We now come this morning to First Corinthians chapter four, where we will be examining verses one through five, and I've entitled my discourse to you this morning "How God Evaluates a Pastor." Before I read the text, let me introduce it with some thoughts that hopefully will frame where the apostle Paul is going here.

The greatest priority in the life of every believer is to live for the glory of God, to do what is pleasing to him. We all understand that, but every pastor learns very quickly that what pleases him doesn't necessarily please other believers, and it certainly doesn't please unbelievers that you are trying to reach. So the great temptation among pastors is to compromise, to become a people pleaser rather than a God pleaser. And this can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but primarily in the realm of philosophy of ministry and the preaching of the Word. And of course, this is at the root of what is commonly called evangelical pragmatism - do what works, do what draws a crowd - which becomes the measure of success. And therefore, methods become more important than the message. Methodology becomes more important than theology and pastors become CEOs. They become talk show hosts. Churches become preoccupied with audience ratings and opinion surveys and demographic studies and their image statistical growth. Do whatever it takes to draw a crowd, basically. And so many churches end up catering to the unsaved, to those the Bible would call spiritually dead, those that are alienated from God and darkened in their understanding.

And yet, with many churches, they will make sure that their music, even their sermons, appeal to the unsaved, so that they feel comfortable, unconvinced of the power of the Spirit and the word. They will do everything they can to eliminate any potential resistance to the gospel, to the Word of God, by kind of toning it down and watering it down. And of course, these churches flourish. They will fill up massive auditoriums. But unfortunately, for the most part, the people that come are unbelievers. They're Christian in name only.

Others cater to the unchurched, those who claim to be Christians but do not attend worship services. This is a common perspective among many people that we would love, and while a small percentage of these folks that they're catering to may just be worldly, very immature believers, most of these people are also unsaved. They're Christian in name only. Jesus talked about this, especially in Matthew seven, he said that there's the few and the many, he basically said. Most professing Christians will never enter the kingdom because they were they were self-deceived. They really didn't know me. They were never born again. In Matthew 7:21, he says, "'Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven.'" And then he describes the person that will, "'But he who does the will of My Father, who is in heaven, will enter.'"

Well, folks, the truly regenerate want to worship. They want to come to church. They want to serve Christ. They want to be shepherded by godly men. They want to grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ. They want to have fellowship with other believers. They want to be obedient to Scripture, which includes many things, but certainly not forsaking the assembling together of the saints. I read an article this last week, and in this article written by the Barna Group, they said that based upon more than two decades of tracking research, they've discovered real and significant shifts in unchurched attitudes, assumptions, allegiances and behaviors. And they basically gave five trends that they see. One, the secularization is on the rise. Secondly, people are less open to the idea of church. Thirdly, church-going is no longer mainstream. Four, there are different expectations of church involvement. And finally, there is skepticism about church's contributions to society.

Now, folks, none of this should surprise any student of Scripture, because, for the most part, churches today have ceased to be the church, so they have no spiritual power. Moreover, this is to be expected, because Jesus tells us that this is going to happen before he comes. You will recall in Luke, chapter 18 and verse 18, or in verse eight, Jesus asked rhetorically, "'When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?'" Suggesting that faith is going to be very rare when he returns. And in chapter 17 and verse 26 of Luke, Jesus said, "'Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man.'" In other words, just like in the days of Noah, it's going to be that way when I return to judge the world. What was it like in the days of Noah? It was estimated that about 7 billion people existed on the earth. How many were faithful? Eight. It gives you a little perspective, doesn't it?

In his Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 he made it abundantly clear that before his return, the world will be characterized by persecution, the church will be characterized by apostasy and unbelief. False teachers and phony churches are going to proliferate. Second Timothy three, and verse one, Paul says, "But realize this, that in the last days, difficult times will come." Literally in the original language, he's saying, there will be an accumulation of deceptive epochs. And he goes on to give a list of all of the wickedness that will continue to mount up. And among those problems will be that of false teachers, who will, quote, "...hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power." He went over to say, went on to say, that they will "enter into households and captive weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." And Paul said in Second Timothy four and verse three, beginning in verse three, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, in accordance to their own desires." "Accumulate" refers to that which is heaped up into piles. In other words, they will amass great numbers of teachers who are going to tell them what they want to hear, he went on to say, and "...they will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you," he says, Timothy, "but you be sober in all things, endure hardship; do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

