THE OFFSCOURING OF THE EARTH
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 4:9-13
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 KJV For I think that God hath 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. [10] We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. [11] Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; [12] And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: [13] Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 Moffatt NT For it seems to me that God means us apostles to come in at the very end, like the doomed gladiators in the arena! We are made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men! [10] We, for Christ's sake, are 'fools'; you in Christ are sensible. We are weak, you are strong; you are honoured, we are in disrepute. [11] To this very hour we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad and knocked about, we are waifs, [12] we work hard for our living; when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we put up with it; [13] when defamed, we try to conciliate. To this hour we are treated as the scum of the earth, the very refuse of the world!
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 J B Phillips I sometimes think that God means us, the messengers, to appear last in the procession of mankind, like the men who are to die in the arena. For indeed we are made a public spectacle before the angels of Heaven and the eyes of men. [10] We are looked upon as fools, for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in the Christian faith. We are considered weak, but you have become strong: you have found honour, we little but contempt. [11] Up to this very hour we are hungry, ill-clad, knocked about and practically homeless. [12] We still have to work for our living by manual labor. Men curse us, be we return a blessing: they make our lives miserable but we take it patiently. [13] They ruin our reputations but we go on trying to win them for God. We are the world’s rubbish, the scum of the earth, yes, up to this very day.
I. INTRODUCTION—A GREAT HERITAGE
-The passage that we have read is one that Paul is being very direct and straightforward with the Corinthian church. He does not pull any punches and certainly does not fall into the category of being religiously correct.
-He uses words that describes the real church in terms that aren’t too flowery or glowing:
• A spectacle of the world
• Fool’s for Christ’s sake
• Filth of the world
• Offscouring of all things
-He is describing what can be understood as the mark of a true servant of the Lord. That mark comes when one is willing to suffer shame for the cause of Jesus Christ. That is increasingly becoming a very foreign concept for anyone who is a Christian to want to appear different from the world.
-Jesus described the hirelings who fled when the wolves came and attacked but he said that the good shepherd was one who stayed and was willing to fulfill his responsibilities . . . his calling. . . It is hard for a hireling to suffer shame and persecution in this world.
• Romans 8:17—If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with Him.
• Galatians 5:11—Suffering is attached to the offense of the Cross.
• Philippians 1:29—We not only believe in the Lord but we suffer for His sake.
• 1 Thessalonians 3:4—We will suffer tribulation.
• 1 Timothy 4:10—We suffer reproach because we trust a living God.
• 2 Timothy 2:12—If we suffer with him, we will reign with him.
-Throughout biblical history and church history, men of God have suffered the shame of the world that ultimately led to their persecution and in some cases their death.
• Isaiah—Cut in two in a hollow log.
• Jeremiah—Tossed in the sewer, imprisoned, beaten, and then exiled to Egypt.
• Daniel—Put into a lions’ den.
• John the Baptist—He was beheaded at a drunken party.
• Jesus Christ—A man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. Crucified in the prime of His life.
• Ignatius—Fed to the lions.
• Polycarp—Burned at the stake.
• Justin Martyr—Literally was named because of his death at the hands of persecutors and revilers.
• John Huss—Burnt at the stake.
• William Tyndale—Hung and then burnt.
• Foxe’s Book of Martyrs—Chronicles many of the deaths of the righteous.
• Scottish Covenanters—Killed in the streets by the swords of soldiers.
• The Puritans—More than 2000 of these men were forced out of their churches.
• George Whitfield—Banned from his pulpit in London and was forced to preach in the streets and fields.
-As history has documented, many preachers were exiled after being forcibly removed from their pulpits.
-Jesus warned that we shouldn’t be surprised at the ill-treatment.
Matthew 5:11-12 KJV Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. [12] Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Luke 21:12 KJV But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
Luke 21:17 KJV And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
-Increasingly I am becoming concerned that as time passes the American church will have to withstand some form of persecution. Our society has almost turned on a dime in the last several years. If we could resurrect some of the old saints even from just the last 50 years, they would be shocked at the condition and direction of the society. . . they might even be shocked at the direction the church has gone in.
II. 1 CORINTHINIANS 4:9-13
-I cannot take credit for this outline that I am using with this message. It is borrowed from Steven Lawson who worked with this same text.
-With the passing of time, I am increasingly taking preaching much more seriously than I ever have, although I have always convinced that preaching is a very serious matter. However, now I am not looking for the flash-bang anymore but rather that you walk away with grasping the majesty of God as He reveals himself through Scripture.
