A Call to Faithfulness

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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April 1, 2018

00:00: I do want you to open your Bibles with me, if you would.
00:04: Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
00:25: I want to preface today's message with a short explanation.
00:30: Today is Resurrection Sunday, and I am glad to see you all.
00:36: This is obviously a special day in the life of the church every year that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
00:46: But at the beginning of this year, for those of you who are not members or regulars here at Sovereign Grace, I want to make mention at the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to preach through 1 Corinthians without stopping.
00:59: And I said I was going to do it whether it was Easter or Mother's Day or Christmas or whatever.
01:05: I'm not going to stop and do something different.
01:09: So let me just say this about that.
01:14: If you're disappointed, don't be.
01:16: I pray that the message won't be a disappointment to you.
01:19: But I want to say this.
01:22: Every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday.
01:28: Because that's the whole reason why we gather on Sunday and not Saturday.
01:33: You understand the Sabbath is Saturday, right? That's the day that the Jewish people for a few thousand years had gathered for worship on Saturday.
01:43: That was the Sabbath.
01:44: But when Jesus Christ died, and He was in the tomb on the Sabbath, He came out of the grave on Sunday.
01:55: And from then on, His people gathered for worship on the first day of the week.
02:02: We often think of Monday as the first day of the week.
02:04: No, Monday is the work day of the week.
02:07: Sunday is the first day of the week.
02:09: And we gather on Sunday in honor of the resurrection every single week.
02:17: So today we gather in honor of the resurrection again as we do every week.
02:23: And so we're going to continue to do what we do every week.
02:26: We're going to make our way through this Word.
02:29: And I trust that God is going to use what is said today in your lives.
02:34: So we're going to go together to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and we're going to read the title of today's message.
02:42: It's a call to faithfulness.
02:45: And I'll turn my mic on, that might help you hear me.
02:47: Can you hear me better now? Okay, well we'll begin.
02:52: A call to faithfulness, 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 to 5.
03:00: Let's stand for the reading of God's Word.
03:02: Thank you.
03:08: This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
03:18: Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.
03:24: But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
03:31: In fact, I do not even judge myself for I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.
03:38: It is the Lord who judges me.
03:42: Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.
03:52: Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
03:58: Father in heaven, I thank you for your Word.
04:01: Thank you for your truth.
04:02: I thank you that we've had the opportunity this morning to worship you in song and worship you in prayer.
04:08: And now I thank you that we have the opportunity to worship you in study.
04:12: Your Word tells us to study, to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.
04:20: And Father, we've sought to divide this book of 1 Corinthians, to study it, to go line by line and verse by verse.
04:26: And I pray that you would bless that faithfulness.
04:29: I pray that you would keep me from error, as I know I am a fallible man and capable of error.
04:34: And I pray that through the preaching of your Word that you would open hearts.
04:37: I pray for those who have come today who do not believe your Word.
04:41: Father, that your Holy Spirit would break their heart in their sin.
04:45: And that they would realize their need for the Savior.
04:48: And for those who have come today who have been teetering on the fence, they're still unbelievers, but you've been working on their hearts, Lord, that today might be the day that you break that heart of stone, Lord, and you give them a new heart.
05:01: And Father, for those who are believers who have come today, I pray that you would give them a reminder of your call to faithfulness.
05:09: That it is required of a steward that he be found faithful.
05:16: I pray all of this, Lord, in Jesus' name and for his sake.
05:20: Amen.
05:20: Well, again, if you haven't been with us, this study of 1 Corinthians has been a reminder to us as a church of God's care for His people and His church.
05:49: And Paul has been challenging and exhorting his people, God's people, since the first chapter of this book about divisions, about pride, about seeking worldly wisdom rather than God's wisdom, about breaking into factions and having hero worship, some saying I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, or I am of Peter, using those men to establish their own spiritual superiority.
06:18: And Paul lets them know with no uncertain terms that there is no place for division among God's people when it is based on selfish pride, and it's based on a sense of seeking for status rather than holiness.
06:41: And in our last passage from last week, whenever we studied the end of chapter 3, Paul is talking about the fact that God will reward us, that He is actually the one who does the rewarding.
06:59: And so this is where we come in to chapter 4 and our study for today.
07:08: And the thesis of the message is very simple.
