1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,160 Verses 1 through 7 of 1 Corinthians 4. 2 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:18,120 The apostle explains to us the qualities that are required for successful Christian leadership. 3 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:23,720 We can write about it there and say that these are the qualities that God wants in our lives 4 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,520 as his servants, all of us. 5 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:35,880 Those qualities are faithfulness, patience, and humility. 6 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:41,760 The apostle reminds us in verse 5 that the day of judgment is coming and when that day 7 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,800 arrives all of us will stand before the Lord to give account of ourselves of the deeds 8 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:47,800 done in our bodies. 9 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:54,000 Long before the world is going to be given up to God's faithful servants at the judgment 10 00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,040 seat of Christ and following that then we'll eventually come to kingdom and we will reign 11 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:01,040 with our Lord. 12 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:06,560 Our responsibility then, it would seem, from the teaching of the world will partly be based 13 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:11,320 upon how faithfully we have served our Lord here in this life. 14 00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:16,880 Now the thing about the Corinthian church is that they felt like they were already in 15 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:17,880 the living. 16 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:19,880 At least they acted that way. 17 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:26,440 And as Paul continues writing with them, beginning in verse 8, he approaches them with some fairly 18 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:27,440 caustic language. 19 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:30,440 He says, �Now you are full. 20 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:32,080 Now we are rich. 21 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:41,980 You have reigned as kings without us.� And then he says, �I read to God you did reign, 22 00:01:41,980 --> 00:01:49,000 that we also might reign with you.� What he was saying in verse 8 was no compliment. 23 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,160 This was an exalted opinion they had of themselves. 24 00:01:53,160 --> 00:02:02,360 And he writes with sarcasm in verse 9, �For I think that God hath set forth us, the apostles, 25 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,360 last as it were appointed to death. 26 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:14,440 For we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and to men.� You may notice 27 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,960 a little different phrase in the last part of that verse and that's a better wondering 28 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:18,960 of it I think. 29 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:23,960 �We are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 30 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,960 We are fools for Christ's sake, but we are wise in Christ. 31 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,960 We are weak, but we are strong. 32 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,960 We are honorable, but we are despised. 33 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:45,400 Even in this poor little eye, we are hungry and thirsty and are naked and are buffeted 34 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,160 and have no certain dwelling place. 35 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,160 And Lord, we're working with our own hands. 36 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,160 Being reviled, we bless. 37 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,160 Being persecuted, we endure it. 38 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,160 Being defamed, we entreat. 39 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:07,160 We are made as the filth of the world and are the off scouring of all things under this 40 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,160 day.� We'll come back to that word in a moment, off scouring. 41 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:17,160 He says, �I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. 42 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:25,160 For those who have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers. 43 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:30,160 For in Christ Jesus, I have begotten you through the gospel. 44 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,160 Therefore, I beseech you, you followers of me. 45 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:41,160 For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son and faithful in the 46 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:49,160 Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which are in Christ, as I teach 47 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:52,160 everywhere in every church. 48 00:03:52,160 --> 00:04:00,160 Now, some of you, rather now some, are puffed up as though I would not come to you. 49 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:06,160 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know not the speech of them 50 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,160 who are puffed up, but the power. 51 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:14,160 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 52 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:16,160 What will you? 53 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,160 Shall I come unto you with a rod? 54 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,160 Or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? 55 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:31,160 The apostle Paul writes to this church as their father, their spiritual father. 56 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:35,160 What a lovely end up thought in a moment. 57 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:43,160 He writes to them to correct them from the way that they were living and the way that 58 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:45,160 they were thinking. 59 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,160 I want you to notice how he deals with them as his children. 60 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:55,160 In verse 8, he rebukes them because of their pride. 61 00:04:55,160 --> 00:05:03,160 In verses 9 through 13, he reminds them of his example and the example of the other apostles, 62 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:05,160 the example of humility. 