1 Corinthians 4:18-21 To Live Is Christ, To Die Is Gain!

1 Corinthians 4:18-21  Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.  But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.  What do you prefer?  Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

In the above passage, Paul expresses frustration with the wayward Corinthians.  He sees them as lacking spiritually, talking about theological issues, fighting over leadership of their church rather than bringing a consistent message of holiness, servanthood, and love to the Corinthian people.  Their arguments over the leadership issue are breaking down the cohesive message of Christ and him alone.  Paul desires them to follow Christ only as he follows Christ only,  giving their lives completely for the purpose of the Good News rather than for their self-interests and self-engrandisement.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert and tells him to get away from him, He uses scripture to defeat the enemy: Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.  (Matthew 4:10)  This is what Paul wants from the Corinthians, commitment to serving God.  He tells them they are arrogant, pontificating about their wonderful beliefs and ideas, while they lack power in the Spirit.  They are lifting up the cause of their factions rather than following God as servants to the people of Corinth.  In a sarcastic way, he has told them he wishes he could be like them: little kings determining what is right or wrong in the world.  Instead, Paul and the apostles are giving their lives daily for the sake of the gospel in the world's arena of sin and devastation.  Later in this letter, he tells the church that he dies daily for the gospel.  The apostles are bringing salvation to a world of sin and death.  He tells them in their little kingdoms, in their little factions, that the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power, a power that separates the  believer from the carnal, the talkers, the lukewarm.  In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds them that God has called his people to come away from the unclean things of the world and to dedicate themselves to him.  (See 2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Today, we find Paul's admonitions apply to our lives as well.  Power to overcome and to live a life pleasing to God comes from following Christ in a holy manner.  We cannot be halfhearted in our service, but we must give ourselves wholly to God.  In Revelation when the Spirit speaks to the church in Laodicea, He says, I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelation 3:15-16)  This self-satisfied church thinks they are rich and lack nothing, but the Spirit tells them they are pitiful and need to buy gold so they can procure white clothing to cover their shameful nakedness and salve for their blind eyes.  They had lost their perspective on spiritual realities just as the Corinthians had done.  (See Revelation 3:17-18)   In today's passage we see the Corinthians involved with religion, disputing over who has the right dogma, who belongs to what group, and who should be believed.  They were in turmoil because of the many words they were tossing around, words that hurt and destroyed the cohesiveness of the Corinthian church.  Their testimony in Corinth had been compromised because of this divisiveness.  Their arrogance about their held positions caused them to dismiss Paul's leadership as their spiritual father.  They were discounting his apostleship position in their church, not appreciating that Paul paid the price of persecution and threats of death to bring them the Good News.  Paul reminds them that he has the power of apostleship.  Since Paul established the Corinthian church, God is fully behind his efforts to correct the church, to bring discipline to them.  Consequently, Paul tells them, Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?  The choice is theirs: are they going to be recalcitrant or repentant?  If they are the latter, he will come to them with a gentle spirit.  If they are the former, he will use his authority of apostleship to bring correction. 

As we look around us, we can see the church in American has many of the characteristics of the Corinthian church.  We are divided into factions, holding dearly to our theological positions, worried about dogma, traditions, sacraments, and so on.  We have allowed "me" to get in the way of "we."  The Corinthians were worshipping in a chaotic manner.  The "me-first and me-only," spirit brought chaos and acrimony into their gatherings.  This selfish spirit also allowed sin to permeate their church.  As we will see later in the letter, the lack of spirituality and unity in the church resulted in such depravity that the sin of incest was openly practiced by a couple in their community.  The environment was so contaminated by sin that the church did not condemn the practice.  Holiness means a complete one-hundred percent commitment to Christ, a promise to serve others as a testimony to a dark and sinful world.  When the flesh gains preeminence in anyone's life, it will lead them to serving the self first.  When the unregenerate spirit of man is in control, it separates, divides, and destroys.  Communities, fellowships, marriages, and relationships all fall at the feet of the me-first generation.   Americans are inculcated by the idea that I am in control: "I only go around once, so I am going to get what is coming to me."  The prophet Isaiah said we are all like sheep who have gone astray and turned to our own way.  (Isaiah 53:6)  This is the genesis of sin: my way.  We chose ourselves over God.  We say, our way, not yours, God.  The Corinthian church displayed this attitude of self-will, self-indulgence, self-existence in their church and community.  Paul knew this attitude would lead to death, to the destruction of their church.  He was writing to them to put a stop to such an attitude.  He called it arrogant.  In arrogance, one might live like a king, dictating what he desires, or complaining about what he doesn't have; but Paul's life illustrates a life for Christ.  Paul told the church in Philippi that he would rejoice in chains if the gospel went forward.  He went on to say, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  (Philippians 1:20-21)  This world was not his home.  He was not going to nest comfortably here without a care.  We, as with Paul, are not to make our homes here while we argue philosophies and points of doctrine; but we are called to be servants to a dying world, spreading the gospel, regardless of the cost.  Bless you today with the power of the Lord.  

