WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.859 Well, sir, I have a letter and the writer lives 00:00:03.859 --> 00:00:08.199 in Fruesburg, New York. And she said, Miss Schoolman, 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:12.779 we've learned a long time ago that whenever we 00:00:12.779 --> 00:00:15.859 have a question and we're praying for the correct 00:00:15.859 --> 00:00:21.660 answer, sooner or later we get it from you. You 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.100 know, it's kind of nice. And she goes on to say, 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:31.660 here we are living. amongst five churches in 00:00:31.660 --> 00:00:35.340 this little town of Fruesburg, and we have to 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:40.159 take 11 hours out of every Sunday and travel 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:47.079 nearly 300 miles to get the word of truth. But, 00:00:47.140 --> 00:00:51.079 oh, we're so glad that we have found it in your 00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:56.500 ministry. You know that's priceless. And those 00:00:56.500 --> 00:01:01.109 people live in Fruesburg, New York. Every Sunday, 00:01:01.310 --> 00:01:07.010 they travel nearly 300 miles. And as the writer 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:12.549 says, we take 11 hours out of every Sunday just 00:01:12.549 --> 00:01:15.930 to attend the service in the Stanbaldatory in 00:01:15.930 --> 00:01:21.170 Youngstown, Ohio. My, when I stop to think of 00:01:21.170 --> 00:01:25.730 my responsibility as a minister of the gospel. 00:01:27.049 --> 00:01:32.049 I dare not give anything less than my best to 00:01:32.049 --> 00:01:37.209 him and to these precious folk. By the grace 00:01:37.209 --> 00:01:42.030 of God, I vow to give you the best that I have. 00:01:43.109 --> 00:01:46.510 And I promise you, you'll never be disappointed 00:01:46.510 --> 00:01:50.489 in the Lord. I want these little heart -to -heart 00:01:50.489 --> 00:01:54.510 talks that you and I have together to become 00:01:54.510 --> 00:02:01.260 a very... part of your day, your life, your living. 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:05.840 This thing of being a Christian is the most practical 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:13.319 thing in the whole world. I know you think of 00:02:13.319 --> 00:02:18.680 me as being a minister of the gospel. It is not 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:26.180 a profession with me. It is a life. I pray it 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:32.020 shall be so with you. You not only profess Christianity, 00:02:32.419 --> 00:02:41.419 but I pray to God that it is a life with you. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:47.099 Father, take the word again and make it real 00:02:47.099 --> 00:02:52.580 to our hearts for Jesus' sake. Well, and now... 00:02:53.720 --> 00:02:57.800 another one of those good heart -to -heart talks. 00:02:58.860 --> 00:03:01.020 Somebody says, oh my goodness, wait, wait, wait 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:04.400 till I get out my Bible. That's right. I'll wait 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:08.460 for you because there is no substitute for the 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:14.539 Word of God. Believe me. Now, if I say something 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:19.539 that is contrary to the Word of God, always remember, 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:25.719 The Bible is right. I am wrong. If in the place 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:30.860 where you worship, that minister says something 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:35.300 that's contrary to the Word of God, always remember 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:42.460 the Bible is right. That's why I ask you when 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:46.560 I give you a portion of the Word of God, we have 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:49.650 these heart -to -heart talks. Always sit there 00:03:49.650 --> 00:03:53.409 with your Bible open. And everything that I give 00:03:53.409 --> 00:03:55.490 you, I try to back up with the Word of God. We 00:03:55.490 --> 00:04:01.509 are now in the fourth chapter of 1 Corinthians. 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:05.189 Oh, and I just love this portion of the Word 00:04:05.189 --> 00:04:07.990 of God. You know, they were having a knock -down 00:04:07.990 --> 00:04:11.409 drag -out in that Corinthian church. Now, don't 00:04:11.409 --> 00:04:14.349 smile about it. They were human in exactly the 00:04:14.349 --> 00:04:18.589 same way that we are human. And wherever you 00:04:18.589 --> 00:04:23.449 will find human nature, you will always, invariably, 00:04:23.470 --> 00:04:30.149 sooner or later, find dissension and jealousy. 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:35.269 Well, it's just because we're human, I guess. 