Would you take your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 4 this morning? For 64 years people have been serving Jesus Christ in the ministry of this church. Serving the Lord is great. And whether you've been saved for a long time or a short time, ministry is the way to go. It's the way to grow through serving the Lord with your life. God has not saved you to sit. He has not just punched your ticket for heaven. He has left you here, empowered you, and wants to use you in a service. Praise God for the privilege of serving the Lord. I wanna ask you a question this morning. Who do you answer to? Who do you answer to? Well I answer to my boss, or I answer to my wife, or my parents, or my friends. I answer to myself. Or do you? My friend, answer to God. Each of us one day will stand before the Lord. Those without Jesus Christ will stand before his great white throne of judgment. They will be judged eternally for all their sins, and they will be condemned to the lake of fire. But those who are the children of God will stand before a different type of judgment, the behemoth seat. It's been also called the judgment seat of Christ. And this is a reward ceremony for faithful ministry and service. We touched upon it a few weeks ago in chapter three. This morning as we enter into chapter four, there's a couple of things that we should remember. We have seen that the Christian ministry will be reviewed by Jesus Christ. Look with me at chapter three in verse 13. It says, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it. Because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Every individual believer's ministry will be tested before the Lord. And rewards will be given to those who have been faithful. As I mentioned, I think every Christian will probably have a mixture. There'll be gold and silver, precious stone that will take the heat of the fire. But I think every Christian probably will also have some wood, hay, and stubble that will be burned up. and taken away. That church will be measured according to Christ's standard. We looked at this last week in verse 16. He says, know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. That's speaking, the plural there, speaking of the local church. God will evaluate, he'll measure the ministry of local churches. Today we're gonna turn our attention to sometimes assumptions we make about the ministry of others. While we serve with others, sometimes we get to looking around and begin to think, well, I think there's good, bad, good, bad. Ah, okay, coming along. You know, we live in a world that is constantly asking for our opinions. They want you to review. If you go to Meijer, within five minutes, when you get home, you'll have an email from Meijer wanting to evaluate the butter you just bought. We live in a world that is constantly asking for our opinions, and I think sometimes we can get that mindset in 2024, that we are the supreme authority of all other people. And the church at Corinth had some issues, and they had some critical spirits, and they were dividing amongst themselves. So look with me beginning at chapter four, verse one. It says, let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, verse 2, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very little thing. that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self. Verse four, for I know nothing of myself, yet I'm not hereby justified. But he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. And then shall every man have praise of God. Verse six, and these things, brethren, I have in 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. Verse seven, for who maketh thee to differ from another? And whether hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou had received it? And so the Apostle Paul is addressing a problem that had been developing in the church. We had already talked about the fact that they had picked their favorite preachers, and they had aligned themselves under them. Well, we have a few mentioned here. We have Paul, we have Apollos, we have Cephas, who's Peter. We also have one, a group called of Christ, and it wasn't actually the Lord Jesus Christ there, but they, in a sense, they said, we're better than all the rest, and so we've put ourselves under the Lord Jesus Christ. And then there were others not mentioned here. Others within the church that the people in the congregation had pitted themselves in different groups, one against another, and it was causing a great deal of difficulty. The work of the Lord was being hindered, and their maturity was being stunted because of this spirit of pride. It was really selfishness that was fueling all of these things. Last week we saw that the church is the temple. Chapter 6 tells us individuals. We are temples too. But he reminds us in verse 16 that we're temples. In verse 17 he said, if any man defile the temple of God, chapter three, verse 17, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. God is very concerned with his church. And just as he evaluates individual believers, for our ministry, he evaluates churches. And he will deal with those who will seek to do damage, to cause division, in the church, in the body of Christ. And so what do we know? The temple, God's temple, the church, is to be protected, and God will protect His church. But also, we saw last week, or two weeks ago, His people are provided for. God is provided for His people