1 Corinthians 4:14-17 Live As Dear Children!

1 Corinthians 4:14-17  I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children.  Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.  Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord.  He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Paul's commitment to the churches he founded as an apostle for Christ was similar to a good father of a family.  He was dedicated to their survival; he would do anything to make sure that his children in the spirit would live healthy lives untainted by the corruption of the world.  He knew what he had birthed by the Spirit of God were new creatures, forever in the family of God.  Therefore, Paul not only reveals a great love for these children in the household of God; he also reveals a great concern about their lifestyles and thinking processes.  He wants them to know that their lives need to measure up to what Christ would want from them.  To reveal to them what a life in Christ should look like, he points to himself: Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  Of course, Paul's life was totally committed to Christ.  He knew eternal life was his promise, not just a better life here on Earth.  And he knew Christ had given all for him.  Therefore, he pressed into Christ, to know him, to love him, to serve him.  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:7-11)  These Corinthians were so precious to him that he was not willing to trust their spiritual well-being to just anyone.  He wanted them to know what it means to live for Christ; therefore, he sent Timothy, who is faithful in the Lord.  Timothy would sustain Paul's effort of teaching the Corinthians what it means to live a life for Christ, what it means to be a new creature in a land of sin and destructiveness.  Timothy would remind them to live as Paul lives, live as new creatures, breathing a new life source, not just air, but the breath of the Spirit of God.

The Corinthians, as with all the Gentile Christians, experienced difficulty casting off their old lifestyles and ways of thinking.  Their heritage of living self-willed, sinful lives was in their culture, part of their inheritance.  The Jews had the law that taught them what sin was, that God hated this self-centered life of darkness, but the Gentiles lacked this background.  Paul, as father of these churches, was constantly battling this carnal nature, turning them away from their old habits of living towards a life in Christ.  So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.  (Ephesians 4:17-19)  He wanted these nascent churches, new communities of believers, to become mature in Christ.  To know what maturity means, they needed to look at Paul's life, his concerns, his passions, his understanding, his love, his dedication to them and to the gospel of Christ.  He did not want them to live in a place of ignorance, following Christ in a fleshly and worldly manner.  He wanted them to reject such thinking, to commit themselves fully to Christ and to the work of the Father.  For to live as a fleshly Christian is dangerous to their souls and to the growth of the body of Christ.  But to be found fully in Christ, dedicated wholly to him, creates a place of security where the Holy Spirit teaches and leads God's people into all truth.  Paul desired this for his flock as he told the church in Ephesus: Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  Ephesians 4:14)

Paul loved his brothers and sisters in the Lord; He also knew he was their spiritual father.  He wanted them to stand firm in the Lord regardless of anything adversely affecting their faith.  He knew they lived in a dangerous neighborhood, the Gentile world.  For them to witness of Christ's redeeming work was dangerous for them.  Even though he knows their situation, he asks them to follow Christ as he follows Christ, unafraid of persecution, even the sentence of death.  Now, dear friends at this breakfast table, are we following Christ as Paul followed him?  In our personal lives and in our interactions with others are we following Christ?  We have the Word as our light; we know what darkness is.  Are we dabbling with elements from our old lifestyle: desiring things that are part of the Gentile world, the old man or woman's world?  Are we talking and thinking as Gentiles do, seeking to hurt others, criticizing, not loving our enemies.  Do we care more for the acquisition of material things than for the things of God?  Can we say our lifestyle is different from the world?  Do we seek the same things on television or on our electronic devices that the Gentiles love?  Paul feared for the Corinthians.  He feared the lifestyle of the Gentiles still permeated the minds of the Corinthians.  He knew they were allowing sin a clear presence within their community of believers.  Of course, if they blended in with the majority culture, they would receive less persecution, hatred, and rejection.  But Paul knew blending in with the world would eventually destroy their passion and will to follow Christ.  He wanted their minds, activities, and lifestyles to be totally committed to Christ.  For Paul, to live was Christ alone.  He wanted everyone to have that same life.  As a good spiritual father, he called them to a life centered on Christ and his purposes.  For this to happen, they had to set their minds on the things of God: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.  (Philippians 4:8-9)  Find that peace in Christ today and follow him.    
 

