RKnowledge Lesson for July 24, 2013
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
4:1 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.
4:4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God.
In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul calls himself a steward of the mysteries. The word steward means one who is an overseer of another, until that other comes of age and is able to look after himself. A steward in the Kingdom is one who oversees the children until they are able to look after themselves and feed themselves the revelatory Word. Until they can feed themselves on the mysteries.
Paul’s job was to feed the babies the Word of God until they became mature enough to get the mysteries of the Word for themselves. Feeding you the mysteries of the Kingdom, being stewards of the Word of God, until you are mature enough to feed yourselves and then go out and start feeding others.
Why? Because that is what we are called to do and have been given the authority to do. The keys of the Kingdom were given to Peter and the other apostles so that they would go out and feed others and bring them into the deeper things. That is what we are all called to do. To be stewards to the keys of the Kingdom, to the mysteries that take us into the deeper things.
And notice that Paul goes on to say that stewards are expected to be found faithful. These keys are not just going to be given to anybody, they are only going to be given to those who will be faithful with them. And according to the Hebrews, a faithful person is one who mixes the Word with faith. One who takes the mysteries of the Kingdom, mixes them with faith and brings about a supernatural result.
And how can we judge who is faithful if we do not even begin to understand the mysteries. We can not judge what we don't understand. That is why Paul says a court of the world can not judge him; because it only has carnal understanding and can not even begin to understand what he understands.
The mysteries of the Word of God is what holds this entire universe together. Without them, it would disintegrate into nothingness. The Bible says that everything is held together by His Word, so everything is woven into and engrafted into His Holy Word. It is held together by the revelation of God that is going out and is pre-eminent over everything else that exists; indeed, it only exists because He spoke His Word in the first place anyway.
We also need to come to see that the Law of the Spirit is far greater than the Law of the natural. When the two come into conflict, the Law of the natural must submit to the Spiritual Law of God. And all things, the missing arms and limbs of those born deformed, those who have had accidents, the people who claim to have been born gay, all these things are and will be dealt with as the Law of the Spirit comes into its place in our lives.
So the mysteries take us into a prophetic mindset that will give us the ability to move into re-creative miracles as God reveals to us the faith to release His prophetic Word.
That’s why Paul, in verse 5, tells us to judge nothing before the time when the Lord comes. When He comes, He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsel of our hearts.
What are the things hidden in darkness? And what is the darkness they are hidden in?
Hidden things are mysteries. They are the full prophetic understanding of God’s Word that are going to be released into the world at the end of the age. And we are at the end of this age and they are being released now, by His servants.
And they are not hidden in the darkness of evil, but are hidden in the darkness of a lack of understanding His Word. And the counsel of our hearts, what we choose to believe, the Spiritual Law of God or the carnal counsel of men, will be revealed in the Day of the Lord.
So we each need to ask ourselves, “What is going to be revealed about me?”