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Now, as you know, the next chapter is chapter four. First Corinthians chapter four. First Corinthians chapter four and verse number one. um Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self, for though I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, who will make manifest the counsels of the heart. Then shall every man have praise of God. These things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. For who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou hast didst not receive? Now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?
Now ye are full, now ye are rich. Ye have reigned as kings without us, and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. For I think that God has set forth us the apostles' last, as it were appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake. She are wise in Christ. We are weak, she are strong. We are honorable, we are despised, even unto this present hour. We both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, and labor, working with our own hands.
Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer it. Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved son, I warn you, though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore, I beseech you, be followers of me. For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ.
I teach it everywhere, in every church. Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you, but I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What will ye, shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love and in the spirit of meek. I think you will agree, as we have considered the two earlier chapters, in particular the chapter that we have, we have just considered, that we've been considering the service of the steward or of the minister.
But here we are actually looking not so much at his service, but we're actually looking at the servant himself. I think that first Corinthians chapter four is really a picture to us, a picture, a window for us almost to look right into the hearts that serve for God. I think that there are, are truths that are developed for us in this chapter that are very touching, as the, as the Apostle Paul almost outlines, not in any way trying to defend himself. I hope that we understand that, brethren. He's not trying to defend his service. He is really writing with this consciousness that all is open before the eye of God, the Lord who is going to judge in that day. There's something that's interesting when you read, and I've enjoyed it lately in my reading in the New Testament with the works of the apostles.
There's something that he did seek to keep before men, and it was this. I would say that in this work, and there are men that would attest to it in a much greater way than I can this morning, this afternoon. But what he did keep before men and those that he labored amongst was a good conscience, clear conscience. He not only had that before men, but he had that before God. But unfortunately, in the work that he was trying to do, with single eye service to the master, as a bond servant, as a slave, or as a minister, the underroer, the the sailor, the one who was willing to take command from another, or as the steward, as the slave that was entrusted by the master with household property, he, he is seeking to serve, and there are those that, that are very critical of that.
There are those that felt themselves in a position to actually bring the servant himself into judgment. And as I pointed out, I don't really think the apostle is trying to defend himself. I don't think he needed to do that. I think his work defended himself. But what he is doing is he, he is laying his heart, that heart that so, so labored for the master. He's opening that before them. I think that in the earlier part of the chapter verses, and, and I'm really not, we have less than forty five minutes, so I'm not gonna take long in an opening. You know that from readings that I've been responsible for, but in the first... Excuse me. I'm sorry. Okay, not four thirty, five o'clock.
Oh, we got lots of time. It's four thirty, we're going to five o'clock, so we've got an hour and fifteen minutes. Uh, but the time will go fast, so I'm still not going to make it a long opening. The first four verses, really, he's telling us what is required in a man that would assume this work, in a man that needs to carry this on, and we will consider that. When he comes to verse number five and and from verse number five down to the end of verse number thirteen, and he uses that expression that he has transferred this in a in a figure to him and to Apollos, he's just using himself and using his co-laborer as an example of the ministry that he has given.
In other words, he isn't writing here with a pointing finger, but he is telling them relative to the work. You see, the Corinthians, what they were calling growth, or maybe mistaking for growth, was just something that the apostle turns as he is talked up. It's sad that the very one that brought them the gospel, the very one that they were so indebted to, seemed to be the one that they were so critical of. You know, that, unfortunately, that principle hasn't just remained in Corinth. Unfortunately, I say, even to this day, sometimes the men to, to those to whom we are most indebted, at times we can become most critical.
Might God help us as his people? And a very practical note, let me say this, brethren and sisters. When it comes to those that labor amongst us and those that, as we're reminded this morning, the heritage that we appreciate in the work today. A good part of it we are indebted to men that have already gone home to heaven. They are men that w- that lived, what this chapter is teaching. They were men that lived their lives in open review. I think the apostle is telling us something else in this passage, and it's this, that there is no man, be it the apostle himself, whose service or whose labor cannot be rightly called into question. I would like to think today that, and I'm sure my brethren would agree with me, that where I labor, how I labor, and when I labor, what I teach, what I seek to preach, it is open to the scrutiny of all.
There never comes a time in our experience in this work when I get beyond brethren coming to me and questioning as to what I would teach, as to where I am preaching or as to what I am doing. I think the apostle is making it very clear here in this chapter that our service is not only open under the divine eye, but it is open before the eye of those that we serve, those that we labor amongst. Now, having said that, he's not trying to, to protect himself, or as I said earlier, trying to defend his position, but he is laying down definite principles. He is living, laying down guidelines for any that would attempt or would seek to bring into their judgment those that are seeking to labor, those that are seeking to serve.
And of course, as he, as he concludes the chapter, at least as our Bibles conclude the chapter, verses fourteen to, to the end. Uh, he sums it up this, that his life and his service was one that was marked by consistency. He says, as I teach everywhere and every church. In other words, the Apostle Paul didn't teach one thing one place and say one thing that he could feel free about saying it here and he couldn't say it somewhere else. There was a consistency that marked his labor, that marked his teaching wherever he went. I'm thankful today to, to be able to labor amongst men that are like that. And I, I'm not, I'm saying that with thankfulness of heart to God.
It's wonderful, brethren, to labor amongst those of like mind, and while we may have little differences how we see and view even these passages that we have considered this morning and this afternoon, and there may be differences as we go into this chapter here today, I hope there's none in the meeting here today that have any, uh, misgivings about the unity that there is amongst those that are gathered here today that, that give their time to the service of the Lord. That when it comes to doctrinal truths, when it comes to truths that have united us, we stand as one. Now, there may be certain passages, certain things that we would differ on, uh, that that's another matter, but there are things definitely that unite us.
Nice to see that we, we have mon- men amongst us today that are so consistent, and as we watch their, their movements with prayer, we have this consciousness and this confidence that regardless of where they go, those men are going to preach exactly the same message. So I'm going to leave the reading open, and as you notice, I'm not giving these sections my own particular title over them, not trying to work you into a, a sermon that I have particularly in the chapter. Maybe you're thinking I'm not giving the reading much guidance. I think that we will as we move through it, and we're going to do that and cover the whole chapter, and we've got a total of one hour and uh nine minutes. We have plenty of time, and and there's lots of brethren here to contribute, and even if you you get cut off, I realize there's there's plenty of brethren here that, uh, no doubt could really help on the readings, and there just isn't the time where we appreciate, uh, those that are that are here that aren't haven't been amongst us, and, uh, that often, and we certainly want to be considerate of all.
So we'll leave the reading open. We're going to start in verse number one. I suppose the very first thing you see in this statement of Paul is his humility. Mm. Uh, something very touching about this, because he said in chapter fifteen and verse nine that he was the least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle because they persecuted the church of God. Actually, the word that he uses here for a, a minister, an attendant, is, uh, an attendant who stands behind the real servant. Mm-hmm. Uh, the, the real servant has done the real work, and all he is doing is standing by, waiting for his word.
