WWUTT 1476 Faithful Stewards (1 Corinthians 4:1-4)

Faithful Servants and Good Stewards Awaiting Christ’s Return

Jesus Christ is the master of the house, and he has gone away, but he's coming back again. And when he returns, he hopes to find faithful servants working diligently for him as good stewards when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it. Visit our website at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

Paul’s Opening Reading of 1 Corinthians 4

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 4. If you want to open up your Bible and join with me there, I'm going to start by reading the whole fourth chapter. And this is out of the Legacy Standard Bible, the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.

Let a man consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful. But to me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or by any human court.

In fact, I do not even examine myself, for I am conscious of nothing against myself. Yet I am not by this acquitted, but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of the hearts.

And then each one's praise will come to him from God. Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond what is written, so that no one of you will become puffed up on behalf of one against the other.

For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled. You have already become rich.

You have ruled without us, and how I wish that you had ruled indeed, so that we also might rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to men.

We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are glorious, but we are without honor. To this present hour we hunger and thirst and are poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands.

When we are reviled, we bless. When we are persecuted, we endure. When we are slandered, we try to plead. We have become as the scum of the world, the grime of all things, even until now. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your Father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord and who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.

Now some have become puffed up, as though I were not coming to you, but I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills. And I shall know not the words of those who are puffed up, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.

What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? This is quite a rebuke that we see exhibited here in this particular chapter, and it starts with Paul saying, let a man consider us in this manner.

So again, the Corinthians have made judgments regarding Paul and Apollos and Peter and even Christ himself. They've even made judgments about Christ. Which one is the better teacher here? Which one is the one that we should be united with?

Paul has all the authority. No, Apollos is a much better speaker. So see, they've divided these various persons up into different camps, and they've made certain judgments regarding them, and now the church in Corinth is divided.

There are factions that have started up because they are making judgments according to the flesh and not according to the spirit of God. And so, as Paul presents himself before the church in Corinth, and he does so in this particular chapter, as so to rebuke them and also to tell them to be imitators of Paul.

He's rebuking them. Oh, you think you have much power? You think that you've become rich? You think that you rule? This is kind of a sarcastic biting that he's doing here, but it is so to rebuke them that they would not go beyond what is written.

They're not relying on their own selves, their own knowledge, their own flesh, their own wit, but they regard what it is that has been spoken to them by the apostles who have been designated and sent by the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Corinthians needed to humble themselves, and following the example of Paul and Apollos who humbled themselves for the benefit of this church that they came to and ministered to. So, here at the start of chapter four, let a man consider us in this manner.

If you're going to make judgments of us, consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found faithful.

If we're stewards of God, then you should be able to look at us and examine our way of life, and you find us faithful to the call of Christ. That's what Paul is saying here. Now, this word stewards is actually something that I've done some recent study in because I am presently writing a Bible study through 1 Timothy.

If you'll recall, right there at the beginning of 1 Timothy, Paul says, I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, not to go beyond what is written, right?

So Paul's saying something similar to Timothy that he's saying to the Corinthians here. Only with Timothy, he's a mature believer. He's actually a pastor himself. Paul is rebuking the Corinthians for not being more mature, which they ought to be.

So anyway, going on with Timothy, Paul says, I urge you to tell them not to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations, rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

That's 1 Timothy 1. 4. Now, how do we understand this word stewardship? What is it that Paul is saying here? What is the stewardship from God that is by faith? An easy description of the stewardship from God is simply the gospel, right?

We've been entrusted with the gospel, that we would teach the gospel to others, that we would grow in the church according to the gospel. And that's certainly true. It's okay to describe the stewardship from God as being that, because the gospel has been given to us that we may come to faith in the gospel and then also take the gospel to others that they may hear and repent of their sin, put faith in Jesus Christ and so be saved.

And we grow in our knowledge and maturity according to the gospel as well. So that's certainly right. But there's more to it than that, particularly in the context of what Paul is talking about with Timothy.

And this will come back to 1 Corinthians chapter four as well. Later on in 1 Timothy in chapter three, verse 15, Paul says that he is writing to Timothy that he may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

So if there's any verse in 1 Timothy that kind of explains the reason for the letter, that's it. 1 Timothy 3, 15, I'm writing these things to you that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God.

So as he's talking to Timothy about the stewardship from God, that is by faith, it's more than just the gospel, but it's even how the gospel shapes the church. Consider what the word steward means. Dr. R .C. Sproul said the following, a steward in the ancient world was not the owner of the house, but he managed the finances of the house.

