Let's pray. Father, you are holy and we can fast. We very, very little grass, what that means. For if we did, we would all be on our faces before the presence of him who is holy.
Lord, if there's anything we sense, it is your otherness. Even though you have come near, even though your love has been shed abroad in our hearts, we still see through a glass darkly. And you are holy. Lord, we want to make you all kind of things, our loving grandfather, our best friend, our good old buddy, but you're none of those things you are God, and you are holy. And when you come near as our father, you are nonetheless holy, but your compassion and your mercy and your grace are charged with your holiness. Your mercy is of a kind like we've never seen or experienced before. With what could we compare your compassion or your love or your grace?
And yet by faith we receive it, our changed by it, and even have tasted that you are holy and you are good and the two are not mutually exclusive. Oh, God, we would be holy knowing that to pray that prayer means that you would send the fire that would burn the dross away. But we as a people would be holy. We would be a godly people. We would be a people who know what it's like to walk with the Almighty, to live by his principles and to have his character formed in us, our holy God, by your Holy Spirit. Speak to us through your Holy Word. We pray in the name of your Holy Son, Jesus.
This time we'll dismiss the children to children's church. And while the children are leaving, if you'll open your bibles to 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3, we continue our study and Paul's epistle to the church at Corinth. His first epistle this morning we will read the entire chapter. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 1. Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says I follow Paul and another I follow a Paulus, are you not mere men? What after all is a Paulus and what is Paul? Only servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord has assigned each to his task. I planted the seed, a Paulus watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me a laid-of foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Christ Jesus. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple, and that God's spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a fool so that he may be, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness, and again the wise are fuel. So they are no more boasting about man. All things are yours, whether Paul or Paulus or Cephas of the world are alive or dead, or the present or the future, all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. May the Lord bless the reading, and the preaching of his word to our hearts this morning. Of all the causes which conspire to blind, demands airing judgment and misguide the mind, what the weak head with strongest bias rules is pride, the never-failing vice of fools. The scriptures clearly tell us that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall, Proverbs 16, verse 18. What we see in the church of Corinth is a body of believers being assaulted by this spirit, this attitude, this demeanor of pride. Here were believers who rather than acting as mature men and women in the faith were acting more like their pagan neighbors and relatives. They were following their own wisdom, not the wisdom that God had revealed to them through his spirit, and the root of that worldly wisdom is nothing more than pride. We think we know more than God. About his church, about us, even though he created us, about how he ought to accomplish his plans in the world. Now we don't verbalize it that way, but often we see that old pride creeping into our spirit, and we question God and we even challenge God, the litmus test for pride is quite simple. And what or in whom do you boast? Do you really boast? Now we in church have mastered the fine art of deception. We wear our Sunday morning faces with our Sunday morning clothes, and we have our Sunday morning answers and our Sunday morning behavior. But when all that stripped away to see who we really are, in who or in what do we boast, you see what we're proud of reveals the true allegiance of our hearts. In Corinth, this was seen in the boasting, the arrogant boasting of these immature believers who were boasting in the servant's God had sent to them, so much so that they were dividing the body of Christ over these false loyalties fueled by pride. And what do you boast this morning? Because you see the object of our boasting reveals our hearts. I know we instead here and say, well, oh, I'm not much of a boaster. Well, I know, but let me drive up to some of your houses or walk out to your cars or go into your house and see those married pictures of grandchildren. You know, I believe grandparents ought to be proud of their grandkids, but you can go to the extreme. I mean, I know some grandparents may begin to a few that you can't walk through their house, that there's, you know, not just one picture. It's these just walls and floors and shelves and pictures. I mean, pictures that you need of one kid.
