In 1 Corinthians chapter 4, or for that matter the epistle to
the Corinthians, was written because the church was in trouble.
The problem with the church at Corinth was that they had gotten
their eyes off Christ. And no good can come of that,
never, ever. getting our eyes off Christ,
and they were looking to men. That was one of their problems.
Looking to mortal men instead of the God-man. Look what Paul
says in chapter 1 about this very matter. Chapter 1, verse
12. Now this I say, that every one
of you that say that I am of Paul, Someone said you could
always tell who was preaching in the church at Corinth because
certain would be there and others would stay away, depending on
who was there, their favorite preacher. One said, I'm of Paul,
and I'm of Apollos. Apollos is elegant, not like
Paul. And others said, well, I like
Cephas. I like Peter. He's so plain and simple. and
I of Christ. And Paul asked the question,
is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or
were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Look in chapter 3, verse
4. For while one saith, I am of
Paul, and another, I am of Paulus, are ye not carnal? And then,
who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom
ye believe, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planned
it. Apollos squandered, but God,
but God. If there's an increase, if the
preaching of the gospel is made effectual, it's because God gave
the increase. So then, if that be so, If that
be so, Paul says, so then neither is he that planteth anything,
whether Paul or Apollos receiveth, neither he that watereth, but
God that giveth the increase. And the remedy, the solution
to this problem at Corinth was to look again to Christ alone. This is why Paul wrote, to direct
them to look to Christ. like John the Baptist before.
You remember that? They came to John the Baptist
and asked him, are you the Christ? Are you the Messiah? Are you
the one that's been promised in the Old Testament? Are you
the one that all the prophets wrote about? Are you that one
that's our Redeemer? And we're told that John, looking
up on Jesus as he walked, said this, with his words as well
as with his action, with his lips as well as with his gaze,
he said, no, I'm not the Christ. Behold, the Lamb of God. There he is. Behold, the Lamb
of God. That's the remedy. Paul does
the same thing. He reminds them that it was not
Paul or Apollos or Peter by whom they received grace, but by Christ. Look, if you will, in chapter
1 again for a moment. Verse 30. Well, we should read verse 29
as well. That no flesh should glory in
His presence like the church was doing. But of Him are ye
in Christ Jesus, who of God. This can't come by Paul or Apollos
or Peter or any other man. But of God, Christ is made unto
you wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Well, if that's the case, then
according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. What else does he have to glory
in? Everything he has. Every aspect of his eternal salvation
is included comes to him through the channel, the mediator, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Then in chapter 4, verse 7, after
reminding them of those things and others, Paul asks these questions. The catechism against pride.
Verse 7, he said, For who maketh thee to differ from another? Who makes the difference? And
what have you, what hast thou that thou did not receive? And then the last question, now
if you did receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not
received it? Pride, you remember, is what
led to Lucifer's fall. Did it not, listen, from Isaiah
chapter 14? How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer? Son of the morning, how art thou
cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For
thou hast said in thine heart, this is the devil speaking. This
was his will. This was his intention. This
is what he wanted. I will ascend into heaven, and
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will set
also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like
the Most High." Oh my, my. What do you suppose God's going
to do? Is He going to have to change His will, change His plans,
change His purpose? Oh no, no. Satan's rebellion was included
in God's purpose. He works all things together
for good. The devil, contrary to religious opinion, is no rival
to God. He never has been. It's no contest. Listen, verse 15. Yet thou, now
God speaks. And he says, it's not your will
that determines this matter, it's mine. Yet thou shall be
brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Pride keeps sinners from coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read you just one more
verse of Scripture along this line. In Psalm number 10, verse
4, it is written, The wicked, through
the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. The wicked through the pride
of His countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in
all of his thoughts. And you have an example of that
on more than one occasion when our Lord walked this earth. How
often the Pharisees told Him, We don't need You, Son of God. Don't be absurd. We have Abraham
for our Father. We don't need You. Imagine that. Imagine that. That is pride.
Like that Pharisee that stood in the temple. The very picture
of pride. He reeks with pride. A stench
in God's nostrils to whom he pretended to pray. I thank you
that I'm not like other men. Pride. We don't need you. Can you imagine a sinner? A condemned,
lost, unclean sinner Upon whom God's wrath is abided,
if they're out of Christ, God's wrath, we're told, abideth on
them. That's so. Can you imagine someone
in such a condition saying, I don't need Christ? I don't need Him. Pride was the root cause of all
the problems of the church at Corinth. The divisions, the envy,
the strife. And Paul tells them, he uses
these words several times. The verse prior to our text.