He was principally involved in oikonomia. The word economy comes from that Greek word, which literally means house law or house rule. It is the word from which we get the concept of stewardship, that the person who is put over the management of the affairs of the house is expected to handle those goods of which he is a steward, but not the owner.

By extension, the Christian faith sees that everything that we have, including our skills and our abilities are gifts from God. We are called to be stewards of everything that we receive from the hand of God.

So I hope that explains the stewardship from God that is by faith a little bit better. It's more than just the gospel, but it is managing the house of God, which is what the church. That's what we had read about going back to first Corinthians chapter three, where Paul said to the church, you are God's building.

The church is God's house. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. So we have been given a stewardship to care for that house. Now, Paul just talks about himself in that sense, as he's talking about, if you're going to judge me in any way, you're going to judge me as a steward who is caring for the house of God.

Again, a steward is a person who is put over the management of the affairs of the house. He's expected to handle all those goods, which he is a steward of, but he is not the owner. So Paul again says here at the start of chapter four, let a man consider us in this manner as servants of Christ.

He is to whom we respond. He first and foremost is who we obey. Christ is the one whom we are trying to please with anything we do and with all that we are. So regard us in this way as servants of Christ.

And as I say this, as I put the emphasis on this regarding Paul and Apollos, I mean this also for you. I hope you find a self-application in that also. You likewise are a servant of Christ. You are beholden to him.

You are a slave of Christ who has bought and paid for you by his blood. So as servants of his and as stewards of the mysteries of God, Paul goes on to explain himself, Apollos, that way. We're also stewards of the mysteries of God, meaning what?

Well, we didn't come up with these mysteries. They don't belong to us. They belong to God. But the revealing of these mysterious things and the ways in which God is working comes through the gospel of Christ.

So as you hear of Christ, as you behold him according to his word, your eyes and ears are open to understand more fully the mysterious things that have now been disclosed through the gospel. So Paul says, we are servants of Christ.

We are stewards of the mysteries of God. Being stewards of the mysteries of God means we're going to defend them against those people that want to malign them. But we're also going to teach them to you that you may understand them.

That is Paul's responsibility with these mysteries, not that he would make much of himself, but he makes much of Christ. And so he goes on in verse two, in this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that he be found faithful again, a steward being put over his master's house, all of his goods to take care of those things.

They don't belong to the steward. The master is the owner. The steward goes about his master's business. He does all of this because he wants to serve his master well. So this is required of stewards that we be found faithful, that we are obeying God, that we are doing all that Christ has called for us to do as his as his servants and his stewards.

So then verse three, but to me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even examine myself. Now, this is it's pretty confrontational for Paul to say this.

I mean, to say to the Corinthians, I am not losing any sleep over how you think about me. You think Apollos is the better guy? You think Peter is the better guy? That doesn't put me off in any way. To me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you.

Well, Paul's just not that great a speaker. You know, that might be the the take from the Corinthians. In fact, we know that was what some of the Corinthians thought, because Paul talks about this in Second Corinthians 1010.

He says that he's weak in voice, but he writes such weighty things. So they're impressed by the letters that he writes, the stuff that Paul has written. But whenever they see him in person and they hear him as a speaker, he's just not that great a speaker, at least when compared to somebody like Apollos.

We know that that Paul was a brilliant man. He was an incredible preacher. And even a remarkable debater. But he just did not have that certain pizzazz that the Greeks expected of their orators. And so they're kind of disappointed with Paul when they read such weighty things in his letters.

But then they see him and and he's as a man of stature, doesn't have anything about himself that seems particularly imposing. So just that impression of meeting him doesn't have that sense of awe. You know what I mean?

Have you ever felt that or experienced that with a person before? Like maybe it's somebody you hugely admired, but you only admired them from afar. Maybe it was some sort of public figure. You just saw them in videos or in pictures or heard them on podcasts or something like that.

Saw them in movies, TV show. Maybe it was somebody who was a star. You listen to their music and then you meet them in person and it's just amazing. It's like there's something about their very presence just sets them differently than any other person that you know.

And maybe that's a misplaced sense of of wonder at that particular individual. I'm not saying it's right or wrong to regard somebody with that that sense of amazement. It can be good in some senses and it can go too far in other ways.

