1 Corinthians chapter 4. And as we know that Paul is dealing with their choosing and favoritism of preachers or ministers as we call them. It's a Bible term as we see here tonight. The ministers of Christ and so He's getting down to the nitty gritty now and talking about this favoritism that they're displaying toward different pastors and preachers and said it's not right to do this. As we mentioned last week, maybe you're the preacher you don't like and dislike or like the least is the one you probably need to hear the most. because we say, I like him because he says what I like to hear. And so the fellow that steps on our toes and calms is the one that maybe we need to hear. I pray that's not me all the time. I know it is me some of the time. I don't deliberately do it, but if you're preaching the truth and we're preaching to save sinners, I emphasize sinners, we're going to be doing that. Praise the Lord that you keep coming even though that happens. I'm grateful for people that are willing to come even though that's the case. And so we're looking at God desires faithfulness of his stewards in these first six verses. And if you follow or look at the see the outline there, There's three reminders to stewards in verses three and four. There's introduction, verse one and two, and then three reminders to stewards. There is man's judgment that happens presently, verse three. There is self-judgment that we ought to do personally, verses three, the second part, and verse four, the first part. And then there is God's judgment. Perspectively, get it in the right perspective, verse four, the last part. And then the three reprimands to saints in verses five and six. Are you judging God's servant at the wrong moment? Are you judging by the wrong models? In verse six, the first part, and are you judging God's servant with the wrong motive? And pray the Lord as we go through that, that we get this done this evening. It's in its completeness. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for the word that we have before us and that it may be corrective if that needs to be the case. It may be encouraging. to us if that be the case. Lord and uplifting instructive tonight and it always is Lord we know that it touches some aspect of our lives at all times. Thank you for the word that's been preserved to us for us to this generation even maybe one of the last and later generations and Lord that we can have it accurately given. Bless the word for your glory and praise in Jesus name. Amen. So God desires faithfulness of his stewards. If you look at verse one, who was Paul referring to when he used the word us in that verse? Let a man so account of us. He is referring personally to himself and who had been already talking about in chapter one and two. Peter and Apollos, ministers, preachers. So he's answering the leaders of various factions in the church when he said, these were all ministers of Christ. Let a man so account of us, the ministers, as the ministers of Christ. So we're talking to the church in respect to these ministers of Christ. Now a minister, that's a term that's used more of the churches. We talk about pastors in Baptist churches, independent Baptist churches, but here they're talked about as ministers. And this term is used of under rowers. An under rower. You know who an under rower is? We don't have them around today. We've got engines, big engines. What's the big ship that went down hitting the iceberg? Yeah, that one. And they had some pretty big steam engines down there. And it was because of the coal fire, the coal, you know, and all the things that that fire got going into one of the bunkers of the coal down there after they hit the iceberg and all the things that happened to it. But anyway, big, massive engines down there. And some of the engines in the ships today are huge. These didn't have engines, and they had the sails, but they also had rowers. You've seen the pictures of the holes out the side of the big old ships, the galleys, that's it. And they had the under rowers. They were slaves that were chained to their seats underneath, and they had a drummer there that beat the drum. You had to be very accurate because those big row oars that went out the side of the ship, if they didn't stay in time, you can imagine the mess that they got into, the tangle of the oars. They all had to stay in time to keep the ship going. And that's the engine and different levels of them as well at times. It depends on how big the ship was. And so they had the drum beat and they had the fellow with the whip. The soldier with the whip walking up and down, making sure they're all pulling their weight. And this is what Paul referred to as the ministers. They were all under rowers. They were there, chained to their seat as under rowers, as ministers. And he said, this is me, Paulus, and Peter, and all the others that are ministers of Christ in the church. And that makes us all under rows for the Lord, where no one is no important than the other. No one is one any important, more important than the other. Galilee slaves, that's amazing as Paul put this to the people. And so he's saying, forget trying to make one more important than the