SERVANTS OF CHRIST

I invite you to turn in your Bibles to 1st Corinthians chapter 4 if you're using the pew Bible that can be found on page 1133 1133 in the pew Bible 1st Corinthians chapter 4 we're going to read and consider the entirety of the chapter this is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 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 then each one will receive his commendation from God I've 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 for who sees anything different in you what do you have that you did not receive if then you received it why do you boast as if you did not receive it already you have all you want already you have become rich without us you've become kings and would you that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you for i think that god has exhibited us apostles as last of all like men sentenced to death because we become a spectacle to the world to angels and to men we are fools for christ's sake but you are wise in christ we are weak but you are strong you are held in honor but we in disrepute to the present hour we hunger and thirst we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless and we labor working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and still are like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel I urge you then be imitators of me 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 some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you 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 for the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power what do you wish shall I come to you with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness here ends the reading and hearing of God's holy and inspired word I'm sure we we all have vivid memories of our childhood and maybe one that we all are familiar with and share is the occasion of an upset mother telling us just wait till your father gets home. 1 Corinthians 14 is something of an apostolic just wait till your apostle returns. And the analogy of Paul here as a father fits well not only because this reminds us of maybe what our mothers might say to us but it fits well because Paul thought of himself as the spiritual father of this church in Corinth we hear that we heard that in the text see Paul was the one who planted this church according to Acts 18 he stayed in Corinth with these people for a year and a half and so he knew these people well they were they were dear to his heart he thought of them as his spiritual children and he speaks to them as such and so really what we see in this text is the heart of paul the heart of a servant the heart that is enamored with the gospel of jesus christ and therefore the gospel was the controlling factor for paul and his ministry and he wants this church at corinth and all churches to have the gospel as the controlling factor in their life and ministry. And so we want to look at this text through the lens of the heart of Paul. And we're going to look at three points this morning. Paul, a servant of Christ. Paul, a servant sufficient in Christ. And Paul, a servant motivated by love. So Paul, a servant in christ paul a servant sufficient in christ and paul a servant motivated by love if you've ever read this book first corinthians then you know that this church had a number of problems the corinthian church was infatuated with power wisdom prestige recognition the church had wandered from its established foundations and teachings it was a church that sought extra biblical revelation extra-biblical wisdom, ideas, and even philosophies. There were teachers in the church who weren't interested in the revelation of God, but their own speculation, their own rhetorical skills and speaking abilities. It was a church that put up false standards to judge ministries, preachers, and preaching. This church even attempted to judge the ministry and the preaching of the Apostle Paul. What we see here in this church at Corinth, sadly, isn't all that different than what we see in many churches today. And so this letter stands before us this morning as a warning and a reminder, a warning of what not to do, and a reminder to understand the ministry of the gospel as Paul understood it. And so this text is good for us to consider today, especially since its installation Sunday, and we're going to be installing new elders and deacons to the church offices today. And the truths that Paul brings up in this text are good for office bearers to always keep in mind, but not only office bearers, but the whole of the church, all of us. And so my prayer for us this morning is that as we look at these verses, we'll take note to avoid the mistakes that the church at Corinth made and instead humbly follow Paul by allowing the gospel to be the controlling factor of our lives and the ministry here at Escondido URC. So let's turn to our first point, Paul, a servant of Christ. Paul opens these verses by focusing on the issue of leadership. It's an issue that he has focused on throughout this book so far up to these four chapters. It goes all the way back to chapter 1 verse 12 but here in verse or in chapter 4 he addresses the issue of leadership from the perspective of the gospel being the foundation of the church's ministry see as i said the corinthian ministry wasn't about the gospel maybe it it played an initial role and maybe at this time that paul is writing this letter it plays something of a peripheral role for these christians but in the mind of the corinthian christians they believed that they had matured beyond the basics of the gospel of jesus christ they were a church that was more interested again in the wisdom the ideas the influential power of man more than the gospel but you see here's the thing whenever a church believes that it matures beyond the gospel of Jesus Christ. Whenever that church begins to believe that it has progressed to the agenda and ideas of man, then that church will inevitably begin to exalt man. And it'll begin to puff up with pride. And that will even lead to schism. And that's exactly what was happening here at the church of