1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,000 Happy New Year, church. 2 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:03,320 I'm so glad to be here. 3 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:07,200 Be back in the pulpit and I'm glad to see most of you back. 4 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,200 There's many people sick today. 5 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,120 And we all gave each other gifts of sickness over the Christmas 6 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:15,320 season. 7 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:17,520 Who here knows somebody that's sick right now? 8 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:18,520 Yeah, all over the room. 9 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,920 So yeah, we definitely want to pray for everybody. 10 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:22,840 If you're a Bibleist, the first Corinthians chapter 3 11 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:24,600 is where we're going to be today. 12 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,480 And we're going to have a great time together. 13 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,480 I love the music we sing. 14 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,480 God has done great things. 15 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,960 And He is doing great things. 16 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,360 And He will hold us fast. 17 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:35,960 And I'm so grateful for that. 18 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,160 First Corinthians chapter number 3, 19 00:00:38,160 --> 00:00:41,000 I received something that you may have received in the mail 20 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:42,040 yesterday. 21 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:48,160 And it was an invitation to the gym. 22 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:50,160 Anybody else get something like that in the mail 23 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:52,760 or have you been advertised about the gym? 24 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,600 OK, they just sent it to unhealthy, chubby people 25 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,160 apparently. 26 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:58,160 I got one. 27 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,080 And don't worry, I didn't give in. 28 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:06,160 I didn't go join, although I'm kind of thinking about it. 29 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:09,280 Maybe going public with a sermon that I might need to do that 30 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,280 would be a good thing for me. 31 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:10,760 I don't know. 32 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:15,360 But this time of year is a good time for Jim to advertise 33 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,720 because full confession, who ate too much over the Christmas 34 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:19,120 season? 35 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:20,320 Who ate too much? 36 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:23,360 OK, who ate too much from Thanksgiving till now? 37 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,200 OK, who plans on eating too much in the future? 38 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:27,160 OK. 39 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,080 Yeah, it's confession time. 40 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,480 The busyness is so amazing this time of year, 41 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,800 the busyness of the Christmas season. 42 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:37,160 I think December 1st through December 25th for me 43 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,920 is the busiest four weeks of the year. 44 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:41,520 There's just so much that goes on. 45 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,400 And then it comes to a screeching halt for a couple weeks. 46 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,640 We went down to see my family. 47 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:49,760 It seemed slower, but it was still kind of busy, wasn't it, 48 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:50,360 babe? 49 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,680 But we had a good time with our family. 50 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:54,360 And this time of year, I'm always thinking, 51 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:59,200 it's the contrasting of all of the busyness and maybe 52 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,440 all the eating and all of the fun and the festivities that 53 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:06,200 happened at the beginning during the holiday season 54 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:10,960 to then the fresh slate of a new calendar and a new year 55 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,480 and the time that you've got to kind of think about, 56 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:15,120 what am I doing with my life? 57 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:16,400 Where am I going? 58 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:17,440 What are my habits? 59 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:18,960 What are my goals? 60 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:20,240 How do I feel physically? 61 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,920 How do I feel spiritually, emotionally, mentally? 62 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:26,760 These are good things to think about. 63 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,160 Someone once said the unexamined life is not worth living. 64 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,960 And I think it's a good thing for us to take stock 65 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:37,960 and to take a stewardship, take thought of our stewardship 66 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:39,200 of all the things that we have. 67 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,960 You know, none of us own anything. 68 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:44,440 None of us own anything. 69 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,040 Everything that we have is God's. 70 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:49,400 And He's given it to us. 71 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,880 By the way, there are no U-Hauls connected to herces. 72 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:55,640 You can't take it with you, right? 73 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:56,800 You can't send it ahead. 74 00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:59,720 That's another sermon, but you can't take it with you. 75 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:04,040 And in today's sermon, and I thought this was just 76 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,080 in the Lord's timing of everything, 77 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,160 pretty amazing about how the preaching count, 78 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:09,280 I'm not this smart, okay? 79 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:10,120 I'll just be honest with you. 80 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:11,960 I'm not that smart to make this happen. 81 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,960 But we ended the last portion that we talked about 82 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,600 the week before Family Day, which is the week before 83 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,520 Thanksgiving, and since then we've done other things 84 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:24,520 in the preaching calendar. 85 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,800 We have been walking through first Corinthians, 86 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,240 and we're gonna continue to do that. 87 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:30,640 It's gonna take us a long time. 88 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:31,960 But you guys plan on coming, right? 89 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:32,960 And I plan on being here. 90 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,600 So let's just study the Bible, right? 91 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:37,200 It's easier than me making stuff up. 92 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,400 You don't wanna hear what I have going on up here, okay? 93 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,840 But in our text for today, Paul says, 94 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,680 moreover, it's required in stewards that a man be found 95 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:48,520 faithful. 96 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,000 He says before that, but a man so account of us 97 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,240 as of the ministers of Christ and stewards 98 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,320 of the mysteries of God. 99 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:03,540 And so Paul is talking here about stewardship, 100 00:04:03,540 --> 00:04:07,040 and he's pointing to a stewardship that's greater 101 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,600 than a stewardship of our mere bodies, 102 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:14,600 greater than a stewardship of our stuff, of our money, 103 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:16,960 of our relationships even. 104 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,600 He says when it comes to leaders, and I would say 105 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,640 when it comes to people who are Christ followers, 106 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:25,880 that you and I have a stewardship, 107 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:27,520 and in the stewardship he's talking about here, 108 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:32,520 he literally calls stewards of the mysteries of God. 109 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,680 You see that in verse one? 110 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:36,440 Stewards of the mysteries of God. 111 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:41,360 Now in the Bible, when the Bible talks about a mystery, 112 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:42,840 especially in the New Testament, 113 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:47,840 it's not talking about a mystery like Shaggy and Scooby 114 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,400 and those pesky teenagers, okay? 115 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:51,640 You guys know what I'm talking about? 116 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:54,920 He's not talking about the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew 117 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,200 or Perry Mason, okay? 118 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,840 He's talking, those are some old school references. 