through the ministry of the local church. In fact, we're told that, verse 21, he says, therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours. The church, Christian, belongs to you. You're a part of it. And all that God has entrusted to the church, He has entrusted to you. And I gave a quote two weeks ago, and I gave the wrong name, and I'm sorry, and I had the quote wrong. I'm gonna correct it, because it's been bothering me ever since. A.T. Robertson made the statement, the stars in their courses fight for the man who has partnered with God in the world's redemption. God bends his creation and puts it at our disposal to accomplish God's work in the world. Isn't that an unrealistic thought, unbelievable thought? that God would use his created universe to help us, his children, accomplish his will. Pearson also said, the wealth of the Christian includes all things, all leaders, past, present, future, Christ, and God. There is no room for partisan wrangling here. In Jesus Christ, we are one. and we have the privilege of serving him. So we saw two weeks ago, the church belongs to Jesus Christ, but the church has been provided for you and I. It's been given to us by God to make use of. God's great work in the world is being done through the local church. You could say it this way. The local church is command central for the central command. God has given us a job to do, to get his gospel to the world, to our neighbors, and to the nations. God wants to use us. He wants to use the local church to accomplish his purposes. If you're saved, you're a believer, You're a part of the greater body of Christ. If you've been baptized, if you have joined with, cast your lot with the ministry of our church, you're a part of this local assembly. It's a great privilege for us to gather together to serve. But like any church, our church will have problems, right? From time to time, we're gonna have problems. And the Corinthian church had problems. Many ways we can probably identify with some of the challenges they face. Maybe we've experienced those here. Maybe you know of a church, you've been a part of a church in the past that's experienced some difficulties. What do we know about that church at Corinth? Let me tell you a couple of things. They were intelligent people. The city of Corinth was a place of commerce, but also a place of intelligence. The people were intelligent, but they were spiritually immature. They had a head in knowledge, but they needed to grow in their heart. They were a gifted church. They had many talents that God had given them for service, but they were a greedy church. They were saved. They were true believers, the Bible tells us. They knew Christ Jesus as their Savior. They had been redeemed from their sins. They had been brought into the family of God. They were saved, but they were splintered. They were divided amongst themselves. They were the church of God, but they were critical of God's choices and the choice servants that God had sent to them. So in this passage, I want you to focus your attention on one expression here. In verse two, he says, moreover, it's required that stewards that a man be found faithful. And so what Paul will be doing in the next couple of verses, is he's going to explain who he and Apollos and Cephas, what they are doing, and why it matters to the church. You see, the church had been critical of those men. They were different. They had unique talents, and they had unique abilities. They had different speaking styles. And there was some evaluation that the people in the church had made, and some would say, ah, pfft, don't like Paul. Ooh, do like Cephas, he's awesome. Man, that guy, he lights my fire. Man, I just can't get enough of him. I'd listen and preach all day long, every day. Ah, Barna, not Barna, Apollos, man. Man, he can say so much in so few words. It's phenomenal. We can get out in time to go to the restaurant. We all have our favorites for different reasons. That was what was taking place in the church at Corinth. So the leaders in the church were gonna find that Paul's gonna explain that they were responsible to God, they were accountable to God, and that they had been gifted by God. And as we look at the leaders, okay, Paul's gonna be defending his calling, and the other men, But we're gonna turn the flashlight back on ourselves this morning and evaluate our lives in our ministry because God has entrusted you and I with ministry, the privilege of serving the Lord Jesus Christ with our life. And it's important. It's valuable that you find a place of ministry, a place of service. God wants to use you where you are. So I want to ask a couple of questions this morning. In light of these verses, we're going to begin with verse one. Do you have a responsibility to God? Do you understand that you and I are responsible to God for our service. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we're told because of what Jesus Christ did for us, we should desire to give our lives to Him. It says in verse 15 of 2 Corinthians 5, and that He died for all, that's Jesus, and that He died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him. which died for them and rose again. So our motivation should be the love of Jesus Christ. He died for me, I should live my life for him. That's my calling as a Christian. We are responsible to God. Now Paul uses an expression in verse one. First Corinthians chapter four, verse one. Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ. And that word minister sometimes can be seen as kind of a highfalutin term. I am a minister. of Christ. Paul many times calls himself a bond slave. And sometimes when he speaks, he uses that word minister, he's talking about being somebody who is, it's not a flattering term, but a humble term. This is a different term. And in fact the word minister in verse 1 of chapter 4, it means an under rower. Those in the Roman galley, if you've ever seen Ben Hur, they're beating the battle drums, and they go a little bit, battle pace, and they go faster, and they're rowing, and they're rowing, and everybody has their place, and if you're not pulling your weight, you're out, and you're beat, or whatever they're going to do to you. The Apostle Paul is calling himself an under rower, and it's a position of humility, so in a sense, he was a servant committed to a task. But he also includes another expression. He says, and the stewards of the mystery of God. In other words, steward is somebody who is a, again, it's a servant who oversees a responsibility. A household, for instance. It was somebody like Joseph, who was under Potiphar, but he was given responsibility. Joseph owned no land, but he was given authority over lands, okay? In the same way the Apostle Paul says, there's something I've been entrusted with. It's not mine. but I have a responsibility before God to take care of it. And what did he have? He was given mysteries. He was an under rower who was entrusted with responsibility over mysteries. Like, what are you talking about? Are you talking about, you know, the Hardy Boys? Are we talking about Sherlock Holmes? What are we talking about? No, these are mysteries. These are truths that God has always known, but kept concealed for a time. And he would use his disciples to give those mysteries. The Apostle Paul was entrusted, there's the mystery of the gospel. While we see a Messiah in the Old Testament, we didn't know that his name would be Jesus Christ. We didn't know that he would be born of a virgin. I mean, we have hints at it, but we didn't know exactly when that was going to happen. We didn't exactly understand how all of this would unfold in his life until we'd go to the cross and die for us. Again, looking at it now, now that we know everything, we can look back and see clearly, oh, well, it's there and it's there. Look at Isaiah chapter 53. Now, could it be any more clear? But to them, they didn't understand all that. The gospel itself was a mystery in how it was unfolded, how it was unveiled. There's the mystery of the church. As you read through the Old Testament, you go looking for the church. There might be some things that hint at it, But you don't really get a good idea of what the church is until we come to the new. The Apostle Paul was charged with the privilege of sharing the mystery that the church was made up of Jews and Gentiles, and they were one church in Jesus Christ. And that was a mystery. It was a truth that God knew, but he had reserved for a time and entrusted this responsibility then to guys like the Apostle Paul to give these messages of the mysteries. So again, so he's a servant, okay? He's explaining to the church at Corinth, here we are, we are the preachers who helped found your church, and I want you to know something about us. Rather than divide, I want you to see God's hand in all of our lives. God gifted us and gave us responsibilities that before God, we better do. We better fulfill what he's asked us to do. And so he explains this. They were given these mysteries, and they were expected not just to know them and say, oh wow, I know something nobody else knows. No, God gave them these mysteries so that they could teach them. In fact, it says in Ephesians chapter three, as Paul was sharing these mysteries, we get this picture of the angels peering from heaven, learning and watching and hearing the mystery as shared by Paul. They didn't even know, they didn't quite understand. What a privilege they had of giving these mysteries. You and I are given ministries, right? The privilege of serving God in our life through the ministry of the local church. We are given ministries. That's an honor for us. It's a privilege. Look with me at what it says in chapter one, 1 Corinthians 1 verse five. Paul's describing the church. He says that in everything ye are enriched by him. in all utterance and in all knowledge. Verse six, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. Verse seven, so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, there was no limit. They had God's gifts, all the gifts that could be available. It seemed their church had them all. They were gifted by God for service. If you're saved here today, guess what? The Holy Spirit of God dwells inside of you. And as he is in you, he works in you, but he also will use you. He has gifted you for service. God has entrusted to you, not just your personality and your background, and not just personal talents that you were born with, but when you became a child of God, guess what? God put supernatural powers in you to be used of him. You say, wow, supernatural. Can I shoot lightning out of my hands or shoot a web out of my fingers? No, no, no, no, no. No, God actually gives you something greater than that. To some he has endowed the gift of giving, a supernatural generosity that flows from Jesus Christ himself