1 Corinthians 4:6

These things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who makes you to differ from one another, and what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you did receive it, why do you glory as though you had not received it?

Father, as we look into Your Word, even as we've considered this morning the gift that You gave to us in sending Your Son, Lord, we recognize today that there is very little we have that we have not received from You. God, I pray that You would speak to us today, giving us insight and understanding into Your Word, that You, by Your Spirit, through Your Word, would continue to transform us. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

The church at Corinth, as we have examined over the last few months, had a serious problem—many, actually. One of the problems that we've been considering was the unwarranted exaltation that they had placed upon some of the leaders within the fellowship, some that were considered very gifted and very spiritual. There were divisions and factions that had grown up in the church at Corinth. Some of those factions were in line with the personalities that God had chosen to use to found the church and equip the church. Some were saying, "I am of Paul," and "I am of Apollos," and "I am of Cephas."

As we'll see in this passage, there were other groups that they had divided up into. Paul reminded them at the beginning of chapter 4 that we are to account those that are leaders within the body of Christ as ministers of Christ and as stewards of the mysteries of God, managers over the things of God. While it is often our natural tendency to exalt people according to their personality or their giftedness, Paul says, "No, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful." It is not in their ability or the things that they have in their abilities; it is that they are faithful.

And so now in verse 6, Paul says, "These things, brethren, I've figured, or in a figure, transferred to myself and to Apollos for your benefit, for your sake." He has spoken in this way to illustrate something so that you might learn a very important truth.

The first thing we see here is an illustration. The illustration is given in both chapter 3 and chapter 4. Earlier in chapter 3, Paul spoke of himself and Apollos as planters, as those who were farmers in the field of God. Paul said, "One planted, another watered, but God is the one who gave the increase." He then went on to talk about the ministers of God being used by God in building the house of God. So, we have the field of God and then the house of God. He said that God had equipped him, Paul, as a wise master builder to lay a firm foundation, and others came and began to build upon that foundation.

In chapter 4, he talked about those servants of the Lord, leaders in the church, being just that: ministers, servants, and stewards, managers over the things of God. He emphasizes that these are the things we are called to. He uses the illustrations of farming, building, and servants to speak of the leaders within the body of Christ. They were exalting their leaders with kind of an unwarranted exaltation, saying, "Well, this guy's gifted, so I'm of him," or "I'm of this guy because I like the way that he speaks or the things that he does."

Paul says he has transferred these things to Apollos and himself as an illustration for you to learn how to view the servants within the body of Christ. He is not using these terms in a literal way, especially the words "servants" and "stewards."

Now, why is he doing this? He says, "It's for your benefit. For your sake, I'm speaking in this way." The church at Corinth had real problems. The Christians at Corinth had the wrong view of their teachers and leaders, leading them to split into factious groups and cause division within the body of Christ. This was not pleasing to God, nor was it pleasing to the one that God had chosen to establish that church there.

He says, "For your benefit, I'm seeking to correct this wrong view." Not just an illustration, but second, an admonition. There in verse 1, after he says he is writing these things as an illustration to you, he admonishes them. He corrects their wrong view by saying that they might learn in him not to think of men above that which is written and that no one of them be puffed up for one against the other.

Now, as I mentioned, there were groups saying, "I'm of Paul," "I'm of Apollos," and "I'm of Cephas." However, it appears from this verse that there were other divisions within the body of Christ in Corinth. Other leaders had risen up after Paul had left, and the people began to submit themselves under them, saying, "I'm of so-and-so." Following after these personalities was not merely a matter of respect, which would be appropriate. Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:17 that we are to honor those whom God has placed in positions of leadership, especially those who labor in the word and in doctrine, but not with an unwarranted sort of surrender to them.

He emphasizes that while it is right to respect the leaders within the body of Christ, the people had moved beyond respect to a place of exaltation. Not only were they exalting the leaders they liked, but they were also denigrating the leaders they did not like, exalting one and casting down another. Another translation renders this verse to convey the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Apparently, there was a saying among the Christians in Corinth that one should not go beyond what is written, both in the Scriptures and in what the Lord has said about individuals.

Why are we not to go beyond what is written and think of a person too highly? Paul states that those individuals should not be puffed up. The ministers of Christ are just that: they are ministers, servants, and stewards, managing the things of God. Each of these leaders will stand before God one day to give an account of how they used what God had given them and how they ministered the grace of the Lord to the body of Christ.

