seed planted in a field,
only God can make it grow. I can plant the seed. I can hold the seed in my hand,
but I can't make it grow. Only God can make it grow. I
have no power to begat. I have no power to make men willing. I have no power to recreate,
cleanse, or renew. We've got no power to even make
a man interested in what I have to say. We have no power to give
the revelation of God in the hearts and minds of men. God
calls men, and He gives them His gospel, and He makes them
stewards of these mysteries. Now that's what Paul's told us
so far here in chapter 4. He went so far as to say, I don't
even judge myself. Now, Paul was not a fool. He
was a wise man. And Paul might have judged himself,
but he didn't. And here's why. No man is something
because he says he is. He's not something because he
says he is. A man is not strong because he
says he is. I used to have young men come
to work for me who thought they were strong, said they were strong,
until they found out what we had left, and then they weren't
strong anymore. A man's not strong because he
says he is. A woman's not beautiful because she says she is. And
a man's not wise because he says he is. And Paul said, my calling,
my office, my authority is of the Lord, and I'm satisfied to
leave it right there. That's where I'm going to leave
it. It is not men or man that maketh thee to differ, but God."
That's who makes you to differ. Now in our lesson, beginning
in verse 8, Paul says what he says, and you won't make any
sense out of it any other way. He says it sarcastically. This is pure sarcasm, what he's
about to say. He's about to talk about these
false prophets who have crept in there unawares, who had turned
this church, these dear people, they had them in there glorying
in men, and glorying in one another, and glorying in preachers, and
going about. And sin was not preached as sin. These people were sinning on
every hand. And Paul begins to Use a little
sarcasm here. And it's not meant so much for
the church as it is those who had led them astray and those
who were deceived by them. Now listen to what he says here
in verse 8. Now ye are full, now ye are rich. Now Paul's purpose
here is to set these men in contrast with the apostles. He wants to
show they're self-confident in vain ways in the light of their
laboring. He labored all the time. Most
of the time he had to labor to feed himself because nobody was
there to support him and he wasn't going to have this new group
of people think that he's in this thing for the money. And
so he worked in that respect. And he wants to show that these
men who wouldn't work in a pie factory, these men who didn't
do anything, were not called of God. And so he begins to set
things in contrast. His intention is to show them
how little claim that these pretenders had to the authority they claimed
over the church. And by his self-denial, not just
his, but the apostles in general, by their self-denial and suffering
and sacrifices, how much he and these other apostles had the
claim. You're full, he says. You think
you have enough. This is a picture of a man who
sits down at a table and he eats until he can't eat anymore. I'm
just speculating that about everybody in here did that Thanksgiving.
You ate until you couldn't eat anymore. And that's it. You're
full. You didn't want anything else.
Didn't want dessert. I didn't want this. Didn't want
that. I'm full. And that's what he said. You're full. You think
you have enough. You're satisfied. You're satisfied
with your convictions and satisfied with your calling and satisfied
with your knowledge and your talents. And you've got no appetite
for anything more. And you're rich. He says that
next. You're rich. You think you're
rich in spiritual understanding and rich in spiritual gifts and
rich in wisdom and knowledge. And you have reigned as kings. Now the first metaphor is of
a man who has eaten so much that he don't want anymore. The second
of a man who is so rich that he doesn't need anymore. And
then third, that of a man exalted to the throne who has nowhere
else to go. He's as high as he can get. High
as he can get. He's at the top. Now watch this. You have reigned as kings. without
us, without our counsel, without our instruction, without any
influence from us, without any regard for us, without any regard
for our doctrine and counsel, without any consideration for
God's calling, God's ways, God's means. You took the whole management
of your soul and the whole management of your conversion upon yourselves. You rang. You sat on the throne. And you had no need of our aid. You had no need of our authority.
You believed you could make it just fine without God's ambassador. Now watch this. And I would to
God you did reign, that we also might reign with you. Now what
Paul is saying here is that he truly desired that they were
as blessed as they thought they were. that they were as knowledgeable
as they thought they were. That they were as free and as
advanced as they thought they were. He's saying, I wish you
were as abundant in growth and character and wisdom as you think
you are. I wish you had made such improvements
and advances that you could be represented as full and rich
and reigning with Christ. So when I come, I wouldn't have
anything to do but rejoice with you. I would have got you to
agree, he said. Verse 9, 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. Look at the contrast. See the
false prophets, full, rich, reigning with no opposition, enjoying
all the high honors and fame, and see God's true servants despised,
suffering, held in contempt, persecuted, and dying. Any man who enjoys the love and
honor of this world is not the servant of God. You can just
write it down. This world is not going to have
His message, and because of that, it's not going to have His messenger. Godly men and women, and especially
preachers, are hated in this world. They're hated by worldly
men. They're hated by worldly religion.
