Slaves and Stewards

If you would take your Bible turn back to 1 Corinthians 4. I did say in our scripture reading we'll be in verses 1 to 5. Although really the heart of the message will come out of verse 1. I'll mention a few other verses. You can write those down and I would encourage you to make note of these verses, make note of this teaching because I did say in our scripture reading we will come back to this teaching. What I mean is this is a message, this is teaching that we need to revisit because we need to make sure that we are living this standard. Now I'll go ahead and tell you the title of the message. It's simply slaves and stewards.

This message is all about slaves and stewards and I'll explain that obviously throughout the message. Now before we get into our verses we at least need to understand the basic background of the letter, that's 1 Corinthians, and we need to know why Paul wrote these five verses. I think we know that this letter was written by the Apostle Paul to the church that was located in the city of Corinth and if we know our Bibles we know that Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians to this local church. But in Paul's day the city of Corinth was an interesting place and a very dangerous place.

It was an interesting place for one reason they held a form of the Olympic games in their day and time. If you do some study you'll run across that. I thought that was interesting. But Corinth was a large and an economically prosperous city. That was because there was a major north-south trade route that ran through the city and the city prospered as a major trade city of the day and this brought great great economic prosperity not only to the city but most of Greece and also to the area of the Mediterranean. So that meant that Corinth was wealthy, it was a multicultural city and that led to Corinth being a very very sinful city.

Even by the very pagan standards of the day Corinth was so morally corrupt that the name Corinthian eyes came to symbolize nothing but moral corruption and sin of all kinds. In their day two Corinthian eyes literally spoke of and represented all kinds of gross immorality and drunken debauchery. So Corinth was a dangerous city, very dangerous because of the great sinfulness that was there. But when we get into Acts 18 we will see that God had a plan. And I say when we get into Acts 18 I'm referencing our study on Wednesday nights through the book of Acts. In Acts 18 we see that God had a plan.

While he was on his second missionary journey Paul went to Corinth and as was his custom Paul started his ministry in Corinth by going to the Jewish synagogue. But after resistance from the Jews he took the gospel to the Gentiles and as a result the ruler of the synagogue believed along with his whole household and we can see right there that's when the church in Corinth was born. Now if you read of these things in Acts 18 you will see that Paul stayed in Corinth and ministered in Corinth for a year and a half and God promised that he would have peace and safety and he had a lot of good ministry success.

But the Corinthian church had a tremendous struggle. Now if you read 1 and 2 Corinthians you will see that really they had many, many struggles. They were many sins that plagued this congregation. But their biggest struggle came from the fact that they were not able to fully break away from the corruption of the Corinthian culture. So that meant that the church was plagued with all sorts of sin that stemmed from the world around them. I'll give you an example or two. They allowed gross sexual immorality in the church. As a matter of fact Paul dealt with this in 1 Corinthians chapter 5.

He even called them out by saying this is a sexual immorality that even the pagans do not put up with. Also they had allowed drunkenness in the church and in the fellowship. If you study Paul's writing in 1 and 2 Corinthians when he addresses the Lord's Supper you will see that drunkenness even became a part of their Lord's Supper celebrations. They had allowed pagan views concerning marriage in the church. That's just to name a few. So this led Paul to write two letters and his purpose in writing 1 and 2 Corinthians really was to straighten out all of these problems. But we need to see what I call the background of these verses.

We need to see what was going on here that made Paul write what he wrote here in chapter 4 especially verses 1 to 5. You see one of the big problems in the Corinthian church was how they viewed church leaders. And these were church leaders that God had given them. And they had a problem in how they evaluated them. If we go back to chapter 4 we see that Paul addressed how they were terribly divided over which leader was best. Some said they followed Paul. Some said they followed Apollos who was a godly man. Some said they followed Peter. And some said they followed Christ.

Simply they had elevated certain leaders at the expense of others when the ones that were named there were all godly men and they were God sent men. None of them were evil false teachers. Yes they should have followed Christ but they should have followed Christ in such a way that they would have not been divided over these unhealthy allegiances to men and to Christ and to men that Christ had sent them. But here in chapter 4 we see that Paul addressed another problem that was related to how they saw and related to their leaders. As a matter of fact some of the Corinthian church even had a wrong view of the Apostle Paul.

