1 Corinthians Week 2 • 1 Corinthians 2-3

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Well, good morning. Glad that you guys are here. If you'd like to, if you've got your Bibles

with you this morning, go ahead and open them up to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. That's where

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

we're going to be as we continue on. Well, I don't know about y'all. I've lived in South

Carolina since I was five years old, six years old, and I've never experienced a stretch

of cold like we're going through right now, right? Got up this morning and went out to crank

up my truck to get it warmed up, and it was at a nice, toasty 16 degrees. So I'm grateful

that the heat is working when we walked in here this morning. And normally, I don't know that

that you know this, but if you're in the band like you know this, it's hotter up here than

it is down there. And normally, that's a problem. But right now, it's nice, all right? So glad

that you're here with us. Glad that it's warm inside. Then we can open up God's Word and study

together. Last week, we began our studies. Actually, two weeks ago, that's right. When we were

at home, we started our study in 1 Corinthians. Now, if you see this card that's around you,

you'll see the little reading plan. This will kind of help you track through where I'm going

to be at on Sunday mornings, but also where our small groups are going to be. And so what

we would love for every single one of us to do as a church is go through this book of the

Bible together, to do it individually in our quiet time and in our study, to do it corporately

together in worship. Now, in worship, we won't be able to go through every verse like you will be

at your home. But this can give us an opportunity to kind of dive in, go a little bit deeper into

some areas in those passages that God lays on our hearts as we study. But then also, all of our small

groups are working through this. So just a reminder, most of our small groups got started back for

this winter slash spring semester last week. And if you aren't a part of one, we would love for you

to be a part of one. And so please get connected with that. And we've got information about that

as well. But we started last week in our study with looking at that. And Paul, what we dealt with

a lot last week was the challenge to the church at Corinth to be unified. That within the context of

that church, of that local body that Paul had planted and had released to different leadership,

right, Paul addresses some things that are coming to him. He says that he was notified of these issues

from those that were sent from the house of Chloe. And what we find that there are four factions that

we talked about, four divisions within the church. And it's rooted in who each of these individuals

decides to follow. That there's a group there who's like, we follow Paul. Paul is the one that hears

from the Lord and then communicates this to us. And that was probably the Gentile converts as Paul was

a missionary to the Gentiles. There's a group though of Jewish converts who were there. And they said,

no, we follow Cephas, who we believe and understand to be the apostle Peter, because Peter would largely

connect with and was a missionary in a Jewish context. There was another group that was there

that would say, no, we are followers of Apollos. And Apollos was this Greek Christian orator who was

just really good with his words. So the really good story was really wise. And people could just hang on

every word that he shares. And then there was another group there, we had to explain this in a little bit

more depth last week, who says, no, well, we follow Christ. And when we hear that, we think, well, maybe

they got it right. They're the group that's getting it. But they're not. And the reason why I say they're

not, even though they say they're following Christ, is they feel like they had risen above everyone else

and the church in areas concerning spiritual matters. And so, you know, spiritual arrogance,

we're better than you, is where they were. And so Paul comes in this church where he's going to

address a lot of things throughout 1 Corinthians that fall into some theology and practical applications.

And he's like, no, no, the church can't be divided. The church needs to unify. And so he moves

them away from agendas, away from egos, to remind them of some things that are going to be very

important for what we're going to look at this morning. He reminds them all that they are the

body of Christ and that they've been uniquely equipped with who they are to celebrate and to worship

Christ in their context and to reach their community. Paul says that you've been fully equipped

with every spiritual gift needed. You don't need Paul. You don't need Apollos. You don't need Peter.

You've got you. And what God is going to do in you through the power of the Holy Spirit resting in

you, you've been fully equipped. He tells them that he wants them to focus in on Jesus. And Paul kind

of drawing himself as the example. He says, was it Paul's name that you were baptized in?

Was Paul the one who was crucified for you? No, no, no. It's in the name of Jesus that we're

baptized. It's Jesus who was crucified for us. That's who we're here for. That's who we follow.