119 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:01,280 Did you guys like that? 120 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:02,360 That's just what came to mind. 121 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:03,960 I didn't write any of that down. 122 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,040 I'm getting older, okay. 123 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,960 He's talking about a mystery in this way, 124 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,200 something that was previously not revealed 125 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,920 that's now being revealed, okay? 126 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,880 Something that was previously unrevealed or hinted at, 127 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,400 but is now being revealed. 128 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,040 And the thing that Paul is saying 129 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,040 that he is a steward of the mysteries of is this, 130 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,920 that he has been given this thing called the gospel, 131 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,080 that Jesus Christ died on the cross, 132 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,400 he was buried and he rose again from the dead. 133 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,080 This is something that was pointed to in the Old Testament 134 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,360 by things like the sacrificial system, 135 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:44,840 by prophecies like saying Isaiah, 136 00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:46,720 where he says that for his stripes, 137 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:47,560 we would be healed, 138 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:49,880 that there would be the suffering servant that would come. 139 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,800 Yeah, the government would be on his shoulder, 140 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,000 but he would also be put to death 141 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,560 and make his grave with the wicked 142 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:57,720 and with the rich in his death, 143 00:05:57,720 --> 00:05:58,800 but then he would see his seed, 144 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,080 he would prolong his days and the Lord would make that to happen, 145 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:04,800 the zeal of the Lord to perform this. 146 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:06,680 That was all things that we're talking about this Jesus 147 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:07,520 that was coming, 148 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:09,880 and now that had actually happened in real history, 149 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:11,920 Christ had been risen and resurrected, 150 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,120 and because of that, the whole world needs to know 151 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,120 what's now being revealed, 152 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,120 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, 153 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:20,800 that he died on the cross and he rose from the dead, 154 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,200 so that all of us could be saved, 155 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,080 who's as thankful for that? 156 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,400 And we have a stewardship of that message. 157 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,640 And if you were to go back through the last couple of chapters 158 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,320 of Corinthians, 159 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:34,560 Paul calls this the wisdom of God. 160 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,400 The wisdom of God, he puts into two words, 161 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:40,240 and it's this, 162 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,040 do you guys remember what the two words are? 163 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,680 Dude, this section right here, 164 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:48,800 somebody in there was paying attention, 165 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,000 because that was back in November, 166 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:50,840 you were on it, 167 00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:52,520 it's Christ crucified, 168 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:53,880 what's the wisdom of God? 169 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:55,520 Christ crucified. 170 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:56,960 Christ crucified, he says, 171 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:58,880 in fact, go with me in your Bibles, 172 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:00,600 I'll just catch you up and remember 173 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:01,480 what he was talking about. 174 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:03,760 Back in 1 Corinthians chapter one, 175 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:08,760 verse 18, he says, 176 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,240 for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, 177 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:13,560 what? 178 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:15,640 Foolishness, 179 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:17,560 but unto us which are saved, 180 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:19,760 it is the power of God. 181 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:21,480 For it is written, 182 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:22,760 I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, 183 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:26,400 I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent, 184 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,280 where is the wise, 185 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:28,120 where is the scribe, 186 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:29,520 where is the disputer of this world? 187 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,680 hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 188 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,960 There's a way of thinking that says, 189 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:39,000 for you to make it, 190 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,200 you gotta pull yourself up by your bootstraps. 191 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,640 For you to make it out of this, 192 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,400 for you to make it into whatever happens after this life, 193 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:48,360 you gotta live right, 194 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:50,400 you gotta do right, 195 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:51,240 you gotta work right. 196 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,720 Every religion says, 197 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:54,920 do a bunch of good works, 198 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:56,000 and if you do a bunch of good works, 199 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:57,720 however they define those good works, 200 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,680 one day you'll make it to a good place, right? 201 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,600 That's kind of the thing. 202 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,000 What he's saying is, 203 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,440 it's not that at all. 204 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:06,480 You're not good. 205 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:08,360 I'm not good. 206 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:10,480 Someone had to pay for us 207 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:15,280 and Christ was slaughtered on the cross, 208 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,960 and his righteousness was put to our account, 209 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,200 so that we can be made right with God, right? 210 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:22,760 So it's not about what we do, 211 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:24,240 it's about what he did, 212 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:25,760 it's already done. 213 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:27,080 Now to a lot of people who say, 214 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:30,440 so your hope is in a Jewish carpenter 215 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:32,320 that lived 2,000 years ago 216 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:35,720 that was martyred by the Romans. 217 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:36,680 Yes! 218 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,000 Yes! 219 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,400 And if it sounds stupid, oh well, 220 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:45,240 I'll be a fool for Jesus, 221 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:47,320 because he died for us. 222 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,600 So that's the foolishness of God 223 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:51,440 that he's talking about. 224 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:52,640 What seems foolish to the world 225 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:54,320 is actually the wisdom of God. 226 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:55,200 What's the wisdom of God? 227 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,680 It's Christ crucified. 228 00:08:57,680 --> 00:09:00,520 But Paul has this problem with the Corinthians, right? 229 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:02,880 And there's a lot of problems. 230 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,000 In fact, today I was talking to Ms. Jeannie, 231 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,080 we were looking for, 232 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:07,560 she's got a friend that's looking for a church, 233 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:09,880 and we were looking up churches in this particular area, 234 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:11,080 and there was this church 235 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,200 that was titled Corinthian Baptist Church. 236 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:15,240 And I was like, man, 237 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:18,520 have they read those books? 238 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:20,040 Have they read those books? 239 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:21,400 That's a messed up church. 240 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,040 Maybe they were just saying, yeah, we're messed up too. 241 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,240 That's what our name's gonna be, messed up church. 242 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:29,560 If you guys want to be the pastor 243 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:31,160 in the name of the church of Corinthian Baptist Church, 244 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:32,360 I'll be like, I'll be your pastor, 245 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,360 but we gotta change the name, okay? 246 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,040 Because this church is a messed up church, 247 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:37,960 as you're gonna see even more. 248 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,440 They were fighting, there was division in this church. 