Well, the question many pastors have, and many congregations have, is simply this, what is the ministry of a pastor? What should he do? And of course, you people are fully aware of these things. Paul went through this in great detail, in First and Second Timothy and in other passages, but clearly there's a growing gap between the church and the unchurched in our society. So what's the pastor to do in light of this research? David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group and co- editor with George Barna of the new book, "Churchless" from which this data is taken, says this quote, "How can we recapture an urgency to fulfill the Great Commission while treating our churchless friends with respect?" He goes on to suggest, quote, "Wrestling with answers to this question will help prepare a faith community to engage more meaningfully with unchurched people." End quote. Well, folks, I'm all for respect. I'm all for love of the unchurched, of the unsaved. Jesus and the apostles were all for that. They had an intense love for the lost. So what should we do?

Well, we should do the same thing Jesus did, the same thing the apostles did. And Paul summarized this so perfectly. He said, "We preach Christ and Him crucified." We preach the gospel. First, Corinthians two, two, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." In other words, what we need to do is unleash the gospel in all of its offense, in all of its purity and all of its power and all of its love, for it is the wisdom of God and the power of God to save sinners.

Yes, but pastor, don't you see that is not working very well. This gap is growing between the church and the unchurched. Oh, dear friends, don't be deceived. God's plan is working perfectly well, because he is saving every single person he has elected to save in eternity past, and he will continue to do so until that last person is saved. Beloved, Satan is the god of this world who has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, Second Corinthians 4:4. He is the god of this world; "the whole world, lies in the power of the evil one." First John five and verse 19. And the only thing that can overcome the power of Satan and the power of the flesh and give sight to the blind is the gospel - the unadorned, unadulterated truth of the Word of God preached in its fullness.

However, we know, according to Bible prophecy, that things are going to get worse just prior to his return, and then suddenly, very rapidly, they're going to get a whole lot better. So folks don't lose hope. Christ has promised to build his church, but we've also got to remember what the church is so that we don't compromise and make it that which it is not. I find no biblical support for this idea of turning a church into Disney World to attract the unsaved. I find no biblical support for targeting the unchurched and appealing to their desire to be told what they want to hear. Turning worship services into a worldly, friendly environment for the spiritually dead and presenting an entertaining gospel light is not only counterproductive, I would contend it is unbiblical. Folks, please hear this, a synthetic gospel cannot save, and a superficial gospel cannot sanctify. The ministry of Christ and the apostles and the early church all revolved around the teaching of sound doctrine. You will recall in Acts 2:42 we read, "They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer." The term "devoted," in the original language, carries the idea of steadfast devotion and persevering affection.

Now, folks, the unsaved, do not share that kind of commitment, and as we read Scripture, we see that the content of the apostles’ instructions included expositions of the Old Testament, expositions of the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus and new revelation given to them by the Holy Spirit. And of course, this is what happens when the mind is renewed by the illuminating power of the Spirit. It produces spiritual growth.

I remember reading years ago something that I will never forget. John MacArthur gave a list of 10 things that the church is, and this is so foundational to ministry, I'm going to read you the list without all of the references to support what he says. We would be here a long time if I read all of them. The church number one is the only institution that our Lord promised to build and bless. Number two, the church is the gathering place of true worshipers. Quote, "who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ." That's Philippians 3:3. Number three, the church is the most precious assembly on Earth since Christ purchased it with his own blood. Four, the church is the earthly expression of the heavenly reality. Number five, the church will ultimately triumph, both universally and locally. Number six, the church is the realm of spiritual fellowship. Number seven, it's the proclaimer and protector of divine truth. Number eight, the church is the chief place for edification and growth. Number nine, the church is the launching pad for world evangelization, and number 10, the church is the environment where strong spiritual leadership develops and matures.

