1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verse 5

• Your heart is to serve the Lord. To sincerely do His business on this earth.  Faithfully you pursue glorifying God with your life…the judgement of others becomes a small thing…and similarly, naturally, your condescension, criticism, your own hate, your own judgment of others becomes the same thing.  So small that its not even worth it anymore…and you move on to just simply serving God…in how you serve others as well.  Faithful stewardship of the love, mercy and grace of God. 
• I used to want people to see it my way. Now I just want people to see Jesus.  I used to want people to think highly of me.  Now I just want people to think highly of Jesus.  I used to want people to listen to me, now I just want people to listen to Jesus.  I used to want people to serve me…now I just want to see them filled with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…as they serve the Lord and manage God’s business in their lives.  And edge sin out before it kills and consumes to the point that the garden is ruined…
• I believe in that, I am more free in my heart of hearts then I have ever been before and I look forward to continuing to learn and continuing to grow up in the Lord because I know, I sense, I am sure that I have quite the runway left…but I’m on my way. My directive is clear, my heart is secure and steadfast…I know what it would do to me if I found one of my friends, only one, trusting me and rowing with me in the midst of every other friend having walked away…and I want to honor the Lord like that…
• Ultimately, the things that should be judged, the hidden things…the motives…we cannot judge because we don’t know, we can’t see, we can’t discern or discover even in ourselves…but God can and He will. Your opinion of me, my opinion of me doesn’t matter…only God’s opinion of me matters!  Opinions man.  My doctor said to me once, “Matt, you’re a little overweight.”  I told him I wanted a second opinion…so he said, “Ok…you’re ugly too!”  HA!!

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verse 6

• I like that! Keep your thinking biblical and you won’t be pitted one against another.  That is the truth truth, man!  If we would hold to the word of God, trusting the Son of God, defaulting to the Spirit of God, then we would have the promises of God slapping our reality around every day!  Wouldn’t you love for grace and truth and mercy and love and joy to just be bullies in your life!?  Like something else tries to come hang out…play on the playground of your day…some of those punks from Galatians 5 show up…idolatry, hatred, contention, dissension sit down at the lunch table of your life and mercy just takes their juice box!  HA! 
• Well this is it! The key!  The pattern!  Stop watering down the word of God in your heart, mind, life and free will!  Serve the Lord, manage His business, set forth and resolve that’s who you are and as you do it God’s way you will experience God’s results!  He has promised!  Is there contention in your marriage?  Do you continue to have hatred or problems with your neighbor?  This is why!  You can disagree but my dear friend your emotions and self-righteousness have peeled you off of your oar!  Wait until we get further in this chapter!!

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verse 7

• The Corinthian church obviously thought they had it right…they had created this new freestyle of Christianity and in that they had departed from the scriptures and from Paul’s example and direction…so in reality, they were entirely gone off the deep end, even saying that they were IT! (They were thinking the best in terms of believers but they had really turned into IT as in Penny Wise!  HA!) 
• Now this verse, I know that in all of us, in me particularly I know this, nothing good dwells apart from the light of the Spirit of God! So, by default we are all equal.  If we have anything good or are anything good then it is of and from  Our pride, or I should say false pride, is what causes us to distinguish ourselves from others and truly pride is all the problem in this world…a terrible disease!

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verse 8

• Herein lies the problem. You have nothing to learn!  While at the same time, we have so much to teach you!  HA!  Do you see the issue?  Serve the Lord.  Be targeting faithfulness in your own heart of hearts towards Him and it will be revealed to you just how much you and I have yet to understand!  Just how much you and I have yet to grow up in! 
• It’s like in my flesh I have a broken gas gauge. You ever have one of those in a car?  Just sits there on full or on ¾ tank and you think, good to go…until you’re full systems stop in the middle of rush hour traffic?!  HA!  Paul says, fix your gauge man!  Paul says later in 2 Corinthians 10:12, “Those measuring themselves by themselves or by comparison to others are not wise.”  (No understanding in the Greek)

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verses 9 – 13

• I love this! Paul says, “Don’t think that I don’t understand your perception of me…”  The Corinthians worst nightmare would be to be publicly humiliated.  To be made a spectacle to the world.  To be called a   To be accused of being weak.  To be seen as poor, hungry and homeless…all things that they would violently avoid…and yet Paul is not so subtly pointing out that all of those fears and concerns in no way are connected to the eternal truth and presence of God Most High.  They are all earthly, carnal…and they have no strength to…
• Bless when they are hated, endure when they are persecuted, serve when they are defamed…why? Because man that’s the pattern.  Part of the payoff.  The gas gauge isn’t broken and it is still full.  Why?  You serve the Lord of Glory.  You assist and manage His business on earth and you absolutely love it…that’s what faithfulness brings…a joy in it all!  Because you are what you were meant to be.  Now the judgment of this world is so second class and the grace of God flows through you without filter…and integrity, character, purpose and strength settle in your heart!
• Please don’t settle for less…Every one of you, made in the image of God…more complex and infinitely more valuable than any sum of money you could earn or any sort of thing made with hands. The human body, soul and spirit stand out as the masterpiece of eternity and so many settle for being just dirt bags.  Stop saying right now, “Well, I’m not so bad…”  You are judging yourself by yourself…let God be the Judge.  That’s how you begin to deal with things and bully the punks off the lunch table of your hearts!  You don’t know the issues until you are honest with God rather than comparing yourself amongst yourself and others.  A bug flew in my eye once!  I rubbed my eye like crazy and it went away…four hours later I was washing my hands, looked in the mirror…and there’s the bug!  In my eye!  I had lost feeling!  It took looking to see it!  Don’t settle for less than what God has for you!  WHY!?  

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verses 14 - 15

• There are thousands upon thousands upon countless of people out there that are ready to instruct and bark orders at you and they (hopefully not you) are a dime a dozen.   I have no need for them or that…my need and your need and Paul’s need and their need is for fathers.  Those that will provide the example…not just bark the order.

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verse 16

• What a statement! Paul says, here it is.  I’m not here to teach you or to shame you…I’m here to provide for you.  That means before Paul is sharing this truth with them, he has already forged it like steel in his own heart.  And so he says this…I’m going to serve the Lord…that’s it.  That’s that the whole of it…so if you want to get going…follow me.  How often we pray, “God, remove me from the way…”  I don’t pray that!  God put me RIGHT IN YOUR WAY!  I’m the tool!  You’re the Master Mechanic.  The Master Craftsman!  How do you get to where you can say THAT within the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the leading of God and sight of Jesus?  Be amazingly perfect or and holy.  NO!  Follow the pattern?

1 Corinthians Chapter 4 Verses 17 – 21

• I love that! The power of God is not in what someone says, but in what they do.  Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, (1 Thessalonians 1:5-8), “Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you.”  All that we say we are, profess what we are on the inside…when Paul comes, he says, I’ll know the truth.  And the same thing will happen when we stand before God the Father on that Day!