I would like to read the fifth
verse of 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Paul says, Therefore, judge nothing
before the time. And he's talking about judgment
day, the time, the time when all men will stand before God.
Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, 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." Now, can you even imagine God praising
you." Now, isn't that a remarkable
statement? Then shall every man have praise of God. Now, this is not the only time
this is mentioned. Look over in Romans chapter 2, verse 28. For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision
is that of the heart in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose
praise is not of men. Men are not praising this individual,
but God is. Our Lord said in John chapter
5 verse 44, how can you believe which receive honor one from
another and seek not that honor which cometh from God only? Now, what led to this statement,
then shall have every man have praise of God, because that's
what he says, and that's just a remarkable, remarkable statement. And I guarantee you there's not
one person in here that thinks you deserve praise of God. in
any way, not one of you. But do you know that if you're
a believer, you will actually have God praising you. May the Lord teach us what that
means. Now, in verse one of this chapter,
let a man so account of us, we've been in these first two verses
for the last three weeks, let a man so account of us as of
ministers of Christ and as stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover,
it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. Now,
the fact that the requirement of a steward is to be faithful
tells us that there is somebody that he must be faithful to.
There is somebody that he must be accountable to. The steward
of the mysteries of God is called upon to be faithful to God. To be very careful. To say what
God sent him to say, to preach these mysteries. If he's faithful,
he's successful. And if he's not faithful, he's
not successful. You see, results really don't
even count. Just is he faithful? Now, therefore, Paul says, since
I'm required to be faithful as a steward to God, and you're
required to be faithful as a steward before God also, he says in verse
three. But with me, it is a very small
thing, inconsequential that I should be judged of you or of man's
judgment. Now, Paul says to the Corinthians,
your judgments of me. Are. Inconsequential to me. They're
meaningless. They really don't bother me. Let's say you do have a critical
attitude toward me. Paul says, if you find fault
with me, if the Lord doesn't, it doesn't bother me that you
do. Now, that's what he's saying.
It's a very small thing for me to be judged of you because the
one I answer to is the Lord. If I'm faithful to him, But you
judge me differently. This is a very small thing. I
don't answer to you. I answer to him. That's what
Paul is saying to the Corinthians who were judging him, who were
criticizing him. He's defending himself throughout
these two epistles. But he says to them, just because
you criticize me, just because you have a hard time with me,
understand this. That's a very small thing to
me. I don't answer to you. I answer
to him. Now, this is a true story. There
was a fella in a Major League Baseball game. He was up to bat
and the pitcher throws the ball, called third strike. Game is over. He drops his bat
in total disgust. He said, everybody in this stadium
can see that that pitch was a ball. And the empire looked at him
and said, unfortunately for you, mine is the only opinion that
counts. Now, the only opinion that counts
regarding me or regarding you is what the Lord thinks. He's the one we answer to. Now, can you see why Paul said
it's a very small thing for me to be judged of you now, although
I love you dearly. And I would be lying if I said,
I don't want you to be or I want you to I want you to be pleased
with me. I want you to approve of me. I'd be lying if I said
that was didn't mean anything to me. But compared to what the
Lord thinks of me. It's a very small thing, what
you think, and let me turn the tables to, you know, it's a really
a very small thing about what I think about you. It doesn't
really make any difference. You know, I've had people say
to me, they say, do you think I'm saved? What difference does it make
what I think? Let's say I think you are. It doesn't mean you
are. Let's say I think you're not. That doesn't mean you're
not. My opinion really is inconsequential. Your opinion is inconsequential. He says it's a very small thing. For me to be judged of you, truly,
there's only one opinion that counts. Turn back to Romans 14,
just a few pages back. Verse four. And when we're judging one another,
I think of what Paul says, Who are you to judge another man's
servant? To his own master he stands or
falls. Now, what Paul's basically saying
is You stand before your own master. It's really not my business
to enter into trying to judge you because you don't answer
to me. And I don't answer to you, we answer to the Lord. Now,
that's the thing he's talking about, this accountability to
the Lord. And he says it's a small thing
for me to be judged of you or any man for that matter. Let's
go on reading verse three. But with me, it's a very small
thing that I should be judged of you or of any man's judgment.