Folks, this should reinforce for all of us the profound privilege that we have to serve in this magnificent and mystical organism, the body of Christ, of which Christ is head. And this should also underscore the responsibility that pastors and elders in particular have in a church that we might fulfill this responsibility according to God's word, and when we understand both the nature of the church, and the prophetic implications with respect to the decline of faith that is going to happen, and the apostasy that is going to rise just before Jesus returns - when we understand these things - we can understand the growing gap between the church and the unchurched. And while I regret this trend, it does not surprise me, nor should it cause any of us to compromise. Rather, it should cause us to re-examine our commitment to the Great Commission. And for pastors, for elders, it should cause us to re-examine our God given responsibilities, and that's what this text speaks to this morning.

Now remember, in Corinth, you've got a Greco Roman society. The Greeks were absolute pagans, worshiping all their different gods. They thought that Christianity was utter nonsense, that it was foolishness, it was moronic; and the Jews that lived there absolutely hated the gospel. They couldn't stand this thought of a crucified Messiah. Are you kidding me? So the gospel was a stumbling block to them and the church, those who had come to faith in Christ. The church in Corinth was still filled with worldly, immature believers infatuated with the wisdom of the world, and they were plagued with the problem of factious sectarianism and personality worship of some of their pastors, and all of this was characteristic of their Greek culture. And so after spending the first three chapters, exposing this and calling an end to it, here's what Paul says, and this is our text this morning, First Corinthians four, verse one,

"Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

But to me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.

For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God."

Folks, here we see that God looks for two things in a faithful pastor. He must be, number one, a lowly servant of Christ, and number two, a loyal steward of the mysteries of God. And I have to tell you, this is so helpful for me as a pastor; it has been down through the years. These two criteria are what God uses to evaluate me, and by extension, this is how he is going to evaluate all of us who minister.

For his sake, I rejoice knowing that God does not use the standards of the world to determine what kind of pastor I am. He doesn't care if I'm relevant to the culture or if I'm cool and I look hip and act hip; if I'm clever, if I'm creative, if I'm funny - which I'm not very much in the pulpit - you get me outside, it's probably a different story. But he doesn't care about the size of my church, the degrees behind my name. He doesn't care about the books and the articles that I've written or the conferences that I speak in, or how big of a television or a radio show that I have. He doesn't care about any of that. What he cares about is simply this, is that man a lowly servant of Christ and a loyal steward of the mysteries of God? That's what's important.

Now as we approach our text, let me add a personal note that may help you understand why Paul's words are so helpful for me as a pastor, and for you pastors that are listening to me; you can identify with this. As pastors, we receive far more criticism than we do praise. But at the end of the day, regardless of the feedback that we get, whether it's good or bad, we have toask ourselves before the Lord, "Am I, as best as I can determine in my heart, am I being a lowly servant of Christ and a loyal steward of the mysteries of God? Which we will explain in a moment. And if my conscience is clear and I can answer that in the affirmative, I have todisregard both the criticism and the praise and press on.

However, we must also know that we can't even fully trust in the acquittal of our conscience, because we really are unable to know ourselves fully. Only God knows the intentions of our heart. And this is Paul's thrust in this passage. So let's examine it more closely.

He says in verse one, "Let a man regard us." Now again, remember the immediate context here, that he's referring to is how they are elevating some over others in the church. They've had Paul, they've heard from Peter, now Apollos is the pastor, and they've got this personality cult going on. So he says, "Let a man regard us in this manner." This is how you need to see us, two things: "as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

Now the first thing God looks for here in a faithful ministry, and what you should look for in pastors and in elders is, as I say number one, a lowly servant of Christ. Let me tell you why I would say that. Paul uses an interesting term here for servants. Usually, he would use a term that would refer to an ordinary servant or even a slave. But here he uses a Greek term, "hypēretēs," which speaks of actually a compound word here.  "Hypē" means under and "etēs," a rower. It means literally an under rower. And this was a reference to the lowest of all slaves, and that is the galley slaves that were chained to their seat and strained at the oars on the bottom tier of merchant vessels in even Roman warships. If you can remember the movie Ben Hur that's what comes to mind. You've got a picture maybe in your mind, of him doing that. If we were to go back to those ancient days, we would see that in the lowest tier of the ship, the captain would sit on a small elevated platform so that the galley slaves were able to see and hear him and instantly obey his directions to be able to maneuver the ship, especially in times of storms or in times of battle...left, right, stop, forward, reverse; and because of the perils of the seas and the perils that could happen in battle, instant and unquestioned obedience to the command of the captain was absolutely paramount. It was a matter of life or death. So extreme precision was required. Galley slaves were all of the same rank. They were all the lowest of the low. None of them were elevated higher than another, and so to exalt one over another would have been ridiculous, and that's Paul's point. No reason to boast about your position.

