SNT 0472 - 1 Corinthians 4
I Corinthians 4
October 11, 1970
SNT 472
Format: audio
Publication Date: 10-11-1970
Victor Paul Wierwille was a Bible scholar and teacher for over four decades.
By means of Dr. Wierwille's dynamic teaching of the accuracy and integrity of God's Word, foundational class and advanced class graduates of Power for Abundant Living have learned that the one great requirement for every student of the Bible is to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Thus, his presentation of the Word of God was designed for students who desire the in-depth-accuracy of God’s Word.
In his many years of research, Dr. Wierwille studied with such men as Karl Barth, E. Stanley Jones, Glenn Clark, Bishop K.C. Pillai, and George M. Lamsa. His formal training included Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Theology degrees from Mission House (Lakeland) College and Seminary. He studied at the University of Chicago and at Princeton Theological Seminary from which he received a Master of Theology degree in Practical Theology. Later he completed his work for the Doctor of Theology degree.
Dr. Wierwille taught the first class on Power for Abundant Living in 1953.
Books by Dr. Wierwille include: Are the Dead Alive Now? published in 1971; Receiving the Holy Spirit Today published in 1972; five volumes of Studies in Abundant Living— The Bible Tells Me So (1971), The New, Dynamic Church (1971), The Word's Way (1971), God's Magnified Word (1977), Order My Steps in Thy Word (1985); Jesus Christ Is Not God (1975); Jesus Christ Our Passover (1980); and Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed (1982).
Dr. Wierwille researched God's Word, taught, wrote, and traveled worldwide, holding forth the accuracy of God's "wonderful, matchless" Word.
1Co 4:1-3
1Co 4:3, 4; 1Ti 1:2-5
1Ti 1:5-16
1Ti 1:16-20
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DRAFT
snt-0472_1-corinthians-4(vpw)(10-11-1970) DRAFT
SUMMARY KEYWORDS: mysteries, God, ministry, stewards, false pretense, Christ, law, satan, faithful, insignificant, man, life, wonderful, ministers, handling, paul, hold
All right, Corinthians chapter four. I am sure that people you hear in the auditorium tonight. And all of our believers around the nation are just as excited about the things that are happening in individualise, individualize in communities in areas. And you're just as thankful that God is giving us wonderful privileges and opportunities to serve him. I think all of us here at the headquarters, especially those of us on the staff, who are specifically obligated with the ministry here in the working of the ministry here, have really been blessed. Tremendously this fall, by the wonderful cooperation of the core, the core is just something to behold. They're not only willing to work, but they're willing to work twice as hard. Anytime you ask him to do anything, and they many times do this on their own without asking them. And that is a surprising thing. Because that's wonderful. And our Tuesday night, core fellowships have just been real exciting. And then of course, on Friday night, with the course, the Dale Carnegie course, that bill maze is teaching. And these, everybody is just pushing ahead. And I thought this week, how wonderfully this whole thing patterned, and how here at the headquarters, were able to do these wonderful things for people, making it possible for the ministry, and for the greatness to move. We need leadership. Without leadership, nothing moves, you can sit there and pray till doomsday. And nothing basically is going to happen until somebody rises up and takes leadership. And this leadership must be qualified. You're just not a leader, because you think you're one, you're a leader, because you've built leadership within your life. It's an art that you must develop. Now, you may have some native natural ability, praise God. Otherwise, you never will be a leader. But it's something you develop within yourself. You bring yourself to that place, by discipline, where you lead, and you just don't do things haphazardly. I believe that we who are leaders have the greater responsibility in the ministry before God, not just before the people we serve, but before God as a leader, if I get off of the Word of God, and if I teach this, swear to God, wrongly, he will take it out of my hide figure of speech. And I will not receive the greatness of God which God wants me to have. And therefore those of us who lead are absolutely obligated to the Father, to walk in the light of the word and hold that word forth in our leadership. This is why in First Corinthians four verse one, it says, Let a man so a count of us, as the Minister of Christ, and stewards of the ministry of the mysteries of God. Let a man so a count of us. Now this is not referring to a man on the outside of the paper. There are people, people in every community in every area who would have no respect whatsoever for you because you're a Christian. No, they wouldn't care whether you're Christian or anything else. They don't have to account for our handling of the mysteries of God. It's the fellow believers like you here in the auditorium tonight. And others of our people across the nation, they will have to be in alignment in harmony with me and I with them. Leadership demands this on the accuracy of the word. And they we are to give an account of our sales to our people as ministers of Christ. Not ministers have an ideology, or a thought pattern or a theological idea or opinion nomination. We are to be ministers of Christ. And we're stewards. A storied as a caretaker, one who watches over the mysteries of God. And you know what the mysteries of God refers to the great mystery of the church, and so forth. That's what we're responsible for were to be stewards. Now, a steward is one who takes care of the stuff. How