Some even questioned Paul's apostolic call in ministry. For one they saw his suffering as inappropriate for a true apostle. And over in chapter 9 that chapter tells us that they saw Paul's unwillingness to take financial support and to take a wife as the other apostles did. They saw those things as improper for an apostle. So here in chapter 4 verses 1 to 5 Paul explained to them how he saw himself and those ministering with him and he explained how they should have viewed him. So let's go back, let's read our verses and then I'll explain how we'll divide them. With that in mind I think maybe you'll understand the verses a little better.

Paul says this is how one should regard us or consider us. "The servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact I do not even judge myself for I am not aware of anything against myself but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Lord do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.

Then each one will receive his commendation that could read praise, his commendation, his praise from God." Now out of these verses I want us to see four things. The character of the God called man, then the requirement of the God called man, and then who determines the success of the God called man, and then the reward for the God called man. And this is easy for us to follow. It really comes right out of the verses as you will see. So let's get started. Number one, Paul revealed the character of the God called man. This is in verse one. We have Paul revealing the character of the God called man.

Now if we pay attention we can see that Paul points out two character traits of the God called man. Now why do I call this the character of the man? I do that because character refers to the overall quality of the person. Character speaks of the quality or the mark of the person. You can say that character speaks to who a person actually is. So notice, first Paul considered himself a slave. Paul considered himself a slave. Now notice at the beginning of verse one, the English standard says this is how one should regard us as servants of Christ.

The King James says, "Let a man sow a count of us as ministers of Christ." Now the legacy standard Bible, the New American used the word servants. But I want us to see that neither ministers or servants, neither ministers or servants really get at what Paul is saying here. In the original Paul used a unique word. Now I don't usually pronounce Greek words because usually when I try to pronounce Greek words I usually butcher them. But we need to get this word folks. The word that Paul used here is pronounced "huperaetes." In this word "huperaetes" spoke of something or someone a lot lower than a servant or a minister.

This word literally meant under rower because originally a "huperaetes" was the lowest of slaves who rode on the bottom section of the Roman galley ship. They were literally the lowest, most despised slaves. And when they were at their oars, historians tell us that they were chained to their seats and bare feet. And it was common that they ate a very meager diet of moldy or stale bread. I ran across some sources that said they ate a type of cheap bean stew and they were forced to eat and sleep and even work in their own filthiness. And if they could not perform their duties as rowers of those slave ships, they were thrown overboard.

Sometimes they were killed and thrown overboard. And from the use of that term in their day, a "huperaetes" came to speak of and represent the lowest of subordinates of any kind who were under authority. Now with that in mind, notice what Paul was and is saying here. Notice what he's doing here. He was calling the Corinthian believers to consider him a "huperaetes." He was calling the Corinthian believers in church to see him as a "huperaetes," the lowest of slaves. And that is because Paul considered himself to be a "huperaetes," the lowest of slaves. And think about it.

If we study the life of Paul, we will see that first and foremost, he was a "huperaetes" of Christ and he was a "huperaetes" of the church. Now I'm going to ask you to look at a portion of scripture a couple of pages over. This is one of my favorite that I have meditated on and prayed over through the years. But in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, we'll see a great example of Paul as a "huperaetes" of the church, specifically this church, 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 11 to 15. Let me go back up to verse 8. Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same?

For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not mosel in ox when it treads out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak of our own sake? It was written for our sake because the plowman should plow in hope in the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. Now Paul's there. What Paul was doing right here was this. He was defending his right as an apostle to receive payment for his services. Remember, there were some who were questioning his apostolic authority and he was defending his right to be paid for his services.

Verse 11, "If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?" What is he doing? He's defending his right to be paid. "Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right." What is he saying? We lay down that right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Now notice that word obstacle there. What that word means is this. In the original, it spoke of literally a cut in the road.

When a military was retreating in that day and there was a pursuing army, they would literally cut a huge ditch in the road to prevent that pursuing army from catching up with them. And what Paul was saying was this, "I lay down my right to be paid so as not to have an obstacle for the gospel." And that was because Paul understood that there were problems in the life of this church. Great immaturity. So he set aside his right to be paid so that wouldn't be an obstacle for the gospel in their life. You see? He was a huperetis. He was the lowest of slaves for Christ and for the church and for them. And that is a great example that we see there.

