4:1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 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. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 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.
6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,1 that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
4:1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 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. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 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.
6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,1 that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:
I invite you to open your bibles to first Corinthians chapter 4. First Corinthians 4. We're gonna read the first four verses. This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy, But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
Jeffrey Heine:
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. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Jeffrey Heine:
If you would pray with me. Our Father, we come into this place and we acknowledge your right to judge us, and we also acknowledge that we not be scared of that because of Jesus. And so I pray that the reality of the gospel would be set firmly into our hearts in this place this morning. Jesus, may you be seen as ever beautiful in our eyes, And I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore, but Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:
Amen. June 8, 2027 is a date that that often comes to my mind and kinda rolls around there. Sometimes this date, it pops in at random times. Maybe, maybe a birthday or an anniversary or sometimes just out the blue, maybe when I'm coming home after a long exhausting Sunday, this date just pops into my head. And I wasn't even aware of it until fairly recently, but on that day, I will be 54 years 9 days old, which is how long my father lived before he died.
Jeffrey Heine:
54 years 9 days. And so, I recognize that it's a strange thing for me to know that date and to know that time period, but for some reason, I guess I've ascribed some kind of importance to it. My father, he was an extraordinary man and, through his hard work, through his sacrifice, he provided opportunities for his children that he never got to experience. And so I guess that at the age of his death is kind of a measuring stick for me, that when I'm 54 years 9 days old, how did my life stack up against his? I guess I would say that, I'm wondering how can I justify my existence in that amount of time?
Jeffrey Heine:
Because apparently, I'm making my dad kinda the measuring stick for whether my life matters or not. I know this sounds a little strange to talk that way, to think about trying to justify one's existence, but I don't think it's that uncommon. I think this is something that probably every person in this room does, trying to justify their existence. Now my favorite movie of all time is Chariots of Fire. If you're unfamiliar with that movie, it won several Academy Awards.
Jeffrey Heine:
And what it does is it chronicles the the lives of 4 runners. Mostly highlights the running of Eric Liddell, who is the Christian, and and he won some Olympic gold medals. But it actually details 4 runners, and it it tells their motivations for running. And one of the runners was Harold Abrams. He was a Jewish runner, and he ran in a way that he treated running like a weapon, in which he wanted to defeat people through his running.
Jeffrey Heine:
And when it came the night before the Olympics, he went to the Olympic stadium and he stood up, or he sat in the bleachers and he looked down at the the 100 meters. And in the film, he looks at it and he says, 100 meters. 100 meters to justify my existence. For him, if he won this race, it would be proof, the final proof he needed that he mattered. If you want another movie character, you could just go to Rocky Balboa, in which Rocky was asked, why are you going to fight Apollo Creed?
Jeffrey Heine:
And he says, I just I just wanna go the distance. If I go the distance, then I'll prove I'm not a bum. I'll prove I'm not a bum. We we all do this. We want to know that our lives matter, and we need some kind of measuring stick that we can use to demonstrate that our lives matter, that we are somebody, that we're not a nobody, and we're looking for justification for our existence.
Jeffrey Heine:
The question is, who gives us that verdict? Who tells us this? A number of years ago, I came across a quote from Charles Spurgeon, who was called the Prince of Preachers, and he was teaching a class to some seminary students, and he he just said this little line here. He goes, Preachers, don't preach the gospel in order to save your own souls. Now remember I read that, and my first thought was, that's just a stupid quote.
Jeffrey Heine:
Of course, I'm not preaching meaning and and what Spurgeon was getting at is this. Don't don't come here from the pulpit and seek validation for your existence. By the way that people respond to you, by the adoration of people, by how large your ministry is, by the respect you might receive. Don't try to justify your existence, is what he would say. Paul, he felt this pressure.
Jeffrey Heine:
As he was going to the Corinthians, he felt this pressure, and he wanted to justify his apostleship, if you will. He knew that the Corinthians were comparing him to all of these other people, that that was their measuring stick, and they were trying to to see if Paul measured up or not, and he felt their scrutiny, that they were making judgements about him. And so what Paul decides to do is to tackle this issue straight on. And what he says to them is simply extraordinary. It's alien, if you will, because it's not of this world, his thought process.
Jeffrey Heine:
And as we're gonna see, you won't find this belief in any other religion. You won't find it in any other philosophy. Paul's way of thinking here is revolutionary, and it is freeing. As we've seen over the last few weeks, Paul came to the Corinthian church in a different way than they were expecting. He wasn't what they thought they needed, certainly wasn't what they expected.