Corinth. The Corinthians were making more of their leadership than they should of. Chapter 1, verse 11 says this, it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 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. So it's obvious that there are divisions in this church at Corinth. Again, in chapter 4 here, Paul's going to really address the heart of the matter here these uh divisions were only symptoms of a real and deeper problem the church at corinth was a man-centered church it was a man-centered church the corinthians believed that their success in the church was could be easily attributed to themselves and their pop superstar leadership now when it came to paul in the mind of these corinthian christians he didn't add up. He didn't compare to their superstar leadership. He didn't compare to the worldly standards that they compared him to and judged his ministry and and work to. Paul wasn't the quote-unquote accomplished speaker that they were familiar with. He wasn't the charismatic speaker that they desired, nor did he have the influence that these other leaders and speakers had now i think when you read this letter you might come to the conclusion that paul may have even agreed with their criticism he knew he didn't compare to their worldly standards but you see the issue wasn't about paul and he wasn't going to allow the real issue to be spun into him trying to defend himself and his ministry and his abilities the real issue is that the lord is the Lord of his church. And that the ministry is the ministry of the gospel. And that's why Paul says in verse 3, it's a small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. Literally he says it's no big deal if you want to judge me. Paul knew who he was accountable to. He knew he was a servant of Christ. And so he says in verse 1, this is how one should regard us as servants of christ and stewards of the mysteries of god he introduces two new terms here to describe himself and fellow ministers the first is that of a servant servant refers to an attendant who is on hand to carry out the instructions of the master and then steward steward refers to a senior position in a household of servants notice servants and stewards are far from pop star leadership that the corinthian church was somewhat familiar with or envisioned now as humble as these titles are paul's emphasis with using these terms is not so much on the position of the terms but on the one to whom he and his fellow workers are accountable to. Servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God. The implication is that church leadership and ministry which the leadership puts forth is accountable to God and his standards, not man and man's standards. Paul says in the second half of verse 4, It is the Lord who judges me. You see, when a church knows and understands that it's accountable to God and God alone for the task and ministry to which He has called it, then that church rids itself of the huge burden of feeling like they have to accommodate people. But when a church believes itself to be accountable to people, then that accountability will shape the ministry of that church. I think this is especially a temptation when churches try to bring new people into the church. In this area, many churches hold themselves accountable to people so that if they want to bring more people into the church, then they've got to come up with some innovative idea in order to do that very thing. So when a church feels like it's accountable to people, it'll feel obligated to accommodate those people. And the ministry of God, the ministry that the Lord has given to that church, will be put on the back burner. This happens in many churches today. But it is especially happening right now in the Roman Catholic Church. I don't know if you're aware, but maybe you are. Maybe you've heard Pope Francis just approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples. There you go. When a church believes that it's obligated to accommodate people, the truth and the ministry of God will be pushed aside. Brothers and sisters, I want to remind you this morning that as a church, we are accountable to God and God alone. And that's what Paul is saying here. And in understanding that he is accountable to God and God alone, Paul finds great freedom. And so should we. As a church, we're not accountable to the expectations of men, whether that be other Reformed people or our evangelical brothers and sisters. We're definitely not accountable to the world who maybe thinks of our church as ignorant, closed-minded, prudish, even boring. If we think of ourselves as being accountable to any of those groups, then what they say about our ministry and church will shape us. Now, just because we aren't accountable to other people and what they say doesn't mean that their assessments are necessarily wrong about us. We may at times be too staunch. We at times may be too exclusive. We may at times be overly dogmatic, close-minded, and prudish. Paul says here in verse 4, I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I'm not thereby acquitted. But nevertheless, it is the Lord who judges me. and it is the lord who we are accountable to as well and understanding this should really do two things for us first as it did for paul it frees us from the tyranny of man paul says to the corinthians in verse 5 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, then each one will receive his commendation from God. Paul understood that although the Corinthians falsely judged him, God would not. God would not falsely judge Paul. The judgment of others, therefore, shouldn't really concern him all that much. And that's truth and reality for us as well. Now again, this doesn't mean that we should dig our heels in and not consider what others may or what we could we could do better here at escondido urc because understanding our accountability before god not only gives us a sense of freedom when it comes to men but it should lead us to ask difficult and tough questions questions like have we been faithful to the ministry that god has given to us have we been faithful see