1 Corinthians 4:8-13 The Passion of the Apostles!

1 Corinthians 4:8-13  Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich!  You have become kings — and that without us!  How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.  We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  We are weak, but you are strong!  You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
In the above verses, Paul expresses frustration with the Corinthians.  This church was in conflict about who they should follow as their leader.  Paul is upset, for they disputed extraneous ideas rather than propagating the Good News.  The Corinthians seemed to be more concerned in discussing their opinions about leadership and theology than they were in furthering the gospel of Christ in their community.  Paul evidences disappointment, for they are spending their time expressing different viewpoints, rather than working in unity, carrying forth the message of God to Corinth.  Different factions were fighting each other, each group believing they had all the answers.  Paul castigates them by saying, Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich!  You have become kings — and that without us!  Paul sees the Christians in Corinth as self-satisfied, behaving as kings, living in their own homes, doing what they want, concentrating on themselves, rather than on others.  Paul sarcastically says, We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  I wish your lifestyle, your point of view, your great knowledge would be mine also, so that I could participate in a life of ease, disputing ideas, discussing leadership, not having to face persecution or struggles because of following Christ.  All the apostles would love to participate in such a lifestyle, where disputation with our brethren is our only concern, where there is no dying, no pain of rejection from the outside world.  How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you where persecution ceases, where beatings and stonings do not exist.  Of course we know Paul is attempting to shame his brethren with these words.  He would not trade places with them because he is doing God's work as the Spirit leads him.  His point is clear: this church has gone astray.  We know how Paul felt about his commitment to Christ from what he wrote to the Philippians: I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:8-11)  

In comparison, Paul and the apostles' lives differed significantly from the lives of the factions in Corinth.  In propagating the Good News to the world, the apostles did indeed become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.  As Paul depicts them, they were prisoners of war, dragged along at the end of a triumphal procession through the streets of the victorious conquerors' cities.  As prisoners, they are manacled, ropes around their necks, spit upon by bystanders, reviled and ridiculed by the crowd as they proceeded through the streets.  They were prisoners without hope of rescue, for they came to make converts in towns with few or no believers.  They were destined for a horrible ending.  Paul uses this image in sharp contrast with the Corinthians who dispute about their leaders and their beliefs in the comfort of their safe environment.  Paul is not exaggerating in this depiction, for he has experienced what it means to be in chains, beaten, left for dead outside the city gates, to be a prisoner at the mercy of someone else.  Paul understands the pain of hearing about the persecution or the death of a fellow soldier of the cross.  He knows what it means to have people sworn to hunt you down and to kill you.  He knows James was beheaded, Jesus was crucified, and Peter was thrown in jail to face death.  He knows his own death will undoubtedly come at the hands of his enemies.  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.  Paul expresses what many Christians do not want to hear: God's plan for our lives goes far beyond our comfort, our peace, even our salvation.  King Herod who killed James and imprisoned Peter did not die because of his mistreatment of God's anointed.  No, he died because he allowed men to glorify him as god.  Herod should have died because he killed James who walked with Jesus.  That would have been justice, but James' life and his death was for a greater purpose.  The apostles lived their lives for God, regardless of the consequences.  The Good News they spread of life eternal in Christ Jesus was more important that whether they lived or died or whether they were in the front of the procession as conquers or at the end as defeated prisoners.  As Paul said,  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  (Philippians 1:22)  

Today, Christians can hardly imagine being dragged through a city as prisoners.  No, as with the Corinthians, we would rather be kings, kings in our lifestyle, our personal pursuits, and our religious ideas.  We would rather see our lives from the perspective of the King's kids, children of God.  Of course, by the Spirit, we are sons and daughters of God, but as such we are called to serve.  We will face some hardships, pain, and sorrow following our Lord.  The apostles faced all of this because their purpose was to spread the gospel.  Our purpose is to spread the same gospel wherever we are found.  This does not always make life easy.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  Yes, the Lord our God is the Creator of all things: every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.  (Psalm 50:10-11)  But this reality does not cause our lives to unfold exactly as we desire.  Yet as instruments of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, we live as testimonies for the eternal Creator.  By faith we overcome until the end, regardless of the circumstances.  We proclaim the joy of Lord as our strength when we are seemingly in a prison of hopelessness.  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  (Acts 16:22-25)  Notice, the other prisoners were listening to them.  At this time, Paul and Silas had no knowledge of a victorious deliverance from their situation.  They were in a hopeless place, but they prayed and sang.  We are not kings as Paul asserts for the Corinthians.  We do not have all the answers, but we do know with the apostles that God is in charge.  As children of the Most High, we can declare: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  (Philippians 4:13)  Therefore, live for the Lord with passion, the passion the apostles displayed for Christ when life was so dear for them.    

