Feast: What Do We Have to Be Proud Of? (Part Two)
#FT26-05
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 30-Sep-26; 77 minutes
description: Modern obsession with originality, uniqueness, and superiority is a misdirected form of pride that obscures the Christian call to speak truth, do good, and pursue excellence. By examining passages from Romans, Philippians, Proverbs, and particularly I Corinthians, it demonstrates that human wisdom and transgressive individualism are not truly novel but are rooted in the universal condition of sin and self-exaltation. The text contends that believers often rely on worldly philosophy rather than divine revelation, ignoring the fact that all gifts and abilities are received from God rather than earned. Consequently, the pursuit of personal distinction is exposed as baseless arrogance, and the proper Christian response is a humble acceptance of one's place within God's design, anchoring identity and wisdom in Christ and Scripture rather than in the fleeting acclaim of human approval.
transcript:
Last time Uh, in the part one of this two-part series, I read an excerpt from a social media comment about originality in creative writing. Here's the quote I gave you. Originality is overrated. We should care more about saying what is true. Doing what is good and making what is beautiful than simply pushing for originality. Nothing is new under the sun. This man wrote, referring to Ecclesiastes 1:9. And everything is derivative. Yet our world is filled with people who proudly identify as originals. We even have a slang word that we call these people. They're unicorns and that even unicorns are considered to be um. Uh, the term is, is considered to be very positive. Uh, they are just so different from everybody else. Usually they are in the top of their field or being able to do things that very few others can, can actually accomplish. But on the other hand, there are those people who are just weird. Uh, they are very original, but they are, they are perverse, uh. So they are original and being bad, um. They're original, as I said last time, because they have glommed on to the idea that they can be special by being transgressive, that they They act as bad as possible so that they can attract attention to themselves. Now, as I mentioned last time, paradoxically, Because Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This means that these transgressive people who think they are so special are just doing what everybody else in the world for all time has ever done, except for Jesus Christ, of course. I sent It doesn't matter how, well, it does matter how badly they sin, but on the other hand, it doesn't make them special because we've all joined in the same behavior. So, in effect, trying to be original, they showed that they are not original at all. Now, the proud attitude of believing oneself to be Special or superior unique in some way or original is not even original to these times that we live in or to this progressive society that we live in. Because this idea, this desire is a fundamental desire of selfish human nature. We all want to make ourselves different from other people because that way attracts attention that way we get to seek a little bit of our own glory. That desire in human nature is constantly turned on to say look at me. I'm special. See how special I am. Notice what I can do. Here's what I can accomplish. Or aren't I pretty? Or I'm so smart. I deserve your attention and recognition because I'm me. Of course This desire To be original, unique, special. is simply pride. It can Phase into hubris at times. It is a thumbing of the nose at God. I received truth. A tradition And certainly at the standards of acceptable behavior in the world. It follows the way of get. Of trying to accrue things to oneself, whether that's money, fame. Just or just plain eyeballs. The old look at me thing, see how special I am. But As I said, this is so it follows the way of get of selfishness. Of rejecting God. Rejecting the truth, saying that there is no absolute truth, so I can do what I want. I'm going to be me. I have my own truth, and you have to accept me because I'm special. I'm unique I'm original So they throw away. Everything that's good, all the things that have been received, and They focus then on themselves. All of that is thrown overboard in favor of one's own ideas. One's own desires. One's own goals. In all points though, because of what we just discussed here. This attitude is contrary to God's way. And it can easily derail us on our journey to God's kingdom. And we must be aware of it, must guard against it. Because your human nature. My human nature Is always there under the surface. Wanting recognition. Wanting to be seen. Wanting to be known as somebody special. Let's go to Philippines too. Where the apostle Paul warns us against this. Gives us the proper example which we will not necessarily get into. Philippians 2:3-4. Notice how he says this, it's, it's very absolute. Let nothing. Be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. Instead of being focused on ourselves and doing things for our own ambitions to put ourselves out there or our conceit, our vanity. We are supposed to have, as Mr. Armstrong called it, the give attitude, an outward outgoing attitude of service toward others. And of evaluating other people as better. As superior As having worth. That you can Help along That you can serve. Of course, he then gets into in verse 5, the, the example of that, which is the