WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.580 Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4, page 953. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:06.500 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:31.739 There will be a lot of different ways you could answer that. 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:39.399 What I'm talking about is, who's well done has the power to control the way you live your life? 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:46.539 The approval of that person, they are the one that determine the decisions you make. 00:00:48.179 --> 00:00:55.140 Several years ago, I was at a dinner and they put beside me a gentleman who had done very well in business. 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:58.420 And I was interested. 00:00:58.579 --> 00:00:59.519 We had a great conversation. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:07.500 I was interested in what motivated him, why he had been so successful, how he got from being where he began to where he then was. 00:01:07.540 --> 00:01:08.340 And he said this to me. 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:08.920 It was fascinating. 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:09.439 He said, 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:15.500 My old man always said, there's no greater shame than to work for another man. 00:01:16.939 --> 00:01:21.240 My old man always said, there's no greater shame than to work for another man. 00:01:22.340 --> 00:01:27.439 His father's opinion had controlled every decision that he made in life. 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:29.099 That was the driver. 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:31.159 That was where all his ambition came from. 00:01:31.259 --> 00:01:33.439 It was the well done of his father. 00:01:33.579 --> 00:01:40.980 It was the sense that if he was not working for himself and he wasn't making a success of his life, that that would be shameful. 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:48.240 And we can roll our eyes and we can think, wow, you know, that's a pretty destructive way to live your life or whatever it might be. 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:51.480 But it's a version of something that's true of all of us. 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:58.260 We do almost everything that we do based on what people are going to think. 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:05.880 If you think about it and you're honest with yourself, we do almost everything we do based on what other people will think. 00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:09.340 What we wear depends on how we want other people to perceive us. 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:17.520 Whether we dress well or badly, we do it because we want to create an impression on the basis of someone else's ideas. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:24.379 The choices we make about the careers we pursue, the places that we shop, the way that we try and raise our children. 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:26.140 Almost everything. 00:02:26.659 --> 00:02:33.460 I've added almost in there because I want to say everything, but I'm not just completely confident that it's absolutely everything. 00:02:33.460 --> 00:02:42.900 But almost everything we do, these choices, they are made on the basis of the judgment of others, be that parents or friends or colleagues or whoever. 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:46.900 Whose opinion are you living for? 00:02:47.860 --> 00:02:51.520 Whose opinion shapes the way you will live your life? 00:02:52.379 --> 00:02:55.439 Whose approval, ultimately, are you seeking? 00:02:56.439 --> 00:03:03.060 I've been seeing how this church in Corinth has become controlled by the opinions of the Corinthian culture. 00:03:04.200 --> 00:03:09.640 They have been drawn to the impressive wisdom teachers who have followed the apostles into the church. 00:03:09.760 --> 00:03:12.879 Paul, the apostle who wrote this letter, he planted the church. 00:03:13.780 --> 00:03:17.040 And Apollos, faithful pastor, came after him. 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:22.280 And now we're told, chapter 3, verse 10, that someone else is building on his foundation. 00:03:22.460 --> 00:03:28.360 And Paul is concerned that the ministry in Corinth has gone off course and it is being led astray. 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:33.120 Because it seems that they are being taken up with the wrong kind of approval. 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:42.640 They are conducting their ministry and the Corinthian Christians are living their lives looking for the approval of the wrong kind of people. 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:45.860 There is division and rivalry in the church. 00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:47.379 We've seen that over the last few weeks. 00:03:47.379 --> 00:03:54.199 And you can imagine there are some people in the church who are saying, you know, it's the, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas. 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:58.340 Factions have developed, divisions have grown up in the life of the church. 