But anyway, all I'm trying to pull out of you is a sense of having experienced that before. Do you know what I mean? So maybe with the Corinthians, it's like, well, we've read these things from Paul and we've heard all about him.

People just talk about Paul. He was a rock star as a Pharisee. Then he becomes an apostle and he's become a rock star of an apostle, at least among the churches. I mean, this is a guy who's being beaten and tortured and persecuted for the sake of the gospel.

It's not like he's risen above some of the more troubling trials that somebody would have to go through for the sake of the name of Christ. He definitely goes through those things. But among the churches, he's a hero.

And so the Corinthians hear this about Paul. But when they finally meet him and they encounter him and they see him in person, they're not really all that impressed. They had built up in their minds something that Paul wasn't.

Now, maybe you've experienced that before, too, if you ever had that like you had in your mind. I bet you this person is like this. But then once you meet that person, you're just totally disappointed.

It may be. And that may be misplaced as well. You know, you had to put them up on this pedestal and then you meet him like, oh, that person wasn't all that great. And you just had your hopes built up too high.

You made them something that they really were not. And so that's what the Corinthians did with Paul. Only with Paul. I mean, this was somebody that they should have regarded with great respect because of what he had been through for their sakes, for the gospel of Christ.

Not just the fact that this was a man who had seen the risen Lord and been appointed by him to be an apostle, but even a guy who had gone through beatings for the sake of the Corinthians, that they may know salvation, that they may know Christ, all these things that Paul went through for them.

Consider us in this manner, servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God, and it's required of stewards that one be found faithful. But Paul saying to them, to me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you.

I really don't care what your opinion is of me. Now, Paul's not being personal. He's not like lashing back at them and like, oh, yeah, well, to you, you know, he's not saying that sort of a thing. Because then he goes on to say, or any human court, I mean, there is no man on earth that is going to judge me to find me faithful.

It is God who is ultimately going to judge me as to whether or not I've been faithful. So I submit myself unto the Lord. He says, in fact, I do not even examine myself, my own judgments about me. Don't even hold any weight in this particular manner.

And maybe you can even relate to that as well. Have you ever thought of yourself? I'm just not doing this right. I'm not doing this well enough. How could God ever love me? How could he ever be approving of me in the work that it is that I do?

Well, you are being your own judge in that particular circumstance. You are tearing yourself down and saying, I can't be worth anything in this this calling that God has given to be faithful unto Christ, to serve him with my heart, soul, mind and strength.

I can't even do that. So therefore, why bother doing it at all? You've judged yourself. Paul does not allow himself to be examined even by himself, for I am conscious of nothing against myself, he says in verse four.

So there is a sense of examination that he's done, but there's nothing that he knows that he's guilty of. Therefore he's not disqualifying himself. He's not examining whether or not he is approved for this particular job.

I am conscious of nothing against myself. I have no reason to feel guilty. And remember also going back to the instruction that Paul gave to Timothy. In first Timothy chapter one, he says, the aim of our charge is love.

Why we do what we do as teachers, as servants of God and stewards of God's house. The aim of our charge is love that echoes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. So I am conscious of nothing against myself.

My heart's pure. My motives are right. My faith is sincere. Yet, he says, I am not by this acquitted, but the one who examines me is the Lord. So this is who it is that I am going to entrust myself to.

Now have you ever heard anybody say before that the Lord knows my heart, right? If anybody has ever judged you or said something negatively about you say, well, the Lord knows my heart. That's true, but that should also make us tremble in the presence of God, knowing that he knows our heart.

We shouldn't just use that as some sort of like a comeback towards somebody who may make some kind of a criticism toward us that should cause us to tremble to know that the Lord knows our heart. So we can't even fool or trick ourselves.

God knows the thoughts and the intentions of every single one of us, whether our motives are right or whether we are pure. So knowing that, saying that, is not to say to a person, you can't judge me for it is God who judges me.

In saying that, you must also humble yourself before God because indeed he does judge you and indeed he does know your thoughts and your intentions. Consider Psalm 26 verses 2 and 3, prove me, O Lord, and try me, test my heart and my mind, for your steadfast love is before my eyes and I walk in your faithfulness.

Do all things in service to Christ your King, even the service of others. Even when you serve one another, do this first and foremost in the service of God. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this word today and I pray that it does challenge us testing our hearts and our minds that we may be true and right and sincere as we do this work in as good stewards, managing the household of God, taking care of your business until the master comes.

May we be found faithful on that day. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.

Closing Exhortation and Ministry Sign-Off

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