What makes a person a good minister? What makes a person a good Christian? What makes a church a good church? The last several weeks, we've been exploring that question, which has relevance. Even if you're not a Christian, it's a good question to ask from a sociological standpoint. Would you please locate with me a book in the second half of the Christian Bible, First Corinthians, Chapter four, it's in the Christian New Testament. First Corinthians four, it's a historical letter. It was written to a relatively small congregation in the ancient city of Corinth, which is a city on the rise. It has all the backing now of the Roman Empire. And though located in what's modern Greece, ancient Greece, and being a Roman colony of sorts, it's more Roman than Grecian. Her Roman identity alone gives Corinth quite a fair grounds to boast in. It gives her a bit of a reason for some municipal swagger among other cities in the area. Many cities have nicknames. Corinth's nickname is Wealthy Corinth. She has much to be proud about. And as has any city on the rise, it's it's the avenue for venues of business and entertainment, philosophical expressions. It's the perfect place for a church. Until the church starts being shaped by the city more than by the cross. And therein lies the rub. This local congregation called the Church of God dearly loved by God, the dwelling place of the third person of the Trinity in Corinth. Is becoming more Corinth centered than cross centered. They're worldly saints. And that's why Paul is writing back to this congregation he loves so dearly. One of the ways the Corinthian spirit has made its way into this local congregation is through false notions of wisdom and power, redefinitions even of the good news, re-explanations of who Jesus is, expectations for leaders. Those things are all still with us today. We come to chapter four. St. Paul speaks to this church as a loving and loyal father, heartbroken by the actions of his beloved children. For a final time now, he admonishes these dear brothers and sisters for their arrogance. He admonishes them, warns them about their divisions, and he does so by reminding them of what a cross-centered leader, a cross-centered congregation in life ought to be like. So let's read this chapter. Let's think of how the cross shapes leaders and churches and destroys divisions. And it's just this practical question. What makes a good leader? What makes a good congregation? Let's read down to verse 13 and hear the answer. This is what Holy Scripture says. This is how one should regard us. As servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court. In fact, I don't even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore, you Corinthians do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all of these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written. that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. And now, kids, here's the first that Miss Rima has for you to fill in the blanks. So you listen here. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you have received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you would have become kings and oh, would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you. As for us, I think God has exhibited us apostles as last of all. Like men sentenced to death. Because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake. Oh, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are so strong. We are held, you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed, buffeted, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. This is the word of the Lord. I want you to think of chapter four as a long hallway in an art gallery. And hanging along the hallway, the wall of this gallery are three paintings. And again, kids, you may want to paint. Well, if you have paint, you can paint, but you may want to draw one of these three images in the box provided for you this morning. The first picture hanging on the wall of the gallery of chapter 4 is one of a steward, verses 1 to 5. The second picture hanging on the wall is of a sufferer, in verses 6 to 13. And the third picture is a is one of a father in verses 14 to 21, a steward. There's a painting, a sufferer. There's a painting and a father. There's a painting. And each picture is colored by the light coming from the face of Christ on the cross. And underneath those paintings, let's push this picture just a bit underneath of each painting is this little caption. They're embossed on the frame telling us what this picture is about. So so underneath this painting of a steward is this little caption, and it simply reads a cross shaped steward. And what would the picture look like if that's what the caption says? The next painting hanging on this gallery in Chapter four is one of a sufferer, and underneath the caption says on the frame, a cross shaped life. What would that painting then look like? And what we'll look at next week, Lord willing, is the painting of a father. And underneath is this caption, a cross shaped authority. We're just looking at these first two paintings this morning, and each one of these, remember, each of these paintings ought to melt down our divisions and weld our hearts back together around the cross. That's the purpose as he finishes his loving rant against divisions in chapter four. So first, painting number one. This is where we'll spend much of our time. Painting number one. A steward, a cross shaped steward. Verses one to five. Now, like people of any age and particularly in Corinth, they had their expectations for leaders. Sadly, and perhaps unwittingly, the models of leadership were based on what they saw around the city, styles operating