through you. Some he's given the gift of teaching, the ability to take sometimes complex, difficult concepts in the Bible to make them plain so that people can grasp and understand. Some of you he has given a supernatural gift of mercy. You can identify with people and their needs like like you wouldn't have been able to do before you were saved. God has given you a special gift. It doesn't mean we shouldn't all give, and it doesn't mean we shouldn't all look for opportunities to share God's truth, and it doesn't mean that we shouldn't all care for other people, but you know what I'm talking about, don't you, church? There are some of you who have different gifts than others, and God has put us together as a body, a gifted body in the church. That was the case in the church of Corinth. They were extremely gifted. Great gifts that God intended them to use in ministry. Rather than be selfish with them, rather than parse them out little bit by little bit to who they think is worthy. No, no, no. God has gifted you and I not only to serve Christ, to serve others, but to serve a lost and dying world who needs Jesus. And our gifts are entrusted to us for that purpose. You and I are given ministries. a passage I continue to go back to, I'm gonna do it again for a moment, Ephesians 4, 11 and 12. It gives us this picture of what's to be happening week by week throughout the ministry of the local church. He says, and he gave some apostles, that was Paul, and some prophets, and some evangelists, that's Matt Galvin, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. God has given gifted men to the church to equip the church to do the work of ministry. You say, what is ministry? It's serving others. It's serving Jesus Christ. It's using our gifts to extend the reach of the gospel to your next door neighbor, extend the reach of the gospel to the clerk at the chief store, It's you showing the love of Christ to someone who has just lost their husband. It's you serving one another. It's you serving the lost. It's you serving Jesus Christ. And so what is the responsibility then of those men who are entrusted to those churches? To not only preach and teach the word, but to equip you. To help you know how to use your gifts in active ministry and service. It's part administration and it's part exhortation. It's a whole lot of encouragement. But you know, there were gifts and talents that God brought to us this last week through the ministry of Matt Galvin. A lot of churches don't have evangelists anymore. And there aren't as many as there once was. But I'm grateful, they are a gift of God to the church. To help us, to equip us. Not just share the gospel, but maybe just to hear a truth in a new way. Maybe with an exclamation point behind it that we hadn't had before. Every major decision in my life that God has used where I've made altered courses of my life, it seems like it's been a result of the preaching of an evangelist. I praise God for their ministry. So by God's grace, we're gonna keep having them. Because God uses them. And when we don't participate, when we don't engage in receiving, you say, well, I can hear preachers anywhere. No, God sent that preacher to this church. And I believe it's of the sovereign plan of God that we had things that we got this week that we need right now for our future as a church. It's valuable. God gifts men to equip and train the church, particularly in areas of ministry. So all the work is done by the staff, all the work is done by the pastor. No, no, no, no, that's not what this passage says. All the work of God is done by all the people of God through the ministry of the local church. That's God's instructions, that's his pattern. So if ministry isn't happening, look in the mirror, okay? Right, because you and I have that responsibility before the Lord. You say, I'm not getting equipped enough. Then come more often. Because we're trying to, right? That's what we do. That's what we're called to do as a church. Because why? Not only was Paul and Apollos given mysteries, we have been given ministries. They're ours, like the church is ours. That's not only a privilege, but it's also a responsibility, right? It's ours to make of it what God would have it be. So they were responsible to God. Are you, do you have a responsibility to God? Do you sense a responsibility before the Lord? Do you see yourself? Could you put yourself in Paul's shoes and say, I'm an under rower. I'm a part of what God is doing and I'm not the only one here. I'm working hard with one another serving Jesus Christ with my life. Do you not only see you have a responsibility to God, do you see you have, you also have an accountability to God? You have an accountability. Not only do we get to do stuff for God, but we will answer for that. Look what it says in verse two. Moreover, it is required in stewards. Same word as the second part of verse one. That's the one who's a servant, who's in charge of a household, or given a responsibility over a certain task. Paul says it's required of these stewards that a man be found faithful. Notice the first part of that word, faith, is included. Because it's taking God at his word, it's trusting him, and it's continuing on in the work that God has entrusted to us. For Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas, and the others there, faithfulness was required for them. Your judgment, my judgment, God's judgment, We see in verse