other. He's telling these Corinthians, one is not more important than the other. Now, what does a steward do? As he said, he introduced count of us as the ministers of Christ. And these people would have understood what he's saying here. And stewards of the mysteries of God. What do stewards do? Well, we think of them as servants. They manage things, they manage things for somebody else, for their master. You think back into the Old Testament, Joseph was a steward. He managed everything for Mr. Potiphar in Genesis 39. In Galatians, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 10, it says this, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. So as Christians, we are doing good in the household of faith as Joseph did good in Potiphar's household. He was a steward in the household. We are stewards in the household of faith. We are all to do good in the household of faith, just as Joseph did in Potiphar's household. Are we doing that? Are we pulling our weight on the oar as ministers of the Lord, if we're a minister in that regard? Or are we, as stewards, doing what we ought to do? Joseph was faithful. He was so faithful in his ministry that Potiphar left it all to him. He didn't think about anything. He was a trustworthy man that could be left with it all. But old Mrs. Potiphar had different and lied and she was a wicked woman, really. I'm going to have to ask when we get to heaven, Joseph, when you become second in charge of Egypt? Did you deal with Mrs. Potterfell? I don't think he had a mean streak in him. He didn't deal with his brothers, did he? He didn't treat them meanly. God meant it to be so, so I accept it. What a gracious, merciful man he was, as he pictured the Lord Jesus Christ in a picture of the Lord. So Joseph and ministers were to be faithful to their masters and to no one else. This is where Paul is going, according to these first two verses in the introduction to this teaching here. Moreover, it's required of stewards that a man be found faithful. Faithful ministers of Christ. So many in the churches try to bring the preacher under their control. We hear a lot of the word coercion today. Coercing, you know, by force. We hear of countries trying to coerce other countries by putting the pressure on them. We hear about that in our country, don't we? Bigger countries, more powerful countries trying to coerce our country. We have people within churches trying to coerce the preacher by familiarity, by bribery. You say, that doesn't happen in Christian circles. We've all got old natures. That happens by superiority. by financial means, by gifts, goes along with that, by position, by threat, by giftedness and intellectualism. But you know what? He's not their servant in that regards. He's the Lord's servant. And he's to obey one master, the Lord Jesus Christ. You could say the preacher is not for sale. Shouldn't that be true? Wouldn't you like that to be true? That the pastor shouldn't be for sale? And this is what Paul is trying to emphasize. He is a minister of Christ. And to him he answers and he shouldn't be answering to others. There was a man in the Old Testament that was for sale, and his ministry could be brought. Can you remember who that was? There's probably as few, but one comes to my mind. Yes, I heard that. Balaam. Balak tried to buy Balaam, and he did. And he paid up a price. But Balaam was not allowed by the Lord to curse Israel. And he tried two or three times to curse them. What are you doing blessing them? But he was controlled by the Lord. And Balaam copped it for even going along with it. as the minister of God and the donkey squash in his leg and fallen down under him and him whipping the donkey and then he saw the, well, the donkey saw the angel before Balaam did, didn't he? Uncle Wallace referred to him a few times. There's a few things said, but. He said at the end of his life and ministry of over 40 years, he said, I could write a book about all this. And I think every preacher could write a book about things that go on in the ministry that shouldn't go on, but do go on because we live in a fallen world. Couldn't you? That's true. You could write a book about things that happen, but you couldn't write a book because it would implicate people. And that would be not right to do. And you see, people can be forgiven. People realize they've done wrong. People ask the Lord and get right. And you have to leave that and move on and pray that they do and pray that we do as preachers and ministers make mistakes too. and can easily fall for the trap of being brought under the control of some people. And if you have noticed and you've been around local churches long enough or seen another local church and you see somebody and you say, he or she has got the ear of the pastor. You might say that ear, I don't know, but I don't hear you. Be on you if you are, but anyway. And you think there's someone that's trying to do this to the preacher. You know, we can be friends, but there needs to be, there needs not to be somebody trying to do that for the sake of having their say above other folks within the church. We move on to see something else here. They are ministers of Christ. Account us as such