within Corinth itself. The city is always a tempting place to look for models of leadership. And Paul says to them as he opens this chapter, not only does your spiritual immaturity show itself by wearing the jersey of your favorite leader or your issue to church, but but your spiritual maturity shows itself even in what you're looking for in a leader. So Paul opens this chapter. This is how you want to think of your leaders. This is how you want to regard us. As servants of Christ. And stewards of the mysteries of God. Ministers are simply servants and stewards. Even in our own day, these images that Paul uses, they can be culturally unexpected and a triumphalistic, successful city like Corinth ruled by mighty Rome with booming businesses, charismatic figures in its midst. The image of a servant leading a church is hardly inspiring. Yet Paul paints with these colors intentionally to brush back against the supposed wisdom of the city. God chooses what is weak. Now, it's certainly true in this letter that Paul happily, willingly accommodates himself wherever he can to certain things within any given culture to advance the good news. That's chapters nine and ten. But at the same time, There are other things Paul refuses to accommodate. And in this case. It's a particular style of leadership. That the Corinthians would embrace, it's accepted in the city that Paul intentionally refuses to adopt. You see, the cross transforms everything, it turns things inside out, it stands them on their head so that the kind of minister, the kind of leader God approves of. a servant and a steward. That's all ministers are. In the previous chapter, Paul refers to himself and Apollos, other ministers, as servants, but that's a different word than he chooses to use here. The intent here is not so much of a lowly servant, but something more along the lines of a personal attendant, an assistant. It's a vocational term for for someone who administrates the duties of another, and it's a term for a subordinate carrying out somebody the wishes of somebody who's above him. And that meaning is borne out by that by the second term of steward. Don't think steward or stewardess on an on an airplane or the like. The term refers to a manager of a household, the manager of an estate. Think of someone who who manages I don't know, perhaps like the property at Biltmore, the estate manager who carries out the wishes of the Biltmores, the Vanderbilts. That's why some translations handle this word steward by translating it as those who have put in charge, been put in charge as a manager. Well, these two images. These two colors he paints with in this painting now balance the minister's authority with the minister's submission and accountability. On the one hand, he's a manager. Given a measure of authority responsible for running the affairs of a wealthy landowner with all the authority and power necessary to execute the wishes of your boss. But on the other hand, the authorities qualified. It's submissive. It's accountable authority. This is authority under a master, not carrying out his own wishes, but the wishes of the landowner. Didn't Jesus tell a story like this? The kingdom of God is like a landowner who leaves his estate in charge of his servants. He goes away for an extended time. And when he comes, he calls them to give an account for how they manage the estate. The cross shaped minister then. There's one who has authority, but only authority to carry out the wishes of his master. He's bound by the wishes of his boss, and he has no right to alter his wishes. That's not his responsibility. In humility, he simply carries out the message of the master. further qualifies these images by by saying that ministers are notice this, they're servants of Christ. Stewards of the mystery of God. It's really marvelous that even in using these images of servants of Christ, stewards of God, Paul shows himself to simply be a stewards of God's truth. Paul's not coming up with these two images on his own. He's simply he's simply repeating the words that he heard Jesus himself use about his own ministry. Paul's no innovator. He's simply describing his task in the way Jesus described the task. Thus, as Paul paints this picture the whole time, he's looking at Christ, looking at him and painting what he sees, and he remembers what he said. The son of man came not to be served. but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. We're merely reflecting Christ, the perfect servant, that even Jesus as a steward said, I came not to do My own will, but the will of My Father who sent Me. Thus, Jesus is the servant. Jesus is the steward. And we're just made after His likeness. We're cross-shaped ministers. We're just stewards. What a humbling image. What a Christ-like image. Friends, we find our job description, both its message and the manner in which we carry out the message. We find our job description, its message and manner in the cross of Christ, crucified in our place for our sins. But then again, Corinthians, maybe you have a better model of leadership. Think of some of the implications of this. It means that stewards like Christ himself were were bound to carry out the will of the father. When Paul says we're stewards of the mysteries of God, he simply refers, as we've already unpacked, the message of the gospel, once hidden, but now revealed by God's Spirit and the person and work of Jesus Christ. That is, we are under, we're governed by the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what we're stewards of. Dear people, measure your ministers. Measure any pastor of Emmanuel Bible Church, measure them by their faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ and nothing else. There is no other standard you hold them to. And if you leave this church, when God moves you on, look for a church where the minister talks about Jesus as the savior of sins by his atoning death on the cross a lot. Don't ever join yourself to a church of a steward too arrogant to submit to the message of God, of Christ crucified, raised for our sins. They may talk of God's justice and God's mercy, God's love for the hurting and the outcast, all of which are true, they may talk of deep wisdom, but if they leave out the message of Jesus Christ crucified in the place of sinners raised bodily on the third day, that is not a true steward. A minister of the gospel has to work very hard to avoid mentioning the message of the cross. And anyone who minimizes the offense of the cross is not a true steward. We are stewards of the mysteries of God hidden in Christ crucified. This is good even for those in our midst thinking about heading to Seattle with Doug and Bridget. Make sure that none of you is smuggling a good thing but not necessary thing in what you expect this plant or revitalization to be like. Be committed to making much of the gospel, of laying the foundation of Christ in Him crucified and let all the other things fall into place and grow out of this. And when you do, you'll be an encouragement to Doug. And the ongoing joy to his heart. What invocations does this have for ministers, we talked a little bit, ministers and congregations keep coming back to this again, stewards and servants of the mysteries of God. This is a joyful constraint that we're under, brothers. We have no right to alter the message of the cross. We're guardians and custodians. It's not ours to recast it in better terms. What arrogance to change the message given to us by God. We're simply, you know, like old firefighters in a long line, simply passing the bucket of water we've received on to the next person. That's all we're doing. We're stewards. We're not innovators. Here's an earthly illustration, probably been around for a long time. Stewards can manage the message of their master by addition or substitution or subtraction. So the master says, Steward, I want you to feed everybody in the estate with bacon and eggs. And the steward comes out with bacon and no eggs. That's subtraction. It dishonors the master. It's a false gospel. If the steward comes out with bacon and eggs and thinks it would be really cool to also add pancakes, that's addition. And it dishonors the master. And it's a false gospel. We have no authority to add anything to this or take away anything from it. Don't be embarrassed by the gospel. It's your only hope. The steward then could could bring out fish. And call it bacon and eggs. That's a monstrous substitution, and people do it all the time with the gospel. Then the steward can bring out turkey bacon or egg beaters and call it bacon and eggs. That's a more subtle substitution, and not only is it dishonorable to the bacon itself. But it's dishonest and dishonoring to the master. My dear brothers, we must not adjust this message in any way. Or not to be meddlesome waiters adding salt to the chef's dish on the way to the table. Or worse, like a pharmacist altering the doctor's prescription, filling it with something else that's dangerous, deadly. We're merely stewards of this message, not storytellers, not illustrators, not purveyors of culture, we're stewards of the gospel. We have one thing to make known, Christ crucified. And not only is it true that ministers like this or counter cultural stewards and servants, the performance review standard is also counter cultural. That is how how will God evaluate his stewards? How? What's the basis? How will God evaluate his ministers? Look at verse two, one standard that they be found trustworthy, faithful. God is a merciful accountability partner. He's a merciful master. All he expects is faithfulness. That's it. And once again, Paul's words are taken right from Jesus's own lips. What commendation did Jesus say he gives to servants of the parable? Well done, you good and trustworthy servant. God's evaluation of his ministers isn't based on how many people they bring in, how much the church budget increases or or how many people come, how many baptisms and conversions, how he dresses. Does he take over a room when he when he walks in? Does he know how to lead a meeting? God's sole evaluation, his sole evaluation, faithfulness. Is he trustworthy? And how kind of God this is. All he requires is that we're trustworthy to what he's given us to pass on. And by faithfulness, of course, he means faithfulness to the message of making the gospel known. That's this whole point in this first four chapters, faithfulness to the gospel, faithfulness to making Christ known. That means the minister's eye, his ear is not finely focused and tuned to the congregation, but only to God. In order to be faithful to God, there may be times, as with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, even Paul here in Corinth, the minister must turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the popular opinion of his own congregation. John Gill was an educated, esteemed minister in England. On one occasion, he received warning that a publication of a certain book of his about to be released what caused him to lose many supporters and most certainly reduce his income. Gil immediately replied, Do not tell me of losing. I value nothing in comparison with the gospel. And I am not afraid to be poor. Church family, the gospel is not up for sale. It's not up for the popular vote by some committee or some congregation. There's no monetary prize. There's no civic recognition, no favor from any