WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.599 Self-importance is a prelude to self-deception. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:10.480 And self-deception makes one opposed to God. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:13.439 That's what Galatians 6.3 says. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:21.600 For if anyone thinks he is something when he's nothing, he deceives himself. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:23.839 Deceives himself. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:36.960 And when that self-importance and self-deception begins to work its way into the local church, it undermines the authority of the Word of God and begins to lead the church astray. 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:44.719 One of the clearest examples of self-importance and self-deception is found in the Old Testament book of Esther. 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.320 Perhaps you're familiar with that story. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:56.000 Esther was the Jewish queen of a Persian king, sometime around 480 BC. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:01:05.599 But in becoming queen, Esther was put in the crosshairs of a racially motivated political controversy. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:15.280 Because over the course of time, the king, her husband, promoted a man named Haman to be his second in command. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:25.120 And then he ordered all who were at the king's gate to bow in honor and reverence of this man named Haman. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:28.879 But there was one man who refused to bow. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:33.840 His name was Mordecai, a very close relative of Queen Esther. 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:39.200 Mordecai's refusal to bow to Haman infuriated the man. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:50.159 And so he sought to eliminate not just Mordecai, but the entire Jewish people, entire Jewish race living in the Persian kingdom. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:58.879 His sense of self-importance was greater than the value of an entire group of people. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.640 That self-importance led Haman to a place of self-deception. 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:13.759 His every thought and action was determined through the lens of his own self-importance. 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:26.319 So he deceived himself into believing that he was ultimately powerful, that he was safe, that he was right, and that he was untouchable. 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:29.360 But he was foolish. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:36.479 In thinking he was wise, he became opposed to God as a fool. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:47.360 And so God, in the end of the story, rescued his own people, and the death that Haman had determined for God's people became his own death. 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:55.919 Now, if you're anything like me, your tendency might be to think, what an idiot. 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.639 Who would do that? 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:00.879 Why would you do that? 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:07.919 But we must not think that way because apart from the grace of God, we are no different. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:15.439 All of humanity is filled with self-importance that leads to self-deception. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.280 And therefore being opposed to God. 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:25.520 Apart from Christ, we are Haman. 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:30.639 Does that sound extreme to you? 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:39.360 Sometimes it sounds extreme to me, but when we look at the pages of Scripture, we learn that it's not extreme. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:46.400 For example, consider what may be a familiar passage to you in Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 18. 00:03:46.639 --> 00:04:00.960 It says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress or push down or tread on the truth. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:13.039 Self-importance causes one to suppress the clear expression of God's truth that leads then to self-deception. 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:21.839 In the same passage we read, For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, nor did they give thanks to Him. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:29.439 But instead they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:33.199 Claiming to be wise, they became fools. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:42.160 And then a little bit later in that same passage is the demonstration, the outworking of their self-deception. 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:52.959 And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 00:04:54.399 --> 00:05:08.639 Their self-deception displayed itself in the thought process that somehow, in some way, it is good and proper to worship the creation rather than the creator. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:18.240 Thus, their self-importance led them to improper thinking, which led to opposing God. 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:24.560 And that is a description of every human being apart from Christ. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:34.240 Now, if you have experienced the grace of God in Christ, you have been rescued from that automatic suppression of the truth. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:44.959 You are now able to see the beauty of the truth and the word of God, and hopefully you begin to long for it rather than to tread on it. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:06:01.199 Even though we have been rescued from that automatic suppression of the truth and been redeemed from the power of sin in life, we still give in to the pull of self-importance, don't we? 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:08.480 Like Adam and Eve, we occasionally believe we know better than God. 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:16.959 There are times when we believe that our experience trumps the revealed word of God. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:22.800 And there are times too, if we're willing to admit it, that we just, plain and simple, want to sin. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.160 We want to experience that temporary thrill of sin. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:34.240 And in so doing, we demonstrate the thinking that we are more important than God. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:42.560 That our desire for pleasure or thrills or power rules over God's law. 