249 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,160 And so Paul's talking about the wisdom of God 250 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,160 and it's in and around this whole conversation 251 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:48,080 that he's having about the division 252 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:49,520 that was going on in this church. 253 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:52,800 And he says that in chapter one, verse 10, 254 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:53,640 where he says, 255 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,840 I beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, 256 00:09:57,840 --> 00:09:59,840 that you all speak the same thing, 257 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,520 and that there be no divisions among you, 258 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,360 but that you be perfectly joined together 259 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,800 in the same mind and in the same judgment, 260 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,560 for it has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, 261 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:12,520 by them which are the house of Chloe, 262 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,920 that there are contentions among you. 263 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,880 Now this I say that every one of you sayeth, 264 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:20,520 there's a bunch of fighting going on among you, 265 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:22,320 and this is the fighting, and this is what it's around. 266 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,320 How do you guys remember what I'm talking about? 267 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,120 This is the fighting, some of you are saying, 268 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:29,360 I'm of Paul, I'm on team Paul, he's the best. 269 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,120 And we don't like you guys who are of team Apollos. 270 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,320 And the Apollos people are like, Paul, yeah, he's great, 271 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,720 but Apollos, he's the man, and you guys are dumb, right? 272 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:41,520 There's like this contention, this division over these people. 273 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,120 He says, some of you are saying, I'm of Paul, 274 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,120 I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, 275 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,120 and then there's an ultra spiritual, I'm of Christ. 276 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,920 And then he asks this question, is Christ divided? 277 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:53,720 Was Paul crucified for you? 278 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:56,320 Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 279 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:57,520 He says basically no. 280 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,320 For Christ sent me verse 17, not to baptize, 281 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,320 but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, 282 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,720 or not with man's wisdom, 283 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:08,720 lest the cross of Christ should be made in effect. 284 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,120 I'm gonna use God's wisdom, that's what he's saying. 285 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,720 So this is a divided church, 286 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,320 and he, in these first couple of chapters, 287 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,220 as we get into chapter three into today's text, 288 00:11:19,220 --> 00:11:22,520 he's saying, you guys are divided, you're acting, 289 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,820 even though you've bought into the gospel, 290 00:11:24,820 --> 00:11:28,120 even though you've accepted Christ as your savior, 291 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,920 even though you are in Christ, you are acting like 292 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,320 immature children fighting over who your leaders are. 293 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,120 If you want my proof on that, go to chapter three. 294 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,520 I'm skipping a lot, but we already preached all this. 295 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,320 Check out the podcast, go to chapter three, verse one. 296 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:46,920 And I, brethren, he says, verse one, 297 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,820 could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, 298 00:11:49,820 --> 00:11:54,020 but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 299 00:11:54,020 --> 00:11:56,420 I have fed you with milk and not with meat. 300 00:11:56,420 --> 00:11:58,320 For hitherto you were not able to bear it, 301 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,720 neither now are you able, what's he saying? 302 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,720 I wanna give you grown up things, 303 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,920 but I can't give you grown up things to help you grow 304 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:11,320 because you're still acting like babies. 305 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:16,020 I wanna give you a T-bone, but you gotta be on formula. 306 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,120 I wanna give you meat and taters, 307 00:12:21,820 --> 00:12:23,320 but you're still on mama's milk 308 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,220 because you're not acting like adults. 309 00:12:26,220 --> 00:12:27,220 Well, what's the evidence of that? 310 00:12:27,220 --> 00:12:29,720 But why are you saying we're immature? 311 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:32,620 Verse three, for you are yet carnal, 312 00:12:32,620 --> 00:12:34,920 for whereas there is among you envying and strife 313 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:37,820 and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as men? 314 00:12:37,820 --> 00:12:41,020 For one saith, I'm of Paul, and another I'm of Apollos. 315 00:12:41,020 --> 00:12:43,220 Are you not yet carnal? 316 00:12:43,220 --> 00:12:44,720 Who then is Paul? 317 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:48,020 Who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, 318 00:12:48,020 --> 00:12:50,320 even as the Lord gave to every man? 319 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,320 And then he says this, I have planted Apollos watered, 320 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,720 but God gave the increase. 321 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,120 What is he saying? 322 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,360 Any leader that you have that helps you 323 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,460 is a leader that's been given to you by God. 324 00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:09,120 And anything that leader does that helps you, 325 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,460 it's helping you because God empowers them to do it. 326 00:13:12,460 --> 00:13:15,360 And anything that is true to that leader saying 327 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,020 is truth that belongs to God and not exclusively 328 00:13:18,020 --> 00:13:18,960 to that leader. 329 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:23,060 What he tries to say in the rest of chapter three is, 330 00:13:23,060 --> 00:13:24,680 we owe everything to God. 331 00:13:25,620 --> 00:13:28,680 God's the one that does everything, not man. 332 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:32,920 God uses leaders to steward what he gives them 333 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,760 to make a difference in people's lives. 334 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:36,240 Does that make sense? 335 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:37,240 That's what he's saying. 336 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,640 And so you're not better than me, 337 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:41,920 and I'm not better than you. 338 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,320 You are not more loved by God than I am, 339 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,280 and I'm not more loved by God than you are. 340 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,820 God loved the whole world so much 341 00:13:49,820 --> 00:13:51,840 that he gave his only begotten son. 342 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,780 That's the issue. 343 00:13:53,780 --> 00:13:56,060 And so he's talking about these leaders. 344 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,840 And he talks about them like a harvest. 345 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,800 We're just catching us up from where we've been. 346 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:07,520 He's been talking about the church like a harvest. 347 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:08,440 How is the church grown? 348 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:10,960 He says, I've planted, Apollo says water, 349 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:12,760 but God gives the increase. 350 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,440 He then talks about the church like a building, right? 351 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,120 If you look down to verse 10, 352 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:20,160 according to the grace of God, 353 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,480 which is given unto me as a wise master builder, 354 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,000 I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, 355 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:28,480 but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. 356 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,480 And then he talks about his God's temple, verse down 16. 357 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:38,080 Know that you're the temple of God 358 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,160 and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you. 359 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,280 Who's excited about the fact 360 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,680 that the spirit of God lives in us, right? 361 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:48,920 So this is all of God. 362 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,480 It's God's spirit, it's God's work. 363 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,880 God inhabits them and how they live matters. 364 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:57,760 And God will hold them accountable to that. 365 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:01,440 So he's dealing here with their arguing 366 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:04,280 and their division over these human leaders 367 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:06,720 as evidence of their immaturity. 368 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,880 He tells them that all of this is really God, 369 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:11,360 that God's wisdom is important, 370 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,320 that Christ crucified is what has made a difference 371 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:15,360 in their lives. 