realizing that we are accountable to god alone really changes the questions that we may ask about ourselves in the ministry here questions are not how can we develop some innovative thing and practice in order to draw more people rather the question should be how can we be more faithful to the ministry that god has given to us. Is that a question that we've considered lately? I hope and pray that it is. It's a good question to consider on a day when we install new office bearers. Should be a question that office bearers are always considering. Now that's not a question that I think should haunt us, but we do want to strive to be faithful, a faithful church. is a church that is faithful to the ministry and tasks that God has given to it. Well, it's not only the issue of accountability that Paul brings up here in this passage, but he also talks about sufficiency. And that brings us to our second point, a servant sufficient in Christ. Along with man-centeredness, the church at Corinth was a church motivated by an inflated sense of themselves. Corinth was a church full of pride, arrogance, conceit. Paul says in verse 6, I've 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. The church at Corinth thought of itself as being spiritually superior, and so much so that they were free to go beyond what had been written. The word of God wasn't sufficient for them. We'll see that Christ wasn't sufficient for them. And so they took on a kind of spiritual elite perspective. Maybe having begun with Christ, they again now thought that they graduated beyond Jesus Christ and the quote-unquote elemental ideas of the Gospel. And so they depart from the written Word of God and choose instead to follow their own wisdom and ideas, pride and arrogance. So in order to deflate their self-inflated view of themselves, Paul here asks three questions to this church. Three rhetorical questions. The first one can be found in verse 7 when he says, For who sees anything different in you? Essentially, Paul is saying, who do you think you are? Why do you think you're any different than anyone else? See, one feature of spiritual pride is to forget who you are apart from the grace of God. That was something Paul had already tried to point out to them back in chapter 1, verse 20, where he says, consider your callings, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what was foolish, what was weak, what was low and despised, so that no one may boast. Apart from the grace of God, these people weren't anything special. And yet here is the Corinthian Christians boasting in themselves. And to this, Paul simply says, you are no different. You're no different than anyone else. But just in case they believe themselves to be different, Paul follows up with a second question here. What do you have that you did not receive? A second feature of pride is to forget all that you have has been given to you by God in Jesus Christ. The Corinthians had begun to believe that all that was theirs was theirs because of their superior spirituality. The success of the church was because of their accomplishments, their ideas, their power. but Paul says it should be obvious to you all that you have has been given to you so with these first two questions lingering in the minds of these Christians Paul asks his final and concluding question if then you received it why do you boast as if you did not here we have the perfect example of why we need to hear the gospel preached and apply to us every lord's day we tend to forget who we are and what we have been given has been given to us through Christ. We're a forgetful people, aren't we? We leave Sunday morning, Sunday evening worship. We go out into a week and we forget the magnitude of the grace of God in our lives. So we need to be reminded of that, don't we? We need to be reminded that who we are and everything we have comes by God's grace to us in Jesus Christ. We need to be reminded of that truth and reality and that comes to us in the Gospel. It's the Gospel that teaches us that Christ alone is our righteousness. It's the Gospel that teaches us that Christ alone is the one who paid the price of the penalty for our sins. It is Christ alone who reconciles us to God. But you see, spiritual pride is deceptive, isn't it? It deceives us and fools us into thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. And that's why Paul here sarcastically compares himself to these Corinthians in verse 8 and following when he says, Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us you become kings. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. This is how the Corinthian Christians thought of themselves, brothers and sisters. They thought of themselves as rich, as royalty, as wise, strong, honored. Notice what's missing here. Characteristics such as humility, thankfulness. Now, of course, this was the same problem that had occurred in the church of Laodicea where in Revelation 3, 17, Jesus corrects their misperception of themselves when he says, For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. See, that's the Corinthians apart from Christ. or even in Christ if they believe that they have graduated beyond Christ somehow. Same thing can be said of us if we deceive ourselves with spiritual pride. And so Paul here in strong terms admonishes these Christians by contrasting all of what they think of themselves with his own lowly position. Notice what he says in verse 9. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death because we've become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We're poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless. We labor working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We've become and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. Now, Paul uses some pretty earthy language here in this section, doesn't he? When speaking of being sentenced to death and becoming a spectacle to the world, he's using language of the arena. Language that would be used of someone who was thrown in the arena to the lions where people in the crowd would watch. When he refers to himself and others as being scum of the world and the refuse of all things, he's explaining in the most harsh terms how a true servant of Christ might be viewed by the world. The point that Paul is making here is that the preaching of the gospel, faithful preaching of the gospel, hasn't brought him the kind of prestige and pride that the corinthians aspire to but nevertheless because of what paul has in jesus christ because he is a servant sufficient in christ paul will continue to go on and preach he will continue to go on and faithfully preach the message of jesus christ and the same should apply to us as a church and our leaders you see as a church we might not be as successful of a church as maybe the world might measure us by we might not be the the biggest church we might not boast of having membership in the thousands we might not have an influential voice in our society or even our small town of escondido but because of what we have in jesus christ brothers and sisters those things shouldn't matter to us because of the riches we have in christ we will continue to be faithful to the ministry that god has called us to because we know what we have in christ we know the savior who has saved us and because of those truths and because of those reality i pray that when a day comes that we too might have to be a spectacle to the world we too might have to be held in disrepute hungry poorly dressed reviled persecuted because of what we have in Jesus Christ we'll be willing to suffer for the name of Christ remember what Jesus told his disciples in this regard he said you will be hated by all for my name's sake but the one who endures to the end will be saved that salvation that hope that expectation that good news is what we have in Christ and it was more than enough for Paul and his ministry and it should be more than enough for us as well well Paul being the pastor that he is not only admonishes these Christians in Corinth but he also encourages them and that moves us to our last point this morning a servant motivated by love in the last section of this chapter Paul Paul's tone somewhat shifts it shifts from being sarcastic to that of being a caring affectionate father he says in verse 14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed but to admonish you as my beloved children for though you have countless guides in Christ you do not have many fathers now admonishment can come off as harsh and critical and judgmental and maybe today in our world admonishment is always thought to be harsh and critical but there is a kind of admonishment that comes from a heart that loves the person who is being admonish. And Paul speaks to this church here. He speaks to them as a loving father to beloved children. Now, if you're a parent, you know exactly how Paul is speaking. And if you're a child old enough to understand, then you may also know what it means for a parent to address you sternly and yet in love. Paul is doing that here. He sees himself as a spiritual father of these Christians. He was the first man to preach the gospel to them. He was a man who established this church, planted this church. He spent a year and a half with these people. he knows them personally yes he's spoken some stern words to them but not to destroy their faith or demolish them as a church but to warn them to admonish them as he said i do not write these things to make you ashamed but to admonish you as my beloved children see paul is concerned with the souls of these people he loves them and as a loving father he urges them to follow him he tells them in verse 16 to imitate him as parents we know that we desire our children to imitate us in many things but especially in certain things what is it that paul is calling this church to imitate him in well he's calling them to imitate him as he imitates christ that's what he says in verse 17 that's why he sent timothy to remind them of his ways in christ he says this again in chapter 11 in the beginning of chapter 11 when he says be imitators of me as i imitate christ now how is is paul imitating christ well christ is a servant christ was a servant paul understood that he is a servant and a steward of the lord jesus christ christ lived and died so that his people would be sufficient in him paul looks to christ alone for all that he has and finally christ loved his people and gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God for them and their sins. Paul loves this church. He loves the church of Christ, and he does everything out of love for them. See, as I said, brothers and sisters, what we see in this passage is the heart of Paul, the heart of Paul, a heart that has been shaped by love and not so much the love of Paul, but the love of Christ working in and through Paul. Paul is in such awe of what Jesus has done to him that he is willing to suffer so that others may know the love of Christ. Now this might not look all that attractive to the corinthians maybe it doesn't look all that attractive to us as well but you see brothers and sisters when you're captivated by the love of jesus christ when you realize the depth of the love of christ to you that god himself came down to earth to live and die for you and your sins how can we not be captivated by that how can we not follow paul as he imitates christ how can we as a church not see ourselves as servants of christ how can we ourselves not realize that we are servants who are sufficient in jesus christ and in all that he has given to us and how can we as a church not be motivated by the love of Jesus Christ working in us I pray that this text motivates us and renews our understanding along the lines of what Christ has done for us let's pray Lord we thank you for the service of your servant the Apostle Paul who gave to us these great scriptures, Lord, inspired by Your Spirit, which lead us and teach us and point us and direct us to Jesus Christ, the perfect servant. We thank You for Christ's sacrifice for us, Lord. And we pray that by Your Spirit You would enable us as individuals and as a church to allow Christ to be the controlling factor of our hearts and lives. We pray this all in His name. Amen.