-I have determined to work hard at letting you look at the Scripture and see an outline emerging from it so you will be able to remember it. Furthermore if you write in your Bible, I want it to be able to be concise enough for you to write it there.
-Paul poured his life into the ministry with these Corinthian believers. He stayed with them for eighteen months which would be one of the longest places he stayed in all of his travels.
A. 1 Corinthians 4:9—The Rejection
1 Corinthians 4:9 KJV For I think that God hath 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.
-Paul notes that the apostles were last of all in what the world’s observations. They were last in esteem, they were last in regard, they were last in regard, and they were last in the social ranking of the known world. For lack of a better description, you could say they were a bunch of low-lifes. While they were godly, righteous, and holy men who had great marks of character, they weren’t notables when it came to society.
-He writes that they are appointed to death (NASB—condemned to death). There are a couple of references of thought he could have had:
• To be thrown to the lions. At what was referred to as the Grand Finale at the Coliseum, the Christians were held until the end and then they were thrown to the lions. There would be massive cheering from the crowds who were watching. History has documented that some of the Roman coliseums could seat as many as 80,000 people. That rivals some of the football stadiums in the US.
• To be at the end of the victors parade. The Roman victors at the end of their battles would parade through the streets displaying their military might, valor, and bravery. They would have the spoils of war—money, clothing, chariots, and slaves—in a great fanfare. At the end of the parade would be the princes and kings and other royalty who would have to endure the scorn and mockery of the watching citizens. Some were forced to crawl through the streets in humiliation.
-Paul said this is position that the apostles were relegated to. He said, “This is the place that the world wants the church of Jesus Christ to be placed in.” They are mocked and ridiculed:
• Because they believe in Heaven and Hell.
• Because they believe that Jesus is the only way.
• Because they believe in the power of the Cross.
-Paul wrote to them the church is a spectacle to this world. The word Paul used gives the indication of a theater.
Warren Wiersbe—The Bible Exposition Commentary—1 Corinthians (p. 583):
When Paul called himself and other apostles “a spectacle unto the world” (1 Cor. 4:9), he was using an image familiar to people in the Roman Empire. The government kept the people pacified by presenting entertainments in the different cities. The amphitheaters would be filled with citizens, eager to see men compete in the games and prisoners fight with the beasts. (In fact, the Greek word translated spectacle gives us our English word “theater.”) The Colosseum at Rome became the center for these “entertainments.”
When the “main events” were ended, then the poorest and weakest prisoners were brought in to fight with the beasts. Nobody expected too much from their performance.
-Paul said the church is on a stage that the whole world has access to. Much of that exposure is defined as mockery and scorn. It will not get easier with the passage of time because the church will become even strange in its appearance to the world.
-Everywhere Paul went he was rejected. The Christian life is to be lived out openly and publically. In fact there is no such thing as a secret disciple. The world should know who and what we are and they should see a clear devotion to that cause.
-It requires boldness and courage to do so. That can only come with a thoroughly devoted life to the Lord Jesus Christ. How will we manage to live our lives out under pressure when we lack devotion now without pressure?
-The reason that some aren’t rejected in the world now is because our position and posture is not very well known. There is tendency for all of us to hesitate when we feel the pressure of conformity pushing in on us but God needs men in our day to do His will!
B. 1 Corinthians 4:10—The Ridicule
-Paul noted the rejection in v. 9 but now he gives us the ridicule in v. 10.
1 Corinthians 4:10 KJV We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
-Paul uses some strong contrasts toward true saints and false saints in this segment. In fact it is personalized to him and you cannot but help to hear the sarcasm that he uses.
-We are fools. . . but you are wise. . . Paul had hung on to what had been given to him. Now the Corinthians had gotten “wise” in Christ. They thought he was an old-fashioned preacher and out of touch.
-The Corinthians wanted something more suave and socially acceptable instead of the Cross.
-We are weak. . . but you are strong. . . Paul continued to preach repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and holy living but the Corinthians were of the opinion that he was intellectually weak because he confined himself to the Gospel. “Look at Paul. . . so weak and naïve he is!” This was their thoughts.
-You are honorable. . . but we are despised. . . A little learning, a little education from the Greeks, a little money now jingling in their pockets and they thought they were far above their station in life.
-The questions for us in our day:
• Are we tired of being fools for Christ?
• Are we tired of believing in Heaven and Hell?
• Are we tired of the Cross?