07:10: We are servants of God, called to be faithful to our Master, and ultimate judgment for our lives rests solely in Him.
07:21: I'll give that again.
07:22: This is the thesis of the message today.
07:24: We are servants of God, called to be faithful to our Master, and the ultimate judgment of our lives rests solely in Him.
07:36: Now, it's again important to understand that this is Paul's context.
07:43: In this context, rather, he's talking mainly about himself.
07:47: You say, how do you know that? Well, look at verse 1.
07:49: It says, This is how one should regard us.
07:52: Who is the us? Well, think about how Paul has been talking this whole time.
07:56: He's been referring to the Corinthians, who are dividing themselves up over teachers.
08:02: I am of Paul.
08:03: I am of Apollos.
08:04: I am of Peter.
08:05: Right? That's how the division is happening.
08:07: That's how this has been working.
08:08: And he says, this is how you should regard us.
08:11: Who is the us? Us is Paul, Apollos, Peter, and the other church leaders.
08:16: It's the leadership who he's focused on here.
08:18: He says, this is how you should regard us as servants of Christ.
08:30: You should regard us as servants of Christ.
08:34: If you have a King James Bible, I believe it says ministers.
08:40: This is how you should regard us, as ministers of Christ.
08:44: There's a little bit of an issue with that word.
08:46: That actually, the word minister comes from the Latin word for servant.
08:51: And so it's easily brought into the biblical vernacular for the word for service.
08:57: But the problem is, today, if I say to you, minister, what comes to your mind? Preacher.
09:03: In fact, that's how a lot of people introduce me.
09:05: This is my minister.
09:07: Or this is Brother Keith.
09:09: He's the minister.
09:09: I did a funeral yesterday.
09:10: This is the minister.
09:12: Brother Keith.
09:15: But in this particular context, even though Paul is talking about himself, and he's talking about Paul, Apollos, Peter, he's talking about leadership, he is not using a word which would bring any sense of notoriety to the position, or any sense of value to the position.
09:33: He is actually using the very lowest word for servant that he could use.
09:40: Remember a few weeks ago, I talked about the word diakonos? And that's where we get the word deacon.
09:45: The word diakonos means servant, right? That's not the word he uses here.
09:50: Even that word would be a little bit more of a status than the word that he uses here.
09:55: The Greek word that he uses here is huperatos.
10:01: Huperatos literally means the under rower.
10:05: You say, what does that mean? Well, this phrase, huperatos, means it was the person on the ship, when they had their ships, that was at the very bottom row, who was rowing, as it were, right at the lowest point, usually in chains.
10:26: And if the ship went down, he was the last one to get off, and usually didn't get off.
10:32: So in that sense, when Paul says this is how you should regard us, meaning leaders, as the lowest of servants.
10:45: You see there, it's not just servant, it's a low place.
10:50: Christ is the exalted one.
10:52: We are not to be exalted.
10:54: Don't exalt Paul.
10:55: Don't exalt Apollos.
10:56: Don't exalt Peter.
10:58: And I might add, don't ever exalt me.
11:00: Don't ever exalt any man.
11:04: And there are great men of God out there.
11:05: I'm thankful for John MacArthur and R.C.
11:08: Sproul and all of these other men, James White and others who have had influence in my life.
11:12: But they are servants of the master.
11:15: They are not the masters themselves.
11:17: And every one of them has been wrong at one point or another.
11:21: Every one of them has said something that is wrong.
11:25: We are all servants of the master.
11:28: We are not the masters ourselves.
11:31: And this is how you should regard us.
11:33: As servants of Christ.
11:37: Subordinates.
11:38: Lowly ones.
11:44: And that's how he opens chapter 4.
11:49: He says, you guys have found all of this spiritual pride in being attached to one of us.
11:54: You found your spiritual pride in being of Paul.
11:56: Or being of Apollos.
11:57: Or being of Peter.
12:00: But you ought to understand.
12:03: We are all lowly servants of Christ.
12:07: And this is how you should regard us.
12:08: As servants of Christ.
12:09: And stewards of the mysteries of God.
12:13: What is a steward? A steward is a person who is responsible for a household.
12:22: It actually comes from the word for household.
12:24: Oikonomois.
12:25: Oikonomois is of two Greek words.
12:27: Oikos, which is the home.