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:05.079 And you can imagine somebody saying, my old man always said there's no greater shame than to follow Cephas. 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:11.020 And Paul has repeatedly said that this is because the church has pursued the wisdom of the world. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:19.240 The church has been captivated by the culture outside rather than what he calls the foolishness of the cross. 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:25.319 And the first few chapters we've seen that this message that is at the heart of true Christian faith. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:27.920 The message of Christ and him crucified. 00:04:28.120 --> 00:04:33.120 The message of the one who came as God in flesh into the world. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:34.300 As the savior of the world. 00:04:34.379 --> 00:04:35.399 As the hope of the world. 00:04:35.399 --> 00:04:39.199 As the power of God to reconcile men and women back to God. 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:45.360 He, the very epicenter of the wisdom of God is the shame of the cross. 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:51.860 He is crucified in the most objectionable way possible for impressive Corinthian culture. 00:04:52.420 --> 00:04:54.259 And that is what we say we believe. 00:04:55.079 --> 00:05:00.060 And he's saying instead of holding fast to that, the shame of that has been too much for us. 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:02.860 And so we have taken in the opinions out there. 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:06.500 We have dressed up our Christian faith to try and make it look impressive. 00:05:06.500 --> 00:05:12.139 And the values of the culture out there have seeped into the church in here and are being lived out. 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:15.960 And he's saying that is not the way it should be. 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:23.699 This church has loved and cared more about the approval and acceptance of Corinthian culture than it has the way of Jesus. 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.840 And Paul uses himself and his own ministry as an example. 00:05:27.939 --> 00:05:30.199 As a way to challenge the Corinthians. 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:34.060 And again, as he does this, we are being reminded. 00:05:34.180 --> 00:05:38.659 All these years later, we are being reminded that if we live our lives for the praise of the world. 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:44.159 If we want our Christian faith to look and feel impressive to the surrounding culture. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.399 If we want the world's well done. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:48.860 When we live our life and we do the things that we do. 00:05:48.939 --> 00:05:51.620 And we want the world to go, yay, good on you. 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:54.560 Well, we are going to be ending up compromised. 00:05:56.699 --> 00:06:00.819 We need to index our lives to the opinion and the judgment of God. 00:06:01.780 --> 00:06:03.060 That was Paul's approach. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:04.180 Can you see verse 3? 00:06:05.379 --> 00:06:05.720 He says, 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:24.060 Can you see the difference there in terms of the context of approval? 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:25.819 Is it you, the people? 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:27.060 Or is it God? 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:37.579 The church has been clearly critical of their apostle after he has left some considering perhaps his simple message and his unimpressive delivery just a bit out of touch. 00:06:40.860 --> 00:06:43.220 But he doesn't do what he does for their approval. 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:47.819 He knows, verse 1, as he said a number of times, he's a servant. 00:06:47.819 --> 00:06:54.579 This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:57.980 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:00.819 We saw last time he made this point, chapter 3. 00:07:01.100 --> 00:07:03.180 Servants don't provide the food. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.420 They just bring it to the table. 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:07.079 Servants don't push themselves forward. 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:11.939 Their whole approach is to be as invisible as possible. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:14.879 They operate in the shadows. 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:17.120 They're not there to make themselves look good. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:19.259 They're there for the sake of others. 00:07:19.360 --> 00:07:20.300 That's what servants do. 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:24.980 And in the same way, Paul's role as an apostle was to faithfully steward God's Word. 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:27.519 Nothing more, nothing less. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.100 And he knows that he will answer to God ultimately for how he has done it. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:35.180 The opinions of others, he says, take them or leave them. 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:45.360 He is faithful that his main concern, rather than being popular, rather than being well thought of by his hearers, is that he is faithful. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.560 I deliver the message, says Paul. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:48.680 People don't like it. 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:49.600 It's not my problem. 00:07:50.080 --> 00:07:51.199 People pass judgment. 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:52.300 That's up to them. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:55.740 My sole aim is to be faithful to God. 00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:59.480 And can I say that's what you want in a minister? 00:08:00.960 --> 00:08:02.900 You want a minister who will tell you the truth. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.280 And he'll tell you the truth even when you don't want to hear it. 00:08:06.340 --> 00:08:13.759 Think about how often we are confronted by the Bible and we find it unpleasant because it cuts across our natural instincts. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:24.839 If you think about it, if every time the Bible cuts across your instincts, you can then cut that bit out, well, who's at the center of your world? 00:08:25.399 --> 00:08:26.519 Simply, it's just you. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:29.699 There is nobody then that can challenge you. 00:08:30.339 --> 00:08:32.379 God's Word loses its teeth, as it were. 00:08:32.379 --> 00:09:02.360 God's Word is a servant of God's Word. 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:03.539 God's Word is a servant of God's Word. 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:06.220 Because of our sinful instincts, we want to say, that's good. 00:09:06.419 --> 00:09:07.019 I heard that. 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:08.800 I'm grateful for the rebuke and the correction. 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:10.120 That comes from God. 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:15.519 It is easy for ministers to become beholden to the approval of people in front of them. 00:09:15.620 --> 00:09:16.919 Let me tell you, it is easy. 00:09:17.259 --> 00:09:18.680 The pressure is very significant. 00:09:20.560 --> 00:09:22.100 It can happen in all kinds of ways. 00:09:22.580 --> 00:09:24.580 The wealthy person is an obvious example. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.259 That has been the ruin of many down the years. 00:09:27.580 --> 00:09:30.240 Think, well, if that person leaves the church, how are we going to pay the bills? 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:37.180 We need to keep them happy. But many ministers, many of my fellow men are also controlled by 00:09:37.180 --> 00:09:45.399 the easily offended, the overly critical, the very influential, or perhaps even the opinions 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:51.940 of the evangelical subculture of our day, such that what ends up happening is they finesse what 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:58.500 they say, or worse, they actually distort what the Bible teaches. Of course, because everything is 00:09:58.500 --> 00:10:02.679 online now, anyone can hear what you say, so the possibility of offense is even greater. 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:10.700 The pressure of the opinions of the congregation, the pressure of the opinions of the wider culture, 00:10:11.059 --> 00:10:15.539 the pressure of the opinions of the subculture and the gatekeepers of that culture weigh heavily. 00:10:18.779 --> 00:10:24.159 And so what ends up happening is, don't say the hard thing, we don't say the thing that God's 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:31.219 word says, and we don't cross those lines. A clear example of this has to be the whole area of 00:10:31.219 --> 00:10:37.919 sexuality. The culture is obsessed with getting people to celebrate homosexuality, and if you 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:44.679 don't celebrate it, if you're not proud of it, well then you're a bigot. Well, the Bible is clear 00:10:44.679 --> 00:10:51.439 that homosexual desire is sinful. So you've got a choice. Whose praise do you go for? The aggressive 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:57.520 voices out there in the culture or God's word. It's very unpopular to go with God's word. 00:10:58.520 --> 00:11:05.160 And whole denominations have gone with the culture. But even among those who say they want to follow 00:11:05.160 --> 00:11:10.680 what the Bible says, there is significant confusion and compromise. Groups like Living Out, while well 00:11:10.680 --> 00:11:15.620 intentioned, have been very unhelpful in how they have taught on this matter, and so the church is confused. 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:21.960 The church has spoken with one voice on this question for centuries. So why is it now that we 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:27.659 need to revise our thinking? It's because of the pressure of the culture. We don't want their 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:32.440 disapproval. It's because of the pressure that the influential people in our culture, our subculture, 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:38.500 want to press on us. And so we don't want their disapproval, and we go the other way. 