Equally, you all strain at or under the worst of conditions. Those slaves did the most thankless and fatiguing of the work, and I might add that they received the most cruel punishment if they disobeyed or if they slacked off, and yet they were absolutely indispensable to the ship and its captain. So this is how Paul sees himself, how he saw Peter, how he saw Apollos; all of them would have agreed with this. This is how all pastors should see themselves, as under rowers; the lowest of the low. Our only boast is in our willingness to obey the voice of the captain.

You will recall us for this reason in First Corinthians, nine and verse 16, Paul says, "For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel." This was both his duty and his greatest desire. And obviously, the analogy breaks down at some level, and that we are not forced into service. We are not in any kind of bondage, somehow chained to a seat or to an oar, and our captain never mistreats us, but we do take our orders from him and from him alone, and we do so joyfully.

Moreover, the exhausting work and great difficulties in ministry should be expected, especially if we understand what Paul is saying here, I interact on a fairly frequent basis with young men interested in entering the ministry, and I always tell them to rid yourself of the romantic notion of the ministry, of the glamor of being a pastor, because too many young men are more excited about the office than they are Christ, and they've got to realize that the world hates Christ and they will hate you. I warn them that sorrow and disappointment and slander and discouragement; sleepless nights, mental, physical, spiritual fatigue will be your lot for life. That's how it is. Seldom will you have three good days in a row. In fact, today, my heart is still breaking over some bad news that I heard just this last week and that I will be dealing with for months to come. But we also know, and I can attest to this, that God's all sustaining grace and his power strengthens us and causes us to rejoice in all things. And so it's not like, "woe is me, what am I going to do?" No, you're still excited, and you move on, but you're an under rower. That's how it's going to be. You have the life of an under rower, and you are going to strain at the oar 24/7 all of your days. So accept it and rejoice in it and know that God has placed you there for your good and for his glory, which will one day be more glorious than you can ever imagine. And that's what spurs you on.

Suffering for Christ is to be expected. In fact, as we look at Scripture, we see that suffering is God's gracious gift from above to help us know him and to experience his felt presence in our life, suffering is a grace granted privilege, so that in our dying, the church will have life. Suffering for Christ, when willingly embraced, is a means to experience divine comfort, wherewith we comfort others. This is all part of what it means to be an under rower, a servant of Christ.

Of course, Paul had it far worse than I could ever even imagine. You will remember what he said in Second Corinthians six, beginning in verse four, he says,

"...but in everything, commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,

in beatings and imprisonments, in tumult, in labors and sleeplessness, in hunger,

in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,

in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness, for the right hand and the left,

by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report, regarded as deceivers and yet true;

as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished, yet not put to death,

as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing all things."

I'm looking forward to that day when we can look at this more closely, but practically speaking, as under rowers of Christ, we have to keep our eyes fixed upon the captain. And it's for this reason that every pastor must strain his eyes and his ears to the Word of God; to hear what God would have him do, that which the world considers foolishness, but what is actually the wisdom of God.

I think of the wisdom of the world, my, look where it's brought us, right?  All of the chaos and pollution and violence, famine, all of the inhumanity that we see in the world. Boy, that really works, doesn't it? A world of political greed and corruption and smoke and mirrors; a media that is completely biased, that deceives us on a routine basis. The wisdom of the world has brought us the slaughter of millions of unborn children, and because of Hollywood and the Internet, a world where the most wretched kinds of immorality, from homosexuality to pedophilia, are now sweeping over our culture like a tsunami of raw sewage. That's the wisdom of the world. Worse yet, Satan deceives the people of the world with his system that "blinds the minds of the unbelieving that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."  Second Corinthians 4:4.

