Introduction:
Humble Yourself: 4 Truths to Help You (1 Corinthians 4:1–13)
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Only GOD'S OPINION of me matters. (1 Cor 4:3–5)
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I've RECEIVED all that I HAVE. (1 Cor 4:6–8)
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God wants to SHOW everyone how I SUFFER. (1 Cor 4:9–13a)
John 15:20 – Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you...
1 Peter 2:21–23 – For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
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The WORLD thinks I'm SCUM. (1 Cor 4:13b)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:41-00:42
Good morning.
00:43-00:46
My name is Jeff, and let me tell you a little bit about myself.
00:48-00:49
That's such an interesting thing, isn't it?
00:49-00:51
Like, let me tell you a little bit about myself.
00:52-01:04
Or when you ask somebody, "Hey, tell me about yourself." It's an interesting thing because the first thing that comes out of their mouths is the thing that they want to be known as, right?
01:04-01:05
Or known for.
01:06-01:08
let me tell you a little bit about myself.
01:11-01:16
Do you know where, you see this a lot, game shows, right?
01:16-01:24
Let me tell you a little bit about myself, or if you've ever watched Jeopardy, it is such a cringey moment.
01:25-01:31
You know, they come back from commercial break, and some of us remember Alex Trebek, who's the guy now?
01:32-01:37
Ken Jennings, okay, like, All right, we're gonna meet our contestants and tell me a little bit about yourself.
01:38-01:42
I'm always so fascinated with the way they identify themselves, right?
01:43-01:49
It's so fascinating because, yeah, like some are cool, but some are just really, really weird.
01:49-01:59
And I'm like, you're on TV and this is gonna go to syndication and this is gonna be seen by millions and this is what you came up with.
01:59-02:00
You know what I'm talking about?
02:01-02:04
But like, you know, this is our challenger, Bill.
02:04-02:05
Tell us about yourself.
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And Bill's like, "Yeah, one time I showed up to work and I had my pants on backwards." "Oh, what'd you do?" "Well, I just kind of stepped into the bathroom and turned them around." I was like, "Okay, all right, let's meet Glenda." And I'm like, "What was that?" Let me tell you a little bit about myself.
02:29-02:31
How do you want to be known?
02:34-03:00
Well, I was thinking about that a lot this past week as we get to 1 Corinthians 4, because if the apostle Paul was on Jeopardy and the host says, "All right, well, tell us a little bit about yourself, Paul." I think we know exactly what he'd say Because it's here in 1 Corinthians 4.
03:03-03:04
Look at the first couple of verses.
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He says, "This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
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Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy "Tell us a little bit about yourself, Paul." He goes, "Okay, I'm a slave of Jesus Christ." Actually this word for servant in the Greek is the lowest slave, like bottom rank slave.
03:46-03:47
And then he says stewards.
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What's a steward?
03:48-03:54
Well, in those days, wealthy people would have someone who was like their sort of house manager.
03:55-03:59
in charge of distribution and spending and inventory.
03:59-04:00
And you know who got that job?
04:01-04:04
It was one of the slaves, still a slave.
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So why is he saying this?
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Well, we've seen throughout 1 Corinthians, the issue was all of this exalting leaders, right?
04:18-04:23
Putting Paul and Apollos and Cephas up on pedestals and all these factions.
04:24-04:30
And Paul here in 1 Corinthians is saying, "Look, look, look, you're regarding us as world changers.
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You're regarding us as these elite Christians.
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You're regarding us as celebrity church planners." And Paul here is like, "Eh, here is how you should regard us." I'm a slave.
04:45-04:46
That's it.
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I'm a slave.
04:51-04:58
They had this terrible problem exalting the ministers, and it resulted in them exalting themselves.
04:58-04:59
We've seen that.
05:00-05:05
The pride with their alignment, like, "Yeah, I'm one of Paul's guys." "Oh yeah, that's nothing.
05:05-05:22
I'm one of Apollos' guys." And they were proud of their alignment, and they had disdain towards others, like, "Oh, you must be one of those Paul people." And Paul here is saying, "Why are you making so much of us?
05:24-05:25
We're just slaves.
05:26-05:28
All we're trying to do is be trustworthy.
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That's it." We saw back in chapter, I'm sorry, in verse 18 rather, in chapter 3.
05:40-05:48
Look back there, Paul says, "Let no one deceive himself." We are so self-deceived.
05:48-05:51
And Paul's like, "Oh, Corinthians, you think you're so wise.
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You think you have it all figured out.
