Servants, Not Stars: Reclaiming the Pastoral Office

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
The one true living God calls us to worship Him through the works of His hands, His creation, and the words of His mouth, His special revelation to us.
[00:00:34] So I invite you to join me in standing as God calls us to worship this Lord's day.
[00:00:44] Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.
[00:00:47] Make melody to our God on the lyre.
[00:00:50] He covers the heavens with clouds.
[00:00:53] He prepares rain for the earth.
[00:00:55] He makes grass grow on the hills.
[00:00:58] He gives to the beasts their food and to the young ravens that cry.
[00:01:03] His delight is not in the strength of the horse nor his pleasure in the legs of a man but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him and those who hope in his steadfast love indeed let us join our voices together giving praise and thanksgiving to our God singing hymn 125 let all things now living

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let all things now living a song of thanksgiving to God the Creator triumphantly raise.
[00:01:56] Rationed and made us, Protected and saved us, Who guides us and leads us, The end of our days.
[00:02:22] His banners are o'er us, His light goes before us, A pillar of fire shining, For live the light,

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
The darkness is managed as for where we travel from light into light His law he enforces, the stars in their courses The sun in its orbit will begin to be shined
[00:02:59] We too should be voicing our love and rejoicing with a adoration
[00:03:25] Let's pray together.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Almighty God, indeed we come before you this morning to sing your praises, to make a joyful noise to you, the rock of our salvation.
[00:03:55] We enter into your presence with thanksgiving with songs of praise for you are a great God and a great King above all gods.
[00:04:05] You have made all things.
[00:04:06] You continue to give life and breath to all living creatures.
[00:04:12] You sustain the works of your hands and you also give abundantly from your throne room in heaven.
[00:04:20] We know that every good gift that we receive comes from your hand and so we praise you and worship you.
[00:04:26] The God who has created all things and who gives life to all things.
[00:04:32] We also praise you that you have indeed made us your people and the sheep of your hand.
[00:04:38] That you have brought us out of darkness into light.
[00:04:41] That once we were not a people and now we are your people.
[00:04:45] And so we praise you that you are the God of creation but also of salvation for your people.
[00:04:50] We praise you Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for your word that reminds us who you are and how we're to live in light of that truth.
[00:04:58] And so we do pray now, we thank you for this glimpse of all eternity when all things living will unite in thanksgiving to you, our God in the highest.
[00:05:08] For to you belong Hosanna and praise this day and forevermore.
[00:05:11] We pray these things in Jesus' name.
[00:05:13] Amen.
[00:05:15] Please remain standing and turn with me in your hymnals to the back, page 877, for our corporate voice of faith this morning.
[00:05:32] We will read question 98, the answer to question 98, and it's a succinct question, but it's important for us to remember what we are actively participating when we pray to our Heavenly Father.
[00:05:47] So question number 98, the Westminster Shorter Catechism.
[00:05:50] Christian, what is prayer?

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God for things agreeable to His will in the name of Christ with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Please be seated.
[00:06:19] And turn with me in your Bibles for our Old Testament reading to Psalm 95.
[00:06:26] Psalm 95 is a psalm of thanksgiving unto God.
[00:06:34] Let's hear now the word of the Lord.
[00:06:43] O come, let us sing to the Lord.
[00:06:47] Let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation.
[00:06:52] Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving.
[00:06:55] Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise.
[00:07:00] For the Lord is a great God and a King, a great King above all gods.
[00:07:06] In His hands are the depths of the earth.
[00:07:10] The heights of the mountains are His also.
[00:07:13] The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
[00:07:19] O come, let us worship and bow down.
[00:07:23] Let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker, for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
[00:07:35] Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on the day of Massa in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
[00:07:51] For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.
[00:08:01] Therefore I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.
[00:08:06] The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever.
[00:08:12] Amen.
[00:08:15] Children, at this point in time, I want to invite you forward for our children's message.
[00:08:21] Is it really AC?
[00:08:47] There's no bad seat.
[00:08:48] There we go.
[00:08:48] That's perfect.
[00:08:49] All right.
[00:08:50] Good morning.
[00:08:51] How we doing?
[00:08:53] Good?
[00:08:54] I wonder if you know what this week is and on Thursday what we celebrate as a nation.
[00:09:01] What is it?
[00:09:02] Thanksgiving.
[00:09:03] I see some turkeys on some accessories and stuff like that.
[00:09:06] That's great.
[00:09:07] It's Thanksgiving time or some of you might know it the last turtle before Christmas season, right?
[00:09:14] But I think we should talk about this morning about Thanksgiving and I've got an exciting thing to look at.
[00:09:21] What is in my hand?
[00:09:22] Can anyone read what this card says?
[00:09:26] Thank you, right?
[00:09:27] How many of you have ever made a thank you card or thank you note, right?
[00:09:32] And what do we do with a thank you card?
[00:09:33] Do we make a thank you card and then just throw it in the trash?
[00:09:38] What do we do with it?
[00:09:44] That's right.
[00:09:45] We make a thank you card, okay?
[00:09:48] And then we send it to someone or we give it to them.
[00:09:50] Perhaps they've given you a gift or they came and visited or whatever it may be.
[00:09:55] Maybe they brought you a meal.
[00:09:56] You send a thank you card.
[00:09:58] And when we do that, what are we saying?
[00:10:00] That's right.
[00:10:01] Thank you.
[00:10:02] No trick questions today.
[00:10:03] We say thank you to someone and that makes them know that we appreciate what they did for us and that we are grateful.
[00:10:10] And so when we read Psalm 95, which we just read, that tells us to come into God's presence with thanks
[00:10:17] I want you to think about that this week as we gather around a table.
[00:10:25] Maybe you have traditions in your family where you go around the table and say what you're thankful for.
[00:10:30] Or maybe you write things down on a craft of some sort.
[00:10:35] But what I want us to remember is that we are giving our thanks to God because He is our God, He made us, and He is our great King.
[00:10:46] Okay?
[00:10:47] So while Thanksgiving is an amazing thing we do as a nation and as individual families, where are we directing our thanks?
[00:10:53] Where are we giving thanks to?
[00:10:54] Who are we giving thanks to?
[00:10:56] God.
[00:10:56] That's exactly right.
[00:10:57] Let's pray and give Him thanks this morning.
[00:10:59] Dear God, we thank You that You are a great God.
[00:11:06] and you are a good God.
[00:11:09] Help us this week to give you thanks.
[00:11:16] In Jesus' name, Amen.
[00:11:20] Alright, you can go back to your seats.