example of Jesus Christ, let this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus. And there we have it. The standard for this anti-pride. Attitude Uh anti-selfish ambition, anti-vanity and conceit attitude. Let's go back to the book of Proverbs. Uh, we are going to go to the 11th chapter in verse 2. Solomon gives us kind of the timeline of all this. When pride comes. By the way that word comes is a very picturesque word. It means boils up like it's coming from the bottom of a cauldron and it, it just slowly simmers and you start seeing the bubbles on the top, and that's usually how it happens, so we just do not suddenly burst out with pride. It just takes a long time to simmer out under the surface, and then when it boils up, it produces evil fruit. Here we go. When pride comes, then comes shame. It doesn't bring good things. We have shame because of sin. So when pride comes, then comes shame. Now the flip side But with the humble. Is wisdom When you're humble You're smart about living. You're skilled in living. You do the things that are right and good that are going to produce good fruit, good things in the end. Whereas pride, it can't produce anything but bad things. Shame So we hear, see here in a nutshell what the sermon is all about. The, the Contrariness of the way of pride toward the way of humility which is modeled by Jesus Christ. So, today's sermon will, will conclude this short series, this two-part series of what do we have to be proud of. It, it traces the apostle Paul's argument. In the opening chapters of First Corinthians. In which he attempts to convince the Corinthians that their excessive pride in their knowledge and their judgment would doom them spiritually because they were not walking the way of God. They were walking the path of worldly wisdom and their own conceit. So he uses instruction about godly wisdom in those 1st 4 chapters as opposed to human wisdom. To lay a foundation of truth for his correction that would then come in chapter 5 and onward. But he wanted them to see the underlying attitudes before he got into the correction, so that they would understand where they had gone wrong. So To get up to speed, we will need to summarize the course of Paul's argument. About wisdom in I Corinthians 1. Through 3, if you would turn there. Let's see, I Corinthians 1. Now, in chapter one, He tells them, I, I will not be going through this line by line like I did in the first sermon, but I want to at least give you a summary so that we can charge into chapter 4. So he tells them here in, in First Corinthians one, that their partisanship, I am of Hall, I am of Apollos, I am of Caphos, I am of Christ, that that sort of partisanship and disunity implied a far deeper problem with them. Their disunity was a symptom or a result of their lack of godly wisdom. They were not thinking properly and because they were not thinking properly, they were not making the right decisions. They were, they were backing their horses as it were within the congregation in contrary to what God wanted them to do, which was to be fully of Christ. So he warns them that the Greek wisdom that they were relying on is not from God. Right there at the very foundation of their intellect and their judgment was a, a weak read. Uh, it, it was not godly, it was not authoritative. It was just the, the ideas of men. And ideas of men influenced by the world, which is in itself influenced by Satan the devil. Worse than that, maybe is the fact that They were ignoble people. They were, as he says, as he gets down to verse 26, they were not wise, not mighty, not noble. Uh, they were the foolish and the weak. And they did not really have the background or the, the true understanding to To make these awesome judgments because they had no experience. They, they, they had not been long enough in the, in the faith. To really have gotten wise in Christ. Uh, I can't remember the exact timeline, but it was only a few years after he had first gone to Corinth and preached to them. And now you know, a few years later on, they thought they, they were just world beaters. Uh, they, they could judge anything. And it would be right. But he has to remind them that no, no, you're not qualified and you're especially not qualified because you're judging from. Uh, a base that is founded itself on Satan the devil. So He does say he does tell them. You're special But you're only special in Christ. And he reminds them that he that is Christ, not Paul, Christ was their wisdom. We do not base our wisdom on anything that we bring in or anything that it's out there in the world. Our wisdom is based on the character of Jesus Christ and the things that he has commanded us and the example he has set us. So He, he basically strips them naked in, in a way in this first chapter and saying, look, you're you're the emperor without any clothes. Yeah You're imagining quite a bit, especially your abilities to make these decisions. OK, on to chapter 2. He has to tell them School them In the Holy Spirit. This is the only thing. The spirit that we have from God that makes us special. You know, obviously our calling and those sorts of things makes us special, but in the way that we make decisions. It's only the Holy Spirit, Christ in us, that allows us to make wise choices. And we have to remember that we did not have that spirit until after baptism, after hands were laid on us, and God Himself gave us that spirit. He made the difference. It's not something like he, he turned up from the, the riverbed of