First Corinthians 4:1-8
1 Corinthians 4:1-8 · Mike Doyle · Aug 9, 2020
Letters to the Corinthians, No. 20
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261919525296

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

We've been spending a lot of time in 1 Corinthians and we're going to spend a lot more time. 1 Corinthians is a really interesting book as you spend time in it and sort of peel back some of the verses. And Paul's dealing with the issue of pride in the church at Corinth.

And pride was a cause of all of the dissension that they were having. And, you know, we went through the verses where people were proudly saying, well, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Paul, I'm of Peter, you know, claiming that they had formed groups or cliques around who their favorite teachers were. And we talked last week in the first five verses of chapter four, how all believers should be treated by the Corinthians. And Paul used himself as an example, which we'll talk about today.

But in verse one, he talked about the servants of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God. That's who they were, Paul and Apollos. And a couple of things that was required. The most important thing was that a steward would be found faithful to the mysteries of God. Faithfulness seems to be way up at the top of the list of what the criteria for being a steward of the mysteries of God are all about. And then Paul went through a few verses about examination. Who gets to examine Paul the Apostle in terms of his ministry? that has to do with his involvement as a steward of the mysteries of God. The answer was nobody except Christ himself. Nobody.

And he didn't even judge himself, because he said judging yourself is man judging man, and it's not verifiable. So it seems that when you first see that verse, you think, well, that's a little bit of arrogance. You know, I can stand up here and say, none of you can judge me. You can judge me about my behavior. all you want. And then he says to them, don't judge anything before it's time. And so you had to have the right time and the right information at the right place for judgment. And all of that had to do with the beam of judgment and the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's kind of what we talked about last week. Now this week, starting in verse six, And I initially took it out of the New Living Translation because I kind of like how it says, Dear Brothers and Sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I've been saying. If you pay attention to what I've quoted from the scriptures, you won't go beyond scripture and be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. So, the New American Standard says it a more distinct way, but that's fine, because this, I think, helps us understand.

One thing I want you to realize, these verses that we're talking about today are conditional. We spend time in teaching here about the difference between position and condition. Position is a doctrine that has to do with our standing before God. These verses that we're talking about today are conditional verses about how my life is to be lived every day from the position that I already have.

And the words that when Paul says I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate or I have figuratively applied or give something to the form and shape of the message I'm trying to get across, and I'm using myself and Apollos as an example. So Paul and Apollos have kind of, the Greek word says, to take shape or to take on a new role. I've got to get my slides straight. Last week I got lost in my slides.

The meaning then is that Paul explains here that what he has also done in other places. He's trying to apply the principle to himself and in the case of Apollos also, which meant for others to see in order that the saints might be profitable. In other words, these folks that are stewards of the mysteries should be identifiable. He should be able to see how they function and watch them. And he said, so watch me.

He lays down a standard in which the saints could easily use others. The saints were using who they thought were the really good teachers, pretentiously, with an unfounded kind of service. of Paul, that Paul and Apollos really were the genuine article, these others weren't. He's trying to show the contrast there between what a servant and a steward is really like and what these people that you put up on a pedestal aren't. So the principles as to service and faithfulness that Paul had applied to himself and Apollos in order to expose the abuse that gifted brothers in their church without actually mentioning any names. And so he gets to avoid all personalities. It's really interesting that he is careful not to point out anybody. And he's not that he hasn't done that in some of his other epistles. He points out people. But in this case, he doesn't.

But what this first shows is there are real leaders at Corinth other than Paul and Apollos. that were more likely gifted men that the congregation wanted to put up on a pedestal. That that was really going on and that that was causing there to be dissension amongst the believers there.

So what's the standard for Christian living? The standard is real simple. It's the objective word of God. It doesn't matter what I think it says, what matters is, what does it really say? So it's important for us, and especially in the environment we live in today, to look at the Word of God objectively. What is it saying? And it's, you know, with a kind of tools that are available today. It's pretty, it's not difficult to research and find out and study the words and study the context and take a look at it to find out what it does exactly say. So he says to the Corinthians, they're not to exceed what is written in one translation or he says in the one I showed you that you, what I've quoted from scripture, don't go beyond that. go up to that, but don't go beyond that. He's saying their views are to be determined and encircled by the Word of God and not how they felt about it in the flesh. That's a really tough thing because we all kind of have our opinions about things. Yet the Word of God is to be the guide.

