Well, if you've been in church consistently since
the beginning of our study in 1 Corinthians,
perhaps you've noticed that thus far Paul has
spent an excessive amount of time talking about
one particular issue, one problem in the church,
and that is the issue of division. I think we've
gone 10 or 11 weeks straight where that single
issue has, if not in the forefront, is in the
backdrop. of everything that Paul has been instructing
us about and exhorting us to. It started way
back in chapter 1, verse 10. It ran through most
of chapters 2 and 3. And he's not going to stop
talking about the issue of division until the
end of chapter 4. Finally, once we get to chapter
5, his focus is going to turn to some new issues,
sexual sin and church discipline. But even in
that, it's in relation to the idea of church
health. and church unity. So for this Sunday
and next, we're still looking at this one serious
problem in the church. And by the way, when you
see a subject that is that intense in scripture,
you know it's important for us, right? It's important
for us even 2 ,000 years later. God thinks this
is a very important issue for us to study. Now,
to be fair, every message that we've walked through,
even though division has been in the backdrop,
each section has had a unique nuance to it. And
that's true of our passage this morning. Today,
Paul is going to highlight for us the character
trait that drives almost every conflict you will
see in the life of the church. Almost every one.
And because that's true, this is something that
every one of us should pay close attention to
and consider. And the issue is, you probably
guessed it, pride. Or what the New American Standard
Bible is going to call arrogance. Perhaps the
ugliest of all human sins. And the gateway to
so many other sins. Pride or arrogance. There's
a great quote out there from C .S. Lewis that
describes this well. Let me read it to you. He
says, of which no man in the world is free, one
which everyone in the world loathes when he sees
it in someone else, and one of which hardly any
people ever imagine that they are guilty of themselves.
The essential vice, the utmost evil is pride.
Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness and the
like are mere flea bites in comparison. Pride
leads to every other vice. It is the complete
anti -God state of mind. Wow. This morning, Paul's
going to talk about the type of pride that is
blind to one's own shortcomings, blind to one's
own pitiful condition, while at the same time
looking at other people and judging them harshly.
Here's another important quote to get your mind
sort of going this morning. This one comes from
John Piper. He says, there is a very close relationship
between unbelief and pride. Unbelief is a turning
away from Jesus in order to seek satisfaction
in other things. Pride is a turning away from
God specifically to take satisfaction in self.
Very insightful. And this was the foundational
problem in Corinth. People thinking far too highly
of themselves and of their own wisdom. And at
the same time, blind to their own shortcomings,
clueless as to their own immaturity. And yet,
still confidently, they manage to judge their
teachers and their leaders, attaching themselves
to this one, rejecting others, putting one man
on a pedestal which he doesn't deserve, while
showing contempt to the other leaders who now
they've wrongly judged as not meeting the standard
of my guy. Clueless. And then once they'd identified
with a particular group under a preferred leader,
they were all looking around and saying, well,
we're superior to everybody else. We're in the
best group. We have the best guy. And of course,
what comes from that division? Obviously. So
becoming a fanboy or a fangirl of one teacher
over others, it leads to cliques. Cliques in
the church. It leads to a fundamental lack of
unity. And Paul has been dealing with this, as
I said, since chapter one. First, with the matter
in principle, contrasting two important things.
What is weakness and foolishness in the eyes
of the world versus weakness and foolishness
in the eyes of God? He was trying to get the
Corinthians to lay aside all of their cultural
baggage from that city they grew up in, which
encouraged them to be prideful and to get them
to renew their thinking, to begin to see things
the way God does. And then he addressed the problem
by pointing out that all the apostles that God
was sending to Corinth, they're just servants.
They're not to be boasted in. If you're going
to boast in anything, boast in the Lord. Neither
should the apostles be seen as competitors. They're
not competing to get a following. They're co
-laborers for the gospel. And each one of them
has a unique role to play. Paul described himself,
hey, I was the first one to get there, so I was
out there planting all the seeds of the gospel.