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You think you're on the right team.
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You're so full of pride." Again, that's the issue.
06:00-06:02
Look down at verse 21 in chapter 3.
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Pastor Taylor covered this last week.
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He says, "So let no one boast in men." That shouldn't be happening.
06:10-06:18
Not Paul, not Apollos, not Jeff, not Taylor, not your favorite podcast or YouTube's preacher.
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We shouldn't be exalting anyone.
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And when we get to this section here in chapter 4, here's what we're going to see.
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Paul is giving a true biblical assessment of himself.
06:40-06:51
And he tells the Corinthians, "Look, you have to take an honest assessment of who we are." And, Corinthians, you have to take an honest assessment of yourselves.
06:56-07:03
So here in this passage, Paul's going to be serving up some humble pie, all right?
07:04-07:05
So strap on your helmet.
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This isn't going to be a very comfortable message because Paul's like, "Hey, stop with the pride.
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Stop exalting people.
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Stop exalting yourselves.
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Here's a reality check and harvest.
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We need a reality check." Because it's real easy for us to point to the Corinthians and be like, "Wow, look at all the pride they have.
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Look at all the problems they have." Pride isn't every one of us' problem, you realize that.
07:35-07:47
Every single human has a problem with pride, has a problem with self-exaltation, and it's real easy to do that in a church identity.
07:48-07:53
it was for the Corinthians, and it's easy for Harvest Bible Chapel to begin to exalt ourselves.
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We can look at some of the nonsense that's happening around us, and other churches or organizations that call themselves churches, and it'd be real easy for us to say, well, we're the only ones that are faithful.
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We are more mature than the other Christians.
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I don't know what their problem is, but I follow this guy or I listen to this guy.
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That means I'm one of the smart ones.
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I'm one of the enlightened ones.
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And it's real easy to go down the path of pride.
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That's what we're gonna see in this passage.
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The Bible's telling us to humble ourselves.
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Like, hey, hey, knock it off.
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Stop thinking so much of yourself.
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You gotta humble yourself.
08:47-09:01
You know, so much in God's Word, we see things that the Holy Spirit does in us and through us, yes, but from what I've studied in God's Word, the command to humble yourself, that's on you.
09:03-09:15
And that would be a whole other sermon series, but you and I are commanded, we are commanded to humble ourselves, so we don't get carried away in our pride.
09:19-09:22
Because humility is the number one characteristic that God's looking for in people.
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You're not going to come to Jesus unless you're humble.
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You're not going to live a victorious Christian life unless you're humble.
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You're not going to have a fruitful ministry unless you're humble.
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If you're going to be humble, it's on you.
09:39-09:41
So on your outline, I want you to jot some things down.
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Humble yourself.
09:46-09:52
You're like, "Well, how do I do that?" Paul's like, "Well, here's four things "that'll help you do that." All right?
09:55-10:01
So I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and I hope you're not too full because you're about to have four slices of humble pie.
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And I don't feel bad at all because I've had to eat this all week, all right?
10:08-10:10
So pray for me and I'll pray for you, all right?
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Just pause for a second, please pray for me as I pray for you.
10:15-10:22
Father in heaven, as we come to your word, let us not be deceiving ourselves.
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Every single one of us have this drive to put the spotlight on us, to make much of us, to think too much of ourselves.
10:30-10:41
And Father, this passage is certainly going to to give us the attitude that You've called us to have.
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Father, I pray through the wisdom of Your Word, by the power of Your Holy Spirit, that You would give us the faith to make the choices that we need to make, to humble ourselves so we can see the greatness of Jesus Christ manifest in our lives.
10:59-11:02
We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
11:04-11:36
yourself here's four truths that will help you these are four statements that Paul made about himself and that we would commend to you to make about yourself number one only God's opinion of me matters only God's opinion of me matters look at verse 3 Paul says but with me it is a very small thing that I by you or by any human court.
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In fact, I do not even judge myself.
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Now quick review, when we talk about judge, that's like everybody's favorite verse in the Bible.
11:47-11:48
Don't judge, don't judge.
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It's everybody's favorite because they don't understand it.
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Judging does not mean like, hey, don't call me out on sin or you're judging me.
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That's not what that means.
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Judging doesn't mean that like I can be a jerk and I can't care what other people think of me jerkiness, don't call me out. That's not what judging means at all. Actually, this word for judge in the Greek could be translated cross-examined. He's talking about people judging your walk with Christ. That's what he's talking about. Judging your, as he mentioned in verse 2, judging your trustworthiness. Some Bibles say faithful or faithfulness.