[00:11:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
As our children make their way back to their seats, I invite you to turn with me in your hymnals once again, this time to number 432.
[00:11:33] We'll stand together and sing, We Give Thee But Thine Own.
[00:11:37] Let's stand.
[00:11:38] We give thee but thine own

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
All that we have is thine alone, not just the one from thee.
[00:12:21] Namely, thy bounties thus, as to the true we see, and gladly as thou blestest us, to thee our firstfruits give.
[00:12:25] of the Lord Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
[00:12:39] Let's pray together.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Lord our God indeed as we have just sung we acknowledge that everything that we have in this world has been given to us by your gracious and generous hand and when we return to you a portion of those things through the giving of your tithes and our offerings we are indeed giving you but your own everything that we offer up to you is yours already because you are the God of creation you own this world you own the cattle on a thousand hills as you tell us in your word
[00:13:35] And so we pray, Father, that that would encourage us to give generously back to the work of your hands, and particularly the work of building your kingdom.
[00:13:44] We pray that these gifts will be used by you to further the gospel of Jesus Christ in our community, in our nation, and all throughout this world for your glory's sake.
[00:13:54] We pray this in Jesus' name.
[00:13:56] Amen.
[00:13:57] You may be seated.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Let us pray.
[00:15:35] Let us pray

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
[00:16:31] Praise Him all creatures here below.
[00:16:32] Praise Him above ye heavenly host.