Then later, Apollos came, and he watered those
same seeds. And his point was simply this. We're
both laboring as one for the same cause. And
because of that, he said, each one of us is going
to get our own rewards at the judgment seat of
Christ. So you guys, Corinthians, stop judging.
You're actually not qualified to do so because
you don't know the heart of man. Stop judging.
Wait upon the Lord. He will do it perfectly.
Do you remember all this? Good. So Paul's been
walking through this step by step. Let's see
now what he's going to say next. Grab your Bibles
and let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians
4. We're going to cover verses 6 through 13 this
morning. But let's do this. Let's back up to
the very top of the chapter to verse 1. And we'll
read last Sunday's passage and we'll read it
in context so that we know exactly what Paul's
flow of thought is. 1 Corinthians 4, beginning
in verse 1. Paul says, this is the way that any
person is to regard us, meaning himself and the
other apostles. This is how you should regard
us. Regard us as servants of Christ. And stewards
of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover,
it's required of stewards that one be found what?
Trustworthy. And then we were shocked by what
he said next, right? Last week. But to me, it's
an insignificant matter that I would be examined
by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not
even examine myself. For I'm not aware of anything
against myself. However, I'm not vindicated by
this. But the one who examines me is the Lord.
And if you need an explanation of all that, go
onto our YouTube channel and listen to that message.
Verse five, therefore, do not go on passing judgment
before the time, but wait until the Lord comes
who will bring to light the things hidden in
the darkness and disclose the motives of human
hearts. And then, then and only then, praise
will come to each person from God. Now, verse
six. Now these things, brethren, brothers and
sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself
and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you
may learn not to exceed what is written, so that
none of you will become arrogant on behalf of
one against the other. For who regards you as
superior? What do you have that you did not receive?
And if you did receive it, why do you boast as
if you had not received it? Now, let's stop there.
We're going to read the rest a little bit together
later. For now, that's enough to bite off. And
let's go back to verse six and let's see the
logic that Paul is beginning to walk through
here. Because as Adam prayed, this is not an
easy passage to interpret. Verse six, now these
things, brethren, I have figuratively applied
to myself and Apollos for your sakes, for your
benefit. And this is important for us to see
right out of the gate. That phrase, for your
sake, is so important. See, here's what's gonna
happen. Paul's gonna get progressively. I would
say more harsh and more sarcastic as he moves
through this passage. But know that this is his
starting point. This is very important. This
is his starting point. All this is for your benefit,
he says. Everything I've written to you so far
about wisdom and about foolishness and about
division in the church. All of it is for your
sake. I'm doing this for your benefit. I'm trying
to point out something critically important that
will make your church healthier and you as Christians
more fruitful. This is his goal. This is what
Paul wants. So he says, these things I'm now
going to apply to myself and to Apollos and to
your teachers and leaders in general as an illustration
for you. And it's my hope through this illustration
about myself and about Apollos. that you will
come to understand just how prideful you're becoming.
That's the point here. See, all things that you
Corinthians are using to compare one teacher
against another, your guy's wisdom, his gifts,
his insight, his popularity, none of those things
are grounds for you to take pride in them because
they're not self -generated. Those guys didn't
arrive with those things on their own. They're
gifts from God. So you have no reason to be prideful,
even in the guy that you love. So if there are
good things received there in Corinth, the proper
response is this, gratitude and faithfulness.
Not arrogance and not boasting and not dividing
people. As I've said before, if you're going
to boast, boast in the Lord, not in men. Now
what follows in verse six is the goal of the
illustration that he's gonna use here, and Paul
really writes it in the form of a rebuke. And
you can see the purpose statement right there
in the middle of verse six. Whenever you see
the words so that, that tells you that here comes
the purpose for what I've just said. I'm gonna
apply these things to me and Apollos so that,
he writes, in us, you may learn what? Not to
exceed what is written. So here's the lesson.
Don't go beyond what God has spoken to his people
in the past and is currently speaking through
his chosen apostles. This is a focus on what
God has said in his word. Don't go beyond it.
