I want you to turn to the first epistle to the Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter four. And may I just say a word to those who are senior citizens. Tomorrow at the senior citizens, we're going to have our good brother Alan Myers minister the word of God. He's going to bring a devotional to us. He's pastor of Apples Chapel out in the country. He's spoken at a number of our banquets. And we've been trying to get together. And I said, well, he said, how about Monday afternoon? I said, well, we have a meeting on Monday. How about coming and eating with us and then bringing us a devotional? So he's going to. And I think the older pastor from out there, the visitation pastor, Brother Stanley, will also be with us. So those of you who are senior citizens try to make it. And if you're not quite a senior citizen, you're even invited. And those of you who know you're not quite, you know who I mean. We're in First Corinthians chapter four, and we begin our reading at verse one. 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 a man's judgment. Yea, I judge not my own self, for 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 both will bring the light to hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God. And these things, brethren, are having a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that ye 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? And what hast thou that thou 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 might also reign with you. For I think that God have set us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto the world and the angels unto men. We are fools for Christ's sake. the Lord again in prayer. Our Father, as we open thy precious word today, we pray earnestly that the thoughts of our hearts and the intents of our mind will be revealed to thee. May we in reality grasp these blessed truths that are here in the sacred page, deliver us from anything that would detract and focus our attention upon him, who alone is worthy, our Lord Jesus Christ. For we pray in his name with thanksgiving. Amen. The epistle to the Corinthians could be called the contemporary church. For while Corinth and the Church of Corinth existed in the first century, It is most contemporary with us. For the problems that existed in the church at Corinth, the same problems are with us today. And the fourth chapter of First Corinthians is the concluding chapter that deals with the problems at Corinth. Now there are going to be other problems that are exposed. But beginning in chapter five, he begins to deal with the things that he knew about them and but what caused the divisions in Corinth he deals with in the first four chapters. The problems they had in the other chapters that we're going to read, they flow out of the problems of their divisions. And their real problem was they were so man-centered in their thinking. They were not God-centered, but man-centered. And here in the concluding chapter, of the introduction. The first four chapters are introductory to this epistle. And here in the conclusion, Paul deals with our lives as stewards before God. A stewardship that God has entrusted to us. In chapter three, he uses some descriptive words concerning the church. He says we're a farm. We're a field that brings forth fruit for God. But he also says that we're a building, an edifice that has been built in which God dwells. But now he speaks of the church as a household. Paul, when he wrote to Timothy, he mentioned that the church is a household of God. And he calls the church in First Timothy three the house of God. He says to Timothy, these things I write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry, I wrote that in order that you might know how you ought to behave yourself in the church of God, which is the house of God, the pillar and ground of truth. So he uses the term here for household. It is a word that is translated steward. And it is the Greek word from which we get our English word, economy. The Greek word orcanamia. It is the word from which we get our word, economy. Now, as stewards, and most households in those days, the wealthy households, they had a steward of their house. You remember back in Genesis already, chapter fifteen, God made promises to Abraham. And Abraham turns to God and he says, Lo, you have not given me a child. I don't have an heir. The steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. Is he the one that's going to inherit everything? Is he the one that is going to be the fulfillment of your promises? And God said, No, it's not Eliezer your steward. Rather, it's one who is born unto thee. He's the one that's going to be your heir. So households in those days they had a steward, and a steward is one who must give an account for his master's goods. How do you manage the household? That's the thought here behind the word stewards. And Paul in the opening verses of First Corinthians four, he says, Let a man so account of us as ministers. Now the word for ministers there is not the ordinary word. Diakonos, but it is an interesting word. It means an under-roar, an under-roar on a boat. In other words, he is one who is under authority. I want you to take an account of us and notice that I serve as one who is under authority. That's a good word. An under-roar. in the Greek, who parodies, an under-roar. And then he says, we are also stewards