WWUTT 1481 You Have Ruled Without Us (1 Corinthians 4:7-9)

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At the very beginning of 1 Corinthians we read, it is by His doing that we are in Christ Jesus.

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So that just as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the

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Lord, when we understand the text. Many of the

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Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text, it's committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it.

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Visit our website at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in 1 Corinthians 4, and we're gonna pick up where we left off last week.

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I'm gonna start reading here in verse six, and we'll go through verse 14. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.

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Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond what is written, so that no one of you will become puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

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For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive?

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And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled.

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You have already become rich. You have ruled without us. And how

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I wish that you had ruled indeed, so that we also might rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men.

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We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong.

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You are glorious, but we are without honor. To this present hour, we hunger and thirst and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless.

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And we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless.

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When we are persecuted, we endure. When we are slandered, we try to plead. We have become as the scum of the world, the grime of all things, even until now.

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I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

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So coming back to verse six, I wanted to touch on this again briefly before we go on. So Paul says, we looked at this on Wednesday, these things, brothers,

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I've applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes. What were those things that Paul applied to himself and Apollos?

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Well, it was the analogies that he had given earlier. It was the reference to being like a farmer.

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You are God's field. And he talked about himself and Apollos as being builders.

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There is a foundation that has been laid, which is Christ. And there are others that are coming along and building on top of that foundation.

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Paul says, let each one be careful how he builds upon that foundation. And then Paul makes reference to himself as being a steward.

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He and Apollos, the two names that are kind of continuing along here. So that was at the start of chapter four.

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Let a man consider us in this manner, us being himself and Apollos as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

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So when Paul says, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your sakes, he's talking about the analogies, the metaphors.

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I've presented ourselves to you in this way that you may understand. And when he goes on to the next part, he says so that in us, you may learn not to go beyond what is written.

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Now, this section of 1 Corinthians 4, 6, I'm just talking about this particular portion of this verse.

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It's often used and applied to the entirety of scripture. And I believe you can apply it that way because when it comes to understanding what

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God has said, what his will is, the way of salvation, the return of Christ, any of these doctrines that we may build upon according to the glorious gospel and the teaching of our

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Lord Jesus Christ that has been given to us. We have what is written down in the Bible and we can't go beyond that.

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We can't delve into speculation because then that turns into myth and Paul strictly charged that we stay away from such things.

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That was the instruction that he gave to Timothy. So in 1 Timothy 1, 3, as I exhorted you when going to Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may command certain persons not to teach a different doctrine nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies which rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the stewardship from God which is by faith.

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So this stewardship from God that is by faith that we have, that is the gospel, that is the teaching of our

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Lord Christ and everything that applies to the church for building it up because that's exactly how

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Paul applies it there in 1 Timothy. Later on in chapter three, he says, I have written these things to you that you may know how one ought to conduct themselves in the household of God.

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I believe that's verse 15. So the gospel that we have been given, the teaching of our Lord Christ, we are to take these things as good stewards and care for, manage, build up the house of God.

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Do not go beyond what is written. Do not use anything else but that which has been given to us Old Testament or new.

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So you could certainly apply that principle in that way. But in the immediate context of what

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Paul is saying here in 1 Corinthians 4, 6, where he says that in us, you may learn not to go beyond what is written.

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He's talking about exactly what he has said about himself and about Apollos. Again, going back to the metaphor, going back to the analogies of being a farmer, being a builder, being a steward.

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Think of us in this way. Don't go beyond that. So don't place Apollos and Paul up on pedestals.

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Don't try to position them as Rock 'em Sock 'em robots and they're fighting against each other and whichever one wins, he's the greater teacher.

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All of these superficial things that the Corinthians were doing in the way that they were elevating these teachers and not at all characteristic of how

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Paul and Apollos had truly submitted themselves to the work of ministry. So Paul presents themselves in this way.

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These things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes. I've referred to us as farmers, as builders, as stewards, so that in us, you may learn not to go beyond what is written.

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Now it's been written down for you. And so now you know how you may consider these teachers.

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If you were confused before, if you had considered us in these superficial ways and that it was causing divisions and factions among you, now you know the right way by which to consider us so that you may learn not to go beyond what is written so that no one of you will become puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

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Because of course, that's what we've been seeing in the church in Corinth, these divisions that had formed and the divisions were because of pride.

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Each person thinking of himself or herself more highly than they should have thought of themselves.

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And it's not just the men, it's the women as well. There are rebukes that come to the women also over the course of this letter.

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So Paul presents himself and Apollos in these humble ways. And he goes on to rebuke the

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Corinthians for their pride. So he says, do not become puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

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But what's been going on in the church, there's been this puffing up of pride. There's been considering my needs ahead of yours.

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They do not think of themselves with sober judgment, but they think of themselves more highly than they ought to think.

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So Paul goes on in verse seven to say, for who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive?