Yes, the ministers within the body of Christ serve Christ by serving God's people, but we must recognize that they are, indeed, servants. Furthermore, a minister is not to be judged on the basis of personality, charisma, intelligence, education, creativity, or innovation. Rather, the way we are to judge whether a minister is doing a good work is by assessing if they are standing up to the standard of faithfulness. Are they faithfully doing what God sent them forth to do and gifted them to do? Therefore, we are not to regard them too highly. Of course, we respect them, but we must not honor them too highly lest they become puffed up with pride, leading to a sense of superiority over one another.

We have an amazing propensity for hanging on to what others think about us, don't we? The opinions of others can either uplift us or tear us down. In our modern culture, we are very much influenced by people's opinions. We have so many opinion polls and reality TV shows where the audience is given the opportunity to judge whether or not an individual did a good job. Week after week, we can see which dancer performed well and which one did not, or which singer excelled and which one fell short.

We can bring that mindset into the church. It's a part of our culture. We often find ourselves saying, "I like this minister better than that minister," or when listening to the radio, "I don't like that guy because he's kind of long-winded." You might even say that about me. We have this opinion poll mentality, and we choose the place where we worship, the place where we fellowship, or the people we associate with based on our opinions of them, rather than on the call of the Lord. This is a very dangerous thing.

The church at Corinth was succumbing to exactly the same issue. The groups within Corinth were divided among the leadership and the personalities of those leaders. There is a real danger in speaking highly of one individual, as it can puff that individual up. The way we view others will come out in how we esteem them, and that esteem will affect how they view themselves and, many times, how they treat others.

Therefore, it is very important that we pay attention to what the Bible has to say about how we see others and how we see ourselves. We must remember Paul's exhortation to the church at Rome in Romans chapter 3, where he says, "Every man that is among you is not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think." Another translation states, "Do not cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance." I think that's a great translation.

To the church at Galatia, Paul says in Galatians chapter 6, "For if any man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another." Again, another translation says, "If any man thinks that he is somebody, he is deceiving himself."

For that very thought proves that he's a nobody. Let every man learn to assess properly the value of his own work, and he can then be glad when he has done something worth doing without dependence on the approval of others. Is that not an important word for our society today?

Now, why are these words important exhortations? Well, for many years in our nation, we have been taught, and now even hold as absolute truth, that the great problem confronting us as a people is the issue of low self-esteem. At very young ages, even in preschool, we begin to teach people that they need to have high self-esteem. This has so permeated our culture that it's everywhere. You hear it on the radio, you see it pictured in TV programs, you read about it in books, and you find that it's taught in schools from the very youngest ages. It's presented as the root cause for crime, even. Crimes in our nation are committed because this individual had low self-esteem.

You'll even hear people, if you're on a jury, sometimes put forth that as the defense for an individual: a low view of themselves. You can almost not even get away from this idea of low self-esteem. It's so pervasive that it's even promulgated from many pulpits in our nation today. Many pastors and teachers speak more about self-esteem than what the Scriptures have to say. You can go to Family Christian Bookstore or many other bookstores, and you'll find whole sections devoted to self, self-worth, self-love, and self-esteem.

The cure presented in our nation for the problem of low self-esteem is to tell ourselves daily that we are lovable. To look in the mirror and remind ourselves just how unbelievably fantastic we really are. "Boy, you are so really, really, really lovable. I'm a very lovable person." And my lovability is unaffected by who I am and what I do.

Now, if that's the case, why is it that so many of our spouses are having a hard time loving us? Despite the emphasis of our culture, it is startling that the Bible contains zero positive explicit teaching as it is espoused by our contemporaries regarding self-esteem. It's not that it undervalues self-esteem.

It's not that it devalues it or that it's marginal in its emphasis. It doesn't say anything about it. Therefore, if we believe, as we do at Calvary Chapel, that the Bible is God's final authority on our lives and our practice, and if we believe that the Scriptures contain all that is needed for life and godliness, as Peter tells us, then we need to allow God's Word to be the standard by which we judge the perspective of our culture. We need to make sure that we use God's Word as the filter for what is espoused as wisdom in our culture.

In view of this self-esteem culture that we live in, Paul's word to Timothy in his very last letter, 2 Timothy chapter 3, is enlightening. 2 Timothy 3:1 says, "It's a sign of the last days. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, and unholy." Paul tells Timothy there in his parting words, and imagine if you're pulling someone close to share with them your very last words; you're going to want to make sure that those words are important. So Paul says, "This is very important, Timothy. You need to know that in the last times, it's going to be a time full of danger. Men will be utterly self-centered, greedy for money, full of all kinds of crazy words. They'll be proud and contemptuous, without any regard for their parents and what their parents taught them. They will be utterly lacking in gratitude and purity."