Mm-hmm. There's something of a waiting attitude in this statement. It is, it is the servant who waits for his Lord's word. Mm-hmm. And that's very much in keeping with all that has gone before. Uh, it's a little like the expression that he uses in Philippians chapter two, where he speaks of the, of the Philippians as being the, the true burnt offering, and, and he was just like the, the drink offering poured out upon the, the offering of their faith, you know. He takes a very low place for himself. What is the definition of a steward then? One to whom a treasure has been committed.
A treasure not his own, but committed to him by his Lord. A- and as such, uh, his responsibility, uh, Brother Hill is a steward with the, uh, he's really taking the the low ground here as he does in the word minister, that there is responsibilities relative to that which has been entrusted to his care, and he speaks of it, of course, here as the, as the mysteries of God. He's not drawn attention to himself here, but as one with the shadow of Christ. Exactly. Be- because of the two words that he is using in the word minister and in the word steward. Would you connect this with, uh, end of the previous chapter, where in verse twenty two he says that whether Paul or or should be and Apollos and Jesus, or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, are all yours for your sake.
We're all for your sake, for your good. But then he comes and he says, but that doesn't mean that we belong to you in that sense, for your sake. But he says, now understand our true relationship. Uh, we're ministers of Christ. Uh, and as our brother Crawford said, now we stand at his command. We're really responsible to him, and then stewards entrusted with the good mysteries of God, so then we are responsible to Christ and accountable to God in the final sense. Would that connect with So you would, you would, uh, agree that the, that his, he himself and his service, he is the servant, and his service was really for their benefit, Yes.
not for his own. Would you suggest here in verse one, possibly the, the character of his service in the son? It's rather striking, you know, that in chapter three when he's combating rivalry, he simply says, we are but servants, nothing added. Here, when he's giving the true character of his ministry, he says, we are not just ministers, we are the ministers of Christ, and that gives character to the servant and to the service. And in his service, a constant consciousness of the responsibility of, of the deposit of the truth that has been entrusted to him. There's a very amazing parallel between Paul's words here and the words of the Lord in Luke chapter twelve, verse forty three.
There are four characteristics that are very obvious here. There is the authority, first of all, he's the, he's the servant of Christ, he's answerable to his Lord. There's reliability, he has a faithfulness in both passages. There's responsibility. In one case, it's, uh, to feed the household during his Lord's absence. Here he's a steward of the mysteries. And in both cases, there's accountability. Uh, blessed is that servant when his Lord, uh, so cometh, shall find. And here you have the same truth. He found. There is a day when we're going to be found out, when every service as to its motive is going to be examined.
So, uh, it's in view of the day when everything will be found out that he is serving now. Well, the first part of this points to, uh, if we're going to notice two verses down to really a future day, would you agree that there was a sense in which the finding of that faithfulness was to be evident today? Mm-hmm. That's what I had in mind. That's right, that it is, and I think that's something that should be, uh, you know, it isn't a case that a man can go through with his servant and say, well, that's before the Lord, that's, that's none of your business. Uh, he's found faithful even today, and it, and it goes on to that, to that future day. At the same time, there is the point here that he calls it a very small thing. It's a very insignificant thing to Paul that he should be judged by the Corinthian king.
Most of us, in a case of that nature, like to come out when. Uh, if someone is discussing us or our service, we like to think that their assessment will be favorable. But Paul is saying that with him it was a very insignificant thing, the assessment of the Corinthians, how they would assess him and his neighbors. It seems, doesn't it, brother, that, uh, there's a bit of a change, and if you'll excuse me, going back to chapter three, there's an evaluation of the building material, but here it's the servant Exactly. evaluated, and the evaluation is in his mind, and he's saying, really, uh, the reason I minister as I do and what I do is because I, I, I know that I cannot even rightly evaluate myself.
It's all done before the eyes of the Lord. Exactly. It's, it's interesting that he isn't saying, as Brother Wamsi with, with what he has raised there, he doesn't say that he counts it as nothing that he judged of them, but it is a small thing. In other words, he certainly didn't move independent of of their judgment or of their assessment. This critical examination is about to be placed before on the stewards. The question asked is who does it and when they're going to do it? And man's judgment is subjective and partial, but the Lord's judgment is objective and complete. So anything done now will only ever be subjective and partial to his manifest, with all his limitations. But when the Lord's day comes to do that, not the Lord's day in the text, but the Lord's, uh, mo- moment comes to do the judging, that will be completely objective.
First thing we would indicate to is that not only can others not form a proper estimate of our service, none of us can form a proper estimate of our value. Can man never discover the motive of a person man at any time? Is there a true assessment? Yes, that's really what the idea is, brother. It is, it is a small matter with me that my faithfulness should be assessed by you. Uh, that's the thought of what he's saying, or indeed by any human tribunal, by any human judge, by the light of man's wisdom or man's knowledge. Uh, I, he said, why I don't even pass judgment on myself.
Mm-hmm. But he that judges me is the Lord. So that's the reason it's a small thing, though. So he isn't denying teaching that he has already, that he has given and gives later rel- throughout the things to be judged in one's life. No. But what are you see- saying here is that when it comes to the assessment of his own service or the judgment of that or of himself, uh, that he that he himself considers a proper judge in that, as there's one who could. So that you're saying whenever a man is found, found after divine scrutiny to be faithful, then he considers those four judgments, but the final one is the one that matters. There's the judgment of the world, there's the judgment of the saints, and even himself he that heads out about.
So the only valid judgment is the final one, and that final one is associated with three words, death by death by until then. It is, there is a sense in which the judgments of which we have been speaking are all legitimate. It is legitimate that men should judge what I say. He's going to come to that in chapter fourteen. and it is legitimate that the world should judge my doctrine, and it's legitimate that I should judge myself. But the point he's wanting to make is that these judgments are not the final evaluation, and we must not do our service, we must not handle our stewardship in the light of present day assessment.
We must remember the highest assessment is yet to come. There are some things that men can judge, but what he's dealing with here are things that men can't judge, and the things that men can't judge are very much, uh, an influence on my, my stewardship. We have no confidence to judge the motives of others, absolutely none, and therefore they had no confidence to judge his motives, and in that sense, the Lord is my judge. Now, it is clear then from that, that while I can't even sometimes, I can't even discern my own motives, uh, doesn't mean I, I'm carefree about it, but when I, when all is said and done, I can't determine the purity of my own motives, yet my motives have a very definite effect on my stewardship.