Jeffrey Heine:
They wanted somebody who was strong. They wanted somebody who showed off their knowledge. Somebody who was really eloquent, who just looked like that natural leader. And then they got Paul. And Paul came to them, and he said, I didn't come to you in the way you expected.
Jeffrey Heine:
I didn't come in persuasive words of wisdom, but I came to you with fear and with much trembling. It says that your faith might not rest on the wisdom of men, but it might rest on the power of God. In other words, I don't need gimmicks because I have the gospel. Smoke and mirrors are when you don't have any power, but I actually have the power in the gospel, and that is not needed. And so I could come to you with fear and trembling, and then let God do His work.
Jeffrey Heine:
But Paul knew that as He was coming, because He was coming this way, with that fear and that trembling, there was talk. People were making judgements about him. And so, he says this in verse 3. Says, but with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. Paul says he he doesn't care if they or any human court judges him.
Jeffrey Heine:
This is really interesting that Paul's not on trial here, yet he brings up brings up this language of a courtroom. And at first, you might think Paul is just being a little dramatic here, acting like he's on trial, but Paul is actually making a really important point. Although the Corinthians were his friends, although they weren't actually taking him to court, he was saying, no, I really am on trial, because all of life is a trial. All of life is a trial in which we go around and we are constantly having to give evidence to people to justify our existence. We're always having to demonstrate to people that we actually matter.
Jeffrey Heine:
Says it's a small thing that I should be judged by you or any human court. Do you feel this? Do you understand what Paul's talking about here? Do you feel like every day is a trial as you go through it? Every day, you go to the fashion court.
Jeffrey Heine:
Alright? There's a fashion court going on in in which there's a trial in which you have to look stylish, but at the same time looking like you don't care about being stylish. It's this it's this weird blend you have to do, and you have to know whether or not, you know, is it okay to wear Birkenstocks? Is it not? Or are UGGs still in season?
Jeffrey Heine:
Or have they gone the way of crocs? Because you you can't you can't hold to last year's fashion. Because boots are not just boots and shoes are not just shoes. Haircuts are not just haircuts. What they are is evidence.
Jeffrey Heine:
You're producing evidence that you matter. Evidence of your status. Evidence that you are somebody. Parents, every day you are on trial, people judge you by how your children look and by how your children behave. And if your children are having a meltdown in public, you feel the juries glare at you.
Jeffrey Heine:
I can remember when our children were smaller, we were over at the Tot Lot and Crestline, and, 2 of my children were having an absolute meltdown, and I'm just sitting on one of the park benches by some other parents there, and so I'm just ignoring my children while they have this meltdown. And then the meltdown's getting really loud and ugly, ugly, and I'm still ignoring them until finally one parent goes, is that your child? And I remember I hesitated. Like, yes, it's my child, and then I had to address the problem, but then I just felt condemnation, all this condemnation there. You feel this when you take your children to go see the doctor, especially when they're real little, and the doctor asks them very basic questions just to see if there's, you know, they're developing right, and it's at that point that your children decide to misbehave completely, and so the doctor might ask things like, so what is your favorite color?
Jeffrey Heine:
And then your child says, banana. And they're like, and and when the doctor's writing things down, they're not writing things down about your children. They're writing things down about you and your parenting, and you just you feel this judgment. Parents, every time you cook dinner for your children, you're on trial. They will let you know the verdict the moment you put the meal there.
Jeffrey Heine:
Unless it's mac and cheese, it's guilty, all right? Then of course you have the judgment of your parents, who in their passive aggressive ways will let you know that they disapprove of your parenting. I guess that's one way you could discipline your child. You're on trial. There is a fitness court out there in which you are judged by your body mass index.
Jeffrey Heine:
Are you lean enough? Are you strong enough? How do you look in those jeans or those yoga pants? Why do you spend so much time in the mirror when you're trying to buy some, looking at every angle? Evidence.
Jeffrey Heine:
You're working on your presentation. When guests come over to your house, you are on you are on trial. How does your house stack up to theirs? What does your cleanliness say about you? So have you noticed that, there's often fighting that goes on before guests come over?
Jeffrey Heine:
That's often when you kinda squabble over things. Do you know why that is? It's because you're not just having guests over, you're having the jury over. And they are going to make their decision. And so, of course, there is stress when you have to present evidence that you matter, that you've got it all together.
Jeffrey Heine:
You're on trial at work, and not just before before your, your boss, or before your peers. You're on trial before everyone else because you wanna look like you have a job that matters. I'm a working professional. I do this in addition to all of these other things. And all these trials are happening at the same time.