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
As we look to the Lord in a time of prayer together this morning I would encourage you as you gather together with family and friends later this week whether that's on Thursday itself or perhaps over the course of the weekend that you do take time to be a thankful people to reflect on the good things that the Lord has blessed you with in this life and to take time to pause and to
[00:17:05] Give gratitude where gratitude is owed and may that be a sweet time of remembrance and reflection whether you're with a lot of people or just a few people may we be indeed a thankful people not just in a season of the year but all throughout the year
[00:17:20] I would also encourage you all to be praying for Freddie Goodrum.
[00:17:22] He called me earlier this morning to let me know that he is back in the hospital once again dealing with pneumonia.
[00:17:28] He's been there for a couple of days and hopes to get home in the next day or two.
[00:17:33] So be praying for Freddie as he's in the hospital.
[00:17:35] Of course, remember his wife Ruth as she continues in rehabilitation as well.
[00:17:40] So that being said, let's look to the Lord in a few moments of prayer together.
[00:17:49] Lord our God, we are mindful that in Your Word this morning You have told us to be a people who come into Your presence with thanksgiving, to make joyful noise to You with songs of praise, for You are a great God.
[00:18:05] You are the God who has made all things.
[00:18:07] You are our Maker.
[00:18:09] But what else?
[00:18:10] You are also our Redeemer.
[00:18:12] We are the sheep of Your hand.
[00:18:14] We are the people of Your pasture.
[00:18:17] And so as we come before You on this Thanksgiving week here in our nation, we want to be a thankful people.
[00:18:24] We want to acknowledge all of the many good blessings that You have poured into our lives.
[00:18:31] We think even of this morning that You woke us up and You got us here and we are able to worship You freely.
[00:18:39] What a blessing that is.
[00:18:42] Father, we thank You for the cars that got us here.
[00:18:44] We thank You for the homes that we slept in last night.
[00:18:47] We thank You for the food that awaits us in just another hour or two.
[00:18:52] We thank you for the gift of family and for friends.
[00:18:55] We thank you for a church family and the fellowship of believers.
[00:18:58] We thank you for the opportunity that you've given us to love one another and to pray for one another even as we pray for Freddie and Ruth during this time of difficulty.
[00:19:08] We pray especially that you would watch over Freddie as he is receiving care for this pneumonia.
[00:19:13] We ask that he would indeed be able to return home so that he can be strong to care for Ruth in her weakness.
[00:19:21] But Father, we thank you that you have given us this fellowship in which we can come alongside one another.
[00:19:28] And so we pray that you would help us to know what it is to be thankful.
[00:19:33] And Lord, we would pray for that especially for those for whom 2025 has been a hard year.
[00:19:39] There are many families in this congregation for whom this is a year that perhaps can't end quickly enough because of loss, because of grief, because of trials, because of difficulties.
[00:19:50] And yet Lord, even in that difficulty, may we find reason for gratitude.
[00:19:56] Because even if everything else has been taken from us, if we have Jesus Christ, we have everything that we need.
[00:20:04] And so Lord, may Christ Himself be the focal point of our celebration later this week.
[00:20:09] You did not abandon us in our sin and despair, but instead You drew near to us through the person and work of Jesus.
[00:20:17] You did not hold back or spare Your only Son, but gave Him as an atoning sacrifice to cover over our sins so that we, through faith in Him, might be received into Your family as Your adopted sons and daughters.
[00:20:32] And that is what we are.
[00:20:34] You have given us Your Spirit by which we cry out, Abba, Father.
[00:20:39] And so we thank You for this blessing, this blessing of being Your children, of being part of Your kingdom, and of being part of the kingdom work that You are about here in our city, in our community, in our state, and throughout the world.
[00:20:54] And Lord, we pray that gratitude to You would then express itself in how we live out our lives day to day, week to week, year by year.
[00:21:05] We thank You for this opportunity and we pray that You would hear us as we pray in Jesus' name.
[00:21:11] Amen.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
O give thanks unto Satorg, O give thanks unto Satorg For he is good, for he is good, his mercy endureth O give thanks unto Satorg, O give thanks unto Satorg
[00:21:55] His mercy endureth forever O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, for His goodness O that men would praise the Lord for His works to the sons of men

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
For He satisfies the longing soul.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Know that men would praise the Lord for His works to the end.

[00:22:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
O give thanks unto the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord, For he is good, for he is good, His mercy endureth.

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
O give thanks unto the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord, His mercy endureth forever.
[00:23:22] Give thanks unto the Lord.

