In his sermon 'The Judgment That Matters Most', David Green discusses the issues faced by the church at Corinth and the larger implications for contemporary churches. He highlights that despite their troubles, Corinth remained the Lord's church, emphasizing God's continual presence and patience with flawed congregations. The sermon reflects on 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, where Paul advises against judging ministers by human standards, noting that only God's judgment is ultimately significant. The speaker warns against divisions caused by elevating preachers based on personal preferences, reminding listeners that all ministers are servants under Christ. The sermon stresses the importance of faithfulness in ministry and warns against the destructive nature of gossip and slander. Ultimately, it encourages believers to focus on God's judgment, which is the only one that truly matters.

Had we been anywhere near the church of Corinth, we might not have even had any fellowship with them. We might have said, that's a church that we don't want to have anything to do with. But thank God that Paul, and more than that, thank God that the Holy Spirit, amen, had something to do with Corinth. Because as out of order as they were, and in all the troubles that they had, they were still the Lord's Church. And we ought to keep that in mind as we go into our lives and think about our circumstances, the things that happen where we're at, and the things that may be happening in other churches, because believe it or not, when other churches have trouble, we hear about it, don't we?

Praise God, he didn't cut Corinth off. And praise God, he doesn't cut churches off today. He's still with us. He was with Corinth in their troubles. He's still with us in our troubles.

And so just think about that and consider that. And if you haven't read through the entire letter lately, do it, do it. It's gonna take me a long while to preach through this whole book. So definitely, definitely do that. We're in 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 through 5.

I hope this will be an encouragement to you. It's an encouragement to me when you get to this section here. And so let's read the text before us. Beginning of verse one, he says, let a man show account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self, for I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified. But he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the heart, then shall every man have praise of God." The church at Corinth was involved in evaluating and even criticizing and judging preachers. They made this the topic of their conversations.

They made a game out of it. This is what they talked about. They were divided over it even. Many today are involved in such games. With the advent of the internet, it has become more widespread than ever.

There are preachers that nobody would have ever heard about before. Now we know who they are. You think about this, today we know who John MacArthur is. We know who he is even though he's thousands of miles away, but we all know who John MacArthur is. We've heard him preach.

And now there's people who say, man, my preacher don't preach like John MacArthur. I wish he did. There's men who pastor very small churches, but they get a lot of clicks, likes, follows, whatever on social media because they are good creatures. Because they are good preachers. And let's face it, that is, that's one of those terms that is an opinion.

You may think that that preacher is good. I may listen to him and say, man, he can't even preach his way out of a paper sack. But maybe what you judge is good and what I think is good are two different things. The same thing was happening at Corinth, but on a lesser scale they were saying, hey This one group over here said, well, I'm of Paul. One group said, I'm of Apollos.

And another group says, I'm of Cephas. It's easy to fall into that kind of a trap, really. And the reality is, if you want to find fault with any creature, including the one who stands before you today, you're going to find something to criticize. Because here's the fact, if you've never thought about it before, we're all men, every last one of us. Even Paul, even Peter, even Apollos.

And God only had one sinless, perfect preacher on the earth ever, and his name was Jesus Christ. And he came and died for your sins and mine. And so, Paul, when he wrote to this church, he knew that this letter wasn't going to be received by everybody. They were not all of Paul, were they? Some of them were already in this other faction over here where they said, hey, I don't like Paul, I'm of Apollos.

And there was another group over here that said I'm of Peter. What did Paul do? He didn't sit down right to the third of the church or the fourth of the church or the small minority and say, dear supporters of all, I got something to tell you. No, no. He wrote to the church at Corinth, knowing that some of them would not hear him.

And he addresses this division, including, by the way, those who were divided over him, because he knew that this was wrong. Don't follow me, he says, don't follow. Well, He says, let a man sow account of us. This has been the theme. He doesn't try to paint himself out as better than Peter or better than Apollo's.

Let a man sow account of us. And the us refers back to Cephas, to Apollos, to Paul. And by extension, as you and I read this, that goes back to any other pastor or preacher that you or I know. The church at Corinth had elevated them up to be something to fight over. But Paul calls them...

What's he say there? What's he say there? Let a man sow account of us as of the ministers. That word ministers there in the Greek is a word that means servants. Servants.

I'm told that in the Greek, it's actually a word that means the under-rowers. The lowest of the low, the most despised of slaves. His original readers there at Corinth would have understood what he meant here. Again, as has been his theme throughout this letter, why do you want to build a monument? Why do you want to squabble over the slaves?

When they should be united over the one who those men served. Back up to chapter 3, verses 1-4, You remember what he said there? He said, And I, brethren, cannot speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envy and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal in what is men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal?

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? And then as he continues writing there, he talks about them not as though they were something to squabble over, but he reminds them that they were seed sowers and water boys in God's garden. And then furthermore, that they were laborers. So he's continuing with the same thought that they were stewards, slaves and in stewards as he goes on, stewards of the mysteries of God, and moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Verses 1 and 2 there. Chapter 4.

As ministers of God, These men were to be regarded as stewards of the mysteries of God. This word, steward, is a house manager. A person put in charge of a household, someone who's been set there by someone else for a job, for duty. What is that duty? Well, he says, he says, stewards of the mysteries of God.

Our duty is to dispense, our primary duty, is to dispense God's Word. Not parts of it, Not some of it, not just the parts that are popular, all of it, holding nothing back. When Paul spooks the Ephesian elders there in Acts chapter 20, Thanks, chapter 20. Verse 20, he says, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 27, he says, For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.