12:30: And namos, which means law.
12:32: And so, oikonomois, when you put it together.
12:35: Means the person who is in charge of the home.
12:38: In the place of the master when the master is away.
12:43: Right? You ever had somebody house sit at your home.
12:45: And they are responsible for the home while you are gone.
12:48: Well, in the ancient world there was more responsibility placed on that person.
12:52: And they were considered to have position of responsibility in the home.
12:57: And they were.
12:58: Think about the story of Joseph.
13:02: From the Old Testament.
13:03: He was oikonomois.
13:04: He was the steward of the house.
13:10: Remember? He was a prisoner.
13:12: And he became the steward of the prison.
13:14: And then.
13:14: Well, he was in the house.
13:16: And then he got.
13:17: He became the steward of the house.
13:18: And then he was falsely accused.
13:19: And then he went to the prison.
13:20: And became the steward of the prison.
13:22: And then he interpreted the dream.
13:24: And what happened? He became the steward of Egypt.
13:26: Second only to Pharaoh.
13:28: Right? You say.
13:32: Wait a minute.
13:32: You just said we are low servants.
13:33: And now you are saying.
13:34: Oh.
13:35: No.
13:35: I am not saying we are high up.
13:36: What I am saying is a big responsibility.
13:40: Lowly servants.
13:40: But a big responsibility.
13:42: Because we have been made stewards of what? The mysteries of God.
13:46: We have a responsibility.
13:48: Not a position of power and authority.
13:51: But a position of responsibility.
13:55: Isn't that it? The position of responsibility is to be stewards of what? The mysteries of God.
14:03: What is the mysteries of God? According to our study.
14:07: We have been in 1 Corinthians.
14:08: We have already done this.
14:09: For those who have been here.
14:09: We saw in chapter 2 and in chapter 3.
14:12: The mysteries of God is the gospel.
14:16: And so we have been given the gospel.
14:20: And we are stewards of it.
14:22: To be responsible to it.
14:24: And this is where I can tell you.
14:26: This doesn't land with the preacher alone.
14:28: This doesn't land with just the ministers or the leaders.
14:31: It hits us first.
14:33: It hits us most.
14:34: Because we are told.
14:35: Those who stand up and teach are going to be held to a higher standard.
14:38: Right? We are told in James 3.1.
14:39: If you teach the word of God.
14:40: You are going to be judged at a higher standard.
14:43: I know that.
14:43: That is a verse I have to keep in mind all the time.
14:46: James chapter 3 and verse 1.
14:47: But it doesn't end with me.
14:50: Let me ask you a question.
14:51: Does the Bible call you an ambassador of Christ? You better believe it does.
14:56: 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
14:58: It says if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
15:01: You have been made ambassadors of Christ.
15:03: God is making his appeal through you.
15:06: Be reconciled to God.
15:08: Right? So when we go out and share the gospel.
15:10: God is using you.
15:11: God is using you to bring people to him.
15:14: You are stewards of the mysteries of God.
15:21: You realize that is all we are.
15:24: Is stewards.
15:26: You don't own anything.
15:29: You don't have ultimate power and authority over anything.
15:32: You don't have authority over your bank account.
15:34: The government could freeze it tomorrow and you would have nothing.
15:37: You don't have authority over your home.
15:38: If you don't pay your taxes.
15:39: Guess what? Next year you are going to be out on the lawn.
15:42: You go a year without paying your property taxes.
15:44: You don't have authority over your own body.
15:46: Your heart could stop right now.
15:47: And you couldn't do nothing about it.
15:49: You couldn't talk it out of it.
15:51: You couldn't gamble with it.
15:52: You couldn't barter with it.
15:53: You are not in charge of anything in the sense of ultimate authority.
15:57: But God does place things in your hands.
16:00: Doesn't he? He places your house in your hands.
16:02: And he says you have to take care of this house.
16:04: He places your finances in your hands.
16:06: And he says you have to take care of these finances.
16:08: He places your body in your hands.
16:10: He says you have to take care of this body.
16:12: We only give you one.
16:12: You only get one shot.
16:13: Right? You have to take care of it.
16:17: So he gives us these things.
16:19: And he says here you are made stewards of these.