Now, if you really think on this verse and meditate on it for a little while, you come to realize that self-love is the root cause of covetousness, sinful pride, blasphemy, disobedience, and ingratitude. It's excessive self-love that brings us to those places. Now, that's surely not what our culture says. In fact, our culture would completely disagree with that. I can prove that to be the case because inside many of you right now, you're thinking, "Wait, that's not true." But that's what the Scripture reveals.

So we have to filter our understanding, which is infected by the wisdom of the world, through what the Scripture says. I would not be the least bit surprised if we were to find statistical data that show a direct relationship between the preaching and teaching of self-esteem doctrine.

With the increase of these kinds of immoral behaviors, we wonder why we live in such a selfish society today. Do we see covetousness in our nation? Do we see disobedience to parents in our nation? Do we see ingratitude today in the United States of America? Yes, and for the last thirty-plus years, the primary emphasis has been self-esteem, self-esteem, self-esteem. Could there not be a relation between the two?

Of course, many people in the higher learning sectors of our nation today will say that all this covetousness, immoral behavior, and all these bad things necessitate an increase in self-esteem. Really? Maybe it's the effect and not the cause. We are living in a culture that prescribes as a cure what the Bible describes as a sickness.

The question then arises: How ought we to view ourselves? Am I asserting that we ought to hate ourselves and have some odd sense of hatred for who we are and what we do? No. But notice how 1 Corinthians 4:6 is translated in J.B. Phillips' paraphrase of the Bible. He says, "I've used myself and Apollos above as an illustration so that you might learn from what I have said about us not to assess a man above his value in the sight of God." We need to learn how to view people through God's eyes.

We must have a proper view of ourselves and establish our value and self-worth based on God's estimation, not on our own estimation, which is dominated by a wicked heart. We should not rely on the estimation of our culture, which is influenced by man's wisdom and ultimately under the sway of the wicked one. Therefore, we need to consider: How does God view us?

This leads us to a great challenge. We need to read God's Word more than all the other things that are presented as wisdom and knowledge in our nation. When we do read those books, I am not saying that we shouldn't engage with what the world has to say, but it needs to be filtered through what God's Word says.

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to explain sin, the realities of sin, and the awesomeness of God's love to someone who has been glutted, that is, overfilled?

On self-esteem, you tell someone, "Did you know that God loves you?" They might respond, "Of course God loves me. Why wouldn't He love me? Look how wonderful I am. Look at all these amazing things that I do. Of course He loves me. He would be foolish not to." This is the kind of response we often receive, especially when we begin to talk about sin. People might say, "What in the world are you talking about? Maybe you're talking about yourself, but you aren't talking about me. I'm good. I'm good-looking. I'm a very nice person. I've got high self-esteem. How dare you come in here and hurt my self-esteem? I'm feeling bad now."

But the reality is this: the awesomeness of God's love. One of the last songs we sang today was "Oh, How He Loves Us." We were praising God and worshiping Him because of His love. However, that doesn't make sense to someone who thinks, "Well, of course He should love me. Why should I worship Him for His love?"

When we consider the awesomeness of God's love displayed against the backdrop of our unloveliness, it truly becomes beautiful. It becomes wonderful to look upon His love for us. As Ephesians chapter 2 says, "You has He quickened who are dead in trespasses and sins, who in times past walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience, among whom you also had your conduct in times past in the lusts of your flesh, fulfilling the desires of your flesh and of the mind. And by nature, you are children of wrath."

But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, demonstrated, as Romans 5:8 says, His love towards us by dying on the cross. This makes God's love appear all the more awesome, especially when we consider the reality of who we are.

My son has grown to really love VeggieTales. There's not a day that goes by that he doesn't point at the TV and say, "Bob?" He's not two years old yet, but he wants to watch Bob. Recently, we got a new car for Andrea, which has a DVD player in it. Now, every time he gets in the car, he says, "Bob?" He wants to watch Bob. And, you know, nothing against VeggieTales.

They're actually kind of funny to watch, especially that silly "Songs with Larry." But it's interesting. At the end of each video, Bob and Larry finish by saying, "God made you special, and He loves you very much." Now, that statement is not untrue; it's true. We are created in the image of God. He made us uniquely different from the rest of creation.

You look around this room today, and you see the overwhelming diversity of God's creative hand. People look different, talk differently, and have different personalities. You'll never meet someone who has the exact same personality as you do, although you may even have an identical twin. They're not identically the same. Why? God did make us special.