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:45.679 You don't want someone who stands here and will preach for the approval either of the congregation 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:51.340 or the culture. It was said of John Knox, the Scottish reformer, that he feared the face of God 00:11:51.340 --> 00:11:57.399 so much that he never feared the face of man. On his grave, it says, here lies one who never flattered 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:05.940 nor feared any flesh. Here lies one who never flattered nor feared any flesh. That makes you pretty 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:13.020 unpopular in polite society. I'm telling you, you want this kind of minister. One who will say, 00:12:13.280 --> 00:12:18.660 I don't stand or fall by your judgment or verse four, even by my own judgment of myself. It is the 00:12:18.660 --> 00:12:26.080 Lord who judges me. Leave it to him, and the last day will reveal the integrity of my work. A minister 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:30.520 with that kind of heart, who is a servant of the mysteries of God, will lead you in a faithful 00:12:30.520 --> 00:12:34.660 direction. And in God's kindness, I want to say that you have, and I am grateful to work with, 00:12:34.659 --> 00:12:39.000 men here with that kind of heart, who serve in that kind of way. 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:46.139 The Apostle Paul isn't talking about his own ministry here just for the sake of it, though. We need to see this. 00:12:46.839 --> 00:12:52.079 He's doing it for the sake of the church. Look at verse six. Why does he go on and on and on about his 00:12:52.079 --> 00:12:58.720 own ministry? Well, verse six, I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:05.180 brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up 00:13:05.180 --> 00:13:10.899 in favor of one against another. He's saying, I am telling you about the integrity of my ministry and 00:13:10.899 --> 00:13:17.700 the way that we have operated as apostles for your benefit, so that you may not go beyond what 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:22.660 Scripture says, so that you'll stop this silly nonsense of pride and fighting with one another. 00:13:24.660 --> 00:13:31.040 It's for their benefit. Learn by us. He's saying, I'm giving you my example here. And then verse 16, 00:13:31.160 --> 00:13:35.240 can you see, I urge you then, be imitators of me. 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:42.299 Paul's saying he's playing the role of a father admonishing his children, verse 15. 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:52.360 And he tells them how he views his ministry so that they would imitate him in their own lives. 00:13:53.980 --> 00:14:00.840 And if they're going to imitate him, it means imitating his mindset. I don't care what other 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:06.340 people say. I'm going to be faithful to what God's Word says, and I'm going to follow it wherever it 00:14:06.340 --> 00:14:14.240 takes me. That's the example. That's the mindset. He's saying, just as he does that, they should do 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:22.660 the same. And for us, when we're in the arena where we are tempted by the approval of those around us 00:14:22.660 --> 00:14:27.519 that will take us away from what God's Word calls us to, the thing that will keep us on track 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:38.759 is caring about the opinion of God more. Loving God, fearing God, seeking God's approval more than 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:50.639 we love or fear anyone or anything else. Easy, okay? We stop there, we pray and go home. No, 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:55.679 we need to listen. It's, of course, much more difficult than just saying, well, we've got to love 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:03.099 and fear God more than we've got to love and fear the world around us. Because by nature, we want to 00:15:03.099 --> 00:15:07.659 be liked. We want to be well thought of. Of course we do. We don't want to be contentious. We don't want 00:15:07.659 --> 00:15:13.599 to be that guy or that girl. Unfortunately, in some cases, we're going to have to be. So how is it that 00:15:13.599 --> 00:15:19.759 we can live this way? And we can do that actually in a context where the values of our culture and the 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:25.840 values that our culture celebrate collide so aggressively with our Christian faith? How can 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:30.100 we get the kind of courage that we're being called to here, the kind of resilience that we're going to 00:15:30.100 --> 00:15:38.779 need? Well, Paul tells us, and he tells us we need to remember two things. First is this, we need to 00:15:38.779 --> 00:15:45.120 remember what God has said. What God has said. Verse 6, I have applied all these things to myself 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:51.679 