So as pastors, as elders, and any of us serving Christ, we must never take our eyes off the captain. We never allow ourselves to listen to any other voice. It is only the wisdom of God that saves and sanctifies, and it's for this reason, that is what we must preach, that is what we must teach, that is what we must disciple and apply and live. This is our calling. This is our responsibility, and this is the criteria we must use to evaluate ourselves as well as each other.

And we see this in Paul's second standard for evaluation. Not only are we to be lowly servants of Christ, but secondly, loyal stewards of the mysteries of God. Notice what he says again in verse one, "Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." In Paul's day, the term "oikonomos," translated "steward," referred to a household or an estate manager, one responsible for overseeing the operations of an estate according to the guidelines that were set forth by the head of the house. These were very common in the first century. They're even fairly common in large estates today, even in our country. And of course, the qualifications for this particular position as a steward would be that a man had to have utmost integrity. He had to be a man that the master could trust with all ofhis possessions. He had to know the mind of his master to make sure that all of the supplies were in place, the property was cared for, ultimately, to benefit his master, and most importantly, he had to care for the master's family. So it's obvious the parallels here of a pastor of shepherds in a church, but notice the emphasis here is on being a steward of the mysteries of God.

In other words, the Master has entrusted to us divine truths that have only been revealed to us through the inspired record, through scripture, and it is our responsibility, our stewardship, to proclaim those truths. First Corinthians, chapter two and verse seven, you will recall Paul said, "...but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory." Mystery. "mystērion," in the original language, refers to that which has been kept secret in the past, but has now been revealed. God has revealed these great truths, namely the gospel in the New Testament, the wisdom of God's plan of redemption, Christ and Him crucified, buried, resurrected and coming again - what Paul calls "the hidden wisdom." Secret wisdom, which God intentionally conceals from the natural, the unregenerate mind, as he went on to say, in verse 14, because the natural man prefers his own earthly wisdom, he has no spiritual capacity to yield his life to the truths that God has given those who are truly regenerate, those who were born again and therefore indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

More specifically, by the way, these "mysteries of God" that we are stewards of include, for example, the mystery of the gospel, Ephesians 6:19. The mystery of Christ, Ephesians three, eight through 12. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ through the gospel; Colossians, one beginning in verse 25, "the mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." Ephesians 5:22, and 23 the great mystery concerning Christ and the church. First, Corinthians 15:51, the mystery of the rapture, or the snatching away of the church. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." And that's explained in much greater detail in First Thessalonians, four verses, 13 through 18. Second Thessalonians, five through 12, the mystery of lawlessness that is already at work, Paul says, he went on to describe the coming of the lawless one, referring to the Antichrist and how the world is already being prepared for his diabolical, satanic rule in the pre kingdom judgments; Romans, 11, verses 25 through 36 we read of the mystery of God's partial and temporary hardening of ethnic Israel and the salvation of a believing remnant that will occur when Christ returns. In Revelation 17, beginning in verse five, the mystery of the great harlot, church of the end times, mystery Babylon the great, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND of the abominations of the earth. He went on to describe the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the 10 horns. And of course, if you've been around to this church, you know that I have taught at length and in great detail all of those things and will continue to do so. Why? Because I have a stewardship responsibility to do that. It's very clear. Pastors have a stewardship responsibility for the systematic, in-depthteaching, preaching and application of the Word of God that must be a priority.

And by the way, if you come along and you water down the truth, and you somehow dumb down the word so that it appeals to the unsaved and to the unchurched, you rob the gospel, you rob the Word of God of its power, the only thing that can save and sanctify, and what you end up doing is unchurching the church, because true believers in those kinds of settings will be banished to an island of spiritual infancy. They're never able to grow up. Folks, entertaining preaching is far biblical...far different from Biblical preaching, which is both convicting and edifying to the elect. Ephesians 4:11, and following, speaks of that in great detail. And of course, entertaining preaching has had a catastrophic effect on the church, and this is part of what Satan uses to deceive people. Pastors are to be stewards of the mysteries of God. We're not to be CEOs. We're not talk show hosts; we're not entrepreneurs peddling the gospel. We are not entertainers, we're not therapists, we're not political activists. We are stewards of the mysteries of God.