372 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,520 Paul and Apollos are nothing but ministers of God. 373 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:21,160 And this is the context in which he gives today 374 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:23,600 what we're gonna look at is three behaviors 375 00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:27,520 about how we should relate to 376 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,520 and think through God's wisdom through leaders in the church. 377 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:33,160 That's kind of where he's talking about. 378 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,800 And I think there's, here's kind of what I wanna talk 379 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,440 to you about today. 380 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,520 Just like leaders in the church, teachers, Sunday school 381 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,160 leaders, deacons, elders, pastors, 382 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:45,440 those of us who have those leadership positions, 383 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,200 we have a stewardship but you have a stewardship too. 384 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:51,520 Okay, point to who has a stewardship. 385 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,720 That's all of us, right. 386 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,520 And so we all have a stewardship of the things 387 00:15:56,520 --> 00:15:58,760 that God's given us, the ministries that God's given us, 388 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,160 the spiritual gifts that God's given us, 389 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:02,480 the opportunities that God has given to us. 390 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,200 And so how should we act according to that? 391 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,280 How do we act with leaders in our life 392 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,040 in a way that conforms to God's wisdom 393 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:11,480 in dealing with this? 394 00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:12,880 So here's what we have. 395 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:14,840 We should relate to leaders through the filter 396 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,720 of God's wisdom with these three behaviors. 397 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,200 I think this will get clear as we move forward. 398 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:22,440 First, number one, we judge leaders, 399 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:26,160 we judge leaders according to God's wisdom. 400 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:32,120 Not our own wisdom, God's wisdom. 401 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:33,480 Are you with me? 402 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,640 Okay, let's look at verse 18. 403 00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:40,400 Let no man deceive himself. 404 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,800 If any man among you seem it to be wise in this world, 405 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,760 let him become a fool that he may be wise. 406 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,760 Now, you may wonder why did you go 407 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,840 from chapter 18 in Pichatech that goes all the way 408 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:56,880 to chapter four, verse five? 409 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:58,160 I wanna show you three things. 410 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:02,880 Number verse 18, let no man deceive himself. 411 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:03,720 You see that? 412 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,680 Then you have verse number four, 413 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,680 verse number four, let a man so account of us. 414 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,160 Let me get back to my notes here. 415 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:26,000 In verse 18, let no man, then verse 21, 416 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,800 therefore let no man glory in men. 417 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,040 Verse 18, let no man deceive himself. 418 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:33,480 Verse 21, let no man glory in men. 419 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:37,120 Verse chapter four, verse one, let a man so account of us. 420 00:17:37,120 --> 00:17:40,000 So two times he says, don't do it this way, 421 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,680 rather do it this way. 422 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:42,680 You see that? 423 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:46,000 Let no man, verse 18, deceive himself. 424 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:51,000 Verse 21, therefore let no man glory in men. 425 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,640 Chapter four, verse one, let a man so account of us. 426 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,640 So these are three commands, two negative, one positive. 427 00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,200 When we get to chapter four, he says, 428 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:01,440 let no man deceive himself. 429 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,240 Don't be deceived about how you think about human leaders. 430 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:07,280 Human leaders don't need to be thought of 431 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,640 as possessing some unique capacity 432 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,080 or some wisdom in and of themselves. 433 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:14,760 If the leader's doing what God wants, 434 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,040 then he's saying and doing what God has given him to say, 435 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,880 using the gifts and abilities that God has given him to do. 436 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:24,760 He says, don't be deceived. 437 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:26,880 If anyone, you think that you're wise in the world, 438 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,120 let him become a fool that he may be wise. 439 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:32,040 Their wisdom, if it's of the world, is really foolishness. 440 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,520 Their foolishness is the foolishness of God. 441 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:36,760 If that's really wisdom. 442 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,840 And then Paul goes on in verse 19 to quote, 443 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:40,920 he does two quotes here, you see this? 444 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,600 Verse 19, for the wisdom of the world 445 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:45,800 is foolishness with God, for it is written, 446 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:50,600 he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 447 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:53,760 This is from Job 513. 448 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,240 He's saying he taketh the wise in their own craftiness, 449 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:00,080 meaning this, God knows how man thinks. 450 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:02,600 God knows what you're thinking right now. 451 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:07,600 God can see the mind and God can see the heart. 452 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:11,080 And so when he says he's taking the wise 453 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:14,040 in their own craftiness, here's what he's saying. 454 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:16,880 God's not stumped by any of us. 455 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,640 God's word and God's will is not thwarted by any man. 456 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:24,800 God's wisdom is what saves, not man's. 457 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,440 God is gonna be the one that builds this church, not man. 458 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:29,560 That's what it's saying. 459 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:31,080 He goes on in verse 20, and again, 460 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,080 the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, 461 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,160 that they are vain. 462 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,080 God knows what we think, and he's ultimately the judge of it. 463 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,400 And those who are esteemed in our culture, 464 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,920 as the wisest among us, have dumb thoughts. 465 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,160 They don't always think right. 466 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:52,560 Compared to the wisdom of God, they're vain, they're empty. 467 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,560 The point of this text is this, 468 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,920 we should discern leaders in our lives 469 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,160 according to God's wisdom and not man's wisdom. 470 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:04,120 We should see them in light of God's perspective. 471 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:05,800 We should love them. 472 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:06,920 We should care for them. 473 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:08,600 We should be thankful for them, 474 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,880 but we should not venerate them as we do God himself. 475 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,880 We should understand their own capacity for sin and error. 476 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:21,240 Listen, when I preach, hold me accountable 477 00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,720 to what God's word says. 478 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,400 If it's my opinion, I'm gonna try to tell you 479 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:27,360 it's my opinion. 480 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:30,240 If it does say it the Lord, I wanna say that. 481 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:31,880 Does that make sense? 482 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,000 I am accountable to him. 483 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,000 We are speaking God's word and God's wisdom 484 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,200 with God's name enabling, 485 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:41,600 and if that's happening, then we should listen. 486 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:43,600 We should be, how many of you guys have heard this term? 487 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,880 We should be Berean in our evaluation of teachers 488 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:48,720 in the church. 