1 Corinthians 4:8-21 A Contrast of Faith

1 Corinthians 4:8-21 A Contrast of Faith

Paul makes a contrast between the Corinthians faith of the privileged and the Faith of the broken. There were some who flaunted their blessings as if they earned or deserved them. In contrast to Paul’s attitude of being poor and needy before God.

They have what they want, rich in the world and put themselves in the role of being in charge and control. They flaunted their blessings as proof that God loved them more than others.

If you want to be great you must become the servant of all. True faith and spiritual strength is not found in privilege but in need. Faith is not pushing or pulling ourselves to the top, but by lifting others up.

Do you wish to experience true faith, real spiritual renewal? It is time to tell God of your need, your brokenness.

How close to heaven can you get on your own?
The high jump! Less than 8 feet. Pole vault less than 20 feet.

“Blessed are those who are poor in spirit and hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

Came to seek the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost people of the world.

Jesus is looking for you!

Psalm 139 :7-12 that there is nowhere you can hide or be hidden, not from God wrath, but from God’s love.

Jesus said “come to me all who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”

The Bible tells us a bruised reed He will not break, a smoldering wick He will not put out.”

“This little Light of mine” – you don’t have a little light all you have is a smoldering spark; you are the one Jesus has been looking for.

Don’t let your pride, your vanity, your intellect or anything else stop you. You have tried so many things that have left you empty inside, isn’t it time you gave Jesus a fair chance at changing your life? He has been looking for you, waiting for you, just call out to Him and you will see.

1 Corinthians 4:6&7 “What Is Written”

1 Corinthians 4:6&7 “What Is Written”

This couple of sentences are packed with information. In your study Bible it may say “what is written” refers to scripture, but the New Testament has not been written. So what is Paul talking about. Paul is talking about the Gospels of Mark and Luke. Luke tells us that some have written an account of Jesus, Luke 1:1-4. We know that Luke uses Mark as his base to write his account of Jesus. Luke is written before 1 Corinthians, while Luke is with Paul. So “what is written” is taking about the Gospels.

Written is important, Paul does not say what has been told you, he says “what is written”. This makes it clear that the Gospels are in writing not just passed on by word of mouth, often referred to as an oral tradition. In fact, Paul is warning them about accepting “new teachings of Jesus” that do not have the approval of one of the apostles.

One of the great problems in Corinth is the acceptance of off the wall teachings. The subjects of this letter are these false teachings. False teachings and practices the range from sex to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, from lawsuits to the Resurrection of the dead. Paul has a list of their messed up ideas and will address each one. But first Paul tells them to not add to the things that have been written, the Gospels.

People will just make stuff up, to justify their sin, stroke their ego, extort money from believers, and a whole host of other reasons. Paul urges the church to stick with what you know to be true, the Gospels.

Paul says “I apply this to me, and I apply this to Apollos”, and everyone else. We need to apply this to ourselves today. Great cults have been built on false teaching from people who say they have new teachings. Whole denominations have been led astray by false teachings. As we study 1 Corinthians we will see that most of these modern false teachings are addressed by 1 Corinthians. It seems the “New Revelations” are just the old false teachings repackaged.

As we apply this to ourselves we are to stick with what is written. The scripture we have is based the Apostle’s teaching. Books were placed in the New Testament only if their connection to the 12 Apostles could be verified. We would do well to make sure all that we learn and teach is based on Scripture. By this we mean Scripture as it was written not edited, and Scripture plainly read without special interpretations.

2 Timothy 2:15-18
¹⁵  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
¹⁶  But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,
¹⁷  and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
¹⁸  who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

 

Matthew 24:21-24
²¹  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
²²  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
²³  Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.
²⁴  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

In the history of the Church there have been many creeds and confessions to help counter false teachings. These creeds can never replace scripture.

When we do not understand something we read we go to other scriptures to get understanding.

The Protestant Reformation was based on the idea that everyone can read and understand the Bible and the Bible means what it says when plainly read.