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That's what he's talking about.
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People judging your faithfulness, your trustworthiness.
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And well, what does that mean to you, Paul?
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He says, "Well, that's a very small thing." And in the Greek, do you know what that means?
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That means the smallest.
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Your opinion of my spiritual walk does not matter for bad or for good.
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It doesn't.
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Here's what I mean.
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After service, if I was at guest reception and you walk by and you're like, "Jeff, I think you're a bad pastor." Like, "Well, sorry you feel that way, but your opinion doesn't matter." Right now there's some of you that are like, "Yes, I can get on board with that." Your opinion doesn't matter.
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That's not really my main concern though.
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You know what the bigger danger is?
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Is the guy that walks your guest reception and says, "Jeff, I think you're a great pastor." That's the bigger danger because then that stuff can start going to your head.
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You can start to think, "You know what?
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Yeah, they're right.
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I am pretty awesome.
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They nailed it.
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Come back, tell me more.
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But the reality is for bad or for good, the opinion doesn't matter.
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That's where there's a danger.
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I've been talking about this with our ministry team and our conference speakers, we have conferences coming up.
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Yet, a people's opinion of your trustworthiness, your faithfulness doesn't matter, good or bad.
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Watch out for the compliments because they're much harder to dismiss because they're much easier to go to my head.
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All right, look at verse 4.
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Paul says, "For I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.
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It is the Lord who judges me." See, Paul says, "What other people think of me doesn't really matter, neither does what I even think of myself." Doesn't matter either, right?
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You need to have the funeral.
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I realize I'm probably not as great as my grandma thinks I am.
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And I'm probably not as horrible as my critics think I am.
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Either way, it doesn't matter because a slave only cares about one thing, that's pleasing his master.
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Look at verse 5, he goes on, he goes, "Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart.
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Then each one will receive his commendation from God." Okay, here's what he's driving at.
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At the end of the day, there's only one opinion that matters.
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Whose is it?
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God's, right?
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That's it.
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All that matters is what God thinks of me.
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He's going to make the final judgments on your heart.
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Now listen, this verse should knock every single one of us down a peg.
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Because you see what God's Word is telling us.
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God sees what you do.
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Yes, yes He does, but much deeper than that.
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God sees why you do what you do.
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Your motives, your thoughts, what no one else knows, everything that you do in the dark, God is going to drag it to the light.
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Understand that with God, there are no secrets.
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You might have secrets from your family.
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You might have secrets from your spouse.
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You might have secrets from your boss.
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You might have secrets from your parents, but you do not have any secrets from God.
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So are you pretending?
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Are you pretending in your walk with Christ?
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You might fool me.
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But it doesn't matter.
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You're an open book to God and He's going to judge.
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Are you sincere?
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Like, look, I'm not perfect, but I'm sincere.
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I am sincerely seeking to know and honor the Lord.
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Jeff, I really am seeking to know the Lord." That's great because the Bible says someday you're going to receive your commendation.
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But as far as humbling yourself, my friends, you will never humble yourself until you get to the place where only God's opinion of you matters.
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You've got to get there.
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Number two, not only do I need to reckon with only God's opinion, he matters.
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Number two, write this one down.
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I've received all that I have.
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I've received all that I have.
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6. He says, "I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that "None of you may be puffed up "in favor of one against another." There is a lot going on in that verse, all right?
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Let's break it down here because this is so crucial in so many ways.
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First of all, he says, "I've applied all these things to me "and Apollos for your benefit." You're like, "Applied what things?" "Everything so far that he's been saying "about pride and humility, all of this stuff." He goes, "I'm applying all of this "to Apollos and I for you." In other words, look, all this stuff that he's talking about, this isn't just a preacher thing, and it's not just a church member thing.
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This stuff about pride and humility, this is an all of us thing.
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You get that?
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And he says, Excuse me, we all need to learn not to go beyond what is written.
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What does that mean?
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Listen, this is a principle that carries over in everything.
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You need to learn that you must not, excuse me, you must not go beyond what the Bible says.
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You must not go beyond what the Bible says.
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Well, what's he talking about?
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Here's his point.
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He's telling the Corinthians, and he's telling us Harvest, because they were exalting others and they had disdain for others.
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And Paul's like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." You need to view people only the way the Bible describes people.
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That's what he's saying.
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You need to view people only as the Bible describes.
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That's it.
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How does the Bible describe people?
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Every single one of us were born with a sin nature.
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We inherited that from Adam.