But then second, Paul considered himself a steward. Paul considered himself a steward. Look back at chapter 4 verse 1 again. This is how one should regard us as servants, huperetis of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now here we see that not only did Paul want to be considered a huperetis, but he also wanted to be considered a steward. Now in the original this word is simple, but this word meant steward or manager or superintendent. And in their day and culture it was commonly used of a manager of a household. In their day it was very common for a wealthy man to have a steward or a manager. They were a servant.

Sometimes they were even a slave and they managed the owner's entire estate. The steward or manager would oversee the master's property, the master's fields, the master's vineyards, the master's animals, even the master's finances, the master's other servants and sometimes even their children. In Luke 16 we see the parable of the dishonest manager or steward. In the parable the rich man had a manager or a steward and he was held accountable for mismanaging his master's possessions and estate. But notice in the verse Paul said he wanted to be regarded or seen as a huperetis steward or manager of the mysteries of God.

And that is because he knew that he was a manager. He knew that he was a steward of the mysteries of God. But we've got to ask a question, what are these mysteries of God? Now this is rather simple. The mysteries of God, that phrase is a reference to what the Old Testament foretold. Simply the Old Testament is full of promises, types and shadows that speak to what was to come in the New Testament. The Old Testament is full of promises, types and shadows that speak of the coming of the Messiah, the gospel of the good news that salvation was and is provided for mankind through God's promised Messiah.

The Old Testament is full of promises and types and shadows that speaks of God's salvation for both Jew and Gentile. Simply the Old Testament speaks of the coming of the church and the church age. These things were the mysteries of God to those Old Testament saints but those mysteries were revealed to and fulfilled in and through the New Testament saints. So what Paul was saying here is this. As a chosen apostle, he saw and understood himself as a manager or a steward of those Old Testament mysteries revealed.

He saw himself as a manager of the gospel and the salvation from men and men found in the person of Jesus as God's promised Messiah and he saw himself as a manager of the birth, the growth, the development and the health of the church. And of course there were other men who were apostolic stewards just like Paul. The Apostle Peter was an apostolic steward. Those other apostles were as well. And then there were others along with the apostles who were stewards. We learned that the book of Acts was written by Luke. Luke was a steward. We know that Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus. He was a steward along with his mentor Paul.

Now that's quite a lot that we've seen there in that verse. So let's step back here and see what Paul is saying in verse 1. He was explaining to the Corinthians the true character of a minister of God. For those in question were Paul and his associates in opposition to how they viewed and evaluated ministers and leaders. Paul was calling them to regard him and those other God called men, God sent men, those ministers, he was calling them to regard them as slaves who parate slaves and stewards of the revealed mysteries of God. Now at this point we've got to ask how does this apply to us and even does this apply to us.

I mean we're not apostles. We do not believe in apostolic succession and we're not a traveling associate with Paul. So does this apply to us at all? Well the answer is yes. Notice what we see in chapter 14 or excuse me in chapter 4 verse 16. Look over to chapter 4 verse 16. What does Paul say? I urge you, writing to the Corinthians, I urge you then be imitators of me. So we see that God through Paul called the Corinthians to stop their silly and sinful evaluations of Paul and his ministerial companions and he called them to imitate what they saw in Paul. It's rather simple.

He called them through Paul to be who parate slaves and stewards of the revealed mysteries of God and look it applies to us too. We are to be imitators of Paul and first and foremost we are to be who parate slaves, first of Christ personally and second of the church. And by the way you can't divide the two. If you are a who parate slave of Christ you will be a who parate slave of the church. But here I want to just speak to you as your pastor. First of all I want to commend you Grace Life Church. I mean I'm thankful. We have a church full of servants.

Any time we have an event like our trunker tree, our vacation Bible school, any time we have these events where I call them all hands on deck, you know we have 95, 98% of the folks show up and serve. Now I know some can't be here. There's always some who are sick or have some other plans. I understand that. But I was discussing this with Brother Keith this week. I just said let's take a step back and notice we have 95, 98% of our people show up to serve. And everybody serves in different ways. And so I want to commend you because it's not the case in many churches.

In many churches it's the same handful of people that serve while the others just sit back. So I want to commend you. If you have a heart to serve and you do serve I commend you. I thank you. But I also want to encourage you. We cannot lose sight of the standard. The fact that we are to be hupereté slaves of Christ and of His church. And I also want to remind you that before us there will be more opportunities, greater opportunities, smaller opportunities, opportunities in the forefront, opportunities in the background.

