Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. My lesson this morning is
what Paul states in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians 4 about ministers
of Christ. Just find the text and just hold
your place there for a minute and let me talk to you. What have we learned so far in
these first three chapters? concerning the preaching of the
gospel. What has Paul told us? That's been his subject since
his opening address is the preaching of the gospel. He's teaching
these people something about the preeminence of gospel preaching
in a church. And he takes his time, and he
goes point by point by point. Well, in chapter 1, he taught
us that gospel preaching is the will of God in the recovery of
His elect. His elect fell in Adam. They scattered abroad. They scattered,
Peter wrote his letter, those scattered there all over the
place. His elect, out of every kindred,
tribe, nation, and people under heaven. They are everywhere.
They are all out there somewhere. God's elect. Well, in the recovery
of God's elect, in the calling out of God's elect, it is the
will of God to use gospel preaching in the recovery of his people.
Now listen to this, 1 Corinthians 1.21. This is the Word of God.
For after that in the wisdom of God, God who made all things,
God who knows all things, God who created the world, who created
man in his own image, who overlooked in the garden as man fell and
as Satan was cast out into the earth. We're talking about God.
After that, in the wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. This is the will of
God in the recovery of His saints. That's what Paul's telling you.
When he says it pleased God, pleasure, when he's talking about
God's pleasure, he's not talking about an emotion in God that
he was just happy. He's talking about the very will
of God. God hath done whatsoever He pleased
in heaven, earth, hell, and all deep places. God does according
to His own will. And so when he talks to us about
it pleased God, he's talking about the very purpose and will
of God. in the recovery of his people.
And he said it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And then secondly, he teaches
us that gospel preaching sets the crucified Christ before their
hearers as their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This is the Christ. This is the
focal point. This is what the gospel's all
about. The gospel is a person. And it's
all about Him. It's about when He received all
His eternal appointments, when He accomplished the will of God,
where He's at right now in glory, reigning, seated at the right
hand of God. The gospel's all about Christ.
All about Christ. And so when we preach the gospel,
we set before our hearers the crucified Christ and we tell
them what that means. What does His appointments have
to do with me? What does His death and His life
have to do with me? What does His accomplishments
have to do with me? What does His present reign in
glory and over providence and over the world? What does all
those things have to do with me? That's what gospel preaching
is about. And then thirdly, gospel preaching
is in conjunction with the effects of working of the Holy Ghost. Preaching would be of little
consequence were it not accompanied by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Now just think about what this thing of salvation is. We're
talking about being born again. We're talking about a new nature
being imparted to you. We're talking about men who are
blind seeing, men who are dead living, men who are crippled
walking. We're talking about things beyond
our ability to accomplish, talking about things that beyond my ability
to preach and beyond your ability to believe. Preaching would be
worthless, it'd be useless apart from the presence and power of
the Holy Ghost. Preachings in conjunction with
the Spirit of God. Listen to 1 Corinthians 2.4.
Now, we're recapping on what we've already learned in these
lessons. 1 Corinthians 2.4. He said, my
speech as a preacher, as an apostle, my speech and my preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and the power, the Holy Ghost. accompanied what
I preach to you. That's what Paul told his people.
And if it don't, it's of little consequence. It just goes in
one ear and out the other, if it even goes in one ear. Sometimes
it just goes out and falls on the ground. To have the faith
of God's elect is life from the dead, light out of darkness,
obedience out of rebellion, love out of hatred. It's a new creation. It's a revelation. And no man
can save a sinner through clever words and fancy speeches or even
by his affection and concern for those that he preaches to. Some men have no content in their
preaching at all, but they try to use their emotions. They try
to use their affections. They try to use their concern
for men and women to get them to do something for the Lord. God the Holy Spirit attends gospel
preaching, and He makes their message effectual. And those
who set themselves in opposition to the ways and means which God
has ordained cannot be saved. Can you give me something in
the Scripture to nail that down? I think I can. Listen to the
Word of God, I Corinthians 2.14. He already told us what the saved
man, the man who heard the gospel, the man in whom the Holy Spirit
was effectual, he heard. His eyes seen. He has been revealed
things, even the deep things of God. Now Paul said, but the
natural man, that man left to his own reasoning, left to work
things out in his own ignorance, left to draw from his depraved
heart and mind, the natural man, receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God." Why wouldn't he receive these things? Because
they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, for
they are spiritually discerned. If you ignore the means and the
message and the messenger that God has set in place to minister
to your soul, you just set yourself beyond. You set yourself outside
the will of God. You said, I'm not like every
other man. I'm not disabled like they are. I can work this thing
out myself. You can't be saved because you
counted those things, the very things that God put in place
through the Holy Spirit of God. You set those things aside. And
you say, I'm going to do it this way. I'm going to do it this
way. And what did Paul tell us here? He receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him." Now
listen, neither can he know them. He can't know. How are you going
to know? How are you going to figure it out? The things that
even the princes of this world couldn't figure out, else they
wouldn't have crucified the Lord of Glory. How are you going to
figure it out? You're not. You're not. It has to be revealed.
