Humility | 1 Corinthians 4:6-13

Well, if you've been in church consistently since

the beginning of our study in 1 Corinthians,

perhaps you've noticed that thus far Paul has

spent an excessive amount of time talking about

one particular issue, one problem in the church,

and that is the issue of division. I think we've

gone 10 or 11 weeks straight where that single

issue has, if not in the forefront, is in the

backdrop. of everything that Paul has been instructing

us about and exhorting us to. It started way

back in chapter 1, verse 10. It ran through most

of chapters 2 and 3. And he's not going to stop

talking about the issue of division until the

end of chapter 4. Finally, once we get to chapter

5, his focus is going to turn to some new issues,

sexual sin and church discipline. But even in

that, it's in relation to the idea of church

health. and church unity. So for this Sunday

and next, we're still looking at this one serious

problem in the church. And by the way, when you

see a subject that is that intense in scripture,

you know it's important for us, right? It's important

for us even 2 ,000 years later. God thinks this

is a very important issue for us to study. Now,

to be fair, every message that we've walked through,

even though division has been in the backdrop,

each section has had a unique nuance to it. And

that's true of our passage this morning. Today,

Paul is going to highlight for us the character

trait that drives almost every conflict you will

see in the life of the church. Almost every one.

And because that's true, this is something that

every one of us should pay close attention to

and consider. And the issue is, you probably

guessed it, pride. Or what the New American Standard

Bible is going to call arrogance. Perhaps the

ugliest of all human sins. And the gateway to

so many other sins. Pride or arrogance. There's

a great quote out there from C .S. Lewis that

describes this well. Let me read it to you. He

says, of which no man in the world is free, one

which everyone in the world loathes when he sees

it in someone else, and one of which hardly any

people ever imagine that they are guilty of themselves.

The essential vice, the utmost evil is pride.

Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness and the

like are mere flea bites in comparison. Pride

leads to every other vice. It is the complete

anti -God state of mind. Wow. This morning, Paul's

going to talk about the type of pride that is

blind to one's own shortcomings, blind to one's

own pitiful condition, while at the same time

looking at other people and judging them harshly.

Here's another important quote to get your mind

sort of going this morning. This one comes from

John Piper. He says, there is a very close relationship

between unbelief and pride. Unbelief is a turning

away from Jesus in order to seek satisfaction

in other things. Pride is a turning away from

God specifically to take satisfaction in self.

Very insightful. And this was the foundational

problem in Corinth. People thinking far too highly

of themselves and of their own wisdom. And at

the same time, blind to their own shortcomings,

clueless as to their own immaturity. And yet,

still confidently, they manage to judge their

teachers and their leaders, attaching themselves

to this one, rejecting others, putting one man

on a pedestal which he doesn't deserve, while

showing contempt to the other leaders who now

they've wrongly judged as not meeting the standard

of my guy. Clueless. And then once they'd identified

with a particular group under a preferred leader,

they were all looking around and saying, well,

we're superior to everybody else. We're in the

best group. We have the best guy. And of course,

what comes from that division? Obviously. So

becoming a fanboy or a fangirl of one teacher

over others, it leads to cliques. Cliques in

the church. It leads to a fundamental lack of

unity. And Paul has been dealing with this, as

I said, since chapter one. First, with the matter

in principle, contrasting two important things.

What is weakness and foolishness in the eyes

of the world versus weakness and foolishness

in the eyes of God? He was trying to get the

Corinthians to lay aside all of their cultural

baggage from that city they grew up in, which

encouraged them to be prideful and to get them

to renew their thinking, to begin to see things

the way God does. And then he addressed the problem

by pointing out that all the apostles that God

was sending to Corinth, they're just servants.

They're not to be boasted in. If you're going

to boast in anything, boast in the Lord. Neither

should the apostles be seen as competitors. They're

not competing to get a following. They're co

-laborers for the gospel. And each one of them

has a unique role to play. Paul described himself,

hey, I was the first one to get there, so I was

out there planting all the seeds of the gospel.