Yay. I judge not my own self. I'm not going to let any man
judge me. I don't even judge myself. Now,
you see, no man is able to render an accurate judgment because
nobody can see the heart. And Paul's saying, I'm including
myself in man's judgment. I don't even try to judge myself.
I don't judge myself because I realize I am incapable of giving
an unbiased opinion concerning me. I am. I'm always going to make things...
I'm going to be a lot harder on you than I am myself every
time. That's the way it always is. I'm incapable of rendering
an unbiased opinion. And if Paul says, I'm not even
going to try to judge myself, I myself am disqualified. You
see, no man can look on the heart. No man can see the whole picture.
Therefore, we are unqualified to judge. He says in verse 4,
1 Corinthians 4, for I know nothing by myself. I know nothing against
myself. I'm not aware, he says, of any
breach of faithfulness. I'm not aware of not being a
faithful steward of the mystery of God. I'm not aware of a particular
breach. He said, but you know, just because
I'm not aware of it doesn't mean there's not one. Paul's saying basically, I just
don't trust myself. I can't make a judgment about
myself. I think I'm being faithful, but that doesn't mean I am. Maybe
I'm not. See, the fact of the matter is. You and I cannot really
even see in our own hearts. My motive's pure here. Well,
I hope it is. I hope it is. But I am not competent to make
a judgment regarding myself. I still have this deceptive,
sinful nature that will fool me. And just because I'm not
aware of any breach in faithfulness as a steward doesn't mean there's
not a breach. The only one who truly knows
is the Lord. He's the only one capable of
knowing you. He's the only one capable of
knowing me. He says, I'm not even going to
try to judge myself. So he says in verse five, therefore. Judge
nothing. Before the time. Before judgment
day, don't render a judgment regarding somebody, don't do
that before the time. Now, only on Judgment Day will
the true facts be brought out, the hidden things that we can't
see. Let's go on reading verse 5. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time until the Lord come, who both at that time, and I
love to think about this, He will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, the things that you and I can't see. It's
all going to be seen then. And He's going to make manifest
the counsels, the motives of the heart. It's all going to
be open at that time. But right now, it's not. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time, that time when God is going to make known the secrets
of men, Paul said in Romans 2, 16, according to my gospel. Everything is going to be seen
at that time. I need to, I need, when I read that passage of scripture,
when he says judge nothing before the time, We've got to bring
this out also. That's not an unqualified statement. That's not an unqualified statement.
There are times when we must judge, and let me show you in
the next chapter where he tells us to make a judgment. Look here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9. I wrote unto you in an epistle
not to company with fornicators. 1 Corinthians 5 and 9, yet not
all together with the fornicators of this world. I'm not saying
you can't talk to somebody in the world like this or with the
covetous sort of extortions or with idolaters, but then you
need to go out of the world. What he's saying is, I'm telling
you, don't make your companions, these people. He's saying, I'm
not saying don't speak to these people, but if that's the case,
because if that's the case, you've got to leave the world. So go on
reading. But now I've written unto you
not to keep company with any man that's called a brother.
He professes to be a believer. He professes to love Christ.
If he'd be a fornicator or a covetous or an idolater or a railer or
a drunkard or an extortioner, with such a one, no, not to eat,
don't have social relations with that man. Now, I'm called upon
to make a judgment right there, aren't I? He said, with such
a one, don't eat, don't have social relations with that person.
For what have I to do to judge them without? I'm not going to
try that with an unbeliever. Do not ye judge. Them that are
within, he's talking about in the church, but them that are
without, God judges, therefore put away from yourselves that
wicked person. Now there a judgment is called
upon to be made, isn't it, regarding this individual. I couldn't help
but to think of Titus chapter 3, verse 10, where it says a
man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition
rejects. I'm called upon to make a judgment.