of the mysteries of God. As a steward, it called for a number of things. First, it called for total submission. Second, it called for total accountability. Third, it called for faithfulness. For he says here in verse two, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. In other words, we must deal with the master's goods as those who shall give an account. And there's a day coming when all of us will be called to give an account of how we handled the master's goods. Now I want to take up this morning A fourfold stewardship that is given to us as believers and as found in these verses. You'll notice there is, first of all, the stewardship of Holy Scriptures. For we are entrusted with the secret things of God. The mysteries of God. But then, second, there is a stewardship of criticism and praise. How do you handle criticism? How do you handle praise? Third, there is a stewardship of gifts. Verse seven. And finally, there is a stewardship of suffering. How do you handle suffering? So let us notice these four things this morning. First of all, there is a stewardship of Holy Scripture. For we notice in the end of verse one that we are stewards of the mysteries of God. And the mysteries of God are the secret things of God. Those things that are revealed in Holy Scripture. Now we are totally subordinate. And we are totally submissive. And totally accountable to Holy Scripture. In other words. As our Lord said, the Scriptures, the words that I speak, they shall judge you in that day. And it is the Holy Scripture that we must give an account. And James, in his third chapter of his little epistle, he says, Be me not many teachers, knowing that they shall receive the greater condemnation. In other words, those whom God has gifted to teach the scriptures, have a tremendous responsibility to be sure that they study and that they rightly divide the word of truth. I'm always amazed at the person who thinks that you can just open your mouth and the Lord is going to fill it. That passage, you know, where our Lord says to his own disciples, he says, Now, when you're called before the council, don't think beforehand what you're going to say. For the Holy Spirit will give you in that hour that which he wants you to say. Now, if you read Schofield Reference Bible, on that passage, Schofield has a little terse note, and I like it. It says this text is for martyrs, not for preachers. And how true he is. If you have an idea that all you need to do is open your mouth and God is going to fill it, it doesn't work like that. It has never worked like that for me. God says to us, study. And we have the Sunday school teachers with us this morning. Those who usually are laboring in the back building. And God has a word for you. Study. To show thyself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of truth. You have a responsibility. To those. That you minister. We are called upon to rightly divide the word of truth. Verse six, don't go beyond that which is written. In other words, God has given to us his full revelation. We have a completed canon of Holy Scripture. This is our textbook. It is this book that we're to study, and we don't go beyond that which is written, for God has spoken. Now, this is how Paul and Apollos ministered. He said, These things I have transferred in a figure to myself and to Apollos. That he should not go beyond that which is written. When Paul ministered to inform the Church of Corinth, he went and according to Holy Scripture. And, beloved, we are bound to the Scriptures. What saith the Lord? Now, this is how Paul and Apollos ministered. Now, this is how they were bound to Holy Scripture. The Word of God formed their thoughts. The Word of God formed their actions. Are you bound to Holy Scripture? We are stewards of the secret things of God. Now, this is how our Lord answered John the Baptist, you remember, in the eleventh chapter of Matthew. John the Baptist was discouraged by the Lord. By the way, do you ever get discouraged by the Lord? Ever get discouraged? He isn't moving fast enough. I'd like him to move real rapidly and answer my prayers immediately, but he doesn't. Well, you see, John the Baptist was in prison. And in the prison he heard the works of Christ. And it was just the opposite of all his thinking. And he sent two of his disciples and they asked the Lord, Lord, are you, John asked us to find out, are you he that should come or should we look for another? How did our Lord answer him? Oh, you go tell John that, I'm he all right. No, I never said that. He turned John's attention to the word of God. He said, you go show John what you've seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf ear. And blessed is he that's not offended in me. My John got a good answer. What did our Lord direct him to? The Scriptures. And beloved, when we get answers apart from Holy Scripture, we're in trouble. Don't go beyond that which is written. Scripture, beloved, is to mold our thinking. Scripture is to set the bounds of our behavior. Holy Scripture is the highest court of appeal for Bible doctrine. What you believe, can you defend it from the Holy Scriptures? Beloved, what we believe concerning salvation in Christ has its foundation in Scripture. For the Word of God says that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. In other words, the Old Testament Scriptures told of the coming of the Savior where he