Then later, Apollos came, and he watered those

same seeds. And his point was simply this. We're

both laboring as one for the same cause. And

because of that, he said, each one of us is going

to get our own rewards at the judgment seat of

Christ. So you guys, Corinthians, stop judging.

You're actually not qualified to do so because

you don't know the heart of man. Stop judging.

Wait upon the Lord. He will do it perfectly.

Do you remember all this? Good. So Paul's been

walking through this step by step. Let's see

now what he's going to say next. Grab your Bibles

and let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

4. We're going to cover verses 6 through 13 this

morning. But let's do this. Let's back up to

the very top of the chapter to verse 1. And we'll

read last Sunday's passage and we'll read it

in context so that we know exactly what Paul's

flow of thought is. 1 Corinthians 4, beginning

in verse 1. Paul says, this is the way that any

person is to regard us, meaning himself and the

other apostles. This is how you should regard

us. Regard us as servants of Christ. And stewards

of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover,

it's required of stewards that one be found what?

Trustworthy. And then we were shocked by what

he said next, right? Last week. But to me, it's

an insignificant matter that I would be examined

by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not

even examine myself. For I'm not aware of anything

against myself. However, I'm not vindicated by

this. But the one who examines me is the Lord.

And if you need an explanation of all that, go

onto our YouTube channel and listen to that message.

Verse five, therefore, do not go on passing judgment

before the time, but wait until the Lord comes

who will bring to light the things hidden in

the darkness and disclose the motives of human

hearts. And then, then and only then, praise

will come to each person from God. Now, verse

six. Now these things, brethren, brothers and

sisters, I have figuratively applied to myself

and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you

may learn not to exceed what is written, so that

none of you will become arrogant on behalf of

one against the other. For who regards you as

superior? What do you have that you did not receive?

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as

if you had not received it? Now, let's stop there.

We're going to read the rest a little bit together

later. For now, that's enough to bite off. And

let's go back to verse six and let's see the

logic that Paul is beginning to walk through

here. Because as Adam prayed, this is not an

easy passage to interpret. Verse six, now these

things, brethren, I have figuratively applied

to myself and Apollos for your sakes, for your

benefit. And this is important for us to see

right out of the gate. That phrase, for your

sake, is so important. See, here's what's gonna

happen. Paul's gonna get progressively. I would

say more harsh and more sarcastic as he moves

through this passage. But know that this is his

starting point. This is very important. This

is his starting point. All this is for your benefit,

he says. Everything I've written to you so far

about wisdom and about foolishness and about

division in the church. All of it is for your

sake. I'm doing this for your benefit. I'm trying

to point out something critically important that

will make your church healthier and you as Christians

more fruitful. This is his goal. This is what

Paul wants. So he says, these things I'm now

going to apply to myself and to Apollos and to

your teachers and leaders in general as an illustration

for you. And it's my hope through this illustration

about myself and about Apollos. that you will

come to understand just how prideful you're becoming.

That's the point here. See, all things that you

Corinthians are using to compare one teacher

against another, your guy's wisdom, his gifts,

his insight, his popularity, none of those things

are grounds for you to take pride in them because

they're not self -generated. Those guys didn't

arrive with those things on their own. They're

gifts from God. So you have no reason to be prideful,

even in the guy that you love. So if there are

good things received there in Corinth, the proper

response is this, gratitude and faithfulness.

Not arrogance and not boasting and not dividing

people. As I've said before, if you're going

to boast, boast in the Lord, not in men. Now

what follows in verse six is the goal of the

illustration that he's gonna use here, and Paul

really writes it in the form of a rebuke. And

you can see the purpose statement right there

in the middle of verse six. Whenever you see

the words so that, that tells you that here comes

the purpose for what I've just said. I'm gonna

apply these things to me and Apollos so that,

he writes, in us, you may learn what? Not to

exceed what is written. So here's the lesson.

Don't go beyond what God has spoken to his people

in the past and is currently speaking through

his chosen apostles. This is a focus on what

God has said in his word. Don't go beyond it.