Right now, you're going way beyond it. I want
you to backtrack. Do not go beyond what is written.
Don't be seduced by the philosophies of the world,
right, that tell you that you can pick one man
over another, that you can elevate one teacher
while downgrading others. Don't be fleshly. We
talked about that in a previous chapter, right?
Don't act fleshly. Don't act worldly. Don't act
like mere men. Do you remember when he used that
phrase? You're a follower of Christ. Don't act
like a mere man like everybody else in Corinth.
Stop it. Think biblically, live biblically. And
the verse goes on. The Corinthians should not
go beyond what God has said for this reason.
You ready? It says, so that you won't become
arrogant or puffed up on behalf of one man against
the other. One man against the other. So don't
favor one teacher over another and become such
a devoted follower of that one man that you sinfully
misjudge all the others. Guys, we do this all
the time in the church. We find our teachers
that we love, and we set a standard where we
say, nobody's as good as so -and -so, right?
And then we look at everybody else and go, eh,
they're gifts, all gifts from God, but we're
like, no, no, no, no. I've determined the standard,
my guy, and nobody else can live up to that.
It's pride. It's pride. I'm going to use myself
and Apollos as examples to teach you this principle
and to do it for your benefit. So listen, do
not go beyond what scripture says in esteeming
your favored leader and rejecting the others
that God has also given to you. Because that
teacher that you love so much, what is he? What
did we find out last week? What is that teacher
that you love so much? He's an under rower. Right?
Remember that last week? He's the guy at the
bottom of the trireme who is rowing the oar.
He's just a servant. He's just a steward of things
that Christ has entrusted to him. All these men,
me, Apollos, Peter, we all belong to you anyway.
You don't have to choose one over the other.
God has gifted you, all of us, as teachers and
leaders. By the way, it is a healthy question.
To ask yourself, what do the scriptures say about
how you should treat the men whom God has called
to lead you and to teach you? We should know
what this is. I'll just briefly give you four
things that are very explicit in scripture. That
you should respect and esteem them in love for
their work. That they should be yielded to as
they give watch over your soul. You should follow
after them. That they should be honored, especially
those who labor in the word through preaching
and teaching. You should honor those men. And
that their calling sometimes requires to rebuke
and correct you. And that should be received
with a teachable spirit. That's the proper way.
But listen now, all those things should be done
and nothing more. Don't go beyond those principles
that are specifically laid out in scripture.
Don't go beyond it. Don't turn them into celebrities.
They don't deserve it. If you knew their heart,
you would understand that. Only God knows the
hidden places of the heart. Don't turn them in
celebrities. Don't venerate everything that they
say. Don't go around ranking them. Well, here's
my top 10 list of preachers. Don't do it. Because
what starts out as love for a particular leader
or teacher can so quickly turn into negativity
towards others. And to the point of sin where
you say, well, look, I've come to the conclusion
that's the only guy I'll listen to. That's the
only guy that I will respect. That is straight
up pride. And there's no grounds for it. Because
you're not qualified to even judge this. When
that happens, when we start dividing in those
ways, do you know who celebrates? Satan. You've
given him a foothold of division in the church.
A foothold to divide the body of Christ universal.
And that was happening in Corinth. And that's
why Paul's taken four chapters to talk about
it. Now, verse seven is so amazing. It's just
three questions. Look at verse seven, three rhetorical
questions. And here's where Paul's headed by
asking these questions. He wants the Corinthians
now to compare how they view themselves with
how they view the men whom God has called to
lead and serve them. And it shocks our mind as
we read this, as we go through this. Guess what?
The Corinthians thought they were pretty great.
And that's shocking enough. You know what's more
shocking? They didn't think the apostles were
great at all. That's so hard for us to understand
2 ,000 years later. But that's exactly what we're
going to see. So Paul asks these three, rather,
I would say, blunt questions. in order to show
them the seriousness of their sin and their self
-deception. And the first one is, who regards
you as superior? Who regards you as superior?