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:48.319 Did you know there's biblical evidence for that within the church? 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:49.839 There is. 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:55.680 Husband and wife team by the name of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.519 They believed that they were greater than God. 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:09.600 This husband and wife team cooked up the idea, the scheme, to make themselves look good before the church, all while lying to God. 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.240 Listen to the biblical record in Acts chapter 5. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:19.680 A man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:28.720 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 apostle's feet. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:38.399 But 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? 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.759 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:45.120 And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.160 Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:51.519 You have not lied to man, but to God. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:08:08.480 Apparently, they decided to present the idea that instead of selling the property for this much, they sold it for this much, and so they could bring this much to the church and give the impression that look at what they're doing. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:13.199 When in fact, in fact, they were duplicitous in keeping some of it back for themselves. 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:21.279 They thought that they were more important than God, and that led to deceiving themselves, which then led to their death. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:39.279 Now, some might argue that it is debatable whether Ananias and Sapphira were genuine believers, and so maybe we shouldn't use them as examples of believers being self-deceived, because some might say, you know what, Pastor, the Holy Spirit has come to live within us, and so we can't be deceived any longer. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:42.480 But that's not what the scriptures show. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:50.159 Because the New Testament describes the possibility of believers being self-deceived again and again and again. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:52.320 Consider just four simple passages. 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:56.720 One is one that I already mentioned in Galatians chapter 6, verse 3. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:04.799 If anyone thinks he is something, when he's nothing, he deceives whom? 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:06.720 Himself. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:09.600 Deceives himself. 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:16.960 So there's a thought process that's been going on, and as a result of that thought process, we have been deceived by ourselves. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:18.639 It's not somebody else's fault. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.120 We cannot blame anyone else but ourselves. 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:25.519 James talks about this a couple of times, James chapter 1, verse 22. 00:09:25.759 --> 00:09:28.480 Perhaps a familiar verse to you. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:35.600 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:47.600 If we take in the word of God over and over and over again, and even if we become saturated with it in our minds, but it does not live itself out in daily expression, we are deceiving ourselves. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:10:03.120 A little bit later in the same chapter in verse 26, James says, if anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, that person's religion is worthless. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:10.080 And one more, perhaps the key verse for self-deception in the New Testament is 1 John 1.8. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:18.159 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:23.279 Self-importance leads to self-deception. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:32.080 And when self-deceived people begin to impact the local church, we end up like the church in Corinth. 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:42.399 Corinth had spiritually immature, self-important, influential, and deceived people in the church. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:47.600 And that led them away from the simple truth of the gospel. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:56.960 Going to finish up our walk in the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians this morning, and it's an appropriate place, I think, to conclude it. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:05.919 So if you would take your Bible and open it to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, I would like to direct your attention to verses 18 through the end of the chapter. 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:11.279 1 Corinthians chapter 3, beginning in verse 18. 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:18.080 Let no one deceive himself. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.279 Sound familiar yet? 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.320 Let no one deceive himself. 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:30.399 If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:41.519 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God, for it is written, He catches the wise in their craftiness, and again, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:56.960 So let no one boast in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future, all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.399 There's a challenge for us here. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:14.480 And the challenge is to recognize the foolishness of the world in which we live while at the same time relishing in what is ours in Christ. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:19.200 There are three steps that are given to us to follow. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:24.240 The first step is that we must beware of self-deception. 00:12:25.600 --> 00:12:33.759 Speaking to everyone in the church, the apostle says, let no one deceive himself. 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:41.120 Beware lest you become the Christian version of Haman. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.879 Beware lest you become like Ananias and Sapphira. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:53.279 Self-deception always plays off of our pride. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:55.840 We feel good about ourselves. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:57.200 We feel confident. 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:01.120 We feel proud of our abilities and our accomplishments. 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:05.840 Maybe we're rewarded in some way or congratulated in some fashion. 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.600 Maybe it's simply that we are rarely corrected. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:15.039 And our world teaches us those characteristics. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.200 We are taught to feel good about ourselves. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.600 We are taught to feel proud of our abilities and our accomplishments. 00:13:24.639 --> 00:13:27.279 We are ingrained with being praised. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:44.720 And as they are fed, they grow and they become inflated until our egos drive us. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:51.840 And before we know it, we have become self-important and we have deceived ourselves into believing something that is not true. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:55.840 For the Corinthians, it was all about wisdom. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:14:00.559 If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age. 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:03.039 Do you see the pride there? 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:07.279 If anyone among you thinks he is wise. 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:13.519 No, it's not, please understand, it's not being wise that's the problem. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.519 It's thinking that you're wise. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:21.759 It's not learning that is troublesome. 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:24.960 It's thinking you know it all that is the problem. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:28.960 And notice the qualifier. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:40.879 In this age, in this age, there are many, many good and beneficial areas of learning and wisdom in the world in which we live. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:52.879 There are areas of mathematics, of history, of science, of business, and many, many more that are appropriate categories to study and to know. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:15:00.559 And it's possible to become quite knowledgeable about those subjects without any shred of spiritual insight. 00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:13.759 The issue here is thinking that what we learn and know and experience in this life, in the wisdom of this world, is sufficient to get us through this life and through eternity. 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:28.639 The reality is that when human wisdom is applied to areas concerning God, concerning salvation, concerning eternal life, and any other spiritual truth, it comes up lacking. 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:39.440 The Corinthians had deceived themselves into believing that the cross of Christ was not a necessary element in the church's message. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:54.879 Their own wisdom, founded in the knowledge and the experience of this world, moved them to pride and self-importance, so that they were deceived into thinking something that was not true. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:06.000 And that self-sufficient pride led to deception regarding the truth, and that deception regarding the truth led to division within the church. 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:15.919 Therefore, God says, if anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:22.080 That word fool is the basis for which we get our present word moron. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:32.000 If anyone thinks he is wise in this world, in this age, let him become a moron so that he can gain some wisdom. 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:38.720 Do you see how lowly God thinks of earthly wisdom? 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:43.919 It doesn't rank very high on God's list of important things. 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.200 I mean, what does earthly wisdom accomplish? 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:55.919 If we think about it, we realize it is a basis for pride, and that pride then leads to self-sufficiency. 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.279 We think we've got it, we know it. 00:16:59.519 --> 00:17:01.200 We've got everything under control. 00:17:01.519 --> 00:17:05.839 And in that unrighteousness, we begin to suppress the truth. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:18.880 The wisdom of this world, we are told in 1 Corinthians chapters 1 through 3, leads to viewing the cross as weak, as foolish, and as unnecessary. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.039 It leads to believing that I don't need God. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:26.799 I don't need God's provisions. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:28.720 I don't need God's salvation. 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:32.559 I don't need God's mercy or forgiveness or grace. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:37.279 It says I'm a sinner, but I'm still a good person. 00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:41.119 It says I can work my way to eternity. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:53.759 But if we rely on earthly wisdom in such a way that we begin to apply it to spiritual truth, to understanding God or to explaining Scripture, then we are well on our way to self-deception. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:59.359 But the challenge is to not be deceived. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:07.599 The challenge is to be discerning so that we do not go down the road of being deceived. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:14.640 The challenge is to see the foolishness of the wisdom of this world when it is applied to eternal things. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:20.000 So we must first of all recognize that we can indeed be deceived. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:29.599 We can deceive ourselves by giving too much credence to our own knowledge, to our own experience as we apply it to the things of God. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:35.680 The second part of this challenge is that we must learn to think the way God thinks. 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:58.799 Being a fool in the eyes of the world is the only path to true wisdom. 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:05.680 The world approaches the truth of Scripture with no spiritual understanding. 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:08.960 No ability, even, as we've seen, to understand. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:15.279 And so it discards the truth of God's word as childish, as foolish, as full of nonsense. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:21.839 Anyone who trusts in the Bible, then, who believes it's the word of God, is considered a fool. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:32.480 But God says the only path to genuine, lasting, true wisdom is by seeing the cross the way God sees it. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.559 By acknowledging the truth of God's word. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:44.400 That means that we submit ourselves to the word of God and we honor it as the supreme authority. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:54.400 That means we see all human thought and all human opinion as submitting to what God has revealed, including our own opinions. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:20:04.240 And as we immerse ourselves in God's words and his thoughts, we find that our perspectives begin to shift. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:10.880 No longer do we see God's ways as foolish, but as wise. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:21.359 And we begin to see that the so-called wisdom that the world presents to us, while perhaps beneficial for this present life, has no eternal benefit. 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:27.680 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:38.799 I trust that you are beginning to see that self-importance has no place in this picture. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:56.559 If we are to submit ourselves to God's word, and if we are to recognize that his way of thinking is truly wise, then we must also then acknowledge that mankind's opinions and knowledge apart from the word of God is not so important. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:03.759 And when we begin to acknowledge that, that's the first step towards humility. 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:11.119 Humility begins to push out pride when we submit our own wisdom to the word of God. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:20.640 And as humility begins to rule in us through our submission to the word of God, self-deception is held at bay. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:24.000 Let me give you an example. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:27.519 Genesis chapter 3. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:32.400 In case you're not familiar with that, that's where Adam and Eve ate a piece of fruit. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:34.640 And you know the rest of the story. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:41.200 Pride began to rule in Adam and Eve when they thought they knew better than God. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:48.559 That led to their deception and to their eating the fruit in disobedience. 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:59.440 But if they had humbled themselves before God's command, understanding and knowing and acknowledging that God knew best and that God's commands were wisest. 00:22:01.119 --> 00:22:06.799 And they submitted their own opinions and their own thoughts to God's word, they would not have been deceived. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:17.119 We must relax our grip on the foolish wisdom of this world. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.160 Of the thinking that I know better. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.599 That my opinions, my feelings, and my experience supersedes the word of God. 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:36.400 But if we're going to relax our grip on those things, it requires humility. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:49.680 It requires an acknowledgement that God is sovereign and that his wisdom, recorded in the pages of Scripture for us, is not foolishness, but is the premium kind of wisdom. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:57.759 There's an interesting image here in the last part of verse 19 and into verse 20. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.680 It's the image of a hunter. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:05.759 For it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness. 00:23:07.599 --> 00:23:09.440 He catches the wise in their craftiness. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:12.480 Let's go back to thinking about Haman for a moment. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.559 Haman thought he had the perfect plan. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:32.559 You know, you know when you were a child and your parents said, don't do this, and you decided you were going to do it anyway, and you figured out how to get that accomplished without mom and dad knowing? 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.920 That's the kind of perfect plan that we're talking about here. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:39.920 Haman thought he had the ideal plan. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:46.160 It was foolproof in his mind to be able to exterminate God's people from his land. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:55.599 In the book of Esther, Haman is pictured as this horrendous, evil villain hunting God's people. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:23:58.799 He was the crafty one. 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:07.039 He had the ideal plan, devising a plan in his mind that even the king could not undo. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:19.920 Have you ever watched one of those Discovery Channel or Nat Geo programs where there's a tiny little creature that's being hunted by a bigger creature? 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:26.720 And then the camera pans out a little bit, and you see that that bigger creature is being hunted by an even bigger creature. 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:29.839 That's what's going on here. 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:38.319 The picture of the book of Esther is that Haman is hunting God's people. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:50.400 But if you pan back a little bit and take in all of Scripture, what we see is that God caught Haman in the midst of his own craftiness. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:58.400 And the pointed truth here is that God doesn't think too highly of human wisdom. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:08.160 Quoting from Psalm 94, 11, the Apostle Paul writes, The Lord knows in verse 20, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise that they are futile. 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:15.440 Wise there is those who are full of worldly wisdom, who've deceived themselves into thinking they're wise. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:21.759 But God knows that their way of thinking is all messed up. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:22.880 It's futile. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:35.200 What the world thinks is wise is really foolish. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:38.480 And what the world thinks is foolish is really wise. 00:25:42.799 --> 00:26:01.200 So mankind, full of self-importance, who has deceived themselves into thinking, I'm it, I've reached the pinnacle, or my way is better than God's way, receive a divine blow in verse 20. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:08.559 What this world considers wise and lasting is only a breath. 00:26:09.839 --> 00:26:14.880 It's like the steam that comes off of your coffee cup on a cold morning that's there and then gone. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:34.000 The unwritten question is, do you want to be like Haman thinking you have everything all worked out, but only to end up in God's trap because you followed your own wisdom? 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:42.319 Do you want to rely on wisdom and learning that will only last you until you die? 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:50.000 Or do you want to rest in God's truth that will make you truly wise, not just now, but for all eternity? 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:54.960 But let's not forget the context. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:00.240 This is in the context of problems in the local church. 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:05.680 Specifically, the the context is what the basis of ministry was in Corinth. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.240 They had become so self-important that they thought they knew better than God. 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:21.680 They thought that God's ways were not the best ways. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:36.400 They believed that the scriptures had to be contextualized somehow to include cultural expectations, that human opinions and ideals needed to be added to the simple explanation of God's word in order to make it applicable. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:45.839 They were more interested in displaying their own thinking, their own experience and their own culture than they were interested in God's way of thinking. 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:57.279 In their self-importance self-deception, they failed to see that the Lord's church will be around far longer than any of this world's wisdom and learning. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:10.240 So it makes greater sense then to base our ministry on God's wisdom, not our own, on eternal words, not on temporary experiences or patterns. 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:14.000 So that brings us to some questions. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:17.039 What do we put out there? 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:22.480 For the people that come through the doors of this building, what do we offer them? 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:27.920 Do we offer them the temporary hope of someone else's opinions? 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:32.160 Do we offer them self-help for this life only? 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:39.680 Do we encourage them and tell them how to live your best life now, but never end up giving them how to live their best life for eternity? 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:45.519 Do we show them and demonstrate for them the absolute sufficiency of Scripture? 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:50.720 Do we live out the truth that Peter so clearly expressed? 00:28:51.279 --> 00:29:02.640 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ who called us to his own glory and excellence. 00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:16.960 Or do we give the church and anyone who enters a slow and agonizing death by teaching them to question Scripture? 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:27.200 Or by feeding them an insufficient diet of men's opinions that will slowly starve their faith and ultimately lead to self-deception and a mistrust of God's inerrant word. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:38.880 Do you ever look back at Genesis 3 and wonder how in the world that ever happened? 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:41.680 I do that occasionally. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:54.240 Adam and Eve were placed in a perfect, sinless world in which they walked and talked with God Himself. 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:10.079 How is it that they were willing to discard all of that that we long to experience and just say, it's not worth it? 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:18.079 How is it that they were able to see a single tree and a single piece of fruit as worth more than obedience? 00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:27.359 How is it that they thought trading the temporary pleasure of a perfect piece of fruit was worth death? 00:30:29.440 --> 00:30:33.920 How is it that they came to believe the serpent more than God? 00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:42.400 I hope you recognize that those same questions can be asked of us each time we sin. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:45.920 Really? 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:49.119 How in the world did you think it was worth it? 00:30:51.279 --> 00:31:02.799 But because Adam and Eve are sort of so far off and sometimes just mental images painted with the words of Scripture, we somehow think that they're far different than us. 00:31:05.039 --> 00:31:10.640 So how in the world could Adam and Eve, perfect creatures, get to that place? 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:12.400 There are three reasons. 00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:22.960 And they are the same three reasons the church in Corinth departed from the simple truth of the gospel, and they are the same three reasons that you and I give into sin each and every day. 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:26.720 They failed to think the way God thinks. 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:30.160 They were self-deceived into thinking they knew better. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:34.319 And third, they did not fully know what God had given them. 00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:40.079 That's the third part of our challenge is to know the rewards of belonging to Christ. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:45.599 For all things are yours. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:54.880 Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 00:31:56.319 --> 00:32:05.839 Someone who does not think the way that God thinks, and who has deceived themselves, is not able to see the good that God gives. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:12.240 They only see what God has placed off limits rather than what God has given to enjoy. 