Right now, you're going way beyond it. I want

you to backtrack. Do not go beyond what is written.

Don't be seduced by the philosophies of the world,

right, that tell you that you can pick one man

over another, that you can elevate one teacher

while downgrading others. Don't be fleshly. We

talked about that in a previous chapter, right?

Don't act fleshly. Don't act worldly. Don't act

like mere men. Do you remember when he used that

phrase? You're a follower of Christ. Don't act

like a mere man like everybody else in Corinth.

Stop it. Think biblically, live biblically. And

the verse goes on. The Corinthians should not

go beyond what God has said for this reason.

You ready? It says, so that you won't become

arrogant or puffed up on behalf of one man against

the other. One man against the other. So don't

favor one teacher over another and become such

a devoted follower of that one man that you sinfully

misjudge all the others. Guys, we do this all

the time in the church. We find our teachers

that we love, and we set a standard where we

say, nobody's as good as so -and -so, right?

And then we look at everybody else and go, eh,

they're gifts, all gifts from God, but we're

like, no, no, no, no. I've determined the standard,

my guy, and nobody else can live up to that.

It's pride. It's pride. I'm going to use myself

and Apollos as examples to teach you this principle

and to do it for your benefit. So listen, do

not go beyond what scripture says in esteeming

your favored leader and rejecting the others

that God has also given to you. Because that

teacher that you love so much, what is he? What

did we find out last week? What is that teacher

that you love so much? He's an under rower. Right?

Remember that last week? He's the guy at the

bottom of the trireme who is rowing the oar.

He's just a servant. He's just a steward of things

that Christ has entrusted to him. All these men,

me, Apollos, Peter, we all belong to you anyway.

You don't have to choose one over the other.

God has gifted you, all of us, as teachers and

leaders. By the way, it is a healthy question.

To ask yourself, what do the scriptures say about

how you should treat the men whom God has called

to lead you and to teach you? We should know

what this is. I'll just briefly give you four

things that are very explicit in scripture. That

you should respect and esteem them in love for

their work. That they should be yielded to as

they give watch over your soul. You should follow

after them. That they should be honored, especially

those who labor in the word through preaching

and teaching. You should honor those men. And

that their calling sometimes requires to rebuke

and correct you. And that should be received

with a teachable spirit. That's the proper way.

But listen now, all those things should be done

and nothing more. Don't go beyond those principles

that are specifically laid out in scripture.

Don't go beyond it. Don't turn them into celebrities.

They don't deserve it. If you knew their heart,

you would understand that. Only God knows the

hidden places of the heart. Don't turn them in

celebrities. Don't venerate everything that they

say. Don't go around ranking them. Well, here's

my top 10 list of preachers. Don't do it. Because

what starts out as love for a particular leader

or teacher can so quickly turn into negativity

towards others. And to the point of sin where

you say, well, look, I've come to the conclusion

that's the only guy I'll listen to. That's the

only guy that I will respect. That is straight

up pride. And there's no grounds for it. Because

you're not qualified to even judge this. When

that happens, when we start dividing in those

ways, do you know who celebrates? Satan. You've

given him a foothold of division in the church.

A foothold to divide the body of Christ universal.

And that was happening in Corinth. And that's

why Paul's taken four chapters to talk about

it. Now, verse seven is so amazing. It's just

three questions. Look at verse seven, three rhetorical

questions. And here's where Paul's headed by

asking these questions. He wants the Corinthians

now to compare how they view themselves with

how they view the men whom God has called to

lead and serve them. And it shocks our mind as

we read this, as we go through this. Guess what?

The Corinthians thought they were pretty great.

And that's shocking enough. You know what's more

shocking? They didn't think the apostles were

great at all. That's so hard for us to understand

2 ,000 years later. But that's exactly what we're

going to see. So Paul asks these three, rather,

I would say, blunt questions. in order to show

them the seriousness of their sin and their self

-deception. And the first one is, who regards

you as superior? Who regards you as superior?