A man judges his own ministry? A man a good judge of his own ministry? No, he is not, brother, and that's what first Corinthians fourteen teaches. Let the prophets speak two or three and the other judge. No, in fact, I would say that's a very, very marked weakness among us. Very marked weakness, that there are men who judge their own ministry and therefore believe they are competent. But if you talk to their brethren, you would hear quite a different story. It's not brother cop the word for another judge another at the same time. No, I think. The three great points that I thought I'd throughout chapter three and and the beginning of chapter four are that, first of all, it is important the material that that will be built into the assembly, and then the way in which how a man build a saron, the way in which it will be built into the assembly or taken up in use, and then the motives that govern our service and acting on behalf of your family.
Very good. Brother Murray, can I ask you just to extract the principle from this? I realize we're speaking now about service, but what should the attitude of any Christian who is seeking to serve God be when they are, when their motive is criticized? That frequently happens with young believers. They are questioned as to their motive, they become very discouraged, sideline them, and just give up. What would this passage tell us is the proper attitude of a believer when their motive and their service for God is called into question? I would think, brother, that we can't always rely on, on conscience. Okay. But one man has a clear conscience about it before God. He is content to waste his time, not to rise from his tent, but he will raise his, raise his time.
I enjoyed this recently. In fact, I used this in letters to another saint, the words wasn't of Jacob, that he said that if David would come with his righteousness, would he fire him. So this would tell us there's no need to defend myself. No. There's no need to No. enter into any kind of debate about my motives, because I'm not even really sure, as David has mentioned, about my own motives myself, but I can leave it with God. Mm-hmm. And I should not be paralyzed by that. Exactly. I should seek to continue to serve in the capacity God has made available Mm-hmm. with as clear a conscience as I can before God. Okay. Would you agree, Bro- Brother Higgins, that there's, there's something here as well? Uh, when we look back at those that were doing the judging, it tells us something today that it, it likely wasn't the spiritual ones that were sitting in judgment on him. It was coming from a wrong quarter, and that's really what the apostle is saying.
Isn't it true today, really, it, it isn't those that, that are spiritual that would sit in judgment in a wrong way. They would encourage you. They are the ones that, that would quite willingly and be for your good would, would come to you maybe and, and ask you questions if something what was upon their heart. They would never start to spring a rumor and try to build a case against militarization and that. Okay, just, just to come back to, to the viewpoint that Sandy, uh, brother, our beloved brother, Dr. Higgins, is giving us, um, the beloved physician. Uh, however, uh, I cannot take the attitude that whenever anyone criticize, now this might be true for me, but I mean, in general, the rest of you shouldn't take this attitude, that whenever anybody criticizes you, they are carnal.
I think we should, without being crippled by criticism, we should recognize that there is validity to criticism. It might be about a one percent validity, but there is validity to criticism. There is something that needs to be examined in the presence of God, and there's no harm in being willing to examine. In fact, that really, brother, probably is the first truth in faithfulness, uh, because a man is faithful with himself. Mm-hmm. The first thing he does is to search his own heart and to search his own motives. That's part of his faithfulness. And if you look at First Timothy, which is an epistle of faithfulness, that's really the first principle. If man is faithful with himself. And then, of course, he has to be faithful with the deposit, the precious treasure that is committed to him, and he has to be faithful to the household.
That's also first thing. And then the, the governing principle of it all is he's faithful to the Lord. And if that is our assurance, then what is really happening here is you have people sitting on the judgment seat. It is not just a matter of a critical examination, it's a matter of a judicial judgment. Mm-hmm. A person sitting as a judge to determine guilt or, or right, wrong or right, and that is what is wrong, and that is before the time. The time hasn't come yet. When, when the Lord speaks on stewardship, I suppose you would probably remember this from Luke's gospel, uh, but in chapter sixteen, he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.
I take it that the reason a man's faithful in that which is least is not because he's fastidious, but that's his character. So that really what's involved in stewardship is the character of faithfulness. Therefore, I'm just supporting what you said initially, that is, it's relative to oneself. Faithfulness of character underlies the ability to have faithfulness with the stewardship. Uh, could I ask you one question before you, I see you're moving on. Uh, this is perhaps just a little practical. What, what would be a proper attitude when the question is raised, um, you know, why did you do that, brother?
The thing was a little, it wasn't right, it was off center. But then the statement is made, don't judge my motive yet. Now, what do I do with that? You must have something on your mind, brother Smith. I have no one on my mind. No, no, no. But I've run into it a few times. They have three or four people on mine. You'll never know. I think there are areas of judgment that God protects his own. In First Timothy five against an elder. Mm. Receive not an accusation, but in the mouth of two or three witnesses. When a man's character is at stake, there ought to be spiritual men that prepare to guard it and care for it, and God protects the interests of the elder.
And I believe that's the great truth. Yeah. We're not giving something here that would, would be helpful to, to someone because someone comes to us and, and, and, you know, I I immediately interpret that as as being critical. Uh, that much that was what they had in mind at all. That really isn't what we're talking about here. As our brethren are pointing out, this is much deeper than that. They're actually sitting in a position or assumed a wrong position where, uh, they were sitting as as judges in a very judicial way. So that that, but come to come back to your question, brother brother, uh, Smith. There are times when, uh, uh, we appreciate, and I think, and I speak for the brother here, I'm speaking for myself, at least, I value and respect saints that will come to you and ask you why you did something, rather than live in the fog of a thing and go around to everybody else.
And surely a man can give an explanation, not without necessarily defending himself for the explanation. And if you made a mistake, there's times when I've had to say, brother, doesn't really speak. I think the thing, the point I'm wanting to make is, particularly for the younger ones, don't use this statement as a hiding place. No. If you have someone and some of the responsible brethren have seen that he needed a little help and a little correction, don't run to this verse and say you don't know my motive. Bear yourself. And the motive, of course, that brother is not dealing with. He's dealing with an action. He's trying to look at something that has happened. So motives is unquestionably, we cannot see, but never let us use them as a place to hide our fault.
I, I think just one, one bit here, that while they had set up their own judgment to be examined and were ready to condemn, uh, the apostle is fair. We should always be fair. Yet I judge not my own self, that I, I, I can't even give my, my own work this final estimation. Mm. I leave that for the Lord, but in the next thing, let's just say he wasn't examining himself, for I know nothing by myself. Now we should be able to say both things. Yeah, the pure conscience. That's right. In other words, I should be able to say, look, I'll leave it with the Lord as to how he rewards everything I do in the work, but in the meantime, I must have a clear conscience before God and man, he said.