and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:57.639 Point Paul has been making from the start of this letter is that the Corinthians have been walking 00:15:57.639 --> 00:16:02.519 away from the gospel of Christ crucified. They've been choosing instead to listen to the wisdom of 00:16:02.519 --> 00:16:08.320 the world. They have rejected, they have gone beyond the teaching of the Holy Spirit in favor of what he 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:14.200 calls the folly of human ideas. So he's calling them back to what God has said, and he wants them to 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:20.560 remember what God has said. But it's not just what God has said in general. It is, I think, 00:16:20.640 --> 00:16:25.420 specifically the passages of the Bible that he's referred to already in this letter. So chapter 1, 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:31.180 verse 19, if you can look back over there, chapter 119, for the word of the cross is folly to those who 00:16:31.180 --> 00:16:36.860 are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:43.340 the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart. He's saying, 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:49.820 remember what God has said about wisdom and folly, about true wisdom and real folly. The gospel message, 00:16:49.940 --> 00:16:55.500 it sounds like folly to the world, but it is the power of God. Remember that. When you're tempted to 00:16:55.500 --> 00:17:00.960 order your life according to the wisdom of the world, remember what God has said. He's going to destroy it. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:06.860 He's going to bring all their supposed discernment to nothing. We saw last time, last week, that Paul's 00:17:06.860 --> 00:17:12.240 made a similar point in chapter 3, 3 verse 19, for the wisdom of this world is folly with God, 00:17:12.620 --> 00:17:17.440 for it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the thoughts 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:24.960 of the wise that they are futile. He's quoting Job 5. He's quoting Psalm 94. God has said that 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:30.700 however clever someone appears or thinks themselves to be, God will ultimately catch them in their 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:37.140 cleverness. He'll turn their cleverness back on them and show their supposed wisdom up as empty. 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:42.579 These weren't empty promises. The quote from Job is spoken by Eliphaz, the Temanite, 00:17:43.120 --> 00:17:49.620 who in Job was caught out by his own words. He's saying here, remember what God has said and don't 00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:55.479 allow your identity to be caught up in and controlled by the wisdom of the world because 00:17:55.479 --> 00:18:04.459 ultimately it is futile and God will bring it down. But he doesn't just give the negative perspective. 00:18:04.679 --> 00:18:09.919 Don't do that because God is going to bring it down. He also holds out the benefit of living according 00:18:09.919 --> 00:18:14.959 to God's design. Remember what he said in chapter 2 verse 9 about what God is bringing about for his 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:21.940 people. Probably quoting Isaiah 64, what no eye has seen, no ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:29.620 what God has prepared for those who love him. God has prepared something for the human race that is 00:18:29.620 --> 00:18:34.840 beyond your imagination. We haven't seen it yet. We haven't heard it yet. But God is bringing those 00:18:34.840 --> 00:18:43.420 who love him, those who live their lives for his opinion into the renewal of all things under Christ. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:51.420 He's saying, go for the praise of God over the praise of the culture because of what lies ahead. 00:18:51.700 --> 00:19:00.180 That is the Christian hope. We can't imagine it. What is promised to us is so great we can't see it, 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:09.400 we can't imagine it. But those who love the Lord Jesus are being brought by God into a future that is 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:15.340 so glorious that any decision that we make now to follow him over the praise of the culture will be worth it. 00:19:15.740 --> 00:19:21.880 Standing out from the well-done's of our culture now for the sake of integrity and obedience to the Scriptures 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:30.180 will be worth it. Do you need to hear that this morning? Holding to the truth, not going the wrong way, 00:19:30.280 --> 00:19:36.300 but only choosing to go the right way, however difficult it might be. God has said that it will be worth it 00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:45.399 because of what lies ahead. He is bringing you to a real glory. And the alternative, the glory that 00:19:45.399 --> 00:19:50.200 is offered by the wisdom of the world. And by the way, he's talking there about the philosophy and 00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:55.220 the worldview that our culture holds out as the good life. Paul isn't talking about, he's not saying 00:19:55.220 --> 00:19:59.440 there is no wisdom in the world. You don't need to check the theological convictions of your car 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:04.299 mechanic before you use your car mechanic. He's talking about the vision of the good life 00:20:04.299 --> 00:20:08.859 that doesn't have Christ and him crucified at the center. That wisdom, 00:20:11.259 --> 00:20:16.259 however wise it might seem, is foolishness to God. And in the end, it'll be shown up 00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:22.919 as futile. So, a future glory is what makes living for God worth the struggle. The futility of the 00:20:22.919 --> 00:20:26.659 alternative shows us why living for the opinions of others just isn't worth it. 