The Lord Preserves the Faithful, 4/19/26

The sermon title today is The Lord Preserves

the Faithful. Our text is in 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

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

Psalms 31:23

who hope in the Lord. Throughout the scriptures,

The faithful person is praised and blessed by

God. Indeed, as in Proverbs chapter 20, verse

Proverbs 20:6

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

Micah 7:2

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

Psalms 12:1

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

Romans 1:1

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,

Philippians 1:1

bondservants of Jesus Christ. Or Colossians 4,

Colossians 4:12

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

Genesis 39:3–6

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

2 Timothy 2:24

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,

Romans 16:3

Timothy, and Philemon in Philemon chapter 1 and

Philemon 1 · chapter mention

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

1 Corinthians 4:17

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

Hebrews 3:1

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

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

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

Colossians 4 · chapter mention

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,

2 Corinthians 4:2

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,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

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

1 Corinthians 3:13

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

Hebrews 6:9–12

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.