And in this case, he said, I do examine myself. Now, I know we've been dealing with others, but we should all be able to say, I'm examining myself. And then even in coming to the Lord in day one, so let a man examine himself, never mind the other person, and then so let me. And, and I think that that's a basis which is very important here. We we're constantly examining others, but, and this is what they were doing here. But the Apostle Paul says, no, uh, the final examination of the Lord, but let me examine myself. Paul writes in, in First Timothy, uh, chapter three about the deacons holding the mystery of the con- the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
I think that's what you're talking about as well. Mm-hmm. When he uses the expression here, am not I not here justified, really what he's telling us is that his conscience, really in any particular matter, hadn't accused him, but at the same time it really hadn't acquitted him. Uh, so that he is saying here, as we wrote in the earlier part, for I know nothing by myself. In other words, there was, there was absolutely nothing that he was conscious of. Now, moving on to verse five, uh, brethren, the expression, the hidden things therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. Now we're apt to think, of course, that the hidden things of darkness are wrong things. Uh, that certainly wouldn't be true of this verse, that is, that is wrong things.
Uh, hidden things of darkness, I think that the apostle is using, is referring like this, things that were unseen and possibly, uh, not appreciated by the human eye. They're things that were done, uh, in what, not necessarily darkness in an evil way, but things that were not seen by others, that were not appreciated by others, not valued by others, that will be brought to light in that day. Isn't it delightful, brother Murray, that, uh, he doesn't say here, then shall every man have criticism from God. Then shall every man have praises. The outcome of that judgment will be far different from the outcome of this tribunal upon earth. Yeah. But in, in a case where there has been hidden things of darkness in the light, Mm. things hidden in the light, will a believer not be conscious of the fact that that is revealed Mm.
in the presence of Christ as the judgment seat? Sure. When not be brought to light, he will reveal the hidden things of darkness. We must acknowledge that there are cases that have caused us great concern, and elder brethren could never come to a decision in the case or handle the case properly, and there were always hidden things that couldn't be handled directly. Will those hidden things not be brought to light in the presence of Christ? Absolutely. Uh, I, my thought, brother Wamsi, was that, uh, even when we think of Calvary itself and the sacrifice that was made in the Lord Jesus, it was in darkness that it went out. And there's many things that have not been seen in, in the light of time and the light of, of, of man's judgment that he will bring to light and will show that they were not for him.
But what you're saying is very true, things that were done in the darkness that will be brought to light. But It's very difficult, brethren. You're, you're dealing with a very, very difficult verse. I'm sure you know you are, but, um, are sins going to be brought up at the judgment of Jesus Christ? Uh, hidden things of darkness, if we're going to interpret them as being sins that were hidden, then we've got the judgment seat of Christ dealing with the sins in the lives of believers. Um, I can't find any evidence for that in the New Testament. I question very much if, uh, that could be true, seeing that condemnation for sin was once and for all settled at the cross. I think the judgment seat is a place for the bringing up of sin.
Will a person be conscious of loss? Absolutely. Absolutely. Will he be conscious of why there has been loss? Absolutely. So that That is, that is in relation to the work, is it not, though, brother, rather than in relation to sin. You see, I'm, I'm making a distinction between sin and works, and I had thought that that loss was in creation, in relation to work, whereas if we make the hidden things of darkness to be sins, then we've got sins brought up. Um, I know this is great difficulty. I'm not trying to make it simple. I've made it more difficult for you. I'm sorry, but, uh, it is a difficult passage. If, if the hidden things of darkness here are things that the eyes of men could not see that were yet for God's glory, if there are two parallel statements here, one called the hidden things of darkness and the other called the counsels of the hearts, those are parallel statements.
Uh, then this is the only place in the Bible where darkness is used in a good sense. Um, it's a unique case, if that is so, that's why I have difficulty with it, but I don't think that sins are going to be raised at the judgment seat of Christ. Mm-hmm. That's my problem. I don't think it's going to be a case for the judgment of sin. Isn't the object here praise? Yeah. Yeah. In, in the context, I really have to admit that my own consideration of it, I've considered it, considered it in a positive way that hasn't been discarded. I link it with the account. It seems to me to be, we must keep in mind the context with the steward and the minister that's before his lord.
So it's a characteristic statement, isn't it? That what man's assessment is incapable of fully evaluating because he can't see it, doesn't understand it. And, uh, furthermore, the believer looking at the man's motive, that can't be judged either because he can't see it. Seems to me to be characteristic of the man himself, the hidden things of darkness. I wouldn't take them to be things in his life so much as it is the man himself that is unseen by the human mind. Could the darkness known refer to the current day, which we live, the moral character of it? Yeah, that's what I had in mi- I had in mind Hebrews four and 12, really, when light will be shed on everything.
Man's day. Yeah. The day marked by darkness. This is a day of shadows and a day when there's mixtures and a day when light and darkness are not distinct. The day is coming when everything will be brought into the true light and seen as God can see it. So that's the idea of God is my judge. But the darkness then is the result of man's own moral state in the present time. Mm-hmm. So it is to an evil sense. Yeah. Dark is the day. What are the things of darkness? The motives that move men to serve God in this day, that others cannot judge because it is a day marked by man's judgment. See, the darkness is man's darkness. Right. His, his inability to discern.
I think that's the whole concept. He is incapable of judging because man is in darkness. He's incapable of judging. But then, of course, the day will come when all that will be changed and everything will be brought out into the true light. Mm-hmm. He said not only incapable of judging the hidden things in darkness, but he's incapable o- of seeing them, perceiving them, the the counsel of the heart. Don't you think we should, uh, recognize the distinction between gift and reward? Now, gift is something that God gave us at the moment of conversion, and that is the perfect sacrifice of Christ that will cover every sin to the end. But when you come to reward, reward has got to be merited.
It's got to be worth for, and I don't think we should underestimate the solemnity or the challenge of the judgment seat of Christ in relation to our conduct here. I'm inclined to think that, uh, it, the judgment seat of Christ might be more solemn than we realize. There'll be no judgment involved, but I think there'll be matters that will have to be put right there that ought to have been put right here. He that judges me is the only. Isn't that why we might be ashamed? Yes. That's John me. If we keep it, if we keep it in the, in the realm of modal, will the Lord bring to the light wrong motor?
Brethren, they cannot hear in fact, always put them here so that they can hear. There are all kinds of and they're losing the effect of the conversation. Just put your hand up at the back if you're not hearing. Now, I, I do know Brother Procopius said that. I know this morning our brethren here, we, because the brother next to me might be hollering in his ear, uh, we do tend to drop our voices. Just keep our voice up, brethren, when we are. Jim, can you move your mic up some, please, for... I hope they're not sending me so. Uh, it's nice to notice that in verse number six, uh, the apostle is picking up something that, you know, at least in my first reading of the chapter, I wasn't picking up in their judgment, what their judgment was doing.
Notice it was trying to do, it was doing what was happening in chapter three. They were trying to pit one against the other. That was really the outcome of their judgment. They were trying to put one against the other. I love the way he brings the Apollos in and uses that, that word there, and these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred, uh, is, is a thought there to give something, uh, the form or shape of, of something else to myself and to Apollos, uh, for your sakes, that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, none of you be puffed up, uh, for one against the other. How far back does that statement, these things, go? Verse six. And these... and these things. I wonder if it's towards the end of verse five, at the very end, and, uh, the result of these things being brought to light, which were not available before, then shall every man have praises of God.