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The Bible says Adam brought sin into the world and he passed it on to his kids, he passed onto his kids and pass it on to us.
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We were born with a sin nature.
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We are rebellious against God by birth and by choice, and we deserve hell.
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That's what the Bible says about people.
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But Jesus came, God in the flesh came.
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He died on the cross to take away our sins.
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He rose from the dead to give us the promise of eternal life, and he has commanded us to turn from our sin to believe in Him.
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And when we do, the Bible says that you are born again.
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When you do, the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit Himself comes and empowers you to be who God called you to be.
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And every single person who is saved is saved that way.
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Spoiler alert, if you're going to heaven, You're going to hear the same testimony a lot.
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Like, "How'd you get here?" "Jesus." "How'd you get here?" "Jesus." "I'm gonna go ask this lady, how'd you get here?" "Jesus." You're gonna hear that, not a lot.
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You're gonna hear that exclusively.
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Paul's point here is, look, you guys are all messed up about exalting people.
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Look, you need to have a biblical perspective of who we are.
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Don't go beyond that.
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Or, did you see that at the end of the verse?
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If you do, you will start exalting yourself, right?
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He says, "You may be puffed up in favor of one against another." Go beyond what the Bible says, you're going to start having pride.
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You're going to start to think that you're better than others.
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And then Paul gives them the Dutch uncle.
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Look at verse 7.
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He says, he has three questions.
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Paul says, "For who sees anything different in you?" Like we're all the same.
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The Bible describes this is who man is.
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And he goes, "Who sees anything different in you?" Like what, you're something different?
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You're something special?
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You're a little snowflake?
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Like, oh, you're like, "I know what the Bible says, "but I'm different.
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"I'm special, Grandma thinks I'm special." He said, "Who sees anything different in you?" Like what makes you think you're so special, right?
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Next question, "What do you have that you did not receive?" Get back to that in a second.
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Let that question marinate.
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What is it that you're in possession of that wasn't like given to you?
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All right?
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Then he drives it home with this third question.
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He goes, "If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" Paul's like, "Why are you so full of yourselves?
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Everything and everything about you, you received that.
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I mean, think about that.
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Just think about that for a minute.
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That's true physically, right?
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about you physically, you received that genetically from your parents.
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You know, occasionally I'll meet somebody or whatever and they're like, "How old are you?" I'm like, "Well, I'm 50." And people say, "Well, you look young for your age." And I say, "Have you been to the eye doctor lately?" "No, I don't say that.
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I don't say that." "I just, I smile and say thank you." Or like, "I got good genes from my mom." But you know what I'm thinking when people say that?
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Like, "That's very nice of you to say, "but I contributed nothing to that." Like, "This is what I got.
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"That's just what I got.
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"I received this." You're like, "I'm sorry." Well, I received this.
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This is what I got.
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This is what was given to me.
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You're like, "Well, doesn't that upset you?" It doesn't matter how I feel about it, this is what I got.
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This is the shade of my skin.
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This is as tall as I'm going to get.
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But that's true for you.
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Everything you have was given to you.
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But I don't really think that's Paul's main point here.
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I think mainly he was talking spiritually, right?
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Everything that I have spiritually has been given to me.
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Salvation, that was a gift from God.
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God gave me that.
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What about spiritual giftedness?
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Where did I get that?
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The Holy Spirit, God gave me a spiritual gift.
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He gave you a spiritual gift.
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It was given, that's why it's called a spiritual gift.
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He gave it to you, right?
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Oh, by the way, your talents, you know the Bible says those are given to you by God, your natural, what we call natural talents.
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The Bible says those were given to you by God.
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Look that up, it's in Exodus.
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Everything about you has been given to you from God directly or from God through your parents.
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And you're like, "Not me.
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I work hard." Why?
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Who gave you the ability to work hard?
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You see, why are you acting like you earned anything?
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And then Paul gets sarcastic with them.
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Look at verse eight.
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Obviously dripping with sarcasm here.
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He is, "Already you have all you want.
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Already you become rich without us.
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You would have become kings.
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Would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you.
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Do you see the sarcasm?
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He's condemning their pride.
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He's like, oh, oh, I'm so sorry.
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I didn't realize that you were these spiritually elite and wise people.
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I didn't realize that you attained a level of spirituality all by yourselves.
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You didn't need us, Madam President.
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Oh, I beg your pardon for thinking different.
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What Paul's doing here is he's pulling them back down to earth.
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He's like, you guys think you're so superior with your pride.
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Knock it off.