congregation worth exchanging for the gospel of a crucified, risen Messiah. We must not be afraid of of controversy, we must expect it about the message that's not even ours to begin with. You must not be afraid to be misunderstood. to be run off or simply called to be faithful stewards to the gospel and nothing else. And do you realize how freeing this is, both for ministers and congregants? That is essentially what Paul says is the only requirement God has for me is faithfulness to the message of the cross, which means the results are not up to me. I'm not responsible for how you hear this message. I'm not responsible for anything except being faithful and obedient to God. I plant the gospel, Apollos waters the gospel, it's God's business to do what he wants with it. Don't be overly discouraged by discouraging results. They're not ours to worry about. Be more concerned about your obedience to the message of the cross than anything else. And more than this, these next several verses down through verse five, they're freeing because because the final judge of faithfulness is not human courts. It's not any congregation. It's not even Paul's own conscience. That's what he says. As a steward, he has but one person to please God, his master, for for he says, I'm not going to be judged by any human court, by you, not even my own conscience, though it registers clean right now is not what I'm basing my ministry on. In other words, not only does the minister's job description come from the cross, but so does his current and final evaluation. They come from the cross as well. The cross is the only thing that judges us. And if we've been judged by the cross, then we're free from the commendation and condemnations of everybody else. Apparently, what's been running beneath the surfaces is the Corinthians are now poo-pooing Paul. You're always in court. You're always in trouble. You're a weakling. You're not the kind of leader that must be successful. Now, now Paul is pushing back against them and some of them evidently claim to be able to look into the hidden purposes of the heart and evaluate motives. Every church has those kinds of people. They're the discernment people. The discernment bloggers always telling you what's going on in somebody's mind and heart. Always giving you the right perspective and evaluation on the situation. But Paul tells them, I'm not bound by your evaluation. The evaluation of any court. And Paul gets into a lot of them. He's not even subject to the judgment of his own conscience. Only God can acquit a person. So he tells them, he warns them, therefore, verse five, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes. He's the only one who discloses thoughts and intents of the heart. How dare you presume to be an omniscient God? This is not only good advice and evaluation of ministers, but But in issues that arise between believers and congregations or are out in the public sector, we rush to take sides to make our voice heard. And we often reach such a high degree of certainty based on so little information. And Paul says, you Corinthians judge nothing before the time. You're evaluating my gospel ministry based on what you see now. Don't do that before the time. Be careful of premature evaluations. Elsewhere, Paul writes in Romans 14, when Christians are condemning other Christians, he actually says, who are you to judge another person's servant? Meaning that person's accountable to God. How dare you condemn that brother or sister? They'll give an account to God. And I find it. Remarkable, Paul doesn't even base his standing before God here on his own conscience. Paul thinks his conscience is clear here. He could say, go home and dry up. My conscience is clear. I'm doing the right thing before God. So I know therefore I'm OK. Paul refuses to go there. That's a good warning and comfort for us all. The conscience is not an infallible guy. Jiminy Cricket wasn't right. At least not all the time. Some people you see are eaten up with false guilt. And to listen to such a conscience, especially after you've sought the input of others, is demeaning to the love of God and the freedom one has in Christ. And some ministers, because they have congregations, tempting them to place their identity in some other place, or because ministers have a sensitive conscience, they're paralyzed because they fear they've not served their congregation well. Overly sensitive, perhaps, live with a guilty conscience that eats away at them from the inside. Such a conscience is not to be heated, but grabbed by the throat and taken to the cross. And on the other hand, even even if one's own conscience is totally clean, it doesn't finally prove anything for our human capacity for rationalization and self-deception is boundless. Sometimes people engage in a lifestyle and a relationship join themselves to a church and they start acting like they're Martin Luther. Well, you know, my conscience is clean in this matter. Well, friend, our consciences are not always right. At the last day, when we give an account before God, his main question won't be to us. So, Johnny, tell me what your conscience like on this day. And praise God, He won't do that. Be comforted, those of you with a troubled conscience. He does not judge you finely based on your conscience. And be warned, be warned, those of you living contrary to the clear commands of Scripture, whose conscience is clear, you will face a judge who knows the intents and motives of the heart. You see how freeing this is, not just for ministers who maybe suffer from an overly sensitive conscience, or how warning it is to them for a hard conscience, but it's freeing for everyone. You see, there's an appropriate