And if the leader's not pointing you to him, then he's not a leader worth following.

And then he says, we're going to focus in on the gospel. Focus in on what the gospel demands of you.

And that's why Paul says that when he came to them. Now, Paul, like in Paul's day, let's understand

that. That Paul, like Ivy League education, trained under the best of the best. Like when you read

Paul's letters, you understand that this guy has a gift and has a mastery of language and of writing,

communicating. But Paul comes to them and says, but it's a focus on the gospel. He says, when I came to

you and shared, I did not come with eloquent words or worldly wisdom, but instead I came to you with the

simplicity of the power of the gospel. And that's what you need to focus in on. And this is where we're

going to pick back up. And so let's, let's start reading 1 Corinthians 2 verse 1. And he says,

1 Corinthians 2:1

and I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God

with lofty speech or wisdom. So, so Paul's kind of repeating himself here. Verse 2, for I decided to

know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And so let's, let's kind of pause for here

for just a second. So, so Paul again reinforces, I didn't try to use worldly logic, worldly wisdom

to persuade you in the gospel. But here's what Paul says in verse 2 is, is worded kind of funny. It's

one of those where what Paul's saying doesn't communicate very well as it's translated over into

English. But, but what Paul is saying is, is in all that I did and all that I said, I wanted to point you

toward and display for you the gospel. So that's, that, that's my life. That's my purpose. That's my

hope. That, that, that's what I was there doing. And so he says, for I decided to know nothing among you

except Jesus Christ and him crucified. So it's not by the power of Paul, by the words of Paul, by the

intellect of Paul, by the reasoning of Paul, but it's in everything that you saw, everything displayed,

everything that taught was the power of the gospel. Now, verse 3.

And so Paul came to them. He came to them in humility. Look at his words. Paul says, through

weakness, fear, and trembling, right? This is not a man who's trying to wow them by his

presence. This is not a man who, who says through, through my personality and who I am, but Paul says,

in humility, in weakness, and in fear, and much trembling, I came to you. And that I deliver to

you the message that God calls me to. And this is what's important. It's, but in demonstration of the

spirit and of power. So what Paul's pointing to is this message was not powered by man. It's not Paul

sitting back in the back and saying, how can I talk them into this? How can I convince them of this?

How can I persuade them to this? Paul's not sitting back like a, like a politician trying to think of

all of the points to get them on board. Paul's not sitting back like a salesman saying, how can I get

them to, to take a hold of this and do this? He says, no, no, I came in weakness and in fear and in

trembling. And so as you responded, it was not me who you're responding to, but you're responding by the

power of their, of the spirit of God. And so now what Paul wants them to understand, what Paul wants

them to get is now their faith does not rest in the wisdom of the world, but instead their faith is

found. Their faith is powered. Their, their faith is given to them through the power of God.

And so who's their faith attached to? Paul? An event? A meeting? A day? No, their, their faith is

attached to God. And who saved them? Who was their means of salvation? Whose power did salvation come

to it? Was it, was it Paul? Was it the environment? Was it the church? No, who saved them? God saved them.

Christ. And this is what Paul wants them to understand where their faith comes from, who their faith is

found in. Because Paul's left. Paul's sending letters. Paul knows his days are numbered. Why? Because

he's human and they're going to end. But Paul wants it all to rest in who God is because the salvation

that comes from Paul isn't salvation to begin with. Right? And he wants them to understand for them and

for us today that their faith, it's a spiritual work. It's not a work that Paul did. It's not a work

that they did. But it's a work of God of what he's doing. And so this is what we begin to see as it

spills over from, from chapter one and chapter two. But now Paul's going to begin to talk about a

little bit different wisdom. Look at, look at verse six. He says, yet among the mature, we do impart

wisdom. Right? And so Paul's going to make a move and now talk about we didn't have the wisdom of the

world, but the believers here do have a wisdom. Continue on verse, verse six. Although it's not a

wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and

hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age

understood this. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Verse nine. But as it is

written, what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for

those who love him. These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches

everything, even the depths of God. So Paul says there's this hidden wisdom. There's this hidden wisdom

that's given. There's this hidden wisdom that's imparted, and it's given to believers through the

power of the Spirit, that as men and women, as their hearts are awakened, they're able to respond to this.