can I take care of the mysteries of God? If I let everybody run over it? How can I take care of the mysteries of God, if you would sit in my presence, and you just hash the word to pieces, and I wouldn't say anything. We've got to stand as stewards of the word. Now we can stand lovingly, that's the requirement also. But boy, we never push on the word. Never push on the words, our person may comb his hair or groom his feet, doesn't bother us at all. But the handling of that word must stand par excellence. And as stewards, we must be very careful with those mysteries of the word. Moreover, it is required, it doesn't say you have a choice, it says it is lot and required. If you're in college, taking a required course, you got to take it to get the degree. If you're in high school, or undergrad, or whatever, that's in the four that you're required to take, everything comes along. We're required. Data is stored, it's required in a story that a man be found one thing was faithful. And you know what faithfulness is that faithfulness. You don't trip out, you don't flip out. You just stay put, day after day after day after day after day, you stay paid. Someone comes along you bug. You don't let the bug bother you. You still say one. fateful. That's the requirement of a story, faithfulness. It is not required of a steward. That's the person out there that that particular person agree with everything you say, or that they reciprocate, it's fine. It's required in a student that we be faithful. If one person comes to hear the Word of God, you should be as grateful and thankful to God as if you had 10,000. Why? Because the word says that the value of one soul is worth more than all the wealth of the world you cannot miss as long as your faith. And God has put us in the ministry of His Word in this time, an hour. And we are to be faithful, faithful baseball ministers, stewards of the mysteries of God faced. With me, it's a very small thing, insignificant, that I should be judged W examined by people. That's what the text three, so we're just a very small thing. That same thing, if it has no value whatsoever, a man comes along and he examines three judges, my ministry, your your presentation of the mysteries of God, he examines you. And he says, Ah, don't believe a thing. You say, God shouldn't bother us at all. We have to be faithful ministers of the mystery. He says it's insignificant. And yet I know in my own life, about the most I ever get bothered is my people. You know, they don't sometimes they don't mean to do this at all, but they do it.
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But it says it's a very small in our renewed mind, we have to learn that that is insignificant. It's a light thing. It's a small thing. That I should be examined our view are of man's judgment. The word judgment is day, that I should be examined by man in man's day. This is man's day he does the judging. The Lord's day in Revelation is when the Lord does the judge. This is man day. And it's not the point that you don't even judge, I judge not mine own self box renewed mind. You're at the place that you know that you know that you know that you know that you are handling the mysteries of God with all the exactness that you have seen in the Word. And you're not handling the word of God deceitfully on your faithful in the ministry of those mysteries, you go through a service, you go through a teaching station, a witnessing station at a banner hyoe state, building the class in Columbus, and you just know that you are doing your best. And when you have done your best, you never judge yourself when it's over with that trust. Every one of us, who walks in the word and endeavors to let this word live in our life and more and more of a gel. There have been times in our lives when we have left a meeting. And we have said to ourselves since knowledge wise, well, Boy, I sure didn't hit it tonight. I don't know if you've ever been that way I have. I have said to myself at times, well, boy, I shirt tripped out someplace because I just didn't get that thing off the ground like I felt it ought to go to her. The word says you don't even judge your sale. The hard lesson, I'm trying to still learn that no matter how a meeting would go, if I had walked in with the love of God and the best of my ability, and the thing didn't gel at all. If it didn't, ever that when I walked out, I simply thank God that I had the privilege of doing the best I could. I don't judge myself, you see, it's so easy. They uses this. You're looking for 20 people that come to your house for the meeting on Tuesday night, and only one shows up. And you say, Oh, wonderful sentence. I wondered if I should have sent him an extra letter, if I should have given him a second call on the phone. And before you know what you've run a whole gamut of different ideas through this upper story. And it's constantly making you less and less and less and you're judging yourself. If we are faithful as ministers of the mysteries of God, if it's insignificant if somebody else judges us, we just don't allow the judgment a man's day. And we don't even judge our sales. My what a wonderful ministry. Now, that doesn't mean we're hard hearted. That doesn't mean we're callous. We're just the opposite. But it just means we don't allow satan through these wrong approaches to tear us down. For if God if God has made us as a believer what the Word says we are. And we say anything less than Satan is influencing us in one category or another. And we cannot, as sons of God, allow Satan that privilege. Because if Satan gets to us, who has God, God bless. If he tears down, for instance, my believing if he would tear me down where I walk in here all negative and all defeated, then what would you people receive the negatives and the defeat? That wouldn't help you any?