And what I've noticed is doctrine divides. And let me give you a really simple example. We were at Sunday school this morning. We're talking about strong believers and weak believers and how one group should treat the other and vice versa. So if one believer adopts a legal viewpoint of a passage, an obligatory viewpoint, and the other believer standing next to him adopts the grace viewpoint of a passage, What happens? Well, there's obviously going to be disagreement and dissension involved in that. So what's the solution?

What's happened in the history of the Christian Church is that, I don't know, what did Verne say, over 5,000 denominations? 5,000. Imagine that. There are 5,000 different denominations in Christianity. And it's because there hasn't been this process of rightly dividing the word of truth. people haven't spent their time, they get enamored with what they think something says and they build a division around it and then they gather followers and then they go to Walmart and buy pedestals. So, and I quoted some verses here because I thought that like 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4, Paul uses this phraseology a lot.

He says, for I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received. He received the objective word from God, and that's what he delivered. Nothing more and nothing less. He stuck with what God showed him. And Roger is going to go through this very verse this morning. He's going to say, I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you. when he's talking about the Lord's table. He received it from the Lord and he's communicating it to us precisely. Precisely. He's not going beyond it. It's really important for us to focus on what is written. It's hard sometimes with talking to other believers to get them to use the Word of God as the verifiable truth.

I remember, I think I've told this story before, I can remember when Don and I were young believers and we went to see a movie called Oh God. Remember that movie? I'm trying to think of who the... George Burns, right? George Burns was a comedian and he played the role of God.

So we went with a bunch of Christians, young Christians, and we came back and I think we had been believers only a year or two. And there was a gathering afterwards, coffee and whatever, and the whole discussion revolved around one issue. I can believe what I want, and my doctrine might be different than your doctrine. And I hadn't been a believer very long, but that didn't sound right to me. I don't get to opinionate about the Word of God. I wasn't saved because my opinion was different than the guy who was talking to me. I got saved because of what the Word of God actually said. And that was really important to me. So my opinion is fine.

If you look at 1 Corinthians 1.19, it says, for it is written, for it is written.

And then he talks about I will destroy, etc. And in verse 31, he says, as it is written, as it is written, or 1 Corinthians 3.19, for the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God, for it is written. He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, it is written, the Lord knows the reasonings of the wise and that they're useless. As it is written, is a really critical phrase that should be stuck in our mind.

So we looked at we looked back at verses one through five, and the key to dealing with the arrogance was a clear understanding of what the word of God says. To exceed it means to go beyond it. How do you go beyond the Word of God? We talk about this a lot. If you go to 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4, the gospel message is there, what it takes to be saved. Anything in addition to what those verses say is going beyond, is adding something to it that isn't in the scripture.

And we actually sort of smile about it when we say it around here that I don't need to receive Jesus into my heart. I don't need to make a commitment to Christ. I don't need to go to church on Sunday. I don't need to do all these things. All I need to do is believe those two verses and exactly what they say and nothing more. I don't have to do anything else.

Anything else is going beyond. And I've noticed that if I listen to Christian radio, which can be frustrating sometimes, The gospel message from most all of the high-profile religious teachers are to confess my sins and to receive Jesus into my heart and to ask him for forgiveness. The problem is I can't find that in Paul's epistles. Those three things. None of it's there. Would I ask him for forgiveness? I've already been forgiven, right? Would I invite him into my heart?

No. My job is just to believe. Going beyond what the Scripture teaches is a really easy thing to do because we read a Scripture and we form an opinion about it right away and so we add it because we think our anecdotal viewpoint is much more persuasive than the Word of God itself. And I think you learn as you spend time in the Lord's Word and with other people and Christians and non-believers that the Word of God itself powerful. Those words are powerful, way more powerful than the story, my anecdotal story about it. The words themselves have power.