And it's the power of the gospel. It's what Paul was talking about. The fact that the Spirit of the Lord

working and moving in a life of a man and woman, as they respond to God as their Savior, Christ is their

Savior in repentance and surrender. And he says, this is not the wisdom of the world. This is not the

conning of man. This is not through the eloquent words of man that this happens, but this is through

the working of the Spirit of God that this is imparted to us. All right? But then Paul says this.

He says there are those who do not have this wisdom. And that's what I want to focus on today.

He said there are those who do not have this wisdom. And he defines them. He doesn't just say they're

saved and they're lost. Paul defines those who are unable to understand this, who God does not impart

this to. And look back at verse 6. He said, yet among the mature, we do impart wisdom. Although it is not a

wisdom of the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age. So this is who Paul says who doesn't have

it and they're doomed to pass away, these rulers of the age. Well, what does that mean? Sometimes when we

look at Scripture, we can look and see things like principalities of this world and there's this

dynamic of spiritual warfare that is existing of what's there and the earthly people who are there.

We don't know what's talking about. And so when we see rulers of this age, are we talking in the physical

manifestation of that, of different individuals that we see? Or are we talking more in a spiritual

world, a spiritual realm of spiritual warfare? So Paul clarifies this in verse 8. He says,

none of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of

glory. So Paul says, here's who I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Pharisees and the religious

rulers of this day. I'm talking about the political rulers of this day who, because of what they did,

they led Christ to his crucifixion in a physical sense. Now, we know you and I, man, we're responsible

for his death. He died for our sin. Our sin nailed him to the cross. But Paul's saying that in this

crucifixion that happened, there were those who hearts had become hardened to the truth of God, even

though it was there. They couldn't see Jesus. They couldn't understand who he was, because they had so

dove into the wisdom of this world that they could not receive the wisdom of God in the gospel.

And that's the sin that we want to talk about this morning. The sin of the Pharisees, the sin

of self-righteousness, the sin of self-righteousness. I think sometimes we look at sin and we don't

understand the condemnation that comes with it and the careful warning that scripture gives us

about sin. And so within this passage of scripture, as we read through it, so that you know too, our staff

on every Tuesday, we have staff Bible study together. And we studied the passage of scripture that we're

going to be talking about this morning. And I believe we were in there for like two hours together this

Tuesday morning, just knocking through this, not getting beyond, talking about how dangerous

the sin of self-righteousness is. The danger that comes with this. The self-righteousness of what

Paul gives us here that prevents someone from hearing and responding to the gospel. And Jesus talks about

this in Luke 18. If you want to flip there, we're going to be here for a little bit as well. In Luke

18, in verse 9, Jesus tells a parable. And we learn some lessons about self-righteousness. It says in Luke

Luke 18:9

18 verse 9, he also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and

treated others with contempt. Two men walk up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee. All right, so if I've

been using that word and you're unclear, the Pharisees were the religious rulers of the day of Christ,

and in a lot of ways in the day of Paul, who were viewed, who saw themselves as both religiously and

socially good. They saw themselves this way. This is how other people would see them as well. They sought

to follow the law down to the nth degree, to continue to obey every aspect in that. And in there, their

danger was, and this is what they're going to, what we're going to see, their obedience to what God called

them to created within themselves a sense of self-righteousness. So that's one of the men of

Pharisee. But the other was a tax collector. And so let's talk about tax collectors. They were

religiously and socially bad, right? That's how they were viewed. Tax collectors were not the people you

wanted your kids to grow up and be, right? They were the people who had betrayed their faith. They

betrayed their people. They were thieves. And they were considered evil. Verse 11, the Pharisee, standing by

himself, prayed thus, God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,

adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give tithes of all that I get.