16:21: And the most important thing, the most important gift you have been given, I'm going to tell you this, the most important gift you've been given, if you're a believer, is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
16:34: Now you've been given other great gifts.
16:36: Your family is a great gift.
16:37: Your children are a great gift.
16:38: Your husband and wife are a great gift.
16:39: Your mother and father, if they're still living, they're great gifts to you.
16:42: And I'm not saying you should ever neglect those gifts.
16:44: Because you shouldn't.
16:45: The Bible says we're supposed to take care of our families.
16:47: We're supposed to love and care for them.
16:49: Those are gifts from God.
16:50: But guess what? The most important gift you've been given is the gospel.
16:56: The most important thing that has been entrusted to you is the truth.
17:03: You realize men search their whole lives for the truth, but they don't look to Christ.
17:06: They look elsewhere and they never find it.
17:08: They get satisfied in all kinds of worldly truths, but they never find the real truth.
17:12: They spend their whole lives in search of something that will satisfy them.
17:16: And nothing ever does.
17:18: Because there is no satisfaction for the soul outside of Christ.
17:28: But you who have Christ, you who have been given Christ, have been made stewards of that gospel.
17:39: Now just real quick, before I move on in the text, I have to say this.
17:42: Because I know that this is Resurrection Sunday.
17:45: Oftentimes folks come in, I've not even met some of you, and that's wonderful.
17:48: I'm so thankful we had to pull out extra chairs this morning.
17:51: I was giddy.
17:52: I was nervous because we were pulling out extra chairs and I wanted to make sure we had enough.
17:55: But I was giddy in my heart.
17:56: I was like, this is wonderful to see so many folks here on this morning.
18:01: But I know too, people come in this morning, a lot of people, when I say, hey, you're stewards of the gospel, and people are probably in their mind, they don't even know what the gospel is.
18:11: I ask people all the time.
18:12: People come to me and they'll say, I've been saved for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years.
18:15: I've been saved since I was 7, 8, 9 years old.
18:17: I'll say, what is the gospel? And it's crickets.
18:22: People don't know the gospel.
18:23: How can you be saved if you don't know the gospel? So as I wrote in my notes, and I haven't even looked at my notes right now, but I know it's there.
18:33: I wrote in my notes, I said, at this point when I say that the gospel is the mystery of God, you need to stop and make sure we understand what it is.
18:43: By the way, if you're ever bored with the gospel, I would question whether or not you know Jesus.
18:50: There's a lot of things that can bore us.
18:53: A lot of things bore me.
18:54: Turn on ESPN, I'll fall asleep.
18:56: But you can't bore me with the gospel.
18:59: So what is the gospel? The gospel is the word evangelion.
19:03: In the Greek it means good news.
19:06: And it is called good news because it is predicated on the idea that we understand that we come into this world with very bad news.
19:17: We come into this world with the bad news that we are dead in sin.
19:22: Not dead physically.
19:23: We have living bodies.
19:24: We can do a lot of things.
19:25: In fact, unsaved people can do miraculous things, wonderful things, because they're still made in the image of God.
19:30: And so they can run fast and jump high and think hard and figure out stuff and build great buildings and do all kinds of things.
19:36: Unsaved people can do amazing things.
19:40: But they're still lost in their sin.
19:43: You say, what is sin? The Bible says sin is any want of conformity to the law of God.
19:50: Any want of conformity to or breach of the law of God.
19:54: Meaning, have you ever broken God's law? And I would ask you this question in your mind and make sure you understand this question.
20:00: Have you ever told a lie? And you would say, well, everybody tells lies.
20:05: That's the point.
20:06: I don't have to wonder if you're going to say yes.
20:09: If I asked you if you've ever told one lie, you would say, no, I've told several.
20:15: What do you call people who tell several lies? A liar.
20:20: Have you ever stolen anything, irregardless of the value? If you say no, I don't believe you because you just told me you're a liar.
20:31: But I bet if you're honest with yourself, you say, yeah, I've stolen a few things.
20:34: I've taken things that weren't mine.
20:35: I've cheated on my taxes.
20:36: I've done things I shouldn't have done and taken things that weren't mine.
20:39: Downloaded things that weren't supposed to be.
20:41: Taken things that weren't mine.
20:43: Taken from work.
20:44: Taken from wherever.
20:44: Okay, so we're a lying thief.