Now, in our American cultural tradition, what
that means is, who made you better than anyone
else? Or, if you really want to be blunt, who
do you think you are? That's what Paul said.
Who do you think you are? Imagine feeling the
wrath of an apostle of God like this as a church
member. Who do you think you are? You prefer
this one teacher, you're in his clique, and because
of that, you think you stand above everybody
else? That your wisdom and your insight, and
now you're superior to all the rest? What kind
of self -delusion are you under that gives you
the right to now make all these judgments about
other people? All believers in the church, All
teachers in the church have different gifts.
They play different roles. They have different
styles, different strengths and weaknesses. So
what right do you have to say, well, this servant's
better than that one? Who do you think you are?
Paul's shocked by this. Stop passing judgment.
You're not qualified to do it. You don't know
the hidden things. You don't know the heart motives
of the saints around you. Again, just wait for
the Lord to come and judge. He will do it perfectly.
Be patient. Let God be God. And in the meantime,
you grow in humility. That's what he's saying
here. Who do you think you are? Number two, question
number two. And friends, this is a question every
one of us should ask ourselves. This should be
a daily, you want a daily exercise of spiritual
discipline? Ask this question of yourselves.
What do I have that I've not received? What do
I have that I've not received? Paul's like, have
you lost sight of the fact that everything you
have has come to you by God's grace? That you
haven't deserved it? You haven't earned it? It's
just from the goodness of his hand. James tells
us every good gift, every perfect gift is from
above. Right? Coming down from the Father of
lights. How many gifts? Every good gift comes
from the Lord. So listen, if you think you're
wise, it came from God, Paul says. If you think
you're so learned, it came from God. You think
you have special talents and abilities or gifts?
If so, they came from God. If you're thinking
to yourself, well, I'm a Corinthian. I'm a Greek.
I'm the best there is. Who made you be born in
Corinth? Who is it that gave you the parents
that you have? Do you think you arranged that?
It's all from God. And most importantly, do you
think you're responsible for you coming to faith
in Christ? No, that's grace alone. That's a gift
from the Lord. And central to Paul's argument,
don't you realize that all of the teachers and
leaders that have been sent to you, are gracious
gifts from the hand of God. So how could you
be prideful about the gift of this teacher or
that teacher? Something you didn't earn, something
you don't deserve. And how could you reject the
gift of other teachers that have been given to
you? You're so prideful and so, so immature.
And then Paul's logic concludes with the third
question. And if you did receive all these things,
why do you boast as if you had not received them?
Think about this. Consider a person who lives
100 % on the charity of somebody else. Every
month gets a big old fat check from somebody,
not only enough money to pay all their bills
and to live well, but more money than they could
ever spend. And then that person stands up and
boasts about how wealthy he is. Didn't earn it.
Didn't deserve it. It was a free gift to him.
All he could ever want. And he stands up and
goes, look at me. Look how wealthy I am. That's
what's going on here in Corinth. What would you
think of such a person that did that? Arrogant.
Clueless. Ungrateful. Obnoxious. Absurd. When
you recognize that you possess all things by
God's grace. your reaction is going to naturally
be, thank you, Lord. And that should be the trajectory
of our lives, right? But when you come to think
that you possess things by your own hand, your
reaction is going to be, look at me. And those
are two completely different directions. There's
no question which of those two options was happening
in Corinth in the first century. So to summarize,
guys, you have no grounds to think you're better
than anyone else. You have no grounds to play
judge of the teachers and leaders in your life.
You have no grounds to think you've earned anything
or deserve it from God. So Paul says, why are
you so prideful? I love Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24.
You want a great verse to memorize? Listen to
what it says. Thus says the Lord. Who says this?
The Lord says it. Don't miss that. Let not the
wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty
man boast in his might. Let not the rich man
boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast
in this, that he understands and knows me, that
I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice,
and righteousness in the earth. Amen? That's
a great passage. Now, let's get to verse 8 and
to the end. This is where it gets really interesting.