Jeffrey Heine:
And so if you are a mom, you have to be fashionable, fit, have your house together completely under control, your kids under control. You have to impress people at work, and all the while having enough time and energy for your husband. It's a lot of courtrooms. You're always on trial. To exasperate this problem, we now have social media.
Jeffrey Heine:
And so you used to just compare yourself to your neighbor or to your coworker. Now you compare yourself to the world. So you used to think you were fit until you got on the Internet, and then you realize you don't look anything like that. You used to think you were beautiful, and so you looked at other people's Instagram posts, and then you realize you were not. You used to like the way you cooked until you saw all of the images of people's food, or you like the way you vacationed until you see all of these other pictures of people having the most amazing vacations ever, surfing in Hawaii with a GoPro, like and it's all posted there for you to see.
Jeffrey Heine:
I used to think I was a halfway decent preacher, but I'm not competing, if you will, against my neighbors. It's against Tim Keller. It's against John Piper. The internet opens up this entire window for you to compare yourselves with. So what do you do?
Jeffrey Heine:
What do you do when you get online and you see that exquisite meal there that somebody just posted? How do you respond to that? You know how we often respond when we're feeling that judgment, especially through social media? We falsify the evidence. So what we do, we falsify the evidence.
Jeffrey Heine:
We begin staging things to actually post online. So we're no longer taking pictures of what happened. We're staging things to look like it happened this way. There is no way the food was as great as you just described in the way you were staging it all to take the picture of. You don't take selfies like this.
Jeffrey Heine:
You take selfies like this. Right? You're you're staging it. Every New Year's Eve, you are all guilty of staging pictures that you put on there, because your New Year's Eve was likely just as lame as mine. But when I, but when I look at all the posts, it's like the pinnacle of your life.
Jeffrey Heine:
New Year's Eve. We falsify the evidence through whatever filters we're gonna put on, through the types of pictures we take and we post, And of course, everybody else is falsifying their evidence and putting it on there, and it's judgment and judgment and judgment. The courtroom just got a lot bigger. So, we're always trying to present evidence that we matter. What we're doing is we're trying to justify our existence.
Jeffrey Heine:
Let me ask you this. Do you wanna live this way? When when you're looking into the future, is this how you want your life to go? Do you want to spend the rest of your life essentially working on a resume? A resume that you could then show people that you matter.
Jeffrey Heine:
Now, we respond to this one of 2 different ways. Knowing that we're on trial every day, we can either work really, really hard trying to impress everybody, And of course, even if you could remotely succeed in that, it's utterly exhausting, and you will have a miserable life, or you can just go the opposite route and say, I don't care what any of you think. It doesn't matter what you think. Only what I think matters. I'm beautiful no matter what you say.
Jeffrey Heine:
The haters are gonna hate. I really don't care what you believe about this. It's only what I believe that matters, and you can call this self esteem, high self esteem, or you can call this an inflated ego, but know this, it's the current response of our culture. It it seems like it's almost in every song on the radio. It's reminding you that you are beautiful, that you are perfect, and that no one should ever try to change you.
Jeffrey Heine:
Don't ever change. And if you come to actually think about it, you have to realize that is complete and total hogwash. Alright? We do need to change. People who believe this, that they are beautiful no matter what other people say, perfect no matter what other people say, and they should never change what other people have to say, Those people have gone to commit some of the greatest atrocities this world has ever known.
Jeffrey Heine:
That's not what we need is people just just patting our ego, telling us how wonderful we are, and us just trying to believe it. Let me just it doesn't matter what you say. I am wonderful, and I know it in my inner being. Yet if you were to go to just about any counselor, that's what they were gonna tell you. They're gonna say forget what other people think about you.
Jeffrey Heine:
What do you think about you? Forget what other people want you to do. What do you want to do? Paul, he calls this view being puffed up. Look at verse 6.
Jeffrey Heine:
He says, I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. The reasons that there was so much fighting one against the other in the Corinthian church is because they were being puffed up. Paul could have used the the normal word for pride or being proud here, or he could have used the word that they were being arrogant, but instead he uses this really unusual word that only Paul uses, puffed up, and I think the reason He uses this word is He wants that image in front of us, of being puffed up. To be puffed up means to be painfully over inflated. It means to be full of hot air.
Jeffrey Heine:
It means to make yourself large, but the reality is you're empty inside the larger you get. You're puffed up. We puff ourselves up when we refuse to acknowledge the judgment of others, and we say that only our judgment matters. I don't care what you think. Only care what I think.
Jeffrey Heine:
Paul says that position there is a balloon that is ready to pop. So why is this position wrong? I mean, from Doctor. Phil to Oprah to Taylor Swift to Rihanna. I mean, you're all gonna hear it.