• Are we tired of being despised and mocked and looked down on?
-Our only hope is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus said he was the way and it is still the truth!
C. 1 Corinthians 4:11-12a—The Roughing Up
-We have the rejection, the ridicule and now Paul comes to the part of being roughed up.
1 Corinthians 4:11-12 KJV Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; [12] And labour, working with our own hands. . .
-Paul interjects here the element of sacrifice that he is making. . . hunger. . . thirst. . . poorly clothed.
-Buffeted—Literally to suffer physical blows to the body. This is the part where he tells the Corinthians that he is being roughed up for the cause of the Gospel.
-No certain dwelling place—Paul is literally homeless. He has no place of comfort, calm, and quiet that he can retreat to.
-Can we even began to relate to what Paul is saying? Most of us, in fact probably all of us, have at least somewhere we can go and find a place to retreat to and hold off the world for a little while. Paul did not even have that!
-And labour—He was still working with his hands to support himself. The word here literally means that he was working to a place of complete fatigue. He worked until he could go no further.
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 KJV Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. [24] Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. [25] Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; [26] In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; [27] In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. [28] Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
-Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing. What kind of sacrifice would the Lord have me to make?
D. 1 Corinthians 4:12b-13a—The Reviling
-Paul has given us the things that a true servant of the Lord will have to endure. . . The rejection, the ridicule, the roughing up, and the reviling.
1 Corinthians 4:12-13 KJV . . . being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: [13] Being defamed, we intreat. . .
-Paul says that those who truly serve the Lord will be reviled. Literally meaning to be blasphemed and slandered for the Lord. It is the cruel verbal attack by the sword of an evil tongue. The Psalms are loaded with the cries of a man who is being slandered and torn down by others. Paul notes that he is being reviled by that kind of activity.
-Reviled. . . but our response is to bless. That is the evidence of a Spirit-filled man who can allow himself to do that kind of thing! Our response is to return good for evil.
-Persecuted. . . but our response is to endure it.
-Defamed, meaning to have your reputation intentionally hurt. Everything he does is being attacked. The Corinthians are accusing his motives, critical of his methods, and wanting him to back off of the message.
-But Paul works in the exact opposite of what they are doing to him.
-Consider the Lord. He was accused of being Beelzebub. The lord of the flies which meant that He was being likened to the flies that hovered over the dung of animals. He was accused of being an illegitimate son of a Roman soldier. He was accused of being possessed by a devil. He was accused of being insane.
-Here is the great question. . . How do I respond when I am ill-treated by others?
E. 1 Corinthians 4:13—The Reproach
-The rejection, the ridicule, the roughing up, the reviling, and lastly, the reproach.
1 Corinthians 4:13 KJV . . . we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
-Paul comes to the place where he says we are looked at as the scum of the earth!
-The filth of the world—he was referencing the sweepings, the rinsings, and the cleansings that came out of the house. It was a collection of trash and garbage. Paul knew that the world would turn their head away from the true church.
-We have a tendency to want to shrink back from that kind of treatment.
-The offscourings was what was picked up on the bottom of the sandals of people. They walked through all sorts of unsanitary things in those days. This is how Paul said that the church would be perceived to those in the world.
-We are to pursue personal holiness and a lifestyle that reflects that of the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder what would happen if our buildings, our sophistication and so forth were removed if we would be able to continue on in our service for the Lord? We shrink back from being the scum of the earth.
-Paul wrote this as an example of the high cost of following the Lord. This kind of conversion will cost you something!
III. CONCLUSION—AM I A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS?
-Isaac Watts wrote a song in 1709 to follow a sermon on 1 Corinthians 16:13. . . Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
Am I a soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause
Or blush to speak His name?
Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease?
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure I must fight, if I would reign
Increase my courage, Lord!
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy word.
Thy saints, in all this glorious war,
Shall conquer, though they die;
They view the triumph from afar,
And seize it with their eye.
When that illustrious day shall rise,
And all Thy armies shine
In robes of victory through the skies,
The glory shall be Thine.
-Paul’s run through Corinth had led through Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. He had gone on to Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. He had been imprisoned, stoned, whipped, and flogged all along the way. He had been mocked and maligned. He had been treated with utter contempt.
-He supported himself with working with a large needle, heavy thread, and canvas-like material in the hard work of making tents.
-But in that man’s wake, churches were established, saints were disciple, and preachers were developed! Remember he was called the “offscouring of the earth!”
Philip Harrelson
January 31, 2014