00:32:14.160 --> 00:32:16.480 There are boundary lines in athletics. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:24.160 Football game, basketball game, baseball game, whatever, hockey, there are boundaries. 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:34.000 Athletes could approach those boundary lines as something that keeps them from fully experiencing the game. 00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:43.440 Or they could think of them as guides that keep everyone together so that everyone can have the freedom to play within those limits. 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:51.519 We often approach God's word with negativity. 00:32:52.720 --> 00:33:00.000 We see it as full of rules and regulations, as guidelines keeping out the good things in life, right? 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:05.359 But to view Scripture that way is to deceive ourselves. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:21.039 Adam and Eve began to view the Garden of Eden not as being full of God's good gifts made even better by his own presence, but as limiting, as restrictive because of the one thing that God kept off limits. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:32.000 Rather than focus on the very good things in the garden, they came to believe that God Himself was not good because of the one thing that he kept from them. 00:33:33.519 --> 00:33:36.000 That's how we approach our own temptations. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:44.720 We fail to see all that God has given us, and instead we focus on what God has kept from us. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:54.559 Like that angry child, like that child who becomes angry when one toy is kept from him in the middle of a room full of toys. 00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:57.519 We focus on the small thing. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:33:59.519 Don't ask me how I know that. 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:10.960 What we must do is begin to see all that God has given us in Christ. 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:18.480 For the Corinthians, that meant getting their eyes off of their favorite teachers and their favorite teaching styles. 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:24.159 They were lining up behind their favorite teachers and pastors and speakers like groupies. 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:29.119 It would be like us saying, I'm with John MacArthur or I'm with John Piper. 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:37.360 But Paul comes along and says, wait a minute, don't you see that all of these teachers have been given to you, the church, by God to enjoy? 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:44.880 The reality is not that we belong to a certain teacher, but that they belong to us. 00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:48.639 They are God's good gifts to his church. 00:34:51.280 --> 00:34:52.480 Paul goes even further. 00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:55.280 He says, the world is ours. 00:34:56.639 --> 00:34:57.599 The world. 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:03.039 In Christ, we are not even ultimately subject to life or death. 00:35:03.199 --> 00:35:05.519 We are more than conquerors in Christ. 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:08.079 In fact, we do not even fall under time. 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:13.440 The present and the future belong to those who are in Christ. 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:20.000 That's the practical outworking of John 1.12. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:30.159 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:38.639 Now, if the king is here and we become his children, what does that make us? 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:41.199 Children of the king. 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:48.079 And what belongs to the king now belongs to the children. 00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:53.920 If we are children of God, then all is ours. 00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:57.519 We will even inherit the world along with the Lord Jesus. 00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:08.880 That's what Peter meant when he wrote that we have been born again to a living hope, to an inheritance that is imperishable, that is undefiled, that is unfading, that is kept in heaven for you. 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:13.039 And yet we want this toy that God says no to. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:19.519 The Apostle Paul says, look at all that God has given you, church. 00:36:21.039 --> 00:36:23.280 Look at who you are in Christ. 00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:25.679 You are Christ's. 00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:31.440 You belong to Him, you are in Him, and because He is in God, look at all that is yours. 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:49.840 When we guard against self-deception, by working to think the way that God thinks, and by keeping all of eternity in focus, we will be well on our way to maturity in Christ. 00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:56.800 And when we are on our way to maturity in Christ, we are well on our way to unity within the church. 00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:10.800 And when the church is full of mature people and functioning in unity, it begins to display to the world exactly who Christ crucified is. 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:16.559 That is our challenge to display that to a watching world. 00:37:16.719 --> 00:37:18.079 Let's pray together. 00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:22.559 Lord Jesus, we confess to you that so often we fail. 00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:33.039 So often we want the one thing that you have said no to, all along ignoring what is ours in you. 00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:34.719 Forgive us. 00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:40.239 Cleanse us and enable us to see that we are children of the King. 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:49.119 Yes, we sin, but we have been granted the freedom to come to the throne of grace to find help in our time of need, to be cleansed of our forgiveness, and we do that. 00:37:49.360 --> 00:38:02.000 Asking that you would enable us to be discerning people, to be a group of people that understands the difference between God's truth and what the world thinks is true. 00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:08.400 To be discerning people who know what is wise and what is foolish. 00:38:09.280 --> 00:38:17.119 We ask this, Lord, because we want to give glory to you by enabling people to see that we belong to you. 00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:21.760 May you answer our prayer and so be glorified. 00:38:22.079 --> 00:38:22.719 Amen.