They're hated by their own families. Paul said they were appointed
to death. All his sufferings and persecutions
were considered the appointment of God. That's how he bore them. They were appointed of God. He
said in one place, the Holy Ghost hath made witness everywhere
I go by suffering. The Holy Ghost did that. He counted
these things of God. Now, Gill said this word spectacle,
made a spectacle, he says here. You know what that word means?
A theater. A theater. It's made a theater. It's an open exhibition, openly
shown to the world, demonstrated right before. Verse 10, we're
fools for Christ's sake, but you're wise in Christ. We are
weak, but you're strong. You're honorable, but we are
despised. Now, still being sarcastic. There's
no way you can read that literally. And he's telling them that the
true apostle of Christ is a fool and they're wise. This is written
with sarcasm. And it's written in a contrast.
He's trying to get this church to see. And still being sarcastic,
Paul gives us another contrast. We're fools for Christ's sake.
Not that he was a fool, but he was willing to be esteemed by
the world as a fool. Now, I could take you, it would
take me about 15 or 20 minutes, but I could take you through
the first and second chapter of I Corinthians and show you
that. To those who are lost, who are dying, He said, foolishness. Isn't that what it said? Foolishness.
But unto us which are being saved, it's the power of God and the
wisdom of God. Willing to be esteemed as a fool
by men, willing to have men think his ministry is foolishness. And he does that for Christ's
sake. But ye are wise, he said. You're not willing to be judged
as fools, but as wise. Wise in your own conceits. Lots of men are not willing to
do that. Lots of them are. And that's
why they shave off all the sharp points of the gospel. That's
why they shave off all the offenses of the gospel. That's why they
ignore all these things like election. My friend, you go down
to any church in this area, get up in the pulpit and start preaching
election, you've got a fight on your hands. Those folks are
offended. They're offended. You start talking
about God's absolute sovereignty, you've got a fight on your hands.
And on and on it goes. You get up there and tell them
that they're totally depraved, and boy, dang, I'm not depraved. I'm not totally depraved. Yeah,
you are. Yeah, you are. And you can go
on and on and on with it. And that's what these men, they
weren't willing to be counted as fools by men. Actually, they
reveled in what men thought about them. And that's how they preached.
That's how they preached. You're worried more about what
men think than you are on what God says. We're fools. We who are the writers of Scripture,
taught personally by Christ, confirmed by miracles and wonders
and signs, confirmed by suffering and death, but you're wise. You
see the contrast? We're weak. Now this is pure
sarcasm here. Paul was anything but weak. He
was a little man in stature. He did have a speech impediment,
but he was anything but weak. He was not timid. He was fearless. He did not avoid danger, but
he went where the gospel took him. And he went knowing, knowing
that death scared him in the face. He went. But you're strong. Who will cower down before anybody
that comes through the door and sits down in the pew. Cower down. Well, I was going to preach on
election. I think I'll preach on the love of God this morning.
Why? Because you fear men. You fear
what they are going to say. But you are strong. Not really. They were weak and
timid. They dodged the offense of the
gospel. They avoided persecution. But
they called Paul weak and foolish. And then he said, you are honorable.
They had the honor of the deceived. But they were not honorable.
Their accusations and criticisms of the apostles in itself was
not honorable. These most honorable men, these
men who demanded the honor of the public, were the ones out
in the crowd spreading false accusations about Christ so that
crowd would cry crucify and crucify. That's not honorable, is it?
Not honorable. And their accusations and criticisms
of the Apostle himself was not honorable. Nothing about them
was honorable. And yet the Apostles who truly
were wise, strong, and honorable were judged fools and despised. Now let's read the next three
verses. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 11. Even unto this present hour
we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and
had no certain dwelling place. And we 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 as the off-scouring of all things unto this day.