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We just dare not people allow Satan to get a hand on us? To make us feel less than what the Word says we are in Christ. He says in verse four. In James as for I know nothing by my sale. That isn't quite true. I know a few things by myself. So I know there's something haywire fundamentally just from my knowledge of things. The text reads, For I know nothing of which I am guilty. Isn't that beautiful? In the handling of the mystery as a minister. He knew a lot of things he had been given The from a sense knowledge point of view, you know, where he had tripped out things he had done wrongly. But when it came to the handling of the mystery and walking on this, he said, I know nothing of which I am guilty, yet Am I not hereby justified but he who judges me, who examines me His love, dollars, while praise God for his life. I surely would hate to have to stand in the judgment of men. And I'm sure you would not approve of judgment a man Hiser many times isn't it wonderful that we can so hold forth God's word knowing that our judgment our examining is going to be of the Lord for our saints on God's word. It's just nail, go to First Timothy to show you how a young man of God really held forth the mysteries and carried out what I just read with you from Corinthians seven, verse two, on to Timothy, my own son in the faith, because the Apostle Paul taught him God's word, let him to the Lord and had him in the corner or something, and worked with him to teach him the word. He says Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father in Jesus Christ, our Lord, as I be sought to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest chard, some that they teach no other doctrines, no other way of right believing no other ways and watts, Doer ship of the mystery. There are many other things people teach today. But Paul, by revelation said to Timothy, and this is God's word, and it still applies to men today who are teaching the word. Women as well who are teaching the Lord, anybody who holds forth the words that you charge faithful, if they are teaching and other doctrine and other way of right believing. How can we be holding forth the ministry? The myth, the ministry of the mysteries, if we wouldn't charge them and say, Now look, that's not really what the Word says. Verse four, for neither Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogy. Which Minister question rather than the administration of God, which is in faith, that's the tip. DARLEY edifying is the word icon Knowmia. And the word like Konomi refers to the administration of God. That's a fabulous verse. Do not give heed to fables, little fairy stories, insignificant talk. And to the endless genealogies talking about people in this inbox, all of those things, just add more questions. And people have more doubts. Rather, give heed to the administration of God in the administration of God, his stewardship of the mystery which is in place. Now the end of the commandment is charity and charity is the love of God in the renewed mind and manifestation out of a pure heart and have a good conscience. A good conscience is sound mind. The end of the commandment is the love of God in the renewed mind. And this you get out of a pure heart. It's pure because Christ is born within you I've renewed your mind because it's the love of God in the renewed mind. And as you speak the word you have a sound mind anyone Who has not the mind of Christ or been born again and put on the mind of Christ is insane. He's got an ON DOWN mind. And an unsound mind is an insane mind. And if you will look at the history of our society of our times, to see who's manufacturing all the evil, it has to be coming out of an insane month. It couldn't come out of the renewed mind in price. I believe that verse gives a lot of answers to a man who is honest in his quest or a woman who really wants to know where a lot of the junk of our time comes from or anytime it's out of a sound mind. And they unfeigned the word unfeigned is no false pretense of a sound mind and a face, which is the face of Jesus Christ the family face. With no false pretense. You know, people always pretend it's a nice game, when you're a little child, you pretend you're going to get married, you get all those long dresses, get play house, get your T cup files, all of those things. Now, nothing wrong with that when you're a child, when you get to be a man, you're supposed to put away childish things. And this happens to us when we get born again, of God's Spirit putting on the mind of Christ, that we don't live this ministry under a false pretense. This essence is the same as why Paul declares in the epistles that he did not handle the Word of God the seat fully because if your handle the Word of God deceitfully, you're handling it under a false pretense. Very sick from with some having swerved, have turned aside onto veins jangling, they just yet they just talk. They got us flip tongue. Because both sides of our substance and look at it while they were they said they desired to be locked. Teachers have the luck of the law. Understanding neither what they say, nor where of their firm. And that's true today. Anyone who wants to put us under that judgment, put us under all the legalism. Everything else they have swerved if they are born again entirely, were turned aside and it's just vain jangling how can they put us under a law when there is no law? When Christ is the end of the law, and the law that we are living under is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which is the law of love, in the Renew of mind, which covers it myoma yet they decide to be teachers. But they understand neither what they say in their Norwell they affirm. But you know, we know that the law is good if a man would use it was knowing this, that the law is made for a righteous man? No, the only reason the law was ever given to Moses or anybody else in the Old Testament is because of unrighteous.