Because Paul is going to use the gift of sarcasm.
Anybody else have the gift of sarcasm? It can
be an effective literary tool. There's boundaries,
right? You've got to be careful. But Paul's going
to use some godly sarcasm here designed to drive
home a point. By the way, you see the elder team
recently. We read all the way through 2 Corinthians
together at our elder meetings. Man, Paul's godly
sarcasm is all over that book. It's an interesting
read, specifically to the Corinthians. So verse
8, by divine inspiration and his own observation,
Paul begins to sarcastically describe the thinking
process of the Corinthians, what they think of
themselves. That's what he's doing. Here's what
you think of yourselves, he says, verse 8. You're
already filled. You've already become rich. You've
become kings without us, meaning the apostles.
You've become kings. Now, notice the use of the
word already, twice. The Corinthians are under
the impression that already in their spiritual
condition that they have arrived, that they're
good. They have everything that they need. They've
got the Christian life figured out. And for those
of us who know the whole book, it's laughable,
isn't it? It's laughable. It wasn't laughable
to Paul, I can tell you that. He's upset. It
comes out in this passage. They think they've
got the Christian life figured out. In their
pride, they're like, we're already filled. We
have all that we want, all that we need. We're
already rich, so rich, in fact, that they believe
that they've begun to reign on the earth as kings.
which is obviously hyperbole on Paul's part,
but he's sarcastically saying, boy, you guys
are really something, aren't you? Man, you guys,
you're something. You're fully satisfied. You
have everything. In fact, you don't even need
me. You don't need any of the apostles because
you're so filled already. You're perfected. Here
we are, apostles. We're struggling. We're suffering.
We're getting kicked around. And you guys have
advanced right past us. It's dripping with sarcasm,
isn't it? In effect, these Corinthian believers
were somehow convinced that they'd entered into
the full benefits and blessings of God's kingdom,
that they had spiritually arrived. And I started
thinking about it this week. What's going on
here is similar. It has some parallels to what
we might call the prosperity gospel that we're
familiar with even today. The folks are out there
going, look, we have everything here on earth.
We've claimed it. And therefore it's ours. Health,
wealth, wisdom, knowledge, power. It's all ours
now. We expect everything now to go our way.
There's no need to correct us. There's no need
for us to go through trials or affliction or
suffering because God has given us all things.
We're filled. How far off the mark is that? Do
you ever listen to a prosperity? No, don't listen
to a prosperity preacher. But if you ever listen,
you're like, how did they arrive at this? With
all that the scriptures tell us about the need
for you and I to go through suffering and trials
and affliction for our benefit. The world's going
to hate you, Jesus said. It's going to hate you
just as it hates me. In this life, you will have
what? Tribulation. How do they miss that? To
you, it's been granted for Christ's sake, not
only to believe in him, but to suffer for his
sake. Paul's greatest desire was to know Jesus
in two ways, in the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings. Right?
It's all over scripture. Paul says, I want to
be conformed to Christ in his death. Peter writes,
listen, beloved, don't be surprised at the difficulties
that you're going through. He says, it's not
a strange thing. that you're going through difficult
things. You should expect it. So Paul and Peter,
even James, they confirm, listen now, that this
I'm already filled prosperity mindset is not
only wrong, it's destructive to the maturity
process that a Christian needs to go through.
Peter says, look, these fiery ordeals that you're
going through, they are given to you by God.
for your testing and refining. They are preparing
you for the day when Jesus is revealed in glory,
and on that day, having shared in his sufferings,
you will exult in great celebration. James specifically
says what? Trials come upon us as a time of testing
to build into our character endurance, perseverance.
We are like the athlete. That is going to succeed
in the game that's coming up next month. But
first he has to go through all the painful workouts.
Right? To get ready for the game. You think you
win in the game without the painful workouts?
Of course not. We need these things. But the
Corinthians don't think they do. We're filled
already. We're kings. It's laughable. It's immature.