[00:23:27] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Thank you choir.
[00:23:33] Well I invite you to turn with me in your Bibles this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 as we continue our study of Paul's first letter to this church in Corinth.
[00:23:43] And as we come to chapter 4 this morning we find Paul
[00:23:48] Concluding what has been a lengthy discussion
[00:23:54] about the divisions that were present within the Corinthian church or more precisely I should say about one of the causes for the divisions that were present within that congregation as we're going to see in the coming months there were actually all kinds of things that were causing factions and conflicts within this congregation but first and foremost Paul has taken on their proclivity of playing favorites with the apostles
[00:24:23] and thereby forming these various affinity groups around these particular personalities.
[00:24:30] Remember how he pinpointed this problem back in chapter 1 when he said, what I mean is that each one of you says, I follow Paul or I follow Apollos or I follow Cephas or I follow Christ.
[00:24:43] What this reveals is that the Corinthians had a horrible misunderstanding of the office of apostle.
[00:24:51] They obviously viewed and even evaluated this godly office on the basis of human wisdom.
[00:24:59] They were ranking apostles based on worldly standards.
[00:25:04] And that's why we saw Paul spend so much time then in the rest of chapter 1 and in chapter 2 talking about the difference between worldly wisdom, which we find out is actually complete folly, and God's folly, which we find out is actually true wisdom.
[00:25:22] And then as we saw over the last couple of weeks in chapter 3, Paul took pains to demonstrate how the apostles themselves were not caught up in this childish game of trying to outdo one another, but were actually focused on building up the church into the temple of God.
[00:25:41] And so as we come then to our passage today, which will be the entirety of chapter 4, we see Paul seeking finally to correct
[00:25:51] The errant misunderstanding of the office of apostle.
[00:25:55] And as I read this for us in just a moment, I want you to listen to Paul's tone.
[00:26:00] Because Paul's tone sort of changes throughout the course of this chapter.
[00:26:04] He is speaking to the Corinthians like a father talking to his children, beloved children, but children who have messed up, children who are in need of correction.
[00:26:16] and you're going to hear the tone and kids you'll pick up on this as well the tone of Paul change as he goes through this chapter and it gives you a sense of his frustration with what this congregation has been doing but also his great love and desire to see them put back on a right path so that all being said let's hear from the Apostle Paul and from God himself in first Corinthians chapter four
[00:26:45] Paul says, this is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
[00:26:54] Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
[00:26:58] But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
[00:27:04] In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted.
[00:27:11] It is the Lord who judges me.
[00:27:14] 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.
[00:27:26] Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
[00:27:31] I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.
[00:27:44] For who sees anything different in you?
[00:27:47] What do you have that you did not receive?
[00:27:51] If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
[00:27:56] Already you have all you want.
[00:27:58] Already you have become rich.
[00:28:00] Without us you have become kings.
[00:28:03] And would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you.
[00:28:08] For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.
[00:28:19] We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ.
[00:28:23] We are weak, but you are strong.
[00:28:27] You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
[00:28:31] To the present hour we hunger and thirst.
[00:28:33] We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor working with our own hands.
[00:28:39] When reviled, we bless.
[00:28:42] When persecuted, we endure.
[00:28:44] When slandered, we entreat.
[00:28:46] We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
[00:28:54] I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
[00:29:00] For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers.
[00:29:05] For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
[00:29:09] I urge you then, be imitators of me.
[00:29:11] That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church.
[00:29:21] Some of you are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
[00:29:25] But I will come to you soon if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power.
[00:29:33] For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.
[00:29:37] What do you wish?
[00:29:38] Shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness?
[00:29:46] Let's pray together.
[00:29:49] Lord our God, as we come to Your Word this morning, we hear from Your Apostle Paul a great consternation at the immaturity, the foolishness of the Corinthian church.
[00:30:01] And Father, while we look at it and we can see this folly, we pray that we would not be blind then to our own folly.
[00:30:08] Because as we look at Your Word, we know that it acts like a mirror to reflect to us our own shortcomings, our own sin, and so we would pray that You would use Your Word this morning to sift us and to reveal to us places where we still have room to grow in maturity and in faith and in obedience.
[00:30:26] So bless us to this end, Lord, through the study of Your Word this morning.
[00:30:30] We ask it in Jesus' name.
[00:30:32] Amen.
[00:30:35] So one of the hallmarks or the qualities of the city of Corinth was that it liked to think of itself as a very sophisticated and philosophical place.
[00:30:47] You know, when Paul went to Corinth, he went there after first visiting the city of Athens.
[00:30:52] Now, Athens really was a place that valued philosophy.
[00:30:56] Athens really was a place that liked to think about and exchange ideas.
[00:31:00] Corinth was kind of like trying to play catch up to that.
[00:31:03] They like to think of themselves as very philosophical, as very sophisticated.
[00:31:07] They highly prized speakers who were eloquent, who were well-spoken, who could skillfully talk about all kinds of subject matter.