63 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:11,160 Then beginning in verse 14, through the end of the chapter, he warns them that discipline 64 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,160 may be necessary. 65 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,160 Does that sound familiar to you parents? 66 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:22,160 Do you ever have to rebuke your children for anything? 67 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:29,160 Do you ever have to remind your children of the example that you're trying to set before them? 68 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:35,160 Do you ever have to give a stiff warning that a spanking may be coming? 69 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,160 Sure, parents have these responsibilities and all of us have experienced this. 70 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,160 And that's what Paul is doing to his spiritual family and parents. 71 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:49,160 He has treated them as children because he is their spiritual father. 72 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,160 Now notice with me these three approaches that Paul uses to correct them. 73 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,160 First, his rebuke of their pride. 74 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,160 As we have said, it borders on sarcasm, as Paul says in verse 8. 75 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,160 It is a cutting remark. 76 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:04,160 It's caustic. 77 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,160 It must have bared them. 78 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,160 Because you see, they brag about how full they were and how rich they were. 79 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:14,160 They were living like kings. 80 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,160 And Paul says, I sure wish that were true. 81 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:21,160 Because then we could wane too. 82 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,160 The Corinthians thought that they had arrived. 83 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:28,160 You see, they thought that they had it all together. 84 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,160 That they were completely mistaken. 85 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:35,160 They were wrong about their own evaluation of themselves. 86 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:41,160 Remember earlier in a few verses before this, Paul said, I don't even judge my own self. 87 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:46,160 Not that I know anything against myself, but I'm not qualified to be judged of myself. 88 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,160 But the Corinthians allowed me to judge themselves. 89 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:51,160 And they thought they were in pretty good shape. 90 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:55,160 And Paul says, I've got news for you. 91 00:06:55,160 --> 00:07:03,160 The Lord Jesus did something very similar to another church that was located in that part of the world in the early days. 92 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,160 The church of Laodicea in Asia Minor. 93 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:11,160 Would you turn with me to his remarks to them in Revelation chapter 3? 94 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:17,160 As the believers in Laodicea looked at themselves, they thought everything was pretty cool in their church. 95 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,160 Everything was alright. 96 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:21,160 They had it together. 97 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,160 And so Jesus sent them a letter. 98 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,160 He dictated it to John the apostle in the Isle of Patmos. 99 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:33,160 And he said, now John, I want you to deliver this letter to the church at Laodicea. 100 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:42,160 And say that the faithful and true witness of God, the early men, the beginning and the creation of God, has sent this letter to them. 101 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:46,160 And this is what the Lord Jesus put on the dictating equipment. 102 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:54,160 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. 103 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,160 I know that thou work cold or hot. 104 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:05,160 So then because thou work warm and neither cold nor hot, I will spill thee out of my mouth. 105 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:12,160 Because thou sayest, now here is the Laodicean evaluation of the Roman situation. 106 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:19,160 I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. 107 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,160 That's what they thought about themselves. 108 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,160 They said, we've got everything we need. 109 00:08:24,160 --> 00:08:30,160 We've increased with goods, our offerings are coming in, all our needs are being met. 110 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,160 It's really neat. 111 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,160 We don't need anything. 112 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:49,160 Jesus says to them, you don't know that you are wretched and miserable, poor, blind and naked. 113 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,160 That leaves them without a whole lot. 114 00:08:53,160 --> 00:09:01,160 That they are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, they don't have very much they can brag about, as Jesus sees them. 115 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,160 And then the Lord says, I cancel thee to buy of me gold, right in the fire. 116 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:13,160 That thou mayest be rich and of white wine, that thou mayest be close, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. 117 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,160 And that thine eyes were sad, that thou mayest see. 118 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:20,160 And then he says, as many as I love, I rebuke. 119 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,160 Unchastened. 120 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,160 Be zealous therefore, unrepent. 121 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:30,160 You see, that's essentially what Paul says to the Corinthian church. 122 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,160 They had a similar evaluation of themselves. 