our, our innermost thoughts, and suddenly we were wise. No, he had to add something. To us, from above, from heaven, from himself, he had to come into us to give us the abilities to make godly decisions, to use godly wisdom. It's only by the Holy Spirit that we can understand spiritual matters. That the world which he tells us in chapter 2 is limited to physical things, things that they can understand through their five senses. And their own limited reasoning capacity cannot make. It's just impossible because they do not have the fuel to run the engine properly. It sputters and dies. It ruins the engine. What he has done by giving us the Holy Spirit is provide a link to the very mind of Christ. To the very throne upon which the Father sits in heaven. And it's a two-way street. I know I'm mixing my metaphors terribly here, but forgive me, but. By that link, Uh, roads are links between places. Uh, it's not too bad of metaphor. But by that link, we can talk to the God of the universe and he gives us answers. We need to make sure that we make use of that because by that you are very special. You are only a handful of the millions of people on this earth who have that access through Jesus Christ. And we can lay down our problems before the, the throne of God. And he looks seriously upon them and provides answers. He answers us mostly through this, not necessarily through direct intervention, but he does, you know, inspire our thoughts, hey pops up in our head, I need to go to the book of Ecclesiastes to answer this question. Or maybe there is a certain proverb that he draws your mind to, or perhaps it's a saying of Jesus Christ. Or maybe he uses one of his servants and a sermon is given about that your particular problem and then once you have the information it's your job to use godly wisdom in applying the principles that you read or hear to solve your problem. That's why I said it's a two-way street, because he does answer. He does respond. We just have to have our spiritual antenna tuned to these things so that we can pursue the answers when they are sent. But that's the function of the Holy Spirit, to make this connection between our God. Uh, the Father, Christ, our high priest and head of the church, and us. It's the peace offering again. We have this fellowship with God the Father and Jesus Christ so we can eat at the same table, discuss things that have come up in our lives. And be satisfied. With The answers and the direction and guidance that is given. So, he tells them. In his own Pauline way. That they can make Mature spiritual judgments. About the things that are happening in their lives. Yeah They've been living In God's way, in a humble way, learning from God's Revelation and from the trials of life. And Over the process of time growing. In wisdom How many times I just looked at uh verse one of chapter 3 here. This is the thought that Paul had right after saying this, that we have the mind of Christ. He says, I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. They did not have the experience. They did not even have the length of time in the church to give them any depth. They were still functioning in the flesh and still functioning as, as a. Crumb crunchers on the carpet and Uh, spiritually, that is, and. They really could not understand. There is growth in this life. It mirrors the growth of a, a human child to maturity. And they were just beginning, but they were trying to to solve differential equations at one. If I can give you an example. Um They just Didn't have the capacity. And because they did not have the capacity. Yeah, they were getting everything wrong. They, they just were not up to that level yet. OK. In chapter 3 and a few verses into chapter 4, he evaluates them and tells them straight out, you are still carnal, you're still living as fleshly human beings. You haven't quite gone over the top to where you're thinking spiritually, um. And able to handle these things. Their judgment was poor. Belying their professed advanced knowledge and wisdom. They were living a lie. And he tells them there in the last paragraph of chapter 3 that they cannot look to men and human wisdom. That was the wrong way to go. Um, let's just read that verse 18. Let no one deceive himself. They were living a lie, as I said. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool. That he may become wise. You gotta start from somewhere. Might as well be a fool in the eyes of this world so that you can become truly wise in the wisdom of God. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. We sing this in the hymn. Wiser by far than man is. For it is written, he catches the wise in their own craftiness. He can't fool God. He, he can point out all the philosophers' mistakes and say, you went wrong here, you assume this here. Uh, this is a straw man argument, you know, this, he, God catches all their mistakes. And again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. They're just vanity. They mean nothing. You may think of, you know, the great Greek philosophers of the past, you know, Socrates and Aristotle and Plato. I got them out of order. That they were super intelligent, wonderful thinkers, you know, intellectuals, par excellence. But he says. Really? Everything that they thought. Is vanity. It's a puff of wind. Uh, maybe, you know, like the blind squirrel, they got a one thing here or there. But their whole their compendium, if you will, of, of Uh, philosophical thought is balderdash. And you know what? I, I just thought