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And honest law, or a law in our society is not given should not be given either to ever hurt the innocent. It is given for the unrighteous ones, the ones who do not want to be obedient. They need a law to keep them lined up. Or today. We want to get rid of all those laws too. And that's baloney. You can't run a society with evil people, sinful people. Unless you have some laws. We won't get into that too deeply. But boy I think you've got to Have a law and I think the law has to have teeth in it. And I think the law has to bite if you want to keep evil, away from killing the good people if you understand God's word, you believe that too if you don't believe it, because the law is not made for the righteous man but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly, for sinners, for unholy for and profane, for murderers of fathers murders, a mother's man players whoremonger for them that defile themselves with mankind to home all boys, the lesbian, for men, theaters, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that's contrary to rock believing well hottie I like that I like that's what he says. That's what it means. You just can't go to God's word and pick out John 316 and throw out what you don't like you it's either all God's Word or none of it.
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Well going back to very five, out of a pure heart. But sound mind with no false pretense, very reliable, according to the glorious gospel of the blessing of God, which was committed to my trust.
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Literally, it read, according to the Gospel, of the glory, of the blessing of God, the gospel of the globe. The glory of God, the blessed God, the gospel of his globe, not wonderful. That's the mystery which was given to his trust. Big because we are to be stewards of the mysteries have tremendous. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me for that he counted me was faithful, putting me into the ministry. Who was before he got born again. A blaspheme persecutor, injurious, but I obtained mercy. Because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. All everybody does. You know? If God any foreknowledge knows, you're gonna get saved when you hear the word any. Then Paul was doing this in ignorance in unbelief, because he didn't know the word. He thought he knew the word, but he didn't know it. So he still did it because one, the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundance. That grace of our Lord was just not abundant, that be good. But it is that abundance which is abundantly abundant, because it's exceeding abundant. That's great.
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With faith and love, which is in Christ tea, this is a faithful saying. Third time this word again comes up, faithful saying, and worthy of being accepted in totality of all acceptance.
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that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of who I am. He came into the world to save what sinner. This is what he came for. And man outside of Christ as a sinner, we hold forth the word, and they believe that word, they get saved, and that's the ministry of the word. It's not the ministry of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, it's the ministry of the mysteries, the word addressed to us. The capital T and a capital I'll be it very 60. Or this college I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might show for all long suffering for a pattern that then we should hear after believe on him to life everlasting. If you understand Paul's life before this from the gods from the book of Acts, other places, and that God gave the revelation of the mystery to him, that it should first be shown forth as a pattern through him. To all of those who should hear, after or thereafter, believe on Christ Jesus, to life ever lost. You see, from God's point of view, it is eternal life. From my point of view, it's everlasting. Because when, let's say, I'm 25 years old, when I get saved, I receive God's eternal life because it's with him eternal, and it's life. But he just started with me when I was 25. Therefore, it's everlasting from then on for me, with God. It's no beginning and no end. That's why, from a spiritual point of view, it's eternal life. From a sense knowledge, Earth point of view, the receiving of it is everlasting. Now on to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the honor and glory forever and ever, amen. This chart nice finished, he says gun charging first and I recharge this chart. I commit onto the sun Timothy. According to the prophecy, which went before, on or over the, at the time, he was set apart for the ministry, they laid hands on him, they set him apart, they prophesied and in the prophecies of that time of ordination and setting forward were these words. And he said, Now you are, by those words of prophecy, where you are given the charge to hold forth the mysteries, as a faithful steward of God, you go out, and you are a good warfare. If you're not in a fight, you haven't gotten because anybody who's handling the word today and holding it forth, is going to have a few opportunities. It's a fight. It's a war. It's a war. Maybe you say you don't like it? Well, if you don't like it, you aren't in it. Someplace or other. If you're holding forth the Word of Life, you'll find out its award. Because we wrestle not against flesh and blood, Satan has to fight the ministry of the accuracy of His Word. So you're gonna have problems. We call them opportunity. That's all people are going to endeavor to obstruct through, they're going to do everything in their power. You want to now have a class in Columbus, you know, you got a few opportunities. They'll say to you that can't afford it. They say they can't come, they'll say all of this.