and stewards of the mysteries of the Lord. What a wonderful subject, stewards of the mysteries of God. This is what the preacher is about, showing and encouraging people in the things of the Lord. And how important are the mysteries of God? Well, there's so many things that we don't understand. Even the preacher doesn't understand this side of eternity, but there are many things that they can be taught by the Lord through his word as they study the word. There's the sin, salvation, there's all the things about those, there's faith, the repentance and hell and heaven. You know, talk to an unsaved person and What was that about? I was talking to someone today in the break between church, and they talked to an unsafe person. The person said, what? Didn't get it, but they knew there was something a lot more than what they understood about eternity. In fact, I'd been talking to one of the people they were referring to, and I said, how's such and such? And I said, oh, they've passed away. I said, what? That was reasoning soundly only a few months ago. And they rung me a second time, and I talked to them. And actually, they said, when I get out of hospital, come in here. And they've gone. But they were asking a lot of questions about different things, and they were saved. But there's a lot of mysteries, a lot of truth of the word of God that the preacher comes across. Not all that we can remember. All of it, some can. Praise God that you can. Sanctification, service, things past, present, future. So many wonderful things that we can study about the mysteries of God. There are the mysteries that are particularly expounded in the Word of God. in the mystery of Christ and the cross in Romans. There's the mystery of the church in the book of Ephesians, as Paul said, I've been given this to teach you, Ephesians 3, 3 to 5, and he called it that, a mystery. In the book of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51, and in Thessalonians, it's expanded, it's not called a mystery there, but in chapter four, in verse 13 to 18, he called it a mystery of the Lord's coming. A lot of people don't understand that today. Trying to explain it to the neighbor one day. You know, he's like, what? He did literally do that. What? I said, Jesus is going to come and take true believers home. Because you say church, they think, oh, the church, no. True believing people, then I've got to explain what true believing people is. Then you give a testimony of how you're saved. That sounds odd to them, but it's a mystery to people. It's a mystery to a lot of church people, too, because they haven't been taught that. But they're particularly expanded and explained in the Word of God. And the Lord Jesus spoke of mysteries, didn't he? And he said in Matthew, let's turn there, in chapter 13 of the Gospel of Matthew. And he said in verse 10, as the disciples came to him and said, why are you speaking to them in parables? He answered and said to them, because it's given for you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But to them, it is not given. He was talking to the religious people. the religious Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Scribes and those that wouldn't receive him as the Messiah, he said, they're not going to understand what I'm talking about, but you are. They've had their opportunity, now it's yours. And he went on to talk about the seed and the sower and other parables in that chapter 13 that we took months when we were going through Matthew way back. to explain those things. And they're things we teach and preach today. And there are wonderful mysteries that are spoken about. The seed and the sower, we may even preach on that one next week. About proclaiming the message of the gospel. But there are mysteries, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven that are all expanded there in Matthew 13. The mystery. of Israel's blindness because of disbelief. That is spoken about directly in the scriptures. Why can't people see it? You go to Israel and you explain their scriptures to them. You read Isaiah 53 and you read from Zechariah and it's plain as the nose on your face who is talking about, the time in history is talking about, the person is talking about, but they don't get it. One day they will, but they don't get it. To them, it's a mystery. But the mystery of Israel's blindness. Why? So that we as Gentiles might get saved. So that church might be built up. And it has been for 2000 years. That the bride of Christ might be brought together until the last Gentile gets saved. Romans 11 25. And then it's over. And then the veil will be removed, as Corinthians tells us. And the mystery of the blindness of Israel will be removed. And what a day it'll be. And then Paul said at the end of chapter 11 of Romans, who can understand the purposes of God? How wonderful are his ways? He was flabbergasted, you might say, that the greatness of God and his plan and he he He marveled at that when he come to the section nine, 10 and 11 in Romans. Great is our God. And we're still laboring under the blindness of the mystery of Israel's blindness, the mystery of the translation of the living saints. We've mentioned that one