123 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:41,160 And Paul writes to them with sarcasm to cause them to feel rebuke from his pen. 124 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:45,160 And the Lord Jesus says, as many as I love, I rebuke. 125 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,160 Have you ever felt that the Lord's rebuke? 126 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:53,160 It can come in a lot of ways. 127 00:09:53,160 --> 00:10:01,160 When we feel the Lord's rebuke and we sense his chastening hand upon us, we actually should rejoice because it means that we are His. 128 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:07,160 He says, as many as I love, I rebuke. 129 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:17,160 The Lord Jesus loves us so much that He's willing to make us feel sad for a while so that our lives can be corrected. 130 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,160 I may be talking to someone today who's in that very situation. 131 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:25,160 You think everything's all together, and man, you're heading in the right direction. 132 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,160 You have neither anything. 133 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:35,160 But down deep in your heart, you're as empty and cold and miserable as you could possibly be. 134 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:42,160 How well we can put on our fronts and come to church and smile and appear pleasant and use the right words, 135 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:50,160 and nobody knows what's down inside our hearts except the Lord Jesus. 136 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:56,160 Now, tell you what, if you belong to Him, He has ways of bringing that to the surface. 137 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,160 We can't get away with it. 138 00:10:59,160 --> 00:11:03,160 He doesn't want us to because it's no good if we do. 139 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:09,160 There are times when we rebuke our children because we love them, and we know if they continue in a certain direction, 140 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,160 they're going to be miserable adults. 141 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:18,160 The Lord does the same for us, and I'm glad He does. 142 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:23,160 We don't know how the Corinthians responded when they first heard those remarks by Paul. 143 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,160 Eventually, they repented. 144 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,160 But at this point, it probably burned them. 145 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:37,160 They were all stumped on their toes here, and they needed it. 146 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:45,160 Then the apostle moves ahead as he writes, and he points them to his example, beginning in verse 9. 147 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:53,160 He says, I think that God has set forth for us the apostles last as it were appointed to death. 148 00:11:53,160 --> 00:12:00,160 It's going to be a difficult thing to get a hold of unless you understand what Paul is illustrating. 149 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:11,160 In those days when a Roman general had had a great victory, he was honored by a victory march when he returned home. 150 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:18,160 He would be placed upon his steed and would lead the whole procession into the city. 151 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:24,160 Behind him would come his victorious soldiers, and they would march with great pride. 152 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,160 Obviously, they had won. 153 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:33,160 But behind those soldiers were often prisoners of war. 154 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:38,160 They came last in the procession. 155 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:42,160 Why? Because they were mocked by the crowds. 156 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:46,160 They were despised and spit upon. 157 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:59,160 Many times they were ultimately taken to the Coliseum and there they were tortured or given to the wild animals for sport and game by the citizens of that city. 158 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:06,160 Paul says, we, the apostles, are appointed by God last in the procession. 159 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:11,160 The place of humility that we are despised. 160 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:15,160 He says, we are made a spectacle to the world. 161 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,160 That word is translated in Hebrews 10 as gazing stock. 162 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:23,160 It comes into our English as the word theater. 163 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:33,160 It refers to the people who were gazed at with laughing and mocking and who were despised. 164 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:43,160 He says, we are made a spectacle to the universe, to the angels, the spirit realm, and to men. 165 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:48,160 He proceeds by saying, we are fools for Christ's sake. 166 00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:54,160 It doesn't mean that Paul was limited foolish, but he was accounted as a fool by the world. 167 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:59,160 And he was counted a fool by some of the Corinthians. 168 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:05,160 Paul was not ashamed of that name because it was for Christ's sake. 169 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:08,160 He says, you are wise though in Christ. 170 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,160 And once again, this was not meant to be a compliment. 171 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,160 He was not speaking the truth here. 172 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:15,160 In fact, they were the foolish ones. 173 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,160 He says, you think you are wise. 174 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:23,160 He says, we are weak, but you consider yourselves to be strong. 175 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,160 He says, you are honorable. 176 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:28,160 There's nobody who spits at you. 177 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,160 But he says, we are spit upon. 178 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,160 We are despised. 179 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:39,160 And then he points to the lifestyle of the apostles. 180 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:43,160 You can go back to the Book of Acts and see some of these things illustrated in the narrative there. 