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:38.230 And those early Christians were no different 00:04:38.230 --> 00:04:42.250 than we are today, than the folk are in your 00:04:42.250 --> 00:04:47.480 church. And they were having divisions. They 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:52.959 were having their difficulties. And there were 00:04:52.959 --> 00:04:56.720 those who had complained to Paul. And that was 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.100 the reason for this first letter that Paul wrote 00:05:00.100 --> 00:05:05.399 to the Corinthians in that early church. Oh, 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:12.180 this is great. And he says in so many words, 00:05:12.579 --> 00:05:18.019 fly goes... running around in your conceit as 00:05:18.019 --> 00:05:23.660 though he had a right to boast. You don't have 00:05:23.660 --> 00:05:29.379 a thing in the world to boast about. They were 00:05:29.379 --> 00:05:32.879 loaded with spiritual pride. He puts them right 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:37.019 in their place. He says not one of you have cause 00:05:37.019 --> 00:05:42.040 for spiritual pride. Not one of you have cause 00:05:42.040 --> 00:05:46.829 for your conceit. For the very things that you're 00:05:46.829 --> 00:05:51.430 putting to an improper use, causing differences. 00:05:52.410 --> 00:05:56.629 These are the things that are gifts. And you've 00:05:56.629 --> 00:06:02.410 received them from God. They're not yours to 00:06:02.410 --> 00:06:08.069 boast about, to be conceited over. You have nothing, 00:06:08.129 --> 00:06:12.430 you are nothing, outside of that which God has 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:16.740 given you and blessed you with. He had just said 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:20.459 in the third chapter when some of them have said 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:23.240 in their little clicks, you know, and you'll 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:29.500 find a click in every church. Always. Now, I 00:06:29.500 --> 00:06:33.120 don't care where you go to church. You may be 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:39.300 a Baptist. You may be an Episcopalian. You may 00:06:39.300 --> 00:06:45.920 be a Presbyterian. As sure as there's a place 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:48.439 where men and women gather together to worship, 00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:52.319 there'll be a clique. They had a clique there 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:55.439 in that early Corinthian church. One of them 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:59.839 said, I am of Apollos. And they were in that 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:04.279 little clique. Another said, I am of Cephas. 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:08.660 There was a little clique over there. Then there 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:13.569 were those who said, I am of Paul. I'll only 00:07:13.569 --> 00:07:17.670 go to church when Paul preaches. He's intellectual. 00:07:18.089 --> 00:07:22.170 He has what I like. And so I'll just wait till 00:07:22.170 --> 00:07:27.589 Paul comes back. You know what he said? Who then 00:07:27.589 --> 00:07:32.970 is Paul? Just who is Apollos? Just who are we? 00:07:35.110 --> 00:07:41.250 I have planted. Apollos has watered. Oh, this 00:07:41.250 --> 00:07:45.310 job of planting is a big job. It's an important 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:50.370 job. And this thing of watering after the seed 00:07:50.370 --> 00:07:58.290 has been planted is most important. But why should 00:07:58.290 --> 00:08:02.550 either one of us strut around in our conceit 00:08:02.550 --> 00:08:09.720 when after all it is... God who giveth the increase. 00:08:11.779 --> 00:08:15.379 I have nothing to boast of. Apollos has nothing 00:08:15.379 --> 00:08:17.779 to boast of. Cephas certainly has nothing to 00:08:17.779 --> 00:08:24.399 boast of. The thing wouldn't grow anyway. There 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:25.899 wouldn't be any fruit. There wouldn't be any 00:08:25.899 --> 00:08:34.600 results unless God himself gave the increase. 00:08:36.139 --> 00:08:40.740 Oh, that's great. We better remember that. We've 00:08:40.740 --> 00:08:44.419 gotten so far away from it. Let's come back again 00:08:44.419 --> 00:08:48.080 to real, honest -to -goodness scriptural teaching. 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:55.179 Then Paul does something. He drops into satire. 00:08:56.100 --> 00:09:00.360 And for just a second, I want you to see a masterpiece 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:06.139 of matchless satire. And it's exactly what it 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:11.879 is. He was laughing at them, perhaps in what 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:18.220 one might call a holy laughter, but yet with 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:24.899 utter contempt for what they'd been doing. You're 00:09:24.899 --> 00:09:31.080 filled. You're rich. You're arrogant. Ha, ha. 