I said to declare to them the whole council of God were to feed the sheep. When we, that's the way Peter described it, When we talk about feeding the sheep, it's not like a buffet where we can pick and choose whatever we want. It's the whole thing. What is profitable? What is good?

Well, over in 2 Timothy chapter 3, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, it says, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." All of Scripture is profitable. Is it possible for a man to preach the whole of the Bible in his years on this earth? Well, maybe not. So what is the requirement?

I mean, we've got 66 books, and there's a whole lot to cover. So what is the requirement? He says, faithfulness, faithfulness. There was division at Corinth. They were divided over Paul and Peter and Apollos.

If none Peter and Apollos. If none of those three men could please everyone there, I guarantee you that no one, Not David Green, not any other preacher who's ever stood in this pulpit can please everyone here. So what's the answer? Over in Galatians chapter 1 and Verse 10, Paul says this again to the churches of Galatia who also had a lot of problems, and I preached through this book very recently, but he says, For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men?

For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Paul is not writing to the church at Corinth as a man pleaser. He was not preaching as a man pleaser. That did not concern him. I don't believe Peter or Paul's, when you look at the whole of their ministries, None of them were concerned with being men pleasers either. You see, the pulpit, the preaching cannot be intimidated.

The preaching of God's Word cannot be run by the wants and whims of the people. And Paul is writing to the Church of Corinth to correct some terrible issues that were going on there. My friend Peter Halleman puts it, he says, I dance to no man's fiddle. Paul continues in his letter to the Church of Corinth, as he writes to them, knowing that this letter may not be well received by those who, by all those who got it. A at this fractured church.

Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 through 5, he says, but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not my own self, for I know nothing by myself, yet am I not hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts and then shall every man have praise of God." Two years ago on January 23rd, sorry, January 28th, 2023, I wrote an article on my personal blog, thoughts from this very text. Thoughts from this very text. This text has intrigued me for quite some time.

This is what I wrote. You can go there and read it. I said, it's a tough thing to be slandered, judged, and misunderstood or condemned by others, especially by our brothers and sisters in Christ. By the way, I hope this will be an encouragement to you. Sometimes As I go through old notes, I'll get back to what I wrote here in a moment, sometimes as I go through old notes and old sermons, those things are encouragement to me later.

But indeed, I share it with you now because some in this room may have felt that sting also. It is tough to be slandered, to be judged, to be misunderstood, to be condemned by others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul was writing to a church that was divided. Some said they were of Paul, others Cephas, some Apollos, and some Christ. Think about it.

Not everyone was real excited to get that epistle even before they started reading it. When human judgment comes down, whether it's inside the church or outside, it's easy to get consumed by it. It's easy to get caught up in the court of human opinion. These things can keep us up at night, distract us, or even keep us from doing what is right. But not Paul.

He called it a very small thing. Underline or highlight that in your Bibles. I did, and in my Bible at home, I wrote the margin these words, accusations of a human court are a very small thing. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here, what I'm writing in this post. He didn't say He ignored it completely.

He simply put it in perspective. It was a very small thing. It didn't keep him up at night because somebody disagreed with him. Or didn't like what he did or was doing. He didn't obsess over it or what people thought of him.

The ground of Paul's confidence was God. Look there at verse 4. The last part of it, He that judges me is the Lord. He that judges me is the Lord. We should have no fear as long as we're standing on the Bible.

God's inspired, infallible, holy Word. Ultimately, it's God's judgment that matters the most. Such perspective will free us from being consumed with the human courtroom we often find ourselves in. What is the judgment of men in light of the judgment of God? The human courtroom of man's opinion is temporary, but someday all God's people will be judged by the Lord.

That is the judgment that matters most. You see, Paul, and that's what I wrote, But Paul had his mind here in this world. You have to. But he also has mind elsewhere, heavenly. And as a child of God, you've got to be there too.

You've got to be there. He said, He said, Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will manifest the counsels of the heart. You see, that's something that no human judge can do. Only God knows the heart. Now if you're standing on the Word of God, that should bring great thrill to your soul.

Then shall every man have praise of God. As I thought about this and as I was studying it, Paul sent this letter out to Corinth. There were probably other letters being circulated, knowing people haven't changed. I'd imagine there were letters that went out from Corinth, that went to Peter and to Apollos. Did you know what Paul wrote?

Hey, have you heard what Paul preached while he was here? I'd imagine there were letters that went out all over the place, back and forth and all that sort of thing. You said, preacher, how do you know that? Because that sort of thing happens now, doesn't it? Might not be letters, it might be phone calls, Facebook posts, emails, whatever.

People are people. You might say, well, you can't say that happened for sure because none of that exists. Well, you know why none of that exists? Because it wasn't Holy Spirit inspired, That's why. Now you think about this, if it wasn't Holy Spirit inspired then, That sort of behavior is not of the Lord now.

So be careful about the gossip, the slander, and that sort of thing. You get a call that says, hey, did you hear what our pastor did and what's going on in our church, and blah, blah, blah. Or did you hear what's going on about the church down the road? I say, I didn't hear about it, and it's none of my business. Satan is the accuser of the brethren.

That's the devil's work, not God's work. That judgment is small. It's not going to last. And if you're on the receiving end of it, understand, like Paul, it is a small thing. It may seem like it's going to go on forever, but it won't.

It won't. The judgment that matters most is the judgment that's coming. That's what matters most. That's what matters most. Paul had a good ministry among the people.

He was used of the Lord greatly, and I thank the Lord for his bold stand as he wrote, as he preached, and as he ministered to the people. May this message be an encouragement to each one of us and I trust that the Lord will use it for his honor and his glory. What time is it? I think that clock stopped.