three he says, but with me it's a very small thing that I should be judged of you. Paul understood he was called to be accountable to God. Now in a sense we have accountability to one another, right, as Christians. But ultimately the authority rests in God. We are ultimately accountable to God. We will answer to God. So the criticisms that the church have been giving, it seems to, maybe in chapter two, he's alluding to the fact that they didn't like his preaching style. It seems to be that they thought he wasn't as profound, maybe as interesting as they would have desired him to be. But he said, how did I come to you? I came with a demonstration of the spirit and of power. My job was to deliver the word of God through my personality and obedience to God, and I've done that. and I did it not with my own strength or my, you know, choreographed introduction and conclusion and, you know, zip line out of the auditorium. It wasn't that. He said, what I did wasn't impressive, but God used it, and many of you are saved because. And so the Apostle Paul says it's required to be found faithful, and he gives this picture here. He says, so in verse three he says, so your criticisms of me, maybe it was his style, maybe it was his delivery, maybe it was his speaking ability, whatever it was that they were being critical of, he said, it's water off a duck's back to me. I'm not gonna dwell there. I'm not gonna lose sleep on Sunday night after church because you didn't like or you couldn't understand what I said. I'm not gonna lose sleep over that. I just gotta be faithful with who I am before a holy God to whom I will one day answer. I'm accountable to God. He says in verse four, for I know nothing of myself, yet I am hereby justified. But he that judges me is the Lord. Now again, Paul isn't saying that the opinions of others don't matter. I'll get to that in a few minutes. But he is saying this, when it comes to criticism of a faithful execution of God's work, I'm not gonna let it stop me. I'm not gonna let it keep me from being used of God. Has anybody ever criticized your ministry? Has anybody ever been critical of what you do for God? Boy, didn't that hurt? Here you were, maybe you came early, you prepared long, and you got there, and you gave it the best you got. And somebody just left you with this little stinging dart. And here it is, three, four, 50 years later, and you still remember their exact words. Why is it that Christians shoot our own? Because of pride. The problem that the Church of Corinth had, the Church of America has. We're stuck on ourselves. We think we are the ultimate opinion for all men's life and ministry. And the apostle Paul is turning the eyes of the church away from themselves and up to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's whose opinion really matters. He says when it comes down to it, in fact he makes this statement in verse five, he says, therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart, and then shall every man have praise of God. And he says, when it comes to myself, in verse four, he says, I think as far as I know my conscience is clear. I think I've been serving God for the right reasons, as far as I know. But I can't even judge myself. Because isn't it true, right? Just when you think you're doing something for God, you find in your own heart, sometimes the Holy Spirit of God uses the word of God like a scalpel, Hebrews 4.12. And he pulls something open and he says, Are you doing that for you? Did you want the pat on the back? Did you want the praise? Did you want the attention? Or were you seeking to give it to God? And the Apostle Paul says, you know what, as far as I, I'm trying. But I can't even judge myself. Ultimately, he points them to a future judgment. That time, I believe, the judgment seat of Christ, where we will stand before God, and our actions and our ministries will be judged, but also our motives. Why we did what we did. And if we did great service in the work of the flesh, or for ourselves, guess what? Wood haste double. Right? It's gonna be burned up. But if we faithfully serve the Lord, though it may not have been dynamic, and it may not have drawn a great crowd, if we faithfully serve the Lord with the power and strength he's given us, though it be weak, though we be struggling, God will get the glory. Guess what that is? Gold. It's gold and silver and precious stones. So quit evaluating life ministry in our church based on the standards set by the world. Stop it. Essentially, it's what Paul's saying. And I say the same thing. Don't compare yourselves with a church down the street, across town, or some mega place in some mega city. Don't compare us with them. Here's the question. Are we being faithful with what God has entrusted to us? Are we teaching and preaching truth? Are we engaging in ministry, not of ourselves, but in the power of the Holy Spirit? Is he the one who's presiding in our services? You know, there's a lot of incredible dynamic things you can do to make a performance, to create a performance for crowds to gather and be wowed. You're gonna be seeing a couple more of them the next few days, right? There's gonna be a big one today at Madison Square Gardens. You say, wow, what an incredible thing. Yet all the while in churches like ours with handfuls of people gathered together, the resurrection power of Jesus Christ is on display as God's word is opened and humble, faithful, broken