Now, the problem was that they were now praising men. Men were praising men on partial knowledge. They didn't know people's motives, but they were differentiating between them, and they were elevating. And that's wrong, obviously. But God doesn't operate like that, and therefore all this judging before the time is wrong for that reason. I think that, uh, lest anyone go away far back, and anyway, and at the judgment seat of Christ, you know, a sister doesn't talk to another sister, all right, wait till we get there. Now wait a minute. I don't believe that. I don't believe that one bit. I don't believe then that someone says, then they'll, then they'll turn around and say, see, I told you so there. But that hasn't been taught here.
Yeah, no, but uh, but I think the context is a service. Mm-hmm. Definitely. And we're talking about stewards of the mystery and servants of Christ. That's the context, exactly. And as far as their motive, they have set up the judges to judge them prior to the day of Christ. It's man's day now, and whatever connotation you want to put on the hidden things of darkness, uh, whether it's like Sandy or I believe, just bringing out what is not known. Simply as that, in my simplicity, allow my small mind to analyze it. Just bring out what's not known and bring to light, which only God can do and we can't do.
Once he brings it to light and brings out the hidden, then shall every man, in the context of their labor as a servant, receive their reward. Now, it's hard for me to conceive at any stage that this has anything to do with, in this context, with anything but assessing the, uh, stewardship that he's talking about and the ministry. In that stewardship, he's entrusted with the goods of another, and if here, as the Revised says, it's found that a man be found faithful. So it's faithfulness in the context again. So he's assessing the faithfulness of the steward and the faithfulness of the minister. And if he's assessing these things, then shall every man receive praise and glory.
Not one sister, I'll praise you because you were right and you were wrong. No, no, no. That- that's out of the picture. Right here, a minister, a steward, in their stewardship and in their faithfulness, and faithfulness is in the context of those verses. Mind you, brother, I- I do feel that when you come to Romans fourteen, Paul gives them a very solemn challenge. Why dost thou judge thy brother? Why dost thou set at naught thy brother? We must all appear before the judgment seat of God. Now, I- I'm persuaded in my own mind that Paul was wanting to challenge them with the implications of the judgment seat of God so that they might correct their relationships, one with another.
That's it exactly, brother, and it's a very solemn thing. We're not, we're not reducing the solemnity of it, I think, at all. What second Timothy four says, he that judgeth me is the Lord, very, very solemn and searching. It's to have a present effect, it's to have a present result. But I, I, I think the simplest way is, is as our brother Sandy has suggested about the darkness, I think the simplest way to understand it is that we do not have the true light by which we can judge these things. We can't judge, therefore we must wait. And there's one great truth here that we haven't mentioned. This tells us when the judgment seat of Christ takes place.
It is, it is a verse that is clear and crystal plain. When will it happen? Until the Lord comes. So that's when the judgment seat of Christ takes place. We'll move to verse seven. The question, interesting to notice that he does not say, for what maketh thee to differ from another? Sometimes we're taken up with what makes us differ. He says, who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou? What, now he uses the word what, and what hast thou that thou hast not received? Now thou disreceivest, why dost thou glory as if thou has not received it? Some of these brothers here haven't maybe had opportunity to depart from the hallways of the rank.
So there the were rank actually many men in the Corinthian assembly who, uh, were set up in this way. Uh, they had adherents, they had followers, and it had caused schism. It had caused actual division in the assembly. The, uh, it had produced this type of envy that led to strife and eventually to division, and it was because they were setting up men, and they were looking to men and making men their leaders. So the whole context now is, uh, well, you don't have anything in yourself anyway. You have nothing that you haven't received from God.
Why should you glory in men? Why should you raise up men as, as being your great idols? Is this a further extension then of what he said in, in chapter one and verse seven, you come behind and no gifts? So what they had received actually was gifts to enable them in their service and stewardship. And of this they were glorying and glorying in men because of it. I think that's very helpful to us because, you see, when we get to chapter fourteen we have gifts abused, and it's always been a, a problem to us how the gift of tongues could be so abused. If it was given by the Holy Spirit, and if it was the operation of the Spirit, how could it be so abused as you have in chapter fourteen?
Well, I take it that the gift of tongues was like other gifts that was given, and then the exercise of that gift was actually our responsibility, and it must be under the lordship of Christ, and we must be subject to the Spirit's control, but there would be such a thing as a man using his abilities for his own glory, to raise himself up. And this is, this is where the schism came in in Corinth, and this is the reason for this statement. With the only, with the problems that were so prevalent at Corinth, it's interesting that this is what you're saying, uh, the one of sectarian was three, the one that he addresses first, this is chapter three, uh, men raising up one against the other.
What the three questions, the three questions of verse seven is really a sequence of thoughts, one flowing out of the other. The first question is, who maketh thee to differ from another? We saw that in the previous chapter. The Lord gives to every one. Then the second question, now if I did receive it, or the second question is, and uh, and what hast thou that thou hast not received? So they are realizing that the gift they have is not themselves, it's the Lord that has given it. And then the third sequence is, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?
So there was first the giving of gift, and then there was the receiving of it, and then there was the glorying in it, so that the three questions is really a sequence of idea, one following on the other. Very good. What is the thought of making one to differ? Who maketh thee to differ? What sense does the Spirit of God have in mind differing? I- I thought, Brother Smithen, when you were thinking upon the Lord as the gifts were given, uh, in his own sovereign control as they were given that it wasn't the now that were making the difference, that difference that they were trying to do, but it was really the Lord and the gifts that were given that were making that difference.
I don't know what's on your mind. Well, I was thinking that when we come a little further in the epistle, the abuse of gifts is what the men were using to make themselves differ from others. Uh, consequently, there's a grave danger in, in, uh, the misuse of a gift. Our brother pointed out that when a gift is given, it is his to develop or to ill use. And I think that this is the first intimation in my mind that now that he's been looking at the skewers, he's going to touch upon the misuse of a school chair, as is found in further on.
So I take, and I hope I'm saying this so that younger folk can get a hold of it, that it is possible, and there are gifted men, let me just say this kind of, there are gifted men who are not gathered to the Lord's name. They're very gifted. I mean, they have ability to communicate truth, but they're in the wrong place. They're not faithful to the name of the Lord, to the fruit of gathering to his name. Consequently, we need to realize that such a thing is making a difference. They are setting themselves up in a position of difference, and that's what's here, and it's wrong. There is a sense in which w- w- we're looking at two different types of stewardship here, I think, aren't we?
