Alba 3-30-2025
BE FOUND FAITHFUL
I Corinthians 4:1-5
There is a story of a choir director who was so stressed out because at least one or more members of the choir were absent at every rehearsal for a concert. Finally came the last rehearsal and he announced: “I want to personally thank the pianist for being the only person in this entire church choir to attend each and every rehearsal during the past two months.” At this, the pianist rose, bowed, and said, “It was the least I could do, considering I won’t be able to be at the concert tonight.”
Our text for today in First Corinthians chapter four tells us that faithfulness is required in our service to the Lord. God is faithful, and He expects His people to be faithful. Someone has said, “True faith shows up in faithfulness. Not everyone can sing or preach, but all can be faithful.” Another observed, “The world crowns success; God crowns faithfulness.” The world may measure success by profit, by how much you earn. Or by prosperity, by what you own. Or by prestige, by how high are you in the corporate ladder. But God measures success by faithfulness. So are you successful today? We should all ask ourselves, “How faithful are we to God?”
When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth, he was trying to correct problems in the church. One of the problems was the division caused by the way they preferred one minister or apostle over another.
Paul tells them that no matter which leader they preferred, each one had the same goal and the same responsibility. And no matter who they were, the main requirement for each of them was that they be found faithful. So he writes the following in First Corinthians 4:1-5:
“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.” (NKJV)
The Contemporary English Version has those same verses this way: “Think of us as servants of Christ who have been given the work of explaining God's mysterious ways. And since our first duty is to be faithful to the one we work for, it doesn't matter to me if I am judged by you or even by a court of law. In fact, I don't judge myself. I don't know of anything against me, but this doesn't prove I am right. The Lord is my judge. So don't judge anyone until the Lord returns. He will show what is hidden in the dark and what is in everyone's heart. Then God will be the one who praises each of us.”
Notice the two words in verse one that are used to describe the apostle Paul and the others: Servant and Steward. Those are two words that we can, and should, apply to ourselves in our relationship with Jesus. So we, like them, should be found faithful. Because...
1. We Also Are Servants of Christ
So what is a servant? In the New Testament, the word servant is used to describe someone who serves or assists another, often in a subordinate role. The original Greek word has been translated as servant, attendant, minister, or officer. The term emphasizes the role of service and support, often in a context of obedience and duty.
In the original Greek this word “servant” translated literally is “under-rowers.” The picture is that of a ship propelled by oars describing the slaves who rowed the huge Roman galleys, who worked under the command of a captain. This imagery of rowing under authority highlights the concept of service and submission to a higher command.
Two things must be said about under-rowers. First, they work the oars in the belly of the ship. They do not know where the ship is going. They simply obey the direction of the Captain. Secondly, under-rowers must work in harmony. If they do not work together, their efforts will be wasted. To say the least, the ship will not move as it should. The worst scenario is that it will go in circles. And it will not reach its destination that way.
So how does that apply to us? Jesus taught His disciples in Mark 9:35, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” The church is the ship; Jesus commands; and we who are Christians, are the under-rowers, who receive our orders from our Lord Jesus Christ. We are His servants and need to obey Him. The first duty of a servant is to be faithful.
Following Jesus, we are called to be faithful in using whatever gift or ability we may have, however large or small it may be. One day after delivering a message, someone came to D.L. Moody and said, “You made eleven grammatical mistakes in your message tonight.” Moody looked at the person and said, “I’m sure you’re right. My education is limited. I wish I could have had more, but I’m simply using the grammar I have to serve the Lord.” That is an example to us of being a faithful sevant.
Again, just like the leaders who served the church in Corinth, we should be found faithful, because...
2. We Also Are Stewards of the Mysteries of God
This mystery isn’t a mystery in the sense that it is incomprehensible. It’s a mystery because it’s something that natural human intelligence could never discover. It could never be figured out. It comes only by revelation from God. And we are stewards of those great revelations.
What is a steward? In Bible times, a steward was usually a slave to whom the master entrusted all of his affairs. He was an administrator of the master’s household, but still a slave of the master. Remember Joseph was a slave of Potiphar, but was made overseer of all that was in the house and in the field. A steward had great responsibility. He was always and in everything, accountable to the Master as his purchased slave. That is a description of you and me.
We are purchased, redeemed, by the Lord. We belong to Him. He is our Lord and Master. He redeemed us by His blood shed on the cross. Salvation comes from Him. And we are stewards of that truth that is found in God’s written revelation, the Bible. God's Word gives us understanding of mysteries that people will never discover for themselves apart from direct communication from God. Because, it is scripture that declares God’s name, and how He can be known. It is scripture that identifies our origin, we are a product of God’s creation. And it is scripture that reveals the source, and God’s solution, for our sin. And God has placed all of this into our hands.
