HoHum:
Many years ago, A preacher told of a man he had little respect for because he considered him to be miserly and covetous. One day when this person contributed only a small gift to a worthy charity, the preacher openly criticized him. After the incident, the man went to the preacher privately and told him he had been living on parsnips and water for several weeks. He explained that before coming to Christ, he had run up many bills. Now, by skimping on everything and buying nothing for himself he was paying off his creditors one by one. "Christ has made me an honest man," he said, "and so with all these debts to pay, I can give only a few offerings above my tithe. I must settle up with my worldly neighbors and show them what the grace of God can do in the heart of a man who was once dishonest." The preacher then apologized to the man and asked his forgiveness.
WBTU:
Many problems in the Corinthian church. Here is one of them. “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”” 1 Corinthians 1:10-12, NIV. In dealing with this problem, Paul gave these Scriptures tonight.
In our federal court system, we have 3 levels. The local federal court, the federal district court of appeal, and finally the Supreme Court. The judgement of the Supreme court is final.
In this Scripture we find 3 different types of judgment. The court of judgment by men, the court of judgement by one’s conscience, and the court of judgment by Christ. Might call these “The Three Tribunals”
Thesis: Let’s talk about these three tribunals
For instances:
The lowest is the court of judgment by men
Paul’s view of this tribunal is seen in vs. 3
Now Paul said “I care very little”. He did not say that he cared nothing about this.
Paul was concerned about what people thought in some matters. A “very little” thing what they thought of Paul’s accomplishments and his status as a preacher of the gospel.
The Reason for Paul’s view.
He knew how fallible public opinion can be. The world loves false teachers. They hate those “not of the world.” “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18, 19
He knew the Corinthians criteria for judging was wrong. People can only know the outward actions and appearance of an individual. Jesus said this, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”” John 7:24, NIV. This is the problem with our judgments, we do not know what is hidden in darkness and we do not know the motives of men’s hearts.
Now wait a minute, aren’t there some things that we are to judge. Yes, we are. The wrong kind of judging is when we try to judge (from vs. 5) what is hidden in darkness and the motives of men’s hearts. Walk in other’s shoes: we want people to judge us when they don’t have all of the facts? “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31, NIV.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9, NIV. Since we cannot know with certainty what is in our own heart, how can we possibly think that we can discern what is in the heart of another?
Vs. 5 tells us that when it comes to the motives of others, we need to wait for the Lord’s judgment. “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you--who are you to judge your neighbor?” James 4:11, 12, NIV.
H. While there are times we should consider what others think, the final estimation needs to look to a higher court. Some would say, “let your conscience by your guide.” Look at that...
The court of judgment by one’s conscience
See Paul’s view of this from vs. 3- I do not even judge myself.
Paul is not discounting the need to examine oneself. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5, NIV.
Paul also stressed the importance of a good and clear conscience. One little boy defined conscience as "something that makes you tell your mother before your sister does." Put in its simplest terms, our conscience is a judge. It monitors our thoughts, our motives, our actions and our general manner of life. And then it reaches a verdict. It either congratulates us for doing what we believe to be right, or it condemns us for doing what we believe to be wrong.
But in evaluating preachers/ ministers, Paul refused to depend on this “tribunal”
The Reason for Paul’s view
Paul knew how fallible one’s conscience or self evaluation can be. Paul served God with good conscience even when he was killing Christians. When misinformed, one can have clear conscience and still be wrong! People commit acts of terrorism and have clear conscience.
Sometimes we are poor judges of ourselves. We may have all the "raw materials" out of which we could make an accurate self-evaluation. But rarely are we sufficiently candid and objective about our own situation. This is why, for example, doctors do not diagnose their own ailments -- they understand the need to consult another doctor who will look at facts more straightforwardly. We tend to make exceptions for ourselves. When it comes to seeing our own faults, most of us have blind spots -- what is plain as day to others can be invisible to us.
Vs. 4 makes this evident. While his conscience was clear, he knew that it did not make him right. “Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” 1 Timothy 4:2, NIV. We can be deceived about our own motives, because sin still dwells within us. Sin can pervert our perspective on ourselves.
All of these courts are inadequate.
The court of judgment by Christ
Vs. 4- It is the Lord who judges me. Referring to judgment by Christ is evident from vs. 5. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.
Paul viewed the Lord’s judgment as superior, for Christ will: bring to light what is hidden in darkness (things a clear conscience might miss), expose the motives of men’s hearts (things often hidden from the view of others)
This court is final, with no higher court like the Supreme Court
The Reason for Paul’s view
“Moreover, the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,” John 5:22. Jesus Christ is the only qualified and capable Judge.
Only the Lord can know the secrets of men and women and all that goes on in their life situation, hearts, minds and actions. “But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” John 2:24, 25, NIV.
God Himself is the only one capable of accurately and consistently judging us. Jesus knew that only God has all the facts to judge with perfect objectivity. Jesus said, "Do not judge or you too will be judged." (Matt. 7:1) If anyone thinks they know all the facts about a person they are sadly mistaken - only God’s knowledge is complete. Ask the Lord to help you reserve judgment for the one who is omniscient.
At that time each will receive his praise from God. Paul is saying here that both he and Apollos will receive praise from God at the last day. When the verdict is handed down at Judgment Day, all those who have been wrongly judged by others will be vindicated and rewarded by God himself.
Conclusion and invitation:
To which “tribunal” are we appealing for salvation? Thank God that our salvation is not based on the judgments of fallible men and women. But are we basing our salvation on what we feel in our hearts, or what our conscience tells us
Do we place our salvation in the words of the Lord who will judge us? “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.” John 12:48, NIV.
Plan of salvation
The story is told of a young boy who was playing around a lake one day when he fell into water over his head. He couldn’t swim and was struggling for his life. Fortunately, there was a man nearby who heard his cries for help and came to rescue him. As the years passed by, that young boy grew up to become a hoodlum and got into all kinds of trouble with the law. When he got to the courtroom and approached the judge’s seat, he recognized the man sitting there. He said, "Your honor, don’t you remember me? Years ago, you saved me from drowning in the lake." The judge looked down at him and said, "Then I was your savior, but today I am your judge."