[00:31:19] But whereas the Athenians really liked to get into the meat of what was being said, the Corinthians just liked the show.
[00:31:25] They just liked to hear people who sounded good, which meant
[00:31:30] that they were not really all that deep in knowledge they just like to to be entertained and that of course matches their reputation as a city if you remember from several weeks ago we talked about Corinth was a port city that was well known for entertainment for all kinds of pleasures that the world might afford one we kind of compared it to to Las Vegas if you'll remember
[00:31:54] Well, unfortunately, this cultural value system of enjoying hearing people speak for entertainment had crept into or come into the church there in Corinth.
[00:32:07] And it seems very likely that one of the ways the Christians in that city were grading or rating the apostles was along these lines.
[00:32:18] For instance, we know from Acts chapter 18 that Apollos, who had spent time in Corinth, was a very eloquent man.
[00:32:24] He was very well spoken.
[00:32:26] We're told that he was competent in the Scriptures.
[00:32:29] But then you contrast that with Paul, who in chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians admitted that when he came to Corinth, I did not use words of eloquent wisdom when proclaiming Christ.
[00:32:42] And so it seems that the Corinthians then had sort of evaluated, kind of graded Paul versus Apollos and those in the church who really admired and really liked sophisticated speech were kind of on team Apollos while others were on team Paul and then still others on team Cephas and you had all of these factions.
[00:33:03] There was this sort of popularity contest going on as if the apostles, unbeknownst to themselves,
[00:33:10] were performing for the church in an effort to earn fans or followers.
[00:33:18] To sum all this up, if social media had been around in the first century, Corinth would have been insufferable.
[00:33:28] Well, it's these worldly standards that the church was applying to the apostles that prompts Paul's words here at the beginning of chapter 4.
[00:33:36] Because the question is, how should apostles be viewed?
[00:33:40] How should the church understand who they are and what they're called to do?
[00:33:44] And though we don't have apostles anymore, the apostolic tradition has now fallen to ministers, to pastors, and to elders.
[00:33:52] So how are we to understand?
[00:33:54] Well, Paul tells us in verse 1.
[00:33:57] He says, This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
[00:34:07] Alright, there's two key themes in that verse.
[00:34:10] How should the apostles be viewed?
[00:34:13] As servants and as stewards.
[00:34:16] I want to explain both of those for just a moment.
[00:34:18] The Greek word that is translated as servant here in chapter 4 is actually an incredibly rare word.
[00:34:25] It's not the word we normally find in the New Testament for servant.
[00:34:28] Ordinarily, we find the word diakonos, from which we get the word deacon.
[00:34:32] That means servant.
[00:34:33] That's what you find 98% of the time in the New Testament when we look at the word servant.
[00:34:37] No, no.
[00:34:38] The word Paul uses here is a pretty rare word in the Bible, and it was originally used
[00:34:44] For the slaves who were rowing the boat below decks of the massive ships of the time.
[00:34:52] For those of you who are old enough to remember Ben-Hur.
[00:34:56] You remember Charlton Heston and Ben-Hur?
[00:34:58] And there's that scene where he is rowing below decks, chained to all the other slaves, and they're rowing according to the drumbeat of the rowmaster.
[00:35:06] Some of you might remember this.
[00:35:07] The kids are looking so confused right now.
[00:35:09] It's a good movie.
[00:35:10] Go back and watch it sometime.
[00:35:12] But that visual...
[00:35:14] of the slaves chained together, rowing to the beat of the drummer.
[00:35:18] That's the word Paul uses here when he says that the apostles are servants of Christ.
[00:35:27] As an apostle, Paul was literally under his master, Jesus Christ.
[00:35:33] And he worked at the will, at the pleasure, at the drumbeat of Christ.
[00:35:39] That was who he was responsible to.
[00:35:41] He followed his master, Jesus Christ.
[00:35:47] Which meant then, much to the chagrin of the Corinthians, that he did not work at the will and the pleasure of the people.
[00:35:54] His obligation was to His Master, Jesus Christ.
[00:35:58] So that's the first way the Corinthians should regard apostles.
[00:36:02] This isn't a popularity contest.
[00:36:04] I have a Master and that Master is Jesus Christ and I serve at His will and His pleasure.
[00:36:09] Secondly, he says,
[00:36:11] that he served as a steward of the mysteries of God.
[00:36:15] Now, a steward is something perhaps we can understand a little more easily.
[00:36:19] The Greek word here describes someone who was over a large estate.
[00:36:23] We might think of a property manager.
[00:36:26] And it might be even more helpful to think back to the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis when he is given charge over Potiphar's house.
[00:36:34] You remember how Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything and he didn't concern himself, Potiphar didn't, about anything other than the food he ate.
[00:36:42] Joseph managed the household, he was in charge of all the other servants, he was in charge and the only person he answered to was Potiphar.
[00:36:51] Well that's the idea being conveyed here when Paul says that apostles are stewards
[00:36:56] that they have been given authority over the household of God.
[00:37:02] But they themselves are under authority and that is the authority of Jesus Christ.
[00:37:06] And they have been entrusted in this role of stewards with the mysteries of the gospel.
[00:37:13] You might remember Jesus telling the apostles before he was crucified that to the apostles were being given the keys of the kingdom.
[00:37:22] Keys of the car, so to speak.
[00:37:24] God was giving them and trusting them with this authority, but they were expected to be faithful with this account.
[00:37:32] That's what he says in verse 2.
[00:37:34] It is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
[00:37:39] Stewards have to give an account because there comes a time when the property owner will return and say, all right, show me the books.
[00:37:47] How's the estate doing?
[00:37:49] And for the apostles, there was a time when the chief shepherd would come and say, show me what you've done with my flock.
