God gives Grace to the Humble, but Pride comes before a Fall.
Intro: Good morning South Sydney Anglican Church. My name is Matt Johnson and today we continue our study of 1 Corinthians. So please pray with me as we begin…
Prayer: Well friends, today Paul addresses the issue of PRIDE and ARROGANCE. Let me show you one of the key words; (Slide 2). The word here means to puff-up. In English we sometimes talk of people “puffing up their own chest”. “To puff up one’s chest” means to make yourself look bigger and more important than you really are. It is an expression of PRIDE and ARROGANCE. But those who puff up their chests with hot-air are also pretty good at blowing their own trumpet. So the word also has to do with BOASTING. Now sadly, some of the people in the church in Corinth were puffed up and they were blowing their own trumpet in all sorts of ways. So for the first few chapters of 1 Corinthians – Paul has been trying to deflate their Freudian super-egos. Paul has been making it clear that Christianity and pride really do NOT belong together because at the foot of the cross we all admitted we are just wretched sinners saved by God’s grace.
But truly, pride and arrogance is the way of the world. FUNDAMENTALLY, the world’s arrogance is expressed in rejecting God and denying their need of God. I’m ok, I don’t need God. But this rejection of God usually leads to blowing their own trumpets. Instead A) of heralding Jesus’ greatness, people of the world B) herald their own greatness. Instead of A) glorying in Gods power, people of the world tend to B) glory in their own power. The Bible says that such pride and arrogance comes from the world. Let me show you… (Slide 3/Isa.13:11). Part of the world’s evil stems from their arrogance and pride. (Slide 4/1Jn2:16) Again the pride of life comes from the world, rather than from God. Pride and arrogance was the original sin of Satan. But the more the church in Corinth was in the world, the more the church in Corinth was becoming proud and arrogant like the world…
Now sadly, the western world is also very proud. Our affluence, education and technological achievements are making people very proud and arrogant. In fact, we are so proud and arrogant we now have PRIDE FESTIVALS. We think we know better than God when it comes to sexuality and biological genders. We are so proud that we now reject common sense. We say babies in the womb are not really babies. They’re nothing. But then Centerlink pays mothers who abort their babies in the third trimester – $4,326 – so that they can have time off work to grieve the death of their “UNBORN CHILD”. What the… So, it’s not a child. But it is a child and we call this foolishness – wisdom. We may be the most EDUCATED people to ever live. And yet, I suspect we may be the most foolish generation that has ever existed. We fret over nuclear weapons and climate change. But at the same time proud, arrogant men are striving to give birth to an artificial general intelligence that is smarter and more powerful than ourselves. So the world is now trying to create a god made in our image and we call this wisdom. I mean what could go wrong?
But here’s the danger. Even if Christians recognize that the worlds wisdom is stupidity – the church can still end up taking on the worlds pride, arrogance and self-righteousness. And if Paul was here today, I think he’d be reminding us that PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL.
Point 1: Pride leads us to Judge People, instead of Actions
Show: 1Cor.4:1-4 (Slides 6-7)
Explain: Well please notice that Paul speaks about himself and Apollos as SERVANTS OF GOD. Paul is still building on what he said last week. The church in Corinth was JUDGING him and Apollos and other church leaders to work out who is worthy of respect. Who should they listen to? Now in doing this, the church is becoming so proud and arrogant that they are kind of playing God. They are putting themselves in God’s position and judging Gods servants. What the… Now in v.2 Paul acknowledges that servants must PROVE FAITHFUL to God. As Paul explained last week – what matters in church leaders is FAITHFULNESS, not fruitfulness. But truly, what Christian is in a position to judge another Christians faith or the motives of their heart? Paul says that only the Lord Jesus is in a position to make such judgments. So this opening paragraph concludes with the words – therefore judge nothing before the appointed time.
But, does that really mean judge nothing before the final judgment? You see, ironically Paul will start judging people’s conduct in the very next chapter of Corinthians. IN FACT, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul will say we are meant to judge one another in the church. So how can Paul say “judge not” in 1 Corinthians 4 and then “judge” in 1 Corinthians 5.