Now, in our American cultural tradition, what

that means is, who made you better than anyone

else? Or, if you really want to be blunt, who

do you think you are? That's what Paul said.

Who do you think you are? Imagine feeling the

wrath of an apostle of God like this as a church

member. Who do you think you are? You prefer

this one teacher, you're in his clique, and because

of that, you think you stand above everybody

else? That your wisdom and your insight, and

now you're superior to all the rest? What kind

of self -delusion are you under that gives you

the right to now make all these judgments about

other people? All believers in the church, All

teachers in the church have different gifts.

They play different roles. They have different

styles, different strengths and weaknesses. So

what right do you have to say, well, this servant's

better than that one? Who do you think you are?

Paul's shocked by this. Stop passing judgment.

You're not qualified to do it. You don't know

the hidden things. You don't know the heart motives

of the saints around you. Again, just wait for

the Lord to come and judge. He will do it perfectly.

Be patient. Let God be God. And in the meantime,

you grow in humility. That's what he's saying

here. Who do you think you are? Number two, question

number two. And friends, this is a question every

one of us should ask ourselves. This should be

a daily, you want a daily exercise of spiritual

discipline? Ask this question of yourselves.

What do I have that I've not received? What do

I have that I've not received? Paul's like, have

you lost sight of the fact that everything you

have has come to you by God's grace? That you

haven't deserved it? You haven't earned it? It's

just from the goodness of his hand. James tells

us every good gift, every perfect gift is from

above. Right? Coming down from the Father of

lights. How many gifts? Every good gift comes

from the Lord. So listen, if you think you're

wise, it came from God, Paul says. If you think

you're so learned, it came from God. You think

you have special talents and abilities or gifts?

If so, they came from God. If you're thinking

to yourself, well, I'm a Corinthian. I'm a Greek.

I'm the best there is. Who made you be born in

Corinth? Who is it that gave you the parents

that you have? Do you think you arranged that?

It's all from God. And most importantly, do you

think you're responsible for you coming to faith

in Christ? No, that's grace alone. That's a gift

from the Lord. And central to Paul's argument,

don't you realize that all of the teachers and

leaders that have been sent to you, are gracious

gifts from the hand of God. So how could you

be prideful about the gift of this teacher or

that teacher? Something you didn't earn, something

you don't deserve. And how could you reject the

gift of other teachers that have been given to

you? You're so prideful and so, so immature.

And then Paul's logic concludes with the third

question. And if you did receive all these things,

why do you boast as if you had not received them?

Think about this. Consider a person who lives

100 % on the charity of somebody else. Every

month gets a big old fat check from somebody,

not only enough money to pay all their bills

and to live well, but more money than they could

ever spend. And then that person stands up and

boasts about how wealthy he is. Didn't earn it.

Didn't deserve it. It was a free gift to him.

All he could ever want. And he stands up and

goes, look at me. Look how wealthy I am. That's

what's going on here in Corinth. What would you

think of such a person that did that? Arrogant.

Clueless. Ungrateful. Obnoxious. Absurd. When

you recognize that you possess all things by

God's grace. your reaction is going to naturally

be, thank you, Lord. And that should be the trajectory

of our lives, right? But when you come to think

that you possess things by your own hand, your

reaction is going to be, look at me. And those

are two completely different directions. There's

no question which of those two options was happening

in Corinth in the first century. So to summarize,

guys, you have no grounds to think you're better

than anyone else. You have no grounds to play

judge of the teachers and leaders in your life.

You have no grounds to think you've earned anything

or deserve it from God. So Paul says, why are

you so prideful? I love Jeremiah 9, 23 and 24.

You want a great verse to memorize? Listen to

what it says. Thus says the Lord. Who says this?

The Lord says it. Don't miss that. Let not the

wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty

man boast in his might. Let not the rich man

boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast

in this, that he understands and knows me, that

I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice,

and righteousness in the earth. Amen? That's

a great passage. Now, let's get to verse 8 and

to the end. This is where it gets really interesting.