These things are spiritually understood. And then fourthly,
Paul tells us that we're fellow laborers with God. Every man
who labors together with God is called to the work. He's called
to the work. How do I know who's a true pastor
and who ain't? That pastor who's a true pastor
has been called to the work. Paul said, He put me in a ministry. He called me by His grace. These
men are called. They're called of God. He receives
His instruction from God and He labors in God's field. You
can't find a single person that our Lord said anything at all
about as far as His blessing being on Him toward the ministry
of the Word except those He called to the work. He even numbers
them. These 70. Isn't that what he
said? These 70. These men. Not 770. This 70 here. And he sent them out into the
field. And all the pictures that he gives us of it is just that
way. And then fifthly, gospel preaching
is God's gift to His church. Our Lord prepared a fine meal
for His disciples who had deserted Him. And as they seen him and
recognized him and came to shore, he said, come and dine. Come
and dine. And then he taught them how to
feed his sheep and to feed his lambs. It's God's loving gift
to chosen sinners. But to those who will not have
it, he tells his preachers, he that despiseth you despiseth
me. Now then, 1 Corinthians chapter
4, verse 1. Paul said, let a man so account
of us as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. Do you know what God calls His
holy angels? These are they. They attended His birth. They
attended His ascension back into glory. They were with Him. Who
knows how long? I don't know how old the angels
are. But they were with Him all the way back to when He spoke
of that eternal covenant of grace because that's what Satan rebelled
against and that's what caused him to be cast out of glory.
The angels are old. I don't know how far back in
eternity they go. But they're old. They've been
around forever. The angels. The angels of God. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 said,
Are they not all ministering spirits? They're ministers. That's
what these angels are. They're ministers. Ministering
spirits. sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation." In Matthew chapter 18 and verse
10, our Lord said, take heed that you despise not one of these
little ones. Talking about His sheep, His
elect, His children. You take heed, He said, don't
you despise one of these little ones. For I say unto you that
in heaven, their angels, those appointed to them, who shall
be heirs of salvation. Their angels do always behold
the face of my Father. And if my Father does this, they're
gone. They're gone in a shot. Satan, when he tempted our Lord,
he said, is it not written, he's given his angels charge over
you, lest you stub your foot and fall. and ministering to
those who shall be heirs of salvation." Their whole being and purpose
is to minister to those. And it was the angel of the Lord
who shut the lion's mouth for Daniel. You remember old King
come in the next morning, he said, old Daniel, he said, are
you still there? He said, I'm still here. I'm
still here. You know why he's still there?
Because the angel came down and shut the lion's mouth. It was
angels that led Lot out of Sodom, wasn't it? Led him out. It was the angel of the Lord
who gave the good news of Christ's birth to the shepherds. And the
angel that warned Joseph to flee into Egypt. And you can go on
and on and on with the angels that appeared. Appeared to Abraham. Abraham slayed I can't remember
if it was a lamb or a bullock, but he slayed an animal and fed
them and wouldn't let them leave. And he said, you be careful how
you entertain angels, strangers, because some have entertained
angels unaware. Now, is there anybody here today
who would despise the ministry of God's angels? If God were
to send an angel down and minister to you, Would you despise Him? Well, you know what God calls
His ministers? Angels. Huh? His angels. That's what He tells
you over there in Revelations in His opening address. He tells
you that these stars, they're the angels of the churches, pastors
over the seven churches in Asia. Why? Because their whole being
is purpose to minister to God's elect. That's what they're sent
for. This is God's gift to His church.