So have you ever noticed how doctrine divides? Why do we have pride in churches? Why do we have all of this stuff going on? I quote out of Timothy, because Timothy at the end of Paul's life, he's writing to Timothy, he's passing the torch. brother and so he's passing on the faithfulness as to a new steward. He says, if anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to the wholesome words, good phrase, even the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he's proud, knowing nothing, but obsessed with disputes and arguments over words from which came envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain from which withdraw yourself. I dare say there isn't one television Christian preacher that doesn't fit under this who supposes that godliness is a means of gain for them personally. If I'm a steward of the mysteries of God, and I don't have to, like Paul, he isn't going to be judged by any man, he's judged by the Lord Jesus, then you have to pay attention to what the Lord Jesus is saying.

And as soon as I think that this is going to enhance me somehow in the world, I've left the rails. It became about me and not about the Lord Jesus. Now, if the Corinthians were to avoid this pitfall, they would not take pride in one another's teachers and one teacher over another. Would you admit that that's a hard thing to do?

Because sometimes you say, well, gee, I really like the way Courtney teaches or I really like the way Roger teaches. And I've had people say to me, well, I'm not coming to your Sunday school because I like so-and-so better. So, Courtney and I are keeping score. That's one reason why when the invitation goes out every Sunday morning to everybody in the church, you can go to any Sunday school you want to go to.

The point is that it focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word, not the teacher. The frequent use of the word, I can't even say this, Puff up, pride, arrogant identifies one of the Corinthians main problem. Their attitude is wrong because their viewpoint of scripture was really inadequate.

Second Timothy 2.15 says that be diligent to present yourself to prove to God a workman who does not need to be ashamed. What does that workman do? He rightly divides the word of truth. He knows it well enough that he knows where it fits and how it goes in a context and what it really says. So.

For this, for you regard yourself as superior. Let me start over for who regards you as superior. And what do you have that you didn't receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast of it? as though you didn't receive it. This is the next verse in this argument. He reminded the Corinthians that they were not naturally superior to anybody and that their attitude, that judging others, presupposes that they are better. Again, I was talking, we were talking this morning in Sunday school about the strong believer and the weak believer. And that's important that we understand about the strong believer and the weak believer because there are certain criteria for the strong believer to deal with the weak believer and the weak believer criteria for him to deal with the strong believer. because we love each other and we're both were saved by Christ and we're both moving along to spiritual growth and conformity to Christ. So, if you ask the question, who makes you different from another in the body of Christ? What makes me different from Courtney? What makes Courtney different from JD? What makes Andrew Malloy different from Roger? And who regards either of those persons as superior? He reminds the Corinthians that they're not superior in any sense. An attitude that judges others presupposes that you are superior.

God had given them everything that they had. There isn't a person sitting here that can't say, everything that I have, God has given me. Everything I have, especially spiritually. Consequently, they should be grateful and not boastful. And it isn't on my overhead, but I had this thought yesterday, You know where the one place is that this attitude is created and fostered amongst us believers?

It's at seminary. People come out of seminary just like they come out of law school. They think they're smarter than anybody else. They think they've got a handle on it. They think they have an advanced understanding and a command of a language and the language of the Bible that is superior to the guy sitting in a pew.

And that's not true. That is not true. Because the Lord Jesus Christ has every single one of us growing and he's teaching us through his word. And I dare say there's lots of people sitting here in front of me or on Zoom today that understand scripture better than I do. There's a lot of them. And I'm glad there are.

Because if I had to be the final authority, you're in big trouble. What if someone did say to you though, and rightfully so, that you were superior? Let's say someone came up to you and said, you know something? Boy, you really, you are superior to all other Christians. Then here's the next question. What do you have that you didn't receive? What makes you superior? Nothing. Everything I have, I got because I received it. And if it's a gift, The servant did in any way differ from another. He had nothing but what he had received.

So we all have salvation. Do some of us have better salvation than the one sitting next to you? Is the salvation any better or more complete? Because maybe you got saved in X denomination or you got saved over here or you got baptized or something like that.

The answer is no. If it's a gift, it was given and it wasn't acquired by any merit. We talk a lot about grace here. Grace is unmerited. And you can't get that out of your mind. A lot of times, I think, when you study and you get ready and that kind of thing, someone calls you on the phone, you get in a discussion with them and you kind of think, well, I just went over that so I can tell him how this is.

No. Because he may have a totally superior understanding about it than you did, because he received it from the Lord. This notes that even if one has a gift that elevates them above others, that gift is not natural, but rather supplied by God's grace.