Oh, I don't boast of anything. Oh, no. Stop and look around. You see that in which we boast reveals our heart. Reveals that of which we are proud, not in the good sense, the biblical sense, the wholesome sense, but in the exceeds which you destroy and divides. T.S. Eliot was right when he concluded most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. People want to be important. They want to be proud of themselves. And yet there's only one way to truly be important. And that's through Jesus Christ. It was certainly true and current. These people want to be important. They were proud of what had happened in their midst and call attacks the error, this error of the heart as he addresses them here. So we ask ourselves the question, in what do we boast? I ask you in what do you boast? In verses 1 through 9, we can ask ourselves the question, do you boast in who you follow? Do you boast in who you follow verses 1 through 9? Now Paul is not saying that they are not Christian, but rather that they are acting like they're not in chapter 2. He contrasts the Christian and the non-Christian view of wisdom. Now in chapter 3, he brings it inside the body and he says, now you're acting as though you did not have the wisdom of God. You who are children of God are acting as though you aren't. The reason that he gives is there immaturity in the faith and immaturity for which they have no excuse. God had blessed the church in Corinth. We've seen that in the first two chapters. He given them gifts. They had received the wisdom as that wisdom had been refilled by the spirit of God through various preachers and teachers that had come there. There was no lack of teaching. There was no lack of the spirit's work in their midst. There was no reason for them to be in mature, but they were. One commentator says Paul sternly addresses the Corinthians for they prove to be bays in Christ because of their failure to grow spiritually. And the proof of Paul's assertion is seen in verse 3. He tells them they are bays in Christ why? Because you're acting like babies. Look at verse 3. He says, there's jealousy and quarreling among you. Well, I think we learned in Christian education when we studied little people, was that little people began to develop socialization skills between two and three. And they began by playing in the same area as other children. So you don't take two year olds, put them together and expect them to interact because you see they live in their own worlds. They just happen to be sharing the same floor plan there wherever they are. But then what happens is they grow, they begin to see that little Johnny has something that interests them. And what do they do? They invade little Johnny's face and all the sudden we have community. But any mother of preschoolers knows that the sinfulness of the human heart is evident when little Johnny has his toy taken by little Mary. Now he may cry, he may pout, he may throw another object at Mary to get her attention. Or like some children I have seen, they just hold them. And they yell and scream, but they will not let go. It's my toy. I was playing with it and you can't have it. Sometimes we don't change a lot. Oh, we get more sophisticated and more refined, but when you strip off the binary, it's still that self will that longs for what we want. Even if it costs somebody else. And Paul says, you want to know how I know you're acting like children because you're quarreling and you're jealous.
You've seen a child in a room full of toys and you pick up one toy that you've watched this child for 20 minutes. They have not touched, they have not looked at that toy, but you touch it in what happens. They go ballistic. You're their parent. You bought the stupid toy. You can throw it away if you want to. And this kid is going nuts like you have interrupted their world and brought chaos.
Paul says, reason I know, in Corinth, that you are living according to the old wisdom is because you're acting just like babies fussing and quarreling and spading and spitting.
You see, they were arguing over those whom God had sent to them as His servants. How absurd. These are people who should have ever been in praise to God that He even noticed them. Much less had died for them. And what are they doing? And they're printing up cards. And they're swapping cards like kid swap baseball cards. Oh, did you get the latest of Paulus card? You get the latest newsletter from the Paulus ministry of teaching and discipleship. No, but I got Paulus. I got the gold edition of the Apostle Paul. They only made 500 and I got one of them. That's what they were doing. And Paulus says, this is insane. We didn't save you. But I've been in churches where you couldn't get past the preacher worshippers. And I just didn't happen to be the right preacher. I've been in churches where you couldn't get past the older someone. And he was dead. But he'd been there and he'd always done. And that's how it was. You see, we look at the people at Corinth and we say, oh, these people, they just, but no, it's not these people. It can be us people in whom do you vote? I've heard people quote people off the radio. Their favorite radio preacher. And it's almost like they're swapping tales of what they've heard to see who can one up each other. Well, I heard Dr. Sohan so today and he said, oh, well, I was listening to Dr. Sohan this morning and he said, hey, there is no competition. If there is, then we are operating as the world operating. Paul says, when I see this kind of behavior, I know that you haven't matured in the faith. You see, he's not talking about the loving respect where to have for those who lead and those who teach. He's talking about that preferred allegiance. No, our allegiance is to Christ. The way they were acting shows they didn't understand what it meant to follow Jesus. And so I ask you in whom are you boasting? The preachers are the world's worst. How do you think I know so much about it? Oh, well, I happened to get a call from Dr. Sohan last week, name droppers. Like, that's going to make you something. I saw a cartoon from leadership, one of the issues of leadership and brought back memories