Paul goes on to say in verse two, "In this case, moreover, it is required of student stewards that one be found trustworthy." The term means reliable, dependable, faithful. So in other words, this type of steward is not going to be wandering off doing his own thing. He is not going to be lazy and neglect the responsibility of his duties, causing everyone to suffer because of his indolence. He is not going to listen to the voice of other masters. He's not going to be comparing himself to other servants. He's not going to be concerned with how others see him. He's going to be concerned about one thing: being obedient to the will of his master, so that he cares for the master's family, and he accomplishes the master's purposes. "It is required," Paul says, "of stewards that one be found trustworthy." And men, might I remind you that this is not an option, this is not a suggestion. This is a requirement. Therefore, we understand what Paul said in Second Timothy two and verse 15, we need "to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed handling accurately the word of truth."

Can I put this real practically? This means as a pastor, as an elder, or anybody serving in some kind of teaching capacity, there is no room for goofing around. There is no slacking off in study. There is no slacking off in your intimate communion with the Lord, where you develop that relationship and nourish your soul and cry out for power. There's no twisting of Scripture so that you can get it to say what you want it to say. There's no ignoring difficult passages, controversial texts, for fear that somebody might be offended. There's no jumping around from topic to topic, favorite topic to topic. There's no preaching favorite subjects and thereby failing to preach the whole counsel of God. There's no promoting your own opinions and finding proof text to somehow support them. This means that there's no exegeting of your dreams and your visions and what you think God has been telling you. You turn on the television today, and it's nauseating to hear people doing that. There's no book reports, no room for that, and no room for movie reviews or preaching the wisdom of pop culture. There's no place for social activism, no place for political posturing. There's no place for entertaining folks so that they will like you and come to church. There's no removing the offense of the gospel to somehow overcome resistance. Bottom line, there's no people pleasing. There's no emphasis on trying to be witty or funny or short in your sermons to please those who have no appetite for the things of God, but a trustworthy steward of the mysteries of God. And for this reason, Paul made it so clear, Second, Timothy, four, two, he says it, and it rings in my mind constantly, "Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction." I might add to that, be like Moses, who was quote, "faithful in all God's house as a servant." Hebrews three, five. Be like Timothy, as Paul put it, as he ministered to the Corinthians, because Timothy was a quote "beloved and faithful man." First, Corinthians, four seven. Be like Paul, who was quote, "by the mercy of the Lord trustworthy" chapter seven and verse 25. Like Epaphras, who was according to Colossians, one seven, "a beloved fellow bond servant and a faithful servant of Christ." And finally, like Tychicus, who was, quote, "a beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond servant in the Lord." Colossians 4:7.

You know, I often think of Jesus words in this regard. Remember in Matthew 24 in His Olivet Discourse, he said in verses 45 and 46, "'Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?’” And he says this, "'Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.'" My, I want to be that man. I want you to be that man, that woman. Folks, this is what it means to be a lowly servant of Christ and a loyal steward of the mysteries of God. This is what God uses to evaluate pastors. This is the standard that we all need to use as well.

For this reason, Paul went on to say in verse three, "But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself." You see, what he's saying here is there is a great danger here in being far too influenced by the opinions of others, whether good or bad; and I can tell you, and I'm sure you all understand this, criticism, especially when it is unwarranted, can cause you to wither and become weak, and praise can fuel your pride, so that you end up wanting more of it. So you have guard against both of those things. But Paul is not saying he was closed to all criticism or honest feedback, nor was he saying that he was closed to any kind of of praise. I mean, we all need words of encouragement from time to time. But what he was saying is this, what is supremely important to me, is the approbation of my master. And when I know in my heart, as best I can that I am serving Him in humility and faithfulness to his commands, then the judgments of men, whether they be pro or con, mean little in comparison.