Their office and calling is to minister to God's chosen sheep. Now, he said, let a man so account
of us as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. Preachers are not babysitters. That's how they're thought of
today. They're babysitters. They have to look out here and
anybody starts not living up to their expectations, they've
got to run out there and say, now listen, now listen. They're
not babysitters. They're not counselors. They're
not entertainers. And they're not social workers.
Preachers are stewards of the mysteries of God. Stewards. Here's what I'm entrusting in
your hands. I'm taking mysteries that this
world has never heard, never understood, things that princes
and kings and counselors and preachers and priests have never
understood. And I'm giving them into your
hands. And I'm making you a steward of these mysteries. Now you go
and you take these mysteries and you open them up out of my
treasure house. You take that treasure and you
show it to my people. Stewards of the mysteries of
God. What mysteries? Everybody believes
in God, don't they? Everybody believes in Jesus Christ,
don't they? I can't find anybody that don't
believe in Jesus Christ. Everybody believes in heaven,
don't they? Not in light of these mysteries when they are unfolded,
they don't. You start to open these mysteries and go, oh, now
wait a minute, my God wouldn't do like that. Well, your God
and my God are two different gods. Not in light of these mysteries
when they are opened. What mysteries? Well, the mystery
of iniquity. Did you know iniquity is a mystery? It's a mystery in the Word of
God. Nobody that I ever talked to would dare to deny that they
were guilty to some degree of some sin. Some sin. They stole something, had a bad
thought, whatever. They're going to own up to a
sin. A sin. But none that I've ever
talked to, except for believers, would dare to confess that they're
sinners by nature. They're not going to confess
that. You mean my whole nature is evil? It's a mystery, isn't
it? I don't know about that. I ain't
always done the right thing. Helpless, hopeless, doomed. Doomed, full of sin, can't do
right. Can't do right. Even when you
know to do right. Paul said, I know to do right,
but I can't do it. I can't do it. Helpless, hopeless,
doomed, and damned sinners. Sinners as pictured in those
who came to Christ. Blind, paralyzed, lepers, unclean,
demon-possessed. See if you can get somebody on
up to that. Yeah, you ain't going to find many. Sinners are described
in the Word of God. It says, every imagination of
the thought to their heart is only evil continually. Can't
have a pure thought. Can't do it. Can't have one when
I'm in here to worship. Can't have a pure thought. Everything
in the world enters in. Even right now while I'm trying
to preach to you. That's why Paul, an apostle,
a holy apostle, that's what they're called in the Scriptures, and
they were holy in Christ. That's why he cried, O wretched
man that I am. He knew what was on the inside. Altogether unclean. That's how
Isaiah, he said, we're altogether unclean. You want some interesting
reading sometime, read Isaiah chapter 5. Isaiah, that prophet,
that holy prophet of God, he woe'd everything, drunkards and
you name it. He woe'd this and woe'd, I think,
five times or six times. He woe'd this and woe'd that
all the way through there. And then when Uzziah the king
died, You know how he died. He decided to take that sacrifice
and go beyond that veil. He was going to take that incense
and go beyond the veil. He was going to do what none
but the high priest could do. And God smote him with leprosy,
spent the rest of his days outside the camp. Isaiah loved that man,
wrote everything he did down in a book, it says. He just almost
worshipped King Uzziah. And God killed him with leprosy. And he said, when King Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord. And then I said, woe is me. Woe
is me. You see the difference? One who
drinks iniquity, Job said, like water. I'm telling you, this
iniquity. Now, I've sinned, but I'm not
wicked. Oh, yes, you are. Oh, yes, you
are. I don't go to church, but I don't
hate God. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. This is a great mystery. These
things have to be revealed. They have to be opened and declared. And then in the power of God's
Spirit, He has to open your heart and make you taste of what you
are. That's a mystery, the mystery
of iniquity. And secondly, godliness. That's
God-likeness. We don't have a clue who God
is. We don't have a clue. God's invisible. You don't see
what he's doing, you just see the effects of it. We've never
seen God. No man's ever seen God at any
time. That's what the Scripture says.