Second when we apply this to ourselves we will avoid pride. Every preacher and teacher who is rightly teaching is giving only what they have received from God. Some may be more talented, some more understandable, some more eloquent, and some more exciting, but all can only give what they have been given.

2 Timothy 2:2
 ²  and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:15-18
¹⁵  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
¹⁶  But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,
¹⁷  and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
¹⁸  who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

People all sorts of false preachers and teachers are out there. They write books, have tv shows, radio shows, and are on the internet. 1 Peter 5:8 says ⁸  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-16 ¹⁵  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
¹⁶  You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

 

Paul’s message to the Corinthians and to us in this passage is to stick with the Word of Truth. Study your Bible and know what it says. Avoid those who have secret revelations that are not plainly read in scripture.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 "The Purpose of the Heart"

1 Corinthians 4:1-5 "The Purpose of the Heart"

Paul is now going back to the leadership question. Remember they are all saying “I follow Peter, Paul or Apollos”. They like how one performs their work for God and not another. They exalt one and above another. In looking at what Paul has to say about leaders we also find how to look at ourselves. We are all leaders in the church. We all have jobs to do, we have votes, and share our ideas and opinions. We are all servants of Christ and stewards of what God has given us

We know that one of the big things in this church is that they are fighting over who is greatest Paul or Apollos. What is interesting is that nowhere does Paul point out Apollos’ faults. How hard it must have been to let the new guy have control. So how does God want us to look at the leaders He sends us?

Servants of Christ. Leaders are servants of Christ, their first and foremost duty is to serve Jesus. The word for servant is “Under rower” that is the rower on the ship who is below deck. This person cannot see anything about where they are going, what is passing by, or even where they have been. All this person sees is the oar and their calloused hands. All they can do is try to put in the best stroke of the oar they can.

Romans 12:3 (ESV)
³  For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

The leaders job is not to be exalted by others or to climb up to stand on a pedestal, our job is to put in the best stroke of the oar we possibly can. Only God can really see where we are going, where we are, or even where we have been.

Of Christ. As leaders in the church you do not serve the powerful, the majority or even yourself. You are to serve Christ. We are to seek out Jesus’ desires and plans for those we lead. The goal of Christian leadership is not to make people happy but to make God happy.

Stewards of the mysteries of God. The steward has nothing of their own only what has been given them by God. As a Christian leader you only have what has been given to you. God gives each Christian gifts to be used in the church. They are not gifts we produce but gifts that come from God. The stewards job is not to be exalted or to become powerful or famous. The stewards job is to be found faithful. Did you correctly take care of and use what God has given you?

Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV)
¹⁴  “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.
¹⁵  To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
¹⁶  He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.
¹⁷  So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.
¹⁸  But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
¹⁹  Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
²⁰  And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’
²¹  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
²²  And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’
²³  His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
²⁴  He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed,
²⁵  so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
²⁶  But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?
²⁷  Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.
²⁸  So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
²⁹  For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
³⁰  And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

How well we have done will come to light when God reveals the purposes of the heart. We cannot tell, nor should we judge if another person is being the best servant or steward they can be. We do not know what God has given to them to work with. We as Christian leaders should not measure our success against others. We should focus on being the best servants and stewards we can be. God will disclose to all of heaven what our hearts purpose has been.

The Relay race.

As a Christian leader we may not understand what God is really doing. Like the rower below deck we may not see where we are going, where we are or even where we have been. But each of us know the purpose of our heart. We know if we have purposed to serve Jesus or someone else. We know if we have put in our best stroke of the oar possible.

Perhaps you have been going mindlessly been going through the motions, never evaluating your service or your stewardship. But God calls each of us to put in the best stroke of the oar possible. We are all leaders in the church. We all have jobs to do, we have votes, and share our ideas and opinions. We are all servants of Christ and stewards of what God has given us. We will all be judged by God as to the purpose of our heart. Has it been to serve Jesus and be good stewards of what He has given us? Let each of us determine in our heart to put in the best stroke of the oar we possibly can.