place for self-assessment, but so quickly it becomes fruitless navel-gazing. It becomes a means to feel better about feeling better about yourself. And the worst cases, self-analysis, you end up trying to be your own savior. By analyzing all your sin and finding the solution of what's at the root of them all, and then you become so overwhelmed by guilt or the like, because all you do is you look at your failings again and again and again. But Paul refuses to do this, regardless of whether his conscience in this case is clear or whether it might condemn him, his appeal is God alone. You see, only in Christianity, only in Christianity do you find a God whose love for you is not based on the front or on the end of your performance. Every other world system, secular or religious, says you base your identity on something else. Something like your performance or your place in your community and your gang and your environment. And if you do this and if you do that, then you achieve a measure of self-worth. You feel better about yourself. In a religious and moral community, it's do right. It's helping people feel good about themselves. Do the right thing. Do good works. And you feel good about yourself and God will, too. In a secular climate, it's the army motto. Be all you can be. Be successful. Do something with your life. And then you'll be at peace with yourself. But only in Christianity does God say, do you know what? I know that you can never measure up. Not even to your own goals. Contrary to your performance, contrary to what's happened to you and what you've done, I love you and I forgive you because of Jesus Christ. That's grace. You see, we never ever outgrow our need for love and affirmation and acceptance, a sense of identity and belonging and purpose. Each one of us has strong desires that way. You don't outgrow your need for love and affirmation when you grow older. They just grow deeper and more intense. That's because all of those desires have been put there into God when he makes us as homing devices that lead us back to him. That's why it's so strong. You know, somebody else put it like this, that only in Christianity do you find the verdict coming before the performance. God says, I forgive you. I love you. Now go and sin no more. The verdict of your forgiven comes before your performance of now be a good person. Every other system says this. Every other system, secular, religious, says this. Be a good person, don't sin, and then I will love you, and then you will feel good about yourself. And as appealing and humanizing as that may sound, it's actually depressing and it's quite narrow-minded. It's depressing because you can always be more successful There's always somebody more successful than you, and it's narrow minded because if only the good and successful get in, you exclude the person on death row. You exclude the individual who can never rise above mediocrity. You exclude the person whose debt is so great to society and to his business that he can never repay it. They're excluded. They can never get out of this situation. That's cruel and narrow minded. But in the gospel, no matter who you are, No matter what you've done. No matter your failures or your successes. Here's a God who will love you in spite of your life because Jesus Christ laid down his life in the place of sinners on the cross. How all-inclusive is the grace of God in Jesus Christ? Nobody's excluded. You see, the gospel frees him from the opinion of his conscience. His congregation are human law courts. God is his judge. And Paul longs for the day when he will stand before Christ and give an account, and then each one of us will receive our commendation before God. Now. See, here's what happens if it's true. that your approval doesn't rest in your opinion of yourself. Or the opinion of the court or the opinion of the congregation, but only in what God is doing for you in Christ, then what that does to you, it makes you an incredibly humbly person and all the divisions go away. That's just what Paul says next in verses six and seven. First, he reminds them not to go beyond what is written. I think he simply means what's written in God's word, especially the passage I've quoted to you thus far in this book. It's a marvelous way of reminding them that what judges another person's ministry is the Bible alone, God's word alone. Don't go beyond what's written. We're not looking outside of the church for some ecclesial court, some magisterium, some pope that rightly interprets these things for us. Do not go beyond what's written. Sola Scriptura is a very scary thing if you live by it, because when you do, you realize that many of the things that we insist on as true spirituality are not required at all. So he says, stop being puffed up in favor of one against another. You see, one of the reasons we boast in our divisions in local churches is because every other source of identity outside of a crucified Messiah that we receive by grace alone tends to make you feel superior. I'm more spiritual because I speak in tongues. I'm more spiritual because I have visions. I'm more spiritual because my hair is short. I have a tattoo or I don't wear a tie. And immediately you look on everybody else who's not like you, whatever your identity factor is, and then you tend to feel a sense of smug, quiet superiority against everybody else. Each one of those goes far beyond what's actually written and makes you puffed up. And Paul's point is, how can anyone be proud when you're at the cross? That's why he gives them now three questions. Who makes you so different? What do you have that you have not received? And if you have received it, why are you boasting as though you did