Fools for Christ | Dr. Ed Young

[Music] so [Music] everybody says what can i do so many say well we have to stand up what does that mean verbiage or action we've already been studying first corinthians we've already been looking at what paul said in the first three chapters now he's about to get with some big big burly tough moral problems we're going to get there in chapter 5. and when we get there most of us are going to say that's in the bible so hold on but right now paul is introducing the corinthian church and reminding them of who they are and what they have this is who you are and this is what you have that has been what we've been looking at and then paul comes to this great fourth chapter remind you he's still trying to help these people this church to understand how they are to function in a totally corrupt society isn't that what you and i need to know divine insight divine commandments divine ability to discern and walk through this world as men and women on god's team he's telling us before he gets to specifics he gets them some very very general thing chapter four paul says that a man regard us christians in this manner in other words this is how the world should look at us in the culture of the church to regard you and regard me as we would paul and apollos in the church in corinth he says as servants of christ let's stop that word servant is a pregnant word what does that mean it's a very important word when i read the bible and study i always look for pregnant words words that are going to grow and develop and multiply key words now right up front we have a pregnant word it is the word service i know that word maybe not the real etymology means it you are an under roar who am i in christ who are you in christ who were these cringes they were under roars and they had those big galleys those roman ships and they'd have those slaves and they would be down motivating that ship where corinth was between the gnc and the ionian sea that little isthmus that was there that big international seaport they had slaves that would roll and and he says you don't know who you are that's a great you're an underroar you're in the roar that's god describes who we are and the corinthians man they didn't like that you mean we are under roars we're slaves and the master is commanding us that's who we are as soon as they were a christian and he says and a steward of the mysteries of god a steward means someone who is doesn't own everything but is responsible for the whole household is responsible for everything a steward and we are to be stewards we're under roars we're slave of christ but also we are those who are stewards who have responsibility and an accountability before god to handle that which we have been entrusted with and that's the mystery of god the greek word mysterion it's all the way to the bible the mystery what is the mystery of god it's the fact that god is the creator it's the fact that there is the fall it's the fact there is redemption what's that all about we have to understand that no human being would ever have figured out logically what we know is the truth of god and to most people that is a mystery and we as under-roarers as servants as stewards of this mystery we have to live it out and explain it and that is that god through thousands of years old testament working through his peculiar people and through events in history prepared for the coming of jesus christ who was god in human flesh god man in this world his birth his life his teaching his death his resurrection and his coming again to bring down the curtain of history now that is the mystery that's in us that we should know we'd be able to share it very simply we're responsible for that the church i say it once again is the container the container of the mystery of god because all of us are bodies and arms and feet and eyes and no one more important than the other we are to share that mystery it's been revealed to us and we revealed to others and then it says verse two and in this case moreover said paul is required of stewards and underroars that one be found trustworthy we're to be trustworthy in other words we are to be men and women of truth if anything is on the table today in the 21st century culture it is truth [Applause] we are to be trustworthy to speak the truth we're called to do that as under roars as stewards of the mysteries of god and we must do that in the 21st century and then paul goes on to say too many people have a sunburn have you noticed that everybody seems to have a sunburn oh don't touch me there oh no no you have harmed me so deeply i'll never recover and we've seen you touch somebody about anything oh that upsets me that offends me and so we see everybody with this sunburn and because we've got the sunburn we judge everybody like the old antique joke that i love the man went to the doctor he said doc when i touched my shoulder oh it hurts when i touch my head it's so painful i touch my knee it's painful doc what's wrong with me he looked he said you got a broken finger i mean it's not too hard i mean my point is we're so sensitive in our culture we're all sunburned i'm offended i'm upset you belittle me and and this is where we are and here we have paul talking to that day into our day say you are all in the judgmental business judge not that you be not judged then he tells us who does indeed judge us look at it's beautiful but the one who examines me is the lord therefore do not go on to pass judgment the time but wait until the lord comes who will both bring to light oh this is scary the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of our hearts and then each person's praise will come to him from the lord there's going to be a judgment time absolutely romans 14 