181 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:48,160 He says, to this present hour, in other words, right to the point I'm writing this letter to you, 182 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,160 we are hungry, we thirst, we are naked. 183 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,160 By that he means we are poor to close, not that they're running around without clothes on. 184 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:02,160 He says, we are poor to close, and we are buffeted, the thought is we are unsettled. 185 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,160 We are chased from one city to another often, in other words. 186 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,160 And we have no certain dwelling place. 187 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,160 There was no home for Paul. 188 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,160 He had a home church in Antioch. 189 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,160 But there was no home. 190 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:19,160 There was no place where Paul could say, well now I'm going to retire and go home. 191 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:23,160 Because you see, God had appointed him to be an apostle. 192 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:26,160 He says, we labor, working together with our own hands. 193 00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:28,160 And Paul did that, didn't he? 194 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:29,160 He had a reason. 195 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:34,160 He explains that in his next letter to the Corinthians, that we have. 196 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:40,160 He says, being deviled, we give out blessing. 197 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:44,160 Being persecuted, we put up with it, we endure it. 198 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,160 We are defamed and yet we entreat. 199 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,160 We don't respond in like manner. 200 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:56,160 And then he says, we are as the filth of the world. 201 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:04,160 Whereas the filth, the refuse, the garbage, if you please, of the world. 202 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:08,160 And he says, we are the off scouring of all things to this day. 203 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:13,160 Now there is a good old English word, off scouring. 204 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,160 When I say a good word, it is a good word. 205 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:18,160 It's fallen out of usage in our day. 206 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:24,160 But what this word in the original really is, is that which is scoured off of something. 207 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,160 It refers to dirt. 208 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,160 By which is to, has no use, to be thrown away. 209 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:38,160 It means to light around the lid of a jar, not what you have left over, that you wash off. 210 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:43,160 He says, that's what we're like. 211 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,160 The apostle Paul points the Corinthians to his example of humility. 212 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,160 Both physically, he suffered abuse. 213 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,160 Socially, he was defamed. 214 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,160 I want to ask you a question. 215 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:59,160 Are we willing to know this kind of humility? 216 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,160 I ask myself a question. 217 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:11,160 Are we willing to be humble to a point? 218 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:15,160 What is that point? That's the point of pride. 219 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:21,160 In our society, it's a very popular thing to be a Christian. 220 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,160 If you and I dare come to the point of being a committed Christian, 221 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:29,160 who is willing to confront the darkness of the world, 222 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:34,160 we find that we are no longer very popular. 223 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,160 And that is the crying need of our hour, isn't it? 224 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:44,160 We have it up to here with people who want to play church. 225 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:50,160 The crying need in our world is for Christians who mean business. 226 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:57,160 I was talking yesterday with a physician in our area who attends another church. 227 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:04,160 He was saying, up until five years ago, I was content to play church. 228 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:10,160 He said, Pastor, I don't want to play church anymore. 229 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,160 Phew! I thank God for that. 230 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:19,160 Now there is a beloved physician, Dr. Beluk, example. 231 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:40,160 That's the kind of engineers and homemakers, teachers, businessmen, policemen, firemen, plumbers, what we need. 232 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,160 People who are willing to lay it all on the line, 233 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:50,160 and who are willing to endure being a spectacle if necessary, 234 00:18:50,160 --> 00:19:03,160 are willing to take the shame and the abuse that the world will heap upon every person who dares to live godly in Christ Jesus. 235 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:15,160 The apostle points these Corinthians to his own example, and he contrasts himself and the other apostles with the way they were living. 236 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:23,160 Then the apostle Paul, beginning in verse 14, begins to warn them. 237 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:28,160 He says, now I am not writing these things to shame you. 238 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:36,160 He says, as my beloved sons, I warn you. Paul again reminds him that he loves them here. 239 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:44,160 He says, you have maybe 10,000 instructors in Christ, but you don't have that many fathers. You've only got one. 240 00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:50,160 The word instructors here really means a guardian. 