Mm-hmm. Uh, there's a stewardship of the mysteries of God, and in that sense, every believer is responsible for, for, uh, the whole faith in that sense. We may not all grasp the whole faith, but we're equally responsible for the, in the body of truth. But what is here is there are some gifts entrusted, Yeah. which again, is another stewardship the way you're suggesting it. And, uh, I have whatever the Lord has given me to enable me to serve relative to the maintenance of truth. You've got something different. Mm-hmm. I thought that was interesting going way back to chapter three, but Paul didn't, didn't feel any problem that he planted, but God had another man to do another work, and Apollos' work was necessary.
Mm-hmm. So, uh, that is further developed in chapter twelve. twelve, but I think that the, the difference is not so much something that I, I may take to myself, but a difference of function that I have a responsibility for. There are differences within Lord. The differences are there. Mm-hmm. And that is developed, isn't it, in chapter twelve, to a far greater degree. Mm-hmm. We'll move to verse eight. Uh... He really is using a bit of irony in his, in his argument in verse eight. now ye are full, ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us. Uh, I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
And he goes on, of course, in verse nine and picks up in setting, having set forth the apostles last as if we're appointed to death, for we are made a spectacle unto the world and angels unto man. So consider those two verses together. Brother Kelly, did you, something you want to say there? No. Okay. Could this be the first manifestation of what we know today as the papal system, reigning as king? I hadn't thought of it that way, brother, but go ahead. It's the same spirit. Because the, the cardinals of the church are called princes of the church.
They are actually inner demons. But then faithful Rome was made exist in fear. I thought Paul had in mind that this was the Roman generals coming back victorious and parading their victorious soldiers through the streets, celebrating their victory, raining a change, and behind was a group of prisoners doomed to die. And Paul says, you're like the general, you're parading the streets in triumph, and we're like the poor captives coming behind, and we are destined to death. I think probably that's the message in these verses. Would you think that in the previous part they had set up the judgment seat of Christ, and now they set up the king?
I mean, in this year reign. I mean, it would almost seem like we've already passed the bema now, all right? Now we'll get into the kingdom ourselves. But he says, because he says this, if it were Rome or if it was the general, uh, he says that we also might reign with you. Well, I don't think he wanted any part. I don't, I'm not, I'm not minimizing the metaphors or whatever, but I'm saying he really wanted a time of reign. And now is not the time. He's saying we're looking for that time when we shall reign, when our Lord Jesus Christ reigns. So we- we'll wait for the judgment seat of Christ, and then we'll wait, wait for the millennial kingdom as well.
So share the time of judgment or the time of Exactly. It's developed from the phrase in verse five, before the time. Yeah. Yeah. And in contrast to that, of course, Paul himself is a spectacle, and the world is divided into the world of angels and the world of man, and he's a spectacle before them. I, as you go down this chapter, you begin with an under-rower, uh, the minister, and you have the steward. Uh, now you have a spectacle. Uh, in the verses following, verse fourteen to seventeen, Paul is a model. At the close, he's an apostle with a word of authority. Uh, so all these different aspects of his service are, are, you know, are seen in himself, actually.
And I suppose that's the idea of what these, these people are doing. They, they don't realize it's the day of suffering. Uh, they haven't, haven't understood that, but Paul understands it well, and he's a, he's as a man appointed to death. He knows it's the day of suffering. It's not the day of glory and the day of reign. I take it along that line, really, I appreciate what our brethren have considered in it, but more the principle of what the Lord Jesus even taught his own as they sought to follow him. They wanted a kingdom. They wanted a position. They could understand that their association with him would be one that was associated with that he was going to the cross. Uh, here they were looking at the circumstances of Paul and the present conditions of things and, and actually questioning who he said he was and questioning his teaching relative.
They couldn't reconcile the two together, and so he's really telling them in these verses that this is the time for it, that as our one of our brothers has pointed out to you, that you're really ahead of your time. Well, and involved in this is, uh, what must underlie the whole epistle. They were the king. Mm-hmm. And there's only one king, and as long as he's rejected in the world, there's no kingdom for you to enjoy. So it's submission to the lordship, um, Christ that's involved. But doesn't Paul add to the irony here when he says in verse nine, for I think that God has set forth us, the apostles, last, as it were, up unto death. There is an irony, there is a metaphor, and and here was the last to come into the arena, and the last to come into the arena was doomed to die.
They were celebrating as spectators, thinking they were winning, and Paul was in the arena, destined to die. It's the whole arena, the whole, uh, irony of the situation, and Paul's trying to get through this to, this is not the time for you to, you should be in here with us, not out there as a spectator. Now, that's the word, actually, spectator. Yeah. It's actually a theater where the actual action is going on. Going on. They weren't, they weren't in the sphere of the real action at all. They were spectators of the They were spectators of it. That's true, brother. Yeah. And the last ones that came, come out there were appointed to death. To death. Exactly, yeah. If, if they lacked faithfulness in the first part, uh, they lacked patience here and waited for the right time, didn't they?
Right. That was a, uh, waited for the proper time, the proper, the proper... And yet, uh, they were judged. The first part they were being, Paul was being judged by the Corinthian saints, but in this part he shows how the world judged them worthy of it. That the world, that in the first part, the saints were misjudging the apostles, and in the second part, the world judged them worthy of death In the arena. He carries the irony of his argument really right into verse ten and verse number 11, and uh, because he says, we are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise or prudent in Christ.
We are weak, ye are strong, ye are honorable, but we are despised. Would almost think, really, that it's a form of statement, but I really appreciate that, really, it's it's a question almost he's asking them. To shame them? Yeah. To shame them? Yeah. Very good. Yeah. They, they were so taken up with their, with their internal strife, envying one another, uh, trying to find place, uh, that, that really they had lost sight of the, of the, what the true conflict was. Mm-hmm. It's the, it's the thought of, uh, it's the thought of yonder is the enemy, not here. Mm-hmm. You know, they were, they had conflicts among themselves, and they didn't realize what the real arena scene was like.
Paul did. It would be good, wouldn't it, if we could assign all this to the Corinthians. Yeah. He, he continues the irony to in verse and doesn't he? He says, naked under buffeting. Now, these idea of buffeting is simply the seating of a slave. Which, again, it's the, the apostles in the arena. Yeah. Beaten as believed, doomed to die. It's the word for the beating of the fist, Yes. the actual word that's used there. It's a good, a good application for it, and uh, perhaps I'm being too insistent, but it's good, I believe, for the younger folk here to realize that mainly what the Spirit of God is trying to bring before us is the fact that today is a day of laborious service.
It is not a day for heroes, it's a day for foot soldiers to get out there and plug and suffer and work. The day of raining will come, but don't mix it up. And I, I think it's excellent because we have young men amongst us whom God has graciously gifted, but be pleased, dear brethren, to realize that those gifts were not meant for your agrandissement. They were meant for ours. You are intended to minister to us for our ministry. And so the, the, the great point being made is a true perspective of value relative to this world and the world to come. He was suffering here for Christ, wasn't he?