To be proper stewards of the truth of God's love and mercy as revealed in scripture, there are things we must do. We must possess the truth. As Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another…” In order to have a good biblical foundation, we must read it, memorize it, meditate upon it and obey it.
Also as stewards, we must preserve in the truth. Paul wrote to Timothy in II Timothy 1:13, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard from me.” And, as stewards we are to pass on the truth. Paul told Timothy in II Timothy 2:2, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” We can talk about many things to point people towards God. But eventually we must take them to the Word of God and the cross. That is our stewardship responsibility.
We need to encourage one another to be good servants of Christ and good stewards of God's mysteries. But verses four and five of our text give us a caution.
3. We are not to be Judges of Each Other
A second reason that the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthian church is that there were people in the church who were judging him. And he had to defend his authority as an apostle to be one who could guide them to a better place before God. So he tells them in verse five, “judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes”
And why is that? It is because God is the final judge of all things. Now, as Lois Leggett used to say, it is alright to be fruit inspectors. And that should cause us to want to grow good fruit. But even there, we must be careful as we inspect the servanthood and stewardship of others. There are things we may not know.
It’s easy even for a Christian to become the expert who knows everyone else’s sins and shortcomings but who never examines his own. The apostle Paul says that he couldn't think of any major charge against himself. But he admits that didn't justify him, or prove that he was right. “My judge,” says Paul, “is not man or even myself, but God.” Now, Paul is not discounting the need to examine oneself. It is always good to check out where we are in our walk with the Lord. In II Corinthians 13:5 Paul wrote, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”
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 the facts more straightforwardly. Our judgment about ourselves, and especially of others, can be off the mark. Romans 14:4 asks, “Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord’s help, they will stand and receive his approval.” (NLT) The Lord knows things we don’t know. The Lord knows the hidden thoughts and motives of people’s hearts. And He will reward His servants accordingly. Each will receive the appropriate praise they deserve when Jesus comes again.
We know that the apostle Paul was indeed a servant of Christ and a good steward of the mysteries of God. His life testifies to that fact. Yet he was being rejected by some in the congregation in Corinth.
Rick Stacy, a Christian Church minister in Michigan, tells of his experience with rejection. He said, “I’ll never forget being rejected by a friend as a minister and as a friend. We had worked together, vacationed with our families together, even gone on a missions trip to Venezula together. Then one day after a really tough six months at breakfast one Thursday morning he said, "I’ve decided that you are not a good enough minister and leader for me and my family". Rick said, “Facing rejection is not easy.”
Everyone of us has had that experience at some time in our lives. In one way or another - someone we loved; someone we worked with; someone we worked for; someone that taught us; someone that we cared about rejected us.
Peter Marshall wrote a little poem worth recalling:
We have the nicest garbage man.
He empties out our garbage can.
He’s just as nice as he can be.
He always stops and talks to me.
My mother doesn’t like his smell.
But mother doesn’t know him well.
Living our lives so as to receive the praise of people around us will get us into trouble. The court of public opinion should not be the final guideline for our lives. In fact, even if we wanted to please everyone, we couldn’t do it. Serving God is not about pleasing ourselves or others. It’s about pleasing God.
God is looking for faithfulness. He has entrusted the work of His Kingdom to us, and wants to find us faithful. We must be prepared to see Him on His return and be accountable to what we have done. We have to be faithful to His Word and His Work. In II Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Stated simply, we are going to be judged according to the gospel. In Romans 2:16 Paul speaks of, “the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” In view of this, our response to that gospel becomes extremely important, doesn’t it? Thankfully, when that final judgment comes, if we are in Christ, our sins are, and will be, under the blood of Jesus and God will remember them no more.
Until then, whatever responsibility God gives us, let us accept it and do our best at it. The Lord wants us to be servants and stewards who do our work faithfully. Because one day, we are going to want to hear the Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servants."
CLOSE:
Remember the movie, Ben Hur? It came out in 1959. The movie won 11 Oscars and was over three and a half hours long. The most memorable scene in the film is the chariot race. Charlton Heston was trained for five weeks before the shooting of that scene. Heston was grateful for the trainer's guidance, but even with all of the preparation, he still felt nervous about interacting with other chariots.
He told the trainer, “All the time it's just been you and me and this one team, several hours a day. When we do this sequence there'll be eight other teams out there. That's not so easy.”
So the trainer looked at Heston and gave him a great piece of advice. He said, “Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot. I guarantee you're gonna win.”
Heston's job was to stay in the chariot and he would win. Our job is to stay faithful to our Lord who gave Himself for us so that we could be saved. May we be found faithful.