1 Corinthians 4:6-7 If You Boast, Boast in the Lord!

1 Corinthians 4:6-7  Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”  Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.  For who makes you different from anyone else?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Paul used himself and Apollos in his teaching about not judging one man over the next spiritually, placing one man above the other based on perceived spirituality.  The Christians in Corinth were doing just that: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ."  In their zealous desire to follow their spiritual champions, they were inadvertently or maybe intentionally splitting up the Corinthian church into factions.  This splintering of the church hindered the testimony of the Good News of the saving grace of Christ in Corinth.  Paul wanted them to understand that only God knows the true intentions of their spiritual leaders; therefore, let God judge, rather than them judging these people.  Instead, they should view each man now as a servant of the Most High.  They should accept and respect all of their leaders for their service to God.  Of course these men of God should come in the manner that was evident in their master Jesus.  As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”  This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”  (Matthew 21:1-5)  Jesus came to Jerusalem riding on a lowly colt, not a white charger, snorting and prancing.  He did not come in the manner of a king but in the manner of a servant, wanting to meet the needs of people.  When Jesus called the people to him, He said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.  (Matthew 11:28-30)

How different the Pharisees were from Jesus.  The Pharisees loved their position of honor.  Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.  So you must obey them and do everything they tell you.  But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.  They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.  “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’"  (Matthew 23:1-7) The Pharisees were not the type of people to wash the feet of others.  They might in a ceremonial event, for the pretense of humbleness, but not just to benefit another person's needs, outside of public view.  They were probably not so much for praying in their closet, for they enjoyed and fed off of the praise and adulation of people, so they enjoyed praying in public.  Of course, in all situations there are exceptions, but Jesus was finding fault with the established religion in the Jewish society.  The Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Scribes had lost their most import purpose of serving the people.  Rather than revealing God to the Jews, they were manifesting themselves, in essence, boasting about how spiritual they were, demanding subservience and special concessions from the people they served.  They considered themselves different from the ordinary man.  Not realizing that God who knows our hearts is the only one who knows how different or how spiritual or how full of faith we are from another person.  They had lost their way, no longer practicing the very gospel they preached.  In seeking praise from others, they lost track of the truth of God's Word.  We read in God's Word they loved praise from men more than praise from God.  (John 12:43)

If we are truly servants in the body of Christ, God is the director of where we will serve.  He places the ability and inclination in our hearts to serve him with all that is within us.  Yet even if we serve well, we still do not boast, For who makes you different from anyone else?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?  God, the creator of all things, created you to be his servant, his child.  He gave you power through the Holy Spirit to do what He has asked you to do for the work of the kingdom.  Your purpose is to bring him glory, just as every living thing brings glory to his lovely name.  We read this prophecy in Isaiah: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.  (Isaiah 45:23)  We find its fulfillment in Christ: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:9-11) The interesting thing about humans is we have the choice of serving him.  Each person who is confronted with the gospel makes a choice to serve him or not in his or her lifetime.  Each person will be judged on what he or she did with that choice.  If the choice is for self, serving the old nature of Adam: me first, me only, my will not God's will; life will lack fruit with nothing eternal remaining.  But if the choice is to serve God with all your heart, mind, spirit, and strength, you will profit much in this life and in eternity, for your fruitfulness will be evident.  Our challenge, Christian friends, is to serve God with passion and energy.  God has placed in us all that is necessary to serve him well.  If we fail, we fail because of our lack of commitment, our lack of faith in him.  The world in general is dark, loveless, self-serving; people are hurting everywhere.  We who know Christ are light in a dark world.  We bring the love and concern of Jesus to broken people.  We bring life to the dead, salve to the wounded, salvation to the lost.  For sure, we do not have anything in ourselves to boast about, but we have been given the gift of Good News for a lost world.  Unwrap this gift, show it proudly to others, dear friends.  We must follow our Lord.  In Luke, we see a powerful image of Jesus.  The  people wanted him to stay longer where He was.  But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”  And he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.  (Luke 4:43-44)  May we be about the Father's business.  