already. Well, we can speak on that one, but we won't. The world is going to be in shock. Absolute shock. But today the media are telling so many lies and so hoodwinking the people of the world, they'll just spin another one, won't they? I think they'll just spin another one to deceive the world because if they're of the world, the world will hear them and they'll spin another one because the devil will have one for them to spin. Where did all these people go? Now, if the children disappear, they're gonna find it real hard to spin. How would you do it if you were one of them? You're not one of them, are you? You're not an unsafer, how would you spin it? Where did all these people go? You can sort of hear and, oh, the aliens come, didn't they? Yeah, right. And he is alien to them too. God is an alien to these unsafe people. But they've been told long enough and loud enough by enough preachers all around the world on this system, these systems today, that something's gonna happen and soon. But the mystery of the New Testament church that's composed of Jews and Gentiles, and that was not heard of in the Old Testament. Gentiles and Jews in the one system, in the one church and assemblage, no. They're dogs. They're not allowed in. Yes, we are. Ephesians speaks of it. Romans speaks of it. The mystery of the church as the bride of Christ. God, the Father, chose Israel to be the bride. And you talk about it in Jeremiah where the Lord and in separation and divorce from them, you know, I'll give you a bill of divorcement and things like that because they were the bride. But now the church being the bride of Christ, the mystery, the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus. These are the mysteries given to the preachers to preach on. How many are preaching on these things? How many are expanding and exposing their congregation to the wonderful mysteries of God? Do we know about them? Are we preaching them enough about these things? But the average church person doesn't know much about them. But Paul said, these ministers, these preachers, these evangelists, these pastors and teachers are given for doing exactly that. and they're to be faithful as the stewards of the mysteries of God. The mystery of iniquity. Oh, how wicked that man will be. It's about to be revealed and may be alive today. The mystery of the Antichrist. The mystery of iniquity. You know, we are awake to what he's going to do. We see the likeness of that in politicians today, don't we? And it's said that 60% of a certain state south of us believe the spin. Isn't that being told to us in the media today? And say, yes, it's right. And you say, how could they? How do they believe that? You see, it's already in the majority of people believe the spin. And the politicians are going to, of course, go with the spin that people believe. And the man, the mystery of iniquity, is going to spin an awful lot of lies. Because it's of the devil, isn't it? The devil's the father of lies. And that's how it's going to be spun in the future. The mystery of iniquity is The devil's man, the mystery that we don't want anything to do with, this man. The mystery of the seven stars in Revelation. And we understand what they are. They're representative of the seven churches, and they're representative of periods of church history, and we're at the last one, at the end of the last one, where the Lord's locked out of the churches, and he's knocking at the door. knocking at the door. So these are the mysteries and the mystery. The last one is the Revelation 17, the mystery of Babylon, the great, the mystery of the whole that sits on the political system. These are the things that the true preacher will explain to the folks of the church. And you can go with your phone even and ask for the word mystery. Look it up and find for yourself and study each one. That way you'll understand it better than me preaching about it. If you look it up yourself, study it out yourself, you'll get a grip on it better than me preaching it because you've done it for yourself and it means much more to you then. Now we go into the next stage, the next few verses. We look there at the It's required of these men that they be faithful, they don't be bribed, they don't be paid off, that they preach the truth and teach the truth, that they be found faithful to doing this. Don't be found to be one that tries to get them off track, to get them off doing what they are doing. Don't build their egos up so that they get a big head and fall for the trap of the devil. But with me, it's a very small thing, in verse three, that I should be judged of you or of any man's judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self. Three reminders to the stewards in verse three and four. There is man's judgment presently. This happens and has happened down through church history. So what did Paul think of when men judged him? Verse three. I count it as a very small thing. And people would have said, you arrogant preacher. How dare you think that of my judgment of you? And they could have thought that the Corinthians might have had a bit of a about that, about he's got upset with him when their criticism didn't hurt or affect him because he was not enterable to them, as we've already said. How could Paul face criticism in this way? Well, he knew his master's judgment was far more important than men's judgment. That's why he could face that. And we can, as preachers and pastors and evangelists can spend so much time wondering and worrying about what other people or what the people think that we can be got off track and put off balance. Over in chapter six and verse 12, Paul said this, all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient. I won't just go and do everything that I could do and say everything I could. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. Those people that criticize me, I will not be brought under the power of any. People turn up the pressure and turn up the pressure, but I won't be brought under their power, Paul said. I'm not going to be brought under their influence. $1,000 wasn't enough. Give me two. No, he didn't say that. He gave me 10. Whoa, what? No, not enough pressure. No, Paul said, I'm not going to be brought. I'm not going to be paid off. I won't be brought under the power of any. I think that's a good way for the preacher. How many have fallen to the pressure of the folk? And even of the pressure of popularity, that can be a thing too, can't it? Of being popular amongst the people. Man's judgment is not a thing. Presently, pray for the pastors and preachers of our country and our world that they don't succumb to this. It's so easy for it to happen. There are only men that are only mortal. It can happen. I've written down Matthew chapter 7. Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and what measure ye measure, it shall be measured to you again. So if you start judging the preacher for what he has done and how he does it and to whom he does it, whatever, it will return home, the chickens come home to roost. I've found that these sort of things, this judgment doesn't come and isn't issued from the Lord next year. It's usually 10 to 15 years later. And usually the preacher, if you're in a union Baptist church, as I said, you've moved on by then, four years, four years, four years, you're way off, you're way off somewhere else. But in independent churches, you're still around and you can see the consequences. I had one Union Baptist pastor talking about this. He said, you see the longevity of what happens just about these sort of things because you stay in one church for a long time and you see generations come and roll and go and come and that's true. than it is. There is man's judgment presently. Pray for the preachers that they stay strong and true to the Lord who is their master. There is self-judgment. And this is in verse three in the last part. All of man's judgment, yea, I judge not mine own self. Did Paul see anything amiss in his own life? And his own ministry? No, I judge not mine own self. Don't be permanently disabled by being perpetually fault-finding yourself and your sins and shortcomings. That is a danger too. You can question yourself and go home and say, in my little head, who did I step on today? Who's hurting today? You know, that that happens. You know, you've hurt somebody and you're preaching the word and I shouldn't have said it. I shouldn't have said it. And that happens every Sunday. This is what Paul's talking about here. When I study this, you say, oh, Yeah, I know how you feel, Paul. I know what you're saying, exactly saying here. The shortcomings and the things you said you felt maybe you shouldn't have gone so far. And then, true, I probably have gone too far at times. Exercising yourselves. And sometimes we really don't know ourselves. Yeah, I judge not my own self. There is self-judgment that, yes, we do need to say some things. A preacher rung me up once. I didn't ring him. I could have got all over him because he was interfering in the church here. He rung me up. I just left it with the Lord and he rung me up and I wasn't ready. You know, you're not ready when so they're all well, they've got it all there. They got it all written down, probably rung me up. And they said this to me. You're and I looked it up to get it. Ecclesiastics seven, verse 15 and 16. He said, You're overmuch righteous. And I'd heard it before, because I'd read it before. It was in Ecclesiastes 7. My immediate comeback to them was, and so are you. And I told him where, and what for, and he didn't come back at me. I won't tell you in what field. I told him where he was overmuch righteous, and he didn't Yeah, you're over much righteous in this. The area that he was referring to me was in a moral issue, not in my own life, in someone else's life. The area that I was talking to him about was in his music. Now, I'm strict on music, but I listened to what he had taught about music. And at the end, I said, I agree with what you say about music. But I said, you've taken a stand on music. If you took that on the moral issue, you'd be right. If you took the same stance on that. But you see, there is self-judgment and we need to do that. Was Paul cocky and full of self-confidence, bravado? No, I don't believe so. Yes, he was a Jew. Yes, and they can be pretty, you know, pretty there and up front. And people