not receive it? Just let those three questions work their way down into the soil of your heart like a gentle falling rain. Brother or sister, what do you have that you have not received? Someone said. At the last Sunday night of his life, the reformer John Knox reported that he was tempted by Satan. The last night of his life to trust in himself and boast in what he had done. But then John Knox turned to a servant and said, but I repulse him with this sentence. What do I have that I have not received? This, then, is the picture, beloved, of a cross-shaped steward. Faithful, free, accountable to God, and aware of God's grace. This picture of a cross-shaped steward reminds me a bit of the picture of a minister Bunyan gives in his Pilgrim's Progress. I saw a person, interpreter says, a very grave person with his eyes lifted up to heaven. The best of books in his hand and the law of truth was written upon his lips. The world was behind his back. He stood as if he pleaded with men and a crown of gold. already did hang over his head. That's a cross-shaped steward. And now painting number two, another painting meant to melt our divisions down, a portrait of a sufferer, and the caption reads, cross-shaped life. See, the Corinthians divisions over false models of leadership are shaped more by their own city than they are by the cross. And what Paul's doing in this picture, again, he's asking them, when you look at the cross, when you look at the cross, you not only see God's love for his most faithful steward, you also see that faithful stewards suffer. A cross shaped life is a life shaped by suffering. You see, part of the problem then is now is that Corinthians lived in a successful city. They expected city-like success in the church. I mean, one might even argue, well, you know, if they can be that successful without the Holy Spirit, we should be able to do much more. We want to do the stuff, too. One can easily see how this can be hyped up in the name of true spirituality. Now, let's not mishear Paul. There's no question that God is winning. and that he will most decisively win in the end. But when you look at the cross, which he's been unpacking since chapter 1, what you see is a stunning counterintuitive truth. God wins by suffering. That's the cross! The point is not that Christians ought to find ways to suffer, pray for it to happen to them, Refuse to relieve suffering when we see it. No, no, no, no. But we must not be afraid to suffer when it comes our way and it will come our way, for that's just how Christ conquered. At the cross. All Paul is saying is this, you Corinthian believers, when you look at the cross, how do you see God's gospel advancing? Which comes first, the suffering or the glory? That's a cross shaped life. And now he's about to tell them the fact that we're suffering as apostles doesn't disqualify us, it authenticates our lives as ministers of the cross. I tried something different this year with my Bible reading. I have one main plan that I read through and then I have a series of apps on my phone, probably like many of you, and at different points in the day I open these apps and it's a burst. It's like a granola bar of truth coming into my mind, stabilizing me. One of those I opened on Friday. And it's a devotional app I use, many of you use through the YouVersion Bible app. And Friday, one of the meditations was from Desiring God. Six aspects of humility. Here is one of the six aspects of humility that jumped out to me as I was in this text. Humility does not feel a right to better treatment than Jesus God. Proof. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they malign the members of his household? Matthew 10, 25. That's what Paul says here. My suffering means I am following Jesus. This isn't meant to be overdone. I don't think that it is that the Christians in the West tend to think that as a person is suffering, he must be at fault. You know, change your rhetoric, change your tone of voice, work on a more careful answer, use a different tone of voice, be more transparent, whatever. And Paul's day was flashier. Speak like they do. Use the means they do. That's why you're not winning. That's why you're not advancing. Oh, but dear brothers and sisters, we've lost a crucial, indispensable category for the way the gospel advances. The gospel often advances the most through unjust suffering. When you look at the cross, isn't that what you see? Can people slander other Christians and speak lies about them? What happened to Jesus? That's first Peter two. God can. Call people to unjust suffering, suffering that's utterly unfair, and he does it so that the gospel advances. If we have no category for this type of Christian life. We soon lose the wonder, meaning and comfort of the cross. Because Paul is saying here, The suffering of every kind proves the genuine nature of a Christian minister or life or church. Beware of a naive Corinthian church. Beware, Emmanuel Bible Church, of a naive, triumphalistic approach to the Christian life that has no category for the gospel advancing along the axis of unjust suffering. Don't ever be surprised. First, Peter, do not be surprised if God calls Emmanuel Bible Church to endure a measure of unjust suffering as a means to advance the gospel. Now, Paul. Maybe I'm pushing on this image too much. He uses two color splotches now in this big painting of a sufferer. And before he does, he tenderly but publicly embarrasses them for being embarrassed of him. I mean, listen to his biting sarcasm. Already you have all you want. Already you are wise. Already you are rich. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were reigning as kings. I wish I could share the rule with you. Oh, that I could be as spiritual as you are, Corinthians. Biting sarcasm towards them. And now comes his first brushstrokes in this canvas, verse nine. I think that God, on the other hand, has exhibited us apostles as last of all in a line like men sentenced to death because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. Here's the image, I think it's one of two, imagine a general returning home from battle. As he enters the city, he rides in on his motorcade, greeted by the hoopla and the fanfare and the confetti coming down and following him are the weapons of warfare. And then comes some of the spoils and then comes the enlisted troops. But then at the last, at the very end of the line, comes the prisoners of war stumbling forward, disheveled, dirty, bound, half naked, jeered along by the crowd and the soldiers as they bring up the rear. Paul says, That's who we are. A spectacle to the world. A spectacle to angels and before you. Utter humiliation before everything in the universe. The image might also be of being last, that is, And the Roman Colosseum has saved the best entertainment for last, in which historical records show turning Christians loose, often bound to face hungry lions to the delight of the roaring crowd in the Colosseum. That's who we are. We're a spectacle, a form of entertainment. And Paul is trying to tell them, ironically, that's what a cross-shaped life looks like. We live our life out under the sentence of death. We never know when our number is called. A public spectacle for all the world to see on the local news, the national news, on the universal news. And notice who's behind it all. Don't miss what Paul is saying either. Verse 9, God has made us spectacles. You see, God chooses weak things. He chooses spectacles, prisoners of war, bound, people in the Coliseum. God made us spectacles. He's chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise. Brothers and sisters, if we have come into union with Christ, we have come into union with his rewards, but we come to share in his sufferings as well. It was Martin Luther who, at a passage like this, reminds us that the theology of the cross always precedes the theology of glory. Just let your eyes skim over the things Paul says that any true Christian minister or congregate can expect. Things that often take the spiritually naive and immature by surprise. Just look at verse 10. I'm just going to name them. Let your eyes run down. Here's what he calls Christians. Fools, weak, disrepute, hungry, thirsty, poorly dressed, beaten, homeless, manual laborers, reviled, persecuted, and slandered. All of these, Paul is saying, all of these are common experiences for Christians following the Christ of the Scars. One person has written, Paul does not try to gloss over the opposing views of God, faithful stewards, and the world. Paul followed the one who said, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests. But the son of man has no place to lay his head. Paul wrote to the Romans. If we're children, we're heirs. If heirs of God, co-heirs of Christ. If indeed we share in his sufferings. And then. That we might share in his glory. That's this first big image. We're spectacles. Forms of raw entertainment. Fodder for the news. The next splash of color, Paul throws down, illustrating a cross-shaped life. Look now, all the way down at the end of verse 13. We are the scum. We are the scum of the world. And the refuse of all things. Paul's using disgusting language. We might say he's using foul language. The world views us like contemptible things, like what, Paul? Like things you scrape off your plate into the garbage, like things you sweep off the floor, like after you wash your sink of dishes, what's left in the drain from all the food. The world views us as off scouring, as scum. And then he says, as refuse. like filth removed from your body. That's how the world views Paul and Apollos. And I wonder if we as Christians have any category in our minds that the world indeed will view us in that way. Do not be surprised, dear brothers, And sisters, do not be alarmed. It's hard to picture a more vomit inducing image, and I think many Christians in Corinth and even in the world today tend to think in the Western world, marvel if the world hates you, you must have taken a wrong stand. You must have said something unkindly. You must you must use more nuance the next time. But Jesus said, Marvel not if the world hates you. You're not above your master." Those are the words from Jesus. Thus Paul gives the church at Corinth a very bitter pill to swallow. A cross-shaped life is one that can expect its fair share of suffering. And when you look at the cross, Just go ahead and look there. Chapter one, this is what I've been unpacking for you. A cross shaped steward looks like this. A cross shaped life means it will have its fair share of sufferings. It doesn't disqualify a minister. It doesn't disqualify a believer. It authenticates our lives that we're actually following the Christ of that cross. I was in the middle of You know, I feel like every word in here felt like uppercut, left jab, right jab, uppercut as I'm reading through this text and as I'm struggling through it, a message comes in from somebody in a link. And here was this this article that came in. Right in the middle of this text. It may or may not be from God, but I'll just apply it here, OK? Here's the article. A text message came in from a pastor friend. I've known him for decades. He's the kind of man for whom the adjective saintly was invented. He passed in a thriving church for many years. And then someone on staff stabbed him in the back and rallied others to get him thrown out. The objections to