Wednesday, November 4- 1 Corinthians 4:1-7

1So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
-Paul, and others are servants of God not some special leaders. They do have a secret knowledge. That secret is the gospel of Christ which is darkened from men's minds.

2Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
-Because they are entrusted with this secret they have to be faithful to share it. Kind of weird to share a secret, but thats the kind of secret that this is.

3I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.
-His mission is higher than any human institution. He must just do the work set ahead of him because it is commissioned by God.

4My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
-There is a higher judge than conscience. Even if we do things according to conscience it must be according to God as well.

5Therefore 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.
-Motive is so important. People do things for all kinds of reasons and we must try our best to make sure our motives are pure.

6Now, 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.
-We need to do what is written. There's plenty of that. No need to go beyond it cause there's enough there already. Just do it by the book.

7For 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?
-Everything is from God. He makes it all work so we should just thank him for whatever we have. We have no reason to be jealous of others or to to want more...just do whatever he gives us to do. Then we'll be content in our work. Some have lots of 'great' things to do, some have little things to do. All are important in God's plan.