of this yesterday. I was, I was, I was thinking. The Trinity doctrine is Neoplatonic. They just got, they took what Plato had said, they added some new things that they were thinking through there in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD and that came up to the the council. In the early Roman Church and they base their ideas of the Trinity on the philosophy. And tried to find proof texts in the scriptures. Just an aside there, this is the wisdom of men as compared to the wisdom of God. So verse 21, therefore let no one glory in men. For all things are yours. Why are you looking out in the world to the philosophers, to the uh, intellectuals out there, to the college professors in their ivory towers and the people who On online think that they are the next coming of of Socrates or something. Or Krishna or you know whoever. And When God's already given you what you need. He's given you the scriptures. He's given you the Holy Spirit. And he's given you himself. Not to mention servants that he has called directly. To provide those things that the church needs. So he says all things are yours, whether Paul. An apostle, Apollos. What was he an evangelist? What would we call him? Church pastor, obviously. Kafus, Peter himself. Or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All of yours. Why are you selling this as nothing? And going to the world for your answers. It makes no sense. And then the kicker Verse 23, and you are Christ? And Christ Is God's. It goes all the way up. Why are you selling your inheritance, your calling, all of that short? Why are you trying to get attention from the world? Why are you trying to be known as wise? When you have Christ and God. And all the tools, all the servants that he has supplied. Just doesn't make any sense. I'm sure Paul was just shaking his head. You guys have entirely misunderstood what this all is all this is about. And how God has paved the way. You know, with rose petals. For us to have entrance into his kingdom. OK. He tells us in this chapter as well about God's servants. They're called ministers. They're called servants. They're here to to help. To provide the things that you need. We could go to Ephesians 4 and find the, the purpose of the ministry there, but it's to equip you. And we are yours We're here for your service. We're to provide the things God inspires us to provide so that you can grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So we also help you. To not only have that knowledge and change your character into what is right and good, but we also are supposed to model and teach you how to serve others. Remember what we saw in Philippians too. You regard other people as better than yourself and get rid of your pride so that you can serve them. Help them Because down through the ages is always the ministry's purpose. To bring up the next generation. So that they can then serve. And of course it's also Not just the next generation, but the contemporary generation so that they can learn to serve each other. And once you do that, the whole congregation pointing in the right direction and trying to serve one another and serve the purposes of Christ and, and whatever work he has asked us to do. We make great progress, leaps and bounds, because we are all together going the same direction. And as he says there in Philippians 2, thinking the same thing, thinking with the mind of Christ. That's how the church grows, and it might not be numbers, but it certainly. In the wisdom of God. So, he has made us stewards, our servants and stewards. We're not worthy Of adulation. Uh, adulation. All right, there you go. Um, I was combining. Adulation and idolatry. But he's getting back to their, I am a Paul, I am a Apollos, I am a Kapus idea. Because they were trying to raise these men up to be something special and Paul was no, no, no, no, no, that's not the way it is we are servants we are stewards we've been given a a certain amount of authority within the church. But that doesn't make us better, it just makes us more responsible. And makes us adhere to the the job description. of helping Of equipping Of preparing And You know, We are not divided among ourselves as stewards, stewards and, and servants. Why are you dividing us? So that's why he urges them to keep their eyes on Christ because he's the one. That's the true head and deserving of glory and honor. He's not a son. I mean, he's not a servant. He's a son. He's the heir. He's the head of the church. All the glory goes to Him and to the Father. So Paul is saying, let's get things straight here. Let's understand how these, the church is put together. We're all servants of God. We're all under the head of Jesus Christ. That's what it gets to there in in chapter 12. We're all members of the body. We're all necessary for one thing or another. We all have responsibilities that differ from one another. And none of us can be lost without damaging the body, and we all feel it. But do not put the hand above the eye or the big toe, which we heard about the other day. Thank you, David. Um. Above even the pinky toe. Or some other part of the body. No, we are all necessary. We're all supposed to be. One Part one piece, 11. Entity, that's a good word under Christ. And moving forward. So Christ and his judgment, his wisdom is all that matters. All right, let's go into I Corinthians 4. We'll read first verses 8 through 13 Because What happens here in this passage is Paul using sarcasm. To showed them how it looked from his point of view