because Monday morning, first thing we used to do when I first started out was we went to the hospital and the computer at Western Baptist Hospital print out this huge printout of all the patients. And, you know, so new people would come in over the weekend and they had their church affiliation and you'd go in and you'd pick out, you know, your members and all first thing Monday morning, but see all the preachers did that. And we weren't a little backwater church, you know, we called it in the gravel pit and we'd run 200 people. It was a good church and God was doing neat stuff, but we couldn't compete with the big churches. And there we'd be, and Dr. Sohan, so would be sitting there and his doctorate was an honorary doctorate, but he was still doctor so and so and he, well, boys, how'd the service go? Well, you know, we went, well, we had to, like we had two, three people come down and make professions of faith. He said, well, you're not wonderful. We had 25. We had 3,000 and you couldn't do it. I don't want to hear this. In the cartoon from leadership, they had that same image depicted in here, two preachers, you can tell they come from little churches. And here's the pastor, the big church, you can tell because he's got this huge signboard that says attendance at first church and it's got these thousands, you know, 10,500 people saved 2000. And here these people just glad they had folks show up on Sunday, you know. And one guy says, I don't think I can stand this. That's, boy, I know how he feels. That's what was going on in Corinth. They were boasting about that which was foolish. Let me ask you something, in whom are you boasting? In whom are you boasting? Well, it's good to respect people, but there's only one person in whom we boast and that's Christ. Secondly, in verses 10 through 15, and what do you boast? Do you boast in what you do? If you look at verses 10 through 15, you see that Paul very clearly says, here's what God called me to do. And he's called others to build on this foundation. Each of us have a calling. Each of us will give an account. Do you boast in what you do? The American male is virtually indistinguishable from his occupation.
You are what you do, and that's wrong. If the sum total of your worth and value is what you do, then what happens when you retire? Read the statistics a lot of men die. You know why? Because they don't have any reason to exist anymore. It's a challenge for many men to go on because everything about them has been defined by what they do for living. Your vocation, your occupation is an integral and important part of the ministry. God has called you to not an addendum to it. So wherever you are, whatever you're doing, do it to the glory of God. And what God has called you to do be the best you can be at it realizing that you are his child. And when the day comes, you clock out for the last time. You're still his child and you simply shift gears to another facet of ministry. You know how many men go off the deep end when they lose their jobs? They can handle losing their families better than they can lose their jobs. You see, do you boast about what you do? That's what was going on in Corinth. There were those who were boasting in what Paul did in what Apollo Paul is a great pioneer. Well he was, but Paul would have said like I've told you many times when you see a turtle on top of a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. And Paul would say, I didn't get here by myself. I didn't do this because I'm so gifted and talented when you see this, you see the work of God and the one who was the chief of sinners. Do you boast in what you do? Do you boast in how much you do for the church and quit? Do you boast in how much you give of your energies or your monies or your influence or whatever things you have to give? Then stop because we are all little turtles. And when there is any achievement, we know better than any body else that it was God. We didn't get here by ourselves. What are you boasting? What you do? You boasting in that which will last. See people were boasting about Apollo. They were boasting about Peter and Paul says it is absurd. There is one foundation that can be laid and that is Christ. And I have laid that foundation. Others came in and they have built upon that and every man will give an account. The immediate application is every teacher, every preacher who comes in will give an account. Does he build with costly things, precious, holy things that will last or is he just throwing out wood hay and straw which will disappear and boasting the church as though Paul is responsible for the church. You can't boast in the church as though a Paul is responsible for the church for it is God's church. Christ is the foundation and we boasted what he has done in our midst. Let me ask you something. Are you boasting about what you have? Because stop and think about it. Where will all that be? 100 years from now. That makes me cringe because I love my books. I have got too many of them and I need to read them out but I keep buying more. I love them, I love to read them, I love to look at them, I love to own them. Probably pride makes me think I'm somebody because I have some books. Why take what? When I think 100 years from now my little library will be scattered to the four corners. I think Lord, am I investing in something that matters? Now I want to be sure I use those books to your glory and when I'm done with them that they'll go somewhere that somebody can use them. Not just to be scattered at some yard sale after I'm gone. What are you going to do with your stuff when you're gone? One man's treasure is another man's trash and vice versa. What so bring in it? How we work and slave and labor and boast for what? Will it be year 100 years from now? Will it matter? And then finally, verses 16 through 23, do you boast in what you have become? Do you boast in what you have become? Now I know we're good Christian people and we could never allow ourselves to do it but we do. You see many in foolish soul looks into the mirror and says, you know something? I've done rather well. They look in the mirror and they say, boy, I