241 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:55,160 Now a guardian has authority. 242 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:58,160 A guardian is one who has responsibility. 243 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:04,160 And there were those who had authority and responsibility and current, they're leaders. 244 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:13,160 Paul says, you may not have 10,000 of them, but you've only got one person who is your spiritual father. 245 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:18,160 He says, here in Jesus Christ, I have begotten you through the gospel. 246 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:25,160 Now Paul is not bragging here that he's done something of his own power. 247 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:32,160 He is not saying, I caused you to be born again. 248 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:39,160 I heard a lady come up to me one time, she said, pastor, I want you to know that it was you that saved me. 249 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:47,160 And I stood back and I thought, my, that was an amazing feat. I can't even save myself. I know what she meant. 250 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:52,160 And I thank God that through the minister of the word that I had that she came to know Christ. 251 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,160 Paul is not saying, I saved you people. 252 00:20:55,160 --> 00:21:01,160 He is saying, in Jesus Christ, I have begotten you again through the gospel. 253 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:08,160 This ties together beautifully with what Peter says, maybe you want to turn there, 1 Peter 1, 23. 254 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:15,160 He uses the same thought of being born again. He says, being born again not of corruptible seed, 255 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:21,160 but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. 256 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:31,160 How are we saved? A person cannot be saved apart from the implantation of the revelation of God, the word of God. 257 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:37,160 It is the word of God that is living, never changing, that is powerful. 258 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:45,160 And when it is planted into lives, it has the potential to cause a birth. 259 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,160 Paul had preached the gospel to those people. 260 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:55,160 And there were many of them who had responded by this time and who had been saved, had been born again. 261 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:03,160 And Paul is saying, I am the one that God has used to plant the seed in your hearts. 262 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:08,160 And through that you have been born again. Earlier he called himself a farmer who planted seed. 263 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:16,160 Here he calls himself a father who has planted the seed for the new birth. 264 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:21,160 And his concern is that they follow his example. 265 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:28,160 He says, because I am your father, verse 16, I beseech you, be ye followers of me. 266 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:36,160 Now the word followers means imitators. In the original language it means a mimic. 267 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:44,160 He says, be an imitator of my lifestyle, of the way that I live. Children do that naturally, don't they? 268 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:53,160 A good friend of mine used to say often, children don't create problems, they reveal them. 269 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:59,160 And how do they reveal them? They reveal them by imitating mom and dad. 270 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:04,160 You watch a youngster long enough and eventually you see the parent and the child. 271 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,160 Because children naturally imitate us. 272 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:14,160 We, our parents, realize that, and I don't know about you, I sometimes quake in my boots when I realize it. 273 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:22,160 Sometimes when I am the harshest on my children it is because I am seeing myself in them and I don't like what I see. 274 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,160 And you have to be very careful about that, by the way. 275 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:33,160 The Paul Sir Paul was not saying he was perfect, he was saying I am headed in the right direction. 276 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,160 So he says, follow me. 277 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:36,160 Imitate me. 278 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:40,160 Move this road and get out of the lifestyle that you are in now. 279 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,160 You are proud and insolent and think you have got everything handled. 280 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,160 He says, actually you don't. 281 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,160 So he says, follow me. 282 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:52,160 It is a rare man who could say that and yet all of us should be able to say it to some extent. 283 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:57,160 Because frankly folks, there are people who aren't following us whether we know it or not. 284 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:02,160 It begins right in the home but it goes beyond that. 285 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:09,160 I talked with a lady several weeks ago who came into the office who as far as I know does not know the Lord of Savior. 286 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:16,160 Who works with and lives near some of the people who attend this church. 287 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,160 And there has been a problem to come up in the relationship which is not important in my illustration. 288 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:23,160 The thing I do want to illustrate is this. 289 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:34,160 She said to me, I have watched so and so and I know that she has something and I want it. 290 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:40,160 There are people who are watching you and following you whether you realize it or not. 291 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,160 Therefore we better make sure that we are going in the right direction. 292 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,160 I know one of us here is attained. 