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:36.460 What is he saying? In just one little sentence, 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:42.820 he says the whole thing. I would that he did 00:09:42.820 --> 00:09:49.139 reign. That we also might reign with you. You're 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:54.080 rich. In other words, you think you're rich. 00:09:55.340 --> 00:10:01.899 You're full. Full of what? Conceit. Spiritual 00:10:01.899 --> 00:10:08.269 arrogance. Spiritual pride. You're so satisfied 00:10:08.269 --> 00:10:12.590 in your own conceit. You think that you have 00:10:12.590 --> 00:10:17.450 all that any Christian has ever received. And 00:10:17.450 --> 00:10:20.009 really, there's nothing worse in the whole world 00:10:20.009 --> 00:10:26.610 than spiritual pride. Spiritual conceit. He said, 00:10:26.649 --> 00:10:33.440 I wish you understood what it really means. to 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:38.039 reign. Said Paul, then you and I could reign 00:10:38.039 --> 00:10:43.759 together in the true sense of the word. We have 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:49.139 here a piece of matchless satire. Read it. It's 00:10:49.139 --> 00:10:54.279 there. It's the eighth verse of the fourth chapter 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:59.820 of 1 Corinthians. Then he gives him this marvelous 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:05.980 statement of his estimate. of the position of 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:15.039 a born again christian oh this is glorious that 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:21.340 ninth verse for i think that god hath set forth 00:11:21.340 --> 00:11:29.019 us the apostles lost as it were appointed to 00:11:29.019 --> 00:11:35.840 death For we are made a spectacle unto the world 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:43.779 and to angels and to men. He was looking back 00:11:43.779 --> 00:11:52.399 now. He was looking all the way back to the time 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:59.110 of the prophets. God had had his priest. God 00:11:59.110 --> 00:12:05.809 had his kings, his prophets. Oh, they were holy 00:12:05.809 --> 00:12:10.710 men of God. Go back to Abraham, if you will. 00:12:12.149 --> 00:12:19.870 Go back to Isaac, if you will. Mighty men of 00:12:19.870 --> 00:12:25.830 God. Go back to those Old Testament priests. 00:12:28.269 --> 00:12:34.590 chosen of God, anointed of God. Go back to those 00:12:34.590 --> 00:12:39.850 Old Testament prophets. Again I can hear the 00:12:39.850 --> 00:12:47.289 voice of Jeremiah saying, Oh, it's not by might, 00:12:47.330 --> 00:12:54.570 it's not by power, but by my spirit, saith the 00:12:54.570 --> 00:12:59.649 Lord. Again some... how I can hear the voice 00:12:59.649 --> 00:13:06.570 of Isaiah. As he cried forth, wounded for our 00:13:06.570 --> 00:13:10.230 transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and 00:13:10.230 --> 00:13:18.629 by his stripes we are healed. And yet, do you 00:13:18.629 --> 00:13:24.070 realize, because the fact that they were born 00:13:24.070 --> 00:13:32.700 and lived On the other side of Calvary, not one 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:37.259 of them could stand and face the whole world 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:44.940 and say, look upon me and see in me the transforming 00:13:44.940 --> 00:13:53.159 power of the son of the living God. See in me 00:13:53.159 --> 00:14:02.190 redemption's work, not one. Not one. Not one 00:14:02.190 --> 00:14:06.070 of those holy priests during the Old Testament 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:13.129 dispensation could say to those who sought advice, 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:21.409 who sought forgiveness, who sought instruction, 00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:32.929 look. upon me as an example of the power of the 00:14:32.929 --> 00:14:39.870 shed blood of the great Messiah, God's matchless 00:14:39.870 --> 00:14:49.830 Son, Jesus Christ. No. They could only point 00:14:49.830 --> 00:14:54.610 to types and shadows of the one who is to come. 00:14:55.789 --> 00:15:01.629 Not one of the Old Testament prophets could stand 00:15:01.629 --> 00:15:07.129 before the whole world and say, behold, I am 00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:14.230 an example of a man who's passed from death unto 00:15:14.230 --> 00:15:22.230 life. The transforming power of the Son of God. 00:15:22.409 --> 00:15:28.620 I am an example. of what redemption has done 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:40.279 in a man's life. Not one. Because they lived 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:50.279 