Alright, turn with me in your
Bibles to 1 Corinthians 4. 1 Corinthians 4. I'd like to just look at a few
passages here, a few verses. Whenever I'm going to look at
starting in verse 1 in a minute, but last time when we ended in
1 Corinthians, we were in chapter 3, and Apostle Paul was saying
in the 21st verse of chapter 3, he said, for all things are
yours. All things. All things are working
together for good. to them that love God. All things. Everything. Doesn't matter what
it is. All things are ordered by Almighty God. He doeth all
things and does them well. Scripture says. All things belong
to Christ. He made them, created them, and
His bride being in Him, they're His too. They're the bride's
too. They are said to be, in Christ,
heirs of God, made so by God's good pleasure. What has the Lord
prepared for those that love Him? Eye hath not seen, ear hath
not heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man. I don't
know. We're joint heirs with Christ.
All things that He earned as a man. God Almighty going to give to
him. And they're ours too. Well, as
the Lord has been pleased to teach his people through preaching
pastors, he sends pastors and feeds the flock, gives them understanding
in Christ, And he's been pleased to not leave them to themselves
to figure out what these scriptures has to say. It gives a man a
heart to study. And the Spirit of God, as that
man seeks God's leadership and direction, the Spirit of God
teaches him. I'm going to be real honest with
you. I have enough sense to know that I cannot figure these scriptures
out. You say, well, you've been studying
for, you know, years and years and years. I don't have sense
to figure these scriptures out. The Spirit of God has got to
give a man discernment. Teach him. Have you ever read
a scripture and then you read it? It happens to me a lot in
the Proverbs especially. You read that scripture and you
think, what does that mean? But then
a man stands up and he preaches out of it and you think, I don't
see how it could mean anything else but that. Why didn't I see
that? I've listened to men preach,
and I thought, that was amazing. That's the truth. And it bears
witness to your heart. It's consistent with everything
you've learned. So Paul has been dealing with the church at Corinth.
You know, they had been kind of nitpicking on their preachers,
is what they'd done. I'm a Paulist. I like Paul. But I like Peter. I like this
one. I like that one. And Paul is
dealing with them. He said, all things are yours,
all of God called preachers are yours. And so in verse 1, he
said, this is the way I want you to think upon God's preachers. Let a man so account of us as
of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of
God. Paul said, Think on God's preachers
like this. They're ministering servants
of Christ. That's who we are. We're ministers. God Almighty has chosen, God
chooses who He's going to call to preach. That's what He told
Jeremiah. He said, Jeremiah, before I formed
you in the belly, I ordained you a prophet. Jeremiah's mama didn't call him
to be a prophet. God called him to be a prophet.
So God Almighty chooses, then He calls them. He calls them
out of darkness. He calls them just like He calls
anybody else. And then He qualifies them. He
teaches them. And then he sends them to the
church as ambassadors. And as they apply themselves
to the work of the ministry, the scripture says that they
are to be respected and heard as God's ministers. I told you last Wednesday night,
take everything I say and put me to a test. Don't listen to
one thing that I say. If you don't take these scriptures
and look them up and find out if what I'm saying is so. If
I've made a mistake, I'll stand up here and say, listen, I made
a mistake. I said something I shouldn't have said. I've done it before.
I mean, I'm not infallible. But you take what I say and you
be like those in Berea. You search the Scriptures and
find out. If I say something from God's Word, because the
one before whom I stand, I'm responsible. Who are these? They're ministers, ministers
of Christ. Listen, 1 Thessalonians 5, 12, 13, And we beseech you,
brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you to esteem them very highly
in love for their work's sake. and be at peace among yourselves. This is what Paul said concerning
the ministry. We're ambassadors for Christ.
As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's
name be you reconciled to God. An ambassador is one that relates
to somebody else what the one that sent him said or wants. An ambassador is a repeater.
