The scripture reading this morning is found in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 20. Matthew chapter 20, verses 1 through 16. This is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. The principle taught in this parable is a principle that the Corinthians had forgotten. And that is that anything that we have in Christ is that which we have received, and that there is no element of merit to be found within us, but our salvation in Christ is entirely of grace. So here we are, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, Matthew chapter 20. For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever's right, I will give you. So they went. Going out again about the 6th hour and the 9th hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing and he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? And they said to him, because no one has hired us. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, these last worked only one hour, and you've made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. But he replied to one of them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last. And that is the word of God, and we are to receive it as such. And it has important and vital lessons for us to Always, always remember. We're coming once again to our series here in 1 Corinthians, and we are at chapter 4, where we will be considering verses 7 through 21. Verses 7 through 21, as Paul continues to deal with this church that had many, many problems then, within it. So let's ask the Lord's blessing then upon the ministry of his word. Father, we pray that you would, by your spirit now, renew our minds, work powerfully within us through your word, that you would enable us to understand and give us the willingness and readiness to believe and apply the truths that you have for us here. We pray, Father, that you would, by making us wise regarding the temptations and sins and pitfalls that this Corinthian church was dealing with, that those kinds of things would be avoided by us in this church and in our own lives as we serve you, and we pray all of this to the glory of Christ in his name. Amen. A central verse in this passage here in 1 Corinthians 4 is this first one in this section, verse 7, where Paul asks a searching question of these Corinthians. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? In other words, as if you deserved it, as if you had worked for it. Well, we've been seeing repeatedly here in First Corinthians, and we will continue to do so, this matter of boasting in the Church of Corinth. There was a real spirit of arrogance there. And it resulted in them clinging to the wisdom of the world, which exalted them and lessened the glory of God. They evaluated things. such as the kingdom of God by an earthly standard. How is a kingdom, a king in a kingdom, evaluated by the world, by the people of the world? Well, a great kingdom and a great king, that's something that is large, it's exalted, that is, it's popular, It's powerful. It is wealthy. Those elements, that's what makes a great kingdom and a great king. The problem is, if you apply the world's wisdom and the world's standards to the kingdom of God, you're in trouble. It will lead us to the exact opposite conclusions about true greatness. If we measure a Christian or a church according to the world's way of seeing things, what's going to happen? You will reject the genuine, and you will end up embracing the lie, the counterfeit. And that's what was happening there at Corinth. And we see it happening with increasing frequency in the churches of today, right? I mean, what's a great, successful church? Well, it's big. It's wealthy, it's popular, and that sort of thing. But that's the very kind of church that the Lord Jesus rebuked in his letter. For instance, in Revelation, the letters to the churches, that's the kind of church that described the church, which church? Laodicea, right? And it wasn't great then. Well, let's read this section together, verses 7 through 21, as the Apostle Paul continues to rebuke and instruct the Corinthians. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already, you have all you want. Already, you've become rich. Without us, you've become kings. And would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we've become a spectacle to the world to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you're strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We're poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you then, be imitators of me. That's why I sent to you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ and to teach them, as I teach them, everywhere in every church. Some are arrogant. as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills. And I will find out, not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness? Well, let's move in for a closer look. on this great section of this letter. First of all, listen to verse 7 again. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Now, that first little phrase there is a little bit difficult to understand at first glance. For who sees anything different in you? Some other translations, the NASB, the King James Version, have things like, who regards you as superior? They had that superior mentality, you know, we're up here. Who regards you as superior? Or another one, who makes you differ from another? So what was happening? Well, in their arrogance, the Corinthians were creating among themselves a kind elitism, a kind of caste system. You see an attitude of superiority, and even above the Apostle Paul, even more wiser than Paul. But Paul rebukes them. He says, you are, I like the way Charles Hodge from the old Princeton Seminary, he explained that phrase This way, he says, Paul is saying, you are no different than any other Christian. Everything that we are in Christ is because of what we've received from the Lord. Who thinks among you? Who is it that thinks that you're better than others? Your superiority over your brethren is mere self-conceit and inflation. There's a good word that's puffed up, inflation, right? The difference between you is only imaginary. The Lord does not exalt you above others. Who then are you claiming has given you such promotion, you see? And so here's the idea. Who is it among you that is seeing differences among you, promoting differences? You know, oh, these guys are superior and they're up here and then There's these other guys down here in the church that are lowly. And in that kind of thinking is this attitude of, well, you know, some of us deserve. And some of us don't deserve, then, as much. When, in fact, what Paul's reminding them of is, look, everything that you have has been given to you by the Lord as a gift. and according to his choosing. If, for example, one of you has a superior intellect to another or has been gifted with a more visible position in the church, it's God who has made those appointments and has given you that gift. It's a gift that you have received. And so I like it. I think it was Hodge that put it this way. So stop your self-applause. That's a great thing. There's that narcissistic mentality. They're applauding themselves. How ridiculous to applaud yourself, right? But there's no room for boasting. And that's what he has to keep hammering that truth home to them. They were boasting. They were exalting themselves above Paul. It's like getting a surprise gift from someone, maybe on Christmas or something. They give you this gift and you open it up and then, well, hey, you see this in little children sometimes, right, on Christmas. What'll happen? They get this gift, right, and they really like it. And then maybe one of their siblings gets another gift. And then they'll say, look what I've got. They begin to boast about this. They have nothing to boast about. They received it then as a gift apart from any merit that they have. And so we need to carefully apply these things to ourselves and to our own thinking. We don't have anything except that which has been given to us as a gift. We received. And it's certainly true in regard to our salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. I didn't save myself. I didn't make myself a Christian. You Corinthians, you're bragging about as if You pulled yourself up out of the pit, then yourself. But Paul's take on this is, it's by the grace of God that I am what I am. And he gets all the glory for it. We've seen him emphasizing these kinds of things way back in the first chapter. chapter 1 verse 26, for consider your calling, brethren. What he's saying is, look at you guys, right? Look at you guys. And really, what he's going to go on to say is, you know, bottom line is, you guys are a bunch of losers. You were a bunch of losers. And if you think about it, it's true of all of us. I mean, if I'm born into this world under God's wrath because of my sin, And I'm in rebellion against him. I'm on my way to hell. I'm a loser, like the biggest loser ever. And so he's telling him this. He says, consider your calling, brethren. Look at yourselves. There weren't many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. And God's chosen the weak things in the world to shame the things which are strong. and the base things of the world, and the despise God has chosen, the things that are not, that he might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God. So there it is. Every church and every denomination that I've had experience in has been troubled by arrogant people. You'll find it everywhere, it seems like. This is where the trouble comes from in our churches. These kind of people have an attitude of entitlement and superiority, and they crave to be exalted. I am owed this praise. You guys need to praise me. You need to tell me how wonderful I am. That's the kind of, of attitude. That's how Rome got started, right? The bishop of Rome. I'm the bishop of the church in the capital of the empire, you see, and all praise and adulation coming his way until ultimately what happens? Antichrist establishes his so-called church. So we have to be on guard against this sin, this temptation and to always be reminded I have nothing to boast about because I don't have anything that I didn't receive as a gift then from the Lord. Salvation is a gift then from the Lord. You remember Nebuchadnezzar, you know how he's going out And Daniel had warned him, but he goes out anyway in his pride, and he's standing up on the rooftop, and he's looking out over Babylon. Oh, look at Babylon the great that I have. And the next thing he knows, he's eaten grass in the pasture like an animal for seven years, you see. Now, there's a bit of a flip side here that we have to remember. as well in regard to this matter of superiority becoming boastful and so forth. This truth that everything that we have and everything that we are in Christ has come to us as a gift, which we received then from the Lord. It also means that none of us in the church are inferior to others, right? If you are in Christ, if you've been born again, then you are not inferior to others. Now Paul's going to deal with this further later on in chapter 12. where he talks about spiritual gifts and how some people