on the other side of the cross. That's the reason 00:15:50.279 --> 00:15:53.919 Paul makes a statement. That's one of the most 00:15:53.919 --> 00:16:00.860 thrilling things. Beloved, the first time I was 00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:05.139 given this spiritual revelation, I cried like 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:12.240 a baby. Why? For the first time I realized the 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:21.460 tremendous responsibility that was mine. I realized 00:16:21.460 --> 00:16:29.440 that I was in a position to do what no Old Testament 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.559 saint was ever privileged to do. I realized that 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:43.340 I had a position that Jesus could not do for 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:51.419 himself. Paul saw it. Let me read it again. For 00:16:51.419 --> 00:17:00.159 I think that God hath set forth us, the apostles, 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:09.259 last. Why? For we are made a spectacle unto the 00:17:09.259 --> 00:17:18.599 world, and to angels, and to men. Is the question. 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:28.660 I am a public spectacle. As a born again man, 00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:36.900 you are a public spectacle. As a born again woman, 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:43.859 you are a spectacle. Do you realize that the 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:50.059 very angels of heaven Even knowing the plan of 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:56.359 redemption, having seen God's perfect blueprint 00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:03.039 for redemption, had never seen redemption's plan 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:10.000 consummated and in complete operation until after 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:16.460 Jesus dismissed his own spirit from his body. 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:24.299 Until Jesus died on the cross. Until he rose 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:30.000 again from the grave. That was the first time 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:37.160 that an angel had ever seen redemption's plan. 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:40.059 The power that there was in the shed blood of 00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:48.880 Jesus Christ. In action. In power. in the life 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:58.180 of a human being. Oh, that's glorious. Today, 00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:01.039 you and I can do what Jesus Christ could not 00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:04.319 do for himself. Sin had never touched his body. 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:06.700 Sin had never touched the life of the Son of 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:09.960 the Living God. And he could only go just so 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:13.240 far and no further. He could not, through his 00:19:13.240 --> 00:19:16.880 own body, his own life, challenge the world and 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:20.359 say, look upon me and see redemption's plan, 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:23.140 see the power of my own shed blood. No. Why? 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.180 Because he was the only one who could challenge 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:29.240 the world and say, which of you convinces me 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:31.859 of sin? Because sin had never touched that life. 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:39.329 He was perfect, absolute perfection. It takes 00:19:39.329 --> 00:19:45.829 a sinner, saved by the grace of God, to be a 00:19:45.829 --> 00:19:52.789 spectacle of the transforming power of Jesus 00:19:52.789 --> 00:20:00.369 Christ. Paul continues, we are fools for Christ's 00:20:00.369 --> 00:20:05.250 sake, as a spectacle, as one who's been redeemed, 00:20:05.269 --> 00:20:09.099 whose life has been transformed. We are fools 00:20:09.099 --> 00:20:13.579 for Christ's sake. But ye are wise in Christ. 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:18.240 We are weak, but ye are strong. We're honorable, 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:23.599 but we're despised. Even unto this present hour, 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:30.680 we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:36.450 buffeted and have no certain running place. and 00:20:36.450 --> 00:20:42.849 labor, working with our own hands, being reviled, 00:20:43.009 --> 00:20:55.529 we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Why? 00:20:56.250 --> 00:21:04.490 Because we are new creatures in Christ Jesus.