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 God Knows Your Heart!

1 Corinthians 4:1-5  So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.  I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.  He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.  At that time each will receive his praise from God.

He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.  In today's focus, Paul talks about the intent of the heart of those who ministered to the Corinthians.  He reminds the Corinthians that Apollos, Peter, Paul himself, and all other ministers to the church were to be regarded as servants of Christ, entrusted with the secret things of God.  They were not to be considered as anything more than who they were, and the Corinthians were not to judge them on any other terms.  The Corinthians should not lift up or debase these servants of God.  Paul wanted them to know that God would judge these workers for Christ at the appointed time.  He will judge rightly how they lived and what their real intentions were when they ministered to the people.  Did they minister for the glory of God or did they minister for their own glory?  Did they want a large following for themselves or for God?  Paul knew the answers to these questions had to be left with God and his righteous judgment.  Jeremiah said many years earlier, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)  The Corinthians were trying to decipher the real purposes and motives behind these spiritual leaders, to determine the validity of their teaching.  Paul said they would never really know the true motives of these men.  For now, they should consider these spiritual leaders and teachers as what they were: servants of God.  God knows the hearts of men, just as it was when He told Samuel to pass over all of Jesse's sons who were brought before him and to send for the youngest who was tending sheep.  God anointed David: The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.  (1 Samuel 16:7)   
  
The question for us today is what does God see in our hearts: what are our motives?  We have been given a trust.  What are we choosing to do with our new lives in Christ?  Are we servants of God, choosing to follow him and his will for our lives or are we choosing our way, our plans, our will?  Are we building our lives on eternal truth, so others might follow us?  As we have already read in 1 Corinthians, Paul represented godly pursuits as gold, silver, costly stones.  But if we build on the mundane activities of life that will soon pass away when we die, we build with wood, hay or straw.  (See 1 Corinthians 3:12)  When we meet our demise, no one will care how many hours we spent exercising to keep fit.  No one will care very much about how many interesting places we visited in our lifetime.  No one will mention how many hours we spent watching television or interacting with our electronic devices.  All of this is transitory and literally disappears when we are gone.  These ephemeral pursuits we considered so important in our lives will garner no praise in the spiritual world where God exists, for they were self-serving, self-oriented, self-fulfilling.  Peter speaks so well of this: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.  For, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.”  And this is the word that was preached to you.  (1 Peter 1:23-25)  We are no longer part of the perishable; we have been raised with Christ incorruptible.  We can choose life in him with the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus prayed, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  (Matthew 6:9-10)  We are to be his servants, to love the people in the world as God loves them.  With the Spirit to teach and to guide us, we can yield to God and prove faithful.

Paul informs the Corinthians they should not judge the intents or purposes of the people who minister to them.  God will judge them, and his judgment is just.  God will judge the fruit of our lives, for He knows us intimately.  He knows minute by minute what we are thinking, nanosecond by nanosecond.  Nothing escapes him.  As Paul implies, we cannot judge ourselves: I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  His conscience is clear, but he still does not know if he has completely been pure in his heart, pleasing God at all times.  But He says, the Lord will be my judge; He alone will determine the truth of my life.  It is the Lord who judges me.  We can trust the Lord, for He has brought grace and mercy to all who call upon his name and receive his forgiveness for their sins.  We can go to the Bible and see the grace He gave while He walked this earth.  The woman who was to be stoned for committing adultery is a tremendous example of Christ's mercy in action.  The Pharisees and teachers of the law try to trick Jesus by bringing this woman before him, but He says to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  With these words, they all leave, from the oldest to the youngest, for who except Jesus could have lifted a stone against her?  When Jesus asks the woman who is left to condemn her and she tells him they are all gone, we read,  “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  (See John 8:1-11)  Just as this woman who deserved death received grace, we who are IN CHRIST are hidden from the final, eternal judgment because of Christ's work in us.  But all of us will come before the Lord.  He will examine our hearts, exposing the essence of our lives.  Were our thoughts fixed on us or did we have time to praise and worship him?  Did we love God and our neighbor as ourselves?  Of course, in some way, all of us will be speechless, for we will see how often our wills took predominance.  But the Lord is our judge, and we will stand by his mercy and grace, resting in the knowledge that He is the Rock of our salvation, our Redeemer and Lord!