489 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:49,560 How many of you guys have heard someone say 490 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:50,440 you should be like the Bereans? 491 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:51,680 Do you know where that comes from? 492 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:55,360 Look in Acts chapter 17, it'll be on the screen. 493 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:56,720 Acts 17, 10 through 12. 494 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,240 This is what it says. 495 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,160 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas 496 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,120 by night unto Berea, who coming thither 497 00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:06,800 went into the synagogue of the Jews. 498 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,440 They were more noble than those in Thessalonica. 499 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:10,880 Well, why were they noble? 500 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,000 In that they received the word with alreadiness of mind, 501 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,560 here it is, and searched the scriptures. 502 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:18,800 What is it? 503 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,540 Daily, whether those things were so. 504 00:21:22,540 --> 00:21:24,020 I love that. 505 00:21:24,020 --> 00:21:27,800 These people would listen to the preaching 506 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,960 and teaching of God's word, and they would receive it, 507 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:32,920 but then they would back it up. 508 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,960 They would go read the scriptures, 509 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,680 and how often did it say daily? 510 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,440 Hey, listen, as we start the new year, 511 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:42,040 I want you to know this. 512 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,400 I personally, as a teacher, are Sunday school teachers, 513 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,880 are Sunday night preachers, Myles and Corey, 514 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,480 and those who give the scripture, 515 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:57,480 we feed you when you show up, but it ain't enough food for you. 516 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,680 You need to be in God's word every day, every day. 517 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:06,880 If you try to eat once a week, 518 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,040 it's not gonna go well for you. 519 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,780 You need to eat every, every day. 520 00:22:11,780 --> 00:22:13,960 So he says, they searched the scripture daily, 521 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,280 whether those things were so, verse 12, 522 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:19,840 therefore many of them believed also of honorable women, 523 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,520 which were Greeks and of the men, not a few. 524 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,160 What a testimony, right? 525 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:26,920 They heard from Paul, but they saw, 526 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,920 but they saw if what he said matched God's wisdom, 527 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:32,320 and it transformed them. 528 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:33,800 So here's the first point. 529 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:39,160 We judge leaders according to God's wisdom. 530 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:40,880 We judge us according to God's wisdom, 531 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:42,600 but let's make it personal to us. 532 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,880 We should judge ourselves according to what? 533 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,840 God's wisdom, God's wisdom. 534 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,440 Remember that the passage today started with this phrase, 535 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:56,800 let no man deceive themselves. 536 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,960 Let no man deceive themselves. 537 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:04,040 You know who you're most prone to believe lies from? 538 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:04,880 You. 539 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:09,220 You guys are like, what? 540 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,040 I'm lying to me? 541 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:13,080 Yes. 542 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:15,920 Sometimes you tell yourself stuff that's not true. 543 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,440 Sometimes the hardest things to see 544 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,080 are things in the mirror. 545 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:29,080 Okay, and so we need to look in the mirror of God's word 546 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,440 and assess ourselves by God's wisdom. 547 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,040 Here's my question, are you ready? 548 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,400 Are you growing in the wisdom of God, 549 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:40,240 or are you self-deceived? 550 00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,960 Are you growing in the wisdom of God? 551 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:44,800 Are you talking about me? 552 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:45,800 Yeah, I'm talking about you. 553 00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:47,920 You, you. 554 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,840 Are you growing in God's word, 555 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,760 or are you self-deceived? 556 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:55,600 That's a good question. 557 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,000 Okay, number two, here we go. 558 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,560 We use leaders to learn God's wisdom. 559 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:01,320 Look at verse 21. 560 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:02,440 Here's what he says. 561 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:07,440 Therefore, let no man glory in men. 562 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:12,440 Let no man glory in men. 563 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:17,120 The problem in this church is that they were dividing. 564 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:18,760 Part of the reason they were dividing 565 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,760 was that they were gloriaing in certain leaders. 566 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,200 They were holding up certain leaders. 567 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,720 And once they chose the leader that they liked, 568 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,720 they put them at division with the other people. 569 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:35,720 And so what Paul says is, hey, this is all about God. 570 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:37,440 This is all about God. 571 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:40,320 So don't glory in men. 572 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,960 This was exactly the problem that they had. 573 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:46,360 He goes on to say this. 574 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,160 Now this is maybe the most exciting phrase 575 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:50,600 in the whole passage. 576 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:51,600 Are you ready? 577 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:54,280 I want you to think about this, 578 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:56,120 and then if you think about this 579 00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:58,560 and it makes you excited, I want you to say amen. 580 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,480 There may be like a delay in how quickly you say amen. 581 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:04,320 But here it is. 582 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,960 For all things are yours. 583 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:10,800 Wow. 584 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,600 For all things are yours. 585 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,560 What is he saying? 586 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,760 He's saying the things that you have access to in Christ, 587 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,920 everybody else does too. 588 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,920 The thing that you so admire about Paul and Apollos 589 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,360 and Cephas, those things are the things 590 00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,320 you have access to also. 591 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,520 The point he's making is the wisdom of God 592 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:35,240 is available for everybody. 593 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,600 I know I do this all the time, but seriously, 594 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:41,680 you're not excited? 595 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,880 You have everything you need. 596 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,920 You have, if you are in Christ, 597 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,160 you have everything you need to live a life 598 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:54,480 that God, that glorifies God, that honors God, 599 00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:58,080 that brings him glory, that fulfills his purpose 600 00:25:58,080 --> 00:25:59,920 for you and your life. 601 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:01,640 You have everything you need. 602 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,320 You're lacking nothing. 603 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:07,200 We have the Bible. 604 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:09,680 God wrote a book. 605 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:12,480 It's really good. 606 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:13,760 You should read it daily. 607 00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:15,000 It's really good. 608 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,520 And he's giving you a spirit, the author of this book 609 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,160 to live inside of you. 610 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:21,480 This is an incredible thing. 611 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,880 He says, all things are yours, 612 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,120 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, what does that mean? 613 00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:30,040 What is he saying? These are yours? He's saying, 614 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,280 God literally gave these leaders 615 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:35,840 so that you could get his wisdom and you can grow. 616 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,000 That's awesome. 