That's how men treated them. I'm talking about the writers
of Scripture, the apostles, the foundation of our faith today. were counted as the offscouring
of all things. And these are the things that
accompany a true minister of God and especially the apostles
in early churches. And we're not talking about a
few isolated events. We're talking about the history
of their ministry. But see the false prophet. See
him in his beautiful arraignment. See him well-fed, well-known,
well-cared for. Got a beautiful home, plenty
of friends, a great reputation. What a contrast from God's true
service. My friend, these things which
God has purposed and appointed, he's done these things to show
his grace and his power and his glory. Just try to picture Paul
in your mind. More than likely, about every
writer I've ever read said he had a speech impediment. He was very small in stature,
thin, dressed in rags. He spent most of his time in
prison. His clothes were worn and tattered,
and he was often in chains. He was in prison in chains, in
rags, smelly old man who couldn't talk right. And here he is, and
he converted thousands through his message. He caused kings
to tremble. You think of it. He caused kings
to tremble in his presence. And he put false prophets on
the run when he came home. This is the minister of God.
This is the power of God. It's got nothing to do with your
fine speech. It's got nothing to do with your
education and diplomas. It has to do with the power of
God's Spirit taking those basic things that you say and empowering
those things in the hearts and minds of men and women. It's
all of God. And when we talk about the power
of the Spirit attending their preaching, what in the world
are we talking about? We're talking about an unnatural reaction. That's what we're talking about.
Totally unnatural reaction. A man listens to a man he don't
know, and he finds an unexplainable confidence in that man. Why is
that? Why is that? My sister was telling
me that her daughter down in Florida There's a young man that
she knows, and I think she watches his dog from time to time. And a man came over, and I don't
know how I got in the conversation, but somehow I did. And she said,
well, he's on Sermon Audio, if you just go on Sermon Audio.
He clicked on Sermon Audio, and next time she seen him, he'd
listened to three messages. He said, man, that guy's pretty
good. He's pretty good. Well, how come he thinks that?
And the rest of them don't. That's unexplainable, isn't it?
There's no way to explain it. You preach to a group of people
like I did up in Van Buren. You speak to a whole group of
people. One or two in there get it. The rest of them don't. Why
is that? Why is that? Well, listen to
this. 1 John 4, verse 5. They are of
the world. Therefore, speak they of the
world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us,
and he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit
of truth and the Spirit of error." Then secondly, we're talking
about an unnatural submission. I tell you, it takes an act of
God to cause a man or a woman to submit to God's minister. It takes an act of God. I know
we submit to God and we submit to Christ, but we submit to his
minister to teach us. And it's an unnatural act. Natural
man ain't going to do that. He won't even submit to the fact
that he needs a preacher, let alone submit to one. They find
an unexplainable confidence in a man, and they submit to his
ministry as God's ambassador, and they submit to his message.
Paul told the Thessalonians, he said, I know your election
of God because you've become followers of me and the Lord. That's what he told them. And
then thirdly, we're talking about an unexplainable confidence in
the Word of God. Some men, you can open this book
up and say, well, look. Look here what it says here and
read it to them and they'll just look at you. So what? And you
go over here and you read it again. So what? So what? It has no impact on them. You can go all over the Bible.
You can go Old Testament, New Testament. You can go back to
the types. You can cover them up with the Word of God. It has
no impact on them. Some will even say, I don't care
what the Word of God says. But I tell you this, the believer,
all you have to do is show him. Here's what it says. That's right. That's right. They bow to it.
They bow to it. We're talking about the power
in the ministry. We're talking about the power
of the Spirit of God. And then fourthly, we're talking
about an unexplainable application of Bible truth to him or her
as an individual. I stand up here week after week
and talk about sinners, talk about sinners, show you in the
Bible what it says about sinners. When God applies that truth,
all of a sudden you become the sinner. Isn't that so? It's not
general anymore, it's particular. And that truth comes to you.
I bet you recall the time. The sinner. And when we're talking about
the gospel coming in power, we're talking about an unexplainable
arresting of a sinner who can't go on the way he was going. He
comes, somebody said, to the end of himself, whatever that
is. He's arrested. I like that word, arrested. It's having an open mind that
was once closed. It's being willing, who before
was not willing. It's being uninterested, who
had no interest. It's desiring truth. who live
satisfied with lies all their life. That's the power. Whenever
he's talking about the power of the Spirit attending that
ministry, that's what he's talking about. And all of these things
attend the preaching of the gospel. And when these things are not
found, you can be sure God's minister is not there. And so
Paul says in verse 16 in our clause, Wherefore I beseech you,
be you followers of May.