He tells them, you're puffed up. You're puffed up. You're inflated. What Paul was
telling them, what might be more applicable to you and I in our
day, Paul told them, you got the big head. You people got
the big head. You're puffed up. And there's
no reason to be. the very opposite of grace, contrary
to grace, like a balloon. You remember, you blow up a balloon
and you hold it as long as the air is in it, but then you let
it go and down it goes. Paul says by these questions,
come down, come down. Who's made you the different?
Paul wants to let the air out of those swelled heads. Someone
once said, there's pride of race, white power, and black power,
and blah, blah, blah. Pride of race, who I am, someone
wisely said, it doesn't matter whose family tree you shake,
John, it doesn't matter. shake any family tree you want,
and fallen Adam is going to drop out. We trace all of our roots
back to him. And someone said there is pride
of race and pride of place and pride of face. I heard someone say, can't wait
till tomorrow because I get better looking every day. Pride of face. But can anything be more groundless
More absurd than pride of grace? Can anything be more groundless,
even those other things, than pride of grace? Paul asked them
this question. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Who makes the difference? Notice
Paul speaks in the present tense. Make it. Now. Because the same
grace that called them, and you and I that are believers, the
same grace that called us keeps us to this present moment. Oh, how thankful that I am that
God, God doesn't take His hand of mercy and grace off of us.
Because if He did, if He did, we would be utterly shocked How
far we would fall, asked Peter. No, it's that same grace that
called us at the first that's kept us right up to this very
moment. Old John Newton, that old slave
trader, he expressed it well. He said, this grace that's brought
me safe thus far and grace will lead me home for every moment
of our pilgrimage to glory It will always be true. It will
always be true. Even after we cross into glory
itself, I am what I am by the grace of God. No other reason. No other explanation. We never
have reason to glory except in the Lord. And you can glory there
all you want to. Like a buffet. I told you I think
not long ago My grandchildren, when I visit them and take them
out to eat, they are not too particular about where we go,
just as long as it's a buffet, long as they can eat and eat
all that they want. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory, save in the cross. Here's a buffet. You can glory
there all that you want. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's good reason. For believers,
for you and I, often to ask ourselves this question, these questions
that Paul asked, because they humble us, do they not? Am I the only one that still
struggles with pride? I'm not the only one, am I, love?
We all have that nature. Someone told their pastor one
time as he descended from the pulpit, oh, you preached a great
message, preacher, pastor. And he said, I know, the devil
already told me. So to keep us humble, also to
magnify God's grace. Oh, God, help me in sincerity
answer the question Who maketh me to differ from another in
order to magnify your grace by the answer? His unmerited, always
unmerited favor. That's what grace is. If you
feel like you've merited God's grace, you don't understand grace.
It's unmerited. You didn't deserve it. It's a
free gift without a cost by you or a cause in you. all by God's
free favor. As we read a moment ago, not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Turn back, if you will,
to the Psalms again for just a moment. Psalm 34. And we could
just about go to any Psalm to illustrate this blessed point.