617 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,080 There's a sense in which that when God, 618 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,280 this isn't in the notes, Steve, don't get worried. 619 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:46,200 Ephesians 4. 620 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:48,240 Ephesians 4. 621 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:53,920 Chapter, this I want to be on the screen, 622 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:54,760 so you gotta look at it. 623 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:55,560 You have a Bible? 624 00:26:55,560 --> 00:26:57,280 Paper Bible, digital Bible? 625 00:26:57,280 --> 00:26:58,480 Look, Ephesians 4. 626 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,080 Look at verse 7. 627 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,840 But every one of us is given grace 628 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,320 according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 629 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,480 Wherefore he saith, when he ascended upon high, 630 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:23,000 he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. 631 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,360 Okay, you guys have gifts from God. 632 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:26,200 Verse 9. 633 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:27,960 Now that he ascended, what is it now? 634 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:29,800 But also that he descended, first and the lower parts 635 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:31,800 of the earth, he that descended is the same. 636 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:33,920 Also that ascended up far into the heavens, 637 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:35,400 that he might fill all things. 638 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:40,400 And he gave some apostles, and he gave some prophets, 639 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,040 and he gave some evangelists, 640 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,720 and he gave some pastors and teachers. 641 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,520 How many times do you see the word give there, or gave? 642 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:51,360 Right? 643 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:53,080 Verse 7. 644 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:54,960 Every one of us is given grace. 645 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:56,960 Verse 11. 646 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:03,240 And he gave, and he gave apostles, prophets, 647 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:05,760 evangelists, pastors and teachers, why? 648 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,200 For the perfecting or the equipping of the saints. 649 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,360 Hey, who in here saved? 650 00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:12,760 If you're saved raise your hand. 651 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:14,960 Okay, if you're saved, you're a saint. 652 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,560 You have been set apart, you're a sanctified one. 653 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,160 And God gave apostles and prophets and evangelists 654 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:23,880 and pastors and teachers, why? 655 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,120 For the perfecting of the saints. 656 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:28,880 You have been given the people who wrote 657 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:30,840 the Old Testament and the New Testament, 658 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:32,880 and evangelists and pastors and teachers 659 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,680 that minister now so that you can grow. 660 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,800 So that you can be equipped, right? 661 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,280 For the perfecting of the saints, why? 662 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,080 For the work of the ministry, for the edifying 663 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,080 of the body of Christ. 664 00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,720 What's the point? He goes on to say so that you won't be 665 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:52,200 undiscerning, so that you won't be tempted to believe wrong. 666 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:53,520 You'll always believe the right thing, 667 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:54,960 you'll know the right thing, and you'll be able to do 668 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:55,960 the right thing. 669 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,160 God has given us gifts back to our text. 670 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:00,160 Back to our text. 671 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,760 He says, verse 22, all things are yours. 672 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,240 You've been given Paul and Paul is in Cephas. 673 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,040 He goes on, or the world, or life. 674 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,080 Who's grateful to be alive? 675 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:12,080 Man, I'm so grateful. 676 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,320 Death, what happens when we die if we're in Christ? 677 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:16,320 Heaven! 678 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:21,320 For me to live as Christ in a die is gain. 679 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,800 If you're in Christ, death is a good thing. 680 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,240 We're sad about those who left last year, 681 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,000 but we haven't lost them, we know where they are. 682 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,080 Death has given us, and things present. 683 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,080 Things to come. 684 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,080 If you're in Christ, you've got an incredible feeling 685 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,080 of life, and you're in Christ, 686 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,080 come, if you're in Christ, you've got an incredible future. 687 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,080 It doesn't mean everything's gonna be perfect, 688 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,080 but you've got an incredible future. 689 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:52,080 All are yours, and ye are Christ, 690 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,080 and Christ is God's. 691 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,080 We're owned by God. 692 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,080 We're owned by Christ. 693 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,080 Christ is given by God, God has sinned wisdom, 694 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:04,080 his wisdom into the world. 695 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,080 So think about all that God's given to us. 696 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,080 The word of God, the spirit of God, the church of God, 697 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,080 the leaders that are in our churches, 698 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,080 this incredible present reality, 699 00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,080 and an incredible, incredible future. 700 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,080 We belong to God in Christ. 701 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,080 All of it is ours. 702 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:22,080 So we don't have to divide over leaders. 703 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:26,080 God's leaders are valuable because of God's wisdom, no more. 704 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,080 At their best, they flesh out and make clear the wisdom of God 705 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,080 to those who are willing to hear it, to watch it, and to learn it. 706 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:37,080 But the wisdom isn't available to them in some unique way. 707 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,080 Human leaders can be wrong. 708 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,080 I can be wrong. 709 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,080 Certainly I can be wrong in the way that I live. 710 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,080 I can be wrong in what I teach. 711 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,080 We all have to submit to the authority of the word of God. 712 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:56,080 In the book of Acts, there were some believers from Berea, 713 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:59,080 like I said, who were more noble because they searched the scriptures, 714 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,080 and that's what we need to do. 715 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,080 And the ultimate test of whether we are wise 716 00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,080 is if we don't just hear the wisdom of God 717 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:09,080 but if we seek to live it out. 718 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:14,080 Godly, wise leaders can help us learn God's wisdom. 719 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,080 And we can be thankful for them, but we should not divide over them 720 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:21,080 or put them in a place of authority over the scriptures. 721 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,080 So here's the next point of application. 722 00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:24,080 Are you ready? 723 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,080 The first one was, are you self-deceived 724 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,080 or are you growing in wisdom? 725 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:29,080 Here's number two. 726 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,080 Are you growing in the wisdom of God through the leaders in your life? 727 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,080 And all that God has given you to grow? 728 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,080 Or are you stagnant? 729 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,080 Or are you stagnant? 730 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:44,080 Hey, I hope for you that 2025 just presents a new opportunity 731 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,080 for you to grow in Christ. 732 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:49,080 For you to be everything that God has called you to be. 733 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:53,080 For you, hey, and if you're not saved, you need to get saved. 734 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,080 If you don't know Christ as your savior, 735 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,080 you need to go from death to life, right? 