Jeffrey Heine:
It's bombarded at you, but why is it wrong? One of the main reasons that position is wrong is because we are masters of self deception. We are ill equipped to judge ourselves. I was made painfully aware of this when I was in seminary, and one of my professors, we're going through the gospel of Luke, and we're hitting the Beatitudes there, the sermon on the plane, and we're talking about the blessed are the poor and all of this. And at one point, he he says, how could you care about the poor?
Jeffrey Heine:
That's a loaded question when you're in seminary. Alright. I You're studying to be a pastor. You care about the poor. And he actually asked for a show of hands.
Jeffrey Heine:
And so we, you know, the whole class, you raise your hands. Do you care for the poor? And he goes, that's that's fantastic. I'm so glad you guys care for the poor. And then he he goes on to ask, okay.
Jeffrey Heine:
So can somebody tell me something they did for the poor today? And nobody responds because I guess that was unfair. How about yesterday or the day before? Any of you do anything for the poor? Nobody.
Jeffrey Heine:
Then he goes, show of hands. Any of you doing done anything for the poor this past week? Not one hand was raised. It goes, last 2 weeks? And I think maybe somebody raised a hand.
Jeffrey Heine:
Last month, then he had a, you know, a few other hands go up. Because so tell me again, how it is exactly you care for the poor. We are masters of self deception. Oh, I wonder how we would've answered that question if I put it out there. But, we begin to see that we're ill equipped to become judges of our own lives.
Jeffrey Heine:
I have found that when it comes to judging, when it comes to judging others, we judge others by their worst actions, and we judge ourselves by our best intentions. We judge others by their worst actions, and we judge ourselves by our best intentions, not by actually what we're doing. But we judge others by the worst things we have ever seen them do. So if we saw them neglect their kids, we judge them that way, or if we saw them, if they stood us up for a lunch date, or if maybe they lied to us one time. In our minds, they are a person who neglects their children.
Jeffrey Heine:
They are liars, but what about us? Well, we're a little more complicated than that. You can't just label us so easily. You don't judge yourself by what you do, you judge yourself by your intentions. And of course, you love your children.
Jeffrey Heine:
I mean, okay, so you had to be gone from them for a little stretch, but of course you love them. And you didn't mean to stand up your friend for that lunch date. Something unexpected just absolutely came up. You really had no choice, and and and, yes, you did have to lie to your friend that time, but if they really I do this all the time with myself. I I There are so many times, maybe you can relate, where you think, I really wanna write a letter to this person, and just tell them, like, you know, an encouraging letter and tell them how much they mean to me.
Jeffrey Heine:
I always think, like, that's my intentions. It doesn't ever happen, yet be because I intend to do that, I think I'm an awesome person. I've intended to write all of you these amazing letters. We're not gonna be judged by our intentions. We're gonna be judged by what we do.
Jeffrey Heine:
We are ill equipped to judge ourselves. We're ill equipped to judge others. So what does Paul do? Look at verse 3 and 4 again. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
Jeffrey Heine:
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 Paul could have defended himself to the Corinthians and tried to win their approval. He he could have done that, or he he could've said, okay. I really don't care about what you think about me and I'm gonna appeal to another court.
Jeffrey Heine:
The Philippians love me. The church at Ephesus loves me. All the apostles love me. Who cares what you think because I have all of their love and their adoration? But Paul doesn't go there.
Jeffrey Heine:
He could have also appealed to himself and said, I don't care what you think. It's only what I think that matters. But then Paul doesn't go there. So he doesn't go into their court. He doesn't appeal to other people's court, and He doesn't appeal to His court.
Jeffrey Heine:
Who does He appeal to? The Lord's court. It's the Lord's judgment that matters. Now, make no mistake, what Paul is after here is being proven righteous. He's after justification.
Jeffrey Heine:
He uses that word acquitted in this text, that he's not by this acquitted, but the one who examines him is the Lord. That that word acquitted is the word justified. It's the exact same word. It's the word that Paul uses all throughout Romans. He uses all throughout Galatians.
Jeffrey Heine:
It's a legal word, but it's being used in a setting that's not legal at all. What Paul is saying is, I want to be acquitted. I wanna receive a not guilty verdict. Therefore, I'm appealing to the Lord. He he rightly recognizes that only the Lord's judgment is the judgment that matters because only the Lord can see inside your heart, can see your intentions, and also only the Lord knows all of your actions.
Jeffrey Heine:
He's the only good judge there is. But you might be thinking, why did he appeal to the Lord's court? I don't see how that actually made the situation better for him. I mean, would you want to appeal to a judge who has the highest standards you could have? And who also is all knowing and knows everything you've ever done or thought?