would be born, what he would do. That's what our Lord told John the Baptist. He quoted to him basically Isaiah thirty-five. He directed John to the Word of God. What you believe must be defended by Holy Scripture. And Holy Scripture becomes the rule by which we live. Oh, let me quote two verses from Second Corinthians chapter four. There are verses one and two where Paul says, Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty and not handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, make ourselves manifest to every man's conscience in the sight of God. Beloved, it's by a faithful handling of Scripture. that we expose the conscience of another to what? That under the eye of God, in the sight of God, and it says we have received this ministry, that it's done. There's a stewardship, beloved of Holy Scripture. But second, there's a stewardship of criticism and praise. We must put the judgment of men and others as well as of ourselves in the proper context. Notice, you know, in verses three and four, he says, But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you. That's man's court. I judge not my own self. That's the inner court of ourselves. Verse four, But I know nothing by myself. Yet am I not hereby justified? But he that judgeth me is the Lord. That's the upper court of God's judgment. You see, a faithful steward must keep his ear attuned to God's assessment of him. Not man's. What did men think of John the Baptist, for instance? Our Lord said, what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with a wind? A compromiser? A man dressed in... gay clothing, a celebrity? But what went to God for to see? A prophet? Oh, he's more than a prophet. You see, the world likes a compromiser. You never need to listen to what he says. And the world likes a celebrity. You don't need to listen to him either. But John the Baptist was a prophet. He's a man who proclaimed the message of God. Now, no Christian leader must ever become a reed shaken with a wind. Every wind that comes his way. You see, and in order to do this, he must know how to be a good steward of criticism and praise. Criticism and praise are the two hardest things that a servant of God ever has to steward. They're the two hardest things. And may I say this and say it kindly. If success inflates you, then criticism will crush you. But if success humbles you, then criticism will build you up. Our stewardship of criticism and praise. You see, if we know how to handle criticism and praise, it will keep us from being the victims of praise and nauseating flattery on the one hand. Realizing it's the Lord that judges me. Men may say nice things about us, but in due time I'm going to stand before God. What is God going to say? That's what's most important. Not what man says. But what God says, you see, it will not only keep me from being a victim of praise and flattery, but it also will keep me from being the victim of morbid introspection. You see, there are some Christians, you know, who are always taking their pulse or their spiritual temperature. And it will keep us from that. We're not resentful of negatives. That may come your way. C.H. Spurgeon, you know, had a man. He didn't. Or a woman that could have been. I don't know. He never knew. There's someone in his audience every Sunday. For he got a letter every Monday. Can you imagine getting a letter every Monday? And every grammatical error he made? Everything that he said that was wrong was in the letter. This person was very persnippity, and they put everything down. Put it in a letter to him. You know what Spurgeon said? He said, I thank God for that person. That person helped me more than they ever knew. You see, that's stewardship. Stewardship of criticism and praise. How do we handle it? You see, whatever comes our way, whether it's praise or whether it's criticism, must be reflected up to God. Negative criticism. That comes occasionally. We must cry out, Lord, what do you want to teach me through this? There's a lesson here for me. Help me to learn it. Negative criticism. Help me to learn the lesson. Now some of us, and I'm talking about myself, we're awfully dull. It takes a long time to learn the meaning of negative criticism. But then think of it in praise, when praise comes your way. Lord, you know everything. Is there anything in all this talk that's for your glory? Lord, keep them from sinning with their lips. Keep them from saying anything that would cause somebody to stumble. A stewardship of criticism and praise. Paul says, it's the Lord who judges me. And that fifth verse is one of the most important verses in the New Testament. He says, therefore, in other words, in that little, it's a conclusion to that little section on stewardship of criticism and praise. He says, therefore judge nothing before the time. We're so anxious to be judges. We love to sit on the judgment seat. He says, Judge, nothing before the time until the Lord comes. And He's going to bring the light, the hidden things of darkness. And He'll make manifest the counsels of the hearts. Then shall every man have praise of God. And you know God's going to find something in every one of us to bring praise to God at the throne of God. Oh, what a comforting verse that is. When I think of everything exposed in the presence of God... Oh, my. But he's going to have praise for every one of his children. Then shall every man have praise of God. What a comfort. But there's a third area of stewardship here. It is the stewardship of gifts. Verse seven. He says, For who makeeth thee to differ from another? And what hath thou the thou that's not received? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? You see, the stewardship of Scripture, if you don't go beyond what is written, you will never take pride in putting one person over against another. For we recognize that no matter who the person is, they don't have a thing that they didn't receive. If you take pride in what you have this morning, you don't have a thing that you didn't receive from God. It is God who made you the way you are. People often remark about my memory that I seem to be able to remember things quite well. That isn't because of me, that's in spite of me. It is God who gave it to me. Give, beloved, is from God. What do you have that you didn't receive? So the stewardship of Scripture, beloved, and the stewardship of gifts, they go hand in hand. They are linked together. We do not set our gifts one against another. You know, God is able to use this gift that this brother has. Just as well as a gift that that brother has for each one of them is accountable to God to use the gift that he has given them for his honor and for his glory. A stewardship of gift. We are merely stewards, beloved, of what God has given us. It's preposterous, you know, to boast of gifts that don't have their origin in us. but have its origin in God. Let us not rob God of His glory. Malachi three says, Will a man rob God? In tithes and offerings you rob me. But here's another way we can rob God. We can rob God of the glory that He's been getting because of the gift that He has given unto us. Remember, we didn't earn them. More than that, we didn't merit them, and we're not capable of producing any gift. Now, it is stupid to boast, friends, of anything that we didn't create, that we do not merit, and that we do not earn. They are given by God that God might be glorified. Let's not prostitute the gift that God has given us for our own glory. And there are multitudes today who are prostituting the gift that God has given them for their own glory rather than the glory of God. They were doing that at Corinth. That was part of their problem at Corinth. They were wrapped up in men. They were showing off their gifts, and you really get to that in the twelve and fourteenth chapters. That was our problem at times. What do you have that you didn't receive? Paul, when he gets to chapter fifteen, the first Corinthians, he says, I am what I am by the grace of God. But now that brings us to a fourth stewardship. It is the stewardship of suffering. The stewardship of suffering. verses eight to thirteen it forms the theme of suffering not in irony the apostle tells the Corinthians they already have all that they want and just like the church at Laodicea the church at Laodicea had everything they wanted they could say we're rich we're increased with good we have need of nothing but God's estimate of them they were wretched they were miserable they were poor they were blind and they were naked in the sight of a holy God In contrast to these Corinthians, who in Paul and Aaron he said, they had everything that they wanted, he speaks of himself as a spectacle. We apostles who are the highest you can get in the church. He said, we are made a spectacle unto men. You see, the Corinthians, they lived in an illusion about themselves. You know, there are a lot of Christians do. There are a lot of Christians that live in an illusion about themselves. They think that because they've memorized a few verses of Scripture and they believe in eternal security, everything is all right. Now, beloved, I believe in eternal security. I believe in the eternal security of the believer, but I do not believe in the eternal security of the professor. There are people today who are resting their eternal souls on the doctrine of eternal security rather than on the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's possible to live in an illusion about ourselves. We can think always right when always wrong. The Corinthians were living that way. How Paul wished it were true. He says, boy, you're reigning as kings without us. They were reigning as kings. What he really said about them was they were so easily satisfied. You know, this is one of the things that hurts a man who studies scripture. To find people who are so easily satisfied. Just a little nibble of the Word of God is all they want. For most of them, that's all they can take. They're satisfied with just getting a little nibble here and a little nibble there. So easily satisfied. But you see, that satisfaction which is so easily satisfied is evidence of a deep-seated malady. Our Lord says, Blessed are they that do hunger... and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And there's a corresponding text in the opposite way in the Gospel by Luke. It's chapter six and verse twenty-four. Listen to what it says. It says, Woe unto you that are full now. Woe unto you that are full now. living in an illusion about themselves, thinking everything is all right, when it may not be. You see, the picture that Paul gives here is of a returning Roman general. When the Roman general returned from a conquest, they had a large parade, and at the head of the parade was a victorious general. And