people deliver truth that's gonna change your life. So faithfulness was required for them. But faithfulness is desired for us. We gotta be careful. Others maybe have made judgments of you and it's kept you from obeying the Lord in your ministry and service. Remember who you give account to. In verse eight we're reminded, or excuse me, verse seven. Who maketh thee to differ from another? God made you who you are. And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? What you are, what you can do, is given to you by God. There's nothing that you have in your life, in your person, in your personality, in your possessions, there's nothing you have that has not come but by the grace of God. You don't know who I am, God does. You and I are dust. The essential particles of a human being come down to the same thing that Adam was created with, dust. That's who we are. He's the one who gave us life and breath and being. So faithfulness is desired for us. Proverbs chapter 20 verse six says, most men will proclaim every man his own goodness. It's an interesting word, goodness. It's a word we keep coming back to again and again throughout the Old Testament. It's the word hesed. It's the idea of a relentless loyalty, a persevering love. And he says this, essentially we all make promises we don't keep. Most men are keep making promises. You ever been to a restaurant before and waitress says, oh, I see you're out of Coke. I'll be right back with that. And then she slips into the back room and she's watching the bucket game for 15 minutes. You've already eaten two baskets of chips and your mouth is full of salt. And she comes back and she goes, oh, I was gonna get you a drink, wasn't I? Made you a promise that she didn't keep. We do that all the time. Most men will proclaim, we like to boast about what we can do, what we have done, what we think we're able to do. But here's what God's looking for. Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find. A faithful man. The faithfulness that you and I have, the best of our faithfulness is but a reflection of God's faithfulness. It's us allowing him to work through us. Matthew 11, 29 reminds us, Jesus said, take my yoke upon you, learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. Jesus says, if you're going to serve me, you're not gonna do it alone. You're coming inside of the yoke with me, and what you do, I'm going to do through you. You're not gonna get all the credit. God's gonna get the glory and we're gonna do it together if you do it right. God supplies the strength, he gives the growth, he enables the endurance. God's work together program is to take your circumstances of life and use them to accomplish his purposes. As you and I are faithful in hard days, in easy days, with migraines, with a hurting hip, God takes you where you are. He infuses you with his own power and he uses you to do his work. Romans 8, 28 reminds us, we know that all things work together for good to them who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. It's God's work together program. He works with weak people to do great things. I won't have time to turn there, Romans 5, 3, 4, James 1, 2 through 4 are all reminders that God is at work through a weak vessels. And what is our response to be? He gives us joy in serving him in hard times because that means he is working through us. Our faithfulness at its best is simply a reflection of his faithfulness. And so the questions are, are you responsible to God? Paul said he had Apollos and the other men were. Are you, number two, accountable to God? Will you answer to God? Yes, you will. Nod your head, yes. I will answer to God one day for my ministry and service. Lastly, do your abilities come from God? See, Paul and Apollos, Cephas, they were all different, but these men were united. They had distinct gifts and abilities, but they were one. Paul could teach. Apollos could preach. Cephas could exhort. and you can faithfully serve God with your life. So they were different but united. We are united in our distinctions. We're united. God made you different. The end of verse seven says this. He says, now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast not received it? The gifts we have are of God's mercy and grace in our life. Romans 12, five says this, so we being many are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. We're like different parts of a body, all different, but we are united under our head, the Lord Jesus Christ. were His. So you and I are distinctly equipped for service. Ephesians 2.10 says this, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. God saved you to serve Him. He says, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Hebrews 13, 21 says, make yourselves perfect or equip you in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. God has equipped you and given you what you need to serve him faithfully. So our responsibility is what? To depend upon him. One more place, 1 Peter 4, 10 and 11. These are key verses. It says, as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as the good stewards of the manifold grace of God if anyone speak let him speak as the oracles of God if any man minister let him do it notice this as of the ability which God giveth that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. So God equips us, he enables us, and we are responsible to him for those gifts, and we are accountable to him for