The sermon title today is The Lord Preserves
the Faithful. Our text is in 1 Corinthians chapter
4, beginning in verse 1 through verse 5. Hear
the word of the Lord as written by the Apostle
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Let a man
so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards
of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required
in stewards that one be found faithful. But with
me, it is a very small thing that I should be
judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I
do not even judge myself, for I know of nothing
against myself. Yet I am not justified by this,
but he who judges me is the Lord. Therefore,
judge nothing before the time until the Lord
comes, who will both bring to light the hidden
things of darkness and reveal the counsels of
the hearts. Then each one's praise will come
from God. Let's ask the Lord's blessing on our
time together. Our Father, we thank you for this
word. Lord, you have much to teach us about faithfulness.
and of the coming judgment. So I pray, Father,
that as we look into this passage and in other
references in your word, we pray that you would
speak to us today, that you would open up your
word that we might understand. Lord, give us
faithful men and women and boys and girls, Lord,
who follow you, even as we sang about the martyrs,
Lord. We ask, O God, that you would inspire us
with a heart, that you would grant us a heart
of faithfulness. We pray this in the name of
Jesus. Amen. Psalm 31, verse 23 says, All you
who hope in the Lord. Throughout the scriptures,
The faithful person is praised and blessed by
God. Indeed, as in Proverbs chapter 20, verse
6 and 7 says, most men will proclaim each his
own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?
The righteous man walks in his integrity. His
children are blessed after him. In fact, a faithful
man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens
to be rich will not go unpunished. Proverbs 28
and verse 20. Alas, there is much unfaithfulness
all around us. I constantly hear how hard it
is for businesses to hire faithful employees
who will do a good job and will carry out their
duties with integrity. They will work hard and
show up on time. Micah the prophet cried out
in Micah chapter 7 verse 2 saying, The faithful
man has perished from the earth. and there is
no one upright among men. They all lie in wait
for blood, and every man hunts his brother with
a net. Right now in our own county, there's a
great upheaval because of the belief by some
that some of those in elected office are acting
in an irresponsible manner, or they're not faithful
to the Constitution and their oath of office.
And this is not unique to this county, for in
most every place, the scarcity of faithful civil
magistrates and rulers is quite evident. And
various sins of wickedness and bribery and demagoguery
and the violation of marriage vows and unfaithfulness
to the constitutional oath, they abound. This
is not only true of civil magistrates, but also
of those of us who elect them. Indeed, David
cries out in Psalm 12, verse 1, Help, Lord, for
the ungodly man, for the godly man ceases, for
the faithful disappear from among the sons of
men. And yet, we thank God for the many faithful
ones, and we pray and work for more. Today in
our passage of St. Paul's Holy Spirit -inspired
writings, To the Corinthian church, Paul addresses
the need for faithfulness, especially in the
context here, faithfulness in ministers who are
servants of Christ and overseers and stewards
in Christ's church. The need for this is great,
for there are many charlatans, power -hungry
egomaniacs, control freaks, adulterers, false
teachers, and pastors who do not shepherd the
flock of God well. This passage sounds a clear
call both for the proper view of Christian leaders,
but also with an emphasis on the need for faithfulness
in them, that they must be faithful. But the
call to faithfulness is not only for ministers
in Christ's church. No, indeed, it is for every
Christian believer. Each one of you, as a father,
a mother, as a man, as a woman, as a child, each
one of you are called by God to faithful Christian
living, to being trustworthy, to being honorable
in dealings with your neighbor and with your
people around you, including those of your own
household. Each one of us are called to be a
faithful steward, a steward of ourselves, of
our money, our time, our resources, our households,
and if God calls us to a public ministry, whether
that of civil service or in God's church, of
being a faithful steward in that ministry. While
this passage speaks specifically to ministers
of Christ, the application is much wider. So
let us then turn to this passage and understand
the instruction given by the Holy Spirit through
the pen of Paul the Apostle in this letter. The
first one in verse 1 is Paul deals with the proper
view of Christian leaders. Now remember that
one of the reasons for this is because the Corinthian
view was wrong. And so he sets forth here what
the right view is. He begins, let a man so consider
us. as servants of Christ and stewards of the
mysteries of God. Now, let a man so consider
us reflects a present tense imperative. And this
is basically Paul is saying here, this is how
you ought to regard us. This is how you should
understand our position and how you should look
at us. This is in the context of the problem
of the Corinthian church of many factions. How
the one apostle or one leader or another speaker
was lifted up and put on a pedestal above others.
They were considered, this is our man. This is
who we follow. And he is better than those of
the other parties or factions. This was creating
divisions and the end strife in the congregation.
The us in this verse, let a man so consider us,
is referring to Paul and Apollos and Cephas,
or Peter, as those were specifically spoken of
in chapter 1. This is the same group of apostles
and teachers, not only mentioned in chapter 1
verse 12, but also in chapter 3 verse 5 and chapter
3 verse 22. This could have also included other
notable men who had ministered to them, but whom
Paul does not name. Rather than men who are to
be lifted up above others and to serve themselves
or promote themselves as leaders of factions,
he continues, they are to be considered in two
different ways. The first is as a servant of
Christ. A servant of Christ. Now the word servant
here is not the same as it's used in many other
places. The word literally means under rower.
If you've ever seen the movie Bend Her with Charlton
Heston, one of the classic movies from that time
period, they excellently depict men who were
chained to benches, who were down in the ship,
who powered the ship by rowing. That's what this
word means right here, a servant. They were galley
slaves. They were those under the authority of
another who carried out the responsibility of
the master. Now this could also though be used
as that of any slave under a slave master or
An officer or someone under the captain of a
ship or of a minister of Christ. That's how Paul
is using this. And he uses this analogy of being
a servant in many places in the New Testament.
For this is also similar to the word doulos in
Greek. And he describes this many times. Which
that word simply means in general a slave or
a bondman. Paul uses it to describe one who gives
himself up to another's will. Those whose service
is used by Christ in extending and advancing
his cause among men. That's how Paul uses it.
So we have here the word servant here as it is
used, which is the word for under rower. But
in many places he also uses the same, or the
word servant is translated servant, but it means
that of a slave. For example, in Romans 1, verse
1, Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of
God. Or Philippians 1, verse 1, Paul and Timothy,
bondservants of Jesus Christ. Or Colossians 4,
verse 12, Epaphos, who is one of you, a bondservant
of Christ. This description does not speak of
exaltation or advancement, but it stresses the
reality that they are to serve. They are to serve
God and serve his people. Ultimately, they serve
another, one Jesus Christ. And they themselves
are nothing. This is how Paul could say of himself.
He could speak of himself in 1 Corinthians 15
and verse 9. For I am the least of the apostles
who am not worthy to be called an apostle because
I persecuted the church of God. God's ministers
serve. They are not masters. They are stewards,
but not lords. And this brings us to the second
consideration. The second one, the first here
is that they are servants of Christ. And second,
they are stewards of the mysteries of God. Now,
when we think of a steward, we usually think
of someone who looks after a passenger on a ship
or maybe on an airplane, stewardess or steward,
as they used to be called. Now they're called
flight attendants, but or also on a train. We
think of one who brings drinks or meals or who
is responsible for supplies of food to maybe
a college or a club or other institution. The
biblical word oikonomos, though, means much more
than that. The word for translated steward here.
This is referring to one who is in a position
of trust as of a household or a state manager.
Anthony Thistleton explains that in the ancient
world, the office normally included responsibility
for overseeing a household budget, purchasing
accounts, resource allocation, collection of
debts. and the general running of the establishment,
but only as instructed within the guidelines
agreed by the employer or the head of the house.
So this is a very weighty word, one that entails
great responsibility. They are stewards of the
mystery of God. We think of Joseph, for example,
in Potiphar's house. And his master saw, Genesis
39, that the Lord was with him and the Lord made
all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph
found favor in his sight and served him. Then
he made him overseer of his house and all that
he had, he put under his. So it was from that
time that he made him overseer of his house and
all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's
house for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of
the Lord was on all that he had in the house
and in the field. Thus he left all that he had
in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he
had except for the bread which he ate. Genesis
39, verses 3 to 6. Joseph is a wonderful biblical
example of a steward. Now the mysteries of God,
he's stewards of the mysteries of God, simply
refers to the gospel, to God's revealed truth
in all of their fullness. This was spoken of
back in chapter 2, verse 7. But we speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom
which God ordained before the ages for our glory.
Again, in chapter 2 and verse 10, God has revealed
them, that is these mysteries, to us through
his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yes, the deep things of God. So it was the responsibility
of the apostles and the prophets to reveal the
deep and the hidden things of God by the Holy
Spirit. Thus they revealed the mystery and they
wrote them down. And now it is the responsibility
of the preacher or the minister and the teacher
to take the word of God, to seek to understand
it, and then to explain it, to give the sense
of it so that all can be understand and be like
-minded and be shepherded by it. So this is the
task. Yeah, we're not apostles and prophets in
the way that they were there. To them, the mystery
was revealed, but now we are still to dig into
the word of God and to explain it. That's the
responsibility of a minister of God, a servant
of God. Paul tells young Timothy in 2 Timothy
2 in verse 15, he says, be diligent. To show
yourself, to present yourself approved to God,
a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of God. That's what I'm talking
about right there. Rightly dividing the word
of God. This includes rebuking false teachers
and stopping their mouths, but not quarreling.
A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be
gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility,
correcting those who are in opposition, if God
perhaps will grant them repentance so they may
know the truth. This is in 2 Timothy 2, verse
24 and 26. So the job of the minister here, the
responsibility of the minister, how they are
to be considered by the congregation is servants
of Christ. and stewards of the mystery of God.
Now, the status of Christian leaders are described
in four different ways in the book of 1 Corinthians.
There's the word diakonos, which is minister
or servant, in chapter 3, verse 5, and the word
oikonomos, or servant or under rower, subordinate
in our verse here, verse 1. This refers to the
elders or the bishops and overseers. to their
secondary position in the church as under Christ.
They report to him as their Lord and Master.
They are not lords. They are servants. Secondly,
that was two words. The third word is that of
fellow workers. That's in chapter 3 and verse
9. That defines and explains their relationship
to one another. They worked in Christ's kingdom
together. It was not one being lifted up over
another or being put on this huge pedestal, but
they were fellow workers together working in
Christ's kingdom with a close relationship with
one another. This is the great value of having
multiple elders in a congregation. or of those
who labor together as evangelists, or also when
elders get together in a presbytery or a council,
an association. We're to be fellow workers together
in the kingdom of God. We see this with Paul
and Apollos, Paul and Timothy, Paul with Aquila
and Priscilla in Romans 16 verse 3, or Paul,
Timothy, and Philemon in Philemon chapter 1 and
verse 1. They are fellow workers. And then the
fourth word is that of steward. or estate manager,
which we have here in chapter 4, verse 1. This
then refers to their ultimate responsibility
before God to be an overseer and to care for
his church diligently, properly, and to maintain
good order. Moving on then to our second point,
we're now going to look at the requirement for
stewards. This is in verse 2. Moreover, he says,
it is required in stewards that one be found
faithful. They is to be found faithful. A most
important quality of a steward is that of faithfulness,
not eloquence, not popularity, but rather trustworthiness
and loyalty to the master. Faithfulness means
a person or describes a person who shows himself
faithful in the transaction of business, in the
execution of commands, or the discharge of official
duties. He is responsible to his master to do
all of these and to carry them out. It is one
who keeps his plighted faith. He is worthy of
trust and he can be relied on. He is to be faithful.
The Corinthians were assessing their leaders
on the criteria of wisdom, human wisdom, eloquence,
and an impressive personal presence. But in stark
contrast, the pillar commentary says, God's basis
for judgment is very different. Those who are
given a trust must be faithful, faithful to their
God. There's a number of examples of faithful
stewards and servants of God in the scriptures.
There's Timothy who is called a beloved and faithful
son in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 17. There is Moses
who is described by God as one who is faithful
in all my house. I speak with him face to face,
even plainly and not in dark sayings. It's found
in Numbers 12. verse 6 and 7, and repeat it again
in Hebrews. Even Jesus is described this way
in Hebrews 3, verse 1 and 2. Therefore, holy
brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,
consider the apostle and high priest of our confession,
Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed
him. But this kind of faithfulness is not just
required of ministers. It is required of all
believers. All believers are called to faithfulness.
Faithfulness and trustworthiness should be a
constant and a consistent trait of all who know
and profess the name of Christ. This faithfulness
demonstrates itself in work ethic, in keeping
the marriage covenant, even in handling money,
in rearing children, in relationships one with
another, as well as in purity of doctrine and
in the service and the worship of God. This faithfulness
is required of all believers. Now, we know that
some are given more and some are given less responsibilities.
The key is not in the amount. but it is in the
faithfulness to what God has allotted to each
of us. Jesus speaks a very powerful story about
this in the parable of the talents in Matthew
chapter 25. He says, for the kingdom of heaven
is like a man traveling to a far country who
called his servants and he delivered his goods
to them. To one, he gave five talents, to another,
two, and to another. To each according to his
own ability. And immediately he went on a journey.
I'm just going to stop there for a minute. We
see here how in this parable that Jesus gives,
it was given each to his own ability. We all
have different abilities. We all have different
gifts. And God does not hold you responsible
for a gift that is given to another person that
you don't have, unless it's truly a character
trait that belongs to all. But I'm saying there
are various gifts that God disperses as he pleases.
And we are responsible to be faithful in using
that gift or those gifts according to what he
has given you. There are many things that I cannot
do. There are wonderful things. I can look around
and I'm getting to know some of you well enough
that I could even tell you some of what the various
gifts are here in the congregation. I'm not going
to embarrass you with it today, but I'm just
saying God has given to you wonderful gifts.
Each person is unique. You're called by God to
be faithful in those gifts for the Lord. And
in this parable, he was referring here to money.
Some were given five, some two, and another one,
one, each to his own ability. Well, then he who
received the five talents went and traded with
them, and he made another five talents. And likewise,
he had received two, gained two more. But he
who had received one went and dug in the ground
and hid his Lord's money. And after a long time,
then the Lord of the servants came and settled
accounts with them. And so the one, I'm going
to do some paraphrasing here for the sake of
time, but the one who had five came and said,
Lord, here I have, you have given me five, I've
gained five more. And the other one said, here
you have given me two and I've gained two more.
I took what you gave me and I have multiplied
it. I have used it. I have been faithful in it.
For each of those, the master said. Well done,
good and faithful servant. You were faithful
over a few things. I will make you ruler over
many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.
But then the one comes. Now he had the ability
to do one. He still had the ability, but it wasn't
as great of an ability as what the others did.
But even that ability that he had, he completely
spurned. And he decided, you know, my master's
a hard man. He really doesn't need the money.
I'm just going to go bury it. And then I'll just
give it back to him when he comes again. Because
I don't want to mess with it. I want to deal
with it. He says, you're a hard man. You reap
where you have not sown. You've gathered where
you have not scattered seed. And so I was afraid
and I went and I hid your talent to the ground.
Look, here you have what is yours. But his Lord
answered and said to him, you wicked and lazy
servant, you knew that I reap where I have not
sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.
So you ought to have deposited my money with
the bankers. And at my coming, I would have received
back my own with interest. So take the talent
from him and give it to him who has 10 talents.
For to everyone who has more will be given and
he will have abundance. But from him who does
not have even what he has will be taken away
and cast the unprofitable servant into the outer
darkness. Jesus is using this parable to reflect
something to the Jews to whom he was speaking.
But this has a greater value to us as well as
we consider, or a further value I should say,
as we consider Jesus' command. to use the gifts
and the talents that he has given to us for his
glory because he is going to ask what we have
done with the gifts that he has given to us.
We are responsible to him. So we are to beware
then of unfaithfulness, whether this is unfaithfulness
to your spouse or it's unreliability to your
word where you break your word. or of a failure
to take the gifts that God has given you and
to use them for his glory and instead spurning
them and wasting your talents, we must beware
of unfaithfulness. And I speak to this. to us
as ministers as well, to us as elders in the
church of God. God has called us to be faithful.
We can't just go and hang up our gifts so the
whole could say, you know, I'm just not going
to get into that. I don't feel like that today.
I'm too tired. I'm too whatever. I just don't
want to do the hard work of preparing or of counseling
or whatever it is. No, God has called us to be
faithful in what we have done, but then not to
create factions around each other. The principle
of faithfulness in little then means that more
responsibility is given. Jesus brings this out
in Luke 16. He is faithful in what is least.
is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust
in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore,
if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous
mammon, who will commit to your trust the true
riches? And if you have not been faithful in
what is another man's, who will give you what
is your own? Jesus here lays out the principle
very clearly that faithfulness starts even in
the little things. And then as we are faithful
in that, he entrusts us with greater. And so
the faithfulness in little abounds to faithfulness
in much. Now to the elder or the minister, the
bishop, overseer, various English words describing
the same position in the leader in Christ's church.
Paul commands in Colossians chapter 4 that we
are to take heed to the ministry which we have
received in the Lord that we may fulfill it.
There is a charge that is given to ministers.
There's a vow that they take that they will feed
the flock of God, that they will shepherd, that
they will live lives that are faithful. And God
holds them to it. And here he exhorts them to
take heed. To which you have received in the
Lord. So that you might fulfill it. In 2 Timothy
1 he tells Timothy. Stir up the gift of God.
Which is in you through the laying on of hands.
And the things which you have heard and learned
from the apostolic doctrine. To commit to faithful
men. Who will be able to teach others also. So
one of the responsibility of ministers. Is not
only to preach and teach and counsel. And so
forth. And to prayer. To be constant in prayer.
but it's also to raise up other men who will
then also take their place in the oncoming generations
to also do the same, to teach, to preach, to
counsel, to shepherd the flock of God. We are
to commit to faithful men who will be able to
teach others also. Being a faithful steward means
working for the master. not only for the things
which he requires, but also not going above or
beyond the call and seek to enforce requirements
that are beyond the charge that are given to
him. This happens far. too often where instead
of preaching the faithful word of god and applying
it according to the intent that it is given here
we incorporate our own thought our own things
into it we we we do things we start laying on
commandments of men upon people and this is not
right it happens far too often especially In
more churches based on traditions or traditions
that might have attached themselves to the word
or to the church that are not required in the
word. For example, going back to the time of
the Reformation, the sale of indulgences laid
a heavy burden. On the populace of Europe. There
was much begging and asking the people for money.
To release departed loved ones from purgatory
sooner. A completely made up doctrine. Laying
burdens on people to give money. And of course
the money was for certain purposes. better than
others but still they were they were pulling
it out of the people in a wrong kind of a way
promising them certain freedoms based on the
money that was given indulgences or there was
also not eating meat on fridays just simply saying
arbitrarily you're not supposed you're not allowed
to eat any meat on friday or there was also requiring
celibacy in the priest now the friday The Friday
requirement of not eating meat is no longer there
in the Roman Catholic Church, but that of celibacy
in the priests is requiring them that they cannot
marry. This also happens in legalistic churches
that require far more of their people than what
the Word of God requires. There is a great liberty
in God's Word, and to take that liberty away
is the mark of unfaithfulness in ministers. Matthew
Henry describes this and he writes, The stewards
in Christ's family must appoint what he hath
appointed. They must not set their fellow servants
to work for themselves. They must not require
anything from them without their master's warrant.
They must not feed them with the chaff of their
own inventions instead of the wholesome food
of Christian doctrine and truth. They must teach
what he hath commanded, not... the doctrines
and commandments of men. They must be true to
the interests of their Lord and consult his honor.
Just a really strong statement there of not going
beyond what God has commanded and taking away
the liberty that is given to the people of God.
So they are to teach, but that which God requires.
To all Christians then, let us renounce the hidden
things of shame. Let us not walk in craftiness
nor handle the word of God deceitfully, but by
the manifestation of truth, let us commend ourselves
to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
2 Corinthians 4, verse 2. To the Colossians,
Paul says, walk worthy of the Lord. Fully pleasing
him. Being fruitful in every good work. And increasing
in the knowledge of God. Strengthened with all
might. According to his glorious power. For all
patience. And suffering. Long suffering with
joy. Giving thanks to the father who has qualified
us to be partakers. Of the inheritance. Of the
saints. In the light. We must stop being ashamed
of God's law and his word. And cease making excuses
for disobedience to Christ. But rather diligently
make every effort to wholeheartedly and faithfully
seek to honor God in his calling and in his commandments.
Faithfulness is required of a steward of God.
Thirdly then. Paul gets into a personal response
to the censures of man in verses 3 and 4. With
me, he says, it is a very small thing that I
should be judged by you or by a human court.
In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know
of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified
by this. But he who judges me is the Lord. What
Paul is saying here is that this faithfulness
is not judged by human standards. In fact, Paul
refuses to be judged by human standards. He says
by you, meaning the Corinthians, or by any human
court, which very literally is by man's day.
In other words, he is not subject to man and
man's thoughts. He is responsible to God to judge
him regarding his faithfulness. and the carrying
out of his duties. He does not even judge or
justify himself as the final authority. He says,
though my conscience is clear, yet this does
not necessarily make him innocent or acquitted
before God. He says, I know of nothing against
myself, yet I am not justified by this. And his
point in this, as he's speaking directly to this,
is that he is responsible to God, and God will
judge whether he is faithful or not. Now, it's
important to have a good reputation and esteem
among men. This is a good step of usefulness
in the ministry. For example, the deacons ordained
in Acts chapter 6 were to be men of good reputation,
full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. But Paul
cannot make it his chief endeavor and goal to
please men. For this would hardly approve of
himself as a faithful minister and a servant
of Christ. And this goes for us all. Even if
we have a clear conscience before God. Which
we should strive for. The ultimate standard of
our faithfulness is not others. It is not ourselves.
It is the Lord. He who judges me is the Lord.
We have an audience of one. Is one way of putting
it. Where we honor Christ and He. stands over
us and evaluates whether we whether or not we
are faithful paul could not make it his chief
endeavor or goal to please men for this would
hardly approve himself as a faithful minister
and a servant of christ no the ultimate standard
is the lord in the exhortation against passing
judgment on one another in romans 14 paul writes
these words who are you to judge another man's
servant To his own master he stands or falls.
Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able
to make him stand. Indeed, he says, each of us
shall give an account of himself to God. Now,
this does not mean that nothing can be discerned
or judged in the church, as we will see in the
next chapter when Paul deals with an exhortation
on how to exercise church discipline on an unrepentant
church member who is living in adultery. But
Paul does not answer to the various ones striving
for factions and promotion of their man, their
leader. Whether or not he is in or out, that
matters little to him. He stands before. And
then he goes on in verse five. He says, therefore,
judge nothing before the time until the Lord
comes, who will bring, who will both bring to
light the hidden things of darkness and reveal
the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise
will come from God. So he cautions the Corinthians
against censoriousness, that is the bold and
severe judging of others. Judge nothing before
the time. Wait until the Lord comes, referring
to the second coming or the judgment day. Again,
I'd like to give Matthew Henry's thoughts on
this, but in some updated wording and grammar.
He's not talking here about judges or people
in positions of authority making official decisions
as part of their job. He's also not referring
to forming private opinions about obvious and
well -known facts. But what he is condemning
is when people judge others' final destiny or
their eternal state, they presume to know the
hidden motives and the intentions of their hearts,
or they pass final judgment on matters that are
unclear or uncertain. To judge in these ways,
to give a decisive condemning verdict, is to
step into God's place. and to claim a right that
belongs only to him. Note this, that the person
who is quick to harshly criticize and condemn
others is being incredibly bold in their sin.
Their judgments are arrogant and poorly timed,
for there is one who will judge both the critic
and the person being criticized, and he will
do it perfectly without bias, emotion, or favoritism.
There's also coming a day when everyone will
judge rightly about themselves and others because
they will simply follow God's perfect judgment.
So this truth should make us very careful about
judging others right now and much more serious
about examining our own lives. When the Lord
comes, Paul says, there's two things that will
happen. One is it will bring to light the things
hidden in darkness. Bring to light the things
hidden in darkness, the secret sins, the pride,
the desire to be preeminent, the secret evil
desires, the lusts of the flesh or the lusts
of the eyes, the adulterous heart, the pride
or envy that drive factions and separations.
On that day, God will expose everything. Everything.
Each one's work, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3
verse 13, will become manifest for the day will
disclose it because it will be revealed by fire
and the fire will test what sort of work each
one has done. And as Hebrews tells us, no creature
is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and
exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give
an account. This is the word of God. He will
bring to light in that day the things hidden
in darkness. But secondly, he will also expose
and reveal the counsels of the heart. That is
the motives, the purposes. Man generally cannot
discern motives. We can only consider actions.
This, of course, is one of the problems with
hate crimes legislation, as though the crime
is worse when done with a specific motive of
hatred as opposed to doing the crime itself.
The core problem of judging and punishing hate
crimes based on motive is that it turns the justice
system into a mind -reading exercise that selectively
criminalizes certain thoughts while ignoring
others. This is a problem because we cannot fully...
discern motives, but we can see actions. God,
however, does know the motives. He knows the
intent of the heart. And on that great judgment
day, he will disclose and reveal the counsels
of the heart. Now this should both encourage
us, but also should startle us. It should encourage
us in that when we are misunderstood or maligned
or spoken evil about, God will reveal the truth
and the purity and the sincerity of our hearts.
But it should startle us and shake us up in that
the secret sins and the motives and the wrong
desires and the intentions, they will all come
to light and will all be judged by God. This
is terrifying when we consider it in this way.
But Paul speaks this to show that this will be
a time when each one's praise will come from
God and not from men. And on that note, we bring
this to a close. For indeed, as Hebrews puts
it, Beloved, we are confident of better things
concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation.
Though we speak in this manner, For God is not
unjust to forget your work and your labor of
love which you have shown toward his name. In
this you have ministered to the saints and do
minister. And we desire that each one of you
show the same diligence to the full assurance
of hope until the end that you do not become
sluggish but imitate those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. As in Hebrews
6, verse 9 through 12. He says here, everyone's
praise will come from God. On that day, God will
reward your faithfulness, your diligence, your
perseverance, your patience and your long -suffering,
your tears, your endurance of the hard times
and of the great difficulties. Those times when
you pray when no one is around and you pray earnestly
regarding the difficulty in your child or in
somebody whom you know. God will reward you.
God will praise you. Your praise, each one will
come from God. This is true of ministers and
this is true of each believer. So brothers and
sisters. On that glorious day, with that in mind,
let us press on. Let us know that God knows our
hearts. If he convicts you of sin, be quick to
repent and to run to him and keep short accounts.
But he knows our hearts. He knows our labors.
He knows our faithfulness. And you can rest in
that. And he is the one who will give you eternal
life and glory and immortality. In the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let's
pray.