See, in this sense, I'm called upon to judge by what I see.
If somebody denies the gospel, if they don't preach the gospel,
I better judge them. That doesn't mean I can condemn
them, I realize that, but I'd better make a judgment because
I'm not going to hear them. I'm not going to associate with them.
I'm not going to identify with them. If someone obviously is
living, as he said here, I'm to make a judgment concerning
that person, not a moral superior look down your nose at that person.
I'm not saying that at all. But I am saying in my own heart,
I'm to say I'm not going to be a companion to that person. I'm
going to withdraw myself from them. I'm called on to make a
judgment. You know, the Lord said, judge
not according to appearance. But judge righteous judgment,
didn't the Lord say that? John, chapter seven, verse twenty
four, judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous
judgment. Sometimes it's nothing more than
cowardice. and lack of faithfulness that
causes somebody to say, judge not. Nothing more than cowardice.
And lack of faithfulness. They misapply that verse of scripture.
Simply to save themselves the trouble and discomfort of having
to make a judgment. Now, I want to judge righteous
judgment. I don't want to abuse that verse
of scripture where the Lord says judge not and. And use it in
the wrong way, but now I needed to bring that out first. Now,
let's go back to what he says. Remember, it was a qualified
statement, but he says judge now in light of that, judge nothing. Judge absolutely nothing before
the time. And what this is talking about
is judging people's motives. Looking down on them. The problem
is you and I can't see into somebody's heart. And if they say they believe
the gospel, I'm to receive them on faith on the face of that. If they say they believe the
gospel, I can't see into their heart. I can't see what they really
think about God. I can't see, therefore, I'm to
judge nothing before the time. You don't know what that person
is going through. If they're doing something that you don't
altogether agree with. Stand back. You don't need to
make a judgment about them. What good would it do if you
do? The fact of the matter is you can't see the heart, you
can't see the motive, you can't see what they're going through,
you can't see why they did what they did. And the day is coming
when it will all be made plain. The things that are not seen
now will be seen then, and the motives that we cannot possibly
see now will be made manifest then. At that time, it says,
then will every man have praise of God. Every man, you know,
every believer, and this is so hard to get hold of, but it's
so. Every believer in some way, I
don't know what all this means, But on judgment day, every believer
is going to have praise of God himself. He will say to his people,
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You have been faithful
in those very little things, and I'm going to make you ruler
over many. Enter thou into the joy of the
Lord. Now, judge nothing before the
time. I was talking to a man recently, and we were having
somewhat of a, I guess you'd call it a disagreement. Well,
I wouldn't guess you, we were having disagreements. You know,
it wasn't, no, I guess you'd call it that. I mean, it was
regarding the gospel. And I said to that man, I really
believed, I was holding the right position, and I was seeking the
glory and honor of God. But you know, he thought he was
too, I think. I think he believed just as, he believed He was just
as much as I was. And I said to him, I said, well,
I'm willing to wait until judgment day. We'll find out then. We'll find out then. You know,
on the day of judgment, that day that he calls the time, everything
will be brought to light. Now, I'm willing to wait until
then. And then it'll all be brought
to light. I love the, I think it's an epitaph. Is that what you would call it
on somebody's gravestone epitaph? I love what the epitaph on George
Whitefield, the preacher from the past gravestone. It says,
here lies George Whitefield. What manner of man he was, that
great day will tell. I like that. Here lies Todd Nyberg. Here lies Andy. Here lies Glenn. What you really are, that great
day will tell. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time. Now, what I'd like to do is draw
some things out of this passage of Scripture for us to think
about. Now, the first thing that I'd like for us to think about
is the fact that you and I are not competent judges. You and I, in regard to people's
motives, what's driving them, why they did what they did, you
and I just cannot see the facts. We just don't know. We don't
have the facts. Therefore, we're unconfident
judges. We're completely unable and we're
foolish to try anything like this. Judge nothing before the
time, because you don't know the facts. You're unable to render
an accurate judgment. Therefore, judge nothing before
the time. We can't even judge ourselves.
