We'll stay right there in that
passage that Brother Jim just read, 1 Corinthians chapter 4. And as he said, I've entitled
this message, The Value of God's Judgment. Years ago, I had a
man tell me this. He said, I don't care what other
people think of me. That's what he said. And I told him this, I said,
well, I do care what other people think of me. I think that's important.
I think that it's important that we maintain good character and that men and
women think of us well. Not all are going to, we know
that. But here's something that we need to understand about that.
What men and women think of me is not what I value the most. What I value the most is what
does the Lord God, the judge of all, think of me? Now you
might ask, say, well, how in the world could you know that
until you get to the judgment? Well, I'll tell you exactly how.
You can know it by what he says in his word today. what he says in his word today. Now the apostle here is dealing
with judgment, the judgment of men. He mentions the day of judgment,
which is final judgment, but he's talking about how we judge
one another, and especially in this context, as Brother Jim
brought out, how we judge preachers. Because that's what's happening
here in Corinth. They were dividing over gospel
preachers. Some said, well, I'm going to
follow Peter. Some said, I'm going to follow Paul. Some said,
I'm going to follow Apollos. And some said, I'm not going
to follow any of them. And Paul is admonishing them. He's correcting
them. You're wrong. The church of Christ
is not to be divided over men. The church of Christ is to be
unified. In fact, the central truth that comes through all
of this as he deals with the problems in this church is the
central truth of the cross of Jesus Christ. You remember he
said back in verse two of chapter two, I strive not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. We're not following preachers
for salvation, we're following Christ. Now you say, well, we'll
follow a preacher as he appoints us to Christ, and that's okay.
Paul said that to the Ephesians. He said, you follow me as I follow
Christ. But think about these things
here that Paul uses. He says, number one, Christ built
the church, not the preacher. And if it's the preacher that
draws them in, then that's his church, that's not Christ's church.
Christ built his church up on the rock of His glorious person
and His finished work. Christ crucified, risen from
the dead. Who is Jesus Christ? That's the
issue of the church, not who I am. What are His credentials,
not what are my credentials? He's God manifest in the flesh. That's who Jesus Christ is. He's
the word made flesh. His name shall be called Emmanuel,
which being interpreted as God with us. This church is built
upon who Jesus Christ is. And that assures us of the accomplishment
and success of what he did on the cross. He didn't die to make
people savable. He died to save his people from
their sins. He put away the sins of his people
by the sacrifice of himself so that God cannot and will not
charge them with sin. who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect. And I know people today, even
those who claim to be, they don't like to hear that word elect,
but that's what God says. Romans 8 33, read it. I didn't
write it. Who are God's elect? They are
those to whom God does not charge, impute, account with their sin.
And therefore they cannot be condemned. Verse 34 of Romans
say, who can condemn us? It's Christ that died. yea rather
is risen again, seated at the right hand of the Father. That's
the central truth upon which Christ builds his church and
which draws us together as brethren. Secondly, Christ calls his people
into union with himself and his church by the preaching of the
gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. It pleased the Lord by
the foolishness of preaching to bring them in, call them in. And then thirdly, God uses weak,
pitiful, sinful men to preach his gospel. Paul said, we have
a treasure. The gospel of God's grace is
a treasure, but we have it in earthen vessels, clay pots, breakable,
weak, And fourthly, we thank God for his ministers. Listen,
I thank God for the man who first preached the gospel to me. I
thank God for him. Called and equipped and enabled
by God to preach the message of Christ crucified and risen
for us. But as Paul says here in 1 Corinthians
4, we're never to think more highly of these men than we ought
to. We're certainly never to divide
over them. Christ is our foundation. He's
the foundation of the church. Christ is the head of the church.
Christ is the chief cornerstone. You know what that means? That
means that everything in the church that is a value, that
we see as a value, is to be measured as it relates to Christ, who
he is, and what he accomplished. He's the chief cornerstone. Christ is our husband. I had
a man tell me one time, he said, I look at the relationship of
a pastor and his church as a marriage. And I told him, I said, well,
now you've got it wrong. The church isn't married to the pastor.
You're not married to me. The church is married to Christ.
He's the bridegroom. We're the bride. He's the husband.
We're the wife. That's what the Bible says. In
essence, you can do without me. But you can't do without Christ.
And in essence, if you want to think about it, I can't do without
you. Or I'd be just preaching to empty pews. But none of us
can do without Christ. He's our husband. He's our heart.
Christ is the heart of the church. He's the life giver. It's by
his spirit that we have life, spiritual life, eternal life.