about their perception of themselves, that is the Corinthians who were doing all this bad judgment and backing one horse rather than another. As opposed to Uh, Paul and Apollos. That they had a, a, a, a vaunted opinion of themselves and Paul and Apos Apollos were. You know, they were the dregs of the earth. And they looked down on them. They thought that they were wiser than Paul and Apollo's. So, this is what we are seeing here. I just wanted to say that, mention this because the language might throw you off a little bit. But he's using a very intense sarcasm. OK, verse 8. You are already full. You are already rich. You have reigned as kings without us. And indeed I would wish you did rain, that we also might rain with you. For I think That God has displayed us, the apostles, last. As men condemned to death, for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are distinguished, but we are dishonored. Even to the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands, being reviled we bless, being persecuted we endure it being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the off scouring of all things until now. Just the the dregs of the dregs. I do not know if anybody's ever thought that about me, but I would be crushed if that's actually how the the Corinthians thought about Paul and Apollo. I'm sure he's exaggerating in his sarcasm, but he brings up. This dichotomy or I guess you could say this contrast between their. Evaluation of themselves as opposed to the evaluation of Paul and Apollos. As I began, I talked about being superior and unique. Well, they, these, these Corinthians thought of themselves in that position. They were superior, they were highly spiritual, they were brilliant beyond measure. In other words, They believed they were already, even after just a few years, so spiritually gifted and developed that they no longer needed instruction in righteousness and correction from God. And certainly not correction from these God appointed servants. Who are the dregs of the earth. They had judged already, these Corinthians, that they had surpassed the apostle. Already. As still in diapers spiritually. Well, Paul disagrees, of course. He and Apollos. We're humble men They were also faithful men. They had been through the wars, as it were. They had taken stripes. They had been thrown in prison. Now we could go and list all the perils of Paul that he had gone through in order to preach the gospel, to bring the message of Christ to them. But because they had gone through these things. Uh, because They were living at times, hand, hand to mouth. They traveled a lot. They did not have a lot of time for personal upkeep and, and that sort of thing. They may have looked To the Corinthians like they were not worthy, whereas the Corinthians were well off, they dressed nice and they had this superior wisdom and uh. Paul and Apollo's just did not measure up. What they did not understand is that Paul and Apos Apollos were humble and faithful in large part because of what they had gone through. And they had learned the wisdom of God. The wisdom of Christ through their long experience. Uh, at this point, I do not know how long it may have been, maybe 20 years or so, um, that Paul had been an apostle ministering around Syria and Asia Minor, and then on into Europe. And He had been through a lot, seen everything had all these experiences, and He had been taught by Christ. If we understand what what happened after his baptism. He was an apostle out of due time, but he was. Wise in The spirit But they could not see that because they were looking on the outward man rather than the inward. But Paul Disagrees with their evaluation. He doesn't he actually agrees kind of with their evaluation of him that yes, we have been put through the mill here for your sake. We may not look all spiffy, you know, we, we may have to work with our hands in order to support themselves as they go around doing their missionary work around the Mediterranean. Some of those evaluations were spot on in terms of their physical. Uh, presence, Paul admits that in, in private, he was. You know, when you, when they saw him physically, that he was no great shakes. You know, maybe he did not have the, the voice, the commanding voice. He was not a rhetorical master. Uh, he looked small and, and I, I do not know, maybe he could be blown over in a slight breeze. I do not know. But His words when they were written in a letter, were mighty and strong, and he came across with, with all the power of, of Christ. In his instruction and his correction. But they really did not see that that was what was inside. All they saw was the outside where they looked down their noses at him. And said, this is God's apostle. So He says, yeah Yeah, but the apostles have taken it on the chin. He says there in verse 9, I think God has displayed us the apostles' last. They were the most humble, the, the stragglers in the victory parade, um. But They, on the other hand, are puffed up Paul just hits him right between the eyes here in chapter 4. In verse 6. He says, now these things, brethren, I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sake that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against another. He also mentions this in verses 18 and 19. Now some are puffed up as though I were not coming to youthat like they would, they would rain some more before Paul came. And he says, I will come to you shortly if the Lord wills, and I will know not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. Yeah, just