who had their spiritual gift was less visible and seemed to be at a lower level or something. And so they're like, well, what's the point in me even being here in the church and so on because I'm not worth much and so forth? And he admonishes them. for that kind of an attitude. The idea that I, as a Christian, am inferior to another Christian, they are superior, well, I'm also contributing to that caste system, that elitism kind of thing, you see. But the fact of the matter is, that's a lie. If I'm in Christ, I must never think of myself as superior to others who are in Christ, but I must not also think of myself as inferior to others in the church, you see. Remember, last time, I think it was, we looked at verses three and four here. in chapter four where Paul had said, but with me it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. All right. Listen to Lloyd-Jones on this subject. specifically of regarding ourselves as inferior to someone else than in the church as Christians. He said, as Christians, we must leave our judgment to the Lord. He is the judge. And you have, I like this, you have no right to waste his time or your own time and energy in condemning yourself. He's talking about regarding yourself as inferior, right? Forget yourself. Leave the judgment to him and get on with the work. This whole trouble is due to this morbid preoccupation with self in the matter of judgment. Not only that, it's indicative of a proneness still to think in terms of what we can do, right? The parable of our Lord about the labors in the vineyard was designed to demolish such arguments. Now, this elitism, this idea of being superior to others in the church, or inferior to others then, can really sneak up on us. And it has snuck up, sneaked, you say snuck, sneaked, whatever, crept, it crept up on us. It has crept up on us in this church in the past more than once, more than once. And I haven't always seen it either. Maybe some of you saw it more clearly than me that where someone is presenting themselves as superior, only they can do it in covert ways You know, they don't stand up in front and say, I'm better than the rest of you. But nevertheless, this Corinthian arrogant spirit can creep in then among us. And I wanted to encourage all of us. That's a lie. Don't yield to that kind of a thing. When we gather together here as the Lord's Church, Don't ever come together here thinking in your mind, and it can just rest there kind of under the surface without you even, you know, well, you know, I don't measure up to that guy or that person or, you know, I'm kind of down here, they're up there. If that kind of thinking is, and again, that kind of thinking has crept up on me also before, And in the end, it will come back and bite you. It will do damage to you individually and to us as a church. I think you've probably heard the saying that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. And it is. It's level. So let's not be puffed up. But also at the same time, let's not fall into this era, as Lloyd-Jones called it, morbid preoccupation and examination with ourselves. Well, Paul goes on here now, starting in verse eight, with that series of, I guess we'd call it sanctified sarcasm, as he's rebuking them. Listen to it again, it's worth reading again here. Verse eight, already you have all you want. And apparently, they did. You know, they were thinking the way the world was thinking in a lot of ways, and they weren't suffering as a result. They had it pretty good, pretty easy. Already, you have all you want. Already, you've become rich. Without us, you've become kings and would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all. Now as he goes through here, think carefully about the terms he's using to describe himself, a true apostle of God, his experience in serving Christ in contrast to the Corinthians here. I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death. We've become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you're wise in Christ. Just ask the Corinthians and they'll tell you how wise they are. We are weak, but you're strong. You're held in honor, but we in disrepute. They're popular. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We're poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor. Working with our own hands, you see the Greek philosophers, they would say, oh, that guy has to support himself. His message isn't even worth an income for him. So they looked at it as a degrading thing, right? We labor working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world the refuse of all things. So here Paul gives a description of his and the apostles' experience in this world in contrast to the experience of the Corinthians. Think about this carefully. Here's the portrait that Paul gives of his, if you were traveling along with Paul as he's serving Christ as an apostle, preaching the gospel and so on, this is what you'd see. This is what you would see his experience. He was last of all, sentenced to death, a spectacle to the world, a fool, weak, held in disrepute, hungry and thirsty a lot of the times, poorly dressed, in poverty, laboring. He was reviled, slandered, persecuted, and kind of as he sums it up, regarded as the scum and garbage of the world. That's how the world looked at him. Whose experience does that also sound like? Christ. Now, this is like, this boggles the mind how anyone can fall for today's typical evaluation of greatness in the church or in God's kingdom. These marks, these descriptions of the experience of Paul serving Christ are regarded in practice. A lot of times they won't