that are like that can be repulsive and obnoxious and offensive if they get going and they're not walking in the truth and not walking graciously and mercifully toward others. Paul, I believe, had the Spirit of God as he was saying these things, I judge not mine own self. Yes, of course he had a look at himself. and wondered. At times he wasn't that way. At times at Corinth, Paul had the Lord come to him and say, hey, Paul, keep going. Don't quit. The Lord knew that Paul was about to throw it in. And so the Lord come to him and encouraged him. He was so down on himself and the ministry that he was doing. There is God's judgment. There is God's judgment, as we see in these verses. For I know nothing by myself, in verse four, yet I am not hereby justified. But he that judgeth me is the Lord. The prospective judgment coming in the future. This is most important, isn't it? God judges us today through his word, by his spirit. The quick and powerful and sharp, two-edged sword of Hebrews chapter four, verse 12. It's the word of God. God uses loving friends to help us face and confess our sins. Matthew 18, 15 to 17. But centrist and unloving, hypocritical, unrighteous judgment, God deals with and takes very seriously. You look at Job and the friends, the so-called friends of Job, 42 and verse seven and eight, and how they were to come to Job and make an offering, those miserable friends that was censurous, unloving, hypocritical, and unrighteous judgment that they made upon Job. You've seen Job. This is why you've got this sickness. This is why everything's been taken from you. He needed comfort. He didn't need those sort of friends around him. And so God uses loving friends to graciously and gently encourage us and say, maybe there is something wrong and maybe you do need to take a look here at yourself. So God's judgment, God will judge and God will bring us into and tow us into lion if needs be, if things we can't see need to be seen. There. Jeremiah, I've written down here in chapter 17. Jeremiah 17, verses nine to 10. There we read, blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord. For he shall be like a tree by the waters and he spreadeth out her roots by the river and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. And we read the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? The Lord searches the heart. He tries the reins even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. And so the Lord can see and examine and make a right judgment on it. This is the prospective judgment of the Lord. Let him take care of the matter. And when else does the Lord judge an individual if he's not walking right? Well, very clearly in 1 Corinthians 11, where, let a man examine himself. there at the Lord's table and then let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. If you don't do it, you're eating and drinking unworthily. And for this cause, God sends weakness, sickness and death. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. And there's also the final judgment on Judgment Day at the judgment seat of Christ. The Lord will judge those that are not walking right. There's three reprimands to the saint in verses five and six. So there's three reminders to the minister and to the preacher, and then there's three reprimands in verse five and six. Therefore, Paul says, judge nothing before the time until the Lord come. And this is to the saints now. He's making a personal application of the truth just discussed. He closes the section with a threefold rebuke there. You are judging God's servants at the wrong moment. When will be the right time to evaluate the life and ministry of God's servants? When the Lord comes. You cannot see into men's hearts. You cannot begin to judge their motives, therefore. And God only, according to 1 Samuel 16, 7, can know the hearts. He knows the hearts. 1 Kings 8, verse 39. 1 Kings 8, 39 tells us very directly. that he is the one that examines the heart. It says there, then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest, for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men. God only knows the heart. Judge not by outward appearance. Judge righteous judgment. And the Corinthians were passing judgment on outward appearance or passing judgment on Peter, Apollos and Paul. They were playing God, asserting God's position, assuming themselves to be taking the privilege and being God in the part of these preachers. How easy it is to misread a situation and misjudge a person with limited understanding of the situation. We hear one side of the story and we think that's it. There's always the other side of the story. And in situations, the minister, the preacher, the pastor, the apologist, the Peter and the Paul have heard from, as wise to listen to both sides. And then making a sound of judgment. Because both people have a side to the situation. And Paul was saying, don't judge before the time you're judging at the wrong time. Leave it till later and really leave it to the Lord. And if you've got a real problem with it, pray earnestly that the Lord would work this through and work it out. Work it out, as it's read in that, judge nothing before the time, the wrong moment