20:46: That's a problem, right? How about this? As Jesus said, if you've ever looked with lust in your heart, you've committed adultery in your heart.
20:57: Now, I don't have to ask.
20:59: I just have to look at your face.
21:02: If you've ever looked with lust in your heart, you've committed adultery in your heart.
21:06: So now, by our own admission, I hope we would say we know we are liars, we are thieves, and we're adulterers at heart.
21:13: Do I need to go on? There's ten commandments I could go through and there's more than that.
21:18: But in the sense of God's law, His moral law, do I need to continue? I don't.
21:25: And all I've done is I've proved to you that if you face the judge of the universe and he uses the standard of His holiness, you will be found guilty or innocent.
21:35: Guilty.
21:37: And if you stand guilty before the throne of God, will you go to heaven or hell? According to the word of God, you will go to hell because God is holy and just and righteous.
21:49: And somebody says, well, I don't like that.
21:50: Let me ask you a question.
21:51: If you went home today and you found out that somebody in your family had been hurt and raped and attacked and that rapist was taken before a judge and the judge says, I know the evidence is there to convict you but I don't want to convict you because I'm a nice guy and I'm going to let you go free.
22:06: How would you feel about that judge? You would demand he be disbarred because he's unrighteous.
22:14: So how is it that you will stand before the throne of God, the judge of the universe and not be found guilty and expect God to punish you? That's the bad news.
22:27: That's the bad news.
22:29: You deserve God's punishment and He is righteous and will give you His punishment and thus you stand condemned.
22:40: Say, I didn't come on Easter for this.
22:42: Man, I was...
22:46: That's the bad news.
22:49: We haven't got to the gospel yet.
22:50: You're not ready for the gospel if you don't understand that part.
22:54: You ever heard somebody come up and say, I need to tell you about Jesus so you'll know how to get to heaven.
22:57: No, I need to tell you about why you're going to hell.
23:00: Then you'll know why you need Jesus to get to heaven because if all I do is tell you all about Jesus and I say, you need Jesus, people are going to say, why? You know what people say people need Jesus for? People say, well, you need Jesus to make your life better.
23:15: That's not what you need Jesus for.
23:17: People say you need Jesus to make you happy.
23:19: That's not what you need Jesus for.
23:21: People say you need Jesus to give you purpose.
23:23: That's not what you need Jesus for.
23:25: Now, Jesus will make your life better.
23:27: He will make you joyful.
23:28: He will give you purpose, but that's not what you need Him for.
23:31: You need Him for this very reason because you are dead in your trespasses and sins and you deserve the wrath of Almighty God.
23:40: And the wrath of Almighty God rests upon you until the sins that you have committed are imputed to Him who died in your place.
23:50: Jesus Christ went to the cross and He was nailed to the cross so that He would take in Himself the sins that you have committed.
24:02: The punishment that you deserve was poured out onto Jesus.
24:07: Remember when Jesus was in the garden and He said, Father, if it be Thy will, take this cup from Me.
24:15: Nevertheless, not My will, but Thy will be done.
24:18: What was the cup that Jesus was asking to be removed? Was it the punishment of the Romans? I mean, that's pretty bad, but that wasn't it.
24:28: Was it the hatred and the attack of the Jewish people? That was pretty bad too, but that wasn't it.
24:33: The cup that Jesus was asking to be removed was the cup of God's wrath which was going to be poured out upon Him on the cross.
24:46: Jesus was going to take in Himself the fullness of hell in His body.
24:57: And He said, Lord God, if there be another way, take this cup from Me.
25:04: And by the way, a lot of times people will say, is Jesus the only way to heaven? And a lot of people go to John 14 where Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except by Me.
25:14: That's a good verse and it's good to remember that verse, but I want to tell you the reason why I believe Jesus is the only way to heaven because He asked.
25:21: He said, Father, if there is another way, let this cup pass from Me.
25:27: And the fact that He got up and went to the cross was proof positive that the answer was no.
25:33: There is no other way.
25:38: So Christ got up and He went to the cross and He gave up the ghost and He took upon Himself all our sin.
25:47: And He says now, I'm the resurrection and the life and whoever believes in Me, though he shall die, yet shall he live.
25:59: Because we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.
26:06: That's the gospel.
26:08: That's what you've been entrusted with.