Praise to our God for his free favor and mercy. But look what
David says after one of his many deliverances. He says this in Psalm 34 verse
2. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me. David
seemed to say, I need help. God deserves all our gratitude,
so join with me, will you, and magnify the Lord with me and
let us exalt His name together. And then another good reason
to be reminded is so that we'll remember what a debt of love
and gratitude we owe to our God. This is so important, is it not? Oh, what a debt of love Uh-oh. The psalmist again wrote these words from Psalm
116 I'm reading now. He says, For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, spiritual death, eternal death, mine eyes
from tears, and my feet from falling. And then he asked this
question, What shall I render unto the Lord? for all His benefits
toward me. What can I give Him? What can
I render to Him for such grace, such mercy, such a great salvation? Verse 17, He says, I will offer
unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of
the Lord. Oh, how different! How different
we would be without His grace. Remember, before we experienced
His grace, what we were. And how differently our lives
could be this morning, except for this, but God had been mindful
of us. Is that right? Is that right? Oh, how differently Had God not
been mindful of us, might our hearts be this morning, instead
of rejoicing, instead of at peace, broken, grieving, mourning. Oh, but God, the God who in the
heavens heard my prayer, He condescended. Imagine that. Imagine that. The God of glory bows His head. His ear that hear the prayer
of an unworthy sinner. No wonder Paul said, consider
that. Who's made you to differ? And also, in answering this question,
may those who don't know our Lord, the lost, be encouraged. In hearing us answer this question,
who's made us to differ? May the God of all grace convince
them that He can do for them what He's done for us. He delights
to show mercy. There's nothing in those glorious
doctrines of grace, as we call them, that we believe. Election. Nothing there. Nothing in the
sweet, sweet, comforting truth of effectual particular redemption,
nothing in the truth of effectual calling by God's Spirit, nothing
in those blessed truths that discourage a sinner from seeking
His grace. On the contrary, it's all the
reason to do so. And nothing in those blessed
truths deny, rather they exemplify God's willingness to save. He
delights to show mercy. Had He not willed to do so, none
would ever be saved. Paul asked the question, who
maketh thee the differ? The difference. The difference. In you and other men, Paul asked. What does Paul mean by this?
What exactly is the difference he speaks of? Well, it's certainly
not a difference of outward things. Like the Pharisees, much of their
religion, all of their religion was outward. how they dressed. They were easy to spot. They dressed different from other
folks. And their descendants are still around today. I remember
talking to my grandmother years ago, and she talked about, I
don't recall exactly whether she belonged to this church or
knew someone that did. But she said they were strict.
I said, what do you mean, Granny? She said, well, they split. I
said, why did they split, Granny? Well, she said, if I remember
right, one group believed the women should wear bonnets and
the other group didn't. They were liberal. So they split. And it's certainly not a difference
of, as they're called today, religious persuasions. I remember
as a young Boy, happened to be admitted to the hospital, filling
out some forms, and they asked me, are you Protestant or Catholic? And I do, I wasn't a Catholic,
so I said, I guess I'm Protestant. Doesn't really matter. No, that's
not what Paul's asking. The difference Paul speaks of
is not a difference like touch-not and taste-not and handle-not
and go-not. Paul said that's will worship.
Man's will, not God's. Oh, this difference is much more,
goes much deeper than that. And notice Paul doesn't question.
His question is not whether there is a difference. That's not what
he's asking him. The question is, who's made this difference?
Who makes it? Literally what Paul asks is this,
who distinguishes you? Who distinguishes you? Of course,
Paul speaks of that change that only grace can make. He speaks
of that work in you. In you. That's where the problem
is. And Paul said, He that's begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Oh, it must be a work in us because
that's where the problem's at. Religion just deals with the
outside. Reform the old man. Dress up
the old man. Drop some bad habits. Pick up
some new habits. And everything will be alright.
You can do all those things and not need the grace of God. Oh,
but for a new heart. A new heart. See, the problem
with me is inside. My problem is within. I've got
a bad heart. I've got a fallen nature. And
where is the soul winner? Where is the preacher that can
give me a new heart? Who can do that? Can I be given
a new nature by walking up and out and repeating the so-called
sinner's prayer, by accepting some facts about Christ and about
salvation? Is that all that's involved?
No. No, that's not what Paul speaks
of here. Remember our Lord told the Pharisees
one time, He said, you people, you guys are like white encyclicals,
graves, tombs. You're whitewashed. making pretty
on the outside, but inside, dead men's bones. He said, that's
the way you are. That's your religion. You may
clean the outside, but inside, inside corrupt. And he said,
from within, from the heart proceed adulteries and murders and envies,
all these things. You need a new heart. Now who
can do that? If that's what's required, who
can give me a new heart? None but the great physician,
the healer of souls. He can. He can give life and
none else. Religion, as I said, deals with
the outside but the problems within. I need a new nature. I need life. I need spiritual
life. This is what our Lord said to
Nicodemus, that Pharisee, that teacher, that religious man.