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But I'm sure that if we were honest, and we were in an automobile accident, we could lay in our hospital, in a cast for six weeks, eight weeks, we could afford that. And if it was as bad as it was here on 66, we could afford to afford to live in a casket for the rest of the days until the return of Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, just don't let anybody discourage you. All sorts of mysteries other words, it's a warfare and that thou mightest by these prophecies, war, a good warfare, a good fight or a good warfare. You don't polish your gun when the enemies come and run a net. You build the Word of God in your life. On a night like this, a week like this. The quiet times you have with fellow believers, that's when you build the word that's when you sharpen up your armament. Then when the fight starts, you haven't got time. You don't need time because you are equipped. So you're getting equipped. Now, then, expect a good fight. Don't be afraid of it. Just be believing it's gonna be a danger because you are more than a conqueror in the situation. And that's how the word gets hailed for. Do you think Paul maybe had a few problems in the synagogue?
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With Diana the Ephesian boys up around Ephesus. Ah you know he did. But that's how the word spread. One person heard the word. And they saw that it had logic in it and truth and deliverance and power.
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And they believe and then somebody else got turned on. Somebody else saw it. That is exactly why we're warring good wars. Wi Fi, you lay down your arm and you're not worrying, you're good warfare, the enemy's going to suck it to your time, and all that stuff.
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Now mightest war, a good warfare, Holding faith, holding the faith or family faith don't budge on it. This is what God wrought for in Christ Jesus, your whole Bible. And a sound mind here is a second time in the chat with some having put away concerning the faith have made shipwreck because they didn't hold forth the mysteries according to the word as faithful stewards, and they didn't fight a good warfare. Says of whom was Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered on the site. They may learn not to blaspheme. That same ability of God is in every believer today. Why don't we get him over to the day I will let him fry him. Fried but you see today when you say that someone's come along to where you don't have any love. They say you're not time. Well, is it ever kind? Or is it ever loving when we get off of the word or when we handle the Word of God deceitfully, or when we go contrary to God's word? Not if the words right, the words right. Now you see why this young man Timothy had this tremendous instruction, because he was to hold for the word. And the only way you can hold it forth is by following the principles that are set forth in this word. And I am sure that Timothy, sense knowledge wise academically was not any better qualified than men and women I'm speaking to tonight are our people around the nation who will hear this teaching on this is why it isn't where you been watching you've done who you are. It's why he makes you how he sets you on your high plates how he turns you into a somebody. You may have been a nobody before but you are a somebody when Christ comes in. And then you put on the renewed mind and you start witnessing and walk. Do learn all of these things overnight. No. No Walk is a lifetime of growth. Just like when you go out witnessing sure every once in a while Satan gets a lick into your chin, but you turn right around and you're talking to him. Then the next time he throws that same ball at you, you can't have one. The second time you duck it before it gets you learn to roll with the punches and you set for it the greatness of His words. People Surely all of us here tonight must just be thrilled with the privileges that are ours. hold forth. There is not a woman in this auditorium with sat under our teaching ministry these years who cannot hold forth the greatness of that word to a great degree. Well, don't be discouraged hold it. And just believe with every ounce of your being that God will use that word to bring to pass the fulfillment of that which...