However, he goes on to say, in verse four, "For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord." And we know that self-examination can produce the wrong verdict. Have you ever done that before? And boy, if you're like me, I'm hopelessly biased in my own favor, and sometimes I can be way too hard on myself. I can be guilty of far more things than I'm really guilty of and ignore the things that I really am guilty of. That's why, when I hear negative things, especially when it's slanderous, I think, "Well, that may not be true, but there's far more that is that they don't know about." So I can deal with that. But what Paul is saying is, look, I can't really even trust my own opinions, because only the Lord really knows my heart, and it's his opinion that matters, and so therefore I'm not going to be consumed with trying to figure out all of the motives of everything that I do. I'll do the best I can. Somebody told me years ago that all navel gazing will produce is cause you to find lent in your navel. I mean, that's about the extent of it. I mean, I'm not saying you shouldn't examine your heart, and Paul's not saying that here, I mean, there's other passages that say that. But you can go way overboard on that.

Therefore he says in verse five, "...do not go on passing judgment." In other words, avoid premature, uninformed, definitive verdicts on people. Avoid that. Do not go on passing judgment before the time. You Corinthians, you people at Calvary Bible Church, wherever, because you can't judge the motives of men's hearts. Only God can do that. All you see is the outside. Plus we must remember we are prone to seeing the speck in our brother's eye and not the log in our own, right? I've learned that self-interest is always the secret bribe of judgment.

So he says this, "But wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness," referring to those things unknown and concealed and protected from scrutiny by even the darkness of our own, our own judgment. Wait until the Lord comes. He's also going to, he says, "disclose the motives of men's hearts..." which means he will make plain, he will make transparent those secret thoughts, and, "...then each man's praise will come to him from God." The point is, there's going to be praise, but he's going to be the one to let you know what you get praised for. So what Paul is saying here, in his argument, how absolutely, totally ridiculous it is for you to be passing judgment on ministers, exalting some over others, causing all this disunity in the church. That is just foolish. All you can see, really, is the external, and of course that is appropriate at some level. You want to make sure that the man is a faithful, loyal servant of Christ and so forth.

And so folks, bottom line, as you look at pastors, as you look at me, as I look at myself as you look at elders or any teacher of the gospel, you have to ask yourself, this is that man living a life that's indicative of that galley slave that is straining with all of his might at the oar;  striving to hear the voice of the captain. And is that man a faithful steward of the mysteries of God? Beyond that, let God be their judge.

Now let me challenge the, especially elders, all of you that teach, pastors that may be listening, all servants of Christ, let this be your standard, because I've learned this over the years, some, over 30 years now of pastoral experience - I've learned that the voices of malicious slander and uninformed criticism are always the loudest, and they do the greatest harm to the soul, and Satan does that by intention. And I would also add that even the soft voices of encouragement and praise can be held to a point where it's just esteemed far too greatly than it ought to be. We have to guard ourselves with that.

And folks, I can tell you, if you will climb often to the mountain top of God's grace, and there you spend time alone with God, you will experience the joy of his presence and his power, and the sound of his voice will drown out all of the voices down below. The higher you climb, the less you hear. That's where you need to be. And in the quiet winds of communion, you will hear him tell you the truth of who you really are. And he will do that through his word and through his Spirit. And then it will cause you to long all the more to hear the master one day say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Now I want to close with a word of encouragement, my, this church, I was thinking about this, and I rejoice in this. This church is filled with galley slaves straining at the oar. I see it all the time. I am so thankful for it; faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. You people don't shy away from that. And I praise God every day for you. I'm constantly counseling pastors from different parts, some of them in other parts of the world, that don't enjoy this kind of congregation, and they want to expound upon the great mysteries of God, but their church has not grown up with that, and they resent that, and so I want to thank you as your pastor for that. We give God all of the glory.

But folks, let me encourage you. Let's continue to strain at the oar. Alright, let's continue to listen to the voice of our captain and strain with all of our might until we reach the shores of heaven, and that day is coming. I believe it's coming very soon. So let's rejoice in that. Will you join me in prayer?

Father, thank you for these eternal truths that bring such encouragement to our hearts and yet also reveal to us the enormous responsibility the God given duty that we have to be obedient to your word. I pray that you will encourage all of us to this end. Use us mightily for the sake of the kingdom and for those that do not know you as Savior. Oh Father, I pray that today, by the power of your Spirit, you will convict them. You will help them to see that just calling yourself a Christian doesn't mean you are one. Cause them to see the horror of their sin and the glory of the cross, that they might wholeheartedly embrace Christ as their Savior and therefore serve him as their Lord. For it's in his name that I pray, Amen.