Now let's look at what he does. The Pharisee comes in, stands there before God and says,

God, look at who I am. It's not that the power of God that I do these, but it's out of the power of me

that I do these, right? But verse 13, but the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his

eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Both of these men

approach the Lord. One approaches in his own righteousness, but then the other approaches

through the grace and mercy of God and knows that his only standing that is found in life is found

in the grace and the mercy poured out toward him from God and God alone. And look at Jesus' words.

Verse 14, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone

who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted, right? And this is

the warning of what Paul has given the church. Don't be the Pharisee who comes in and stands in the power

of their own righteousness. Because the people who are this way over time, what begins to happen is the

hardening of the heart, and they can't even hear the power of the gospel and respond to it.

They're lost because of what has taken place and taken root and taken hold in their heart of

self-righteousness. But self-righteousness also, it's got an ugly cousin that I want us to talk about

this morning. And while we see the self-righteousness as those within the loss that prevent them from

being able to hear the gospel, I believe that this ugly cousin that many believers struggle with this.

We can have faith and put our faith in Christ, but yet exude some of these same behaviors in our life.

And so we don't suffer from self-righteousness because we understand and we know that our righteousness

is found in God, but yet there's these characteristics and behaviors that exude from us in the same way.

And it prevents us from living the life that God has called us to, and it's the sin of self-glorification.

Look at, flip over a couple chapters in Luke chapter 22.

Luke 22 · chapter mention

We'll start reading here in just a second in verse 24,

but kind of give some of the context of what's going on here.

This is the night that Jesus is going to be betrayed and let off to be crucified.

And Jesus, who's told the disciples repeatedly that their journey to Jerusalem is the journey to his death.

And he's reminding them.

He tells them that he'll be betrayed.

He tells them that they'll die.

They partake in the Passover meal together.

They have the Lord's Supper.

And then this is what happens.

Verse 24, a dispute also arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

I was just going to pause for a second.

Can you kind of miss it right here, you know?

Like you've got these guys that Jesus is like, I'm going to die.

And they're like, but which one of us is the best?

You know what I mean?

Verse 25.

And he said to them,

the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them,

and those in authority over them are called benefactors.

But not so with you.

Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest,

and the leader as one who serves.

For it is the greater.

For one who reclines at the table or the one who serves.

It is not the ones who recline at the table,

but I am among you as the one who serves.

Jesus, you're going to miss it.

And you're going to struggle with self-glorification in your life.

If you live at this point of how do I rise above the rest?

How do I take on the recognition?

These are men who have given up much to follow Jesus.

But yet, when it comes down to it,

where their hearts begin to struggle,

where their hearts show their spiritual immaturity,

where their hearts show their weakness,

is in self-glorification.

Hey, Jesus, go ahead and just get it established to everybody that's right here

who's the best among us.

Right?

An elevation, a glorification of self.

And so in this context,

when we look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2,

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

I think there's some warnings that we can take.

The first warning is,

are we people that struggle with self-righteousness?

Right?

Do you feel that in you,

there is a righteousness that's manifested from you

because of who you are?

And if that's who you are,

regardless of what you say,

you've rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But also,

among us here,

is there a sense in some of the hearts of the men and women

who fill this space every single week

who love the Lord and worship Him,

but sometimes in their heart,

there's the wandering both in this place and out of here

to just kind of want to be the best and the greatest

and be recognized and be praised for it.

Right?

What do we see?

I do an examination in my life this week

and in reading that,

I came up with a handful of warning signs

that I want us to wrap up

and we'll talk about and look at here.

To ask yourself the question,

do I struggle with these things?

And if you do,

then maybe your struggle is in self-righteousness.

Maybe you struggle in self-glorification.

All right?

So just a handful of warning signs that we're going to talk about.

And by the way,

you can see them in spiritual context,

but you can also see them in everyday context.

Right?

So apply these to who you are here,

but apply these also to who you are there,

wherever there is.

All right?

Number one,

do you struggle with a sense of entitlement?

Do you struggle with a sense of entitlement?

What do I mean by that?

Are you constantly a person

who feels like you deserve more than you have?

Are you a person who feel like you deserve more

than you are entrusted with?