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:36.140 How do you love and fear God more than anything or anyone else? Well, remember what he has said. 00:20:36.820 --> 00:20:41.519 Remember what he has said about what is real and what is true and what is lasting. 00:20:43.320 --> 00:20:47.640 But alongside that, Paul also says that the Corinthians need to remember something else. 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:55.000 And they need to remember, point number two, how Paul lived. First of all, remember what God has 00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:02.560 said. Secondly, remember how Paul has lived. He starts by taking all the rivalry and pride. Verse 7, 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:08.480 sarcastically then he says, for who sees anything different in you? He's different there. It's, 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:13.660 who sees anything special in you? What do you have that you did not receive? 00:21:13.660 --> 00:21:20.900 If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Say, why are you so impressed 00:21:20.900 --> 00:21:26.420 with yourselves? Remember how he opened the letter right at the beginning of chapter one? All the 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:31.960 emphasis there was on God's grace and God's gifting and the fact that they have been saved and chosen 00:21:31.960 --> 00:21:37.180 and they have understood the mysteries of the cross. All of that was God's doing. And he's saying, 00:21:37.360 --> 00:21:43.580 so why are you boasting? What is it about you that thinks you can boast when it's all been given to 00:21:43.579 --> 00:21:51.439 you as a gift? Like every believer, everywhere, everything we have, all the privileges, all the 00:21:51.439 --> 00:21:57.000 gifts, all the status that we have as God's people, it had nothing whatsoever to do with us. 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:05.779 It was all down to the kindness and love of God. So why would you glory in it like it was yours? 00:22:05.779 --> 00:22:11.920 That's what he's saying. And he exposes the crassness further, contrasts it with the apostles' 00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:17.519 behavior. Verse 8, already you have all you want. Already you've become rich. Without us, you have 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:23.680 become kings. And would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you. For I think that 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:29.740 God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death because we have become a 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:36.960 spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:43.160 We are weak, but you're strong. You're held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:47.920 and thirst, and we're poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor working with our own hands. 00:22:48.259 --> 00:22:52.660 When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become 00:22:52.660 --> 00:23:01.980 and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. The Corinthians wanted their 00:23:01.980 --> 00:23:09.040 Christianity to be impressive, like kings, verse 8. Wise, strong, respectable, verse 10. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:19.500 And Paul mocks them for this. You get your celebrity into the church, get them up to the front quickly so 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:23.680 that other people will see them and think, well, you're really impressive because you've got 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:31.119 celebrities. Of course, we read on in chapter 5, whatever they think about themselves, their sin, 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:37.099 we'll see this next week, Lord willing, shows that they're neither wise nor strong nor honorable and 00:23:37.099 --> 00:23:44.400 certainly not impressive. But still, they wanted the world's approval. They wanted people outside to 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:52.580 look at them and to give them the thumbs up and say, we think you're really great. We saw this in spades 00:23:52.580 --> 00:23:59.759 during COVID. One of the big messages church leaders gave was don't do anything that people won't like. 00:24:00.340 --> 00:24:06.500 People don't like what you're doing. It's a bad thing. Do what the experts tell you. Think about your 00:24:06.500 --> 00:24:13.820 witness. What this ended up meaning was that our witness was scientists and politicians are in charge, 00:24:13.819 --> 00:24:22.339 church services aren't essential. Church via