I Corinthians 4:5

First Corinthians 4:5

In First Corinthians 4:5 the Bible says, "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 councils of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." A Christian should always be wary of the dangers of judging others. Jesus warned us more than once about judging others. Among other things, He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged." In First Corinthians chapter 4:5 there are several reasons given why we should not judge others. One reason is because the Lord is the judge. When you judge someone else, in a way you are usurping God. You are denying or forgetting the fact that God is the judge. It is His responsibility to judge others, not ours, and He will fulfill His responsibility when the right time comes; which is another reason that we should not judge others. This is not the time of judgment. The great judgment of God is one of the great cataclysmic events of the future. The time of judgment will come, but only when God says. This is not the time of judgment. This is the age of grace. In the age in which we live, we are supposed to be emphasizing the mercy of God and the grace of God that is in Jesus Christ. If we judge others, we will not be able to present the wonderful message of the gospel, which a lost and dying world so desperately needs.

We should not judge others because the judgment of God is coming, and they will have to face that judgment. It will be a horrible thing to face that judgment without Jesus as Savior. Even if someone really does deserve judgment, then they need our prayers and our concern for them more than anything else. We also would be in danger of judgment if it were not for the grace of God. Someone who believes that God is the judge should be able to wait until God decides the time and place of judgment. "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay." Jesus gave us the highest and most noble of all possible objectives concerning human relationships. He said, "Love your enemies." Instead of judging them, "pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you." There may be nothing that will help the cause of Christ more, than when we Christians learn to better put this into practice.

Another reason to not judge others, is because only God knows all the things that need to be known in order to make the best judgment. Only He "will bring to light the hidden things," and only He can "make manifest the councils of the hearts." Humans make mistakes. You have been wrong before. There have been things concerning which you were positive, but later it was shown that you were wrong. That is true of all of us. What if you are wrong this time, in this judgment that you are tempted to make? Only God is qualified to judge, because only He knows everything that needs to be known to make the righteous judgment. Only God knows the secret things, and only God knows the motives. If you ever find yourself judging someone’s motives, then you will know that you have really gone down the wrong way, because who could possibly know someone’s motives, except God?

Notice that we have been talking about God as the judge. We all know that God is the final Judge of all things. Actually, this passage that is talking about the Judge, is talking about Jesus. When Paul said, "the Lord," in First Corinthians 4:5, Paul was talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And when Paul said, "Until the Lord come," Paul was talking about the return of Christ. This passage is another of the multitude of places in the New Testament that affirm the deity of Christ. If God is the Judge, and if Jesus is the Judge; then obviously Jesus is God. The Son of God is God the Son.

We should not judge others concerning negative things, and we also should avoid judging others too much concerning positive things. If it is true that only God is qualified to Judge, then it is also true that only He is qualified to know which humans deserve to be praised for what they have done for God. That is why the last part of First Corinthians 4:5 says concerning the judgment to come, "and then shall every man have praise of God." And that is why First Corinthians 4:6 says, "And these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another." Who is the greatest preacher on the earth today, or who is the greatest Christian? Only God knows. Therefore, we should not praise humans. We might praise the wrong one. If they deserve praise, they will receive it soon enough from God. We have already seen in the book of First Corinthians that when Christians praise other Christians, it eventually causes divisions; because Christians will not agree on who deserves to be praised. If everyone only praised God, then there would not be a problem.

Some people have made a very big mistake in failing to praise God when He should praised. They make this mistake in regards to the talents of others, and they also make it in regards to their own talents. Since God has made all things, what does anyone have in talent or ability or motivation or opportunity, unless God has given it to them. They could not have done what they have done without God. That is what First Corinthians 4:7 is talking about. It says, "For who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did receive it, why do you glory, as if you had not received it?" To God be the glory, great things He has done.

Since the Corinthians had been comparing man to man and human to human in the wrong way and thereby creating divisions, Paul is going to compare the Corinthians to himself and to the other apostles. We will see how the Corinthians compared to the apostles, and perhaps we will learn a little bit about how we also compare to the apostles. It might be a comparison that will cause us to give some reflection about our own service to God. First, Paul describes the condition of the Corinthians. He said in First Corinthians 4:8, "Now you are full, now you are rich, you have reigned as kings without us; and I would to God that you did reign, that we also might reign with you."