Fools for Christ's sake. And then he was suffering with Christ, the same thing that Christ received, he received. Then he was suffering like Christ. Very good. He didn't revile, he didn't return, and so on, all down this passage. So really, uh, the key would be, again, as everyone had been mentioning, even under this present hour, this is the hour for being associated with him and his rejection. Mm-hmm. Future time, as Frank and Connor said. Mm-hmm. Very good. Millennial conditions for the believer then will be full, rich, and range-bound. That here the apostle now can say to himself, I am despised, hungry, thirsty man. Interesting to know while the normal slaves in the arena would be going to his death cussing and swearing.
Paul says, here we are in the arena, but while we are reviled, we bless. While we are persecuted, we suffer. While we are detained, we endure. This is the spirit of Christ. Love your enemies. Do good to them despite any means. The, the three words that are used here follow the order of chapter one. We are full. God has chosen the foolish things of the world. We are weak. God has chosen the weak things of the world. We are honorable, but we are despised. God has chosen the base things of the world and things that are not.
The same order as chapter 1. Mm-hmm. Verse number eleven, I- I really have wondered how, how far we were, were to understand this. Is the apostle here writing a, uh, using this language relative to, uh, his condition with the work in Corinth. Uh, I would take from the Philippian epistle, there were, there were times when, when he was full, there were times when those needs were met in, in a greater way. Was it because of a condition that existed or because of what was obtained with labor in relation to them? I think there's a lot of what we don't know, and the conditions there and the things Paul went through, we are not available.
Mm-hmm. Fought with lions and all sorts of things. Not I fought with beasts. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Whether they were men or animals, Mm-hmm. we're not even told that, but they were beast-like anyway. The, the list, the list that is given in Second Corinthians. Louder, brother Jim, louder. The list that is given in Second Corinthians remarkable is most because it covers the period up until the time that the letter was written, and there was much suffering in the life of the apostle recorded even after that, in the Acts and so on, so that his life was very, very full of suffering. But the whole description of Paul's circumstances, in contrast to their petty, uh, inbreeding and strife and division, I'm going back to that up here.
And, you know, he's describing himself in detail. No certain one. And, and, and they had everything, and he had nothing. And yet he had given all he had to win them for Christ, and they were despising his apostleship. A servant of the Lord should never be a sin to work with his hands. No. On one occasion, Brother Fairfield in Venezuela was working, he was making benches, and he had been working with a saw, sawing wood, and he had overalls on, and his hands were dirty, and he had sawdust all over him and threw his hair, and he, he cut his hand and had to go to the hospital, and at the hospital he met a brother, a doctor, a very well-known doctor.
He's a world specialist today, not in fellowship, but a brother in Christ. That man had, was not ashamed to tell all the other doctors in the hospital, this is Mr. Perkins. He's one of the Lord's servants, and he teaches the gospel. Brother Perkins was a little ashamed. The other man was not ashamed and made an open confession of him. The Lord's servant did not be ashamed to work with their hands. Have you taken it for the wrongfully that, uh, that he was, that this was something that he just carried on with into, into the work that he worked in the work of the Lord, or have you taken it that possibly this, that there were conditions as such prevalent here at Corinth that had brought him to do this?
I, I thought that there's another, there's another, question, but Paul not only lived with his hands to supply his own needs, he supplied the needs of those who lived with what he said right. Perhaps the, the second epistle adds a great deal to this, uh, in chapter four of second Corinthians, as you know, uh, he gives a description of, uh, perhaps suffering that was more related to persecution. This is related to particular. What he gives in second Corinthians four is we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, we are perplexed, perplexed, yet not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down and not destroyed. This is what I had in mind.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. You see the contrast to that, to what the Corinthians were doing. They, they were reigning. It, it wasn't the day for dying, it was the, it was the day for reigning, but they had the wrong time. So everything in chapter four seems to be out of focus as far as the Corinthians were concerned. They were judging before the time, they were reigning before the time, they were actually at ease and enjoying the material things, uh, and the favorable attitude of others toward them, and it wasn't the time.
How do we explain this for the, for the sake of the audience? How do we explain we're sitting here saying that what was happening in Corinth is that it not only happened then, it happens now. Uh, we're describing conditions in the apostles' life here, and they're looking at a number of men that are sitting here involved in full-time work, and they're saying, well, we don't know that to be true of any of those men. Well, of course, not everybody here knows the whole story. Well, that is very true. Not every- not everybody here is conscious of what goes on beyond North America, where there are men that, that are laboring that way. Um, I think some of our, our brethren that have labored in these countries could tell us a lot more than we know here.
Uh, we have to say, brethren, that the saints here, uh, even when we're talking about whether it's judgment or criticism, for the most part, the saints are very patient. They're very kind. Very, very few, really, when all is said and done, and I think we have to be honest about it, uh, have really rose to a critical nature or sat judgment unduly upon us. And if it hadn't been for the attitude of the Corinthians in verse eight, you would never have a description from verse nine to thirteen. Paul never gloried in these things. It was only by reason of the attitude of the Corinthians Yeah. that he was compelled to give us a little insight into his own suffering.
That's what he's stating in verse fourteen, isn't it, the first part? He said, I write these things to show you. Yeah, that's it. That's coming to that bit. But isn't there also, brother, isn't there attitude here? Uh, if we keep in mind that motive is the background now, and uh, why did Paul suffer? Why did he allow these things? I think attitude has a lot to do with it. Uh, the point that we must realize today is that when the gospel goes forth, it's in the new place or in an assembly, the whole point is it must be a time of sacrifice for the assembly. The servant is here, but the assembly's in here.
And I, I think the point that is really being made is that you boys are reigning now, and you shouldn't be. We're out there and we're suffering, you should be suffering with us, so that the assembly must realize that a gospel effort must be a time of sacrifice. Definitely, but I, I think too we got, we have to be honest, and uh, I speak from my own experience. I, I, I read this and I've read it, as well as the other chapters, and I have to bow my head, brother, and acknowledge I realize my services have been dashed, um, before the Lord, but I know very little of what the apostle's talking about here. You know a little about it, brother, but it's true, very, very little. I've never suffered like this.
Today, the Lord's servants is not suffering so much in outward persecution as apathy and indifference, and that can wound its way. Mm-hmm. And I think that suffering in another way Sure. is the lot of the Lord's servants today. But, but Paul is here carrying this, I think a brother Crawford, uh, developed this. I just want to bring in a reminder when he says in verse eleven, even under this present hour, he's going back to when they first knew him. Mm-hmm. And what he was then, and I think it's going even back to chapter two, same thing. What he was then hasn't changed. Now, where did they get the change then? He's calling them back to, to their beginning, consistency with where they started.