None but the Son. Godliness is not how long you
wear your dresses. It's not keeping your hair up
in a little bun. That's not godliness. Godliness
is God-likeness. Listen to what the Scripture
said, without controversy, great is the mystery of God-likeness. Are you listening? God was manifest
in the flesh. Where? In the man, Christ Jesus. That's God. He's man, but He's
God. How do I know what God will do?
I need to study that man right there. Everything you are ever
going to learn about God, you are going to learn in Him. You
look at Him. You examine Him. You see what
He did. You see the type of life He lived. You see the walk He walked. This
is God manifest in the flesh. He is God our Savior. And everything
we know about God, we learn in Jesus Christ. He said in Matthew
11, 27, all things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man
the Father save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal it. And John said, we know. We know
that Jesus Christ has come and given us an understanding that
we might know Him that's true. We don't have no understanding
of God outside Christ. And I know God will punish sin,
because He punished His Son. It was the Father's business He
was always about. It was His Father's purpose and
will which sent Him. He said, as the Father raises
up the dead, even so I, the Son, raise up the dead and quicken
whom I will. And He said this, and the Jews
were ready to stone Him. He said, I and the Father are
one. Boy, they got upset about that. His name, listen to this, His
name shall be called Wonderful Counselor. What? The Mighty God. The Everlasting Father. You want
to know the Father? Show us the Father, Philip said,
and it will suffice us. Jesus said unto him, have I been
so long time with you? Have you not known me? Godliness. This is a mystery.
It's a mystery. Where is it declared? It's declared
in that man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Did Jesus Christ forgive sinners? So does the Father. So does the
Father. Did He put His arm around this
old wicked sinner, old Peter? Did He put His arm around him
and pull him up to his breast? It's hard for us to imagine God
the Father doing that, isn't He? Huh? He did it in His Son? He raised us up with Him, seated
us with Him in the heavenlies. And then, thirdly, the mystery
of our resurrection. Paul said, I'll show you a great
mystery. We're not all going to sleep.
But I'm telling you this, we're all going to be changed. In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, where
the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ shall be raised
incorruptible, and we're going to be changed. I'm not going
to appear in heaven in this sinful mass of flesh. That's going back
to the dust from which it was taken. But we'll have new body,
a new body. And we'll be like unto the Son
of Man. When this mortal shall have put on immortality, and
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then shall the
Scripture be brought to pass. Death is swallowed up in victory. And I'll tell you this. We like
to consider, or religion does, likes to consider themselves
as fruit inspectors. It used to be a saying we had
in religion. No, I'm not a judge. I'm just
a fruit inspector. Let me tell you something. John
said, it doth not yet appear what I shall be. There ain't
no way you can look at me and tell what I'm going to be by
Him. No way. You can't take the highest
point and quality that I've ever exhibited on this earth and tell
what I'm going to be in that day. No way. It doth not yet
appear what we shall be, he said. Oh, my. But he said, I know this. When He shall appear, I'm going
to see Him like He is, and I'll be just like Him. Oh, my soul. And then there's the mystery
of the Gentiles. Paul said he was given a stewardship
of the grace of God to a people to whom these things were never
made known until this gospel age. Ephesians 3, 4, whereby
when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of
the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the
gospel. O my soul, wherefore I have made
a minister. according to the gift of the
grace of God given unto me by the effects of working of his
power." He's not a Jew which is one outwardly. That's not
the Jew. The true Jew is one who is a
Jew inwardly. And that circumcision is not
outward in the flesh, it's in the heart. And then in Ephesians 1.9, he
speaks of the mystery of God's will. And I'll quit here. Having
made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to the
good pleasure which He purposed in Himself. He let us know the
mystery of His will. Everybody's running around trying
to determine the will of God. God's people know what it is.
They know what the will of God is. He's not talking about His
will toward a lot of things. What He's talking about here
is His redemptive will. That's what He's talking about.
His redemptive will. What did Christ come to do? Tell
me why He came. That's God's redemptive will.
He lets His people know that. They're not over here wrestling
around about this, that, and the other. They know why He came.
He came to save His elect. That's why He came. He lived
for them. He was appointed for them from
all eternity. They're not confused over those
issues anymore. They understand the will of God. And they know that that will
can be summed up in that day when it looks down at Christ
and sees all things gathered together in Him.