I want to remind you that a hupereté slave does not question when he serves, how he serves, what that looks like he is just chained to his spot. But I also want to correct you. If you're serving with the wrong attitude, you know you can be doing the right things with your hand but yet your heart's not in it. Are you serving with the right attitude? Do you do it with your teeth clenched? Do you do it because you feel like you have to? Do you do it because we're a small church and if you don't you'll be noticed? What's our heart in our service? Are we serving because we want to serve Christ first and foremost?

See the order there is Christ first because if it's Christ first we'll serve the church as we should. And I also want to correct you in that you may be serving in certain areas but not in others. You know there are always areas of ministry in the life of the church where we could do better. I want to speak to one that I would say is one of the most important areas of ministry in the life of our church and that is our nursery ministry. I believe in a nursery. I believe in a nursery so that we can take care of your little boys and girls and so moms can come in here and sit down uninterrupted and hear the word of God taught.

Moms are with children, their children all day every day. They never seem to get a break and they need to have that break so they can be taught the word of God but it takes all of us to serve in the nursery. And when I say all of us I mean ladies. Now when I say us how do I put me in the mix? Anytime our nursery ladies come up to me and they need something I'll say time out I'll get you anything you want. There's a group of ladies I'm not going to fight in the church it's the ladies over the nursery. I say that tongue in cheek I say that being funny but I say that because it's a vital area of ministry in the life of our church.

And ladies we need you to serve but there are other areas in the church where no one may see you. Some of you come up here early, some of you come up here late, some of you set up tables, some of you clean, some of you pick up trash outside, some of you teach our little ones. I mean are we serving as Hooperate slaves with our hearts and our minds and are all like we should? But again notice how these two are related. If we are the Hooperate slaves of Christ as we should be then naturally and organically we will be the Hooperate slaves of the church as he wants us to be.

And not only are we to be Hooperate slaves of Christ in the church we must see that we are stewards or managers of the mysteries of God. You see that? You do realize that what we have before us was promised to Abraham? You realize that? When Abraham stood and looked at all the stars in the sky and the Lord promised him that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky he was speaking of the church Jew and Gentile we were a part of that promise. And we've been entrusted with the mysteries of God. And we are to be good managers of the message of the gospel. The message of the gospel is continuously under attack.

And we need to be good managers of the proclamation of the gospel. And we need to be good managers of the work of the church. We need to be good managers of the development and the growth and the health of the church. And I thought about this quite a lot the last couple of days. What about our future? I'm not talking about just tomorrow. What about the church in the future for our children? What about the next generation and the next generation? You see what we're doing today in managing the mysteries of God. What we're doing today is going to affect our children tomorrow. And look church, look at the seriousness of the stewardship.

We are managing that which Christ purchased with his own blood and that which belongs to him. In Acts 2.28 we have a warning. Paul gave a warning to the elders of the church at Ephesus. And Paul said, "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood." And in Matthew 16.18 Jesus explained to Peter, "And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church." What I'm trying to show you is this. The church, this church is Christ's church. He purchased this church with his own blood and he belongs to him.

And this is a very, very serious stewardship. So a question, is this the character of the man of God that we see around us? Is this the character of the woman of God that we see around us? Is this the character of each and every believer at Grace Life Church? You see this should be the character of all of us. This is God's standard folks. In next number two, I want us to see that Paul revealed the requirement of the man of God. Paul revealed the requirement of the man of God. Now here I want us to notice two things. First right away, this requirement is not optional. Notice this is required. It is expected. It's not optional.

The verse reads, "Moreover, it is required of stewards or in stewards that a man be found faithful." But then second, what is the requirement? Notice that the English standard says, "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." The New American says, in this case, "Moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy." Now, what is it? Faithful or trustworthy? Is the New American correct or the English standard correct? Is it faithful or trustworthy? For this word here in the original, it can simply mean either or both. This speaks of being faithful and trustworthy.

This speaks of being trustworthy and faithful. I give you an example. If you have an employee and if that employee was faithful to handle your business and your money, well, they are trustworthy. They are trustworthy because they are faithful. That's simple, but it communicates the meaning here. So Paul was saying that he was and wanted to be considered a slave, a huparates and a steward, and he was explaining to the Corinthian Christians that God required that his slaves and stewards be trustworthy and faithful, faithful and trustworthy. But a question, was Paul a faithful and trustworthy, a trustworthy and faithful slave and steward?