You know. The great majority of sins that
you committed You don't even know you've committed them. Now, how in the world are you
going to make an accurate judgment about anything? Judge nothing before
the time. Now, you'll notice how Paul said,
here's the second thing I want us to think about. First, we're
not confident judges in what Paul's talking about. So he said,
judge nothing before the time. Having a judgmental attitude
towards somebody. You notice Paul said in this
passage of scripture, it's a small thing for me to be judged of
you or a man's judgment is inconsequential. What he meant by that is I don't
answer to you. I answer to him. You see, the
steward and every believer is a steward, they're responsible
of that which the Lord has entrusted them with. Every steward is responsible
and answers to the Lord. Now, has the gospel you believe
made you accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ? Let me show you what I mean by
that. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Verse nine, he says, Wherefore,
we labor, we we give every effort that whether present or absent,
we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the
things done in his body according to that he had done, whether
it be good or bad. Now, this is a passage of that
verse. If you scare me to death. I mean, it says we're going to
receive the things done in our body. And then your mind starts
thinking about all the things that are done in your body. You
think, am I going to, does that mean I'm going to have to give an account for those
and I'm going to be judged according to what I have done in this body?
Am I going to be rewarded in a higher place in heaven by what
I've done or maybe lose a reward because of what I've not done?
Is that what that passage of scripture teaches? Well, beloved, we know
from the gospel what it does mean, because if I have Christ's
righteousness, I'm justified. That means I'm
not guilty. That means I'm not going to be
ever given account for my sins done in this body, as far as
that goes. Any sin I've committed in this body, I've heard people
say, well, you'll... I remember hearing a preacher
say one time, he said, you'll be judged for the things you've
done in this body, but it won't bother you at that time. And
I thought, man, it'd bother me. It bothered me a whole lot. I
can't even imagine something like that. What he's saying is,
There will be evidence whether you really believe the gospel
or not. There's going to be evidence
by what you have done as to whether or not you truly believed the
gospel. What the Lord say, I know your
works. I know your works. There will
be evidence whether you really believe the gospel or whether
you really didn't. There will be things done in
this body that will prove. Doesn't James say faith without
works is what? Dead. Being low. Now when he says Knowing, therefore,
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. He's obviously not talking
about, boy, if you don't have enough good works, you're going
to experience the terror of God. You're going to be in bad shape.
He's not saying anything like that at all. But he's saying, knowing
the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. He's not talking about a
judgment of believers getting some kind of position in glory.
Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men to look to Christ,
to believe on Christ. That's what he's talking about.
I was going to read, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord,
we persuade men, but we're made manifest unto God, and I trust
are made manifest in your consciences. For we commend not ourselves
again unto you, but give you an occasion of glory on our behalf,
and you may have somewhat to answer those which glory in appearance
and not in heart. For whether we be beside ourselves,
if somebody says they're crazy, making that judgment upon us,
it's to God. Or whether we be sober, it's
for your cause, for The love of Christ constrains us. The love of Jesus Christ the
Lord to me constrains me. It causes me to do things that
I wouldn't do. And it keeps me from doing things
that I would have done. The love of the Lord Jesus Christ
does constrain me. Now, I want you to think about
this. Jesus Christ the Lord became accountable for me. Everything that God requires
of me, He stood for. Now I want you to think about
the reality of that. Everything that the God of glory requires
of you, everything, I can't take that too far, everything that
God requires of you, He looks to His Son for. You stand before
God perfect, justified, complete, holy, accepted, unblameable,
unreprovable, without sin, without spot, without wrinkle, without
any such thing. That's how you stand before God,
because Christ stood accountable for you. He stood in your place. And all that God requires of
you, you've got in the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, it can't get
any better. You can't lose that. You're complete
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You stand perfectly justified. You can't get any more loved.