Because Paul is going to use the gift of sarcasm.

Anybody else have the gift of sarcasm? It can

be an effective literary tool. There's boundaries,

right? You've got to be careful. But Paul's going

to use some godly sarcasm here designed to drive

home a point. By the way, you see the elder team

recently. We read all the way through 2 Corinthians

together at our elder meetings. Man, Paul's godly

sarcasm is all over that book. It's an interesting

read, specifically to the Corinthians. So verse

8, by divine inspiration and his own observation,

Paul begins to sarcastically describe the thinking

process of the Corinthians, what they think of

themselves. That's what he's doing. Here's what

you think of yourselves, he says, verse 8. You're

already filled. You've already become rich. You've

become kings without us, meaning the apostles.

You've become kings. Now, notice the use of the

word already, twice. The Corinthians are under

the impression that already in their spiritual

condition that they have arrived, that they're

good. They have everything that they need. They've

got the Christian life figured out. And for those

of us who know the whole book, it's laughable,

isn't it? It's laughable. It wasn't laughable

to Paul, I can tell you that. He's upset. It

comes out in this passage. They think they've

got the Christian life figured out. In their

pride, they're like, we're already filled. We

have all that we want, all that we need. We're

already rich, so rich, in fact, that they believe

that they've begun to reign on the earth as kings.

which is obviously hyperbole on Paul's part,

but he's sarcastically saying, boy, you guys

are really something, aren't you? Man, you guys,

you're something. You're fully satisfied. You

have everything. In fact, you don't even need

me. You don't need any of the apostles because

you're so filled already. You're perfected. Here

we are, apostles. We're struggling. We're suffering.

We're getting kicked around. And you guys have

advanced right past us. It's dripping with sarcasm,

isn't it? In effect, these Corinthian believers

were somehow convinced that they'd entered into

the full benefits and blessings of God's kingdom,

that they had spiritually arrived. And I started

thinking about it this week. What's going on

here is similar. It has some parallels to what

we might call the prosperity gospel that we're

familiar with even today. The folks are out there

going, look, we have everything here on earth.

We've claimed it. And therefore it's ours. Health,

wealth, wisdom, knowledge, power. It's all ours

now. We expect everything now to go our way.

There's no need to correct us. There's no need

for us to go through trials or affliction or

suffering because God has given us all things.

We're filled. How far off the mark is that? Do

you ever listen to a prosperity? No, don't listen

to a prosperity preacher. But if you ever listen,

you're like, how did they arrive at this? With

all that the scriptures tell us about the need

for you and I to go through suffering and trials

and affliction for our benefit. The world's going

to hate you, Jesus said. It's going to hate you

just as it hates me. In this life, you will have

what? Tribulation. How do they miss that? To

you, it's been granted for Christ's sake, not

only to believe in him, but to suffer for his

sake. Paul's greatest desire was to know Jesus

in two ways, in the power of his resurrection

and the fellowship of his sufferings. Right?

It's all over scripture. Paul says, I want to

be conformed to Christ in his death. Peter writes,

listen, beloved, don't be surprised at the difficulties

that you're going through. He says, it's not

a strange thing. that you're going through difficult

things. You should expect it. So Paul and Peter,

even James, they confirm, listen now, that this

I'm already filled prosperity mindset is not

only wrong, it's destructive to the maturity

process that a Christian needs to go through.

Peter says, look, these fiery ordeals that you're

going through, they are given to you by God.

for your testing and refining. They are preparing

you for the day when Jesus is revealed in glory,

and on that day, having shared in his sufferings,

you will exult in great celebration. James specifically

says what? Trials come upon us as a time of testing

to build into our character endurance, perseverance.

We are like the athlete. That is going to succeed

in the game that's coming up next month. But

first he has to go through all the painful workouts.

Right? To get ready for the game. You think you

win in the game without the painful workouts?

Of course not. We need these things. But the

Corinthians don't think they do. We're filled

already. We're kings. It's laughable. It's immature.