pulled myself up by my bootstrap and I worked hard and I made it happen. Nobody but nobody gets anywhere without somebody helping them. They may not tell that story and I've heard mentally, nobody helped me but if you get to listen and do them, there was somebody somewhere that gave me a job or an opportunity or something that helped them. Do you boast in what you've become? You see the Christian ought to know better. It's by God's grace that I am whatever I am because I know what I would be apart from his grace. Paul challenges the Corinthians to consider the standard by which they measure themselves. You see we measure ourselves against each other or better we measure ourselves against the unbelieving world by which we think we can measure up well and we say, well, they may have more money but I'm a Christian. Well, I'm sure that out of two please is God. We sound like the man who came out of the temple and said, Lord, I thank you that I'm not like, well, like this public and over here and have any of us drive home and say, you know my neighbor doesn't go to church. Lord, I'm thankful that I go and it's not with the spirit of true humility but with the spirit of pride that says, I'm better than my neighbor because I go to church and they don't. You boast in what you've become or do you humbly give praise to God because you know that it's by his grace and strength that you are what you are. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to realize that they belong to God and so their praise should be to him through Christ. Jesus is the object of their boasting and if it's anything else it's a mess. And he says, you want to boast about who you have become. Go back and read chapter one. Remember what Paul told them back in verse 26, brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. So when you start boasting about who you've become in the church, remember what you were when you called you. Our only boast is in Christ Jesus and if we're boasting in anything else it'll bring about division. So Paul concludes so they know more boasting about men. You see God doesn't need any of us. He chooses to use us but he doesn't need us. If this cog falls out of the machinery, I promise you the machine will not grind to a stop. It's like when I went to college my first year, some some smart electric friend of mine gave me this little plaque to put on the wall and it says, Mr. indispensable is indisposed until further notice. See that's how we can think and we can brag on what we have and who we are and who we have become and Paul says that's how babies do. Those who are mature in the faith know that all that they have and all that they are is because of Jesus Christ and Christ is God's. So you belong to him, give him the pranks, give him the glory in him where you boasting this morning. In what are you boasting reminds me the story Jesus told Luke chapter 12. Listen the ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself what shall I do I have no place to store my crops then he said this is what I'll do. I will turn down my barns and build bigger ones and there I will store all my grain in my goods and I'll say to myself you have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy eat drink and be merry but God said to him you fool this very night your life will be demanded from you then who will get what you have prepared for yourself that man boasted in who he was in what he had and what he had become but he was nothing before God and God says what's going to happen with all your stuff when you stand before me you see the people at Corinth were boasting about all these things that we've looked at this morning and Paul says how could you miss it so badly that this is about Jesus you guys need to grow up that's what he was saying because when you act that way it shows your immature pride and it's seen in the division of the church in an article entitled the art of being a big shot Howard but who was a Christian businessman of this it is my pride that makes me independent of God it's appealing to me to feel that I am the master of my faith that I run my own life call my own shots go it alone but that feeling is my basic dishonesty I can't go it alone I have to have help from other people and I can't ultimately rely on myself I'm dependent on God for my next breath it is dishonest to me to pretend that I'm anything but a man small weak and limited so living independent of God is self delusion it is not just a matter of pride being an unfortunate little trait and humility being an attractive little virtue it's my inner psychological integrity that's at stake when I am conceded I am lying to myself about who I am I am pretending to be God and not man my pride is the idolatrous worship of myself and that is the national religion of hell we have been called to something far better that is to lift up our hearts and our eyes to Jesus and to boast in him and follow him follow we thank you that you did not let this church go on its merry way but you had the apostle Paul right to the Corinthian believers and address their problems straight up eyeball to eyeball so they could deal with them so they could grow follow the danger in a sermon like this is that we are people who buy our own standard are good and so we'll apply it to the next person beside us well it's our husband or our Sunday school teacher our neighbor or somebody we don't even know we just look at how they're dressed and we'll find something wrong something to make ourselves feel better and start applying all this stuff to them oh God search our hearts for if there's one thing that lurks deep beneath the surface of our consciousness it's sinful pride God deal with our pride humble us and break us that we might be usable not causing divisions because we're stopping our feet demanding our own way but that we would be those who praise you through Christ Jesus and where there's division that Jesus would bring healing or where there's division in our own hearts may we cry out to Jesus for healing and wholeness that we might be instruments of peace and not of division as we humbly walk with me and that we pray in Jesus name amen