Do you struggle with serving

and instead feel the need for others to serve you?

When you're somewhere doing what you do,

whether it's here in the context of worship

or there in the context of the world,

who are you there for?

And if you are the object of that,

then maybe you struggle a little bit

with sense of entitlement.

And do you expect others the call to sacrifice

but do not have the same expectation for yourself?

All right?

Maybe then you struggle with a sense of entitlement.

Number two with these.

Do you parade in public

what should be done in private?

All right?

Here's what I mean by this.

When you do the right thing,

when you do what God's called you to do,

when you do what the boss has asked of you,

when he's not there or she's not there,

when you're out in the world

doing what needs to be done,

do you feel like, do you want,

do you need it to be noticed?

Right?

And in that, not in the obedience,

is where the gratification comes from.

But it is the sense of the recognition of others.

Right?

What feeds the monster inside of you.

Right?

Do we have this parade in public?

When you do the right thing,

do you feel the need to tell others,

I always thought this is interesting.

Jesus is pretty bold about this

and about this statement.

In fact, in Matthew chapter six, verse three,

Jesus is talking about when you give to the needy.

And Jesus is so checking us

on the heart of the motivation

of why we do things

that Jesus says,

hey, when you give to the needy,

do so in a way

that the right hand doesn't know

what the left hand's doing.

that even amongst you

and in who you are

and in what we're doing,

that when we do the good,

we're doing it for the right reasons,

out of obedience to the Lord

and glorification for him

so that I'm doing it in a way

that I don't even try to glorify myself

in this,

much less feel the need

to let everyone else know

what I'm doing

so that they can glorify me.

Right?

Do you struggle with these things?

Number three,

do you struggle with a false sense

of elevated spirituality?

And I added this

after I turned my notes in

or even a false sense

of elevated intellect.

Right?

Here's what I mean.

Do we constantly feel

when we're in the room

that we're the wisest,

the most spiritual,

the most mature person in the room?

Right?

Do we carry ourself with that?

Right?

The Pharisees would walk into a room

and Jesus would be there.

All right?

Jesus.

And they think,

nah, I got this.

Watch what I can do to him.

You know?

And it would say,

different places in Scripture

would say

that they would get in their minds

how the questions

that they were going to ask him

in order to cause him to stumble

because they were so much wiser than him

in their own mind

and then before the words

even came out of their mouth

he'd answer their question

and shut them up.

Right?

Right?

But do we sometimes

carry ourselves the same way?

That when we walk into a room,

when we walk into worship,

when we walk into small group,

when we walk into work,

there's this self-elevated sense

that I'm the wisest,

I'm the most spiritual,

I'm the most mature person

in the room

or in this,

right,

also,

do we struggle

with learning

the wisdom

that God is giving us

when it's being given to us

by those that we deem

amongst ourselves

to be beneath us?

Whether it's a person

of different age,

of a different sex,

of a different race,

or someone who's just been

a follower of Jesus

longer or shorter.

Right?

They don't have anything

for me

because I've already

got it.

Right?

And this is just

this false sense

of elevated

spirituality

or intellect.

Number four,

do you struggle

with being consumed

with the expectations

of others?

Right?

Sometimes we think

being a people pleaser

is a spiritual gift

from the Lord

and it is not.

But being fixated

on what others think,

right,

either puts them

on the throne

of which you seek

to serve

or,

think about this,

I do this

for you

because of the way

it makes you view me.

Who's at the throne?

I am.

I am.

What do you

know about me?

What do you

think of me?

What do you

expect of me?

Right?

This sin

of self-righteousness.

Number five,

alright?

I hope we all

kind of maybe

a little chuckle

at this but maybe

see the truth

where it hits us

in the heart

with this,

right?

Number five,

are you excited

about the shortcomings

of others,

right?

Oh,

they got it good.

You know what I mean?

Right?

When you see

the sins

that others

struggle with

in our hearts,

what it does

to us is

it reminds us

of how good

we really are.

What does

the Pharisee say?