How is it possible that they could be so wrong?
Well, to me, it's a dangerous combination of
two things, arrogance and self -deception. And
it's not hard to fall into this if we're not
careful. A combination of arrogance and self
-deception. They're so immature, but they're
so confident in what they think they know. Have
you ever met someone like this? So immature,
but still so confident in what they think that
they know. I have to tell you, just as an aside,
as an elder in the local church, man, I've seen
this so many times. All of my fellow leaders
and elders and counselors here in the church
have seen this. And it usually happens when you're
talking to somebody younger. This isn't a dig
at any age group or anybody in particular. It's
just my experience over decades of ministry.
You sit down and you talk to a young man or a
young lady and you share some wisdom with them,
say, I don't know, say 22 years old. And you're
talking to them, and you realize as you're talking,
they're not really listening. They're hearing,
but they're not listening, right? And you get
this feeling they're not really listening for
application. They're not going to take your advice.
And you know why? It's because they called to
meet with you. Why? So that you would confirm
what they want, not readjust their thinking.
So they're hearing but not listening. And why
should they? They've got life figured out. We
giggle, right? Right, Dave? It happens all the
time. Why should they listen to an old guy? They've
got life figured out. They're filled already.
They know what's best at the age of 22. So confident
in what they think they know. It's true I may
have 40 more years of life experience, decades
of ministry and counseling experience, but they're
already kings. They're already ruling. They know
exactly what they want. They know exactly what
they deserve. And that's what they want to hear
from you. And the reality is, look, as elders,
we talk about it sometimes. We're like, okay,
you know what? The best thing we can do is what
Paul does here. We can point out their foolishness
and then stand back and let the consequences
happen. Let God show them what they need to see
and learn the lessons they need to learn in his
perfect timing. And God is always faithful to
do that, right? But sometimes you bump into this.
They just think they're already filled. Here's
the truth about the Corinthians. In their pride,
they become just like the Laodiceans of Revelation
3. Do you remember what Jesus said to the Laodiceans
in Revelation 3? Oh, I don't have it. It says
this. Jesus rebukes them with these words. You
say, I'm rich. I'm rich. I've become wealthy.
I have need of nothing. But you do not know.
This is Jesus. This is his diagnosis. You do
not know that you are wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked. That's all. You
think you're rich. God knows otherwise. This
is a truism. There's nobody as poor as the man
who thinks he has it all. Now. If that part of
the passage isn't shocking enough, it gets even
more tense as he continues in verse 8. What we're
going to find in these last five verses is not
only did the Corinthians pridefully believe they
were something, they thought very little of the
apostles. Can you imagine? And Paul's brutal
in his sarcasm here. He says, you become kings,
and indeed, I wish you had become kings. Why?
So that we also might reign with you. See, if
the kingdom were here and you were reigning,
we'd be reigning with you. Wouldn't that be awesome?
But newsflash, the kingdom hasn't arrived. And
you're not reigning as you think you are. And
newsflash number two, you are still going to
have to face correction and suffering and trials.
And then in verses 9 to 13, Paul gives this amazing
list of contrasts. Very strong statements. And
honestly, these are intended to shame the Corinthians
into seeing the depth of their arrogance. These
contrasts between the apostles and them. Verse
9, he says, You guys, you're comfortable. You're
satisfied. We're condemned to death. Do you see
the contrast? And this... This part of the passage,
very specific. We don't understand this so much
today, but if you lived in the Greco -Roman world
in the first century, you knew exactly what Paul
was talking about here. When a Roman general
won a great victory off on the battlefield somewhere
else in the world, he would come back home with
his troops and there'd be this amazing parade
of triumph, right? And the crowds would line
the streets, ticker tape parade, right? Cheering
them on. Who's in the very back of the procession?
It's the captives, the prisoners. And they're
chained to each other. And the crowd is mocking
them. And do you know where they're headed? Probably
to a gruesome death in the arena. And this is
what Paul says about himself and his fellow apostles.