Well before Paul starts passing judgment on the Corinthian church – he gives us SOME INSTRUCTION on right judgment and wrong judgment. What should we judge? How should we judge? All too often we pass judgment on people from a place of PRIDE AND ARROGANCE. What’s more, we are also inclined to judge THE WRONG THINGS, rather than the right things. As most of you know Jesus himself says “Do not judge or you will be judged.” Then Jesus goes on to says “how can you take the speck out of your brother’s eye, without first dealing with the log in your own eye.” (Matt.7:1-5). This is truly humbling. Jesus’ point is NOT that we never judge anything. Jesus himself says “if you brother or sister sins, go and show them their fault”.
So sometimes we need to judge whether things are right or wrong. But Jesus’ point about the log in the eye is a reminder that we tend to be very poor judges of things. We need great humility, because a lack of humility in this area will simply turn you into a judgmental, self-righteous twat. And truly, there are enough judgmental, self-righteous twats in the church already. We don’t need anymore…
So the first big problem with the Corinthians judgment is that they are trying to judge Paul and Apollos’ faith or faithfulness to God. They are not simply looking at Paul & Apollos’ CONDUCT OR TEACHING – as to whether it is biblical or unbiblical. They are actually going to the next step of passing judgment on whether Paul and Apollos are real, faith-filled Christians or not. They are trying to pass judgement on the motives of their hearts. You can see this is what Paul is getting at in verse 5 (Slide 7). So what we are NOT to judge before the appointed time is one another’s faith or the motives in one another’s hearts.
Apply: Friends, you MAY BE ABLE TO SEE whether another Christians conduct is biblical or unbiblical. But you can’t really know whether 1) a person’s faith in Jesus is real or 2) their heart toward God is right. THE MINUTE you put yourself in that position you are playing God. That is ARROGANCE. That is PRIDE. Sometimes sincere Christians who love Jesus very much – end up falling into temptation and they do and say all sorts of terrible, foolish things. But that doesn’t automatically mean they are not real Christian’s. What Paul is saying – is that when it comes to judging others – you may be able to judge outward actions, but you can’t judge THE PERSON themselves or THE MOTIVES of their heart. We must leave such judgment to God.
Point 2: Pride leads us to Judge by our Standards, instead of the Bible
Show: 1Cor.4:6-7 (Slides 9-10)
Explain: Well as Paul says he has applied this principle of judging actions with himself and Apollos. Last week, Paul refused to judge whether one servant was more faithful than the other. He simply acknowledged that he and Apollos were different servants with slightly different tasks.
But Paul did judge whether they were building with the right materials or the wrong materials. In chapter 4 – Paul explained that every church leader should be careful how they build Gods church. Faithful church leaders will build Gods church with Gods pure wisdom of gold, silver and precious stones, rather than the worlds wisdom of wood, hay and straw. Paul was clear that Gods wisdom is Jesus Christ and him crucified. The only way for the church to truly be built up is through the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
(GOSPEL) If you are VISITING TODAY (for the baptisms, or some other reason) you need to understand that people do not get to heaven by perfectly obeying the Bible. No one is saved by being good. The fact is we are all sinners who deserve Gods punishment. Your own conscience confirms this. So we all deserve to die. But when Jesus died on the cross he took the punishment for your sins. Jesus did this because HE LOVES YOU enough to die for you. SO EITHER A) Jesus takes the punishment for your sins or B) you will take the punishment for your sins on judgment day. So whether you go to heaven or hell – all depends on your response to Jesus. ACCEPT Jesus as your Saviour and Lord, become a Christian and get baptised – you go to heaven. Jesus pays for your sins. BUT REJECT Jesus, stay an atheist or agnostic or Muslim and you will be paying for your own sins for all eternity. Now you need to make that decision to accept or reject Jesus yourself. Today, Levi, Haifan, John and Iain are publicly saying they have accepted Jesus as their king and THEIR BAPTISM symbolises that their sins are all washed away. So the only true way to build the church is through the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified…