ask. Sometimes I guess seminaries and preachers and so on, individual Christians might come out and say it sometimes, but by practice you can see that in fact they regard this list of Paul's experience, this portrait of Paul's experience, as a mark of failure, as a mark of God not blessing them. In other words, if these things are true or seem to be true in the experience of a local church or in the life of an individual Christian, the majority, and I don't hesitate to say, the majority of professing Christendom today will regard you as a failure. That's how it works, you see. You've heard me talk a lot about the times that I spent in seminary, but I can tell you, I think one of the chief benefits of me having gone to seminary was to be able to tell you firsthand about the nonsense that's taught or not taught there. This truth that Paul's showing us here in 1 Corinthians 4 was never referred to. In other words, in these classes where pastors are being trained, right, no professor ever stood up and said, all right, men, here's how it's gonna be. If you're gonna serve Christ, as a pastor, if you're going to serve Christ as a Christian in this world, here's the list of experiences that you're going to find. In the end, you're going to be regarded as a scum of the earth. So if your goal is to be popular with everybody, there's the door. Please leave now, right? But that never happened. Just the opposite of it happened, you see? Large, wealthy, popular. That's the mark of God's blessing, that kind of a thing. That's how it was presented. So how can we get it so wrong? I think there's only really one explanation for it, and that is that so much of that which claims to be the Christian church today is counterfeit, that it's people are not even born again. If they were, they would be experiencing at least some of the things on this list. Jesus said it plainly, John 15, if the world hates you, and guess what, it will, if the world hates you, know that it's hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore, the world hates you. What I experienced in the seminary I went to was a supposedly conservative Bible-believing seminary. But what I remember hearing then was that your goal is to be liked by the world. You need to spend a lot of your energies as a church showing the world that You're not so different after all. You're kind of one of the guys. And then that way, then they'll start to listen to you. No, they won't. They'll despise you. They'll laugh at you. When the church tries to imitate the world, it does a pretty pathetic job. The world is better at a whole lot of things than the church is. Romans 8, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, the same thing on our list here, as it's written, for your sake, we're being killed. All the day long, we're regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. That's the experience of following Christ. It should be a no-brainer. We see that in Paul's experience, Peter's experience, the Old Testament prophet's experience, and in Jesus' experience in this world. Here's this quotation that I read to you earlier in the first hour, but I wanted to be sure that everyone listening got an opportunity to hear it. Even in respect to heaven, this is what the Corinthians needed to be reminded of, our inheritance to be realized in the new heavens and earth, new heavens and earth, there's no room for boasting. It's something of God's doing that he gives us graciously as a gift. Here's this quote from John Brown, an inheritance is something that's not obtained by the individual's own exertions, but by the free gift or bequest of another. The earthly inheritance of the external people of God, that is the earthly nation of Israel, was not given to them because they were greater or better than the other nations of the earth. It was because the Lord had a delight in them to love them. He chose them. And the heavenly inheritance of the spiritual people of God, that is the true Israel, the church, is entirely the gift of sovereign kindness. By grace are we saved. Eternal life is the gift of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So what then is the experience of the true church, the remnant, in this present world? This is something that the Corinthians needed desperately to get a hold of. And we need to get a hold of it. And I think you'll find this observation in this next quotation very encouraging, all right? So, here we go. We are represented as strangers scattered abroad. He's commenting on 1 Peter 1. And in 1 Peter 1, Peter says that the church in this world are strangers, sojourners, pilgrims, and were scattered abroad, widely scattered. This description is borrowed from the term generally applied to the Jews when they were dwelling in Gentile lands. The salvation of Christians while on earth does not resemble that of Israel dwelling in peace and security in Canaan. That's not what we should expect. but rather that of the Israelites sojourning among strangers and enemies. We are in enemy territory. We are pilgrims traveling through in tents like Abraham among enemies. The selected people of God, while here below, are not gathered into one place. assembled together as citizens of the same city, children of the same family. They will be so by and by, but for now they are strangers, pilgrims, sojourners, being a small minority among a people whose habits of thought and feeling, whose pursuits and whose pleasures are altogether alien from theirs. And we are scattered strangers as being not merely, I thought this was really encouraging, we are scattered strangers in this world as