And he didn't have a clue what the Lord spoke about. Our Lord
told him plainly, unless you're born again, you can't see the
Kingdom of God. You can't know it, you can't
understand it, and you'll never enter into it until you're born
from above. That which is born of flesh is
flesh and always will be. But that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Born from above. And that brings
us to the next point. Who makes this difference? And consider that this difference
in Scripture is called a new birth. We already mentioned it
in John 3. It's called a new creation. Paul
said if any man's in Christ, he's a new creation. Now think about that. A creation. Something not of this world. Something from above. Something
that the hand of God Himself has created. giving us the very
image of Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Not you in a building, you at
a so-called altar, but Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's the only reason of this
great change that Paul said, it's a new creation. Can I create? I'll have to Say with Tim James,
man, I can't even make soup. How am I going to make myself
a new creature in Christ? If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Young Spurgeon came home that
day through that snowstorm after God had opened his eyes and he
beheld a sight that he never got over.
And he stood by the fire, and his mother entered the room,
and Spurgeon said, she sensed, looked at me, and my depression
and my burden. It was evident they were gone.
And she said, Charles, what's happened to you? Mother. Mother. Christ. Christ has taken all
my sins away. Oh yeah, this change, this difference
Paul speaks of is also described as a resurrection. It's a resurrection. He said the hour is coming and
now is it. Those who are dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God and those that hear shall live. Who but God could accomplish
such wonders? The salvation of a sinner is
a miracle of God's mighty grace. Who distinguishes you Remember
what he told Moses concerning the children of Israel? Moses,
this night, this very night, I'm going to pass through the
land of Egypt. And I'm in justice, going to kill the firstborn. You say, God doesn't do that.
Yes, he does. Yes, he does. God gives and he
takes away. God says, I kill and I make alive.
I am the Lord. I do all these things. And Moses,
I'm gonna pass through Egypt, and I'm gonna smite the firstborn
of every household. Doesn't make any difference whether
it's the son of the maidservant or Pharaoh who sits on the throne,
his son, every household. But. But. I like that song, don't
you? But. Oh, that's a song of grace. I know that tune, don't you?
But. against the house of the children
of Israel, upon which the blood has been applied, the blood of
that sacrificed lamb. I've already executed judgment.
And I'll pass them by that Egypt might know that the Lord puts
a difference, makes a difference between those who are His own
and those who are not. And so He does. He distinguishes
His own. This is what Paul does. He reminds
them God did this. He distinguished you. He set
you apart in eternal election. The hour is and now. It was true
in Paul's day. It's more so in our day. He said
that the whole world will believe a lie. Men will turn their ears
from the truth and be turned to fables. And they will pay
men to tell them these lies. Tell us how good we are. Tell
us we have need of nothing. Tell us God loves everybody.
Tell us Jesus died for everybody. Tell us that everybody's going
to heaven. But Paul said, but. There's that
song again. But. We are bound. We are bound. To give thanks
because God had from the beginning, brethren, chosen you to salvation. Oh, we've been set apart by redemption. That redemption which is in Christ
Jesus. He entered one time into the
holy place. Into the very presence of God.
Having obtained eternal redemption. for us, redeemed by the precious
blood of Jesus Christ, distinguished by the Spirit's call, being quickened,
made alive, born again by the Word of God, which liveth and
abideth forever. And we shall be distinguished
in the resurrection. Glory, will we not? In John 5
again, our Lord said, The hour is coming that all which are
in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man and days will
come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of glory,
salvation. Those who have done evil to the
resurrection of damnation. My soul. Revelation chapter 20. I saw
a great white throne, pure, pure, just right. And He that sat upon
the throne and all men, all men, death gave up and the grave gave
up. All men gave up the dead and
all were ushered in in the presence of God Almighty. And everyone whose name was not
written in the Lamb's Book of Life was cast into the lake of
fire. And some of them, before they
are, cry out, Lord, don't you know us? We've built monuments
to your name. We've cast out devils in your
name. We did all these great works, and you'll save me. Part
from me. I never knew you. And they're
cast out. But here's a multitude that none
can number. And he turns to them. And says,
enter into the joy. Come with me. Enter into the
joy prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Who
made them the different? God's grace. God's grace. And that's all. It wasn't myself. It wasn't the priest. It wasn't
the preacher. It was God. That's the difference
that I want my children to experience, don't you? I know you do. Our
sons and our daughters, our brothers and our sisters, our companions
perhaps. Oh, that they might know Him. Know Him. I don't want my son to call me
up someday and say, Daddy, I became a Baptist. Daddy, I'm a Calvinist. Oh, I want to hear him say, Father,
I know Him. I want them in that day. That day. to be found in Him,
clothed in His righteousness. In one sense, we're not different. We still have this fallen nature
as a lost man. It's not eradicated. It's not
changed one-eyed. But as saved sinners, we have
a new nature. We have a new nature. Turn, if
you will, over to chapter 6. Let's look at this just for a
moment briefly. Verses 9, Paul says, Know ye
not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor infeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covenants,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit
the kingdom of God. In such were some of you. In
such were some of you. Yes, I was. I'm so glad he doesn't stop there,
does he? He says, but. But there's. That's grace talking. Can you
hear it? But you're washed, but you're sanctified, but you're
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit
of our God. But. Notice and rejoice in it,
how Paul changes the tense. He says, ye were, ye were. It's
true, we can't deny we were, but not anymore. That was in the past, but ye
are now, right now. Oh, thank God. I know Newton said it, but it's
true of every child of God. They can take His words and make
them their own. I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what I ought to be. And I'm not what I'm going to
be. But bless His name, I'm not what I used to be. No, I'm not. Grace has made us. to differ,
but ye are washed, washed by the precious blood of Christ.
Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. Thank God there is a fountain
filled with life. But ye are sanctified, given
a new nature in regeneration, righteousness imparted, in justification
righteousness imputed, in sanctification into new birth, righteousness
implanted. Christ in you. But ye are present
tense. Oh, I like that. Right now. Justified. The very righteousness
of Christ has been put on my account. Imputed to me. Now God declares, not guilty. Not guilty, Joe. My soul. In the court of heaven, in the
court of heaven itself, God in strict justice declares, not
guilty. That sinner's justified. Now
last of all, Paul asks another question in the text, and if
thou didst receive it, why dost thou glorious if thou didst not
receive it? Everything about salvation is
a gift of God's grace. Selection, redemption, calling,
light, faith, heaven, we've received. We would never have it otherwise.
I wonder, I often wonder, and I did when I was studying this
message. I wonder if you'd met Bartimaeus
shortly after his encounter with Jesus in Jericho that day. and asked him, Bartimaeus, I
remember you. You're that bum, blind beggar
that sat every day at the gate of the city begging. What happened
to you? What happened to you? Can you imagine what he might
have said? He said, Let me tell you what happened.
I was sitting there just like always. And I heard an unusual noise,
a large cry. And I asked what it meant. They
told me it was Jesus passing by, and I heard it, and I heard
what he done. And I started crying loud as
I could. They told me to be quiet, but
it didn't matter. Have mercy. Son of David, please have mercy. Don't pass me by. And you know what he did? Do
you know what he did? He stopped. He stood still. And he told them to bring me
to him. And he asked what I wanted. I
just want to see. And you know, he said, so be
it. Immediately, he restored my sight. Glory to his name. Or if you met that woman in Luke
8 with the issue of blood, what happened to you? Or that leper
in Mark 1? Or that demoniac in Mark 5? And
we could go on and on and on. But remember, all the miracles
are only a picture of that greater miracle of His great salvation. One more and I'll close. One
of my favorites. If you'd met that woman, we read
about in Luke's Gospel chapter 7. If you'd met that woman that
day leaving, as she was leaving the house of Simon, the Pharisee,
and asked her, what are you so happy about? What are you rejoicing so much
about? Did Simon welcome you into his
house? Did he speak kindly to you? Did
he treat you well? Imagine her answer, oh no, Simon
was very rude to me. Simon was embarrassed by my being
there at all. And he didn't want me there.
But that's all right. I didn't go there to see Simon.
Doesn't matter what he thought. I went there to see Jesus. And you ask me why I'm so happy?
You ask me why I'm rejoicing? He spoke words of grace and mercy
to my soul. He didn't disown me. He wasn't
ashamed of me. He told Simon, leave her alone.
Leave her be. She's mine. She's one of mine. And then he turned to me and
said, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy faith hath saved thee. Go
in peace. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
do you and I have less reason to adore his matchless grace
than she did? Do we have not the same reasons
to do what she did, bring her very best and anoint his feet? and kiss them, and bow down to
them, and worship Him. The hymn writer said, and we're
going to sing this hymn, not the one I had in the bulletin.
I've changed it. We're going to close with the
one on page 125 in your hymn book. It says, and when before
the throne I stand in hymn complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my
lips shall still repeat. Jesus paid it off, all to him
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
but he washed it white as snow.