He holds us together. in the truth amidst all trials,
everything that would come against us, he holds us together. Look
at verse one of 1 Corinthians four. He says, let a man so account
of us. You know what he's talking about
there? He's talking about judgment. How you judge preachers, how
we judge each other. Somebody, you know, it's common
today for people to say, who claim to be Christians say, well,
we don't judge. Well, that's a lie. You judge
everything. I judge everything. But doesn't
the Bible say in Matthew 7, didn't the Lord say, judge not that
you be not judged? Yes, he did. You know what he's
forbidding there? Self-righteous judgment. Judgment
based on a wrong standard. That's what he's forbidding there.
But in John chapter seven and verse 24, you know what he told
his disciples? He said, judge not according
to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Now how can
I, who am a sinner, a sinner saved by grace, who have no righteousness
of my own, my righteousness is Christ. His righteousness imputed
to me. That's the only righteousness
I have now. I have the power of the Spirit, who is righteous. I have a new heart, new life
given to me in the new birth. But here's what I'm telling you,
even at my best, I still fall short of the perfection of righteousness
that can only be found in Christ. And he is God's standard of judgment,
do you know that? When you get to the judgment
day, and Paul talks about that day, he says, judge nothing before
the time, that day. What is the standard of judgment
upon which God has judged his people? It's Christ. Acts 1731,
I quote this all the time. I quote it all the time on our
TV program. God has appointed a day in which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained
in that he hath given assurance unto all men and that he had
raised him from the dead. How righteous do I have to be
to enter glory? I have to be as righteous as
Christ. Well, that cannot be by my works. Not even now as
a preacher. I tell you all the time, if God
were to judge me based upon my best today, I would enter condemnation. But see, God doesn't judge me
based upon my best. He judges me in Christ. It's
all about Christ. I have Christ's righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. Romans 4, 6, the blessedness
of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works.
Paul said, oh, that I may know him and be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, that's works,
but that which is through the faith of, the faithfulness of
Christ. That's the righteousness of God
revealed in the gospel. And so here's what Paul's saying
here. He said, you judge me according to that message, according to
God's word. How do I judge righteous judgment?
By God's word. It's God's judgment. If a person claims to be a preacher
of the gospel and preaches a false gospel, what does God's judgment
say? Galatians chapter one. Verse
six, if the we or an angel from heaven preach any of the gospel
than that which we have preached, let him be anathema. False gospels
are deadly. And there's no Christian love
that tells us to put up with that. That's so. So Paul says, let
a man so account of us. How are you gonna judge us? As
of the ministers of Christ. You know what a minister is?
It's a servant. In fact, right here, this word
minister here is not usually a word that Paul uses to call
himself a minister. It's a different word. And if
you can picture it like this, you remember, if you've ever
seen any of these old movies about ancient Rome and places
like it, where they had these ships with all these oarsmen
going back and forth. Well, some of those ships had
two tiers. upper oarsman and then lower oarsman. You never
saw the lower oarsman. That's the word that Paul, he
uses here for minister, an under oarsman. Somebody you can't see,
you don't notice, but by which the ship is empowered. In other
words, it's kind of like what my old pastor used to tell us
in the preacher school. He said, preach Christ and get
out of the way. That's what a minister should
do. I like John the Baptist. He said, I'm not your savior.
I'm not the Christ. I'm just a voice of one crying. I'm pointing the way. I'm the
signpost. Get to Christ. And he says, we're
ministers of Christ. We're servants. We're not CEOs. We're not chairman of the board.
We're not the head of the church. We're not lords over you. We're
just servants of God and servants of you. That's what I am. I'm
a servant. And then he says, stewards of
the mysteries of God. A steward is somebody who's put
in charge of what someone else owns. In other words, Paul's
saying, listen, I'm not the origin of truth. I often have other
preachers, they'll read something in our bulletin that was written
by me, and they say, would it be okay with you if I print that?
And I say, well, if it's truth, you don't need my permission,
because it's not original with me. If it's original, you know
what it is? It's a lie. Because no truth is original
in God's word. So I said, do what you want with
it. We're stewards of the, you're
stewards of God's grace. We're all stewards of God's grace.
We're entrusted with something that we didn't originate, we
didn't create, we didn't buy it. It was freely given us of
God in Christ. So now there's the starting point.
And he says in verse two, look at, moreover, it is required
in Stewart's that a man be found faithful. Required that a man be found
faithful. Now faithfulness, what does that mean? That means setting
your eyes, your heart, your mind on Christ and staying there. Hebrews 12, two, how do we run
the race of grace? By trying to work our way into
God's favor? No, that's not grace, that's
legalism, that's work. Should we try to be the best
that we can be? Oh yes, but not in order to attain or maintain
salvation. Salvation's a free gift. So how
do we run the race of grace? Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the what? finisher of our faith. He began
it, he'll finish it. God, which began the good work
in you, Philippians 1.6, will perfect it, he'll complete it
to the end. We are his workmanship, Ephesians
2.10, created in Christ Jesus, which God, unto good works, not
because of good works, but unto good works, that's the fruit,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
All of grace. So what about this faithfulness?