Every one of you has a gift, and your gifts are different. And so one gift or another doesn't make you superior or less than the other person. All gifts are for the service of the body of Christ. And we'll go through spiritual gifts later on in 1 Corinthians. You have to get straight in your mind that every one of us has at least one gift.

And what's the purpose of it? So that I can walk around with a name tag that says, I'm Mike Doyle and I have these three gifts. And I'm going to look across at Roger and he says, I'm Roger Henderson and I have these four gifts. What are they for? They're for the benefit of others.

That's the great thing about the body of Christ. Everything that we have was given to us. And why do we have it? To serve. That's the whole reason we have it. There's no sense in God's word where we have a gift for our own gratification. Doesn't happen.

Hamilton Smith said that when where then is the ground for boasting unless we are near to the Lord Jesus and strong in his grace How weak is the most gifted servant? You understand we took that the that the Church of Corinth was the most spiritually gifted Church in the New Testament They had more people with more gifts, spiritual gifts than any other church, yet they were the weakest when it came to spiritual growth and understanding. Unless the flesh is judged by the cross, this is more from Hamilton Smith, the spirit not grieved according to the teachings of chapter one and two. The servant, instead of using his gift and faithfulness to the Lord and for the blessing of his people, is in constant danger of seeking to use it to exalt himself. We've seen that, you see that everywhere in Christendom.

John Darby said, Who maketh thee to differ? For who regards you as superior? If anyone has more gift than another, where does it come from? It all came from God. The one saying, I am of Paul and another, I am of Apollos. But the apostle says to such, it is all yours. If one is greater than another, who made him to differ? Just as John said, a man can receive nothing except it be given to him from above. The point of the talk a couple of weeks ago was the fact that every gifted person was given to the body and it belonged to them. Those who are gifted, which is all of you, you belong to your family of believers.

You're their possession. And they're there to use you to grow. And then in verse 8 he says, a little sarcastically, you are already filled. You have already become rich. You have become kings without us. And indeed, I wish that you had become king so that we might also reign with you. So some of these Corinthian believers thought that they had already received their rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. In other words, their view of the doctrine was, well, we've already arrived.

And what are they doing from whose perspective? They are glorying in the spirit of the world and not in Christ. And if the world creeps in at one point, it's going to creep in at another. And it had happened in Corinth. They were full and rich and reigning like kings and having a really great time with all of these spiritual gifts. While their Lord, the Lord Jesus, was still rejected and nailed to the cross. and they were suffering from his rejection. The Corinthians were behaving as though they had already received their reward at the judgment seat of Christ. Imagine functioning like that. They had sought to use Christianity to enrich themselves and reign as kings right now. This is an indication of their misunderstanding of the final events. in the history of the church. Where are we going to go next? What happens next? With all this COVID stuff that's going on and all these other things, people are starting to talk a lot about, gee, are we close to the end? Is the Lord going to come soon? We all hope so.

He could come today and be OK with me. Paul's own apostleship, which he describes in bold terms, contrasting his own shame with their privileged high station, is alone in harmony with the proper view of the cross. He says, without us? Two words that really sort of, if he said this to me and said, you bought all this without us? You mean this is all true of you? How come it's not true of me without us?

He really wished that the reigning time had come and that they were all The problem was they were all still in the world, the world from which Christ had been rejected, of which he was nailed to the cross, as I said before. Therefore, it is neither the time nor the place for the followers of Christ to reign as kings. That's what he's trying to tell them. Wait a minute. Slow down here.

Your understanding of Scripture and you've allowed yourself to come into your own advantage walking around in a body of believers up on your pedestal, thinking that you had already been to the beam of judgment. Well, how come you're the only one or your group is the only one?

The now in verse eight is contrasted with the word then in verse five that we talked about last week. In verse eight, he says, now you are full. Now you are rich, you have reigned as kings without us. I would to God you did reign and we also might reign with you. Compare that with verse five from last week.

Therefore, judge nothing before its time until the Lord comes who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. Then each one's praise will come from God. So he's contrasting the then and the now. Ironically, Paul wished that the time for rewards had arrived so that he could enjoy reigning with his readers. Unfortunately, suffering must precede the glory. What's interesting is that the rebuke of Paul's teaching And Chester McCauley had a very interesting way he set it up.