wait till I get there. We'll set all this straight. But their problem was that they were puffed up. Uh, they were proud. They were arrogant. About what had been given to them, or what they suppose they should be like In terms of, in terms of what a godly person should be like. And opposite this was the other example of Paul and Apollos with their faithfulness and humility. So the two sides were puffed up arrogant pride, and on the other side, humility and faithfulness. And they had chose chosen the pride. And looked down On the humility. And I do not know necessarily the faithfulness, but the, the results of their afflictions. And they did not understand that the The look that they had their, their humble appearance was proof of their faithfulness and their Christlikeness. So This is the basis for what he says in verse 16. Because they needed to understand that the example that Paul and Apollos were giving them was the right example. So he says, therefore, I urge you, imitate me. Change your mind about this. Start looking at Paul and Apollo's or me and Apollo's, put my, myself in his place, um. And This This is what Christ has told us is the right way, and we are trying to live it. So imitate me. And then he says in verse 17, that he's going to send Timothy there. So that they would have somebody as a local pastor for uh extended life of time, who had been taught personally by Paul, who Timothy looked up to and copied himself in his manner of living. And so he said, you'll have somebody there in Corinth. To look at To question, to counsel with. So you can see how a godly person. Acts How a godly person speaks. And so He knew that they needed a little bit of extra help, and he sent his right-hand man to help them. That is Timothy. OK. Let's go back to I Corinthians 4:6-7. I read 6 already. I'll read it again. Because this begins a section where Paul presents three profound truths that provide the principles. Undergirding Paul's Upcoming correction of them. So, let's read verse 6 again and 7. Now these things, brethren. I have figuratively transferred to myself and Apollos for your sake. That you may learn in us not to think beyond what was written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one another, one against the other, for who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it? This is the Uh, the, the, these are the verses. That the argument turns on. So he provides these three profound truths in the form of questions. Theologian Gordon D. Fee observes in his commentary on I Corinthians on page 166, quote, The argument has reached its moment of truth, unquote. Now had the Corinthians observed these truths, they would not have become puffed up with pride. They would not have thought themselves superior and uniquely gifted. Which was the basis of their pride. They would not have been puffed up. In knowledge and worldly wisdom. Why? Because these three truths require humility to accept. And practice. Now, the first truth. Is the is actually in verse 6. That you may learn in us, and this is the part, not to think beyond what is written. That's the first thing This almost certainly refers to the scripture. At that time, it was the the the Old Testament. The Old Testament contains several admonitions not to add to what God says. Let's just see one of them in Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4 And this is verses 2 through 5. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Pio, for the Lord your God has destroyed from among all you all the men who followed Baal of Pio. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. I'll put all that in there because uh. The only way they are going to Act according to what God had said was to follow it explicitly. Not adding not subtracting. And he says in verse 6, be careful to observe them. For this is your wisdom and your understanding. So you do not want to add to them because if you add to them you're putting your own human wisdom in there and likely destroying some of the instruction and of course the same happens or a similar thing happens when you take away from them you're taking away some of God's wisdom uh. And judging that it is better that way, which is foolishness. So Take God's word as it is. Don't add. subtract. Now the Corinthians thought themselves so spiritually mature. That they could extrapolate judgments from God's word using the wisdom of men. That's what they were adding. They were adding the wisdom of men. The Platonic thoughts, the, the Aristotelian thoughts, the Socratic thoughts, and all those other Greek philosophers that they held in such high esteem. And saying, well, when we compare what it says in the scripture with what ex philosopher says we can have a synthesis here, and when we do that, We come up with this conclusion. And you know, the, the fellow philosophers in the congregation would say yes, that's very wise. That makes a lot of sense. I agree with you, but have you ever gone to this tract date or this this little bit of from why philosopher? And he comments on this, and he says that if you add this little bit, it'll make it even better. And so really, rather than discussing God's word, they were discussing the philosophers. They were trying to be. Like the philosophers on the Areopagus in Athens. They were trying to imitate the in crowd of philosophers in Athens. And they thought that with this addition of God's wisdom that they were making themselves even superior to them. But Paul says. Let's not go