293 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:51,160 But hopefully we are moving in the direction God wants us to be moving. 294 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:57,160 And as people follow us then they will be moving in the right direction also. 295 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,160 Paul was sending a personal representative to them. 296 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,160 He says, I'm sending Timothy to you. 297 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,160 He's my beloved son also just like you are. 298 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:12,160 And he's faithful in the Lord and he's going to bring you into remembrance of my ways which are in Christ. 299 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:17,160 The reason he could say what he did in verse 16 is because he can say what he does in verse 17. 300 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:23,160 He says, the followers of me, my ways are in Christ. 301 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:28,160 And then he says, I teach this in all the churches. 302 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,160 In verse 18 he warns them that personal discipline may be necessary. 303 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:33,160 Look what he says. 304 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:36,160 Some of you are puffed up. 305 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:45,160 Can you picture there is of a balloon being puffed up, blown up. 306 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,160 What happens eventually? 307 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:53,160 It can only take so much air and eventually the pressure inside is going outside the pot. 308 00:25:53,160 --> 00:26:00,160 Paul is warning them that if they continue to be puffed up there's going to be an explosion down the road. 309 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,160 Some of you know what I mean. 310 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,160 That can happen to us. 311 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,160 And we're a lot of pride to build up and build up and build up. 312 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,160 Eventually there is an explosion and a disaster. 313 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:16,160 Paul says now some are puffed up as though I will not come to you. 314 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,160 But he says I will come to you shortly if the Lord will. 315 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,160 Let me throw this in three. 316 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,160 I like what Paul says, if the Lord will. 317 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:32,160 Even a person who had the position of an apostle was submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 318 00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:38,160 Paul planned out his schedule but he always put down below it now if the Lord will. 319 00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,160 This is what I'm going to do. 320 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:43,160 I like that. 321 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:49,160 And he says I'm going to know not the speech of those who are proud but I'm going to know the power in their lives. 322 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,160 Talk is cheap. 323 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:55,160 He says I want to see some results. 324 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,160 I want to see the change in life. 325 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:01,160 I want to see the fruit. 326 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:05,160 Verse 20 he says the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. 327 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:10,160 When he talks about the kingdom of God here he's not talking about the future coming kingdom. 328 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:15,160 He's talking about the kingdom of God that is here right now within his people. 329 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,160 God's rule in your life and in mine. 330 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:27,160 And he says God's rule in our lives is not in the words we use but it's in the power that's in us. 331 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:33,160 We who have been raised in the time in the evangelical church know all the right words don't we? 332 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,160 We learn the language from listening to others. 333 00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:38,160 We sing it in our hymnal. 334 00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:45,160 There are times when we talk and we sing far beyond anything we've experienced. 335 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:53,160 There is a danger in that because ultimately we've come to see and think that we're actually there when we're not. 336 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:58,160 The kingdom of God you see is not in the way that we talk. It's not in the words we use. 337 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,160 It's in what power there is in our lives. 338 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:11,160 I ask myself as I ask you the question today how much power is there in your Christian life? 339 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,160 That's the heart of it. 340 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:23,160 The last three days I attended a seminar at another church in the Twin Cities. 341 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:32,160 And for the first time in my life I have begun to understand what victory we have in Jesus Christ. 342 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:39,160 I don't know what's taking place in my life. I feel like a new person here before you this morning. 343 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:44,160 I am set free inside in a way that I cannot define to you. 344 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,160 I just know it feels awful good. 345 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:52,160 It goes beyond feeling. 346 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:59,160 As soon as I'm able to assimilate some of the things that I've learned myself and get them a little more deeply in my life and practice, 347 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:07,160 I want to begin teaching you some of the things that I have learned about the power of God that lives in us. 348 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,160 The kind of power that I believe Paul is talking about here. 349 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:17,160 Some of you know what I'm talking about because you've been to that seminar where you've read books where a similar truth is revealed. 