He says, these verses give hopeful sign or give helpful signs in this word carnality. And the word carnality is an interesting word, sarkikos, carnal. It also, which allows the flesh in a place which it doesn't belong to or have a right to be there. Paul had already talked to the Corinthians about being fleshly. The Corinthian saints had been making very little progress because they were, it wasn't that they were anti-spiritual, but this particular point in which Paul was dealing with here, they didn't understand. In verse 3 and 4 of chapter 3, they were charged with being carnal men, fleshly men. It's an attitude, Macaulay says, that Paul ridicules here.

The verb filled means to be satisfied or to be gorged. And in the verse it said, you've become rich or you've become full. And if you're gorged, you don't have any room for dessert. We had a party yesterday, and when we got to dessert, everybody was full. The perfect tense points that this is a settled state with them. They were gorged so you couldn't feed them anymore.

And one of the problems you'll see within the Christian environment that those who really think they know something won't listen to anybody else because they think they already have enough. They're full. And since the Corinthians thought that they were wealthy, very spiritually rich, you can't give them anything more because they don't need it. If I think that I've got the answer to every doctrinal question there is, how are you ever going to teach me anything? How's the Word of God going to teach me anything?

Well, I've already got this. They had already become kings, so who can challenge them by offering them a crown? They've already got it in their mind. So contemporary Christianity has fallen into this Corinthian snare, I think. For everywhere, professing Christians seek the favor of the world and try to direct the world's course and gain for the world's applause. And with that principle in mind, just watch how they do it, because everything is used. You know, the guys, the success theology people, that if you believe hard enough, then all of your earthly desires will be fulfilled. I don't think so because they're fleshly. William Kelly on the same subject. Of the Lord Jesus Christ some had lost sight entirely and each choosing his leader was puffed up with facts and feelings.

What is written in the word makes God everything. and man at best an instrument, and he is alone rightly a servant. Man at best is a servant. It's a wonderful thing to be a servant of God. It is God only who makes the difference between one and another, and this is especially true in divine things.

And as it is God who makes the difference, What has anyone that he has not received or received why boast other than boasting in the Lord? The foolishness of the Corinthian prime was evident in being puffed up for those who lionized their respective leaders. He says, an interesting way he puts it, he uses the word shabby. Shabby if not corrupting. Doctrine always lowers practice.

And the Corinthians had insensibly relinquished and lost the place of sufferers with Christ. I read that and I thought, oh yeah, we are sufferers with Christ. That's the place we occupy now. We're not kings yet, although we positionally are, but conditionally we're not. We're sufferers with Christ.

Sarcastically, Paul notices, when Christ reigns, we shall indeed be at ease and in the fullest satisfaction. He will drink the wine new with us in the kingdom of his life, of his Father, and he will gird himself and make us recline a table. And he will come and serve us as he, in his grace, stooped to assure us when Christ will also Set the faithful servant over all that he has. This is what the beam of judgment is all about. And this is William Kelly's language.

But now is the time to deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow him who suffered all things here below. They were deceiving themselves. The time was not yet come. False doctrine had made them false, essentially, to the present object of God. Back in chapter 3, verse 18, the solution to this was real simple.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, this age being the world, he must become foolish. so that he may become wise. If I do think that I am foolish, if I understand what it means to be foolish, then I at least can receive what God's Word has to say. But if I think I have it all, I don't have much of anything.

And this is all by design. You know, there's a great designer behind all of this in the Corinthian church. It's our boy Satan. He has succeeded, I think, in severing the Corinthians, in walk at least and aims, from the Lord, because they were focused on themselves and not Him, who nevertheless waits for the time of glory when He and they shall reign together. So there is coming a time for every one of us to reign and rule with Christ, but this isn't the time yet. And that's the whole premise that Paul is trying to teach these Corinthians, to get them tracking correctly again.

What's reality today? Don't exceed what you think the scriptures say. What's happening today and what does the scripture say today? Let's pray. Father, how we thank you for your word. How we thank you how careful you are to teach us through your word and to teach us just to settle. Settle on what you have to teach us. And we pray in your son's precious name. Amen.