736 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,080 Jesus Christ crucified is your only hope. 737 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:03,080 You need to put it, put your faith in Him. 738 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,080 And we want to help you do that. 739 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,080 And if you are in Christ, hey, let's turn up the notch on your growth. 740 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,080 Like, you have everything you need to grow. 741 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:13,080 Let's grow. 742 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,080 Let's be what God wants us to be and do what He wants us to do. 743 00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,080 Here's number three. 744 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,080 Number three, last one. 745 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,080 How do we relate through these three filters? 746 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,080 Number three, we view leaders as stewards of God's wisdom. 747 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:29,080 This is kind of what we talked about already. 748 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:31,080 Verse one, let a man so account of us 749 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,080 as the ministers of Christ 750 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,080 and stewards of the mysteries of God. 751 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,080 A steward doesn't own what they manage. 752 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,080 They just manage what they've been stewarded. 753 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,080 A steward doesn't own what they manage. 754 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:53,080 A steward is simply responsible for what they manage. 755 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:57,080 Godly leaders are not better or more loved by God than anybody else. 756 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,080 They just have a stewardship that is something to be taken by God. 757 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:02,080 That is something to be taken very seriously. 758 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,080 We don't give them credit for what only God can do. 759 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,080 We do give them honor for their task. 760 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,080 The mysteries of God here speaks, like I said before, 761 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:13,080 of the things God has planned all along but has recently revealed. 762 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:17,080 God was using Paul and Apollos and Peter specifically 763 00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:21,080 to reveal truths about the wisdom of God Christ crucified 764 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:23,080 that had been previously unrevealed. 765 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,080 That puts the right perspective of them in mind. 766 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,080 This is an honorable and important task 767 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:33,080 and the task here is described as stewardship. 768 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:38,080 Paul talks about this with Timothy in 1 Timothy 1 verse 17. 769 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,080 He says this, 770 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,080 let the elders that rule well, 771 00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:46,080 by the way, that's an interesting thing. 772 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:47,080 Elders speaks to maturity. 773 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:51,080 Ruling speaks to bishops being a bishopric, 774 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:55,080 administrating different words for the same office. 775 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:58,080 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, 776 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,080 especially they who labor in the Word and doctrine. 777 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,080 For the scripture to say it, 778 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,080 I shall not muzzle the ox that tread at the corn, 779 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:07,080 and the labor is worthy of his reward. 780 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:09,080 Against an elder, receive not an accusation, 781 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:11,080 but before two or three witnesses. 782 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:16,080 Again, I bring this up because, yes, it is good to honor, 783 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:21,080 but it's wrong to worship those who are in leadership. 784 00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:22,080 It's wrong to do that. 785 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:23,080 What are they? 786 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,080 They are no more than what he says in verse 2, 787 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,080 they are stewards. 788 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:29,080 And in verse 2 it says, 789 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:31,080 a steward is required, 790 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,080 what's required in stewards verse 2, 791 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:36,080 that they be found faithful. 792 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:40,080 A steward must be found faithful. 793 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:45,080 And so this means that they have managed what they have been given well. 794 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,080 This may seem self-serving, 795 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:53,080 but I hope you know my heart in this. 796 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:58,080 I want to be faithful in my ministry here. 797 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:05,080 I want Corey and Miles and their roles here to be faithful. 798 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,080 And I want our Sunday school teachers 799 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,080 who preach the Word of God in their classes, 800 00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,080 I want them to be faithful. 801 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,080 Would you pray for your leaders? 802 00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:19,080 Will you please pray for us that we would stay faithful? 803 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:20,080 What do you mean? 804 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:24,080 What does it mean to be faithful in this stewardship of the mysteries of God? 805 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,080 Faithful in its proclamation. 806 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:29,080 We proclaim the wisdom of God, 807 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,080 and we have to do that. 808 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:35,080 It would be unfaithful not to proclaim it, who agrees? 809 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,080 It would be unfaithful to keep it to ourselves. 810 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:40,080 It would also be unfaithful to say something of it that's not true. 811 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:45,080 And so that's proclamation, we got to be faithful in purity. 812 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,080 The wisdom of God must be obeyed. 813 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:51,080 We must not expect people to do what we are unwilling to do ourselves. 814 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,080 Our lives must match our message. 815 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:59,080 In perseverance, the stewardship of the mysteries of God is not something you take off and put on. 816 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:03,080 Listen, all of us, if you're a Christian in here, you've been given the gospel, 817 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,080 you've been given gifts, right? 818 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:10,080 And that doesn't go away. 819 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:15,080 We have from now to the end of our lives to steward that. 820 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:19,080 This is not a sprint we're doing. 821 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:21,080 This is a marathon. 822 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:25,080 And somebody handed you the baton, don't drop it. 823 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:27,080 Are you with me? 824 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,080 Hand it off to somebody else. 825 00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:31,080 So you got to be faithful. 826 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,080 Perseverance, proclamation, purity, perseverance, protection. 827 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,080 We must make sure to protect the faith once delivered to the saints. 828 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,080 We do this by making sure we don't change it and we give it away. 829 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:44,080 It's like that baton that's been handed to us. 830 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:49,080 We take care not to drop it, but we also take care not to keep it to ourselves. 831 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:51,080 We hand it off to the next person. 832 00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:54,080 Do you get it? 833 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:58,080 And this truth that I'm telling you today is not just for pastors, deacons, 834 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:01,080 and Sunday school teachers and D-group leaders. 835 00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:04,080 This is for every believer in Christ. 836 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:08,080 You and I have a stewardship of the mysteries of God. 837 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,080 This is for parents and grandparents. 838 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:13,080 This is for neighbors and friends. 839 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:17,080 This level of stewardship may be different in that not everyone has the same platform 840 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:23,080 or the same gifting, but any stewardship of God's word and God's wisdom is important. 841 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:25,080 Who agrees with me? 842 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:28,080 Of the things that any one of us manage. 843 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,080 Of the things that any one of us manage. 844 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:37,080 This stewardship of the mysteries of the gospel is the most important thing we manage. 845 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,080 You believe that? 846 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:41,080 I hope you do. 847 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:45,080 This is why Paul goes on to say, verse 3, we are coming to the end. 848 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,080 He says this, 849 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,080 But with me it's a very small thing that I should be judged of you. 850 00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:52,080 Or of man's judgment. 