Well, Galatians 5 tells us that faithfulness is part of the fruit
of the Spirit. And what it is, this faithfulness
is not the cause of our salvation. It's the fruit. It's the evidence. And it's the work of God. Because
I know this. If it weren't for the grace and
the power of God, I would have quit a long time ago. I would
have given up. You say, well, you're not much
of a preacher. Well, think what you want to
think. I'm telling you, we've been through
some hard times. And we got some hard times to
go. Talked about Elijah handing the mantle of being a prophet
over to Elisha. And Elijah looked at Elisha and
he said, what would you have me give you, Elisha? He said,
I need a double portion of the spirit that you have. Because
I've seen what you've gone through. And I know if I don't have a
double portion, I won't make it. What do we need? We need the grace of God. It's
only the grace and the power and the goodness of God that
saves us and keeps us and keeps us going. That's what Paul's
saying here. So when you elevate a man, what
are you doing? You're not looking at it right.
That's why he says later on, he says, not to think more highly
than we should. Yes, I love the man who preached
the gospel to me. I love men who preach the gospel.
I've got fellow pastors who preach, I love them. And I thank God
for them. But they're not my salvation. They're not whom I follow, I
follow Christ. And they'll tell you the same
thing I'm telling you. They'll point you to Christ. They'll
say like John the Baptist. How many times have I told you,
you think about John the Baptist. If he were here today and he
was gonna hold a meeting in the city, what do you think most
people would do? They put his credentials up.
The last of the Old Testament prophets. He himself was prophesied
in the book of Malachi and Zechariah. And he baptized the Lord Jesus. But John would say none of those
things about himself. John would say this, he would
say, I'm not even worthy to untie the master's shoes. I'm not even
worthy to do that. John would say, Christ must increase,
I must decrease. John chapter three. Look at verse
three here of chapter four. He says, but with me, it's a
very small thing that I should be judged of you. Paul says,
it's very little thing that you judge me. Is Paul saying, well,
I don't care what you think of me? No, here's his, he qualifies
it. Look at it, verse three, but
with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you
or of man's judgment. In other words, what he's saying
is man's judgment of me really doesn't matter in the end. And he said, I judge not mine
own self, even my judgment of me. is not the issue here. Think about that. I read over
in 1 John chapter five, and there's a verse there that says, if our
hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts. You know, sometimes we get down
in the dumps, we get is what old Bunyan called the slew of
despond. You ever been there? A lot of times. And you get to
feeling bad about yourself and you think, oh man, I'm such a
pitiful creature. I'm just such a sinner. And my heart begins to condemn
me, the conscience. Oh, I can't be saved. But you
know what? God is greater than our hearts.
And look at what Paul says here, verse four. He says, I know nothing
by myself. Now some translations, and I
believe it's probably pretty closer to the truth. It says,
Paul says, I know nothing against myself. I know nothing against myself.
Well, let me tell you something. What's Paul talking about here?
Now this is the same man. He says, I know nothing against
myself. I can not bring any charges against me. What's he talking
about? He's not talking about his whole
life here. He's talking about his ministry,
being the preacher. One time Paul said, I'm clean
of the deaths of all men. In other words, I've been faithful
to preach the gospel. It's by the power of God, he
said, not by my own power or goodness. Listen, who's sufficient
for these things? for our sufficiency is of God. He says, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. But the same man said one time,
he said, this is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came to save sinners of whom I am chief. Paul said
he was the chief of sinners. In Romans 7, he said, I'm the
wretched man. I can't do what I want. I want
to be like Christ, but I fall short. But here he says, I know
nothing against myself. Now again, he's not talking about
his whole life. We're all sinners. We're either
sinners lost in our sins or sinners saved by grace. And Paul says here in verse four,
he says, yet am I not hereby justified. Now what he's saying
there is this. As far as the ministry goes,
I've been faithful by the power of God and the grace of God to
preach the gospel to you. I know nothing against myself,
but that's not That doesn't vindicate me. Well, how can I be vindicated?
Look at the last line of verse four. But he that judges me is
of the Lord, is the Lord. God's judgment. Now, when it comes to sin, as
I said, we are all sinners. Either sinners lost in our sins
or sinners saved by grace. We sing that hymn, only a sinner
saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace.