How is it possible that they could be so wrong?

Well, to me, it's a dangerous combination of

two things, arrogance and self -deception. And

it's not hard to fall into this if we're not

careful. A combination of arrogance and self

-deception. They're so immature, but they're

so confident in what they think they know. Have

you ever met someone like this? So immature,

but still so confident in what they think that

they know. I have to tell you, just as an aside,

as an elder in the local church, man, I've seen

this so many times. All of my fellow leaders

and elders and counselors here in the church

have seen this. And it usually happens when you're

talking to somebody younger. This isn't a dig

at any age group or anybody in particular. It's

just my experience over decades of ministry.

You sit down and you talk to a young man or a

young lady and you share some wisdom with them,

say, I don't know, say 22 years old. And you're

talking to them, and you realize as you're talking,

they're not really listening. They're hearing,

but they're not listening, right? And you get

this feeling they're not really listening for

application. They're not going to take your advice.

And you know why? It's because they called to

meet with you. Why? So that you would confirm

what they want, not readjust their thinking.

So they're hearing but not listening. And why

should they? They've got life figured out. We

giggle, right? Right, Dave? It happens all the

time. Why should they listen to an old guy? They've

got life figured out. They're filled already.

They know what's best at the age of 22. So confident

in what they think they know. It's true I may

have 40 more years of life experience, decades

of ministry and counseling experience, but they're

already kings. They're already ruling. They know

exactly what they want. They know exactly what

they deserve. And that's what they want to hear

from you. And the reality is, look, as elders,

we talk about it sometimes. We're like, okay,

you know what? The best thing we can do is what

Paul does here. We can point out their foolishness

and then stand back and let the consequences

happen. Let God show them what they need to see

and learn the lessons they need to learn in his

perfect timing. And God is always faithful to

do that, right? But sometimes you bump into this.

They just think they're already filled. Here's

the truth about the Corinthians. In their pride,

they become just like the Laodiceans of Revelation

3. Do you remember what Jesus said to the Laodiceans

in Revelation 3? Oh, I don't have it. It says

this. Jesus rebukes them with these words. You

say, I'm rich. I'm rich. I've become wealthy.

I have need of nothing. But you do not know.

This is Jesus. This is his diagnosis. You do

not know that you are wretched and miserable

and poor and blind and naked. That's all. You

think you're rich. God knows otherwise. This

is a truism. There's nobody as poor as the man

who thinks he has it all. Now. If that part of

the passage isn't shocking enough, it gets even

more tense as he continues in verse 8. What we're

going to find in these last five verses is not

only did the Corinthians pridefully believe they

were something, they thought very little of the

apostles. Can you imagine? And Paul's brutal

in his sarcasm here. He says, you become kings,

and indeed, I wish you had become kings. Why?

So that we also might reign with you. See, if

the kingdom were here and you were reigning,

we'd be reigning with you. Wouldn't that be awesome?

But newsflash, the kingdom hasn't arrived. And

you're not reigning as you think you are. And

newsflash number two, you are still going to

have to face correction and suffering and trials.

And then in verses 9 to 13, Paul gives this amazing

list of contrasts. Very strong statements. And

honestly, these are intended to shame the Corinthians

into seeing the depth of their arrogance. These

contrasts between the apostles and them. Verse

9, he says, You guys, you're comfortable. You're

satisfied. We're condemned to death. Do you see

the contrast? And this... This part of the passage,

very specific. We don't understand this so much

today, but if you lived in the Greco -Roman world

in the first century, you knew exactly what Paul

was talking about here. When a Roman general

won a great victory off on the battlefield somewhere

else in the world, he would come back home with

his troops and there'd be this amazing parade

of triumph, right? And the crowds would line

the streets, ticker tape parade, right? Cheering

them on. Who's in the very back of the procession?

It's the captives, the prisoners. And they're

chained to each other. And the crowd is mocking

them. And do you know where they're headed? Probably

to a gruesome death in the arena. And this is

what Paul says about himself and his fellow apostles.