You can't get any more accepted. You can't get any more saved.
You can't become any more pleasing to God. It can't happen. What's that do to you? Does that make you say, wow,
that means I can go out and rob a bank and don't have to worry
about it because I'm complete in Christ? I can sin all I want
and don't need to worry about it? You know better than that. That doesn't make a believer
respond. It might make a goat respond
that way, but not a believer, not a sheik. It makes me want to never sin
again. It really does. The love of Christ to me constrains
me. This world, in all of its empty
glory, I see as worthless. The love of Christ constrains
me. It causes me to follow Him. Now, if the love of Christ doesn't
constrain you, you don't know the love of Christ. It causes
us to be accountable to Him. We want to honor Him. We're going
to be very careful in our life in every area. Every area. To honor the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of Christ really does constrain us. 1 Corinthians 6,
verse 20 says, You are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify
God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Oh, the constraining love of
Christ. That's His love to me. Now, may
this be written in our hearts. Free grace. Absolute free grace
causes us to say, love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my
life, my all. Now, the next thing I'd like
for us to think about from this passage of Scripture, you know,
Paul talks about the Lord bringing to light the hidden things of
darkness, things that you and I can't see. and making manifest
the counsels of the motives of the heart. Here's the next thing
I'd like us to always remember. And we always need to be reminded
of this. The Lord looks on the heart. Man looks on the outward
appearance. But the Lord looks on the heart. And why you do what you do is
what God looks at. What's your motive? Was it His
glory? You know, this ought to make
us continually cry out, create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me. Now, the last statement I'd like
to make regarding this passage of Scripture is what grace I
see in this statement. Then shall every man have praise
of God. Now, if God praises you, I want
you to just think about this. God praising you. What grace there is in that. Do you deserve the praise of
God? Yet it says, God will praise... You know, every believer, every
single one of them are going to hear Him say, well done, thou good, and faithful servant,
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Every single one of his
people are going to hear that. Now, if you love someone, you
crave their approval. And if you don't care whether
or not somebody approves of you, that means you just don't love
them. Because if you love them, you crave their approval. If
I love you, I want you to approve of me. You know, in a marriage,
if you love your spouse, you want your spouse to be pleased
with you. You crave their approval. And
if there's an indifferent attitude about that, I don't care what
they think. It's because you don't love them. That's the only reason.
If you love somebody, you want them to approve of you. How we long to hear this praise,
where He praises us, not to glorify ourselves, but simply to know
that through Christ, He is actually pleased with us. And we have
done those things that are pleasing in His sight, because I love
Him. I want to hear Him praise me.
You know, if you love somebody and they praise you, you love
it, don't you? It means something to you. You
know, I don't have any. I don't know how many times I've
said this. Maybe I've commended somebody
for something or I've thanked them for something. And they
said, give God the glory. I do. I do. But I want to commit. That's
the way you have to thank people. You ought to commend people in
that sense. And if we love somebody, oh,
we want to hear them commend us. Well done, thou good and
faithful servant. Praise. Of God and you know believers
actually do things that please the Lord. Turn to Hebrews 13
for just a moment. Hebrews 13. Verse 15. By him, therefore, let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually. And I love the way
the Scripture speaks. It doesn't say praise God continually.