Yes, all the way to the end, even when it meant death. Now here the application is very straightforward and simple. In all of our responsibilities associated with being a huparates slave and steward or managers of the gospel in his church, simply we must be found faithful and trustworthy, trustworthy and faithful. And look, church, I want to commend you for your faithfulness. I want to commend you for the faithfulness that I see in you, but a couple of probing questions here. Are you as faithful to your personal walk with the Lord as you should be? Are you as faithful in your personal walk with the Lord as you should be?

And the second question, are you as faithful to your commitment to the work of the church as you should be? Are you as faithful to small group ministry as you should be? Are you as faithful to Sunday morning worship as you should be? To Wednesday night services as you should be? Are you as faithful to service? Are you trustworthy in service as you should be? And look, church, do not get out of balance and be faithful to the big events and then slack off in small groups. Do not get out of balance and be faithful and trustworthy in Sunday morning in small groups, but yet when it's time to serve and the little things you drop off.

You see the balance? But we also must see that this faithfulness and trustworthiness, it must be until the end. How long was Paul faithful and trustworthy? All the way to the end, folks, all the way to death. Think about this with me. How many are faithful for just a few years? Many of us have seen men and women who were faithful and trustworthy. They sing faithful and trustworthy for 20 or 30 years and then all of a sudden, somehow, some way, they're not involved in church anymore. They're not even acting Christian anymore. They're not faithful and trustworthy at all. So think about it.

How many are faithful and trustworthy for a few years, even 20 years? See it's not about being faithful and trustworthy for 5 years or 10 years or even 20 years. It's all the way to the end. So all of the believers and members of Grace Life Church must be faithful and trustworthy. And then next, number 3, Paul revealed who determines the success of the God called man. Paul revealed who determines the success of these things. Now this is more important than you know. That is because so many in the church judge success in a very humanistic way, even a very worldly way. So let's not overlook these verses. Let's read verses 3 to 4.

Paul says, "But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me." Now I want you to notice that Paul deals with 3 people in these verses. First he deals with the examination of the Corinthians in verse 3. Here Paul is speaking of the problem that he was addressing here. Others in the Corinthian church were examining Paul and his companions and they were making a determination if they were of God or not.

Some in the Corinthian church question Paul's apostolic call and ministry. They saw his suffering as improper of a true apostle. And chapter 9 tells us that they saw Paul's unwillingness to take financial support and a wife. They saw that as improper as well. So some were examining Paul and his associates and they were making the wrong determination about them. But Paul says here that he is not to be judged by them. Now this is where we have a little warning folks. We must be very careful how we examine and pass judgment on one another. Now if we see clear sin in a brother or a sister's life, obviously we pass judgment on sin.

But if it is a sin that cannot be overlooked, Matthew 18, we understand church discipline here gives us the route by which we must take to deal with that sin. But what I'm trying to show you is this. If we're not careful we can get into a rut and into a sin where we evaluate and where we make judgments upon people in the life of the church and those are unfair judgments. Especially when it comes to leaders. You know leaders kind of live in a goldfish bowl. They're front and center where you see them. Starts with me. What I'm trying to show you is this. It's easy to examine leaders because they are front and center.

But you be careful how you do those things. Then second, Paul deals with self-examination. Paul deals with self-examination. Look at the beginning of verse 4 because some of you need this more than you know. For I am not aware of anything against myself. Here Paul was saying that in the manner of service as a huparates of Christ and of the church he was not conscious of any charge of unfaithfulness. Not that he saw himself in his service to Christ and the church is perfect. No. So Paul was not into some type of unhealthy self-examination. He was not aware of any unfaithfulness because he was faithful and trustworthy. You see?

And see this is a warning. This is a lesson for us. There are those who can get into the pit of introspection. There are those who can always be examining themselves in an unhealthy way. They're always scrutinizing themselves and they can't walk and chew gum at the same time. And I'm trying to encourage you. Do not get into that pit. If you're a member of this church you have a small group to be faithful in. You have good preaching and teaching. And if the word of God doesn't show you that you're in sin. If brothers and sisters around you don't show you that you're in sin.

And if you seek counsel about a particular subject and you can't find brothers and sisters in the church that show you that you're in sin, you might not be in sin. You just might be into this pit of introspection, worrying and fretting over things you shouldn't worry and fret over in your own life and service. And then third, the examination of God. Paul shows us the examination of God here. Go back to verse 4. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Now this is simple. Paul was saying, "Look Corinthians, your examination and determinations are faulty and wrong.