God has put us on display at the end of the procession,

condemned to die in the arena. That's who we

are. And then he goes on in verse 9. We have

become a spectacle to the world, both to angels

and to men. And so this is his sort of subtle

jab at the Corinthians. You guys have arrived.

You're the heroes getting all the applause at

the front of the parade. But us apostles, we're

at the back. We're a spectacle for the world

to make fun of. You're satisfied. You're comfortable.

As for us, we teach, we serve, and we die. Verse

10, we're fools for Christ's sake, but you, you

are so prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you,

you are strong. You're distinguished. We're without

honor. And catch the juxtaposition there, right?

Because Paul talked about this already in the

letter. Being foolish versus being wise. Being

weak versus being strong. Which does God desire

for us? It all depends on the standard, right?

If you're seeking the world's approval, yeah,

go out there. Be strong. Be wise. And the world

will applaud you. But if you're seeking the kingdom

of God, then become a fool for Christ. Become

weak so that the Spirit of God can work through

you and bring glory to God. You've got to choose

every day whom you're going to serve, right?

Are you going to seek after the applause of the

world? Is that the goal? Or are you going to

be faithful to Christ? So Paul's challenging

these Corinthians with. Verse 11, to this present

hour, we are both hungry and thirsty, poorly

clothed, roughly treated, homeless. So while

you guys live in that beautiful Greek city, all

comfortable, wealthy, we're out here struggling.

And we're struggling for you. We're struggling

on your behalf. We're praying for you. We're

teaching you. We're seeking to love you. We're

correcting you. We're doing all these things.

And yet, just like Jesus, we have no place to

lay our heads. No place. But we'll gladly forsake

worldly comfort if only we can reach your hearts

and move you towards maturity in the faith. We

will gladly accept this. He's not whining for

like, hey, give me money or give me more stuff.

He's saying, we will gladly suffer all these

things if only we could break through with you.

You almost sense the frustration, don't you?

Verse 12, and he says, and we toil, working with

our hands. We're not even supported materially

by those that we serve. And we're happy to go

out and work to do manual labor. Look, I know

as Greeks, you think that's dishonoring. That's

fine. We're happy to do it. You know why? Because

we don't want to be a burden to anyone. We don't

want our material needs to be a stumbling block

to the spread of the gospel. So we're happy to

do that. That's fine. And he says, when we're

poorly treated, we respond in a godly way. Look

at continuing in verse 12. He says, this is how

we respond. When we're reviled, we bless. When

we're persecuted, we endure. When we're slandered,

we try to conciliate, meaning we respond with

grace. Man, that's a challenging section, isn't

it? How hard is it to do those things when you're

treated poorly by people? And still Paul says,

this is what the world thinks of us. We're doing

all these things. We're striving to love. And

still the world thinks this. We have become,

what does he say, as the scum of the world, the

dregs or the garbage of the world, even until

now. Here were the Corinthian believers, puffed

up, wise in their own eyes, thinking that they're

already filled, already rich, already reigning.

And what do they think of the apostles? Spectacles.

Fools, garbage. What arrogance. I've seen a parallel

drawn here between if you're older like me and

you have kids that are now grown, you may have

experienced something similar to what Paul is

going through here. Let me see if I can lay this

out. If you're in my age range with grown children,

do you remember doing everything possible to

bless them when they were young and growing up?

Right? As parents, we do everything possible

to bless them and to love them and to care for

them as they're growing up. And do you remember

in those early years how much your kids depended

on you? How they actually, they clung to you.

They thought you were great. Love you, mom. Love

you, dad. Do you remember those years? And then

they become teenagers. What on earth happens?

They suddenly know everything. They're filled.