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And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? Now I'm reading out of the legacy standard

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Bible. This is not the translation I am most accustomed to. Here is that verse in the

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English standard version. For who sees anything different in you?

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What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

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What is, what's Paul saying here? Well, they're boasting as if I did this for me.

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I'm the one that acquired this. I got this knowledge. I got this salvation.

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This is because I was just open -minded enough. I just brought in my perspective enough that I found this

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Christ guy. And now I've got this philosophy or this higher level thinking, whatever term they may have used to describe

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Christianity then. Not everybody was calling it Christianity. That word itself, Christian only comes up three times in the

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New Testament and it was used as a derogatory term. It was what the Gentiles called

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Jesus followers. And they used it as like a put down. Oh, those Christians.

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Yeah, they were their followers of Christ, the carpenter of Nazareth. So we're calling them

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Christians. The Corinthians may not have called themselves that because it was such a disparaging term.

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So however they considered themselves, whatever they called this thing that was Christianity, they puffed themselves up with it.

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It was like higher thought. It was the newest idea that was out there on the scene.

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All those other Greeks out there and the philosophies they're going after, they don't have what I've got.

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So they're puffing themselves up with this new knowledge that they have achieved, that they have acquired and they got it themselves.

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So remember back to Paul's rebuke in, well, chapters one through three, basically saying to the

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Corinthians, you did not do this. This did not come from you. It came from God. It's from the

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Holy Spirit that we are even able to discern the things of God. The naturally minded man can't discern these things because they are spiritually discerned.

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So they're folly to the natural minded man. If you were still of your natural mind, then you would not be able to understand these things.

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So what you have did not come from you. It was a gift that was given by God.

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Going back to verse 12. Now we have, I'm sorry, this is chapter two, verse 12.

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Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God so that we may know the depths graciously given to us by God, the depths graciously given to us, the spirit graciously given to us.

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We have received it. We have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God.

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In other words, we didn't go out and find it. We didn't go latch hold of it. We didn't go exploring for new thought and oh, look at this spirit over here.

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I'm gonna believe in this spirit and now I have a higher level of understanding.

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That is not how we came into the faith. It's not how the Corinthians came into faith. It's not how anybody came into the faith.

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In John chapter one, it says, this is not according to the flesh, not by the will of man, but from God.

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It is not by the will of man that you've been saved, not by your own will that you've come to salvation, but by God's will that he has saved you and made you his son or daughter.

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Who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive?

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What do you have that you came in possession of because you went after it and laid hold of it and it became yours by your own effort?

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That's essentially what Paul is asking there. And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

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Meaning, why do you boast as if you're the one that acquired it by your own intellect, by your own ability to possess it?

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Verse eight, you are already filled. You have already become rich.

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You have ruled without us and how I wish that you had ruled indeed so that we also might rule with you.

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Paul is being heavily sarcastic here. And he's being sarcastic with them in this way because, and there's a reason why

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I went all the way to verse 14 with this, because he's admonishing them. He's trying to bring them down off of their high horse.

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I do not write these things to you to shame you. So Paul is being sarcastic, but it's not to shame them.

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It's not to make them feel bad. Yes, sarcasm can be biblically used in a godly way.

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Yes, because we see it in the Bible. I mean, God used sarcasm with Job. I pointed that out to my mom once.

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She hates sarcasm. For her, it's like the lowest form of communication, if not humor, you know?

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She just hates sarcasm. And I told her, well, God used sarcasm with Job. She was appalled by that.

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So I took her to the scriptures and I showed her. Job 38, starting in verse one, the Lord answered

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Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

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Dress for action like a man. I will question you and you make it known to me.

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Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding.

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Come on, that is sarcasm right there. That is God being very sarcastic with Job. But just like God did with Job, he did this to admonish him, not to shame him.

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And same as with what Paul is doing here. He's doing this to admonish the Corinthians. Now they probably will experience shame because he's pointing out to them how prideful they are, but it's a godly shame that leads to repentance.

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Paul's effort is not to belittle them so that he feels better about himself. That's what he means by saying that I'm not doing this to shame you.

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I'm not doing this so that I feel good about me. I finally brought you down under me so that I can lord myself over you.

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That's not Paul's approach. If they are gonna feel shame for it, let it be a shame that leads them to repentance, that they may consider themselves and one another in a right manner.

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And not in this prideful way that they've been going about, dividing against one another.

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So where Paul says in verse eight again, you are already filled, you have already become rich, you have ruled without us.

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In other words, there's no room for any sanctification to occur. There's no room for us to grow you in Christ because you already think you have everything.

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Where else do we see a similar kind of rebuke in scripture? Like a rebuke of a people who believed,

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I've already got everything, I don't need anything else. That's the Laodiceans that I'm thinking of in particular in Revelation chapter three.