[00:37:55] Show me what you've done with my church.
[00:38:00] And that's what leads Paul then to what he says in verses 3 through 5.
[00:38:03] When he says, with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
[00:38:10] In fact, I do not even judge myself.
[00:38:12] And though I'm not aware of anything against myself, I'm not thereby acquitted because it is the Lord who judges me.
[00:38:19] 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.
[00:38:30] Paul really didn't care what the Corinthians thought of him.
[00:38:34] He really didn't.
[00:38:35] He didn't care what their opinion of him was.
[00:38:38] So he did care that they had this horrible grading system at work.
[00:38:43] But at the end of the day, he wasn't concerned with what they said about Paul.
[00:38:48] He was concerned about what God would say about his ministry and about his service.
[00:38:53] That was what Paul was concerned for.
[00:38:56] And he even warns the Corinthians to be very careful of this silly game they're playing in ranking and rating apostles.
[00:39:04] Because there was a day coming when the true judge would return and he would expose even the thoughts, the purposes of the Corinthian Christians.
[00:39:13] This kind of goes back to what we saw last week in chapter 3 when Paul talks about the day when Jesus returns and each person's work will be judged by fire.
[00:39:23] He's talking about the same thing here except now he's saying it's not just your works that will be evaluated by Jesus, your thoughts as well.
[00:39:29] And friends, that should be a sobering realization.
[00:39:32] You know, oftentimes we think that our thoughts are private, our thoughts are our own.
[00:39:35] But the Lord knows them, and according to Paul here, when he returns, those thoughts will be laid bare as well.
[00:39:41] And we will give an account for those careless thoughts.
[00:39:48] Well, from these first five verses, I think there are at least two immediate points of application for the church today.
[00:39:56] And the first is actually for pastors.
[00:39:59] And so in the next few minutes I'm actually going to be kind of like holding a mirror in front of myself because the first point really is for pastors who fall on the heels of the apostles.
[00:40:10] Pastors have to remember that just as the apostles were servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God, so are we.
[00:40:20] And it is to God that we will have to give an account.
[00:40:24] It's not to man.
[00:40:25] It's not to people.
[00:40:26] We are not here being graded by you.
[00:40:29] We are here as servants and stewards of Christ and we will have to give an account to Him.
[00:40:35] Now that's not to say that we don't hold pastors accountable for their moral behavior.
[00:40:39] I am not suggesting that at all.
[00:40:42] But what Paul is driving at here is that pastors have to remember that our calling and our goal is to be found faithful with the mysteries of the gospel.
[00:40:54] Which means then, as a pastor, I cannot become preoccupied with people-pleasing.
[00:41:00] And that is a difficult line to walk, especially for a guy like me who's naturally hardwired to people-please.
[00:41:07] I don't like to be in conflict with people.
[00:41:08] I want to make people happy.
[00:41:09] I want to keep everybody at peace.
[00:41:12] But not at the expense of truth, not at the expense of the faithful exposition of the Word of God.
[00:41:19] Pastors are not here to entertain.
[00:41:23] We are here to proclaim God's truth, even when that truth isn't popular, even when that truth isn't easy, even when we'd rather talk about anything else than what God has to say to us.
[00:41:37] And we have to take great care that our goal is not to
[00:41:41] Not to gain a following.
[00:41:43] Not to gain fans.
[00:41:44] I think this is one of, again, I mentioned social media a moment ago.
[00:41:47] This is one of the great pitfalls for pastors in a social media age is that we can kind of become self-promoters through these means.
[00:41:56] And that is not what we are called to do.
[00:41:58] Our call is to pastor the flock that God has assigned to us.
[00:42:04] So that's the first point of application for pastors, for ministers to remember our calling.
[00:42:09] But then the second point, if I can turn the mirror now back to you, the second point is for you, the congregation, the members of the church.
[00:42:16] According to what Paul has to say here, your evaluation of someone's ministry cannot be based on worldly values and metrics.
[00:42:27] It cannot be based on how entertaining or inspiring a man's sermons are or not.
[00:42:36] It should be based on the basis of the faithfulness to the Word of God.
[00:42:42] Questions like this, does this pastor stick to the Bible?
[00:42:48] Does he rightly handle the Word of God?
[00:42:53] Is he pointing us to Jesus or is he pointing us to himself?
[00:43:01] I think if I were in your position, I'd rather listen to a dull preacher who speaks the truth than hear a wildly entertaining one who is leading me and my children away from Jesus Christ.
[00:43:17] Now hopefully you find the happy medium behind that and you get a guy with some personality who can still preach truth.
[00:43:24] But I'd rather take the dullard who's telling me what God says than the entertainer who isn't.
[00:43:32] Well, as we move on in this passage, we find Paul continuing this admonition in verse 6.
[00:43:41] He says, And that describes the Corinthian church.
[00:43:54] They were puffed up in favor one against another.
[00:43:58] They were constantly measuring which group they were part of and are we better than that group because I follow Paul or I follow Apollos or I have this spiritual gift or I've been blessed with this amount of wealth and you haven't which means God likes me more and he likes you less.
[00:44:10] And they were constantly puffing themselves up against one another.
[00:44:17] And they were doing this again with the apostles as well, playing this game of who's more popular.
[00:44:25] They were looking at everything they had
[00:44:29] They were looking at their favorite apostle, they were looking at their spiritual gift, they were looking at their wealth or whatever else it might have been as a reason for boasting, as a reason for self-promotion.
[00:44:39] And that's what leads Paul to ask some rather pointed questions, and it's what leads Paul into some of his most biting sarcasm in any of his letters.