And something else, brother David, I think is important you bring before them that, uh, he certainly hadn't enriched himself in his labor among- labors amongst them. Uh, in other words, his position or condition or circumstances in life certainly weren't better as a re- as a result of his work amongst them. But what he was really, they themselves, that was his work. Mm-hmm. That was the letter that he had. That's what commended him. Brother Murray, would you? I'm just suggesting this, that this is more a new work and, uh, a new beginning and the sufferings that were instilled in it, uh, because of that. And while we do agree that the sufferings in every gospel effort, whether it be locally in the assembly, but I still think, rather, as a principle that going out into new work, we will suffer, maybe not to this extent, but there is suffering entailed in that.
Because when we are in an assembly, whether we're here in Boston or somewhere else, it's not the same suffering attached to the work as there is in a new work. I'm only suggesting that. That, that suffering when you see a small audience, eh, brother, you know, there's there's or seven Yeah, that's right, and the doors slamming. And don't let's forget there are parts of the world tonight where peasants are suffering. That's true, brother. That's right. All here. We are privileged in this part of the world. Exactly. And it maybe has produced danger for materialism, but let's remember our brethren. Very true. That's why I said earlier, brother, we think North America, and, uh, there are brethren here that know in other countries, and they themselves have have gone, and I'm sure they're not here to speak of their own labors, but to speak of experiences that I would say for my part, and uh, I've labored in a few new areas, I know nothing about.
There there's a there's a sad note that shouldn't be forgotten here. The apostle had labored and suffered and labored and suffered, and now things that he spotted are in a negative way. That's something. They had not only set up to judge these things, they had also desired to reign apart from them and disassociate themselves from them, because they would be a spectacle, spec- they would be spectators looking on them, the spectacle. So let's always be careful that whether in our prayers or whatever, that we do not disassociate ourselves. So that's all right, we are here now.
What are we supposed to do? Undress and go naked? No. God has given us clothes, but there are men's clothes. We should keep them in prayer. And there are areas, and we should, we should seek to never do like the Corinthians. God help us. We have no offense. They would disassociate themselves and judge that and, and reign without seeking to at least share with, in whatever capacity we can, share with them in their, in their trials. Father, be at peace in this kind of time, heart and heart, Lord, of the network time from the world. Oh yeah. From many times. Very good.
And despite all the current incredible calls, isn't it lovely in verse fourteen, he still calls us. Amen. My beloved son. Say something about that, brother. Of course, uh, any that has gone into areas and have labored to see souls saved and have truths have seen those that they would refer and respect as sons in the face, there's, there's an endearment to them, even though they at times may not appreciate you and appreciate what you have to say to them, and you likely are the only one that can say things to them at times that, that need to be said. Yet there's an endearment, there's an attachment there, uh, that, that there isn't even in, in sometimes in our natural bond.
I think that has to do, particularly now, brother, you're coming into verse fourteen, fifteen, and Um, in verse fifteen we find that he changes the picture from a minister on behalf of Christ to a father. And, and I think that the point being made relative to his suffering, uh, has to do, first of all, with service for Christ. But now he's going to change it and look at the cost of a fatherhood. I think it's important that we real- we realize that a father has a greater liberty than a servant. Mm-hmm. Exactly. And, and too, the relationship of the father to them is a totally different capacity than, than the one of the servant.
The, the word for instructors, it really isn't the thought here of instructors or pedagogues in Christ. Unfortunately, this is not to give them ground as such, but he's telling them one father, regardless what you have, you have one father, and uh, that is, of course There's a good point here, isn't there, relative to the father. Um, personally, I, I have said, and I, I, I have prayed also, that every overseer may have the privilege of seeing someone saved. So I want to tell you, if you see somebody get saved, you treat them a little bit different than the other man father.
The difference is you have the heart of a father. And when I- I'm thinking now of the point my brother Dickson made, he's following the will of the lover. It's an excellent thing to have the heart of a father in your template, you know, it makes a tremendous difference. You're not dealing with somebody else's sheep, you're dealing with your own, and makes a great difference in how you handle the speech towards those people, the patience that you have with them, which we see exemplified here, as well as the faithfulness with which you're going to speak. There's, there's something here too that the apostle, uh, was one who, I think our brother were mentioning the length of time in Corinth this morning, he was one who lived with his own work, makes a vast difference.
It's the same with a family, whether it's children that are born naturally to it, in a way in which they can keep it humble, and spiritual children do exactly the same way. They can bring it down to the real, to the, to the real world, is what I'm going to say. But we must move on to verse, verse seventeen. Brother Sandy, go ahead. No. You're going to say when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he spoke of the Father charging every one of you, and then in the same context, when Timothy came back, he referred to it as a gospel, and he sprang to life with it. It was life. He was almost to the point of despair over the welfare of those believers, but it was new life to him, just like the gospel, when word came of their being able to stand the test. Isn't it lovely that he has a child here, his son, sent gently, uh, to them, and of course reminds them of, and faithful in the Lord who shall bring you in remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in the church.
But he was a father to the Corinthians and wanted them to bear his likeness. And here is another son, Timothy, who would put, bring them in remembrance of his ways. So there is the thought of, of likeness to their father that he wanted to see, uh, worked out in them. Isn't that a tremendous exhortation to, uh, be you followers of these, not only as a father he warns them, but as a father he sets an example. Which one of us as parents could honestly say to our children, follow me? Who among us as elders could stand before the flock and say, look, follow me? Yet Paul was so conscious of his motives of his time that he could set himself up as an example to the church.
I think that's something we ought to cover. Amen. The model before him. It's nice to see what he says about dear Timothy. He was a true, genuine child, uh, which is not only relationship, but his family likeness, and because he will put them in mind of my ways of seeing Christ. He was beloved, he tells us, when he wrote Second Timothy. He was a fellow worker in Romans fifteen. But I like this about it. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in the passage that our brother Higgins was just mentioning, he says, Timothy, our brother and God's servant. That was nice. Uh, he recognized Timothy's own responsibility to God, even though he was my genuine child and was still God's servant.
He wasn't dictating to him, he wasn't his leader. The Lord was, was the one that Timothy served. I think that's very nice to keep in mind. In that passage, Andy quoted the father of his own children, and then a nurse nursing her own children. Not only a nurse, but her own children. And here I noticed that it should say, I warn you, but then I repeat you, okay? Not warn you to follow. No, no. I warn you of what I've already told you, but now I'm beseeching you, children. Follow me. Okay? It's nice to be able to warn of the dangers and beseech to what that, what, what is right here. And like, of course, to the close of this chapter is the language of second Corinthians chapter ten, I beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.
He really had the authority of the apostles. Had he come to Corinth under such condition, there would have been funerals. Mm-hmm. They thought Paul was a slave beneath them. That's right. And with me going. Yeah. Yes, I'll come. And if need be, I'll come without oath. Very good, brother, and our thank you for your help. Our friend is gone.