God has put us on display at the end of the procession,
condemned to die in the arena. That's who we
are. And then he goes on in verse 9. We have
become a spectacle to the world, both to angels
and to men. And so this is his sort of subtle
jab at the Corinthians. You guys have arrived.
You're the heroes getting all the applause at
the front of the parade. But us apostles, we're
at the back. We're a spectacle for the world
to make fun of. You're satisfied. You're comfortable.
As for us, we teach, we serve, and we die. Verse
10, we're fools for Christ's sake, but you, you
are so prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you,
you are strong. You're distinguished. We're without
honor. And catch the juxtaposition there, right?
Because Paul talked about this already in the
letter. Being foolish versus being wise. Being
weak versus being strong. Which does God desire
for us? It all depends on the standard, right?
If you're seeking the world's approval, yeah,
go out there. Be strong. Be wise. And the world
will applaud you. But if you're seeking the kingdom
of God, then become a fool for Christ. Become
weak so that the Spirit of God can work through
you and bring glory to God. You've got to choose
every day whom you're going to serve, right?
Are you going to seek after the applause of the
world? Is that the goal? Or are you going to
be faithful to Christ? So Paul's challenging
these Corinthians with. Verse 11, to this present
hour, we are both hungry and thirsty, poorly
clothed, roughly treated, homeless. So while
you guys live in that beautiful Greek city, all
comfortable, wealthy, we're out here struggling.
And we're struggling for you. We're struggling
on your behalf. We're praying for you. We're
teaching you. We're seeking to love you. We're
correcting you. We're doing all these things.
And yet, just like Jesus, we have no place to
lay our heads. No place. But we'll gladly forsake
worldly comfort if only we can reach your hearts
and move you towards maturity in the faith. We
will gladly accept this. He's not whining for
like, hey, give me money or give me more stuff.
He's saying, we will gladly suffer all these
things if only we could break through with you.
You almost sense the frustration, don't you?
Verse 12, and he says, and we toil, working with
our hands. We're not even supported materially
by those that we serve. And we're happy to go
out and work to do manual labor. Look, I know
as Greeks, you think that's dishonoring. That's
fine. We're happy to do it. You know why? Because
we don't want to be a burden to anyone. We don't
want our material needs to be a stumbling block
to the spread of the gospel. So we're happy to
do that. That's fine. And he says, when we're
poorly treated, we respond in a godly way. Look
at continuing in verse 12. He says, this is how
we respond. When we're reviled, we bless. When
we're persecuted, we endure. When we're slandered,
we try to conciliate, meaning we respond with
grace. Man, that's a challenging section, isn't
it? How hard is it to do those things when you're
treated poorly by people? And still Paul says,
this is what the world thinks of us. We're doing
all these things. We're striving to love. And
still the world thinks this. We have become,
what does he say, as the scum of the world, the
dregs or the garbage of the world, even until
now. Here were the Corinthian believers, puffed
up, wise in their own eyes, thinking that they're
already filled, already rich, already reigning.
And what do they think of the apostles? Spectacles.
Fools, garbage. What arrogance. I've seen a parallel
drawn here between if you're older like me and
you have kids that are now grown, you may have
experienced something similar to what Paul is
going through here. Let me see if I can lay this
out. If you're in my age range with grown children,
do you remember doing everything possible to
bless them when they were young and growing up?
Right? As parents, we do everything possible
to bless them and to love them and to care for
them as they're growing up. And do you remember
in those early years how much your kids depended
on you? How they actually, they clung to you.
They thought you were great. Love you, mom. Love
you, dad. Do you remember those years? And then
they become teenagers. What on earth happens?
They suddenly know everything. They're filled.