26:10: That's what you've been entrusted to give the world.
26:13: If you're a believer, that's what you carry with you all the time.
26:16: You carry the sweet aroma of the forgiveness of God.
26:20: Men who stand guilty.
26:22: Men who stand condemned.
26:23: And they do.
26:25: Look at how much we have risen in our world of stress and being overcome with the burden of life and overcome with the burden of the feeling of absolute despair.
26:41: What is the answer? Forgiveness in Christ.
26:48: Forgiveness in Christ is lift of the burden that is on our souls.
26:58: Just like in the Pilgrim's Progress when Christian was carrying the burden and he says, Oh, it is that I find someone to help me alleviate this awful burden.
27:13: Christ takes the burden from us.
27:18: The burden of guilt.
27:20: The burden of punishment.
27:22: The burden of wrath that is on you is lifted up and laid upon Christ on the cross because he willingly took it.
27:34: Beloved, I can't just...
27:37: I'm overwhelmed every time I get to share this because this is the gospel.
27:44: And this is where we're going to go to verse 2.
27:47: Because in verse 2, Paul says this.
27:50: He says, we're made stewards of the mysteries of God.
27:53: That's the gospel.
27:54: And it is required of a steward that he be found.
27:58: Now the ESV says trustworthy.
28:00: I don't like that because even though it's right, I like the old way.
28:04: It is required of a steward that he be found faithful.
28:10: He is required of a steward that he be found faithful.
28:15: Beloved, you've been given a gift.
28:16: You've been given the gospel.
28:17: You have been given God's mysteries.
28:21: And it has been given to you as a gift.
28:23: And now you have a responsibility to be faithful with what you have been given.
28:34: I can't be faithful for you and you can't be faithful for me.
28:38: I can't make you do anything.
28:40: I can give you all kinds of opportunities to study.
28:42: I can give you all kinds of opportunities to serve.
28:44: I can point you in the direction of that.
28:46: But I can't make you do anything.
28:51: And you can't make me do anything.
28:53: When I rise in the morning and I lay my head down at night, what happens in between is my seeking to be faithful to God is what it should be.
29:02: But is it? Think about what he says in the next three verses because I said we're going to go to verse 5 and I want to point these out because this is important because how this all ties up is huge because he says this in verses 1 and 2.
29:18: He says we should be regarded as servants of God, stewards of the mysteries of Christ.
29:24: Or servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God.
29:26: It's required of stewards that we be found faithful.
29:29: But with me, it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court.
29:33: In fact, I do not even judge myself.
29:35: What's Paul talking about in verse 3? Well, it's basically this.
29:37: There were people in Corinth who were questioning Paul's faithfulness.
29:41: There were people in Corinth who were questioning whether or not Paul was faithful.
29:44: Can you imagine? Questioning the apostle Paul and his faithfulness.
29:48: In fact, if we get to 2 Corinthians, if we ever make it there, in 2 Corinthians, there's a big issue as to whether or not Paul even should be out in front.
29:58: Now, 2,000 years later, we say how dare they? How dare they question the mighty apostle Paul? But at this time in history, there are people who had questions, people who had issues.
30:08: And Paul says to them, you know what? It's really not yours to judge me and I'm not going to be judged by any of you.
30:16: But then he goes on to say this because this is all together.
30:19: He says it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court.
30:23: In fact, I do not even judge myself.
30:28: Can we...
30:29: Yeah.
30:30: Just turn the piano back on.
30:34: I do not even judge myself.
30:38: Let Debbie do it.
30:39: She knows what...
30:41: Thank you.
30:45: But with me, it's a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
30:49: In fact, I do not even judge myself for I'm not aware of anything against myself but I am not thereby acquitted.
30:54: It is the Lord who judges me.
30:56: See, verses 4 and 5, or excuse me, 3 and 4 are saying this.
30:59: Paul is saying, look, some of you don't think I'm very faithful.
31:03: And you know what? It's a very small thing that I would be judged by you and actually, I'm not going to be judged by any human court and I don't even judge myself.
31:12: He's not saying he doesn't do self-examination.
31:14: And by the way, we should.
31:15: We should examine our own heart.
31:16: What he's saying is this and it's really important.
31:19: What he's saying is ultimately, all of the judgment that matters lies with God.