beyond what is written. Kick Socrates and his fellow bums out. They are not God's prophets. So whether it was Some other wisdom, Greek philosophy, Greek logic or personal insight. All of them added to God's word. Usually comes out. With woefully ungodly ideas. I mean, we could go here. I do not know how it worked in this particular instance, but in chapter 5, verse 1, It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality as not even named among the Gentiles. This is how far they were going. Extrapolating from God's word and using Greek wisdom. That a man has his father's wife. And you are puffed up and have not rather mourned that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I, I, indeed, as absence in body but presence in spirit have already judged cause he was judging by God's word alone, not adding to it, not taking away from it. As though I were present concerning Him who has so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose word it was, when you are gathered together along with my Spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of our, of the Lord Jesus. It was contaminating the church. It was an obvious judgment. That that person had to be put out of the church in the hope of repentance. And we find out in II Corinthians that they had done this, they had followed Paul's instruction, and the man repented. When they did the right thing, when they did what the word of God said to do. It resulted in good eventually. So he's using this as a, a test case, if you will, to show how foolish that they were in using man's wisdom. And how wise it is to follow God's precepts on this particular subject. God honored it God made it possible for that man to repent, and they welcomed him back. It ended well. Let's go to Proverbs 30. Proverbs 30 Verses 5 and 6. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Do not add to his words lest he reprove you and you be found a liar. This is extra emphasis here. We do not want to add anything. To our judgment of spiritual matters from the world. Or from our own. Uh, how, how would I put this from things that we have in, in ourselves that came from the world. We have to learn to discern. Uh, the truth of God from our own ideas, preconceptions. And be able to make true judgment. Uh, judgments based on what God says above what we may think. So Paul here is telling them. In this first truth that they are guilty of gross presumption. Using these deep insights from the world or from the the depths of their own human nature to bolster their arguments for their favorite minister. And against the other one that was not worth his salt. Romans 14:4. Says Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. And then I Corinthians 4 back there verse 5. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart, and then each one's praise will come from God. We have to be very careful in our evaluations and our judgments of these things. All right, back to verses 6 and 7, specifically here verse 7. The second truth that Paul brings out. is Uh, in the first question here in verse 7, for who makes you differ from another? In today's speech, we would probably phrase it as what makes you so special? Or who do you think you are anyway? The apostle demands to know from their own mouth. What elevates them so far above other people? Even apostles He's asking, what are your grounds for boasting of such wisdom? We might say, where'd you go to school? His question obviously is rhetorical. Other than the fact that God had called them, they were average Joes, just like you and me. Oh, I'm Richard, but um You know, we saw that back in I Corinthians 1:26 and through 29. They possessed nothing inherent that would elevate them over their brethren or Uh, over the ministry or merit recognition by anyone else as wise judges. He gets to that in chapter 6. Why is not there anyone among you who could make a good decision? They were going to law out in the world in order to solve their problems when they should have been able to do it by deep study of the word of God. So in this case, Paul exposes them. As arrogant. And assuming a superiority that they did not have and we are not even close to. OK, the the third truth here is the other two questions in verse 7. He says here And what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it? Or we could say that last part. If you did receive it, Why do you boast as if it had originated with you? Here the apostle points out their self-delusion. And they are in gratitude to God. Even if God had gifted them with intelligence, understanding, marvelous wisdom. The gift was not truly theirs. They had received it, yes, but it derived from God. It was his wisdom that he gave. It was his understanding that he gave. It was his knowledge that he gave. What was theirs? Really nothing Because All of their godly wisdom, etc. was based on what God had given them. They could not boast about it in the first person because they were not at source. And they had neither deserved it or earned it. It was given It was a gift And this principle applies much more broadly to his general providence as much as his spiritual providence. Let's go back to Matthew 5. This is how it works. Universally Matthew 5. Uh, we will read verses 43 through 45. You have heard it was said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. This is where I'm, I was going here, for he makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. So what does he say? Everything we have ultimately comes from God. From