They know everything they need to know. They've
got life figured out. Not only do they not need
you anymore or want you to be around, you're
now an embarrassment to them. Every one of us
goes through this. We did it as teenagers. Our
teenagers will do it. They just need to work
through it. But that's the way the prideful Corinthians
were looking at the apostles. You guys are now
a spectacle and embarrassment. Yeah, we needed
you at one point, but now we're filled. Now we're
reigning. They're like clueless teenagers. And
listen, as I was studying this passage this week,
it made me step back and just all the more admire
these men that put up with this. Paul and Apollos
and Peter, all the other teachers, these were
really humble men. I don't think I would have
reacted this graciously. They joyfully lined
up as captives at the back of the procession.
They accepted the world's verdict against them.
They were content with all of these hardships,
and they were even willing to put up with the
immaturity of those they were trying to love
and serve with joy. They rejoiced through all
of it. They knew that, look, even though I'm
last in the eyes of the world, someday I'm going
to be first in the kingdom of God, and that was
enough. Think about that. As you walk out the
door tomorrow morning to whatever you have in
front of you, think about that. I may be the
last in the eyes of the world, but I want to
be first in the eyes of my Savior. And we know
it's true, by the way, from Scripture. The apostles
are going to reign on thrones in the kingdom
to come. Amen and amen. So let me wrap up with
just a couple more observations. The obvious
application of this passage. It's very simple.
It's humility. It's humility. And let me lay
out just a quick biblical definition of what
I think we should think of when we think of humility.
Not thinking of yourselves more highly than you
ought. Start with that. Start with that. That's
a command. Don't think so highly of yourself.
And then with sober judgment, know yourself truthfully
before the holy God that we serve. What a great
self -examination that is. Don't lie to yourself
and don't lie to God. He knows. But with sober
judgment, before God, as holy as he is, know
your own heart. And it will drive you to humility.
As we mature in the faith, we ought to live more
and more with a deep sense of awareness that
everything that we have is by God's grace and
that without that grace, we'd all be in big,
big trouble. Amen? And when we forget that basic
truth of the Christian life, we're going to be
arrogant. We're going to grow in arrogance. Self
-deception is going to creep in. We're going
to start to feel superior to others. We're going
to start feeling like we're owed certain things.
And then we boast in ourselves. And then we look
around and judge everybody else. It's a progressive
thing that we allow ourselves to do when we don't
do this type of self -examination. All of a sudden,
we're not so impressed by the teachers and leaders
that God has put in our lives. We no longer need
their wisdom because we are filled, rich, and
reigning. It's been said that humility is the
soil that helps all the other spiritual fruit
grow. And I think that's a pretty wise statement.
I have no doubt that if you pursue humility and
make that a point of prayer, make it a point
of prayer, seek after it diligently. That if
you grow in humility, you will be less prideful,
less judgmental, less selfish, and less envious
of others. And on the flip side, you'll be more
loving, more compassionate, more kind, more teachable,
more joyful, and more content. So it's to your
benefit that you grow in this basic character
trait of a Christian. I like the way Peter summed
it up in his first letter. It was part of the
call to worship. He said, clothe yourself with
this. Clothe yourself with humility. Be intentional
about putting this on every day like a garment.
Wrap yourself in it every day. Make everybody
else around you the priority, especially those
in the body of Christ. Because we know both sides
of this coin are true. In first century Corinth,
there was great pride and that led to division.
But where there is humility in the church, there
will be Great unity. And that pleases the Lord.
So may God make us a humble church and continue
to draw us closer together as one. Amen? Let's
bow our heads. Heavenly Father, as difficult
as this moment in time must have been for Paul
and Apollos and the others, I am so grateful
that you have given us this example for us to
learn from, an example of an immature group of
believers who thought so highly of themselves
and thought so poorly of the apostles. It's shocking
to us, Lord, but we know that if we're not careful,
if we're not on alert, that we can fall into
similar traps. So I pray, Lord, that you will
seal these truths in our minds and hearts that
we would do some self -examination even this
week about our own pride, our own arrogance,
and have we become judgmental. So work in us,
God. Conform us to the image of our Savior. We
thank you, God, that you're always at work in
us by your Spirit. Help us to cooperate. Help
us to yield to the work he wants to do in us.
For your glory and our good, we pray. Amen.