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Get off of your high horse.
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Stop it.
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Because everything you have has been given to you.
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How in the world can you boast about that?
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You know, just imagine this scenario.
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Imagine that five of our kids from Harvest Academy, imagine I gave them each a quarter.
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Like, no, don't spend it all in one place.
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But I gave five kids a quarter.
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And as you're walking out church, you see the five of those kids, those five kids are sitting at a table up here by Harvest Academy.
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And you stop and listen for a second and they're all bragging.
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And one kid's like, "I got a quarter.
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"I got a quarter.
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"Look how awesome I am.
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"I have a quarter." And then the little girl beside him is like, "I got a quarter.
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"You think you're great?
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"I got a quarter.
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"I'm awesome, I got a quarter." And then the next kid's like, "I got a quarter." And wouldn't you be like, "What are you guys bragging about?
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"Jeff just gave you all a quarter.
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"How does that, why are you so boastful?" And that's what Paul's saying here to the Corinthians.
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You're like a bunch of kids bragging because somebody gave each a quarter.
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Knock it off, we're all equal in God's eyes.
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And equal does not mean the same, But equal does mean equal.
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You're never gonna humble yourself until you get to the place where you recognize every single thing that you have was given to you.
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All right?
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Humble yourself.
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And here's four truths that'll help you.
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Number three.
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This is a hard truth.
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All right?
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Number three is God wants to show everyone how I suffer.
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God wants to show everyone how I suffer.
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Pick up in verse nine.
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Paul says, "For I think that God has exhibited us apostles of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men." Paul says, "God put us on display." He says, "We're like the lowest people on the earth." See the picture there?
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Paul says, "You know what we're like? We're like men on death row, being escorted to the electric chair while TV cameras all around recording us for the entire world to turn on the TV and watch us." Like, "Hey, look, there they go, off to be killed. Look at them. Everybody watch." Watch.
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That's how God put us on display.
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You see in v. 10, Paul gets back into some more sarcasm.
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He says, "We are fools for Christ's sake.
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But you are wise in Christ.
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We are weak, but you are strong.
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You are held in honor, we and disrepute." What's he talking about here?
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It's more sarcasm.
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See what Paul's saying?
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Paul's like, "We're out here suffering, serving the Lord.
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We're out here actually suffering, and you're sitting in your little pews patting yourselves on the back.
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What's going on?" Like, "Well, suffering how?
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How are you suffering, Paul?
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Well, he tells us, "To the present hour, we hunger and thirst.
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We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands." What is there to brag about again?
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Paul's reminding them that following Christ means suffering.
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I don't really care what the health and wealth church down the street says about that, and I don't really care what the prosperity preacher on TV says about that.
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All I care is what the Bible says about that, and do you know what the Bible says?
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The Bible says if you follow Christ, you are going to suffer.
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Jesus himself said this, John 15, 20.
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Jesus said, "Remember the word that I said to you, "'A servant is not greater than his master.'" Jesus said that a bunch.
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"A servant is not greater than his master." What are you saying, Lord?
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If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." See what Jesus is saying?
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God allowed His only begotten Son to suffer.
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So you think as an adopted child of God that you're exempt from that?
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You think that because you're adopted, that you get a pass on suffering?
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Listen, God doesn't keep you from suffering.
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He puts you on display in suffering.
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You're like, "Why would He do that?
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Why in the world would God do that?
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Are you telling me that God is allowing me to suffer so everybody can watch me suffer?" That's what He said.
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Like, "Why would He do that?" He tells us.
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We continue in verse 12 here.
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He says, "When reviled, we bless.
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When persecuted, we endure.
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When slandered, we entreat." So why in the world would God lead us to suffering?
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So God can show everyone who's watching How? How we suffer.
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So he talks here about being reviled and persecuted and slandered.
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Have you ever seen worldly people react to those things?
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All the time, right?
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What does the world do when they're reviled or persecuted or slandered?
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The world reactions, they're on display everywhere.
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It's retaliation, it's temper tantrums.
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I'll get even with you, you can't do this to me.
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It's pity parties and oh, woe is me.
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And that's how the world reacts.
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Listen, God wants you to walk through the same kinds of suffering so that you can exhibit the life of Christ.
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Do you realize how awesome this is?
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That God is going to allow you to suffer so the world can watch, so God can point to you and say, "Look at how my people suffer.
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"Oh, you see how the world suffers "and how they retaliate and how they're bitter "and how they're angry.
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"And look at my people.
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"When they suffer, "they reflect the character of my son.