350 00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:21,160 I'm not talking about a charismatic experience. 351 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,160 I'm not talking about a second blessing. 352 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:30,160 I'm talking about just beginning to learn how to appropriate the power of God that is in us. 353 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:39,160 Paul says talk is cheap and all of us know a lot about talk, but what about the reality? 354 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:49,160 And as I look through those last verses, I am able to sense a number of principles of discipline that are important for us in our homes. 355 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:54,160 This is Father's Day and while I recognize this is not exactly a spiritual holiday, 356 00:29:54,160 --> 00:30:02,160 it is an important day because we rightly remember to honor our earthly fathers on this day. 357 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:06,160 God has commanded that we honor our fathers and mothers. 358 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:10,160 He doesn't mean just one day in May and one day in June either. 359 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:16,160 But I'm glad for this day and I'd like to speak right now especially to fathers. 360 00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:21,160 Mothers may listen in and kids, you can listen also. 361 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,160 Because what I want to talk about will affect your life, hopefully. 362 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,160 If not now, someday when you're a mother or father. 363 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:37,160 It seems to me that we see eight principles of discipline for our families in what Paul says in verses 14 to 21. 364 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:42,160 There may be more here. I don't think there are less. 365 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,160 I see eight of them. 366 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:47,160 I'd like to share this with you quickly. 367 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,160 Our time is about gone. 368 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,160 I don't have time to illustrate them as I'd like to do. 369 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,160 But I think you'll be able to pick up and think about what I'm saying. 370 00:30:55,160 --> 00:31:00,160 And hopefully we can all begin putting more of these into practice in our families. 371 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,160 Principle number one is in verse 14. 372 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:08,160 Warning, preceded action. 373 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:12,160 Before Paul actually brought the rod of discipline that he threatened, 374 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,160 he warned them that it was coming. 375 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,160 He really did that with our kids. 376 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:25,160 It doesn't do any good to get angry and all gone out of shape and slap them up the side of the face to discipline them. 377 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:29,160 We have to warn them that what they're doing is wrong. 378 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:34,160 And tell them that discipline may be necessary, but a warning must precede action. 379 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,160 Principle number two, again in verse 14. 380 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:43,160 All discipline must be based on love. 381 00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:47,160 Not out of fear. 382 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:54,160 If my children feared me and trembled in my presence, it would break my heart. 383 00:31:54,160 --> 00:32:00,160 And there have been times when I have disciplined them in anger and they have trembled. 384 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,160 And it's shameful. 385 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:08,160 All discipline needs to be done in the sphere of love. 386 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:13,160 So that they know that we are not rejecting them, 387 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:20,160 that we cannot allow the behavior to continue that they're involved in. 388 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,160 Principle number three, verse 16. 389 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:29,160 An example must always accompany correction. 390 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:37,160 There are children who have gone off the deep end and some who have committed suicide 391 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:44,160 because they see mom and dad living one way and telling them to live another way. 392 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,160 That destroys a child. 393 00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:53,160 If you want to destroy your child more quickly than any other way, that was the way to do it. 394 00:32:53,160 --> 00:33:00,160 Give your child one set of standards to live by and then you ignore them and live some other way. 395 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,160 Principle number four, verse 17. 396 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:09,160 It's helpful when discipline can be reinforced by a third party. 397 00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:22,160 It would be grandpa or grandma or the pastor or Aunt Susie, whoever it may be. 398 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:29,160 It's helpful when discipline can be enforced by a third party, not immediately related to the situation. 399 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:35,160 Timothy was going to come and would reinforce for all of us trying to get across to these people. 400 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:40,160 We enjoy having our children stay overnight with our grandparents 401 00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:48,160 because we know that they're going to be reinforced in the same principles we have tried to teach them in our own home. 402 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:53,160 Country-wise, I want to be careful not to expose my children 403 00:33:53,160 --> 00:34:00,160 to that which is going to teach them the opposite of what I'm trying to teach them. 404 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:08,160 A lot could be said on this subject, but let's go into verse 17 and get to principle number five. 405 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:13,160 The demands made were not arbitrary, but they were firm-croused. 406 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:25,160 In our discipline, we need to be careful that we are discipling on the basis of principle and not personal whim. 407 00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:36,160 Verse 17, principle number six, reminders are often needed in discipline. 