a screen is fine. But God says, do not forsake meeting 00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:29.919 together. We weren't part of the church at the time, but I want to honor the elders here for staying 00:24:29.919 --> 00:24:35.539 open, choosing the approval of God over the approval of Matt Hancock and the evangelical leaders that said 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:42.980 you should close your church for the sake of witness. Calibrating the way that you do things in the 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:48.900 Christian life and in the church in order that the culture will approve is completely the wrong way 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:55.880 around. Now, of course, it's possible that the Corinthians thought that they were being evangelistic 00:24:55.880 --> 00:25:00.860 or missional here, whatever. So they reasoned that if they looked impressive to the culture, 00:25:01.259 --> 00:25:07.440 the culture would give their Jesus a chance. You know, we look impressive. Maybe you'll look into Jesus. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:16.420 Or look, we're just like you. You can have the world and you can have Jesus as well. What does Paul say? 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:32.019 Here's my model. Contempt, weakness, poverty, persecution. That was the apostles. That was the 00:25:32.019 --> 00:25:39.200 apostles that he's saying that we should be imitators of. Contempt, weakness, poverty, persecution. He says, 00:25:39.299 --> 00:25:48.519 they are the scum of the world. There is nothing impressive or culturally respectable about them. 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:58.220 They are the refuse of all things. They are the rubbish of the rubbish. They're like that awful liquid 00:25:58.220 --> 00:26:05.980 that runs out of the side of the bin lorry. Bin juice. They're the bin juice of the world. 00:26:08.640 --> 00:26:16.279 Paul says, Corinthians, that's what I want you to imitate. He says, IPC Ealing, that's what I want you 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:24.640 to imitate. Why? Because this is the glory of God. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:33.040 Remember, the kingdom of God upends worldly categories. 00:26:35.040 --> 00:26:42.020 We think the good life is about honor and strength and respectability. But in reality, that is in the real 00:26:42.020 --> 00:26:52.720 world that God governs, it's about self-denial and humiliation. We think a life well lived gets you a KBE 00:26:52.720 --> 00:27:00.100 and an obituary in the paper. But it actually gets us reviled and slandered and treated like scum. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:06.559 And the reason we know this isn't just because it was Paul's experience. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:12.480 It was Paul's experience because it was Christ's experience before him. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:21.980 The reason that Paul calls us to imitate him is because it is to imitate Christ. 00:27:23.120 --> 00:27:31.880 It is to do what every disciple must do if they will be a true disciple. What does Jesus say? 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:46.160 And take up his cross daily and follow me. 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:54.200 In the kingdom of God, the way to glory is down. 00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:59.019 All the way down to bin juice. 00:28:01.799 --> 00:28:05.059 When you choose the opinion and the praise of God, that is what it means. 00:28:07.840 --> 00:28:13.279 In the culture, when those closest to you perhaps say, there is no greater shame. 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:18.080 My old man used to say, there is no greater shame than being a Christian. 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:48.079 When thoseยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยยย 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:58.339 it's a feature, not a bug. One commentator says, the suffering so visible in the lives 00:28:58.339 --> 00:29:05.439 of the apostles is not some tedious detour for an elite volunteer corps, 00:29:05.439 --> 00:29:09.019 but the main highway for all Christians. 00:29:09.019 --> 00:29:20.539 We don't really believe that. If we're honest with ourselves, we don't believe it and we don't want 00:29:20.539 --> 00:29:33.859 it to be true, but it is. And you will only accept this reproach if you believe that it was the way 00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:43.939 of Christ, and that to deny yourself and to take up your cross to kill those desires for the approval 00:29:43.939 --> 00:29:53.099 of the world in order to follow Him. You will only do that if you believe what God has said about the 00:29:53.099 --> 00:30:00.579 future. He is getting rid of all worldly wisdom, and He has something for you that is worth every 00:30:00.579 --> 00:30:15.919 sacrifice. So let me encourage you this morning to choose the wisdom of the cross. It was the way 00:30:15.919 --> 00:30:24.799 of Paul. It was the way of Jesus. And we choose it because the foolishness of the cross-shaped life 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:33.599 is true glory and the power of God. All the rest is empty folly. Let's pray together.