those gifts. So God wants to use you and I. What are we usually faithful to? Usually we're faithful to what we have to be faithful to, right? I mean, if it's a job, you know, you know. Two days, 15 minutes late, you're done, right? You know that, right? We're usually faithful to the things we have to be. And maybe some of you, the only reason your marriage has lasted this long, it hasn't been because it's been sweet, it's because you said, I just cannot not keep my commitment. I must be faithful. Well, praise God. God can meet your marriage even though it may be hard and difficult, and he can bless it with his presence, and he can make it sweet. Sometimes we're only faithful to the things that we have to be faithful to, but we're not faithful to the things that really don't matter. But let me ask you a question. Are you more faithful to men or to God? Whose opinion matters more to you? Sometimes we would die a thousand deaths before we would disappoint another person, but we have no trouble being unfaithful to God. And how we start our day, and the choices we make, the selfish, self-willed priorities that we establish in our life. It's me first, it's me first, it's all about me. Oh, to the glory of God, I'm gonna live for me. No, it doesn't work that way. Our calling is to recognize that God has equipped us, enabled us to serve him with our lives faithfully. He's going to help you to be faithful if you will allow him to. You know, the battle's great. The world is wicked, and we're all tired. Do you know what that means? We're gonna be tempted. We're gonna be tempted to cut corners with God. We're gonna be tempted to have a critical spirit towards one another. And when the battle's hot, right, when the fighting is fierce, all of a sudden we let certain things go. You say, well, that doesn't really matter so much. And sometimes it's how we treat one another within the body of Jesus Christ. Don't you understand the great battle? Don't you understand what's happening? Don't you understand there's an election? And we become mean and critical and harsh and offensive to a holy God with how we treat one another. We justify it. Do you hold yourself responsible to God? Do you understand that you are accountable to God? Do you know that whatever ability you have, whether it be a human talent or a supernatural gift, whatever you have isn't yours? It came to you from God. And then chapter six tells us we're to glorify God in our body, in our spirit, which are God's. He owns you, child of God. So he deserves your loyalty to him, your love for one another. He deserves that. Matthew 12, 36 reminds us, I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Your words matter. I think he's speaking here about those who are unbelievers that one day they will account for their words as they are cast into that lake of fire forever and ever. Their words will be used against them. God sees, and God hears, and you and I are responsible, accountable, and equipped by God. We all have opinions, don't we? It's part of who we are. Nothing necessarily wrong with opinions. There is a place for honest and loving correction of one another, right? There's a place for that. Even, even the right kind of criticism. There's a place for that. It can be used to uphold the truth and build Christ's church. Ephesians 4.15 tells us how to do it. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things. What is his head? Even Christ. So we can build up one another. Warren Wearsby said it this way. If the critic is right, then he has helped us. If he is wrong, then we can help him. Either way, the truth is strengthened. So if someone is critical of you, Maybe it's true. You might not realize it for four or five days. Husbands, wives, teenagers. Sometimes you don't realize the truth until the Lord brings it to you. Sometimes it comes from somebody you love first. Sometimes it's in the body of Christ. There's a place for us to lovingly confront one another. That's not unbiblical, right? In fact, it's encouraged, if done in the right way. for the right purpose. If the purpose is to restore the person, to build the body of Christ, to bring glory to God, and you do it out of a heart of love, that's awesome. If you're doing it out of selfish motives to put somebody else in their place so you look good, not so good. That's not gonna build the body, it's gonna divide the body, right? If you have a criticism about somebody else, but you don't go to them, you go to somebody else or somebody's else first, that's not gonna build the body. It's not gonna restore that person, is it? It's just gonna exalt you to look good and make them all look bad. And God can never be pleased with that. That kind of ministry, that's the Woodhase Stubble stuff, right? It's selfish, self-motivated. The church at Corinth was evaluating the preachers. And there's a danger of extra biblical expectations applied to the servant of Christ. Has he taught the truth? Has he preached the word? Then he's been faithful. You and I can be faithful. You say, what can I do? Harry Iron said was preaching one time and a man came up to him afterwards and he says, you push that point a little too hard. He said, what do you mean? He says, well, think of the thief on the cross. Surely, Jesus said he would be with him in heaven, but what chances did he have to serve? Aren't you pushing it a little bit too much that every person is responsible to serve the