31:25: How you think about me ultimately doesn't really matter at the end of the time.
31:30: And how you even think about yourself doesn't really matter at the end of the time.
31:34: What matters is what God thinks.
31:37: Because let me tell you this.
31:37: If every man were his own judge, every man would acquit himself.
31:40: If every man were his own judge, every man would exalt himself.
31:44: If every man were his own judge, every man would have his place not only in heaven but at the right hand of God.
31:52: So Paul says, and he even says, he says, I know nothing against myself but that doesn't mean I'm acquitted.
31:59: I don't know anything against myself but that might just be that I'm ignorant.
32:04: The one who knows me and the one who knows my heart and the one who will be my ultimate judge is God.
32:13: And let me add to that.
32:14: I don't know if you've seen this before but I've seen it.
32:17: It became quite popular where there's a certain rapper who had a quote that said, only God can judge me and he had a thing on his shirt and then that became pretty popular especially among teenagers.
32:29: They'd wear shirts and say, only God can judge me.
32:31: Guess what? That should be the most frightening thing in the world.
32:35: That is not the blessing that only God can judge me because guess what? I can judge you and be 100% wrong.
32:42: I can make a judge about your heart and about your faithfulness and I could be dead wrong because I don't know your heart.
32:48: And you could judge yourself and be dead wrong because guess what? You could flower it up and it be just as stinky as a foot because you might not be honest with yourself.
33:00: There is one judge in the universe who knows all and will judge rightly and that's God.
33:06: And that's Paul's point.
33:07: He said it's required of a steward that he be found faithful and guess who's going to determine the faithfulness? God.
33:15: Not you.
33:15: You don't get to determine your own faithfulness and not me.
33:18: I don't get to determine whether you're faithful or not.
33:20: I can see you're outside and I can make little precursory judgments but I don't ultimately judge you and you don't ultimately judge you.
33:27: God ultimately judges you and he requires that we be found faithful.
33:32: That ought to wake us up because the next verse really gets to the meat of it.
33:38: The next verse and this is where we're going to draw to a close.
33:40: Verse 5.
33:42: He says in verse 5, Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time.
33:47: And basically what he's saying is this, don't go around and assume you know everything about other people's faithfulness and try to judge their faithfulness based on what you think faithfulness should be.
33:56: We're not here to be fruit inspectors.
33:59: Now we do address sins when sins arise and things like that and we encourage one another.
34:04: We exhort others to good works but we're not intended to go around and simply be judgmental little Pharisees.
34:12: He says do not judge before the time.
34:14: Before the Lord comes, this is the key, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart then each one will receive his commendation from God.
34:24: You realize there's coming a day, my friends, there is coming a day, beloved, where everything that is now in darkness will be brought to light.
34:32: There is coming a day when what you think and what I think is not going to matter at all.
34:39: The only thinking that's going to matter is what God thinks.
34:48: And I want to ask you this, I really want you to think about this.
34:53: Are you ready for the Lord's return? Because that's what Paul was talking about here and I know we came today to talk about the resurrection but remember the resurrection was followed by 40 days of ministry and then an ascension and when Jesus ascended what was said? He will return in the very same way he went and when he returns, he will return in righteousness.
35:17: Are we ready for that day? Yeah, everybody's ready for resurrection Sunday.
35:21: Everybody's ready to put on their nice clothes and I'm glad you dressed nice today and I'm glad we all got dressed up and came to church today and we're all ready for resurrection Sunday but are we ready for when he comes again? Are you motivated by Christ's return? I want to ask you this, if you knew Jesus were coming tomorrow would you live differently today? If you knew without doubt that Jesus was coming this afternoon would you be more invested in what I'm saying right now? You know what I really believe and I think is the saddest the saddest commentary on the modern church is I think we have finally arrived at a place in history where the church really doesn't want Jesus to come back because they're happier living in the satisfaction of sin than they can imagine living in the joy of their savior.
36:36: They would rather have the comforts of this sinful life than to live the sinless life that he has promised us in heaven.
36:48: Are we ready for that? Are we prepared for his coming? One day he's coming oh glorious day he is coming as sure as he came out of the tomb he will come again and he is looking for his stewards he is looking for those who he has set over his house he is looking for those who are faithful are we ready? Are you ready? Let's pray.