408 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:44,160 We cannot feel that we've told our children something once that that is going to last until they graduate from college and get in their own home. 409 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:50,160 You know that. We have to continually remind them of the important principles of life. 410 00:34:50,160 --> 00:35:00,160 Verse 17, principle number seven, we need to consistently apply discipline. 411 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:03,160 Now, if there's any word that's tough, it's that word consistent. 412 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:09,160 Somebody said consistency is a virtue of the gods. 413 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:14,160 Well, it should also be a virtue of parents as much as we can with the help of God. 414 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:18,160 Paul says, I teach the same thing I'm telling you in all the churches. 415 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:22,160 I'm not laying before you something I don't tell everybody else. 416 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:27,160 Consistency must be applied to each child. 417 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:38,160 In verse 21, I think it's good to force the child to make a decision and to be responsible for the outcome. 418 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:43,160 Paul said, what do you want me to do? 419 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:53,160 Are you going to force me to spank you with a rod or may I come to you with meekness and in love and gentleness? 420 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:58,160 The decision is yours. Do you want to be disciplined or are you going to obey? 421 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:10,160 When children are left with that question and they realize that discipline does have to come, that it's their decision, they've brought it upon themselves. 422 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:16,160 Now, I wish I could stand before you and say these are eight principles that perfectly apply to my family. 423 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:35,160 I'll tell you what, I want to set this as a goal and I hope that others of you fathers and mothers will join me in seeking to inculcate into our home and to our discipline the principles of the Word of God relating to the correcting of our children. 424 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:41,160 Now for all of us as we bring this service to a close, I want to return to this one primary thought. 425 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:51,160 Is God's rule in my life and in your life one that is verbal only or is it one that's real? 426 00:36:51,160 --> 00:37:03,160 There's nobody who knows better than my wife and my children or your husband and your children. 427 00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:13,160 They know perfectly well because you see there are a lot of things that are hidden inside us that nobody ever sees but God. 428 00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:20,160 Is the kingdom of God in your life real or is it fake? 429 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:28,160 That's probably right. 430 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:35,160 Father in heaven, I want to thank you this morning for your word. 431 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:44,160 All of us find ourselves short in some area as we come to this examination and discipline. 432 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:53,160 It may be that there are some of us here today walking in pride thinking we are rich and full and have needed nothing and our need is to be humbled. 433 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:58,160 We need to repent. 434 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:03,160 Give us grace that we may do that. 435 00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:12,160 And then Father I pray for all of us that your rule in our lives may be one that is genuine and real. 436 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:18,160 Deliver us from masquerades. 437 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:27,160 Teach us to live transparently so that what we say is what we are. 438 00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:31,160 So that your power may be revealed in our lives. 439 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:36,160 I pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. 440 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:43,160 We're going to sing together 386 in conclusion, My Jesus, I love thee. 441 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:53,160 We have in the past couple of months been using a prayer room as our invitation. 442 00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:59,160 Frankly we do not like the way that it's worked. It does not work well. We're going to change that beginning this morning. 443 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:04,160 And our invitation is to come forward if you have a spiritual need. 444 00:39:04,160 --> 00:39:12,160 It takes a lot more courage to do that but I believe that it will help make the decision firm and that's important. 445 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:20,160 What the Lord Jesus tells us in private is important to be made known publicly and this is one way that we can do that. 446 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:24,160 Now maybe that you're here today and you've never trusted Christ as your Savior. 447 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:33,160 I will not close this service without saying to you that your greatest need is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and to be burned into his family by faith. 448 00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:41,160 I'm not talking about something you work to do. It's just the opposite. You simply receive it. It's great. 449 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:50,160 And if you've never received that free gift of eternal life, we invite you to slip out from where you are and to come here this morning so we can help you. 450 00:39:50,160 --> 00:40:03,160 If you're a Christian already but you've been living a lie, the kingdom of God is not reality in your life and today you want to publicly commit yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, 451 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:15,160 we invite you to come as well. We want to make this an opportunity for God to bring to a culmination what he has been saying to you today, this week, maybe for months. 452 00:40:15,160 --> 00:40:22,160 Will you make the decision today? I hope you will. Let's stand, please, and sing together. 453 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:34,160 My Jesus, I love thee.