What does

the Pharisee,

let me jump back,

hope I don't lose

my place,

let me jump back

here really quick.

Do you know

what tax collectors

did?

They extorted.

Alright?

So,

if the government

said to the tax

collector,

go collect

15% of their

income,

then what the tax

collector would do

is say the government

said,

give me 25.

And then they would

keep the other

10 for themselves.

They were extortioners.

And the Pharisees

look there

and they say,

when he's standing

in the temple

and the tax collector

is there,

what's the first thing

he says?

God,

I thank you,

I'm not like other

men,

like extortioners.

Because I'm better

than they are.

And when we struggle

with self-righteousness,

when we struggle

with self-glorification,

we look at the people

in our world

and instead of grieving

the sin

that is in their life,

we use it

in a sick

and twisted way

to reinforce

to us

how good

we really are.

Right?

And then when

others struggle,

when others hurt,

when others go

through pain,

right?

What's created

in us,

like Paul tells us

in Romans,

to grieve

with those who grieve

and to weep

with those who weep.

But instead,

when others struggle,

there's this sense

of prideful arrogance

that says to us,

they're just getting

what they deserve.

Right?

And at the heart

of it,

at the heart

of the power

of the grace

of the gospel,

is that every single

one of us

should get

what we deserve.

But instead,

we get Jesus.

And lastly,

do you struggle

with the distorted

view of humility?

Humility is the call

that we see

continually in Scripture.

Humility was what

was embodied

by Christ

as he came

to this world.

Just what we

celebrated,

right?

A little less

than a month ago.

He came to this world

not with parades

and with mansions.

Not as a warrior

and as a ruler,

but as a baby.

He came not

with a celebration

of politicians

and authorities,

but he came

with a celebration

of shepherds.

He came not

born into

an earthly

royal family,

but he came

to a teenage

virgin mom

and her carpenter

husband.

He didn't go

to the palace

and take his throne

and say,

this is mine,

but instead,

he went out

into the wilderness,

out into the outskirts

where he began

his ministry,

not with the best

of the best,

but with the least

of the least,

those who had been

rejected,

those who had been

forgotten about.

And he said,

come and follow me.

We're going to change

the world

with the gospel.

It's humility.

It's who he was.

That in humility,

he bore the nails.

In humility,

he was beaten.

In humility,

he had every inch

of clothing

stripped off

of his body

so that he could

be nailed

to a cross

to die

for you and me.

If you want

to know

what is the

characteristic

of the strength

of the gospel,

it's in humility.

But do you have

a distorted view

of humility?

This world

teaches us

that humility

is a character

weakness.

Be strong,

rise above,

don't let them

push you down

because this is

who you are.

No, no, no, no.

It's because of

who Christ is

and the call

to serve

and not

to be served.

A distorted view

of humility

causes us

to see humility

as a character

weakness,

but on the flip

side of that,

right,

a distorted view

of humility

is seen

as a personal

strength

that you and I

can not only

do within ourselves

but be perfected in.

I kind of use

this joking around

a lot,

but is this

the positioning

of your heart

sometimes

where your heart

says to you,

you know what

you're really

good at,

you're really

good at being

humble,

right?

And then we

carry that

with us,

right?

Self-righteousness,

self-glorification

within there.

How should we

see humility?

Do you see

humility as a

gift of God

that has grown

in you by the

power of the

Holy Spirit

and not of your

own so that

we can go out

into the world

proclaiming who

he is?

I want to

close with this

by actually

flipping back

to 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Look at

verses 30

and 31.

Paul says

sandwiched in

between these

two messages

that we

looked at

these two

passages

from the

last two

weeks.