corinthians 5 passage didn't matter we're going to be judgment time great white of throne judgment all that's in darkness will come to the light how many of us look forward to that is that going to be a great day boy i'm glad you know everything i've thought of everything i've done in my life boy it's going to be oh no no no no no only god can judge now on the side to put in context isn't it beautiful that when we confess sin turn from sin genuinely and god is healed and forgiven that's not going to be the agenda there but god will go up and check our motives why did you give that why did you say that why did you talk about it see motive that frightens me to death you sit down by yourself and ask one question what have i done in my life from a pure pure pure motive well i i love my wife well was that pure they have no so my point is motives are frightening and only god knows the time of judgment and he alone will reveal motives and he'll take all that which we thought was done with and bring it out into the light and all the sunburned folks that are walking around that includes a lot of us we have to understand that we're not in the judgment business the world's judgment self-judgment only god can judge and he's put that off thank god now the next thing paul says is very very and he said don't get ahead of your skis that's how i get verse 6. now these things brethren i have figuratively applied to myself and apollos for your sake what did paul say here paul is saying he and apollos were judged by the book that was written that would be the old testament revelation that would be the principles he laid out for the church at corinth when he went there as their founding father he said don't get ahead of that don't don't move on beyond that don't get ahead of your skis what does that mean i had about a five minute skiing career until i broke a rib but i know on skis if you get ahead what's going to happen bang that's what he's talking about he's saying look don't don't get ahead of yourself stay in the center balanced and grounded c.s lewis he said when we go in one extreme in life usually we find ourselves backing up into the other extreme you follow me there's something that we say as christians we ought to take everything we have and give it all away to god and live on basically nothing i i've fought and wrestled and thought about that many many times poverty the other extreme is i want to take all i can and make all i can hold on to all i can so what's the answer you got to have sort of a grip that's not like this i'm going to hold it all i'm not like a grip like this there's a middle thing there paul is saying stay centered stay centered stay balanced don't get ahead of your skis and sure not but not get back on your skis that's what he's saying and then he goes and this is this is something he gets in the grill of the corinthians what does that mean playing the sports you know what it means you have a watching this sport no that means you ever see a coach somebody will be going in the game or going out of the game and they grab their face mask and they get in their grill that's what that means and they say son on the last play you didn't follow that and he just gets into him or they say son man i believe in you i'm sending you in for this specific purpose you get there in their grill paul gets in the grill of the church and look what he says first of all he has three questions that are simply satirical questions it's full of satire for who regards you as superior why are you such a big shot he's asking each one in the church he said what do you have that you did not receive and he says if you did not receive it why do you boast as if you had not received it folks does anybody have anything that you did not receive well i worked so hard i built i'm no you didn't grace the doors open the choice was made the decision and so all of life is grace not only our redemption our salvation wherever we are in life it's just by the grace of god we haven't earned it we haven't deserved it big little up or down makes no difference it's all grace god's riches at christ's expense that's the acrostic it's a gift for knowing to be proud about anything it's all grace he's saying what do you have that you did not receive so paul here is saying wherever you are in the in the spectrum man make sure you know it's a gift of god it's that grace and then he gets still in their grill he's saying you are already filled and the word there has to do with food he's saying you corinthians you you people there in the church you're already filled you have already become rich you become kings without us paul said indeed i wish you had become kings so that we may also reign with you see the deep sarcasm to awaken us and to awaken the corinthians it's by grace and then he says for i thank god has exhibited us apostles last of all as men condemned to death because we have become a spectacle hold on to that word it's a pregnant word to the world both to angels and to men what's he saying we've become a spectacle that's who we are as christians when the romans would take over and conquer a country they would march back to rome and they did in other places and their soldiers would march in unison and bring up the rear would be all the slaves they had captured would be all the goods they'd brought back home so they would march at the front and all the slaves and those have been called and captured and all they had stolen from the conquests they had that be all at the rear of the parade that's the word spectacle and paul says we're at the rear of the parade we're way we're way back there that's who we are as under roars as stewards as those who really have been useless as far as the world is concerned and then he says we're fools