his ministry had no substance. The issues, in quotations, were not real issues. As Moshe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, said to me once, some try to pull down a prominent man not because they themselves wish to take his place, but because doing so gives them a feeling of power and accomplishment. My friend had met with someone from his former church wishing to reconcile, but the person blew him off and all the meeting accomplished was to reopen an old wound. So here's what I want to say to my friend. Friend, you're not crazy. This has been happening to God's men since Cain and Abel, and it's one way you identify with Jesus himself. What was your crime within that religious subculture called your church? Your crime was that you were not out for yourself, but totally out for the Lord. You were for that reason and completely unbeknown to you an embarrassment, a reproach, a threat to the strongholds of unresolved sin deep within the hearts of some around you. They had to get rid of you because that let Jesus get too close to them if you stayed. And they had to make it your fault to justify themselves. And now here's the point of contact with 1 Corinthians 4, but the conflict did not discredit you, it validates you. It just wasn't the validation you wanted. The rejection you suffered is spelled out in First John 312 to tell you that you're not crazy. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brothers were righteous. There it is. That was your crime. You were a godly man, wholehearted for the Lord. Your ministry was righteous. That was your fatal step. And your suffering proves you're a minister of the gospel. You see, brothers and sisters, here's how I want to bring this to a conclusion. When you look at verses 6 to 13, especially 8 to 13, you're seeing the life of Jesus Christ spelled out for you. Where is Jesus in 1 Corinthians 4? He's the faithful steward and servant who refused to do his own will but the will of his Father and was faithful even unto death and he made a good confession. Where else is Jesus here? Jesus is the one who's treated as a fool, who's beaten, who's made a spectacle, who's viewed as one of the most vile of the vile as he hangs on the cross, naked, exposed before the world and angels and men and accused by the court, abandoned by his own Father. Jesus is there in 1 Corinthians 4. And here's the hook, it's a bit on your front of order of worship. One of the things Paul is saying in strongest possible terms is to be a follower of Christ, is to share in the destiny of being scorned and rejected by the world. Richard Hayes writes, Paul's vision of the Christian life agrees then with Isaiah's picture of the servant as despised and rejected, a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity. And in a sense, Paul's throwing down the gauntlet to his readers in Corinth. If you really want to belong to Christ, look at me. This is what it looks like. What did you expect would happen? when you followed a crucified Messiah. Now, dearly beloved family of Emmanuel Bible Church, this message and Paul's words are not meant to frighten any one of us, but to let each one of us know that sufferings are signposts that you're on the right path. Those footprints are the footprints of Christ who suffered in your place, and you're merely just putting your foot. There's a suffering. There's a suffering. There's a suffering. There's a suffering. Your suffering means you're a Christian. If you're suffering for the gospel. And don't be afraid. Fear not, little flock, don't be afraid, because this is how God wins. For you were called to this because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. He did not commit sin. And no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was reviled for being an evildoer, he did not revile in return. When he was suffering for your sins, he did not threaten. But he entrusted himself to the one who judges righteously. Never forget, he himself bore our sins in his body on that tree so that having died to sins, we might live to righteousness. And you. You murderers. You've been healed by his wounds. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls, because Christ was made the scum of the earth and refuge of the world so that we could be healed. There is no comfort for any of us if the cross isn't really true. I sent this to some of the small group leaders. Because what this passage actually does, I think at the end of the chapter, it's saying that I've already suffered in this way on your behalf. So what you're suffering is not judgment. I love you. You'll make it. You'll be OK. Sinclair Ferguson writes this. that when we look at this passage, we should be persuaded by Christ's love for us. When we think of Christ dying on the cross, we are shown the lengths to which God's love goes in order to win us back to himself. When you look at the cross, you could almost think that God loves me more than he loved his son. We cannot measure such love by any other standard on the cross. He's saying to us, I love you this much. The cross is the heart of the gospel. It makes the gospel good news. Christ died for us. He stood in our place before God's judgment seat. He has borne our sins. He's done something on the cross we could never do for ourselves. And in that moment, God has done something to us as well as for us through the cross. At the cross. God is persuading us that he loves us. So that neither life, nor death, nor persecution, nor slander, nor things present, or thing to come, or any other thing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This is the cross that shapes our ministers. This is the cross that shapes our lives. Hallelujah. What a Savior.