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Maybe something else popped into your head. It might be legit too. But the one I'm thinking of is in Revelation three, starting in verse 14, where Jesus addresses the church at Laodicea.

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They had become very prideful and puffed up because they were a very wealthy people, very wealthy church in a very wealthy city, a well -to -do city.

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They were protected, well -protected from their enemies. They had all kinds of trade that was coming in and out of the city.

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They had everything that they needed, felt like they didn't need anything else. And because of that, because they had all these worldly goods, they had become too puffed up.

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And so Jesus confronts them, Revelation 3 .15 with this,

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I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.

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So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

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This was in reference to their water sources. Laodicea had such amazing resources and an incredible number of goods that people came into the city to get.

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Purple fabrics, salve for their eyes, this medicinal salve that they would put on the eyes.

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But Laodicea did not have their own water source. It was piped in from Colossae or from Heropolis.

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One had cold water and one had hot water. But once it gets to Laodicea, it's lukewarm. And it's kind of gross, because if it's cold, it's supposed to be refreshing.

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If it's hot, it's supposed to have medicinal value. But when it gets to Laodicea and it's lukewarm, it's not as good as it is when it comes from the source.

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So what Jesus is saying to the Laodiceans is, because you are far from the source,

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I will spit you out of my mouth. You're far from me. That's the rebuke that Jesus is making of the

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Laodiceans. Because you say, I am rich, I have become wealthy and I have need of nothing.

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But you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked.

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I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire that you may become rich.

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Didn't Paul talk about that with the Corinthians too? Talking about a trial by fire, that whatever comes out of that fire, the judgment of fire may be purified.

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Jesus saying the same sort of a thing, giving the same kind of rebuke to the Laodiceans.

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I advise you to buy white garments so that you may clothe yourself and cover your nakedness, that the shame of your nakedness will not be manifested.

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And I salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Jesus goes on to say this, this is

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Revelation 3 .19. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.

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Therefore be zealous and repent. So likewise here, as Paul is being sarcastic with the

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Corinthians, it's for their good that they may become zealous for what is good.

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And they would repent of this pride that is so dividing them and will lead them to deeper and worse sins if they do not repent.

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So you're already filled, you've already become rich, Paul says, you have ruled without us.

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In other words, the Corinthians think of themselves as kings, as rulers, and they've done that without the apostles, without Paul and without Apollos.

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They're using Paul and Apollos to puff themselves up, but they don't really have regard for either of those two men.

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And Paul says, how I wish that you had ruled indeed so that we might rule with you, because how is it that the

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Corinthians came to even be Christians in the first place? It was because the servants of God came to them and gave the gospel to them.

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These farmers working in God's field, these builders building God's building, these stewards tending to God's house, they came to the

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Corinthians sharing the gospel of Christ. That is how they came to know Christ.

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And so now as the Corinthians regard themselves as rulers, as kings, as people in lofty positions,

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Paul is saying, I wish you really had ruled because then we'd rule with you. You're there because we would have put you there with the gospel that we came and proclaimed to you.

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See, that should have humbled the Corinthians as well to think, oh yeah, well, if we're gonna think highly of ourselves,

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I guess Paul and Apollos would be higher since they were the ones that came and proclaimed this gospel to us.

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Remember back to what Paul said to them in chapter one, verses 30 and 31.

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Well, really I'll go back a little bit further than that. Let's go to verse 27. God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

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God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. And the base things of the world and the despised

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God has chosen the things that are not so that he may abolish the things that are so that no flesh may boast before God.

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By his doing, you are in Christ Jesus. That's first Corinthians 1 .30.

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But by his doing, you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

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If the Corinthians don't humble themselves, they won't receive these things. They will not have the righteousness that comes from God.

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They will not be sanctified. They will not even receive redemption. But as it says in verse 31, so that just as it is written, let him who boast, boast in the

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Lord. Psalm 34 .2, my soul makes its boast in the Lord.

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Let the humble hear and be glad. Let us humble ourselves before God, not thinking that we had anything to do with this salvation that we have received.

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It was given to us by God so that all the glory would be his, that our boasting would not be in ourselves.

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Our boasting is in the Lord. May his name be glorified now and forever.

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Heavenly Father, I pray we would humble ourselves before God. James said so,

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Peter said so. We see it from Paul and throughout the scriptures to humble ourselves before God.

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And at the proper time, you will be the one to exalt us. But even as we are lifted from this world that is coming into judgment and taken high into the heavens, into the place where you are seated, even as we are given this place, it is still ultimately for your glory that we would receive no boasting, the treasure and reward we are given.

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May it be an offering and a sacrifice unto you that we may give praise to the one who alone is worthy of our praise.

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You alone are holy. So may we be humble in your sight and being humble before God, we are humble toward one another, considering other's needs ahead of our own and doing all of this to the praise of your glorious grace.

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It is in the name of Jesus that we pray, amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

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You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word, when we understand the text.