then behind him came the dignitaries and the army, and all the way in the back. At the very end are the prisoners that have been captured that are going to go to their death. They're the spectacle. And Paul says, God has put us at the very back. We are appointed unto death. And he was at the very top. In verse one, he says he's an under-roar. He's a man under authority. Here he says, as he deals with suffering, and how do we steward it? What am I going to do when suffering comes? Now, Paul says in verse ten, we are a fool for Christ's sake. Reminds me of the man who would put a banner on. And he did this quite a bit in Scotland and in England, and they walk on the street with a scripture text written on the front of them and one on the back. And this man had a scripture text on the front. I am a fool for Christ's sake. On the back it said, Whose fool are you? How do you handle suffering? It isn't easy to think of yourself as an under-roar sometimes. It isn't easy to think of yourself as being made a spectacle unto all men and that you're appointed unto death. It isn't easy to do this. How do you steward suffering? Suffering is stewarded in three ways. First of all, the sovereignty of God in suffering. Verse nine, he says, for I think that God has set forth us the apostles last. as it were appointed unto death. The sovereignty of God is what gives the child of God perspective. This is the fundamental truth of Scripture regarding circumstances. Now, the sovereignty of God is not a dry doctrine, beloved, with no relevance to living. The doctrine of the sovereignty of God is a divine stabilizer in the storms of life. There is nothing that will stabilize you like the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. I challenge you, beloved, learn it and learn it well. This is what brings poison, peace to the child of God. Now, I must be convinced of this. And I'm convinced of it as we learn it by life. That the Lord God omnipotent reigneth and he's on the throne of our life. And he set me where I am. He put me here. Remember the Lord Jesus when he stood before Pilate? Pilate, when he expected the Lord Jesus to give him an answer, and our Lord was silent, he said, Aren't you going to speak to me? Don't you know that I have power to release thee? I have power to crucify you. And with a calmness that Pilate never knew. The Lord Jesus looked him in the eye and he said, you have no power at all, except for given thee from above. You think you have power over me? You can't do a thing to me unless God gives you the authority. You have none whatsoever. Oh, beloved, what a blessing. You see, the last word, beloved, is never with man. It is with the Lord. Do I believe that this morning? God has the last word. He always does. God has the last word. Never man. Never man. But not only... To be steward suffering by the sovereignty of God, be steward suffering by the honor of Christ. You see, we are fools, he said, for Christ. You see, in the sovereignty of God, it is by Christ. He set me here. But the honor of Christ, we are fools for him. Suffering is for Christ. Now, if it's for Christ's glory, then I must be content to bear it. And this is what brings true contentment. If the honor of Christ is the only thing that really matters. Well, you see, we're anchored to the sovereignty of God. And our whole life becomes focused on the honor of Christ. There's a third thing in suffering. We have the example of Christ. The verses that Paul uses here concerning suffering at the hands of others. How do you react? to what others do how do you react you see Christ is our example in first Peter two twenty three we read who when he was reviled he reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him the judges of righteousness what was Paul doing Paul said being reviled we don't do the same thing we bless is that what you do Being reviled, we bless. Being persecuted, we suffer. We just take it. Blessed are ye when men shall say, All men are of evil against you falsely for my sake. Is that the way you live? How do you react? Being defamed, he said, we entreat. You see, there are three phases to suffering. Our stewardship is from him. He is a sovereign Lord. Second, our stewardship is for him. His honor and glory should be the object of it. And third, our stewardship should make us like him. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. Is that how you are? Is that how I am? What an example. What a passage. What a man saw account of us. There were problems in Corinth. Paul said, look this way. Look this way. We are stewards. We are household servants. We are keepers of a household. We are stewards of the mystery of God. And the end result, we are alike. Is there anything more that we want? Let's pray. O Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, in this day of things, in this day of being occupied with so many things, we ask thee that the example of Christ the stewardship of Holy Scripture, the stewardship of gifts, the stewardship of criticism and praise, may so weigh upon our minds that we'll bless, we'll entreat, and we'll do it for the sake of Christ, for we realize that he who judges is the Lord. Now we commend this company to these. and to the word of thy grace. Bless thy word to every heart. May thy name be glorified. May it please thee to work in each of us that which is well pleasing in thy sight. For Jesus' sake, amen.