Jeffrey Heine:
And also has all power to inflict on you the harshest possible judgment. Why in the world would you wanna go to such a judge? But that's exactly what Paul does here. And the reason he does so is because he knows, he's absolutely certain that he will be declared righteous in the Lord's court. And here's the thing.
Jeffrey Heine:
This is this is what sets Christianity apart from any other religion, from any other philosophy, and that's this. We actually receive our verdict of not guilty before there ever is any performance. We receive our verdict before the performance, before we ever do a thing. And this verdict is that we are justified. Paul knows that.
Jeffrey Heine:
That's why he appeals to the Lord's court. Through faith in Jesus, Paul has been justified. Before he has ever spoken one word to the Corinthians, before they have ever judged the way He looks, before they have ever judged the way that He talks, He already has the verdict in. He's not waiting on a verdict. The verdict has already been given him, and it's that he is righteous in Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:
He would write this to Romans, Romans in chapter 5 4. It says, and to the one who does not work or to the one who doesn't perform, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Romans 8:1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. And that is what Paul is talking about here.
Jeffrey Heine:
His position is this, he is free. He is talking about freedom here. Freedom from you judging him. Freedom from him judging himself. He is free from all judgment because Jesus was judged for him, and he is completely liberated in this.
Jeffrey Heine:
Jesus has taken that guilty verdict and has nailed it to the cross and has declared him not guilty, righteous, and now Paul has nothing left to prove. He doesn't have to give any evidence. Jesus is his evidence. And his life matters not because of what they think about him or what he thinks about himself. His life matters because what Jesus thinks about him, and Jesus gave his life for him.
Jeffrey Heine:
And that is freedom, church, freedom to live a life where you are not even thinking about yourself. You're free to live a life out of love to the one who has loved you. You no longer have to build a resume. You were handed the resume, and when you when you hold that resume out, you know what it has? The life of Christ, his perfect life, and that has been given to you through faith.
Jeffrey Heine:
What a rest that comes when you believe that. Do you know how this manifested itself in Paul's life? I mean, you really get to you really get to see his freedom later. He has to address the Corinthians again. He he writes 2nd Corinthians because this problem won't go away.
Jeffrey Heine:
And once again, he tackles this issue head on. And essentially, the Corinthians are demanding a resume. We got these super apostles and their resume. Paul, once again, what's your resume? What have you done?
Jeffrey Heine:
And finally, Paul's like, you want a resume? Fine, I'll give you a resume. And then he doesn't boast on what every one of them would have boast about. He brings up this one little story. He goes, if I wanted to boast, if I wanted to inflate myself, I could tell about such a man who 14 years ago was taken up into the 3rd heaven and saw these visions that you could not comprehend, but I'm not gonna do that.
Jeffrey Heine:
I mean, just let that sink in. For 14 years, this this had happened to Paul, and he had kept totally silent about it. One of us has an experience like that, first thing we would ever say. Why? Because we want everybody to think of us as spiritual.
Jeffrey Heine:
We want everybody to think of us in that way, as God's highly favored one. Paul kept that hidden for 14 years, and he says, I could boast about that, but I'm not going to. I will boast in this, and he goes through every imprisonment, every beating, every rejection. And, I love his final boast, the climax of all of his boasts. He goes, guys, you've got to listen to this.
Jeffrey Heine:
When I was in Damascus, the authorities were coming after me. I got so scared, I hid. And then, when they were getting closer, I I got in a little basket, and they lowered me outside the city walls in a basket so I could run away like a scared child. You want my resume? That's it.
Jeffrey Heine:
Look at the great apostle Paul running away like a little child. I'll tell you this. If you want me to boast, I'm only gonna boast in my weakness, and how great God is to use such weakness for his glory. I am nothing. God is everything.
Jeffrey Heine:
World, do your worst. And, he lives in this total freedom, freedom from what you think, freedom from what he thinks, because only what God thinks matters. And he could boast in such things as his weakness. Do you have such freedom? It's available to you.
Jeffrey Heine:
The more and more you build your identity on Christ and Christ alone, you become unshakable and free. And that is my prayer for you, church. Pray with me. Father, I pray we would rest in you. We would rest in you and you alone, Not in what we think about ourselves, and not what others think about us, but rest in what you think about us.
Jeffrey Heine:
Jesus, thank you for coming to live the perfect life we should have lived, and then dying the death that we should have died. All that we might be forgiven and be with you. And I pray that that rock of your gospel will be on which we build our entire lives. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.