They know everything they need to know. They've

got life figured out. Not only do they not need

you anymore or want you to be around, you're

now an embarrassment to them. Every one of us

goes through this. We did it as teenagers. Our

teenagers will do it. They just need to work

through it. But that's the way the prideful Corinthians

were looking at the apostles. You guys are now

a spectacle and embarrassment. Yeah, we needed

you at one point, but now we're filled. Now we're

reigning. They're like clueless teenagers. And

listen, as I was studying this passage this week,

it made me step back and just all the more admire

these men that put up with this. Paul and Apollos

and Peter, all the other teachers, these were

really humble men. I don't think I would have

reacted this graciously. They joyfully lined

up as captives at the back of the procession.

They accepted the world's verdict against them.

They were content with all of these hardships,

and they were even willing to put up with the

immaturity of those they were trying to love

and serve with joy. They rejoiced through all

of it. They knew that, look, even though I'm

last in the eyes of the world, someday I'm going

to be first in the kingdom of God, and that was

enough. Think about that. As you walk out the

door tomorrow morning to whatever you have in

front of you, think about that. I may be the

last in the eyes of the world, but I want to

be first in the eyes of my Savior. And we know

it's true, by the way, from Scripture. The apostles

are going to reign on thrones in the kingdom

to come. Amen and amen. So let me wrap up with

just a couple more observations. The obvious

application of this passage. It's very simple.

It's humility. It's humility. And let me lay

out just a quick biblical definition of what

I think we should think of when we think of humility.

Not thinking of yourselves more highly than you

ought. Start with that. Start with that. That's

a command. Don't think so highly of yourself.

And then with sober judgment, know yourself truthfully

before the holy God that we serve. What a great

self -examination that is. Don't lie to yourself

and don't lie to God. He knows. But with sober

judgment, before God, as holy as he is, know

your own heart. And it will drive you to humility.

As we mature in the faith, we ought to live more

and more with a deep sense of awareness that

everything that we have is by God's grace and

that without that grace, we'd all be in big,

big trouble. Amen? And when we forget that basic

truth of the Christian life, we're going to be

arrogant. We're going to grow in arrogance. Self

-deception is going to creep in. We're going

to start to feel superior to others. We're going

to start feeling like we're owed certain things.

And then we boast in ourselves. And then we look

around and judge everybody else. It's a progressive

thing that we allow ourselves to do when we don't

do this type of self -examination. All of a sudden,

we're not so impressed by the teachers and leaders

that God has put in our lives. We no longer need

their wisdom because we are filled, rich, and

reigning. It's been said that humility is the

soil that helps all the other spiritual fruit

grow. And I think that's a pretty wise statement.

I have no doubt that if you pursue humility and

make that a point of prayer, make it a point

of prayer, seek after it diligently. That if

you grow in humility, you will be less prideful,

less judgmental, less selfish, and less envious

of others. And on the flip side, you'll be more

loving, more compassionate, more kind, more teachable,

more joyful, and more content. So it's to your

benefit that you grow in this basic character

trait of a Christian. I like the way Peter summed

it up in his first letter. It was part of the

call to worship. He said, clothe yourself with

this. Clothe yourself with humility. Be intentional

about putting this on every day like a garment.

Wrap yourself in it every day. Make everybody

else around you the priority, especially those

in the body of Christ. Because we know both sides

of this coin are true. In first century Corinth,

there was great pride and that led to division.

But where there is humility in the church, there

will be Great unity. And that pleases the Lord.

So may God make us a humble church and continue

to draw us closer together as one. Amen? Let's

bow our heads. Heavenly Father, as difficult

as this moment in time must have been for Paul

and Apollos and the others, I am so grateful

that you have given us this example for us to

learn from, an example of an immature group of

believers who thought so highly of themselves

and thought so poorly of the apostles. It's shocking

to us, Lord, but we know that if we're not careful,

if we're not on alert, that we can fall into

similar traps. So I pray, Lord, that you will

seal these truths in our minds and hearts that

we would do some self -examination even this

week about our own pride, our own arrogance,

and have we become judgmental. So work in us,

God. Conform us to the image of our Savior. We

thank you, God, that you're always at work in

us by your Spirit. Help us to cooperate. Help

us to yield to the work he wants to do in us.

For your glory and our good, we pray. Amen.