This is my story to God be the glory. I had a lady years ago said,
well, I'm not gonna go listen to that preacher talking about
me. He said, he says he's a sinner too. What is the ministry? It's just
one beggar telling other beggars where we can find food. One sinner
telling other sinners how we can be forgiven by the blood
of Christ. When I think about my sins, my
heart and my mind immediately goes to God's judgment. And I quoted this earlier, Romans
8, 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? I stand before God justified. Now, what does it mean to be
justified? It means to be forgiven of all my sins on a just ground. And what is the only just ground
of forgiveness? The blood of Jesus Christ. I
plead his blood. I'm like Abel. I bring the lamb,
the lamb of God. And that's only by the grace
of God that I do that. To be justified is to be declared
righteous in God's sight on a just ground. And what is the only
just ground? Blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth
righteousness without works, that's Christ's righteousness,
charged to me. For God made him sin, Christ,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. But Paul here is talking about the ministry, that
he'd been faithful to preach the gospel. And he says, basically,
God is my judge. He says in verse five, he says,
therefore judge nothing before the time. Some translations say
before the day, and that's okay. He's talking about the day of
judgment. until the Lord comes, second coming of Christ, who
both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. And then shall
every man have praise of God." In other words, the assurance
of salvation is what he's talking about there. It's not saying
God will praise us. Like he said, boy, boy, I know
he'll say, well done thou good and faithful servant, but it's
not like God's worshiping us. We'll praise him. but we'll have
the assurance of salvation. Now understand the context here. Paul's not talking about false
preachers and false believers. If a man or a woman believes
a false gospel, what is God's judgment upon them? They're lost
and they need salvation. They need to hear the truth.
They don't need anybody to come along and soothe over their consciences.
Say, well, I know you don't believe the true gospel, but you're okay.
That's what people do today, and they call that love, and
it's wrong. And anybody who'd tell them the truth, they say,
well, you're just mean. I'll never forget going home
one time from hearing a true gospel pastor preach the true
gospel when I was an unbeliever, and I told my mother, who was
a believer at the time, I said, Mom, I said, if what he said
is true this morning, then I'm lost. And you know what she said
to me? She said, well, you are lost.
She said, that's the gospel. Now, my mother didn't tell me
that because she was mean. She told me that because she
loved me. And she wanted me to hear the truth. She wanted me
to cling to Christ. But here Paul's talking about
true gospel preachers. And how are we to judge any preacher?
We're to judge them by God's judgment in the word. Isaiah
said it in Isaiah 8 20, to the law and to the testimony, if
they speak not according to this word, there's no light in them. Paul said it in Galatians chapter
one, I quoted it earlier. Though we are an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached,
let him be anathema. We judge by God's word. And that's the only judgment
we have. And he says, I'll conclude this message with verse seven.
He says, in verse six, he says, these things, brethren, I have
in a figure transferred to myself an Apollos for your sake. In
other words, he's using Apollos and himself as an illustration
of these truths. That's what he's saying. That
you might learn in us not to think of men above that which
is written. Now, what's written? The word of God. And he says
that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos,
that's being puffed up, that's pride, human pride. But look
at verse seven, he asks three questions, this will conclude
it now. For who maketh thee to differ from one another? Who
makes the difference between saved and lost? Between gifts
of the spirit and talents? God does. You don't. I don't. God makes us to differ. He's
the sovereign of the universe. He said, I'll have mercy upon
whom I'll have mercy. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. So then it's not of him that runneth, nor of him
that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy. God's the source of salvation. His sovereign electing love and
grace is the difference. He chose his people before the
foundation of the world and gave them to Christ, sent Christ into
the world as their surety, their substitute and redeemer to ensure
their salvation, and sends his spirit into the world to mark
them out under the preaching of the gospel and bring them
to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works and idolatry and
sin. So who makes you to differ? And then the second question,
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? What do we have
as far as a right relationship with God? As far as salvation
and eternal blessings, what do we have that we did not receive
freely? Unconditionally and without a
call. Remember over in 1st Corinthians 2.12, he said, we've not received
the spirit of the world, but we've received the spirit of
God that we might know the things that are freely given. Now, what have I been freely
given in salvation? Everything, every blessing. Ephesians
1.3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. All my salvation has been freely
given to me. None of it was conditioned on
me. And what I do and don't do and what I pray, that's all the
fruit and the evidence of the source of grace in Christ. So he asked, what do you have
that you do? Any gifts that I have to preach? God didn't look down
and say, well now look at that Bill Parker, he's a pretty good
guy. I think I'll reward him with
the gift of preaching. No, didn't do it that way. It's all freely given. I use this illustration all the
time with you. Take the next breath, breathe
in. That's a free gift from God, did you know that? You didn't
earn it. You didn't deserve it. God gave
it. And then here's the last question.
Why dost thou glory, boast, as if thou hast not received it?
Who makes us to differ? What do we have that we didn't
receive? Then why are we bragging and
boasting as if we didn't receive it freely? Why are we acting
like we earned it or deserved it when we don't? That's God's
judgment. And our only hope of salvation
and eternal glory is to be judged by God right now in Christ. Isn't that right? Washed in his
blood, clothed in his righteousness, imputed to us and received by
God-given faith. All right.