to do it, until the Lord comes. You're judging by the wrong models as well. The Corinthians were measuring different men by their own personal preferences and prejudices. They were comparing ministers with one another and with their own background. Where's the standard? Who's the standard? Well, it's the Lord. It should be. not their previous experiences in the world. The only true evaluation is from above. What is written? Go by the book, go by the book. And where does the Bible reveal what the true standard of the preacher should be? Is there a revelation somewhere? Of course there is. It's in Timothy and it's in Titus, is it not? It's written down, you know, this, if a man desire the office of a bishop, this is the standard and it's listed and for the deacon it's listed and again in Titus it's listed there. So be patient, judge nothing before the time, be prepared until the Lord comes. Will be probed, bring to light the hidden things of darkness, the Lord will bring it all to light. Oh wow, great day it will be. It will be manifest, it says there in verse five. It will be published. And then verse five, the last part, praised. then every man will have praise of the Lord, that every man will have praise of the Lord. You are judging God's servant with the wrong motive. The last part of verse six, so that we get it done just on time there, that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written. So he's really dealing with this partisanship within the church, that no one of you be puffed up the one against the other. with the wrong motive. What's behind these judgments that we're doing? It's pride. It's pride. Puffed up. Puffed up, he says here. I've written down bullfrog down against this. Puffed up, you see the bullfrog, he blows himself up, makes himself look bigger. Don't do that. Don't be puffed up. The first sin that started all the sins rolling was that of pride. So they needed to examine their own hearts and get rid of pride. And if you're going to judge, the Lord said, judge yourself first, because you might find something and all the judgment you've judged of others will melt away. Melt away. God's servants are the stewards of God's truth. And the key test is, have they been true to obey the word of God, that's their practice, and to teach and preach the word of God? If they have, leave it there. And I've got written down here a few, we're having time to look at some men's integrity that people judged wrongly. And don't be inflated with pride. And I've made the right judgment on these people. And don't be a bullfrog judging them. In fact, Paul used this word puffed up. Look there at verse 18 and 19 in the same chapter. Now, some of you are puffed up. These Corinthians had a problem with pride. As though I would not come to you. Paul said, OK, I will. I came humbly last time. Do you want to make do you want me to come? And using my talent of knowledge and a sharp tongue, I will and I can come to you in that manner if you want me to. In verse two of chapter five, And ye are, what is the word? Puffed up. In chapter eight and verse one, what did he say to them there? In chapter eight and verse one, he said, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that all things have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up. You Corinthians are puffed up. Chapter 13 and verse four, he said this. Love suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Mark them there. They're right through the book of Corinthians about being toughed up. God hates pride. Proverbs 6, 17. So be careful about your judgment on those who serve and minister the gospel to you. We have opinions. Sometimes it's best to keep them to ourselves until the Lord comes and then he'll bring the hidden things to light, things you didn't know anything about and you made the wrong call on it, wrong judgment. Leave it till that day. Let God do the business of judging and then every man will have praise. Let's leave it till then. Dear Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you that it points Do these things help us to be those slaves, as it were, to minister the gospel to all people and to get along with each other? And Lord, so often we can make a judgment. Our judgment is tainted by our background, our understanding of scripture or lack thereof. And Lord, we're passing these things and making it in our human understanding and wisdom and Lord, Pride gets in the way, everything gets in the way, and everything's tainted. And we bring defilement to the church of the Lord, we defile it by our action. Forgive us when we've done it. Bring us back to the book and may we humbly bow before you and say, Lord, use me as your servant in whatever way you can for your glory until you come. And Lord, if we've done past judgment, if as preachers we've done the wrong thing, said the wrong thing with the wrong motif, Lord, forgive us and move us on to expound and explain the mysteries of God there, right through all the scripture, that people might be blessed and encouraged in walking in the faith in these last days. Guide us as we go through this week, each one of us, as we go out of here for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.