He just says what one that's in charge says. So according
to the revelation of the Holy Spirit here, here a true servant
of Christ. And while you're hearing Him,
you look in this book to make sure that what you heard
Him say, He backed it up. And if He's making it up, don't go back to hear Him. Because
God's not talking. God is going to talk according
to these scriptures. Right here. All I'm doing is
repeating. That's all I'm doing is just
repeating what God has to say. So God's preachers, count of
us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of
God. A steward. What is a steward? What do you mean a steward? Well,
a trustee. What do you mean a trustee? What
do you mean? A steward or a trustee is someone, generally speaking,
that is appointed as an overseer. Appointed by the master in the
affairs of dispensing the provisions of the estate. They don't own
the provisions. They are the ones that dispense
the stuff. You know, you had a You've got
a plantation or something. That's what I keep thinking about.
You've got a plantation. And you've got the person or
persons that owns the plantation. And they've got people that work
for them. And they've got needs. They've got needs out there.
I want the fields taken care of. Okay. We're going to have
to have implements. We're going to have to have some
tools. We're going to have to have some food. I've got to have some
water. For the workers, I gotta make
sure the workers are taken care of. Okay, the steward or the
trustee, his job is you make sure that whatever the need is
out there, that's your responsibility. That's a steward. So Paul says
that we're, account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards
of the mysteries of God. The mysteries of God. Paul said
that God's preachers are God's ministers sent to the church
as stewards of the mysteries of God's grace. We have a responsibility
to relate to God's people through preaching the mysteries of the
Lord. These great mysteries of God
that Paul said, this is the reason I'm not ashamed of the gospel.
It's the power of God and salvation. So these truths, what do you
mean that are mysteries of God? Well, they're undiscoverable
by human reasoning. Like I've told you before, I
could take, just turn, just take your Bible and turn with me.
I love this passage of Scripture. I quote it so much. 2 Thessalonians
2, 13 and 14. Now look at this great
mystery right here. You tell me how a man or a woman
born in Adam could figure this out. But we are bound to give thanks
all the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Now, here's the great mystery. According to these Scriptures,
We give thanks to who? For God's mercy. We're bound to give thanks all
the way to God for you. I've heard Brother Henry say
sometimes people come over here and he said they'll be visiting
and somebody will come up and say, well I thank you for coming. Henry said I've heard somebody
say that one time to somebody, I thank you for coming. He said
don't ever tell anybody you're thankful that they came. Don't
ever tell anybody you're thankful they came. You tell them, I thank
God that He moved upon you to bring you here. That's who you're
thanking. We're bound to give thanks all
the way to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Why? Why,
Paul? Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. The Lord told His disciples,
He said, you didn't choose me. I chose you. Called you. Who do you think does the choosing
around here? Well, according to this, this mystery right here
is that God hath from the beginning chosen you. To what? To salvation. God Almighty, we're going to
thank God because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Almighty God was pleased to bestow
upon His people salvation. And how did He do it? Through
sanctification of the Spirit. By the Spirit of God setting
them apart? Yes. By the Spirit of God calling
them out of darkness? Yes. And doing what? Giving them
faith to believe. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, belief of the gospel, the gospel of God's grace. And
He called you. How did He call you? By that
gospel, verse 14, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. How would you have known that? How would I have known?
That Almighty God, from the beginning, how would I have known that?
So here the Apostle Paul says, So let a man so account of us
as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of
God." And then he says something concerning the responsibility
of these ministers. And not only just ministers,
but he's talking about preachers right here. Everybody, everybody.
But primarily he's talking about God's preachers. He says, moreover,
verse 2, it is required in stewards, in these trustees, in the dispensers
of the mysteries of God, that a man be found faithful. Faithful. I'm going to read. I started not to read this passage,
but I'm going to. I want you to turn with me to
Matthew 25, verse 14. Matthew 25. And it's talking
about the responsibility of being faithful as a steward. It's required in stewards
and trustees. Now, you know, it's pretty easy
for everybody to have, you know, somebody stand up here and we're
talking about preachers. And they say, well, you know, that's,
that's, that's not me, that's Marvin right now. Well, I'm going
to tell you something. Everybody is a steward. Everybody's
a steward. God has called me to preach.