[00:44:48] And we begin to hear this change in his tone in verse 7 when he says, What do you have that you did not receive?
[00:44:55] And if you did receive it, why are you boasting as if you didn't?
[00:45:01] Think about it.
[00:45:02] Everything the Corinthians were arguing over, everything they were fighting about, their spiritual gifts, their favorite apostle, these are things that God had given them through the faithful proclamation of the gospel years before, but now they were using it to jockey for position against one another.
[00:45:18] They're acting like as if this was something they themselves had.
[00:45:22] I have this spiritual gift because I'm so amazing.
[00:45:26] And Paul says, why are you acting like you didn't receive it?
[00:45:28] It was a gift from God, and yet you're acting like it was intrinsically yours in the first place.
[00:45:36] Paul is essentially asking the Corinthians, who do you think you are?
[00:45:41] And then he moves on to verse 8, and this is all sarcasm, by the way, in verse 8.
[00:45:46] All irony, if you will.
[00:45:48] Already you have all you want.
[00:45:50] Already you have become rich.
[00:45:51] Without us you have become kings and would that you did reign so that we might share that rule with you.
[00:45:58] It's like he's saying, oh man, you Corinthians, you've got it all figured out, don't you?
[00:46:03] You're so proud.
[00:46:04] You're so confident.
[00:46:05] You're so right in all of your judgments.
[00:46:06] You're rich.
[00:46:07] You're kings.
[00:46:08] If only I could reign alongside you and benefit from your wisdom, benefit from your knowledge.
[00:46:16] It's dripping with sarcasm.
[00:46:19] They really thought, these members really thought they were something, when in reality they had no idea just how immature and unspiritual they were being.
[00:46:29] It actually really reminds me of the rebuke that Jesus gives to the Laodicean church in the book of Revelation.
[00:46:36] In chapter four, excuse me, chapter three, as Jesus is addressing the seven churches, he addresses the church at Laodicea, and he has this to say to them.
[00:46:48] It says, I know your works.
[00:46:50] You are neither cold nor hot.
[00:46:52] Would that you were either cold or hot, but because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
[00:47:00] For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
[00:47:14] The Laodiceans and the Corinthians had the same problem.
[00:47:17] They thought they had made it.
[00:47:18] They thought they were self-made.
[00:47:20] They thought they had everything they needed in and of themselves.
[00:47:22] And Jesus' evaluation is the same as Paul's evaluation.
[00:47:25] You're pitiable.
[00:47:26] You're wretched.
[00:47:27] You're poor, blind, and naked.
[00:47:28] You don't see what you're missing.
[00:47:34] They had wrongly evaluated themselves just as they had wrongly evaluated Paul's apostleship.
[00:47:42] You see, being an apostle
[00:47:44] It wasn't about gaining the world's applause.
[00:47:47] It wasn't about amassing to oneself riches and success.
[00:47:50] In fact, it was quite the opposite.
[00:47:53] And we hear Paul highlight the reality of life as an apostle in verses 9 and following when he says, I think that God has exhibited us, put us forward, we apostles, as last of all, like men sentenced to death because we've become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.
[00:48:13] We are fools for Christ's sake.
[00:48:15] Oh, but you are wise.
[00:48:17] We are weak, but you are strong.
[00:48:20] You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.
[00:48:23] And then he goes on in verse 11, To the present hour we hunger, we thirst, we're poorly dressed, we're buffeted, we're homeless, we labor, we work with our own hands.
[00:48:32] When we're reviled, we have to bless.
[00:48:34] When persecuted, we endure.
[00:48:36] When slandered, we entreat.
[00:48:37] We have become and still are like the scum of the world and the refuse of all things.
[00:48:46] That is pretty stark language, the scum of the world.
[00:48:51] is how Paul and the apostles were treated and received.
[00:48:56] And that was by the world, but apparently also now by the Corinthians as well because Paul wasn't eloquent enough.
[00:49:01] Some of them didn't like him.
[00:49:05] The ministry of the apostle, the faithful stewardship to which he had been appointed and called was not about riches and comfort and honor.
[00:49:15] It was about suffering and hardship for the sake of Jesus Christ.
[00:49:20] And it was through this suffering and through this weakness that God's power was showcased.
[00:49:27] That was Paul's entire point in what we heard in chapters 1 and 2, where Paul said, When I came to you, I did not come in demonstrable acts of power of myself or in eloquent words, but in weakness, proclaiming Christ and Him crucified, so that the power of Christ might be at work among you.
[00:49:49] And let's not forget, too, that it wasn't just Paul who suffered as an apostle.
[00:49:53] If you go back and read through the book of Acts, all of the apostles suffered for their ministry.
[00:49:59] But what's so amazing of what we see both in Paul and in the book of Acts is the more the apostles suffered, the more they rejoiced.
[00:50:07] And that makes no sense to us.
[00:50:09] Why would they rejoice in beatings and in stonings and in starvation and in deprivation?
[00:50:15] Why are they rejoicing?
[00:50:17] Because they're counted worthy to share the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
[00:50:21] You know, Jesus didn't come for the world's applause.
[00:50:23] He didn't come for the riches and the fame in this world.
[00:50:27] No, He came to suffer as a servant and die.
[00:50:30] And He calls His people, He calls His apostles, He calls His pastors, He calls His followers to do the same.
[00:50:38] And I think this may be the hardest thing for us to get our heads wrapped around today.
[00:50:43] As Christians in a nation that's comfortable, as Christians in a nation that is wealthy, as Christians in a nation that loves entertainment, that loves to be pleased, it wasn't just in Corinth that the cultural values had crept into the church.
[00:51:03] It's true for the American church today as well, and I'm as guilty of that as anybody else.
[00:51:09] I love nothing more than to sit on my comfortable couch and turn on football and be entertained for three hours.
[00:51:16] It's a wonderful thing until we become complacent, until that becomes our God, until that becomes our area of retreat and we no longer rush to Christ for those things.