He says

and because

of him

you were

in Christ

Jesus

who became

to us

wisdom

from God

righteousness

and sanctification

and redemption

so that

as it is

written

let the

one who

boasts

boast

in

the

Lord

right

you and

I

we get

to brag

you and

I get

to boast

you and

I get

to make

much

but not

of ourselves

but of

Jesus

and that's

the heart

of it

and so

when Paul

says

for I

decided

to know

nothing

among you

except

Jesus

Christ

and him

crucified

he's saying

in every

moment

that I

was there

with you

through the

power

and the

grace

of the

Holy

Spirit

right

is

Jesus

Jesus

Jesus

you want

to be

strong

identify

in weakness

you want

to be

strong

serve

those

who

serve

you

you want

to be

powerful

then understand

that it

rests

in the

power

of Christ

and it's

not in

and of

yourself

but it's

done

it's

not found

in the

wisdom

of this

world

but it's

found

in the

wisdom

of God

through the

power

of the

gospel

two

questions

and we'll

close

number

one

are you

blinded

by your

sin

and unable

to respond

to the

gospel

of Jesus

Christ

because of

self-righteousness

I don't care

if you've

been coming

to church

for 80

years

I don't

care how

many mission

trips

you've

been on

I don't

care how

much

you give

I don't

care how

much

you do

I don't

care what

others

think

or what

you think

about

yourself

are you

the

pharisee

in the

room

celebrating

all of

who you

are

because

of what

you've

done

and in

that

your

inability

to respond

to the

gospel

of Jesus

because

of your

self-righteousness

but number

two

are you

struggling

to live

the life

that God

has for

you

you want

to be

obedient

you want

to see

people's

lives

impacted

for

the

gospel

you

love

the

Lord

but

just

don't

understand

why

you

get

in

the

way

so

much

of

that

right

sign me up

for this

one

and maybe

the struggle

is because

within you

there's a

little piece

that's like

the disciples

and in the

room

there's a

sense of

self-glorification

that says

but I

want to be

the best

and I

want to be

recognized

for being

the best

right

is this

what you

struggle

with

here's the

beauty of

both of

these

it is the

grace

of Jesus

Christ

that covers

them

it is the

blood

of Jesus

that cleanses

and the

Bible tells

us that

God

separates

our sin

as far

as the

east

is

from the

west

so that

you

and I

might

become

children

of God

I love

reading Paul

about this

because no

one understood

self-righteousness

more than

Paul

Paul as

a

religious

ruler

Paul is

the one

of the

persecutor

of the

church

who is

saved

by grace

and grace

alone

as God

opened

his heart

and his

eyes

to the

power

of the

gospel

and this

morning

our band

is going

to come

up here

we're

going to

sing a

couple

more

songs

it's

my

hope

and my

prayer

that

through

the

power

of

the

Holy

Spirit

God

will

open

our

eyes

to

the

sin

that

is

in

our

life

and

will

respond

to

his

grace

and

mercy

would

you

pray

with

me

Lord we

come to

you this

morning

and we

thank you

for your

goodness

and your

kindness

and your

grace

Lord I

pray

for all

of us

Lord

through the

power of

your

spirit

will we

examine our

lives and

our hearts

Lord for

those of us

in here who

came in with

a sense of

self-righteousness

may we

understand that

our righteousness

comes from you

and you

alone

that not one

of us is

deserving

of salvation

not one

of us

is deserving

of your

love

not one

of us

is deserving

of anything

but it is

only through

you

that it's

given to

us

and I

pray

Lord through

the drawing

and the

leading of

your spirit

Lord that

their eyes

would be

opened

their hearts

would be

softened

and in this

moment they

would respond

to you

and you

alone

Lord I pray

for those

of us

who struggle

with self

glorification

with pride

with arrogance

Lord of

constantly

feeling the

need to

look down

on others

with constantly

feeling the

need to

elevate their

self above

the rest

to find a

weakened sense

of esteem

that is found

in them

and in them

alone

but in

Lord instead

to find it

in you

Lord so

that we

can embrace

what Paul

said

and that we

can come

to others

in weakness

and in fear

and in trembling

so that what

they see

is not how

great we

are

but what

they see

is how

great you

are

and so

Lord I pray

that that

would be

what we

reflect

Lord that

we would

get out

of the

way

we would

not be

our own

objects of

glory

but Lord

that you

would be

listen to me

pray

thanks again for

listening to the

Willow Ridge Church

weekly podcast

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this week's message

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