And I'm, I'm, it's required of me to be faithful in preaching. It's required of me to be faithful.
But everybody here is a steward. Everybody. Everybody that's ever
been born. I'm going to show you this. In
Matthew 25, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 14, the
Lord makes an amazing revelation here. He says, for the kingdom
of Matthew 25, 14, the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling
into a far country. Now let me tell you what He's
talking about when He's talking about the kingdom of heaven. right here on this earth
while we're right here. You'll see this right here. Here
we are, we're really here today. You're really sitting there.
I'm really standing right here, right now. Now we're here for
just a moment. But this right here is everything
that's going on in this world right now. It's for God's glory,
for the good of God's people. Everything that's going on, everything,
everything. All the industry that's going
on in this world, all things work together. Everything is
for God's glory and God's people. That's it. I can tell you right
now. So here we are. This is the Kingdom of God. We're
in it. One day, by the grace of God,
God's people will be with Him in glory. But right now, here
we are. Alright. The Kingdom of God,
Kingdom of Heaven. is as a man traveling into a
far country who called his own servants and delivered unto them
his goods." Now let me tell you who these servants are, right
here. They're everybody that has been
born in this world. There's something that's going
to distinguish them. But these servants are God's servants. They're everybody that's been
born in this world. You say, well, I thought you
were talking about some elect. There are some elect. God's going
to save them. But there are some that are not
God's people. I know the Lord told some Pharisees
in John 10, He said, you're not of my sheep. I know this, but
everybody, everybody is God's servant. I can tell you that
right now. He called his own servants and delivered unto them
his goods. Unto one he gave five talents, another two, and another
one, to every man according to his several ability, and straightway
took his journey. Now here's what happened. This
man that owns everything, all his possessions, called his servants
and he gave them some talents. He gave them something. Was it money? It was something. It was something. He gave him
a responsibility. He said, I'm going to give this
to you. And then it says, then he that received the five talents
went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. And likewise, he had received
two, he also gained other two. But he that received one went
and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. After a long
time, the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. So he that had received five
talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou
deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside
them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, Well
done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful
over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. He also that received two talents
came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents. Behold,
I have gained two other talents beside them. His Lord said unto
him, Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful
over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many
things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had
received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew that thou
art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering
where thou hast not strawed. I was afraid. I went and hid
thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast thine, that
is thine. The Lord answered and said unto
him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I
reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strawed, thou
oughtest Therefore, to have put my money to the exchangers, and
then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury,
with some interest. Take therefore the talent from
him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every
one that hath shall be given he shall have abundance. But
from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which
he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness, and there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth." Now, here's what's happened. This Lord, He
gave to His servants one five talents, one two talents, one
one talent. He took a journey. Here is the Lord of Glory, and
here's what's happened. The Lord of Glory has given unto
men, unto women, talents, responsibilities to be of honor and glory to Him. And He's taken a far journey
into heaven. And He's coming back, and there's
going to come a day of reckoning. There's going to be a day of
judgment. Now these two right here that had received the five
talents and the two talents that had obviously had been profit
out of them. What those talents represent
are gifts of God's grace and God's mercy and God's compassion
to them. And they took that which the
Lord had given them. and the Spirit of God blessed
it. That's what's happening right now. God Almighty has called
His people out of darkness, out of spiritual darkness, and He
blesses them with talents. What are they? I don't know.