Lord with their life? And Ironside said, well, let's just think about that thief on the cross. Couldn't he point out who Jesus was? He identified Jesus Christ as the Messiah. He recognized his part in an eternal plan. And that day as he was dying, and Jesus was dying, and the other thief was dying, he appealed to the other dying saint. And Ironside concluded, he said, yeah what chance did he have? Little chance he had, but he used it. And there may very well come a day in eternity when that thief on the cross will stand before the Lord and he'll say, turn around, I want you to see the people who heard the message of your testimony preached. And these thousands upon thousands have come to Christ, come to me. Because you are faithful with that little opportunity you are given in your dying breath. You say, what can I do for God? You can give your very last breath for his glory. And he will use you. God wants to use you. God wants to use us. Sometimes evaluating a ministry or ministers tends to extremes. Either we overestimate or underestimate. Sometimes we put all our stock in a man and that's going to always be a mistake. Other times we say man is of no value or you say I am of no value. That's not true either. Let's trust God's estimate of his ministers and his servants. They're under rowers with responsibility. Are you overestimating your worth? How do I know? This church would never last a day without me. Maybe you're overestimating it a little bit. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it, Jesus said, okay? Are you on the other extreme and you say, I have nothing to contribute to God? That's a lie. Both extremes come from one source and it's pride. Because God wants to use you in some way for someone. Truly, we can never really know how God could use us, but we can be faithful. I was at the county fair this year. And that was a great day. I got to be with my granddaughter. And she had been learning some animal noises. And so she got to see some of those animals for the first time. And that look in her eyes when she saw the cow, she knows what the cow says. And he says, murr. And she goes, murr. Oh, I loved it. It was great. I loved it. It was the best. I wish I'd become a grandparent like 30 years ago. This is so fantastic. Just kidding. But while we were kind of waiting around, there were four turkey cages together, all toms. And the four turkeys were all looking different directions, but they were all moving counterclockwise. Very interesting. And as these four toms were moving, we had a tom bomb. Because all four of them locked eyes at the same moment. They puffed up and they got real big. And as soon as they saw each other, they had to strut their stuff, you know? I'm the macho one here. It was a time bomb. I've been thinking about that ever since the county fair. But sometimes we do the same thing. We're walking with God. We're trying to serve him. And all of a sudden, we lock eyes with somebody else and we feel a little bit competitive. Hmm, don't you know what I can do? And that moment is when we stop being useful to the Lord. God wants to take us where we are with what you're experiencing and he wants to use you. The less of you there is, the more he can be exalted. John 13, four says, of the Lord Jesus, he riseth from supper, laid aside his garments, and he took a towel and girded himself. After that, he poureth water into a basin, began to wash the disciples' feet, this is Jesus, and to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded. Jesus came as a servant, our Savior, served us all the way to the cross. It says in Mark 10, 45, even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give himself, excuse me, to give his life a ransom for many. Couple of last quick thoughts, our time is done. Number one, be careful when you're critical. Who are you being critical of? Somebody who's been made in the image of God. If they're a child of God or they're born again, remember the Holy Spirit resides within them. And they are your brother and sister in Christ, be careful. when you're critical. And for what purpose? Is it to build them, to mend them, to encourage them? To get them back on track? Is it out of love and concern for them? Or is it to put them in their place? Be careful when you're critical. Number two, be faithful when you're criticized. I don't know why it is, but sometimes when we serve the Lord and sometimes when you sacrifice the most, Satan loves to take the criticism of another in what may be only a A thumbtack's poke feels like a dagger through your heart. Be faithful when you're criticized. You probably will be. Remember who you serve. Remember who you will answer to. It's Jesus Christ. And for what purpose do I serve? It's not for my glory anyway, it's for his. Lord, I thank you for your word, and I thank you for these verses that help us understand a little bit of what Paul and Apollos and Cephas endured, but also help us to understand where we are, how we can be used to build up and strengthen one another, how we can be used to serve you with our lives, or how we can cause great division and contention through selfishness and pride. Oh Father, forgive us. Forgive us for seeking self, and I pray that you would enable us as a church, Lord, to see your hand in us. We are a body, diverse, but united. Under our head, your son Jesus. May he be exalted here in this church for the next 64 years. In Jesus' name, amen.