being not merely far from home, but often far from each other. And but imperfectly enjoying the comfort and support arising from intimate communion with persons of kindred sentiments and affections. Such was the external state of the Christians to whom 1 Peter was addressed, and such is the external state of true Christians still. We are pilgrims, we're in enemy territory, we're scattered, and we're not only far from home, right? Our home is with the Lord. We're not only far from home, we're far from each other. And as I read that, I thought, you know, that's encouraging to me because that's the experience of our church. We're scattered. Right now, those of you that are following online, I mean, you guys are scattered all across the United States, and in some cases, around the world. And we don't have the joy of being gathered together in one place. Someday we will, but not right now. This matter of scattering is not just a matter of happening to live in different places, all right? But often, as we see in scripture, the scattering of God's people, if you went back, for example, to the experience of the earthly nation of Israel, They were invaded due to their sin, it was judgment that God brought upon them, but they were, what happened? They were scattered. Scattered away from home, away from their homeland in Canaan and off in Babylon or Assyria and so on. Well, very early on, we read about this in the book of Acts, those early Christians were Sure enough, scattered, all right, Acts 8. And Saul of Tarsus approved of Stephen's execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him, but Saul was ravaging the church. And entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. So here is the typical experience of Christ's people in this present world. Scattered, persecuted, Someday, the Lord will come and he will gather us then all together. But we should take, I hope that you take encouragement in that, you see. Oh, you know, if we were a successful church, we would had all these many, many, many, many people, Christians gathered together in one place. That's not the experience. That is not the experience. of believers of the remnant in this present world, you see. Paul goes on to say in verse 14, I did not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, those guides I don't think were doing a very good job. probably misguiding them, but you don't have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you then, be imitators of me. So Paul, it's like when he wrote to the Galatians, he said, have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? A lot of people are like that, you know, you try to tell them the truth and they They hate you and regard you as their enemy. But he's just reminding them that he loves them. They are his spiritual children because he preached the gospel to them and they were born again. And then he tells them something that is pretty amazing. In fact, it kind of sounds like it's the arrogant, isn't it just like arrogance that he's trying to admonish them for? He says, I urge you then be imitators of me." Well, you see, he knew he was following Christ faithfully and that he was speaking Christ's truth faithfully so that he could tell them. It's not arrogance at all. He's saying, come on, go with me here. Be imitators, then, of me. Stop boasting, humble yourselves, follow Christ, and guess what? You will start experiencing the same things that I'm experiencing in being persecuted and so on. Now, let's bring this one home again, all right? Paul is telling, not just the Corinthians, he's telling us, be imitators of me. Now, as I think about that, it really kind of boggles me. It makes my head spin how people can be so stupid, so deceived, right? People that claim to be Christians. If I'm going to imitate the Apostle Paul, which is to say to imitate Christ, then I'm going to experience what he experiences. So there's that list again. Last of all, sentence to death, spectacle to the world, fools, weak, scum of the world, this kind of thing, you see. And so I need to ask myself about my thinking on this subject of greatness in God's kingdom. What does greatness in God's kingdom look like? Well, it has to be greatness in God's sight. Greatness in God's kingdom is being last of all. Then you're first of all, you see. And that's what Paul is talking about. Does my life demonstrate the things on this list that would indicate that I'm following Christ? It doesn't mean that if a person is, well, it's not like you have to check off every single thing here. Listen, if you miss one, well, then you're not following Christ, for example. I don't think any of us are hungry and thirsty and poorly dressed, okay, for instance. Some Christians in this world really are as a result then of following Christ. But here is a picture. This is the experience of following Christ in this world. And if I am in Christ, if I'm honestly following Christ, this is what it's going to look like. Here it is, you see, regarded as the scum of the world. There it is. Now, look at the closing words of this section. They're sobering and they're meant to be. Verse 18. Some are arrogant. Some of you guys there at Corinth are arrogant. You're acting as if what? Though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness? Now here, I think that Paul is pulling rank as an apostle. He doesn't like to have to do that, but when it's necessary, He does it, you see. So what does he mean when he says, do you want me to come with a rod? Or what does he mean when he says the kingdom of God consists in power? Well, it's just like when an earthly father