I don't know. He calls some to preach, He calls some to do this,
some to do that, but whatever He calls them to do, whether
you eat, whether you drink, whatever you do, do it to the glory of
God. And the Spirit of God blessed it. These guys that got five
more talents and two more talents, spiritually speaking, we are
what we are by the grace of God. If God Almighty is pleased to
bless the efforts of God's people, it's the Lord. There's no glory
due to me. But He told them, He said, well
done, thy good and faithful servant. Where's all the glory going to
be to Christ? When it comes to one, they've
given Him a talent. And obviously it was just a gift
of nature. Every man, every woman sitting
in this congregation this morning, you've got a brain, you've got
eyes, ears. Almighty God has given men and
women the capability of hearing the gospel. You can hear. But
what did this one do? That one that had nothing more
than the gift of nature. What he did was he hid it. He
did nothing concerning God's glory, God's honor. And Almighty
God dealt with him on his own merit. The first two on the merit
of Christ is how God's going to deal with people. By faith,
by faith they walk, not by sight. But this one they had one, a
gift of nature. Every man, every woman that's
ever been born in this world, the gospel is being preached.
They could hear. Henry, somebody told Henry one
time, well I can't do nothing. Henry said, you can go hear the
gospel. You can hear the scriptures being
preached. You can read your Bible. You call on the Lord. He said,
don't tell me a man can't do anything. But unless Almighty
God does something for him in his heart, it will not be to
the glory of God, it will be to own glory. Paul says, we are
stewards, we are trustees of the mysteries of God and it is
required. in God's stewards, that they
be found faithful. But Almighty God is going to
hold every man, every woman responsible. You say, well, I've never heard
the Gospel. The Scripture says that very nature declares the
glory of God. So they're without excuse. They're
responsible. Nobody is going to get off the
hook. It's by the grace of God that anybody would ever hear
the Gospel preached. that you're sitting under the
sound of the gospel is by a miracle of God's grace. People say, well,
I don't see anything happening. I don't know. What have I ever
done? Be faithful. Be faithful. I was talking to a dear brother
yesterday, and I'm going to close. I've got a whole lot more notes
here, but I'm going to close after a couple of comments here.
I was talking to a dear brother yesterday. And he was talking
about, we were talking about faithfulness, faithfulness. And
you know, sometimes you don't see what you think that you would
desire to see as far as results. But do you know that the Lord
has never called us to results? What has he called us to do?
Faithfulness. If somebody asks you concerning
an opinion on, I've got this problem, or I've got this problem,
or I've got this... Let me tell you the best answer
that you can ever give them. I've got a son or a daughter
and they're, you know, they're wayward, or I've got this problem,
I've got this health problem, I've got this... Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And all these things will be
added unto you. What is the best advice you can
give somebody? Sit under the sound of the gospel.
Hear what God has to say. And Almighty God will order your
steps. I'm telling you, it is required in stewards, trustees,
that they'd be found faithful. Last verse, 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 4, 1-5. 2 Timothy 4. Paul is writing to his son in
the faith, Timothy. I charge thee therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom." When I say the
quick and the dead, those that are spiritually alive and those
that are spiritually dead is what he's talking about. He said,
who shall judge the quick and the dead. The quick, those that
God had given those five talents and two talents, regenerated
them by grace and for the glory of God. Everything they did,
everything that they did was a blessing of Almighty God in
Christ. The dead, those that God had
given the gifts of nature, just naturally speaking, hid them,
you know, He's going to judge them. It is appearing. Here's
what he told Timothy. Preach the Word. Be instant in
season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and darkness, for the time is going to come, time will come,
when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own
lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears,
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall
be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things,
endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof
of thy ministries." We are to be faithful to God's calling. Almighty God is going to do that
which He will. And He's going to bless that which He's done. He's done. Paul the Apostle was
saying concerning us as ministers, We are ministers of Christ, trustees,
trustees. We've been entrusted with a precious
treasure. But you that believe, you have
too. You have too. Make full use. How do I do that? Hear the gospel. Seek the Lord. Search the scriptures. I'm telling
you, and the steps of a good man, those made so by the grace
of God, Almighty God's going to order. May the Lord bless
His Word, for Christ's sake. Amen.