Three things were said about the Corinthians to describe their condition in the world: they were full, they were rich, and they reigned; that is, they had positions of authority. They had it pretty good, from a material standpoint. They had an abundance of the things that humans always strive for in every society. They had plenty of food: they were full. They had plenty of money: they were rich. And they had plenty of self-esteem and human accomplishment: they reigned and they ruled. They are not criticized or condemned by Paul because of what they had. He said that he was glad that they were in such a good condition.

After describing the situation of the Corinthian Christians as being full and rich and accomplished; Paul now describes his own condition and the condition of the other apostles. Paul wrote in First Corinthians 4:9-13, "For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are honorable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and lack clothing, and are beaten, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day."

In regards to the material things of this world and in regards to the things that humans normally strive for to find happiness, Paul said that he and the other apostles were last. If you looked at their lives from a human standpoint, you would see few material blessings. It was not the will of God for them. God gives all things, and Paul made it very clear that God did not give material things to the apostles. Remember when Peter said to a beggar in the book of Acts, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee." There is a false doctrine that is taught in our society, and it is the doctrine that if you give and if you serve God, God will give you more than you otherwise would have. That did not happen with the apostles. They gave everything, and then they suffered for it: from a human and material standpoint. But they were rewarded eventually. Remember when Jesus said that the twelve apostles would sit upon twelve thrones judging the world? When you suffer for God, you only suffer for a short time, but eventually you will be rewarded forever.

When Paul considered all the things that the apostles had suffered, Paul said that God had set the apostles last. In other words, compared to other Christians the apostles came in last when material blessings were handed out. But never forget that Jesus said that the last shall be first. It is not always so bad to be last, not if it is the will of God. If God allows it, then God has a purpose for it.

One of the purposes for all of the things that Paul suffered was so that Paul could be an example for us. Of course, Jesus is our primary example. But sometimes people think that well, we cannot really be like Jesus because after all He was the perfect Son of God. O.K. If that is your argument, then think of this: of the human beings who have attempted to live according to the teachings of Jesus, is there one who is a good example to follow? According to the word of God, there is one: Paul the Apostle. He was set by God to be last, he was made to be the offscouring of the world, so that other believers like the Corinthians, and like you and me, could look at all that he suffered, and we could learn valuable lessons on what life is really all about and what serving Christ is really all about. Do you think you are something in this world in regards to serving Christ? Compare yourself to the Apostle Paul here in First Corinthians 4:9-13, and then decide what you are.

Paul told the Corinthians to reflect upon his life and the things that he suffered for Christ as an example for them, and he said to them in First Corinthians 4:14-17, "I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be you followers of me. For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church."

Paul told them to be followers of him. Of course, only in the sense that he was a follower of Christ. And Paul said that he was warning them. You had better be careful who you follow or who you listen to or who you accept as a teacher. Many false prophets have gone into the world. Jesus gave the same warning. Jesus said, "If the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch." And Jesus said, "Beware of wolves who come to you in sheep’s clothing." Some people have caused themselves many sorrows because they listened to the wrong voice and followed the wrong teachers or the wrong friends.

The believers in Corinth had the teachings of Christ, they had the example of the Apostle Paul, and they also had Timothy who was taught by Paul and sent by Paul to remind them of the ways which we are in Christ. The Apostle Paul was one of the greatest theologians that the world has ever known. He studied at the feet of Gamaliel, and then even better than that: he learned personally from Jesus Christ. Undoubtedly, the gift of understanding that Paul had was a gift from God. No one understood the Old Testament and how it applied to the teaching and life of Christ the way that Paul did. If you want to understand the Old Testament and what it really means, then study the writings of Paul. If you want to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, then study the writings of the Apostle Paul. If you want to look at a life for an example of a believer in Jesus Christ, then look at the life of the Apostle Paul.

Paul taught Timothy and once Timothy had learned, Paul sent Timothy to teach others. One of the reasons that you were born into the world was to learn, and once you have learned, you are responsible to teach others. You have not learned much, if you have not learned the teachings of Paul because they were given to him by Jesus for the benefit of all other believers. Paul understood what he had been given. Knowledge is power. And Paul knew that he had to go to the Corinthians again in order to use his authority to deal with problems that had arisen in their congregation. Paul wrote to them in First Corinthians 4:18-21, "Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness."

Of all the churches described in the New Testament there may be none that is more like the churches of America today than the church in the city of Corinth. This is not a complement. They were full, they were rich, they were prosperous, but they had many spiritual problems. In our next study we will look at one of those problems as it is described in First Corinthians chapter 5.

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