who loves his children, at times he finds it necessary for him to exercise the rod to discipline then his child and chastise his child. At other times, the child doing properly and responds, and he can employ gentleness and encouragement toward the child. Both are motivated by love, by genuine love. But a father would much rather not have to bring the rod, but would prefer his children to respond to correction. So that's what Paul's talking about to these Corinthians. If they persist in their arrogance, stubbornness, Paul will be stern with them when he comes. He doesn't want to, but he will. And Paul speaks of power. Now, I think what he's saying there is, you know, when he says, I will find out not the talk, the words of these arrogant people, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power, what does he mean? I think he means a couple of things. First of all, I think that he is saying, all right, let's, what results, what is resulting from these people among you who are arrogant and they're preaching a message of worldly wisdom? They've meshed the world's philosophy, philosophical thinking, into what they're calling the gospel so that it's not even, it's not the gospel then anymore. And what Paul is saying is, you know, the word of God, the true word of God, is powerful. When I came to you and preached the gospel, God's power was unleashed, and you guys saw it. You were saved. You were born again. You were endowed with spiritual gifts. Paul will say later in 2 Corinthians that the works of a true apostle were worked among you. The signs of a true apostle were worked among you. So he had performed miracles. So he's going to come, and he's going to say, OK, you guys, you're claiming to be preaching the gospel, you're claiming to be Christians here, show me your power. Where's the power of the message? How has it resulted? And of course, they wouldn't be able then to do that. So in part, I think that's what Paul means by this mention of power, but also, I think that Paul is using this mention of power in the kingdom of God to strike some fear into the hearts of these stubborn Corinthians. What does that mean? What kind of fear? The apostles were given God's power and sometimes, He worked through them in that power to smite his enemies. Here's an example, Acts 13. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you. and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time. Immediately, mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord." The apostles had power. And I think when Paul is saying, shall I come to you with a rod? I'm going to come and we're going to find out who is speaking for the Lord. Well, they should be trembling a bit, right? You see it again. We'll see it again later on in chapter 11. Here it is. Whoever therefore eats the bread, it's the Lord's supper, or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then, And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment to himself. Now look at this. That is why many of you are weak and ill and some of you are dead. Some of you have died. In other words, God had struck them down because of their fleshliness. in approaching the body and blood of Christ, the remembrance of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper. So the kingdom of God comes with power, and the Lord is not to be trifled with. Acts 5, but a man named Ananias with his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property. And with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you've contrived this deed in your heart? You've not lied to man, but to God. When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And now, look at that last line. Great fear came upon all who heard it. The kingdom of God does not consist of talk, going through the motions, but of power. When we gather together as Christ's church, his presence is among us, and his power is among us, and that same power can either save or it can strike down. It always affects, it always affects its purposes. The spirit encourages us, he disciplines us, he strikes down the hypocrite, and he powerfully blesses his own genuine, genuine people. The power of the gospel, word preached, it saves, or it condemns. It's one or the other. And so we're to be humbled by the apostle's words here to guard against arrogance ourselves to recognize we are nothing and we have nothing except that which we've received by God's grace. And that every time I catch myself being tempted to boast or to be arrogant, that I want the Lord to remind me of these very things and the truth that he taught. I think those great words of King Nebuchadnezzar when he came to his senses later on, and he exalted the God of Daniel, and he said this great line, right? And he is able to humble those who walk in pride. Father, we thank you for these great words of scripture that instruct us to be humble and to give thanks to you for this great salvation that you've given to us in Christ. Lord, we pray that you would keep us humble, that we would walk with you humbly, that we wouldn't be prideful or arrogant, And also, Father, that we would not wrongly regard ourselves as inferior to others in the church, but to recognize that we are all your people. You've gifted us, each one, with the gifts that in your wisdom you've chosen to gift us with. You've called each one of us in a particular direction to a particular calling, but you've called every one of us in Christ. And so, Father, we pray that knowing these things, we would serve you humbly, that we would love one another in the body of Christ, and we pray this all in Christ's name, amen.