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"Look at my people.
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When they're reviled, they turn around and they look for ways to bless the people that hate them.
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Do you see my people do that?
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God says, "Look at my people.
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When they're persecuted, they don't pack it up.
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They don't boo-hoo.
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I quit.
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I can't take it anymore.
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Look at my people.
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When my people are persecuted, they endure.
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They are not going to give up." God says, "Look at my people when they're slandered.
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They don't slander back.
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They don't hate the people that speak negatively about them." God says, "Look at what my people do.
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They entreat.
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They're trying to reach the people that hate them with the gospel of my Son.
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Look at my people." This guy sounds familiar, doesn't it?
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Probably because Peter said something almost identical.
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Look at 1 Peter 2, verse 21.
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Look at this.
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Same thing, exact same truth.
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For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps." Here's the example.
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Jesus committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
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When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.
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When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." You're going to suffer. The only real question is, "How are you going to suffer?" Meaning, what is going to be your attitude during your suffering? You're going to lash because your pride was hurt, you're gonna humble yourself and show them the example that Jesus gave you.
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But you'll never humble yourself until you understand that you are called to respond to suffering like Jesus.
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One more slice of humble pie, are you full?
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You're like, you know what, Pastor Jeff, I think I'm just the right amount of humble.
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Can we sing and get out of here?
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There's one more.
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Number four, something to tell yourself when you start to think that you're so important.
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Number four, the world thinks I'm scum.
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Look at the last part of verse 13.
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We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
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Yeah, we're scum.
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We're garbage, you know that.
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We are garbage people.
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To the lost, they think our message is foolishness.
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You realize that?
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You realize that to the lost, they would come in here and hear what we're doing, see what we're doing, and they would say, literally, "What a bunch of morons." Look, if you're here for a little ego boost, I'd just like to remind you what the Bible says, you're trash.
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We're all just trash in the world's eyes.
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You know, when I was a kid, my dad used to say that, he had this little saying that he said all the time, and as a kid, I never understood what it meant.
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It was this, anytime somebody was acting untowardly, somebody was acting like a hog or insulting you or being cruel towards you or speaking perversely, or anytime somebody was acting like that, my dad would just say, "Oh, you gotta consider the source." I never knew what that meant until I became an adult.
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Now I'm, oh.
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I get what he's saying now.
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And I think that little saying of dad's That certainly applies here.
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It's like, hey, you know, the world thinks you're scum.
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Well, consider the source.
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The brilliant world crucified Jesus Christ.
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This world, who was giving their opinion of me, took God in the flesh and publicly executed Him most humiliating and painful way.
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Oh, they think I'm scum, huh?
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Well, I guess I should just consider the source.
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Oh, you're never gonna be popular with the world.
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If you follow Christ, you are never going to be popular with the world, it's not going to happen.
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They think you're scum.
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And the truth is I'm actually much worse than they think I am.
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I am.
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My sin is so bad it took the blood of the spotless Son of God to wash my sin away.
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That must mean my sin was pretty bad.
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So it takes us back to point one, right?
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God's opinion is really the only one that matters anyways.
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that you're never going to humble yourself until you're okay with the world regarding you as scum.
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All right?
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So if our worship team would make their way back to the platform, just wanna leave you with this.
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If you're ever a contestant on Jeopardy, not likely for most of us, or you start to think that you're pretty important, which is actually very likely for all of us, I'm I'm gonna give you your speech.
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When someone says, "So, tell me a little bit about yourself." If you wanna be biblical, here's your speech.
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Like, "My name is, I'm only here to please God.
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Everything I have has been given to me.
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God wants me to suffer so that the world can see Jesus and the world thinks I'm scum.
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Tell me a little bit about yourself.
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, I just ask again that you would use your word to humble all of us.
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Our sin is so self-exalting and we start to think that we have things figured out or we reached a level that other people should aspire to when your word says that we should humble ourselves.
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Father, remind us of these truths that someday we're gonna stand before you and on that day, We will learn the truth that it is only your opinion that means anything.
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Increase our faith, Father.
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Give us the drive to humble ourselves.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-13
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Paul is once again admonishing them on their divisiveness over “who is the best minister”. Why do you think there is so much content on this subject in 1 Corinthians?
How would you define humility? Why does the Bible say that you must “humble yourself”, i.e., that job is on you to do?
In 1 Cor 4:6, Paul tells them not to “go beyond what is written”? What specifically does he mean by that? How does this principle apply to Bible study in general?
Breakout
Pray for one another.