So Paul does judge the message. But he doesn’t judge the messenger or the method. Paul did it one way. Apollos did it a slightly a different way. Some may use Alpha. Others may prefer Christianity Explored. Some may be committed to walk up evangelism. Others may prefer friendship evangelism. God clearly tells us the content of our message, but God doesn’t clearly specify one method over another…
This then leads into a very wise statement from Paul in verse 6 that we must not go beyond what is written. Paul means in Scripture. We judge things where the Bible is clear. But we do not judge things where the Bible is silent. SO PAUL’S FIRST POINT is we do not judge people, only actions. AND HIS SECOND POINT is we only judge things where the Bible is clear, we do not judge things where the Bible is silent. For instance, the Bible is very clear that DRUNKENNESS is sin. But is eating too much MacDonald’s sin? You may be tempted to say Christians are meant to be temples of the Holy Spirit. So obviously eating junk food is sin. But does the Bible say that? SIMILARLY, we know that sexual immorality is sin because the Bible clearly says sexual immorality is sin. But was it a sin to refuse the covid vaccine? Of course, we may make wisdom arguments – both for or against such vaccinations. But we need to remember that where the Bible is silent – we should not be judging one another. We must not go beyond what is written.
Yet sadly, this is exactly what happened during THE PANDEMIC. Some Church leaders (who should have known better) made very flimsy, wisdom arguments that not getting the Covid vaccine was sin because you were not loving your neighbour. But truly, it was a pathetic use of Scripture AND it didn’t make scientific sense either. That is a perfect example of going beyond what is written in Scripture. 1) When God has clearly revealed something is right or wrong in Scripture then it is right for us to judge whether certain conduct is right or wrong. 2) But where the Bible is silent AND there is no outright biblical command we should NOT judge each other. Period! Paul is telling us to limit our judgments to what we have received from God in his Word.
Point 3: Pride leads us to Judge Ourselves, as being above Others
Show: 1Cor.4:8, 10 (Slides 11-12)
Explain: Well, if you are struggling to understand this part of chapter 4, let me assure you that Pauls words are dripping with SARCASM. It’s not that the Corinthians are wise. It’s not that they are rich or reigning with Christ. The problem is that IN THEIR PRIDE they think they are rich, wise and mature. They think they have attained complete Christian maturity. Consequently, they have nothing left to learn. In their pride – they have become UNTEACHABLE. This is a serious problem for us all.
If you are the sort of person who always 1) sits in judgment on your pastors and 2) think you know better than your pastors – what are you going to learn from your pastors? (PAUSE) Probably, not much. This is the problem with pride and arrogance. When we think we A) already have everything nutted out and B) our own conduct is above reproach – you really have become a fool. The truth is – none of us will truly arrive at the place of complete Christian maturity – until Jesus returns. So we must remain humble enough to be teachable.
Now this is especially case – where you judge the person teaching you to be beneath you. You know what I mean. Before a person speaks we tend to judge whether they are above us or beneath us. If we perceive the person is above us – we listen attentively. But if you perceive the person is beneath you – we generally write them off – before a word comes off their lips. NOTHING TO LEARN HERE. Now please be humble enough to admit that we all tend to do this. But on what basis are you judging whether a person is above you or beneath you. All too often this judgment is based solely on worldly thinking. If the person is RICH we listen. If they are POOR – we write them off. If they are EDUCATED we listen. But if they are UNEDUCATED we write them off. And this is exactly what the Corinthians were doing with Paul. They deemed Paul to be someone beneath them. In verse 11, Paul likens himself and the apostles to homeless beggars.
He says “we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.” So in our pride we think – what have I got to learn from a homeless beggar.” NOTHING! But have we judged correctly? Or is it possible that we may actually have MORE TO LEARN about true Christianity from those at the bottom of the social ladder, than we have to learn from those at the top of the ladder.