It says by him, praise God. Would you even want God to hear
your praise apart from by him? I don't want to say a thing to
the Lord apart from by him, but he said by him. Let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit
of our lips, giving thanks to his name, but to do good and
to communicate or give, forget not, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. Now, we know he's only pleased
through Christ. We realize that. But it still
says with those sacrifices. God is well pleased. Now, you know that if you've
done anything, he's actually pleased with. Do I have to convince
you that he's pleased with it for Christ's sake? Not because it in itself was
well pleasing, but he's pleased for Christ's sake. It is accepted through the mediation
of the Lord Jesus Christ that that feeble desire that you have
for his glory in and of itself is no good. You know that. But
when our great high priest takes that and presents it before the
father, it's well pleasing to him. If I give my little gift
out of a love for him, there's really I could get sent to hell
for that, apart from Christ. There's sin in all we do, but
when it's presented before the Father, my prayer, my prayer
that in and of itself, it's no good. It's really not. But when
my great high priest presents it before the Father, it's accepted. Now, we know that anything that
we do that's well-pleasing to Him, it's only well-pleasing
for Christ's sake. And we also know this, anything
that we do do, Any thought we think, we say, I am what I am
by the grace of God. I did this because of His grace.
It wasn't. Whatever it might be, it's because
of His grace. And we really believe that. Now, here's what's amazing. The Lord accepts what we do for
Christ's sake. And he is the one who enables
us to do it by his grace. And yet he praises us as the
one having done it. And that's grace. That is grace. If God praises you, and if you're
a believer, he will. I assure you, he will. You think
that just seems, how could he? Because of grace. That's all. Because of grace. Now, if that's
not the greatest instance of grace, I don't know what is.
Bride, God praising you? Wouldn't you say to him, that's
an act of grace. And every believer is going to
experience that. Romans chapter 14. It's what
we're going to close with. You know, this thing of judging
is judging, he says, why does thou judge thy brother? This
thing of judging is judging a brother. If a man's preaching a false
gospel, I'm called upon to judge that. In hearing it, he's talking
about judging a brother in Christ, looking down your nose at a brother
in Christ, examining his motives, which you can't see. You say,
why did he do that? Or being mad at him because he's
not handling a trial the way you think he ought to handle
it. You ought to really believe, you ought to really believe that I would
do worse apart from the grace of God. I really ought to believe
that instead of looking down my nose is what he's saying.
But look what he says in verse 10. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why does thou set it not, thy
brother? That's what we do when we judge
him. We set him and not. We say I'm superior to him. For
we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Now,
does that mean you better not judge him because you're going
to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, too. And we're both
going to be judged by Christ. So you better lay low and keep
your mouth shut because you're... Is that what that's saying? No,
let me tell you what that's saying. Why are you judging your brother? Why are you setting him at naught?
For he shall stand accepted, perfect before the very judgment
seat of Christ. Now, where are you getting off
judging him if he stands perfect before God? He's going to stand
and you're going to stand. If you're a believer, you're
going to stand. You're not going to have to fall and be thrown.
You're going to stand perfect before the judgment seat of Christ.
So why do you set it not your brother? For we shall all stand
accepted and complete before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written as I live,
sayeth the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall
confess to God. So then every one of us should
give account of himself to God. You know, you know, I'm not going
to be giving an account for you. And you're not going to be giving
an account for me. We stand before God, if I'm a believer, not alone
in Christ, but we stand alone in the sense that we're not responsible
for somebody else. So it says, Let us therefore
judge not what judge one another any more, but judge this rather,
that no man put a stumbling block or occasion to fall in his brother's
way. Now, it is a small thing for
me to be judged by you. It really is, and it's a very
small thing for you to be judged by me, but he's the preacher.
Still, it's just as small, just as small. The only one that really
is confident. Is the Lord himself. He's the
one who knows all things. And you know, that doesn't scare
me a bit. Because I really believe. that the righteousness of Jesus
Christ is my righteousness before God. Therefore, I have nothing
to fear. May God give us grace truly to
judge nothing before the time. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would deliver us from ever judging one another, but
cause us at all times to truly believe ourselves to be the chief
of sinners and cause us to always take the lowest seat and cause
us to not lay a stumbling block in the way of our brother. Lord,
teach us to walk in love Oh Lord, give us grace to walk in love
for the glory of thy holy name. Bless this message for your glory
and our good. And Lord, as we face this coming
week, we ask that we might be enabled to walk with thy dear
son. In Christ's name we pray.