[00:51:28] The early church rejoiced in their affliction, rejoiced in their suffering because they were counted worthy of sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
[00:51:36] And we may say to ourselves, oh, I would be glad to lose everything for the sake of Christ.
[00:51:41] You say that until people start taking things away.
[00:51:45] And then you get angry or you fight or you get scared and you worry.
[00:51:50] I think of Peter's initial boldness when Jesus predicted that all the disciples would scatter when he was arrested.
[00:51:55] And Peter said, ah, they may all flee, Lord, but I will never fall away from you.
[00:52:02] And yet when the guards arrive, when Jesus is hauled off, Peter with the other disciples runs, and later that same night, what does Peter do?
[00:52:11] But denies Jesus three times.
[00:52:15] It's easy to be brave when there's not a threat, but will we be found faithful when there is?
[00:52:22] Or to put it as Paul does in verse 20, the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.
[00:52:31] Suffering is part of the Christian story.
[00:52:34] It's the consequence of proclaiming, believing, and living out the gospel in the fallen world.
[00:52:41] And the true measure of our faith isn't realized when we're enjoying the creature comforts that God has afforded us, but it's found when the world has put its target upon us.
[00:52:53] What we see from Paul, not only in this letter, but throughout the scope of the New Testament, is that the world had no use for him.
[00:53:00] The world viewed him as scum.
[00:53:04] And yet we know that what the world discards, the gospel of Christ elevates.
[00:53:09] And that's what Paul so desperately wanted the Corinthians to know.
[00:53:12] And he wasn't saying all these hard things in order to tear them down.
[00:53:18] No, he spoke all of this out of love.
[00:53:20] He wanted what was best for these believers.
[00:53:23] Indeed, as he says in verse 15, he thought of himself as a father to these believers.
[00:53:29] He in fact calls them beloved children.
[00:53:33] And like any good parent would do,
[00:53:35] He was correcting his children, applying the right balance of sternness and love and comfort.
[00:53:44] This balance is something parents are always aiming for or should always aim for in the discipline of children.
[00:53:50] We can't ignore bad behavior, but neither do we want to crush spirits.
[00:53:54] And so discipline requires both correction and comfort.
[00:53:58] It requires a firm hand but loving arms, doesn't it?
[00:54:02] And isn't that what we see Paul doing in this chapter?
[00:54:05] There's a firm hand, there's stern words, but there's arms ready to embrace because He sees them as beloved children.
[00:54:11] He is disciplining them for their good, which is exactly what God does for us as we're told in Hebrews chapter 12.
[00:54:20] It is for discipline that you have to endure because God is treating you as sons.
[00:54:27] For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
[00:54:30] And if you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
[00:54:36] Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them.
[00:54:42] Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?
[00:54:46] For they disciplined us for a short time, as seemed best to them.
[00:54:50] But He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness.
[00:54:56] For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant.
[00:55:00] But later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
[00:55:07] Friends, my prayer for this congregation, my prayer for all of us here today is that by God's grace, we who are being trained by His discipline throughout the course of our lives might yield an ever-increasing fruit of righteousness.
[00:55:23] That we would increasingly submit ourselves to His fatherly hand of correction.
[00:55:30] Whether that be through His ministers as they steward the mysteries of the Gospel or through the convicting power of His Holy Spirit, may we accept His discipline and grow in the likeness and image of His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
[00:55:45] Let's pray together.
[00:55:49] O Lord our God, we thank You for Your fatherly care for Your people.
[00:55:53] We thank You that You love us as dearly loved children.
[00:55:57] And that means sometimes that we need a word of correction from You or from Your servants.
[00:56:04] But we thank You, Father, that this is for our good and it is for Your glory.
[00:56:09] And so we would pray this morning if there are ways in which the values of our own culture have crept into our thinking regarding Your church or in Your work or Your gospel or Your ministers that You would use today to begin to correct those things.
[00:56:23] that we would grow in knowledge that we would grow in faith and in love father this is our great prayer today that we would honor you that we would wear the name of christian well and we make this our prayer in jesus name amen
[00:56:45] Our closing hymn is really a good follow-up to that sermon as we think about our place in God's church.
[00:56:51] Why don't we stand together and sing number 688, Have Thine Own Way, Lord.

[00:57:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
In the heart the potter, I am the clay.

[00:57:41] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Hold me and make me after thy will.
[00:57:41] For I am waiting here mid and still.
[00:57:45] Have thine own way, Lord,

[00:57:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[00:58:13] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[00:58:19] In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:58:45] Amen.
[00:58:45] Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

[00:59:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

[00:59:13] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.

[00:59:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
Before I pronounce the benediction, a reminder to those of you who are visiting with us that Pastor Luke and I will be happy to greet you right after the benediction outside.
[00:59:26] For those of you who are members, you may stick around for the congregational meeting.
[00:59:30] And now receive God's blessing.
[00:59:31] May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father Almighty, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all both now and forevermore.
[00:59:40] Amen.

[00:59:47] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen!
[01:00:08] Amen!
[01:00:08] Amen!