While that statement, "God made you special and loves you very much," is true, there's a much deeper truth that we need to recognize. God has uniquely and specially made man in His image, but man fell. Because of sin, man is an enemy of God. In spite of that, God loved us. God demonstrated His love towards us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Now, I'm not saying that we need to change "VeggieTales." I honestly don't know that you need to express that theological truth to two-year-olds in a short animated film. If you come up with a way, great. I'd love to see it. But understand there are consequences to constantly feeding into our minds the idea that you are unique, lovely, lovable, and worthy of love. You're inherently good. Does the Bible teach that?

Some people say the Bible is bad because it teaches that we're not inherently good. No, the Bible speaks truth. When we recognize that it is true what the Bible says—that we are desperately wicked—then the redemptive power of God becomes what it truly is. It's worthy of our worship and our devotion because He has loved us awesomely.

In this passage, Paul gives an illustration speaking about the ministers of God, the servants of God, being just that: stewards. Then he gives this admonition to them. Now, an explanation: First Corinthians chapter four, verse seven states, "For who makes thee differ from one another? And what do you have that you did not receive?"

Now I have to admit to you, my immediate response to that first question has always, until this last week, been God. When we read, "Who makes you differ from another?" I would say God. I've even taught that, even just within the last few weeks.

But then I started to really consider this verse and the wording of this verse. He created us. Yes, He created each of us different from one another. I read this verse in a couple of different translations. The New Living Translation says, "Who makes you better than anyone else?" and the New American Standard reads, "For who regards you as superior to another?"

You see, the Greek word that's translated "differ" here, diakrino, has in its meaning the idea of superiority. Therefore, Paul is saying, "Who makes you superior to another?" That was just the problem at Corinth. In the context of the passage, that fits perfectly. They were saying, "Well, I am better than that guy," and "This teacher that I have is better than that other teacher over there." Those people who follow that teacher instead of my teacher are not quite as good as I am because we are superior.

Well, Paul says, "Who made you superior to another?" The answer to the question is, God did not. He is not the one who did this. The Corinthians were dividing according to different gifted individuals. They were considering themselves superior, and as a result, there were divisions. Paul is rebuking that. He is saying there ought not to be these divisions.

Is Christ divided? No. Was Paul crucified for you? No. Were you baptized in the name of Paul? No. What is it that makes you think that you are better than another?

There's a lot of talk in our nation, and rightly so, about renewing and fixing race relations. There has been a lot of division in our nation, not just along racial lines, but also along socioeconomic lines and so forth. There are different sorts of classes within our nation, and people are trying to find a way to fix that.

It's only truly fixed in Christ. Why? Because He breaks down the middle wall of separation, where there is no Jew and no Greek, no poor and no free man, no master, and no slave. Because when we come to Christ,

We recognize that He is not a partial judge. He is impartial and shows no partiality to any man. Although James points his finger at this issue and asks, "Are you not partial in this, that you divide yourselves up into these groups?" Paul responds, "Hey, this is not the way that God would have it. What makes you better than another? Who made you superior to anyone else? It certainly is not God."

He then asks, "What do you have that was not given to you?" Yes, God made us. As Bob and Larry say, "Yes, God made us special, and God loves us very much." However, anything we have is a gift given to us by God. Anything that is good, anything that is favorable, anything that is lovable comes from Him. As James states in James 1:17, "Every good and perfect gift comes from God." There is no partiality with Him; there is no shadow or variation of turning, as James says.

Where then is boasting? If it all is a gift of God, how can we possibly boast? Just after Paul explains this in Ephesians chapter 2, that we were dead in trespasses and sins, he tells us that we have been made alive in Christ because of His great love and mercy. He says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast." Our salvation is the gift of God, not because we were more special than anyone else, but simply because it is His free gift.

Going beyond our salvation, even the good works we do in the name of Christ are the grace and gift of God. Paul continues in Ephesians 2, stating, "For we are His workmanship, created for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." The good works that we do are a result of the grace and goodness of God being worked out in our lives.

A man can receive nothing except it is given him from heaven, as stated in John 3:27. God gives wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, as noted in Proverbs 2:6. Of His fullness, we have received grace for grace, according to John 1:16. We have received differing gifts according to His grace, as mentioned in Romans 12:6. Every good and perfect gift comes from Him, as reiterated in James 1:17, including the positions we hold in ministry, as stated in Romans 1:15.

Therefore, having received such gifts, let us minister to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, as encouraged in 1 Peter 4:10.

An admonition, an explanation, and an application. The end of verse 7 states, "Now, if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" If everything we have truly has been gifted to us by God, then we are not to boast as if we gained it for ourselves. Why do we receive praise from others in the work as though we accomplished any of it in and of ourselves, by ourselves? As Paul said to the Romans in Romans 3:27, "Where then is boasting? It is excluded." We have no ability to boast in and of ourselves. If we're going to boast in anything, Paul says to the Galatians, we should boast in Christ.