the tiniest morsel of food up to the greatest of spiritual wisdom. He created us He gave us life. He gave us all our faculties and skills. He created this earth and maintains it for our use. He is the first cause of all things, and as such, all good things trace back to his divine provision. In actual absolute terms, No one has originated anything to be justifiably proud of. Only our sin. is our own. That's what we created. And even that is derivative of many other sins and influences. What do you have that you did not receive? And why in receiving it, how does he put it? Why do you glory as if you had not received it? Why do you? Make a big show. As if it had come from you. Now the Bible uses a well-known phrase. That describes this attitude. That phrase is wise in their own eyes. This phrase is never used in a good sense. It's always used in a condemnatory manner because it is a form of pride. It's intellectual conceit, and it replaces humble submission and dependence on God with self-reliance. In Proverbs 26:12, Solomon equates it with foolishness. All right, let's just. Give it the name that it is stupidity. Because thinking They already possess all the answers. Such people who are wise in their own eyes are blind to their deficiencies. It prevents them from turning to God for help. And in the end It makes them unteachable. And unrepentant. How do you turn somebody toward the good when they think they have all the answers? It usually takes a very strong trial to get them to finally say. OK. I've been stupid. All this time. Let's go back to the book of Proverbs in chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. Verse 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. From this we understand that God considers being wise in your own eyes and evil. It's a sin that needs to be repented on. And the antidote for this The terrible attitude of being wise in your own eyes is as he says here, the fear of the Lord. You have to understand. Your proper place before God. You have to give him the honor and the glory and the praise. You have to restore that master servant relationship. So that you can move move forward in humility. And become wise. In God's eyes OK, Isaiah 5. Isaiah 5 And we will read verse 21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight. When you see the word woe. This is a sign that you are under judgment. And God's wrath will come down if the sin that is the object of the woe is not repented of. So it's a very serious sin. And God will not put up with it for long. Because as I mentioned a few minutes ago when we are wise in our own eyes, we are not teachable. We're not moving forward toward the kingdom of God. So we need to repent of it very quickly. Now to Romans 12:16. Romans 12:16. 1612 will not do 1216. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. We just condemned Everyone On the internet Paul explicitly commands Christians not to have this attitude of being wise in one's own eyes. He says it in context with exalting the self. Here in verse 16, do not set your mind on high things but associate with the hommel. That's, that's the problem. They were trying to Exalt themselves. Rather than being humble. Under Christ and Using his wisdom. Rather than their own. So since our wisdom. I should, I should put it this way, since Christ is our wisdom. Being wise in our own eyes is contrary to true wisdom. And that summarizes Paul's extended correction of the Corinthians. They had taken their eyes off of Christ. They had ceased to be humble. And they were going down the drain fast. All right. Let's go to Isaiah 14. Verses 12 and 15 12 through 15. How you are fallen from heaven, O Hillel, son of the morning. How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations, for you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet you shall be brought down to Shiel to the lowest depths of the pit. We could go to Ezekiel 28:11 through 17, which is essentially Ezekiel's uh. Version of this The fall of Satan Or hellel as the word is, the name is in Hebrew. In his example, we can see what happens when we exalt our own wisdom. Our pride follows the path that Satan took. Thinking we are superior, thinking we know better, thinking we deserve better, chafing that we are not given more or recognized more. Saying in our heart of hearts. That we could do better. Than those who are in charge. And finally, when we have had enough rebelling, when we are not recognized for our immaculate perfection. It's a recipe for spiritual disaster. So Paul tells the Corinthians, stay in your lane. The lane God put you in. And repent of any thought of superiority over others. In knowledge, in understanding, in wisdom, or thinking that you have discovered some unique truth or understanding. If you stay in or you jump out of that lane, you are playing with fire. And you know what fire I'm talking about. So the commentator that I mentioned in the beginning. One who was on social media. He's right Originality, uniqueness, superiority are overrated. He is essentially correct as well about our objectives now that we realize that those sorts of things are beyond us. We need to concentrate on speaking the truth in love. We need to do good. Which is the way of God. And we need to strive to bring beauty and excellence into a dark world in every endeavor we set our hand to do. In that way We will have the wisdom. Of Jesus Christ And we will be shown as following in the footsteps of our savior.
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