851 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:54,080 Yea, I judge not my own self. 852 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,080 For I know nothing by myself. 853 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:59,080 What's Paul saying? 854 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:03,080 If other people are judging me, this is what Paul is saying. 855 00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,080 I'm saying me as in Paul. 856 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:10,080 If you are judging me, 857 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:15,080 You can say good things when I'm not doing real good. 858 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:20,080 And you can say bad things when I'm not doing too bad. 859 00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:24,080 You don't have all the information is what Paul is saying. 860 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:29,080 So, human evaluation isn't perfect. 861 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:31,080 Who agrees? 862 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:34,080 Aren't you glad that everything somebody said about you isn't true? 863 00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,080 Right? 864 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:41,080 Sometimes you are giving credit for things you didn't do and blame for things you didn't do too. 865 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:45,080 What Paul is saying is for me to be judged by you is a small thing. 866 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,080 You don't know my heart, brain, what I have been given. 867 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,080 Who knows that? 868 00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:52,080 God does. 869 00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:55,080 He said I don't have the right to judge my own self. 870 00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:57,080 What is he saying? 871 00:38:57,080 --> 00:39:00,080 For me to be like, I'm good. 872 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,080 Yea, I'm fine. 873 00:39:02,080 --> 00:39:04,080 I'm fine. Everything is fine. 874 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,080 Right? 875 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:11,080 And to do that outside of the wisdom of God, Paul says, again, let no man deceive yourself. 876 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,080 Do you get it? 877 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,080 He says, verse 4, 878 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,080 For I know nothing by myself yet am I not hereby justified, 879 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:25,080 But he that judges me is the Lord. 880 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:32,080 Human scrutiny from what a human can know done by human wisdom is not the way that we will ultimately be judged. 881 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:37,080 We ought to be thankful for the wisdom that comes from our leaders as it conforms to God's wisdom. 882 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:42,080 We ought to be thankful to God for what God does to them, but we should not divide over them. 883 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:43,080 Why? 884 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:47,080 Because ultimately we answer to God. 885 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,080 We answer to God. 886 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,080 And so Paul goes on and says in verse 5, 887 00:39:52,080 --> 00:40:00,080 Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness 888 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:08,080 and will make manifest the counsel of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God. 889 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:13,080 Who judges right way? 890 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,080 God does. 891 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:19,080 If you make your life, 892 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:23,080 If you perform your life for an audience of one, 893 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,080 for him, 894 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,080 that's the right way to live. 895 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:31,080 Not to be judged by everybody else. 896 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:36,080 There's coming a day where it will be clear to the Lord and to us, men's behaviors and motives. 897 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:39,080 We will be scrutinized by the Lord. 898 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:42,080 One commentator said this about that verse. 899 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:47,080 These refer to the inner motives, the inner thoughts and attitudes which only God can know. 900 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:52,080 Since final rewards will be based not on just outward service, but on inward devotion, 901 00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:57,080 only God can give each the praise that they deserve. 902 00:40:57,080 --> 00:41:01,080 And so, let's apply that to our lives. 903 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:05,080 We can let the wisdom of the word of God help us to rightly discern our hearts now 904 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:12,080 and submit ourselves to its authority now and allow that work integrity in and through us. 905 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:20,080 Or we can not submit ourselves to that and we can be found discouraged and disappointed in that day. 906 00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:26,080 There's coming a day when your hearts and thoughts and intents will be displayed. 907 00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:31,080 My mom used to say it this way and it scared me a lot. 908 00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:37,080 Be sure your sin will find you out. 909 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:42,080 What do you know, mom? 910 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:45,080 She didn't know. 911 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:46,080 God did. 912 00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:51,080 There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, but our works will be revealed and rewarded. 913 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,080 We will suffer loss when we don't live right. 914 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:59,080 So when we think about human leaders, we should be thankful for their ministry wrought by the grace of God. 915 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:01,080 They are stewards of that wisdom. 916 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:04,080 We should respond to God's wisdom as they lead us with it. 917 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:09,080 So here is the question, third question. 918 00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:12,080 How are you doing at stewarding God's wisdom? 919 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:18,080 How are you doing at stewarding the mysteries of God? 920 00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:24,080 Why did God give you this? 921 00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:28,080 Why did God give you this? 922 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:30,080 To read it. 923 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,080 That's it. 924 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:34,080 Why did God give you this? 925 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:38,080 To look nice on your shelf? 926 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:40,080 Why did God give you this? 927 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:44,080 He wants you to read it. 928 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:48,080 You know what a privilege we have to have this? 929 00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:51,080 This is the word of God. 930 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:54,080 Hundreds of years this was chained to the pulpit. 931 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:58,080 You didn't have a copy, right? 932 00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:02,080 You just will tell you what it says. 933 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:05,080 And they were wrong. 934 00:43:05,080 --> 00:43:06,080 You know what a privilege? 935 00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:07,080 We should read this. 936 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:09,080 But we shouldn't just read it. 937 00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:15,080 We should put it in our hearts, right? 938 00:43:15,080 --> 00:43:17,080 That we may not sin against God. 939 00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:19,080 But then it's not just enough to get into our hearts. 940 00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:22,080 What gets in our hearts needs to come out our mouths. 941 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:26,080 And with our feet and our hands we got to live it out. 942 00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:30,080 And it's not just for you. 943 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:32,080 This is a baton that's been handed to you. 944 00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:35,080 The gospel has been given to you. 945 00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:37,080 You know it. You're in Christ. 946 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,080 Now it's something to give to others. 947 00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:43,080 There are people at your job and in your school 948 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,080 and at your neighborhood. 949 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:52,080 The people that you shop with that need to know about Christ. 950 00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:56,080 They need to see you live it out. 951 00:43:56,080 --> 00:44:02,080 The only Bible some ever read is the Bible that we live out in our lives. 952 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:09,080 And so how are you doing at stewarding the mysteries of God? 953 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,080 What's the wisdom of God? 954 00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:15,080 Christ crucified. 955 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:17,080 If any man be in Christ he is a new creature. 956 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:20,080 The old is gone. The new has come. 957 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:22,080 How are you doing at stewarding it? 958 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:26,080 We judge leaders according to God's wisdom. 959 00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:28,080 How are you doing at God's wisdom? 960 00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:29,080 Are you self-deceived? 961 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,080 Are you growing in God's wisdom? 962 00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:35,080 We use leaders to learn God's wisdom. 963 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:39,080 And we view leaders as stewards of God's wisdom. 964 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:43,080 How are you doing at stewarding God's wisdom? 965 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:45,080 Would you back here to close your eyes? 966 00:44:45,080 --> 00:45:00,080 Let me just morning.