To glory in any mercy, favor, or blessing received from God as if it were received because of our own human efforts, power, or industry is against His grace. It is horrid ingratitude, abominable pride, and wickedness. It is contrary to the grace of God. This is not designed to discourage human exertion of energy but to discourage the spirit of vain glory and boasting. It is God who gives man life, talent, ability, opportunity, health, personality, strength—everything. Everything is of Him, from Him, and for Him. What kind of conceit blinds our eyes to behave as if it were not from Him?

Paul gives this application in verse 7: "Now if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you did not receive it?" In verse 8, in a very sarcastic tone, Paul says, "Now you are full. Now you are rich. You have reigned as kings without us." The Corinthians felt honored, distinguished, and great, even looking down upon Paul and saying, "Who is Paul?" Paul responds, "Oh, you are great, aren't you? You're honorable. You're distinguished. You reign, do you not? I would to God that you did reign, that we might also reign with you."

For I think that God has set forth us, the apostles, last, as it were, appointed to death, for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. Paul, speaking to the self-exalted Corinthians, says...

We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honorable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place. We labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world and as the offscouring of all things unto this day.

Now, I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. I am not writing these things to try and make you feel bad, Paul says. I do not want you to be discouraged and despairing, lying in the gutter somewhere. I want you to understand the reality, the truth. I write these things because you are my sons. I want to warn you, for though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, you do not have many fathers. I have begotten you unto the gospel.

This is the same group of people that began to say to one another, "Well, who is Paul? Who does he think he is?" Wherefore, I beseech you, be followers of me. Now, Paul is not boasting in his ability. In another passage, he says, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." Paul's desire was to be Christ-like, and therefore he said to them, "Be imitators of me; follow me."

For this cause, I have sent unto you Timothy. I am sending Timothy to you, who is my beloved son. Notice what it says of Timothy: he is faithful in the Lord. Remember verse 2? Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. So, I am sending Timothy to you because he is faithful in the Lord, and he shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. He is going to come and correct this wrong focus. I am rebuking you with the letter because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is useful for rebuke and for correction.

Timothy is going to come and correct you, putting you in mind of how you ought to walk. Now, there are some of you that are puffed up. Who was it that was puffed up? Back in verses 6 and 7, we found that it was those people whom they had unwarrantedly exalted above measure. He says, "There are some among you that are puffed up, as though I would not come to you again." Probably the same group that was saying, "Who is Paul?" But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills.

And I will know not the speech of them that are puffed up, but the power. I love that. Paul says, "I am going to come to you," and we'll see when we get there how their words change.

Yeah, well, I'm not there. They're real lions, aren't they? They say, "Oh, who is Paul?" But I wonder if they'd have the gall to stand before the Apostle Paul and say, "Oh, who is Paul?" We'll see the speech of them and actually see if there's any power behind their words. For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.

What will you? What do you desire? Shall I come unto you with a rod or in love and in the spirit of meekness? You decide. Your decision, Paul says. You can, in humility, walk as Christ walked, honoring others above himself, and find there the love of Christ and a spirit of meekness. Or you can stand in the arrogance of pride, as is always exalted in man, and find that when the Lord returns, as Paul would to Corinth, He comes not with love and the spirit of meekness but with a rod of correction.

Revelation chapter 19 makes it very clear that when the Lord returns, He will return with that rod to judge the nations. We have an opportunity now by humbly coming before Him and recognizing that we have nothing in and of ourselves. We're insufficient of ourselves to think anything is being of ourselves, and we must recognize that if we have anything at all, it's from Him. Our sufficiency is of Christ.

In doing so, we find the love of God and His meekness. What a wonderful joy it is to find that there! But what a terrible thing when we begin to divide ourselves up within the body of Christ and say, "Well, you know, they're not quite as good as us," or "We're much better than they." Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but soberly, Paul says, as God has given to every one of us a measure of faith.

Let's stand and pray. Lord, oh how You love us! As we came before Your table, the communion table today, partaking of the bread, which is a picture of Your body broken for us, and the cup, which pictures for us Your blood shed for us, it displays Your love and demonstrates that You loved...

Your enemies, when we were dead in trespasses and sins. We thank You, Lord, that You have loved us. When we see just who we are in the mirror of Your Word, we realize just how awesome Your love is. Thank You, Lord, for loving us.

Give us the strength, the boldness, and the ability to share that love with even those in our lives that we think are unlovely, because You love them too. We praise and thank You for Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen.