Friends, it’s time for our verse by verse study, as the Are You Studying series is now on the air. We’re going to 1st Corinthians 4 today, so reach for your Bibles if you can and join us. That’s coming up from the International Gospel Hour.
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Hi, this is J. Webb for International Gospel Hour. For 90 years, churches of Christ have proclaimed God’s word through International Gospel Hour.
You are about to listen to another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour, starting now.
Well, greetings, everyone. Great having you with us today for our broadcast from the International Gospel Hour. And a very special, special, shall I say, thank you to our J.
Webb for his kind words. And you’ll hear from Jay throughout our broadcast. As stated, our Are You Studying series is now on the air.
And this is what we do with this study, folks. We will pick a book and a chapter of the Bible, and we will spend some time just looking at the section of scripture going verse by verse. And we call this Are You Studying as a nod of memory to our first speaker of the International Gospel Hour by the VE.
Howard who would ask during his broadcast, friends, are you listening? Well, we like to ask, are you studying? People love to sit down and look at the scriptures in this style of study.
And so from time to time, we try to bring broadcast such as this. If there are other books or chapters you are interested in, go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com and scroll down to where you see the 15-minute broadcast. Feel free to peruse through them, and you’ll find previous studies from the book of 1 John.
You will find 1 Corinthians chapters 1, 2, and 3, and we’re blessed to be able to bring those to you. There may be some studies of the book of Mark, and so we are honored to bring those to your attention. Now, the first three chapters from the book of 1 Corinthians has the Apostle Paul defeating the divisive positions and bringing them all together, where in 1 Corinthians 3, 22 and 23, Paul says, All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God.
So, all are yours, and you are Christ’s. So he’s bringing them all together. And then in 1 Corinthians 4, beginning with verse 1, Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now he brings them to where they need to be. He’s corrected the division. He says, this has to stop.
And now they are all to be together on the same page. Consider us servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God. Paul explained further, verse 2, please.
Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man 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. So Paul says to the church, OK, now, we are all together.
Consider us all together, of Christ all together, stewards of the mysteries of God all together, and each one’s praise will come from God. Now with the correction in chapters 1 through 3, let’s build and grow, and today, friends, we’re going to take verses 1 through 5, 1 Corinthians 4, and talk about the all of stewardship. But first, we’ve got a very special gift to you, and here is our J-Web with the details.
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Now we return to 1 Corinthians 4, verses 1 through 5, as we talk about ministers of Christ or stewards. Let’s talk about ministers or servants. Another word that means under-rowers, which means that we are rowing together.
Stewards, a word that means a manager or managers of another. Now, Paul is referring here to the apostles, but he is embracing the uninspired teachers as well, those who are part of the church, servants of God and stewards of the mysteries of God. That you are servants of Christ, ministers are under-rowers.
You are carrying forth what God wants you to carry forth. Not your own, I am of Paul, I am of Cephas or so on, but now you are carrying forth the things that be of Christ. You see in Romans 6 and verses 17 and 18, we are servants once of sin, now servants of righteousness.
Some translations will say a slave of sin or a slave of righteousness, which means we are the servant to whom we follow. Then he moves, as you are a servant, the underroar, your minister, now you are a steward. You are managing what God has given you.
Now here Paul talks about the mysteries of God. Now that doesn’t mean that we are stewards of something we can’t understand, but the mystery is what has been revealed. So he says now you are stewards of what God has revealed.
You need to preach what God is bringing forth, not your own personal thoughts. That division is gone. Now you are more determined for Christ.
Allow Paul in Ephesians 3, 1-7 to explain this idea of mystery a little more. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. So Paul says, This that has been made known, the mystery, we are stewards of the mysteries.
I am going to proclaim to you what God has granted unto me. This idea of steward means that we are managing things on behalf of another. You know the parable of the unfaithful steward in Luke 16, 1-12, to where he was not doing the job of his master and the changes that he made as steward who was responsible.
And how Jesus speaks of, Blessed is that servant or that steward who will do what the Lord commands. Luke 12, verse 42. In 1 Peter 4, 10, Paul said, or rather Peter says, As each one has received a gift, ministry it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
So, friends, think of God’s plan to bring salvation to the world. That plan is through Christ. Those who obedient are disciples with the charge, the responsibility to carry through God’s plan and faithfulness.
And that is a requirement of a steward. Now, Paul also speaks of the judgments of man and the smallness therein. He’s corrected their division, but he brings in a little reminder here.
Now, friends, I’m going to preface this by saying that I am not a fan of the new international version for many reasons. But I want you to listen to how that verse is translated, and I would accept it as a good commentary. Paul says, I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court.
Five times in verses 3 through 5, we see a form of the word judge. Wrong judgment, friends, is not knowing the facts. So many times people want to immediately go to Matthew 7.
When you bring forth to them of a behavior they need to change, they’ll go to Matthew 7, and he says, the Bible says judge not. In other words, you can’t say anything, but that’s not what Jesus taught. Let’s keep carrying that verse a little further.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it’ll be measured back to you. Jesus uses this as an illustration.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye? And don’t consider the plank in your eye. What about when Jesus said in John 7, 24, don’t judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment?
I mean, can we see, going back to our lesson text of 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5, can we see the hidden things of darkness? Can we see counseling within the heart of another? No.
Friends, there is nothing wrong with making a righteous judgment, but that’s a judgment that’s according to all the facts, and sometimes we do speak before we should not. We take today from our study of the all of stewardship, focus on God and His work. You are His servant, you are His steward, and let’s do things according to God’s way.
Going to pause and go back to our J. Webb. He’s going to tell you about a free online study, and then we’ll come back and wrap up our broadcast today.
How about an online study of the Bible? That’s right. The World Bible School has a free online Bible study available.
Just go to worldbibleschool.org and register. A study helper will assist you in answering questions and provide feedback for your lessons. That’s the free online study at worldbibleschool.org.
Sign up today. Tell them the International Gospel Hour has sent you.
Well, friends, we hope that this study today from our Are You Studying series has been of help to you from 1 Corinthians 4, 1 through 5. Other studies from 1 Corinthians, again, are at our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Please check our podcast or 15-minute programs, and we’ll be glad to help you if you need additional help.
Thanks for joining me today on the International Gospel Hour. We’ll do this at another time. I’m Jeff Archie, and friends as always, keep listening.
Thank you for listening to our broadcast today. To God goes all the glory, and we hope that our study today will draw you closer to his word to walk in his way. To listen to it again, or our other broadcasts, please visit our website at www.internationallgospelhour.com.