Apply: I must admit God keeps teaching me this lesson the hard way. When I was in OUTBACK WESTERN AUSTRALIA – I approached the indigenous Martu people like I was the one who had to bless them and teach them. I had it all worked out. I’d been to Bible college. I was the white fella with a degree. In my pride and arrogance I truly thought it was me, helping them and me, teaching them. But in a very little while God showed me I had much I could learn from the Martu Christians. Many of the older indigenous women knew things about God, love and faithfulness that my highly educated lecturers in Bible college never taught me.
So I came back to Sydney thinking I’d learnt my lesson. But my pride and arrogance was still with me. I saw all these people living IN HOUSING COMMISSION and I felt sorry for them. Again, I thought it was me having to help them. It was me having to teach them. But again, God continues to show me that many people living in housing commission with the worldly status of being the least, the last and the lost of Sydney – continue to teach me new things everyday about trusting Jesus and living with real faith, hope and love. So friends, please let us learn the danger of pride and arrogance. 1) PRIDE makes us unteachable and 2) PRIDE often makes us unteachable with those who may have the most to teach us. The wisdom of God is an upside down sort of wisdom. So the people at the bottom often have more to teach us than those at the top.
Point 4: Pride often leads us to Reject the People, who love us the Most.
Show: 1Cor.4:14-17 (Slides 13-14)
Explain: Well Paul is about to START JUDGING 1) certain behaviours and 2) certain teaching in the Corinthian Church. This is going to start in the very next chapter. Now of course, like all of us, the church in Corinth doesn’t like it. Paul has already pointed out some problems and they are already getting defensive. Paul knows this. He’s not stupid. So he approaches the people like a loving parent would do with their TEENAGE CHILDREN. Paul calls the church in Corinth his “dear children” and he speaks of himself as “their father”. Despite all their stupidity Paul still loves the Church in Corinth. And as a parent Paul doesn’t want his children following A) the broad road that leads to destruction. He wants to B) gently steer them back through the i) NARROW GATE (of Jesus Christ and him crucified) and back onto ii) THE NARROW PATH that leads to eternal life. We all need this at times, even if we don’t particularly like it.
Every teenager is sure they know better than their parents. Ask any of the teenagers here today. They’ll tell you Mum and Dad are just idiots. And every generation of Christians is sure they are wiser, better and more learned than the generation that went before them. But the fact remains that we all tend to fall into THE SAME HOLES because there is nothing new under the sun. Of course, we don’t want to hear it. No one ever said please rebuke me. I’m being a fool. But let’s face it. There are times when we all need a hard word from a good, loving friend.
So, Paul begins by assuring the Corinthians of his LOVE. He assures them he is not trying to SHAME them. He is simply saying HERE are some problems I see and HERE is what the Bible says. Let’s sort this out together. But please note, Paul does NOT call into question the sincerity of their faith – despite how wacky they are becoming. Nor is he judging them on things where the Bible is silent. He only judges them on the basis of what the Bible says is and isn’t sin. Where the Bible is silent. Paul is silent.
But the Church in Corinth is in DANGEROUS TERRITORY and so Paul needs to humbly, gently and lovingly come alongside them like teenagers to correct them. He knows they are getting a bit big for the belt or the wooden spoon. He has to urge them. He has to win them.
Apply: Now TWO THINGS to learn here. First, if you have to speak a hard word to someone – please always begin with an assurance of your love. You need to do this – because we are ALL SO INSECURE that we automatically take a defensive posture whenever anyone challenges our behaviour or thinking. So always begin with an assurance of love and a gentle spirit. But second, if someone is coming at you to speak a word you need to hear, please BEWARE the defensive posture in yourself. BEWARE the pride in you that will be screaming; who are you to judge me. What do you know anyway? Rack off you self-righteous hypocrite.”
Of course, that is probably what you’ll be thinking. We all do it. But please have the wisdom and the humility to remain teachable, especially if you know the person approaching you is a Christian and they love you. ITS PRIDE that makes us unteachable. ITS PRIDE that often rejects the people who love us the most. AND ITS PRIDE that comes before a fall. So remember, maybe, just maybe, the person speaking to you loves you enough that they are trying save you from that fall.