And I'm not going to fall into the trap of self-examination. I am not aware of anything wrong in my stewardship as a whooperate ace of Christ and of the church. But it is God who examines. It is God who makes the determinations and judges." So Paul trusted Ian and he looked to God's examination and judgment. Now a question here. How can we have God examine us and reveal to us His determinations about us personally as whooperate ace slaves for Christ and His church and faithful stewards of His church? Honestly, this is real simple. We can make that determination or allow God to make that determination for us by comparing ourselves to the Word.

The Word. It's the Word of God that shows us if we are the whooperate ace that we should be and the steward that we should be, you see? So that means that we must be taught the Word of God. That's why the preaching of the Word of God is the center of what we do in the life of the church. That's why we study the Word of God in small groups. That's why you study the Word of God, some of you with accountability partners. That's why you study the Word of God with your family and on your own. That's why we study the Word of God on Wednesday nights.

So Paul revealed who determines the faithfulness and the trustworthiness of Christ's whooperate ace slaves and stewards. Now before I move on, I want to warn you of a trap in an air here. I call this the trap of settling for the status quo. You know what the term status quo means? That means just the state of being the way things are. Just everything the way it is, the way it always has been. In Luke Church, we must be willing to allow God to examine us and make His determinations and judgments from His Word. And then we must be willing to change according to what God's Word says. Here's what I'm trying to show you.

If you think you're a good whooperate ace slave and a steward, and then by studying God's Word, He shows you that you're not quite what you should be, will you step away from the status quo to a new standard? So it is God through His Word that determines the success of the believer, each member of the body who is to be a whooperate ace and a steward. And then last, number four, Paul revealed the reward, the reward of the God-called man. We see this in verse five. We see the reward of the God-called man. Let's read verse five.

"Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness, and will disclose the purposes of the heart, then each one will receive his commendation from God." Now here, I'm not going to take quite as much time as I did with the other points of the message, but what I want us to see here is this. Paul was warning these Corinthians to be very careful in making their determinations in these things. He was calling them to judge nothing before the appropriate time. He was calling them to wait until the Lord comes.

He was calling them to wait until the Lord comes because He is able to examine and determine and judge not what is seen but also what is unseen. He is able to examine and determine and judge not only what is done but also the motives behind what is done. And Paul goes on to say that when the Lord comes, He will reveal the purposes of the heart. "And to each one and all, they will receive their commendation." The King James says praise. This simply means praise, commendation, honor. We can say reward. Now what's the point here?

Paul was saying that the appropriate praise, honor, commendation, even reward will be given by the Lord to those who are faithful and trustworthy, who partake slaves and stewards. But we must see that the praise, honor, reward, commendation is only for the faithful, trustworthy, the trustworthy and the faithful. Not for the super-talented, not for the spectacular, not for the sensational, not for the flashy. I've seen so many sensational and flashy, quote unquote, Christians come and go through my years. It's not about being super-talented. It's not about being spectacular and sensational. It's about being faithful and trustworthy. You see?

And look, church, let's simply be faithful and trustworthy and let God take care of the rewards. Do you see? All I have to do as pastor of Grace Life Church is this, is be faithful and trustworthy and let God take care of the commendation. So it is God who rewards the faithful and the trustworthy, slave and steward. Now, what is this message all about and why are we studying these things this morning? Why did I set aside our study in Hebrews? Look folks, Paul is all about explaining how certain people should have seen him and considered him and regarded him. They were way off.

And Paul wanted the Corinthians to regard him as the lowest of slaves, the huperetas, and a steward, a manager of the mysteries of God. And then he goes on to say, "Not only should you see me that way, but you should imitate me in this way." And this should be said of me. This should be said of all of the elders of Grace Life Church. This should be said of all of the leaders. This should be said of all of the membership of Grace Life Church. This should be said of all believers because this is God's standard. You see? So this morning it's all about being slaves and stewards. And when folks come, be a part of our church.

And folks are visiting, seeing if this is where God wants them to be. When folks come and go through the membership process and join Grace Life Church, they should look around and be in awe because they see nothing but slaves and stewards, slaves and stewards who are faithful and trustworthy. And look folks, if that is what we are, if that is who we are, we will be, if I can use this term, a successful church. We will be the church that God wants us to be. And as a matter of fact, a lot of these other things will just take care of themselves. So slaves and stewards, let's pray.