for christ's sake but you are prudent in christ you're weak we are weak but you're strong you're distinguished but we're without honor what's he saying he's saying folks as christians it's grace of god there's evenness in the body of christ and we're to be fools we're not to be prudent in other words paul's saying lay an eye on the line be an idiot be be disgraced by the world he's saying don't worry about your name and your reputation just build food for christ's sake sell out go all in and by the way it's not going to be long before we'll be able to identify true followers of jesus from those who are not true followers of jesus you just mark that down that's a little bit of prophecy but you don't have to be a prophet to understand that's where we are do you realize today that christians are the most persecuted group in the world last year over a hundred thousand christians were martyred were killed because they were christians did you know that every hour 11 people are martyred because they're christians around the world there are 239 countries excuse me 139 countries about three-fourths of the countries 139 countries who have in their documents passages that directly discriminate against christians that's three-fourths of the countries of the world roughly 139 countries discriminate because you're christian by the way you can add one more country the united states of america now paul's incomes gives us a wonderful word of how we are to handle this first of all he says in 13 he says here's who i am we're slandered we try to conciliate we become as the scum of the world the dregs of all things even now he oh he's already said when we persecute paul's ahead of me i'm not there i'll have to confess to you he's ahead of me i want some kind of approval and some kind of recognition i want the glory of god to flow in and through our lives but paul's ahead of us we're not quite there but we're running there far too far too rapidly and then he says in verse 14 i do not write these things to shame you but to admonish you as my beloved children parents we're not to shame our children i told some men this morning i'd like a redo in being a father because sometimes i resorted to shame shame we don't do that in disciplinary church we admire them and that is we we speak quietly after we've counted to a thousand a couple of times that's admonishment quiet voice measured tones not shame and he says paul is saying this is what i'm saying to you in the church he's trying to explain that everything is by grace and because he's given us this we have to hold it in these earthen vessels our bodies and to live it out especially now in this moment in history let me cliff barrows as some of you know was a very close friend of mine cliff director the music for billy graham all those years he was one of the counselors of billy graham mr graham said that of all the people he knew that the two best christians were his wife ruth and cliff barros cliff called me years ago and he said i want to tell you what just happened to me he was in washington and he said i was walking the hotel lobby and said wintley phelps came up to me most of them may remember him he's an african-american singer he's been there many times beautiful voice pastor in washington he said when they came up said cliff i want to show you something he said when they took me there in a little side room and sat down at the piano and he said you may not know this but all the spirituals all the spirituals are written in the pentatonic key and this means the melody is played only on black notes all the spirituals and he said whitney played for me on the piano sweet little jesus boy nobody knows what trouble i've seen all on the pentatonic key five in these octaves there are five black notes only using the black notes the piano he says it is called the slave scale and he said the story of john newton is interesting he said newton was a slave trader he'd been a drunk after he was a slave trader he fell drunk overboard into the sea once and to get him out they had to gaff him like you would a fish and put him back up and before that he'd been a slave trader on those galleys and john newton beautifully came to know jesus christ a radical change in his life of a life that was as decadent and evil as any life you could imagine and he said as he did that newton though he wasn't a musician kept hearing the cadence that he heard on those slave ships and he said those slaves as they would roll they had [Music] a melody music behind it and he said newton couldn't get that music out of his mind and he said the music sounded something like and he picked it out and he finally came to see what it was [Music] and whitley said that that was what the slaves had roared to and he simply put words on it amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me and you look in a hymnal sometimes and you'll find something very very interesting amazing grace will be listed it'll say words by john newton melody tune nobody knows [Music] i can tell you who wrote the melody it was god it was god newton just put the words to it to emphasize that all of us are under rovers we're under roars we're slaves to the lord jesus christ and that ladies and gentlemen is the beauty of the body of christ that's the reason the church as i've said sunday after sunday read there ii peter 2 9 we are a new race we are a new priesthood unto the lord jesus christ and that is grace and it is that grace that we contain that we must reveal in our lives and our walk and that's the way we live in a culture that is broken god fearing lives under roars for him [Music] you

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Id: gRoDZVrfr44

Length: 26min 31sec (1591 seconds)

Published: Sat May 22 2021